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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A crash on Wednesday, near Williamsburg, left one man dead and a woman hospitalized, according to a New Mexico State Police spokesman.</p>
<p>Officer Carl Christiansen said 75-year-old Lorenzo Castillo, of Belen, died when the car he was traveling in flipped on Interstate 25, near mile post 65, around noon.</p>
<p>He said the driver, Gloria Castillo, 74 was airlifted to a hospital.</p>
<p>“She lost control of her 2010 Nissan Truck, entered the median and overturned,” Christiansen said. “Mr. Castillo was unrestrained at the time of the crash, he subsequently ejected from the vehicle and sustained fatal injuries.”</p>
<p>Lorenzo Castillo was pronounced dead at the scene. Police have not released the condition of Gloria Castillo</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Highway crash leaves one dead, police say | false | https://abqjournal.com/1073494/highway-crash-leaves-one-dead-police-say.html | 2 |
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<p>BERLIN — A court in German on Monday postponed its ruling in a case brought against Facebook by a Syrian refugee who wanted the social media giant to seek and delete posts falsely linking him to crimes committed by migrants.</p>
<p>Anas Modamani was one of several asylum-seekers who took a selfie with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2015, at the height of the refugee crisis that brought large numbers of newcomers to Europe.</p>
<p>The selfies started appearing in anti-migrant Facebook posts following high-profile crimes within Germany that had migrants identified as the perpetrators.</p>
<p>In one of the two types of posts, Modamani was identified as one of several migrant youths who tried to set fire to a homeless man at a Berlin subway station in December. In the other, Modamani and Merkel appear in a photo montage with the truck used to attack a Christmas market in the city.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The original posts have since been removed because they breached German privacy laws. But Modamani is seeking an injunction that would force Facebook to actively identify and remove such posts, rather than wait for users to flag them.</p>
<p>A state court in the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg, where his lawyer, Chan-jo Jun, is based, adjourned the case Monday.</p>
<p>The dpa news agency reported that the court planned to issue a ruling on March 7, if the parties do not reach an out-of-court settlement by then.</p> | German court delays ruling in refugee’s Facebook lawsuit | false | https://abqjournal.com/943451/germany-merkel-selfie-refugee-seeks-facebook-injunction.html | 2017-02-06 | 2 |
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<p>Ricardo Martinez is escorted into court for the start of his double-murder trial in Santa Fe Tuesday. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>That’s how prosecutors described their case against Martinez, 22, as his double-homicide case got underway Tuesday. But Martinez’s defense attorney says his client had nothing to do with the killings and that he only fled from Santa Fe to Colorado after being named as a suspect, to wait there while the situation in Santa Fe calmed down.</p>
<p>Martinez allegedly carried out the execution-style slayings of Cisneros, 18, and Ojeda on Oct. 24, 2014, on East Ramada Way in the Valle Vista subdivision south of Santa Fe. Ojeda, who at the time was reported missing by her father, was shot once in the back of her head, and Cisneros died of three shots, also to the head. Martinez is believed to have been sitting in the back seat and shot Ojeda first. Both victims were found with their seat belts on.</p>
<p>Martinez’s trial in state District Court is expected to last three weeks with testimony from more than 100 witnesses. Assistant District Attorney Todd Bullion said in opening arguments Cisneros owed Martinez money for cocaine. “This is something that was planned, premeditated and carried out,” Bullion said of the killing of Cisneros.</p>
<p>He added: “There was no reason (Martinez) would kill AnaMarie. AnaMarie didn’t owe him money. He kills her because she could have been a witness.”</p>
<p>Bullion also said that Martinez’s uncle, Melicendro Martinez, acted as the getaway driver. U.S. marshals and Santa Fe County deputies arrested Martinez in a Colorado Springs apartment about three weeks later. Melicendro Martinez was arrested at the same time, for a probation violation in an unrelated 2009 Albuquerque case. Melicendro Martinez isn’t charged in the murders but is expected to testify.</p>
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<p>Bullion said Ricardo Martinez admitted to Santa Fe County Detective David Jaramillo that he fled to Colorado because of the murders. But defense attorney Mark Earnest said during his opening statement that Ricardo and Melicendro were visiting family in Colorado and said it was Melicendro’s idea to go there. “He never said they participated in these murders,” Earnest said. “Ricky wanted to go until things died down around here.”</p>
<p>Bullion also said in court that Ricardo told fellow county jail inmate Joseph Montoya while awaiting trial that he killed Cisneros because he owed him money and that Melicendro Martinez was the getaway driver. Montoya also is expected to testify, but defense attorney Earnest said Montoya was an “opportunist” because he’s currently facing three felonies in Albuquerque and had his lawyer contact prosecutors here just to strike a deal.</p>
<p>Monday’s proceedings included testimony from several Santa Fe County deputies. Jurors were also shown lapel camera footage and photos of the crime scene, which showed Cisneros and Ojeda slumped over in the Toyota Corolla with blood on their bodies and inside the car.</p>
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<p /> | Trial starts in execution-style killings of teens near Santa Fe | false | https://abqjournal.com/929800/trial-starts-over-execution-style-slayings-of-two-teens-south-of-santa-fe.html | 2017-01-17 | 2 |
<p>TAIPEI&#160;— The trial of former president Chen Shui-bian hasn't even begun. But as far as the media and many Taiwanese here are concerned, the verdict is already "guilty."</p>
<p>The pro-independence Chen long riled Beijing and Washington with his full-throated defense of Taiwan's autonomy. Now, he's facing a pack of corruption charges that could put him in jail for life.</p>
<p>In a region where there's a wide perception that government officials are above the law (China) or simply ignore it (the Philippines), that's an encouraging sign. Democratic Taiwan is holding its top leaders to account.</p>
<p>But the case has turned into a media circus in which Chen is being tried in the court of public opinion. The island's paparazzi-style media are hounding his family, and TV stations are playing the story like a soap opera — think "Dynasty" meets "Law and Order" — while hyping every twist and turn.</p>
<p>All of this has some wondering if Taiwan's media and judiciary are giving Chen a fair shake.</p>
<p>"He hasn't been found guilty yet, but the media wants to tell their audience he is," said Connie Lin, a former TV journalist and now media expert at Hungkuang University in central Taiwan. "It's not healthy for Taiwan's democracy."</p>
<p>To be sure, Chen is deeply unpopular. He's been abandoned even by many of his former supporters. For them, his public admissions are damning enough. Chen has said his wife, Wu Shu-chen, wired some $20 million to the family's overseas accounts, and he apologized for not reporting the money.</p>
<p>But Chen insists the amount was leftover campaign contributions, which he's allowed to keep under Taiwanese law.</p>
<p>Many Taiwanese simply don't buy that. Neither do prosecutors. They charged him and family members with embezzling state funds, accepting bribes and laundering ill-gotten millions abroad.</p>
<p>Chen pleaded not guilty in a pre-trial hearing on Jan. 19, and remains in detention. The next court date is Feb. 24.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Wu, also a suspect, has failed to show up for 17 court appearances, claiming poor health. That excuse doesn't sit well with most Taiwanese. This week her own lawyer quit, a week before she's due in court again.</p>
<p>The scandal has sucked in Chen's children. His son,&#160;Chen Chih-chung, recently admitted wrongdoing in connection with sending funds abroad, and has turned state's witness against his own parents.</p>
<p>Chen's daughter,&#160;Chen Hsin-yu, has not been charged. But the media has mercilessly badgered her nonetheless. She's become something of a laughing-stock in Taiwan for her screeching tantrums, directed at TV reporters who shadow her every move.</p>
<p>The latest outburst came Monday in New York City, which she's now visiting to take a dentistry test. After being followed by TV cameras to her hotel, restaurants and through Manhattan's streets, Chen Hsin-yu snapped — screaming at reporters in Chinese, as amused and puzzled New Yorkers looked on:</p>
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<p>&#160; "The media feels they have the power to supervise the whole case, and make sure no one escapes," explained a friend who works in Taiwan's television media. "They think the whole family is guilty, so how can you let her leave the country? They think the audience has the right to know what she's doing in New York City."</p>
<p>Cynical TV commentators and legislators suspect Chen Hsin-yu may be in New York to deal with the family's accounts. And they complain that prosecutors aren't moving against the family quickly enough.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, some observers are questioning the judiciary's impartiality. In three open letters <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/01/21/2003434326" type="external">(read the latest one here)</a>, a group of foreign scholars criticized Chen's detention before being charged, the mid-case swapping of a judicial panel to one seen as less sympathetic to Chen, ongoing leaks about the case, and a skit — performed for a gathering of judicial officials&#160;— in which prosecutors publicly mocked Chen.</p>
<p>But Taiwan's government has defended the courts' integrity, saying such criticisms reflect a "misunderstanding" of Taiwan's judicial system.</p>
<p>In Sanchong City, a working-class Taipei suburb that's a stronghold of support for Chen's party, residents said the case was overblown.</p>
<p>Whiling away a sunny afternoon on a park bench, retirees Chou Tu-sheng, 75, and Li Wu-tsai, 85, said Chen's alleged corruption paled next to that of the Kuomintang autocrats who ruled Taiwan before him. "He took some money, but not nearly as much as the KMT," said Chou.</p>
<p>Wu Cheng-hsien, 42, came over with his two daughters, 12 and 4, after overhearing the conversation. Wu used to drive a delivery truck, but hasn't found work since last summer. He said Taiwan should focus on fixing the economy, not Chen's alleged misdeeds.</p>
<p>"Keeping all of that money was immoral," said Wu. "But why is the media attacking Chen every day? If he's proven guilty, then we should deal with that. But we have bigger problems. Some people now don't have enough to eat."</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Working on the Chen gang | false | https://pri.org/stories/2009-02-03/working-chen-gang | 2009-02-03 | 3 |
<p>McDonald's is recalling a Hello Kitty-themed whistle given to children in Happy Meals, citing a chance they could choke on some of its parts.</p>
<p>The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Monday that two children have reportedly coughed out pieces of the whistle that they had sucked into their mouths, including one child who received medical attention.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The safety agency said that parts of the three-inch tall "Hello Kitty Birthday Lollipop" whistle can detach and be inhaled, posing a risk to small children.</p>
<p>McDonald's handed out about 2.3 million of these whistles in the U.S. and 200,000 in Canada from October through November in Happy Meals and Mighty Kids Meals.</p>
<p>Consumers should return the whistle to any McDonald's for a free replacement toy.</p> | McDonald's recalls Hello Kitty-themed whistle due to choking risk | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/11/10/mcdonald-recalls-hello-kitty-themed-whistle-due-to-choking-risk.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>Today, 52 members of Congress — Democrats and Republicans — stood together to call on leaders in Washington to stop fighting and start fixing. Check out the photo of these courageous members:</p>
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<p>These 52 members showed up for America:&#160;Rep. Ron Barber (D-AZ); Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY); Rep. John Barrow (D-GA); Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA); Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA); Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL); Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-CA); Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX); Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI); Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO); Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN); Rep. Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA); Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX); Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA); Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA); Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA); Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI); Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA); Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA); Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI); Rep. Joe Garcia (D-FL); Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY); Rep. Tim Griffin (R-AR); Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS); Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH); Rep. David Joyce (R-OH); Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL); Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ); Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL); Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-IA); Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA); Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY); Rep. Pat Meehan (R-PA); Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC); Rep. Mike Michaud (D-ME); Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC); Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-FL); Rep. Bill Owens (D-NY); Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA); Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA); Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI); Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC); Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL); Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY); Rep. Reid Ribble (R-WI); Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ); Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR); Rep. Krysten Sinema (D-AZ); Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH); Rep. GT Thompson (R-PA); Rep. David Valadao (R-CA); Rep. Todd Young (R-IN)</p>
<p>Was your representative there?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Don’t miss the whole event — watch it below:</p>
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<p /> | Democrats and Republicans Stand United | false | https://nolabels.org/blog/democrats-and-republicans-stand-united/ | 2013-10-10 | 2 |
<p>Kuvee CEO Vijay Manwani on the company's smart bottle to keep wine fresh.</p>
<p>Wine drinkers can sip slowly thanks to a new hi-tech bottle that keeps the beverage fresh for up to 30 days.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>“The Kuvée bottle lets you put in any of these capsules and pour it,” CEO and co-founder Vijay Manwani told the FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo.</p>
<p>“You don’t have to argue about drinking red or white on any night, you can have both of them.”</p>
<p>Manwani discussed how the wine is kept so fresh.</p>
<p>“There is a lining on the inside; As you pour the wine, the lining collapses on the wine and you never see oxidation.”</p>
<p>Manwani then explained how the idea for Kuvée came about.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>“I’m not a wine snob, I’m a wine geek. What that means is I’ve been collecting wine forever but I’ve also been a student of wine forever. And three years ago, I was taking a course and I was tasting a lot of wines blind and I was really frustrated by how quickly it would spoil.&#160;I realized if I could build a system where people could drink many wines on the same night with friends and compare notes that would be the fastest way to learn about wine.&#160;That was the inspiration for Kuvée,” Manwani said.</p>
<p>After that, he sought out funding and got the project off the ground.</p>
<p>“We went out and raised roughly $6 million and the project has been on for roughly two years,” said Manwani.</p>
<p>But it doesn’t end there; The system is also Wi-Fi connected.</p>
<p>“There is a benefit for the consumer that they can drink wine by the glass and there’s a benefit for the winemaker or the winery where they can tell a better story because it’s a better marketing platform,” Manwani said.</p>
<p>The information collected by the bottles could be valuable for the winemakers as well.</p>
<p>“They are starved for consumption data.&#160;They don’t have an understanding of the customer.&#160;So this is bringing them actually up to the Internet age where they can market to the customers better if they had a better understanding of what they were consuming,” said Manwani.</p>
<p>On the decision to price the product at $199, Manwani said, “We did some quantitative analysis on what pricing would be affordable.&#160;We were told to keep it under $200,” Manwani continued, “for people who have household incomes of about $100K to $125K, that would be a good price for them.”</p>
<p>Manwani also explained the differences in how red and white wines change once they are opened.</p>
<p>“I think red wine has more complexity, so it shows change faster and evolution faster, but it doesn’t necessarily spoil faster.&#160;When you put any wine in the fridge it keeps better.&#160;So, if you put your red wine in the fridge it will keep better.&#160;People don’t keep it [red] in the fridge because it takes longer to come to drinking temperature,” Manwani said.</p> | Toss the Cork: New Tech Keeps Wine Fresh for 30 Days | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/05/10/toss-cork-new-tech-keeps-wine-fresh-for-30-days.html | 2016-05-10 | 0 |
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<p>HOUSTON - The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review an appeal from a Texas death row inmate convicted of killing a Houston police officer more than 25 years ago.</p>
<p>The high court, without comment Tuesday, rejected the case of 58-year-old Robert Mitchell Jennings.</p>
<p>Jennings was condemned in 1989, a year after undercover Houston vice officer Elston Howard was gunned down during the arrest of a clerk at a Houston adult book store. Jennings coincidentally had walked into the store to hold up the place and evidence showed he shot Howard four times.</p>
<p>The shooting occurred two months after Jennings was paroled after serving 10 years of a 30-year prison term for aggravated robbery and burglary.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court in 2014 had returned Jennings' case to a lower federal court for review.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Convicted killer of Houston officer loses at Supreme Court | false | https://abqjournal.com/708426/convicted-killer-of-houston-officer-loses-at-supreme-court.html | 2 |
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<p>Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said he had grave doubts about the legitimacy of neighboring Ukraine's new leaders on Monday.</p>
<p>"If we consider government the people who were moving around Kiev wearing black masks and holding Kalashnikov machine guns, then it is going to be very difficult for us to work with such government," he said, according to Russian news agency <a href="http://lenta.ru/news/2014/02/24/medved/" type="external">Lenta.ru.</a></p>
<p>Some news agencies quoting Medvedev as saying that Ukraine's government had come to power as a result of “armed mutiny.”</p>
<p>His comments came just hours after Ukraine's interim leader Oleksander Turchinov announced that a <a href="" type="internal">new presidential election campaign would start this week</a> following the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych, a key Russian ally.</p>
<p>"We do not understand what is going on there," Medvedev told local news agencies. "There is a real threat to our interests and to the lives of our citizens. There are big doubts about the legitimacy of a whole series of organs of power that are now functioning there."</p>
<p>Medvedev said that any extension of a key gas agreement between the two nations would have to be negotiated between Ukrainian companies and the government.</p>
<p>"Those agreements which are legally binding must be fulfilled," he said, according to Interfax.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">A warrant for Yanukovych's arrest</a> along with several other officials was for the "mass killing of civilians," Interior Minister Arsen Avakhov said on his official Facebook page.</p>
<p>Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.</p> | Russia Doubts New Ukrainian Government’s Legitimacy | false | http://nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/russia-doubts-new-ukrainian-governments-legitimacy-n37106 | 2014-02-24 | 3 |
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) _ The winning numbers in Sunday evening’s drawing of the Dist. of Columbia Lottery’s “DC 5 Evening” game were:</p>
<p>9-8-4-2-6</p>
<p>(nine, eight, four, two, six)</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) _ The winning numbers in Sunday evening’s drawing of the Dist. of Columbia Lottery’s “DC 5 Evening” game were:</p>
<p>9-8-4-2-6</p>
<p>(nine, eight, four, two, six)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in ‘DC 5 Evening’ game | false | https://apnews.com/fe22ea57ed004b27819df08fce364d5c | 2018-01-01 | 2 |
<p>A photograph of Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s extremely awkward attempt to hug first daughter Ivanka Trump is prompting a flurry of hysterical memes and twitter reactions.</p>
<p>Ivanka Trump traveled to the Capitol on Tuesday for a meeting with lawmakers on child tax credits. Upon her arrival she was greeted by <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/338595-social-media-mocks-photo-of-rubio-ivanka-hug" type="external">Senator Rubio who attempted to hug Trump</a> in an almost robotic-like fashion. The moment was captured by Associated Press congressional reporter Erica Werner.</p>
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<p>Ivanka Trump <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4622494/Marco-Rubio-tries-Ivanka-Trump-hug-fails.html" type="external">appears to stand rigid and motionless</a> in anticipation of the unwarranted embrace, while Rubio’s approach seems goofy and awkward. The lack of video recording of the event does not do the pair any justice, but that didn’t stop anyone from taking to twitter to mock the interaction.</p>
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<p>Steven E. Johnson is a Mississippi-based author who covers social injustice and political issues for the Resistance Report. You can contact him at stevejlive at gmail dot com.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Photo Captures Rubio Awkwardly Hugging Ivanka And Twitter Is Having A Field Day | true | http://resistancereport.com/news/rubio-awkwardly-hugging-ivanka/ | 2017-06-20 | 4 |
<p>BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian insurgent groups launched a counteroffensive Thursday against government forces advancing toward a major rebel-held air base in the country’s northwest Idlib province, capturing several villages and taking prisoners, opposition groups said.</p>
<p>The push by several factions, including the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee, slowed the government offensive toward the Abu Zuhour air base that has been held by rebels since 2015.</p>
<p>Recapturing the air base has been a key government goal since late October and Syrian forces have captured some 160 villages since first launched the offensive. The operations also aim to secure the road linking the capital, Damascus, with Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.</p>
<p>The U.N.’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock, in Damascus, said he was “deeply worried” about civilians caught up in the violence in Idlib. The fighting has displaced an estimated 100,000 people who have fled north toward safer areas close to the border with Turkey.</p>
<p>Lowcock, on his first mission to Syria since his appointment last year, called for agreements to allow the U.N. and other relief organizations to reach 2.5 million Syrians in need of aid on a regular basis. They are Syrians in areas the U.N. classifies as “besieged” or “hard-to-reach.” The U.N. delivered aid to an average 7.5 million people each month last year.</p>
<p>The under-secretary-general said he was “particularly concerned about the fate of the besieged people of (Eastern) Ghouta,” a pocket of the opposition in the suburbs of Damascus. Government forces have waged a punishing aerial and artillery campaign on eastern Ghouta after rebels launched an attack on a nearby military base in November. The bombardment has killed 170 civilians over the last two weeks, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.</p>
<p>Attacks by Syrian and Russian forces on eastern Ghouta damaged or destroyed four schools and killed eight children in late October and early November 2017, according to a new report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch. Russia is a key military backer of President Bashar Assad.</p>
<p>“Syrian and Russian forces appear to view the lives of children in Eastern Ghouta as utterly disposable,” said Bill Van Esveld, senior children’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.</p>
<p>Government forces had largely beaten back the counter-offensive by militants in Idlib by evening Thursday, the Observatory reported. The government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media said troops repelled the assault and killed several militants in the fighting.</p>
<p>Idlib is the largest remaining territory in rebel hands, and its population is swollen with more than 1.1 million refugees who have fled fighting from other areas in Syria, according to the U.N.</p>
<p>A statement Thursday by the International Rescue Committee said it received hundreds of newly displaced people from the southeast of the province in the past few days, joining thousands who fled over the past month.</p>
<p>Many of the newly displaced brought only the belongings they could carry, the committee said, adding that one mother of two twin babies recounted the initial panic of fleeing the airstrikes. The woman was so frightened, she initially left one of her children behind.</p>
<p>“We couldn’t think properly. The fear affected our brains,” the IRC quoted her as saying. The baby was unharmed, she added.</p>
<p>The IRC said nearly two thirds of the displaced in Idlib are living in makeshift tents that are unable to withstand winter conditions while others live in abandoned or partially-build homes that have well water but no toilets.</p>
<p>The Aamaq media arm of the extremist Islamic State group reported Thursday that its fighters are clashing with Syrian troops on the eastern edges of Idlib, and released a video purporting to show four soldiers it claimed to have captured.</p>
<p>The Observatory confirmed insurgents have retaken several villages from government troops and said 11 pro-government fighters were captured. The Observatory’s chief Rami Abdurrahman said 16 insurgents were killed in the fighting but didn’t provide a figure for government casulaties.</p>
<p>At least 400,000 people have been killed and half of Syria’s population displaced since a violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in 2011 plunged the country into civil war.</p>
<p>Assad’s government says it is fighting a war on terror and describes itself is as a target of a U.S.-led international conspiracy. It says Western sanctions have crippled its economy. Lowcock, in Damascus, said he would like to see “more detailed evidence” about the claims, and said it would be topic of continued discussion with government officials. The U.S. Treasury Department says its sanctions against the Syrian government are in response to human rights abuses and state-sponsored terrorism.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria contributed to this report.</p>
<p>BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian insurgent groups launched a counteroffensive Thursday against government forces advancing toward a major rebel-held air base in the country’s northwest Idlib province, capturing several villages and taking prisoners, opposition groups said.</p>
<p>The push by several factions, including the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee, slowed the government offensive toward the Abu Zuhour air base that has been held by rebels since 2015.</p>
<p>Recapturing the air base has been a key government goal since late October and Syrian forces have captured some 160 villages since first launched the offensive. The operations also aim to secure the road linking the capital, Damascus, with Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.</p>
<p>The U.N.’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock, in Damascus, said he was “deeply worried” about civilians caught up in the violence in Idlib. The fighting has displaced an estimated 100,000 people who have fled north toward safer areas close to the border with Turkey.</p>
<p>Lowcock, on his first mission to Syria since his appointment last year, called for agreements to allow the U.N. and other relief organizations to reach 2.5 million Syrians in need of aid on a regular basis. They are Syrians in areas the U.N. classifies as “besieged” or “hard-to-reach.” The U.N. delivered aid to an average 7.5 million people each month last year.</p>
<p>The under-secretary-general said he was “particularly concerned about the fate of the besieged people of (Eastern) Ghouta,” a pocket of the opposition in the suburbs of Damascus. Government forces have waged a punishing aerial and artillery campaign on eastern Ghouta after rebels launched an attack on a nearby military base in November. The bombardment has killed 170 civilians over the last two weeks, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.</p>
<p>Attacks by Syrian and Russian forces on eastern Ghouta damaged or destroyed four schools and killed eight children in late October and early November 2017, according to a new report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch. Russia is a key military backer of President Bashar Assad.</p>
<p>“Syrian and Russian forces appear to view the lives of children in Eastern Ghouta as utterly disposable,” said Bill Van Esveld, senior children’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.</p>
<p>Government forces had largely beaten back the counter-offensive by militants in Idlib by evening Thursday, the Observatory reported. The government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media said troops repelled the assault and killed several militants in the fighting.</p>
<p>Idlib is the largest remaining territory in rebel hands, and its population is swollen with more than 1.1 million refugees who have fled fighting from other areas in Syria, according to the U.N.</p>
<p>A statement Thursday by the International Rescue Committee said it received hundreds of newly displaced people from the southeast of the province in the past few days, joining thousands who fled over the past month.</p>
<p>Many of the newly displaced brought only the belongings they could carry, the committee said, adding that one mother of two twin babies recounted the initial panic of fleeing the airstrikes. The woman was so frightened, she initially left one of her children behind.</p>
<p>“We couldn’t think properly. The fear affected our brains,” the IRC quoted her as saying. The baby was unharmed, she added.</p>
<p>The IRC said nearly two thirds of the displaced in Idlib are living in makeshift tents that are unable to withstand winter conditions while others live in abandoned or partially-build homes that have well water but no toilets.</p>
<p>The Aamaq media arm of the extremist Islamic State group reported Thursday that its fighters are clashing with Syrian troops on the eastern edges of Idlib, and released a video purporting to show four soldiers it claimed to have captured.</p>
<p>The Observatory confirmed insurgents have retaken several villages from government troops and said 11 pro-government fighters were captured. The Observatory’s chief Rami Abdurrahman said 16 insurgents were killed in the fighting but didn’t provide a figure for government casulaties.</p>
<p>At least 400,000 people have been killed and half of Syria’s population displaced since a violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in 2011 plunged the country into civil war.</p>
<p>Assad’s government says it is fighting a war on terror and describes itself is as a target of a U.S.-led international conspiracy. It says Western sanctions have crippled its economy. Lowcock, in Damascus, said he would like to see “more detailed evidence” about the claims, and said it would be topic of continued discussion with government officials. The U.S. Treasury Department says its sanctions against the Syrian government are in response to human rights abuses and state-sponsored terrorism.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria contributed to this report.</p> | Syrian insurgents in counteroffensive in northwestern area | false | https://apnews.com/6b441bc2809945239804b53af7ddf3cb | 2018-01-11 | 2 |
<p>It must be the smallest Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories: just half a house. But Palestinian officials and Israeli human rights groups are concerned that it represents the first stage of a plan to eradicate the historical neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, cutting off one of the main routes by which Palestinians reach the Old City and its holy sites.</p>
<p>The home of Mohammed and Fawziya Khurd has been split in two since 1999 when the Israeli courts evicted their grown-up son Raed from a wing of the property. The elderly couple have been trying to regain possession, but were stymied last week when an Israeli high court backed the petition of a group of settlers and ordered the immediate eviction of the Khurds. The decision paves the way for the takeover of 26 multi-storey houses in the neighbourhood, threatening to make 500 Palestinians homeless.</p>
<p>The verdict has been denounced by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and in the past few days the Khurds have been visited by foreign diplomats, including from the United States.</p>
<p>In a letter to consulates in Jerusalem, including those of the United States, Britain, France and Germany, Rafiq Husseini, Mr Abbas’s aide, warned that the takeover of the Khurds’ home was part of a wider drive to change the geography of Jerusalem by forcing out Palestinians and replacing them with Israeli settlers. Such a development would deal a death blow to already-strained peace negotiations, he wrote.</p>
<p>Today there are 250,000 Israeli Jews living illegally in East Jerusalem, and the Israeli government has announced that thousands more apartments are to be built – despite promises to the US government to freeze settlement growth.</p>
<p>Israeli human rights groups and Palestinian solidarity activists, meanwhile, have been staging a 24hour vigil at the Khurds’ home in the hope of preventing the order’s enforcement.</p>
<p>According to Meir Margalit, an analyst on Israeli policies in Jerusalem, the Sheikh Jarrah evictions are part of a much bigger goal being pursued by shadowy settler groups, backed by the Israeli government, to establish wedges of Jewish settlement around the Old City and secure it for any future peace agreement.</p>
<p>“The settlers have submitted a plan to the Jerusalem municipality seeking the demolition of Sheikh Jarrah’s Palestinian homes to make way for the building of 200 apartments for settlers,” he said. “They have chosen one of the most sensitive sites in East Jerusalem: it’s full of Palestinian political and cultural institutions. Its takeover would contribute significantly to the encirclement of the Old City.”</p>
<p>The Khurds and other Palestinian families have been living in Sheikh Jarrah since the mid-1950s, when the Jordanian government and the United Nations allocated them land as refugees. All had been forced out of areas that became Israel in 1948.</p>
<p>After Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967, however, the settler organisations began pressing their claims to former Jewish homes. A religious organisation, the Sephardi Jewry Association, says it purchased Sheikh Jarrah’s lands in the 19th century. The families’ lawyers, on the other hand, say the land belongs to the Darwish family. The courts have been unable to authenticate the documents, which date to a murky period of land dealings.</p>
<p>Until last week’s decision, the courts had decided that the Palestinian residents should be allowed to stay in their homes as “protected tenants” until ownership could be determined. However, the courts insisted that the families pay rent to a trust set up in case they found in favour of the Sephardi Association at a later date.</p>
<p>The families argue that, under the terms of the deal with the Jordanian government and United Nations, they were entitled to ownership of the properties after 30 years. The eviction order against the Khurds is believed to have been issued after Mohammed Khurd, 55 and bedridden, was unable to keep up his payments.</p>
<p>The Khurds say they have faced constant pressure since settlers moved in next door. “At first we were offered a lot of money to leave,” said Mrs Khurd, 62. “When we refused, the settlers started making our lives a hell. The family next door changes every few months to make it difficult for us to start legal proceedings.</p>
<p>“Armed Israeli guards have been posted on the path to our house and there are a network of surveillance cameras to watch our every move. Armed settlers have broken into the house, pointing their guns at us.</p>
<p>“The family next door makes noise through the night to disturb us, and brings large parties of settler children to play on our shared balcony as though they were on a school outing. We have even seen them put up posters of Palestinians and encourage their children to shoot at them with toy guns.”</p>
<p>Rabbi Arik Ascherman, director of Rabbis for Human Rights, which has taken a keen interest in the case since 2001, says official policy towards the Khurds reveals a double standard. “In claiming back what they say are Jewish properties from before 1948, the settlers are opening up a Pandora’s box. Before 1948, Fawziya’s family was from Talbieh, now in West Jerusalem, and her husband Mohammed’s family lived in Jaffa, next to Tel Aviv. Do the settlers want these refugees making similar claims for the return of their old properties in Israel?”</p>
<p>The Palestinian Authority has pointed out to the foreign consulates that nearly two-thirds of the land in West Jerusalem was owned by Palestinians before 1948. Human rights groups also note that it is against international law to change the legal status of occupied land. None of the consulates has responded officially, although they have made visits to the area.</p>
<p>Behind the settler families is an organisation known as Nakhalat Shimon, founded by Benny Elon, a former cabinet minister and leader of the Moledet Party, which seeks the expulsion of Palestinians. He recently stated: “ Building Jewish neighbourhoods next to open areas [in Jerusalem] will prevent invasion and illegal construction by Palestinians who live near the Old City.”</p>
<p>The settlers have recruited a large number of religious supporters because they claim a cave in Sheikh Jarrah as the resting place of a famous rabbi from 2,000 year ago.</p>
<p>The Khurds are far from alone in their plight. Twenty-five homes are under similar threat. Maher Hanoun, his three brothers and their families were forced out of their large home in 2002 when settler groups brought an action against them. The courts overturned the order in 2006. “My home was boarded up for four years while the courts decided who owned the land. So far the judges have not reached a decision, but the verdict against the Khurds puts all of us at risk again,” he said.</p>
<p>Mr Margalit points out that the Khurd case is just one of several fronts being pursued by extremist Jewish organisations keen to settle Sheikh Jarrah.</p>
<p>Israeli officials have been leasing an olive grove belonging to the Arab Hotels Co. to a settler group called Ateret Cohanim in a deal the local Haaretz newspaper recently termed “underhand”. Together with a right-wing US Jewish millionaire, Irving Moskowitz, who has bought the Shepherd’s Hotel on nearby Mount Scopus, the settlers hope to build 250 flats on the grove.</p>
<p>“For the settlers, Sheikh Jarrah is the link they need between the western half of the city and neighbouring Mount Scopus. Although they seem to be acting on their own initiative in this case, they are in fact doing the dirty work of the government.”</p>
<p>The settlers next to the Khurds refused to comment. However, a friend, Shira Ganz, 32, an immigrant from Ukraine who has been squatting in an empty Palestinian home nearby with her husband and three young children, said the families were committed to living in Sheikh Jarrah. “It’s written in the Bible that we have a right to everywhere in this land, and here we are only minutes from the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. We are not frightened of living next to the Palestinians. If we were, we would leave the promised land and move to Britain or the US.</p>
<p>JONATHAN COOK is a journalist and writer based in Nazareth, Israel. His latest book, “ <a href="" type="internal">Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East</a>“, is published by Pluto Press. His website is <a href="http://www.jkcook.net/" type="external">www.jkcook.net</a></p>
<p>This article originally appeared in The National ( <a href="http://www.thenational.ae" type="external">http://www.thenational.ae</a>), published in Abu Dhabi.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Settlers Eye Historic Jerusalem Neighborhood | true | https://counterpunch.org/2008/07/26/settlers-eye-historic-jerusalem-neighborhood/ | 2008-07-26 | 4 |
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<p>BLUFFTON, S.C. — Scientists have confirmed a pair of bats found in some woods in Beaufort County is from a species usually found in the mountains.</p>
<p>The Island Packet of Hilton Head reported ( <a href="http://bit.ly/2kaFex2)" type="external">http://bit.ly/2kaFex2)</a> that a lab at Northern Arizona University has confirmed the bats found in Bluffton are northern long-eared bats.</p>
<p>The bats were captured by members of the Palmetto Bluff Conservancy late last year.</p>
<p>U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Morgan Wolf said the bats have historically been considered cave-dwellers. They have been vulnerable to a deadly disease called white-nose syndrome. The disease is caused by a fungus that grows in caves and has killed millions of bats across North America.</p>
<p>Officials don’t know how the bats ended up on the coast but may devote more study to the question.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Island Packet, <a href="http://www.islandpacket.com" type="external">http://www.islandpacket.com</a></p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 2 mountain bats found living in Beaufort County | false | https://abqjournal.com/934468/2-mountain-bats-found-living-in-beaufort-county.html | 2 |
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<p>Henderson Land Development Co. (0012.HK) has appointed Fung Hau Chung as chief financial officer effective Aug. 1.</p>
<p>The blue-chip developer said late Thursday that Mr. Fung had served as the executive director and the head of global banking and markets at Hang Seng Bank Ltd. (0011.HK) before stepping down from the posts this month.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Write to Joanne Chiu at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>July 20, 2017 05:04 ET (09:04 GMT)</p> | Henderson Land Names Fung Hau Chung as CFO Effective August 1 | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/07/20/henderson-land-names-fung-hau-chung-as-cfo-effective-august-1.html | 2017-07-20 | 0 |
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<p>The 21st century so far has been a blur of one disruptive financial event after another. The bursting of the dot-com bubble. 9/11. The real estate collapse. Oil prices nearing $150 a barrel. The financial crisis. The Great Recession. Disappearing saving account rates. A sudden plunge in gold prices. It's no wonder people have so much trouble thinking ahead to the future, when the present is continually challenging.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>However, failing to <a href="http://www.savingsaccounts.com/money/savings-account/short-term-and-long-term-savings.html?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-173437310" type="external">plan for the future Opens a New Window.</a> can eventually bring on a crisis of its own. A study by the Pew Charitable Trusts projects that the typical late-baby-boomer is saving enough to replace just 60 percent of pre-retirement income; the typical generation-Xer is on track to retire on just half of pre-retirement income.</p>
<p>Even with so much demanding your attention in day-to-day life, it is important to keep one eye on the future.</p>
<p>5 ways to keep long-term savings on track</p>
<p>Despite a disruptive and fast-changing environment, here are five ways you can keep your <a href="http://www.savingsaccounts.com/money/savings-account/habits-of-highly-effective-savers.html?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-173437310" type="external">long-term saving Opens a New Window.</a> on track:</p>
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<p>The older you get, the more you realize how closely the present and the future are linked. You can have the most positive impact on that future if you make it part of how you think about the present at all times.</p>
<p>The original article can be found at SavingsAccounts.com: <a href="http://www.savingsaccounts.com/money/savings-account/how-to-keep-long-term-savings-on-track.html?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-173437310" type="external">5 ways to keep long-term savings on track Opens a New Window.</a></p> | 5 Ways to Keep Long-Term Savings on Track | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/07/18/5-ways-to-keep-long-term-savings-on-track.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>The avid Hillary-supporters at MSNBC, who recently agreed on air that the <a href="" type="internal">Clintons are “brilliant,”</a> just covered up for the Clinton machine again—and in egregious fashion.</p>
<p>As seen in the video below, MSNBC originally aired a clip of Bill Clinton being asked numerous times by reporter Kerry Picket about the reemergence of Juanita Broaddrick, a woman who <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/264988-bill-clinton-rape-accuser-hillary-tried-to-silence-me" type="external">claims to have been raped by the former president</a>, on Thursday in Iowa while stumping for his wife. The network then re-aired the footage two more times but kindly cut out this exchange (roughly 10 seconds) at the exact time Picket began to ask questions concerning the alleged rape victim. How convenient.</p>
