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<p>MASSENA, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities say a freighter carrying soybeans is immobilized by ice in a lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway.</p>
<p>The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. says tugs have been working to dislodge the bulk carrier Federal Biscay from the U.S. Snell lock at Massena.</p>
<p>Once the Marshall Island-flagged vessel is freed, four other vessels can get through the lock and depart the Seaway.</p>
<p>Officials say the U.S. portion of the Seaway will close to commercial traffic for the season after all the vessels have departed.</p>
<p>MASSENA, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities say a freighter carrying soybeans is immobilized by ice in a lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway.</p>
<p>The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. says tugs have been working to dislodge the bulk carrier Federal Biscay from the U.S. Snell lock at Massena.</p>
<p>Once the Marshall Island-flagged vessel is freed, four other vessels can get through the lock and depart the Seaway.</p>
<p>Officials say the U.S. portion of the Seaway will close to commercial traffic for the season after all the vessels have departed.</p> | Icebound freighter delays closure of St. Lawrence Seaway | false | https://apnews.com/amp/3ca4ee7035414ee4ae9ee01f3ea6e655 | 2018-01-03 | 2 |
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama called on Congress Thursday to finish work on an immigration overhaul by the end of the year, a lofty goal that will be difficult to meet given the staunch opposition of many House Republicans.</p>
<p>While immigration remains one of Obama's top second term priorities, the issue has been overshadowed for months, most recently by the 16-day partial government shutdown. The president's shift to a greater focus on immigration came as the White House was seeking to shift the conversation away from the deeply problematic rollout of Obama's health care law.</p>
<p>During remarks at the White House, Obama insisted that Congress has the necessary time to finish an immigration bill by the end of the year. The Senate passed sweeping legislation this summer that would provide an eventual path to citizenship for some 11 million immigrants living here without documents and would tighten border security. But the measure has languished in the GOP-led House.</p>
<p>"It doesn't get easier to put it off," Obama said, during an event in the East Room.</p>
<p>The White House was buoyed by comments this week from House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who said he was optimistic his chamber could act on immigration by year's end. But Boehner has long had trouble rallying support from the conservative wing of his caucus and it's unclear whether he can get their backing for the comprehensive bill Obama is seeking.</p>
<p>"I still think immigration reform is an important subject that needs to be addressed. And I'm hopeful," Boehner told reporters Wednesday at a Capitol Hill news conference when asked if the House can act in the remaining weeks.</p>
<p>The House has just five legislative weeks left though lawmakers indicated that could change. Most House Republicans have said they prefer a piecemeal approach to fixing the nation's fractured immigration system.</p>
<p>Immediately following Obama's remarks, a spokesman said Boehner was opposed to "massive" legislation that no one understands.</p>
<p>"The House is committed to a common sense, step-by-step approach that gives Americans confidence that reform is done the right way," spokesman Brendan Buck said. "We hope that the president will work with us - not against us - as we pursue this deliberate approach."</p>
<p>Immigration advocacy groups that support comprehensive change welcomed his Thursday remarks.</p>
<p>"The proverbial pendulum on immigration reform shifted long ago and those who can see, have seen it, and those who can hear, have heard it," Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said in a statement.</p>
<p>"Immigration reform is back at the top of the agenda," Petra Falcon, executive director of Promise Arizona in Action, said in a statement. "Proposals are being laid out on both sides of the aisle. President Obama is right, let's find a solution and let's find it now."</p>
<p>Promise Arizona in Action works on immigration issues in the Southwest.</p>
<p>Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, labor unions and religious organizations including U.S. Catholic bishops and evangelicals are pressing for immigration legislation. Many of their members plan a concerted lobbying effort on Capitol Hill next week.</p>
<p>Obama, along with some Republican leaders, had hoped that the growing political power of Hispanics would clear the way for an immigration overhaul, a goal that has long eluded Washington. No sweeping immigration legislation has been passed since a bill co-sponsored by Wyoming Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, more recently co-chairman of the Simpson-Bowles deficit commission, was enacted in 1986.</p>
<p>Obama won an overwhelming majority of Hispanic voters in the 2012 presidential election and some political analysts believe that the country's shifting demographics will make it difficult for Republicans to win the White House without boosting their appeal to the Latino community.</p>
<p>But most tea party-backed Republicans oppose measures that would grant legal status to people already in the country illegally, even with the fines and long waiting period that would be imposed by the Senate measure. The recent shutdown and debt ceiling fight also fueled deeper resentment toward Obama among those lawmakers, who got virtually nothing out of the deal that was reached to reopen the government and lift the borrowing limit.</p>
<p>In the wake of that messy stretch for Congress, Obama urged lawmakers to see immigration has an opportunity to show the public that government can work.</p>
<p>"Rather than create problems, let's prove to the American people that Washington can actually solve some problems," Obama said.</p>
<p>___________</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Donna Cassata and Equal Voice News contributed to this report.&#160;</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Contact author</a></p>
<p>&#160;&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles</a>, <a href="" type="internal">immigrants</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Immigration Reform</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Promise Arizona in Action</a></p> | White House: Finish Immigration Policy Overhaul in 2013 | true | http://equalvoiceforfamilies.org/white-house-finish-immigration-policy-overhaul-in-2013/ | 4 |
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<p>President-elect Donald Trump did not take lightly to the cast of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton delivering a <a href="" type="internal">condescending and racially charged message</a> to Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Friday night.</p>
<p>As the Daily Wire and other outlets reported, when Pence, accompanied by his daughter, nephew and nieces, first entered the theater on Friday evening, he was met with a chorus of boos from the audience. After the musical formally concluded, the star who plays Aaron Burr, <a href="http://brandonvictordixon.com/" type="external">Brandon Victor Dixon</a>, issued a personal statement to Pence directly from the stage.</p>
<p>"We have a message for you sir and we hope that you will here us out," said Dixon. "We sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us — all of us."</p>
<p>Tonight, VP-Elect Mike Pence attended <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HamiltonBway?src=hash" type="external">#HamiltonBway</a>. After the show, <a href="https://twitter.com/BrandonVDixon" type="external">@BrandonVDixon</a> delivered the following statement on behalf of the show. <a href="https://t.co/Jsg9Q1pMZs" type="external">pic.twitter.com/Jsg9Q1pMZs</a></p>
<p>In response to the cast of the musical — which made headlines earlier this year for issuing a <a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/03/31/arts/union-criticizes-hamilton-casting-call-seeking-nonwhite-actors.html?_r=2&amp;referer=https://www.people.com/article/hamilton-faces-backlash-wording-open-casting-call-sticks-with-commitment-to-diversity" type="external">"non-white" casting call</a> — singling out Pence and suggesting he and the new administration was racist, Trump took to Twitter Saturday to call out the cast for having "harassed" Pence and demanding that they "apologize."</p>
<p>"Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing. This should not happen!" Trump wrote, adding, "The Theater must always be a safe and special place. The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!"</p>
<p>Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing.This should not happen!</p>
<p>The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!</p>
<p>Dixon responded to Trump's statements on Twitter, saying "conversation is not harassment sir. And I appreciate @mike_pence for stopping to listen."</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" type="external">@realDonaldTrump</a> conversation is not harassment sir. And I appreciate <a href="https://twitter.com/mike_pence" type="external">@mike_pence</a> for stopping to listen.</p>
<p>Dixon did not explain how lecturing someone from the stage constitutes "conversation," but at least he gave Pence some credit. Here is an excerpt from Dixon's statement to Pence from the stage Friday:</p>
<p>Vice President-Elect Pence, I see you walking out, but I hope you hear us, just a few more moment. There is nothing to boo here ladies and gentlemen, there is nothing to boo here. We are all here sharing a story of love. We have a message for you sir and we hope that you will here us out.</p>
<p>We sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us — all of us.</p>
<p>As Daily Wire contributor John Nolte argues, while of course the cast had every right to come out and say whatever they wanted, the reality is their handling of Pence was unprofessional, out of line, and "narcissistic":</p>
<p>Artist or auto mechanic, it is the way in which we express ourselves that separates us from those who are narcissistic jerks, and those who are not, and the "Hamilton" cast failed that test spectacularly.</p>
<p>Anyone defending these jerks should flip the scenario…</p>
<p>The year is 2008 and newly-minted Vice President-elect Joe Biden attends a play. Upon entering he is booed. After the play concludes, the cast comes out and bullies him into listening to a statement that questions his decency and even his humanity -- a pro-life statement, perhaps.</p>
<p>There is nothing okay with this.</p>
<p>Read Nolte's response to the demeaning treatment of Pence by the Hamilton cast and audience <a href="" type="internal">here</a>.</p>
<p /> | Trump Rips 'Hamilton' Cast's Insulting Treatment of Pence: 'Apologize!' | true | https://dailywire.com/news/10943/trump-rips-hamilton-casts-insulting-treatment-james-barrett | 2016-11-19 | 0 |
<p>California’s overcrowded prisons have “fallen short of minimum constitutional requirements,” causing “needless suffering and death,” according to a <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/sc-dc-0524-court-prisons-web-20110523,0,2337401.story" type="external">5-4 majority</a> of the U.S. Supreme Court. The state, which imposes <a href="" type="internal">draconian sentences</a> on repeat offenders, must now find a way to reduce its prison population by at least 38,000 inmates.</p>
<p>Gov. Jerry Brown hopes to comply with the ruling without actually releasing any offenders. Instead, he plans to offload felons into county jails, though that would take longer than required by the court. — PZS</p>
<p>Los Angeles Times:</p>
<p>California now has two weeks to produce a plan that would reduce its prison population by more than 33,000 inmates within two years. Cate said the state could ask a federal three-judge panel for more time to reach the lower inmate number. He said Brown’s proposal to shift thousands of state prisoners to county jails would reduce the state’s prison population by about 30,000 inmates over the next four years.</p>
<p />
<p>“It would solve quite a bit of this problem,” he said, but not as quickly as the courts would like.</p>
<p><a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2011/05/brown-administration-vows-compliance-with-supreme-court-prison-ruling.html" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Supreme Court Orders California to Lose as Many as 46,000 Prisoners | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/supreme-court-orders-california-to-lose-as-many-as-46000-prisoners/ | 2011-05-24 | 4 |
<p>Banta Singh has been hit by a car, and his colleague Santa Singh is visiting him in the hospital. Seeing Banta swathed in bandages, Santa racks his brain for something cheerful to say.</p>
<p>Finally, he observes, “Ohe Banta, look at it this way, at least it is only your left hand that’s broken, not the right.”</p>
<p>Banta Singh brightens up immediately. “Aha! At last, a person who appreciates my presence of mind! You know, actually it was my right hand that was under the car at first. I thought to myself how terrible that would be, so I quickly withdrew my right hand, and put in my left instead!”</p>
<p>–From my late friend, philsopher, and guide, D. Subbarao.</p>
<p>If Banta Singh’s logic appeals to you, then you should have no difficulty applauding the wisdom of the Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman.</p>
<p>Speaking of the deaths of ordinary men, women and children in Qana and other places in Lebanon, Mr. Gillerman told the Security Council that Israel regretted every casualty, and was indeed so concerned to avoid them that each time, before bombing, it dropped leaflets beseeching people to leave the area. His nodders, assistant nodders, and sundry yes-men on the US side, including John Bolton, Condoleezza Rice, Tony Snow, Hillary Clinton and why, even Bill Maher, have been echoing Mr. Gillerman’s words in their own remarks.</p>
<p>The Israeli statements exceed even the old Billy Bunter double-defense, “I never touched that cake. Besides, it tasted terrible”. First they said they were ultra-careful to hit the correct building. Then they said they were sure Hezbollah was holed up near, if not inside the building itself. Then they said they had used precision missiles. Then they said they were sorry, but this was war, and errors do happen. This is why they dropped leaflets in the first place.</p>
<p>Once you have given a warning, you are absolved. What next, complaints that Israel only dropped printed leaflets, of omitting to put up warnings on the web and send out an email message to everyone in Lebanon? (A Jewish state sending out spam?). Some people are never satisfied.</p>
<p>By this fresh piece of Israeli-American logic, however, Hitler’s atrocities are mitigated, if not absolved, because he had given umpteen warnings to the Jews, all the way from Mein Kampf on, of their impending fate if he came to power. If people didn’t believe him, stuck around and suffered the consequences, it was because they did not follow their many smart cohorts who left Germany when they were warned. Hezbollah and Hamas, too, are similarly exculpated, because they have never left any Israeli in doubt of their intentions towards Israel. As is Osama bin Laden because, long before Khobar Towers, Cole and 9-11, he repeatedly warned American to leave the Muslim lands.</p>
<p>Welcome to the 21st century version of “Let them eat Cake”.</p>
<p>Going along with this argument for a moment, assume that I, as a resident of Lebanon at whose feet a floating Israeli leaflet has just landed, decide that prudence is in order, and taking the warning seriously, depart town with my family. I return two days later to find my roof lying on my living room floor, my town devastated, my water and power supply busted. One million Lebanese are, like imaginary me, estimated to be refugees within their own country, having left their residences in heed of Israeli warnings or fear of being buried alive by a bomb. Surely they are beside themselves in gratitude for Israel’s pre-bomb warning leaflets.</p>
<p>The natural tendency of the human mind is to equate the protagonists in a fight. In the subconscious of world opinion, then, the Hezbollah is acquiring coequal status with Israel. Current reality too has added to the perception. Once upon a time, Israel finished off three whole countries and doubled the territory under its control, all in less time than God took to create the universe. Today it cannot advance more than two miles along a narrow front, against an entity that is not even a regular army (maybe for that very reason).</p>
<p>By its tactics, which have killed ten times the number of people as has Hezbollah, Israel has also obliterated any distinction between itself and its enemy which, as it says, does not care about the human toll. Along with its leaflets, myths of Israeli military invincibility and moral superiority too have dropped out of the sky, making their way to the ground where Hezbollah stands.</p>
<p>The Banta Singh analogy does not end with Israel, however. Those who rejoice in the damage to Israeli myths should be equally mindful of falling victim to the mystique of Hezbollah. The tragedy remains that it has taken a religious and sectarian militia to accomplish what broad-based nationalist and secular movements could not. To take heart in Israel’s discomfiture, ignoring this reality, is to emulate Banta Singh’s smug satisfaction in salvaging the right hand by sacrificing the left. No pun intended.</p>
<p>NIRANJAN RAMAKRISHNAN can be reached at <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a>. His blog is at <a href="http://njn-blogogram.blogspot.com/" type="external">http://njn-blogogram.blogspot.com</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The Fig (Leaflet) of Warning | true | https://counterpunch.org/2006/08/04/the-fig-leaflet-of-warning/ | 2006-08-04 | 4 |
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<p />
<p>Three teenage boys from V. Sue Cleveland High have attracted the attention of the FBI and the Secret Service for orchestrating a cyberattack on the Enfamil baby formula website using a school computer, according to a Rio Rancho police report.</p>
<p>Rio Rancho police have filed felony charges of computer abuse and conspiracy against Sylvain Jones, 16, Sergio Velasquez, 15, and Joshua Van Gilder, 17.</p>
<p>Jones' attorney could not be reached for comment early Friday afternoon. The family of Velasquez did not immediately return a call, and the parents of Van Gilder said they did not have an attorney yet and did not want to comment.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The incident occurred shortly before school let out for summer break.</p>
<p>Rio Rancho Public Schools launched an investigation May 20 after being contacted by the U.S. Secret Service regarding a cyberattack that was generated from Cleveland High. The district, according to the police report, was also notified by the FBI that "RRPS computer access to the world wide web would effectively be shut down if the suspects were not identified."</p>
<p>Local FBI spokesman Frank Fisher said the FBI had been in contact with the Rio Rancho police "about this incident but are still in the information-gathering stage."</p>
<p>According to the district report submitted to police, on May 13 the three boys were in their second-period robotics class, which has several computers that students use almost daily. The three had some downtime and were looking for something to do.</p>
<p>They told school officials they found the Enfamil live chat site through a random Google search and decided to harass people on the site as a "shock value" in hopes of getting "a reaction or weird reply."</p>
<p>The boys said they sent vulgar and annoying messages - one asking about what they should do about a strange growth on a baby. The harassment, according to the RRPS report, started May 13 and continued until around May 18, the day they decided to send "tons of messages."</p>
<p>During this time, Enfamil informed the boys that they had tracked their computer and eventually blocked access.</p>
<p>In retaliation, the boys posted on a hacker website under the heading "Raid Time," which according to the report the district filed with police is "an all call to hackers to begin to bombard a computer site with messages in order to take it down. Unfortunately, in this case, it was successful." The boys instructed other hackers on the site to visit the Enfamil website and "(Expletive) - with them."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The district has Internet filters that block websites deemed inappropriate, but Enfamil did not fall under that category. The boys, according to district spokeswoman Beth Pendergrass, accessed the hacker website from a personal device.</p>
<p>"I cannot speak to student disciplinary action, but I can tell you that any student who violates our Computer Use policies and/or Rules of Appropriate Use agreement is subject to the provisions set forth in the policy up to and including loss of network privileges, suspension and even possible expulsion," she said in an email to the Journal.</p>
<p>The district, according to the district report, was able to identify the students by their login information.</p>
<p>Lemuel Martinez, 13th Judicial District attorney, said his office had received the case.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Rio Rancho students accused of cyberattack | false | https://abqjournal.com/601539/rio-rancho-students-accused-of-instigating-attack-on-website.html | 2 |
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<p>KINGSTON, R.I. (AP) — Darrell Davis made a go-ahead 3-pointer from the corner with 21.1 seconds left and No. 19 Dayton beat Rhode Island 68-66 on Friday night.</p>
<p>Rhode Island's Four McGlynn missed a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left. Dayton got the rebound, and Steve McElvene made one of two free throws for the Flyers with 0.3 seconds to go.</p>
<p>Dyshawn Pierre led Dayton (21-3, 11-1 Atlantic 10) with 17 points and also had nine rebounds. Scoochie Smith added 16 points, and Davis finished with eight.</p>
<p>The Flyers won their ninth straight game and ended a six-game losing streak in Kingston.</p>
<p>McGlynn had 19 points for Rhode Island (14-11, 6-6). Hassan Martin added 15 points and 10 rebounds.</p>
<p>There were 17 lead changes, three in the final 55 seconds.</p>
<p>Pierre made two free throws with 55 seconds left to give the Flyers a one-point lead. Martin countered for the Rams with a three-point play 40 seconds left.</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Dayton: Dayton's 21-3 start is its best since also opening 21-3 in 2008-09. ... The Flyers shot 52.0 percent, going 26 of 50.</p>
<p>Rhode Island: Rhode Island's six Atlantic 10 losses have been by a combined 30 points. ... Martin made his 15th career double-double.</p>
<p>UP NEXT:</p>
<p>Dayton: at Saint Joseph's on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Rhode Island: at VCU on Tuesday night.</p>
<p>KINGSTON, R.I. (AP) — Darrell Davis made a go-ahead 3-pointer from the corner with 21.1 seconds left and No. 19 Dayton beat Rhode Island 68-66 on Friday night.</p>
<p>Rhode Island's Four McGlynn missed a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left. Dayton got the rebound, and Steve McElvene made one of two free throws for the Flyers with 0.3 seconds to go.</p>
<p>Dyshawn Pierre led Dayton (21-3, 11-1 Atlantic 10) with 17 points and also had nine rebounds. Scoochie Smith added 16 points, and Davis finished with eight.</p>
<p>The Flyers won their ninth straight game and ended a six-game losing streak in Kingston.</p>
<p>McGlynn had 19 points for Rhode Island (14-11, 6-6). Hassan Martin added 15 points and 10 rebounds.</p>
<p>There were 17 lead changes, three in the final 55 seconds.</p>
<p>Pierre made two free throws with 55 seconds left to give the Flyers a one-point lead. Martin countered for the Rams with a three-point play 40 seconds left.</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Dayton: Dayton's 21-3 start is its best since also opening 21-3 in 2008-09. ... The Flyers shot 52.0 percent, going 26 of 50.</p>
<p>Rhode Island: Rhode Island's six Atlantic 10 losses have been by a combined 30 points. ... Martin made his 15th career double-double.</p>
<p>UP NEXT:</p>
<p>Dayton: at Saint Joseph's on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Rhode Island: at VCU on Tuesday night.</p> | Davis helps No. 19 Dayton beat Rhode Island 68-66 | false | https://apnews.com/amp/b06f1160eee647d3a32362f35135510f | 2016-02-13 | 2 |
<p>Escaped murderer Richard Matt is "psychotic," a former accomplice told NBC News, expressing fears that the fugitive could seek revenge while on the lam.</p>
<p>Matt and fellow inmate David Sweat have been on the run for five days after busting out of a maximum-security prison in upstate New York. Investigators have been chasing down hundreds of tips and mobilizing search teams across the region to scour the area — <a href="" type="internal">but so far the trail has been cold</a>.</p>
<p>A convicted murderer and former accomplice who testified against Matt in court told NBC News he fears for his safety as long as Matt is out there.</p>
<p>"There's no telling what kind of revenge he might want to exact on ... people that I love, people that are close to me," said the former accomplice, who requested anonymity because he feared for his life. "This is a very psychotic individual."</p>
<p>Authorities have been reaching out to those who knew the inmates — including <a href="" type="internal">Joyce Mitchell, a supervisor in the prison's tailor shop who worked with both Sweat and Matt and has been named a person of interest</a>.</p>
<p>Matt's family also has been visited by police. The escaped convict's son, Nicholas Harris, <a href="http://www.wgrz.com/story/news/crime/2015/06/09/richard-matt-son/28767553/" type="external">told NBC station WGRZ</a> of Buffalo, New York, that he first learned of his father's escape when police came to his home. Then he turned on the TV.</p>
<p>"Our jaws drop when we're watching reports," Harris said, adding that he and his mother were "just waiting, like everyone else," for news.</p>
<p>"It's shocking," he said. "With the technology we have, it's pretty bizarre they got out."</p>
<p>Harris said he doesn't believe his father would come to his home — explaining that he only "vaguely" knows Matt and that he was too young to know "what was going on" when his father was sent to prison.</p>
<p>"I don't know him well enough" to worry about what might happen when Matt is caught, Harris said. "I'm waiting in anticipation to see what happens."</p> | Escaped Murderer Richard Matt Could Seek Revenge, Accomplice Says | false | http://nbcnews.com/storyline/new-york-prison-escape/escaped-murderer-richard-matt-could-seek-revenge-accomplice-says-n372761 | 2015-06-10 | 3 |
<p>We know that comic book movies are popular nowadays, but these comic books went on to form the most expensive and weirdest religion we know of. It is particularly popular among Hollywood elites because it costs a lot of money to join and to progress in the organization.</p>
<p>L. Ron Hubbard was a very creative science-fiction writer, but his writing went further than just entertainment. His writings ended up being turned into a <a href="http://www.avclub.com/article/read-pulp-fiction-l-ron-hubbard-gradually-turned-r-251987" type="external">religion</a> that people still follow today.</p>
<p>He wrote a 10 book series called&#160;Mission Earth. However, it was his short story about an alien named Xenu that was turned into a dogma that is still practiced today.</p>
<p>Scientology is made up of a group of fundamental truths, or “dynamics.” Here are a couple of <a href="http://www.scientology.org/faq/background-and-basic-principles/what-are-some-of-the-core-tenets-of-scientology.html" type="external">examples</a> of those:</p>
<p>“The First Dynamic—is the urge toward existence as one’s self.&#160;Here we have individuality expressed fully.&#160;This can be called the Self Dynamic.”</p>
<p>“The Second Dynamic—is the urge toward existence as a sexual activity. This dynamic actually has two divisions. Second Dynamic (a) is the sexual act itself. And the Second Dynamic (b) is the family unit, including the rearing of children.&#160;This can be called the Sex Dynamic.”</p>
<p>Featured image via <a href="https://twitter.com/SoynadieOrg/status/838135955848585216" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p> | These Comic Books Were Turned Into A Religion | true | http://offthemainpage.com/2017/03/14/these-comic-books-were-turned-into-a-religion/ | 2017-03-14 | 4 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p>Warning! Swooning may occur. Celebrity chef <a href="http://mariobatali.com/" type="external">Mario Batali</a> clapped back at hostile tweeters challenging his support of pro-choice organizations.</p>
<p>In my personal opinion: when you’re rich and famous, being able to the cook an exceptional meal is really just a cherry on top of the sundae. But supporting my right to choose what happens to me and my body, too? Well, that is like a (fairly compensated and well treated) butler to spoon feed me the sundae while I watch Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reruns and play with with puppies!</p>
<p>Perhaps I’m exaggerating a little bit, but I have so much love and respect for &#160;Mario Batali who <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/19/mario-batali-deftly-fends-off-twitter-morons-after-raising-money-for-texas-pro-choice-charity/" type="external">gave naysayers a polite “fuck you”</a> on Twitter yesterday. It all started when he tweeted that he would match up to $5,000 of donations towards <a href="http://www.ladypartsjustice.com/splash/" type="external">Lady Parts Justice</a>, an organization committed to providing resources to women in Texas who are affected by the attacks on abortion access. Because we live in a world with some misinformed and rude folks, Batali naturally received some nasty responses. But he laid the smack down in his responses. Check some of them out below!</p>
<p>I’m for personal choice! RT. <a href="https://twitter.com/KristiLuvsJesus" type="external">@KristiLuvsJesus</a>: <a href="https://twitter.com/NARAL" type="external">@NARAL</a> Abortion is murder!! You claim to be for women; but what about unborn women??”</p>
<p>— Mario Batali (@Mariobatali) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mariobatali/statuses/402613899197177856" type="external">November 19, 2013</a></p>
<p>You seem successful and delightful! RT. <a href="https://twitter.com/USSANews" type="external">@USSANews</a>: Pro choice? Then choose to eat a carrot once in a while you fat fuck. Just sayin…”</p>
<p>— Mario Batali (@Mariobatali) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mariobatali/statuses/402775892877119488" type="external">November 19, 2013</a></p>
<p>Thx for the tip, I imagine you could give me even more life advice RT. <a href="https://twitter.com/Pambeaux" type="external">@Pambeaux</a>: <a href="https://twitter.com/TXWomenForever" type="external">@TXWomenForever</a> Stay in the kitchen and out of politics.”</p>
<p>— Mario Batali (@Mariobatali) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mariobatali/statuses/402794737482362880" type="external">November 19, 2013</a></p>
<p>How dreamy is he? <a href="https://twitter.com/BadFatBlackGirl" type="external">Sesali</a> is a writer and living testament to the fact that you can take the girl out of Chicago, but you can’t take Chicago out of the girl.</p> | Mario Batali cooks AND respects our personal decisions! | true | http://feministing.com/2013/11/20/mario-batali-cooks-and-respects-our-personal-decisions/ | 4 |
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<p>Editor &amp; Publisher Galveston County Daily News publisher Dolph Tillotson says Thursday's paper will be printed this afternoon, with a 2 p.m. press time and distribution beginning at 4 p.m.The paper's usual press time is about midnight, with a 6 a.m. delivery target. Tillotson tells Joe Strupp: "I suspect I will have to deliver some papers. I've done it before." &gt; <a href="http://blogs.chron.com/rita/archives/2005/09/bloggers_riding.html" type="external">Houston Chronicle seeks Stormwatchers blog contributors (Chronicle)</a></p> | Galveston newspaper gears up to publish during hurricane | false | https://poynter.org/news/galveston-newspaper-gears-publish-during-hurricane | 2005-09-21 | 2 |
<p>The politically weakened government of Ehud Olmert is engaged in peace talks with neighboring Syria, the two countries have acknowledged. Turkey is moderating the indirect negotiations, the first since 2000. The last round of talks failed over the demand for Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.</p>
<p>BBC:</p>
<p>In a statement, Syria’s foreign ministry said both sides had “expressed their desire to conduct the talks in goodwill and decided to continue dialogue with seriousness to achieve comprehensive peace”.</p>
<p>Mr Olmert’s spokesman Mark Regev said the two countries had indicated “they want to lead these negotiations in a serious spirit so as to achieve complete peace”.</p>
<p />
<p>The Syrian foreign minister, Walid Muallem, said Israel had agreed to withdraw from the Golan up to the armistice line of 1967.</p>
<p>Israel has refused to comment on the claim, although a spokesman for Mr Olmert said the current talks were being carried out with the failure of the previous ones in mind, and that the talks had recently gathered momentum.</p>
<p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7412247.stm" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Israel and Syria Talk Peace | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/israel-and-syria-talk-peace/ | 2008-05-21 | 4 |
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<p />
<p>After we broke up, I cut him out of my life. I’ve never believed that exes can be friends.</p>
<p>But after years of not talking, a mutual friend put us back in the same room again. As time passed and my head cleared, I was able to recognize my own faux pas in the relationship. (Although I still contend that his transgressions were worse!)</p>
<p>Shortly thereafter, I agreed to appear as a guest on his game show. To prepare, I watched a ton of former episodes and played an online version of the game. But I found that underneath my competitive nature, I was just trying to feel as comfortable as possible with the formulaic aspects of the show. Because I also knew there’d be a “witty banter” portion in between the puzzles that would be far tougher to ace. Would I be able to speak about the reasons we had broken up (geographical distance, general incompatibility issues, lack of communication) without sounding like a shrew? Should I even bring them up – or should I be completely jovial, only reflecting on the positive moments we’d shared?</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The more I thought back on our relationship, the more I realized we had a lot of good memories that meant a great deal to me. Leading up to the show, Ben kept telling me that I’d have the opportunity to poke fun at him. Which made me wonder: Would it all just be an amicable good time? Or would I be falsely painted as a vindictive ex based on how or what I chose to reveal? It could go either way.</p>
<p>I could have never expected that I would get the chance to publicly roast a guy I dated in front of a delighted studio audience, but I highly recommend it. Mocking him about things that had previously hurt me and seeing the pained reaction it generated from him – and the gasps from the audience – reinforced that my original response while we were dating had been valid. And in a way, the experience openly eradicated any sense of the crazy ex-girlfriend trope that dogs women no matter what the circumstances of a breakup.</p>
<p>When the show started, “Tell me why I’m an idiot” was the first question Ben asked all of us – four of his former girlfriends – with a nervous yet disarming smile.</p>
<p>Even as I revealed things that used to be a strong point of contention – he both deleted and purposely cropped photos on social media to hide evidence that we were dating – I truly felt no traces of resentment anymore. Perhaps my satisfaction also had something to do with how the studio audience reacted – laughing and clearly siding with me as I innocently said, “Hey, remember that time you cropped me out on Instagram?”</p>
<p>After listening to his other exes talk about the time they shared with Ben, so many other moments – some sweet and fun, others aggravating – flooded into my head. I recalled how he comforted me and helped keep my debilitating anxiety at bay when we flew together from Seattle to Los Angeles, which made the audience swoon. But because of time constraints I couldn’t also mention how he used to always leave me sweet notes to wake up or come home to; or the time he took me ice skating in Central Park. It’s funny how many things I had let slip out of my memory bank once he was no longer in my life. And how, without the pall of hurt feelings cast over everything, they were now just things I could smile about – and entertain an audience with.</p>
<p>Hearing what the other women in his life had to say about him filled me with mixed emotions. Even though they too found him to be caring and considerate, I couldn’t help sensing he had been more committed to them than he had with me. But the other women and I bonded in agreement over his tendencies toward neurotic behavior, hoarding and how he always took too long to get ready.</p>
<p>When Ben asked me to tell the audience why we had broken up, I was reminded that we had ended things mutually. We loved each other, but we probably weren’t in love with each other.</p>
<p>I used to believe love had to be devastating to be real. I wanted drama, life-changing moments, knee-weakening kisses and grand gestures. But if it didn’t work out, I wanted to lean into the pain and completely shut that person out of my life. In glamorizing the extremes, I was ignoring how every relationship teaches me something about myself and about what I need.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Being on camera put us both under a microscope. In a breakup, it’s so much easier to be the injured party than it is to admit you, too, might have carried some of the blame. At the beginning of our relationship I was very honest and communicative, but as our relationship evolved and I wanted more of a commitment, I hesitated to have some of those deeper, necessary conversations.</p>
<p>Going on “Idiotest” reminded me that Ben was not perfect. And neither am I. But we shared something once that was meaningful, now making it possible for us to be friends. Even if we are both a little idiotic.</p>
<p>– – –</p>
<p>The ex-girlfriends episode of “Idiotest” originally aired on Feb. 9. It will air again on Tuesday, Feb. 14 on the Game Show Network.</p>
<p>– – –</p>
<p>Sepulveres is a freelance writer based in New York. She is the author of “Losing It: The Semi-Scandalous Story of an Ex-Virgin” and co-author of “Too Old to Have a Major Too Young to Have a Minor.”</p> | Why I went on my ex-boyfriend’s game show | false | https://abqjournal.com/947566/why-i-went-on-my-ex-boyfriends-game-show.html | 2 |
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<p>The Sochi Olympics present a unique chance for gay rights organizations to call attention to anti-gay laws passed under President Vladimir Putin, most notably one that criminalized the promotion of “non-traditional sexual relations.”</p>
<p>But seizing the spotlight in Russia when the world fixes its attention there next month also poses a tricky set of challenges — limited visas, little official cooperation from Olympic delegations and concern for the physical security of gay rights activists.</p>
<p>So for the most part, gay rights groups will focus their energy elsewhere, staging events around the world and using social media to get the word out about what they describe as the systematic oppression of Russian gays and lesbians.</p>
<p>'Sochi in many ways is the beginning of a new chapter in the LGBT movement, and our work is to educate people at home.'</p>
<p>“I think what’s most important is to really stay focused on true solidarity beyond Sochi,” said Julie Dorf, a senior adviser at the Council for Global Equality, an American group that concentrates on treatment of gays around the world.</p>
<p>“Sochi in many ways is the beginning of a new chapter in the LGBT movement, and our work is to educate people at home,” she said.</p>
<p>Plans in place</p>
<p>The Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay advocacy group in the United States, will not send staff to Russia for the games — a spokesman cited concerns about security and visa availability — but will use social media to promote an initiative called Love Conquers Hate.</p>
<p>The group sells T-shirts with the message printed in Russian, and says it has already used the proceeds to donate $100,000 to gay groups in Russia.</p>
<p>The last two Olympics, in Vancouver in 2010 and in London in 2012, featured so-called pride houses — unofficial but prominent spaces where gay athletes and fans could celebrate and watch Olympic competition.</p>
<p>The Russian government scuttled the idea for Sochi, so another organization is putting together what it is calling remote pride houses, including in the Olympic cities of Atlanta and Los Angeles, for celebrations and, in some places, protest rallies.</p>
<p>Marc Naimark, a vice president for the Federation of Gay Games and a member of the group Pride House International, said Olympic organizers could have pushed harder for inclusion.</p>
<p>“For their own reasons, which I think are sincere but misguided, they chose to keep on the tack that this is all about politics,” he said. “We think this is fundamentally about sport. Sport is about competing on a level playing field.”</p>
<p>Concern for protesters</p>
<p>Homosexuality itself was decriminalized in Russia in 1993. But Russia passed a law last year banning what it called the promotion of homosexuality to minors, and it sharply restricted adoption of Russian children by international gay couples.</p>
<p>In addition, human rights groups have described a pattern of violence against gays and lesbians in Russia, including public humiliation and videotaped beatings that have been distributed online. Last week, a Russian protester was detained for unfurling a rainbow flag during the Olympic torch relay.</p>
<p>Putin said earlier this month that gay athletes and fans should feel welcome at the Sochi Games, which open Feb. 7, but that they should “leave the children in peace.”</p>
<p>Russia has also designated an area for protests during the games, but it is in a coastal town seven miles from the nearest Olympic venue, and rights groups worry about what will happen after the games to Russian citizens who have demonstrated there.</p>
<p>Difficult line for athletes</p>
<p>The International Olympic Committee has said it has no grounds to challenge the Russian laws, and Rule 50 of the Olympic charter bars athletes from taking part in any political demonstration at the games.</p>
<p>With the Olympic rules in mind, Hudson Taylor, an ex-wrestler who founded a group called Athlete Ally that aims to end homophobia in sports, says he will travel to Sochi. His idea: Use a direct quote from the same Olympic charter to promote the message.</p>
<p>Principle 6 of the charter says that discrimination based on “race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise” is incompatible with Olympic ideals. Taylor hopes to get Olympic athletes to say simply on social media that they support Principle 6.</p>
<p>“There are some flexibilities on social media, but there’s still a line that athletes need to walk,” he said in an interview. “If we’re looking at positive change, the best way to do that is to speak to the heart and the identity of what the Olympics should stand for.”</p>
<p>Athlete Ally has partnered with the gay rights organization All Out and with American Apparel, the clothing store, to sell bright-red T-shirts promoting the language of Principle 6 — but that carefully avoid the Olympics name and logo.</p>
<p>The U.S. Olympic Committee says it has been assured by the IOC that “the anti-LGBT laws will not directly impact the Games,” and it has publicly opposed the legislation as inconsistent with Olympic principles.</p>
<p>USOC officials have said they won’t muzzle the American athletes, but they have also said that their top priority is safety, and have warned them about potential consequences — with the IOC and Russian authorities — if they go too far.</p>
