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<p>Do you remember the woman who shrieked when Trump was named the 45th President of the United States? She has a competitor! This snowflake comes in a close second, but she gave a valiant effort in her attempts to dethrone one of the most famous snowflake screams in history of politics and memes.</p>
<p>There is no “Top Snowflake Award,” but if there is – the competition would be fierce!</p>
<p>The videos below come from a <a href="http://www.bizpacreview.com/2017/03/05/epic-shrieking-anti-trump-snowflake-almost-beats-famous-inauguration-day-meltdown-455516" type="external">#March4Trump</a> rally in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The woman shrieking gives the inauguration day meltdown a run for it’s money. However, sitting on the floor screaming “noooooooooo” still tops my list as the Top Snowflake. The woman below would be in second place.</p>
<p>We went from this:</p>
<p />
<p>to this:</p>
<p>Giving the&#160;anti-Trump snowflake&#160;captured on video losing her ever-loving mind as Donald J.Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States a run for her money, a&#160;shrieking anti-Trump protester succeeded in making a complete menace of herself during a&#160;#March4Trump&#160;rally in Lake Oswego, Oregon.</p>
<p>The young woman proves that you can still be heard even when you have nothing of substance to say… and what a set of lungs she has:</p>
<p>Disruption. Woman shrieking until she is drown our by chants of "USA." She's still screaming and has been for minutes. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/March4Trump?src=hash" type="external">#March4Trump</a> <a href="https://t.co/cbeg4KQ3q6" type="external">pic.twitter.com/cbeg4KQ3q6</a></p>
<p>— Mike Bivins (@itsmikebivins) <a href="https://twitter.com/itsmikebivins/status/838120142445826049" type="external">March 4, 2017</a></p>
<p />
<p>One protester gets some attention from Trump crowd prior to march. @ <a href="https://t.co/z5fFaxgqed" type="external">pic.twitter.com/z5fFaxgqed</a></p>
<p>— Tim Gordon (@TimGordonPDX) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimGordonPDX/status/838132824293027840" type="external">March 4, 2017</a></p>
<p>John Hawkins's book 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know is filled with lessons that newly minted adults need in order to get the most out of life. Gleaned from a lifetime of trial, error, and writing it down, Hawkins provides advice everyone can benefit from in short, digestible chapters.</p>
<p />
<p>Counter protestor disrupting the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/March4Trump?src=hash" type="external">#March4Trump</a> in Lake Oswego, OR <a href="https://t.co/QMFewcqvrn" type="external">pic.twitter.com/QMFewcqvrn</a></p>
<p>— Crystal Contreras (@crystalatencio) <a href="https://twitter.com/crystalatencio/status/838124633102540800" type="external">March 4, 2017</a></p>
<p />
<p>If anyone thinks Trump supporters are in favor of violence, then this video is great evidence that they are not. As people are removing the anti-Trump shrieking protester from the pro-Trump rally, ONE Trump supporter gets a little out of hand. She approaches the shrieking Democrat and they tell her she has to leave because of her behavior.</p>
<p>One of the main differences between Republicans and Democrats is that the right wingers aren’t condoning violence against anyone. They’re actually the peaceful people. The video above is evidence that they will not tolerate their own people being violent.</p>
<p>The leftists, on the other hand, literally go out looking for trouble. Why would you ever show up to an event that you hate? This woman was there looking for trouble. Someone SHOULD HAVE knocked her lights out, but that’s not what we do.</p>
<p>She can come to our party and scream until the cops come. We’ll let the police handle it.</p>
<p>If she laid her hands on someone in a violent manner and a Trump supporter had to defend themselves, that’s okay.</p>
<p>I think the anti-Trump shrieker needs mental services, because clearly she’s crazy. I also think the pro-Trump woman who approached her, trying to fight, makes Trump supporters look bad.</p>
<p>Why would she try to fight someone who is already being escorted out?</p>
<p>I have no problem telling a Trump supporter when they look like a Democrat. We need to call out our own bad behavior as well as that stemming from the left.</p>
<p>We cannot act like them.</p>
<p>Controversial and thought provoking. Find me at <a href="http://www.trendingviews.co" type="external">Trending Views</a> and follow me on Twitter and Facebook.</p> | Hilarious liberal shrieking almost beats funny inauguration meltdown [VIDEO] | true | http://rightwingnews.com/liberals/hilarious-liberal-shrieking-almost-beats-funny-inauguration-meltdown/ | 2018-03-20 | 0 |
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<p />
<p>My column this week is about the importance of us dealing with the human component involved in mass violence and killings, especially the need to look at the possible impact of psychotropic and other mind-altering prescription medication.</p>
<p>Rarely do we get the transparency about drugs mass shooters were taking, but today the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the Vegas maniac had been prescription an anti-anxiety drug in June. That's important. We don't know any possible diagnosis involved with him, or other drugs he may have been taking, but the details here are compelling.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/the-strip/las-vegas-strip-shooter-prescribed-anti-anxiety-drug-in-june/" type="external">Las Vegas Review-Journal.</a></p>
<p>Stephen Paddock, who killed at least 58 people and wounded hundreds more in Las Vegas on Sunday with high-powered rifles, was prescribed an anti-anxiety drug in June that can lead to aggressive behavior, the Las Vegas Review-Journal has learned.</p>
<p>Records from the Nevada Prescription Monitoring Program obtained Tuesday show Paddock was prescribed 50 10-milligram diazepam tablets by Henderson physician Dr. Steven Winkler on June 21?</p>
<p>Diazepam is a sedative-hypnotic drug in the class of drugs known as benzodiazepines, which studies have shown can trigger aggressive behavior. Chronic use or abuse of sedatives such as diazepam can also trigger psychotic experiences, according to drugabuse.com.</p>
<p>"If somebody has an underlying aggression problem and you sedate them with that drug, they can become aggressive," said Dr. Mel Pohl, chief medical officer of the Las Vegas Recovery Center. "It can disinhibit an underlying emotional state. - It is much like what happens when you give alcohol to some people - they become aggressive instead of going to sleep." Pohl, who spoke to the Review-Journal from the Netherlands, said the effects of the drug also can be magnified by alcohol.</p> | true | http://tammybruce.com/2017/10/las-vegas-maniac-prescribed-anti-anxiety-drug-in-june.html | 0 |
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<p>In the aftermath of last week’s elections, debate continues over whom President-Elect Donald Trump should choose to replace the late Justice Scalia on the Supreme Court.</p>
<p>Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), as a prospective conservative justice, has surfaced to the conversation several times. As one of the most hardline conservative Republicans in the Senate, Cruz has never wavered in his determination to stop the Supreme Court from shifting to the left politically, even as the less conservative Senate Republicans danced with the idea of letting Obama confirm a Supreme Court nominee.</p>
<p>Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) thinks Cruz could not only get enough votes to win a justice position; he would make an excellent Scalia replacement. Despite Cruz’s well-known unpopularity in the Senate and in the public eye now as well, if he ran for a justice position, Graham <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lindsey-graham-ted-cruz-supreme-court_us_582ba677e4b01d8a014b4490" type="external">said</a> earlier this week, “I think he’d get a lot of votes.”</p>
<p>Cruz has stated repeatedly he does not want a position on the Supreme Court. However, after Cruz was <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/15/politics/ted-cruz-donald-trump-meeting/" type="external">seen</a> leaving a meeting with Trump at the Trump Towers on Tuesday, he did not deny possibly considering the position. His spokesperson simply said he "looks forward to assisting the Trump administration" in furthering conservative policies.</p>
<p>Graham called Cruz a “Scalia-type figure” who would “fit the bill” as a conservative Supreme Court appointee, in a statement to The Daily Wire Thursday.</p>
<p>“We are replacing Justice Scalia, who was probably the most conservative justice on the Supreme Court,” he said. “Ted Cruz is a constitutional conservative in the mold of Justice Scalia.”</p>
<p>Graham said despite having had disagreements in the past with the former Supreme Court clerk, “even his worst critics cannot say Ted Cruz is not one of the smartest, most gifted lawyers in the country.”</p>
<p>“If you are looking for someone like Justice Scalia to serve on the Supreme Court, take a look at Ted Cruz,” he concluded.</p>
<p>In a Fox News interview this morning, Cruz <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/ted-cruz-trump-win-democrats-231543" type="external">said</a> his Tuesday meeting with Trump was spent discussing the “incredible opportunities” that lay ahead for Republicans after a Trump win, specifically repealing Obamacare and confirming conservative justices on the Supreme Court.</p>
<p>“All of the folks jumped on their high horse and were lecturing to President-elect Trump, 'You've got to accept the results of the election,’” he said Thursday morning. “Look, these are now the idiots who are laying their bodies down in front of cars and disrupting traffic. We had an election. The people spoke. Democracy is a powerful, powerful way of choosing.”</p>
<p>Follow Pardes Seleh on <a href="https://twitter.com/PardesSeleh" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p> | Graham: Put Cruz On The Supreme Court | true | https://dailywire.com/news/10903/graham-put-cruz-supreme-court-pardes-seleh | 2016-11-17 | 0 |
<p>ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - The Texas Rangers and Japan's Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters are starting a multiyear agreement this year that will involve baseball and business operations.</p>
<p>Former Texas ace Yu Darvish is among the players who came to the majors from the Fighters. The latest big name to come to the U.S. from Nippon Ham is Shohei Ohtani, who signed with the Los Angeles Angels in December with the intention of being a pitcher and everyday player.</p>
<p>Rangers general manager Jon Daniel said Friday part of the reason for the agreement is that both franchises are building stadiums. The Rangers plan to advise the Fighters for the stadium in Sapporo, Japan.</p>
<p>Nippon Ham will have a staff member work in the Rangers' system as an instructor during spring training and the regular season. Texas personnel also will travel to observe operations of the three-time Japan Series champion Fighters, who play in the NPB Pacific League.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP baseball: <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball</a></p>
<p>ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - The Texas Rangers and Japan's Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters are starting a multiyear agreement this year that will involve baseball and business operations.</p>
<p>Former Texas ace Yu Darvish is among the players who came to the majors from the Fighters. The latest big name to come to the U.S. from Nippon Ham is Shohei Ohtani, who signed with the Los Angeles Angels in December with the intention of being a pitcher and everyday player.</p>
<p>Rangers general manager Jon Daniel said Friday part of the reason for the agreement is that both franchises are building stadiums. The Rangers plan to advise the Fighters for the stadium in Sapporo, Japan.</p>
<p>Nippon Ham will have a staff member work in the Rangers' system as an instructor during spring training and the regular season. Texas personnel also will travel to observe operations of the three-time Japan Series champion Fighters, who play in the NPB Pacific League.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP baseball: <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball</a></p> | Rangers open baseball, business deal with Japan's Nippon Ham | false | https://apnews.com/amp/81b46ca1757b40b0b241ffc0b37d04cf | 2018-01-06 | 2 |
<p>A year after more than 1 million people rallied at women's marches worldwide with a message of female empowerment and protest against President Donald Trump, activists will return to the streets this weekend in hopes of converting anger and enthusiasm into political force.</p>
<p>The 2017 rally in Washington, D.C., and hundreds of similar marches created solidarity for those denouncing Trump's views on abortion, immigration, LGBT rights and more. Since then, a wave of women decided to run for elected office and the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct became a cultural phenomenon.</p>
<p>"We made a lot of noise," said Elaine Wynn, an organizer. "But now how do we translate that noise into something concrete or fulfilling?"</p>
<p>Along with hundreds of gatherings Saturday and Sunday across the U.S. and in places such as Beijing, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Nairobi, Kenya, a rally Sunday in Las Vegas will launch an effort to register 1 million voters and target swing states in the midterm elections.</p>
<p>Linda Sarsour, one of the four organizers of last year's Washington march, said Las Vegas was targeted for a major rally because it's a strategic swing state that gave Hillary Clinton a narrow win in the presidential election and will have one of the most competitive Senate races in 2018. Democrats believe they have a good chance of winning the seat held by embattled Republican Sen. Dean Heller and weakening the GOP's hold on the chamber.</p>
<p>Wynn, president of the Nevada State Board of Education and former wife of casino mogul Steve Wynn, said women make up half of the state's congressional delegation, including Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, who became the first Latina in the U.S. Senate in 2016. Nevada also has one of the highest percentages of female state lawmakers in the country, and women are mayors of its three largest cities.</p>
<p>Organizers say Nevada is also a microcosm of larger national issues like immigration, as well as the debate over gun control after the deadliest mass shooting in modern history.</p>
<p>Following the October massacre, the rally will be held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' stadium 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of the famous Strip where a gunman opened fire onto a concert, killing 58 people.</p>
<p>Authorities have kept details confidential about security at the 40,000-seat stadium.</p>
<p>Minnie Wood, a nurse practitioner who participated in the 2017 gathering in Las Vegas, said she was left with a sense of solidarity and "this feeling of almost a quickening, this resistance brewing."</p>
<p>It also laid the groundwork for the recent movement that brought a reckoning for powerful men accused of sexual misconduct, Sarsour said.</p>
<p>"I think when women see visible women's leadership, bold and fierce, going up against a very racist, sexist, misogynist administration, it gives you a different level of courage that you may not have felt you had," she said.</p>
<p>Many women inspired by last year's massive marches have sought higher office, such as Mindi Messmer, a 54-year-old environmental scientist from Rye, New Hampshire.</p>
<p>Messmer was a state legislator when she attended the 2017 march in her state capital of Portsmouth. She's now a candidate for the seat held by retiring U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, a fellow Democrat.</p>
<p>"Last year was really empowering and uplifting at a time when we women feel we are being assaulted on a daily basis," she said.</p>
<p>Other women running for Congress include newcomer Chrissy Houlahan, who hopes to unseat a Republican in suburban Philadelphia, and Sara Jacobs, a former aide to Barack Obama, seeking the Southern California seat held by retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa.</p>
<p>"There are women all over the country deciding to be candidates," said veteran feminist Kathy Bonk, who worked in the 1970s for the women's advocacy group NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund.</p>
<p>Democratic officeholders pledging to elect more progressive candidates in swing states will be among the speakers in Las Vegas. Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood also will address the crowd.</p>
<p>Last year's march in Washington sparked debate over inclusion, with some transgender minority women complaining that the event seemed designed for white women born female. Some anti-abortion activists said the event did not welcome them.</p>
<p>The organizers for the Sunday rally are striving for greater inclusion this year, with Latina and transgender female speakers, said Carmen Perez, another co-chair of the 2017 Washington march. Women in the U.S. illegally, sex workers and those formerly incarcerated are welcome, she said.</p>
<p>Eman Hassaballa Aly, a 38-year-old digital communications manager and activist, said after last year's gathering in the Chicago area, she saw women become more politically active, including two Muslim women she knows who are running for office — one for state Senate and one for Congress.</p>
<p>"It was incredible that all these people came together," said Aly, who addressed the 2017 Chicago event. "We realized how powerful this thing could be."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Price reported from Salt Lake City and Snow from Phoenix. Associated Press writers Ken Ritter in Las Vegas, Teresa Crawford and Sara Burnett in Chicago, Jocelyn Noveck in New York and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.</p>
<p>A year after more than 1 million people rallied at women's marches worldwide with a message of female empowerment and protest against President Donald Trump, activists will return to the streets this weekend in hopes of converting anger and enthusiasm into political force.</p>
<p>The 2017 rally in Washington, D.C., and hundreds of similar marches created solidarity for those denouncing Trump's views on abortion, immigration, LGBT rights and more. Since then, a wave of women decided to run for elected office and the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct became a cultural phenomenon.</p>
<p>"We made a lot of noise," said Elaine Wynn, an organizer. "But now how do we translate that noise into something concrete or fulfilling?"</p>
<p>Along with hundreds of gatherings Saturday and Sunday across the U.S. and in places such as Beijing, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Nairobi, Kenya, a rally Sunday in Las Vegas will launch an effort to register 1 million voters and target swing states in the midterm elections.</p>
<p>Linda Sarsour, one of the four organizers of last year's Washington march, said Las Vegas was targeted for a major rally because it's a strategic swing state that gave Hillary Clinton a narrow win in the presidential election and will have one of the most competitive Senate races in 2018. Democrats believe they have a good chance of winning the seat held by embattled Republican Sen. Dean Heller and weakening the GOP's hold on the chamber.</p>
<p>Wynn, president of the Nevada State Board of Education and former wife of casino mogul Steve Wynn, said women make up half of the state's congressional delegation, including Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, who became the first Latina in the U.S. Senate in 2016. Nevada also has one of the highest percentages of female state lawmakers in the country, and women are mayors of its three largest cities.</p>
<p>Organizers say Nevada is also a microcosm of larger national issues like immigration, as well as the debate over gun control after the deadliest mass shooting in modern history.</p>
<p>Following the October massacre, the rally will be held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' stadium 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of the famous Strip where a gunman opened fire onto a concert, killing 58 people.</p>
<p>Authorities have kept details confidential about security at the 40,000-seat stadium.</p>
<p>Minnie Wood, a nurse practitioner who participated in the 2017 gathering in Las Vegas, said she was left with a sense of solidarity and "this feeling of almost a quickening, this resistance brewing."</p>
<p>It also laid the groundwork for the recent movement that brought a reckoning for powerful men accused of sexual misconduct, Sarsour said.</p>
<p>"I think when women see visible women's leadership, bold and fierce, going up against a very racist, sexist, misogynist administration, it gives you a different level of courage that you may not have felt you had," she said.</p>
<p>Many women inspired by last year's massive marches have sought higher office, such as Mindi Messmer, a 54-year-old environmental scientist from Rye, New Hampshire.</p>
<p>Messmer was a state legislator when she attended the 2017 march in her state capital of Portsmouth. She's now a candidate for the seat held by retiring U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, a fellow Democrat.</p>
<p>"Last year was really empowering and uplifting at a time when we women feel we are being assaulted on a daily basis," she said.</p>
<p>Other women running for Congress include newcomer Chrissy Houlahan, who hopes to unseat a Republican in suburban Philadelphia, and Sara Jacobs, a former aide to Barack Obama, seeking the Southern California seat held by retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa.</p>
<p>"There are women all over the country deciding to be candidates," said veteran feminist Kathy Bonk, who worked in the 1970s for the women's advocacy group NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund.</p>
<p>Democratic officeholders pledging to elect more progressive candidates in swing states will be among the speakers in Las Vegas. Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood also will address the crowd.</p>
<p>Last year's march in Washington sparked debate over inclusion, with some transgender minority women complaining that the event seemed designed for white women born female. Some anti-abortion activists said the event did not welcome them.</p>
<p>The organizers for the Sunday rally are striving for greater inclusion this year, with Latina and transgender female speakers, said Carmen Perez, another co-chair of the 2017 Washington march. Women in the U.S. illegally, sex workers and those formerly incarcerated are welcome, she said.</p>
<p>Eman Hassaballa Aly, a 38-year-old digital communications manager and activist, said after last year's gathering in the Chicago area, she saw women become more politically active, including two Muslim women she knows who are running for office — one for state Senate and one for Congress.</p>
<p>"It was incredible that all these people came together," said Aly, who addressed the 2017 Chicago event. "We realized how powerful this thing could be."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Price reported from Salt Lake City and Snow from Phoenix. Associated Press writers Ken Ritter in Las Vegas, Teresa Crawford and Sara Burnett in Chicago, Jocelyn Noveck in New York and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.</p> | Women will march again with aim to become a political force | false | https://apnews.com/amp/63b3ea4ce7dc4562a0450e6e855d1b28 | 2018-01-19 | 2 |
<p>What looked at first to be Brazilian authorities attempting to save face after the robbery of four U.S. Olympic swimmers has now turned into a criminal investigation of the athletes themselves. In a stunning turn of events, Brazilian officials are alleging that not only was the armed robbery story told by Ryan Lochte and his fellow Olympians false, they allegedly vandalized a gas station and may have even tussled with a security guard.</p>
<p>After reviewing security footage, officials have suggested that the swimmers' account may have been a cover-up for their own actions. The office of Judge Keyla Blanc ordered that the Americans' passports be seized, pulling two of the swimmers, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, off their flight and ordering that they, along with teammate Jimmy Feigen, meet with law enforcement Thursday to give their testimony. Lochte had already left the country before Brazil could take his passport.</p>
<p><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/us-swimmer-fought-security-guard-night-alleged-robbery/story?id=41481840&amp;cid=abcn_tco" type="external">ABC News</a> reports that a Brazilian police source told them that "one of the swimmers was seen on CCTV footage breaking down the door to the bathroom at the gas station and fighting with a security guard" on the night of the alleged robbery.</p>
<p>JUST IN: U.S. swimmer seen on video fighting with guard, breaking down door on night of alleged robbery, source says <a href="https://t.co/ccpZvDBmox" type="external">https://t.co/ccpZvDBmox</a></p>
<p>However, other reports suggest that the swimmers only damaged the bathroom:</p>
<p>BREAKING: U.S. Olympic swimmers caused damage at gas station, which they paid for in cash - Brazilian security source</p>
<p>The <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c29081e6ac6c4ed9b3eaaf400415b081/2-lochte-teammates-robbery-probe-pulled-plane" type="external">Associated Press</a> reports that Rio police investigator Marcelo Carregosa said he hoped the case would be resolved Thursday. The American athletes, meanwhile, have lawyered up.</p>
<p>"All are represented by counsel and being appropriately supported by the USOC and the U.S. Consulate in Rio," said USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky.</p>
<p>A lawyer representing Conger and Bentz said they would not be free to leave the country until providing their testimony about the incident.</p>
<p>Back in the states, Lochte continues to stand by their story. Speaking with <a href="http://www.today.com/news/ryan-lochte-defends-rio-robbery-account-matt-lauer-we-wouldn-t101973" type="external">NBC News</a>' Matt Lauer Wednesday night, Lochte said that he and his teammates used a restroom at the gas station. When they got back to their taxi, the driver would not move. It was at that point that the men they had described approached them holding guns and what appeared to be police badges and ordered them to get on the ground.</p>
<p>Lochte's attorney, Jeff Ostrow, insists that his client is telling the truth. "Why would anybody fabricate anything? It's just ridiculous," said Ostrow.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the British Olympic team has reported that one of their athletes was robbed at gunpoint in the middle of the night. Details of the alleged incident have yet to emerge.</p>
<p>Image (AP): Journalists surround American Olympic swimmers Gunnar Bentz, left, and Jack Conger, center, as they leave the police station at Rio International airport early Thursday Aug. 18, 2016.</p> | Brazil Says U.S. Swimmers Vandalized Gas Station, And They Have Proof | true | https://dailywire.com/news/8472/brazil-says-us-swimmers-vandalized-gas-station-and-james-barrett | 2016-08-18 | 0 |
<p>A Belgian Army soldier patrols in the Sablon District of Brussels on Monday.Virginia Mayo/AP</p>
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<p>Brussels remains under lockdown for the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/22/belgium-police-arrest-six-terror-suspects-after-raids-across-country" type="external">third straight day</a> as authorities continue to hunt down suspects in connection with the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris. As of Monday morning, a spokesman for the chief Belgian prosecutor said 21 people have been arrested in a series of anti-terror raids since Sunday.</p>
<p>But police officers are still searching for the primary target of these raids—Salah Abdeslam, the 26-year-old suspect believed to have taken part in the Paris attacks. Officials say Abdeslam’s <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/23/us-france-shooting-belgium-idUSKCN0TA03H20151123#jFHcDCYgI1RDVbTV.97" type="external">brother</a> detonated himself in the Paris attacks.</p>
<p>Amid the crackdown, officials are also <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/belgium-weighs-extending-lockdown-police-hunt-paris-attackers-054139052.html" type="external">warning</a> residents of a possible “serious and imminent attack” in the Belgian capital. Schools, underground public transit, and shopping centers are all closed, as Brussels remains at the highest level of terror alert.</p>
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<p>Over the weekend, the police requested that residents refrain from posting details of the raids on social media and potentially tipping the suspects off in the process. Twitter users followed through by flooding the platform with photos of cats in order to show a moment of levity and stamp out any possible security leaks.</p>
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<p>On Monday, British Prime Minster David Cameron <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/david-cameron-wants-the-uk-to-start-bombing-isis-in-syria_56531961e4b0d4093a584255" type="external">announced</a> that he will seek parliamentary support to launch new airstrikes against ISIS in Syria. The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/23/us-special-forces-to-arrive-in-syria-very-soon-as-assad-hails-russian-air-strikes" type="external">Guardian</a>reports that US special operation forces will be deployed in Syria “very soon.”</p>
<p /> | What You Need to Know About the Ongoing Lockdown in Brussels | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2015/11/brussels-terror-lockdown-raids/ | 2015-11-23 | 4 |
<p>Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday posted strong quarterly sales growth, allowing it to report a higher profit as it expands into more corners of consumer spending.</p>
<p>For the third quarter, profit rose 1.6% to $256 million from $252 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis, profit was unchanged at 52 cents, well above analysts' consensus estimate of 8 cents.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Meanwhile, sales of $43.74 billion, up from $32.71 billion, were above Amazon's own forecast of $39.25 billion to $41.75 billion for the quarter and above analysts' expectations of $42.14 billion.</p>
<p>Shares of the company rose 7% to $1,041.50 in after-hours trading after finishing at $972.43 on Thursday. Shares are up 30% year-to-date.</p>
<p>The jump in revenue is just one measure of Amazon's scale. Marketing research firm eMarketer estimates that Amazon will command about 43.5% of total e-commerce sales this year, compared with 38.1% last year.</p>
<p>The third quarter is typically a period of heavy spending, as Amazon opens new warehouses to get them up and running in time for the holidays. Amazon also hired 50,000 workers over the period to fill open positions following an August job fair, a feat becoming more expensive as competition for labor increases in logistics hot spots.</p>
<p>The company's total number of employees increased to 541,900 from 382,400 in the second quarter.</p>
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<p>That increase includes Whole Foods Market Inc.'s roughly 87,000 employees, who were added to Amazon's roster as the $13.5 billion acquisition closed in late August. Since taking over the brick-and-mortar grocer, Amazon has slashed some in-store prices and said it plans to add Prime membership benefits to the payment system to reward loyalty. It is also selling Whole Foods' private labels online.</p>
<p>Whole Foods added $21 million to operating income and $1.3 billion in sales. North American operating income fell 56% to $112 million.</p>
<p>The online retailer's bottom line was boosted by its Amazon Web Services cloud-computing division, which increased sales by 42% to $4.58 billion. The unit, which rents computing power to a variety of startups, government agencies and other corporations, has become a major factor in Amazon's recent streak of profitability.</p>
<p>Still, the division is facing tougher competition from both Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, prompting some concerns about w hether the growth can continue at the current pace.</p>
<p>Amazon said it expects fourth-quarter operating income of $300 million to $1.65 billion on revenue of $56 billion to $60.5 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect $1.55 billion in operating income and $58.94 billion in revenue.</p>
<p>Write to Laura Stevens at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>October 26, 2017 16:46 ET (20:46 GMT)</p> | Amazon Revenue Rises 34%, Beating Estimates | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/10/26/amazon-revenue-rises-34-beating-estimates.html | 2017-10-26 | 0 |
<p>Trump used a thinly sourced story from the tabloid National Enquirer to make the baseless claim that Ted Cruz’s father “was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald’s being — you know, shot.”</p>
<p>The National Enquirer story hangs largely on comments from a photo expert who said a photo of an unidentified man handing out pro-Fidel Castro leaflets with Oswald has “more similarity than dissimilarity” with&#160;a passport photo of Cruz’s father, Rafael.</p>
<p>But that same expert told us in a phone interview that he never claimed the man in the picture with Oswald was definitely Rafael Cruz, only that comparing the man in the photo with a photo of Cruz as a young man revealed “more similarities than dissimilarities.” In fact, he called Trump’s definitive proclamation “stupid.”</p>
<p>The National Enquirer story ran last month under the salacious, front-page headline “Ted Cruz Father Linked to JFK Assassination!” It included a picture of Oswald distributing pro-Castro literature in New Orleans in August 1963, a few months prior to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. According to the <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article73449297.html" type="external">Miami Herald</a>, another man in the picture was never identified by the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/" type="external">Warren Commission</a>, whose investigation concluded Kennedy was assassinated by Oswald and that Oswald acted alone.</p>
<p>The tabloid story got legs on May 3 when Trump referenced it in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYo5m8R0wcU" type="external">an interview</a>&#160;on “Fox and Friends.”</p>
<p>“His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald’s being, you know, shot!” Trump said. “I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous. What – what is this right, prior to his being shot. And nobody even brings it up. I mean, they don’t even talk about that, that was reported and nobody talks about it. But I think it’s horrible, I think it’s absolutely horrible, that a man can go and do that, what he’s saying there.”</p>
<p>Trump later added, “I mean what was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald, shortly before the death – before the shooting? It’s horrible.”</p>
<p>The Enquirer&#160;cited two photo experts to make the connection that the unidentified man ​”caught on camera in New Orleans — alongside Lee Harvey Oswald” — was Rafael Cruz.</p>
<p>Central to the story was the analysis of Mitch Goldstone, president and CEO of ScanMyPhotos, a California-based digitizing photo service. He is quoted as saying, “There’s more similarity than dissimilarity. … it looks to be the same person and I can say as much with a high degree of confidence.</p>
<p>Read that carefully. He’s not saying with a high degree of certainty that it’s Rafael Cruz. He’s saying with a high degree of certainty that it “looks to be the same person.” There’s a difference.</p>
<p>We reached out to Goldstone, and he told us by phone, “I stand behind those comments 100 percent.” But he explained that he did not employ facial recognition technology to reach his conclusions, because the photographs are too grainy. Rather, he said, he utilized a tool called FotoForensics to authenticate that the photos had not been digitally altered.</p>
<p>Then he compared, by eye, the photo of the unidentified man in the picture with Oswald with a passport photo of a young Rafael Cruz. Based on features like facial structure and skin texture, he concluded — using a phrase that he repeated numerous times — that there were “more similarities than dissimilarities” in the appearance of the two men.</p>
<p>“They look pretty close,” Goldstone said.</p>
<p>“I never said categorically that it is him,” Goldstone told us. “I said it looks to be more similar than dissimilar.”</p>
<p>Goldstone said that contrary to at least one report he saw, he was not paid by the National Enquirer for his opinion.</p>
<p>“I think anyone who would look at that would come to the same conclusion,” he said.</p>
<p>Goldstone is calling on the Cruz campaign to release all of the photos they have of Rafael Cruz from that period, because “it’d be really helpful” in reaching a conclusive determination.</p>
<p>The National Enquirer story also quotes <a href="http://www.drcarole.com/downloads/drcarolecv.pdf" type="external">Carole Lieberman</a>, a University of California at Los Angeles forensic psychiatrist and expert witness based in Beverly Hills, California. She also compared the photos and told the Enquirer that&#160;“they seem to match.” We reached out to Lieberman as well, but did not hear back from her.</p>
<p>Regardless, <a href="http://jain.egr.msu.edu/bio/" type="external">Anil Jain</a>, a computer scientist and expert on facial recognition and biometric identification at Michigan State University, told us not to put much stock in those assessments.</p>
<p>The images are of a poor quality, black and white, and grainy, he said. “It would be very difficult, even for a photo expert, to extract facial attributes,” he said. Any conclusion about similarities is subjective, he said.</p>
<p>As for the features of the people in the pictures being “more similar than dissimilar,” Jain said, “compared to what?” To do such a comparison, you’d need to compare the image with hundreds of others to determine if they are more similar or dissimilar.</p>
<p>“It doesn’t mean anything,” Jain said of Goldstone’s conclusion. “Anyone can make that statement.”</p>
<p>In fact, he said, Rafael Cruz’s flared out ears don’t seem to match those of the unidentified man in the Oswald photo. “There is no scientific basis to say the unidentified person in the Lee Harvey Oswald photo has any similarities with the Rafael Cruz picture. There is no way you can reliably extract any facial characteristics,” Jain said.</p>
<p>And, we would note, even if it were Rafael Cruz in the picture with Oswald, there is no evidence whatsoever that he had anything to do with the Kennedy assassination,&#160;despite a headline that claimed “Ted Cruz Father Linked to JFK Assassination!”</p>
<p>The Cruz campaign has vigorously denied that the unidentified man in the photo with Oswald is Rafael Cruz.&#160;Cruz <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/cruz-to-trump-my-father-is-not-linked-to-jfk-165004201.html" type="external">called</a> Trump’s claim “kooky.”</p>
<p>“This is another garbage story in a tabloid full of garbage,” Communications Director Alice Stewart told <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article73449297.html" type="external">McClatchy</a>. “The story is false; that is not Rafael in the picture.” The <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article73449297.html" type="external">Miami Herald&#160;reported</a>&#160;that while the elder Cruz was once a supporter of Fidel Castro, he turned away from the Cuban leader when Castro declared in 1961 that he was a Marxist.</p>
<p>The Herald’s April 22 story also noted a McClatchy report that quoted Gus Russo, an author and journalist who has written extensively about the JFK assassination and Oswald, as saying the Enquirer report is dubious. Russo told McClatchy in an interview that Oswald, “who was living in New Orleans in 1963, was not connected to the Cuban community there and would not have had a Cuban supporter helping him,” the Herald said.</p>
<p>The Trump campaign did not respond to our inquiries for backup for Trump’s claim.</p>
<p>This is not the first time the Enquirer&#160;has injected itself into the presidential campaign. A March&#160; <a href="http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/ted-cruz-sex-scandal-mistresses-cheating-claims/" type="external">Enquirer piece</a>&#160;alleged multiple extramarital affairs for Cruz — an accusation that his campaign <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/25/politics/ted-cruz-national-enquirer-donald-trump/" type="external">vehemently denied</a>.&#160;Trump also landed a rare <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/donald-trump-lands-endorsement-the-national-enquirer" type="external">endorsement</a> from the publication in March of this year, and has written <a href="http://www.nationalenquirer.com/real-life/donald-trump-man-behind-legend-0/" type="external">several</a> <a href="http://www.nationalenquirer.com/real-life/donald-trump-writes-exclusively-national-enquirer/" type="external">op-eds</a> for the magazine. In addition to Cruz, the Enquirer has attacked many of Trump’s other campaign rivals, including Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson and Hillary Clinton.</p>
<p>David Pecker, the CEO of the Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc., has been said to have a close personal relationship with Trump. New York Magazine called them “ <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/10/trumps-alliance-with-the-national-enquirer.html" type="external">friends for years</a>,” and the New York Daily News reported that they are “ <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/confidential/donald-trump-tabloid-won-enquire-dee-article-1.2327968" type="external">very close</a>.” Trump has voiced support for Pecker in the past, <a href="https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/354716224799784960" type="external">endorsing him</a> to take over Time magazine in 2013. It is worth noting that the Enquirer has also run several <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/31/national-enquirer-caught-trump-his-mistress.html" type="external">less-than-flattering</a> stories on Trump in the past, especially in the 1990s before Pecker came on as CEO.</p>
<p>— Robert Farley, with Joe Nahra</p>
<p />
<p /> | Trump’s Tall Tabloid Tale | false | https://factcheck.org/2016/05/trumps-tall-tabloid-tale/ | 2016-05-03 | 2 |
<p>Oil prices wavered between gains and losses Wednesday after U.S. data showed that crude stockpiles fell but gasoline inventories grew last week.</p>
<p>Record U.S. oil exports and an increase in activity by refiners helped contribute to a 1.8-million-barrel draw from crude stockpiles. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had anticipated an increase of 2.1 million barrels in crude stockpiles.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But gasoline inventories grew by 1.1 million barrels, as shipments that were directed toward the U.S. when refineries were offline following Hurricane Harvey showed up.</p>
<p>U.S. crude futures recently traded up 30 cents, or 0.58%, to $52.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the global benchmark, fell 35 cents, or 0.6%, to $58.09 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.</p>
<p>Brent hit its highest settlement since July 2015 on Monday, closing at $59.02 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures posted their largest one-day advance of the year, to $52.22 a barrel.</p>
<p>Wednesday's report shows that the U.S. oil industry is getting back to normal following Hurricane Harvey, analysts said. Refiners increased their processing rates to 88.6% of capacity, up from 83.2% last week.</p>
<p>"We're almost back to a normalized situation," said Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA Inc.</p>
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<p>Some analysts said the increase in gasoline supplies in the U.S. data weighed on the market Wednesday. Analysts had anticipated a decline of 1 million barrels. Diesel stockpiles fell, according to the EIA data, but by less than expected.</p>
<p>"I'm surprised we didn't see continued decline in gasoline inventories as refiners did restore operations but they weren't fully on stream," said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.</p>
<p>Gasoline futures fell 4.02 cents, or 2.37%, to $1.6586 a gallon. Diesel futures fell 0.43 cent, or 0.23%, to $1.8410 a gallon.</p>
<p>The steady increase in Brent in recent weeks has been driven in part by renewed market confidence in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' plan to cut production and bring down the global supply overhang, as well as by fresh data from the International Energy Agency showing rising global demand growth. But WTI, the U.S. standard, has still lagged behind Brent, with the spread between the two benchmarks at its widest in about two years.</p>
<p>Crude exports increased to 1.49 million barrels a day last week -- the highest level on record -- as the wide price difference the U.S. and global benchmarks made exports lucrative.</p>
<p>Still, crude's rise has been limited.</p>
<p>"We had a terrific run up in the past week. I think the market is still processing what's happened in terms of supply and demand dynamics from hurricanes and a lot of noise from OPEC," said Adam Wise, managing director of natural resources at John Hancock Financial Services. "I think it's taking a little bit of a breather."</p>
<p>Geordie Wilkes, a research analyst at brokerage Sucden Financial Ltd., said some investors worry that sending crude prices too high could incentivize an uptick in U.S. shale production and exacerbate a global supply glut.</p>
<p>"The market is apprehensive about pushing [Brent] to $60 a barrel," Mr. Wildes said. "Any spike above $58 a barrel over the past 18 months hasn't really held," he added.</p>
<p>Write to Alison Sider at [email protected] and Christopher Alessi at [email protected]</p>
<p>U.S. crude prices rose Wednesday after government data showed crude stockpiles fell but gasoline inventories grew last week.</p>
<p>Record U.S. oil exports and an increase in activity by refiners helped contribute to a 1.8-million-barrel draw from crude stockpiles. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had anticipated an increase of 2.1 million barrels in crude stockpiles.</p>
<p>But gasoline inventories rose by 1.1 million barrels, as shipments that were directed toward the U.S. when refineries were offline following Hurricane Harvey showed up. In all, total commercial crude and fuel stocks fell by 5 million barrels and stand at their lowest level since January, 2016.</p>
<p>U.S. crude futures rose 26 cents, or 0.5%, to $52.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the global benchmark, fell 54 cents, or 0.92%, to $57.90 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.</p>
<p>Wednesday's report shows that the U.S. oil industry is getting back to normal following Hurricane Harvey, analysts said. Refiners increased their processing rates to 88.6% of capacity, up from 83.2% last week.</p>
<p>"We're almost back to a normalized situation," said Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA Inc.</p>
<p>Some analysts said the increase in gasoline supplies in the U.S. data weighed on the market Wednesday. Analysts had anticipated a decline of 1 million barrels. Diesel stockpiles fell, according to the EIA data, but by less than expected.</p>
