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<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
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<p>This is also Bandelier's Centennial.</p>
<p>The stamp image copyrighted by the Postal Service is a 1935-36 pastel-on-paper depiction by Naumer (1907-90) of the adobe visitor center in Frijoles Canyon.</p>
<p>"We were very excited to hear that Bandelier had been included in this one-time issue of Forever Stamps, especially since it is our Centennial, as well as the Centennial of the whole National Park Service," Bandelier Superintendent Jason Lott said in a statement. "We're really looking forward to the release date in June and seeing mail being sent all over the country with stamps celebrating this really special place."</p>
<p>The June 2 first-day-of-issue ceremony for the national parks stamps will take place at New York City's Javits Center as part of World Stamp Show-NY 2016.</p>
<p>Dedication ceremonies also will take place at or near each of the National Parks depicted on the stamps.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Other national park Forever Stamps previewed so far include those for Acadia National Park, Arches National Park and Assateague Island National Seashore.</p>
<p>For more information on Bandelier's Centennial activities, check the park's website at <a href="http://www.nps.gov/band" type="external">www.nps.gov/band</a>&#160; or like the park's <a href="http://www.facebook.com/BandelierNPS" type="external">Facebook page</a> at www.facebook.com/BandelierNPS.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Bandelier National Monument now on a Forever Stamp | false | https://abqjournal.com/753012/new-bandelier-stamp-features-naumer-painting-of-visitor-center.html | 2least
| Bandelier National Monument now on a Forever Stamp
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>This is also Bandelier's Centennial.</p>
<p>The stamp image copyrighted by the Postal Service is a 1935-36 pastel-on-paper depiction by Naumer (1907-90) of the adobe visitor center in Frijoles Canyon.</p>
<p>"We were very excited to hear that Bandelier had been included in this one-time issue of Forever Stamps, especially since it is our Centennial, as well as the Centennial of the whole National Park Service," Bandelier Superintendent Jason Lott said in a statement. "We're really looking forward to the release date in June and seeing mail being sent all over the country with stamps celebrating this really special place."</p>
<p>The June 2 first-day-of-issue ceremony for the national parks stamps will take place at New York City's Javits Center as part of World Stamp Show-NY 2016.</p>
<p>Dedication ceremonies also will take place at or near each of the National Parks depicted on the stamps.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Other national park Forever Stamps previewed so far include those for Acadia National Park, Arches National Park and Assateague Island National Seashore.</p>
<p>For more information on Bandelier's Centennial activities, check the park's website at <a href="http://www.nps.gov/band" type="external">www.nps.gov/band</a>&#160; or like the park's <a href="http://www.facebook.com/BandelierNPS" type="external">Facebook page</a> at www.facebook.com/BandelierNPS.</p>
<p />
<p /> | 200 |
|
<p>Throughout the course of his campaign, Donald Trump campaigned as a populist, but it is clear that he is governing as a plutocrat. Not only does Trump believe that corporations are too heavily taxed, but he also believes that they are too heavily regulated. Not only does Trump oppose things such as environmental protections, he also apparently believes that corporations should be allowed to take bribes from foreign officials.</p>
<p>In a piece entitled Rex Tillerson&#160;at the Breaking Point,&#160;The New Yorker <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/16/rex-tillerson-at-the-breaking-point" type="external">recounted</a>an incident early on in Trump’s presidency where the president complained about laws forbidding U.S. companies from taking bribes. Trump argued that the law made U.S. businesses less competitive. Trump’s Secretary of State, and former ExxonMobil CEO, had a different point of view, arguing that accepting&#160;bribes would only weaken the standing of these companies.</p>
<p>‘Tillerson disagreed. When he was an executive with Exxon, he told Trump, he once met with senior officials in Yemen to discuss a deal. At the meeting, Yemen’s oil minister handed him his business card. On the back was written an account number at a Swiss bank. “Five million dollars,” the minister told him.</p>
<p>‘“I don’t do that,” Tillerson said. “Exxon doesn’t do that.” If the Yemenis wanted Exxon on the deal, he said, they’d have to play straight. A month later, the Yemenis assented. “Tillerson told Trump that America didn’t need to pay bribes—that we could bring the world up to our own standards,” a source with knowledge of the exchange told me.’</p>
<p>Prior to becoming president, Trump managed a large international business, so it is likely he has dealt with these laws before. It is more than a bit troubling that one of Trump’s biggest concerns while in the Oval Office is making it easier for corporations to take bribes.</p>
<p>The rest of the article details Tillerson’s history and discusses the recent tensions between himself and Trump. One of the most notable examples is the fact that Tillerson allegedly referred to Trump as a “moron.” Trump has, of course, denied this ever happened along with the rumors that Tillerson planned on resigning.</p>
<p />
<p>Featured image via <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/license/857516688" type="external">Getty Images.</a></p> | Trump Once Complained To Tillerson About Laws Restricting U.S. From Taking Bribes | true | http://bipartisanreport.com/2017/10/06/trump-once-complained-to-tillerson-about-laws-restricting-u-s-from-taking-bribes/ | 2017-10-06 | 4left
| Trump Once Complained To Tillerson About Laws Restricting U.S. From Taking Bribes
<p>Throughout the course of his campaign, Donald Trump campaigned as a populist, but it is clear that he is governing as a plutocrat. Not only does Trump believe that corporations are too heavily taxed, but he also believes that they are too heavily regulated. Not only does Trump oppose things such as environmental protections, he also apparently believes that corporations should be allowed to take bribes from foreign officials.</p>
<p>In a piece entitled Rex Tillerson&#160;at the Breaking Point,&#160;The New Yorker <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/16/rex-tillerson-at-the-breaking-point" type="external">recounted</a>an incident early on in Trump’s presidency where the president complained about laws forbidding U.S. companies from taking bribes. Trump argued that the law made U.S. businesses less competitive. Trump’s Secretary of State, and former ExxonMobil CEO, had a different point of view, arguing that accepting&#160;bribes would only weaken the standing of these companies.</p>
<p>‘Tillerson disagreed. When he was an executive with Exxon, he told Trump, he once met with senior officials in Yemen to discuss a deal. At the meeting, Yemen’s oil minister handed him his business card. On the back was written an account number at a Swiss bank. “Five million dollars,” the minister told him.</p>
<p>‘“I don’t do that,” Tillerson said. “Exxon doesn’t do that.” If the Yemenis wanted Exxon on the deal, he said, they’d have to play straight. A month later, the Yemenis assented. “Tillerson told Trump that America didn’t need to pay bribes—that we could bring the world up to our own standards,” a source with knowledge of the exchange told me.’</p>
<p>Prior to becoming president, Trump managed a large international business, so it is likely he has dealt with these laws before. It is more than a bit troubling that one of Trump’s biggest concerns while in the Oval Office is making it easier for corporations to take bribes.</p>
<p>The rest of the article details Tillerson’s history and discusses the recent tensions between himself and Trump. One of the most notable examples is the fact that Tillerson allegedly referred to Trump as a “moron.” Trump has, of course, denied this ever happened along with the rumors that Tillerson planned on resigning.</p>
<p />
<p>Featured image via <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/license/857516688" type="external">Getty Images.</a></p> | 201 |
<p>Sept. 8 (UPI) — A Phoenix homeowner whose yard showed signs of animal activity checked security camera footage and identified the culprits — a pack of wild pigs.</p>
<p>The CCTV footage from Sept. 1 shows the eight peccaries, also known as skunk pigs, sniffing around their front garden late at night.</p>
<p>The homeowner said the pigs only “chomped a couple of plants.”</p>
