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<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) – State Street Corp (N:) will pay more than $35 million to settle U.S. charges that it “fraudulently charged secret mark-ups for transition management services,” the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement on Thursday.</p>
<p>State Street also agreed to pay a $3 million penalty without admitting or denying findings that its disclosure failures related to its GovEx government securities trading platform violated the law, the SEC statement said.</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> | State Street to pay more than $35 million to settle U.S. charges: SEC | false | https://newsline.com/state-street-to-pay-more-than-35-million-to-settle-u-s-charges-sec/ | 2017-09-07 | 1 |
<p>Meet the Press - August 28, 2016</p>
<p>(BEGIN TAPE)</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>This Sunday, Trump 3.0. Donald Trump's evolving positions on immigration. Is he now against deporting undocumented immigrants?</p>
<p>DONALD TRUMP:</p>
<p>There certainly can be a softening because we're not looking to hurt people.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Or is he still for it?</p>
<p>DONALD TRUMP:</p>
<p>There is no path--unless people leave the country.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Or is he not sure? We'll ask the head of the RNC, Reince Priebus. Plus, the Clinton Foundation under fire amid pay-for-play accusations. If Hillary Clinton wins, will the foundation need to be shut down? Finally, the toxic state of this campaign.</p>
<p>HILLARY CLINTON:</p>
<p>Through it all, he has continued pushing discredited conspiracy theories with racist undertones.</p>
<p>DONALD TRUMP:</p>
<p>Hillary Clinton is a bigot who sees people of color only as votes.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>And what voters think of it.</p>
<p>MALE VOTER #1</p>
<p>Sulfur, rotten eggs</p>
<p>MALE VOTER #2:</p>
<p>Dead fish.</p>
<p>MALE VOTER #3:</p>
<p>Skunk.</p>
<p>FEMALE VOTER:</p>
<p>Garbage.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Joining me for insight and analysis this Sunday morning are Andrea Mitchell, NBC News' Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Hugh Hewitt, host on the Salem Radio Network. Joy Reid, host of AM Joy at MSNBC and Robert Costa at the Washington Post. Welcome to Sunday, it's Meet the Press.</p>
<p>ANNOUNCER:</p>
<p>This is Meet the Press with Chuck Todd.</p>
<p>(END TAPE)</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Good Sunday morning and we're very happy to be back after a break during the Olympics. How about Team U.S.A., though? It was worth that break to watch them dominate. But let's state the obvious on the campaign trail. It hasn't been a good week for either Presidential candidate, frankly, or for the institution of American politics. A week that began with Donald Trump revamping his campaign leadership, again, ended with him stating a new position on immigration and then another and then back again.</p>
<p>The evolving "do deport, don't deport" statements confuse the public and even left his own staff tongue-tied at times. At the same time, the F.B.I. discovered some 15,000 new Clinton State Department emails, which will be released starting next month, guaranteeing that that issue will follow Hillary Clinton through the end of this campaign.</p>
<p>And once more, the Clinton Foundation faced pay-for-play charges and calls for the Clintons to distance themselves even further from the foundation if Hillary Clinton wins the Presidency. And through it all, the candidates called each other names in an increasingly nasty and negative campaign that appears to now be turning voters off. We'll see what that means down the road. But we begin with Donald Trump's ham handed efforts to find a middle ground on deportation. Was he for it before he was against it? Or is it a little bit of both?</p>
<p>(BEGIN TAPE)</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>In Iowa yesterday, Trump tried to explain again.</p>
<p>DONALD TRUMP:</p>
<p>All the media wants to talk about is the 11 million people.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>After a week, where an attempt to moderate on immigration turned into a muddle.</p>
<p>DONALD TRUMP:</p>
<p>There certainly can be a softening because we're not looking to hurt people. I know people say it's a hardening.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>In five days, a dizzying number of positions on immigration. Monday, Trump appeared to defend President Obama's policy.</p>
<p>DONALD TRUMP:</p>
<p>Lots of people were brought out of the country with the existing laws. Well, I'm gonna do the same thing.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>As the week went on, his positions multiplied.</p>
<p>DONALD TRUMP:</p>
<p>They'll pay back taxes, they have to pay taxes. There’s no amnesty as such. There's no amnesty. But we work with them. There is no path to legalization. Unless people leave the country, we will see what we will see.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Trump even polled a town hall audience.</p>
<p>DONALD TRUMP:</p>
<p>Number one, we'll say throw out, number two, we work with them. Ready? Number one? Number two.</p>
<p>RUSH LIMBAUGH:</p>
<p>Who knew that it would be Donald Trump to come on and convert the GOP base?</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Trump's latest confusion may be an attempt to soften his image without alienating longtime supporters. In March, more than half of Trump's supporters opposed allowing undocumented immigrants to stay in the country legally even if they met certain requirements. But 74 percent of voters overall supported eventual legal status.</p>
<p>BEN SHAPIRO:</p>
<p>Trump's positions on immigration, it's been like shaking a Magic Eight Ball. Half the time, it just comes up and says, "Please shake again." I think it's reflecting internal tensions within the campaign about what his positions ought to be.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Ben Shapiro is a former Editor-at-Large at Breitbart, the nationalist right-leaning website and critic of Steve Bannon, Breitbart's longtime chairman who Trump just hired last week to run his flagging campaign.</p>
<p>BEN SHAPIRO:</p>
<p>If the polls continue to not be very good, then I would not be surprised to see Bannon start edging other members of the inner team, by saying that he's been telling Trump all along that he should just do what is in his heart.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Bannon is already making his influence felt in innuendo about Clinton's health.</p>
<p>STEVE BANNON:</p>
<p>I'm not saying that, you know, she's had a stroke or anything like that, but this is not the woman we're used to seeing.</p>
<p>DONALD TRUMP:</p>
<p>She doesn't have the stamina to do it, even if she wanted to, believe me.</p>
<p>(END TAPE)</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Well, joining me now is the Chairman of the Republican Party, Reince Priebus. Mr. Chairman, welcome back, sir.</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>Good morning, Chuck.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>All right. Let's start with immigration. You know, a month ago, you predicted in an interview at the Washington Examiner, an evolution on this issue by Donald Trump. Is that what we're seeing here? What is his position specifically on the undocumented immigrants?</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>Well, I mean, you're going to find out from Donald Trump very shortly. He's going to be giving prepared remarks on this issue I think very soon. I don't want to give a date. I think--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Let me pause right here. We don't know? I mean that is sort of remarkable that we don’t know.</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>I just don't speak for Donald Trump. I mean, that's what I do know. But wait, here's what I know. His position is going to be tough, his position is going to be fair, but his position is going to be humane. He is going to build and complete the border wall that was set in place in 2006 by Congress; it's going to be paid for. I believe that he is going to, when he talks about deportation, he's going to go after people who are here and are criminals and shouldn't be here.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Who is a criminal under this circumstance, though? Because you know, some people believe just being here illegally is a crime and that makes you a criminal.</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>Sure.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Does that count?</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>Well, look, I mean, those are the things that Donald Trump is going to answer. And this is not obviously a simple question, these are not simple issues. If they were simple, obviously, the position--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>He simplified it a lot during the primaries and some would argue over simplified it.</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>He did. He did simplify it. But now he's reflecting on it and his position is going to be known. But here is the thing, I think the part about where Donald Trump is on this, is he's a guy that's going to be tougher on this issue, tougher on illegal immigration than any politician that we've ever had as a nominee or ever could have as a nominee. That's not going to change. He is going to be a law and order candidate and a law and order President, but--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Do you agree with some of the analysis that says, "Oh, this is Jeb Bush's policy"?</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>No, I really don't because I think that you're not going to see an easy path to legalization, you're not going to see that in a Donald Trump plan. You're going to see--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>You thought Jeb Bush's plan provided an easy plan to legalization?</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>I think it was an easier plan to legalization. I think the Gang of Eight was an easier plan to legalization, an easier plan to citizenship. You're not going to have a pathway to citizenship with Donald Trump. That's off the table. There is no method by which someone is here illegally that is going to become a citizen and jump the line as Hillary Clinton wants to do.</p>
<p>I mean, the real issue is, look at the two plans, look at where Hillary Clinton is. She wants to put Barack Obama's immigration plan on steroids. She wants millions of people who are here illegally to cut the line before anyone else.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>But Donald Trump praised parts of Barack Obama's immigration, with as far as deportation.</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>Parts of it, but not executive amnesty, not illegal immigrants jumping the line, like Hillary Clinton wants to do. That's the issue. The issue is this is an election of choices. One, allow everyone in through complete amnesty, or number two, a tough plan that's fair and humane.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Let me ask you about birthright citizenship. It's still on Donald Trump's website. Is he going to call for the end of birthright citizenship?</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>You're going to have to ask him.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Where is the Republican Party on this? Do you think that should be something that should be the position of the Republican Party?</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>No, I believe in the interpretation of the Supreme Court on the issue.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>So you're comfortable with birthright citizenship?</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>I'm comfortable with it. I'm comfortable with it. I'm comfortable with it. I'm comfortable with the Supreme Court rulings on the issue.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>And so, you think Donald Trump-- so your advice to him would be don't be touching birthright citizenship?</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>Well, a nominee is not - doesn’t have to adopt every single position and platform position of the Republican Party. If we're talking about what my opinion is on birthright citizenship does not necessarily have to be adopted by a nominee. My exact view of immigration and how it should be pursued does not have to be adopted by a nominee.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>All right, but let me ask you this, in the infamous 2013 autopsy, this is what was written in it. "If Hispanic-Americans perceive that a GOP nominee or candidate does not want them in the United States, i.e. self deportation, they will not pay attention to our next sentence." Do you think Donald Trump understands this analysis?</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>I think he understands it completely.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>And is that what this evolution is about?</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>No, you know what? I don't know what when you say "what the evolution is all about." What I think is that Donald Trump understands that with every position that is taken and as you get closer to the White House, a degree of humanity and decency is part of every decision that needs to be made.</p>
<p>And I know Donald Trump. I know Donald Trump in private, I talk to him every day. I know what he's thinking about a lot of these issues and this is a good and decent man that wants to do the right thing and wants to take every position that he's talking about and pepper it with decency, dignity and humanity.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Let's talk about race. Donald Trump called Hillary Clinton a bigot this week. Do you think she's a bigot?</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>Look, here’s what I think: these are not my words. I think that you have to look at people's actions. You look at Donald Trump and you look at his actions and developing and promoting women and breaking a mold in Mar-a-Lago, which today we think is nuts, but 40 years ago he broke the mold in allowing anyone from any background, any faith, any gender, any race into Mar-a-Lago.</p>
<p>You look at Hillary Clinton, she is the one that labeled African-American youth as "super predators." Her campaign and her supporters in her campaign were the one that borne out the birther movement. It was Bill Clinton in her campaign in 2008 that questioned the success of Barack Obama, not based on his talent, but based on his race. It was their campaign. Why can't we start judging these people based on what they actually did? She gave out state secrets; she talked about race in a way that's unacceptable.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>All right, and then this morning's New York Times outlines what Donald Trump and his father may have done when it came to basically keeping out African-Americans--</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>Here's what I say, “may have done." I mean, this is the issue. Look at what he did do.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>He was under Justice Department investigation.</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>Look, if you look at what he's done as a developer in putting together golf courses, these clubs, the things that he's been doing for the last several decades, he has broken the mold when it comes to this issue. And I can tell you where his heart's at, I know where his heart is at.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>You know, one of the things he said, he said Hillary Clinton only views African-Americans as votes, not as human beings. And this is what he Tweeted out yesterday morning after the tragedy about Dwyane Wade, former Miami Heat now Chicago Bull, whose cousin was shot and killed and Chicago and he Tweets this: "Dwayne Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago, just what I have been saying. African-Americans will, in all caps, VOTE TRUMP." Appropriate?</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>Here's where I think he's frustrated with is that Democrats, I think, have been taking advantage of this vote and providing very little leadership to get things done in urban areas across America. I worked in Wisconsin for Tommy Thompson when the first private school choice bill was put together. It was Democrats out of the cities, Democrats that in the power base of their party, that fought school choice across the state of Wisconsin. And to me, if you want to look at leadership in the cities, it's in education reform, it's in freeing up SBA loans for black small business owners, these are the things that our party is championing and he sees that. And it's frustrating to see the Democrats going to these cities, I think take advantage of this vote and provide very little leadership in return.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Are you happy with the hires of Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway?</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>Look, you know, I go with the flow based on what the campaign wants to do. I think Kellyanne is doing a phenomenal job. I don't know Steve Bannon, to tell you the truth, very well.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Okay.</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>I'm going to get to know him. I mean, I'm starting to get to know--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>We're learning his background and some of it's quite uncommon. Is this the proper background that Donald Trump should be hiring if he's trying to appeal to women, for instance?</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>Look, and I don't know how much of it is true or not and neither do you. And so, I don't speculate based on what other third parties say about people. I tend to judge people based on what I see and what I interact with.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>One final question when it comes to the issue of the Clinton Foundation and tax returns, I want to ask it this way. Donald Trump's been hitting her hard on the Clinton Foundation and saying that all sorts of behind-the-scenes, pay-for-play allegations, does he have- does it undercut his message if he won't release his tax returns? Would he be on higher ground here in criticizing Clinton's finances if we saw his tax returns?</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>No, I don't think so because--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>By the way, Roger Stone is the latest Republican to call for Donald Trump to release his tax returns, a close friend of Trump's.</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>No, I don't think so, because if you look at what Hillary Clinton has done, I think when voters look at what Hillary Clinton actually did, they see somebody that they believe broke the law. They see somebody who gave away state secrets, they see somebody that went out of her way--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>But how can we judge Donald Trump on his finances-- but we don't know, that's the point.</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>But do you think--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Let me ask you, if we don't know--</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>We know that Hillary Clinton shouldn't be trusted with national secrets and the most precious information that our country has in their hand. We know she can't be trusted. Are you equating the known conclusion that she can't be trusted with state secrets to what could be in Donald Trump's taxes?</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>We've had a history of every major nominee releasing their tax returns, Reince--every major Presidential nominee. And by the way, he is a private businessman, whose companies may or may not benefit from him being President, that's something voters should want to know.</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>I'm not suggesting that it isn't a subject that good journalists don't discuss. What I'm suggesting is I think it's preposterous to compare--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>You don't think the two equate--</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>I think to compare someone that we know gave away national secrets to--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Wait a minute, you are making assumptions, we don't know that.</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>We do know. Comey actually said that she--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>It's the vulnerability, but you are making the assumption that it happened.</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>I will tell you as a lawyer James Comey laid out a prima facie case for gross negligence, absolutely.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>No, I understand the case he laid out, but we don't know factually. You don't have the smoking gun.</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>Come on, you're telling me that we don't have a smoking gun that she gave away state secrets when we know that confidential, top secret emails were part of the information that was put in a private secret server, we know that to be the case, you're equating that knowledge to the possibility of maybe something isn't right in a tax return that we don't know about? Come on.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Okay, Reince Priebus, I will leave it there. Mr. Chairman, good luck.</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>It's been a good two weeks for Donald Trump and it's been a bad two weeks for Hillary Clinton.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>All right, we will let the panel assess that question that very question right now. Thanks very much.</p>
<p>REINCE PRIEBUS:</p>
<p>You bet.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>In fact, the panel is here. Hugh Hewitt, Andrea Mitchell, Robert Costa and Joy Reid. All right. Costa, I'm going to put it to you. That last question, has it been a good two weeks for Donald Trump and a bad two weeks for Hillary Clinton?</p>
<p>ROBERT COSTA:</p>
<p>It's been a time of change for Trump, you got Bannon and Conway coming in trying to get this populism back on track for Trump, trying to get Trump a little more disciplined in his message. But this is a candidate who's uncomfortable staying on script. And so, we'll have to see how long it lasts.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Has he done damage on immigration or not, Hugh?</p>
<p>HUGH HEWITT:</p>
<p>No, I think he's helped himself a lot by appearing to bring more humanity to his position, especially with regards to families. It was a terrible two weeks. I think what we will hear, eight letters, F-A-R-A-F-C-P-A. Foreign Agent Registration Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The Clinton Foundation is in trouble, Doug Bannon. Even the former President is in trouble on these two very complex, very applicable laws.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Andrea, where are you on this with Trump's week?</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>I think Donald Trump has helped himself on immigration by muddying the waters, by making it a little bit less controversial, if you will, on deportation. But he has to eventually become more specific by the debates, let's say. But I think on the law, go back to what Comey said and what Comey actually said to the committee over and over again and in the letter that he sent to the committee afterwards that he finds no basis for prosecution. And that has to be the bottom line.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Well, in the last part that Chairman Priebus and I were going back and forth on, Joy, this issue, okay, you've got the issues that people have with the Clinton Foundation and what we don't know about Trump's businesses, is this equal or not?</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>No, it is not even close to being equal. And I think one of the thing's that's been interesting in the last couple of weeks is we've discovered one of the few things we have been able to find out about Trump's business dealings is how much money he owes to foreign banks. I think those questions are not going away. I think the American people as you rightly said to Reince Priebus, do have a right to know what business interests and what debt a potential President might have.</p>
<p>But I will tell you on the other side of that ledger, one of the concerns that a lot of Democratic strategists have had has been a lack of energy around the Clinton candidacy by African-Americans. Donald Trump has done more to energize African-Americans against him in this last two weeks of supposed outreach than Hillary Clinton has done in a year.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>All right. The Steve Bannon--</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:“I don’t know Steve Bannon,” wow.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>“I don’t know Steve Bannon,” Hugh, what did you make of that?</p>
<p>HUGH HEWITT:I don’t know Steve Bannon either.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:But it tells me there’s some--</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:Caution--</p>
<p>HUGH HEWITT:</p>
<p>But I will say this, for every Steve Bannon and Breitbart and there is a David Brock and Media Matters; for every Ann Coulter, there's a Michael Moore; for every single Milo there's a Maher. And so, there's a reflection--</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:Who’s the Roger Stone?</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>Yeah, and I was just going to say there isn't a somebody with connections to white nationalism in that group that you mentioned except Steve Bannon.</p>
<p>ROBERT COSTA:</p>
<p>But--</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>And I think that's a significant problem for the Trump campaign.</p>
<p>ROBERT COSTA:</p>
<p>So the Trump campaign’s meeting today in Bedminster, New Jersey. For one thing, I've been covering Bannon for five, six years, he's done zero press appearances, he's keeping a low profile. I think he knows he doesn't need to be out there. He has Conway as the face of the campaign. But Bannon, these reports, they're getting a lot of Republicans nervous, you hear it in Priebus--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>That was a tell to me. It sounds to me if that the Chairman has his preference, Steve Bannon would not be--</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>But Kellyanne Conway is a great face for this campaign right now. Steve Bannon is not.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Very quickly something he pointed out. Very quickly. Anyway, we'll be back in a moment to talk about the other person that had a rough week this week, Hillary Clinton. Those 15,000 new emails and charges that the Clinton Foundation operated on a pay-for-play basis. And later, we talked about some of the ugliness of this campaign season, but we had a really ugly moment earlier this week. Take a look.</p>
<p>(BEGIN TAPE)</p>
<p>GOV. PAUL LEPAGE:</p>
<p>I would like to talk to you about your comments about my being a racist, you EXPLETIVE</p>
<p>(END TAPE)</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>That voicemail message left by Maine Governor, Paul LePage is just the latest example of a race to the bottom, maybe by too many politicians. And it's something that has a lot of voters saying, "Enough." We'll get into it later in the show.</p>
<p>***COMMERCIAL BREAK***</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Welcome back. Turning now to a week that saw Hillary Clinton once again facing questions about her private email server and then accusations of so-called pay-for-play at the Clinton Foundation or at least a pay for access. Eight years ago, after Barack Obama was first elected, members of his team expressed concerns about their foundation as Clinton was tapped as Secretary of State. Well, joining me now to talk about that, David Plouffe, the architect of the Obama 2008 and 2012 campaigns and a former Obama White House Senior Advisor and currently, an advisor at Uber. Mr. Plouffe, welcome back to the show.</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>Good morning, Chuck.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Now I know you were not involved in the transition negotiations at the time, but there was definitely concern about the appearance of a Clinton as Secretary of State and another Clinton raising money from foreign entities at a private foundation. Do you believe that the Clintons upheld their end of the bargain when it came to the memo of understanding that was signed by the White House at the time?</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>I do. And I think you have to step back, Chuck. So the Clinton Foundation, I think it's a universal agreement, has done remarkable work around the world. I think Donald Trump himself contributed $100,000 to the foundation. So the work it's done around HIV/AIDS, around malaria. I think there are legitimate questions, particularly what she means if she's President. I think they've begun to answer that by saying Bill Clinton will step down from the board.</p>
<p>But again, I think if you look at this from a campaign perspective, you've got the foundation and then you've got Donald Trump's murky world. You know, the only candidate, a major party nominee never to release taxes. What's amazing to me is of all the things Donald Trump has done and he’s got a Hall of Fame of unforced errors that have hurt his candidacy, the thing I think that he is most concerned about is what's in his tax returns.</p>
<p>And then, you've got his business dealings. I mean, his foreign policy is basically centered around a bellicose tax on China, he probably has hundreds of millions of dollars of exposure potentially there, his fondness for Vladimir Putin. There's real questions around his business. So I think there's legitimate questions about the Clinton Foundation, the press is clearly spending a lot of time on that. But I think if you look at both of these candidates in terms of who can you trust and some of these financial dealings, I don't think there's much of a comparison.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Let me go back to the Clinton Foundation, why is what was okay at State not okay as President? And it makes you wonder, why wasn't there thought of former President Bill Clinton stepping down from the foundation eight years ago?</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>Well, listen, I think there's been a lot of transparency. I think there's been a great deal. Obviously, there's releasing of donors. There's a lot of information being released, which is why there is so much attention on this. But I think that it's appropriate. By the way, I'm glad they're not falling into the trap of shutting down the Clinton Foundation.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Why is that?</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>The Clinton Foundation does remarkable work, okay? All around the world. And I think as long as there's the right transparency, the right accountability and those procedures are clear to the public, I think it's a huge attribute and contribution to the world.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Well, isn't it a concern, though, if you're at the Clinton Foundation and you're a major donor, isn't it a concern now if you're a donor, considering how much of a political hot potato it could be, doesn't it undermine the Clinton Foundation's efforts because of the political nature now of things involving it?</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>I don't think so. I think if you're someone who cares about the work the Clinton Foundation is doing around the world, you're going to be very, very passionate about continuing that work going forward. And if anything, I think people are going to kind of intensify. Because I think at the end of the day, these are political attacks. I get it, we're in a political season. But it's undeniable, okay? It's a universal fact that the Clinton Foundation has been a great addition to the global scene.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>I guess the issue has to do with the purchasing of access, which is legal. The Supreme Court it is essentially legal to buy access of a politician within reason, not to get something in return beyond access. But is that really the problem, the fact that that is legal? That essentially, a lot of people do expect access in return for a contribution?</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>Well, my strong belief is I don't think people gave to the Clinton Foundation expecting access. If you look at some of the people who were listed in some of these fairly erroneous press reports, Melinda Gates, Muhammad Yunus, Elie Wiesel. So you’ve got people I think, these are very wealthy people who care about the work of the Clinton Foundation.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Right, what about the Government of Qatar, the Government or Kuwait, the Government of Oman, what were they looking for?</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>Well, listen, as Secretary of State, you're going to meet with leaders all over the world. You do that anyway in the course of business every day.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>I want to ask about the race in general. The last time you were on, you expressed concern that Hillary Clinton couldn't do well in places like Virginia and Colorado. Well, it's the first two states that essentially the campaign has pulled out of because they think they’ve put the campaign away. How did you miss that? Why did you misread those two states, in particular? I'm just curious.</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>Well, those are two tough states. I think they were uniquely suited to Barack Obama. And I think so when we had that conversation I think the assessment was that Donald Trump would try and do some things to appeal to the middle of the electorate, to appeal to suburban college-educated women. He's not. I mean, basically, we have a psychopath running for President. I mean, he meets the clinical definition, okay? Hillary Clinton--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Wait a minute. Wait a minute.</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>Yeah?</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Do you really think, diagnosing people on air, I assume you don't have a degree in Psychology. Is that fair? I mean--</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>Well--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>--we're jumping to conclusions here, I think this is what gets voters a little frustrated with this campaign.</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>Well, you know, listen, the grandiose notion of self-worth, pathological lying, lack of empathy and remorse. So I think he does, right, I don't have a degree in Psychology. But here it is-- Chuck, basically, the race ends today; I think Hillary Clinton is guaranteed at least 269 electoral votes, think about that. Because Virginia and Colorado, both campaigns I think believe are put away.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Earlier this week, you compared it to '84. You basically said this race is over, we just don't know the margin.</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>I think that's right. I mean, I think at the end of the day, you know, there's maybe a 20 percent chance it's close two or three points, I think it's likely going to be a landslide. I mean, you look at every state. So Pennsylvania, Donald Trump has less than zero percent chance of winning Pennsylvania. She's sitting at 269. And I think states like New Hampshire, I think states like Florida, I think states like Ohio, Nevada, she's clearly got the advantage.</p>
<p>So again, if you step back and say, "Has Donald Trump done anything in the last few weeks to attract swing, suburban college-educated women, improve his position with younger voters, with minority voters?" He hasn't done that.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Two quick questions. You said prepping for a Donald Trump debate by Hillary Clinton is going to be very difficult. Who would you have portray Trump in mock debates with her? Would you have, like, a Mark Cuban, something like that?</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>Well, it's a great question. I think it is going to be difficult because you are going to have to prepare for many different Trumps, you know? Kind of like well-behaved, modest Trump, I doubt we'll see that. You know, kind of off-the-rails Trump. A Trump who doesn't prepare for anything and apparently, you know, based on reports, that's how they're doing it. You just don't know what he's going to say. So I think actually the job of preparing for Trump is difficult. So you are going to have to have somebody who can play many different roles. It's fascinating, actually.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Let me put up a final headline here. You were in the White House dealing with the politics of Obamacare for years. These are headlines just in the last couple of weeks. The Washington Post one is the one I want to emphasize today, "Healthcare Exchange Sign Ups Fall Far Short of Forecast," literally, one half of what was projected at this point in time on sign ups. Let me ask you this, how concerned are you that Obamacare could implode on itself, considering what we've seen this year? It's not been a good year for it.</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>Not at all, Chuck, I think you've got to step back. So you've had millions and millions of Americans and their families now have healthcare coverage. You're seeing a lot of innovation around payments. Healthcare costs, obviously, have been on a decent trajectory so in terms of overall healthcare costs for the country. So I think what will happen after this election, though, is obviously you'll have the space to say, "Okay, what's working well?" And I think almost all of it is.</p>
<p>"What needs to be strengthened?" I think you'll see a lot of Republican Governors now finally accept Medicaid funding. So no I think this is a very important contribution to the economy, to this country. There's no doubt over time you're going to step back and say, "What needs to be adjusted?"</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Let me ask you this, given all of the insurance companies that have bailed from the exchanges, was bailing on a public option now a mistake?</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>Well, I think the President has spoken recently about that. I don't think you could have gotten the public option passed, by the way, that wasn't going to be passed. You know, we barely passed this thing. But I think at the end of the day, the President has spoken about it. He thinks that's part of the solution going forward.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>David Plouffe, always a pleasure, sir. Thanks for coming on.</p>
<p>DAVID PLOUFFE:</p>
<p>Thanks, Chuck.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>You got it. A lot to chew on there. We'll be back with the panel in just a moment. And later, those reports of increasing Republican registration. They're true. But they may not be all they appear to me. I'll explain after the break.</p>
<p>***COMMERCIAL BREAK***</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Back now the panel. Before we get into Clinton Foundation stuff a little bit and we got into it last. While I was interviewing Chairman Reince Priebus and he was talking about the immigration position we'll learn more has evolved, the running mate, Mike Pence, was on CNN at the same time and he said, "Let's be clear, nothing has changed. His position on illegal immigration, his principles and policies have been absolutely consistent. Katrina Pierson said earlier this week. Let me play it and then let's talk about.</p>
<p>(BEGIN TAPE)</p>
<p>KATRINA PIERSON:</p>
<p>He hasn't changed his position on immigration. He's changed the words that he is saying. What he has always said from the beginning is that he does not want to allow people to stay in this country illegally.</p>
<p>(END TAPE)</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Look, Chairman Priebus admitted that he's changed his position, that what he has said in the primaries is different now, Hugh. Are they playing too many rhetorical games here?</p>
<p>HUGH HEWITT:</p>
<p>As long as Donald Trump remains fixed on the fence, keeps his wall in place--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:You think that’s the line in the sand?</p>
<p>HUGH HEWITT:</p>
<p>That's the north star from which he cannot depart and will not depart. He's always been ambiguous on touch back. Who knows what it meant? But that ambiguity is catching up with him.</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>You know what? We have Robert Costa right here whose report in the Washington Post said that Donald Trump tends to reflect the words of the last person that spoke to him. And I think that you can now really see the disconnect between the Kellyanne Conway faction which is saying, "Be softer," that he literally says it's a softening.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Yeah.</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>And then, I think he got uncomfortable with the word "softening" and is at now with the hard and incredibly durable and strong wall. And I do think that Donald Trump has not thought deeply about policy and that he is reflecting whoever is nearest him or the crowd that is cheering.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>It's the crowd that's cheering, it's the pushback. And you saw, the most blatant example was when he did a poll and said to crowd in the Hannity Town Hall, "What do you want? Do you want to deport them all? Do you want to not deport them all? Which is it?" You know?</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>Yeah.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>It’s like the Roman circuses. Thumbs up, thumbs down from the Caesar. Look, he's reacting to that and it's a fight for the mind and heart of Donald Trump--</p>
<p>ROBERT COSTA:</p>
<p>You've got to think about Trump as someone surrounded by an orbit. You know, last Sunday he's sitting at Bedminster, piles of bacon cheeseburgers and hot dogs, ice cream. You got Roger Ailes there, you got Laura Ingraham there, you got Steve Bannon there, you have Kellyanne Conway.</p>
<p>You have the family that's worried about the brand for Trump. You have all these voices. And as Joy said, Trump doesn't have this populist, nationalist core. He's latched onto that movement, but that's not really who he is. So at this crucial juncture in the campaign, he's being flooded with advice and he's navigating it--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>The irony is it’s that businessman in him, probably that's why he keeps gravitating to a middle ground because ultimately, middle ground is where he's comfortable.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>I should just point out that Kellyanne said that Roger Ailes was not at that meeting. Now there is a disconnect there and your reporting is one thing. But she says she's not been at a meeting, that Roger Ailes is a friend and advisor, but she's not that--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:Ailes may have been at Bedminster but not at that scene.</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>But that is a question I think that voters could rightly ask. And if this is a person that's so easily swayed by one of the loudest voices in the moment is, then what does that mean for what his decision-making would be as President? Who would actually have sway over policy in this country? And then, you start to look at the people around him. People like Steve Bannon, who is a toxic personality around him. And you start to think about that inner circle. They would be incredibly powerful.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>I think we as discussed, we may be one oppo drop away from Bannon not being a part of this campaign.</p>
<p>HUGH HEWITT:</p>
<p>Very possibly. I will point out, though, that Secretary Clinton carries more baggage than Marley’s ghost--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:Well I want to transition to that--</p>
<p>HUGH HEWITT:</p>
<p>And one of those is Sidney Blumenthal. So if you want to talk about toxic people following around in the wake of a candidate, let's hone in on Sidney Blumenthal and the Clinton gang from the '90s, more baggage than Marley's ghost. I mean, that's why she--</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>But not more than Steven Bannon, quite frankly. Not more than-- and by the way, you know, you talk about the people around him, Donald Trump's economic advisors are his donors and they have written an economic policy that would be very beneficial to them personally and to Donald Trump and his family ending the estate tax. These are people who are self dealing inside the campaign.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>I want to transition to the Clinton Foundation because I guess, Andrea, what I don't understand is the Obama White House knew this was a problem eight years ago.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>They had memorandums of agreement signed by everybody.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>And you know, it was interesting, David Plouffe wasn't fully comfortable wrapping his arms around the foundation. He was not. And none of the Obama world is. I've noticed this week they rally around her all the time, except when the foundation comes up. I didn't see a lot of Dan Pfeiffer, David Axelrod-- Tweets this week backing her up.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>You know, here is the pushback and it's something that we really have to get on because they say they're winding it down, but what I am told is it is really hard to wind this down. For one thing, Joe Scarborough asked her on Friday, "Why not just turn it over to the Gates Foundation?" The Gates Foundation does grants, they don't do operations on the ground. The Clinton Foundation does.</p>
<p>And so, there are different types of foundations. They have already accepted the whole healthcare component, which is one of the largest components. That will not be wound down. Chelsea Clinton is going to be on the board, they've been saying this for a while, that's not news. But the fact is that she is still going to be on the board to help wind this down--</p>
<p>HUGH HEWITT:But--</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>Let me just finish. Bill Clinton just said to all of us in the press on Wednesday that they don't want anyone to be fired.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Right.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>So it is going to be a slow wind down, it's not going to be wound down, by the time if she’s elected and takes over.</p>
<p>HUGH HEWITT:But that’s not an excuse for breaking the law.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>I’m not saying that’s an excuse</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:What law was broken?</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:There is no law.</p>
<p>HUGH HEWITT:</p>
<p>The quo and quid pro quo is the meeting and you cannot set up meetings on behalf of--</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>But one moment, the quid here is to very wealthy people, "Give us money, so we can give 11.5 million people AIDS drugs." And the quo is, "Huma Abedin may call you back." That is not a quid pro quo, in a sense. And I think we have to ask whether we've invented a new standard. The George Bush Foundation, which benefits him, it benefits his library, which can accept foreign donations, existed all through the eight years of his son's Presidency.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Right.</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>I don't recall us asking whether people who might want to influence President George W. Bush could simply give to a foundation that benefited him. His foundations have not financially benefited the Clinton family at all.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>Let me just answer what she just said. The State Department, which has been very uncomfortable about a lot of this has said they find nothing where this is a proof of action. And I've got to tell you, when we went through the AP story, they found emails, they found connections, they did not find the other piece.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Very quickly, and Robert, when we're debating oh, proof of this, proof of that, here's what the voter hears: Rich people get access.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>Yeah. That's the problem.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>And by the way, that's legal and that's American politics.</p>
<p>ROBERT COSTA:</p>
<p>So I think this is the key question. We went out on the trials in Virginia with Mike Pence yesterday talking to swing voters and some others who were for Trump, you get the sense that the Clintons came out and they had this big speech on the Alt Right and the Breitbartification of the Trump campaign and the Republicans have all this chatter about the Clinton Foundation. Who's hearing what right now in this campaign?</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Right.</p>
<p>ROBERT COSTA:</p>
<p>You got 75 days left. Is it about the Clinton campaign and the foundation or is it about the Alt Right and Trump?</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Great closing point, we'll pause it there.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>A pox on both your house.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>There it is. When we come back, Republicans are making registration gains in some battleground states, but Democrats are making gains in important parts of those same battleground states. We'll show you right after the break.</p>
<p>***COMMERCIAL BREAK***</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>And we are back it’s Data Download time. You may have heard recently that Donald Trump is energizing a new group of Republican voters and building a registration advantage going into the fall. But the numbers show much more of a mixed picture. Let me go through it.</p>
<p>We decided to take a close look at five battleground states with significant Hispanic populations: North Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada. Since the beginning of this year, Republicans have seen bigger registration increases in two states, Florida and North Carolina, while Democrats have seen greater voter registration increases in three, advantages in Colorado, Nevada and Arizona. And we know the unusual GOP nominating fight and enthusiasm for Trump did increase Republican registration in all of these states. So how do you explain the increased Democratic registration? Well, let's look at Hispanics.</p>
<p>In these five states, there are 18 countries where the Hispanic population is over 100,000. In 14 of the 18, registration grew at a higher rate than the state as a whole. And in 15 of these 18 counties, the registration advantage went to the Democrats. Now this was all significant because in these growing counties, newly registered voters are more likely to be brand new voters to the process, not just to the Democratic Party.</p>
<p>Meaning more new voters in November for Clinton. And as David Wasserman over at FiveThirtyEight pointed out this week, the Republican registration gains in states like North Carolina and Florida are often formally registered Democrats, who have already been voting Republican in the general election for years, many of them will switch party registration to vote in the primaries for the first time. That doesn't necessarily translate into new Republican votes in November - just a whole new Republican Primary electorate. All right, when we come back, what voters have to say about the tone and tenor of this year's campaign. Here's a hint, it's not pretty.</p>
<p>***COMMERCIAL BREAK***</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>And we are back. This has been, shall we say, an ugly week in American politics. Let me just roll a compilation here.</p>
<p>(BEGIN TAPE)</p>
<p>DONALD TRUMP:</p>
<p>Hillary Clinton is a bigot.</p>
<p>PASTOR MARK BURNS:</p>
<p>We should be talking about Hillary Clinton’s health.</p>
<p>RUDY GIULIANI:</p>
<p>So go online and put down, "Hillary Clinton illness, take a look at the videos for yourself."</p>
<p>KELLI WARD:</p>
<p>John McCain has fallen down on the job. He's gotten weak, he's gotten old. So I do know what happens to the body and the mind at the end of life.</p>
<p>HILLARY CLINTON:</p>
<p>Through it all, he has continued pushing discredited conspiracy theories with racist undertones.</p>
<p>JOEL BENENSON:</p>
<p>I think Mr. Trump, who we know has paid zero in taxes in at least four years--</p>
<p>TIM KAINE:</p>
<p>If you look at a guy's tax returns and you find that he's using trick and dodge he can to not pay any taxes, then there's a guy trying to dodge supporting our veterans.</p>
<p>(END TAPE)</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>So that was just a compilation this week of mainstreaming innuendo, essentially, because that's what it feels like we've done. And I didn't even bring up perhaps the lowest moment of the campaign week, which didn't take place in the Presidential level, took place up in the State of Maine. Let me play an excerpt of this horrendous voicemail that the Governor of Maine left for his State Legislature.</p>
<p>(BEGIN TAPE)</p>
<p>PAUL LEPAGE:</p>
<p>I would like to talk to you about your comments about my being a racist, you EXPLETIVE. And, I want to talk to you. You want-- I want you to prove that I'm a racist. I’ve spent my life helping black people and you little son-of-a EXPLETIVE. socialist EXPLETIVE. .</p>
<p>(END TAPE)</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Uhm wow. Yeah, I didn't even bring up-- we had a Republican Senator call the President a drug dealer. We've had other innuendo. Andrea, we always say jeez a new low we cry wolf four years ago about how nasty the campaign is, we've surpassed anything.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>And I go back to, you showed a little bit of Peter Hart’s focus group--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>And I have more of it, don't worry.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>And their reactions when asked, "What is the odor of the scent of this campaign" was, you know, skunk, rotten eggs--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Let me not hear it from you, let's hear it from them. Let me show you.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>Good.</p>
<p>(BEGIN TAPE)</p>
<p>MALE VOTER #1:</p>
<p>From chemistry class, sulfur, rotten eggs.</p>
<p>FEMALE VOTER #1:</p>
<p>Garbage.</p>
<p>MALE VOTER #2:</p>
<p>I can't say it on the air, so I'll say dead fish.</p>
<p>FEMALE VOTER #2:</p>
<p>Stinks</p>
<p>MALE VOTER #3:</p>
<p>Garbage.</p>
<p>FEMALE VOTER #3</p>
<p>Rotten eggs.</p>
<p>MALE VOTER #4:</p>
<p>Skunk.</p>
<p>FEMALE VOTER #4:</p>
<p>Skunk.</p>
<p>MALE VOTER #5:</p>
<p>Skunk.</p>
<p>FEMALE VOTER #5:</p>
<p>Garbage.</p>
<p>MALE VOTER #6:</p>
<p>Garbage.</p>
<p>FEMALE VOTER #6:</p>
<p>Manure.</p>
<p>(END TAPE)</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Now let me set that scene, that's a focus group of 12 people; four are Trump voters, four are Clinton voters, four undecided, they were unified on one thing: The odor of this campaign.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>And it boiled down to loathing Hillary Clinton, even amongst some of her supporters who said she's a liar, they don't like her, to fear, real fear of Donald Trump because of things he's said and because of how the Clinton team has portrayed him as being reckless and not up to being Commander-in-Chief.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>But I think voters, what are we doing? It's getting uglier and louder. Elected officials feel like they have to say some of these to get through--</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>Yeah, the great irony here is, you know, Hillary Clinton did this big speech introducing the Alt-right to America. The irony is this is the kind of discourse that the Alt-right sort of dreams of. The idea--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>They want it.</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>One of their ideas, one of their sort of driving ideas and Breitbart.com sort of embodies this is to explode the idea of political correctness, to make the unacceptable acceptable, to be able to say whatever you want on race, whatever you want on gender. To talk about people in the LGBT community in vile ways, any way you want, because their ideas of political correctness is what is destroying conservatism, Republicanism and the country. And so, this is the campaign of the Breitbart world's dreams.</p>
<p>ROBERT COSTA:</p>
<p>When I talk to my sources in the Republican Party close to the Trump campaign, their outlook is bleak. If the Clinton campaign can make the argument that this is about temperament and this is about tone, the swing voters in the suburbs of North Carolina and Ohio are likely to tilt toward Clinton.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>But this is bigger than Trump and Clinton. I don't want to get lost here. To me, Hugh, this is bigger than Trump and Clinton in that we have conditioned the American political, whatever you want to call it now, American politics, the institution to this vile crud.</p>
<p>HUGH HEWITT:</p>
<p>It is a resentment election. Some elections are run on celebration in like Reagan in '84, some run on hope like President Obama's in 2008. These two candidates have been around for so long in the public eye that they have many, many enemies, whereas, President Obama was new. Mitt Romney was relatively new. John McCain was a war hero. We’ve had two cycles where people were afraid to take the gloves off. Right now, we have a cycle where both have been punching bags for everyone--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>But I also want to bring up the fact, though, that it's clear that- you know - that senators can say "drug dealer" with--</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>I would say this is when Pat Moynihan, a great senator, called defining deviancy down. And what we have now is a political debate that is so coarse and so vulgar, but I guess you would say, you know, who started it? Maybe--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>It’s not about who started it. I don’t want to get into that. No, it is, but there's rough and there is--</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>And there's rough, right.</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>-- But in 2008 we sort of defined a new low. I mean, I have to say, you go back and look at some of those Sarah Palin rallies in 2008, I think a lot of African-Americans looked at that campaign. And said, this is the beginning of opening a door, at least on race, that we're now opening in other areas. But there is a pivot point that we can say did begin with the ascension of Barack Obama.</p>