<p>"I'm surprised we didn't see continued decline in gasoline inventories as refiners did restore operations but they weren't fully on stream," said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.</p>
<p>Gasoline futures fell 4.48 cents, or 2.64%, to $1.654 a gallon. Diesel futures rose 0.1 cent, or 0.05%, to $1.8463 a gallon.</p>
<p>Wednesday was the second straight day of losses for Brent crude, which hit its highest settlement since July 2015 on Monday, closing at $59.02 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures posted their largest one-day advance of the year, to $52.22 a barrel.</p>
<p>"We had a terrific run up in the past week. I think the market is still processing what's happened in terms of supply and demand dynamics from hurricanes and a lot of noise from OPEC," said Adam Wise, managing director of natural resources at John Hancock Financial Services. "I think it's taking a little bit of a breather."</p>
<p>Geordie Wilkes, a research analyst at brokerage Sucden Financial Ltd., said some investors worry sending crude prices too high could incentivize an uptick in U.S. shale production and exacerbate a global supply glut.</p>
<p>"The market is apprehensive about pushing [Brent] to $60 a barrel," Mr. Wilkes said. "Any spike above $58 a barrel over the past 18 months hasn't really held," he added.</p>
<p>The steady increase in Brent in recent weeks has been driven in part by renewed market confidence in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' plan to cut production and bring down the global supply overhang, as well as by fresh data from the International Energy Agency showing rising global demand growth. But WTI, the U.S. standard, has lagged behind Brent, with the spread between the two benchmarks at its widest in about two years.</p>
<p>Crude exports from the U.S. increased to 1.49 million barrels a day last week -- the highest level on record -- as the wide price difference between the U.S. and global benchmarks made exports lucrative.</p>
<p>Write to Alison Sider at [email protected] and Christopher Alessi at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>September 27, 2017 16:02 ET (20:02 GMT)</p> | Oil Rises After U.S. Stockpiles Fall | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/09/27/oil-rises-after-u-s-stockpiles-fall.html | 2017-09-27 | 0 |
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<p>Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Charles Keating IV, 31, of San Diego. Navy SEAL Keating was shot and killed Tuesday in Iraq during a gunbattle that involved more than 100 Islamic State fighters. (Source: U.S. Navy)</p>
<p>"Obviously, had we had the forces there, been able to see this attack coming, they would have responded differently to it," Peter Cook, the Pentagon press secretary, said. "Perhaps this could have been avoided. That's certainly something that we're looking at carefully. This particular attack was not anticipated and we were forced to respond."</p>
<p>Keating is the third U.S. service member to be killed in combat in Iraq since U.S. forces returned there in 2014.</p>
<p>Keating was a member of what the military calls a quick-reaction force that was called to the scene of the gun battle in which a small U.S. military advisory team had already become involved. The Islamic State force managed to penetrate the Kurds' lines but ultimately was pushed out of the area.</p>
<p>The U.S. military's main spokesman in Baghdad, Col. Steve Warren, said Wednesday that it was unclear how IS managed to assemble an attacking force of an estimated 125 fighters, plus vehicles, without being detected prior to the assault.</p>
<p>"You can't observe every inch of earth every moment in the day," Warren said. "There's not enough eyeballs out there to watch it all, anyways." He said the militants were initially successful by surprising the Kurdish force but ultimately were beaten back.</p>
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<p>"So it was a failed attack, but certainly, they were able to martial and deploy a force that surprised the Peshmerga forces," Warren said. The Peshmerga are a Kurdish militia.</p>
<p>Cook was asked whether Defense Secretary Ash Carter was looking for ways to make the U.S. advisory mission less dangerous.</p>
<p>"We had a fatality of a U.S. service member and that requires hard questions," Cook said. "And so, we are looking at the situation in terms of force protection." He added: "And of course we'll be reassessing force protection going forward."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>AP Radio correspondent Sagar Meghani contributed to this report.</p> | Pentagon spokesman says deadly IS attack was a surprise | false | https://abqjournal.com/769010/pentagon-spokesman-says-deadly-is-attack-was-a-surprise.html | 2016-05-05 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Some things evolve over a long process. Others appear suddenly.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Place football and baseball in the first category. They morphed over several centuries from sports like soccer and cricket. Basketball, in contrast, was brought forth suddenly in one man’s burst of creation.</p>
<p>On that morning in 1891 when James Naismith typed up the rules of “Basket Ball” and tacked them up in the YMCA gym in Springfield, Mass., he didn’t just invent a new sport – he created one of the most valuable pieces of sports memorabilia.</p>
<p>Naismith’s heirs are telling the story of basketball’s “Magna Carta” in the latest episode of Strange Inheritance with Jamie Colby, which airs <a href="" type="internal">Monday, January 30 at 9 p.m. EST on the FOX Business Network</a>.</p>
<p>Naismith had been tasked with creating an indoor activity that young men could play at the Y during the winter. A lightbulb went off as he lay in bed; it was the original hoop dream.</p>
<p>The next day he hung two peach baskets at each end of the gym, and handed a soccer ball to a scrum of rambunctious males. A new sport was born. Almost.</p>
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<p>“The first game resulted into multiple black eyes and a dislocated shoulder. One guy completely knocked out,” Jim Naismith, James’ grandson, told Colby.</p>
<p>But the young men begged to play again. So Naismith, in an attempt to civilize his new (or newborn) “sport,” typed up 13 basic rules and posted them on the gym wall. If basketball’s your religion, those two pages are the tablets Moses brought down from Mount Sinai.</p>
<p>The game spread quickly. Naismith moved to the University of Kansas and started what grew into one of the most storied basketball programs in history. He also saw the game played professionally – and around the world.</p>
<p>He must have realized from the start he was on to something because he saved the original typewritten rules in a hidden compartment in his home.</p>
<p>Years after Naismith died, his grandson Ian took the rules on tour…and at one point feared he left them in a restaurant.</p>
<p>“He started looking around and couldn’t find the rules,” said Ian’s son Sean Naismith. “He called the waitress who said, ‘I saw you walk out with those rules.’ And sure enough, when he tore apart his van he found them in there.”</p>
<p>The scare, however, helped convince the Naismith family – which couldn’t afford to insure the original typewritten rules – to auction them off. They sold in 2010 for an astounding $4.3 million, the most ever paid for a piece of sports memorabilia up to that time.</p>
<p>Of course, that’s just a free throw when you consider the value of the worldwide basketball industry Naismith created. Or that LeBron James makes about $4.3 million every 10 games.</p> | Naismith Heirs Tell Tale of Basketball's 'Magna Carta' | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/01/28/naismith-heirs-tell-tale-basketballs-magna-carta.html | 2017-01-28 | 0 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/soggydan/3634212354/sizes/m/in/photostream/" target="_blank"&gt;Flickr/soggydan&lt;/a&gt;</p>
<p />
<p>Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) <a href="http://www.aol.com/video/mccain-defends-huma-abedin-against-bachmann-charge/517420992/" type="external">took to the floor of the Senate Wednesday</a> to defend Secretary of State Hillary Clinton adviser Huma Abedin, whom he refers to as a friend, from Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-Minn.) <a href="" type="internal">baseless accusations that Abedin is an agent of the Muslim Brotherhood</a>, an Islamist organization with branches throughout the Middle East.&#160;</p>
<p>McCain absolutely lays into Bachmann and her colleagues (without mentioning them by name), defending Abedin as representing “what is best about America: the daughter of immigrants, who has risen to the highest levels of our government on the basis of her substantial personal merit and her abiding commitment to the American ideals that she embodies so fully.” <a href="http://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&amp;ContentRecord_id=9acf4627-0fad-89d1-d5d3-dda642179bca" type="external">Here’s an excerpt from his speech</a>:</p>
<p>Ultimately, what is at stake in this matter is larger even than the reputation of one person. This is about who we are as a nation, and who we aspire to be. What makes America exceptional among the countries of the world is that we are bound together as citizens not by blood or class, not by sect or ethnicity, but by a set of enduring, universal, and equal rights that are the foundation of our constitution, our laws, our citizenry, and our identity. When anyone, not least a member of Congress, launches specious and degrading attacks against fellow Americans on the basis of nothing more than fear of who they are and ignorance of what they stand for, it defames the spirit of our nation, and we all grow poorer because of it.</p>
<p>McCain’s speech is all the more remarkable because it represents a tragically rare instance in which a Republican elected official has chosen to fight the anti-Muslim paranoia in his own party, rather than simply ride the wave. There are a few other examples, including&#160; <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/08/orrin_hatchs_defense_of_park51.html" type="external">Senator Orrin Hatch’s (R-Utah)</a>&#160;stand&#160;during the debate over the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque,” but not many.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, McCain inexplicably also defends Frank Gaffney, the head of the Center for Security Policy, as a “friend” despite the <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/security/2010/09/15/119099/team-b-sharia-report/" type="external">center’s role in providing “empirical” support</a>for the absurd conspiracy theory that American Muslims are secretly trying to impose Taliban-style Islamic law on the United States. It’s Gaffney’s scurrilous reasoning masquerading as policy expertise that lead to Bachmann’s smearing of Abedin in the first place.&#160;</p>
<p /> | McCain Blasts Bachmann for Her Anti-Muslim McCarthyism | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mccain-blasts-bachmann-her-anti-muslim-mccarthyism/ | 2012-07-18 | 4 |
<p>It’s Mueller Monday and the breaking news about special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Donald Trump’s crime family has just broken new ground. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/us/politics/fbi-raids-office-of-trumps-longtime-lawyer-michael-cohen.html" type="external">New York Times reported</a> earlier that the FBI raided the home, office, and hotel room of Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen. This can only be viewed as a serious escalation of the legal jeopardy that Trump faces. So naturally, he is lashing out with wild accusations against the law enforcement agencies that are performing their duties to protect the public welfare.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/NewsCorpse/posts/2104511826230268" type="external" /></p>
<p>In his response, Trump made some familiar criticisms that have been the core of his past whining about being the subject of this investigation. In a brief press availability during a national security meeting, Trump said:</p>
<p>These lame and tedious complaints do nothing to counter the devastating news of this raid. Nor do they advance any argument that it was improper or help him to establish innocence. We have heard it all before and <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/most-americans-believe-trump-trying-to-obstruct-russia-probe-poll-finds" type="external">majorities of the American people don’t believe him</a>.</p>
<p>Of note is his assertion that this is an attack on our country. Um…No it isn’t. This is all about Trump’s sleazy and likely illegal behavior and that of his associates. Calling the special counsel’s office “conflicted” has always been ludicrous. Mueller is a life-long Republican, as is is boss at the Department of Justice, Rod Rosenstein (who Trump appointed). And no one should be surprised by Trump’s interjection of “whataboutism” with his left field swipe at Hillary Clinton, who has been investigated ad infinitum with no hint of wrongdoing being discovered.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most ominous part of Trump’s remarks refers to the possible firing of Mueller. Trump has said in the past that he is not even considering such a thing. Now he says that “we’ll see what happens.” That’s a sharp u-turn in the direction of terminating the special counsel or Rosenstein. And if that happens, rest assured that the rest of his house of cards will quickly tumble down.</p>
<p>How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QSSMOES/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B00QSSMOES&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=newscorpsecom-20&amp;linkId=TLI6JC2OYE22MUTS" type="external">Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.</a> Available now at Amazon.</p>
<p /> | ‘WITCH HUNT’: Donald Trump Responds to the FBI Raid of His Attorney Michael Cohen (Video) | true | http://newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p%3D32611 | 4 |
|
<p>Katy Grimes: It’s difficult not to acknowledge President Obama’s latest world tour – he booked the entire Taj Mahal Palace hotel and is traveling with an entourage of 3,000 of “government officials,” 40 jet planes, a fleet of cars and 34 warships,&#160;talk of costing more than $200 million-a-day – and all charged to the American people. (The $200 million-a-day is incorrect, according to the White House – they say it’s costing $50 million-a-day).</p>
<p>According to The Wall Street Journal, “Mumbai officials have ordered coconuts plucked from palm trees outside a memorial the president is scheduled to visit to ensure there are no bumps on the noggin. In Delhi, the president’s second stop, monkeys have been the subject of a municipal crackdown.”</p>
<p>White House spokesman Tommy Vietor denied the $200 million-a-day figure in a recent Fox news story.&#160;“The numbers reported in this article have no basis in reality. Due to security concerns, we are unable to outline details associated with security procedures and costs, but it’s safe to say these numbers are wildly inflated,” Vietor said.</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Erica Werner wrote about the Obama trip,&#160;“Rebuked by voters, President Barack Obama is turning overseas, heading to Asia for 10 days of diplomacy, tourism and dealmaking that could boost the battered chief executive and highlight his political skills on the world stage.</p>
<p>Obama risks criticism he’s fleeing the Democrats’ midterm election wreckage for friendlier territory as he sets out Friday on the longest foreign trip of his presidency, a sojourn through India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan aimed at highlighting America’s increasing engagement with Asia.”</p>
<p>Whoa. That’s harsh. Obama and entourage could have come to California instead, and spent much less taxpayer money, and boosted business stateside, if that’s really the goal.</p>
<p>And if there was such a great need to spend the money on a luxury trip, California would not only have accommodated the entourage really well, we have welcomed the $1.2 billion for Obama’s trip. This would &#160;gone a long way helping California’s little debt &#160;problem. Laguna Beach, Beverly Hills, <a href="http://www.alpinecountyca.gov/departments/county_clerk" type="external">Alpine County</a>or friendly <a href="http://www.sfgov2.org/index.aspx?page=599" type="external">San Francisco</a>, would have welcomed Obama.&#160;With more than 35 Congressional seats going to Democrats, the Obama administration would be amongst friends, particularly in the San Francisco and <a href="http://www.lavote.net/" type="external">Los Angeles</a> regions.</p>
<p>Maybe he should have spent taxpayer’s money in the country, and helped out deficit-ridden states.</p>
<p>Hasn’t anyone in the Obama administration heard that charity begins at home.</p>
<p>NOV. 5, 2010</p> | Come to California Mr. President | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2010/11/04/come-to-california-mr-president/ | 2018-11-20 | 3 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The panel said Friday it had invited Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general fired by President Donald Trump, former Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan, to testify sometime after May 2 in an open hearing after their original testimony was abruptly canceled in March by Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif.</p>
<p>The announcement indicates that the panel’s Russia investigation, which was thrown into turmoil last month after Nunes stepped aside as head of the probe following allegations he may have improperly disclosed classified information, is getting back on track.</p>
<p>Rep. K. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, took over as head of the investigation after Nunes’ decision.</p>
<p>A committee news release Thursday also said FBI Director James B. Comey and Adm. Mike Rogers, the head of the National Security Agency, would testify in a closed session on May 2.</p>
<p>Nunes’ decision to call off the original hearing with Yates, Brennan and Clapper came only days after the committee’s first public hearing in which Comey confirmed that the bureau was investigating Russia’s ties to Trump’s associates.</p>
<p>Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called the cancellation of the hearing a “dodge” by Nunes to aid the White House. Schiff said Nunes’ connections to the White House raised insurmountable public doubts about whether the committee could credibly investigate the president’s campaign associates.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Yates, who was fired in January after she refused to defend the Trump administration’s proposed travel ban, was expected to be questioned about her role in the firing of Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.</p>
<p>Yates alerted the White House in January that Flynn had misled the White House about whether he had discussed sanctions in a December phone call with the Russian ambassador to the United States. Flynn was not ousted from the White House until the discrepancies were made public.</p>
<p>Nunes came under fierce criticism from Democrats for making public information provided him to him last month by White House aides concerning classified intelligence reports that apparently referred to Trump associates — information Nunes did not provide to members of his committee.</p>
<p>He stepped aside as head of the Russia investigation after the leaders of the House Ethics Committee said it is investigating whether Nunes improperly disclosed classified information, apparently when he held a news conference last month to claim that Trump associates’ names had been revealed in intelligence reports.</p>
<p>Nunes has denied wrongdoing.</p> | House panel’s Russia hearing with Obama officials is back on | false | https://abqjournal.com/991621/house-panels-russia-hearing-with-obama-officials-is-back-on.html | 2 |
|
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>It’s called LEAP: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. With a growing army of law enforcement and criminal justice personnel who actually support legalizing drugs like marijuana, this public policy initiative is starting to gain traction.</p>
<p>On its <a href="http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php" type="external">website</a>, LEAP describes itself as “current and former members of the law enforcement and criminal justice communities who are speaking out about the failures of our existing drug policies.” What are those failures? LEAP says:</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; By continuing to fight the so-called ‘War on Drugs’, the US government has worsened these problems of society instead of alleviating them. A system of regulation and control of these substances (by the government, replacing the current system of control by the black market) would be a less harmful, less costly, more ethical and more effective public policy.</p>
<p>Just who are these law enforcement and criminal justice officials, and do they really want to legalize drugs? Judge Jim Gray served as a Superior Court judge in Orange County for 25 years. Speaking in favor of the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, Judge Gray recently had this to say:</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; California simply can’t afford to continue to waste hundreds of millions of dollars and countless hours of law enforcement time targeting non-violent cannabis consumers who have hurt no one. Our police waste countless hours targeting and arresting non-violent cannabis consumers. Those arrested are then sent to court, where judges waste countless hours hearing their cases and sentencing them. Then they wind up in jail, where we waste hundreds of millions of dollars incarcerating them.</p>
<p>But the judge goes even further. For Judge Gray, legalizing the cultivation, sale, and recreational use of marijuana is not only an effective way to help balance California’s battered budget, it will actually make Californians safer. In a recent advertisement for the Tax Cannabis initiative, Judge Gray <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n75x19_TQ8" type="external">explained why</a>.</p>
<p>But the California Police Chiefs Association disagrees with the characterization of their work on drugs as wasteful, <a href="http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/politics/local_elections&amp;id=7361565" type="external">arguing</a> that they “just don’t spend their time on cases involving less than an ounce. If someone is caught with less than an ounce of pot now it’s a citation with a small fine.”</p>
<p>Though Judge Gray is quick to rebut that “we have thousands of people in state prisons simply because they smoked marijuana while on parole. This often puts their families back on welfare when they are placed back in prison.”</p>
<p>While the controversy rages on, the activity of LEAP shows that not all law enforcement agents or self-described “conservatives” are necessarily opposed to the legalization of drugs like marijuana.</p>
<p>If the issue appears black and white to some, there are still others who see it in varying shades of gray.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Law enforcement organization opposes War on Drugs | false | https://ivn.us/2010/05/08/law-enforcement-organization-opposes-war-drugs/ | 2010-05-08 | 2 |
<p>Faith Goldy here, sitting in for Ezra Levant... Just shy of 1600 people were killed in the name of Islam over Ramadan, but during the past month, not one attack happened in the Great White North.&#160;</p>
<p>But now, security experts are warning that we might have made it through June unscathed only because jihadis have their sights on Canada come July.</p>
<p>Specifically, July 1, when over half a million people are expected in the nation's capital this weekend to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary.</p>
<p>According to a newly revealed national security memo, ISIS is warning Muslims to avoid markets and public gatherings in Canada, and has threatened to use "explosives, vehicles and beheadings to kill crusaders."</p>
<p>In just the past three weeks, there have been two terror attacks by immigrants in Canada.</p>
<p>First, a female Syrian-born ISIS pledge launched a knife attack inside a Canadian Tire; in court, she even begged for her Canadian citizenship to be revoked since she's only interested in abiding by Islamic Law.</p>
<p>Then a 49-year-old Montreal resident originally from Tunisia stabbed a uniformed officer in Michigan's international airport. When denied bail, his response was "Allahu Akbar."</p>
<p>This is all part of Canada's dirty little secret, one <a href="" type="internal">Justin Trudeau is determined to ignore:</a></p>
<p>We're breeding and welcoming terrorists at a time when ISIS has told us that our country is in their sights.</p>
<p>NEXT: Sun senior columnist Lorne Gunter warns that the Liberal "politicization" of Canada's immigration system is about to get worse.</p>
<p>THEN: Rebel Alberta Bureau Chief <a href="" type="internal">Sheila Gunn Reid</a> talks about Trudeau's appointment of an Ambassador of Climate Change. "Why not name one to Narnia and whatever planet the Lizard People come from," she asks - because those things aren't real, either.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | While Trudeau rehearses 'multi-culti drivel,' ISIS vows Canada Day terror | true | https://therebel.media/ezra_levant_june_28_2017 | 2017-06-28 | 0 |
<p>TIDMTSCO</p>
<p>FORM 8.3</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY</p>
<p>A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE</p>
<p>Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the "Code")</p>
<p>1. KEY INFORMATION</p>
<p>(a) Full name of discloser: Majedie</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Asset</p>
<p>Management</p>
<p>Limited</p>
<p>(b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions</p>
<p>disclosed, if different from 1(a):</p>
<p>The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient.</p>
<p>For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries</p>
<p>must be named.</p>
<p>(c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant</p>
<p>securities this form relates: TESCO PLC</p>
<p>Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree</p>
<p>(d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree,</p>
<p>state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree:</p>
<p>(e) Date position held/dealing undertaken: 30 January</p>
<p>For an opening position disclosure, state the latest 2018</p>
<p>practicable date prior to the disclosure</p>
<p>(f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the No</p>
<p>discloser making disclosures in respect of any other</p>
<p>party to the offer?</p>
<p>If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state</p>
<p>"N/A"</p>
<p>2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE</p>
<p>If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than</p>
<p>one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c),</p>
<p>copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of</p>
<p>relevant security.</p>
<p>(a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of</p>
<p>the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the</p>
<p>dealing (if any)</p>
<p>Class of relevant security: ORD 5P</p>
<p>Short</p>
<p>Interests positions</p>
<p>Number % Number %</p>
<p>(1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 313,566,650 3.83</p>
<p>(2) Cash-settled derivatives:</p>
<p>(3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options)</p>
<p>and agreements to purchase/sell:</p>
<p>TOTAL: 313,566,650 3.83</p>
<p>All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.</p>
<p>Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded</p>
<p>options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should</p>
<p>be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).</p>
<p>(b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors'</p>
<p>and other employee options)</p>
<p>Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription</p>
<p>right exists:</p>
<p>Details, including nature of the rights concerned</p>
<p>and relevant percentages:</p>
<p>3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE</p>
<p>Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant</p>
<p>securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b),</p>
<p>(c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant</p>
<p>security dealt in.</p>
<p>The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.</p>
<p>(a) Purchases and sales</p>
<p>Class of relevant</p>
<p>security Purchase/sale Number of securities Price per unit</p>
<p>ORD 5P Buy 1,798,583 209.1536</p>
<p>ORD 5P Buy 1,053,438 208.9771</p>
<p>(b) Cash-settled derivative transactions</p>
<p>Class of Product description Nature of dealing Number of Price</p>
<p>relevant e.g. CFD e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing reference per</p>
<p>security a long/short position securities unit</p>
<p>(c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)</p>
<p>(i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying</p>
<p>Class of Product Writing, Number of Exercise Type Expiry Option</p>
<p>relevant description purchasing, securities price e.g. American, European etc. date money</p>
<p>security e.g. call selling, to which per paid/</p>
<p>option varying option unit received</p>
<p>etc. relates per</p>
<p>unit</p>
<p>(ii) Exercise</p>
<p>Class of Product description Exercising/ Number of Exercise</p>
<p>relevant e.g. call option exercised securities price per</p>
<p>security against unit</p>
<p>(d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)</p>
<p>Class of relevant Nature of dealing Details Price per unit</p>
<p>security e.g. subscription, conversion (if applicable)</p>
<p>4. OTHER INFORMATION</p>
<p>(a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements</p>
<p>Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or</p>
<p>any agreement or understanding, formal or informal,</p>
<p>relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement</p>
<p>to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the</p>
<p>person making the disclosure and any party to the</p>
<p>offer or any person acting in concert with a party</p>
<p>to the offer:</p>
<p>Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should</p>
<p>not be included. If there are no such agreements,</p>
<p>arrangements or understandings, state "none"</p>
<p>None</p>
<p>(b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to</p>
<p>options or derivatives</p>
<p>Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding,</p>
<p>formal or informal, between the person making the</p>
<p>disclosure and any other person relating to:</p>
<p>(i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under</p>
<p>any option; or</p>
<p>(ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal</p>
<p>of any relevant securities to which any derivative</p>
<p>is referenced:</p>
<p>If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings,</p>
<p>state "none"</p>
<p>None</p>
<p>(c) Attachments</p>
<p>Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO</p>
<p>Date of disclosure: 31 January 2018</p>
<p>Contact name: James Tanqueray</p>
<p>Telephone number: 0207 618 3900</p>
<p>Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory</p>
<p>Information Service.</p>
<p>The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in</p>
<p>relation to the Code's disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.</p>
<p>The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at</p>
<p>www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.</p>
<p>This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf</p>
<p>of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.</p>
<p>The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely</p>
<p>responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information</p>
<p>contained therein.</p>
<p>Source: Majedie Asset Management Ltd via Globenewswire</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>January 31, 2018 05:40 ET (10:40 GMT)</p> | Majedie Asset Management Ltd Majedie Asset Management Ltd : Form 8.3 - Tesco Plc | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/11/16/majedie-asset-management-ltd-majedie-asset-management-ltd-form-8-3-tesco-plc.html | 2018-01-31 | 0 |
<p>Boston PhoenixDan Kennedy says Boston Herald war correspondent Jules Crittenden "has emerged as something of a star, both because of his swashbuckling writing style and the way the Herald has packaged his work ... complete with a headshot that looks as though he's just completed a Special Forces operation. THE BOSTON GLOBE'S WAR COVERAGE "has been remarkably good, and if it hasn't been quite as thorough as that of the national papers, it has made up for it with enterprise," says Kennedy. &gt; <a href="http://www.tvguide.com/magazine/robins/030407.asp" type="external">Freelancer Engel is making a name for himself in Iraq (last item) (TVG)</a></p> | Critic: "Swashbuckling" Crittenden has emerged as a star | false | https://poynter.org/news/critic-swashbuckling-crittenden-has-emerged-star | 2003-04-03 | 2 |
<p>AP</p>
<p />
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/04/18/did-president-trump-do-something-wrong-in-congratulating-erdogan-on-the-turkish-referendum/?utm_term=.1be1e2892196" type="external">Several</a> <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-trump-celebrating-turkeys-democratic-crisis" type="external">media</a> outlets have slammed President Donald Trump for congratulating Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on winning a referendum that will bolster his autocratic power and weaken that nation’s democracy. International observers say the referendum took place on an “ <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/17/turkey-vote-referendum-curtailed-fundamental-freedoms-european-observers" type="external">unlevel playing field</a>” and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/17/us/politics/trump-erdogan-turkey-referendum.html" type="external">voting irregularities</a> raise questions about the outcome. A brief White House summary of Trump’s call to Erdogan did not reference any such concerns. Ultimately, if the referendum stands, Turkey will <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/17/europe/turkey-referendum-explainer/" type="external">shift from a parliamentary government</a> to one largely controlled by the president—though many of the changes strengthening the president’s powers won’t take place until after the next election in 2019. (It’s worth noting that before Erdogan became president, the role of this office was <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/17/europe/turkey-referendum-explainer/" type="external">primarily ceremonial</a>.)</p>
<p>And there’s also another troubling layer to this story: Trump’s business ties to Turkey create a conflict of interest. That’s according to Trump himself. As <a href="" type="internal">Mother Jones reported</a> in November, Trump mentioned his Turkey-related conflicts in 2015 during a conversation with Steve Bannon, who was then the executive chairman of Breitbart News. (Bannon would go on to become Trump’s chief strategist.)</p>
<p>On Bannon’s radio show, Breitbart News Daily, Trump said on December 1, 2015, “I have a little conflict of interest ’cause I have a major, major building in Istanbul. It’s a tremendously successful job. It’s called Trump Towers—two towers, instead of one, not the usual one, it’s two.”</p>
<p>Trump was speaking truthfully. He had a vested interest in smooth relations with Ankara. And he owed Erdogan a solid. In 2012, Erdogan <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/2016/12/23/donald-trump-foreign-business-deals-jeopardize-us-531140.html" type="external">presided over</a> the opening ceremony for the Trump Towers. (At the time, Erdogan was prime minister—a role the recently passed referendum <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/17/europe/turkey-referendum-explainer/" type="external">would eliminate</a>).</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Trump has not publicly spoken in detail about his relationship with Erdogan. But in December, <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/2016/12/23/donald-trump-foreign-business-deals-jeopardize-us-531140.html" type="external">Newsweek</a> contended that the Turkish president has leverage over Trump and noted that Erdogan wants the US government to extradite to Turkey the man he believes is responsible for an <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/2016/12/23/donald-trump-foreign-business-deals-jeopardize-us-531140.html" type="external">attempted military coup</a> against him in July. “Erdogan of Turkey has told associates,” Newsweek reported, “he believes he must keep pressure on Trump’s business partner there to essentially blackmail the president into extraditing a political enemy.”</p>
<p>It appears that Turkey’s Trump Towers pose more than “a little conflict of interest.”&#160;</p>
<p /> | Donald Trump Has a Conflict of Interest in Turkey. Just Ask Donald Trump. | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2017/04/trump-turkey-erdogan-conflict-interest/ | 2017-04-18 | 4 |
<p>A disturbing <a href="" type="internal">attack ad</a> from the Democrat-aligned <a href="http://latinovictory.us/" type="external">Latino Victory Fund</a> against Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie has seriously backfired. According to the Republican, he has seen his donations "triple" since the racially charged ad.</p>
<p>The jarring ad features a pickup truck with a Confederate flag and "Don't Tread on Me" and pro-Ed Gillespie bumper stickers terrorizing innocent minority children. The truck is shown chasing the innocent children toward the back of a fenced-in dark alley with no escape. The children wake up from the nightmare before the truck can presumably finish them off.</p>
<p>"Is this what Donald Trump and Ed Gillespie mean by the American dream?" asks the narrator.</p>
<p>Gillespie <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2017/10/31/exclusive-gillespie-family-left-disgusted-by-truck-ad-campaign-donations-triple-video/" type="external">told</a> The Daily Caller his family was "disgusted" by the attack ad.</p>
<p>"They are infuriated," said the candidate. "And they’re disgusted. And I understand that. I think it’s always harder on the family than on the candidate himself or herself, but it’s not pleasant, and it’s the kind of thing that makes good people not want to run for public office."</p>
<p>"But it’s not going to dissuade me, because this race is not about me. This race is about the future of the commonwealth I love and my fellow Virginians," he added.</p>
<p>But the ad has actually backfired on the Latino group, working to bolster political donations in the final week of the election. Gillespie claims he's seen his fundraising triple, connecting the monetary increase to "people who are just disgusted" by the racially charged attack.</p>
<p>"Yeah, in fact, actually online, our fundraising has tripled from people who are just disgusted by this and feel that they’re under attack, which they are," he said. "But, again, it’s not just my supporters who are under attack here. It’s all those good, decent Virginians who may not agree with me, but understand that this is not good for the commonwealth of Virginia and that this kind of political attack and these smear campaigns are not good for the country and they’re not good for the commonwealth."</p>
<p>While the Latino group has offered no apology, they've curiously pulled the ad.</p> | BACKFIRE: Latino Group's Vile Attack Ad Against Republican Ed Gillespie Ends Up TRIPLING Donations | true | https://dailywire.com/news/23016/backfire-latino-groups-vile-attack-ad-against-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2017-11-01 | 0 |
<p>It’s 5:30p.m at the onramp to evening. A muddy, ice-rimmed park-n-ride lot adjacent to the Red Carpet Inn just off the Thruway near Geneva—New York not Switzerland—seems an unlikely place from which to launch a joint road trip to Rochester (The Flower City!) for what will turn out to be the best jazz concert on the planet last night.</p>
<p>Freud would have called the motel’s use of Red Carpet overdetermined. It’s an image crushed under the weight of too many possible references.&#160; Red is the color of the Republican Party and of the electoral map of this state beyond the blue bastion of Manhattan Island and its satellites, among them the fallen industrial city of Rochester. Back where we started from, Geneva is as red as it gets. Red is also the color of the commies—still and always a threat, from Beijing to Moscow to Park Slope. Then there’s the bright American blood shed for freedom, and the Red Carpet rolled out for film stars and haughtily trodden open bythese self-aggrandizing liberal Hollywood elites. But President Trump treads on one too on the way to state balls and visits.</p>
<p>Subsequent googling of the Red Carpet Inn revealed that Luxury Trip Advisor allocates it a meager 1.5 stars. One respondent is blunt—“not worth the price.” Another lofts a deft allusion to a line from William Butler Yeats: “Motorist pass this one by.” With these small, unhoped-for blessings faith in humanity is momentarily restored.</p>
<p>My travelling companion for the evening’s jazz odyssey is a boyhood friend from Bainbridge Island, Washington, like me, marooned Upstate in the Empire State. After graduating from high school thirty-four years ago, we had driven across the country together in a Datsun B-210 on the way from the Northwest corner of the contiguous forty-eight to our respective Eastern seaboard colleges. On our approach from the west to Buffalo in late August of 1983 we had argued over whether to swing slightly north to take in the splendor of Niagara Falls. He vetoed the detour. We did not visit the mighty falls, nor stop at Geneva’s Red Carpet Inn, if it even existed back then.</p>
<p>Here we are, now in Trump Time, perched alongside that same stretch of road. As my old friend emerges from his vintage Subaru wagon still clad in its Washington plates a hulking Ford F-250 pick-up pulls up and the driver surveys us unapologetically.&#160; You can practically catch his lips repeating the mantra of Homeland Security: “If you see something, say something.”</p>
<p>My friend has a giant white bandage on his right hand yet has just climbed out of the driver’s seat of his car. He wears stylish white-soled urbanite sneakers and shoulders a suspiciously chic and bulging backpack.&#160; As he gets into my Honda, the menacing truck roars off emitting clouds of exhaust along with the message of its bumper stickers barely visible through a coating of road salt: “Make America Great Again” and “I’m Pro-Sasquatch and I Vote!” That explains the drive-by surveillance: to even the most casual observer, it looks like my friend has had a dust-up with the Man Ape of the Empire State.</p>
<p>This evening’s route from the Red Carpet Inn parallels the western reach of the Erie Canal towards its terminus in Rochester. God willing—and many are the houses of worship in these Christian counties—we’ll end up at Bop Shop Records in Rochester to hear another of our Bantabridgian pals and classmates, that most musical of modern drummers, Michael Sarin. Earlier in the day he, too, has driven all the way up from the Big Apple to propel a high-energy, razor sharp quintet led by his long-time collaborator, trombonist Joe Fiedler. Of his own journey to Rochester (one much-longer then that of his Upstate cronies), the famed drummer remarks that somewhere along the way he saw a “Lock Her Up!” billboard still gloating over Hillary’s political demise. It’ll probably still be there come 2020.</p>
<p>Still two hours before show-time, we head west on the Thruway before bending north towards Rochester on I-490. The rain turns to wet snow as we exit onto Monroe Avenue by a handsome neo-classical branch of the city library perched over the freeway, one of the many that between them have strangled and leeched the lifeblood from wilted Flower City, now necklaced by malls and gutted by the near-total evacuation by Kodak: in 1973 the company employed 120,000 workers; just over 6,000 are left.</p>
<p>An inveterate self-challenger, my friend chooses a Vietnamese noodle place and gamely makes his way through a large bowl of soup with his off-hand, his bandaged right one propped up on the table in a posture that these days could be taken as a Heil, Trump salute.</p>
<p>Duly fortified with Pho and Laotian beer, we head out Monroe Avenue in search of the <a href="http://bopshop.com" type="external">Bop Shop (“Hand-Selected Vinyl Since 1982″)</a>.&#160; On the first pass we nearly sail right by it in the last of the twilight, not suspecting the place might be set in a petit mid-century strip mall between a hair salon and a chophouse, the names of the businesses printed in white letters on the green awning. But now we see its rows of alluring and expertly-curated LPs beckoning beneath intense fluorescent lighting that bathes the holdings in a clinical glare allowing for close inspection of the cover art in all its detail and diversity: while a book should not be judged iby ts cover, an LP definitely should be. On removing the discs from their sleeves the operating-table brightness makes possible a careful examination of the condition of the vinyl grooves.</p>
<p>The walls of the Bop Shop are rich with vintage posters and other objects of fascination. The store is as much interactive Kunstkammer as place of commerce—gift shop as museum, where the treasures themselves are for sale.</p>
<p>I peruse the Dexter Gordon bin, congratulating myself for owning all the LPs I see there. That is another service of such a tremendous shop: both to confirm and to query ones own tastes and collecting instincts. Nearby, I’m tempted by a Hank Jones record with him on electric harpsichord. But in the end I decide against a purchase that might dislodge this virtuosic, subtle player from his vaunted suavity with the jabs and jolts of such an alarming instrument.</p>
<p>A few minutes after eight the lights are mercifully turned down and Fiedler’s quintet takes to the elegant bandstand near the back of the long rectangular space—the musicians set up on a Turkish rug in front of a big Bop Shop banner and are flanked to one side by a bookshelf of biographies from Bach and Brecht to Mahler and Mozart, Shostakovich and Stravinsky. The last of these figures memorably sat in the front row at Birdland on 52nd Street in 1950 and heard Charlie Parker quote from the opening of the Firebird Suite in his own bebop burner Koko much to the Russian composer’s delight.</p>
<p>Here’s guessing that Old Igor nods approvingly inside his biography’s binding at evening’s end when the quintet launches into a super-humanly up-tempo rendition of Fiedler’s E. T. — a tribute to Swedish trombonist Eje Thelin.&#160; Even after a terrifically demanding 100-minute set of original contrapuntal tangos, bodacious bugaloos, and polymorphous Latin-infused fare of insouciant brilliance—Fiedler dances nimbly high in his range, then lets sheets of sound pour down past the controlled frenzy of his rhythm section: the exuberant, fiercely creative Sarin on drums; the colossal technician, hugely entertaining stylistic compendium of the guitar, Pete McCann; the rhythmically and melodically fantastical, yet unerringly reliable Rob Jost on bass. Tenor saxophonist Jeff Lederer, responds to Fiedler’s final solo with a blistering display of his own as unfazed by the pace as Parker himself might have been had his ghost been summoned to the aptly name Bop Shop.</p>