<p><a href="http://freebeacon.com/politics/msnbc-edits-out-footage-of-bill-clinton-being-asked-about-juanita-broaddrick/" type="external">Per</a> the Free Beacon:</p>
<p>In an article entitled “Bill Clinton Avoids Reporter’s Question About Reemergence of Juanita Broaddrick,” the Daily Caller posted the full video of the exchange that played on MSNBC at 2:29 ET. Clinton answered NBC reporter Kristen Welker’s questions, which did not mention Broaddrick, about the effect of his past on his wife’s campaign, but Clinton ignored Picket’s queries regarding Broaddrick.</p>
<p>However, when MSNBC re-aired Welker’s package in the following hour, Picket’s questions about Broaddrick are skipped over. Only Welker’s are shown. The same segment was repeated once again during the 4 p.m. hour, again without Picket’s questions.</p>
<p>After Hillary Clinton declared that all sexual assault victims should be heard and believed, and accused Donald Trump of having a “ <a href="" type="internal">penchant for sexism</a>,” questions about Bill’s troubling past and Hillary’s enabling and silencing have come into play.</p>
<p>As The Daily Wire <a href="" type="internal">previously reported</a>, the Democratic presidential candidate was asked in a New Hampshire town hall event if women who have been assaulted by her husband should be believed too:</p>
<p>“You say that all rape victims should be believed, but you say that about Juanita Broderick, Kathleen Wiley, and/or Paula Jones? Should we believe them, as well?" asked the audience member.</p>
<p>Clinton answered, “Well, I would say that everybody should be believed at first until they are disbelieved based on evidence.”</p>
<p>At another New Hampshire event, an audience member and victim of rape herself confronted the former secretary of state about her husband’s history of alleged sexual assault, to which Hillary silenced her and told her she was “ <a href="" type="internal">very rude</a>.”</p>
<p>Furthermore, Broaddrick has recently taken to social media to re-expose the Clintons.</p>
<p>“I was 35 years old when Bill Clinton, Ark. Attorney General raped me and Hillary tried to silence me. I am now 73....it never goes away,” wrote Broaddrick on Twitter.</p>
<p>I was 35 years old when Bill Clinton, Ark. Attorney General raped me and Hillary tried to silence me. I am now 73....it never goes away.</p>
<p>Broaddrick also expressed how she was “dreading” to see her “abuser on tv campaign for enabler wife.”</p>
<p>Was dreading seeing my abuser on tv campaign trail for enabler wife......but his physical appearance reflects ghosts of past are catching up</p>
<p>There is only so much covering up the Clinton-allies in the mainstream media can do to shield the public from the troubling past of the Clintons.</p> | A Reporter Asked Bill Clinton About Juanita Broaddrick. So MSNBC Cut It Out. | true | https://dailywire.com/news/2461/reporter-asked-bill-clinton-about-juanita-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2016-01-08 | 0 |
<p>BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Jermaine Crumpton tossed in 20 points and Jonathan Sanks came off the bench to score 12, including 1 of 2 free throws with 39 seconds left, to lift Canisius to a 77-76 victory over Rider on Friday in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener.</p>
<p>Rider led 74-73 after Frederick Scott hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1:34 remaining in the game. But Crumpton scored on a scoop shot, was fouled and hit the free throw to put the Golden Griffins up 76-74. Demencio Vaughn nailed a pair of free throws with 1:06 left to knot the score at 76. Sanks hit the front end of a one-and-one for the winner. Anthony Durham missed a 15-footer at the buzzer for the Broncs.</p>
<p>Takal Molson finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds and Isaiah Reese scored 15 with eight assists for the Golden Griffins (7-7), who picked up their third straight win.</p>
<p>Scott came off the bench to score 19, including 17 in the second half, with 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season for the Broncs (7-6). Tyere Marshall also added his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Vaughn had 16 points and Stevie Jordan added 10 points and seven assists.</p>
<p>BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Jermaine Crumpton tossed in 20 points and Jonathan Sanks came off the bench to score 12, including 1 of 2 free throws with 39 seconds left, to lift Canisius to a 77-76 victory over Rider on Friday in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener.</p>
<p>Rider led 74-73 after Frederick Scott hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1:34 remaining in the game. But Crumpton scored on a scoop shot, was fouled and hit the free throw to put the Golden Griffins up 76-74. Demencio Vaughn nailed a pair of free throws with 1:06 left to knot the score at 76. Sanks hit the front end of a one-and-one for the winner. Anthony Durham missed a 15-footer at the buzzer for the Broncs.</p>
<p>Takal Molson finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds and Isaiah Reese scored 15 with eight assists for the Golden Griffins (7-7), who picked up their third straight win.</p>
<p>Scott came off the bench to score 19, including 17 in the second half, with 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season for the Broncs (7-6). Tyere Marshall also added his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Vaughn had 16 points and Stevie Jordan added 10 points and seven assists.</p> | Canisius outlasts Rider 77-76 in MAAC opener | false | https://apnews.com/amp/d2cb56651ec541afad12a4ac97fb6cff | 2017-12-30 | 2 |
<p>The Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/8633ead4811943268ad652d762dcd5e9/APNewsBreak:-Steve-Bannon-had-ties-to-Harvey-Weinstein" type="external">reports</a>:</p>
<p>Steve Bannon, the former Trump White House strategist and current head of Breitbart News, is the latest politico touched by the scandal. Bannon, whose website has hammered Democrats for accepting Weinstein’s political donations, himself profited off a relationship with the movie mogul, in an ill-fated joint venture more than a decade ago.</p>
<p>Bannon served as chairman of a small company that distributed DVDs and home videos, and went into business in 2005 with The Weinstein Co., led by Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob. The Weinsteins became 70 percent owners of the now defunct venture, Genius Products.</p>
<p>The ties to Weinstein open Bannon up to charges of hypocrisy given Breitbart’s intense focus on the scandal and its political fallout. In recent days the site has featured a blog with live updates on the story; headlines calling out Obama, Clinton and top Democrats for their ties to the producer; and stories attacking other news outlets for failing to cover the scandal with the same ferocity as Breitbart.</p> | OOPSIE: Bannon Was Harvey Weinstein’s Business Partner On Failed Home Video Distribution Company | true | http://joemygod.com/2017/10/11/oopsie-steve-bannon-harvey-weinsteins-business-partner-failed-home-video-distribution-company/ | 2017-10-11 | 4 |
<p>Slip behind the wheel of the new Alfa Romeo 4C and fire up the engine. You’re rewarded with a resonant engine burble – until you tap the button on the instrument panel controlling the sports car’s active exhaust system. Suddenly, that tame engine note turns into a roar.</p>
<p>Then there’s the new BMW M5, a 560-horsepower sports sedan. As you might expect, it literally screams "high performance" when you stand on the throttle -- except what you're hearing isn't the twin-turbo V-8. It's actually a digital recreation of what the engine should sound like, piped through the M5’s sound system.</p>
<p>A growing number of carmakers are "enhancing" or, in some instances like the BMW, fully creating engine sounds to satisfy performance drivers' expectations. One reason is that many of today's vehicles have grown so quiet they block out virtually all outside noise. Others have adopted new engine technologies that are lightning quick but which don't offer the satisfyingly familiar roar of a classic V-8.</p>
<p>When BMW introduced its Active Sound technology on the latest-generation M5 it explained the system “delivers an accurate reproduction of the engine’s sound through the car’s audio system,” by adding a layer of artificially generated sound on top of the real engine “note.”</p>
<p>That approach has been highly controversial with BMW fans leading the maker to emphasize that 98% of what a motorist hears when driving the smaller M3 and M4 models is real, not digitally simulated.</p>
<p>Industry studies have long shown that the sound of a hard-charging engine can be as satisfying to a driver as the actual feel of neck-snapping acceleration. So, over the last decade, carmakers have been looking for ways to satisfy the need for the sound of speed.</p>
<p>When it launched the original Mazda Miata a quarter century ago, the Japanese maker studied the sound of close to 100 different sports cars, tuning its own engine and exhaust system to what it felt was the ideal note.</p>
<p>Ferrari was an early pioneer, mechanically piping some of its sensually muscular engine sounds into the passenger compartment. The little 2016 Mazda Miata uses a similar approach, a small tube connecting the engine intake manifold to the cabin.</p>
<p>Now, manufacturers are being pushed to develop even more sophisticated systems due to several conflicting trends in the auto industry.</p>
<p>The completely redesigned 2016 Nissan Maxima offers one example. The maker did almost too good a job of “insulating the cabin from all outside sounds,” said product planner Vishnu Jayamohan. Since buyers of the new sports sedan “know what they want to hear,” Nissan worked with Bose to develop its own sound “enhancement” system.</p>
<p>Unlike the BMW M5, what a Maxima driver will hear comes entirely from the engine and exhaust – just not all of the natural sounds. That is a result of another major industry trend.</p>
<p>Where performance and muscle cars might once have been expected to use big V-8 engines, many newer models are relying on downsized six and even four-cylinder engines, often adding turbochargers to boost acceleration. Some, like the BMW i8, even are turning to hybrid drivetrains tuned for performance as much as fuel economy.</p>
<p>The problem is that such powertrain packages often produce whirs, gurgles and whines that aren’t as satisfying as a classic V-8’s roar, so manufacturers may cancel out unwanted sounds and amplifying the notes that a driver is likely to appreciate.</p>
<p>In the case of the 2016 Maxima, Nissan also boosts the performance sounds by 2 decibels – almost double the volume – when the car is switched into Performance Mode.</p>
<p>Even when an engine delivers that perfect mix of guttural roar, burble and occasional backfire, manufacturers are taking steps to enhance the experience. The 2016 Chevrolet Camaro introduced last weekend has a valve that essentially bypasses the muffler under full acceleration. The Jaguar F-Type sports car takes a similar approach, releasing a roar that could only be further enhanced by adding flames from its tailpipe.</p>
<p>Going forward, with the industry facing ever tougher emissions and mileage standards, the classic V-8 could become an endangered species, however. And that will likely lead more and more manufacturers to adopt high-tech sound enhancement systems to remind motorists they’re really driving a performance car.</p> | Vroom, Vroom: Companies Design ‘High Performance’ Car Sounds | false | http://nbcnews.com/business/autos/vroom-vroom-companies-design-high-performance-car-sounds-n374601 | 2015-06-13 | 3 |
<p>After former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee a lot of people had a lot to say. One person with a thing or two to say in response to the testimony was Meghan McCain, daughter of Sen. John McCain.</p>
<p><a href="http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/05/17/meghan-mccain-trump-needs-clean-house-sean-spicer" type="external">Meghan McCain</a> does not believe that the White House communications team been as helpful as they should have been, resulting in a “mess.” She argued that the White House communications department could have done a much better job of combating the influx of negative stories that the firing of FBI James Comey had brought upon Trump.</p>
<p>McCain said that the testimony of James Comey mostly serves to show that President Donald Trump needs to “clean house” among his staff members. Said Thursday on Fox News’s Outnumbered:</p>
<p>‘He needs to absolutely clean house. He needs better people prepping him, better people representing him.’</p>
<p>“Especially everyone in his communications department.” she added, stating, “They’ve got to get some adults who know what they’re doing in the room.”</p>
<p>McCain also pointed out that Trump should have a “tight trust” with his press secretary, and that relationship seems to be lacking with the president and Sean Spicer. McCain said, “I’m not even sure they’re friends.”</p>
<p>In addition to her comments regarding Trump’s staff, McCain also criticized Trump’s lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, for the response that he gave to Comey on his remarks.</p>
<p>McCain said of Kasowitz:</p>
<p>‘Great, it’s your longtime lawyer that helped you your three divorces. In this particular situation you’re talking about national security, possibly lying. Not the right person to send out from an optics and communications standpoint.’</p>
<p>Earlier Thursday Kasowitz had thrown accusations at Comey, claiming he improperly leaked “privileged communications” with President Donald Trump. Kasowitz stated, “Today, Mr. Comey admitted that he unilaterally and surreptitiously made unauthorized disclosures to the press of his privileged communications with the president.”</p>
<p>Watch the full “Outnumbered” discussion below.</p>
<p>Watch the latest video at &lt;a href="//video.foxnews.com"&gt;video.foxnews.com&lt;/a&gt;</p>
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<p>Featured Image via <a href="http://www.gettyimages.ca/license/656316736" type="external">Getty Images</a></p> | Meghan McCain Releases Disturbing Tweet About Trump After Comey Testimony | true | http://bipartisanreport.com/2017/06/08/meghan-mccain-releases-disturbing-tweet-about-trump-after-comey-testimony/ | 2017-06-08 | 4 |
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<p>Indie band Ex Hex recently released its debut album, “Rips.”</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Mary Timothy has come a long way in just a year.</p>
<p>The Washington, D.C., resident was looking for something new to do with her music career. At a crossroads, Timothy met Laura Harris and Betsy Wright and her life changed.</p>
<p>The trio of musicians decided to form the indie band Ex Hex.</p>
<p>“There’s not a lot of options in D.C. for musicians,” she says during a recent phone interview. “Everyone eventually knows each other and this seemed like a perfect fit.”</p>
<p>Though Ex Hex recently celebrated its first year as a band, Timothy says the trio didn’t wait to make music. And the result of their hard work is “Rips,” which was recently released.</p>
<p>Timothy says the album was made quickly in the studio. What took the most time was arranging all the songs.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We made sure to get everything done in advance in order to make the recording process go smoothly,” she says. “We’d go in and do the songs in one or two takes.”</p>
<p>The writing process for the songs was a culmination of years of writing, Timothy says. Each member brought in songs she had written with other bands or on her own time.</p>
<p>“We were pretty hard-core about what songs we were going to work on,” Timothy says. “They had to make sense and we kept our focus on the end product. We only worked with the songs that we thought had a chance and represented us as a band. We really edited down all of our music and made sure we got the best out of us.”</p>
<p>Timothy is proud to see how much the trio has grown over the course of a year.</p>
<p>“As we play more together on stage, you can see that our confidence is growing with each other,” she says. “We all love music so much and we’re ready to take on the road.”</p>
<p /> | Merging musical minds: Ex Hex formed about a year ago and is now on tour | false | https://abqjournal.com/472964/albuquerque-indie-rock-30.html | 2 |
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<p>Several European leaders are threatening to boycott the Euro 2012 soccer tournament in Ukraine next month over the alleged abuse of the jailed former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko. She just ended a hunger strike.</p>
<p>The tournament is one of Europe's biggest sporting events, and it's likely to attract tens of thousands of fans. Some of the matches will be held in the city of Donetsk, a coal mining city in eastern Ukraine.</p>
<p>It's also the setting of an award winning new documentary by a German filmmaker called "The Other Chelsea." The name is a reference to Donetsk's professional soccer club, Shakhtar. The film follows a group of coal miners from Donetsk in 2009, the year Shakhtar won the Europa league tournament, a first for a Ukrainian team.</p>
<p>But "The Other Chelsea" isn't just about soccer. It's about the other Ukraine, the one that didn't support the 2004 Orange Revolution, and that still considers Moscow its capital, not Kiev.</p>
<p>Jakob Preuss, the film's director, got interested in this part of Ukraine after working as an election observer in 2004.</p>
<p>"I was sent to Donetsk probably because I speak Russian," Preuss said, "and I was deeply impressed by this divide in the country between east and west, orange and blue."</p>
<p>Preuss's film shows the country's starkest divide – between rich and poor. Nowhere is that more apparent than in Donetsk; it's Ukraine's Appalachia.</p>
<p>"I have these coal miners who are the losers of the breakdown of the Soviet Union, who live in really horrible conditions, still working in this mine which is really dangerous," Preuss said.</p>
<p>They're also fanatically devoted to their soccer team.</p>
<p>"You have this new political elite, the oligarchs, who also go to the stadium, because if you want to become something in Donetsk, you have to be there," he said.</p>
<p>The oligarchs are up in the VIP box, rubbing shoulders with Ukraine's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov. He owns the club, and never misses a game.</p>
<p>Preuss wasn't able to get an interview with the reclusive Akhmetov, but he did get to know another Donetsk oligarch, an ambitious young politician named Kolya.</p>
<p>"He's really representative of this very corrupt, Machiavellian elite," said Preuss.</p>
<p>Kolya actually has a copy of Machiavelli in his flat, not to mention a picture of Stalin on his office wall. He lives like a prince, despite his small salary as a city councilman.</p>
<p>"Normally people go into business, make a lot of money, and then they go into politics just to protect their wealth and have the immunity and play around with politics to make even more money," Preuss said.</p>
<p>But Kolya got rich from politics, by steering government contracts to his construction companies.</p>
<p>"All Ukrainian politicians in parliament, on paper they're not supposed to have businesses, but they're all millionaires or billionaires," Preuss said. "This is so normal there that Kolya didn't even think not to tell me, which shows what a mess this country is in."</p>
<p>In one of the film's most memorable scenes, Kolya calmly explains the way the political system works in Ukraine.</p>
<p>"In your Europe, the judiciary protects both government and opposition," Kolya says. "Here, the judiciary only protects the people in power. If you lose the election, you go to jail."</p>
<p>Like former presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko.</p>
<p>"This has been quoted a lot of times in Ukraine," according to Preuss, "because people couldn't believe that this guy would say it so bluntly."</p>
<p>But Kolya's not the only blunt talker. Preuss introduces us to Stepanovitch, a pit-worker in his late sixties who's spent his whole life in the mines.</p>
<p>In the film, Stepanovitch says, "I think all these millionaires are thieves and bandits. Our whole system, everyone in power, they're all criminals."</p>
<p>Stepanovitch, whose son was killed in a mining accident, thinks life was better back when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.</p>
<p>"Even when times were bad," he says in the film, "at least we stuck together."</p>
<p>His girlfriend, Valentina, who works in the mine's front office, agrees.</p>
<p>An irrepressible flirt, she sports an enormous blond beehive and leopard skin outfits, despite her not exactly girlish figure.</p>
<p>Preuss said when Valentina attended the premier of "The Other Chelsea" in Kiev, she received a standing ovation.</p>
<p>In fact, audiences throughout Ukraine – east and west – love this film, perhaps because Jakob Preuss doesn't just show us the miserable living conditions of the coal miners, but also their warmth, humor and humanity.</p>
<p>"A Ukrainian told me yesterday that for him, post-Soviet people are often like coconuts. They're a little bit hard on the outside, but they're soft inside. And Europeans and Americans are like peaches, soft on the outside, but hard on the inside."</p> | Documentary Film 'The Other Chelsea' Depicts a Different Ukraine | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-05-11/documentary-film-other-chelsea-depicts-different-ukraine | 2012-05-11 | 3 |
<p>RICHMOND, Va.—As schools around the country brace for student walkouts following the deadly shooting in Parkland, Florida, principals and superintendents are scrambling to perform a delicate balancing act: How to let thousands of students exercise their First Amendment rights while not disrupting school and not pulling administrators into the raging debate over gun control.</p>
<p>Some have taken a hard line, promising to suspend students who walk out, while others are using a softer approach, working with students to set up places on campus where they can remember the victims of the Florida shooting and express their views about school safety and gun control.</p>
<p>Since the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, demonstrations have sprung up on school campuses around the country. But the first large-scale, coordinated national demonstration is planned for Wednesday, when organizers of the Women’s March have called for a 17-minute walkout, one minute for each of the 17 students and staff members killed in Florida.</p>
<p>National demonstrations are also planned for March 24, with a march on Washington, D.C.; and on April 20, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado.</p>
<p />
<p>No matter how schools decide to deal with the demonstrations, students have been reassured by Harvard, Yale, MIT, the University of Connecticut, UCLA and dozens of other colleges and universities that their participation won’t affect their chances of getting admitted.</p>
<p>But for middle-school and high-school administrators, figuring out how to allow the demonstrations during school hours has proven challenging. In some cases, it hasn’t gone smoothly.</p>
<p>In Needville, Texas, near Houston, Superintendent Curtis Rhodes was castigated on social media after he warned that students who leave class would be suspended for three days, even if they get parental permission.</p>
<p>“SHAME, SHAME, SHAME ON YOU,” wrote one woman.</p>
<p>In Garretson, South Dakota, administrators canceled a student walkout planned for April 20 after a Facebook posting about the plan drew more than 300 negative comments from adults.</p>
<p>And in Arizona, dozens of students at Ingleside Middle School, near Phoenix, were given one-day suspensions after they left campus on Feb. 27.</p>
<p>Layla Defibaugh, an eighth-grade student at Ingleside, said she wanted to participate in the walkout, but didn’t because of the threatened suspensions. She does plan to join the March 14 walkout, even it means getting suspended.</p>
<p>“It’s important for me to speak my mind on this topic,” she said. “At the end of the day, they shouldn’t be able to punish us for exercising our First Amendment rights.”</p>
<p>AASA, The School Superintendents Association, has fielded dozens of calls and emails from school administrators asking for advice, while the American Civil Liberties Union has received hundreds of inquiries from students about what their rights are and if they can be disciplined for participating in the protests.</p>
<p>The answer depends on each school’s code of conduct and disciplinary policies. Generally, the ACLU has been advising students that because they are required to go to school by law, administrators can discipline them for unexcused absences. But the ACLU also told students in an online training video that administrators can’t punish them more harshly because of the political nature of their demonstrations.</p>
<p>The superintendents association — which is supporting the April 20 walkout— has drafted a list of suggestions for school administrators, including holding a teach-in, a school-led walkout to a spot on campus, or a session on bullying.</p>
<p>“There are ways to engage and harness the students in civic engagement without compromising policies in place on attendance, participation and student safety,” said Noelle Ellerson Ng, associate director for policy and advocacy.</p>
<p>Some schools have embraced the walkouts.</p>
<p>In Mooresville, Indiana, administrators met with 10 high-school student leaders to work out a plan. Mooresville High School Principal Brian Disney said the students plan to use the school’s public address system to read short statements about mental illness, the importance of kindness and standing up against all school violence before inviting all students to gather in a school hallway for 17 minutes of silence.</p>
<p>In Anne Arundel County, Maryland, administrators are still talking with students about how they can participate without violating school rules.</p>
<p>“I think we all realize that for folks who are teenagers right now, this could well be a defining moment in their lives. We want to very much encourage and empower student voices. That said, it has to be done in ways that are safe and appropriate,” said spokesman Bob Mosier.</p>
<p>Some schools are taking a middle ground, neither encouraging nor discouraging students from participating. In Henrico County, Virginia, near Richmond, administrators sent an email to parents saying they are not sanctioning the March 14 walkout, but feel obligated to manage the event because of its heavy promotion on social media. Middle-school principals asked parents to sign a Google document stating whether they give their children permission to participate. Schools plan to provide campus locations for the walkout.</p>
<p>In Somerville, Massachusetts, students say they won’t stop after a single walkout. They’ve started a weekly movement they hope will keep public attention focused on school safety and put pressure on lawmakers to pass stricter gun control laws. The walkouts will be held every Wednesday, said Anika Nayak, 16, a student organizer.</p>
<p>“We’re really just fed up with the lack of action that’s been taken in our country,” Nayak said.</p>
<p>“We don’t think enough people are listening.”</p> | Schools Brace for National Walkout Over Gun Violence | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/schools-brace-national-student-walkout-gun-violence/ | 2018-03-11 | 4 |
<p>ANKARA and&#160;ISTANBUL —&#160;Twitter has complied with&#160;Turkey's request to remove photographs of a prosecutor held at gunpoint by far-left militants, an official said on Monday, and a ban on the social network site ended hours after being imposed.</p>
<p>YouTube, which authorities also banned after an&#160;Istanbul court&#160;ordered social media to remove any content showing the kidnapped prosecutor, remained blocked late on Monday as talks with it continued, the official said.</p>
<p>Mehmet Selim Kiraz, the&#160;Istanbul&#160;prosecutor seen in the pictures, was later killed in a shoot-out between his hostage takers and police last week.</p>
<p>"Twitter has agreed to shut down accounts and remove images relating to last week's hostage-taking. The website will reopen to access very shortly," the senior official said before the site became accessible again.</p>
<p>The micro-blogging site intends to appeal the&#160;Turkish court&#160;order, an official said without giving his name.</p>
<p>Other social media sites were affected as well. Facebook said it had complied with a court order to restrict access to some content or face a block on its service. A company spokesman said it would appeal the order.&#160;</p>
<p>Late on Monday, an&#160;Istanbul court&#160;ordered Google to remove controversial content on the prosecutor killed in hostage-taking incident, otherwise access to it would be blocked also.</p>
<p>Ibrahim Kalin, a spokesman for President Tayyip Erdogan, said a prosecutor had demanded the bans because some media organizations had acted "as if they were spreading terrorist propaganda" in sharing the images of the hostage-taking.</p>
<p>"This has to do with the publishing of the prosecutor's picture. What happened in the aftermath is as grim as the incident itself," Kalin said. "The demand from the prosecutor's office is that this image not be used anywhere in electronic platforms," he told a news conference in&#160;Ankara.</p>
<p>Far-Left captors</p>
<p>Kiraz died from his wounds last Tuesday after security forces stormed the office where members of the far-left&#160;Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) had taken him hostage. His two captors were also killed.</p>
<p>The DHKP-C had published a picture of Kiraz with a gun to his head and said it would kill him unless its demands were met.</p>
<p>"The wife and children of prosecutor Kiraz have been deeply upset. The images are everywhere," the Turkish official said.</p>
<p>Google said it was working to restore service to the YouTube video-sharing site, which it owns.&#160;Turkey's telecoms regulator could not immediately be reached and there was no statement on its website.</p>
<p>Turkey&#160;temporarily blocked Twitter and YouTube before local elections in March 2014, after audio recordings purportedly showing corruption in then-Prime Minister Erdogan's inner circle were leaked on their sites. That decision caused a public uproar and drew heavy international criticism.</p>
<p>Turkey&#160;filed over five times more content-removal requests to Twitter than any other country in the second half of 2014, data published in February by the micro-blogging site showed.</p>
<p>Last year,&#160;Turkey&#160;tightened laws allowing sites to be blocked by the authorities more easily.</p>
<p>(By Orhan Coskun and Asli Kandemir;&#160;Additional reporting by Eric Auchard in Frankfurt, Humeyra Pamuk and Ece Toksabay in&#160;Istanbul&#160;and Tulay Karadeniz in&#160;Ankara; Writing by Nick Tattersall and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Dale Hudson, Larry King,&#160;Philippa Fletcher&#160;and Tom Heneghan)</p> | Twitter complies with Turkey's request to remove pictures of slain prosecutor | false | https://pri.org/stories/twitter-complies-turkeys-request-remove-pictures-slain-prosecutor | 3 |
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<p>Presenting a lesbian couple raising a boy while rejecting expectations of traditional gender roles, left-wing BuzzFeed produced a video entitled, “I Am A Gender Non-Conforming Parent.”</p>
<p>Dashiell and Michelle are a same-sex couple who share a view of gender as a fluid and social construct. Both acknowledge a shared effort towards transmitting this paradigm to Atticus, a 2-year-old boy over whom the two presumably share guardianship.</p>
<p>“My understanding about gender is that ultimately it doesn’t mean anything,” says Michelle, who became “pregnant via donor” in 2014. "[Gender] doesn’t give you the information about that person that you think that it’s gonna give you.”</p>
<p>Scoffing at conventional attitudes towards masculinity and femininity, Dashiell recalls questions she received from others related to Michelle’s pregnancy. “People ask you, ‘Do you wanna have a boy or a girl?’ For whatever that means. This person could be anybody.”</p>
<p>Michelle likewise scoffed at conventional attitudes towards gender in the rearing of children. “You hear that right away, you hear like, ‘Boys are like this and girls are like that,'" she said.</p>
<p>“I’m constantly trying to like queer my relationship with [Atticus] and get him to wear tutus, he hates it, he’s just like, ‘No,’” says Michelle of her approach towards her son in terms of gender education.</p>
<p>“I hate the idea that he’s getting imprinted on him people who like this are boys, and people who look like that are girls,” laments Michelle of the pervasiveness of conventional attitudes towards gender, which she says she is “constantly challenging.”</p>
<p>“Even something that’s like progressive like Sesame Street,” complains Michelle, fails to showcase the broad spectrum of gender identities she subscribes to.</p>
<p>“Being raised by a gender non-conforming person,” says Michelle, will be an asset for her son. “Everybody needs to be reconsidering the way that they’re presenting gender to their kids.”</p>
<p>Atticus may grow up to be a “genderqueer/gender fluid person” or a “completely traditionally cisgendered male,” concluded Michelle. “He needs to understand the variety of genders that are out there so he can be respectful human being in the world.”</p>
<p>Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p> | BuzzFeed Showcases 'Gender Non-Conforming' Lesbian Couple Raising A Son | true | https://dailywire.com/news/6727/buzzfeed-showcases-gender-non-conforming-lesbian-robert-kraychik | 2016-06-19 | 0 |
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<p>State Police Chief Pete Kassetas</p>
<p>The New Mexico State Police chief made a push on Tuesday to make a board that has the power to suspend or revoke police officers’ certifications more transparent.</p>
<p>Chief Pete Kassetas asked the director of the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy to see if and when the academy could put records on officer discipline into a searchable database that the public could access on the academy’s website.</p>
<p>Currently, such records are only available after someone files an Inspection of Public Records Request with the Department of Public Safety.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Kassetas made his suggestion during a Law Enforcement Academy Board meeting. The board took no action on the request.</p>
<p>“What I’m trying to do is make the decisions that the board comes to a lot more accessible to the public, the (law enforcement) agencies and the media. I think it’s the right way to go,” Kassetas said. “The certification process is public, and it’s important that the public knows what the outcomes are.”</p>
<p>Kassetas said by making such discipline action public, it would be less likely for officers who have had problems and been fired from law enforcement agencies to get hired at other agencies around the state.</p>
<p>He said he has fired officers from State Police, only to later learn that they were hired within weeks to other policing jobs around the state.</p>
<p>“Maybe (the chiefs or sheriffs) don’t choose to look at a personnel file, which is somewhat beyond me, but I think if it’s there and it’s transparent … that (chief or sheriff) has to answer to it,” he said.</p>
<p>The Law Enforcement Academy reviews cases where officers around the state were disciplined, and the Law Enforcement Academy Board then votes on what action to take after meeting in a closed session. There is often very little public discussion before the board votes on whether or not to suspend or revoke a law enforcement certification.</p>
<p>But the board often will review documents before reaching a decision. And Kassetas said he thinks those documents should be available to the law enforcement academy’s website, without requiring people to file a records request.</p>
<p>“I think it’s very important that there is exposure, and people need to know that we are dealing with these issues,” he said. “Whether you believe it or not, chiefs and sheriffs around the state are dealing with these issues head on. They are sending their issues and problems with officers to the Law Enforcement Academy … to look at their certifications.”</p>
<p>Stephan Marshall, the director of the academy, said he would give the board a presentation on what it would take to make the records publicly available at the next board meeting.</p>
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<p /> | State Police chief pushes for more transparency | false | https://abqjournal.com/1105663/state-police-chief-makes-push-of-transparency-in-officer-discipline-cases.html | 2017-12-12 | 2 |
<p>PERRIS, Calif. (AP) — A skydiver has died in an accident in Southern California.</p>
<p>California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says the skydiver was found on the roof of a residence in the city of Perris on Monday afternoon. Cal Fire says the person died at the scene.</p>
<p>Perris is a center for skydiving about 70 miles (112 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.</p>
<p>PERRIS, Calif. (AP) — A skydiver has died in an accident in Southern California.</p>
<p>California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says the skydiver was found on the roof of a residence in the city of Perris on Monday afternoon. Cal Fire says the person died at the scene.</p>
<p>Perris is a center for skydiving about 70 miles (112 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.</p> | Skydiver killed after falling onto roof in California | false | https://apnews.com/amp/747acd0071654deaa8e2954d1a270d83 | 2018-01-23 | 2 |
<p>A Miami man was issued multiple expired parking meter tickets over a four-day period without any of the parking officers noticing that he was sitting in the driver's seat--also expired.</p>
<p>Jacob Morpeau, 62, had parked his Isuzu Axiom SUV near the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and, according to the medical examiner, died of natural causes in connection with hypertensive cardiovascular disease.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-lauderdale-dead-man-parking-tickets-20161201-story.html" type="external">Sun Sentinel</a> provides some more details:</p>
<p>Morpeau's family had not heard from him for a few days before his body was discovered, according to a Fort Lauderdale police report.</p>
<p>Morpeau's son, Alain Danier, one of six adult children, said his father immigrated to the United States from Haiti and had been the owner of a car sales lot in Miami. He was retired.</p>
<p>"He was a good man," Danier, 34 of Sunrise, said of his father, who was cremated. "He raised all of us, and gave us everything we needed."</p>
<p>Morpeau last spoke with friends about 8 p.m. Nov. 11, the son said.</p>
<p>The parking patrol started issuing tickets on Nov. 12 and continued to do so through Nov. 15, apparently without ever bothering to glance into the vehicle.</p>
<p>"Citations were issued to the Isuzu at 7:39 a.m. Saturday, Nov., 12, and again at 9:30 p.m. There weren't any tickets issued on Sunday," the Sun Sentinel notes. "On Monday the 14th, a parking officer wrote a ticket at 7:03 a.m. Then on Nov. 15th, the Isuzu was written up at 6:39 a.m. for one meter, and again at 6:42 a.m. at the meter just next to the spot the SUV was parked in."</p>
<p>Finally on that Tuesday, around 12:25 p.m., Carolyn White, a curious citizen standing nearby, decided to take a closer look.</p>
<p>"I was being nosy. I never let the meter man catch me. I never got a parking ticket and I wanted to know why somebody else got caught. And that's what made me look inside," White told the reporter, adding that she saw a walker in the backseat, and was curious about why someone who needed it would leave it behind.</p>
<p>"I can understand why the meter person probably didn't see him from the driver's side," said White. "He was underneath the steering wheel, his head was in the middle of the seat, between the two seats. But you could see him on the passenger's side. That's how I seen him, from the sidewalk."</p>
<p>Kevin McGoey, owner of Kevin's Bail Bonds across the street, heard White's screams as she discovered the body and ran out to assist her and call 911.</p>
<p>"It was sad," McGoey said. "The guy was probably sitting there all weekend."</p>
<p>McGoey noted that the SUV had tinted windows adding, that, "Maybe that's why they couldn't see him. [But] Even if the guy had [come to court and then] gone to jail, he's got five tickets. Why not see if something was wrong? They've got to use a little discretion instead of just writing tickets."</p>
<p>Fort Lauderdale officials declined to comment on the situation, but did dismiss the $160 in parking fees "due to extenuating circumstances."</p>
<p>Local news footage below:</p> | Parking Officers Slap Ticket After Ticket On Windshield of Car…With Dead Guy Inside | true | https://dailywire.com/news/11298/parking-officers-slap-ticket-after-ticket-chase-stephens | 2016-12-03 | 0 |
<p>Among the most controversial opinions in this past year's term of the United States Supreme Court was U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton, where five justices, over the bitter dissent of their four colleagues, struck down Arkansas's attempt to impose term limits on candidates for the House and Senate. Justice Stevens concluded his opinion for the majority by emphasizing that term limits "must come not by legislation adopted either by Congress or by an individual State, but, rather . . . through the Amendment procedures set forth in Article V."</p>
<p>What one immediately thinks of when reading such a sentence, I suspect, is the "traditional" procedure of two-thirds of each house of Congress agreeing to "propose" an amendment coupled with ratification by three quarters of the state legislatures. That is a formidably difficult process, successful (at most) only twenty-seven times in our 208-year history. (Some scholars dispute the validity of the Twenty-seventh Amendment, proposed in 1791 and declared ratified only in 1992.) Congressional defeats this past spring of the Balanced Budget and Term Limits amendments highlight the difficulty of winning (or even really beginning) "the constitutional amendment game," especially when, as with term limits, the direct interests of legislators themselves are challenged.</p>
<p /> | A Constitutional Convention: Does the Left Fear Popular Sovereignty? | true | https://dissentmagazine.org/article/a-constitutional-convention-does-the-left-fear-popular-sovereignty | 2018-10-07 | 4 |
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<p>The day of the biggest sporting event of the year for University of California-Berkeley fans. It is called the “Big Game.”</p>
<p>All because the University of New Mexico is in town?</p>
<p>Yeah, right.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Yes, the Bears (1-0) do host the Lobos (2-0) in what should be a pretty entertaining men’s basketball game. That, however, is a complete afterthought around these parts. So much so, that it wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago that Cal even decided on a tip-off time for this other little contest.</p>
<p>This afternoon, Cal also plays host to another collegiate sporting event. The Bears face Stanford in their huge annual football rivalry.</p>
<p>“We were struggling to find a date to play,” says Cal coach Mike Montgomery. “This was really the only one date that was open. We just have to play through this stuff. Football is a big deal here, because that’s where the most revenue is generated here. That’s always the way it will be, too.”</p>
<p>As for how his young club (Montgomery doesn’t like to use the word rebuilding) will respond, the longtime coach says he’s not sure.</p>
<p>“Football’s a big deal here, you’ve got game day, there’s a lot of people here in town,” Montgomery said. “We’ve got to kind of avoid that. We’ve got to caution these guys to get away from it all.</p>
<p>“Obviously they won’t go to the (football) game. Hopefully they’ll just go back and get off their feet and so forth. But there is a lot of activity. Their friends in the dorms, everyone else will be caught up in it so you don’t know how it’s going to work out.”</p>
<p>The Cal players shouldn’t have any problem keeping their focus on the Lobos. After all, it was only a year ago when the Bears limped into the Pit with an overinflated No. 25 ranking, and limped out with a 86-78 loss.</p>
<p>Cal, however, was missing four players, three of them starters, because of injuries and flu. For the Bears, that has to add extra motivation, right?</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We don’t have anybody back who played in that game,” Montgomery says with a laugh. “We have all new guys.”</p>
<p>Cal eventually got healthy last season and won its first Pac-10 title since 1960 with a 13-5 mark (24-11 overall). The league, however, had one of its worst years ever.</p>
<p>The Bears lost to eventual national champion Duke 68-53 in the NCAA Tournament’s second round.</p>
<p>The Bears return but two players who reached double-figure scoring in any single Pac-10 game last year: 6-foot-3 junior guard Jorge Gutierrez (who did so twice) and 7-3 junior post Max Zhang (once). Cal lost two-time all-conference guards Patrick Christopher (15.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and Jerome Randle (18.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg), as well as forwards Theo Robertson (14.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and Jamal Boykin (11.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg).</p>
<p>The Bears are picked to finish in the Pac-10’s lower half this season, making it a good time for UNM coach Steve Alford and his gang to hit the road against an opponent with a name.</p>
<p>“We call this Pac-10 week, and we’re halfway through it,” said Alford, whose Lobos beat Arizona State 76-62 on Tuesday in the Pit.</p>
<p>“We got a very good win against Arizona State, so we’ll benefit from that all year long (with the Ratings Percentage Index). … It’s a critical road game. It’s not make or break, but it is one of those games that if you happen to play well and you happen to win, you know it’s going to benefit you down the road.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Cal Fans Could Rue The Day | false | https://abqjournal.com/233162/cal-fans-could-rue-the-day.html | 2 |
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<p>Tesla's stock jumps following quarterly results; Apple and Goldman shares weigh on Dow</p>
<p>The Dow industrials on Thursday logged a seventh consecutive all-time high, but the broader market closed lower following a slump in the energy sector.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 9.86 points, or less than 0.1%, at 22,026.10, supported by gains in Pfizer Inc. (PFE), but pressured by a decline in Goldman Sachs Group Inc., down 1%, and similar drop in Apple Inc.(AAPL) after a run-up in the iPhone maker's stock on the heels of its well-received quarterly results (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-earnings-calm-iphone-fears-send-stock-to-record-levels-2017-08-01).</p>
<p>The blue-chip gauge has notched 33 record closes in 2017. It is on its longest winning streak, at eight sessions, since the 12-session period ended Feb. 27.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the S&amp;P 500 index declined 5.41 points, or 0.2%, to 2,472.16, weighed by 1.3% tumble in the energy sector, headlined by a 8.7% decline in Concho Resources Inc. (CXO) and an 8% fall in shares of Apache Corp. (APA).</p>
<p>The energy-focused Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE), a popular way to make bets on the sector, closed off 1.4%, marking its worst one-day slide since July 5 when it fell 2%, according to FactSet data.</p>
<p>Selling in energy stocks coincided with a retrenchment in crude-oil futures, with West Texas Intermediate futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange settling off 1.1% lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-pull-back-but-investors-stay-bullish-on-us-data-2017-08-03) at $49.03 a barrel.</p>