<p>ROBERT COSTA:</p>
<p>You see rough campaigns throughout history. I'm just saying, especially after two terms of a President, you look at after Reagan, '88. '88 was a rough campaign. After the Democratic administrations in '60 and '68 had a lot of fire to it. I know this is different because it's 24/7, media environment and it's incendiary each minute and that everyone--</p>
<p>HUGH HEWITT:</p>
<p>And a lot of the provocateurs are also entrepreneurs. There is money to be made here.</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>That is true.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>That is I think the reason why it's become acceptable.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>And fact-checking doesn't seem to matter.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Yeah, we're beyond, we're in a post-truth world. Anyway, we'll be back in 45 seconds with "Endgame." The opponents of political correctness, speaking of political correctness, got an interesting ally this week in the unlikeliest of places.</p>
<p>***COMMERCIAL BREAK***</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>And we are back. Back now with Endgame. Interesting little note at the University of Chicago to incoming students. Let’s put it on the board. This is a note sent to incoming students. “Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called ‘trigger warnings,’ we don't not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.” I have to say, this came across after what has been an odd few years of maybe over campus reactions. As this is, what I thought, what college was supposed to be about.</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>A lot of research universities and elite schools that don’t have the same problem that these public universities have of state legislatures are putting this out. There are guidelines at most universities now, “we’re not cancelling speeches, no matter how controversial or how offensive.” And that gets back to the definitions that go all the way to the Supreme Court.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>The purpose of going to college, I remember, is sometimes to have debate and have access to controversial opinions.</p>
<p>HUGH HEWITT:</p>
<p>Well this was done because of a committee put together by Professor Geoffrey Stone, who’s a big liberal but also a first amendment - I used his casebook teaching con-law for many years. Professor Stone is an adamant defender of open expression everywhere. And it’s long overdue and I’m not surprised the University of Chicago started it.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>You know, Joy, somebody might say, “you just talked about the meanness of the campaign before, and now you guys are praising--” but there is a difference. This is being done by intellectual heft to it.</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>Yeah, I mean, as the daughter of a college professor, there are a lot of, you know, teachers in these colleges who are nervous about even kind of the lectures they give because there might be a reaction from a student that is, you know-- I think we have gone too far in the direction of not allowing intellectual debate and ideas that make you uncomfortable. I think as long as colleges are careful not to allow harassment, which in the Internet age, to your point earlier, can also happen. So you have to balance the two.</p>
<p>ROBERT COSTA:</p>
<p>One of the things I love when I go back to college campuses is there's a real protest movement, people are politically engaged, but I do agree. There is too much sensitivity sometimes to the the deferring view. Everyone should be respected. But at the same time, when I was at Notre Dame, I loved when I heard someone from the far left versus the far right. Let’s see the debates.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Yeah, I know, I got to go to school and I had, literally, one day I saw Jesse Jackson come to GW, the next day Newt Gingrich. And it was great and I went to both events, you know?</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>That's what you want. I mean, let's face it, Hillary Clinton started at Wellesley as a Goldwater Republican girl and it was all of the tumult of the years and the people she came in contact with that changed her. We all change--</p>
<p>JOY-ANN REID:</p>
<p>This was stuffing envelopes for Eugene McCarthy--</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>And this goes to the issue of diversity, which is, does ideology, should that be a part of a diversity conversation in newsrooms? You know, and in all sorts of places?</p>
<p>ANDREA MITCHELL:</p>
<p>Yeah, and one other thing, your comment about the '88 campaign, I covered it. You know, Lee Atwater and what they did to Michael Dukakis with the helmet and all of the rest. I mean, it was a rough campaign, but it was pre-talk radio, pre-cable TV, really, and pre-Internet. And the velocity of what's going back and forth and the anonymity, as you were suggesting off-camera, the meanness and the crudeness of this campaign and the fact that you can get four Pinocchios, but it doesn't matter because we aren’t trusted either.</p>
<p>CHUCK TODD:</p>
<p>Well, that's because everybody is listening to their own megaphones. Alright guys, what a week, it's good to be back. I love the Olympics, but I was done with the marathon. Two marathons are enough. We've got our own marathon, 70-plus days of it. That's all we have for today. We'll be back next week, because I promise you, if it's Sunday, every single Sunday for the rest of this year, it is Meet the Press.</p>
<p>* * *END OF TRANSCRIPT* * *</p> | Meet the Press - August 28, 2016 | false | http://nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-august-28-2016-n639011 | 2016-08-28 | 3 |
<p>Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, Officer Lisa Mearkle leaves her arraignment on third-degree murder and manslaughter charges. She was later acquitted.Associated Press</p>
<p />
<p>The police reform advocates who have long argued that cops shouldn’t be allowed to investigate themselves for wrongdoing now have some new data to back them up. Earlier this month, four activists&#160;affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement launched <a href="http://www.checkthepolice.org/#project" type="external">Check the Police</a>, a database of police union <a href="http://www.checkthepolice.org/database" type="external">contracts</a> from departments in 50 cities. After scrutinizing the documents, the project’s creators identified four key provisions by which the contracts shield officers from accountability, or receive rights and courtesies not available to most civilian suspects. These common provisions stipulate:</p>
<p>1. That an accused officer cannot be interrogated within 24 hours of an incident.</p>
<p>2. That complaints be expunged from an officer’s personnel file and destroyed after five years.</p>
<p>3. That complaints against an officer submitted more than 180 days after the contested incident be disqualified, along with complaints that require more than a year to investigate.</p>
<p>4. That civilian oversight boards are severely limited in their ability to penalize officers.</p>
<p>Police union contracts in <a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/559fbf2be4b08ef197467542/t/55a26ccbe4b02ee06b2a8571/1436708043810/AustinPoliceContract.pdf" type="external">Austin</a>, Texas; <a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/559fbf2be4b08ef197467542/t/55a8bad6e4b004b5781e90d1/1437121238763/FOP+Final+Contract_2014-2017+pvs+3-30-15.pdf" type="external">Columbus</a>, Ohio; and <a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/559fbf2be4b08ef197467542/t/55a27463e4b0bb17f7b15436/1436709987469/Seattlepolicecontract.pdf" type="external">Seattle</a> include all four of these provisions. Many of the municipal contracts also mandate that officers involved in shootings receive paid leave.</p>
<p />
<p>I took a closer look at the <a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/559fbf2be4b08ef197467542/t/55a26d14e4b02ee06b2a8625/1436708116462/Chicagopolicecontract.pdf" type="external">contract</a> for officers of the Chicago Police Department—which has been under fire for its handling of the <a href="" type="internal">Laquan McDonald shooting</a>, among other things—to see how it gives officers “ <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/ct-chicago-police-accountability-20151204-story.html" type="external">super due process</a>.” In particular, given that Chi-town police have been accused of conducting <a href="" type="internal">abusive interrogations</a>, I wanted to see what the contract had to say about the questioning of officers. I also asked <a href="http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/owens" type="external">David Owens</a>, who has dealt with police misconduct cases as a civil rights attorney at the University of Chicago Law School’s <a href="http://www.exonerationproject.org/" type="external">Exoneration Project</a>, to provide commentary on the nine provisions paraphrased below.</p>
<p>Provision 1: An officer should be interrogated while on duty, preferably during daylight hours.</p>
<p>Owens: “Police officers don’t have to care whether you’re not off work or just got off work or just got there. They arrest suspects whenever it’s convenient for them. I’ve seen interrogations start early in the morning or late at night and go all night when somebody should be asleep. So that is a protection not afforded [civilian] criminal suspects who are being interrogated by the police.”</p>
<p>Provision 2: Interrogations may take place only in specific locations: the officer’s usual workplace, the Independent Police Review Authority, the Internal Affairs Division, or another “appropriate” site.</p>
<p>Owens: “Regular suspects have no ability to determine where they will be interrogated. You often see suspects moved from room to room to room at a particular police station. Most of these rooms don’t have clocks, so it’s hard to determine how much time has transpired, which itself is disorienting. Obviously it would be different if the interrogation happened at a suspect’s house or at their place of work or someplace that’s comfortable. But usually a custodial interrogation occurs at the police station—so that’s already sort of a coercive environment. By contrast, the police contract allows officers to be questioned in a place that they’re most comfortable.”</p>
<p>Provision 3: Prior to an interrogation, the officer must be given the names of the person leading the investigation, the primary and secondary interrogators, and anyone else who will be present.</p>
<p>Owens: This seems corrupt. Think about one of the classic things you get when individuals are interrogated: good cop, bad cop. Part of that relies on the fact that you don’t know who this cop is—you don’t know if he’s really a good guy or a bad guy. And that’s a strategy that’s used to, again, disorient you. The police union contract seems to structure the exact opposite. You’ll know who it is, what their rank is, where they’re from. You may know who they’re politically aligned with—if you have friends in common. It gets to a real troubling aspect if you know who these people are, because it makes it seem like this is not an impartial search for the truth—it’s kind of rigged.</p>
<p>Provision 4: Two interrogators may not question an officer simultaneously. The secondary interrogator may speak when invited to by the primary, and should only be asking follow-up questions. The primary interrogator may speak again when the secondary is finished. No more than two investigators may be in the room at the same time.</p>
<p>Owens: “When individuals are being interrogated by police officers, there’s no rule that there be a primary or secondary interrogator. There’s no courtesy—one person talk at a time. There are no rules on what topics anybody can ask about. But you can understand why the police would want that. Because it can be confusing when you have people screaming random questions at you. I’ve seen cases where who interrogates you is shift-dependent. So you may have two or three detectives starting on one shift—they keep you in a room. Those guys sign off, and then two different guys come in. So there can be four, five, six, seven people involved.”</p>
<p>Provision 5: An officer must be given breaks to use the bathroom, eat, make phone calls, and rest during an interrogation. The length of the interrogation must be “reasonable.”</p>
<p>Owens: “There’s no time limit on [civilian] interrogations. Usually, there’s a constitutional thing where if you’re being held and they don’t have evidence, they have to let you go after 48 hours—which sometimes gets pushed to 72. But that’s a really long time. And there’s no requirement about food at your will. There’s no requirement about sleep or phone calls or rest or anything like that. They’re in complete control, and you have very few—if any—rights. In a number of cases, I’ve seen food used as an incentive to elicit an incriminating statement. ‘Look, man—you’ve been here 15 hours and we haven’t given you any food. You want some food? Just tell us what we want to know.'”</p>
<p>Provision 6: Interrogators may not threaten an officer with transfer, dismissal, or other disciplinary action—or offer a reward for providing information.</p>
<p>Owens: “That’s consistent with rules that you would see for average suspects. And this gets to the issues of coercion and voluntary statements. Promises of leniency are supposed to be forbidden. However, this raises a second issue—how do these rules play out? The question becomes, how explicit does an officer have to be for there to be an actual promise of leniency that is forbidden? And the lines get murky. ‘Tell us this information and you can go home.’ ‘Tell us this information and we’ll give you some food.’ ‘Oh—are you worried about getting back to somebody who could be in danger? Give us this information.’ So you see things just short of that all the time that sound like offers and promises that would motivate somebody to act.”</p>
<p>Provision 7: A copy of all statements, written or recorded, made by an officer must be given to the officer within 72 hours of when the statements were made. If he/she is interrogated again during that period, the officer must be given a copy of his previous statements before he is questioned again.</p>
<p>Owens: “You can understand why the police would want that: They can surmount their defense. They can keep their story together. Interrogators try to catch people in lies. If you have a copy of every story that you’ve given, it’s going to be easier to tell that story again and again. That is not at all what you see with any [civilian] criminal defendant. Information asymmetry is one of the things that’s supposed to make the interrogation effective.”</p>
<p>Provision 8: Officers cannot be disciplined for refusing to take a lie detector test, and the results are not admissible in court unless mandated by law or court order. If an officer is required to take the test, the complainant must also take the test. If the complainant refuses, the officer does not have to take the test.</p>
<p>Owens: “That’s a mixed one. In most courts and many proceedings, lie detector tests are not admissible anyway. They’re considered totally unreliable. Joe Blow on the street probably doesn’t know that, but an officer does. And so there’s information asymmetry. The [detectives] say, ‘If you’re telling us that this happened, will you give us a lie detector test?’ And the guy says, ‘Yes.’ And then the officers tell him, ‘Oh, you failed the test.’ And, in fact, the polygraph test becomes a method of eliciting a statement because it provides more pressure. You think you have failed something about the truth. But the officer’s contract sets up the exact opposite. One: You’re going to know about this in advance. Two: You have certain rights about it. And it’s a two-way street. There’s no requirement that regular suspects be allowed to put whoever has implicated them through a polygraph test.”</p>
<p>Provision 9: No photograph of an officer can be made public unless the law requires it.</p>
<p>Owens: “As far as I know, you don’t have any right against the dissemination of any picture taken of you while you’re being interrogated or while you’re in police custody. Booking information is available. You see pictures of arrestees on the news all the time.”</p>
<p>Owens adds that some of the union protections—such as ensuring people are well rested and have the opportunity to take breaks during an interrogation—make perfect sense. “Those are things that would greatly reduce the coercive nature of the environment,” he says. “The problem isn’t that those things shouldn’t apply to people—it’s that they shouldn’t only apply to police officers.” Other provisions, such as delaying the questioning of officers, can hinder the investigation and give the officer more time to craft a plausible lie. “It undermines the things that you would want to help you get the truth,” he says, and “facilitates opportunities to intentionally mislead, or even fabricate versions of the events.”</p>
<p /> | 9 Ways Police Have More Protections Than You Do When They’re Arrested | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2015/12/police-contract-protections-interrogation-chicago/ | 2015-12-17 | 4 |
<p>MILAN (Reuters) - The European Central Bank’s Chief Supervisor Daniele Nouy was “inflexible” at a meeting with Italian lenders on Wednesday where topics such as bad loans were discussed, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.</p> FILE PHOTO: Daniele Nouy, chair of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank, speaks at a Thomson Reuters newsmaker event at Canary Wharf in London November 28, 2014. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo
<p>Italian banks piled up soured loans in a deep recession and are struggling to get rid of them as a clogged judicial system hampers recoveries and sales can only be carried out at a loss.</p>
<p>The Bank of Italy spoke of a “very constructive and useful exchange of views” in a statement issued after the meetings that Nouy held with domestic supervisors, top executives from Italy’s bigger banks and the national banking association.</p>
<p>New rules the ECB proposed late last year on new loans turning sour and the supervisory approach to banks’ handling of existing bad debts were discussed, the Bank of Italy said.</p>
<p>One of the sources said Nouy did not indicate when the new rules - whose introduction has been delayed due to a backlash led by Italy - would become effective.</p>
<p>She also refrained from providing targets for reducing bad loans. But the sources said she reiterated the ECB’s position in a way that left banks with very little room for maneuver.</p>
<p>The ECB declined to comment.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=ISP.MI" type="external">Intesa Sanpaolo SpA</a> 3.067 ISP.MI Milan Stock Exchange +0.02 (+0.56%) ISP.MI
<p>At around 16 percent of total lending, Italy’s impaired loan burden is around three times the European average of 5.5 percent.</p>
<p>Bankers have said the ECB wants larger lenders to cut soured loans below 10 percent of total lending. Despite the delay in introducing the new rules, the regulator has kept the pressure on individual lenders, they say.</p>
<p>Intesa Sanpaolo ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=ISP.MI" type="external">ISP.MI</a>), a top Italian bank, last week announced a shift in strategy over bad debts, in a move that sources have said was driven by the ECB’s proposed new rules and the regulator’s stance.</p>
<p>After betting in recent years on recovering bad loans internally to avoid costly large-scale sales, Intesa said it was now considering selling a chunk of its bad loans and spinning off part of its debt collection business.</p>
<p>CEO Carlo Messina said on Wednesday the bank agreed with the need to speed up the reduction of bad debts.</p>
<p>Other banks are also considering selling their debt collection units together with some of their bad debts, industry and financial sources have said.</p>
<p>Analysts expect lenders to book more writedowns of bad debts, taking advantage of the introduction in January of a new accounting rule which temporarily allows them to avoid booking the loss - though it would still have an impact on capital.</p>
<p>Reporting by Andrea Mandala, Stefano Bernabei and Valentina Za; Editing by Mark Potter</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(This version of the April 13th story corrects title of Scott Morris as senior fellow of Center for Global Development)</p>
<p>By David Lawder</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is expected to support a $13 billion capital increase for the World Bank in a deal that will reform the development bank’s lending rules and increase China’s shareholding, three people close to the matter said on Friday.</p>
<p>U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is expected to lend his support for the plan at next week’s World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings, the sources said. But the deal will need an endorsement from the World Bank’s shareholders and approval from its board of directors.</p>
<p>“Barring unforeseen challenges, there will be a capital increase,” one of the sources told Reuters.</p>
<p>U.S. backing for the capital increase was first reported by the Financial Times.</p>
<p>The Trump administration was initially skeptical of the World Bank’s long-running effort to boost its capital, proposing major cuts to multilateral development banks last year.</p>
<p>U.S. Treasury Undersecretary David Malpass has long criticized multilateral development banks for contributing to the build-up of debt in poor countries, and has chided the World Bank’s lending to higher income countries such as China, saying they should “graduate” to non-concessional loans.</p>
<p>“When the World Bank does not graduate these countries, less funding is available to reach countries with greater development needs and there is an excess burden placed on shareholder capital,” Malpass, who heads international affairs at the Treasury, said in congressional testimony last year.</p>
<p>The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not been formally announced, said it would include reforms that would raise financing costs for higher-income countries.</p>
<p>Scott Morris, a former Treasury official who now is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, said the capital increase deal is a victory for World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, an Obama administration nominee who has cultivated a relationship with the Trump administration, launching a women’s empowerment fund in cooperation with President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka.</p>
<p>Morris said the increase in shareholding for China “reflects reality of the global economy” with China’s growing economic clout. But it is unclear how Mnuchin will characterize the shift given Trump’s threats to impose steep tariffs on Chinese goods over China’s intellectual property practices, he added.</p>
<p>Under terms of the deal, according to the sources familiar with it, China’s shareholding in the World Bank would rise to about six percent from 4.68 percent currently. China would still be in third place behind the United States and Japan.</p>
<p>About $7.5 billion of the capital increase would go to the World Bank’s main concessional lending arm, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, with $5.5 billion going to the International Finance Corp, the group’s private sector lending arm.</p>
<p>A U.S. Treasury spokesman declined to comment, while a World Bank spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Leslie Adler</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - Tesla Inc ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=TSLA.O" type="external">TSLA.O</a>) will be profitable in the third and fourth quarters of this year and will not have to raise any money from investors, billionaire Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Friday, driving shares in the electric carmaker higher.</p> FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk, founder, CEO and lead designer at SpaceX and co-founder of Tesla, speaks at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Washington, U.S., July 19, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein
<p>Tesla has already sought this month to play down widespread Wall Street speculation that it would need to return to capital markets this year to raise more funds for the money-losing company as it ramps up production of the Model 3 sedan seen as crucial to its long-term profitability.</p>
<p>The Silicon Valley car maker, which has consistently fallen short of promised production targets and is fighting bad publicity over a fatal crash of a car using its Autopilot system, said 10 days ago it would have positive cash flow from the third quarter.</p>
<p>Musk went further on Friday in a tweeted response to a story in The Economist which cited estimates Tesla would need $2.5 billion to $3 billion this year in additional funding.</p>
<p>“The Economist used to be boring, but smart with a wicked dry wit. Now it’s just boring (sigh). Tesla will be profitable &amp; cash flow+ in Q3 &amp; Q4, so obv no need to raise money,” Musk wrote.</p>
<p>Tesla shares, which have gained nearly 10 percent since disclosing the Model 3 production numbers on April 3, were up 1.8 percent in afternoon trading on Wall Street.</p>
<p>Musk’s claim about profit and cash flow hinges on a rapid rise in production of the Model 3 sedan, Tesla’s latest vehicle to have experienced production delays. That has postponed revenue from reaching Tesla’s bottom line from cars being delivered to customers.</p>
<p>An unprecedented level of robots used in the Model 3’s final assembly, in a break with automotive manufacturing norms, has added complexity and delays, which Musk acknowledged on Friday.</p>
<p>“Excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake,” Musk tweeted. To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated.”</p>
<p>Thomson Reuters consensus of analyst estimates predicts Tesla’s free cash flow to be negative well into 2019, thanks in part to heavy investments. Only one of 19 analysts covering the stock see positive adjusted earnings per share in the third quarter, with that number growing to four for the fourth quarter.</p> FILE PHOTO: A Tesla dealership is seen in West Drayton, just outside London, Britain, February 7, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo
<p>Wall Street brokerage Jefferies, which provided the funding estimate cited by The Economist, said in a note last week it expects refinancing risk to remain high for Tesla until it can consistently produce 10,000 Model 3s a week.</p>
<p>The company again missed its own 2,500 target for weekly production at the end of the first quarter, and analysts and fund managers doubt Tesla’s ability to keep production growing to a promised 5,000 Model 3s per week in three months time.</p>
<p>Musk in July said Tesla was going through “manufacturing hell” in ramping up production of the Model 3.</p>
<p>He told “CBS News” in an interview that aired Friday the company “got complacent” and “put too much new technology into the Model 3 all at once.” Part of the interview took place in a Tesla Model 3 Musk was driving with Autopilot activated at times.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=TSLA.O" type="external">Tesla Inc</a> 300.34 TSLA.O Nasdaq +6.26 (+2.13%) TSLA.O
<p>Musk told CBS Tesla is currently producing 2,000 Model 3 cars a week.</p>
<p>Last month, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Tesla’s credit rating to B3 from B2, reflecting “the significant shortfall in the production rate of the company’s Model 3.”</p>
<p>Moody’s added that its negative outlook for Tesla “reflects the likelihood that Tesla will have to undertake a large, near-term capital raise in order to refund maturing obligations and avoid a liquidity shortfall.”</p>
<p>On Thursday, the National Transportation Safety Board said that after a series of public disclosures by Tesla it had taken the unusual step of revoking Tesla’s status as a formal party to its investigation of a March 23 crash in California that killed a driver who was using Autopilot. The NTSB is also investigating two other Tesla crashes.</p>
<p>Tesla lashed out at the NTSB and said it planned to complain to Congress.</p>
<p>Asked by CBS if there was a defect with Autopilot, Musk responded: “The system worked as described, which is that it is a hands-on system. It is not a self-driving system.”</p>
<p>At one point during the interview, Musk did not have his hands on the wheel and the car beeped at him to retake the wheel.</p>
<p>Reporting by Sonam Rai in Bengaluru and David Shepardson in Washington; additional reporting by Dan Burns and Alexandria Sage; editing by Phil Berlowitz</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services on Saturday recommended investors vote against the re-election of five Equifax Inc ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=EFX.N" type="external">EFX.N</a>) directors who served on the company’s audit and technology committees prior to a 2017 data breach.</p> Credit reporting company Equifax Inc. corporate offices are pictured in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., September 8, 2017. REUTERS/Tami Chappell
<p>The Atlanta-based consumer credit company last fall said hackers had stolen personally identifiable information of U.S., British and Canadian consumers, including names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, driver’s license and credit card numbers. Over time, Equifax has increased the number affected to more than 147 million people.</p>
<p>ISS said in a report to shareholders sent to Reuters by a spokesman that the company’s reputation and shareholder value had been damaged by the extent of the breach and the company’s slow response to it, placing a cloud over the company.</p>
<p>In response, it recommended against voting for directors Mark L. Feidler, G. Thomas Hough, John A. McKinley, Elane B. Stock and Mark B. Templeton, who served on the two committees with relevant oversight duties. It recommended votes in support of the remaining five director candidates at the company, including Siri S. Marshall, head of the governance committee.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=EFX.N" type="external">Equifax Inc</a> 116.0 EFX.N New York Stock Exchange -0.91 (-0.78%) EFX.N
<p>An Equifax spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the recommendations.</p>
<p>Equifax has said breach-related costs could reach $439 million through year-end, potentially making it the most costly U.S. hack yet disclosed. The company has lost 19 percent of its market value since the massive cybertheft was disclosed. Its shares traded at $116 on Friday. [L2N1QK1Q1]</p>
<p>The credit reporting company is facing 100s of lawsuits by consumers, financial institutions and even the city of Chicago relating to the cybersecurity breach. The company disputes the claims and has said it intends to defend against them.</p>
<p>ISS also recommended “cautionary support” for the company’s say-on-pay resolution, noting the compensation committee’s decision to not pay annual incentives, steps to adjust incentive metrics and strengthen clawback provisions. However, it said there are ongoing questions about former Chief Executive Richard F. Smith’s pay and “the issue warrants continued monitoring.”</p>
<p>It also recommended a vote in favor of a shareholder resolution seeking a report on political contributions by the company, saying holders would benefit from more disclosure of the company’s political spending, payments to trade groups, its management of related risks.</p>
<p>The company’s annual general meeting is scheduled for May 3.</p>
<p>Reporting by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Alistair Bell</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BERLIN (Reuters) - German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Saturday he would press for “reasonable results” in the next round of pay talks with more than two million public sector workers, but he rejected the Verdi union’s demand for a six percent increase.</p> FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Justice Minister Katarina Barley and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer react as they pose for a group photo at the German government guesthouse Meseberg Palace in Meseberg, Germany, April 10, 2018. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
<p>Wage talks are due to resume on Sunday after 150,000 public sector employees staged warning strikes and walkouts last week that left thousands of passengers stranded at airports, and hit hospitals, childcare centres and waste depots.</p>
<p>Seehofer, the federal government’s top negotiator in the talks, underscored the importance of public sector workers and said it was “self-evident” that they should benefit from the country’s economic growth.</p>
<p>However, he said Verdi’s demand was unreasonable.</p>
<p>“It is and remains clear that the union demand for a six percent increase is too high for one year,” he said in a statement issued by his ministry. “We will continue the negotiations in such a way that we can quickly achieve reasonable results.”</p>
<p>Verdi said 17,000 people participated in walkouts on Friday, bringing the total for the week’s labour actions to 150,000.</p>
<p>Verdi leader Frank Bsirske said last week he expected a breakthrough in the third round of talks that will begin on Sunday in Potsdam, near Berlin. He said public sector workers should benefit from surging German tax revenues.</p>
<p>The federal government and municipalities have rejected the union’s demands, but the head of the VKA association of local employer organisations last week said he expected an agreement to emerge from the next round of talks.</p>
<p>In the industrial sector, 3.9 million workers agreed on a pay and flexible working hours deal in February that amounted to a roughly 4 percent rise per year for 2018 and 2019. Inflation edged up to 1.5 percent in March.</p>
<p>Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, is in solid shape, with buoyant tax revenues and a record budget surplus. Falling unemployment, inflation-busting pay rises and low borrowing costs are fuelling a consumer-led upswing.</p>
<p>The European Central Bank (ECB) is keeping a close eye on the German pay talks for any sign that wage growth is picking up, potentially lifting inflation and giving the ECB added leeway to start winding down its massive stimulus programme.</p>
<p>Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Helen Popper</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | ECB's Nouy 'inflexible' in meeting with Italian banks: sources U.S. to back $13 billion World Bank capital increase: sources Musk insists Tesla does not need more capital, predicts profit soon Proxy adviser ISS recommends against five Equifax directors over cyberbreach German interior minister rejects union's six percent wage demand | false | https://reuters.com/article/us-italy-banks-nouy/ecbs-nouy-inflexible-in-meeting-with-italian-banks-sources-idUSKBN1F62XI | 2018-01-17 | 2 |
<p>You’ve probably heard that you need to get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week. But a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology suggests that a mix of different types of exercise brings better results than simply adding more quantity.</p>
<p>That’s important if you spend hours at the gym, but focus solely on strength training or pounding the treadmill.</p>
<p>Researchers at Skidmore College in New York compared the effects of different exercise regimens. Their findings: participants got the most benefits from a program that included resistance exercise, cardio workouts, interval training and stretching, along with eating moderate amounts of protein throughout the day. The theory is that this blend addresses more of your body’s needs.</p>
<p>The approach led to impressive results — weight loss, less belly fat, lower blood sugar levels and an increase in lean muscle, the study authors said.</p>
<p>Adopting this balanced regimen is as simple as adding a few new disciplines, like a yoga class twice a week after resistance work or including resistance work after a cardio session. The findings also suggest that you can jazz up your standard cardio workout a few days every week with interval training, alternating intense bursts of the activity with slower and longer segments of the same activity.</p>
<p>The American College of Sports Medicine also suggests including motor skills training for balance, agility and coordination. You can meet this goal through the same classes you might take for flexibility, such as yoga, Pilates and tai chi.</p>
<p>Give these suggestions a try:</p>
<p>Cardio 5 times a week with interval training on 3 sessions.</p>
<p>Strength training 2 to 3 times a week but not on consecutive days.</p>
<p>Stretching/flexibility exercises 2 to 3 times a week.</p> | Exercise: Quality Trumps Quantity | false | https://newsline.com/exercise-quality-trumps-quantity/ | 2017-09-25 | 1 |
<p>A Pennsylvania manufacturer has refused to make T-shirts and hats for Charlottesville Pride.</p>
<p>Charlottesville, Va.’s LGBTQ Pride Festival, to be held Saturday, hit a bump in the road earlier this month after a Pennsylvania hat printing company declined to print merchandise with the group’s “political or controversial” message.</p>
<p>“We don’t have a lot of places to get rainbow stuff, it’s not like living in D.C., believe it or not,” said Lisa Green, director of Cville Pride, in a phone interview with the Blade.</p>
<p>Green and a small cadre of Charlottesville locals started the first Cville Pride six years ago. She said the event runs on a shoestring budget, but it thrives because of the community and the support they get from vendors.</p>
<p>So Green was shocked when they attempted to get hats printed with their logo, a borrowed version of Equality North Carolina’s “Y’all means All” icon, and the distributor for a longtime local vendor said they wouldn’t do the work.</p>
<p>The local company, <a href="http://www.redstarmerch.com/" type="external">Red Star Merchandise</a>, had worked with and supported Cville Pride for years, but the company that prints its hats, Hanover, Pa.’s Legacy Athletics, sent an email saying it would not do the work because it aims to&#160;“keep a positive connotation to the brand” and part of that process is “avoiding doing any products with custom logos that might be deemed as controversial, political, offensive, etc.”</p>
<p>A look at Legacy Athletics’ website shows the company specializes in college and casual custom clothing and hats. No images available on social media show products with an overtly political message.</p>
<p>The Legacy email, published on Cville Pride’s website, goes on to say that the company does not “ either support or do not support the organization making the request” but “in light of recent events in Charlottesville as well as the fact Gay Pride events are political activism, we respectfully decline this order.”</p>
<p>Charlottesville made headlines in August when a “Unite the Right” rally brought Neo-Nazis and white supremacists to the otherwise quiet town. They had ostensibly planned to protest the removal of a Gen. Robert E. Lee statue in a centrally located park and were met by counter protesters. They were eventually dispersed after Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe called a state of emergency. One woman, Heather Heyer, was killed when an attendee of the Unite the Right event barreled into a crowd of protesters with his car.</p>
<p>That connection between Cville Pride and the deadly attack that still hangs over the city is something that really bothered Green.</p>
<p>“The response isn’t just about us being gay, it’s also about Charlottesville,” she said. “It’s tainted in both ways.”</p>
<p>In an email sent to Green by Red Star, the printing company said it expressed “disappointment” with Legacy’s decision. But they also promised Green they’d no longer work with Legacy on “any further orders and will make others aware.”</p>
<p>Green, with a mission to spread an affirming LGBTQ message, said she’s since heard from a number of folks who have offered to supply the event with hats. She also said that’s not really what’s important.</p>
<p>“Trump is in office and we had Nazis in our town — this [issue with Legacy] is so small, but it’s just evidence of the systemic problems we continue to have,” she said. “We have people really hurting in Charlottesville after everything that has happened. But it’s just evidence that we’re still in this fight. No one needs a hat, right? But we have to get to a place in society where LGBTQ lives are protected by non-discrimination laws.”</p>
<p>Despite efforts by lawmakers, Virginia still lacks laws that protect LGBTQ citizens from discrimination in public services — as well as housing and employment — but Cville Pride’s situation is similar to one faced in Kentucky that made its way to the state’s appellate court earlier this year.</p>
<p>Hands On Originals, a Lexington-based printing company, <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2017/05/15/print_shops_shouldn_t_have_to_make_gay_pride_t_shirts.html" type="external">refused to print T-shirts for a local Pride event and organizers fought back</a>. While Kentucky as a whole does not have protections for LGBT people, the city of Lexington does, but in May of this year, a state appeals court sided with Hands On because the person who ordered the T-shirts for their event was straight, therefore he wasn’t discriminated against because he wasn’t gay.</p>
<p>Jennifer C. Pizer, Law and Policy Director for the national LGBT legal advocacy group Lambda Legal, called the Kentucky decision “silly” and said the situation Cville Pride is facing has some similarities but is different where it counts.</p>
<p>“[Legacy Athletics] categorically decided something about LGBT people is controversial. If that’s true, it’s only because anti-gay people make it controversial,” she said. “LGBT people just want to exist, have a celebration and not bother anybody.”</p>
<p>She said the excuse used by Legacy does more to silence and exclude others and that the idea of giving power to those who want to exclude is “a mistake socially and a mistake under the law.”</p>
<p>It seems Green and Cville Pride have enough work on their hands and are choosing to move on with their event, which happens Sept. 16 at the Sprint Pavilion in Downtown Charlottesville. The only reason she decided to go public with the issue was to inform others who might change their buying habits from Legacy in the future.</p>
<p>Redstar Merchandise said it would not comment further.</p>
<p>Legacy Athletic released the following statement to the Blade:</p>
<p>“Regarding our decision not to produce hats for the 2017 Cville Pride Festival, we want to emphasize Legacy is neither anti-gay nor discriminatory in any way. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our company is primarily a college and resort apparel brand. As our company’s popularity has grown, we continue to receive requests from all sorts of clubs, organizations and event planners with requests for putting their logos on our branded apparel.</p>
<p>“Recently, we implemented new guidelines and policies to help us manage this influx of requests. These guidelines and brand standards will ensure we stay committed to our core brand.</p>
<p>“As a company, our policy includes the thoughtful and deliberate decision to avoid orders that may be potentially perceived within the realm of political and social activism on either side of the ideological spectrum. A decision to reject graphics that could fall into these realms in no way means we agree or disagree with the organization’s mission, but that we simply want to remain neutral in all situations.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Charlottesville</a> <a href="" type="internal">Charlottesville Pride</a> <a href="" type="internal">Cville Pride</a> <a href="" type="internal">Hanover</a> <a href="" type="internal">neo-nazi</a> <a href="" type="internal">Pennsylvania</a> <a href="" type="internal">Pride 2017</a> <a href="" type="internal">Red Star Merchandise</a> <a href="" type="internal">Robert E. Lee</a> <a href="" type="internal">Sprint Pavilion</a> <a href="" type="internal">Terry McAuliffe</a> <a href="" type="internal">Unite the Right</a> <a href="" type="internal">Virginia</a></p> | Pa. company refuses to make Charlottesville LGBTQ Pride T-shirts | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2017/09/07/company-refuses-charlottesville-pride/ | 3 |
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<p>Romenesko Misc. St. Paul Pioneer Press reporter Charles Laszewski blasts colleague Mark Yost for <a href="http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/editorial/12114580.htm" type="external">criticizing</a> war reporters in Iraq. "With your column, you have spat on the copy of the brave men and women who are doing their best in terrible conditions," writes Laszewski. "More than 20 reporters have died in Iraq from around the world. You have insulted them and demeaned them, and to a much lesser degree, demeaned the reporters everywhere who have been threatened with bodily harm ...I am embarrassed to call you my colleague."</p> | PiPresser to Yost: "I'm embarrassed to call you my colleague" | false | https://poynter.org/news/pipresser-yost-im-embarrassed-call-you-my-colleague | 2005-07-13 | 2 |
<p>Back in 2005-06, I wrote a book, <a href="" type="internal">The Case for Impeachment</a>, in which I made the argument that President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, as well as other key figures in the Bush/Cheney administration–Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales–should be impeached for war crimes, as well as crimes against the Constitution of the United States.</p>
<p>These days, when I mention the book’s title, people sometimes ask, half in jest, whether I’m referring to the current president, Barack Obama.</p>
<p>Sadly, it is time to say, just 14 months into the current term of this new president, that yes, this president, and some of his subordinates, are also guilty of impeachable crimes–including many of the same ones committed by Bush and Cheney.</p>
<p>Let’s start with the war in Afghanistan, which Obama has taken full ownership of with an escalation that will bring the number of US troops in that country (not counting mercenaries hired by the Pentagon and CIA) to 100,000 by this August.</p>
<p>The president has authorized the use of Predator drone aircraft for a program of bombing conducted against Pakistan which has illegally expanded the Afghan War into another country without any authorization from Congress. These pilotless drones are known to kill far more innocent bystanders than enemy targets, making them fundamentally illegal on principle as weapons. Furthermore, this wave of attacks in Pakistan is a war of aggression against another nation if the word “war” is to have any meaning at all, and as such it is illegal under the UN Charter. Indeed initiating a war of aggression against a country which does not pose an immediate threat to the invader is described in the Charter and in the Nuremberg Tribunal Charter as the gravest of all war crimes.</p>
<p>The president, as commander in chief, has also, in collusion with Attorney Eric Holder, blocked any prosecution of those who authorized and perpetrated torture against captives in the War in Iraq, the War in Afghanistan, and the so-called War on Terror–notably Federal Appeals Court Judge Jay Baybee, and Berkeley Law Professor John Yoo, who as Justice Department attorneys authored the legal briefs justifying torture– and has in fact continued to permit the application of torture against captives. All of this is in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions, which as a signed set of treaties, are part of the law of the United States. Under those treaties, failure on the part of those up the chain of command to halt or to punish those who commit torture are themselves guilty of the crime of torture.</p>
<p>As commander in chief, President Obama has also overseen a strategy in Afghanistan of expanded attacks on civilians in Afghanistan. As in Iraq under the Bush administration, this current phase of the war in Afghanistan is seeing more civilians killed than enemy combatants, because of the widespread use of weapons like helicopter gunships, aerial bombardment, fragmentation bombs, etc., as well as a tactic of night raids on housing compounds where insurgents are suspected of hiding–raids that frequently lead to the deaths of many women and children and innocent men. It is significant that even the recent execution-style slaying of nine students, aged 11-18, by US-led forces, has not led to an investigation or prosecution of a individual. Rather, the incident is being covered up and ignored, with the clear acquiescence of the White House and the leadership at the Pentagon.</p>
<p>It is also widely believed that under the command of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who is known to have directed a large-scale death-squad operation in Iraq before moving to his current position, a similar death-squad campaign of assassination is being conducted now in Afghanistan–a campaign that like the notorious Phoenix Program in the 1960s in Vietnam, is almost certainly resulting in the deaths of many innocent Afghans.</p>
<p>Domestically, the president has continued to allow the policy of detention without trial of hundreds of captives in Guantanamo Bay and other prisons, including Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, and his director of national security has even stated that it is the policy of this administration that American citizens deemed by the administration to be enemy combatants or terrorists may be targeted for summary execution. Such officially sanctioned state murder is a blatant violation of the Constitution’s insistence that every American has a right to a presumption of innocence and to a trial by a jury of his or her peers.</p>
<p>The president has also continued and in some ways even expanded the Bush/Cheney administration’s program of warrantless spying by the National Security Agency on the electronic communications of millions of Americans. A part of that program, the monitoring of communications of a now defunct Islamic charity, was just declared illegal by a federal judge in a case that was brought against the Bush/Cheney administration, but which continued to be defended by the current administration. There has not been a decision as yet by the Obama administration about whether to appeal that decision. While the case in question does not represent a crime by the Obama administration, it is clear that it only represents the very tip of the huge iceberg of domestic spying, and the administration’s vigorous efforts to shut down this case or to win it are clear evidence that the NSA is continuing to do the same thing on a vast scale. In fact, the only reason this case even got to trial is because of a government error that resulted in a memo describing the monitoring being mailed inadvertently to the victims of the spying.</p>
<p>While we’re at it, I would also suggest that there is amble evidence to call for the impeachment of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who appears, as head of the New York Federal Reserve, to have colluded in an effort to cover up a massive fraud at Lehman Brothers, and who has subsequently as Treasurer, participated in unprecedented giveaways of taxpayer funds to several of the country’s largest banking institutions.</p>
<p>The above enumeration of criminal and Constitutional transgressions makes it clear that this president, like his predecessor, has, almost since his first day in office, continued down a road of criminal and unconstitutional behavior that threatens the survival of Constitutional government in the United States.</p>
<p>Let me state it simply: President Barack Obama, as well as Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and Treasury Secretary Geithner, should be impeached for war crimes and high crimes against the Constitution.</p>
<p>Of course, having watched the Democratic Congress shamelessly duck its solemn duty to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and their criminal subordinates for two years, I have no illusions about that same Democratic Congress allowing an impeachment bill to be filed against this president.</p>
<p>Having said that, I think it is important to at least make the point publicly that this president, like the one before, deserves to be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.</p>
<p>DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based journalist and columnist. His latest book is “ <a href="" type="internal">The Case for Impeachment</a>” (St. Martin’s Press, 2006 and now available in paperback). He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://greentags.bigcartel.com/" type="external">WORDS THAT STICK</a></p>
<p /> | The Case for the Impeachment of Barack Obama | true | https://counterpunch.org/2010/04/02/the-case-for-the-impeachment-of-barack-obama/ | 2010-04-02 | 4 |
<p>From the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/republican-party-platform-draft-calls-trump-mexico-wall-article-1.2709481" type="external">New York Daily News</a>:</p>
<p>Here’s another way of walling yourself off from mainstream America. In a list of priorities straight out of the 1950s, the GOP formalized Donald Trump’s insane plan to build a Mexican border wall as part of its official party platform — while also doing away with LGBT rights and favoring Bibles in public schools.</p>
<p>Republican delegates gathering in Cleveland ahead of the party’s nominating convention approved a draft of language for the formal GOP platform that proposes a wall that would cover “the entirety of the southern border and must be sufficient to stop both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.”</p>
<p>The platform — a nonbinding document which still must be approved by delegates at the convention next week in Cleveland — also includes unusual, if not outright outdated, proposals apparently designed to appeal to the party’s socially conservative wing.</p>
<p>Among them is an amendment warning that pornography is a “public health crisis” — although guns are not, despite a string of mass shootings in recent years. It also includes measures that support the teaching of the Bible in public schools, lets states limit which bathrooms transgender people can use and pushes the use of coal as a “clean energy source.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p> | New York Daily News Denounces Anti-LGBT GOP Platform: A List Of Priorities Straight Out Of The 1950s | true | http://joemygod.com/2016/07/14/new-york-daily-news-denounces-gop-platform/ | 2016-07-14 | 4 |
<p>Tuesday’s election upended everything most experts thought they knew about politics, when Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to become the next president with one of the most unconventional campaigns ever.&#160;</p>
<p>But down the ballot, 10&#160;things stood out.</p>
<p>Nearly 50,000 people voted for Roger Hernandez, a termed-out Democratic assemblyman from West Covina who had been running for Congress until he suspended his campaign after he was placed under a <a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-sac-essential-politics-updates-under-cloud-assemblyman-hernandez-1471632811-htmlstory.html" type="external">domestic violence restraining order</a> and was&#160; <a href="" type="internal">stripped of his committee assignments</a>.</p>
<p>Congressman Darrell Issa seems to have won re-election. Although it’s still close and&#160;the Los Angeles Times had not yet called the race, Issa maintains a nearly 4,000-vote lead over Democrat Doug Applegate. This isn’t noteworthy because Issa was vulnerable and squeaked out a win. It was noteworthy because Issa, the richest member of Congress,&#160;wasn’t&#160;seen as vulnerable. The Vista Republican, in his 15th year in Congress, has been one of the most high-profile Republicans over the last few years as a constant thorn in the side of the Obama administration. But as national money started flowing to Applegate and an endorsement of Donald Trump appeared to be weighing Issa&#160;down, <a href="" type="internal">the race tightened</a>. &#160;</p>
<p>As long as these results hold, Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose, will be the only incumbent in California’s 53-person congressional delegation to lose. Fellow Democrat, Ro Khanna of Fremont, finished what he started in 2014, when he first challenged Honda.</p>
<p>A reminder that California is not as uniformly progressive as it often seems: Voters upheld&#160; <a href="" type="internal">the death penalty</a>&#160;as the maximum sentence for murder. Even more surprising is that a measure to <a href="" type="internal">speed up death penalty appeals</a> is clinging to a two-point lead in the returns.</p>
<p>Republicans appear&#160;to have held their seats in the state Senate, beating back a Democratic supermajority. Everything hinges on a Southern California district that extends from Cypress to West Covina to Chino Hills, where Republican Ling Ling Chang, a sitting assemblywoman, is holding an almost two-point lead over Democrat Josh Newman.&#160;</p>
<p>But in the Assembly, <a href="" type="internal">Republicans lost three seats</a>, dipping below one-third of the chamber. In the Los Angeles South Bay, David Hadley was knocked out by former Democratic Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi. In Orange County, Young Kim trails former Democratic Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva. And in the Inland Empire, Eric Linder is losing to Sabrina Cervantes.</p>
<p>While no Senate incumbents of either party were defeated, five&#160;incumbent Assembly members either lost or trail. That includes the Republicans, Linder, Kim and Quirk-Silva, along with two Democrats who lost intraparty challenges. Cheryl Brown, the Inland Empire incumbent, lost to Eloise Reyes in a proxy war between environmentalists and unions that opposed Brown and Big Oil and charter schools that supported her. In the San Fernando Valley, Patty Lopez was ousted after <a href="" type="internal">the Democratic Party endorsed her challenger</a>, former Democratic Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, who also had major support from outside business interests.</p>
<p>Orange County, the traditional&#160;Republican stronghold, voted for Hillary Clinton for president.&#160;According to The <a href="http://www.ocregister.com/articles/county-734831-orange-blue.html" type="external">Orange County Register</a>, the county hadn’t supported a Democrat for president since the Great Depression. That result reflects a consistent <a href="http://www.ocregister.com/articles/county-724744-republicans-democratic.html" type="external">slide in Republican registration</a> in the county, which has persisted for&#160;decades.</p>