<p>The fleetest of the night’s offerings speeds us back to the park-n-ride, the quintet’s recent CD, <a href="https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/joefiedler" type="external">Like, Strange</a>ready to light up the Upstate night.</p> | Live and Cooking at the Bop Shop | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/03/31/live-and-cooking-at-the-bop-shop/ | 2017-03-31 | 4 |
<p>In a year in which precious metals are among the best-performing asset classes, the ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (NYSEArca: <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/etf-resume.php?quote=pplt" type="external">PPLT Opens a New Window.</a>) and the ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (NYSEArca: <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/etf-resume.php?quote=pall" type="external">PALL Opens a New Window.</a>) have spent some time in the spotlight.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, as gold soared, platinum metals got in on that act, too. However, platinum and PPLT recently experienced a lengthy pullback. A strengthening dollar is also weighing on platinum and PPLT. Some traders are wagering dollar disappointment may be near an end as recent commentary from Fed Chair Janet Yellen and other members of the U.S. central bank indicate an increasing level of comfort with the idea of raising borrowing costs sometime over the next several months.</p>
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<p>SEE MORE:&#160; <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2016/05/soaring-silver-etfs-to-snap-up-as-metals-shine/" type="external">Soaring Silver ETFs to Snap Up as Metals Shine Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Platinum’s “recent declines have put a halt to an earlier rally in 2016, paring this year’s gain to 14 percent. Investors have speculated that resilient automotive sales would boost consumption. The metal has also increased alongside gold, which is up more than 20 percent in 2016 as the Federal Reserve’s decision to delay raising interest rates further boosted the metals’ appeal as a store of value,” according to Bloomberg.</p>
<p>Although platinum is not as heavily traded as gold or silver, it is the third-most traded precious metal in the world and it is more scarce than its more popular rivals. Industry observers also believe that platinum companies have overextended operations during the commodities boom in prior years and have suffered from an oversupplied market as a result.</p>
<p>Fortunately for commodities investors, a case can be made that PPLT’s technicals are improving and that the ETF could be poised for a near-term rebound.</p>
<p>PPLT’s price “recently bounced off of the support of its 200-day moving average. In technical analysis, this long-term moving average is generally used to identify key pivot points given the predictability of its influence. Notice how the price bounced off the support on each occasion in 2016 since it broke above back in March. Technical traders would expect this behavior to continue, and many will likely look to place their stop-loss orders below $95.65 in an attempt to make the most of the risk/reward setup,” according to <a href="http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/cotd/092616/these-charts-suggest-now-time-buy-platinum-pplt-swc-pplt-swc.aspx?utm_campaign=www.investopedia.com&amp;utm_source=chart-advisor&amp;utm_term=7718084&amp;utm_medium=email" type="external">Investopedia Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
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<p>Related: <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2016/06/gold-demand-is-robust/" type="external">Gold Demand is Robust Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Looking ahead, the ongoing negative interest rate environment, with European and Japanese central banks cutting benchmark rates deeper into the red to promote growth, could push investors toward precious metals as a more stable store of wealth.</p>
<p>Moreover, unlike gold, palladium, platinum and silver see much higher industrial demand. The precious metal enjoys heavy industrial demand that benefits from an expanding global economy.</p>
<p>For more news on Precious Metals&#160;ETFs, visit our <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/tag/precious-metals" type="external">Precious Metals category Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2016/09/platinum-etf-could-be-poised-to-rebound/" type="external">This article Opens a New Window.</a> was provided by our partners at ETFTrends.</p> | Platinum ETF Could be Poised to Rebound | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/09/28/platinum-etf-could-be-poised-to-rebound.html | 2016-09-28 | 0 |
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<p>NEW YORK, Aug 16 (Reuters) -&#160;Oil&#160;prices fell more than 1 percent on Wednesday even though U.S. crude stockpiles declined by the most in a year, as data suggesting domestic production was edging higher stoked worries about the global crude glut.</p>
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<p>Brent crude futures settled down 53 cents, or about 1 percent, at $50.27 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled at $46.78 a barrel, down 77 cents, or 1.6 percent.</p>
<p>U.S. crude inventories dropped for a seventh consecutive week, falling 8.95 million barrels last week to 466.5 million barrels to their lowest since January 2016, the Energy Information Administration said. Including emergency reserves, crude stocks were at 1.15 billion barrels, the lowest since October 2015.</p>
<p>However, gasoline inventories did not decline as expected, and the data also showed that U.S. crude output rose to 9.5 million barrels per day from 9.4 million a week earlier.</p>
<p>Rising U.S. output could add to global oversupply that prompted the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other&#160;oil&#160;producers to curtail production to boost prices.</p>
<p>Traders weighed the U.S. stockpile draw against the production data.</p>
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<p>Gene McGillian, director of market research at Tradition Energy, noted that seasonally, U.S. demand peaks during the summer. "If we see these draws past Labor Day, it will drive the market, possibly past $50.</p>
<p>Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData, noted that "The peak of summer driving season has now passed, and demand for crude should wane also as refinery runs drop. Gasoline demand will ebb as summer road trips are mostly over and children head back to school."</p>
<p>U.S. gasoline stocks were unchanged, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.1 million-barrel drop.</p>
<p>OPEC and other major producers including Russia have pledged to restrict output. Still, U.S.&#160;oilproduction has soared almost 12 percent since mid-2016.</p>
<p>"OPEC and Russia still face an uphill battle in reducing the global supply surplus in the face of growth in output elsewhere and less than compliant behavior in their midst (Iraq, UAE)," French bank BNP Paribas said.</p>
<p>OPEC member Angola released a loading plan showing October exports were planned at a 13-month high.</p>
<p>On the demand side, analysts see a gradual slowdown in fuel consumption growth.</p>
<p>Energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said U.S. gasoline demand was peaking due to improving fuel efficiency and the rise of electric vehicles. In China, state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) said gasoline demand would likely peak around 2025 and&#160;oil&#160;consumption would top out around 2030.</p>
<p>This means&#160;oil&#160;demand from the world's two biggest consumers may soon stall. Consumption has already peaked in Europe and Japan. (Reporting by Henning Gloystein and Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio)</p> | Oil slides despite steep draw in U.S. crude stocks | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/08/16/oil-dips-despite-steep-draw-in-u-s-crude-stocks.html | 2017-08-16 | 0 |
<p>WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s right-wing government faced pressure on Monday to act forcefully against far-right extremists following an expose of Polish neo-Nazis who celebrated Adolf Hitler, burning a swastika and dressing in Nazi German uniforms.</p>
<p>Private news channel TVN24 broadcast hidden-camera footage Saturday of neo-Nazis celebrating what would have been Hitler’s 128th birthday in a wooded area in southwestern Poland last spring. The participants chanted “Sieg Heil” and praised Hitler as they burned a large swastika.</p>
<p>The report revealed that the same neo-Nazi group, “Pride and Modernity,” was behind a November protest where pictures of centrist European Parliament lawmakers from Poland were hung on mock gallows in the city of Katowice. The far-right participants at that protest called the lawmakers traitors to Poland for having voted against the Polish government in a resolution in the European Parliament over alleged rule of law violations and the government’s response to an Independence Day march organized by far-right nationalists.</p>
<p>The weekend TVN24 report has provoked widespread revulsion in Poland, which was occupied by Germany during World War II and subjected to widespread destruction and mass killings. Poles and other Slavs were considered subhuman in Hitler’s ideology, and scenes of young Poles praising the man who unleashed such atrocities on the country are hard for many in Poland to fathom.</p>
<p>On Sunday, Poland’s chief prosecutor launched an investigation into whether the crime of propagating fascism had been committed, which can carry a prison sentence of up to two years. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also said propagating fascism tramples “the memory of our ancestors and their heroic fight for a Poland that is just and free from hatred.”</p>
<p>Grzegorz Schetyna, leader of Civic Platform, the largest opposition party in parliament, called Monday for the neo-Nazi group to be criminalized. He also accused the ruling right-wing Law and Justice party of having allowed extremism to grow during its more than two years in power. In one example, he faulted the government for abolishing a special government office aimed at fighting discrimination and racism soon after it took power in late 2015.</p>
<p>The Law and Justice party has been often accused of turning a blind eye to far-right excesses hoping to win votes on the far right. Its adoption of anti-Muslim, anti-refugee rhetoric has also been seen as one factor leading to a rising number of reported attacks against people with dark skin in Poland.</p>
<p>The strong government denunciations come amid a broader attempt by Morawiecki to moderate the ruling party’s radical image and improve strained ties with European partners. As part of this change, some of the government’s most controversial ministers were fired earlier this month.</p>
<p>Rafal Pankowski, the head of Never Again, an organization that monitors and fights extremism, told The Associated Press that he believes “the far right has felt emboldened in the last two years, which has been expressed in many street marches and racist attacks.”</p>
<p>“It’s time for Polish leaders to condemn xenophobia and take concrete steps against it,” Pankowski said. “I hope the recent statements by Prime Minister Morawiecki are just the beginning of a new attitude to the problem on the part of the ruling elite.”</p>
<p>WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s right-wing government faced pressure on Monday to act forcefully against far-right extremists following an expose of Polish neo-Nazis who celebrated Adolf Hitler, burning a swastika and dressing in Nazi German uniforms.</p>
<p>Private news channel TVN24 broadcast hidden-camera footage Saturday of neo-Nazis celebrating what would have been Hitler’s 128th birthday in a wooded area in southwestern Poland last spring. The participants chanted “Sieg Heil” and praised Hitler as they burned a large swastika.</p>
<p>The report revealed that the same neo-Nazi group, “Pride and Modernity,” was behind a November protest where pictures of centrist European Parliament lawmakers from Poland were hung on mock gallows in the city of Katowice. The far-right participants at that protest called the lawmakers traitors to Poland for having voted against the Polish government in a resolution in the European Parliament over alleged rule of law violations and the government’s response to an Independence Day march organized by far-right nationalists.</p>
<p>The weekend TVN24 report has provoked widespread revulsion in Poland, which was occupied by Germany during World War II and subjected to widespread destruction and mass killings. Poles and other Slavs were considered subhuman in Hitler’s ideology, and scenes of young Poles praising the man who unleashed such atrocities on the country are hard for many in Poland to fathom.</p>
<p>On Sunday, Poland’s chief prosecutor launched an investigation into whether the crime of propagating fascism had been committed, which can carry a prison sentence of up to two years. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also said propagating fascism tramples “the memory of our ancestors and their heroic fight for a Poland that is just and free from hatred.”</p>
<p>Grzegorz Schetyna, leader of Civic Platform, the largest opposition party in parliament, called Monday for the neo-Nazi group to be criminalized. He also accused the ruling right-wing Law and Justice party of having allowed extremism to grow during its more than two years in power. In one example, he faulted the government for abolishing a special government office aimed at fighting discrimination and racism soon after it took power in late 2015.</p>
<p>The Law and Justice party has been often accused of turning a blind eye to far-right excesses hoping to win votes on the far right. Its adoption of anti-Muslim, anti-refugee rhetoric has also been seen as one factor leading to a rising number of reported attacks against people with dark skin in Poland.</p>
<p>The strong government denunciations come amid a broader attempt by Morawiecki to moderate the ruling party’s radical image and improve strained ties with European partners. As part of this change, some of the government’s most controversial ministers were fired earlier this month.</p>
<p>Rafal Pankowski, the head of Never Again, an organization that monitors and fights extremism, told The Associated Press that he believes “the far right has felt emboldened in the last two years, which has been expressed in many street marches and racist attacks.”</p>
<p>“It’s time for Polish leaders to condemn xenophobia and take concrete steps against it,” Pankowski said. “I hope the recent statements by Prime Minister Morawiecki are just the beginning of a new attitude to the problem on the part of the ruling elite.”</p> | Polish gov’t pressured to act following report on neo-Nazis | false | https://apnews.com/c1e35cd0161c4efeb2f992eeeec02084 | 2018-01-22 | 2 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/6099930876/sizes/l/in/photostream/"&gt;US Army photo&lt;/a&gt;</p>
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<p>Armchair warriors and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(series)" type="external">Halo heroes</a>, the military would like you to upgrade to Wii Fit now. As the Washington Post‘s svelte war-zone reporter Ernesto Londoño <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/2012/12/08/13d2e444-40b8-11e2-ae43-cf491b837f7b_story.html" type="external">reported Monday</a>, Uncle Sam’s fighting forces are really busy weeding out corpulent corporals:</p>
<p>Under intense pressure to trim its budget, the Army is dismissing a rising number of soldiers who do not meet its fitness standards, drawing from a growing pool of troops grappling with obesity.</p>
<p>Obesity is now the leading cause of ineligibility for people who want to join the Army, according to military officials, who see expanding waistlines in the warrior corps as a national security concern.</p>
<p>Londoño reports that discharges for overweight soldiers have busted through the roof (or, if you prefer, through the floor) in recent years: “During the first 10 months of this year, the Army kicked out 1,625 soldiers for being out of shape, nearly 16 times the number eased out for that reason in 2007, the peak of wartime deployment cycles.” (You can find <a href="" type="internal">more historical data on Army discharges here</a>.) The Navy, too, is cracking down on physical-test failures, <a href="http://militarytimes.com/blogs/pt365/2012/11/15/navy-fitness-failure-discharges-up-40-percent/" type="external">discharging 40 percent more</a> fitness-deficient sailors than in previous years.</p>
<p>Here’s the thing, though: This might be good news for the military.</p>
<p>Failure to meet fitness standards is a perennial Pentagon problem that we reported on&#160; <a href="" type="internal">years ago</a>. The increase in discharges that Londoño cites could actually reflect a greater willingness among Army brass to tackle the fat problem. And that’s encouraging because,&#160; <a href="" type="internal">as we reported in 2010</a>, the military in its Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell days was kicking out many more gays than physically unfit soldiers—even though a report commissioned by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates concluded that soldiers’ sexual orientation had no impact on their readiness for combat. (Unlike, say, their waistlines, muscular endurance, or cardiovascular ability.)</p>
<p>Today’s cuts are being spurred largely by financial pressures: Whether or not the US plunges off the so-called fiscal cliff, the military needs to reduce active-duty force levels, and getting rid of the least-fit recruits is one speedy way to do it. That does raise some legitimate questions, such as whether the services’ height-weight standards and physical-fitness tests (a run, sit-ups, and pushups or pull-ups) are biased against the overmuscled or combat-wounded.</p>
<p>But “ <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=unsat" type="external">unsat</a>” troops have plenty of resources to encourage their personal improvement and retention, including the Army’s recently developed “ <a href="http://usmilitary.about.com/od/army/a/onlineweight.htm" type="external">Weigh to Stay</a>” program. Before DADT’s repeal, gays and lesbians had no such support from the military establishment.&#160;As one Army officer told MJ in 2010, the overweight historically were first in line to get a pass from the brass. “Some people,” the officer said, “really are too big to fail.”</p>
<p /> | Most Americans Are Still Too Fat to Defend America | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/most-americans-are-still-too-fat-defend-america/ | 2012-12-10 | 4 |
<p>Things That Are Different Are Not The Same</p>
<p>"Where the word of a king is, there is power" <a href="javascript:;" type="external">Ecclesiastes 8:4</a></p>
<p>It is said by many that the New International Version bible is just the same as the King James, but just easier to read and in more "modern" english. Is that so, or is it something very different from the King James. Rather than getting into a long and complicated argument about it, let me just show you a simple, side-by-side comparison chart of a few verses from the KJV, with their counterpart from the NIV. What this will show you is that the people who created the NIV are in direct violation of Revelation 22:18,19m which says - "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." So with that, let's compare the KJV and the NIV side-by-side, and you be the judge. The words which appear in bold on the KJV side of the chart are words and phrases that have been removed from the NIV.</p> For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. to repentance. for us: on me Joseph to heal and But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. Who is in charge? ...for the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof: bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you despitefully use you because I go to the Father. Question: Answer: | true | http://nowtheendbegins.com/pages/KJV/the-kjv-versus-the-niv.htm | 0 |
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<p>Right on cue, the rotund manager of the '72 Dukes and unofficial face of the entire Dodgers franchise strolled into Isotopes Park around 6 p.m., then nearly stole the show during Saturday night's 3-0 Isotopes win during the annual Albuquerque Baseball Professional Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony.</p>
<p>After a rousing pregame speech in which he told a few jokes and heaped plenty of praise on the Duke City, he joined an all-women's choir and almost drowned out the other members of the group while singing the national anthem.</p>
<p>"We love ya Tommy!" someone screamed from behind the third base dugout.</p>
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<p>Some in the 11,570 fans in attendance held up the yellow-clad Tommy Lasorda bobblehead dolls handed out before the game. Others crowded the railing near the Isotopes dugout and asked for autographs.</p>
<p>About that lean bobblehead bearing his likeness, Lasorda was flattered.</p>
<p>"I was never that skinny," he said. "The one good thing about that thing is it makes me look like I'm in shape. Any time you have someone make a bobblehead of you like that, you have to love it."</p>
<p>What Lasorda had to love was the way the Isotopes – or Dukes, according to Saturday's scoreboard and public address system – picked up another big win. Starting pitcher Claudio Vargas was firmly in control through seven innings to help Albuquerque (47-45) pick up another game in the PCL's American South standings on Oklahoma City.</p>
<p>The RedHawks were beaten at home again by Iowa, allowing the 'Topes to crawl within 3 1/2 games of first place.</p>
<p>Vargas (2-3) allowed three hits struck out four. He also drove home the second of two runs in the Isotopes' half of the second inning when he doubled over a drawn-in outfield to the hill in center to score Justin Sellers from first.</p>
<p>Jay Gibbons homered earlier in the frame to make it 1-0.</p>
<p>The lead was 3-0 when Vargas yielded to the bullpen to start the eighth. Unlike most nights when the relievers are shaky at best, Ramon Troncoso went unscathed in his two innings to record his first save of the season.</p>
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<p>Before the game, Hall of Fame inductee Jack Perconte was asked about what it would be like to play in Isotopes Park, the place he knew as the old Albuquerque Sports Stadium in his playing days of the late '70s and '80s.</p>
<p>Perconte was known as a slap hitter who used his speed and ability to hit the gaps to create offense, a trait that would have suited him well in the hitter-friendly Lab.</p>
<p>"I love what they've done with this place, but that hill out there," he said, gesturing to the crescent berm in dead center, "I'm not sure what I would have done with that."</p>
<p>"This place is beautiful, as beautiful as any ballpark in the country," said former Dukes general manager and current California League president Charlie Blaney, another inductee. "I can't believe this is the same place."</p>
<p>Isotopes officials held true to the retro theme by playing songs from 1972 over the public address system between innings.</p>
<p>Afterward the team auctioned off the Dukes throwbacks jerseys worn by the Isotopes, raising $3,830 for Albuquerque's Carrie Tingley Hospital. The top bid was for Brad Ausmus' No. 44 jersey. It went for $550.</p>
<p>Among other things, Lasorda reminisced about those red and yellow uniforms worn by his PCL championship squad 38 seasons ago.</p>
<p>"When I managed here our uniforms were like bananas," he said. "One big yellow blob."</p> | Great Night To Be a Duke | false | https://abqjournal.com/232388/great-night-to-be-a-duke.html | 2 |
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<p>Shares of&#160;Sears Holdings&#160;(NASDAQ: SHLD) were headed south today after the department store chain broke off its 100-year-old relationship with&#160;Whirlpool Corporation&#160;(NYSE: WHR) over a pricing dispute. In a memo to employees, Sears said, "Whirlpool has sought to use its dominant position in the marketplace to make demands that would have prohibited us from offering Whirlpool products to our members at a reasonable price."</p>
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<p>As of 3:08 p.m. EDT, Sears stock was down 7.9% on the news.</p>
<p>The news was the latest evidence that suppliers are making life difficult for Sears by asking for stricter terms as the company's cash flow problems mount. It's also a sign that Sears continues to lose its <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/17/can-appliances-and-mattresses-save-sears.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=a3958c6e-b8ed-11e7-82f7-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">leadership position in appliances Opens a New Window.</a>, its strongest segment and in which it was the market-share leader for a long time. News that rival&#160;Lowe's&#160;will begin selling Craftsman tools, a brand that Sears owned for 90 years, also shows how far the retailer has fallen in appliances and hardware.</p>
<p>It's unclear how much the split will hurt Sears' sales, though Whirlpool owns a number of other well-known brands in the space, including Maytag and Kitchenaid. Whirlpool said Sears was responsible for about 3% of its revenue or about $600 million in sales. That means the retailer could lose at least that much from its top line of $22.1 billion last year, but some of its customers may simply choose other brands.</p>
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<p>With Sears' business continuing to fall apart, I'd expect more such breakups with important suppliers.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of October 9, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFHobo/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=a3958c6e-b8ed-11e7-82f7-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Jeremy Bowman Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=a3958c6e-b8ed-11e7-82f7-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why Sears Holdings Stock Is Sliding Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/10/25/why-sears-holdings-stock-is-sliding-today.html | 2017-10-25 | 0 |
<p>Reading to very young children is crucial to help them eventually learn to read. But researchers studying how kids begin to understand that text conveys meaning differently than pictures — an important concept for reading readiness — say parents should pay attention to writing, too. Some suggestions:</p>
<p>—Run a finger under the text when reading to youngsters. Otherwise, kids pay more attention to the pictures and miss an opportunity to link written words to spoken language, said Brett Miller of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development.</p>
<p>—Show children how you write their names well before they could attempt it, said Temple University psychology professor Kathy Hirsh-Pasek. That's one of their first concrete examples that a mysterious squiggle on a page is a symbol for a word they know.</p>
<p>—Often a child's name is his or her first written word, thanks to memorizing what it looks like. Encouraging youngsters to invent their own spellings of other words could spur them to write even more, said developmental psychologist Rebecca Treiman of Washington University in St. Louis.</p>
<p>—When youngsters scribble, don't guess what they produced — ask, Hirsh-Pasek said. It's pretty discouraging if a tot's about to announce he wrote a story and mom thinks he drew a house.</p>
<p>—Post a scribble they're proud of on the refrigerator, she said. Children are figuring out patterns with their scribbles, and that's more instructive than merely pasting copies of, say, apples onto a page to make a recognizable picture.</p>
<p>—Give tots a pencil or pen instead of a crayon if they say they want to "write" rather than "draw" so it will look more like text, Treiman said.</p>
<p>Reading to very young children is crucial to help them eventually learn to read. But researchers studying how kids begin to understand that text conveys meaning differently than pictures — an important concept for reading readiness — say parents should pay attention to writing, too. Some suggestions:</p>
<p>—Run a finger under the text when reading to youngsters. Otherwise, kids pay more attention to the pictures and miss an opportunity to link written words to spoken language, said Brett Miller of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development.</p>
<p>—Show children how you write their names well before they could attempt it, said Temple University psychology professor Kathy Hirsh-Pasek. That's one of their first concrete examples that a mysterious squiggle on a page is a symbol for a word they know.</p>
<p>—Often a child's name is his or her first written word, thanks to memorizing what it looks like. Encouraging youngsters to invent their own spellings of other words could spur them to write even more, said developmental psychologist Rebecca Treiman of Washington University in St. Louis.</p>
<p>—When youngsters scribble, don't guess what they produced — ask, Hirsh-Pasek said. It's pretty discouraging if a tot's about to announce he wrote a story and mom thinks he drew a house.</p>
<p>—Post a scribble they're proud of on the refrigerator, she said. Children are figuring out patterns with their scribbles, and that's more instructive than merely pasting copies of, say, apples onto a page to make a recognizable picture.</p>
<p>—Give tots a pencil or pen instead of a crayon if they say they want to "write" rather than "draw" so it will look more like text, Treiman said.</p> | Tips for helping youngsters link written words to language | false | https://apnews.com/amp/401716ec046c4ffcb486af3b57568b95 | 2016-01-06 | 2 |
<p>“Cuando muere una lengua, las cosas divinas, estrellas, sol y luna, las cosas humanas, pensar y sentir, no se reflejan en eso espejo.”</p>
<p>“When a language dies, the divine things, stars, sun and moon, the human things. to think and to feel, are no longer reflected in this mirror.”</p>
<p>The planet upon which we dwell is no longer the Tower of Babel it once was. Like bio-diversity, linguistic diversity is drying up at an alarming rate. Of 6000 known human languages, half are in imminent danger of disappearing, and 90% could be erased forever within a century, according to dire UNESCO reports. One language system is lost every two weeks, the United Nations cultural agency warns–five Indian subcontinent languages were irretrievably wiped out during the tsunami that obliterated islands in the Bay of Bengal earlier this year.</p>
<p>Because just a few people speak most of the world’s languages–4% of the world’s people speak 96% of its languages–most linguistic systems are extremely vulnerable to the vicissitudes of life and death.</p>
<p>Linguistic diversity flourishes in the south–half of the world’s languages are concentrated in just eight countries: Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Australia, India, Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil, and Mexico. Mexico’s Oaxaca state, smaller than Portugal, is host to 16 distinct ethnic groups and speaks more languages than all of Europe.</p>
<p>“Cuando muere una lengua todo lo que hay en el mundo, mares y rios, animales y plantas, ni se piensen, ni se pronuncian con atisbos, con sonidos, que no existan ya.”</p>
<p>“When a language dies, all that there is in this world, oceans and rivers, animals and plants, do not think of them, do not pronounce their names, they do not exist now.”</p>
<p>If each language was a room than Mexico would be a great mansion of 62 rooms, linguist/poet/historian Carlos Montemayor reflected at a recent presentation of a newly translated volume of Mexican indigenous poetry. “These languages are not dialects but rather complete linguistic systems. Purepecha is as complete as Greek, Maya as complete as Italian. There are no superior language systems. All have grammar and syntax and vocabulary and etymology. It is an expression of cultural racism to consider indigenous languages to be dialects.”</p>
<p>Nahuat (modern Aztec) is spoken by more than 2.000.000 people in 15 contiguous Mexican states. There are a million Mayan speakers in Caribbean Mexico, nearly twice that if you include inland subgroups such as Chol and Tzeltal, Tzotzil, and Tojolabal. Zapotec and Mixteco enjoy robust number of speakers in the sierras and along the coast of Oaxaca. Despite 500 years of cultural imposition during which the European invaders burnt their sacred books on public pyres and prohibited them from speaking their mother tongues under penalty of death, Mexico’s indigenous peoples have refused to be silenced.</p>
<p>Indian “flor y canto” (“flower and song”) is resurgent. Montemayor, along with Miguel Leon Portilla, the most ardent non-Indian champions of native languages, labels the renaissance in indigenous literature “one of the most significant cultural phenomena’s of the late 20th-early 21st centuries.” Once strictly “indigenous” writers like the Nahuat poet Neftali Hernandez are crossing over into general literature, and it seems like every bi-lingual teacher in Mexico is writing a novel in his native language, attests Montemayor.</p>
<p>But the downside is that this cultural revitalization has been largely confined to the dominant Indian languages while scores more are in danger of disappearing forever.</p>
<p>“Cuando muere una lengua, se cierre a todos los pueblos del mundo, una puerta, una ventana, un asomarse, de modo distinto, a las cosas divinas y humanas en cuanto es ser y vida en la tierra.”</p>
<p>“When a language dies, the window and the door are closed up to all the people of the world, no longer will they be shown a different way to name the divine and human things which is what it means to be and to live on the earth.”</p>
<p>Where the languages are dying, drying up and blowing away like dust in the wind, is up in the northern deserts. Half of Mexico’s 20 most endangered languages are rooted in these bone-dry eco-systems, many in Sonora and the arid Baja California peninsula. The most threatened language, Aguacateco, a member of the Mayan family linguistic group that migrated north from Huehuetenango Guatemala millenniums ago according to linguists at the National Indigenous Language Institute (INALI), is still spoken in the mountain badlands of Baja California South–but there are only 22 surviving speakers left.</p>
<p>Equally endangered are a cluster of five Baja California Norte native cultures close to the Tijuana-Mexicali border, with less than 2000 surviving members between them–speakers of Kiliwa, Paipai, Kumiai, Kochemi, and Kukapa number in the dozens for each language group. Homogenized by the global lingo of the U.S.-Mexican border, these languages are the sole surviving shards of the old ways of doing things in these ancient desert lands.</p>
<p>A 17th Century census ordered by the Spanish Crown counted 23,000 Kukapas. But the fate of the Kukupas, “the people of the river”, was bound up with the great Colorado river and as thirsty U.S. western states diverted and contaminated its waters, their numbers diminished in kind. Only 400 have survived this diaspora, living in four bands (one in Yuma, Arizona.) 52 Kukapa elders guard the secret of their language.</p>
<p>For 7000 years, the Kukupas have fished the rivers flowing into the Sea of Cortez. Now environmental authorities have declared the region a wildlife sanctuary and barred the Indians from taking their prized “curvinas”, displacing the young who now head north to find work in the U.S. and learn “gavacha” (English.) Migration is a killer of language.</p>
<p>“Cuando muere una lengua, sus palabras de amor, entonacion de dolor y querencias, tal vez viejos cantos, relatos, discursos, plegarias, nadie, cual fueran, alcanzara a repetir.”</p>
<p>“When a language dies, its words of love, intonations of pain and caring, perhaps the old songs, the old stories, the speeches, the prayers, no one no matter whom will be able to repeat them again.”</p>
<p>Other Indian languages with less than a thousand speakers include Kikapu (138), Papago (141), Quiche (246), Tlahuica (466), Lacandon (635), and Pimi (741.) “Those of us in whom is mixed the blood of the Europeans who penetrated these language systems have a moral obligation to their preservation,” enjoins Miguel Leon Portillo, Mexico’s most dedicated rescuer of Aztec poetry.</p>
<p>Although the constitution has designated Mexico a “multi-cultural, pluri-lingual” nation since the early 1990s, congress has only recently gotten around to ratifying the General Law of the Defense of Indigenous Languages. The law created the National Indigenous Language Institute, which was inaugurated last February 21st, United Nations Mother Language Day, under the direction of the mestizo anthropologist Francisco Nava. Nava, whose appointment was questioned by the National Indigenous Congress, has big plans for the INALI–a socio-linguistic census of Mexico. and bringing elderly native speakers into primary schools to rekindle dying languages –but no money, and the institute is a thin wall between disappearing language systems and total extinction. “We are in a race against time–the old are dying off each year and the young moving on yet there seems to be no urgency (in the Secretary of Public Education under whose aegis the INALI operates) to save these languages” Nava bemoans.</p>
<p>“Cuando muere una lengua, ya mucho han muerto, and mucho mas pueden morir, espejos para siempre quebrados, sombras de voces siempre acalladas, la humanidad se empobreze Cuando muere una lengua”</p>
<p>“When a language dies, then many have died, and many more will die soon, mirrors forever broken, shadows of voices forever silenced, humanity grows poorer when a language dies.”</p>
<p>– “When a Language Dies”, translated from the Aztec by Miguel Leon Portillo (English translation: JOHN ROSS)</p>
<p>JOHN ROSS is currently on the road in California where he is teaching four seminars on rebel journalism at the New College (San Francisco). His latest book is <a href="" type="internal">Murdered By Capitalism</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | When a Language Dies | true | https://counterpunch.org/2005/11/26/when-a-language-dies/ | 2005-11-26 | 4 |
<p>Vijay Prashad is the Executive Director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research and is also chief editor of LeftWord Books. Vija He is the author of over 18 books among them The Death of a Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution (University of California Press, 2016).</p>
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<p /> LYNN FRIES, TRNN PRODUCER: Welcome back to The Real News. I'm Lynn Fries in Geneva.
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<p />In this report, we continue our look into the battle for a new policy framework of trade and investment rules, rules with an agenda including the needs of the world's people and the planet's ability to sustain those needs. We explore all this in relation to North-South trade negotiations and the operations of multinational corporations. In part one of our series, we provided context to past negotiations. In this segment, we look into some current dynamics.
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<p />The Real News invited historian and author Vijay Prashad to talk to us about all this. Professor Prashad is Edward Said Chair at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. Among the many books he's authored are The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South and Arab Spring, Libyan Winter. He writes regularly for The Hindu, Frontline, and CounterPunch. Vijay Prashad was recently keynote speaker at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Public Symposium. We met Vijay here in Geneva at the UNCTAD event.
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<p />Vijay Prashad, thank you for joining us.
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<p />VIJAY PRASHAD, PROF. INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, TRINITY COLLEGE: My pleasure. Thank you so much.
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<p />FRIES: Trade and investment rules can be agreed in the 150-plus member WTO multilateral system or outside the WTO as regional deals or deals between one or more individual countries, bilateral or plurilateral. Whatever the system, these agreements are legally enforceable. In the WTO, the enforcement mechanism is government versus government. Outside the WTO, it's corporations versus governments. So in trade negotiations, what should or should not be on the table in the first place?
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<p />PRASHAD: The reason people trade with each other isn't for the sake of trade, but it's because they lack something and they need it from somewhere else, and so they have a surplus of something else which that other person wants, so they exchange what they have too much of for what they lack. That's the essence of trade. That should be where discussions on trade begin. No country in the world, no person, has everything themselves. They need to exchange things with each other. The issue is that if you're formulating rules for trade, those rules should facilitate people to be able to satisfy wants. That should be the basis on which trade rules are created.
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<p />Unfortunately, today trade rules are generally created to satisfy corporate profit-taking, so that what it easier for big companies to benefit from the carrying of one person's excess to another person's want, that process of corporate intervention in between two people's on the one side want, on the other side excess, that has become the way in which trade negotiations are run--how to, on the one hand, increase the volume of trade, how to allow firms to trade more easily. You know, that is basically the framework.
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<p />And I think it is a very wrong-headed framework, because what that proposes is the idea that you need to enter countries and create wants, you know, that Walmart needs to come into India not because in India there is a lack of something, but Walmart needs to come in because Walmart needs to come in and create new needs among the population. This, as we know, is an ecological nightmare, because the last thing you need is for everybody on the planet to consume, have the kind of consumption footprint that the United States has, you know, where a very small percentage of the world's population consumes a quarter of the world's resources. This is simply not sustainable for others.
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<p />So trade rules should not be facilitating firms to enter countries to create wants. Trade rules should be about helping people who have wants now--and there are a great many wants that are unfulfilled in the world today. It should be about closing the gap between current wants and, you know, the ability of the planet to sustain or fulfill those wants, not to manufacture new wants and create smaller enclaves in a society, you know, which have a lot of wants, and other people's wants are not fulfilled.
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<p />FRIES: As an historian tracing the early idea of intellectual property rights to the current idea of global value chains today, our guest sees an essential similarity in that the rules are being framed with the interests of transnational corporations in mind. The rest of the world has to assume that these interests are universal interests. In the past, because of the debt crisis, a vast number of the countries of the South lacked means to challenge this position of the advanced economies of the North. Today, however, will countries in the South come together to fight rules many have come to see are not so neutral after all?
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<p />PRASHAD: When we think about trade or trade negotiations, we could ask the question, why doesn't India come to a trade negotiation and make the claim that, look, we have a large population; they are not being able to satisfy their wants. That should be the framework that starts the trade negotiation. It should not be, you know, the idea that, say, retail must be freed up or services must have--. You know, that's how trade negotiations would begin. They will say the issue of services has to be on the table. But one minute--why should it be on the table? You know, why not start with the framework that there are so many million Indian farmers that are unable to satisfy their needs for some kind of ecological fertilizer, you know, which is not hugely expensive? That's a concrete need that's there that has been expressed by farmers in places like India. You know. Why not start there? No. It starts with what appears an abstraction. Let's discuss services and how to trade services without barriers. That will be the beginning.
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<p />Why doesn't India object? Well, one reason India doesn't object, is the Indian government, even thought it's democratically elected, you know, has a majority in Parliament, etc., has a tendency, has a bias towards urban India. You know. And this is a normal thing that happens in advanced societies, advanced democracies. There is a bias towards to urban sector, you know, its concentration of votes, for a whole series of reasons we need not get into.
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<p />So in the Indian case, because there is an urban bias, you know, the needs and wants of the urban population drive the agenda of the government, particularly on things like trade. So, you know, if you look at the last Indian census, in the survey there was a very interesting statistic which showed that only 4.6&#160;percent of the Indian households have a computer, a car, a telephone, and I think the fourth--not a refrigerator, but something akin to that. You know, basically white goods. Only 4.6&#160;percent. Let's say that there's another 4&#160;percent that aspires to have all four. That's still under 10&#160;percent of the population. But this is the urban center. This is the sector that has been able to change the landscape of the cities in their own image--malls, advertisements for fancy products, etc. You know, India appears to be their India.
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<p />Meanwhile, 80&#160;percent of the population that lives in rural India has very large constituency of their, you know, representatives in parliament, but their parliamentarians don't represent properly the kind of needs or wants that are unfulfilled for those people. So that's the simple reason why when India, the government, goes to negotiate--to be fair there is a very strong section in the negotiating teams that will fight tooth and nail, you know, to protect the rights of Indian farmers. That is why the Doha development round of the WTO is in crisis, because India, Mexico, other countries refuse to allow agricultural subsidies in the North, for instance, to continue. They refuse to allow, you know, entry of corporates into Indian farming without dealing first with subsidy regimes in the North. At any rate, so it's not the case that these countries don't have people fighting, you know, but they fight in a defensive way. In other words, they say, you deal with your subsidy regime; why are you telling us that? What they don't come to the table with is we have an agricultural sector which has these wants, and we need therefore to create a trade regime that facilitates their wants. You never hear that kind of language from the representatives of the South. And that's a real pity.
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<p />FRIES: In this segment, we looked into some current dynamics in trade negotiations. In the next segment, we look into the complexities of "the South". Please join us for part three of our series with Vijay Prashad.
