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<p>President Trump on Friday pardoned former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the retired Arizona lawman who was convicted of intentionally disobeying a judge’s order in an immigration case.</p>
<p>The White House said the 85-year-old ex-sheriff of Arizona’s Maricopa County was a “worthy candidate” for a presidential pardon. Arpaio’s sentencing had been set for Oct. 5.</p>
<p>The action came several days after Trump, at a rally in downtown Phoenix, strongly hinted he would pardon Arpaio. “So was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job?” Trump asked supporters. “I’ll make a prediction. I think he’s going to be just fine, OK?”</p>
<p>Arpaio, who became linked to Trump during the presidential election campaign because of their hard-line views on immigration, was convicted of a misdemeanor for intentionally defying a judge’s order to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants while he was sheriff.</p>
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<p>Both politicians questioned the authenticity of then-President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and have a similar history in sparring with judges.</p>
<p>In the statement Friday night, the White House said, “Throughout his time as Sheriff, Arpaio continued his life’s work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration. Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now eighty-five years old, and after more than fifty years of admirable service to our Nation, he is worthy candidate for a Presidential pardon.”</p> | Trump Pardons Ex-Sheriff Arpaio, Who Illegally Targeted Immigrants | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/trump-pardons-ex-sheriff-arpaio-illegally-targeted-immigrants/ | 2017-08-25 | 4 |
<p>Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) recently defended President Obama's tax cut compromise. | WDCPix/&lt;a href="http://www.wdcpix.com/cgi-bin/ImageFolio4/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&amp;link=U.S._SENATE&amp;image=Durbin-PresRace.jpg&amp;img=0&amp;search=Durbin&amp;cat=all&amp;tt=&amp;bool=and"&gt;Lauren Victoria Burke&lt;/a&gt;</p>
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<p>In the wake of the liberal revolt over&#160; <a href="/kevin-drum/2010/12/houston-tax-cuts-have-landed" type="external">Barack Obama’s tax bargain</a>, some senior Democrats have begun rising to the president’s defense. When news of the deal first broke, there were only a small number of centrist Democrats <a href="" type="internal">openly willing</a> to defend the proposal and the White House’s leadership in striking the deal with Republicans. In both the House and Senate, Democratic members <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/dems_revolt_against_bam_S67dJqYi3p71wqe03ICaiN" type="external">seethed</a> at the president for criticizing his own party for letting ideology trump pragmatic solutions. But a growing chorus of liberal economists and analysts have since <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/business/economy/08leonhardt.html?_r=1&amp;ref=david_leonhardt" type="external">concluded</a> that the package is better than they might have&#160;expected under the political circumstances. And on Wednesday morning, Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.)—the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate—defended the president for making “what he thinks is the best decision in terms of keeping the economy strong.”</p>
<p>Durbin noted that he was still undecided about whether to support the tax proposal, noting that there were still “provisions in there that trouble me greatly and trouble many members of my caucus.” But he said that he sympathesized with the “horrible dilemma” that the president faced. He insisted, moreover, that Obama had not excluded congressional Democrats from the negotiating process, noting that the presdient had brought leaders from both sides together only two weeks earlier to discuss the issue. Durbin, moreover, told reporters off the Senate floor that Democrats themselves had invited the president to intervene:</p>
<p>Many leaders in Congress said to the president, “You reach an agreement, find out what you can do, then come to us.” It isn’t as if [Obama] didn’t make an offer to be inclusive. They basically said, “you need to lead,” and he did.</p>
<p>Durbin’s words lie in stark contrast to those of both liberal and rank-and-file Democrats who have accused the president of caving to Republican priorities and ignoring liberal voices in the negotiating process. But by all accounts, it looks like this is basically the deal that Democrats will have to live with, aside from some tweaks that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may push through. In addition to Durbin and <a href="" type="internal">Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.)</a>, Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Bill Nelson(D-Fla.), and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have also publically <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/132461-lieberman-says-tax-cut-proposal-can-pass-the-senate" type="external">praised the deal</a>. Though liberals will certainly vote against the package, a growing number of Democrats are likely to join them in defending Obama as the details are worked out and heads cool.</p>
<p /> | Top Senate Liberal Defends Obama on Tax Cuts | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/12/durbin-obama-acted-leader-tax-cuts/ | 2010-12-08 | 4 |
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<p>President Donald Trump&#160;is being roundly criticized for indulging in a&#160; <a href="" type="internal">hyper-political message</a>&#160;at the Boy Scouts Jamboree on Monday, a celebration that has historically been used to discuss the virtues of the organization.&#160;The president used the&#160;event to attack his opponents, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the “fake media.” The rambling speech even included threats to Republican senators who may vote against the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act.</p>
<p>At one point, he appeared to issue a warning to Health Secretary Tom Price, saying he “better get” the votes for passage or else he would be fired.&#160;</p>
<p>The Boy Scouts organization immediately&#160;attempted to distance itself from Trump’s speech saying the group did not promote any political position.&#160;And many&#160;watching from afar jumped onto social media&#160;voicing&#160;more intense criticism. Mother Jones contributing writer <a href="" type="internal">Ted Genoways&#160;</a>was an Eagle Scout and is from generations of Boy Scouts. Read his&#160;thoughts on Trump’s remarks below:</p>
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<p /> | Trump Gave a Horrifying, Politicized Speech at the Boy Scouts Jamboree. Read Why This Matters. | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2017/07/trump-gave-a-horrifying-politicized-speech-at-the-boy-scouts-jamboree-read-why-this-matters/ | 2017-07-25 | 4 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />John Seiler:</p>
<p>For years now — even decades — I’ve called government bonds “delayed tax increases.” That’s because the bonds, eventually, must be paid off with money from the general fund. And if other government spending is to continue — the regular activities of government — then taxes must be raised.</p>
<p>Bond-backers replied: “Oh, no, the economy will grow and we’ll have plenty of money to pay for the bonds without tax increases.”</p>
<p>Last year I warned, <a href="" type="internal">right here on CalWatchDog.com</a>, that the debt payments for the state amounted to $5.5 billion — and rising fast.</p>
<p>People finally are noticing this. &#160;Just at the state level, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-debt-20110226,0,7627530,full.story" type="external">according to the L.A. Times</a>, the amount to be repaid next year will $7.65 billion.</p>
<p>That’s more than half of the $12 billion in tax increases that Gov. Brown is trying to get passed.</p>
<p>See what I mean? Bonds are delayed tax increases.</p>
<p>Put another way, if voters hadn’t been tricked by the politicians into backing these foolish bonds, it would be much easier to solve the state’s budget mess.</p>
<p>The Times continued:</p>
<p>Voters have approved borrowing in the last 10 years for such causes as stem-cell research ($3 billion), high-speed rail ($10 billion), and parks, water and the environment ($14 billion). They even took on $15 billion in debt to paper over a deficit that&#160; <a href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/government/arnold-schwarzenegger-PEPLT007379.topic" type="external">Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger</a> said would never reemerge — something economists have scolded the state for doing.</p>
<p>Arnold’s gone (finally!), but the debt he left behind is just one of his disasters that we’re still cleaning up.</p>
<p>All bonds should be opposed at all levels of government. Current bonds should be ended. All deficits should be ended by cutting spending (no new taxes!).</p>
<p>Government should adopt a 100% pay-as-you-go system.</p>
<p>March 2, 2011</p> | Bonds = Delayed Tax Increases | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2011/03/02/bonds-delayed-tax-increases/ | 2018-03-20 | 3 |
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<p>Felix Krause has published a lengthy warning on his blog about a scam hackers are using to steal your information. It involves malicious apps that have a “phishing” virus that can be used to steal your iTunes/Apple ID log-in information. With that, hackers can often steal personal information, credit card information, or try out your password on other sites, if you use the same password across various accounts.</p>
<p>What makes it difficult to catch is that iPhone users are so used to being asked to “log-in” to their iTunes/Apple account, that they do not think twice about questioning it.</p>
<p>Complicating matters is the fact that many iPhone users believe the myth that the phones cannot be hacked or compromised. This level of trust could easily backfire.</p>
<p>Posing as the standard “Sign in to iTunes Store” form that users are so familiar with, the fake form appears almost identical to the original and is capable of stealing credit card and personal details in just seconds.</p>
<p>Apple iOS code researcher Felix Krause this week demonstrated just how simple it is to create a fake login form and steal personal details.</p>
<p>“Users are trained to just enter their Apple ID password whenever iOS prompts you to do so,” Mr Krause wrote in a blog post.</p>
<p>Those pop-ups are not only shown on the lock screen, and the home screen, but also inside random apps.</p>
<p>“Even users who know a lot about technology have a hard time detecting that those alerts are phishing attacks.”</p>
<p>These images show just how convincing the “phishing” scam is. In the image below, the real log-in can be seen on the left, and the fake one on the right.</p>
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<p>There is, however, a way to avoid the iPhone phishing scam if the virus is on your iPhone. First, you can identify whether the pop-up is real or a scam. Krause says when you see the pop-up occur, hit your iPhone’s HOME button. If the log-in box closes the app, and the dialog with it, then it was likely a “phishing” attack.</p>
<p>Krause also suggests not using the pop-ups to log in to Apple/iPhone. Instead, he suggests going straight to your iPhone’s settings and enter your password there, and there only.</p>
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<p>Save</p> | ALERT: Is Your iPhone Always Asking You To Sign In? It Could Be A Hacker’s ‘Phishing’ Scam to Steal Your Info | true | http://silenceisconsent.net/alert-iphone-always-asking-sign-hackers-phishing-scam-steal-info/ | 2018-04-03 | 0 |
<p>The day of reckoning may be close at hand for Bush’s “Coalition of the Willing.” The worldwide February 15 protests that saw millions of people in the streets protesting the reckless adventurism of the Bush administration has begun to eat away at the periphery of Bush’s “Dominion of Deception.” Just as the Roman Empire fell, province-by-province, the “Coalition of the Willing” also looks set to collapse. The signs that our global nightmare may soon be over are evident. When French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin received an unprecedented ovation after his speech at the UN Security Council and the world witnessed a miffed Colin Powell unceremoniously depart the chamber with his apparatchiks, those who favor peace over war received a much-needed shot of adrenalin.</p>
<p>And as American city councils – most notably those of Chicago, Philadelphia, and Atlanta — continue to pass anti-war resolutions, the end of the Bush regime may, thankfully, also be in sight. Bush and his allies, who dismiss their own peoples’ protests as irrelevant and unpersuasive, will eventually face their wrath at the voting booth. The people will eventually prevail. However, it is now time to decide how to effectively deal with the purveyors of war and disinformation once they are out of power. The war mongers must never again be permitted to unjustly threaten other nations with war and military occupation.</p>
<p>In addition, the police who enthusiastically maced and tear gassed the elderly, the handicapped, and children should be identified. Textual, photographic and video records of their identities and behavior should be maintained. After the war mongers and gangsters are run out of the White House, Congress, and state houses, civilian commissions should be established with the power to indict law enforcement officers who engaged in motiveless violence. Politicians who oppose these moves should be summarily voted out of office and replaced with those who will support an ultimate accounting by the civil rights violators.</p>
<p>Similarly, politicians who refuse to repeal the draconian USA Patriot and Homeland Security Acts should be shown the door. The Teutonic and fascist-sounding “Homeland Security” term must be eliminated from government and popular usage and replaced by “Civil Defense.” That term worked during the Cold War with the very real threat of global thermonuclear warfare. It will also suffice in the War on Terrorism. And no longer will the U.S. government haphazardly be able to label countries as an “Axis of Evil” without legitimate provocation.</p>
<p>News organizations that cooperated with the war mongers’ agenda should also be identified and vilified. The Associated Press continues to massively undercount the numbers of anti-war demonstrators. Its dispatches from Paris reported the number of demonstrators there to be in the “thousands” when, in fact, the number was well over one million. Other AP stories relied exclusively on numbers obtained from police departments charged with deliberately low balling figures. This is not journalism. It is disinformation, pure and simple. Readers and viewers should expose the AP, the cable news channels, and newspapers like The New York Times by writing letters to the editor and sending and posting e-mail.</p>
<p>The right wing Babelists on the radio airwaves should be constrained by a return to fairness doctrines. Every minute of broadcast racism, xenophobia, and verbal thuggery should be matched with opposing words of reason and sanity. Returning the public airwaves to the public itself will eliminate many of the Rush Limbaugh clones who, on a daily basis, try to outmatch this modern day Father Coughlin’s right-wing rhetoric with their own unacceptable diatribes against “frogs,” “krauts,” “towel heads,” “camel jockeys,” and “wet backs.” For the more egregious purveyors of hate, broadcast regulators should impose heavy fines on their radio stations and syndicators. After all, the United Nations has indicted Rwandans for broadcasting hate-filled messages in 1994. If radio hate broadcasts were an international war crime then, they should be now.</p>
<p>Political sell outs should also be run out of office and embarrassed from ever again seeking elective office. Tony Blair comes to mind as the primary example of a person willing to sell out his political party and country for a few photo ops with George W. Bush. Like his predecessor John Major, Blair may have been promised a lucrative position with The Carlyle Group, an international cabal of corporate manipulators tied to the Bush family. The Labor Party should hasten its cleansing process with an immediate vote of no confidence in Blair and his Cabinet supporters.</p>
<p>And, alas, Senator John McCain turns out to be the biggest sell out in modern American political history. Many of the people who have always questioned the motives of the Bush family were among McCain’s most ardent supporters. I feel betrayed that after voluntarily working for McCain’s 2000 presidential primary campaign – an effort that helped secure a record 61 percent victory over Bush in Arlington County, Virginia – McCain now chooses to glom on to the xenophobic and nationalistic rhetoric of the right wing. The so-called straight-talking McCain now opts for demagoguery – saying that while people have a right to protest they don’t have a right to be “foolish.” McCain’s shameful duplicity will forever be enshrined in America’s political hall of shame.</p>
<p>Pseudo-Democrats like Joseph Lieberman, who owes his Senate seat to right-wing paragon William F. Buckley, should be pounded into irrelevancy in the early Democratic primaries. Likewise, pretty boy politicians like John Edwards, who recently sponsored a bill to create yet another spy outfit – the Homeland Security Intelligence Agency – should not only be sent packing from the presidential primary but also from his next North Carolina senatorial primary run.</p>
<p>But take heart! The effects of the reaction to the Bush agenda are already having positive effects. The so-called willing coalition is collapsing. Bush’s chicken hawks who drone on about some 30 countries supporting the war will soon have to face the fact that many of these nations will soon join France, Germany, Russia, Canada, and Mexico in opposition. One country often cited is Bulgaria. Bulgaria’s monarchist-based conservative government is on the verge of collapse and will be replaced by one opposed to Bush’s war plans. A newly resurgent Dutch Labor Party is now within striking distance of the conservatives after surging ahead of a xenophobic anti-immigrant party in January elections. In a recent poll, 43 percent of Dutch said they had “zero confidence” in Bush.</p>
<p>Spain’s pro-war conservative government has united the opposition against it with 65 percent of Spaniards opposed to a war with or without UN approval. Public opinion polls in Donald Rumsfeld’s “New Europe” are running heavily against Bush’s war aims. Only 24 percent of Czechs favor Bush’s war, while 62 percent of Slovenians and Poles are against their governments’ support for Bush. Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan quickly did an about face after signing a pledge of support for Bush. The reason: a poll showed 81 percent of Croatians opposed to war. The same results are repeated across Eastern Europe with 66 per cent of Estonians opposed to war and 76 percent of Hungarians.</p>
<p>Italy’s scandal-plagued Prime Minister and Bush ally Silvio Berlusconi is once again under a cloud of suspicion for questionable financial deals. He may soon be vocing his support for Bush from an Italian prison. Denmark’s conservative Prime Minister is under fire from Danish opposition parties for unconstitutionally backing Bush without consulting with the Danish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. Bush’s favorite organ grinder monkey, Tony Blair, was sweating before a Labor Party conference in Glasgow while the ever more popular Liberal Democratic leader Charles Kennedy had an anti-war audience of 1.5 million in the streets of London.</p>
<p>Bush’s Coalition of the Willing is a mere paper tiger. No wonder a senior U.S. intelligence official recently scoffed at the term, calling it an overused “phrase.” The real coalition of the willing are the millions who protested against the Bush regime. Croats and Muslims, once at war with one another, protested together in Bosnia. Greek and Turkish Cypriots united at a protest at a British airbase on their divided island and Israelis and Palestinians jointly staged an anti-war protest in Tel Aviv. Hundreds of Americans joined in the Paris anti-war protest, receiving thunderous cheers from the French protestors who jammed the streets with them.</p>
<p>Judging from the body language of the Bush shills who hit the television talking head shows the day after the global protests, they are absolutely shell shocked after a week of the world saying in unison to the Bush regime, “Enough!” National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice appeared to be on the verge of tears and/or a nervous breakdown. Colin Powell was visibly boiling after he received a drubbing from the Security Council. The maniacal Rumsfeld continued to lash out against Europeans, the latest target being Austria for its insistence on maintaining its constitutional obligation of neutrality. Tom Ridge, the dullard in charge of “homeland security,” had to tell people not to wrap their homes in plastic sheeting and duct tape after telling them they should be prepared to do exactly that. John Ashcroft, the “Singing Nazi,” announced, with Ridge behind him playing second fiddle, that the nation was at Code Orange. It was later revealed that the alert was based on bogus information. And Bush Junior appeared more and more mentally challenged, uttering juvenile words like “gooder” in war rally speeches. Fortunately, for the people of the world, once these pathetic fools are finally run out of office, the political futures for them and their ilk will be relegated to oblivion. The People must firmly pledge to ensure that never again will the seats of power be handed over to such a cabal of crooks and gangsters.</p>
<p>The good news for the millions of people who have braved the elements and the kilometers to demonstrate in the streets against the Bush war machine is that The People will soon regain the reins of political power. The bad news for the mindless war mongers is that The People of the world have long memories and, ultimately, The People will have their day in court.</p>
<p>WAYNE MADSEN is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and columnist. He wrote the introduction to <a href="" type="internal">Forbidden Truth</a>.</p>
<p>Madsen can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p> | After the Fall | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/02/17/after-the-fall-3/ | 2003-02-17 | 4 |
<p>This is satire, mostly. For more GlobalPost satire, click <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/section/satire" type="external">here</a>.</p>
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<p>Elegance. Form. Poise. Whether you’re on the ice, or in the boardroom, adult incontinence is never convenient. That’s why Pritchard Adult Diapers are the choice for the mature Olympian in you.</p>
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<p>Looking for the perfect present for the Olympian in your life? Try a Vague Silver Picture Frame. They’re bland, inoffensive, and “qualify” as a gift. Vague Silver Picture Frames, just the kind of thing an achievement-oriented person might want!</p>
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<p>And the winner gets … a pizza bagel?! (record scratch sound). That’s right, reward yourself for doing jack-sh*t all day with Luigi’s Famous Pizza Bagels. Available in the frozen aisle.</p>
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<p>How does one achieve greatness? How does one write their way to success, whether it’s on the field, or the slopestyle course? With a great pen. So go ahead and get a great pen! Wemberly Writing Instruments. “They’re Great Pens.”</p>
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<p>Here at Wexell, Grandom, Smithfeild, and Kline, we know the value of teamwork. We understand the pursuit of perfection, and what it takes to achieve the imprimatur of excellence. You probably can’t tell what exactly we do, and here at Wexell, Grandom, Smithfeild, and Kline, neither can we.</p>
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<p>Not many people will see the inside of an Olympic Stadium, especially when they have a crippling case of psoriasis. When you have crippling psoriasis, itching, flaking, and redness can impede your speed, and disgust your teammates. So treat your symptoms with one convenient ointment — Dermasalve. For your crippling psoriasis.</p>
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<p>Triple axel? Double Salchow? Half-pipe? Here at Dempsy Oats, we don’t know, and we don’t care. Real oats. Real simple. Real people. Real ignorant.</p>
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<p>(Flickr Commons)</p>
<p>Do you feel down? Depressed? Like there’s no point in getting out of bed? Do you constantly feel like you’re coming in fourth? Ask your doctor about Ablelexa. Ablelexa, for when you’re feeling fourth-y.</p>
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<p>(Flickr Commons)</p>
<p>You’re passing people, left and right. You’re focused, streamlined. It comes down to this, the last sprint … before you get to the toilet in time. Go for the gold in terms of not crapping your pants, with Paxin-Jansil’s Anti-Diarrheal.</p> | The 9 most unfortunate Olympic ad tie-ins | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-02-14/9-most-unfortunate-olympic-ad-tie-ins | 2014-02-14 | 3 |
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<p>Amazon today is very different from what it was 10 years ago. In 2001, Amazon was still pretty much an online bookstore. Today not only does it sell almost everything under the sun, but it's also a huge cloud computing company, a media seller and it even makes its own gadgets.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>What's more, Amazon's Founder and CEO <a href="" type="internal">Jeff Bezos</a> is nothing if not a long term thinker. Amazon stayed unprofitable for 8 years, including 5 as a public company, because Bezos understood that he had to reach scale before profitability. Amazon got into cloud cloud computing before almost anyone else because Bezos understood how huge it would be.</p>
<p>It's impossible to think Jeff Bezos doesn't have a clear idea of what Amazon will be like 20 years from now.</p>
<p>What is he thinking?</p>
<p>We have some ideas.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Of course Amazon is already the biggest online retailer. But it's still microscopic compared to the biggest offline retailers, just like online commerce is relative to offline commerce.</p>
<p>This is changing, and fast. Twenty years from now, Amazon's commerce revenue will probably be in the hundreds of billions of dollars, like Walmart's.</p>
<p>One of the ways retailers push down costs for consumers, which is something Amazon is fanatical about, is through store brands: products similar to common branded goods, but made in volume under the store's own brand to lower margins. Expect Amazon to do this on a huge scale 20 years from now.</p>
<p>Amazon's business allowing third-parties to sell through them is a rip-roaring success and eating into eBay which, itself, is sinking into irrelevance because of poor management execution.</p>
<p>By 2030, expect Amazon to be an enormous eBay-like marketplace, except functioning much better.</p>
<p>Amazon already runs a marketplace for services called Mechanical Turk.</p>
<p>Right now it's only cheap, quick services like data entry. But there's no reason why Mechanical Turk can't evolve into a more elaborate marketplace for services a la eLance or Workmarket, and why Amazon couldn't sell services as well as products.</p>
<p>More generally, as globalization lowers barriers and makes it even more commonplace for freelancers to work for a multitude of companies across the globe, this promises to be a huge business.</p>
<p>Amazon is already the biggest provider of a certain type of cloud computing: commodity cloud computing. Doing something in volume, for cheap and with excellent execution is already what Amazon does best.</p>
<p>There's no reason why Amazon still won't be a huge player in a huge market in 2030. There will be many winners in cloud computing but Amazon will be one of the biggest.</p>
<p>As physical media, which is a huge share of Amazon's revenue now, goes the way of the dodo bird, Amazon is trying to sell digital media as well.</p>
<p>Some efforts are huge successes (Kindle), some not so much (music) and some yet unclear (video).</p>
<p>And it's impossible to know whether <a href="" type="internal">Google</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Netflix</a>, Apple, <a href="" type="internal">Facebook</a> or some company we haven't heard of will have the cake in 2030. But there's no reason to believe Amazon won't be huge there.</p>
<p>The only company that has the scale and expertise in payments to take on PayPal's network effects is Amazon. And PayPal isn't very well run, often angers customers, and has an ugly product. Amazon's payments solution already exists and is already better than PayPal's and is growing, albeit slowly as far as we can tell.</p>
<p>Amazon should be able to own that market by 2030.</p>
<p>Companies who could take the cake instead: Facebook or Square.</p>
<p>This is the most speculative item on this list because Amazon has never given any indication of them getting into the third party logistics business a la UPS or DHL.</p>
<p>But think of how they got into cloud computing: they had built this enormous computing capacity to handle all their traffic, and they decided to start renting it out. Amazon has built an enormous logistics apparatus. Why wouldn't they at some point rent it out?</p>
<p>This is similar to how Chinese company Li &amp; Fung became one of the biggest outsourcers in the world. Like many Chinese companies, they started out making their own clothes. And instead, they decided to rent out their supply chain expertise to Western companies. Now if you're <a href="" type="internal">Nike</a> (or whoever), you send Li &amp; Fung a design, and they make sure it gets built and shipped, to your specifications, in a timely manner and cheaply.</p>
<p>Why shouldn't Amazon at some point in the next 20 years offer other companies to ship, or even build, stuff for them?</p>
<p>A potential long-term threat to Amazon's business is 3D printing, which will let consumers make many of their own stuff.</p>
<p>But initiatives like the Kindle have taught us that Amazon embraces disruption rather than fighting it. It's impossible that a science fiction fan like Jeff Bezos won't embrace 3D printing.</p>
<p>They might do something like Shapeways, which is like an Etsy for 3D printing designs, where people upload their designs; when someone buys it, Shapeways builds it and ships it. They might just acquire it.</p>
<p>Amazon already has a highly successful "tablet", the Kindle. It has a mobile app store. It has ambitions in payments, which will be a big part of the future of mobile. Mobile commerce is also going to be huge.</p>
<p>It's hard to know what mobile will look like in 20 years, and whether Amazon can or will make more consumer devices, but look for Amazon to be playing a big role in mobile 20 years from now.</p>
<p>It's not related to Amazon, but Bezos also has a highly secretive space company called Blue Origin. The company is developing reusable spaceships and its Latin motto stands for "Step by step, ferociously."By 2030, Blue Origin will have taken lots of steps.</p>
<p>More from BusinessInsider.com:</p> | What Amazon Will Be Like in 2030 | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/04/13/amazon-like-2030.html | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
<p>by Tim GoodmanSFGate.com</p>
<p>While covering the Vietnam War, Dan Rather was talking with other reporters about the likelihood that one day war would be covered live on television.</p>
<p>"What we envisioned at the time was putting a camera in a helicopter," said Rather, anchor of the "CBS Evening News."</p>
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<p>Now, less than two weeks into a war completely dominated by real-time technology, Rather let out a weary sigh.</p>
<p>"Frankly, we were limited by our imagination," he said. "I could not envision what we see today. I'm stunned by it. I'm still in the process of absorbing it myself. The far-reaching implications of this are enormous." This is Gulf War II, as some are calling it, and from the moment it began on March 19, it has been live. And it is different. Journalists have a level of access not seen since Vietnam -- mixed with the technology of the 21st century -- and all the images are new, all the rules have changed. This is war seen in real time.</p> | War in real time changes the rules for viewers -- and veteran journalists | false | https://poynter.org/news/war-real-time-changes-rules-viewers-and-veteran-journalists | 2003-03-31 | 2 |
<p>Joshua Roberts/Reuters/ZUMA</p>
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<p>President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office will see the federal government shut down if Congress can’t come to a budget agreement by the end of the week. Congress needs to pass a funding bill by the end of the day Friday, or else federal programs will no longer be able to spend money on Saturday, Trump’s 100th day in the White House.</p>
<p>Both Republicans and Democrats are largely content to maintain current funding levels by passing a continuing resolution rather than hashing out an entirely new budget. (The budget Trump introduced earlier this year calls for massive cuts across nearly every part of the federal government except the military.) But there are a few policy differences that could muck things up and send federal employees packing next week. And Republicans can’t count on getting enough votes from their own caucus to pass a spending bill, since Senate Democrats can filibuster any measure they find objectionable.</p>
<p>Here are the issues that could prevent a deal:</p>
<p>Trump might have promised throughout the campaign that Mexico was going to pay for a border wall, but everyone in Washington knows that if Trump is actually going to begin construction on the wall, he’ll need Congress to appropriate the funds. So far, that’s a nonstarter among Democrats.</p>
<p>Last week this looked like it could be the disagreement that would break the government. But on Tuesday, Republicans <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/trump-shows-flexibility-on-border-wall-gop-launches-talks-on-tax-reform/2017/04/25/63a86c70-29c3-11e7-b605-33413c691853_story.html?tid=ss_tw&amp;utm_term=.1c2dbd192c09" type="external">handed</a> Democrats a funding plan offer that doesn’t include the wall.</p>
<p>Still, Trump could insist on getting at least a partial victory on the wall. On Tuesday morning, he took to his favorite medium to reiterate his plans:</p>
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<p>Despite Trump’s goal of seeing the Affordable Care Act repealed during the first 100 days of his presidency, Republicans haven’t settled on a repeal bill that can clear the House, let alone the Senate. But as Mother Jones <a href="" type="internal">explained</a> last week, Trump has a backup option that he could pull out if he truly wants to send the ACA marketplaces into a death spiral. The White House doesn’t need congressional approval to end funding for a provision of the law that forces insurance companies to offer lower deductibles, copayments, and other out-of-pocket expenses to low-income families. Cutting off those funds would cause premiums to spike and more insurers to leave the marketplaces.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, Trump threatened to do just that in order to get Democrats to help Republicans repeal Obamacare. Trump’s famed negotiating skills backfired this time, and some Democrats now say they’re willing to block the spending bill and shut down the government if these funds aren’t included (though the <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/house/330470-hoyer-not-insisting-on-obamacare-subsidies-in-spending-bill" type="external">message</a> hasn’t exactly been unified among Democratic leaders). Unfortunately for Trump, it sounds as if House Republicans might agree with the Democrats. “I don’t think anybody wants to disrupt the markets more than they already are,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who chairs a House subcommittee on health care, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/us/politics/affordable-care-act-trump-subsidies.html" type="external">told</a> the New York Times earlier this month, saying he supports the funds.</p>
<p>It’s the least likely of these three issues to prompt a shutdown, but Democrats and Republicans are still hashing out the details of defense spending levels. Trump asked for a ton of extra money—a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/16/politics/donald-trump-defense-budget-blueprint/" type="external">$54 billion increase</a>—for the Pentagon budget. Democrats are fine with a more modest defense spending hike, but only if it’s paired with extra spending for domestic programs, as has been the case in the past few budget deals. On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/25/reuters-america-us-government-shutdown-threat-recedes-after-trumps-wall-concession.html" type="external">warned</a> that his party wants to maintain that same ratio for the current deal.</p>
<p /> | Will the Government Shut Down This Week? | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2017/04/will-government-shutdown-week/ | 2017-04-25 | 4 |
<p>BY: <a href="" type="internal">David Rutz</a> March 28, 2016 3:01 pm</p>
<p>White House spokesman Josh Earnest spun Fidel Castro's <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/fidel-castro-obama-221279" type="external">lengthy critique</a> of President Obama Monday as proof his Cuba visit had its "intended effect."</p>
<p>Obama became the first sitting president in nearly 90 years to visit Cuba last week, where he attended a baseball game and did a joint press conference with Cuban president Raul Castro. Obama, who <a href="" type="internal">never met</a> with Fidel but added he would be open to it, <a href="" type="internal">said during</a> the visit that he welcomed the communist nation's criticism of the United States. Cuba <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/03/20/cuba-dissidents-protesters-arrested-president-obama-visit/82048950/" type="external">arrested</a> dozens of government critics the day Obama arrived.</p>
<p>Fidel Castro then unleashed a blistering editorial in the Cuban state newspaper that, among other things, assailed Obama's youth.</p>
<p>"So, Fidel Castro offered up a 1,500-word critique of the president's visit to Cuba. Is that a sign that the changes sought by the president are going to be a long time in coming … and how much influence does Fidel Castro still have in that community?" AP reporter Kevin Freking asked.</p>
<p>"Let me start by saying that the fact that the former president felt compelled to respond so forcefully to the president's visit, I think, is an indication of the significant impact of President Obama's visit to Cuba," Earnest said. "We obviously were quite pleased with the reception that President Obama received from the Cuban people. We're also pleased with the kind of conversations that President Obama was able to have with other Cuban government officials."</p>
<p>Castro said Cuba did not need "the empire to give us any presents." He added the Cubans are self-sufficient and "able to produce food and material wealth we need" with their own effort and intelligence:</p>
<p>Castro criticized Obama’s "saccharine" encouragement to "forget the past, leave the past, look to the future, look at it together, a future of hope." Considering the tense history of U.S.-Cuban relations, he wrote, Obama’s words "risked a heart attack."</p>
<p>"After a merciless blockade that has lasted almost 60 years, those who have died in mercenary attacks on ships and Cuban ports, an airliner full of passengers that detonated in midair, mercenary invasions, multiple acts of violence?" he wrote.</p>
<p>Castro also recounted America’s role in the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, writing that, "nothing can justify this premeditated attack that cost our country hundreds of killed and wounded."</p>
<p>He rejected Obama’s claims that America and Cuba were "built in part by slaves…from America" and that Americans and Cubans "can trace their heritage to both slaves and slave-owners."</p>
<p>"Native populations do not exist at all in Obama’s mind," Castro wrote and poked at Obama’s youth. "Nor does he say that racial discrimination was swept away by the Revolution; that retirement and salary of all Cubans were declared by this before Mr. Barack Obama turned ten years old."</p>
<p>Castro then advised Obama to stay out of Cuban politics.</p>
<p>Earnest said Obama made clear during the trip that the United States had a "rock-solid" commitment to human rights.</p>
<p>"The kind of engagement that President Obama was able to pursue in the context of his visit is the kind of engagement that would not have been possible had he not made the trip," Earnest said. "The president was able to go to Cuba and urge President Castro in person about the importance of human rights. The president was able to stand before a news conference of the assembled global media and make a forceful case for the Cuban government to protect universal human rights."</p>
<p>Earnest touted the joint press conference as something that had "never happened before" and was made possible by Obama's trip. Castro <a href="" type="internal">flatly denied</a> during that conference that the Cuban government was holding any political prisoners.</p>
<p>"That also created a venue where a couple of your colleagues were able to ask President Castro about this issue directly," Earnest said. "That's the kind of thing that's never happened before, and there's no denying that that creates some additional pressure on the Cuban government, and again, the fact that the former president felt compelled to respond, I think, is an indication that the trip had its intended effect."</p> | White House: Fidel Castro’s Criticism of Obama Proves Trip to Cuba Worked | true | http://freebeacon.com/national-security/white-house-castro-criticism/ | 2016-03-28 | 0 |
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<p>A new left-wing political party in Germany is continuing to gain broad support as September federal elections approach–and is coming under increasing attack.</p>
<p>The Left Party (LP) has shaken up Germany’s usual electoral process with its calls for greater welfare spending and job creation. The mainstream media have responded by denouncing the LP for pandering to right-wing populist politics.</p>
<p>The debate reached a new level when the LP’s best-known figure, Oskar Lafontaine–a former leader in the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD), who resigned and helped found the LP–proclaimed at a June rally that “the state has a duty to protect men and women from foreign workers who take their jobs away for lower pay.” Lafontaine used the politically charged term “fremdarbeiter,” a word for “immigrant worker” most often associated with the Adolph Hitler’s Nazi regime.</p>
<p>Immigration is a hot-button issue in Germany. Immigrants have come under heightened attack in recent years as unemployment has hovered around the 5 million mark. Especially in the east–the former home of a Communist Party-run regime before reunification in 1990–where jobless rates can reach as high as 25 percent, neo-Nazi groups have made inroads by scapegoating immigrant workers. The neo-Nazi National Party of Germany won seats in the state parliament of Saxony in recent elections.</p>
<p>Lafontaine is wrong to use rhetoric that plays into such anti-immigrant scapegoating. His words can only strengthen the right.</p>
<p>Plus, he has given his opponents in the SPD a perfect tool to use against him. Their torrent of abuse has nothing to do with making the LP a stronger left-wing party. Instead, the aim is to confuse the debate over the continual cuts to the welfare state–carried out by the country’s traditional left-wing party, the SPD–and whether there is an alternative to such neoliberal policies.</p>
<p>Since the LP’s creation earlier in the summer, that debate has dominated the headlines in Germany on an almost daily basis. But now, the debate about what Lafontaine did or didn’t mean has pushed these real issues–and the LP’s main critiques of the current political situation in Germany–off the front pages.</p>
<p>The Left Party was formed as an alliance between the Party of Democratic Socialism, the successor to the East German Communist Party, and the Electoral Alternative for Social Justice (WASG, in German). The WASG was itself formed last winter, largely by unionists and other members of the governing SPD who rejected the neoliberal policies pursued by the government since taking office in 1997.</p>
<p>The Left Party calls for job security, a living wage, a shorter workweek, taxing the rich to pay for social investment, secured pensions and health care, training and education for all, peace, disarmament and–crucially–a party against the Nazis. The pundits and SPD politicians are worried because this program is attracting a significant numbers of voters–enough to potentially prevent either the SPD or its conservative rival, the Christian Democrats, from winning a majority in parliament to form the next government.</p>
<p>Their attack on the LP is similar to the lesser-evil logic in last year’s presidential election in the U.S., where Ralph Nader and his supporters endured unending abuse for daring to pose an alternative. In fact, the New York Times must have dusted off one of their old attack editorials against Nader when it recently denounced the LP as “spoilers.”</p>
<p>Because of disillusionment with the SPD, the CDU and its candidate for chancellor, Angela Merkel, were thought to be a shoo-in this fall. But the most recent Stern magazine poll showed a significant drop in support for the CDU–meaning that even in coalition with the pro-business Free Democrats, they wouldn’t have a majority in parliament.</p>
<p>While the SPD is bouncing back, the LP continues to poll about 12 percent across the country, which could make it the third-largest party in German politics after the elections. This strong support for a left-wing electoral alliance is another expression of the continent-wide rejection of a bosses’ Europe based on neoliberal policies.</p>
<p>Still, the LP’s progressive program doesn’t make up for Lafontaine’s backward anti-immigrant rhetoric, or for the party’s weak positions on questions of oppression.</p>
<p>In fact, the official response on the WASG Web site to Lafontaine’s speech was an interview with an historian claiming that the term “fremdarbeiter” isn’t unique to the Nazi era–as well as a quote of a Turkish factory worker saying that people use this word at work all the time. The WASG site also recently had a link to another site that attacked Guido Westerwelle, the openly gay leader of the Free Democrats–complete with a song with nasty homophobic lyrics.</p>
<p>Left-wing and socialist activists inside the Left Party have been right to defend the party as the best way to fight the right. The WASG was one of the few political parties to join counter-protests when the Nazis marched in Berlin in May–and, unsurprisingly, many of the traditional left groups and commentators who are attacking the LP today refused to confront the fascists.</p>
<p>But it is also crucial for the left to call out backward ideas from Lafontaine and other figures in the LP. Not only do they give the LP’s frantic critics an easy opening to obscure the real issues, but they hold back the struggle for a more just Germany.</p>
<p>JEFF BALE writes for the <a href="http://socialistworker.org/" type="external">Socialist Worker</a>.</p>
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<p>The Santa Fe City Council has postponed a decision to approve Meow Wolf’s request for approval of a full liquor license and a waiver to use the license within 300 feet of a school.</p>
<p>At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, most councilors were apprehensive about a full liquor license for the arts group’s popular “House of Eternal Return,” where beer and wine already is served under a Duel Brewing license.</p>
<p>Councilors brought up concerns of bringing an additional liquor license into a city that Councilor Chris Rivera described as “oversaturated” with them. Meow Wolf would use a license from a closed Hobbs establishment. Councilors also questioned full liquor service with spirits in what’s been a family-friendly art installation space and potentially deviating from Meow Wolf’s original business model.</p>
<p>“It almost feels like an identity crisis to me,” said Councilor Michael Harris. He said he’s afraid the group is putting too much emphasis on its secondary role as a concert venue.</p>
<p>Meow Wolf needs approval from the council to transfer the license from the closed Hobbs restaurant and to sell alcohol within 300 feet of day care La Petite Academy. The collective presented letters of support from the day care, longtime supporter George R.R. Martin and others.</p>
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<p>If the license is approved, Duel would leave, and Meow Wolf would operate food and beverage service itself. Meow Wolf staffers told the council the plan is to also use the license as part of a cafe with coffee and snacks during the day. Chief operating officer Sean Di Ianni said taking over the services would add about 15 jobs at Meow Wolf.</p>
<p>Meow Wolf’s general counsel Talia Kosh told councilors that Meow Wolf is at an “economic disadvantage” without a liquor license as it tries to compete with other music venues. Di Ianni said a liquor license is the only option because beer and wine licenses are available only to businesses with food as the primary revenue.</p>
<p>Councilor Ron Trujillo, who’s running for mayor in 2018, left before the discussion and said he would be recusing himself from decisions on Meow Wolf. He said CEO Vince Kadlubeck has been “attacking” him on social media following the arts group’s request for $250,000 from the city in July and Trujillo’s tough questions before voting in favor. “(Kadlubek) called me a bully, he felt he was intimidated by the line of questions and to this day continues to do it,” said Trujillo.</p>
<p /> | Decision on Meow Wolf liquor license postponed | false | https://abqjournal.com/1083880/decision-on-meow-wolf-liquor-license-postponed-ex-councilors-express-concern-over-possible-identity-crisis-at-popular-installation.html | 2 |
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<p>Photo Credit: a katz / Shutterstock.com</p>
<p>President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday taunted his “many enemies” who “lost so badly” in a tweet celebrating New Year’s Eve.</p>
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<p>Trump’s many enemies on social media were quick to respond to the message:</p>
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<p>Many Twitter users also used the new tweet as another opportunity to mock Trump’s alleged ties to Russia:</p>
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<p>Eric W. Dolan has been an editor for <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/" type="external">Raw Story</a> since August 2010. He is also the publisher and editor of <a href="http://www.psypost.org/" type="external">PsyPost</a>. Follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ewdolan" type="external">@ewdolan</a>.</p> | Internet Buries 'Absolute Sociopath' Trump for Bizarre New Year's Eve Message | true | http://alternet.org/election-2016/oh-fck-internet-buries-absolute-sociopath-trump-bizarre-new-years-eve-message | 2017-01-01 | 4 |
<p>Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker announced a deal to finance a half a billion dollar stadium for the National Basketball Association's Milwaukee Bucks. Walker has been working for a deal despite opposition from the wealthy Republican donors Charles and David Koch who have helped to fund his gubernatorial elections and could be a big booster of his likely presidential run.</p>
<p>When Walker unveiled the initial proposal in his budget in February, he received push back from both Democrats and Republicans in his state. The Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity also came out in opposition and increased their lobbying and organizing efforts against it.</p>
<p>Walker's <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/walker-arena-announcement-could-come-today-or-tomorrow-b99513331z1-306115811.html" type="external">latest proposal announced Thursday</a> would cap taxpayers cost at $250 million and the Bucks would be responsible for any costs over budget.</p>
<p>While the latest proposal reduced taxpayer liability was reduced, AFP is still opposed.</p>
<p>"At the end of the day we don't think it should be the priority of the state or any government entity to be funding these sports arenas," Wisconsin State Director for AFP David Fladboe said. "This seems to be a little superfluous."</p>
<p>The Koch brothers have spent at millions supporting Walker in previous elections, including his recall election in 2012. <a href="" type="internal">David Koch has said that Walker, who has pushed for steep budget cuts, is one of their favorite</a> Republicans possibly vying for the Republican nomination.</p>
<p>Koch money is highly coveted in Republican politics. The wealthy entrepreneurs have spent north of $1 billion in helping Republicans get elected.</p>
<p>James Davis, spokesperson for the Koch brothers political arm, Freedom Partners, wouldn't say if this would damage Walker's reputation for the Kochs. He said they're looking at "all candidates" and the totality of their records.</p> | Scott Walker At Odds With Koch Brothers Over Bucks Stadium | false | http://nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/scott-walker-odds-koch-brothers-over-bucks-stadium-n370106 | 2015-06-04 | 3 |