<p>Speaking of Orange County, Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez lost her home county in the U.S. Senate race by&#160;9.6 points. Sanchez has represented Orange County in Congress since she was first elected in 1996.</p>
<p>And speaking of the U.S. Senate race, more that 1.1 million people sat it out. The race made headlines after the June primary, when no Republicans advanced to the general election — a byproduct of the state’s relatively new primary system where the top two candidates advance regardless of party. Sanchez lost to Attorney General Kamala Harris, a fellow Democrat.</p> | Here’s 10 things about Tuesday’s election | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2016/11/09/heres-10-things-tuesdays-election/ | 2018-11-20 | 3 |
<p />
<p>By Mark MemmottUSA TodayPublished: 08/15/05</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Excerpt:</p>
<p>Media analysts such as Aly Colón of the Poynter Institute, a school for professional journalists, didn't accuse newsroom managers of outright racial bias. But they noted that the ranks of top editors and producers remain heavily dominated by whites.</p>
<p>That could lead to more stories about missing people who are white because such journalists identify more readily with them, Colón and others said. <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-08-15-missing_x.htm" type="external">More of this article...</a> <a href="http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-33,GGLD:en&amp;q=%22Aly+Col%C3%B3n%22" type="external">Search Google News for quotes by Aly Colón...</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Acquaintance charged with woman's murder | false | https://poynter.org/news/acquaintance-charged-womans-murder | 2005-08-26 | 2 |
<p>This <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175089" type="external">story</a>first appeared on the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external">TomDispatch</a>website.</p>
<p>By marshalling the regime’s coercive instruments, Iran’s 70-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, has, for now, succeeded in curbing the popular, peaceful challenge to the authenticity of Iran’s fateful June 12th presidential election. But he has paid a heavy political price.</p>
<p>Before his June 19th hard-line speech at a Friday prayer congregation, Khamanei had the mystique of a just arbiter of authority, perched on a lofty platform far above the contentiousness of day-to-day politics. In his sermon, he asserted the validity of the reelection of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while the Guardian Council, the constitutional body charged with validating any national election, was still dealing with 646 complaints about possible election misbehavior and fraud. As a result, he damaged his status as a just ruler, a matter of grave importance since justice is a vital element in Islamic values.</p>
<p>Furthermore, by boycotting the June 19th congregation, former presidents Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Muhammad Khatami, as well as Mahdi Karrubi, former Speaker of the Iranian Parliament — all of them respected mullahs — exposed a deep rift in the ruling religious establishment. That bodes ill for the future of the Islamic Republic.</p>
<p>Khamanei has won the immediate battle, but the conflict between hard-liners and reformists is far from over. Taking a long-term view, Khamanei and his hard line cohorts face a superhuman task of countering an inexorably rising trend. Quite simply, the demographic make-up of Iran favors their reformist adversaries.</p>
<p>A glance at the republic’s history bears this out.</p>
<p>Two Decades of Revolution</p>
<p>Between 1979, the year of the Islamic revolution, and 1999, Iran’s population doubled to 65 million, two-thirds of them under 25 years of age. Those young Iranians had no direct experience or memory of the pre-Islamic regime of the Shah — its inequities and injustices, and its subservient relationship with Washington. Therefore, their commitment to the Islamic regime was less than total. Moreover, the post-revolutionary educational system had proven inadequate when it came to socializing them the way the republic’s religious leaders wanted.</p>
<p>During those two decades, Iran’s student body increased almost threefold, to 19 million. The overall literacy rate jumped from 58% to 82%, with the figure for females — 28% in 1979 — tripling. There was a remarkable upsurge in the enrollment of women in universities. Nationally, their share of university student bodies shot up to 60%. At prestigious Tehran University, they were a majority in all faculties, including science and law.</p>
<p>The total of university graduates, which stood at 430,000 in 1979, grew nine-fold in those years. As elsewhere in the world, university students and graduates would become a vital engine for change.</p>
<p>Much to the disappointment of the mullahs, a study of university students in the late 1990s showed that whereas 83% of them watched television, only 5% watched religious programs. Of the 58% who read extracurricular books, barely 6% showed interest in religious literature.</p>
<p>In his book, A Study of Student Political Behavior in Today’s Iran, Professor Majid Muhammadi divided university students into three categories: those born into largely Islamic working or traditional middle-class households (traders and craftsmen); those born to secular, or nominally Islamic, modern middle class parents (teachers and doctors); and those raised in an environment that mixed traditional Islam and secularism.</p>
<p>While the first category was loyal to the regime, and the second kept a low profile, shunning politics, it was the students in the last, and largest, category who felt deeply conflicted. While linked to Islam through tradition, they were attracted to modern, Westernized culture politically and socially. In attempting to resolve the conflict, most of them became politically active, and were transformed into a force for social and political change.</p>
<p>By and large, university students were interested in watching foreign television programs, finding the national channels unimaginative and propagandistic. A poorly enforced ban on satellite dishes meant they could easily get access to the BBC, CNN, and the Voice of America. In the post-1999 decade, the arrival of the Internet, e-mail, blogging, YouTube, Facebook, and most recently Twitter, opened up opportunities previously not available to their older peers.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1560255447/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external" />Irrespective of their social backgrounds, what indisputably impinges on the daily lives of university students and other young Iranians are the restrictions the regime tries to impose on their social and personal freedoms, including going to mixed-sex parties, holding hands with someone other than a marriage partner, drinking alcoholic beverages, listening to modern Western music, watching foreign television channels via satellite, and having extramarital sex. While reformists recognize that restricting such activities is having the singular effect of alienating the young from the Islamic Republic, their conservative opponents consider these restrictions essential to uphold Islamic morality and culture.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, politically conscious university students have been striving to enlarge the arena of personal freedoms as a means of countering social repression and administrative corruption, and making the Islamic system more transparent and accountable.</p>
<p>Politics in Command</p>
<p>It was against this background that, in 1997, a presidential election was conducted. Muhammad Khatami, a reformist outsider, unblemished by corruption, proceeded to trounce his rival, Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri — the erstwhile Speaker of parliament favored by the religious establishment and perceived to be corrupt — by a margin of almost three to one. In the next election, Khatami trumped his nearest rival by a five-to-one margin.</p>
<p>Notwithstanding periodic setbacks due to a dispersion of power among the office of president, the parliament, and the judiciary, Khatami created an environment in which the area of social, cultural, and political freedoms expanded.</p>
<p>Initially, for instance, the authorities were very strict about enforcing the wearing of the hijab (a head-covering scarf) and banning the use of make-up for women, nor did they allow young men and women to sit in the same classrooms in colleges and universities. By the time of Khatami’s reelection in 2005, however, the authorities were tolerating young women who flouted the strict Islamic dress code of covering themselves fully, except for face and hands. They even allowed an occasional rock concert and they were giving more leeway to non-governmental organizations.</p>
<p>During the first year of Khatami’s presidency, the country experienced an explosion of new publications. Following a landslide victory by the reformists in the first round of parliamentary elections in February 2000, a newly bullish pro-reform press even began publishing stories of corruption in the pre-Khatami period. These proved immensely popular.</p>
<p>Khatami’s supporters viewed this as a sign of the growing maturity of the Islamic system and the evolution of democratic governance. Before the second round of the elections could take place in May, however, a conservative-minded parliament reacted speedily. Encouraged by Khamanei, it stiffened the Press Law in April, leading to the closure of dozens of publications by the judiciary.</p>
<p>In the 2005 presidential contest, leading reformists were barred from the race by the Guardian Council. Deprived of real choice, most reformist voters boycotted the election. This enabled the hard-line mayor of Tehran, Ahmadinejad — a Khamanei favorite — to trounce Rafsanjani, an affluent, pragmatic conservative blemished by a reputation for corruption.</p>
<p>During Ahmadinejad’s presidency, university classes were re-segregated by gender. The law banning satellite dishes was enforced vigorously. The morality police resorted to patrolling the streets to ensure that women wore proper Islamic dress and unmarried couples refrained from holding hands. This was but a part of Ahmadinejad’s drive to return society to the early years of the Islamic revolution.</p>
<p>Little wonder then that, in the run-up to the 2009 presidential election, young voters rallied behind Mir Hussein Mousavi, whose academic wife, the artist Zahra Rahnavard, spoke of the hijab becoming optional for women. Mousavi promised to disband the morality police and appoint women to important government jobs.</p>
<p>The Nature of the Iranian Revolution</p>
<p>In trying to recreate the environment of the early days of the Iranian revolution in the absence of the conditions that brought about the collapse of the old order of the Shah, the country’s hard line leaders are defying both human nature and history.</p>
<p>They are ignoring the fact that most people tend to strive only to the extent that is necessary to survive, procreate, and lead a comfortable life. More important, human beings simply cannot continue functioning at a heightened level for decades on end. Revolutions are born out of periods of acute crisis and extraordinary fervor combined with high idealism. With time, red hot zeal cools, and so does a revolution. Idealism gives way to pragmatism — and, of course, corruption.</p>
<p>No less than the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, bowed to inescapable reality when he accepted a United Nations-brokered ceasefire with Iraq in 1988, after endlessly exhorting Iranians to fight on for 20 years — until victory.</p>
<p>Such softening is common to all revolutions.</p>
<p>Yet in the regional context, what happened in Iran in the late 1970s had been unique. Every previous post-World War II dramatic regime change in the Middle East had come about thanks to overnight military coups. The overthrow of the seemingly unassailable Shah of Iran in February 1979, on the other hand, was the culmination of a relentless two-year-long revolutionary movement.</p>
<p>Globally, too, the Iranian revolution stood apart. All the revolutions of the last century, starting with the Mexican revolution of 1910, were secular and focused on changing property and class relations. Not the one in Iran.</p>
<p>Its leader, Khomeini, made adroit use of Shiite history and Iranian nationalism to attract ever-increasing support. He managed to unite the disparate anti-Shah forces, both religious and secular — including Marxists of various shades — by his most radical demand: the deposition of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. Although his revolutionary movement included secularists, only the religious segment was capable, via the mosque, of providing a national organizational network down to the village level.</p>
<p>Both as an institution and a place of congregation, the mosque proved critical. Since the state could not suppress the mosque in a country that was 98% Muslim, it offered a sanctuary to the revolutionary movement. That was why Khomeini instructed the clergy to base the Revolutionary Komitehs (Committees) coordinating the anti-Shah movement in those mosques.</p>
<p>It was in this way that the unprecedented upheaval, claiming an estimated 10,000 to 40,000 lives (largely unarmed Iranians killed by military gunfire), turned into the successful “Islamic revolution.” It became a preamble to the founding of the Islamic Republic of Iran. That term “republic” — not “state” or “emirate” (as in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan under the Taliban) — in the official title was, and remains, highly significant. Thirty years on, the partisans of Mousavi are now arguing that the recent electoral fraud undermines the founding principle of the post-Shah regime: that power lies with the public.</p>
<p>Overthrowing an established order is a hard, bloody affair, but making a revolution stick is even more demanding. In the case of Iran, the revolutionary regime became a target of aggression when Iraq’s Saddam Hussein launched his invasion in September 1980. The subsequent eight-year war helped merge Iranian nationalism into the post-Shah regime, and stabilized it.</p>
<p>Following Khomeini’s death in 1989, the transition to his successor Khamanei as the Supreme Leader, assisted by the popularly elected president Rafsanjani, was smooth. Initially, Khamanei took his cues from Rafsanjani, a wily politician. As he consolidated his hold over the military, the Revolutionary Guard Corps, and its auxiliary, the Basij militia, however, he began operating independently and drifted away from Rafsanjani.</p>
<p>Now, both hard-liners and reformists are competing to show their loyalty to Shiite Islam. Its founder, Imam Hussein, the Great Martyr, leading a band of 72 retainers, died in 680 AD while battling a force of 4,000 to stake his rightful claim to the caliphate usurped by his rival. The moral of this episode, which lies at the heart of Shiite Islam, is that the true believer must not shirk from challenging the established order if it has become unjust and oppressive.</p>
<p>Competing Loyalties to Shiite Islam</p>
<p>In today’s Shiite Iran, the partisans of Mousavi have adopted green, the color of Islam, as their brand. They shout “Allah-u Akbar” (God is Great) and “We want [Imam] Hussein” in the streets and from the rooftops, while their leader invokes the Quran to demand justice. They are not demanding regime change, only an overdue change in the regime.</p>
<p>For his part, Supreme Leader Khamanei sees the hand of God in the overwhelming victory of Ahmadinejad. The riot police and Basij militia regard him as their spiritual guide and consider any challenge to his word or deed as a challenge to Islam. Ignoring massive evidence to the contrary, Khamanei has ruled out an electoral fraud on the grounds that such a possibility is inconceivable in Iran’s Islamic system.</p>
<p>While locked in a struggle, both sides claim to be pursuing the ideal of a just Islamic state. Each remains aware of the value of martyrdom.</p>
<p>The Iranian security forces’ beatings, baton charges, and tear gassing of unarmed, peaceful protestors, as well as mass arrests, are deplorable. It is worth noting that most of the firing of live ammunition by the security personnel seems to have been in the air. That explains why the fatalities in the massive and repeated street protests in Tehran have remained relatively low, totaling 15, according to official sources, which also claim that eight Basij militiamen have been killed. Media reports generally have cited 17 deaths of protestors so far, though rumors of higher death tolls abound.</p>
<p>What matters most to the government, as well as its opponents, is the number of people killed, or “martyred.”</p>
<p>The speed with which the authorities have tried to hijack the killing of 26-year-old Neda Aghan Soltan in Tehran by a bullet almost certainly fired by a uniformed member of the security forces is illustrative. They have declared her to be a Basiji martyr, allegedly killed by pro-Mousavi protestors, who, in response, rushed to circulate worldwide the shocking image of her dying in the street.</p>
<p>Given its Shiite underpinning, the government remains conscious that resorting to excessive violence could turn opponents into that most dangerous of symbols: martyrs.</p>
<p>Until the June 12th election — despite evidence of modest tinkering with the first round of the 2005 presidential vote — post-Shah Iran seemed to indicate that Islam and democracy could work in harmony. The upheaval since then has demonstrated that when strains between the two concepts develop, it is democracy that gets short shrift.</p>
<p>That is bad news for Muslims — and non-Muslims — worldwide.</p>
<p>Dilip Hiro is the author of five books on Iran. His upcoming book After Empire: The Rise of a Multipolar World will be published by Nation Books later this year.</p> | The Clash of Islam and Democracy in Iran | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/06/clash-islam-and-democracy-iran/ | 2009-06-29 | 4 |
<p>Verizon Wireless has relented to criticism from privacy advocates – including members of Congress – and is allowing customers to opt out from a mobile advertising program that tracks web behavior. The company made the announcement this week.</p>
<p>Known as “supercookies,” customer codes had been subject of debate as Verizon implemented its mobile ad program. The codes enabled third parties, advertisers in particular, to “exploit Verizon’s persistent tracking to continually follow a user’s web browsing activities,” <a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/30/verizon-wireless-to-allow-complete-opt-out-of-mobile-supercookies/?_r=1" type="external">The New York Times</a> reported.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, four Democratic members of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation sent a letter to Lowell C. McAdam, Verizon’s CEO, outlining their concerns with the telecom’s data privacy practices.</p>
<p>The scathing letter mentioned “supercookies” specifically. “Because of the threats to consumer privacy, AT&amp;T wisely discontinued the use of similar mobile trackers, while Verizon has chosen to carry on,” the senators wrote.</p>
<p>Verizon announced its decision to let users opt out just one day later, The Times reported.</p>
<p>“We listen to our customers and provide them the ability to opt out of our advertising programs,” Verizon spokeswoman Debi Lewis said in a statement. “We have begun working to expand the opt-out to include the identifier referred to as the UIDH, and expect that to be available soon. As a reminder, Verizon never shares customer information with third parties as part of our advertising programs.”</p>
<p>San Francisco-based digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation has circulated a petition to prod federal agencies to take action against Verizon and its partner in the mobile ad program, a digital marketing software firm called Turn. The petition has garnered more than 2,000 signatures so far.</p>
<p /> | Verizon Wireless to allow customers to opt out from mobile ad program | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/01/31/verizon-wireless-to-allow-customers-to-opt-out-from-mobile-ad-program/ | 2015-01-31 | 3 |
<p />
<p>2012 was the second-worst year on record for extreme weather events, both in number and in cost, according to a tally released this morning by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Eleven major events—including tornadoes, wildfires, droughts, and hurricanes—racked up a collective bill of over $110 billion, with cropland damage from drought in the Midwest ($17.36 billion in crop insurance payments alone) and Hurricane Sandy, with a $60 billion price tag, as the most expensive items.</p>
<p />
<p>As for this summer, the costs are still piling on: Feed and water scarcity have shrunk the nation’s cattle supply to its lowest point since 1952, pushing beef prices to an all-time high, and NOAA scientists predict that <a href="" type="internal">pasture conditions will likely be worse</a> this summer than last.</p>
<p>According to the latest forecast, although drought conditions have dropped 21 percent from their peak last September, nearly half of the country is still in some kind of drought, with the worst conditions moving west through the summer into California and Oregon.</p>
<p>“The drought has definitely been pushing westward,” Mark Svoboda of the National Drought Mitigation Center in Nebraska told reporters, adding that the devastating wildfires that have recently hit states like Colorado and New Mexico are “just the start.”&#160;</p>
<p />
<p>Svoboda added that lightning from the upcoming monsoon season in the Southwest created a particular wildfire risk in this still tinder-dry region, although Arizona and the central plains are expected to see some improvement of drought conditions, the result of a relatively wet spring:</p>
<p />
<p /> | CHARTS: You Won’t Believe How Much Disasters Cost Last Year | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/2012-ranks-second-billion-dollar-disasters/ | 2013-06-20 | 4 |
<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday evening's drawing of the Arkansas Lottery's "Cash 4 Evening" game were:</p>
<p>3-7-9-4</p>
<p>(three, seven, nine, four)</p>
<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday evening's drawing of the Arkansas Lottery's "Cash 4 Evening" game were:</p>
<p>3-7-9-4</p>
<p>(three, seven, nine, four)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in 'Cash 4 Evening' game | false | https://apnews.com/amp/53f55ec219254ff5a683a6297b746446 | 2018-01-23 | 2 |
<p>CINCINNATI (AP) — Octavius Ellis had 16 points and 12 rebounds, Gary Clark added 15 and 12, and Cincinnati outlasted East Carolina 75-60 on Saturday.</p>
<p>Cincinnati led by eight at the break, but East Carolina fought to tie it at 42-all with 13:37 left. The Bearcats quickly recovered and pushed the lead to double digits in just over three minutes, helped by a 3-pointer and dunk from Kevin Johnson.</p>
<p>Johnson scored all 13 of his points in the second half and was one of five Bearcats (19-7, 9-4 American) to score in double figures.</p>
<p>East Carolina (10-15, 2-10) led 23-22 with 6:48 left in the first half, but a 12-3 Bearcats run helped Cincinnati enter halftime with the advantage.</p>
<p>Prince Williams led the Pirates with 15 points.</p>
<p>Cincinnati shot 56 percent from the field in the second half and outscored East Carolina in the paint 38-22.</p>
<p>CINCINNATI (AP) — Octavius Ellis had 16 points and 12 rebounds, Gary Clark added 15 and 12, and Cincinnati outlasted East Carolina 75-60 on Saturday.</p>
<p>Cincinnati led by eight at the break, but East Carolina fought to tie it at 42-all with 13:37 left. The Bearcats quickly recovered and pushed the lead to double digits in just over three minutes, helped by a 3-pointer and dunk from Kevin Johnson.</p>
<p>Johnson scored all 13 of his points in the second half and was one of five Bearcats (19-7, 9-4 American) to score in double figures.</p>
<p>East Carolina (10-15, 2-10) led 23-22 with 6:48 left in the first half, but a 12-3 Bearcats run helped Cincinnati enter halftime with the advantage.</p>
<p>Prince Williams led the Pirates with 15 points.</p>
<p>Cincinnati shot 56 percent from the field in the second half and outscored East Carolina in the paint 38-22.</p> | Ellis, Clark help Cincinnati outlast East Carolina 75-60 | false | https://apnews.com/amp/11a770365f1c42eb86334c2df94babfd | 2016-02-13 | 2 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The Anglo-American attack on Afghanistan crosses new boundaries. It means that America’s economic wars are now backed by the perpetual threat of military attack on any country, without legal pretence. It is also the first to endanger populations at home. The ultimate goal is not the capture of a fanatic, which would be no more than a media circus, but the acceleration of western imperial power. That is a truth the modern imperialists and their fellow travellers will not spell out, and which the public in the west, now exposed to a full-scale jihad, has the right to know.</p>
<p>In his zeal, Tony Blair has come closer to an announcement of real intentions than any British leader since Anthony Eden. Not simply the handmaiden of Washington, Blair, in the Victorian verbosity of his extraordinary speech to the Labour Party conference, puts us on notice that imperialism’s return journey to respectability is well under way. Hark, the Christian gentleman-bomber’s vision of a better world for “the starving, the wretched, the dispossessed, the ignorant, those living in want and squalor from the deserts of northern Africa to the slums of Gaza to the mountain ranges of Afghanistan”. Hark, his unctuous concern for the “human rights of the suffering women of Afghanistan” as he colludes in bombing them and preventing food reaching their starving children.</p>
<p>Is all this a dark joke? Far from it; as Frank Furedi reminds us in the New Ideology of Imperialism, it is not long ago “that the moral claims of imperialism were seldom questioned in the west. Imperialism and the global expansion of the western powers were represented in unambiguously positive terms as a major contributor to human civilisation”. The quest went wrong when it was clear that fascism, with all its ideas of racial and cultural superiority, was imperialism, too, and the word vanished from academic discourse. In the best Stalinist tradition, imperialism no longer existed.</p>
<p>Since the end of the cold war, a new opportunity has arisen. The economic and political crises in the developing world, largely the result of imperialism, such as the blood-letting in the Middle East and the destruction of commodity markets in Africa, now serve as retrospective justification for imperialism. Although the word remains unspeakable, the western intelligentsia, conservatives and liberals alike, today boldly echo Bush and Blair’s preferred euphemism, “civilisation”. Italy’s prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, and the former liberal editor Harold Evans share a word whose true meaning relies on a comparison with those who are uncivilised, inferior and might challenge the “values”of the west, specifically its God-given right to control and plunder the uncivilised.</p>
<p>If there was any doubt that the World Trade Center attacks were the direct result of the ravages of imperialism, Osama Bin Laden, a mutant of imperialism, dispelled it in his videotaped diatribe about Palestine, Iraq and the end of America’s inviolacy. Alas, he said nothing about hating modernity and miniskirts, the explanation of those intoxicated and neutered by the supercult of Americanism. An accounting of the sheer scale and continuity and consequences of American imperial violence is our elite’s most enduring taboo. Contrary to myth, even the homicidal invasion of Vietnam was regarded by its tactical critics as a “noble cause” into which the United States “stumbled” and became “bogged down”. Hollywood has long purged the truth of that atrocity, just as it has shaped, for many of us, the way we perceive contemporary history and the rest of humanity. And now that much of the news itself is Hollywood-inspired, amplified by amazing technology and with its internalised mission to minimise western culpability, it is hardly surprising that many today do not see the trail of blood.</p>
<p>How very appropriate that the bombing of Afghanistan is being conducted, in part, by the same B52 bombers that destroyed much of Indochina 30 years ago. In Cambodia alone, 600,000 people died beneath American bombs, providing the catalyst for the rise of Pol Pot, as CIA files make clear. Once again, newsreaders refer to Diego Garcia without explanation. It is where the B52s refuel. Thirty-five years ago, in high secrecy and in defiance of the United Nations, the British government of Harold Wilson expelled the entire population of the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in order to hand it to the Americans in perpetuity as a nuclear arms dump and a base from which its long-range bombers could police the Middle East. Until the islanders finally won a high court action last year, almost nothing about their imperial dispossession appeared in the British media.</p>
<p>How appropriate that John Negroponte is Bush’s ambassador at the United Nations. This week, he delivered America’s threat to the world that it may “require” to attack more and more countries. As US ambassador to Honduras in the early 1980s, Negroponte oversaw American funding of the regime’s death squads, known as Battalion 316, that wiped out the democratic opposition, while the CIA ran its “contra” war of terror against neighbouring Nicaragua. Murdering teachers and slitting the throats of midwives were a speciality. This was typical of the terrorism that Latin America has long suffered, with its principal torturers and tyrants trained and financed by the great warrior against “global terrorism”, which probably harbours more terrorists and assassins in Florida than any country on earth.</p>
<p>The unread news today is that the “war against terrorism” is being exploited in order to achieve objectives that consolidate American power. These include: the bribing and subjugation of corrupt and vulnerable governments in former Soviet central Asia, crucial for American expansion in the region and exploitation of the last untapped reserves of oil and gas in the world; Nato’s occupation of Macedonia, marking a final stage in its colonial odyssey in the Balkans; the expansion of the American arms industry; and the speeding up of trade liberalisation.</p>
<p>What did Blair mean when, in Brighton, he offered the poor “access to our markets so that we practise the free trade that we are so fond of preaching”? He was feigning empathy for most of humanity’s sense of grievance and anger: of “feeling left out”. So, as the bombs fall, “more inclusion”, as the World Trade Organisation puts it, is being offered the poor – that is, more privatisation, more structural adjustment, more theft of resources and markets, more destruction of tariffs. On Monday, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Patricia Hewitt, called a meeting of the voluntary aid agencies to tell them that, “since 11 September, the case is now overwhelming” for the poor to be given “more trade liberation”. She might have used the example of those impoverished countries where her cabinet colleague Clare Short’s ironically named Department for International Development backs rapacious privatisation campaigns on behalf of British multinational companies, such as those vying to make a killing in a resource as precious as water.</p>
<p>Bush and Blair claim to have “world opinion with us”. No, they have elites with them, each with their own agenda: such as Vladimir Putin’s crushing of Chechnya, now permissible, and China’s rounding up of its dissidents, now permissible. Moreover, with every bomb that falls on Afghanistan and perhaps Iraq to come, Islamic and Arab militancy will grow and draw the battle lines of “a clash of civilisations” that fanatics on both sides have long wanted. In societies represented to us only in caricature, the west’s double standards are now understood so clearly that they overwhelm, tragically, the solidarity that ordinary people everywhere felt with the victims of 11 September.</p>
<p>That, and his contribution to the re-emergence of xeno-racism in Britain, is the messianic Blair’s singular achievement. His effete, bellicose certainties represent a political and media elite that has never known war. The public, in contrast, has given him no mandate to kill innocent people, such as those Afghans who risked their lives to clear landmines, killed in their beds by American bombs. These acts of murder place Bush and Blair on the same level as those who arranged and incited the twin towers murders. Perhaps never has a prime minister been so out of step with the public mood, which is uneasy, worried and measured about what should be done. Gallup finds that 82 per cent say “military action should only be taken after the identity of the perpetrators was clearly established, even if this process took several months to accomplish”.</p>
<p>Among those elite members paid and trusted to speak out, there is a lot of silence. Where are those in parliament who once made their names speaking out, and now shame themselves by saying nothing? Where are the voices of protest from “civil society”, especially those who run the increasingly corporatised aid agencies and take the government’s handouts and often its line, then declare their “non-political” status when their outspokenness on behalf of the impoverished and bombed might save lives? The tireless Chris Buckley of Christian Aid, and a few others, are honourably excepted. Where are those proponents of academic freedom and political independence, surely one of the jewels of western “civilisation”? Years of promoting the jargon of “liberal realism” and misrepresenting imperialism as crisis management, rather than the cause of the crisis, have taken their toll. Speaking up for international law and the proper pursuit of justice, even diplomacy, and against our terrorism might not be good for one’s career. Or as Voltaire put it: “It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.” That does not change the fact that it is right.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.johnpilger.com/" type="external">John Pilger</a> is an award-winning investigative journalist.</p> | War American Style | true | https://counterpunch.org/2001/10/15/war-american-style/ | 2001-10-15 | 4 |
<p>by The Associated PressBEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Oprah Winfrey has accepted a lifetime achievement award <a href="http://wjla.com/news/entertainment/running-list-of-winners-at-the-75th-annual-golden-globe-awards" type="external">at the Golden Globes</a> by saying she hopes as the first black women to accept the honor, she hopes it has an impact on young girls watching Sunday's ceremony.</p>
<p>The actress and businesswoman accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award at Sunday's Globes ceremony and received a lengthy standing ovation, which she tried to calm down.</p>
<p>She spoke about the feelings she had as a young girl watching Sidney Poitier win the best actor Academy Award in 1964. She likened the pride she felt watching Poitier, the first black man to win the best best actor Oscar, to the impact she hoped she could have on young women.</p>
<p>Winfrey also addressed the sexual misconduct scandal roiling Hollywood and beyond, telling those watching "speaking your truth is the most powerful tool you all have."</p>
<p>Reese Witherspoon introduced Winfrey and described their friendship, forged over long sessions in a makeup trailer while filming "A Wrinkle in Time." Witherspoon said sitting in the room with Oprah was like taking the best business classes, and her hugs could end wars.</p> | Oprah Winfrey accepts Golden Globes life achievement honor | false | https://circa.com/story/2018/01/07/hollywood/oprah-winfrey-accepts-golden-globes-life-achievement-honor | 2018-01-08 | 1 |
<p />
<p>Here’s yet another reason to keep your New Year’s resolution to exercise this year: people who work out have <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/28/AR2008012801873.html" type="external">younger-looking</a> cells than those who don’t.</p>
<p>In the <a href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=exercise-keeps-you-younge" type="external">study</a>, conducted at King’s College in London, 1,200 pairs of British twins were tested. Just one hundred minutes of activity a week made cells of active twins look five to six years younger than their couch potato counterparts. With three hours of exercise, the cells looked nine years younger.</p>
<p>Young-looking cells may not seem much to crow about, but scientists have long theorized the younger your cells appear under a microscope, the younger you look on the outside. As cells age, they divide. Over time, a cell loses its ability to divide and dies, causing aging symptoms like wrinkles, reduced organ function, and poor eyesight. So while exercise helps you feel better and keeps you healthy, it may also help you look younger.</p>
<p>Excuse me while my cells and I slip on our running shoes.</p>
<p /> | Exercise – It Does a Cell Good | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/01/exercise-it-does-cell-good/ | 2008-01-28 | 4 |
<p><a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire</a> says…</p>
<p>Could this be the reality of the worsening situation? The&#160;mainstream media is starting to lean in that direction.</p>
<p>With the economy still&#160;on a downward trend, central banks and mainstream media are beginning to suggest&#160;that civil unrest and the disintegration of society could be on the&#160;horizon.</p>
<p>Will an interest rate rise be the economic trigger for unrest, or the remedy?</p>
<p>Here’s&#160;a breakdown of this important story in in&#160;video report from Stuart J. Hooper:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11479425/Low-rates-will-trigger-civil-unrest-as-central-banks-lose-control-BIS.html" type="external">The Telegraph</a></p>
<p>Low inflation, bond yields and interest rates around the world will push the boundaries of economic and political stability to breaking point if they continue on their downward trajectory, the Bank for International Settlements has warned.</p>
<p>The Swiss-based “bank of central banks” said the “sinking trend” of global rates would push countries further into uncharted territory.</p>
<p>It highlighted that $2.4 trillion (£1.6 trillion) of long-term global sovereign debt was now trading at negative yields, with an increasing number of investors willing to pay governments for the privilege of lending to them.</p>
<p>“As bond markets show us day after day, the boundaries of the unthinkable are exceptionally elastic,” said Claudio Borio, head of the Monetary and Economic department at the BIS.</p>
<p>“The consequences should be watched closely, as the repercussions are bound to be significant.”</p>
<p>The BIS warned that the low rate environment risked creating instability…</p>
<p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11479425/Low-rates-will-trigger-civil-unrest-as-central-banks-lose-control-BIS.html" type="external">Continue reading the full story on The Telegraph</a></p>
<p>READ MORE POLICE STATE&#160;NEWS AT:&#160; <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire Police State&#160;Files</a>&#160;–</p> | Mainstream Media: Low Interest Rates Could Cause ‘Civil Unrest’ | true | http://21stcenturywire.com/2015/03/23/mainstream-media-low-interest-rates-could-cause-civil-unrest/ | 2015-03-23 | 4 |
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<p>It’s quite rare to be part of a story on which I report, but this time, I’m at Ground Zero. My church in Gulfport, Mississippi, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Cowan-Road-Baptist-Church-118329528219106/" type="external">Cowan Road Baptist Church</a>, is the center of a growing story. In the wake of the horrific <a href="http://freedomoutpost.com/?s=paris+attacks" type="external">slaughter of at least 130 people in Paris</a> by <a href="" type="internal">Muslim demoniacs</a>, our Pastor, Chris Ashley, put a message on our church sign: “Jesus is God; Allah is Satan,” and below that, he added, “ <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=joshua+24%3A15&amp;version=KJV" type="external">Joshua 24:15</a>.”</p>
<p>It didn’t take long for Muslim spokesmen here on the Coast to voice their offense at it, and the local media have featured the offended Muslims on their newscasts. They have also interviewed Pastor Chris, as well, and as a result, there will be a debate showdown on December 5th. As <a href="http://www.wlox.com/story/30581304/gulfport-muslim-community-speaks-out-on-alleged-religious-attack" type="external">WLOX-TV reported</a> on Sunday:</p>
<p>Conversations of the marquee isn’t [sic] just on the coast, but Muslim followers as far as Atlanta have reached out to Pastor Ashley about what’s on display.</p>
<p>An Atlanta man reached out to Pastor Ashley and left a message saying, “We noticed on your sign that it says ‘Allah is Satan, Jesus is God’. We challenge you to a public debate about your statement. You all have defamed and insulted our faith, so we would like to challenge your statement ‘Allah is Satan, Jesus is God.'”</p>
<p>Pastor Ashley has called Mr. Bilal Stroud back to accept his debate challenge. They have both agreed to meet with people from their communities, Saturday, December 5th at 6 p.m. at Cowan Road Baptist Church.</p>
<p>The debate will be public and streamed online. We’re going to continue to follow this controversial story and bring you the latest.</p>
<p>I asked Pastor Chris if he would give me a statement to include in this column. Here is what he wrote:</p>
<p>God laid a message (sermon) on my heart for last Sunday the 22nd. That message was for the church to stop hiding the truth inside the walls of the church (not just this truth of Allah, but ALL truth). The body of Christ has succumbed to political correctness and fear of offending anyone, to the point we talk about the truth ONLY in the confines of the walls of the church.</p>
<p>God laid it on my heart less than 30 minutes before the beginning of that service to proclaim that Allah of the Quran is Satan, and that Jesus is the true God. I did. Finishing the sign just minutes before the service. No malice. No judging (except for Allah and Satan). No hatred. Just obedience.</p>
<p>I have NO idea why God has put me (of all people) to be in this, but my prayer is to be obedient until the end. I humbly ask for your prayers as well.</p>
<p>On a different note, I believe God has shown me over the last several days that my part of this message may not be for the Muslim people as much as it is for Christians. I am AMAZED at the number of self-proclaimed believers who think the God of the Bible and the god of the Quran are the same. May God bless you all.</p>
<p>I love and admire Chris Ashley, and I thank the Lord that he is my pastor and brother in Christ. He is a leader, a truth-teller, and he is courageous. Courage is contagious. If hundreds or even thousands of Christian churches across America had the courage to put this message on their signs, Muslim activists, along with the truth-hating, <a href="" type="internal">left-wing</a> media, would have a hard time keeping up their attacks against those of us who speak the truth.</p>
<p>What Pastor Chris wrote about Jesus and Allah is true. Islam is a political-militant ideology born in Hell and authored by Satan himself. Allah certainly is Satan. Islam is one of his master stroke creations, leading millions to an eternity in Hell. I will not bow to political correctness in this. I will not sugar-coat what I say about <a href="" type="internal">Islam</a>, because I know what a vile and evil thing it is.</p>
<p>A tenet of Islam is <a href="" type="internal">taqiyya</a>, which is lying for the sake of Islam’s spread. We cannot trust a word they say. The obscene murders committed by soldiers of Allah are commanded in their detestable Koran! And, apologists for Islam lie and claim those murders have nothing to do with Islam. All rational people know better than that!</p>
<p>Jesus is God, and He is the only way—the ONLY way—men can be saved. Muslims need Him. We all need Him. Those of us who know the truth must stand firmly against the Islamic caliphate that is sweeping across Europe and the United States. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Barack-Obama/e/B001H6OA8E/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;qid=1448553663&amp;sr=8-1&amp;tag=freedomoutpos-20&amp;linkId=QECFVA2QPBXA35T4" type="external">Barack Obama</a> (or <a href="" type="internal">whatever his name is</a>) is facilitating it. <a href="" type="internal">He is on the side of our sworn, Muslim enemies</a>, who are subversives who want to destroy our constitutional Republic, who want to kill us and enslave us under their demented Sharia law. Those are Obama’s buddies. We must resist. We must not be afraid to tell the truth about Islam and its murderous, tyrannical goals. Islam is evil, period.</p>
<p>I look forward to the debate at our church on Saturday evening, December 5th. If you are in the area of Gulfport, MS, please try to attend. Otherwise, the debate will be streamed live on the Internet and available for replay. You can check <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Cowan-Road-Baptist-Church-118329528219106/" type="external">our church’s Facebook page</a> for details on where to see it online.</p>
<p>Finally, please remember Pastor Chris Ashley, his family, and our church in your prayers. Pray that he will stand boldly in the face of the shrill voices screeching and lying about the truth he speaks. Pray for our safety, and pray that other Christian churches will begin to be unafraid to stand for the unbending truth of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;field-keywords=bible&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;tag=freedomoutpos-20&amp;url=search-alias%3Daps&amp;linkId=F5QDWUSQPUH6EWIN" type="external">God’s Word</a>. This nation desperately needs a flood of truth to wash over it.</p>
<p>Gina Miller is a native of Texas and current resident of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She is a conservative Christian political writer and radio/television voice professional. Contact her through <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006785318047" type="external">Facebook</a>.</p>
<p>Courtesy of <a href="http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/11/ms-baptist-church-sign-jesus-is-god-allah-is-satan/" type="external">Freedom Outpost</a>.</p>
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<p /> | MS Baptist Church Sign: ‘Jesus Is God; Allah is Satan’ | true | http://dcclothesline.com/2015/11/27/ms-baptist-church-sign-jesus-is-god-allah-is-satan/ | 2015-11-27 | 0 |
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<p>In 2009, at a concert marking Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday, Bruce Springsteen paid touching tribute to the influential folks singer and activist, who died yesterday at the age of 94. Here’s what he said:</p>
<p>As Pete and I traveled to Washington for President Obama’s Inaugural Celebration, he told me the entire story of “We Shall Overcome.” How it moved from a labor movement song and with Pete’s inspiration had been adapted by the civil rights movement. That day as we sang “This Land Is Your Land,” I looked at Pete, the first black president of the United States was seated to his right, and I thought of the incredible journey that Pete had taken. My own growing up in the sixties in towns scarred by race rioting made that moment nearly unbelievable and Pete had thirty extra years of struggle and real activism on his belt. He was so happy that day, it was like, Pete, you outlasted the bastards, man!…It was so nice. At rehearsals the day before, it was freezing, like 15 degrees and Pete was there; he had his flannel shirt on. I said, “Man, you better wear something besides that flannel shirt!” He says, “Yeah, I got my longjohns on under this thing.”</p>
<p>And I asked him how he wanted to approach “This Land Is Your Land.” It would be near the end of the show and all he said was, “Well, I know I want to sing all the verses, I want to sing all the ones that Woody wrote, especially the two that get left out, about private property and the relief office.” I thought, of course, that’s what Pete’s done his whole life. He sings all the verses all the time, especially the ones that we’d like to leave out of our history as a people. At some point Pete Seeger decided he’d be a walking, singing reminder of all of America’s history. He’d be a living archive of America’s music and conscience, a testament of the power of song and culture to nudge history along, to push American events towards more humane and justified ends. He would have the audacity and the courage to sing in the voice of the people, and despite Pete’s somewhat benign, grandfatherly appearance, he is a creature of a stubborn, defiant, and nasty optimism. Inside him he carries a steely toughness that belies that grandfatherly facade and it won’t let him take a step back from the things he believes in. At 90, he remains a stealth dagger through the heart of our country’s illusions about itself. Pete Seeger still sings all the verses all the time, and he reminds us of our immense failures as well as shining a light toward our better angels and the horizon where the country we’ve imagined and hold dear we hope awaits us.</p>
<p>Now on top of it, he never wears it on his sleeve. He has become comfortable and casual in this immense role. He’s funny and very eccentric. I’m gonna bring Tommy out, and the song Tommy Morello and I are about to sing I wrote in the mid-nineties and it started as a conversation I was having with myself. It was an attempt to regain my own moorings. Its last verse is the beautiful speech that Tom Joad whispers to his mother at the end of The Grapes of Wrath. “…Wherever there’s a cop beatin’ a guy Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries Where there’s a fight ‘gainst the blood and hatred in the air Look for me Mom I’ll be there.”</p>
<p>Well, Pete has always been there.</p>
<p>For me that speech is always aspirational. For Pete, it’s simply been a way of life. The singer in my song is in search of the ghost of Tom Joad. The spirit who has the guts and toughness to carry forth, to fight for and live their ideals.</p>
<p>I’m happy to report that spirit, the very ghost of Tom Joad is with us in the flesh tonight. He’ll be on this stage momentarily, he’s gonna look an awful lot like your granddad who wears flannel shirts and funny hats. He’s gonna look like your granddad if your granddad could kick your ass. This is for Pete….</p>
<p>And here’s a statement from President Barack Obama on Seeger’s passing:</p>
<p>Once called “America’s tuning fork,” Pete Seeger believed deeply in the power of song. But more importantly, he believed in the power of community—to stand up for what’s right, speak out against what’s wrong, and move this country closer to the America he knew we could be. Over the years, Pete used his voice—and his hammer—to strike blows for worker’s rights and civil rights; world peace and environmental conservation.&#160; And he always invited us to sing along. For reminding us where we come from and showing us where we need to go, we will always be grateful to Pete Seeger. Michelle and I send our thoughts and prayers to Pete’s family and all those who loved him.</p>
<p /> | Springsteen Pays Tribute to Seeger | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/springsteen-pays-tribute-seeger/ | 2014-01-28 | 4 |
<p>The <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6317a2.htm" type="external">U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)</a> confirmed that 22 individuals that got sick in October 2012 had gotten sick as a result of being exposed to bacteria after a muddy obstacle course race.&#160; After three active duty military personnel presented at their Air Force base emergency department with fever, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea, public health officials were notified.&#160; Another 19 individuals, both civilian and military, were then identified with similar symptoms.</p>
<p>Officials confirmed that they had a Campylobacter coli infection that was likely the result of falling face first into mud, having their heads submerged into surface water, or accidentally ingesting muddy water.&#160; After conducting a controlled study, the CDC is encouraging race organizers and public health agencies to inform attendees of the hazards related to ingesting muddy water by accident.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.kwtx.com/news/health/headlines/CDC--Muddy-Obstacle-Courses-Can-Make-You-Sick-257719651.html" type="external">KWTX</a>, the race that sparked this outbreak was a Tough Mudder, but similar races carry the same threat of infection.&#160; Adventure races in the U.S. attract about 1.5 million participants annually.&#160; <a href="http://www.mensfitness.com/training/endurance/tough-mudders-new-obstacles-2014" type="external">Men’s Fitness</a> reports that these obstacles are popular with a variety of people, especially those seeking a thrill.&#160; One of the newest obstacles include a “human pyramid,” which uses a chain of arms and legs from contestants working together to get over a 12-foot high slanted wall.</p>
<p>Still, new obstacles present the same risks of infection as old ones.&#160; In fact, this year Tough Mudder has introduced “Vesuvius,” a two-story high slide with a wall of fire that lands in a pool of cold mud and water.&#160; It would be difficult for participants to not go completely underwater, increasing the risk for accidentally ingesting some murky water.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000224.htm" type="external">MedlinePlus</a> reports that Campylobacter is a common source of intestinal infection.&#160; It is one of the common sources of food poisoning and traveler’s diarrhea.&#160; Most often, an infection comes from contaminated food or water, raw poultry, fresh produce, or unpasteurized milk.&#160; However, it is also possible for an infected person or animal to pass it onto another person or animal.</p>
<p /> | Muddy obstacle courses may cause bacterial infection | false | http://natmonitor.com/2014/05/05/muddy-obstacle-courses-may-cause-bacterial-infection/ | 2014-05-05 | 3 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Albuquerque-based CSI Aviation, a 35-year-old aviation services company, is about to become a manufacturer of low-cost surveillance aircraft following its acquisition of Australian firm Seabird Aviation.</p>
<p>Seeker America, a subsidiary of CSI that formed in 2005 to market Seabird planes in the Western Hemisphere, acquired the Australian firm for an undisclosed price March 24, said CSI President and Chief Operating Officer William "Rock" Collins.</p>
<p>"We originally formed Seeker America as a sort of franchise with rights to make and sell the planes in the Americas, but with the economy in such bad shape, we decided to put those plans on hold," Collins told the Journal. "Now, the economy is better and many agencies are looking to acquire an observation plane at an affordable price, so ultimately the franchise company Seeker has bought out the original aircraft manufacturer."</p>
<p>The Seabird planes, called Seeker 360 Alphas, offer surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities similar to helicopters but at a fraction of the cost, Collins said.</p>
<p>The plane has a high, fixed wing with a rear-mounted "pusher" engine and a helicopterlike cockpit that allows for 270-degree visibility. It's designed with docile handling characteristics that allow for safe, low-speed stall capability and easy maneuverability, increasing pilots' situational awareness. It's also easily configured to accommodate a variety of surveillance and sensor equipment.</p>
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<p>Depending on the configuration requested by customers, the plane sells for under $500,000, Collins said. For comparison, a helicopter not only could be more expensive but cost nearly 10 times more to operate than the Seeker plane, he said.</p>
<p>Manufacturing temporarily will remain in Australia, where the company has capacity to produce 12 planes per year. But CSI will relocate the manufacturing operation to the U.S. within 18 months.</p>
<p>"When we move it, we'll create much greater production capacity," Collins said. "We haven't made any decisions yet, but we will definitely consider locating it in New Mexico."</p>
<p>CSI was formed in 1979 by Allen Weh, former chairman of the New Mexico Republican Party and a candidate for the U.S. Senate in this year's elections.</p>
<p>The company provides a range of aviation services to corporations and government agencies, including air charters, aircraft leasing and aircraft purchases. It currently employs 30 people in Albuquerque, where both CSI and Seeker Aviation remain headquartered.</p> | CSI Aviation acquires Australian aircraft maker | false | https://abqjournal.com/380833/csi-aviation-acquires-australian-aircraft-maker.html | 2014-04-08 | 2 |
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<p>Image source: Spectra Energy.</p>
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<p>The stock market's historical September slump failed to materialize again on Monday, and major market benchmarks posted another set of modest gains that sent the Nasdaq Composite to a new all-time record high. To some extent, the market appeared to remain on hold as investors wait for the next move from the Federal Reserve, which will meet later this month to determine whether to move with greater haste toward raising short-term interest rates. The Fed watch also puts a different spin on certain events, with today's weak reading on purchasing-manager activity suggesting that the central bank might wait until later to hike rates. In any event, some individual stocks posted much larger gains than the overall market, and Spectra Energy (NYSE: SE), Barnes &amp; Noble (NYSE: BKS), and 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) were among the best performers of the day.</p>
<p>Spectra Energy jumped 13% after the company announced that industry peer Enbridge (NYSE: ENB) would buy the energy infrastructure company in a $28 billion deal. The all-stock deal will create the largest pipeline and infrastructure company in North America, and the two companies said that they anticipated a 15% annualized dividend increase in 2017 following the merger. Under the terms of the deal, Spectra shareholders will get 98.4 shares of Enbridge for every 100 shares of Spectra they own. In the eyes of Spectra CEO Greg Ebel, who will become chairman of Enbridge following the deal, the merger will create "what we believe is the finest platform for serving customers in every region of North America." With complementary assets, the combined entity would bring together pipelines delivering both liquids and gas as well as a regulated utility portfolio and renewable power generation within a single stock.</p>
