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<p>Oil prices edged down on Tuesday, following a week of straight gains that brought the global oil benchmark above $50 a barrel for the first time in two months, amid growing optimism that the market is tightening.</p>
<p>Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.61% to $52.40 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading down 0.38% at $49.98 a barrel.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Although oil futures edged down in the morning session, analysts say a swath of positive news the past two weeks, including ebbing U.S. inventories and slowing production, has boosted investor confidence in oil, which has been in the doldrums due to a large persistent glut.</p>
<p>"It's a combination of things. The U.S. data does show much stronger-than-expected demand and rapidly declining inventory," said Paul Horsnell, the head of commodity research at Standard Chartered. "It is [also] clear that Saudi Arabia is still reducing exports and is still committed to rebalancing the market."</p>
<p>Last year the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which Saudi Arabia is a member, joined up with allied countries such as Russia to withhold almost 2% of the world's oil output to boost prices.</p>
<p>Not all member countries have complied with their pledges to lower output. But oil prices received a boost when Saudi Arabia said last week it would go further than limiting its production by also placing a cap on its exports.</p>
<p>Overall, oil prices have received support from data showing the U.S. shale oil machine may be slowing down.</p>
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<p>For about three years, American producers have been locked in a battle for market share with OPEC producers.</p>
<p>Before agreeing to limit their output, the members of the oil cartel pumped crude at high rates in a bid to drown out smaller U.S. producers.</p>
<p>The result: prices plunged to a 13-year low and global inventories surged. It also tipped the global supply-demand balance, causing economic woes for some nations as their usual stream of oil revenue shrank.</p>
<p>On Monday the Energy Information Administration said total U.S. crude production grew 0.6% from April to hit the highest daily average for a month this year, but the data also revealed growth might be sputtering, as May's growth was the second slowest of 2017.</p>
<p>Some investors hope the numbers mean that high-cost producers in the U.S. might be pulling back amid still-low prices.</p>
<p>Other experts are adopting a wait-and-see approach as U.S. oil production depends on the decisions made by U.S. shale oil companies.</p>
<p>It might still be premature to assume shale production will cool into year-end because capital-spending reductions the past several years have largely been a function of companies "being able to get more for every dollar invested," said Energy Aspects.</p>
<p>Still, shale oil producers such as Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and ConocoPhillips lost more than expected in the second quarter of this year due to low oil prices. Both firms announced plans to rein in spending. Together, they shaved a combined $500 million out of their $9.2 billion budgets.</p>
<p>Later on Tuesday investors will be watching estimates on U.S. stocks and production data from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group.</p>
<p>Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 0.17% to $1.68 a gallon. ICE gas oil changed hands at $493.50 a metric ton, up $4.50 from the previous settlement.</p>
<p>Lynn Cook</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>Alison Sider</p>
<p>contributed to this article</p>
<p>Write to Neanda Salvaterra at [email protected] and Jenny W. Hsu at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>August 01, 2017 08:02 ET (12:02 GMT)</p> | Oil Edges Down After Week of Gains -- Update | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/08/01/oil-edges-down-after-week-gains-update.html | 2017-08-01 | 0 |
<p>Published time: 20 Jul, 2017 17:13</p>
<p>A Saudi prince has been arrested on the orders of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, after footage emerged allegedly exposing his violent behavior, including aiming a gun at a man’s head.</p>
<p>Local media outlets reported that Prince Saudi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed bin Saud bin Abdulaziz was arrested on Thursday on the orders of the king, pending the outcome of an investigation into a series of video clips that went viral with the Arabic hashtag “prince transgresses against citizens.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/396825-saudi-woman-miniskirt-released/" type="external">READ MORE:&#160;Miniskirt-wearing woman ‘released without charge’ after Saudi arrest</a></p>
<p>In a video widely shared on social networks, a man, believed to be the prince, can be seen wearing a black T-shirt and gray sweatpants, as he is being led away in handcuffs by members of the security forces.</p>
<p>[embedded content]</p>
<p>On Tuesday, several short clips emerged on social media, including one purporting to show the prince aiming a rifle at a man’s head, who is already injured and bleeding. Another video shows a man bleeding in a car and being cursed at for parking in front of a house, while a third reportedly shows the prince punching and slapping a man sitting in a chair.</p>
<p>Warning: Readers may find some of the images in the video disturbing.</p>
<p>[embedded content]</p>
<p>After the viral scandal broke out, King Salman ordered the prince’s arrest, and many Saudis expressed their support for his decision on Twitter.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/390385-saudi-prince-women-driving/" type="external">READ MORE:&#160;‘They used to lead camels’: Saudi prince stands up for right of women to drive</a></p>
<p>“The era of slavery and injustice is over. This is the time of equity and justice,” wrote one user. “Whatever you do, you will not escape the hand of justice.”</p>
<p>“We thank King Salman for his commitment to the citizens and to hold accountable every person that imposes his authority on the Saudi people, whether they are prince or not,” wrote another.</p>
<p>نشكر الملك سلمان على حرصه على المواطنين ومحاسبة كل شخص يفرض سلطته على الشعب السعودي سواء كان امير او غيره.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B1_%D9%8A%D8%B9%D8%AA%D8%AF%D9%8A_%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A_%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%86?src=hash" type="external">#امير_يعتدي_علي_مواطنين</a></p>
<p>— طـلال عبدالله الوبير (@T_BEN_ABDULLAH) <a href="https://twitter.com/T_BEN_ABDULLAH/status/888032811927707648" type="external">July 20, 2017</a></p>
<p>However, human rights activist Moudi Aljohani used the case to make a point about how the Saudi authorities are seemingly reluctant to pursue the royals’ abuse of power.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/op-edge/387593-women-violence-saudi-arabia/" type="external">READ MORE: ‘World continues to reward Saudi Arabia despite crimes against women’</a></p>
<p>“This ‘royal order’ to arrest the prince is evidence of [the authorities] weakness or a lack of power,” she posted.</p>
<p>Since ascending to the throne in 2015, King Salman has made a point of firing or otherwise punishing officials, including members of the royal family, who have been caught on camera being abusive to citizens. Saudi royals, while extremely privileged, are not immune from criminal charges and prosecution. In October, Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir was even executed for murder after shooting a man during a fight.</p> | Saudi prince arrested after violent viral clips (VIDEO) | false | https://newsline.com/saudi-prince-arrested-after-violent-viral-clips-video/ | 2017-07-20 | 1 |
<p>Charlottesville, Virginia, a city named after Britain's first black queen, was the scene of a bloody riot Saturday, Aug. 12. The fray resulted in the death of one woman, who was mowed down by a car; plus, there were many other people injured. Have politicians and the news media told the correct and complete story about what happened, or have Americans been deliberately misled? Let's look at it.</p>
<p>One does not have to accept the racist and nationalist vision of the Unite the Right organization to recognize and respect its First Amendment rights. Moreover, the group obtained a city permit to hold a peaceful rally to protest the lawful removal of the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park, formerly known as Lee Park. It was the leftist protesters who did not have a city permit to assemble for a rally on that day. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said: "There has got to be a movement in this country to bring people together. The hatred and rhetoric that has gone on and has intensified over the last couple months is dividing this great nation." He denounced "the white supremacists and the Nazis." However, when asked a question about whether he would include the left-wing, pro-violence antifa in his condemnation, he ignored the question and walked out of the room.</p>
<p>Here's a question for you: Did the authorities of the city of Charlottesville have a duty to protect Unite the Right rally attendees? The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia said they had a right to rally, saying, "The First Amendment is a critical part of our democracy, and it protects vile, hateful, and ignorant speech." Thus, the ACLU of Virginia defended the white supremacists' and neo-Nazis' right to march and rally against the removal of the statue of Lee. Both the Unite the Right organizers and the leftist counter-protesters charged that the Charlottesville police did not do their job. They just stood back and watched the melee.</p>
<p>This was documented in several reports. The Daily Caller article titled "Why Were The Police Held Back In Charlottesville?" reports: "Law enforcement was on hand at the dueling demonstrations on Saturday, decked out in riot gear and looking prepared for the worst. Except they weren't allowed to do their job." According to the ACLU of Virginia, police on the scene were reported to have been ordered to "not intervene until given command to do so." That kept them from suppressing the numerous scuffles that <a href="https://tinyurl.com/ycpnrzv7" type="external">broke out</a>. I'd like to ask any policeman, Since when did the police need a command to intervene when they are witnessing people assaulting one another? In a ProPublica article titled "Police Stood By As Mayhem Mounted in Charlottesville," the authors reported that "state police and National Guardsmen watched passively for hours as self-proclaimed Nazis engaged in street battles with counter-protesters." ProPublica reporter A.C. Thompson, who was on the scene, <a href="https://tinyurl.com/yc9al2lk" type="external">reported</a> that "the authorities turned the streets of the city over to groups of militiamen armed with assault rifles." Instead of owning up to his dereliction of duty — by not having ordered his police force to protect life and limb — Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer chose to demagogue the situation by blaming the rise of white nationalists on President Donald Trump.</p>
<p>Many politicians, racists, hustlers and tyrants have an agenda that consists mostly of making the U.S. Constitution meaningless and giving government greater control over our lives, thereby destroying personal liberty. The alt-right and white supremacists seek to achieve their goals through racist propaganda. The leftists seek to achieve their goals by tricking Americans into believing that all they want are brotherhood and multiculturalism. If either group achieves its goals, we Americans will lose not only our liberty but also our civility. Few Americans recognize and respect the fact that multiracial societies are inherently unstable. What we've been doing for decades, through various government policies, is stacking up combustible racial kindling awaiting a racial arsonist to set it ablaze. There are too many historical examples of what happens to a nation when race hustlers are allowed to take over.</p>
<p>Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.</p>
<p>COPYRIGHT 2017 CREATORS.COM</p> | WILLIAMS: Charlottesville Donnybrook | true | https://dailywire.com/news/20038/williams-charlottesville-donnybrook-walter-e-williams | 2017-08-22 | 0 |
<p>Henry Rodgers, <a href="http://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2017/10/13/clinton-might-become-a-professor-for-columbia-university/" type="external">DCNF</a></p>
<p>Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could possibly become a professor at Columbia University in New York City, according to a report released Friday.</p>
<p>(Photo by Kevin Hagen/Getty Images)</p>
<p>After losing her 2016 presidential run and&#160; <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2017/09/19/reporters-crashed-a-clinton-book-signing-to-ask-an-important-question-what-happened/" type="external">releasing a book</a>&#160;about her experiences, Clinton might know what she would like to do next. Columbia University is reportedly in talks with Clinton about a possible job as a professor at the expensive New York Ivy League school, The New York Daily News&#160; <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/hillary-clinton-talks-columbia-professor-role-article-1.3559329" type="external">reported</a>.</p>
<p>Although nothing has been officially decided, one option on the table is a “university professor” role, where Clinton would be able to give lectures at a variety of different schools&#160;across the U.S., according to multiple sources. Clinton is also considering storing her archives at Columbia University.</p>
<p>“It’s all fluid. It could be a number of things. No decisions have been made, but there are talks,” a source familiar with the situation told The New York Daily News.</p>
<p>Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, could become work colleagues. Chelsea currently teaches at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Her title is an “Adjunct Assistant Professor” for health policy and management, according to the school’s&#160; <a href="https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/people/our-faculty/cc3459" type="external">website</a>.</p>
<p>Clinton is still in the discussion stages about her future role, but seemed confident that she would be taking some kind of job in education, according to a source.</p>
<p>“She’s trying to figure out what she wants to do. It could end up with the papers at one place and she has some sort of faculty role at another. She hasn’t quite come to a decision,” the source concluded.</p>
<p>Columbia University is the&#160; <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/most-expensive-colleges-in-the-us-2017-2/#2-columbia-university-49" type="external">second most</a>&#160;expensive school in the U.S., costing nearly $70,000 per year.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/henryrodgersdc" type="external">Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter</a></p>
<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact&#160; <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected].</a></p> | Hillary might have a brand new gig lined up, and it makes perfect sense | true | http://bizpacreview.com/2017/10/13/hillary-might-brand-new-gig-lined-makes-perfect-sense-548213 | 2017-10-13 | 0 |
<p>By Jake Johnson / <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/07/19/barbara-lee-slams-paul-ryan-killing-endless-war-repeal-dead-night" type="external">Common Dreams</a></p>
<p>Rep. Barbara Lee speaking in Congress on Monday. (Screen shot via <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?431469-1/house-committee-marks-homeland-security-spending-bill" type="external">CSPAN</a>)</p>
<p>Just over two weeks after Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) succeeded in <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/30/after-16-years-house-panel-takes-step-cancel-blank-check-endless-war" type="external">adding an amendment</a> to the 2018 Defense Appropriations Bill that would have repealed the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) reportedly killed the amendment late Tuesday night with no debate or discussion.</p>
<p />
<p>Lee took to Twitter to denounce Ryan’s move as “underhanded” and “undemocratic.”</p>
<p>“Ryan should be ashamed of himself for forcing Republicans to strip out my bipartisan AUMF amendment in the dead of night,” Lee wrote. “What is he afraid of?”</p>
<p>Ryan stripped my 01 AUMF repeal amdt from DOD Approps in the dead of night. This is underhanded &amp; undemocratic. The people deserve a debate!</p>
<p>— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepBarbaraLee/status/887518739494842368" type="external">July 19, 2017</a></p>
<p>Ryan should be ashamed of himself for forcing Republicans to strip out my bipartisan AUMF amdt in the dead of night. What is he afraid of?</p>
<p>— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepBarbaraLee/status/887519977460334592" type="external">July 19, 2017</a></p>
<p>In 2001, Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against the AUMF, which provided <a href="https://www.congress.gov/107/plaws/publ40/PLAW-107publ40.pdf" type="external">authorization</a> (pdf) for the administration of George W. Bush to take military action against “those nations, organizations, or persons he determine[d] planned, authorized, committed, or aided” the September 11 attacks.</p>
<p>The measure has since been used expansively to authorize military actions throughout the Middle East by the Obama and Trump administrations.</p>
<p>[Truthdig editor’s note: On Wednesday a spokeswoman for Ryan said, “The Lee amendment was an irresponsible measure that would have left service members in the field without an authorization to defeat al-Qaeda and ISIS and could have led to the release of the prisoners at Guantanamo.” <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-democrat-accuses-paul-ryan-of-stripping-war-authorization-repeal-in-dead-of-night/" type="external">Click here</a> to see a CBS News written report presenting more of what the spokeswoman said and some background on the disagreement between Lee and Ryan.]</p>
<p>Lee has for years called for the measure’s repeal. Following her momentary victory last month, when Democrats and Republicans in the House Appropriations Committee voted overwhelmingly to include her AUMF repeal amendment in the 2018 Defense Appropriations Bill, Lee <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/30/after-16-years-house-panel-takes-step-cancel-blank-check-endless-war" type="external">celebrated</a> the step toward “put[ting] an end to the overly broad blank check for war that is the 2001 AUMF.”</p>
<p>“If passed into law as part of the DoD bill, it would repeal the 2001 AUMF eight months after enactment of this legislation. That would allow plenty of time for Congress to finally live up to its constitutional obligation to debate and vote on any new AUMF,” Lee added. “It is far past time for Congress to do its job and for the Speaker to allow a debate and vote on this vital national security issue.”</p>
<p>The specifics surrounding Ryan’s quiet, late-night move to kill Lee’s amendment are unclear.</p>
<p>“Getting to the bottom of this as we speak,” Lee’s office <a href="https://twitter.com/LoopEmma/status/887540414986801159" type="external">told</a> Buzzfeed reporter Emma Loop Tuesday night.</p>
<p>In a statement on Wednesday, Lee said the effort to stifle debate on America’s wars is “autocratic” and “may be a new low from Speaker Ryan.”</p>
<p>“Congress has been missing in action on matters of war and peace for nearly sixteen years. Republican leadership showed last night that they will do anything to maintain this status quo,” Lee said. “Refusing to debate and vote on our ongoing wars is an abdication of our constitutional responsibility. Our men and women in uniform deserve better.”</p> | Rep. Barbara Lee Slams Paul Ryan for Killing Endless-War Repeal 'in the Dead of Night' | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/rep-barbara-lee-slams-paul-ryan-for-killing-endless-war-repeal-in-the-dead-of-night/ | 2017-07-19 | 4 |
<p>Confronted with popular protest, the country’s unelected rulers have doubled down on repression, jailing peaceful activists and killing dozens of civilians who have the gall to exercise their rights. Those who state security forces haven’t killed for demanding democracy have been tear-gassed and brought before the perverted justice of a military court, even as the ruling clique promises the world and its red-eyed subjects democratic reform. Eventually.</p>
<p>Were it Syria or Iran, the rhetoric from Washington would be stern, aggressive even. But since the repressive ruling clique is the military junta in Egypt, the lectures are timid – and coupled with a handout. Indeed, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just announced, the Obama administration is waiving a legislative requirement that made military assistance to Egypt conditional on its rulers “implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion, and due process of law.”</p>
<p>This allows the U.S. government to send Egypt’s rulers $1.5 billion in taxpayer money, more than 85 percent of which is explicitly set aside for the armed forces.</p>
<p>If one only pays attention to what politicians say, ignoring what they do, this may come as a surprise. President Barack Obama, after all, has voiced support for the Arab Spring. He gave a speech in Cairo full of <a href="" type="internal">lofty</a> <a href="" type="internal">words</a> about the people of the region’s legitimate democratic aspirations. So why would his administration lavish a regime that cracks down on pro-democracy forces with money for weapons?</p>
<p>Simple: for America’s weapons makers, there’s big money at stake. According to “administration and congressional officials” <a href="" type="internal">speaking to</a> the Washington Post, some of the biggest lobbyists for sending our tax dollars to Egypt are military contractors – BAE Systems, General Dynamics, General Electric, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin among them – “eager to keep lucrative contracts attached to the annual aid.” These companies kept Hosni Mubarak’s military well stocked with fighter jets, tanks, armored personnel carriers, Apache helicopters, anti-aircraft missile batteries and aerial surveillance aircraft. For them, military rule is just good business.</p>
<p>The Pentagon, meanwhile, is in lockstep with its contractors and “does not want to risk its ties with the Egyptian military,” according to the Post. So that takes care of the military-industrial complex. And it doesn’t hurt the munitions-for-Egyptians cause that said military has pledged to buck popular opinion and maintain close relations with Israel.</p>
<p>So with generals and General Electric whispering in his ear, Obama – not exactly the type to challenge military-industrial consensus – will be sending more than a billion dollars to subsidize regime that has killed hundreds of people in the year since former dictator Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign.</p>
<p>“Given the human rights violations in Egypt, the US State Department cannot in good faith certify to the US Congress that the Egyptian government is protecting human rights,” Amnesty International wrote <a href="http://www.amnestyusa.org/pdfs/Amnesty_International_letter_Egypt__Secretary_Clinton.pdf" type="external">in a letter</a> to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Egypt’s military rulers, while promising a transition to civilian control, have “engaged in a wave of repression that has broken the promise of the uprising that began in January 2011 for a new future for the country,” according to the group. There have been killings of “numerous civilians,” along with the persecution of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their Egyptian and American employees for the crime of sowing discontent with seditious calls for civilian rule.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Clinton’s response: Whatever. On Friday, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland <a href="" type="internal">confirmed that</a> Clinton had approved transmission of the aid on the grounds of “regional stability,” simply ignoring petty concerns about democracy and systematic human rights abuses.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“Secretary Clinton has certified to Congress that Egypt is meeting its obligations under its Peace Treaty with Israel,” Nuland said in a statement. “The Secretary has also waived legislative conditions related to Egypt’s democratic transition, on the basis of America’s national security interests, allowing for the continued flow of Foreign Military Financing to Egypt.” When push comes to shove, the demands of militarism trump the desire for democracy every time.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>That’s the message even from most liberal Democrats: Democracy’s great and all, but it takes a back seat to stability and preserving the status quo.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“The interest of Egypt and surrounding area as well as the United States is well served by a strong and stable Egypt,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi <a href="" type="internal">during a recent trip</a> to the region. “To the extent that that [military] assistance is in furtherance of that stability, we will certainly be there.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>It sounds like Pelosi didn’t talk to many Egyptians on her trip, for they would have told her that if the U.S. had $1.5 billion just laying around, it would be better to use that to boost Egypt’s economy than its military. But that request would not go down well with the U.S. weapons makers who contribute to Pelosi and her colleagues’ election campaigns. And for the most part, it’s just not how foreign aid works.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy is one of the few senior Democrats who have called on the Obama administration to withhold funding for tyranny in Egypt, that task having largely been left – strangely enough – to conservative Republicans. In <a href="http://paul.senate.gov/?p=press_release&amp;id=482" type="external">a letter</a> to Secretary of State Clinton, Tennessee Senator Rand Paul and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann call for freezing the aid, saying that dispersing it now “would send the wrong message to the Egyptian government that U.S. taxpayers will subsidize the Egyptian military while it continues to oversee the crackdown on civil society and to commit human rights abuses.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>That’s an argument both fiscal conservatives and liberal humanitarians should theoretically be able to get behind. But when Paul offered an amendment on the Senate floor to freeze the military aid, it was California Democrat Barbara Boxer who <a href="http://www.republican.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/floor-updates?ID=39d7e983-a9c6-4985-a691-761dd42aecfe" type="external">blocked it</a> from being put to a vote. “We need to be smart and strategic when we have people in harm’s way in another country,” she lectured on the Senate floor, which makes perfect sense: if confronted with a repressive regime, it’s best to stay cool and subsidize its tools of repression.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>In a <a href="" type="internal">recent report</a> on post-Mubarak Egypt, the U.S. government’s Congressional Research Service noted a “tension” that has long existed in America’s relations with Egypt “and is expected to continue unabated and perhaps amplified as a result of the revolution”: the “pursuit of U.S. national security interests,” on the one hand, “the promotion of American values and universal human rights” on the other.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Here’s the thing, though: a bandit is no less a bandit because he talks a lot about being a saint. One’s true values are reflected in one’s actions, not words. And in the case of U.S. relations with Egypt, under Obama just as much as George W. Bush, those actions have been firmly in support of dictatorship and repressive – but pro-American – rule. Unfortunately, that doesn’t cause a tension with our values: it exposes them for what they are.</p>
<p><a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">Charles</a>&#160; <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">Davis</a> is a writer who has covered politics for public radio and the international news wire Inter Press Service. More of his work may be found on <a href="http://charliedavis.blogspot.com/" type="external">his</a> <a href="http://charliedavis.blogspot.com/" type="external">website</a>.</p>
<p><a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">Medea</a>&#160; <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">Benjamin</a> is cofounder of <a href="http://codepinkalert.org/" type="external">CODEPINK</a>: Women for Peace and <a href="" type="internal">Global</a> <a href="" type="internal">Exchange</a>.&#160;</p> | “Stability” Trumps Democracy in Egypt | true | https://counterpunch.org/2012/03/23/stability-trumps-democracy-in-egypt/ | 2012-03-23 | 4 |
<p />
<p>With the current craze in drive-by-dining, small business owners should consider all the facts before they hit the road. Here are some firsthand accounts of running a restaurant on wheels.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Luke Holden, the president and founder of <a href="http://www.lukeslobster.com/" type="external">Luke’s Lobster in New York Opens a New Window.</a>, said growing his restaurant has been easier than finding a footing in the food truck crowd of the city. He started his business in 2009, and opened three more restaurants before entering into the food truck arena. At this point, he said, the truck does more to get the brand noticed then to increase the bottom-line in profits.</p>
<p>The truck is also a lot “more difficult to manage” than the day-to-day restaurant operation, according to Holden, because of the unpredictability when it comes to location, weather and parking availability.</p>
<p>“It has been more of an outreach tool than a cash-flow tool. There are a lot of inherit struggles that come with operating a truck,” said Holden. “You can’t determine what the weather will do or parking issues. It is a difficult business to build stability in, and if you can’t build stability in, it’s harder to staff.”</p>
<p>Parking issues have increased in New York, Holden said, over the past 8 months as meter rules changed. Sometimes his truck incurs almost $2,000 for parking in legal spaces a week. He said that the market for food trucks in New York has become “over saturated” and “more seasonal.”</p>
<p>Holden advises entrepreneurs interested in the food truck world to do their market research and ask a lot of questions. For example, Holden said that in New York City it was no more economical to open a food truck than to open a small restaurant.</p>
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<p>Some small business owners have experienced the opposite effects, having a successful food truck lead to an expansion into restaurants. Dimitrious Dimopoulos, Greek Lady Foods’ owner in Philadelphia, said his family’s goal was always to have a restaurant since they started on the truck in 1985. After they achieved their goal 12 years ago, they shut down the truck that got them there.</p>
<p>Dimopoulos said it took hard work and dedication to get into the restaurant business. He also suggests that small business owners looking to get into the food service industry go into the restaurant business if the budget is there, rather than starting out at first with a truck.</p>
<p>“It is a hard business [on the trucks],” said Dimopoulos. “You are outside with the weather and the elements.”</p>
<p>The truck was the best business model for starting out for <a href="http://www.vanleeuwenicecream.com/" type="external">Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Opens a New Window.</a>, according to co-founder Laura O'Neill. She started her business in New York City in the spring of 2008 on the idea of selling high-end artisanal ice cream from a truck. She said she found her business to be recession proof, and the ice cream truck to be a natural method for selling the product. When starting out, O’Neill and her partner worked from 10am-1am, she said this made it a little more flexible as a business model. It took her company 2 years before they were ready to expand into brick and mortar territory.</p>
<p>“It was a great way to establish our brand and we were able to be a little busier from the beginning,” said O’Neill.</p>
<p>O’Neill also credits the timing of her launch with her company’s success. She said she was able to secure several great steady locations for the food truck before the craze truly overtook the city. Her biggest advice for business owners starting out is to find out what business model truly works best with your product.</p>
<p>“I do worry that people see it as a trend, but there are so many difficulties that come with running trucks,” said O’Neill. “You don’t have to wake up early in the morning to jumpstart a store.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.heirloomla.com/" type="external">Heirloom LA Opens a New Window.</a> &#160;is new to the food truck scene in Los Angeles. Tara Maxey, Heirloom LA’s co-founder, has been using a food truck for eight months as “brand equity,” as her catering business is still the main source of revenue for the company.</p>
<p>“[The truck] garnered us a lot of press we wouldn’t have had otherwise,” said Maxey. “We approach our truck as more of a restaurant on wheels because that’s our background. It’s not really about the truck brigade. We are selective about where we put the truck.”</p>
<p>Maxey advises anyone wishing to start up a food truck to try things out first and suggests renting a truck for a test run. She said she has seen other trucks fail because they do the prep work in their trucks, whereas Maxey has space from her catering service to prep everything before it hits the road.</p>
<p>“The thing that I stress to anyone who asks us how we grew so fast is truly taking advantage of your own free PR,” said Maxey.</p> | Food Trucks' Rocky Roads to Success | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/03/01/food-trucks-rocky-roads-to-success.html | 2016-03-23 | 0 |
<p>BOZEMAN, Mont. — Montana’s next congressman, Greg Gianforte, avoided jail time Monday after pleading guilty to <a href="" type="internal">assaulting a reporter the day before he was</a> <a href="" type="internal">elected</a>.</p>
<p>Gallatin County Justice of the Peace Rick West sentenced the Republican technology entrepreneur to 40 hours of community service, 20 hours of anger management counseling and ordered him to pay a $385 fine for the misdemeanor. If he remains law abiding for 180 days, he can petition for the conviction to be removed from his record.</p>
<p>Gianforte’s attorneys noted that he had already paid more than $4,600 in restitution to Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs for the assault, which <a href="" type="internal">cast a pall over his May 25 victory</a> to serve the remainder of Ryan Zinke’s term. Zinke resigned to become Interior Department secretary.</p>
<p>Gianforte, 56, is expected to be sworn in to the state’s sole U.S. House seat later this month.</p>
<p>Jacobs said Gianforte knocked him to the ground when he asked the candidate a question May 24. Audio taken by Jacobs recorded sounds of a scuffle, followed by Gianforte yelling for the reporter to “get the hell out of here.” Gianforte was cited that night.</p>
<p>Civil claims settled</p>
<p>In an attempt to put the matter behind him, Gianforte first settled all civil claims with Jacobs before requesting that Monday’s court date cover both his arraignment and sentencing.</p>
<p>In the civil settlement, Gianforte agreed to give $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists and wrote Jacobs a letter of apology in which he acknowledged assaulting the reporter for asking a “legitimate question about health care policy.”</p>
<p>In exchange, Jacobs agreed not to sue Gianforte and said he would not object if Gianforte entered a no-contest plea to the criminal charge, which would have allowed Gianforte to concede to the charge without admitting guilt.</p>
<p>But Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert said Friday that he had not agreed to any deal in which Gianforte would plead no contest.</p>
<p>Gianforte, who sold the software company he founded to Oracle for $1.8 billion in 2011, won his first political office over Democrat Rob Quist after a short but intense campaign set off by Zinke’s appointment to the Cabinet post by President Donald Trump.</p>
<p>The special election drew millions of dollars in donations from across the U.S.</p> | No jail for Montana congressman-elect in assault on reporter | false | https://reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/no-jail-for-montana-congressman-elect-in-assault-on-reporter/ | 2017-06-12 | 1 |
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<p>With Waze, the power of the crowd helps drivers avoid traffic and accidents. Now, FeeX is hoping to apply the same principle to retirement savings.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The New York-based startup, co-founded by Waze’s Uri Levine, launched Tuesday in the U.S. FeeX first launched in Israel eight months ago.</p>
<p>FeeX asks users to sign up online using IRA account credentials. It then gives a breakdown of current plan fees – and compares that to what others pay in fees for investment vehicles with comparable track records.</p>
<p>“When you go to buy a TV, you know to the last cent how much it’s costing,” says CEO and co-founder Yoav Zurel. “But educated, smart people are leaving [hundreds of thousands of dollars] on the table.”</p>
<p>Zurel says he was inspired to create FeeX after learning that 33% of his parents’ retirement savings were going toward fees. “They thought it was insignificant. It shows you they had no idea how much they were paying,” he says. In total, Zurel says Americans pay $600 billion each year toward financial-industry fees.</p>
<p>Applying Waze Knowledge to the Financial Industry</p>
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<p>The idea for FeeX nurtured through the Zell Entrepreneurship Program, where Zurel was mentored by Levine.</p>
<p>“More than anything, [Levine] helps us to understand how to leverage the wisdom of the crowd in order to break market asymmetry,” says Zurel. By showing users what other investors are paying in fees, Zurel says he hopes that people will feel empowered to make smarter investment choices.</p>
<p>Aside from providing crowdsourcing experience, Levine serves as FeeX’s chairman. The serial entrepreneur also invested $100,000 in the company’s seed round, which was followed in August by a $3 million series A from Blumberg Capital.</p>
<p>FeeX’s service is currently 100% free for users. Eventually, spokesman Michal Habdank says the company will roll out premium features. Zurel says FeeX does not have business dealings with any financial services firms that offer retirement products.</p>
<p>Zurel says the eight-month run in Israel helped FeeX refine its service. Once the company gains steam in the U.S., he says it will look to expand its service to include 401(k) accounts. He’s also eyeing the life insurance market.</p>
<p>“Every place where there is massive asymmetry of information, a real consumer is suffering and [can benefit] from the wisdom of the crowd,” says Zurel.</p> | ‘Waze for Retirement Accounts’ Launches in U.S. | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2014/03/25/waze-for-retirement-accounts-launches-in-us.html | 2016-04-07 | 0 |
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<p>VATICAN CITYDotmusic.comLauryn Hill launched a blistering attack on the Catholic church at the weekend, urging religious figures to "repent" whilst speaking on a stage regularly used by the Pope.</p>
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<p>The former Fugees singer was playing at a Christmas show on Saturday evening in Vatican City, in the hall Pope John Paul II uses for his weekly address.</p>
<p>Hill took the opportunity to speak her mind about allegations of sexual abuse in America, before an audience that included top Vatican cardinals, bishops and the cream of Italian society.</p>
<p>The Rome newspaper 'La Repubblica' also reports that Hill did not sing the track credited for her in the programme, but instead performed a song about social injustice.</p>
<p>Before the song, she insisted: "I did not come here to celebrate the birth of Christ with you, but to ask you why you are not in mourning for the death inside this place.</p> | THE EDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL | false | https://poynter.org/news/education-lauryn-hill | 2003-12-15 | 2 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An Albuquerque man punched his girlfriend in the face, smashed her car with a rock and capped off the attack by hurling a slow cooker full of scalding food at the woman, the victim’s daughter told police on Friday.</p>
<p>Matthew Brown, 37.</p>
<p>Police were sent to a trailer park near Atrisco and Bridge in the South Valley Friday, and a woman who lived there told police her mother and her mother’s boyfriend had started arguing.</p>
<p>The boyfriend, 37-year-old Matthew Brown, threw stuff around the house and broke windows before punching his girlfriend and her 17-year-old son in the face, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.</p>
<p>He went outside and smashed his girlfriend’s car’s windows with a rock, before throwing a rock through one of the home’s windows, nearly striking a 4-year-old child in the head, the daughter said.</p>
<p>Brown was charged with two counts of child abuse and criminal damage to property and was booked into the county jail on $25,000 bail.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Police: Man throws slow cooker at girlfriend during assault | false | https://abqjournal.com/479161/police-man-throws-slow-cooker-at-girlfriend-during-assault.html | 2 |
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<p><a href="http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-best-result-of-election-is-that-reality-rules-again/article_00f01123-d0b9-5860-a60d-dc1f69cf7565.html" type="external">In a recent editorial, the left-leaning St. Louis Post-Dispatch&#160;scoffs</a> at last Tuesday’s election results and claims that a health exchange will be created regardless how the people voted.</p>
<p>Missourians rejected Obamacare for the second time last Tuesday by yet another landslide margin: 62% of the vote. <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Missouri_Health_Care_Exchange_Question,_Proposition_E_(2012)" type="external">Proposition E</a> prohibits the Governor or any state agency from establishing a state-based health exchange in accordance with Obamacare, unless voted on by the people. Just two years ago Missourians passed <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Missouri_Health_Care_Freedom,_Proposition_C_(August_2010)" type="external">Proposition C</a> which prevented the federal government from forcing Missourians onto Obamacare and exempted them from the fines of refusal. As with Prop E, Prop C passed 3-1 in every single county in Missouri, save for Kansas City and St. Louis City.</p>
<p>Nixon, a Democrat known for being a wallflower as a protection for a future presidential run, <a href="https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/27968/nixon_exchanges_announcement" type="external">said</a> that because the state won’t act by the November 16th deadline (and Prop E bars him from issuing an executive order) that the federal government will act instead. Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones (R-Eureka) <a href="https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/27968/nixon_exchanges_announcement" type="external">said that Nixon owes it to Missourians to request a waiver as other governors have done</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile the St. Louis daily in a missive from their editorial board happily boasted confidence in the federal government steamrolling over Missouri voters. Behold, the limits of intellectualism:</p>
<p>Obamacare lives. Math works. Climate change is real. People are gay. Latinos vote.</p>
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<p>Missouri Republicans, in their mindless zeal to oppose the Affordable Care Act at any turn, actually created a situation in which the federal government, and not the state of Missouri, will be in charge of implementing the consumer-friendly details of the law. That speaks to the bizarro-world that has defined our nation’s political culture in the past couple of years.</p>
<p>The newspaper begs the question that Obamacare wouldn’t be implemented had the GOP not acted. The idea that the states would manage the exchange implementation via a federally-managed law isn’t a substitute for the 10th Amendment in this issue. I’m not sure how many people are behind the “Editorial Board” byline, but considering not a single one of them identified this frosh fallacy reduces the validity of their written diatribe as a whole.</p>
<p>The Post’s editorial is also the most idiotic thing I’ve read today.</p>
<p>It turns out that the polls were right. Two plus two is still four. An African-American still lives in the White House.</p>
<p>And guess what? We have African-American Republican members in congress, too! The kind that the media like the Post want to pretend don’t exist. Yes, times have changed, Post Editorial Board. Blacks are leaders in the party created to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_Republican_Party" type="external">oppose the party of slavery</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964" type="external">opposition to the Civil Rights Bill</a>.</p>
<p>Missourians have rejected Obamacare twice now, en masse. The Post’s position is to spurn the legislative process and the will of the people? Will Nixon demand a waiver?</p> | Post-Dispatch Scoffs At Voters As Nixon Says Fed Will Override Prop E | true | http://danaloeschradio.com/post-dispatch-scoffs-at-voters-as-nixon-says-fed-will-override-prop-e/ | 2012-11-12 | 0 |
<p>Early in <a href="" type="internal">Leaving Tangier</a>, Tahar Ben Jelloun’s eye-opening novel of Arab illegals crossing from Tangier into southern Spain, the author describes a cat that sneaks aboard a ship headed across the Straits of Gibraltar: “Even the cat was fed up: he, too, wanted something else from life, and needed tenderness, caresses, a kind family who would spoil him. The cat wanted to go away because he knew instinctively that it was better ‘over there,’ and he had his obsessions like everyone else, coming stubbornly every day to try his best to jump onto [a] vessel bound for Europe.”</p>