<p>The animals did not seen perturbed by the presence of a dog that approached to watch the pigs as they toured the garden.</p> | Wild pigs descend on Phoenix garden late at night | false | https://newsline.com/wild-pigs-descend-on-phoenix-garden-late-at-night/ | 2017-09-08 | 1right-center
| Wild pigs descend on Phoenix garden late at night
<p>Sept. 8 (UPI) — A Phoenix homeowner whose yard showed signs of animal activity checked security camera footage and identified the culprits — a pack of wild pigs.</p>
<p>The CCTV footage from Sept. 1 shows the eight peccaries, also known as skunk pigs, sniffing around their front garden late at night.</p>
<p>The homeowner said the pigs only “chomped a couple of plants.”</p>
<p>The animals did not seen perturbed by the presence of a dog that approached to watch the pigs as they toured the garden.</p> | 202 |
<p>It’s hard to make anyone cover up in Miami Beach, even with the threat of Zika. But Monica Neumann is trying.</p>
<p>“This is actually the first time that I’ve gone out in short sleeves and shorts in a while,” Neumann, 34, says, looking down at her shorts as she walks her dog on a muggy day at the open-air Lincoln Road Mall. “But I’m always wearing bug spray no matter where I’m going, pretty much.”</p>
<p>Florida’s health department reported two more local Zika cases in Miami Beach Wednesday. So far, 158 people have been infected with Zika in Florida, and another 721 travelers from other Zika-affected places have shown up with the infection.</p>
<p>Doctors are keeping tabs on 141 pregnant women in Florida infected with Zika. If their babies become infected in the womb, they risk a range of birth defects from brain damage to vision problems and joint deformities.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="" type="internal">Full NBC News Coverage of Zika</a></p>
<p>Zika has spread explosively across parts of Latin America and the Caribbean and Miami was a natural place for it to take at least temporary hold, with so many travelers coming and going. Much of Florida is home year-round to the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that spread Zika. The virus can also spread sexually.</p>
<p>Neumann knew that Zika-infected mosquitoes had been trapped nearby. Even before that, she and her husband had been taking precautions</p>
<p>“We made efforts to go to more indoor places. We loaded up on bug spray,” she said.</p>
<p>“It sucks. But it’s better than contracting Zika,” she added. “My husband and I, we’re wanting to start a family soon so it’s what we have to do.”</p>
<p>Others strolling in the popular shopping area were less concerned.</p>
<p>“I’ve only heard a little about it… but honestly I wasn’t that concerned about it coming here,” said Jairah Miguel of Vancouver. Her cousin, Delianne Narvaez of Las Vegas, said she researched Zika virus before booking the vacation and decided it wouldn’t be an issue.</p>
<p>“I don’t think I’m going to plan on having kids any time soon,” said Narvaez, who is 24.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="" type="internal">Miami's Zika Search Turns Up Dengue, Too</a></p>
<p>Ernest Williams said he worried about Zika virus when he first arrived from California three months ago.</p>
<p>But the 28-year-old has gotten into the habit of wearing repellent. “I still leave my skin exposed. I just wear a lot of Off,” Williams said.</p>
<p>It’s worked – he says he is getting bitten less often.</p>
<p>“I don’t think a scare is going to scare people away from South Beach,” he said.</p>
<p>Some Miami beach residents <a href="" type="internal">protested against the use of sprayed pesticides</a> to control the mosquitoes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says they’re the best way to control the disease-spreading insects, and says spraying brought <a href="" type="internal">an outbreak in the nearby Wynwood neighborhood</a> under control.</p>
<p>Mindy Acosta-Leon, 51, of Kendall, Fla., said people should protect themselves, as well.</p>
<p>“It does worry me, I just think the public has to be informed so we can take precautions,” she said. “I do think that the more we know, the more we’ll take precautions.”</p> | Bug Spray and Bravado Keep Miami Beach Bustling Despite Zika | false | http://nbcnews.com/storyline/zika-virus-outbreak/bug-spray-bravado-keep-miami-beach-bustling-despite-zika-n660576 | 2016-10-06 | 3left-center
| Bug Spray and Bravado Keep Miami Beach Bustling Despite Zika
<p>It’s hard to make anyone cover up in Miami Beach, even with the threat of Zika. But Monica Neumann is trying.</p>
<p>“This is actually the first time that I’ve gone out in short sleeves and shorts in a while,” Neumann, 34, says, looking down at her shorts as she walks her dog on a muggy day at the open-air Lincoln Road Mall. “But I’m always wearing bug spray no matter where I’m going, pretty much.”</p>
<p>Florida’s health department reported two more local Zika cases in Miami Beach Wednesday. So far, 158 people have been infected with Zika in Florida, and another 721 travelers from other Zika-affected places have shown up with the infection.</p>
<p>Doctors are keeping tabs on 141 pregnant women in Florida infected with Zika. If their babies become infected in the womb, they risk a range of birth defects from brain damage to vision problems and joint deformities.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="" type="internal">Full NBC News Coverage of Zika</a></p>
<p>Zika has spread explosively across parts of Latin America and the Caribbean and Miami was a natural place for it to take at least temporary hold, with so many travelers coming and going. Much of Florida is home year-round to the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that spread Zika. The virus can also spread sexually.</p>
<p>Neumann knew that Zika-infected mosquitoes had been trapped nearby. Even before that, she and her husband had been taking precautions</p>
<p>“We made efforts to go to more indoor places. We loaded up on bug spray,” she said.</p>
<p>“It sucks. But it’s better than contracting Zika,” she added. “My husband and I, we’re wanting to start a family soon so it’s what we have to do.”</p>
<p>Others strolling in the popular shopping area were less concerned.</p>
<p>“I’ve only heard a little about it… but honestly I wasn’t that concerned about it coming here,” said Jairah Miguel of Vancouver. Her cousin, Delianne Narvaez of Las Vegas, said she researched Zika virus before booking the vacation and decided it wouldn’t be an issue.</p>
<p>“I don’t think I’m going to plan on having kids any time soon,” said Narvaez, who is 24.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="" type="internal">Miami's Zika Search Turns Up Dengue, Too</a></p>
<p>Ernest Williams said he worried about Zika virus when he first arrived from California three months ago.</p>
<p>But the 28-year-old has gotten into the habit of wearing repellent. “I still leave my skin exposed. I just wear a lot of Off,” Williams said.</p>
<p>It’s worked – he says he is getting bitten less often.</p>
<p>“I don’t think a scare is going to scare people away from South Beach,” he said.</p>
<p>Some Miami beach residents <a href="" type="internal">protested against the use of sprayed pesticides</a> to control the mosquitoes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says they’re the best way to control the disease-spreading insects, and says spraying brought <a href="" type="internal">an outbreak in the nearby Wynwood neighborhood</a> under control.</p>
<p>Mindy Acosta-Leon, 51, of Kendall, Fla., said people should protect themselves, as well.</p>
<p>“It does worry me, I just think the public has to be informed so we can take precautions,” she said. “I do think that the more we know, the more we’ll take precautions.”</p> | 203 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Patrick Henningsen <a href="http://wp.me/p3bwni-5UR" type="external">21st Century Wire</a></p>
<p>Cults and technocracies go together it seems, like peanuts and beer.</p>
<p>No matter what is happening in the real world, zealots and mandarins still carry on, filing their green reports, making incredible claims – in a fit of religious intoxication, in a never-ending compulsive melodrama.&#160;It would be a funny thing, if it weren’t so darn expensive.&#160;</p>
<p>In the United States, a ‘polar vortex’ has swooped into the Midwest, bringing with it a record freeze. It’s a deadly freeze too, and stark reminder of how low temperatures – not ‘warming’, poses the greatest threat to human survival in the Northern hemisphere.</p>
<p>Still, this reality remains lost on the legions of faithful climate cult followers still clinging to pastor Al Gore’s (image, left) religion of global warming. and the UN’s attempt to implement its climate technocracy, coloured by more&#160; <a href="http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/09/28/al-gores-drowning-polar-bear-source-reprimanded/" type="external">wild tales of drowning polar bears</a>.</p>