<p>Taylor, from Athlete Ally, said that he might visit the official protest zone, and he echoed the concern about what will happen to Russian protesters after the Olympic torch is extinguished.</p>
<p>“There’s a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness and change minds at Sochi. These laws are still going to be in place after the games conclude,” he said. “My job in Sochi is to push that line to the extent that is safe and possible.”</p> | Missed Opportunity? Gay Rights Groups Will Steer Clear of Olympics | false | http://nbcnews.com/storyline/sochi-olympics/missed-opportunity-gay-rights-groups-will-steer-clear-olympics-n16866 | 2014-02-04 | 3 |
<p>SEOUL (Reuters) - Seoul welcomed confirmation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that 22 North Korean athletes would compete in next month’s Winter Olympics, saying on Sunday it would aid peace and the easing of tensions on the Korean peninsula.</p>
<p>In the first of a series of preparatory visits, North Korean music and arts officials arrived in South Korea on Sunday to inspect sites for performances during the Olympics.</p>
<p>“North Korea’s participation in the Olympics will be a catalyst for building peace and easing tensions on the Korean peninsula,” said South Korea’s presidential Blue House in a statement released on Sunday.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-olympics-2018-northkorea-athletes/north-korea-to-send-22-athletes-to-pyeongchang-idUSKBN1F90IY" type="external">North Korea to send 22 athletes to Pyeongchang</a>
<p>The visit to the South marks the first by North Koreans since South Korean President Moon Jae-in took office in May last year and sought to re-engage with the North.</p>
<p>“President Moon has previously stressed that the Pyeongchang Olympics should be an important turning point in solving North Korea’s missile issues,” the Blue House statement said.</p>
<p>The seven-member North Korean delegation, led by musician Hyon Song-wol, will check venues for performances by a 140-strong art troupe at the Olympics.</p>
<p>The officials are scheduled to spend two days inspecting art centers in Seoul and Gangneung city, which will also host several of the Olympic events.</p>
<p>South Korean broadcaster YTN reported the delegation had arrived in Seoul early Sunday under a heavy police presence, then boarded a train to Gangwon province, where the Olympics will be held from Feb. 9-25.</p>
<p>The two sides also agreed on Sunday to plans for another team of North Korean sports officials to inspect Olympic venues and accommodations from Jan. 25-27, South Korea’s unification ministry said.</p>
<p>In a diplomatic breakthrough after a year of escalating tension over the North’s nuclear and missile program, the IOC announced on Saturday that North Korea will send 22 athletes to the Winter Games and compete in three sports and five disciplines.</p> Flags of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Republic of Korea (ROK), the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and the PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee (POCOG) are seeing at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, January 20, 2018. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy
<p>North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency released a commentary on Sunday criticizing some South Korean politicians and media who have questioned Pyongyang’s motives in reaching out even as it refuses to honor repeated United Nations Security Council resolutions targeting its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program.</p>
<p>“There is no doubt about the sincerity and authenticity of the DPRK to improve the North-South relations and to ensure successful Olympics,” KCNA said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.</p>
<p>Until the IOC confirmation, a figure skating pair were the only North Koreans to have secured a spot at the Games through the conventional qualifying competition, although they lost their place after failing to register.</p> Slideshow (9 Images)
<p>Sunday’s North Korean delegation had been scheduled to visit on Saturday but canceled just before the visit with no explanation. Officials from both Korea’s used a cross-border hotline to quickly reschedule the visit.</p>
<p>Also on Sunday, South Korean officials said Pyongyang had accepted proposals for South Koreans to travel to North Korea for joint athletic training at the Masikryong Ski Resort and a cultural event at Mount Kumgang, a once popular tourist area.</p>
<p>Writing by Josh Smith; Editing by Michael Perry</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>Much was made of Villanova’s balanced, prolific scoring as the Wildcats mowed down one opponent after another in one of the most dominant runs through an NCAA Tournament in years.</p>
<p>Lurking in the shadows was a highly underrated defense, one that turned around Monday night’s national championship game with Michigan.</p>
<p>Allowing the Wolverines to make just 43.6 percent of their field-goal attempts and just 3 of 23 tries from 3-point range, the top-seeded Wildcats notched their second title in three years with a 79-62 verdict at the Alamodome in San Antonio.</p>
<p>In becoming the first team since North Carolina nine years ago to win every tournament game by double figures, Villanova (36-4) got a game-high 31 points from sixth man Donte DiVincenzo and 19 from Mikal Bridges.</p>
<p>Yet even DiVincenzo, the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player who steamrolled Michigan with a run of 10 straight points late in the first half and another burst of nine straight points in the second half, pointed to his defense as the most satisfying factor.</p>
<p>“The blocked shots, definitely,” he said when asked if scoring 31 points or rejecting a pair of shots pleased him more. “I pride myself on defense and bringing energy to this team.”</p>
<p>The Wildcats’ versatility and ability to play positionless basketball on offense also translates to the defensive end. Almost everyone in the Villanova rotation can guard multiple positions, allowing the team to switch screens if needed, and most of the player are quick enough to deny opponents their favorite spots.</p>
<p>Michigan (33-8) was able to execute its offense well enough for the first 10 minutes, leading on Moritz Wagner and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman to grab a 21-16 lead just over 12 minutes into the game. However, when Villanova started cutting off driving lanes and forcing the Wolverines to settle for jumpers, the game changed.</p>
<p>“They obviously played the drive better, and I turned it over a couple of times,” Wagner said. “You have to give them credit. They’re a really good team defensively and when they play like that, they’re tough to beat.”</p>
<p>DiVincenzo’s outburst made beating Villanova just about impossible. The Big East Conference’s Sixth Man of the Year scored 10 of his 18 first-half points in a span of just 2:55, keying a 23-7 spurt that turned a seven-point deficit into a 37-28 halftime lead.</p> Apr 2, 2018; San Antonio, TX, USA; Villanova Wildcats guard Jalen Brunson (1) celebrates with the National Championship trophy after beating the Michigan Wolverines in the championship game of the 2018 men's Final Four at Alamodome. Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
<p>Canning 3-pointers, scoring off the dribble and even drilling one long jumper over two defenders, DiVincenzo put Michigan in a hole it wasn’t about to escape.</p>
<p>“We needed to play better,” Wolverines coach John Beilein said, “but even if we had played at our best, it would have been very difficult to win with what DiVincenzo (was doing).”</p>
<p>Wagner scored to start the second half, but the Wildcats weren’t about to let suspense enter the equation. Continuing to string stops together while regaining rhythm offensively, they hit Michigan with a 14-3 run that Bridges capped with a 3-pointer for a 51-33 lead with 14:36 left.</p>
<p>The Wolverines kept working but couldn’t get closer than 12 for the game’s remainder. DiVincenzo peeled off nine straight points in a 2:39 stretch, finishing it with a 3-pointer with 7:57 on the clock to make it 62-44.</p> Slideshow (11 Images)
<p>Fittingly, it was DiVincenzo who dribbled out the final 10 seconds, flinging the ball toward the ceiling of the cavernous football stadium as his teammates mobbed him.</p>
<p>“We grind every single day in practice,” he said. “To experience this is a dream come true.”</p>
<p>Abdur-Rahkman paced Michigan with 23 points and Wagner contributed 16, but their best efforts just weren’t enough to hold off Villanova.</p>
<p>“I can’t put this into words,” Brunson said. “This is spectacular.”</p>
<p>Field Level Media</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>LONDON (Reuters) - Cycling’s Hammer Series will roll into Hong Kong in October with one of the men behind the novel all-action format predicting it could become the two-wheeled version of Twenty20 cricket.</p>
<p>The three-day, multi-discipline team event was successfully tested in the Netherlands last year, where Team Sky claimed a thrilling one-second victory and three million watched the competition in Limburg online.</p>
<p>Limburg will host another Hammer event in June as part of a series that will start in Stavanger, Norway the previous month and culminate around the streets of Hong Kong.</p>
<p>More rounds could be added in 2019.</p>
<p>The Hammer Series, contested by five-rider teams, is broken down into a climbing day, a sprint day and concludes in a pursuit in which the leading team from the first two days sets off first.</p>
<p>Last year, Team Sky held off Sunweb in a thrilling chase.</p>
<p>While it may concern traditionalists brought up on Grand Tours and one-day classics, Graham Bartlett, CEO of Hammers co-founders Velon, believes the Hammer format offers a bit of everything and can engage a new breed of cycle fans.</p>
<p>“There is plenty of space for all different flavors,” Bartlett told Reuters at his London office. “We want to be very clear... we are not trying to replace anybody’s position here, we are trying to add something new to the mix.</p>
<p>“Hammer was designed specifically to do something different but also to respect the three key skill sets in the sport, sprinting, climbing and time-trialling.</p>
<p>“We wanted to emphasize the team element because cycling is a team event at heart, and we want to celebrate that.”</p> ‘AUTHENTIC EVENT’
<p>Marketing and media company Velon work closely with World Tour teams, race organizers and broadcasters, and are best-known for providing live rider data and on-board video.</p>
<p>The Hammer Series, according to Bartlett, is another way of making cycling more digestible to a wider audience.</p>
<p>Last year’s Limburg event attracted a cumulative 3.2 million viewers on social media sites Facebook and YouTube.</p>
<p>“The key thing was to make it an authentic event with impactful racing that really matters,” Bartlett said.</p>
<p>“We were blown away by how seriously the teams took it last year. It was full gas every day for three days.</p>
<p>“Think of the passion of Twenty20 cricket, IPL and Ryder Cup, and the engagement the fans have with those events. The important thing was that teams and riders liked it.”</p>
<p>Team Sky will be joined in the 2018 series by world champion Peter Sagan’s Bora-Hansgrohe team while Team Sunweb, second last year, are fully committed to the races.</p>
<p>The exact nature of the Hong Kong finale is yet to be revealed but Bartlett promised a “big finish” to the season.</p>
<p>UAE Team Emirates team manager Carlo Sarroni said the Hammer race could help establish Hong Kong on the UCI cycling map.</p>
<p>“Hong Kong has everything to become an important appointment in the world cycling calendar and the Hammer Series leg will be the best way to make a huge step towards this goal,” he said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by John O'Brien</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - Seven cities, or joint-bidding cities have expressed interest in hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics, the International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday.</p> The International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters is pictured on the day of an Executive Board meeting on sanctions for Russian athletes in Lausanne, Switzerland December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
<p>Canada’s Calgary, Austria’s Graz, Swedish capital Stockholm, Sion in Switzerland, Turkey’s Erzurum, Japan’s Sapporo and an Italian bid involving Cortina d’Ampezzo, Milan and Turin are all in the initial process.</p>
<p>There is considerable Olympic experience in the field with Calgary having hosted the 1988 Winter Games and Sapporo having staged the 1972 edition. Cortina is also a former host, having organized the 1956 Winter Olympics as is Turin in 2006.</p>
<p>Stockholm has hosted summer Games but despite repeated attempts, has failed to land the winter Olympics. It last bid briefly for 2022 but pulled out mid-race.</p>
<p>The cities will now enter a dialogue stage until October when the IOC will invite an unspecified number of them to take part in the one-year candidature phase.</p>
<p>The IOC has overhauled the bidding process for Games after a sharp slump in interest from potential hosts in recent years, cutting costs for bid cities and slashing the campaign time in half.</p>
<p>“I warmly welcome the National Olympic Committees’ and cities’ interest in hosting the Olympic Winter Games,” said IOC President Thomas Bach in a statement.</p>
<p>“The IOC has turned the page with regard to Olympic candidatures. Our goal is not just to have a record number of candidates, but ultimately it is to select the best city to stage the best Olympic Winter Games for the best athletes of the world.”</p>
<p>The IOC has also simplified the seven-year preparation for Games organizers, reducing costs, upping the IOC’s contribution and allowing host cities more flexibility in planning for the Olympics and the post-Games use of facilities.</p>
<p>It will elect the winning 2026 bid at its session in Milan in September, 2019 but some cities, including Sion, will need to hold referendums first.</p>
<p>“In a city where we have a referendum we welcome the public consultation,” Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi told reporters. “A project of this size has an impact, hopefully a positive one, on the life of cities for a long time.”</p>
<p>The IOC said there had already been interest for 2030, from the United States Olympic Committee among others.</p>
<p>The 2022 Winter Games will be held in Beijing after four other cities dropped out of the bid race for fear of soaring costs and size of the Olympics, leaving the Chinese capital and Kazakhstan’s Almaty as the only candidates.</p>
<p>More cities dropped out of the 2024 Summer Olympics race with the IOC opting to award them directly to Paris and in turn give Los Angeles, which had also bid for 2024, the 2028 Games.</p>
<p>Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Ed Osmond and Christian Radnedge</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>GOLD COAST, Australia (Reuters) - Fighter jets and anti-drone guns will be deployed as part of a massive security operation to safeguard the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games which start on Wednesday.</p> Australia military personnel check a vehicle at The Gold Coast Convention &amp; Exhibition Centre in Australia, April 3, 2018. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
<p>Organizers said on Tuesday they had no “specific intelligence” of any threats to the Games but authorities remain on high alert in the glitzy coastal strip where over 600,000 people are expected to visit during the April 4-15 event.</p>
<p>Some 3,500 extra police have been deployed along with over 2,000 defense force personnel in the biggest ever security operation in Australia’s northeastern state of Queensland.</p>
<p>Private security firms have been contracted to provide thousands more staff to patrol dozens of training and competition venues in the Gold Coast and the other host cities of Brisbane, Cairns and Townsville.</p>
<p>Police on Monday discovered a crude home-made bomb left in a car at a shopping center carpark on the outskirts of Brisbane, causing a minor scare two days out from the opening ceremony.</p>
<p>A man was charged with two counts each of manufacturing and possessing explosives after police found two further explosive devices at his home, state media reported.</p> Australia military personnel check a vehicle at The Gold Coast Convention &amp; Exhibition Centre in Australia, April 3, 2018. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
<p>However, there was no evidence that the explosives were intended for the Commonwealth Games, Queensland Police deputy commissioner Steve Gollschewski told reporters on Tuesday.</p>
<p>“What it does highlight to us is that these types of incidents do occur, we have to give the community full confidence that we have checked everything — which we have done,” Gollschewski said.</p>
<p>Police have been given increased powers to stop, search and detain people at over 20 designated high-security zones, while the Australian Defence Force had offered authorities full access to their technologies and capabilities.</p>
<p>“That doesn’t mean we’re using everything but we are in a position to access what we need to keep the Games safe,” said Gollschewski.</p>
<p>That will mean occasional fly-overs at the venues by FA 18 Hornets, the jet fighters used by Australia’s air force.</p>
<p>Police have also been equipped with high-tech anti-drone guns to disable airborne objects that stray within “Temporary Restricted Areas”.</p>
<p>The bulky, hand-held guns are able to “detect and disrupt unauthorized drone activity” by jamming signals between the devices and their operators.</p>
<p>“We don’t reveal a lot of that technology ... The stuff in the drones space is very new technology for us and it works very effectively,” added Gollschewski.</p> Slideshow (3 Images)
<p>An added layer of security has been planned for a visit by members of Britain’s royal family, with Prince Charles to attend the opening ceremony at Carrara Stadium on Wednesday and also present medals during the swimming events.</p>
<p>Organizers are also watchful for major health threats following an outbreak of norovirus which struck down hundreds of security staff and personnel at the Winter Olympics in South Korea’s Pyeongchang.</p>
<p>Three athletes from the same delegation at the Gold Coast Games had been quarantined for 48 hours after being diagnosed with influenza this week but it was not expected to affect their preparations, the Games’ organizing committee CEO Mark Peters confirmed.</p>
<p>Organizers have little control over the weather, however, which could put a dampener on the opening ceremony.</p>
<p>Showers are forecast for the opening days of the Games and spectators should brace for a drenching if watching popular swimming events at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre.</p>
<p>Authorities were criticized for failing to build a roof for the refurbished venue but Peters shrugged off the weather concerns.</p>
<p>“We’ve got a 10,000 seat swimming center ... it’s open. It’s open because we didn’t want to spend tens of millions of dollars for six days and we’ve run championships in there.</p>
<p>“As the swimmers say, we get wet. So, we’re not worried about any of that.”</p>
<p>Editing by Amlan Chakraborty</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | Seoul says North Korea's Olympic participation will aid peace and ease tensions DiVincenzo, strong 'D' lead Villanova to NCAA title Cycling: Hammer Series aiming to nail it in Hong Kong Seven cities confirm interest in 2026 Winter Games: IOC Anti-drone guns and jets deployed in Gold Coast security blitz | false | https://reuters.com/article/us-olympics-2018-northkorea/seoul-says-north-koreas-olympic-participation-will-aid-peace-and-ease-tensions-idUSKBN1F90CS | 2018-01-20 | 2 |
<p>Several days after the mass killings at Virginia Tech, grisly stories about the tragedy still dominate front pages and cable television. News of carnage on a vastly larger scale — the war in Iraq — ebbs and flows. The overall coverage of lethal violence, at home and far away, reflects the chronic evasions of the American media establishment.</p>
<p>In the world of U.S. mainline journalism, the boilerplate legitimacy of official American violence overseas is a routine assumption.</p>
<p>“The first task of the occupation remains the first task of government: to establish a monopoly on violence,” George Will wrote three years ago in the Washington Post. But now, his latest Newsweek column laments: “Vietnam produced an antiwar movement in America; Iraq has produced an antiwar America.”</p>
<p>Current polls and public discourse — in spite of media inclinations to tamp down authentic anger at the war — do reflect an “antiwar America” of sorts. So, why is the ghastly war effort continuing unabated? A big factor is the undue respect that’s reserved for American warriors in American society.</p>
<p>When a mentally unstable person goes on a shooting rampage in the United States, no one questions that such actions are intrinsically, fundamentally and absolutely wrong. The media condemnation is 100 percent.</p>
<p>However — even after four years of a U.S. war in Iraq that has been increasingly deplored by the American public — the standard violence directed from the Pentagon does not undergo much critical scrutiny from American journalists. The president’s war policies may come under withering media fire, but the daily activities of the U.S. armed forces are subjected to scant moral condemnation. Yet, under orders from the top, they routinely continue to inflict — or serve as a catalyst for — violence far more extensive than the shooting sprees that turned a placid Virginia campus into a slaughterhouse.</p>
<p>News outlets in the United States combine the totally proper condemnation of killing at home with a notably different affect toward the methodical killing abroad that is funded by the U.S. Treasury. We often read, see and hear explicit media commendations that praise as heroic the Americans in uniform who are trying to kill, and to avoid being killed, in Afghanistan and Iraq.</p>
<p>In recent decades, the trends of war have been clear. A majority of the dead — estimated at 75 to 90 percent — are civilians. They are no less innocent than the more than 30 people who suddenly died from gunshots at Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>It would be inaccurate to say that the bulk of U.S. media’s coverage accepts war launched from Washington. The media system of the USA does much more than accept — it embraces the high-tech violence under the Pentagon’s aegis. Key reasons are cultural, economic and political.</p>
<p>We grew up with — and continue to see — countless movies and TV programs showing how certain people with a handgun, a machine gun or missiles are able to set wrongs right with sufficiently deft and destructive violence.</p>
<p>The annual reports of large, medium and small companies boast that the U.S. Defense Department is a lucrative customer with more and more to spend on their wares for war.</p>
<p>And the scope of political discourse, reinforced by major news outlets, ordinarily remains narrow enough to dodge the huge differences between “defense spending” and “military spending.” More broadly, the big media rarely explore the terrain of basic moral challenges to the warfare state.</p>
<p>Everyone who isn’t deranged can agree that what happened on April 16, 2007, at the campus of Virginia Tech was an abomination. It came about because of an individual’s madness. We must reject it without the slightest equivocation. And we do.</p>
<p>But the media baseline is to glorify the U.S. military — yesterday, today and tomorrow — bringing so much bloodshed to Iraq. The social dynamics in our own midst, fueling the war effort, are spared tough scrutiny. We’re constantly encouraged to go along, avidly or passively.</p>
<p>Yet George Will has it wrong. The first task of government should not be “to establish a monopoly on violence.” Government should work to prevent violence — including its own.</p>
<p>NORMAN SOLOMON is the author of <a href="" type="internal">War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Bowing Down to Our Own Violence | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/04/19/bowing-down-to-our-own-violence/ | 2007-04-19 | 4 |
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<p>Tim Carney writes in the attached piece that the small government types have established beachheads in Washington DC.</p>
<p>We have said that the Tea Party barbarians are at the gate and are now coming over the walls.</p>
<p>Matt Kibbe has talked about the “hostile takeover” going on in the GOP driven by people committed to small government.</p>
<p>But we are all saying the same thing. Serious change is here and a lot more is coming to Washington DC.</p>
<p>The DC Republicans are sort of amazed by the whole phenomenon. Wasn’t it just 3 years ago that everything was normal? What happened? The GOP got defense money and farm subsidies. The Dems got social programs. We yelled at each other a little bit. But in the end everyone knew the game. Get to DC and gather power. Get to DC and gather fame. Get to DC and gather money. &#160;Then these Tea Party people showed up and started bitching about cutting spending. What’s worse is that many of them actually meant it.</p>
<p>“Do you know how embarrassing it is when you’ve called yourself a ‘conservative’ for your entire career and then some snot nosed new congressman from Missouri or some other God forsaken place says on TV that you aren’t. And then offers proof?”</p>
<p>“No, I don’t Senator.”</p>
<p>“Well I’ll tell you. It’s damned embarrassing.”</p>
<p>“We should have killed the Internet when we could have. Now everyday people actually know what’s going on. And, well, that’s damned embarrassing too.”</p>
<p>(From The Washington Examiner)</p>
<p>Floor leaders and committee chairmen have always been the GOP’s main contact point with corporations’ political action committees and lobbyists. If a member stays on the good side of party leaders, the leaders make a phone call to a lobbyist who throws the member a fundraiser.</p>
<p>Similarly, if a staffer always played nice with the Establishment, that brought with it job security: Even if your boss retired, you could land on your feet, as the leadership would recommend you for a job in another office, or K Street would hire you.</p>
<p>You can see how this would make dissenting staffers and members watch their words and actions. Sure, members were allowed to vote against the leadership – as long as the leadership didn’t need your vote. But at the end of the day, you had to play ball, otherwise you got no money for re-election, and no jobs for you or your staff.</p>
<p><a href="http://washingtonexaminer.com/conservative-insurgents-strike-blow-against-gop-establishment/article/2542186" type="external">Click here for the article.</a></p> | The GOP Establishment Ain’t What it Used to Be | true | http://againstcronycapitalism.org/2014/01/conservative-insurgents-strike-blow-against-gop-establishment/ | 2014-01-16 | 4 |
<p>Last week closed the books on November, and what a month it was! The most widely used index for the investment community, the S&amp;P 500, rose 3.4 percent during the month, while the industrial and financial heavy Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5.4 percent. Both were overshadowed by the 11 percent move by the small… <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2016/12/the-expanding-mismatch-between-reality-market-expectations/" type="external">Click to read more at ETFtrends.com. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | The Expanding Mismatch Between Reality & Market Expectations | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/05/expanding-mismatch-between-reality-market-expectations.html | 2016-12-05 | 0 |
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<p>The S&amp;P 500 is hovering near all-time highs, so it isn't surprising that some well-known "big brand" stocks now appear overvalued. Today, we'll take a closer look at three "big brand" plays with frothy P/E ratios -- Coty (NYSE: COTY), Snyder's-Lance (NASDAQ: LNCE), and Mondelez (NASDAQ: MDLZ) -- and see if they're as wildly overvalued as they appear.</p>
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<p>Coty owns a portfolio of 77 cosmetics, fragrances, and body care brands. It produces a wide variety of licensed brands for designers and celebrities, and its top brands include Calvin Klein, Chloe, Marc Jacobs, OPI, and Sally Hansen.</p>
<p>Image source: Coty.</p>
<p>Last October, it acquired 44 of P&amp;G's (NYSE: PG) beauty brands for$12.5 billion, which added big brands like Covergirl, Max Factor, Wella, and Clairol to its portfolio. That acquisition made Coty the third largest beauty company in the world -- with the largest fragrance business, second largest salon hair business, and third largest color cosmetics business.</p>
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<p>However, those acquisition costs have weighed down Coty's bottom line over the past few quarters. Analysts expect Coty's revenue to rise 74% this year on the inclusion ofP&amp;G's brands, but earnings are expected to fall 33%. The acquisition has also inflated Coty's trailing P/E to 218 -- which is much higher than its industry average of 24. But once Coty finally digests those brands, Coty's revenue and earnings are expected to respectively rise 13% and 23% next year. Based on that forecast, Coty only trades at 17 times forward earnings -- so the stock isn't that pricey relative to its earnings growth potential.</p>
<p>Snyder's-Lance is the second largest maker of salty snacks in the United States. Its top brands include Snyder's of Hanover pretzels, Cape Cod Potato Chips, and Stella D'oro cookies and breadsticks. Last February, it acquired Diamond Foods for $1.3 billion, which added Diamond nuts, Pop Secret popcorn, and Kettle potato chips to its portfolio. It recently divested the Diamond nuts brand to focus more on itshigher-growth brands.</p>
<p>The Diamond acquisition has greatly boosted Snyder's-Lance's growth over the past few quarters, and analysts expect its revenue and earnings to respectively rise 39% and 27% this year. However, the acquisition also inflated its trailing P/E ratio to 107 -- which is much higher than its industry average of 33. But looking ahead, analysts expect the company's revenue and earnings to respectively grow 4% and 20% next year. Based on those numbers, Snyder's Lance trades at a more reasonable 25 times forward earnings.</p>
<p>Mondelez owns a massive portfolio of sweet and salty snack brands, including Oreo, Chips Ahoy, Ritz, Nabisco, Toblerone, and Cadbury. However, thecompany's quarterly revenue has fallen year-over-year for ten straight quarters due to macro issues in certain countries, shifting consumer tastes, and currency headwinds.</p>
<p>Image source: Pixabay.</p>
<p>Analysts expect Mondelez's revenue to fall 12% this year, but for its earnings to rise 11% on buybacks. Despite Mondelez's weak financial performance, the stock trades at 86 times earnings (compared to the industry average of 29) due to activist interest and takeover speculation.</p>
<p>Trian Fund Management's Nelson Peltz and Pershing Square's Bill Ackman areboth pressuring the company to divest weaker brands, adopt new marketing strategies, acquire other companies, or sell itself. Mondelez <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/13/how-much-could-mondelez-pay-for-hershey-co.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">attempted to acquire Opens a New Window.</a>Hershey (NYSE: HSY) last year, but the chocolate maker rebuffed the offer. Shares of Mondelez then spiked in December on rumors that Kraft Heinz was interested in buying the company.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, analysts expect Mondelez to post flat revenue growth and 8% earnings growth next year. The stock trades at a fairly reasonable 21 times forward earnings, but its long-term growth prospects (excluding acquisitions or a buyout) still look dim.</p>
<p>Coty, Snyder's-Lance, and Mondelez will all rise to the top of any searches for "overvalued" consumer goods stocks with lofty P/E ratios. But investors should note that Coty and Snyder's-Lance's numbers were inflated by acquisitions, and that Mondelez's price was lifted by buyout buzz.</p>
<p>In these situations, it's important to look at forward multiples. Based on forward P/E ratios, none of these stocks looks terribly expensive. But if Coty's acquisition indigestion continues, Snyder-Lance's acquired brands miss growth expectations, or currency headwinds slam Mondelez again, those estimates and forward multiples might need to be recalculated.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Mondelez International 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=d1bb2dde-a377-423e-9b4d-4f1405dec770&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 Mondelez International 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=d1bb2dde-a377-423e-9b4d-4f1405dec770&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 January 4, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSunLion/info.aspx" type="external">Leo Sun Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Are These 3 Big Brand Stocks Wildly Overvalued? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/29/are-these-3-big-brand-stocks-wildly-overvalued.html | 2017-01-29 | 0 |
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<p>There's more than one way out of an AMC theater. Image source: The Motley Fool.</p>
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<p>It might not just be the screen at your local multiplex fading to black. Credit Suisse analyst Omar Sheikh is downgrading a few leading exhibitors and companies that rely on multiplex operators to make a living. Movie theater giants AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC) and Regal Entertainment (NYSE: RGC) are being marked down, along with premium experience enabler IMAX (NYSE: IMAX) and pre-show advertising specialist National CineMedia (NASDAQ: NCMI).</p>
<p>Sheikh concedes that the slate of movies due out in 2017 and 2018 looks strong, but he feels that domestic box-office success has already been priced into the shares. He sees only limited upside from here, even with blockbusters boosting ticket sales.</p>
<p>Another risk here is that movie studios -- now in a position of negotiating strength given healthy market demand for their content -- may want to tweak the exclusive exhibition window. As streaming services and digital downloads grow in number, studios now have new revenue streams to paddle. If there is more money to be made by getting their films distributed digitally sooner than before, multiplex operators may suffer if folks decide they will wait weeks -- instead of months -- for a theatrical release to become available another way.</p>
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<p>Sheikh is lowering his rating on AMC Entertainment from outperform to neutral, but he's also raising his price target on the shares from $33 to $34. Don't take the increase as a sign of a mixed analyst report. The stock closed just $0.25 away from his new price goal yesterday, illustrating how high the stock has gotten since he originally pegged it with a bullish outperform rating. In short, he now sees the stock as fairly valued.</p>
<p>He has some company-specific concerns for Regal Entertainment and IMAX. In Regal's case, Sheikh points out that its largest shareholder has been a seller of the stock and may continue to sell. He's downgrading the stock from neutral to underperform, slashing his price target from $22 to $20.</p>
<p>Sheikh is changing his call on IMAX from outperform to neutral. Beyond the general multiplex concerns, where strong domestic box-office slates are widely anticipated, he sees IMAX's once torrid growth in China starting to slow. He also feels that some of IMAX's new initiatives may take another year or two before they start to pay off. His new price target for the stock is $34, down from $42 earlier.</p>
<p>Credit Suisse's analyst is saving his biggest move for National CineMedia, taking it down two notches from outperform to underperform. Sheikh is slashing his price target on the stock from $21 to $13. He sees this as a particularly challenging year for cinema advertising. Audiences will show up, but he feels that there isn't a lot of room for National CineMedia to grow its inventory utilization and rates.</p>
<p>One cautious analyst isn't the final verdict, of course. Moviegoers aren't flinching at multiplex operators boosting their ticket prices, particularly for IMAX and other premium screenings. Some of the stocks may be ripe for a breather after their recent gains, but the industry continues to thrive in an otherwise challenging climate. Investors of the publicly traded players may still get the Hollywood ending they crave.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Regal Entertainment Group 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=2d5ec8be-fb7c-40df-826b-12045ff5cc4d&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 Regal Entertainment Group 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=2d5ec8be-fb7c-40df-826b-12045ff5cc4d&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 January 4, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFBreakerRick/info.aspx" type="external">Rick Munarriz Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends IMAX. 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> | Is it Time to Bet Against IMAX, AMC, Regal, and National CineMedia? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/01/is-it-time-to-bet-against-imax-amc-regal-and-national-cinemedia.html | 2017-02-01 | 0 |
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<p>U.S. finance chiefs say they are mostly ready to deal with widespread health reform, but remain concerned about the impact it will have on labor costs.</p>
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<p>Many are prepared to shift that burden onto employees and customers.</p>
<p>Roughly 66% of the 751 middle-market finance executives polled in an annual Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE:BAC) study released Tuesday morning said their existing benefits plans already meet the requirements of the new health-care law. Of those, 28% said they are completely ready to deal with the upcoming changes.</p>
<p>Still, 13% expect to offer a slimmed-down version of current plans while shifting more costs to employees, while 11% plan to increase deductibles in current plans.</p>
<p>“Amid this optimism, concerns remain about health-care costs,” BofA wrote in the report.</p>
<p>When asked about the potential negative impacts health-care reform may have on the economy, 67% of CFOs named costs stemming from wide-scale health-care changes as a “significant concern,” with most fearing a potential surge in labor costs.</p>
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<p>To help mitigate those higher expenses, executives say they are prepared to shift costs to employees and cut spending in other areas of their business. A large chunk are also warning that the burden may be shifted onto consumers through higher prices for products and services.</p>
<p>The fast-changing health-care market is just one of many concerns for CFOs in 2014, with those worries followed closely by concerns over the effectiveness of the U.S. government and the nation’s budget deficit, according to the BofA poll.</p>
<p>Yet, the chief financial officers still paint a sunny picture of 2014 overall, with 90% of the 751 executives polled saying they expect to increase or maintain the size of their workforce next year. In fact, 47% expect to hire additional employees, while just 7% project layoffs for full-time employees.</p>
<p>In an unrelated employment survey conducted by Manpower (NYSE:MAN) of 18,000 employers, 17% said they anticipate an increase in staff levels in the first quarter of 2014, while a vast majority, 73%, said they don’t plan on making any changes.</p>
<p>The optimism can also be seen in sales predictions, with more than half of the respondents in the BofA poll, all from middle market companies with annual revenues between $25 million and $2 billion, believing sales will be higher in 2014. Almost all say they plan on unrolling at least one growth strategy next year.</p>
<p>“Middle market companies are increasingly exploring different paths to growth, from creating deeper relationships with existing customers to entering new markets that have great potential,” said Alastair Borthwick, head of BofA’s Global Commercial Banking unit. “With the right strategy and financial partner, 2014 can bring more opportunities for expansion and success.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in a smaller BofA survey of just 250 CFOs, half of the respondents said they expect the U.S. economy to expand in 2014. To give some perspective, just 39% bet it would expand in 2013. The number of executives who believe the economy will shrink next year actually halved to 12% compared with the 2013 poll.</p>
<p>That optimism is expected to encourage more CFOs to pursue opportunities abroad, notes Borthwick. Ninety percent of the CFOs in the smaller survey said they predict revenues from international sales or operations to either increase or remain the same in 2014.</p>
<p>“We have seen middle-market companies across the U.S. continue to pursue opportunities in other countries,” Borthwick said.</p>
<p>Yet, doing business globally can be challenging, he notes, and CFOs have started to seek additional financial solutions, including accessing more capital so that they can mitigate risk through flexibility and increased efficiency.</p> | CFOs Prepared to Pass Health Care Burden Onto Customers | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2013/12/10/cfos-prepared-to-pass-healthcare-burden-onto-employees-customers.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>BOSTON (MA)Boston Heraldby Eric Convey Friday, November 21, 2003</p>
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<p>Four priests whose psychiatric records are being sought as part of a civil suit against the Archdiocese of Boston asked a court this week to block the release of the documents.</p>
<p>Among them is the Rev. Jon C. Martin, who supervised serial North Shore child molester Christopher ``Ducky'' Reardon.</p>
<p>The priests argue that because they are not defendants in the suit, any personal information should be shielded from the public. Lawyers for Gregory Ford sought the records to establish a pattern of lax oversight by the archdiocese.</p>
<p>A decision is not expected until next month.</p>
<p>In a separate development yesterday, prosecution and defense lawyers in the criminal case against alleged pedophile priest Paul R. Shanley scheduled a hearing for next month to resolve disputes over sharing records.</p>
<p>Frank Mondano, Shanley's criminal defense lawyer, told a Middlesex Superior Court judge he expects to learn over the next month whether there are records he will need to fight for in court.</p> | Priests fight release of psych records | false | https://poynter.org/news/priests-fight-release-psych-records | 2003-11-21 | 2 |
<p>Sept. 12 (UPI) — <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Angelina-Jolie/" type="external">Angelina Jolie</a> and her six kids walked the red carpet together Monday at the Toronto International Film Festival.</p>
<p>The 42-year-old actress and her children, 16-year-old <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Maddox/" type="external">Maddox</a>, 13-year-old Pax, 12-year-old Zahara, 11-year-old Shiloh, and 9-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne, attended a screening of First They Killed My Father.</p>
<p>Jolie was all smiles in a black Ralph &amp; Russo dress as she posed for photos with her kids, who dressed in black, white, navy and khaki. First They Killed My Father author Loung Ung and the movie’s stars Kimhak Mun and Sareum Srey Moch were also present at the event.</p>
<p>First They Killed My Father marks Jolie’s fourth feature-length film as a director. She opened up about Maddox, who served as an executive producer on the movie, in an interview <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/879310/angelina-jolie-says-she-d-love-for-maddox-jolie-pitt-and-her-children-to-work-in-hollywood" type="external">with E! News</a> at the premiere.</p>
<p>“Maddox worked hard. It’s up to him,” the star said of her son’s future in the industry. “This [film] is very important to him, but I think so.”</p>