<p>For anyone who has even a glancing acquaintance with the finance sector, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A)(NYSE: BRK-B) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) need little introduction. Berkshire, of course, is the vehicle of ace investor Warren Buffett, while Wells Fargo is one of the "big four" U.S. banks with a nationwide footprint.</p>
<p>This, then, is a battle of familiar financials. Which of the pair is the superior investment?</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Some time ago, I refereed <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/20/better-buy-berkshire-hathaway-vs-american-express.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1ed6f7b4-dae0-11e7-a793-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">a contest Opens a New Window.</a> between Berkshire and American Express stock. There's a similar dynamic here, as Wells Fargo -- like AmEx -- is a major Berkshire portfolio holding. In fact it's the major holding by market value, at nearly $28 billion. In spite of recent sell-offs, Berkshire still holds over 464 million shares of the bank, giving it a stake of just over 9.4%.</p>
<p>To be blunt, now isn't the best time to have such a heavy stake in Wells Fargo. Over the past year, the company's stock has risen by only 7% -- well under the 25%-plus increases of the other three in the big four.</p>
<p>Some of this has to do with lingering investor mistrust following the ugly accounts scandal at the bank last year (plus a clutch of <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/09/07/is-wells-fargo-company-a-buy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1ed6f7b4-dae0-11e7-a793-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">subsequent controversies Opens a New Window.</a>). Compounding this, Wells Fargo's fundamentals haven't improved as much as many of its peers'. These banks have benefited from being at a favorable point on the economic cycle, and gradually rising interest rates.</p>
<p>Wells Fargo's <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/19/5-alarming-figures-in-wells-fargos-third-quarter-e.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1ed6f7b4-dae0-11e7-a793-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">third quarter is Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/19/5-alarming-figures-in-wells-fargos-third-quarter-e.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1ed6f7b4-dae0-11e7-a793-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">a good example Opens a New Window.</a> -- in contrast to the same quarter for the rest of the big four, total revenue slumped on a year-over-year basis (by 2% to $21.9 billion), while net profit declined by almost 20% to $4.6 billion. Both results fell short of analyst expectations.</p>
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<p>Berkshire, meanwhile, has also had its hiccups during the year. There was the company's <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/26/buffets-oncor-failure-is-no-failure-at-all.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1ed6f7b4-dae0-11e7-a793-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">failed bid Opens a New Window.</a> for utility Oncor Electric Delivery, for example. Subsequent to that, its $15 billion commitment to another big portfolio holding, food conglomerate Kraft Heinz, to acquire consumer goods megalith Unilever <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/02/26/kraft-heinz-wont-buy-unilever-but-should-you.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1ed6f7b4-dae0-11e7-a793-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">came to nought Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>But those negatives were more than offset by numerous positives for the company. Most spectacularly, it cashed out on a whopping <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/11/17/heres-how-berkshire-hathaway-crushed-it-in-2017.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1ed6f7b4-dae0-11e7-a793-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">700 million common shares Opens a New Window.</a> of Bank of America, the culmination of a financing deal it inked with the bank in 2011.</p>
<p>These days, Bank of America is in <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/30/why-bank-of-americas-shares-surged-on-wednesday.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1ed6f7b4-dae0-11e7-a793-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">far better shape Opens a New Window.</a> than it was back then, hence its share price appreciation of over 200% from then to now. When Berkshire pulled the trigger on those warrants, it booked an immediate paper profit of $12 billion.</p>
<p>All in all, Berkshire continues to do well with its portfolio. Between the end of the company's fiscal 2016 and the conclusion of its Q3 2017, the total market value of its equity holdings increased from $129 billion to almost $190 billion.</p>
<p>Wells Fargo certainly isn't the flavor of the moment for bank investors, but we should keep in mind that it's still very profitable and has a commanding lead in the all-important mortgage segment. It certainly has some value as an investment, although I'm concerned that it doesn't seem to be stemming the flow of scandal. This suggests deeper problems in management and corporate culture that might take some time to correct.</p>
<p>Berkshire, meanwhile, is largely a reflection of its leader. Buffett is a straightforward, meat-and-potatoes value investor with a long history of solid profitability. That alone would make me more confident in Berkshire stock. But of course the main reason is the company's sustained overperformance.</p>
<p>Wells Fargo might eventually put the recent scandalous past behind it and kick up some meaningful growth. I don't see enough signs of this happening yet, though, so Berkshire is my pick in this contest.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Berkshire Hathaway (A shares)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=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=ee3214a6-ca87-4670-ac12-3965b10b1a6f&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1ed6f7b4-dae0-11e7-a793-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Berkshire Hathaway (A shares) wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=ee3214a6-ca87-4670-ac12-3965b10b1a6f&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1ed6f7b4-dae0-11e7-a793-0050569d4be0&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 December 4, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFVolkman/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=1ed6f7b4-dae0-11e7-a793-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Eric Volkman Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). 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;referring_guid=1ed6f7b4-dae0-11e7-a793-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Better Buy: Berkshire Hathaway vs. Wells Fargo | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/02/22/better-buy-berkshire-hathaway-vs-wells-fargo.html | 2017-12-14 | 0 |
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<p>If you’ve ever had your credit card number stolen, you may have noticed the first transaction the thief made was a small one. It’s a common tactic for testing the validity of the card, because if a little transaction gets through, the thief can probably make several bigger ones before someone notices and shuts down the account.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Apparently, thieves have made political campaigns their new testing grounds. It’s the latest trend in credit card fraud, according to fraud-detection company Kount. In a <a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/03/prweb13262175.htm" type="external">news release Opens a New Window.</a> about the trend, Kount noted how the influx of political donations this time of year can make it trickier for organizations to detect fraud problems, which can cause problems for the campaigns once a bank or consumer flags the unauthorized transactions.</p>
<p>For consumers, it’s a reminder of how important it is to regularly review credit card statements so small transactions, like fraudsters’ tests, don’t go unnoticed. Not only is it a pain to have to get charges reversed and the credit card replaced, the damage can go so far as to hurt your credit score. Say a thief runs up a high credit card balance before you or your bank catches the problem, and that balance gets reported to the major credit bureaus. The closer your credit card balances get to your credit card limits, the more your scores can drop. That’s why a sudden drop in credit score, too, can be a sign of unauthorized activity on your credit accounts. (You can see two of your credit scores for free every 30 days on Credit.com.)</p>
<p>You should also&#160;be careful about where you enter your credit card information to minimize the odds of it getting compromised. Check to see if the site is secure (for example, look for a URL with https or a little lock sign next to it in your browser), and closely follow your transactions by checking your account information. As soon as you see something suspicious, contact your credit card issuer to minimize the hassle of reversing the effects of credit card fraud.</p>
<p>More From Credit.com <a href="https://www.credit.com/credit-cards/reviews/capital-one-venture-ventureone-rewards-cards/?utm_source=Fox&amp;utm_medium=content&amp;utm_content=BO_1&amp;utm_campaign=political_donations" type="external">Capital One Venture Rewards &amp; VentureOne Rewards: Review</a> <a href="https://www.credit.com/credit-cards/reviews/american-express-platinum-card/?utm_source=Fox&amp;utm_medium=content&amp;utm_content=BO_2&amp;utm_campaign=political_donations" type="external">American Express Platinum: Review</a> <a href="https://www.credit.com/credit-scores/what-is-a-bad-credit-score/?utm_source=Fox&amp;utm_medium=content&amp;utm_content=BO_3&amp;utm_campaign=political_donations" type="external">What is a Bad Credit Score? Opens a New Window.</a></p>
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<p>This article originally appeared on <a href="http://blog.credit.com/2016/03/why-are-so-many-credit-card-thieves-making-political-donations-139651/" type="external">Credit.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Christine DiGangi is a reporter and editor for Credit.com, covering a variety of personal finance topics. Her writing has been featured on USA Today, MSN, Yahoo! Finance and The New York Times International Weekly, among other outlets. <a href="http://blog.credit.com/author/christine-digangi/?utm_source=Fox" type="external">More by Christine DiGangi Opens a New Window.</a></p> | Why Are So Many Credit Card Thieves Making Political Donations? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/04/04/why-are-so-many-credit-card-thieves-making-political-donations.html | 2016-04-04 | 0 |
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<p>On Monday, Matt Barber, founder and Editor-in Chief of <a href="http://barbwire.com" type="external">BarbWire.com</a> and Associate Dean of the Liberty University School of Law, announced an explosive new book that reveals how the radical left is working to undermine and destroy Christianity.</p>
<p>In his book, “Hating Jesus,” Barber “reveals how secular progressives are waging an unrelenting fight against Christianity in America, and then explains what Christians can do about it.”</p>
<p>A post at <a href="http://barbwire.com/2016/05/23/hating-jesus-matt-barbers-explosive-new-book-exposes-liberals-trying-wipe-christianity-u-s/" type="external">Barb Wire</a> adds:</p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hating-Jesus-American-Lefts-Christianity/dp/1927684374?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1464008414&amp;ref_=tmm_pap_swatch_0&amp;sr=8-1" type="external">Hating Jesus</a>, Matt Barber documents how American leftists have co-opted every elite institution: schools, government, the media, Hollywood and the arts, many conservative organizations, and even much of what passes for the Church in America. With growing power, the progressive movement wages its relentless War on Christianity—and they are winning. The ultimate goal? Conform to their pagan demands, or face financial ruin or even incarceration.</p>
<p>But, he adds, with Christ, “it’s never too late to win this escalating war.”</p>
<p>Fox News’ Todd Starnes raved about his book, and said Barber “delivers a masterful blow-by-blow investigation of how the Left sucker-punched people of faith.”</p>
<p>David Limbaugh, brother of talk show host Rush Limbaugh, agrees: “In his ‘must read’ book, Hating Jesus, my friend Matt Barber persuasively argues that anti-Christian facets of the organized Left have placed the Christian faithful squarely in their crosshairs. Accordingly, Matt … provides a realistic and effective action plan [to fight back].”</p>
<p>If you’ve read and enjoyed Barber’s posts here, you’re certain to enjoy this book.&#160; And you don’t have to wait for it, because it’s now available in both <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hating-Jesus-American-Lefts-Christianity/dp/1927684374?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1464008414&amp;ref_=tmm_pap_swatch_0&amp;sr=8-1" type="external">paperback</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hating-Jesus-American-Lefts-Christianity/dp/1927684374?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1464008414&amp;ref_=tmm_pap_swatch_0&amp;sr=8-1" type="external">Kindle version</a> through Amazon.</p>
<p>Related:</p>
<p>If you haven’t checked out and liked our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ConservativeFiringLine?fref=ts" type="external">Facebook</a> page, please go <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ConservativeFiringLine?fref=ts" type="external">here</a> and do so.</p> | New book, ‘Hating Jesus,’ unmasks the left’s war on Christianity | true | http://conservativefiringline.com/new-book-hating-jesus-unmasks-lefts-war-christianity/ | 2016-05-24 | 0 |
<p>Due to the inconspicuous nature of e-books, “Mein Kampf” seems to be in everyone’s hands these days; scientists have created an algorithm that can predict whether a book will be a best-seller; working in the arts can lead to high levels of happiness. These discoveries and more below.</p>
<p>On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that have found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/mein-kampf-topping-amazon-ebook-charts-because-it-follows-same-trend-as-50-shades-of-grey-9046494.html" type="external">Mein Kampf Topping Amazon Ebook Charts Because It ‘Follows Same Trend’ As 50 Shades of Grey</a> According to the political author and journalist Chris Faraone, while the controversial book’s print sales have remained minimal for many years, its various eBook versions consistently appear in politics, history and philosophy “Top 20” lists for retailers like Amazon or iTunes.</p>
<p><a href="http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/still-going-ralph-nader-electing-bush-2000-desist" type="external">Those Still Going on about Ralph Nader Electing Bush in 2000 Should Desist</a> It was a little disappointing to see Peter Dreier’s Huffington Post article on the topic, “Nader’s Hypocrisy,” kicking the new year off.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10560533/Scientists-find-secret-to-writing-a-best-selling-novel.html" type="external">Scientists Find Secret to Writing a Best-Selling Novel</a> Scientists have developed an algorithm which can analyse a book and predict with 84 per cent accuracy whether or not it will be a commercial success.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/01/why-egypts-liberal-intellectuals-still-support-the-army.html" type="external">The Egyptian Army’s Unlikely Allies</a> When the Egyptian writer Alaa Al Aswany took the stage in October at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris to promote the French translation of his latest novel, he was presumably not expecting to be heckled and chased from the venue by a crowd of his own countrymen.</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.westaf.org/2014/01/job-satisfaction-and-happiness-working.html" type="external">Job Satisfaction and Happiness Working in the Arts</a> Countless stories have run about how people love to work at Google (or Apple or Twitter or any one of a score of high tech companies, large and small).</p>
<p><a href="http://www.psmag.com/navigation/politics-and-law/uganda-the-number-one-place-to-visit-that-also-wants-to-ban-homosexuality-and-women-from-wearing-skirts-54800/" type="external">Uganda: The Number One (Anti-Homosexuality, Anti-Women) Place to Visit</a> It’s taken nasty dictatorships and a brutal civil war to keep Uganda off the tourist radar, but stability is returning and it won’t be long before visitors come flocking back.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.psmag.com/navigation/business-economics/triumph-entrepreneurial-city-72481/" type="external">Triumph of the Entrepreneurial City</a> As long as talented people born in different places are coming together, even the Orkney Islands can be an innovation hub.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/01/study-reading-a-novel-changes-your-brain/282952/" type="external">Reading a Novel Changes Your Brain</a> College students experienced heightened connectivity in their left temporal cortexes after reading fiction.</p>
<p><a href="http://tinyurl.com/mexwpnw" type="external">Growing Boycott Will ‘Hit Each of Us in the Pocket’ Warns Israel Finance Minister</a> Israeli finance minister Yair Lapid has become the latest senior official to warn about the serious impact of growing boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns targeting Israel.</p> | Why Hitler and '50 Shades of Grey' Are Amazon Best-Sellers | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/why-hitler-and-50-shades-of-grey-are-amazon-best-sellers/ | 2014-01-13 | 4 |
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<p>From left, Silas Weir Mitchell as Monroe, Sasha Roiz as Captain Renard, David Giuntoli as Nick Burkhardt in a scene from the NBC show, “Grimm.” (Courtesy NBC/Scott Green)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Silas Weir Mitchell is starting to feel comfortable.</p>
<p>After three seasons of playing Monroe on NBC’s supernatural drama, “Grimm” it feels about time.</p>
<p>“I’ve been in this business for a long time,” he says. “This is the first show I’ve been on that I’ve been a major character. The first two years were good and now we’re feeling like I’m in the groove.”</p>
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<p>“Grimm” follows a descendant of the Grimm line, Nick Burkhart, played by David Giuntoli, as he deals with being a cop and trying not to expose his secret as a Grimm.</p>
<p>Silas Weir Mitchell as Monroe. (Courtesy of NBC/Michael Muller)</p>
<p>The show began featuring tales from “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” and over the past two seasons the show has delved into more regional types of folklore. In season two, the series had an episode about “La Llorona” and featured a detective who had been following the case while working in Albuquerque.</p>
<p>This season, the show focused on “El Cucuy” or the “boogeyman.”</p>
<p>“The storylines are starting to become more international,” he says. “I think it’s great because the show is expanding on its audience worldwide. It’s becoming a hit in more places and I couldn’t be happier.”</p>
<p>Mitchell finds playing Monroe intriguing because of his storyline.</p>
<p>Monroe is a Wieder Blutbad who used to live a fairly solitary, reformed life among humans. Monroe helps Detective Nick Burkhardt navigate the Wesen world.</p>
<p>The pair form an unlikely friendship as result of Burkhardt oftentimes calling upon Monroe for help.</p>
<p>Most times Monroe is consulted for his knowledge pertaining to creatures of the Wesen world, usually whenever the information offered by the books and diaries inside</p>
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<p>Burkhardt has come to rely on Monroe’s support in various capacities: Monroe has helped from tracking suspects to protection to clandestine investigative methods. He met his girlfriend Rosalee whilst helping Burkhardt on a case.</p>
<p>“The relationship between Monroe and Nick has really grown,” Mitchell says. “Each character has a great story line and the characters all work together in some way. At the beginning of the series David was always working because he was in every scene. I think now the writers have developed enough of the story that he can take a little break.”</p>
<p>In the series, Monroe has found a girlfriend in Rosalee and the two have moved in together.</p>
<p>Mitchell says it’s going to be interesting to see how the relationship blooms between the two.</p>
<p>“I get to grow as Monroe grows,” he says.</p>
<p>Mitchell says he’s also like seeing the tales evolve.</p>
<p>From starting with stories like “Cinderella,” “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” the show has branched out to regional folklore.</p>
<p>“Every culture has its share of fairy tales and children’s stories,” he says. “Having these different cultural references really helps expand our audience. We have people on the show speaking French and one of the story lines is going with this global power struggle.”</p>
<p>While “Grimm” has been the longest that Mitchell has worked as one character, it’s not his first big show.</p>
<p>In “Prison Break,” during its four season run, Mitchell played Charles “Haywire” Patoshik.</p>
<p>“Haywire was going to be a two-episode arc,” he says. “Then during the show he got clued into what was happening and the writers liked that dynamic. Haywire was a crazy person and he just added an entirely new dynamic to the show.”</p>
<p>From left, Bree Turner as Rosalee Calvert, Silas Weir Mitchell as Monroe in a scene from “Grimm.” (Courtesy of NBC/Scott Green)</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | ‘Grimm’ is a challenge for Silas Weir Mitchell | false | https://abqjournal.com/319728/grimm-is-a-challenge-for-silas-weir-mitchell.html | 2 |
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<p>Babs kicked off yet another farewell tour in Philadelphia on Wednesday night and one of her guests was longtime fan and political compadre George W…OK, it was Bush impersonator Steve Bridges, the same guy who tag-teamed with GWB at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Babs’ shtick, the Philadelphia Inquirer <a href="http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/entertainment/weekend/15682454.htm" type="external">reported</a>, was to toss the faux Bush softballs “only to have him give glib, breezy answers, like proposing to solve the national debt by selling Canada. “They don’t use half of it!” he exclaimed.</p>
<p /> | Babs and Bush Duet | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2006/10/babs-and-bush-duet/ | 2006-10-10 | 4 |
<p>Japan’s whaling fleet will set out on a hunt for minke whales, Tuesday. The hunt will go on for three months.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/11/30/a-japanese-vessel-is-set-to-kill-333-whales-for-research-but-is-science-really-behind-the-hunt/" type="external">The Washington Post</a> reports that the hunt will kill only 333 whales, about a third of the usual amount of whales hunted before a year-long halt on whaling. The Japanese government says that the whales are being hunted for research purposes. The U.N.’s International Court does not believe this is the case.</p>
<p>Japanese officials say the whales hunted will be used to study their health and migration patterns. Many believe that Japanese research vessels have been nothing more than a way around whaling bans, since the 1980s. Japan is the only country that continues to practice whaling in international waters.</p>
<p>The International Whaling Commission asked Japan to rethink its plans. 44 scientists from 18 countries signed a statement that questioned if the killings were scientifically valid. Japan opted to go ahead with the plan, to the dismay of many conservationists.</p>
<p>Australia presented the ICJ with Japan’s whaling case, which led to the year-long whaling ban and lower-impact hunting plan. Sources say Australia may have the hunts monitored for illegal behavior by Customs and Border Protection Service.</p>
<p>Japan does little to disguise the fact that meat from the research whales is sold for consumption. Officials argue that there are enough minke whales to sustain the population. Conservationists are concerned by steady declines in the population numbers, in recent years.</p>
<p /> | Whales killed in Japan for ‘research’ may not be used for science | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/11/30/whales-killed-in-japan-for-research-may-not-be-used-for-science/ | 2015-11-30 | 3 |
<p><a href="http://www.hsbc.com/1/2//about" type="external">HSBC</a> is under fire.</p>
<p>The global bank provided a conduit for "drug kingpins and rogue nations", according to a US Senate committee investigating money laundering claims at the institution.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/investigations/hearings/us-vulnerabilities-to-money-laundering-drugs-and-terrorist-financing-hsbc-case-history" type="external">335-page Senate report</a> released Monday said HSBC executives and regulators knowingly ignored warning signs and illegal behavior between 2001 and 2010, <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/scathing-report-details-money-laundering-problems-at-hsbc/?src=dlbksb" type="external">the New York Times reported.</a></p>
<p><a href="http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/17/hsbc-compliance-senate-idINL2E8IH1EU20120717" type="external">Reuters</a>wrote the suspicious funds were funneled through the bank from a number of countries including Iran, Syria and Mexico.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18867054" type="external">The BBC</a> wrote at Tuesday's Senate hearings the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations heard from HSBC executives who apologized and tried to explain the bank's shortcomings.</p>
<p>HSBC Executive Christopher Lok said he found it "painful and embarrassing to talk about where we fell short."</p>
<p>The head of group compliance, David Bagley, stepped down after he told the Senate the bank had "fallen short of our own and regulators' expectations" but said a major compliance overhaul is now in effective. Bagley said despite being the head of compliance, he did not have the full authority to act, the BBC reported.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/china/120717/occupy-movement-hong-kong" type="external">Occupy movement deflating in Hong Kong</a></p>
<p>HSBC's net income last year was $16.8 billion. It operates in about 80 countries with assets of $210 billion in its US operations.</p>
<p>According to the Wall Street Journal, the Justice Department and HSBC have been in settlement talks and a deal is expected within the next few weeks.</p> | HSBC 'allowed drug money laundering', says US Senate | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-07-17/hsbc-allowed-drug-money-laundering-says-us-senate | 2012-07-17 | 3 |
<p>Having grown up white in Huntsville and Birmingham, Alabama, I entered college regarding segregation as a matter of personal inconvenience. It denied me access to the musicians I wanted to learn from. From my mother I had gathered that racial prejudice was worse than inconvenient. It was rude.</p>
<p>That it might also be unjust was a thought that had not yet presented itself to me. Standing on a corner waiting for a bus, I had heard a man say that the country would never be free until it rid itself of all the Niggers, Jews and Catholics. This struck me at the time not as frightening but merely odd. I had never knowingly met a Jew or a Catholic. Brother Cecil O’Rear at the West Huntsville Baptist Church had explained that Catholics were Christians, too, they were just in “bondage.” I had seen plenty of Black people, but I had been dimly aware at 13 and 14 that I knew no Black people my own age. Where were they?</p>
<p>So having led the sheltered life of the Southern white liberal, I enrolled at Birmingham-Southern College, located in a neighborhood that had experienced 65 unsolved bombings in recent years. BSC was considered a nest of Communist agitation by many locals. However, the commencement speaker at my graduation urged us to marry within our own race.</p>
<p>The college did have a Communist cell, located just off campus. I dropped by there on Saturdays in the fall, lured by free liquor, color TV for football, and the sexiest woman I had ever laid eyes on, who met me at the door with a wide-open smile and said, “It’s Jack Daniels, isn’t it?” I’d have joined anything she wanted to see me in, but she never asked.</p>
<p>I did get asked to coach a Little League baseball team — at the Jewish Community Center. People there were friendly and invited me to come watch foreign movies. Thus was I introduced to Ingmar Bergman and to bomb threats. At almost every showing the film would be paused while we went out to the lobby and let the bomb dogs do their thing. These Jews seemed unafraid so I stayed close to them. Much of the conversation focused on efforts to rid the city of Bull Connor.</p>
<p>I had regarded Connor as a clown, a dolt. How dangerous he was I learned at the JCC.</p>
<p>I had thought of politics, insofar as I had thought of it at all, as a circus where you watched fools in their folly, applauding the most outrageous for their entertainment value. That it was our duty to get rid of these buffoons was news to me.</p>
<p>&gt;From time to time I saw Rev. Shuttlesworth, Dr. King and their followers marching as I drove from college to gig and back. In a short span of time I went from seeing them as a traffic problem (more of that good old personal inconvenience) to regarding them as unutterably heroic. Every time Martin Luther King, Jr. was taken to jail for parading without a permit, I expected him to be killed. Every morning I looked at the paper to see whether they had blown up Shuttlesworth’s home.</p>
<p>I never joined them in the streets. I was not yet fully awake and, to tell the truth, I was afraid. Where people found the courage to walk into the mouth of rage and hatred, to face police dogs and fire hoses and tear gas and billy sticks, I could not imagine.</p>
<p>I was with them in my heart, but I had a long way to go before I would learn how different that was from really being with them. I hadn’t even begun to identify the ways in which I had personally benefitted, however unwittingly, from racism and segregation.</p>
<p>I did go to work in Tom King’s campaign to unseat Bull Connor. King was the great progressive hope in 60s Birmingham. He never had a prayer. His poorly-run campaign sent us out repeatedly to places where there were no people. I wound up driving a flat-bed trailer rig that the band and the candidate would stand on. With no experience in driving a truck with so many gears, I tended to run late, like everything else in the campaign. I pulled into a steel mill parking lot where King was greeting a shift change just in time to take out the tail lights of a row of cars belonging to the men he was shaking hands with.</p>
<p>I began to attend political events at the college. At one of them I stood up and demanded to know where my cousin, Sen. John Sparkman, stood on the subject of Vietnam, a subject I myself was but newly aware of. He told me, in a ten-minute answer, that it was a good question and he was glad I asked it. Then he winked at me and changed the subject.</p>
<p>The Attorney General of the state, Richmond Flowers, came to campus running for governor, styling himself as a progressive alternative to George Wallace. He told us that Wallace had not a single Black person on his staff and that if we would elect him, he would change that in a hurry.</p>
<p>When he paused to take questions, I raised my hand. “You are the Attorney General of Alabama. How many Black people do you have on your staff right now?”</p>
<p>Flowers turned bright red and glared at me with unmistakable venom. “What you’ve got to understand about that is that it’s a completely different situation,” the answer began. I was gone before he finished it.</p>
<p>DAVID VEST writes the Rebel Angel column for CounterPunch. He and his band, The Willing Victims, just released a scorching new CD, <a href="" type="internal">Way Down Here</a>.</p>
<p>He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>Visit his website at <a href="http://www.rebelangel.com/" type="external">http://www.rebelangel.com</a></p> | Wake Up and Smell the Dynamite | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/07/03/wake-up-and-smell-the-dynamite/ | 2003-07-03 | 4 |
<p>ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the New York Lottery's "Take 5" game were:</p>
<p>03-06-11-16-18</p>
<p>(three, six, eleven, sixteen, eighteen)</p>
<p>ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the New York Lottery's "Take 5" game were:</p>
<p>03-06-11-16-18</p>
<p>(three, six, eleven, sixteen, eighteen)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in 'Take 5' game | false | https://apnews.com/amp/495e5af5f25b495b8fe19a26f7f3f7cd | 2018-01-11 | 2 |
<p>SAO TOME (Reuters) - A consortium of BP and Kosmos Energy has won exploration rights to two offshore oil blocks in Sao Tome and Principe’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the national oil agency said.</p>
<p>The two companies won blocks 10 and 13 in a restricted tender, the agency’s director Orlando Pontes said in a statement late on Monday. They beat a second consortium of Portugal’s Galp Energia and Total, he said.</p>
<p>Sao Tome and Principe, a tiny island nation in Africa’s Gulf of Guinea, is surrounded by oil-rich neighbors Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Angola.</p>
<p>Despite a lack of significant discoveries after several years of prospecting, the industry sees its waters as likely to yield oil eventually, and several firms are currently exploring.</p>
<p>Its 129,000-square km EEZ is divided into 19 blocks.</p>
<p>New York-listed Kosmos Energy, which is active in other parts of West and Central Africa, acquired licenses to blocks 5, 6, 11 and 12 in 2015 and 2016. The national oil agency said it expected the firm to begin drilling in 2019 based on seismic results.</p>
<p>Reporting by Ricardo Neto; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Louise Heavens and Edmund Blair</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - Remington Outdoor Co Inc, one of the largest U.S. makers of firearms, filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday to carry out a debt-cutting deal with creditors amid mounting public pressure for greater gun control.</p>
<p>The company’s chief financial officer, Stephen Jackson, said in court papers that Remington’s sales fell significantly in the year before its bankruptcy, and that the company was having difficulty meeting requirements from its lenders.</p>
<p>Remington, America’s oldest gunmaker, announced in February it would reduce its $950 million debtload in a deal that will transfer control of the company to creditors. The company plans to wrap up its bankruptcy as soon as May 3, according to court papers.</p>
<p>The filing comes after a Feb. 14 shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school that killed 17 and spurred an intense campaign for gun control by activists.</p>
<p>The massacre led to huge U.S. anti-gun rallies by hundreds of thousands of young Americans on Saturday.</p>
<p>In some of the biggest U.S. youth demonstrations for decades, protesters called on lawmakers and President Donald Trump to confront the issue. Voter registration activists fanned out in the crowds, signing up thousands of the nation’s newest voters.</p>
<p>Major U.S. companies and retailers have taken some steps to restrict firearm sales.</p>
<p>Citigroup Inc ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=C.N" type="external">C.N</a>) said last week it will require new retail-sector clients to sell firearms only to customers who passed background checks and to bar sales of high-capacity magazines.</p>
<p>Citi also said it was restricting sales for buyers under 21, a move adopted by other large retailers, while Kroger Co’s ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=KR.N" type="external">KR.N</a>) superstore chain Fred Meyer said it will stop selling firearms entirely.</p> FILE PHOTO: A man walks with his Remington 870 Express 12 gauge shotgun during a pro-gun and Second Amendment protest outside the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., January 19, 2013. REUTERS/Joshua Lott/File Photo CERBERUS TO LOSE OWNERSHIP
<p>Cerberus Capital Management LP, the private equity firm that controls Remington, will lose ownership in the bankruptcy.</p>
<p>Remington’s creditors, which sources told Reuters include Franklin Templeton Investments and JPMorgan Asset Management, will exchange their debt holdings for Remington equity.</p>
<p>The creditors inked the debt-cutting deal prior to the Parkland shooting, and it is unclear if any have exited. The restructuring support agreement allows creditors to sell their holdings, but the buyer is bound by the deal.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=C.N" type="external">Citigroup Inc</a> 69.85 C.N New York Stock Exchange +1.95 (+2.87%) C.N KR.N AOBC.O
<p>One investor told IFR, a Thomson Reuters news provider, that his firm had contemplated buying the Remington loans that will be exchanged into equity, which were offered at as low as 25 cents on the dollar.</p>
<p>“We bowed out because we were uncomfortable,” he said.</p>
<p>After a Remington Bushmaster rifle was used in the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in Connecticut in 2012 that killed 20 children and six adults, Cerberus tried unsuccessfully to sell Remington, then known as Freedom Group.</p>
<p>Katie-Mesner Hage, an attorney representing Sandy Hook families in a lawsuit against Remington, said in a prepared statement that she did not expect the gunmaker’s bankruptcy would affect their case.</p>
<p>Remington and other gunmakers have suffered from slumping sales in the past year as fears of stricter gun laws have faded.</p>
<p>The chief executive of American Outdoor Brands Corp ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AOBC.O" type="external">AOBC.O</a>), maker of the Smith &amp; Wesson gun used in the Parkland shooting, said on March 1 that some gun retailers reported increased sales after the Florida school shooting.</p>
<p>Remington filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.</p>
<p>Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware, Jessica DiNapoli in New York and Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Gopakumar Warrier</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - A grocery industry veteran who led U.K. retailer Tesco Plc’s online operation was named president of Walmart’s Jet.com e-commerce business in the retail behemoth’s latest move to grab a bigger piece of the intensely competitive sector.</p> A logo of Walmart is seen in one of the stores in Monterrey, Mexico November 28, 2016. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril/File Photo
<p>Simon Belsham will oversee all operations including grocery and general merchandise and join Walmart’s ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=WMT.N" type="external">WMT.N</a>) U.S. e-commerce leadership team, according to an internal email sent on Monday by Marc Lore, the head of Walmart’s e-commerce business, to Jet employees and seen by Reuters.</p>
<p>Walmart acquired Jet for $3.3 billion in August 2016, a deal that was widely considered a watershed moment for its then-struggling e-commerce operation as it got access to both technology and talent through Jet founder Lore and his team.</p>
<p>Walmart’s e-commerce success has been erratic. Online sales increased 23 percent in the most recent quarter, less than half the rate of growth in each of the previous three quarters. Walmart’s stock got walloped after the news.</p>
<p>Belsham’s hiring comes amid fierce competition in the grocery sector. Amazon.com Inc ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AMZN.O" type="external">AMZN.O</a>) purchased Whole Foods Market for $13.4 billion last year, and rivals like Target Corp ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=TGT.N" type="external">TGT.N</a>), Costco Wholesale Corp ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=COST.O" type="external">COST.O</a>) and Kroger Co ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=KR.N" type="external">KR.N</a>) are joining the costly battle for customers who want groceries without leaving their couches.</p>
<p>Walmart is aggressively ramping up its online grocery business. It has said it will expand home delivery service to more than 100 U.S. cities and offer curbside grocery pickup at 2,200 stores by the end of the year.</p>
<p>Jet’s focus on groceries is likely to help Walmart win with urban millennial customers - Jet’s key demographic.</p>
<p>“With Jet grocery being an integral part of the strategy, Simon brings incredible experience in scaling grocery delivery and his unique background in converging technology and retail,” Lore said in the email.</p>
<p>Belsham spent seven years at Tesco ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=TSCO.L" type="external">TSCO.L</a>), building up its online grocery operation for Britain and 10 markets across central Europe and Asia. He also developed a general merchandise platform for Ocado, a UK-based web retailer that sells groceries.</p>
<p>Most recently, Belsham worked as chief executive officer of venture-backed Notonthehighstreet.com, according to the email.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=WMT.N" type="external">Walmart Inc</a> 87.66 WMT.N New York Stock Exchange +2.24 (+2.62%) WMT.N AMZN.O TGT.N COST.O KR.N
<p>He will succeed Liza Landsman, who left the company in March, a little more than a year after she was promoted to the job. Belsham will start on March 26, report to Lore and be based at Jet’s New Jersey headquarters, according to the email.</p>
<p>Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on a Feb. 20 earnings conference call the online retailer will not grow as quickly as it did in the early days but will be well-positioned in select markets.</p>
<p>Belsham will also need to ensure that Jet is differentiated from the parent brand and offer shoppers specialty goods that cannot be bought elsewhere - a strategy on which Lore has focused in the past year.</p>
<p>Belsham said in a statement he has long admired the founders of both Walmart and Jet.</p>
<p>“In my view, there is no business better positioned to take advantage of the opportunity ahead than the combination of Walmart and Jet,” Belsham said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Nandita Bose in New York; Editing by Vanessa O'Connell and Jeffrey Benkoe</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Technology stocks led Wall Street’s rebound on Monday as fears over a potential trade war were calmed following reports the U.S. and China are willing to renegotiate tariffs and trade imbalances.</p>
<p>All three major U.S. indexes were up more than 2 percent on the heels of their worst weekly performance since January 2016.</p>
<p>Last week’s drop was fueled in part by tensions surrounding President Donald Trump’s move to levy tariffs on up to $60 billion in Chinese imports, in addition to those imposed on solar panels, steel and aluminum.</p>
<p>But tensions eased as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang repeated pledges to maintain trade negotiations and ease access to American businesses.</p>
<p>“Over the weekend there was some indication that maybe the tariff deal with China was less onerous than previously thought,” said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&amp;T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama.</p>
<p>“The reality is that there probably isn’t a trade war, as evidenced by the fact that there’s discussion going on between China and the U.S. to work these things out.”</p>
<p>China did, however, call on World Trade Organization members to unite to prevent the United States “wrecking” the WTO, and urged them to oppose U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs targeting China’s alleged theft of intellectual property.</p> Slideshow (6 Images)
<p>At 2:41 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average <a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.DJI" type="external">.DJI</a> rose 546.27 points, or 2.32 percent, to 24,079.47, the S&amp;P 500 <a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.SPX" type="external">.SPX</a> gained 54.89 points, or 2.12 percent, to 2,643.15 and the Nasdaq Composite <a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.IXIC" type="external">.IXIC</a> added 174.11 points, or 2.49 percent, to 7,166.77.</p>
<p>All eleven major sectors of the S&amp;P 500 <a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.SPX" type="external">.SPX</a> were in positive territory, led by technology .SPLRCT and finance .SPSY indexes, up 3.2 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.</p>
<a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.DJI" type="external">Dow Jones &amp; Company Inc</a> 24163.5 .DJI Dow Jones Indexes +630.30 (+2.68%) .DJI .SPX .IXIC MSFT.O INTC.O
<p>The tech sector was on pace for its biggest daily percentage gain since January 2016 and financials were poised for their best day since March 2017.</p>
<p>Microsoft ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=MSFT.O" type="external">MSFT.O</a>) pulled the indexes higher, gaining 6.9 percent. Morgan Stanley upped its price target on the tech giant’s stock, saying its market value could hit $1 trillion on improved margins and growth in cloud computing.</p>
<p>Intel ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=INTC.O" type="external">INTC.O</a>) rose 5.6 percent after brokerage Raymond James upgraded the technology to “market perform”.</p>
<p>Facebook ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=FB.O" type="external">FB.O</a>) was a laggard, however, down 1.7 percent as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced it was investigating how the social network allowed data of 50 million users to get into the hands of Cambridge Analytica.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-usa-stocks-instantview/wall-street-rebounds-on-hopes-for-u-s-china-talks-on-trade-idUSKBN1H22LX" type="external">Wall Street rebounds on hopes for U.S.-China talks on trade</a>
<p>Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.52-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.04-to-1 ratio favored advancers.</p>
<p>Reporting by Stephen Culp; Editing by Nick Zieminski</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] has agreed to sell its Southeast Asian business to bigger regional rival Grab, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Sunday, in what would be the U.S. company’s second retreat from Asia.</p> Uber's logo is pictured at its office in Tokyo, Japan, November 27, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
<p>The deal, which could be announced as early as Monday, marks the industry’s first big consolidation in Southeast Asia, home to about 640 million people, and puts pressure on rivals such as Indonesia’s Go-Jek, backed by Alphabet Inc’s Google and China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd.</p>
<p>As part of the transaction, Uber would get a stake of as much as 30 percent in the combined business, said a source with direct knowledge of the matter who did not want to be identified as the deal is not yet public.</p>
<p>Another source familiar with the deal said Uber would acquire a 25 percent to 30 percent stake in Grab, valuing the entire business at $6 billion, the same valuation it commanded in its most recent capital raising.</p>
<p>Uber and Singapore-based Grab, Southeast Asia’s biggest ride-hailing firm, declined to comment.</p>
<p>Expectations of consolidation in Asia’s fiercely competitive ride-hailing industry were stoked earlier this year when Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp made a multi-billion dollar investment in Uber.</p>
<p>SoftBank is also one of the main investors in several of Uber’s rivals, including Grab, China’s Didi Chuxing, and India’s Ola.</p>
<p>Ride-hailing companies throughout Asia have relied on discounts and promotions to attract both riders and drivers in the fast-growing market, driving down profit margins.</p>
<p>Uber, which is preparing for a potential initial public offering in 2019, lost $4.5 billion last year and is facing fierce competition at home and in Asia, as well as a regulatory crackdown in Europe.</p> FILE PHOTO: New hires relax at a lounge area in a Grab office in Singapore September 23, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo
<p>It is also recovering from a year of scandals that saw co-founder Travis Kalanick forced out as chief executive in June amid U.S. criminal inquiries and a workplace marred by sexual harassment allegations.</p>
<p>SoftBank gained two seats on Uber’s board of directors through its investment and has said it wants the company to focus on growing in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Australia, but not in Asia, due to the lack of profitability.</p>
<p>Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said at a conference in New York in November that the company’s Asia operations were not going to be “profitable any time soon,” particularly because of how heavily Uber was subsidizing rides there.</p>
<p>“The economics of that market are not what we want them to be,” he said at the time.</p>
<p>Khosrowshahi, who took over the top job at Uber in August, has been working to clean up the company’s financials ahead taking it public.</p>
<p>Still, during a visit to India in February, he pledged to continue investing aggressively in Southeast Asia.</p>
<p>Now that Uber is pulling out of Southeast Asia, attention may turn to the company’s operations in India, which accounts for more than 10 percent of Uber’s trips globally, but is not making money yet.</p>
<p>Uber’s deal with Grab would be similar to the one struck in China in 2016, when a bruising price war ended in Didi Chuxing buying out Uber’s China business in return for a stake in the company.</p>
<p>Grab raised about $2.5 billion last July from Didi, SoftBank and others in a deal valuing the company at around $6 billion. Bloomberg first reported the deal.</p>
<p>Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Additional reporting by Greg Roumeliotis and John McCrank in New York, and Heather Somerville in San Francisco; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Grant McCool</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | BP, Kosmos win rights to two oil blocks in Sao Tome and Principe U.S. gunmaker Remington files for bankruptcy Exclusive: Tesco veteran to head Walmart's Jet.com as U.S. grocery wars flare Tech boosts Wall Street as trade war fears ebb Uber to sell Southeast Asia business to rival Grab: sources | false | https://reuters.com/article/saotome-oil/update-1-bp-kosmos-win-rights-to-two-oil-blocks-in-sao-tome-and-principe-idUSL8N1PI2AV | 2018-01-23 | 2 |
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<p />
<p>“I had a really hard time this first half of the season, a really hard time,” musher Aliy Zirkle told The Associated Press on Friday.</p>
<p>Zirkle, who has five straight top-five finishes in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, plans to run in this year’s race, which starts next week.</p>
<p>“I feel like I should tell people, ‘Yeah, I’m going back out there,’ but I wish I could say I was fine. But there will be some struggles out there,” she said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Arnold Demoski was given a six-month sentence for driving a snowmobile at four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King and Zirkle in separate attacks on March 12 near the village checkpoint in Nulato, Alaska. One of King’s dogs, Nash, was killed, and other dogs were injured.</p>
<p>Demoski pleaded guilty to felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor charges of assault, reckless endangerment and driving under the influence.</p>
<p>“Over the course of almost two hours, one man, by using his snowmachine, made prolonged, aggressive and what I believe to be deliberate threats to me and my team,” Zirkle said in a statement just days after the attack last year. Snowmachines are what Alaskans call snowmobiles.</p>
<p>“I was terrified. Had it not been for my defensive reactions, we could have been maimed or killed,” she said in the statement.</p>
<p>The fear carried over well after the race ended, Zirkle told the AP, and she didn’t realize it would have such an effect on her. “It’s one of those weird things that it’s in your head, that you didn’t think was actually going to be there,” she said.</p>
<p>Seeing snowmachines, especially soon after the attack was “a pretty bad deal,” she said.</p>
<p>But she is learning to control the panic with the help of her husband, musher Allen Moore. They decided to have her start going to therapy last summer, and that has helped.</p>
<p>“The last race I was on, a couple of snowmachines came by and I made it,” she said, adding in her characteristic laugh.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Iditarod will have its ceremonial start in Anchorage on March 4, and the actual start will be held two days later in Fairbanks. Low-snow conditions in the Alaska Range forced the official start from the Anchorage area.</p>
<p>Zirkle didn’t anticipate being back in Nulato so soon. The nearly thousand-mile race alternates between northern and southern routes every year. Nulato is part of the northern route, and it wasn’t scheduled to be included in this year’s race until the start was moved to Fairbanks.</p>
<p>“I’m not looking forward to this route, I have to be honest about that,” Zirkle said.</p>
<p>After last year’s attacks, the Iditarod changed its rules to allow mushers to carry two-way communication devices during the race.</p>