<p>This year’s freeze is no laughing matter. Millions of Americans have been forced into virtual hibernation as a result of the latest arctic wave, which is now pushing its way from Midwest states like Minnesota, down to the south and over to the east coast. It is so cold that skin exposure to sub-zero elements can result in instant frostbite. In&#160;Minneapolis, low temperatures are predicted to reach minus-24 F, with a wind chill factor of minus-50.</p>
<p>While Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport has seen some 1,200 flights canceled as of Monday,&#160;New York’s Kennedy International Airport saw one if its arrivals&#160;on Sunday slide into snow as it turned from an icy runway to taxi. Other incidents have been reported around the country.</p>
<p>This is not the first record-breaking cold snap in recent years. North America hit&#160; <a href="http://www.adn.com/2012/04/21/2434962/record-breaking-winter-is-keeping.html" type="external">record lows in 2012</a>&#160;along with&#160; <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igefo63VvzI" type="external">record snow falls</a>, and&#160; <a href="http://www.crh.noaa.gov/eax/?n=20110201blizzsno" type="external">record blizzards and ice storms in 2011</a>&#160;. Before that,&#160; <a href="" type="internal">2010 saw record low freezes</a>&#160;as well.&#160;In fact, according to the UN own data, the planet has been in a global cooling cycle for the last 16 years.</p>
<p>And no kidding,&#160; <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12/13/snow-egypt-middle-east_n_4438571.html" type="external">it’s snowing in Egypt</a>. <a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal" />Cold Snap: Gore’s Odyssey continues (PHOTO: Patrick Henningsen)</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2013/05/26/to-the-horror-of-global-warming-alarmists-global-cooling-is-here/" type="external">one report from earlier this year</a>, “The world added roughly 100 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere between 2000 and 2010. That is about a quarter of all CO2 put there by humanity since 1750. Yet, still no warming during that time. That is because the CO2 ‘greenhouse effect’ is weak and marginal compared to natural cause of global temperature changes.”</p>
<p>What about the melting polar ice caps? Well,&#160;US space agency NASA has just announced that sea ice around Antarctica (South Pole) has surpassed ​​19.47 million square meters as of September – the highest since measurements began in 1979.</p>
<p>How about the North Pole? Despite it’s earlier attempts to hide this news, the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2415191/And-global-COOLING-Return-Arctic-ice-cap-grows-29-year.html" type="external">UN’s own reports have had to admit</a> how a&#160;chilly Arctic summer has left 533,000 more square miles of ocean covered with ice than last winter – an increase of 29 per cent.</p>
<p>It should go down in history as the greatest scientific hoax of our times. Gore said many times that, “the science is settled”, but the reality was that <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100017393/climategate-the-final-nail-in-the-coffin-of-anthropogenic-global-warming/" type="external">there was never any science</a> to popular global warming theory.</p>
<p>As the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2415191/And-global-COOLING-Return-Arctic-ice-cap-grows-29-year.html" type="external">UK Mail</a> rightly points out, “The rebound from 2012’s record low comes six years after the BBC reported that global warming would leave the Arctic ice-free in summer by 2013.” Of course, that 2007 BBC’s report relied on one of those ‘green expert’&#160;scientists, Professor Wieslaw Maslowski, who based his conjecture on super-computer models and the fact that ‘we use a high-resolution regional model for the Arctic Ocean and sea ice’. Yes, another computer-generated reality.</p>
<p>So where does this leave the global warming zealots who are still insisting that Al Gore and the UN’s IPCC hacks’ prophecy of CO2 doom is real?</p>
<p>At some point, even the most faithful cult followers will have to admit they’ve been sold a pup.&#160;The computer-modeled, academic concept man-made CO2-induced global warming, or rather, as it has been rebranded for more flexibility, as “climate change”, was simply a creation of high-flying think tanks, egged on by bureaucrats and green opportunists who saw new careers and easy billions that could be conjured out of thin air.</p>
<p>The concept of global warming as a tool of economic and social engineering emerged into mainstream policy in 1991, by way of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_of_Rome" type="external">The Club of Rome</a> ‘think tank’. In their own words:</p>
<p>“In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill… All these dangers are caused by human intervention… and thus the “real enemy, then, is humanity itself… believe humanity requires a common motivation, namely a common adversary in order to realize world government. It does not matter if this common enemy is “a real one or… one invented for the purpose.”</p>
<p>Here was a neatly packaged ideology ready just in time for the UN’s 1992 Earth Summit in&#160;Rio de Janeiro.</p>
<p>People should consider the ridiculousness – and complete waste of state money and resources, of still maintaining whole government departments of Climate Change, staffed by ‘Climate Bosses’, working to implement more ‘Climate Policy’ and ‘Climate Legislation’. This incredible charade is costing us billions, if not trillions.</p>
<p>Sure, it’s beyond a joke when you look at it all through the lense of reality, but it’s important to understand the context in which this climate drive was put in motion. Aside from the failed <a href="" type="internal">Carbon Trading markets</a>, it was a well-placed distraction at a specific place in time especially in the United States, Australia and Great Britain. Look at the timing of the climate movement which went mainstream in 2003-2005.&#160;By tying up millions of ‘green’ activists and controlled opposition organisations like Greenpeace, all three of those governments were able to aid industry in making substantial headway in the&#160;hydraulic fracturing shale gas, or ‘Fracking’ industry – in a quiet takeover of large areas of rural land and with little or no public resistance. By the time activists copped on, plans were already too far down the road and all the relevant civil servants, politicians and journalists were already bought and paid for. City fat cats and multinational energy consortiums have been laughing ever since.</p>
<p>No Greenpeace ships circling Japan over the Fukushima disaster either. Funny that.</p>
<p>If you want to gauge the disfunctionality and insanity of the Climate Cult, just take at look at how climate&#160; <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/8210739/The-climate-bugaboo-is-the-strangest-intellectual-aberration-of-our-age.html" type="external">zealots are now claiming</a>&#160;how, “global cooling is expected because of global warming”.</p>
<p>Humanity is no stranger to mythology. Climate Change is simply the latest mythology for this current epoch, and the elites who control the mythology have always profited and consolidated their power and social control through it.</p>
<p>In the 21st century, you might have thought modern man would surely have advanced past this handicap, but alas… old habits die hard.</p>
<p>READ MORE CLIMATE NEWS AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire Climate Change Files</a></p> | Gore’s Odyssey: Another record-breaking freeze, still cult followers cling to climate mythology | true | http://21stcenturywire.com/2014/01/07/gores-odyssey-another-record-breaking-freeze-still-cult-followers-cling-to-their-climate-mythology/ | 2014-01-07 | 4left
| Gore’s Odyssey: Another record-breaking freeze, still cult followers cling to climate mythology
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Patrick Henningsen <a href="http://wp.me/p3bwni-5UR" type="external">21st Century Wire</a></p>
<p>Cults and technocracies go together it seems, like peanuts and beer.</p>
<p>No matter what is happening in the real world, zealots and mandarins still carry on, filing their green reports, making incredible claims – in a fit of religious intoxication, in a never-ending compulsive melodrama.&#160;It would be a funny thing, if it weren’t so darn expensive.&#160;</p>
<p>In the United States, a ‘polar vortex’ has swooped into the Midwest, bringing with it a record freeze. It’s a deadly freeze too, and stark reminder of how low temperatures – not ‘warming’, poses the greatest threat to human survival in the Northern hemisphere.</p>