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<p>Meanwhile, the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 22.30 points, or 0.4%, at 6,340.34.</p>
<p>"Energy is primarily the only thing that [kept] the S&amp;P from being in positive territory," said Michael Antonelli, equity sales trader at Robert W. Baird &amp; Co.</p>
<p>Antonelli said investors are also taking a step back from recent gains. "Investors are leaning a little bit more cautiously simply for the very, very near term because of bullish sentiment being higher than normal," he said.</p>
<p>Antonelli also said the tendency of August to be a weak month for returns is giving investors reason to hold back from buying stocks.</p>
<p>On the economic front, a closely watched service-sector report from the Institute for Supply Management indicated that nonmanufacturing activity, also known as services, fell to 53.9% in July (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ism-services-index-slows-to-11-month-low-in-july-2017-08-03) from 57.4% in June.</p>
<p>Economists polled by MarketWatch expected a reading of 56.9%. Any reading above 50% indicates improving conditions.</p>
<p>Services' slowing pace comes after an early reading of employment didn't stoke much of a market reaction, showing weekly jobless claims holding at a 44-year low, underlining the health of the labor market. Initial jobless claims from July 23 to July 29 declined by 5,000 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-jobless-claims-fall-by-5000-to-240000-2017-08-03)to 240,000, while the average of new claims over the past month fell to 241,750.</p>
<p>Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at Schwab Center for Financial Research, said Thursday's pullback for stocks wasn't atypical of a market that has hit repeat records in the past year, fueled in part by hope for better corporate results and a pro-business atmosphere fostered by President Donald Trump's administration.</p>
<p>"Every time we see a major index hit a milestone...you see a little sideways action or a pullback. It's not at all uncommon," Frederick said.</p>
<p>Worries that equities are rising too quickly have stoked some fears that a severe, near-term downdraft is imminent, but the Schwab analyst said the case for bullishness is still prevailing.</p>
<p>Upbeat earnings, relatively low rates and a downturn in the dollar, which supports revenues from multinational corporations, should offer tailwinds.</p>
<p>The Dow briefly skittered lower after The Wall Street Journal reported (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mueller-impanels-grand-jury-to-investigate-russian-interference-2017-08-03)that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury in Washington to investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 elections, signaling that that investigation is intensifying.</p>
<p>Individual movers: Shares in Tesla Inc. (TSLA) rose 6.5% after the electric-car maker posted a smaller-than-anticipated quarterly loss (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tesla-shares-up-4-after-narrower-than-expected-quarterly-loss-2017-08-02) late Wednesday.</p>
<p>Read:Tesla cheered as results beat, but Wall Street braces for capital raise (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tesla-cheered-as-results-beat-forecasts-but-wall-street-braces-for-another-capital-raise-2017-08-03)</p>
<p>And see:Tesla is a big public company, and Elon Musk must start acting like it (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tesla-is-a-large-public-company-and-elon-musk-must-start-acting-like-it-2017-08-02)</p>
<p>American International Group Inc.(AIG) ticked 0.2% higher as the giant insurer's quarterly profit beat forecasts late Wednesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/aigs-stock-rallies-after-profit-beat-2017-08-02).</p>
<p>Satellite-TV provider Dish Network Corp.(DISH) posted a sharp drop in quarterly earnings and weaker-than-expected revenue (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dish-networks-profit-falls-sharply-and-revenue-misses-expectations-2017-08-03), while cleaning products giant Clorox Co.'s (CLX) profit topped expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/clorox-profit-rises-above-expectations-while-sales-growth-matches-2017-08-03), as its sales matched views. Shares of Dish ended off 4.5%, while Clorox's stock climbed 2.1%.</p>
<p>Kellogg Co. shares (K) rose 4.3% after the Frosted Flakes producer delivered better-than-expected second-quarter results (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kellogg-shares-edge-up-after-earnings-beat-2017-08-03). Net income was $282 million, or 80 cents per share, up from $280 million, or 79 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings-per-share was 97 cents, beating the 92-cent FactSet consensus.</p>
<p>Shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) plunged nearly 18% after the drugmaker missed fiscal second-quarter profit expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tevas-stock-plunges-on-heavy-volume-after-profit-miss-and-slashed-outlook-2017-08-03) and slashed its full-year outlook.</p>
<p>AmerisourceBergen Corp.(ABC) shares dropped more than 10.5% after the drug distributor said that generic drug price deflation (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/amerisourcebergen-stock-plummets-9-alongside-other-companies-affected-by-negative-generic-price-trends-2017-08-03)was a headwind.</p>
<p>Fitbit Inc.(FIT) shares jumped 15.1% after the fitness-tracking device maker reported results late Wednesday and news that the company's smartwatch (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fitbit-shares-rocket-15-as-analysts-bet-on-smartwatch-launch-2017-08-03)will hit stores soon.</p>
<p>Allergan PLC(AGN) shares added less than 0.1% as the drugmaker lifted its full-year guidance for revenue in 2017 to $15.85 billion, compared with prior guidance of $15.8 billion.</p>
<p>Tableau Software Inc.(DATA) shares rose 9% after the data analytics company posted a surprise profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tableau-software-shares-rise-following-surprise-profit-2017-08-02) for the quarter late Wednesday.</p>
<p>Aetna Inc.'s(AET) shares climbed 2.5% after the health-care company's second-quarter earnings beat analyst forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/aetna-rises-31-premarket-after-earnings-beat-views-2017-08-03-6911746). Profit for the quarter came in at $1.2 billion, or $3.60 a share, up from $791 million, or $2.23 a share, a year ago.</p>
<p>Yum Brands Inc.'s(YUM) stock fell by 2.3% despite the fast-food conglomerate (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yum-shares-rise-after-earnings-beat-same-store-sales-growth-2017-08-03) serving up beat on earnings and delivered same-store sales growth.</p>
<p>Sturm Ruger &amp; Co.(RGR) shares 8.4% after the gun maker missed Wall Street estimates (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sturm-ruger-shares-fall-after-big-earnings-miss-2017-08-02) for the quarter late Wednesday owing to a pullback in sales following a robust quarter preceding last year's elections. Shares of Smith &amp; Wesson parent American Outdoor Brands Corp.(AOBC) fell 4.3%.</p>
<p>3D Systems Corp.(DDD) shares dropped 21.3% after the 3D printer maker reported results and offered an outlook (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/3d-systems-shares-fall-as-results-outlook-come-up-short-2017-08-02) late Wednesday that fell below the Street view.</p>
<p>Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.(TTWO) shares rallied more than 12.2% after the videogame publisher's quarterly results late Wednesday blew past estimates (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/four-years-and-grand-theft-auto-is-as-big-a-boon-as-ever-for-take-two-earnings-2017-08-03).</p>
<p>See:Kraft Heinz earnings--have revenue estimates fallen enough to be beatable? (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kraft-heinz-earnings-have-revenue-estimates-fallen-enough-to-be-beatable-2017-08-01)</p>
<p>Economic news: A high-profile release (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ignoring-washington-chaos-companies-likely-kept-up-strong-hiring-in-july-2017-07-30) on the job market is due Friday: the U.S. government's monthly data on nonfarm payrolls.</p>
<p>Check out:MarketWatch's Economic Calendar (http://www.marketwatch.com/economy-politics/calendars/economic)</p>
<p>Other markets:The British pound (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pound-climbs-as-traders-wait-for-boes-super-thursday-2017-08-03) lost ground as traders reacted to the Bank of England's "Super Thursday" releases. The U.K. central bank's Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep its key interest rate (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bank-of-england-holds-key-rate-at-025-in-6-2-vote-pound-drops-2017-08-03) at 0.25% in a 6-2 vote. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index was up modestly.</p>
<p>European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-wrestled-lower-with-siemens-shares-down-2017-08-03) ended mostly higher, while Asian markets closed lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kospi-slides-erasing-weeks-gains-as-asian-markets-pull-back-2017-08-02).</p>
<p>Gold futures settled down 0.3% at $1,274.40 an ounce (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-deepens-pullback-from-nearly-8-week-highs-as-dollar-index-stabilizes-2017-08-03).</p>
<p>--Wallace Witkowski contributed to this article</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>August 03, 2017 17:19 ET (21:19 GMT)</p> | MARKET SNAPSHOT: Dow Bags 7th Straight Record, -2- | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/08/03/market-snapshot-dow-bags-7th-straight-record-2.html | 2017-08-03 | 0 |
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<p>skiers rejoice Season’s first big winter storm hits in time to plan holiday vacations Snow has arrived just in time By Nancy Tipton Of the Journal</p>
<p>New Mexico ski area operators are breathing a little easier after the first big storm of the season. Last weekend’s storm and ideal snow-making conditions are allowing ski areas to open the slopes for the season.</p>
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<p>Ski New Mexico director George Brooks said it’s “just in time” for those planning a ski vacation around the holidays.</p>
<p>“We’re optimistic that we can have a good season,” Brooks said earlier this week. “This (the recent storm) is timed well because it made national news and people know New Mexico is open for skiing.”</p>
<p>Generally, skiers visiting New Mexico areas are nearly 60 percent non-residents. And, he said, even more people on the slopes are from out-of-state during the weeks around Christmas and New Year’s Day.</p>
<p>“Those weeks, along with the spring break time, are generally the busiest times for our ski areas,” he said.</p>
<p>Most of the areas in the northern part of the state got about a foot of snow from the weather system that blasted through the state over the weekend. And a storm moving in from California is expected to cross Arizona and move into New Mexico bringing rain and snow to the Rio Grande valley, central mountain chain and Eastern plains by Friday afternoon.</p>
<p>Sipapu was the first ski area to open at Thanksgiving, and it opened for daily operations Monday. Taos opened full-time today, while Angel Fire and Red River open Friday and Santa Fe are set to open on Saturday. Colorado areas including Wolf Creek and Purgatory at Durango Mountain only got a few inches of snow from the recent storm. Purgatory is open weekends only, and Wolf Creek is open daily with about 40 percent of the mountain open.</p>
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<p>Brooks said the toughest part of any ski year is getting the areas open. “We’re always sitting on pins and needles starting in early November.”</p>
<p>The holidays are one of the busiest times of the year, and getting the areas open in time for Christmas skiers is really what the area operators hope for.</p>
<p>“As (the late) Ernie Blake often said, ‘it’s like farming without government subsidies,'” Brooks said. Blake was the founder of Taos Ski Valley.</p>
<p>The long-range weather predictions for the state for the winter of 2012-2013 have not been all that rosy.</p>
<p>In a statement released Dec. 6, the federal Climate Prediction Center said it “is considered unlikely that a fully coupled El Niño will develop during the next several months.” As the Journal’s science writer, John Fleck, points out in his blog at abqjournal.com, “it means we now face even odds of a wet, an average or a dry winter.”</p>
<p>Brooks said the ski industry has always lived with the uncertainty of the weather. And areas have made improvements over time so good skiing can be had on less natural snow.</p> | Snow has arrived just in time | false | https://abqjournal.com/238424/snow-has-arrived-just-in-time.html | 2 |
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<p />
<p>By <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/275362" type="external">some estimates Opens a New Window.</a>, <a href="https://www.recruiter.com/freelance.html" type="external">freelancers Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;now make up about a third of the U.S. workforce. It's easier now than it ever has been to pay the bills as a self-employed worker, thanks to communications technologies that allow us do work wherever we are for whomever is paying.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But that doesn't mean self-employment is the right path for everyone. As contributing&#160;writer Jason McDowell <a href="https://www.recruiter.com/i/7-qualities-every-freelancer-needs-to-succeed/" type="external">pointed out last month Opens a New Window.</a>, you can't succeed as a freelancer unless you have a certain set of skills.</p>
<p>Sometimes, media outlets – our publication included – are too quick to tout the benefits of freelancing without highlighting the challenges. Sure, self-employment can&#160;bring you a measure of independence and may even be more lucrative than traditional employment, but when you work for yourself, you have to be more than your own boss – you also have to be your own accountant, your own salesperson, your own customer service rep, and so on.</p>
<p>Some of us – myself included – are better off showing up to someone else's&#160;office (physical or virtual) every day.</p>
<p>Not sure where you land? Check out <a href="https://www.businessbacker.com/blog/should-you-work-for-yourself/" type="external">this new infographic Opens a New Window.</a> from small-business funding source <a href="https://www.businessbacker.com/" type="external">The Business Backers Opens a New Window.</a>. If you follow the flowchart, you'll find out how suited you are to becoming a freelancer.</p>
<p>And remember – this isn't just a question of skills, but also a question of happiness. You may be the best at what you do, but if you don't have the right personality to be a freelancer, you'll be miserable going the self-employment route.</p> | Thinking About Freelancing? Make Sure You Have What It Takes First [Infographic] | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/09/21/thinking-about-freelancing-make-sure-have-what-it-takes-first-infographic.html | 2016-09-26 | 0 |
<p><a href="http://pienews.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/052214congresscomputers2-620x320.jpg" type="external" />A California tech startup wants to replace Congress with a software system that decides how to vote on every bill according to public opinion. The startup, PlaceAVote , envisions Americans voting on legislation through their software system and is currently running two candidates for Congress, both software engineers, who [?]</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.infowars.com/tech-startup-wants-to-replace-congress-with-software/" type="external">Click here to view original web page at www.infowars.com</a></p>
<p /> | Tech Startup Wants to Replace Congress With Software | true | http://politicalillusionsexposed.com/tech-startup-wants-to-replace-congress-with-software/ | 0 |
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<p />
<p>Barack Obama has proven time and again that he doesn’t need no stinking law to act. Executive fiat is good enough for him. At least it has been since he stopped being a “constitutional scholar” and started being president.</p>
<p>His penchant for making it up as he goes along was on display again yesterday, when he offered up his “fix” for Americans losing their health care policies under the Affordable Care Act. It’s not even his first power grab with respect to Obamacare. That was unilaterally deciding (i.e., without consulting the legislative branch, much less turning the matter over to them as dictated by the Constitution) in July to&#160; <a href="http://libertyunyielding.com/2013/07/15/by-postponing-employer-mandate-obama-has-given-millions-of-americans-legal-standing-to-sue/" type="external">delay the employer mandate</a>, which has opened the administration to countless lawsuits. Obama, moreover, <a href="http://libertyunyielding.com/2013/08/19/wh-has-missed-half-of-obamacares-legally-imposed-implementation-deadlines/" type="external">&#160;missed half of the law’s legally imposed implementation deadlines</a>&#160;leading up the October rollout of Healthcare.gov, but who’s counting?</p>
<p>So the question arises once again: By what authority is Obama empowered to enact his administrative fix? Curious minds include that of the&#160; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/11/14/white-house-defends-legality-of-obamacare-fix/" type="external">Washington Post’s Greg Sargent</a>, who posed the question to the White House on behalf of Obamacare’s “foes” (Sargent’s word) who flooded Twitter yesterday, seeking answers. Here is what a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told Sargent:</p>
<p>The Supreme Court held more than 25 years ago that agencies charged with administering statues&#160;have inherent authority to exercise discretion to ensure that their statutes are enforced in a manner that achieves statutory goals and are consistent with other administrative policies. Agencies may exercise this discretion in appropriate circumstances, including when implementing new or different regulatory regimes, and to ensure that transitional periods do not result in undue hardship.</p>
<p>Sargent goes on to note that the Supreme Court case in question is&#160;Heckler v. Chaney&#160;(1985), which centered on a lawsuit brought by inmates on death row. He writes somewhat confusingly that these doomed prisoners “sued to force the FDA to take action to block&#160;the use of&#160;certain drugs in state lethal injections, on the theory that the FDA has no authority to&#160;approve&#160;this use of the drugs.” The high court decided, in any case, that “private citizens cannot force a federal&#160;agency to bring an enforcement action, even one in keeping with federal statutes.”</p>
<p>Take that, foes of Obamacare!</p>
<p>One familiar with Sargent’s work would not be unjustified in wondering how many “experts in administrative law” he phoned before he finally reached David Vladeck, of Georgetown Law, who told him:</p>
<p>The ultimate conclusion of the Court&#160;was that&#160;when it comes to using the various tools an agency has, it has very broad discretion, including refraining from enforcement actions, if the agency thinks this it will achieve&#160;its statutory goals.</p>
<p>The administration is put in a position where they have to use what seems like an odd justification to delay the president’s signature achievement. But I think they’re being responsible in doing it, and the legal case for it is solid.</p>
<p>Vladeck, Sargent acknowledges in full disclosure, was “a political appointee to the FTC during Obama’s first term, but is widely quoted as an independent expert on these topics.” Vladeck stayed, moreover, in a Holiday Inn Express last night. So there!</p>
<p>The problems, which are many, include that fact that Obama’s fix has nothing whatsoever to do with “achieving a statutory goal.” The law does that already — just in a way that makes Obama look like the liar that he is. All the fix does is postpones the inevitable for people who were told they could keep their health care policies if they liked them and are now finding that that was a fabrication. It is also a not terribly subtle effort to shift the blame for the failure onto the insurance companies. It gives Obama the chance to say, “See? I was in it for you. It’s the greedy insurance who refuse to play along.”</p>
<p>In the end, however, the president has no standing that authorizes him to change the law. That’s the job of Congress, one chamber of which is now under the control of his “foes,” who would be out of their minds to help him out of a jam when he passed the law without a single Republican vote in the first place.</p>
<p>Related Articles</p>
<p>For more articles and headlines, be sure to check out&#160; <a href="http://libertyunyielding.com/" type="external">Liberty Unyielding</a>.&#160;Follow me on&#160; <a href="http://www.twitter.com/NYConservativ" type="external">Twitter</a>&#160;or join me at&#160; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Manhattan-Conservative-Examiner/235366144098" type="external">Facebook</a>.</p> | The administration’s response to accusations Obama’s ‘fix’ is illegal | true | http://conservativefiringline.com/administrations-response-accusations-obamas-fix-illegal/ | 2013-11-15 | 0 |
<p>Lt. Col. Ralph Peters (Ret) is a familiar face on Fox News. He has been doing commentary on military matters and foreign affairs for more than a decade. He has always been a hard-core spokesman for ultra-conservative views and a fierce opponent of all things liberal. He once <a href="" type="internal">called President Obama</a> a “total pussy” on the air (for which he got a two week suspension).</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/NewsCorpse/posts/2081502651864519" type="external" /></p>
<p>For a little background, Peters is so radical that he once complained that the U.S. military needed to buck up and <a href="" type="internal">produce more civilian casualties</a> in order to win the war on terror. He also advocated <a href="" type="internal">targeting the media</a> for military attacks, including in the U.S. But more recently he has assumed a strident “NeverTrump” position. He believes that Donald Trump is Putin’s puppet and even announced on Fox that he would be <a href="" type="internal">voting for Hillary Clinton</a> because he doesn’t “want Moscow’s man in the White House,” and that “Vladimir Putin has a deep hold on Trump.”</p>
<p>Bearing all of that in mind, the <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/tomnamako/ralph-peters" type="external">letter</a> Peters released on Tuesday is all the more remarkable. In it he announced that he was severing his relationship with Fox News. And the substance and tone of the document is just plain shocking. For someone so devoted to the far-right agenda, Peters’ descriptions of Fox News must sting. And no matter how much of a war-mongering neanderthal he is, he seems to have solid grasp of how reprehensible and dangerous Fox News is. So read on in amazement (emphasis added):</p>
<p>On March 1st, I informed Fox that I would not renew my contract. The purpose of this message to all of you is twofold:</p>
<p>First, I must thank each of you for the cooperation and support you’ve shown me over the years. Those working off-camera, the bookers and producers, don’t often get the recognition you deserve, but I want you to know that I have always appreciated the challenges you face and the skill with which you master them.</p>
<p>Second, I feel compelled to explain why I have to leave. Four decades ago, I took an oath as a newly commissioned officer. I swore to “support and defend the Constitution,” and that oath did not expire when I took off my uniform. Today, I feel that Fox News is assaulting our constitutional order and the rule of law, while fostering corrosive and unjustified paranoia among viewers. Over my decade with Fox, I long was proud of the association. Now I am ashamed.</p>
<p>In my view, Fox has degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration. When prime-time hosts–who have never served our country in any capacity–dismiss facts and empirical reality to launch profoundly dishonest assaults on the FBI, the Justice Department, the courts, the intelligence community (in which I served) and, not least, a model public servant and genuine war hero such as Robert Mueller–all the while scaremongering with lurid warnings of “deep-state” machinations– I cannot be part of the same organization, even at a remove. To me, Fox News is now wittingly harming our system of government for profit.</p>
<p>As a Russia analyst for many years, it also has appalled me that hosts who made their reputations as super-patriots and who, justifiably, savaged President Obama for his duplicitous folly with Putin, now advance Putin’s agenda by making light of Russian penetration of our elections and the Trump campaign. Despite increasingly pathetic denials, it turns out that the “nothing-burger” has been covered with Russian dressing all along. And by the way: As an intelligence professional, I can tell you that the Steele dossier rings true–that’s how the Russians do things.. The result is that we have an American president who is terrified of his counterpart in Moscow.</p>
<p>I do not apply the above criticisms in full to Fox Business, where numerous hosts retain a respect for facts and maintain a measure of integrity (nor is every host at Fox News a propaganda mouthpiece–some have shown courage). I have enjoyed and valued my relationship with Fox Business, and I will miss a number of hosts and staff members. You’re the grown-ups.</p>
<p>Also, I deeply respect the hard-news reporters at Fox, who continue to do their best as talented professionals in a poisoned environment. These are some of the best men and women in the business.</p>
<p>So, to all of you: Thanks, and, as our president’s favorite world leader would say, “Das vidanya.”</p>
<p>That hardly requires any elaboration. However, Fox News issued a brief and uncharacteristically weak response:</p>
<p>“Ralph Peters is entitled to his opinion despite the fact that he’s choosing to use it as a weapon in order to gain attention. We are extremely proud of our top-rated primetime hosts and all of our opinion programing,”</p>
<p>Fox didn’t even bother to refute any of Peters’ allegations regarding Fox’s devolution into a propaganda machine. Nor did they defend the assertions that Trump is a hapless asset of Vladimir Putin. They just bragged about their on-air shills (only those in primetime) and made a wholly nonsensical accusation that Peters was seeking attention. By quitting his job at a major cable TV network? Um, Okay. Let’s see if any of his former colleagues have the guts to join a long overdue and righteous exodus from Fox. Or they can stay and forever wallow in the treasonous glow of Comrade Trump’s State TV.</p>
<p>In the meantime, The Daily Show compiled some of Peters’ greatest hits. This is the guy who has now come around (finally) to the view that Fox News is “fostering corrosive and unjustified paranoia among viewers.”</p>
<p>How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QSSMOES/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B00QSSMOES&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=newscorpsecom-20&amp;linkId=TLI6JC2OYE22MUTS" type="external">Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.</a> Available now at Amazon.</p>
<p /> | ‘I Am Ashamed’ To Be Associated With Fox News, Says Long-Time Military Contributor | true | http://newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p%3D28300 | 4 |
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<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-defiant-as-polls-rise-wont-say-obama-was-born-in-united-states/2016/09/15/48913162-7b61-11e6-ac8e-cf8e0dd91dc7_story.html?postshare=7541473982541387&amp;tid=ss_tw" type="external">interview published by Washington Post on Thursday</a>, Trump refused to recount his claims that Obama was not born in Hawaii: “I’ll answer that question at the right time… I just don’t want to answer it yet.” Trump most recently expressed doubt over Obama’s birthplace in an interview with
<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/time-donald-trump-talked-birtherism/story?id=41927366" type="external">ABC News in August 2013</a>. Hillary Clinton’s press secretary Brian Fallon tweeted:
<p /> Share on
<a href="" type="internal">Facebook</a>
<a href="" type="internal">Twitter</a>
<a href="" type="internal">Email</a> | BREAKING Trump Aide: ‘Trump Believes Obama was Born in US’ | false | http://thewhim.com/breaking-trump-aide-trump-believes-obama-born-us/ | 2016-09-16 | 2 |
<p>SAO PAULO (AP) - A state government in northeastern Brazil has declared a "state of calamity" for public security due to a police strike that has lasted nearly 20 days.</p>
<p>Civilian and military police officers walked off the job Dec. 19 in Rio Grande do Norte. They are demanding back pay and better working conditions.</p>
<p>The state public safety department reports that there has been a spike in burglaries and violence during the period, including at least 100 murders.</p>
<p>On Dec. 29 the state called in federal troops to stem the violence. Nearly 3,000 soldiers are patrolling the streets of the state capital, Natal, and other cities.</p>
<p>The calamity decree was published Saturday in the state's official gazette. It allows the state government to pay for services and sign contracts without a bidding process.</p>
<p>SAO PAULO (AP) - A state government in northeastern Brazil has declared a "state of calamity" for public security due to a police strike that has lasted nearly 20 days.</p>
<p>Civilian and military police officers walked off the job Dec. 19 in Rio Grande do Norte. They are demanding back pay and better working conditions.</p>
<p>The state public safety department reports that there has been a spike in burglaries and violence during the period, including at least 100 murders.</p>
<p>On Dec. 29 the state called in federal troops to stem the violence. Nearly 3,000 soldiers are patrolling the streets of the state capital, Natal, and other cities.</p>
<p>The calamity decree was published Saturday in the state's official gazette. It allows the state government to pay for services and sign contracts without a bidding process.</p> | Brazil state declares 'state of calamity' over police strike | false | https://apnews.com/amp/a5b756d46e5843d481a676e84252c968 | 2018-01-06 | 2 |
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<p>October 30, 2013 Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Koji Uehara (19) reacts with catcher David Ross (3) after defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in Game Six of Major League Baseball's&#160; World Series at Fenway Park. The Red Sox won 6-1.</p>
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<p>October 27, 2013 Smoke rises after a bomb exploded near a park where Gujarat's chief minister and Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi, the prime ministerial candidate for India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was to address a rally. At least six crude bombs exploded near where tens of thousands of people were gathered to hear Modi speak, police said.</p>
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<p>October 25, 2013 An undercover&#160; officer (center-left) rescues a police colonel from demonstrators of the Free Pass Movement (MPL). The MPL was demonstrating to demand zero tariffs in the public transportation system.</p>
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<p>October 30, 2013 Protesters burn cardboard and refuse as they demonstrate against a lack of housing and other services outside provincial government buildings. Hundreds looted shops, overturned garbage bins, and smashed car windows as police struggled to contain a mob rampaging through the heart of South Africa's top tourist city. Riot police in full body armor cordoned off roads in the city centre, where a large crowd, many wearing ruling ANC regalia, were protesting against a lack of state housing in the only metropolis governed by the official opposition.</p>
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<p>October 30, 2013 Onlookers stand next to a burned bus after an accident at Mahabubnagar district in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. At least 40 bus passengers were feared killed when its fuel tank caught fire in a road accident, local media reported.</p>
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<p>October 31, 2013 A relative of one of the 34 Lebanese immigrants who drowned in the waters of Indonesia weep as the coffins of victims are handed over to their families. Some 68 Lebanese, mostly from poor areas in the north of the country, were aboard an Australia-bound boat when it sank Sept. 27 off the coast of Java.</p>
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<p>October 30, 2013 Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius takes her seat to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing about issues and complications with the Affordable Care Act enrollment website, on Capitol Hill.</p>
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<p>October 27, 2013 Samiullah, 23, works at a brick factory, where men generally work for 12 hours a day, six days a week, and make about 557.98 Afghani ($10) per day.</p>
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<p>October 26, 2013 Manha, a Syrian mother, and her sick 1-year-old baby, Ashlem, wait in a corridor of newly opened refugee camp, sheltered in an old school as volunteers provided medical and food aid to hundreds of refugees. Bulgaria is a gateway to the European Union for those fleeing Syria via Turkey, many crossing the border illegally to seek asylum. The country has asked and was promised EU aid to deal with the refugee influx.</p>
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<p>October 27, 2013 AS Roma's Federico Balzaretti (L) jumps for the ball with Udinese's Badu Emmanuel during their Italian Serie A soccer match at the Friuli stadium in Udine.</p>
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<p>October 30, 2013 First lady Michelle Obama reacts with Sesame Street characters Elmo and Rosita after delivering remarks on marketing healthier foods to children at the White House. Mrs. Obama invited local schoolchildren to participate in the fall harvest of the White House Kitchen Garden.</p>
<p /> | The Week in Photos: November 2, 2013 | true | https://thedailybeast.com/the-week-in-photos-november-2-2013 | 2018-10-04 | 4 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Traffic is nearly at a standstill along Interstate 25 near the Montgomery exit, and vehicles are queued up as far back as the Big I.</p>
<p>It appears there was an accident just north of the Montgomery exit, prompting the traffic buildup.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Keep with ABQJournal.com for updates.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Traffic snarles I-25 northbound near Montgomery | false | https://abqjournal.com/393632/traffic-snarles-i-25-northbound-near-montgomery.html | 2 |
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<p>ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man who made headlines when he was caught for break-ins after winning a doughnut-eating contest has been arrested again. And this time he’s accused of stealing from a doughnut shop.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://pilotonline.com/news/local/crime/article_5a047ba0-bf15-5310-80fb-1f16451f0b04.html" type="external">Virginian-Pilot newspaper</a> reports 27-year-old Bradley Hardison of Elizabeth City was charged Thursday with stealing from a Dunkin’ Donuts in November.</p>
<p>An Elizabeth City Police Department statement says he’s charged with felonies including breaking and entering and larceny. It wasn’t clear if he helped himself to any doughnuts.</p>
<p>A phone listing for Hardison rang disconnected.</p>
<p>The Virginian-Pilot reported that in 2014, Hardison won a doughnut-eating contest put on by Elizabeth City police while he was wanted on suspicion of several break-ins. Investigators said they arrested Hardison after his win prompted further scrutiny, and he was convicted, according to the paper.</p>
<p>ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man who made headlines when he was caught for break-ins after winning a doughnut-eating contest has been arrested again. And this time he’s accused of stealing from a doughnut shop.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://pilotonline.com/news/local/crime/article_5a047ba0-bf15-5310-80fb-1f16451f0b04.html" type="external">Virginian-Pilot newspaper</a> reports 27-year-old Bradley Hardison of Elizabeth City was charged Thursday with stealing from a Dunkin’ Donuts in November.</p>
<p>An Elizabeth City Police Department statement says he’s charged with felonies including breaking and entering and larceny. It wasn’t clear if he helped himself to any doughnuts.</p>
<p>A phone listing for Hardison rang disconnected.</p>
<p>The Virginian-Pilot reported that in 2014, Hardison won a doughnut-eating contest put on by Elizabeth City police while he was wanted on suspicion of several break-ins. Investigators said they arrested Hardison after his win prompted further scrutiny, and he was convicted, according to the paper.</p> | Doughnut-eating champ charged with stealing from Dunkin’ | false | https://apnews.com/e29b866e4fe34c3ea45a846632d6b0d7 | 2018-01-21 | 2 |
<p>Author and political commentator Ann Coulter discusses whether President Donald Trump is achieving his campaign promises.</p>
<p>Ann Coulter wants President Donald Trump to hold true to his campaign promises - particularly building the proposed wall at the U.S.’s southern border with Mexico.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Coulter has been one of Trump’s fiercest supporters, a proponent of his “America First” platform, but is somewhat critical of the president calling on him to make good on his commitments.</p>
<p>Coulter says that despite illegal border crossings being down, it is because of Trump’s rhetoric, not because of fear of the wall.</p>
<p>“I think [Trump] is still living off the rhetoric of the campaign and that was an important campaign. The fact that fewer illegal immigrants are trying to cross in, that is a result of his rhetoric, it is not because we have a wall. Trump is allowing ICE to do their job. But all the things that we like that’s happening, it goes away like that with the next president,” the author and political commentator said during an interview with FOX Business’ Lou Dobbs.</p>
<p>Trump has blamed “fake news” for his failure to get his agenda passed, which Coulter calls “vicious lies,” but she also says that Trump hasn’t done himself any favors by his appointees being “part of the swamp.”</p>
<p>“I mean, he is absolutely right on the fake news…,” she says. “I think that is part of the hysteria from the left, from the media, from the deep state, from the swamp - they were just about to tip the country, they almost had it. Just four more years of illegal immigrants and legal immigrants, our entire country would be the state of California. They could taste it, they were so close. Republicans would be gone, gone, gone.”</p> | US, GOP can't survive if Trump doesn't keep his promises: Ann Coulter | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/12/06/us-gop-cant-survive-if-trump-doesnt-keep-his-promises-ann-coulter.html | 2017-12-06 | 0 |
<p>Sgt. Dakota Meyer / AP</p>
<p>BY: <a href="" type="internal">Alana Goodman</a> August 7, 2013 11:30 am</p>
<p>Four years ago, an Afghan translator known as "Hafez" charged into enemy fire to help U.S. Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer rescue wounded American servicemembers during one of the most famous battles in the Afghanistan war.</p>
<p>Meyer received the Medal of Honor for his courage in the battle of Ganjgal—the first living Marine to receive the honor since the Vietnam war.</p>
<p>But Meyer says his friend Hafez is still waiting to receive a U.S. visa he applied for years ago. The former translator remains in Afghanistan under daily threat from the Taliban while his application is caught in the bureaucratic limbo of the State Department.</p>
<p>"He stood next to me, by my side pretty much the entire time [during the Battle of Ganjgal]," Meyer, 25, said in an interview with the Washington Free Beacon on Monday. "He helped me carry my guys out."</p>
<p>"If we can’t help get this guy back who sacrificed so much to bring these Americans home, I’m sure he’ll be killed," he said.</p>
<p>Hafez (a pseudonym to protect his identity) applied for a visa over three years ago, according to Bing West, the co-author of Meyer’s book Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordi­nary Battle in the Afghan War.</p>
<p>"The Taliban are looking for Hafez because he killed several of them in the Ganjigal fight," West told the Free Beacon.</p>
<p>Gen. Joseph Dunford, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, signed off on Hafez’s application. The visa was also green-lighted by U.S. Embassy officials in Kabul, said West. The application then went to the U.S. State Department’s visa department for "vetting," according to West, where it has remained ever since.</p>
<p>Letters of recommendation for Hafez have also been written by Lt. Col. Dan Yaroslaski, Lt. Col. Anthony J. Healy, Gy. Sgt. R. M. Garza, Maj. William Jelks, and Capt. Timothy Chrisman.</p>
<p>"Under the current broken system, a U.S. general in Afghanistan must certify each visa package for an interpreter. But the&#160;authority for approval rests in the States with up to six anonymous committees headed by State Department that conduct additional security checks," West said. "Their incentive is to never make a single mistake and allow in an Afghan who later commits any sort of crime. Thus while Congress has permitted 5,000 visas, State approves less than one hundred each year."</p>
<p>"Gen. Dunford, the head of our forces, has personally approved him. So have six commanders in the past four years," West added.</p>
<p>U.S. and Afghan troops were ambushed by Taliban fighters on the outskirts of the village of Ganjgal, in the Kunar Province on Sept. 8, 2009. Meyer, Hafez, and other U.S. and Afghan allies pushed through enemy fire, rescuing wounded comrades. Meyer fought his way to the front zone in an effort to save a four-man team that had been pinned down by the fight. The men had been killed. Meyer carried their bodies to a safe location. Six Americans and eight Afghan allies were killed in the battle.</p>
<p>Meyer received the Medal of Honor, and two others received the Navy Cross, for their actions that day.</p>
<p>Meyer recalled Hafez’s words before they rushed toward the fire.</p>
<p>"[Hafez] told me, ‘Dakota, it’s very bad out there.’" Meyer said. "I said, ‘But I gotta go back in and get my guys.’"</p>
<p>The Marine then asked for his translator’s help.</p>
<p>"[I said] ‘I really need you, will you go with me?’" said Meyer. "And he said, ‘If today is my day to die, then that’s it. I’ll go back with you.’"</p>
<p>Now Hafez, his wife, and two children are relying on Meyer for help. The two talk regularly. Meyer fears for his friend’s safety and livelihood.</p>
<p>Hafez emailed Meyer on Monday morning, saying the security situation in his region of Afghanistan is deteriorating.</p>
<p>"First of all I hop[e] you and your family are doing well, I know you and your friend [Bing West] are working hard on our visas," wrote Hafez. "[T]he reason I am bothering you the security situation where I am living geeing [sic] worse, and every night I am guarding to protect me self and my family. If you are getting upset&#160;it is OK, I will not bother you anymore. Wish you all the best have a nice time."</p>
<p>The 25-year-old Medal of Honor recipient told the Free Beacon that&#160;it is hard not to feel demoralized.</p>
<p>"It seems like—it seems we’ve tried everything," he said. "It seems like not anything’s going to happen, you know what I mean?"</p>
<p>However, he also said he, West, and others will continue to lobby for approval of Hafez's application.</p>
<p>"I’m not going to give up," Meyer said. "I’m trying to write a letter to the president right now."</p>
<p>The State Department has shown no sign of movement despite Meyer’s and West’s efforts, as well as several U.S. commanders who have sent letters supporting Hafez’s asylum application, according to West.</p>
<p>The State Department also rebuffed inquiries from the Free Beacon.</p>
<p>"I see that you called earlier regarding the visa case of an Afghan translator," spokesperson Katherine Pfaff emailed on Tuesday. "Section 222 (f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) prohibits us from disclosing details from individual visa cases."</p>
<p>Meyer said he will not stop working to help his friend, who he said never stopped working to help U.S. troops.</p>
<p>"It wasn’t just Ganjgal, it was everyday," said Meyer. "[Hafaz] showed up to be a team player, you know? He showed up because he cared. He showed up because he was passionate about his country. He showed up to help protect us, as Americans."</p>
<p>West said time is not on Hafaz’s side.</p>
<p>"Five men in a Humvee—one Medal of Honor; a second Medal in process, two Navy Crosses—and Hafez," said West.</p>
<p>"For four years, he has avoided assassination. But eventually his luck will run out. He risked everything to bring back four trapped Americans, and we have turned our back on him."</p>
<p>The withdrawal of most American forces from Afghanistan is slated to conclude by the end of 2014.</p> | The Abandoned | true | http://freebeacon.com/the-abandoned/ | 2013-08-07 | 0 |
<p>I have long wondered what the animal kingdom – mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and insects – would want to tell us humans if we and the animals had a common language?</p>
<p>Well, in my new Fable – <a href="" type="internal">Animal Envy</a> (Seven Stories Press)– a “Human Genius” invents a digital translation application whereby animals can speak with each other across species and also speak one way to humans so they learn to listen. The response by “subhumans” was so overwhelming that the Human Genius reserved 100 hours of global TV time for the denizens of the natural world to tell their stories before mesmerized billions of humans all over the Earth.</p>
<p>An Elephant, Owl and Dolphin – sensing the need for some sort of production order and fair play – called themselves The Triad and convened the Great Talkout. Driven by the complexity of raising their young and surviving generation after generation, the animals, led by the wisdom of The Triad, developed a strategy born out of their keen sense of observing the human animal whom they internally called The King of Beasts.</p>
<p>To make their core messages palatable, they had to frame their approach during those early television hours to be seen as ingratiating and flattering to humans’ self-interest. They knew that humans had their doubts and their dissenters, but overall their long-touted “conquest of nature” as a measure of their “progress” reflected a level of ongoing aggressive behavior, marked by arrogance and violence that had no equal on Earth.</p>
<p>The Triad suggested that all species commence with flattery of humans to get them to open their minds. Animals could better show how useful the animal kingdom is to humans once humans accepted and understood them. <a href="https://www.sevenstories.com/books/3956-animal-envy" type="external" /></p>
<p>Animals were not going to rely on appeals to justice and fairness. They wanted to speak directly from their experience and conditions of their existence.</p>
<p>It turned out that different species made different demands on The Triad’s program management. There were the dire urgencies of species facing severe habitant loss and extinction. The Triadgave them special emergency access to the television stage. There were species who disagreed on using flattery and went right into their priorities. Other species said the heck with mutual self-interest – look what humans can learn from our far superior physical capabilities such as our sense of sound, smell and sight – from dogs to owls to octopi – and their unique relation to their biological environments. Think of beavers, bees, spiders, beetles and the critical earthworm.</p>