<p>Zirkle will carry a satellite phone sewn into her parka, providing, if nothing else, assurance. “Whether I ever use it or not, it doesn’t really matter,” she said.</p>
<p>The 47-year-old New Hampshire native said she has no problems being outside in minus 55 degree temperatures or going on a two-week camping trip in a blizzard with only two dogs to accompany her in the Alaska wilderness. “I’m kind of that hard-core, tough musher gal,” she said.</p>
<p>What’s more difficult after the attack is reassuring another part of herself.</p>
<p>“It’s hard to convince this other, this ‘Protective Aliy’ that exists, that it’s not going to happen again, cause she’s ready to kick some fanny if it does, and she’s a little sensitive,” said Zirkle, who once broke another woman’s arm during an arm-wrestling contest at a bar near the Iditarod finish line in Nome.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Mark Thiessen at twitter.com/mthiessen</p> | Therapy, husband lead musher back to Iditarod | false | https://abqjournal.com/956875/therapy-husband-lead-musher-back-to-iditarod.html | 2017-02-24 | 2 |
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<p />
<p>King said, “The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today is my own government.”</p>
<p>The New York Times, the Washington Post, many newspapers nationwide condemned his strong message of truth. Many whites, many blacks, the White House, even most of King’s inner circle of black leaders condemned his strong message of truth. He suffered much hatred, many death threats.</p>
<p>Why is that speech far less known, far less honored than his “I Have a Dream” speech? Sadly most King celebrations today castrate his message. Sadly most King celebrations do not emphasize his strong stand against the evils of capitalism and the U.S. empire, against nuclear weapons and against the Vietnam War.</p>
<p>Martin Luther King, Jr. was a prophet, not a politician, not a rock star. He refused to silence and sell out his conscience and convictions to get the popular support of millions and the approval of the powerful.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>DON SCHRADER</p>
<p>Albuquerque</p>
<p /> | King’s anti-war stance should be celebrated | false | https://abqjournal.com/929835/kings-antiwar-stance-should-be-celebrated.html | 2 |
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<p>In serious blow to the charter school scam, the Washington State Supreme Court struck down charter schools as unconstitutional. Sorry, conservatives.</p>
<p>Conservatives have long fought to legitimize charter schools as a viable alternative to the public school system, even going so far as to take taxpayer dollars away from the public school system and instead funneling the money to charter schools. While public schools have suffered from a severe lack of funding due to Republican efforts to sabotage and destroy the public education system, charter schools are stealing that valuable funding and using it to enrich the management instead of using it to fund actual education that prepares kids for the real world.</p>
<p>Charter schools are also governed by appointed leaders (conservative and corporate stooges) instead of an elected school board that has to answer to the voting public. Some states allow charter schools to skirt certain regulations and policies. Charter school teachers also do not have to be certified in some states, making them less experienced and improperly prepared to teach.</p>
<p>Republicans in states like Pennsylvania and Louisiana have <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/10/02/the_great_charter_school_rip_off_finally_the_truth_catches_up_to_education_reform_phonies/" type="external">used natural disasters or sabotaged poorer school districts</a> in order to usher in charter school takeovers that end up performing worse than the public schools they replaced, sucking up valuable resources along the way that could have improved public schools. Thus, Louisiana Republicans paved the way for teachers to <a href="" type="internal">literally use the Bible as a science textbook</a>.</p>
<p>And that’s probably why the Washington state Supreme Court handed down a decision striking down charter schools after a year of deliberations on Friday.</p>
<p>In a 6-3 ruling by the state’s high court, charter schools were ruled unconstitutional because they are not “common schools,” wrote Chief Justice Barbara Madsen. According to the <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/washington-state-supreme-court-rules-that-charter-schools-are-unconstitutional/" type="external">Seattle Times</a>, Madsen also wrote that “money that is dedicated to common schools is unconstitutionally diverted to charter schools.”</p>
<p>The charter schools in Washington are privately run, but for some reason voters granted them taxpayer funding by a small margin in 2012. The state Supreme Court ruling effectively overturns that law.</p>
<p>The Washington Education Association praised the decision in a statement as one that halts charter schools from stealing money from public school classrooms.</p>
<p>But of course, a state Republican lawmaker pitched a fit about it.</p>
<p>The Seattle Times reports:</p>
<p>GOP state Rep. Chad Magendanz, ranking member on the House Education Committee, said he was stunned by the decision.</p>
<p>“I’m shocked, I’m worried about the political aspects about this,” said Magendanz. The court is becoming too much of “a political animal,” said Magendanz, a supporter of charter schools as a way to promote competition and innovation.</p>
<p>Sounds like Washington state Republicans like Magendanz are just butt-hurt because they lost an opportunity to indoctrinate kids in a state that is becoming more liberal all the time.</p>
<p>This court ruling is a victory for real education.</p>
<p>Featured image via&#160; <a href="http://energy.gov/fe/about-us/students-and-teachers" type="external">Energy.gov</a></p> | WA State Supreme Court Deals Blow To Charter School Scam Designed To Destroy Public Schools | true | http://addictinginfo.org/2015/09/05/wa-state-supreme-court-deals-blow-to-charter-school-scam-designed-to-destroy-public-schools/ | 2015-09-05 | 4 |
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg0hc1y7JQk" type="external">Clinton</a>: “If you’re an American, the best thing you can do is to make it politically unacceptable for people to engage in denial. I mean, it makes us — we look like a joke, right? You can’t win the nomination of one of the major parties in our country if you admit that the scientists are right? That disqualifies you from doing it? You could really help us there. It’s really tragic because we need a debate in America, and in every country, between people who are a little bit to the right and people who are a little bit to the left about what the best way is to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. What is the most economical way to do it? What will get more done quicker? There are all these things that in any other country would occupy a lot of space on the ideological spectrum from right to left, and we can’t have this conversation because you’ve got to deny it?”</p>
<p>John Wihbey has a <a href="http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/2012/10/how-president-clinton-explainer-in-chief-frames-climate-change/" type="external">good collection</a> of Clinton quotes on climate at The Yale Forum on Climate Change &amp; The Media, in his piece, “How President Clinton, ‘Explainer-in-Chief,’ Frames Climate Change.”</p>
<p>The quote above is from last year’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg0hc1y7JQk" type="external">Clinton Global Initiative</a> (9–21–11). Here’s another, from a talk at the <a href="http://soundcloud.com/lsepodcasts/a-conversation-with-president" type="external">London School of Economics</a> (7–12–12):</p>
<p>“My strategy on [engaging deniers] is very simple. Some people who are climate skeptics are climate skeptics because it’s in their interest to be. They just want to preserve the old energy economy, and there’s not much I can do about that. But what I am trying to do, literally all the time, is to prove that saving the planet is better economics than burning it up. Not 10 or 20 or 50 years from now — [but] now. There are a lot of climate skeptics but their reasons are being chipped away…. There are a lot of people who have a different view. Their view is, ‘Look, this may be good, this may be bad. But God almighty the world is coming apart at the seams economically and we’ve got other fish to fry. We have to deal with other things.’ [For] those people, you must prove it is good economics to change the way we produce and pursue energy…. So what I do to try to overcome the climate skeptics is to figure out how to solve the financing problems, because fundamentally all the financing problems look alike. Whether you’re dealing with clean energy or energy efficiency, the costs are all up-front and the savings are all in the back….”</p>
<p>No question Clinton has the arithmetic right:</p>
<p>One final quote, also from LSE this year:</p>
<p>“Every now and then I’ll give a speech on this&#160;… but I try not to give many speeches on this energy stuff, the environment. I just try to do one project after another. I figure if we just keep lining ’em up and pushing ’em down, and lining ’em up and pushing ’em down, at some point denial will no longer be an effective strategy. And that’s what I recommend to you: Do something, no matter how small it is.”</p>
<p>Hear! Hear!</p> | Bill Clinton’s Message: ‘Saving The Planet Is Better Economics Than Burning It Up’ | true | http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/10/17/1038041/bill-clintons-message-saving-the-planet-is-better-economics-than-burning-it-up/ | 2012-10-18 | 4 |
<p>In my&#160; <a href="http://www.fortruthssake.com/2014/08/isnt-conspiracy-anymore/" type="external">last article</a>, I discussed the idea that much of what we are experiencing in this country can’t be considered a “ <a href="" type="internal">conspiracy theory</a>” anymore, because it is actually happening. We are literally watching the world burn around us, and every day there is another new, exciting development that only, in my mind anyways, reinforces the idea that it is all <a href="" type="internal">being done by design</a>.</p>
<p>I discussed the fact that there are many individual incidents that, at first glance, appear to be isolated events, but in reality, are all a part of the “mother conspiracy,” if you will. What is this mother conspiracy you ask? Many people recognize it as the “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L9I48UA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B00L9I48UA&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=freedomoutpos-20&amp;linkId=M2OZ2ZLSDXMHHOAU" type="external">Illuminati</a>” or the “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786719834/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0786719834&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=freedomoutpos-20&amp;linkId=BTYOGHZLKIUTXMTK" type="external">secret societies</a>.” Others refer to the conspirators as the&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374531617/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0374531617&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=freedomoutpos-20&amp;linkId=DS7E577JLXDNGFSG" type="external">global elite</a>, or even their more common name,&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0979988624/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0979988624&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=freedomoutpos-20&amp;linkId=4NZU2MXMDDL7MJG5" type="external">The Bilderberg Group.</a></p>
<p>Still others, like myself, believe that these people are Communists who are carrying out the agenda of instilling a global communist government sought after by people like&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0815411774/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0815411774&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=freedomoutpos-20&amp;linkId=GCEOOB36JRSEVXOF" type="external">Vladimir Lenin</a>&#160;and&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804701423/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0804701423&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=freedomoutpos-20&amp;linkId=ABNVTOSYAGPUOKDS" type="external">Antonio Gramsci</a>. Well, for truth’s sake, all of these different designations are one and the same. They are working together to carry out their agenda of a <a href="" type="internal">one-world government</a> through the United Nations.</p>
<p>Again, there are many different issues driving many different debates, but there is one in particular that deserves special attention because it’s the one that may seal the fate of mankind. This is the&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1936488493/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1936488493&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=freedomoutpos-20&amp;linkId=JJRL4AOWFPIPY5XZ" type="external">Global Warming</a>&#160;debate (which is simply called “ <a href="" type="internal">climate change</a>” now). &#160;I can’t think of any one issue that is debated with as much passion and controversy as&#160; <a href="http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/02/heat-global-warming-generated-ongoing-debate/" type="external">man-made Global Warming</a>. Many people are convinced that&#160;an alleged rash of <a href="" type="internal">extreme weather events</a> is caused by man’s activities and use of fossil fuels, and because of this, they are being led to believe that&#160; <a href="http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/07/yes-obama-can-read-global-warming-hoax/" type="external">governments must take drastic actions</a>.</p>
<p>Being a <a href="" type="internal">global warming denier</a> is now equated with being a “Nazi,” and in fact, one professor at a U.S. university has actually&#160; <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2014/03/17/u-s-college-professor-demands-imprisonment-for-climate-change-deniers/" type="external">called for the imprisonment</a>&#160;of those who deny the alleged science of global warming. It’s amazing how they can accuse us of being “Nazis” while threatening to imprison us for disagreeing with them. &#160;There has been a tremendous push in education to convince young people that the United States and its capitalistic system is the primary cause of Global Warming. The best way to illustrate this is through the film, “ <a href="https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&amp;type=A211US636&amp;p=the+story+of+stuff" type="external">The Story of Stuff</a>.”</p>
<p>People are being conditioned to believe that the only way to save the planet is if mankind&#160;surrenders&#160;their individuality <a href="" type="internal">in favor of the collective</a>, while allowing government to determine&#160;what is best for us. The proof for this is found in the words of U.N. climate chief, Christina Figueres, when she said “ <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2014/01/15/un-climate-chief-communism-is-best-to-fight-global-warming/" type="external">global communism is the only solution to global warming</a>.”</p>
<p>Nope, there is no conspiracy here. They are telling us what they are going to do! Through the use of psychological propaganda, the left has convinced a great many people that we are indeed responsible for Global Warming and we need to pay higher taxes, give up our rights and allow&#160;government to run our lives in order to stop it. There is only one problem with all of this. It is all a hoax designed to carry out their main policy initiative: the&#160;human depopulation agenda, better known as&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004GKNOTE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B004GKNOTE&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=freedomoutpos-20&amp;linkId=3BTZWFWLCSCACYSL" type="external">Agenda 21</a>. This is the number one issue driving the global warming debate because <a href="" type="internal">the left believes</a> that there are far too many people on the planet and that humanity is just a “cancer” to the earth.</p>
<p>For those who&#160;may not be familiar with <a href="" type="internal">Agenda 21</a>, let me summarize it by saying that it essentially involves every policy initiative that pushes the world towards total U.N. control. It involves everything from <a href="" type="internal">gun control</a> to parental rights. The plan is to strip all individuals of their rights to private property, herd us into dense population centers and control us like cattle. They also&#160; <a href="http://www.thenewamerican.com/rio-20/item/11724-science-group-un-rio%2020-summit-must-reduce-global-population" type="external">intend to&#160;drastically reduce the human population</a>&#160;from its current number of about seven billion to around 500,000,000, because they fear that human beings consume too much, and the population growth is too much for the planet to handle. For those who refuse to entertain&#160;that anyone could believe such a thing, let’s look at this quote from the “ <a href="http://www.iahf.com/biowar/991020a.html" type="external">Initiative for the United Nations, Eco 92 Earth Charter</a>.”</p>
<p>“The present vast over population, now far beyond the world carrying capacity cannot be answered by future reductions in the birth rate due to contraception, sterilization and abortion, but must be met in the present by the reduction in the numbers presently existing. This must be done by whatever means necessary.”</p>
<p>Do you need to read that again? According to that quote, which is part of an official U.N. document concerning the agenda to combat “global warming,” <a href="" type="internal">abortion</a>&#160;and&#160;birth control were part of the human depopulation agenda. They have now determined that these methods are not effective enough and more drastic measures must be taken to bring human population levels down. &#160;You can call me a “tin-foil-hat-wearing” conspiracy theorist if you wish; however, I think the fact that the U.S. has a&#160; <a href="http://www.google.com/patents/CA2741523A1?cl=en" type="external">patent on the current Ebola</a>&#160;virus says it all. This all spells <a href="" type="internal">global depopulation</a>.</p>
<p>I want to leave you with one more quote&#160;from a document entitled “ <a href="http://www.green-agenda.com/globalrevolution.html" type="external">The First Global Revolution</a>.” It outlines the motivations behind the “green agenda” and allows you to see exactly what type of people with which we are dealing. They are earth-worshipping pagans who believe you are responsible for the death&#160;of the planet, and they are intent on following through with what they started.</p>
<p>“The common enemy of humanity is man. In searching for a new enemy to unite us we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill. All these dangers are caused by human intervention, and it is only through changed attitudes and behavior that they can be overcome. The real enemy then is humanity itself.”&#160; <a href="http://www.jeremiahproject.com/newworldorder/club-of-rome.html" type="external">The Club of &#160;Rome</a></p>
<p>The writing has been on the wall for a while. People either can’t read it or they refuse to believe what they read. That’s exactly the type of ignorance that <a href="" type="internal">the global elite</a> count on, making their job so much easier.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fortruthssake.com/2014/08/globalists-taking-charge-agenda-21s-global-depopulation-agenda/" type="external">Source</a></p>
<p>David Risselada is a freelance writer and researcher. David served in the United States Marine Corps from 1995-1999 and the US Army from 2001-2006. In addition to contributing to&#160; <a href="http://freedomoutpost.com/" type="external">FreedomOutpost.com</a>, he writes at&#160; <a href="http://www.radicalconservativerisso.blogspot.com/" type="external">Radical Conservative</a>. Follow David on&#160; <a href="https://twitter.com/jkdriss" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p>
<p>Courtesy of <a href="http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/08/human-depopulation-real-agenda/" type="external">Freedom Outpost</a>.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Human Depopulation is the Real Agenda | true | http://dcclothesline.com/2014/08/10/human-depopulation-real-agenda/ | 2014-08-10 | 0 |
<p>Shares of semiconductor and telecommunications equipment maker Qualcomm Inc. rose 1% late Wednesday after the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings above Wall Street expectations. The San Diego-based company said it earned $1.6 billion, or $1.07 a share, in the quarter, compared with $1.1 billion, or 67 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, Qualcomm said it earned $1.9 billion, or $1.28 a share, in the quarter, compared with $1.4 billion, or 91 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Sales reached $6.2 billion, up 13% from $5.5 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2015. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected Qualcomm to report adjusted earnings of $1.13 cents a share on sales of $5.9 billion. "We are forecasting continued growth of global 3G/4G device shipments in calendar year 2017, led by growing demand in emerging regions," Qualcomm said. Fourth-quarter results were higher than company expectations on new license agreements in China and strong chipset shipments, the company said. Shares had ended the regular trading day down 1.8%.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Qualcomm Shares Up 1% On Earnings Beat | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/11/02/qualcomm-shares-up-1-on-earnings-beat.html | 2016-11-02 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Recently&#160;Hamas leader, Mahmoud Al-Zahar, said that Gazans shouldn’t need anyone’s permission to build a seaport and airport. This, in fact, is one of the ten demands Hamas made for a ceasefire: that they be permitted by Israel to rebuild their airport.</p>
<p>The airport itself was opened by then U.S. President Bill Clinton. It was intended to be a strong symbol of a future Palestinian state that still has not come to fruition.</p>
<p>Gazans were euphoric over the airport’s opening, gathering by the thousands at its gates to watch the landing of the first Palestinian Airlines. For three years, many Palestinians and others used the Gazan airport.</p>
<p>But then, after those three short years, the airport was closed by Israel, when the Israeli Defense Forces bombed it repeatedly and even bulldozed it.</p>
<p>This demand sounds pretty reasonable to most. So what was Hamas asking for that was so outrageous? Let’s take a look at their lists of demands which the State of Israel was refusing to meet, insisting instead on bombing civilian areas and residences:</p>
<p>1. Removing Israeli tanks from the Gaza border to a distance that will allow Palestinian farmers to work their lands near the border freely.</p>
<p>2. Releasing all the prisoners that were arrested following the killing of the three teenage settlers,&#160;which ISIS claimed responsibility for carrying out.</p>
<p>3. Removing the siege from Gaza and opening the crossings for goods and for people.</p>
<p>4. Opening a sea port and an international airport that will be under UN inspectors.</p>
<p>5. Expanding fishing zone for 10 kilometers from the shore.</p>
<p>6. Turning the Rafah crossing into an international crossing under the inspection of the UN and ally Arab countries.</p>
<p>7. Halting fire while the Palestinian factions commit to a cease-fire for 10 years based on having International inspectors on the border with Gaza.</p>
<p>8. Israel should ease the access to and give permits to worshippers from Gaza strip to Al-Aqsa mosque.</p>
<p>9. Israel cannot get involved in the internal Palestinian political issues and the political reconciliation process and what follows of elections for presidency and parliament.</p>
<p>10. Reestablishing the industrial zones and improving the development in the Gaza Strip.</p>
<p>To many – most even – this list comes as quite a shock. We hear a lot of polemic from both sides in the Israel and Palestine conflict(s). But rarely do we hear that the Gazan list of demands was this simple, straightforward and…&#160;fair.&#160;</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the mainstream, corporate media has more or less avoided listing these demands, or mentioning that Hamas promised a truce that would last ten full years if these ten simple demands – compromises really – were met.</p>
<p>So what was so unreasonable?</p>
<p>If you think that this list of demands was not too much to ask, the share this with someone who needs to hear what was really being rejected from the bargaining table by the hawks in Israel.</p>
<p>About the author: M.B. David is the author of several scholarly works on Middle Eastern politics, history and religion, such as&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/People-Book-Religions-Earliest-Understanding-ebook/dp/B008DGH8T4/" type="external">People of the Book: What the Religions Named in the Qur’an Can Tell Us About the Earliest Understanding of “Islam”</a>&#160;as well as the recently published Sci-Fi novel&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sleeper-Cell-2240-Interplanetary-Revolution-ebook/dp/B00MZZP1Z2" type="external">Sleeper Cell 2240: Memoires of the 21st Century Interplanetary Revolution</a>. He is currently working on his doctorate, writing a dissertation focused on the non-profit&#160; <a href="http://www.hashlamah.com" type="external">Hashlamah Project Foundation</a>&#160;and associated global study circles.</p> | What Was So Unreasonable About Hamas’ Demands? | true | http://politicalblindspot.com/what-was-so-unreasonable-about-hamas-demands/ | 2014-08-28 | 4 |
<p>Seth Leslie lives in what can confidently be called a man cave. It's a 100 square foot studio.</p>
<p>The Australian actor makes his home in Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated places on earth. The population density is more than 22,000 per every square kilometer of developed land. Here’s another way to look at it -- every Hong Kong resident has just about 130 square feet of space – about the size of four queen sized beds.</p>
<p>In his tiny apartment, Seth Leslie has just one small window that, at first, looks transparent.</p>
<p>“Well, it's translucent,” he says, “but you'd never know because out there it's just murky darkness.”</p>
<p>"Out there" is the building's shaftway, with plumbing fixtures, air conditioners, and grime. His apartment is on the second floor of a 16-story industrial building in one of Hong Kong's most crowded neighborhoods. It only gets about ten minutes of sunlight a day, when the sun is shining directly at the top of the building.</p>
<p>But the flat’s most prominent feature is the "wet room."</p>
<p>“It's the nice Hong Kong way of saying a bathroom that has enough room for a shower head and everything else goes underneath the shower head,” he says. It takes up about 20 percent of the living space and has glass walls.</p>
<p>“It makes it a little bit awkward when guests are over and suddenly want to use the bathroom,” he says. So when nature calls, his guests go down the hallway to Leslie's other tiny apartment. This unorthodox living arrangement -- two tiny flats -- is Leslie's way of paying less for more space. He pays just over $550 a month. That's about a quarter of what my wife and I pay for our Hong Kong apartment, which is just 417 square feet.</p>
<p>Before we moved last year, we were living in a two-bedroom in Los Angeles, so it’s taking some getting used to. Most Hong Kong apartments don’t have closets; we had to get a hydraulic storage bed to store clothes, bedding and luggage under the mattress. Every appliance here is built with space-saving in mind. Our garbage can is six-inches wide, our refrigerator not much wider than me. I typically dry my dress shirts on metal rods above my desk.</p>
<p>While I struggle to adjust to my new environment, some Hong Kong residents are thriving in their space. They've turned cramped living into an art form.</p>
<p>Recently, I visited the architect Gary Chang in his 360-square foot flat. He calls his apartment "domestic transformer" because it has movable walls that hide and reveal rooms - well, "scenarios" as he puts it. All told, there are 24 possible configurations in this tight little space. He shows me one sort of an annex to his bathroom - his bathtub, which for most of the day is hidden behind a large wall of CDs.</p>
<p>“I enjoy taking a bath, but I don't take the bath for 24 hours, so the rest of the time I don't need my bathtub” - so it stores away.</p>
<p>Chang lives alone now, but as a kid he shared this very apartment with five family members and a tenant. Back then, Chang slept in the corridor on a sofa seat. He says the biggest challenge of living in tight quarters isn't how to utilize space, it's how to get along with your fellow occupants. He says it has an impact on the way you interact.</p>
<p>“I remember when we were kids, when we were all living together. I don't know why, but we sort of learned to be pretty silent,” Chang says. “Imagine if everybody is talking and yelling.”</p>
<p>But even as family size shrinks in Asia, Gary Chang tells me that people continue to opt for smaller apartments. Take Seoul, South Korea, where the most popular apartment size is less than 300-square feet. People there sacrifice space so they can live in the heart of the city.</p>
<p>Same goes for Chang. He says that being able to live in the middle of the city, and not necessarily in a big apartment, is the real definition of home.</p>
<p>“It makes you venture out to enjoy what city life means to you,” he says.</p>
<p>I know what he means.&#160;After sitting at my desk for hours with laundry grazing the top of my head, I really have to get out, and explore my new home.</p> | One man's Hong Kong man cave, at 100 square feet | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-09-25/one-mans-hong-kong-man-cave-100-square-feet | 2013-09-25 | 3 |
<p />
<p>Karl Rove needs to work on his reading comprehension skills. I can say so because he’s been disingenuously citing me.</p>
<p>During the past week, the Bush-guru-turned-Newsweek-columnist has been on the defensive regarding the claim he made during a <a href="http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2007/11/21/1/a-conversation-with-karl-rove" type="external">Charlie Rose interview</a> that the Bush White House “was opposed to voting on” the Iraq war resolution right before the 2002 congressional elections. He insisted, “We didn’t think it belonged within the confines of the election.” Asserting that “we thought it made [the vote] too political,” Rove said that it was the congressional Democrats who pressed for the vote in the middle of the political season.</p>
<p>As Michael Isikoff and I reported in our book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hubris-Inside-Story-Scandal-Selling/dp/030734682X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1196699131&amp;sr=1-2" type="external">Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War</a>, President George W. Bush met at the White House with congressional leaders on September 4 and told them he wanted a quick vote on a resolution that would grant him the authority to use military action against Saddam Hussein. Bush insisted he wanted this vote within six weeks. Senator Tom Daschle, then the majority leader of the Senate, wondered why the rush? He suspected that Rove was orchestrating a fast vote to put the Democrats on the spot right before the mid-term election. In fact, a day earlier, Daschle had been in a smaller meeting with Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. During that get-together, he had asked Bush, wouldn’t it be better to postpone the vote until after the election and take politics out of the debate? Bush turned toward Cheney, who shot the president a look that Daschle later described as a “half smile.” Then Bush told Daschle, “We just have to do it now.”</p>
<p>Rove now says none of that happened and he will explain all (of course) in a book yet to be written. But not only Daschle <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2005/11/28/daschle-depoliticize/" type="external">has challenged</a> Rove’s account. Former White House chief of staff Andy Card <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/30/card-discredits-rove/" type="external">did the same</a>, quipping, “Sometimes [Rove’s] mouth gets ahead of his brain.” And former White House press secretary Ari Fleishcer also <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/30/AR2007113002256.html" type="external">chimed in</a>, saying, “It was definitely the Bush administration that set it in motion and determined the timing, not the Congress. I think Karl in this instance just has his facts wrong.”</p>
<p>Despite all this, Rove has stuck with his story and has gone so far as to cite me. I’ve been reliably informed that Rove has been pointing to an article I posted on September 25, 2002, to defend his remarks. In that piece, <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?pid=108" type="external">“Democrats Whine About War Debate”</a>, I did write that House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt and Daschle were “pushing for a fast vote on Bush’s war resolution in order to have a chance to address other subjects prior to the November 5 congressional elections.” But the article made clear that Bush (and Rove) had pushed them into the corner with a demand for a fast, pre-election vote.</p>
<p>The article cited examples of how the Bush gang, in the run-up to the election, was politicizing the war vote:</p>
<p />
<p>Days ago, Vice President Dick Cheney attended a fundraiser in Kansas for Republican congressional hopeful Adam Taff, who is running against Democratic incumbent Dennis Moore, and he proclaimed that electing Taff would aid the administration’s war effort. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a Democrat, quickly protested. “I was chagrined,” he said, that Cheney would tell people to vote for a Republican because he was a war supporter. “If that doesn’t politicize the war,” Daschle added, “I don’t know what does.” And when GOP chairman Mark Racicot observed that a vote against the war “could be fair game in the closing days of the campaign,” Democratic National Committee spokesperson Jennifer Palmieri griped, “He’s making a veiled threat, outlining how Republicans would use the Iraq vote against Democrats.”</p>
<p>Another excerpt:</p>
<p />
<p>Bush might have (or probably, or definitely) pushed his war against Iraq during election time for crass political reasons–to squash debate and discussion of economic and health-related issues that tend to benefit Democrats.</p>
<p>The piece noted:</p>
<p>The Democrats’ problem is that, for the most part, they are unable or unwilling to politicize Bush’s rush to war, for that would entail fiercely challenging Bush’s demand for the authority to use force against Iraq–which is not the Democratic position.</p>
<p>A clear–and honest–reading of the article is that the Democrats, facing a strong and political push from the White House, were caving and looking to do so ASAP. For Rove to cite this article to defend his self-serving revisionism is an indication he’s not too careful when it comes to facts. His editors at Newsweek should take note.</p>
<p /> | Karl Rove, Don’t Spin My Work for Your Historical Revisionism | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/12/karl-rove-dont-spin-my-work-your-historical-revisionism/ | 2007-12-03 | 4 |
<p>President Obama announced a plan to ease the burden of <a href="http://www.finaid.org/loans/forgiveness.phtml" type="external">student loans</a> on college graduates on Wednesday by capping federal student loan repayments at 10 percent of discretionary income, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/26/us-obama-students-idUSTRE79O7HZ20111026" type="external">Reuters reports</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>The president spoke to a crowd at the University of Colorado in Denver and said he would take executive action to begin the new steps starting in January.&#160;</p>
<p>"Our economy needs it right now, and your future could use a boost right now," Obama said.</p>
<p>White House officials said it could help up to 1.6 million people and reduce their loan payments each month by as much as a couple hundred dollars, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/44/post/obama-administration-announces-plan-to-ease-student-loan-burdens/2011/10/25/gIQAGbKrGM_blog.html" type="external">according to the Washington Post</a>.</p>
<p>"Steps like these won't take the place of the bold action we need from Congress to boost our economy and create jobs, but they will make a difference," Obama said in a statement.</p>
<p>More: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111026/occupy-oakland-police-video-photos" type="external">VIDEO: Occupy Oakland turns violent</a></p>
<p>According to CNN, <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/26/politics/obama-student-loans/" type="external">Obama also criticized Congress</a> for not passing his early $447 billion jobs bill during the stop in Colorado to discuss the changes.&#160; He urged the young crowd to support him in getting Congress to have a "sense of urgency" in helping the ailing economy.</p>
<p>"Some of these folks in Washington still aren't getting the message. I need your voices heard," he said, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-obama-denver-20111026,0,4960087.story" type="external">according to the Los Angeles Times</a>. "Young people, I need you guys involved; I need you active."</p>
<p>The current plan for borrowers enrolled in income-based payment calls for 15 percent of discretionary income to be paid for 25 years before having their debt forgiven, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/education/26debt.html?_r=1&amp;adxnnl=1&amp;adxnnlx=1319637802-Xjqq+A9jkyrVa65y2Wa1XA" type="external">The New York Times reports</a>. In Obama's new plan, all remaining debt will be forgiven after 20 years.</p>
<p>The "pay as you earn" program will start in January, two years before the plan was due to be enacted under federal law.</p>
<p>The Washington Post reports:</p>
<p>Yet it remains unclear how many people will take advantage of the offer--even with the economy lagging and college tuition prices continuing to rise. Since 2007, borrowers have been allowed to cap federal student loan repayments at 15 percent of discretionary income. But White House officials acknowledged that just 450,000 of the nation's 36 million student loan borrowers are participating in the income-based repayment program.</p>
<p>According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Americans' student loan debt surpasses outstanding credit card debt, and "total loans outstanding are slated to exceed $1 trillion this year."</p>
<p><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/25/news/economy/Obama_student_loan/?cnn=yes" type="external">CNN reports</a> that average student loan debt at four-year colleges was $24,000 for the graduating class of 2009. That data, from the Institute for College Access &amp; Success, includes all private and federal loans.</p>
<p>More: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/photo-galleries/planet-pic/5677876/photos-occupywallstreet-spreads-throughout-america" type="external">Photos: Occupy Wall Street spreads throughout America</a></p>
<p>The topic of student loans has also become a contentious political issue for Obama and presidential nominees. Many of the Occupy Wall Street protests in the U.S. have said increasing debt for college graduates is something that needs to be fixed, according to the Washington Post.</p>
<p>DISCUSSION: Would you be affected by Obama's student loan forgiveness plan? Tell us how student loans have impacted your life and your views on the plan. We will <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111026/student-loans-reactions-obamas-plan" type="external">republish a selection of the comments</a>. &#160;</p> | Student loan forgiveness: Obama's plan | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-10-26/student-loan-forgiveness-obamas-plan | 2011-10-26 | 3 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Adali Antisdel, 6, plays a board game with her mother, Jamie Antisdel, at their home in Sunset Hills, Mo. Adali was born three months premature. (J.B. Forbes/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/MCT)</p>
<p>ST. LOUIS – Pregnant with her first child, Jamie Antisdel was determined to give her baby the best start. She did all the things she was supposed to do, such as exercising, eating well and maintaining a healthy weight. Yet, at 28 weeks, Antisdel’s blood pressure soared dangerously high.</p>
<p>Her liver and kidneys began to fail, and she learned her baby girl hadn’t been growing properly either. She had to deliver right away. Adali Antisdel was born March 8, 2008, weighing just 1 pound, 15 ounces. She had to spend the next two months in intensive care fighting for her life.</p>
<p>“I was doing everything by the book,” said Antisdel, 35, of Sunset Hills. “This wasn’t anything I even remotely anticipated happening.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>What causes premature birth – the No. 1 cause of death for newborns and leading cause of lasting childhood disabilities – remains a mystery.</p>
<p>“It’s really the No. 1 issue in obstetrics, and we haven’t made a lot of progress over the years,” said Dr. George Macones, chair of the obstetrics department at Washington University School of Medicine.</p>
<p>To unravel the mystery, the March of Dimes is leading a new approach to studying the problem by establishing a nationwide Prematurity Research Network, which it will help fund with $75 million over 10 years. The network will be made up of five research institutions, each with a team of diverse scientists focusing on different ideas about the causes of early labor.</p>
<p>Washington University School of Medicine has joined Stanford University and the Ohio Collaborative, a group of research institutions in Ohio, in the network, receiving $10 million, which will be matched with local funds from the medical school and St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation.</p>
<p>“We are investing in an extraordinary effort to bring all the best minds together,” said president of the March of Dimes, Jennifer Howse. “The reality is, labor is very complicated. There are lots of contributing factors that trigger labor, and we need to go beyond the sort of traditional means of trying to study this and bring to bear new perspectives, bring together all disciplines and create new tools and technology to get the answers.”</p>
<p>Answers were what Antisdel and her husband wanted after the weeks of fear, guilt and desperation they felt with their baby in intensive care.</p>
<p>“It was frustrating, and it was really scary at the same time,” she said. “We wanted to continue to grow our family. We asked, ‘What are the odds of this happening again?’ And they were like, ‘We don’t know, we just don’t know.'”</p>
<p>Efforts to reduce smoking, enroll women in health care coverage and stop elective inductions before 39 weeks have helped reduce the preterm birth rate in the U.S. But there have been only tiny improvements over the past seven years, going from 12.8 percent to 11.4 percent. Among industrialized nations, that places the U.S. at the very bottom.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“These interventions in and of themselves can’t get us to the point where we all want to be for the U.S., which is to be one of the top countries in the world for newborn health,” Howse said.</p>
<p>As leaders at the March of Dimes pondered this dilemma with their scientific advisers, the idea of the research network came about.</p>
<p>“The conclusion was we are not going to be able to do this unless we understand why women go into labor, and the data is just not there, and the research is just not there,” Howse said. “What would it take to mount a national effort to really accelerate the research?”</p>
<p>Stanford was the first to come on board in 2011 and was a sort of test of the “team science” approach to prematurity research. More than 130 scientists in fields ranging from neonatology and genetics to computer science and artificial intelligence share knowledge, insights, perspectives and analytical tools.</p>
<p>Research at Stanford includes learning how the microbes on the body are disturbed during pregnancy and analyzing data in a way that can identify new patterns or insights.</p>
<p>Two years later, the Ohio Collaborative became the second in the network. There, sociologists and psychologists have joined nutritionists and pediatricians in discovering how racial disparities affect preterm birth; and experts in proteomics and reproductive biology are working with obstetricians to study how hormones in the placenta interact to prevent preterm birth. Biologists, physiologists and social anthropologists are helping look at how pregnancy has evolved and discovering new genes that govern pregnancy.</p>
<p>The team at Washington University will be focusing on three areas: using a new imaging technique to look at how the cervix changes during pregnancy, understanding how the electrical activity in the uterus leads to contractions and how disruptions in the sleep cycle influence the onset of labor. The team includes biomedical engineers and cardiologists.</p>
<p>The fourth member of the network will be announced in the next couple of weeks, Howse said, and the fifth is expected to be on board early next year. The members plan to develop systems for data sharing and meet together quarterly.</p>
<p>Howse said the five institutions “fill out the matrix of areas of investigation,” with a total of 30 studies.</p>
<p>Antisdel’s daughter is now 6 and lucky in that she doesn’t have any of the serious neurological, learning, vision or breathing problems that many preemies have.</p>
<p>Antisdel got pregnant again with twins, who were also lucky to avoid stays in intensive care.</p>
<p>But the emotional roller coaster ride was enough to inspire her to raise thousands of dollars over the years for the March of Dimes through the annual March for Babies charity walk, and to speak about her story whenever she can.</p>
<p>“I felt such a strong pull to help the March of Dimes,” Antisdel said, “to spread the word about premature birth, raise money for research and to make sure this doesn’t happen to as many people as this is happening to anymore.”</p>
<p /> | Hospitals team up to solve the mystery of early labor | false | https://abqjournal.com/496732/hospitals-team-up-to-solve-the-mystery-of-early-labor.html | 2 |
|
<p>JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) _ These Missouri lotteries were drawn Thursday:</p>
<p>Lucky For Life</p>
<p>11-12-19-28-46, Lucky Ball: 4</p>
<p>(eleven, twelve, nineteen, twenty-eight, forty-six; Lucky Ball: four)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $418 million</p>
<p>Pick 3 Evening</p>
<p>2-0-1</p>
<p>(two, zero, one)</p>
<p>Pick 3 Midday</p>
<p>2-7-0</p>
<p>(two, seven, zero)</p>
<p>Pick 4 Evening</p>
<p>2-9-2-0</p>
<p>(two, nine, two, zero)</p>
<p>Pick 4 Midday</p>
<p>9-2-5-9</p>
<p>(nine, two, five, nine)</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $550 million</p>
<p>Show Me Cash</p>
<p>02-19-28-31-35</p>
<p>(two, nineteen, twenty-eight, thirty-one, thirty-five)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $126,000</p>
<p>JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) _ These Missouri lotteries were drawn Thursday:</p>
<p>Lucky For Life</p>
<p>11-12-19-28-46, Lucky Ball: 4</p>
<p>(eleven, twelve, nineteen, twenty-eight, forty-six; Lucky Ball: four)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $418 million</p>
<p>Pick 3 Evening</p>
<p>2-0-1</p>
<p>(two, zero, one)</p>
<p>Pick 3 Midday</p>
<p>2-7-0</p>
<p>(two, seven, zero)</p>
<p>Pick 4 Evening</p>
<p>2-9-2-0</p>
<p>(two, nine, two, zero)</p>
<p>Pick 4 Midday</p>
<p>9-2-5-9</p>
<p>(nine, two, five, nine)</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $550 million</p>
<p>Show Me Cash</p>
<p>02-19-28-31-35</p>
<p>(two, nineteen, twenty-eight, thirty-one, thirty-five)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $126,000</p> | MO Lottery | false | https://apnews.com/1c7a8b9cbc6b487f9eff5d65bf3f405e | 2018-01-05 | 2 |
<p />
<p />
<p>The company has presented a design to the US patent and trademark corporation which has left many people asking, why? This plane is expected to have a detachable body which separates from the pilot’s cabin after takeoff.</p>
<p>The management of Airbus explains this as a move to increase traffic, since the cabin is used to launch the plane and lands back to pick another one. The planes are expected to land without the cabin and allow passengers to come off the plane.</p>
<p>They argue that this will help them make more money by having more planes flying at a go hence saving on time.</p>
<p>This however will not go well with the passengers since it is unimaginable being on board a plane then it detaches. <a href="http://www.therooster.com/blog/airbus-patents-design-convertible-airplane-crushes-hope-those-fear-flying" type="external">The Rooster</a> reports that, given this option most people will prefer waiting the whole day at the airport to board a normal plane.</p>
<p>This is a challenge that Airbus will have to deal with and convince their clients that this convertible airplane is safe.</p>
<p>Image via <a href="http://www.therooster.com/blog/airbus-patents-design-convertible-airplane-crushes-hope-those-fear-flying" type="external">Rooster.</a></p> | Airbus Patents Terrifying Convertible Airplane Design That No Sane Person Will Want To Fly In | true | http://offthemainpage.com/2016/02/06/airbus-patents-terrifying-convertible-airplane-design-that-no-sane-person-will-want-to-fly-in/ | 2016-02-06 | 4 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>While much has been made in the media over Republican governors and state attorney generals threatening to dismantle the health care reform bill signed into law by President Obama last month, California’s Democratic leadership and Governor Schwarzenegger have made implementing the new law, with plenty of federal help, a top priority.&#160;</p>
<p>This week, Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assembly Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles) spent Wednesday in Washington, DC in meetings with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and White House staff in hopes of securing billions of federal dollars to implement health care reform.</p>
<p>This DC visit follows a <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2010/05/legislative-leaders-wrap-up-dc-tour.html" type="external">visit</a> by the governor who is credited with bringing in $675 million for reimbursements for Medicare prescription drug benefits.</p>
<p>Specifically, Steinberg and Perez were seeking:</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160; •&#160;&#160;&#160; A Medicaid waiver for $2 billion a year for the next five years to help California implement its health care system before major federal health reform measures take effect in 2014.&#160; Specifically, the waiver is being sought for uninsured Californians who earn up to 200 percent of poverty (2010 Federal poverty level for a family of four is $22,050) so that they are eligible for Medi-Cal.</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160; •&#160;&#160;&#160; A six-month extension of an enhanced federal match for the state’s Medi-Cal and child welfare programs.</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160; •&#160;&#160;&#160; A one-year <a href="http://healthtopic.nationaljournal.com/2010/05/california-lawmakers-are-askin.php#more" type="external">extension</a> of federal stimulus funding for social services.</p>
<p>On the other side, California Republican candidates for U.S. Senate are trashing the health care reform bill.&#160; Both Carly Fiorina and Chuck DeVore have signed a pledge to repeal the law, while former Congressman Tom Campbell wants to repeal and replace the law.&#160;</p>
<p>Each rely heavily on reforming medical malpractice and limiting lawsuits to deal with health care reform, despite the fact that each have a <a href="https://www.nber.org/aginghealth/2009no3/w15371.html" type="external">negligible impact</a> on health care costs.&#160;</p>
<p>While this approach may play well with the Republican base (59% of Republicans are less likely to support a candidate who supported health care reform), opposing the health care reform bill in the general election may prove to be a <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/la-me-senate-healthcare-20100505,0,6894034.story" type="external">losing proposition</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>About 46% of California voters surveyed in the same poll said they would be more likely to vote for a politician who had supported the health bill, while 29% said they would not. Just over half said they believed the country would be better off because of the package.&#160; And these are numbers before any of the benefits of health care reform have even kicked in.</p>
<p>Two approaches with two significantly different outcomes.&#160; I guess we will know where Californians stand in November.</p> | California lawmakers head to DC in search of federal aid for health care reform | false | https://ivn.us/2010/05/07/california-lawmakers-head-dc-search-federal-aid-health-care-reform/ | 2010-05-07 | 2 |
<p>Dangerously cold air descended on the Midwest and Plains on Sunday, as new snow brought whiteout conditions to some areas and freezing rain threatened to cancel more flights in the Northeast.</p>
<p>The arctic blast — expected to be the coldest in decades — is bringing below-zero temperatures to more than half of the continental U.S. through Monday and Tuesday.</p>
<p>The coldest air was hitting the Dakotas and Minnesota, which clocked temperatures of 20 degrees below zero on Sunday. At its lowest, the wind chill in Minnesota was a numbing minus 50 in Flag Island.</p>