<p>“I might dream,” she added of her other children. “If I am to continue to be in this business I’d love to work with my children if they choose to be in this business.”</p>
<p>First They Killed My Father is based on Ung’s memoir, which recounts her experience as a young girl under <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Khmer_Rouge/" type="external">Khmer Rouge</a> rule in Cambodia. The film will premiere on Netflix and in theaters Sept. 15.</p> | Angelina Jolie brings her six kids to TIFF premiere | false | https://newsline.com/angelina-jolie-brings-her-six-kids-to-tiff-premiere/ | 2017-09-12 | 1 |
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<p>Mother Jones: When do you think we should pull out troops from Iraq?</p>
<p>Leslie Cagan: Tomorrow. We never should have sent troops in. How do you clean up a mess like this? You do it as quickly and as orderly and as efficiently as you can. There is no reason to delay the withdrawal of U.S. troops.</p>
<p>MJ: After American troops withdraw, will the violence in Iraq escalate?</p>
<p>LC: Our position is that while there might be some spike in violence—although it’s hard to imagine that it will get a lot worse than it already is—but assuming there is some spike in violence in Iraq, that will not be a permanent condition of life in Iraq. But we do know that if the U.S. troops stay for as long as they’ve stayed there will be permanent fighting and death and destruction. So the first step to getting beyond that and to moving toward a country with stability and security is announcing and putting into place the withdrawal of all U.S. troops.</p>
<p>MJ: What will prevent the violence from getting worse after troops leave?</p>
<p>LC: Our presence is a magnet for a lot of the violence. Most of the violence is directed at U.S. service people or outposts of the U.S. military and not internecine or sectarian violence. So if you remove the cause of that—I mean, I could be wrong, none of us has a crystal ball of course.</p>
<p>MJ: What if a genocide breaks out after a withdrawal?</p>
<p>LC: I think that what we should do there is similar to what we should have been doing in other parts of the world where there have been full scale genocides also, and that is using the authority that we have as the world’s greatest superpower to encourage and cajole neighboring nations, including other countries of the Middle East, to a conference table to figure out how a multilateral solution could be worked out.</p>
<p>MJ: Should this be a precondition to getting troops out?</p>
<p>LC: No. In fact, it should be the other way around. Withdrawing the troops will create the conditions for other things to happen.</p>
<p>MJ: How will we convince people to intervene in Iraq given lack of success elsewhere?</p>
<p>LC: I don’t have any guarantees. What I know is that this plan, and I use the word with great hesitation, this approach that the Bush administration has continued to use for these four and a half years now isn’t working. And what is required is a dramatic change in U.S. policy.</p>
<p>MJ: What if that international force does not materialize or does not work?</p>
<p>LC: I don’t know if we should assume that there would be a genocide. There wasn’t a genocide in Vietnam after we left. That is always the card that they pull out, that if we leave much worse things are going to happen. And I don’t see anything that guarantees or promises that that is going to happen. Things might get worse, but they also might get better.</p>
<p>Were we to be invited in by a legitimate government, and our forces were under the legitimate control of that government, that might be a different scenario also.</p>
<p>MJ: Do we need a contingency plan for a genocide scenario if no U.N. force is willing to intervene?</p>
<p>LC: I don’t know. If there is a genocide taking place someplace in the world, then I think we do have some responsibility to use our resources to try to involve ourselves in a process that would end that. Does that mean sending in the Marines? No. Does that mean bombing them? No, it does not. What it does mean is, I don’t know exactly what it would mean. It would mean really making, having the political commitment to solve problems, to resolve tensions, to work out international differences. Right now, we don’t have a commitment to international law in this country. That strikes me as a good place to begin.</p>
<p>MJ: Is there any contradiction between supporting U.S. military intervention to stop Rwandan genocide and opposing U.S. military intervention to prevent ethnic cleansing in Iraq?</p>
<p>LC: There is a little bit of a conflict or a contradiction there, but in general, we think the use of force by anybody must be a last resort and there is enough of a track record of U.S. military force not to trust it in virtually any situation.</p>
<p><a href="iraq-war-zbigniew-brzezinski.html" type="external">Previous Interview</a>&#160;|&#160; <a href="iraq-war-wesley-clark.html" type="external">Next Interview</a></p>
<p /> | Leslie Cagan, United for Peace and Justice | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/10/leslie-cagan-united-peace-and-justice/ | 2007-10-18 | 4 |
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<p>District representatives and the Rio Rancho School Employees’ Union began meeting Thursday to iron out their differences, and to approve an agreement that will stipulate the size of employee raises and outline other working conditions. Rio Rancho School Employees’ Union president Steven Eisenberg said negotiations stalled about 1:30 a.m. Friday.</p>
<p>Eisenberg said Friday he does not know how long it will be before a contract is in place and union members see their raises.</p>
<p>The dispute is delaying raises for union members, but it’s not the raises that are holding up negotiations.</p>
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<p>The district had filed a “prohibited practice complaint” with the district’s labor board, saying the union had gone back on a tentative agreement by providing a “regressive” proposal and that it earlier refused to set a date to continue negotiations.</p>
<p>One sticking point in the negotiations, according to the complaint, is that the union would like any union employee, even those who are not employed by RRPS, to have access to any district building so they can see bulletin boards, email and the intercom system. For example, Eisenberg is not a district employee.</p>
<p>The district says in its complaint that this would allow people who have not undergone a background check to enter the building and that the union would have access to restricted areas.</p>
<p>The union’s final offer also added a new job classification – certified occupational therapists – to its bargaining unit without previously discussing it with the district.</p>
<p>Superintendent Sue Cleveland sent a mass email to employees July 23 stating union members would not see, on their July 25 paycheck, the 3 percent raise the school board had approved for all employees.</p>
<p>“Any raises are contingent upon resolution of negotiations and/or impasse so, given the current circumstances, RRPS is unfortunately not legally able at this time to unilaterally impose salary increases to employees covered by the bargaining unit,” she wrote. “The District has had to take legal action now to resolve the negotiations process.”</p>
<p>Eisenberg posted a letter to the union website in response to Cleveland’s letter. He accused the superintendent of using delay tactics “to lay claim to more of our hard-fought new allocation that the legislature designated exclusively for educator raises.” He also criticized the district’s decision to give a “select few favorites a real raise in pay, while the rest of us fight for the scraps.”</p>
<p>The district has agreed to give its directors of maintenance, education technology, human resources, and research, assessment, data analysis and accountability an extra bump in pay above the 3 percent. The increased pay is meant to compensate the employees for extra responsibilities and hours they have had to work.</p>
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<p /> | Union, RRPS talks at an impasse | false | https://abqjournal.com/443379/union-rrps-talks-at-an-impasse.html | 2 |
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<p>Los Angeles Times Some of the fiercest criticism of the Iraq war coverage has come from inside the business, notes Reed Johnson. "Much recent criticism of the media falls along conventional political fault lines -- that the press is either too 'liberal' or too 'conservative,'" he writes. "In the years since Sept. 11 the criticism also has been politically polarized: We're not patriotic enough. We're not skeptical enough. We're anti-American traitors. We're flunkys for the White House and the Pentagon." &gt; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8434-2004Jan11.html" type="external">Dems think media are giving Bush a free pass, says Pew's Kohut (WP)</a></p> | Media insiders, observers agree press is falling down on job | false | https://poynter.org/news/media-insiders-observers-agree-press-falling-down-job | 2004-01-12 | 2 |
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<p><a href="" type="internal">mikecphoto</a>&#160;|&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Shutterstock.com</a></p>
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<p>In the aftermath of the Ferguson, Missouri protests of the death of Michael Brown in 2014, articles were written about the exorbitant fines assessed against residents of Ferguson, mostly minorities, and how these fines both led to and exacerbated a cycle of incarceration and poverty. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/05/ferguson-shows-how-a-police-force-can-turn-into-a-plundering-collection-agency/</p>
<p>Ferguson and courts notorious for excessive fines for minor traffic fines and quasi-criminal offenses (noise laws, loose dogs, etc.) aren’t the only way people are sucked into the criminal justice system. State departments of motor vehicles (often known as DMVs) are being used to criminalize non-driving behavior. Increasingly exorbitant fines for minor traffic infractions are leading to criminal sanctions that entrap not just the poor, but the unwary of any income level.</p>
<p>Let me give you an example. If you get a driving under the influence conviction in Virginia, the DMV will automatically suspend your license for one year. This is an administrative act, not an act of the judge who hears your case. You may appeal to the judge, not the DMV, to give you a restricted license to go to and from work, school, medical appointments, etc. This is a very restricted license and if you are stopped and cannot prove you are within the parameters of the restriction, you are charged with the misdemeanor of driving on a suspended license. In Virginia, this carries a big fine, up to a year in jail, and an additional suspension of your license.</p>
<p>All of this is well known and in the driving laws. But what many people don’t know is that the DMV may administratively suspend your license in Virginia (and other states) if you have ANY drug conviction at all, no matter if the amount of the drug is so small that your case was diverted or dismissed after you attend a mandatory drug program. And in many states (including Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Michigan) your license may be administratively suspended if you fall behind in child support or are unable to pay a court fine for any kind of offense (related or unrelated to driving).</p>
<p>In order to get a restricted license, when your license is suspended, you have to go to court at least twice (try navigating this without an attorney) and get a restricted license. Then you have to pay upwards of $250 in fees to get that restricted license. Obviously, if you have to come up with the money for a restricted license, then you are taking away from money to pay fines. But who, unless you live in a city with good transportation, can work without a driver’s license? Few people can afford the time and money it takes to get a restricted license, so they drive outside the restriction, starting (or furthering, if they had a DUI or drug conviction) a downward spiral into the criminal justice system in which they get deeper in debt and get increased jail sentences (meaning no work at all) often for something that had nothing to do with driving. What’s the upside to this? It keeps the money flowing to the courts and the local jails full.</p>
<p>The Legal Aid Justice Center located in Falls Church Virginia, a public interest legal organization, recently filed <a href="" type="internal">a suit</a> against the DMV in Virginia, alleging that the practice of license suspension for non-payment of fines is a violation of due process.</p>
<p>The suit also alleges that the practice is “fundamentally unfair”) to which I say, the criminal justice system has never been fair). The suit reports that in 2015, the Virginia DMV suspended over 360,00 licenses for unpaid court costs or fines, 38% of which were for offenses unrelated to driving. The practice in Virginia and other states is the subject of <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/drivers-license-suspensions-perpetuate-challenges-criminal-justice-debt" type="external">an excellent report</a> by the Brennen Center for Justice.</p>
<p>Over the years I have practiced law, traffic fines and court costs (for traffic and other minor offenses) have exploded. Court costs are your penalty for contesting your case. If you pay the fine without contest, there are no court costs, a financial driver that leads people, including myself, to pay the damn ticket. In jurisdictions where I practice, what used to be $20 court costs are now close to $100 (and some more), and the lowest traffic fines are no longer $25 but also close to $100. Some traffic fines in the District of Columbia are now an obscene $250-$1,000 (many “issued” by traffic and speed cameras) and non-payment leads not only to license suspension but to towing your car if it is found on the street with unpaid fines. To add further insult to injury, unpaid fines accrue additional cash penalties in some jurisdictions (often doubling or tripling the original fine amount) and most jurisdictions impose interest at varying rates until paid.</p>
<p>How many people can pay their fines and costs without going into debt? If you have a credit card, you can pay with a credit card, but the court charges a “convenience” fee for doing so. But many have lost credit long ago, because they don’t have a job, often due to license suspension.</p>
<p>I have seen clients spiral into years of trouble with the court system because of draconian fines and DMV suspensions of licenses. Those without access to public transportation or family members and friends to transport them to work will take the chance and drive on a suspended license. Many will get caught and go to jail, losing whatever job they had. If they must pay child support, now they don’t have a job with which to pay child support or fines.</p>
<p>The courts profit from this. As was reported about Ferguson, Missouri, court fines kept the town afloat. Even in affluent Northern Virginia courts say that they can’t function without increasing fines. DC traffic cops gave out more than 2.6 million tickets in 2015, with fines assessed at almost $200 million primarily on the backs of mainly working people trying to get to work and park their cars in the District. “Speed cameras” alone brought in almost <a href="http://midatlantic.aaa.com/PGA/NewsReleases?et_cid=NMHPPressRoom" type="external">a half billion dollars</a> in revenue in nine years.</p>
<p>What’s the solution? First, stop giving out tickets for every minor offense (a busted tail light is a favorite infraction and often a pretext for a stop that leads to further charges and, if you are Philando Castile, killed last week by Minnesota officer, in an extra-judicial execution. Castile had been pulled over while driving at least forty-six times from the time he got his license, and his license had been suspended and reinstated many times for <a href="" type="internal">non-payment of fines</a>. Since stopping and citing for minor infractions is too much to ask, as it would end the pretext stops (which is really what a “tail-light out” stop is about, the cop is hoping you will be given permission to search your car and find a little weed so you can be arrested, charged with a misdemeanor, and your car impounded) and make too much of a dent in traffic fine revenue, stop the insane escalation of fines and court costs for minor infractions. Governments say a license to drive is a “privilege, not a right,” and they use that privilege to marginalize those who cannot afford cabs or Uber or Lyft or who live nowhere near public transportation. Driving isn’t a privilege when you can’t live without it.</p>
<p>Next, stop tying non-payment of fines and child support to driver’s licenses. These practices contribute to poverty and crime, which, in the final analysis may be what it is all about, isn’t it? Keeping the poor poor, marginalizing further those already on the edge, and most important, keeping the prison/jail pipeline flowing with new “convicts” who, guess what? Have to answer that dreaded “have you ever been arrested for a misdemeanor” box on employment application with a yes. And yep, you guessed it, be unable get a job to pay those fines, costs, and interest. Ever. And if convicted of driving on a suspended license (which includes outside the restriction parameters if they had a restricted license) three times, they may be declared a “habitual offender,” a felony in some states, subjecting them to prison time and, you guessed it, another fine ($2,500 in Virginia) and license revocation of up to ten years. During the period of revocation, a restricted license is not available. Having achieved felon status, they have even a slimmer chance of every finding work, and no chance of getting a student loan or having access to other public benefits.</p>
<p>And so it goes.</p>
<p>Elaine Cassel practices law in Virginia and the District of Columbia.</p> | What’s Driving Got to Do With It? How the DMV is Conscripted to Do the Dirty Work of the Criminal Justice System | true | https://counterpunch.org/2016/07/15/whats-driving-got-to-do-with-it-how-the-dmv-is-conscripted-to-do-the-dirty-work-of-the-criminal-justice-system/ | 2016-07-15 | 4 |
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<p>LONDON — European Council President Donald Tusk and British Prime Minister Theresa May met Thursday to seek a smooth start to the U.K.’s EU departure, a day after the European Parliament laid out tough guidelines for the divorce negotiations.</p>
<p>The talks came as both sides are settling on their negotiating positions, and after some strong tabloid headlines in Britain about the bloc’s exit bill for Britain and the status of the British territory of Gibraltar.</p>
<p>The two politicians smiled on the doorstep of May’s 10 Downing St. office before a meeting in London that lasted two hours. Afterward, May’s office praised the “constructive approach” of the EU leadership and said “the tone of discussions had been positive on both sides.”</p>
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<p>Tusk said the pair had agreed to stay in regular contact throughout the Brexit process.</p>
<p>British voters in June chose to leave the 28-nation European Union and last week May triggered the mechanism that starts a two-year countdown on Britain’s departure.</p>
<p>The European Parliament on Wednesday backed the bloc’s chief negotiator in demanding that Britain pay as much as 60 billion euros ($64 billion) for outstanding commitments.</p>
<p>EU lawmakers also called for phased negotiations, in which divorce terms are settled before a new trade deal is secured. Britain wants the two strands to go hand-in-hand.</p>
<p>Draft negotiating guidelines drawn up by the EU also said no future agreement between Britain and the bloc would apply to Gibraltar unless both the U.K. and Spain agreed. That raised hackles in Britain, where some saw it as a bid by Madrid to assert control over the future of an enclave that has been British since 1713.</p>
<p>May told Tusk Thursday that “there would be no negotiation on the sovereignty of Gibraltar without the consent of its people,” Downing St. said.</p>
<p>May began a two-year countdown to Brexit last week by invoking Article 50 of the EU’s key treaty. But she has acknowledged that getting a final deal may take longer. She says there will be an “implementation” phase once a deal is hammered out so businesses and government can adjust to the new rules.</p>
<p>Full negotiations are expected to start in late May once the negotiating guidelines of the EU’s 27 remaining nations have been sealed in a mandate for the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier.</p>
<p>The foreign ministers of Portugal and Denmark said Thursday they want a negotiated settlement that serves the interests of both Britain and the rest of the EU.</p>
<p>Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said he hoped for what he called a “good transition” as Britain departs the bloc.</p>
<p>“We both hope to find a good solution with the U.K,” Samuelsen said after talks with his Portuguese counterpart, Augusto Santos Silva.</p>
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<p>Barry Hatton contributed reporting from Lisbon.</p> | EU’s Tusk, Britain’s May seek smooth start to Brexit talks | false | https://abqjournal.com/983579/eus-tusk-britains-may-meeting-for-brexit-talks-in-london.html | 2017-04-06 | 2 |
<p>Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign isn’t backing off <a href="" type="internal">the candidate’s claim</a> that America needs fewer teachers, firefighters, and police officers. Instead, former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu (R), a top Romney campaign surrogate, backed Romney’s call this morning, telling MSNBC that changes in technology and population shifts have made layoffs of teachers and public safety officials necessary.</p>
<p>Romney’s <a href="" type="internal">original comments</a> left little room for interpretation. President Obama “says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers,” Romney said Friday. “Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.” But to Sununu, the comments highlighted a “real issue” that showed Romney’s “wisdom,” he told MSNBC’s Chris Jansing today:</p>
<p>SUNUNU: Let me respond as a taxpayer, not as a representative of the Romney campaign. There are municipalities, there are states where there is flight of population. And as the population goes down, you need fewer teachers. As technology contributes to community security and dealing with issues that firefighters have to deal with, you would hope that you can, as a taxpayer, see the benefits of the efficiency and personnel that you get out of that.</p>
<p>JANSING: But even if there’s movement to the suburbs, teachers and policemen are needed somewhere.</p>
<p>SUNUNU: But I’m going to tell you there are places where just pumping money in to add to the public payroll is not what the taxpayers of this country want.</p>
<p>JANSING: Do you think that taxpayers of this country want to hear fewer firefighters, fewer teachers, fewer police officers, from a strategic standpoint?</p>
<p>SUNUNU: If there’s fewer kids in the classrooms, the taxpayers really do want to hear there will be fewer teachers. […] You have a lot of places where that is happening. You have a very mobile country now where things are changing. You have cities in this country in which the school population peaked ten, 15 years ago. And, yet the number of teachers that may have maintained has not changed. I think this is a real issue. And people ought to stop jumping on it as a gaffe and understand there’s wisdom in the comment.</p>
<p>Watch it:</p>
<p>The facts of many of the layoffs don’t back up Sununu’s claims. Classrooms are <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2012/03/26/elementary-students-in-large-classes-tripled-report-shows" type="external">busting at the seams</a> because there are fewer teachers, and cities and towns across the country are <a href="" type="internal">closing</a> entire <a href="" type="internal">public safety departments</a> due to budget cuts. And, as Jansing noted, even if the population shifts were a legitimate argument, teachers and public safety officials are still needed where the population moves.</p>
<p>Federal, state, and local governments have laid off more than 700,000 workers since Obama took office. Had that not happened, the unemployment rate would be a full point lower and the economic recovery <a href="" type="internal">would be stronger</a>. To Romney and his campaign surrogates, however, those job losses are a step in “ <a href="" type="internal">the right direction</a>.”</p> | Romney Campaign Chair: ‘Taxpayers Really Do Want To Hear There Will Be Fewer Teachers’ | true | http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/06/11/497293/sununu-romney-public-sector/ | 2012-06-11 | 4 |
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<p>The museum is located at 616 Central SW in Albuquerque.</p>
<p>The Torah exhibit is part of an educational program promoting peace and is from London’s Czech Memorial Scroll Trust &amp; Museum.</p>
<p>Officials say the Torah is one of more than 1,500 Scrolls, and other Jewish artifacts, saved from historic Czech synagogues during World War II. The scrolls were salvaged after members of Prague’s Jewish community persuaded the Nazis to allow them to bring the items from deserted provinces to a museum in Prague.</p>
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<p>They were later transferred to Westminster Synagogue in London.</p>
<p>Congregation B’nai Israel President Harvey Buchalter says the Torah gives insight to a Czech community that goes back 2,000 years.</p> | Historic Torah on Display at N.M. Museum | false | https://abqjournal.com/139440/historic-torah-on-display-at-n-m-museum.html | 2012-10-18 | 2 |
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<p>This summer, Mother Jones <a href="/news/exhibit/2006/07/exhibit.html" type="external">reported</a> on the ways the poor get taken by lenders who prey on the cash-strapped, including payday loans with average annual interest rates of <a href="http://www.responsiblelending.org/issues/payday/reports/page.jsp?itemID=28011858" type="external">400%</a>. It seems the government is finally <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Military-Payday-Loans.html?ex=1157688000&amp;en=f18aacf154d840a0&amp;ei=5070&amp;emc=eta1%22" type="external">paying attention</a>. But it’s not the pound-of-your-flesh interest rates that have the government concerned. Rather, it’s the fact that soldiers whose debts amount to a third of their income cannot be sent overseas.</p>
<p>This policy exists because major financial problems are thought to make soldiers more vulnerable to bribes that would force them to reveal sensitive information. If that’s the case, it’s another example of the Bush administration hurting rather than helping national security. Since Bush took office, the number of sailors and Marines who could not be deployed as a result of financial problems has increased 150-fold.</p>
<p>Payday lending outlets cluster by the dozen around military bases, where soldiers are paid <a href="http://www.dod.mil/dfas/militarypay/2006militarypaytables.html" type="external">poorly</a>. Currently, just 12 states have laws capping interest rates at 99%. Congress is now considering a law that would cap rates at 36%, and the Pentagon is on board. It’s about time.</p>
<p /> | Predatory Payday Lenders Ground Thousands of Troops | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2006/09/predatory-payday-lenders-ground-thousands-troops/ | 2006-09-01 | 4 |
<p>Smoke rises from the stacks of the main plant facility at the Navajo Generating Station, as seen from Lake Powell in Page, Arizona.</p>
<p>Ross D. Franklin / AP</p>
<p>This story was originally published by&#160; <a href="http://www.hcn.org/articles/coal-how-the-trump-administration-has-seized-mythologies-around-coal" type="external">High Country News</a>&#160;and appears here as part of the&#160; <a href="http://climatedesk.org/" type="external">Climate Desk</a>&#160;collaboration.&#160;</p>
<p>Coal.&#160;Guns.&#160;Freedom.</p>
<p>I saw these three words on a little sticker affixed, discordantly, to the window of a car in a small Colorado town. It struck me as funny at first: Coal and guns being elevated to the status of platonic ideals or, even more loftily, the refrain of a bad country song. All it was missing was Jesus, beer and Wrangler butts. A few days later, though, as I sat on a desert promontory overlooking northwestern New Mexico, the sticker didn’t seem so funny. As the sunrise spilled across sagebrush plains and irrigated cornfields, it also illuminated a narrow band of yellow-brown clouds on the horizon.</p>
<p>The clouds were smog, a soup of sulfur dioxide, particulates, nitrogen oxide and other pollutants emanating from the smokestacks of the coal-burning Four Corners Power Plant and San Juan Generating Station, on either side of the San Juan River Valley. The people of the Four Corners have experienced that cloud in one form or another nearly every day for the past half century. Our skies have been sullied, as have our lungs; mercury wafts from these and other smokestacks and falls with rain on Mesa Verde National Park and in the clear, icy streams of&#160;the San Juan Mountains. The plants suck millions of gallons of water from the river each day for steam production and cooling, and they leave behind mountains of ash, clinkers and sludge, tainted with mercury, arsenic, selenium and other toxic material. That’s all in addition to the tens of millions of tons of climate-altering carbon dioxide the stacks release each year.</p>
<p>We’ve been told that this is just the price we pay for power, that this is what it costs to keep the lights on in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, that we have no choice but to live with it. To stop burning coal, or even try to mitigate the harm, we’ve been told, will put thousands of hard-working Americans out of a job, skyrocket electricity costs, and black-out our lights and computers.</p>
<p>Coal. Guns. Freedom.</p>
<p>Now, however, as many of the biggest coal plants near the end of their lives, coal-fired electricity is going the way of the steam locomotive and manual typewriter. It’s becoming clear that King Coal was a big lie, a long-standing myth. For decades, we’ve been hoodwinked by the&#160;fetishization of coal, to the detriment of us all.</p>
<p>Navajo Generating Station and the cloud of smog with which it blankets the region.</p>
<p>Jonathan Thompson</p>
<p>Coal fueled the white invasion of the West. It stoked smelters, powered locomotives and generated steam, driving mills that processed tons and tons of rock. Newcomers heated their homes and cooked with coal, thousands of them toiling in mines to keep the fires going. The coal industry rose up on those miners’ backs, reaping enormous profits that lined politicians’ pockets. These lawmakers returned the favor by keeping regulations minimal and royalties low on federal mineral reserves, and by sending in troops to murder striking miners. “Coal is the fuel of the present,” crowed the author of a 1906 US Geological Survey report, “and so far as can be seen, will continue to lead … for a long time to come.”</p>
<p>Yet even then, Westerners were slowly shifting away from the expensive, dirty and inconvenient fuel. The electricity that powered the mines and towns was, by and large, generated from falling water. And when the pipelined bounty of the 1920s’ natural gas boom spread from New Mexico and Texas across the West, homeowners switched en masse to gas for cooking and heating, saying goodbye to stokers, clinkers and coal’s pervasive, greasy film.</p>
<p>By 1950, coal provided a mere 10 percent of the West’s electricity. Natural gas generation was eating into that slice, and plans for a network of dams along the Colorado River threatened to flood the grid with even more cheap, coal-displacing hydropower. Steam locomotives went the way of the dinosaurs, driven to extinction by diesel. American coal consumption fell by 20 percent in the 1950s alone; in the West it plummeted by 40 percent.</p>
<p>Facing an existential crisis, the coal industry executives knew they could not compete based on the merits of their fuel. Instead, they set out to imbue it with symbolism and mythology. Coal was&#160;not just coal, the lobbyists argued. It was abundant, reliable and deserving of a seat in the pantheon of American culture, alongside cowboys, guns — and, yes, freedom. (They also managed to convince the Sierra Club that coal plants were a green alternative to river-ruining dams.)</p>
<p>Most of all, coal was equated with honest jobs for hard-working miners (and voters) — never mind that mechanization and efficiency had been killing off mining jobs since the early 1900s. The shift from coal to diesel and natural gas was framed not as mere consumer choice between commodities, but as an attack on some ineffable American value.</p>
<p>Coal. Guns. Freedom.</p>
<p>The industry enlisted Sen. Wayne Aspinall, a Democrat from the coal state of Colorado, to its cause, and Congress created the Office of Coal Research in 1960 “to encourage and stimulate the production of coal in the United States through research and development … and maximize the contribution of coal to the overall energy market.” Lawmakers from coal-producing counties and states ganged up on other forms of energy, taxing natural gas, for example, or requiring public institutions to heat with coal, free market be damned.</p>
<p>In 1952, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released its “Study of Future Power Transmission for the West.” It revealed the perverse logic that prevailed at the time: Since both the population and per capita electricity use were rapidly increasing, new power plants were needed. The new power supplies would lower electricity prices, thus drawing more people and encouraging more consumption, which would then spur the building of more power plants, and so on. It was a recipe for a slow-building disaster, regardless of what fueled the power plants. Pushing coal as the main ingredient made it that much more catastrophic.</p>
<p>The authors of the report acknowledged that natural gas was relatively cheap and clean, easy to transport and abundant. Nevertheless, they recommended coal to power the massive fleet of new plants, because they worried that natural gas supplies might someday run short. In so doing, they signaled that the federal government, far from being “fuel neutral,” had a strong preference for coal. The mythology around coal became policy.</p>
<p />
<p>Starting in the mid-1960s, coal plants were built across the nation at a rapid rate, with more than 10,000 megawatts of coal-generated capacity — the equivalent of about five Four Corners power plants — added annually. Smoke-belching plants rose up from the deserts of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, including several on or near the Navajo Nation, sending their juice to the air conditioners, televisions and “electrified homes” of Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas. Monstrous draglines gouged into spare mesas, and smog settled over valleys and obscured mesa and mountain views. Each of the new plants emitted at least 10 million tons of greenhouse gases annually.</p>
<p>The coal frenzy was not dampened by the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1970 — it took years to implement the law, and even longer to enforce it. In 1977, Congress strengthened the act in ways that would give cleaner-burning natural gas a leg up. But that was nullified by another law, the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978, which prohibited the use of natural gas as a primary fuel for generating electricity. It was a blatant act of market interference, in which the government chose coal over cleaner-burning natural gas. Lawmakers and lobbyists argued the law would help the U.S. achieve energy independence, but that was yet another&#160; <a href="http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/the-circular-logic-of-energy-independence" type="external">myth</a>. All it really did was double down on coal, thus tightening a&#160;stranglehold on the nation’s grid that would take decades to loosen.</p>
<p>This April, in a move that harkens back to the 1950s, Energy Secretary Rick Perry launched a review of the electrical grid, clearly looking to kill regulations and otherwise prop up the flagging coal industry. Perry presumed that reliable and “critical baseload resources,” such as coal-power, were being unfairly bullied off the grid by “regulatory burdens” and “the market-distorting effects of federal subsidies that boost one form of energy at the expense of others.”&#160;Meanwhile, long before the review was complete, the Trump administration went about killing environmental protections aimed at keeping harmful pollutants out of the air, rescinded an initiative to get corporations to pay their fair share for mining coal owned by U.S. taxpayers, and halted a study of the effects of mountaintop mining — all in the name of reliability, affordability and, of course, jobs.</p>
<p>It must have been a shock, therefore, when Perry’s own experts concluded in August that government interference isn’t killing coal; the free market is.&#160;“The biggest contributor to coal and nuclear plant retirements has been the advantaged economics of natural gas-fired generation,” the study’s authors wrote, essentially repeating common knowledge. Furthermore, coal’s phase-out and the increase in renewable energy on the grid have not hurt reliability or, for that matter, caused a net loss in jobs.</p>
<p>The findings were of little surprise to industry watchers. Coal’s foreseeable decline began when Congress repealed the Fuel Use Act in 1987. That opened the way for a huge buildup of natural gas-generated capacity. When the shale drilling revolution glutted the market with natural gas beginning in 2008, an abundance of power plants were already on hand to put it to use. The Great Recession caused electricity demand to plateau at about the same time, and the combination of factors caused wholesale electricity prices to fall. The myth of coal as the most affordable fuel perished, though its greater symbolism has proven more stubborn.</p>
<p>The buildup of wind and solar power further decreased overall electricity prices in relation to coal. Playing a minor role in coal’s misfortune were “a suite of environmental regulations” — from the Clean Power Plan to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard — that, Perry’s review says, “had varying degrees of effects on the cost of generation.” While these rules do affect coal more than other fuels, they aren’t “unfairly” targeting coal, as the industry and its boosters contend. Rather, they target air pollution, and coal happens to be the most polluting fuel currently in use. Other Obama-era regulations are harder on natural gas — both the Environmental Protection Agency and Bureau of Land Management’s methane rules targeted oil and gas production, leaving methane-venting coal mines alone.</p>
<p>Between 2002 and 2016, some 59,000 megawatts of coal-generated capacity were taken off the grid nationwide due to plant retirements. Salt River Project announced it would&#160; <a href="http://www.hcn.org/issues/49.5/what-the-navajo-generating-station-will-leave-behind" type="external">shut down</a>&#160;its Navajo Generating Station in 2019 because the plant no longer made economic sense. Colstrip in Montana is slated to go dark in 2027, and Intermountain Power Project in Utah will close in 2025. Public Service Company of New Mexico wants to phase coal out altogether over the next 15 years, which includes shutting down San Juan Generating Station in 2022 and divesting from Four Corners Power Plant. It won’t be an easy task, since the utility currently gets 54 percent of its electricity from coal, but PNM analysts insist that more efficiency&#160;and a switch to natural gas, nuclear and renewables will cost their ratepayers less in the long-run.</p>
<p>Even the coal plants that continue to run are seeing less use, and different uses, causing coal to lose ground. The Navajo Generating Station put out 30 percent&#160; <a href="https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/#/plant/4941?freq=A&amp;ctype=linechart&amp;ltype=pin&amp;columnchart=ELEC.PLANT.GEN.4941-ALL-ALL.A&amp;linechart=ELEC.PLANT.GEN.4941-ALL-ALL.A&amp;pin=&amp;maptype=0" type="external">less power</a>&#160;in 2015 than it did two years earlier, for example, so if it weren’t scheduled to be shut down, it might just fade away. Two decades ago, coal plants were mainly used as a baseload power source, meaning they’d run at maximum output around the clock in order to supply the minimum demand on the grid. Yet in 2016, according to a Western Interstate Energy Board&#160; <a href="http://westernenergyboard.org/2017/08/wieb-webinar-on-the-role-of-coal-in-the-west/" type="external">analysis</a>, only a small handful of plants spent more than half the year in baseload operation.</p>
<p>So when coal plants go dark, the grid won’t lose much in the way of baseload power or the reliability it purportedly provides. “Reliability is adequate today,” Perry’s review concludes, going on to say that the loss of capacity due to retirements has been replaced, and that energy-source diversity is as high as ever. Another piece of the coal myth, smashed.</p>
<p>One of the few things that coal-generation has going for it is “fuel assurance.” That is, coal plants can stockpile fuel on site. Natural gas is more difficult to store, and relies on vulnerable pipeline networks. Solar and wind power are weather dependent. For the centralized coal plants of the Interior West, however, fuel assurance is offset by the fact that the plants rely on long-distance powerlines to deliver the goods, and those not only leak a lot of electricity, they can be taken out by extreme weather, wildfire, saboteurs and even squirrels.</p>
<p>Such practical considerations, however, do not make for powerful myth. Symbolism does. And the coal industry seethes with symbolism.</p>
<p>Coal. Guns. Freedom.</p>
<p>Perry’s grid review found that the coal industry has shed nearly 40,000 jobs over the last 15 years, but attributes those losses not only to the downturn in demand but also “increased mechanization and a shift to western coal” — the massive mines of Wyoming’s Powder River Basin need fewer workers than those in Appalachia to extract each ton of coal. For each job lost due to displacement of coal by natural gas, solar or wind power, another rose to take its place in an electricity generation-related industry. The Energy Department’s 2017 employment&#160; <a href="https://energy.gov/downloads/2017-us-energy-and-employment-report" type="external">report</a>&#160;found that coal power plants and mines employed about 160,000 people, while the wind and solar industry provided more than 475,000 jobs. Coal jobs carry far more symbolic and therefore political heft, however, since no one has yet figured out how to&#160; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diJreCtLXfA" type="external">romanticize</a>&#160;solar-panel installation.</p>
<p>When Obama was castigated for a so-called war on coal, it was not for trying to mitigate a catastrophic global habit, but for attacking miners, a powerful symbol in rural, white, American culture (85 percent of coal miners are white men,&#160; <a href="https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18.htm" type="external">according to</a>&#160;the Bureau of Labor Statistics). When Trump demonstrates that he “digs coal” by rolling back regulations, he’s banking on rural nostalgia and pushing back against Obama, who for portions of white America became a symbol of urban elitism, progressivism and blackness.</p>