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<p>Barnes &amp; Noble climbed 10% in the wake of favorable comments in Barron's over the weekend. The news publication argued that the bookseller has done a good job of overcoming some of the challenges facing the brick-and-mortar retail industry, and a dividend yield of more than 5% compensates income investors quite highly compared to most stocks in the market. Even though the company has many investors believing that it's in a dying industry, Barnes &amp; Noble has done a better job than most people recognize in staying profitable, and those who follow the stock closely see impressive earnings growth over the next couple of years despite stagnant revenue. Often, a news publication is the catalyst for a stock rebound, and Barnes &amp; Noble definitely benefited from that phenomenon Monday.</p>
<p>Finally, 3D Systems rose 6%. Industrial giant General Electric (NYSE: GE) made acquisitions of some of 3D Systems' peers in the 3D printing business, including companies in Sweden and Germany. The move, which cost GE $1.4 billion, was designed to further the company's "strategy to become the premier digital industrial company," in the words of CEO Jeff Immelt. Given the move today, some investors clearly think that 3D Systems will either benefit from increased interest in the 3D printing space or will eventually find itself a takeover target of some other, larger company. Whether that happens remains to be seen, but as long as M&amp;A rumors persist, 3D Systems could continue to see occasional pops upward in response.</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx" type="external">Dan Caplinger Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Spectra Energy. The Motley Fool owns shares of Barnes and Noble and General Electric. The Motley Fool recommends 3D Systems. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why Spectra Energy, Barnes & Noble, and 3D Systems Jumped Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/09/06/why-spectra-energy-barnes-noble-and-3d-systems-jumped-today.html | 2016-09-06 | 0 |
<p>JOHANNESBURG (AP) - Olympian Oscar Pistorius, in jail for murdering his girlfriend, was bruised in an altercation with another inmate over telephone use, a South African prison spokesman confirmed Tuesday.</p>
<p>Pistorius sustained a minor injury in an alleged assault at the Attridgevill Correctional Centre last week, Singabakho Nxumalo of the Department of Correctional Services told The Associated Press. Pistorius had a medical checkup and was found to have a bruise, said Nxumalo, who added that the incident is being investigated.</p>
<p>"The injury is minor but we at the department take incidents like this seriously and want to prevent any altercations," said Nxumalo.</p>
<p>The disagreement broke out between Pistorius and another inmate over use of a public telephone, he said.</p>
<p>Pistorius, a double amputee runner who won worldwide acclaim winning in the Paralympics and competing in the Olympics, is serving a 13-year sentence for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius shot her dead in his home on Valentine's Day 2013 and claimed he thought she was an intruder.</p>
<p>JOHANNESBURG (AP) - Olympian Oscar Pistorius, in jail for murdering his girlfriend, was bruised in an altercation with another inmate over telephone use, a South African prison spokesman confirmed Tuesday.</p>
<p>Pistorius sustained a minor injury in an alleged assault at the Attridgevill Correctional Centre last week, Singabakho Nxumalo of the Department of Correctional Services told The Associated Press. Pistorius had a medical checkup and was found to have a bruise, said Nxumalo, who added that the incident is being investigated.</p>
<p>"The injury is minor but we at the department take incidents like this seriously and want to prevent any altercations," said Nxumalo.</p>
<p>The disagreement broke out between Pistorius and another inmate over use of a public telephone, he said.</p>
<p>Pistorius, a double amputee runner who won worldwide acclaim winning in the Paralympics and competing in the Olympics, is serving a 13-year sentence for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius shot her dead in his home on Valentine's Day 2013 and claimed he thought she was an intruder.</p> | Oscar Pistorius bruised in a jail fight over telephone use | false | https://apnews.com/amp/332f605ad7754e0ba230e16b5aa19e6c | 2017-12-12 | 2 |
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<p>If Tesla wants to be a big player in energy storage, it may need SolarCity's help. Image source: Tesla Motors.</p>
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<p>There have been a number of reasons given about why Tesla Motors' (NASDAQ: TSLA) should acquire SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY) and make a vertically integrated renewable energy company. One argument is that Tesla's retail footprint will help sell more solar power systems. Another is that a combined company will make it easier to integrate solar with energy storage.</p>
<p>I think the real driver of this proposed merger is much bigger than those early synergies. It gets at the future residential energy storage market and how solar will both be sold to customers and be compensated for by utilities. Residential energy storage may take years to become a big business, but Tesla might need control of SolarCity for it to succeed.</p>
<p>When rooftop solar came on the scene, it was driven by two relatively simple concepts. The first was net metering, which allowed customers to export any excess solar energy they generated during the day to the grid at the same value as the power they pulled from it, and only pay for their net consumption each month. This created a mechanism solar companies could use to show cost savings for customers.</p>
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<p>After cost savings were defined, customers could be sold solar with a lease or power purchase agreement that reduced their electric bills each month. Installers could then finance those contracted cash flows to make the installation profitable. Net metering led to financing, which led to significant residential solar growth. This business model innovation was key to the evolution of the residential solar industry as we know it today.</p>
<p>A Tesla energy storage system in California, which is testing the value creation models of energy storage. Image by the author.</p>
<p>Energy storage doesn't have the same savings or compensation structure today, especially for individual homeowners. That isn't to say that energy storage isn't valuable. It can provide a way to store energy generated by a solar power system during daytime hours for use later, provide backup or peak power to reduce the need to built expensive peaker plant, and even reduce the need to run transmission and distribution lines, because it's a distributed asset close to demand sources. There's a lot of value in energy storage, but it's very difficult to calculate a return on investment for those values. Plus, the benefits generally accrue to the companies operating the grid, not the homeowners themselves.</p>
<p>What's becoming evident is that utilities and regulators are starting to see the value of energy storage, and are willing to pay for that value. In New York, a power company was able to delay a $1 billion substation upgrade partly by investing $200 million in customer-side energy management, including energy storage. In California, 50 MW of energy storage is being rushed into service to help offset the impact of the massive Aliso Canyon natural gas leak. Value streams for energy storage will continue to emerge as utilities and regulators adapt rate structures and figure out how to put a dollar value on storage.</p>
<p>The challenge for homeowners is translating the value of energy storage into compensation for their investment. The kind of business model innovation that took solar mainstream needs to take place in energy storage. And that's where Tesla needs SolarCity's massive network of customers.</p>
<p>The valuable aspect of energy storage to utilities won't be in the batteries themselves -- those are just simple commodities. The value will be in the network of batteries that could be used as assets at a moment's notice. If a homeowner in California had a Tesla Powerwall in their home, there wouldn't be a great way to generate value, but if 100,000 Powerwalls were in SolarCity customers' homes, the utility would see a lot of value. Batteries could be used in peak summer hours to reduce peak power plant costs, could take energy off the grid when there was a surge, and could even perform arbitrage when prices are high or low.</p>
<p>So the value is in the network of batteries and the algorithms that control the network. Tesla has the battery, but SolarCity has the ability to build the network. Musk needs to combine them to create value in energy storage. Otherwise, Tesla is selling a commodity battery to whoever wants it, with little control over the value streams that come from the energy storage system itself.</p>
<p>It makes sense that Tesla/SolarCity could build a network of thousands, or even millions, of residential energy storage systems and provide a lot of value to utilities and regulators in the process. This could then create a business model that would allow them to finance energy storage systems with the same type of $0-down model that was so successful in solar. The pieces to create a successful business are there.</p>
<p>The question is if SolarCity's scale is helpful and if regulators will make rules open enough that a network of batteries would be able to provide services to the grid? Potentially, commodity batteries could be installed, and the control algorithm that communicates with the utility and makes money could be run by a tech start-up that doesn't have any installation staff at all.</p>
<p>What Musk is betting on with his plan to merge Tesla and SolarCity is that the network of sales people and installers will be key to building the scale needed to add value in energy storage. It worked in solar. Could it work again in energy storage? That's the billion-dollar question.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2692&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFFlushDraw/info.aspx" type="external">Travis Hoium Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends SolarCity and Tesla Motors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | The Real Reason Tesla Needs to Buy SolarCity | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/10/28/real-reason-tesla-needs-to-buy-solarcity.html | 2016-10-28 | 0 |
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<p>SolaranRX Inc. has closed on an exclusive option to license the technology, which was developed by Dr. Yubin Miao, associate professor at UNM’s pharmaceutical sciences and dermatology departments.</p>
<p>The technology is based on a peptide that binds to melanoma cells. Doctors can load it up with imaging and therapeutic radionuclides to assess the spread of the melanoma, and then target the tumors for treatment, said Stuart Rose, co-founder of the company and founder of the BioScience Center in Uptown, where SolaranRX is based.</p>
<p>“It’s a peptide that attaches only to melanoma cells,” Rose said. “You inject it with the equivalent of a light bulb attached to it to illuminate the tumor areas, and then you do a body scan to see where the cancer is and assess if it has expanded beyond the skin. The peptide is then re-injected with radioactive pharmaceuticals to specifically kill the melanoma cells without killing neighboring cells.”</p>
<p>Melanoma is one of the most deadly forms of skin cancer. It accounts for only about 2 percent of all skin cancer cases, but it accounts for the majority of deaths. Once it spreads, Melanoma has a 90 percent mortality rate over five years.</p>
<p>About one million people in the U.S. now have the disease. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2014 alone, 76,000 people will be diagnosed with melanoma, and 9,700 will die.</p>
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<p>The cancer is particularly common in the U.S. Southwest, because of the region’s high elevation and abundance of sun radiation on the skin, said Lisa Kuuttila, president and CEO of the Science and Technology Corp., UNM’s tech-transfer office.</p>
<p>“This technology has potential for an efficient and effective way to treat a disease that is deadly if not caught in its early stages,” Kuuttila said. “SolaranRX’s management team has a wealth of experience bringing promising technologies to patients. We will strongly support their commercialization efforts.”</p>
<p>The company is now raising $3 million from private investors, said co-founder and CEO Les Stewart. That will allow SolaranRX to manufacture more of the needed peptide and radiopharmaceuticals, followed by the first clinical studies.</p>
<p>Miao’s research has already established proof of concept in laboratory testing on mice, Stewart said. The clinical studies will set the company on a path to approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which could take five to seven years.</p> | UNM creates new melanoma therapy | false | https://abqjournal.com/460523/unm-creates-new-melanoma-therapy.html | 2 |
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<p>While Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders <a href="" type="internal">get most of the attention nowadays</a> as it relates to the Democratic party, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is still probably the most popular person&#160;in&#160;the entire party. I fully believe had she run for president she would have ran away with the nomination - and I don't think it would have even been close.</p>
<p>Sorry Hillary and Bernie folks, that's just the truth.</p>
<p>But she didn't, which means we're all still privileged to have her <a href="" type="internal">as a leading voice in the Senate</a> where I am certain she will continue her build on her already impressive legacy of bringing about sweeping changes to the Democratic party and this country.</p>
<p>Well, on Tuesday night shortly after Donald Trump was declared the winner in Indiana and <a href="" type="internal">Ted Cruz officially ended his campaign</a>, Warren absolutely went off on Trump, the Republican party and just how pathetic it is that he's going to be their presidential nominee.</p>
<p>Here's what she posted on&#160; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethWarren/?fref=ts" type="external">Facebook</a>:</p>
<p>Donald Trump is now the leader of the Republican Party. It's real - he is one step away from the White House. Here's what else is real:</p>
<p>Trump has built his campaign on racism, sexism, and xenophobia. There's more enthusiasm for him among leaders of the KKK than leaders of the political party he now controls. He incites supporters to violence, praises Putin, and, according to a columnist who recently interviewed him, is "cool with being called an authoritarian" and doesn't mind associations with history's worst dictators.</p>
<p>He attacks veterans like John McCain who were captured and puts our servicemembers at risk by cheerleading illegal torture. In a world with ISIS militants and leaders like North Korean strongman Kim Jong-Un conducting nuclear tests, he surrounds himself with a foreign policy team that has been called a "collection of charlatans," and puts out contradictory and nonsensical national security ideas one expert recently called "incoherent" and "truly bizarre."</p>
<p>What happens next will test the character for all of us - Republican, Democrat, and Independent. It will determine whether we move forward as one nation or splinter at the hands of one man's narcissism and divisiveness. I know which side I'm on, and I'm going to fight my heart out to make sure Donald Trump's toxic stew of hatred and insecurity never reaches the White House.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">I love this woman</a>.</p>
<p>Her rant was short, direct and absolutely on-point.</p>
<p>It's great that she decided to focus on what an absolute joke it is that <a href="" type="internal">someone like Donald Trump</a> has managed to become the "face" of one of our country's two major political parties. It was awesome how she went after everything from the fact that the KKK has openly embraced him, to his praise of Putin, all the way to the fact that he's insecure and surrounds himself with absolute fools&#160;who are pretending to act as if they're experts on certain subjects.</p>
<p>Though I think a lot of Democrats are elated with the fact that Trump is going to be the GOP candidate. Nothing is a "sure thing," but it's never a good sign when members of your own party are <a href="" type="internal">seemingly rooting for you to lose</a> just so you don't destroy their party as president.</p>
<p>After reading Elizabeth Warren's amazing summary of Donald Trump being the Republican nominee for president, all I can say is one thing: I'm damn glad she's on our side.&#160;</p>
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<p><a href="" type="internal">After Clinton Endorsement, Rabid Sanders Supporters Trash Elizabeth Warren on Social Media</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Some Bernie Sanders Supporters are Now Bashing, Harassing and Attacking Elizabeth Warren</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">'Fraud, Sell Out': Some of Bernie Sanders' Supporters are Now Turning on Him</a></p>
<p>0 Facebook comments</p> | Elizabeth Warren Absolutely Shreds 'Leader of GOP' Donald Trump in Epic Rant | true | http://forwardprogressives.com/elizabeth-warren-goes-off-on-epic-rant-following-donald-trump-becoming-face-of-gop/ | 2016-05-05 | 4 |
<p>The following is an excerpt from No Labels: A Shared Vision for a Stronger America:&#160;“There are plenty of members on both sides of the aisle who want&#160;to get beyond this trench warfare. It will require members of Congress who are not afraid to step out of their comfort zones and who are prepared to deal with a backlash for participating in a consensus-driven process for the good of the country.” &#160;— Rep. Charlie Dent.</p>
<p>You can buy the book <a href="" type="internal">here</a>.</p> | No Labels Voices: Book Excerpt | false | https://nolabels.org/blog/no-labels-voices-book-excerpt-5/ | 2014-01-16 | 2 |
<p>For the first time, astronomers have watched a space rock in the main asteroid belt crumble to bits, thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope and a little advance planning.</p>
<p>"Seeing this rock fall apart before our eyes is pretty amazing," UCLA's David Jewitt, who led the cosmic forensics team, said in a <a href="http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/astronomers-witness-for-first-267302.aspx" type="external">news release issued Thursday</a>.</p>
<p>Jewitt and his colleagues first noticed the fuzzy, dusty object now known as P/2013 R3 in September, and followed up with observing time on Hubble over the months that followed. <a href="http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2014/15" type="external">Hubble imagery</a> revealed 10 rocky objects embedded in a dusty envelope that's nearly as wide as Earth. The largest fragment is estimated at up to 400 yards (meters) wide, and each of the objects has a coma and a cometlike tail of dust.</p>
<p>The fragments are drifting away from each other at a speed of roughly 1 mph (1.6 kilometers per hour). That slow disintegration suggests that the asteroid has fallen prey to what's known as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarkovsky%E2%80%93O%27Keefe%E2%80%93Radzievskii%E2%80%93Paddack_effect" type="external">YORP effect</a>. Subtle differences in the absorption of sunlight cause the asteroid's rotation rate to rev up. The resulting centrifugal force puts added stress on the asteroid's loosely bound structure, causing it to crumble like a dry cookie.</p>
<p>Last year, Jewitt and other astronomers spotted <a href="" type="internal">an asteroid that sprouted six cometlike tails</a> — apparently due to a similar effect involving solar radiation pressure. They're starting to think this is one of the principal ways in which small asteroids bite the dust, so to speak. Eventually, they expect P/2013 R3's estimated 200,000 tons of debris to turn into myriads of meteoroids — some of which may blaze across Earth's skies as meteors.</p>
<p>The research was published online Thursday in <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205/784/1/L8" type="external">Astrophysical Journal Letters</a>. In addition to Jewitt, the authors of <a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1403.1237" type="external">"Disintegrating Asteroid P/2013 R3"</a> include Jessica Agarwal, Jing Li, Harold Weaver, Max Mutchler and Stephen Larson.</p> | Hubble Telescope Watches Asteroid Whirl Itself to Pieces | false | http://nbcnews.com/science/space/hubble-telescope-watches-asteroid-whirl-itself-pieces-n46626 | 2014-03-07 | 3 |
<p>The 10 schools slated to pilot a merit pay and professional development program for teachers this fall have given the edge to their own faculties when hiring lead teachers for the initiative, according to interviews with principals.</p>
<p>At nine schools Catalyst spoke with, 10 of 13 lead teachers already hired came from within school faculties.</p>
<p>Schools are still hiring for the pilot, which will include 17 lead teachers and 32 mentor teachers, says Sylvia Flowers, senior manager for the program.</p>
<p>Based on the well-regarded Teacher Advancement Program, Chicago’s merit pay initiative will provide training, coaching and mentoring for teachers, and a career ladder. The lead and mentor teachers are the linchpin of the program. After this year’s test run with 10 schools, another 30 will join over the next four years. The pilot is funded with a $27.5 million federal grant and is the largest such experiment with performance pay in the country. (See Catalyst, December 2006.)</p>
<p>At Gresham Elementary, Principal Diedrus Brown interviewed three outsiders as well as three of her own teachers for two lead teacher positions. In the end, she chose two of her veterans, both “well-respected in the school” and already serving as leaders, she says.</p>
<p>All the candidates were “outstanding,” Brown says, but she preferred her own teachers. “I was more familiar with them and their skills,” she says. “If there was a possibility that I could work with an outside candidate to build a relationship, I might have selected a lead from outside.”</p>
<p>At Cameron Elementary, Principal David Kovach interviewed 10 teachers from outside his school, as well as insiders, for three lead teacher positions. So far, he has filled two of the slots: one of his own teachers and a teacher from Kohn Elementary in Roseland.</p>
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<p>All the candidates were initially screened by Flowers and the manager for professional development, Stacy Hunt. Flowers was director of teacher training and development in Wilmington, Delaware before joining CPS. Hunt was a principal in Gary, Indiana.</p>
<p>A chance to grow</p>
<p>The mentor and lead teachers will coach and observe their colleagues, conduct meetings, analyze student performance data to determine what skills teachers need to emphasize in their instruction and ensure the school’s achievement goals are being met. Mentor teachers will continue to teach, but lead teachers will be freed of classroom duties and will assist the principal with supervising the program. Mentors will receive $7,000 in additional pay; lead teachers, $15,000.</p>
<p>A leadership team at each school—comprised of the principal, assistant principal and lead and mentor teachers—will implement the program. In July, teams from four participating schools attended a weeklong training on team members’ roles, classroom observation and how to analyze performance data. They also learned how to create individual plans for each teacher at a school to help them improve instruction.</p>
<p>LEARN Charter Principal Courtney Francis says the training was “comprehensive and specific,” adding that the program is “a great opportunity for growth. [Teaching is] one of the few professions that haven’t had much of that.”</p>
<p>The Teacher Advancement Program, known as TAP, is overseen by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching. Todd White, senior vice president of training at the Institute, says the goal is to give teachers a new mindset focused on improved performance.</p>
<p>Says White, “You are changing the way you think, which will change the way you act.”</p> | Merit pay program gets ready to debut | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/merit-pay-program-gets-ready-debut/ | 2007-08-24 | 3 |
<p>Dear Mr Mckesson,</p>
<p>As the social justice caucus within the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, we were surprised to see that you are <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/924338434269582/" type="external">coming to Philadelphia</a> to speak alongside leaders of Teach For America (TFA). The Caucus of Working Educators is committed to racial justice in our schools and society, and we stand in solidarity with the&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Black Lives Matter&#160;movement</a>.</p>
<p>We see Teach For America&#160;as <a href="" type="internal">working in opposition</a> to the goals of publicly funded education for all students in Philadelphia and to the goal of increasing the number of teachers of color and teachers who are committed to building relationships with communities over the long term, which we see as an integral component of culturally responsive teaching.</p>
<p>We view the <a href="" type="internal">hiring</a> of cadres of racial, cultural, and geographical outsiders with very little teaching preparation as part of a larger neoliberal effort to privatize education and replace unionized teachers (many of whom are teachers of color) with young, inexperienced teachers (most of whom are white and do not intend to stay in the teaching profession and commit to the long-term improvement of their teaching practice).</p>
<p>This practice of displacing African-American teachers, in particular, is already underway. While Philadelphia’s teaching force increased by 13 percent from 2001–2011, the percentage of black teachers dropped by 19 percent. This has contributed to Philadelphia having the greatest disparity between the race and ethnicity of the student body and those who teach them. Only 31 percent of Philadelphia teachers are of color compared to 86 percent of the student body they are teaching. This is unacceptable.</p>
<p>TFA has ties and parallels with the charter school movement, which we see as <a href="" type="internal">undercutting</a> public education. The mass charterization of public neighborhood schools has led to the outsourcing of public school management to private operators. Just weeks ago Philadelphia Public Schools <a href="http://thenotebook.org/blog/159087/philly-src-meeting-dominated-charter-conversion-critics" type="external">announced</a> yet another wave of school closures and conversions of public schools into charter schools affecting upwards of five thousand&#160;students. This is in addition to the twenty-three&#160;public schools that were closed in Philadelphia in 2013.</p>
<p>The decision to turn a district school into a charter is often made by the highest levels of administration without consulting with the school community, including parents, teachers, students, and leaders. Your support of Teach For America represents a support of these same kinds of outsourced and contracted paradigms for educating our children.</p>
<p>Rather than hiring experienced professionals that will stay in the profession for a long period of time, Teach For America hires individuals with little or no experience in classroom settings via external channels such as private universities and corporately sponsored recruitment. Teach For America and charter schools both represent a failure of public leadership to lead and create change in our public schools, and prioritize outsourcing teaching and school governance over public responsibility to realize every student’s right to a fully funded, culturally relevant education in their neighborhood.</p>
<p>Instead, TFA contributes to the dangerous and misleading discourse <a href="" type="internal">that claims</a> poverty and structural inequality have little to no impact on educational outcomes. This irresponsible explanation provides Democrats and Republicans alike with a pretext to continue vicious budget cuts to public services and institutions under the guise that “personal responsibility” and “grit” are the main factors in determining a child’s success or failure.</p>
<p>We live and work in a state that has the largest funding disparity between wealthy and poor districts and in a city whose externally appointed school governance commission is proposing to continue to close down schools that primarily serve low-income African-American families. In Philadelphia, where 79 percent of the city’s students are black and Latino, $9,299 is spent per pupil compared to the $17, 261 spent just across the city line in Lower Merion, where 91 percent of the students are white. This is the civil rights crisis of our generation.</p>
<p>In this context, we believe that it is essential that those who are committed to racial justice take a critical stance against organizations that aim to further privatize education and/or replace fully prepared unionized teachers with underprepared novices who are likely to leave teaching in two to three years.</p>
<p>The Black Lives Matter movement has served as an inspiration and instruction on how to confront racism and inequality throughout our country. Part of that inspiration is the way that the movement has looked at the connections between police violence and racism and other inequalities faced by African Americans.</p>
<p>We consider the attacks on public education to be a part of the “state-sanctioned violence” that the movement has done so much to highlight over the last year. We do not believe that the white billionaires that bankroll Teach For America and the corporate education reform movement are any more interested in the education of poor and working-class black and Latino children than we believe they are interested in ending police violence in black and brown communities. If they were, these crises would no longer exist.</p>
<p>We are glad that you are visiting Philadelphia, and we hope that you will use your platform to engage in a critical dialogue about whether TFA supports — or as we believe undercuts — the goals of a fully funded education for every student in Philadelphia with teachers who know their community and are committed to staying for the long haul.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>Members of the Caucus of Working Educators Racial Justice Committee</p> | An Open Letter to DeRay Mckesson | true | https://jacobinmag.com/2015/10/black-lives-matter-teach-for-america/ | 2018-10-04 | 4 |
<p>The ride-sharing service Uber X has entered the Philadelphia market, running up against the same kind of opposition from regulators it has faced in cities around the country.</p>
<p>The Philadelphia Parking Authority, which regulates taxi service, has accused Uber X of operating a "hack" taxi service with unlicensed, unregulated drivers. The agency has impounded 15 vehicles and slapped each driver with a $1,000 fine since the service started recently.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Uber has muscled its way onto taxicabs' turf, sparking controversy in cities such as Washington, D.C., Chicago and Miami as regulators try to decide how, or if, the company should operate and the taxi industry seeks to protect drivers' livelihoods.</p>
<p>"Uber has no license to be here. They're operating as hack cabs," parking authority director Vincent Fenerty said Wednesday. "If the Legislature changed the law, where people could ride-share, and set the proper guidelines ... the PPA would abide by (that)."</p>
<p>The state's Public Utility Commission was expected to vote Thursday on Uber X's application to operate in other parts of Pennsylvania on a two-year "experimental" license. The designation is meant to address new ride-sharing platforms hosted by Uber, Lyft and others.</p>
<p>Uber spokesman Taylor Bennett called Uber a technology company, not a transportation company.</p>
<p>"The rules and regulations out there, they were built decades ago," Bennett said. "We've been trying to craft new regulations that actually apply to this business model, that welcome more choice into the city, and give people opportunities to start their own companies."</p>
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<p>Riders use Uber's smartphone app to seek out independent drivers using their own cars. Uber does not own the vehicles or employ the drivers, but instead "partners" with them, and takes 20 percent of their earnings.</p>
<p>The company started about four years ago in San Francisco and now operates in 230 cities worldwide, Bennett said.</p>
<p>The Uber X service started in Philadelphia in recent weeks despite failed talks to win approval from Fenerty's agency. Uber has been paying the drivers' fines, Bennett said.</p>
<p>"Uber Black" and "Uber SUV" drivers have been operating legally with limousine licenses for about two years in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and elsewhere.</p>
<p>"The cars I've been in have been immaculately clean," said Philadelphia lawyer Richard J. Fuschino Jr. "It was cheaper, and cleaner and nicer."</p>
<p>The statewide Uber X application has attracted fervent opposition from the state's taxi industry and others. Administrative law judges reviewing the file for the PUC recommend that the board reject the experimental license, citing safety and insurance concerns.</p>
<p>Uber X "has failed to propose adequate insurance, education and training for (its) drivers, its passengers and the general public, and it leaves unanswered several crucial insurance-related issues," law judges Mary D. Long and Jeffrey A. Watson wrote in a lengthy opinion.</p>
<p>Uber insists that its drivers go through thorough background checks, and that it offers passengers $1 million insurance coverage per ride.</p>
<p>The company's fluid pricing plan is another source of concern, and occasional ire. Prices surge at peak times, such as during snowstorm or outside an NFL arena after a game - occasionally leaving riders on the hook for hundreds of dollars for even short rides.</p>
<p>Bennett said that is an "incentive for more drivers to get out and meet that demand. That brings prices down to normal levels. It's purely supply and demand."</p> | Ride-sharing service seeks OK for non-limo rides as Philadelphia impounds cars, issues fines | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/11/13/ride-sharing-service-seeks-ok-for-non-limo-rides-as-philadelphia-impounds-cars.html | 2016-03-09 | 0 |
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<p>The panel sent more than a dozen letters to “organizations, agencies and officials” on Friday, asking them to preserve materials related to the congressional investigation, according to a Senate aide, who was not authorized to comment publicly. The Senate Intelligence Committee is spearheading the most comprehensive probe on Capitol Hill of Russia’s alleged activities in the elections.</p>
<p>The letters went out the same day that FBI Director James Comey huddled for almost two hours with the committee’s Senate members in a closed-door briefing in the Capitol. Senators emerged from that meeting especially tight-lipped about what transpired, with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., breaking the silence by tweeting the next day that he was “now very confident” the committee “will conduct thorough bipartisan investigation of #Putin interference and influence.”</p>
<p>The committee’s missives came just days after Trump asked Michael Flynn for his resignation as national security adviser, after the revelation that he misled Vice President Pence about his communications with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, between Trump’s election and inauguration. Flynn’s departure prompted an outcry among lawmakers for closer scrutiny of his contact with Kislyak.</p>
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<p>Democrats in particular are demanding a full record of documents and transcripts pertaining to the Flynn call, in which intelligence officials say he discussed sanctions on Russia, “before they destroy them,” as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., put it.</p>
<p>The Senate aide would not clarify whether the letters were sent specifically to individuals affiliated with Trump. And White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that just because Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., sent a letter, it “doesn’t mean that there’s anything there. It just means they need to do some things that satisfy their committee, that they’ve looked into something.”</p>
<p>The questions from Capitol Hill display differences in the way congressional investigations into Russia’s alleged actions in the 2016 elections are proceeding on opposite sides of the Capitol.</p>
<p>Republicans have not been as vocal in their suspicions of wrongdoing as have Democrats. At the same time, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee are praising Burr for working with ranking Democrat Mark Warner, Va., to investigate all aspects of alleged Russian intervention in the elections and Flynn’s departure.</p>
<p>On the Senate Judiciary Committee, top-ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein, Calif., credited Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, last week for coming up with the plan to send a joint letter to Comey asking for a briefing and all transcripts and documents of Flynn’s calls with Kislyak.</p>
<p>Feinstein, as a member of the Intelligence Committee, attended Comey’s briefing Friday.</p>
<p>But in the House, proceedings are trailing the Senate – and similar efforts to demand documents and transcripts are noticeably one-sided.</p>
<p>Last week, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence said that it would be open to probing Flynn’s contacts with Russian officials as part of its greater investigation into alleged Russian interference in the elections. But the day after Republican and Democratic leaders reached that decision, Democrats were alone in asking administration officials for the transcript of Flynn’s calls.</p>
<p>“It’s a bipartisan request in the Senate,” Adam Schiff, Calif., the committee’s ranking Democrat, said in an interview. “But we could not get agreement on that.”</p> | Senate Intelligence Committee asks for Russia-related records to be preserved | false | https://abqjournal.com/954540/senate-intelligence-committee-asks-for-russia-related-records-to-be-preserved.html | 2 |
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<p>The President of the United States left Washington, D.C. this Saturday, but didn’t head south to his luxury Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach as usual. Instead Donald Trump went up to Pennsylvania to deliver a campaign speech on behalf of Rick Saccone, who is at risk of losing to Democrat Conner Lamb next Tuesday in a district that Trump won by twenty points. The rally was reminiscent of Trump’s aimless campaign speeches in 2016 where he pontificated like a mad evangelist for an hour or more.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/NewsCorpse/posts/2069608633053921" type="external" /></p>
<p>In keeping with his practice of shrieking sermonizing, Trump made a point of attacking what he considers the the scourge of his existence: the media (video below). He rattled off the sort of derogatory slander that would ordinarily be reserved for bitter enemies of all that is righteous. It was a storm of damnation, both personal and broadly general.</p>
<p>For instance, Trump lashed out at NBC’s Meet the Press calling it “A show now headed by sleepy eyes Chuck Todd. He’s a sleeping son of a bitch, I’ll tell ya.” Remember, this speech was at a daytime rally with children present. He also went after an unnamed “certain anchor on CNN” who he said was “fake as hell, CNN. The worst. So fake. Fake news.” And he wasn’t letting NBC off either. He ranted that they were “perhaps worse than CNN, I have to tell you. And MSNBC is horrible.” Continuing down that path of raw animosity he called MSNBC “third rate. And NBC, which is horrible. Their newscast, by the way is not doing well. On NBC network. They’re heading down the tubes.”</p>
<p>This might be a good time to inject some facts into the discussion. NBC’s newscast anchored by Lester Holt has <a href="http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/evening-news-ratings-week-of-dec-25-q4-2017/353818" type="external">won ten consecutive quarters</a> in the key advertising demographic of 25-54 year olds. They were also <a href="http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/in-february-world-news-tonight-wins-the-evenings-while-today-takes-mornings/358741" type="external">number one</a> in the most recent sweeps period of February 2018. And their morning news program, the Today Show, topped their competition (ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS This Morning) in both the demo and total viewers. As for MSNBC, Rachel Maddow has been <a href="" type="internal">beating Trump’s BFF</a> Sean Hannity on a regular basis.</p>
<p>But Trump wasn’t about to let mere reality interfere with his delusions. He went on to make a ludicrous and utterly nonsensical prediction about the media that he despises so, and which he is convinced hates him. Pointing to the press at the rally he said…</p>
<p>“Six months prior to the election, every one of those guys – ‘We really endorse Donald Trump. We think he has to win.’ You know why? Because if I don’t win the election their ratings are gonna go so far down they’re gonna be out of business, every one of them.”</p>
<p>WTF is he trying to say here? That the media that he accuses of trying to destroy him will suddenly reason that it’s in their interest to support him? If that’s true, then why wouldn’t they support him now for the same reasons? What’s more, he’s implying that the media’s surging ratings are the result of having him around to attack. Which means that more viewers are watching because they enjoy seeing him get hammered. That’s actually true. Every poll shows that Trump has the lowest approval rating of any president ever recorded. So people probably are happy to see him get cut down by responsible journalists whose reporting of Trump’s failures is just part their job.</p>
<p>The tone that Trump sets in these rallies is decidedly hostile and un-American. He praises China’s Xi Jinping, who just maneuvered himself into being president for life (of which <a href="" type="internal">Trump is envious</a>). He declares that he blindly trusts Kim Jong Un’s promise to refrain from missile and nuclear testing. He protects Vladimir Putin’s Russia from sanctions mandated by Congress as punishment for their election tampering. Trump speaks of these and other anti-democratic tyrants in radiantly glowing terms. But he viciously insults fellow Americans who practice their Constitutionally protected right to freedom of the press. And he thinks that’s how to MAGA – or KAG, as he now says (Keep America Gross).</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 /> | In Unhinged Speech Trump Slobbers Over Foreign Despots While Attacking America’s Free Press | true | http://newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p%3D34552 | 4 |
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<p>(AP) – With an end-of-March deadline days away, Secretary of State John Kerry is heading back into negotiations with Iran, hoping to seal a framework deal to roll back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.</p>
<p>Kerry was flying to Switzerland for several days of make-or-break talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The top diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia would join if the U.S. and Iran are close to an agreement.</p>
<p>The pressure is high. The seven nations have set themselves a March 31 deadline for the outline of a final accord they hope to seal by the end of June. Both President Barack Obama and Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have spoken against what would be a third extension of the talks.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">SPECIAL: Join the Tea Party REVOLUTION! The Obama Regime must be dismantled!</a></p>
<p>And opponents, among them wary American allies in the Middle East and hardliners in Iran and in Congress, stand ready to complicate the process if negotiators cannot reach a breakthrough in the next six days. American lawmakers have threatened new sanctions on Iran as well as the establishment of a process which would allow them to vote down any final accord.</p>
<p>The United States and its partners are trying to get Iran to cut the number of centrifuges it uses to enrich uranium, material that can be used in warheads, and agree to other restrictions on what the Islamic Republic insists is a peaceful nuclear program.</p>
<p>Speaking Wednesday morning to U.S. ambassadors, Kerry assailed opponents of a deal.</p>
<p>“What happens if, as our critics propose, we just walk away from a plan that the rest of the world were to deem to be reasonable?” Kerry asked. “Well, the talks would collapse. Iran would have the ability to go right back spinning its centrifuges and enriching to the degree they want… And the sanctions will not hold.”</p>
<p>Kerry said the whole point of years of U.S. sanctions was to get Iran to agree to limits on its nuclear program. He said it was the Obama administration’s job to “provide an agreement that is as good as we said it will be; that will get the job done; that shuts off the four pathways to a nuclear weapon.”</p>
<p>The alternative to diplomacy could mean Iran is left to “just expand its program full-speed ahead,” Kerry said. “You know we can’t accept that. So where does that take you? Anybody standing up in opposition to this has an obligation to stand up and put a viable, realistic alternative on the table. And I have yet to see anybody do that.”</p>
<p>http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/</p> | Kerry Flies to Switzerland for Make-or-Break Iran Nuke Talks | true | http://teaparty.org/kerry-flies-switzerland-make-break-iran-nuke-talks-91006/?utm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dkerry-flies-switzerland-make-break-iran-nuke-talks | 0 |
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<p>Nike's new HyperAdapt 1.0 self-lacing shoe platform. Image source: Nike.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Nike reported fiscal third-quarter 2016 results Tuesday after the bell. And though things didn't quite go as well as planned, by most measures the athletic footwear and apparel specialist turned in yet another solid quarter of growth.</p>
<p>More specifically, Nike's quarterly revenue climbed 7.7% year over year to $8.03 billion, and would have risen 14% had it not been for the negative effects of foreign currency exchange. That's slightly below Nike's (admittedly imprecise) guidance provided last quarter, which called for reported revenue to increase in the high-single- to low-double-digit percentage range.</p>
<p>To Nike's credit, however, this is also eerily reminiscent of last quarter's <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/12/22/nike-inc-delivers-another-solid-quarter.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">slight top-line shortfall Opens a New Window.</a>, which the market was willing to overlook given the company's strong overall performance and encouraging guidance for the full year.</p>
<p>On the bottom line, net income climbed 20% year over year, to $950 million, and earnings per share increased 22%, to $0.55. Nike began repurchases under its new four-year, $12 billion share repurchase authorization approved this past November, buying back 11.1 million shares during the quarter for $649 million. By comparison -- and though we don't lend much credence to Wall Street's near-term demands -- analysts' consensus estimates called for higher revenue of $8.2 billion, and lower earnings of $0.49 per share.</p>
<p>Digging deeperNike CEO Mark Parker elaborated:</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Regarding Parker's mention of "breakthrough innovation," note last week the company introduced something it calls "adaptive lacing," implemented in a Back to the Future-esque, self-lacing shoe dubbed HyperAdapt 1.0, which fellow Fool Daniel Sparks <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/16/nike-inc-in-the-future-product-will-come-alive.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">rightly asserted Opens a New Window.</a>"has potential to represent a major new platform in athletic footwear."</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Nike's gross margin was deceptively flat from the same year-ago period, at 45.9%. Gross margin benefited from Nike's ability to command higher average selling prices and continued growth in its high-margin direct-to-consumer (DTC) business. On the latter, DTC revenue climbed an impressive 29% year over year, including 56% growth in online sales, and a 10% contribution from comparable-store sales growth and new locations. But these benefits were offset once again by foreign currency exchange and Nike's efforts to clear excess inventory. That said, currency headwinds won't persist forever. And to Nike's credit, this result was slightly better than guidance provided three months ago, when management suggested gross margin woulddecline50 basis points.</p>
<p>Next, revenue from Converse declined 9% on a reported basis, to $489 million, and would have fallen 5% had foreign currencies not been a factor. As I suggested in my <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/16/what-to-watch-when-nike-inc-reports-earnings.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">earnings preview Opens a New Window.</a> last week, however, this shouldn't be a surprise as Nike continues to shift the Converse brand to a more direct operating model overseas. During this quarter's subsequent conference call, Nike CFO Andy Campion elaborated this quarter's year-over-year decline for Converse was primarily due to a shift in timing of shipments out of fiscal Q4 and into fiscal Q3 this year to ensure a smooth transition to a new enterprise resource management system.</p>
<p>Looking forwardFutures for NIKE brand footwear and apparel (scheduled for delivery from March 2016 through July 2016) climbed 12% on a reported basis, and 17% at constant currency. That's a notable deceleration from last quarter, when reported and constant-currency futures rose 15% and 20%, respectively, but it still represents solid growth and strong demand as Nike continues to build its business from a larger base. To be sure, futures rose in the double-digits acrossallgeographies despite the impact of the stronger dollar against nearly every other global currency.</p>
<p>As a result, Nike held steady its guidance for the full fiscal year, which calls for gross margin expansion of roughly 50 basis points from last year, and full fiscal-year revenue growth in the mid-single-digit percentage range.</p>
<p>Finally, though planning for fiscal 2017 isn't complete, Nike currently expects revenue next fiscal year to grow in the high-single- to low-double digit percentage range on a reported basis, which should translate to growth in earnings per share in the low teens. That EPS growth will also be more heavily weighted toward the back half of next fiscal year, primarily as Nike plans to invest heavily early on in brand initiatives revolving around the Olympics in Rio and the European Football Championships.</p>
<p>In the end, though the market's initial reaction may not reflect as much, this quarter contained no big surprises and shows Nike is arguably stronger than ever. As Nike continues to deliver on its long-term goals to consistently expand its reach and generate shareholder value in the process, I think investors should be more than pleased with where the company stands today.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/23/no-big-surprises-in-nike-incs-latest-strong-quarte.aspx" type="external">No Big Surprises in Nike, Inc.'s Latest Strong Quarter Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSymington/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Steve Symington Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Nike. 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> | No Big Surprises in Nike, Inc.'s Latest Strong Quarter | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/03/23/no-big-surprises-in-nike-inc-latest-strong-quarter.html | 2016-03-23 | 0 |
<p>By Abdiqani Hassan</p>
<p>BOSASO, Somalia (Reuters) – Islamist al Shabaab militants attacked a checkpoint in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region, killing at least seven people in the early hours of Monday, police said.</p>
<p>The fighters then ambushed officers rushing in to help colleagues on the outskirts of the city of Bosaso, an officer at the scene told Reuters.</p>
<p>Al Shabaab said it took the checkpoint then left, though the police said they fought off the assault.</p>
<p>Al Shabaab has launched a string of attacks on Somalia’s capital Mogadishu and other areas controlled by the federal government in a bid to oust the Western-backed authorities and impose the group’s interpretation of Islamic law.</p>
<p>Attacks are relatively rare in Puntland, which has its own government and security forces patrolling its territory on the northeastern tip of the Horn of Africa, jutting out into the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.</p>
<p>“At about 1 a.m., many well-armed al Shabaab fighters attacked us from all directions in an attempt to capture the checkpoint,” police captain Abdifatah Mohamed said.</p>
<p>Three police and four civilians died and at least 13 others were wounded in the clashes, he said over the phone from the checkpoint.</p>
<p>Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operation spokesman, said its fighters killed seven soldiers and wounded 11 others.</p>
<p>“We captured the Bosaso checkpoint and left this morning. We also ambushed a police reinforcement,” he said.</p>
<p>Puntland is also home to a splinter group of al Shabaab that has sworn allegiance to Islamic State. Security sources say a small contingent of foreign fighters is based there.</p>
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<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> | Militants attack checkpoint in Somalia's Puntland, seven dead | false | https://newsline.com/militants-attack-checkpoint-in-somalia039s-puntland-seven-dead/ | 2017-10-09 | 1 |
<p>Three months after their whiirlwind romance, singer songwriter, Taylor Swift, and Conor Kennedy, have broken up, according to <a href="http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/taylor-swift-conor-kennedy-split-20122510" type="external">US Weekly Magazine.</a></p>
<p>A friend told the magazine the young lovebirds parted aways about a month ago.</p>
<p>"They quietly parted ways a while ago.</p>
<p>"It was just a distance thing. No hard feelings. They're fine," the source said.</p>
<p>She cited Swift's busy schedule, including the promotion of her new album, Red, for the break-up.</p>
<p>The couple were first spotted together in July, two months after Conor's mother was found hanged in the family home. Swift was seen at the Kennedy family's Cape Cod estate over the summer, and even accompanied Conor to visit his mother's grave.</p>
<p>Then in August, <a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20620562,00.html" type="external">People reported</a> that Swift, who at the time was said to be "swept off her feet by Conor" spent $5 million on a Cape Cod mansion near the home of Ethel Kennedy, Conor's grandmother.&#160;</p>
<p>But if reports are correct, the fairytale is over.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/taylor-swift-conor-kennedy-break-article-1.1192123" type="external">The New York Daily News reported</a>&#160;Swift's new album, "Red," includes numerous songs about her previous exes -&#160;Jake Gyllenhaal, Joe Jonas and John Mayer.</p>
<p>Could this latest split provide her with more song-writing fodder.&#160;</p> | Taylor Swift and Conor Kennedy split, reports | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-10-25/taylor-swift-and-conor-kennedy-split-reports | 2012-10-25 | 3 |
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<p>An Albuquerque school is in the running for America’s top high school mascot.</p>
<p>Victory Christian School, a private K-12 school in the North Valley, is among 51 schools (one for each state and Washington, D.C.) that advanced to the second, regional round in USA TODAY’s nationwide contest.</p>
<p>Six regional winners will compete to be named top high school sports mascot.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Second-round voting ends Thursday. Go to http://contest.usatodayhss.com/vote/mascot/r5 and click on VCS Centurions.</p>
<p>The national winner will receive $2,000 for its athletic department.</p>
<p>DEMING – Deming Public Schools has launched a new program aimed at teaching parents Spanish or English.</p>
<p>The Deming Headlight reports that the new 12-week program seeks to teach parents using a series of colorful, bilingual books that they can read to their children.</p>
<p>Officials say parents discuss the readings and do projects to build upon the lessons they have learned. Projects include writing letters and building photo albums. Classes for the Latino Family Literacy project are free.</p>
<p>John Baker of Albuquerque claimed a $2,000,300 Powerball ticket Friday.</p>
<p>New Mexico Lottery officials said Baker chose Powerball numbers using a personal formula he memorized from when he used to play Keno. He then he plays the numbers across multiple wagers.</p>
<p>On two wagers, Baker matched all five white ball numbers of 6, 10, 23, 41 and 45 – winning $1 million on each. On the remaining three wagers, he won $100 each by matching four of the winning white balls, bringing his total winnings to $2,000,300.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Had Baker picked 1 as one of his Powerball numbers, he would have won a jackpot of $123 million. Baker declined to disclose his age or have his photo taken but said his birthday is next week.</p>
<p>Baker purchased his ticket at the 7-Eleven at 1801 San Pedro NE, lottery officials said.</p>
<p>A grand jury from the state’s 13th Judicial District has indicted a former Albuquerque Police Department officer on two counts of child abuse, one count of false imprisonment and a single count of battery against a household member after police said he was alleged to have struck his wife several times and prevented her from leaving – all in front of the couple’s young son.</p>
<p>Then-APD Sgt. Patrick Ficke turned himself into Rio Rancho police on Feb. 11 and was arrested. According to the police report, Ficke came home drunk around 8 p.m. on Feb. 10 and argued with his wife about an extramarital affair.</p>
<p>Ficke then hit his wife in the nose several times with his cellphone, according to the report, and punched her temple, squeezed her neck and yanked her hair.</p>