<p>Still, this reality remains lost on the legions of faithful climate cult followers still clinging to pastor Al Gore’s (image, left) religion of global warming. and the UN’s attempt to implement its climate technocracy, coloured by more&#160; <a href="http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/09/28/al-gores-drowning-polar-bear-source-reprimanded/" type="external">wild tales of drowning polar bears</a>.</p>
<p>This year’s freeze is no laughing matter. Millions of Americans have been forced into virtual hibernation as a result of the latest arctic wave, which is now pushing its way from Midwest states like Minnesota, down to the south and over to the east coast. It is so cold that skin exposure to sub-zero elements can result in instant frostbite. In&#160;Minneapolis, low temperatures are predicted to reach minus-24 F, with a wind chill factor of minus-50.</p>
<p>While Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport has seen some 1,200 flights canceled as of Monday,&#160;New York’s Kennedy International Airport saw one if its arrivals&#160;on Sunday slide into snow as it turned from an icy runway to taxi. Other incidents have been reported around the country.</p>
<p>This is not the first record-breaking cold snap in recent years. North America hit&#160; <a href="http://www.adn.com/2012/04/21/2434962/record-breaking-winter-is-keeping.html" type="external">record lows in 2012</a>&#160;along with&#160; <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igefo63VvzI" type="external">record snow falls</a>, and&#160; <a href="http://www.crh.noaa.gov/eax/?n=20110201blizzsno" type="external">record blizzards and ice storms in 2011</a>&#160;. Before that,&#160; <a href="" type="internal">2010 saw record low freezes</a>&#160;as well.&#160;In fact, according to the UN own data, the planet has been in a global cooling cycle for the last 16 years.</p>
<p>And no kidding,&#160; <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12/13/snow-egypt-middle-east_n_4438571.html" type="external">it’s snowing in Egypt</a>. <a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal" />Cold Snap: Gore’s Odyssey continues (PHOTO: Patrick Henningsen)</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2013/05/26/to-the-horror-of-global-warming-alarmists-global-cooling-is-here/" type="external">one report from earlier this year</a>, “The world added roughly 100 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere between 2000 and 2010. That is about a quarter of all CO2 put there by humanity since 1750. Yet, still no warming during that time. That is because the CO2 ‘greenhouse effect’ is weak and marginal compared to natural cause of global temperature changes.”</p>
<p>What about the melting polar ice caps? Well,&#160;US space agency NASA has just announced that sea ice around Antarctica (South Pole) has surpassed ​​19.47 million square meters as of September – the highest since measurements began in 1979.</p>
<p>How about the North Pole? Despite it’s earlier attempts to hide this news, the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2415191/And-global-COOLING-Return-Arctic-ice-cap-grows-29-year.html" type="external">UN’s own reports have had to admit</a> how a&#160;chilly Arctic summer has left 533,000 more square miles of ocean covered with ice than last winter – an increase of 29 per cent.</p>
<p>It should go down in history as the greatest scientific hoax of our times. Gore said many times that, “the science is settled”, but the reality was that <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100017393/climategate-the-final-nail-in-the-coffin-of-anthropogenic-global-warming/" type="external">there was never any science</a> to popular global warming theory.</p>
<p>As the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2415191/And-global-COOLING-Return-Arctic-ice-cap-grows-29-year.html" type="external">UK Mail</a> rightly points out, “The rebound from 2012’s record low comes six years after the BBC reported that global warming would leave the Arctic ice-free in summer by 2013.” Of course, that 2007 BBC’s report relied on one of those ‘green expert’&#160;scientists, Professor Wieslaw Maslowski, who based his conjecture on super-computer models and the fact that ‘we use a high-resolution regional model for the Arctic Ocean and sea ice’. Yes, another computer-generated reality.</p>
<p>So where does this leave the global warming zealots who are still insisting that Al Gore and the UN’s IPCC hacks’ prophecy of CO2 doom is real?</p>
<p>At some point, even the most faithful cult followers will have to admit they’ve been sold a pup.&#160;The computer-modeled, academic concept man-made CO2-induced global warming, or rather, as it has been rebranded for more flexibility, as “climate change”, was simply a creation of high-flying think tanks, egged on by bureaucrats and green opportunists who saw new careers and easy billions that could be conjured out of thin air.</p>
<p>The concept of global warming as a tool of economic and social engineering emerged into mainstream policy in 1991, by way of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_of_Rome" type="external">The Club of Rome</a> ‘think tank’. In their own words:</p>
<p>“In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill… All these dangers are caused by human intervention… and thus the “real enemy, then, is humanity itself… believe humanity requires a common motivation, namely a common adversary in order to realize world government. It does not matter if this common enemy is “a real one or… one invented for the purpose.”</p>
<p>Here was a neatly packaged ideology ready just in time for the UN’s 1992 Earth Summit in&#160;Rio de Janeiro.</p>
<p>People should consider the ridiculousness – and complete waste of state money and resources, of still maintaining whole government departments of Climate Change, staffed by ‘Climate Bosses’, working to implement more ‘Climate Policy’ and ‘Climate Legislation’. This incredible charade is costing us billions, if not trillions.</p>
<p>Sure, it’s beyond a joke when you look at it all through the lense of reality, but it’s important to understand the context in which this climate drive was put in motion. Aside from the failed <a href="" type="internal">Carbon Trading markets</a>, it was a well-placed distraction at a specific place in time especially in the United States, Australia and Great Britain. Look at the timing of the climate movement which went mainstream in 2003-2005.&#160;By tying up millions of ‘green’ activists and controlled opposition organisations like Greenpeace, all three of those governments were able to aid industry in making substantial headway in the&#160;hydraulic fracturing shale gas, or ‘Fracking’ industry – in a quiet takeover of large areas of rural land and with little or no public resistance. By the time activists copped on, plans were already too far down the road and all the relevant civil servants, politicians and journalists were already bought and paid for. City fat cats and multinational energy consortiums have been laughing ever since.</p>
<p>No Greenpeace ships circling Japan over the Fukushima disaster either. Funny that.</p>
<p>If you want to gauge the disfunctionality and insanity of the Climate Cult, just take at look at how climate&#160; <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/8210739/The-climate-bugaboo-is-the-strangest-intellectual-aberration-of-our-age.html" type="external">zealots are now claiming</a>&#160;how, “global cooling is expected because of global warming”.</p>
<p>Humanity is no stranger to mythology. Climate Change is simply the latest mythology for this current epoch, and the elites who control the mythology have always profited and consolidated their power and social control through it.</p>
<p>In the 21st century, you might have thought modern man would surely have advanced past this handicap, but alas… old habits die hard.</p>
<p>READ MORE CLIMATE NEWS AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire Climate Change Files</a></p> | 204 |
<p />
<p>By now, most of us have heard about how oil and gas drilling does a number on ecosystems. But it’s no good for people, either. By way of the British Columbia online magazine the <a href="http://thetyee.ca/News/2008/03/24/Oil/" type="external">Tyee</a> comes the story of Nuiqsut, a coastal community of 523 people in northern Alaska, about 100 miles west of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.</p>
<p>Back in the late ’90s, the oil and gas companies wooed the local Inupiat tribe with promises of jobs and minimal environmental impact—just 14 acres of tribal land would be affected by offshore and land drilling, they said. But now, 14 looks more like 500, and the community is a whole lot worse for the wear, says Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, mayor of Nuiqsut and also a health-care worker:</p>