<p>Many species wanted to convey to humans that they were far more than genetically determined organisms – called instinct. “Multiple intelligences” came into play soon after birth. They were forms of feedback – stimuli, fears, hunger, heat, cold, weather eruptions and intricate mating and social rituals. In short, animals learn and adapt.</p>
<p>To the massive human audience, the Great Talkout was beyond fascinating. All ages were glued to the screen. The sheer variety and recounting of different species were startlingly new to all but animal scientists, ecologists and other specialists. After all, animals were stereotyped simplistically over the centuries.</p>
<p>We knew, for example, that elephants had extraordinary memory, but we did not know they had compassion, empathy, courage, sorrow, even grief. And so have other species beyond just mammals.</p>
<p>The book describes a revolt of the Insects who felt their massive numbers, variety, beauty and impact on humans (eg. mosquitos) deserved more airtime. They organized a challenging parade to impress The Triad of their importance to the environment and their ability to command the attention of humans who feared them. They got their time on stage.</p>
<p>Some animals spoke directly to The Triad to convey warnings to humans. Particularly vociferous were the Asian beetles known as emerald ash borers who have destroyed tens of millions of urban and rural ash trees. Foresters estimate losses so far of about twenty-five billion dollars and much more to come.</p>
<p>One ash borer, speaking for all of them, declared that “We want you, oh mighty Triad, to broadcast this message: ‘Humans, know that we came from China, hitchhiking in packing materials. We’re a half-inch long with green wings and a reddish stomach. You can’t stop us from our meal. Neither Chinese wasps nor birds, like those hated woodpeckers, can stop us. They can eat a whole lot of us but we still multiply. You might be asking why I’m telling you all this. It’s because you need to be more humble, but humility can become a great asset to your survival and health.’”</p>
<p>Because the various species knew that humans are much “smarter” than they are, they cautioned the humans to beware of their past habit of outsmarting themselves and succumbing to the intensifying hubris that could cause ever bigger disasters and extinction on our small planet.</p>
<p>There are many consequential facts about the animal kingdom, including domesticated animals for food and pets, which should fascinate readers of all ages. This may be partially why Animal Envy has been praised by leaders of how humans must and should deal with other sentient beings, such as Princeton Professor, Peter Singer, environmental attorney, Eric Glitzenstein, and scholar-author Mark Bekoff.</p>
<p>A special comment came from singer/poet Patti Smith who described the Fable as “a tale of two kingdoms, mirroring that reflective insight of animals and closing eyes of human kind. Animal Envy is a clarion call!”</p>
<p>Authors, naturally, want their books to be read. Such reactions are indeed welcome.</p> | Animals to Humans—Listen, Learn and Respect! | true | https://counterpunch.org/2016/11/25/animals-to-humans-listen-learn-and-respect/ | 2016-11-25 | 4 |
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<p>FILE This May 14, 2014 file photo shows Sylvia Mathews Burwell, then-President Barack Obama’s nominee to become secretary of Health and Human Services testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Barack Obama’s new health chief is revamping the administration’s management of the health care overhaul, aiming to improve accountability and prevent another round of insurance chaos this fall. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell announced Friday that she has s appointed a new high-level operations manager, responsible for delivering results across critical programs. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)</p>
<p>WASHINGTON — Moving to prevent more insurance chaos this fall, the nation’s new health care chief on Friday revamped the management of HealthCare.gov.</p>
<p>Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell appointed a new high-level operations manager to closely supervise the online portal to coverage under President Barack Obama’s health care law.</p>
<p>She also announced that she’s hiring a CEO and a technology leader to specifically handle all aspects of the health law’s coverage expansion. The CEO would be able to take concerns directly to Burwell.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The changes will “further instill ongoing accountability for reaching milestones, measuring results and delivering results for the American people,” Burwell said in a statement.</p>
<p>“This is a good move that should have occurred two years ago,” said Robert Laszewski, an industry consultant often critical of Obama’s overhaul.</p>
<p>Hiring a CEO for HealthCare.gov had been strongly urged by the Center for American Progress, a think tank with close ties to the White House.</p>
<p>Eight million people have signed up for coverage through new markets offering subsidized private insurance. But last fall’s open enrollment launch was paralyzed by technology problems, creating a major political embarrassment for the White House.</p>
<p>A rescue effort led by management consultant Jeff Zients got HealthCare.gov working reasonably well by the end of November. But Zients reported that his team found hundreds of software bugs and insufficient computing equipment. He also blamed “inadequate management oversight” that got in the way of identifying and fixing problems.</p>
<p>The new operations manager Burwell appointed on Friday is a contractor who worked closely with Zients to turn the website around. Andy Slavitt is a vice president of Optum, a technology company whose subsidiary built the one part of HealthCare.gov said to have worked well — a federal data hub that helps verify the personal information of people applying for health insurance. Optum is owned by UnitedHealth, the nation’s largest insurer.</p>
<p>In his new role, Slavitt will oversee operational issues involving major HHS programs, including Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Until the new overhaul CEO and technology leader are in place, Slavitt will keep a particularly close eye on preparations for the insurance overhaul’s next open enrollment season.</p>
<p>That’s only five months away, and there’s still a lot of work to be done. Among the issues facing Burwell:</p>
<p>–AUTOMATIC RE-ENROLLMENT. If you’re happy with your HealthCare.gov plan, and you don’t have changes in income or family status, can you just check a box and keep everything the same for 2015? Because of the complexity of the law, it may not be as easy.</p>
<p>If those already enrolled have to complete another cumbersome application, it could jam the website and call centers at a time when millions of first-timers will also be trying to sign up.</p>
<p>–E-COMMERCE 101. HealthCare.gov got low marks for customer friendliness during 2014’s open enrollment. Many consumers had a hard time finding out whether their doctors and hospitals participated in a particular plan, or whether their medications were covered. Consumer groups are clamoring for improvements.</p>
<p>— “BACK ROOM” PROBLEMS. Many of the glitches affecting the consumer part of HealthCare.gov got straightened out, but insurers say they still face numerous technology issues. There’s no streamlined process for consumers to report life changes, no automated system for paying premium subsidies to the plans.</p>
<p>— MEDICAID. Originally, the federal website was supposed to automatically transfer details on low-income people eligible for Medicaid to their state program. But more work was needed, and a backup system is still in use while technical issues between the feds and the states get tackled.</p> | New health chief revamps HealthCare.gov | false | https://abqjournal.com/418561/new-health-chief-revamps-healthcare-gov.html | 2 |
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<p>Forty-eight years ago today, the late Neil Armstrong took “one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind.” Armstrong became the first of a dozen men to walk on the moon’s surface, followed later that day by Buzz Aldrin.</p>
<p>Over the next three-and-a-half years, 10 other men set foot on the moon: Pete Conrad, Alan Bean, Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, David Scott, James Irwin, John Young, Charles Duke, Eugene Cernan, and Harrison Schmitt.</p>
<p>For those who grew up watching the Apollo space program, it’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly 45 years since Apollo 17 became the last lunar mission. Since that time, astronauts have been confined to earth orbits.</p>
<p>Seven months before Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon in Apollo 11, Jim Lovell and his Apollo 8 crew became the first men to orbit the moon. Lovell made another trip to the lunar orbit during the aborted Apollo 13 mission, but he was never able to walk on the moon.</p>
<p>Aldrin has recently called for an effort to put man on Mars rather than return to the moon.</p>
<p>While space exploration was once something only governments could underwrite, private companies now place satellites in orbit. Billionaire Jeff Bezos and others expect to send passengers into space in the near future.</p>
<p>Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day is published by <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Scott_Rasmussen%27s_Number_of_the_Day" type="external">Ballotpedia</a>. Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.</p>
<p>Scott Rasmussen is a Senior Fellow for the Study of Self-Governance at the King’s College in New York and an Editor-At-Large for Ballotpedia, the Encyclopedia of American Politics. His most recent book, “Politics Has Failed: America Will Not,” was published by the Sutherland Institute in May.To read more of his reports — <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Blogs/ScottRasmussen/id-143/" type="external">Click Here Now.</a></p> | 12 Astronauts Have Walked on the Moon | false | https://newsline.com/12-astronauts-have-walked-on-the-moon/ | 2017-07-20 | 1 |
<p>iTunes Official Music Charts for the week ending April 12, 2018:</p>
<p>Top Songs</p>
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<p>1. Nice For What, Drake</p>
<p>2. I Like It, Cardi B, Bad Bunny &amp; J Balvin</p>
<p>3. God's Plan, Drake</p>
<p>4. Meant to Be, Bebe Rexha &amp; Florida Georgia Line</p>
<p>5. Whatever It Takes, Imagine Dragons</p>
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<p>6. Get Along, Kenny Chesney</p>
<p>7. The Middle, Zedd,Maren Morris &amp; Grey</p>
<p>8. Zombie, Bad Wolves</p>
<p>9. Psycho (feat. Ty Dolla $ign), Post Malone</p>
<p>10. You Make It Easy, Jason Aldean</p>
<p>Top Albums</p>
<p>1. Invasion of Privacy, Cardi B</p>
<p>2. The Greatest Showman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Various Artists</p>
<p>3. AMERICA, Thirty Seconds to Mars</p>
<p>4. Revamp: The Songs of Elton John &amp; Bernie Taupin, Various Artists</p>
<p>5. Jesus Christ Superstar (2012 Remastered Edition), Jesus Christ Superstar - The Original Studio Cast &amp; Andrew Lloyd Webber</p>
<p>6. There Is More (Live), Hillsong Worship</p>
<p>7. My Dear Melancholy, The Weeknd</p>
<p>8. Restoration: Reimagining the Songs of Elton John &amp; Bernie Taupin, Various Artists</p>
<p>9. Find a Light, Blackberry Smoke</p>
<p>10. Vacation In Hell, Flatbush Zombies</p>
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<p>(copyright) 2018 Apple Inc.</p> | The top 10 songs and albums on the iTunes Store | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/09/15/top-10-songs-and-albums-on-itunes-store.html | 2018-04-13 | 0 |
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<p>The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 10 were killed when missiles struck two vehicles and three motorcycles in the airstrike in Saraqib, in the rebel-stronghold province of Idlib. The Observatory said it was not clear if all killed were members of Fatah al-Sham Front, the powerful al-Qaida-affiliate in Syria. The group said militants from other groups may be among those killed, including non-Syrians.</p>
<p>Idlib Media Center, a local opposition group, said the airstrikes killed 15, all but one were member of Fatah al-Sham. One of the killed was a member of the local police, according to the center. Footage posted by the center and by the opposition Qasioun news agency shows two badly mangled vehicles as fire fighters clear the area and wash the streets from the airstrike aftermath. The vehicles were traveling on a highway south of Saraqib.</p>
<p>It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.</p>
<p>The U.S. has killed some of al-Qaida’s most senior commanders in Syria over the past two years in airstrikes, and has recently also increased its targeting of Islamic State militants in the country. The Syrian government and its ally Russia have also targeted militants in Syria. On Friday, a senior member of Fatah al-Sham was killed in an airstrike in Idlib.</p>
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<p>A cease-fire across Syria since Dec. 30 doesn’t include Fatah al-Sham, the government says. The cease-fire was brokered by Russia and Turkey.</p>
<p>Also on Wednesday, airstrikes resumed on a Damascus suburb despite the cease-fire, killing at least one woman and injuring several others, opposition activists said.</p>
<p>At least six airstrikes Wednesday hit villages in al-Marj in the eastern Ghouta suburb, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syrian Civil Defense in Damascus suburbs. Since the cease-fire came into effect on Dec. 30, fighting has raged in the area as government troops attempted to gain ground. The Observatory said it was the first time airstrikes were launched there since the cease-fire. The government is often suspected of carrying airstrikes in the fertile area where it has in recent months been encroaching on opposition fighters, amid a tightening siege on the eastern Ghouta suburbs.</p>
<p>Fighting has raged in and around Damascus despite the cease-fire, including in the water-rich Barada Valley. The government and opposition groups exchanged blame for violating the truce.</p> | Opposition: Airstrikes in northern Syria kill 10 militants | false | https://abqjournal.com/925610/opposition-airstrikes-in-northern-syria-kill-10-militants.html | 2 |
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<p>At approximately 4 a.m. Saturday morning, a transgender military vet living in Cookeville, Tennessee, had her truck set on fire.</p>
<p>The woman, identified only as Elle by <a href="http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/crime/2016/11/07/cookeville-transgender-womans-truck-painted-trump-lit-fire/93452240/" type="external">The Tennessean</a>, allegedly heard a noise coming from her driveway at about 3:30 a.m. She went outside to find the door of her Ford F-150 truck wide open. She closed it, and went back inside. Thirty minutes later, her car was up in flames.</p>
<p>According to Elle, it appears that the word "Trump" was spray-painted on the front and back of her truck before it was lit on fire. Photographs show the damage:</p>
<p>Cookeville transgender veteran's truck painted 'Trump,' lit on fire: <a href="https://t.co/ewuO2kSPnQ" type="external">https://t.co/ewuO2kSPnQ</a> <a href="https://t.co/kGQxGTojBC" type="external">pic.twitter.com/kGQxGTojBC</a></p>
<p>Transgender Veteran’s Truck Spray-Painted With ‘Trump,’ Set On Fire In Tennessee <a href="https://t.co/sinVAedbD5" type="external">https://t.co/sinVAedbD5</a> <a href="https://t.co/vuf3EDK9tc" type="external">pic.twitter.com/vuf3EDK9tc</a></p>
<p>It was allegedly a police officer who noticed the spray paint:</p>
<p>"Most of (the paint) got burned off, but one of the police officers pointed out that it said ‘Trump’ on the hood and the back...It just breaks my heart every time I walk past the driveway."</p>
<p>Elle doesn't have any Hillary Clinton paraphernalia in her yard, and the photographs don't show anything on her vehicle. However, she has actively campaigned against Donald Trump on social media, saying he would be bad for the LGBT community.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/crime/2016/11/07/cookeville-transgender-womans-truck-painted-trump-lit-fire/93452240/" type="external">The Tennessean</a> reports that "Elle served eight years in the U.S. Army. She was medically retired in 2007 after suffering from a severe brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder while on tour in Iraq in 2004." She currently lives in Cookeville with her 3-year-old son.</p>
<p>Elle claims that the police are investigating this as a hate crime, though The Tennessean could not confirm this.</p>
<p>There are several possibilities here. This crime could indeed have been committed by a Trump supporter. It's been shown on multiple occasions that a subset of the GOP nominee's base is made up of aggressive individuals.</p>
<p>Another possibility is that this crime was made to look like it was committed by a Trump supporter. As the Project Veritas undercover videos revealed, operatives on the Left have allegedly incited violence to make Trump supporters look dangerous. It wouldn't be a complete surprise if this crime was committed by a leftist with a political motive.</p>
<p>Lastly, Elle could have done this herself. Because we currently know very little about the crime, all possibilities are viable.</p>
<p>However, if this was the work of a deranged Trump supporter, or even a Trump-hating Democrat, it's a sign of a dangerous trend. In mid-October, a North Carolina Republican office was <a href="" type="internal">firebombed</a> in the dead of night. This election has become heated to the point that some individuals believe it's necessary to commit crimes to make their point.</p>
<p>Violence can also be seen on social media, where some users remark that if the opposition wins, it may be time for a "revolution."</p>
<p>Elle's truck fire may simply be a one-off incident, but it's just one more example of this election bringing out the worst in humanity.</p> | Report: Transgender’s Truck Set On Fire After Being Painted ‘Trump’ | true | https://dailywire.com/news/10612/report-transgenders-truck-set-fire-after-being-frank-camp | 2016-11-08 | 0 |
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<p>Analysts expect sales to reach 17 million for the first time since 2005. That’s close to the record of 17.3 million set in 2000.</p>
<p>Low gas prices are giving buyers more confidence, whether they’re buying their first subcompact or upgrading to a larger SUV. Gas prices started this year at an average of $2.23 per gallon, down 33 percent from the beginning of 2014, according to AAA. The Energy Department estimates that lower gasoline prices will save U.S. households $550 this year — about four months of lease payments on a 2014 Honda Civic.</p>
<p>Popular new vehicles, like the Jeep Cherokee and Subaru Outback, are also drawing buyers.</p>
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<p>Sales have now grown for five consecutive years — a rarity in the volatile auto industry.</p>
<p>While sales are growing, the pace has slowed from double-digit increases in 2011 and 2012. That’s good news for buyers, who can expect to see bigger discounts in competitive segments like midsize cars as automakers fight to steal sales from each other.</p>
<p>Alec Gutierrez, an analyst with the car buying site Kelley Blue Book, thinks sales could stay in the 17-million range for the next two or three years if interest rates stay low and the U.S. economy remains healthy.</p>
<p>December, with its holiday discounts and warmer-than-usual weather, brought buyers out in droves, with sales up 11 percent over the previous year. Automakers reported December and full-year sales Monday.</p>
<p>For all of 2014, sales were up 6 percent to 16.5 million vehicles, according to Autodata Corp. That was the biggest year for the industry since 2006.</p>
<p>Back then — as now — the Ford F-Series was the country’s best-selling vehicle and the midsize Toyota Camry was the best-selling car. The top-selling SUV was the Ford Explorer, but it was only No. 14 among all vehicles sold, according to Ward’s AutoInfoBank. In 2014 two smaller SUVs — the Honda CR-V and the Ford Escape — cracked the top 10 in sales as customers turned away from small and midsize cars as car-like handling and low gas prices made such vehicles more appealing.</p>
<p>Toyota, Fiat Chrysler and General Motors all reported 2014 sales increases, and Nissan, Subaru, Hyundai and Honda reported record numbers for the year.</p>
<p>Ford’s sales were flat, but the Ford brand remained the top-selling brand in the U.S. Among major automakers, only Volkswagen’s sales fell.</p>
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<p>Here are more details about 2014 and trends to watch for this year:</p>
<p>BEST-SELLERS: General Motors — with its Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC brands — sold the most vehicles in the U.S. in 2014 despite a scandal over the delayed recall of faulty ignition switches in older small cars. GM sold just over 2.9 million vehicles, up 5 percent from 2013.</p>
<p>— WINNERS AND LOSERS: Among major automakers, Subaru was the biggest gainer, with sales up 21 percent to 513,693 vehicles in 2014. Subaru’s three new utilities — the Crosstrek, Forester and Outback — drove sales. FiatChrysler was the year’s other big gainer, with sales up 16 percent to 2 million, thanks to strong demand for its Jeep and Ram brands. Volkswagen had a difficult year, as sales fell 10 percent while the German automaker waited for new vehicles to hit U.S. showrooms. Mini also struggled as gas prices fell, with sales down nearly 20 percent.</p>
<p>— SUV BOOM: Gas prices accelerated the switch from cars to SUVs. Light trucks, the category that includes SUVs, outsold cars in 2014 — the first time that’s happened since 2011, according to car shopping site Edmunds.com. That’s partly because automakers are offering more types of SUVs, including fuel-efficient subcompacts such as the Buick Encore, to appeal to young families and Baby Boomers. The trend is likely to continue in 2015 as more small SUVs, like the Honda HR-V, Jeep Renegade and Mazda CX-3, hit the market.</p>
<p>— LUXURY GROWTH: As the stock market rose, so did sales of expensive vehicles. BMW, Audi, Porsche and Land Rover all reported record U.S. sales in 2014. Lexus luxury sales outpaced mass-market sales last year, and they’re expected to do so again this year. Luxury makers are offering more models, like the new Maserati Ghibli sedan and Lincoln MKC SUV, and they’re expanding their customer base with lower-priced models like the Mercedes GLK-Class and Jaguar XE due out this year. Mercedes-Benz was expected to be the top-selling luxury brand in the U.S. for 2014.</p>
<p>— PICKUP WARS: Ford’s F-Series, the best-selling truck in the U.S. for 38 years, saw sales drop in 2014 as the company temporarily halted production to prepare for its new aluminum-sided F-150. The new truck arrived at dealerships in December, but inventory won’t be at normal levels until the middle of 2015. In the meantime, rivals are offering big deals to lure customers away. Ram truck sales rose 24 percent in 2014, while Silverado sales gained 10 percent.</p> | Carmakers finish strong in 2014; are even better days ahead? | false | https://abqjournal.com/521376/automakers-end-2014-strongly-pushing-some-brands-to-records.html | 2 |
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<p>Explosions that level buildings are hardly seen in real life, however, that was the case in Central Ohio where a house was levelled by an explosion early Monday morning, claiming the life of one person and seriously injuring another.</p>
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<p>One of the victim, identified as Shelly Williams, 54, was taken to Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center but died of her injuries on Monday afternoon.</p>
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<p>The home, which was in Madison Township along Everson Road has been left in ruins. Several witnesses managed to capture cell phone videos which show the extent of the flames.</p>
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<p>The firefighters said a man, 59-year-old Stewart Bell, and a woman, 54-year-old Shelly Williams, were injured, were taken to OSU Wexner Medical Center for their injuries.</p>
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<p>Shelly Williams died on Monday afternoon while Bell remains hospitalized, as revealed by the Madison Township Fire Department. The Firefighters were surprised to find the dog alive. Initially, they thought the dog couldn't survive until they found the dog shortly before 6 a.m.</p>
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<p>The Columbia Gas made it on the scene as natural gas continued to burn following the explosion. The investigators are yet to release details on the cause of the explosion. However, the State fire marshals made it on the scene to access the damage and help determine the cause of the blaze.</p>
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<p>One of the residents, David Couch, who lives in the neighborhood, reported that he and some other neighbors helped pull Williams and Bell from the rubble.</p>
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<p>"The house had completely collapsed," Couch says. "They were shell-shocked, obviously they were hurt, and so we tried to get them to safety, away from the house."</p>
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<p>Chief Robert Bates, who heads the Madison Township Fire Department, revealed that the cause of the explosion is under investigation.</p>
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<p>Source: <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/11/house_explosion_in_central_ohi.html" type="external">cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/11/house_explosion_in_central_ohi.html</a></p> | House Explodes in Central Ohio Killing 1 and Severely Injuring Another | true | http://thegoldwater.com/news/11307-House-Explodes-in-Central-Ohio-Killing-1-and-Severely-Injuring-Another | 2017-11-07 | 0 |
<p>Companies in the eurozone are hiring at the fastest pace in over a decade, according to a closely-watched survey of business activity published Tuesday.</p>
<p>The purchasing managers' index, a gauge of activity in the services and manufacturing sectors by IHS Markit, edged down to 55.9 points in October from 56.7 in September. The index is on a 100-point scale, with anything above 50 indicating growth.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Though the index's overall figure edged down, the relatively high level suggests the 19-country eurozone economy continued its strong period of expansion this year.</p>
<p>Firms reported a rise in orders, leading to the need to hire more staff. The rate of job creation was the highest in over a decade.</p>
<p>Manufacturing in particular is enjoying a boom, thanks in part to a decline in the value of the euro earlier this year. Jobs growth in the sector was the highest since the survey began in June 1997.</p>
<p>France and Germany stood out as top performers in the bloc, with smaller economies growing at a slightly slower but still robust pace.</p>
<p>"The eurozone economy has had a good year so far, and the initial signs are that this has continued at the start of the final quarter of 2017," said Andrew Harker, associate director of IHS Markit.</p> | Eurozone companies hiring at fastest pace in over a decade | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/10/24/eurozone-economy-keeps-up-strong-momentum-toward-year-end.html | 2017-10-24 | 0 |
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<p>Image source: Pictures of Money Flickr Creative Commons3.</p>
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<p>What: Shares ofTeamHealth Holdings , a company that provides staffing and administrative services to hospitals and other healthcare providers, jumped more than 17% as of 3:45 p.m. ET after news broke that an activist investment firm has taken a position in the company.</p>
<p>So what:JANA Partners disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has taken an 8% position in TeamHealth. The investment firm released a note stating that it felt that TeamHealth has made "missteps in critical areas including capital allocation, strategy and governance."</p>
<p>JANA Partners has made a motion to add two new members to the company's board of directors and it has submitted three candidates for selection.</p>
<p>In response to the notice, TeamHealth's management issued a statement saying it welcomes communications with shareholders and will be reviewing JANA's board nominations to see if adding them would be "in the best interest of all TeamHealth shareholders."</p>
<p>Now what: TeamHealth stock has been infree fall ever since itrejected a merger offer from AmSurg back in October. At the time, AmSurg had proposed that the two companies join together and AmSurg offered to pay more than $71 per share to make the deal happen.</p>
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<p>However, TeamHealth announced that it <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/10/20/why-team-health-holdings-inc-is-soaring-today.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">wasn't interested Opens a New Window.</a>in merging, and it outright rejected AmSurg's offer. Shares have waned ever since, as even after accounting for today's pop, they are down more than 28% since TeamHealth said no.</p>
<p>It's possible that investors are bidding up shares today on the hope that JANA Partners could convince AmSurg or someone else to make another bid for the company, but that remains complete speculation at this point.</p>
<p>It's unknown at this point whether JANA Partners will be successful in getting its nominees on the board or be able to advocate for other changes that would benefit shareholders. If you were a TeamHealth shareholder before this news broke, then it's probably best to sit tight and watch this story play out.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/02/25/why-teamhealth-holdings-inc-is-soaring-today.aspx" type="external">Why TeamHealth Holdings Inc. Is Soaring Today</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTypeoh/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Brian Feroldi Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why TeamHealth Holdings Inc. Is Soaring Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/02/25/why-teamhealth-holdings-inc-is-soaring-today.html | 2016-03-27 | 0 |
<p>President Obama played tourist in the Middle East on Saturday, after finishing up his diplomatic tour of the region in Jordan on Friday.</p>
<p>Obama toured the ancient ruins of the city of Petra just a day after he met with Jordan's King Abdullah and agreed to pledge an additional $200 million to help Syrian refugees.&#160;</p>
<p>"This will mean more humanitarian assistance and basic services, including education for Syrian children so far from home, whose lives have been upended," <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130323/obama-tours-spectacular-petra-ruins" type="external">Obama said</a>.</p>
<p>He was guided through the ruins by a University of Jordan tourism professor, <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/23/politics/mideast-obama-trip/index.html" type="external">CNN reported</a>.</p>
<p>The ancient city is Jordan's top tourist destination: over half a million people visit each year, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21909614" type="external">according to BBC News</a>. It is 2,000 years old and carved completely of rose-red stone.&#160;</p>
<p>“The president is well-traveled and respects the history of the places he visits,” Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser, told reporters. “It’s important to go beyond bilateral meetings and summits.”</p>
<p>He also visited&#160;Bethlehem to see the Church of the Nativity, which marks the birthplace of Jesus Christ.&#160;</p>
<p>“It’s amazing,” President Obama <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-03-23/obama-takes-time-for-tourism-before-returning-to-washington" type="external">said while observing the city's cliffs</a>.&#160;“Spectacular.”</p>
<p>The President was relaxing after a tough visit throughout the Middle East, including fielding questions about why America was not doing more to stop the ongoing bloodshed in Syria.</p>
<p>Obama is scheduled to take his helicopter back to Amman Saturday afternoon for his return flight to Washington aboard Air Force One, <a href="http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/03/obama-visits-petra-ruins-160052.html" type="external">according to Politico</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/israel-and-palestine/130319/mideast-scholar-rashid-khalidi" type="external">Obama visits Israel; Middle East scholar Rashid Khalidi weighs in</a></p> | Obama tours ancient city of Petra in Jordan to cap off Middle East trip (PHOTOS) | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-03-23/obama-tours-ancient-city-petra-jordan-cap-middle-east-trip-photos | 2013-03-23 | 3 |
<p>Charles Dickens' introduction to A Tale of Two Cities sort of applies to Novavax's (NASDAQ: NVAX) experience in 2017 so far: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."</p>
<p>At two different points this year, the biotech stock sat on year-to-date gains of 20% or more. But at three other times, Novavax's share price was down 20% or more for the year.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Despite its topsy-turvy moves over the last 11 months or so, next year could shape up to be much better for Novavax. I even think there's a realistic chance that the stock could double in value by the end of 2018. Here are three reasons that could happen.</p>
<p>Just a few months ago, Novavax's nanoparticle influenza vaccine NanoFlu wasn't even on most people's radar screens. After all, the vaccine was only in pre-clinical testing, with any path to approval seemingly a long, uphill battle. The story is different now, with NanoFlu emerging as <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/15/the-hidden-gem-in-novavaxs-pipeline-youll-want-to.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=ef05dcf6-ca42-11e7-8a4e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">a hidden gem in Novavax's pipeline Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Based on overwhelmingly positive pre-clinical results announced in August, the biotech quickly moved NanoFlu into a phase 1/2 clinical study in immunizing older adults. The results from that study are expected to be reported by the end of this year. If the early data is positive, I think Novavax stock will get a nice immediate boost.</p>
<p>More important, though, it would pave the way for the company to start a pivotal late-stage study in 2018. The good news is that Novavax is able to complete the clinical studies for NanoFlu really quickly. The biotech thinks it could have late-stage results as early as late 2018, assuming all goes well.</p>
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<p>Should NanoFlu prove to be as successful in the late-stage study as it was in pre-clinical testing going up against Sanofi's (NYSE: SNY) leading flu vaccines, Fluzone and Fluzone HD, Novavax could have a huge winner on its hands. My view is that positive results for NanoFlu could lead to the biotech stock doubling next year, even if the company doesn't have any other successes.</p>
<p>There's a pretty good chance Novavax will have another success in 2018. The company currently has a late-stage clinical study underway for RSV maternal immunization of infants. This study is being funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Novavax anticipates interim data analysis from the study next year.</p>
<p>There are two reasons I suspect this study will go well. First, Novavax reported impressive results from its phase 2 study of its RSV F vaccine for maternal immunization of infants. Second, the company shouldn't have the complicating issues associated with studies of the vaccine in older adults, particularly the potential impact of varying RSV attack rates (a measurement of the spread of the virus). Novavax believes significantly lower attack rates could have made a difference in the <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/06/3-biotech-investing-lessons-from-novovaxs-huge-vac.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=ef05dcf6-ca42-11e7-8a4e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disappointing late-stage results of its RSV F vaccine in older adults last year Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Although immunizing older adults is a bigger opportunity (and one Novavax hasn't abandoned), there's still a lot of potential for the vaccine in maternal immunization. RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization among children less than one year old in the U.S., and globally, it's the second-highest cause of death for children less than one year old. Because of this market opportunity, good news from Novavax's late-stage study next year could light a fire under the stock.</p>
<p>Another possible catalyst that could lead to Novavax stock doubling in 2018 is a big deal -- either a major licensing deal with a big pharma company or an acquisition by one. How likely is such a deal? It depends.</p>
<p>The prospects for a licensing agreement for Novavax's NanoFlu and/or RSV F vaccines hinge on the clinical results. Big pharma companies would probably prefer positive late-stage results, which would make the possibility of a licensing deal in 2018 seem more likely for the RSV F vaccine. But overwhelmingly positive early results for NanoFlu could catch the eye of one of Sanofi's rivals looking to dethrone Fluzone.</p>
<p>If U.S. corporate tax reform efforts are successful, especially repatriation of cash parked overseas at a low tax rate, there could be a wave of acquisition activity in 2018. Novavax just might find itself courted by a large drugmaker looking to bolster its vaccine pipeline.</p>
<p>Obviously, a serious clinical setback for NanoFlu or the RSV F vaccine could wipe out any chance of Novavax stock doubling next year. There's also another factor that could present a big hurdle for the stock: the need for cash.</p>
<p>Novavax reported&#160;$172.6 million&#160;in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities at the end of September. My guess is that the biotech will need to raise more cash by mid-2018. Its most likely route to getting this cash will be a stock offering. That means existing shares will be diluted in value. The path to doubling is a steeper one in the face of such dilution.</p>
<p>This is a clinical-stage biotech, so the stock won't be a good fit for many investors. There's not only a risk that the stock won't double, there's a risk that the stock will drop in 2018 as it has so far this year. However, I'm cautiously optimistic about Novavax's chances. I wouldn't bet the ranch on the stock doubling next year, but it certainly won't surprise me if it does.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than NovavaxWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=9aa2f8f0-2873-406c-9ce3-7c8799558ab5&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=ef05dcf6-ca42-11e7-8a4e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Novavax wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=9aa2f8f0-2873-406c-9ce3-7c8799558ab5&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=ef05dcf6-ca42-11e7-8a4e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of November 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFFishBiz/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=ef05dcf6-ca42-11e7-8a4e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Keith Speights Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=ef05dcf6-ca42-11e7-8a4e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 3 Reasons Novavax Stock Could Double in 2018 | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/11/18/3-reasons-novavax-stock-could-double-in-2018.html | 2017-11-18 | 0 |
<p>After weeks of <a href="" type="internal">NFL National Anthem protests</a> and <a href="" type="internal">liberals celebrating the murder</a> of 59 innocent people in Las Vegas because they’re assumed to be Trump voters, this is a breath of fresh air.</p>
<p />
<p>The morning after the Vegas massacre, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz put out a simple, powerful Tweet with a much-needed Christian message. Take a look:</p>
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<p>Those four words – “The world needs Jesus” – sum it all up right there.</p>
<p>Of course, <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/las-vegas-shooting-carson-wentz-christian-religion-jesus-eagles-athletes-20171002.html" type="external">liberals HATED it</a>, wanting him to push for gun control (not likely considering he gave his <a href="" type="internal">offensive linemen shotguns for Christmas</a>) rather than “finding solace in a make believe man in the clouds.”</p>
<p />
<p>But Wentz has said in the past he has no problem sharing his faith, “I always tell people, for example, ‘If you love your job, you love your wife, you love what you do, you’re going to talk about it. Well, I love Jesus.’ That’s what I love, so I’m going to talk about it. But I’m not going to force it down your throat either.”</p>
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<p>Wentz has sent out several other Tweets since the NFL season began, giving glory to God and encouraging others to connect with God through Scripture and prayer.</p>
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<p />
<p>Wentz not only talks the talk, but he walks the walk. The AO1 hashtag is a reference to his foundation called <a href="http://www.ao1foundation.org" type="external">Audience of One</a> – the website explains, “No matter what he does in life, Carson is living for an Audience of One — Jesus.” The AO1 Foundation’s mission is “to demonstrate the love of God by providing opportunities and support for the less fortunate and those in need.”</p>
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<p>The foundation’s objectives involve supporting underprivileged youth living abroad, providing hunting and outdoor opportunities for veterans and others with physical challenges, and giving service dogs to needy youth.</p>
<p />
<p>What an impressive young man! We wish him well in his NFL career and hope he continues to bless people with the Word of God, no matter what people who think He’s “a made up man in the clouds” say.</p>
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<p>What do you think? Do you agree with Carson Wents that the world needs Jesus or is that offensive to say? Tell us in the comments below!</p>
<p /> | Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Carson Wentz Responds to Vegas Tragedy With Christian Message | true | http://thepoliticalinsider.com/carson-wentz-vegas-world-needs-jesus/ | 2017-10-03 | 0 |
<p>Over the last eleven years since we've been covering <a href="" type="internal">politics on C&amp;L</a>, radio and television, one thing has stood out on the Republican side among all others. They have a mantra for their failures and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-perlstein/i-didnt-like-nixon-until-_b_11735.html" type="external">it goes something like this (via Rick Perlstein):</a></p>
<p>In conservative intellectual discourse there is no such thing as a bad conservative. Conservatism never fails. It is only failed.</p>
<p>Digby noted <a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/observation-from-highpockets-by-digby.html" type="external">this back in 2005:</a></p>
<p>There is no such thing as a bad conservative. "Conservative" is a magic word that applies to those who are in other conservatives' good graces. Until they aren't. At which point they are liberals.</p>
<p>Get used to the hearing about how the Republicans failed because they weren't true conservatives. Conservatism can never fail. It can only be failed by weak-minded souls who refuse to properly follow its tenets. It's a lot like communism that way.</p>
<p>When George Bush was elected, he was a considered a <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/george-w-and-the-christian-right/" type="external">true Christian conservative</a> warrior by the GOP base, but as soon as his presidency began to fail, he supposedly abandoned <a href="https://ricochet.com/archives/how-conservative-was-bush/" type="external">conservative principles</a> and became some <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2011/03/20/george-w-bush-was-no-conservative/#6ee198197b2e" type="external">form of a statist.</a></p>
<p>In 2008, when John McCain won the nomination, there was plenty of caterwauling over his victory by conservatives because they felt betrayed by him for passing the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mccain-feingolds-devastating-legacy/2014/04/11/14a528e2-c18f-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_story.html" type="external">McCain-Feingold campaign finance</a> laws. The idea that he called himself a "maverick" did not make them feel all warm and cuddly towards the Arizona Senator.</p>
<p>In 2012, Mitt Romney was at first championed by Rush Limbaugh and the <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/11/10/why-the-right-hates-mitt-romney-and-his-2012-presidential-bid.html" type="external">conservarazzi as the One True Conservative candidate:</a></p>
<p>“I think now, based on the way the campaign has shaken out, that there probably is a candidate on our side who does embody all three legs of the conservative stool, and that’s Romney,” Rush Limbaugh told his huge audience. “The three legs of the stool are national security/foreign policy, the social conservatives, and the fiscal conservatives.”</p>
<p>After Rush highlighted the de facto endorsement in his newsletter under the headline “One Candidate Now Represents All Three Legs of Conservatism,” the rest of syndicated talk radio—Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck—largely followed suit. Laura Ingraham introduced Romney at CPAC as a “true conservative” and “a conservative’s conservative.” (Alone among the top-rated national hosts, I openly dissented and proudly endorsed McCain.) Even Jim DeMint, the most conservative member of the U.S. Senate, fell in line behind the Mittster.</p>
<p>However, it didn't take them long before they all turned against him.</p>
<p>Instead of praising Romney as the perfectly balanced, three-legged-stool conservative dream candidate, El Rushbo said just last month: “Romney is not a conservative. He’s not, folks. You can argue with me all day long on that, but he isn’t.” <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/content/dailybeast/cheats/2011/11/08/erick-erickson-mitt-romney-will-kill-conservatism.html" type="external">Erick Erickson of RedState.com</a> goes even further, wailing, “Mitt Romney is going to be the Republican nominee. And his general election campaign will be an utter disaster for conservatives as he takes the GOP down with him and burns up what it means to be a conservative in the process … He is neither liberal nor conservative. He is simply unprincipled.”</p>
<p>And why did they turn on him so quickly? Conservative Michael Medved put it this way <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/11/10/why-the-right-hates-mitt-romney-and-his-2012-presidential-bid.html" type="external">back in November, 2011.</a></p>
<p>In other words, a moment of aspiration has given way to an era of anger, while hope and change morphed into rage and paranoia. Some measure of the sad state of the nation, and of the conservative movement, can be gathered from the desperate weeks that the preening demagogue Donald Trump actually received serious consideration as a presidential possibility.</p>