<p>The cat is more likely to survive a crossing from Africa into Europe than are many men and women who take the plunge and risk their lives, aware that their chances of success are about one in ten. That’s the statistic if you agree to the smugglers’ terms, which also require a large sum of money. Yet, as one of Jelloun’s characters says, “One chance in ten? Better than nothing! A gamble, a long shot. On the other hand, if we just sit here is this café, nothing will happen to us, absolutely nothing, and we’ll still be here in ten years, drinking the same lukewarm café au lait, smoking kif, and waiting for a miracle! In other words: some work, a decent job—well paid, with respect, security and dignity.”</p>
<p>There are other ways, of course, for North Africans to gain entry into southern Europe legally. In many instances they offer more risk (and certainly more humiliation) than being smuggled across the Straits. These are the concerns of Jelloun’s brutally honest narrative which focuses as much on innocence corrupted as it does on the perilous situation of illegals today: the situation of millions of young men and women in nations around the world trapped between idealism and economic reality. Too often, there are no jobs to keep them in their own countries, where they have been educated and then forgotten.</p>
<p>Azel, Jelloun’s main character, has been to the university in Morocco and has earned his legal degree but can’t find any work. His sister, Kenza, who has acquired an education well beyond that of her female peers, is also stuck in a dead end. Both want to leave Morocco. As their would-be patron, Miguel, states, “When a country gets to the point that the ‘best’ of its children want to leave, it’s a terrible thing.”</p>
<p>Yet, Miguel, who is Spanish, also takes advantage of their vulnerability, and it is in their exploitation that Leaving Tangier takes a darker turn, bringing up a largely forbidden topic in Muslim societies: homosexuality. Miguel will help Azel get a work permit in Spain in return for sexual favors. Azel is naive enough to believe that it’ll just be a matter of time before he’ll be able to dump his patron and stay on in Spain, returning to his previously heterosexual life. Azel is even happy for a while, still plotting to break away from Miguel, whom he convinces to “marry” his sister so that she’ll be able to gain legal entry into Spain. Both siblings believe that sometime in the future, they’ll return to Morocco rich and successful.</p>
<p>It doesn’t take too long until Azel begins living a double life, sneaking away from Miguel–initially, to be with female prostitutes and then, eventually, developing a steady relationship with a woman, principally to convince himself that he’s still attracted to women. Intentionally, Azel becomes careless about these relationships, knowing that if Miguel learns of them, he’ll be hurt. More accurately, Azel wants to be caught because he wants to end his relationship with Miguel. Then, to his surprise, Azel discovers that he’s impotent with women.</p>
<p>Jelloun treats these sexual issues unflinchingly, clearly knowing that they will trouble many of his Middle Eastern readers. He also mentions the earlier variant of trafficking in virile, young men—not just Moroccans, but also Senegalese, Cameroonians, even Turks who play lesser roles in his story, particularly in their relationships with Azel’s sister. Ironically, a pattern has been reversed. In the past, it was European men who settled in North Africa where they could enter more discretely into relationships with other men than they could in their own countries. Today, this is often reversed: African males go to Europe, where they can be more comfortable with their homosexuality than at home. And women? Their degradation is similar.</p>
<p>There’s not a false note in Jelloun’s riveting story. I confess that I peeked ahead to the title of the final chapter (“Returning”) before I actually reached it. And I became a bit smug in my assumption that Jelloun was going to produce a happy ending for his bleak story. That was not the case, nor will I reveal more about his narrative, denying you the many interesting twists and turns of Jelloun’s often astonishing story. One important sub-plot, however, is the novel’s examination of Islamic fundamentalism, its attractiveness to restless youths in Moslem countries (and in Europe) who have little hope of economic success in a world often stacked against them.</p>
<p>Close to the end of Leaving Tangier, Azel reflects on his situation: “I was ready to do anything to get out of Morocco.” How many young men and women in other countries feel exactly the same? What is their lot today during an international economic collapse? Not surprisingly, Tahar Ben Jelloun provides an answer to that question in an almost magical ending to his novel, an extraordinary story of a compelling social problem in today’s complicated world.</p>
<p>CHARLES R. LARSON is Professor of Literature at American University, in Washington, D.C.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Leaving Tangier | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/06/05/leaving-tangier/ | 2009-06-05 | 4 |
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico is receiving a windfall in government income as the oil industry comes roaring back, economists for the state told lawmakers on Thursday.</p>
<p>Revenue estimates were revised upward by $189 million for the current fiscal year and by $93 million for the coming year that starts July 1, largely due to rising oil prices combined with expanding production.</p>
<p>The new estimates give lawmakers more money to work with as they craft a spending plan for the coming year, and improve prospects for pay raises for teachers and state workers.</p>
<p>The Democrat-led Legislature and GOP Gov. Susana Martinez both have placed a high priority on increasing funding for the coming year to education, Medicaid, courts, law enforcement and economic development subsidies.</p>
<p>New Mexico is climbing out of fiscal crisis that last year prompted spending cuts at public universities and cherished programs such as the Special Olympics and local-farm produce at schools.</p>
<p>“It couldn’t have happened at a better time for us in New Mexico to have these new dollars,” said Democratic Rep. Patty Lundstrom, D-Gallup., chairwoman of the House finance and appropriations committee.</p>
<p>In all, government income is expected to surpass current annual spending obligations by $292 million during the coming fiscal year.</p>
<p>Republican House majority leader Nate Gentry said the new money should factor into compensation proposals, especially for teachers.</p>
<p>In the meantime, state reserves are expected to finish the current fiscal year at roughly $680 million — 11 percent of annual spending obligations. Reserves of at least 10 percent were recommended by a major credit ratings agency to protect state government operations from a mild recession and fluctuations in the oil and natural gas sectors.</p>
<p>New Mexico has climbed to third place among U.S. states in oil production, amid multibillion oil-lease investments within the Permian Basin in the southeast corner of the state.</p>
<p>Thursday’s upbeat financial report came with a sober warning that New Mexico state finances are more dependent than ever on the energy industry — and vulnerable to fluctuations in world oil markets.</p>
<p>Jon Clark, chief economist for the Legislative Finance Committee, cautioned members of a lead budget writing committee against commitments to permanent spending increases.</p>
<p>“This revenue increase today is attributable in the vast majority to oil and gas,” said Jon Clark, chief economist for the Legislative Finance Committee. “We are more dependent on oil and gas than we ever have been and it’s getting worse.”</p>
<p>Other bright spots on the economy include sustained growth in Albuquerque. Employment levels in New Mexico continues lag behind every state except Alaska.</p>
<p>The new fiscal forecast aligns revenues closely with the governor’s $6.3 billion general fund spending plan for the coming fiscal year — even if lawmakers reject a tax and health care reform proposal designed to raise an additional $99 million.</p>
<p>Martinez has proposed a $70 million increase in spending on public education, including annual bonuses of up to $10,000 for high-performance teachers. Lundstrom said this week that the bonuses are unlikely to be included in the House appropriations bill and are a policy matter better left to individual school districts to decide.</p>
<p>New Mexico channels nearly half of its general fund spending to public schools — a proposed $2.7 billion for the upcoming year.</p>
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico is receiving a windfall in government income as the oil industry comes roaring back, economists for the state told lawmakers on Thursday.</p>
<p>Revenue estimates were revised upward by $189 million for the current fiscal year and by $93 million for the coming year that starts July 1, largely due to rising oil prices combined with expanding production.</p>
<p>The new estimates give lawmakers more money to work with as they craft a spending plan for the coming year, and improve prospects for pay raises for teachers and state workers.</p>
<p>The Democrat-led Legislature and GOP Gov. Susana Martinez both have placed a high priority on increasing funding for the coming year to education, Medicaid, courts, law enforcement and economic development subsidies.</p>
<p>New Mexico is climbing out of fiscal crisis that last year prompted spending cuts at public universities and cherished programs such as the Special Olympics and local-farm produce at schools.</p>
<p>“It couldn’t have happened at a better time for us in New Mexico to have these new dollars,” said Democratic Rep. Patty Lundstrom, D-Gallup., chairwoman of the House finance and appropriations committee.</p>
<p>In all, government income is expected to surpass current annual spending obligations by $292 million during the coming fiscal year.</p>
<p>Republican House majority leader Nate Gentry said the new money should factor into compensation proposals, especially for teachers.</p>
<p>In the meantime, state reserves are expected to finish the current fiscal year at roughly $680 million — 11 percent of annual spending obligations. Reserves of at least 10 percent were recommended by a major credit ratings agency to protect state government operations from a mild recession and fluctuations in the oil and natural gas sectors.</p>
<p>New Mexico has climbed to third place among U.S. states in oil production, amid multibillion oil-lease investments within the Permian Basin in the southeast corner of the state.</p>
<p>Thursday’s upbeat financial report came with a sober warning that New Mexico state finances are more dependent than ever on the energy industry — and vulnerable to fluctuations in world oil markets.</p>
<p>Jon Clark, chief economist for the Legislative Finance Committee, cautioned members of a lead budget writing committee against commitments to permanent spending increases.</p>
<p>“This revenue increase today is attributable in the vast majority to oil and gas,” said Jon Clark, chief economist for the Legislative Finance Committee. “We are more dependent on oil and gas than we ever have been and it’s getting worse.”</p>
<p>Other bright spots on the economy include sustained growth in Albuquerque. Employment levels in New Mexico continues lag behind every state except Alaska.</p>
<p>The new fiscal forecast aligns revenues closely with the governor’s $6.3 billion general fund spending plan for the coming fiscal year — even if lawmakers reject a tax and health care reform proposal designed to raise an additional $99 million.</p>
<p>Martinez has proposed a $70 million increase in spending on public education, including annual bonuses of up to $10,000 for high-performance teachers. Lundstrom said this week that the bonuses are unlikely to be included in the House appropriations bill and are a policy matter better left to individual school districts to decide.</p>
<p>New Mexico channels nearly half of its general fund spending to public schools — a proposed $2.7 billion for the upcoming year.</p> | New Mexico state income rises on energy rebound | false | https://apnews.com/4e3e1ebae5b44c44a9259ecfa8be162e | 2018-01-26 | 2 |
<p>LONDON (AP) — Liverpool won 2-0 at Southampton on Sunday, moving two points from the top four in the Premier League.</p>
<p>Liverpool went ahead after three minutes on a long strike by Philippe Coutinho. Raheem Sterling added insurance in the 73rd after Matt Targett failed to clear Alberto Moreno’s cross.</p>
<p>Tottenham rallied for a 2-2 draw with West Ham on Harry Kane’s last-minute goal. Kane won a penalty kick that was saved but converted the rebound with the game’s last kick.</p>
<p>Cheikhou Kouyate and Diafra Sakho sent West Ham ahead 2-0. Danny Rose put Tottenham within a goal with a score in in the 81st minute.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, Everton was held 2-2 at home to last-place Leicester.</p>
<p>LONDON (AP) — Liverpool won 2-0 at Southampton on Sunday, moving two points from the top four in the Premier League.</p>
<p>Liverpool went ahead after three minutes on a long strike by Philippe Coutinho. Raheem Sterling added insurance in the 73rd after Matt Targett failed to clear Alberto Moreno’s cross.</p>
<p>Tottenham rallied for a 2-2 draw with West Ham on Harry Kane’s last-minute goal. Kane won a penalty kick that was saved but converted the rebound with the game’s last kick.</p>
<p>Cheikhou Kouyate and Diafra Sakho sent West Ham ahead 2-0. Danny Rose put Tottenham within a goal with a score in in the 81st minute.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, Everton was held 2-2 at home to last-place Leicester.</p> | Liverpool beats Southampton 2-0 in Premier League | false | https://apnews.com/bf4e723e0d36405690b2a60449ad604e | 2015-02-22 | 2 |
<p>August 6, 2011, when 38 soldiers, including 30 U.S. troops, were killed when their helicopter was shot down, was the “deadliest day” of the Afghan War, several media outlets told us:</p>
<p>But, of course, it wasn’t the war’s deadliest day–that unhappy distinction goes to May 4, 2009, when the U.S. military attacked the village of Granai, killing 140 people, 93 of them children, according to an Afghan government investigation (Reuters, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/05/16/us-afghanistan-civilians-idUSTRE54E22V20090516" type="external">5/16/09</a>). (The U.S. government says it does not know how many people it killed that day.)</p>
<p>Other deadlier days in Afghanistan include July 6, 2008, when U.S. bombing killed 47 civilians, including 39 women and children, attending a wedding in Nangarhar province (Guardian, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/11/afghanistan.usa" type="external">7/11/08</a>); August 22, 2008, when a U.S. airstrike killed at least 90 civilians, including 60 children, in the village of Azizabad (UN News Centre, <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=27816&amp;Cr=Afghan&amp;Cr1" type="external">8/26/08</a>); and July 23, 2010, when the U.S. killed 39 civilians in the village of Sangin (RTTNews, <a href="http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Node=B1&amp;Id=1384558" type="external">8/5/10</a>).</p>
<p>To be sure, many U.S. news reports, unlike those cited above, remembered to add “for Americans” to their descriptions of August 6 as the “deadliest day.” But there’s little evidence that anyone in U.S. media remembers the village of Granai.</p>
<p /> | ‘Deadliest Day’ in Afghanistan? Not by a Long Shot | true | http://fair.org/blog/2011/08/09/deadliest-day-in-afghanistan-not-by-a-long-shot/ | 2011-08-09 | 4 |
<p>FBN's Tracee Carrasco on rising demand leading to higher bacon prices.</p>
<p>A glut of eggs is putting pressure on suppliers and farmers who are struggling to win back business two years after the worst bout of avian influenza in U.S. history devastated the egg-laying flock.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Poultry farms in the U.S. have fully restocked and rebuilt egg supplies since the outbreak but demand hasn't kept up. Some buyers who moved to alternative options during the outbreak haven't returned. Egg prices are near a decade low, a situation that cheers shoppers in grocery aisles but is spurring losses for industry giants and farmers alike.</p>
<p>"We do not expect to see any meaningful improvement until there is a better balance of supply and demand," said Dolph Baker, the chief executive of Cal-Maine Foods Inc., the largest U.S. egg supplier by sales. The company on Monday blamed the egg glut for its first annual loss in more than a decade, adding that the average price of eggs sold to its customers dropped 42% over the past year.</p>
<p>Large shell eggs, the type sold at the grocery store, last week cost 98 cents a dozen at wholesale in the Midwest, a 62% drop over the past two years, according to market-research firm Urner Barry. Wholesale prices reported by the firm fell to 10-year lows in 2016 and haven't averaged over $1 a dozen on a weekly basis all year. The average price U.S. consumers paid for a dozen eggs last month fell to $1.33, down 48% from two years ago, according to federal data.</p>
<p>"This is historic," said Brian Moscogiuri, an analyst who tracks the egg market for Urner Barry.</p>
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<p>Earlier in the decade, the egg market had seen a strong run thanks to consumers' growing appetite for protein and all-day breakfast offerings at restaurant chains. But bird flu led to the destruction of 34 million egg-laying hens as it struck farms in 2015.</p>
<p>The resulting egg shortfalls and record prices drove producers to quickly refill their barns, bringing the nation's egg-laying hen population to an all-time high of 319 million in December 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The U.S. flock overall has shrunk since then, but egg production in June still totaled about 7.5 billion, close to the record 8 billion reached late last year.</p>
<p>Demand for U.S. eggs hasn't rebounded nearly as quickly.</p>
<p>U.S. egg exports have picked up this year, but they remain below levels seen before the onset of bird flu as buyers such as Mexico and Canada import eggs from alternative suppliers or increase production themselves. According to the USDA, the U.S. exported the equivalent of 170 million dozen eggs last year, or 55% less than the 375 million dozen shipped overseas in 2014.</p>
<p>Some U.S. food makers like bakeries and other companies that use egg products also have been slow to embrace eggs again. High prices compelled some to reformulate their recipes, substituting in ingredients like soy or whey protein instead, or simply making do with fewer eggs.</p>
<p>Recent bird flu outbreaks on farms across Europe and Asia have given food companies further cause to stick with egg alternatives rather than risking another supply disruption, along with the time and expense of changing their labels back to include eggs, industry officials say.</p>
<p>"A couple of years ago, people were sometimes pretty desperate to make changes," said Mark Matlock, head of food research for Archer Daniels Midland Co., which makes grain- and soy-based egg alternatives for products like cakes, cookies and pasta. Though egg prices have dropped, "there's a cost associated with changing back."</p>
<p>Stockpiles of dried eggs, an egg product used in goods like cake mixes, topped 30 million pounds earlier this year, the highest level in a decade, according to Urner Barry's Mr. Moscogiuri.</p>
<p>Cal-Maine said higher supplies have pressured prices for both commodity eggs and premium varieties, such as cage-free, that Cal-Maine has prioritized in recent years.</p>
<p>Post Holdings Inc. in May reported a $4.2 million quarterly loss after profit from its Michael Foods subsidiary, which sells precooked eggs and liquid egg whites to restaurants and grocery stores, declined by nearly half.</p>
<p>Even in the boom-and-bust prone egg business, "this is pretty severe," said Bob Krouse, chief executive of Indiana-based Midwest Poultry Services LP. The company raises about 10 million birds and says it is one of the 10 biggest U.S. egg producers. Mr. Krouse said he is trying to rein in costs, though many of his company's expenses are related to animal health and welfare and can't be pared back.</p>
<p>For producers able to weather a prolonged period of losses, some see relief in sight, with low egg prices triggering an increase in export demand from some markets. U.S. grocery chains, locked in a fierce battle for shoppers, also are discounting eggs as a way to get shoppers through the door.</p>
<p>Mr. Krouse said he recently saw eggs on sale for $0.49 cents a dozen at discount grocery chain Aldi, adding: "Eggs as a value item at stores are moving quite well."</p>
<p>Write to Jesse Newman at [email protected] and Jacob Bunge at [email protected]</p> | Cheap eggs flood US grocery stores | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/07/28/cheap-eggs-flood-u-s-grocery-stores.html | 2017-07-28 | 0 |
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<p>GOV. MARTINEZ-GOP TAKEOVER: Gov. Susana Martinez celebrates her re-election with her husband, Chuck Franco, right, on Nov. 4 at the Albuquerque Marriott at Uptown. (Marla Brose/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — When the clock strikes midnight Thursday, Susana Martinez will be sworn in for her second term as the governor of New Mexico during a private ceremony in the governor’s mansion.</p>
<p>Waiting for the rising star in the Republican Party will be a GOP-led House, something the state hasn’t seen in 60 years. Also ready to greet her is another Democratic-controlled Senate that likely isn’t going to roll over and approve sweeping Republican-led reforms without a fight.</p>
<p>Still, Martinez enters her second term with more political capital after easily winning re-election over Democrat Gary King in a campaign that stressed bipartisanship. She remains the nation’s only Latina governor.</p>
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<p>Matt Barreto, co-founder of a nonpartisan Latino political research firm and a University of Washington political science professor, said the next few weeks will be critical to Martinez’s future as a potential national figure in the Republican Party. That’s because the upcoming 60-day session, which begins Jan. 20, will determine if Martinez can successfully navigate the divided Legislature.</p>
<p>“Martinez has an opportunity to demonstrate she can work with both chambers to get legislation passed,” Barreto said.</p>
<p>The Republican-led House is expected to be friendly on the governor’s education reform plans and her efforts to repeal a state law that allows immigrants in the country illegally to obtain driver’s licenses.</p>
<p>However, Martinez still will likely face resistance from a Democratic-controlled Senate that can block legislation and appointments in committees.</p>
<p>Barreto said Martinez can’t blame Democrats this time, especially since she campaigned on working with both parties and because she has been critical of Washington for its political gridlock.</p>
<p>“If she comes out of the session with nothing, it could hurt her,” Barreto said. “She’s going to need something on her resume that shows she can get things done.”</p>
<p>Martinez will hold a public swearing-in ceremony Thursday at the New Mexico State Capitol. After the ceremony, Martinez will host a “Governor’s True Inaugural Ball” at the Albuquerque Convention Center.</p>
<p>Danny Diaz, a spokesman for the Martinez campaign, said the inaugural ball is being funded entirely by private donations. A ticket for the dinner and concert costs $100, he said.</p>
<p>“In addition, while the inaugural committee is not required to disclose donations, it will voluntarily do so after the events, just as we did in 2010,” Diaz said.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>Follow Russell Contreras on twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/russcontreras" type="external">http://twitter.com/russcontreras</a></p> | Martinez prepares for 2nd term with new GOP House | false | https://abqjournal.com/519417/martinez-prepares-for-2nd-term-with-new-gop-house.html | 2014-12-31 | 2 |
<p />
<p>The seemingly interminable 2016 election comes to a close tomorrow night (hopefully). And while most of us have probably made up our minds by now (right?), perhaps there are a few tech-savvy types who are on the fence between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Hey, it could happen.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>For the most part, Silicon Valley has <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/news/346112/silicon-valley-execs-trump-would-be-a-disaster-for-innovat" type="external">given Trump a cool reception Opens a New Window.</a>, save for <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/news/348740/report-tech-billionaire-peter-thiel-to-donate-1-25m-for-tr" type="external">Peter Thiel Opens a New Window.</a> and maybe <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/news/348113/report-oculus-founder-bankrolling-anti-clinton-memes" type="external">Palmer Luckey Opens a New Window.</a>. The most substantive debate the two have had on a tech-related issue was September's exchange about state-sponsored cyber attacks. You can <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/news/348211/heres-what-clinton-trump-said-about-cyber-during-the-deb" type="external">read the entire back-and-forth here Opens a New Window.</a>, but this was when Trump suggested that the DNC hacks were perhaps carried out by "someone sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds" and called the Internet "the cyber," so yeah.</p>
<p>Clinton, meanwhile, has spent much of her campaign fielding questions about her private email server, the details of which appear to be making headlines until the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/07/us/politics/hilary-clinton-male-voters-donald-trump.html?hp&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=span-ab-top-region&amp;region=top-news&amp;WT.nav=top-news&amp;_r=0" type="external">very last minute Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>So while it appears that neither candidate is exactly a tech genius, they do have some ideas on issues concerning the industry. Read on for a rundown of a few things on which both candidates have weighed in.</p>
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<p>ClintonAs she outlined in an exhaustive <a href="https://www.hillaryclinton.com/briefing/factsheets/2016/06/27/hillary-clintons-initiative-on-technology-innovation/" type="external">policy paper Opens a New Window.</a>, Clinton wants to expand on <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/02/09/fact-sheet-cybersecurity-national-action-plan" type="external">President Obama's Cybersecurity National Action Plan Opens a New Window.</a>. She supports having a federal Chief Information Security Advisor, the modernization of federal IT systems, and upgrades to government-wide cybersecurity. That includes multi-factor authentication for federal systems, the use of tools such as <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/news/345408/department-of-defenses-hack-the-pentagon-program-nets-138" type="external">government bug bounties Opens a New Window.</a>, and a "government red teams" that will work to ID and fix bugs before hackers exploit them. Clinton "supports expanded investment in cybersecurity technologies, as well as public-private collaboration on cybersecurity innovation, responsible information sharing on cyber threats, and accelerated adoption of best practices."</p>
<p>Trump Trump <a href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/cyber-security/" type="external">says Opens a New Window.</a> "improving cyber security will be an immediate and top priority for my administration." He will direct the Justice Department to "create a joint task force" with federal, state, and local law enforcement "to crush this still-developing area of crime." A "cyber-review team" will also audit existing government IT systems and establish a training program for government employees.</p>
<p>Clinton "Far too often, we require talented persons from other countries who are trained in US universities to return home, rather than stay in here and continue to contribute to our economy," Clinton says on her campaign website. She's in favor of giving green cards to those who earn STEM masters and PhDs from accredited institutions. She would also issue startup visas to international entrepreneurs who start businesses in the US, provided they get financial backing from US VCs and create a certain number of jobs. She has <a href="http://www.vox.com/a/hillary-clinton-interview" type="external">voiced concern Opens a New Window.</a>, however, about US companies that hire foreign workers just to save money, even if a US worker is available.</p>
<p>Trump During a March 3 debate, Trump said "we absolutely have to be able to keep the brain power in this country," when asked about the <a href="https://www.dol.gov/whd/immigration/h1b.htm" type="external">H-1B visa program Opens a New Window.</a> for highly skilled workers. He <a href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/donald-j.-trump-position-on-visas" type="external">later said Opens a New Window.</a> that "the H-1B program is neither high-skilled nor immigration," but instead serves to import foreign workers who can be paid less. "I remain totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse." US companies should be required "to hire American workers first for every visa and immigration program," he said.</p>
<p>Clinton As Secretary of State, <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2358274,00.asp" type="external">Clinton identified Opens a New Window.</a> Internet freedom as a major policy principle for the US. As president, "she will oppose efforts to block or degrade Internet access or to shut down social media, and she will stand with like-minded countries against efforts by countries like China or Russia to create a balkanized Internet run by governments."</p>
<p>Trump During a December debate, <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2496682,00.asp" type="external">Trump said Opens a New Window.</a> he was open to closing parts of the Internet. "I would certainly be open to closing areas where we are at war with somebody. I sure as hell don't want to let people who want to kill us and kill our nation use our Internet," Trump said. "ISIS is using the Internet better than we are using the Internet and it was our idea."</p>
<p>Clinton Like President Obama, Clinton has been a strong supporter of net neutrality. "The government has an obligation to protect the open Internet," she says. Clinton vows to defend the FCC's rules in court and continue to enforce them.</p>
<p>Trump Like many of his fellow Republicans, Trump is not a fan of the FCC's net neutrality rules. After President <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2471914,00.asp" type="external">Obama pushed Opens a New Window.</a> the agency to reclassify broadband as a telecom service in November 2014, Trump tweeted that the move was "another top-down power grab."</p>
<p>Clinton Clinton backs <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2498669,00.asp" type="external">President Obama's push Opens a New Window.</a> to offer more computer science classes in US schools, and wants to train an additional 50,000 computer science teachers in the next 10 years. She also supports grants that would allow for innovative approaches to STEM education, such as makerspaces, robotics competitions, and after-school programs.</p>
<p>Trump When asked by <a href="http://ScienceDebate.org" type="external">ScienceDebate.org Opens a New Window.</a> how we prepare students for 21st century jobs, particularly those in STEM, Trump did not directly answer the question, instead arguing that control of schools should be at the state and federal level, not in the hands of the Education Department.</p>
<p>Hillary ClintonClinton supports handing over control of the Web's governing body to the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The transition, which occurred on Oct. 1, ends Commerce Department oversight that was intended to be temporary but has dragged on for years. Clinton says she views the transition "as a critical step towards safeguarding the Internet's openness for future generations."</p>
<p>Donald Trump"Internet freedom will be lost for good" if the transition happens, <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/news/348085/trump-opposes-handoff-of-internet-naming-system" type="external">Trump argued Opens a New Window.</a> prior to the switch. "There will be no way to make [the Internet] great again once it is lost," according to a spokesman, who pushed Congress to intervene.</p>
<p>This article <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/news/349345/clinton-vs-trump-where-they-stand-on-technology" type="external">originally appeared Opens a New Window.</a> on <a href="http://www.pcmag.com" type="external">PCMag.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Clinton vs. Trump: Where They Stand on Technology | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/11/07/clinton-vs-trump-where-stand-on-technology.html | 2016-11-07 | 0 |
<p>Donald Trump was at first criticized for his failure to say something about the exit of his former White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon, who left the Trump administration yesterday. But earlier this morning, Trump proved to everyone that it’s sometimes much, much better if he just keeps his mouth shut.</p>
<p>Deep into one of his early morning tweetstorms, Trump tried to pay tribute to Bannon and instead ended up showing everyone just how psychotic he is. In the process, Trump couldn’t resist bashing a former rival, his Democratic presidential competitor ‘crooked’ Hillary Clinton.</p>
<p>In his tweet, Trump brought up the former Secretary of State and thanked Bannon for helping him defeat her in the election (even though she won the popular vote by millions). Trump tweeted:</p>
<p>“I want to thank Steve Bannon for his service. He came to the campaign during my run against Crooked Hillary Clinton – it was great! Thanks.”</p>
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<p>Once again, Trump proves that he is incapable of moving past the election. What a truly strange farewell to send, and so impersonal. However, there might be a reason Trump is using social media to communicate with his long lost friends now – according to Joshua Green, the author of “Devil’s Bargain” (a book about Bannon and Trump), Trump hasn’t been able to get a hold of Bannon since he was ousted. Green said:</p>
<p>“Trump was criticized on TV tonight for his silence on Bannon’s departure. Three sources tell me Trump tried calling Bannon. They haven’t spoken.”</p>
<p>&#160;Looks like Trump may have permanently ruined his friendship with his old racist best friend.</p>
<p>Featured image via&#160; <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/search/photographer?family=editorial&amp;photographer=Drew+Angerer" type="external">Drew Angerer</a>&#160;/ Getty Images</p> | Trump Just Send The Most AWKWARD Farewell To Bannon, This Is Psychotic (TWEETS) | true | http://bluetribune.com/2017/08/19/trump-just-send-the-most-awkward-farewell-to-bannon-this-is-psychotic-tweets/ | 2017-08-19 | 4 |
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<p>The timeline outlined in a regulatory filing raises further questions about why it took Yahoo so long to realize the severity of its security breakdown. It also could provide Verizon Communications with reason to revise or terminate its $4.8 billion deal to buy Yahoo’s online services.</p>
<p>Yahoo disclosed the size of the breach seven weeks ago. At that time, Yahoo traced its findings to an inquiry opened in late July, around the same time that Verizon announced its agreement to buy Yahoo’s email service, digital advertising tools and sections devoted to news, sports, finance and entertainment.</p>
<p>Verizon says it wasn’t informed of the hacking attack until a few days before Yahoo told its users in late September.</p>
<p>In its regulatory filing late Wednesday, Yahoo acknowledged the company first became aware of the hack in late 2014. The Sunnyvale, California, company said its board is now investigating how much was known back in 2014.</p>
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<p>Verizon declined to comment on Yahoo’s latest disclosure. The company’s executives have previously said Verizon is re-evaluating its deal with Yahoo because the breach could alienate a large swath of users who may rely on Yahoo’s email and other services less frequently in order to protect their privacy. If there is a user backlash, Yahoo’s services wouldn’t be worth as much to Verizon, which is counting on a large audience to sell more digital advertising.</p>
<p>Yahoo has sought to reassure its users that the hacker no longer has access to its computers. The company also has prompted users to change their passwords and security questions to protect their accounts.</p>
<p>In its regulatory filing, Yahoo Inc. also revealed that the hacker created computer coding known as “cookies” that would allow someone to view information in user accounts without the need for a password. The company also said it will analyze information turned over by the FBI from a hacker claiming it came from Yahoo accounts.</p> | Yahoo took its time investigating massive security breach | false | https://abqjournal.com/886851/yahoo-took-its-time-investigating-massive-security-breach.html | 2016-11-10 | 2 |
<p>LANSING, Mich. (AP) — While the city of Flint still recovers from a lead-tainted water crisis, Michigan is scrambling to combat potential health risks in other tap water that stem from chemicals long used in firefighting, waterproofing, carpeting and other products.</p>
<p>Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been detected at military bases, water treatment plants and, most recently, an old industrial dump site for footwear company Wolverine World Wide. The contaminants, classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as “emerging” nationally, have sparked enough concern that Gov. Rick Snyder created a state response team and approved $23 million in emergency spending.</p>
<p>The chemicals do not break down easily and can migrate from soil to groundwater. They were used in scores of U.S. industrial applications and have been detected in human and animal blood around the globe. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry says scientists are uncertain about how they affect human health at exposure levels typically found in food and water. But some studies suggest the chemicals might affect fetal development, disrupt hormonal functions, damage fertility and immune systems, and boost the risk of cancer.</p>
<p>At least 1,000 homes with private wells in the Plainfield Township area north of Grand Rapids — near where Wolverine dumped hazardous waste decades ago — have been tested for PFAS contamination in recent months.</p>
<p>Cody Angell, 28, who lives in the area, said he has had “sleepless nights,” even though his home is on the local water system that has been deemed safe. He’s concerned because the chemicals have been discovered in the municipal supply, and Plainfield Township for years pulled water from backup wells that have tested positive for the substances. He wonders if PFAS contamination caused his mother’s thyroid disease.</p>
<p>Angell said he lacks confidence in state regulators, pointing to their failures that led to Flint’s crisis. Environmental activist and legal consultant Erin Brockovich recently met with area residents, urging them to join a class-action lawsuit that alleges Wolverine illegally disposed of PFAS from Minnesota-based 3M’s Scotchgard product in the area. The suit seeks financial damages and steps such as targeted, more frequent medical testing.</p>
<p>Another lawsuit alleges that a family of four living near Wolverine’s unlined tannery waste dump drank highly contaminated well water for 17 years, causing the father to develop colon cancer, the mother to have a miscarriage and one of their children to develop a rare bone cancer.</p>
<p>The chemicals have been identified at 28 sites in 14 Michigan communities. Nearly half are on or near military installations, where the source is believed to be firefighting foam.</p>
<p>The $23 million will be used to hire new state employees to sample and analyze well water, buy lab equipment and help public health departments with unexpected response costs. Samples have been sent to California because no Michigan labs can test for the chemicals; state officials want quicker results.</p>
<p>“People are starting to get an understanding of a whole class of chemicals that ... are in so many things. How much of that is getting into our systems? I don’t think people really know,” said state Rep. Chris Afendoulis, a Republican whose district includes the Wolverine dump area. He warned it could become “a nationwide problem.”</p>
<p>Of about 1,050 homes tested in neighborhoods north of Grand Rapids, 74 had PFAS levels above 70 parts per trillion — the U.S. government’s combined health advisory level for two PFAS in drinking water, set in 2016. Some houses had concentrations measuring hundreds of times higher than the lifetime advisory level. Results are not back yet for every home. Wolverine has provided affected residents with bottled water and whole-house filters and, at the state’s request, is investigating 20 reports of discarded barrels or leather scraps at five sites.</p>
<p>For now, the Snyder administration and majority Republicans in the Legislature are comfortable with the 70 parts per trillion standard — a non-enforceable and unregulated limit unlike the federal restrictions on other contaminants such as lead, asbestos and mercury.</p>
<p>“It is largely used for trying to communicate to the public the point at which if you’re below that, we don’t have public health concern. When you get above that, then that is when we start to say there are some people who may be at risk of harm from a lifetime of drinking levels above 70,” said Kory Groetsch, environmental health director at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. “I like to think of it as a speed limit. If you’re doing 58 in a 55, your chance of anything bad is very small. If you’re doing 95 in a 55, your chance of something going wrong is quite high.”</p>
<p>Michigan Democrats are proposing legislation to establish a 5 parts per trillion limit, which would be the country’s toughest and follow states such as New Jersey, Minnesota and Vermont that have imposed stricter guidelines. They also are calling for legislative oversight hearings to investigate whether Wolverine and the state moved too slowly to protect people. On its website, Wolverine calls the federal advisory level “very conservative” and says there is no human study proving PFAS exposure causes illness.</p>
<p>Still, the EPA recently announced a “cross-agency effort” to address PFAS contamination nationwide, saying it will identify near-term actions to help communities, enhance coordination, boost research and expand communication about health risks. Snyder, a Republican, said the state is building a “good working relationship” with the EPA, but — echoing criticism from both sides of the aisle in Congress — said he wants a “better response” from the Defense Department.</p>
<p>The former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in northern Michigan has been on officials’ radar for some time. While PFAS levels in samples from private residential wells nearby were not higher than the federal advisory level, the state urged people to not use their water for drinking or cooking because of uncertainty about the duration or amount of previous exposure and other concerns.</p>
<p>“We’re at this point in dialogue with different branches of military, and it’d be good if we could get the Department of Defense to figure out the best way to respond and partner with us on helping address this issue,” Snyder said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/search/David%20Eggert</a>Follow David Eggert on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00." type="external">https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00.</a> His work can be found at</p>
<p>___</p>
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<p>LANSING, Mich. (AP) — While the city of Flint still recovers from a lead-tainted water crisis, Michigan is scrambling to combat potential health risks in other tap water that stem from chemicals long used in firefighting, waterproofing, carpeting and other products.</p>
<p>Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been detected at military bases, water treatment plants and, most recently, an old industrial dump site for footwear company Wolverine World Wide. The contaminants, classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as “emerging” nationally, have sparked enough concern that Gov. Rick Snyder created a state response team and approved $23 million in emergency spending.</p>
<p>The chemicals do not break down easily and can migrate from soil to groundwater. They were used in scores of U.S. industrial applications and have been detected in human and animal blood around the globe. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry says scientists are uncertain about how they affect human health at exposure levels typically found in food and water. But some studies suggest the chemicals might affect fetal development, disrupt hormonal functions, damage fertility and immune systems, and boost the risk of cancer.</p>
<p>At least 1,000 homes with private wells in the Plainfield Township area north of Grand Rapids — near where Wolverine dumped hazardous waste decades ago — have been tested for PFAS contamination in recent months.</p>
<p>Cody Angell, 28, who lives in the area, said he has had “sleepless nights,” even though his home is on the local water system that has been deemed safe. He’s concerned because the chemicals have been discovered in the municipal supply, and Plainfield Township for years pulled water from backup wells that have tested positive for the substances. He wonders if PFAS contamination caused his mother’s thyroid disease.</p>
<p>Angell said he lacks confidence in state regulators, pointing to their failures that led to Flint’s crisis. Environmental activist and legal consultant Erin Brockovich recently met with area residents, urging them to join a class-action lawsuit that alleges Wolverine illegally disposed of PFAS from Minnesota-based 3M’s Scotchgard product in the area. The suit seeks financial damages and steps such as targeted, more frequent medical testing.</p>
<p>Another lawsuit alleges that a family of four living near Wolverine’s unlined tannery waste dump drank highly contaminated well water for 17 years, causing the father to develop colon cancer, the mother to have a miscarriage and one of their children to develop a rare bone cancer.</p>
<p>The chemicals have been identified at 28 sites in 14 Michigan communities. Nearly half are on or near military installations, where the source is believed to be firefighting foam.</p>