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<p />Our thanks to Vijay Prashad. 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. | North South Trade Negotiations: The relationship between trade rules and the operations of multinational corporations | true | http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D31%26Itemid%3D74%26jumival%3D10626 | 2013-08-26 | 4 |
<p>Japan's parliament voted on Wednesday to outlaw possession of child pornography after years of international calls for a crackdown, but avoided a clampdown on sexually explicit manga comics and animation depicting young children.</p>
<p>Japan is the last OECD nation to criminalize possession of child pornography, although it outlawed production and distribution in 1999, and has long been considered a safe haven for those buying child pornography.</p>
<p>"For too long, there was a poor understanding of children's rights. Ultimately, that's why it's taken so long," Kiyohiko Toyama, a member of the New Komeito party and a proponent of the bill, told Reuters.</p>
<p>"By outlawing the possession of child pornography with the intent to satisfy sexual interest, we make it harder for people to trade in such material."</p>
<p>The new law, however, excluded an original clause calling for a study onto the effects of such pornographic manga involving young children, after publishers and opposition lawmakers said it could lead to curbing free speech.</p>
<p>Masatada Tsuchiya, a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker, supported the bill but said he was disappointed.</p>
<p>"I believed we should go a step further and take a look at manga and animation in which children are sexually abused," he said, recalling a case in which a child murder suspect was found to own dozens of explicit manga depicting children.</p>
<p>"Of course freedom of expression is important. And I love manga. But some of the things out there are so depraved they aren't worth defending," he said.</p>
<p>National data show a rise in child pornography crimes, with police uncovering 1,644 cases last year, around 10 times higher than a decade ago. Over half of the cases involved sharing or selling photos or videos over the Internet, police said.</p>
<p>Lawmakers said the new legislation would likely help police crack down on child pornography as buyers can be held and questioned, possibly leading them to other collectors as well as distributors and manufacturers.</p>
<p>The law is due to take effect next month. Those found guilty under the new law will face imprisonment of up to a year or a fine of up to 1 million yen ($9,800), although such punishment will not be enforced in the first year.</p>
<p>Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said he hoped it would also help change a culture of tolerating objectification of children.</p>
<p>"We must fight against a tendency of looking at children as sexual objects, and allowing them to be taken advantage of, sexually and commercially," he said in parliamentary testimony on Tuesday, a day before the Upper House officially voted to adopt the bill. The Lower House passed it earlier in June.</p>
<p>Japan's fascination with young women as sexual objects is apparent from a quick glance through Japanese bookstores and subway ads featuring "junior idols" as child models are known. The new law would not apply to most such images.</p>
<p>More explicit and often violent content is available online. A small portion of Japan's manga and animation market includes graphic, sexual depictions of children including stories of incest.</p>
<p>Even without the clause on manga, however, publishers said they were still against the revised law. Some opposition lawmakers also voted against it, saying it could lead to police overreach.</p>
<p>"This could lead to a regression in freedom of expression and put a strain on artists and the publishing culture. This cannot be accepted," the Japan Magazine Publishers Association, representing over 90 publishing companies, said in a statement on its website.</p>
<p>($1 = 102.0500 Japanese Yen)</p>
<p>(Editing by Elaine Lies and Michael Perry)</p> | After years of international pressure, Japan is finally banning possession of child porn | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-06-18/after-years-international-pressure-japan-finally-banning-possession-child-porn | 2014-06-18 | 3 |
<p>In April of 2003, I returned from Iraq after having lived there during the U.S. Shock and Awe bombing and the initial weeks of the invasion.&#160; Before the bombing I had traveled to Iraq about two dozen times and had helped organize 70 trips to Iraq, aiming to cast light on a brutal sanctions regime, with the “Voices in the Wilderness” campaign.&#160; As the bombing had approached, we had given our all to helping organize a remarkable worldwide peace movement effort, one which may have come closer than any before it to stopping a war before it started. &#160;But, just as, before the war, we’d failed to lift the vicious and lethally punitive economic sanctions against Iraq, we also failed to stop the war, and the devastating civil war that it created.</p>
<p>So it was April and I’d returned home, devastated at our failure.&#160; My mother possessed ample reserves of Irish charm, motherly wisdom, and, for purposes of political analyses, a political analysis consistent with that of Fox News Channel.&#160; She knew I was distraught, and aiming to comfort me, she said the following in her soft, lilting voice. “Kathy, dear, what you don’t understand is that the people of Iraq could have gotten rid of Saddam Hussein a long time ago, and they ought to have done so, and they didn’t.&#160; So we went in there and did it for them.” She clearly hoped I could share her relief that the U.S. could lend a helping hand in that part of the world. “And they ought to be grateful, and they’re not.”</p>
<p>My mother, then in her eighties, was actually quite anti-war, but she was also against evil dictators, and the governance of any country where she was consistently told we might need to invade. &#160;If a war could be packaged as necessary to achieving humanitarian goals, then my mother would almost certainly join the majority of U.S. people, over the past decade or so, in tolerating wars or at least enduring them with a general indifference to any accounts of the human suffering the wars might cause.</p>
<p>Although the war in Afghanistan is often referred to as the longest war in U.S. history, the multistage war in Iraq, beginning in 1991 and inclusive of 13 years of continual bombardment and nightmarish, generation-wasting economic warfare waged through militarily-enforced sanctions, constitutes the longest war, one which in real terms is of course ongoing.</p>
<p>John Tirman, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, attempted, in his book <a href="" type="internal">The Deaths of Others</a>, (Oxford University Press, 2011), to understand how U.S. people could be so indifferent to the suffering caused by U.S. military actions.&#160; He was following up on his seminal study of Iraq war casualties, released by John Hopkins and printed in The Lancet, which had concluded that in the three and a half years following Shock and Awe, the war and its effects had killed upwards of 660,000 Iraqis.&#160; This credible report, backed by prestigious academic institutions, had been ignored by the government, and thus also by the media, allowing a disinterested public to avoid learning information they’d mostly been careful not to ask for.</p>
<p>In his book, Tirman was now trying to understand how the U.S. public could have been so indifferent.</p>
<p>His eventual explanation focuses on how hard U.S. war planners (and war <a href="" type="internal" />profiteers) have worked to overcome “the Vietnam Syndrome,” which is to say the healthy democratic rejection of the Vietnam War, which authorities across the liberal-to-conservative spectrum have tended to see as a sort of disease to be eliminated.&#160; The inoculation campaign had been very effective: &#160;By creating an all-volunteer army, by carefully regimenting and ‘embedding’ reporters and relentlessly emphasizing “humanitarian” goals to be achieved by any exercise of our power overseas, the U.S. military-industrial complex has been able to assure that the majority of U.S. people won’t rise up in protest of our wars. If the public can be persuaded that a war is essentially humanitarian, Tirman believes their indifference can be counted on, in spite of the number of U.S. soldiers killed or maimed or psychologically disabled by their wartime experiences, regardless of the drain on U.S. economies however stricken or depressed, and without any apparent concern for or even awareness of the horrendous consequences borne by the communities overseas that are the targets of our massively armed humanitarianism. Adding to a predisposition on behalf of saving people from evil dictators, the U.S. population and that of many western allies face declining availability of jobs.&#160; Available jobs are increasingly controlled by either the military-industrial complex or the prison (criminal justice) industrial complex.</p>
<p>A few years ago, many people disenchanted with the Iraq and Afghan wars placed hopes in Obama as someone who would uphold the rule of law, including the international laws, ratified by U.S. congresses past, against international aggression and war crime, ending those abuses by the U.S. military, its private-sector contractors, and the CIA, which have contributed so to worldwide hostility against the U.S. and have arguably so greatly lessened our security.&#160; But the Obama administration, in its de facto continuation of both wars, in its massive escalation of targeted assassinations worldwide and its secrecy about drone warfare against Pakistan, has repeatedly shown our government’s unshakeable allegiance, to militarists and those radically right-wing advocates of corporate power we’re often now asked to call “centrists”.</p>
<p>I think we in the peace and antiwar movements find ourselves stalemated.&#160; Groups are outspent and out-maneuvered by military and corporate institutions with power to undercut whatever “clout” our movements might have developed because these two complexes have now arrogated so much antidemocratic control over the media and the economy.&#160; Nonetheless, grassroots groups persist with arduous and often heroic efforts to continue educating their constituencies and reminding ordinary people that the defense industry is not providing them with any of the security that it assuredly isn’t providing for people trapped in our war zones.</p>
<p>What direction should the peace and antiwar movements pursue now?&#160; Now, when it seems difficult to point toward substantial possible gains?&#160; Now, as the U.S. continues to wage multiple wars and build on a weapons stockpile that already exceeds the combined arsenals of the next most militarized eighteen countries on Earth?&#160; In advance or in retreat, we have to keep resisting.&#160;&#160; Surely, we must continue basic “maintenance” tasks of outreach and education. Voices for Creative Nonviolence tries to assist in educating the general public about people who bear the brunt of our wars – so we travel to war zones and live alongside ordinary people, trying, upon our return, to get their stories through to ordinary people in the U.S. We hope that by doing so we can eventually help motivate civil society into action to oppose these wars.&#160; But while working to preserve the heart of the society, its civilization in the best meaning of that term, we know we must always organize for and participate in campaigns designed to have the greatest possible impact on policymakers now, and through them on those whose lives are so desperately at stake.&#160; That commitment in turn is part of our message to our neighbors to reclaim their humanity through action.</p>
<p>It’s not just each other’s hearts, but also each other’s minds that citizens of a democracy are called upon to exercise.&#160; We must constantly appeal to the rationality of the general public, engaging in humble dialogue so they can appeal to ours, helping people see that U.S. war making does not make people safer here or abroad, that in fact we are jeopardized as well – if only by the intense anger and frustration caused by policies like targeted assassination, night raids, and aerial bombings of civilians.</p>
<p>We should celebrate the tremendous accomplishment of Occupy Wall Street.&#160; In just twelve weeks the “99 and 1” logos reintroduced people, worldwide, to the normalness of discussing, in all manner of public discussions, the fundamental unfairness of systems designed to benefit small elites at the expense of vast majorities; and the OWS movement welcomed anyone and everyone into solidarity in building towards more humane, more just, and more democratic communities. &#160;&#160;The peace movement should participate in and encourage this remarkable network, and similar organizations that will spring up to complement it, not only to demand more jobs and better wages but also to stipulate what kinds of jobs we want and what kinds of products we want those jobs devoted to creating. We must campaign for jobs that build our society instead of converting it into junk – that produce constructive and necessary goods and services and above all not the weapons that we employ in prisons and battlefields at home and abroad.</p>
<p>We must think hard about ways to democratize our country, and reverse the “unwarranted influence” over our society which, half a century ago, a Republican president was warning us already belonged to the military industrial complex.&#160; Enormous sums of money, along with human ingenuity and resources, are now being poured into developing drone warfare and surveillance to be used abroad and increasingly at home, but the more intelligence our leaders collect, the less we, the led, have access to.&#160; The drones aren’t there to help us understand the Afghan people – how they huddle together on the brink of starvation, dared to survive the capricious and uncivilized behavior of a nation gone mad on war.&#160; &#160;Have we any means of imposing civilization, not on desperate people around the world, but on those who lack it – the elites that control our military, our economy, and our government?</p>
<p>And honestly, I couldn’t persuade my own mother. I should admit here to a recent conversation with my sisters, the oldest of whom recently shared, “We weren’t sure whether or not to tell you, but mom really did hope you were working for the CIA.”</p>
<p>We never know how we will influence others and what unexpected developments might happen.&#160; The destiny of a world of seven billion people should never be shaped by a few activists – as it currently is shaped by a remarkably few activists occupying the U.S. Pentagon, our business centers, and the White House.&#160; We’re not supposed to make any change we can securely claim credit for – we’re supposed to do good for the world – to speak truth to it, to resist its oppressors, to surprise it with decency, love, and an implacability for justice; and trust it to surprise us in turn.</p>
<p>With eyes wide open, willing to look in the mirror, (I’m drawing from the titles of two extraordinarily impressive campaigns designed by the American Friends Service Committee), we must persist with the tasks of education and outreach, looking for nonviolent means to take risks commensurate to the crimes being committed, all the while growing ever more open to links with popular movements and respectful alliances well outside our choir.&#160; We must civilize the world by examples of clear-sightedness and courage.&#160; We’re supposed to do what anyone is supposed to do; live as full humans, as best we can, in a world whose destiny we can never predict, and whose astonishingly precious inhabitants could never be given enough justice, or love, or time.</p>
<p>Kathy Kelly&#160;&#160;co-coordinates&#160; <a href="http://www.vcnv.org/" type="external">Voices for Creative Nonviolence</a>. She’s a contributed a chapter on drone warfare to&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion</a>, (AK Press), now available in <a href="" type="internal">Kindle format</a>.</p>
<p>First published by the <a href="" type="internal">Mobilizing Ideas</a>.</p> | The Longest War | true | https://counterpunch.org/2012/07/03/the-longest-war/ | 2012-07-03 | 4 |
<p>Rock star Gene Simmons has been banned for life from Fox News and Fox Business Network, according to <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-bans-kiss-frontman-gene-simmons-for-life" type="external">The Daily Beast</a>.</p>
<p>The Daily Beast on Thursday reported that Simmons received the blacklisting after visiting Fox News’s headquarters in New York City the day before.</p>
<p>Simmons’ behavior during Wednesday’s stop prompted his picture to get posted at the security entrance of the Manhattan building alongside a “do-not-admit” advisory afterwards.</p>
<p>A knowledgeable Fox News source told The Daily Beast that Simmons on Wednesday journeyed to the 14th floor of the company’s headquarters to do an interview.</p>
<p>The Daily Beast’s source said that Simmons intruded upon a staff meeting without warning rather than promote his new book in a chat with Fox News’s entertainment section.</p>
<p>“Hey chicks, sue me,” Simmons shouted, according to the outlet’s source, before opening his red velvet shirt and exposing his belly and chest.</p>
<p>Simmons then began telling pedophilia jokes about singer Michael Jackson, who faced accusations of child sexual abuse before his death in 2009.</p>
<p>The musician next tapped two Fox News employees on the head with his book, and he then made derisive remarks about their comparative intelligence based to the sound his move made.</p>
<p>“It was pretty severe,” The Daily Beast’s source said of Simmons, who is bassist and a co-vocalist of the rock band Kiss.</p>
<p>Simmons’s conduct was then reported to a Fox News supervisor and the company’s human-resources executive Kevin Lord.</p>
<p>The reports led to Simmons’ permanent banning from Fox News programming, despite his repeated appearances on the network’s shows over the years.</p>
<p>Simmons earlier Wednesday helped Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean give her weather report on the channel’s "Fox &amp; Friends."</p>
<p>Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo then hosted him for a panel on Wednesday’s broadcast of "Mornings with Maria."</p>
<p>“The lunatics have taken over the insane asylum when respected business entities such as yourself ask guys that like to stick their tongues out what I think of Harvey Weinstein,” he said when asked about the sexual misconduct allegations against the Hollywood producer.</p>
<p>“OK, I’m a powerful and attractive man, and what I’m about to say is deadly serious,” Simmons added.</p>
<p>“Men are jacka---s. From the time we’re young, we have testosterone. I’m not validating it or defending it.”</p>
<p /> | Fox News reportedly banned Kiss frontman Gene Simmons for life | false | https://circa.com/story/2017/11/17/music/fox-news-bans-gene-simmons-of-kiss-for-life-report | 2017-11-17 | 1 |
<p>'Nothing can erase the human rights violations...[but] the reparations ordination will be an important step towards healing.'</p>
<p>Chicago has taken a major step toward reparations for survivors of police torture and abuse. Under&#160; <a href="http://chicagotorture.org/history/" type="external">the orders of Jon Burge, who served as Police Commander from 1972 to 1991</a>, Chicago police infamously subjected more than 100 black men and youth to beatings, burnings and electric shocks. Dozens of victims were&#160; <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/g-flint-taylor/darrell-cannon-case_b_1762150.html" type="external">coerced into providing false confessions</a>&#160;that led to decades in prisons.</p>
<p>This morning, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced his support for a $5.5 million reparations package for the Burge survivors and their families. &#160;</p>
<p>“Today, we stand together as a city to try and right those wrongs, and to bring this dark chapter of Chicago's history to a close,” Emanuel said, according to Associated Press.</p>
<p>Testifying at a hearing on reparations today before the City Council finance committee, Joey Mogul, co-founder of&#160; <a href="http://chicagotorture.org/" type="external">Chicago Torture Justice Memorials</a>, told the council to stand on the right side of history. “Nothing can erase the human rights violations,” Mogul testified, “[but] the reparations ordination will be an important step towards healing.”&#160;</p>
<p>The finance committee is expected to approve the package in a vote on Wednesday. The ordinance then goes to a full City Council for a vote on May 6.</p>
<p>The package is based on the&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Reparations Ordinance introduced</a>&#160;by Alderman Joe Moreno (1st Ward) and Howard Brookins (21st Ward) in October of 2013, although the $5.5 million in reparations falls short of the $20 million originally proposed. As part of the package, the city has agreed to provide a formal apology and create a permanent public memorial that acknowledges the torture committed. Education on police torture would be incorporated into the history curriculum for 8th-and 10th-grade public-school students beginning in the 2015-16 school year.</p>
<p>Under the terms of the package, Burge torture survivors and their family members are eligible for financial compensation and specialized counseling. They can also receive free tuition or job training at Chicago’s City Colleges. They have priority access to the City’s re-entry support services for people leaving prison, which include counseling, food, housing and transportation assistance, senior care and health care.&#160;They are also eligible for job placement for survivors in programs designed for formerly incarcerated people.</p>
<p>The People’s Law Office, which represented many of the survivors in suits against the city, issued a statement cheering the news. “The reparations package, rooted in a restorative justice framework, acknowledges the torture of Black people under former police commander Jon Burge,” said the statement, “and begins to make amends by providing financial compensation and services to the torture survivors and their families.”</p>
<p>The agreement comes decades after lawyers, activists, survivors and their supporters began fighting for justice. With the support of many local organizations and collectives, Chicago Torture Justice Memorial, Project NIA, Amnesty International Chicago, and We Charge Genocide (full disclosure: the author is an organizer with this group) led a six-month campaign that included many creative efforts to educate the public:&#160; <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/29012-at-rahm-emanuel-s-doorstep-on-reparations-police-torture-and-moving-on" type="external">staying outside of Mayor Emanuel’s home</a>,&#160; <a href="https://storify.com/bullhorngirl/chicago-police-torture-and-reparations-exhibition#publicize" type="external">“exhibition-in” at City Hall</a>,&#160; <a href="https://teachburge.wordpress.com/" type="external">citywide teach-ins</a>,&#160; <a href="http://xhttp://rahmrepnow.tumblr.com/post/116033277271/phone-bank-today" type="external">phone banks</a>,&#160; <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&amp;q=rahmrepnow" type="external">Twitter conversations</a>,&#160; <a href="http://www.injusticeforallff.com/" type="external">and screenings of&#160;</a> <a href="http://www.pbs.org/pov/theendofthenightstick/" type="external">End of the Nightstick</a>, the documentary that follows Jon Burge’s case and the city’s cover-ups.</p>
<p>“The City of Chicago’s recognition that people who were tortured by law enforcement officers deserve compensation and redress—regardless of any crime that they were accused of or may have committed—is an important recognition that torture is never excusable and the ends do not justify the means,” Chicago Torture Justice Memorials wrote in a statement to supporters, “Every individual’s dignity matters.” This victory may serve to boost fights for justice by police violence survivors in other cities, like&#160; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/us/walter-scott-shooting-turns-michael-slager-into-litigant-as-north-charleston-braces-for-suits.html?_r=0" type="external">North Charleston</a>,&#160; <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/03/21/west-oakland-residents-voice-frustration-over-continued-violence" type="external">Oakland</a>&#160;and&#160; <a href="http://gothamist.com/2015/04/14/east_new_york_nypd.php" type="external">New York</a>.</p>
<p>Like what you’ve read? <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/itt-subscription-offer?refcode=WS_ITT_Article_Footer&amp;noskip=true" type="external">Subscribe to In These Times magazine</a>, or <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/support-in-these-times?refcode=WS_ITT_Article_Footer&amp;noskip=true" type="external">make a tax-deductible donation to fund this reporting</a>.</p>
<p>Keisa Reynolds is a freelance writer.</p> | Rahm Emanuel Agrees to $5.5 Million in Reparations for Police Torture Survivors | true | http://inthesetimes.com/article/17846/emanuel-agrees-to-5.5-million-in-torture-reparations-in-a-hard-won-victory | 2015-04-14 | 4 |
<p>At his confirmation hearing in January 2017, Treasury Secretary <a href="" type="internal">Stephen Mnuchin said</a>, “regulation is killing community banks.” If the process is not reversed, he warned, we could “end up in a world where we have four big banks in this country.” That would be bad for both jobs and the economy. “I think that we all appreciate the engine of growth is with small and medium-sized businesses,” said Mnuchin. “We’re losing the ability for small and medium-sized banks to make good loans to small and medium-sized businesses in the community, where they understand those credit risks better than anybody else.”</p>
<p>The number of US banks with assets under $100 million dropped from 13,000 in 1995 to under 1,900 in 2014. The regulatory burden imposed by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act exacerbated this trend, with <a href="" type="internal">community banks losing market share</a> at double the rate during the four years after 2010 as in the four years before. But the number had already dropped to only 2,625 in 2010.&#160; What happened between 1995 and 2010?</p>
<p>Six weeks after September 11, 2001, the 1,100 page <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/why-rand-paul-was-right-to-kill-the-so-called-patriot-act-it-was-never-about-terrorism/" type="external">Patriot Act was dropped</a> on congressional legislators, who were required to vote on it the next day. The Patriot Act added provisions to the 1970 Bank Secrecy Act that not only expanded the federal government’s wiretapping and surveillance powers but outlawed the funding of terrorism, imposing greater scrutiny on banks and stiff criminal penalties for non-compliance. Banks must now collect and verify customer-provided information, check names of customers against lists of known or suspected terrorists, determine risk levels posed by customers, and report suspicious persons, organizations and transactions. <a href="" type="internal">One small banker complained</a> that banks have been turned into spies secretly reporting to the federal government. If they fail to comply, they can face stiff enforcement actions, whether or not actual money-laundering crimes are alleged.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">In 2010, one small New Jersey bank</a> pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act and was fined $5 million for failure to file suspicious-activity and cash-transaction reports. The bank was acquired a few months later by another bank. Another small New Jersey bank was ordered to shut down a large international wire transfer business because of deficiencies in monitoring for suspicious transactions. It closed its doors after it was hit with $8 million in fines over its inadequate monitoring policies.</p>
<p>Complying with the new rules demands a level of technical expertise not available to ordinary mortals, requiring the hiring of yet more specialized staff and buying more anti-laundering software. Small banks cannot afford the risk of massive fines or the added staff needed to avoid them, and that burden is getting worse. In February 2017, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network&#160; <a href="" type="internal">proposed a new rule</a>&#160;that would <a href="https://www.americanbanker.com/news/banks-must-include-cybersecurity-incidents-in-sars-fincen" type="external">add a new category</a>&#160;requiring the flagging of suspicious “cyberevents.” According to <a href="https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/should-banks-be-criminally-liable-for-not-reporting-fishy-emails" type="external">an April 2017 article in American Banker</a>:</p>
<p>[T]he “cyberevent” category requires institutions to detect and report all varieties of digital mischief, whether directed at a customer’s account or at the bank itself. . . .</p>
<p>Under a worst-case scenario, a bank’s failure to detect a suspicious [email] attachment or a phishing attack could theoretically result in criminal prosecution, massive fines&#160;and additional oversight.</p>
<p>One large bank estimated that the proposed change with the new cyberevent reporting requirement would cost it an additional $9.6 million every year.</p>
<p>Besides the cost of hiring an army of compliance officers to deal with a thousand pages of regulations, banks have been hit with <a href="https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/how-basel-iii-capital-requirements-hurt-community-banks" type="external">increased capital requirements</a> imposed by the Financial Stability Board under Basel III, eliminating the smaller banks’ profit margins. They have little recourse but to sell to the larger banks, which have large compliance departments and can <a href="http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-bankrules-weakening/" type="external">skirt the capital requirements</a> by parking assets in off-balance-sheet vehicles.</p>
<p>In a September 2014 article titled “ <a href="http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/344612/Financial+Services/The+FDICs+New+Capital+Rules+And+Their+Expected+Impact+On+Community+Banks" type="external">The FDIC’s New Capital Rules and Their Expected Impact on Community Banks</a>,” Richard Morris and Monica Reyes Grajales noted that “a full discussion of the rules would resemble an advanced course in calculus,” and that the regulators have ignored protests that the rules would have a devastating impact on community banks. Why? The authors suggested that the rules reflect “the new vision of bank regulation – that there should be bigger and fewer banks in the industry.” That means bank consolidation is an intended result of the punishing rules.</p>
<p>House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, sponsor of the Financial CHOICE Act downsizing Dodd-Frank, concurs. <a href="" type="internal">In a speech</a> in July 2015, he said:</p>
<p>Since the passage of Dodd-Frank, the big banks are bigger and the small banks are fewer. But because&#160;Washington can control a handful of big established firms much easier than many small and zealous competitors, this is likely an intended consequence of the Act. Dodd-Frank concentrates greater assets in fewer institutions. It codifies into law ‘Too Big to Fail’ . . . . [Emphasis added.]</p>
<p>Dodd-Frank institutionalizes “too big to fail” by authorizing the biggest banks to “bail in” or confiscate their creditors’ money in the event of insolvency. The legislation ostensibly reining in the too-big-to-fail banks has just made them bigger. Wall Street <a href="" type="internal">lobbyists were well known</a> to have their fingerprints all over Dodd-Frank.</p>
<p>Restoring Community Banking: The Model of North Dakota &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;</p>
<p>Killing off the community banks with regulation means killing off the small and medium-size businesses that rely on them for funding, along with the local economies that rely on those businesses. Community banks service local markets in a way that the megabanks with their standardized lending models are not interested in or capable of.</p>
<p>How can the community banks be preserved and nurtured? For some ideas, we can look to a state where they are still thriving – North Dakota. In an article titled “ <a href="https://ilsr.org/map-shows-how-well-the-bank-of-north-dakota-works/" type="external">How One State Escaped Wall Street’s Rule and Created a Banking System That’s 83% Locally Owned</a>,” Stacy Mitchell writes that North Dakota’s banking sector bears little resemblance to that of the rest of the country:</p>
<p>With 89 small and mid-sized community banks and 38 credit unions, North Dakota has&#160;six times&#160;as many locally owned financial institutions per person as the rest of the nation. And these local banks and credit unions control a resounding&#160;83 percent of deposits in the state&#160;— more than twice the 30 percent market share that&#160;small and mid-sized financial institutions have nationally.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Their secret is the century-old Bank of North Dakota</a> (BND), the nation’s only state-owned depository bank, which partners with and supports the state’s local banks. In an April 2015 article titled “ <a href="http://www.publicbankinginstitute.org/is_dodd_frank_killing_community_banks_the_more_important_question_is_how_to_save_them" type="external">Is Dodd-Frank Killing Community Banks? The More Important Question is How to Save Them</a>”, Matt Stannard writes:</p>
<p>Public banks offer unique benefits to community banks, including collateralization of deposits, protection from poaching of customers by big banks, the creation of more successful deals, and . . . regulatory compliance. The Bank of North Dakota, the nation’s only public bank, directly supports community banks and enables them to meet regulatory requirements such as asset to loan ratios and deposit to loan ratios. . . . [I]t keeps community banks solvent in other ways, lessening the impact of regulatory compliance on banks’ bottom lines.</p>
<p><a href="http://ilsr.org/rule/bank-of-north-dakota-2/" type="external">We know</a>&#160;from FDIC data in 2009 that North Dakota had almost 16 banks per 100,000 people, the most in the country. A more important figure, however, is community banks’ loan averages per capita, which was $12,000 in North Dakota, compared to only $3,000 nationally. . . . During the last decade, banks in North Dakota with less than $1 billion in assets have averaged a stunning 434 percent more small business lending&#160;than the national average.</p>
<p>The BND has been very profitable for the state and its citizens – <a href="" type="internal">more profitable, according to the Wall Street Journal</a>, than JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. The BND does not compete with local banks but partners with them, helping with capitalization and liquidity and allowing them to take on larger loans that would otherwise go to larger out-of-state banks.</p>
<p>In order to help rural lenders with regulatory compliance, in 2011 the BND was <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/37343-public-banks-could-break-the-impasse-over-marijuana-money" type="external">directed by the state legislature</a> to get into the rural home mortgage origination business. Rural banks that saw only three to five mortgages a year could not shoulder the regulatory burden, leading to business lost to out-of-state banks. After a successful pilot program, <a href="" type="internal">SB 2064, establishing the Mortgage Origination Program, was signed</a> by North Dakota’s governor on April 3, 2013. It states that the BND may establish a residential&#160;mortgage&#160;loan&#160;program&#160;under which the Bank may originate residential mortgages if private sector&#160;mortgage&#160;loan services are not reasonably available. Under this&#160;program&#160;a local financial institution or credit union may assist the Bank in taking a loan application, gathering required documents, ordering required legal documents, and maintaining contact with the borrower.&#160;At a <a href="" type="internal">hearing on the bill</a>, Rick Clayburgh, President of the North Dakota Bankers Association, testified in its support:</p>
<p>Over the past years because of the regulatory burdens our banks face by the passage of Dodd Frank, and now the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, it has become very prohibitive for a number of our banks to provide residential&#160;mortgage services anymore. We two years ago worked both with the Independent Community Bankers Association, and our Association and the Bank of North Dakota to come up with the idea in this&#160;program&#160;to help the bank provide services into the parts of the state that really residential mortgaging has seized up. We have a number of our banks that have terminated doing&#160;mortgage&#160;loans in their communities. They have stopped the process because they cannot afford to be written up by their regulator.</p>
<p>Under the Mortgage Origination Program, local banks get paid what is essentially a finder’s fee for sending rural mortgage loans to the BND. If the BND touches the money first, the onus is on it to deal with the regulators, something it can afford to do by capitalizing on economies of scale. The local bank thus avoids having to deal with regulatory compliance while keeping its customer.</p>
<p>The BND is the only model of a publicly-owned depository bank in the US; but in Germany, the publicly-owned Sparkassen banks operate a network of over 15,600 branches and are the financial backbone supporting Germany’s strong local business sector. In the matter of regulatory compliance, they too capitalize on economies of scale, by providing a compliance department that pools resources to deal with the onerous regulations imposed on banks by the EU.</p>
<p>The BND and the Sparkassen are proven models for maintaining the viability of local credit and banking services. It is time other states followed North Dakota’s lead, not only to protect their local communities and local banks, but to bolster their revenues, escape the noose of Washington and Wall Street, and provide a bail-in-proof depository for their public funds.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Regulation Is Killing Community Banks, But Public Banks Can Revive Them | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/10/01/regulation-is-killing-community-banks-but-public-banks-can-revive-them/ | 2017-10-01 | 4 |
<p>In a 2007 interview with Barbara Walters, the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez asked why he was seen as an enemy of the U.S. From accusing the White House of trying to kill him to hanging out with Ahmadinejad and Gaddafi, here's a quick look at some reasons why Chavez was thought to hate America.</p> | Chavez's Bad Company | true | https://thedailybeast.com/chavezs-bad-company | 2018-10-03 | 4 |
<p>By&#160;Ryan Gilmer, CFA – VP Investment Management – TOPS ETF Portfolios Most investors are familiar with the inverse relationship interest rates have on bond returns. As interest rates rise, bond prices fall and vice versa. However, rate changes can also impact equity returns. While persistent periods of low interest rates affect corporate borrowing and profitability… <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2016/12/3-interest-rate-sensitive-etfs-to-watch/" type="external">Click to read more at ETFtrends.com. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | 3 Interest Rate Sensitive ETFs To Watch | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/21/3-interest-rate-sensitive-etfs-to-watch.html | 2016-12-21 | 0 |
<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday evening's drawing of the Pennsylvania Lottery's "Pick 4 Evening" game were:</p>
<p>7-3-0-8, Wild: 9</p>
<p>(seven, three, zero, eight; Wild: nine)</p>
<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday evening's drawing of the Pennsylvania Lottery's "Pick 4 Evening" game were:</p>
<p>7-3-0-8, Wild: 9</p>
<p>(seven, three, zero, eight; Wild: nine)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in 'Pick 4 Evening' game | false | https://apnews.com/amp/ac2bfde86ae44695a261e97b54277cac | 2018-01-02 | 2 |
<p>Last Wednesday, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and author George Will, who has been espousing the virtues of conservatism for decades and joined the GOP in 1964, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/republicans-save-your-party-dont-give-to-trump/2016/06/22/f56a8cda-37eb-11e6-a254-2b336e293a3c_story.html" type="external">slammed</a> Donald Trump in an op-ed in The Washington Post, writing:</p>
<p>He should be taunted into putting his meager campaign funds where his ample mouth is. Every dime or day he squanders on those states will contribute to a redemptive outcome, a defeat so humiliating — so continental — that even Republicans will be edified by it … Events already have called his bluff about funding himself and thereby being uniquely his own man. His wealth is insufficient. Only he knows what he is hiding by being the first presidential nominee in two generations not to release his tax returns.</p>
<p>On Friday, Will told <a href="https://pjmedia.com/election/2016/06/24/this-is-not-my-party-george-will-goes-from-gop-to-unaffiliated/?singlepage=true" type="external">PJ Media</a> at a Federalist Society luncheon that he was leaving the GOP and registering as unaffiliated. His message to GOP voters? “Make sure he loses. Grit their teeth for four years and win the White House.” During his speech at the luncheon, Will asserted, “This is not my party,” adding that a “President Trump” with “no opposition” from a Republican-led Congress would be worse than a Hillary Clinton presidency with a Republican-led Congress. When asked how a Trump loss would affect the Supreme Court, Will responded, “I’m also concerned with the fact that I do not really believe Republicans think clearly enough about what they really want in judges. Republicans have given us Earl Warren, Brennan, John Paul Stevens, Burger, who was kind of mediocre, Blackmun. Having a Republican president is not an answer in itself,.”</p>
<p>On Sunday, speaking on Fox News Sunday, Will reiterated why he left the GOP, and made it <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/747027629652443136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" type="external">abundantly clear</a> when Chris Wallace asked him why:</p>
<p>I left it for the same reason I joined it in 1964 when I voted for Barry Goldwater. Because I was a conservative. I leave for the same reason, I'm a conservative. To give you a time line, shortly after Trump became the presumptive nominee, he had a summit meeting with Paul Ryan where they stressed their common principles and their vast shared ground, which is much more important than their differences.</p>
<p>I thought that was puzzling doubly so because Paul Ryan still didn't endorse him. After Trump went after the Mexican judge from northern Indiana, then Paul Ryan endorsed him. I decided that, in fact, this is not my party anymore. I changed my registration to unaffiliated 23 days ago. I hardly made an announcement. I just mentioned this in a meeting with the Federalist Society. The long and the short of it is, as Ronald Reagan said when he changed his registration, I did not leave the Democratic party, the Democratic party left me.</p>
<p>"The long and the short of it is, as Ronald Reagan said when he changed his registration, I did not leave the Democratic party, the Democratic party left me."</p>
<p>George Will</p>
<p>Wallace then posted onscreen Trump’s reply, which was truly amusing, as the candidate who only recently decided he was a conservative somehow twisted himself into a pretzel to insist that the lifetime conservative Will had “lost his way”:</p>
<p>George Will, one of the most overrated political pundits (who lost his way long ago), has left the Republican Party.He's made many bad calls</p>
<p>Will responded caustically, “He has an advantage on me because he can say everything he knows about any subject in 140 characters and I can't.”</p> | George Will Leaves GOP, Drops The HAMMER On Trump | true | https://dailywire.com/news/6972/george-will-leaves-gop-drops-hammer-trump-hank-berrien | 2016-06-27 | 0 |
<p>LONDON (AP) — Harrods, the luxury London department store and tourist destination, is reportedly planning to remove a memorial to Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed.</p>
<p>British media, including The Times and the BBC, reported Saturday that the bronze statue will be returned to Dodi’s father, Mohammed Al Fayed, the Egyptian tycoon who previously owned Harrods.</p>
<p>The businessman commissioned the bronze statue depicting his son and Diana dancing after the two were killed in a Paris car crash in 1997.</p>
<p>The statue was installed in 2005 remained at Harrods after the Qatari royal family bought the store in 2010.</p>
<p>The news reports quoted Harrods managing director Michael Ward as saying that with a new Diana statue planned for Kensington Palace, it is the right time to return the one at the store to Al Fayed.</p>
<p>LONDON (AP) — Harrods, the luxury London department store and tourist destination, is reportedly planning to remove a memorial to Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed.</p>
<p>British media, including The Times and the BBC, reported Saturday that the bronze statue will be returned to Dodi’s father, Mohammed Al Fayed, the Egyptian tycoon who previously owned Harrods.</p>
<p>The businessman commissioned the bronze statue depicting his son and Diana dancing after the two were killed in a Paris car crash in 1997.</p>
<p>The statue was installed in 2005 remained at Harrods after the Qatari royal family bought the store in 2010.</p>
<p>The news reports quoted Harrods managing director Michael Ward as saying that with a new Diana statue planned for Kensington Palace, it is the right time to return the one at the store to Al Fayed.</p> | Reports: London’s Harrods to remove Diana memorial | false | https://apnews.com/29808be8d9804f658028a11ee5eacb8a | 2018-01-13 | 2 |
<p>Previously:</p>
<p><a href="/video/2011/06/15/foxs-dr-ablow-wi-protesters-are-parasitic-and-n/180626" type="external">Fox's Dr. Ablow: WI Protesters Are "Parasitic And Need To Be Identified As Such. ... I'm Speaking Like A Scientist"</a></p>
<p><a href="/video/2011/06/14/today-in-hyperbole-foxs-dr-keith-ablow-calls-nl/180589" type="external">Today In Hyperbole: Fox's Dr. Keith Ablow Calls NLRB Boeing Case "The End Of Freedom In America"</a></p>
<p><a href="/video/2011/04/27/foxs-ablow-obama-speech-contained-series-of-exc/179137" type="external">Fox's Ablow: Obama Speech Contained "Series Of Excuses About Why We Shouldn't Look At" Birth Certificate "Too Closely"</a></p> | Fox's Keith Ablow: "Of Course" Unions Support Obama, Because He Pursues "A Socialist Or Communist Manifesto" | true | http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201107050024 | 2011-07-06 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Amazon.com Inc's Whole Foods Market on Thursday said payment card information has been stolen from taprooms, restaurants and other venues located within some of its stores.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The upscale grocer, which Amazon recently purchased for $13.7 billion, said it uses a different point-of-sale system for its roughly 450 U.S. stores. That system was not involved in the data hack, the company said.</p>
<p>Whole Foods said the Amazon.com systems do not connect to the affected systems at Whole Foods and that Amazon.com transactions also were not involved.</p>
<p>More than 40 Whole Foods stores sell beer on tap. The company did not immediately say how many restaurants are in its stores.</p>
<p>Whole Foods said it has launched an investigation into the hack, obtained the help of a leading cyber security forensics firm, contacted law enforcement, and is taking appropriate measures to address the issue. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Leslie Adler)</p> | Whole Foods says taprooms, restaurants hacked | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/09/28/whole-foods-says-taprooms-restaurants-hacked.html | 2017-09-28 | 0 |
<p>The New York Post <a href="http://nypost.com/2017/09/28/family-claims-high-school-killer-was-bullied-with-gay-slurs/" type="external">reports</a>:</p>
<p>The Bronx student who allegedly stabbed a classmate to death and seriously injured another was bullied for his sexual orientation — and will be put on suicide watch in jail, it was revealed in court Thursday.</p>
<p>Abel Cedeno, 18, is facing murder charges for allegedly killing classmate Matthew McCree, 15, and critically injuring Araine LaBoy, 16, during their US history class Wednesday at the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation.</p>
<p>Cedeno did not enter a plea during arraignment Thursday, but Assistant District Attorney Nancy Borko said the teen “admits to purchasing a knife two weeks before online and stabbing two people.”</p>
<p>“As far as I know, these students have been calling him faggot and spic, so it’s sexual orientation and race,” said family rep Savannah Hornback outside the Bronx courtroom.</p>
<p>From the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/student-stabbed-death-fight-bronx-school-article-1.3524997" type="external">New York Daily News</a>:</p>
<p>The taunting began on the first day of high school and continued until Abel Cedeno couldn’t hold his rage another second. The bullied student, armed with a $30 switchblade, stabbed one of his tormentors to death and savagely gashed a second teen as a Wednesday morning history class turned into a Bronx bloodbath, police said.</p>
<p>Horrified classmates howled in disbelief as Cedeno flew into a homicidal fury, plunging the serrated stainless steel blade into the chests of Matthew McCree, 15, and Ariane Laboy, 16. The knife-wielding Cedeno just “went crazy,” said witness Jomarlyn Colon, 16. “Everybody just stood back. A few of them were holding Matthew. A few of them were holding towels on the wound.”</p>
<p>It’s been nearly 25 years since a New York City student was murdered inside a school. In early 1993 a 15 year-old was stabbed to death in the hallway of a Manhattan junior high.</p>
<p /> | NEW YORK CITY: Student Bullied With Gay Slurs Stabs Classmate To Death, First School Killing Since 1993 | true | http://joemygod.com/2017/09/29/new-york-city-student-bullied-gay-slurs-stabs-classmate-death-citys-first-school-killing-since-1993/ | 2017-09-29 | 4 |
<p />
<p>On a cool day in September last year, about a dozen men wearing identical gym shorts and white T-shirts filed out of a large tan building in East Moline, Illinois. The building, perched on a hill near the Mississippi River and surrounded by barbed wire, is the East Moline Correctional Center. The men were loaded into&#160;a van and driven six miles to a bus station. Each was issued a ticket to Chicago.</p>
<p>Among them was John Williams, 43, who had just finished a one-year sentence at the&#160;minimum security prison, which houses 1,441 male inmates. He had served time for retail theft, his second felony in 20 years.</p>
<p>In preparation for leaving,&#160;Williams turned&#160;in his state-owned television set and fan and received his new shorts and t-shirt. He was disappointed he wasn’t given&#160;warmer clothes, but tried to take it in stride. “I tried not to get mad because this was my last day in prison. Whether I be cold or whatever, I was leaving.”</p>
<p>Williams was taking the first steps in his sometimes rocky journey of re-entry, recovery and redemption.</p>
<p>He&#160;was relieved to be headed to&#160;Chicago, but it felt strange.</p>
<p>“The bus was already packed with passengers, so I guess from their view they can see all these guys in jogging suits and jogging shorts,” he recalled. “As we boarded the bus, it was an awkward feeling, looking around at regular civilians, people traveling, doing what people do in everyday life, and we’re just being thrust back into society.”</p>