<p>Coal boosters have meanwhile seized upon this mythology for cynical ends. Trump has used it to blot out Obama’s legacy (one of his few discernible policy goals), and to solidify his base of white, male voters. The regulation rollback is good for coal’s bottom line, yet instead of using the savings to hire more workers, companies have poured the extra revenue into executive pay and bonuses. Top executives in the industry&#160; <a href="https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_212100.htm" type="external">make</a>, on average, $200,000 per year, plus millions of dollars in bonuses, while a miner toiling in dangerous conditions gets just $55,000 — if he hasn’t been replaced by a machine. The pay gap has only grown as the industry has faded, as though the folks at the top are grabbing all they can before the industry crumbles.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, neither Trump nor anyone else is helping out the miners themselves, the humans behind the symbolism. The Trump administration has delayed or rolled back a number of&#160; <a href="http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/coaltattoo/2017/07/21/trump-dumps-and-delays-key-coal-mine-safety-rules/" type="external">rules</a>&#160;aimed at miner health and safety and nominated a former coal executive to head up the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Mining-related fatalities are up this year, with 20 deaths overall, 12 of which were in coal mines. And the Republicans in Congress are working hard to lower taxes on the rich — which doesn’t include most coal miners — at the expense of the rest of us, and to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, which although flawed and fragile, remains the best safety net many have.</p>
<p>If anything, the Energy Department’s review of the grid made it clear that rescinding regulations would do nothing to save the coal industry, or the miners who make it run. It offered very few justifications for saving coal plants. But that’s unlikely to stop Trump, Perry and friends from doing what they can to prop up the coal industry. After all, they’ve got the myth behind them. As for the land, the air, the water, and the people who live near and work in the plants and mines, they’ll continue to pay the price for coal, guns, and freedom. And if those ever become the lyrics of a country song, it will be a tragic one indeed.</p> | Why the Symbolism Behind Coal Is Still So Powerful | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2017/09/why-the-symbolism-behind-coal-is-still-so-powerful/ | 2017-09-23 | 4 |
<p>A US Navy helicopter crashed in Oman on Thursday, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/19/us-usa-oman-crash-idUSBRE86I12D20120719" type="external">according to Reuters</a>. The fate of its five crew members remains unknown, said the US military.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.navytimes.com/news/2012/07/navy-mh-53-crash-oman-071912/" type="external">According to Navy Times</a>, the MH-53E Sea Dragon, a mine-countermeasures helicopter, was conducting "heavy lift support operations" 58 miles southwest of Muscat when it crashed.</p>
<p>Two of the five crew members remain missing, said Navy Times.</p>
<p>"The crash was not due to any sort of hostile activity and the status of the five crew members is still being determined," said a statement from the US Naval Forces Central Command, according to Reuters. The crash is under investigation.</p>
<p>Lt. Greg Raelson, a 5th Fleet spokesman, said he was unable to confirm whether any crew members had been recovered, but a tweet on the Navy's official Twitter feed said three crew members were recovered, the Navy Times noted.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fox11online.com/dpps/military/navy-chopper-crash-under-investigation_4243965" type="external">Fox News said</a> another MH-53E helicopter was on the scene providing search and rescue.</p> | US Navy helicopter crashes in Oman | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-07-19/us-navy-helicopter-crashes-oman | 2012-07-19 | 3 |
<p>Published time: 1 Aug, 2017 10:24</p>
<p>A man was treated after being doused in an unknown liquid outside the luxury department store Harrods by two people riding a moped.</p>
<p>Police attended the scene on Monday evening after the moped riders reportedly threw the liquid into the face of a 47-year-old pedestrian.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/uk/397563-acid-attack-london-crime/" type="external" /></p>
<p>He was treated by paramedics at the scene and then taken to the hospital.</p>
<p>“Officers from Kensington &amp; Chelsea Borough are investigating, and at this early stage it is believed the liquid was thrown at the victim during an attempted robbery,” police said in a statement.</p>
<p>No arrests have been made at this stage and it is not yet clear whether the liquid used was corrosive.</p>
<p>The attack comes as police statistics reveal there have been 400 acid attacks in the six months to April.</p>
<p>This was according to National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) figures from 39 forces in England and Wales.</p>
<p>The London Metropolitan Police said its officers will start carrying specialist equipment in their vehicles to deal with acid attack victims.In mid-July Home Secretary Amber Rudd floated the idea of harsher sentences for perpetrators.</p>
<p>[embedded content]</p>
<p>“Acid attacks are horrific crimes which have a devastating effect on victims, both physically and emotionally,” she told the BBC.</p>
<p>“The law in this area is already strong, with acid attackers facing up to a life sentence in certain cases. But we can and will improve our response.”</p> | Liquid thrown in man’s face outside Harrods in suspected acid attack | false | https://newsline.com/liquid-thrown-in-mans-face-outside-harrods-in-suspected-acid-attack/ | 2017-08-01 | 1 |
<p>Don’t look back.&#160;That’s Sebastian Steudtner advice for surfing the in Praia do Norte,&#160;Nazare, Portugal.&#160;That’s because the waves he’s riding are 60-foot swells.</p>
<p>Steudtner is one of the professional big wave surfers participating in the World Surf League's Big Wave Awards in Portugal.</p>
<p>A video clip of him taking on one of Nazare's 60 foot swells went viral this week.</p>
<p>Each winter, the waves that hit Praia do Norte are notoriously big. These big waves are a result of a long underwater canyon that funnels water churned up by Atlantic storms.</p>
<p>“[The canyon] starts in the middle of the Atlantic and gets more shallow and more narrow as it turns into Praia do Norte and the waves kind of get stuck in that channel,” explains Steudtner, &#160;“So if you have big waves in Hawaii you have one dominant force, one swell that brings the waves. Here you could have four or five different storms or one little storm that gets pushed into that canyon and reaches the highest heights because of that.”</p>
<p>Riding one of these enormous waves is no small feat.&#160; Surfers are moving at 40-50 miles an hour.</p>
<p>“You have to deal with wind. You have to deal with chops,” he says, “You’re going so fast that every chop you hit wants to buck you off your board – it’s really intense.”</p>
<p>Fun session yesterday, solid team Eric Rebiere surf academy and Danger Dave. Ready for some mountains #letsgo #nazare #wirmachenwelle</p>
<p>Steudtner, who grew up in ocean-less and wave-free Germany, learned how to ride big waves in Hawaii.&#160;He moved to the islands when he just 13&#160;to pursue a career in wind surfing.&#160; He became a professional windsurfer at 16.</p>
<p>“Then I met a local Hawaiian family that were legends in the sport of big wave surfing. And fell in love with the big waves and it’s been a passion since I was a little kid. I love the water and to me it’s the most perfectly fitting and natural sport to do.”</p> | 60-foot waves — and daredevil surfers — hit this beach in Portugal | false | https://pri.org/stories/2015-10-30/catch-wave-and-youre-sitting-top-world-literally | 2015-10-30 | 3 |
<p>Police officials in the Bahamas say the search has resumed for at least 10 missing Haitians whose boat capsized as they headed to the US.</p>
<p>Eleven bodies have been found, and 13 people are still missing, after the boat, which was carrying Haitian migrants, capsized on its way to the United States, said the Coast Guard, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/12/world/americas/haiti-boat-deaths/index.html?hpt=hp_t3" type="external">CNN reported</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>According to Assistant Superintendent Loretta Mackey, the Coast Guard is assisting Bahamian authorities in the search off the island of Abaco.&#160;</p>
<p>Mackey said that the local Haitian community in Abaco is helping the Coast Guard and other officials to identify bodies retrieved from the water, <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/06/12/search-resumes-for-haitian-migrants-off-bahamas/#ixzz1xaiUVHRy" type="external">the Associated Press reported</a>.</p>
<p>There were an estimated 28 Haitians on the 25-foot boat that set off on Sunday. According to the AP, the boat had engine trouble, took on water and then capsized.</p>
<p>This is a breaking news updates. Please check back for more updates.&#160;</p> | Search resumes for Haitian migrants after boat capsizes | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-06-12/search-resumes-haitian-migrants-after-boat-capsizes | 2012-06-12 | 3 |
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<p>BOSTON — The ride-hailing company Lyft is now sending self-driving cars to pick up passengers in a Boston neighborhood.</p>
<p>The cars will have backup human drivers at the wheel and will be limited to short routes within the city’s Seaport District, a burgeoning tech startup hub.</p>
<p>Lyft and its Boston-based partner nuTonomy, which builds self-driving software, announced Wednesday that the pilot project has begun.</p>
<p>Boston city officials approved the pilot in October and say they hope to gain insight into how people interact with shared autonomous vehicles that could eventually complement the city’s public transit system.</p>
<p>Lyft hasn’t disclosed how many autonomous cars it will be running in the neighborhood per day.</p>
<p>NuTonomy was bought earlier this year by auto supplier Delphi Automotive. It’s also testing autonomous taxis in Singapore.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Lyft offers self-driving car rides in Boston | false | https://abqjournal.com/1102891/lyft-offers-self-driving-car-rides-in-boston.html | 2017-12-06 | 2 |
<p>NEW YORK - Former President George W. Bush admitted today that his name doesn't exactly confer popularity.</p>
<p>Speaking at a Bush Presidential Center conference held at the New York Historical Society, Bush said the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 that are broadly referred to as the Bush tax cuts might fare better in public debate if they had someone else's name, according <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/10/news/economy/bush-speech/" type="external">video posted online</a> by CNNMoney.</p>
<p>"If they're called some other body's tax cuts, they're probably less likely to be raised," Bush said. Here is a video of his remarks:</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>As President Obama prepares to defend the so-called Buffett rule, or progressive tax measures that would require high earners to pay taxes at effective rates similar to those paid by wage earners, Bush defended a signature legislation of his presidency.</p>
<p>"If you raise taxes on the so-called rich, you're really raising taxes on the job creators and if the goal is private sector growth, you've gotta recognize that the best way to create that growth is to leave capital in the treasuries of the job creators,? Bush said.</p>
<p>"But if you raises taxes, you're taking money out of the pockets of consumers and it's important for policy makers to recognize that all the doubt about taxes causes capital to stay on the sidelines.</p>
<p>"Uncertainty means that capital, the fuel for private sector growth, simply won't move."</p>
<p>The Obama administration proposes allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for households earning more than $250,000.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveschaefer/2012/04/10/george-w-bush-i-wish-they-werent-called-the-bush-tax-cuts/2/" type="external">According to Forbes</a>, which was the media sponsor of today's conference, the Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of this year and have been the cause of investor worries.</p>
<p>Fears that the US will not have the revenue to make pay back bond holders could cause the yield on US Treasure notes to rise, according to Forbes, which noted that the current rate of 2 percent suggests that this has yet to take hold. &#160;</p> | Bush: I wish they weren't called the 'Bush Tax Cuts' (Video) | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-04-10/bush-i-wish-they-werent-called-bush-tax-cuts-video | 2012-04-10 | 3 |
<p>JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Two suspected looters in South Africa were fatally shot bringing to six the number of people killed in more than a week of attacks on shops owned by African immigrants in the Johannesburg area, police said Monday.</p>
<p>The slain men were part of a group that allegedly went to loot a Somali-owned shop in Langlaagte, south of Johannesburg city, on Sunday night, the South African Press Association quoted police Lt. Gen. Solomon Makgale as saying.</p>
<p>It was not immediately clear who fired the shots that killed the men.</p>
<p>In a separate incident, police said a shop in Johannesburg's Alexandra township was set on fire early Monday. Officers arrived at the scene and the mob fled empty-handed, according to police.</p>
<p>The looting and related violence have disrupted life in the past week in Soweto township and other areas around Johannesburg. Among those killed was a baby who was trampled to death when a crowd stampeded outside a ransacked shop.</p>
<p>Calm was restored in Soweto after many of the foreign shop owners were escorted out the Johannesburg township by police, and high-level politicians and government officials, including Winnie Mandela, pleaded for peace in the township.</p>
<p>Ethiopian shop-owner Mohamed Hamid only restocked the shelves of his small Soweto shop once days of public violence and looting had quieted.</p>
<p>"It was wrong, someone made a mistake," said Hamid, talking about the incident that sparked the looting — the shooting of a 14-year-old boy by a Somali shop owner.</p>
<p>Hamid, who came to South Africa in 2003, said he will keep his shop open, although another shop was attacked just a few kilometers (miles) away.</p>
<p>"I'm scared, South Africa is a risk because so many people have guns," said Hamid. Police found eleven illegal guns among foreign shop owners and local looters. Hamid says that when South Africans are dissatisfied with high unemployment and poor government services, foreigners are an easy target.</p>
<p>This is not the first time violence has erupted against foreign Africans. In 2008, about 60 people died when crowds of South Africans targeted foreigners from other African countries.</p>
<p>JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Two suspected looters in South Africa were fatally shot bringing to six the number of people killed in more than a week of attacks on shops owned by African immigrants in the Johannesburg area, police said Monday.</p>
<p>The slain men were part of a group that allegedly went to loot a Somali-owned shop in Langlaagte, south of Johannesburg city, on Sunday night, the South African Press Association quoted police Lt. Gen. Solomon Makgale as saying.</p>
<p>It was not immediately clear who fired the shots that killed the men.</p>
<p>In a separate incident, police said a shop in Johannesburg's Alexandra township was set on fire early Monday. Officers arrived at the scene and the mob fled empty-handed, according to police.</p>
<p>The looting and related violence have disrupted life in the past week in Soweto township and other areas around Johannesburg. Among those killed was a baby who was trampled to death when a crowd stampeded outside a ransacked shop.</p>
<p>Calm was restored in Soweto after many of the foreign shop owners were escorted out the Johannesburg township by police, and high-level politicians and government officials, including Winnie Mandela, pleaded for peace in the township.</p>
<p>Ethiopian shop-owner Mohamed Hamid only restocked the shelves of his small Soweto shop once days of public violence and looting had quieted.</p>
<p>"It was wrong, someone made a mistake," said Hamid, talking about the incident that sparked the looting — the shooting of a 14-year-old boy by a Somali shop owner.</p>
<p>Hamid, who came to South Africa in 2003, said he will keep his shop open, although another shop was attacked just a few kilometers (miles) away.</p>
<p>"I'm scared, South Africa is a risk because so many people have guns," said Hamid. Police found eleven illegal guns among foreign shop owners and local looters. Hamid says that when South Africans are dissatisfied with high unemployment and poor government services, foreigners are an easy target.</p>
<p>This is not the first time violence has erupted against foreign Africans. In 2008, about 60 people died when crowds of South Africans targeted foreigners from other African countries.</p> | 2 suspected looters killed in South Africa | false | https://apnews.com/amp/bdaeeb02cfc840a79678e2b7e75fe88d | 2015-01-26 | 2 |
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<p>– Lewis Thomas</p>
<p>BETHESDA, Md. – The pedigree of human beings, Thomas wrote, probably traces to a single cell fertilized by a lightning bolt as the Earth was cooling. Fortunately, genetic “mistakes” – mutations – eventually made us. But they have also made illnesses. Almost all diseases arise from some combination of environmental exposures and genetic blunders in the working of DNA. Breast cancer is a family of genetic mutations.</p>
<p>The great secret of doctors, wrote Thomas – who was a physician, philosopher and head of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center – “is that most things get better by themselves; most things, in fact, are better in the morning.” But many things require intelligent interventions – cures. So, to see the federal government at its best, and sequester-driven spending cuts at their worst, visit the 322 acres where 25,000 people work for the National Institutes of Health.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>This 60th anniversary of the Clinical Center, the NIH’s beating heart, is inspiriting and depressing: Public health is being enhanced – rapidly, yet unnecessarily slowly – by NIH-supported research here and in hundreds of institutions across the country, into new drugs, devices and treatments. Yet, much research proposed by extraordinarily talented physicians and scientists cannot proceed because the required funding is prevented by the intentional irrationality by which the sequester is administered.</p>
<p>A 2 percent reduction of federal spending would be easily manageable. It has, however, been made deliberately dumb by mandatory administrative rigidities intended to maximize pain in order to weaken resistance to any spending restraint. Spending on basic medical research is being starved as the river of agriculture subsidies rolls on.</p>
<p>For Francis Collins, being the NIH’s director is a daily experience of exhilaration and dismay. In the last 40 years, he says, heart attacks and strokes have declined 60 percent and 70 percent, respectively. Cancer deaths are down 15 percent in 15 years. An AIDS diagnosis is no longer a death sentence. Researchers are on the trail of a universal flu vaccine, based on new understandings of the influenza virus and the human immune system. Chemotherapy was invented here – and is being replaced by treatments developed here. Yet the pace of public health advances is, Collins says, being slowed by the sequester.</p>
<p>He entered federal service to oversee decoding the human genome, which he describes as “reading out the instruction book for human beings.” We are, he says, at the dawn of the era of “precision medicine,” of treatments personalized for patients’ genetic makeups.</p>
<p>This will be, Collins believes, “the century of biology.” Other countries have “read our playbook,” seeing how biomedical research can reduce health costs, produce jobs and enhance competitiveness. Meanwhile, America’s great research universities award advanced degrees to young scientists from abroad, and then irrational immigration policy compels them to leave and add value to other countries. And now the sequester discourages and disperses scientific talent.</p>
<p>In the private sector, where investors expect a quick turnaround, it is difficult to find dollars for a 10-year program. The public sector, however, with its different time horizon, can fund for the long term, thereby drawing young scientists into career trajectories and collaborations impossible elsewhere.</p>
<p>Collins is haunted by knowledge that the flow of scientific talent cannot be turned on and off like a faucet. Unfortunately, recent government behavior has damaged the cause of basic science. It has blurred the distinction between fundamental research and technical refinements (often of 19th-century technologies – faster trains, better batteries, longer-lived light bulbs). It has sown confusion about the difference between supporting scientific research and practicing industrial policy with subsidies – often incompetently and sometimes corruptly dispensed – for private corporations oriented to existing markets rather than unimagined applications. And beginning with the indiscriminate and ineffective 2009 stimulus, government has incited indiscriminate hostility to public spending.</p>
<p>NIH scientists seek intensely practical, meaning preventive and therapeutic, things that can save society more than any sequester can. The scientists also know, however, that the enchantment of science is in the phrase “You never know.” You never know where things might lead. Sixty years ago, James Watson and Francis Crick published a paper in the journal Nature describing the double-helix structure of DNA and noting almost laconically that it “suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material.” They could not have known that this would lead to Collins’ career, which has led him here to days of dismay about exhilarations postponed.</p>
<p>Will’s columns, including those not published in the Journal, can be read at abqjournal.com/opinion – look for the syndicated columnist link. E-mail: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>; copyright, Washington Post Writers Group.</p>
<p /> | Government is damaging basic science | false | https://abqjournal.com/250312/government-is-damaging-basic-science-2.html | 2013-08-20 | 2 |
<p>Will Parrish on Obama’s boost for nukes WHILE Fukushima was in meltdown, and how US “Atoms for Peace” helped birth Japan’s nuke program; while back in US homeland “let them eat plutonium” mindset has maimed and killed for 70 years and will go on doing so till it’s stopped dead in its tracks</p>
<p>PLUS Shaukat Qadir on why Davis was in Pakistan in the first place PLUS Larry Portis on how much the French loathe Sarkozy.</p> | Why the Entire Nuclear Industry is Insane, Then, Now and Forever | true | https://counterpunch.org/2011/04/26/why-the-entire-nuclear-industry-is-insane-then-now-and-forever/ | 2011-04-26 | 4 |
<p>RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi women were allowed into a sports stadium for the first time Friday to watch a soccer match between two local teams — though they were segregated in the stands from the male-only crowd with designated seating in the so-called "family section."</p>
<p>The move was the first of Saudi Arabia's social reforms planned for this year to ease restrictions on women, spearheaded by the kingdom's 32-year-old crown prince. The kingdom has also announced that starting in June women will be allowed to drive, lifting the world's only ban on female drivers.</p>
<p>More than just an incremental step toward greater rights, the presence of women in the sports stadium underscored a wider effort to integrate women in society and grant them more public visibility in a country where gender segregation is widely enforced and where most women cover their faces and hair with black veils and don loose-flowing black robes, known as abayas.</p>
<p>The first stadium to open its doors to women was in the Red Sea city of Jiddah. The stadium in the capital, Riyadh, will open to women on Saturday, followed by the western city of Dammam on Thursday.</p>
<p>At the Jiddah stadium Friday, young Saudi women wearing bright orange vests over their abayas were deployed to help with the female crowds. "Welcome to Saudi families," read a sign in Arabic erected across the section of the stadium reserved for women.</p>
<p>"It's very festive and very well organized. A lot of people are just really happy to be here. I think there's a lot of excitement when you walked in, especially among the children," said Sarah Swick of the match between Saudi soccer teams Al-Ahli and Al-Batin.</p>
<p>To prepare for the change, the kingdom designated so-called "family sections" in the stands for women, separated by barriers from the male-only crowds. The stadiums were also fitted with female prayer areas and restrooms, as well as separate entrances and parking lots for female spectators. Local media said women would also have their own designated smoking areas.</p>
<p>"Family sections" are ubiquitous across the kingdom, allowing married couples, direct relatives and sometimes groups of friends to sit together, isolated from male-only tables at restaurants and in waiting areas at banks and hospitals. The sections also include women out on their own or in groups with other women.</p>
<p>Although only 20 riyals ($5.33) a ticket, the family section for Friday's match was still less than half full.</p>
<p>"A lot of people wanted to wait and see how it is. Some thought it wouldn't be very safe or organized," said Swick, who attended the game with her Saudi husband and son, and her American mother.</p>
<p>Swick, who grew up in Maryland and has been living in Saudi Arabia for the past nine years, has attended football games in the U.S. and soccer matches in France, but said she was impressed with how organized Friday night's match was.</p>
<p>"I definitely think we will come back," she said.</p>
<p>An Arabic hashtag on Twitter about women entering stadiums garnered tens of thousands of tweets on Friday, with some using the hashtag to share photos of female spectators wearing their team's colors in scarves thrown over their black abayas.</p>
<p>While many welcomed the decision to allow women into stadiums, others spoke out against it.</p>
<p>Some used the hashtag to write that women's place should be in the home, focusing on their children and preserving their faith, and not at a stadium where male crowds frequently curse and chant raucously.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is seen as the driving force behind the loosened restrictions on women. Still in place, however, are guardianship laws that prevent women from traveling abroad, obtaining a passport or marrying without a male relative's consent.</p>
<p>Set to inherit a country where more than half the population is under 25 years old and hungry for change, the young crown prince has looked to boost his popularity by curbing nearly four decades of deeply entrenched ultraconservative influence. His reforms, which include allowing movie theaters to open in March after a more than 35-year ban, are also aimed at creating more jobs and increasing local spending on entertainment as the country faces several more years of budget deficit amid continued lower oil prices.</p>
<p>The country's large, new stadiums were built with hundreds of millions of dollars when oil prices were nearly double what they are now. The government spent lavishly on them in an effort to appease young Saudis and provide spaces for fans eager to cheer on local clubs, as well as hold national parades and ceremonies.</p>
<p>In a one-off, the stadium in Riyadh allowed families to enter and watch National Day festivities in September — marking the first time women had set foot inside.</p>
<p>In 2015, a Saudi woman who tried to attend a soccer game in Jiddah was arrested after local media said she was spotted by security officers "deliberately disguised" in pants, a long-sleeve top, a hat and sunglasses to avoid detection.</p>
<p>Over the years, though, there have been some exceptions for foreign women.</p>
<p>In 2015, an Australian female supporter of Western Sydney Wanderers soccer club was permitted to attend a match at Riyadh's main stadium and a group of American women traveling with a U.S. Congress delegation also watched a local club match there.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.</p>
<p>RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi women were allowed into a sports stadium for the first time Friday to watch a soccer match between two local teams — though they were segregated in the stands from the male-only crowd with designated seating in the so-called "family section."</p>
<p>The move was the first of Saudi Arabia's social reforms planned for this year to ease restrictions on women, spearheaded by the kingdom's 32-year-old crown prince. The kingdom has also announced that starting in June women will be allowed to drive, lifting the world's only ban on female drivers.</p>
<p>More than just an incremental step toward greater rights, the presence of women in the sports stadium underscored a wider effort to integrate women in society and grant them more public visibility in a country where gender segregation is widely enforced and where most women cover their faces and hair with black veils and don loose-flowing black robes, known as abayas.</p>
<p>The first stadium to open its doors to women was in the Red Sea city of Jiddah. The stadium in the capital, Riyadh, will open to women on Saturday, followed by the western city of Dammam on Thursday.</p>
<p>At the Jiddah stadium Friday, young Saudi women wearing bright orange vests over their abayas were deployed to help with the female crowds. "Welcome to Saudi families," read a sign in Arabic erected across the section of the stadium reserved for women.</p>
<p>"It's very festive and very well organized. A lot of people are just really happy to be here. I think there's a lot of excitement when you walked in, especially among the children," said Sarah Swick of the match between Saudi soccer teams Al-Ahli and Al-Batin.</p>
<p>To prepare for the change, the kingdom designated so-called "family sections" in the stands for women, separated by barriers from the male-only crowds. The stadiums were also fitted with female prayer areas and restrooms, as well as separate entrances and parking lots for female spectators. Local media said women would also have their own designated smoking areas.</p>
<p>"Family sections" are ubiquitous across the kingdom, allowing married couples, direct relatives and sometimes groups of friends to sit together, isolated from male-only tables at restaurants and in waiting areas at banks and hospitals. The sections also include women out on their own or in groups with other women.</p>
<p>Although only 20 riyals ($5.33) a ticket, the family section for Friday's match was still less than half full.</p>
<p>"A lot of people wanted to wait and see how it is. Some thought it wouldn't be very safe or organized," said Swick, who attended the game with her Saudi husband and son, and her American mother.</p>
<p>Swick, who grew up in Maryland and has been living in Saudi Arabia for the past nine years, has attended football games in the U.S. and soccer matches in France, but said she was impressed with how organized Friday night's match was.</p>
<p>"I definitely think we will come back," she said.</p>
<p>An Arabic hashtag on Twitter about women entering stadiums garnered tens of thousands of tweets on Friday, with some using the hashtag to share photos of female spectators wearing their team's colors in scarves thrown over their black abayas.</p>
<p>While many welcomed the decision to allow women into stadiums, others spoke out against it.</p>
<p>Some used the hashtag to write that women's place should be in the home, focusing on their children and preserving their faith, and not at a stadium where male crowds frequently curse and chant raucously.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is seen as the driving force behind the loosened restrictions on women. Still in place, however, are guardianship laws that prevent women from traveling abroad, obtaining a passport or marrying without a male relative's consent.</p>
<p>Set to inherit a country where more than half the population is under 25 years old and hungry for change, the young crown prince has looked to boost his popularity by curbing nearly four decades of deeply entrenched ultraconservative influence. His reforms, which include allowing movie theaters to open in March after a more than 35-year ban, are also aimed at creating more jobs and increasing local spending on entertainment as the country faces several more years of budget deficit amid continued lower oil prices.</p>
<p>The country's large, new stadiums were built with hundreds of millions of dollars when oil prices were nearly double what they are now. The government spent lavishly on them in an effort to appease young Saudis and provide spaces for fans eager to cheer on local clubs, as well as hold national parades and ceremonies.</p>
<p>In a one-off, the stadium in Riyadh allowed families to enter and watch National Day festivities in September — marking the first time women had set foot inside.</p>
<p>In 2015, a Saudi woman who tried to attend a soccer game in Jiddah was arrested after local media said she was spotted by security officers "deliberately disguised" in pants, a long-sleeve top, a hat and sunglasses to avoid detection.</p>
<p>Over the years, though, there have been some exceptions for foreign women.</p>
<p>In 2015, an Australian female supporter of Western Sydney Wanderers soccer club was permitted to attend a match at Riyadh's main stadium and a group of American women traveling with a U.S. Congress delegation also watched a local club match there.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.</p> | Saudi stadiums open for women in a first to watch soccer | false | https://apnews.com/amp/54adcc61344744f492c0710f75524523 | 2018-01-12 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Hot off the CNN stove:</p>
<p>– This is not a one issue race. When asked what the extremely important issues of the election were, 42% of respondents said “corruption in Washington,” 40% said “terrorism,” nearly 39% said “the economy,” and 37% said “Iraq.”</p>
<p>– When asked if they approve or disapprove of the war in Iraq, 57% said disapprove and 41% said approve.</p>
<p>– And finally, not all politics is local. When asked if they voted on national issues or local issues, 62% of voters said national and only 33% said local. The death of Tip O’Neill’s axiom is good for the Democratic Party.</p>
<p /> | Early Exit Poll Results | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2006/11/early-exit-poll-results/ | 2006-11-07 | 4 |
<p>No one is so naive as to think there’s something intellectual or creative about ‘intellectual property rights’. They protect even the worst Britney Spears wannabe from Britney-Spears-wannabe wannabes. Music company lawyers may talk about protecting an ‘artist’s works’ against debasement or corruption, but the ‘protection’ of intellectual property is also a licence to debase and corrupt. For those who don’t posses them, intellectual property rights do indeed protect the ‘works’ against debasement, or for that matter ennoblement. Those that do possess the rights to a work – not necessarily the artists themselves – can debase and corrupt it as much as they like. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard a composition by Little Walter, one of the three or four true giants of the blues, used to advertise tampons. Whoever came up with that had no doubt intellectual property in the music. On the other hand, the composition techniques central to classic blues, which involve extensive borrowing from others, now count as piratical. Today, Robert Johnson or Blind Lemon Jefferson would be looking at fines or lawsuits for their work.</p>
<p>Most debates on intellectual property focus on its limits, which have been stretched as far as lobbyists can stretch them. Few people now remember that the original notion of music or literary ‘piracy’ was copying for resale: a ‘pirated edition’ was not just any copy of a protected work, but copies printed for commercial use. Today, every hall-monitor type has bought into the notion that non-commercial copying is ‘theft’, no matter how often commentators remark that, when theft occurs, the victim doesn’t normally retain what is stolen. And a whole generation of suckers is learning that, when they buy a CD, they aren’t buying those tracks to do as they please with – heavens no! – but a licence to use those tracks, one which does not extend to such enormities as giving music away.</p>
<p>Sharing music is not theft or piracy. Is it harmful? Certainly it is, to some people. So are many impeccably legal practices, like automating production lines, or sharing clothes or cars or apartments, or amateur entertainment, or do-it-yourself home repair. Any of these activities can destroy someone’s livelihood, though none so much as free competition itself: this great god of business ideologues of course very frequently eliminates the jobs at less competitive firms. Those laid off are quite often left homeless and destitute. If harming livelihood is going to be a justification for restricting the use of what you possess, the restrictions will soon become intolerable.</p>
<p>In addition one might ask: are the music and film industries really contributing something vital to our intellect or civilization these days? If so, how exactly is this contribution to be managed?</p>
<p>Since so many products of the music industry have nothing much to do with art, blanket protection of commercial musicians would be a pretty inefficient way to protect art or artists. And if these non-artists are essentially in business, and technology eliminates most of their profits, well, say hello to market forces.</p>
<p>Protecting every last penny Britney might possibly make does not do a whole hell of a lot for the many acknowledged masters of popular music now living in poverty. They were ripped off by the very industry now so desperate to protect artistic achievement. Protecting genuine artists, one would think, is most efficiently achieved by direct rewards for artistic merit, judged by their peers or by whatever other procedure seems to make sense. And if someone comes along to proclaim that none of us can judge artistic merit, what’s all the fuss about? How do we know that any music is more than a merely commercial product, whose value has no more claim to be protected by technology than horses and buggies?</p>
<p>There are more basic questions as well. Odd, with all the endless talk of technology bringing ‘new paradigms’, that ‘paradigm’ which most obviously needs renewal is never discussed – that of property itself. The current unrepentant popularity of filesharing indicates that the alleged property-rights of rock stars and music companies no longer command much respect. On the other hand, there is some concern that legitimate holders of these rights, artists who have not become corporate cash cows, are poorly served. Technology is the catalyst rather than the cause of these reactions. The cause is the conflict between property rights as currently conceived and the ideas underlying those rights.</p>
<p>Many people feel that current systems of property rights, though imperfect, are nevertheless essential; without them civilization itself would collapse. But these systems, as the mp3 controversy indicates, get into trouble when they exceed by too much the justifications that underlie them. What underlies them cannot be a body of law: it should be obvious by now that, since laws are often unjust, the mere fact that something is law provides no even moderately compelling reason to respect it. It can be right or wrong to obey the law, and to make it right, the law must have some moral foundation – even if the foundations of morality itself are debatable. Only a law widely perceived as right can have some claim to be respected.</p>
<p>What then are the moral principles that underlie property? They are not the laws of contract or transfer, because these presuppose rather than create a property in things: someone must already own something for it to figure in contractual arrangements. What is it, then, that would entitle someone to have something in the first place?</p>
<p>This question has attracted remarkably few answers. There is the radical theory that we have rights only to what we truly need. This theory is often thought utopian, or dangerous to the social order, and therefore rejected. Suppose for the sake of argument that this rejection is justified. Still, the foundations of property will be a lot shakier than usually supposed.</p>
<p>Really, theorists present only two reasons – other than contractual or ‘social fabric’ reasons – why anyone morally ought to acquire a property in anything, and the two reasons nearly converge into one. I can deserve something through my merit, or because I have worked on it. Sometimes merit seems to predominate, which is why more talented athletes or musicians or engineers are thought to deserve more money than their equally hard-working but less talented counterparts. Sometimes work seems to predominate, as when everyone on an assembly line is paid the same even if the more experienced workers have more skills. Often we’re unsure about the relative weights of merit and work.</p>
<p>Both the merit and the work justifications of property involve special cases of the broad notion of desert, or what you have coming to you. They make desert a function of some valuable efforts – valuable because on the one hand they are skilled or creative or daring, on the other because they are diligent and persistent. When John Locke justified property because someone had ‘mixed his labour’ with the soil, the idea was that this person deserved ‘the fruits of his efforts’, which suggests both that the work and the skills involved had some value in some way transferred to their objects. (Locke also seemed to think that my property rights should not deprive others of what they need, but that’s another story). So far, so good, but there is an elephant in the room. Desert itself is not infinite. It has limits.</p>
<p>There are at least two ways of expressing these limits, in money and in time. We use neither, because our notions of property, contrary to all logic, ignore these limits. We allow, for example, labor to give us title to land forever, no matter how great a value that land may come to have. Consider homesteading schemes where working the soil gives you title to the land: my labour of, say, several months may reap a multimillion dollar ‘reward’ for my descendants. Similarly, my talent in composing a song may get a payback in the millions. Moreover there is no proportion here. Someone whose labour or talent is equal to mine may eventually, due to the vagaries of the market, get far less. Not every homesteader’s land eventually becomes a key parcel in some huge urban development, and not every great song gets promoted into a hit. This lack of proportion is especially glaring today, when no one would claim that the earnings of a song correspond to either the work that went into it, or its merit. Property is therefore all but detached from its foundations.</p>
<p>Theories of property haven’t addressed this problem largely because they are rooted in an ancient concern, how to establish a property right over unoccupied land. This is a question remote from the concerns of contemporary consumers, as were the older intellectual property fights about copyright and patent. But the mp3 revolution raised new concerns: what? I suddenly can’t share the music collection I built up over the years? No one ever said I couldn’t give away my clothes or my books or my car. A system of property supposedly enshrining the ‘right to be selfish’ now goes further; it makes being unselfish a crime.</p>
<p>If this doesn’t seem to make sense, it’s because property rights now extend too far beyond their foundations. Yes, Metallica certainly does have a property right in its music, a right proportionate to some combination of the work they put into its composition, and the merit or skill attached to that work. But this work and merit does not entitle them to every penny that can be made off the work, much less to every penny that can be made if they go after file-sharers. How much does the band deserve for a single famous track? A good deal less, I’d imagine, than Little Walter deserved for ‘Juke’, and probably not a lot more than what the really good bar bands in your city deserve for their best numbers. Whatever the amount, it needs to be specified, and once that money is made, Metallica no longer has any property right whatever to that track. This approach simply expresses in dollar terms something like what copyright law expresses in terms of time when it makes the property in a song expire after a certain number of years. The problem is that, in the case of music, copyright should be tied to earnings as well. Earnings can outstrip desert long before current copyright properties expire.</p>