<p>The $23 million will be used to hire new state employees to sample and analyze well water, buy lab equipment and help public health departments with unexpected response costs. Samples have been sent to California because no Michigan labs can test for the chemicals; state officials want quicker results.</p>
<p>“People are starting to get an understanding of a whole class of chemicals that ... are in so many things. How much of that is getting into our systems? I don’t think people really know,” said state Rep. Chris Afendoulis, a Republican whose district includes the Wolverine dump area. He warned it could become “a nationwide problem.”</p>
<p>Of about 1,050 homes tested in neighborhoods north of Grand Rapids, 74 had PFAS levels above 70 parts per trillion — the U.S. government’s combined health advisory level for two PFAS in drinking water, set in 2016. Some houses had concentrations measuring hundreds of times higher than the lifetime advisory level. Results are not back yet for every home. Wolverine has provided affected residents with bottled water and whole-house filters and, at the state’s request, is investigating 20 reports of discarded barrels or leather scraps at five sites.</p>
<p>For now, the Snyder administration and majority Republicans in the Legislature are comfortable with the 70 parts per trillion standard — a non-enforceable and unregulated limit unlike the federal restrictions on other contaminants such as lead, asbestos and mercury.</p>
<p>“It is largely used for trying to communicate to the public the point at which if you’re below that, we don’t have public health concern. When you get above that, then that is when we start to say there are some people who may be at risk of harm from a lifetime of drinking levels above 70,” said Kory Groetsch, environmental health director at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. “I like to think of it as a speed limit. If you’re doing 58 in a 55, your chance of anything bad is very small. If you’re doing 95 in a 55, your chance of something going wrong is quite high.”</p>
<p>Michigan Democrats are proposing legislation to establish a 5 parts per trillion limit, which would be the country’s toughest and follow states such as New Jersey, Minnesota and Vermont that have imposed stricter guidelines. They also are calling for legislative oversight hearings to investigate whether Wolverine and the state moved too slowly to protect people. On its website, Wolverine calls the federal advisory level “very conservative” and says there is no human study proving PFAS exposure causes illness.</p>
<p>Still, the EPA recently announced a “cross-agency effort” to address PFAS contamination nationwide, saying it will identify near-term actions to help communities, enhance coordination, boost research and expand communication about health risks. Snyder, a Republican, said the state is building a “good working relationship” with the EPA, but — echoing criticism from both sides of the aisle in Congress — said he wants a “better response” from the Defense Department.</p>
<p>The former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in northern Michigan has been on officials’ radar for some time. While PFAS levels in samples from private residential wells nearby were not higher than the federal advisory level, the state urged people to not use their water for drinking or cooking because of uncertainty about the duration or amount of previous exposure and other concerns.</p>
<p>“We’re at this point in dialogue with different branches of military, and it’d be good if we could get the Department of Defense to figure out the best way to respond and partner with us on helping address this issue,” Snyder said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/search/David%20Eggert</a>Follow David Eggert on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00." type="external">https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00.</a> His work can be found at</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Sign up for the AP’s weekly newsletter showcasing our best reporting from the Midwest and Texas: <a href="http://apne.ws/2u1RMfv" type="external" /> <a href="http://apne.ws/2u1RMfv" type="external">http://apne.ws/2u1RMfv</a></p> | Michigan scrambles to address chemical contaminants in water | false | https://apnews.com/093e5baeb9a347e7a91e4e206fea3df9 | 2017-12-30 | 2 |
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<p>HAWKINS, Texas (AP) — A Texas rancher lassoed a 10-foot alligator and wranglers crawled atop the thrashing reptile's back after it got a little too close to the landowner's cattle.</p>
<p>Bystanders shot <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u37rE-b5chI" type="external">video</a> of the recent takedown near Hawkins, a town about 100 miles (161 kilometers) east of Dallas.</p>
<p>Byron South of Convergent Hunting Solutions says he got a call from the landowner, Hal Conover, after the alligator broke into a pen where he was weaning calves. Game wardens were also summoned.</p>
<p>South told The Associated Press that Conover was able to throw a rope around the reptile. The video later shows two men atop the gator as it thrashes and bites one man's hand. The man suffered minor injuries.</p>
<p>The alligator was eventually loaded into a trailer and hauled to a wildlife park.</p>
<p><a href="#8477f74d-d51d-499b-a5f9-bdb07e4721f1" type="external">© 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</a> Learn more about our <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/privacy" type="external">Privacy Policy</a> and <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/terms" type="external">Terms of Use</a>.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 10-foot alligator roped, wrangled off East Texas ranch | false | https://abqjournal.com/1020164/10-foot-alligator-roped-wrangled-off-east-texas-ranch.html | 2017-06-19 | 2 |
<p>RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - A Pennington County commissioner convicted of violating a county zoning ordinance has been granted a new trial.</p>
<p>Seventy-seven-year-old George Ferebee disagrees with government oversight of septic systems. A magistrate court judge last September found him guilty of maintaining on his rural Hill City property a septic system that lacked an operating permit. Ferebee was fined $200.</p>
<p>Ferebee had fought the charge for two years, and he appealed his conviction. <a href="http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/ferebee-appeals-septic-system-conviction-gets-new-trial/article_42cc0f14-0e86-583e-848b-0a3d205a51b9.html" type="external">The Rapid City Journal reports</a> that he has been granted a two-day trial in circuit court in May.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Rapid City Journal, <a href="http://www.rapidcityjournal.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.rapidcityjournal.com" type="external">http://www.rapidcityjournal.com</a></p>
<p>RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - A Pennington County commissioner convicted of violating a county zoning ordinance has been granted a new trial.</p>
<p>Seventy-seven-year-old George Ferebee disagrees with government oversight of septic systems. A magistrate court judge last September found him guilty of maintaining on his rural Hill City property a septic system that lacked an operating permit. Ferebee was fined $200.</p>
<p>Ferebee had fought the charge for two years, and he appealed his conviction. <a href="http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/ferebee-appeals-septic-system-conviction-gets-new-trial/article_42cc0f14-0e86-583e-848b-0a3d205a51b9.html" type="external">The Rapid City Journal reports</a> that he has been granted a two-day trial in circuit court in May.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Rapid City Journal, <a href="http://www.rapidcityjournal.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.rapidcityjournal.com" type="external">http://www.rapidcityjournal.com</a></p> | County commissioner gets new trial on ordinance violation | false | https://apnews.com/b9c2f9609cbb4798aea5ce7648642095 | 2018-01-04 | 2 |
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<p>Former Uber security manager Richard Jacobs accused the ride-sharing company of hiring contractors that used ex-CIA agents to spy on corporate rivals, triggering a delay in a trial to determine whether Uber stole technology from Google spinoff Waymo.</p>
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<p>Under questioning, Jacobs, Uber's former manager of global intelligence, said that Uber hired several contractors that employed former CIA agents to help the ride-hailing service infiltrate its rivals' computers. Jacobs said the surveillance occurred overseas.</p>
<p>The testimony in a San Francisco courtroom Tuesday comes amid revelations that federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that Uber deployed an espionage team to plunder trade secrets from its rivals.</p>
<p>Uber representatives did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.</p>
<p>Jacobs was Uber's manager of global intelligence from March 2016 until he was fired seven months ago. His lawyer subsequently wrote a 37-page letter summarizing allegations that Uber used an espionage team to steal its competitors' trade secrets and tried to conceal the misconduct by using computers and other devices designed to leave no digital trails.</p>
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<p>U.S. District Judge William Alsup described the allegations that surfaced in a Justice Department investigation as "scandalous."</p>
<p>Waymo's lawsuit accusing Uber of stealing the technology had been scheduled to begin next Monday. On Tuesday, Alsup delayed it so Waymo can have more time to gather evidence.</p>
<p>The Associated Press contributed to this report.</p> | Uber used ex-CIA agents to spy on corporate rivals, former employee says | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/11/28/uber-used-ex-cia-agents-to-spy-on-corporate-rivals-former-employee-says.html | 2017-11-28 | 0 |
<p>There is no doubt that tablets have played a dominant role in the market today and this is evident in the number of tablets released last 2011.</p>
<p>People who were ready to dismiss tablets as a passing "fad" find themselves reviewing the best tablet to buy for the year 2011. On the other hand, tablet manufacturers were also geared up to produce the best tablet that they could sell to the market. With the influx of numerous tablets in the market, what tablets could be considered as the "best" and which tablets could be considered as the "worst"?</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Here is a guide of the best and worst tablets in 2011 and the reasons why it is considered as one of the best/worst:</p>
<p>Best Tablets of 2011</p>
<p>Apple iPad 2</p>
<p>Apple iPad 2 is much thinner and lighter as compared to the first iPad released by Apple. Aside from the physical difference, iPad 2 is much faster as compared to the original model. This is due to the A5 dual-core processor and the increase in RAM (from 256MB to 512MB). It also has 2 cameras, one located at the front of the tablet while the other camera is located at the rear side. Users choose iPad 2 because of its excellent design and due to the fact that they could almost do anything ranging from e-mails, web browsing, downloading apps, playing games, etc. Despite being a recommended tablet for users, one should take note that this tablet does not offer flash support which could be a big disadvantage for other people. &#160;Apple's iPad 2 is already available in Australia with a price range of AU$579 - AU$949 (depending on the model).</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Samsung</a> Galaxy Tab 10.1</p>
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<p>Samsung, a Korean-based company has experienced considerable success through its smartphones and this success has been passed on to its tablets. One of the most successful tablets is Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1. This tablet has received a lot of press even before it was even sold in the market due to cases filed by Apple. Apple accused Samsung of breaching some of the company's patents and Apple wanted to ban the selling of this tablet. Fortunately, this case has been resolved and this tablet is now available in Australia. It is lighter that Apple's iPad 2 and offers a WXGA (1280x800) display resolution, Android 3.0 Honeycomb as its OS, and dual-core 1GHz processor. There is still no official confirmation if this tablet would get an upgrade for Android 4.0 also known as Android ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich). Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is available through Australian retailers or through Vodafone ($579 for 16GB Wi-Fi or $729 for 16GB 3G) with 12-24 contract plans.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Sony</a> Tablet S</p>
<p>Sony's Tablet S is an Android-based tablet which features a "curved design" that the company described as something similar to a folded magazine. Aside from this distinct physical feature, it also has Android 3.2 Honeycomb as its OS, 1GHz <a href="" type="internal">Nvidia</a> Tegra 2 processor, and 1GB of RAM. Most users find the design as one of its selling features as well as its outstanding battery life. This tablet is also considered as "PlayStation Certified" which means that it has the ability to play first generation PlayStation games. Despite these selling points, users are quick to point out that this tablet does not offer 3G connectivity and less than stellar web browser performance. Sony Tablet S is already out in the Australian market with a retail price of AU$579 (16GB model) and AU$689 (32GB model).</p>
<p>Worst Tablets of 2011</p>
<p>Pandigital SuperNova</p>
<p>Many sites have ranked Pandigital SuperNova as one of the worst tablets to be launched for the year 2011. One of the reasons why it was considered as one of the worst tablet is because of its low-resolution and dim screen. It has a modified Android 2.3 Gingerbread as its OS but it does not contain the usual Google mobile services offered such as Google Maps, Gmail, and Market. Another reason would be the "plasticky and toy-like" feeling that it gives to the users considering that it is sold for US$200. Despite these disadvantages, Pandigital SuperNova still has some redeeming features such as a microSD card slot, 2 cameras (VGA camera in front and 3.2MP camera located at the back), and considerable battery life (estimated at 6 hours). No official announcement has been made regarding the availability of this tablet in the Australian market.</p>
<p>HP TouchPad</p>
<p>The HP (Hewlett Packard) TouchPad was HP's attempt to dominate the tablet market through utilizing WebOS. HP acquired WebOS as an investment from the struggling smartphone maker, Palm. The launch of HP TouchPad was a controversial one in Australia because the tablet was pulled out after 4 days its retail launch. People thought that this was the end of this tablet but it came back in the market with a lower selling price. Prices were lowered from AU$498 to AU$98 for the 16GB model while the 32GB version was sold for AU$148. Once the selling price was lowered, many people rushed to purchase the tablet. HP recently announced that they are not going to venture in manufacturing another tablet after the TouchPad. The TouchPad measures 9.45" wide by 7.48" high by 0.54" deep and it also utilizes 1.2 GHz <a href="" type="internal">Qualcomm</a> Snapdragon dual-cores APQ8060.</p>
<p>RIM Blackberry PlayBook</p>
<p>RIM ( <a href="" type="internal">Research in Motion</a>) was the leading mobile manufacturing company before Google's Android and Apple dominated the market. Through the release of the RIM Blackberry PlayBook, the company believed that they could once again reclaim the top spot in the tablet market. The launch of the Blackberry Playbook was not that positive as many people find it inconvenient to connect the tablet through a Blackberry smartphone in order to access e-mails or messaging applications. It gained momentum when a price reduction was introduced in the U.S. market wherein it was sold for only $US 199.99 (16GB) and $US 299.99 (32GB). It was immediately "sold-out" after this move but this price cut was not extended in Australian shores. The RIM Blackberry Playbook is a 7-inch tablet that has a dual-core, 1GHz TI OMAP processor, 1GB of RAM, and storage capacity of 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB.</p> | 2011: The Best and Worst in Tablets | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/01/02/2011-best-and-worst-in-tablets.html | 2016-03-03 | 0 |
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<p>GREELEY, Colo. — An investigation has found that a Greeley charter school fired a teacher accused of having sexual contact with a student but did not report the contact to law enforcement.</p>
<p>An investigation by the Tribune found ( <a href="http://bit.ly/2jtawhR" type="external">http://bit.ly/2jtawhR</a> ) that officials at Salida del Sol Academy this past spring investigated a sex-related complaint involving an eighth-grade girl and a male teacher but did not contact law enforcement. The failure appears to be a violation of Colorado mandatory reporting requirements.</p>
<p>The Tribune first learned about the allegations from parents at the school and later confirmed them with law enforcement and school officials.</p>
<p>School officials say they had not obligation to report the allegations that led to the teacher’s firing.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Tribune of Greeley, Co, <a href="http://greeleytribune.com" type="external">http://greeleytribune.com</a></p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Greeley school failed to report sexual contact allegations | false | https://abqjournal.com/934684/greeley-school-failed-to-report-sexual-contact-allegations.html | 2 |
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<p>Artist's depiction of China's future "Heavenly Palace" national space station. Image source: Penyulap, via <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B%E7%A9%BA%E9%96%93%E7%AB%99.PNG" type="external">Wikimedia Commons Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"Beijing, we have a problem."</p>
<p>Since it first went up in 1998, the International Space Station has played host to astronauts from more than a dozen countries -- but not one of them was from China. In fact, in 2011, the U.S. Congress passed a law specifically prohibiting Chinese access to the ISS over concerns about "national security."</p>
<p>This, of course, has the Chinese a bit miffed. And as we mentioned last year, China has been planning to <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/05/03/russia-disassemble-international-space-station.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">build its own, all-made-in-China space station Opens a New Window.</a> instead. Slated for completion by 2022, the Tiangong 3, or "Heavenly Palace," space station will probably comprise three separate-but-linked modules, with a pair of laboratories flanking a central living habitat. Heavenly Palace is expected to go into service just as America and Russia are preparing to disassemble their International Space Station for obsolescence.</p>
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<p>While preparing to build its station, China sent up an orbital test bed (also, confusingly, called "Tiangong") in 2011. Initially designed for a two-year mission, Tiangong 1 was kept in service up until this year, although uninhabited, for research purposes.</p>
<p>It's unclear precisely how long China was hoping to stretch out Tiangong 1's life span. But events have forced its hand: Last month, China confirmed that it has lost all control over Tiangong 1. Various observers say the station is now in a "slow roll," with its solar panels no longer angled to collect sunlight, "drifting out of control," and now on course to enter Earth's atmosphere in an "uncontrolled re-entry."</p>
<p>Upon entering the atmosphere, Tiangong 1 will promptly catch fire. That's actually a good thing, though: The hope is that much of the space station's mass will burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere. The station's denser parts, however, will probably crash to Earth, and right now, no one's quite sure where.</p>
<p>Lucky for China, then, that as Tiangong 1 crashes to Earth, it has a replacement ready. Last month, the Tiangong 2 space lab was launched into orbit, awaiting the arrival of two Chinese astronauts later this month.</p>
<p>When that one, too, is all used up, China's space program will culminate in the launch of the ultimate "Heavenly Palace": Tiangong 3. It's this version that will comprise a core module (Tianhe 1) and two labs (Wengtian and Mengtian), massing about 72 tons when all put together. With launches of the various modules slated to take place between 2020 and 2022, it's likely that China will try to keep Tiangong 2 going for somewhere between four and six years before sending it, too, to burn up in the atmosphere.</p>
<p>Now what import does all of this have for investors? After all, it's not as if China is a publicly traded company that we can invest in. Furthermore, in all three versions, Tiangong is a project run by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, which, as <a href="https://www.capitaliq.com/" type="external">S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence Opens a New Window.</a> confirms, is a privately held company.</p>
<p>The answer is that we need to keep an eye on Tiangong not as an investment idea itself, but as a competitor to other potential investments. Recall that the International Space Station -- largely financed by America, built by American companies such as Boeing (NYSE: BA), managed by companies like Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), and serviced by companies including SpaceX and Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA) -- is nearing the end of its life span.</p>
<p>Currently, NASA has <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/24/when-the-international-space-station-goes-kaput-in.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">no firm plans Opens a New Window.</a> to build a new space station. But Russia might, and China definitely will. Almost certainly, these new space stations will neither be built by U.S. companies nor provide U.S. companies with lucrative service contracts.</p>
<p>Granted, NASA has <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/28/who-will-buy-the-international-space-station.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">floated plans to sell the International Space Station Opens a New Window.</a> to private investors after 2024. But these plans, too, are far from certain. For one thing, there's no guarantee that America's partners in running ISS will agree to sell it to private interests. For another, we've heard not a peep out of Boeing, Lockheed, or Orbital yet about their interest in paying for ISS, after years of getting paid by ISS.</p>
<p>For that matter, there's also a very real question: Will companies that might otherwise like the idea of running experiments in space choose to pay to run them on an antiquated ISS? If China and/or Russia were to build brand-spanking-new space stations, it might be more cost-effective to hire these countries to perform research on contract rather than take responsibility for ISS and run them "in-house."</p>
<p>The upshot is this: Five years ago, <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/08/darpa-prepares-to-build-the-next-space-shuttle.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">America lost its space shuttle Opens a New Window.</a>, and was forced to begin <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/02/03/should-nasa-pay-russia-82-million-for-astronaut-ri.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">paying Russia for rocket rides Opens a New Window.</a>. And just a little more than five years from now, we may lose our only space station as well -- and begin paying China to use theirs.</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=2691&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/TMFDitty/info.aspx" type="external">Rich Smith Opens a New Window.</a>does not own shares of, nor is he short, any company named above. You can find him on <a href="http://caps.fool.com/" type="external">Motley Fool CAPS Opens a New Window.</a>, publicly pontificating under the handle <a href="http://caps.fool.com/ViewPlayer.aspx?t=01002844399633209838" type="external">TMFDitty Opens a New Window.</a>, where he's currently ranked No. 282 out of more than 75,000 rated members.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool recommends Orbital ATK. 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> | China's "Heavenly Palace" Space Station Will Go Down in Flames | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/10/09/china-heavenly-palace-space-station-will-go-down-in-flames.html | 2016-10-09 | 0 |
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<p>Employees who leave regular paying jobs to become self-employed run a high risk of not being able to get another job should their venture fail, new research shows.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The researchers discovered that self-employed workers who decide they want to rejoin the work force as an employee for someone else attract fewer interview opportunities than peers who have spent their careers in paid employment.</p>
<p>Regular wage employees receive more than 60 percent more positive responses from potential employers than entrepreneurs do, the study found.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2272-personality-types-hire.html" type="external">[10 Personality Types Most Likely to Get Hired] Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>"Our results leave little doubt that entrepreneurs experience adverse treatment," researchers wrote in the study to be presented at next month's annual meeting of the Academy of Management. "The choice to become an entrepreneur can result in an involuntary lock-in, a factor that should be taken into account in planning one's future career."</p>
<p>The study was based on an elaborate field experiment over the course of two years that consisted of sending <a href="http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4004-words-to-avoid-resume.html" type="external">résumés and cover letters Opens a New Window.</a> to employers or recruiting agencies in the U.K. in response to actual job offerings.</p>
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<p>In response to each of 96 job postings for positions in human-resource management, the researchers sent a pair of curriculum vitae and cover letters. Each set of résumés were equal in terms of years, work experience, education and professional affiliations.</p>
<p>Out of 192 applications, 95 evoked no response and 75 gathered negative responses. Of the 22 positive responses, 16 were for wage earners, while just six were for applicants from the self-employed group.</p>
<p>The study's authors offer several explanations for the results, including that the qualities conducive to entrepreneurial success, such as a <a href="http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2814-people-big-risks.html" type="external">bias for risk-taking Opens a New Window.</a>, differ from those conducive to success in traditional company careers and that big companies require different social and political skills than small enterprises do. In addition, they say it could just be irrational discrimination.</p>
<p>Whatever the reason, the career implications for entrepreneurs seem clear, according to the researchers.</p>
<p>"Having previously been self-employed is in itself a negative signal on the job market," they wrote.</p>
<p>The study was authored by Philipp Koellinger, Julija Mel and Irene Pohl of Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Christian Roessler of the University of Vienna, and Theresa Treffers of the Munich School of Management.</p>
<p>Follow Chad Brooks on Twitter @cbrooks76 or BusinessNewsDaily @BNDarticles. We're also on Facebook &amp; Google+. This story originally published by BusinessNewsDaily.</p> | The Reason Entrepreneurs Have Trouble Finding Jobs | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/06/26/reason-entrepreneurs-have-trouble-finding-jobs.html | 2016-03-22 | 0 |
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<p>Yesterday, A-Rod was banned throughout the entire 2014 season, but the baseball star is appealing the decision. Is it all about the money for everyone involved? FOX Sports Radio Host J.T. ‘The Brick’ Tournour says despite the attention being paid to the sport, this is a dark day for Major League Baseball. He says the Yankees should be embarrassed, and baseball should be embarrassed as well.</p>
<p>Homebuyers are turning to parents when making a real estate purchase, but could these loans do more harm than good? Bankrate.com senior financial analyst Greg McBride says he understands getting a parental loan in high-priced markets. That said, for most buyers, he says if you can’t accumulate savings on a consistent basis before buying a home, you shouldn’t be in the market.</p>
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<p>FOX national security analyst KT McFarland says the amount of information released by the Obama administration may be giving too much insight to terrorists looking to harm Americans abroad. Terrorism expert Dr. Walid Phares says the administration has had trouble reading Al Qaeda, and the affiliates and offshoots of the terrorist organization are growing.</p>
<p>Serving California Foundation founder and billionaire B. Wayne Hughes, Jr. says both sides in government are too lazy to get the job done. He says he and his family would likely not be able to accomplish the same rise to wealth today, given the regulatory and tax climate.</p> | 4 to Watch: A-Rod’s Suspension All About Money? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/08/06/4-to-watch-rods-suspension-all-about-money.html | 2016-06-14 | 0 |
<p>The story of 11-month-old U.K. baby Charlie Gard is equally heartbreaking, maddening, and terrifying. The boy's parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, were barred from pursuing experimental but potentially life-saving treatment in the United States on their own dime by European bureaucrats who said it was in Charlie's best interest to die, in their hospital, on their terms.</p>
<p>The story triggered a strong reaction here in the United States and abroad; President Donald Trump, Pope Francis, and hundreds of thousands of petition-signing Americans and Brits were all appalled by the horrors of a court mandating parents (who had not forfeited their rights because of neglect or abuse) pull the plug on their infant son and stop fighting for his life.</p>
<p>Authoritarianism, the repercussions of socialized medicine, and the culture of death are all fully on display in the tragic case of little Charlie.</p>
<p>But Ian Kennedy, a professor of health, law, and ethics at University College London, <a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/24/charlie-gard-tragic-respect-courts" type="external">writing</a> at The Guardian has a different take, one consistent with the pure leftist ideology: infant Charlie Gard "does not belong to his parents," he belongs to Big Brother, and he should be sentenced to death.</p>
<p>"The first is the most fundamental: as a society, we must choose how to decide such heartbreaking cases," writes Kennedy in a piece titled "Despite Charlie Gard’s tragic story, we must respect the process of our courts."</p>
<p>"These are the steps. The first is to recognise that children do not belong to their parents," he writes.</p>
<p>In other words, caring, fighting parents, like Chris and Connie, do not have the final say over their child's life; the government knows better.</p>
<p>Let that sink in.</p>
<p>Kennedy then doubles-down on his big government take: "Second, when a claim is made that parents have rights over their children, it is important to step back and examine the language used. We need to remind ourselves that parents do not have rights regarding their children, they only have duties, the principal duty being to act in their children’s best interests. This has been part of the fabric of our law and our society for a long time. Third, if we are concerned with the language of rights, it is, of course, children who have rights; any rights that parents have exist only to protect their children’s rights."</p>
<p>Again, are Connie and Chris not fighting to protect their child's most basic right, his right to life? When is it the government's role to force parents to euthanize their child; in this case, a child who had a one-in-ten shot at potential life-saving treatment?</p>
<p>"Now, in giving effect to a child’s rights, the parents’ views as to their children’s interests should usually be respected," writes the professor. "But parents cannot always be the ultimate arbiters of their children’s interests." It's the courts which should have the say in such matters, not the parents, he argues:</p>
<p>[T]there has to be a mechanism to decide the circumstances in which parents’ views should not prevail. That mechanism has to be a trustworthy and independent source of authority, sometimes a local authority, but ultimately, as ever in a civic society, a court.</p>
<p>Kennedy goes even a step further, arguing that it's important that no one dare "attack the institution of the courts," which might spit out a decision to murder your son:</p>
<p>Campaigns against the courts, whether led by tabloid newspapers, organised through social media or exploited by sectional and religious groups, are increasingly a feature of modern discourse. It is one thing to comment on or criticise a particular decision. It is a very different thing to attack the institution of the courts.</p>
<p>The professor concludes that parents like Chris and Connie, motivated by "passion," as he disparagingly notes, should not be given the authority to try to save their own child's life. The courts know better:</p>
<p>Here, in Charlie Gard’s case, the call has been to keep the courts out; they don’t understand. Only the parents should decide: let passion prevail. Those behind such calls should reflect on what they wish for in case they get it. A whole system designed to address dispassionately the rights and interests of children would be pushed aside.</p>
<p>Kennedy perfectly highlights the rampant culture of death so prevalent on the Left. Baby Charlie would suffer, doctors say, he would not live a "normal" life, according to the courts, and therefore he should die. This is the same line of thinking which prevails in the pro-abort community, where doctors advise pregnant mothers to abort their child because of a Down Syndrome detection.</p>
<p>All life should be protected, particularly the voiceless and vulnerable, and there is no way in hell some government bureaucrat should be forcing parents to pull the plug on their child who, at the time, had potentially live-saving options to pursue.</p> | Ethics Professor On Charlie Gard: 'Children Do Not Belong To Their Parents' | true | https://dailywire.com/news/18956/guardian-charlie-gard-children-do-not-belong-their-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2017-07-25 | 0 |
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<p>That’s how <a href="http://www.vernonrobinson.com/robinson_contents/about/" type="external">Vernon Robinson</a>describes America under the leadership of North Carolina Congressman <a href="http://www.house.gov/bradmiller/bio.html" type="external">Brad Miller</a>. Robinson, who is running for Miller’s Congressional seat, has <a href="http://vernonrobinson.com/media/miller_mariachi.mp3" type="external">radio</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE3SNHGMa10&amp;eurl=" type="external">television</a> ads that are so offensive, they are funny. Not so funny is Robinson’s claim that those who are endorsing this campaign or who have endorsed one of his previous campaigns include Sen. Elizabeth Dole, Bill Bennett, the Police Benevolent Association, Governor Jeb Bush, the Wall Street Journal, and the Greensboro News &amp; Record. If some of these endorsers do not endorse the current campaign, they certainly have not rushed to have their names taken off of the list.</p>
<p>Another of Robinson’s TV ads contains this text:</p>
<p>If you’re a conservative Republican, watching the news these days can make you feel as though you are in The Twilight Zone. Americans are under attack from Islamic extremists in every corner of the world. Homosexuals are mocking holy matrimony and the lesbians and feminists are attacking everything sacred. Liberal judges have completely re-written the Constitution. You can burn the American flag and kill a million babies a year but you can’t post the Ten Commandments or say “God” in public. Seven out of every ten children are born out of wedlock and [Rev. Jesse] Jackson and [Al] Sharpton claim the answer is racial quotas. And the aliens are here but they didn’t come in a spaceship, they came across our unguarded Mexican border by the millions.</p>
<p>Robinson, who appears to be obsessed with the subject of homosexuality, was the one who suggested that Congressman Miller was homosexual because the Congressman had married later in life and had no children. Miller then caved in to the baiting and disclosed that his wife had had a hysterectomy prior to their marriage.</p>
<p>When Robinson ran for Congress in 2004, he raised nearly $3 million, almost all of it from individuals. He has also received significant financial support from PACS associated with Congressman <a href="http://www.libertypac.net/html/ron_paul.html" type="external">Ron Paul</a> of Texas and Colorado Congressman <a href="http://tancredo.house.gov/about/about_biography.shtml" type="external">Tom Tancredo</a>. Tancredo, you will recall, received overnight fame by suggesting that–should al Qaeda launch a nuclear attack on the U.S.–we retaliate by “taking out” Muslim holy sites.</p>
<p>Accusations of FEC violations have also been made against Robinson, and these are pending. In 2004, he was fined for not filing papers with the FEC. But for those North Carolinians who want to see crotch-grabbing illegal immigrants burning the American flag, election violations probably count as insignificant. Fortunately, the polls show that Miller is likely to win.</p>
<p /> | One Big Fiesta for Immigrants and Homosexuals | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2006/09/one-big-fiesta-immigrants-and-homosexuals/ | 2006-09-18 | 4 |
<p>A new accuser has stepped forward to say he was sexually abused by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky more than 100 times and has filed a lawsuit against him, the <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/bigten/story/2011-11-30/penn-state-jerry-sandusky-accuser-lawsuit/51499222/1" type="external">Associated Press</a>reported.</p>
<p>The accuser is identified as John Doe in the lawsuit and claims that he was abused by Sandusky after meeting him through Sandusky's Second Mile charity. According to the lawsuit, Sandusky also threatened the boy's family to keep him quiet about the abuse, the AP reported.</p>
<p>The lawsuit claims Sandusky sexually abused the boy multiple times at his State College home, in Penn State facilities and on at least one bowl game trip, the AP reported. Now 29-years-old, the plaintiff says he feels tormented after learning others were allegedly abused after him, the AP reported.</p>
<p>Read more at GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111115/sandusky-showered-young-boys-im-not-pedophile" type="external">Sandusky: I showered with young boys but I'm not a pedophile</a></p>
<p>This is the first lawsuit to be filed against Sandusky, Penn State University and The Second Mile, although this is the ninth case to emerge against the former coach, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/30/us-crime-coach-pennstate-idUSTRE7AT21X20111130" type="external">Reuters</a> reported.</p>
<p>"I never told anybody what he did to me over 100 times at all kinds of places until the newspapers reported that he had abused other kids and the people at Penn State and Second Mile didn't do the things they should have to protect me and the other kids," the statement read, <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/30/new-accuser-alleges-sandusky-sexually-abused-him-more-than-100-times/" type="external">Fox News</a> reported.</p>
<p>"I am hurting and have been for a long time because of what happened, but feel now even more tormented that I have learned of so many other kids. Now that I have told and done something about it, I am feeling better and going to get help and work with the police. I want other people who have been hurt to know they can come forward and get help and help protect others in the future.?</p>
<p>The lawsuit claims the abuse allegedly happened after Sandusky met the boy when he was 10-yeas-old in 1992 through his charity and continued until 1996, Fox News reported. This is just the latest chapter of the allegations that have rocked the college football world, leading to the termination of longtime head coach Joe Paterno and University president Graham Spanier.</p>
<p>Read more at GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111110/after-joe-paterno-fired-crowd-erupts-at-penn-sta" type="external">After Joe Paterno fird, crowd erupts at Penn State (VIDEO)</a></p> | New accuser files first lawsuit against Penn State's Sandusky | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-11-30/new-accuser-files-first-lawsuit-against-penn-states-sandusky | 2011-11-30 | 3 |
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<p>NEW YORK — Olympic champion gymnasts Simone Biles and Aly Raisman are vaulting into a new arena: the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.</p>
<p>The two stars — who combined for eight medals at the 2016 Olympics — posed at several spots in the Houston area not far from Biles’ hometown of Spring, Texas for photographer James Macari.</p>
<p>The 19-year-old Biles, who captured the Olympic all-around title as well as gold medals in the team, vault and floor exercise competitions, does a handstand in one promo shot provided by the magazine.</p>
<p>The 22-year-old Raisman, who has been an advocate for promoting a positive and healthy body image for young women, won six medals combined between the 2012 and 2016 games, including a silver on floor exercise behind Biles in Rio. Raisman showcased one of the promotional photos on her Twitter page, writing “Love you (Sports Illustrated) celebrates all women for being strong and beautiful.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Olympic champs Biles and Raisman posing in SI swimsuit issue | false | https://abqjournal.com/925062/olympic-champs-biles-and-raisman-posing-in-si-swimsuit-issue.html | 2 |
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<p>Rainier Ehrhardt/AP</p>
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<p>The first Republican presidential debate of 2016 was one of realignment. The candidates themselves had a bit more space on stage, after Carly Fiorina and Sen. Rand Paul were kicked out of the prime-time debate thanks to their dwindling poll numbers. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump broke their tentative alliance as Trump pondered whether Cruz could legally serve as president. Marco Rubio and Trump got wonky on tax policy and immigration as they sought to tear each other down.</p>
<p>With just over two weeks left before the Iowa caucuses, here are a few of the highlights from Thursday’s debate.</p>
<p>Cruz would have retaliated for captured sailors. Even though the 10 sailors captured by Iran were <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/world/middleeast/iran-navy-crew-release.html" type="external">released</a> on Wednesday, Cruz opened the debate by promising that “any nation that captures our fighting men will feel the full force and fury of the United States of America.”</p>
<p>Cruz also railed against President Barack Obama for failing to mention the sailors in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, which occurred before the sailors were released. The White House has already explained the decision not to discuss the situation in that speech as a foreign policy decision:</p>
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<p>Watch:</p>
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<p>In a birther debate, Cruz points out that Trump’s mother was born in Scotland. Cruz and Trump had a drawn out confrontation over whether Cruz is eligible to be president. Cruz made the legal case for his eligibility but then tried to turn the argument against Trump—whose mother was born in Scotland.</p>
<p>“I would note that the birther theories that Donald has been relying on, some of the more extreme ones insist that you must not only be born on US soil, but have two parents born on US soil. Under that theory, not only would I be disqualified, Marco Rubio would be disqualified, Bobby Jindal would be disqualified, and interestingly enough, Donald J. Trump would be disqualified. Because Donald’s mother was born in Scotland. She was naturalized.”</p>
<p>“Donald, I’m not going to use your mother’s birth against you,” Cruz promised to Trump, of the revelation about his mother. “Good,” Trump responded. “Because it wouldn’t work.”</p>
<p>Watch:</p>
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<p>Trump foresees a lawsuit over Cruz’s birther problem. In launching a birther attack on Cruz, Trump predicted a disaster scenario for the GOP: Trump wins the nomination, picks Cruz as his running mate, and then Democrats file a lawsuit over Cruz’s eligibility that ruins the campaign.</p>
<p>“I already know the Democrats are going to be bringing a suit. You have a big lawsuit over your head while you’re running. And if you become the nominee, who the hell knows if you can even serve in office?” Trump warned. “So you should go out, get a declaratory judgment, let the courts decide.”</p>
<p>“Why are you saying this now right now?” moderator Neil Cavuto asked Trump.</p>
<p>“Because now he’s doing a little bit better,” Trump responded. “Hey look, he never had a chance. Now, he’s doing better. He’s got probably a 4 or 5 percent chance.”</p>
<p>Trump gladly accepts the “mantle of anger.” During her response to Obama’s State of the Union this week, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called out the “angriest voices” in the party. Moderator Maria Bartiromo wondered if Trump thought she’d gone too far. Trump said no.</p>
<p>“I’m very angry because our country is being run horribly and I will gladly accept the mantle of anger,” Trump responded, saying he had no beef with Haley. He proudly touted how angry he was, and said he’d stay that way until he’s elected president and fixes things up. “I’m very, very angry,” Trump said. “So when Nikki said that, I wasn’t offended. She said the truth.”</p>
<p>Watch:</p>