<p>In this atmosphere Romney looks suspect to many activists on the right not because he isn’t conservative enough but because he isn’t angry enough. His real problem isn’t a question of ideology, it’s a matter of attitude.</p>
<p>There you have it. If only Romney had started calling Obama a weak-kneed liar with small hands, he'd have been a rock star. Who knew?</p>
<p>Anger is the driving force behind modern conservatism. And anger pays off handsomely. Just look at the numbers.</p>
<p>Bill O'Reilly – $18 million a year.</p>
<p>Rush Limbaugh's Net Worth – $400 million</p>
<p>Glenn Beck's Net Worth – $250 million</p>
<p>Now you understand why Donald Trump's rise to the top of the ticket seemingly came out of nowhere to the media. The Beltway media has spent the last decade either apologizing for or ignoring the rise of extremism in the Republican party and their constituency.</p>
<p>It's not Trump's conservative bona fides that made him the Republican front runner; it's because he voiced his rage in the kind of simplistic AM talk radio jargon the GOP base has longed to hear a candidate express.</p>
<p>Trump boiled immigration and terrorism down to its simplest forms by telling his conservative followers that undocumented workers coming in from Mexico were rapists and murders and taking away your jobs while Muslim terrorists are chopping, chopping, chopping heads off and we don't even waterboard anymore. It's right in their wheelhouse.</p>
<p>Senator Ted Cruz also espouses that same anger, only in a different form than Trump does. He's framed his outrage around staunch, religious right wing conservatism. He's had his life portrayed by being hated by those he's been close to and he wears the hatred against him as a badge of honor. He even paints himself as an outsider because of that hatred, which is nonsense since he's been inside the political bubble for many years.</p>
<p>He's a talented debater and a <a href="" type="internal">master at telling half truths</a> like no other candidate can. The entire AM hate talk radio circuit from Rush Limbaugh to Mark Levin love Ted Cruz and <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/rush-limbaugh-trump-making-mistake/2016/01/18/id/709916/" type="external">have, more than once told Donald Trump not to smear him.</a></p>
<p>Whenever a Republican or conservative attacks a fellow Republican or conservative using the same language or the same approach that Democrats and liberals would, that's a huge red flag," he said.</p>
<p>In a Facebook post on Saturday, talk-show host <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/levin-trump-cut-crap/2016/01/16/id/709772/" type="external">Mark Levin</a> told Trump to "cut the crap" or risk losing conservative voters.</p>
<p>"Either cut the crap — your accusations this morning that Cruz is Canadian, a criminal, owned by big banks, etc. … — or you will lose lots and lots of conservatives," Levin said on Facebook. "Save the liberal New York City bully tactics for the New York City liberals.</p>
<p>"Put down your computer keyboard for a few hours, think before you tweet, and collect yourself. You're not politically invincible, regardless of the polls and media.</p>
<p>After many months, Rush Limbaugh finally proclaimed to the world that Ted Cruz is the <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/politics/rush-limbaugh-on-ted-cruz-closest-to-ronald-171404095.html" type="external">heir apparent to Ronald Reagan.</a></p>
<p>“If conservatism is your bag, if conservatism is the dominating factor in how you vote, there is no other choice for you in this campaign than Ted Cruz, because you are exactly right: This is the closest in our lifetimes we have ever been to Ronald Reagan,”</p>
<p>Others quickly followed suit, as talk show host <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/272495-mark-levin-endorses-ted-cruz-in-honor-of-nancy-reagan" type="external">Mark Levin then endorsed Ted Cruz:</a></p>
<p>“I decided today was the day ultimately because of Nancy Reagan’s death,” he <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/03/mark-levin-endorses-ted-cruz-for-president" type="external">said</a> on “LevinTV.”</p>
<p>“If you’re 45 years old or younger, you’ve never had the opportunity to vote for a conservative for president of the United States,” Levin continued. “You don’t know what it’s like — how invigorating it is, how exciting it is, how you become an activist even when you weren’t planning to be,” he added.</p>
<p>I shouldn't forget that Glenn Beck was the first of the <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/01/glenn-beck-endorses-ted-cruz-218146" type="external">radio hosts to endorse Ted:</a></p>
<p>"We need a new George Washington. Today's Washington will not be found in the garish light of gold but rather in the bold service of a man who stands tirelessly for what he deeply believes. That government should be of the people, by the people, and for the people. That is why I'm endorsing Sen. Ted Cruz as the next President of the United States of America," Beck said in a statement released as he spoke, noting that he had not previously endorsed a candidate in 40 years of broadcasting.</p>
<p>The NRO were the <a href="" type="internal">first group of the conservative establishment</a> to rally others to their cause and finally declared Donald Trump a giant behemoth, who will destroy the Republican party.</p>
<p>They begrudgingly endorsed the Texas Senator for president <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/432682/ted-cruz-national-review-endorses-texas-senator-president" type="external">shortly after forming the anti-Trump movement.</a></p>
<p>Conservatives have had difficulty choosing a champion in the presidential race in part because it has featured so many candidates with very good claims on our support. As their number has dwindled, the right choice has become clear: Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.</p>
<p>The establishment GOP is pulling every trick they have to block Trump from getting the required 1237 delegates to win the nomination before the summer convention and if they succeed, anything can happen.</p>
<p>If Trump does hold on and become the de facto 2016 presidential nominee, conservatives will eventually rally around a Trump nomination to win the Oval office, but will always have their get-out-of-jail card right in their back pockets. They've already expressed in no certain terms that Donald Trump is not a conservative, so when he is resoundingly beaten in the general election they can wash their hands of him and say once again, conservatism doesn't fail, only the candidate does.</p>
<p>However, if Cruz gets the nomination then that card in their back pocket is null and void. When he loses they will have nothing to complain about except maybe to blame the mainstream media for the loss.</p>
<p>Since the left wing blogosphere exploded onto the scene, self identified Liberals in the Democratic party finally moved to the <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/09/democratic-voters-increasingly-embrace-liberal-label/" type="external">head of the pack in 2015.</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/09/democratic-voters-increasingly-embrace-liberal-label/ft_16-02-09_liberaldems_bar/" type="external" /></p>
<p>And on social issues, for the first time since Gallup began polling on social issues in 1999, <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/183386/social-ideology-left-catches-right.aspx" type="external">the left has caught up with the right.</a></p>
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<p>Thirty-one percent of Americans describe their views on social issues as generally liberal, matching the percentage who identify as social conservatives for the first time in Gallup records dating back to 1999.</p>
<p>You may remember <a href="" type="internal">Bill O'Reilly's epic meltdown about the results from this poll.</a></p>
<p>"More Americans are simply ignorant of the consequences involving social behavior," he explained. "The rise of the Net has taken people away from the real world and put them in a fantasy world."</p>
<p>"I believe only about 50 percent of the American people take the time to understand important issues," O'Reilly continued. "Half the country does not. They are simpletons, unwilling and unable to discipline themselves into formulating a philosophy of life."</p>
<p>Now here comes Ted Cruz, full of conservative rage, hidden behind a facade of family values, whose beliefs would send us back into the 1940's.</p>
<p>I want Ted Cruz to be the nominee so the conservative movement cannot deny the reality of America.</p>
<p>It's not the candidates that are failing conservatism, it's that conservatism is failing America.</p> | Why I Want Ted Cruz To Win GOP Nomination -- And Flame Out In The General | true | http://crooksandliars.com/2016/03/why-i-want-ted-cruz-win-gop-presidential | 2016-04-18 | 4 |
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<p>Another example why Congressman Ron Paul, a former obstetrician who is known as Dr. No for his penchant to vote against nearly every government spending bill to cross his desk, is a curious breed of libertarian. News of his take on evolution comes via the libertarian magazine Reason, which has <a href="http://www.reason.com/blog/show/124128.html" type="external">proclaimed</a>: “Say it ain’t so Dr. No!”</p>
<p>In reality, Paul is just being himself, and Reason’s surprise has more to do with the gulf between self-proclaimed Cosmopolitan Libertarians (typically secular Reason subscribers) and the more religious Paleolibertarians (acolytes of Lew Rockwell, Paul’s former chief of staff). To make sense of this all, check out our recent <a href="/news/feature/2008/01/ron-paul-apostles-libertarian-theology.html" type="external">feature</a> on the Paul campaign, and our breakdown of <a href="/news/feature/2008/01/ron-paul-apostles-libertarian-theology-2.html" type="external">libertarian factions</a>.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it makes little difference whether Paul is a Creationist. As a libertarian he’s opposed to any government funding for scientific or religious endeavors. And that partly explains why the Ron Paul coalition is so elastic.</p>
<p /> | Ron Paul on the Theory of Evolution: “I Don’t Accept It.” | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/12/ron-paul-theory-evolution-i-dont-accept-it/ | 2007-12-28 | 4 |
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<p>Here's the basic scenario: You've had a few job interviews, and you received an offer from one of the companies. However, it's not an offer from your top choice. You're still waiting to hear back from your preferred employer.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>What should you do in this situation? What are your options?</p>
<p>I've come across this sort of thing a lot while advising job seekers as a recruiter, and I know that most people are leaving opportunities on the table because they get nervous and don't know how to handle this.</p>
<p>What Not to Do:</p>
<p>Don't just assume you're helpless and that the companies involved don't care about your predicament. I frequently see advice along the lines of, "Just forget it and take the <a href="https://www.recruiter.com/job-offer.html" type="external">job offer Opens a New Window.</a> you have." That's the worst advice you could possibly give or receive.</p>
<p>If an employer wants you, there's a reasonable chance they'll "rush" the process or go slightly out of their way to make the hire&#160;happen – especially if you tell them about your situation the right way (more on this in a second). Sure, it depends on your industry and level, but it's worth trying! Don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Next, don't be apologetic. I'm going to show you how to contact both companies to manage this process. When you're talking to your top choice, you're not bothering them or asking for a favor. You're providing them valuable information and giving them the opportunity to make a competing offer before you're off the market. You're helping them. Don't forget that.</p>
<p>What to Do:</p>
<p>Call or email whoever has been scheduling your interviews with your top choice and tell them you have received an offer but feel their position is&#160;an extremely good fit. Communicate that you're still very interested in seeing the process through. Ask what they can do to expedite the process. If you have a deadline on the other job offer, tell the employer about it.</p>
<p>Assume your preferred employer is interested in you as a candidate. If they aren't, they'll tell you – and you'll know you're free to accept the offer you already received.</p>
<p>If the employer is interested in you and can fit the rest of the hiring process&#160;within the deadline you provided, great. If not, you might need to ask the original company for more time.</p>
<p>Everyone should contact their preferred employer as outlined above, but this next step comes with some risk. Only you can decide if it's worth doing.</p>
<p>In this step, you'll go back to the company that gave you the first job offer and ask for more time to decide. The (relatively small) risk here is that they will take away the offer. It's incredibly unlikely if you follow the advice I'm about to offer, but it could happen.</p>
<p>Here's what to say: Tell them you are excited about their offer but are in the late stages with another company and would like the opportunity to see the process through. Make it very clear that you're not starting the process with new companies, sending <a href="https://www.recruiter.com/i/5-simple-resume-tricks-to-get-you-more-interviews/" type="external">your resume Opens a New Window.</a> out, or anything like that. You simply want an opportunity to finish the interview process you've already started. You can also tell the employer you'd do the same for them if it had happened in reverse. Do all of this on the phone, not via email.</p>
<p>Any good company should understand where you're coming from.</p>
<p>At the worst, a few might say, "We understand, but unfortunately we can't let this offer sit for any longer. The original deadline we gave you stands, and you'll need to let us know your decision by then." Not the worst thing in the world, right?</p>
<p>This is how many top-tier job seekers would handle the situation, so you'll be in good company if you follow the steps outlined above. If you've <a href="http://careersidekick.com/why-cant-i-find-a-job/" type="external">struggled to find a job Opens a New Window.</a>, you might feel anxious because you're scared of losing your offer. Remember: What you're doing is common behavior among top talent.</p>
<p>Stay confident as you go through this.&#160;If you follow these steps, you will seem professional and responsible. You will not risk upsetting either company. You'll quickly find out if your top choice is interested and capable of making an offer in the required time frame, and you'll protect the current job offer at the same time.</p>
<p>Biron&#160;Clark is an executive recruiter, career coach, and founder of&#160; <a href="http://careersidekick.com/" type="external">careersidekick.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | I Received a Job Offer, But I'm Also Waiting to Hear Back From a Preferred Employer. What Now? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/03/10/received-job-offer-but-im-also-waiting-to-hear-back-from-preferred-employer.html | 2017-03-17 | 0 |
<p>DC Gurly Show had a performance at Freddie’s on Sunday. (Washington Blade photo by Chris Jennings)</p>
<p><a href="http://freddiesbeachbar.com/" type="external">Freddie’s Beach Bar &amp; Grill</a> in Arlington, Va. held “Ladies Night with the <a href="http://dcgurlyshow.com/" type="external">DC Gurly Show</a>” on Sunday, March 19, 2017. (Washington Blade photos by Chris Jennings) <a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Arlington</a> <a href="" type="internal">DC Gurly Show</a> <a href="" type="internal">Freddie's Beach Bar &amp; Grill</a> <a href="" type="internal">LGBT nightlife</a> <a href="" type="internal">photos of Freddie's Beach Bar</a> <a href="" type="internal">Virginia</a></p> | PHOTOS: DC Gurly Show | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2017/03/21/photos-dc-gurly-show/ | 3 |
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<p>SAN ANTONIO — A 10-year-old girl was shot dead as she sat in bed watching television in her bedroom in what San Antonio police suspect was a gang-related shooting.</p>
<p>San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said someone sprayed the girl’s home with bullets on the city’s North Side about 7 a.m. Thursday. The girl was wounded fatally in the chest, but five other people in the house weren’t wounded.</p>
<p>McManus said police have had problems at the house previously. He said investigators believe the shooting is “gang-related directly to the brother,” who has been detained for questioning.</p>
<p>The chief appeared to be moved by the timing of the Thanksgiving Day shooting, saying, “There will be a special place for this person when he goes to the next life.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 10-year-old San Antonio girl shot dead while watching television | false | https://abqjournal.com/1096900/10-year-old-san-antonio-girl-shot-dead-while-watching-television.html | 2 |
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<p>Following Donald Trump’s controversial Jerusalem move, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has told EU leaders there is no other place for the capital – and that the Bible proves it. As protests continue, he also urged the Palestinians to embrace “reality.”</p>
<p>During his visit to Brussels on Monday, Netanyahu praised US President Donald Trump’s recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocate its embassy, saying that it was based on the recognition of reality. The controversial decision triggered protests in the Middle East and across the globe, and was met with international condemnation. Nonetheless the Israeli Prime Minister said that the decision promotes peace, and called on EU states and the Palestinians to follow suit.</p>
<p>“It makes peace possible because recognizing reality is the substance of peace, the foundation of peace,” Netanyahu told reporters prior to a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/412547-trump-jerusalem-city-discord/" type="external" /></p>
<p>“It’s time that the Palestinians recognize the Jewish state and also recognize the fact that it has a capital. It’s called Jerusalem,” he said, adding that he expects “that all, or most” EU states “will move their embassies to Jerusalem.”</p>
<p>Netanyahu is scheduled to have an informal meeting with EU diplomats to discuss bilateral relations and regional issues on the sidelines of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels and is also expected to meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Prior to the meeting, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters that the bloc would continue to recognize the “international consensus” on Jerusalem.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the majority of world powers did not welcome the controversial move and Russia <a href="https://www.rt.com/newsline/412311-jerusalem-russia-kremlin-trump/" type="external">voiced</a> concerns over the consequences for the turbulent region.&#160;</p>
<p>On Sunday, Netanyahu met French President Emmanuel Macron, who had urged his US counterpart to preserve the city’s status quo before the decision was announced. Speaking at the joint news conference after the meeting, Netanyahu called “absurd” the world’s unwillingness to acknowledge the “millennial connection of the Jewish people to Jerusalem.”</p>
<p>He also said that the Bible, the holy book for Jews and Christians, justified the move.</p>
<p>“You can read it in a very fine book – it’s called the Bible,” the Israeli Prime minister <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/239137" type="external">said</a>, as cited by Israeli media. “You can read it after the Bible. You can hear it in the history of Jewish communities throughout our diaspora…”</p>
<p>The Israeli leader then <a href="http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/world-news/the-israeli-connection/netanyahu-israels-only-capital-is-jerusalem-32959" type="external">claimed</a> that Jerusalem has never belonged to any other nation and called on the Palestinians to face reality to reach peace.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/412642-zeman-eu-cowards-jerusalem/" type="external" /></p>
<p>“It’s always been our capital. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any other people. I think the sooner the Palestinians come to grips with this reality, the sooner we’ll move towards peace and this is why I think President Trump’s announcement was so historic and so important for peace.”&#160;</p>
<p>“Where else is the capital of Israel, but in Jerusalem?” Netanyahu said, adding that all the main government bodies are located in the city.</p>
<p>While citing religious texts has been common practice for the Israeli government, the history presented in the Torah and the Bible is not accepted by modern historians and archeologists as fact.</p>
<p>The land on which the city stands on has changed hands many times over the course of human history, with various Semitic tribes, Egyptians, Romans, as well as the Ottoman Empire being among its rulers. The modern history of the Jewish state began in 1947, when the UN approved a partition plan for Palestine (then under British rule) into two sovereign states, one Jewish and one Arab, and giving Jerusalem a special international status. Arabs rejected the move, calling for the creation of a “unitary” state of Palestine.</p>
<p>Tensions have been high between the young Jewish state and the Arab world ever since then, with the most significant conflicts breaking out in 1948 and 1967. The latter lasted only six days and resulted in the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem including the Old City, where the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque – two of the holiest sites for Muslims – are located.</p>
<p>On Saturday, Czech President Milos Zeman, <a href="https://www.rt.com/news/412642-zeman-eu-cowards-jerusalem/" type="external">called</a> EU countries “cowards” over their response to Donald Trump’s recognizing Jerusalem and said he is “truly happy” with the declaration. He is, however, the only world leader other than Netanyahu to have endorsed the move.&#160;</p> | ‘Where else?’ Netanyahu cites Bible to justify Trump’s Jerusalem move, urges EU to follow suit | false | https://newsline.com/where-else-netanyahu-cites-bible-to-justify-trumps-jerusalem-move-urges-eu-to-follow-suit/ | 2017-12-11 | 1 |
<p>Retail sales recorded their largest gain in 18 months in March, in the latest sign the economy is emerging from its weather-induced slumber and on track to accelerate in the second quarter.</p>
<p>The Commerce Department said on Monday that retail sales increased 1.1 percent last month, the biggest rise since September 2012, as receipts rose in nearly all categories. Retail sales, which account for a third of consumer spending, had risen by a revised 0.7 percent in February.</p>
<p>Economists polled by Reuters had forecast an advance of 0.8 percent last month.</p>
<p>Retail sales added to employment data in suggesting the economy found momentum at the end of the first quarter after an unusually cold and snowy winter disrupted economic activity at the end of 2013 and the beginning of this year.</p>
<p>So-called core sales, which strip out automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, and correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of gross domestic product, increased 0.8 percent in March. That followed a revised 0.4 percent rise in February.</p>
<p>Retail sales last month were buoyed by a 3.1 percent surge in receipts at automobile and parts dealers. That was the biggest advance since September 2012. Excluding autos, retail sales were up 0.7 percent, the biggest increase in a year, after rising 0.3 percent in February.</p>
<p>Sales at building materials and garden equipment stores increased 1.8 percent, the largest rise in eight months. Receipts at electronics and appliance stores, however, fell 1.6 percent. There were also declines in sales at gasoline stations, which fell 1.3 percent.</p>
<p>Sales at furniture stores and clothing stores climbed 1.0 percent. There were also gains in receipts at sporting goods shops, restaurants and non-store retailers.</p>
<p>- Reuters</p> | March Madness At Malls; Sales Jump The Highest in 18 Months | false | http://nbcnews.com/business/consumer/march-madness-malls-sales-jump-highest-18-months-n79801 | 2014-04-14 | 3 |
<p />
<p>Scott&#160;Prouty, the onetime bartender <a href="" type="internal">who made</a> the <a href="" type="internal">video</a> of Mitt Romney’s 47 percent remarks, has launched a fund to raise money to cover legal costs and possibly the cost of going to law school. After <a href="" type="internal">revealing himself</a> on MSNBC’s The Ed Show on Wednesday night, Prouty immediately became a subject of intense media attention. He was besieged with interview requests. And while his <a href="http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-ed-show/51170895" type="external">hourlong interview</a> with Schultz was under way, he says, strangers showed up at his Florida home and he soon became a target for hate-tweets and dirt-digging from right-wingers still angry about his role in exposing Romney’s dismissive attitude toward half the country.</p>
<p>As this furor was happening—and supporters and fans of Prouty were asking how they could help him—Prouty set up an online <a href="http://www.gofundme.com/1ix17c" type="external">“47 Percent Legal Assistance Fund</a>.” (And he assumed control of the @scottprouty Twitter handle that a supporter created for him on Wednesday evening. He had previously been tweeting as @AnneOnymous670.)</p>
<p>After taping an interview with MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell on Thursday night, Prouty discussed with me his reasons for establishing this fund:</p>
<p>After going public, I’ve received a flood of physical and legal threats in emails and tweets. People have found my address and have shown up at my door. It’s possible I may have to move. And I’ve had to contact several lawyers and have incurred legal expenses. I might incur more going forward. I always knew that if I talked about this, I could become a target, and I don’t want to be melodramatic, but some of the threats I’ve received do cause me to be concerned for my safety and that of my loved ones.</p>
<p>I appreciate all the support I’ve received from the beginning—and especially now. Many people have asked how they could help. This is one way. I’ve also said in interviews that if they would like to show their support they can send donations to the <a href="http://www.spca-sofla.org" type="external">SPCA</a> and the <a href="http://www.globallabourrights.org/" type="external">Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights</a>. These are both groups that I care about.</p>
<p>I’m hoping that I don’t need to spend a lot of money on lawyers and security. If people are generous and there are any funds left over after these costs are covered, I would use the remaining money to pay for going back to school. I’ve been bartending for eight years and I’d like to move forward with a job that lets me help others. If I end up not using these funds for education, I will donate them to the SPCA and IGLHR.</p>
<p>During his media interviews the past two days, Prouty has not mentioned this fund, and so far only a handful of persons have located the website and contributed.</p>
<p>On the site, Prouty notes, “It’s always been my dream to attend&#160;law school. I’d like to be a socially responsible lawyer who can help the 47 percent navigate our legal system. Thank you for your donations!”</p>
<p /> | Scott Prouty, the 47 Percent Video Source, Opens a Legal-Assistance Fund | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/03/scott-prouty-47-percent-legal-assistance-fund/ | 2013-03-15 | 4 |
<p>Last year I&#160; <a href="http://davidswanson.org/node/2663" type="external">reviewed</a>&#160;a book called “Apocalypse Never” that made a powerful case for our options being limited to two: either we get rid of nuclear weapons or humanity will be destroyed. I noted then a deep flaw in the case: the author accepted nuclear energy as something we could survive, focusing his opposition purely on nuclear weaponry.</p>
<p>A new film makes the additional case I was looking for. “Knocking on the Devil’s Door: Our Deadly Nuclear Legacy” by Gary Null could not come at a better time. Not far from where I write this, a nuclear plant at Lake Anna was&#160; <a href="" type="internal">damaged</a>&#160;in a recent earthquake. Whether the damage was severe or not — this time — is unclear.</p>
<p>This is also a moment of growing&#160; <a href="http://www.tarsandsaction.org/" type="external">pressure</a>&#160;against fossil fuels. Pushers of nuclear energy love to seize that opportunity to pretend that nuclear is cleaner and safer than coal or oil. The film includes a clip of Ann Coulter claiming that radiation is good for you, among other Fox Nuttery.</p>
<p>The Fukushima disaster receives the attention it deserves in the film, with Harvey Wasserman arguing that President Obama is guilty of murder for having told the public not to worry about radiation coming to the United States from Fukushima. The dead from Chernobyl are approaching a million. Helen Caldicott says she will not eat European food because too often it is radioactive. The Three Mile Island disaster is featured as well, including the many who died from that radiation and the lies told about it.</p>
<p>Another lie exposed in this film is the lie that we do not have&#160; <a href="http://www.solartopia.org/" type="external">viable alternatives</a>. The case is made here that with current technology we could eliminate coal, oil, nuclear, and gas, substituting for every bit of it clean renewable energies. Nuclear energy is a scam and rife with corruption, as Greg Palast details in the film. Earthquake proofing has been faked. Private insurance won’t touch nuclear plants. We the people subsidize this industry, the industry then buys politicians with our money, and guess who’s on the hook to pay for any disasters.</p>
<p>President Obama, Rahm Emanuel, and nuclear energy company Exelon are offered as a prime example of nuclear power, by which I mean the power of the nuclear corporations over our political system. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has reauthorized numerous plants for decades to come, including&#160; <a href="http://thiscantbehappening.net/node/749" type="external">Vermont Yankee</a>, which is the same design as Fukushima. Gosh, I hope Vermont doesn’t have any flooding or anything like that.</p>
<p>Helen Caldicott explains in “Knocking on the Devil’s Door” how so-called “low-level” radiation causes cancer and infertility. We have higher cancer rates around nuclear power plants that have suffered no disasters and violated no laws, here in the United States and around the world. Who talks about this? The corporate media is silent.</p>
<p>But nuclear plants are disasters in slow motion waiting to speed up, waiting for a screw up, a bad stroke of luck, or a bomb. Meanwhile, their ordinary waste products are materials for nuclear weapons, including the&#160; <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/depleted-uranium-weapon-use-persists-despite-deadly-side-effects/1313781795" type="external">depleted uranium</a>&#160;weapons that have recently killed and deformed so many children in Basra, Iraq, and which will continue to do so for billions of years.</p>
<p>The fall out from weapons testing and the routine use of power plants, globally, is making us all less healthy and less fertile. What can be done to make this consciously self-imposed catastrophe even worse? In U.S. politics, THAT is always the question to ask, and it is always easily answered. In this case, one answer is nukes in space. The history of&#160; <a href="http://www.space4peace.org/" type="external">nuclear materials in space</a>&#160;is one of accidents and near catastrophes. Obama is eager to further test that luck.</p>
<p>President Dwight Eisenhower gave a famous speech promoting nuclear energy, but Admiral Hyman Rickover, called the father of the nuclear Navy, gave a speech that should be remembered as well. It was farewell testimony and a warning, as was Eisenhower’s speech warning of the military industrial complex. But Rickover’s&#160; <a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hyman_G._Rickover" type="external">warned</a>&#160;that we would need to eliminate all nuclear reactors or we would ruin the earth for human habitation:</p>
<p>“I’ll be philosophical.&#160;Until about two billion years ago, it was impossible to have any life on earth; that is, there was so much radiation on earth you couldn’t have any life — fish or anything. Gradually, about two billion years ago, the amount of radiation on this planet—and probably in the entire system—reduced and made it possible for some form of life to begin… Now when we go back to using nuclear power, we are creating something which nature tried to destroy to make life possible… Every time you produce radiation, you produce something that has a certain half-life, in some cases for billions of years. I think the human race is going to wreck itself, and it is important that we get control of this horrible force and try to eliminate it… I do not believe that nuclear power is worth it if it creates radiation. Then you might ask me why do I have nuclear powered ships. That is a necessary evil. I would sink them all. Have I given you an answer to your question?”</p>
<p>David Swanson&#160;is author of&#160; <a href="" type="internal">War is a Lie</a>. He lives in Virginia</p> | Quaking Nukes | true | https://counterpunch.org/2011/09/02/quaking-nukes/ | 2011-09-02 | 4 |
<p>Avatar is a visually astonishing spectacle that demands being witnessed on the big screen. It’s aesthetics tower considerably over its predictable storyline and mediocre dialogue, but James Cameron deserves props for seamlessly blending live action, 3-D and digital effects in creating his own virtual Eden, the planet Pandora.</p>
<p>It’s been two hours since I saw the sneak preview, but lingering images of brilliantly illuminated translucent plants, strangely exotic and hostile creatures, flying mountains with waterfalls, and the big blue Na’vi inhabitants of Pandora still flicker in my mind like visual poetry.</p>
<p>James Cameron, Oscar winning director of “Titanic” and self proclaimed “King of the World,” spent the GDP of a third world country, nearly $500 million, and a dozen years laboring on his dream project ultimately creating the technology he needed to fulfill his ambitious vision. His 3-D, “performance capture” technique – whereby he directs live actors who are then digitally rendered like Andy Serkis’ performance as “Gollum” in ‘Lord of the Rings’ –&#160; is the new criterion for the medium, infusing the digital creations with such realism that most the times you forget you’re looking at a painting.</p>
<p>For those expecting introspective and nuanced character arcs, intellectually stimulating narratives and memorable dialogue, you might surf your Netflix queue this weekend instead. Although Cameron has been slammed for his perfunctory dialogue since “Titanic,” his characters [both real and digital] have usually been far more human, likable and believable than the soulless caricatures paraded on screen in the painful “Transformer” movies directed by Michael Bay. Cameron helped Sigourney Weaver get a rare Oscar nomination for playing an action heroine in “Aliens,” made us care about Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio’s marriage in “The Abyss,” and inspired us to root for an Austrian, killing robot who is now the terminating the state of California as Governor.&#160; This is not a carte blanche excuse for some of the truly substandard dialogue and storyboard characters you’ll witness in “Avatar.” However, it is necessary to remind ourselves that Cameron always elevates – at least technologically – the blockbuster genre and cinematic medium, which far too often falls prey to gratuitous explosion porn, a redundant heavy metal soundtracks, and seizure inducing spastic editing.</p>
<p>In “Avatar,” we follow the journey of our protagonist Jake, played ably by Australian actor Sam Worthington sporting a very dodgy American accent, a paralyzed marine grunt turned scientific guinea pig who “consciously” enters and physically controls his Na’vi Avatar [a synthetic version of the 10 ft tall, blue colored Pandora natives], which was created in a lab by fusing human and Na’vi DNA. He is commanded to infiltrate the Na’vi community, learn their “savage” ways, earn their trust, and report Intel to his military and corporate superiors who plan to rape and pillage the land to uncover the largest known quantities of Unobtainium, the most precious resource in the year 2154 for an energy depleted human population.</p>
<p>Predictably, Jake the reluctant colonizer, much like John Rolfe, falls in love with the beautiful Na’vi warrior princess and Pandoran Pocahontas, Neytiri, played exceptionally well by the athletic and expressive Zoe Saldana. After three short months under Neytiri’s tutelage, Jake’s avatar naturally evolves into an uber Alpha-Omega Na’vi male warrior and is welcomed to their clan as one of their own. Cameron rehashes the clichéd Hollywood trope most recently seen in “Last Samurai” of the naïve, ignorant White imperialist who befriends the savages, has a trans-formative epiphany,&#160; gains self awareness, mates with their hottest woman, and like a prodigy learns their fighting techniques and culture so quickly that he eventually ends up leading them.</p>
<p>However, Cameron’s cinematic foray into “White Man Meets Alien Savage” merits some applause for the level of dignity, albeit in the form of simplified Romanticism, he affords his Native American avatars, the Na’vi. Yet, I digress, since a critical analysis of “Avatar” as both political and historical allegory of imperialism, Whiteness and race relations merits a separate column.</p>
<p>As a result of his tutorial and subsequent enlightenment, Jake learns to admire and respect his initially hostile Na’vi friends and their evolved religious-philosophical ideology which preaches the necessity of respecting the interconnectedness amongst all of Pandora’s living creatures. Although this initially reeks of an elementary hodgepodge “pro-green,” eco-friendly, quasi Emersonian-Taoism, the detailed depths to which Cameron and his team have created this universe is quite impressive. This second act, the most visually arresting and interesting section of the nearly three hour film, spends considerable time inviting us to observe these daily rituals almost as if Cameron made a detailed National Geographic documentary of his own virtual playground.</p>
<p>The Na’vi have their own language – specifically created for the movie by linguists – which hopefully cannot be duplicated by human tongues thus giving pause to Trekkies who want to become bilingual and add to their Klingon. The Na’vi’s long braided hairs are essentially external dendrites that combine and connect with other living creatures allowing them to “feel” the other’s presence and thoughts. You see, the Na’vi believe in an abstract deity, “The Mother of all living things,” who collects the voices and memories of departed souls and can always hear the inhabitants of her world,&#160;including the fern and moss.&#160; If you’re rolling your eyes and groaning, I don’t blame you for subtlety has never been one of Cameron’s narrative strengths. However, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t visually enthralled by the awesome, environmental experience Cameron created which clearly represents the heart of his emotional and passionate investment in this project.</p>
<p>It certainly wasn’t invested in the human actors, who basically fall into three camps:</p>
<p>1) The Corporate Bureaucrats who only care for profit, personified by Giovanni Ribisi’s character [who, in turn, is channeling Paul Reiser’s character from Cameron’s “Aliens”].</p>
<p>2) The Gung-Ho Mercenaries led by Colonel Miles Quaritch, played with badass, steely resolve by Stephen Lang, who believes explosives, bullets and overwhelming military force should be the only form of diplomacy with the Na’vi.</p>
<p>3) The Hippie, Tree Hugging humans comprised of brilliant scientist-Na’vi conservationist Sigourney Weaver, our protagonist Jake and Fast and Furious’ Michelle Rodriguez who shows up to fly a helicopter.</p>
<p>In fact, the nearly 3 hour movie only drags when we are forced to spend time with the humans on their ship and away from the fantastic digital world of Pandora. If you really want to know the plot arc, I recommend seeing the three minute trailer which pretty much gives it all away. Undoubtedly, the movie will not break new ground in traditional storytelling, but it elevates cinematic storytelling to an exciting, untapped visual apex that allows our eyes to finally experience images that were once only imaginable in our minds.</p>
<p /> | Invading Eden | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/12/18/invading-eden/ | 2009-12-18 | 4 |
<p>As millionaires in the NFL continue to protest the national anthem and the American flag, one California high school football team decided they wanted to display their patriotism and love for the American flag during their homecoming game on Friday night.</p>
<p>Every football player at Sherman E. Burroughs High School football team in Ridgecrest, California, walked onto the field carrying an American flag as God Bless the USA played on the stadiums’ PA system on Friday in the team’s 20-17 win over Oak Hills.</p>
<p>The team gathered together on the field in a line as the national anthem played and a pair of F-18s flew over the field.</p>
<p>The video — originally posted on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tinacabanahaugen/videos/10214604625890216/" type="external">Facebook</a> — gained over 3 million views and over 100,000 shares in under 72 hours.</p>
<p>Hundreds commented on the video and how proud they were of the young men for showing respect to the American flag and national anthem.</p>
<p>“I just shared this post from last nights homecoming game in Ridgecrest,” John Faber wrote. “I want all my friends and family to see how respectful this little town is, and how proud I am to be considered part of this school.”</p>
<p>Members of the U.S. military stationed in Iraq viewed the video and were appreciative of the young men as they noted the effect that the video had on their spirits.</p>
<p>“Just watched this video from Iraq a few minutes ago and I couldn’t be more proud of Y'all,” Justin Smith wrote. “Great job boys, way to stand up for your country and show your appreciation for being an American. It makes it a lot easier for us overseas knowing we have support from guys like you. Shoutout to your head coach and coaching staff as well. I tip my cap to the parents, family, and friends of these players. Makes me proud to call Ridgecrest home. Way to go guys.”</p>
<p>WATCH:</p> | VIRAL VIDEO: High School Football Team Teaches NFL What Patriotism Looks Like | true | https://dailywire.com/news/22610/viral-video-high-school-football-team-teaches-nfl-ryan-saavedra | 2017-10-23 | 0 |
<p>The meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian attorney was “not illegal,” and President Donald Trump did not have any involvement or prior knowledge that the meeting had happened, Jay Sekulow, one of the president’s attorneys, said while making the rounds of Wednesday morning’s news talk shows.</p>
<p>“The meeting that took place is not illegal,” Sekulow told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos on <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-jrs-meeting-russian-lawyer-illegal-presidents/story?id=48584085" type="external">“Good Morning America.”</a></p>
<p>“The president was not at the meeting, was not aware of the meeting, did not participate in the meeting,” Sekulow said about revelations that Trump Jr., accompanied by his brother-in-law, Jared Kushner, and then-campaign manager Paul Manafort had met with the attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya.</p>
<p>Trump Jr. on Tuesday <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/trump-jr-russia-email/2017/07/11/id/800997/" type="external">released a chain of emails</a> that led up to the meeting, showing&#160;he’d been told he would receive information harmful to then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and that Russia backed his father’s campaign.</p>
<p>Sekulow also told <a href="http://www.today.com/video/president-trump-s-lawyer-no-illegality-in-donald-trump-jr-meeting-993697859826" type="external">NBC’s “Today”</a> show&#160;that Trump was neither aware of the meeting between his son and the attorney, who on Tuesday told NBC the president’s son and his associates wanted to hear information about the Democratic nominee “so badly that they could only hear the thought that they wanted.”</p>
<p>Sekulow told “Today” that the president was “only made aware of the email, then this chain of emails, which he only saw yesterday as it was released. He was made aware of it just in the last —&#160;really, very, very recently, by his lawyers.”</p>
<p>Further, Sekulow said&#160;it was not illegal for Trump Jr. to meet with the lawyer, and that there’s “no statute that’s even in play.” He also denied that the president’s son lied about the meeting.</p>
<p>Story continues below video.</p>
<p>“There was no information that exchanged,” Sekulow told the “Today” show.</p>
<p>“There was a meeting that took place, [but] no exchange of information. The meeting ended up producing nothing, and now there’s a media frenzy going around this . . . well, the fact is zero happened here.”</p>
<p>“We know what the facts are here, the chain of emails are out there,” he also said. “There’s no violation of any law. It’s got all this atmospherics, the fact is, there’s no law that’s been violated here.”</p>
<p>Sekulow also insisted that other governments have offered information during campaigns, including the Ukrainian government to Clinton about Trump. But with Trump Jr.’s meeting, nothing illegal was done, and the president’s son did not lie, said Sekulow.</p>
<p>“This was a situation where he was having literally dozens of meetings a day,” said Sekulow. “This was a 20-minute meeting that nothing took place in. There was was no information that was exchanged . . . now there’s a media frenzy, but the fact is, zero happened here.”</p>
<p>At one point in the email exchange, the other party, Rob Goldstone, offered to also send the offer for the meeting to Trump’s father via his long-time personal assistant Rhona Graff, but Sekulow said he has not rechecked her emails to make sure she didn’t receive the documentation or that the now-president didn’t.</p>
<p>“Rhona works for the Trump organization,” said Sekulow. “I represent the president of the United States, but the president did not see any emails relating to this at all.”</p>
<p>Sekulow also reiterated on <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-lawyer-on-trump-jr-meeting-nothing-illegal-about-it/" type="external">“CBS This Morning”&#160;</a>that there was “no violation of the law” for Trump Jr. to hold the meeting.</p>
<p>“I’m not the only lawyer saying this; most legal scholars are saying this,” he argued. “Opposition research is not uncommon, even when the government aspect has raised a lot of interest. Obviously, we’re talking about it this morning.”</p>
<p>Further, at the time Russian involvement was not a “significant question,” said Sekulow.</p>
<p>“The other thing that seems to get lost in this and I said this before, all this concern about Russia, all the reports have indicated that President [Barack]&#160;Obama was aware of Russia’s attempts at engagement, and they did nothing about it.”</p> | Jay Sekulow: Trump Jr. Russian Meeting 'Not Illegal' | false | https://newsline.com/jay-sekulow-trump-jr-russian-meeting-not-illegal/ | 2017-07-12 | 1 |