<p>“It’s just a dangerous cold,” National Weather Service meteorologist Butch Dye in Missouri said Sunday morning.</p>
<p>And as they brace for the bitter cold, Midwesterners also must dig out of another nasty snowstorm.</p>
<p>"If you don’t have to go outside, don’t do it"</p>
<p>Five to 9 inches fell Sunday in the Chicago area, while a foot was dumped in the St. Louis area. Eight to 10 inches was expected to pile up in central Illinois, Indiana and Michigan throughout the day.</p>
<p>Forecasts also called for several inches in western Tennessee and 1 to 3 inches in Kentucky.</p>
<p>Across the country, at least 2,400 flights had been cancelled Sunday, according to tracking website&#160; <a href="http://flightaware.com/live/cancelled/today#stats" type="external">FlightAware</a>.</p>
<p>Flights were temporarily grounded for two hours at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport after a&#160; <a href="" type="internal">plane skidded off the runway</a>&#160;and into a snow bank at 8 a.m. No one was injured.</p>
<p>Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway international airports cancelled about 1,200 flights as well.</p>
<p>Major airports in Detroit, Philadelphia, Newark, N.J., and Boston were also reporting significant weather-related delays.</p>
<p>JetBlue announced it is waiving its change and cancellation fees for customers travelling to or from 17 Northeast airports affected by the weather beginning last Thursday through Monday.</p>
<p>Grocery stores were also feeling the squeeze from the storm. In St. Louis, shops sold out of the essentials before the weather onslaught.</p>
<p>“The problem is the bread is sold out. We’re out of milk. We sold out of chips, chicken wings, some meats,” Issa Arar of Salama Supermarket said.</p>
<p>The frigid air blasting into the Plains was part of what the&#160; <a href="http://www.weather.gov/" type="external">National Weather Service</a>&#160;called “incredibly cold and possibly record-breaking temperatures” expected throughout the week, with the brutally cold air expected to spread to the Northeast and Gulf Coast Monday and Tuesday.</p>
<p>Forecasters are expecting bitterly cold temperatures in many places: 25 below zero in Fargo, N.D., minus 31 in International Falls, Minn., and 15 below in Indianapolis and Chicago. Wind chills may reach 50, 60 or even 70 below zero — temperatures much of the country has not seen in decades.</p>
<p>At temperatures of 15 to 30 below, exposed skin can get frostbitten in minutes and hypothermia can quickly set in.</p>
<p>“If you don’t have to go outside, don’t do it,” said Michael Palmer, lead meteorologist at&#160; <a href="http://www.weather.com/" type="external">The Weather Channel</a>.</p>
<p>Dr. Brian Mahoney, medical director of emergency services at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, advised people to protect themselves against the intense cold by wearing hand and face protection.&#160; Mittens were preferable to gloves and layers of dry clothing are best, he said.</p>
<p>"A person not properly dressed could die easily in those conditions," National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Truett in St. Louis told The Associated Press, describing the expected wind chill in Missouri at daybreak Monday.</p>
<p>Despite the bone-chilling weather, Sunday’s NFC wild-card game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers kicked off with temperatures at 5 degrees in Wisconsin — slightly warmer than anticipated.</p>
<p>“We suited up, we brought all the snowboarding gear we use ... and added to it,” said 49ers fan Jeff Giardinelli of Fresno Calif., as he walked across a parking lot with a friend. “Without the wind, which isn't here yet, we're good. When it gets windy, we'll be ready for it.”</p>
<p>Regardless of the forecast, fans scooped up the remaining 40,000 tickets needed to sell out the game this week.</p>
<p>Minnesota said schools in the entire state would be closed Monday — the first such closing in 17 years.&#160; Milwaukee and Madison, Wis., had also cancelled school for Monday.</p>
<p>Already, parts of New England dropped into the negatives Saturday, with East Brighton, Vt., seeing 30 below zero just after midnight and Allagash, Maine, hitting minus 36. The cold will sweep through other parts of New England where residents are still digging out from a snowstorm Friday.</p>
<p>That one led to at least 13 deaths, mostly from traffic accidents, in several states.</p>
<p>A temperature of minus-9 degrees in Hartford, Conn., early Saturday broke the record for the date and was the lowest recorded in the county since February 2009, according to&#160; <a href="http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/" type="external">NBC Connecticut</a>.</p>
<p>“It’s the mother-lode of cold air,” Weather Channel coordinating meteorologist Tom Moore said. “On the heels of what will be the coldest air of the season, will be dangerous, life-threatening winds.”</p>
<p>The South also will dip into temperatures rarely seen. By Monday morning, western and central Kentucky could be below zero — "definitely record-breaking," said weather service meteorologist Christine Wielgos in Paducah, Ky.</p>
<p>And in Atlanta, Tuesday's high is expected to hover in the mid-20s.</p>
<p>NBC News' Erik Ortiz and Elisha Fieldstadt, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.</p> | Bone-Chilling ‘Polar Vortex’ Leaves Millions Shivering | false | http://nbcnews.com/storyline/deep-freeze/bone-chilling-polar-vortex-leaves-millions-shivering-n4096 | 2014-01-06 | 3 |
<p />
<p>How can I not start on a personal note today? Election night was a roller coaster. I had written <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=1967" type="external">a piece</a> a day earlier in which I had expressed guarded optimism about the prospects of experiencing 2005 without George Bush. By Tuesday evening, with hopeful exit polls pouring in, I was pumped. Optimism surged. Phone calls with friends, exchanging bits of half-baked information, only added to the effect. My children arrived; the TV went on; friends began to drop by. I actually found a bottle of champagne, probably years old, and put it on ice. A moment of madness — and hope.</p>
<p>And then, worst of all, I realized I was experiencing a startling surge of relief, of happiness, of well-being. Whatever it was, it coursed through my body and made me realize how deeply George Bush and his cronies had gotten under my skin. And then, of course, slowly, ever so slowly, it began — with me saying again and again as one state after another turned red on various TV channels: That was expected; that was expected; that was expected.</p>
<p>This morning, a wonderful young friend, guessing my mood, e-mailed me to say that, even if I felt terrible, at least the election results would be good for Tomdispatch. He may be right. Four more years of Bush folly and horror, how perfect for an oppositional blog. But unfortunately there’s a problem, since Tomdispatch, as it happens, is just me, and I feel mighty drear today. If the news isn’t good for Tom Engelhardt, how can it be good for Tomdispatch?</p>
<p>Now, I look at my son and I imagine a draft. I look at him and I think of the young Americans who should never have been but are desperately in harm’s way in Iraq. I think of the Iraqis and try to wrap my brain <a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/110304F.shtml" type="external">around the next 100,000</a> of them who will die in the urban killing fields of that country, while the second Bush administration pursues its mad, murderous policies. I think <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1341869,00.html" type="external">about those northern glaciers</a> and the polar ice, and try to imagine them gone in a globally warmed world. I think about being in the heart of the heart of a vast (possibly failing) empire and my heart sinks — and so, unfortunately, does Tomdispatch’s.</p>
<p>I think of the possibly dying Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist and of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who has held on these extra years by the skin of her teeth, and I remember all too well what it meant in the years of my young manhood to search for a back-alley abortionist, and then I wonder what the Bush court of 2006 will say when the next set of Guantanamo-like cases reach it, or when other U.S. citizens, even perhaps some without names like Hamdi, find themselves jailed on the President’s whim. I think of the hideous and useless new weapons systems on which our money will now be squandered. I think of the administration’s race to militarize space, as if there weren’t enough advanced weapons on our own planet. I think about the neocons, hidden away these last months, who will undoubtedly return oh-so-eager to take a whack at Syria or Iran or North Korea or who knows where else.</p>
<p>I think about the very concept of governing checks and balances — inexorably slipping away these last decades — in a world in which the Bush administration controls the White House, Congress, and the courts, and in which the President now has his own political people running his own secret armed intelligence agency, the CIA. And I think about that greatest check and balance of all, the one between our government and a country which, in its relatively short history, has often enough been convulsed by spiritual awakenings and — yes, what other word can we use — crusades of every sort, now that the political and religious are increasingly combined in the body of a single man, our President.</p>
<p>In the meantime, a little over half of voting Americans — and there were a lot of voting Americans this time around — have now signed on to the rashest presidency in our history (short perhaps of that of Jefferson Davis); they have signed on to a disastrous crime of a war in Iraq, and a losing war at that which will only get worse; they have signed on to whatever dangerous schemes these schemers can come up with. They have signed on to their own impoverishment. This is the political version of the volunteer Army. Now, they have to live with it. Unfortunately, so do we.</p>
<p>My small guarantee. Much of this will change over the years to come. This world of ours already spins on a dime, economically, politically, militarily, environmentally. (Just wait, for instance, until the tactic being developed in Iraq, thanks to our President, the blowing up of oil pipelines, spreads beyond that country’s boundaries, as it certainly will, and then check out oil prices and the stock market.) But, to sound a small note of hope, as the world spins on a dime, so often do administrations. And you just never know when one of them will indeed implode. Take Richard Nixon, who sailed through a disastrous war in Vietnam and into office as second time in 1972 on a veritable landslide of votes, and then slide slowly into Watergate and disgrace. These will not be quiet years and, I suspect, they will not prove good ones for George Bush.</p>
<p>I noticed a tiny piece today. Not 24 hours after the election, <a href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&amp;cid=535&amp;ncid=535&amp;e=2&amp;u=/ap/20041103/ap_on_re_mi_ea/hungary_iraq" type="external">the Hungarian government</a> announced that, with one more three-month extension, it would, by the end of March, withdraw its 300 troops from our mighty coalition in Iraq. It’s a miniscule statement. Easy to miss. No one here is even likely to notice. But consider it a tiny, polite omen. The United States is obviously the 800-pound gorilla in any global “room,” but in the coming years much of the rest of the world will have little choice, distaste aside, but to do its best to figure out how to turn backs on, or work ways around, or cut out of the mix this country and its aggressive, treaty-eating, go-it-alone rulers — its “Moolas” (as George Bush called the Iranian mullahs in one of the presidential debates, as you might speak of “simoleons”).</p>
<p>I predict that, within a short space of time, we will find ourselves — if I can coin a phrase — an imperial pariah. The Bush administration demanded the right to go it alone. Now they may have no choice but to do so, and the “tribute” any empire can demand of its allies and subject nations may trickle into our economy far too slowly for anything but terrible times, just as the world’s oil economy begins to spring endless leaks.</p>
<p>There can be no comfort in predicting bad times, and only small comfort, given what will certainly lie ahead, in the impressive surge of activism that accompanied this election even if, matched from the other side, it could not win it. But we should all take modest heart, not in the pious babble of John Kerry in concession and George Bush in triumph talking about healing the wounds and bridging the splits in our polarized land. No, we should remember that they — the Republicans — had decades to organize themselves, and they’ve had power as well. We’ve had only the barest few years since George Bush conjured us up from quiescence. How can we really be surprised?</p>
<p>In some ways it’s already remarkable what’s occurred. The war the President started has chased him to the polls. He wasn’t a sitting war president, he was a fleeing one — even if, thanks to Karl Rove and others, a fleet enough one as well. Now, he’s elected but soon enough he’ll find out that he’s going to have to keep on running.</p>
<p>In the meantime for us, for me, there’s the hangover from an election — many elections — lost. Tomorrow, or in the days or weeks or months thereafter, an antiwar movement of growing power will undoubtedly come into being. Is there really a choice? In the meantime, there’s always the present to deal with.</p>
<p>Deep into election night, my wife wept in her sleep, and I arose in the morning with my jaw locked tight and the mood-hangover of a lifetime. But we’re a protective species. I got up, skipped the television news, took a desultory few-minute wander around the Internet, got dressed, grabbed my usual breakfast, went out and bought my hometown paper. I glanced at the headline, “Bush Holds Lead,” already knowing he had done more than that, and then I did the protective thing. I found “the Arts” section, triple folded the paper in that identifiably New York way at the crossword puzzle, pulled out a pen, and while walking down Broadway toward the subway, began to fill it in.</p>
<p>A small, ordinary, everyday pleasure. And it did calm me. Tonight, I’ll go home and watch the Knicks season opener. (I start all New York sports seasons — Knicks, Mets, Giants — with hope but always prepared to follow my team right to the end, right into fan hell.) Ordinary life, it’s what we all want most of the time. And we try always to hang onto it, most of the time, under the worst of circumstances, however mild or horrific they might be, in New York or Dayton or Baghdad or Beijing.</p>
<p>Here in New York City, we don’t exactly specialize in starry skies. And the other night when the moon was actually in eclipse and you could see it, miraculously, from our street corner (as my wife did), I’m embarrassed to say I was tired and caught it from the couch on TV instead. But I’m still capable of conjuring a sky-worth of the universe, the sort of sky that stretches from horizon to horizon and leaves you feeling awed, and oh so very small. Sometimes that can be a scary feeling, but sometimes — as now — it’s worth remembering anyway. Sometimes, on the nights when everything imaginable goes wrong, it’s worth reminding yourself that we’re just one species — the whole lot of us — on a tiny planet at the edge of a not so grandiose galaxy, one of only god knows how many. It’s worth remembering that it’s not, as they say, the end of the world.</p>
<p>Read more dispatches by Tom Engelhardt at <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external">Tomdispatch.com</a>, a web log of The Nation Institute.</p>
<p /> | The Election Hangover of a Lifetime | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2004/11/election-hangover-lifetime/ | 2004-11-03 | 4 |
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Symbols of American promise became emblems of American dysfunction on Saturday when a dispute in Congress over spending and immigration forced scores of federal government agencies and outposts to close their doors.</p>
<p>The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island turned away visitors in New York, due to what the National Park Service described as "a lapse in appropriations," a bureaucratic term for a lack of money. In Philadelphia, crowds of tourists were told Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed, and the Liberty Bell were closed.</p>
<p>The shuttered icons were some of the easiest-to-spot impacts of the partial government closure. Funds ran out at midnight Friday, leaving 48 hours before the most dramatic effect — the furloughing of nearly a million federal employees — goes into effect.</p>
<p>As in shutdowns past, federal services were carved into two categories — essential and non-essential — with the former set to carry on as normal. In that category, the mail will be delivered and Social Security checks still go out, the air traffic control system stays up and running, as do the FBI, Customs and Border Protection and veterans hospitals.</p>
<p>Still, there were plenty of inconveniences to irk American taxpayers.</p>
<p>While active-duty troops will stay at their posts during a shutdown, people stationed overseas were touched by the political fallout almost immediately. The American Forces Network, which broadcasts American radio and television programming in Europe and other locations outside the U.S., put a message on its Facebook page that said its services would not be available "due to the government shutdown."</p>
<p>The notice sparked a series of angry reactions from viewers, with several noting that the timing couldn't have been worse: The NFL conference championships will be played Sunday. "During NFL PLAYOFFS?!" one post read. "AFN, start a GoFundMe &amp; broadcast these games! Make it happen!"</p>
<p>Yet congressional Republicans and Democrats appeared no closer Saturday to settling their differences over immigration policy and striking an agreement to fund the government. The longer the shutdown lasts, the worse the effects will be. Almost half the 2 million civilian federal workers will be barred from doing their jobs if the shutdown extends into Monday.</p>
<p>That'll put on hold a swath of government functions, from the processing of new veterans benefits claims to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's support for the government's annual seasonal flu program. At the Internal Revenue Service, more than half of the 80,565 employees will be barred from working just as tax filing season is beginning and the agency is dealing with the sweeping changes made by the new GOP tax law.</p>
<p>Until then, much of the immediate fallout was in Washington, where lawmakers carried out the part of jobs that involve assigning blame.</p>
<p>There were few signs of shutdown at the Capitol, where lawmakers spent most of the day making speeches about the dispute. A women's march carried on as planned, under the eye of U.S. Park Police protection. Vice President Mike Pence did not reschedule a visit to the Middle East, the administration labeling the trip "integral" to U.S. national security and diplomacy.</p>
<p>Trump's own next scheduled trip was up in the air. The president was due to leave for the Swiss Alps on Wednesday evening to participate in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. A number of White House staffers and agency advance teams are already there awaiting his arrival.</p>
<p>The president was forced to cancel his plan to attend a fundraiser Saturday night at his Florida estate.</p>
<p>Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters Friday that a shuttering of the government would "look very different" from the 16-day government closure in 2013 under President Barack Obama. He said the previous administration "weaponized" the government shutdown in budget negotiations and did not encourage agencies to lessen the impact with unobligated funds. He said, "They chose to make it worse."</p>
<p>Underscoring the point, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke tweeted a photo of himself talking to students at the World War II Memorial in Washington, blocks from White House.</p>
<p>The memorial and other open-air parks were open Saturday unlike in 2013 when they became a flashpoint in the government shutdown, as veterans were denied the right to visit and protested loudly. House Republicans in particular took up their cause and slammed Obama and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.</p>
<p>"Not all parks are fully open, but we are all working hard to make as many areas as accessible to the public as possible," Zinke said.</p>
<p>But several famous locations were closed shortly after the shutdown started. In New York, the National Park Service said the closure of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island was effective immediately and until further notice.</p>
<p>"To get this close where you can see them, and the government shuts them down — that's very, very frustrating," said Dan O'Meara, a firefighter from Fresno, California, who is descended from an Irish immigrant family that entered through Ellis Island. "But now, we're not allowed to go out there and see it."</p>
<p>At Independence Hall in Philadelphia, security guards wearing all black stood around the hall, shooing away people who got too close. A park ranger did the same at the doorway into the building that surrounds the Liberty Bell, saying "something'll have to happen in Washington" when asked when it would reopen.</p>
<p>Gaetana Dimauro, 34, a property inspector from Adelaide, Australia, sat near the blocked off entrance of the Liberty Bell in a bright red New Jersey Devils sweater.</p>
<p>"Huh," she asked when told about the shutdown, "I had no idea that it'd be closed."</p>
<p>A national monument in northern New Mexico is mostly closed to visitors because of the shutdown. Officials of Bandelier National Monument at Los Alamos say campgrounds, the visitor center and other main areas of the monument are closed as of Saturday but that the entrance road and a few trails remain open.</p>
<p>Martin Luther King Jr.'s childhood home, historic Ebenezer Baptist Church and the visitor center at MLK National Historic Site in Atlanta are closed. And Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park and other federally managed natural areas in Florida will be partially closed.</p>
<p>The shutdown wasn't knocking "Old Ironsides" out of commission. The USS Constitution, the world's oldest commissioned warship, will remain open to tourists during the shutdown at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, officials said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Matthew Daly in Washington, Anisha Frizzell in Atlanta, Bob Salsberg in Boston, Paul Davenport in Phoenix, Anthony Izaguirre in Philadelphia, and Julie Walker in New York contributed to this report.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Contact Richard Lardner on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rplardner</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Symbols of American promise became emblems of American dysfunction on Saturday when a dispute in Congress over spending and immigration forced scores of federal government agencies and outposts to close their doors.</p>
<p>The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island turned away visitors in New York, due to what the National Park Service described as "a lapse in appropriations," a bureaucratic term for a lack of money. In Philadelphia, crowds of tourists were told Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed, and the Liberty Bell were closed.</p>
<p>The shuttered icons were some of the easiest-to-spot impacts of the partial government closure. Funds ran out at midnight Friday, leaving 48 hours before the most dramatic effect — the furloughing of nearly a million federal employees — goes into effect.</p>
<p>As in shutdowns past, federal services were carved into two categories — essential and non-essential — with the former set to carry on as normal. In that category, the mail will be delivered and Social Security checks still go out, the air traffic control system stays up and running, as do the FBI, Customs and Border Protection and veterans hospitals.</p>
<p>Still, there were plenty of inconveniences to irk American taxpayers.</p>
<p>While active-duty troops will stay at their posts during a shutdown, people stationed overseas were touched by the political fallout almost immediately. The American Forces Network, which broadcasts American radio and television programming in Europe and other locations outside the U.S., put a message on its Facebook page that said its services would not be available "due to the government shutdown."</p>
<p>The notice sparked a series of angry reactions from viewers, with several noting that the timing couldn't have been worse: The NFL conference championships will be played Sunday. "During NFL PLAYOFFS?!" one post read. "AFN, start a GoFundMe &amp; broadcast these games! Make it happen!"</p>
<p>Yet congressional Republicans and Democrats appeared no closer Saturday to settling their differences over immigration policy and striking an agreement to fund the government. The longer the shutdown lasts, the worse the effects will be. Almost half the 2 million civilian federal workers will be barred from doing their jobs if the shutdown extends into Monday.</p>
<p>That'll put on hold a swath of government functions, from the processing of new veterans benefits claims to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's support for the government's annual seasonal flu program. At the Internal Revenue Service, more than half of the 80,565 employees will be barred from working just as tax filing season is beginning and the agency is dealing with the sweeping changes made by the new GOP tax law.</p>
<p>Until then, much of the immediate fallout was in Washington, where lawmakers carried out the part of jobs that involve assigning blame.</p>
<p>There were few signs of shutdown at the Capitol, where lawmakers spent most of the day making speeches about the dispute. A women's march carried on as planned, under the eye of U.S. Park Police protection. Vice President Mike Pence did not reschedule a visit to the Middle East, the administration labeling the trip "integral" to U.S. national security and diplomacy.</p>
<p>Trump's own next scheduled trip was up in the air. The president was due to leave for the Swiss Alps on Wednesday evening to participate in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. A number of White House staffers and agency advance teams are already there awaiting his arrival.</p>
<p>The president was forced to cancel his plan to attend a fundraiser Saturday night at his Florida estate.</p>
<p>Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters Friday that a shuttering of the government would "look very different" from the 16-day government closure in 2013 under President Barack Obama. He said the previous administration "weaponized" the government shutdown in budget negotiations and did not encourage agencies to lessen the impact with unobligated funds. He said, "They chose to make it worse."</p>
<p>Underscoring the point, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke tweeted a photo of himself talking to students at the World War II Memorial in Washington, blocks from White House.</p>
<p>The memorial and other open-air parks were open Saturday unlike in 2013 when they became a flashpoint in the government shutdown, as veterans were denied the right to visit and protested loudly. House Republicans in particular took up their cause and slammed Obama and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.</p>
<p>"Not all parks are fully open, but we are all working hard to make as many areas as accessible to the public as possible," Zinke said.</p>
<p>But several famous locations were closed shortly after the shutdown started. In New York, the National Park Service said the closure of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island was effective immediately and until further notice.</p>
<p>"To get this close where you can see them, and the government shuts them down — that's very, very frustrating," said Dan O'Meara, a firefighter from Fresno, California, who is descended from an Irish immigrant family that entered through Ellis Island. "But now, we're not allowed to go out there and see it."</p>
<p>At Independence Hall in Philadelphia, security guards wearing all black stood around the hall, shooing away people who got too close. A park ranger did the same at the doorway into the building that surrounds the Liberty Bell, saying "something'll have to happen in Washington" when asked when it would reopen.</p>
<p>Gaetana Dimauro, 34, a property inspector from Adelaide, Australia, sat near the blocked off entrance of the Liberty Bell in a bright red New Jersey Devils sweater.</p>
<p>"Huh," she asked when told about the shutdown, "I had no idea that it'd be closed."</p>
<p>A national monument in northern New Mexico is mostly closed to visitors because of the shutdown. Officials of Bandelier National Monument at Los Alamos say campgrounds, the visitor center and other main areas of the monument are closed as of Saturday but that the entrance road and a few trails remain open.</p>
<p>Martin Luther King Jr.'s childhood home, historic Ebenezer Baptist Church and the visitor center at MLK National Historic Site in Atlanta are closed. And Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park and other federally managed natural areas in Florida will be partially closed.</p>
<p>The shutdown wasn't knocking "Old Ironsides" out of commission. The USS Constitution, the world's oldest commissioned warship, will remain open to tourists during the shutdown at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, officials said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Matthew Daly in Washington, Anisha Frizzell in Atlanta, Bob Salsberg in Boston, Paul Davenport in Phoenix, Anthony Izaguirre in Philadelphia, and Julie Walker in New York contributed to this report.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Contact Richard Lardner on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rplardner</p> | Signs of government shutdown spotty but symbolic | false | https://apnews.com/amp/d98a921c0aae4a4bb8ee36aa3c09b66d | 2018-01-20 | 2 |
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<p />
<p>Neither Valley’s Joe Coleman nor Cleveland’s Brian Smith could explain it.</p>
<p>The second quarter of Valley’s 77-54 boys basketball victory Friday night at Cleveland was as decisive as it was tough to figure out for the two head coaches.</p>
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<p>In the other three quarters combined, the Vikings and Storm scored 48 points apiece. The second was a 29-6 Valley landslide.</p>
<p>Vikings teammates Adonis Saltes and Joe Anaya combined for 22 points in those pivotal eight minutes, while the Storm managed just one field goal — a Marcus Williams 3-pointer.</p>
<p>Understandably, Coleman and Smith had different perspectives on the second quarter, even if they couldn’t really explain it.</p>
<p>“We just shot the ball as well as we can shoot it,” Coleman said. “It doesn’t happen often, but it’s sure nice when it does.”</p>
<p>Coleman went on to credit crisp, effective passing and the high-energy play of point guard Robert Armijo for helping his Vikings improve to 4-1. Still, he conceded Valley looked like a different team Friday than the squad that lost to La Cueva a week earlier.</p>
<p>Smith’s Storm was coming off a 13-day layoff, and said his team’s poor second quarter was part of an unfortunate trend.</p>
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<p>“Every game we’ve played, we’ve had one bad quarter,” Smith said. “Tonight, we played pretty well in the first quarter then fell apart in the second. It’s tough to overcome a stretch like that.”</p>
<p>The first quarter included five ties, two lead changes and seemed to promise a tight pre-holiday battle. Cleveland’s Josh Marsh gave his team a 14-13 lead late in the final minute, but Armijo’s basket gave Valley a one-point edge at quarter’s end.</p>
<p>That’s when Saltes began to take over. The junior scored seven straight points as Valley started the second quarter with an 11-1 run.</p>
<p>Saltes would net three 3-pointers in the quarter and had personally outscored the Storm 23-20 at halftime. As a group, the Vikes took a 44-20 lead to intermission.</p>
<p>“Valley’s just a typical Joe Coleman team,” Smith said. “They play hard, they attack and they don’t let up when they get a lead. Kudos to them.”</p>
<p>Cleveland regained its composure in the third quarter but was unable to put much of a dent in Valley’s lead. Coleman began pulling his starters midway through the quarter and got solid play from several reserves. Chris Martinez came off the bench to nail four 3-pointers.</p>
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<p>“Chris has a funky looking shot,” Coleman said, “but he knocks ’em down. It’s nice to have a kid that can come in and give you scoring like that.”</p>
<p>Anaya finished with 14 points, including an 8-for-9 performance from the foul line.</p>
<p>Free throws were not a highlight for the Storm, which went 16 for 30 from the line. Marcus Williams was the lone Storm player to reach double figures with 20 points.</p>
<p>Also Friday:</p>
<p>n Eric Gutierrez had 19 points and Jason Baca 18 for West Mesa, but the Mustangs fell to visiting La Cueva 69-59.</p>
<p>n Atrisco Heritage won a defensive struggle at Cibola, 48-42. Patrick Roark had 18 points for the Jags (5-2), while post Ross Buchman paced the Cougars (4-4) with 20.</p>
<p>n Rio Grande’s boys were beaten 50-45 by Manzano. Mike Torrez led the Ravens with 18 points and Dennis Lucero added 12 for Rio Grande.</p>
<p>n Rio Rancho’s girls (3-4) cruised past winless Rio Grande 52-30, as guards Ally Salata and Alicia Herrera combined for 22 points. Vanessa Hernandez had nine points to lead the Ravens (0-6).</p> | Valley Blows Out Storm in 2nd | false | https://abqjournal.com/155229/valley-blows-out-storm-in-2nd-2.html | 2012-12-22 | 2 |
<p>Top U.S. provider of semiconductor manufacturing equipment <a href="" type="internal">Applied Materials</a> (NASDAQ:AMAT) revealed late Tuesday a stronger-than-expected 85% improvement in second-quarter profit, though its outlook slid below estimates as customers continue to put orders on hold.</p>
<p>The company anticipates non-GAAP earnings for the third-quarter in the range of 31 cents to 37 cents a share, with sales down 3% to 10%, sequentially. The outlook reflects expected order delays, which have been occurring since the March 11 earthquake in Japan.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The forecast, which also includes the potential cost of long-term financing related to the planned buy of Varian Semiconductor, are below <a href="" type="internal">Wall Street</a>’s current view of 37 cents a share on sales of $2.79 billion.</p>
<p>The Santa Clara, Calif.-based supplier of chip making equipment posted second-quarter net income of $489 million, or 37 cents a share, compared with $264 million, or 22 cents a share, in the same quarter last year.</p>
<p>Excluding one-time restructuring and acquisition costs, the company earned 38 cents a share, ahead of average analyst estimates polled by Thomson Reuters of 37 cents.</p>
<p>Revenue for the three months ended May 1 was $2.86 billion, up 25% from $2.3 billion a year ago, beating the Street’s view of $2.79 billion.</p>
<p>“Applied delivered one of the best quarters in the company's history, including record net sales in our solar business,” Applied CEO Mike Splinter said in a statement. “While near-term economic conditions have tempered our growth expectations, our outlook for the year remains strong driven by our customers' plans to invest in the advanced technologies needed to meet growing demand for mobile devices and <a href="" type="internal">consumer electronics</a>.”</p>
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<p>Fueling the sales were 7% and 9% sequential gains in its silicon systems and applied global services segments, respectively, and a whopping 80% improvement from last quarter in its display orders, due to growth in demand for touch panels and advanced mobile displays.</p>
<p>Offsetting the gains was an 8% drop to $612 million in its energy and environmental solutions unit, Applied’s second largest segment by revenue.</p> | Applied Materials Shares Dive Afterhours on Bleak Outlook | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/05/24/applied-materials-shares-dive-afterhours-bleak-outlook.html | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
<p>A few days ago, as I shamelessly surfed the net for Game of Thrones theories and analysis following the Season 7 premiere, I stumbled upon an article on Bustle, by Kylie Cheung. From the <a href="https://www.bustle.com/articles/91903-if-political-parties-were-game-of-thrones-houses-heres-how-the-map-would-break-down" type="external">headline</a>, it was obvious the author sought to compare the major houses of Westeros with American political ideologies. Without a second thought, I put down my ice cream and clicked the link.</p>
<p>What a great idea for an article! I slouched into my recliner, waiting for the page to load, eager to read about the Stark’s conservative values, the Martells and their socially progressive thinking, and of course House Lannister, the walking epitome of corrupt, uncaring, Establishment Democrats.</p>
<p>Imagine how disappointed I was when Ms. Cheung’s in depth analysis amounted to comments like, “The Lannisters are known as the wealthiest house in the land”, and “they’d probably be supporters of Reaganomics”. Her final tally held that House Stark fell in the Democratic camp, as did House Martell and House Tyrell. The Lannisters (those greedy, cold-blooded pigs) were obviously conservative Republicans, as were the members of House Targaryen and House Baratheon. She proposed that Houses Mormont and Greyjoy were Libertarian, and she omitted the Wildlings, who are quite possibly the most ideologically consistent group in the show, entirely.</p>
<p>After I finished reading the article, I checked out Ms. Cheung’s bio page and found links to other “excellent” articles. These included, “People Love John Oliver’s Rant On Paris Attacks”, “Dumb Things Republicans Have Said Since Debate #2”, and of course, “Why Gun Control Is A Feminist Issue”.</p>
<p>Ahhhh ok, I see what’s happening now.</p>
<p>Breaking down entire houses is a difficult undertaking, because the houses, just like political factions in real life, retain members whose views vary wildly at times. I disagreed with Ms. Cheung’s assessment so strongly, that I decided to take another look at some central figures in each house, in an attempt to break down their would-be affiliations in the 2017 US:</p>
<p>Mance Rayder and Tormund Giantsbane (Wildlings)</p>
<p>“The freedom to make my own mistakes was all I ever wanted.”-Mance Rayder</p>
<p>I wanted to start with the Wildlings because their political views are unmistakable. Mance, Tormund and the Wildlings are dyed in the wool Libertarians. The Wildlings followed Mance, and now Tormund, by their own choice, effectively electing their leaders, while maintaining smaller tribal allegiances. They believe in liberty over all else, as demonstrated by Mance’s martyrdom after commands to bend the knee. The similarities between Wildling and Libertarian ideology are so strong, in fact, that even leftist propagandists like Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone acknowledged the connection, albeit in a <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/lists/the-westeros-wing-meet-game-of-thrones-real-life-d-c-counterparts-20150409" type="external">stupid, stupid article</a> that went on to compare King Joffrey to George W. Bush, Sarah Palin to a White Walker and Daenerys Targaryen to Barack Obama. Yes, this is an actual article that exists, and yes, it’s as dumb as it sounds.</p>
<p>Stannis Baratheon (House Baratheon)</p>
<p>In Stannis, we had a militaristic battle commander who demanded that all bend the knee. He sought to crush dissent, and there’s little question, that had he found himself on the iron throne, as opposed to slumped and dying in the woods of Winterfell, he would have ruled with an iron fist. Stannis was not a conservative, as others have claimed, but a Theocratic Fascist, a true wannabe dictator. His pseudo-religious obsession with Melisandre and the Lord of Light, combined with delusions of grandeur led to the murder of his only child, and his eventual downfall. Had he succeeded, there is little doubt that the “old Gods and the new” would not have survived his authoritarian reign.</p>
<p>Cersei and Jamie Lannister (House Lannister)</p>
<p>If Hillary Clinton were young, attractive, and more clever, she might actually be Cersei Lannister. Cersei is a social climbing, centralized government elitist. She espouses literally zero politically conservative values in the show, constantly maneuvering and politicking in an effort to keep big government power for herself and quash dissent from the peasants. Jamie is to Cersei, what Bill is to Hillary. Both men are smooth talkers, loved by women, and are strangely likable despite having committed gross atrocities towards their fellow man. There is no question here, House Lannister seeks centralized control and complete governmental power over the individuals living in the realm. These two would unequivocally be Establishment Democrats in the present.</p>
<p>Ned Stark, Robb Stark and Jon Snow (House Stark)</p>
<p>The Starks are certainly the Conservatives in the seven kingdoms. Throughout the show, Ned emphasizes family values, individual liberty and personal responsibility (“The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword”). Robb espoused many of the same values during his warrior’s quest to King’s Landing. He believed, as did the Northerners, that the interests and values of the crown did not represent them, and they craved liberty from the tyranny of the King. This is a classic state’s rights vs. centralized government argument. Who better to rule the North than the North? The bastard Snow also followed his adoptive father’s example, advocating for the individual rights of the Wildlings, and later acknowledged, as he too became King of the North, that a centralized government was a poor solution to the problems that ailed Westeros.</p>
<p>Daenarys Targaryen (House Targaryen)</p>
<p>Powerful, and mostly, inherently good, Daenarys is a moderate. She simultaneously, ardently fights for individual liberties and freedom for the slaves of Essos, a very conservative/libertarian position itself, while also fighting for complete centralized control, flowing only from her. The Mother of Dragons is willing to negotiate her power though. This is seen with Yara and Theon in the final chapters of season six, when she conditionally grants them independence from the crown. It leads me to believe that she may yet embrace more conservative values, ruling like a small Federal Government, and largely allowing the individual kingdoms control over their day to day lives.</p>
<p>White Walkers:</p>
<p>Occupy Movement and The Women’s March. This is relatively self-explanatory.</p>
<p>So it’s settled then, I’ll continue rooting for House Stark, the conservative beacons of truth in Westeros. Well, the Starks and Dani. Also The Hound, I like him too. Actually, I'm also rooting for the Brothers Without Banners, and Tyron, Varys, and Jorah, Littlefinger, Olenna. Aww hell, I’m rooting for everybody because as we’ve been told now, Winter is Here.</p>
<p>Tyler Dahnke is a father, husband and wine enthusiast who's doing his best to make sense of today's insane political landscape. You can follow him on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/TylerDahnke" type="external">@tylerdahnke</a>.</p> | Politically, Which Game of Thrones House Should You Be Rooting For? | true | https://dailywire.com/news/18867/politically-which-game-thrones-house-should-you-be-tyler-dahnke | 2017-07-21 | 0 |
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal" />The Los Angeles Times has published an <a href="http://www.latimes.com/la-ed-adv-gun-control-20151016-story.html" type="external">editorial</a> promoting additional gun controls but in the process appears to have shown somewhat the opposite of what it is attempting to prove.</p>
<p>That surprises nobody in the Second Amendment community. Gun rights activists have been arguing for years that the mainstream press is so blindly obedient to the gun control effort that it cannot see the forest for the trees, even when a limb falls on their head.</p>
<p>The Times editorial complained that "At least 65 people have been shot to death in Los Angeles County since Sept. 1 - four in encounters with police, and most of the rest the sole victim of a single crime."</p>
<p />
<p>A few lines later, the same editorial stated that "researchers have repeatedly found that places with fewer guns and more controls tend to have less gun violence," as though this were the "smoking gun" evidence that proves strict gun control works.</p>
<p>But California already has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation. It is very difficult if not virtually impossible to get a concealed carry permit in Los Angeles County. These laws do not prevent criminals from getting firearms illegally.</p>
<p>Contrast that with the <a href="http://www.seattle.gov/police/Seastat/Meetings/SeaStat_ppt_20151014.pdf" type="external">data</a> in Seattle. Washington State, by some standards, has lax gun laws. About a half-million Evergreen State residents have concealed pistol licenses, including tens of thousands in King County, where Seattle is located.</p>
<p>So far this year, there have been 20 homicides in the city, 14 of which have involved firearms, according to the Seattle Police Department.</p>
<p>Indeed, gun rights activists note, cities with the most stringent gun laws boast some of the highest body counts, including Chicago, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>H/T <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/is-bias-blinding-the-media-current-push-for-more-gun-restrictions" type="external">Seattle Gun Rights Examiner</a></p>
<p>Related:</p>
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<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | L.A. Times editorial underscores self-contradictory logic of gun control | true | http://conservativefiringline.com/l-a-times-editorial-underscores-self-contradictory-logic-of-gun-control/ | 2015-10-21 | 0 |
<p>'This country is now so soaked in the culture of ESPN ... it’s undermining our values. I’ll tell you one thing for sure: I think it’s undermining our commitment to education.'</p>
<p>The following is an excerpt from Gilbert M. Gaul's&#160; <a href="http://www.powells.com/partner/36495/biblio/9780670016730?p_ti" type="external">Billion-Dollar Ball: A Journey Through the Big-Money Culture of College Football</a>, published on August 25.</p>
<p>In 2012, college football generated a remarkable <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2012/12/19/college-footballs-most-valuable-teams-texas-longhorns-still-on-top/" type="external">$103 million</a> for the University of Texas athletic department, with $78 million falling to the bottom line. Note that the money didn’t go to the university itself. As at many other elite football powers, the Texas athletic department was nominally part of the university but in reality functioned as an autonomous business. It was overseen by a CEO/coach, Mack Brown, who received millions more than the university president. His nine full-time assistant coaches averaged $555,000, or about four times what a full professor earned.</p>
<p>In&#160;the view of most Texans, this was acceptable—as&#160;opposed to, say, a distortion of the university’s primary mission of education. It was perfectly okay that the Texas football budget had grown 20 times faster than inflation over the last three decades. Or that Texas <a href="http://spendingdatabase.knightcommission.org/fbs/big-12/the-university-of-texas-at-austin" type="external">spent $261,728 on each of its football players</a>, but just $20,903 on each student. Big was what Texas did best. Texas football was the very definition.</p>
<p>With the vast wealth the largest and richest schools accumulate from television deals, tickets and seat donations, they can probably afford to be overly generous. But there are only 60 or so schools that fit this description. The 60-plus other schools that play Division I football don’t have the luxury of these income&#160;streams. Most operate on a shoestring and lose millions of dollars each season. In the last decade, though, pay for head football coaches at these schools (Ohio University, Florida Atlantic, Western Kentucky, Toledo, Eastern Michigan, among others) has doubled, up to $1 million.</p>
<p>“A lot of these schools can’t afford it, but they do it anyway because they want to compete at a higher level, and in order to get there they think they have to pay their coaches like the larger schools,” said Jeff Smith, an instructor of accounting and finance at the University of South Carolina Upstate.</p>
<p>Near the end of 2013, I flew to Eugene to tour the Football Performance Center at the University of Oregon. It was <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/prishe/2013/08/03/thank-you-phil-knight-oregons-new-68-million-recruiting-tool/" type="external">underwritten</a> by Nike co-founder Phil Knight at a cost of nearly $70 million and is far and away the most lavish building in America devoted solely to college football players—biometric key codes for the players to come and go, climate-controlled lockers and Brazilian ipe hardwood flooring in the weight room. I didn’t know what Brazilian ipe hardwood was until Craig Pintens brought me up to speed.</p>
<p>“Brazilian ipe is the densest wood in the world,” the senior associate athletic director for marketing and public relations explained. “And it won’t catch on fire. As you know, there is a problem with weight rooms catching on fire.”</p>
<p>“Actually, I didn’t know that,” I said.</p>
<p>“It happens a lot, apparently.”</p>
<p>For the most part, Oregon’s Football Performance Center reminded me of an upscale shopping mall. Each time we turned a corner, we came upon another expensive bauble or design: a players’ lounge with PlayStations and two custom-made foosball games imported from Portugal; a barbershop for quick prepractice trims; floor-to-ceiling glass walls and marble flooring imported from Italy; and so on. This was the athletic arms race on steroids.</p>
<p>One of the best ways to understand what a university values is to see how it treats its most ambitious undergraduates. I decided to visit the Robert D. Clark Honors College, which serves approximately 1,000 of the University of Oregon’s brightest students.</p>
<p>Several professors and administrators all told me the same story: The honors college was one of the university’s greatest assets, underappreciated, and short of cash.</p>
<p>Chapman Hall, home to Clark Honors College, was considered state of the art in 1939. There are no interior staircases to reach the second and third floors. One of the two classrooms is called Fireside, though the fireplace hasn’t worked in years.</p>
<p>Despite its outdated accommodations, students continue to apply to Clark in record numbers.</p>
<p>“Our students can hold their own,” Renée V. Dorjahn, director of finance and administration, proudly informed me. “We have many Fulbright scholars. … Last year we had three Goldwaters. Stanford only had two.”</p>
<p>A large percentage of Clark students qualify for academic scholarships, and some even receive full tuition. But Clark students are charged higher tuition— about $3,000 more—than other students, under the assumption they are receiving a more challenging and costly education. So if you netted the $3,000 from the $5,000 grant that typical Clark students receive, Oregon’s smartest students received a $2,000 scholarship in real terms. Two thousand dollars is certainly better than no dollars, but it pales next to a $50,000 football scholarship.</p>
<p>“We met with the athletic director. We were very blunt,” Bill Harbaugh, an economics professor at Oregon, told&#160;me. “We said, give us 1 percent of your budget. … You can buy us off real cheap. So we said, how about a ticket surcharge? They didn’t like that idea at all. ”</p>
<p>At its core, college football is an extension of a series of concepts that give it&#160;structure: Players are student athletes, not professionals; mandatory payments to secure premium seats are charitable gifts, not fees; the market for lavishly paid coaches is, in fact, a market. But what happens if that structure collapses—if, say, some ambitious member of Congress actually questions the football-as-charity paradigm?</p>
<p>In July 2014, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) <a href="http://www.c-span.org/video/?320346-1/hearing-college-athletes-academics" type="external">held a hearing</a> that was largely an opportunity for senators to lob verbal grenades at the NCAA and its president, Mark Emmert. In that respect it was like most congressional hearings: carefully staged Kabuki theater. Nevertheless, Rockefeller did say one interesting thing: “Playing college sports is supposed to be an avocation. There’s a growing perception that college athletics, particularly Division I football and basketball, are not avocations at all. What they really are is highly profitable enterprises.”</p>
<p>He continued: “This country is now so soaked in the culture of ESPN … it’s undermining our values. I’ll tell you one thing for sure: I think it’s undermining our commitment to education.”</p>