<p>Since 1986, when she first started working in the health field, the number of people needing medical help to breathe has risen dramatically.</p>
<p>Nuiqsut is 15 metres above sea level on the tundra, and Ahtuangaruak says she can see the natural gas flares from the clinic. The nights when they light up the sky are the same nights she, and other medical staff, can’t leave the clinic for helping people with inhalers, nebulizers, steroids and antibiotics.</p>
<p>The chemicals used in oil and gas extraction, it seems, can irritate the lungs and cause <a href="http://www.earthworksaction.org/Chemicalsandhealth.cfm" type="external">a bunch of other nasty health problems, too.</a></p>
<p>The other thing about drilling: It’s really noisy. Booms as loud as a jet takeoff have scared Nuiqsut’s whales and caribou off, so along with their health, local people are losing their livelihood.</p>
<p>The Canadian government is currently trying to ignore an offshore-drilling moratorium enacted 34 years ago. What can coastal communities expect if officials succeed in wishing away the moratorium? Nuiqsut’s hard times are probably a pretty good indication.</p>
<p /> | Drilling Making Alaskans Sick | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/03/drilling-making-alaskans-sick/ | 2008-03-24 | 4left
| Drilling Making Alaskans Sick
<p />
<p>By now, most of us have heard about how oil and gas drilling does a number on ecosystems. But it’s no good for people, either. By way of the British Columbia online magazine the <a href="http://thetyee.ca/News/2008/03/24/Oil/" type="external">Tyee</a> comes the story of Nuiqsut, a coastal community of 523 people in northern Alaska, about 100 miles west of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.</p>
<p>Back in the late ’90s, the oil and gas companies wooed the local Inupiat tribe with promises of jobs and minimal environmental impact—just 14 acres of tribal land would be affected by offshore and land drilling, they said. But now, 14 looks more like 500, and the community is a whole lot worse for the wear, says Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, mayor of Nuiqsut and also a health-care worker:</p>
<p>Since 1986, when she first started working in the health field, the number of people needing medical help to breathe has risen dramatically.</p>
<p>Nuiqsut is 15 metres above sea level on the tundra, and Ahtuangaruak says she can see the natural gas flares from the clinic. The nights when they light up the sky are the same nights she, and other medical staff, can’t leave the clinic for helping people with inhalers, nebulizers, steroids and antibiotics.</p>
<p>The chemicals used in oil and gas extraction, it seems, can irritate the lungs and cause <a href="http://www.earthworksaction.org/Chemicalsandhealth.cfm" type="external">a bunch of other nasty health problems, too.</a></p>
<p>The other thing about drilling: It’s really noisy. Booms as loud as a jet takeoff have scared Nuiqsut’s whales and caribou off, so along with their health, local people are losing their livelihood.</p>
<p>The Canadian government is currently trying to ignore an offshore-drilling moratorium enacted 34 years ago. What can coastal communities expect if officials succeed in wishing away the moratorium? Nuiqsut’s hard times are probably a pretty good indication.</p>
<p /> | 205 |
<p />
<p>After rising through Wednesday, stocks retreated in the final two trading days of the week, with theDow Jones Industrial Averagemanaging a meager 0.33% gain. TheS&amp;P 500 closed the week 0.15% lower.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/indices/%5ESPX" type="external">^SPX</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The driving force behind the late-week decline seemed to be investor anxiety surrounding a vote that could see the U.K. leave the European Union, combined with a drop in oil prices. These two headlines were enough to send the global markets into a small sell-off Friday. Here are a few stocks making major moves or headlines this week.</p>
<p>Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc.'s investors were hit hard as the stock got pummeled this week, declining more than 20% after it posted another disappointing earnings report. While the first quarter is seasonally slow for the company, its surprise loss of $0.05 per share fell short of analysts' expectations of $0.05 per-share profit. Worse yet, it was a large decline when compared to last year's first-quarter result of $0.23 per share.</p>
<p>In addition to earnings checking in lower than expected, revenue increased 8%, with comparable sales moving 4% higher. This generally would be a silver lining for investors, but the expectations for those metrics were higher, as well. Management was quick to point to headwinds caused by the negative impact of energy and currency on the markets, but also internal issues with supply-chain problems.</p>
<p>All in all, the disappointing quarter led management to reduce its full-year EPS guidance by $0.90 to $1.00, down to a full-year total EPS of between $1.60 and $1.80. This is below analysts' estimates of $2.66.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Restoration Hardware's stock price has dropped 66% in 2016 alone, and value investors looking to swoop in should weigh the risks and rewards. The company has major strategies hanging in the wind, such as launching RH Modern, and moving from a promotional to a membership-selling model using the RH Grey Card.</p>
<p>On the flip side, investors inLDR Holding Corp. are having a fantastic week after the medical-device company, which focuses on treatment of spinal disorders, announced that it's being acquired by Zimmer Biomet Holdings .Looking at the details, Zimmer Biomet put a $1 billion offer on the table to acquire LDR in an all-cash deal. That offer values the shares at $37 each, which was a hefty premium to the stock's closing price on Monday -- hence, the 67% jump for the week.</p>
<p>"This highly strategic and complementary transaction will enhance Zimmer Biomet's innovation leadership in musculoskeletal healthcare by adding a premier spine platform to our portfolio of solutions," said Zimmer Biomet CEO David Dvorak, in a press release.</p>
<p>The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2016, and Zimmer Biomet expects the acquisition to accelerate the future growth of its total business. Management will update its revenue guidance to reflect the acquisition when the deal closes. While the revenue will be adjusted, investors should temper expectations for incremental earnings per share from the deal -- at least for this year -- as it's expected to be neutral to the bottom line this year, and accretive to EPS in 2017 and thereafter.</p>
<p>Lastly, making headlines late in the trading week was Tesla Motors , and not for good reasons.The Daily Kanban <a href="http://dailykanban.com/2016/06/tesla-suspension-breakage-not-crime-coverup/" type="external">broke the news Opens a New Window.</a>, and reported that, in three instances, Tesla owners were at least asked by Tesla to sign "goodwill agreements," often in return for covering out-of-warranty repair costs on some vehicles. The Daily Kanban's post notes that reports <a href="https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/suspension-problem-on-model-s.69204/" type="external">on forums Opens a New Window.</a> have circulated for months about a potential defect in Tesla's suspension, which may cause the suspension control arms to break.</p>
<p>Tesla's Model S. Image source: Tesla Motors.</p>
<p>"The agency immediately informed Tesla that any language implying that consumers should not contact the agency regarding safety concerns is unacceptable, and NHTSA expects Tesla to eliminate any such language," said NHTSA spokesman Bryan Thomas, according to Automotive News.Tesla <a href="https://www.teslamotors.com/blog/grain-of-salt" type="external">responded late Opens a New Window.</a> Thursday, giving its side of the situation.</p>
<p>"There is no safety defect with the suspensions in either the Model S or Model X," the company said in a blog post. "On rare occasions when repairs are discounted or conducted for free, customers are asked to sign a "goodwill agreement," Tesla's response continued. "The basic point is to ensure that Tesla doesn't do a good deed, only to have that used against us in court for further gain."</p>