<p>Of course it is impractical to assess each track of each artist on its merits, and to determine the appropriate extent of property rights on the basis of those merits. But it’s also unnecessary. Proportioning property rights to merit is no more or less difficult than proportioning wages to work, or crime to punishment, or welfare to welfare recipients, or taxes to incomes. In all these cases, societies use rules of thumb, and makes exceptions in individual cases. That’s how a society would devise appropriate rules for ‘intellectual’ property. A song should be someone’s property for a standard period of time or until a certain amount of money is made from it, whichever comes first. In cases of exceptional merit, these limits could be extended, and this too can involve both rules of thumb and judgement of particular cases. Maybe the great R&amp;B artists who got ripped off by their record companies would get extended copyright; Britney probably wouldn’t.</p>
<p>These suggestions don’t describe a solution but they prepare the ground for one. A society might decide that every artist really does deserve exactly what we have in the US today: a property in his productions lasting seventy years after his death. But society’s decisions aren’t necessarily right, and individuals might correctly believe that other arrangements would more closely correspond to the appropriate rewards for artistic effort and merit. For example, one might suppose that, by default, no one was entitled to more than $100,000 for a song, which should become public domain once this mark was passed.</p>
<p>As for artists who don’t have big hits, their recordings might be protected for much less time than now, say two years, unless some standards body decided , in a particular case, to extend that period. Protection schemes might be replaced by a musicians’ association which paid certain categories of artists for their work. These funds might be sustained by the association itself, by a regular government budget allocation, by a media tax, or by some combination of these alternatives. But one thing would change for certain: no longer would those who challenged current notions of intellectual property be stigmatized as ‘thieves’.</p>
<p>Whatever the law, whatever the social consensus, there just isn’t any way some third party has a moral right to make money out of Little Walter tampon ads. If the law says otherwise, the law is an ass.</p>
<p>MICHAEL NEUMANN is a professor of philosophy at Trent University in Ontario, Canada. Professor Neumann’s views are not to be taken as those of his university. His book <a href="" type="internal">What’s Left: Radical Politics and the Radical Psyche</a> has just been republished by Broadview Press. He contributed the essay, “What is Anti-Semitism”, to CounterPunch’s book, <a href="http://www.easycarts.net/ecarts/CounterPunch/CP_Books.html" type="external">The Politics of Anti-Semitism</a>. In September 2005, CounterPunch/AK Press will publish Neumann’s new book, The Case Against Israel. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected].</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Property Gone Wild | true | https://counterpunch.org/2005/06/07/property-gone-wild/ | 2005-06-07 | 4 |
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<p />
<p>For several years, the two major parties have been moving gradually toward opposite poles: Democrats growing more liberal and secular, Republicans becoming more conservative and religious. But a new survey out this week shows just how far and how fast the GOP has gone toward becoming a collection of older, white, evangelical Christians defined as much by religion as by politics.</p>
<p>The nonpartisan Pew Research Center released the results of an extensive poll done earlier this year on Americans’ views of evolution. Like other polls, it shows that overall views are stable: Sixty percent believe that humans have evolved over time, statistically the same as the 61 percent who said so in 2009.</p>
<p>But within those results, there was a huge shift in the beliefs of Republicans: 48 percent now say that humans have existed in our present form from the beginning, compared to 43 percent who say we have evolved, either with or without help from a supreme being.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>That’s an 11-point swing from just four years ago, when 54 percent believed in evolution.</p>
<p>Forget climate-change skepticism: Republicans have turned, suddenly and sharply, against Darwin.</p>
<p>How to explain this most unexpected mutation? Given the stability of views on evolution (Gallup polling has found responses essentially the same over the last quarter-century), it’s unlikely that large numbers of Republicans actually changed their beliefs.</p>
<p>More likely, it’s that the type of people willing to identify themselves as Republicans increasingly tend to be a narrow group of conservatives who believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible – or partisans who regard evolution as a political question rather than one of science.</p>
<p>The Pew poll also found that the share of Republicans who attend worship services weekly or more is 52 percent, up five points from 2009, and the number who identify themselves as conservative is 71 percent, up six points from 2009. The party remains overwhelmingly white, at 86 percent, and the number of those 50 to 64 and 65 and older climbed seven points and two points, respectively.</p>
<p>Not all of these changes are statistically significant, but they are consistent with other findings.</p>
<p>For example, an analysis of exit polls from the early Republican primaries in 2012 by Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition found that over 50 percent of participants were evangelical Christians, a record high, up from the 44 percent of 2008.</p>
<p>This continues a long-term trend in which both parties are shrinking into smaller entities at opposite extremes. The gap on social issues between Democrats and Republicans (and independents who lean toward one party or the other) has nearly doubled over the last quarter-century.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Republicans are by far the more ideologically homogenous of the two (seven in 10 are conservative, versus fewer than four in 10 Democrats who are liberal).</p>
<p>Because Republicans were already about as religious as they could get, most of the growing gap in recent years has come from Democrats becoming more secular: The number of Democrats who say they never doubt the existence of God has dropped 11 points over the last quarter-century, to 77 percent, while the number of Republicans who have no doubt is 92 percent, versus 91 percent 25 years earlier.</p>
<p>That’s what makes the evolution survey extraordinary: The Republican Party is achieving the seemingly impossible feat of becoming even more theological.</p>
<p>Democrats and independents haven’t moved much in their views, while Republicans took a sharp turn toward fundamentalism.</p>
<p>“The increasing gap isn’t surprising,” says Alan Cooperman, my former Washington Post colleague who is now director of religion research at Pew. “What’s surprising is it’s the Republicans shifting, not the Democrats.”</p>
<p>As a matter of political Darwinism, the Republicans’ mutation is not likely to help the GOP’s survival. As the country overall becomes racially diverse and more secular, Republicans are resolutely white and increasingly devout. If current trends persist, it will only be a couple of decades before they join the dodo and saber-toothed tiger.</p>
<p>But give Republicans credit for this: They don’t just doubt the theory of evolution; they’re out to prove it wrong.</p>
<p>If they believed in the survival of the fittest, they’d be expanding their racial and ideological diversity. Instead, they’re trying to demonstrate that devotion to God can trump the Darwinian rules of politics.</p>
<p>Keep them in your prayers.</p>
<p>Email: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group.</p>
<p /> | Darwinism may claim the GOP | false | https://abqjournal.com/330103/darwinism-may-claim-the-gop.html | 2 |
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<p>Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) will likely make more mortgage loans in the fourth quarter of this year than in the same period a year ago as it focuses on lending directly to consumers, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The second-largest U.S. bank by assets has been streamlining its mortgage processes to keep up with high volume, Moynihan said at an investor conference in New York.</p>
<p>"We are not doing the job we need to do on mortgage yet," Moynihan said. "We know that."</p>
<p>In the fourth quarter of 2011, the bank made $21.6 billion in first mortgages after exiting the business of buying loans from other banks and mortgage companies.</p> | BofA CEO Expects More Mortgage Volume | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/12/04/bofa-ceo-expects-more-mortgage-volume.html | 2016-03-03 | 0 |
<p>ATLANTA (AP) - Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was not with the Blue Devils for Tuesday night's game at Georgia Tech, skipping the Atlantic Coast Conference game after becoming ill.</p>
<p>School officials issued a statement about an hour before tipoff saying Krzyzewski "was feeling under the weather" after the team meal Monday night and stayed in Durham, North Carolina.</p>
<p>Doctors at the university's hospital checked out the Hall of Fame coach and told him to remain home.</p>
<p>Associate head coach Jeff Capel was in charge during Coach K's absence. The school said Krzyzewski - the winningest men's coach in Division I history - is expected to return to the team soon.</p>
<p>Krzyzewski - who turns 69 on Feb. 13 - missed his first game at Duke since he was out for the final 19 games of the 1994-95 season due to back surgery and exhaustion. The Blue Devils went 4-15 in those games, and that record was attributed to then-assistant Pete Gaudet.</p>
<p>Duke officials said Tuesday's game would go on Krzyzewski's record, win or lose. Coming into the night, he was 1,033-316 in 41 seasons overall and 960-257 in 36 years at Duke.</p>
<p>The Georgia Tech game marked the first for the Blue Devils (15-6, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) as a non-Top 25 team since 2007. They slipped out of the rankings after losing four of their previous five games.</p>
<p>Coach K turned the team over to Capel, a former Duke guard and the most experienced assistant on the staff.</p>
<p>Capel went a combined 175-110 while coaching VCU from 2002-06 and Oklahoma from 2006-11. Neither of the other two assistants on the Duke staff - Nate James and Jon Scheyer - have head coaching experience.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>AP Sports Writer Joedy McCreary in Raleigh, North Carolina contributed to this report.</p>
<p>ATLANTA (AP) - Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was not with the Blue Devils for Tuesday night's game at Georgia Tech, skipping the Atlantic Coast Conference game after becoming ill.</p>
<p>School officials issued a statement about an hour before tipoff saying Krzyzewski "was feeling under the weather" after the team meal Monday night and stayed in Durham, North Carolina.</p>
<p>Doctors at the university's hospital checked out the Hall of Fame coach and told him to remain home.</p>
<p>Associate head coach Jeff Capel was in charge during Coach K's absence. The school said Krzyzewski - the winningest men's coach in Division I history - is expected to return to the team soon.</p>
<p>Krzyzewski - who turns 69 on Feb. 13 - missed his first game at Duke since he was out for the final 19 games of the 1994-95 season due to back surgery and exhaustion. The Blue Devils went 4-15 in those games, and that record was attributed to then-assistant Pete Gaudet.</p>
<p>Duke officials said Tuesday's game would go on Krzyzewski's record, win or lose. Coming into the night, he was 1,033-316 in 41 seasons overall and 960-257 in 36 years at Duke.</p>
<p>The Georgia Tech game marked the first for the Blue Devils (15-6, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) as a non-Top 25 team since 2007. They slipped out of the rankings after losing four of their previous five games.</p>
<p>Coach K turned the team over to Capel, a former Duke guard and the most experienced assistant on the staff.</p>
<p>Capel went a combined 175-110 while coaching VCU from 2002-06 and Oklahoma from 2006-11. Neither of the other two assistants on the Duke staff - Nate James and Jon Scheyer - have head coaching experience.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>AP Sports Writer Joedy McCreary in Raleigh, North Carolina contributed to this report.</p> | No Coach K for Duke in Georgia Tech game | false | https://apnews.com/amp/89789e4597184a5dae083ba308cb677f | 2016-02-03 | 2 |
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<p>This undated photo provided by the University of Connecticut police department shows student Luke Gatti, 19, of Bayville, N.Y., who was arrested Sunday night, Oct. 4, 2015, following an altercation over purchasing macaroni and cheese at a market on the school's Storrs, Conn., campus. A 9-minute, obscenity-laced video clip went viral, showing Gatti arguing with and eventually shoving a manager at a food court inside the school's student union. (University of Connecticut Police Department via AP)</p>
<p>HARTFORD, Conn. - UConn students are trying to use an embarrassing video about macaroni and cheese to raise a little cheddar.</p>
<p>The video of a fellow student berating food service workers who refused to sell him jalapeno-bacon mac and cheese prompted a group of students to start an online fundraiser to give the beleaguered employees a well-deserved night out.</p>
<p>"A top-20 research university shouldn't have to be redeeming its name after one bad egg goes and ruins our reputation," said freshman Sadie Rumsey.</p>
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<p>Rumsey and her friends set up a page on GoFundMe.com (https://www.gofundme.com/vs5yvngw) to show their support for the workers abused in the video captured inside the university's student union last week. As of Sunday, the page had collected more than $1,300.</p>
<p>The 9-minute, obscenity-laced video clip posted online shows freshman Luke Gatti arguing with and eventually shoving Dave Robinson, a food service supervisor. Police and the manager said Gatti was refused service on Oct. 4 for carrying an open alcohol container.</p>
<p>The video, which became fodder for late-night talk show hosts, shows the 19-year-old questioning why in America he can't have beer in the building. He uses a gay slur against Robinson and repeatedly demands, "Just give me some (expletive) bacon-jalapeno mac and cheese."</p>
<p>After shoving Robinson, Gatti is tackled by another employee, is arrested by a police officer and spits at the manager before being led out of the building.</p>
<p>Gatti, of Bayville, New York, has not returned phone calls or an email seeking comment. He is due in court Tuesday on charges of breach of peace and criminal trespass.</p>
<p>Rumsey, 19, of Exeter, Rhode Island, said she is in discussions with the school about how to make sure the food service workers legally benefit from the donations. State law and UConn policies restrict workers from receiving gifts related to their employment.</p>
<p>There is another potential problem: The school confirmed Sunday that Robinson had already planned to move out of state and was working his final shift that night.</p>
<p>But university officials have been moved by the outpouring of support, said Stephanie Reitz, a school spokeswoman. They are discussing ways to do something special to recognize the dining services workers, "not just for the handling of this incident, but also for the ongoing hard work and great service they provide our students, employees and guests," she said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The school has also been contacted by three other groups, some from out of state, who inquired about fundraising campaigns, Reitz said.</p>
<p>Reitz said one of them is now working on a giant thank you card for the food service workers instead.</p>
<p>And a local franchise of the D.P. Dough restaurant chain has already donated $600 in proceeds to a children's cancer charity after adding jalapeno to its bacon mac and cheese calzones.</p>
<p>The franchise owner, Cory Hill, said he went through 125 pounds of macaroni and cheese in the last week, compared to the normal 20 pounds.</p>
<p>"I felt a little weird profiting from this situation," he said. "That's when I decided to donate the proceeds to charity. We're probably going to keep it going."</p>
<p>Reitz said Gatti is still enrolled in the school, and federal law prohibits her from discussing his specific case, which could lead to a hearing and eventually expulsion.</p> | UConn mac and cheese incident spawns fundraisers | false | https://abqjournal.com/658550/uconn-mac-and-cheese-incident-spawns-fundraisers.html | 2 |
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<p>DETROIT (AP) _ These Michigan lotteries were drawn Saturday:</p>
<p>Classic Lotto 47</p>
<p>05-12-18-22-33-42</p>
<p>(five, twelve, eighteen, twenty-two, thirty-three, forty-two)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $1 million</p>
<p>Poker Lotto</p>
<p>2C-2H-3H-4H-5S</p>
<p>(2C, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5S)</p>
<p>Midday Daily 3</p>
<p>0-0-0</p>
<p>(zero, zero, zero)</p>
<p>Midday Daily 4</p>
<p>6-9-6-8</p>
<p>(six, nine, six, eight)</p>
<p>Daily 3</p>
<p>3-7-7</p>
<p>(three, seven, seven)</p>
<p>Daily 4</p>
<p>6-8-9-2</p>
<p>(six, eight, nine, two)</p>
<p>Fantasy 5</p>
<p>01-05-10-18-28</p>
<p>(one, five, ten, eighteen, twenty-eight)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $244,000</p>
<p>Keno</p>
<p>01-07-10-17-18-19-20-22-28-34-37-41-42-43-51-52-54-60-70-71-73-80</p>
<p>(one, seven, ten, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-two, twenty-eight, thirty-four, thirty-seven, forty-one, forty-two, forty-three, fifty-one, fifty-two, fifty-four, sixty, seventy, seventy-one, seventy-three, eighty)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $63 million</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>26-28-47-49-58, Powerball: 3, Power Play: 4</p>
<p>(twenty-six, twenty-eight, forty-seven, forty-nine, fifty-eight; Powerball: three; Power Play: four)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $78 million</p>
<p>DETROIT (AP) _ These Michigan lotteries were drawn Saturday:</p>
<p>Classic Lotto 47</p>
<p>05-12-18-22-33-42</p>
<p>(five, twelve, eighteen, twenty-two, thirty-three, forty-two)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $1 million</p>
<p>Poker Lotto</p>
<p>2C-2H-3H-4H-5S</p>
<p>(2C, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5S)</p>
<p>Midday Daily 3</p>
<p>0-0-0</p>
<p>(zero, zero, zero)</p>
<p>Midday Daily 4</p>
<p>6-9-6-8</p>
<p>(six, nine, six, eight)</p>
<p>Daily 3</p>
<p>3-7-7</p>
<p>(three, seven, seven)</p>
<p>Daily 4</p>
<p>6-8-9-2</p>
<p>(six, eight, nine, two)</p>
<p>Fantasy 5</p>
<p>01-05-10-18-28</p>
<p>(one, five, ten, eighteen, twenty-eight)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $244,000</p>
<p>Keno</p>
<p>01-07-10-17-18-19-20-22-28-34-37-41-42-43-51-52-54-60-70-71-73-80</p>
<p>(one, seven, ten, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-two, twenty-eight, thirty-four, thirty-seven, forty-one, forty-two, forty-three, fifty-one, fifty-two, fifty-four, sixty, seventy, seventy-one, seventy-three, eighty)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $63 million</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>26-28-47-49-58, Powerball: 3, Power Play: 4</p>
<p>(twenty-six, twenty-eight, forty-seven, forty-nine, fifty-eight; Powerball: three; Power Play: four)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $78 million</p> | MI Lottery | false | https://apnews.com/amp/85910e4aebf34b3eb49e490821061162 | 2018-01-21 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Latino clergy and civic leaders met with new Schools CEO Ron Huberman today to discuss their concerns about issues affecting Latino students. About 15 pastors and leaders discussed the lack of Latino teachers and principals, as well as the high Latino dropout rate, the lack of Internet access at schools that serve Latino children, and the need for more early childhood education. Latinos comprise 39 percent of the CPS student population, but just 13 percent of teachers and principals; the dropout rate for Latinos is 40 percent. The group plans to meet with Huberman again in six to eight weeks. A Latino education summit is in the works, says Rev. Wilfredo de Jesus of New Life Covenant Ministries, who organized the Feb. 12 meeting.</p> | Latino leaders raise concerns with Huberman | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/latino-leaders-raise-concerns-huberman/ | 2009-02-12 | 3 |
<p>Mark Weisbrot</p>
<p>In a recent op-ed in The Washington Post, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/hillary-clinton-reviews-henry-kissingers-world-order/2014/09/04/b280c654-31ea-11e4-8f02-03c644b2d7d0_story.html" type="external">used a review of Henry Kissinger’s latest book, “World Order,”</a> to lay out her vision for “sustaining America’s leadership in the world.” In the midst of numerous global crises, she called for return to a foreign policy with purpose, strategy and pragmatism.</p>
<p>She also highlighted some of these policy choices in her memoir “Hard Choices” and how they contributed to the challenges that Barack Obama’s administration now faces.</p>
<p>The chapter on Latin America, particularly the section on Honduras, a major source of the child migrants currently pouring into the United States, has gone largely unnoticed. In letters to Clinton and her successor, John Kerry, <a href="http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/108-members-of-congress-urge-action-on-political-repression-and-human-rights-abuses-in-honduras" type="external">more than 100</a> members of Congress have&#160; <a href="http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/1170" type="external">repeatedly</a> warned about the deteriorating security situation in Honduras, especially since the 2009 military coup that ousted the country’s democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya.</p>
<p>As Honduran scholar Dana Frank <a href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/140283/dana-frank/hopeless-in-honduras" type="external">points out in Foreign Affairs</a>, the U.S.-backed post-coup government “rewarded coup loyalists with top ministries,” opening the door for further “violence and anarchy.”</p>
<p>The homicide rate in Honduras, already the highest in the world, increased by 50 percent from 2008 to 2011; political repression, the murder of opposition political candidates, peasant organizers and LGBT activists increased and continue to this day. Femicides skyrocketed.</p>
<p>The violence and insecurity were exacerbated by a generalized institutional collapse. Drug-related violence has worsened amid allegations of <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/honduras-police-cleanup-efforts-stall" type="external">rampant corruption</a> in Honduras’ police and government. While the gangs are responsible for much of the violence, Honduran security forces have engaged in <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/honduras-police-accused-death-squad-killings" type="external">a wave of killings</a> and other human rights crimes with impunity.</p>
<p>Despite this, however, both under Clinton and Kerry, the State Department’s response to the violence and military and police impunity has largely been silence, along with continued U.S. aid to Honduran security forces. In “Hard Choices,” Clinton describes her role in the aftermath of the coup that brought about this dire situation. Her firsthand account is significant both for the confession of an important truth and for a crucial false testimony.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.opednews.com/articles/Hard-choices-Hillary-Clin-by-Mark-Weisbrot-Far-right_Hillary-Clinton_Honduras_Policy-141001-57.html" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Hillary Clinton admits role in Honduran coup aftermath | true | http://rinf.com/alt-news/politics/hillary-clinton-admits-role-honduran-coup-aftermath/ | 2014-10-01 | 4 |
<p>Edith Windsor.&#160;(Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)</p>
<p>Edith Windsor’s remarriage to Judith Kasen last week is the beginning of a new chapter in the LGBT rights activist’s life.</p>
<p>“I feel full and whole after my years of mourning,” Windsor, 87, told <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/edie-windsor-remarriage-i-feel-full-whole-again-n658886" type="external">NBC OUT</a>about her remarriage. “I didn’t believe I could feel this kind of love again.”</p>
<p>“Feels wonderful,” Kasen, 51, says. “We are very happy we went ahead and just did it!”</p>
<p>As for a honeymoon, NBC OUT reports the newlywed couple has plans to go on an Olivia cruise in February. However, they may end up going on a longer vacation.</p>
<p>“If Trump becomes president, we are going on a four-year honeymoon in Barcelona,” Windsor says.</p>
<p>Windsor sued the federal government in 2009 following the death of her wife Thea Spyer in a Supreme Court case that gave same-sex couples the same federal marriage benefits as heterosexual couples.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Edith Windsor</a> <a href="" type="internal">Judith Kasen</a> <a href="" type="internal">Thea Spyer</a></p> | Edith Windsor feels ‘happy and full’ after remarriage | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2016/10/05/edith-windsor-feels-happy-full-remarriage/ | 3 |
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<p />
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9557815@N05/" type="external">Abi Skipp</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" type="external">(CC BY 2.0)</a></p>
<p>This post originally ran on <a href="http://www.juancole.com/2014/02/workers-doesnt-drinking.html" type="external">Juan Cole’s Web page</a>.</p>
<p>By the end of 2013, the <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/California-has-a-third-of-the-nation-s-solar-5223811.php%20" type="external">number of workers in the solar energy industry in the US had grown to 143,000.</a> About a third of them are in California, followed by Arizona, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/2013/08/15/wind-powers-record-growth-blows-across-u-s/%20" type="external">the wind power industry</a> employed another 80,000 or so workers directly, and many more in transportation of components, etc.</p>
<p>Together, wind and solar energy workers far outnumber all the estimated workers in coal mining, coal transportation, and coal plant operation. Solar installation jobs alone outnumber seasonally adjusted full-time jobs in coal mining by a substantial margin.</p>
<p>In contrast to the rapidly growing solar and wind sectors, <a href="http://voices.mydesert.com/2013/09/12/us-coal-mine-closings-gain-acceleration-as-2013-progresses-and-2014-lurks/%20" type="external">151 coal mines were idled in the second half of 2013</a>, with a loss of 2600 mining jobs. Coal is very dirty and cannot compete with wind and natural gas if the industry is made to conform to the Clean Air Act.</p>
<p>There are about 83,000 coal miners in the US, and their numbers are declining. Another 40,000 or so workers toil at coal-fired power plants, but other kinds of power plants also employ workers, so the latter can’t be considered as essentially in the coal industry. Likewise, workers who transport coal would also be needed to transport solar panels and other energy-generating components, and so can’t be considered “coal” workers per se.</p>
<p>Solar jobs are concentrated in panel installation and average $38,000 a year. Obviously, state governments in places like Kentucky and West Virginia should be funding retraining programs for coal workers as solar panel installers and wind turbine installers and operators.</p>
<p>Coal byproducts and chemicals used in coal purification have spilled into rivers in West Virginia and North Carolina in recent weeks, depriving hundreds of thousands of people of potable water. The full impact <a href="http://www.juancole.com/2014/01/chemical-threatens-virginia.html%20" type="external">of the chemical spill in West Virginia is still unclear, but 300,000 residents were endangered</a> for many days and may still not be entirely safe. (Although officials maintain that enhanced levels of arsenic from coal ash in the Dan River don’t make the water unsafe to drink, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/09/us/north-carolina-coal-ash-spill/%20" type="external">many observers fear otherwise</a>).</p>
<p>Wind turbines and PV panels don’t endanger our access to drinking water!</p>
<p>—–</p>
<p>Related video:</p>
<p><a href="http://youtu.be/FQtFRH7mtVI%20" type="external">CBS reports, “Huge solar power plant opens in California ”</a></p>
<p /> | More Solar Workers in U.S. Than Coal Miners, and Solar Doesn’t Poison Drinking Water | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/more-solar-workers-in-u-s-than-coal-miners-and-solar-doesnt-poison-drinking-water/ | 2014-02-18 | 4 |
<p>Americans should not lose sight of the fact that President Donald Trump —&#160;and not his family members or staffers —&#160;is the chief player in the unfolding Russia scandal, Jill Abramson, former executive editor of The New York Times, writes in a column for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/13/donald-trump-russia-drama-jill-abramson" type="external">The Guardian.</a></p>
<p>“We are so fascinated —&#160;and entertained —&#160;by the supporting cast that we are losing sight of the man in the starring role, Donald J. Trump,” said Abramson, noting explosive stories about the involvement the president’s son, Donald Jr., and his son-in-law, Jarad Kushner had with Russia.</p>
<p>“Yes, this is all titillating stuff, but it diverts us from the real issue at the heart of the Russia scandal: what did the president know and when did he know it?&#160;</p>
<p>“Anyone who has watched the Trump family dynamics knows that the sons, son-in-law, and Ivanka are consumed by filial devotion. Their clout and success in the business and political worlds are completely dependent on Donald Trump.”</p>
<p>Abramson said there are “inescapable comparisons” to President Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal.</p>
<p>“That investigation ended with a lingering mystery: it remains unknown whether Richard Nixon ordered or knew beforehand about the burglary of Democratic Party headquarters, the event that shattered his presidency,” she said.</p>
<p>“Donald Trump’s direct role in polluting and subverting the 2016 election must not remain a mystery.”</p> | Jill Abramson: Trump Is the Real Star of the Russia Scandal | false | https://newsline.com/jill-abramson-trump-is-the-real-star-of-the-russia-scandal/ | 2017-07-14 | 1 |
<p>Tuesday’s <a href="" type="internal">announcement</a> that the Three Mile Island Unit One <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/nuclear" type="external">nuclear</a> plant will close unless it gets massive subsidies has vastly strengthened the case for a totally <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" type="external">renewable energy</a> future.</p>
<p>That future is rising in Buffalo, and comes in the form of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/tesla" type="external">Tesla’s</a> massive job-producing solar shingle factory which will create hundreds of jobs and operate for decades to come.</p>
<p>Three Mile Island, by contrast, joins a wave of commercially dead reactors whose owners are begging state legislatures for huge bailouts. Exelon, the nation’s largest nuke owner, <a href="" type="internal">recently got</a> nearly $2.5 billion from the Illinois legislature to keep three uncompetitive nukes there on line.</p>
<p>In Ohio, FirstEnergy is begging the legislature for $300 million per year for the money-losing Perry and Davis-Besse reactors, plagued with serious structural problems. That bailout <a href="" type="internal">faces an uphill battle</a> in a surprisingly skeptical legislature. FirstEnergy is at the brink of bankruptcy, and says it will sell the reactors anyway.</p>
<p>To make matters worse, Ohio lawmakers have <a href="" type="internal">imposed</a> unique spacing restrictions on the state’s wind industry, blocking at least $1.6 billion in investments poised to build eight wind farms now waiting in the wings. Those turbine developments would go far in providing jobs to those who will inevitably lose them at FirstEnergy’s uncompetitive nukes.</p>
<p>In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants a staggering <a href="" type="internal">$7.6 billion</a> for four uncompetitive upstate reactors. That <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cuomo-nuclear-bailout-subsidies-2347914716.html" type="external">bailout</a> is being challenged in court by environmental groups and by industrial players angry about unfair competition and soaring rates. Their owners concede these old nukes can’t compete with renewables or gas, and have wanted to shut most or all of them.</p>
<p>Now, Three Mile Island’s owners say without millions more in handouts from Pennsylvania rate payers, the reactor will close in 2019. A battle over the handout will be upcoming in the Pennsylvania legislature. Ironically, the Quad Cities plant in Illinois, which is in line for huge subsidies, could not compete with gas or renewables at a recent power auction, and may have to shut despite the handouts.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, coming on line this year, Tesla’s <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/nukes-vs-solar-cuomo-new-york-2336868949.html" type="external">Buffalo Billion gigafactory</a> has the power to transform our entire national economy. It’s the core of a plan to fulfill America’s direst needs—a reliable supply of safe, cheap energy, and a base of good long-term employment for the nation’s battered working class.</p>
<p>Costing about $750 million, it will bang out solar roofing shingles by the end of this year. It will directly <a href="" type="internal">create</a> at least 500 high-paying, clean, safe jobs that will last for decades and turn our energy economy green. Another 1,440 jobs are slated to come from spin-offs. Still more will be created by lowered electric rates and increased clean energy production.</p>
<p>The Buffalo factory joins Tesla’s <a href="" type="internal">new plant</a> outside Sparks, Nevada—housed in the biggest building in the world—now producing a new generation of batteries. They will bridge the green energy gap when “the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow.”</p>
<p>These two job-producing powerhouses are at the core of the Solartopian revolution. Solar panels, solar shingles, wind turbines, high-efficiency LED lighting and advanced batteries are key to our global survival and prosperity. Along with the hardware needed for <a href="" type="internal">tidal energy</a>, ocean thermal, geothermal, advanced conservation and other renewable industries, gigafactories producing these technologies will be the engine for the 21st century economy.</p>
<p>If Gov. Cuomo’s $7.6 billion bailout ask went instead to build seven gigafactories like the Buffalo Billion, New York would gain thousands of jobs directly and thousands more through the industry powered by lower electric rates. They would be safe, secure, clean, good-paying jobs that could transform the state’s energy and employment situation.</p>
<p>Cuomo’s bailout plan, however, would raise rates on New Yorkers far outside their upstate service area. That even includes Long Island—hundreds of miles away—whose angry citizens <a href="" type="internal">rose up decades ago</a> to kill the infamous failed $7 billion Shoreham reactor, which Cuomo’s father Mario helped bury when he was governor.</p>
<p>Ferocious opposition to this bailout has arisen throughout New York. A critical <a href="" type="internal">court case</a> will open on June 5. Support for this litigation can be sent to Rockland Environmental Group, LLC 75 North Middletown Road, Nanuet, NY 10954.</p>
<p>New <a href="" type="internal">developments at Sempra</a> and other major electric utilities now make it possible for renewables to sustain a central grid 100 percent of the time, without the fluctuations critics claim make a green-powered future difficult to achieve.</p>
<p>So we can bail out Three Mile Island, Perry, Davis-Besse and a rising tide of our 99 obsolete, dangerously decayed atomic dinosaurs at a cost of untold billions? Do we want to escalate the risk of reactor disasters, create tons more radioactive wastes and temporarily preserve a few thousand dead-end jobs?</p>
<p>Or do we want to bang out these Buffalo Billion plants and join <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/germany-renewable-energy-record-2392212868.html" type="external">Germany</a>, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/switzerland-vote-renewables-2417662439.html" type="external">Switzerland</a>, <a href="" type="internal">India</a> and other major nations soaring to a Solartopian future.</p>
<p>Is there really a choice?</p> | Three Mile Island Nuke Plant Closure Strengthens Call for Renewable Energy Future | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/06/02/three-mile-island-nuke-plant-closure-strengthens-call-for-renewable-energy-future/ | 2017-06-02 | 4 |
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<p>Under Armour is reportedly parting ways with two of its top executives this week as the struggling sportswear brand contends with the fallout from its first-ever quarterly sales loss.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Top marketing executive Andrew Donkin and senior vice president Pamela Catlett, who oversaw Under Armour’s women’s and youth sectors, will depart the company later this month, the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/two-more-senior-executives-to-exit-from-under-armour-1509567432" type="external">Wall Street Journal Opens a New Window.</a> reported. A company spokeswoman said Under Armour has “mutually agreed to part ways” with Donkin and Catlett.</p>
<p>Under Armour shares fell as low as $11.98 in trading on Wednesday, sinking to their lowest point since September 2013. The company’s stock is down 63% from a 52-week high of roughly $33 per share last December.</p>
<p>The Maryland-based brand informed employees in a memo on Tuesday, hours after a subpar earnings report sent shares tumbling. Third-quarter revenue fell 4.5% to $1.41 billion compared to one year earlier, while profit fell 58% to $54.2 million.</p>
<p>Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank blamed the company’s struggles, which are unfolding after years of strong growth, on an ultra-competitive North American marketplace, a promotional sales environment and shifting consumer fashion trends. Other sports retailers and apparel brands, including Nike (NYSE:NKE), Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker, have also experienced difficulties amid declining foot traffic at brick-and-mortar stores.</p>
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<p>“We are incredibly disappointed with our 2017 performance,” Plank said during a conference call on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The departures of Donkin and Catlett came just days after Under Armour confirmed that Kip Fulks, the company’s co-founder and a top executive under Plank, would take a sabbatical for undisclosed reasons. The company is also said to be mulling an exit from certain categories, such as tennis and outdoor gears, and executives said this week that they will cut back on fitness wearables.</p> | Under Armour parts ways with two top execs as shares hit 4-year low | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/11/01/under-armour-parts-ways-with-two-top-execs-as-shares-hit-4-year-low.html | 2017-11-01 | 0 |
<p>Bilal Zenab Ahmed is the associate editor of Souciant.com. He is also a PhD candidate at SOAS, University of London.</p>
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<p /> SHARMINI PERIES, EXEC. PRODUCER, TRNN: Welcome to the Real News Network. I'm Sharmini Peries coming to you from Baltimore.
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<p />UN-sponsored Yemeni peace talks in Switzerland appear to be at risk. The Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed government forces loyal to President Mansur Hadi have stopped talking directly to each other amid differences over the government demands for the release of senior officials being held by the Houthi rebels. The dispute comes amid fresh fighting between the Houthis and the government forces in which at least 15 people were killed from both sides. The Houthis say they are ready to free the prisoners once a permanent ceasefire has been agreed upon. UN special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, was shuttling between the two sides trying to bridge differences. In spite of all these new developments, let's assume the talks will resume. If they do, what kind of settlement and government would be expected in Yemen?
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<p />We are taking this up with our next guest, Bilal Ahmed. Bilal is back by popular demand. You must see his interview yesterday. And he is an associate editor of Souciant.com. He's also a Ph.D. student at SOAS of the University of London. Thank you so much for joining us again, Bilal.
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<p />BILAL AHMED: It's no problem.
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<p />PERIES: So Bilal, let's start with some prognosis on the peace talks first.
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<p />AHMED: Well, the peace talks are under threat, as your report indicated. And the, there are two main reasons why. Three, if you want to get a bit more abstract, which of course we favor. But the first reason why is these prisoners that the Houthis have that they don't want to release--so two of the prisoners are Mahmoud al-Subaihi, who is the defense minister under Hadi, and also Hadi's brother, whose name is Nasser. So as you can imagine, this is a bit personal for Hadi's side, because one of the people is his brother. And these are also people who have been involved in intelligence operations, as well as military operations all over Yemen. But especially in Saada and the northern provinces, where the Houthis are primarily based.
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<p />So part of this is that the Houthis want a more permanent ceasefire and a promise of one. But some of this is also that there's a great deal of controversy, especially in the coalition itself, about how to feel about these prisoners and whether or not they should be released.
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<p />PERIES: These are high-stake prisoners that they have. I can see why they're holding onto them. So Bilal, yesterday right after the interview you indicated really what we should be discussing is what's next. If these formalities and negotiations succeed, what kind of result and settlement we are going to be looking at, and what the actual government might look like in Yemen. So let's take that up.
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<p />AHMED: Well, the problem is that these talks can't possibly result in a new governing framework, because of the people that are actually there. These talks are currently occurring between Hadi's loyalists, [inaud.] Saleh, who are there alongside the Houthis because Saleh's loyalists are currently backing the Houthis, which is itself a bit complicated given that Saleh waged multiple wars against the Houthis before he was deposed from power. But they are, as you can see from that, those aren't all, those aren't all the power interests that are currently at play in Yemen. So you don't have Saudi Arabia at the peace talks. You don't have the United States. You also don't have tribal groups.
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<p />For example, your report talked about the fighting in [amare] which left 15 people dead on both sides. The tribal forces in Marib are particularly strong, and they've been particularly well-mobilized against the Houthis. However, the tribal forces don't have their own representative at the talks. They're simply de facto represented by Hadi's loyalists and Hadi himself. But that's not going to be a sustainable governing framework, given the fact that there are so many interests in Yemen with their own ambitions and their own desires from a post-civil war framework.