<p>Gilbert M. Gaul twice won the Pulitzer Prize and has been shortlisted for the Pulitzer four other times. For more than thirty-five years, he worked as an investigative journalist for The Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer and other newspapers. The author of three previous books of investigative reporting, Gaul lives in New Jersey.</p> | At Colleges, Running Backs Get All the Greenbacks, While Academic Students Fight Over Crumbs | true | http://inthesetimes.com/article/18490/college_football_multimillion_dollar_business_at_educations_expense | 2015-10-21 | 4 |
<p>Some individuals just don’t know when it is time for them to take responsibility for the actions or inactions, and own up to the failings and shortcomings.</p>
<p>Former Senator and presidential nominee Hillary Clinton appeared at a Recode conference this week and did nothing less than throw the entire Democratic Party under the bus, blaming her political party for her failed presidential campaign.</p>
<p>Putin, Trump campaign-Russian government collusion, the media , George W.Bush, Rupaul, the Smurfs, and now the Democratic Party, have all been named as participants in Clinton’s ongoing election night loss blame-game.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump couldn’t help but chime in on Twitter:</p>
<p /> | Hillary Clinton Blames The World For Her Presidential Loss [VIDEO] | true | http://shark-tank.com/2017/06/01/hillary-clinton-blames-the-world-for-her-presidential-loss-video/ | 0 |
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<p>PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Washington county public health department is requiring firefighters and paramedics to wear flu masks during all patient-care calls and in-hospital visits in response to flu threats.</p>
<p>The mandate began Jan. 18 and will be in effect until further notice.</p>
<p>Clark County Fire District EMS Training Captain Eric Simukka who has worked in the field for more than 20 years says it's the first time he has seen a mandate of this kind.</p>
<p>Simukka says all firefighters and paramedics will be required to wear a mask whether they have gotten a flu shot or not.</p>
<p>KATU-TV <a href="http://katu.com/news/local/clark-county-firefighters-required-to-wear-flu-masks-on-some-calls" type="external">reports</a> positive flu tests have skyrocketed in Clark County north of Portland.</p>
<p>The droplet flu mask prevents the spread of airborne viruses through coughing, sneezing or breathing.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: KATU-TV, <a href="http://www.katu.com/" type="external">http://www.katu.com/</a></p>
<p>PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Washington county public health department is requiring firefighters and paramedics to wear flu masks during all patient-care calls and in-hospital visits in response to flu threats.</p>
<p>The mandate began Jan. 18 and will be in effect until further notice.</p>
<p>Clark County Fire District EMS Training Captain Eric Simukka who has worked in the field for more than 20 years says it's the first time he has seen a mandate of this kind.</p>
<p>Simukka says all firefighters and paramedics will be required to wear a mask whether they have gotten a flu shot or not.</p>
<p>KATU-TV <a href="http://katu.com/news/local/clark-county-firefighters-required-to-wear-flu-masks-on-some-calls" type="external">reports</a> positive flu tests have skyrocketed in Clark County north of Portland.</p>
<p>The droplet flu mask prevents the spread of airborne viruses through coughing, sneezing or breathing.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: KATU-TV, <a href="http://www.katu.com/" type="external">http://www.katu.com/</a></p> | Clark County firefighters to wear masks to prevent flu | false | https://apnews.com/amp/b039bdb86112486687d0b7a9412f901f | 2018-01-23 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Democrat Cave-In of the Day</p>
<p>Sen. John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (W. Va.), in an incredible act of political spinelessness, gave Bush more than he asked for in the new FISA law, making him and the Democrats just as guilty of violating the rights of Americans and the U.S. Constitution. Rocky negotiated a new bill to correct abuses of power in electronic eavesdropping ON AMERICANS by winding up giving into Bush with a bill that MAKES IT WORSE.</p>
<p /> | Brodner’s Person of the Day: John D. Rockefeller | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/10/brodners-person-day-john-d-rockefeller/ | 2007-10-25 | 4 |
<p>Talks between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and U.S. President Barack Obama went better than planned, both sides said Friday before emphasizing that differences remained between the two leaders and their visions for Palestinian-Israeli peace.</p>
<p>The two leaders met a day after Obama delivered a speech on the U.S. policy in the Mideast in which he reportedly angered Netanyahu by stating as a matter of U.S. policy that "the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states."</p>
<p>In what the Wall Street Journal referred to as a rebuke, Netanyahu rejected Obama's proposal that it negotiate a peace deal with Palestinians based on borders that existed before the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704904604576335071093979138.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories" type="external">Six Day War</a>, saying that such borders were "indefensible."</p>
<p>In an Oval Office meeting that lasted far longer than was scheduled Friday, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/21/world/middleeast/21prexy.html" type="external">Netanyahu</a> reportedly told Obama that he shared his vision for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Then, according to the New York Times, he promptly listed a series of non-negotiable conditions.</p>
<p>According to the NYT:</p>
<p>Israel flatly refuses to negotiate with a Palestinian Authority that includes Hamas, the faction that now controls Gaza, he said. Nor will Israel accept the return of Palestinian refugees on Israeli soil, an issue Mr. Obama had suggested on Thursday should be deferred while the two sides worked on borders and security issues.</p>
<p>Most significant, Mr. Netanyahu said that Israel would not accept a return to the boundaries that existed before the war in 1967 gave Israel control of the West Bank and Gaza.</p>
<p>He reportedly warned Obama against "a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/21/world/middleeast/21prexy.html" type="external">peace based on illusions</a>," referring to compromises outlined by Obama on Thursday.</p>
<p>"Remember that before 1967, Israel was all of nine miles wide; it's half the width of the Washington Beltway," Netanyahu reportedly said. "These were not the boundaries of peace. They were the boundaries of repeated wars."</p>
<p>Netanyahu went further in saying that the international expectation that Israel return to 1967 borders was an obstacle to peace, Haaretz reports.</p>
<p>According to the ABC's Jake Tapper, Netanyahu, whose father is a retired academic, offered Obama repeated <a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&amp;ct2=us%2F0_0_s_0_2_aa&amp;usg=AFQjCNHMoJ4PRss6mrl83EmnCinbnj0Zsg&amp;did=7a7a54f5dd7bf480&amp;cid=8797699477028&amp;ei=q83WTZj6KIKjgwffqZsM&amp;rt=SEARCH&amp;vm=STANDARD&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.abcnews.com%2Fpoliticalpunch%2F2011%2F05%2Fin-oval-office-bibi-offers-history-lessons-to-obama.html" type="external">history lessons</a>, saying Jews had "been around for almost 4,000 years. We have experienced struggle and suffering like no other people. We've gone through expulsions and pogroms and massacres and the murder of millions. But I can say that even at the dearth of - even at the nadir of the valley of death, we never lost hope and we never lost our dream of reestablishing a sovereign state in our ancient homeland, the land of Israel."</p>
<p>White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the length of the one-on-one between Obama and Netanyahu, at an hour and a half more than twice the time expected, was "an indication of just how productive and constructive this meeting was."</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p /> | Obama-Netanyahu Oval Office meeting cordial but tense (VIDEO) | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-05-20/obama-netanyahu-oval-office-meeting-cordial-tense-video | 2011-05-20 | 3 |
<p>Photo by Me | <a href="" type="internal">CC by 2.0</a></p>
<p>THE STORY</p>
<p>“In April 2016, at the height of the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history, Congress effectively stripped the Drug Enforcement Administration of its most potent weapon against large drug companies suspected of spilling prescription narcotics onto the nation’s streets.”</p>
<p>(Quotations and facts in this article are from a segment of an October 15, 2107 60 Minutes and Washington Post article by Scott Higham and Lenny Bernstein.)</p>
<p>Major pharmaceuticals produced opioids, and sold them to distributors&#160; knowing there was no possible legitimate use for them in the amounts they were being produced.</p>
<p>Large pharma distributors sold the opioids to internet and local pharmacies and to doctors knowing there was no conceivable way in which there was a legitimate market for them in the number they were being sold.&#160; McKesson, “the fifth-largest corporation in the nation,” is among them.</p>
<p>Doctors wrote the prescriptions; retail pharmacies sold them.</p>
<p>At the time this was going on, 200,000 people—more than three times the number of U.S. military deaths in the Vietnam War—died of overdoses.</p>
<p>Not one big pharma executive, not one big distributor executive, not one local pharmacist, not one doctor who wrote a prescription for an addict spent one day in jail.&#160; Nor did any stockholder raise a question about these practices.</p>
<p>Fines levied against the distributors—the target on which the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) focused to bring a halt to these practices—were not sufficient to stop the practice.&#160; These fines are considered a “cost of doing business”.</p>
<p>Joseph T. Rannazzisi ran the DEA “division responsible for regulating the drug industry and led a decade-long campaign of aggressive enforcement (despite, he says, efforts (denied of course) from President Obama’s Justice Department to get him to back off) until he was forced out of the agency in 2015.”&#160; He was the whistle-blower on “60 Minutes,” and was visibly angry at the pharmaceutical industry and the politicians.&#160;&#160; He said, “The manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and chain drugstores (including Walgreen’s) have an influence over Congress that has never been seen before.”</p>
<p>With Rannazzisi out of the way, the pharmaceutical industry got DEA to accept a piece of legislation to recommend to Congress that “it did not want” that was “completely unnecessary.”&#160; Among those arguing with DEA were numerous lawyers and lobbyists who formerly had been DEA staffers who knew intimately vulnerabilities in DEA strategy, and members of Congress who received tens of thousands of dollars from the drug industry. &#160;&#160;“Dozens of top officials from the DEA and Justice Department have <a href="" type="internal">&#160;stepped through Washington’s revolving door&#160;</a>to work for drug companies.”</p>
<p>Early in the legislative process, then-Attorney General Eric Holder said, “A recently passed House bill would severely undermine a critical component of our efforts to prevent communities and families from falling prey to dangerous drugs.”&#160; That was the last time the Department opposed the industry.&#160; (Once winning DEA approval, no one else in the Executive Branch opposed the bill—after all it was coming from their own staff.&#160; That includes President Obama, then-Justice Department head Loretta Lynch, then-DEA head Chuck Rosenberg, or several officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>Congressman Tom Marino, a Pennsylvania Republican “spent&#160; years trying to move the law through Congress.”&#160; Until this story broke, he was “President Trump’s nominee to become the nation’s next drug czar.”</p>
<p>“Political action committees representing the industry contributed at least $1.5 million to the 23 lawmakers who sponsored or co-sponsored four versions of the bill, including nearly $100,000 to Marino and $177,000 to Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) who “negotiated a final version with the DEA”.</p>
<p>Why DEA finally went along with the new bill is not specifically identified, though it is obvious that big pharma and its political allies brought lots of pressure to bear on the agency.&#160; The new law “makes it virtually impossible for the DEA to freeze suspicious narcotic shipments…[which had been] the powerful took to immediately prevent drugs from reaching the street.”</p>
<p>In a draft article provided to The Post by the Marquette Law Review editorial board, DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge John J. Mulrooney II wrote, “‘At a time when, by all accounts, opioid abuse, addiction and deaths were increasingly markedly’ the new law ‘imposed a dramatic diminution of the agency’s authority’.”</p>
<p>“On March 17, 2016, the Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent.&#160; On April 12, the House approved the Senate version, also by unanimous consent…On April 19, Obama signed the bill.”&#160; Congressman Marino and industry groups “thanked Obama”.</p>
<p>In his article, Administrative Law Judge Mulrooney said, “If it had been the intent of Congress to completely eliminate the DEA’s ability to ever impose an immediate suspension on distributors or manufacturers, it would be difficult to conceive of a more effective vehicle for achieving that goal.”&#160; “He ‘likened [a provision] to allowing bank robbers ‘to round up and return ink-stained money and agree not to rob any more banks’.”</p>
<p>The Post story lists more than a dozen individuals who moved from DEA enforcement positions to industry-related jobs (lobbyist, law firm, direct employee).</p>
<p>Summing up his experience as DEA Detroit program manager, Jim Geldhof said, “Greed always trumped compliance.&#160; It did every time.&#160; It was about money, and it’s as simple as that.”</p>
<p>MONEY TALKS</p>
<p>Much of what is told in this 60 Minutes/Washington Post story is par for the course in today’s business world:</p>
<p>+ Big business seeks to maximize profit—the only stakeholders of significance these days are the investors and the executives’ incomes.</p>
<p>+ Middle men and advertising connect the companies to their markets. The brokers (wholesalers, distributors) understand their income and wealth depend upon how well they do for their patrons.</p>
<p>+ Bottom feeders do the same, scurrying around at the edges of what’s legal, and sometimes just being illegal. They depend upon regulators not reaching them, and local government either not caring or being on their payroll.</p>
<p>At whichever level, money buys influence. Politicians are for sale.</p>
<p>Further, the government-corporate world revolving door gives business detailed “intelligence” that makes its influence look legitimate. &#160;Dozens of former DEA staffers are now working directly for Big Pharma, or for the law firms and public relations organizations that represent it.</p>
<p>What is striking about the Post/60 Minutes story is how totally effective Big Pharma and its minions were.&#160; There were no Congressional dissenters to the motion to pass the bill that gave the industry what it wanted.</p>
<p>This is where most analysis seems to stop.&#160; I think that’s a mistake.&#160; To simply say the above is to abandon hope and the possibility for change unless someone else brings it about.&#160; That’s too easy.</p>
<p>QUESTIONS</p>
<p>Assuming there are no major omissions in the Post or 60 Minute accounts, there are unasked questions that should be asked.&#160; Here are a number of them, with comments to follow.</p>
<p>Why was there no public interest DC-based lobbying organization waving the alarm banner?</p>
<p>Why didn’t a Congressional staffer who works for a decent member of Congress on one of the committees that looked at the legislation before it went to the House and Senate floor, voice objection to his or her boss?&#160; Why was there no voice on the floor of Congress opposing this legislation?</p>
<p>Why didn’t the United Mine Workers Union or any other union whose members, members’ families, and members’ communities that are affected by the opioid crisis speak up?</p>
<p>Why didn’t the American Federation of Government Employees, or whichever union represents DEA employees say anything?</p>
<p>Why didn’t any professional association that is supposed to be the bearer of the values its members claim to profess speak up?&#160; Here, for example, is what the New York Bar Association says about the responsibilities of a lawyer:</p>
<p>New York Lawyer’s Code of Professional Responsibility</p>
<p>PREAMBLE</p>
<p>The continued existence of a free and democratic society depends upon recognition of the concept that justice is based upon the rule of law grounded in respect for the dignity of the individual and the capacity of the individual through reason for enlightened self-government. Law so grounded makes justice possible, for only through such law does the dignity of the individual attain respect and protection. Without it, individual rights become subject to unrestrained power, respect for law is destroyed, and rational self-government is impossible.</p>
<p>Lawyers, as guardians of the law, play a vital role in the preservation of society. The fulfillment of this role requires an understanding by lawyers of their relationship with and function in our legal system. A consequent obligation of lawyers is to maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct.</p>
<p>In fulfilling professional responsibilities, a lawyer necessarily assumes various roles that require the performance of many difficult tasks. Not every situation which the lawyer may encounter can be foreseen, but fundamental ethical principles are always present for guidance. Within the framework of these principles, a lawyer must with courage and foresight be able and ready to shape the body of the law to the ever-changing relationships of society.</p>
<p>Here’s what the American Pharmacists Association says on the ethics of the profession:</p>
<p>Code of Ethics</p>
<p>PREAMBLE</p>
<p>Pharmacists are health professionals who assist individuals in making the best use of medications. This Code, prepared and supported by pharmacists, is intended to state publicly the principles that form the fundamental basis of the roles and responsibilities of pharmacists. These principles, based on moral obligations and virtues, are established to guide pharmacists in relationships with patients, health professionals, and society.</p>
<p>1. A pharmacist respects the covenantal relationship between the patient and pharmacist.</p>
<p>Considering the patient-pharmacist relationship as a covenant means that a pharmacist has moral obligations in response to the gift of trust received from society. In return for this gift, a pharmacist promises to help individuals achieve optimum benefit from their medications, to be committed to their welfare, and to maintain their trust.</p>
<p>And what about the idea “first do no harm” that is supposed to guide doctors?&#160; Here’s what the American Medical Association says is its code:</p>
<p>Preamble</p>
<p>The medical profession has long subscribed to a body of ethical statements developed primarily for the benefit of the patient. As a member of this profession, a physician must recognize responsibility to patients first and foremost, as well as to society, to other health professionals, and to self.</p>
<p>And this is from the “modern Hippocratic Oath”:&#160; “I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect.”</p>
<p>Why did no religious denominational body or local church whose members and communities are affected speak up?</p>
<p>The Media.&#160; First of all, congratulations to “60 Minutes” and The Washington Post.&#160; They did what the news media in a free society are supposed to do, and they did it well.&#160; But why only them?&#160; Why hasn’t the Newspaper Guild picked this story up and rushed it out to its members so they could bring it up with their editors?&#160; What aren’t other editors picking it up on their own and seeing if there’s an application in their local markets?&#160; What aren’t publishers asking their editors “Why aren’t we covering this story?”</p>
<p>WHO’S LEFT?</p>
<p>After describing the corruption of Ancient Israel in Old Testament times, Rev. Robert C. Linthicum engages in a brilliant exegesis on what the people are supposed to do when the religious, governmental and the economic institutions fail to live out their Godly-intended purposes.&#160; (See “Systems As God Intends and Humanity Corrupts;” Rev. Robert C. Linthicum.&#160; Social Policy Magazine.&#160; Autumn, 2001.)</p>
<p>[T]he question must now be asked, “What are the people to do about it?” As a reformist force in society, what are we called to do? Obviously, the Bible doesn’t talk about community organizing, labor unions or democratic participation in civic life. These are social inventions of more recent times.</p>
<p>But its core message and narratives tell stories of people gathering themselves together out of their relationships with each other in order to fight for justice. Thus it was that Moses organized Pharaoh’s bricklayers to fight against their exploitation – with God on their side! Biblical leaders like Joshua, David, Jeremiah, Esther, Daniel, Peter, Mary Magdalene, John the Baptist and even the Pharaoh-defying midwives Shiphrah and Puah (Exod. 1:15-20) used tactics of confrontation, nonviolent civil disobedience, agitation, negotiation and holding systems accountable to bring about change. Nehemiah organized the people of Jerusalem to rebuild their city, successfully confronting the unjust systems of their country, and rebuilding their public life in the image of Deuteronomy.</p>
<p>Jesus challenged the Roman and Jewish systems and people of power and was an “in-your-face” agitator on the side of the poor and powerless, calling for a return to the Deuteronomic vision of love, justice and equitable distribution of resources. Defying the traditions of his culture, he gave important leadership roles to women and he spent significant time with lepers, tax collectors and others who were marginalized and excluded. He called those most despised and ostracized by their society (such as Matthew the tax-collector and Mary Magdalene, a reputed prostitute) to become leaders of his movement, declaring to the religious leaders of Israel, “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom” (Matt. 21:43).</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>The biblical witness is one of society as God intended it to be – a culture in relationship with God and each other, of justice, the equitable distribution of wealth and the engagement of its entire people in the shaping of its public life. The biblical witness is one of society gone awry – of political, economic, social and religious systems in collusion with each other to solidify the power, wealth and authority of those at the top, reducing the people to obedient servants of the powerful or as castaway detritus. The biblical witness is one of the continuing engagement of God’s people in public life, driven by their faith in a just and loving God, their love for each other and their commitment to the building of a shalom community (or “kingdom of God”) in the face of a world of both greedy and self-serving people and collusive, dominating systems.</p>
<p>Whether we are Christians, Jews, other peoples of faith, or those who love democracy and justice, the biblical witness can help us articulate a vision of public life lived at its highest, an analysis which enables us to understand evil as public and systemic as well as private and individual, and the commitment to work together in our public life toward a society which is truly relational and just, seeking a shared stewardship of the earth’s resources “so that there will&#160;be no poor among you.” (Deut. 15:4) This is the vision that will enable us to turn our society’s public life “upside-down”!</p>
<p>WHERE ARE REV. LINTHICUM’S “WE”?</p>
<p>For the most part, unions are marginal to any hope we now might have for playing the role Linthicum calls for.&#160; Beyond an occasional resolution of support that isn’t followed up by meaningful action, there’s not much coming from them.&#160; Efforts at revitalization and renewal are taking place.&#160; Occasional reform candidates triumph and bring some change&#160; I hope these efforts are all successful.</p>
<p>Why were there no local community organizations building sufficient counter-weight pressure on their members of Congress (from opioid-hit areas) to act as counter-weights sufficient to overcome money, or at least create a debate?</p>
<p>Why aren’t these same community organizations seeking direct meetings with Big Pharma to negotiate specific agreements that put an end to these practices, with the threat of using the leverage of institutional purchases to make these companies come to the table and negotiate in good faith.&#160; (An example of leverage:&#160; there are hospitals across the country that have choices of what drug brands to purchase for use with patients.)</p>
<p>Why are there no sit-ins and other non-violent demonstrations by militant “moral witness” organizations halting business-as-usual at corporate headquarters, calling unions and professional associations to account, and demanding of the religious community that it shame its members who are engaged in this outrage?</p>
<p>The opioid story is not qualitatively different from any story in which big business buys government to do its bidding.&#160; It tells the story more clearly because of the incredible success the pharmaceutical industry had in buying the government—left, right and center.</p>
<p>More important, however, from my point of view is what this story tells us about what needs to be done at the base of society.&#160; The politicians, we can generally assume, make a calculation between organized money and organized people. When there are organized people, their people power organizations are vehicles to reach voters.&#160; Organized people can be or become citizens who discuss, debate, deliberate, discern, negotiate, compromise and otherwise engage in the conversations that are the hallmark of any meaningful idea of citizenship.</p>
<p>In the absence of organized people, with the potential of becoming citizens who arrive at conclusions on candidates and issues, campaigns must be waged to mobilize voters, who are in this case a market (citizens become consumers) to whom products (candidates and issues) must be sold through mass media.&#160; That requires money to buy media time, which, in this 60 Minutes/Washington Post story, comes from the pharmaceutical industry, but in any other case we might look at comes from a particular sector of the economy with a profit or other stake in the outcome (banks, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, etc).</p>
<p>Organize!</p> | Opioids and the State of The Union, 2017 | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/10/31/opioids-and-the-state-of-the-union-2017/ | 2017-10-31 | 4 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.shutterstock.com"&gt;Everett Collection &lt;/a&gt;/Shutterstock</p>
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<p>Federal banking regulators have decided it’s a bad thing that JPMorgan Chase <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/13/jpmorgan-chase-q02-earnings-2012_n_1670629.html" type="external">lost $6 billion</a> on a risky bet last year and failed to close money-laundering loopholes. But that’s pretty much all they’ve decided.</p>
<p>The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/regulators-hit-jpmorgan-with-two-enforcement-actions/2013/01/14/5d3c6226-5e8c-11e2-a389-ee565c81c565_story.html" type="external">ordered the bank</a>&#160;Monday to fix risk-management failures that led to the massive loss on a trade out of its London office in May 2012, as well as tighten up monitoring of cash transactions that may have allowed suspected terrorists and drug dealers to launder money. But there will be no fines or hard penalties levied for the bank’s failures.</p>
<p>Since the revelation of the bet gone sour last year, Chase has been under ramped-up scrutiny—a swirl of <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/regulators-hit-jpmorgan-with-two-enforcement-actions/2013/01/14/5d3c6226-5e8c-11e2-a389-ee565c81c565_story.html" type="external">congressional inquiries</a>&#160;and&#160;calls to break up the nation’s big banks. A London-based executive who oversaw Chase’s sketchy trading strategy <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/regulators-hit-jpmorgan-with-two-enforcement-actions/2013/01/14/5d3c6226-5e8c-11e2-a389-ee565c81c565_story.html" type="external">resigned</a>, and the bank fired some senior managers. But until today, the practices that led that scrutiny hadn’t changed,&#160;says Michael Greenberger, a University of Maryland law professor and former CFTC director who teaches on financial instruments and counterterorrism law.&#160;“Losing $6.2 billion, one would think, would be such a shock to the system that as a matter of good business practices, [Chase’s] risk management would have been updated sufficiently, and there would not be a need for the Fed and the Comptroller to ask for a plan,” he says.</p>
<p>Greenberger adds that the money laundering no-no—in which regulators told Chase they need to report suspicious activities by customers with ties to terrorism—is “really quite exceptional,” because money-laundering statutes are “sufficiently clear that any law-abiding institution should not have a problem [complying].</p>
<p>“It’s sort of like saying to someone we want a plan to demonstrate you aren’t going to rob banks,” he says. “There are already laws against robbing banks.”</p>
<p>The federal orders constitute “a slap on the wrist,”&#160;Ann Graham, professor of law at the Hamline University School of Law and a former attorney at the FDIC told <a href="http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/178_10/jpmorgan-chase-risk-management-targeted-by-occ-fed-orders-1055842-1.html?zkPrintable=1&amp;nopagination=1" type="external">American Banker</a>. She&#160;says fines should have been levied as well.</p>
<p>Ongoing investigations into Chase’s so-called “London Whale” trading loss by <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/21/cftc-jpmorgan-chase-trading-loss_n_1533411.html" type="external">other</a> <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/424214/20130115/jp-morgan-london-whale-bruno-iksil-credit.htm" type="external">regulatory</a> agencies and a <a href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/government/2012/12/03/senate-subcommittee-casts-wide-net-in-chase-london-whale-probe/" type="external">Senate subcommittee</a>&#160;may still result in such fines, but Greenberger says the weak enforcement action in this case is in keeping with a pattern throughout the history of the financial meltdown in which “sanctions on banks have been what would be for you and me a traffic ticket. And this was a warning, not even a traffic ticket.”</p>
<p>Chase has racked up a number of similar traffic tickets in recent months. In November, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/16/jpmorgan-chase-credit-suisse-settlement_n_2145933.html" type="external">Chase settled with the SEC</a> for $297 million—a relatively modest fine—on charges that it duped investors about the quality of mortage-backed securities. And the recent <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/01/07/foreclosure-settlement-said-to-be-imminent/" type="external">$10 billion settlement</a> with big banks over foreclosure abuses has also been described as a “wrist slap,” <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/opinion/sunday/the-foreclosure-deal-unanswered-questions-and-little-relief.html" type="external">as was a similar agreement</a> reached last February. “We’ve been working hard to fully remediate the issues,”&#160;JPMorgan Chase spokesman Mark Kornblau&#160; <a href="http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/178_10/jpmorgan-chase-risk-management-targeted-by-occ-fed-orders-1055842-1.html?zkPrintable=1&amp;nopagination=1" type="external">said of Monday’s orders in a statement</a>,&#160;adding that&#160;the bank has made prevention of money laundering a “top priority.”</p>
<p>Marcus Stanley, a policy director at Americans for Financial Reform, says that this kind of leniency is a far cry from the&#160; <a href="" type="internal">ethical opprobrium federal regulators have shown towards regular consumers hit by the financial crisis</a>. “We have seen this disturbing pattern where people are very eager to talk about moral hazard when it comes to—God forbid—homeowners who had a bad subprime loan who might get to keep their home,” he says. “But when it comes to real enforcement and punishment for [bank executives] who may have been negligent, we are reluctant to do anything.”</p>
<p /> | JPMorgan Chase Gambles Away $6B, Gets “Slap on the Wrist” | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/jpmorgan-chase-federal-reserve-enforcement-action-london-whale-money-laundering/ | 2013-01-15 | 4 |
<p>President Trump told reporters what he thinks is in store for the NFL in light of numerous players and teams protesting the National Anthem.</p>
<p>Trump told reporters at the White House Wednesday morning that if the NFL doesn’t reprimand players who disrespect the National Anthem, it’s “going to go to hell.”</p>
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<p>A reporter told the President that he’d said Charlotesville protesters and counter-protesters had the right to protest. She then asked “Why doesn’t Colin Kaepernick have his First Amendment rights?”</p>
<p>The reporter seems to believe that there’s no difference between personal street protests and televised protests by employees at work, on company time and in company uniform, which insult the National Anthem.</p>
<p>Breaking news updates and daily headlines from a news source you can trust.</p>
<p>Those who sit out or kneel during the National Anthem are subject to termination from their employers, something other companies would obviously do. But the NFL has refused to take action.</p>
<p>Trump said that players who kneel or sit out the National Anthem disrespect our country.</p>
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<p>“You cannot have people disrespecting our National Anthem, our flag, or our country,” Trump told reporters. “And that’s what they’re doing. And in my opinion, the NFL has to change, or you know what’s going to happen? Their business is going to go to hell.”</p>
<p>Trump said the NFL “is in a really bad box.” He says one only needs to look at their ratings to see that the NFL cannot afford to make excuses for outrageous behavior.</p>
<p>The actions of NFL players insult this country and its citizens, especially members of the Armed Forces.</p>
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<p>The reporter’s defense of Colin Kaepernick is a desperate attempt to extend the man’s rights to NFL standards for behavior on the field.</p>
<p>Our troops have more integrity in their trigger fingers than Colin Kaepernick has in his whole kneeling/sitting body. Yet Kaepernick makes substantially more money playing games than nearly every service member makes through their sacrifice and dedication to our great nation.</p>
<p>Yet the NFL refuses to tell its players to go protest somewhere else, on their own time, and leave the National Anthem alone.</p>
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<p>“Most importantly,” President Trump continued this morning. “The fans agree with me […] That have to show total respect for our National Anthem, for our Flag, for our country.”</p>
<p>The NFL shirks the business adage “the customer is always right” and instead decides that the customers don’t matter. Apparently, neither does respect or professionalism.</p>
<p>The NFL sends a message that the opinions and patriotism of fans don’t matter.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/27/trump-nfl-business-raitings-fail-243214" type="external">Politico</a> reports on the aftermath of Trump suggesting that players protest on the field should be fired:</p>
<p>Many NFL players continued to kneel during the anthem after Trump’s comments, while some teams locked arms to show solidarity and others stayed inside the locker room.</p>
<p>The president has since encouraged a boycott and urged the NFL to “set a rule that you can’t kneel during our National Anthem!”</p>
<p>He told wealthy attendees at a GOP donor dinner in New York on Tuesday that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell could have easily stopped the protests.</p>
<p>“All Goodell had to do was say there’s rules and you can’t do it, suspend him for a couple games, you would never have had this,” he said, according to an attendee. “Now you have this whole thing going, and it’s a very dangerous thing ‘cause we cannot let anyone disrespect our country like that.”</p>
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<p>How is it “divisive” when the President of the United States says the disgraceful behavior we’re seeing at pregames during the National Anthem shouldn’t be tolerated by the NFL?</p>
<p>The NFL should not ignore the opinions of fans, citizens, and members of the Armed Forces who say this isn’t acceptable.</p>
<p>The NFL’s actions are divisive, and anyone who thinks Trump is taking the low ground with his objections isn’t paying attention.</p>
<p>What do you think? Scroll down to comment below.</p> | Trump Warns the NFL What Will Happen if They Don’t Change | true | http://thefederalistpapers.org/us/trump-warns-nfl-will-happen-dont-change | 0 |
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<p>Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced Tuesday its plans to open a one million-square-foot fulfillment center in Robbinsville, N.J.</p>
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<p>The facility will bring hundreds of full-time jobs to the area when it opens in early 2014, according to the company. It will be the online shopping giant’s first fulfillment center in New Jersey.</p>
<p>“Phase one of Amazon's new state-of-the-art fulfillment center in Robbinsville will spur growth and investment for the Garden State and our local economies while bringing meaningful job creation opportunities for New Jersey's families," New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said in a statement. "Amazon's multi-million dollar investment in this one facility alone is expected to result in the creation of hundreds of full-time jobs in addition to temporary, seasonal and construction jobs."</p>
<p>Private equity firm KTR Capital Partners is building the project. According to Amazon, its employees will pack and ship smaller items, such as books and DVDs, in the new fulfillment center.</p>
<p>Shares of Amazon were down slightly in pre-market trading.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Amazon Plans to Open N.J. Facility in 2014 | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/01/08/amazon-plans-to-open-nj-facility-in-2014.html | 2016-01-29 | 0 |
<p>Tragedy often brings out the worst in the media. The horrific events that took place last night in Las Vegas have been no exception. Bodies are still unidentified, motives still unknown, and the media has <a href="" type="internal">predictably been quick to pounce on the gun control narrative</a>.</p>
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<p>There is something particularly vile about certain mindsets under such circumstances, and with liberalism being a mental disorder,’ even worse thoughts sometimes slip out from weak minds.</p>
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<p>Take&#160;Hayley Geftman-Gold, a legal executive working at CBS, for example.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2017/10/02/media-criticism-cbs-legal-exec-no-sympathy-because-country-music-fans-often-are-republican/" type="external">Daily Caller</a> report revealed the inner thoughts of Geftman-Gold – mostly because she posted them on social media for the world to see – and it isn’t pretty.</p>
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<p>The&#160;Vice President and Senior Counsel of Strategic Transactions at CBS Corporation writes that she has no sympathy for the victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting “because country music fans often are Republican gun toters.”</p>
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<p>No, she really did say that.</p>
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<p>Geftman-Gold made her comments during an online conversation with photographer Erin Fagan Silber, presumably in a discussion about gun control.</p>
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<p>Geftman-Gold’s LinkedIn profile lists her most recent position at CBS Corporation, as well as a lengthy stint with MTV and Viacom.</p>
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<p>Geftman-Gold also happens to be a big fan of former Democrat candidate for President, Hillary Clinton. So much so, that she held a block party for Hillary on election night in 2016.</p>
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<p>The block party was held at the intersection of President and Clinton Streets, where many fans laughed and joked about their candidate’s inevitable win.</p>
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<p>“Looks like the street signs in Brooklyn are rigged,” one supporter joked in a since-deleted tweet.</p>
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<p>A Facebook event posting read,&#160;“Come celebrate the election of our first female POTUS!”</p>
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<p>By the end of the night, the event organizer lamented “I’m curled up in a fetal position at home.”</p>
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<p>Now, Geftman-Gold is actively cheering the possibility that many of the victims in Las Vegas may have been Republicans. That’s how blinded she is by Clinton’s loss it would seem.</p>
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<p>What a sick, sick individual.</p>
<p>Are you surprised how people on the left are reacting to the Las Vegas shooting? Share your thoughts below!</p>
<p /> | CBS Legal Exec: No Sympathy For Vegas Victims Because ‘Country Music Fans Often Republicans’ | true | http://thepoliticalinsider.com/cbs-executive-vegas-shooting/ | 2017-10-02 | 0 |
<p>NEW DELHI, India — The case against five men accused of gang-raping and fatally injuring a young woman in Delhi has been sent to a special fast-track court.</p>
<p>The court, which was set up earlier this month amid outrage over the attack, will begin hearing the case daily from Monday, India's <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/delhi-gang-rape-case-committed-to-fast-track-court-accused-wants-trial-shifted-out-of-delhi-318808?pfrom=home-otherstories" type="external">NDTV reported</a>.</p>
<p>One of the suspects has asked for the trial to take place outside Delhi in order to stand a better chance of a fair hearing.</p>
<p>A lawyer for Ram Singh, the driver of the bus on which the rape took place, plans to petition India's Supreme Court for a transfer, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-21055408" type="external">the BBC reported</a>, since he claims the trial may be prejudiced by the media's wall-to-wall, often sensational, coverage.</p>
<p>"We are sure we will not get justice in Delhi," defense attorney VK Ananad said.</p>
<p>According to NDTV, Ananad will ask for the case to be moved to anywhere else except the state of Uttar Pradesh, where the victim was from.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/india/india-mediocracy-delhi-gang-rape-5" type="external">Has India's mediocracy already convicted the Delhi gang rape 5?</a></p>
<p>It may be difficult for the accused to get a fair trial in New Delhi — or, indeed, anywhere in India — given the public pressure to deliver a speedy conviction and harsh punishment, says GlobalPost's senior correspondent in India, Jason Overdorf.</p>
<p>“I don't think it's possible,” New Delhi High Court lawyer Rajinder Singh said of the relocation request. “Only the Supreme Court of India has the power to transfer a case [to another venue]. And there has to be a valid reason for that, such as when a rape has happened and the witness is being threatened.”</p>
<p>The now infamous case in India is comparable to the 1989 rape and beating of a jogger in New York's Central Park, an attack that sparked a similar media frenzy and resulted in five convictions that were later overturned.</p>
<p>In Delhi, the five men are charged with abduction, rape and murder of the 23-year-old woman, who died of her injuries in a Singapore hospital weeks after the Dec. 16 attack.</p>
<p>A sixth suspect is believed to be under 18, in which case he will be tried separately in a juvenile court. Authorities are still determining his age and are due to decide on his case on Jan. 28, <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Delhi-gang-rape-case-moved-to-fast-track-court/articleshow/18061753.cms" type="external">the Times of India reported</a>.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/pakistan/130110/pakistan-delhi-gang-rape-india" type="external">Pakistan has a rape problem too</a></p>
<p>Jason Overdorf contributed reporting from New Delhi. Follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/joverdorf" type="external">@joverdorf</a>.</p> | Delhi gang rape trial fast-tracked, may be moved to 'avoid bias' | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-01-17/delhi-gang-rape-trial-fast-tracked-may-be-moved-avoid-bias | 2013-01-17 | 3 |
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<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — Santa Fe Police are investigating the death of a man whose body was found in an apartment at 220 Calle Lorca on Friday.</p>
<p>The call came in around 6 a.m., spokeswoman Celina Westervelt said. Police obtained a warrant and searched the man’s apartment and interviewed witnesses, she said. The man was been identified but police did not release the name Friday.</p>
<p>So far, the case has not been designated as suspicious.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Death being investiaged | false | https://abqjournal.com/270729/death-being-investiaged.html | 2013-09-28 | 2 |
<p>Finally, after years of half-hearted attempts, Toyota’s high-end division, Lexus, has a luxury sport sedan that can challenge the Germans at their own game. <a href="" type="internal" />With the 2013 GS 350, such icons as BMW’s&#160; 5-Series and Audi’s A6 now have a worthy Japanese adversary. Other than a couple of specialty models, Lexus has generally tilted toward the luxury side of the equation, while the sport aspect took a back seat. But for 2013, the GS 350’s sport is baked in — and it’s pretty tasty. Derived largely from the previous GS generation, Luxus has lavished a number of revisions on the midsize sedan to virtually transform it into a class-leading challenger. Most obvious is the dynamic styling, sporting Lexus’ aggressive new “spindle” grill design. The new car appears much more hunkered down and athletic than the old one did (even though it’s slightly taller and wider), a look borne out by the extensive under-the-skin modifications. <a href="" type="internal" />The revised and retuned suspension system delivers on the promise proffered by the sharp styling. Lexus’ vaunted highway ride is still smooth as silk and nearly silent, but the previous floatiness is tempered with a newfound, firm-but-compliant approach that also delivers a confident level of road-hugging handling . Our test sedan came with the optional all-wheel drive, a system so transparent you’d never know it was there. Which, in fact, I didn’t until I glanced at the trunk lid and noticed an indiscreet “AWD” badge after having driven the car for a couple of days. No doubt the AWD contributes to the GS’ athletic prowess.</p>
<p>Powering the midsize sedan is a supersweet, twin-cam V-6 that delivers its power through a six-speed autobox. Its 306 horsepower propels the 3,800-pound car with a luxury car’s hushed ease — until your foot issues a demand for full-on acceleration. Then the engine comes alive with a snarl accompanying the rapid rise in revs, revealing the sporting side of this drivetrain. The GS’ interior is a near-masterpiece of comfort, ergonomics and top-flight assembly. Thanks to a pricey ($6,530) Luxury Package, virtually every convenience feature imaginable was crammed into our tester’s leather-lined, wood-trimmed cabin, from heated and cooled 18-way adjustable front buckets to rear-seat heaters to an Adaptable Variable Suspension with Sport mode. Additional options included a navigation system and a killer Mark Levinson surround-sound audio system with seventeen (!) speakers. Those of you fortunate enough to be able to consider a car in this category should not hesitate to comparison-shop the GS 350. One drive will make your decision just that more difficult.</p>
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<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Luxury meets athleticism in 2013 Lexus GS 350 sport sedan | false | https://abqjournal.com/147546/luxury-meets-athletics-in-2013-lexus-gs-350-sport-sedan.html | 2012-11-24 | 2 |
<p>KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Congo won the African Nations Championship title by convincingly beating Mali 3-0 in the final in Rwanda on Sunday.</p>
<p>The Congolese claimed their second title after winning the inaugural tournament in 2009. The African Nations Championship is Africa’s competition for home-based players.</p>
<p>Mechak Elia scored twice for Congo, once in each half, and Jonathan Bolingi added a third in the 74th minute to seal victory for coach Florent Ibenge’s team at Amahoro Stadium in Kigali.</p>
<p>The young Mali team missed a series of good chances after starting strongly.</p>
<p>Elia turned the game in Congo’s favor with his fierce long-range strike in the 29th. He added a second in the 61st, skipping past Mali goalkeeper Djigui Diarra to score with an empty net. Bolingi made certain with just over 15 minutes to go.</p>
<p>“I am happy that we are the first team to win the CHAN title twice now,” coach Ibenge said.</p>
<p>Sunday’s final was the culmination of a three-week tournament featuring 16 teams and a big test of organizational ability for host nation Rwanda.</p>
<p>The East African country came through it well with the tournament an overall success despite a 15-minute power blackout in an early group game between Cameroon and Ethiopia.</p>
<p>Rwandan President Paul Kagame attended the final. The country spent $24 million organizing the tournament, the Rwandan government said.</p>
<p>Ivory Coast earlier won the third-place match with a 2-1 victory over Guinea, which had two penalties saved by Ivorian goalkeeper Abdoul Karim Cisse in a forgettable day for the Guineans. Guinea also conceded an own goal through defender Mohamed Youla to put Ivory Coast 1-0 up.</p>
<p>Badie Gbagnon made it 2-0 before Guinea scored a late consolation.</p>
<p>“Although we would have wished to win the trophy, we are happy to finish third with young players,” Ivory Coast coach Michel Dussuyer said.</p>
<p>Ivory Coast is the current African champion after winning the continent’s main soccer tournament, the African Cup of Nations, last year.</p>
<p>KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Congo won the African Nations Championship title by convincingly beating Mali 3-0 in the final in Rwanda on Sunday.</p>
<p>The Congolese claimed their second title after winning the inaugural tournament in 2009. The African Nations Championship is Africa’s competition for home-based players.</p>
<p>Mechak Elia scored twice for Congo, once in each half, and Jonathan Bolingi added a third in the 74th minute to seal victory for coach Florent Ibenge’s team at Amahoro Stadium in Kigali.</p>
<p>The young Mali team missed a series of good chances after starting strongly.</p>
<p>Elia turned the game in Congo’s favor with his fierce long-range strike in the 29th. He added a second in the 61st, skipping past Mali goalkeeper Djigui Diarra to score with an empty net. Bolingi made certain with just over 15 minutes to go.</p>
<p>“I am happy that we are the first team to win the CHAN title twice now,” coach Ibenge said.</p>
<p>Sunday’s final was the culmination of a three-week tournament featuring 16 teams and a big test of organizational ability for host nation Rwanda.</p>
<p>The East African country came through it well with the tournament an overall success despite a 15-minute power blackout in an early group game between Cameroon and Ethiopia.</p>
<p>Rwandan President Paul Kagame attended the final. The country spent $24 million organizing the tournament, the Rwandan government said.</p>
<p>Ivory Coast earlier won the third-place match with a 2-1 victory over Guinea, which had two penalties saved by Ivorian goalkeeper Abdoul Karim Cisse in a forgettable day for the Guineans. Guinea also conceded an own goal through defender Mohamed Youla to put Ivory Coast 1-0 up.</p>
<p>Badie Gbagnon made it 2-0 before Guinea scored a late consolation.</p>
<p>“Although we would have wished to win the trophy, we are happy to finish third with young players,” Ivory Coast coach Michel Dussuyer said.</p>
<p>Ivory Coast is the current African champion after winning the continent’s main soccer tournament, the African Cup of Nations, last year.</p> | Congo claims African Nations title, beats Mali 3-0 | false | https://apnews.com/b2a59ef40109499889b4a37d47f3e7a0 | 2016-02-07 | 2 |
<p>Lam Research Corp. and KLA-Tencor are scrapping their merger agreement due to antitrust regulators' opposition to the deal that would have combined the two makers of equipment for manufacturing semiconductors.</p>
<p>Lam Research of Fremont, California, had offered about $10.6 billion in cash, stock or a combination of the two, for KLA-Tencor, based in Milpitas, California. The combination announced last October would have created a giant that would have served roughly 42 percent of the wafer fabrication equipment market.</p>