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<p>Rubio versus Christie: The battle for third. Rubio was probably hoping he would not be bickering with Chris Christie two weeks before voting starts while Trump and Cruz repeatedly engage each other as the two front-runners. And yet, that’s what happened Thursday night. Christie has been gaining support in New Hampshire, threatening to overtake Rubio in the polls. So the super-PAC supporting Rubio has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/06/us/politics/group-backing-marco-rubio-unleashes-ads-attacking-chris-christie.html" type="external">launched negative attacks ads</a> on Christie. Rubio doubled down on those attacks when asked if he stood by those attack ads. But Christie, prepared for the attack, returned fire.</p>
<p>Watch:</p>
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<p>Asked about Bill Clinton, Ben Carson bemoans…internet commenters? Oh, Ben. The Fox moderators asked Carson whether it was fair to hold Hillary Clinton responsible for her husband’s “sexual misconduct.” Carson didn’t have much of a response for that, but he wanted to discuss “values and principles.” What, in Carson’s mind, was an indication that the nation’s morals had fallen?</p>
<p>“You know, you go to the internet, you start reading an article, and you go to the comments section—you cannot go five comments down before people are calling each all manner of names,” Carson said. “Where did that spirit come from in America? It did not come from our Judeo-Christian roots, I can tell you that. And wherever it came from we need to start once again recognizing that there is such a thing as right and wrong. And let’s not let the secular progressives drive that out of us.”</p>
<p>Rubio wants a gun in case ISIS attacks. None of the Republicans on stage were fans of Obama’s calls for further gun control. But Rubio took his defense of Second Amendment rights a step further, saying that bearing arms is not just a constitutional right, but a necessity for keeping the country safe from ISIS.</p>
<p>“And let me tell you, ISIS and terrorists do not get their guns from a gun show,” Rubio said. “Here’s a fact. We are in a war against ISIS. They are trying to attack us here in America. They attacked us in Philadelphia last week. They attacked us in San Bernardino two weeks ago. And the last line standing between them and our families might be us and a gun.”</p>
<p>Watch:</p>
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<p>Trump plays the 9/11 card. Cruz walked right into this one. The senator from Texas, who has been attacking Trump as a New York liberal, made the accusation to his face Thursday night. And just like that, Cruz handed Trump the opportunity to defend New York with the mother of all trump cards.</p>
<p>“When the World Trade Center came down, I saw something that no place on Earth could have handled more beautifully, more humanely than New York,” he said. “And the people in New York fought and fought and fought, and we saw more death, and even the smell of death—nobody understood it. And it was with us for months, the smell, the air. And we rebuilt downtown Manhattan, and everybody in the world watched and everybody in the world loved New York and loved New Yorkers.”</p>
<p>“And I have to tell you,” he concluded, “that was a very insulting statement that Ted made.”</p>
<p>All Cruz could do was smile, nod, and clap for Trump.</p>
<p>Watch:</p>
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<p>Rubio takes on Cruz as a flip-flopping politician. Near the end of the evening, Rubio finally got a chance to go after Cruz—and he went all out. Rubio accused Cruz of changing his positions on issues like the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and ethanol subsidies to win voters.</p>
<p>When Rubio had finished, Cruz responded that his opponent had dumped his entire opposition research file on him.</p>
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<p /> | The 9 Best Moments From Thursday’s GOP Debate | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2016/01/highlights-fox-gop-presidential-debate/ | 2016-01-15 | 4 |
<p>The fact that the United Arab Emirates’ Mariam Al Mansouri is leading airstrikes against Islamic State has some social media users in a <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29385001" type="external">sexist uproar</a>, but none compare with the illustrious “Five” on Fox News whose hosts are perfect evidence that misogyny isn’t unique to the Middle East. Stephen Colbert, ever the wordsmith, chimes in to help his fellow conservative males, or those “cocks on Fox” as Colbert likes to call them, come up with better puns such as “a pair in the air” and “a rack over Iraq,” since Al Mansouri is a fighter pilot after all.</p>
<p><a href="http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/" type="external">The Colbert Report</a>Get More: <a href="http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/full-episodes" type="external">Colbert Report Full Episodes</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thecolbertreport" type="external">The Colbert Report on Facebook</a>, <a href="http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos" type="external">Video Archive</a></p>
<p>—Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Natasha Hakimi Zapata</a></p>
<p /> | The UAE's First Female Fighter Pilot Called 'Boobs on the Ground' by Fox News Host | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/the-uaes-first-female-fighter-pilot-called-boobs-on-the-ground-by-fox-news-host/ | 2014-09-27 | 4 |
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<p>Two years ago, department store giant Macy's (NYSE: M) decided to explore the possibility of creating a Macy's off-price business. After years of market share losses to off-price retailers like TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) it clearly made sense for Macy's to try moving into this growing segment of the retail market.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The first six Macy's Backstage pilot stores opened in the New York metro area during fall 2015. During 2016, Macy's further developed its off-price business by opening a handful of Backstage off-price stores within existing Macy's locations. The company has been particularly pleased with the economics of the store-within-a-store concept.</p>
<p>Macy's has started adding Backstage off-price stores to some of its full-line locations. Image source: Author.</p>
<p>I visited one of the stores-within-a-store -- at the Galleria in White Plains, New York -- on New Year's Eve. What I saw suggested that adding Backstage off-price sections to Macy's full-line stores could be a profitable strategy in many cases.</p>
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<p>There was plenty of apparel to be found at the Macy's Backstage store. Image source: Author.</p>
<p>One of the biggest risks of putting an off-price store within a full-line location is that it could cannibalize sales from the rest of the store. Why would customers pay full price when they can find the same items for less in a different part of the store? (TJX has had great success marketing T.J. Maxx and Marshalls as offering department store-type merchandise for 20%-60% less.)</p>
<p>There were plenty of racks of clothing in the Macy's Backstage store. As a result, the full-price and off-price sections of this Macy's store are competing with one another to some extent.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Macy's management has emphasized that the Backstage stores also carry a lot of merchandise that wouldn't be found in a typical Macy's. Toys and home decor have been two particularly successful non-traditional merchandise categories.</p>
<p>Macy's Backstage stores sell toys and other items that regular Macy's stores don't offer. Image source: Author.</p>
<p>Based on the overall merchandise selection and store configuration, the Macy's Backstage store looked eerily similar to a Marshalls store I visited later the same day.</p>
<p>There was a wide range in the amount that items were marked down at the Macy's Backstage location I visited. Two pairs of pants on the same clothing rack illustrate the range of discounts.</p>
<p>The first pair of pants was priced at $19.99 compared to a $36 MSRP: a modest 44% discount. The other pair was marked down to $9.98 from a $59.50 MSRP and had a yellow "buy one get one free" tag. This meant it was effectively selling for more than 90% off.</p>
<p>Some Macy's Backstage merchandise is deeply discounted. Image source: Author.</p>
<p>Even moderately discounted merchandise could make Macy's Backstage an attractive option for many shoppers. For customers, part of the appeal of TJX's business model is that there are good deals available no matter when you shop. By contrast, Macy's full-line stores tend to rely on coupons, a steady stream of "one-day sales," and other promotions to drive customer traffic.</p>
<p>If there aren't good deals available in the Macy's full-line store on a given day, the availability of 40%-50% discounts in the Macy's Backstage could keep customers from walking out and going to T.J. Maxx or Marshalls instead.</p>
<p>The furniture section of the full-line store looked like a ghost town when I visited. Image source: Author</p>
<p>The main level of the White Plains Macy's store was fairly busy when I visited. That part of the store features the jewelry and beauty sections and most of the men's and women's apparel. By contrast, the home section on the lower level was nearly deserted.</p>
<p>The Macy's Backstage store occupies perhaps a quarter to a third of the lower level. Given the lack of traffic in the surrounding home department, the Backstage store doesn't have to meet a very high bar to be a better use of space. Macy's management has indicated that, on average, adding a Backstage store to a full-line Macy's increases the sales for that location.</p>
<p>Sure enough, the White Plains Macy's Backstage was quite busy. It was a fairly dramatic contrast with the rest of the lower level. The first floor location has the secondary benefit of providing an exterior entrance from Main St. directly to the Macy's Backstage store, which is prominently advertised on the street outside.</p>
<p>There were plenty of shoppers at Macy's Backstage on New Year's Eve. Image source: Author.</p>
<p>At this point, the Macy's Backstage store-within-a-store concept is less than a year old. Clearly, Macy's is still within the test-and-learn stage. However, based on my visit to the new Backstage store in White Plains, New York, this concept looks very promising.</p>
<p>Macy's full-line stores already rely on coupons and discounts to drive customer traffic. Very little merchandise is sold at full price. Thus, investors may be exaggerating the downside risk of Macy's Backstage cannibalizing full-price sales.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, with mall traffic on the decline, most Macy's stores have more space than they really need. Installing a Macy's Backstage store could significantly improve the sales productivity of these locations, leading to higher overall profitability.</p>
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<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=48f6c9fb-c261-4993-87ea-dafdeb834374&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks</a> for investors to buy right now... and Macy's wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of January 4, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGemHunter/info.aspx" type="external">Adam Levine-Weinberg</a> owns shares of Macy's and is long January 2018 $60 calls on The TJX Companies and short January 2018 $90 calls on The TJX Companies. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p> | I Visited a Macy's Backstage on New Year's Eve: Here's What I Saw | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/04/visited-macy-backstage-on-new-year-eve-here-what-saw.html | 2017-01-04 | 0 |
<p>John McCain has spent a small fortune trying to convince voters that Barack Obama is an out-of-touch celebrity (a tactic that appears to be working), but columnist Dave Lindorff argues that Obama's dip in the polls is actually the result of his march to the right, much like the last two Democratic losers.</p>
<p>Dave Lindorff in the San Francisco Chronicle:</p>
<p>Like John Kerry and Al Gore before him, Obama, after winning the primaries as an anti-war liberal, has gone Republican-lite. First pledging unquestioning support for Israeli intransigence, he has subsequently threatened to attack Iran, to put more troops in Afghanistan, has backed away from genuine health-care reform and other progressive domestic goals, and even supports warrantless domestic spying.</p>
<p>You would think, having watched Democratic presidential candidates Kerry and Gore blow two elections for the party, Obama would have tried something different. Sadly though, he and Democratic Party leaders seem hopelessly in thrall to powerbrokers who favor war, free-market nostrums and corporate welfare.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/21/EDCQ12G3MV.DTL" type="external">Read more</a></p> | For Obama, It's Down and to the Right | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/for-obama-its-down-and-to-the-right/ | 2008-08-22 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Intel.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Last week,Intel Corporation snatched up a computer vision (CV) company called Itseez, Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Computer vision is a burgeoning technology in which computers use cameras to view their surroundings, then analyze what they've seen and make decisions based on it.</p>
<p>The purchase is a clear sign that Intel is indeed transitioning into an Internet of Things company and away from its PC routes. The company indicated just how important Itseez may be for the future of Intel's Internet of Things plans in a recent <a href="https://newsroom.intel.com/editorials/intel-acquires-computer-vision-for-iot-automotive/" type="external">press release</a>.</p>
<p>Here's what Intel senior vice president and general manager of Internet of Things Group Doug Davis said in a statement:</p>
<p>That's a pretty big reveal considering Intel is essentially staking its future on the Internet of Things and its data center business, after the company announced in April that it's laying off <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/19/intel-to-lay-off-12000-employees.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">12,000 employees</a>.</p>
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<p>Intel hasn't clarified exactly how Itseez will be a key ingredient for its IoT ambitions, but it did hint that it would boost its deep learning and driverless car technologies.</p>
<p>And that could be very beneficial to Intel.The driverless car market will be worth $42 billion by 2025, and nearly 10% of all light vehicles sold by 2035 will be completely driverless. Those vehicles will need to be able to process the information around them in real-time, and Itseez's algorithms could help make that happen.</p>
<p>In addition to driverless opportunities, the broader IoT market is starting to home in on <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/13/how-nvidia-could-dominate-machine-learning.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">cognitive computing</a>, which computer vision is a part of. And that market is expected to grow to $12 billion by 2019.</p>
<p>Intel will face some competition in this space from NVIDIA , which already has machine learning technology used by Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoftfor data center and deep learning systems.</p>
<p>Additionally, NVIDIA's Drive PX 2 computer for driverless car systems is already being used and tested by 80 automakersand Tier 1 suppliers, and the company's recently released DGX-1 supercomputer could help power driverless cars <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/06/heres-everything-you-need-to-know-about-nvidias-12.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">from the cloud</a>.</p>
<p>Intel may also face competition from MobilEye , which makes cameras and vision processing systems for driverless cars. MobilEye's <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/01/08/heres-how-mobileye-nv-will-redefine-autonomous-car.aspx?mrr=0.14&amp;source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">cameras and processors</a> will be in more than 200 vehicle models from 20 original equipment manufacturers this year.</p>
<p>MobileEye is using its cameras and processors in a new system called Road Experience Management (REM), which collects small bits of information about a car's surroundings, uploads it to the cloud, and then shares it with other cars so that they know where they're driving as well.</p>
<p>While the Itseez purchase may help Intel's IoT ambitions in the long run, investors should remember that the company is still very much in transition mode.</p>
<p>That means that for all Intel's IoT ambitions, the company still only made $2.3 billion from its Internet of Things Group last year. That'll surely expand as time goes on, but don't expect to see the Itseez purchase, or other IoT moves, propel the company's revenue in the short term.</p>
<p>Intel is building its IoT chops, and that's going to take some time. The Itseez purchase appears to be a significant step in the right direction, but it's still a bit too early to tell just how much of an impact it'll have on the company's bottom line.</p>
<p>But considering that Intel is pivoting away from selling chips to PC makers -- and its data center and IoT segments already make up a combined 40% of total revenue -- I think the Itseez purchase is a clear sign that Intel intends to use the company as part of a larger strategy to make itself into a major IoT player.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/05/31/intel-corporation-has-a-new-key-ingredient-for-its.aspx" type="external">Intel Corporation Has a New "Key Ingredient" for Its Internet of Things Business</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFNewsie/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Chris Neiger</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon.com, Facebook, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool owns shares of Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends Intel. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p> | Intel Corporation Has a New "Key Ingredient" for Its Internet of Things Business | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/05/31/intel-corporation-has-new-key-ingredient-for-its-internet-things-business.html | 2016-05-31 | 0 |
<p>Former FBI translator</p>
<p>On Tuesday, July 6, 2004, Judge Reggie Walton made a decision and ruled on my case. Under his ruling, I, an American citizen, am not entitled to pursue my 1st and 5th Amendment rights guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States. The vague reasoning cited, without any explanation, is to protect “certain diplomatic relations for national security.” Judge Walton reached this decision after sitting on this case with no activity for almost two years. He arrived at this decision without allowing my attorney and I any due process: NO status hearing, NO briefings, NO oral argument, and NO discovery. He made his decision after allowing the government attorneys to present their case to him, privately, in camera, ex parte; we were not allowed to participate in these cozy sessions.</p>
<p>Is this the American system of justice we believe in? Is this the due process we read about in our Civics 101 courses? Is this the judicial branch of our government that is supposed to be separate from the other two branches in order to protect the people’s rights and freedom?</p>
<p>This court decision by itself would have been appalling and alarming enough, but in light of all other actions taken against my case for the past two years it demonstrates a broken system, a system abused and corrupted by the current executive, a system badly in need of repair.</p>
<p>Under this broken system the attorney general of the United States is being allowed to illegally gag the United States Congress regarding my case. And even worse, the United States Congress is readily complying with this illegal gag.</p>
<p>Under this broken system the attorney general of the United States is being allowed to hinder ongoing investigations such as those of the 9/11 Commission and the DOJ-Inspector General.</p>
<p>Under this broken system the Attorney General of the United States is getting away with interfering and tampering with pending cases under the judicial process, such as my court cases and the lawsuit by the 9/11 victim families.</p>
<p>John Ashcroft’s relentless fight against me, my information, and my case, on various fronts, from the Congress to the courts, and from the 9/11 Commission to the Inspector General’s Office, has been taking place under his attempt at a vague justification titled “Protecting Certain Foreign and Diplomatic Relations for National Security.”</p>
<p>On September 11, 2001, 3,000 lives were lost. Yet this administration has hindered all past and on going investigations into the causes of that horrific day for the sake of this vague notion of protecting “certain diplomatic and foreign relations.”</p>
<p>As a result of the attack on 9/11, many thousands lost their loved ones and had their lives changed forever. Yet, this administration knowingly and intentionally let many directly or indirectly involved in that terrorist act go free ­ untouched and uninvestigated ­ by simply citing “protection of certain foreign and diplomatic relations for national security.”</p>
<p>Today, we are told that we are still under the threat of terrorists, and remain under various colors of the color-coded threat system invented and promoted by this administration. Yet, this same administration is relentlessly preventing any real investigations into finding out the facts, the real facts, regarding acts, semi-legit organizations, and people, involved in plots against this country and its people ­ under their sorry excuse of “protecting certain foreign and diplomatic relations.”</p>
<p>Isn’t it time to ask what diplomatic or foreign relations they keep referring to?</p>
<p>Isn’t it fair to demand that they should let the people know what kind of foreign relations are worth 3,000 lives lost?</p>
<p>Isn’t it this administration’s obligation to justify these costs in lives and in our national security for the sake of maintaining certain foreign relations that benefit only the few?</p>
<p>Just take notice of the means this administration has used in my case alone to accomplish covering up and protecting those “foreign relations,” and to dodge any accountability themselves: illegal reclassifications, secrecy, gagging congressional inquiries, blocking court proceedings, stopping investigations, invoking the rarely invoked State Secret Privilege, asserting national security.</p>
<p>It is apparent that this administration confidently expects the American people to sign blank checks unquestioningly. It is obvious that they believe they are entitled to unchecked power, unlimited authority, and unquestioning citizens’ support. To them, our Bill of Rights under the Constitution is nothing more than an inconvenient roadblock to overcome; our American system of checks and balances can be bypassed by overusing national security; and people’s dissent is a problem that can be diverted away by a culture of fear and complete submission to government authority.</p>
<p>As I have stated many times previously, I will continue this fight, since in taking my citizenship oath I pledged that I would support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Therefore, as an American citizen, I have the right and the obligation to defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against John Ashcroft’s assaults.</p>
<p>SIBEL EDMONDS began working for the FBI shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, translating top-secret documents pertaining to suspected terrorists. She was fired in the spring of 2002 after reporting her concerns about sabotage, intimidation, corruption and incompetence to superiors. She first gained wide public attention in October of that year when she appeared on 60 Minutes on CBS and charged that the FBI, State Department, and Pentagon had been infiltrated by Turkish individuals suspected of ties to terrorism. On October 18, 2002, at the request of FBI Director Robert Mueller, Attorney General Ashcroft imposed a gag order on Ms. Edmonds, citing possible damage to diplomatic relations or national security. Edmonds is a key witness in a pending class-action suit filed by 9/11 families against the government.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Our Broken System | true | https://counterpunch.org/2004/07/09/our-broken-system/ | 2004-07-09 | 4 |
<p>In his book from early 2000, The Lexus and The Olive Tree, globalization bull-dog Thomas Friedman, amongst his other grand ideas like McDonald’s being the key to world peace, speculates that one day governments will run on a for-profit basis. Rather than privatizing education completely, they will hire other countries to run their education systems or lease out their own. This would effectively mean that newly appointed Education Secretary Spellings would act more as a CEO than national superintendent. While I find it more likely that the education system in the United States will be privatized out right than operate like a corporate consultant firm, Friedman does point out an interesting trend. Governments are being forced to act more like corporations. Business has been the business of government for quite sometime, but that line between business and government is becoming more obscured. Today, government is business.</p>
<p>In my home state of Indiana, our newly elected governor is a man named Mitch Daniels. Leaving his post as Bush’s director of the Office of Management and Budget in June 2003, he was effectively sent out of the beltway to oversee us Hoosiers. His time spent serving at the White House consisted of slashing all that could be slashed from an incredibly bloated Bush budget (Obviously, we are all suffering from his ineffectiveness there, as he failed to curb the largest federal deficit in history). Before accomplishing what amounts to the complete opposite of his goal of financial discipline in Washington, he served in the upper management of Eli Lilly and Company’s pharmaceutical operations from 1990-2001, chief executive of the ultra-rightwing Hudson Institute from 1987-1990, and director of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation in the 1980’s after leaving the Reagan administration. His agenda for Indiana today is financial weight loss (for the state, not businesses and his buddies). Cutting the fat from our state budget is his top priority. After all, since Bush took office, it has been steadily diminishing.</p>
<p>Like every other corporate Washington fat cat, Daniels plans to govern by introducing competition into government to make it more efficient. The idea is this: If free-market competition has worked so well for American business, why shouldn’t free-market competition work as well for government? Friedman’s ideas on globalization reflect this. Counties need to improve their credit ratings to attract business, because their people want free-market capitalism to come in and make them rich and happy, just like Americans. The “better” governments are, the more apt they are to receive foreign investment, and more investment means more material affluence. If governments act like good corporations, then they will be rewarded with investments – just like good corporations. While this line of reasoning is compelling (Efficiency, wealthy and happiness are good things, right?), it is nothing new and it is a dangerous framework for government.</p>
<p>Witnessing the end of the republic Rome, the great statesman and political philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero became enthralled with the pen, writing almost constantly of the tragedy being acted out in his days. At the request of Marc Anthony, however, Cicero’s execution – and the subsequent public display of his severed head and hands – brought a quick end to his philosophical career. Fortunately though, he was able to complete many classics, which have now been in vogue for almost 2000 years. Machiavelli’s The Prince, as well as the work of many others, can and should be read as critical response to Cicero.</p>
<p>Despite the fact that Cicero held politics in the highest esteem, calling civic service a moral duty, his ideas may have led credence to some of your apolitical friend’s views. In one of his more popular works, On the Republic, he concludes that states are composed of individuals united by common interests and values. While that may sound grand and ideal, the implication he draws is that a band of robbers is just a small-scale state. Alexander the Great was simply a pirate, but with a fleet rather than a single ship. St. Augustine borrows this idea interest-composed-states in City of God, but subtracts that individuals in the same state necessarily share common values (Hence, Christians can be good Roman citizens, by sharing an interest in Rome though not sharing all the same values as their pagan neighbors). The interests that unite individuals into composing states are equally likely to be peace and prosperity or friendships as much as wanting a piece of the conquered pie. Cicero implies that the values one adheres to will be a product of these interests, while Augustine believes there is no necessary connection. The difference is between whether your interests alone will determine your values.</p>
<p>Under this definition of a state, we should think of Americans as consisting of one people united through their shared interest in US prosperity and concern for their families, friends, and fellow citizens. There is no implied social contract you invisibly sign after leaving the womb that makes you an America. It is merely the fact that you have an interest in considering yourself an American, and that the United States considers that interest valid. If the United States does not reciprocate an interest in you, however, you cannot be a citizen. For you to properly be a citizen, you and the state must share the same sentiment. You, your fellow citizens, and the state need not share all the same interests, just enough that all parties involved consider you a US citizen. For most of our lives, we generally just forget how contingent and immaterial citizenship really is.</p>
<p>A problem arises however, we when start to question the relationship between citizens, states, and each parties interests beyond national allegiance. People like Mitch Daniels and Thomas Friedman want the interests of governments to be more like the interests of corporations. Like Alexander the Great turning Greece into a giant band of robbers, Daniels and Friedman want to turn the United States into a giant for-profit organization. If an investment isn’t paying off, a good investor quits investing in it. Reagan (one of Daniels former employers) tried to follow this logic. For him and his buddies, the Environmental Protection Agency required a heavy investment, that rather than providing revenue, brought only more costs. So they continually lowered its budget trying to back out of their investment. The “No Child Left Behind” Act ­ a bi-partisan effort – is essentially enforcing the same policy. If a school fails, it gets its funding cut. This sounds like a great way of enforcing accountability, right? Well, sure, but at what costs (and by costs, I’m talking money anymore)?</p>
<p>I believe that without distorting his memory, I can use a quote from one Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speeches against the Vietnam War that describe these costs. “When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” We can include sexism, classism and environmental destruction to the list. Cheney’s remarks acknowledge this reality of corporations before people, “Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy.” With government acting solely to facilitate the interests of corporations, restricting the impact of these ills will be a left to solely being a matter of personal virtue. Cheney is acutely aware that his pandering to corporations leaves only individuals efforts to combat the real political issues, the costs of profits. With profit-driven politics taking the place of real government mandates, the people are left to fend for themselves. But one person alone cannot stop this trend. To stop people like Cheney from selling our pristine wilderness to his oil buddies and Mitch Daniels from giving tax breaks to corporations while cutting funding education, we need organize as individuals to wield the lobbying strength of corporations. This is the only way to reseat the people’s interests in government before corporate interests. The ship’s captain who turns the vessel to pirating can be democratically and non-violently mutinied, if the crew organizes against him. ADAM WILLIAMS studies Political Science and Philosophy at Indiana University, and works part-time as a computer programmer. He is currently finishing his senior honors thesis about Chomskyan nativism. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Citizenship Sold | true | https://counterpunch.org/2004/11/30/citizenship-sold/ | 2004-11-30 | 4 |
<p>Zuhdi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy explains why the attack in New York City is an act of war by violent extremists.</p>
<p>A motorist driving a rented Home Depot (NYSE:HD) pickup truck plowed into pedestrian along the West Side bike path near New York City’s Financial District killing at least eight people and injured several more Tuesday.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>“This is a very painful day in our city,” <a href="" type="internal">New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference</a>. “Based on the information we had at this moment, this was an act of terror, a particularly cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians.”</p>
<p>Zuhdi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy called the terrorist attack an act of war by extremist.</p>
<p>“We are at war and this ideology as much as we may feel better that ISIS is almost decimated and not only in Iraq and Syria, the ideology of Jihadism will continue to spread,” Jasser said during an interview with FOX Business’ Charles Payne.</p>
<p>The suspected driver, 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov, shouted "Allahu akbar," according to police sources, and was taken into custody after being shot by police and remains hospitalized.</p>
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<p><a href="" type="internal">New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Opens a New Window.</a> referred to the deadly attack as “new terrorist tactics” an act committed by “lone wolves” and added that there is no evidence to suggest that there was a wider plot.</p>
<p>“These are not lone wolves. These are part of a movement of millions around the planet that believe in attacking the West, that believes if we don’t believe in an Islamic state including us Muslims that are reformist and trying to counter the Jihad that we are always targets, that we are their enemy,” Jasser said.</p>
<p>The Associated Press reports that the suspect has a Florida license but may have been living in New Jersey.</p> | NYC attack is an 'act of war': Zuhdi Jasser | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/12/01/nyc-attack-is-act-war-zuhdi-jasser.html | 2017-11-15 | 0 |
<p>By Jeff Brumley</p>
<p>Some see the nation’s burgeoning church merger and multisite movements resulting from larger congregations preying on smaller ones, pressuring them into relinquishing buildings and land in exchange for survival.</p>
<p>In some circles, that’s called “steeple-jacking.” But it’s also largely a myth about a trend that’s already eclipsed the American megachurch phenomenon, said Jim Tomberlin, the author of Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work.</p>
<p>A consultant who facilitates church mergers, Tomberlin dismisses that predatory view of the process based on seeing cases where many money- and member-strapped congregations voted against merger—even at the risk of extinction.</p>
<p>“I have discovered you are not going to force a small church to do anything,” he said. Mergers that fail usually do so “because somebody doesn’t want to give up control.”</p>
<p>Put aside egos and logos</p>
<p>Tomberline, the founder and senior strategist of merger consulting firm MultiSite Solutions, said negative stereotypes about mergers and the related multisite church movement result from a years-long, painful learning process experienced by pastors, lay leaders and congregations who went about it putting pride and emotions before gospel values.</p>
<p>But the recent recession coupled with sliding church attendance pushed an increasing number of congregations to seek spiritually beneficial solutions to financial realities, Tomberline and other experts report.</p>
<p>The resulting merger and multisite phenomenon is occurring across the denominational spectrum, including Baptists of every stripe. The biggest bar to progress is usually pride and a reluctance to let go of tradition.</p>
<p>“There is a huge win-win if people can put aside their egos and their logos,” Tomberline said.</p>
<p>Two sinking ships</p>
<p>Before, church mergers were relatively rare and usually involved two struggling congregations united in response to declines in finances, attendance and relevance.</p>
<p>But those arrangements usually didn’t last too long, said John Muzyka, senior director of Service Realty, Inc., a Texas-based real estate firm that specializes working with religious groups seeking to purchase, sell, rent or merge.</p>
<p>“Sometimes, two sinking ships just makes a faster sinking ship,” he said.</p>
<p>Church-to-church deals can go wrong many ways, and at the heart of most failures is a tendency to cling to the past on one part and lack of communication on the other, Muzyka said.</p>
<p>Deals unravel, for example, when some members protest because they and their children were married or baptized there, he said. Those feelings often trump concerns about the building’s continued use, through sale or merger, for ministry.</p>
<p>“Missional thinking is, ‘I want to be able to put the dollars in ministry instead of struggling to survive to keep an emotional tie in this,’” Muzyka said.&#160;</p>
<p>But he found congregations more willing recently to put the missional before the emotional, and often in ways that enable them to remain on property over which they relinquish control.</p>
<p>“Mergers are a trend right now,” Muzyka said. And “most of the mergers I see are multisite people coming along side” struggling churches.</p>
<p>A shared future</p>
<p>Statistics support that observation and Tomberline’s statement that it’s outstripping the megachurch movement.</p>
<p>There are an estimated 5,000 multisite churches in the United States compared to 1,650 megachurches, according to figures provided by MultiSite Solutions. More than 6 million people attend multisite churches in North America, where 75 of the 100 largest congregations have multiple campuses.</p>
<p>In cases where campuses were created from mergers, the weaker or “following” church approached the larger or “lead” church after experiencing years of decline, Tomberline said. Most of the time the property of the following church simply is deeded over to the larger one and most or all of the members merge into the larger body.</p>
<p>The most successful transitions occur when the following church enters the process willing to surrender its identity, if necessary, to ensure its facilities continue to be used in a way that serves God.</p>
<p>“A synergy&#160; … comes with these kind of mergers that are more mission-driven versus more survival-driven,” Tomberline said. “It’s more about embracing a shared future together.”</p>
<p>Still, even when both parties are well-intentioned, the process can implode if neither is clear about its desires and intentions, Muzyka added.</p>
<p>“That can result&#160; … in some hurt feelings,” Muzyka said. “I’ve heard horror stories.”</p>
<p>The true heroes</p>
<p>Horror stories were exactly what Senior Pastor Travis Collins wanted to avoid when his three-campus church in Richmond, Va., was handed the keys to “aging and dying” New Covenant Baptist Church.</p>
<p>New Covenant’s interim pastor had approached Collins at Bon Air Baptist Church about the possibility of some sort of merger.</p>
<p>“They gave us their facilities, the money they had in the bank and all their resources,” he said.</p>
<p>It was made clear to New Covenant’s roughly 45 members that if the deal went through, New Covenant no longer would be New Covenant, Collins said.</p>
<p>“This is going to be different, the worship will be different, the culture will change, the feel, the atmosphere—this is going to be a completely different place. We said that from the beginning.”</p>
<p>Communication doesn’t guarantee a lack of stress or pain in such situations, he added.</p>
<p>New Covenant members were concerned about Bon Air’s intentions with one of its full-time employees and two part-timers paid with stipends, Collins noted. All were let go, he said.</p>
<p>“That was hard for us, and it was hard for them,” he said. “But it did not turn out to be a deal breaker.”</p>
<p>Nor did the name change: what will officially become Bon Air’s fourth campus on Sept. 8—with a soft opening on Aug. 18—will be known as “Bon Air Baptist @ The Villages,” in reference to its Richmond neighborhood.</p>
<p>The credit for the new campus goes to the 30 or so New Covenant members and their interim pastor, Collins said, because they put aside tradition to ensure their church remained a place of ministry.</p>
<p>“The heroes of the story are not the Bon Airs, the heroes of the story are the New Covenants,” Collins said.</p>
<p>Those are the kinds of stories Myzuka said he hears more than any other.</p>
<p>“Back in the day, mergers had that look of this one church swallowing up another,” Myzuka said. “But it really is about how can these churches accomplish their visions together?”</p> | When small churches merge with large ones | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/when-small-churches-merge-with-large-ones/ | 3 |
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<p>Los Angeles TimesRobert J. Dowling, 66, has been running the daily trade newspaper for 17 years. The editor-in-chief and publisher has weathered accusations of blurring his dual roles as businessman and journalist. Claire Hoffman notes Dowling once killed a proposed story on "The 100 Worst Movies of All Time" after reportedly getting complaints from studio advertisers. One editor says Dowling "took a publication that was second-rate and he leaves it first-rate." (Read the Hollywood Reporter's Dowling <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001615352" type="external">story</a>.)</p> | Hollywood Reporter editor and publisher Dowling to retire | false | https://poynter.org/news/hollywood-reporter-editor-and-publisher-dowling-retire | 2005-12-07 | 2 |
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<p>The French Presidential candidates&#160;look a very similar to some&#160;candidates here in the United States. Cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2017.</p>
<p><a href="http://patriotdepot.com/comically-incorrect-a-collection-of-politically-incorrect-comics-volume-1/" type="external">A.F.Branco Coffee Table Book</a> &lt;—- Order Here!</p>
<p><a href="http://paypal.me/AntonioBranco" type="external">Donations/Tips accepted and appreciated</a>&#160;– &#160;$1.00 – $5.00 – $10 – $100 – &#160;it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. –&#160;THANK YOU!</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | French Election 2017 Translated | true | http://comicallyincorrect.com/2017/04/24/french-election-2017-translated/ | 2017-04-24 | 0 |
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<p>Of special note on this September 11, 2001 interview with Donald Trump is the Republican presidential candidate’s important remark concerning how the World Trade Center Twin Towers were likely brought down–through <a href="" type="internal">controlled demolition</a>.</p>
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<p>This prescient observation is being intentionally overlooked by major media in the wake of <a href="" type="internal">9/11’s fifteenth anniversary</a>. Many of these ‘news’ outlets chose instead to single out&#160;a brief and arguably unrelated comment by Trump early on in the exchange–‘bragged’ that he ‘owned the tallest building’ in Manhattan next to the WTC– while failing to recognize and highlight his much more important expert opinion concerning the World Trade Center’s fate alongside those of its inhabitants.</p>
<p>This prescient observation is being intentionally overlooked by major media in the wake of 9/11’s fifteenth anniversary. Many of these ‘news’ outlets chose instead to single out&#160;a brief and arguably unrelated comment by Trump early on in the exchange–‘bragged’ that he ‘owned the tallest building’ in Manhattan next to the WTC– while failing to recognize and highlight his much more important expert opinion concerning the World Trade Center’s fate alongside those of its inhabitants.</p>
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<p>“At one point during the nearly 10-minute interview,” Washington Post political reporter Jenna Johnson writes, “Trump mentioned that his building in the Financial District was now the tallest.</p>
<p>“Forty Wall St. actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and it was, actually, before the World Trade Center, was the tallest,” Trump said in an interview with WWOR-TV in New York when asked whether his building had been damaged. “And then when they built the World Trade Center, it became known as the second-tallest, and now it’s the tallest.”</p>
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<p>The <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-911-building-lie_us_57d8017be4b0fbd4b7bb6182" type="external">Huffington Post likewise took the statement</a>out of context&#160;to carry on the now-routine Trump-bashing campaign.</p>
<p>Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been widely criticized for bragging, after the collapse of the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001, that his building at 40 Wall Street was now the tallest skyscraper in lower Manhattan.</p>
<p>Not only was Trump’s boast despicable, coming as it did just hours after nearly 3,000 people lost their lives ― it was also a lie, according to architectural reports reviewed by The Huffington Post.</p>
<p>This is a clear effort to mislead and confuse political reportage by front-running any meaningful discussion of and plea for a true investigation of the most&#160;significant historical and geopolitical event in the past half century.</p>
<p>Inadvertent Truther Trump | Photo: The Age</p>
<p>Trump’s ‘boast’ took place at around the two-minute mark. Yet here is Trump’s key remark from that discussion that begin at 5:30, following the interviewer’s suggestion that explosives may have been the cause of the WTC Towers’ destruction:</p>