<p>Ficke resigned from APD on Feb. 11. — This article appeared on page C2 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | Around New Mexico | false | https://abqjournal.com/176528/headline-257.html | 2013-03-09 | 2 |
<p>(Bill Maher and Milo Yiannopoulos on ‘Real Time.’ Screenshot via YouTube.)</p>
<p>Bill Maher wants to bring Milo Yiannopoulos back for another appearance on HBO’s “Real Time.”</p>
<p>Maher received criticism for inviting the controversial, alt-right commentator as a guest on the late-night talk show in February. Days after Yiannopoulos’ appearance,&#160;controversial remarks about pedophilia from a podcast forced Yiannopoulos to resign as editor from conservative media outlet&#160;Breitbart.</p>
<p>His appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference was also <a href="" type="internal">canceled</a>and his book deal with&#160;publisher Simon &amp; Schuster shelved.</p>
<p>In an interview with Esquire’s&#160;Stephen Rodrick, Maher revealed he wants to give Yiannopoulos a second chance.</p>
<p>“Now Maher says that he’d like to help rescue Yiannopoulos from his tumble out of the spotlight. ‘I actually want to have him back,’ Maher told me. ‘I don’t think he would be that hard to bring around to a much more reasonable position.'(Yiannopoulos says another appearance is in the works.),” Rodrick <a href="http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a55479/bill-maher-profile/" type="external">writes.&#160;</a></p>
<p>The interview was conducted before Maher came under fire for using a <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2017/06/bill-maher-called-himself-the-n-word-on-real-time.html" type="external">racial slur</a> on “Real Time” last week.</p>
<p />
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Bill Maher</a> <a href="" type="internal">Esquire</a> <a href="" type="internal">Milo Yiannopoulos</a> <a href="" type="internal">Real Time with Bill Maher</a> <a href="" type="internal">Stephen Rodrick</a></p> | Bill Maher invites Milo Yiannopoulos back on ‘Real Time’ | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2017/06/08/bill-maher-wants-milo-yiannopoulos-back-real-time/ | 3 |
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<p>Germany's BMW will stick to its investment plans for Mexico and the United States despite warnings from President Donald Trump to impose border taxes on cars imported into the United States, the luxury carmaker's CEO said.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"We need free world trade," BMW Chief Executive Harald Krueger told an automotive congress in Bochum on Wednesday, adding that BMW would also continue to invest in its U.S. Spartanburg plant.</p>
<p>Krueger said that BMW exported 70 percent of annual production at its Spartanburg plant, where it makes more than 400,000 cars a year, making it the country's biggest net-exporter.</p>
<p>Trump last month warned the United States would impose a border tax of 35 percent on imported cars.</p>
<p>Germany's three leading carmakers, Volkswagen , Daimler and BMW, have invested heavily in Mexico where production costs are lower than in the United States, with an eye to exporting smaller vehicles to the world's No.2 car market.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Matthias Inverardi; Writing by Harro ten Wolde; Editing by Christoph Steitz)</p> | BMW says will stick to investment plans despite Trump threats | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/02/01/bmw-says-will-stick-to-investment-plans-despite-trump-threats.html | 2017-02-01 | 0 |
<p>A group of ex-World Bank officials have issued an open letter backing Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as Africa's candidate to lead the bank.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/breaking-news/ex-world-bank-officials-back-nigerian-finance-minister-ngozi-okonjo-iweala-for-president/story-e6freuyr-1226319494976" type="external">According to AFP</a>, 39 former managers and economists called on the Bank's executive board to make their decision on merit. They include Mustapha Nabli, governor of Tunisia's central bank, and Jean-Michel Severino, who headed France's International Development Agency from 2001 to 2010, according to Bloomberg.</p>
<p>Their letter reads: "We believe that Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala has outstanding qualifications across the full range of relevant criteria," and adds that Okonjo-Iweala, who was a managing director at the World Bank until last August, "would hit the ground running and get things done from the start," the letter said.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.news.com.au/business/breaking-news/ex-world-bank-officials-back-nigerian-finance-minister-ngozi-okonjo-iweala-for-president/story-e6frfkur-1226319494976#ixzz1r7zUwGxz" type="external">News.com.au explains</a> that the US picks the World Bank president, always an American, and Europe puts a European at the helm of the Bank's sister institution, the International Monetary Fund.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/macro/world-bank-american-ego-stiglitz" type="external">The World Bank, American ego, and what's right for the world</a></p>
<p>Okonjo-Iweala has also received support from a group of prominent African business leaders and philanthropists.</p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gra%C3%A7a_Machel" type="external">The Graca Machel Trust</a>, established by Machel, the wife of Nelson Mandela who is also known for her humanitarian work, issued a statement saying Okonjo-Iweala "is the right person, at the right time and in the right place."</p>
<p>"Her early life is that of the suffering masses of the poor that populate our world... Her education comes from the finest centers of learning in the world, on a subject, economics, that defines the parameters for development," said the statement, signed by a range of business and civil society figures, including Hadeel Ibrahim, director of the <a href="http://www.moibrahimfoundation.org/en" type="external">Mo Ibrahim Foundation</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>Okonjo-Iweala is competing for the role against the American President of Dartmouth College Jim Yong Kim, and the Colombian-born, Colombia University professor Jose Antonio Ocampo, who has been nominated by Brazil.</p>
<p><a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201204040512.html" type="external">All Africa says</a> that the leaders of Russia, Brazil, China, India and South Africa recently called for a review of the weighted voting system that gives Europe, the US and Japan 54 per cent of the votes in the selection of the World Bank president. The US is the bank's largest shareholder and has always picked the bank's president.&#160; This will be the first contested election in the history of the development institution, <a href="http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/why-ngozi-okonjo-iweala-wants-to-run-the-world-bank/" type="external">the New York Times says.</a></p>
<p>Board officials have reportedly <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-04/former-world-bank-managers-endorse-okonjo-iweala-to-lead-lender.html" type="external">told Bloomberg</a> that the Bank will interview the three candidates between Apr. 9-11 and plans to announce its decision the following week.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/120328/rwanda-economic-growth-pulling-rwandans-out-poverty" type="external">Suite Spot - Rwanda's economic miracle</a></p> | Ex-officials back Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to head World Bank | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-04-05/ex-officials-back-nigerian-finance-minister-ngozi-okonjo-iweala-head-world-bank | 2012-04-05 | 3 |
<p>Gwyneth Paltrow's fashion, health and wellness website Goop tells women they should steam-clean their vaginas. The B-list actress says the procedure "balances female hormone levels."</p>
<p>The site sells jade and rose quartz eggs and says women should "clench the egg inside them all day to exercise their pelvic floor," the Daily Mail says. Also for sale: Psychic Vampire Repellent ($30), which will "banish bad vibes (and shield you from the people who may be causing them)" and "wearable healing stickers" that "rebalance the energy frequency in our bodies."</p>
<p>But here comes a shocker: The Skeptic, which describes itself as Britain's only magazine taking a scientific look at pseudoscience and the paranormal, says it's all not so. The mag has bestowed upon the company the first ever "Rusty Razor" award as the best promoter of the "worst pseudoscience of the year."</p>
<p>"This year saw the debut of a new category — The Rusty Razor, for the most audacious pseudo-science. This award was decided by our readers’ votes, and the winner (by a landslide) was Goop, the lifestyle brand championed by actress Gwyneth Paltrow," the magazine wrote.</p>
<p>"Goop was apparently invited to collect its award, which was being handed out at the QED Conference in Manchester — but sadly no one from the company responded," Gizmodo UK reported.</p>
<p>Skeptic Magazine Editor Deborah Hyde said: "We were surprised at quite how many public vote nominations GOOP received for the 'Rusty Razor' award for pseudoscience — it's certainly a popular win. When there are so many issues affecting public health today — the rise of measles and whooping cough due to reduced rates of vaccination, for instance — it's a shame that many people prefer to contemplate their yonis than engage with evidence-based reality".</p>
<p>Goop has been repeatedly slapped down for its claims. The body stickers, sold by a group called Body Vibes, are "made with the same conductive carbon material NASA uses to line space suits so they can monitor an astronaut's vitals during wear," CNN reported.</p>
<p>But NASA told CNNMoney it doesn't use carbon material to line its suits, and its current spacesuit has no carbon fibers in it at all. Goop removed the NASA mention from its post after the outlet's story went up.</p>
<p>"Last month American watchdog Truth in Advertising (TINA) filed a formal complaint against Goop for 'unsubstantiated and therefore deceptive' claims to promote its health products," <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4984790/Gwyneth-Paltrow-s-Goop-wins-worst-pseudoscience-award.html" type="external">The Mail</a> wrote.</p>
<p>TINA is calling for an investigation into claims that Goop-endorsed products and treatments can treat, cure, prevent, alleviate symptoms of or reduce the risk of ailments ranging from depression to infertility and arthritis.</p>
<p>Goop said these allegation is 'unsubstantiated and unfounded', and Gwyneth encourages followers to weigh up the evidence for themselves.</p> | Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop Website Slammed For Pseudoscience Poppycock | true | https://dailywire.com/news/22361/gwyneth-paltrows-goop-website-slammed-joseph-curl | 2017-10-17 | 0 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Lovelace Health Plan has asked the state District Court in Albuquerque to stop a medical group from trying to get its patients to switch insurance companies.</p>
<p>Lovelace accuses the 184-physician ABQ Health Partners of breaching its agreement with the health plan by soliciting Lovelace customers to change insurers, of interfering with Lovelace’s business relationships with its members, and of violating state and federal regulations governing marketing to customers of Lovelace’s Medicare Advantage plan.</p>
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<p>The suit, filed Friday and provided to the Journal on Sunday, claimed that “ABQ HP is engaged in a smear campaign against Lovelace in an effort to mislead and confuse Lovelace’s members” in order to get members “to sever their relationship with Lovelace in favor of a health plan that ABQ HP now accepts.”</p>
<p>Lovelace charged that the practice “disseminated demonstrably false and illegal information” about the company. The suit says Lovelace’s contract with the physicians prevents them from disparaging Lovelace or soliciting Lovelace customers.</p>
<p>ABQ Health Partners said in a statement released Sunday that it is Lovelace that is “giving out misinformation to our patients in what we think is an attempt to confuse or frighten them into switching doctors instead of allowing them to make their own health care choices.”</p>
<p>“At ABQ Health Partners, we are trying to educate our patients about their basic rights,” the statement said. “Lovelace Health Plan is trying to prevent this through a new lawsuit and through misleading advertisements and confusing communications.”</p>
<p>“ABQ Health Partners strongly believe that our doctors and providers have every right to discuss changes in care directly with their patients,” the statement said. “It is unfortunate that Lovelace has chosen to try to restrict information, communication and choice by making meritless claims in court and choosing to pay for lawyers instead of using that money to improve health care in New Mexico.”</p>
<p>“We’re merely seeking to stop dishonest, abusive, inappropriate practices by ABQ Health Partners,” Lovelace Health System CEO Ron Stern said in an interview Sunday. Lovelace Health System owns Lovelace Health Plan.</p>
<p>“They are practices that are illegal and misleading, especially when those physicians have a financial interest in those health plans.”</p>
<p>ABQ Health Partners has provided medical services to Lovelace plan members for the past five years. The practice terminated its contract effective Nov. 8, and efforts to reach a new agreement failed.</p>
<p>State insurance superintendent John Franchini said Friday that the companies had agreed to continue their agreement until year’s end and would meet Wednesday to hammer out a written understanding. However, both Lovelace and ABQ Health Partners denied any such understanding exists.</p>
<p>Lovelace has tried to work to get new doctors for ABQ Health Partners patients, and ABQ Health Partners has told patients which insurance the practice accepts. The companies have sent letters to customers’ homes, have staffed their facilities with customer service advisers and have advertised extensively. — This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | Lovelace Sues ABQ Health Partners | false | https://abqjournal.com/140464/lovelace-sues-abq-health-partners.html | 2012-10-22 | 2 |
<p>Enterprise cloud computing company Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX) saw its stock rise as much as 16.7% on Friday, following the company's first-quarter results for fiscal 2018. The stock is up 6.8% at the time of this writing.</p>
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<p>The stock's rise is likely due to better-than-expected revenue and earnings per share, as well as confirmation from management about its plans to shift toward a software-centric business model.</p>
<p>Nutanix reported&#160;revenue of $276 million, up 46% year over year. On average, analysts were expecting revenue of about $267 million.&#160;Nutanix's non- <a href="https://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/your-guide-to-gaap.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=83b09008-d6b9-11e7-a5d1-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">GAAP Opens a New Window.</a> loss per share was $0.16 -- narrower than a consensus analyst estimate for a loss of $0.26.</p>
<p>Nutanix CFO Duston&#160;Williams said the company "will be focusing even more intently on selling software going forward." Williams went on to note that Nutanix would have registered about $800 million in pure software and support billings, as well as non-GAAP gross profit margins above 80%, over the past 12 months if it had not billed "pass-through hardware-related transactions."</p>
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<p>Looking to Q2, Nutanix expects revenue to be between $280 and $285 million, including the elimination of about $12 million in pass-through hardware sales.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Nutanix, Inc.When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=3412a8ba-bcf7-47ae-be67-ec9b54baa273&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=83b09008-d6b9-11e7-a5d1-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Nutanix, Inc. 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=3412a8ba-bcf7-47ae-be67-ec9b54baa273&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=83b09008-d6b9-11e7-a5d1-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFDanielSparks/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=83b09008-d6b9-11e7-a5d1-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Daniel Sparks 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=83b09008-d6b9-11e7-a5d1-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why Nutanix Inc. Stock Jumped Friday | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/12/01/why-nutanix-inc-stock-jumped-friday.html | 2017-12-01 | 0 |
<p>Monday was an overall positive day for the stock market, through major benchmarks saw different reactions to events during the trading session. The Dow Jones Industrials posted solid gains to set another record, but moves for broader market benchmarks weren't quite as unambiguously positive. Investors were generally pleased at the prospect that the Federal Reserve will hold off until at least December before pushing interest rates higher, especially given the catastrophic effects of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Yet some stocks reacted negatively to this and other concerns. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE: TEVA), Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR), and Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC) were among the worst performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so poorly.</p>
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<p>Shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries fell 6% in the wake of the company making a strategic deal. The drugmaker said that it would sell its specialty global women's health business for $1.38 billion, with one private equity company buying out Teva's contraception, fertility, menopause, and osteoporosis assets for $703 million, while a second entity will spend $675 million for various emergency contraceptive products. Interim CEO Yitzhak Peterburg noted that the deal will bring the total cash available for the Teva's use to more than $2 billion, topping expectations among those following the company's strategic plans. The move will allow <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/07/teva-pharmaceuticals-had-a-very-bad-day-in-a-very.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=be743ba4-9ca8-11e7-96a4-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Teva to refocus on other parts of its business Opens a New Window.</a>, and bullish investors hope that Teva will therefore be able to recover fully from its recent slump.</p>
<p>Pier 1 Imports stock dropped over 9.5%, giving back much of the gains the home furnishings retailer had made late last week. <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/19/why-pier-1-imports-stock-lost-40-in-2017-so-far.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=be743ba4-9ca8-11e7-96a4-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Pier 1 has been extremely volatile Opens a New Window.</a> over the course of the past year, suffering from the same comparable-sales declines and overall revenue and earnings weakness that have pervaded much of the broader retail industry. New management is working hard to start a turnaround story, but the challenges of e-commerce competition and tougher economic conditions could hurt Pier 1. Investors will learn a lot next week when Pier 1 announces its earnings for the most recent quarter and reveals some of its longer-term strategy.</p>
<p>Finally, shares of Kinross Gold sank 6%. The gold mining company suffered from the yellow metal's price doldrums, as gold bullion fell about $13 to $1,307 per ounce. Overall, <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/09/11/heres-why-these-gold-stocks-gained-as-much-as-203.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=be743ba4-9ca8-11e7-96a4-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Kinross has done a good job lately Opens a New Window.</a>, reducing its production costs while finding ways to ramp up throughput at the same time. But some investors are nervous about capital projects, and Kinross said that it would move forward with a couple of expansion projects that will require further capital expenditures. That's fine if gold prices stay stable or rise, but on days like this when gold is weak, investors in Kinross need to be prepared for stormy seas.</p>
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<p>Offer from The Motley Fool: The 10 best stocks to buy nowMotley Fool co-founders Tom and David Gardner have spent more than a decade beating the market. In fact, the newsletter they run, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the S&amp;P 500!*</p>
<p>Tom and David just revealed their ten top stock picks for investors to buy right now.</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=be743ba4-9ca8-11e7-96a4-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Dan Caplinger Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=be743ba4-9ca8-11e7-96a4-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Pier 1 Imports, and Kinross Gold Slumped Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/09/18/why-teva-pharmaceutical-industries-pier-1-imports-and-kinross-gold-slumped-today.html | 2017-09-18 | 0 |
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<p>Shares of network security specialist Barracuda Networks (NYSE: CUDA) are down 17% as of 12:30 p.m. EDT today. The impetus for the decline comes after yesterday's conference call that issued weaker-than-expected guidance.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Barracuda's most recent earnings results weren't what you would call breaking news. Both revenue and earnings for the quarter and 2017 fiscal year were slightly better than expectations, but certainly not enough to justify a big stock price jump.</p>
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<p>The move today is probably more tied to comments from management on its conference call after the market closed yesterday. On that call, CFO Distin Briggs announced fiscal year 2018 revenue guidance of $370 million to $380 million, a modest uptick from this past year's result of $352 million. Also, Briggs guided for non-GAAP normalized earnings to be in the range of $0.73 to $0.79 per share, below the most recent result of $0.82 per share.</p>
<p>That decline is mostly a result of some investments the company plans to make in 2018 to support its cloud-based products and offerings as well as build out some international data centers. Building out its international presence will be key for the company's future as growth rates for its business outside North America are considerably higher.</p>
<p>The lower-than-expected guidance is one of those things that will hit a stock like Barracuda's awfully hard in the short term. After all, it is small-cap growth stock where Wall Street is obsessed with short-term growth targets. For someone looking at this company over the long term, the better question to ask is whether these investments in fiscal year 2018 will pay off. The demand is there, as evidenced by its revenue growth outside of North America, but the jury is still out as to whether those investments will lead to better revenue and earnings growth for the next several years.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Barracuda NetworksWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=5116bcb0-9337-4941-8782-114907c48311&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now...and Barracuda Networks wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of April 3, 2017.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFDirtyBird/info.aspx" type="external">Tyler Crowe 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> | Shares of Barracuda Networks Stumble After Issuing Guidance | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/04/18/shares-barracuda-networks-stumble-after-issuing-guidance.html | 2017-04-18 | 0 |
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<p>GM showing off Buick vehicles in China. Image source: General Motors.</p>
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<p>China, already the world's largest automotive market, is somewhat like the old Wild West. That's not to say the market is "anything goes" and lawless, but rather that nobody's quite sure what's going to happen on multiple fronts.</p>
<p>That's the opposite of mature markets, where it's essentially set in stone that European luxury manufacturers and Germany's Volkswagensell extremely well in Europe. Japanese automakers enjoy nearly nonexistent foreign auto competition in their homeland, and Detroit's automakers -- Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles -- have crushed the competition in the U.S. when it comes to highly profitable SUVs and full-size trucks.</p>
<p>In China, however, GM and Volkswagen are perennially the top two foreign automakers by a landslide, but the rest gets interesting. Japanese automakers often deal with on-again, off-again tensions with the Chinese consumer. Ford is battling to gain ground after entering the market years late, and FCA is wondering how its Jeep brand wasn't first in line to take advantage of China's surging SUV sales. In addition to all of that, Chinese automakers are making their best effort to battle the global powerhouses on their own turf, and there's that little issue of extreme pollution forcing the government to accelerate plans for the country's future with electric vehicles.</p>
<p>It'll be an interesting ride, and here are two of the intriguing topics to keep an eye on.</p>
<p>Jeep's cashing in It's fair to say Ford dropped the ball in regard to getting into China fast enough. But if that's true, it's also fair to say FCA didn't even see the ball thrown its way. Fortunately for FCA investors, it's trying to cash in by building Jeeps in China. Starting last October, FCA's Jeep began building the Cherokee in China, which will allow the company to hold down its sticker prices to make Jeep vehicles more competitive with improving Chinese-branded vehicles and locally produced foreign SUVs. That's because producing the vehicles in China enables automakers to avoid China's stiff 25% tariff on imports.</p>
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<p>There's no question it was a good move for Jeep to begin production in China, and the result has already had an impact. Last year, Jeep's sales in China fell 28% to just under 64,000 units, but that quickly changed once the Cherokee started rolling out. Now, through the first quarter, Jeep deliveries have flip-flopped and moved 29% higher to 33,413 units, compared with the prior year's time frame. Just for context, in regard to how far Jeep has to go, Ford has already topped 100,000 SUV sales in china, through April.</p>
<p>Jeep's Renegade will hit the roads in China soon. Image source: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.</p>
<p>Chances are that sales pace accelerates even further as Jeep began producing the smaller Renegade crossover last month at a new assembly plant in Guangzhou. By the end of the year it also plans to add a new C-segment crossover to the production plans. While China's total vehicle sales are expected to slow to the middle single digits annually, you can expect Jeep to power FCA's sales in the country to double-digit increases over the next couple of years.</p>
<p>The battle heats up Meanwhile, the battle between Volkswagen and General Motors is getting kicked up a notch. Volkswagen has held a solid edge in terms of sales in China over the past two to three decades, but GM managed to take the top spot last year on the back of its successful and rapidly expanding SUV portfolio and Baojun value brand.</p>
<p>Zeroing in on the latter of those two factors, GM's Baojun brand launched with a handful of low-priced multipurpose vehicles (MPVs), crossovers, and sedans, which has been a smart move. That said, VW isn't going to sit idly and watch GM run away with the sales crown for the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>Volkswagen, which was slower to react to the surge in SUV popularity in China, plans to introduce a slew of crossovers and entry-level cars to help battle Detroit's largest automaker in the region. The plan calls for VW to introduce 10 SUVs and crossovers by 2020, along with 15 EVs and plug-in hybrids, across multiple brands. It will be extremely interesting if Volkswagen sticks to its guns, because the plan will cost a hefty 4 billion euros in 2016 alone, at a time when its diesel emissions scandal is costing the company a pretty penny.</p>
<p>Of course, GM has a plan of its own. Between now and 2020, GM and its joint ventures are going to roll out more than 60 new and refreshed models in China, including 13 in 2016. Roughly 40% of the new vehicles GM aims to launch over the next five years are SUVs and MPVs. The next few years will be a battle of two heavyweights aiming for the sales crown in China.</p>
<p>Any concerns? Naturally, all of this potential growth doesn't come without risk. Consider that China is expected to assemble about 25.3 million units in 2016 but will have nearly 12.5 million units in unused production capacity, according to PwC Autofacts. That's below the ideal production capacity level investors would like to see in mature markets -- consider the U.S. is running above 90% currently, according to IHS Automotive -- and it could spell significant trouble for automakers' profitability if there were a sudden slowdown in China's vehicle sales.</p>
<p>But what else would we expect for the auto industry's modern-day Wild West?</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/10/two-key-developments-from-the-auto-industrys-wild.aspx" type="external">Two Key Developments From the Auto Industry's Wild West: China Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTwoCoins/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Daniel Miller Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of General Motors. The Motley Fool recommends General Motors. 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> | Two Key Developments From the Auto Industry's Wild West: China | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/05/10/two-key-developments-from-auto-industry-wild-west-china.html | 2016-05-10 | 0 |
<p>ROME, ITALYReutersBy Philip Pullella</p>
<p>ROME (Reuters) - Cardinal Bernard Law, who has kept mostly out of sight since resigning six months ago over U.S. Catholic Church pedophile scandal allegations, resurfaced in Rome on Saturday at an old-style Latin mass.</p>
<p>The former archbishop of Boston, Massachusetts declined to discuss the scandal in which his old archdiocese faces legal suits from hundreds of alleged victims.</p>
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<p>"I have come to Rome for meetings," Law told reporters.</p>
<p>It was unclear if Law, who has spent most of his time in a monastery in the United States, would be meeting Pope John Paul.</p>
<p>He sat in the first row during the Latin mass at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The Vatican permitted the mass as a gesture of reconciliation with breakaway traditionalists and Law was among six cardinals to attend.</p>
<p>The legal suits allege that under Law's leadership, the Boston archdiocese ignored reports that priests were sexually abusing children and instead moved suspected and known pedophiles from parish to parish without alerting the public.</p> | Cardinal Law Surfaces in Rome at Traditional Mass | false | https://poynter.org/news/cardinal-law-surfaces-rome-traditional-mass | 2003-05-24 | 2 |
<p>Roche Holding AG (RO.EB) said Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Gazyva for previously untreated advanced follicular lymphoma, a form of blood cancer.</p>
<p>The company said that the approval is based on results from a phase 3 study that showed superior progression-free survival for patients who received a Gazyva-based regimen when compared with standard therapy.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"We're pleased we can now offer...an initial treatment option shown to improve upon...the standard of care in this setting for more than 10 years," Roche's Chief Medical Officer Sandra Horning said.</p>
<p>Follicular lymphoma--the most common slow-growing form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma--is incurable and becomes harder to treat each time it returns, the company said. It is estimated that more than 75,000 people are diagnosed with it every year worldwide, Roche added.</p>
<p>Write to Marc Bisbal Arias at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>November 17, 2017 01:41 ET (06:41 GMT)</p> | U.S. FDA Approves Roche's Gazyva for Untreated Follicular Lymphoma | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/11/17/u-s-fda-approves-roches-gazyva-for-untreated-follicular-lymphoma.html | 2017-11-17 | 0 |
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<p>The euro zone should move to a banking union and consider directly recapitalizing banks from its permanent bailout fund, the European Commission said on Wednesday in annual economic recommendations that shone a critical light on Spain.</p>
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<p>The call, in documents outlining the economic strategy for the euro zone, would appear to directly address market concerns about problems in the Spanish banking sector and the cost to the Spanish government of rescuing its banks - a factor that has driven Spain's borrowing costs to near unsustainable levels.</p>
<p>European stock markets pared losses and the euro jumped on the back of the recommendations, even though they are not formal proposals, face serious opposition from some member states and remain a long way from implementation.</p>
<p>Investors are worried that public finances in Spain, which is already struggling to cut it large budget deficit at a time of recession, will become unsustainable if it is forced to bail out is banks, after a real-estate market boom turned to collapse and left nearly all banks laden with bad property loans.</p>
<p>The Commission, the European Union's executive, said the vicious circle of weak banks and indebted sovereigns lending to each other needed be broken.</p>
<p>"A closer integration among the euro area countries in supervisory structures and practices, in cross-border crisis management and burden sharing, towards a "banking union", would be an important complement to the current structure" of Europe's economic and monetary union, the Commission said.</p>
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<p>"In the same vein, to sever the link between banks and the sovereigns, direct recapitalization by the ESM might be envisaged," the document said.</p>
<p>The euro zone's permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which comes into force in July, cannot as it stands lend directly to banks, only to sovereigns, even if only for the specific purpose of bank recapitalization.</p>
<p>To change that, euro zone countries would have to change the treaty on which the ESM is based and which some euro zone countries have already ratified. Time is running short to do that, especially with the rapidly mounting problems in Spain.</p>
<p>Germany also strongly opposes allowing the ESM to directly recapitalize banks -- an option Spain wants.</p>
<p>In a separate assessment of Spanish fiscal and reform plans, the Commission said that while Madrid has done much to help its banks, it had to tackle the remaining financial sector weakness.</p>
<p>"Recent reforms have helped to speed up restructuring of the banking sector, which should continue. However, ensuring the stability of the financial sector is still a challenge," the Commission said. "Given the risk of bank-funding stress, it is necessary to continue to strengthen the banks' capital base."</p>
<p>"The reform measures adopted in February and May 2012 targeted the legacy stock of real estate assets, but the vulnerabilities related to other exposures such as loans to SMEs and residential mortgages have not been addressed," it said.</p>
<p>Spain's Economy Minister Luis De Guindos said on Wednesday that nationalized lender Bankia will be recapitalized through the FROB bank fund, which will issue bonds.</p>
<p>"It will be the usual mechanism, through the FROB issuances", De Guindos told journalists after a parliamentary debate on Spain's ongoing banking reform.</p>
<p>The FROB currently has more than four billion euros available while Bankia asked on Friday for a 19 billion euros rescue from the state.</p>
<p>He also said the country's banking crisis does not begin and end with Bankia.</p> | European Commission Suggests Direct Recapitalization of Banks | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2012/05/30/european-commission-suggests-direct-recapitalization-banks.html | 2016-03-03 | 0 |
<p>MAINZ, Germany — How many devastated, crying toddlers must there have been?</p>
<p>Police believe they have nabbed the so-called "Paddling Pool Slasher" who terrorized a German community by damaging the inflatable items with knives for nearly 7 years.</p>
<p>A 27-year-old suspect was questioned following an “extensive” police investigation involving “numerous eyewitness accounts," authorities said.</p>
<p>Officials said the suspect admitted to damaging between 20 and 30 plastic pools in the Muennerstadt area of Bavaria. Local media dubbed him the "Paddling Pool Slasher."</p>
<p>“The man stated that he did not plan the attacks and that he acted spontaneously,” police spokesman Bjoern Schmitt told NBC News.</p>
<p>His motive? “Just for fun," police quoted the suspect as saying.</p>
<p>Officials also confiscated several blow-up plastic mattresses from the suspect’s home, which had apparently been stolen during his slashing sprees. “We cannot rule out that the man has some kind of fetish,” Schmitt added.</p>
<p>In a statement, police suggested that the complex investigation will take time and that “it is not improbable that copycats were also involved."</p>
<p>The suspect has not yet been charged.</p> | ‘Paddling Pool Slasher’ Nabbed After 7 Years, German Police Say | false | http://nbcnews.com/news/world/paddling-pool-slasher-nabbed-after-7-years-german-police-say-n660756 | 2016-10-06 | 3 |
<p>Mitchell Resnick/Planet Pix/ZUMA Wire</p>
<p>Using taxpayer dollars, the Environmental Protection Agency has hired a cutting-edge Republican PR firm that specializes in digging up opposition research to help Administrator Scott Pruitt’s office track and shape press coverage of the agency.</p>
<p>According to federal contracting records, earlier this month Pruitt’s office inked <a href="https://www.usaspending.gov/transparency/Pages/TransactionDetails.aspx?RecordID=53D2AF0E-B566-47BB-8EB4-728DAC00CEB7&amp;AwardID=59978626&amp;AwardType=C" type="external">a no-bid&#160;$120,000</a> contract with Definers Corp., a Virginia-based public relations firm founded by Matt Rhoades, who managed Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. Following Romney’s defeat, Rhoades established America Rising, an ostensibly independent political action committee that works closely with the Republican National Committee and Republican candidates to mine damning information on opponents. Other higher-ups at Definers include former RNC research director Joe Pounder, who’s <a href="https://www.definersdc.com/joe-pounder" type="external">been described</a> as “a master of opposition research,” and senior vice president&#160;Colin Reed,&#160;an oppo-research guru <a href="https://www.definersdc.com/colin-reed" type="external">billed</a> as “among the leaders of the war on [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren.”</p>
<p>This for-profit consulting firm offers a variety of public relations services such as digital strategy, political consulting, and media relations. According to its website, Definers’ clients include Fortune 500 corporations, political groups, and nonprofits. In the past,&#160; <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/expends/vendor.php?year=2016&amp;vendor=Definers+Corp" type="external">both Marco Rubio and John McCain</a>&#160;used their services, and since the 2016 election so has&#160; <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/expends/vendor.php?year=2018&amp;vendor=Definers+Corp" type="external">Rep. Diane Black</a> (R-Tenn.). The <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/expends/vendor.php?year=2016&amp;vendor=America+Rising" type="external">client list</a> for&#160;America Rising includes&#160;the RNC, Republican candidates such as Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), and super-PACs such as the Mitch McConnell-linked Senate Leadership Fund and Karl Rove’s American Crossroads.&#160;</p>
<p>The company&#160;also <a href="https://www.definersdc.com/services" type="external">specializes</a> in using the press and social media to “validate your narrative.” According to the company’s website, one of the tools to help do this is&#160;its <a href="https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/3d6ea3_39967c97020043f58795c3bbf924f3bf.pdf" type="external">“Definers Console”</a> media-tracking technology.&#160;Reed said his firm contracted with Pruitt’s office at the EPA,&#160;which&#160;is the first governmental client to pay for&#160;the Definers Console. The technology promises “war room”-style media monitoring, analysis, and advice, according to marketing materials. A brochure for the Console assures users that they will be able to “monitor for potential crises, as well as to track their message dissemination, relevant responses to their messaging, and what competitors’ actions have been.”</p>
<p>Besides monitoring media, users will get analysis and input from their employees whose experience in political campaigns and the business world helps create a unique approach “to intelligence gathering and opposition work. This experience informs the way we gather, synthesize, and disseminate information.”</p>
<p>“Definers has been contracted to provide media monitoring services through our Console by the EPA,” Reed says. “We provide the same service to a number of corporate and non-profit organizations.”&#160;</p>
<p>In response to Mother Jones’&#160;questions about the Definers contract, EPA spokesperson Nancy Grantham said, “The Definers contract is for media monitoring/newsclip compilation.” To a question on how the contract came about, she said, “The contract award was handled through the EPA Office of Acquisition Management.”</p>
<p>USASpending.gov, a website that tracks federal spending, shows that in early 2016 the EPA signed a&#160;$207,000&#160; <a href="https://www.usaspending.gov/transparency/Pages/TransactionDetails.aspx?RecordID=3B728BF9-DC6E-45F1-BF65-BA5E42ACFE4C&amp;AwardID=49688963&amp;AwardType=C" type="external">contract&#160;</a>with a firm called Bulletin Intelligence, requesting similar&#160;services.&#160;Bulletin is owned by public relations giant Cision, a well-known international PR firm. According to OpenSecrets.org’s expenditure data, Bulletin&#160;is not political and has not done any recent work for any candidates or PACs. The contract expired in February.</p>
<p>Definers also recently launched a new venture with the global law firm Dentons, which describes itself as combining “political intelligence, legal advisors, campaign-style tactics, lobbying, governmental affairs, research, and communications into one unique offering” to help clients.&#160;</p>
<p>The career of at least one of Pruitt’s staffers has overlapped with the Republican operatives at Definers. Jahan Wilcox, who&#160;previously worked for Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign and in&#160;rapid response for the Republican National Committee, is now a spokesperson for the EPA.</p>
<p>Wilcox, along with other political staff in Pruitt’s EPA press shop, has had some contentious interactions with the press.&#160;In one case,&#160;when&#160;Eric&#160;Lipton&#160;from the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/10/27/you-avoid-fake-news-that-way-new-york-times-reporter-socks-it-to-epa-press-office/?utm_term=.11d8913dcb3c" type="external">New York Times</a>&#160;was confirming facts for an investigation into the EPA’s industry-friendly approach to chemical regulation, EPA spokesperson Liz Bowman&#160;diverted the discussion to other&#160;outlets’ reporting rather than confirming his questions. Wilcox <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/10/27/you-avoid-fake-news-that-way-new-york-times-reporter-socks-it-to-epa-press-office/?utm_term=.cbd62893c0f5" type="external">added,</a>&#160;“If you want to steal work from other outlets and pretend like it’s your own reporting that is your decision.”</p>
<p>On another occasion, shortly after the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/27796dd13b9549b0ac76aded58a15122" type="external">reported</a> on the Superfund sites affected by Hurricane Harvey, the EPA <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/03/trump-epa-reporter-attacked-hurricane-242300" type="external">went after</a> one of the bylined reporters in a statement,&#160;and an unnamed official later <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/09/07/what-prompted-the-epa-to-attack-an-ap-reporter-over-his-accurate-harvey-reporting/?utm_term=.7ceb90d30e34" type="external">admitted</a> to removing one of the bylined AP&#160;reporters from the agency’s press list,&#160;saying, “We don’t think he’s a trustworthy reporter.”&#160; When Pruitt has faced criticism, the EPA <a href="" type="internal">highlights</a>&#160;friendlier stories from conservative outlets— <a href="" type="internal">including Breitbart.&#160;</a></p>
<p>Pruitt has come under fire for a general lack of transparency at the EPA. The latest example is his trip promoting natural gas in Morocco. The public&#160; <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/12/13/scott-pruitt-and-a-crew-of-epa-aides-just-spent-four-days-in-morocco-promoting-natural-gas/?utm_term=.ab243c0ee689" type="external">learned</a> of his travels when his office posted a media release, causing confusion over why the EPA would not notify reporters ahead of time. This means that information on Pruitt’s activities in Morocco will be restricted to the EPA’s own spin.</p>
<p>The EPA’s work with groups affiliated with Pounder predate this contract. On a handful of occasions, the EPA has promoted positive coverage of Pruitt’s actions from the news-aggregation website&#160;Need To Know Network. Earlier this year, the&#160; <a href="https://ntknetwork.com/how-scott-pruitt-is-reshaping-the-epa-in-the-first-100-days/" type="external">website</a> wrote a series of stories designed to shed positive light on the controversial administrator.&#160;In one story, the site&#160;describes&#160;Pruitt&#160;as “busy racking up accomplishments that both protect Americans and save millions in taxpayer dollars.” Another&#160;congratulated Pruitt for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/climate/in-reversal-epa-eases-path-for-a-mine-near-alaskas-bristol-bay.html?_r=0" type="external">moving ahead</a> with plans to open Alaska’s Bristol Bay to mining, <a href="https://ntknetwork.com/pebble-mine-settlement-huge-win-for-jobs-trump-and-pruitt/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=organic&amp;utm_campaign=politics" type="external">writing</a> it was “a move that will prove to be a massive job creator for President Trump and Pruitt.”</p>
<p>The&#160;Need to Know Network was <a href="http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-score/2016/10/gop-researchers-get-into-the-news-business-216706" type="external">started by</a> Pounder and other operatives connected to America Rising and Definers Corp.&#160;</p> | The EPA Hired a Major Republican Opposition Research Firm to Track Press Activity | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2017/12/the-epa-hired-a-major-republican-opposition-research-firm-to-track-press-activity/ | 2017-12-15 | 4 |
<p>CHICAGO (Reuters) – Illinois, which sold $6 billion of bonds last month to raise money to pay overdue bills, will be back in the U.S. municipal market next week with another $750 million of debt.</p>
<p>The deal tops the $12.2 billion of bonds and notes states, cities, schools and other issuers plan to sell in the last week of November, according to preliminary estimates by Thomson Reuters on Wednesday.</p>
<p>With credit ratings hovering just above the junk level, Illinois has had to pay a hefty penalty to sell its debt to investors worried about the state’s ongoing financial and political problems.</p>
<p>An impasse between Illinois’ Republican governor and Democrats who control the legislature left the state without a complete budget for an unprecedented two fiscal years. Lawmakers enacted a fiscal 2018 budget and income tax rate hikes over Governor Bruce Rauner’s vetoes in July.</p>
<p>The impasse ballooned the backlog of bills from vendors and service providers to an all-time high of nearly $16.4 billion, which was deflated to $9.5 billion with proceeds from October’s $6 billion general obligation bond sale.</p>
<p>An investor presentation for the upcoming $750 million GO bond sale pointed to “improving” credit fundamentals that included the legislature’s action boosting the personal income tax rate to 4.95 percent from 3.75 percent and the corporate rate to 7 percent from 5.25 percent. Still, as a candidate for reelection next year, Rauner has called for repealing the tax hike, which is expected to generate more than $4 billion annually.</p>
<p>Earlier this week Rauner tweeted that the nation’s fifth-largest state was”at the edge of disaster” as he underscored the importance of the next gubernatorial election to easing Illinois’ financial difficulties.</p>
<p>Among Illinois’ unresolved problems is a $130 billion unfunded pension liability and state constitutional protections for public worker retirement benefits which threaten to overwhelm state finances.</p>
<p>“Without changes to the promised retirement debt, the state will be swallowed up. It’s an actuarial certainty,” said John Mousseau, fixed income director at Cumberland Advisors, who added he will not be participating in the deal.&#160;</p>
<p>The prospectus for next week’s bond sale also warns “there can be no assurance that a budget will be enacted in future fiscal years.”</p>
<p>The two-part competitive sale set for Wednesday consists of $655 million of bonds with maturities from 2018 through 2042 to fund capital projects and $95 million of bonds due in 2018 through 2027 to finance information technology.</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> | Illinois returns to muni market with $750 million bond sale | false | https://newsline.com/illinois-returns-to-muni-market-with-750-million-bond-sale/ | 2017-11-22 | 1 |
<p>We’re approaching a stretch of time when it would be a blessing to fall into a stupor; better that than endure two mind-numbing marketing campaigns — one promoting a corporate ass kisser and drone-wielding devil we know, the other a corporate asshole and devil we’d rather not.</p>
<p>Apologies for not putting the point more decorously.&#160; But in this instance, let the language reflect William Blake’s teaching: “as the air to a bird or the sea to a fish, so is contempt to the contemptible.”</p>
<p>Before Mitt Romney chose Paul Ryan for a running mate, there was a slim chance that the election might at least be amusing. &#160; If only he had named a certifiable whack job&#160; – there were so many to choose from! &#160; I was hoping for Rick Perry, but only because Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann were too preposterous even for Mitt.</p>
<p>Would that Sarah Palin was back! &#160; Last time, she was icing on the cake because the election was already interesting, even for those of us who never bought into&#160; “hope” and “change.”&#160; It was interesting for what it revealed about race and racism in America at the time.&#160; Four years later, we already know all we need to know about that.&#160; So except for the chance to ridicule Mormon snake oil – its main fault is that it hasn’t had time to age as long as the more familiar brands — we’re looking forward to a big Nothing.&#160; Where are you, Sarah, now that we need you?</p>
<p>Everybody knows the answer: she’s out bilking her celebrity for all it’s (still) worth.&#160; &#160; Meanwhile, we’re left with an Ayn Rand besotted policy wonk whose most worthy accomplishment to date was driving the Oscar Mayer wienermobile around the upper mid-west – that and supplying the Tea Party with “ideas.”&#160; The latter job was, pardon the pun, less taxing.</p>
<p>Romney could even have done something mildly constructive had he chosen Marco Rubio.&#160; Not doing so might also have cost him Florida.&#160; Now he has a running mate who wants to privatize Medicare and, until he flip flops as he likely soon will, end the embargo of Cuba.&#160; These are hardly winning formulae in a state with a huge elderly population and a Cuban-American community still in the grip of gusano fanatics.</p>
<p>With Rubio for a running mate, attention would have had to focus on the criminality (and stupidity) of our five decades long Cuba policy.&#160; It can hardly survive scrutiny.&#160; But now the anti-Castro lobby will be able to slouch on (sans Fidel) for a while longer — like its big brother, the Israel lobby — until the harm it does becomes so palpable that grudging acquiescence will turn to a degree of outrage so intense that even the most intimidated politicians won’t be able to ignore it any longer. &#160; But the time for that is – not yet.</p>
<p>Indeed, the time for anything but falling into a stupor is – not yet, not until after November 6. &#160; Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan quashes all hope of salvaging anything worthwhile or even interesting from the 2012 presidential race.</p>
<p>Gingrich’s “charm” is that he presents himself as smart, though he cannot smart his way out of a paper bag; not that it matters since Republican voters aren’t equipped to notice and Republican donors hardly care.&#160; With Ryan, it’s much the same.</p>
<p>But unlike Gingrich, whose purported smartness manifested itself in ludicrous but flashy proposals and declarations, Ryan is just a lumbering right-wing wonk, an unimaginative one at that.</p>
<p>Even so, the conventional wisdom, echoed now even by Barack Obama, has it that Ryan is an intellectual leader.&#160; Really?&#160; How smart do you have to be to figure out how to dismantle the last vestiges of the New Deal and Great Society so that obscenely rich malefactors can become even richer?&#160; That’s all the Ryan budget comes to; it’s about “starving the beast” in ways that even the villainous Reagan would never have dared.</p>
<p>To be sure, Obama is poised to compromise away most of what Ryan would obliterate in one fell swoop; he, like most Democrats these days, is on the same page as the GOP. &#160; But, as a Democrat, obliged to bring along those who would be most harmed, he has to move slowly and with a certain finesse.&#160; That’s what Bill Clinton did, and it’s what Obama did too in his first term.</p>
<p>Ryan faces no such constraints and, as a reactionary, he knows no scruples.&#160; Forget about finesse: Ryan would <a href="" type="internal" />have Congress and the White House “Just Say No.”</p>
<p>Those three words, if not the strategy behind them, have been a joke from the moment the Lady Gipper, Nancy Reagan, first uttered them.&#160; But she was taking about drugs and therefore taking aim at human nature.&#160; Her thinking was as fatuous, if not as godly, as that of evangelical “educators” who think that teachers of sex education courses ought to promote abstinence only.</p>
<p>In the perpetual war on drugs and sex that Republicans wage, “Just Say No” blocks measures that might actually be efficacious and helpful; the harm the Lady Gipper’s theory and practice does is passive.</p>
<p>The harm Ryan wants to do is of a different order altogether.&#160; A Ryan-style assault on the good and decent things states do for the people who comprise them and on institutions that give expression to a modicum of social solidarity would have more direct consequences – devastating ones.&#160; It would wipe out more than a century of (modest) progress.</p>
<p>I am not too worried about that because I don’t think that miscreants as unlikeable and uncharismatic as Romney and Ryan have much chance of winning a general election even in a post-Citizens United world.</p>
<p>I am more worried that Ryan’s defense of the social and economic policies of the bad old days will move Obama and the Democrats even farther to the right — as they hone in, yet again, on what they take to be the “center” of the current political scene.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Romney must truly be running scared to have chosen Ryan.&#160; It is as if he’s written off the “center” Obama courts, deciding that his only chance of winning in November is to pander to his party’s base.</p>
<p>It has been clear for some time that, in the Republican world these days, the inmates run the asylum.&#160; But thanks to family traditions, class loyalty, and limitless greed, a lot of plutocrats are still on board too, and they are, as always, funding the operation.&#160; In recent decades, Democrats have been doing their utmost to win the plutocracy over, but they have so far met with only partial success.</p>
<p>And so, the plutocrats – Romney among them – and the others must somehow coexist.&#160; It’s an impossible situation, and it’s especially hard when a plutocrat gets it into his head to take charge himself, as Romney did (for reasons that only his psychiatrist, if he has one, would know for sure).&#160; It’s almost enough to make me feel sorry for that rapacious scoundrel.</p>
<p>Had he gone for a “moderate” running mate, he would have a better chance against Obama, but only if he could keep that loony-tune base of his on board. &#160; The problem there is that the base hates his guts.&#160; His hope all along has been that they hate Obama’s guts more.</p>
<p>With the party convention just a few weeks off, Romney and his advisors evidently decided that they’d lose the base unless Romney named a vice presidential candidate to their liking.&#160; And so, encouraged by Wall Street Journal editors and other like-minded arbiters of the GOP establishment’s interests, they went for a Tea Party pleaser; one who, without being creepy, is acceptable to “values voters,” and who can appeal to libertarians.&#160; It didn’t hurt either that Ryan is much loved within the bankster community — not just for the congeniality of his views but also for services rendered.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>I do believe, as I have written before, that awful as Romney is, especially now that he has jettisoned his Governor of Massachusetts persona, that were he to shellac Obama, the outcome, all things considered, might not be worse than were Obama to shellac him.</p>
<p>Were Romney president, Democrats might recover the little bit of backbone that sprouted out from nowhere during the second Bush term.&#160; That might even lead them to block Republican efforts to undo programs Obama seems intent on compromising away, just as they did after the 2004 election, the last time a president set his sights on Social Security.</p>