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<p>Shareholders of both companies approved the deal in February.</p>
<p>As recently as August, the companies said they were still in talks with the Justice Department and regulators in South Korea, Japan and China.</p>
<p>Lam and KLA-Tencor said Wednesday that no break-up fees will be paid by either company.</p> | Lam Research, KLA-Tencor end merger, cite antitrust views | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/10/05/lam-research-kla-tencor-end-merger-cite-antitrust-views.html | 2016-10-06 | 0 |
<p>China is reviving growth of its nuclear power industry with approval of its first new project since Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster.</p>
<p>A unit of state-owned China General Nuclear Power Corp. says the Cabinet's planning agency has approved construction of two additional reactors at a generation station in the northeastern province of Liaoning.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>China is the world's biggest energy consumer and nuclear power plays a key role in government plans to curb surging demand for imported oil and gas.</p>
<p>Beijing suspended approvals of new nuclear plants after a tsunami in March 2011 crippled the Fukushima plant's cooling and backup power systems, causing partial meltdowns in the worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe.</p>
<p>The moratorium was lifted last year.</p> | China approves 1st nuclear power project since lifting post-Fukushima building moratorium | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/03/11/china-approves-1st-nuclear-power-project-since-lifting-post-fukushima-building.html | 2016-03-09 | 0 |
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<p>From left, Zoe Saldana, Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Chris Pratt, Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) and Dave Bautista are shown in a scene from “Guardians of the Galaxy.”</p>
<p>Laugh-out-loud funny and production-designed to death, “Guardians of the Galaxy” pops off the screen, the last but far from the least of the summer of 2014’s popcorn pictures.</p>
<p>A willing cast playing stupid-cool characters, video-game friendly action beats, ROFL gags and a touch of heart make this franchise-opener a rare pleasant surprise in a summer that has sorely lacked them.</p>
<p>In 1988, a little boy sits, lost in his Sony Walkman’s mix tape, as his mother dies in a hospital. He weeps, flees into the parking lot and is promptly abducted by aliens.</p>
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<p>Decades later, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is a “junker,” tracking down this orb thing for The Broker. He’s still listening to that Sony Walkman and its ’70s hits mix tape.</p>
<p>But Peter, who wants everyone to call him “Star Lord,” runs afoul of Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), who wants the orb so he can wipe out an enemy. Peter is pursued by Ronan’s relatives – Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) – and Ronan’s minions, led by Korath (Djimon Hounsou).</p>
<p>He’s already being hunted by his blue-faced redneck boss, Yondu (Michael Rooker, spot on).</p>
<p>But the ones who catch him are the space police of the Nova Empire, ruled by Nova Prime (Glenn Close), policed by Dey (John C. Reilly).</p>
<p>Quill finds himself incarcerated with Gamora, Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), a science experiment that looks suspiciously like a raccoon, and Rocket’s towering tree-root sidekick, Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel). To get away, they enlist the hefty, single-minded avenger Drax, whose dim-witted dialogue is a form of poetry. Just don’t call him “thesaurus.” That goes right over his head.</p>
<p>“NOTHING goes over my head,” Drax (wrestler Dave Bautista, hilarious) declares. “My reflexes are too fast!”</p>
<p>Feisty Gamora tries to resist Peter’s “pelvic sorcery.”</p>
<p>The raccoon flips out if you call him “vermin” or “a rodent” because in this universe, “ain’t no thing like me EXCEPT me.”</p>
<p>They have to bust out of prison to get the orb to a safe place before Ronan gets it. And yes, the raccoon is the brains of the outfit.</p>
<p>The script provides a laugh a minute, thanks to the wisecracks, dated music and great running gags. Groot, for instance, has just one sentence at his command: “I am Groot!”</p>
<p /> | A cast of stupid-cool characters make up ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ | false | https://abqjournal.com/438726/a-cast-of-stupid-cool-characters-make-up-guardians-of-the-galaxy.html | 2 |
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<p>Last July in response to Bush-the-Evil’s enabling of Israel’s gratuitous slaughter of thousands of Lebanese civilians and destruction of the country’s infrastructure, I wrote about “the shame of being an American.” With the ongoing slaughter of our troops and Iraqi civilians in Bush’s war in Iraq, it is time to revisit that theme.</p>
<p>As the Iraqi civil war (euphemistically termed “sectarian violence”) intensifies, both US and Iraqi casualties have sharply increased. Thirty-five US troops have been killed in the first week of December. Iraqis are dying at each other’s hands at about 100 per day, with many more wounded by bombs.</p>
<p>Iraqi civilians continue to suffer at the hands of the US military, with the latest news being a US air strike that wiped out two families totaling 32 people.</p>
<p>The report from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group has made it plain as day that the US is accomplishing nothing in Iraq except the destabilization of the entire Middle East. As Middle East expert Anthony Sullivan writes in <a href="http://www.nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=13168" type="external">The National Interest</a>, the ISG report “constitutes a massive repudiation of the policy of the Bush Administration.” The war is lost and cannot be retrieved militarily. “Staying the course” is the path of total folly.</p>
<p>Yet, the White House Moron says that it is better for 100 US troops and 3,000 Iraqi civilians to die every month than for him to admit that he is wrong.</p>
<p>To date the cost of Bush being wrong is 25,000 US casualties (dead and wounded) and approximately 650,000 dead Iraqis. No one knows how many have been wounded. How many more will die before America drowns in the shame of the blood that is being shed for no other reason than the American people were so stupid as to elect a president who cannot admit that he made a mistake? The same stupid American people elected a Congress that is too corrupt to impeach a president who is a liar, a war criminal, and a tyrant. Instead, they are prepared to let Bush off with a mere “mistake,” a courtesy denied to President Clinton. Lying about sex is an impeachable offense. Lying about war is a mere mistake.</p>
<p>Are the American people, Congress, and the American Establishment going to let the death toll continue to mount day by day for the two more years it takes for Bush to become history?</p>
<p>How do America’s military families feel about the loss of loved ones for no reason except President Bush cannot admit a mistake?</p>
<p>How do the troops themselves feel about it? On December 8, a US Marine who has spent 7 months fighting insurgents in Anbar province answered this question on lewrockwell.com as follows: “I’m sick and tired of this patriotic, nationalistic and fascist crap. . . . How do you justify ‘sacrificing’ your life for a war which is not only illegal, but is being prosecuted to the extent where the only thing keeping us there is one man’s power, and his ego.” US Marine Philip Martin says he joined the Marines to protect the US Constitution, not to serve as an imperialist storm trooper.</p>
<p>I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard talking heads worrying about Bush’s “comfort level” with the Iraqi Study Group’s unanimous report. Bush’s comfort level? What about the comfort level of the Iraqis and Americans who are losing family members while idiot talking heads worry about Bush’s comfort level with the facts!</p>
<p>Try to imagine the impression the US gives to the rest of the world: The US cannot stop a war that is a catastrophe becoming a calamity because it would interfere with Bush’s comfort level.</p>
<p>This disastrous war is a testament to the irresponsibility of the American people and their elected representatives. There were, of course, many dissenters. But the majority were too lazy and irresponsible to take the trouble to be informed. Most Americans allowed themselves to be deceived and emotionally manipulated. The consequence of this failure of the American people has been brutal for countless people and their families in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon and for the thousands of American families who have suffered because Bush sent US troops on a fool’s mission. The American people are stained with the blood of innocents. Are they still not sufficiently angry with the president who used them for his crimes to demand his impeachment?</p>
<p>As long as Bush remains in office, the neoconservatives will demand more wars. In the current issue of “Foreign Policy,” neocon Joshua Muravchik stridently insists that Bush bomb Iran before he leaves office. Muracvchik urges his fellow neocon warmongers to “pave the way” for the bombing of Iran and to “be prepared to defend the action when it comes.”</p>
<p>As Middle East expert Anthony Sullivan writes, the neoconservatives are “fifth columnists” whose “real concern is not the United States but Israel.” Sullivan writes that “it is past time that neoconservatives and their movement be left to drown in the deepest reaches of the ocean.”</p>
<p>Amen! And send Bush and Cheney and Rice with them.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | How Many More Will Die for Bush’s Ego? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2006/12/09/how-many-more-will-die-for-bush-s-ego/ | 2006-12-09 | 4 |
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<p>Evidently, Howard Dean’s movement scared the money-hungry Democrats right out of their thousand-dollar suits. McAuliffe, Reed, Kerry, Gephardt, and the Clintons were terrified of what he could do to the party they worked so hard to build during the 1990s. It didn’t matter that Dean was ideologically aligned with these centrist Democrats — his grassroots cash was a genuine threat to party brass.</p>
<p>As DLC leaders Reed and From commented in another memo on Kerry’s and John Edwards’ successful campaigns in Iowa, “Two months ago, when former Gov. Howard Dean’s campaign appeared to be running away with the Iowa caucuses, Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards spoke to the Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner and made the same prophetic point: Democrats need to offer answers, not just anger.”</p>
<p>“Now the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party has spoken: Iowa was a landslide victory for hope over [Howard Dean] anger. The word ‘stunning’ hardly does service to the performance of Kerry and Edwards in Iowa. Up against all of Howard Dean’s endorsements and organization, Kerry and Edwards each won more delegate shares (the arcane measurement used to judge success in Iowa) than Dean and Rep. Dick Gephardt combined. Kerry’s victory and Edwards’ strong second weren’t just stirring comebacks for those two campaigns. They represent an inspiring comeback for the Democratic Party.</p>
<p>“Iowa was also a triumph for a Democrat who wasn’t on the ballot: the original Comeback Kid, Bill Clinton,” they boasted. “The Dean campaign has done everything it can to run away from Clintonism, even calling the historic progress under Clinton nothing more than ‘damage control.’ By contrast, Kerry and Edwards followed the Clinton playbook … While Dean defined himself as everything Bush is not, Kerry and Edwards set their own course for the country. They supported the war against Saddam Hussein and … they also pledged muscular internationalism to unite the world against terror, a return to fiscal discipline and Clintonomics, bold plans to expand opportunity for the forgotten middle class.</p>
<p>“Indeed, the Iowa results represent a vindication for the Blair Democrats who supported the war in Iraq. Even Democrats with serious doubts about Iraq want America to succeed there, and want a nominee who can pass the test as Commander-in-Chief.”</p>
<p>Al Gore and later Bill Bradley grasped their chances of taking on the Clinton-controlled DLC to which they once belonged, hoping to turn power over to the new iconic liberalism represented by the pro-Dean movement. To reassert the centrality of the party line, David Jones was brought on, albeit at a comfortable distance from the Kerry and Gephardt camps, to crush Dean’s rebellious candidacy.</p>
<p>“Americans for Jobs, Healthcare and Progressive Values ran at least three ads in December against then-Democratic presidential front-runner Dean in early-voting states,” the Associated Press reported on February 10, 2004.</p>
<p>“The group spent $15,000 on an ad aired in South Carolina and New Hampshire that showed a picture of bin Laden and said Dean lacked the experience needed to take on terrorists.”</p>
<p>Some in the Dean campaign saw what was happening. The AP quoted his spokesman, Jay Carson, as characterizing Jones’ anti-Dean commercials as “some of the nastiest smear ads” in the history of the Democratic Party.</p>
<p>“The Washington establishment put this group together just to try to stop Gov. Dean,” claimed Carson. Jones pompously bragged, “We did more with $600,000 than Howard Dean did with $41 million.”</p>
<p>Jones, no doubt, was right.</p>
<p>Media Killed the Political Star</p>
<p>Instead of organizing on the street and going door-to-door in Iowa like they should have done, Dean’s campaign manager Joe Trippi and team attempted to play ball with the big boys. The weapon of choice for Trippi and his opposition was none other than the mass media. Trippi couldn’t handle the TV ads. But David Jones could. Unfortunately, as Team Dean quickly discovered, focusing the majority of the campaign’s energy on Internet activity had clear limitations. Given that the Internet had not previously been used to raise cash and garner political support, Dean’s popularity was difficult to gauge. In fact, because the Internet was such an innovative source for mobilizing enthusiasts, Dean’s message did not reach many traditional voters in Iowa. Trippi, noticing the gap late in the game, decided to speak to these folks through their television sets. But they weren’t tuning in.</p>
<p>Once Trippi derailed Dean’s ability to propagate his campaign platform, defeat was a near-certainty. Jones’ PR machine was already in high gear, putting together their anti-Dean barrage. But the first negative ad that aired in Iowa was an advertisement developed by Trippi’s firm, which depicted Dean berating Gephardt for his stance on the Iraq war.</p>
<p>“October 2002. Dick Gephardt agrees to coauthor the Iraq war resolution, giving George Bush the authority to go to war,” the background voice in the TV ad murmured. “A week later, with Gephardt’s support, it passes Congress. Then last month, Dick Gephardt votes to spend $87 billion more on Iraq. Howard Dean has a different view.” Howard Dean then chimes in, “I opposed the war in Iraq, and I’m against spending another $87 billion there. I’m Howard Dean, and I approve this message because our party and our country need new leadership.”</p>
<p>Gephardt countered Dean with his own flagrant advertising assault. “Howard Dean is attacking Dick Gephardt for a position Dean took himself,” the announcer says before the ad cuts to a question asked of Dean during the September 15, 2003 primary debate:</p>
<p>“Is that an up or down, yes or no, on the $87 billion per se?”</p>
<p>Dean: “On the $87 billion for Iraq?”</p>
<p>Questioner: “Yes.”</p>
<p>Dean: “We have no choice, but it has to be financed by getting rid of all the president’s tax cuts.”</p>
<p>Gephardt then pops on the screen, announcing, “I’m Dick Gephardt, and I approve this message because leadership is about making tough decisions and sticking with them.”</p>
<p>The rest of the Iowa pack, particularly Kerry and Edwards, avoided the brutal attacks against one another, focusing their energy instead on the Bush administration and allowing the Jones crew and Gephardt to make Dean the target of Democratic attacks. This degree of infighting so early in the race was unprecedented in the Democratic Party. And since these ads aired in Iowa, no Democrat cast other candidates in a negative light in any TV spot. Why would they? Dean and Gephardt came in a distant third and forth, as the smooth-talking DLC-backed Kerry-Edwards duo moved to number one and two respectively, proving the effectiveness of negative advertising.</p>
<p>Around the same time a libertarian group called Club for Growth ran a TV ad where two actors pretending to be an older Iowa couple said that Dean “should take his tax-hiking, government-expanding, latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading . . . body-piercing, Hollywood-loving, left-wing freak show back to Vermont. Where it belongs.”</p>
<p>Following his more-than-embarrassing third place finish in Iowa, Dean, hoping to rally his base, gave his now infamous screaming speech that became the media pinnacle for his downfall.</p>
<p>Eric Salzman, reporting for CBS News on January 26, 2004, wrote:</p>
<p>“The media is having a great time with Howard Dean’s ‘concession’ speech in Iowa … Like a horrific car accident on the side of the road, the clip of Dean listing the states with early primaries, and ending with a gleeful ‘yalp,’ is hard not to watch, even if there is nothing to gain from seeing it … What you might not know, because it doesn’t play 30 times a day on the cable news channels, is what was happening in the rest of the room. You don’t see the visual, and you don’t hear the audio. The television crews recording the event plug into an audio source picking up Dean’s microphone, not the sound of the room. The cameras focus in to a tight shot of the candidate, not the rest of the room. What you are not hearing is a room with thousands of people screaming and cheering. What you are not seeing are hundreds upon hundreds of American flags waving.</p>
<p>“What you are not hearing are members of the audience shouting out state names urging Dean to list more. What you are not seeing is the way Dean’s supporters were lifted out of their slump by the speech.”</p>
<p>But never mind what really happened. The media was having a hay-day with Dean’s tantrum. The unelectability of the governor, cast as a maniacal demon, was played out every half-hour on the cable news networks. And fellow Democrats loved the negative takes on the scream. “You’ve heard of mad cow disease? This was mad candidate disease,” the San Francisco Chronicle quoted Garry South, a senior adviser to Senator Joe Lieberman, as saying. “I sat there in total disbelief. It was beyond anything I’d ever seen,” South said. “If I were Trippi and (Dean pollster Paul) Maslin, I would have been having a heart attack.” It was truly the first thick nail in Dean’ s campaign coffin.</p>
<p>Although the DLC was astonished at Dean’s ranting yelp, they were nonetheless pleased. Everything Jones and his ilk wanted was coming true. Dean was self-destructing. And he was nudged to that brink by his own party’s elite establishment.</p>
<p>New Hampshire came next. Dean was already on the downward slide after Iowa, but his gang had hoped they could climb back into the saddle and ride off with a victory in the New England state.</p>
<p>Everybody in the Dean campaign knew New Hampshire was critical for Dean. Most didn’t know that in fact Trippi was planning on leaving the campaign regardless of whether Dean won or lost. He had nothing more to offer. If Dean didn’t come in second or a close third, he would be finished for good. But many in the Dean camp still felt confident. The Governor remained steady in the polls, although his numbers declined substantially after the Iowa ordeal. His troops had been in the state for months, attempting to organize and get out the Dean message. Certainly his frightening speech didn’t help. And by now, Dean’s wife Judith had been dragged before the TV cameras, on display for the media doctors to dissect. This spectacle was clearly in poor taste, and her uncomfortable demeanor did not bode well for Dean, who was working hard to get past his Iowa outrage and show the country he was just a normal fella, who just happened to hate GW Bush. So he pulled on a wool sweater and stomped to work in snowy New Hampshire.</p>
<p>None of these maneuvers mattered, however. Dean lost by double digits, an embarrassing finish indeed.</p>
<p>Marcus Teesey, a Dean volunteer in New Hampshire wrote of his experiences and his views on Dean’s collapse in the state: “The Dean machine was a brigade-sized organization that rapidly and suddenly — and in my opinion unexpectedly — acquired the enthusiastic support of ten divisions’ worth of new people through Meetup. Not all, but a definite majority, of these people had no political experience … People whose campaign experience was limited to stuffing envelopes and holding signs got important staff jobs in New Hampshire. The enthusiasm was there and so was the intelligence, but the core competence wasn’t and isn’t universal … If Dean had had a year to build his New Hampshire campaign with the resources available at the time of the primary, things would have been much smoother. Communications errors wouldn’t have occurred. Chains of command would have been clearer. Many thousands of man-hours were wasted in New Hampshire due to these things, which went some way towards nullifying the numerical advantage Dean’s organization held over Kerry’s. The rest of the way was because Kerry’s field grunts were, as a group, far more experienced than Dean’s.”</p>
<p>There’s an important lesson in Teesey’s tale: Winning the presidency, like any large political victory, takes a great deal of time and planning, a long-term project that Dean compressed into a fatally short-term campaign. A progressive — or even a liberal like Dean — who wants to be president should be laying the groundwork for 10 or more years in order to get it right.</p>
<p>Dean went on to lose all of the primaries before dropping out after his defeat in Wisconsin. Trippi resigned after New Hampshire, inspiring Dean to bring on Washington insider and Bill Clinton’s close friend Roy Neel as his replacement. It was sign of what was to come of Dean the Democrat who would fall back into the party line, leaving his followers to traverse the Kerry trail instead. He did pick up delegates by winning his home state of Vermont well after he quit, but by then it was far too late to matter.</p>
<p>Dean hadn’t made it to half of the states he had screamed out while on the mic following Iowa. To put it mildly, many Deaniacs were disenfranchised, as they struggled to understand what had gone awry.</p>
<p>Was it poor organizing? The media? Trippi? Dean’s persona? They needed to point fingers at those they blamed for his demise.</p>
<p>Some correctly accused Beltway Democrats, who from the inception of Dean’s campaign wanted to derail his hopes. The DC scoundrels were not expecting such massive anti-war support for the lackluster Vermonter. Surely DNC chief McAuliffe was never in touch with the resentment that was brewing on the ground leading up to Bush’s war on the Iraqi people. Trying to funnel that anger back to Washington was no easy task for these anti-warriors, but many saw Dean as the only way to effectively challenge the party that had overwhelmingly gone along with Bush’s preposterous attack and subsequent occupation. These perceptive activists gathered through the virtual world and planned their own assault on Bush. Surely they had the energy, but they were not prepared for the harassment their candidate would receive from party bigwigs.</p>
<p>This is what leads us to the larger story: The difficulties of taking on the corporate entrenched Democrats who believe the best way to win elections is to continue moving rightward. Although Dean was a centrist and conservative in almost every regard, he still operated on the political margins while running for president. He didn’t raise his funds in the normal corporate circles. He challenged the system and was supported by Americans far more progressive than he was.</p>
<p>Many of Dean’s patrons believed him to be progressive, a sort of Ralph Nader of the Democratic Party. But Dean, as you have read, was no Nader, or even Dennis Kucinich for that matter. He was, and continues to be, a New Democrat ideologically. Perhaps Dean was correct when he said he didn’t know what to expect. He had no idea Washington Democrats would not welcome him with open arms. He thought he was one of them. However, they hated Dean, but despised his followers even more.</p>
<p>In fact, that is why it is so appalling that Dean began campaigning for Kerry after his defeat. Roy Neel had been successful. He, like other conventional Democrats, didn’t want Dean’s activists to stray from the party, even though the Democrats would never embrace their beliefs. They have and always will take progressives and even most liberal-minded voters for granted. That’s been the part the Democrats — long the graveyard of radical social change — have played for the past 40 years.</p>
<p>On Friday June 9, 2004, Dean stepped into the ring with independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader. The old consumer advocate hardly flinched as Dean repeated half a dozen times that we must do everything in our power (that is, legal power) to rid the country of the Bush plague. We are in a state of “emergency,” he boldly announced.</p>
<p>Obviously reincarnated after his own presidential death, Dean went so far as to claim that John Kerry had “progressive credentials.” That is clearly something you would have never heard quiver off the lips of Dean the candidate, who himself lacked credentials of the progressive stripe. But Dean was now the defender of the party that did its best to slaughter him during the primaries. He had become the poster boy for a lousy Democratic ticket, which likely set him up for future within the party establishment.</p>
<p>Looking back on Dean’s record, it was no surprise that he defended Kerry’s candidacy. “Many Democrats also admire Ralph Nader’s achievements as I do,” Dean said shortly after Nader announced his candidacy. “But if they truly want George Bush out of the White House, they won’t vote for Ralph Nader in November.”</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Dean forgot to mention that Kerry and the Democrats never planned on bringing real transformation even if Kerry had won, which we’ll get to later.</p>
<p>The Dean saga shows just how far right we are politically in the US. Many have theories as to how this gross Democratic mindset unfolded, but the fact is, this trend is here to stay, and working within the party — though noble in some regards — cannot produce genuine shifts in ideological values, especially at the national level. Regrettably, even when there are signs that outsider challenges will alter the status quo of Washington politics, they all die a not-so-pleasant death.</p>
<p>This is an excerpt from JOSHUA FRANK’s new book <a href="http://www.BrickBurner.org/" type="external">Left Out!.</a></p>
<p>JOSHUA FRANK is the author of the forthcoming book, <a href="http://www.BrickBurner.org/" type="external">Left Out! How Liberals Helped Reelect George W. Bush</a>, to be published by Common Courage Press. You can pre-order a copy at discounted rate at <a href="http://www.BrickBurner.org/" type="external">www.BrickBurner.org</a>. Josh can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | How Beltway Democrats Sank Dean for America | true | https://counterpunch.org/2005/06/04/how-beltway-democrats-sank-dean-for-america/ | 2005-06-04 | 4 |
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<p>Don’t expect an apology from Michael Phelps to TV viewers who were disappointed with his race against a simulated great white shark for a Discovery Channel Shark Week special.</p>
<p>The winningest athlete in Olympic history was bested by two seconds Sunday night in “Phelps vs. Shark: Great Gold vs. Great White.” The race didn’t pit Phelps against a real shark, but rather a computer-simulated fish based on data on the swimming speed of sharks.</p>
<p>Phelps responded to critics in a Facebook Live video Tuesday. He notes that a shark doesn’t swim in a straight line and suggested that a side-by-side race with the predator would be impossible. He later added that he made it clear before the show aired that he wouldn’t be racing a real shark.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Michael Phelps defends Shark Week ‘race’ against great white | false | https://abqjournal.com/1038488/michael-phelps-defends-shark-week-race-against-great-white.html | 2017-07-26 | 2 |
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<p>Some Connecticut gun makers say they’re leaving the state over new gun rights legislation while other U.S. gun shop owners say lawmakers are missing the point on the issue.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>After Connecticut passed its restrictive gun control law last week, one gun maker announced plans to leave the state for more gun-friendly territory. &#160;And the issue was on the national stage Thursday, as the Senate voted 68-31 to open debate on proposed legislation that would expand background checks to gun shows and online purchases.</p>
<p>But some gun shop owners from across the country say they aren’t concerned about the potential reforms, as they already do background checks.</p>
<p>Al Dodson, the owner of Mulberry Gun and Pawn in Montgomery, AL says he has seen people that aren’t gun dealers get tables at gun shows and sell to “anyone and everyone.”</p>
<p>“Some are more honest, and ask for pistol licenses, which means that the buyer has at least been cleared, but some of these guys will just sell to the person with the biggest wad of money,” says Dodson.</p>
<p>Great Guns owner Cathy Peisert says expanding background checks would not affect her Missouri gun shop. She agrees with Dodson that background check loopholes should be closed at gun shows.</p>
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<p>“You can say that it’s your own personal gun and sell it to whoever you want. If there’s a sale, a background check needs to be done,” says Peisert.</p>
<p>Alan Steel, owner of Steel Guns and Pawn in Idaho Falls, ID, says he already conducts background checks on every gun sold at his store. Steel says he doesn’t know if illegal sales are a problem at gun shows, but says “it’s a lot easier to buy something there.”</p>
<p>Steel says he doesn’t think any legislation would be strong enough to end gun violence.</p>
<p>“If someone wants a gun, they’re going to get a gun. They’ll find it elsewhere,” he says.</p>
<p>While he’s not worried about the current legislation, Steel says he feels lawmakers aren’t done yet, and that banning assault rifles and extended magazines would significantly affect his business. Lawrence Keane, a spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents gun manufacturers and vendors, is equally concerned – especially since the final text of the legislation is yet to be determined. Keane says it’s premature to say what the effect will be on gun store owners, and he’s concerned about potential burdens on registered retailers.</p>
<p>Keane also says an amendment that would ban modern sporting rifles and types of magazines would have a huge effect on shop owners, as well as on wildlife conservation funding, which is paid for by the excise tax on these types of weapons.</p>
<p>The gun store owners agree enforcement is more important than new legislation. Dodson, a former sheriff for nearly 30 years, says the ATF is overwhelmed and doesn’t have enough officers. He says there is often no follow-up when someone fails a background check.</p>
<p>Taking the matter into his own hands, Dodson says he will still deny a purchase to someone that passes a background check if he is worried about them handling a gun. Recently, Dodson says a customer came in inebriated and tried to buy a gun, but Dodson turned him down.</p>
<p>“He came in one week later to thank me,” says Dodson.</p> | Gun Store Owners: Need More Enforcement, not New Legislation | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/04/11/gun-store-owners-need-more-enforcement-not-new-legislation.html | 2016-03-23 | 0 |
<p>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Gov. Sam Brownback has appointed a Kansas Department of Health and Environment attorney to serve temporarily as its top administrator.</p>
<p>Brownback's office said Wednesday that the new interim KDHE secretary is Darian Dernovish.</p>
<p>He is the department's chief litigation attorney in federal and state courts. He has been a local and federal prosecutor and worked for the Kansas Highway Patrol.</p>
<p>He is replacing Secretary Susan Mosier, who is resigning Friday. Dernovish will serve as secretary until a more permanent replacement is found.</p>
<p>Brownback's office also announced that he appointed Republican state Rep. Greg Lakin of Wichita to serve as the department's chief medical officer. Lakin is an osteopath and medical director for the Valley Hope Rehabilitation Center.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article192746369.html" type="external">The Wichita Eagle reports</a> that Lakin plans to resign Monday from the House.</p>
<p>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Gov. Sam Brownback has appointed a Kansas Department of Health and Environment attorney to serve temporarily as its top administrator.</p>
<p>Brownback's office said Wednesday that the new interim KDHE secretary is Darian Dernovish.</p>
<p>He is the department's chief litigation attorney in federal and state courts. He has been a local and federal prosecutor and worked for the Kansas Highway Patrol.</p>
<p>He is replacing Secretary Susan Mosier, who is resigning Friday. Dernovish will serve as secretary until a more permanent replacement is found.</p>
<p>Brownback's office also announced that he appointed Republican state Rep. Greg Lakin of Wichita to serve as the department's chief medical officer. Lakin is an osteopath and medical director for the Valley Hope Rehabilitation Center.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article192746369.html" type="external">The Wichita Eagle reports</a> that Lakin plans to resign Monday from the House.</p> | Brownback names interim KDHE secretary, top medical officer | false | https://apnews.com/cfd45d84b7fb4c97a3c5f84c5a4855e1 | 2018-01-03 | 2 |
<p>Bernie Sanders, a Pope Francis devotee, which makes perfect sense as Francis also <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2013/11/26/pope-franciss-stinging-critique-of-capitalism/" type="external">rails</a>about the evils of capitalism, will speak at a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/04/08/bernie-sanders-plans-short-hiatus-from-new-york-campaign-trail-to-speak-at-the-vatican/" type="external">conference</a> hosted by the Vatican.</p>
<p>Sanders will speak at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. He stated, “I am grateful to the Vatican for inviting me to talk about an issue that is very dear to my heart, which is how we create a moral economy that works for all of the people rather than just the top one percent. I will also in my remarks be addressing the planetary crisis of climate change and the moral imperative to make sure we leave this planet in a way that is healthy and habitable for future generations.”</p>
<p>In February, Sanders <a href="http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/catholic-tv-interview-bernie-sanders-praises-popes-socialism" type="external">praised</a> Francis on the Canadian Catholic television network Salt + Light, gushing, "I think what the pope has done, in a very bold way ... is raise the issue of the worship of money, the idolatry of money, and to say maybe that’s not what human life should be about. That is a very, very radical critique of the hyper-capitalist system, world system, that we’re living in today."</p>
<p>He added, "What the pope is saying is that human life, our existence, should be more than just the accumulation of more wealth. And everybody knows that right now we have the wealth, we have the technology to provide at least a decent standard of living for all of our people. So few should not have so much, and I think that’s what the pope is talking about.”</p>
<p>Margaret Archer, the president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-08/vatican-academy-criticizes-sanders-s-monumental-discourtesy" type="external">told Bloomberg News</a>that Sanders had solicited the invitation, adding, “Sanders made the first move, for the obvious reasons. I think in a sense he may be going for the Catholic vote, but this is not the Catholic vote, and he should remember that and act accordingly — not that he will.”</p> | Bernie Sanders Heads To The Vatican To Preach Socialism | true | https://dailywire.com/news/4808/bernie-sanders-heads-vatican-preach-socialism-hank-berrien | 2016-04-08 | 0 |
<p>An estimated <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/01/11/popular-heartburn-medication-linked-to-chronic-kidney-disease/" type="external">15 million Americans</a> are currently taking drugs like Nexium which work to control heartburn, indigestion, and acid reflux. Unfortunately, those who turn to Nexium and other Proton-pump inhibitors will need to proceed much more cautiously as studies have confirmed that taking these drugs increase the chance of kidney problems – and even kidney failure – by as much as fifty percent.</p>
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<p>Proton-pump inhibitors are a class of <a href="http://drugsafetynews.com/nexium/" type="external">drugs which include Nexium, Prilosec,</a> and Prevacid which work by blocking the secretion of acid into the stomach. These extremely common medications are sold both by prescription and over-the-counter. The recent discovery of this increased risk of chronic kidney disease and even failure means that much more care must be taken in determining if a person should be popping the purple pill.</p>
<p>The issue with Nexium and other drugs in its class is that since their creation in the 1980s, they were considered to be very safe, with <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/01/11/462423759/popular-acid-reflux-drugs-are-linked-to-kidney-disease-risk" type="external">no real side effects.</a> This led to the popularity of the drug and a much more lax attitude about taking large doses and prescribing it to any and all patients with reflux issues.</p>
<p>It is very possible that these drugs, prescribed and taken in such massive numbers, are being over-prescribed. Studies have suggested that as many as 75 percent of those who take proton-pump inhibitors need not do so.</p>
<p>In addition to being connected to chronic kidney disease, Nexium and other drugs like it have been linked to increased rates of heart attack, bone fracture, and infections of the gut.</p>
<p>The research was conducted by Johns Hopkins University and it studied over 250,000 patients to reach its conclusion that Nexium and proton-pump inhibitors increase the rate of kidney disease. Researchers concluded that doctors and patients should take a greater degree of caution when prescribing and purchasing proton-pump inhibitors, but say that further research is needed to draw stronger connections between the drugs and the disease. Doctors recommend that patients first try to control their acid issues by changing their diet and creating a healthier lifestyle.</p>
<p>Over 13 percent of the population suffer from kidney disease. A case of chronic kidney disease, if prolonged, can lead to kidney failure and the necessity of a kidney transplant, a dangerous and invasive surgery.</p>
<p>With 15 million Americans currently taking these drugs, it is clearly a massive market for big pharma. As of now, the companies that produce proton-pump inhibitors have either declined to comment on the study or have maintained that their drugs are safe to take according to the label.</p>
<p>Find out more about Nexium &amp; Prilosec litigation, by going to the <a href="https://www.levinlaw.com/prilosec-nexium-lawsuit-lawyer-side-effects-recall-help" type="external">Levin Papantonio Nexium &amp; Prilosec Lawsuit website</a>.</p> | Nexium: Is the Purple Pill Shutting Your Kidneys Down? – Should You Be Taking It? | true | http://trofire.com/2016/05/02/nexium-purple-pill-shutting-kidneys-taking-2/ | 4 |
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<p>The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday <a href="http://ir.eia.gov/wpsr/wpsrsummary.pdf" type="external">reported an eighth straight weekly increase Opens a New Window.</a> in domestic crude-oil supplies, but it was smaller than the market expected. Crude inventories rose by 1.5 million barrels for the week ended Feb. 24. The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a 2.5 million-barrel climb, according to sources, while analysts polled by S&amp;P Global Platts forecast a climb of 2.1 million barrels. Gasoline supplies declined by 500,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell 900,000 barrels last week, according to the EIA. April crude was up 32 cents, or 0.6%, at $54.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was trading at $54.28 before the supply data.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2017 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | EIA Reports a Smaller-than-expected Climb In U.S. Crude Supplies | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/03/01/eia-reports-smaller-than-expected-climb-in-us-crude-supplies.html | 2017-03-16 | 0 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Davon House didn’t receive much attention from recruiters coming out of high school, but he’ll have the opportunity to catch the eye of NFL scouts against some of college football’s best in January.</p>
<p>House, a senior cornerback at New Mexico State, has been&#160; selected to play in the 2011 Senior Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 29. The game will be televised by the NFL Network.</p>
<p>The Senior Bowl annually features the country’s best senior collegiate football stars on teams representing the North and South, which are coached by the entire coaching staffs from two NFL teams.</p>
<p>House is the fifth player in school history to be invited to play in the game. Other Aggies who have participated are Jim Bohl (’67), Jim Germany (’75), Walt Williams (’77) and Andre Anderson (’78).</p>
<p>“This is a great honor to be invited to the Senior Bowl,”&#160; said House, who is&#160; ranked the fifth best draft prospect at his position by NFLDraftScout.com. “Since I arrived at New Mexico State this has been one of my goals. It kind of seems surreal right now because I’ve seen some great football players play in this game. I’m just happy for the opportunity.”</p>
<p>The 6-foot, 190-pound Palmdale, Calif., native has 36 tackles, an interception and a team high six passes broken up on the season. House was a first-team All-WAC selection in 2009 and is NMSU’s all-time leader in interception return yardage.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | House Gets Special Invite | false | https://abqjournal.com/232962/house-gets-special-invite.html | 2 |
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<p>The first <a href="http://www.coml.org/" type="external">Census of Marine Life</a> has concluded a decade of investigation into the whos, how manys, and wherefores of the <a href="" type="internal">denizens of the World Ocean</a> and released their findings today.</p>
<p>(NASA image by Robert Simmon and Marit Jentoft-Nilsen, based on <a href="http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/" type="external">MODIS</a> data.)</p>
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<p>(Photo <a href="http://home.comcast.net/%7Emilazinkova/Fogshadow.html" type="external">Mila Zinkova</a>, courtesy Wikimedia Commons)</p>
<p>While there’s <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100929/full/467514a.html" type="external">debate over the costs</a> of the enterprise ($650 million, $75 million of which came from the <a href="http://www.sloan.org/" type="external">Sloan Foundation</a>), I say: Money well spent.</p>
<p>(Photo © Julia Whitty)</p>
<p>The historic enterprise will almost certainly be followed by similar investigative decades in years to come, à la the <a href="http://www.ipy.org/" type="external">International Polar Year</a>. Science follows the footprints of past scientists, orienteering along maps of prior research, recalibrating the compass to current understanding.</p>
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<p>The census includes the investigations of 2,700 researchers from 83 nations sailing aboard 540 expeditions to the farthest- and <a href="" type="internal">deepest-flung regions</a> of our world.</p>
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<p>(Venus flytrap anemone. Photo Ian MacDonald, Florida State University, Census of Marine Life.)</p>
<p>The results have appeared in 2,600 scientific publications. Most of those are open access online. <a href="http://db.coml.org/comlrefbase/" type="external">Here’s the bibliographic database</a>.</p>
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<p>(Larval tube anemone. Photograph courtesy Cheryl Clarke-Hopcroft/UAF/CMarZ, Census of Marine Life.)</p>
<p>The data are now available to everyone in more than 30 million records listed online in the <a href="http://www.iobis.org/" type="external">Ocean Biogeographic Information System</a> database. This database greatly contributes to a 21st-century trend of data sharing. A new scientific revolution.</p>
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<p>Among the highlights of the census:</p>
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<p>(Copepod. Photo <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/user:Uwe_Kils" type="external">Uwe Kils</a>, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.)</p>
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<p>(Acantharian. Photo <a href="http://jbpc.mbl.edu/cv-lamaral.html" type="external">Linda Amaral Zettler</a>. Census of Marine Life.)</p>
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<p>(Squidworm. Photo <a href="http://www.whoi.edu/more.go?username=lmadin" type="external">Laurence Madin</a>, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Census of Marine Life.)</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.coml.org/pressreleases/census2010/PDF/Highlights-2010-Report-Low-Res.pdf" type="external">pdf of the highlights report</a>:</p>
<p>First Census of Marine Life 2010: Highlights of a Decade of Discovery</p>
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<p>Reposted from my blog <a href="http://deepbluehome.blogspot.com/" type="external">Deep Blue Home</a>.</p> | The Ocean: A Snapshot 2000-2010 | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/10/ocean-snapshot-2000-2010/ | 2010-10-04 | 4 |
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<p>DENVER — Colorado regulators are considering proposed new rules for thousands of oil and gas pipelines after a fatal explosion last year blamed on leaking gas.</p>
<p>The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission opened two days of hearings Monday on regulations for installing, testing and shutting down flow lines, which carry oil and gas from wells to nearby equipment.</p>
<p>The rules for thousands of oil and gas pipelines are in response to an April 17 explosion in the town of Firestone that killed two people, injured a third and destroyed a house. Investigators said the explosion was caused by odorless, unrefined natural gas leaking from a severed flow line.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Investigators said the line was believed to be abandoned but was still connected to an operating well with the valve turned to the open position.</p>
<p>The flow line was severed about 10 feet (3 meters) from the house, and gas seeped into the home’s basement, investigators said. The well and pipeline were in place several years before the house was built.</p>
<p>The proposed rules are a significant expansion of existing ones. A final version will be drawn up after this week’s hearings. No date has been set for the commission’s seven voting members to approve or disapprove of the rules.</p>
<p>Colorado has nearly 129,000 flow lines within about 1,000 feet (300 meters) of occupied buildings, according to energy company reports submitted to the state last year.</p>
<p>The presence of homes and schools near oil and gas operations is a contentious issue in Colorado, especially in the booming Front Range urban corridor — including Firestone — which overlaps with an oil and gas field.</p>
<p>A 22-page draft of the new regulations says flow lines that are permanently taken out of service must be disconnected, drained and sealed at both ends and any above-ground portion must be removed. The rules also allow energy companies to simply remove the lines.</p>
<p>The proposal also would require energy companies to provide information on the location of flow lines to the Call 811 program, which marks the site of underground utilities at a property owner’s request. That’s meant to help homeowners and construction companies avoid inadvertently severing a line.</p>
<p>The proposed rules revise or add requirements for designing, installing, testing and documenting flow lines.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Shortly after the explosion, some state officials argued that Colorado should compile a map of all flow lines in the state and make it available online. But Gov. John Hickenlooper decided against that in August, citing concerns about security and theft.</p>
<p>Instead, he said the state would require energy companies to participate in the Call 811 program, saying that would make location information available to anyone who needs it.</p>
<p>The new rules also are intended to close some gaps in pipeline regulation.</p>
<p>Commission staffers noted last week that one federal agency, three state agencies and some local governments have at least some say in pipelines, but a few types of pipelines and activities don’t fall within any agency’s jurisdiction.</p>
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<p>Follow Dan Elliott at <a href="http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP" type="external">http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP</a> . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/dan%20elliott .</p> | Colorado debates new gas line rules after fatal explosion | false | https://abqjournal.com/1116369/colorado-debates-new-gas-line-rules-after-fatal-explosion.html | 2018-01-08 | 2 |
<p>Two Army helicopters crashed at <a href="http://www.lewis-mcchord.army.mil/" type="external">Joint Base Lewis-McChord</a> in Thurston County, Washington, on Monday night. The Army said all four soldiers on board were killed.</p>
<p>The two-seat, <a href="http://www.army.mil/factfiles/equipment/aircraft/kiowa.html" type="external">OH-58D Kiowa Warrior</a> reconnaissance helicopters were on a training mission when they crashed around 8:00 PM Monday, base spokesman J.C. Mathews <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/12/13/143630770/4-killed-as-army-choppers-crash-in-washington-state" type="external">told the Associated Press</a>.</p>
<p>It is not yet known whether the aircraft collided or went down separately, he said.</p>
<p>"We don't have details on what actually occurred," Mathews said. "That will be part of the investigation."</p>
<p>The skies were clear at the time of the crash, <a href="http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/12/13/2309239/helicopter-crash-kills-four-soldiers.html" type="external">according to the Seattle Times</a>.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111208/274-us-troop-remains-dumped-at-landfill-dover-ai" type="external">274 US troop remains dumped at landfill by Dover Air Base</a></p>
<p>Debris was spread over a large area of the base, <a href="http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/12/13/2309239/helicopter-crash-kills-four-soldiers.html" type="external">reported the Tacoma News Tribune</a>. The site was later blocked off by sheriff's deputies and military personnel.</p>
<p>The soldiers killed will not be publicly identified until their relatives have been notified.</p>
<p>An investigation has been launched, to be led by the <a href="http://www.rucker.army.mil/tenants/usacrsc.html" type="external">Combat Readiness Center</a> at Fort Rucker, Alabama.</p>
<p>"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends and loved ones of the soldiers involved in this tragic accident," said Major General Lloyd Miles, acting senior Army commander at Lewis-McChord, in a statement. "We will conduct a thorough investigation into this incident, and we will do everything in our power to support the families of the brave soldiers who died."</p>
<p>Lewis-McChord, a joint Army and Air Force facility, is one of the largest bases in the US with more than 40,000 military personnel plus their families, civilian staff, contract employees and retirees.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/110831/suspicious-package-illinois-air-force-base" type="external">3 fall ill after suspicious package arrives at Air Force base</a></p> | Joint Base Lewis-McChord helicopter crash kills 4 soldiers | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-12-13/joint-base-lewis-mcchord-helicopter-crash-kills-4-soldiers | 2011-12-13 | 3 |
<p>Gareth Porter is a historian and investigative journalist specializing in US foreign and military policy. He writes regularly for Inter Press Service on US policy towards Iraq and Iran. He is the author of five books, of which the latest is Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare.</p>
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<p /> JIHAN HAFIZ, PRODUCER AND REPORTER, TRNN: Thank you for joining The Real News here in Baltimore. My name is Jihan Hafiz. And you're watching The Porter Report.