<p>Williams was 20 years old when he was first jailed for an armed violence&#160;charge that resulted from a brawl involving the attempted murder of a drug dealer. By then, Williams was a marijuana and crack cocaine dealer himself.</p>
<p>He also was the father of two children.&#160; The first, Walter, was born when Williams was a junior in high school.&#160; “As soon as he was born, I made sure I was present,” he said.&#160; “I gave love to my children, but I still had one foot in the streets.”</p>
<p>Williams grew up the youngest of six children in the South Shore neighborhood.&#160; His father died before he was born, and he describes his stepfather as an alcoholic. “He was financially, physically, and emotionally abusive to my mother to the point where my older siblings began to fight him back and I was just a little kid and I was scared.” &#160;Without a father figure, Williams felt that he lacked&#160;an&#160;&#160;identity, and began to seek guidance from an older brother who was involved in a gang. &#160;“I really did not go out starting trouble, but I was welcoming to finish it,” he said.Williams has long struggled with substance abuse.</p>
<p>“I took my first drink about the age of 9, smoked my first joint at age 10,” he said.&#160; As an adult, he became an alcoholic, and after serving time, he became addicted to crack.&#160;“After that first hit, it was the most insane euphoric feeling I had ever felt in my life,” he said. “I chased crack for eight and a half years after that, up until I went back to prison.”</p>
<p>While incarcerated, Williams decided to put his addictions behind him and began attending Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. But maintaining his sobriety wasn’t easy. Tragedy had struck five weeks before he left prison when his eldest son, Walter, was shot and killed at 34th Street and Indiana Avenue by two teenagers, now awaiting trial. &#160;Williams decided to use his grief, not as an excuse to slip into old, self-destructive patterns, but as a motivator to stay clean and start over.</p>
<p>Photo by Grace Donnelly</p>
<p>Williams wears a sweat shirt that belonged to his son Walter. It is the only possession of his late son’s that he still has.</p>
<p>Photo by Grace Donnelly</p>
<p>Williams holds up his sobriety key chain from Narcotics Anonymous that reads, ” Clean and serene for 18 months.”</p>
<p>Chicago has 12 pre-approved “host sites” where inmates are allowed to live after being released on parole. Williams was not able to secure housing at his first choice, a sober living facility he was familiar with, and was instead placed at a homeless shelter.</p>
<p>Money and time were working against him. “When I got to Chicago, I had to choose between taking public transportation or [getting] a meal because I did not have enough [money] for both,” he said. “If I had not known where [the shelter] was, I would not have made it there in time for curfew and broken my parole.”</p>
<p>The first night Williams spent at the shelter, he witnessed men using using&#160;crack. He was determined, he said, to find a way to get into a different living facility that would be acceptable for his parole conditions.&#160; He called St. Leonard’s Ministries.</p>
<p>St. Leonard’s provides comprehensive residential, case management and employment services for formerly incarcerated men and women. After an interview, he was accepted into their six-month transition program. At St. Leonard’s, he would get three meals a day, attend classes and receive job&#160;training. Residents are assigned chores to help with building upkeep. Drug and alcohol use are not permitted.</p>
<p />
<p>Church had been part of Williams’ life in good times and bad. Before he was incarcerated, he attended Shekinah Church in Riverdale. &#160;He continues to attend services, although it takes him a lot longer to get there — an hour and a half via public transportation from St. Leonard’s House on the West Side.</p>
<p />
<p>He tries to keep himself mentally and physically healthy through exercise. He and a friend joined the Back on My Feet program, an aptly named group that meets at 5 a.m.outside St. Leonard’s three times a week. The group runs up to four miles together.</p>
<p>Williams learned yoga in prison. After his morning runs with Back on My Feet, he attends a yoga class in the basement of St. Leonard’s. He was temporarily sidelined from exercising after he fractured his foot.</p>
<p>The program at St. Leonard’s also includes classes to help participants adjust to life outside of prison. A class on parenting instructs residents on how to rebuild relationships interrupted during incarceration, and on coping&#160;with the stress of being a parent. Douglas McKinney, who was formerly incarcerated himself, speaks to residents about how everyday annoyances&#160;can trigger impatience and anger and how to manage those feelings to stay sober.</p>
<p>Photo by Grace Donnelly</p>
<p>Douglas McKinney speaks to St. Leonard’s program participants on the importance of staying sober.</p>
<p>Williams also has completed Employment Preparation Training, a four-week program that teaches skills to better chances of finding employment. Through EPT, he was paired with a coach to help him in his job search. Williams said he has applied to hundreds of jobs unsuccessfully. He&#160;said, “It is a difficult feeling when you are in an interview and everything is going well, but you know the question is coming: ‘Have you ever been convicted of a felony?’” While he pursues full-time work, Williams has been repairing appliances through his business, Walter’s Appliance Repair, named after his late son.</p>
<p>Photo by Grace Donnelly</p>
<p>Williams and his friend Ali hold up their Employment Preparation Training (EPT) certificates.</p>
<p>After completing the six-month program at St. Leonard’s in&#160;April, Williams&#160;applied for and was placed on a waiting list for permanent subsidized housing&#160;offered through the organization for men exiting prison. He also is seeking housing through the Chicago Housing Authority. In the meantime, he lives in a dorm-like room at St. Leonard’s house.</p>
<p>Despite the challenges he faces, Williams remains optimistic about his prospects for the future. During class one day, he said he used to feel like he needed to have a “mean mug” look on his face most of the time. But since participating in the re-entry program, he has learned to smile and be himself.</p>
<p>“John is a good man, and he is really trying to change his life,” said Victor Gaskins, program director at St. Leonard’s House. He could have easily used drugs again after his son died, but he has used that [tragedy] to stay clean for his two other children and keep moving forward.”</p>
<p />
<p>&#160;</p> | Re-entry: one man’s road to recovery and redemption | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/re-entry-one-mans-road-to-recovery-and-redemption/ | 2015-06-10 | 3 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>About 80 people turned out, some holding signs that said, “respect ABQ&#160;women.”</p>
<p>Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld of Congregation Albert said “there are lines you&#160;don’t cross,” and one of them is the government telling a woman when she&#160;can have a medical procedure, he said.</p>
<p>“Do I choose to follow the tenants of my faith, or will the government&#160;tell me that the tenants of my faith are secondary to the tenants of&#160;another faith on which it’s decided to base its laws on?” he asked.&#160;“It’s absurd.”</p>
<p>The abortion debate comes up because activists have gathered thousands&#160;of petition signatures to get an ordinance limiting abortions on the&#160;fall ballot. The proposal would ban abortions after 20 weeks of&#160;pregnancy, with narrow exceptions for when the life of the pregnant&#160;women is endanger.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>It’s called the “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Ordinance.” The&#160;city clerk hasn’t determined yet whether enough of the signatures are&#160;valid to move the proposal forward to voters.</p>
<p>Dr. Sandra Penn, a physician for more than 30 years, attacked the&#160;argument that fetal pain justifies the ordinance. A 2005 study reported&#160;in the Journal of the American Medical Association, she said, found that&#160;fetal perception of pain is unlikely before at least 28 or 29 weeks of&#160;pregnancy.</p>
<p>Supporters of the ordinance <a href="" type="internal">announced last week</a> that they believe they&#160;have enough signatures to get it on the ballot.</p> | Campaign against ABQ abortion proposal begins | false | https://abqjournal.com/240590/campaign-begins-to-defeat-abq-abortion-proposal-2.html | 2013-08-01 | 2 |
<p>April 9, 2013</p>
<p>By Katy Grimes</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Hesperia, won one for the good guys today. But it’s just the opening round.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">AB 351</a> by Donnelly, <a href="http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB351" type="external">The California Liberty Preservation Act</a>, would declare indefinite detention of an California citizen, a violation of both the <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/const-toc.html" type="external">California</a> and &#160; <a href="http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html" type="external">U.S. Constitution</a>s.</p>
<p>The bill was passed by the Assembly Public Safety Committee by a vote of 6-0.</p>
<p>According to Donnelly, <a href="" type="internal">AB 351</a> will protect Californians’ constitutionally guaranteed right to a fair and speedy trial and to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty against the broad federal powers granted by the <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr4310/text" type="external">National Defense Authorization Act</a>.</p>
<p>“The NDAA gives the executive branch—under not only President Obama, but also every future president—unprecedented power to detain US citizens without due process. This runs counter to the very principles that make America great, and violates our nation’s commitment to the rule of law,” said Donnelly in a press statement.</p>
<p>“In states around the country, legislation is being considered which would severely hamper or even fully block any attempt to arrest and detain people without due process,” the <a href="" type="external">Washington Times</a>recently reported. “In Michigan, Montana, Texas and California, votes are coming up soon to move such bills forward.”</p>
<p>Donnelly’s primary concern with the National Defense Authorization Act&#160;was it gave the federal government authority to detain indefinitely anyone accused of terrorism, including American citizens. Shockingly, this label of terrorism has been applied to American anti-war protestors to people in the Tea Party.</p>
<p>Signed into law December 2011 by President Obama, the NDAA gave the federal government the power to “indefinitely detain” people, including US citizens, with no due process and no access to lawyers, the Washington Times found.</p>
<p>The federal Act therefore could easily allow for a future President to silence dissenters and deny the 1st Amendment.</p>
<p>AB 351 would prohibit California law enforcement from cooperating with any federal authority attempting to impose the Unconstitutional provisions of NDAA in California.</p>
<p>“We have a moral duty to protect Californians from the disastrous consequences made possible by NDAA,” Donnelly said. “When Constitutional protections are ignored, racist hysteria allows vulnerable groups to be targeted. It was not long ago we memorialized the tragedy of Japanese American internment camps on the floor of the California State Assembly. I am grateful for today’s committee vote, which shows Californians that their representatives are serious about ensuring similar violations of freedom and human rights abuses never happen again within our State.</p>
<p>The bill was <a href="http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB351" type="external">heavily amended</a>, but the intent was not removed.</p>
<p>Read Donnelly’s press statement <a href="http://arc.asm.ca.gov/member/AD33/" type="external">here</a>. &#160;The bill is headed for&#160;the Assembly&#160;Appropriations Committee next.</p> | Liberty wins in legislative committee | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2013/04/09/liberty-wins-in-legislative-committee/ | 2018-04-20 | 3 |
<p>TUSCON, Ariz. - Each morning when Tatianna Lesnikova wakes up, she mourns what she left behind when she fled the threat of political persecution in the Ukraine to the United States 20 years ago: Her now 39-year-old son.</p>
<p>Then she remembers even if she wanted to leave the US to see him again, she can't. Unless the law changes, she is stuck here for the rest of her life.</p>
<p>The fact that the 63-year-old is stateless - meaning she has no citizenship anywhere at all - has dropped her into a twilight zone under US immigration law, which has no legal provisions for people like her.</p>
<p>She came to the US on a Soviet passport and the Ukraine refuses to recognize her citizenship or issue her travel documents, so she can't travel. US authorities have repeatedly tried to deport her, despite the fact that there is nowhere to send her to.</p>
<p>"It's like a hell," she said from her home in Massachusetts recently. "I feel less than human."</p>
<p>After years of failed efforts, human rights advocates say US President Barack Obama's re-election has provided a sliver of opportunity to help the more than 4,000 stateless people in the United States like Lesnikova gain permanent legal status.</p>
<p>Immigration reform is firmly on the national agenda and, advocates say, top officials have sent signals that they want to help. A campaign launched this week by <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c155.html" type="external">United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)</a> in the US could be the impetus that drives Congress to pass legislation finally offering America's stateless a path to full legal status, they hope.</p>
<p>If that happens, it could have a cascading effect by prompting other countries that look to the United States for leadership to offer more protection to the roughly 12 million stateless people worldwide.</p>
<p>"We have to put statelessness on the radar," said David Baluarte, an attorney working at American University's human rights law clinic who was the primary author of a UNHCR report on statelessness in the United States released on Monday. "This is a problem that is in our power to address."</p>
<p>Though the federal government has repeatedly pledged to help them, America's stateless people remain among the most vulnerable in the Western world, largely because almost no one knows they exist.</p>
<p>"In the United States we often take our nationality for granted," Baluarte said. "The idea that people don't have citizenship is difficult to conceptualize."</p>
<p>Several European countries offer pathways to legalization, often under the framework of United Nations conventions. But in the US, the stateless have no way to gain a real immigration status unless they are granted asylum.</p>
<p>If their asylum requests are rejected, as in Lesnikova's case, they live the rest of their lives in a sort of hellish quasi-legality. Because they are unable to get travel documents, they can't leave the country even if they wanted to. And they are repeatedly put into immigration detention as officials try but fail to deport them.</p>
<p>Their precarious position can lead to almost unfathomable situations, such as the case of Mikhail Sebastian, whom <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/121002/stuck-samoa-us-refuses-stateless-Mikhail-Sebastian" type="external">GlobalPost first reported on in October</a>.</p>
<p>When the stateless man tried to return to his home in the mainland United States from a vacation to American Samoa last year, federal immigration officials said he had "self-deported" and refused to allow him back - despite the fact that American Samoa is a US territory.</p>
<p>Sebastian has been marooned for nearly a year on the isolated Pacific island, as officials work out what to do with him.</p>
<p>In other cases highlighted in the UNHCR report, stateless people in the US have ended up in homeless shelters or suffered serious psychological trauma after spending extended periods of time in immigration detention.</p>
<p>Authorities say they're working to make common sense policy reform to reduce the burden on this small section of society. Earlier this year, for instance, the Homeland Security Department said it would reduce the number of times per year that stateless people are required to physically check in with immigration officials. The UNHCR report calls for other adjustments, such as providing basic travel documents that would allow stateless to travel outside the United States.</p>
<p>But the real jackpot - a pathway to legal status and an end to limbo - can only come from Congress.</p>
<p>Despite the support of heavyweights like Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), previous attempts to pass legislation offering legalization pathways for the stateless, including one in 2010, have failed.</p>
<p>But advocates are banking on pledges by the United States government to finally address the problem. Last year the State Department promised to work with Congress to find a way for stateless people to gain permanent residency and eventually citizenship. A bill winding its way through Congress now, the Refugee Protection Act of 2011, would allow some of the most vulnerable of America's stateless to gain formal status and provide hope to non-citizens around the world.</p>
<p>"If the US did establish better domestic protection for these people it could really add momentum to solving this everywhere," said Julia Harrington Reddy, a senior legal officer with the Open Society Justice Initiative, which promotes human rights and builds legal capacity.</p>
<p>Lindsay Jenkins, an assistant protection officer with UNHCR, added: "We want to make clear that real people are suffering terrible hardships."</p>
<p>It is no more real to anyone than Lesnikova, who left behind a life as a successful piano teacher in the Ukraine and now works as a certified nursing assistant.</p>
<p>As the years have passed, she has found it difficult to maintain of hope that her situation will ever change. But when she thinks of her son, now living in Russia, she resolves to stay strong.</p>
<p>"He's a good boy, an intelligent boy, I want to see him again," she said.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/india/120328/bangladesh-border-dispute-enclaves-hunger-strike" type="external">Trapped in Bangladesh-India enclaves</a></p> | For the stateless, hope for path to citizenship in Obama's second term | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-12-14/stateless-hope-path-citizenship-obamas-second-term | 2012-12-14 | 3 |
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<p>LAS CRUCES – Shoppers in Las Cruces will pay a slightly higher sales tax on many purchases as a result of the City Council’s action responding to the state’s decision earlier this year to reduce payments to local governments.</p>
<p>The Las Cruces Sun-News reported that the increase of .38 of 1 percent of the city’s gross receipt tax amounts to an additional 4 cents tax on $10 of purchases. Purchases for food, medicine and some medical services are excluded.</p>
<p>The increase begins Jan. 1, and city officials estimate that the city will collect nearly $4.5 million in additional tax revenue during the final six months of the current fiscal year.</p>
<p>Mayor Ken Miyagishima says Las Cruces had to raise its sales tax as a result of the state’s action.</p>
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<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Sales tax to rise slightly in Las Cruces next year | false | https://abqjournal.com/258026/sales-tax-to-rise-slightly-in-las-cruces-next-year.html | 2013-09-05 | 2 |
<p>An explosion at a Venezuela refinery plant has killed at least 39 people and injured 80 others.&#160;</p>
<p>The blast at the Amuay plant, one of the world's largest, has also halted production for at least two days and damaged the surrounding houses, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19378657" type="external">according to BBC News</a>. The fire has since been brought under control.&#160;</p>
<p>"The gas cloud exploded, igniting at least two storage tanks and other facilities at the refinery,"&#160;Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez told state TV. "It was a significant explosion, there is appreciable damage to infrastructure and to houses opposite the refinery." &#160;</p>
<p>Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez declared three days of national mourning for the victims of the explosion, BBC News reported.&#160;</p>
<p>"I want to send out to the families of those who died, civilians and military, all our pain, mine, that of all my family, everyone in the national government and the people of Venezuela," Chavez said. "It has been decided to have three days of mourning, national mourning because this affects everyone in the big family of Venezuela."</p>
<p>Among the victims of the explosion, which was caused by a gas leak that ignited, was a 10-year-old boy, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fgw-venezuela-refinery-20120825,0,6854899.story" type="external">the Los Angeles Times reported</a>. 18 of the victims were National Guard troops stationed at the refinery, and 15 were civilians, according to BBC. Six bodies have still not been identified. &#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/chatter/venezuela-sends-deepest-condolences-syria-regime-condems-damascus-bombing" type="external">Venezuela sends 'deepest condolences' to Syria regime</a></p>
<p>Vice President Elias Jaua, who traveled to the scene of the accident in the western part of Venezuela, said the authorities were "trying to save the greatest number of lives."</p>
<p>"We are deploying our whole fire service team, all our health team, the whole contingency plan on the orders of Comandante Chavez to treat the people affected by this emergency,"&#160;Falcon state governor Stella Lugo told state TV, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/25/us-venezuela-refinery-idUSBRE87O02R20120825" type="external">Reuters reported</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>Venezuelan President Hugo Ch'vez said that the explosion was "sad and painful," <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/world/americas/explosion-at-venezuela-refinery.html" type="external">The New York Times reported</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>"We don't have anything to hide," Ch'vez, who said he would launch an investigation into the blast. "We have to overcome this tragedy."</p>
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<p /> | Venezuela refinery blast kills at least 39 (VIDEO) | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-08-25/venezuela-refinery-blast-kills-least-39-video | 2012-08-25 | 3 |
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<p>WASHINGTON – We expect some hypocrisy in politics, but it was still jaw-dropping to behold Republicans accusing President Obama of politicizing the anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden. Wasn’t it just eight years ago that the GOP organized an entire presidential campaign – including the choreography of its 2004 national convention – around the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and George W. Bush’s response to them?</p>
<p>Obama’s opponents don’t just think we have short attention spans. They imagine we have no memories whatsoever.</p>
<p>Yet very quickly, Mitt Romney and the rest of his party began slinking away from their offensive. It’s true, of course, that Obama played the ultimate presidential trump card. He visited our troops in Afghanistan on Tuesday, the anniversary of the bin Laden raid, and, with military vehicles serving as a rough-hewn backdrop, addressed the nation from the scene of our longest war.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>But the GOP retreat reflected something else as well. For the first time since the early 1960s, the Republican Party enters a presidential campaign at a decided disadvantage on foreign policy. Republicans find it hard to get accustomed to the fact that when they pull their favorite political levers – accusations that Democrats are “weak” or Romney’s persistent and false claims that Obama “apologizes” for America – nothing happens.</p>
<p>The polls could hardly be clearer. In early April, a Washington Post/ABC News Poll found that 53 percent of Americans trusted Obama over Romney to handle international affairs. Only 36 percent trusted Romney more. On a list of 12 matters that a president would deal with, Obama enjoyed a larger advantage only on one other question, the handling of women’s issues. And on coping with terrorism, the topic on which Republicans once enjoyed a near-monopoly, Obama led Romney by seven points.</p>
<p>How did this happen? The primary reason, to borrow a term from science, is negative signaling: By the end of Bush’s second term, the Republicans’ approach to foreign policy was discredited in the eyes of a majority of Americans. The war in Iraq turned out (and this is being quite charitable) much differently than the Bush administration had predicted.</p>
<p>It is always worth recalling Vice President Dick Cheney’s interview with Tim Russert on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on March 16, 2003. Among other things, Cheney famously declared that “I really do believe that we will be greeted as liberators.” And when Russert asked whether “we would have to have several hundred thousand troops there” in Iraq “for several years in order to maintain stability,” Cheney replied, “I disagree,” insisting: “That’s an overstatement.”</p>
<p>It was not an overstatement.</p>
<p>More generally, Americans came to see that the war in Iraq had nothing to do with what they cared most about, which was protecting the United States against another terrorist attack. Indeed, the war in Afghanistan, which was a direct response to 9/11, was pushed aside as a priority. At one point, Bush declared of bin Laden: “I don’t know where he is. You know, I just don’t spend that much time on him … to be honest with you.”</p>
<p>And this is where negative signaling turns into a positive assessment of Obama. He understood the importance of bin Laden. He addressed the broad and sensible public desire to get our troops out of Iraq. He focused on how to get a moderately satisfactory result in Afghanistan – which is probably the very best that the United States can do now.</p>
<p>The Afghan policy Obama announced Tuesday reflected the president’s innate caution. He wants to withdraw our troops, but not so fast as to increase the level of chaos in the country. He imagines a longer engagement with Afghanistan because he does not want to repeat the West’s mistake of disengaging too quickly after American arms helped the mujahedeen defeat the Soviet Union there in the 1980s.</p>
<p>Public opinion is on the side of getting out sooner. But most Americans are likely to accept the underlying rationale for Obama’s policy because it is built not on grand plans to remake a region but on the narrower and more realistic goal of preventing terrorist groups from regaining a foothold in the country.</p>
<p>And that’s why Republicans finally seem to realize that driving foreign policy out of the campaign altogether is their best option. After a decade of war, Americans prefer prudence over bluster and careful claims over expansive promises. On foreign policy, Obama has kept his 2008 promise to turn history’s page. The nation is in no mood to turn it back.</p>
<p>Dionne’s columns, including those not published in the Journal, can be read at ABQjournal.com/opinion – look for the syndicated columnist link. Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group; email: <a href="" type="external">[email protected]. &gt;</a></p> | GOP Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds | false | https://abqjournal.com/103824/gop-hypocrisy-knows-no-bounds.html | 2012-05-04 | 2 |
<p>ALEXANDRIA, Egypt — An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced two supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi to death for committing murder during violence that broke out in Alexandria last year after the army deposed the Islamist head of state.</p>
<p>The two men — Mahmoud Ramadan and Abdullah el-Ahmedi — were standing trial on charges that included throwing youths from the roof of a building in the Mediterranean city.</p>
<p>The judge ruled that their files be referred to the mufti, the country's highest religious authority to whom death sentences are always sent for review.</p>
<p>In a separate case on Monday, an Egyptian court in the southern province of Minya sentenced 529 supporters of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood to death, drawing strong criticism from Western governments and human rights groups.</p>
<p>The judge in Alexandria postponed the trial until May 19, pending the mufti's review of the sentences, state news agency MENA reported. Sixty other people are standing trial in the same case and their verdicts are also expected on May 19.</p>
<p>The violence in Alexandria's Sidi Gaber district broke out in the days after the army deposed Morsi on July 3 following mass protests against his rule. A total of 18 people were killed in clashes in the area, MENA said.</p>
<p>Footage of at least two youths being thrown from a roof was widely broadcast in Egypt at the time.</p>
<p>"This ruling is justice from God," Badr Hassouna, father of Mohamed Badr who died after being thrown from the roof, said in the courtroom.</p>
<p>The sentences drew a defiant response from the defendants.</p>
<p>"Life is not important. Nothing is important, but our Islam is important," they chanted, some of them holding aloft the Koran.</p>
<p /> | Egyptian Court Sentences Two Morsi Supporters to Death | false | http://nbcnews.com/news/world/egyptian-court-sentences-two-morsi-supporters-death-n66896 | 2014-03-29 | 3 |
<p>We had an amazing rally in Edmonton on Saturday. It was cold, but close to 3,000 people RSVP'd, and they kept pouring in. Four big buses brought up folks from Calgary and Red Deer.</p>
<p>We handed out about a thousand <a href="" type="internal">"Stop the Carbon Tax"</a> signs. That was the central message of our protest.</p>
<p>Unemployment is now 9 per cent in Alberta, and it's going to get worse, thanks to Notley's NDP.</p>
<p>So when one of the speakers was talking - Chris Alexander, the former federal Conservative cabinet minister, who is now running for leader of the party - someone from the audience broke out in a chant of "Lock her up"! (It was an homage to the chant at Donald Trump rallies in the states, whenever he talked about Hillary Clinton...)</p>
<p>It was just a light-hearted moment, a way for the crowd to blow off steam.</p>
<p>Chris Alexander smiled, but he didn't join in the chant. He said, "Vote her out" instead.</p>
<p>Well, the NDP's government spin doctors went crazy. One of them is a former CBC staffer named Kirk Heuser, who tweeted out the lie that Alexander had led the chant of "Lock her up" - which you can see he didn't.</p>
<p>Scott Gilmore, of Maclean's magazine, who happens to be the househusband of Catherine McKenna, Trudeau's environment minister, condemned Alexander for daring to speak to 3,000 people worried about their families. He even called those 3,000 people "pigs."</p>
<p>Canadian Press, iPolitics, CBC - they all did stories on the rally.</p>
<p>What's more disappointing, though, is that Conservatives Michael Chong and Deepak Obhrai chimed in, condemning our "bad behavior" and "hate mongering."</p>
<p>And you know what? I don't care if the chant was ridiculous and offensive. What's truly ridiculous that Notley is bringing in a carbon tax when unemployment is 9 per cent. I want to offend the premier. It's my right as a citizen, and a free man.</p>
<p>The Rebel will stand with our viewers, and the 3,000 hurting Albertans who were there, and 3 million more who oppose the carbon tax too.</p>
<p>NEXT: Chris Alexander himself joins me to talk about what really happened at our rally, and the hysterical reaction to the event.</p>
<p>THEN: Claudia Rosett comes on to about her new essay about "escaping" from "The Life of Julia," Obama's disturbing video promoting the idea that the government should care for everyone, especially women, from cradle to grave.</p>
<p>Rosett talks about breathing a sign of relief after Donald Trump's election, because she hopes he will at least refrain from trying to run Americans' lives.</p>
<p>FINALLY: I read your messages to me (and remind you about <a href="http://www.thebigplan.ca" type="external">TheBigPlan.ca</a>)</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 3,000 Rebels rally in Edmonton - and Media Party goes crazy | true | http://therebel.media/ezra_levant_december_05 | 2016-12-05 | 0 |
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<p>Second Congressional District Rep. Steve Pearce, left, greets people who attended his town hall at the Ruidoso Convention Center in March. (Lauren Villagran/Journal)</p>
<p>Rep. Steve Pearce, a Republican member of the House Freedom Caucus that helped kill an earlier attempt to replace the Affordable Care Act with a GOP alternative, is likely to vote for the latest version of the bill, his office said today.</p>
<p>Republicans now say they have enough <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/05/04/house-obamacare-repeal-vote/101270118/" type="external">votes</a> to send their latest Obamacare replacement legislation to the Senate.</p>
<p>“He’s a lean yes on this bill,” said Pearce spokeswoman Keeley Christensen in an email to the Journal this morning. “While it still isn’t perfect, it allows states to tailor their plans to the needs of the people who live there.”</p>
<p>Last month, Pearce was among about two dozen conservatives who <a href="" type="internal">opposed</a> a version of the health care legislation that was supported by President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan.</p>
<p>New Mexico’s Democratic Reps. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ben Ray Lujan oppose the GOP bill set for a vote today.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Rep. Steve Pearce leaning “yes” on House health care bill | false | https://abqjournal.com/998463/rep-steve-pearce-leaning-yes-on-house-health-care-bill.html | 2 |
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<p>U.S. stock indexes are drifting mostly lower, pulling the Dow Jones industrial average slightly below its latest all-time high.</p>
<p>The Dow fell 10 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 18,214 Thursday.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Standard &amp; Poor's 500 index fell three points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,110. The Nasdaq composite rose 20 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,987.</p>
<p>Energy stocks fell more than the rest of the market as the price of oil plunged again. Chevron and Exxon Mobil were among the biggest decliners in the Dow.</p>
<p>Sears fell 5 percent after the company reported its fourth straight year of falling profit and revenue.</p>
<p>Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.03 percent from 1.97 percent late Wednesday.</p> | US stock indexes drift mostly lower, led by declines in energy companies as oil prices slide | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/02/26/us-stock-indexes-drift-mostly-lower-led-by-declines-in-energy-companies-as-oil.html | 2016-03-06 | 0 |
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<p>A polar express delivered a heavy snowstorm to New Mexico on Thursday, creating dangerous conditions, and closing roads, schools and government offices.</p>
<p>A Sandoval County sheriff’s deputy was struck by a car and seriously injured while attending to a wreck on snow-packed Interstate 25 between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. He was reported to be in critical condition Thursday afternoon.</p>
<p>Hazardous driving conditions were expected to continue this morning as water refreezes overnight, a National Weather Service spokesman said. A two-hour delay is in effect today for Manzano High School, East Mountain schools and To’hajiilee students, Albuquerque Public Schools announced late Thursday.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We’re just starting to see the coldest air coming into the Albuquerque area,” said meteorologist Brian Guyer.</p>
<p>Snowfall amounts As of Thursday evening: Albuquerque foothills – 6 inches Albuquerque North Valley – ½ inch Santa Fe (plaza) – 5 inches Taos – ½ inch Las Vegas – 5 inches East Mountains – 6-10 inches Gallup – ½ inch Roswell – 1 inch Source: National Weather Service</p>
<p>School delays A two-hour delay is in effect for Manzano High School, East Mountain schools and To’hajiilee students today, Albuquerque Public Schools said late Thursday. East Mountains schools affected include Roosevelt Middle School, San Antonito Elementary and A. Montoya Elementary. APS also said that some buses may be delayed today due to the temperature. Children should be dressed warmly and parents should drive them to the bus stop, if possible.</p>
<p>“We had an arctic air mass build up and plunge south from south Canada,” he said, adding that it joined with moisture coming out of the Pacific, delivering snow amounts ranging from 2 to 6 inches in Albuquerque, with the lower amounts in the north and south valleys and the higher amounts in the foothills and Sandia Tram areas of the city.</p>
<p>Nearly a foot fell in parts of the East Mountain area, and Santa Fe received between 5 and 8 inches.</p>
<p>Temperatures in the Duke City didn’t exceed the 30s on Thursday and were expected to be in the teens through Thursday night, Guyer said.</p>
<p>“The eastern plains of New Mexico have already seen temperatures of below 15 degrees, where temperatures are expected to hover around zero through (Thursday night),” Guyer said.</p>
<p>Also hard hit was northern New Mexico, where some of the biggest snowfalls were in rural communities south and east of Santa Fe. I-25 from Rowe to Romeroville south of Las Vegas, N.M., was closed Thursday morning due to blizzard conditions.</p>
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<p>The San Jose and Ribera area, east of Pecos, had about 7½ inches by mid-day, according to a National Weather Service meteorologist.</p>
<p>“I’d say it’s eight inches to a foot,” said Glen Post, owner of Pecos River Station in San Jose, looking out his window at about 2 p.m. “I’ve plowed my lot three times already.”</p>
<p>The interstate that passes by Post’s store was closed at that point.</p>
<p>There were no reports of fatal accidents around the rest of northern New Mexico, but vehicles sliding off the highways were common.</p>
<p>Another weather front was expected to come into the state out of the north over the weekend, Guyer said, with the chance of more snow.</p>
<p>“It will continue to be cold through the weekend with temperatures in the teens and 20s,” Guyer said. “Bring your pets in, throw another blanket on the bed or maybe throw another dog on the blanket.”</p>
<p>That will be followed by even colder air on Monday and Tuesday, Guyer said.</p>
<p>A pedestrian with an umbrella leans into the wind while crossing an intersection on the University of New Mexico campus during snow fall on December 5, 2013. (Dean Hanson/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>Travel discouraged</p>
<p>Thursday’s storm had significant impacts on traffic in the Albuquerque metro area, reducing visibility and creating icy roads for motorists.</p>
<p>“It destroyed traffic this morning,” Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Aaron Williamson said.</p>
<p>“There were several minor crashes on snow-packed Sedillo Hill, and it was a very slow go for motorists,” he said.</p>
<p>One crash involved an empty school bus tangling with at least three other vehicles in a crash on eastbound Interstate 40 at Juan Tabo, he said. No injuries were reported.</p>
<p>With the prospect of refrozen roads and hazardous conditions this morning, the sheriff’s department was discouraging travel.</p>
<p>“If you don’t have to be out, don’t be, but if you do, give yourself plenty of time to get there,” Williamson said.</p>
<p>Roads north and south of Interstate 40 were snow packed and icy on Thursday, he added.</p>
<p>The injured Sandoval County deputy, Sgt. Robert Baron, was investigating a weather-related crash near the San Felipe Pueblo exit when he was hit by a vehicle, according to the sheriff’s office. Baron was reported in critical but stable condition at University of New Mexico Hospital.</p>
<p>On a lighter note, Thursday’s blast of cold air and snow prompted some students at Cottonwood Classical Preparatory School to take a break from their physics class and build a snowman with spindly arms and dry maple leaves plastered on its snowy body.</p>
<p>Hayley Jones, right, and Eric Keahey, left, play with their dogs, Bunny and Gnash, at snowy Roosevelt Park in southeast Albuquerque on Thursday. (Marla Brose/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>“It hasn’t snowed like this in a really long time,” said student Erin Freisinger, who was joined by several classmates.</p>
<p>Students at the University of New Mexico went home at about 2 p.m. when classes were canceled, and the Albuquerque Public Schools allowed voluntary early dismissal for all students, according to spokeswoman Monica Armenta. Parents could pick up their children, and the early dismissal wouldn’t count as an excused absence.</p>
<p>All evening and night events, including night school, were canceled.</p>
<p>Early closures</p>
<p>Meanwhile, state government offices in Santa Fe were closed at 2 p.m. on Thursday, due to the snow and cold temperature.</p>
<p>Many state employees live in the Albuquerque area and commute to Santa Fe via I-25, and State Personnel Director Gene Moser said government officials were concerned about the likelihood of worsening driving conditions Thursday evening.</p>
<p>“What we wanted was to get (state) employees off the highway,” Moser told the Journal. “It was getting dangerous.”</p>
<p>He said top-ranking state officials, including Gov. Susana Martinez’s office, will make a decision early today about whether state offices will reopen.</p>
<p>Journal staffers Dan Boyd, Andy Stiny, Mark Oswald and Marla Brose contributed to this report.</p>
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<p /> | Snow, arctic air barrel into New Mexico | false | https://abqjournal.com/315080/front-brings-arctic-air-heavy-snow-hazardous-driving-conditions.html | 2 |
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<p>Northern Ireland had more than its share of sectarian violence in the time known as The Troubles.&#160; The story's been told more that a few times.&#160; But now it's being told through one family's songs and photographs.&#160; The pictures were taken in the 1970s and 80s by award-winning photojournalist Bobbie Hanvey.&#160; And his son, Steafán Hanvey wrote the songs, inspired by his dad's photos.&#160; As Steafán told me it's "the sound of somebody trying to make sense of a chaotic environment."&#160; Steafán is out on the road promoting his new album, Nuclear Family, and his dad's photos. The project is called "Look Behind You! A Father and Son's Impressions of The Troubles in Northern Ireland."&#160; Steafán Hanvey remembers growing up with his dad's photos all around.</p> | Northern Ireland's Past Through a Father's Lens and Son's Songs | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-04-11/northern-irelands-past-through-fathers-lens-and-sons-songs | 2013-04-11 | 3 |
<p>By Paul Brown, Climate News Network</p>
<p />
<p>&#160; &#160; A demonstration in Toulouse, France, in 2007 against plans to build a European pressurized reactor. (Guillaume Paumier via Wikimedia Commons)</p>
<p>This Creative Commons-licensed piece first appeared at <a href="http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/unfinished-nuclear-plants-raise-safety-doubts/" type="external">Climate News Network</a>.</p>
<p />
<p>LONDON — The future of the world’s biggest nuclear reactor, under construction at Flamanville in northern France, is now in doubt after a serious flaw was found in its steel pressure vessel.</p>
<p>Examination has shown that the steel contains too much carbon, which can weaken the vessel’s structure and breaches safety rules. The Chinese, who have two similar 1,600 megawatt <a href="http://www.areva.com/EN/global-offer-419/epr-reactor-one-of-the-most-powerful-in-the-world.html" type="external">European Pressurised Reactors</a> under construction, have been warned that they too may share the potentially catastrophic problem.</p>
<p>Investigations are continuing to check whether the problem can be rectified, but whatever happens it will add more delays and greater costs to the already troubled projects.</p>
<p>The problem also casts doubt on the much-heralded nuclear renaissance in Europe, where EPR reactors are being built not only in France but also in Finland.</p>
<p>Four more are planned for <a href="http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/europe-throws-nuclear-power-a-state-aid-lifeline/" type="external">Britain</a>, where they form a cornerstone of the UK government’s policy to fight climate change. A decision on whether to go ahead with the first two in the UK has already been postponed twice, and this revelation will cause further delays.</p>
<p>The French nuclear engineering firm <a href="http://www.areva.com" type="external">Areva</a>, involved in the EPR’s design and development, found the flawed steel and reported the problem to the country’s nuclear regulator, <a href="http://www.french-nuclear-safety.fr/" type="external">ASN</a>, which has ordered an investigation.&#160;The French energy minister, Ségolène Royal, says the results of tests to check the extent of the problem will be released in October.</p>
<p>It is understood that the maximum allowable carbon content of steel in the pressure vessel is 0.22%, but tests have shown 0.30% in parts of the Flamanville vessel. This could render it subject to cracking in operation and shorten its intended lifespan.</p>
<p>The discovery is another serious blow to the French nuclear industry, which already faces severe financial problems, partly because of existing delays to the reactors at Flamanville and at Finland’s Olkiluoto site. The Finnish reactor, which is not affected by this problem because its pressure vessel steel comes from Japan, not France,, is already nine years behind schedule for other reasons and has more than doubled in cost.</p>
<p>Following <a href="http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/fukushimas-legacy-is-just-beginning/" type="external">the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan</a> any compromise on minimum safety standards would be hard to sell to the public, especially since nuclear power has fallen out of favour with the French government, which wants to invest heavily in renewables.</p>
<p>France is already considering merging Areva and <a href="http://www.edf.com/the-edf-group-42667.html" type="external">Électricité de France</a> (EDF), the two nuclear companies in which it owns the majority of shares. Areva is building the Flamanville reactor on behalf of EDF, Europe’s largest electricity producer.</p>
<p>EDF recently estimated the construction costs of Flamanville at €8 billion (US$8.7bn) compared with an original estimate of €3.3bn, and that was before this setback. The plant was due to have been working by now, but its start date had already been put back to 2017 — which is now looking optimistic.</p>
<p>It is understood that the parts of the pressure vessel found with excess carbon were manufactured in France at the&#160; <a href="http://www.areva.com/EN/operations-2121/creusot-forge-and-creusot-mecaniquemanufacturer-of-large-forging-and-casting-components.html" type="external">Creusot Forge</a>, in Burgundy, owned by Areva. It was this same company that made parts for the two Chinese reactors, hence the fears that they too will contain carbon above safety limits.</p>
<p>One problem is the pressure vessel’s sheer size and the fact that it was already in place when the fault was detected. The vessel weighs 410 tonnes and cannot now be removed, and it is hard to see how it could be repaired or modified.</p>
<p>The problem was discovered in December but made public in a low-key website announcement only on 7 April.</p>
<p>One knock-on effect might be to seriously damage the British government’s own energy policy, which relies on building four similar reactors in England. Work has already been completed on preparatory works for two at Hinkley Point, in the west of England, using the Flamanville design.</p>
<p>The UK government has agreed large subsidies to support the projects, but EDF has repeatedly delayed signing a final deal to build them, because of a lack of investors. Two Chinese utilities were negotiating to back the project financially, but the discovery of a flaw at Flamanville may complicate matters.</p>
<p>In any event, the decision on whether to go ahead with the two reactors at Hinkley Point had already been postponed until the summer and now seems certain to be postponed yet again until the issue of the safety of the French and Chinese pressure vessels has been resolved.</p>
<p>The UK government has repeatedly said that the expansion of nuclear power is vital to its energy security and its ability to meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets. The country is currently in the middle of a general election campaign. Whichever government gets into power may have to rapidly rethink its energy policy.</p>
<p /> | Unfinished Nuclear Plants Raise Safety Doubts | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/unfinished-nuclear-plants-raise-safety-doubts/ | 2015-04-13 | 4 |
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<p>DETROIT — Highway safety advocates are worried that a government rule that would electronically limit speeds of tractor-trailers could be scuttled or ignored by the administration of President-elect Donald Trump.</p>
<p>The rule proposed by two federal agencies would cap the speed of newly manufactured trucks at 60, 65 or 68 miles per hour. A public comment period ended earlier this month. Safety advocates had petitioned for it in 2006, saying it would make highways safer, and they were hoping it would be in place before the Obama administration leaves office in January.</p>
<p>But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it normally takes at least a year after the regulation is first published for it to go into effect. In this case the agency and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published the rule last August. Spokesman Bryan Thomas says the agencies have to review more than 2,200 comments before making a decision.</p>
<p>“I am really disappointed if it’s not done right away,” said John Lannen, executive director of the Truck Safety Coalition who hoped for quick action because the measure has been in the works for more than a decade. “I’m hoping that safety regulations do get looked at differently than maybe just generic regulations because we’re trying to save lives.”</p>
<p>Trump has said he wants to get rid of unnecessary regulations that inhibit economic growth, and has even proposed that federal agencies scrap two regulations for every new one they adopt. His transition team wouldn’t comment on the speed limiter regulation and said it is focused on cabinet appointments and building the new administration. “There will be plenty of time to discuss detailed policy specifics after the swearing-in,” it said in a statement.</p>
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<p>Steve Owings, co-founder of Road Safe America, who originally proposed the rule, said advocates will reach out to the new administration to keep the regulation going. “This, as well as other needed changes, certainly fits the description of ‘common sense’ which the president-elect has spoken of recently,” said Owings, whose son was killed by a speeding truck while returning to college in 2002.</p>