<p>On one hand, an agreement such as this is uncommon in the automotive industry, and rumors of a potential cover-up have fired up across the Internet -- which should initially be taken with a grain of salt in these situations. On the other hand, if there have been injuries or deaths due to the suspension issues, this is a development Tesla investors will want to watch, because it could have serious brand-image and financial impacts.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/10/what-investors-missed-in-the-stock-market-this-wee.aspx" type="external">What Investors Missed in the Stock Market This Week 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> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla Motors. The Motley Fool recommends Restoration Hardware. 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> | What Investors Missed in the Stock Market This Week | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/05/27/what-investors-missed-in-stock-market-this-week.html | 2016-06-11 | 0right
| What Investors Missed in the Stock Market This Week
<p />
<p>After rising through Wednesday, stocks retreated in the final two trading days of the week, with theDow Jones Industrial Averagemanaging a meager 0.33% gain. TheS&amp;P 500 closed the week 0.15% lower.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/indices/%5ESPX" type="external">^SPX</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The driving force behind the late-week decline seemed to be investor anxiety surrounding a vote that could see the U.K. leave the European Union, combined with a drop in oil prices. These two headlines were enough to send the global markets into a small sell-off Friday. Here are a few stocks making major moves or headlines this week.</p>
<p>Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc.'s investors were hit hard as the stock got pummeled this week, declining more than 20% after it posted another disappointing earnings report. While the first quarter is seasonally slow for the company, its surprise loss of $0.05 per share fell short of analysts' expectations of $0.05 per-share profit. Worse yet, it was a large decline when compared to last year's first-quarter result of $0.23 per share.</p>
<p>In addition to earnings checking in lower than expected, revenue increased 8%, with comparable sales moving 4% higher. This generally would be a silver lining for investors, but the expectations for those metrics were higher, as well. Management was quick to point to headwinds caused by the negative impact of energy and currency on the markets, but also internal issues with supply-chain problems.</p>
<p>All in all, the disappointing quarter led management to reduce its full-year EPS guidance by $0.90 to $1.00, down to a full-year total EPS of between $1.60 and $1.80. This is below analysts' estimates of $2.66.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Restoration Hardware's stock price has dropped 66% in 2016 alone, and value investors looking to swoop in should weigh the risks and rewards. The company has major strategies hanging in the wind, such as launching RH Modern, and moving from a promotional to a membership-selling model using the RH Grey Card.</p>
<p>On the flip side, investors inLDR Holding Corp. are having a fantastic week after the medical-device company, which focuses on treatment of spinal disorders, announced that it's being acquired by Zimmer Biomet Holdings .Looking at the details, Zimmer Biomet put a $1 billion offer on the table to acquire LDR in an all-cash deal. That offer values the shares at $37 each, which was a hefty premium to the stock's closing price on Monday -- hence, the 67% jump for the week.</p>
<p>"This highly strategic and complementary transaction will enhance Zimmer Biomet's innovation leadership in musculoskeletal healthcare by adding a premier spine platform to our portfolio of solutions," said Zimmer Biomet CEO David Dvorak, in a press release.</p>
<p>The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2016, and Zimmer Biomet expects the acquisition to accelerate the future growth of its total business. Management will update its revenue guidance to reflect the acquisition when the deal closes. While the revenue will be adjusted, investors should temper expectations for incremental earnings per share from the deal -- at least for this year -- as it's expected to be neutral to the bottom line this year, and accretive to EPS in 2017 and thereafter.</p>
<p>Lastly, making headlines late in the trading week was Tesla Motors , and not for good reasons.The Daily Kanban <a href="http://dailykanban.com/2016/06/tesla-suspension-breakage-not-crime-coverup/" type="external">broke the news Opens a New Window.</a>, and reported that, in three instances, Tesla owners were at least asked by Tesla to sign "goodwill agreements," often in return for covering out-of-warranty repair costs on some vehicles. The Daily Kanban's post notes that reports <a href="https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/suspension-problem-on-model-s.69204/" type="external">on forums Opens a New Window.</a> have circulated for months about a potential defect in Tesla's suspension, which may cause the suspension control arms to break.</p>
<p>Tesla's Model S. Image source: Tesla Motors.</p>
<p>"The agency immediately informed Tesla that any language implying that consumers should not contact the agency regarding safety concerns is unacceptable, and NHTSA expects Tesla to eliminate any such language," said NHTSA spokesman Bryan Thomas, according to Automotive News.Tesla <a href="https://www.teslamotors.com/blog/grain-of-salt" type="external">responded late Opens a New Window.</a> Thursday, giving its side of the situation.</p>
<p>"There is no safety defect with the suspensions in either the Model S or Model X," the company said in a blog post. "On rare occasions when repairs are discounted or conducted for free, customers are asked to sign a "goodwill agreement," Tesla's response continued. "The basic point is to ensure that Tesla doesn't do a good deed, only to have that used against us in court for further gain."</p>
<p>On one hand, an agreement such as this is uncommon in the automotive industry, and rumors of a potential cover-up have fired up across the Internet -- which should initially be taken with a grain of salt in these situations. On the other hand, if there have been injuries or deaths due to the suspension issues, this is a development Tesla investors will want to watch, because it could have serious brand-image and financial impacts.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/10/what-investors-missed-in-the-stock-market-this-wee.aspx" type="external">What Investors Missed in the Stock Market This Week 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> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla Motors. The Motley Fool recommends Restoration Hardware. 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> | 206 |
<p />
<p><a href="https://www.recruiter.com/employee-performance.html" type="external">Performance Opens a New Window.</a> reviews shouldn't&#160;just be annual meetings – they&#160;should be opportunities for development and coaching.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Shockingly, only&#160; <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/danpontefract/2015/03/31/only-55-percent-of-employees-feel-as-though-performance-management-appraisals-are-effective/#5d1a100e3bb2" type="external">52 percent of companies Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;conduct annual performance reviews. However, there are many approaches a company can take when delivering employee feedback. One&#160;growing option is&#160;360-degree feedback.</p>
<p>When you first hear the term " <a href="http://engagiant.com/blog/the-importance-of-continuous-feedback-in-change-management/" type="external">360-degree feedback Opens a New Window.</a>," you may feel&#160;overwhelmed. It can be a lot of information to handle, and it may sound complicated. Getting your employees used to a 360-degree review process may also take a little effort, but it will ultimately be worth it.</p>
<p>Here are the basics when it comes to&#160;360-degree feedback success:</p>
<p>Understanding 360-Degree Feedback</p>
<p>When it comes down to it, 360-degree feedback is exactly what it sounds like – feedback from around the circle. It is a system or process in which an employee&#160;receives feedback from multiple sources. These sources are typically colleagues, direct reports, and managers. A&#160;360-degree review will often also include some form of self-evaluation. The goal of this process is to allow the entire team to help each other develop skills and address any potential weaknesses.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>There are multiple&#160;benefits when transitioning to a 360-degree feedback system,&#160;including the following:</p>
<p>1. Open Channels Of Communication</p>
<p>Adopting the 360-degree feedback system allows employees in the company to comment on each other's work. This fosters a communication-rich environment in which it is easy to address and resolve problems.</p>