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<p />This week we have Gareth Porter. He's a historian and investigative journalist on U.S. foreign and military policy. He writes regularly for the Inter Press Service on U.S. policy towards Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. This year he was awarded the Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. And he is a regular contributor to The Real News Network. Gareth, thank you so much for joining us.
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<p />GARETH PORTER, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Thanks for having me again, Jihan.
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<p />HAFIZ: Of course.
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<p />PORTER: Glad to hear your voice.
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<p />HAFIZ: Good to see you as well. And this week we're going to talk a little bit about U.S. foreign policy in regards to the elections, as the debate's focusing on U.S. foreign policy was just this week. Now, there has been lots of reporting on this in the mainstream media news, and of course they tend to agree with the fact that President Obama won this debate. But also in other networks they suggest that there's not much difference between President Obama and Mitt Romney when it comes to U.S. foreign policy. Can you talk a little bit about that, please, Gareth?
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<p />PORTER: Well, of course the coverage in the news media of the presidential and vice presidential debates has been overwhelmingly focused on the horse race aspect of the debates—in fact, I would say virtually entirely on the horse race. Who did better? Who won? Did either Obama or Romney, you know, really give such a great account of himself that he clearly emerged victorious? Did one or the other say something or a whole series of things that showed that they were really not clued in or somehow not energetic enough? All those were the substance of the coverage of these debates.
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<p />What interests me, however, is the fact that the entire range of discussions in these debates, both presidential and vice presidential, elicited such a high degree of misleading and simply untrue statements, some of which was, you know, fact-checked by the news media, but much of which simply went unnoticed. And, you know, I would point to both Afghanistan and Iran as the best examples of the kinds of issues where there were statements made by both the candidates that are clearly, you know, misleading to the American people.
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<p />Just to take the Afghanistan War example first, you know, you had in a vice presidential debate the vice presidential—Republican vice presidential candidate, Paul Ryan, talking about how the United States military needs to have more troops for a longer period of time in Afghanistan so that the United States can ensure that it will have a successful result. This, of course, is really pulling the wool over the eyes of the American people, leading them to believe that somehow there's a relationship between how many troops the United States keeps in Afghanistan over the next year or 18 months and the outcome of that war, when in fact it is absolutely clear to anyone who is following this closely (and I include in this generalization the colonels and the generals themselves who are in Afghanistan, except for the four-stars and maybe three-starred generals whose careers are on the line who have to believe that they're doing a good thing there) that everyone else understands that this makes no difference, that the outcome is not going to be determined by the presence of U.S. troops. They've done their thing. They've been—you know, we had the 30,000-, 35,000-troop surge. They've come home now. And recently a senior U.S. official was quoted in The New York Times over the last couple of days, in fact, as saying that, you know, the American people should know, but they haven't been told, that when the United States pulls all its troops out, the Taliban are going to move back into those zones, those districts that they were kicked out of by the occupying U.S. troops in Kandahar and Helmand provinces. So, I mean, that really spells the defeat for the U.S. war in Afghanistan. But neither candidate was willing to even come close to recognizing that fact. And, of course, President Obama and Vice President Biden simply told the American people, well, we're getting out; I promised we'd get out, and we are getting out; whereas in fact the intention very clearly is to leave 10,000 or more special operations forces in Afghanistan for an, you know, at this point undetermined period of years. So on both sides we're basically lying to the American people on Afghanistan.
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<p />HAFIZ: Gareth, I want to ask you a bit about Iran, because Iran's been a major Washington, D.C., policy aspect for the past couple of years, and it usually revolves around the threat of a possible nuclear weapon. You saw that Mitt Romney mentioned Iran dozens of times and said they cannot allow them to have nuclear technology. I'm wondering: how important of an issue is this, in this campaign, to the American people? I mean, how much does the American voter care about Iran's nuclear facilities?
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<p />PORTER: Well, that's an interesting question, and I think it's a bit murky, just how important this is to American voters. For one thing, you know, if you examine the polling data, this opinion survey data, on the issue of Iran and what the United States should do about the Iranian nuclear program, what you find is that, as is often the case, pollsters sometimes lead the people that they are surveying on by giving certain cues or clues as to the correct answer. And I'm thinking just a few years ago of a poll—I think it was two years ago, 2010, a poll that began by asking the American people: do you think that the United States should—what should the United States do to essentially force Iran to give up its nuclear program? And then they offered various alternatives, options, as to what the United States should do, and they were to pick from those options. Then the second question was: do you think that Iran has nuclear weapons yet? Well, of course, people, having been told that the United States must force the Iranians to give up their nuclear program, generally believe that the correct answer was that Iran already has nuclear weapons, whereas in fact—as we all know, that there's no evidence of that and no reason, from the U.S. intelligence community's point of view, to believe that they do in fact have nuclear weapons—nobody really believes that who is in a position to know.
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<p />So, constantly the public is being given cues by both politicians and pollsters that are misleading on that issue. And I think to the extent that they believe that Iran does have nuclear weapons, they're alarmed about it, and to the extent that they don't believe that Iran has nuclear weapons, they're not really very alarmed and they really don't think that that's central to the campaign at all.
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<p />And the second point I would make about the way the campaigns of both parties have handled this issue is that clearly Mitt Romney might as well be the foreign minister of Israel, because he takes the position—or has taken the position, you know, 90Â&#160;percent of the way—that Bibi Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, wants him to take. He's basically said openly that I'm running for president, I'm going to take my cues on Iran from the prime minister of Israel—which is an unprecedented situation for the United States to be in, where a major party candidate is openly saying that my policy on a major national security issue is going to be dictated by a foreign country. And that, I think, is something that deserved much more critical scrutiny and much more commentary than it got in the U.S. news media.
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<p />But then there's a third point that I want to make, and that is that I think Netanyahu clearly hoped that Mitt Romney would go even further than he did in these debates and he would actually say that if I'm elected, I will give an ultimatum to Iran: if they don't stop their nuclear program, their enrichment program entirely within a certain number of months after I'm elected, I will go to war against them, I will attack them. And, of course, Romney's not going to say that, for the simple reason that it would not be popular in this country—he knows that—and because the U.S. military and the State Department and everybody else surrounding him would completely oppose that and give him very good reasons for not giving such an ultimatum. So I think that this debate and the campaign in general has been very disappointing to the Israeli government, and in fact has probably caused the prime minister, Netanyahu, to back down from the kind of rhetoric that he's used over the past many months on Iran.
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<p />HAFIZ: Gareth, I wanted to move from Iran and Afghanistan on to Pakistan. Now, there was a third-party debate, and a major part of their foreign policy discussion was the use of drones. And, if you recall from the Mitt Romney–Obama debate, President Obama was citing the use of drones as this miraculous method of taking out wanted terrorists by the United States government. Now there are also other reports coming out that the use of drones in Pakistan has created even more anti-U.S. sentiment as a number of these drones are also targeting unknown areas, in effect killing many civilians. In fact, this week there was an attack where children were killed. Can you talk a bit about the drone policy and the effects it's had on the U.S. goal of promoting democracy, so-called promoting democracy in that region?
<p />
<p />PORTER: Well, I can very quickly give my overview of that issue of how drones affect U.S. national security by saying that I have written in the past, as have other journalists—the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in London in particular have written about how the drone strikes in Pakistan have in fact killed large numbers of civilians. They are not discriminate in the way in which the Obama administration has claimed in the past, very clearly. And if you look at the statistics, even those that are kept by the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C., which are based on rather misleading reports in the U.S. news media and in Pakistani news media, and which therefore basically consider—anyone who is called a militant in these news reports is listed in these statistics as a militant, and therefore could not be, supposedly, a civilian, whereas in fact we know that the Obama administration has—since the beginning, in 2009, has considered anyone who is a military-age male in the vicinity of a drone strike who gets killed as a militant. That is the automatic way of categorizing anyone in that situation. And therefore the only people that are considered to be civilians in the statistics that have been kept have been women and children. And that means that hundreds of men who are not combatants but who are killed in these strikes have in fact been civilians. And that has been a major aspect of the policy that the U.S. news media has still not covered adequately.
<p />
<p />So I think that this is a very serious problem for the United States, and I can tell you that the population of the FATA region, the tribal region of Pakistan where these strikes are being carried out, are adamantly against them, overwhelmingly against them, even though they're also overwhelmingly opposed to the Pakistani Taliban. So this is a point of view that is shared overwhelmingly. It is shared by people who are the victims of these strikes, whose lives have been very adversely affected by the strikes, and this makes the United States even more unpopular than it was in Pakistan. And the rest of the population of Pakistan outside these regions are even more opposed to the United States than in the regions themselves. So we have a very serious problem in Pakistan that the U.S. government and the two parties have not even begun to seriously tackle.
<p />
<p />And this is another cost, I'm afraid, of this two-party system, that a policy that is very clearly adversely affecting the security of the United States is not being adequately debated, it is not being given the consideration that it deserves, because—as I said at the outset: that the two parties have gotten used to lying to the American people to a degree that makes it impossible for debates to take place, even in a presidential year, when it's so important that we understand what the real positions are of the candidates who are running for president and what their implications are for the American people. And I think that is a problem that now has to be given an extremely high priority by people who care about the future of this country. It's time to really think much more seriously about what is wrong with the two-party system, what needs to be done about it. And I think, you know, obviously the need for other parties, at least a third party, must be high on the political agenda in this country.
<p />
<p />HAFIZ: Well, it's definitely one narrative from both U.S. candidates, and from what you were saying, Gareth, a very different reality on the ground there in that region. It was wonderful having you, Gareth. Thank you again for joining us.
<p />
<p />PORTER: Thanks so much, Jihan.
<p />
<p />HAFIZ: Take care. And thank you for joining us here on The Real News from Baltimore. My name is Jihan Hafiz. And until next time, take care.
<p />
<p />End
<p />
<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | Both Candidates Misleading on Iran and Afghanistan | true | http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D31%26Itemid%3D74%26jumival%3D9036 | 2012-10-28 | 4 |
<p>In May, after St. Louis’ minimum wage rose to $10 per hour per city ordinance, Republican Missouri legislators backed by big-business lobbyists passed a law establishing a statewide minimum wage that could not be exceeded by cities, knocking the figure back down to $7.70. The change took effect Monday.</p>
<p>The city had passed an ordinance in 2015 that would gradually increase the minimum wage to $11. After two years of legal challenges failed, including one before the state Supreme Court, the Republican-dominated General Assembly passed a law limiting minimum wages statewide. An example of a “pre-emption law,” it effectively bends liberal urban centers to the will of conservative state lawmakers.</p>
<p>David Graham of The Atlantic <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/08/st-louis-minimum-wage-preemption/538182/" type="external">writes</a>:</p>
<p>There has been a major wave of state preemption laws around the country in recent years, the fruit of an era in which cities—even in traditionally conservative areas like the Deep South—are increasingly liberal, while conservative Republicans hold unprecedented control of state governments.</p>
<p />
<p>Progressives, finding themselves shut out at the state level, are attempting to enact new liberal policies in their home cities. And Republicans, who have long extolled the value of local control, have acted across the board to prevent them from doing so. The range of preemption laws is enormous, including culture-war issues like North Carolina’s controversial “bathroom bill,” HB2, in 2016, but many of them concern business interests. A city moves to ban hydraulic fracking or the use of plastic shopping bags or puppy mills or sugary drinks, and then the state smacks them down.</p>
<p>Minimum-wage laws are among the most common preemption laws. As the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute writes in a <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/city-governments-are-raising-standards-for-working-people-and-state-legislators-are-lowering-them-back-down/" type="external">report released this weekend</a>, 25 states have passed laws preempting local salary increases since 1999, more than half of them in the last five years.</p>
<p>Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens&#160; <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/missouri-set-reduce-st-louis-minimum-wage-10-7-70-article-1.3300143" type="external">said in a statement</a>, “Politicians in St. Louis passed a bill that fails on both counts: it will kill jobs, and despite what you hear from liberals, it will take money out of people’s pockets.”</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.ccenterdispatch.com/news/state/article_fe0e0d5c-339b-5261-8084-dacc491e5e22.html" type="external">The Associated Press</a>:</p>
<p>Greitens declined to comment Monday but has said previously that the higher wage in St. Louis forces small businesses to either cut hours or cut jobs. He cited a University of Washington study suggesting Seattle’s $15 minimum wage cost workers hours on the job, resulting in an average loss of $125 per month.</p>
<p>Another study by the University of California at Berkeley had a different result, finding that the Seattle wage hike boosted pay for restaurant workers without costing jobs.</p>
<p>Some found it ironic that the state’s move comes as St. Louis police officers have been awarded a 30 to 40 percent pay raise generated by a sales tax increase, part of which was slated for social services within the community. Never mind that a <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/st-louis-county-police-chief-calls-justice-department-review-a/article_186d4d30-70ef-5afe-8efe-edd6f47bedf2.html" type="external">2015 Justice Department report</a> raised concerns about racial profiling by the city’s police after the controversial killing of black 18-year-old Mansur Ball-Bey. An autopsy showed Ball-Bey was <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-police-missouri-idUSKCN0QQ1GD20150822" type="external">shot in the back</a>, contradicting police claims, yet no charges were brought in the case.</p>
<p>The Riverfront Times <a href="https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2017/07/21/st-louis-police-want-more-pay-but-no-one-is-talking-about-pensions" type="external">noted</a>:</p>
<p>Representing 1,100 city cops, the St. Louis Police Officers Association is in the midst of contract negotiations with the city, and its controversial business manager, Jeff Roorda, has spent months proclaiming that an insufficient salary increase will create a “dire” shortage of officers. Roorda and the union were also not at all pleased that the city earmarked a chunk of potential revenue from a proposed sales tax increase to fund such things as after-school groups, social workers and mental health treatment, a.k.a. “programs unrelated to police pay.”</p>
<p>Activist groups such as Save the Raise denounced the state’s action and vowed to fight on, while national labor group Fight for $15 called the decrease disgusting. Some politicians, including St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson and Columbia, Mo., Mayor Brian Treece, are <a href="http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/20170828/supporters-of-missouri-minimum-wage-boost-to-seek-ballot-issue" type="external">taking up the fight</a>, according to the Columbia Tribune:</p>
<p>Krewson said she’ll be asking for signatures on a petition toward a November 2018 ballot measure. The effort called “Raise Up Missouri” requires 100,000 signatures by May. Treece and officials from St. Louis County and Kansas City also support the effort.</p>
<p>Opponents of the law are fighting back in other ways as well.</p>
<p>The Los Angeles Times reports that “more than 100 small businesses have pledged not to cut paychecks, and 16 members of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen endorsed the campaign.”</p> | Missouri Takes Away St. Louis' Minimum Wage Hike | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/missouri-takes-away-st-louis-minimum-wage-hike/ | 2017-08-30 | 4 |
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<p>In this Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014 photo, farmer Katie Miller, 32, of Providence, R.I., right, talks to a group of farmers about harvesting seeds from red leaf lettuce plants at Scratch Farm in Cranston, R.I. Farmers and industry experts say the popularity of the “buy local” food movement here has helped create a market for new, small farms and young people are increasingly interested in the origins of their food and in farming. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)</p>
<p>CRANSTON, R.I. — Farming is hip in New England.</p>
<p>Across the region, young people are choosing crops over cubicles, new farms are popping up and the local food movement is spreading.</p>
<p>Farmers and industry experts agree New England is bucking a trend toward larger, but fewer, farms because many of its residents want to buy their food locally and its entrepreneurs want to produce it. The region’s small size makes it easy for farmers and consumers to connect at farm markets and stands.</p>
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<p>Many of these new farmers are young people increasingly interested in the origins of their food and farming, who are eager to take over for the nation’s aging farmers.</p>
<p>“The more I scratched the surface on what was going on with the food system, the more I felt a compulsion to act,” said 32-year-old Bill Braun, who runs the Ivory Silo farm in Massachusetts. He is not using his graduate degree in philosophy because, he said, he felt an urgent need to grow his own food and reconnect with nature.</p>
<p>He was among a group of farmers and future farmers, mostly in their 20s and 30s, who recently talked about seed collecting as they meandered through rows of vegetables at Scratch Farm’s “Young Farmer Night” in Cranston.</p>
<p>There is something empowering, Braun said, about making a statement by farming a small plot of land. He worries about the environmental impacts and other problems stemming from industrial agriculture.</p>
<p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recent census found 95,000 fewer farms nationally in 2012 than in 2007. But New England saw a 5 percent increase to nearly 35,000 farms, many less than 50 acres.</p>
<p>The number of beginning farmers also climbed in New England. The small but densely populated region is the “perfect place” for farmers to respond to the growing interest in local foods, said Ginger Harris, a USDA statistician.</p>
<p>Squash, eggplant and other vegetables are popular; fruits often cannot be harvested the first few seasons, and the upfront costs for livestock can be high. And many farmers avoid synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.</p>
<p>Scratch Farm, which is chemical-free, has eggplants selling for about $3 per pound, higher than the local Whole Foods Market at $1.99 per pound and the supermarket at $1.49 per pound this week.</p>
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<p>Despite what can be higher prices, Jesse Rye, of Farm Fresh Rhode Island, said the idea of supporting local food resonates with New Englanders. Farm Fresh is a nonprofit that helps local food producers bring their goods to market through farmers markets and other programs.</p>
<p>“We already know a great deal about farmers simply through our proximity,” Rye said. “These are our neighbors.”</p>
<p>Each week, John and Lauren Galoski drive about 40 minutes from their home in Warwick to Wright’s Dairy Farm in North Smithfield to buy milk. They said they like supporting local businesses and feel the milk is healthier for their young son. The farm does not treat cows with synthetic hormones to increase milk production and has been recognized within the industry for producing high-quality milk.</p>
<p>At the century-old dairy farm, customers lately ask more questions about the milk and the cows. Teenagers want to work there. Fourth-generation farmer Ellen Puccetti said that when she was young, she was teased for living on a farm.</p>
<p>“It’s very, very exciting after all this time to see that kind of movement, to see that kind of excitement, especially from young people,” she said.</p>
<p>David Lizotte, 22, took a job there as a farm hand over a year ago to get experience for the Peace Corps. Lizotte said he still may join but loves how challenging and fun his work is.</p>
<p>The National Young Farmers Coalition wants to ensure farming’s revival is not fleeting. The New York-based coalition is lobbying for policy changes to help beginning farmers get capital and find affordable land.</p>
<p>With a farm population ready to retire, executive director Lindsey Shute said, it’s critical that farms transition to a new generation.</p>
<p>States in the Northeast saw a 43 percent increase on average in the number of undergraduate students studying agriculture from 2004 to 2012. The only region that topped it was the West. Connecticut had the largest percentage increase nationwide– nearly 200 percent, to more than 2,100 students.</p>
<p>Cameron Faustman, an associate dean at the University of Connecticut’s agriculture college, said students see job opportunities. Less than 2 percent of the students come from working farms.</p>
<p>At the Young Farmer Night, Emily Cotter, 22, an agriculture student and farm hand in Rhode Island, said she, like many of her peers, has found farming to be an intellectual, physically demanding, fulfilling job.</p>
<p>“I think it’s cool, too,” she said. “But that’s because I’m a farmer.”</p> | New go-to career for New England’s young: Farming | false | https://abqjournal.com/450403/new-go-to-career-for-new-englands-young-farming.html | 2 |
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<p>Fang Zhe/ZUMA</p>
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<p>Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) have spent the past several weeks huddled with their staffs in budget negotiations, and Tuesday evening they emerged with the impossible: a deal to keep the government open and avoid another shutdown when current funding expires next month. Their proposal will replace part of sequestration—the automatic cuts to domestic and military spending in the Budget Control Act that averted the 2011 debt ceiling standoff—for the next two years. Domestic and military spending will be set at $1.012 trillion for fiscal year 2014, higher than the $967 billion called for by sequestration but far less than the $1.058 trillion Murray’s original budget called for. That amounts to $63 billion in reductions to sequestration cuts over the next two years, split between defense and other domestic government programs. It’s a positive, but small step, replacing about 33 percent of sequestration for the next two years and allowing agencies to reallocate the across-the-board cuts.</p>
<p>The proposal covers the rise in spending by increasing a few fees— <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303330204579248590747638518?mod=rss_US_News&amp;wpisrc=nl_wonk&amp;cb=logged0.4002430927939713" type="external">TSA surcharges</a> for example—and cuts in pensions for federal employees and military veterans, among other small changes. <a href="#correction" type="external">*</a> The deal creates a little more than $20 billion in net deficit reduction, though those extra cuts won’t come until 2022 and 2023. The agreement doesn’t close any tax loopholes, as Democrats <a href="" type="internal">originally sought</a>, nor does it extend long-term unemployment insurance. It’s no grand bargain, just a puny accord meant to avoid the turmoil of October’s shutdown.</p>
<p>Despite the limited aims of the deal, conservatives—both tea party members of the House and outside groups—began complaining before negotiators released the proposal. FreedomWorks <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/freedomworks-key-votes-against-emerging-ryan-murray-budget-deal" type="external">denounced</a> the concept behind such a deal on Tuesday. Heritage Action, the outreach arm of the conservative think tank, <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/heritage-action-bashes-ryan-murray-budget-framework" type="external">lambasted</a> the early reports of a deal. The Wall Street Journal op-ed page <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304017204579223971449861590" type="external">hammered</a> the “defense hawks and appropriators who want to break the annual spending caps in current law.” A cohort of 18 of House Republicans <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/house-conservatives-push-to-scuttle-budget-deal-risking-shutdown" type="external">wrote</a> a letter calling on House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to ignore the potential deal and vote on a “clean” budget resolution.</p>
<p>Why were conservatives so preemptively outraged? All of the sequester offsets will come in 2014 and 2015, but the new revenues are spread out over a 10-year window. So, for example, the $6 billion in savings from federal pensions will be distributed over the next decade, averaging out to $600 million per year. Basically, the proposed deal front-loads spending that ameliorates the draconian sequester while pushing much of the deficit reduction off until later. Think of it as a minor jolt of stimulus compared to current law. That’s exactly what liberal economists have called for since the start of the recession: that the government should pump more money into the economy while it is <a href="" type="internal">still in the doldrums</a> and save deficit reductions for the future when the country will, presumably, be on more stable footing.</p>
<p>Leaders from the two parties should be able to wrangle enough votes for the budget negotiation thanks to the stamp of approval from conservative idol Paul Ryan. “I think we will pass it through the House,” Ryan said at the Tuesday press conference announcing the deal. “I have every reason to expect great support from our caucus.” But there could still be a battle on the right. For most hardcore right-wingers, any effort to change sequestration cuts will be sacrosanct. “Sequester is the big win,” Grover Norquist, the taskmaster of Republicans’ tax agenda, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/10/02/grover-norquist-ted-cruz-pushed-house-republicans-into-traffic-and-wandered-away/" type="external">said</a> earlier this year. “It defines the decade.” Any deal that sidelines some of those cuts while shunting deficit reduction off to a later date should count as a win for progressives—and a cause for more conservative-on-Republican sniping.</p>
<p>UPDATE: Here’s a wonky <a href="" type="internal">four-page breakdown</a> of what exactly is included in the budget proposal.</p>
<p>Correction: An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the nature of the pension cuts.</p>
<p /> | Congress Reaches a Budget Deal and Conservatives Already Hate It | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/12/ryan-murray-budget-deal-congress-conservatives-revolt/ | 2013-12-10 | 4 |
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<p>New Mexico faces Notre Dame at 3 p.m., while Virginia takes on Maryland at 5:30 p.m. at PPL Park, home of the Philadelphia Union of Major Soccer League. The championship match is Sunday at 1 p.m.</p>
<p>Here’s a look at the four finalists:</p>
<p>New Mexico</p>
<p />
<p>Record: 14-5-2, 7-1-1 in Conference USA.</p>
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<p>NCAA seed: 7th.</p>
<p>Road to Philly: George Mason 1-0, Penn State 2-0, at Washington 1-0.</p>
<p>College Cup experience: 2005, lost to Maryland in the championship match.</p>
<p>Coach: Jeremy Fishbein (168-53-28 in 12 years at UNM).</p>
<p>Key players: Kyle Venter, senior defender, Hermann Trophy semifinalist; James Rogers, junior forward, 7 goals, 20 points; Niko Hansen, freshman forward, 7 goals, 19 points; Michael Calderon, senior midfielder, 6 goals, 17 points; Michael Lisch, senior goalkeeper, 0.79 goals against average, 10 shutouts.</p>
<p>Key stat: UNM is one of three teams to have earned a top 16 seed for the third straight season and one of three programs to have advanced to the Sweet 16 the past three seasons.</p>
<p>Notre Dame</p>
<p>Record: 15-1-6, 7-1-3 in ACC.</p>
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<p>NCAA Seed: 3rd.</p>
<p>Road to Philly: Wisconsin 4-0, Wake Forest 4-2, Michigan State 2-1.</p>
<p>College Cup experience: First time.</p>
<p>Coach: Bobby Clark, 168-69-41 in 13 seasons at Notre Dame, 321-132-66 overall.</p>
<p>Key players: Harrison Shipp, senior forward, ACC offensive player of the year; Patrick Wall, senior goalkeeper.</p>
<p>Key stat: Notre Dame has produced 14 MLS SuperDraft picks since 2008 – the most from any school during that time span.</p>
<p>Maryland</p>
<p>Record: 16-3-5, 7-1-3 ACC.</p>
<p>NCAA Seed: 5th.</p>
<p>Road to Philly: Providence 3-1, UC Irvine 1-0, at California 2-1.</p>
<p>College Cup experience: Eight appearances in the last 16 years, first time since 2008.</p>
<p>Coach: Sasho Cirovski 330-119-34 in 21 seasons at Maryland, 356-131-40 in 23 seasons overall. Won NCAA titles in 2008, 2005.</p>
<p>Key players: Patrick Mullins, senior forward and the 2012 MAC Hermann Trophy winner, leads the ACC in both goals and points. Schillo Tshuma, sophomore midfielder, is second on the team in goals.</p>
<p>Key stat: Every four-year player at Maryland since 1998 has been part of a College Cup team.</p>
<p>Virginia</p>
<p>Record: 13-5-5, 4-3-4 ACC.</p>
<p>NCAA Seed: 8th.</p>
<p>Road to Philly: St. John’s 2-0, Marquette 3-1, UConn 2-1.</p>
<p>College Cup experience: UVa is 11-4-2 all-time in College Cup matches, 7-3 in semifinal contests.</p>
<p>Coach: George Gelnovatch 260-105-38 in 18 seasons at Virginia, won 2009 NCAA title.</p>
<p>Key players: Junior midfielder Eric Bird (7 goals) and sophomore forward and Philly native Darius Madson (6 goals).</p>
<p>Key stat: Virginia has won six national championships (1989, 1991-94, 2009).</p>
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<p /> | UNM joins 3 ACC teams in College Cup | false | https://abqjournal.com/317118/unm-joins-3-acc-teams-in-college-cup.html | 2 |
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<p>A more than 100-mile-long crack in one of Antarctica’s largest ice shelves grew another 6 miles in little over two weeks this month, British scientists reported Thursday. That’s on top of an 11-mile growth that occurred in the second two weeks of December – representing a 17 mile total advance in not much more than a month.</p>
<p>The extension of the rift in the Larsen C ice shelf ran roughly parallel to the ocean terminating front of the floating ice shelf, and so did not bring it any closer to breaking off a large piece – 12 miles of ice still connect the emerging ice island to the larger shelf. But the parallel growth may ensure that the iceberg, when it does break off, will be somewhat larger.</p>
<p>The researchers reiterated a statement they released earlier this month, signaling their suspicion that this will lead to the breakoff of a nearly Delaware-sized piece of ice and “leave the ice front at its most retreated position ever recorded; this event will fundamentally change the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula.” They fear that the break could speed up the flow of the ice seaward and potentially destabilize the shelf, which holds back enough ice above sea level to raise oceans by 4 inches. But not every scientist necessarily agrees that will be the outcome.</p>
<p>Either way, the advancing rift continues to suggest that a very large break could be coming. “Every advance would seem to bring the end closer,” said Adrian Luckman, a researcher with Swansea University who heads up the project.</p>
<p>“However,” he continued, “the rift has now entered the softer suture zone ice originating from Cole Peninsula, which we believe to be more substantial than elsewhere, so it is still impossible to make predictions.”</p>
<p>Cole Peninsula is the knob-shaped out-jutting of land in the image above landward of the current location of the end of the rift. A “suture zone” is a region of softer and more flexible ice that’s less likely to crack, and that exists between streams of ice flowing from glaciers, in effect stitching them together. Still, the current rift has crossed suture zones before.</p>
<p>So scientists will have to continue to track the rapidly growing rift. Meanwhile, their data show that it is growing faster.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Enormous Antarctic ice shelf rift grows by another 6 miles | false | https://abqjournal.com/931614/enormous-antarctic-ice-shelf-rift-grows-by-another-6-miles.html | 2 |
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<p />
<p>Image source: United Continental.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The stock market fell back on Tuesday, with major market benchmarks falling around a quarter percent to give back modest gains from earlier in the week. Sentiment among market participants was mixed, with many traders focusing on efforts by the European tax authorities to ensure that the largest company in the U.S. didn't get unfair favorable treatment from the Irish government. Yet other parts of the market appeared to be on a path to improve, especially among financial stocks.</p>
<p>Moreover, some individual companies reported positive news that sent their shares climbing. Among the best performers were United Continental Holdings (NYSE: UAL), Cypress Semiconductor (NASDAQ: CY), and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT).</p>
<p>United Continental climbed 9% after the airline announced it had lured American Airlines executive Scott Kirby to be its president. The move comes in response to concerns about succession planning after the exit of former CEO Jeff Smisek left investors wondering whether United had a deep enough of a support team to sustain positive momentum in the event of a leadership change. The move from United CEO Oscar Munoz received praise from investors and analysts alike, and given that some other United executives have left the airline in the recent past, efforts to ensure it has the talent necessary to keep up with its competitors are extremely important. In combination with an analyst upgrade from Raymond James, United Continental looks poised to keep flying high in a favorable industry environment.</p>
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<p>Cypress Semiconductor gained 6% amid rumors that the chipmaker might become a target for a potential buyer seeking to make a strategic acquisition. For a while now, many have speculated that private equity companies such as TPG Capital might be willing to make a bid for Cypress, and shares saw a big bump upward in July as rumors began to circulate more loudly. From a fundamental standpoint, Cypress has labored under impairment charges, restructuring costs, and other one-time items that have kept it from being profitable recently. A private equity buyer might take Wall Street's focus away from short-term results and focus on what could be a brighter long-term future for the company, but the stock won't make much more progress until these rumors start to pan out.</p>
<p>Finally, PotashCorp jumped 11%. The fertilizer maker confirmed it is in discussions with fellow industry peer Agrium (NYSE: AGU) in what could become a potential merger of equals. The company characterized the talks as "preliminary" and emphasized that no decisions have been made definitively about what action to take going forward. However, many investors believe a merger would help consolidate the industry and potentially be a step in the right direction after what has been a tough couple of years for fertilizer producers. Any deal would need to pass antitrust muster, but Agrium also jumped on the day, suggesting investors are enthusiastic about the prospects of a merger.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early, in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2759&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx" type="external">Dan Caplinger Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Cypress Semiconductor. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why United Continental Holdings, Cypress Semiconductor, and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Jumped Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/08/30/why-united-continental-holdings-cypress-semiconductor-and-potash-corp.html | 2016-08-30 | 0 |
<p>LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The city of Lawrence is using its Christmas trees to provide a habitat for wildlife where an old landfill used to sit.</p>
<p>The city’s Christmas tree recycling program began in the early 1990s, the <a href="http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2017/dec/27/thousands-christmas-trees-bring-new-purpose-citys-/" type="external">Lawrence Journal-World reported</a> . As many as 50,000 trees have been saved from the city’s new landfill and brought to the site, according to Craig Pruett, operations supervisor for the city’s solid waste division.</p>
<p>“They don’t weight a lot, but do take up space,” Pruett said. “It’s just one less thing that is going to the landfill.”</p>
<p>The old landfill was abandoned decades ago and is located in what’s now Riverfront Park near the Kansas River. Pruett said trees are deposited into rows to create a wildlife habitat.</p>
<p>“So there is this long tube of Christmas trees that are compressed and pushed up against each other,” he said. “And so that creates a bit of a barrier for a larger animal to try to get into. Birds can fly in there or rabbits may make their bedding in the areas underneath.”</p>
<p>The city has picked up about 2,000 Christmas trees annually in the past few years, according to the solid waste department. Pruett said the number of collected trees is trending downward because of increased demand in artificial trees.</p>
<p>The city’s solid waste department will do its annual collection of live-cut Christmas trees in the first week of January. Residents are reminded to remove artificial items like tinsel, lights and ornaments.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, <a href="http://www.ljworld.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.ljworld.com" type="external">http://www.ljworld.com</a></p>
<p>LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The city of Lawrence is using its Christmas trees to provide a habitat for wildlife where an old landfill used to sit.</p>
<p>The city’s Christmas tree recycling program began in the early 1990s, the <a href="http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2017/dec/27/thousands-christmas-trees-bring-new-purpose-citys-/" type="external">Lawrence Journal-World reported</a> . As many as 50,000 trees have been saved from the city’s new landfill and brought to the site, according to Craig Pruett, operations supervisor for the city’s solid waste division.</p>
<p>“They don’t weight a lot, but do take up space,” Pruett said. “It’s just one less thing that is going to the landfill.”</p>
<p>The old landfill was abandoned decades ago and is located in what’s now Riverfront Park near the Kansas River. Pruett said trees are deposited into rows to create a wildlife habitat.</p>
<p>“So there is this long tube of Christmas trees that are compressed and pushed up against each other,” he said. “And so that creates a bit of a barrier for a larger animal to try to get into. Birds can fly in there or rabbits may make their bedding in the areas underneath.”</p>
<p>The city has picked up about 2,000 Christmas trees annually in the past few years, according to the solid waste department. Pruett said the number of collected trees is trending downward because of increased demand in artificial trees.</p>
<p>The city’s solid waste department will do its annual collection of live-cut Christmas trees in the first week of January. Residents are reminded to remove artificial items like tinsel, lights and ornaments.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, <a href="http://www.ljworld.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.ljworld.com" type="external">http://www.ljworld.com</a></p> | Christmas trees turn Lawrence landfill into wildlife habitat | false | https://apnews.com/6193ccfad2f340bc92f172e98a15f79d | 2018-01-01 | 2 |
<p>Mary Landreiu is inextricably tied to the passage of Obamacare. The most recent <a href="" type="internal">Louisiana Purchase</a> was not about land, it was about securing Landreiu’s vote. She also voted against fixes proposed by Republicans to prevent people from losing their plans.</p>
<p>The problem for Landrieu and all other Democrats up for reelection in 2014 is that the Obamacare rollout has been a disaster, and not just as to the website.</p>
<p>Landrieu is getting hammered by ads throwing her own words back at her:</p>
<p />
<p>Landreiu’s apparent strategy is to try to thread a needle.</p>
<p>Landrieu’s first ad of the political season is damage control, an attempt to isolate the loss of plans and shift the blame to someone else, namely Obama (via <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/landrieu-tv-ad-distances-her-from-aca-101012.html" type="external">Politico</a>, h/t <a href="http://townhall.com/tipsheet/danieldoherty/2013/12/11/landrieu-throws-obama-under-the-bus-in-first-tv-ad-n1761227?utm_source=thdailypm&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=nl_pm" type="external">Townhall</a>):</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Expect this to be the new Democratic incumbent tactic.</p>
<p>(Featured image source: <a href="http://youtu.be/tARxFsc1YkU" type="external">2009 Vote for Obamacare</a>)</p> | Mary Landrieu is an innocent victim of Obama’s unkept promises | true | http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/12/mary-landrieu-is-an-innocent-victim-of-obamas-unkept-promises/ | 2013-12-11 | 0 |
<p>Obesity is a growing concern worldwide as the&#160;rates of obesity continue to trend upward. &#160;The CDC reported that in 2012, one in four Americans were considered obese. Researchers believe they may have found a natural remedy to aid in the fight against obesity. According to a recent study conducted by McGill University, potato extract may help control weight gain.</p>
<p>The researchers fed two groups of mice an obesity-inducing diet over the course of 10&#160;weeks. One group was fed&#160;the normal high fat diet while the second group was fed a high fat diet supplemented by a potato extract. After the full 10 weeks, mice from the first group had gained around 16 grams while &#160;mice from the second group had gained only seven grams.</p>
<p>Such a drastic difference was not expected. “We were astonished by the results,” said Prof. Luis Agellon, one of the authors of the study, “we ran the experiment again using a different batch of extract prepared from potatoes grown in another season, just to be certain.”</p>
<p>Researchers say that the high concentration of polyphenols in potatoes are responsible for this&#160;benefit. Polyphenols are a beneficial compound found in fruits and vegetables, previously found to aid in the prevention of chronic human illnesses such as cancer and heart disease.</p>
<p>During the study, the mice were fed extract from 30 potatoes each day. “Of course we don’t advise anyone to eat 30 potatoes a day,” said Stan Kubow, principal author of the study, “as that would be an enormous number of calories.” Instead, the team envisions making the extract available as a dietary supplement or simple ingredient to be added to daily meals.</p>
<p>“Potatoes have the advantage of being cheap to produce and they’re already part of the basic diet in many countries,” Kubow explains.</p>
<p>Although the team has had promising results, the benefits of potato extract in human diets is still unknown. Mice and humans metabolize food in very similar ways, but clinical trials are necessary to validate the effects in humans. Research into differences in gender is also required, as men and women metabolize food at different rates.</p>
<p>This study was published by the journal&#160; <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mnfr.201400013/abstract;jsessionid=199B44B0A5687B6ABA6EDF796E8142B4.f04t01" type="external">Molecular Nutrition &amp; Food Research</a>.</p>
<p /> | Potatoes may help fight against obesity | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/03/04/potatoes-may-help-fight-against-obesity/ | 2015-03-04 | 3 |
<p />
<p>Once <a href="http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4969" type="external">again</a>, Pakistan is preparing for an <a href="http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/05/01/pakist15806.htm" type="external">election</a> that is suspect, where General Musharraf will seek another five-year term.</p>
<p>The presidential “election,” which will take place on October 6, 2007, will be far from fair and free: Pakistan’s presidents are <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,,2178871,00.html?gusrc=rss&amp;feed=networkfront" type="external">selected</a> by an electoral college which is made up of the national and provincial assemblies. Yet the current parliament is a result of the <a href="http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/10/pakistan-1009.htm" type="external">rigged</a> 2002 “elections.” The current parliament’s term is up come November, making the October date timely for Musharraf.</p>
<p>Musharraf’s bid for re-election was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/world/asia/28cnd-pakistan.html?ex=1348632000&amp;en=0f2379f8c7cfdd72&amp;ei=5088&amp;partner=rssnyt&amp;emc=rss" type="external">approved</a> on Friday by the Supreme Court, which threw out petitions contesting the constitutional legality of Musharraf seeking a re-election while keeping his military uniform on. Upon hearing the verdict, Pakistani lawyers in the courtroom angrily <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/world/asia/28cnd-pakistan.html?ex=1348632000&amp;en=0f2379f8c7cfdd72&amp;ei=5088&amp;partner=rssnyt&amp;emc=rss" type="external">bellowed</a>, “Shame, shame!” and “Go Musharraf, go!” Musharraf claims that if he “wins” (which he most certainly will), he’ll take off his uniform before the presidential inauguration. Let’s not <a href="http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/01/top12.htm" type="external">bet</a> on it.</p>
<p>Last <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/31B1E967-F39F-41D6-9F7A-775F67873545.htm" type="external">weekend</a>, prior to the verdict, Musharraf started locking up opposition members (which some <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,,2178871,00.html?gusrc=rss&amp;feed=networkfront" type="external">say</a> number in the thousands) in an effort to thwart protests that seized the day when Musharraf <a href="http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C09%5C28%5Cstory_28-9-2007_pg1_1" type="external">filed</a> his nomination. These detentions prompted the normally reticent US Embassy in Islamabad to <a href="http://islamabad.usembassy.gov/pakistan/h07092402.html" type="external">issue</a> a press release stating:</p>
<p>The reports of arrests of the leadership of several major Pakistani political parties are extremely disturbing and confusing for the friends of Pakistan. We wish to express our serious concern about these developments. These detainees should be released as soon as possible.</p>
<p>Chief Justice Muhammad Iftikhar Chaudhry <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/27/AR2007092701276.html" type="external">ordered</a> the government to free hundreds of activists on Thursday. Then on Saturday <a href="http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C09%5C29%5Cstory_29-9-2007_pg7_31" type="external">lawyers</a>, <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKISL27846120070930" type="external">journalists</a>, and activists observed a “black day” to protest Musharraf’s bid. The Islamabad police cracked down on the protesters, <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/246D06FC-4F5E-44D1-BE88-F3ED3EEFC557.htm" type="external">injuring</a> roughly 83 people. (The chief of police and two senior officials have since been <a href="http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iP36EMbJZScrR1DTJiIlweehnpeg" type="external">suspended</a>.)</p>