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<p />And it's worth noting that a successful prisoner exchange did occur in the south of the country, but it wasn't strictly speaking between the coalition and the Houthis, as though these are two neat sides that can be neatly defined as such. They were given over by the southern resistance movement, which is, has been jump started especially as of late, out of the interest to form an independent southern federation or an independent southern autonomous zone based on the principles of the old peoples' democratic republic of Yemen.
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<p />So as you can see from all this, even at the peace talks, we're talking about sides that are being represented by different sides that don't totally reflect the complexity of the Yemeni political situation. And that is, before we even talk about the fact that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Islamic State more recently, but Islamic State's a bit new, are also operating within the country, especially in the province of Hadramaut, to the southeast. And you could see a potential situation, even if they resolve these problems in the fact that not everybody who is fighting the war is actually independently sitting at the peace table. Even if they do solve that, you still don't have a strategy for dealing with these terrorist groups. So you could easily just see the civil war evolve into being shifted away from the capital city and major metropolitan centers and towards where these al-Qaeda forces actually are.
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<p />PERIES: Now, Bilal, yesterday when we were talking about this, we were talking about the advancements that the IS is making in the country, which probably has given a sense of urgency to trying to settle the civil dispute in Yemen. But as you say, if all the players involved and has interest there is not at the table, this is not going to work. Is there any measures underway to make sure that all the players are at the table?
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<p />AHMED: Well, I think we need to remember what the actual objective of this civil war has always been. It hasn't been to ensure that the players are at the table or are all adequately represented in the first place, because that would require a Yemeni democratic framework that the external powers, as well as Hadi's loyalists and Saleh's loyalists, don't really want to see happen. So you have the situation emerging from that where these peace talks, which themselves don't represent the entirety of the coalition, which is internally diverse and has its own tensions. Even if they do work they will result in a governing framework that isn't fully democratic and isn't fully inclusive. But it's not supposed to be.
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<p />It was supposed to be that the entire civil war landscape would be different. But the civil war was started in defense of Hadi's government by a coalition of forces led by Saudi Arabia, and helped along by a variety of local forces within Yemen who are opposed to the Houthi expansionism that began to take place as the Houthis moved further and further south. But the civil war, it never started because a democratically elected leader was deposed by the Houthi seizure of power.
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<p />PERIES: Bilal, so let's take that as a given. There was really no interest in resolving what's going on by at least this measure that's taking place at the UN. And yesterday we talked about the forces behind this effort being the U.S. and the Saudis, and so on. What do they want from this action, then, that's taking place at the UN?
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<p />AHMED: Well, yesterday I was a bit more hopeful. And I think that was a bit of a mistake, so let's get a little more cynical about this. What is most likely is that we, well, we need to know that the White House has already had intelligence-sharing agreements with the Houthis. We also need to remember that Saudi Arabia has this existing alliance with Hadi's loyalists. And Hadi's loyalists have been able to consolidate themselves with tribal groups, as well as the southern resistance.
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<p />So I think the objective in these talks is to normalize ties between Hadi's people, Saleh's people, and the Houthis. And then from there they can build a democratic framework bringing in other sides that have been established. Tribal groups, as well as maybe the southern resistance, maybe. And then from there, there can be much easier counterterrorism operations going on with the cooperation of these forces. I think that the non-inclusion of revolutionary youth movements is extremely important. It indicates that all sides have an investment in the status quo.
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<p />And I think that a large part of what the Saudi-led coalition and the United States want to get out of these peace talks, if you want to define it along those terms, is basically a way out, because there are all indications that the Saudi-led coalition is fighting a war in Yemen that it is increasingly unable to sustain. There's already been news of the United Arab Emirates hiring mercenaries from the Colombian military to come in in order to fight in the war. And that's partially just as a result of a privatized military-industrial complex, but it's also a result of the fact that the GCC forces simply aren't prepared to wage a war on this magnitude over the course of a prolonged and sustained effort like this.
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<p />So first of all, they want to get out. Second of all, they want to conduct counterterrorism operations. And third of all, they want to prevent a situation by which you can have another revolutionary upsurge in Yemen which would threaten much of the Gulf--many of the Gulf monarchies because of how easily that could spread and how it could problematize their own ambitions in the region, especially when it comes to shipping, because Yemen is so close to the Suez Canal, but also mostly just because of ideological effects of a large democratic uprising in one of their neighbors.
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<p />PERIES: Bilal, I want to thank you for joining us again, and it looks like this is going to be an ongoing issue, and we'll look forward to having you back.
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<p />AHMED: Of course.
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<p />PERIES: 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. | Yemen Peace Talks Turn into Crisis Management | true | http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D31%26Itemid%3D74%26jumival%3D15318 | 2015-12-17 | 4 |
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<p>The meeting will be continued at 10 a.m. on July 8.</p>
<p>About 600 people turned out for the meeting at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center that included more than six hours of testimony from the applicants and more than 50 members of the public speaking on the issue – none of them in support of the plan.</p>
<p>The application was brought by Buena Vista Estates Inc., owner of the property, and Rockology LLC, which plans to extract aggregate for use as construction material over the next 25 years.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Landowner Jim Siebert outlined the plan, saying the strip mine would be located less than a mile from Interstate 25, though it would be barely visible from the highway, he said. He said it was located near a historic mining district and within 2 miles of a current mining operation.</p>
<p>According to their application, the mine would produce roughly 250,000 tons of gravel per year and generate about $122,000 in gross receipt taxes annually.</p>
<p>Previous applications brought by the landowner were withdrawn after not getting recommendations from the county staff. The most recent application did receive a recommendation for approval, with conditions.</p>
<p>The County Development Review Committee voted 5-2 to deny the application in March, saying the mine would have an adverse effect of the health, safety and general welfare of county residents.</p>
<p>Pete Domenici Jr., an attorney representing the applicants, said that decision was unfounded because it relied on the general welfare provision of the ordinance, which he said was legally an “extremely slippery slope.”</p>
<p>Attorneys Chris Graeser and Matthew McQueen, representing numerous groups and individuals opposed to the plan, countered that argument by saying commissioners had discretion to establish a mining zone.</p>
<p>The proposed mine is in an area zoned for residential and agricultural use, but the area is set to be rezoned under the county’s sustainable growth management plans.</p>
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<p /> | SF County board puts off decision on mining zone | false | https://abqjournal.com/415099/sf-county-board-puts-off-decision-on-mining-zone.html | 2 |
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<p>American volunteers are on the front line of the fight against the cholera epidemic in Haiti. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with the head of one team from Maine, Doctor Chiedza Jokonya, and reporter Beth Macy of the Roanoke Times, who's covering the team's work, about the difficulties and tragedies they are dealing with, and the resilient spirit of the Haitian people.</p> | The fight against cholera in Haiti | false | https://pri.org/stories/2010-11-15/fight-against-cholera-haiti | 2010-11-15 | 3 |
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<p>The intent was allegedly to prevent additional security at a Downtown nightclub from coming outside to help break up the fight, which started over a fake ID.</p>
<p>“We were about five of us, and eight to 10 of them, we were outnumbered,” Lotus nightclub owner Brian Craig told KOAT in an interview broadcast Monday. “We were outnumbered. They attacked us without warning, it was just a vicious, vicious attack.”</p>
<p>One bouncer was pulled to the ground and kicked in the face. A second bouncer was kicked in the head, according to a criminal complaint. A third was “choked out” and punched in the head at least three times and a female employee was also hit in the head, the complaint said.</p>
<p>Craig said in the interview with KOAT that the club manager “was actually pulling them away, pulling their hands off the handle” so the security guards could get outside.</p>
<p>The fight in the early morning hours Thursday involved at least three University of New Mexico football players – senior wide receiver Bryant Williams, sophomore linebacker Joe Harris and junior linebacker Julion Conley. All three were suspended, according to the UNM Athletics Department.</p>
<p>Conley was arrested and charged with aggravated battery, battery and public affray. He was released from jail later Thanksgiving day.</p>
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<p>The fight had started at the door when two men tried to enter the club, according to a criminal complaint, both using an ID with the name Julion Conley.</p>
<p>Conley was born in 1988, according to the complaint.</p>
<p>The video, taken from the club’s cameras, is dark and was shot from the inside. It is not clear if the people pushing on the door are football players.</p>
<p>According to the criminal complaint, bouncers have said at least seven football players were involved in the fight, but UNM has said that only three of them were on the football team and that others were members of a fraternity.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Manager: It Was 'Vicious Attack' | false | https://abqjournal.com/233244/manager-it-was-vicious-attack.html | 2 |
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<p>RICHMOND, Va. — Baptist collegiate ministry at Virginia Commonwealth University moved into a new era with the dedication Nov. 30 of its new — and newly-renovated — facility in the heart of campus.</p>
<p>“There are daily signs that this building is fully woven into the fabric of VCU,” Nathan Elmore, Baptist campus minister at the Richmond university, told participants at the dedication service.</p>
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<p>The new center is in a red brick, 19th-century row house purchased last year by the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, which oversees Baptist campus ministry in the state.</p>
<p>The building is one of several row houses once owned by the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, whose cathedral sits across the street, named Cathedral Place.</p>
<p>VBMB treasurer Eddie Stratton worked for months on a complicated real estate deal that involved the university’s purchase of the former Baptist campus center and negotiations with both university and city of Richmond officials.</p>
<p>The sale of the old building made possible the purchase of two of the row houses, but one was resold to VCU, providing funds for the renovation of the remaining building.</p>
<p>The new campus center is in the heart of the urban campus, within a block of both the library and the student commons. The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart adds architectural interest to the neighborhood and around the corner is Landmark Theatre, a 1920s performance center in the form of a mosque.</p>
<p>“In the looming shadow of a cathedral and a theatre in the shape of a mosque, we are constantly reminded that we must find new ways of bridging old divides,” said Elmore.</p>
<p>John Upton, executive director of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, said he hoped the center wouldn’t become a “haven” or a “place to escape from the world.”</p>
<p>“The students&#160; who attend here are passing through,” he said. “I hope this place is like a terminal — giving them a sense of direction.”</p>
<p>Susan McBride, team leader of the Mission Board’s emerging leaders team — which coordinated Baptist campus ministry — said “the days ahead are days of potential and prayer” for ministry on VCU’s campus. She said she was praying “that God will boldly lead [Elmore] and students into the lives of those who so desperately need the touch of our Savior.”</p> | Baptist collegiate ministry completes VCU renovation, dedicates facility | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/baptistcollegiateministrycompletesvcurenovationdedicatesfacility/ | 3 |
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<p>At that point, 1,335 people had voted early at the Horton complex on Service Road in Ruidoso and 443 at the county clerk’s office in the county courthouse in Carrizozo.</p>
<p>“We have issued 835 absentee ballots by mail and almost 595 have been returned,” Burrows said. “That’s a good return, especially this early.”</p>
<p>With the total number of registered voters at 13,950, the percentage figured at the end of the day Wednesday was about 19 percent turning up to early vote or to vote absentee, she said.</p>
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<p>“We still have eight more days of early voting,” she said. “I think a lot of that is people are expecting a heavy turnout on election day. I haven’t ever seen it this high, but I would have to go back and look at the numbers for the first term when President Barack Obama was running. I think we had a pretty good turnout then.”</p>
<p>In the primary for Democrats and Republicans, only 1,051 people took advantage of early voting, she said.</p>
<p>“They are moving through really well at the early voting site (at the former middle school in Ruidoso),” Burrows said. “We added some equipment. I was there Saturday when it opened and then again on Tuesday, and was so impressed with how many people came in and thanked the poll workers for the work they were doing. I really appreciated that, because those people are working hard. They were tired.”</p>
<p>Burrows is confident the turnout will exceed 60 percent for the general election.</p>
<p>“I know it,” she said. “We had 58 percent for the last gubernatorial two years ago. I think it will be between a 65 percent to 70 percent turnout.”</p>
<p>Based on early voting only, not including absentee by mail, 1, 123 Republicans have cast ballots, 429 Democrats and 229 others. That reflects the registration by party that shows 3,298 Democrats, 7,683 Republicans, and 2,969 either decline to state or minority party registration.</p>
<p>Early voting will continue at the Horton Complex from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday (closed Monday), ending on Nov. 5, and at the clerk’s office during regular working hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, except for the Saturday before the election, when the office will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.</p>
<p>Six vote centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., on election day, where a registered county voter can cast a ballot no matter where he/she lives or in what precinct they are registered. Those centers are the Ruidoso Convention Center, 111 Sierra Blanca Drive; the Ruidoso Downs Senior Center, 26337 U.S. 70; Corona Village Hall, 461 Main Street; the Lincoln County Courthouse, 300 Central Avenue, Carrizozo; Capitan Municipal Schools, 150 Forest Road; and the Hondo Valley Public Schools, 111 Don Pablo Lane.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>©2016 the Ruidoso News (Ruidoso, N.M.)</p>
<p>Visit the Ruidoso News (Ruidoso, N.M.) at <a href="http://www.ruidosonews.com" type="external">www.ruidosonews.com</a></p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.</p>
<p>_____</p> | Lincoln County early voting breaking records | false | https://abqjournal.com/877193/lincoln-county-early-voting-breaking-records.html | 2 |
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<p>On Friday’s episode of Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO, MSNBC’s Steve Schmidt repeated three grossly inaccurate claims regarding the Second Amendment that have been used by the progressive movement for years:</p>
<p>I do think the Founding Fathers, though, they could no more conceive of an AK-47 or an AR-15 firing on full automatic than they could have conceived of a spaceship, ok? These weapons were not conceived of, were not understood, were not imagined in the context of the time when the amendment was authored, and we ought to have a real debate in this country about whether we want military weapons, weapons of war in the hand of every Joe who wants to go in and buy 30 of them. It is harder to buy cough medicine than it is to buy an AK-47 or 50 of them.</p>
<p>The audience applauded multiple times during Schmidt’s remarks.</p>
<p>Here’s the video (pertinent portion begins at the 30-second mark):</p>
<p>Let’s look at these claims one by one.</p>
<p>First, to suggest that the Founding Fathers didn’t want average Americans to have "weapons of war" is simply untrue. Firearms like the Brown Bess, the Blunderbuss, the Charleville Musket, and the Kentucky Rifle were used by military and civilian alike at the time the Second Amendment was written.</p>
<p>Second, the notion that the Founding Fathers couldn’t possibly have conceived of semi-automatic or fully-automatic firearms is intellectually insulting and untrue. During an interview with the <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2016/06/29/these-guns-dispel-the-notion-the-founding-fathers-could-never-have-imagined-modern-assault-rifles/" type="external">Daily Caller News Foundation</a> (DCNF), William Atwater, "a military technology expert and curator at the United States Army Ordnance Museum," said:</p>
<p>[The Founders] lived during the Age of Reason. They celebrated the achievements of the human mind. They had witnessed huge advances in firearms technology — i.e. matchlock giving way to the wheel lock, which, in turn gave way to the flint lock ... they would have expected small arms to continue to develop.</p>
<p>Atwater added: "The idea that firearms technology was static during the 18th/19th century is bunk. Everyone that used firearms was on the lookout for the next best thing so it could be utilized."</p>
<p>The DCNF also mentions that one half of the famous exploring duo, Lewis and Clark, Meriwether Lewis, had "a .46 caliber, magazine-fed repeating gun capable of shooting 22 shots in under a minute," known as a "Girandoni air rifle," developed in the late-1700s.</p>
<p>Lastly, the idea that buying cough syrup is more difficult than buying an AK-47 is, to put it bluntly, insane. As someone who was recently sick, I have firsthand experience purchasing cough syrup. I didn’t have to fill out a 4473 form or submit to a background check, nor was there any waiting period for my cough syrup.</p>
<p>Anti-Second Amendment advocates fill the air with these lies because they don’t have any real arguments — and audiences applaud because they don’t know any better.</p> | MSNBC’s Steve Schmidt Tells 3 Common Lies About Guns And The Second Amendment | true | https://dailywire.com/news/22046/msnbcs-steve-schmidt-tells-three-common-lies-about-frank-camp | 2017-10-08 | 0 |
<p>BOSTON, MA — <a href="http://www.globalpost.com" type="external">GlobalPost</a> announced today that Harvard professor and former American diplomat Nicholas Burns will become the award-winning world news site’s Senior Foreign Affairs Columnist. Burns, who is Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School, will write columns for GlobalPost and represent the site as an expert on foreign affairs issues.</p>
<p>“We are especially proud to have Nick Burns join GlobalPost,” said GlobalPost President, CEO and Co-Founder Philip S. Balboni. “He is a man of exceptional intellect and dynamic personality, a distinguished diplomat, teacher, lecturer and thinker with an extraordinary depth of knowledge and experience that ranges across the entire spectrum of global issues. He has worked at the highest levels in the US government and served Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush in key roles. He will bring our readers a rare level of insight and a unique perspective on the complex issues facing us internationally.”</p>
<p>Burns’ columns will focus on the full range of the most important current international events. They will be featured prominently on the GlobalPost site. Burns has appeared on almost every major news outlet and is a regular guest on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and PBS among others.</p>
<p>Burns served in the United States Government for twenty-seven years. As a career foreign service officer, he was Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2005 to 2008; the State Department’s third-ranking official when he led negotiations on the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement; a long-term military assistance agreement with Israel; and was the lead U.S. negotiator on Iran's nuclear program. He was U.S. Ambassador to NATO (2001-2005), Ambassador to Greece (1997-2001) and State Department Spokesman (1995-1997). He worked for five years (1990-1995) on the National Security Council at the White House where he was Senior Director for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia Affairs and Special Assistant to President Clinton and Director for Soviet Affairs in the Administration of President George H.W. Bush. Burns also served in the American Consulate General in Jerusalem (1985-1987) where he coordinated U.S. economic assistance to the Palestinian people in the West Bank and before that, at the American embassies in Egypt (1983-1985) and Mauritania (1980 as an intern).</p>
<p>Burns has received twelve honorary degrees, the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award, the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service from the Johns Hopkins University, and the Boston College Alumni Achievement Award. He has a BA in History from Boston College (1978), an MA in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (1980), and earned the Certificat Pratique de Langue Francaise at the University of Paris-Sorbonne (1977). He was a visiting Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in summer 2008.</p>
<p>Currently Burns is Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is Director of the Future of Diplomacy Project and Faculty Chair for the Programs on the Middle East and on India and South Asia. He serves on the Board of Directors of the School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and is a Faculty Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. He is also director of the non-partisan Aspen Strategy Group and serves on the Board of Directors of several non-profit organizations, including The Atlantic Council and the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress.</p> | Harvard Professor and Former Ambassador Nicholas Burns joins GlobalPost as Senior Foreign Affairs Columnist | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-04-08/harvard-professor-and-former-ambassador-nicholas-burns-joins-globalpost-senior | 2013-04-08 | 3 |
<p>A man is dead and a police officer injured after they fell over a retaining wall near Niagara Falls during a chase.</p>
<p>Ontario's Special Investigations Unit is investigating the incident in which Canadian police said the officer was pursuing the man, <a href="http://www.cp24.com/siu-investigates-after-man-dies-officer-injured-in-niagara-falls-1.891764" type="external">CP24 reported</a>.</p>
<p>According to QMI Agency, the two tumbled over the waist-high concrete wall that separates the sidewalk from the cliffs of the gorge.</p>
<p>Both plunged near or to the bottom of Niagara Gorge, about a mile north of the falls.</p>
<p>While the Niagara Regional Police officer sustained a broken femur in the fall, and had to be pulled 100 feet out of the gorge in a hard-framed basket attached to a fire truck boom.</p>
<p>He was then transported via air ambulance to Hamilton General Hospital, <a href="http://www.globaltoronto.com/officer+alive+man+dead+after+both+fall+into+niagara+gorge/6442685365/story.html" type="external">Global Toronto reported</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://m.smh.com.au/world/niagara-falls-police-chase-ends-in-plunge-into-gorge-20120725-22pwz.html" type="external">According to the Associated Press</a>, firefighters later recovered the body of the man being chased.</p>
<p>QMI cited residents living nearby as saying they heard gunshots during the chase, but local police spokesman would not confirm whether shots were fired.</p>
<p>Nor would they comment on a report from a man who said he saw an officer detain a man and a woman just minutes before.</p>
<p>"A cop talked to the guy. [The man] leaned against the police car," QMI quoted local man Greg Taylor as saying.</p>
<p>Taylor said he saw the officer let the man have a cigarette, then: "When he reached in the car to get something, [the man] took off running."</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/weird-wide-web/wall-street-greed-good-rich-wealthy-unethical-bernie-madoff-cheat-steal-lie" type="external">Rich People have a dirty little secret...</a> &#160;</p> | Canada: Man killed, cop injured in fall during chase at Niagara Falls | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-07-25/canada-man-killed-cop-injured-fall-during-chase-niagara-falls | 2012-07-25 | 3 |
<p>Taking the stage before an adoring crowd, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk played both catch up and leap frog.</p>
<p>At an open-to-the-public unveiling Thursday night that included bumping music, free alcohol and test rides on an airport tarmac, Musk unveiled a new version of the luxury electric car maker's Model S sedan that includes all-wheel drive and self-driving "auto pilot" features.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>With more than 1,000 Tesla fans in the audience, Musk explained that while the current Model S is a rear-wheel-drive car with one motor, a new version will have two motors — one powering the front wheels and one powering the rear wheels.</p>
<p>All-wheel drive helps grip slippery roads and is standard on many luxury sedans. Analysts have said Tesla needed it to boost sales in the Northeast and Midwest, as well as Europe. The company sold 13,850 cars in the U.S. this year through September, down 3 percent from a year ago, according to Autodata Corp.</p>
<p>Musk said unlike all-wheel-drive systems on gas-powered cars, Tesla's system improves the speed, acceleration and mileage by optimizing which motor is used. The dual motor version of the P85 performance sedan will have a top speed of 155 mph, compared with the current 130 mph. It will accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.2 seconds, akin to exotic sports cars.</p>
<p>"This car is nuts. It's like taking off from a carrier deck," Musk said at a municipal airport near Los Angeles where another of Musk's companies — the commercial rocket firm SpaceX — is based. The crowd obliged with cheers and applause.</p>
<p>Tesla is also significantly upgrading its safety features through a combination of radar, image-recognition cameras and sonar.</p>
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<p>The Model S will steer itself back if it wanders from its lane and brake automatically if it is about to hit something. Those features are offered on luxury competitors, as well as mainstream brands such as Ford, Hyundai and Toyota.</p>
<p>But Tesla is going a step further. Its new system will move the car over a lane when the driver uses the turn signal. It will also use cameras to read speed limit signs and decelerate accordingly. Volvo has a system that reads signs and alert drivers if they are over the limit, but does not change the speed.</p>
<p>Musk said "auto pilot" does not mean that the car could drive itself — as he put it, a driver cannot "safely fall asleep." Although, he said, on private property — not public roads — a driver could summon the car remotely.</p>
<p>While the addition of all-wheel drive catches Tesla up with other in the luxury car market, pulling together all the driver-assist features impressed Brian A. Johnson, an analyst with Barclay's. "It's a year ahead of the timeframe I was expecting," he said.</p>
<p>Raj Rajkumar, a pioneer of self-driving cars with Carnegie Mellon University, was similarly impressed but wondered about the limitations of "auto-pilot" — how would it perform in different weather and road conditions.</p>
<p>The dual motor will be a $4,000 option on the base and mid-range Model S, which start at $71,000. The base price for the P85 with all-wheel drive — which will be known as P85D — is $120,000. The cars went on sale immediately on Tesla's website; the P85D will be delivered beginning in December, while the other versions begin delivery in February.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press Auto Writer Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Contact Justin Pritchard at https://twitter.com/</p> | Tesla Motors' 'D'-velopment: all-wheel drive, 'auto pilot' safety features for Model S sedan | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/10/10/tesla-motors-d-velopment-all-wheel-drive-auto-pilot-safety-features-for-model-s.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>Alan Brochstein Looks at 3 Companies that could Benefit from Rising Employment and Higher Interest Rates</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Federal Reserve</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://community.tradeking.com/members/tk-all-star/blogs/44048-welcome-alan-brochstein-invest-by-model" type="external">TradeKing All-Star Commentator Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Disclosure: &#160;No position in any stock listed</p>
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<p><a href="http://community.tradeking.com/members/tk-all-star/blogs" type="external">http://community.tradeking.com/members/tk-all-star/blogs Opens a New Window.</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://sipc.org/" type="external">SIPC Opens a New Window.</a></p> | Payroll Processers Could Pay Off For You | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2012/03/19/payroll-processers-could-pay-off-for.html | 2016-03-03 | 0 |
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<p>Eastern New Mexico University senior fullback Christian Long, who helped ENMU’s football team to a share of the Lone Star Conference title with Tarleton State, has been named to the third team All America list by Beyond Sports Network, the <a href="http://www.pntonline.com/2013/12/18/enmus-long-notches-third-team-all-america/" type="external">Portales News-Tribune</a> reported.</p>
<p>Long, a transfer from Eastern Arizona, rushed for 538 yards and 11 touchdowns on 140 carries for the ENMU Greyhounds, who were 7-3 overall and 5-1 in league play, the News-Tribune said. His 66 points led the team in scoring.</p>
<p>ENMU’s last player to win All-America honors was punter Taylor Cannon in 2011, the paper reported.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | ENMU fullback Christian Long named 3rd team All-America | false | https://abqjournal.com/322221/enmu-fullback-christian-long-named-3rd-team-all-america.html | 2 |
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<p>LUXEMBOURG — An appeals court in Luxembourg has reduced sentences for two former employees of an accounting firm who were found guilty of leaking thousands of secret documents to an investigative journalist in the so-called LuxLeaks case.</p>
<p>The appeals court upheld Wednesday the guilty verdict returned last year by a lower court against Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet.</p>
<p>The two ex-employees of PricewaterhouseCoopers had leaked private documents to journalist Edouard Perrin, who was investigating sweetheart tax deals Luxembourg granted to big foreign firms.</p>
<p>Deltour was sentenced to a six-month suspended prison term — instead of a 12-month suspended term, while Haled received a 1,000 euro ($1,063) fine, instead of a nine-month suspended term.</p>
<p>The court also upheld the acquittal of Perrin, who used the materials dubbed “LuxLeaks” for a series of exposes.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Sentences reduced for 2 whistleblowers in ‘LuxLeaks’ case | false | https://abqjournal.com/969634/sentences-reduced-for-2-whistleblowers-in-luxleaks-case.html | 2 |
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<p>A bitterly contested presidential election was held recently. The opposition candidate lost narrowly, by less than three percent of the vote, but now a large segment of the electorate is crying foul.</p>
<p>There was evidence of fraud-supporters of the opposition candidate being kept from the polls while supporters of the incumbent were voting more than once in those “red” regions of the country where the incumbent president’s party was most popular, people crying foul in those regions where the opposition was stronger–and besides, exit polls showed the opposition candidate winning handily.</p>
<p>The country? Not America. It’s the Ukraine.</p>
<p>The response to this evidence of a possibly stolen election? Hundreds of thousands of protesters have camped on the streets of the capital, insisting that opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko be declared the winner. Yushchenko himself has declared victory and even took a symbolic oath of office.</p>
<p>And in the U.S., the Bush administration, citing the exit polls and evidence of fraud that have been raised, has urged government authorities in Kiev “not to certify results until investigations of organized fraud are resolved.”</p>
<p>What’s this?</p>
<p>Roll back the film a minute.</p>
<p>Isn’t the Bush administration facing much the same situation in the U.S., absent the mass street rallies?</p>
<p>In Florida, Ohio, New Mexico, and other battleground states in the U.S., there is considerable documented and anecdotal evidence of fraud, including organized efforts in Florida and Ohio by Republican Party authorities to hinder or depress the urban (read black and Democratic) vote, in the deliberate denial of voting rights to people of color, and of possible widespread fraud in the registering and the counting of votes. And exit polls universally showed opposition presidential candidate John Kerry winning handily in the key states of Florida and Ohio, victory in either one of which would have given him victory.</p>
<p>Indeed, a University of Pennsylvania researcher, studying those exit poll results, has concluded that the consistent shift from Kerry to Bush from exit poll prediction to official tally result is a statistical impossibility, leaving fraud as the only explanation.</p>
<p>Yet in Ohio, where a recount of all votes requested by two small third parties, the Greens and the Libertarians, could conceivably overturn the state’s pro-Bush result and hand the presidency to Kerry, the Republican-run Secretary of State’s office is doing everything it can to delay that recount until the state’s electoral college meets and hands its 20 votes irrevocably to Bush., making the recount moot.</p>
<p>Where are the government calls to hold off on such a certification of Bush’s election win until issues of fraud are “resolved.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the mainstream media, while making much of the crisis in the Ukraine, have pretty much dropped the whole story of voter fraud in the U.S. election. Indeed, while exit polls are cited as providing strong evidence that Yushchenko probably was the real winner over governing party candidate Viktor Yanukovych in the Ukraine, in the U.S. media, the prevailing wisdom is that the U.S. exit polls-heretofore said to be far more accurate than pre-election polling–were simply wrong.</p>
<p>In contrast to Ukraine opposition candidate Yushchenko, U.S. opposition candidate John Kerry almost immediately conceded victory to Bush, despite mounting evidence of massive fraud in Ohio and Florida, and despite earlier pledges to fight hard and to make sure “every vote is counted.”</p>
<p>Little wonder that in the Ukraine, where people take their new democracy seriously, the victims of fraud have taken to the streets demanding an overturning of the tainted results, while in the U.S., voters on the losing side of this electoral scandal are reduced to private grumbling.</p>
<p>Even so, the idea of this president, who took office the first time in the face of widespread voter fraud and disenfranchisement in the state of Florida, thanks to a decision by a Supreme Court packed with members of his own party, and who “won” the Nov. 2 election thanks to similar tactics in Ohio and Florida, telling the Ukraine to hold off on declaring a winner until allegations of fraud can be investigated and resolved is hard to swallow.</p>
<p>Almost as hard to swallow as the media that report this without even a passing note about its irony and hypocrisy.</p>
<p>DAVE LINDORFF is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512283/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Killing Time: an Investigation into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal</a>. His new book of CounterPunch columns titled “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512984/counterpunchmaga" type="external">This Can’t be Happening!</a>” to be published this fall by Common Courage Press. Information about both books and other work by Lindorff can be found at <a href="http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/" type="external">www.thiscantbehappening.net</a>.</p>
<p>He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Double Standards on Exit Polls | true | https://counterpunch.org/2004/11/24/double-standards-on-exit-polls/ | 2004-11-24 | 4 |
<p>Making it in the U.S.A Name: Blum Founded: 1977 Location: Stanley, NC CEO: Karl Ruedisser 2009 Revenue: $185 million Manufacturing: Stanley, NC Employees: 370 Based in North Carolina, Blum is owned by Austrian company Julius Blum GMBH. In 1977, the company's directors sent Karl Ruedisser to Stanley, N.C. to start its U.S. division. Since then, the company has grown from a handful of workers to 370 people who manufacture functional hardware for the kitchen cabinet industry at its 450,000-square foot facility. Click through the slides as Blum CEO Karl Ruedisser shares the company’s story.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Making it in the U.S.A: Blum | true | http://foxbusiness.com/slideshow/sbc/2011/01/12/blum.html | 2016-03-23 | 0 |
<p>Welcome to the Creation Museum in Kentucky, where vegetarian dinosaurs play with human children and 60 million years in their evolutionary age just disappears.</p>
<p>BBC:</p>
<p>On a rocky ledge, there is a pair of small theropods - young T. rexes we're told. And near to them (?Hold onto your hat,? says Ken, anticipating our disbelief) there are two human children playing by a stream.</p>
<p>Most geologists would say humans and dinosaurs were separated by more than 60 million years.</p>
<p />
<p>And those dinosaurs have very sharp teeth!</p>
<p>"So do bears," says Ken. "But they eat nuts and berries! Remember, before the sin of Adam, the world was perfect. All creatures were vegetarian." One of the dinosaurs lets out a rather contradictory roar.</p>
<p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6549595.stm" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Disneyland for Creationists | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/disneyland-for-creationists/ | 2007-04-14 | 4 |
<p>How the Press Led the US into War</p>
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<p>Neighbors of the University of New Mexico North Golf Course and others who use it for golfing, walking and just plain relaxing have won a battle to keep it open and free of development — at least for the next 15 years.</p>
<p>The deal struck with Bernalillo County — largely at the urging of Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins, who represents the district the course is in and whose family has lived near there for years — means the county will use $1.5 million from its open space budget to pay for renovations. The university, which owns the 80-acre course on the North Campus near the School of Law, will continue to operate it.</p>
<p>Although county leaders wanted a 30-year deal, the university wisely limited it to half that.</p>
<p>The course became an issue in 2007 when former UNM president David Schmidly proposed developing the land into a retirement community. That plan was abandoned after protests by neighbors who have used the course for recreation for years. The new agreement has the blessing of UNM President Bob Frank.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>UNM’s two golf courses have been losing money for years, including a loss of $521,000 during fiscal 2011.</p>
<p>While it is important for the university to get along with its neighbors, and this may in the long run be the highest and best use of the land, it must balance its fiduciary duties to the taxpayers and its students to make sure it gets the greatest benefit from its assets. In coming years, that could turn out to be development, classrooms or student housing.</p>
<p>Urban open space is a desirable asset to the community, but the university cannot and should not unequivocally agree to provide it in perpetuity.</p>
<p>This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.</p> | Editorial: UNM Golf Course Deal OK for Now | false | https://abqjournal.com/125487/unm-golf-course-deal-ok-for-now.html | 2012-08-21 | 2 |
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<p>James Garcia of Albuquerque caught a 42-inch, 25-pound tiger muskie at Bluewater Lake on Saturday. He was using a water dog.</p>
<p>Fernando Aguilar of Alamogordo caught a 24-inch, 5-pound rainbow trout at Grindstone Reservoir on Aug. 20. He was using a night crawler PowerBait combination.</p>
<p>Dalton King of Aztec caught and released a 40-inch northern pike at Navajo Lake on Friday with a buzz bait.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Eric Kelly of Kirtland caught a 27-inch, 12-pound cutbow on the San Juan River on Friday. He was fishing the lower section and using a streamer.</p>
<p>Stephen Baker, of Albuquerque, landed a hefty 23½-inch rainbow on Saturday at Shady Lakes with hatcher bait power bait chews.</p>
<p>AROUND THE STATE</p>
<p>ISLETA LAKES: Fishing at both SUNRISE and TURTLE lakes has been good with most anglers reporting bag limits being reached. Both lakes have recently been stocked with catfish and will again be stocked for the holiday weekend. Best baits being used are garlic chicken liver, shrimp and various stink baits. No trout activity as of yet. Curtis Thompson, Isleta Lakes &amp; RV Park</p>
<p>SANDIA LAKES: The lakes were fully stocked to capacity on Tuesday. Our lakes are brimming with fish for the weekend and we will be open Labor Day. This load included a large amount of albino catfish. These fish are almost totally white with pink fins. We will be issuing a prize bounty for each albino fish caught and brought into the store on Monday.</p>
<p>Jason Wiebenga, Wildcat Environmental Services</p>
<p>SHADY LAKES: The trout are again biting. We re-stocked on Friday from our long-time Colorado grower. We included 500 pounds of big trout in the 1,500 pound load. Due to summer heat, though, the Big Trout Pond does include a mix of sizes running from 11-17 inches. It’s a good time to go for largemouth bass, too, as the weather cools. Use plastics and fish near the water lilies. Bluegill activity continues with flies and worms. Jan Phillips, director</p>
<p>NOTES from GAME &amp; FISH: At UTE LAKE, fishing was described as excellent by anglers fishing for white bass and using slab spoons.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Water flow on the SAN JUAN RIVER below Navajo Dam on Monday was 753 cfs. Trout fishing through the quality waters was good using Griffith’s gnats, small parachute RS2s, red larva, San Juan worms, fluff baetis and small bead-head pheasant tails.</p>