<p>Best of all, with Romney in the White House a healthy class-consciousness might finally seep down into the layers of the population that Tea Party entrepreneurs have been able to exploit.&#160; And it would give the Occupy movement a new lease on life as well.&#160; With Romney as the face of the one percent, expect “eat the rich” T-shirts to come back into style.</p>
<p>Still, I confess, I’d rather Romney be the one who gets shellacked.&#160; My reasons are selfish, and more aesthetic than political. It comes down to this I dread the thought of having that man in my life for four or eight years – seeing his face everywhere, listening to his self-serving, pro-one percent nonsense.</p>
<p>It’s even worse now that Paul Ryan is in the mix.&#160; It isn’t so much that I find him personally repellent – yet.&#160; It’s an Ayn Rand thing.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Remember back when the neocons were calling the shots after 9/11; remember all the prattle then about Leo Strauss.&#160; Because some of them had been Strauss’ students years earlier at the University of Chicago, the idea was out, in both liberal and conservative circles, that to understand what was happening in our political scene, a keen understanding of Strauss’ thought was indispensable.</p>
<p>It wasn’t.&#160; Strauss was a decent, though basically undistinguished, scholar; a man of a few novel ideas, all of which pertained to interpretations of classics of Western political thought.</p>
<p>Except perhaps for his efforts to rehabilitate Plato’s notion of the Noble Lie – the idea that governing elites (philosopher kings) can and often should deceive non-elite strata for their own good — his ideas had almost no conceivable relevance to real world governance.</p>
<p>The neocons were, and still are, a malevolent lot, and some of them do claim Strauss as a teacher and guide, but the connection between Straussian political philosophy and their real world machinations exists only in their minds.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, for several years, poor Leo Strauss figured in on-going political debates.&#160; It could have been worse; it may soon be.&#160; But there is only so much Strauss one can take.&#160; Even academic philosophers have more important things to discuss.</p>
<p>Once this became impossible to deny, talk of him receded – to about the point where it had been before 9/11.&#160; There are still a few Straussians around in political science departments and some of his interpretations of classical and early modern political theory remain points of reference in scholarly discussions. &#160; But, unlike the people he was supposed to have influenced, he has all but dropped out of public awareness.</p>
<p>I fear that with Ryan on the ticket we are about to witness a similar phenomenon this time centered on a much less worthy figure.&#160; It’s not a pleasing prospect.</p>
<p>Unlike Strauss, Rand and her disciples (there’s no other word for them) produced a comprehensive, almost systematic, body of doctrine; complete with a metaphysics, an epistemology, and an aesthetics along with the ethics and political philosophy for which she is mainly known.</p>
<p>Unlike Strauss too, there is hardly a professional philosopher who takes her work seriously, though there have been a few who have written occasional pieces about it.&#160; It is surprising how little of that there has been because, if you are a college professor, it is hard to ignore Ayn Rand completely; there are always a few undergraduates, boys mostly, who claim an interest and keep bringing her up.</p>
<p>Of course, the judgment of academic philosophers is hardly sacrosanct.&#160; But it is telling that, in university circles, Ayn Rand’s “objectivism” is about as respectable a position as, say, “intelligent design” or “scientific creationism.”&#160; Proponents of those latter positions have a ready-made audience, the Scopes monkey trial notwithstanding; small wonder therefore that a few of them find their way into the nether reaches of the academic scene.</p>
<p>Admirers of Ayn Rand have a ready-made audience too: adolescent boys drawn in by her soft porn (even these days, when so much better is available) and borderline sociopaths, rich and poor, who welcome her justifications for their otherwise mindless egoism.</p>
<p>If anyone is curious, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy provides a comprehensive and remarkably non-judgmental account of her positions and also a bibliography of writings by her and about her work.&#160; It will tell you more than you need to know.</p>
<p>There actually is a small Ayn Rand literature out there, but what most people who have read anything by her know are two massive novels, The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957).</p>
<p>Their influence far outweighs their literary merits, and I would venture, again, that their popularity has at least as much to do with their steamier parts than with their philosophical ruminations.&#160; Though both are touted as philosophical novels, readers are hard put to find any actual philosophy in them.</p>
<p>What there is instead are glorifications of ruthlessness and wealth.&#160; Rand defends raw, untrammeled egoism.&#160; She therefore attacks morality which, as we know from the Golden Rule and Kant’s categorical imperative, involves impartiality, a deliberative vantage-point according to which what matters is what people have in common, not what distinguishes them from one another.</p>
<p>This is why morality and Randian egoism are incompatible.&#160; The heroes of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged do not do unto others as they would have others do unto them, and they certainly don’t act in accord with principles that are binding on rational agents as such.&#160; They just do what they want.</p>
<p>Years before Rand, Friedrich Nietzsche raised superficially similar objections to the moral point of view.&#160; Nietzsche, however, made his case with considerable cogency and philosophical sophistication.&#160; Rand’s brief against morality is neither cogent nor subtle.</p>
<p>I have no idea how much, if anything, of the Randian world view Ryan shares (or understands).&#160; It hardly matters.&#160; What does matter is that Ayn Rand’s philosophy coheres well with the free market theology Ryan promotes and with the diffuse libertarianism of the American right.</p>
<p>This is why I think it is fair to conjecture that Ryan’s commitment to Rand’s objectivism is shallow; it is just a carapace for housing libertarian intuitions.&#160; Indeed, I would venture that he is not really committed to ideas at all, but just to the interests of those plutocrats who feel no sense of obligation to the people who make their wealth and power possible.</p>
<p>In support of this conjecture, I would adduce the undeniable fact that Randian philosophy, or pseudo-philosophy, conflicts with other positions Ryan endorses.&#160; The conflict is blatant and undeniable.</p>
<p>Rand was not just an atheist; she disparaged believers (illustrating how even a stopped clock is right twice every twenty-four hours), and none more than those who adhere to the dictates of the Church of Rome, the Church into which Ryan was born and to whose uppity bishops he expresses obeisance.</p>
<p>Of course, it could just be that he is an opportunistic panderer; after all, no Republican who, say, favors abortion would have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting anywhere in today’s GOP.&#160; But Ryan seems to be a true believer, as sincere a Catholic as the man who chose him is sincerely Mormon.</p>
<p>He is reported even to have told those bishops that his favorite philosopher, after Ayn Rand of course, is Thomas Aquinas.&#160; It would be hard to imagine a more impossible marriage of views or, for that matter, a more unequal fusion of philosophical positions.</p>
<p>Thomas Aquinas – wrong and wrong-headed as he may have been — was one of the premier philosophers of all time.&#160; Though there are objectivist positions on some venerable problems of philosophy, it is something of a stretch to count Ayn Rand as a philosopher at all.</p>
<p>Ryan’s self-declared Randian-Thomism is an especially ironic concoction in view of the fact that Aquinas’s case against interest – against money ‘earning’ money – went on to shape Church thinking on usury and, more generally, on banking.&#160; It kept Catholics out of the banking business for centuries.</p>
<p>As capitalism came to supplant the feudal world in which Thomas Aquinas lived, it became impossible for the Catholic counterparts of today’s GOP establishment to leave banking to Protestants and Jews.&#160; Therefore that part of the Thomist system has fallen away.&#160; It was a case of God versus Mammon and, not surprisingly, Mammon won.</p>
<p>But the philosophical conflicts remain.&#160; Tellingly, they touch on issues Ryan is on record supporting.&#160; Aquinas’s arguments are straightforward consequences of the ‘natural law’ approach to social policy questions that Ryan says he embraces.&#160; But what’s good for abortion is evidently not good for issues affecting bankers.&#160; Does he have a reason why?&#160; I doubt he’s even given it a moment’s thought.</p>
<p>It hardly matters.&#160; Ryan may be the Republicans’ thinker of the hour.&#160; But it’s hard to deny the obvious: there’s no there there.</p>
<p>Banksters can therefore rest easy.&#160; That is hardly news.&#160; They figured out from Day One that in Paul Ryan you have a reliable menial at their service.&#160; He may get points in benighted circles for presenting himself as a serious thinker; why not, it works for Newt Gingrich?&#160; But his Thomism and even his identification with Ayn Rand’s silliness is only window-dressing at best.</p>
<p>That may not matter to banksters and their comrades in the class struggle, but it is not without consequence.&#160; The neocon prattle over Leo Strauss was hardship enough.&#160; But at least Strauss was a full-fledged citizen of the republic of letters; making much of him didn’t befoul the ambient political scene.</p>
<p>Rand is a different story, a borderline charlatan.&#160; Introducing her into the fold only serves to underscore how decrepit our intellectual and political culture can be.&#160; It’s a painful reminder.&#160; For anyone who cares about such things, the temptation to say “better Obama than that” – especially when it’s not clear otherwise where the balance falls — is hard to resist.</p>
<p>ANDREW LEVINE&#160;is a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies, the author most recently of THE AMERICAN IDEOLOGY (Routledge) and&#160; <a href="" type="internal">POLITICAL KEY WORDS</a>&#160;(Blackwell) as well as of many other books and articles in political philosophy. His most recent book is <a href="" type="internal">&#160;In Bad Faith: What’s Wrong With the Opium of the People</a>. He was a Professor (philosophy) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Research Professor (philosophy) at the University of Maryland-College Park. &#160;He is a contributor to&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion</a>&#160;(AK Press).</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Ryan: a Reactionary Without Scruples | true | https://counterpunch.org/2012/08/14/ryan-a-reactionary-without-scruples/ | 2012-08-14 | 4 |
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<p>DALLAS — A Dallas woman has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for her conviction in a $375 million Medicare and Medicaid scam involving some homeless people and bogus billing.</p>
<p>Federal prosecutors on Friday announced 52-year-old Cynthia Stiger must also repay nearly $24 million. Stiger in 2016 was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.</p>
<p>Prosecutors say Stiger is the last of seven defendants sentenced after being convicted, including a Dallas-area physician. Dr. Jacques (ZHAWK) Roy in August was sentenced to 35 years and ordered to pay $268 million in restitution.</p>
<p>Records show Roy and the six others certified about 11,000 Medicare beneficiaries through more than 500 home health providers between 2006 and late 2011. Authorities say in some cases homeless people were recruited as patients and medical records were falsified.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Dallas woman sentenced to 10 years in $375M health care scam | false | https://abqjournal.com/1084202/dallas-woman-sentenced-to-10-years-in-375m-health-care-scam.html | 2 |
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<p>Emerson Electric Co. boosted its takeover offer for Rockwell Automation Inc., ratcheting up an effort to bring its reluctant rival to the negotiating table and forge a new giant in industrial automation.</p>
<p>Emerson sent a letter Thursday to Rockwell Chief Executive Blake Moret proposing a takeover at $225 a share, 60% in cash and 40% in stock for a total value of some $29 billion. Emerson disclosed the letter Thursday morning, confirming an earlier Wall Street Journal report.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>It is St. Louis-based Emerson's third bid for Rockwell and compares with a $215-a-share offer put forward in October and one in August valued at $200 a share. Both were equal parts cash and stock.</p>
<p>The earlier overtures were met with resistance from Rockwell, which has refused to engage in negotiations, according to people familiar with the matter.</p>
<p>Mr. Moret, speaking at an investor meeting in Houston, said Rockwell's board would carefully consider Emerson's latest bid to see if it is in the best interest of the company and shareholders but declined to comment further.</p>
<p>Emerson is hoping that the higher offer, with a greater proportion of cash, will be enough to convince Rockwell officials to sit down and talk -- either on their own or at the urging of the company's investors.</p>
<p>At least one investor expressed interest in seeing Rockwell seriously consider Emerson's latest offer, saying it was the company's duty to shareholders.</p>
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<p>"You have a chance to at least explore and engage to see if there is a fit," said Alan Mitrani, managing partner of the hedge fund Sylvan Lake Asset Management in Northern New Jersey, which he said was a long-term investor in Rockwell.</p>
<p>Rockwell shares gained 2.6% to $193.61 on Thursday, while Emerson shares fell slightly to $59.02.</p>
<p>Emerson is pushing ahead with the bid because it believes that putting the companies together would create a new powerhouse in the production of equipment and software used to control automated manufacturing processes, a $200 billion global market. The combined company would have a market capitalization based on current values of more than $60 billion and about $23 billion in annual revenue, and potentially be in a position to better compete with European rivals like Siemens AG.</p>
<p>Customers of Rockwell, Emerson and others in the industry are increasingly looking to simplify factory-control processes and for an integrated offering.</p>
<p>Automation systems broadly have been a sweet spot for industrial investment as customers look for more efficiency from existing plants and as manufacturing becomes evermore automated and digital.</p>
<p>Emerson estimates more than $6 billion of capitalized synergies from the potential deal, which it reckons is worth an additional $10 a share to Rockwell shareholders, according to the letter. The deal would add to adjusted per-share earnings in the first year, by Emerson's calculations.</p>
<p>The offer is at a relatively rich multiple of 21 times past earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and represents a 30% premium to Rockwell's average share price in the 90 days leading up to when the pursuit became public Oct. 31.</p>
<p>The combined company would have an "automation center of excellence" in Milwaukee, where Rockwell is based. Emerson also indicated it is open to giving Rockwell officials important roles in the governance of a new entity.</p>
<p>The companies have complementary product lines and geographies, and Emerson believes that combining them would accelerate their growth. Rockwell's strength is in so-called discrete products used in areas including auto assembly, packaging and printing, while Emerson excels in so-called process control for power plants, oil-and-gas facilities and the like.</p>
<p>At Great Lakes Brewing Co., Rockwell hardware and software have helped employees in Cleveland focus on developing new types of beer, said John Blystone, electrical and controls supervisor for the brewer. "If you have them regulating temperatures in the tank farm 365 days a year, you're probably not going to have that person dreaming up the next, greatest IPA," Mr. Blystone said.</p>
<p>At iBio CDMO LLC, a Texas-based maker of vaccines and antibodies used to treat chronic diseases and cancer, Rockwell devices and software have helped reduce production costs and the amount of wasted batches. "We can make more products and make them more accurately," said Barry Holtz, the company's president.</p>
<p>Emerson and Rockwell's systems are increasingly used by the same customers. Combining the companies and integrating their product lines would appeal to customers looking to simplify factory control processes and eliminate the need for custom-built system interfaces, said Sandy Vasser, a retired electrical engineer for Exxon Mobil Corp. who has worked with both companies' automation systems.</p>
<p>"Both companies have similar challenges, but coming from different directions," Mr. Vasser said. "Emerson has been trying to scale down to smaller control systems. Rockwell started from small controls and they've been completing for larger plant systems."</p>
<p>Write to Dana Cimilluca at [email protected], Andrew Tangel at [email protected] and Bob Tita at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>November 16, 2017 17:54 ET (22:54 GMT)</p> | Emerson Increases Offer for Rockwell to $29 Billion -- 3rd Update | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/11/16/emerson-increases-offer-for-rockwell-to-29-billion-3rd-update.html | 2017-11-16 | 0 |
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<p>Officer K (Ryan Gosling), a new blade runner for the Los Angeles Police Department, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. His discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former “retiring” police officer who’s been missing for 30 years in “Blade Runner 2049.”</p>
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<p>The smartest way to review “Blade Runner 2049” is to just start peeling away at its many different layers. Let’s begin with the visuals. The designers of the film do an incredible job of extending the familiar world of the original while giving viewers something new to gaze upon. While the 1982 classic took place mostly at night, Director Denis Villeneuve chose to show the dystopic world in the light of day just as much as in the dark recesses of Los Angeles of the future.</p>
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<p>Some of the white rooms and walkways reminded me of the sterilized sets we saw in George Lucas’s “THX-1138.” All of the pieces of the puzzle come together to give “Blade Runner 2049” the same tone as its predecessor while adding new tones to the palette as well.</p>
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<p>The special effects for “Blade Runner 2049” are nothing short of breathtaking and, dare I say, groundbreaking. I say groundbreaking because it’s utterly amazing how well the CGI aspects of the movie blend with the practical sets and props. The original film still holds up today because of its use of physical sets and models. “Blade Runner 2049” finds a way to be even more impressive to the eye.</p>
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<p>Every actor in “Blade Runner 2049” is absolutely invested in their role, both physically and emotionally. Both Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling deliver performances that will give you goosebumps and possibly bring you to tears at times and leave you giggling at others. Physically, the two run around and take a lick and keep on ticking. Jared Leto stretches his acting chops even further as the creepy and driven architect of the would-be future of android servitude and manufacturing.</p>
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<p>When it’s all said and done, “Blade Runner 2049” asks a lot of questions about humanity and what should or shouldn’t be considered an actual lifeform. Does an android that is programmed to feel have any less rights to life because he doesn’t have a soul? Should they just be treated the same as a toaster or microwave? If we make something with feelings (real or just artificial), do we have a responsibility to be mindful of them and consider their feelings and emotions?</p>
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<p>There’s also something deeper to take away from “Blade Runner 2049” about how we treat our creations and the resources or people bestowed upon us. Maybe even some commentary about how we view ourselves and what we deserve as a person. A life lesson about the value of spending time with the ones you love and what you would do to keep them safe can be found, too.</p>
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<p>Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch’s musical score for “Blade Runner 2049” is what I would call a direct extension of what Vangelis did for the first film. There’s really nothing more to say about it. Every note fit the movie and the sequence it accompanied, but it stopped right there. Although the two composers delivered what they needed to, it would have been interesting to hear what Jóhann Jóhannsson brought to the table before he left the project.</p>
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<p>“Blade Runner 2049” is rated R for violence, some sexuality, nudity and language. There’s a lot more unnecessary flesh seen here than in the original movie. The violence is rather graphic as well, with one scene graphically showing someone get shot in the head. Parents brought their children to the screening I was in and regretted it if they had any sense at all.</p>
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<p>Moviegoers looking for the latest action blockbuster to switch their brain off to won’t be pleased with “Blade Runner 2049.” It’s an intensely cerebral almost three hour journey that is peppered throughout with some intense fights, chase scenes, and exploding ships and buildings. Let’s just say there are long stretches of dialogue and investigation between any gunplay, aerial pursuits, or hand-to-hand combat.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Denis Villeneuve (“Arrival”) directed “Blade Runner 2049” from a script by Hampton Fancher (“Blade Runner”) and Michael Green (“Logan”). The movie stars Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, Robin Wright, Jared Leto, Ana de Armas, and Sylvia Hoeks. The running time is 164 minutes.</p>
<p>Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.</p>
<p>Save</p>
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<p>Save</p> | Movie Review: “Blade Runner 2049” | true | http://silenceisconsent.net/movie-review-blade-runner-2049/ | 2018-05-05 | 0 |
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<p>Japan's Nikkei share average tumbled to a four-month closing low on Thursday after signs the U.S. Federal Reserve may start cutting its king-sized balance sheet earlier than expected spooked the market.</p>
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<p>The Nikkei dropped 1.4 percent to 18,597.06, the lowest close since early December.</p>
<p>Investors were also wary ahead of a potentially tense meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the first between the world's two most powerful leaders.</p>
<p>The broader Topix dropped 1.6 percent to 1,480.18.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)</p> | Nikkei Tumbles to 4-Month Low After Fed Minutes | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/04/06/nikkei-tumbles-to-4-month-low-after-fed-minutes.html | 2017-04-06 | 0 |
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<p>When hip-hop artist Common performed at the White House in May 2011, he sparked a minor controversy over some poetry he wrote concerning a woman he believes was wrongly convicted of murdering a police officer. Fox News jumped at the opportunity to attack Obama for allowing such a deviant into the White House. Fox and Bill O'Reilly were so outraged that they forgot to consult anyone who has heard a song that hasn't been featured on a "Now That's What I Call Music" album. Jon Stewart comes on "The O'Reilly Factor" to deliver one of the most devastating and thorough arguments [3:13] I have EVER seen on television. Spoiler alert: Fox News is a crazy-racist, selective-outrage machine.</p> | I Almost Feel Bad For Bill O'Reilly In This Clip. Almost. | true | http://upworthy.com/jon-stewart-finds-and-exploits-bill-oreillys-only-weakness-facts | 2018-09-26 | 4 |
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<p>Police said the man had been in a pickup before he was shot at least once near the intersection of Rinconada Boulevard and Settlers Pass. The name of the gunshot victim has not been released.</p>
<p>It remains unclear how many times the man was struck, but police said the gunfire came from a second “automobile.”</p>
<p>Preliminary information from LCPD suggests the pickup and automobile were “engaged in aggressive driving” while in the East Mesa area.</p>
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<p>The incident began to unfold sometime after 5 p.m. Thursday, police said, and escalated a short time later when someone in the automobile produced a handgun and fired at least one round, striking the 30-year-old man.</p>
<p>The man was shot in the abdomen, police said, and was airlifted to University Medical Center in El Paso, where he remained in critical condition on Friday.</p>
<p>LCPD spokesman Dan Trujillo said police have identified “all parties” involved in the incident, including the possible shooter. He said interviews were conducted Friday and that charges may be pending.</p>
<p>No arrests had been made as of Friday.</p>
<p>Police swarmed the area shortly after the shooting was reported at 5:16 p.m. As part of the investigation, police temporarily blocked traffic in and out of the Rinconada subdivision along Rinconada Boulevard, and between Roma Drive and Settlers Pass.</p>
<p>Trujillo said police are continuing to investigate the incident and are asking anyone with relevant information to call 575-526-0795.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>©2016 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.)</p>
<p>Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at <a href="http://www.lcsun-news.com" type="external">www.lcsun-news.com</a></p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.</p>
<p>_____</p> | LCPD: Man shot in road rage incident in critical condition | false | https://abqjournal.com/906959/lcpd-man-shot-in-road-rage-incident-in-critical-condition.html | 2 |
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<p>By Gilbert Kreijger</p>
<p>The Basel III bank capital rules will force banks to more than triple the amount of top quality capital they must hold to 7 percent by 2018 to withstand shocks without resorting to state aid.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But Hans Hoogervorst, who takes over on July 1 as chair of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), told Dutch TV program Buitenhof that still wasn't high enough, implying the actual requirement should be as much as about 9 percent.</p>
<p>"In countries which have been hit hard, such as Switzerland and Britain, the supervisors are saying 'We don't want to run into that trap again'," Hoogervorst said.</p>
<p>"I think it will (need to) be a factor of 30 percent higher than what the international agreement is. I cannot make precise statements but I think it can be a notch higher."</p>
<p>"I am still very worried about this. Banks have become bigger rather than smaller. The "too big to fail" problem has become bigger," Hoogervorst said.</p>
<p>"We have to acknowledge this. In countries such as France and Germany as well as the Netherlands we should not try to just meet the capital requirements but surpass them greatly."</p>
<p>Hoogervorst said he expected a new European stress test for banks, which looks at how well banks can cope with economic and financial shocks, to lead to new capital raisings, as also predicted by analysts.</p>
<p>"Some banks will be forced to raise capital. That is a good thing."</p>
<p>Germany's Commerzbank AG and Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo this week already unveiled plans to raise capital.</p>
<p>In February, Hoogervorst criticized last year's bank stress tests because they failed to reflect the decline in prices for euro zone peripheral sovereign debt.</p>
<p>He said that the new bank stress test was an improvement, because of the higher capital requirement, but there still was not a scenario for writing down peripheral euro zone sovereign debt.</p>
<p>"What they do want to do is detail the exposure of banks to these kind of countries. Then market participants can do the maths themselves."</p>
<p>Hoogervorst said he hoped to reach an agreement with the United States whereby it would adopt IASB accounting rules and create a global standard, as called for by the Group of 20 leading countries.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Gilbert Kreijger; Editing by Sara Webb and Jon Loades-Carter)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Accounting chief wants higher bank capital ratios | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/04/10/accounting-chief-wants-higher-bank-capital-ratios.html | 2016-01-28 | 0 |
<p>How can you get rich? There are plenty of paths to wealth.</p>
<p>You could win the lottery. A long-lost uncle could pass away and leave you his stash of bitcoins. Of course, there are plenty of other methods to getting rich as well. One way to seriously consider is to buy stocks that are poised to benefit from trends that will create enormous wealth.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But which trends and which stocks? Artificial intelligence (AI), China's growing economic power, and gene editing are three trends that I think hold the potential to generate a lot of money in the coming years. Here's why Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU), Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), and Editas Medicine (NASDAQ: EDIT) could be great picks to profit from these trends -- and make you rich in the process.</p>
<p>If you don't know much about AI, understand three things. First, successful application of AI involves a huge amount of data. Second, that data has to be processed by high-powered computers. Third, this processing requires a lot of memory. Now that you've got those three things down, you can better appreciate the value that Micron Technology brings to organizations focusing on AI.</p>
<p>Micron is one of the world's biggest providers of memory chips used in AI systems. A rapidly growing application of AI is in autonomous, or self-driving, vehicles. Micron is making a big play in this market. In September, the company launched new memory chips that are designed to serve as the foundation for next-generation autonomous vehicles. It also announced partnerships with some of the top automakers to develop high-bandwidth memory technology intended to power fully autonomous vehicles.</p>
<p>There are plenty of stocks you could buy <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/12/17/3-artificial-intelligence-stocks-you-probably-over.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=3f7c2936-e683-11e7-a3ec-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">to profit from the growth of AI Opens a New Window.</a>. Many of them, however, are priced for perfection. Micron, on the other hand, is incredibly cheap despite the stock doubling in 2017. The chipmaker's shares trade at a little over five times expected earnings. With the kind of growth that Micron should enjoy, the stock looks even more attractive.</p>
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<p>China ranks as the most populous country in the world. Its gross domestic product (GDP) has grown by 6.9% in 2017, more than twice as much as the U.S. China's middle class is growing significantly -- and that creates lots of opportunities. Alibaba has already begun capitalizing on those opportunities.</p>
<p>When it comes to e-commerce in China, Alibaba reigns as king. The company provides the internet platform that connects merchants with customers for both retailers and wholesalers. It's also China's largest provider of public cloud services. But as big as its market potential is in China, Alibaba isn't limiting itself to just one country. The company's mission is "to make it easy to do business anywhere." That's exactly what Alibaba is attempting to do.</p>
<p>The company owns the top mobile browser used in India and Indonesia, two other fast-growing nations. It owns the largest largest mobile payment platform in India. Founder Jack Ma's goal is to serve more than 2 billion consumers and 10 million small businesses 20 years from now. If it achieves that goal, Alibaba would have a business platform that was, by itself, one of the largest economies in the world. This could very well be one of those stocks that you can <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/28/8-reasons-to-buy-alibaba-group-and-never-sell.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=3f7c2936-e683-11e7-a3ec-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">buy and never sell Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Gene editing, which involves inserting, deleting, or replacing DNA, has been around since 1991. But for years, actually editing genes was difficult, slow, and expensive. That changed in 2012 with the introduction of CRISPR (which stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats). CRISPR used a bacterial enzyme (known as Cas9) to alter DNA and ushered in a whole new ballgame for gene editing. Some of the early pioneers of CRISPR founded Editas Medicine in 2013.</p>
<p>There are other early-stage biotechs developing therapies using CRISPR. What sets Editas apart from the pack? Patents. In 2014, the company licensed patents for CRISPR-Cas9 held by the Broad Institute and Harvard University. These patents cover any use of the gene-editing technology in humans. Unless the patents are somehow invalidated (and they've been upheld once in court already), any company that develops a gene therapy using CRISPR-Cas9 will have to pay royalties to Editas.</p>
<p>Editas could one day have its own gene therapies. The biotech is exploring use of CRISPR in developing treatments for eye diseases as well as genetic diseases including cystic fibrosis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and sickle cell disease. It's also working with Juno Therapeutics on using gene editing for fighting cancer. I think it's entirely possible that Editas and others developing gene therapies using its patented technology <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/13/this-technology-could-make-you-rich-and-change-the.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=3f7c2936-e683-11e7-a3ec-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">revolutionize healthcare in the coming years Opens a New Window.</a> -- and make some investors wealthy in the process.</p>
<p>The process for getting rich with these three stocks is pretty simple. It involves only two steps. First, buy the stocks. Second, hold on to them for a long time. The first step is easy, but the second step could be really tough to do.</p>
<p>All three of these stocks could be pretty volatile. That's especially true for Editas Medicine, since it isn't profitable yet and could have to raise cash through dilution-causing stock offerings. That volatility could make it difficult to stay calm at times.</p>
<p>Each of these stocks could also shoot up a lot in a relatively short amount of time. I already mentioned that Micron stock has doubled this year. Alibaba is pretty close to doubling as well, and Editas is up more than 65%. With those kinds of quick gains, you could be tempted to sell, take the money, and run. Don't.</p>
<p>I believe all three of these stocks are long-term plays. It will take years for AI, growth in China, and gene editing to reach their maximum impact. Buy Alibaba, Editas, and Micron now and hold on to them for a really long time. Maybe you won't get rich, but I think the chances are pretty good that you will.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Micron TechnologyWhen 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=198b3c4e-4410-4b5f-b775-bbeb312d51ba&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=3f7c2936-e683-11e7-a3ec-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Micron Technology wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of December 4, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFFishBiz/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=3f7c2936-e683-11e7-a3ec-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 recommends Editas Medicine and Juno Therapeutics. 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=3f7c2936-e683-11e7-a3ec-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 3 Stocks That Could Make You Rich | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/09/30/3-stocks-that-could-make-rich.html | 2017-12-26 | 0 |
<p>For her first interview at NBC News, Megyn Kelly hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin as a guest. It didn’t take long for the interview to take an ugly turn for the conservative-turned-mainstream host.</p>
<p>While on air, Kelly desperately attempted to get Putin to confess to hacking the 2016 presidential election.</p>
<p>“IP addresses can be invented—a child can do that!” Putin responded. “Your underage daughter could do that. That is not proof.”</p>
<p>“We didn’t do this. Stop this!” Putin later added. “There is no specific evidence, no facts, just assumptions, allegations and conclusions based on those allegations, nothing more.”</p>
<p>Later in the segment, Putin questioned Trump’s plea for NATO allies to increase their military spending.</p>
<p>“If you’re not intending to attack anybody, why increase your military spending?” he said. “The U.S. demands from their allies to raise their spending and simultaneously says that NATO is not going to attack anybody.”</p>
<p>“NATO was established as a Cold War instrument in the fight against the Soviet Union…there is no longer any…Soviet Union but NATO is still there,” he added. “The question is: what for? NATO has already been talking about transformation…into a political organization, as the kind of organization that creates the elements of stability in the world.”</p>
<p>What do you think of this segment?</p>
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<p>Website owners select the type of content that appears in our units. However, if you would like to ensure that Content.ad always displays family-friendly content on this device, regardless of what site you are on, check the option below. <a href="https://d32oduq093hvot.cloudfront.net/site/family_friendly_v1.html?utm_medium=modal&amp;utm_source=widget_272430" type="external">Learn More</a></p> | Vladimir Putin Smears The Floor With Megyn Kelly’s Face… Watch Him Humiliate Her [VIDEO] | true | http://usainfonews.com/index.php/2017/06/06/vladimir-putin-smears-floor-megyn-kellys-face-watch-humiliate-video/ | 2017-06-06 | 0 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Association for Manufacturing Excellence had honored IEC Electronics Corp. in Albuquerque with a 2013 Manufacturing Excellence Award.</p>
<p>The facility will be recognized at a ceremony during the 2013 AME “Excellence Inside” Conference from Oct. 21-25 in Toronto.</p>
<p>The AME assessment team said it was impressed with the level of ownership employees felt about the process and the company’s performance.</p>
<p>IEC Electronics provides electronic-manufacturing services to advanced-technology companies primarily in the military, aerospace, medical and industrial sectors.</p>
<p>The Albuquerque plant has more than 159 active products, employs 90 people and has 72,000 square feet of floor space.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Excellence award for IEC Electronics | false | https://abqjournal.com/284150/excellence-award-for-iec-electronics.html | 2013-10-18 | 2 |
<p>A few hundred White House staff took a long lunch as they gathered to watch the World Cup games last week, where the U.S. team was to play against Belgium. As you can see, President Barack Obama entered the screening room and began to chant:</p>
<p>“I believe. I believe. I believe that we can win. I believe that we can win…”</p>
<p>Well, despite their passionate “belief,” the U.S. lost to Belgium, 2-1 in overtime. Once again, hope and change amounted to nothing.</p>
<p />
<p>As Jimmy Kimmel&#160;noted:</p>
<p>“He believed in a lot of things that didn’t quite work out.”</p> | WATCH: Jimmy Kimmel Just Made a Complete Joke Of Obama’s Presidency in 41 Seconds | true | http://thepoliticalinsider.com/jimmy-kimmel-made-joke-presidency/ | 2014-07-07 | 0 |
<p>By Vicki Brown</p>
<p>A lifelong interest in Native Americans and an online <a href="http://silvrdrach.homestead.com/Schwartz_2006_Oct_15.html" type="external">article</a> from 2006 about conditions on a South Dakota reservation prompted a <a href="http://www.sbuniv.edu/" type="external">Southwest Baptist University</a> staff member about four years ago to travel to the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota Reservation to witness the plight of members of the <a href="http://www.blackhillsbadlands.com/home/artsculture/lakotasiouxculture" type="external">Sioux Nation</a> for himself.</p>
<p>An avid photographer, Kurt Caddy took along his camera. “I had a burst of creativity that I hadn’t had in a long time,” said the director of university ministries at the Southern Baptist school in Bolivar, Mo.</p>
<p>Images of beauty alongside misery touched Caddy in ways he knew few people back home would understand. “When I came back, no one knew what I was talking about,” Caddy said. “I felt overwhelmed that people didn’t know about their plight.”</p>
<p>Caddy put together a display of Native American art, including his photographs from the trip. Then he heard a presentation by <a href="http://silentimages.org/about/who-we-are/" type="external">David Johnson</a> from <a href="http://silentimages.org/" type="external">Silent Images</a>, a nonprofit service that recruits professional photographers to assist charities and churches with “advocacy photography” to tell the stories of the voiceless or oppressed.</p>
<p>“Wow, this is what needs to happen for the Lakota,” Caddy thought.</p>
<p>Johnson suggested Caddy put together a photo team to tell the Lakota story. In the meantime, Caddy continued to head to South Dakota, taking student teams and his family with him on most of the nine trips he has made.</p>
<p>Last fall, he recruited a team of 13 students and two others, including Todd Walker, an SBU alum who had become a professional photographer, as a photo team. They met every week for 13 weeks beginning in January to learn about the Lakota and to plan the project.</p>
<p>The photo team spent May 20-29 on the <a href="http://www.indianyouth.org/cheyenne-river-sioux.html" type="external">Cheyenne River Reservation</a>, with their base at Cherry Creek. Most mission groups do not have the opportunity to stay on the Lakota reservations, instead sleeping elsewhere and returning for ministry each day.</p>
<p>Caddy connected with and is now partnering with Anthony Hanson, a Lakota and founder of <a href="http://www.nativeamericanmission.org/" type="external">New Hope Native American Mission</a> in Cherry Creek.</p>
<p>Before the team could begin photographing the people and their daily life, members had to build trust with the community. For about five days, team members did service projects, helping set up a community garden and presenting a seminar on growing and preserving produce.</p>
<p>They built a pavilion next to the cemetery as a place for the community to serve funeral meals. And they built 25 crosses for the cemetery to help replace those lost when a planned burn got out of control.</p>
<p>Then they took pictures — lots of them, Caddy said. About 5,000 that they are culling and editing will become the basis of two phases for getting the Lakotas’ story out.</p>
<p>They have targeted November for the release of Phase I, a display of photos that Caddy hopes to be able to share not only at Southwest Baptist, but also on other college campuses and in local churches.</p>
<p>Phase II will be producing and publishing a coffee-table book of photos, with the proceeds of book sales to benefit the Lakota.</p>
<p>Caddy said getting the story told is important for a couple of reasons. First, he said, in some ways Christians are still unraveling damage unintentionally done by earlier believers.</p>
<p>“The Lakota have had 500 years of missionary exposure. They have had access to the gospel and have been exposed to the gospel but still less than 2 percent are Christian,” Caddy explained. “Right here in our own midst we have an unreached people group.”</p>
<p>Caddy said earlier efforts to evangelize Native Americans included “some really bad missionary practice.” He pointed out that the Lakota were forced to assimilate into European culture in many ways. They were forced to send their children to boarding schools and told not to speak their “heart” language.</p>
<p>The Lakota were among the tribes most able to sustain themselves because they lived off the land. As Europeans took over prime lands and the Lakota were forced onto small reservations, the people became less able to take care of their own needs. “Now they are some of the most dependent people,” Caddy said.</p>
<p>Caddy said he hopes to work with Hanson and New Hope’s board to “do more to help them be sustainable,” he said. The Lakota do “amazing” beadwork, for example, but they have no Internet access to market their products.</p>
<p>Second, Caddy believes all people, including the Lakota, need to hear the gospel. He always takes the teams he leads to Wounded Knee — site of the last major U.S. military strike to subdue Native Americans on Dec. 29, 1890, and called the <a href="http://www.ushistory.org/us/40e.asp" type="external">Wounded Knee Massacre</a> — because he believes it is a “spiritual stronghold.”</p>
<p>Caddy said there is “an openness” in Cherry Creek that he would like to see become a church-planting movement with the Lakota trained to reach their own people with the gospel message.</p>
<p>Caddy describes the area as “a great place to go to have your heart broken” and for students to think about God’s purpose for them. When students wonder why they have “had it so good” compared to the Native Americans, Caddy tells them they are asking the wrong question.</p>
<p>“The question is: ‘What are you going to do with your life, your possessions, your degree?’” he said.</p> | Photo project brings Lakota plight to light | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/baptists-taking-cameras-gospel-to-the-lakota/ | 3 |
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<p>German test pilot Markus Scherdel steers the solar-powered Solar Impulse 2 aircraft for its maiden flight at its base in Payerne, Switzerland Monday, June 2, 2014. The aircraft is the second solar plane of the Solar Impulse project. The main goal of the project is to circumnavigate the world with an aircraft, powered only by solar energy. (AP Photo/Denis Balibouse,Pool)</p>
<p>BERLIN - A Swiss-made solar-powered aircraft has made a successful inaugural flight as its makers prepare for what they hope will be the first round-the-world solar flight.</p>
<p>The Solar Impulse 2 team said the aircraft spent 2 hours and 17 minutes in the air above western Switzerland early Monday. They plan several other flights over the coming months.</p>
<p>The Solar Impulse 2 is a bigger and better version of a single-seat prototype that first took flight five years ago. Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, the project's founders, say it theoretically can stay airborne indefinitely.</p>
<p>The plane soaks up energy from the sun through some 17,200 solar cells that cover its massive wings, which span 72 meters (236 feet).</p>
<p>Piccard and Borschberg hope to fly the aircraft around the world next year.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Swiss-made solar plane makes maiden flight | false | https://abqjournal.com/409558/swiss-made-solar-plane-makes-maiden-flight.html | 2 |
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<p>By Bob Allen</p>
<p>Voters overwhelmingly rejected Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance —&#160;or HERO —&#160;designed to protect the rights of gay citizens and opposed by religious conservatives who warned it would give male sexual predators access to women’s bathrooms.</p>
<p>A Nov. 3 referendum failed by a vote of 61 percent to 39 percent to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in laws that prohibit discrimination in housing, employment, city contracting and business services. The vote followed a yearlong court battle marked by a religious liberty controversy after city officials sought to subpoena sermons of pastors who spoke out against the ordinance.</p>
<p>Ed Young, pastor of Houston’s Second Baptist Church, declared the HERO referendum a “moral issue” —&#160;and not a vote about discrimination —&#160;at a watch party for the Campaign for Houston, which opposed the ordinance.</p>
<p>“Everybody’s interpreted this as a political thing, and that’s not the perspective from which I come,” Young <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2015/11/03/houston-anti-discrimination-ordinance-early-voting/" type="external">said</a>, according to the Texas Tribune. “This is beyond politics. Someone asked earlier if Houston would be perceived by the national press, and other cities, as a place that discriminates. You know this great city. That’s not who we are.”</p>
<p>Over at First Baptist Church in Houston, Pastor Greg Matte on the church website urged church members to vote against the measure.</p>
<p>“This proposition isn’t about equalization,” Matte <a href="http://houstonsfirst.org/news-updates/voter-information/#prop1" type="external">said</a>. “It’s about normalization of something that goes against God’s design.”</p>
<p>Supporters accused the campaign against HERO of using scare tactics like calling it the “bathroom bill” that would permit sexual predators to enter women’s restrooms and locker rooms by pretending to be transsexual.</p>
<p>Last year religious liberty advocates on both sides <a href="culture/social-issues/item/29391-broad-baptist-coalition-asks-houston-mayor-to-withdraw-subpoenas-for-sermons" type="external">registered</a> concern, however, about subpoenas ordering five Houston pastors to turn over sermons as evidence in a lawsuit seeking repeal of the non-discrimination ordinance originally adopted by the City Council.</p>
<p>Mayor Annise Parker, who is gay, later <a href="culture/social-issues/item/29441-houston-withdraws-controversial-subpoenas-of-pastors-sermons" type="external">withdrew</a> the subpoenas after meetings with local and national clergy. The Texas Supreme Court <a href="culture/politics/item/30315-houston-you-have-a-problem-state-supreme-court-sidelines-anti-discrimination-law" type="external">ruled</a> in July that city officials must either repeal the measure or put it on the ballot for voters to decide.</p>
<p>After its defeat, the Houston mayor pledged to keep up the fight against LGBT discrimination.</p>
<p>“No one’s rights should be subject to a popular vote,” Parker <a href="http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/watch_houston_mayor_annise_parker_delivers_awesomely_honest_hero_concession_speech" type="external">said</a> in her concession speech. “It is insulting, it is demeaning, and it is just wrong.”</p>
<p>The mayor denounced the opposition effort “a campaign of fear mongering and deliberate lies.”</p>
<p>“They just kept spewing an ugly wad of lies from our TV screens and from pulpits,” she said. “This was a calculated campaign by a very small but determined group of right-wing ideologues&#160;and the religious right, and they know only how to destroy, not how to build up.”</p> | Houston voters defeat equal rights ordinance | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/houston-bathroom-bill-goes-down-the-drain/ | 3 |
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<p>In his first essay for New York Magazine since quitting The New York Times last spring, Frank Rich thoughtfully details Barack Obama’s failure to push back against the financial wheeler-dealers who drove the country to the brink of ruin — and predicts his possible defeat by Mitt Romney, ” … the most transparent phony in either party.” –ARK</p>
<p>Frank Rich at New York Magazine:</p>
<p>What haunts the Obama administration is what still haunts the country: the stunning lack of accountability for the greed and misdeeds that brought America to its gravest financial crisis since the Great Depression. There has been no legal, moral, or financial reckoning for the most powerful wrongdoers. Nor have there been meaningful reforms that might prevent a repeat catastrophe. Time may heal most wounds, but not these. Chronic unemployment remains a constant, painful reminder of the havoc inflicted on the bust’s innocent victims. As the ghost of Hamlet’s father might have it, America will be stalked by its foul and unresolved crimes until they “are burnt and purged away.”</p>
<p>… Even now, on the heels of Bank of America’s reluctant $8.5 billion settlement with investors who held its mortgage-backed securities, the Obama administration may be handing it and its peers new get-out-of-jail-free cards. With the Department of Justice’s blessing, the Iowa attorney general, Tom Miller, is pushing the 49 other states to sign on to a national financial settlement ending their investigations of the biggest mortgage lenders. What some call a settlement others may find a cover-up. Time reported in April that the lawyer negotiating with Miller for Moynihan’s Bank of America just happened to be a contributor to his 2010 Iowa reelection campaign. If the deal is struck, any truly aggressive state attorneys general, like Eric Schneiderman of New York, will be shut down before they can dig into the full and still mostly uninvestigated daisy chain of get-rich-quick rackets practiced by banks as they repackaged junk mortgages into junk securities.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://nymag.com/frank-rich/" type="external">Read more</a></p> | The Way Away From a Second Term | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/the-way-away-from-a-second-term/ | 2011-07-05 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Samsung Electronics said Friday that discontinuing the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, which is prone to overheat and catch fire, will cost it about $3 billion in the current and coming quarters, raising total costs from the recalls to at least $5.3 billion.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Note 7 discontinuation will cost in the mid-2 trillion won range during the October-December period and another 1 trillion won ($884 million) during the January-March quarter, the company said in a statement.</p>
<p>Samsung already slashed its third-quarter profit forecast by $2.6 billion earlier this week, an amount that could wipe out its entire mobile business profit. That did not include the cost of Samsung's first recall, which analysts estimated at 1 trillion won to 2 trillion won.</p>
<p>Samsung has enough cash and other businesses to absorb the shock from the phone recall. It said it expected to generate 5.2 trillion won ($4.6 billion) in operating income during the third quarter after the recall cost. Analysts said most of the income will be generated by sales of advanced displays and semiconductors.</p>
<p>Samsung added that it will make significant changes in its quality assurance processes to improve product safety. It did not elaborate.</p>
<p>The company said it will expand sales of two other smartphones released in spring, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, quashing rumors that it may try to release updated versions of those devices. Samsung usually releases a new iteration of the Galaxy S series in spring, so the company may have to provide a strong incentive to sell the 6-month-old phones, such as lowering their prices.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>More than 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 smartphones were recalled due to the unexplained overheating problems before Samsung gave up the product earlier this week, just two months after its launch in August.</p>
<p>In the United States, 1.9 million Note 7 phones are subject to the two recalls. Samsung also recalled about 200,000 phones in China and about half a million phones in South Korea.</p>
<p>The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said there were 96 reports of batteries in Note 7 phones overheating in the country, including 23 new reports since the first recall announcement last month. The company received 13 reports of burns and 47 reports of property damage associated with the phones.</p>
<p>"Consumers should immediately stop using and power down all Galaxy Note 7 devices, including Note 7 devices received as replacements in the previous recall," the agency said.</p>
<p>The botched recall raised questions about Samsung's initial analysis of the Note 7 phone's problems. At first, Samsung said a minor manufacturing error in the batteries for the Note 7 was causing the phones to overheat.</p>
<p>The problem with the replacements is still unclear. Experts say Samsung may have rushed to conclude the Note 7's problem was a battery issue and it may take a long time to find the real cause.</p>
<p>Seeking to retain customers, Samsung is giving an incentive of a $100 credit to Note 7 owners who switch to another Samsung phone.</p>
<p>The Note 7 device was one of the most expensive smartphones in the market with all the latest technologies from Samsung, including the ability to unlock the phone by scanning a user's iris. It was sold for between $850 and $890.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Follow Youkyung Lee on Twitter at twitter.com/YKLeeAP</p>
<p>Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/youkyung-lee</p> | Samsung Note 7 recall to cost at least $5.3 billion | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/10/14/samsung-note-7-recall-to-cost-at-least-53-billion.html | 2016-10-14 | 0 |
<p>Shares of Quiksilver Inc. lost nearly a third of their value Friday, a day after the seller of skateboarding- and surfing-inspired clothes reported a disappointing third quarter.</p>
<p>The clothing maker and retailer said sales suffered in the quarter as it made changes to its supply chain that caused deliveries to be sent late. Those problems have since been resolved, the company said.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Quiksilver reported a loss of $220.1 million, or $1.29 per share, in the third quarter, compared with a net income of $2.1 million, or 1 cent per share, in the same quarter a year ago.</p>