<p>Investing.com – Gold prices steadied on Tuesday, catching their breath after rallying sharply in the prior session, as investors looked ahead to fresh comments from for greater signs on the timing of the next rate hike.</p>
<p>Comex were at $1,312.12 a troy ounce by 3:10AM ET (0710GMT), little changed from Monday’s closing price. It rose to its best level since Sept. 20 at $1,317.10 earlier in the session.</p>
<p>The yellow metal after tensions on the Korean peninsula flared-up anew amid an escalating war of words between North Korea and the U.S.</p>
<p>North Korea’s foreign minister said President Donald Trump on North Korea and that Pyongyang reserved the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down U.S. bombers even if they are not in its air space.</p>
<p>Ri Yong Ho said a Twitter message by Trump on Saturday in which the president warned that the minister and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “won’t be around much longer” if they acted on their threats amounted to a declaration of war.</p>
<p>White House spokeswoman Sarah Saunders on Monday denied the United States had declared war and called the suggestion “absurd”.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Fed is keeping itself in the market’s sights, with Chair Janet Yellen due to deliver a speech titled “Inflation, Uncertainty, and Monetary Policy” at the National Association for Business Economics’ Annual Meeting in Cleveland at 4:45PM ET (2045GMT) Tuesday.</p>
<p>Her comments will be monitored closely for any new insight on policy. Last week, the U.S. central bank announced it would begin trimming down its $4.5 trillion in assets and signaled it will likely raise rates again this year.</p>
<p>Besides the Fed, market players will focus on data and both due at 10:00AM ET (1400GMT).</p>
<p>Interest rate futures are now pricing in of a December Fed rate hike according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool, up from under 40% just a few weeks ago.</p>
<p>Elsewhere on the Comex, inched up 2.6 cents, or about 0.2%, to $17.17 a troy ounce.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Gold Prices Steady Ahead of Yellen Speech | false | https://newsline.com/gold-prices-steady-ahead-of-yellen-speech/ | 2017-09-26 | 1 |
<p>Looking for something to put things into perspective? Check out <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/a-real-time-map-of-births-and-deaths/280609/" type="external">this real-time map</a> to remind you how transient life is, but also, how quickly the world is becoming populated.</p>
<p>The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by 2050, the world’s population will increase from 7 billion to more than 9 billion inhabitants at the rate at which it’s been growing over the past few decades. The immensity of these numbers piqued mathematician and software developer Brad Lyon’s interest and inspired him to design a visual that reflects this data.</p>
<p>Last year, Lyon joined forces with designer Bill Snebold to create an interactive simulation of births and deaths in the U.S. “Now,” says The Atlantic’s health editor James Hamblin, “Lyon takes on the world.”</p>
<p>Just one look at the map will give you a rough idea of how many babies are coming to life every second, and how big that number is compared with people dying. Whether that’s alarming or heartening, however, is left up to the eyes of the beholder.</p>
<p />
<p>—Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Natasha Hakimi</a></p>
<p>The Atlantic:</p>
<p>“This one for world births/deaths is certainly more overwhelming than the one for the U.S.,” Lyon told me, “and the rate at which they must be occurring gives another glimpse into how big the world is….</p>
<p>“What got me interested initially,” Lyon said, “was simply curiosity about what the pattern of births and deaths might be like, based on the current rates, coupled with the desire to learn more about some of the newer technologies for the web….</p>
<p>“The visualizations here, while pulling together some numbers,” Lyon said, “are still qualitative because we of course don’t know what the pattern is really like. However, we do know where the numbers end up, so they must get there somehow.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/a-real-time-map-of-births-and-deaths/280609/" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Map Simulates Births and Deaths the World Over | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/map-simulates-births-and-deaths-the-world-over/ | 2013-11-01 | 4 |
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<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Shares of VASCO Data Security International (NASDAQ: VDSI) have plunged today, down by 13% as of 12:45 p.m. EST, after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings.</p>
<p>Revenue in the fourth quarter came in at $47.6 million, down 6.5% from a year ago. Full-year 2016 revenue was $192.3 million. VASCO posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.13, up from an adjusted profit of $0.09 per share a year ago. Gross margin was 64.8% in the fourth quarter, and the company exited the quarter with $144.2 million in cash on the balance sheet.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
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<p>EVP and Chief Strategy Officer Scott Clements was promoted to COO during the quarter, and BankMobile implemented VASCO's DIGITPASS for Apps mobile app security suite. Switzerland's largest retail bank, Raiffeisen, also implemented the company's CRONTO technology for online banking.</p>
<p>In a statement, Chairmand and CEO T. Kendall Hunt said that the company's transition to a software-based business continues make progress, and management is happy with the "sustained high rate of growth" in the software business. This has helped offset the decline in hardware products.</p>
<p>In terms of guidance, VASCO expects full-year 2017 revenue to be in the range of $180 million to $190 million, with an adjusted operating margin of 1% to 5%.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than VASCO Data Security InternationalWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of February 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFNewCow/info.aspx" type="external">Evan Niu, CFA Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why VASCO Data Security International Shares Plunged Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/15/why-vasco-data-security-international-shares-plunged-today.html | 2017-02-15 | 0 |
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<p>Tax credits for ethanol and other biofuels were among issues under debate for a sweeping tax bill, Democratic senators said on Tuesday, with ethanol subsidies due to expire in three weeks.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"There are provisions not yet included which I think are important," said <a href="" type="internal">Max Baucus</a>, chairman of the Senate's tax-writing committee. Asked about a possible 36-cent a gallon tax credit for ethanol, Baucus said, "I don't know yet."</p>
<p>Baucus proposed a 36-cent credit last week as part of a one-year extension of biofuel provisions. It would replace the current 45-cent credit. The leader of the House's tax committee suggested a 36-cent credit last summer.</p>
<p>Ethanol supports cost about $6 billion a year. The cost would drop to $3.6 billion in 2011 under the Baucus package.</p>
<p>North Dakota Sen <a href="" type="internal">Kent Conrad</a>, chairman of the Budget Committee, said the situation on ethanol supports was unclear. "We'll have to await further details," he said.</p>
<p>Two other senators said it was not clear if the biofuels extension was agreed or the support rate for it. Ethanol trade groups said the issue, and other business taxes, were left to Congress to settle in the wake of accord between President <a href="" type="internal">Barack Obama</a> and congressional Republicans on estate and income taxes.</p>
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<p>The Renewable Fuels Association, a trade group, said it believed ethanol supports were on the list of subjects being weighed for inclusion in the omnibus tax bill. It probably will be another day or two before the plan is complete, said RFA spokesman Matt Hartwig.</p>
<p>Iowa Republican <a href="" type="internal">Chuck Grassley</a> told reporters the agreement with the <a href="" type="internal">White House</a> was expected to extend ethanol and biodiesel credits through 2011. He said the it was unclear if the rate would be reduced.</p>
<p>Grassley, the Republican leader on the tax committee, said revival of the $1 a gallon biodiesel credit, which expired at the end of 2009, would cover production this year and 2011.</p>
<p>The tax bill is also expected to extend a U.S. tariff, which expires on December 31, on ethanol imports of 54 cents a gallon.</p>
<p>Brazil, the world's second largest ethanol producer, has pushed for the United States to eliminate the tariff and business groups said Brazil may file a World Trade Organization complaint if the United States imposed a tariff on ethanol imports that was significantly higher than the domestic support rate.</p> | Subsidies for Ethanol an Issue in Tax Talks | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2010/12/08/subsidies-ethanol-issue-tax-talks.html | 2016-03-18 | 0 |
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<p>“We have grown tremendously,” said Vasquez, who employs a second full-time and one part-time ballet teacher. “We also work in the schools, where we offer an experiential dance program that integrates other kinds of dance such as hip-hop and jazz.”</p>
<p>Vasquez’s advanced students are invited to audition for Taos Youth Ballet’s preprofessional training program. Dancers participating in The Company Program get opportunities to perform on a regular basis.</p>
<p>Last year these dancers, who are between ages 7 and 17, presented “Peter and the Wolf” at Taos High School. On Oct. 18 they take to the Taos Community Auditorium stage and dance “Peter and the Wolf” with live music played by Taos Chamber Music Group musicians.</p>
<p>“Basically, it’s the same choreography we did last year,” Vasquez said. “Since some of the dancers graduated last spring, we have a few new dancers in this production.”</p>
<p>Vasquez’s mother sewed all of the show’s 25 costumes by hand. “It was a labor of love,” Vasquez said.</p>
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<p>Sergei Prokofiev wrote “Peter and the Wolf” in 1936 for the Central Children’s Theatre in Moscow. Prokofiev invented the story, which is an introduction to the different instruments of the orchestra. Each character in the dance represents a different instrument or group of instruments and has its own musical theme. A bird is represented by a flute. The oboe plays when a duck appears. A cat is a clarinet, while the wolf is the French horn. The character of Peter is the group of string instruments.</p>
<p>Taos Chamber Music Group musicians performing are Nancy Laupheimer (flute), Kevin Vigneau (oboe), Keith Lemmons (clarinet), Scott Temple (French horn) and Toni Lipton (bassoon). Two violin students from the Taos Suzuki School, Gwendolyn Pieper and Sebastian Mastor, join the professional instrumentalists on stage.</p>
<p>Taos Chamber Music Group also plays another piece written with children in mind, Ravel’s “Mother Goose Suite,” which was originally composed in 1908 as a piano duet for 6- and 7-year-old siblings. Ravel orchestrated the piece in 1911 and expanded it into a ballet a year later. Taos Chamber Music Group presents the woodwind quintet version that has five movements: “Pavanne of Sleeping Beauty,” “Little Tom Thumb,” “Little Ugly Girl,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Enchanted Garden.”</p>
<p>Taos elementary school students are treated to special performances of “Peter and the Wolf” on Wednesday and Thursday at Taos Community Auditorium. — This article appeared on page F6 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | Young dancers, chamber players to stage ‘Peter’ | false | https://abqjournal.com/136414/young-dancers-chamber-players-to-stage-peter.html | 2012-10-07 | 2 |
<p>MBS Highway CEO Barry Habib on why it is a good time for homeowners to refinance.</p>
<p>Q: Can I lock my mortgage rate for nine months?</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>A: The short answer to whether you can lock your mortgage rate for an extended period of time, in this case up to nine months, is "yes," but whether you want to lock a rate for that long is an open question.</p>
<p>Asking a lender to reserve a loan for you for up to a year isn't unheard of, especially in a construction-to-permanent financing arrangement, and your nine-month window certainly fits that time frame.</p>
<p>How much will a long rate lock cost me?</p>
<p>However, such a long lock period comes at a price.</p>
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<p>In some instances, a lender will add a premium to current <a href="http://www.hsh.com/today.html?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-190821110" type="external">mortgage rates Opens a New Window.</a> -- 0.125 percent to 0.5 percent is common -- to allow you to lock in this new interest rate. Others will allow you to lock at today's low rate, but you'll pay non-refundable, percentage-based fees in the form of "points." Each point is a fee of 1 percent of the (final) loan amount, and you could see a two or more point fee to get such a long rate lock.</p>
<p>Should I lock-in a rate for 9 months?</p>
<p>This is where the "open question" comes in on whether or not you want to lock a rate for that long. Long-term rate locks all depend upon what the lender may offer and what it will cost you either today, upfront or over the life of the loan.</p>
<p>It also depends upon how you feel about the direction for interest rates over your needed lock period. Should mortgage rates rise sharply, your outlay today may prove beneficial. However, if mortgage rates don't move much, you may have overpaid for protection you didn't need.</p>
<p>Paying points to lower your rate</p>
<p>One other item to consider is that if you don't lock the rate and rates do actually rise, you will always have the option of paying fees later to lower the rate. Unlike the long-lock fee, though, these would be paid to lower the interest rate on the loan (aka "discount points"). Each discount point paid will lower the final interest rate by 0.125 percent to 0.25 percent, so even if rates go up, you can buy it back down again (at least within reason).</p>
<p>Discuss these options with your mortgage lender. If your current lender does not offer a long lock-in period, do a little research and you should have little trouble finding a lender to take on you and your rate lock.</p>
<p>More from HSH.com:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.hsh.com/calc-amort.html?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-190821110" type="external">Calculate your monthly payment Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.hsh.com/pointofpoints.html?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-190821110" type="external">What's the point of paying points? Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.hsh.com/finance/mortgage/how-long-is-mortgage-preapproval-good-for.html?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-190821110" type="external">How long is a mortgage preapproval good for? Opens a New Window.</a></p> | Can I Lock My Mortgage Rate for an Extended Period of Time? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2014/10/30/can-lock-my-mortgage-rate-for-extended-period-time.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
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<p>The county fire department has responded to several fires in undeveloped areas recently, and county residents who do agricultural burns have reported their own fires burning out of control.</p>
<p>“We realize that agricultural burning is crucial for certain farming operations,” Sandoval County Fire Chief James Maxon, said. “However, the risk of having a fire get out of control is too great at this point.”</p>
<p>As a result, all open flame sources such as campfires and agricultural burns are banned until further notice.</p>
<p>“I strongly encourage everyone to be vigilant about fire prevention so a catastrophic fire does not occur,” Maxon added.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The use of fireworks is prohibited in undeveloped areas in Sandoval County. The use of propane grills is still allowed, though smoking outdoors is discouraged.</p>
<p>The fire ban and fireworks restrictions are enforced by the Sandoval County fire marshal and the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office. Anyone conducting an open burn or using illegal fireworks can be arrested, fined or both, according to Sidney Hill, the spokesman for Sandoval County. County residents can report illegal activity by calling 891-7226.</p>
<p>For more information, visit sandovalfire.org.</p> | Burn ban in effect | false | https://abqjournal.com/195910/burn-ban-in-effect.html | 2013-05-05 | 2 |
<p>CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Foreign Ministry has expressed its "absolute rejection" of a statement by U.S. Sen. John McCain criticizing the country's crackdown on human rights and democracy under President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.</p>
<p>Thursday's statement came on the seventh anniversary of the Jan. 25, 2011 popular uprising that toppled Egypt's longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, ushering in years of instability punctuated by military and Islamist rule, and el-Sissi's rise to power.</p>
<p>The ministry says McCain's remarks "included unfounded accusations, fallacies, and misinformation," and "flimsy claims."</p>
<p>McCain's comments a day earlier say that "over the past few years, we have witnessed Egypt lurch dangerously backwards. President el-Sissi's unprecedented crackdown on political activism and fundamental human rights has led to the imprisonment of tens of thousands of dissidents, including 19 American citizens and nearly 3,500 young people."</p>
<p>CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Foreign Ministry has expressed its "absolute rejection" of a statement by U.S. Sen. John McCain criticizing the country's crackdown on human rights and democracy under President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.</p>
<p>Thursday's statement came on the seventh anniversary of the Jan. 25, 2011 popular uprising that toppled Egypt's longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, ushering in years of instability punctuated by military and Islamist rule, and el-Sissi's rise to power.</p>
<p>The ministry says McCain's remarks "included unfounded accusations, fallacies, and misinformation," and "flimsy claims."</p>
<p>McCain's comments a day earlier say that "over the past few years, we have witnessed Egypt lurch dangerously backwards. President el-Sissi's unprecedented crackdown on political activism and fundamental human rights has led to the imprisonment of tens of thousands of dissidents, including 19 American citizens and nearly 3,500 young people."</p> | Egypt slams McCain criticism of el-Sissi's 'backwards' Egypt | false | https://apnews.com/amp/450cfb94572f4529b00a228d6120c042 | 2018-01-25 | 2 |
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<p>The research, which quantifies a phenomenon long observed by critical-care physicians, found that three months after leaving the hospital, 4 in 10 patients continued to have cognitive problems on par with those seen in cases of moderate traumatic brain injury.</p>
<p>More than a quarter experienced a decline in mental function akin to that seen in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease, the study says.</p>
<p>For 58 percent of ICU patients, those intellectual deficits were still there a year after they had been released from the hospital, the study found.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The latest research, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that the sudden decline in mental function was as likely to affect young patients as older patients. And it was no more likely in patients who were ill before their hospitalization than it was in those who had been healthy.</p>
<p>Only one factor appeared to predict which patients would sustain mental deficits after an ICU stay: the length of time the patient experienced delirium, a common occurrence among the hospitalized with a critical illness.</p>
<p>The study tracked for a year 821 patients who landed in the ICU from a wide range of circumstances. Some were admitted after surgery; others had suffered a stroke or a sudden turn in an ongoing illness or injury.</p>
<p>The authors of the study, physicians at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., were cautious in explaining why ICU patients so often emerged with substantial cognitive impairment.</p>
<p>Although suspicion has long fallen on the widespread use of powerful painkillers and sedatives in the ICU, they found few clear links between a patient’s ICU medications and the patient’s subsequent cognitive health.</p>
<p>At the same time, the study authors observed a weak relationship between post-ICU mental decline and the use of benzodiazepines – anti-anxiety and sedative medications including diazepam (marketed as Valium).</p>
<p>While that link “should be interpreted cautiously,” the authors said, its weakness should not encourage physicians to minimize the use of such drugs where possible.</p>
<p>The researchers suggested that delirium itself may contribute to loss of mental function, given that it is also linked to inflammation and the death of brain cells, which may either start or signal a downward slide in brain health.</p>
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<p /> | Stay in ICU is bad for your brain, study finds | false | https://abqjournal.com/277970/stay-in-icu-is-bad-for-your-brain-study-finds.html | 2013-10-09 | 2 |
<p>The Guatemalan Constitutional Court’s recent decision to allow ex-dictator Gen. Efrain Rios Montt to run for president in 2004 could be disastrous for the indigenous communities and human rights workers trying to bring him to justice for acts of genocide in the early 1980s.</p>
<p>On July 14, the Constitutional Court voted 4-3 to allow Rios Montt’s candidacy in the election slated for Nov. 9. A run-off election was set for Dec. 28, should no one candidate score a majority.</p>
<p>The courts had previously ruled to deny his eligibility twice before, in 1990 and 1995. According to Article 186 of the 1985 Constitution, leaders of coup d’etats are not eligible to run for president. Moreover, to prevent powerful political leaders from undoing this Article, an additional caveat was included in the provision stipulating that it cannot be amended. However, the Achilles heel of Article 186 may be what Rios Montt and his supporters have long argued: that the 1985 law cannot be applied retroactively.</p>
<p>Rios Montt came to power by coup in March of 1982 and ruled through August of 1983, when his defense minister deposed him. He currently is president of the Guatemalan Congress. The Constitutional Court’s decision has sparked heated controversy, with many claiming that the bench was stacked in Rios Montt’s favor. Since 1995, Rios Montt’s party, the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG), has controlled the appointments of several justices. Additionally, what should have been a random lottery process for selecting the justices to hear the case regarding Rios Montt’s eligibility was in fact conducted in private by the Constitutional Court’s president, a former minister in the FRG government and childhood friend of current President Alfonso Portillo.</p>
<p>In a recent report from the Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre, Anabella de Len, a council member of the Gran Alianza Nacional (GANA) political party responded to the decision by claiming that all the legal processes in the country have been “strangled.”</p>
<p>Years of Genocide</p>
<p>This is not the first time that ex-dictator Rios Montt’s actions have been shrouded in controversy. According to human rights organizations both in Guatemala and internationally, Rios Montt has long been known as one of the worst human rights abusers in Latin America, and his government presided over some of the worst acts of genocide in Latin American history. Guatemala’s civil war produced more casualties than the so-called “dirty wars” of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Argentina, and Chile combined.</p>
<p>As dictator of Guatemala, Rios Montt carried out what is known as the “scorched earth” policy. This policy was first established by the man he overthrew, former dictator Gen. Romeo Lucas Garcia, who was president from 1978 to 1982. In the scorched earth campaign, the indigenous Mayans were not only subjected to torture, rape, and execution, but were also forced to flee their homelands into the highlands with insufficient means for survival. Many of those fortunate enough to survive massacres died later from starvation, hypothermia, disease, or bombardment by army helicopters.</p>
<p>The scorched earth campaign purposefully meant to leave few, if any, Mayan survivors. Its henchmen spared no-one. Over 300,000 children were orphaned. Pregnant women had their unborn babies torn from their wombs without anesthesia in hopes of what was termed “destroying the seed.” Homes and crops were also destroyed, and water sources were poisoned. At the same time, 1 million Guatemalans were displaced and many forced into exile. By the end of the Rios Montt and Lucas Garcia regimes, Guatemalan security forces had massacred approximately 132,000 Guatemalan civilians and razed an estimated 440 Mayan villages.</p>
<p>Indigenous, Human Rights Groups Unite for Justice</p>
<p>In 1997, a UN-sponsored Truth Commission published a report that implicated the Lucas Garcia and Rios Montt regimes in years of genocide, however the report did not identify perpetrators by the Catholic name. The Catholic Church subsequently initiated an additional truth commission to investigate the deaths and bear witness to the trauma.</p>
<p>The Catholic Church’s Recovery of Historical Memory Project (REHMI) Report confirmed the conclusions of the UN Truth Commission and went beyond the previous report to explicitly accuse Lucas Garcia, Rios Montt, and their respective military high commanders of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.</p>
<p>Following the findings of both the UN and the Catholic Church, the 23 indigenous Mayan communities that suffered the brunt of the scorched earth campaigns have unified as in the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) to condemn the actions of the state under the two dictators. Aided by the Center for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH), the Mayan communities have filed two unprecedented complaints, against Lucas Garcia in May 2000, and against Rios Montt in June 2001. Both also name members of the military high commands under the dictators.</p>
<p>AJR and CALDH based their legal complaints against both the regimes on the fact that since 1973, the Guatemalan Criminal Code allows for the prosecution of individuals suspected of genocide. Articles 376 and 378 define the legal basis for prosecuting war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Article 376 reflects international laws by adopting almost verbatim the prohibition of genocide included in the 1948 UN Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.</p>
<p>Status of the Case in Guatemalan Courts</p>
<p>“Genocide is hard to prove,” stated Christina Lauer de Perez, an attorney at CALDH. Consequently, the case is still in the investigative phase. Since May 2000, CALDH and the special prosecutor for the Attorney General’s Office have been interviewing the 101 survivors and witnesses to the atrocities committed in the communities represented in the AJR. With depositions from the 23 villages completed, CALDH, AJR, and the special prosecutors are merely waiting for the additional physical evidence before bringing the case to trial.</p>
<p>Before the testimonial phase of the case, investigators carried out numerous exhumations. Teams of forensic anthropologists worked at various massacre sites searching for anything from clothing scraps to ballistic evidence or military weapons left behind, which would provide evidence of military involvement in the massacres. Forensic reports from all of the exhumation sites have not yet been completed, but CALDH hopes to receive them by the end of this year.</p>
<p>Additionally, CALDH is still waiting for reports from academic specialists in the specific regions of the massacres. These reports will provide important information on the context of the massacres and will be used to show patterns in the systematic killings. Currently, reports for three out of the five regions in question have been completed and the remaining two are expected by the end of the year.</p>
<p>An assessment of the physical, mental, and emotional harm experienced by the survivors and eyewitnesses to the massacres is being undertaken by the Community Studies and Psycho-Social Action Team (ECAP), a mental health organization in Guatemala. The report is expected to be completed by November.</p>
<p>CALDH and AJR aim to have the cases on trial by the end of the year. “We are into the final investigations,” Lauer commented. “We would expect by the end of the year to have enough evidence to initiate the trial.” She said the goal is attainable, providing Rios Montt is defeated in the presidential campaign. Were Rios Montt to win the upcoming election, his immunity as a democratically elected president would make it nearly impossible to press charges.</p>
<p>Deteriorating Respect for Human Rights</p>
<p>The Guatemalan Human Right’s Ombudsman’s office released a June 2003 report highlighting the steady increase in violent deaths over the past four years, nation-wide, culminating in 12 homicides a day. Most recently, the assassination of several prominent journalists has added to the atmosphere of repression in the country.</p>
<p>Human Rights Watch reported that incidents of political violence rose in 2002. Although political violence is not always state-sponsored, the impunity granted government officials plays a major role in the mounting violence. In addition to fomenting abuses, rampant impunity has caused the Guatemalan people to lose faith in the judicial system and turn to public lynching. According to Amnesty International, between 1986 and 2002, there were 482 cases of lynching.</p>
<p>This lack of faith in the judicial system, along with the system’s limited capacity for investigation and prosecution, has serious implications for the genocide cases against Rios Montt and Lucas Garcia. The budget of the Attorney General’s Office is so small that most prosecutors have enormous caseloads. Attorney General Carlos de Len admits that his office has coverage in only 10% of the national territory, with almost no representation in the places from which more than 80% of the complaints are received. Prosecutors are overworked and regularly intimidated, threatened, or abused. The same special prosecutor is assigned to both the Rios Montt case and the Lucas Garcia case, a fact that has hindered AJR and CALDH’s efforts to move the cases through quickly. Moreover, the courts consistently fail to resolve judicial appeals in a timely manner, the army and state generally refuse to cooperate, and the intimidation of witnesses continues to be a normal occurrence.</p>
<p>Given the current human rights climate, the witnesses’ families are in constant danger. Recently the son of Otoniel de la Roca Mendoza, a key witness before the Inter-American Human Rights Court in the case of disappeared guerrilla leader Efrain Bamaca, has been subject to acts of intimidation and death threats.</p>
<p>In response to the gravity of the situation the Guatemalan state, the UN and the Organization of American States (OAS) jointly formed the Commission to Investigate Illegal Armed Groups and Clandestine Security (CICIACS) in March of 2003. Human rights groups consider the creation of CICIACS a positive step toward identifying and dismantling organizations with extensive records of human rights violations. However, for witnesses and survivors to feel safe in testifying against political and military leaders, the systemic problems of impunity, corruption, and state-sponsored violence must be addressed as well.</p>
<p>International Support Essential</p>
<p>According to CALDH, international support is essential for convicting both dictators. In cooperation with the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA, CALDH has recently launched an international postcard campaign. Concerned citizens in hundreds of cities across the United States, Canada, and the UK are sending postcards to the Guatemalan Attorney General’s Office to denounce the actions of Lucas Garcia and Rios Montt and to demand a transparent, expeditious trial in Guatemala. The postcards have been collected in Guatemala for presentation to the attorney general in a public forum this autumn.</p>
<p>Proving that election fraud is still a very real concern, the UN, the OAS, the European Union, as well as many international and Guatemalan civil society organizations will be conducting formal observations of the Guatemalan elections. Currently, Rios Montt lags in polls by only 3.3%.</p>
<p>NICOLE GAMBLE served as the summer coordinator of the GHRC genocide case campaign <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Rios Montt’s Campaign Threatens Guatemalan Genocide Trials | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/10/06/rios-montt-s-campaign-threatens-guatemalan-genocide-trials/ | 2003-10-06 | 4 |
<p>Cosmopolitan, the magazine that tells women the best way to live their lives, has a great gift idea for woman to give to their men this Valentine's day: "Chocolate Buttholes.”</p>
<p>Seriously. They are telling their woman Twitter followers to purchase chocolates shaped like a person’s anus as a great gift for the man in their lives.</p>
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<p>The saddest thing is that the company selling the items is a real company and sell more than an “ <a href="http://www.edibleanus.com/prestashop/usa/" type="external">Edible Anus.</a>” They sell all sorts of paraphernalia, including, shirts, mugs, and poop cards.&#160; But don't worry, there are no preservatives and only fresh Belgian chocolates.&#160;</p>
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<p>Nothing says "I love you" like a chocolate butt.</p> | Cosmopolitan Reaches New Lows With Valentine's Day Suggestion | true | http://truthrevolt.org/news/cosmopolitan-reaches-new-lows-valentines-day-suggestion | 2018-10-06 | 0 |
<p>The (now) infamous new poverty statistics unveiled by India's Planning Commission earlier this week appear slated for an early grave, thanks to widespread outrage over the low income levels required to officially qualify as poor.</p>
<p>The government has moved to scrap the current method for defining poverty, admitting that the end result of the calculations simply weren't realistic, <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Govt-scraps-poverty-line-says-not-close-to-reality/Article1-829516.aspx" type="external">the Hindustan Times reports Friday</a>.</p>
<p>Readers of this blog know that <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/india/india-lies-poverty" type="external">I had to eat crow</a> (sort of) after accusing the Planning Commission of fudging the numbers in order to achieve a stealth budget cut following the finance minister's failure to make any of his own. In fact, though the commission did lower the cut off for poverty from figures it had proposed in September, the poverty line was raised significantly between 2004-05 and 2010-11. But many remained unconvinced by the Planning Commission's use of those figures to claim a 7 percentage point reduction in India's poor.</p>
<p>The latest development is that&#160;"The government has taken a decision to set up a technical group to revise the methodology for estimating poverty in a manner consistent with the current realities," according to minister of state for planning Ashwini Kumar -- who pretty much threw Planning Commission Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to the wolves. (If you're curious, <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/ColumnsOthers/It-just-doesn-t-add-up/Article1-829491.aspx" type="external">the Hindustan Times</a>&#160;also has a good recap of the way the Planning Commission has juggled the figures in the past).</p>
<p>Kumar also announced that all government entitlement schemes could be linked to the new poverty line, once it is determined, except for the food subsidies to be provided under the proposed&#160;National Food Security law, the paper said.</p>
<p>That last bit is interesting, as there has been a good deal of back-and-forth over the degree to which relief measures are tied to the poverty numbers. While some sought to downplay the link,&#160; <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Poverty-numbers-govt-schemes-linked/articleshow/12374820.cms" type="external">The Times of India</a>, for instance, lays out how the government uses the poverty line to allot money to the states for social programs like old-age pensions.&#160;</p> | TomJoad: India scraps controversial poverty line | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-03-23/tomjoad-india-scraps-controversial-poverty-line | 2012-03-23 | 3 |
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<p>There has been a high amount of suspicious cellphone activity in the Washington, D.C. area. The unusual activity has led to fears that an unknown entity is surveying the communications of many people.</p>
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<p>The entity might also be surveying the U.S. government officials and foreign diplomats. The sudden increase in suspicious activity on one of the main U.S. cellular carriers has raised red flags.</p>
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<p>The Department of Homeland Security is concerned. Maybe the cellphones in Washington D.C. are being tracked.</p>
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<p>The activity could allow malicious people to clone devices and other mobile equipment that are used by civilians and government insiders.</p>
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<p>It's is not yet clear who is behind the attacks. However, the complexity and the amount of time shows that it could be a foreign nation.</p>
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<p>It appears that mass amounts of location data was collected by a third party that may have control of entire cell phone towers in the area.</p>
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<p>The information was gathered by a program that monitors cell towers for any strange behaviors. The program is supported by DHS and ESD America. The program is known as ESD Overwatch.</p>
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<p>The cell phone information gathered by the program shows strange activities in the D.C. area. This shows that a third-party is tracking a large number of cellphones.</p>
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<p>Such activities could be used to clone phones, introduce malware to enable spying, and track government phones that are used by officials in D.C.</p>
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<p>The attack is said to have started in D.C. then it later spread to other sensors across the USA. A sensor close to the White House and the Pentagon have been part of those that have seen the tracking.</p>
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<p>The ESD Overwatch program shows that the U.S. cell carrier has experienced unlawful access to the network for the purpose of large scale tracking.</p>
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<p>The program also shows a lot of efforts in trying to identify and track cellphones. The third-party hacker appears to be identifying phones as they connect with local cellphone towers and recording the information.</p>
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<p>The activity could allow hackers to track an individual's cellphone and pinpoint phones that may be of importance.</p>
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<p>The cellular network involved in the attack is being abused so that hackers can track phones that are subscribed to the carrier.</p>
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<p>The DHS's Office of Public Affairs confirmed that the ESD Overwatch program has been in place since Jan 18th. The program is under a 90-day pilot program.</p>
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<p>The federal government did not have a method to detect such intrusions before the surveillance program was initiated.</p>
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<p>Congress has been concerned by the issue of cellphone vulnerabilities. Cyber security experts have warned that the U.S. cellular communications networks are vulnerable o surveillance by foreign governments and hackers.</p>
<p>The Signaling System 7 is used by cellular phones and text messaging applications.</p>
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<p>A letter by Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Ted Lieu said that U.S. cellular phones can be tracked, tapped, and hacked by enemies who are thousands of miles away through the SS7-enabled surveillance.</p>
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<p>The lawmakers said that they are concerned that the security of America's telecommunication infrastructure is not getting enough attention.</p>
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<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://freebeacon.com/national-security/hack-attack-cell-phone-data-dc/" type="external">freebeacon.com/national-security/hack-attack-cell-phone-data-dc</a></p> | Cell Phone Hack Catches Washington DC Area By Surprise | true | http://thegoldwater.com/news/1820-Cell-Phone-Hack-Catches-Washington-DC-Area-By-Surprise | 2017-03-16 | 0 |
<p>The Commerce Department reports on U.S. factory orders for October. The report will be issued at 10 a.m. EST Friday.</p>
<p>ORDERS SLOW: The expectation is that orders will not show any growth in October, compared with September, according to a survey of economists by data firm FactSet.</p>
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<p>MANUFACTURING ACTIVITY: In September, orders declined, dragged down by falling demand in the volatile aircraft category.</p>
<p>The report on factory orders covers durable goods, items expected to last at least three years, and non-durable goods such as chemicals and clothing.</p>
<p>In a preliminary report last week, the government found that orders for durable goods increased a slight 0.4 percent in October after declines in both September and August, reflecting weakness in demand for aircraft.</p>
<p>The October gain in demand for durable goods was small, with declines in a number of categories including machinery, computers and primary metals such as steel. In addition, a key category that serves as a proxy for business investment spending fell 1.3 percent in October after a similar 1.3 percent drop in September. It was the biggest setback since a 1.4 percent decline in May.</p>
<p>Economists believe these declines will be temporary. They note that spending by businesses on new equipment grew at a solid annual rate of 10.7 percent in the third quarter and they expect further gains in coming months as businesses ramp up spending to expand and modernize their operations.</p>
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<p>The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, reported Monday that its closely watched gauge of manufacturing activity slipped a modest amount in November to a reading of 58.7, down from 59 in October, which matched a three-year high reached in August. Any reading above 50 signals expansion.</p>
<p>Manufacturing has been a key driver of U.S. growth this year even as it has fallen off overseas in such key economies as China and Europe.</p> | US factory orders expected to show no growth in October | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/12/05/us-factory-orders-expected-to-show-no-growth-in-october.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>Just because Thad Cochran's old doesn't mean he's senile, itjust means he's crotchety.</p>
<p>The 76-year-old Senator came under scrutiny Friday when FoxNews posted video of Cochran <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/06/13/thad-cochran-apparently-didnt-know-that-eric-cantor-lost/" type="external">apparently being unaware</a> of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's <a href="" type="internal">shock loss</a> in a GOP primary Tuesday. Afterbeing asked, "what happened in Virginia the other day, does that concern youfor your chances here in this run-off?" by a reporter, Cochran responded "Idon't know what you're talking about. What happened in Virginia?"</p>
<p>However, unless Cochran had suffered a minor stroke or some other neurological ailment in the ten minutes before being asked that question, it seems the six-term senator in a <a href="" type="internal">runoff for his seat</a> against Tea Partier Chris McDaniel was just being peevish. The interview with Fox News reporter Kyle Rothenberg happened just minutes after a outdoor gaggle with half a dozen reporters in the Mississippi sun where Cochran had been repeatedly asked about Cantor's loss and if it had any implications for his re-election. Rothenberg had been present for the gaggle. The Daily Beast confirmed with a reporter who was there that Cochran not only answered questions about Cantor then but had done so repeatedly the day before as well.</p>
<p>The video comes just days after Fox News personality SeanHannity endorsed Cochran's opponent, Chris McDaniel, in the June 24thSenate runoff and in the midst of an increasingly dirty campaign. McDaniel hasaccused the six-term incumbent of being old and out-of-touch while Cochran hastried to tie McDaniel to supporters who were <a href="" type="internal">caught in a county courthouse</a> at 3AM on election night and others who were involved in <a href="" type="internal">breaking into thenursing home</a> of Cochran's wife and videotaping her.</p>
<p>Despite being the incumbent, Cochran, whose last competitive election before this year was in 1978, is considered the underdog in the runoff, having finished behind McDaniel in the first round of voting.</p> | Thad Cochran Did Know Eric Cantor Lost His Primary | true | https://thedailybeast.com/thad-cochran-did-know-eric-cantor-lost-his-primary | 2018-10-06 | 4 |
<p>It is a simple fact of politics in capitalist democracies that private interests shape, and often simply decide, public policies. Many issues of broad or collective concern — investment, employment, the allocation of resources — are made outside the political arena altogether, with policy called in only to mop up failures.</p>
<p>Both electoral politics and the legislative process in the United States are notoriously capital-intensive, the fate of candidates and policies largely determined by <a href="http://www.cows.org/_data/files/1983_On_Democracy.pdf" type="external">private demands and private resources</a>. Some, as the economist Anthony Downs <a href="https://www.ou.edu/uschina/gries/articles/IntPol/downs%201957.pdf" type="external">famously observed</a> in 1957, “are more important than others politically, because they can influence more votes than they themselves cast.” The result, as recent research has laid bare, is not just the glorious irrelevance of the <a href="http://econ243.academic.wlu.edu/2017/01/30/the-median-voter-theorem/" type="external">median voter</a>, but a seemingly impenetrable <a href="https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf" type="external">engine of elite domination</a> generating both stark inequality and policies <a href="https://deanbaker.net/images/stories/documents/Rigged.pdf" type="external">designed</a> to make it starker.</p>