<p>Stream flow on the CIMARRON RIVER below Eagle Nest on Monday was 12 cfs. Trout fishing was good using Royal Wullfs, parachute Adams, stimulators, salmon eggs and worms.</p>
<p>At MONASTERY LAKE, trout fishing was very good using midges, hares ears, PowerBait and salmon eggs</p>
<p>At EAGLE NEST LAKE, perch fishing was great from the shore and from anchored boats. The best bait was worms.</p>
<p>Fishing at CLAYTON LAKE was good using PowerBait and spinners for trout.</p>
<p>At CONCHAS LAKE, fishing was good using slab spoons, topwater lures and crank baits for white bass.</p>
<p>Water flow on the RED RIVER near the hatchery on Monday was 58 cfs. Fishing was good using poundmeisters, bead-head hares” ears, night crawlers and salmon eggs for trout.</p>
<p>Fishing at ABIQUIU LAKE was good using spinner-night crawler rigs, jig and minnow combinations and curly tail grubs for walleye.</p>
<p>At COCHITI LAKE, fishing was fair to good using crank baits, grubs and jerk baits for white bass.</p>
<p>Fishing at NAVAJO LAKE was good using crank baits, jerk baits and buzz baits for northern pike.</p>
<p>At ELEPHANT BUTTE, fishing was good using crank baits, grubs and minnows for white bass. Fishing was good using shiners, shrimp, hot dogs, chicken liver and night crawlers over baited holes for catfish.</p>
<p /> | Fishing Line | false | https://abqjournal.com/453231/fishing-line-150.html | 2014-08-28 | 2 |
<p>Last October Western correspondents reported from Moscow that two Soviet writers, Andrei Sinyayski and Yuli Daniel, had been arrested and that they would be charged under article 70 of the Soviet Criminal Code with "dissemination of anti-Soviet propaganda." Most of the reports suggested, more specifically, that the two men had been arrested for publishing their manuscripts abroad under the pseudonyms "Abram Tertz" and "Nikolai Arzhak." On November 11 Jerzy Giedroyc, the editor of the Polish emigre magazine Kultura, retracted an earlier denial and stated that the two arrested writers were indeed none other than Tertz and Arzhak, whose manuscripts have been published at regular intervals in Kultura since 1959. This statement must be accepted as authoritative, though it has not yet been confirmed by any official Soviet source.</p>
<p /> | The Case of Tertz-Sinyavski | true | https://dissentmagazine.org/article/case-tertz-sinyavski | 2018-11-01 | 4 |
<p>The title of this session asks if we’ve run out of economic policies. This is a silly question, as can be shown with some clearer thinking on the economy. Debates on economic policy too often get reduced to narrow debates on tax and transfer policy. While tax and transfer policy is hugely important, this focus absurdly narrows the scope for economic policy. This narrowing is especially unfortunate in a country like France, where the use of the euro has sharply limited its ability to run budget deficits, or stimulate its economy through monetary or exchange rate policy. This means that its ability to do much at this point through tax and transfer policy is seriously constrained.</p>
<p>Nonetheless there are many areas in which the French government could implement policies that would both boost growth and reduce unemployment and inequality. In my book, Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer, I discuss five areas in which the market has been structured in ways that redistribute income upward.[1]&#160;I should caution that this book was written with the U.S. economy as the primary point of reference, however most of the points would apply to France as well, even if the upward redistribution in France has not been anywhere near as large as in the United States.</p>
<p>1) Macroeconomic policy. Fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate policy largely determine the level of employment and unemployment. Institutional factors, like rules on overtime and vacation policy, can also affect employment levels by affecting the supply of labor.</p>
<p>2) Regulation of the financial sector. The financial sector enjoys a privileged position almost everywhere, being exempt from much taxation and relying on the government as a lender of last resort.</p>
<p>3) Corporate governance. In the United States, the process of corporate governance has become increasingly corrupted so that it is very difficult for shareholders to put a check on the pay of CEOs and other top managers. Top management has a large voice in selecting the directors who oversee them. Once selected, directors have little incentive to challenge CEO pay, since virtually all slated directors are re-elected. The result is CEO salaries that often reach into the tens of millions annually.</p>
<p>4) Protected professionals. In the United States, the most highly paid professionals, doctors and dentists in particular, are largely protected from both foreign and domestic competition. As a result, their pay is more than twice the average for other wealthy countries.</p>
<p>5) Intellectual property. Patent and copyright monopolies often raise the price of protected items by several thousand percent above the free market price. This is especially important in the case of prescription drugs where patent monopolies can make drugs that would be cheap in a free market extremely expensive. These protections not only threaten health care, they also are a big part of the story of upward redistribution.</p>
<p>I will focus my remarks on intellectual property since there is so much at stake and the issues involved are poorly understood.</p>
<p>The United States will spend more than $440 billion on drugs in 2017 that would sell in a free market, without patents or related protections, for less than $80 billion. The difference of more than $360 billion is almost 2 percent of GDP, or almost one-third of after-tax corporate profits. (The markups on drugs will be less in France, where prices are regulated.) There are also huge markups, typically in the range of 1000 percent or more, in medical equipment, pesticides, fertilizers, seed crops, software, recorded music and video material, and books.</p>
<p>In total, the gap between Intellectual Property (IP) protected prices and free market prices in the United States is likely to be more than 5 percent of GDP, or over $900 billion in the U.S. economy. This is a massive transfer of income from the bulk of the population to the people who are in a situation to benefit from IP protection. The beneficiaries are not only the shareholders of pharmaceutical companies, software makers, and other companies that directly benefit from these protections but also the highly skilled segment of the workforce, such as biochemists and software engineers, who see an increase in the demand for their skills as a result of these protections.</p>
<p>This point is important for two reasons. First, it is far from obvious that patents and copyrights are the best mechanisms for supporting innovation and creative work in the 21 st century. These are relics of the medieval guild system that have managed to survive through a combination of inertia and special interest lobbying.</p>
<p>The gap between the IP-protected price and the free market price leads to the same sort of economic waste and corruption that is the predicted result of trade tariffs. But in this case, instead of being 20 or 30 percent, the protection is equivalent to tariffs of 1000 percent or more. Most obviously, this means that many people who could afford drugs, medical equipment, or other items at the free market price, but not at the protected price, are denied access. This is a huge issue in the developing world, but even in the rich countries, there are many people who go without needed medicine because IP protection makes it too costly.</p>
<p>To take a dramatic example, the Hepatitis C drug Sovaldi carries a list price in the United States of $84,000 for a three-month course of treatment. High-quality generic versions are available in India for less than $300.&#160;[2]&#160;Many of the new cancer drugs carry list prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. In almost all cases these drugs are cheap to produce; it is the patent monopoly that makes them expensive.</p>
<p>But this is just the beginning of the problems with patent protection in the case of prescription drugs. The huge markups encourage drug companies to push their drugs for conditions where it is not appropriate. There are many instances where they have made payoffs to doctors to promote their drugs in talks or articles for medical journals. They also misrepresent research findings, concealing evidence that their drugs may not be as effective as claimed or even harmful in some circumstances.</p>
<p>Patent protection also encourages secrecy in research, as companies want to maximize their own ability to profit rather than giving away information to potential competitors. And it leads to unnecessary duplicative research, as drug companies may seek to innovate around the patent of a major breakthrough drug in order to get a portion of the patent rents. While the increased competition may be desirable in a world of patent monopolies, if drugs were selling at their free market price it is unlikely that we would devote large amounts of resources to developing the second, third, and fourth drugs for a condition that can already be treated, as opposed to spending the money to develop a drug for a condition for which no treatment exists.&#160;[3]</p>
<p>There are alternative mechanisms to patent financing for prescription drug research, most obviously direct government funding. The United States is already spending more than $30 billion annually through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This compares to around $50 billion that the pharmaceutical industry claims to spend on research each year. The NIH funding is overwhelming focused on basic research, but there are instances where it has actually funded the development of drugs and paid for clinical trials.</p>
<p>There is no reason why public funding could not be expanded and focused on the later phases of research and clinical testing. The new drugs could then be sold at generic prices since the research has already been paid for. An alternative route is to establish a prize system under which patents for important drugs are purchased by the government and placed in the public domain so that they could then be sold as generics.</p>
<p>Under both these systems, the research findings and clinical test results could be made completely public. This would be a huge benefit to doctors, who would be able to make more informed decisions in prescribing drugs. Some drugs may be more effective for some groups of people than others, or have bad side effects when mixed with other drugs. Full disclosure of test results would make this information available to doctors.</p>
<p>The case of prescription drugs is worth highlighting because it is probably the most egregious example of the waste and corruption of the current IP system, but there are many other instances that could be cited. In the tech industry, for years Apple and Samsung were competing as much in the court system over competing patent claims as in the market for smartphones. Patent trolling, buying up rights to a patent and hoping to be able to get a suit against a major company into court, is a major form of livelihood for many lawyers.</p>
<p>In the case of copyright, the United States has made the monopolies ever longer (now 95 years) and the penalties for infringements ever greater. Here too there are alternatives. The U.S. system of a tax deduction for charitable contributions presents an obvious model. A tax credit could be allowed for contributions to support creative work, with the condition of receiving the money that the work is in the public domain.</p>
<p>The relative merits of alternatives to IP for supporting innovation and creative work can be debated. I mention these to point out that the IP system is a policy option and is not the only known mechanism for these purposes.</p>
<p>However, there is an even more basic point that must be recognized. The strength and length of IP rules are things directly determined by public policy in large part. There has been a conscious decision in the rich countries to make these rules stronger in the last four decades. This has benefited highly skilled workers and IP related industries at the expense of everyone else. In principle, there should be a payoff to society from stronger IP rules in the form of more rapid productivity growth. This is a very questionable proposition, especially given the extremely weak productivity growth we have seen over the last decade.</p>
<p>However, even if there were a dividend from stronger IP protection in the form of more rapid productivity growth, this should still be an explicit topic for public debate. In other words, we should be asking how much upward redistribution we are willing to tolerate in exchange for a predicted gain in productivity growth.</p>
<p>This debate has not taken place in the United States, France, or to my knowledge any other country in the world. The bottom line here is that it is clearly not true that it is just technology making some people very wealthy and making many others less well off. This outcome is the result of clear policy choices that unfortunately have been largely left out of public debate.</p>
<p>Notes.</p>
<p>[1]&#160;See&#160; <a href="https://deanbaker.net/books/rigged.htm" type="external">https://deanbaker.net/books/rigged.htm</a>.</p>
<p>[2]&#160;See&#160; <a href="" type="internal">http://www.thebodypro.com/content/78658/1000-fold-mark-up-for-drug-prices-in-high-income-c.html</a>.</p>
<p>[3]&#160;Having multiple drugs for a condition is desirable, since patients will respond differently to the same drug, but the question is the amount of resources that should be devoted to duplicative drugs.</p>
<p>Remarks by Dean Baker, Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), at&#160;Les Rencontres Économiques d’Aix-en-Provence.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | There is No Shortage of Economic Policies, Just Creative People in Policymaking Positions | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/07/14/there-is-no-shortage-of-economic-policies-just-creative-people-in-policymaking-positions/ | 2017-07-14 | 4 |
<p>Russian cybercrime suspect Alexander Vinnik, who is wanted in the United States on charges of laundering billions of dollars' worth of the virtual currency bitcoin, appeared Wednesday before Greece's Supreme Court for a hearing into his extradition to the U.S.</p>
<p>Vinnik is the subject of a judicial tug-of-war between the U.S. and Russia, which is also seeking his extradition on lesser charges.</p>
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<p>Court officials said a decision on the U.S. request would be announced on Dec. 13. If it decides in favor of extradition to the U.S., Greece's justice minister will have the final word on where the suspect will be sent. Lower courts in Greece have approved both extradition requests.</p>
<p>Vinnik is fighting his extradition to the United States, but not to Russia.</p>
<p>The U.S. is accusing Vinnik of laundering $4 billion worth of bitcoins through BTC-e, one of the world's largest digital currency exchanges, which he allegedly operated.</p>
<p>Russia, meanwhile, wants him back to face charges related to a 667,000-ruble ($11,500) fraud.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, Vinnik repeated arguments made earlier, maintaining that he was the operator and not owner of the trading platforms.</p>
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<p>The court heard testimony from two Russian businessmen and an expert who formerly headed the Greek Police's cybercrime division.</p>
<p>Vinnik's lawyers described the arguments made in the U.S. request as vague and failing to fully comply with procedure.</p>
<p>"We presented our legal arguments, which in our view should lead the Supreme Court to reject the extradition request," lawyer Alexandros Lykourezos, heading Vinnik's defense team, told the AP.</p>
<p>The 37-year-old was arrested on a U.S. request in July while on holiday with his family in the Halkidiki area of northern Greece, which is popular with Russian tourists.</p>
<p>The U.S. Justice Department says Vinnik has been indicted by a grand jury in the Northern District of California on charges including money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions. The charges carry maximum sentences of up to 20 years in prison.</p>
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<p>Elena Becatoros in Athens contributed to this report.</p> | Greek high court to rule on Russian bitcoin suspect Dec 13 | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/12/06/greek-supreme-court-extradition-hearing-for-russian-suspect.html | 2017-12-06 | 0 |
<p>Lions Gate has agreed to an exchange of stock with affiliates of John Malone that will see the Liberty Media Corp. chairman join the movie and television company's board.</p>
<p>The deal could set the stage for broader cooperation between Lion's Gate and Malone, a powerful figure in the media business.</p>
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<p>In the deal, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. will exchange 3.43 percent of its common stock for 4.51 percent of Starz stock. Starz was spun off from Liberty Media in 2013. Malone is Starz's largest voting shareholder, with approximately 32.1 percent of the total voting power of Starz.</p>
<p>Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer and Vice Chairman Michael Burns said they see "potential to explore a broad range of strategic initiatives in the future."</p>
<p>The Santa Monica, California-based company's shares climbed 6.5 percent in morning trading.</p> | Lions Gate in stock exchange deal with affiliates of Liberty Media Chairman Malone | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2015/02/11/lions-gate-in-stock-exchange-deal-with-affiliates-liberty-media-chairman-malone.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>Like a skilled property owner, Donald Trump is living rent-free in the heads of Democrats.</p>
<p>During an appearance on “Fox &amp; Friends” on Friday, the president threw his support behind an embattled Nancy Pelosi to remain the leader of House Democrats.</p>
<p>When asked about what fretting Democrats should do after their string of special election losses, Trump responded, “I hope she doesn’t step down.”</p>
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<p>“I think that it would be a very, very sad day for Republicans if she steps down,” the president deadpanned to Ainsley Earhardt.</p>
<p>“I’d be very, very disappointed if she did. I’d like to keep her right where she is because our record is extraordinary against her,” he added.</p>
<p>Trump’s backhanded compliment will only fuel Democrats’ angst.</p>
<p>On Thursday, Pelosi defended herself and attempted to dismiss a growing chorus of Democrats who want her to step aside.</p>
<p>NBC News <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/pelosi-strikes-back-i-think-i-m-worth-trouble-n775521" type="external">reported</a>:</p>
<p>Pushing back on criticism from fellow party members after the Democratic loss in a Georgia special election this week, Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that she’s “worth the trouble” as Democrats’ leader in the House.</p>
<p>“I feel very confident about the support that I have in my caucus,” Pelosi said at a press conference in the Capitol after Republicans featured her in almost every ad attacking Democrat Jon Ossoff in the Georgia congressional race which he lost Tuesday.</p>
<p>“I think I’m worth the trouble, quite frankly,” she concluded. “I love the fray.”</p>
<p>“We’re paving a way for a new generation of leadership, and I respect any opinion that my members have,” she said. “But my decision about how long I stay is not up to them.”</p> | Trump backs Pelosi: ‘Keep her right where she is’ | true | http://theamericanmirror.com/trump-backs-pelosi-keep-right/ | 2017-06-23 | 0 |
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<p>Last month, J.C. Penney announced plans to pursue a <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/02/09/jc-penney-makes-another-move-to-reduce-its-debt.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">sale and partial leaseback Opens a New Window.</a> for its corporate headquarters in Plano, Texas. The Plano real estate market is very hot right now and J.C. Penney wants to capitalize on this opportunity to monetize a key real estate asset. The proceeds would be used to pay down debt.</p>
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<p>J.C. Penney plans to sell its corporate headquarters building to raise cash. Photo: The Motley Fool</p>
<p>Last week, J.C. Penney's real estate efforts took another twist. The company is looking to rezone some of its remaining property in Plano to allow for more development. This should help J.C. Penney bring in even more cash from its headquarters sale.</p>
<p>Plano becomes popular with businessesNearly three decades ago, J.C. Penney decided to move its corporate headquarters from New York City to Plano, a suburb of Dallas, in a bid to reduce labor and administrative costs, as well as its tax bill. At that time, the area surrounding J.C. Penney's new corporate campus was still <a href="http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2016/03/penney-seeks-approvals-for-big-plano-office-and-retail-complex-at-legacy.html/" type="external">mostly farmland Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>By contrast, J.C. Penney's headquarters is now part of a huge swath of corporate offices dotting the so-called "Legacy" corridor. And there is a continuing surge of major corporations relocating to this area.</p>
<p>Two years ago, J.C. Penney contributed 240 acres of vacant land near its headquarters to a new partnership that aimed to create a mixed-use development called Legacy West, featuring offices, retail space, a hotel, and apartments. The developers quickly landed a big catch: Toyota Motor took 100 acres to build a 2 million square foot North American headquarters complex.</p>
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<p>This move will consolidate Toyota offices currently located in New York, Kentucky, and California under one roof. Toyota has already moved some employees to Plano, and it will complete the transition during 2017.</p>
<p>Other companies are following Toyota's lead. Liberty Mutual Insurance is building a campus that will house 4,000 employees. FedEx Office -- formerly Kinko's -- recently put the finishing touches on a new headquarters building at Legacy West, replacing other offices in the Dallas area.</p>
<p>It's easy to see the appeal of the Legacy corridor, especially for global companies like Toyota. It's still relatively affordable, the site is well-located at the intersection of two major highways, and it is just a 25 minute drive from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport: one of the biggest airline hubs in the world, with nonstop flights to five continents.</p>
<p>J.C. Penney tries to extract more valueIn light of this building boom in Plano, it's a great time for J.C. Penney to cash out. So while the company originally stated that it planned to sell its 1.8 million square foot headquarters and lease back about two-thirds of the building, J.C. Penney now seems to have bigger aims.</p>
<p>As part of the headquarters sale, J.C. Penney would also like to sell about 40 acres of surrounding land. It recently asked the city of Plano to rezone a 111 acre tract including this property to allow the construction of eight new buildings with office and retail space. This would make it similar in density to the new Legacy West development.</p>
<p>If J.C. Penney gets the necessary approvals, the headquarters site would be vastly more attractive to potential purchasers. Not only would the buyer be able to collect rent from J.C. Penney and any other tenants it could find for the existing building, it would also be able to develop the remaining available land.</p>
<p>J.C. Penney can use every dollarJ.C. Penney executives recently stated that they expect a <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/02/5-things-jc-penney-company-inc-management-wants-yo.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">fall closing date Opens a New Window.</a> for any potential sale of the Plano headquarters. This, along with internal free cash flow production, should allow J.C. Penney to pay down $400 million-$500 million of debt this year: roughly 10% of its total debt burden.</p>
<p>If J.C. Penney's zoning request is approved, the headquarters sale price could increase, allowing the company to pay down even more debt. By unlocking value from its real estate, the company may be able to get back on a firm financial footing. Meanwhile, J.C. Penney's turnaround will have time to gain steam, driving a return to sustainable profitability.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/15/jc-penney-tries-to-squeeze-more-cash-from-its-home.aspx" type="external">J.C. Penney Tries to Squeeze More Cash From Its Home Office Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGemHunter/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Adam Levine-Weinberg Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends FedEx. 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> | J.C. Penney Tries to Squeeze More Cash From Its Home Office | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/03/15/jc-penney-tries-to-squeeze-more-cash-from-its-home-office.html | 2016-03-15 | 0 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The site of the world’s first nuclear blast — in the New Mexico desert near San Antonio, entirely within the confines of the White Sands Missile Range — is normally open to the public twice a year, on the first Saturdays of April and October, but this Saturday’s tour has been called off because of ongoing federal budget woes, <a href="http://www.krqe.com/news/on-assignment/budget-fallout-cancels-trinity-site-tour" type="external">KRQE News 13</a> reported.</p>
<p>The missile range doesn’t have the money to open the site where the world’s first atomic device was detonated on July 16, 1945.</p>
<p>It’s not because of the current government shutdown but is part of the fallout of the sequester, the budget-cutting deal passed in the spring by Congress, News 13 said.</p>
<p>“We had to make some really hard decisions,” Monte Marlin, White Sands public affairs officer, told KRQE. “There are people from across the country, and maybe other countries, that are planning vacations, so this kind of messes up their plants.”</p>
<p>Every time the Trinity Site opens to the public, it costs between $20,000 to $30,000 to rent buses, hire drivers and security guards and provide bathrooms and water, Marlin said.</p>
<p>Marline said White Sands is committed to opening the Trinity Site and will do so again once funding becomes available, News 13 reported.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Budget woes cancel Trinity Site tour | false | https://abqjournal.com/274245/budget-woes-cancel-trinity-site-tour.html | 2013-10-03 | 2 |
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<p>Former AIG chairman Maurice “Hank” Greenberg paid a visit to the <a href="http://www.fed-soc.org" type="external">Federalist Society</a> at the right-wing legal group’s annual Washington meeting Friday. And the man who spent 27 years at the helm of the insurance giant that <a href="" type="internal">nearly brought down the entire American financial system</a> was as unrepentant as ever about any role he might have played in the crisis. On hand (er, phone, actually) as part of a panel discussion on the Wall Street bailout, Greenberg devoted the bulk of his time painting AIG as a victim of government incompetence and favoritism.</p>
<p>By his telling, the government has given AIG pretty shoddy treatment since it first loaned the company $85 billion and took an 80 percent share. Observing that the government doesn’t do a very good job of running companies—witness the Post Office—he said he was “puzzled” by how the bailout terms became <a href="" type="internal">so punitive</a> and why the government wasn’t more interested in helping the company get back on its feet. He wondered how federal officials decided to stick it to AIG and not other companies that then got propped up with money funneled through AIG. “Why is one institution going to be liquidated while others have been guaranteed?” he asked.</p>
<p>To that end, Greenberg advocated the creation of a commission made up of “prominent Americans” (i.e., not members of Congress) who would have subpoena authority and get to the bottom of some of these lingering questions. Greenberg insisted that when AIG was bailed out, the “insurance entities of AIG were very solid,” a “national asset.” (No matter that back in March, AIG itself told the Treasury Department that it needed even more federal funds because of problems with <a href="" type="internal">its life insurance sector</a>, not because of the disasterous credit default swaps coming out of its now-infamous financial products division.) In Greenberg’s view, if the government had simply provided guarantees for all those credit default swaps, it would have restored liquidity and there would have been no need to take over the company.</p>
<p>But if the industry lion was hoping for a sympathetic ear from the conservative lawyers assembled in the Mayflower Hotel ballroom, Greenberg must have been sorely disappointed. During the question period, a law student from Washington and Lee got up and demanded to know why AIG deserved any government aid given the way it had behaved and allegations that it had illegally tried to squash competitors. Greenberg said AIG had never been found guilty of anti-trust violations but he conceded that “I happen to agree that bankruptcy might have been a better outcome for everyone.” Mostly, though, he stuck to his talking points about AIG as a victim of government caprice and his deisre to learn just who picked the winners and losers in the bailout.</p>
<p>Greenberg has good reason to want the government to work harder to restore AIG to its former greatness rather than sell off its assets. When the company collapsed, he <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Story?id=5826500&amp;page=3" type="external">lost the bulk of his vast fortune along with it</a>. Even though he left in 2005, under a cloud of fraud charges, Greenberg was still AIG’s largest shareholder when it went down. Presumably he still owns a few of those almost-worthless shares in the company. Still, his Wall Street mindset still prevails. In response to a lawyer’s question about whether executive pay limits might be a good idea, Greeberg thought it would be impossible to run a successful company paying people only a measly $200,000 a year, as has been proposed by the Obama administration’s “pay czar.”</p>
<p>At the end, I asked Greenberg whether he had any remorse or regret about the role that his company played in wrecking the economy. “No,” he declared. “I think we had a very good record.” And when I asked whether in retrospect there was anything he might have done differently that might have prevented the current financial disaster, Greenberg stuck with his usual defense: It didn’t happen on his watch. He claimed that the riskiest activity at AIG took place in the seven months after he departed. “I can’t be responsible for what happened after I left,” he said.</p>
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<p /> | AIG’s Greenberg Still Unrepentant | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/11/greenberg-still-unrepentant/ | 2009-11-13 | 4 |
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<p>Leaders from of the city’s Fiscal Agent Services Evaluation Committee presented findings to the City Council’s Finance Committee Monday and gave Wells Fargo the highest scores over four New Mexico banks which also responded to the city’s request for proposals.</p>
<p>The Finance Committee approved sending the recommendation to full council later this month.</p>
<p>“My primary concern is always to manage taxpayer dollars safely effectively and efficiently,” said City Fiance Director Adam Johnson. “We certainly appreciate and are sensitive to the broader communal concerns (about Wells Fargo), but we don’t put that into this analysis of the RFP.”</p>
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<p>With the existing contract expiring at the end of 2017, Johnson noted that the city did ask for the first time for each bank to address its “community initiatives” when bidding for the new contract.</p>
<p>Wells Fargo detailed examples of investment in Santa Fe including about 1,600 volunteer hours, community grants and small business loans. The company says it donated about $200,000 to local nonprofits in 2016 and, in 2015, distributed $168.5 million in loans to small borrowers.</p>
<p>Wells Fargo was in competition with Bank of Albuquerque, Century Bank, Los Alamos National Bank and New Mexico Bank and Trust, which either made complete proposals or partial proposals for certain services. The banks were rated on various factors including online service abilities, cost and Community Reinvestment Act ratings.</p>
<p>In January, a group rallied to urge the city to switch banks because of Wells Fargo’s involvement in financing the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline. Mayor Javier Gonzales expressed support for them at the time and pushed for changes to the bidding process for the banking contract.</p>
<p>Also, in a major scandal, Wells Fargo acknowledged in September that its employees opened up to 2 million bank and credit card accounts without customer authorization in order to meet lofty sales goals. Federal and California regulators fined Wells Fargo $185 million for the practices.</p>
<p>On Monday, Gonzales said in an emailed statement: “We continue to support local tax dollars being banked and managed in a way that aligns with our values and supports local community development, and the competitive process we set up this year reflected that priority for the first time ever.” He said that however the contract competition plays out, “we will continue to push — across the entire range of city financial functions — to find the right balance between our fiduciary responsibilities and our desire to see greater local investment.”</p>
<p>At Monday’s Finance Committee meeting , Councilor Renee Villarreal acknowledged there is a difference between Wells Fargo nationally and locally, but said she wants to make sure the city is holding its contractors&#160; “to a higher standard” even at the corporate level.</p>
<p>“[I’m] personally very disappointed with things that have happened in other areas of our institution this year,” said Bryan Scott, a Wells Fargo regional manager.</p>
<p>“But it doesn’t speak to the values that myself and the team we have here today [have]….what you’re seeing and reading in the papers isn’t indicative of the culture and commitment we have for the community.”</p>
<p>In its proposal, Wells Fargo also addressed its involvement with the DAPL in a three-page letter saying there were “differing opinions” and misinformation about the pipeline. “The bank worked with legal counsel… to ensure that the project complied with all local, state and federal laws,”&#160; wrote Scott.</p> | Despite controversies, Wells Fargo recommended to keep Santa Fe banking services | false | https://abqjournal.com/1051404/despite-controversies-wells-fargo-recommended-to-keep-santa-fes-banking-services.html | 2 |
|
<p>Romney, Crowley and Obama at Hofstra debate (PBS NewsHour)</p>
<p>Over the past few weeks of the presidential campaign we’ve been hearing a lot–maybe too much–about the September 11, 2012, attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.</p>
<p>It’s been turned into a campaign issue by the Romney team, which has used the incident to charges that the Obama administration is unable to manage foreign affairs and so forth.&#160; The intensity of the Republican pushback has made this into a major story. It was the lead issue in the vice presidential debate, and has been a regular subject on the Sunday chat shows, with Republican lawmakers lining up to denounce the White House.</p>
<p>But in <a href="" type="internal">covering</a> the Republican outrage, the media have done a pretty dismal job of sorting out the facts–or even explaining why this story is as important as the level of coverage would suggest.</p>
<p>The fact is that much of this debate is empty political posturing about whether Obama called the incident an “act of terror.” It came to a head in last night’s debate, when CNN moderator <a href="" type="internal">Candy Crowley</a> agreed that Obama indeed had referred to it as an act of terror the day after the attack occurred.</p>
<p>Some Republicans <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/10/second_presidential_debate_mitt_romney_missed_a_big_opportunity_to_attack.single.html#pagebreak_anchor_2" type="external">continue</a> to argue that they are still correct, because Obama said “terror” and not&#160; “terrorism,” or that his <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/12/remarks-president-deaths-us-embassy-staff-libya" type="external">statement</a> that “no acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation” might have been a general observation unconnected to the killing of the ambassador he had called reporters into the rose garden to discuss. And <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/fact-checking-the-second-presidential-debate/2012/10/17/d6d3a7b4-17a3-11e2-a55c-39408fbe6a4b_blog.html" type="external">some</a> media factcheckers are <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/82505.html" type="external">taking</a> these semantic games <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/presidential-debate-fact-check-obama-romney-claims-libya-17496532" type="external">seriously</a>.</p>
<p>To be sure, the White House has sent out mixed signals about what happened in Benghazi. Much of the blame is directed at UN Ambassador Susan Rice, who made the Sunday talk show rounds on September 16, <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/10/susan-rice-blames-bad-benghazi-intelligence-her-misleading-version-events/57995/#" type="external">delivering the message</a> that the attack was a demonstration against an anti-Islamic video.</p>
<p>In subsequent days, <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/09/us-intelligence-takes-blame-governments-mixed-messages-libya/57416/" type="external">the line shifted</a>, and the administration seemed more inclined to describe the incident as a terrorist attack and play down the relevance of the video. Why the second version of events should be considered more trustworthy than the first is not at all clear.</p>
<p>Reporter Eli Lake of the Daily Beast charged the administration wasn’t being straight about the attackers ( <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/26/u-s-officials-knew-libya-attacks-were-work-of-al-qaeda-affiliates.html?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=cheatsheet_morning&amp;cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_morning&amp;utm_term=Cheat%20Sheet" type="external">9/26/12</a>).&#160; “Within 24 hours of the 9/11 anniversary attack on the United States consulate in Benghazi, U.S. intelligence agencies had strong indications Al- Qaeda–affiliated operatives were behind the attack,” Lake wrote. That piece relied on anonymous intelligence officials, who claimed information about the attackers was available almost immediately.</p>
<p>Lake’s piece, asserting that the U.S. had in fact been attacked by Al-Qaeda sympathizing terrorists, dovetailed with what Republican and conservative critics of the White House are saying: The White House did not want to talk about the U.S. being attacked by Al-Qaeda because it complicates their political message about how they have decimated Al-Qaeda.</p>
<p>The White House’s muddled explanation is one thing. But what are the facts? The New York Times report from the scene of the attack ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/world/middleeast/us-envoy-to-libya-is-reported-killed.html?pagewanted=all" type="external">9/13/12</a>) stressed that the attackers themselves stated they were retaliating for the anti-Muslim video, which is basically what the White House had been saying:</p>
<p>Fighters involved in the assault, which was spearheaded by a Islamist brigade formed during last year’s uprising against Col. Moammar Gadhafi, said in interviews during the battle that they were moved to attack the mission by anger over a 14-minute, American-made video that depicted the Prophet Muhammad, Islam’s founder, as a villainous, homosexual and child-molesting buffoon. Their attack followed by just a few hours the storming of the compound surrounding the United States Embassy in Cairo by an unarmed mob protesting the same video. On Wednesday, new crowds of protesters gathered outside the United States Embassies in Tunis and Cairo.</p>
<p>The Times also reported:</p>
<p>Interviewed at the scene on Tuesday night, many attackers and those who backed them said they were determined to defend their faith from the video’s insults. Some recalled an earlier episode when protesters in Benghazi had burned down the Italian consulate after an Italian minister had worn a T-shirt emblazoned with cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad.</p>
<p>Over a month later ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/world/africa/election-year-stakes-overshadow-nuances-of-benghazi-investigation.html?pagewanted=all" type="external">10/16/12</a>), the Times was reiterating what its reporting had revealed at the time:</p>
<p>&#160;To Libyans who witnessed the assault and know the attackers, there is little doubt what occurred: a well-known group of local Islamist militants struck without any warning or protest, and they did it in retaliation for the video. That is what the fighters said at the time, speaking emotionally of their anger at the video without mentioning Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden or the terrorist strikes of 11 years earlier. And it is an explanation that tracks with their history as a local militant group determined to protect Libya from Western influence.</p>
<p>What about the contention that the attackers were affiliated with Al-Qaeda? The Times notes:</p>
<p>Whether the attackers are labeled ”Al-Qaeda cells” or ”aligned with Al-Qaeda,” as Republicans have suggested, depends on whether that label can be used as a generic term for a broad spectrum of Islamist militants, encompassing groups like Ansar al-Shariah whose goals were primarily local, as well as those who aspire to join a broader jihad against the West.</p>
<p>The Times adds that Ansar al-Shariah</p>
<p>provides social services and guards a hospital. And they openly proselytize for their brand of puritanical Islam and political vision.</p>
<p>They profess no interest in global fights against the West or distant battles aimed at removing American troops from the Arabian Peninsula.</p>
<p>In other words, while the White House account has its obvious problems, the counter-narrative offered by Republicans hardly seems to make more sense. And much of it is just nonsense–as in the debate exchange over whether Obama used the word “terror.” <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/presidential-debate-fact-check-obama-romney-claims-libya-17496532" type="external" /> Still, the right’s ability to drive a narrative is impressive. Factcheckers of last night’s debate point out that Romney was wrong about Obama’s statement, but they nonetheless give him credit for being right about something.&#160; Here’s the Washington Post‘s <a href="" type="internal">Karen Tumulty</a> and <a href="" type="internal">Philip Rucker</a> ( <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/president-obama-mitt-romney-arrive-at-hofstra-for-final-debate-preparations/2012/10/16/1b57bffe-17ba-11e2-a55c-39408fbe6a4b_story.html" type="external">10/17/12</a>):</p>
<p>Crowley interjected that Obama did, in fact, call it an act of terror, although it did take days for the administration to concede that the terrorist act was unrelated to initial reports of anger at a video that defamed the prophet Muhammad.</p>
<p>And the Post‘s resident factchecker <a href="" type="internal">Glenn Kessler</a> agrees ( <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/fact-checking-the-second-presidential-debate/2012/10/17/d6d3a7b4-17a3-11e2-a55c-39408fbe6a4b_blog.html" type="external">10/17/12</a>). Romney was wrong about what Obama said, but his</p>
<p>broader point is accurate–that it took the administration days to concede that the assault on the U.S. mission in Benghazi was an “act of terrorism” that appears unrelated to initial reports of anger at a video that defamed the prophet Muhammad.</p>
<p>Kessler, like ABC News‘ <a href="" type="internal">Jonathan Karl</a> ( <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/presidential-debate-fact-check-obama-romney-claims-libya-17496532" type="external">10/16/12</a>) and the Beltway outlet Politico ( <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/82505.html" type="external">10/16/12</a>) , is straining to give Romney some credit by stressing that Obama said “terror” but not “terrorism,” or maybe he threw in a line about unrelated foreign policy issues when making a statement about the deaths of the embassy staff.</p>
<p>And they have apparently determined, as a matter of fact, that the attack had nothing to do with this vile video. The New York Times‘ reporting from the scene tells a different story. So does Kessler think the&#160;Times reporting is not to be believed? Someone should get a factchecker to explain.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Noise and Nonsense on Benghazi Attack | true | http://fair.org/blog/2012/10/17/noise-and-nonsense-on-benghazi-attack/ | 2012-10-17 | 4 |
<p>By Stephen Kalin</p>