<p>But there are no worries for Musharraf and his allies. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz <a href="http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/01/top10.htm" type="external">claims</a> that this electoral process will put Pakistan on the path of democracy, and Pakistan’s friend in need- the US- says that the Supreme Court’s verdict was “based on the Constitution and existing laws of Pakistan. We do not want to make any sort of assessments.” What was omitted was that the Constitution and “existing laws” of Pakistan have been <a href="http://www.forbes.com/home/business/2007/09/28/pakistan-musharraf-election-biz-1001oxford.html" type="external">tweaked</a> by the General in order to allow him to hold both the army chief and presidential posts concurrently.</p>
<p>— Neha Inamdar</p>
<p /> | Pakistan’s Sham Elections…Again | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/10/pakistans-sham-electionsagain/ | 2007-10-02 | 4 |
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<p>HOUSTON — A court hearing has been postponed for a Texas teenager charged with capital murder in the shooting deaths of his mother and father, who was a standout linebacker for Texas A&amp;M before a brief NFL career.</p>
<p>A judge Monday delayed the hearing by two weeks. He ordered Antonio Armstrong Jr. to remain in jail in the meantime.</p>
<p>Authorities say Armstrong shot Antonio and Dawn Armstrong inside their townhome in July. They say the teen told investigators an intruder shot his parents.</p>
<p>A juvenile court determined he will stand trial as an adult. He was 16 when the shooting happened.</p>
<p>The elder Armstrong was a first-team All-American who was taken in the sixth round of the 1995 NFL draft. He had brief stints with the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Hearing postponed for Texas teen charged in death of parents | false | https://abqjournal.com/981417/texas-teen-to-appear-in-court-in-shooting-death-of-parents.html | 2017-04-03 | 2 |
<p><a href="" type="internal">Stephen Colbert</a> hosted <a href="" type="internal">Rachel Maddow</a> last night to discuss the elections, her coverage, and told the&#160;MSNBC anchor she reconstructs the news “into a conservative dream-killing machine.” Colbert also plugged the best-selling author and Oxford scholar’s book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307460983/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0307460983&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thenewcivrigm-20" type="external">Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power</a>.</p>
<p>“I think the difference between the two sides is that the right talked themselves into the idea that it was going to be a Romney landslide based on, I don’t know, guts, feelings,” Maddow told Colbert.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“The people — Karl Rove was saying, ‘yes I see the polls but I also see the enthusiastic crowds and based on the enthusiastic crowds I’m sure that Romney is going to win.’ Turned out it was a bad way to predict the election. We were looking at the polls.”</p>
<p>Colbert mentioned there’s still a path to 270, if Romney picks up “the secret state only Republicans can see, Whitesylvania.”</p>
<p>Importantly, Maddow added, “I do feel there ‘s an important role to play in disabusing people of their &#160;fantasies that do not comport with what’s going on in the real world.”</p>
<p>Colbert also mentioned Maddow’s <a href="" type="internal">amazing, absolutely must see and must share report</a> Wednesday night that explained all the things that won’t happen — fortunately — because Romney lost, and all the things that the GOP must recognize as facts and reality, including evolution, climate chnage, and the moon landing.</p>
<p>It was epic:</p>
<p>WATCH:&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Maddow To GOP: ‘The Moon Landing Was Real, Evolution Is A Thing’</a></p>
<p />
<p />
<p>The Colbert Report Get More: <a href="http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/" type="external">Colbert Report Full Episodes</a>, <a href="http://www.indecisionforever.com/" type="external">Political Humor &amp; Satire Blog</a>, <a href="http://www.colbertnation.com/video" type="external">Video Archive</a></p>
<p>Tagged as: <a href="" type="internal">Colbert</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Colbert To Maddow</a>, <a href="" type="internal">coverage</a>, <a href="" type="internal">election</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Killing Machine</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Maddow</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Rachel Maddow</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Reconstruct</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Stephen Colbert</a></p>
<p>Friends:</p>
<p>We invite you to <a href="http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin?v=001whLQo73KzGhEjdskYG07rHNy_XoDDkSBBO4INZHx6oD9kfp2yeeQAJeMQUu9oTviZa0VEl5k0rNiLifxlZsOFScMz8rVGmIaN-FFOO3GTKc%3D" type="external">sign up for our new mailing list</a>, and&#160; <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheNewCivilRightsMovement&amp;amp;loc=en_US" type="external">subscribe to The New Civil Rights Movement via email</a> or <a href="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/thenewcivilrightsmovement" type="external">RSS</a>.</p>
<p>Also, please&#160; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-New-Civil-Rights-Movement/358168880614" type="external">like us on Facebook</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/gaycivilrights" type="external">follow us on Twitter</a>!</p> | Colbert To Maddow: You Reconstruct News Into ‘A Conservative Dream-Killing Machine’ | true | http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/colbert-to-maddow-you-reconstruct-news-into-a-conservative-dream-killing-machine/politics/2012/11/09/53389 | 2012-11-09 | 4 |
<p>ZURICH (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell sees deep-water oil drilling continuing in the future and as of next year will produce more gas than oil, its chief executive was quoted as saying by a Swiss newspaper on Sunday.</p>
<p>Asked how high the price of oil needed to be for Shell to profit from its investment of $30 billion in 2011, Peter Voser said: "If the price of oil is between $50 and $90 a barrel, the investment's are worth it."</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Following the rig explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year that prompted calls for a cessation of deepwater oil drilling, Shell has received permission to drill in the region and has been there since April.</p>
<p>"You can like it or not: Deep-water drilling will be part of extracting oil in the future," Voser said in an interview with the NZZ am Sonntag.</p>
<p>Voser said if Shell's total reserves, including those it was not yet working with, were taken into account it had enough for the next 50 or 60 years.</p>
<p>"This figure may rather rise than fall," he said. "A big part of these reserves is natural gas."</p>
<p>(Reporting by Catherine Bosley; Editing by Dan Lalor)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Shell CEO: Deep-water drilling set to continue | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/05/22/shell-ceo-deep-water-drilling-set-to-continue.html | 2016-01-28 | 0 |
<p>BY: <a href="" type="internal">Andrew Stiles</a> May 31, 2012 3:53 pm</p>
<p>UPDATE:&#160;Pelosi press secretary Drew Hammill claims the Free Beacon analysis is "misleading."</p>
<p>"Of the senior staff in the Office of the Democratic Leader, 13 are women and 10 are men," Hammill wrote in an e-mail. "All staff are paid according to their specific job responsibilities and seniority."</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) refused to answer questions about Senate Democrats <a href="" type="internal">paying their female staff members less than male staffers</a> on Thursday. She may have ducked the question because a Washington Free Beacon analysis shows she pays the women on her staff $26,606 less per year on average.</p>
<p>According to publicly available salary data at the website <a href="http://www.legistorm.com/" type="external">Legistorm</a>, Pelosi’s female employees earned an average annual salary of $96,394 in fiscal year 2011. Male employees earned $123,000 on average, a difference of 27.6 percent.</p>
<p>The gap is even larger if calculated using the median salaries for men and women. For Pelosi’s female employees, the median annual salary was $93,320 in 2011, compared to $130,455 for male employees—a difference of $37,135, or 40 percent.</p>
<p>Pelosi’s entire staff—men and women—earned an average annual salary of $108,150 and a median salary of $114,662. By both measures, women made considerably less.</p>
<p>Only current full-time staff members in Pelosi’s personal office, the office of the minority leader, and others under her purview, who were employed for the entirety of fiscal year 2011, were considered in the analysis.</p>
<p>Democrats <a href="http://twitter.com/senatedems/status/204995230938836992" type="external">often cite</a> a pay gap of 23 percent between the sexes; by any measure, Pelosi’s pay gap is much higher. The Democrats’ figure is based on a 2010 U.S. Census Bureau report, and is technically accurate.</p>
<p>However, as CNN’s Lisa Sylvester <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnn-fact-checks-rachel-maddow-alex-castellanos-feud-over-gender-pay-gap-determines-maddow-right/" type="external">has reported</a>, when factors such as area of employment, hours of work, and time in the workplace are taken into account, the gap shrinks to about 5 percent.</p>
<p>Democrats in Congress are pushing for a vote on legislation known as the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would facilitate the filing of large punitive damage claims in discrimination lawsuits. The Senate plans to vote on the legislation when they return from recess next week.</p>
<p>Daily Caller reporter Michelle Fields on Thursday <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/31/pelosi-gives-senate-democrats-who-pay-women-less-a-pass-scolds-companies/" type="external">asked</a> Pelosi about the results of a Free Beacon <a href="" type="internal">analysis</a> published last week, which found that Senate Democrats paid their female staffers about $6,500 less on average than male staffers.</p>
<p>Pelosi did not refute the findings, nor did she directly respond to the question. Instead, she cited her recent tenure as the first female Speaker of the House.</p>
<p>"You’ll have to go to the Senate side for that," Pelosi said. "When I was speaker, I was [the] highest paid person on Capitol Hill and the women took great joy in that."</p>
<p>"I can’t speak to what the Senate—needless to say, it’s another world," she added.</p> | No Equal Pay for Nancy | true | http://freebeacon.com/no-equal-pay-for-nancy/ | 2012-05-31 | 0 |
<p>The massive manhunt for the perpetrators of last year's Boston Marathon bomb attack exposed some "fault lines" in coordinating law enforcement at the federal, state and local levels, according to a study released Thursday.</p>
<p>Emergency responders racing to a crime scene without waiting for orders might save lives by tending to the wounded, but during the chaotic chase to catch the suspects a few days later, they also risked being shot by police, the Harvard University report found.</p>
<p>The hairiest events after the bombing, which killed three people and injured 264, began three days later when the two ethnic Chechen brothers, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and his younger brother Dzhokhar, now 20, shot and killed a university police officer in a failed attempt to steal his gun and flee the city.</p>
<p>The shooting prompted hundreds of local police, as well as law enforcement officials who had traveled from other towns to help with the investigation, to race to Watertown, Massachusetts, where the suspects traded shots with police.</p>
<p>Officers surrounded the suspects, placing police at a high risk of shooting one another, the report found. "They were incredibly lucky that there weren't a lot of friendly fire casualties," said lead author Herman Leonard, a professor of public management at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.</p>
<p>The study was based on interviews with some 100 law enforcement and other public officials who took part in the response.</p>
<p>Despite problems during the manhunt, the report found that law enforcement officials worked together smoothly on the day of the bomb blasts, evidenced by the fact that most of the casualties, many of whom lost legs, survived despite substantial loss of blood.</p>
<p>Dzhokhar will stand trial in November on 30 federal counts stemming from the April 15 attack, which left three people dead and more than 250 others injured.</p> | Boston Bomber Manhunt Exposed Policing ‘Fault Lines’: Study | false | http://nbcnews.com/storyline/boston-bombing-anniversary/boston-bomber-manhunt-exposed-policing-fault-lines-study-n70576 | 2014-04-03 | 3 |
<p>“Zero Dark Thirty”Photo Credit: <a href="http://critical-theory.com/zizek-zero-dark-thirty-and-the-normalization-of-torture/" type="external">Critical-Theory</a></p>
<p>Conservative government watchdog, Judicial Watch, lost a federal lawsuit Wednesday when a judge ruled the group cannot learn the names of the CIA agents and Navy SEAL who collaborated with filmmakers on the movie “Zero Dark Thirty.”</p>
<p>When Judicial Watch learned in August 2011 the Defense Department and CIA had talks with the film’s director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal, it filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the recorded conversations, ABC News reported.</p>
<p>According to ABC:</p>
<p>While the organization was given access to the communications that took place between the filmmakers, the Defense Department and the CIA, the names of officials Bigelow and Boal were given had been redacted to protect their identities, the opinion said. These officers were directly involved in orchestrating the May 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, which is the focus of the film.</p>
<p>Judicial Watch then filed a lawsuit in 2012 arguing that if the filmmakers had the names of the operatives involved in the bin Laden raid, the American people should know them as well since those names were now entered into the “public domain.”</p>
<p>However, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled, “By sharing those names with Bigelow and Boal, the government did not release the information into the public domain,” and therefore, Judicial Watch would not be privy to those names, <a href="http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/08/30/60769.htm" type="external">Courthouse News Service</a> reported.</p>
<p>“Anything shared with the filmmakers should be shared with the public,” Judicial Watch attorney Christopher Fedell told ABC News.</p>
<p>But the judge disagreed, ruling, “Although it touches upon matters of considerable public concern, this case presents an exceedingly narrow question: whether a FOIA requester that knows information has been disclosed to a private party is necessarily entitled to that same disclosure. Under the law of this circuit, the answer to that question is ‘No,'” according to Courthouse News.</p>
<p>More from <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-rules-names-cia-agents-navy-seal-dark/story?id=20127996" type="external">ABC News</a>.</p>
<p>[poll id=”89″]</p> | Agents that consulted on ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ film kept secret, judge rules | true | http://bizpacreview.com/2013/09/01/agents-that-consulted-on-zero-dark-thirty-film-kept-secret-judge-rules-82587 | 2013-09-01 | 0 |
<p />
<p>There's a new way to get your burrito, taco, bowl, or salad on at Chipotle Mexican Grill. The currently out-of-favor eatery that put fast casual on the map is hoping that adding chorizo as a protein option can help put an end to the most brutal slump in the restaurant industry.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Chipotle added chorizo to a handful of its locations yesterday. It will be available at all of its restaurants by the fall. The new Spanish sausage is a blend of pork and white-meat chicken. It is spiced up by being seasoned with paprika, toasted cumin, and chipotle peppers.</p>
<p>As diehard Chipotle buffs know, Chipotle doesn't mess with its offerings. This will be the chain's first new ingredient on its assembly linesince adding tofu-based <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/04/18/chipotles-secret-ingredient-sofritas.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Sofritas in 2013 Opens a New Window.</a>. However, the time is right to mix things up. Let's go over a few of the reasons why this should be a pretty big deal for Chipotle.</p>
<p>Image source: Chipotle.</p>
<p>Chipotle added the new protein to is restaurants in Manhattan, Sacramento, San Diego, and Columbus, OH on Wednesday. Its outlet at Washington DC's Dulles airport and a single eatery in its home turf of Denver also started offering chorizo.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The gradual rollout may be by design, but it's not the first time that Chipotle customers have been able to spice things up with the savory sausage.It introduced chorizo during a <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2011/06/01/chipotle-chews-on-chorizo.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">trial run in Manhattan Opens a New Window.</a>five years ago, and last year it began testing the meat in Kansas City. It was also part of the short-lived breakfast egg burrito offeringsat Baltimore-Washington International and Dulles.</p>
<p>It was <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/27/is-chorizo-chipotles-gateway-drug-to-breakfast.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">reportedly set to expand Opens a New Window.</a> the Kansas City test last year, but then the E. coli and norovirus outbreaks happened. Chipotle was too busy trying to get to the root of its misfortune to begin hyping up chorizo. The time is apparently right to roll nationwide with a product that's been tested in at least three different markets over the past five years.</p>
<p>The food-borne illnesses have decimated the cash registers at Chipotle. Year-over-year comps have been in the negative double digits since November, plummeting 14.6% during last year's fourth quarter and 29.7% during the first three months of this year.</p>
<p>The comparisons should start to get easier once we work our way back to the fourth quarter, and that's where the fall rollout makes sense. If Chipotle's organic efforts aren't enough to show positive growth off of the prior year's holiday quarter then the novelty aspect of chorizo should do the trick.</p>
<p>If comps don't turn positive by the fourth quarter or at the very latest the first quarter of next year it would be time for Chipotle to panic.</p>
<p>Chipotle is <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/06/28/chipotle-wants-to-give-away-a-lot-of-burritos-this.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">introducing Chiptopia Opens a New Window.</a> tomorrow. Customers visiting the chain in July, August, and September will be given a card that can be used to win free food on subsequent visits.</p>
<p>The reward cycles require several repeat visits. You have to go four times in any given month to win a free entree -- and as many as 11 visits a month for three consecutive months to win the grand reward of a catered event for 20 people.</p>
<p>Chiptopia is going to spur an uptick in traffic, but it's also going to make a lot of diehard fans sick of its current offerings by the time the end of the third quarter rolls around. This is where chorizo comes in, wooing the overstuffed back through the chain's doors once those Chipotle cards expire.</p>
<p>It's a case of good timing with Chiptopia. It's a case of great timing with chorizo.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/06/30/3-reasons-why-chorizo-will-spice-up-chipotle.aspx" type="external">3 Reasons Why Chorizo Will Spice Up Chipotle Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFBreakerRick/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Rick Munarriz Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Chipotle Mexican Grill. 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> | 3 Reasons Why Chorizo Will Spice Up Chipotle | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/06/30/3-reasons-why-chorizo-will-spice-up-chipotle.html | 2016-06-30 | 0 |
<p>Former President Obama remains monumentally more popular than Donald Trump can ever hope to be and for good reason. While Trump has worked to divide this country in the name of “making America great again” and “America first,” Obama, along with his wife Michelle, worked for eight years to bring this country together and promote the rights of the underprivileged.</p>
<p>The Obamas, after only a short time away from the public eye, have been engaging on important issues and are in somewhat high demand as speakers. At a speaking engagement this past Tuesday, Michelle Obama was in for a surprise.</p>
<p>Michelle, who has appeared at a smattering of events across the country throughout recent months, including leading tech conferences, participated in a question and answer session moderated by Shonda Rimes at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women this past Tuesday.</p>
<p>Something else important marks last Tuesday as well — the Obamas’ 25th anniversary.</p>
<p>As it turns out, former President Obama had privately taped a message to be played for his wife by the conference organizers near the end of her time on stage. Obama’s</p>
<p>Obama’s two-minute long message to his wife featured him praising her character and overall person.</p>
<p>He said, in part:</p>
<p>‘The idea that you would put up with me for a quarter of a century is a remarkable testament to what a saintly, wonderful person you are… not only have you been an extraordinary partner, not only have you been a great friend, somebody who could always make me laugh, somebody who would always make sure that I was following what I thought was right, but you have also been an example to our daughters and to the entire country.’</p>
<p>Watch a view of the conference hall, including the stage, as the video was being played below.</p>
<p />
<p>The message from the former president himself is featured below.</p>
<p />
<p>Among the messages that Michelle Obama has delivered in recent weeks is a recurring theme of the importance of empowering women. Among other things, she expressed the related sentiment on Tuesday that young people in the United States will be left in the dark, so to speak, by the chaotic, hateful nature of the present presidential administration — although she never, apparently, uttered Trump’s name.</p>
<p>Featured image via screenshot from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&amp;v=a161Dv1dlJ4" type="external">Youtube</a> <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/353780-barack-obama-interrupts-michelles-speech-with-25th-anniversary-tribute" type="external">.</a></p> | Obama Releases Surprise Public Message That No One Saw Coming (VIDEO) | true | http://bipartisanreport.com/2017/10/04/obama-releases-surprise-public-message-that-no-one-saw-coming-video/ | 2017-10-04 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — The messages left on a state Public Education Department’s phone earlier this week sounded like gunshots, according to a spokesman for the State Police.</p>
<p>As a result of the threatening calls, there has been a security presence at the PED building in downtown Santa Fe since Wednesday and entry to the building has been limited to the main entrance on the east side, off Galisteo.</p>
<p>Sgt. Emmanuel Gutierrez said officers are taking the calls seriously. PED Secretary-designate Hanna Skandera said in an email to employees that the calls appear to be an isolated incident.</p>
<p />
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Calls prompt boost in security at PED | false | https://abqjournal.com/284385/calls-prompt-boost-in-security-at-ped.html | 2013-10-19 | 2 |
<p>MURRYSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — The bees’ knees stay warm inside trees.</p>
<p>In nature, honeybees survive the winter by retreating inside their hives — often built in a tree cavity — and clustering together to stay warm.</p>
<p>For local beekeepers, whose hives are often exposed to the elements, that means any number of measures to ensure that a colony survives the cold. With early-winter temperatures in Southwestern Pennsylvania dipping lower than usual, apiaries throughout the region are using a variety of strategies to keep their colonies in good health.</p>
<p>In Burgettstown, Mark and Sara Bedillion of Bedillion Honey Farm first make sure that their bees have enough honey to make it through the winter.</p>
<p>“If there’s good nectar flow, and the bees have a lot of honey stored, we don’t take it all,” Mark Bedillion said. “We leave it on the hive so they can feed on it through the winter. And if the honey fails and there’s none coming in during the fall, of course we have to feed the bees to get them up to weight.”</p>
<p>Bedillion said his goal is for each of their hundreds of hives to have 50 to 60 pounds of honey, syrup or whatever the bees are being fed.</p>
<p>“The winter brood is fed more fats and amino acids, and more overall nutrition, than summer bees because they have to last six months,” Bedillion said. “A summer bee lasts only about six weeks.”</p>
<p>The Bedillions regularly check their hives for mites, and if necessary apply pest control measures to keep mite populations in check.</p>
<p>In sharp contrast, David Perry of Murrysville adopts a live-and-let-die philosophy with the dozen hives his family tends.</p>
<p>“We run our hives probably very atypical from most beekeepers,” Perry said. “The only thing I do for the winter is wrap half my hives in insulation. We don’t do essential oils or chemicals. If the bees can’t make it, they die.”</p>
<p>Both Perry and Bedillion make sure to vent the tops of their hives to make sure moisture doesn’t collect on the roofs.</p>
<p>“Moisture is bad, and that’s what you don’t want,” Bedillion said. “The bees are moving their wing muscles to keep warm, and they’re working, and that creates condensation.”</p>
<p>If condensation freezes on the lid, it can thaw later on and drip onto the colony.</p>
<p>“If it freezes again after that, that’s when you start getting dead bees,” Bedillion said.</p>
<p>On a chilly January afternoon, Perry pulled a flap of insulation away from one of his hives and swept off a few dead bees.</p>
<p>“The bees toss out their dead,” he said. “We put the insulation on, and all beekeepers put entrance reducers on, to keep out the wind and also to keep out pests like mice.”</p>
<p>The cold itself is not typically what kills bees.</p>
<p>“They create these clusters,” Perry said. “They start off about the size of a softball, and the colder it gets, the tighter they pack.”</p>
<p>Bees on the outside of the “ball” act as insulation, nearly freezing to death before rotating inside to warm up.</p>
<p>Bedillion said he worries more about pests than temperatures.</p>
<p>“We’ll put in mouse-guards,” he said. “You want the bees to be able to fly out, but not allow pests in.”</p>
<p>Perry said he has lost hives in past winters, but overall his bees have stayed healthy.</p>
<p>As he put an ear to the hive in his front yard on Thursday, a big smile crossed his face.</p>
<p>“Oh yeah, they’re doing just fine,” he said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online:</p>
<p><a href="http://bit.ly/2DrRNB9" type="external">http://bit.ly/2DrRNB9</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Tribune-Review, <a href="http://triblive.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://triblive.com" type="external">http://triblive.com</a></p>
<p>MURRYSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — The bees’ knees stay warm inside trees.</p>
<p>In nature, honeybees survive the winter by retreating inside their hives — often built in a tree cavity — and clustering together to stay warm.</p>
<p>For local beekeepers, whose hives are often exposed to the elements, that means any number of measures to ensure that a colony survives the cold. With early-winter temperatures in Southwestern Pennsylvania dipping lower than usual, apiaries throughout the region are using a variety of strategies to keep their colonies in good health.</p>
<p>In Burgettstown, Mark and Sara Bedillion of Bedillion Honey Farm first make sure that their bees have enough honey to make it through the winter.</p>
<p>“If there’s good nectar flow, and the bees have a lot of honey stored, we don’t take it all,” Mark Bedillion said. “We leave it on the hive so they can feed on it through the winter. And if the honey fails and there’s none coming in during the fall, of course we have to feed the bees to get them up to weight.”</p>
<p>Bedillion said his goal is for each of their hundreds of hives to have 50 to 60 pounds of honey, syrup or whatever the bees are being fed.</p>
<p>“The winter brood is fed more fats and amino acids, and more overall nutrition, than summer bees because they have to last six months,” Bedillion said. “A summer bee lasts only about six weeks.”</p>
<p>The Bedillions regularly check their hives for mites, and if necessary apply pest control measures to keep mite populations in check.</p>
<p>In sharp contrast, David Perry of Murrysville adopts a live-and-let-die philosophy with the dozen hives his family tends.</p>
<p>“We run our hives probably very atypical from most beekeepers,” Perry said. “The only thing I do for the winter is wrap half my hives in insulation. We don’t do essential oils or chemicals. If the bees can’t make it, they die.”</p>
<p>Both Perry and Bedillion make sure to vent the tops of their hives to make sure moisture doesn’t collect on the roofs.</p>
<p>“Moisture is bad, and that’s what you don’t want,” Bedillion said. “The bees are moving their wing muscles to keep warm, and they’re working, and that creates condensation.”</p>
<p>If condensation freezes on the lid, it can thaw later on and drip onto the colony.</p>
<p>“If it freezes again after that, that’s when you start getting dead bees,” Bedillion said.</p>
<p>On a chilly January afternoon, Perry pulled a flap of insulation away from one of his hives and swept off a few dead bees.</p>
<p>“The bees toss out their dead,” he said. “We put the insulation on, and all beekeepers put entrance reducers on, to keep out the wind and also to keep out pests like mice.”</p>
<p>The cold itself is not typically what kills bees.</p>
<p>“They create these clusters,” Perry said. “They start off about the size of a softball, and the colder it gets, the tighter they pack.”</p>
<p>Bees on the outside of the “ball” act as insulation, nearly freezing to death before rotating inside to warm up.</p>
<p>Bedillion said he worries more about pests than temperatures.</p>
<p>“We’ll put in mouse-guards,” he said. “You want the bees to be able to fly out, but not allow pests in.”</p>
<p>Perry said he has lost hives in past winters, but overall his bees have stayed healthy.</p>
<p>As he put an ear to the hive in his front yard on Thursday, a big smile crossed his face.</p>
<p>“Oh yeah, they’re doing just fine,” he said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online:</p>
<p><a href="http://bit.ly/2DrRNB9" type="external">http://bit.ly/2DrRNB9</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Tribune-Review, <a href="http://triblive.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://triblive.com" type="external">http://triblive.com</a></p> | Beekeepers employ a variety of strategies in winter | false | https://apnews.com/3c7ac0e169e24241b9c45acd6595c8e5 | 2018-01-24 | 2 |
<p>Jeff Riedel/Contour by Getty</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://rosario-dawson.net/" type="external">Rosario Dawson</a> never pined to be an actress. Her family, squatting in an abandoned tenement building in New York City, was just trying to make it. Then, when she was 15, the director of Kids <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0hBcOM8yNM" type="external">spotted her on her front stoop</a>, and her life has been a cascade of film roles, from Rent to Sin City, ever since. (You can see her in <a href="http://www.zookeeper-movie.com/" type="external">Zookeeper</a>, a new comedy in theaters this week.) But the busy star hasn’t forgotten her hardscrabble roots. Dawson, now 32, <a href="http://act.mtv.com/posts/interview-rosario-dawson-on-clean-water-voting-and-being-the-boss/" type="external">remains outspoken on everything</a> from violence against women, to voting rights, to the politics of the census. Naturally, the self-described “ <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/rosariodawson" type="external">Twitterholic</a>” was “best-dressed” at the White House correspondents’ dinner (so says that <a href="http://www.politico.com/playbook/0511/playbook1405.html" type="external">noted fashion arbiter Politico</a>).</p>
<p>I caught up with Dawson as she was getting ready for a show by her friend Prince—and a visit with President Obama. She had so much to say about her various projects that we didn’t even get to her Star Trek yen (yes, she speaks Klingon) or the Paul Rudd crotch-grabbing incident last year when she defended a <a href="http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-rosario-dawson-grabs-paul-rudds-crotch-paul-rudd-grabs-eva-mendes-boob/" type="external">fondled Eva Mendes</a> (and women everywhere). Suffice it to say, the lady’s got range.</p>
<p>Mother Jones: You’re in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D4yQPQfFQM" type="external">Girl Walks Into a Bar</a>, the first straight-to-YouTube feature film. Is this where the industry is headed?</p>
<p>Rosario Dawson: Oh, hell yeah! With the recession, people are having to choose between their cable and their internet connection. And think about it. When they started making made-for-TV movies, people thought it was a fluke. Who would watch that? Because it’s in your TV screen and not in a theater. Remember that?</p>
<p>MJ: How is digital distribution changing the game for you as an actor?</p>
<p>RD: It’s a whole other way of communicating with your fans and giving them content at their leisure. It’s like, there are people making music in their igloos on their PDAs. You’re going to see the exact same thing with film. I’ve been in this industry for 16 years, and I feel very excited about it again. Back in the day, you’d walk down to a street corner and see some people making a story with a hat in front of them. It’s ancient entertainment, ancient storytelling and oral history—now we’re doing it on YouTube. We were all freaked out by the whole HD thing, that it would show every pore on a person’s face. Personally when I first saw it I said, wow, everything looks like porn! This is too real! But you get so desensitized, you just get used to it.</p>
<p>MJ: You were actually doing online productions before it was the current rage, producing and starring in online-only shows. Can you have more fun in this milieu since there are lower production costs, like can you experiment more?</p>
<p>RD: There wasn’t a whole lot of precedence before us. Maybe it wasn’t going to be a success, and they were going to spend this money and we weren’t going to be able to recoup it. We just put ourselves out there and it was fun, we were shooting in LA, with unions, and it just was great to just feel like, okay, we’re trying something else so let’s see what happens. You’re not spending an entire three days shooting half a page where everyone is sitting in their trailers for most of the time. I’ve just been very excited that over the years I’ve constantly had those types of different experiences. I like staying a little bit like acting school, not experimental, necessarily, but just fun. I have the best job in the world: I pretend for a living. You can’t get too precious about that.</p>
<p>MJ: You started <a href="http://www.votolatino.org/" type="external">Voto Latino</a> in 2004 in the throes of the Bush Administration, where channeling outrage was pretty straightforward. Is the sell more complicated now?</p>
<p>RD: Yeah, but I think nuance is very important to have in the conversation, nuance that’s been lacking for a long time. A lot of voting organizations only exist every four years, putting all this money into “your voice is important!” Wouldn’t that be nice, if that’s all it took? Voting is the first political action for most people. But if you don’t follow up then voting is not actual participation but just a one-off. That person has no accountability or political cost to what they said they were going to do and what they ended up doing. This is the only free country in the world that’s doing lobbying. Voters should be the lobbyists. If we can spend all of this time with all these different celebrities who fill up the internet and magazines then we should be able to keep an eye on politicians because they might cost you your job and your home and your life savings. Don’t you want to know who they are? When people start to complain, “Voting doesn’t matter,” I’m like, the people of Wisconsin weren’t boycotting and hitting the streets and blowing up those rooms because voting didn’t change those situations for them. That was their livelihood. There’s revolution going on all over the world because they actually can’t have a voice.</p>
<p>MJ: You produced a series of telenovela spoofs for YouTube called <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pcBzK14VrU" type="external">La Pasion de la Decision</a> that are essentially voting soap operas. Activism used to be so earnest. Has it lightened up a bit?</p>
<p>RD: The reason we do activism is because, maybe you haven’t been raped or abused, but there are millions of people who can’t say the same, and when you hear their stories you may be a little bit compelled. And it doesn’t have to be dark. In the Congo, there are women who’ve been raped and re-raped, and they’re so powerful, and they can carry trees on their heads, and they’re dancing!</p>
<p>MJ: What is it about Twitter that makes it a good mix for you as an actor and activist?</p>
<p>RD: I really like Twitter. It’s a conversation and it reminds me of having stranger conversations on the train. I’m a New Yorker. I’m used to bumping into strangers, acknowledging them, them acknowledging me, even if it’s just with an eyebrow lift. And maybe you just have those impromptu conversations, or where all of the sudden you’re standing on the corner waiting to cross the street and you notice three people looking up and you look up with them. And you all smile at each other because you’re seeing a little piece of a rainbow between two buildings, and that little [rainbow] and you all just shared a New York moment, and that’s awesome, and then you keep on in your way. (What’s odd about it is that I see it as these moments and then other people, I’ll reply to someone, and they’re like, “Follow me back, let’s be friends!” and I’m like, “See, on the train you have a great conversation between stops and you don’t necessarily exchange phone numbers. It’s not that deep, actually. Why can’t the moment just be what it is?”) I grew up and I’ve worked with people who have been very present, a) either always jumping to whatever is most modern technologically advanced sort of thing, or b) people in this industry, like Kevin Smith, who, his communication with his fans is hugely connected to his success. And he was talking about that years ago. And David Bowie was doing that years ago. And Prince was doing that years ago. There have been people who’ve understood it for a long time, who’ve gone, okay, this is a medium I get. It’s not a phase; it’s not a fad; it’s actually something quite vital and important, and it’s pretty fascinating to watch that.</p>
<p>For me it’s great because I am very political about stuff, and I do have a lot of issues that I care about. Twitter frees me up from being on the red carpet and feeling like I have all of these things to say, but it’s not the appropriate time to be talking about rape in the Congo. I’m in high heels, I’m wearing a fabulous dress, people want me to just smile and talk about my movie because I only have three minutes, and that’s my job. I do have people who are like, “Yo, I think someone hacked into your Twitter account to talk about census forms.” I’m like, “No, that’s me.” There are people who don’t like celebrities who tweet about politics—to whom I say, don’t follow me. Thank you for liking Sin City. I can completely understand if you watch that movie and then I talk about single-use plastic bags and you’re a little confused, maybe put off: “You should be talking about machine guns! In a sexy way!” I’m sorry, that’s not me.</p>
<p>MJ: Any hashtag you wish would take the Twitterverse by storm?</p>
<p>RD: I am the queen of hashtags! I love hashtags. I think in hashtags. I wish I could write everything in hashtag. Me and my friends, we do this little two-finger-on-two-finger thing when we talk to each other, because we’re Twitterholics. Maybe #acceptance. I feel like we pay a lot of attention to the word “tolerance,” and I don’t really like it. I get it, but I don’t need you to tolerate this. It is. When you accept something, it’s much deeper.</p>
<p>MJ: Why do you suppose that actors work so hard to remain apolitical?</p>
<p>RD: From Marilyn Monroe and beyond, that’s a huge part of Hollywood, creating a persona that’s mysterious and fairly simple, though it’s interesting how that’s changing: Now, you have fans who are like, “Um, yeah, I just emailed with Barack Obama and tweeted with Lady Gaga, so I’m kinda right there with you; give it to me.” I get that people are a little allergic to celebrities using their voices, but I grew up a squatter on the Lower East Side, so it’s kind of a given that I’d have very strong opinions on everything from cyclical violence to teenage pregnancy to environmental justice.</p>
<p>MJ: You don’t see mainstream films being made about poor people very often. Winter’s Bone, about life in the Missouri Ozarks, was made because it was backed by someone who was independently wealthy. It seems like the types of movies that are made could change if budgets are smaller, you can communicate wholly different messages to a worldwide audience.</p>
<p>RD:&#160; People watch more documentaries too now. These movies that would normally be shown in these little art houses, and unless you walked by the theater, or happened to read that tiny zine that contained the info for it, or went to a film festival, you might miss it. But now your average Joe can go: “I watched all the action movies on my playlist, now let me see what’s playing in documentaries, see if there’s anything I like there. I’ll watch this one on sports, and I’ll watch this other one, and then, all right, let me see this one on the private-prison system and the privatization of water and…holy shit!” It’s kind of amazing and in some ways it’s shocking to me how much information is out there and still how little we look at it to inform. Once upon a time if we saw whale murders were happening, people were hitting the streets and we had to stop them. And now <a href="http://www.thecovemovie.com/" type="external">The Cove</a> wins awards, and no one’s doing anything about the dolphins. And then you see <a href="http://www.sonyclassics.com/insidejob/" type="external">Inside Job,</a> and you’re like, “Why aren’t people hitting the streets over this, what does it take?” You can watch a documentary at three o’clock in the afternoon and get really, really angry, and then just when you’re about to get up to call your congressman, a commercial comes on and you’re like, “Oh my God, I love that laughing baby, it’s so cute!” Wait a minute, no, this was a big thing you just saw, why don’t you get active about it? I don’t put all my eggs in any basket and go, now with social media we can just be social activists; no, we have to really choose to do take action. And it’s a long day, and you want to just play your video game. And believe me, I love playing Red Dead Redemption or Arkham Asylum, too. I get it; it’s not about always being so vigilant all the time. It’s about finding that balance.</p>
<p>MJ: When you were just 19, Prince invited you to do the intro commentary on his “1999” remix. He also called you the “voice of a generation.” You seem to have taken that to heart.</p>
<p>RD: He just saw me. Maybe more so than I saw myself at that time. I take it very seriously. And it’s not all like beautiful-smelling roses all the time. There’s room for improvement. And I’m young enough. My grandmother will vote, but she looks at some of the political stuff I do and says, “That’s a young person’s game.” But then there’s <a href="http://www.doloreshuerta.org/" type="external">Dolores Huerta</a>—she’s what, 80? And she’s saying, “I’m not tired, I’m still marching—what’s your excuse?”</p>
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<p /> | Rosario Dawson Acts Up | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2011/07/rosario-dawson-twitter-interview-congo/ | 2018-07-01 | 4 |
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has prematurely declared "Obamacare" dead and displayed a misunderstanding of where the money comes from to make the health law work.</p>
<p>A look at his remarks Wednesday about the tax plan he will soon sign into law and its effect on President Barack Obama's health insurance overhaul:</p>
<p>TRUMP: "Obamacare has been repealed in this bill."</p>
<p>THE FACTS: It hasn't. The tax plan ends fines for people who don't carry health insurance. That's a major change but far from the dismantling of the law.</p>
<p>Other marquee components of Obama's law remain, such as the Medicaid expansion serving low-income adults, protections that shield people with pre-existing medical conditions from being denied coverage or charged higher premiums, income-based subsidies for consumers buying individual health insurance policies, the requirement that insurers cover "essential" health benefits, and the mandate that larger employers provide coverage to their workers or face fines.</p>
<p>Also, the tax bill doesn't repeal fines for uninsured individuals until the start of 2019, meaning the individual mandate is still in force for next year unless the administration acts to waive the penalties.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>TRUMP: "When you add it all up together, and then you add two things — the individual mandate is being repealed. When the individual mandate is being repealed, that means Obamacare is being repealed because they get their money from the individual mandate. "</p>
<p>THE FACTS: This is also wrong. The fines on people who don't carry health insurance only provide a small fraction of the financing for the program. Most of the money comes from higher taxes on upper-income people, cuts in Medicare payments to service providers, and other tax increases.</p>
<p>The Congressional Budget Office estimated that fines from uninsured people would total $3 billion this year, while the government's cost for the coverage provided under the health law would total about $117 billion.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Find AP Fact Checks at https://apnews.com/tag/APFactCheck</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has prematurely declared "Obamacare" dead and displayed a misunderstanding of where the money comes from to make the health law work.</p>
<p>A look at his remarks Wednesday about the tax plan he will soon sign into law and its effect on President Barack Obama's health insurance overhaul:</p>
<p>TRUMP: "Obamacare has been repealed in this bill."</p>
<p>THE FACTS: It hasn't. The tax plan ends fines for people who don't carry health insurance. That's a major change but far from the dismantling of the law.</p>
<p>Other marquee components of Obama's law remain, such as the Medicaid expansion serving low-income adults, protections that shield people with pre-existing medical conditions from being denied coverage or charged higher premiums, income-based subsidies for consumers buying individual health insurance policies, the requirement that insurers cover "essential" health benefits, and the mandate that larger employers provide coverage to their workers or face fines.</p>
<p>Also, the tax bill doesn't repeal fines for uninsured individuals until the start of 2019, meaning the individual mandate is still in force for next year unless the administration acts to waive the penalties.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>TRUMP: "When you add it all up together, and then you add two things — the individual mandate is being repealed. When the individual mandate is being repealed, that means Obamacare is being repealed because they get their money from the individual mandate. "</p>
<p>THE FACTS: This is also wrong. The fines on people who don't carry health insurance only provide a small fraction of the financing for the program. Most of the money comes from higher taxes on upper-income people, cuts in Medicare payments to service providers, and other tax increases.</p>
<p>The Congressional Budget Office estimated that fines from uninsured people would total $3 billion this year, while the government's cost for the coverage provided under the health law would total about $117 billion.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Find AP Fact Checks at https://apnews.com/tag/APFactCheck</p> | AP FACT CHECK: Trump says 'Obamacare' is repealed. It isn't. | false | https://apnews.com/amp/9654843290cd4955949f46b0516ef62f | 2017-12-21 | 2 |
<p>RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ These North Carolina lotteries were drawn Friday:</p>
<p>Cash 5</p>
<p>08-14-17-31-32</p>
<p>(eight, fourteen, seventeen, thirty-one, thirty-two)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $160,000</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>03-17-23-49-66, Mega Ball: 23, Megaplier: 3</p>
<p>(three, seventeen, twenty-three, forty-nine, sixty-six; Mega Ball: twenty-three; Megaplier: three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $55 million</p>
<p>Pick 3 Day</p>
<p>5-5-5, Lucky Sum: 15</p>
<p>(five, five, five; Lucky Sum: fifteen)</p>
<p>Pick 3 Evening</p>
<p>9-5-6, Lucky Sum: 20</p>
<p>(nine, five, six; Lucky Sum: twenty)</p>
<p>Pick 4 Day</p>
<p>3-8-7-3, Lucky Sum: 21</p>
<p>(three, eight, seven, three; Lucky Sum: twenty-one)</p>
<p>Pick 4 Evening</p>
<p>9-2-1-7, Lucky Sum: 19</p>
<p>(nine, two, one, seven; Lucky Sum: nineteen)</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $78 million</p>
<p>RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ These North Carolina lotteries were drawn Friday:</p>
<p>Cash 5</p>
<p>08-14-17-31-32</p>
<p>(eight, fourteen, seventeen, thirty-one, thirty-two)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $160,000</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>03-17-23-49-66, Mega Ball: 23, Megaplier: 3</p>
<p>(three, seventeen, twenty-three, forty-nine, sixty-six; Mega Ball: twenty-three; Megaplier: three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $55 million</p>
<p>Pick 3 Day</p>
<p>5-5-5, Lucky Sum: 15</p>
<p>(five, five, five; Lucky Sum: fifteen)</p>
<p>Pick 3 Evening</p>
<p>9-5-6, Lucky Sum: 20</p>
<p>(nine, five, six; Lucky Sum: twenty)</p>
<p>Pick 4 Day</p>
<p>3-8-7-3, Lucky Sum: 21</p>
<p>(three, eight, seven, three; Lucky Sum: twenty-one)</p>
<p>Pick 4 Evening</p>
<p>9-2-1-7, Lucky Sum: 19</p>
<p>(nine, two, one, seven; Lucky Sum: nineteen)</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $78 million</p> | NC Lottery | false | https://apnews.com/amp/af0b2d655f434088998adf45e153a337 | 2018-01-20 | 2 |
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