<p>I happen to think they had not only a plane but bombs that exploded almost simultaneously, because I can’t imagine anything being able to go through that wall. Most buildings are built where the steel is on the inside around the elevator shaft. This one was built from the outside, which is the strongest structure you can have, and it [came down] almost just like a can of soup.</p>
<p>The above once again suggests how we in fact live in the United States of Amnesia, as Michael Eric Dyson once put it, largely because of our deceptive media and educational institutions airbrushing history for the Inner Party, much as in Orwell’s 1984 or Soviet Russia.</p>
<p>Likewise, as Russ Winter ( <a href="http://www.newnationalist.net/2016/09/14/donald-trump-states-only-explosives-could-have-brought-down-towers/" type="external">whose post&#160;</a>on the interview brought this to my attention) observes,</p>
<p>Donald Trump essentially gave the Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth version of the World Trade Center towers free fall …&#160;Trump called the towers “very strong structures” and stated only powerful explosives could have taken them down. He dismissed cartoon physics and remarked that an aluminum plane could not have sliced through the steel girded exterior.</p>
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<p>H/t New Nationalist</p>
<p>Courtesy of <a href="https://memoryholeblog.com/2016/09/15/trump-only-explosives-could-have-brought-down-world-trade-towers/#more-35013" type="external">MHB</a></p>
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<p /> | TRUMP: Only Explosives Could Have Brought Down World Trade Towers | true | http://dcclothesline.com/2016/09/17/trump-only-explosives-could-have-brought-down-world-trade-towers-2/ | 0 |
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<p>Police are searching for a man accused of pepper-spraying an 80-year-old Walmart employee in Kentucky.</p>
<p>The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that Mount Sterling police said in a Facebook post that a man shoplifted several items from the store and pepper-sprayed the woman when she tried to stop him on Saturday.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Facebook post includes photos of the man and a woman accused of being an accomplice and providing the pepper spray before they entered the store.</p>
<p>Police say the two suspects left in a maroon minivan with Oklahoma plates.</p>
<p>Walmart is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com</p> | 80-year-old Walmart employee pepper-sprayed by shoplifters | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/08/08/80-year-old-walmart-employee-pepper-sprayed-by-shoplifters.html | 2017-08-08 | 0 |
<p>A bully or a mafia godfather would never run out of excuses to punish an insubordinate soul in “his territory.” Accordingly, U.S. imperialism has been very creative in invoking all kinds of excuses to punish Iran for its aspirations to national self-determination.</p>
<p>To justify the criminal economic sanctions against the Iranian people, the U.S. has for years insisted that Iran is supporting terrorism, threatening U.S. national interests, and pursuing a program of nuclear weapons manufacturing. As these harebrained allegations are increasingly losing credibility, the United States is now invoking &#160;a new ploy to justify its decision to further tighten the sanctions on Iran: “military dictatorship” and “human rights abuses,” as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has occasionally grumbled about in recent months.</p>
<p>There are a number of obvious problems with this latest U.S. excuse for escalating sanctions against Iran. To begin with, it is a blatant interference in the internal affairs of Iran.</p>
<p>Second, considering the fact that the U.S. has armed its “allies” in the Middle East (and beyond) to the teeth, its condemnation of the rise of Iran’s military power is clearly hypocritical. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), cited in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures" type="external">Wikipedia</a>, while Iran’s military spending in 2009 was $9.174 billion (or 2.7% of its GDP), that of Saudi Arabia was $39.257 billion (8.2% of its GDP), that of Israel was $14.34 billion (7% of its GDP), and that of the United Arab Emirates was $13.5 billion (or 5.9% of its GDP).</p>
<p>Third, in light of the fact that the U.S. is the most militarized country in the world, it’s belly-aching about “militarization of Iran” (whose military spending is less than one percent of the U.S.) is patently ironic; it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Again, while Iran’s military spending in 2009 was $9.174 billion, that of the U.S. was $663.255 billion. However, the official $663.255 billion includes neither the Homeland Security budget, nor the costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, nor a number of supplemental expenditures added to military spending during the fiscal year. Once these omitted (or hidden) expenditures are added to the official Pentagon budget, total U.S. military-security expenditures would easily amount to $1000 billion, or one trillion dollars. Even in relative terms, Iran’s military spending is infinitesimally small compared to that of the United States. For example, while Iran’s per capita military spending is $131 (9,174,000,000 : 70,000,000), that of the U.S. is $3333 (1,000,000,000,000 : 300,000,000). And whereas Iran’s military spending as a share of its GDP is 2.7% (9.174 billion : 340 billion), that of the United States is nearly 7% (1 trillion : 14 trillion) [Ibid.].</p>
<p>Fourth, in light of the fact that the U.S. is altogether silent in the face of heinous human rights violations under the rule of the regimes it calls “allies,” its alleged concern for “human rights abuses” in Iran is hypocritical and utilitarian: it uses the lofty ideal of defending human rights to disguise its nefarious intentions to impose economic sanctions or to embark on military aggression against that country. Hypocritical defense of human rights is often used to justify wars of aggression as humanitarian operations, or “just wars,” as they were called in times past. Just as this ruse was used in 1999 to wreak carnage on Yugoslavia, so it is now used to pave grounds for committing similarly heinous crimes against Iran.</p>
<p>Regrettably, many left/liberal/antiwar individuals and organizations often fall for this hoax, thereby endorsing (or remaining silent in the face of) U.S. wars of aggression on ethical grounds, that is, on grounds of fighting dictatorship or terrorism in the hope of achieving liberation and democracy. Of course, to make the ruse credible, champions of war and militarism usually start with demonization and distortion, and then proceed to aggression and invasion.</p>
<p>It must also be pointed out that the purported U.S. support for human rights tends to be narrowly focused on purely cultural issues such as life style and identity politics, that is, the politics of race, gender and sexual orientation. As such, it is largely devoid of basic economic needs for survival. Even a cursory comparison with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Freedoms&#160; (UDHRF), adopted on 10 December 1948 by the General Assembly of the United Nations, reveals some fundamental shortcomings of the U.S. human rights protocol. <a href="http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html#atop" type="external">Human rights according to UDHRF</a> include basic economic or survival needs such as:</p>
<p>“the right to work … to protection against unemployment … to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection. . . . Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, and housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. . . . Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection. <a type="external" href="" /> . . . Everyone has the right to education.”</p>
<p>Human rights a la USA does not include any of these basic human needs—all the nauseating propaganda of championing human rights notwithstanding. Indeed, many of the basic economic rights, which came to be known as the New Deal reforms, and which were achieved through long and heroic struggles of the working people and other grassroots, are now systematically undermined in order to pay for the gambling losses of the Wall Street financial giants.</p>
<p>Finally, and perhaps most importantly, to the extent that there has been an undeniable rise in the power of armed forces in Iran, as well as a corresponding curtailment of civil liberties there, such unfortunate developments have evolved as a direct consequence of the constant threats posed by the U.S. imperialism and its allies to that country. Iran’s strengthening of its armed forces has become a virtual necessity in self-defense against threats of war, destabilization, sabotage, sanctions, and other kinds of covert and overt operations engineered by the imperialist-Zionist forces.</p>
<p>By dividing the world into “allies” and “enemies,” the powerful war profiteering interests in the Unites States, the military-industrial-security colossus, compel both “allies” and “enemies” to militarize. While “enemies” such as Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea are forced to strengthen their defense capabilities against imperialistic aggressions, “allies” such as the regimes ruling Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Colombia are driven to militarization against their own people, since regimes loved by U.S. imperialism are hated by the overwhelming majority of their own citizens.</p>
<p>Critics tend to bemoan the rise in the power of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Iran without bothering to explain how the IRGC came to existence, or why it has expanded to where it is today. Who is to be blamed for the ascendance of its influence in the Iranian politics and economics?</p>
<p>Those even faintly familiar with the history of the IRGC would recall that it came into existence as a resistance force against counter-revolutionary forces in Iran, which have always been supported by U.S. imperialism and its allies. Although it was formed in the spring of 1979 as a small paramilitary revolutionary force in the fight against the Shah’s rule, it remained for the U.S.-instigated invasion of Iran by Saddam Hussein to expand it to a fully-fledged military power in defense of Iran’s territorial integrity. The ensuing brutal 8-year Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), in which the U.S. and its allies wholeheartedly supported Saddam Hussein, and the Guards’ legendry sacrifices and heroic defense of Iran independence drastically enhanced their size, their prestige and their power.</p>
<p>Although Iraq’s war with Iran ended in 1988, other forms of U.S. wars against Iran have continued to this day. These have included destabilizing “soft-power” operations in the name of democracy, covert operations through all kinds of NGOs and fifth-column groupings, promotion of and support for terrorist operations such as those carried out by Jundullah and Mojadeen Khalgh (MKO, or MEK), constant military threats, psychological warfare, and economic sanctions. Not surprisingly, the role and the influence of IRGC and other security forces in Iran have increased accordingly. Also unsurprisingly, as the political power of Iran’s armed forces has thus increased, so has their economic power.</p>
<p>I say “unsurprisingly” because it is altogether in the nature of things that large standing armies gradually extend their military-security power to the realm of economics. The fully-fledged and the best example of this phenomenon is the rise of the monstrous military-industrial complex in the United States—which, contrary to the defensive nature of Iran’s military force, represents an offensive imperialistic force.</p>
<p>It is of course a truism that maintaining large standing armies will sooner or later lead to authoritarianism. It is equally obvious that by the same token that militarization of the world can be blamed largely on imperialistic U. S. foreign policies, so can the rise of many authoritarian regimes around the world can be attributed to those oppressive policies.</p>
<p>When a country (whose only sin is its aspiration to national self-determination) is labeled by U.S. imperialism as “our enemy” and is, therefore, encircled and threatened by the U.S. military monster, that country’s political, economic and democratic growth is bound to be distorted or derailed from a path of a healthy, natural or spontaneous evolution. Finding themselves in the bull’s eye of the menacing U.S. war juggernaut, security forces of such beleaguered countries are bound to react nervously/harshly in the face of protest demonstrations of domestic opposition, even when such demonstrations are for legitimate reasons. The shameful history of covert U.S. operations abroad, including the violent overthrow of many democratically elected leaders through military coup d’états, shows that expressions of indigenous opposition or grievances in such “enemy” countries are often subverted by well-financed and well-armed U.S. agents, either penetrated from outside or recruited from within, thereby warping the development of a “healthy” political/democratic process in those countries.</p>
<p>What is utterly demagogical is that, having thus perverted the politico-democratic process in such countries, U.S. propaganda machine then turns around and blame the religion or culture or leaders of those countries as inherently incompatible with democratic values. Regrettably, not only do most of the American people but also many people elsewhere, including in the countries targeted for destabilization, fall for this ruse—in effect, blaming the victim for the crimes of the perpetrator.</p>
<p>Viewed in this light, the rise in the influence of the military-security forces in the Iranian politics and economics is a direct result of the menacing imperial policies of the United States and its allies toward that country.</p>
<p>Thus, President Obama’s or Secretary Clinton’s or other U.S. policy makers’ bellyaching about the rise of the power of the armed forces in Iran represents a case of gross obfuscation, that is, a case of barking up the wrong tree: instead of blaming IRGC they should blame their own imperialistic foreign policies, which nurtures militarization and curtailment of civil liberties not only in Iran but also in many other parts of the world. Indeed, militarization of the world and the resulting proliferation of many (relatively smaller) military-industrial complexes around the globe are unmistakable byproducts of the monstrous U.S. military-industrial complex. The inherent dynamics of this monster as an existentially-driven war juggernaut compels other countries around the world (both “allies” and “enemies”) to embark on paths to militarism and authoritarianism.</p>
<p>ISMAEL HOSSEIN-ZADEH, author of <a href="" type="internal">The Political Economy of U.S. Militarism</a> (Palgrave-Macmillan 2007), teaches economics at Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | The Militarization of the World | true | https://counterpunch.org/2010/11/12/the-militarization-of-the-world/ | 2010-11-12 | 4 |
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<p>The Halley VI Research Station in Antarctica, positioned on a floating ice shelf jutting into the Weddell Sea, will shut down between March and November this year, according to the British Antarctic Survey .</p>
<p>Several lengthening cracks in the ice near the research station have raised the possibility that a large block of ice could break off from the shelf in the coming months — and out of concern for the safety of the scientists living there, the agency has decided to remove the research team before the Antarctic winter begins. Currently, there are a total of 88 people at the station, 16 of whom were scheduled to spend the winter there.</p>
<p>“We want to do the right thing for our people,” said Tim Stockings, the British Antarctic Survey’s director of operations, in a statement. “Bringing them home for winter is a prudent precaution given the changes that our glaciologists have seen in the ice shelf in recent months. Our goal is to winterise the station and leave it ready for re-occupation as soon as possible after the Antarctic winter.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Halley Research Station is a moveable research facility currently located on the Brunt Ice Shelf, which juts out from Antarctica’s Caird coast into the Weddell Sea. Research from Halley is what first led to the discovery of the atmosphere’s ozone hole in 1985, although it’s used for all kinds of scientific purposes, including the monitoring of climate change and sea-level rise. It’s one of 30 stations participating in the World Meteorological Organization’s Global Atmosphere Watch program, which monitors the chemical composition of the earth’s atmosphere and helps keep track of greenhouse gas concentrations and air pollution.</p>
<p>The Brunt Ice Shelf currently “flows,” or discharges ice into the sea, at a rate of about 0.25 miles per year, according to the British Antarctic Survey. Sometimes, cracks form in the ice and cause large icebergs to break off as well, although the timing of these events tends to be a bit unpredictable.</p>
<p>In 2012, a previously dormant crack in the ice shelf began to show signs of growing again, and since then it’s lengthened at a rate of about a mile a year — the tip of the crack is now positioned just 6 kilometers, or 3.7 miles, from the research station. This past October a second crack appeared in the ice shelf, a few miles further from the research station, and has also continued to grow.</p>
<p>In recent years, the Antarctic ice sheet has attracted growing attention over the rapid melting and increasing instability certain areas are experiencing as a result of global climate change, especially in West Antarctica. However, certain glaciers even in East Antarctica, where the Halley Research Station is located — typically considered the more stable part of the ice shelf — have become increasingly vulnerable in the past few years. Even so, scientists with the British Antarctic Survey have previously noted that the cracks on the Brunt ice shelf are likely natural events.</p>
<p>Even so, these new conditions have raised concerns among scientists about the stability of the ice. The British Antarctic Survey is already in the process of relocating the research station to a new site further inland, about 14 miles from its current location. That process is expected to be completed by early March.</p>
<p>In the meantime, using a combination of field measurements, satellite data and computer models, researchers have been trying to figure out the likelihood that a large chunk of ice will break off — and how that could affect the remaining ice shelf.</p>
<p>For now, there are no immediate concerns about the staff’s safety, according to the agency. Because Antarctica is located at the South Pole, it receives near constant sunlight during the summer and darkness in the winter. During the summer months, it’s relatively easy to launch a quick retrieval of the research staff should the ice shelf begin to fracture. But the agency notes that access to the research station by either ship or aircraft is made much more difficult by the constant darkness during the winter.</p>
<p>Removing the staff for the winter is a precaution, now that conditions on the ice shelf are looking more precarious. All personnel are expected to be removed from the area as soon as the relocation process is complete and the station has been prepared for the winter.</p>
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<p>VIDEO:</p>
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<p /> | As giant ice cracks spread around it, an Antarctic research station is forced to close for winter | false | https://abqjournal.com/929514/as-giant-ice-cracks-spread-around-it-an-antarctic-research-station-is-forced-to-close-for-winter.html | 2017-01-17 | 2 |
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<p>An obelisk made of black lava marks Trinity Site ground zero, where the first atomic bomb was detonated at 5:29 a.m. on July 16, 1945. The site will be open to the public soon.</p>
<p>WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. - Thousands of visitors from around the nation recently visited the spot of the world's first atomic test during a special one-day opening of the Trinity Testing site.</p>
<p>The Alamogordo Daily News reports ( <a href="http://goo.gl/pacCR5" type="external">http://goo.gl/pacCR5</a> ) visitors to the Trinity Testing site were greeted by a small group of protesters Saturday who say the secret atomic blast in the New Mexico desert 70 years ago caused lasting health problems.</p>
<p>July marked the 70th year anniversary since the Trinity Test in New Mexico took place as part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret World War II nuclear development program out of the then-secret city of Los Alamos. It came as nearby Tularosa residents now say they were permanently affected by the test and want acknowledgement and compensation from the U.S. government.</p>
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<p>Information from: Alamogordo Daily News, <a href="http://www.alamogordonews.com" type="external">http://www.alamogordonews.com</a></p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Trinity Site draws thousands of visitors, some protesters | false | https://abqjournal.com/751027/trinity-site-draws-thousands-of-visitors-some-protesters.html | 2 |
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<p>Los Angeles startup <a href="https://beta.workpop.com/" type="external">Workpop Opens a New Window.</a> is launching a new online job marketplace Tuesday to help match jobseekers with service-industry employers. The company has also announced a $7 million Series A funding round, led by Trinity Ventures.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Co-founders Reed Shaffner and Chris Ovitz say Workpop will improve the hiring process for both applicants and employers. On the employer side, Workpop’s features include customized business pages and messaging functions, so managers can avoid giving out their personal contact information. Shaffner says “video cover letters” also enable employers to quickly screen candidates, rather than waste time on in-person interviews.</p>
<p>When it comes to candidates, Shaffner says Workpop is focused on providing detailed feedback so that jobseekers can improve their application over time. Workpop solicits feedback from employers, which it provides anonymously to jobseekers. This feedback includes comparisons between candidates, so applicants can know how they stacked up to other jobseekers.</p>
<p>“Over time, we’re able to generate what Mint has done for your finances, for your career,” says Shaffner, by providing detailed feedback. “You’ll learn why you’re not getting the job or the interview.”</p>
<p>Workpop is free for both businesses and jobseekers, says Ovitz, in order to attract the largest supply of both jobs and candidates.</p>
<p>“We shouldn’t make money off of churn,” says Ovitz. Instead, the company intends to make money on value-added services, such as providing digital employee handbooks or helping with the onboarding process.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>For now, Shaffner says Workpop is open only to the Los Angeles market and will focus on the service industry. There are upwards of 100 businesses on the platform, and jobs posted on the site include positions such as restaurant manager, coffee barista and pastry assistant.</p>
<p>Shaffner, a former executive at Zynga, and Ovitz, a co-founder of video-sharing app Viddy, say they are also thinking outside-the-box when it comes to finding qualified candidates.</p>
<p>“Our team has tons of experience with user acquisition in the game space,” says Shaffner, who adds that the 10-person team has worked on 12 no. 1 mobile and Facebook games. “We’re looking for candidates in places they haven’t looked.”</p>
<p>Workpop launched a private beta in July. Shaffner says the marketplace has already resulted in successful hiring, but declined to say how many jobs have been filled as a result of Workpop.</p> | Workpop’s Job Marketplace Launches in L.A., Focuses on Service Industry | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2014/09/16/workpops-job-marketplace-launches-in-la-focuses-on-service-industry.html | 2016-04-07 | 0 |
<p>As 12,000 students from closed schools made their way to new buildings Monday morning, much of the focus was on whether they would be safe. In addition to Safe Passage workers, police officers walked streets, Streets and Sanitation trucks circled around and fire trucks reportedly were stationed strategically. Not surprisingly, few incidents were reported Monday morning.</p>
<p>“My first report card will be Monday,” said Tom Tyrrell, the retired Marine charged with managing the logistics of the biggest school closure in U.S. history. “But there will be other report cards to come.”</p>
<p>Indeed, the larger questions about whether students remain safe and whether their new schools are better, as promised, won’t be answered for many months. Adding to the disruptions, the district has laid off 3,000 staff members to help close a budget deficit.</p>
<p>Among other things, parents across the district are worried about increased class sizes.</p>
<p>Schools designated as welcoming schools received extra money to smooth the transition for students from closed schools. Most welcoming schools—36 of the 56—had students from more than one closing school enrolled.</p>
<p>However, data released by CPS on Friday shows that, while the majority of students from closed schools enrolled in welcoming schools, at least 1200 chose other schools—which did not get extra resources this year, according to the CPS data. (The exact number is unclear because CPS redacted the specific count when it was less than 10 students.)</p>
<p>About 10 “non-welcoming” schools received more than 30 students, and another 200 schools got at least one student from a closed school.</p>
<p>As of late August, about 35 closed schools had at least some students whose destination was undetermined, &#160;and an additional 35 saw some transfer out of the district, but only one—Owens Elementary School in West Pullman—had 10 or more leave the district.</p>
<p>These numbers are likely to change over the next few weeks, as some parents will change their mind or show up at a school having not enrolled their child anywhere. First-day attendance figures also may be off, as school started before Labor Day—which is unusual in Chicago. .</p>
<p>Tyrrell said one of the first tests he faces is whether “every child feels welcome.” Going into school buildings Monday morning, many&#160; students told Catalyst they were excited, and some parents said they felt the move was good.</p>
<p>But at some schools, parents expressed continued dismay.</p>
<p>Morning confusion</p>
<p>At the new Melody School, which is located in the old Delano building, a mother walked out and said she was not happy. “I am scratching my head,” said Ericka Baker. “My baby has to go to a school that is on probation while Delano was not on probation. This is a bunch of bs.”</p>
<p>Community members and parents were confounded by CPS’ decision to keep the Melody staff, even though Delano’s students were technically higher performing. One suspicion is that CPS officials wanted the Melody principal to stay on. But three weeks ago, she left.</p>
<p>Chip Johnson, deputy chief of the Garfield-Humboldt Park Network, said she took a new position, but that he did not know where. He said everything was going smoothly, countering parents who lingered after the school bell, complaining.</p>
<p>At Brennemann in Uptown, a grandmother with three children walked into the school and then walked straight out because she didn’t like the principal’s attitude. Stewart Elementary was consolidated with Brennemann.</p>
<p>“I’m going to get them somewhere, and it’s going to be done today,” she said, though she noted that homeschooling the youngsters was a fall-back.&#160;</p>
<p>Parents gathered as well to talk about the changes at the welcoming school. Ieshia Thomason, whose daughter was in 2nd&#160;grade, said the new students seemed to be settling in well.</p>
<p>But some felt the increased number of students had led to disorganization; they complained about having to drop off children outside, rather than being able to see their classrooms.</p>
<p>At the new Ward Elementary, students milled around for several minutes after the day was supposed to start. Some parents said it was 8:21 before the staff began ushering children inside. For the next hour, cars pulled up, and students made their way in.</p>
<p>A couple Ward staffers stood in the main vestibule with lists of students and home rooms. They had a steady line of children and mothers asking them where they were supposed to go.</p>
<p>“It was a hot mess,” said one mother. “How can teachers send children to places when they don’t know their way around? I am going to give them a year to get it together.”</p>
<p>Because Ward moved into Ryerson, she said the old Ryerson parents had to help students find their way to their classrooms.</p>
<p>Some former Ryerson parents said they didn’t know exactly when school started, though another mother noted that she got several robocalls from the principal.</p>
<p>Rosalind Jackson said she felt the new Ward was disorganized. Jackson met her daughter’s homeroom teacher, but was disturbed to find out that only three Ryerson students were in her daughter’s classroom.</p>
<p>Jackson wondered out loud how long it would be before the principal held a meeting for parents. Some of the more active Ryerson parents said they did not feel particularly welcome at Ward and that they had not had much interaction with the principal over the summer.</p>
<p>Ward Principal Relanda Hobbs said she did not have time for an interview Monday.</p>
<p>Continued safety concerns</p>
<p>Ward’s head security guard said he thinks that the year will go smoothly and will wind up better than average. “We just have to keep parents and outsiders out and focus on the children,” said the security guard, who did not want to be identified by name.</p>
<p>The Ward security guard said he felt as though the extra police and city workers were a bit excessive. “It sends the wrong message,” he said. “The school should be an institution of learning. We should not feel as though we are under siege.”</p>
<p>However, there is a garbage-strewn vacant lot across the street from the new Ward and an unsecured abandoned building next to the lot. These were the conditions despite repeated promises from city officials that they were cleaning up the areas around the welcoming schools.</p>
<p>On the way home from dropping a child off at Disney Magnet School, Telisa Johnson said her biggest concern is “kids being affected by the gangs and walking through these other neighborhoods because their schools closed.”</p>
<p>&#160;Johnson added that a recent shooting in Uptown along a “quote-unquote Safe Passage” route added to her worries. Her children used to walk past there regularly, she said, “but not any longer.”</p>
<p>&#160;At the new Melody, the issue of safety was top on everyone’s mind. Early Sunday morning, a former Delano student was shot and killed about a block from the school. Baker said the 14-year-old boy, named Lavander Hearnes, was her daughter’s friend. The boy was to start high school on Monday.</p>
<p>Safety between Melody and Delano in East Garfield Park has been a big concern since it became clear that CPS was planning to close Delano. The Chicago Teachers Union took elected officials on a walk between the two schools. Meanwhlie, congressmen Bobby Rush and Danny Davis ducked into an abandoned building and remarked on the bad conditions.</p>
<p>Board member Mahalia Hines said she also walked between the buildings and came away thinking, “I would not send my child.”</p>
<p>After these concerns were raised, CPS officials decided to provide bus service between the schools, though the distance was too short to be technically eligible.</p>
<p>On Monday morning, two buses, one at 7:15 and one at 7:45 took about 20 students from the old Melody to the new one, which is in the Delano building. However, safe passage workers said “quite a few” students walked. Aniyah Bray and her twin brothers, dressed in pressed light blue polos, walked up to the desolate school at about 8:50 in the morning.</p>
<p>“You here for the bus?” called out LaShuna Johnson, a safe passage worker and the lone person in front of the old Melody school. “It left already.”</p>
<p>Hearing that, the boys turned around, telling their sister that the fastest way to the new Melody school building was to head down Van Buren. Johnson added that safe passage workers are along Van Buren, but not the other streets. “Go that way,” she told the three.</p>
<p>Though safe passage workers were at the corners, Aniyah noted that the distance between them on the long city blocks seemed far.</p>
<p>“I am a little bit nervous,” she said, “because we don’t know what can happen.”</p>
<p>&#160;This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the names of Brennemann and Stewart elementary schools.&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | First day brings questions of safety, academics, resources | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/first-day-brings-questions-safety-academics-resources/ | 2013-08-26 | 3 |
<p />
<p>Back in 2014, the United States Golf Association enlisted Deloitte’s help. The sport was at a crossroads, and the USGA saw the need to redouble its efforts from the ground-up. By working with consultants at Deloitte, the USGA prepared a plan to modernize its services and strengthen its relationship with golfers and courses around the country.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Now the USGA and Deloitte have taken another step toward building a strong future for golf, agreeing to a multi-year strategic partnership to foster innovation.</p>
<p>“The USGA operates in an ecosystem that has grown over 100 years,” Sarah Hirshland, Senior Managing Director of Business Affairs for the USGA, told FOXBusiness.com. “There’s a way of doing things that has been around for a very long time, but there was some inertia while the world around us changed.”</p>
<p>Tom Marriott, principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP, said the firm has focused on bringing more value to the chain of relationships between golfers, clubs, regional associations and the USGA.</p>
<p>“Long before we started conversations about a sponsorship, we were helping the USGA with strategic questions about their role in the golf ecosystem and how they could modernize that role to provide better service for their customers, if you will,” Marriott explained.</p>
<p>The partnership is considered a mutually beneficial one.&#160;The USGA—a group of 8,000 clubs, courses and practice facilities—intends to capitalize on Deloitte’s expertise, while Deloitte can introduce its brand to golf fans as an official sponsor. Plus, golf is quite popular inside Deloitte’s offices.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Sponsor Ties</p>
<p>“There was a lot of demand for spots on the project,” Marriott said. “What we want to do as a professional services organization is work with iconic brands, and a chance to work with [the USGA] is something that got our people excited.”</p>
<p>Likewise, Hirshland said the USGA and Deloitte have a mutual love of golf.</p>
<p>“They bring business sophistication and experience to our organization, and we’re finding that they are passionate golfers,” Hirshland said. “We also want to help them drive their business and use us as a case study.”</p>
<p>Deloitte, one of the “Big Four” audit firms, will support USGA championships as well as programs that promote innovation, inclusion and volunteerism inside and outside the golf community. The company joins American Express (NYSE:AXP), International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), Rolex and Toyota’s (NYSE:TM) Lexus brand as corporate sponsors of the USGA.</p>
<p>“It’s a double win. We can get our brand out there, but do it with an organization with similar values,” Marriott said.</p>
<p>The Tiger Woods Boom</p>
<p>America’s golf industry has changed in recent years. The professional debut of California native Tiger Woods in 1996 sparked a golf frenzy, and interest peaked during his rein of supremacy over the sport. Injuries during the last two years have derailed his career, leaving the sport without its biggest star on the leaderboard. Meanwhile, construction of golf courses soared in tandem with the housing boom, and financial challenges followed in the post-recession years.</p>
<p>The National Golf Foundation’s most recent annual survey showed approximately 24.7 million Americans played golf in 2014, matching the year before Woods turned pro. Participation was 17% below the high mark of 30 million in 2005.</p>
<p>“What grew was what you could call a bubble,” Hirshland said. “We’re in a market correction with golf courses in particular, as we’ve seen closures. Quite frankly, I expect that to continue. But is the USGA gravely concerned? No.”</p>
<p>Although golf participation has fallen from its peak, the sport appears to be back on an upward trajectory. Based on PGA PerformanceTrak data, the average number of rounds played in 2015 was up 2.9% year-over-year through November. Warmer weather encouraged golfers to hit the links near the end of the year, as participation in November jumped 22.5% compared to the year-ago month.</p>
<p>Growth Plans</p>
<p>Business activity is also solid. Sponsors spent an estimated $1.73 billion worldwide on golf in 2015, a 4.8% increase versus 2014, according to research firm IEG. That is double what sponsors invested in the NBA for the 2014-15 season, while NFL sponsorship revenue totaled $1.15 billion last season.</p>
<p>And while it will be a difficult task for any golfer to replace the kind of star power that Woods brought to the course, young guns such as Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler may be ushering in a new era for American golf.</p>
<p>The USGA is addressing some key issues, from the financial health of golf facilities to the sizable time commitment for golfers. According to Hirshland, the number of nine-hole games played is rising at a rapid pace.</p>
<p>Golf can be expensive to play, too, and the USGA continues to evaluate ways for courses to manage costs. Hirshland said many people believe golf is more expensive than it is, noting that 75% of U.S. courses are public. Still, golfing is a pricier endeavor than other sports, and the USGA’s objective is to keep the game “economically viable for a large group of people,” Hirshland added.</p> | USGA, Deloitte Team Up to Energize the Golf Industry | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/01/19/usga-deloitte-team-up-to-energize-golf-industry.html | 2016-12-21 | 0 |
<p>AMHERST, Mass. (AP) — In a story Jan. 10 about a game between Massachusetts and La Salle, The Associated Press reported erroneously that a 1968 scoring mark had been set in the William D. Mullins Memorial Center. The center did not open until 1993.</p>
<p>A corrected version of the story is below:</p>
<p>Pipkins scores 44 points, UMass gets by La Salle 86-79 in OT</p>
<p>Luwane Pipkins set a program record with 44 points and Massachusetts overcame a 21-point deficit to beat La Salle 86-79 in overtime</p>
<p>AMHERST, Mass. (AP) — Luwane Pipkins set a program record with 44 points and Massachusetts overcame a 21-point deficit to beat La Salle 86-79 in overtime Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Pipkins broke the nearly 50-year-old mark of 41 points set by Billy Tindall on Feb. 10, 1968. Pipkins was 15-of-27 shooting, made six 3s, all eight of his free throws, grabbed five rebounds and passed five assists.</p>
<p>Pipkins, who scored 11 straight UMass points to close the second half, made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 74 with 25 seconds left in regulation. La Salle’s Pookie Powell missed a jumper at the other end with four seconds left.</p>
<p>Carl Pierre, who tied a career-high with 25 points, started overtime with a 3-point play and a jumper, Pipkins added back-to-back 3s and the Minutemen never trailed in the extra session.</p>
<p>La Salle started the second half with a 6-2 run and led 48-27 with Isiah Deas’ 3. He made a pair of free throws with 9:12 left, which marked La Salle’s last double-digit lead at 58-47. UMass went on a 21-8 run to tie it at 66 as Pipkins scored 14.</p>
<p>Powell set a career-high with 30 points for La Salle (7-10, 1-3) and Deas scored 19.</p>
<p>AMHERST, Mass. (AP) — In a story Jan. 10 about a game between Massachusetts and La Salle, The Associated Press reported erroneously that a 1968 scoring mark had been set in the William D. Mullins Memorial Center. The center did not open until 1993.</p>
<p>A corrected version of the story is below:</p>
<p>Pipkins scores 44 points, UMass gets by La Salle 86-79 in OT</p>
<p>Luwane Pipkins set a program record with 44 points and Massachusetts overcame a 21-point deficit to beat La Salle 86-79 in overtime</p>
<p>AMHERST, Mass. (AP) — Luwane Pipkins set a program record with 44 points and Massachusetts overcame a 21-point deficit to beat La Salle 86-79 in overtime Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Pipkins broke the nearly 50-year-old mark of 41 points set by Billy Tindall on Feb. 10, 1968. Pipkins was 15-of-27 shooting, made six 3s, all eight of his free throws, grabbed five rebounds and passed five assists.</p>
<p>Pipkins, who scored 11 straight UMass points to close the second half, made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 74 with 25 seconds left in regulation. La Salle’s Pookie Powell missed a jumper at the other end with four seconds left.</p>
<p>Carl Pierre, who tied a career-high with 25 points, started overtime with a 3-point play and a jumper, Pipkins added back-to-back 3s and the Minutemen never trailed in the extra session.</p>
<p>La Salle started the second half with a 6-2 run and led 48-27 with Isiah Deas’ 3. He made a pair of free throws with 9:12 left, which marked La Salle’s last double-digit lead at 58-47. UMass went on a 21-8 run to tie it at 66 as Pipkins scored 14.</p>
<p>Powell set a career-high with 30 points for La Salle (7-10, 1-3) and Deas scored 19.</p> | Correction: La Salle-Massachusetts story | false | https://apnews.com/8464fb23eeb648a7b95f5b0561b50c2c | 2018-01-11 | 2 |
<p>The Bold Progressives (aka PCCC) have taken the health care fight to the home states of conservacrats <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3O1kr3qy4I" type="external">Ben Nelson</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hpn283wiQ8" type="external">Max Baucus</a> and Republican swinger <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTtoe-8-6ao" type="external">Olympia Snowe</a>. Now the group is going after the man himself with a new public-option pressure ad.</p>
<p>The Progressive Change Campaign Committee wants to run the ad below at least <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/harryreidad?refcode=e1" type="external">200 times</a> in Nevada, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid already has a <a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/nevada/election_2010_nevada_senate_race" type="external">tough fight</a> on his hands. — PZS</p>
<p>Bold Progressives:</p>
<p /> | Progressive Group Targets Harry Reid | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/progressive-group-targets-harry-reid/ | 2009-10-19 | 4 |
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Yahoo Sports will livestream all four divisional playoff games this weekend and the conference championships as an appetizer for next season when every game from the preseason to the Super Bowl will be livestreamed on its sports app.</p>
<p>Watching NFL games on your phone used to be mainly limited to Verizon customers but that changed now that Verizon owns Yahoo. So, now anyone is able to watch football games on the go for free on Yahoo’s app regardless of mobile network.</p>
<p>Fans have to download the Yahoo Sports app on iOS or Google Play and enable location services on their phone.</p>
<p>Saturday’s games are the Falcons-Eagles at 4:35 p.m. EST and Titans-Patriots at 8:15 p.m. Sunday’s games are at 1:05 p.m. (Jaguars-Steelers) and 4:40 p.m. (Saints-Vikings).</p>
<p>Yahoo Sports also will livestream the conference championships Jan. 21 and the Pro Bowl on Jan. 28.</p>
<p>Beginning next season, users will be able to stream in-market and national NFL games, including preseason, regular season, playoff games and the Super Bowl on the Yahoo Sports app regardless of mobile network.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>For more NFL coverage: <a href="http://www.pro32.ap.org" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.pro32.ap.org" type="external">http://www.pro32.ap.org</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL</a></p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Yahoo Sports will livestream all four divisional playoff games this weekend and the conference championships as an appetizer for next season when every game from the preseason to the Super Bowl will be livestreamed on its sports app.</p>
<p>Watching NFL games on your phone used to be mainly limited to Verizon customers but that changed now that Verizon owns Yahoo. So, now anyone is able to watch football games on the go for free on Yahoo’s app regardless of mobile network.</p>
<p>Fans have to download the Yahoo Sports app on iOS or Google Play and enable location services on their phone.</p>
<p>Saturday’s games are the Falcons-Eagles at 4:35 p.m. EST and Titans-Patriots at 8:15 p.m. Sunday’s games are at 1:05 p.m. (Jaguars-Steelers) and 4:40 p.m. (Saints-Vikings).</p>
<p>Yahoo Sports also will livestream the conference championships Jan. 21 and the Pro Bowl on Jan. 28.</p>
<p>Beginning next season, users will be able to stream in-market and national NFL games, including preseason, regular season, playoff games and the Super Bowl on the Yahoo Sports app regardless of mobile network.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>For more NFL coverage: <a href="http://www.pro32.ap.org" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.pro32.ap.org" type="external">http://www.pro32.ap.org</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL</a></p> | Yahoo Sports to livestream NFL games rest of month | false | https://apnews.com/08384968ab1b48d38f3f5cb3cd0d155f | 2018-01-09 | 2 |
<p>THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Zac Taylor has been named the Los Angeles Rams’ quarterbacks coach.</p>
<p>The NFC West champion Rams swiftly promoted from within on Tuesday to replace Greg Olson, who left to become Jon Gruden’s offense coordinator with the Oakland Raiders.</p>
<p>The 34-year-old Taylor spent last season as an assistant wide receivers coach on Sean McVay’s staff in Los Angeles. Taylor was the Miami Dolphins’ quarterbacks coach from 2013-15, doubling up in his final season as the offensive coordinator.</p>
<p>Taylor started 26 games in two seasons as Nebraska’s quarterback from 2005-06.</p>