<p>The overall communication process is improved, and issues that could potentially cause problems are often solved before they cause any damage. Effective communication makes an organization&#160; <a href="http://www.roomtoescape.com/blog/12-statistics-that-show-the-importance-of-effective-corporate-team-building" type="external">4.5 times more likely Opens a New Window.</a> to retain its&#160;best employees.</p>
<p>2. Better Feedback From Multiple Sources</p>
<p>Receiving feedback from peers, supervisors, and oneself allows for a more well-rounded and substantial review compared to a process that relies on feedback from just one individual. Employees are able to receive feedback more frequently, and peer feedback is just as beneficial as feedback received from superiors. In fact,&#160; <a href="http://www.trakstar.com/blog-post/7-facts-you-need-to-know-before-giving-employee-feedback/" type="external">88 percent of employees who receive peer feedback are happier with their jobs Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>A 360-degree&#160;review also allows trends and patterns to become clear. For example, let's say an employee is always looking for different ways to help other departments and collaborate. While a supervisor might not have seen any&#160;of this, colleagues from these departments would be able to praise the employee for their hard work. In this case, a 360-degree feedback process allows team members to recognize good work that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.</p>
<p>3. Team Development</p>
<p>The 360-degree feedback approach helps team members work more effectively together. Team members who give each other feedback create a sense of accountability when providing their input on each member's performance. A well-implemented 360-degree system can allow for improved team communication and development. Team communication is important, with <a href="http://govitru.com/workplace-statistics/" type="external">33 percent of employees Opens a New Window.</a> saying a lack of open, honest communication has the most negative impact on employee morale.</p>
<p>4. Career Development</p>
<p>A 360-degree feedback process provides employees with excellent information about what they&#160;need to do in order to further their careers. It also keeps them engaged in their current roles: <a href="http://www.businessperform.com/blog/2010/10/05/gallup-employee-feedback-358.html" type="external">98 percent of employees Opens a New Window.</a> say managers who give them little or no feedback fail to engage them. A 360-degree process gives an employee many opportunities to&#160;learn what they are doing well and how they could improve.</p>
<p>What Are the Downsides of a&#160;360-Degree Review?</p>
<p>For all the benefits, a 360-degree review process also has its downsides. It is important to understand these shortfalls because they can offer us a map of what to avoid when practicing 360-degree reviews.</p>
<p>1. What an Employee Decides to Do After the Process</p>
<p>In order for the 360-degree review process to be successful, an employee must be able to do a few things along the way. It can be overwhelming to receive large amounts of feedback all at once. If the information is to be useful, an employee must be able to understand the feedback, process it, and determine next steps.</p>
<p>Taking a <a href="https://engagiant.com/blog/microfeedback-beyond-technology/" type="external">microfeedback Opens a New Window.</a> approach might be able to help here. Integrating this process into a complete performance management system makes employees accountable for following up and acting on the feedback provided by others.</p>
<p>2. Focusing on What Is Wrong</p>
<p>People tend to focus on the negative remarks rather than the positive during performance reviews. That means many employees focus on fixing their weaknesses. While it is important to address performance shortfalls, employees should also pay attention to the positive aspects of their reviews. Maximizing one's strengths has been shown to be rewarding, and it will certainly advance your team in the right direction.</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.clearcompany.com/ignore-these-performance-management-stats-at-your-own-risk" type="external">A reported 25 percent of employees Opens a New Window.</a> leave organizations due to lack of recognition. Try to emphasize the positives while giving feedback in the 360-degree review process. (Make sure to address weaknesses as well!) Encouraging employees to pursue their strengths will help counteract negative feelings.</p>
<p>3. Sticking to the Process</p>
<p>A 360-degree review is not a one-time event. This process should be implemented on a regular basis. Building a strong feedback culture can help when implementing 360-degree reviews.</p>
<p>Try to make feedback a daily habit. Then, when it comes time for the routine 360-degree feedback, the review process will be easier to implement and employees won't be overwhelmed. Use the feedback to create an action plan, and you will start to see an employee-driven process.</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>Every performance feedback system has its potential pitfalls, and the 360-degree process is no different. However, it can create a positive and powerful problem-solving environment when carried out correctly.</p>
<p>The 360-degree process can help increase employee engagement, company morale, and productivity levels. Given that only&#160; <a href="http://blog.clearcompany.com/ignore-these-performance-management-stats-at-your-own-risk" type="external">32.5 percent of U.S. employees report Opens a New Window.</a> being engaged at work,&#160;it may be time to take a chance on going 360!</p>
<p>A version of this article originally appeared&#160;on the <a href="https://engagiant.com/blog/everything-need-know-going-360/" type="external">iRevü blog. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Michael Heller is the CEO and founder of <a href="https://engagiant.com/" type="external">iRevü Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Everything You Need to Know About Going 360 With Your Feedback | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/01/26/everything-need-to-know-about-going-360-with-your-feedback.html | 2017-01-31 | 0right
| Everything You Need to Know About Going 360 With Your Feedback
<p />
<p><a href="https://www.recruiter.com/employee-performance.html" type="external">Performance Opens a New Window.</a> reviews shouldn't&#160;just be annual meetings – they&#160;should be opportunities for development and coaching.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Shockingly, only&#160; <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/danpontefract/2015/03/31/only-55-percent-of-employees-feel-as-though-performance-management-appraisals-are-effective/#5d1a100e3bb2" type="external">52 percent of companies Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;conduct annual performance reviews. However, there are many approaches a company can take when delivering employee feedback. One&#160;growing option is&#160;360-degree feedback.</p>
<p>When you first hear the term " <a href="http://engagiant.com/blog/the-importance-of-continuous-feedback-in-change-management/" type="external">360-degree feedback Opens a New Window.</a>," you may feel&#160;overwhelmed. It can be a lot of information to handle, and it may sound complicated. Getting your employees used to a 360-degree review process may also take a little effort, but it will ultimately be worth it.</p>
<p>Here are the basics when it comes to&#160;360-degree feedback success:</p>
<p>Understanding 360-Degree Feedback</p>
<p>When it comes down to it, 360-degree feedback is exactly what it sounds like – feedback from around the circle. It is a system or process in which an employee&#160;receives feedback from multiple sources. These sources are typically colleagues, direct reports, and managers. A&#160;360-degree review will often also include some form of self-evaluation. The goal of this process is to allow the entire team to help each other develop skills and address any potential weaknesses.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>There are multiple&#160;benefits when transitioning to a 360-degree feedback system,&#160;including the following:</p>
<p>1. Open Channels Of Communication</p>
<p>Adopting the 360-degree feedback system allows employees in the company to comment on each other's work. This fosters a communication-rich environment in which it is easy to address and resolve problems.</p>
<p>The overall communication process is improved, and issues that could potentially cause problems are often solved before they cause any damage. Effective communication makes an organization&#160; <a href="http://www.roomtoescape.com/blog/12-statistics-that-show-the-importance-of-effective-corporate-team-building" type="external">4.5 times more likely Opens a New Window.</a> to retain its&#160;best employees.</p>