<p>Losses, adjusted for asset impairment costs and restructuring costs, were 20 cents per share, missing Wall Street expectations of earnings of 3 cents per share, according to Zacks Investment Research.</p>
<p>Revenue slid 19 percent to $395.7 million as sales fell for all three of its clothing brands, Quiksilver, Roxy and DC.</p>
<p>Quicksilver shares fell 83 cents, or 29.5 percent, to $2 in afternoon trading Friday. Earlier, shares fell as low as $1.88, their lowest point since Dec. 2009. The stock is down 77 percent so far this year.</p> | Shares of surfer-gear retailer Quiksilver fall nearly 30 percent on disappointing 3rd quarter | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/09/05/shares-surfer-gear-retailer-quiksilver-fall-nearly-30-percent-on-disappointing.html | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
<p>A new survey shows that Republicans are now more willing than Democrats to tolerate presidential candidates engaging in sexual affairs than Democrats.</p>
<p>The survey, conducted by <a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765693694/Deseret-News-survey-questions-respondents-on-adultery-in-the-US.html" type="external">Deseret News</a>, asked how many people were accepting of presidential candidates engaging in sexual affairs. The breakdown among political party affiliation was:</p>
<p>Here's what that breakdown was in 2007 in response to the same question:</p>
<p>That is a massive change of acceptance of presidential candidates among Republicans and Democrats OVER a span of ten years. It is truly remarkable that the Democrats – the party of Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Anthony Weiner and John Edwards – are now less tolerant of presidential candidates engaging in sexual infidelities than Republicans, the party that supposedly held higher standards for family sanctity.</p>
<p>Even more stunning is the fact that those who identify as evangelical Christians are more likely to support a presidential candidate with a history of sexual affairs. Fifty-six percent of evangelicals said they were less likely to support such a candidate in January 2016; in 2017 that number declined to 45 percent.</p>
<p>What changed?</p>
<p>Answer: Donald Trump.</p>
<p>Trump has his own history of sexual infidelity, most notably <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-reference-to-bill-clinton-affair-underscores-his-own-history-of-infidelity/2016/09/25/8e31fe68-834a-11e6-a3ef-f35afb41797f_story.html?utm_term=.db95424333ca" type="external">his affair with Marla Maples</a> while he was still married to his first wife, Ivana. The president also has <a href="http://therightscoop.com/heres-when-trump-bragged-in-his-book-about-his-multiple-affairs-with-his-friends-wives/" type="external">a history of bragging about his affairs</a>. There was once a time when such past behavior would be a kiss of death among Republican voters.</p>
<p>But because Trump is now a Republican in the White House, Republican voters who once supposedly cared about sexual infidelity have thrown such values out the window in favor of political expediency. It's one thing to support other aspects of Trump's politics while rejecting his history of affairs; it's quite another to abandon values altogether just because of the de-facto head of your political party.</p>
<p>This is what <a href="" type="internal">some NeverTrump conservatives</a> were worried about: Trump would drain the conservative movement of its values. This poll is certainly an example of that fear becoming reality.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/media/misc/pdf/2017-Adultery-Study.pdf" type="external">Read the full results of the poll here.</a></p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/bandlersbanter" type="external">Follow Aaron Bandler on Twitter.</a></p> | TRUMP EFFECT: Republicans Are Now More Tolerant Of Presidential Candidates Engaging In Affairs Than Democrats | true | https://dailywire.com/news/15367/trump-effect-republicans-are-now-more-tolerant-aaron-bandler | 2017-04-13 | 0 |
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<p>So far, he hasn't been very successful, but he'll try again next month at a Camp David summit meeting.</p>
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<p>Obama's approach is part of a big strategic idea for the Middle East that could be described as "dual engagement." On the one hand, the U.S. is seeking an agreement with Iran to limit its nuclear weapons. On the other, the U.S. wants to bolster the Saudis and their neighbors through new U.S. military commitments.</p>
<p>The goal is an eventual balance between a less-threatening Iran and a more confident, forward-leaning Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p>"We need to shape this so that Gulf countries have the ability to engage Iran from a position of greater equality and parity," explained a senior administration official. U.S. support for Saudi Arabia's military campaign in Yemen against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels is part of that attempt to rebalance a region where Iran and its proxies have been on a roll.</p>
<p>The U.S. initiative is a complicated two-step that brings to mind the admonition of Michael Corleone in "The Godfather Part II," to "keep your friends close but your enemies closer." Watching the U.S. cozy up with Iran, the Saudis and their neighbors must sometimes wonder which they are, friends or enemies. The Camp David meeting is meant to ease that anxiety.</p>
<p>Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed, the military leader of the United Arab Emirates, met with Obama on Monday to explore the agenda for the Camp David meeting, scheduled May 13 and 14.</p>
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<p>The UAE initially wanted a formal treaty to defend members of the Gulf Cooperation Council against external aggression. The White House countered that such a legal pact is "not realistic," given the problems of Senate ratification, and "not necessary," according to the official.</p>
<p>"We can provide - an expansion of our security assurances to our allies that would give them confidence we will be there if needed," the official explained. He said the White House is now discussing with GCC representatives specifics of greater military cooperation, including equipment, training, advanced weapons systems and joint military exercises.</p>
<p>Yemen has been a test case of the chaotic dynamic in the Gulf. Despite misgivings, Obama has supported the three-week-old air war by Saudi Arabia and the UAE to check the Houthis (who are allied with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh) and push them toward a political solution. The White House will be relieved by the Saudi announcement Tuesday that the initial military phase is ending.</p>
<p>"At some point, an air campaign has diminishing and marginal returns," argues the administration official. "Let's not lose sight of the fact that the Yemen conflict will have to be solved politically."</p>
<p>The Saudis and Emiratis have been trying to move in that direction, by peeling the Yemeni tribes away from allying with the Houthis or the equally menacing al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Gulf officials reckon that seven formerly rebellious brigades of the Yemeni army are now cooperating with the government, and that 20 more brigades may join them soon.</p>
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<p>The White House has publicly backed the Yemen operation, but officials worry that the country has been a graveyard for such optimistic scenarios, and that Iran's real aim may be to draw Saudi Arabia into a quagmire.</p>
<p>The White House has a final goal for the Camp David gathering, which is to galvanize action against internal threats to Gulf security from extremist groups such as the Islamic State, rather than just focus on the external threat from Iran. The administration sees an Arab world in disarray because of failing states and sectarian proxy wars with Iran that have ravaged Iraq, Syria, and now Yemen.</p>
<p>In a radically unstable Middle East, it's worth remembering two positive developments: First, the U.S. and Iran are talking productively after 36 years of enmity. And second, the U.S. is engaging honestly and creatively with its often prickly Gulf allies. Good policy would make these two trends converge in a way that, over the next decade, gradually stabilizes the region.</p>
<p>Gulf Arab leaders get offended when they hear Obama say, as he did to Tom Friedman of The New York Times, that "the biggest threats that they face may not be coming from Iran invading - [but from] inside their own countries."</p>
<p>They shouldn't worry. Such straight talk is part of a real friendship, and a real alliance.</p>
<p>Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group</p>
<p />
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<p>Mike Compton, one of nine workers fired after protesting alleged wage theft at Walmart's Elwood, Ill., warehouse, won back pay and vindication this week. ( <a href="https://www.facebook.com/warehouseworkersforjustice/photos_stream" type="external">Warehouse Workers for Justice Facebook</a>) &#160;</p>
<p>Workers in Walmart’s vast fulfillment network who say they have been treated illegally at work have gotten some good news for the holidays. Last Monday, just days after a Walmart contractor agreed to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/10/walmart-warehouse-schneider-settlement_n_4420918.html" type="external">pay out $4.7 million for alleged wage theft</a> to more than 500 warehouse workers in southern California, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) secured a settlement over illegal retaliation against employees at the retail giant's distribution center in Elwood, Ill.</p>
<p>Nine workers affiliated with Warehouse Workers for Justice ( <a href="http://www.warehouseworker.org/" type="external">WWJ</a>)—a Joliet, Ill.-based workers center backed by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America ( <a href="http://www.ueunion.org/" type="external">UE</a>)—who alleged they were fired for workplace organizing will receive a combined total of $52,381 in back pay, according to WWJ.</p>
<p>“It came at a good time,” says Mike Compton, one of the fired workers. “All nine of us needed it. Some of us were getting in pretty tight spots.”</p>
<p>Both the Illinois settlement and the California agreement are with the same Walmart contractor: Schneider Logistics, which operates many of the retailer’s warehouses around the country. (In the Illinois case, the NLRB also implicated two staffing agencies formerly used by Schneider at the Elwood distribution center: Roadlink Workforce Solutions and Skyward Employment Services.)</p>
<p>Over the past four years, workers in Walmart warehouses have filed lawsuits and held strikes in response to what they say are poverty wages and unsafe working conditions. The warehouse workers often earn only minimum wage and do not receive benefits; plus, they say, they work more hours than they are paid for, labor in extreme temperatures and lift boxes that weigh up to 250 pounds.</p>
<p>The new settlement concerns a 21-day strike staged by three dozen workers at Walmart’s distribution center in Elwood. The walkout began in September of 2012 when a group of workers was disciplined after presenting concerns about wage theft to management. The strike culminated in <a href="http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/news/15503544-420/rally-for-striking-walmart-workers-ends-in-arrests-chants.html" type="external">a large civil disobedience action</a> that saw 17 arrests.</p>
<p>The strikers were allowed to return to work with full back pay for the days they had been out. The next month, however, nine of them were fired. Several of the firings occurred immediately after workers handed management a petition demanding an end to wage theft, discrimination and retaliation. Compton says that ten minutes after he and his coworkers delivered the petition, a manager told them they were being “taken out of service” and to go home. The next day, Compton says, his employer called him and told him not to return to work. In December 2012, the workers brought charges of illegal retaliation to the NLRB, which led to Monday’s settlement.</p>
<p>As part of the settlement, Schneider, Roadlink and Skyward must inform current and former employees of their right to take collective action under the National Labor Relations Act and pledge not to retaliate against those who organize, according to WWJ. However, because the two staffing agencies’ contracts with Schneider expired at the end of April, the nine workers will not be reinstated.</p>
<p>WWJ notes that swifter action by the NLRB might have restored the workers’ jobs. The NLRB finished its investigation and <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/173442/labor-board-alleges-repeated-retaliation-walmarts-top-us-warehouse" type="external">issued a complaint in March</a>, and could have taken immediate action to reinstate the workers through a <a href="http://www.nlrb.gov/what-we-do/investigate-charges/10j-injunctions" type="external">10(j) injunction</a> before their staffing agencies’ contracts expired, says WWJ spokesperson Leah Fried. She tells Working In These Times that the NLRB is “very timid when it comes to enforcing workers’ rights in organizing settings.”</p>
<p>Fried also notes that the case dragged on because the NLRB wanted a consolidated settlement with all of the companies involved. The staffing agencies settled quickly, she says, but the Board refused to issue the workers their checks until after Schneider also settled.</p>
<p>The case and the difficulties reaching a settlement highlight the Byzantine structure of Walmart’s supply chain. Walmart hires logistics companies like Schneider to operate its distribution centers; these companies in turn frequently hire staffing agencies to handle labor. Sometimes, the staffing agencies subcontract to other staffing agencies.</p>
<p>The layers of subcontractors allow Walmart “to wash their hands of problems in the warehouses,” says Compton. “It’s ultimately their building, their trucks in the parking lot, their freight, and it’s their computer software that we run. They need to take some responsibility for the conditions in their warehouses.” Both Compton and Fried say that <a href="" type="internal">repeated</a>, <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/175407/warehouse-workers-moving-walmart-baggage-will-strike-today" type="external">egregious</a> <a href="" type="internal">violations</a> at Walmart’s distribution centers show that the company does not take seriously its own <a href="http://corporate.walmart.com/global-responsibility/ethical-sourcing/standards-for-suppliers" type="external">Standards for Suppliers</a>—which include the freedom of association and collective bargaining.</p>
<p>Walmart store associates around the country have also alleged retaliation for recent organizing. In November, the NLRB <a href="http://www.nlrb.gov/news-outreach/news-story/nlrb-office-general-counsel-authorizes-complaints-against-walmart-also" type="external">issued a complaint</a> against Walmart saying the company had illegally fired or disciplined store employees in multiple states for participating in a series of high-profile strikes and protests over the past year.</p>
<p>Compton says he has met many store associates through WWJ’s partnership with <a href="http://forrespect.org/" type="external">OUR Walmart</a>, the union-backed workers' group that organized the retail actions. Now he gives more thought to the workers who unload the freight he packs onto trucks. “Either directly or indirectly, we work for [one of] the most profitable corporation that’s ever existed [and] we’re treated like we’re nothing,” he says. “In retail and in the warehouses, we really all are fighting for the same things: the end to retaliation and just basic respect on the job.”</p> | Fired Walmart Warehouse Workers Win $50,000 in Back Pay | true | http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/16036/fired_walmart_warehouse_workers_win_back_pay/ | 2013-12-23 | 4 |
<p>(Washington Post) – Bobby Jindal was on a donor’s private plane, jetting between two cities in South Carolina. He’d been to this statefive times&#160;since 2013. But, in that time, he had fallen so low in the polls here that he wasn’t in them anymore. South Carolina survey-takers hadstopped asking&#160;about him.</p>
<p>So Jindal came back, to try harder.</p>
<p>First, he attacked Democrats. “The left&#160;. . .&#160;doesn’t trust the American people to lead our lives,” he told conservatives in West Columbia. Then he attacked other Republicans: “They need a spine,” Jindal told TV cameras.</p>
<p>Then, after a day of throwing political bombs, he flew to Greenville and bemoaned the lack of Christian love and charity in American life. “We’re at a moment when we need spiritual revival again,” Jindal told a group of pastors.</p>
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<p>Today, the frenetic Jindal is one of the great mysteries of the early 2016 campaign: the rising star who has stalled.</p>
<p>Not long ago, the Louisiana governor was the Republican candidate of the future — the son of immigrants and also a proud product of the Deep South. He is a devout Catholic, an experienced governor and — in a political sphere dominated by shallow cable-television shouters — a data-driven Rhodes Scholar.</p>
<p>But now, Jindal sits at about 2&#160;percent in national Republican polls. He has become such an afterthought that he recently resorted to asking himself a “gotcha” question. The media hadn’t bothered, and he wanted to stay in the conversation.</p>
<p>For the first time in a life of wild successes, Jindal looks lost. He has applied his trademark work ethic to the task of becoming a better politician, but he has instead wound up looking as if he’s trying to be every politician at once. A hawk. A wonk. A tea party rebel. A Christian revivalist. A first-generation American. A Bubba.</p>
<p>In an interview, Jindal rejected the idea that he is failing at his highest ambition. After all, he said, he isn’t officially running for president yet.</p>
<p>“We don’t have a campaign strategy,” Jindal said on the plane. “So it would be too early to change it.”</p>
<p>On his latest trip to South Carolina, it appeared that Jindal’s unofficial campaign was not going the way he had hoped.</p>
<p>After Jindal spoke in Greenville, for instance, the Rev. Mitch Brooks of Second Baptist Church in Belton took the microphone to say he hoped Christians would unite behind a Christian in 2016. “I’d be delighted if it was behind Governor Jindal!” Brooks said.</p>
<p>But, Brooks said, it didn’t&#160;have&#160;to be Jindal.</p>
<p>“There are a couple of others that I’d be delighted if it was behind them,” he said.</p>
<p>Asking for what he wants</p>
<p>Jindal’s spectacular rise through American politics began in the mid-1990s, when he was a 24-year-old consultant at McKinsey &amp; Co. in Washington. He had a spot waiting at Harvard Medical School. But then&#160;. . .</p>
<p>“I got a call one day from Bobby Jindal,” said then-Rep.&#160;Jim McCrery (R-La.).</p>
<p>McCrery said Jindal, a former intern in his office, asked if he knew the front-runner in that year’s Louisiana governor’s race.</p>
<p>“I was wondering if you would give him a call and ask him to consider appointing me secretary” of the Health Department, McCrery remembered him saying. “I kind of chuckled. To myself. Not out loud. And took a breath. And I said, ‘Well, Bobby, just in case [he] has somebody else in mind for secretary, would you consider an assistant secretary position?’ ”</p>
<p>No, Jindal would not.</p>
<p>“He said, ‘I don’t think I could implement the changes that are necessary unless I’m head of the department,’ ” McCrery said.</p>
<p>It worked. Jindal got the job. He also remembers the story differently. As he tells it, the state sought him out, not the other way around.</p>
<p>As secretary, Jindal cut spending, attacked Medicaid fraud, and impressed lawmakers and activists alike. After two years, he was gone. He went to Washington and eventually became a health-policy official in the George W. Bush administration.</p>
<p>Then, another phone call. This one from Jindal to Haley Barbour.</p>
<p>“Haley Barbour called me,” said Curt Anderson, a political consultant for Republicans. It was about 2002, when&#160;Barbour&#160;was the former head of the Republican National Committee and before he became governor of Mississippi. “And [Barbour] said, ‘There’s this guy, he’s wicked smart, he’s talking about maybe running for governor of Louisiana, and I don’t know if he could win or not, but would you mind if I gave him your number?’ ”</p>
<p>Sure, Anderson said, and he went to Jindal’s office without even reading his bio. The door opened and out came the skinny son of Indian immigrants. (Jindal’s given name is Piyush, but he renamed himself at age 4 after the youngest son on television’s “The Brady Bunch.”)</p>
<p>“I’m like, okay, this is his assistant. He’s like, ‘Hi, I’m Bobby Jindal,’ ” Anderson recalled. “I’m like: What. In. The. Hell. My immediate thought is, ‘Haley’s such a joker.’ ”</p>
<p>Jindal convinced Anderson that he was no joke. Jindal ran for governor, selling himself as a man who could make Louisiana politics boring — instead of what it had been, essentially a vaudeville act with its own police force and hospitals.</p>
<p>Maybe Louisiana was ready for a management consultant.</p>
<p>“You can’t be all things to all people,” Jindal said at one gubernatorial debate, proudly citing a lesson from his McKinsey experience in a discussion about why big government doesn’t work. “Companies that fail, states that fail, are those states, those companies, that try to do everything instead of trying to do one thing particularly well.”</p>
<p>Louisiana was not ready.</p>
<p>Jindal lost a close race to a Democrat. Afterward, Jindal needed to ask for another powerful man’s support.</p>
<p>“It wasn’t a hard call” to give him what he wanted, said&#160;Robert Livingston (R-La.), a former congressman who had once employed Jindal as an intern. Jindal told Livingston that he was thinking of moving into Livingston’s old district outside New Orleans and running for the empty seat.</p>
<p>But there was a problem. Another Republican — state lawmaker Steve Scalise — was also interested.</p>
<p>Livingston helped take care of that problem without being asked. “I can’t say he was excited about stepping aside,” Livingston said of Scalise.</p>
<p>With the field clear,&#160;Jindal cruised to victory. In 2007, Jindal ran for governor again. This time, he won. “We’ve laughed at our politicians and the ones that have gone to jail and made the funny jokes,” Jindal said then. “But it’s not funny anymore.”</p>
<p>Value on presence</p>
<p>Eight years later, many in Louisiana say that Jindal has allowed the job he wants — the presidency — to overshadow the job he has.</p>
<p>In the beginning of Jindal’s tenure, for instance, he was the hands-on wonk he had promised to be. He pushed the legislature to overhaul Louisiana’s ethics laws, privatize its Depression-era system of state charity hospitals, and shrink taxes and the state budget.</p>
<p>Jindal also placed an enormous value on presence. After a chicken plant closed, or a hurricane hit, Jindal wanted to be there.</p>
<p>“The state police say, ‘Well, sir, the winds are above 110 miles an hour. It’s not safe for you to drive there,’ ” recalled Timmy Teepell, the governor’s former chief of staff. He was talking about a moment at the height of Hurricane Gustav, when power went out at an arena holding evacuees. Jindal went.</p>
<p>“I’ll have to look at the Constitution,” Teepell recalled him saying. “But I don’t think you get to tell me what to do.”</p>
<p>But now, officials in Louisiana say that the detail-oriented Jindal has farmed out the details of a major crisis — a projected $1.6&#160;billion budget shortfall — to activists in Washington.</p>
<p>“ ‘ATR says that’s a tax increase.’ Or, ‘ATR says that might not be a tax increase if you do blah, blah, blah,’ ” said&#160;state Rep. Jay Morris (R), a fiscal conservative, describing Jindal’s staffers’ responses to suggestions of ways to raise money. ATR stands for Americans for Tax Reform, the group run by anti-tax guru Grover Norquist.</p>
<p>“He feels that’s the best way to run for national office. It’s just not a good way to run Louisiana,” Morris said. “I call it insane.”</p>
<p>Last year, Jindal spent about 165 days — 45 percent of the year — outside of Louisiana,&#160;according to the Advocate newspaper.</p>
<p>That included four trips to New Hampshire and five trips to Iowa.</p>
<p>“I’ve met with him personally, in fairness, probably two to three times over the last several years,” said Jay Dardenne (R), Louisiana’s lieutenant governor, who is elected separately from Jindal. “No more than that.”</p>
<p>On that plane over South Carolina, Jindal was asked: Would Louisiana be running better if he was there more of the time?</p>
<p>“I think the results speak for themselves,” Jindal said.</p>
<p>Auditioning for a new role</p>
<p>In West Columbia, Jindal told a ballroom half-full of Republican activists that the Republicans in Congress had deeply disappointed him.</p>
<p>“I mean, this election wasn’t about getting a nicer office for Senator [Mitch] McConnell,” Jindal said, singling out the new Republican&#160;majority leader. He said congressional Republicans had failed to deliver on promises of a replacement for President Obama’s health-care law and failed to stop the president’s moves on immigration. “This was about being a conservative party. For once, I’d like to see the folks go to D.C. and govern the way they campaigned.”</p>
<p>This is the newest Bobby Jindal, the rebel insurgent.</p>
<p>He failed to win over his party by following its old rules — climb the ladder, run a state, impress Norquist. Now, he is trying out a post-tea party playbook for gaining power.</p>
<p>Get on TV. Impress Norquist. And call any Republican in Washington who has power a dastardly sellout.</p>
<p>Jindal “is throwing rhetorical bombs to get noticed. He is getting noticed but not in a way that helps him with large donors,”&#160;Erick Erickson, the influential conservative, wrote after seeing Jindal attack the congressional GOP at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference.</p>
<p>“I think Jindal has a path forward,” Erickson wrote. “But the one he has chosen degrades all his accomplishments and leaves him looking less than the bright light he is.”</p>
<p>The original Jindal — the Bible-thumping, number-crunching, first-generation American — seemed like enough to impress national Republicans. “The question is not whether he’ll be president,” Republican strategist&#160;Steve Schmidt said in 2008, “but when he’ll be president.”</p>
<p>But then came Jindal’s&#160;infamous 2009 televised response&#160;to Obama’s first speech to Congress.</p>
<p>In that response, Jindal emphasized how his parents’ journey had given him an immigrant’s optimism about America. It’s a great story. Jindal botched it.</p>
<p>“My own parents came to THIS country from a DISTANT land,” he said, in the overly earnest voice of a man talking to a circle of toddlers. “My dad&#160;. . .would tell me, BOBBY, AMERICANS can do ANYTHING. I still believe that to THIS day.”</p>
<p>The speech was so bad it seemed to taint its message. Since then, Jindal’s identity as a politician has never been as simple. At times, for instance, he has cast himself as a proud good old boy, sneering back at the coastal elites.</p>
<p>“He characterized folks like us — like you and me — as unsophisticated ingrates who were, and I quote, bitterly clinging to our guns and religion,” Jindal said, talking about Obama at the&#160;CPAC conference in 2012. “He was exactly right about us. In Louisiana and all across America, we love us some guns and religion.”</p>
<p>Also, Jindal has recently jumped aggressively into foreign affairs — not natural territory for the governor. This week, for instance, Jindal trumpeted the fact that he had “signed on” to a letter that 47 Republican senators had sent to the Iranian government seeking to undermine a potential deal to limit Iran’s nuclear ambitions.</p>
<p>Then, at last, a slight stroke of good luck.</p>
<p>Former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized the letter — and maybe, implicitly, Jindal — on Twitter. “No one considering running for commander-in-chief should be signing on,” she wrote.</p>
<p>Jindal seized the moment. “@HillaryClinton No one who allows Iran to become a nuclear power should consider running,” he tweeted back.</p>
<p>He was in the conversation. “News Alert: Bobby Jindal and Hillary Clinton tussle on Twitter,” Jindal’s political advisers wrote in a news release.</p>
<p>To Jindal’s advisers, there is a method in all this activity: Jindal is not searching for a political identity. He is showing his range.</p>
<p>Their idea is that other GOP candidates will confine themselves to a single political “lane” — the evangelical candidate, the reformist governor, the bomb-throwing outsider, the policy wonk. But Jindal will be able to fill several at once.</p>
<p>“The last two winners of Iowa were Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee. And both of them did the job of being the social conservative and nothing else,” said Anderson, who is still one of Jindal’s top advisers. Santorum is a former Pennsylvania senator, Huckabee the former governor of Arkansas. “They didn’t have another gear they can go to. And that’s not Bobby Jindal.”</p>
<p>But in this campaign, it carries an obvious risk.</p>
<p>Most of Jindal’s lanes have somebody in them.</p>
<p>At this year’s CPAC conference, Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Chris Christie of New Jersey also talked about being reformist governors. Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) played the rebel outsider. Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) ran in the lane Jindal started out in, talking about his parents’ immigrant experience.</p>
<p>In the conference’s unofficial straw poll, all of them beat Jindal. He came in 12th, four spots behind Donald Trump, with 0.9&#160;percent of the vote.</p>
<p>In 2009, he had come in second.</p>
<p>“You rattle off the eight or nine people you see as serious contenders. But then somebody says, ‘What about Bobby Jindal?’ And you’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, right,’ ” said Ed Rollins, the longtime GOP strategist. “He ought to be in there.”</p>
<p>Jindal’s strategists say that if he gets into the race, Jindal will consider his back-of-the-pack status liberating, not depressing.</p>
<p>“He’s got absolutely nothing to lose,” said Teepell, the former chief of staff who is now a political adviser to Jindal. “And what could be more fun than that?”</p>
<p>Right now, it doesn’t seem like much fun. Throughout Jindal’s life, whenever he set a goal, he could always convince other people that he deserved it. But now, Jindal’s audience is slipping further out of range.</p>
<p>The best sign of that came last month, when former New York City mayorRudolph Giuliani (R) said&#160;he didn’t believe that Obama loves America. The news media began asking other top candidates whether they agreed.</p>
<p>The only person who asked Jindal about it was&#160;. . .&#160;Jindal.</p>
<p>“If you are looking for someone to condemn the Mayor, look elsewhere,” Jindal said, in an&#160;official gubernatorial news release, titled “Gov. Jindal refuses to Condemn Mayor Giuliani.”</p>
<p>Later, an aide to Jindal confirmed that the governor hadn’t received any media queries before he made the statement.</p>
<p>http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/southerner-wonk-immigrants-son-can-bobby-jindal-win-at-every-role/2015/03/14/eda87a74-be94-11e4-8668-4e7ba8439ca6_story.html</p> | PAPER: Bobby Jindal, the Rebel Insurgent | true | http://teaparty.org/paper-bobby-jindal-rebel-insurgent-89139/?utm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dpaper-bobby-jindal-rebel-insurgent | 0 |
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<p>Sept. 20 (UPI) — Free agent cornerback Johnthan Banks has signed with the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Houston-Texans/" type="external">Houston Texans</a>.</p>
<p>Houston announced the transaction Wednesday. The Texans waived tight end Evan Baylis in a corresponding move.</p>
<p>Banks, 27, entered the NFL as a second-round pick by the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Tampa-Bay-Buccaneers/" type="external">Tampa Bay Buccaneers</a> in the 2013 NFL Draft. The Mississippi State product had 54 total tackles, six passes defended and three interceptions in 16 starts during his rookie campaign.</p>
<p>He was traded in November to the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Detroit-Lions/" type="external">Detroit Lions</a> in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Banks also played for the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Chicago_Bears/" type="external">Chicago Bears</a> for two games last season after being released by the Lions, making four total tackles and defending one pass.</p>
<p>Houston worked out Banks, B.W. Webb, Stanley Jean-Baptiste, Corey White and Josh Thornton on Tuesday before deciding to ink the four-year veteran.</p>
<p>Banks was the 2012 <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Jim_Thorpe/" type="external">Jim Thorpe</a> Award winner, making 63 tackles and pulling down four interceptions at Mississippi State his senior year.</p>
<p>The Texans are dealing with numerous injuries in its secondary, with <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Johnathan-Joseph/" type="external">Johnathan Joseph</a> reeling from a shoulder injury and <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Kevin_Johnson/" type="external">Kevin Johnson</a> dealing with a sprained MCL. Houston also lost their best corner, <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/AJ-Bouye/" type="external">A.J. Bouye</a>, to the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Jacksonville-Jaguars/" type="external">Jacksonville Jaguars</a> in free agency this offseason. Houston currently has Marcus Burley, Treston Decoud, Kareem Jackson and Banks at the position, in addition to the banged-up Joseph and Johnson.</p> | Johnthan Banks: Houston Texans sign free agent cornerback | false | https://newsline.com/johnthan-banks-houston-texans-sign-free-agent-cornerback/ | 2017-09-20 | 1 |
<p>Republican Congressman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) announced this month that he wouldn’t seek re-election to his position, and may not even finish his current term despite being sent back by his constituents&#160;just last fall.</p>
<p>Now, Chaffetz, 50, will be leaving Congress for 3-4 weeks, <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/26/chaffetz-leave-congress-237667" type="external">according to Politico</a>, for a surgery on his leg. Chaffetz posted a picture of an x-ray to his Instagram account on Wednesday night, saying that surgery was necessary in the immediate future to avoid a potentially life-threatening infection.</p>
<p />
<p>His departure will likely mean that Chaffetz will miss a key vote that would repeal and replace Obamacare. The added irony? Chaffetz, as a member of Congress, is entitled to a Gold Coverage plan on the marketplace. So, while he remains a member of Congress, he’ll receive&#160;coverage with low payments for his procedure. Then, if he likes, he can quit Congress without worrying about finding private coverage.</p>
<p>Chaffetz has long been a fierce critic of&#160;the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. In the debate earlier this year on a proposal made by President Donald Trump to repeal the law, Chaffetz defended his position that would result in 24 million Americans losing their coverage. When asked what low-income Americans should do to help pay for their bills if the repeal went through, <a href="https://newrepublic.com/minutes/141190/jason-chaffetz-uninsured-let-eat-iphones" type="external">Chaffetz replied that</a> “Maybe, rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and want to go spend hundreds of dollars on, maybe they ought to go invest in their own health care.”</p>
<p>Forbes estimates that the average yearly healthcare costs for a family of four <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danmunro/2016/05/24/annual-healthcare-cost-for-family-of-four-now-at-25826/#49c5baf71f52" type="external">is around $25,000</a>. The latest iPhone costs around $650.</p>
<p>For comparison, foot surgery like what Chaffetz is slated to have can cost anywhere between $6,000 and $17,000, <a href="http://health.costhelper.com/broken-foot.html" type="external">according to costhelper.com</a>. That’s more than 26 iPhones, a number of devices Chaffetz likely doesn’t own.</p>
<p>Fortunately for Chaffetz, his Obamacare plan will pay for most of the costs associated with his health bill. But if Chaffetz had his way, that plan wouldn’t be available to him or to millions of Americans across the country.</p> | Jason Chaffetz takes advantage of Congressional healthcare benefits before he quits | true | http://resistancereport.com/politics/jason-chaffetz-congresisonal-healthcare/ | 2017-04-27 | 4 |
<p>Nativity scenes traditionally feature Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.</p>
<p>But this year, Latin America is taking plenty of liberties in interpreting the holiday tradition.</p>
<p>First, a <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/que-pasa/nativity-scene-depicts-gang-and-police-violence" type="external">nativity scene in Honduras</a> included scenes of gang violence, a police purge and the deaths of Osama bin Laden and Muammar Gaddafi.</p>
<p>The designer, former Honduran Foreign Minister Fernando Martinez, said he was trying to show a world of violence. Honduras has the world's highest murder rate, according to the United Nations.</p>
<p>Now a <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/12/13/143632278/venezuela-president-appears-in-nativity-scene?ft=1&amp;f=1127" type="external">nativity scene in Venezuela</a> includes the figure of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, reports NPR.</p>
<p>Jesus is there, too, in a manger. But Chavez stands nearby, suggesting he should quality as a wise man.</p>
<p>The scene also includes a cable car to symbolize infrastructure improvements.</p>
<p><a href="" type="external">Follow Stephanie on Twitter: @stephaniegarlow</a> &#160;</p> | Venezuelan nativity scene includes Hugo Chavez | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-12-13/venezuelan-nativity-scene-includes-hugo-chavez | 2011-12-13 | 3 |
<p />
<p>Sarah Palin made her bones as a self-proclaimed Republican reformer in Alaska when she turned on a Republican Party state chairman who had had been accused of wrongdoing. In 2003, that GOP leader, Randy Ruedrich, was one of three members of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission; Palin chaired the commission and served as its ethics officer. After the news broke that Ruedrich had hosted a Republican fundraiser with several oil company executives and had sent out an email notice for a different Republican fundraising event, critics demanded he resign.</p>
<p>Leading the anti-Ruedrich pack was Palin. She threatened to quit the commission unless Ruedrich resolved his conflicts. “It was a very simple issue,” <a href="http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/background/story/513772.html" type="external">she said</a> at the time. “It was black and white.” And after Ruedrich was forced out, Palin, acting at the behest of state investigators, examined his computer files and found emails and documents showing that Ruedrich had used his state office to conduct partisan work for the Republican Party. The records Palin unearthed became evidence in a state investigation that led to a settlement under which Ruedrich paid a $12,000 fine.</p>
<p>Thanks to this episode, Palin became known as a Republican willing to take on a fellow Republican who had abused his office and misused state resources. But what was not known at the time was that a year earlier, Palin had used official resources for her own partisan purposes. In doing so, Palin, now the governor of Alaska and the Republican vice presidential nominee, might have run afoul of state law and the municipal code of Wasilla.</p>
<p>According to emails obtained by Andrée McLeod, a self-described independent government watchdog in Alaska, and shared with Mother Jones, in 2002, when Palin was in her last year as mayor of Wasilla and running for lieutenant governor in a Republican primary, she used her official city email account for campaign purposes. In a June 11, 2002 email to Randy Ruedrich–sent from her [email protected] account–Palin asked if the state Republican Party would disseminate notices for her fundraisers. “I have a heckuva’ lot of notices I would love to be distributed to all the [state party] lists because I’m not networked into all the valuable distribution lists that other candidates may be networked into,” she wrote. “Can you do that for me?”</p>
<p>In a July 2, 2002 email to Ruedrich–with the subject line reading “right to life endorsements”–Palin complained that Alaska Right to Life, the state’s leading anti-abortion rights outfit, had not endorsed her in the lieutenant governor’s race. “Randy,” she wrote, “I was allowed to ‘vent’ via [a] letter to the RTL Board re: their decision to not co-endorse pro-life candidates in the Lt. Gov. race. Man, I am disappointed.” And the day before the Republican primary, in an August 26, 2002 email to Eddie Grasser, a leader of the Alaska Outdoor Council, a lobby for hunters and firearms owners, Palin expressed her disappointment at not receiving the AOC endorsement. She pointed out that she was a “lifetime member of the NRA” and a “recipient of its “Defender of the 2nd Amendment Award.” In the email–which promoted her campaign positions–she objected to the process used by the AOC in endorsing one of her opponents in the Republican primary contest: “The AOC stated the endorsement was based on candidates’ answers to the AOC’s ‘extensive questionnaire’…but in reality there was no questionnaire sent to Lt. Gov. candidates.” She asked if she could “use the AOC’s email address book to remind our members of my positions.” And she encouraged Grasser to visit her campaign website. This email–also sent via her official Wasilla city account–was addressed to over 300 people in addition to Grasser. (In the GOP primary, Palin placed second in a field of five.)</p>
<p>Under Alaska state law, an officer of a municipality “may not use money held by the entity to influence the outcome of the election of a candidate to a state or municipal office.” Asked whether this prohibition would cover a mayor using an official email account to promote and advance her own campaign, Holly Hill, the executive director of the Alaska Public Offices Commission, referred me to a decision issued by the commission this past July. The case involved a mayor of Unalaska named Shirley Marquardt. In 2007, she had sent an email to a city consultant and the city manager, noting who would be running against her for mayor. The commission ruled that this message had been more personal than political. But in its decision, the commission declared that the Alaska law prohibiting a municipal official from using public funds for partisan actions “covers a publicly-owned e-mail system.”</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.codepublishing.com/ak/wasilla.html" type="external">Wasilla municipal code</a> also contains strict guidelines governing the use of electronic communications by city officials. Elected officials, according to the code, may not use the city’s “electronic facilities” for “personal gain,” to promote “political beliefs,” or to “support or oppose any candidate for public office.”</p>
<p>Palin is already involved in other email controversies. In response to an open records act request filed in June by McLeod, a registered Republican, Palin’s gubernatorial office <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2008/09/9620_sarah_palin_secret_email.html" type="external">refused to release</a> about 1100 emails received and sent earlier this year by Palin and her aides, citing what might be an iffy claim of executive privilege. McLeod has <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2008/09/9650_appeal_palin_secret_emails.html" type="external">appealed that decision.</a> And emails that were released to McLeod in July <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2008/09/9675_another_palin_email_controversy.html" type="external">indicate</a> that Palin, as governor, has used a private email account for her official duties.</p>
<p>As Palin and Republican presidential nominee John McCain sell themselves as a pair of reform-minded, no-business-as-usual agents of change, Palin has not yet answered questions about her email controversies. An email sent to Maria Comella, Palin’s campaign spokesperson, requesting a comment for this story went unanswered.</p>
<p>UPDATE: In 2004, the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman published <a href="http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2004/06/11/news/news3.txt" type="external">a story</a> reporting that anonymous letters had been sent to the Alaska Public Offices Commission and several media outlets alleging that Palin had used her city e-mail account for campaign-related work, had held campaign-related meetings in her office, and had used her office telephone for calls regarding her campaign for lieutenant governor. The complaint cited the email she had sent to the Alaska Outdoor Council. Palin told the newspaper that this one particular email had been an isolated event. She blamed Randy Ruedrich supporters for launching an unfair attack on her; Ruedrich denied any knowledge of the letters. An APOC official stated at the time that the commission would not investigate the complaint because it was anonymous.</p>
<p /> | Sarah Palin’s Wasilla Emails: Did She Violate State Law? | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/09/sarah-palins-wasilla-emails-did-she-violate-state-law/ | 2008-09-12 | 4 |
<p>Slate "Nobody wants to read editorials," says Tim Noah. "Even sober policy wonks usually avoid them. The compelling format for expressing opinions is the signed column or op-ed. Long may they rule." ONE PROBLEM: Getting rid of editorial pages "depends not only on the imagination and guts of editorial page editors to buck respectable opinion but also on the willingness of these editors to eliminate their own jobs." &gt; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/15/opinion/15schiff.html" type="external">Let's hope the Los Angeles Times' interactive editorial</a> leads directly to the interactive tax return, says Stacy Schiff. (NYT) &gt; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/13/business/media/13lat.html" type="external">Earlier: Kinsley has big plans for Los Angeles Times' opinion pages (NYT)</a></p> | Noah: Kinsley should just get rid of LAT's editorial page | false | https://poynter.org/news/noah-kinsley-should-just-get-rid-lats-editorial-page | 2005-06-15 | 2 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>“Symbolic racism is still racism” declared one of the many signs held by anti-racist protesters on the University of Mississippi campus. Such rallies have come after three freshman members of Alpha Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon were suspended from the fraternity, but faced no charges.</p>
<p>The trio engaged in a midnight lynching and desecration of the university’s statue paying homage to the campus’s first black student, James Meredith. When Meredith enrolled, the University of Mississippi was an all-white college.</p>
<p>The statue was found along with an old Georgia flag bearing a since-eliminated Confederate battle emblem.&#160;</p>
<p>“It is embarrassing that these men had previously identified with our fraternity,” Brian C. Warren Jr., the CEO of Sigma Phi Epsilon said. “SigEp as a national fraternity has championed racial equality and issues on diversity since 1959 when it became the first national fraternity to invite members of all races, creeds and religions to join its membership.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>“We won’t allow the actions of a few men to undermine the more than five decades of leadership this fraternity has demonstrated in the fight for racial equality and diversity on our college campuses,” Warren continued.</p>
<p>The FBI said on Friday that it planned to expand the vandalism investigation into one that might include hate crime charges and violations of federal law.</p>
<p>Danny Blanton, a University spokesman, said Friday the school’s findings have been turned over to the district attorney’s office.</p>
<p>Beyond that, the Ole Miss Alumni Association has posted a $25,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest of the individuals involved.&#160;</p>
<p>The three white students who were suspended by the fraternity are wanted by the University of Mississippi for questioning but say that they will not talk without arrest warrants, according to their attorneys.</p>
<p>Blanton said that it will be up to federal authorities to press criminal charges in this case. “Obviously, since we’ve seen who is responsible, we want to take swift and decisive action,” he explained.&#160;“What we want to do is to show this type action can’t take place on this campus. We want to demonstrate that we will not tolerate this type behavior,” he said.</p>
<p>(Article by M.B. David; images via the Associate Press)</p> | Lynching of First Black Student At University of Mississippi | true | http://politicalblindspot.com/lynching-first-black-student-university-mississippi/ | 2014-02-23 | 4 |
<p>Akorn Inc. said Thursday that it initiated a new $200 million share repurchase program. At Wednesday's closing price of $33.01, that would allow the generic drug company to buy back about 5% of its shares outstanding. Separately, Akorn reported second-quarter earnings of $62.0 million, or 50 cents a share, up from $32.5 million, or 27 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came in at 58 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 55 cents. Revenue rose to $280.7 million from $220.9 million, beating the FactSet consensus of $273.0 million. The company now expects 2016 revenue to be at the upper end of its previously provided guidance of $1.06 billion to $1.08 billion, and adjusted EPS to be at the high end of its $2.10 to $2.20 outlook. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 12% year to date, while S&amp;P 500 has gained 5.9%.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Akorn Sets New Stock Buyback Program, Beats Profit And Sales Expectations | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/08/04/akorn-sets-new-stock-buyback-program-beats-profit-and-sales-expectations.html | 2016-08-04 | 0 |
<p>What if there was a website where registered voters could log their opinions on the bills before Congress, which would direct lawmakers&#160;on how to vote?&#160;</p>
<p>One&#160;U.S. Senate candidate is proposing just that.</p>
<p>Von Hougo, an 8th grade science and video production teacher at Arroyo Seco Middle School in Valencia, Santa Clarita, is one of the 55 candidates registered with the Federal Elections Commission to replace Barbara Boxer, the retiring Democratic senator from California.</p>
<p>Hougo says his website idea would give voters a voice in the process, by allowing them to take a position on any bill, and then he would vote according to the majority.&#160;</p>
<p>“Our votes don’t matter, but they should,” Hougo told CalWatchdog in an interview last weekend at the California Republican Party Convention in Burlingame.&#160;</p>
<p>The idea presents a few challenges, primarily that many bills are&#160;extremely long and complicated, like the Affordable Care Act, for example. Even if voters had the time to read the 2,890 bills introduced in the Senate so far this Congress,&#160;many would require an advanced degree in policy to understand.</p>
<p>“The idea that your average person can’t make it through all of these bills is probably right, but I’ll bet your average congressman can’t make it through either,” Hougo said.</p>
<p>Hougo said the idea would give voice to centrists, for whom there is no party at the moment.&#160;</p>
<p>“I don’t think California is as liberal as most people think,” Hougo said. “I think it depends on the issue. I think we are socially liberal, but&#160;I think we’re conservative on a lot of issues as well.”&#160;</p>
<p>Hougo is running a “donation-free” campaign, because “money has corrupted the entire political process.” He plans to use social media to connect with voters and spread his message. He&#160;has 83 followers on Twitter and 1,382 likes on Facebook.&#160;</p> | Longshot Senate candidate pledges to vote will of the majority of voters | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2016/05/04/longshot-senate-candidate-pledges-vote-will-majority-voters/ | 2018-05-20 | 3 |
<p>BOSTON (AP) — What should have been a fairly routine administrative exercise — setting a date for this year's primary election in Massachusetts — is turning into a major political headache for state Secretary William Galvin.</p>
<p>The primary is normally held seven weeks before the November general election, which would be Sept. 18.</p>
<p>But this year, that day also marks the start of Yom Kippur. Setting the primary for that date would clash with a state law requiring the primary to be moved when it conflicts with a religious holiday.</p>
<p>Backing up a week to Sept. 11 doesn't help, either, because that would fall on Rosh Hashanah.</p>
<p>That presented Galvin, who oversees state elections, with a potentially dicey decision. The longtime Democratic officeholder decided to crowdsource the decision by making a public appeal for suggestions from voters, candidates or anyone else with an interest.</p>
<p>This week, Galvin announced a decision: He set the date for Tuesday, Sept. 4, the day after Labor Day. That immediately drew the ire of voting advocacy groups like the Massachusetts League of Women Voters and Galvin's Democratic primary challenger Josh Zakim, a Boston city councilor.</p>
<p>Galvin offered an olive branch of sorts, proposing legislation that would allow five days of early voting prior to the primary. Galvin said after consulting with Senate President Harriette Chandler and Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo, both fellow Democrats, he will seek funding for local election officials to conduct early primary voting.</p>
<p>"Given the interest we are already seeing in the primaries and the successful implementation of early voting in the 2016 state election, I believe offering early voting for the state primaries would provide a greater opportunity for voter participation," Galvin said in a written statement announcing the decision.</p>
<p>The first to jump on Galvin's Sept. 4 date was Zakim.</p>
<p>"It is outrageous and unprecedented to schedule a statewide primary for the day after Labor Day, when people are just returning from their summer vacations and haven't had time to focus on the upcoming election," he said. "Scheduling an early voting period during the last week of August is equally ridiculous."</p>
<p>Zakim said there were "any number of dates" that Galvin could have picked instead of a date that Zakim said would end up depressing the vote.</p>
<p>Zakim said he recommended weekend voting, saying it would make it easier for working people and young people to get to the polls despite busy work and school schedules.</p>
<p>The League of Women Voters was only slightly less critical.</p>
<p>The league said it was pleased Galvin had embraced their idea of extending early voting to the state primary after it proved enormously popular during the 2016 general election.</p>
<p>But the league also said the Tuesday after Labor Day was a poor choice — in part because the early voting period would fall during the waning days of August, when few people are in campaign mode.</p>
<p>"Voting on the day after Labor Day will prove challenging for voters in the commonwealth, especially for families preparing children for the start of school, and for candidates who are eager to get their message out to voters," the group said.</p>
<p>The group urged Galvin to roll out what they called "a robust public relations campaign" to make voters aware of the date of the primary and of options for early and absentee voting.</p>
<p>Other states facing the same dilemma have found dates other than the Tuesday after Labor Day to schedule their primaries.</p>
<p>In Rhode Island, officials decided to move the primary elections to Wednesday, Sept. 12, to avoid conflicting with Rosh Hashanah. The state's primary is generally set for the first Tuesday after the first Monday in September, which is Sept. 11 this year.</p>
<p>Delaware decided to move the 2018 primary election date from Sept. 11 to Sept. 6, a Thursday.</p>
<p>In New York, a state lawmaker last year announced legislation to change the scheduled Sept. 11 primary to Sept. 13 to avoid conflicts with Rosh Hashanah and the ceremonies remembering the Sept. 11 attacks.</p>
<p>New Hampshire has also scheduled its primary for Sept. 11.</p>
<p>BOSTON (AP) — What should have been a fairly routine administrative exercise — setting a date for this year's primary election in Massachusetts — is turning into a major political headache for state Secretary William Galvin.</p>
<p>The primary is normally held seven weeks before the November general election, which would be Sept. 18.</p>
<p>But this year, that day also marks the start of Yom Kippur. Setting the primary for that date would clash with a state law requiring the primary to be moved when it conflicts with a religious holiday.</p>
<p>Backing up a week to Sept. 11 doesn't help, either, because that would fall on Rosh Hashanah.</p>
<p>That presented Galvin, who oversees state elections, with a potentially dicey decision. The longtime Democratic officeholder decided to crowdsource the decision by making a public appeal for suggestions from voters, candidates or anyone else with an interest.</p>
<p>This week, Galvin announced a decision: He set the date for Tuesday, Sept. 4, the day after Labor Day. That immediately drew the ire of voting advocacy groups like the Massachusetts League of Women Voters and Galvin's Democratic primary challenger Josh Zakim, a Boston city councilor.</p>
<p>Galvin offered an olive branch of sorts, proposing legislation that would allow five days of early voting prior to the primary. Galvin said after consulting with Senate President Harriette Chandler and Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo, both fellow Democrats, he will seek funding for local election officials to conduct early primary voting.</p>
<p>"Given the interest we are already seeing in the primaries and the successful implementation of early voting in the 2016 state election, I believe offering early voting for the state primaries would provide a greater opportunity for voter participation," Galvin said in a written statement announcing the decision.</p>