<p>Taylor is the third position coach in three seasons for Jared Goff. McVay doesn’t anticipate the upheaval to cause a problem, since McVay and offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur are sticking around.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>For more NFL coverage: <a href="http://www.pro32.ap.org" type="external">www.pro32.ap.org</a> and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL</p>
<p>THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Zac Taylor has been named the Los Angeles Rams’ quarterbacks coach.</p>
<p>The NFC West champion Rams swiftly promoted from within on Tuesday to replace Greg Olson, who left to become Jon Gruden’s offense coordinator with the Oakland Raiders.</p>
<p>The 34-year-old Taylor spent last season as an assistant wide receivers coach on Sean McVay’s staff in Los Angeles. Taylor was the Miami Dolphins’ quarterbacks coach from 2013-15, doubling up in his final season as the offensive coordinator.</p>
<p>Taylor started 26 games in two seasons as Nebraska’s quarterback from 2005-06.</p>
<p>Taylor is the third position coach in three seasons for Jared Goff. McVay doesn’t anticipate the upheaval to cause a problem, since McVay and offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur are sticking around.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>For more NFL coverage: <a href="http://www.pro32.ap.org" type="external">www.pro32.ap.org</a> and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL</p> | Taylor promoted to Rams QBs coach | false | https://apnews.com/2284ea647bc24f789b1a790db14cb58c | 2018-01-10 | 2 |
<p>In light of Donald Trump's <a href="" type="internal">falsely labeled</a>"Muslim ban," Chatham House, one of the world's most respected think tanks, has just published the results of an extensive <a href="https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/what-do-europeans-think-about-muslim-immigration" type="external">study</a> of the attitudes of people from ten European countries about Muslim migration, particularly the degree to which they agreed with the following statement: "All further migration from mainly Muslim countries should be stopped." The results, Chatham House states, "are striking and sobering."</p>
<p>The extensive survey was conducted across 10 European states, gauging the opinions of more than 10,000 Europeans in total. What the group found is that the immigration policies proposed by the far-right align with a strong majority of Europeans, averaging 55% approval overall of shutting down all further migration from Muslim-majority countries. Only 20% of the 10,000+ Europeans surveyed disagreed.</p>
<p>"There is evidence to suggest that both Trump and these radical right-wing parties reflect an underlying reservoir of public support," the group states in its grim summary of its findings. Here are the study's key takeaways:</p>
<p>Overall, across all 10 of the European countries an average of 55% agreed that all further migration from mainly Muslim countries should be stopped, 25% neither agreed nor disagreed and 20% disagreed.</p>
<p>Majorities in all but two of the ten states agreed, ranging from 71% in Poland, 65% in Austria, 53% in Germany and 51% in Italy to 47% in the United Kingdom and 41% in Spain. In no country did the percentage that disagreed surpass 32%.</p>
<p>Note that Chatham House asked Europeans how they felt about a ban of all immigration from all Muslim-majority countries in perpetuity, not just a temporary pause on migrants from the seven terror-risk countries singled out by Trump (and the Obama administration before him). In other words, this is far more of a true "Muslim ban" than <a href="" type="internal">the executive order</a> Trump signed two weeks ago. Despite the scope of the ban, the highest opposition the study found was 32% (Spain), while the strongest agreement was a stunning 71% (Poland).</p>
<p>The group found that the "especially intense" anti-Muslim migration sentiment was held in Austria, Poland, Hungary, France and Belgium, where in each, "at least 38% of the sample ‘strongly agreed’ with the statement." Chatham House notes that those countries have very different sizes of Muslim populations, but that all but one, Poland, "have either been at the centre of the refugee crisis or experienced terrorist attacks in recent years." Unsurprisingly, in most of the five countries, the far-right has a significant political presence.</p>
<p>Chatham House notes the parallels of its own study with a recent Pew survey:</p>
<p>These results chime with other surveys exploring attitudes to Islam in Europe. In a <a href="http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/07/11/negative-views-of-minorities-refugees-common-in-eu/" type="external">Pew survey</a> of 10 European countries in 2016, majorities of the public had an unfavorable view of Muslims living in their country in five countries: Hungary (72%), Italy (69%), Poland (66%), Greece (65%), and Spain (50%), although those numbers were lower in the UK (28%), Germany (29%) and France (29%). There was also a widespread perception in many countries that the arrival of refugees would increase the likelihood of terrorism, with a median of 59% across ten European countries holding this view. This mirrors some attitudes in the US.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/what-do-europeans-think-about-muslim-immigration" type="external">Read the full report here</a>.</p>
<p>H/T <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2017/02/08/whoa-poll-shows-bar-on-muslim-migration-has-wide-majority-support-in-europe/" type="external">Ed Morissey</a></p>
<p>More from Daily Wire on this topic:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">8 Things You Need to Know About Trump's Refugee/Immigration Executive Order</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Is Trump's Refugee/Immigration Executive Order a 'Muslim Ban'?</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">A List of All the Muslim Countries that Ban Jews</a></p> | The Left is NOT Going to Like the Results of This 'Muslim Ban' Poll | true | https://dailywire.com/news/13335/left-not-going-muslim-ban-poll-james-barrett | 2017-02-09 | 0 |
<p><a href="http://d1o2xrel38nv1n.cloudfront.net/files/2013/12/09.jpg" type="external" /></p>
<p>This shot is part of a <a href="http://projects.scpr.org/static/prison-pregnancy/" type="external">beautiful photo essay</a> from Deepa Fernandes (reporting) and Mae Ryan (photography) at Southern California Public Radio explores the lives of some women in prison, in particular the lucky few who get to help raise their children while incarcerated. Fernandes writes:</p>
<p>The only prisoner-baby program left is in Pomona. The Department of Corrections rents rooms from a non-profit that runs a residential detox program. The state pays for up to for 24 inmates, but not all the beds were full during visits in July and August.</p>
<p>The complex looks nothing like a prison – groups of dorms surround a large playground. Inside are a nursery, toddler care rooms, a Head Start program and a Kindergarten classroom run by the Pomona Unified School District. There are no bars, no barbed wire and no armed guards.</p>
<p>“If you have a baby in prison, you have your baby and you hand your baby over to somebody,” said Regina Dotson, the senior corrections officer in charge of the inmates at the Pomona facility. &#160;“If they’re in my program, they have their baby and they come back here and they get to bond with their baby.”</p>
<p>Make sure to check out the whole essay <a href="http://projects.scpr.org/static/prison-pregnancy/" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://d1o2xrel38nv1n.cloudfront.net/files/2013/12/13.jpg" type="external" />Juliana’s heart dropped at this story.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Photo of the Day: Raising Children in Prison | true | http://feministing.com/2013/12/13/photo-of-the-day-raising-children-in-prison/ | 4 |
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<p>Authorities in Greece <a href="" type="internal">have started evacuating the Idomeni refugee camp</a>.&#160;Conditions have been described as <a href="" type="internal">squalid</a>, and there have been recent <a href="" type="internal">reports</a> of violence flaring up between refugees and police.</p>
<p>But still, international aid groups are calling for caution.</p>
<p>“We understand why the Greek authorities want to move people into more formal camps, because the conditions in Idomeni have been miserable,” said Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the former Prime Minister of Denmark and CEO of Save the Children International.</p>
<p>“But we are urging that the Greek authorities do this in a peaceful way and with dignity.”</p>
<p>Authorities have stressed that physical force will not be used, and there have been no reports so far of clashes between camp residents and police.</p>
<p>Over 1,000 people are reported to have already left Idomeni today on buses heading for new, purpose-built facilities further south.</p>
<p>Thorning-Schmidt believes the new camps will be “much better” than Idomeni, but there remain concerns about some of the basic infrastructure and facilities at these locations. She is particularly worried about the apparent lack of specialized services for children.</p>
<p>“Children need safe places. They need to be able to be secure at all times,” said&#160;Thorning-Schmidt. “We are concerned about [the provision of] things like shelters for children that are travelling alone.”</p>
<p />
<p>Police watch as refugees and migrants board buses to be tranferred to government camps, during an operation to evacuate a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece, May 24, 2016.</p>
<p>Ognen Teofilovski</p>
<p>The Idomeni camp has been seen by some as emblematic of Europe’s collective failure to properly deal with the international migrant crisis.</p>
<p>EU countries signed an agreement last summer promising to help Greece by taking their share of refugees arriving in Europe. The plan was to relocate 160,000 people from temporary camps in Greece and Italy to other countries around the continent. A more recent deal between the EU and Turkey also hoped to relieve some of the pressure in Greece.</p>
<p>But <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/04/eu-refugee-relocation-scheme-inadequate-will-continue-to-fail" type="external">little progress</a> has been made with either plan.</p>
<p>According to Thorning-Schmidt, European leaders need to focus more on the humanitarian response to the situation.</p>
<p>“This situation is very complex and countries have the right to manage and secure their own borders,” she said. &#160;“But we also have to see this from the ground, where things are just not working."</p>
<p>“If you look at the EU-Turkey deal, it doesn’t seem to be a workable solution. Many families, including children, are left in a limbo in Greece and the Balkans, without a proper place to stay."</p>
<p>“Young children, pregnant women, and elderly people are sleeping rough. They are sleeping in fields and train stations for months on end. I don’t think that’s an acceptable situation in Europe.”</p>
<p>“One of the things I hope European leaders will do right now, is to put more resources into the humanitarian response on the ground in Greece. We don’t need more paperwork. We need resources ... to provide basic needs such as food, water and medical care for&#160;these people.”</p> | Greek police are moving thousands of refugees out of the Idomeni camp | false | https://pri.org/stories/2016-05-24/greek-police-are-moving-thousands-refugees-out-idomeni-camp | 2016-05-24 | 3 |
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<p>The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell to its lowest since the early days of the 2007-09 recession, a hopeful sign for the sluggish labor market.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 330,000, the lowest level since January 2008, the Labor Department said on Thursday.</p>
<p>Claims have now fallen for two straight weeks, suggesting that if employers are concerned tax hikes enacted this year will affect consumer demand, this is not leading to more layoffs.</p>
<p>Analysts polled by Reuters had expected claims to rise to 355,000 last week.</p>
<p>Economists have cautioned about reading too deeply into this month's figures, as claims tend to be volatile around this time of the year. This is because of large swings in the model used by the department to iron out seasonal fluctuations.</p>
<p>A measure of labor market trends nonetheless pointed to an improvement in the labor market's health. The four-week moving average for new claims fell 8,250 to 351,750, the lowest since March 2008.</p>
<p>A Labor Department analyst said claims data were estimated for three states last week, but there was nothing unusual in the state level data.</p>
<p>Claims are now at roughly the same level they were in much of 2006 and 2007. Claims started trending higher around December 2007, the month that the country's recession began.</p>
<p>However, while employers have pulled back on layoffs, they have only added jobs to the economy at a lackluster pace.</p>
<p>Employers adding 155,000 new positions in December and the unemployment rate held steady at 7.8 percent.</p>
<p>Job gains averaged 153,000 jobs per month in 2012, little changed from 2011. The sluggish labor market and subdued inflation pressures appear likely to keep the Federal Reserve on its ultra easy monetary policy course.</p>
<p>The claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid dropped 71,000 to 3.16 million in the week ended January 12.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | U.S. Jobless Claims Fall to 5-Year Low | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2013/01/24/us-jobless-claims-fall-to-5-year-low.html | 2016-03-02 | 0 |
<p>PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island is joining several other states in removing a type of guardrail that has been blamed for deadly highway crashes.</p>
<p>State Department of Transportation spokesman Charles St. Martin <a href="http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20180124/ri-to-remove-type-of-guardrail-blamed-for-deaths-elsewhere" type="external">tells</a> The Providence Journal the department is removing all of about 350 Lindsay X-LITE guardrails from roadways "out of an abundance of caution."</p>
<p>Six other states are removing the guardrails after investigators found it failed to collapse properly when hit by a vehicle. A Tennessee man is campaigning to have them removed after his daughter was killed in a 2016 crash when part of the guardrail punctured her car.</p>
<p>St. Martin says the cost of removing them has not yet been calculated.</p>
<p>The company that makes the guardrails refutes investigators claims, saying they have passed federal crash and safety tests.</p>
<p>PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island is joining several other states in removing a type of guardrail that has been blamed for deadly highway crashes.</p>
<p>State Department of Transportation spokesman Charles St. Martin <a href="http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20180124/ri-to-remove-type-of-guardrail-blamed-for-deaths-elsewhere" type="external">tells</a> The Providence Journal the department is removing all of about 350 Lindsay X-LITE guardrails from roadways "out of an abundance of caution."</p>
<p>Six other states are removing the guardrails after investigators found it failed to collapse properly when hit by a vehicle. A Tennessee man is campaigning to have them removed after his daughter was killed in a 2016 crash when part of the guardrail punctured her car.</p>
<p>St. Martin says the cost of removing them has not yet been calculated.</p>
<p>The company that makes the guardrails refutes investigators claims, saying they have passed federal crash and safety tests.</p> | Rhode Island to remove guardrails blamed in deadly crashes | false | https://apnews.com/amp/c64fc08b8cb845ca848033484929eb44 | 2018-01-24 | 2 |
<p>Kid Rock / Getty</p>
<p>BY: <a href="" type="internal">Jack Heretik</a> September 7, 2017 2:26 pm</p>
<p>Potential U.S. Senate candidate and musician Kid Rock told off racists and white supremacists during a strongly-worded rant at his concert&#160;Wednesday.</p>
<p>The musician was performing at the Van Andel Arena in his hometown of Detroit when he made it abundantly clear he has nothing good to say about racists. Prior to his speech, the&#160;stadium was filled with&#160;a rendition of "Hail to the Chief," the official Presidential Anthem of the United States. Kid Rock proceeded with&#160;a profanity-laden address, ripping into racists and white supremacists, the Daily Wire <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/20750/kid-rock-nazi-f-bigots-and-kkk-screw-all-you-ass-hank-berrien?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=051717-news&amp;utm_campaign=dwtwitter#" type="external">reported</a>.</p>
<p>In a concert at a high-energy capacity crowd at Van Andel Arena in Detroit, Kid Rock ripped those who "call me a racist ‘cause I’m not (politically correct)," adding that they "think you have to remind&#160;me&#160;that black lives matter." That wasn’t all; he snapped, "Nazi f—— bigots and the KKK, screw all you ass—–, stay the f— away."</p>
<p>Kid Rock, real name Robert Ritchie, is said to be a potential Republican candidate to challenge incumbent Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.) in 2018.</p>
<p>The musician's political aims, however, may be set higher than the U.S. Senate.</p>
<p>"If ‘Kid Rock for Senate' has got folks in disarray, wait 'til they hear ‘Kid Rock for President of the U.S.A.'!" Kid Rock told the crowd.</p> | Kid Rock Rips Into Racists, White Supremacists at Detroit Concert | true | http://freebeacon.com/culture/kid-rock-rips-racists-white-supremacists/ | 2017-09-07 | 0 |
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<p>Support Crooks and Liars:</p>
<p />
<p>Deflecting the rampant ignorance of the tea party on how government works, Tom Coburn proves that it's not the lunatic fringe of the Republican Party that is the problem, the entire party is ignorant of what the debt ceiling is and how it works. Coburn ignores David Gregory's disturbing touting of the debt ceiling as continuing leverage point (have you learned nothing from the last two weeks, you hack?) and complains about Congress still not cutting enough spending.</p>
<p>Well, David, first of all, I think the debt ceiling is a misnomer. We’ve never not increased it, and the first thing you do when you’re addicted to something is to present the reality to yourself that you’re addicted. And we didn’t do anything except create a big mess in Washington, and I’m not so inclined to think it was the tea party as much as it was outside interest groups and a few individuals within our party that took advantage of that situation. Look, the real problems are we’re continuing to spend money we don’t have on things we don’t need, there is tremendous amounts of waste and fraud. We have to protect the promises made to the American people, and we can do that, but we can do that spending a whole lot less money than we’re doing today.</p>
<p>Sigh. Coburn has been in office since 2005 and by my calculations, has been involved in <a href="http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL31967.pdf" type="external">nine debt ceiling raises</a> in that time. One would hope he'd figure out what he was voting on at some point, but clearly it makes sense to him to be ignorant when there is a Democrat in the White House. I don't recall this being an issue once during the debt ceiling raises during the Bush administration.</p>
<p>Part of the problem is, admittedly, the name " <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/04/12/135314575/the-debt-ceiling-explained" type="external">debt ceiling</a>". Every time there's a call to raise the debt ceiling, it sounds like this is an issue of future spending, like asking your credit card company to raise your limit so that you can carry more debt. But raising the debt ceiling is to balance the books on PAST SPENDING. So to go back to that credit card analogy, what Coburn is suggesting is telling the credit card company that you're not going to pay your balance because part of what you've already spent money on was irresponsible and wasteful, so you don't want to pay for that. Ridiculous, right? The credit card company isn't going to be sympathetic to that and neither should we any time a Republican says it. It doesn't work that way.</p>
<p>Coburn, like all Republicans, is looking at this equation at the wrong end of it. The place to negotiate is not at the debt ceiling but at the budget. And in that, the Republicans have already won, because the sequester cuts have now been institutionalized. But as Harry Reid says, they haven't learned to take "yes" for an answer.</p> | Don't Blame The Tea Party, Mainstream GOP Don't Understand Debt Ceiling | true | http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/dont-blame-tea-party-mainstream-gop-d | 2013-10-20 | 4 |
<p>What happens when the money backing a war memorial dries up? The doors shut, tourists and veterans are turned away, and the memorabilia and plaques inside languish under a layer of dust.</p>
<p>This is exactly what has happened to the <a href="http://nypost.com/2012/11/11/public-cant-visit-brooklyn-war-memorial-on-veterans-day/" type="external">Brooklyn War Memorial</a>.</p>
<p>The Memorial, built 64 years ago, has never been accessible to the general public, which means that only a few people have ever been able to stand before the 11,000 names etched into its inside walls, representing Brooklynites who died fighting in World War II. According to a <a href="http://www.gofundme.com/rh8rpk" type="external">GoFundMe page</a> set up by the Cadman Park Conservancy, the memorial is in need of a serious overhaul; new stone work, new roof, new electric, new plumbing, new glass, insulation, and a handicapped accessible ramp, bathrooms, and elevator are all needed before the site can be completely opened to visitors.</p>
<p>Getting the site up to speed is going to be an enormous undertaking—but a devoted group of veterans and supporters are determined to make that dream a reality. Yesterday, the surrounding community <a href="http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/05/24/brooklyn-war-memorial-ceremony/" type="external">rallied</a> at the memorial to honor the fallen and kick off the restoration effort:</p>
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<p>“(How much does this mean to you?) Unbelievable,” said Max Nemerovsky, a WWII veteran from Bensonhurst.</p>
<p>“It’s great to think people are still thinking of World War II,” said David Epstein, a WWII veteran from Bergen Beach.</p>
<p>“I was the one who was honored to serve,” said WWII veteran David Kaplan, of Brooklyn Heights.</p>
<p>Kaplan, 95, served in the Army at 22, stationed in the Pacific and Philippines, CBS2’s Ilana Gold reported.</p>
<p>“We were faced with a terror that was unbelievable, the threat of Nazism among others,” he said.</p>
<p>And Sunday’s event went beyond remembrance. The goal now, is to reopen and completely restore the Brooklyn War Memorial, which is currently not handicapped accessible.</p>
<p>“To open this and make it ADA accessible so people can actually see it,” said Laurel Brown, with the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.</p>
<p>Fox and Friends aired a story about the four Vanasco brothers, who all fought in World War II, and who are also fighting to get the memorial up and running again:</p>
<p>Watch the latest video at &lt;a href="http://video.foxnews.com"&gt;video.foxnews.com&lt;/a&gt;</p>
<p>This is just a story of a local war memorial; there’s no Congressional angle or sequestration drama here—but then again, that’s the point.</p>
<p>Memorial Day is about the fallen warriors from our hometowns. It’s about honoring their bravery and their sacrifice, and giving their brothers in arms a chance to do the same. It’s not about the buildings and the statues, but at the same time, the buildings and the statues are important because they remind us that the war didn’t just happen 4000 miles away.</p>
<p>It’s the homefront’s duty to remember.</p> | Brooklyn War Memorial Closed to Vets (#ProudAmerican) | true | http://legalinsurrection.com/2015/05/brooklyn-war-memorial-closed-to-vets-proudamerican/ | 2015-05-25 | 0 |
<p>U.S. stock-market indexes started in negative territory on Friday, retreating from record levels for a second straight session. The main indexes were still on track to post solid weekly gains, however. In corporate news, investors were closely watching shares of Kraft Heinz Co. and Unilever PLC after Kraft said it made an offer to purchase Unilever that was rejected, but added that talks were still ongoing. The S&amp;P 500 opened down 7 points, or 0.3%, at 2,339. The Nasdaq Composite began the session down 12 points, or 0.2% at 5,802. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 80 points or 0.4%, to 20,540 at the open.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2017 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | U.S. Stocks Open Lower, Still On Track For Weekly Gains | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/17/us-stocks-open-lower-still-on-track-for-weekly-gains.html | 2017-02-17 | 0 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22069127@N03/2695489692/"&gt;VixyView&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
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<p>The Obama administration did an about-face on emergency contraception Monday evening, announcing that it will allow women to obtain Plan B One-Step over the counter without age restrictions or ID requirements.</p>
<p>Last month, the Department of Justice had <a href="" type="internal">appealed</a> an <a href="" type="internal">April 5 ruling</a> by US District Court Judge Edward R. Korman, who said the Food and Drug Administration should make all forms of levonorgestrel-based emergency contraception, or EC, available over the counter to all women, regardless of age. Here’s the letter the DOJ sent Korman on Monday:</p>
<p>We write to advise the Court that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have complied with the Court’s April 10, 2013, judgment in the above-referenced case by granting the 2001 Citizen Petition and making Plan B One-Step (PBOS) available over-the-counter (OTC) without age or point-of-sale restrictions as described below. It is the government’s understanding that this course of action fully complies with the Court’s judgment in this action. Once the Court confirms that the government’s understanding is correct, the government intends to file with the Circuit Court notice that it is voluntarily withdrawing its appeal in this matter.</p>
<p>The Center for Reproductive Rights, which had sued the administration to force universal availability of EC, welcomed the change, but noted that it still does not go far enough. “Now that the appeals court has forced the federal government’s hand, the FDA is finally taking a significant step forward,” said the group’s president, Nancy Northup. “But the Obama Administration continues to unjustifiably deny the same wide availability for generic, more affordable brands of emergency contraception.”</p>
<p>Northup added that CRR “will continue to fight for fair treatment for women who want and need more affordable options.”</p>
<p /> | Buying Plan B Will No Longer Require an ID or a Prescription | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/obama-administration-plan-b-one-step-over-counter/ | 2013-06-11 | 4 |
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<p>The conspiracy charge was filed in a criminal information, which is a charging document that can only be filed with a defendant's consent and which typically signals a guilty plea.</p>
<p>The penalties will be paid to the Justice Department and to regulators, according to a person spoke on condition of anonymity because the guilty plea had not yet been announced.</p>
<p>A Justice Department news conference was scheduled for later Monday.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The penalty resolves a yearslong criminal investigation into allegations that the bank, Switzerland's second-largest, recruited U.S. clients to open Swiss accounts, helped them conceal the accounts from the Internal Revenue Service and enabled misconduct by bank employees. The case is part of an Obama administration crackdown on foreign banks believed to be helping U.S. taxpayers hide assets.</p>
<p>Attorney General Eric Holder, criticized last year after telling Congress that large banks had become hard to prosecute, appeared to foreshadow the guilty plea in a video message earlier this month in which he said no financial institution was "too big to jail."</p>
<p>The criminal case follows a Senate subcommittee investigation that found the bank provided accounts in Switzerland for more than 22,000 U.S. clients totaling $10 billion to $12 billion. The report said Credit Suisse sent Swiss bankers to recruit American clients at golf tournaments and other events, encouraged U.S. customers to travel to Switzerland and actively helped them hide their assets. In one instance, a Credit Suisse banker handed a customer bank statements hidden in a Sports Illustrated magazine during a breakfast meeting in the United States.</p>
<p>Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan has said previously that senior executives at the bank were not aware that some Credit Suisse bankers were helping U.S. customers evade taxes. More than a half-dozen former bankers have been charged for their role in aiding the tax evasion. The case was filed in federal court in Alexandria, Va., where individual bankers have been charged.</p>
<p>The administration's action against Credit Suisse, a banking fixture on Wall Street, comes amid public outrage that boiled over from the financial crisis that plunged the economy into the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Calls for holding big Wall Street banks accountable, and sending top executives to jail, have come from consumer advocates, lawmakers and others, putting the Justice Department on the defensive.</p>
<p>The Justice Department's highest-profile settlement over sales of risky mortgage securities in the run-up to the financial crisis - the $13 billion deal among the department, state regulators and JPMorgan Chase - was a civil case, and no bank executives were charged. Federal prosecutors in California have been conducting a related criminal investigation.</p>
<p>The Credit Suisse case is part of a broader crackdown on foreign banks believed to be helping U.S. taxpayers hide assets. In 2009, Switzerland's largest bank, UBS, entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department in which it agreed to pay $780 million in fines and turn over the names of thousands of customers suspected of evading U.S. taxes. The country's oldest bank, Wegelin &amp; Co., pleaded guilty in January 2013 to U.S. tax charges, admitting that it helped American clients hide more than $1.2 billion from the IRS.</p>
<p>The case against Credit Suisse was intended in part to combat criticism that the U.S. government has not been aggressive enough in its pursuit of banks. A report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations accused the Justice Department of lax enforcement and faulted the government for gleaning only 238 names of U.S. citizens with secret accounts at Credit Suisse, or just 1 percent of the estimated total.</p>
<p>The charges come months after the U.S. government and Switzerland reached an agreement allowing Swiss banks to settle any potential U.S. charges if they disclose extensive information about their American clients, the value of their accounts and any help they received from tax professionals.</p>
<p>Those settlements would include penalties for Swiss banks that helped their U.S. clients avoid taxes, and the Justice Department also could use the information to prosecute Americans for tax evasion.</p>
<p>The agreement signed last summer was a significant step in the long-running dispute between the two countries. In it, Switzerland agreed to ease the legal barriers of its legendary bank secrecy laws in U.S. cases so that Swiss banks would be able to turn over customer data to the U.S. authorities. In return for providing the customer information, the Swiss banks could pursue legal settlements with the U.S. authorities and avoid criminal prosecution.</p> | Credit Suisse charged in tax evasion case | false | https://abqjournal.com/403016/credit-suisse-charged-in-tax-evasion-case.html | 2 |
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<p>I turned on the television Friday, March 27, 2009.&#160; It was tuned to C-SPAN.&#160; Barack Obama’s speech on Afghanistan was being televised.&#160; Listening only to the words of his introductory comments and ignoring the person who was speaking them, I could have been listening to George Bush.&#160; The same old catchphrases appeared: 9-11, terrorism, Al-Qaeda.&#160; Al-Qaeda, terrorism, 9-11.&#160; A few new words were added.&#160; Pakistan and diplomacy were two of them.&#160; Yet, the idea behind the supposedly new Obama plan was the same.&#160; Washington and its NATO cohorts will stay in Afghanistan until the world is safe from Al-Qaeda.&#160; Left unsaid by Obama, just like it was unsaid by George Bush, is the reality that foreign troops killing Afghans and Pakistanis has done very little to end the supposed threat from Al-Qaeda.&#160; The proof lies in the fact that foreign troops are still in Afghanistan under the impression that destroying Al-Qaeda is why they are there.</p>
<p>The idea that a stateless organization such as Al-Qaeda can be defeated by occupying those regions of the world where it is supposedly headquartered seems foolish.&#160; The further idea that killing people who live in those regions will further the first idea is equally foolish, of questionable strategic sense and morally wrong.&#160; The predominant argument given by George Bush when US forces attacked Afghanistan in 2001 was that the Taliban government provided a haven to Al-Qaeda.&#160; Therefore, the entire nation of Afghanistan and its people deserved whatever death Washington rained down on them.&#160; This simplistic logic never allowed for the fact that it was quite likely many Afghans did not support the Taliban.&#160; Nor did it acknowledge the obvious question of how bombing villages and cities would cause the capture of the Al-Qaeda leadership.&#160; Furthermore, the plan to launch an invasion and occupation of Afghanistan by belligerent foreign forces ignored the resentment such an action would bring.</p>
<p>Now, seven and a half years later, the occupying troops and Afghan people live with the results of Washington’s response.&#160; Occupying troops get killed regularly by villagers, Afghan policemen, Taliban forces, and Afghans aligned with other militias.&#160; Afghans face a daily struggle negotiating the ins and outs of life in an occupied country where any element of the armed forces around them–occupying troops, mercenaries, Taliban, members of the US-installed Afghan security forces, or criminals–can make their lives even more miserable.&#160; On top of this, the majority of Afghans live in impoverished conditions made worse by years of war.&#160;&#160; Given these conditions, it is no surprise that Afghan militias opposed to the occupiers are gaining ground.&#160; They provide security to ordinary Afghans while appealing to their desire to see the occupying troops leave.&#160; It’s not that Afghans necessarily accept the fundamentalist doctrines of these militias (Taliban and others) as much as it is that they share a common understanding as Afghans.&#160; A somewhat appropriate metaphor regarding Afghans’ support of these militias might be found in the situation vis-a-vis Hamas in Gaza.&#160; Many Palestinians do not support Hamas religious agenda, but see them as the only political organization that shares their desire to end the Israeli domination of Palestine and is willing to fight for that end.&#160; Obviously, there are great differences between the two sets of circumstances, but I believe the analogy holds up in a very basic way.</p>
<p>Likewise, the people in the so-called tribal regions of Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP)&#160; resent the presence of foreign troops and unmanned rockets in their neighborhood.&#160; Consequently, they have opposed their presence, often with armed force.&#160; In addition, they have decided to align themselves with the Taliban and others in the region that oppose the foreign presence as well.&#160; Unlike Afghanistan, where the Karzai government in Kabul serves at the pleasure of Washington, the government in Islamabad has occasionally been more vocal than Mr. Karzai (who has expressed his own displeasure on occasion) in its opposition to the US forays across its border into the NWFP.&#160; This has not prevented Washington from launching its unmanned rockets into the region, but it may have prevented more helicopter and ground forays like the one in fall 2008.&#160; It remains safe to assume, however, that the Pakistani government will accede to Obama’s plans for the region and allow US forces to operate when and where they want to.</p>
<p>According to Obama, “Washington has)a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda.. in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future.” Now, Al-Qaeda may or may not be planning to attack targets in the United States, like Mr. Obama claimed in his speech.&#160; The fact that this possibility continues to be used as justification for not only occupying Afghanistan, but for escalating the military operation there (and expanding it deeper into Pakistan), proves the fallacy of this strategy, if the true intent is what Obama says it is. No matter how much Mr. Obama and his advisors wish it to be otherwise, continuing the current strategy of occupation and escalation will not cause those Afghans opposed to the presence of US troops to end their opposition.&#160; Therefore, it is unlikely to cause the end of the Taliban or Al-Qaeda, no matter how badly many of us wish that it would.&#160; The likelihood that Washington’s strategy will not accomplish the goals elucidated by Mr. Obama (and by George Bush in 2001) points to the possibility that those goals are not the true intention of Washington in the region.&#160; Could it be that the goals Mr. Obama explicitly denied (and I quote)–“We are not in Afghanistan to control that country or to dictate its future.”– are the true ones?&#160; Only then does his escalation of the battle there begin to make sense.</p>
<p>RON JACOBS is author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1859841678/counterpunchmaga" type="external">The Way the Wind Blew: a history of the Weather Underground</a>, which is just republished by Verso. Jacobs’ essay on Big Bill Broonzy is featured in CounterPunch’s collection on music, art and sex, <a href="http://www.easycarts.net/ecarts/CounterPunch/CP_Books.html" type="external">Serpents in the Garden</a>. His first novel, <a href="" type="internal">Short Order Frame Up,</a> is published by Mainstay Press. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Obama’s Pakistan Gambit | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/03/31/obama-s-pakistan-gambit/ | 2009-03-31 | 4 |
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<p>According to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/magazine/05wwln-lede-t.html?_r=2&amp;ref=magazine" type="external">Lisa Belkin,</a>&#160;“Researchers at the University of Queensland found that children born to older fathers have, on average, lower scores on tests of intelligence than those born to younger dads. Data they analyzed from more than 33,000 American children showed that the older the man when a child is conceived, the lower a child’s score is likely to be on tests of concentration, memory, reasoning and reading skills, at least through age 7.”</p>
<p>It gets worse: higher risk of autism, bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia. Not good news, but it does sort of even the cultural score in which past-their-prime women are understood to be the greatest risk to the children they bear ‘late’ in life. Damaged goods. Darwin makes them chase younger women to bear their healthy children, not mid-life crises. But what if younger women start looking at that “distinguished” guy driving the red ‘vette and thinking like Belkin?</p>
<p>The push and pull between timetables and dreams, between our bodies and our babies, is at the core of many women’s worldview, which also means it is at the core of relationships between the sexes. This tension feeds the stereotype of woman as eager to settle down and men as reluctant, and it’s the crux of why we see women as “old” and men as “distinguished.”</p>
<p>If those underlying assumptions were to change, would all that follows from them change as well? A world in which each man heard his clock tick even a fraction as urgently as each woman could be a very different world indeed. All those silver-haired sex symbols, and balding sugar daddies, and average-Joe divorced guys who are on their second families because they&#160;can be while their exes are raising their first set of kids—what if all of them became, in women’s eyes, too darned old?</p>
<p>What if 30-year-old women started looking at 50-year-old men as damaged goods, what with their washed-up sperm, meaning those 50-year-olds might actually have to date (gasp!) women their own age? What if men, as the years passed, began to look with new eyes at Ms. Almost Right? Would men of all ages come to understand—firsthand, not just from the sidelines—the fear that the very passage of time will put your not-yet-conceived baby at risk?</p>
<p>Welcome to the club boys.</p>
<p /> | Trophy Wives Beware: Sugar Daddy’s Dipstick May Be Defective | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/04/trophy-wives-beware-sugar-daddys-dipstick-may-be-defective/ | 2009-04-06 | 4 |
<p>FORT MOHAVE, Ariz. (AP) — Mohave County Sheriff’s officials say two victims of a double homicide now have been identified.</p>
<p>The bodies were found Jan. 10 near a burned vehicle in a desert area east of Fort Mohave.</p>
<p>Sheriff’s officials announced Tuesday that the victims have been identified as 51-year-old Mona Carter and 22-year-old Daryl Ward.</p>
<p>They both lived in Bullhead City.</p>
<p>Sheriff’s officials say investigators are looking into a possible drug connection surrounding the homicides.</p>
<p>They are still searching for any suspects in the case.</p>
<p>FORT MOHAVE, Ariz. (AP) — Mohave County Sheriff’s officials say two victims of a double homicide now have been identified.</p>
<p>The bodies were found Jan. 10 near a burned vehicle in a desert area east of Fort Mohave.</p>
<p>Sheriff’s officials announced Tuesday that the victims have been identified as 51-year-old Mona Carter and 22-year-old Daryl Ward.</p>
<p>They both lived in Bullhead City.</p>
<p>Sheriff’s officials say investigators are looking into a possible drug connection surrounding the homicides.</p>
<p>They are still searching for any suspects in the case.</p> | Victims of double homicide near Fort Mohave are identified | false | https://apnews.com/861ccabe722d45dc99e7e3be68497776 | 2018-01-16 | 2 |
<p>Published time: 28 Nov, 2017 00:14Edited time: 28 Nov, 2017 00:17</p>
<p>A Muslim cultural center, including a mosque, has been attacked in Warsaw. Police in the Polish capital are looking for the culprits, while a local Muslim community leader is sure that the attack was a “racist” one.</p>
<p>Windows were smashed overnight on Sunday at the center that includes a mosque, a meeting center for Muslims, a shop and a restaurant. Security footage is being reviewed to identify those behind the assault, in which luckily no one was injured, Warsaw police spokesman Mariusz Mrozek said. Police have also appealed to the public to help catch the attackers, asking for witnesses to come forward.</p>
<p>“I am 100 percent sure this was a racist, anti-Muslim attack,” leader of a Muslim community in Poland, imam Youssef Chadid told the media, as quoted by AP. There are two mosques in the capital of the largely Catholic country, including the one at the center that was attacked. Warsaw’s Muslim community consists of some 22,000 people.</p>
<p>Far-right Mlodziez Wszechpolska and ONR hanged pictures of opposition politicians in Katowice, Poland shouting ‘We will hang them all’.</p>
<p>Police officers did not intervene; on the contrary- they protected them and allowed them to publicly call to murder people. <a href="https://t.co/hbrFF25aVr" type="external">pic.twitter.com/hbrFF25aVr</a></p>
<p>— Nie-Patrioci UK (@NiePatrioci_en) <a href="https://twitter.com/NiePatrioci_en/status/934758317414604800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" type="external">26 ноября 2017 г.</a></p>
<p>In a separate incident Saturday, right-wing radicals staged a protest in the city of Katowice in southern Poland. On a mock gallows, they hung pictures of six Polish lawmakers and members of the European Parliament, calling them “traitors.” Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the case, which Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo has described as an “act of aggression and intolerance.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/409886-poland-nationalist-march-beautiful/" type="external">READ MORE: ‘Beautiful sight’: Polish govt defends nationalist march on Independence Day</a></p>
<p>This month, to mark the country’s Independence Day, around 60,000 people took part in a massive rally in Warsaw, organized by far-right groups under the “We want God” slogan. Slogans such as “White Europe of Brotherly Nations,”“No to Islam,” and “Jews out of Poland” were also used by demonstrators.</p>
<p>While the event, dominated by anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim chanting, was described as one of the biggest nationalist gatherings in Europe in recent years, Polish authorities claimed there were only “unfortunate incidents” at the rally and called the event in general as an expression of patriotism. The EU Parliament strongly condemned the “xenophobic and fascist march.”</p> | Muslim cultural center attacked in Warsaw amid surge in ‘racist’ incidents | false | https://newsline.com/muslim-cultural-center-attacked-in-warsaw-amid-surge-in-racist-incidents/ | 2017-11-27 | 1 |
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<p>Former South Dakota Democratic Senator George McGovern, who died Sunday, had all manner of evil said about him because of his opposition to the Vietnam War. He was called unpatriotic, disloyal, an appeaser and an enabler of communism. Those were the printable slanders.</p>
<p>Many conservatives at the time believed in the “domino theory,” that if South Vietnam fell to the communists, all Asia would follow. That proved untrue. McGovern was eventually vindicated in many minds about America’s involvement in Vietnam.</p>
<p>I will remember him for something other than his politics. George McGovern was a friend.</p>
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<p>After his Senate re-election defeat in 1980, McGovern and I debated on college campuses and in other venues. These debates were always civil because McGovern was a gentleman. After one debate at Butler University in Indianapolis, a fellow conservative invited me to dinner.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” I said, “but George and I have dinner plans.”</p>