<p>All of this is especially true, and especially destructive of the public good, in the American health care system — a monstrosity that <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.TOTL.ZS" type="external">gobbles up</a> nearly a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product while dramatically <a href="http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2015/oct/us-health-care-from-a-global-perspective" type="external">outspending and underperforming</a> its international peers.</p>
<p>In health care, private providers and private financing mechanisms were well ensconced long before any meaningful public intervention. The stakes are very high and, historically, a diverse array of private health interests have spent lavishly on political campaigns, and haunted congressional hearings and anterooms.</p>
<p>But what has shaped health policy, and stymied reform for the last century, is not so much the combined clout of private interests as it is the tangle of compromise and competition that’s emerged from the scrum as they jockey for influence over policy, for advantage over each other, and for unfettered access to public spending.</p>
<p>Over the last century, the terms of that <a href="http://www.pnhp.org/sites/default/files/docs/2012/Corporate%20Compromise%20-%20Annals%20of%20Internal%20Medicine.pdf" type="external">corporate compromise</a> have been altered through changes in medical care, and changes in the ways medical care is sold, underwritten, packaged, subsidized, regulated, and consumed. The influence of private interests has persisted but, from the first consideration of “health security” in the Progressive Era to the tortuous repeal of the Affordable Care Act over the last few months, which interests have weighed in — or prevailed — has shifted.</p>
<p>Tracing those shifts (sometimes subtle, sometimes profound) is important not just to our understanding of the history, but also to our efforts to win a more just health system.</p>
<p>The case for universal, equitable coverage is airtight. And it commands substantial public support. But in order to get there, we need to know what, or who, we are up against.</p> | A Brief History of American Health Reform | true | https://jacobinmag.com/2017/07/trumpcare-obamacare-us-health-care | 2018-10-05 | 4 |
<p>National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn on President Trump's tax reform plan.</p>
<p>While President Donald Trump committed to middle class tax cuts during a speech in Missouri earlier this week, National Economic Director Gary Cohn said the wealthiest Americans could still see some sort of reduction in rates.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Cohn told FOX Business on Friday that there “may be a cut,” but added that by trying to eliminate certain loopholes in the tax code, ideally the wealthier would be paying on “a bigger swath” of their income.</p>
<p>“If we lower the rate just a little bit, but have you pay on more of your income, your effective rate is going up,” he explained.</p>
<p>Republicans could face some resistance from Democrats over even a small cut for the wealthiest Americans. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the GOP’s blueprint a “billionaires-first, trickle-down tax scheme” on Wednesday, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has indicated Democrats will not vote for any bill that benefits the top 1% of earners.</p>
<p>On Friday, Cohn insisted the emphasis of the tax relief effort will be directed at the middle class and said he hoped for bipartisan support. He said a key way to even out the playing field for Americans is by eliminating loopholes.</p>
<p>“What the president [has] spent his time on and what we’ve been working on here in the White House is a middle class tax cut,” he said. “[Trump] talked about simplifying the tax system and he talked about getting rid of loopholes. The middle class doesn’t take advantage of the loopholes, the wealthy takes advantage of the loopholes. So when he talks about getting rid of loopholes, he’s talking about areas where the wealthy have used the tax code to their advantage to lower their taxes while the middle class does not have [that same] advantage.”</p>
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<p>Cohn said the administration, at least on the economic side, has been spending “100%” of its time on tax reform. President Trump is expected to meet with the key players involved in crafting tax reform legislation on Tuesday at the White House.</p>
<p>When asked about rumors he is only staying on with the Trump administration to pass tax cuts, the president’s top economic advisor didn’t directly answer the question, but emphatically stated “tax cuts are really important to [him].”</p>
<p>“I think it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, we haven’t done tax cuts in 31 years,” he said. “So, yes, I’m very excited about being part of that team that is able to work on something that’s that important.”</p>
<p>A source told Fox News last week that Cohn had drafted a resignation letter and met with Trump two weeks ago. While it was unclear whether the president ever received that letter, in an interview with The Financial Times last Friday, Cohn said he felt pressure to quit following the president’s response to the white nationalist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, and said the Trump administration needed to “do better.”</p> | Trump’s tax plan could cut rates for wealthy, here’s how they could still pay more | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/09/01/wealthiest-americans-could-still-get-tax-cut-but-focus-is-on-middle-class-relief-cohn.html | 2017-09-01 | 0 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-158762576/stock-photo-a-woman-lying-against-a-brick-building.html?src=pd-same_model-158492999-8"&gt;Mikael Damkier&lt;/a&gt;/Shutterstock</p>
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<p>Researchers have identified a new risk factor for homelessness among veterans: military sexual trauma. Nearly 1 in 10 veterans who experienced sexual assault or harassment in the military became homeless within five years—a “staggering number,” noted an editorial in JAMA Psychiatry, which published the <a href="http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2515956#Introduction" type="external">study</a> Wednesday.</p>
<p>The research, funded by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, drew on a national sample of 601,892 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who were discharged between 2001 and 2011. Those who reported experiencing sexual assault or harassment while they were in the military were twice as likely to become homeless within five years as those who did not, and the results held true even after controlling for PTSD, alcohol and drug addiction, and serious mental illnesses.</p>
<p>The trauma of violence during a military deployment can make returning to civilian life more difficult, the study’s authors point out, with homelessness exemplifying “an extreme case of poor reintegration.” Military sexual trauma, or MST, includes forcible and coerced sexual assault, as well as harassment (uninvited or unwanted sexual attention, including cornering, touching, pressure for sexual favors, or verbal remarks). <a href="http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/newsletters/research-quarterly/v20n2.pdf" type="external">According to the VA,</a> around 22 percent of women and 1 percent of men in the military have experienced some form of MST.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the researchers found a slightly higher rate of homelessness among male veterans who experienced sexual violence as compared to women. “Men with a positive MST screen are a particularly vulnerable group,” the authors wrote. “In addition to the burden of issues regarding masculinity, sexuality, and self-concept among males who have experienced sexual trauma,” they also may be less likely to seek mental-health treatment than women—potentially leading to worsening psychiatric symptoms and homelessness.</p>
<p>The link between homelessness and the experience of different kinds of traumatic events—childhood abuse, domestic violence, even <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lisa_Goodman/publication/271643787_GoodmanSaxeHarvey/links/54ce4d5b0cf29ca810fb8597.pdf" type="external">homelessness itself</a>—is <a href="http://www.nhchc.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/hh.04_99.pdf" type="external">well documented</a>. The study also adds homelessness to an already long list of MST’s public health consequences. Past <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2089100/" type="external">research</a> has found that experiencing MST increased a person’s odds of mental illness by two to three times—most notably post-traumatic stress disorder, but also alcohol and drug addiction, anxiety disorders, depression, dissociative disorders. That’s not to mention the links between MST and certain <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2089100/" type="external">medical conditions</a>: liver disease, chronic pulmonary disease, obesity, hypothyroidism, and HIV/AIDS.</p>
<p>According to researcher Adi Gundlapalli, an associate professor at the University of Utah medical school, potential consequences of military sexual violence include low social support, poor interpersonal relationships, and revictimization. “These types of problems may compromise employment and put one at risk for financial instability,” Gundlapalli says. “Ultimately, this may lead to homelessness.”</p>
<p /> | A “Staggering Number” of Vets End Up Homeless After Experiencing Sexual Violence in the Military | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2016/04/military-sexual-trauma-linked-homelessness/ | 2016-04-21 | 4 |
<p>A U.S. citizen is missing after an "unknown group of assailants" grabbed that person Friday in the West African nation of Niger, the U.S. Embassy said.</p>
<p>The American was kidnapped in Niger's Tahoua region. No other details, including the identity of the victim, were released.</p>
<p>Other media outlets, including The Associated Press, reported the hostage was a longtime American aid worker, but NBC News was unable to immediately confirm that.</p>
<p>Daouda Maiga, governor of Mali's Menaka region, which borders Niger, told the AP that several armed men burst into the aid worker's house and took him after killing two others at the scene.</p>
<p>Foreigners have been kidnapped in Niger before for ransom, but this is believed to be the first time an American national has been held hostage there, according to news agency Agence France-Presse.</p>
<p>Two French people were kidnapped from a restaurant in Niamey in 2011 and were killed during a rescue attempt, AFP reported. The year before that, five French energy firm employees were kidnapped by al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb from a uranium mine in Arlit, in northern Niger. They all were eventually released.</p>
<p>The U.S. Embassy in Niamey, Niger's capital, said in a statement Saturday that it "reminds U.S. citizens that the threat of kidnapping and hostage taking continues to be very high."</p> | U.S. Citizen Kidnapped in Niger by ‘Unknown Group of Assailants’: U.S. Embassy | false | http://nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-citizen-kidnapped-niger-unknown-group-assailants-u-s-n666886 | 2016-10-15 | 3 |
<p>By Alfred McCoy, TomDispatch</p>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/adulau/" type="external">Alexandre Dulaunoy</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" type="external">(CC BY-SA 2.0)</a></p>
<p>This piece first appeared at TomDispatch. Read Tom Engelhardt’s introduction <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175795/tomgram%3A_alfred_mccoy%2C_it%27s_about_blackmail%2C_not_national_security/#more" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>For more than six months, Edward Snowden’s revelations about the National Security Agency (NSA) have been pouring out from the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Guardian, Germany’s Der Spiegel, and Brazil’s O Globo, among other places.&#160; Yet no one has pointed out the combination of factors that made the NSA’s expanding programs to monitor the world seem like such a slam-dunk development in Washington.&#160; The answer is remarkably simple.&#160; For an imperial power losing its economic grip on the planet and heading into more austere times, the NSA’s latest technological breakthroughs look like a bargain basement deal when it comes to projecting power and keeping subordinate allies in line — like, in fact, the steal of the century.&#160; Even when disaster turned out to be attached to them, the NSA’s surveillance programs have come with such a discounted price tag that no Washington elite was going to reject them.</p>
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<p>For well over a century, from the pacification of the Philippines in 1898 to trade negotiations with the European Union today, surveillance and its kissing cousins, scandal and scurrilous information, have been key weapons in Washington’s search for global dominion. Not surprisingly, in a post-9/11 bipartisan exercise of executive power, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have presided over building the NSA step by secret step into a digital panopticon designed to monitor the communications of every American and foreign leaders worldwide.</p>
<p>What exactly was the aim of such an unprecedented program of massive domestic and planetary spying, which clearly carried the risk of controversy at home and abroad? Here, an awareness of the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175724/alfred_mccoy_surveillance_blowback" type="external">more than century-long history</a> of U.S. surveillance can guide us through the billions of bytes swept up by the NSA to the strategic significance of such a program for the planet’s last superpower. What the past reveals is a long-term relationship between American state surveillance and political scandal that helps illuminate the unacknowledged reason why the NSA monitors America’s closest allies.</p>
<p>Not only does such surveillance help gain intelligence advantageous to U.S. diplomacy, trade relations, and war-making, but it also scoops up intimate information that can provide leverage — akin to blackmail — in sensitive global dealings and negotiations of every sort. The NSA’s global panopticon thus fulfills an ancient dream of empire. With a few computer key strokes, the agency has solved the problem that has bedeviled world powers since at least the time of Caesar Augustus: how to control unruly local leaders, who are the foundation for imperial rule, by ferreting out crucial, often scurrilous, information to make them more malleable.</p>
<p>A Cost-Savings Bonanza With a Downside</p>
<p>Once upon a time, such surveillance was both expensive and labor intensive. Today, however, unlike the U.S. Army’s shoe-leather surveillance during World War I or the FBI’s break-ins and phone bugs in the Cold War years, the NSA can monitor the entire world and its leaders with only <a href="http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2013/11/23/nsa-infected-50000-computer-networks-with-malicious-software/" type="external">100-plus probes</a> into the Internet’s fiber optic cables.</p>
<p>This new technology is both omniscient and omnipresent beyond anything those lacking top-secret clearance could have imagined before the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/the-nsa-files" type="external">Edward Snowden revelations</a> began.&#160; Not only is it unimaginably pervasive, but NSA surveillance is also a particularly cost-effective strategy compared to just about any other form of global power projection. And better yet, it fulfills the greatest imperial dream of all: to be omniscient not just for a few islands, as in the Philippines a century ago, or a couple of countries, as in the Cold War era, but on a truly global scale.</p>
<p>In a time of increasing imperial austerity and exceptional technological capability, everything about the NSA’s surveillance told Washington to just “go for it.” &#160;This cut-rate mechanism for both projecting force and preserving U.S. global power surely looked like a no-brainer, a must-have bargain for any American president in the twenty-first century — before new NSA documents started hitting front pages <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/us/revelations-give-look-at-spy-agencys-wider-reach.html" type="external">weekly</a>, thanks to Snowden, and the whole world began returning the favor.</p>
<p>As the gap has grown between Washington’s global reach and its shrinking mailed fist, as it struggles to maintain <a href="http://books.sipri.org/files/FS/SIPRIFS1304.pdf" type="external">40%</a> of world armaments (the 2012 figure) with only <a href="http://www.oecd.org/eco/outlook/2060%20policy%20paper%20FINAL.pdf" type="external">23%</a> of global gross economic output, the U.S. will need to find new ways to exercise its power far more economically. As the Cold War took off, a heavy-metal U.S. military — with 500 bases worldwide circa 1950 — was sustainable because the country controlled some 50% of the global gross product.</p>
<p>But as its share of world output falls — to an <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/apr/27/china-imf-economy-2016" type="external">estimated 17%</a> by 2016 — and its social welfare costs climb relentlessly from 4% of gross domestic product in 2010 to a projected 18% by 2050, cost-cutting becomes imperative if Washington is to survive as anything like the planet’s “sole superpower.” Compared to the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702846.html" type="external">$3 trillion cost</a> of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, the NSA’s 2012 budget of just <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/us/politics/leaked-document-outlines-us-spending-on-intelligence.html" type="external">$11 billion</a> for worldwide surveillance and cyberwarfare looks like cost saving the Pentagon can ill-afford to forego.</p>
<p>Yet this seeming “bargain” comes at what turns out to be an almost incalculable cost. The sheer scale of such surveillance leaves it open to countless points of penetration, whether by a handful of anti-war activists <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/07/us/burglars-who-took-on-fbi-abandon-shadows.html" type="external">breaking into</a> an FBI field office in Media, Pennsylvania, back in 1971 or Edward Snowden downloading NSA documents at a Hawaiian outpost in 2012.</p>
<p>Once these secret programs are exposed, it turns out that nobody really likes being under surveillance. Proud national leaders refuse to tolerate foreign powers observing them like rats in a maze. Ordinary citizens recoil at the idea of <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175779/peter_van_buren_welcome_to_the_memory_hole" type="external">Big Brother</a> watching their private lives like so many microbes on a slide.</p>
<p>Cycles of Surveillance</p>
<p>Over the past century, the tension between state expansion and citizen-driven contraction has pushed U.S. surveillance through a recurring cycle. First comes the rapid development of stunning counterintelligence techniques under the pressure of fighting foreign wars; next, the unchecked, usually illegal application of those surveillance technologies back home behind a veil of secrecy; and finally, belated, grudging reforms as press and public discover the outrageous excesses of the FBI, the CIA, or now, the NSA. In this hundred-year span — as modern communications advanced from the mail to the telephone to the Internet — state surveillance has leapt forward in technology’s ten-league boots, while civil liberties have crawled along behind at the snail’s pace of law and legislation.</p>
<p>The first and, until recently, most spectacular round of surveillance came during World War I and its aftermath. Fearing subversion by German-Americans after the declaration of war on Germany in 1917, the FBI and Military Intelligence swelled from bureaucratic nonentities into all-powerful agencies charged with extirpating any flicker of disloyalty anywhere in America, whether by word or deed. Since only 9% of the country’s population then had telephones, monitoring the loyalties of some 10 million German-Americans proved incredibly labor-intensive, requiring legions of postal workers to physically examine some 30 million first-class letters and 350,000 badge-carrying vigilantes to perform shoe-leather snooping on immigrants, unions, and socialists of every sort.&#160; During the 1920s, Republican conservatives, appalled by this threat to privacy, slowly began to curtail Washington’s security apparatus. This change culminated in Secretary of State Henry Stimson’s abolition of the government’s cryptography unit in 1929 with his <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2013/06/10/building-americas-secret-surveillance-state/" type="external">memorable admonition</a>, “Gentlemen do not read each other’s mail.”</p>
<p>In the next round of mass surveillance during World War II, the FBI discovered that the wiretapping of telephones produced an unanticipated byproduct with extraordinary potential for garnering political power: scandal. To block enemy espionage, President Franklin Roosevelt gave the FBI control over all U.S. counterintelligence and, in May 1940, authorized its director, J. Edgar Hoover, to engage in wiretapping.</p>
<p>What made Hoover a Washington powerhouse was the telephone. With 20% of the country and the entire political elite by now owning phones, FBI wiretaps at local switchboards could readily monitor conversations by both suspected subversives and the president’s domestic enemies, particularly leaders of the isolationist movement such as aviator Charles Lindbergh and Senator Burton Wheeler.</p>
<p>Even with these centralized communications, however, the Bureau still needed massive manpower for its wartime counterintelligence. Its staff <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/brief-history" type="external">soared</a> from just 650 in 1924 to 13,000 by 1943. Upon taking office on Roosevelt’s death in early 1945, Harry Truman soon learned the extraordinary extent of FBI surveillance. “We want no Gestapo or Secret Police,” Truman <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jan/01/j-edgar-hoover-secret-fbi" type="external">wrote</a> in his diary that May. “FBI is tending in that direction. They are dabbling in sex-life scandals and plain blackmail.”</p>
<p>After a quarter of a century of warrantless wiretaps, Hoover built up a veritable archive of sexual preferences among America’s powerful and used it to shape the direction of U.S. politics.&#160; He <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/opinion/sunday/j-edgar-hoover-outed-my-godfather.html" type="external">distributed</a> a dossier on Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson’s alleged homosexuality to assure his defeat in the 1952 presidential elections, <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/02/14/146862081/the-history-of-the-fbis-secret-enemies-list" type="external">circulated</a> audio tapes of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s philandering, and <a href="http://archive.people.com/people/archive/jpgs/19880229/19880229-750-113.jpg" type="external">monitored</a> President Kennedy’s affair with mafia mistress Judith Exner. And these are just a small sampling of Hoover’s uses of scandal to keep the Washington power elite under his influence.</p>
<p>“The moment [Hoover] would get something on a senator,” <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/02/fbi-director-hoover-s-dirty-files-excerpt-from-ronald-kessler-s-the-secrets-of-the-fbi.html" type="external">recalled</a> William Sullivan, the FBI’s chief of domestic intelligence during the 1960s, “he’d send one of the errand boys up and advise the senator that ‘we’re in the course of an investigation, and we by chance happened to come up with this data on your daughter…’ From that time on, the senator’s right in his pocket.” After his death, an <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jan/01/j-edgar-hoover-secret-fbi" type="external">official tally</a> found Hoover had 883 such files on senators and 722 more on congressmen.</p>
<p>Armed with such sensitive information, Hoover gained the unchecked power to dictate the country’s direction and launch programs of his choosing, including the FBI’s notorious Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) that illegally harassed the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements with black propaganda, break-ins, and <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175718/todd_gitlin_agent_provocateur" type="external">agent provocateur</a>-style violence.</p>
<p>At the end of the Vietnam War, Senator Frank Church headed a committee that investigated these excesses. “The intent of COINTELPRO,” <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/07/us/burglars-who-took-on-fbi-abandon-shadows.html" type="external">recalled</a> one aide to the Church investigation, “was to destroy lives and ruin reputations.” These findings prompted the formation, under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, of “FISA courts” to issue warrants for all future national security wiretaps.</p>
<p>Surveillance in the Age of the Internet</p>
<p>Looking for new weapons to fight terrorism after 9/11, Washington turned to electronic surveillance, which has since become integral to its strategy for exercising global power.</p>
<p>In October 2001, not satisfied with the sweeping and extraordinary powers of the newly passed Patriot Act, President Bush <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/us/revelations-give-look-at-spy-agencys-wider-reach.html" type="external">ordered</a> the National Security Agency to commence covert monitoring of private communications through the nation’s telephone companies without the requisite FISA warrants. Somewhat later, the agency began <a href="http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/world/national-security-agency-inspector-general-draft-report/277/" type="external">sweeping</a> the Internet for emails, financial data, and voice messaging on the tenuous theory that such “metadata” was “ <a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/us/nsa-examines-social-networks-of-us-citizens.html" type="external">not constitutionally protected</a>.” In effect, by penetrating the Internet for text and the parallel Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) for voice, the NSA had gained access to much of the world’s telecommunications. By the end of Bush’s term in 2008, Congress had <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-intelligence-mining-data-from-nine-us-internet-companies-in-broad-secret-program/2013/06/06/3a0c0da8-cebf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html" type="external">enacted laws</a> that not only retrospectively legalized these illegal programs, but also prepared the way for NSA surveillance to grow unchecked.</p>
<p>Rather than restrain the agency, President Obama oversaw the expansion of its operations in ways remarkable for both the sheer scale of the billions of messages collected globally and for the selective monitoring of world leaders.</p>
<p>What made the NSA so powerful was, of course, the Internet — that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/aug/18/east.africa.internet" type="external">global grid</a> of fiber optic cables that now <a href="http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/2013/41.aspx#.UtXQqUK_LA4" type="external">connects</a> 40% of all humanity. By the time Obama took office, the agency had finally harnessed the power of modern telecommunications for near-perfect surveillance.&#160; It was capable of both blanketing the globe and targeting specific individuals.&#160; It had assembled the requisite technological tool-kit — specifically, access points to collect data,&#160; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-seeks-to-build-quantum-computer-that-could-crack-most-types-of-encryption/2014/01/02/8fff297e-7195-11e3-8def-a33011492df2_story.html" type="external">computer codes</a> to break encryption, <a href="http://nsa.gov1.info/utah-data-center/" type="external">data farms</a> to store its massive digital harvest, and <a href="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/all/" type="external">supercomputers</a> for nanosecond processing of what it was engorging itself on.</p>
<p>By 2012, the centralization via digitization of all voice, video, textual, and financial communications into a worldwide network of fiber optic cables allowed the NSA to monitor the globe by <a href="http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2013/11/23/nsa-infected-50000-computer-networks-with-malicious-software/" type="external">penetrating</a> just 190 data hubs — an extraordinary economy of force for both political surveillance and cyberwarfare.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/nsa1024_2_large.jpg" type="external">Click here to see a larger version</a>In this Top Secret document dated 2012, the NSA shows the “Five Eyes” allies (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom) its 190 “access programs” for penetrating the Internet’s global grid of fiber optic cables for both surveillance and cyberwarfare. (Source:&#160;NRC Handelsblad,&#160;November 23, 2013).</p>
<p>With a few hundred cable probes and computerized decryption, the NSA can now capture the kind of gritty details of private life that J. Edgar Hoover so treasured and provide the sort of comprehensive coverage of populations once epitomized by secret police like East Germany’s Stasi. And yet, such comparisons only go so far.</p>
<p>After all, once FBI agents had tapped thousands of phones, stenographers had typed up countless transcripts, and clerks had stored this salacious paper harvest in floor-to-ceiling filing cabinets, J. Edgar Hoover still only knew about the inner-workings of the elite in one city: Washington, D.C.&#160; To gain the same intimate detail for an entire country, the Stasi had to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/k/koehler-stasi.html" type="external">employ</a> one police informer for every six East Germans — an unsustainable allocation of human resources. By contrast, the marriage of the NSA’s technology to the Internet’s data hubs now allows the agency’s <a href="http://fcw.com/blogs/circuit/2012/04/fedsmc-chris-inglis-federal-workforce.aspx" type="external">37,000</a> employees a similarly close coverage of the entire globe with just one operative for every 200,000 people on the planet.</p>
<p>A Dream as Old as Ancient Rome</p>
<p>In the Obama years, the first signs have appeared that NSA surveillance will use the information gathered to traffic in scandal, much as Hoover’s FBI once did. In September 2013, the New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/us/nsa-examines-social-networks-of-us-citizens.html" type="external">reported</a> that the NSA has, since 2010, applied sophisticated software to create “social network diagrams…, unlock as many secrets about individuals as possible…, and pick up sensitive information like regular calls to a psychiatrist’s office, late-night messages to an extramarital partner.”</p>
<p>Through the expenditure of $250 million annually under its Sigint Enabling Project, the NSA has stealthily penetrated all encryption designed to protect privacy. “In the future, superpowers will be made or broken based on the strength of their cryptanalytic programs,” <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/us/nsa-foils-much-internet-encryption.html" type="external">reads</a> a 2007 NSA document. “It is the price of admission for the U.S. to maintain unrestricted access to and use of cyberspace.”</p>
<p>By collecting knowledge — routine, intimate, or scandalous — about foreign leaders, imperial proconsuls from ancient Rome to modern America have gained both the intelligence and aura of authority necessary for dominion over alien societies. The importance, and challenge, of controlling these local elites cannot be overstated. During its pacification of the Philippines after 1898, for instance, the U.S. colonial regime subdued contentious Filipino leaders via <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175724/" type="external">pervasive policing</a> that swept up both political intelligence and personal scandal. And that, of course, was just what J. Edgar Hoover was doing in Washington during the 1950s and 1960s.</p>
<p>Indeed, the mighty British Empire, like all empires, was a global tapestry woven out of political ties to local leaders or “subordinate elites” — from Malay sultans and Indian maharajas to Gulf sheiks and West African tribal chiefs. As historian Ronald Robinson once observed, the British Empire spread around the globe for two centuries through the collaboration of these local leaders and then unraveled, in just two decades, when that collaboration turned to “non-cooperation.” After rapid decolonization during the 1960s transformed half-a-dozen European empires into 100 new nations, their national leaders soon found themselves the subordinate elites of a spreading American global imperium. Washington suddenly needed the sort of private information that could keep such figures in line.</p>
<p>Surveillance of foreign leaders provides world powers — Britain then, America now — with critical information for the exercise of global hegemony. Such spying gave special penetrating power to the imperial gaze, to that sense of superiority necessary for dominion over others.&#160; It also provided operational information on dissidents who might need to be countered with covert action or military force; political and economic intelligence so useful for getting the jump on allies in negotiations of all sorts; and, perhaps most important of all, scurrilous information about the derelictions of leaders useful in coercing their compliance.</p>
<p>In late 2013, the New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/21/world/nsa-dragnet-included-allies-aid-groups-and-business-elite.html" type="external">reported</a> that, when it came to spying on global elites, there were “more than 1,000 targets of American and British surveillance in recent years,” reaching down to mid-level political actors in the international arena. Revelations from Edward Snowden’s cache of leaked documents indicate that the NSA has <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/24/nsa-surveillance-world-leaders-calls" type="external">monitored</a> leaders in some 35 nations worldwide — including Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, Mexican presidents Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Indonesia’s president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.&#160; Count in as well, among so many other operations, the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/world/europe/united-states-disputes-reports-of-wiretapping-in-Europe.html" type="external">monitoring</a> of “French diplomatic interests” during the June 2010 U.N. vote on Iran sanctions and “ <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/29/world/americas/ire-in-canada-over-report-nsa-spied-from-ottawa.html" type="external">widespread surveillance</a>” of world leaders during the Group 20 summit meeting at Ottawa in June 2010. Apparently, only members of the historic “Five Eyes” signals-intelligence alliance (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Great Britain) remain exempt — at least theoretically — from NSA surveillance.</p>
<p>Such secret intelligence about allies can obviously give Washington a significant diplomatic advantage. During U.N. wrangling over the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2002-2003, for example, the NSA <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/10/28/hi-tech-fun-and-games-with-the-nsa/" type="external">intercepted</a> Secretary-General Kofi Anan’s conversations and monitored the “Middle Six” — Third World nations on the Security Council — offering what were, in essence, well-timed bribes to win votes. The NSA’s deputy chief for regional targets sent a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/02/iraq.unitednations1" type="external">memo</a> to the agency’s Five Eyes allies asking “for insights as to how membership is reacting to on-going debate regarding Iraq, plans to vote on any related resolutions […, and] the whole gamut of information that could give U.S. policymakers an edge in obtaining results favorable to U.S. goals.”</p>
<p>Indicating Washington’s need for incriminating information in bilateral negotiations, the State Department pressed its Bahrain embassy in 2009 for details, damaging in an Islamic society, on the crown princes, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wikileaks-files/8331622/SNF-BAHRAIN-EMERGENT-PRINCES-NASIR-AND-KHALID.html" type="external">asking</a>: “Is there any derogatory information on either prince? Does either prince drink alcohol? Does either one use drugs?”</p>
<p>Indeed, in October 2012, an NSA official identified as “DIRNSA,” or Director General Keith Alexander, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/26/nsa-porn-muslims_n_4346128.html" type="external">proposed</a> the following for countering Muslim radicals: “[Their] vulnerabilities, if exposed, would likely call into question a radicalizer’s devotion to the jihadist cause, leading to the degradation or loss of his authority.” The agency suggested that such vulnerabilities could include “viewing sexually explicit material online” or “using a portion of the donations they are receiving… to defray personal expenses.” The NSA document identified one potential target as a “respected academic” whose “vulnerabilities” are “online promiscuity.”</p>
<p>Just as the Internet has centralized communications, so it has moved most commercial sex into cyberspace. With an <a href="http://www.alternet.org/sex-amp-relationships/success-killing-porn-industry" type="external">estimated 25 million</a> salacious sites worldwide and a combined 10.6 billion page views per month in 2013 at the five top sex sites, online pornography has become a global business; by 2006, in fact, it generated <a href="http://www.toptenreviews.com/3-12-07.html" type="external">$97 billion</a> in revenue. With countless Internet viewers visiting porn sites and almost nobody admitting it, the NSA has easy access to the embarrassing habits of targets worldwide, whether Muslim militants or European leaders.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/26/nsa-porn-muslims_n_4346128.html" type="external">According to</a> James Bamford, author of two authoritative books on the agency, “The NSA’s operation is eerily similar to the FBI’s operations under J. Edgar Hoover in the 1960s where the bureau used wiretapping to discover vulnerabilities, such as sexual activity, to ‘neutralize’ their targets.”</p>
<p>The ACLU’s Jameel Jaffer has <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/26/nsa-porn-muslims_n_4346128.html" type="external">warned</a> that a president might “ask the NSA to use the fruits of surveillance to discredit a political opponent, journalist, or human rights activist. The NSA has used its power that way in the past and it would be naïve to think it couldn’t use its power that way in the future.” Even President Obama’s recently convened executive review of the NSA <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2013-12-12_rg_final_report.pdf" type="external">admitted</a>: “[I]n light of the lessons of our own history… at some point in the future, high-level government officials will decide that this massive database of extraordinarily sensitive private information is there for the plucking.”</p>
<p>Indeed, whistleblower Edward Snowden has accused the NSA of actually conducting such surveillance.&#160; In a December 2013 letter to the Brazilian people, he <a href="http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/world/2013/12/1386296-an-open-letter-to-the-people-of-brazil.shtml" type="external">wrote</a>, “They even keep track of who is having an affair or looking at pornography, in case they need to damage their target’s reputation.” If Snowden is right, then one key goal of NSA surveillance of world leaders is not U.S. national security but political blackmail — as it has been since 1898.</p>
<p>Such digital surveillance has tremendous potential for scandal, as anyone who remembers New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s forced resignation in 2008 after <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/10/spitzer-as-client-9-read-_n_90787.html" type="external">routine phone taps</a> revealed his use of escort services; or, to take another obvious example, the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/02/jerome-cahuzac-france-offshore-account" type="external">ouster</a> of France’s budget minister Jérôme Cahuzac in 2013 following wire taps that exposed his secret Swiss bank account. As always, the source of political scandal remains sex or money, both of which the NSA can track with remarkable ease.</p>
<p>Given the acute sensitivity of executive communications, world leaders have reacted sharply to reports of NSA surveillance — with Chancellor Merkel <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/world/europe/surveillance-revelations-shake-us-german-ties.html" type="external">demanding</a> Five-Eyes-exempt status for Germany, the European Parliament <a href="http://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/video/shotlist/arrival-and-doorstep-ep-president-schulz4" type="external">voting</a> to curtail the sharing of bank data with Washington, and Brazil’s President Rousseff canceling a U.S. state visit and <a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2013/11/29/brazil-will-have-its-own-national-made-secure-communications-satellite-by-2016" type="external">contracting</a> a $560 million satellite communications system to free her country from the U.S.-controlled version of the Internet.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;</p>
<p>The Future of U.S. Global Power</p>
<p>By starting a swelling river of NSA documents flowing into public view, Edward Snowden has given us a glimpse of the changing architecture of U.S. global power. At the broadest level, Obama’s digital “pivot” complements his overall <a href="http://www.defense.gov/news/defense_strategic_guidance.pdf" type="external">defense strategy</a>, announced in 2012, of reducing conventional forces while expanding into the new, cost-effective domains of space and cyberspace.</p>
<p>While cutting back modestly on costly armaments and the size of the military, President Obama has invested billions in the building of a new architecture for global information control. If we add the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175655/" type="external">$791 billion</a> expended to build the Department of Homeland Security bureaucracy to the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/us/politics/leaked-document-outlines-us-spending-on-intelligence.html" type="external">$500 billion</a> spent on an increasingly para-militarized version of global intelligence in the dozen years since 9/11, then Washington has made a $1.2 trillion investment in a new apparatus of world power.</p>
<p>So formidable is this security bureaucracy that Obama’s recent executive review recommended the regularization, not reform, of current NSA practices, allowing the agency to continue collecting American phone calls and monitoring foreign leaders into the foreseeable future. Cyberspace offers Washington an austerity-linked arena for the exercise of global power, albeit at the cost of trust by its closest allies — a contradiction that will bedevil America’s global leadership for years to come.</p>
<p>To update Henry Stimson: in the age of the Internet, gentlemen don’t just read each other’s mail, they watch each other’s porn. Even if we think we have nothing to hide, all of us, whether world leaders or ordinary citizens, have good reason to be concerned.</p>
<p>Alfred McCoy is the J.R.W. Smail Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175724/" type="external">TomDispatch regular</a>, he is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0299234142/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Policing America’s Empire: The United States, the Philippines, and the Rise of the Surveillance State</a>, which is the source for much of the material in this essay.</p>
<p>Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/tomdispatch" type="external">Facebook</a> or <a href="http://tomdispatch.tumblr.com/" type="external">Tumblr</a>. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, Ann Jones’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463710/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">They Were Soldiers: How the Wounded Return From America’s Wars — The Untold Story</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 2014 Alfred W. McCoy</p> | Surveillance and Scandal | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/surveillance-and-scandal/ | 2014-01-20 | 4 |
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<p>GALLUP - The Navajo Nation's only nursing home, which caters to nearly 80 elderly patients, is at risk of being shut down as the facility faces a hefty fine over safety code violations.</p>
<p>The Gallup Independent reports ( <a href="http://bit.ly/1MtJGQU" type="external">http://bit.ly/1MtJGQU</a> ) that Chinle Nursing Home CEO, Wayne Claw, says they owe nearly $200,000 because the aged building doesn't meet the Native American Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services requirements. The nursing home may lose its license, which Claw says could force elderly patients to relocate off the Navajo Nation.</p>
<p>Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye in a statement said there are plans to build a new nursing home that could serve 120 Navajo elders and could cost about $29 million.</p>
<p>But Claw hopes something is done soon, as the nursing home may close sooner than the 2016 projection.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Gallup Independent, <a href="http://www.gallupindependent.com" type="external">http://www.gallupindependent.com</a></p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Navajo nursing home faces closure | false | https://abqjournal.com/619954/navajo-nursing-home-faces-closure.html | 2 |
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<p>NEW YORK—The latest on a vehicle driving onto a bike path near the World Trade Center site and memorial (all times local):</p>
<p>12:15 a.m. Wednesday</p>
<p>Uber has confirmed that the man suspected of driving a vehicle down a bike path near the World Trade Center site, killing eight people, was one of its drivers.</p>
<p>The ride-hailing service released a statement Tuesday night saying 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov passed a background check to become an Uber driver. Saipov has now been banned from the Uber app.</p>
<p />
<p>The company says it has reached out to law enforcement to provide its full assistance and is “aggressively and quickly reviewing” the suspect’s history with Uber.</p>
<p>Uber says it is “horrified by this senseless act of violence.”</p>
<p>A U.S. official familiar with the investigation into what happened says Saipov is from Uzbekistan and came to the U.S. in 2010.</p>
<p>—Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Sadie Gurman and Michael Balsamo contributed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>10:30 p.m. Tuesday</p>
<p>Argentina’s Foreign Ministry says five of the nation’s citizens were among the eight people killed in the truck attack on a New York City bike path.</p>
<p>And the deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister of Belgium says in a tweet one of the dead was Belgian.</p>
<p>A man in a rented pickup truck mowed down pedestrians and cyclists along a busy bike path near the World Trade Center memorial on Tuesday, killing at least eight and seriously injuring 11 in what the mayor called “a particularly cowardly act of terror”.</p>
<p>Belgians and Argentines also are among the 11 wounded in Tuesday’s attack.</p>
<p>Argentina’s Foreign Ministry says the Argentine victims were in a group of friends who traveled to New York from Rosario. It says they were celebrating the 30th anniversary of graduating from Polytechnic College of Rosario.</p>