<p>RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is forming two real estate development firms to boost the capacity of Mecca and Medina to receive pilgrims, in projects expected to create billions of dollars of business, it said on Monday.</p>
<p>The plans are part of an array of commitments which the PIF, the country’s main sovereign wealth fund, is taking on under economic reforms designed to reduce Saudi Arabia’s dependence on oil exports.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Saudi sovereign fund to develop holy sites in Mecca, Medina | false | https://newsline.com/saudi-sovereign-fund-to-develop-holy-sites-in-mecca-medina/ | 2017-10-02 | 1 |
<p>WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced criminal charges and sanctions Friday against Iranians accused in a government-sponsored hacking scheme to pilfer sensitive information from hundreds of universities, private companies and American government agencies.</p>
<p>The nine defendants, accused of working at the behest of the Iranian government-tied Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, hacked the computer systems of about 320 universities in the United States and abroad to steal expensive science and engineering research that was then used or sold for profit, prosecutors said.</p>
<p>The hackers also are accused of breaking into the networks of dozens of government organizations, such as the Department of Labor, the United Nations and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and companies including law firms and biotechnology corporations.</p>
<p>The Justice Department said the hackers were affiliated with an Iranian company called the Mabna Institute, which prosecutors say contracted since at least 2013 with the Iranian government to steal scientific research from other countries.</p>
<p />
<p>“By bringing these criminal charges, we reinforce the norm that most of the civilized world accepts: nation-states should not steal intellectual property for the purpose of giving domestic industries an advantage,” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in announcing the charges.</p>
<p>Also Friday, the Treasury Department targeted the Mabna Institute and 10 Iranians — the nine defendants and one charged in a separate case last year — for sanctions that will bar them from doing business in the United States.</p>
<p>The defendants are unlikely to ever be prosecuted in an American courtroom since there’s no extradition treaty with Iran. But the grand jury indictment — filed in federal court in Manhattan — is part of the government’s “name and shame” strategy to publicly identify foreign hackers, block them from traveling without risk of arrest and put their countries on notice.</p>
<p>The strategy has been employed with past indictments accusing Iranian hackers of a digital break-in of a New York dam, Chinese military officials of large-scale hacks at energy corporations and Russians of a massive breach of Yahoo user accounts.</p>
<p>“People travel. They take vacations, they make plans with their families,” said FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich. “Having your name, face and description on a ‘wanted’ poster makes moving freely much more difficult.”</p>
<p>According to the indictment, the Iranians broke into universities through relatively simple, but common means — tricking professors to click on compromised links. The spear-phishing emails purported to be from professors at one university to those at another and contained what appeared to be authentic article links.</p>
<p>But once clicked on, the links steered the professors to a malicious Internet domain that led them to believe they had been logged out of their systems and asked them to enter their log-in. The credentials were then logged and stolen by the hackers, prosecutors say.</p>
<p>From there, according to the Justice Department, the hackers stole roughly 15 billion pages of academic research and intellectual property that was then sent outside the United States for profit.</p>
<p>More than 100,000 professors worldwide were targeted with spear-phishing emails, and the information that was stolen cost U.S. universities about $3.4 billion to procure and access.</p>
<p>“Just in case you’re wondering, they’re not admiring our work,” Bowdich said. “They’re stealing it, and they’re taking credit for it, and they’re selling it to others.”</p> | U.S. Charges 9 Iranians in Massive Hacking Scheme | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/u-s-charges-9-iranians-in-massive-hacking-scheme/ | 2018-03-23 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Shares of Atwood Oceanics (NYSE: ATW) continued their recent ascent, jumping more than 11% by 10:45 a.m. EST on Friday. The stock is now up 86% over the past month, with the bulk of those gains coming since OPEC signed its agreement to cut output at the end of November:</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/ATW" type="external">ATW</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>There aren't any catalysts fueling today's move. While crude oil is up 1.5%, to $51.50 a barrel, that is not a significant move considering how volatile prices have been over the past month. Further, that price point is not high enough to move offshore drilling projects forward, which is what Atwood needs to do to secure new leases for some of its idle drilling rigs.</p>
<p>It is unclear how long it will be before crude hits that pivot point, which is why Atwood recently secured a deal to push back the delivery dates and milestone payments for its last two newbuild ultra-deepwater drillships. Under the terms of that agreement, which it signed on Tuesday, the company was able to push back the delivery of its Atwood Admiral and Archer by two years, to September 2019 and June 2020, respectively. Those moves boosted the company's liquidity by $250 million by pushing back the final payments until the end of 2022. This agreement shows just how cautious the company is in relying on a recovery in the offshore drilling market.</p>
<p>Improving liquidity has been a major focus for offshore drillers in the wake of the OPEC agreement. That explains why rivals Transocean (NYSE: RIG) and Rowan (NYSE: RDC) both issued senior notes this week. Transocean issued $625 million in 6.35% senior notes due in 2024 to partially finance the construction of its Deepwater Proteus newbuild. Meanwhile, Rowan issued $500 million of 7.375% notes due in 2025 to refinance nearer-term debt maturities, including notes maturing next year. By increasing their liquidity now, Transocean, Rowan, and Atwood Oceanics will have more breathing room later on if the OPEC deal does not boost oil prices or offshore drilling activities as quickly as hoped.</p>
<p>While investors are growing more optimistic about a potential improvement in the offshore drilling market, drillers are muchmore cautious. That is evident in their decision to take advantage of the market's optimism and boost liquidity, just in case reality turns out to be less rosy than the current optimistic outlook.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Atwood Oceanics 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=56eed0c3-c178-4c86-a50e-b2819119d69f&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 Atwood Oceanics wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of Nov. 7, 2016</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFmd19/info.aspx" type="external">Matt DiLallo Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Atwood Oceanics. 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> | Atwood Oceanics, Inc. Is Up Double Digits Again Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/09/atwood-oceanics-inc-is-up-double-digits-again-today.html | 2016-12-09 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Hello from New York! I’m here for <a href="http://www.bootienyc.com" type="external">a DJ gig</a>, and so I figure why not make this Party Ben Top 10 a special New York edition. Unfortunately I’ve been here just 18 hours at this point, so it’ll be only slightly New York-y; plus due to limited computer time, I got no pictures and few links. But you’ll get the idea. Start spreading the news:</p>
<p>10. <a href="http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/BJ" type="external">Put the Needle on the Record</a>, WFMU/91.1FM, Fridays 3-6pm Host Billy Jam has Bay Area roots, and his radio show (on while I’m typing this) has a Cali eclecticism. Right now he’s veering from weird avant-classical to Grandmaster Flash</p>
<p>9. The guy at the Red Flame diner who ordered anchovies on toast (“no butter!”) like it’s not the most insane thing ever in history Maybe I’ll order, I dunno, monkey toes on tree bark. Actually the best thing was when he asked for decaf, “very hot please,” and the waitress goes, “What, it’s as hot as it is, you want me to put my finger in it?”</p>
<p>8. NY1’s <a href="http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=8&amp;aid=68200" type="external">breathless coverage</a> of the chocolate Jesus Oh, no! Scandalous sculpture! Let’s ask people on the street what they think about this controversial work of art! “Uhh, I dunno, I guess it’s okay;” “Ehh, to each his own,” “Can we eat it afterwards?”</p>
<p>7. AirTrain to LIRR from JFK Charging $5 to exit the AirTrain is a little awkward, but it takes like 8 minutes, then you hop over onto a Penn Station-bound LIRR train for another $5, and you’re there in 20 minutes, even in rush hour. Total time from the moment of landing til I was happily ensconced in my hotel room on 45th: 53 minutes; total cost: $12</p>
<p>6. <a href="http://www.waxaudio.com.au/downloads/mashopolos" type="external">Wax Audio</a> – “Maiden Goes to Bollywood” (mp3) This Australian mashup producer (now living in Greece) is another “rising star” in the world of bastard pop, and this combo of Iron Maiden and Bollywood singer Sunidhi Chauhan is both hilarious and inspiring</p>
<p>5. TV on the Radio, live at the Fillmore, San Francisco, Wednesday 3/28/07 They’re a New York band, does that count? Not quite as transcendent as their stunning performance at the Independent last year, but still great; the encore where openers The Noisettes came on stage to bang various percussion instruments along with them was cathartic and awesome</p>
<p>4. Low – “Murderer” (from Drums and Guns on Sub Pop) While this brooding and minimal Minnesota trio have been moving towards a more experimental sound for years, this album is still a bit of a leap, with most tracks using strange loops and machine beats. On this song, frontman Alan Sparhawk asks God to use him as a killer, with both personal and political overtones</p>
<p>3. Ed Banger showcase at the Hiro Ballroom, NYC, Thursday 3/29/07 The Paris label is probably putting out the best, and most rockin’, electro in the world right now, and while the event was a complete mob scene, just hearing Justice play records was worth it</p>
<p>2. Blonde Redhead – 23 (New album on 4AD out Tuesday 4/10) The New York trio return with their most accessible album to date. Without losing their Sonic Youth-y edge or cinematic strangeness, they’ve made the songs more immediate and hypnotic. Highlights include the shoegazey title track and the more straightforward “Publisher”</p>
<p>1. Drinking after 2am If you actually live here, maybe you start to think of it as a horrible temptation or a mockery of your workaday lifestyle, but when you’re just hanging out, not having to worry about grabbing your last beer by 1:50 is such a relief. What? It’s 3:47? I’d like another vodka tonic please. No problem! The night, she is young!</p>
<p /> | Party Ben’s Top 10 Stuff & Things, 3/30/07 – NYC Special! | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/03/party-bens-top-10-stuff-things-33007-nyc-special/ | 2007-03-30 | 4 |
<p>Police believe the slayings of two black men in Baton Rouge were likely racially motivated and said Sunday they have a suspect — a 23-year-old white man — in custody.</p>
<p>The suspect, Kenneth Gleason, was being held on drug charges. Authorities did not yet have enough evidence to charge him with murder, Baton Rouge Sgt. L’Jean McKneely told The Associated Press.</p>
<p>McKneely said shell casings from the shootings linked the two slayings, and a car belonging to Gleason fit the description of the vehicle police were looking for. He said authorities had collected other circumstantial evidence but he wouldn’t say what it was.</p>
<p>“There is a strong possibility that it could be racially motivated,” he said.</p>
<p>The shootings happened about five miles from each other. The first occurred Tuesday when 59-year-old Bruce Cofield, who was homeless, was shot to death. The second happened Thursday when 49-year-old Donald Smart was gunned down walking to work at a cafe popular with Louisiana State University students, McKneely said.</p>
<p>Smart’s aunt, Mary Smart, said she was still dealing with the shock of her nephew’s death and could not understand what had happened.</p>
<p>“I’m feeling down and depressed. My nephew, I love him, and he was on his way to work and that makes it so sad,” she said in a telephone interview on Sunday. “He was always smiling and hugging everybody. A lot of people knew him.”</p>
<p>Smart had a son and two daughters, she said.</p>
<p>She declined to comment on police allegations that her nephew might have been shot because of the color of his skin.</p>
<p>“I cannot say,” she said. “Only God knows.”</p>
<p>It wasn’t immediately clear if Gleason had an attorney or when his first court appearance would be. No one answered the door at his house in a quiet neighborhood of mostly ranch-style homes with well-kept lawns, located about 10 miles from the sites of the shootings.</p>
<p>“He looks like any clean-cut American kid,” said neighbor Nancy Reynolds, who didn’t know Gleason or his family. She said it was “hard to believe this sort of thing is still happening.”</p>
<p>Detectives searched Gleason’s home on Saturday and found less than a gram of marijuana and vials of human growth hormone in his bedroom, according to a police document. After Gleason was read his Miranda rights, he claimed ownership of the drugs, the document said.</p>
<p>Louisiana’s capital, a city of 229,000, is known for its championship college football team and its political scene. A year ago, racial tensions roiled the city when a black man was shot to death by white police officers outside of a convenience store. About two weeks later, a black gunman targeted police in an ambush, killing three officers before he was shot to death. The city is about 55 percent black and 40 percent white.</p> | Police Think 2 Louisiana Slayings Likely Racially Motivated | false | https://newsline.com/police-think-2-louisiana-slayings-likely-racially-motivated/ | 2017-09-17 | 1 |
<p>Frank Harber, pastor of First Baptist Church of Colleyville, Texas, resigned Aug. 18 amid allegations he benefited from an improper real estate deal. But his is only the latest case illustrating the fine line between ethical and non-ethical benefits that pastors receive from often well-meaning parishioners.</p>
<p>Historically, many pastors have received, in good conscience, payments of food, housing, furniture and services. Most people agree these in-kind donations–even small luxuries like rounds of golf and free suits–help support the pastor and his ministry.</p>
<p>But probably many pastors have faced the temptation of using a church credit card for a personal purchase. Allegedly that happened too many times at Macedonia Baptist Church in Dawnville, Ga., when Steven Flockhart was pastor.</p>
<p>Church leaders didn't discover the discrepancies until Flockhart had left for another pastorate, leaving the church with a debt of $162,779 and facing financial ruin. The church sued Flockhart, now a megachurch pastor at First Baptist of West Palm Beach, Fla. He has since admitted to “poor stewardship” and repaid the debt.</p>
<p>But sometimes, even within legal bounds, the ethical line between kindness and extravagance is blurred. Some pastors get country club memberships, free condo use, and even stock tips from members. Others, like Harber, get lucrative deals on real estate.</p>
<p>Harber, the Colleyville pastor, recently bought a nearly one-acre lot in a gated community at well below market value, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. While lots in the ritzy neighborhood routinely sell for $200,000-plus, Harber paid just $25,000, according to public records.</p>
<p>The sale was shrouded by a series of questionable transactions that involved two other churches.</p>
<p>Developer John Fegan, a member of the Colleyville church, helped donate the land to the Trail to Heaven Cowboy Church, which is affiliated with First Baptist Church of Celina. Raymond Horne, pastor of the Celina church, said donors told him the land was worth only $25,000 and that they had already arranged a buyer for the land. That buyer, ultimately, was Harber.</p>
<p>Horne, although he declined to comment for this story, said in an Aug. 18 Star-Telegram story that he felt “taken advantage of.”</p>
<p>After the sale, Colleyville church member Tony Johann, who works in the same land development company as Fegan, signed the deed and helped begin construction of a 5,120-sq. ft., million-dollar home for the Harber family, the Star-Telegram reported.</p>
<p>Donald Schmeltekopf, Baylor University's provost emeritus who works as director of its Center for Ministry Effectiveness and Educational Leadership, said Harber's situation crossed ethical boundaries.</p>
<p>“At the ethical level, this is clearly a case of collusion,” he said. “In a situation like this, it sure does stink and is not the kind of thing that anybody should be doing from an ethical standpoint.”</p>
<p>Schmeltekopf said he always advises young pastors to discuss with trusted church members or advisors questionable gifts before accepting them. Had Harber and his aides done the same, he said, it may have changed the outcome.</p>
<p>Instead, when church members caught wind of the transaction, some voiced concern about the terms of the deal. Others, like member Joe Deupree, had previously questioned church finances and been ousted from the church for it, he said.</p>
<p>“People began to be suspicious [about church finances] because they were not allowed to see things,” he told Associated Baptist Press. “There had been rumors for quite a while that our pastor was going to be getting a new house.”</p>
<p>That lack of disclosure can be a fatal flaw for church leadership, according to ethicist Robert Parham. Parham is executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics, located in Nashville, Tenn.</p>
<p>While a gift or deal between church leaders may be legal, he said, that doesn't mean it's ethical. “I believe it's always good for pastors to disclose [benefits and gifts] to an accountability group, whether that's a finance committee or a personnel committee,” he said.</p>
<p>A lack of disclosure among church leaders was one reason why First Baptist of Colleyville suffered. Locals were taken by surprise when they learned about Harber's real estate deal, and some of them didn't like it.</p>
<p>Reaction to Harber's Aug. 18 resignation has been “mixed,” said Michael Ray, the executive pastor at First Baptist of Colleyville. While most people felt “brokenhearted” to see Harber leave, Ray said, they have supported his decision and wish the best for his family.</p>
<p>Many church members have publicly supported the charismatic Harber, writing letters to the editor at the Star-Telegram and other local news outlets.</p>
<p>First Baptist member Teri Randall Brown, for instance, wrote that the scandal was caused by “bitter people digging up everything they can to destroy this very effective evangelistic pastor and his reputation.”</p>
<p>Deupree thinks otherwise. A member of the 2,753-member church since 1969, he and a group of about 50 people began questioning church policy and finances after being “stonewalled” when they requested information regarding a proposed church relocation and a building project on an unnamed 40-acre plot outside of Colleyville.</p>
<p>After the dissidents were rebuffed in their efforts to obtain member lists and construction budget plans, they consulted a lawyer about their right to the information. Later they were locked out of the church on a cold February morning, and Deupree was asked to resign as a Sunday school teacher. Then Deupree and three others received letters forbidding them to “set foot” on the church property, he said.</p>
<p>But Deupree's research into church records uncovered a June 6 property transfer involving First Baptist Church of Celina and Trail to Heaven Cowboy Church. For Deupree, that previously hidden transaction crossed an ethical boundary when it comes to pastoral benefits.</p>
<p>“If they had deeded it right to Frank Harber, I would have had no problem,” he said. But donations to non-profit entities like churches have specific Internal Revenue Service stipulations and requirements.</p>
<p>For Harber, as an individual, the transaction represents tax evasion, Deupree said.</p>
<p>Money mismanagement and tax evasion has led to other pastor scandals. One of the most notable involved the 1989 fraud convictions of televangelist Jim Bakker, which tarnished the reputation of other Christian TV personalities. Bakker also faced charges of tax evasion and racketeering, not to mention allegations about a sex payoff. He was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison but was released on parole in 1993.</p>
<p>Tax evasion also factored into Steven Flockhart's troubles in Georgia. Church leaders found out that in 1996, the IRS filed an $8,617 lien against Flockhart for not paying three years of taxes, the Palm Beach Post reported.</p>
<p>The paper also reported the pastor had left Macedonia Baptist Church in near financial ruin before moving to Florida. A lawsuit filed by church leaders in 2000 accused Flockhart of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars, using church credit cards for personal bills, and writing checks to himself without clearance from church leaders.</p>
<p>Flockhart resigned in April 1998. Six months later, he offered to get a bank loan to repay the money with interest, according to the suit. Instead, he persuaded church leaders to co-sign a loan for $142,638. But he defaulted on the loan, and the bank came after the church, according to the suit.</p>
<p>Those deeds apparently were not known by members of Crosspointe Baptist Church in Millington, Tenn., which hired Flockhart after he left Georgia, or the 10,000-member First Baptist of West Palm Beach, which recently called him as pastor.</p>
<p>Parham, the Nashville ethicist, said pastors dealing with money issues have to be discerning and have an ethical commitment that exceeds legality.</p>
<p>“Pastors certainly have the right to accept gifts from church members, but accepting gifts may not be the right thing to do,” Parham told ABP. “It's incumbent upon pastors to practice discernment about the kind of gift and the size of the gift and the potential of the gift to drain the preaching and teaching of its prophetic witness.”</p>
<p>Parham noted when pastors practice discernment about the appropriateness of a gift, they assume an elasticity to the quality and quantity of gifts. That helps determine what is and is not appropriate.</p>
<p>Another way to avoid flagrant ethical violations is to utilize the ethics training many professionals within church congregations get at school or on the job. Parham, who said that Baptist churches have a strong history of laity leadership, said it's ironic that while almost any secular professional group now has ethical training, ministers and churches do not.</p>
<p>“Church staff members would do well to seek the advice of laity about the ethical standards and ethical training [they receive in order] to see what are the values and standards required by many different professions,” he said. “A cross-fertilization within a church could be very constructive.”</p> | Pastoral perks can be unethical, even illegal, Texas church finds | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/pastoralperkscanbeunethicalevenillegaltexaschurchfinds/ | 3 |
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<p>Nevada's mining industry already makes a big contribution to the state, and it still will, the industry's top lobbyist said Wednesday after voters narrowly rejected a constitutional amendment that would have removed a 5 percent cap on mining taxes that dates to statehood in 1864.</p>
<p>"The defeat of Question 2 does not change Nevada mining's commitment to working with state policymakers to address Nevada's needs," Nevada Mining Association chief Tim Crowley said in a statement. "We are proud that while employing only 1 percent of the state's total workforce, with salaries twice the state average, mining currently pays 7 percent of all general fund revenues."</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The initiative failed Tuesday by fewer than 3,400 votes after some 535,000 ballots were cast for and against it. The results were unofficial, pending certification by Nov. 12.</p>
<p>Had the measure passed, it wouldn't have immediately increased taxes paid by the powerful mining industry, because the state Legislature in 2013 adopted a law that would have kicked in to provide tax exemptions for mining companies that could have added up to about the same amount as the increase.</p>
<p>Initiative proponents argued that Nevada needs the revenue for schools, and that removing the constitutional provision would give state lawmakers and the governor flexibility to adjust mining tax policies for companies extracting valuable resources like gold, silver and lithium.</p>
<p>They also noted that many big mines in the Silver State are owned by companies headquartered outside of Nevada.</p> | Nevada voters reject constitutional amendment, keep 150-year-old limit on taxing mining firms | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/11/05/nevada-voters-reject-constitutional-amendment-keep-150-year-old-limit-on-taxing.html | 2016-03-09 | 0 |
<p>A new poll released by the Public Opinion Research Laboratory at the University of North Florida commissioned by News4Jax found former Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford with a commanding lead in the Republican race for the congressional seat representing Nassau and most of Duval and St. Johns counties.</p>
<p>The poll of most likely Republican voters finds 30.8 percent would vote for Rutherford, with Hans Tanzler in second place with 12.7 percent, and state Rep. Lake Ray in third place with 9.5 percent. St. Johns Commissioner Bill McClure holds fourth place with 4.7 percent, Ed Malin earned 2.5 percent, Stephen Kaufman 1.5 percent and Deborah Katz Pueschel 0.7 percent.</p>
<p>UNF faculty director Dr. Michael Binder said:</p>
<p>There is very little change from the poll last month, and there is still a great deal of uncertainty in this primary. Nassau and St. Johns counties have almost 10 percentage points higher of ‘don’t know’ responses, which is not surprising since six of the seven candidates have roots in Duval County.</p>
<p>The number of undecided voters surveyed remained high at 37.7 percent, although 9 points lower than it was in the previous UNF poll conducted in June.</p>
<p>Binder said:</p>
<p>Thirty-seven percent — that’s a huge chunk of the election. I think it said there were folks who haven’t tuned in yet or haven’t quite paid attention to make up their mind. And it’s not surprising, but it’s a lot of people. It makes you wonder what these folks are thinking about when they ultimately do decide to vote.</p> | Rutherford Up Double Digits In Race For Congress | true | http://shark-tank.com/2016/08/10/rutherford-up-double-digits-in-race-for-congress/ | 0 |
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<p>Mother Jones DC Bureau Chief David Corn joined Chris Matthews on <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/hardball" type="external">MSNBC’s Hardball</a> to discuss the <a href="" type="internal">Chris Christie</a> and <a href="" type="internal">Bob McDonnell</a> scandals, how the Tea Party benefits when the public loses faith in government, and what happens to the Republican Party when it loses its rising stars.</p>
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<p>David Corn is Mother Jones’ Washington bureau chief. For more of his stories, <a href="" type="internal">click here</a>. He’s also on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/davidcorndc" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p> | How the Christie and McDonnell Scandals Hurt the GOP, but Help the Tea Party | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/david-corn-hardball-gop-scandals-chris-christie-bob-mcdonnell/ | 2014-01-23 | 4 |
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<p>The Treasury Department says it still owns 101.3 million GM shares. It got 912 million shares, a 60.8 percent stake in the company, in exchange for a $49.5 billion bailout of GM in 2009. So far taxpayers have recovered about $35.4 billion. That means they’re still around $14.1 billion in the hole.</p>
<p>To break even, the remaining shares would have to sell for nearly $140 each. At the Thursday morning trading price of $36.92, the government would get about $3.7 billion more. So taxpayers are likely to lose around $10 billion on the deal.</p>
<p>The Treasury plans to sell all of its shares by April 1.</p>
<p>The bailout was authorized under both the Bush and Obama administrations during the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. At the time GM’s sales had plummeted and it nearly ran out of cash to make payroll and service billions of dollars in debt.</p>
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<p>The government said at the time that the bailout was necessary to save the American auto industry and stop the industrial Midwest from sliding into a depression. The Obama administration says bailing out GM and Chrysler saved more than a million American jobs.</p>
<p>The Treasury Department said it finished the second phase of selling GM stock on Sept. 13.</p>
<p>“The third trading plan will allow us to continue exiting the investment in accordance with our previously announced timetable while maximizing the taxpayer’s return,” Tim Massad, assistant treasury secretary for financial stability, said in a statement.</p> | Gov’t sells more GM shares, cuts stake to 7 pct. | false | https://abqjournal.com/269628/govt-sells-more-gm-shares-cuts-stake-to-7-pct.html | 2013-09-26 | 2 |
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<p>Though a college education can open the doors to a world of career opportunities, there's a downside to pursuing that degree: debt. A good 43 million Americans now owe a collective $1.3 trillion in loans, with the average 2015 graduate owing an almost ridiculous $35,000. But while student loans are bad enough on their own, here's another sucker punch for you: The more debt you graduate with, the less money you're likely to save for retirement.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>According to a new Morningstar report, each $1 of student debt you accumulate will decrease your retirement savings by $0.35. Furthermore, the research found that this calculation applies no matter how much money you make or how old you are.</p>
<p>IMAGE SOURCE: PIXABAY.</p>
<p>What this means is that if you rack up $35,000 in student debt, that loan could set you back $12,250 in retirement savings. Assuming your retirement lasts 20 years, losing out on that sum means having $600 less each year, or $50 less each month. And while $50 a month may not seem like a lot, when you're living on a fixed income, every little bit helps.</p>
<p>If you're among the many who graduated college deep in debt, there's a simple way to avoid sabotaging your retirement savings. All you need to do is prioritize retirement over repaying your loans.</p>
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<p>Of course, you should never default on a loan payment for the purpose of stashing aside some extra retirement cash. But assuming you're able to repay your loans on schedule, any extra money you get your hands on should be earmarked for retirement. The reason? The best way to grow a substantial nest egg is to invest wisely and take advantage of compounding, which essentially means earning interest on your investments and then reinvesting that interest to further your gains. The sooner you start saving and investing, the better, which is why you're better off putting that extra cash into a retirement account as opposed to paying down your debt.</p>
<p>Let's say you receive a $5,000 performance bonus your first year on the job, at which point you're 22 years old. If you invest that money for retirement and manage to generate an average annual 8% return (which is actually below the stock market's average), by the time you reach 65, you'll have grown that $5,000 to roughly $137,000. Over the course of a 20-year retirement, that's an extra $6,850 a year, or $570 a month -- talk about a game-changer.</p>
<p>Now let's see what would happen if you were to use that money to make a dent in your student loan balance. Assuming you have 10 years to repay $35,000 at 5% interest, you're looking at a monthly payment of $371 and a total of $9,500 in interest payments over the life of the loan. If you apply a $5,000 lump sum payment to your loan during that first year, you'll save $2,500 in total interest, which is no doubt a good thing. But which would you rather do? Save $2,500 in the near term, or amass an extra $137,000 in the long term? The answer is pretty clear.</p>
<p>There's an additional benefit to using extra income to save for retirement rather than pay down college debt. If your company offers a matching program, putting that money into a 401(k) could result in even more cash in your pocket. Let's say your employer will match 3% of whatever amount you contribute. If you put your $5,000 bonus into your 401(k), you'll get an extra $150 in free money. But wait -- it gets better. If that extra $150 earns an average annual return of 8% as well, by the time you're 65, you'll have an additional $4,100 to pad your retirement savings.</p>
<p>When you're staring down a massive pile of student debt, it's natural to want to wipe it out as quickly as possible. But while paying off your loans might make the most sense from a psychological point of view, it may not be your best move financially. If you budget wisely, you can repay those pesky loans without derailing your retirement savings in the process.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/14/heres-how-much-your-student-debt-could-stunt-your.aspx" type="external">Here's How Much Your Student Debt Could Stunt Your Retirement Savings Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p>Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Here's How Much Your Student Debt Could Stunt Your Retirement Savings | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/05/14/here-how-much-your-student-debt-could-stunt-your-retirement-savings.html | 2016-05-14 | 0 |
<p>So you polished off the pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, watched Black Friday and Cyber Monday come and go, and now — just now — you're thinking that it might be time to make your Christmas travel reservations.</p>
<p>Well procrastinators, you may have already missed the best prices of the season on airfares, but travel experts have tips for salvaging an affordable holiday trip.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Many flights around Christmas are expected to sell out. Still, as of mid-week there were a number of reasonable fares available on competitive routes such as Chicago-to-Dallas, says George Hobica, founder of airfarewatchdog.com. Hobica pieced together a Chicago-Atlanta round trip on United Airlines and Spirit Airlines for $227.</p>
<p>That bargain is possible because United is in a fare war with Spirit Airlines in Chicago and other places. And the return flight is on Christmas night itself, which brings us to the money-saving suggestions from travel experts.</p>
<p>— Be flexible. If you're willing to fly on Christmas or New Year's Day you can save. Very early flights are generally cheaper too, and check if driving a little farther to an alternate airport helps.</p>
<p>— Check one-way fares; bundling two of them, even on separate airlines, might be cheaper than a round trip.</p>
<p>— Shop all the airlines, and set up alerts for your route. Hobica notes that sites such as Hopper and Hipmunk don't list Delta while Priceline, Expedia and Kayak do, and Southwest flights generally have to be searched separately.</p>
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<p>— Fulfill your dream to sit up front. Because business travel drops during the holidays, airlines will sometimes cut prices on business- or first-class seats, although they'll still cost more than economy.</p>
<p>— Travel light. If you can avoid checking a bag, it could spare you a $25 fee and reduce the risk of a lost bag, especially when taking connecting flights.</p>
<p>— The lowest fare isn't always the cheapest if it forces you to spend more to check a bag or pick your seat.</p>
<p>For example, American, Delta and United now all sell so-called Basic Economy fares that come with fewer perks. You can't even stow a bag in the overhead bin if you buy this ticket on American or United.</p>
<p>"The (advertised) fare is not what you're going to pay if you are in Basic Economy and you're checking a bag or picking a better seat," says John DiScala, who runs the JohnnyJet.com travel site. Basic Economy usually saves travelers about $50 round-trip compared with regular economy, he adds, so in those cases, "I'd go with paying $50 more."</p>
<p>There were big fare sales this week from JetBlue, Southwest and others, but in general prices for Christmas are heading higher.</p>
<p>Holiday airfares rise on average about $4 a day starting around Thanksgiving, according to the folks at Hopper, an airfare-analysis app. "Prices will go up at a steeper incline from here — $7 a day on an average fare," says Patrick Surry, Hopper's chief data scientist.</p>
<p>There is no single answer to the question of which day of the week is best to buy airline tickets.</p>
<p>For years the conventional wisdom was that Tuesday was the best choice. Airlines do often launch sales that day, but you're just as likely to find a bargain on a Saturday or any other day. Some of the deepest discounts are on flash sales, which are promoted on social media but disappear quickly.</p>
<p>Flying home on the Sunday after Christmas will probably cost more because hundreds of thousands of other travelers are thinking the same thing.</p>
<p>But even traveling on Christmas Day, when most airports are relatively quiet, isn't the automatic money-saver that it used to be, says Brett Snyder, who writes the Cranky Flier travel blog and runs a travel-help business.</p>
<p>"The airlines have gotten better at canceling non-peak flights," Snyder says. "They used to say, 'Fly on Christmas Day,' but now there are a lot fewer flights that day." The airlines have reduced the supply to meet the lower demand on days when few people want to fly.</p>
<p>There just aren't as many empty seats on planes these days. The average domestic flight for all of December last year was 83.4 percent full, up from less than 73 percent just 15 years ago.</p>
<p>That makes it tougher to find last-minute bargains. So next year, start making plans earlier.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>David Koenig can be reached at http://twitter.com/airlinewriter</p> | Even procrastinators can find deals on holiday travel | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/11/30/even-procrastinators-can-find-deals-on-holiday-travel.html | 2017-11-30 | 0 |
<p>A Portland man’s <a href="https://www.change.org/p/remove-health-care-subsidies-for-members-of-congress-and-their-families?recruiter=275115776&amp;utm_source=share_petition&amp;utm_medium=facebook&amp;utm_campaign=autopublish&amp;utm_term=des-lg-share_petition-no_msg" type="external">petition to strip health-care subsidies from Congress</a> is well on its way towards reaching one million signatures.</p>
<p>“Several years ago, my dad got the news that he had cancer,” wrote Daniel Jimenez, 30, on the change.org petition. “Sadly, he passed away. My dad had a job at the time, but his employer did not cover him, and without coverage, he avoided going to the doctor until it was too late. As Congress and President Trump try to pass a new healthcare law, I’m reminded of my father and whether he would have made it if he had early access to cost-effective health care…</p>
<p>“Like millions of people who are panicking about possible changes to their health insurance, I’m concerned the people elected to represent us won’t have to live with the consequences or expenses that the rest of us may have to face soon. I want lawmakers to commit to treating themselves just like those who will be impacted by ACA repeal or replacement….</p>
<p>“If Congress is willing to drastically cut healthcare subsidies for most people, are they willing to have the same rules apply to them and their families?”</p>
<p>Members of Congress are currently required by Obamacare to sign up for health plans “created under the Affordable Care Act or coverage offered via an Affordable Insurance Exchange.” Under the Republicans’ new plan, however, Congress may be empowered to return to&#160;“the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program,” which would allow them to choose from 300 private&#160;health plans widely reputed for their high quality and low cost.</p>
<p>Jimenez <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/trending/2017/03/portland_man_gathers_over_3000.html" type="external">says the response to his petition</a> “has been amazing.”</p>
<p>“There are also some really sad and scary comments about people needing health insurance because of pre-existing conditions and are fearing for their lives if they lose their health care plan,” he said. “An interesting fact is that people from both side of the political spectrum seem to agree with me about Congress not receiving any special treatment that regular people do not have.”</p>
<p>As of this writing, the petition has secured 879,113 signatures. If it reaches a million, Jimenez intends to send it to House Speaker Paul Ryan, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and President Trump.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.change.org/p/remove-health-care-subsidies-for-members-of-congress-and-their-families?recruiter=275115776&amp;utm_source=share_petition&amp;utm_medium=facebook&amp;utm_campaign=autopublish&amp;utm_term=des-lg-share_petition-no_msg" type="external">Click here</a> to sign Jimenez’s petition.</p>
<p>Nathan Wellman is a Los Angeles-based journalist, author, and playwright. His less-political Youtube channel&#160; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgTX2M68DdRvR5Jd2YHEH7A" type="external">can be found here</a>.&#160;Follow him on Twitter: @LightningWOW</p> | Nearly 1,000,000 Join Movement to Strip Congress of Their Healthcare | true | http://resistancereport.com/news/nearly-1000000-join-movement-strip-congress-healthcare/ | 2017-05-06 | 4 |
<p>Being nominated for five Golden Globes and having won one of them, alongside 72 nominations on various award-giving bodies with 51 wins, there is no doubt that actor Bill Murray, really is a great actor.</p>
<p>He gained his first exposure on Saturday Night Live in 1977 and have currently made 73 episode from 1977-2016. He also became the first guest on NBC’s Late Night with David Letterman on February 1, 1982.</p>
<p>The fact that he is a great actor has nobody doubting, but what some people don’t know is that he did not get all the roles he has by the usual way of having managers and having connections.</p>
<p>Reportedly, he didn’t have an agent or manager, he only has a personal telephone number with voicemail that he rarely even checks.</p>
<p>According to&#160;The Big Book of Bill Murray&#160;by Robert Schnakenberg,</p>
<p>“In 2000, he fired his agents — reportedly for calling him on the phone too often — and replaced them with an automated 800 number. Filmmakers who wish to pitch projects to Murray must leave a message on his voice mailbox, which he rarely checks. When he is interested in a script, Murray demands that it be faxed to him care of his local office supply store.”</p>
<p>There are times that he just won’t pick up the phone, resulting in him missing out on roles originally&#160;planned for him.</p>
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<p>Image via <a href="http://www.boomsbeat.com/articles/97923/20150930/50-facts-bill-murray-agent-manager-reportedly-fields-offers-scripts.htm" type="external">Boomsbeat</a>.</p> | Bill Murray Missed A Lot Of Roles Just Because He Refused To Do This | true | http://offthemainpage.com/2017/05/15/bill-murray-missed-a-lot-of-roles-just-because-he-refused-to-pick-up-his-phone/ | 2017-05-15 | 4 |
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<p>SANTA FE — Santa Fe police are investigating a suspicious death after a 44-year-old man was found dead inside his home early Sunday morning.</p>
<p>Officers responded to an apartment on Calle Amanda around 1:45 a.m. Sunday and found James Fernandez&#160;dead with a bruise on his head and some blood, SFPD spokesman Greg Gurule said. Gurule said the death is considered “suspicious” and may have been an accident, but homicide has not been ruled out.</p>
<p>Police are awaiting the autopsy report from the Office of the Medical Investigator before moving forward, Gurule said.</p>
<p>“It’s a complicated incident, but we don’t have any suspects on the streets to worry about,” Gurule said.</p>
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<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Santa Fe police investigating suspicious death | false | https://abqjournal.com/982378/santa-fe-police-investigating-suspicious-death-2.html | 2 |
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