<p>“How can you eat with a man like that?” he said with an equal mix of surprise and disgust.</p>
<p>“Easy,” I said. “He’s a friend of mine.”</p>
<p>This is what is missing from our politics today. If we don’t like a person’s politics, we reflexively dislike the person.</p>
<p>McGovern practiced “family values” better than some conservatives who merely talk about them. Married to Eleanor for 64 years, until her death in 2007, he exemplified the “family man.” Their daughter, Terry, was an alcoholic. When she stumbled out of a Madison, Wis., bar in 1994 and died in the snow, I went to the funeral home and subsequent service. Eleanor hugged me and said, “I’m so glad you came.”</p>
<p>In 1998, shortly after President Clinton named him ambassador to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome, George and I were having lunch at a Washington hotel when an aide arrived with a box of business cards. “Here,” he said. “You get the first card from my new assignment.”</p>
<p>McGovern understood war better than some conservatives who have never fought in one. During World War II, he flew 35 combat missions as a B-24 bomber pilot in Europe, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. Perhaps that is why, having seen so much death and destruction, his view of war was “conservative.” He believed America should only put American lives at risk when supreme national interests and security are at stake and diplomacy has completely failed.</p>
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<p>Some called this “appeasement.” McGovern called it humility, which is something that characterized the life of George McGovern. Honorable and principled are two others.</p>
<p>After leaving Congress, McGovern bought a Connecticut inn. He failed to make it work. He wrote in The Wall Street Journal, “In retrospect, I wish I had known more about the hazards and difficulties of such a business … I also wish that during the years I was in public office, I had had this firsthand experience about the difficulties business people face every day.” I tell that story when advocating for congressional term limits.</p>
<p>McGovern was proud of his Methodist roots. His father was a Wesleyan minister. He told me he remembered traveling evangelists coming to the family home and hearing George Beverly Shea, the deep-voiced singer for Billy Graham, play their piano and sing. In an interview for my 1999 book, “Blinded by Might: Why the Religious Right Can’t Save America” he told me he was more of a “social gospel” man, though he said he still believed the central doctrines of the Christian faith.</p>
<p>In our interview, I asked him about the constant bickering between left and right. He replied, “It’s the competition of ideas and the creative tension that moves our democratic society … it’s the fact that there’s always that creative tension between the liberals here and the conservatives there, between the modernists here and the fundamentalists there, that I think makes all of them better.”</p>
<p>I shall miss George McGovern as a friend, a fellow American, a patriot and an example. May he rest in peace.</p>
<p>E-mail: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>; copyright, Tribune Media Services.</p> | Most of All, McGovern a Friend | false | https://abqjournal.com/141168/most-of-all-mcgovern-a-friend.html | 2012-10-25 | 2 |
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<p>After the first day of competition in which the University of New Mexico swimming and diving team welcomed San Diego State, Colorado State and NMSU, the Lobos led both the Rams and the Aggies by scores of 89-59 and 84-64, respectively on Friday. UNM trails the Aztecs of San Diego State by a wide margin of 112-36 as competition resumes Saturday at 10 a.m. with the 200-yard medley relay.</p>
<p>Out of the eight events that were held Friday, New Mexico placed second in five of the events. All of the events that the Lobos placed second in, San Diego State won.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The 200-yard medley relay, the first event of the day, saw New Mexico come in second with a time of 1:35.32, less than a second behind the team from SDSU. Such was the case for most of the evening.</p>
<p>Marissa Campbell was second in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 52.62, which was less than half of a second off the winning time of 52.36 turned in by SDSU’s Maddy Dalcamo.</p>
<p>Other events the Lobos performed well in were the 100-yard butterfly, 500-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley relay.</p>
<p>Jorgi Hobson keeps inching closer to once again lowering her school record time of 54.75 in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.24, her fastest time of the season thus far. Teammate Heidi Zeiger also turned in her best time in the 500-yard free with a final time of 5:08.24.</p>
<p>In the final event of the day, the 400-yard medley relay, the Lobos placed second with a time of 3:51.82.</p>
<p>Off the boards, the Lobos placed first, second and third off the 3-meter. Aubrey Bush continues to excel after a season of being away from competition, she took the top spot off the 3-meter. Michole Timm was second and Megan Harper took the three spot.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | UNM Swimmers Completed 1st Day of Home Meet | false | https://abqjournal.com/238098/28437.html | 2 |
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<p>The largest study ever conducted to examine the effects of cell phones on the health or development of adolescents is about to be conducted by a team of British researchers.</p>
<p>The research is meant to help fill in the wide gaps in understanding of how cell phones may affect the brain, especially in those whose brains are still developing. Currently, all research in this area has been focused on possible links between cell phones and the development of brain cancer in adults. This new study will focus on how cell phone use in children might affect their cognitive abilities.</p>
<p>According to the World Health Organization, there is a total of 4.6 billion cell phone subscriptions globally. Nearly 70 percent of British children between the ages of 11 and 12 have their own phones. 90 percent have their own phone by the time they are 14.</p>
<p>The study will follow 2,500 children aged 11-12 for two years and collect data on their cell phone use habits, including the activities they engage in while using the phone and the amount of time spent on the device. They will also measure cognitive development through a set of tests taken on classroom computers meant to measure abilities like attention and memory.</p>
<p>There are two decades of past studies that focus on the potential for adults to develop brain cancer from exposure to electromagnetic fields produced by cell phones. So far, no evidence has been generated in these studies to suggest that this potential is real, at least not in short term exposures of less than a decade.</p>
<p>In contrast, very little research has been done to show what affects cell phones could have on children. Children not only have much work left in their brain development but they are primed to have more lifelong exposure than adults in the last 20 years. This study seeks to help rectify the lack of knowledge as to how this exposure will impact future generations in more ways than just risks for brain cancer.</p>
<p /> | Study seeks to understand link between cell phones and cognition in children | false | http://natmonitor.com/2014/05/19/study-seeks-to-understand-link-between-cell-phones-and-cognition-in-children/ | 2014-05-19 | 3 |
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<p>TUCSON, Ariz. — A small puppy has died after it was found buried alive in Tucson.</p>
<p>Police were called Sunday night after a person heard the dog’s cries as they passed by.</p>
<p>A sergeant with the Tucson Police Department contacted The Sanctuary Group and established a plan to save the dog’s life. The sergeant offered to pay for the first 24 hours of the dog’s care.</p>
<p>The dog was rushed to a local vet where it was discovered his mouth was full of dirt and rocks. The dog was unresponsive with an extremely low body temperature.</p>
<p>Early Monday a veterinarian made the decision to euthanize the dog.</p>
<p>Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call 911.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Dog dies after being found buried alive in Tucson | false | https://abqjournal.com/904189/dog-dies-after-being-found-buried-alive-in-tucson.html | 2 |
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<p>Police in the Mexican state of Sonora say they fought a pitched three-hour battle to free a border rail crossing at Nogales that had been blocked by people protesting a gasoline price increase.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Sonora state government says two police officers were injured and two protesters were arrested Sunday.</p>
<p>The demonstrators were protesting a recent 20-percent hike in gasoline prices.</p>
<p>The state government said officers who tried break up the blockade were attacked with rocks for about three hours and responded by "firing rubber bullets into the air."</p>
<p>The government said 11 trainloads with about 1,000 cars of merchandise headed for the United States had been backed up by the protest.</p>
<p>It said the blockade had threatened to temporarily shut down Ford Motor Co.'s stamping and assembly plant in Hermosillo.</p> | Mexican police use rubber bullets, free border rail crossing | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/09/mexican-police-use-rubber-bullets-free-border-rail-crossing.html | 2017-01-10 | 0 |
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<p>By Michael Kunzelman/The Associated Press</p>
<p>NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Oil giant BPsays it has agreed to pay $4.5 billion in a wide-ranging settlement with the U.S. government over the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The London-based multinational company said in a statement Thursday it agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges including 11 felony counts of misconduct related to the deaths of 11 men in the rig explosion that triggered the oil spill. It also agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of obstruction of Congress.</p>
<p>The settlement total of $4.5 billion over five years includes nearly $1.3 billion in criminal fines — the largest such penalty ever — along with payments to several government agencies.</p>
<p>NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Oil giant BP has agreed to pay the largest criminal penalty in U.S. history, totaling billions of dollars, for the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a person familiar with the deal said today.</p>
<p>The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record about the deal, also said two BP PLC employees face manslaughter charges over the death of 11 people in the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that triggered the massive spill.</p>
<p>The person said BP will plead guilty to obstruction for lying to Congress about how much oil was pouring out of the ruptured well. The person declined to say exactly how much the fine in the billions of dollars would be.</p>
<p>The Deepwater Horizon rig, 50 miles off the Louisiana coast, sank after the April 20, 2010, explosion. The well on the sea floor spewed an estimated 206 million gallons of crude oil, soiling sensitive tidal estuaries and beaches, killing wildlife and shutting vast areas of the Gulf to commercial fishing.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The spill exposed lax government oversight and led to a temporary ban on deepwater drilling while officials and the oil industry studied the risks, worked to make it safer and developed better disaster plans.</p>
<p>BP’s environmentally-friendly image was tarnished, and independent gas station owners who fly the BP flag claimed they lost business from customers who were upset over the spill. BP chief executive Tony Hayward stepped down after the company’s repeated gaffes, including his statement at the height of the crisis: “I’d like my life back.”</p>
<p>The cost of BP’s spill far surpassed the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989. Exxon ultimately settled with the U.S. government for $1 billion, which would be about $1.8 billion today.</p>
<p>The government and plaintiffs’ attorneys also sued Transocean Ltd., the rig’s owner, and cement contractor Halliburton, but a string of pretrial rulings by a federal judge undermined BP’s legal strategy to pin blame on them.</p>
<p>At the time of the explosion, the Deepwater Horizon was drilling into BP’s Macondo well. The rig sank two days later.</p>
<p>After several attempts failed, engineers finally were successful in capping the well on July 15, 2010, halting the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico after more than 85 days.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The disaster also created a new lexicon in American vocabulary — such as top kill and junk shot — as crews used innovative solutions to attempt to plug the spewing well with pieces of rubber. As people all over the world watched a live spill camera on the Internet and television, the Obama administration dealt with a political headache, in part because the government grossly underestimated how much crude was spilling into the Gulf.</p>
<p>U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans was assigned to oversee tens of thousands of court claims spawned by the explosion. A trial date was set, but Barbier postponed it so BP could hammer out a deal with attorneys for Gulf Coast shrimpers, commercial fishermen, charter captains, property owners, environmental groups, restaurants, hotels and others who claim they suffered economic losses after the spill. Relatives of workers killed in the blast also sued.</p>
<p>Barbier gave his preliminary approval to that proposed settlement in May and scheduled a January trial for the remaining claims, including those by the federal government and Gulf states.</p>
<p>In a pretrial court filing, the Justice Department said it would argue that BP’s actions and decisions leading up to the deadly blowout amounted to gross negligence.</p>
<p>“We do not use words like ‘gross negligence’ and ‘willful misconduct’ lightly,” a Justice Department attorney wrote. “But the fact remains that people died, many suffered injuries to their livelihood, and the Gulf’s complex ecosystem was harmed as a result of BP and Transocean’s bad acts or omissions.”</p>
<p>One of Barbier’s rulings possibly insulates Transocean and Halliburton from billions of dollars in liability. Barbier said Transocean and Halliburton weren’t obligated to pay for many pollution claims because of contracts they signed with BP.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation of the spill. The only person facing charges so far is former BP engineer Kurt Mix, who was arrested in Texas in April on obstruction of justice charges. Mix is accused of deleting text messages about the company’s response to the spill, not what happened before the explosion.</p>
<p>The companies also sued each other, although some of those cases were settled last year. BP has sued Transocean for at least $40 billion in damages.</p>
<p>And there are still other claims against BP from financial institutions, casinos and racetracks, insurance companies, local governments and losses caused by a government-imposed moratorium on drilling after the spill.</p>
<p>None of those are covered by BP’s proposed settlement with the private lawyers.</p>
<p>A series of government investigations have spread blame for the disaster.</p>
<p>In January 2011, a presidential commission found that the spill was caused by time-saving, cost-cutting decisions by BP, Halliburton and Transocean that created unacceptable risk. The panel didn’t point blame at any one individual, concluding the mistakes were caused by systemic problems.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>In September 2011, however, a team of Coast Guard officials and federal regulators issued a report that concluded BP bears ultimate responsibility for the spill. The report found BP violated federal regulations, ignored crucial warnings and made bad decisions during the cementing of the well a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico.</p>
<p>BP has repeatedly said it accepts some responsibility for the spill and will pay what it owes, while urging other companies to pay their share.</p>
<p>BP waived a $75 million cap on its liability for certain economic damage claims under the 1990 Oil Pollution Act, though it denied any gross negligence.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Pete Yost in Washington, D.C., contributed to this story.</p> | BP Gets Record Fine in Gulf Oil Spill | false | https://abqjournal.com/146436/bp-gets-record-fine-in-gulf-oil-spill.html | 2012-11-15 | 2 |
<p>The UK has agreed to share intelligence and crisis response expertise with Algeria following a hostage crisis there this month in which 37 gas plant workers, including six British citizens, were killed by Islamic militants, <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-01-30/u-dot-k-dot-may-train-algerian-army-in-counter-terrorism" type="external">Bloomberg Businessweek reported</a>.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/130121/algeria-hostage-takers-canadian-reports" type="external">Algeria: 37 foreign hostages dead, Algerian PM says</a></p>
<p>“Both Britain and Algeria are countries that have suffered from terrorism, and we understand each other’s suffering,” Cameron said Wednesday at a press conference following talks with Algerian President Minister Abdelmalek Sellal, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/uk-prime-minister-visits-algeria-with-mi6-chief-after-deadly-natural-gas-plant-attack/2013/01/30/f57c2c5c-6b01-11e2-9a0b-db931670f35d_story.html" type="external">the Associated Press reported</a>. “What we have agreed is a strengthened partnership that looks at how we combat terrorism and how we improve security of this region.”</p>
<p>Sir John Sawers, the head of Britain’s international spy agency MI6, accompanied Cameron on the trip, the AP reported. As part of strengthening both countries’ ability to fight terrorism, UK Special Forces may train the Algerian Army in counter-terrorism tactics, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.</p>
<p>According to the AP:</p>
<p>Britain also has invited Algeria to take part in a joint contingency planning exercise to share experiences in crisis response.</p>
<p>Cameron is the first UK prime minister to visit Algeria since the country gained independence in 1962, the AP reported. Until the In Amenas gas plant attack occurred, Cameron had never had a conversation with the Algerian president, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.</p> | UK-Algeria security partnership announced | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-01-31/uk-algeria-security-partnership-announced | 2013-01-31 | 3 |
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<p>That ebullient reaction on the Israeli right may well be justified. In May, Trump told the Daily Mail that Israel should “keep moving forward” with settlement construction. Last month, one of Trump’s advisers, Jason Greenblatt, confirmed to an Israeli radio station that Trump did not view Israeli settlement construction, which the State Department has frequently described as illegitimate, as particularly harmful to the prospects of peace. And last week, Trump announced that David Friedman, who has a history of pro-settlement activism, will be his ambassador to Israel. According to a report by Haaretz in June, Friedman has helped raise millions of dollars for the settlement of Beit El in the occupied West Bank. (He has also said that supporters of J Street, an American Jewish advocacy group that opposes the occupation, are “far worse than kapos” – the Jews who helped the Nazis run concentration camps.)</p>
<p>So what can progressives – Jews and non-Jews, Israelis and non-Israelis – do to keep pressure on hawks in the Knesset now that the incoming U.S. administration is so clearly on their side? The best way to fight the expansion of settlements would be to boycott goods and services made there.</p>
<p>As a dual citizen of the United States and Israel who is deeply committed to the vitality and security of Israel, I unequivocally oppose the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which calls for opponents of the occupation to cut all ties between Israel and the rest of the world. It seeks to isolate Israel and punish Israelis of almost all political persuasions, regardless of their views of the occupation. But in the face of that movement’s challenge to my progressive values and a right-wing government in Israel whose actions undermine the two-state solution – and now, a right-wing government about to take power in Washington that agrees wholeheartedly with Israel’s – I can’t simply oppose the boycott movement and leave it at that.</p>
<p>So in early October, I joined dozens of intellectuals, activists and writers in signing an open letter circulated by Partners for Progressive Israel calling for a targeted boycott of all “goods and services” that originate in Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. The goal is to prevent the settlements from becoming centers of industry in the West Bank, because economic growth there will bolster larger, more entrenched communities. These communities grow at the expense of a two-state solution.</p>
<p>A targeted boycott of the settlements is necessary because the settlements themselves are inexorably and directly linked to the violence and human rights abuses of the military occupation; wherever Israeli civilians build their communities, the army must follow to provide security to those communities. The network of roads that connect these settlements to Israel proper and one another are often prohibited to Palestinian use.</p>
<p>The Palestinian village Nabi Saleh is a case in point. Every Friday, villagers march against the occupation, and every Friday, the army prevents the demonstration from reaching the road. To intervene, the army uses stun grenades and tear gas. Palestinian demonstrators hurl rocks at Israeli troops. Sometimes, Palestinians are killed during these clashes. The primary objective of suppressing these demonstrations, however, is not to prevent Palestinians from protesting occupation, but to prevent the demonstration from approaching the settlement of Halamish, located across the street from Nabi Saleh.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Those who boycott Israel are as horrified by this situation as I am. The approach they have taken, however, is wrong. Boycotting all of Israel implicitly dismisses the efforts of patriotic Israelis such as Avi Buskila, the director of Peace Now, who work every day to end the occupation. For Israelis who oppose the occupation, the social and political price is often high. On Oct. 14, Hagai El-Ad, the director of the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, spoke in front of a special session of the U.N. Security Council and called on the international community to act against the occupation. Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, called El-Ad’s presentation to the Security Council “diplomatic terrorism.” David Bitan, a Likud party member of the Knesset and the chairman of the governing coalition, called for El-Ad’s citizenship to be revoked.</p>
<p>By boycotting the settlements, Americans would be sending a message of solidarity to progressive Israeli groups such as B’Tselem, Gush Shalom and Peace Now – as well as to Palestinians who suffer the humiliations of the occupation every day.</p>
<p>In the Trump administration, everyone working to end the occupation will need more support, not less. Instead of boycotting Israel, progressives should continue to stand with those Israelis who are on the front lines against their government and the settlement movement.</p>
<p>– Hersh is the former managing director of the social justice nonprofit Partners for Progressive Israel.</p>
<p>israel-comment</p> | Want to fight boycotts of Israel? Boycott West Bank settlements instead. | false | https://abqjournal.com/912106/want-to-fight-boycotts-of-israel-boycott-west-bank-settlements-instead.html | 2 |
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<p>The Federal Reserve announced last week that it would launch no new stimulus programs to jump-start the economy, and editors at The Washington Post applauded Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, for refusing to refinance mortgages for struggling homeowners.</p>
<p>Though the proposed refinancing program would have provided relief for Americans desperate to keep their homes while providing a small stimulus by allowing them to spend more of their incomes in the American economy, DeMarco said the program may have ended up costing taxpayers some money. “Not much, but some,” New York magazine reports.</p>
<p>DeMarco’s response is another example of deficit hawkery — the refusal to spend money to save or make money based on the idea that reducing government spending and debt, rather than public suffering, is the first duty of public officials.</p>
<p>Deficit hawks, at least in the U.S. Congress and Washington’s lobbying community, are not a part of that public. For them, there is no recession. So why should they give a damn?</p>
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<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a>.</p>
<p>Daily Intel at New York magazine:</p>
<p>The Post’s thumbs-up editorial of DeMarco endorsed the reasoning that only a relief program that could be assured to cost the taxpayers nothing was worthwhile. It concluded, “with signs multiplying that the housing market may be finally bottoming out without this additional stimulus, perpetuating this particular battle does not strike us as the best use of the secretary’s time.”</p>
<p>There are signs we’ve hit bottom. Nothing to worry about here. Why risk the possibility of a small outlay merely to provide relief to hundreds of thousands of desperate people? This is such a perfect statement of the way the American elite has approached the economic crisis. They concede that it is a problem. But there are other problems, you know.</p>
<p>It’s important to respond to arguments on intellectual terms and not merely to analyze their motives. Yet it is impossible to understand these positions without putting them in socioeconomic context. Here are a few salient facts: The political scientist Larry Bartels has found (and measured) that members of Congress respond much more strongly to the preferences of their affluent constituents than their poor ones. And for affluent people, there is essentially no recession.</p>
<p><a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/08/why-washington-accepts-mass-unemployment.html" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Mortgage Debt Relief? Not on His Watch | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/mortgage-debt-relief-not-on-his-watch/ | 2012-08-04 | 4 |
<p>Let me paint a word picture. An unarmed, wounded American soldier is lying helpless, bleeding and barely conscious on the floor of a church in a country with which the US is at war. An armed soldier of that country walks up to the wounded American. It so happens that a TV cameraman is present. He films the foreign soldier shouting, “He’s fucking faking he’s dead!” One of his comrades says “And he’s breathing”. The first soldier again yells “He’s faking he’s fucking dead!” He then kills the helpless, wounded man with a burst of fire that blows his head off and spatters the room with blood and tiny bits of flesh and bone. One of the foreign soldiers says “He’s dead, now.”</p>
<p>Question One: What do you think the reaction of most of the American people would be to the murder of a wounded, unarmed US soldier lying helpless and barely conscious on the floor of a church in a foreign land?</p>
<p>Question Two: What was the reaction of most of the American people to the murder of a wounded, unarmed Iraqi lying helpless and barely conscious on the floor of a mosque in his own country?</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>First Answer: Shrieking outrage and demands for the foreigner to be tried and executed, whichever came first.</p>
<p>Second Answer: Unconcern.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>The dialogue about faking it came from a CBS tape of a US soldier killing an Iraqi prisoner. The whole thing was recorded. It is undeniable that the crime was committed. The clips of the murder were played worldwide on television – except for the actual killing, because that was thought too vile, even for a television audience accustomed to the most explicitly horrible murder scenes. And nobody has dared take a poll as to how many Americans approve of the murder. Most TV reports called it “an incident”, and it has dropped out of sight because, to put it bluntly, an American life is considered to be worth more than an Iraqi life. To many millions of Americans, the marine who murdered the helpless man is a hero. If you doubt this, please read on.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Think about another ‘incident’, when a squad of US soldiers opened fire on a car travelling along the Baghdad-Airport road on March 4, killing an Italian official. The lies began at once, and there is no point in describing what happened because the truth as told by eyewitnesses has already been denied by the military, and the official version will be accepted by much of the US media. It is not surprising that the media will toe the official line, as most of their readers and viewers automatically doubt what they are told by foreign or independent US sources (not that there are many of the latter, these days), and are uncomfortable with anything that smacks of criticism of US soldiers. This is because such criticism is considered unpatriotic and unforgivable, even if it is justified by first-hand evidence of brutality or murder. And if audiences are unhappy about what appears in the media, advertisers will be even more unhappy and will withdraw their business. In short: mainstream news cover in the US is directed by two major factors: advertising revenue and its precursor, audience prejudice. And advertisers get their financial messages from some very unpleasant bigots.</p>
<p>These are people like the beauty who commented on the killing of the Italian official and the wounding of the Italian journalist he was escorting to freedom (that’s Bush freedom: it comes with free shrapnel wounds) as follows:</p>
<p>“Too bad the US troops didn’t shoot her in the head and been done with trouble making people like her . . . Posted by bpb901 March 5.”</p>
<p>We only have to look at the deranged outpourings on right wing blogs to realize there are millions of Americans who feel exactly the same way as bpb901. He or she is not in any way unusual. Unhinged and demented, yes ; badly in need of urgent mental treatment, certainly ; but out of the ordinary: no. (Bear in mind that The Economist of March 5-11 noted the uncomfortable statistic that “about one in five Americans now suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder”.)</p>
<p>Think back to the ‘incident’ in January at Tal Afar in which US soldiers killed the mother and father of six kids. Getty Images photographer Chris Hondros was there. He described the shambles like this:</p>
<p>“We have a car coming,” someone called out as we entered an intersection. We could see the car about a 100 meters away. The car continued coming; I couldn’t see it anymore from my perch but could hear its engine now, a high whine that sounded more like acceleration than slowing down. It was maybe 50 yards away now. “Stop that car!” someone shouted out, seemingly simultaneously with someone firing what sounded like warning shots — a staccato, measured burst. The car continued coming. And then, perhaps less than a second later, a cacophony of fire, shots rattling off in a chaotic, overlapping din . . . . From the sidewalk I could see into the bullet-mottled windshield more clearly. The driver of the car, a man, was penetrated by so many bullets that his skull had collapsed, leaving his body grotesquely disfigured. A woman also lay dead in the front . . . the children continued to wail and scream, huddled against a wall, sandwiched between soldiers either binding their wounds or trying to comfort them . . . the teenaged girl kept shouting, “Why did they shoot us? We have no weapons! We were just going home!”</p>
<p>We know about the killing of the father and mother of six kids because a photographer was there and we’ve seen his evidence. Same for the murder of the wounded prisoner. And we know about the killing of the Italian official because there is a high-profile former hostage still alive to tell us what really happened. But if these ‘incidents’ had not involved independent witnesses we would have been told nothing about them. They would have gone unrecorded, as have unknown numbers of similar atrocities in and around many cities. The Washington Post of 7 March says US officials “have declined to estimate how many civilians . . . have been killed accidentally by US forces at checkpoints or elsewhere in Iraq” This is no surprise, because although countless Iraqis have been killed by being sprayed with bullets by delinquent troops, the stories recounted by Iraqi witnesses of these terrible events are ignored. There are many people with the mentality of the moron who wrote “Too bad the US troops didn’t shoot her in the head and been done with trouble making people like her . . .”, and none of them would for an instant condemn the murder of a helpless prisoner by a heroic marine. Neither would they be critical of the gallant troops who wiped out the parents of six children. It is a terrible thing to say, but it must be said: there are millions of Americans who would and do applaud these murders. In the case of the Italian murder, however, they seem to be a bit out of step with their hero, the deranged Bush.</p>
<p>Bush and Rumsfeld have grovelled to Italy’s crooked prime minister, Berlusconi, because their troops murdered an Italian citizen and wounded another. There was a phone call of apology from Air Force One to Rome the moment the news broke, and the Bush media machine trotted out the usual garbage about the car being attacked “by coalition forces”. (This phrase is used by the Bush people to try to avoid acknowledgement that US troops have been criminally incompetent yet again.) Bush spoke to Berlusconi “to express his regret about the incident that occurred earlier today,” and to assure “prime minister Berlusconi that the incident will be fully investigated.” But there is never an investigation of the murder of Iraqis. To the US military and to millions of tragically disturbed Americans they are non-persons.</p>
<p>Iraqi lives do not matter. Just as in Hitler’s Germany the Nazis referred to various sections of the population (Jews, gypsies and other ‘antisocial elements’) as the “untermenschen” — the sub-humans — so do US troops and the crazed bigots who bay for blood refer to Iraqis as “ragheads” — the sub-humans. The Nazi regime was founded and fostered by people who thought along the lines of “Too bad the US troops didn’t shoot her in the head and been done with trouble making people like her . . .”. If people are trouble-makers, well, don’t try to live with them ; don’t try to understand them ; don’t try to treat them as human beings: just shoot them. Or torture them. Or both. What the hell? The reasoning is that they are different to the superior people and therefore they should not be allowed to exist.</p>
<p>The attitude of millions of Americans is exactly that of the German supporters of fascism in the 1930s and early 1940s. They were encouraged to think of themselves as the Master Race and there were whole nations whose populations could be treated as inferiors, and they took pride in doing just that. The present wave of hysterical intolerance in the US makes the McCarthy years of persecution look benign, because the idea has been planted by Bush and his people that US citizens are superior in every possible way. There can be no admission of frailty, and no acceptance of equality. International law and treaties are ignored or treated with contempt, and human dignity has become irrelevant. Hysterical ultra-nationalism is thriving and gathering pace.</p>
<p>The director of the slippery slope to totalitarianism has beckoned his citizens, and they are responding with enthusiasm to his encouragement. War crimes are being committed by US troops and spooks on an extraordinary scale all round the world, but the biggest war crime is taking place in Washington: it is the twisting of the minds of the American people.</p>
<p>BRIAN CLOUGHLEY writes on military and political affairs. He can be reached through his website <a href="http://www.briancloughley.com/" type="external">www.briancloughley.com</a></p> | More War Crimes | true | https://counterpunch.org/2005/03/07/more-war-crimes/ | 2005-03-07 | 4 |
<p>Variety&#160;has announced the names of the new inductees to the&#160;Variety Home Entertainment &amp; Digital Hall of Fame.</p>
<p>Producer Chris Meledandri, founder and CEO of Illumination; Jim Wuthrich, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment president the Americas and global strategy; and Walmart’s digital entertainment service Vudu, represented by VP and general manager Jeremy Verba, will be inducted at the Press Play: Variety Home Entertainment &amp; Digital Hall of Fame event on Dec. 5 at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills.</p>
<p>Fox Innovation Lab, 21st Century Fox’s research and development center, represented by executive V.P. and managing director Danny Kaye, will be presented with the Hall of Fame Innovation Award for its leadership in driving the advancement of groundbreaking technology and new consumer experiences across all platforms and distribution models.&#160;Eric Berger, EVP and chief digital officer for Sony Pictures Television Networks, will receive the Deloitte Media &amp; Entertainment Leadership Award.</p>
<p>“These honorees represent the myriad new platforms and distribution models consumers are now embracing to find entertainment they want to watch at home and on the go,” said Variety group publisher Michelle Sobrino-Stearns. “They are agents of positive change in content creation and distribution. We are proud to welcome them into our Home Entertainment and Digital Hall of Fame.”</p>
<p>Past honorees of the event include actor and filmmaker Jon Favreau; EPIX CEO and President Mark Greenberg; industry veteran Mark Horak; Jim Packer and Ron Schwartz of Lionsgate; writer, director, producer, and actor Paul Feig.</p>
<p>The will be the 37th annual Variety Home Entertainment Hall of Fame gala dinner and awards. For the fifth consecutive year, proceeds will benefit City Year Los Angeles.</p>
<p>(Pictured:&#160;Chris Meledandri and Jim Wuthrich)</p> | Chris Meledandri, WB’s Jim Wuthrich, Vudu Join Variety’s Home Entertainment & Digital Hall of Fame | false | https://newsline.com/chris-meledandri-wbs-jim-wuthrich-vudu-join-varietys-home-entertainment-digital-hall-of-fame/ | 2017-11-21 | 1 |
<p>US Air Force cargo planes have flown seven missions over northern Iraq this week to drop humanitarian aid to Yazidis trapped by the Islamic State on Mount Sinjar in Nineva Province.&#160;While the US Central Command won’t specify where these flights are coming from, a little research can uncover more information than the government is willing to share.</p>
<p>As many as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/13/us-ground-troops-direct-role-evacuate-yazidis-iraq" type="external">20,000 to 30,000 Iraqis</a> were estimated to be trapped on the 50-mile-long Mount Sinjar range, but the Pentagon's top spokesman declared Thursday, following an assessment by a US military team, that " <a href="http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=122931" type="external">far fewer</a>" now remain. He credited American airstrikes on ISIL positions with giving those trapped an opportunity to escape over the past several days. And President Obama announced this week that further humanitarian air drops <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/14/world/middleeast/iraq-yazidi-refugees.html" type="external">or an air rescue</a> were unlikely, even though a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/15/world/middleeast/iraq-yazidis-obama-sinjar-crisis.html" type="external">United Nations official stated</a> that “the crisis on Mount Sinjar is by no means over” and many Yazidis remain on the mountain.&#160;</p>
<p>Other countries are providing food and water supplies from the air. The UK's Royal Air Force <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/sas-sent-into-iraq-as-david-cameron-returns-from-holiday-to-deal-with-growing-crisis-9667819.html" type="external">continues to make airdrops over Mount Sinjar</a>, and Australia reportedly <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/australia-makes-its-first-airdrop-to-stranded-yazidis-in-iraq/articleshow/40263571.cms" type="external">made its first drop Thursday</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/australia-to-join/1309308.html" type="external">Agence France-Presse reported</a> that at least some of the US aid has come from <a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/udeid.htm" type="external">Al Udeid Airbase in Qatar</a>, where US Air Force cargo planes are regularly deployed.</p>
<p>Two different planes are being used. One is the turboprop-driven C-130 Hercules, which the US has used since the 1950s. The other is the much larger jet-propelled C-17 Globemaster, which has quickly become a mainstay of military cargo lift missions since the late 1990s.</p>
<p>In these seven humanitarian missions, the typical sortie is comprised of two C-17s and two C-130s. <a href="http://www.centcom.mil/en/news/articles/aug-13-update-on-humanitarian-assistance-operations-near-sinjar" type="external">According to Central Command</a>, a total of 114,000 meals and 35,000 gallons of water have been delivered this way so far.</p>
<p>Yet on Tuesday, The Guardian cited reports that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/11/uk-to-deploy-tornando-jets-surveillance-after-iraq-aid-drop-fails" type="external">some of the American aid disintegrated mid-air</a> after being dropped at high altitude, and earlier reporting from The Telegraph stated that some water containers burst on impact.</p>
<p>According to official Air Force documents, the C-130 can carry a total of 42,000 pounds of materiel, while the C-17 is capable of carrying 110,000 pounds per flight. Used for transporting everything from troops to helicopters, dropping parachutists, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_state_car_(United_States)" type="external">ferrying Obama’s limousine abroad</a>, these planes have been increasingly called upon to carry out a mission not too dissimilar from that of the Berlin Airlift in the late 1940s: dropping pallets of relief aid by parachute to the ground.</p>
<p>In Afghanistan, troops in far off and hard to reach areas came to depend on Air Force cargo drops for food, water, ammunition, and other supplies. Though they found that these drops often went off course, or suffered mechanical failures.</p>
<p>The Precision Airdrop</p>
<p>Today cargo can fall with the same precision as the GPS-guided bombs called JDAMs. Short for “Joint Direct Attack Munition,” these weapons are mostly accurate to within 15 meters of their targets.</p>
<p>The Joint Precision Airdrop System is&#160;a steerable ram-air canopy connected to a guidance system brings a load of cargo to its target. While accurate, it’s also much more expensive to use than the traditional systems and the US government has been concerned that its guidance technologies could fall into the wrong hands if the JPADS kits aren't recovered by American troops.</p>
<p>In the decades since allied planes dropped supplies to West Berliners, the technology of humanitarian drops hadn’t changed much. Supplies were strapped to a wooden pallet, and once they were pushed from the plane, a parachute opened via something called a ‘static line’ which allows safe separation from the aircraft before the parachute’s canopy fills with air.</p>
<p>The modern system is called the Low Cost Aerial Delivery System (Low Velocity) or LCADS-LV. At just $1,260 apiece, it’s the cheapest and most expendable way to get cargo to the ground, and that’s why the Air Force is using it to reach the Yazidis and others on Mount Sinjar.</p>
<p>Accuracy vs. Cost</p>
<p>Any flight over ISIS-controlled areas would likely stay at an altitude above the reach of the weapons enemy forces are known to have. The likely benchmark for worst-case scenario is the SA-7B Grail man-portable air defense missile. Fired from the shoulder, the SA-7’s missile can reach an altitude of just over 7,500 feet according to a government assessment, and cargo planes may have to stay above that for safety purposes.</p>
<p>That higher altitude greatly compromises the accuracy of cargo drops, though.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nsf.gov/about/contracting/rfqs/support_ant/docs/logistics/afi13-217_opt.pdf" type="external">The Air Force’s own planning guide</a> shows that the best case scenario for a C-130 is a low-level pass at 600 feet above ground, which would place a single “bundle” on the ground within a 400 meter radius. At that altitude, the faster-flying C-17 could put its bundle in a space 450 meters wide and 590 meters long.</p>
<p>But if the planes had to fly above the SA-7’s reach, the accuracy of a cargo drop falls dramatically. A single container from those planes would land somewhere in a circle nearly two miles wide. And at that distance, the aid may land in inaccessible terrain or simply be too far for refugees to travel. Worst case: it reaches enemy fighters nearby.</p>
<p>By point of comparison, a JPADS bundle dropped from that altitude would land in a circle just 328 yards wide.</p>
<p>With four different variants, the cost of a single JPADS rig is hard to determine, but <a href="http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA600269" type="external">one 2004 briefing</a> said the Department of Defense’s goal was to bring the price under $60,000 apiece. But an Army document shows that the service paid <a href="http://www.g8.army.mil/pdf/AEMP2013_lq.pdf" type="external">$7 million in fiscal year 2013</a> for just 55 of the 10,000-pound JPADS variant at a cost of over $127,000 each.</p>
<p>Central Command’s press releases have cited their air drops as using the “container delivery system” which, when combined with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TADVFT31a1I&amp;index=5&amp;list=UUNEEHeS9Y2yFVLbWGeHhbYA" type="external">videos showing round parachute canopies</a>, would indicate the LCADS-LV system is being used over Mount Sinjar. It costs about a hundred times less than the precision rectangular-canopied JPADS, but the cargo may land more than ten times farther away.</p>