<p>Regulators and others favoring speed limiters say the rule is supported by simple physics: If trucks travel slower, the impact of a crash will be less severe and fewer people will be injured or killed. The rule is supported by the American Trucking Associations, the largest group of trucking companies in the nation. NHTSA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration have to decide whether to proceed with the regulation and what speed that trucks would be limited to.</p>
<p>But independent truckers, many of whom filed comments against the rule, say the government is actually creating conditions for more collisions by focusing on the severity of the crash while ignoring the dynamic of trucks and cars traveling at different speeds. They warn of traffic jams caused by slower trucks and of a potential increase in crashes because fast-moving cars can hit the rear of trucks.</p>
<p>Owings says the rule should apply to existing trucks instead of just new ones because speeds could be limited with an inexpensive software update.</p>
<p>The speed limiters also would take care of the problem of trucks traveling faster speeds than their tires can handle. An investigation by The Associated Press last year found that most truck tires can’t handle speeds above 75 mph, yet some states let trucks go 80 mph or even 85 mph.</p> | Safety advocates fear truck speed limiter rule could stall | false | https://abqjournal.com/911974/safety-advocates-fear-truck-speed-limiter-rule-could-stall.html | 2016-12-19 | 2 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A 21-year-old Kirtland, N.M., man has been missing from his home since Jan. 27, the New Mexico Department of Public Safety announced.</p>
<p>Gilroy Luther is 4 feet 9 inches tall, weighs 101 pounds, has brown hair and brown eyes and is a Native American male, according to a missing persons poster.</p>
<p>Anyone with information is asked to contact the San Juan County Sheriff’s Detective Division at (505) 334-6107 or the New Mexico DPS Missing Person Hotline at 1-800-457-3463.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Kirtland Man Reported Missing | false | https://abqjournal.com/166471/166471.html | 2013-02-06 | 2 |
<p>By Bob Allen</p>
<p>A Southern Baptist megachurch claims it called police on a longtime church member not for questioning how church leaders handled a matter of sexual abuse two decades ago, but for posting threatening messages on Twitter.</p>
<p>“When it comes to protecting our people, we take that very seriously,” Ben Lovvorn, director of administration at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, <a href="http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Prestonwood-Baptistsocial-media-198381731.html" type="external">said</a> in a news story broadcast March 14 on Dallas-Fort Worth television station WFAA.</p>
<p>The segment showed screen shots captured from the Twitter account of Chris Tynes, a 14-year member of Prestonwood. One showed a photo of a minister’s parking spot with the words, “My target.” Another said, “I’m sitting in my perfect ambush spot.”</p>
<p>The WFAA story doesn’t say why the 32,000-member megachurch was monitoring Tynes’ Twitter account in the first place. Tynes said March 15 those messages appeared only briefly and were taken down before security guards ordered him off the church campus when he showed up without an appointment to try and meet with a church leader March 5.</p>
<p>Tynes called the postings “a stupid moment of bravado” written in frustration at having to drive to the church after Executive Pastor Mike Buster agreed to a meeting with him but then canceled it and refused to reschedule. Tynes said he felt his only recourse was to ask Buster in person why he canceled their meeting.</p>
<p>Tynes said he had been using Twitter only a few days and had about 10 followers, all close friends. He said one of his friends suggested his choice of words might be misunderstood, and he agreed and took the postings down.</p>
<p>Tynes said the whole thing would be a non-story if church leaders had kept their promise to talk to him about why they blocked him from social media for asking on the church Facebook page if news stories claiming Prestonwood failed to report a known child molester to police in the 1980s were true.</p>
<p>“There’s an appropriate time and place to address concerns, and a Facebook page is not the time and place for that,” Lovronn told WFAA.</p>
<p>Lovronn said the meeting was canceled after, “We learned Mr. Tynes really had no interest in meeting with the church in good faith.”</p>
<p>Tynes said he had not done anything publicly at the point Prestonwood canceled their meeting, and he thought when Buster agreed to meet with him and his wife that it was in good faith.</p>
<p>Tynes was interviewed for the story March 11. He expected to watch it that night but was told two nights in a row the story got bumped due to breaking news. After seeing the broadcast Thursday night, he said he was disappointed.</p>
<p>WFFA framed the story as a case of social media causing discord in a church. It described a church member “using social media to go on the attack.”</p>
<p>“These days reputations can be damaged with the click of a mouse,” an anchor person said leading into the report.</p>
<p>The story said Prestonwood officials were “surprised” to see Tynes writing on the church Facebook page about recently convicted child molester John Langworthy, who worked at Prestonwood Baptist more than 20 years ago but was let go after reportedly confessing to sexual misconduct with a minor.</p>
<p>It wrapped up with the summary, “Hard lessons on both sides about navigating through negativity in an online world.”</p>
<p>Church leaders told WFAA they filed a police report labeling Tynes as a “suspicious person, possibly violent” after he turned from Facebook to Twitter and started making “terroristic” threats.</p>
<p>“I’ve never been called a terrorist before,” Tynes <a href="https://twitter.com/crtynes" type="external">tweeted</a> March 14.</p>
<p>Tynes said he hasn’t accused Prestonwood of anything, but only asked questions about allegations made by somebody else. He said making him the story is Prestonwood’s only defense, adding that even after being publicly declared a terrorist, he still would be willing to sit down and hear the church’s side.</p>
<p>“I would meet with anybody at Prestonwood who is willing to answer my questions about this topic,” he said. “Unfortunately, I’ve been told by everyone I’ve talked to at PBC that Mike Buster is the only one to speak with on this topic.”</p>
<p>“For what it’s worth, I dislike this need for secrecy, to only talk about things behind closed doors,” Tynes added. “My message to Mike Buster would have been to implore him to make this a public thing and truly get past embarrassment and into healing.”</p>
<p>Tynes said in a little more than a week his new Facebook page, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/People-Against-Prestonwoods-Silence-on-Allegations-of-Sexual-Abuse/429678530451319?fref=ts" type="external">People Against Prestonwood’s Silence on Allegations of Sexual Abuse</a>, has already reached about 7,000 people. He said he has been receiving messages of support from all over the country and even a few from overseas.</p>
<p>Prestonwood told WFAA they don’t plan to press charges against Tynes, but he is banned from setting foot on the Plano campus, one of three locations for the multi-site congregation led by former Southern Baptist Convention President Jack Graham.</p>
<p>Prestonwood didn’t respond to an e-mail request from ABPnews.com for a comment about a story concerning its dispute with Tynes published last Friday. Blogger Dee Parsons <a href="http://thewartburgwatch.com/2013/03/08/prestonwood-baptist-vs-chris-tynes-something-is-very-wrong/" type="external">said</a> she received a stern-sounding phone call from someone claiming to be a Prestonwood staff member who said the church had no comment and then immediately hung up.</p>
<p>Previous story:</p>
<p><a href="culture/social-issues/item/8285-church-calls-cops-on-inquiring-member" type="external">Church calls cops on inquiring member</a></p> | Church defends calling cops on member | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/church-defends-calling-cops-on-member/ | 3 |
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<p />
<p>Shiprock hoped there would be an identical celebration in 2039. But there won't be.</p>
<p>Shiprock's Tanisha Begay (23), who had 10 points, drives against Portales during the 3A championship game. (Marla Brose/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>New Mexico's last remaining undefeated team went down hard Friday after a 29-0 start, losing 62-59 to No. 3 Portales in overtime at the Pit.</p>
<p>Rams coach Wade Fraze later spoke of - and probably exaggerated - Portales' dusty-town reputation and a name that he claimed nobody knew.</p>
<p>"Now," he said, "they've heard of us."</p>
<p>In girls basketball circles, Portales' name most definitely is a familiar one, although this, the school's first title since 2006, could be classified as unlikely.</p>
<p>Shiprock (29-1) was one of three unbeatens coming into the state tournament. The others were Laguna Acoma's boys and the girls from Clovis. Both lost Thursday.</p>
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<p>But Portales (25-5) announced itself firmly early, scoring 12 of the game's first 15 points, leaving a crowd estimated at 10,000 - perhaps 80 percent of them from Shiprock - with nothing to do but stare ahead slack-jawed.</p>
<p>The Lady Chieftains, however, woke from their slumber in the second quarter.</p>
<p>Taylor Henderson buried two 3-pointers during a 9-0 run that brought Shiprock to within a point at 20-19. Shiprock moments later went on a 7-0 run; Shontai Grey's rebound and putback led to a three-point play, Henderson drilled another 3, and many of those 10,000 roared their approval as the Lady Chieftans led 26-22.</p>
<p>"We knew any time you play a Native American team, they'll have all their friends and family there. So we pretended they were cheering for us," Portales sophomore forward Sheraya Cox said.</p>
<p>Shiprock led 29-25 at halftime and was in front 33-26 midway through the third quarter before Portales had a 7-0 spurt led by sophomore post Kambrey Blakey.</p>
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<p>The fourth quarter began with the score tied at 40, and there were six lead changes in the final eight minutes. Blakey had a chance to win it in regulation, but at 55-55, missed the second of two free throws.</p>
<p>Henderson also had a chance to win the game for Shiprock. At the buzzer, she front-rimmed a 3-point try.</p>
<p>There was nothing especially spine-tingling about the overtime. Portales didn't make a field goal in OT. The Rams went 7-of-12 from the line. A taller Portales lineup, which continued to pound inside and took advantage of its size, shot 45 free throws to just 18 for Shiprock.</p>
<p>"I wish we could have gotten the same calls," Shiprock coach Larenson Henderson said. "That was a big difference. I don't understand that."</p>
<p>Blakey led the Rams with 23 points and 14 rebounds.</p>
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<p>"We're a strong mental team and we never give up," she said. "We always fight."</p>
<p>Cox added 17 points and six boards.</p>
<p>Taylor Henderson had 13 points, Grey 12 for Shiprock.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Girls Class 3A: Portales tops Shiprock in OT | false | https://abqjournal.com/369056/portales-tops-shiprock-in-ot.html | 2 |
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<p>Traders stand ready to pounce, looking for bargains among battered sector</p>
<p>This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (July 14, 2017).</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Shoppers' retreat from department stores and mall chains is prompting stock traders to stalk the retail sector with a fervor unseen in years.</p>
<p>Sales and profits at major retailers have come under immense pressure this year, punishing the shares of Macy's Inc., Nordstrom Inc. and Kohl's Corp. The SPDR S&amp;P 500 Retail exchange-traded fund has fallen 11% this year, through Wednesday, lagging far behind a 9.1% rise in the S&amp;P 500. Macy's is down 41% for 2017 and Target Corp. is down 30%. Wall Street is abuzz with talk that the rise of e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. spells the eventual end of traditional retail, a notion that many in the industry vigorously dispute.</p>
<p>Retail's retreat and the accompanying debate have created fertile ground for investors who buy unloved stocks, whether for a brief bounce and quick sale or in some cases a bet that the doomsday talk is overdone. This onslaught of bargain-seeking value investors, trend-playing hedge-fund portfolio managers and quick-turnaround day traders is fueling a surge in trading volume and sharp price swings in an industry that for years was a backwater to hotter industries such as technology and financial services.</p>
<p>Trading has been frenetic. Macy's, the largest U.S. department store chain, had its highest trading volume of any month since 2011 in May, with June not far behind. Shares fell 17% on May 11, their worst performance since 2008, after a quarterly decline in same-store sales. May and June were also two of the five busiest months in the past five years for Kohl's and Target.</p>
<p>"With this recent huge slump, a lot of large retail companies went on the radar for us," said Eric Mancini, director of investment research at Traphagen Financial Group in Oradell, N.J., which has $530 million in assets.</p>
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<p>After Amazon announced a deal to buy Whole Foods Market Inc. for $13.7 billion on June 16, shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. sank 4.7%. Mr. Mancini jumped into the fray soon after.</p>
<p>He bought shares of Wal-Mart for his clients with larger portfolios, reasoning that valuations looked attractive after the share-price drop. He picked up shares at a price of around $75 apiece and plans to hold them until the stock price climbs to the $80 to $90 range, he said. The shares closed Wednesday at $73.94.</p>
<p>He isn't alone in betting the selling on major retailers is overdone. SunAmerica Asset Management and BNY Mellon Asset Management, are among the investors that increased their stakes in Macy's between the end of last year and March, according to S&amp;P Capital IQ. UBS Asset Management and Northern Trust Global Investments increased their stakes in Nordstrom Inc. during that period.</p>
<p>Amazon's rise threatens traditional retailers because it means they must fight harder for every dollar of already scarce sales growth, at a time more U.S. retail sales are being conducted online. A recent 2,000-person U.S. shopper survey conducted by RBC Capital Markets found that 93% selected Amazon as the online shopping website they use most often, compared with 89% last year.</p>
<p>Stock traders have become particularly attuned to the notion that Amazon's gains are other retailers' losses, potentially fueling a buy-Amazon, sell-retail trade that could exacerbate the traditional retailers' woes. On Amazon's 10 best-performing days this year, Macy's has fallen 2.7% on average and Kohl's has dropped 3.1%. The retail ETF was down 0.9% on average those days.</p>
<p>Investors are betting retail stocks will keep falling, and in many cases it has paid off. Those who went short on food and staples retailers, for example, made $116.3 million in paper profits on the day after Amazon announced its Whole Foods acquisition, according to IHS Markit.</p>
<p>ETF provider ProShare Advisors filed plans with securities regulators last week for new double- and triple-levered ETFs designed to rise on days that retail stocks fall, adding firepower to bets on their decline. Also coming is an ETF that goes "long" on online retailers while "shorting" traditional ones.</p>
<p>Because so many investors are betting that retail shares will fall, the slightest bit of better-than-expected news is apt to cause the shares to surge, a condition that lays the groundwork for much-larger price swings as short sellers buy back borrowed shares to return them to the owner.</p>
<p>On Thursday, Target raised its quarterly guidance for same-store sales and earnings, pushing shares up 3.1% in recent trading. Other large retailers also gained on the news, with Macy's shares climbing 3.9%, and Gap Inc. shares advancing 3.2%. The three companies were among the six best performers in the S&amp;P 500 by percentage gain.</p>
<p>The 30-day implied volatility of the retail ETF was over 19 this week, according to Thomson Reuters data. That is well above 14.7 on a comparable technology ETF and nearly as high as an ETF of biotechnology stocks known to have particularly large swings, which was at just over 20.</p>
<p>That volatility has been a boon to day traders, who often jump in and out of stocks in the span of a few hours to ride small moves in their prices. On StockTwits, a social-media platform that is popular with day traders, average message volume about Macy's, Nordstrom, Kohl's, J.C. Penney Co., and Sears Holdings Corp. has collectively more than tripled since the end of last year.</p>
<p>"People day trade on volatility," said Vlad Karpel, a day trader in Chicago who also runs Tradespoon, a firm that uses models to offer buy and sell signals on stocks. "Traditionally, it's been biotech stocks, penny stocks or leveraged ETFs. Recently, it's been retail stocks."</p>
<p>On June 27, after the market closed, Mr. Karpel's models generated a buy signal on Best Buy Co., suggesting the stock was oversold. He said he put in an order to buy 1000 shares the next day if the stock hit a price of $56.80. It did so in the first half-hour of trading, and he held on to the shares until they climbed to $57.10 within an hour. He then sold, netting about $300.</p>
<p>Friday could be another big day for retailer stocks. The Commerce Department will report retail sales for June. Analysts expect a 0.1% rise from the prior month.</p>
<p>Write to Ben Eisen at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>July 14, 2017 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)</p> | Retailer Stocks Make Easy Prey -- WSJ | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/07/14/retailer-stocks-make-easy-prey-wsj.html | 2017-07-14 | 0 |
<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tiffany Haddish got some love on Twitter for her fun-loving presentation of the Oscar nominees, including a few dance moves and a creative pronunciation or two.</p>
<p>Haddish, a huge hit in “Girls Trip,” bantered her way through the proceedings, injecting some needed energy into the early morning affair and getting co-announcer Andy Serkis into the spirit. They both giggled their way through the announcements.</p>
<p>“Do you think they can install a steam shower in my house?” she said of one group of nominees. “I need one.”</p>
<p>At another point, she quipped: “I gotta see this ’Dunkirk. Seems like a lotta people like it.”</p>
<p>Haddish got the most attention for her work-in-progress attempts at pronouncing the name Daniel Kaluuya, a best actor nominee for “Get Out.” She ended with “Kallelujah!” and then quipped: “He knows his name.” One Twitter user commented that Haddish could mispronounce his name anytime.</p>
<p>The actress also had some thoughts about the documentary short subject category, which included titles like “Traffic Stop” and “Knife Skills”: “All these titles make a woman from an urban area very uncomfortable,” she quipped. “I’m just saying.”</p>
<p />
<p>Approaching the final category — best picture — Haddish asked Serkis if he wanted to announce it. He said they both should. “What could possibly go wrong?</p>
<p>“You don’t know me,” she said, before launching into the names.</p>
<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tiffany Haddish got some love on Twitter for her fun-loving presentation of the Oscar nominees, including a few dance moves and a creative pronunciation or two.</p>
<p>Haddish, a huge hit in “Girls Trip,” bantered her way through the proceedings, injecting some needed energy into the early morning affair and getting co-announcer Andy Serkis into the spirit. They both giggled their way through the announcements.</p>
<p>“Do you think they can install a steam shower in my house?” she said of one group of nominees. “I need one.”</p>
<p>At another point, she quipped: “I gotta see this ’Dunkirk. Seems like a lotta people like it.”</p>
<p>Haddish got the most attention for her work-in-progress attempts at pronouncing the name Daniel Kaluuya, a best actor nominee for “Get Out.” She ended with “Kallelujah!” and then quipped: “He knows his name.” One Twitter user commented that Haddish could mispronounce his name anytime.</p>
<p>The actress also had some thoughts about the documentary short subject category, which included titles like “Traffic Stop” and “Knife Skills”: “All these titles make a woman from an urban area very uncomfortable,” she quipped. “I’m just saying.”</p>
<p />
<p>Approaching the final category — best picture — Haddish asked Serkis if he wanted to announce it. He said they both should. “What could possibly go wrong?</p>
<p>“You don’t know me,” she said, before launching into the names.</p> | Haddish charms with creative announcement of Oscar nominees | false | https://apnews.com/315857efdd2d44ee9b85092c14a57128 | 2018-01-23 | 2 |
<p>LEGAZPI, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine volcano which has repeatedly disgorged fountains of lava, ash and molten rock and driven more than 78,000 villagers from their homes remains swollen with magma and could erupt destructively, an official said Friday.</p>
<p>In its nearly two weeks of erupting, Mount Mayon in the northeastern province of Albay may have ejected roughly 30 percent of its magma but its swollen sides indicate more molten material may have risen near the crater ahead of a potentially more powerful blast, said Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.</p>
<p>“We still have a significant amount within the volcano as it is still inflated,” Solidum told reporters in Legazpi city, Albay’s capital, where life went on normally within sight of the cloud-shrouded volcano.</p>
<p>“It is possible that it can be transformed into a more explosive phase ... where the actual explosion will be more powerful than what is being shown right now,” he said.</p>
<p>Solidum said the possible explosion could be as powerful as Mayon’s major eruptions during the last 50 years, including one in 2000 in which it blew ash 17 kilometers (11 miles) into the sky. Some past eruptions have been deadly, including an 1814 blast that buried an entire town in volcanic debris and left 1,200 people dead, but there have been no reports of injuries in its current eruption.</p>
<p>Philippine scientists say a volcano that’s been erupting for almost two weeks still appears to be swelling with magma under the surface. (Jan. 25)</p>
<p>Officials are worried it may continue for months, disrupting the lives and livelihoods of people in Mayon’s shadow. They also fear that if a storm blows near, heavy rain could wash down thick ash, lava and rocks in rampaging volcanic flows called lahar and devastate villages in its foothills.</p>
<p>A villager, Alicia Marzen, complained of her family’s ordeal in one of the dozens of schools turned into emergency shelters, where children lie on cold floors and some have become sick. “In our room some evacuees have a fever which others acquired because we lay down on the floor,” Marzen said. “Now my grandson has a cough and cold.”</p>
<p>Elsewhere, residents accustomed to Mayon’s fury have gone about their lives as the volcano repeatedly spewed red-hot lava and ash columns into the blue sky over the past weeks, including in Legazpi, where shopping malls, restaurants and coffee shops continue to buzz.</p>
<p>One couple reportedly went on with their wedding despite the emergency and had pictures taken with the erupting volcano as a backdrop.</p>
<p>Farmers, however, have had to abandon their rice, vegetable and poultry farms within an eight-kilometer (five-mile) danger zone around Mayon. The initial damage to agriculture alone during the past two weeks has exceeded $2 million, Albay provincial agricultural officer Cheryll Ribeta said Thursday.</p>
<p>Mayon has erupted about 50 times in the last 500 years. In 2013, an ash eruption killed five climbers who had ventured near the summit despite warnings.</p>
<p>The Philippines has about 22 active volcanoes. The explosion of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 was one of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing hundreds.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.</p>
<p>LEGAZPI, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine volcano which has repeatedly disgorged fountains of lava, ash and molten rock and driven more than 78,000 villagers from their homes remains swollen with magma and could erupt destructively, an official said Friday.</p>
<p>In its nearly two weeks of erupting, Mount Mayon in the northeastern province of Albay may have ejected roughly 30 percent of its magma but its swollen sides indicate more molten material may have risen near the crater ahead of a potentially more powerful blast, said Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.</p>
<p>“We still have a significant amount within the volcano as it is still inflated,” Solidum told reporters in Legazpi city, Albay’s capital, where life went on normally within sight of the cloud-shrouded volcano.</p>
<p>“It is possible that it can be transformed into a more explosive phase ... where the actual explosion will be more powerful than what is being shown right now,” he said.</p>
<p>Solidum said the possible explosion could be as powerful as Mayon’s major eruptions during the last 50 years, including one in 2000 in which it blew ash 17 kilometers (11 miles) into the sky. Some past eruptions have been deadly, including an 1814 blast that buried an entire town in volcanic debris and left 1,200 people dead, but there have been no reports of injuries in its current eruption.</p>
<p>Philippine scientists say a volcano that’s been erupting for almost two weeks still appears to be swelling with magma under the surface. (Jan. 25)</p>
<p>Officials are worried it may continue for months, disrupting the lives and livelihoods of people in Mayon’s shadow. They also fear that if a storm blows near, heavy rain could wash down thick ash, lava and rocks in rampaging volcanic flows called lahar and devastate villages in its foothills.</p>
<p>A villager, Alicia Marzen, complained of her family’s ordeal in one of the dozens of schools turned into emergency shelters, where children lie on cold floors and some have become sick. “In our room some evacuees have a fever which others acquired because we lay down on the floor,” Marzen said. “Now my grandson has a cough and cold.”</p>
<p>Elsewhere, residents accustomed to Mayon’s fury have gone about their lives as the volcano repeatedly spewed red-hot lava and ash columns into the blue sky over the past weeks, including in Legazpi, where shopping malls, restaurants and coffee shops continue to buzz.</p>
<p>One couple reportedly went on with their wedding despite the emergency and had pictures taken with the erupting volcano as a backdrop.</p>
<p>Farmers, however, have had to abandon their rice, vegetable and poultry farms within an eight-kilometer (five-mile) danger zone around Mayon. The initial damage to agriculture alone during the past two weeks has exceeded $2 million, Albay provincial agricultural officer Cheryll Ribeta said Thursday.</p>
<p>Mayon has erupted about 50 times in the last 500 years. In 2013, an ash eruption killed five climbers who had ventured near the summit despite warnings.</p>
<p>The Philippines has about 22 active volcanoes. The explosion of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 was one of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing hundreds.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.</p> | Philippines warns powerful volcanic eruption may still come | false | https://apnews.com/85470703b9d2411c902d741917c6b6ce | 2018-01-26 | 2 |
<p />
<p>A note about these transcripts: In the spirit of extending the reach of the conference as much as possible, we’re making available these lightly edited transcripts to journalists interested in pursuing issues covered in the discussions and presentations at Poynter. The transcriber did her best to capture as much of the proceedings as possible, as accurately as possible, but you should be aware of the limitations: participants speaking out of range of microphones, people talking at the same time, etc.&#160; In brief, we’d ask you to use these transcripts to help guide your planning, but please do not quote directly from them for publication without confirming the contents with the speaker.Well, Bob, I did get the cue and I did get it when I was sitting at my desk at my computer terminal in Rochester, Minnesota. I had been doing this localizing global news for about a year and I came across a transcript of Bob actually unveiling his secret plan last year at the conference, as some of you may remember, and I just immediately took to this and thought this is really something that I could do and would love to get involved in.</p>
<p>That’s what the front page of the Globalizer looks like and, as you can see, that’s a slightly different one. I’ll give you a little guided tour. I’m going to show you…this is the Web site for The Rochester Post-Bulletin, which is my hometown newspaper, circulation 50,000 or so. I do a column every week called ‘Global Rochester’ and we’re one of the few local papers that have this business. I’m really working hard on the publisher to reconsider.</p>
<p>Here’s the column that got me all that mail, especially from that guy who wants to send me to Japan to live.</p>
<p>Now, both in the paper copy and on the Web, we put this blurb down here, which Bob just mentioned in his talk. "Do you have a personal or a business connection overseas that would make a good Post-Bulletin article? It could be a connection through your church, your family, your social club, etc. We would especially like to hear from local businesses who do business with overseas markets and customers, so let us know and please fill out this short survey."</p>
<p>This ran in the paper yesterday—it’s an afternoon paper—and so far, I hate to say, we don’t have anyone filling out the survey. And you know what? I think it’s because the first column was on handguns and it’s a very conservative corner of the state. I have about seven e-mails right now, all of them conservative, all of them against the position I took, which was that we should ban personal handgun ownership in the state. And you know what I think? I think the first…we’re going to run this column every week and we’re going to run this blurb every week and I believe that we’re going to get people to respond to the survey, especially when some of these columns I’ll devote to profiles of local companies. When one company sees what kind of treatment they’ll get, they’ll see. Right now, this is my fourth column and I seem to be carving out a niche for myself as a Reagan liberal in southeastern Minnesota. I think that will change a little bit.</p>
<p>Here’s the way it looks in the paper itself. This is our Editorial page and this is our op-ed page. It’s a little bit backwards. Most newspapers have it the other way around. Here’s my column and here’s the little box that asks people to stop by and take a look at the Globalizer.</p>
<p>So let’s just say they go to the Globalizer and here’s what it looks like. So you can see that they’ve been able to put in their own logo, the Post-Bulletin logo. That’s in their typeface. Speaking of saving dollars—it’s free—and you can actually put in your own logo as well— meaning an image or graphic up there—as well as your own typeface. That’s the Post Bulletin typeface and then it says, "PB Online, the Globalizer, surveying our community’s international links. Thanks for helping the Post-Bulletin write better stories about our community’s connections to international business markets, events, cultures and trends. We value your suggestions and will use whatever personal information you provided to contact you for further information. We will not share your information with anyone outside our newsroom."</p>
<p>Then it leads people through fifteen questions. It starts off with contact information. Look at number two—name of other party completing survey, only if applicable. We put that question in because if the person who is putting together this survey right now is a reader, we’re also thinking that there will be reporters in the newsroom who—and you will hope there will be reporters in the newsroom who will also be building up the database in this way. In that case, we’re asking the reporter to put the reporter’s name in, and then to put in the contact name in number one. In what country were you born? These are all the sovereign nations of the world. They’d all fit on one screen, just like that. Do you work at a company? We ask for the company info. In what foreign countries does your company do business? In what foreign cities? Those are all the major cities of the world. In what industry is your company? There’s a list of the major industry categories. Underneath, you’ve got a chance to put in whatever you want as well, in case all the industries were not covered. That asks for company information and then number nine. Do you have a personal connection overseas?</p>
<p>And this gets to the second point that Bob mentioned. After asking for companies with connections, you can ask for personal connections. Relatives who still live in your native country, sons and daughters studying overseas, friendship connection and so on. So this asks for…and then finally, at the end, other open-ended questions. Describe what you feel is especially interesting or unusual. Other stories about Rochester’s international ties that you’d like to read. I don’t have a specific idea at the moment but I do have the following expertise, experience, interest and so on. Then when you hit ‘click’ at the bottom, having finished it, you go back to The Post-Bulletin front page.</p>
<p>I’ll just give you a quick look. You can then access the collected data by going to ‘Survey Monkey’ and looking at the data that has been input.</p>
<p>I should say that when Chris Waddle put together his at The Anniston Star, Chris felt that in his community that people would be more responsive to seeing the questions about ‘Do you have personal connections overseas?’ above ‘Do you have a company connection overseas or does your company do business overseas?’ So he customized his Globalizer by putting the personal connections first and the company connection second.</p>
<p>Also, in speaking with Kent Nichols, with us from The Tallahassee Democrat, and his town is very university-oriented with a couple of major colleges and universities there. So, in discussion with Kent last night, we were thinking that the Globalizer in that area might be customized more to the direction of asking for professors with specialized interests in certain areas and when they do research and where do they go when they do their research and do they travel for their archaeological digs or whatever it might be. So the Globalizer might be customized in that direction.</p>
<p>As I’ve talked to so many of you over the last day-and-a-half, after five or ten minutes of talking, a picture arises of the distinct, unique qualities of your community and then comes an idea of how to customize the Globalizer to get what you need in your particular circumstance. This software is extremely flexible and open-ended in that way and it should be able to bring you on board.</p>
<p>I just want to say one last thing that was inspired by what Bob said and what Raman said this morning. You know, when you get involved in writing stories like this, there may be only one reporter at the paper that is doing it to start with, but then it has a ripple effect throughout the paper. Raman was mentioning how the whole rest of his paper is taking contact names and sources from the people at Atlanta and the World. I can’t think of a better hookup, actually, with the Globalizer because the Globalizer is the way the system ties the gathering of those contacts and they can be shared with others in the newsroom electronically. The Globalizer at The Rochester Post-Bulletin has only been used for a couple of days, but I can tell you that in the year that I’ve been writing stories once a month, and now once a week, for The Post-Bulletin, I find a lot of stories have jumped into the newspaper, right on the front page.</p>
<p>For instance, when I wrote my profile of the Mexican restaurateur that everybody knew, that was the occasion that we found out that for the first time in Rochester’s history, Hispanics are the number one immigrant group in town. That’s an historic thing. Rochester has a lot of refuges because the Lutheran charities like to relocate refuges to the Midwest and Minnesota is well known for its social services and its safety net. So the Mung people of northern Laos, who were shipped by the thousands to Minnesota back in the early 1980s, were our number one refuge group and immigrant group for a long time and they were replaced by the Somalis after the Somali civil war in the early 1990s. So now the Somalis have been in Rochester for ten years and now it’s the Hispanics. The Rochester Post-Bulletin didn’t know that until I went and interviewed one of our leading Hispanics in town and then I called up the census and then I called up the Minnesota Demographic Center and found out, lo and behold, they’re our number one minority in Rochester. It really surprises people in Rochester because they’re a hidden minority, which, of course, makes me even prouder as a journalist that I found it out. Now it’s on the front page of The Post-Bulletin. They’re hidden because they work in a certain section of town and they don’t wear robes like the Somalis. So, we would have missed this unless we picked we picked it up from the numbers. We also found out that about half of them are illegal in the sense that they are neither citizens nor have a green paper or a good visa. So we are really digging up things that can be used in the rest of the paper and ultimately hope that the two kinds of coverage will merge together.</p>
<p>That’s about it for the Globalizer. I look forward to talking to you more about it this afternoon.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Larry, how about giving us an introduction</a> to how this program (inaudible).</p> | Doug McGill: The Globalizer | false | https://poynter.org/news/doug-mcgill-globalizer | 2003-06-10 | 2 |
<p>ILLINOISChicago TribuneILLINOIS --</p>
<p>Illinois Catholics are being asked to withhold church donations until bishops in the state support legislation that would end the statute of limitations on the prosecution of child abuse cases, members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said Thursday."It's very important that child molesters be held accountable," said Barbara Blaine, a Survivors Network member. The current law "protects child molesters, not children," she said at a news conference in front of the Chicago archdiocese's Pastoral Center, 155 E. Superior St.</p>
<p>The law limits prosecution of child sexual abuse to within 10 years after the accuser's 18th birthday. The Survivors Network wants to amend the statute to eliminate the time limit.</p>
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<p /> | Victims of priest abuse make plea | false | https://poynter.org/news/victims-priest-abuse-make-plea | 2003-03-21 | 2 |
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<p>In Monday, Jan. 26, 2015 photo provided by the Two Eagles Balloon Team, Troy Bradley of New Mexico and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia set off from Saga, Japan, shortly before 6:30 a.m. JST Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, in their quest to pilot their helium-filled balloon from Japan in a bid to reach North America and break two major records en route. in their quest to pilot their helium-filled balloon from Japan to North America and break two major records en route. The attempt will put them on course to break a distance record of 5,208 miles (8,381 kilometers). They also want to break the flight-duration record of 137 hours set in 1978 when Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman made the first trans-Atlantic balloon flight. (Tsuyoshi Ogushi/Two Eagles Balloon Team/AP Photo)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — If all goes as planned, at about 5 a.m. today, Two Eagles pilots Troy Bradley and Leonid Tiukhtyaev will have descended to 10,000 feet and started searching for a landing site on a beach on the west coast of Baja California, near the town of San Isidro.</p>
<p>“Right now, our plans are to come in low, deploy trail ropes in the water and then actually land on the beach” sometime around 9 a.m., said mission director Steven Shope during a Friday afternoon briefing.</p>
<p>But the two pilots had already accomplished their mission by early Friday – breaking the 5,208-mile distance record and the 137-hour duration record.</p>
<p>Two Eagles Balloon Team, shows pilots from left, Troy Bradley of Albuquerque, N.M., and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia, before they lift off in a gas balloon in Saga, Japan. (Courtesy of Tami Bradley)</p>
<p>At the time of Friday afternoon’s briefing, the balloon was 370 miles south-southwest of San Diego, at an altitude of about 15,000 feet and traveling at 53 mph.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We’ve looked at the area on Google Earth, and there’s a lot of sand dunes, and very sparsely populated area. It looks like an ideal landing spot,” Shope said.</p>
<p>Balloonists and volunteers from San Diego and in Cabo San Lucas, at the southern end of the Baja peninsula, already were en route to the potential landing area and will be ready to secure the balloon once it lands and transport it back to the United States, Shope said.</p>
<p>Also present at the Friday briefing were Leonid Tiukhtyaev’s wife, Irinia, and their daughter, Margarita Shmidt.</p>
<p>“Leonid calls me once or twice a day from the balloon and reports on how they are doing and their well being,” Irina Tiukhtyaev said through a translator. “The first couple of days were very tough despite preparation, and it was very difficult to move and operate during that time. But afterward, it became easier and now they don’t use oxygen as much and have gotten used to the conditions.”</p>
<p>Irina Tiukhtyaev, left, wife of Two Eagles gas balloon pilot Leonid Tiukhtyaev, and their daughter, Margarita Shmidt, speak to the crowd gathered at mission control, inside the Abruzzo-Anderson Albuquerque International Balloon Museum on Friday. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>Irina Tiukhtyaev told the crowd gathered outside the mission control room that she and Leonid have been together for almost 40 years and have “done everything together, traveled together, written books and worked together – but I am very afraid of flying,” she said to laughter.</p>
<p>Shmidt told the crowd that her children, ages 7 and 5, missed their grandfather and wanted to be there to greet him when he lands. Told they couldn’t go because they didn’t have tickets, the children reminded her that there were enough balloons in the house to inflate and fly there.</p>
<p>In this photo provided by the Two Eagles Balloon Team, Troy Bradley of New Mexico and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia set off from Saga, Japan, shortly before 6:30 a.m. JST Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, in their quest to pilot their helium-filled balloon from Japan to North America and break two major records en route. The attempt will put them on course to break a distance record of 5,208 miles (8,381 kilometers). They also want to break the flight-duration record of 137 hours set in 1978 when Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman made the first trans-Atlantic balloon flight. (Tsuyoshi Ogushi/Two Eagles Balloon Team/AP Photo)</p>
<p>On Thursday shortly before 3 p.m., Bradley, of Albuquerque, and Tiukhtyaev, of Moscow, tied the existing 5,208-mile distance record and surpassed it by 1 percent just over two hours later. On Friday at about 7:30 a.m., they broke the 137-hour duration record.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The distance and duration numbers still have to be verified by ballooning authorities in the United States and Europe before being entered into the official record books. The process could take up to one year.</p>
<p>Also reflecting on this week’s feat was Louis Abruzzo, whose father, Ben Abruzzo, was among the crew that set those long-standing records in 1978 and 1981.</p>
<p>“I hope Troy and his partner have a safe landing, and I know if my father was here he’d be cheering them on,” he said in a telphone interview Friday.</p>
<p>Louis Abruzzo, 59, president of Sandia Peak Ski and Tram and a licensed balloon pilot, said he was following the progress of the Two Eagles pilots with a twinge of sadness that the 37-year-old duration and the 34-year-old distance records have been broken.</p>
<p>“Of course, you think about it, but the flight my father took in 1978 in Double Eagle II was to be the first to cross the Atlantic in a gas balloon, retracing the 1927 flight of Charles Lindbergh, and the 1981 flight in Double Eagle V was to be the first to cross the Pacific in a gas balloon,” he said.</p>
<p>“Nothing will change those firsts. The records just came, but that really wasn’t the point of the flights. The fact that they stood for 37 years and 34 years is amazing.”</p>
<p>Ben Abruzzo was killed in a 1985 crash of a small airplane in Albuquerque.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
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<p /> | Balloonists break 2 world records | false | https://abqjournal.com/534065/balloon-crew-matches-duration-record.html | 2015-01-30 | 2 |
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<p>MOUNT HOOD, Ore. – A dozen rescuers armed with chain saws and other tools chipped away at tons of ice and snow Sunday to recover the body of a 25-year-old snowboarder killed when an ice tunnel collapsed on Oregon’s Mount Hood.</p>
<p>The snowboarder, Collin Backowski, of Colorado, was traveling with five companions when the collapse hit Saturday afternoon. The others tried to dig him out but could not break through the ice and snow, which an official described as being as thick as concrete.</p>
<p>Rescuers quickly responded but halted efforts about 11 p.m. Saturday, then resumed early Sunday morning. Hood River Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Tiffany Peterson said that after removing tons of debris by hand, searchers found Backowski where he had been buried by 8 to 10 feet of snow and ice.</p>
<p>None of the searchers or other snowboarders was injured, Peterson said.</p>
<p>The ice tunnel was on the White River Glacier, which begins about 6,000 feet up the south side of the mountain.</p>
<p>An airplane was dispatched to survey the area, along with crews from local sheriff’s offices.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Seven rescuers, including five members of an all-volunteer group called the CragRats, were on the mountain on Saturday night.</p>
<p>Companions took pictures of the area just before the tunnel collapsed, giving searchers a better idea of where to look.</p>
<p>Warm temperatures made snow on the mountain slushier and more easily sloughed off the surface, adding to the challenge of attempting to reach the snowboarder.</p>
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<p /> | Rescuers chip at ice to retrieve body | false | https://abqjournal.com/242388/rescuers-chip-at-ice-to-retrieve-body.html | 2 |
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<p>Some 35,000 people have signed an <a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/harvard-will-100-000-signatures-representing-calderon-s-100-000-drug-war-dead-change-your-mind" type="external">online petition</a> urging Harvard University to cancel a fellowship the university awarded former Mexican President Felipe Calderon in November 2012, <a href="http://bostinno.com/2013/01/29/felipe-calderon-harvard-online-petition-against-mexican-president/#ss__290347_1_0__ss" type="external">BostInno reported</a>.</p>
<p>Calderon, a Harvard alum, started his stint as the first Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School this month. While in the one-year academic position, he will give lectures and help write case studies about government and public policy, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/News/protests-intensify-mexican-president-felipe-calderons-harvard-job/story?id=18222852" type="external">ABC News reported</a>.</p>
<p>In 2006, Calderon launched a military offensive against Mexican drug cartels, according to ABC News.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/mexico/120903/mexico-president-felipe-calderon-war-drug-cartels" type="external">Mexico President Felipe Calderon defends war against drug cartels</a></p>
<p>Claiming that he is partly responsible for the deaths of more than 60,000 people in that war, Border Patrol Agent John Randolph and Mexican citizen Eduardo Cortes both started petitions asking Harvard to withdraw the fellowship, BostInno reported.</p>
<p>Their two petitions were later combined into one, which reads in part:</p>
<p>Decision makers at Harvard University have chosen to ignore Calderon's 100,000 drug war murdered and his 25,000 drug war missing and award him a fellowship.</p>
<p>Any moral or ethical integrity that Harvard has ever had has been submerged in Calderon's blood-soaked fellowship.</p>
<p>“I started [the petition] out of outrage,” Randolph told BostInno. “Calderon’s legacy is one of blood and corruption, and Harvard does not seem to care. Americans are very uninformed about the Mexican drug war, and my hope is to bring awareness to it.”</p>
<p>In a recent interview with the <a href="http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x1107418317/Controversy-brews-over-Harvard-s-appointment-of-former-Mexican-president?zc_p=1#axzz2I0BZLStG" type="external">Cambridge Chronicle</a>, Kennedy School Dean David T. Ellwood said Harvard was standing by its choice.</p>
<p>"We recognize that not everyone agreed with his policies or his approaches, as is the case with all world leaders, but one of the fundamental tenets of the Kennedy School and all American universities is a free exchange of ideas," Ellwood told the Chronicle. "In keeping with that educational mission, the school has a long and proud tradition of allowing our students the opportunity to engage with world leaders and to ask difficult questions on important public policy issues."</p> | Felipe Calderon Harvard fellowship: protest petition gathers steam | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-01-31/felipe-calderon-harvard-fellowship-protest-petition-gathers-steam | 2013-01-31 | 3 |
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<p>MIAMI — With the University of Miami just days away from its hearing in front of the NCAA’s infractions committee, two sources confirmed to The Miami Herald that Sports Illustrated is in the final stages of writing an expose about the NCAA and its investigation into the school’s athletics program, including not-previously-published allegations from former UM booster Nevin Shapiro.</p>
<p>Shapiro told SI that he used inside information obtained from Miami coaches to gamble on Hurricanes football games, according to the sources.</p>
<p>Shapiro alleged that coaches shared with him information — such as whether a particular injured player would be available to play — in at least two games, including in 2005 and a 2007 game against North Carolina, which Miami lost, 33-27.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>According to a third source, the NCAA previously investigated Shapiro’s gambling claims but found no concrete evidence and did not make any allegations regarding gambling in Miami’s Notice Of Allegations.</p>
<p>That frustrated Shapiro, who believed the NCAA did not adequately investigate his claims involving the matter.</p>
<p>PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Incoming athletic director Julie Hermann must win over supporters of Rutgers’ sports programs after a recent run of embarrassments and controversies made the Scarlet Knights the punch line of late-night shows.</p>