<p>The ministry says it stands “with the families in this terrible moment of deep pain, which is shared by all Argentines.”</p>
<p>Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie says he’s “shocked by the events in New York.”</p>
<p>Police say they shot and wounded the attacker and took him into custody.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>10:15 p.m.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump says he has ordered the Department of Homeland Security “to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program” following the deadly truck rampage on a New York City bike path.</p>
<p>A man in a rented pickup truck mowed down pedestrians and cyclists along a busy bike path near the World Trade Center on Tuesday, killing at least eight people.</p>
<p>Officials not authorized to discuss the investigation say the attacker is from Uzbekistan and came to the U.S. legally in 2010.</p>
<p>Trump’s extreme-vetting policy on immigrants entails more stringent investigative measures intended to identify those who may sympathize with extremists or pose a national security risk to the United States.</p>
<p>Trump tweets, “Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>9:50 p.m.</p>
<p>Two law enforcement officials say a note was recovered inside the truck that barreled down a bike path near the World Trade Center, killing eight people.</p>
<p>One official says the note was hand-written in a foreign language, possibly Arabic. The contents are being investigated, but the officials say the document supported the belief the act was terrorism.</p>
<p>The officials weren’t authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>Police say the truck’s driver turned onto the bike path Tuesday afternoon, striking several people before plowing into a school bus. Officials say he got out of the truck waving a pellet gun and a paint gun and was shot by a police officer. He’s in critical condition after surgery.</p>
<p>—Associated Press Writers Tom Hays and Colleen Long contributed to this item.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>9:25 p.m.</p>
<p>Police investigating a rented Home Depot truck’s deadly rampage down a bike path near New York’s World Trade Center have surrounded a white Toyota minivan with Florida plates parked in a New Jersey Home Depot lot.</p>
<p>The van is parked near the company’s rental trucks. Officials tell The Associated Press the man suspected of killing eight people and injuring 11 more on the bike path rented a truck from a Home Depot in New Jersey about an hour before Tuesday’s attack.</p>
<p>The man was shot by a police officer and is in custody in critical condition.</p>
<p>The Passaic Home Depot remains open. The minivan is cordoned off.</p>
<p>Home Depot spokesman Matthew Harrigan says the company is “fully cooperating” with law enforcement. He says the company requires a driver’s license, insurance information and a credit card deposit to rent a truck.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>8:25 p.m.</p>
<p>New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has increased security at airports, bridges, tunnels and mass transit systems around the state following a vehicle attack on a bike path near the World Trade Center.</p>
<p>The Democratic governor has directed the lights on the spire of 1 World Trade Center be lit in red, white and blue in honor of freedom and democracy. He says additional security personnel are being deployed to high-density areas and large public gatherings.</p>
<p>Eight people were killed and 11 were injured when a man drove a rented truck down a bike path Tuesday afternoon. Police say they shot and wounded the attacker but he’s expected to survive.</p>
<p>A U.S. official familiar with the investigation into what happened says the man is from Uzbekistan and came to the U.S. in 2010. Another official says the man has a Florida license but may have been staying in New Jersey.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>8:10 p.m.</p>
<p>The head of the New York City schools system says two staff members and two students were injured in a school bus that was struck by a motorist who drove a rented truck onto a bike path, killing eight people.</p>
<p>Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina says trauma counselors will be provided in the schools Wednesday.</p>
<p>The attack happened Tuesday near the World Trade Center and several schools and is being called by city officials an “act of terror.” It set off panic in the lower Manhattan neighborhood, with people screaming in fear and the bike path left strewn with mangled bicycles and bodies.</p>
<p>Police say they shot and wounded the attacker and took him into custody.</p>
<p>A U.S. official familiar with the investigation into what happened says the man is from Uzbekistan and came to the U.S. in 2010.</p>
<p>—Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Sadie Gurman and Michael Balsamo contributed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>7:25 p.m.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump is vowing his administration’s “full support” to New York City’s police department in the wake of what he’s calling a “cowardly” terrorist attack.</p>
<p>A man in a rented pickup truck mowed down pedestrians and cyclists along a busy bike path near the World Trade Center Tuesday, killing at least eight.</p>
<p>Trump says in a statement that, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of today’s terrorist attack in New York City and their families.”</p>
<p>Trump is also expressing thanks to the first responders “who stopped the suspect and rendered immediate aid to the victims of this cowardly attack.” He says, “These brave men and women embody the true American spirit of resilience and courage.”</p>
<p>Trump’s statement comes after a series of tweets in which he declared “Enough!” and suggested the Islamic State group might be involved.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>7:20 p.m.</p>
<p>Boston police say there’s no threat to their city after a vehicle attack on a bike path near New York’s World Trade Center site and memorial left at least eight people dead and 11 others injured.</p>
<p>Authorities say a man in a rented pickup truck mowed down pedestrians and bicyclists along the busy bike path Tuesday. New York’s mayor calls the attack “a particularly cowardly act of terror.” The driver was shot by police and taken into custody.</p>
<p>Boston police say there’s “no known threat to the Boston area.”</p>
<p>The police department is reminding officers to be “extra vigilant” during their Tuesday evening patrols, paying particular attention to areas that tend to attract large crowds.</p>
<p>A state police spokesman tells The Boston Globe police have no plans to step up security measures.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>7:10 p.m.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump is railing against the Islamic State group after a man drove a rented truck onto a bike path in New York City, killing eight people.</p>
<p>Trump says in a tweet, “We must not allow ISIS to return, or enter, our country after defeating them in the Middle East and elsewhere.”</p>
<p>He’s declaring, “Enough!”</p>
<p>New York City’s mayor has labeled the Tuesday attack in Lower Manhattan a cowardly “act of terror.” But local officials have made no mention publicly of the Islamic State group’s possible involvement.</p>
<p>A law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity said witnesses told police the attacker yelled, “Allahu akbar!” as he got out of the truck.</p>
<p>Trump is also offering “thoughts, condolences and prayers” to the victims and their families, saying, “God and your country are with you!”</p>
<p>—Associated Press writer Colleen Long in New York contributed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>6:55 p.m.</p>
<p>Two law enforcement officials have identified a man suspected of driving a rented truck down a bike path near the World Trade Center, killing eight people.</p>
<p>The officials have knowledge of the probe and have identified the suspect as 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov. The officials aren’t authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>The suspect has a Florida license but may have been living in New Jersey. He was shot by police. He’s hospitalized and can’t be reached for comment while in custody. He is in surgery and is expected to survive.</p>
<p>Police say the attack is being investigated as an act of terror.</p>
<p>A U.S. official briefed on the investigation also confirms the man’s name.</p>
<p>—Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Sadie Gurman and Michael Balsamo contributed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>6 p.m.</p>
<p>A law enforcement official says that witnesses told police that the man who drove a rented truck onto a bike path in New York City, killing eight people, shouted “allahu akbar.”</p>
<p>The official was familiar with the investigation but wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>Police Commissioner James O’Neill was asked at a news conference whether the suspect shouted the phrase, which means “God is great” in Arabic, or something like it. O’Neill replied: “Yeah. He did make a statement when he exited the vehicle,” though he declined to elaborate.</p>
<p>O’Neill says the method of attack and the suspect’s statement enabled officials “to label this a terrorist event.”</p>
<p>He says the 29-year-old man entered the bike path and drove south, hitting pedestrians and cyclists. He then hit a school bus, injuring at least two adults.</p>
<p>He says the man exited the vehicle brandishing a paintball gun and a pellet gun. He was then shot in the abdomen by a police officer and is now hospitalized.</p>
<p>—Associated Press writer Colleen Long in New York contributed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>5:45 p.m.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump is declaring “NOT IN THE U.S.A.” after a man in a rented truck plowed into a busy bike path near the World Trade Center, killing at least eight people.</p>
<p>New York’s mayor has labeled the attack a “cowardly act of terror.”</p>
<p>Trump says in a tweet, “In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person.” He says law enforcement “is following” the attack closely and adds, “NOT IN THE U.S.A.!”</p>
<p>The driver jumped out of the truck Tuesday with a fake gun in each hand and was shot by police. He’s hospitalized.</p>
<p>Vice President Mike Pence says those responsible for the attack “must be held accountable.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>5:25 p.m.</p>
<p>New York City’s mayor says a truck attack in lower Manhattan killed eight people and was a “cowardly” act of terror.</p>
<p>Mayor Bill de Blasio says the attack on a bike path near the World Trade Center “was an act of terror, and a particularly cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians.”</p>
<p>New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called it a “lone wolf” attack. He says there’s no evidence to suggest it was part of a wider plot.</p>
<p>Witnesses described a chaotic scene of a white pickup truck hitting bicyclists on a path near the World Trade Center and then slamming into a school bus. They say the driver got out of his vehicle brandishing what appeared to be a gun in each hand.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>5:15 p.m.</p>
<p>Witnesses have described a chaotic scene of a white pickup truck hitting bicyclists on a path near the World Trade Center and then slamming into a school bus. They say the driver got out of his vehicle brandishing what appeared to be a gun in each hand.</p>
<p>Manhattan restaurant chef Eugene Duffy was crossing a street when he heard something, turned back and saw the pickup truck on the bike path. He says he saw the bodies of two men on the ground, their bikes mangled.</p>
<p>He says he ran south and saw a yellow half-size school bus that appeared to have been T-boned and firefighters trying to get children out.</p>
<p>A law enforcement official says at least six people were killed and at least nine people were injured when a rented van struck them. The case is being investigated as possible terrorism.</p>
<p>—Associated Press writer Colleen Long in New York contributed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>4:45 p.m.</p>
<p>The White House says President Donald Trump has been briefed on the vehicle that drove onto a bike path near the World Trade Center and struck several people.</p>
<p>White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the president and New York native has been briefed by White House chief of staff John Kelly and “will be continually updated as more details are known.”</p>
<p>Sanders says, “Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected.”</p>
<p>A law enforcement official says at least six people were killed and at least nine people were injured when a rented van struck them on Tuesday.</p>
<p>—Associated Press writer Colleen Long in New York contributed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>4:35 p.m.</p>
<p>A law enforcement official says at least six people were killed and nine injured when a rented van drove on a bike path near the World Trade Center in New York City.</p>
<p>The official was familiar with the investigation but wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>The driver of the rented Home Depot van emerged from the vehicle screaming. The official says the man had two imitation firearms.</p>
<p>Police say the man was shot by officers and is in custody.</p>
<p>The official says it is being investigated as a possible case of terrorism.</p>
<p>—Associated Press writer Colleen Long in New York contributed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>4:25 p.m.</p>
<p>New York City police say there are “several fatalities and numerous people injured” after a motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path and struck several people, then emerged from the vehicle screaming and firing something that appeared to be a gun.</p>
<p>The department writes on Twitter that the suspect got out of the vehicle displaying imitation firearms and was shot by police officers. Police say the person is in custody.</p>
<p>A man who was riding in an Uber along the West Side Highway near the World Trade Center says he saw several bleeding people on the ground after a truck struck several people.</p>
<p>A witness said the truck had also collided with a small bus and one other vehicle.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>4 p.m.</p>
<p>Police and witnesses say a motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and struck several people, then emerged from the vehicle screaming and firing something that appeared to be a gun.</p>
<p>An Associated Press photographer on the scene Tuesday witnessed at least two bodies lying motionless on the path beneath tarps.</p>
<p>The New York Police Department posted on its Twitter feed that one person was in custody. The department says it’s unclear whether anyone was shot.</p>
<p>A man who was riding in an Uber along the West Side Highway near Chambers street says he saw several bleeding people on the ground after a truck struck several people.</p>
<p>A witness said the truck had also collided with a small bus and one other vehicle.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>3:50 p.m.</p>
<p>Police are responding to a report of gunfire a few blocks from the World Trade Center site and memorial, and witnesses say a vehicle drove down a popular bike path and struck pedestrians and cyclists.</p>
<p>The New York Police Department posted on its Twitter feed that one person was in custody Tuesday.</p>
<p>An Associated Press photographer on the scene saw at least one person lying motionless on the Manhattan bike path.</p>
<p>A large number of police vehicles could be seen near a community college and a high school and a few blocks north of the National Sept. 11 Memorial.</p>
<p>It’s unclear how many people have been injured or whether anyone was killed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>3:35 p.m.</p>
<p>Police are responding to a report of gunfire a few blocks from the World Trade Center site and memorial.</p>
<p>The New York Police Department posted on its Twitter feed that one person was in custody Tuesday.</p>
<p>A large number of police vehicles could be seen in Manhattan near West Street and Chambers Street, which is near a community college and a high school and a few blocks north of the National Sept. 11 Memorial.</p>
<p>It’s unclear if anyone was injured.</p> | Eight Dead in New York City Truck Attack | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/motorist-hits-people-bike-path-near-world-trade-center/ | 2017-10-31 | 4 |
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<p />
<p>A judge in Montgomery County last week refused to order five convicted sex offenders into the new program, the Houston Chronicle ( <a href="http://bit.ly/1Fb2gfM" type="external">http://bit.ly/1Fb2gfM</a> ) reported - a decision that, if not overturned, may mean Texas will have to offer two separate treatment programs.</p>
<p>"They have created problems that no other system has had to deal with," said Melissa Hamilton, a visiting scholar at the University of Houston Law Center. "They are in uncharted territory, legally and ethically."</p>
<p>Texas is one of 20 states with laws that keep repeat sex offenders who are likely to reoffend under supervision for treatment after their prison terms are complete. Courts have ruled that such programs are legal only if offenders are able to graduate from treatment and eventually reintegrate into society.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Legislature overhauled Texas' civil commitment program this year in the wake of a series of stories by the newspaper, which revealed questions about its constitutionality, including the fact that none of the more than 350 men in the program had been released in its 16-year history. Nearly half had been sent back to prison for violating program rules and the rest have been kept in halfway houses, jails, a boarding house and at least one in a state-supported living center.</p>
<p>There are also seven federal lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the civil commitment program pending.</p>
<p>Attorneys say those lawsuits have prompted some in Texas' old program to question or refuse to sign the waivers to voluntarily transfer into the new program, fearing doing so may invalidate their pending suits or limit their rights. Eighty-five of the men signed the waivers, but 97 others did not. The result was a stream of hearings in the Montgomery County courtroom where the men originally were ordered into the civil commitment program. Most were ordered into the new program.</p>
<p>Under the new program, offenders receive initial treatment in a confined facility, and then are given more freedom to work and shop in the outside world. Upon graduation, the men would be allowed to live in a community under supervision.</p>
<p>The new program is headquartered at a repurposed private prison in the remote West Texas town of Littlefield. Since Sept. 1, the state has moved 174 offenders there from halfway houses around the state, officials said.</p>
<p>Prosecutors insist the state can change the conditions of civil commitment at any time, though an attorney who represents some of the men challenging the transfers argues that nothing requires his clients to participate in the new program.</p>
<p>State Sen. John Whitmire, a Democrat from Houston who was the architect of the law reforming the civil commitment program, said he thinks an opinion from the Texas attorney general may be needed to resolve the issues.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Houston Chronicle, <a href="http://www.houstonchronicle.com" type="external">http://www.houstonchronicle.com</a></p> | Legal questions raised for Texas' new sex offender program | false | https://abqjournal.com/647471/legal-questions-raised-for-texas-new-sex-offender-program.html | 2015-09-21 | 2 |
<p>U.S. government bonds stalled Tuesday as a dearth of data on the economic calendar shifted investors' attention to developments in Washington.</p>
<p>The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was recently at 2.320%, according to Tradeweb, compared with 2.318% Monday. Yields rise as bond prices fall.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Bond prices have generally risen in recent days to recoup some of their losses from October, something some analysts have attributed to relief among investors over a number of developments that were expected to potentially jolt the markets.</p>
<p>Among them: President Donald Trump nominated Federal Reserve Board Governor Jerome Powell to be the next Fed chairman, easing some investors' fears that Mr. Trump would choose a candidate likely to favor a more aggressive pace of interest-rate increases. And Republicans have run into conflict over a deficit-expanding tax bill, raising the possibility that lawmakers will have to scale back their plans to pass the overhaul by year's end.</p>
<p>The initial rollout of the bill had pressured bonds, sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury note to its biggest one-day gain since March.</p>
<p>With few economic reports scheduled for release this week, analysts say investors' attention is likely to stay homed in on Washington, where the House Ways and Means Committee is in the process of debating the tax plan.</p>
<p>"The fact that the Treasury market remains rangebound with 10-year yields flirting with 2.30% speaks to the relevance of the debate in Washington at this particular moment," said Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets, in a note Tuesday.</p>
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<p>Later Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department will hold auctions for the 4-week bill, 52-week bill and 3-year note. Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen is also expected to deliver a speech in Washington.</p>
<p>Write to Akane Otani at [email protected]</p>
<p>U.S. government bonds inched higher Tuesday as a dearth of data on the economic calendar shifted investors' attention to developments in Washington.</p>
<p>The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note settled at 2.309% -- the lowest closing level since Oct. 17 -- compared with 2.318% Monday. Yields fall as bond prices rise.</p>
<p>Bond prices have risen for four consecutive days to recoup some of their losses from October, something some analysts have attributed to relief among investors over a number of developments that were expected to potentially jolt the markets.</p>
<p>Among them: President Donald Trump nominated Federal Reserve Board Governor Jerome Powell to be the next Fed chairman, easing some investors' fears that Mr. Trump would choose a candidate likely to favor a more aggressive pace of interest-rate increases. And Republicans have run into conflict over a tax bill, raising the possibility that lawmakers will have to scale back their plans to pass the overhaul by year's end.</p>
<p>The initial rollout of the bill had pressured bonds, sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury note to its biggest one-day gain since March. A bill that expands the deficit could prompt more bond issuance, weighing on the prices of existing debt.</p>
<p>With few economic reports scheduled for release this week, analysts say investors' attention is likely to stay homed in on Washington, where the House Ways and Means Committee is in the process of debating the tax plan.</p>
<p>"No one is really confident what kind of tax package we're going to get, " said Joe Tanious, senior investment strategist at Bessemer Trust, who added that the proposal is likely to change several times before being signed into law.</p>
<p>A steep cut to the corporate tax rate could send stocks and bond yields higher by spurring inflation, a key threat to government bonds. Still, Mr. Tanious said, foreign demand for Treasurys -- which have generally carried higher yields than their counterparts in other developed markets -- would likely limit any resulting selloff in bonds.</p>
<p>"When you look around the world, the yield on the Treasury doesn't seem bad, and that's helping keep a lid on interest rates moving too high," Mr. Tanious said.</p>
<p>Write to Akane Otani at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>November 07, 2017 16:05 ET (21:05 GMT)</p> | U.S. Government Bonds Tread Water Ahead of Auctions | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/11/07/u-s-government-bonds-tread-water-ahead-auctions.html | 2017-11-07 | 0 |
<p>Is there ever anyone luckier than Judy Miller!</p>
<p>All last year she was pilloried as the prime saleslady for the imaginary WMDs that offered the prime pretext for the invasion of Iraq. Although it refused to denounce her by name, the New York Times publicly castigated itself for poor reporting, and Miller’s career seemed to be at an end, except for the occasional excursion to CNN studios for tete-a-tetes with Larry King.</p>
<p>But then came a glimmer of hope. With unexpected zeal, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was pressing his investigation of who exactly outed Valerie Plame as a CIA officer. Plame, (as the world knows, is the wife of Joe Wilson, who had incurred the displeasure of the Bush White House by discrediting the phony Nigerian yellowcake story, part of their vast propaganda operation to sell the Iraq attack to Congress and the American people.</p>
<p>Fitzgerald was threatening journalists with prison time unless they disclosed their sources. It wasn’t long before some journalists informed the zealous Fitzgerald that they had been released from confidentiality by their sources. Indeed, Scooter Libby, Cheney’s chief of staff, declared publicly that any journalist who had talked to him was free to discuss such conversations with Fitzgerald. The Washington Post’s Walter Pincus and Glenn Kessler testified forthwith before the federal grand jury, as did Tim Russert of NBC. The general assumption is that Robert Novak, who’d outed Plame in his column in July 2003, was subpoenaed by Fitzgerald and duly testified.</p>
<p>How Miller’s heart must have leaped. Here was the glorious prospect of her instant conversion from pariah, only one rung up from Jayson Blair, to martyr to free speech, only one rung below John Peter Zenger. She and Matt Cooper of Time magazine declined to testify or furnish their notes. Encumbered by the counsel of that perennial incompetent, Floyd Abrams (representing the NYT), their cases commenced their climb up through the federal courts, until the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the ruling of the federal appeals court in favor of Fitzgerald.</p>
<p>Time magazine roared its dedication to free speech, while simultaneously declaring it had to obey the law of the land. Against Cooper’s proclaimed wishes, Time handed over Cooper’s notes to Fitzgerald. The New York Times said it would not comply.</p>
<p>But Fitzgerald was not appeased by Time’s ductility. He said he was not to be appeased by only Cooper’s notes. By now he wanted to grill the two journalists on the stand. The issue was not just the matter of the identity of the White House source, but the handy standby of all federal prosecutors, the matter of perjury. Ask Martha Stewart. It was her misleading declarations to federal investigators that put her in prison.</p>
<p>Cooper bid a manly adieu to his family, packed his toothbrush, and made himself ready for incarceration at least as far as October, when the grand jury’s term expires. Then came the dramatic release from confidentiality by Cooper’s source. Cooper went off to court, embraced Judy Miller in a fine display of solidarity, and then told the judge he would comply with Fitzgerald’s subpoena.</p>
<p>Miller, of course, was publicly adamant. But there seems to be no reason why she should not have echoed Cooper’s statement to Judge Thomas Hogan. Fitzgerald has publicly declared that not only does he know the identity of Miller’s source, but also that this source has released Miller from confidentiality.</p>
<p>But Miller was not be balked of the martyrdom that will blot out her fake stories on Iraq’s WMDs and convert her into the heroine of the Fourth Estate, with lucrative lecture fees and book sales for the rest of the decade. Never, she told the judge, would she reveal the Name that could not be named. The gates of the federal prison in Alexandria invitingly beckoned.</p>
<p>There are curious questions hanging over Miller’s determined march towards her prison cell, not far from that of Moussaoui, who is probably offering her free legal advice on the prison grapevine.</p>
<p>Miller never actually wrote a story in the New York Times about Plame being in the CIA. So why has Fitzgerald been so eager to have her testify? The answer may lie in a paragraph buried in the Washington Post, reading as follows: “Sources close to the investigation say there is evidence in some instances that some reporters may have told government officials ­ not the other way around ­ that Wilson was married to Plame, a CIA employee.”</p>
<p>We could conjecture that when Fitzgerald interviewed White House political adviser Karl Rove and Cheney’s chief of staff, Scooter Libby, one or other or both had said that they learned Plame was married to Wilson and in the CIA from Miller, who ­ again this is surmise ­ might well have learned this from one of her other sources, whether Perle or Chalabi or someone else in the intelligence world.</p>
<p>After all, this is Miller’s style of reporting. Learn something (entirely false in the case of the WMDs) from one source, then bounce it off another, and then put together a story citing two sources. In the case of the WMDs, Chalabi would give her a “defector” who would duly impart his fantasies about Saddam’s arsenal. She would relay the defector’s story to “a high intelligence source” who would confirm it.</p>
<p>We applaud prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s gallant bid to do what now departed Times ombudsman Daniel Okrent should have done: grill Miller about the techniques and veracity of her reporting. Here, after all, is a journalist with blood on her hands, a fabricator who played a major role (rivaled perhaps only by the New Yorker’s Jeffrey Goldberg) in selling a war with one fabrication after another, eagerly offered to the public by the New York Times.</p>
<p>But alas, all hopes that her career would expire in ignominy have now been dashed. As swift as the moves to canonize John Paul II, the vestments of sainthood are being draped over St. Judy. If her past career is anything to go by, already the prison guards are melting before her winsome smiles and confiding the little secrets and disclosures that will soon being their careers to end and their families to the brink of starvation. It would require the pen of Henry Fielding to do her proper justice.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The Luckiest Martyr | true | https://counterpunch.org/2005/07/07/the-luckiest-martyr/ | 2005-07-07 | 4 |
<p>An oil-rich American Indian tribe has been handed a setback it its fight against a Texas company building oil and natural gas pipelines beneath a lake on its reservation.</p>
<p>The Three Affiliated Tribes ordered the project halted last month, saying Paradigm Energy Partners made no assurances that water supplies wouldn't be harmed. A federal judge temporarily allowed construction to continue.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>On Thursday, the judge again refused to stop construction. He's expected to rule within the next two weeks on whether the company should've gotten tribal permission.</p>
<p>The company says it has federal permission to build under Lake Sakakawea, the largest of six Missouri River reservoirs.</p>
<p>Similar water-quality concerns are being cited to fight the Dakota Access pipeline, which would span four states and cross near another North Dakota reservation.</p> | Judge won't immediately stop pipeline construction | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/09/01/judge-wont-immediately-stop-pipeline-construction.html | 2016-09-01 | 0 |
<p>FIFA has intensified the investigation into doping in Russian soccer, disclosing on Monday it has finally sought details from the chemist who exposed the scale of state-sponsored cheating across sports.</p>
<p>The Associated Press reported last month that Grigory Rodchenkov, the former Moscow and Sochi lab director, was still awaiting contact from FIFA to pursue intelligence on how soccer was tainted by the doping conspiracy.</p>
<p>Evidence and cooperation from Rodchenkov led to 34 suspicious soccer cases being identified in a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation by Richard McLaren, including players from Russia’s World Cup squad in 2014.</p>
<p>FIFA also has access to additional evidence from a database from Rodchenkov’s laboratory that could help to prosecute doping cases in football in the country hosting the World Cup in June.</p>
<p>“After conducting an initial review of the new data from the Moscow laboratory provided recently by WADA, FIFA has now submitted a list of specific questions to the WADA designated lawyer for him to forward them to Dr. Rodchenkov,” world soccer’s governing body said in a statement to the AP.</p>
<p>McLaren has already provided “information concerning football given to him by Dr. Rodchenkov,” FIFA added.</p>
<p>Rodchenkov’s New York-based lawyer, Jim Walden, recently told the AP that the Laboratory Information Management System data for the Russia lab has “thousands and thousands and thousands of files in a secret portion of the server that show the disappearing positives which also benefited Russian soccer players.”</p>
<p>Although Rodchenkov oversaw the destruction of about 8,000 doping controls in 2014 when the scheme was exposed, WADA managed to retrieve 3,000 samples, including 154 from soccer players. Those samples are yet to be subject to forensic analysis to detect manipulation of the samples, including scratch marks which could prove that bottles were forced open and tainted urine swapped out.</p>
<p>“FIFA has requested that a forensic analysis be conducted on a concrete number of samples (selected following the criteria set by WADA) and asked to be given priority,” FIFA said. “WADA informed FIFA that the order of priority will be made by the designated expert team. We haven’t heard from the expert team yet.”</p>
<p>FIFA denied reports that it is looking to appoint an investigator to look into Russian doping but said its anti-doping unit is being supported by external experts. Rodchenkov is now living in the United States.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Rob Harris is at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/RobHarris" type="external">www.twitter.com/RobHarris</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports" type="external">www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports</a></p>
<p>More AP coverage of FIFA: <a href="" type="internal">www.apnews.com/tag/FIFA</a></p>
<p>FIFA has intensified the investigation into doping in Russian soccer, disclosing on Monday it has finally sought details from the chemist who exposed the scale of state-sponsored cheating across sports.</p>
<p>The Associated Press reported last month that Grigory Rodchenkov, the former Moscow and Sochi lab director, was still awaiting contact from FIFA to pursue intelligence on how soccer was tainted by the doping conspiracy.</p>
<p>Evidence and cooperation from Rodchenkov led to 34 suspicious soccer cases being identified in a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation by Richard McLaren, including players from Russia’s World Cup squad in 2014.</p>
<p>FIFA also has access to additional evidence from a database from Rodchenkov’s laboratory that could help to prosecute doping cases in football in the country hosting the World Cup in June.</p>
<p>“After conducting an initial review of the new data from the Moscow laboratory provided recently by WADA, FIFA has now submitted a list of specific questions to the WADA designated lawyer for him to forward them to Dr. Rodchenkov,” world soccer’s governing body said in a statement to the AP.</p>
<p>McLaren has already provided “information concerning football given to him by Dr. Rodchenkov,” FIFA added.</p>
<p>Rodchenkov’s New York-based lawyer, Jim Walden, recently told the AP that the Laboratory Information Management System data for the Russia lab has “thousands and thousands and thousands of files in a secret portion of the server that show the disappearing positives which also benefited Russian soccer players.”</p>
<p>Although Rodchenkov oversaw the destruction of about 8,000 doping controls in 2014 when the scheme was exposed, WADA managed to retrieve 3,000 samples, including 154 from soccer players. Those samples are yet to be subject to forensic analysis to detect manipulation of the samples, including scratch marks which could prove that bottles were forced open and tainted urine swapped out.</p>
<p>“FIFA has requested that a forensic analysis be conducted on a concrete number of samples (selected following the criteria set by WADA) and asked to be given priority,” FIFA said. “WADA informed FIFA that the order of priority will be made by the designated expert team. We haven’t heard from the expert team yet.”</p>
<p>FIFA denied reports that it is looking to appoint an investigator to look into Russian doping but said its anti-doping unit is being supported by external experts. Rodchenkov is now living in the United States.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Rob Harris is at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/RobHarris" type="external">www.twitter.com/RobHarris</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports" type="external">www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports</a></p>
<p>More AP coverage of FIFA: <a href="" type="internal">www.apnews.com/tag/FIFA</a></p> | FIFA sends whistleblower questions after doping intel review | false | https://apnews.com/33b49e5f9e6247df9d11e7fca2fc4f97 | 2018-01-15 | 2 |
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<p>Michael Paul Astorga, 29, is scheduled to make his first appearance at 1 p.m. today before Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court&#160;Judge Julie Altwies to hear charges against him and to have the judge set bail, if any.</p>
<p>It was two weeks ago today that 38-year-old Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputy James McGrane Jr. was gunned down during a traffic stop at N.M. 337 in Tijeras.</p>
<p>Astorga was whisked into the Metropolitan Detention Center around 3 p.m. Tuesday after a long day that began around 2:30 a.m. as Mexican officials turned him over to U.S. authorities in El Paso.</p>
<p>Making the trip with Astorga from El Paso was 29-year-old Pete Chavez of Lemitar, who was picked up by Chihuahua state police in Juarez early Monday morning and gave his name as "Chris Romero" in an impromptu jailhouse interview Monday, claiming he’d just met Astorga in Ciudad Juarez.</p>
<p>Astorga is facing two open counts of murder — in the killings of McGrane and last November’s shooting death of 27-year-old Candido Martinez in Albuquerque — as well as charges of evidence tampering and several counts of alleged probation violation.</p>
<p>Chavez, who is listed on the detention center Web site as being in the jail infirmary, is being held on relatively minor charges. It is unknown whether he will be charged with aiding and abetting Astorga’s escape.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Astorga’s attorney, Gary Mitchell of Ruidoso, is stepping up his public defense of the man, who for 12 days, was New Mexico’s, then one of America’s, most wanted fugitives.</p>
<p>Mitchell has told reporters that he is concerned about a "lynch mob" atmosphere surrounding the search for Astorga.</p>
<p>And, Mitchell said on KOB-TV this morning, prosecutors are going to have a "hard time" proving Astorga was in the pickup truck that was pulled over by McGrane on March 22.</p>
<p>Few details of the investigation have been released so far and more than a dozen seach and arrest warrants in connection with the case against Astorga have been sealed, but an unsealed arrest warrant notes that Astorga owned the truck stopped by McGrane and the suspect was seen hours before the shooting with a handgun that could match the weapon used on McGrane, according to a story in this morning’s <a href="../../../../news/metro/448694metro04-05-06.htm" type="external">Albuquerque Journal</a>.</p>
<p>"We have much more than that," Sheriff Darren White told the Journal. "We have a very solid case. We have learned a lot in the past two weeks."</p> | 8:30am — Astorga To Appear | false | https://abqjournal.com/22466/830am-astorga-to-appear.html | 2 |
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<p>CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - The Latest on flight cancellations at South Carolina's busiest airport after a heavy winter storm (all times local):</p>
<p>3:30 p.m.</p>
<p>South Carolina's busiest airport is expected to resume normal operations on Sunday after dealing with the after-effects of the winter storm.</p>
<p>The airport website shows that all of Saturday's flights were canceled.</p>
<p>Charleston International Airport issued a statement saying that a single runway had been cleared of snow and ice and flights were given the OK to resume. The Air Force, which shares the runways with the airport, hired several snow plows to do the work.</p>
<p>The airport statement said flights were expected starting Sunday morning.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>9:45 a.m.</p>
<p>Aviation officials say that runways remain closed South Carolina's busiest airport days after a snowstorm blew into the state.</p>
<p>Charleston International Airport issued a statement Saturday morning that the runways remain closed because of snow and ice. Officials say they're unable to predict when conditions will be safe for aircraft to take off and land.</p>
<p>The storm that blew in Wednesday dumped 5.3 inches (13.5 centimeters) of snow on the airport, its third-highest snow total since 1938. The airport is the busiest in South Carolina by passenger boarding statistics.</p>
<p>Large airports serving Greenville, Myrtle Beach and Columbia are open. But Charleston airport CEO Paul Campbell has said that his airport doesn't have much equipment for removing snow and ice because the coastal area normally sees so little frozen precipitation.</p>
<p>CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - The Latest on flight cancellations at South Carolina's busiest airport after a heavy winter storm (all times local):</p>
<p>3:30 p.m.</p>
<p>South Carolina's busiest airport is expected to resume normal operations on Sunday after dealing with the after-effects of the winter storm.</p>
<p>The airport website shows that all of Saturday's flights were canceled.</p>
<p>Charleston International Airport issued a statement saying that a single runway had been cleared of snow and ice and flights were given the OK to resume. The Air Force, which shares the runways with the airport, hired several snow plows to do the work.</p>
<p>The airport statement said flights were expected starting Sunday morning.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>9:45 a.m.</p>
<p>Aviation officials say that runways remain closed South Carolina's busiest airport days after a snowstorm blew into the state.</p>
<p>Charleston International Airport issued a statement Saturday morning that the runways remain closed because of snow and ice. Officials say they're unable to predict when conditions will be safe for aircraft to take off and land.</p>
<p>The storm that blew in Wednesday dumped 5.3 inches (13.5 centimeters) of snow on the airport, its third-highest snow total since 1938. The airport is the busiest in South Carolina by passenger boarding statistics.</p>
<p>Large airports serving Greenville, Myrtle Beach and Columbia are open. But Charleston airport CEO Paul Campbell has said that his airport doesn't have much equipment for removing snow and ice because the coastal area normally sees so little frozen precipitation.</p> | The Latest: South Carolina airport to resume flights Sunday | false | https://apnews.com/2a35303c41fc45f2acabc3ca5ba34253 | 2018-01-06 | 2 |
<p>Those little New York Times articles (hit pieces) about Senator Marco Rubio and his main squeeze, Jeanette Rubio, receiving 17 traffic infractions, as well as living a lavish, Miami Vice/ Tony Montana-ish lifestyle&#160;in West Miami, Florida, continue to be clowned my other members of the media.</p>
<p>The Rubio’s are far from wealthy, this I know because Rubio still owes me $2 for a valet tip I loaned him in 2010. With interest and late fees I have accessed, Rubio’s total debt to me hovers around $10 million. Dale!</p>
<p>I’m not sure people will believe&#160;that the&#160;Rubio’s are living in some exclusive and pretentious neighborhood, where the children ride around it gold-plated bicycles, when just two blocks from this supposed “Mar-A-Lago” home of theirs, you will find discount retails store, &#160;Spanish-language billboards promoting &#160;a local mom and pop bodega, as well vendors trying to sell you fruit they just picked off a tree from some other person’s yard.</p>
<p>The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart piled on Hillary Clinton’s press shop, better known as the New York Times, mocking them for trying to cast a bad light on Rubio’s for paying off student loans, owning a offshore fishing boat (not a cigarette speed boat), and getting those annoying traffic tickets.</p>
<p>&#160;That reminds me, I have to drive up to Delray Beach to pay two speeding tickets that I “unjustly” received.</p>
<p>Here is what Stewart said:</p>
<p />
<p>&#160;“You bastard! Paying off law school loans? How dare you. At long last, senator, have you no sense of insolvency?” Stewart deadpanned.</p>
<p>&#160;“Oh sh—! Marco Rubio got … 4 tickets! In … 17 years! I assume The New York Times obtained this damning information from Marco Rubio’s plaque in the ‘Hall of Best Miami Drivers Ever’”</p>
<p>&#160;“Oh, what’s the matter, senator? The normal amount of light isn’t good enough for you?” Stewart joked. “I’m Senator Marco Rubio. I like to roll around in giant patches of sunlight! Like I’m a big ol’ kitty cat. Meow.”</p>
<p>Stewart was referencing &#160;the “Times’ reporting of the Rubios’ purchase in 2005 of a larger home for $550,000 in 2005 that included, according to the paper, “an in-ground pool, a handsome brick driveway, meticulously manicured shrubs and oversize windows,” per the POLITICO.</p> | Marco Rubio Fails To Pay Loan, NY Times Hot On The Case | true | http://shark-tank.com/2015/06/12/marco-rubio-fails-to-pay-loan-ny-times-hot-on-the-case/ | 0 |
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<p>Joshua and Cheryl Mascarenas thanked everyone who has supported and comforted their family and said their children will be remembered as generous, loving and kind.</p>
<p>“The time has come for us to lay our children to rest with the utmost dignity and respect,” according to the statement. “We will celebrate their lives, and we will treasure their memories for the rest of ours.”</p>
<p>Elijah Mascarenas, 5, Olivia Mascarenas, 6, and Ian Mascarenas, 9, were shot and killed, and Cheryl Mascarenas, 36, was critically injured on Dec. 5. Police say Cheryl Mascarenas’ ex-boyfriend, George Daniel Wechsler, 45, lay in wait for the family to return home and then shot them all before shooting himself. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.</p>
<p>It is unclear whether Cheryl Mascarenas has been released from the hospital, but a spokeswoman for the Albuquerque Police Department said she believes the mother will be attending the funeral.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. Monday at the Believers Center of Albuquerque, 320 Waterfall SE. The interment will be at Fairview Memorial Park at 700 Yale SE.</p>
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<p /> | Funeral set for 3 children slain in Four Hills murder-suicide | false | https://abqjournal.com/917898/funeral-set-for-three-children-slain-in-four-hills-shooting.html | 2016-12-29 | 2 |
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