<p>The first to jump on Galvin's Sept. 4 date was Zakim.</p>
<p>"It is outrageous and unprecedented to schedule a statewide primary for the day after Labor Day, when people are just returning from their summer vacations and haven't had time to focus on the upcoming election," he said. "Scheduling an early voting period during the last week of August is equally ridiculous."</p>
<p>Zakim said there were "any number of dates" that Galvin could have picked instead of a date that Zakim said would end up depressing the vote.</p>
<p>Zakim said he recommended weekend voting, saying it would make it easier for working people and young people to get to the polls despite busy work and school schedules.</p>
<p>The League of Women Voters was only slightly less critical.</p>
<p>The league said it was pleased Galvin had embraced their idea of extending early voting to the state primary after it proved enormously popular during the 2016 general election.</p>
<p>But the league also said the Tuesday after Labor Day was a poor choice — in part because the early voting period would fall during the waning days of August, when few people are in campaign mode.</p>
<p>"Voting on the day after Labor Day will prove challenging for voters in the commonwealth, especially for families preparing children for the start of school, and for candidates who are eager to get their message out to voters," the group said.</p>
<p>The group urged Galvin to roll out what they called "a robust public relations campaign" to make voters aware of the date of the primary and of options for early and absentee voting.</p>
<p>Other states facing the same dilemma have found dates other than the Tuesday after Labor Day to schedule their primaries.</p>
<p>In Rhode Island, officials decided to move the primary elections to Wednesday, Sept. 12, to avoid conflicting with Rosh Hashanah. The state's primary is generally set for the first Tuesday after the first Monday in September, which is Sept. 11 this year.</p>
<p>Delaware decided to move the 2018 primary election date from Sept. 11 to Sept. 6, a Thursday.</p>
<p>In New York, a state lawmaker last year announced legislation to change the scheduled Sept. 11 primary to Sept. 13 to avoid conflicts with Rosh Hashanah and the ceremonies remembering the Sept. 11 attacks.</p>
<p>New Hampshire has also scheduled its primary for Sept. 11.</p> | Scheduling state primary turns into major political headache | false | https://apnews.com/amp/c1fe6e3552724e90b35a66aa47c38370 | 2018-01-13 | 2 |
<p>The Obama White House — having been battered for months by falling poll numbers, rising public opposition to its signature domestic initiative, massive defections by Independent voters, and election defeats in New Jersey, Virginia, and (especially) Massachusetts — is beginning to fray. The smooth-running Obama team we witnessed during the 2008 election is stumbling around in the dark, making mistakes in judgment that are compounding the problems.</p>
<p>For example, during the State of the Union address, President Obama declared that “jobs must be our No. 1 focus in 2010.” That was a message echoed by Democrats across the land who knew that many (though not all) of their problems can be traced to Obama's relentless effort to pass health insurance legislation the public has rejected and considers, at a time of nearly 10 percent unemployment, to be beside the point. These members of the president's own political party wanted to turn their attention to jobs rather than health care, reasoning that hanging a lantern on a policy that is crippling their party is a prescription for a disastrous midterm election. Yet this week — fully a month after the State of the Union address — attention is once again focused on health care. And if Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid get their way and use the reconciliation process to pass ObamaCare, Democrats will be forced to spend the next several months still talking about it. This will lead Democratic lawmakers to ponder whether their leadership has a political death wish.</p>
<p>Another sign of a White House that is beginning to unravel is the emergence of internal feuding in No-Drama Obama Land. <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33276_Page2.html" type="external">According to Politico</a>, critics left and right are accusing Rahm Emanuel of disloyalty-by-proxy after a Dana Milbank column in Sunday's Washington Post defended the White House chief of staff — while trashing reputed Emanuel rivals Valerie Jarrett and Robert Gibbs:</p>
<p>The key paragraph contained high praise for Emanuel — at the expense of his boss: “Obama's first year fell apart in large part because he didn't follow his chief of staff's advice on crucial matters. Arguably, Emanuel is the only person keeping Obama from becoming Jimmy Carter.” In the piece, the longtime Post politics watcher portrays a White House filled with Obama's Chicagoland sycophants, and idealists veering the White House dangerously off to the left — with Emanuel the only forceful voice of pragmatism and moderation.</p>
<p>When knives are unsheathed in an administration, with key aides distancing themselves from presidential failures and impending political defeat, it's a bad sign. That is doubly the case when the White House chief of staff is at the center of the infighting. It has radiating effects; morale plummets, trust dissipates, and people begin to take sides. Time and energy are spent battling colleagues instead of working in unison with them.</p>
<p>Then there is that old reliable comforter to reach for: self-delusion. In this case it comes in the form of the belief that your troubles are caused by a “communications problem.” According <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/14/AR2010021403550.html" type="external">to a recent Washington Post story</a>, Obama aides are aggressively “retooling” the administration's communications strategy in ways that mirror a successful campaign more than they do a confident White House operation. The president's advisers are said to be focused on producing a faster turnaround in responding to critics and more discipline in channeling the president's schedule, so as to stay on message. This strategy was said to be the result of an end-of-the-year analysis in which White House advisers concluded that “the president's communications team had not taken the initiative often enough and had allowed drawn-out debates in Congress, and relentless criticism by Republicans, to drown out his message.”</p>
<p>“It was clear that too often we didn't have the ball — Congress had the ball in terms of driving the message,” communications director <a href="http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Daniel_Pfeiffer" type="external">Dan Pfeiffer</a> told the Post. “In 2010, the president will constantly be doing high-profile things to be the person driving the narrative.”</p>
<p>I recently had a conversation with a journalist who has close ties to the Obama White House and asked him if they really believed that at the core of their difficulties was a communications problem rather than a substance problem. He indicated they do.</p>
<p>Having worked in three administrations and two terms in the White House, I understand the temptation to believe that all that is needed to bend public will your way is one more clever argument, one more uplifting prime-time speech, a more aggressive and disciplined rapid-response team. But at some point, after enough time and trials, you need to make peace with certain hard truths.</p>
<p>In this instance, the Obama administration needs to accept the fact that the public has rendered its verdict on ObamaCare. They do not like it and they do not want it. No health care “summit,” no new speech in Elyria, Ohio, or Las Vegas, no 2.0 version of the original plan will change any of that. Don't just take my word for it. Listen to the widely respected <a href="http://insiderinterviews.nationaljournal.com/2010/02/cook-health-care-is-obamas-ira.php?print=true" type="external">political analyst Charlie Cook</a>, who told National Journal in an interview:</p>
<p>I sort of reject the notion that there is a communications problem with President Obama. I think it's just fundamental, total miscalculations from the very, very beginning. . . . This isn't a communications problem. This is a reality problem. And I think they just made some grave miscalculations and as it became more clear that they had screwed up, they just kept doubling down their bet. And so I think, no, this is one of the biggest miscalculations that we've seen in modern political history.</p>
<p>It is hard to think of another president who has dropped this far this fast, who after a year has done as much to hurt his party and his cause. Some of that damage is repairable; other presidents have come back from significant setbacks and imposing challenges. But from all appearances, the Obama White House still doesn't get it. It looks for all the world like health care is the whale to Barack Obama's Captain Ahab. He is determined to press ahead with his health care agenda come what may. Well, what may come is an epic midterm election loss, the repudiation of liberalism, and deep damage to the Democratic Party. The specter of Jimmy Carter is beginning to haunt the Obama presidency. And the worst is yet to come.</p>
<p>Peter Wehner is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. He served in the Bush White House as director of the office of strategic initiatives.</p> | Obama Is Doing His Best Jimmy Carter: Are Dems Worried Yet? | false | https://eppc.org/publications/obama-is-doing-his-best-jimmy-carter-are-dems-worried-yet/ | 1 |
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<p>In its half-yearly report of business executives, consulting firm EY said Britain has rebounded to be the third most attractive destination for mergers and acquisitions, behind the U.S. and China. Last October, in the wake of the Brexit vote, it had slumped to seventh and out of the top five for the first time in EY’s seven-year history of assessing deal intentions.</p>
<p>Steve Krouskos, EY’s global head of transactions, said that irrespective of the Brexit vote, Britain remains a “major force in the global economy and a center of deal-making activity.”</p>
<p>In the City of London, Britain has the most comprehensive financial sector in Europe and most commentators think the government, whoever wins the upcoming general election, will seek to retain that status in the Brexit discussions and that Britain will remain an open and transparent place to do business.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Last month, before she called the general election for June 8, Prime Minister Theresa May formally triggered the two-year process by which Britain will leave the EU. There’s now growing talk that whoever wins the election will be in a better position to get a transitional deal with the EU that might last around three years.</p>
<p>In all, Krouskos thinks that elections can have a short-term impact on the appetite for corporate deals, but that longer-term issues such as rapid technological change are what really drive firms.</p>
<p>“Geopolitical and policy uncertainty is a permanent feature of the boardroom, but technology-enabled disruption poses a greater challenge to many business models,” he said. “The exponential pace of disruption and transformation is compelling executives to engage in M&amp;A. Companies need to innovate to follow rapidly changing customer preferences and buying assets can be the fastest way to radically reshape their business for future growth.”</p>
<p>As a result, the interest in deals remains high. According to EY’s survey of 2,300 executives across 43 countries, the majority of whom are CEOs, 56 percent of companies expect to actively pursue deals in the next 12 months. That’s down a percentage point from October, but six points higher than a year ago and way above the survey’s long-run average.</p>
<p>“Executives recognize that staying on the deal sidelines could mean they are sidelined from securing future-proofing assets,” Krouskos said.</p>
<p>EY’s findings echo those of specialist Mergermarket, which this month found that global deal-making has remained resilient this year in the face of uncertainties, with deals worth $678.5 billion announced in the first quarter, 8.9 percent up on the previous year’s value.</p>
<p>Already this year, Johnson &amp; Johnson, the world’s biggest maker of health care products, has announced its largest-ever acquisition — the pending $30 billion purchase of Swiss biopharmaceutical company Actelion. And British American Tobacco has offered $49 billion bid for the nearly 58 percent of rival Reynolds it doesn’t already own.</p>
<p>Getting deals through isn’t always easy and this year has shown that. Recent failures include the proposed $30 billion tie-up between the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Boerse and most dramatically Unilever’s rebuff of a $143 billion approach from Kraft Heinz. And Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to consolidate his media empire with Twenty-First Century Fox’s purchase of Britain-based Sky is no done deal following the British government’s decision to give regulators more time to weigh the matter because of the election.</p>
<p>One concern that’s risen in the wake of the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president is that the global economy is heading for a period of increasing protectionism. However, despite speculation about trade barriers, Krouskos said cross-border M&amp;A has already been a hallmark of 2017, with a resurgence of deals between the United States and Western Europe. According to the survey, only 36 percent of companies now plan to focus on domestic deals in the next 12 months.</p>
<p>“For many companies, cross-border deals are a necessity — successful companies will find ways to navigate challenges such as rising nationalism,” Krouskos said. “Executives are evaluating a wide range of M&amp;A geographies to secure market access and grow customer base.”</p> | Britain’s back in favor for corporate deals despite Brexit | false | https://abqjournal.com/992288/britains-back-in-favor-for-corporate-deals-despite-brexit.html | 2 |
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<p>Dad’s Name: Lawrence Ratliff Home City: Chicago Organization Affiliation: Kenwood Oakland Community Organization Community Participation:&#160; Senior citizen rights, affordable housing, equitable education Why This Person is Being Honored: “Mr. Lawrence Ratliff has been a leader with KOCO for the past 5 years. Mr. Ratliff has provided support and leadership in virtually every aspect of the organization. Through organizing bingo events, social functions, community forums, and other activities geared towards senior citizens, Mr. Ratliff has been a master recruiter for new leadership. In fact, it was Mr. Ratliff who introduced Mr. Alphonso Jones to KOCO. Whether it’s him providing the music for a function as the DJ, marshaling a march, speaking to elected officials, or simply providing an example of leadership for the next generation, Mr. Ratliff has been there.</p>
<p>A retired veteran from the US Army, Navy, and Air Force, Mr. Ratliff has traveled the world. This international perspective provides KOCO’s senior work with a pragmatism and audaciousness that is unmatched. Known for pushing the envelope, daring us all to dream big, and never accepting defeat, Mr. Ratliff has led battles for quality housing, equitable education, food security, and senior rights. A mainstay of our organizing work, leaders like Mr. Ratliff encourage us all to strive for the very best in ourselves.</p>
<p>KOCO truly appreciates the work of Mr. Ratliff and his peers.”</p>
<p>Nominated by: J. Brian Malone</p>
<p>Dad’s Name: Alphonso Jones Home City: Chicago Organization Affiliation: Kenwood Oakland Community Organization Community Participation:&#160; Senior citizen rights, affordable housing, equitable education Why This Person is Being Honored: “Mr. Alphonso Jones has spent his first year with the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) embroiled in struggles to: pressure a slumlord to provide quality decent housing for senior citizens on a fixed income; successfully resist plans to close several schools in the north Kenwood and Oakland community; and bring attention to the efforts to gentrify low-income and working communities. Baptized by fire, Mr. Jones has been a staunch advocate for the rights of seniors, and a leader on the front lines in the fight for dignity and respect. Throughout his entire life, Mr. Jones has been involved in social justice work. Spanning the Civil Rights Era to present-day battles against gentrification and school privatization, Mr. Jones has courageously offered his time and talent to stand up for the rights of low-income and working families.</p>
<p>In the face of intimidating threats of eviction, Mr. Jones assisted his neighbors in navigating the bureaucracy of public housing to have their concerns heard. He co-wrote dozens of letters on behalf of residents to decision-makers at every level of government to address basic health and decency needs in the building. His leadership helped to coalesce the efforts of his peers into the “Involved Seniors for Justice” as KOCO’s senior civic engagement committee. Since its formation, Involved Seniors for Justice have held meetings with the local alderman, and forced the management company for one of the senior buildings in the area to agree to periodic monitor visits to track progress on a number of quality of life concerns.</p>
<p>Calm, but powerful, Mr. Jones stands as an example of what is possible when we decide to work together to develop a collective strategy to address common issues. Mr. Jones incessantly looks for ways to get more involved, and additional opportunities for training.”</p>
<p>Nominated by: J. Brian Malone</p>
<p>Dad’s Name: Brandon Mitchell Home City: New Orleans Organization Affiliation: Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School Community Participation: Education, youth development, health and wellness Why This Person Is Being Honored: “Brandon Mitchell was profiled in the 2010 Equal Voice documentary, ‘ <a href="http://caseygrants.org/equalvoice/equal-voice-documentaries/raising-hope-the-equal-voice-story/" type="external">Raising Hope</a>.’ A father of four, Brandon was raising three of his children as a single father in New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina, his wife chose not to return to New Orleans and risk another hurricane. She remained in Memphis with their youngest son, and she and Brandon separated.</p>
<p>Brandon, a professional barber who owns his own shop in New Orleans, speaks candidly about the struggles of raising three children as a single parent. ‘I take my hat off for single mothers who are doing the right thing for their children. It’s not easy when you’re dealing with children on your own.’ Yet, he accepts the challenges as part of his role as a parent. In ‘Raising Hope,’ he plays music with his children, eats meals with them, lays out their clothes for school, prays with them and tucks them into bed for the evening. His dedication to them is clear.</p>
<p>‘I want to get it grounded in my children that it’s all about them with me. Family is all you have, when it comes down to it,’ he said.</p>
<p>Later in the movie, he speaks with passion at the Equal Voice town hall, recognizing that he is not alone in his personal challenges: ‘My struggle is connected to other people’s lives across the country. We need to come together as one, regardless of racial and ethnic backgrounds. If we haven’t learned yet to accept one another for who we are, we’re not going to be accepted by any government to make the changes we need.'”</p>
<p>Information From: Raising Hope</p>
<p>Dad’s Name: Darryl Massey Home City: Monroe, Wash. Organization Affiliation: NA Community Participation: Prisoner rights Why This Person Is Being Honored: The Marguerite Casey Foundation met Darryl Massey during a 2007 town hall event at Monroe Correctional Prison in Washington State. (The Equal Voice for America’s Families campaign was launched during this event.) Massey embodies an often forgotten group of fathers — those who are behind bars and still actively engaged in parenting.</p>
<p>Over 1.7 million children have a parent serving a sentence in a state or federal prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. African-American children are nine times more likely (and Hispanic children three times more likely) than a white child to have a parent in prison, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.</p>
<p>Massey is fortunate to benefit from a provision that allows him to have regular extended visits with his children. He lives for those visits when he can reconnect with his children. “When I’m with my children, I feel elated. Every day is a birthday with my children,” he said.</p>
<p>Massey’s dedication to parenting is evident in the video, recorded during the 2007 town hall: “I love being a parent. I don’t give myself kudos for a lot of things, but I think I’m great at being a parent.” As he said later during the town hall meeting, his role has not changed. “I’m a prisoner, but I’m a parent,” he added.</p>
<p>Information From: Marguerite Casey Foundation</p>
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<p>Dad’s Name: Jeff Chalan Home City: Cochiti Pueblo Nation (in the Southwest) Organization Affiliation: Cochiti Pueblo Nation Community Participation: Native American rights, poverty, environmental justice Why This Person Is Being Honored: “Jeff Chalan, a member of the Cochiti Pueblo Nation, was profiled in the 2010 Equal Voice documentary,&#160; <a href="http://caseygrants.org/equalvoice/equal-voice-documentaries/raising-hope-the-equal-voice-story/" type="external">‘Raising Hope.’</a> He and his wife have three children, and his dedication to them is clear. ‘There was a reason I was put on this Earth, and that was to guide my kids into this world, so they can succeed and be happy in life. That’s all I want for my kids is happiness,’ he said. Both parents are actively involved in their children’s schools, helping them with homework and speaking to the teachers about their progress. To Jeff, education is a critical key to success in the future. ‘It’s very important that these kids realize that they have our support to get the best education that they can get,’ he said.</p>
<p>Along with the importance of education, Jeff is dedicated to teaching Cochiti traditions to his children. ‘I would like to see people take their time with parenthood, take their time and install traditions in their kids’ lives. With good traditional value, with a good heart, comes a good head,’ he said.</p>
<p>Jeff is also active in the fight to improve the water quality on the Cochiti Pueblo Reservation. ‘We’re only 10 miles downstream from Los Alamos National Laboratories. Whatever Los Alamos dumps in those streams upstream, it’s going to come straight to Cochiti and into our drinking water. That concerns me the most,’ he said. Jeff also recognizes that he is not alone. His fight is connected to other environmental activists across the country. ‘It’s important to know those issues, not just here in Cochiti, but throughout the United States. People have it in their heads that it’s not going to make a difference, but it does make a difference. It does,’ he said.”</p>
<p>Information From: Raising Hope</p>
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<p>Dad’s Name: Joseph Podlasek Home City: Chicago Organization Affiliation: American Indian Center of Chicago Community Participation: Native Americans, education, cultural identity, wellness Why This Person is Being Honored:&#160;“Joseph Podlasek, executive director of the American Indian Center of Chicago and Citizen of the Lac Courte Oreilles (LCO), Ojibwe Tribe, is the father of three children, Steven, Tristan and Agiina. He also serves as the president of the National Urban Indian Family Coalition and a member of President Obama’s Region Five Fatherhood Committee.</p>
<p>He has been a dedicated father supporting his children’s efforts and activities through school and sports, such as soccer, basketball and baseball. Joe and his son will be traveling to Ohio soon for a major baseball tournament.</p>
<p>He is a tireless advocate for children and has instituted the ‘Positive Paths’ program at the American Indian Center. This program is open to youth from 1st grade through 12th grade and designed to have content that is responsive to the wants and needs of the youth in our community. The vision includes a community of culturally vital youth who are knowledgeable, capable, responsible and respectful to themselves, their families and the community. To attain this vision, Positive Paths’ mission is to create a safe, positive, and empowering environment for Native youth to learn and live in wellness.</p>
<p>The five key strategies for ‘Positive Paths’ are: Support and facilitate students’ academic success; empower students’ positive growth, development, and identity; increase students’, families’, and community’s cultural knowledge through community involvement; provide students support and mentorship through relationship building; and provide access for students to safe spaces and skills to succeed in urban environments, Indian country, and society at large.</p>
<p>Joe has been an inspiration to his children and fathers in the Native American community.”</p>
<p>Nominated by: Andrew Johnson</p>
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<p>Dad’s Name: Oscar Vazquez Home City: San Elizario, Texas Organization Affiliation: Adults and Youth United Development Association (AYUDA) Community Participation: Issues affecting low-income residents, helping the uninsured, immigration Why This Person Is Being Honored: “Oscar Vazquez, 34, is one to lead by example. He has been married to Marcia Vazquez for over 15 years and they have two sons and one daughter. He migrated to the United States in 2006 and has struggled ever since. Oscar and his family had to go through many sacrifices, such as living in a 500-square-foot room and with a paycheck of less than $100 every two weeks. But Oscar wouldn’t give up. He didn’t want to be away from his family so he did whatever it took to keep the family together. This hardworking, passionate, courageous and loving father has managed to support his family by working at a body shop. His wife helps by selling fresh baked bread. You can always find Oscar at his boys’ soccer games. With his dirty mechanic uniform or not, he never misses a single practice or game. Let’s not forget that these three kids are very well-mannered and value the most important things in life. Oscar Jr, 13, Irving,10, and Osmary, 7, mean the world to this man and this is why AYUDA Inc. would like to nominate this outstanding and admirable father.”</p>
<p>Nominated by: Olivia Figueroa</p>
<p>Dad’s Name: Mario Santana Home City: Pharr, Texas Organization Affiliation: ARISE Support Center Community Participation: Immigration, education Why This Person Is Being Honored: “Mario Santana was born and raised in Mexico. At the age of 8, his father abandoned the family, and at 15 his mother died. Around that time, he met a girl working at a video store in a nearby town called Reynosa. Fabiola and Mario fell in love, and not too long afterward their first son, Bronce, was born. Looking for a stable way to support his family, Mario joined the Marines at age 15. It was in the Marines that Mario learned about discipline, about helping others and about treating people with respect. He spent the next four years traveling back and forth from the base to the town where his family lived. His children hardly recognized him, though, because he was home so rarely.</p>
<p>Mario knew that it would be difficult to continue living away from them, so he decided to leave the Marines. Having a family at such a young age was difficult but even more so in a country with limited means of employment. Seeking a better educational future for their children, they set off for the U.S. Mario crossed first and arrived at a used car lot. They gave him work and allowed him to sleep in a room on the premises. As soon as he had saved enough money, Fabiola and the children joined him. They rented a small bare room in the Las Milpas community of Pharr, Texas and slept on the floor. They had no bed, refrigerator, stove or dishes. Little by little, they found used mattresses or furniture left outside of other buildings. They began building their new life, little by little.</p>
<p>In the years since the Santana family began their life in the U.S., they have worked hard to provide their kids with more opportunities. ‘I always try to make time for my kids. I didn’t have that support from my parents, and I don’t want my kids to live through what I lived through. I want them to have as many opportunities as possible. I want them to see me at their graduation. I try to do all the things that weren’t done with me. Every day, I try to be a good father,’ he said. Mario works during the day, and Fabiola works in the evenings. He works in landscaping, washing cars, building fences. Mario says he’s a man of ‘mil usos’&#160;– a thousand uses.</p>
<p>When the children arrive from school, he talks to them about their day. He goes to school to find out how they are doing and is one of the only male participants in the PTA meetings. ‘I like going to the PTA meetings because we are dealing with our children’s futures. For example, I learned that my son, Bronce, needed a certain number of credits to graduate and I had no idea which classes qualified. You are able to learn so much and really help your children when you actively participate in their lives. I try to guide them on the right path, so that they can be successful in life,’ he said.”</p>
<p>Nominated by: Jazmin Francis</p>
<p>Dad’s Name: Luis Islas Home City: Chicago Organization Affiliation: Albany Park Neighborhood Council Community Participation: Housing Why This Person Is Being Honored:&#160;“The Albany Park Neighborhood Council (APNC) is honored to nominate Luis Islas, a devoted husband and father of two children, Kevin and Stephanie.</p>
<p>Luis has rented the second floor of a two-flat near Albany Park with his wife Maria, and two kids, Kevin and Stephanie for the past three years. One day, without any warning, he came home to a bright-yellow sheet of paper posted on his door that said he had 48 hours to make arrangements and leave his home or else the sheriff would come, change the locks, and escort his family off the property without any regard to their personal belongings.</p>
<p>Scared for his family, Luis looked into the situation and found that the building had been foreclosed on. (By law, renters in his situation are supposed to receive a notice that gives them 90 days to vacate the property after foreclosure.) Luis fought back against the illegal notice, but the real estate company would not budge. According to Islas, they told him if he was not out in a month, both he and his family would be locked out of his home. Luis stood up for his family and refused to leave.</p>
<p>Finally, just when it looked like Luis and his family were going to be able to stay, his wife reported that the real-estate company, CHIProperties, in her view, was trying to board up the building while his family was still inside. Luis decided this was the last straw. Luis joined other members of APNC to march to the office of CHIProperties. Together with over 30 community members and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, Luis demanded that CHIProperties stop handing out these notices. Shortly afterwards, the metal sheets were removed from the windows of Luis’s home.</p>
<p>But Luis was not done fighting. To protect his family and other renting families around Chicago, Luis used his story as a catalyst for the Keep Chicago Renting Campaign. This campaign had two goals: 1) keep tenants in their homes despite foreclosure, and 2) prevent more vacant buildings.</p>
<p>Less than three months after Luis made his stand, the <a href="" type="internal">Keep Chicago Renting Ordinance was passed</a>. Because of Luis’s willingness to stand up against injustice, renters from all over the city of Chicago are now protected by an ordinance that allows them to stay in their homes after they are foreclosed. When asked about how he feels, Luis just said: ‘I finally feel like we are getting the respect that we deserve. It’s all about respect: Respect me, respect my family, and respect other people. That is what I am fighting for, that is what we are fighting for.’</p>
<p>Nominated by: Nick Jefferson</p>
<p>Dad’s Name: Juan Jimenez Home City: Huntington Park, Calif. Organization Affiliation: InnerCity Struggle Community Participation: Education, justice issues Why This Person Is Being Honored: “Juan Jimenez is from Mexico City, Mexico and is a proud father of four children. He has been very active in his children’s education and schools. His oldest daughter will be the first in her family to go to college in the fall of 2013. She will be attending the University of California, Santa Barbara.</p>
<p>Juan is an active member of Familias Unidas Coordinating Committee for the last five years. He played a key role in passing Proposition 30 in California, which will raise revenue and bring funding to our needed schools. He has also been very active in the environmental justice movement in his community.</p>
<p>Juan is a true leader and is dedicated to educational justice, bringing more resources and ensuring a quality education.”</p>
<p>Nominated by: Roberto Bustillo</p>
<p /> | Father's Day Edition: Doing Whatever It Takes for Families | true | http://equalvoiceforfamilies.org/fathers/ | 4 |
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<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook said Tuesday that it’s testing video advertisements that show up in its users’ news feeds, creating another potential source of advertising revenue for the social network.</p>
<p>Under the current plan, the advertisements automatically start playing without sound when they appear. Users can click on a video to view it with sound, or scroll past it if they’re not interested.</p>
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<p>Facebook said it’s been testing the silent auto-playing videos for video content shared between Facebook users since September, and has since seen a 10 percent increase in the number of videos watched, liked, shared and commented on.</p>
<p>Facebook said the new format will allow its advertisers to reach a large number of people in a short amount of time, while also improving the quality of advertisements its users see in their news feeds.</p>
<p>The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company emphasized that the idea is still in the testing phase and that it’s not currently selling video advertisements. The company wouldn’t disclose pricing, but said its goal is for the test feature to become a premium advertising product designed to reach a large audience at specific times.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, advertising spending continues to rise. According to research firm eMarketer, spending on digital video advertising will more than triple from 2012 levels to $9.42 billion in 2017, though that pales in comparison to the TV advertising market which is expected to reach $75.25 billion by the same year.</p>
<p>Citi analyst Mark May backed his “Buy” rating for Facebook’s stock, noting that the video ad effort was expected and could add more than half a billion dollars to the company’s revenue next year and up to $1 billion by 2016.</p>
<p>As part of the test, Facebook said it’s partnering with Summit Entertainment to show a series of videos related to its upcoming film “Divergent” to a small number of Facebook users on Thursday.</p>
<p>Facebook noted that for mobile users the advertisements are preloaded only when the device is connected to wireless Internet and will not consume additional data. No sound will play unless a user clicks or taps on the video.</p>
<p>In morning trading, Facebook shares rose 90 cents to $54.71.</p>
<p>Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</p> | Facebook Testing Auto-Play Video Advertisements | true | http://talkingpointsmemo.com/idealab/facebook-testing-auto-play-video-advertisements | 4 |
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<p>Front page photo: &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/44857113@N00/855639608/"&gt;DefMo&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href="http://creativecommons.org/"&gt;Creative Commons&lt;/a&gt;)</p>
<p>Activists wearing face masks and haz-mat suits dumped a pile of sewage sludge on the steps of San Francisco’s city hall today to protest the city’s practice of marketing the material to home gardeners as “organic compost.” The US Department of Agriculture’s organic standards explicity prohibit organic produce from being grown on sludge-treated land.&#160; “The City of San Francisco owes an apology to all of the food consumers in California who have been eating non-organic food grown on sewage sludge,” said Ronnie Cummins, president of the Organic Consumers Association. He was wearing a haz-mat suit on which he’d written a message to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom: “Organic gardens aren’t toxic waste dumps.”</p>
<p>Using sludge as fertilizer is a common practice; more than half of the sewage produced in America ends up being treated and applied to gardens and farmland. The EPA considers sludge to be safe, but many food activists and some of the EPA’s own scientists disagree, pointing out that it can contain trace amounts of almost anything that gets poured down the drain, from heavy metals to endocrine disruptors–and that only a portion of these contaminants are screened for in sludge. (For more on the safety of sludge, check out <a href="" type="internal">“Sludge Happens</a>” in our May/June 2009 issue).</p>
<p>The confusion over San Francisco’s “organic” sludge isn’t unique. The USDA doesn’t regulate which fertilizers can be labeled as organic, allowing anyone to use the term. But Cummins says it’s particularly misleading to apply the “organic” term to treated sewage sludge, which has been known to contain high levels of pollutants such PFOAs and flame retardants. Mother Jones‘ <a href="" type="internal">report</a> that President Obama’s “organic” White House vegetable garden was planted on sludge-treated land led to considerable outcry last year. In response to complaints from organic gardeners who say they were duped and to <a href="http://cbs5.com/video/[email protected]" type="external">this CBS news segment</a>, San&#160;Francisco has at least temporary suspended its public “compost giveaway events” and announced that it will no longer call the material “organic.”</p>
<p>Still, Cummins wants San&#160;Francisco to stop using sludge as fertilizer and to help gardeners who accepted the material clean up their land. To press his case, he poured some sludge into a jars and marched into Newsom’s office, still wearing his haz-mat suit and a pair of safety goggles. After a moment, mayoral representative David Miree appeared and Cummins gifted him with the sludge sample. “Be careful with this stuff,” Cummins said. Another activist offered Miree her safety gloves.&#160; He politely declined them, but rather than holding the jars, walked out with them loaded into a garbage can.</p> | A Backlash After San Francisco Labels Sewage Sludge “Organic” | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/backlash-after-san-francisco-labels-sewage-sludge-organic/ | 2010-03-04 | 4 |
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<p>Late Sunday night, bullets rained down on the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. The gunfire was specifically aimed at a country concert, which was attended by tens of thousands of people—and unfortunately, the shooter killed 58 people (so far) and injured nearly 500 more.</p>
<p>The shooter, identified as Stephen Paddock, managed to smuggle in a series of high powered rifles and assault weapons into his hotel room, and then effectively “sniped” through the window down at the crowd. Police quickly found him, blew open his door with explosives, and raided his room—but he shot himself before they could arrest him.</p>
<p>Hundreds of victims have been taken to the hospital, and Las Vegas police have urged citizens to stay away from the south end of the strip. Las Vegas Boulevard is currently shut down at Tropicana, southbound past Russel Road at this time, giving law enforcement enough space to secure the area and treat the wounded.</p>
<p>Most Americans have expressed their grief over the tragic situation, but Richard Dawkins, a famous atheist, biologist, and author, tweeted out something that many have found absolutely appalling. “Durn tootin, great shootin!” he says. “Cool dude sertin’ he’s 2nd Mendment rahts. Hell yeah!”</p>
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<p>Like most liberals, he went on to attack the 2nd amendment right after a mass shooting, not understanding that it isn’t guns that kill people…it’s people that kill people. Dawkins is known for his extremely anti-Christian views, and has written numerous books slamming the religion.</p>
<p>In one book, <a href="http://amzn.to/2xSl97j" type="external">The God Delusion</a>, he claims that Christianity is at fault for most of the world’s problems. “The God of the Old Testament,” he says, “…is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction.” Here are some of this author’s quotes regarding Christianity:</p>
<p>“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”&#160;</p>
<p>“Let children learn about different faiths, let them notice their incompatibility, and let them draw their own conclusions about the consequences of that incompatibility. As for whether they are ‘valid,’ let them make up their own minds when they are old enough to do so.”&#160;</p>
<p>“Do you really mean to tell me the only reason you try to be good is to gain God’s approval and reward, or to avoid his disapproval and punishment? That’s not morality, that’s just sucking up, apple-polishing, looking over your shoulder at the great surveillance camera in the sky, or the still small wiretap inside your head, monitoring your every move, even your every base though.”&#160;</p>
<p>“To be fair, much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents, composed, revised, translated, distorted and ‘improved’ by hundreds of anonymous authors, editors and copyists, unknown to us and mostly unknown to each other, spanning nine centuries.”&#160;</p>
<p>Dawkins has dedicated his entire life to destroying Christianity, and is known for debating theologians and Christian apologists, but he fell under enormous criticism after backing down from a debate over Islam. Many Americans believe that he’s a coward, willing to attack peaceful Christians, but afraid of being the next Danish cartoonist.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/us/richard-dawkins-speech-canceled-berkeley.html" type="external">New York Times</a> reports that&#160;his debate with Islamic apologists was cancelled after “previous comments,” over Islam.</p>
<p>A public radio station in Berkeley, Calif., said it canceled a live discussion and book signing with the evolutionary biologist and noted atheist&#160; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/books/review/brief-candle-in-the-dark-by-richard-dawkins.html" type="external">Richard Dawkins</a>&#160;because of his past comments criticizing Islam.</p>
<p>Mr. Dawkins was to promote his new book, “ <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Science-Soul-Selected-Passionate-Rationalist/dp/0399592245" type="external">Science in the Soul: Selected Writings of a Passionate Rationalist</a>,” before an audience of hundreds of paying ticket holders on Aug. 9. The event was also to be a fund-raiser for its host, the radio station&#160; <a href="https://kpfa.org/" type="external">KPFA</a>.</p>
<p>The station sent an email to ticket holders on Thursday that praised the book but apologized for not having “broader knowledge” of his views much earlier. It added that Mr. Dawkins had hurt people with “his tweets and other comments on Islam.”</p>
<p>The email was quoted in full by Mr. Dawkins in&#160; <a href="http://www.centerforinquiry.net/newsroom/dawkins_berkeley/" type="external">an open letter</a>&#160;that criticized the station’s decision on Friday.</p>
<p>Dawkins was met with ample backlash after his insensitive tweet, with many pointing out the fact that the 2nd amendment right is what protects us from tyrannical governments, which often kill a lot more than just 50 people. Many also noted that making fun of Americans isn’t a logical argument.</p>
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<p>One man pointed out that culture is the problem, not gun rights, after citing the difference between Brazil and America’s shootings per capita.</p>
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<p>The 2nd amendment is meant to protect us from a tyrannical government, and although mass shootings are certainly tragic, without a right to defend ourselves things would be far worse. In the 20th century alone, over 100 million people were killed from communism, and do you know what the first thing those dictators did was? They made guns illegal to carry.</p> | Right After 58 Killed in Mass Shooting, Famous Atheist Makes Disgusting Jokes | true | http://silenceisconsent.net/right-50-killed-mass-shooting-famous-atheist-makes-disgusting-jokes/ | 2018-05-07 | 0 |
<p>Shares of Sears Holdings Corp.&#160;(NASDAQ: SHLD) were up 5.2% as of 1:00 p.m. EDT Tuesday after the department store chain entered international licensing agreements for its Kenmore and DieHard brands.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>More specifically, Sears announced that Celva North America Inc. will manufacture Kenmore and Kenmore Elite vacuums and accessories for global retail distribution, and Dorcy International will manufacture DieHard batteries and flashlights for distribution in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Caribbean, Latin America, and select South Pacific locations.</p>
<p>"Both of these agreements are examples of our expansion strategy to unleash the power of these iconic brands internationally," added Tom Park, president of Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard brands. "We will have direct and active involvement in building the business with our licensing partners and we're confident that both Cleva and Dorcy will maintain our high quality standards."</p>
<p>That said, terms of the deals weren't disclosed. And this news follows Sears' recent decision to begin selling Kenmore appliances through Amazon.com -- a move that should certainly bolster sales for the company's flagship brand, but also <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/24/sears-holdings-giving-back-amazon-inspired-gains.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=7d53ae44-8749-11e7-a7de-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">spurred worries Opens a New Window.</a> that any gains could come at the expense of Sears' struggling retail business.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>But adding new manufacturers with international markets in mind makes much more sense for Sears at this stage as the company strives to return to sustained, profitable growth. While it remains to be seen whether that's enough to accomplish that goal -- at least in combination with Sears' cost-cutting and <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/10/sears-holdings-chooses-downsizing-over-bankruptcy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=7d53ae44-8749-11e7-a7de-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">store closure initiatives Opens a New Window.</a> -- this is at least a step in the right direction. And it's no surprise to see Sears shares climbing today.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of August 1, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSymington/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=7d53ae44-8749-11e7-a7de-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Steve Symington Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=7d53ae44-8749-11e7-a7de-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why Sears Holdings Corp. Stock Jumped Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/08/23/why-sears-holdings-corp-stock-jumped-today.html | 2017-08-23 | 0 |
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<p>In breaking news out of Leith, North Dakota, the Grant County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed that Neo-Nazi leader Craig Cobb, has been taken in to custody.</p>
<p>Cobb and his supporter Kynan Dutton were both taken into custody. The incident began after Greg Bruce went to Leith to help Lee Cook install a surveillance camera on his house. For some reason, Cobb and Dutton thought they were within their rights to walk across town brandishing guns to confront them about this.</p>
<p>“Craig Cobb and Kynan Dutton approached myself and Lee Cook with a shotgun and rifle in hand,” Bruce said. “I took photographs, they walked around town twice, they followed Miller Ferry home, scared her with a shotgun and rifle in hand and we called 911 the Grant County Sheriffs came out with the two deputies, John Foss and Derrick and took them into custody, handcuffed them.”</p>
<p>This just hasn’t been a very good month for Cobb. <a href="" type="internal">First he finds out that he’s 14% African</a> on a daytime talk show, and now this! Stay tuned for more on this breaking story!</p>
<p>(Article by James Achisa and Micah Naziri)</p> | Arrest of Neo-Nazi Leader Who Tried to Take Over North Dakota Town | true | http://politicalblindspot.com/neo-nazi-leader-arrested/ | 2013-11-17 | 4 |
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<p><a href="" type="internal" />LAS CRUCES — Pete Richard Ferraro, 23, of Chaparral, N.M., was sentenced Monday in federal court in Las Cruces to 57 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for unlawfully possessing stolen firearms, according to a news release.</p>
<p>His co-defendant Emanuel Medina, 24, of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced earlier this month to 46 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release for a similar conviction.</p>
<p>Medina and Ferraro were arrested on a criminal complaint filed in Oct. 2013, charging them with unlawfully possessing firearms between Oct. 11, 2013 and Oct. 23, 2013, in Doña Ana County, N.M. According to the complaint, on Oct. 22, 2013, an officer of the El Paso Police Department reported that a rifle and a shotgun were missing from his unmarked police vehicle.</p>
<p>The results of a latent prints examination revealed that Ferraro left his fingerprints on the police vehicle, authorities said. During the course of the investigation, Medina and Ferraro were interviewed and implicated themselves in the theft of the firearms. The firearms were recovered in two Chaparral residences.</p>
<p>This case was brought as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution.</p>
<p>Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.</p>
<p>This case was investigated by the El Paso Group III Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the El Paso Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Castellano of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | NM man gets 4 years for stolen police weapons | false | https://abqjournal.com/470828/headline-333.html | 2 |
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<p>Not So Conventional the Way to Go? Many patients are nixing prescription drugs and turning to alternative medicines to treat a variety of ailments such as anxiety and even cancer. Here are some of the most popular alternative treatments, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. (Reuters)</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Ten Commonly-Used Alternative Medicines and Therapies | true | http://foxbusiness.com/slideshow/personal-finance/2011/10/24/ten-commonly-used-alternative-medicines-and-therapies.html | 2017-02-08 | 0 |
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<p>As the Great Recession drags on, voters continue to view the origin of the economic crisis in stark, partisan terms.&#160; In a recent Rasmussen Reports <a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/june_2010/47_blame_bush_for_nation_s_economic_problems_45_blame_obama" type="external">poll</a>, 47% of likely voters believe the policies of George W. Bush are the primary cause of the nation’s current financial predicament, while 45% of likely voters believe President Obama’s policies are largely to blame.</p>
<p>Men primarily blame the current recession on Obama, while women primarily blame it on Bush.&#160; In addition, the majority of Democrats blame the economic crisis on the Bush administration, while the majority of Republicans blame it on the Obama administration.&#160; Independents are closely divided.</p>
<p>So, what’s new?</p>
<p>Democrats are blaming Republicans, Republicans are blaming Democrats, and Independents are blaming both.&#160; In the meantime, the national debt is exploding, effective (U6) unemployment is at 16.6%, Wall St is down 26% from its 2007 high, a record number of Americans are on food stamps, hundreds of banks are failing, and homeowners continue to foreclose at a record pace.</p>
<p>How did we get here?</p>
<p>I submit that the Great Recession is largely a product of the “Bush-Obama” doctrine.&#160; Both administrations, as well as Republican and Democratic Congresses, have enacted a number of similar policies since 2001.&#160; They include:</p>
<p>– extensive tax cuts; while Bush’s tax cuts are legendary, under Obama, <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/Nearly-half-of-US-households-apf-1105567323.html?x=0" type="external">47%</a> of Americans did not have to pay federal taxes this year</p>
<p>– significant increases in domestic spending; Bush especially ramped up spending in Medicare, Education, and Homeland Security, while Obama has boosted domestic spending in virtually every category</p>
<p>– significant increases in war spending; Bush launched wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, while Obama has further increased military spending and expanded the War on Terror</p>
<p>– “stimulus” programs; Bush launched two stimulus programs, one largely composed of tax cuts and the other (2008) composed of generous government checks, while Obama launched the unprecedented $787 billion program in 2009</p>
<p>– corporate bailouts; Bush and Obama supported the $700 billion bank bailout and both administrations pumped hundreds of billions into Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, GM, Chrysler, etc.</p>
<p>– loose monetary policy at the Federal Reserve; Bush and Obama have supported dovish Federal Reserve chairmen, who many economic experts believe are highly responsible for creating the stock, credit, and housing bubble by instituting artificially low interest rates over long periods of time</p>
<p>While there are some critical differences between the style and priorities of the Bush and Obama administrations, their core policies have proven virtually identical.&#160; The same holds true for Congress during this period, whether Republican or Democrat.</p>
<p>So, while the blame game rages on, the policies don’t change all that much.&#160; Instead, deficits grow, debt skyrockets, the Dollar loses value, Wall St is bailed out, war remains open-ended, and the economy struggles.&#160;</p>
<p>Perhaps the time has come for Americans to kick the “two-headed, one-party monster” to the curb and start looking elsewhere for meaningful change.</p> | Nation still polarized as 47% blame Bush and 45% blame Obama for the Great Recession | false | https://ivn.us/2010/06/22/nation-still-polarized-47-blame-bush-and-45-blame-obama-great-recession/ | 2010-06-22 | 2 |
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<p>It was certainly not a revelation when Julissa Hunte of Cleveland High School said the following Thursday night:</p>
<p>“We can hang with the big dogs,” she said.</p>
<p>In hindsight, Hunte perhaps undersold the message. That’s because the Storm’s girls soccer program today stands as the big dog.</p>
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<p>In a battle on unbeaten teams, Hunte’s 77th-minute goal sent No. 2 Cleveland to a 1-0 victory over top-ranked Sandia at the APS Complex, signifying a changing of the guard in Class 5A — at least for now — as the Storm toppled the nationally ranked Matadors (10-1).</p>
<p>No victory has meant more to Cleveland (13-0), now in its second season.</p>
<p>“It says a lot for our girls,” Storm coach Amanda Stout said. “They had this feeling that we are this good, but everybody (has been) saying, ‘Oh yeah, but …’ I think today, they shot those ‘buts’ right out the window.”</p>
<p>Stout’s reference was to Cleveland not having had regular-season meetings with metro-area 5A powers such as Sandia. The Storm rolled into state last year with just one loss, although Cleveland fell in penalty kicks to La Cueva in the state semifinals.</p>
<p>So, to a certain degree, Thursday was a referendum on Cleveland’s program. The result was validation that the Storm is every inch the serious state contender.</p>
<p>“Just because we play easy teams doesn’t mean we’re not a quality team,” said Hunte.</p>
<p>The game-winning play produced a frantic few seconds — and a sea of humanity — in front of the Sandia goal.</p>
<p>As Hunte described it, teammate Emily Cubbage hit the ball with her head just after a Storm corner kick. The ball deflected off the crossbar and came back down to her feet. An alert Cubbage passed over to Hunte on her right, who had plenty of space from point-blank range.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“It felt like the longest moment of my life,” said Hunte, a junior. “I just had to compose myself and hit it in.”</p>
<p>And if the win itself didn’t silence the doubters, then maybe this might: Cleveland is playing this season minus arguably its best forward, UNM-bound Liz Hemminger, who has been watching games from a wheelchair as she recovers from an injury.</p>
<p>“I would welcome an opportunity at state (to face them again),” Sandia coach Vladi Stanojevic said.</p>
<p>His team was ranked in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas poll (No. 13) and in the ESPN Powerade Fab 50 (No. 15).</p>
<p>Sandia faces Class 5A’s No. 3 Volcano Vista on Saturday.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | It’s a Perfect Storm in 5A Girls Soccer | false | https://abqjournal.com/232776/its-a-perfect-storm-in-5a-girls-soccer.html | 2 |
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<p>“ … If one is truly nonviolent, that person has a loving spirit; he refuses to inflict injury upon the opponent because he, he loves the opponent,” the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. says in a newly discovered tape of an interview made nearly three years before his “I Have a Dream” speech. The tape was found in the attic of a home in Tennessee.</p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a>.</p>
<p>The Guardian:</p>
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<p /> | Tape of MLK Interview Turns Up in an Attic | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/tape-of-mlk-interview-turns-up-in-an-attic/ | 2012-08-24 | 4 |
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