<p>Several backers said over the past two days that while they believe donations to the athletic department might take an initial hit because of the blunders made in the aftermath of the firing of men’s basketball coach Mike Rice, they feel boosters will resume contributing.</p>
<p>SOCORRO — UTEP golf coach Scott Lieberwirth beat Socorro’s Miguel Griego by two shots to win the Socorro Open on Saturday at the New Mexico Tech Golf Course.</p>
<p>Lieberwirth is a former New Mexico State golfer and was also head golf coach at the school before taking the job at UTEP in 2011. He was a high school star at Carlsbad.</p>
<p>Lieberwirth shot a final-round 66 for a 206 total while Greigo shot 70 for a 208. Chris Dompier, who shared the second-round lead with Griego in the 54-hole event, tied for third with Albuquerque’s David Muttitt at 209.</p>
<p>Marty Sanchez had a final-round 67 for a 209 and won the amateur title by 15 shots.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>CITY GOLF: Entries are out for the 69th Albuquerque Men’s Championship, which will be held July 5-7 at Los Altos and Arroyo del Oso golf courses.</p>
<p>Entry fee is $165, which includes greens fees, cart, lunch and prizes. Call (505) 298-1897 for more information.</p>
<p>INDIANAPOLIS — With injured rookie star Brittney Griner sitting out against the defending champions, Diana Taurasi stepped up and led the Phoenix Mercury to their first win of the season.</p>
<p>Taurasi scored 15 of her 26 points in the second half and the short-handed Mercury beat the Indiana Fever 82-67 Saturday. DeWanna Bonner added 24 points and 11 boards for Phoenix (1-3).</p>
<p>MYSTICS 85, LYNX 80: In Washington, Ivory Latta scored 17 of her 24 points in the second half and Monique Currie had 23 as the Mystics fended off Minnesota’s fourth quarter rally.</p>
<p>Etc …</p>
<p>HORSE RACING: In Inglewood, Calif., Tale of a Champion beat favored All Squared Away by a length to win the $200,250 Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap at Betfair Hollywood Park.</p> | Quick Hits | false | https://abqjournal.com/239780/quick-hits-155.html | 2 |
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<p>The man of a hundred voices, Harry Shearer, host of NPR’s “Le Show,” recently did a skit about Sen. John Kerry’s training for the first debate, which featured a soprano-voiced aide who would ask the verbose and vacuous Democratic presidential contender a mock question, and then press a button to administer an electric shock the minute Kerry started off on a windy subordinate clause or an equivocation.</p>
<p>It was extremely funny, and the way Kerry kept to tightly scripted answers that fit into the debate format’s tight time constraints makes it appear likely that it was close to what his training had probably been.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, there is speculation that the Republicans wired their candidate, who has his own linguistic difficulties, not just in practice sessions, but for the debate itself.</p>
<p>The theory is that Karl Rove and his minions gave their incoherent and intellectually-challenged candidate a secret little earplug connected to a wireless receiver, so that he could be provided with answers and clever punch lines when he heard a question and came up empty.</p>
<p>Remember the peculiar interjection “Now let me finish!” which Bush blurted out angrily during the debate in Miami? It attracted the attention of commentators and observers, because no one had interrupted him.</p>
<p>No one we could hear, that is.</p>
<p>The comment came out of nowhere, because he was right in the middle of his answer, well within the prescribed time limit.</p>
<p>But what if someone, realizing that the president was flailing around desperately for an answer, had jumped into his earpiece, irritating him.</p>
<p>In fact, a hidden wire connected to Karl Rove or some flunky transmitting for Rove would also explain Bush’s peculiar, hunched over stance and his frequent expressions of annoyance, as well as the uncomfortably long silences at odd points in his statementswhich looked just as if he were listening carefully to some instructions!</p>
<p>We shouldn’t be surprised if it has come to this. Remember how Ronald Reagan used to use cue cards for everything? He even had cards that reminded him to say “Good Afternoon” when meeting a head of state (I guess out of fear he might say “Good Morning” when it was afternoon).</p>
<p>Still, a debate is supposed to be a test of wits between two candidates, not between one candidate and another candidate’s staff.</p>
<p>The suspicion that George Bush was literally channeling Karl Rove during the debate last week was first raised by blogger Joseph Cannon (see <a href="http://www.cannonfire.blogspot.com/" type="external">http://www.cannonfire.blogspot.com/</a>), who says his girlfriend, during a replaying of the debate, noticed what looked like a wire running down the back of Bush’s jacket.</p>
<p>Cannon notes that others have noticed Bush appearing to wear a hearing aid at speaking events, though he has no known hearing impairment, and further suggests that technological advances now permit the implanting, in tooth or in the inner ear, of hearing devices that would be totally invisible but might nonetheless require a more noticeable receiver somewhere else on the body.</p>
<p>(Note to readers. Everone should start scanning through Bush photos on line, looking for a telltale bulge on his jacket, or for a wire.)</p>
<p>Though such devices might be difficult to detect (who’s going to require that the president and his Democratic debate challenger submit to a body search or pass through a metal detector before the next debate?), it would be interesting to have someone with a high quality multi-frequency scanner observe the next two debates and check for broadcasts of answers to the president.</p>
<p>Then again, here’s an interesting idea for the Democrats, for a change: Equip Kerry with a miniature, high-tech multi-frequency jammer to keep in his own jacket pocket. At awkward moments for the president, Kerry could just press the button in his pocket and broadcast a loud electronic squawk.</p>
<p>Such interference could make for interesting television!</p>
<p>If publicity about a possible wire on the president frightens the White House into pulling the plug on this alleged scheme, it could also make for a fun time at the next two debates, when he’ll have to operate solo, which could also make for interesting reality TV.</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>” is published 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>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Is Bush Channelling Rove? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2004/10/05/is-bush-channelling-rove/ | 2004-10-05 | 4 |
<p>BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) _ These Louisiana lotteries were drawn Wednesday:</p>
<p>Easy 5</p>
<p>09-11-15-26-33</p>
<p>(nine, eleven, fifteen, twenty-six, thirty-three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $130,000</p>
<p>Lotto</p>
<p>04-07-16-25-37-38</p>
<p>(four, seven, sixteen, twenty-five, thirty-seven, thirty-eight)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $350,000</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $306 million</p>
<p>Pick 3</p>
<p>9-5-4</p>
<p>(nine, five, four)</p>
<p>Pick 4</p>
<p>3-4-3-6</p>
<p>(three, four, three, six)</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>03-09-16-56-60, Powerball: 3, Power Play: 3</p>
<p>(three, nine, sixteen, fifty-six, sixty; Powerball: three; Power Play: three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $337 million</p>
<p>BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) _ These Louisiana lotteries were drawn Wednesday:</p>
<p>Easy 5</p>
<p>09-11-15-26-33</p>
<p>(nine, eleven, fifteen, twenty-six, thirty-three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $130,000</p>
<p>Lotto</p>
<p>04-07-16-25-37-38</p>
<p>(four, seven, sixteen, twenty-five, thirty-seven, thirty-eight)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $350,000</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $306 million</p>
<p>Pick 3</p>
<p>9-5-4</p>
<p>(nine, five, four)</p>
<p>Pick 4</p>
<p>3-4-3-6</p>
<p>(three, four, three, six)</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>03-09-16-56-60, Powerball: 3, Power Play: 3</p>
<p>(three, nine, sixteen, fifty-six, sixty; Powerball: three; Power Play: three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $337 million</p> | LA Lottery | false | https://apnews.com/1f2c8b5acfc14558b2cb15a400319aea | 2017-12-28 | 2 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Security at the Albuquerque International Sunport was beefed up Tuesday after the explosions at the Boston Marathon that left three people dead and scores injured, and travelers can expect to see a heightened police presence at major city events, according to law enforcement officials.</p>
<p>Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz said that in the short term, his officers will be in a “heightened awareness, heightened alertness kind of mode,” but won’t be stepping up patrols. However, he said the department will have more officers at some of the city’s larger events later this year, including the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta and the Duke City Marathon.</p>
<p>A Sunport spokesman said the airport will see stepped-up uniformed and undercover police presence, in addition to more visible bomb-sniffing dogs and anti-explosive officers, for another week or so. Airport officials will re-evaluate the security risk after that, the spokesman said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Security increases at Sunport | false | https://abqjournal.com/189378/security-increases-at-sunport.html | 2013-04-17 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Photo: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevendepolo/3702337311/" type="external">Steven Depolo Opens a New Window.</a>, Flickr.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Lots of people would love to retire early, but many don't consider that more than a pipe dream, as it can seem impossible. It's not necessarily impossible, though. You do need to start planning early, though, and following these three tips can help a lot, too: Be smart about debt, investing, and taxes.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSelena/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Selena Maranjian Opens a New Window.</a>: One way to better your odds of being able to retire early is to be smart about debt. If you have a mortgage on your house, that's probably not a hindrance, especially in this period of low interest rates. If you plan to remain in your home for a long time, however, and your mortgage's interest rate is considerably higher than what banks are offering, consider refinancing to lower your payments. You might even refinance into a shorter-term loan, to lower your total interest payments and get the home paid off faster. It's good to be mortgage free by the time you enter retirement.</p>
<p>High-interest rate debt is a problem, though -- because it can shrivel up your net worth, and keep you from growing a nest egg with which to retire comfortably. Many credit cards, for example, charge 25% or more per year, which can cost you a whopping $5,000 per year in interest alone on a balance owed of $20,000. It's hard to get ahead when you're trying just not to get further behind.</p>
<p>Even if you're not saddled with steep debt, you need to stay on top of your credit life, and keep it clean. A sparkling credit record will give you a good credit score, and that can get you the best interest rates whenever you want to borrow money to buy a house or car. Lots of businesses, such as insurers, take your credit score into account, so having a good one can easily save you thousands of dollars (if not tens of thousands) over the course of your working life -- making you more able to retire early.</p>
<p>It's hard to beat the long-term growth potential of stocks. Image: <a href="http://www.stockmonkeys.com" type="external">StockMonkeys.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFMathGuy/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Matt Frankel Opens a New Window.</a>: Being financially able to retire early isn't just about saving money -- it's what you do with it. It makes my blood boil every time I hear a friend say they managed to set aside a large sum of money, only to "invest" it in a CD or money market account.</p>
<p>On one hand, it's completely understandable for people to fear the stock market, especially the younger generation. After all, many people saw their parents get wiped out in the tech crash of the early 2000s, or watched their family homes get foreclosed upon during the financial crisis. However, these are two of the many crises throughout a history that clearly shows the market always does well over long periods of time. In fact, including all of the crashes, depressions, and recessions, the market has historically averaged returns of close to 10% per year.</p>
<p>To illustrate what an amazing power this can be, let's say that you're 25 years old, and want to be able to retire at 50. If you save aggressively, and manage to set aside $10,000 per year, you'd have about $282,000 at age 50 if you put your money in CDs at 1% interest. Now, how much would you have if you invested in stocks, assuming the long-term historical average return over the next 25 years? Maybe $500,000?</p>
<p>It might surprise you to learn that $10,000 per year invested in a diverse portfolio of high-quality stocks or <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/12/31/best-etfs-for-2016.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">low-cost ETFs Opens a New Window.</a> could grow into a $913,000 nest egg in 25 years.</p>
<p>Smart saving and investing is the magic formula that could lead to financial freedom while you're young enough to enjoy it.</p>
<p>Being tax-smart can help you retire early. Image: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/phillip/345829246/" type="external">Phillip Ingham Opens a New Window.</a>, Flickr</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a>: Hitting your retirement number earlier than expected is everyone's dream, but not very many actually achieve it. One of the most-effective tips I can offer to help you reach this lofty goal is to be smart about your taxes. Making a few key moves could allow you to keep more of your money, as opposed to paying it back to the federal government.</p>
<p>If you qualify, opening up and maxing out your contribution to a Roth IRA can be an important wealth driver. As long as you don't make any unqualified withdrawals, money invested in a Roth IRA can grow completely free of taxation. This could translate into hundreds of thousands of extra dollars in wealth you'll get to keep and invest over your lifetime. Furthermore, a Roth IRA has no minimum distribution requirement, and no age limit as to when contributions have to stop, unlike a Traditional IRA. Thus, it's perfect for lifelong investors. To see if you qualify, take a gander at the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/Plan-Participant,-Employee/Amount-of-Roth-IRA-Contributions-That-You-Can-Make-for-2016" type="external">IRS' income requirements Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Tax-deferred plans can be of assistance, too. Traditional IRAs and 401(k)s defer taxation on your investment accounts until you begin making mandatory withdrawals during retirement. You will pay tax on this money when withdrawn, but if you have a solid withdrawal plan in place, you can certainly minimize what you owe in taxes.</p>
<p>Lastly, understand that where you retire matters. Certain states tax retirement benefits and income at a higher rate than others. Choosing a state with a tax-friendly approach to seniors should allow you to keep more of your hard-earned wealth.</p>
<p>If you're serious about wanting to retire early, start developing and executing a plan now -- and be smart about debt, investing, and taxes.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2016/02/28/want-to-retire-at-50-try-these-3-tips.aspx" type="external">Want to Retire at 50? Try These 3 Tips 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> | Want to Retire at 50? Try These 3 Tips | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/02/28/want-to-retire-at-50-try-these-3-tips.html | 2016-03-27 | 0 |
<p>COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening’s drawing of the South Carolina Lottery’s “Palmetto Cash 5” game were:</p>
<p>03-04-11-12-13, Power-Up: 2</p>
<p>(three, four, eleven, twelve, thirteen; Power, Up: two)</p>
<p>COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening’s drawing of the South Carolina Lottery’s “Palmetto Cash 5” game were:</p>
<p>03-04-11-12-13, Power-Up: 2</p>
<p>(three, four, eleven, twelve, thirteen; Power, Up: two)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in ‘Palmetto Cash 5’ game | false | https://apnews.com/5d0d16f2c65448158be0857e023a0edb | 2017-12-28 | 2 |
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<p>The fact that 11 New Mexico hospitals will have their Medicare payments cut this fiscal year because of their rates of hospital-acquired infections or other medical complications is only, as they say, half of the story.</p>
<p>The other half is that hospitals are providing that information, and the consumer-oriented ones are adding the context health-care consumers need to make smart decisions.</p>
<p>For example, the fact that Presbyterian Healthcare Services will lose an estimated $900,000 in Medicare reimbursement because of hospital-acquired infections or other medical complications at its main and Kaseman hospitals in Albuquerque and Rust Medical Center in Rio Rancho is worth noting. Knowing that penalty stems from the cases of fewer than 20 of around 40,000 patients is important to put that $900,000 into perspective.</p>
<p>The Affordable Care Act penalties come on the heels of a three-year study recently released by the federal Health and Human Services Department, which found a number of public and private initiatives had cut hospital-induced harm by 17 percent – 1.3 million incidents – since 2010, saving an estimated 50,000 lives and $12 billion in health care spending.</p>
<p>Back in 2007 a Journal editorial stated “tracking hospital-caused infections is key to eliminating them. Just as important is public reporting that holds hospitals accountable.” Seven years later, New Mexico health-care consumers have both, and their hospitals have bottom-line and public relations incentives to do no harm.</p>
<p>This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.</p>
<p />
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Editorial: Hospital information helps get New Mexicans healthier | false | https://abqjournal.com/517723/hospital-information-helps-get-new-mexicans-healthier.html | 2 |
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<p>TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the New Jersey Lottery's "5 Card Cash" game were:</p>
<p>3C-6C-2H-8H-9S</p>
<p>(3C, 6C, 2H, 8H, 9S)</p>
<p>TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the New Jersey Lottery's "5 Card Cash" game were:</p>
<p>3C-6C-2H-8H-9S</p>
<p>(3C, 6C, 2H, 8H, 9S)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in '5 Card Cash' game | false | https://apnews.com/amp/f8b51aa1a1bd4268a8011f2bc1d3f252 | 2018-01-04 | 2 |
<p>By Bob Allen</p>
<p>Once and likely future presidential candidate Mike Huckabee described “disconnect” between the cultural elite and the values of middle America Sunday morning from a prominent Southern Baptist pulpit in Jacksonville, Fla.</p>
<p>“There is what I would simply call a big difference —&#160;I call it a disconnect —&#160;between the areas of New York, Washington and Hollywood, which I call the bubbles of cultural influence in America,” and the rest of the country,&#160;Huckabee said in a sermon Feb. 2 at First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla.</p>
<p>Huckabee, who recently stepped down as host of his television program on Fox News to explore a potential White House bid in 2016, stopped by the North Florida megachurch on a whirlwind tour promoting his latest book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Guns-Grits-Gravy-Mike-Huckabee/dp/1250060990" type="external">God, Guns, Grits and Gravy</a>.</p>
<p>Huckabee, who was a Southern Baptist pastor prior to being elected governor of Arkansas, said commuting in and out of New York for six years drove home to the reality that values commonly emanating from the “bubbles” are not necessarily the ones embraced by people in places like Jacksonville.</p>
<p>“There is a difference between what I call life in Bubbleville and what I call the life in the flyover country, or as I have been calling it for years, the land of God, guns, grits and gravy,” Huckabee said.</p>
<p>For example, Huckabee cited differing reactions to American Sniper, “a movie that really celebrates patriotism” which is currently <a href="http://www.chron.com/entertainment/movies/article/American-Sniper-stops-short-of-another-record-6061836.php" type="external">setting</a> box-office records.</p>
<p>“There are people from the bubbles that say: ‘We don’t understand this. We can’t figure this out. This shouldn’t be something we celebrate.’” Huckabee said. “And they are totally disconnected from many of us who every day say to the people in uniform: ‘You are the real heroes of this country, because you are the ones who stand between us and tyranny. You are the ones who stand in front of bullets and bombs for us.’”</p>
<p>On Tuesday Huckabee told reporters in Huntsville, Ala., that a Feb. 3 federal court <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/alabama-gay-marriage-court-order-114865.html" type="external">order</a> that the state of Alabama must issue marriage licenses to gay couples is the latest example of judges usurping the will of the people.</p>
<p>“Those in black robes believe that their authority exceeds that of the two other branches combined plus the authority of the people,” Huckabee <a href="http://www.waff.com/story/28016236/huckabee-touts-biblical-truth-during-alabama-tour" type="external">said</a> in comments aired Tuesday night on WAAF television.</p>
<p>Alabama’s top judicial official, Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, known as the Ten Commandments judge for installing a plaque of the Ten Commandments in 2001, issued a <a href="http://media.al.com/news_impact/other/Letter%20from%20Chief%20Justice%20Moore%20to%20probate%20judges.pdf" type="external">memo</a> advising probate judges they are not required to abide by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refusal to suspend a lower court’s decision <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/appeals-court-clears-way-same-sex-marriage-alabama-n299426" type="external">ruling</a> the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.</p>
<p>Huckabee has said openly he is leaning toward running for president but he won’t formally decide until later this spring.</p>
<p>Wednesday in Fort Worth, Texas, he <a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article9308282.html" type="external">reminisced</a> about living there as a student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in the 1970s.</p>
<p>“When my wife and I came here, we were so stinking poor,” Huckabee told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “We looked forward to 25-cent taco day. There was a taco place on Seminary Drive we would eat at. That was our splurge.”</p>
<p>“It was good times,” said Huckabee, who studied at the seminary from 1976 to 1977 before taking a communications job with evangelist James Robison. “The memories are strong and fond.”</p>
<p>As a pastor in Arkansas, Huckabee served as president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention from 1989 to 1991. He <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/us/politics/06huckabee.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0" type="external">told</a> the New York Times in 2007 that his race against current Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd was “far more political than anything else I’ve ever been involved in.”</p>
<p>He left the ministry in 1992 to run for Senate. He lost but went on to win election as lieutenant governor before ascending to governor in 1996.</p>
<p>Previous story:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Huckabee stumps at N.C. Baptist church</a></p> | Huckabee preaches at Southern Baptist megachurch | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/huckabee-preaches-at-southern-baptist-megachurch/ | 3 |
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<p>Often mentioned as one of Albuquerque’s most difficult par 4s, the finishing hole on the front nine is a dogleg left that is tree-lined on both sides with a fairway bunker at the dogleg on the left side. The approach to the green is uphill to a putting surface protected by a large grass bunker to the left and a bunker to the right. The green slopes from the back to front with a false front. The best course of action is to play a tee shot down the middle, which requires about a 250-yard drive from the back tees to reach the dogleg. That leaves a long-iron/hybrid or fairway wood to the green. The stated yardage, due to the uphill climb to the green, plays much longer. For shorter hitters, the hole plays like a short par 5, said Canyon Club assistant pro Paul Kruger. Often, the most prudent play is a layup on the second shot, leaving a wedge to the green.</p>
<p>Course opened: 1959</p>
<p>General manager: Brian Dees</p>
<p>Head professional: Don Yrene</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Course yardages: black, 6,767; blue, 6,459; white, 6,126; gold, 5,659.</p>
<p>Par: 72</p>
<p>Address: 911 4 Hills Road SE, Albuquerque, NM 87123</p> | Local golf hole of the week: Canyon Club at Four Hills No. 9 | false | https://abqjournal.com/1025187/local-golf-hole-of-the-week-canyon-club-at-four-hills-no-9.html | 2 |
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<p>“Politics ain’t bean-bag,” said Mr. Dooley, a character created by Finley Peter Dunne (d. 1936), the humorist. But it also ain’t horseshoes—in other words: Close don’t count.</p>
<p>[A version of this article <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/why-its-so-hard-for-insurgent-democrats-to-defeat-the-partys-old-guard/" type="external">appeared in The Nation</a> on June 20.]</p>
<p>For progressives, especially those who see the Democratic Party as the only plausible vehicle for achieving political power, the combination of the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign and Hillary Clinton’s shocking defeat heralded a power shift within that party. Sanders, an out-of-left-field rebel, energized the left, Democratic activists, independents, and many others—millennials, young single women—disenchanted with the business-as-usual Democratic Party, and he showed that it was possible to challenge the party’s establishment and raise hundreds of millions of dollars in small donations on the Internet. Meanwhile, Clinton’s ignominious defeat seemed to put an exclamation point on the failure of that establishment.</p>
<p>But, as recent elections in New Jersey and Virginia—along with the hard-fought race for chair of the Democratic National Committee—show, that establishment isn’t going down without a fight. Even Hillary Clinton, after a brief pause to wander in the woods, is back. And while today’s special election in Georgia could elevate a Democrat, Jon Ossoff, to the House, Ossoff is solidly a member of the center-right Democratic establishment.</p>
<p>So, despite the emergence of a multi-hued, self-starting array of resistance groups that has emerged since the election of Donald J. Trump, the “Sanders-Warren wing” of the Democratic Party has yet to win much. In Montana, a Sanders-backed insurgent Democrat, Rob Quist, lost his bid for a House seat on May 25, while getting virtually no support from the Washington-based Democratic Party.</p>
<p>In the DNC race, the Clinton-Obama establishment closed ranks to guarantee that the Sanders-allied Representative Keith Ellison was shut out, getting the consolation prize of being named to the powerless post of “deputy” DNC chair.</p>
<p>And in the two most important contests this year, the twin races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, progressives mounted strong challenges to the party’s anointed ones—and lost. Each of these races had earlier been touted as a possible turning point in the establishment’s ability to control the party after the 2016 debacle, and in each case that turning point, well, turned the other way. These uncomfortable results have crucial implications for the left-liberal challenge to the center-right in the party.</p>
<p>In New Jersey, Phil Murphy won the Democratic nomination on June 4 with 48 percent of nearly half a million votes cast, beating an array of four more progressive candidates, including Jim Johnson and John Wisniewski, who garnered about 22 percent each. Both Wisniewski, a longtime assemblyman who’d chaired Sanders’s campaign in New Jersey and who’d been endorsed by Jeff Weaver of Our Revolution, the organizing spinoff from Bernie’s presidential campaign, and Johnson, an African-American lawyer who’d served as a U.S. Treasury undersecretary and who’d chaired the Brennan Center for Justice, drew enthusiastic support from many progressives. But both knew it was a steep uphill climb.</p>
<p>Murphy, who spent 23 years as a banker at Goldman Sachs, is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and he spent lavishly over the two years before the race to scare off other establishment challengers and secure the support of the New Jersey Democratic organization. Every single prominent state politician, including both US senators and all 21 county chairs, dutifully lined up behind Murphy. The support of the county chairs gave Murphy the “regular Democratic organization” line on every ballot, considered to be worth as much as 20 percent of the vote right off the bat. And Murphy’s own cash overwhelmed the resources of his opponents, a task made easier by the fact that the two leading progressives split the anti-Murphy vote.</p>
<p>In Virginia, Ralph Northam, the designated heir of current Governor Terry McAuliffe—the crony of the Clintons who got his start as “the Macker,” a fast-talking fundraiser among millionaires and billionaires in the late 1980s—handily beat (56 to 44 percent) an upstart challenger, Tom Perriello. Northam, a throwback to the courtly old Virginia gentleman—who had voted for George W. Bush, twice!—scrambled to present himself as a progressive of sorts, even running an ad calling Trump a “narcissistic maniac” when he finally twigged to the fact that the Democratic base was fired up in opposition to the Pussy-Grabber in Chief.</p>
<p>Perriello, meanwhile, a former member of Congress who angered the state party pooh-bahs by deciding to run late last year, secured the backing of Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Our Revolution. As in New Jersey, the party smartly saluted. “Every Democratic member of the state legislature endorsed Mr. Northam, as did county chairmen in the state’s 95 counties and 38 independent cities,” The Wall Street Journal reported, adding that voters “rejected the extreme elements that have animated their [party] since Mr. Trump’s election.”</p>
<p>Supporters of Perriello, Wisniewski, and Johnson may have comforted themselves by pointing to the fact that neither Murphy nor Northam ran as center-right, New Democrat–like politicians. Indeed, in 2017, to do so might have been political hara-kiri, since the Democratic electorate isn’t in the mood to buy it. But it’s specious to claim that well-lubricated, moneyed, establishment pols have adopted anything more than protective coloration when it comes to support for various planks in the Sanders-Warren platform. In 2016, some Sanders supporters and various pundits correctly noted that Clinton began to mimic Sanders on some issues, sort of (see: minimum wage, college costs, etc.).</p>
<p>But in the end, a neoliberal is, well, a neoliberal. When neoliberal push comes to economic-downturn shove, Clinton, Murphy, Northam, and their ilk usually resort to talking about tax cuts, budgetary restraint, shared pain, and so on. (For instance, back in 2006, when Murphy led a state panel designed to come up with solutions to a burgeoning state budget logjam, his solution was straight from the neoliberal playbook: pension and benefit cuts for state employees, and selling off the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway.) They dust off the old Democratic Leadership Council handbook and reread Bill Clinton’s Era-of-Big-Government-Is-Over speech.</p>
<p>Sanders himself, properly eschewing any talk of independent or third-party option, in speech after speech since November has consistently sounded like an Old Testament prophet is saying that there’s no alternative to the utter and complete transformation of the Democratic Party. In his June 13 op-ed in The New York Times, he wrote, “The Democratic Party, in a very fundamental way, must change direction.” I may be wrong, but I don’t think Sanders means that the Murphys and Northams of the party have to join Our Revolution; instead, Sanders—and the myriad parts of the resistance, the millions who’ve joined march after march since January 21, who flocked to airports spontaneously to protest Trump’s Muslim ban, who have created 6,000 Indivisible groups and thousands of other grassroots movements—wants a bottom-up insurgency to take control of the party and move it leftward.</p>
<p>The outcome of the Sanders-Clinton battle, the DNC race, and the votes in New Jersey and Virginia show how hard that will be to accomplish. And we have to acknowledge that a defeat is a defeat. An entrenched establishment, with vast funds at its disposal and a self-perpetuating, bureaucratic flowchart at the national, state, and local levels, won’t go down without a fight. As the grassroots, anti-Trump forces move toward 2018, they had better realize that the Democratic Party establishment views them in equal measure as a force that can help knock off Republicans and as an alarming insurgency that might knock them off, too.</p>
<p>A recent survey by In These Times concluded that in six states—Kentucky, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, and Washington—the state party is in the hands of leaders backed by Our Revolution. In California—yes, another defeat—a party organization rapidly moving left nearly elected Kimberly Ellis, effectively representing the Sanders-Warren wing, over Eric Bauman, a party insider, as state party chair. In state after state—and, less noticed, in county after county, congressional district after district—it’s a war with hundreds of fronts. Going into 2018, 2020, and beyond, the real question is: Will insurgents take over the party, and run progressives in local primaries, or will the party co-opt—or crush—the insurgency?</p>
<p>In New Jersey, as elsewhere, the insurgents are hardly giving up. On June 14, a loose, ad hoc coalition of some 30 groups across six South Jersey counties convened a Flag Day Summit outdoor picnic and rally in Mays Landing, organized around a challenge to Representative Frank LoBiondo, a longtime incumbent Republican member of Congress in New Jersey’s Second District, which spans most of the state’s southern half. Among the groups represented were Atlantic County Young Democrats, We the People of Salem and Cumberland Counties, Our Revolution South Jersey, Down Jersey, Indivisible Cape May County, Long Beach Island Progressives, Women Get Shit Done, Egg Harbor Indivisible, and many others, representing thousands of people. One of the groups, Progressive Coalition for NJ-2, is actively seeking to recruit a challenger to LoBiondo in 2018, who’s looking increasingly vulnerable. (President Obama won the district twice, and in 2016 it barely went to Trump.)</p>
<p>But looming over that race is the Democratic establishment, most notably represented by George Norcross, widely acknowledged to be South Jersey’s political boss, whose brother, Donald Norcross, is the Democratic congressman representing the district just to the north, NJ-1. On June 1, George Norcross led a fundraiser, joined by Alec Baldwin, which pulled in a neat $5.1 million for Norcross’s General Majority PAC. The insurgents, organizing county by county, might soon find themselves face-to-face with a well-financed, Norcross-backed party hack. If that contest happens, it and countless others like it across the country will determine if indeed the party will change direction in the way Sanders suggests.</p> | In Virginia and New Jersey, Close Don’t Count | true | http://thepopulist.buzz/2017/06/20/in-virginia-and-new-jersey-close-dont-count/ | 2017-06-20 | 4 |
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<p>DETROIT – A judge said Monday that he’ll announce next week whether Detroit is eligible to overhaul itself in Bankruptcy Court, the most important decision since the largest public filing in U.S. history in July.</p>
<p>Judge Steven Rhodes said he’ll announce a decision next Tuesday and issue a written opinion later. By disclosing the date, Rhodes eased some of the public’s anxiety about the future of the case.</p>
<p>He presided over a nine-day trial that ended Nov. 8. Unions and pension funds claim Detroit isn’t eligible for bankruptcy because it failed to hold good-faith negotiations before the filing in July. The city, however, insists it did enough during the preceding four weeks.</p>
<p>A decision in favor of eligibility would mean the case would turn to how Detroit can fix $18 billion in debt. Appeals are likely, no matter what Rhodes decides.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Detroit bankruptcy decision next week | false | https://abqjournal.com/309197/detroit-bankruptcy-decision-next-week.html | 2 |
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<p>There was plenty of gallows humor to find among Washington's Walking Dead on Thursday morning, as ousted lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, serving out their final days in Congress, gathered for a breakfast discussion to lament their losses.</p>
<p>The participants often took on the tone of a support group, silently nodding their heads as they went over the many common factors they believed contributed to their defeats and the public's <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/atlantic/20101215/cm_atlantic/themosthatedcongressever6209" type="external">record-breaking resentment</a> of Congress in the polls.</p>
<p>"As I look at this panel, I think there's a new definition of bipartisanship in Washington," <a href="/content/dailybeast/cheats/2010/08/17/republicans-unveil-plan-to-win-back-house.html" type="external">Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX)</a>, who lost his reelection bid this year after nearly 20 years in office. "It's called 'former member.'"</p>
<p>Edwards may have been on to something. The event was hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank founded by former Democratic and Republican Senate Majority Leaders Bob Dole and Tom Daschle, and populated with an array of gray-haired ex-lawmakers tasked with reaching consensus on policy.</p>
<p>Lamenting the lack of cooperation between the two parties, Departing Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) complained that the overwhelming number of safe seats in Congress forced lawmakers to extremes in order to fend off primary challengers.</p>
<p>"If you have a completely safe seat, your exposure is really at the fringe of your party," he said.</p>
<p>"I thought I had safe seat!" replied Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT), the three-term Utah senator, knocked out by a Tea Party challenge at the state's nominating convention, drawing laughs from the audience.</p>
<p>The Tea Party’s most famous Republican victim, Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE), sat two seats to Bennett’s left, rounding out the team of electoral losers. The veteran lawmaker’s frontrunner Senate campaign was cut short in by a <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2010/09/14/mike-castle-loses-christine-odonnell-leads-tea-party-charge.html" type="external">primary loss</a> to Christine O’Donnell in September.</p>
<p>"I was taken out in a primary by a woman who was not a witch," he deadpanned. "It was very unexpected—she had no real background in Delaware. It was a Tea Party movement, and they came in and energized a certain percentage of the Republican Party."</p>
<p>Castle told the audience that he worries about the House's ability to function under the incoming GOP majority.</p>
<p>"You have a new group coming in, in a month or so, who are going to be quite more conservative than even the group that is there right at this point," he said. "I worry about that leading to the division of partisanship in the House and in the Senate."</p>
<p>Aside from having all lost to Republicans, the assembled lawmakers were joined by their <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/bankinforeg/tarpinfo.htm" type="external">politically disastrous yes votes on TARP</a>, a move that many economists say saved the country from financial ruin. The group was unanimous and defiant in their continued support for the rescue package, which Bennett said was "Congress' finest moment" and Edwards called "one of the proudest votes I ever cast."</p>
<p>Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast.</p>
<p>A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't).</p>
<p>“I was taken out in a primary by a woman who was not a witch,” he deadpanned. “It was very unexpected.”</p>
<p>Bennett blamed the media for inadequately explaining how the program worked, saying that many of his constituents were unaware that the federal government was buying assets from banks that it would eventually sell back at a profit instead of simply handing over cash with no strings attached. The final cost of TARP is estimated at $25 billion and <a href="/content/dailybeast/cheats/2010/03/06/inside-the-world-of-tim-geithner.html" type="external">Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner</a> has suggested it will come down further.</p>
<p>Cable news and blogs ("the pseudo-press" as Castle put it) came under frequent fire from Democratic and Republican panelists alike, who blamed Fox and MSNBC for polarizing viewers with ideologically driven coverage. Edwards went after the press for filling the news hole with a glut of sound bites from outrageous political figures.</p>
<p>"I bet Michele Bachmann and Alan Grayson have gotten more national TV coverage the last two years than the four of us combined in our nearly 80 years of service," Edwards said. "No wonder our approval rating is at 11 percent. That's all it is the American people see."</p>
<p>The gathering took place as the White House and Republican leaders neared final passage of a compromise on the Bush tax cuts, a rare moment of bipartisanship. Panelists were divided as to whether the compromise was a sign that the partisan sniping crippling Congress might subside. Bennett said he thought that the tax deal could provide a blueprint for more good-faith negotiations between the White House and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Others saw a fluke convergence of interests that would not be duplicated in the near future.</p>
<p>"I think that was sort of an exception," Castle said of the tax deal. He said that he expected the president to reach out more to the GOP, but that the conservative wing of the party would be wary of anything that boosts the Obama's reelection chances. "I'm not sure they want to give many victories to this president."</p>
<p>Edwards added that it was easier for both sides to cut taxes than work together to confront the long-term deficit, a larger problem with no easy or politically popular solutions.</p>
<p>Still, all hope was not lost. Both Castle and Bennett told reporters after the debate that they thought the responsibilities of governing in the majority might help moderate Tea Partiers' rigid politics.</p>
<p>"They've been elected for strong ideological reasons," Castle told The Daily Beast. "When they get here, they have to run things. They have to run a government." Said Bennett: "In almost every instance, responsibility to govern brings about change in attitude."</p>
<p>He also noted that previous populist uprisings, for example Ross Perot's deficit-focused presidential campaigns in the 1990s, often proved to be short-lived.</p>
<p>"One of the reasons the movement disappeared is the economy got better," he said. "If the economy gets better, and the people feel that the government is under some control, the Tea Party movement could very easily go the way of the Perot movement."</p>
<p>He paused as his former Republican colleague, Pete Domenici, slowly made his way across the room to greet him. "Pedro!" Bennett shouted. The two exchanged pleasantries and Domenici said he was glad to see his friend spending more time at the Bipartisan Policy Center, where Domenici is working to <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2010/08/26/republicans-for-tax-hikes-pete-domenici-on-restoring-fiscal-sanity.html" type="external">solve the deficit crisis</a> with a blue-ribbon commission of former lawmakers, ex-labor leaders, and officials from administrations past. In a few days, he'll have all the time in the world.</p>
<p>Benjamin Sarlin is the Washington correspondent for The Daily Beast and edits the site's politics blog, <a href="" type="internal">Beltway Beast</a>. He previously covered New York City politics for The New York Sun and has worked for <a href="http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/" type="external">talkingpointsmemo.com</a>.</p> | Mike Castle and Bob Bennett: Tea Party Victims Support Group | true | https://thedailybeast.com/mike-castle-and-bob-bennett-tea-party-victims-support-group | 2018-10-03 | 4 |
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<p>WASHINGTON — The Latest on President Donald Trump and the chair of the Federal Reserve (all times local):</p>
<p>4:06 p.m.</p>
<p>Outgoing Fed chair Janet Yellen has congratulated colleague Jay Powell on his nomination to succeed her next year after her term expires.</p>
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<p>Powell currently serves on the Fed board. Yellen says in a statement that his distinguished career has been marked by “dedicated public service and seriousness of purpose.”</p>
<p>Yellen says she’s confident in Powell’s “deep commitment” to carrying out the mission of the Federal Reserve, which sets U.S. monetary policy.</p>
<p>She adds that she will work with Powell to ensure a smooth transition. The Senate must confirm Powell’s nomination, which President Donald Trump announced Thursday.</p>
<p>Yellen is the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve; she’ll also be the first Fed leader in decades to be denied a second term after completing a first.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>3:43 p.m.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump’s announcement of his nominee to lead the Federal Reserve included one noticeable absence: current Chair Janet Yellen.</p>
<p>Although he praised Yellen and thanked her for her service, she did not participate in the announcement — a departure from how previous presidents chose to announce a new Fed nominee.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>When former President Barack Obama announced Yellen’s nomination in 2013, then-Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke stood by the podium as well. When President George W. Bush announced Bernanke’s nomination in 2005, longtime Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan was there. In 1987, when Greenspan was nominated by President Ronald Reagan, he was accompanied by then-Fed Chairman Paul Volcker.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>3:15 p.m.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Federal Reserve says he will work to make sure the Fed stays “vigilant and prepared to respond to changes” in the market.</p>
<p>Jerome Powell was introduced by Trump in the Rose Garden.</p>
<p>The nominee says the U.S. economy has made “substantial progress” since the 2008 financial crisis and the financial system is much stronger.</p>
<p>Powell says the Federal Reserve understands that monetary decisions “matter for American families” as he awaits confirmation by the Senate.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>3:13 p.m.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump is praising outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as he chooses Fed board member Jerome Powell to lead the Fed.</p>
<p>The president says Yellen is “absolutely a spectacular person,” and says she has served “with dedication and devotion” and the nation is grateful to her.</p>
<p>If confirmed by the Senate, Powell would succeed Yellen when her term ends in February.</p>
<p>Yellen is the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve; she’ll also be the first Fed leader in decades to be denied a second term after completing a first.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>3:12 p.m.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump is choosing Federal Reserve board member Jerome Powell to become the next chair of the U.S. central bank.</p>
<p>Trump says Powell has the “wisdom and leadership” to guide the U.S. economy through any challenges it may face.</p>
<p>He is calling Powell, “strong,” “committed” and “smart.”</p>
<p>Trump announced Powell’s nomination Thursday at a White House ceremony. If confirmed by the Senate, Powell would succeed Janet Yellen when her term ends in February.</p>
<p>Yellen is the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve; she’ll also be the first Fed leader in decades to be denied a second term after completing a first.</p>
<p>The 64-year-old Powell is seen as a safe choice. He supported the cautious approach to interest rate hikes that Yellen pursued during her tenure.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>11:26 a.m.</p>
<p>Mona Mahajan, an investment strategist for Allianz Global Investors, says Wall Street prefers Jerome Powell to other finalists for the Fed post, in part because he appears to share Chair Janet Yellen’s go-slow approach to interest-rate hikes.</p>
<p>“Relative to a John Taylor or Kevin Warsh, Powell is more of a continuity candidate,” Mahajan says, suggesting that low borrowing rates could support economic growth and a strong stock market.</p>
<p>Mahajan says she also thinks that more than Yellen, Powell, like Trump, might be inclined to relax some of the stricter regulations that were imposed on banks after the 2008 financial crisis.</p>
<p>“He wants to ease some of the Dodd-Frank rules and relieve some of the pressure on the region and community banks,” Mahajan says.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>9:55 a.m.</p>
<p>Two senior administration officials say Federal Reserve board member Jerome Powell is President Donald Trump’s choice to succeed Janet Yellen — the first woman to lead the U.S. central bank.</p>
<p>Trump plans to make the announcement later Thursday at the White House — and the officials are confirming that Trump’s settled on Powell as the next Fed chairman.</p>
<p>The officials weren’t authorized to discuss administration personnel decisions before the president’s formal announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>The 64-year-old Powell is seen as a safe choice. He’s supported the cautious approach to raising interest rates that Yellen has pursued during her tenure.</p>
<p>Powell spent years working at investment firms. Unlike the past three Fed leaders, he doesn’t have a doctorate degree in economics.</p>
<p>Yellen had drawn widespread approval for her performance as Fed chair.</p>
<p>–Associated Press writer Ken Thomas.</p> | Trumps nominates Jerome Powell for Fed chair | false | https://abqjournal.com/1086921/the-latest-ap-learns-trumps-settled-on-powell-for-fed-post.html | 2017-11-02 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Image credit: Micron Technology.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>This spring, Micron Technology , by way of its consumer-facing subsidiary Crucial, released a new solid-state drive known as the Crucial MX300. According to performance tests performed by The Tech Report, it offers virtually identical performance to Crucial's prior-generation MX200 solid-state drive.</p>