<p>One estimate puts the number of refugee still atop Mount Sinjar at just 2,000 and notes that some of those present may not want to leave. However, the Pentagon's top spokesman put the number at 4,000 to 5,000 — calling it a "pleasant surprise" that there weren't more found.</p>
<p>So while a full-fledged armed rescue of those remaining by US troops now seems unlikely, based on the assessment made Wednesday night when a team of American personnel landed on the mountain, it is apparent that there is still a need for relief aid to reach those cut off by the Islamic State. Department of Defense officials stated that humanitarian airdrops would cease, but could begin anew if the situation worsens for the Yazidis.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>John Ismay is an Overseas Press Club Foundation reporting fellow and graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is a former US Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Officer and veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. &#160;</p> | How the US pulled off its humanitarian aid missions to the Yazidis | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-08-15/how-us-pulled-its-humanitarian-aid-missions-yazidis | 2014-08-15 | 3 |
<p>In today’s roundup, <a href="http://variety.com/t/fox-sports/" type="external">Fox Sports</a>&#160;announces a <a href="http://variety.com/t/lebron-james/" type="external">LeBron James</a>-produced documentary for its new ‘ <a href="http://variety.com/t/magnify/" type="external">Magnify</a>‘ series, <a href="http://variety.com/t/abc/" type="external">ABC</a> sets an all-athletes edition of “Dancing with the Stars,” and more.</p>
<p>FIRST LOOKS</p>
<p>The first film in <a href="http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/muhammad-ali-enterprises-fox-super-bowl-lawsuit-1202585784/" type="external">Fox Sports</a>’ new “Magnify” series of feature-length documentaries will be “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/89-blocks/" type="external">89 Blocks</a>,” executive produced by <a href="http://variety.com/t/sports-illustrated/" type="external">Sports Illustrated</a> with <a href="http://variety.com/t/uninterrupted/" type="external">Uninterrupted</a>‘s <a href="http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/lebron-james-youtube-high-school-basketball-documentary-series-1202619102/" type="external">LeBron James</a> and Maverick Carter. The doc, directed by Emmy winner Josh Oshinsky, tells the story of the East St. Louis High School Flyers, a football team in an at-risk Illinois community, and their challenges and triumphs during the 2016 season. It will premiere Sunday, Nov. 26 on Fox; watch the trailer below. Fox Sports will feature live regional NFL coverage this Sunday at&#160;1:00 PM ET and 4:05 PM ET&#160;with NFL broadcasts available in both competing teams’ home markets, plus several additional cities. Viewers with an NFL matchup airing at&#160;1:00 PM ET&#160;can watch ’89 Blocks’ at&#160;4:30 PM ET; viewers with an NFL matchup airing at&#160;4:05 PM ET can watch the doc&#160;at&#160;2:30 PM ET.</p>
<p>[embedded content]</p>
<p><a href="http://variety.com/t/netflix/" type="external">Netflix</a>&#160;has released the trailer for its original film “El Camino Christmas” which will launch globally on Friday, Dec. 8 at 12:01 AM PT. Directed by David Talbert, “El Camino Christmas” stars Tim Allen, Vincent D’Onofrio, <a href="http://variety.com/t/luke-grimes/" type="external">Luke Grimes</a>, Dax Shepard, Jessica Alba, Kurtwood Smith, and Michelle Mylett.&#160;It follows Eric Roth (Grimes) as his search to find the father he never knew leads him to a remote desert town. There, law enforcement mistake him for a drug dealer and pin him down in a liquor store on Christmas Even along with five other lost souls, including his father.</p>
<p>[embedded content]</p>
<p>SPECIALS</p>
<p>ABC will premiere a special all-athletes edition of “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/" type="external">Dancing with the Stars</a>” in spring 2018. Ten athletes from different areas of the sports world will team up with the show’s professional dancers on ballroom floor to compete for the Mirrorball trophy. The show will broadcast live.</p>
<p /> | TV News Roundup: ’89 Blocks’ Set to Kick Off Fox Sports Films ‘Magnify’ Series | false | https://newsline.com/tv-news-roundup-89-blocks-set-to-kick-off-fox-sports-films-magnify-series/ | 2017-11-22 | 1 |
<p />
<p />
<p>CIA Director Michael Hayden, <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5153713.ece" type="external">speaking last night</a> at an event organized by the Atlantic Council, said that Osama Bin Laden is increasingly “isolated” and on the run. “He’s putting a lot of energy into his own survival, a lot of energy into his own security,” said Hayden. “In fact, he appears to be largely isolated from the day-to-day operations of the organization he nominally leads.” All that said, he’s still an attractive target, largely for the propaganda value of putting him out of business. “Because of his iconic stature, his death or capture clealry would have a significant impact on the confidence of his followers, both core Al Qaeda and these unaffiliated extremists,” Hayden continued. “I can assure you, although there has been press speculation to the contrary, I can assure you that the hunt for Bin Laden is very much at the top of the CIA’s priority list.”</p>
<p>It’s also at the top of the incoming Obama administration’s list. The president-elect believes that his predecessor has not done enough to capture or kill the Al Qaeda leader. But turning things around will not be easy. As former CIA Pakistan station chief Robert Grenier <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/12/binladen.hunt/index.html" type="external">told CNN</a>, “If you think of this as sort of a combination of [the hunt for] Eric Rudolph, who was the Olympic bomber, and the movie ‘Deliverance,’ multiplied by a factor of 10, that’s really what you’re focusing on in trying to find bin Laden… What you literally need to have is an army of individual informants, hopefully focused on the areas that you think bin Laden is most likely to be hiding in. But again, you need to have a whole lot of them, because one individual who may have access to the families and the clans in a particular valley, if he goes to the valley next door and starts asking questions, he’s probably gonna end up dead pretty quickly.”</p>
<p>Photo by flickr user <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tootsfontaine/74074313/" type="external">Toots Fontaine</a> used under a Creative Commons license.</p>
<p /> | CIA: Bin Laden Not a Factor in Al Qaeda, But We’d Still Like to Kill Him | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/11/cia-bin-laden-not-factor-al-qaeda-wed-still-kill-him/ | 2008-11-14 | 4 |
<p>If you were born between 1943 and 1954, your <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/06/09/what-is-social-securitys-full-retirement-age.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=46c262c4-6e4b-11e7-a43c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">full retirement age Opens a New Window.</a> is 66. If you haven't claimed Social Security yet, you're probably debating if you should claim at 66, or wait until age 70. It's a difficult decision, because if you claim at 66, you'll get more checks over your lifetime than you'd get if you wait, but those checks will be smaller.&#160;Is it better to claim at age 66 than at age 70? It depends.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Social Security replaces about 40% of your pre-retirement income, and in 2017, the average Social Security recipient is receiving $1,360 per month in benefits. You can claim your benefit as early as age 62, but you'll only get 100% of your benefit if you wait until your full retirement age to claim. Your full retirement age depends on your birth year, but for people born between 1943 to 1954, it's age 66.</p>
<p>If you wait until age 70 to claim your benefits, you can get more than 100% of your benefit amount. Social Security rewards those who wait with&#160; <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/05/14/social-securitys-delayed-retirement-credits-it-pay.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=46c262c4-6e4b-11e7-a43c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">delayed retirement credits Opens a New Window.</a>, and these credits increase your full retirement benefit amount by a fixed percentage per month, or&#160;8% annually, up until age 70.</p>
<p>If your full retirement age is 66, you've already passed the youngest age at which you can claim Social Security. Nevertheless, you may still be debating whether to claim benefits early. Perhaps your health is concerning you, or you're at risk of a job loss. Or maybe your retirement goals include doing things that are more easily done when you're younger (skydiving, anyone?). If you have other sources of retirement income, you might even be considering taking your benefits early so that you can invest them, and leverage the power of compound interest to build a bigger nest egg for your heirs.</p>
<p>If any of these scenarios apply to you, then the most important thing to know is that claiming your benefits before age 66 means smaller monthly checks, and potentially, a smaller haul in lifetime Social Security benefits. The amount you receive in monthly Social Security benefits is reduced by&#160;5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months, and 5/12 of 1% for each additional month you claim early. For instance, if you claim at age 64, then your benefit will be&#160;about 13.3% lower than it otherwise would be at age 66.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>If you don't plan on claiming early and want to collect at least 100% of your benefit amount, then you're probably weighing the pros and cons associated with claiming at age 66 or age 70. At age 66, you'll qualify for your full benefit amount, but wait until age 70, and you can get a Social Security check that's 32% bigger. If you're in good health and live a long life, then waiting and pocketing larger checks can really add up.</p>
<p>For example, let's say Jim was born in 1952. His full retirement age is age 66, and his monthly full retirement benefit is $1,000. If Jim waits until age 70 to claim his Social Security, his monthly benefit will grow to $1,320 instead. In Jim's case, waiting until age 70 to claim results is an extra $3,840 per year, or an additional $57,600 in lifetime benefits, if he lives 15 more years.</p>
<p>Waiting can also increase the size of Jim's check in another way. Social Security uses a worker's highest 35 income-earning years to calculate their benefits, and it uses zeros in the calculation if there are less than 35 years of work history. If Jim works while he waits to claim, he can replace those zeros with income-earning years, thus boosting his monthly benefit.</p>
<p>If you're still not sure if you should claim at age 66 or wait until age 70, it may help to consider the following breakeven analysis. The next chart plots out how much Jim would receive in lifetime benefits at various ages, depending on when he claims.</p>
<p>As you can see, as long as Jim lives into his early 80s, he'll collect more in total lifetime benefits by waiting. If he passes away sooner than that, he'd come out ahead by claiming at age 66.</p>
<p>When choosing when to claim your benefits, remember that your decision can have a big impact on your loved ones. For example, your spouse can collect up to 50% of your benefit amount if they don't qualify for Social Security on their own record, or if they do qualify, their payment amount is less than what they'd receive on your record. Therefore, when you claim will result in a smaller or bigger check for them, too.</p>
<p>Furthermore,&#160;your spouse can collect survivor's benefits after your death, but they'll only receive up to what you were receiving when you were alive. This means that your claiming decision will affect how much your spouse collects in lifetime benefits, too.</p>
<p>Ultimately, no one can predict the future, and everyone's situation is a little bit different. Good arguments -- both financial and otherwise -- can be made for taking Social Security early, on time, or late. Therefore, the best age to claim depends on your specific circumstances, so considering all your options before claiming is the wisest choice.</p>
<p>The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after.&#160; <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=46c262c4-6e4b-11e7-a43c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=46c262c4-6e4b-11e7-a43c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Is Taking Social Security at Age 66 Wise? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/07/28/is-taking-social-security-at-age-66-wise.html | 2017-07-28 | 0 |
<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A former Sacramento police officer who was arrested at a hotel on suspicion of having illegal drugs while armed has been sentenced to enter a drug treatment program and serve time on a county work project.</p>
<p>The Sacramento Bee <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article194302589.html" type="external">reports</a> Friday Isaac Knutila will also be placed on five years' probation as part of his plea.</p>
<p>Knutila's attorney, Michael Wise, says the sentence acknowledges the ex-cop's addiction, which he says resulted from post-traumatic stress disorder from years as a police officer.</p>
<p>Knutila was a 16-year department veteran when he was arrested while off duty in November 2016 after a nearly monthlong internal affairs investigation.</p>
<p>Authorities were tipped a month earlier by another law enforcement agency who said Knutila had been seen frequenting an area where prostitutes worked.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Sacramento Bee, <a href="http://www.sacbee.com" type="external">http://www.sacbee.com</a></p>
<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A former Sacramento police officer who was arrested at a hotel on suspicion of having illegal drugs while armed has been sentenced to enter a drug treatment program and serve time on a county work project.</p>
<p>The Sacramento Bee <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article194302589.html" type="external">reports</a> Friday Isaac Knutila will also be placed on five years' probation as part of his plea.</p>
<p>Knutila's attorney, Michael Wise, says the sentence acknowledges the ex-cop's addiction, which he says resulted from post-traumatic stress disorder from years as a police officer.</p>
<p>Knutila was a 16-year department veteran when he was arrested while off duty in November 2016 after a nearly monthlong internal affairs investigation.</p>
<p>Authorities were tipped a month earlier by another law enforcement agency who said Knutila had been seen frequenting an area where prostitutes worked.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Sacramento Bee, <a href="http://www.sacbee.com" type="external">http://www.sacbee.com</a></p> | Ex-Sacramento cop gets rehab, community service in sentence | false | https://apnews.com/amp/0cf3799a7cb54d13a2c978dc1b62c47a | 2018-01-12 | 2 |
<p>Most writers learn by imitation—at least that is the common assumption.&#160; The late Brazilian writer, Clarice Lispector, obliterates that belief.&#160; In a letter to Robert Lowell, written in 1963, Elizabeth Bishop, Lispector’s original translator, stated of her, “She’s the most non-literary writer I’ve ever known, and ‘never cracks a book’ as we used to say.&#160; She’s never read anything that I can discover—I think she’s a ‘self-taught’ writer, like a primitive painter.” In his introduction to <a href="" type="internal">The Hour of the Star</a>, Colm Tóibín remarks, “Lispector had, in common with Borges in his fiction, an ability to write as though no one had ever written before….”&#160; One of a kind, unique, sui generis, the first writer on earth.</p>
<p>And, yet, what an unexpected voice—mesmerizing, tantalizing, deceptive, fresh, original.&#160; These qualities apply to both the language itself (which must have been an incredible challenge for Benjamin Moser is this most recent translation of Lispector’s work) and the narrative structure.&#160; Here, for example, the narrator (identified as a man) writing about his main character, identified repeatedly as “the northeastern girl” named Macabéa: “Since life’s like that: you press a button and life lights up.&#160; Except she didn’t know which button to press.&#160; She didn’t even realize she lived in a technical society in which she was a dispensable cog.&#160; But one thing she’d unsettingly discovered: she no longer knew what it was to have a father and mother, she’d forgotten the taste.&#160; And, if she thought about it, she might say she sprouted from the soil of the Alagoas backlands like an instantly molded mushroom.&#160; She talked, yes, but was extremely mute.&#160; Sometimes I manage to get a word out of her but it slips through my fingers.”</p>
<p>What do we know of Macabéa?&#160; Not much.&#160; She’s come to Rio, where she is employed as a typist—a rather startling revelation since she appears to be illiterate.&#160; The narrator observes of her that “Her life was a long meditation on nothing.”&#160; Elsewhere, she’s described as stuck in the present, because “having a future was a luxury.”&#160; She’s so unworldly that the one time she goes to see a doctor (because of emaciation and TB) “She thought that going to the doctor was a cure in and of itself.”&#160; In short, Macabéa is a poor, unworldly young woman with few prospects and no future, living in a slum in Rio.&#160; Olimpico de Jesus—her boyfriend for a brief time—tells her when he dumps her, “You, Macabéa, are like a hair in the soup.&#160; Nobody feels like eating it.&#160; Sorry to hurt your feelings, but I’m being honest.” &#160;Is she upset by these remarks?&#160; Not really.</p>
<p>The narrator, one Rodrigo S. M. (Lispector regendered as a man?) isn’t exactly known for his self-confidence either.&#160; In dozens of asides to himself as the writer, he tells us that “The toothache that runs through this story has given me a sharp stab in the middle of our mouth,” a confusing <a href="" type="internal" />statement for certain.&#160; “Our” mouth rather that “my mouth”?&#160; Shortly thereafter—to shore up the difficulty of writing itself—he states that “this book is a silence.” &#160;And much later (in this relatively short narrative), after repeatedly denigrating his main character, Rodrigo remarks, “Ah if only I could grab Macabéa, give her a good bath, a plate of hot soup, a kiss on the forehead as I tucked her into bed.&#160; And cause her to wake up and find simply the great luxury of living.”</p>
<p>There’s a problem here.&#160; Can’t a writer or a narrator do whatever she (or he) wants to do with her characters?&#160; Isn’t that what a writer does?&#160; And if she doesn’t do that, who’s to blame?&#160; Stories are constructed around silences, missing scenes.&#160; That’s what writers do.&#160; You write a novel called Crime and Punishment and leave out the murder scene.&#160; Or the seduction in The Scarlet Letter.&#160; Which may be why Lispector in her introductory note to The Hour of the Star –“Dedication by the Author (actually Clarice Lispector)”—states of her craft, “What trips up my life is writing.”</p>
<p>The Hour of the Star trips up our concept of the novel.&#160; What a story is expected to do.&#160; How characters act.&#160; Why writers write.&#160; Why readers read.&#160; It’s an experience you won’t forget.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">The Hour of the Star By Clarice Lispector</a>Trans. by Benjamin Moser New Directions, 81 pp., $12.95</p>
<p>Charles R. Larson is Emeritus Professor of Literature at American University, in Washington, D.C.&#160; Email: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Brazil’s Unique Voice | true | https://counterpunch.org/2012/02/24/brazils-unique-voice/ | 2012-02-24 | 4 |
<p>Kenneth Branagh says his success at transitioning from acting to directing comes from two things: “I’ve been lucky and I’ve practiced.” The 57-year-old Northern Irish performer most recently directed “Murder on the Orient Express” and starred as the lavishly mustachioed lead character Detective Hercule Poirot. (Jan. 10)</p>
<p>Kenneth Branagh says his success at transitioning from acting to directing comes from two things: “I’ve been lucky and I’ve practiced.” The 57-year-old Northern Irish performer most recently directed “Murder on the Orient Express” and starred as the lavishly mustachioed lead character Detective Hercule Poirot. (Jan. 10)</p> | Branagh’s directing: ‘I’ve been lucky and I’ve practiced’ | false | https://apnews.com/5529879ad82942289bd51fc49e5bb9c6 | 2018-01-11 | 2 |
<p>A new <a href="http://www.prri.org/research/poll-post-election-holiday-war-christmas/" type="external">study</a>conducted by Public Religion Research Institute has revealed some unsurprising findings about the Party of Tolerance: Democrats are more likely than Republicans to block or unfriend those they disagree with politically on social media, with Democratic women leading the pack as most likely to block political foes.</p>
<p>The study, which reviewed over 1,000 respondents' answers, found that "13% of the public say they blocked, unfriended, or stopped following someone on social media because of what they posted about politics."</p>
<p>Democratic women were found to be the most block-happy, with 30 percent of female Democrats admitting to blocking or unfriending those with differing political views; while male Democrats came a close second with 14 percent.</p>
<p>Republicans overall were far less likely to censor the views surrounding them: Less than one in ten Republicans engaged in blocking or unfriending on social media over politics, with Republican women slightly more inclined to block than their male counterparts at 10 percent and 8 percent respectively.</p>
<p>Again, this is wholly unsurprising. The Democrat Party has become increasingly intolerant, most notably on college campuses and "protest" spaces. In recent years, leftists have called for "safe spaces," the censorship of so-called "hate speech" and have violently "protested" the democratic election of Republican Donald Trump and speakers with whom they disagree with, such as Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro.</p>
<p>Censorship is the name of the game in Leftist Land.</p>
<p><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/19/democratic-women-are-most-likely-to-block-people-online-because-of-political-views/?utm_campaign=atdailycaller&amp;utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_medium=Social" type="external">H/T</a>The Daily Caller</p> | Snowflake Alert: Guess Who's Most Likely to Block You On Social Media Over Political Views | true | https://dailywire.com/news/11734/snowflake-alert-heres-whos-most-likely-block-you-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2016-12-19 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Diamonds have lost some of their sparkle due to their links to bloody wars and slave labor, and now gold is losing some of its shine. Earthworks’ “No Dirty Gold” campaign is trying to get big jewelers to clean up their act, and is exposing the ugly truth behind the typical gold ring.</p>
<p>80% of gold mined in the U.S. is made into art or jewelry.</p>
<p>Mining the gold to make one 1/3-ounce 18-karat ring produces at least 20 tons of waste.</p>
<p>Those emissions include 5.5 pounds of lead, 3 pounds of arsenic, almost 2 ounces of mercury, and 1 ounce of cyanide.</p>
<p>Cleaning up American gold mines will cost taxpayers up to an estimated $6.4 billion.</p>
<p /> | Digging Up the Dirt on Gold | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2006/07/digging-dirt-gold/ | 2018-07-01 | 4 |
<p>Dow Average on track to extend run of records</p>
<p>U.S. stock futures inched higher on Friday, with traders erring on the side of caution ahead of the top-tier July jobs report that could help steer expectations for the next Federal Reserve policy move.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 36 points, or 0.2%, to 22,010, signaling another gain for the blue-chip gauge at the open. The Dow logged an all-time closing high of 22,026.10 on Thursday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-faces-struggle-to-hold-above-22000-but-tesla-tears-higher-2017-08-03), meaning the index has notched 33 record closes in 2017.</p>
<p>See: Howard Gold's 3 reasons a stock-market correction is coming (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/3-reasons-a-stock-market-correction-is-coming-in-late-summer-or-early-fall-2017-08-03)</p>
<p>S&amp;P 500 index futures gained 2.05 points, or 0.1%, to 2,473.75, while those for the Nasdaq-100 index rose 8 points, or 0.1%, to 5,898.</p>
<p>Both the S&amp;P and Nasdaq Composite Index closed slightly lower on Thursday.</p>
<p>For the week, as of Thursday's close, the Dow average was set for a 0.9% gain, the Nasdaq for a 0.5% drop, while the S&amp;P was flat on a weekly basis.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Jobs, jobs, jobs: The main focus on Friday is the closely watched nonfarm-payrolls report for July, scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.</p>
<p>Economists expect 180,000 jobs to have been added to the U.S. economy last month, while the unemployment rate is seen as falling to 4.3% from 4.4%. Average hourly earnings are predicted to inch up, showing growth of 0.3% compared with 0.2% in June.</p>
<p>Read:July jobs report likely to show plenty of new jobs but no big wage gains for workers (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/july-jobs-report-likely-to-show-plenty-of-new-jobs-but-no-big-wage-gains-for-workers-2017-08-03)</p>
<p>The report is seen as crucial for the Federal Reserve as it decides whether to hike interest rates one more time this year or to keep them on hold. After a string of lackluster economic readings recently, investors are starting to doubt further monetary tightening is on the cards in the short term. Those doubts have helped send the dollar sharply lower.</p>
<p>"Today's NFP report might be a key turning point for the Fed and the dollar, as nothing other than an impressive reading across all of the report's components is needed to rekindle hopes for further tightening in 2017," said Konstantinos Anthis, researcher at ADS Securities.</p>
<p>The greenback eased against most major currencies ahead of the jobs report (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-hovers-around-15-month-low-looks-for-catalysts-in-july-jobs-data-2017-08-04). The ICE Dollar Index slipped 0.1% to 92.741, trading around a 15-month low.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the trade deficit for June is also on the data docket, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.</p>
<p>There are no Federal Reserve members scheduled to speak publicly on Friday.</p>
<p>Stock movers: Shares of GoPro Inc.(GPRO) jumped 14% ahead of the bell after the wearable video-camera maker's quarterly results and outlook out late Thursday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gopro-shares-jump-more-than-10-after-results-outlook-beat-street-estimates-2017-08-03) beat Wall Street estimates.</p>
<p>Weight Watchers International Inc.(WTW) also beat forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/weight-watchers-stock-rockets-toward-5-year-high-after-profit-and-sales-beat-raised-outlook-2017-08-03) with its late Thursday earnings, sending shares 14% higher in Friday's premarket action.</p>
<p>In earnings on Friday, Cigna Corp.'s(CI) profit came in well ahead of forecasts, and the health care insurance company raised its 2017 outlook.</p>
<p>Trivago NV(TRVG) is also on the earnings docket ahead of the open, while Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.(BRKA) (BRKA) will report after the market close.</p>
<p>U.S.-listed shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC(RBS.LN) gained 1.8% premarket after the U.K. bank posted its first half-year profit in three years (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rbs-swings-to-profit-as-one-off-effect-fades-2017-08-04).</p>
<p>Other markets: Asian stock markets closed mixed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-mixed-as-investors-await-us-job-report-2017-08-03) . European investors were also staying on the sidelines (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-hold-steady-with-us-jobs-update-in-focus-2017-08-04), with all major indexes making moves of less than 0.1%.</p>
<p>Oil prices slumped ahead of the weekly Baker Hughes (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/crude-oil-loses-grip-of-49-a-barrel-ahead-of-us-rig-data-2017-08-04) rig-count report. Metals, including gold , were higher across the board.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>August 04, 2017 06:49 ET (10:49 GMT)</p> | MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stock Futures In Holding Pattern Ahead Of Key Jobs Report | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/08/04/market-snapshot-u-s-stock-futures-in-holding-pattern-ahead-key-jobs-report.html | 2017-08-04 | 0 |
<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California officials plan to crack down on thousands of “dead” drivers.</p>
<p>A new law taking effect Monday will require the Department of Motor Vehicles to increase its oversight of the disabled placard program, including searching the Social Security Administration’s “death file” and canceling placards issued to drivers who are now deceased, <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article191868394.html" type="external">The Sacramento Bee reported</a> .</p>
<p>The blue placards let drivers park for free at on-street parking meters or in spots designated with blue signs conveniently located near building entrances.</p>
<p>A state audit last year found more than 26,000 Californians over age 100 had disabled placards. But there are only about 8,000 centenarians in California and most no longer drive.</p>
<p>State officials say many of those cards are now used by family members or friends of the original holders. Other cards have been purchased illegally.</p>
<p>“This is depriving legitimate disabled people from using the spaces, and to some extent people build animosity toward the disabled community when they see that,” Democratic state Sen. Jerry Hill of San Mateo told the newspaper.</p>
<p>The new law requires placard holders to renew them every six years and provide proof of their name and date of birth by submitting documents approved by the DMV. That replaces automatic two-year renewal.</p>
<p>Auditors estimated that several hundred thousand of the state’s 3 million placards are likely being used improperly.</p>
<p>The DMV has tripled its placard abuse citations in the past three years, from 526 in 2013-14 to 1,625 citations in 2016-17.</p>
<p>Pat McConahey, spokeswoman for Disability Rights California, called the placards “a crucial right” for those with disabilities, including some that may not be obvious.</p>
<p>“It allows people with disabilities to move around the community like everyone else,” she said of the placards.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Sacramento Bee, <a href="http://www.sacbee.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.sacbee.com" type="external">http://www.sacbee.com</a></p>
<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California officials plan to crack down on thousands of “dead” drivers.</p>
<p>A new law taking effect Monday will require the Department of Motor Vehicles to increase its oversight of the disabled placard program, including searching the Social Security Administration’s “death file” and canceling placards issued to drivers who are now deceased, <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article191868394.html" type="external">The Sacramento Bee reported</a> .</p>
<p>The blue placards let drivers park for free at on-street parking meters or in spots designated with blue signs conveniently located near building entrances.</p>
<p>A state audit last year found more than 26,000 Californians over age 100 had disabled placards. But there are only about 8,000 centenarians in California and most no longer drive.</p>
<p>State officials say many of those cards are now used by family members or friends of the original holders. Other cards have been purchased illegally.</p>
<p>“This is depriving legitimate disabled people from using the spaces, and to some extent people build animosity toward the disabled community when they see that,” Democratic state Sen. Jerry Hill of San Mateo told the newspaper.</p>
<p>The new law requires placard holders to renew them every six years and provide proof of their name and date of birth by submitting documents approved by the DMV. That replaces automatic two-year renewal.</p>
<p>Auditors estimated that several hundred thousand of the state’s 3 million placards are likely being used improperly.</p>
<p>The DMV has tripled its placard abuse citations in the past three years, from 526 in 2013-14 to 1,625 citations in 2016-17.</p>
<p>Pat McConahey, spokeswoman for Disability Rights California, called the placards “a crucial right” for those with disabilities, including some that may not be obvious.</p>
<p>“It allows people with disabilities to move around the community like everyone else,” she said of the placards.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Sacramento Bee, <a href="http://www.sacbee.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.sacbee.com" type="external">http://www.sacbee.com</a></p> | California cracks down on improper use of disabled placards | false | https://apnews.com/bdf3998a9ca2480dbd222401576e9bac | 2017-12-29 | 2 |
<p>President Donald Trump’s administration has caught flak for cutting the funds to a group fighting white supremacists in light of last weekend’s violence in Charlottesville.</p>
<p>Just before former President Barack Obama left office, the group Life After Hate, a part of the Obama administration’s Countering Violent Extremism program, received $400,000 from the Department of Homeland Security in the form of a grant to fight white supremacy. Shortly after Trump took office his administration pulled that funding, one of the only ones that&#160;specifically targeted white supremacy, in favor of a greater focus on “radical Islamic terrorism,” <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/katharine-gorka-life-after-hate_us_59921356e4b09096429943b6" type="external">according to The Huffington Post</a>.</p>
<p>“They threw the baby out with bathwater. What happens now is that we have to passively wait for people to reach out to us,” Life After Hate co-founder Tony McAleer, a former white supremacist, <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/346552-trump-cut-funds-to-fight-anti-right-wing-violence" type="external">told The Hill</a>.</p>
<p>The group is one of the only organizations in the country that focuses on helping people leave white supremacy groups.</p>
<p>“If they had given us the funding right away within a month or two of being awarded, we would have been up and running before Charlottesville. Whether or not we would have made a difference, it’s impossible to know.”</p>
<p>Christian Picciolini, another Life After Hate co-founder and a former neo-Nazi, <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/08/13/543259499/a-reformed-white-nationalist-speaks-out-on-charlottesville" type="external">told NPR</a> that white supremacy “has been growing, but it’s also been shape-shifting.”</p>
<p>“It’s gone from what we would have considered very open neo-Nazis and skinheads and KKK marching, to now people that look like our neighbors, our doctors, our teachers, our mechanics.”</p>
<p>He added, “And it’s certainly starting to embolden them, because a lot of the rhetoric that’s coming out of the White House today is so similar to what we preached … but in a slightly more palatable way.”</p>
<p>On Monday, <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/US-Trump-The-Latest/2017/08/14/id/807542/" type="external">Trump publicly denounced</a> “the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups” that promote racism and violence.</p> | Trump Administration Cut Funding For Groups Fighting White Supremacy | false | https://newsline.com/trump-administration-cut-funding-for-groups-fighting-white-supremacy/ | 2017-08-15 | 1 |
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks have activated center Artem Anisimov from injured reserve.</p>
<p>Anisimov missed 10 straight games with an upper-body injury. The 29-year-old Anisimov has 13 goals, including six game-winners, and five assists in 36 games this season.</p>
<p>Last-place Chicago hosts Tampa Bay on Monday night.</p>
<p>Defenseman Gustav Forsling was assigned to Rockford of the American Hockey League on Sunday, making room for Anisimov’s return. Forsling has three goals and 10 assists in 41 games this season.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More NHL hockey: <a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey</a></p>
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks have activated center Artem Anisimov from injured reserve.</p>
<p>Anisimov missed 10 straight games with an upper-body injury. The 29-year-old Anisimov has 13 goals, including six game-winners, and five assists in 36 games this season.</p>
<p>Last-place Chicago hosts Tampa Bay on Monday night.</p>
<p>Defenseman Gustav Forsling was assigned to Rockford of the American Hockey League on Sunday, making room for Anisimov’s return. Forsling has three goals and 10 assists in 41 games this season.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More NHL hockey: <a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey</a></p> | Blackhawks activate C Anisimov from IR | false | https://apnews.com/ca29730787334da4b223283acb314562 | 2018-01-22 | 2 |
<p>Former South African President Nelson Mandela is back home, released from a hospital in Pretoria on Sunday after three months of treatment for a lung infection.</p>
<p>But that doesn't mean the 95-year-old anti-apartheid icon is out of the woods.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/south-africa/130609/south-africans-reactions-nelson-mandela-health-scare" type="external">South Africans increasingly resigned to Mandela's fate</a></p>
<p>Mandela's "condition remains critical and is at times unstable," according to <a href="http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/pebble.asp?relid=16013" type="external">a statement</a>from the South African presidency, and he will continue receiving intensive care treatment at his suburban home in Johannesburg.</p>
<p>"His home has been reconfigured to allow him to receive intensive care there," the <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/09/01/nelson-mandela-south-africa/2752731/" type="external">statement said</a>. "The health care personnel providing care at his home are the very same who provided care to him in hospital. If there are health conditions that warrant another admission to hospital in future, this will be done."</p>
<p>However, doctors clearly think Mandela is strong enough to survive outside of a hospital setting.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130624/key-dates-the-life-nelson-mandela" type="external">Key dates in the life of Nelson Mandela</a></p>
<p>And it's striking news after months of uncertainty and alarm over the health of South Africa's beloved leader. At several points, it appeared he was near death.</p>
<p>There was <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/01/world/africa/nelson-mandela-hospital-release/" type="external">some confusion</a> Saturday when two sources close to Mandela said he had returned home, only to be contradicted by the president's office, which stressed that he was still hospitalized.</p>
<p>The frail icon has not appeared in public for years, and was admitted to the hospital June 8 for the fourth time in the past two years.</p>
<p>His history of lung problems stems from his 27-year imprisonment on Robben Island. Mandela became South Africa's <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/01/world/africa/nelson-mandela-hospital-release/" type="external">first black president</a> in 1994, four years after his release from prison.</p> | Nelson Mandela out of the hospital, presidency says | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-09-01/nelson-mandela-out-hospital-presidency-says | 2013-09-01 | 3 |
<p>Aug. 23 (UPI) — Center fielder Christian Yelich made an incredible catch to rob a home run in the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Miami-Marlins/" type="external">Miami Marlins</a>‘ 7-4 victory Tuesday against the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Philadelphia-Phillies/" type="external">Philadelphia Phillies</a>.</p>
<p>Yelich, 25, had a fantastic night at the plate, but his catch might have been his best play overall. The Marlins beat the Phillies 12-8 in the first game of the doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park. In the fifth inning of the second contest, Phillies center fielder <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Nick_Williams/" type="external">Nick Williams</a> stepped in to battle Marlins righty José Ureña. The lefty swung at the first pitch and belted it toward center.</p>
<p>Yelich tracked the strongly-hit ball and jumped at the wall. He ended up barely hanging onto the ball for the out, saving a home run. Yelich brought the ball down with his palm and the upper half of his glove closed.</p>
<p>Williams hit a home run in the fourth frame of the loss. Yelich was 1-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored in the victory. He hit a two-run home run in the top of the second inning. In the first game of the doubleheader, Yelich went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored. He had two doubles in that victory.</p>
<p>Marlins All-Star Giancarlo Stanton, who leads baseball with 46 home runs, also made a crazy catch in the first contest. His grab came in the seventh frame. On that play, the right fielder sprinted to his left before diving and robbing Cameron Perkins of a possible double.</p>
<p>“I’ve been robbed a few times, so I know that feeling on the other end,” <a href="http://m.marlins.mlb.com/news/article/250094946/yelich-stanton-thrive-in-win-over-phillies/" type="external">Yelich told MLB.com.</a> “It [stinks]. Terrible feeling. It’s cool to rob one. [It] keeps a run off the board, and it helped us out right there.”</p>
<p>“The ball was carrying pretty good today here, so I saw it off the bat and knew I had to get back there and kind of see if you’re going to have a chance at it or not. Got back there in time and was able to jump, and it almost popped out.”</p>
<p>Miami is now 62-62 on the season, but still sits 13.5 games behind the division-leading Washington Nationals in the National League East.</p>
<p>“You can’t really talk about anything, really, if you can’t get to [.500],” manager <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Don_Mattingly/" type="external">Don Mattingly</a> told <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-marlins/fl-sp-marlins-phillies-tues-20170822-story.html" type="external">reporters after the game</a>, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “We’ll see where we go.”</p> | Miami Marlins' Christian Yelich steals home run with sensational snare | false | https://newsline.com/miami-marlins039-christian-yelich-steals-home-run-with-sensational-snare/ | 2017-08-23 | 1 |
<p>OH the irony! Women working for Elizabeth Warren make a lot less than men. Warren is even behind the national average by over 10%. According to labor statistics, Women made 79% of what men did nationally in 2016. Women only get paid 71% of a man’s salary if they work for Elizabeth Warren. The average yearly earnings for female staffers working for Warren was $52,750, while men averaged 73,750, according to the analysis of publicly available Senate data. Women make $20,000 less than men every year in Warren’s world.</p>
<p>Further research shows that only one woman on Warren’s entire staff made a 6 digit income. Warren’s director of scheduling earned $100,624.88 in 2016. There are no shortage of men that make over $100,000 a year working for Elizabeth Warren. Warren’s director of oversight and investigations made $156,000, legislative director $149,458, deputy chief of staff $119,375, Massachusetts state director $152,310, and last but not least, deputy state director $113,750.</p>
<p />
<p>The last time the National gender paygap was comparable to Elizabeth Warren’s paygap was in 1995. Warren is far from the only politician who pays women less than men. Hillary Clinton, paid women less than men first as a senator, then as secretary of state, and as a presidential candidate.</p>
<p />
<p>Oh the irony!</p> | W.ar O.n W.omen: Elizabeth Warren Pays Female Employees LESS Than Male Employees | true | https://freedomfirst.news/2017/04/07/w-ar-o-n-w-omen-elizabeth-warren-pays-female-employees-less-than-male-employees/ | 2017-04-07 | 0 |
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<p>Charles Davlin, 21, was shot and killed at about 1:40 a.m. Sunday, Los Lunas police Sgt. Frank Lucero said.</p>
<p>Police are searching for two men and two women who are between 18 and 25 years old who were possibly in the vehicle that shots were fired from.</p>
<p>Davlin and several of his friends got into an argument with a group of people at the Allsup’s store near Highway 314 early Sunday morning. When Davlin and his friends drove from the store, they realized they were being followed by the people they had an altercation with, Lucero said.</p>
<p>The victims drove around Carson Park and drove southbound on Carson when they heard gunshots and the back window shattered.</p>
<p>They continued to drive their car before they parked near First Baptist Church on Los Lentes where the victims noticed Davlin had been shot and killed, Lucero said.</p>
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<p>Lucero said police are searching for a tan or sand colored 1990s model Ford or Chevy SUV. The victims said the suspects were two men and two women who appeared to be 18 to 25 years old, Lucero said.</p>
<p>Lucero said police may eventually be able to gather evidence from Allsup’s, which possibly has video surveillance recordings of the suspects or their vehicle. But Lucero said employees at the Los Lunas store referred police to their corporate headquarters, which was closed on Sunday.</p>
<p>“It’s possible we see one of the suspects or the vehicle,” Lucero said.</p>
<p>An employee who answered the phone at the Los Lunas Allsup’s on Sunday evening said no one at the store could comment.</p>
<p>Lucero said anyone with information about the crime can call at 839-3855 or 865-9130. The Los Lunas Police Department also accepts anonymous tips on its website, and by text message to 274637 with “LLPD” as the keyword.</p> | Los Lunas police investigate shooting death of 21 year old | false | https://abqjournal.com/428703/los-lunas-police-investigate-shooting-death-of-21-year-old.html | 2 |
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