<p>Despite the fact that there doesn't appear to be a performance improvement, the MX300 is kind of a big deal for Micron. Here's why.</p>
<p>The market for solid-state drives is turning out to be something of a race to the bottom. Generally speaking, the performance leap that a typical user sees in going from a typical high-performance hard disk drive to even the lowest-end solid-state drive is going to be enormous. The gains beyond that can be noticed, particularly in specialized tests, but the leap isn't anywhere near as dramatic as the initial jump from hard disk to solid-state.</p>
<p>Although there are performance differences between different solid-state drives, it's not clear that many consumers are willing to pay premiums for performance. It's more likely that a typical consumer will want to get as much flash storage for as little as possible -- in other words, consumers often want to minimize price per gigabyte.</p>
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<p>In a market in which consumers prefer to pay as little as possible for as much storage as possible, it's critical for a solid-state drive maker to be able to build these devices as cheaply as possible.</p>
<p>The largest portion of the bill for materials for a solid-state drive, by far, is the NAND flash medium itself. Other components add non-trivial costs -- onboard DRAM, flash controller chip, and so on -- but generally speaking, if your NAND flash costs are high, your drive costs will be high; if your NAND flash costs are low, your drive costs will be low.</p>
<p>In reference to NAND flash, you might see the acronyms "MLC," for "multi-level cell"and "TLC," for "triple-level cell." Micron's MLC flash stores two bits per memory cell, while its TLC flash stores three bits per memory cell.</p>
<p>The important thing for investors to know: the more bits that can be stored per cell, the cheaper the flash is per gigabyte. The trade-offs, of course, are longevity and performance. But, as I said, consumers seem to want their storage as cheaply as possible.</p>
<p>Another buzzword you might hear these days is "3D NAND." The idea behind 3D NAND is simple: If you stack memory cells on top of each other, you can cram more memory into a given area than in traditional planar (2D) arrangements. In a nutshell, this reduces cost.</p>
<p>Circling back to the Crucial MX300, it's easy to see why this drive is a win for Micron: The company has shifted from planar MLC NAND to 3D TLC NAND, which should allow it to produce these drives much more cheaply.</p>
<p>Micron is charging $199 for a 750-gigabyte MX300 drive, which puts the price per gigabyte at around $0.265. The older-generation MX200, in a 500-gigabyte capacity, sells for $140, or $0.28 per gigabyte. It seems that Micron is giving customers a slightly lower cost per gigabyte, but I suspect that the actual manufacturing cost reductions are greater -- suggesting margin improvements for Micron.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/23/why-micron-technology-incs-new-solid-state-drive-i.aspx" type="external">Why Micron Technology Inc.'s New Solid-State Drive Is Important Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/aeassa/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Ashraf Eassa Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why Micron Technology Inc.'s New Solid-State Drive Is Important | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/06/23/why-micron-technology-inc-new-solid-state-drive-is-important.html | 2016-06-23 | 0 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal" />In response to the establishment media’s contrived ‘fake news’ crisis designed to marginalise independent and alternative media sources of news and analysis, 21WIRE is running its own <a href="" type="internal">#FakeNewsWeek</a>&#160;awareness campaign, where each day our&#160;editorial team at 21st Century Wire will feature media critiques and analysis of mainstream corporate media coverage of current events – exposing the government and the mainstream media as the real purveyors of ‘fake news’ throughout modern history…</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>. Mark Anderson <a href="http://wp.me/p3bwni-mnC" type="external">21st Century Wire</a></p>
<p>The U.S. government, the ‘intelligence’ community and their malicious mainstream-media partners in deception just won’t let it go.</p>
<p>The underhanded U.S. unitary state, which seeks a unipolar world with the U.S. in charge, still says in its “never ending story” that omniscient, omnipresent Russian leader Vladimir Putin masterminded hacking the computerized systems of U.S. elections as well as Democratic National Committee computers.</p>
<p>Then, as the stale tale goes, Russia handed all the resulting electronic juicy tidbits over to Wikileaks, which turned around and dropped a veritable information bomb on America’s delicate democracy.</p>
<p>But while that “bomb” allegedly influenced enough people to vote for the winner Donald Trump and not for loser Hillary Clinton, to this day, according to big media, we’re supposed to forget all about the creepy, damning, criminally inclined things contained in the Podesta-Clinton emails themselves.</p>
<p>So, let’s try and grasp this media-massaged, intel-infused message: Even though the emails apparently had enough sizzle and scandal to boost one presidential candidate over another, we’re still prodded to think that the information in the emails somehow isn’t the issue—even though the content&#160;of the emails will always&#160;be what matters the most.</p>
<p>Also notice what no one, and certainly no media outlet, dares to mention regarding the other half of this issue: If Putin also was crafty enough to hack into the actual state-level U.S. election systems, then this implies&#160;that U.S. elections systems can be hacked in the first place.</p>
<p>This is huge. Think about it the next time you use an electronic “ES&amp;S Ivotronic”&#160;touchscreen voting machine or&#160;Hart InterCivic’s model at the polls.</p>
<p>All along, we’ve been reassured that the electronic voting systems used in about 95% of American voting precincts are The Greatest Thing Ever Invented and Monumentally Secure…</p>
<p>Are they really?</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" />THE ELECTORAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: Securing America’s automated voting systems has become a complicated affair.&#160;</p>
<p>And, all along, writers like Yours Truly, highly credible Texas vote-reform activists like Laura Pressley, Vickie Karp, Bev Harris and others have uncovered tons of evidence that electronic elections are an immensely deceptive and vulnerable apparatus — vulnerable to external hacking and also to being “fixed” from the inside without any need for outside hacking, through the proprietary software inside the these voting contraptions that can be pre-set to steal elections if the need arises.</p>
<p>You’re going to want to see my interview with Laura Pressley, on behalf of American Free Press, <a href="https://livestream.com/ronavery/vote-fraud" type="external">through this link right here.</a></p>
<p>THE RUSSIAN DISTRACTION&#160;</p>
<p>As Pressley shows in detail, the&#160;integrity and lawfulness of Texas elections are in serious peril — not because of any outside “autocrats” like Putin and his supposed cyberspace minions, but because of state and local election officials, right here in the U.S., who absolutely will not follow state election law. And the average TV or newspaper reporter is utterly tone-deaf to these problems, which keeps the people in perpetual fog, unaware that U.S. elections have been effectively privatized by those who make the machines that count the votes.</p>
<p>To hear more about this “Putin the Hacker” debacle, please <a href="http://barnesreview.org/tbr-radio-mark-anderson-this-weeks-american-free-press/" type="external">listen to my Dec. 29, 2016 interview with UK-based radio host Andrew Carrington Hitchcock</a>on his regularly scheduled American Free Press (AFP) show.</p>
<p>Furthermore, <a href="http://www.thetruthhound.com/in-depth-exposing-the-election-night-gatekeepers-and-their-electronic-vote-fraud/" type="external">check out this Election Night Gatekeepers overview</a> on my blog by election-theft expert Jim Condit Jr., who worked with the late Collier brothers in their game-changing book, “Votescam.”&#160; The media is part of a secretive consortium that counts the vote in secret, meaning the mainstream press’ fake news carries with it evidence of criminal collusion.</p>
<p>The unavoidable conclusion is that the powers-that-be — in going after Putin and calling him The Supreme Hacker of the Known Universe&#160;— have shot themselves in the foot because they’re clearly and finally admitting in the process that U.S. voting systems CAN be hacked, after more than a decade of denial.</p>
<p>This means that all their denials about electronic election fraud are invalidated. &#160;The critics of electronic election systems are right. The establishment is wrong. End of discussion.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, recalling some recent history, Wayne Madsen Reports provided&#160;some important perspective:</p>
<p>“Although the Central Intelligence Agency has had a long history of undermining presidents-elect and prime ministers-elect in other countries, the United States has never witnessed the intelligence agency so blatantly attempting to politically weaken a U.S. president-elect [Trump] just a few weeks prior to the inauguration. What the CIA is doing in forcing Donald Trump into shifting from his campaign promise of restoring good relations with Russia to one of outright hostility to Moscow — favored by the CIA, Director of National Intelligence (DNI), and the neo-conservatives within the Republican and Democratic Party establishments— is nothing less than an overt threat to American democracy.”</p>
<p>WHERE ARE THE CYBER-COPS?</p>
<p>And, <a href="http://americanfreepress.net/owner-of-servers-implicated-in-dnc-hacks-says-no-one-is-interested-in-truth-behind-computer-crimes/" type="external">as American Free Press reported in its first 2017 edition</a>, the young owner of a Russian-based web-server company may have a handle on who stole sensitive electronic communications between Hillary Clinton and some of her advisors.</p>
<p>But 26-year-old Vladimir Fomenko knows one thing for sure: U.S. intelligence, which professes to be hot on the trail of exposing Russian hacking, doesn’t seem to care about his story.</p>
<p>This means that our leaders in Washington have long ignored a solid lead that could prove once and for all whether or not the Russian government hacked the computers systems of top Democrats and U.S. elections systems.</p>
<p>Fomenko recently spoke to AFP to try and demystify the controversy surrounding his King Servers company and the cyberattacks purportedly carried out at the behest of Russia.</p>
<p>AFP writer John Friend, quoting Fomenko, noted that even though his servers were exploited in this cyber-crime: “No U.S. law enforcement or intelligence agency is interested in speaking with him to gather real evidence on the perpetrators.”</p>
<p>The U.S. was not the only country hit by computer hackers. Hackers evidently targeted Germany, Turkey, and Ukraine, apparently attempting to upset democratic processes.</p>
<p>It was when WikiLeaks began releasing hacked data from the DNC late this past summer that media reports and the Clinton campaign began blaming Russia with no solid evidence to support that assertion.</p>
<p>After learning about this shadowy criminal activity, Fomenko immediately shut down the servers and looked into the situation. He says he’s willing to cooperate with law enforcement.</p>
<p>“We pursued an investigation without delay and found some tracks leading to Europe,” Fomenko told AFP.</p>
<p>“Web hosting is a legal enterprise&#160; . . . regulated by law,” Fomenko added. “King Servers works in Russia, the U.S., and the Netherlands and complies with the laws of these countries.”</p>
<p>Fomenko stressed: “No U.S. law enforcement agency has contacted us at this time. Neither the FBI nor any other U.S., Russian, or Dutch intelligence agency has contacted us.”</p>
<p>The plot thickens…&#160;</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Y0CBjtuy8" type="external">WSB-TV Channel 2 reporters in Atlanta, Georgia actually did their job and noted</a>:</p>
<p>“The Georgia Secretary of State’s office now confirms 10 different cyberattacks on its network all trace back to U.S. Department of Homeland Security IP addresses.”</p>
<p>Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, dissatisfied with the federal government’s dodgy explanation about these DHS cyberattacks, fired off a letter to then-President-elect Donald Trump to put him in the loop.</p>
<p>So, it’ll be interesting to see if Trump ever helps Georgia, and other states whose election systems were supposedly hacked, figure out what happened and who’s really responsible.</p>
<p>After all this time, the accusation that Russia “did it” still looks less and less credible, <a href="http://americanfreepress.net/still-no-evidence-russia-was-behind-cyber-crimes/" type="external">as this additional AFP piece outlines</a>,&#160;yet the American establishment, thinking it could blame Russia to explain Hillary’s loss and come to grips with Trump’s win, just won’t drop the blame-Putin narrative.</p>
<p>We can only hope that Trump’s claim that he’ll start putting some limits on our out-of-control spy agencies will come true. If ever there was a good reason to pursue those limits, this high-level U.S. intelligence gambit to blame Putin, no matter what, is it. The orthodox press has been a solid ally all along of these intel-intrigues.</p>
<p>And this gives Trump a chance to prove he’s the real deal, and not another asset of the establishment, despite his seemingly honest intentions to name names and seek real solutions to the real problems that are troubling Americans and citizens across the world.</p>
<p>For, if elections are not really a means to find and assign better leaders who will use their victory as a mandate to do the right thing for the voters,&#160;then what’s the point of having elections at all, hacked or not hacked, honest or not?</p>
<p>Author Mark Anderson is an investigative journalist and features writer for <a href="http://www.americanfreepress.net" type="external">American Free Press</a>, and is editor of <a href="http://www.thetruthhound.com" type="external">The Truth Hound</a>. Contact Mr. Anderson at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>READ MORE ABOUT MSM FAKE NEWS AT:&#160; <a href="" type="internal">FAKE NEWS WEEK</a></p>
<p>SUPPORT 21WIRE&#160;– SUBSCRIBE NOW &amp; BECOME A MEMBER&#160; <a href="https://21wire.tv/membership/plans/" type="external">@21WIRE.TV</a></p> | FAKE NEWS WEEK: Electronic Voting – The Big Lie That Just Won’t Die | true | http://21stcenturywire.com/2017/02/08/fake-news-week-the-big-lie-that-just-wont-die/ | 2017-02-08 | 4 |
<p>President Barack Obama’s message that the U.S. would “support a united Afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future” during Tuesday's State of the Union went down well with a former top government minister.</p>
<p>Although a large-scale drawdown of international forces is scheduled by the end of 2014, Obama said a small American force could remain in the country to train and assist Afghan forces and pursue remnants of al Qaeda.</p>
<p>“We appreciate that President Obama is still thinking about how to help Afghanistan,” said Haneef Atmar, a former Minister of Interior. Like many Afghans he was worried that U.S. involvement was jeopardized by President Hamid Karzai’s consistent refusal to sign a bilateral security agreement (BSA) between the two nations.</p>
<p>While the BSA was approved by a grand council of the country’s most influential tribal leaders known as a Loya Jirga in October, Karzai has insisted the U.S. meet extra conditions before he puts pen to paper, including brokering peace talks with the Taliban and releasing Afghan detainees from Guantanamo Bay.</p>
<p>A “zero option” threat to withdraw all troops has been broached by the U.S. if he refuses to sign and billions of dollars in projected aid money will likely dry up as a result.</p>
<p>Azita Rafat, said one of Afghanistan’s first female parliamentarians, agrees that ongoing American involvement in Afghanistan is essential.</p>
<p>“I want America to know this: the people of Afghanistan are all strongly united in full support of the BSA,” said Rafat, who is now a spokeswoman for current presidential candidate, Ashraf Ghani. “President Karzai should absolutely have signed it."</p>
<p>"All he is doing right now is playing political games," she said.</p> | Obama Promise of More Help Finds Fans in Afghanistan | false | http://nbcnews.com/storyline/state-of-the-union/obama-promise-more-help-finds-fans-afghanistan-n18466 | 2014-01-29 | 3 |
<p />
<p>After posting strong gains for several years, many airline stocks ran into trouble last year. That wasn't the case for top regional airline operator SkyWest (NASDAQ: SKYW), though. Shares of SkyWest soared 92% during 2016, according to data from <a href="https://www.capitaliq.com/CIQDotNet/Login.aspx" type="external">S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>SkyWest 2016 Stock Performance, data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>SkyWest stock's massive gains were powered by improving profitability. The company has been adding lots of desirable Embraer (NYSE: ERJ) E175 jets to its fleet since 2014, driving strong earnings growth.</p>
<p>However, this tailwind will start to fade in 2017. Meanwhile, SkyWest -- along with the rest of the regional airline industry -- faces a long-term threat from the growing U.S. pilot shortage. As a result, SkyWest stock may give back some of its gains in the coming years.</p>
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<p>SkyWest operates most of its planes under fixed-fee agreements with major airlines like United Continental (NYSE: UAL). These carriers have been eager to shrink their 50-seat regional jet fleets in favor of two-class jets: particularly Embraer's E175. The E175 has lower unit costs than 50-seat jets while being significantly more comfortable for passengers.</p>
<p>Just a few years ago, SkyWest relied on these inefficient 50-seat jets for the vast majority of its revenue. As a result, the company faced severe profit pressure. It posted adjusted net income of less than $7 million in 2014.</p>
<p>However, SkyWest began a major fleet transition that year, <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/01/05/how-skywest-inc-is-restructuring-to-return-to-prof.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">adding the Embraer E175 Opens a New Window.</a> to its fleet. By the end of 2016, it had 86 E175s and it plans to add another 18 this year. These E175s are the most profitable planes in SkyWest's fleet.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, SkyWest has gradually reduced the size of its 50-seat jet fleet. This drove a stunning improvement in profitability over the past two years. Adjusted net income surged to more than $100 million in 2015, and it probably increased by another 35% or more in 2016.</p>
<p>While SkyWest has been gradually retiring 50-seat jets from its fleet, it still operates more than 350 of them. This could change quickly. Last month, SkyWest announced plans to retire most or all of the CRJ200 50-seat jets currently flying with its ExpressJet subsidiary by the end of 2017. As a result, it expects to incur a $440 million-$490 million writedown during Q4 2016.</p>
<p>SkyWest subsidiary ExpressJet will retire most of its CRJ200s this year. Image source: The Motley Fool.</p>
<p>Additionally, ExpressJet has about 150 50-seat Embraer jets currently flying for United Continental under contracts that expire by year's end. United will probably opt to extend some of those contracts by a year or two, but it wants to <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/22/united-airlines-charts-its-comeback-plans.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">shrink its 50-seat jet fleet Opens a New Window.</a> drastically by 2019.</p>
<p>Downsizing the 50-seat jet business will reduce SkyWest's long-term risk. In any case, much of the company's 50-seat jet flying isn't profitable. That said, if United chooses to shrink its 50-seat fleet quickly over the next couple of years, SkyWest could face operational headwinds as it tries to right-size its cost structure.</p>
<p>While the rapid retirement of 50-seat airplanes could make SkyWest's results volatile for the next few years, cost pressure from rising pilot pay is an even bigger long-term risk.</p>
<p>The U.S. airline industry faces a severe long-term pilot shortage. Regional airlines are feeling the effects first, because they pay their pilots far less than do the major airlines. This is especially true for new hires.</p>
<p>In the short run, SkyWest can offset attrition by shrinking its fleet. But in the long run, pilot wages will need to rise for SkyWest to attract and retain qualified pilots. This could erode SkyWest's profit margin, as most of its planes are tied up in fixed-fee flying arrangements that essentially cap the company's revenue.</p>
<p>SkyWest stock currently trades for about 12 times forward earnings. That may not seem very high in light of the company's rapid earnings growth over the past two years.</p>
<p>Indeed, earnings could continue rising at a strong clip in 2017. However, the growing obsolescence of SkyWest's 50-seat jet fleet and the virtually inevitable pilot pay increases on the horizon could make any earnings growth short-lived.</p>
<p>The regional airline industry is in the midst of a long-term restructuring. As the strongest player in the industry, SkyWest is likely to survive. However, investors are currently valuing SkyWest as if the company will emerge from this turmoil completely unscathed. That may be too much to ask.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than SkyWest 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=517a9ad8-3d90-4dbe-8707-7f6675d8a199&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 SkyWest 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=517a9ad8-3d90-4dbe-8707-7f6675d8a199&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/TMFGemHunter/info.aspx" type="external">Adam Levine-Weinberg Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Embraer-Empresa Brasileira. The Motley Fool recommends Embraer-Empresa Brasileira. 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> | This Airline Stock Nearly Doubled in 2016: Now It's Overvalued | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/10/this-airline-stock-nearly-doubled-in-2016-now-it-overvalued.html | 2017-01-10 | 0 |
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<p>EDINBURG, Texas — A prosecutor told a jury that he would prove an 85-year-old former Catholic priest murdered a South Texas teacher and ex-beauty queen 57 years ago.</p>
<p>The assertion came as the Hidalgo County jury heard opening statements and testimony Thursday in the trial of John Feit in Edinburg, Texas. He is accused of the April 1960 beating and suffocation of Irene Garza, 25, whose body was found five days after she went to a McAllen church for confession.</p>
<p>Prosecutor Michael Garza, who is not related to the victim, told jurors that Feit killed the woman “with malice and forethought.” Garza said that a month before the victim went missing, a female college student reported that a man attacked her from behind in church and tried to suffocate her. Feit would later plead no contest to a charge related to that incident.</p>
<p>“Is what you’re trying to convince your heart of what your mind knows is true? You use that common sense in your heart, and I ask each of you to open the eyes of your heart and find John Feit guilty of murder,” Garza said.</p>
<p>Defense attorney O. Rene Flores told jurors that prosecutors have insufficient evidence to convict Feit, who was living in Arizona at the time of his arrest last year.</p>
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<p>“I disagree with Mr. Garza. The finding of facts that you make may hurt your heart, and I too ask you to bring your common sense to the courtroom. Do not let your heart make those findings,” Flores said.</p>
<p>The first witness called to testify was former television reporter Darrell Davis.</p>
<p>Davis, now 77 and a lawyer, was 20 years old when he covered the case as a reporter in 1960. He testified that the district attorney at the time knew Feit killed Irene Garza and that the church knew it, but promised to move him to a monastery if he was not prosecuted.</p>
<p>Also, two men testified that they had found Irene Garza’s purse. One said he found it on the night she disappeared, and the other claimed he discovered it on a different day.</p> | Testimony starts in ex-priest’s trial for 1960 Texas killing | false | https://abqjournal.com/1100044/testimony-starts-in-ex-priests-trial-for-1960-texas-killing.html | 2017-11-30 | 2 |
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<p />
<p>They are also available during normal business hours at:</p>
<p>The county human resources office on the first floor of the County Administration Building, 1500 Idalia Rd, at the intersection with N.M. 528.</p>
<p>Senior Centers of Community centers in Cuba, Jemez Valley and Pena Blanca.</p>
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<p>The Cochiti Pueblo Tribal office.</p>
<p>The program is open for permanent residents of Sandoval County between 15 years and 17 years on or before June 2, 2014.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Applications for Sandoval County job program available Monday | false | https://abqjournal.com/368845/applications-for-sandoval-county-job-program-available-monday.html | 2 |
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<p>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/richevenhouse/5909070688/"&gt;Fellowship of the Rich&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
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<p>Have a freshwater fish tank at home? Stop petting Nemo and Wanda for a minute, and take a deep breath. Ornamental fish in the US, many of which come from Asia, are hosting antibiotic-resistant bacteria which could spread diseases to their human owners, <a href="http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2013/jan/ornamental-fish-industry-faces-problems-antibiotic-resistance" type="external">a new report</a>put out by researchers at Oregon State University reveals.</p>
<p>“The range of resistance is often quite disturbing,” the authors wrote in their report, which was published in the January edition of the Journal of Fish Diseases. “Imported ornamental fish are commonly colonized with bacterial species of potential human and animal harm.”</p>
<p>The researchers examined 32 freshwater fish, including common household species like neon tetras, cory catfish, and flame gouramis. They found that the fish, which came from Colombia, Florida and Singapore, had antibiotic-resistant bacteria that could potentially spread to humans, including Staphylococcus, which causes Staph infections of the skin; Aeromonas, which gives you stomach flu symptoms; and a type of Mycobacterium that causes skin lesions (not to be confused with the kind that breeds tuberculosis.)</p>
<p>The fish were most resistant to the antibiotics Tetracycline, which is used to treat infections like chlamydia in humans, and Bactrim, which is often used to treat women’s urinary tract infections and bronchitis. The authors point out in the report that “this is not surprising considering the widespread use of these classes [of antibiotics] in the ornamental fish industry.” However, the researchers also found that the fish were resistant to some antibiotics that aren’t commonly used.&#160;“We don’t know why that is, it could be industry testing that’s going on somewhere,” &#160;Tim Miller-Morgan, a veterinary aquatics specialist with Oregon State University who co-authored the report, told&#160;Mother Jones.&#160;The report notes that frequent and unregulated use of antibiotics is a growing problem in the ornamental fish industry, which is worth about $900 million.&#160;</p>
<p>But there is good news: Miller-Morgan says that “the overall risk to human from these infected fish is low,” although he suggests that individuals who have compromised immune systems consult their doctors, and people with open wounds refrain from cleaning their fish tanks. “You just need to be aware,” he says. “I wouldn’t stop keeping ornamental fish.”</p>
<p>But if, after reading this report, you’re hell-bent on getting rid of Goldy and Phish, you can always copy what the scientists did: Kill them “via decapitation followed by exsanguination” and then cut out their kidneys. <a href="" type="internal">*</a>&#160;“This is the quickest, most humane way to kill the fish,” given that “results can be compromised when an anesthetic is used,” Miller-Morgan says.&#160;</p>
<p>This is why I’m not a biologist.</p>
<p>*Please don’t actually do this to your pets.&#160;</p>
<p /> | Pet Fish Could Give You Freaky Antibiotic-Resistant Skin Diseases | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/your-pet-fish-could-give-you-staph-other-freaky-diseases/ | 2013-01-16 | 4 |
<p>A woman missing since August was found alive Thursday after deputies in South Carolina said they heard loud banging coming from a metal storage container on a rural property.</p>
<p>Acting on a tip, the Spartanburg County Sheriff's deputies discovered 30-year-old Kala Brown "chained inside the container like a dog," Sheriff Chuck Wright told <a href="http://www.wyff4.com/article/woman-missing-since-august-found-held-captive-man-still-missing-police-say/8118497" type="external">local NBC affiliate WYFF</a>.</p>
<p>The deputies were searching the grounds in Woodruff, just south of Spartanburg, in relation to a tip about a sex crime when they came across the disturbing scene.</p>
<p>Brown told authorities she had been held captive for two months.</p>
<p>"It's all by God's grace that we found that little girl alive," Wright told WYFF.</p>
<p>The owner of the property — identified as Todd Kohlhepp, a registered sex offender — was charged with kidnapping, jail records show. A bond hearing was scheduled for Friday afternoon.</p>
<p>Officials said other charges against him were also possible.</p>
<p>Brown also told investigators about four bodies possibly buried on the property. A massive investigation was underway Thursday, and photos from the scene showed a backhoe being brought in.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="" type="internal">Mothers Desperate for Information about Missing Couple Kala Brown and Charlie Carver</a></p>
<p>No bodies were found as of 7 p.m. ET, and the search was called off at nightfall and was expected to resume Friday morning, the Spartanburg County Coroner's Office said.</p>
<p>"It has been a blessing just having her, but it's, it's great just knowing that she's alive and I can go see her and hug her and tell her how much I love her," Cassandra Ellen, a close friend of Brown’s, told WYFF.</p>
<p>Charlie Carver, Brown's boyfriend, who disappeared around the same time, remains missing. Carver's vehicle was found on Kohlhepp's property during the search Thursday, according to a sheriff's spokesman.</p>
<p>Brown and a close friend reportedly had dinner on the night of Aug. 29 at Brown and her boyfriend's apartment outside Anderson, South Carolina. The following day, several friends received texts back from Brown. But the responses stopped coming on Aug. 31.</p>
<p>The last images of Carver are on security video from his workplace showing him leaving that same day.</p>
<p>Joanne Shiflet, Carver's mother, told Dateline that she and her son don't go a day without some type of communication.</p>
<p>But after no word from her son in several days, Shiflet called the manager of the couple's apartment complex to see if she could check on them. The manager knocked on their door, but there was no answer, so she went inside.</p>
<p>It appeared no one had been there for some time, Shiflet said.</p>
<p>She did find something troubling: Romeo, Brown's Pomeranian dog, was left without any food or water.</p>
<p>"That dog is her baby. She'd never leave him like that," Brown's mother, Bonnie Newsom, told Dateline in early October.</p>
<p>The case attracted national attention several weeks later when mysterious postings began to appear on Carver's Facebook page.</p>
<p>The messages, which appeared after the two were reported missing, included statements that the couple was fine and had simply left on their own.</p>
<p>Both Brown and Carver’s families believe his account had been hacked.</p>
<p>Makenzie Durham, Carver’s former high school sweetheart and a friend of 16 years, told WYFF that the discovery of Brown alive gives her hope.</p>
<p>"It's a miracle. They were missing for two months and we found one person alive and well, so miracles do happen," she said.</p>
<p>"You never can give up hope. You just got to keep hoping and never think that they're not going to be found and that there's never a worst-case scenario," Durham told the station. "You're always just going to be positive and keep searching."</p>
<p>Kala and Charlie were featured in Dateline’s social and digital series " <a href="" type="internal">Missing in America</a>" on Oct. 10, 2016.</p> | Kala Brown, Missing Since August Found Alive, ‘Chained,’ Boyfriend Charlie Carver Remains Missing | false | http://nbcnews.com/feature/missing-in-america/kala-brown-missing-august-found-alive-chained-boyfriend-charlie-carver-n677606 | 2016-11-04 | 3 |
<p>During this Black history month the nation and the world anxiously watch the living Black history that is taking place with the first African American president. Yet at this very same moment the future of Black America is in an exceedingly precarious condition. <a href="" type="internal">State of the Dream 2009: The Silent Depression</a>, a recent report by the Institute for Policy Studies and United For A Fair Economy, highlights how the current economic recession impacts the racial wealth divide in this country.</p>
<p>As the United States delves further into a serious long-term recession, African Americans are facing the challenge of coming from a 7 year silent recession into a depression for disenfranchised communities that includes most African Americans.</p>
<p>Between 2000 and 2007, before the country was officially in a recession, Black employment decreased by 2.4% and saw their incomes decline by 2.9%. Between 2000 and 2005 the median family income of African Americans decreased and decreased more steeply than that for whites or Latinos.</p>
<p>To a large extent, African Americans never emerged from the 2001 recession. With Blacks having 15 cents of every dollar of white wealth and nearly 30% of Black households having zero to negative net worth, the decline of the overall American economy promises to submerge African Americans into a depression.</p>
<p>What is a depression? A depression is a long-term and severe recession. It is already clear that African Americans have been through a long-term recession. Let us look at the severity. The unemployment rate for African Americans is already in the double digits 11.2% and is expected to increase to 20% or more.</p>
<p>It is estimated that a deep national recession which increasingly looks like what the national economy is going through will decrease the Black middle class by a staggering 33%. The nation is well on its way to its most severe recession since the Great depression and African Americans are faced with even greater economic challenges.</p>
<p>As the election has shown Americans are looking for change we can believe in. We can find examples of such policy change in Great Britain. Britain like the United States is one of the most unequal industrialized nations in the world and recently has taken steps to address this.</p>
<p>In 2002 Britain implemented the Child Trust Fund. This program allocates start up savings funds for families with the birth of a child. It is an attempt to assist and develop more of a wealth building society which is a change greatly needed in the United States. Britain, a wealthy country with the greatest decline in income inequality and poverty since 2000, is also in the midst of discussing a proposal called the “social mobility white paper” to make all government funds and programs focus on decreasing inequality.</p>
<p>This comprehensive approach is also necessary in the United States. As President Obama orchestrates mass government investment to help the economy recover he must make a centerpiece of this plan to close economic inequality of all groups.</p>
<p>President Obama has the opportunity to not just be a significant piece of Black history but more importantly and with the support of the US congress has the opportunity to bridge economic inequality and in doing so make racial inequality a piece of Black history.</p>
<p>Dedrick Muhammad and Michael Brown work at the Institute for Policy Studies.</p> | White Recession, Black Depression | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/02/16/white-recession-black-depression/ | 2009-02-16 | 4 |
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<p>The residential solar industry in the U.S. is up for grabs and there could be a new opportunity for Vivint Solar (NYSE: VSLR) and Sunrun (NASDAQ: RUN) to grab market share. Sungevity and Verengo Solarrecently went bankrupt and NRG Home is exiting the home solar business, taking three big competitors out of the game.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>This doesn't change the fact that local and <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/02/23/is-sunpower-coming-up-roses-in-residential-solar.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">regional installers are gaining market share Opens a New Window.</a>, but it leaves fewer large installers with a national presence. And there's still an opportunity to use that position to profitably grow their customer base.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>As national installers like Vivint Solar, Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) SolarCity, and Sunrun built out their business, they bet that a national infrastructure with third-party financing (leases) would give them a competitive advantage. Over the past year, <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/02/04/how-the-allure-of-growth-led-solar-installers-down.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">that strategy has fallen apart Opens a New Window.</a> as loans and local and regional installers have gained market share. Everyone in the industry is now realizing that the trend will continue, so Sunrun, Vivint, and Tesla are pushing toward loans to stem some of the lost market share.</p>
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<p>While national installers were fighting one another for a smaller piece of the pie, it left everyone in a weaker position. But weaker players like Sungevity and Verango Solar didn't survive, leaving just a few of the larger installers. And they're making a needed transition to focusing their efforts on profitable customers, rather than growth at all costs. And with fewer competitors, it may be easy to make that transition to profitability.</p>
<p>Fewer competitors and the focus on cash and loan sales could also open up new markets. When Sunrun announced it was entering the Wisconsin market last week, it did so with cash and loan options and notably left out the lease. This is an acknowledgment both that new markets may see solar as an attractive option and that the lease is no longer a financing option that's worth bringing to market.</p>
<p>I would expect other states like Minnesota, Missouri (Kansas City), Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to attract more installers with similar structures. Particularly in Tesla's case, the company could expand into new states just by leveraging its retail format. But I would expect Vivint and Sunrun to continue to explore their own expansions now that they're armed with loan offerings as well.</p>
<p>Over the past few years, there have just been too many companies fighting for the same pie in residential solar. Now that some of the weaker players are falling off, it'll leave Vivint Solar and Sunrun in a stronger position, particularly if <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/03/22/just-what-exactly-is-solarcitys-future-under-tesla.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">SolarCity backs away Opens a New Window.</a> from solar under Tesla.</p>
<p>The fact that local and regional installers are gaining market share is a challenge, but I think there will still be a place for national companies that are disciplined in their approach. Look at it like home construction or home improvement, where there are national as well as local companies with a place in the market.</p>
<p>At the very least, having less competition will make it easier for Vivint and Sunrun to operate profitably. And with immediate cash coming in from more cash and loan sales, these may soon be cash-generating businesses rather than solar finance companies, which would be a welcome change for investors.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than SunrunWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=f9df2ba6-1117-4154-9ce5-f41c28b27715&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 Sunrun wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=f9df2ba6-1117-4154-9ce5-f41c28b27715&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 April 3, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFFlushDraw/info.aspx" type="external">Travis Hoium Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla. 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> | Bankruptcies Give Vivint Solar and Sunrun a New Opening in Residential Solar | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/04/05/bankruptcies-give-vivint-solar-and-sunrun-new-opening-in-residential-solar.html | 2017-04-05 | 0 |
<p>A Black Lives Matter leader in Louisville, Kentucky, has devised a ludicrous list of demands for “privileged” white people in response to the Charlottesville protests, including requests for their homes and property.</p>
<p>The laughable list, published at&#160; <a href="https://www.leoweekly.com/2017/08/white-people/" type="external">LEOweekly</a>&#160;by Black Lives Matter Louisville cofounder and organizer Chanelle Helm, insists whites give up their inheritance and pay monthly dues.</p>
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<p>**Warning: Contains foul language.**</p>
<p>1. White people, if you don’t have any descendants, will your property to a black or brown family. Preferably one that lives in generational poverty.</p>
<p>2. White people, if you’re inheriting property you intend to sell upon acceptance, give it to a black or brown family. You’re bound to make that money in some other white privileged way.</p>
<p>3. If you are a developer or realty owner of multi-family housing, build a sustainable complex in a black or brown blighted neighborhood and let black and brown people live in it for free.</p>
<p>4. White people, if you can afford to downsize, give up the home you own to a black or brown family. Preferably a family from generational poverty.</p>
<p>5. White people, if any of the people you intend to leave your property to are racists assholes, change the will, and will your property to a black or brown family. Preferably a family from generational poverty.</p>
<p>6. White people, re-budget your monthly so you can donate to black funds for land purchasing.</p>
<p>7. White people, especially white women (because this is yaw specialty — Nosey Jenny and Meddling Kathy), get a racist fired. Yaw know what the fuck they be saying. You are complicit when you ignore them. Get your boss fired cause they racist too.</p>
<p>8. Backing up No. 7, this should be easy but all those sheetless Klan, Nazi’s and Other lil’ dick-white men will all be returning to work. Get they ass fired. Call the police even: they look suspicious. 9. OK, backing up No. 8, if any white person at your work, or as you enter in spaces and you overhear a white person praising the actions from yesterday, first, get a pic. Get their name and more info. Hell, find out where they work — Get Them Fired. But certainly address them, and, if you need to, you got hands: use them.</p>
<p>10. Commit to two things: Fighting white supremacy where and how you can (this doesn’t mean taking up knitting, unless you’re making scarves for black and brown kids in need), and funding black and brown people and their work.</p>
<p>The list was published alongside various pro-BLM hashtags, including #RunUsOurLand, #Reparations, #YouGonLearnToday and #RunUsOurMoney.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=57240" type="external">Infowars via Information Liberation</a></p>
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<p /> | Black Lives Matter Demands White Peoples’ Homes as Reparations | true | http://dcclothesline.com/2017/08/25/black-lives-matter-demands-white-peoples-homes-as-reparations/ | 2017-08-25 | 0 |
<p>San Jose Mercury News An alliance of private equity firms and the McClatchy newspaper group are both considering entering the running to buy Knight Ridder, report Chris O'Brien and Pete Carey. A Gannett board member tells them the company isn't planning at this time to bid on Knight Ridder. The first round of bids is due Dec. 9. Analyst John Morton says any interest by McClatchy would probably be good news for KR newspapers and employees. "They wouldn't come in and wreck the place." &gt; <a href="http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/business/13306389.htm" type="external">In the Twin Cities, McClatchy's ownership of the Star Tribune</a> likely would make it impossible for McClatchy to acquire the Pioneer Press and either merge the two papers or shut one down, experts said Thursday. (St. Paul Pioneer Press) &gt; <a href="http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/columnists/13308164.htm" type="external">"Financial analysts be damned,"</a> writes Philadelphia Daily News columnist Jill Porter. "We're not going without a fight." (Philly Daily News)</p> | McClatchy, private equity firms alliance show interest in KR | false | https://poynter.org/news/mcclatchy-private-equity-firms-alliance-show-interest-kr | 2005-12-02 | 2 |
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<p>As mayors of four towns in Northern New Mexico, we understand and appreciate what our scenery and outstanding outdoor recreation activities mean to our communities.</p>
<p>Northern New Mexico would not be the same without Columbine Hondo. For the past 30 years, since the U.S. Forest Service first recommended the area for wilderness designation, we have been enjoying and benefiting from its natural and cultural gifts – like abundant clean water, amazing hiking trails and incredible wildlife.</p>
<p>Now, we know we can pass this onto our children and grandchildren. What a gift during this season of giving!</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Columbine Hondo Wilderness Area will solidify our reputation as an outdoor recreation haven for people near and far.</p>
<p>According to the Outdoor Industry Association, outdoor recreation is an “economic powerhouse” in the United States. In New Mexico, outdoor recreation generates $6.1 billion in consumer spending and is responsible for 68,000 jobs. And Northern New Mexico gets a piece of that pie as people come to hike, camp, hunt, fish, ride horseback and cross country ski.</p>
<p>They also come to mountain bike and, with our new wilderness area comes a world-class mountain biking loop, so riders can take in the wild view while enjoying their ride. Whether they are eating in our restaurants, shopping in our local stores, staying at our hotels or taking outdoor recreation tours, locals and visitors are a vital part of our economies.</p>
<p>The Columbine Hondo Wilderness Area will also safeguard the traditional uses enjoyed by Hispanics, Native Americans, hunters and anglers, grazing permittees and other locals. The act’s sponsors in Congress – Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, former Sen. Jeff Bingaman, and Reps. Ben Ray Luján and Michelle Lujan Grisham – worked closely with the community to ensure that certain activities would continue once it was designated as wilderness. These activities include hunting, fishing and grazing.</p>
<p>The Columbine Hondo is the missing link between Latir and Wheeler Peak wilderness areas. It is crowned by 13 miles of high alpine ridges and peaks that tower above 11,000 feet, including its high point, Gold Hill, at 12,711 feet elevation. The area also holds the headwaters of the Rio Hondo and Red River, both major tributaries of the upper Rio Grande.</p>
<p>The creeks and streams provide water for our downstream agricultural communities, and also serve as a home to the Rio Grande cutthroat trout. Bighorn sheep, elk, deer, black bear, mountain lion, pine-marten, marmot and pika also live in the Columbine Hondo, along with birds of prey and migratory birds, making it a destination for birders.</p>
<p>We could not be more thrilled in welcoming our newest wilderness area to New Mexico. We are joined by a coalition of local business owners, ranchers, sportsmen, pueblos, acequia parciantes, mountain bikers, veterans and conservationists. It is the culmination of many years of working together within the community, and with our representatives and senators, to safeguard this amazing place for future generations to enjoy.</p>
<p>It is a wonderful holiday gift, indeed.</p>
<p>We are so proud to serve the people of northern New Mexico and, when we see victories like the designation of the Columbine Hondo Wilderness Area, we know we truly live in the Land of Enchantment.</p>
<p>Also signed by Mark Gallegos, mayor of the Village of Questa; Dan Barrone, mayor of Taos; and Neal King, mayor of the Village of Taos Ski Valley.</p>
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<p /> | Warm welcome for new wilderness area | false | https://abqjournal.com/517096/warm-welcome-for-new-wilderness-area.html | 2 |
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<p>Crowder has neatly tucked away the electronic-infused, multilayered, mash-up of genres that became the hallmark of The David Crowder Band for more than 10 years. Instead, the singer/songwriter has traveled back in time.</p>
<p>Crowder, now a solo artist, has embarked on the “It’ll Cure What Ail’s Ya Tour,” which is a full-blown hootenanny resembling a scene from “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”</p>
<p>Gone are concert halls and mega-churches. Instead, Crowder is exclusively playing small and intimate venues. Forget awe-inspiring production and dazzling light shows – the current stage set-up includes faux oil lanterns, wallpaper and an array of antiques, a la Cracker Barrel.</p>
<p>Crowder, looking more disheveled than ever, is joined by a seven-member collective of beards, flannel shirts and suspenders. It’s old-time gospel and bluegrass, along with a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Crowder said he has done a 180, with very traditional instrumentation: upright bass, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, cello, steel guitars and accordions, too.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“It’s that kind of thing and we’re putting a little twist on it and trying to get our roots back on the ground,” he said.</p>
<p>The tour is the first for Crowder since going solo after 12 years as part of The David Crowder Band. The group’s final album released in January 2012 was “Retirement.”</p>
<p>By November 2012, Crowder had already formed his new band and released, “Crowder: iTunes Session,” which delivered a taste of things to come – nine stripped-down versions of some of his biggest hits.</p>
<p>Crowder’s new direction has been looking in a musical rearview mirror to spirituals, bluegrass, gospel and of course, country.</p>
<p>“The country style just kind of creeps into my music since I’m from Texas,” Crowder said. “But I’m still basically writing pop songs with new instrumentation on top of it.”</p> | Expect scaled-back version of Crowder | false | https://abqjournal.com/187680/expect-scaledback-version-of-crowder.html | 2013-04-12 | 2 |
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