<p>2. Better Feedback From Multiple Sources</p>
<p>Receiving feedback from peers, supervisors, and oneself allows for a more well-rounded and substantial review compared to a process that relies on feedback from just one individual. Employees are able to receive feedback more frequently, and peer feedback is just as beneficial as feedback received from superiors. In fact,&#160; <a href="http://www.trakstar.com/blog-post/7-facts-you-need-to-know-before-giving-employee-feedback/" type="external">88 percent of employees who receive peer feedback are happier with their jobs Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>A 360-degree&#160;review also allows trends and patterns to become clear. For example, let's say an employee is always looking for different ways to help other departments and collaborate. While a supervisor might not have seen any&#160;of this, colleagues from these departments would be able to praise the employee for their hard work. In this case, a 360-degree feedback process allows team members to recognize good work that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.</p>
<p>3. Team Development</p>
<p>The 360-degree feedback approach helps team members work more effectively together. Team members who give each other feedback create a sense of accountability when providing their input on each member's performance. A well-implemented 360-degree system can allow for improved team communication and development. Team communication is important, with <a href="http://govitru.com/workplace-statistics/" type="external">33 percent of employees Opens a New Window.</a> saying a lack of open, honest communication has the most negative impact on employee morale.</p>
<p>4. Career Development</p>
<p>A 360-degree feedback process provides employees with excellent information about what they&#160;need to do in order to further their careers. It also keeps them engaged in their current roles: <a href="http://www.businessperform.com/blog/2010/10/05/gallup-employee-feedback-358.html" type="external">98 percent of employees Opens a New Window.</a> say managers who give them little or no feedback fail to engage them. A 360-degree process gives an employee many opportunities to&#160;learn what they are doing well and how they could improve.</p>
<p>What Are the Downsides of a&#160;360-Degree Review?</p>
<p>For all the benefits, a 360-degree review process also has its downsides. It is important to understand these shortfalls because they can offer us a map of what to avoid when practicing 360-degree reviews.</p>
<p>1. What an Employee Decides to Do After the Process</p>
<p>In order for the 360-degree review process to be successful, an employee must be able to do a few things along the way. It can be overwhelming to receive large amounts of feedback all at once. If the information is to be useful, an employee must be able to understand the feedback, process it, and determine next steps.</p>
<p>Taking a <a href="https://engagiant.com/blog/microfeedback-beyond-technology/" type="external">microfeedback Opens a New Window.</a> approach might be able to help here. Integrating this process into a complete performance management system makes employees accountable for following up and acting on the feedback provided by others.</p>
<p>2. Focusing on What Is Wrong</p>
<p>People tend to focus on the negative remarks rather than the positive during performance reviews. That means many employees focus on fixing their weaknesses. While it is important to address performance shortfalls, employees should also pay attention to the positive aspects of their reviews. Maximizing one's strengths has been shown to be rewarding, and it will certainly advance your team in the right direction.</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.clearcompany.com/ignore-these-performance-management-stats-at-your-own-risk" type="external">A reported 25 percent of employees Opens a New Window.</a> leave organizations due to lack of recognition. Try to emphasize the positives while giving feedback in the 360-degree review process. (Make sure to address weaknesses as well!) Encouraging employees to pursue their strengths will help counteract negative feelings.</p>
<p>3. Sticking to the Process</p>
<p>A 360-degree review is not a one-time event. This process should be implemented on a regular basis. Building a strong feedback culture can help when implementing 360-degree reviews.</p>
<p>Try to make feedback a daily habit. Then, when it comes time for the routine 360-degree feedback, the review process will be easier to implement and employees won't be overwhelmed. Use the feedback to create an action plan, and you will start to see an employee-driven process.</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>Every performance feedback system has its potential pitfalls, and the 360-degree process is no different. However, it can create a positive and powerful problem-solving environment when carried out correctly.</p>
<p>The 360-degree process can help increase employee engagement, company morale, and productivity levels. Given that only&#160; <a href="http://blog.clearcompany.com/ignore-these-performance-management-stats-at-your-own-risk" type="external">32.5 percent of U.S. employees report Opens a New Window.</a> being engaged at work,&#160;it may be time to take a chance on going 360!</p>
<p>A version of this article originally appeared&#160;on the <a href="https://engagiant.com/blog/everything-need-know-going-360/" type="external">iRevü blog. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Michael Heller is the CEO and founder of <a href="https://engagiant.com/" type="external">iRevü Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 207 |
<a href="http://lacollegepromise.org/doc/090116%20LACP%20One%20Pager.pdf" type="external">the Los Angeles College Promise</a> on Wednesday. LA College Promise guarantees&#160;admission and one tuition-free year at LA community&#160;colleges for students who graduate from the
<a href="http://home.lausd.net/" type="external">Los Angeles Unified School District</a>. There are nine campuses in the Los Angeles Community College District. The
<a href="http://www.lamayor.org/la-puts-higher-education-within-reach-all-students" type="external">mayor’s office released a statement</a> saying the program will offer students “resources and support that ranges from tutoring and mentoring programs to financial literacy workshops.” The program begins with the 2017 class of high school graduates. In order to be eligible, applicants must qualify for California in-state tuition and have submitted FAFSA or California Dream Act applications. Students must attend classes full time in order to remain eligible. On paying for the program: So far, the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles has raised $1.75 million. The mayor’s office says these funds will “cover more than half the cost of the first year of LA College Promise.” In an
<a href="http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/09/14/lausd-graduates-free-college-tuition/" type="external">interview with CBS Los Angeles</a>, Garcetti said,&#160;“We raised enough money privately so no taxpayer money comes from the city of LA, and the community college school district stepped up with the rest of the resources.” In January 2015, the White House released a proposal to offer
<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/09/fact-sheet-white-house-unveils-america-s-college-promise-proposal-tuitio" type="external">two free years of community college for “responsible students.”</a> Scott Svonkin, President of the LACCD Board of Trustees, said LA College Promise was created “as President Obama envisioned.” Svonkin also said, “Our goal is free community college for everyone.” The announcement makes Los Angeles the largest US city to guarantee&#160;high school graduates at least one tuition-free year of higher education, the mayor’s office said in a statement. KCRA News reports that the
<a href="http://www.kcra.com/news/free-tuition-proposed-for-community-college-students-in-california/37807358" type="external">average year of tuition for California community college is around $1,100.</a> Because of California grants and other stipends, roughly 65% of community college students pay no tuition, according to KCRA. Mayor Garcetti:
<q>
<p>“Higher education should be within reach for every student in Los Angeles. The L.A. College Promise is a path for every Angeleno to earn a high school diploma and pursue the skills and education they need to realize their dreams and potential. When the first Promise students step onto campus next fall, they’ll be doing more than putting themselves on a launching pad to prosperity — they’ll embody a commitment that is fundamental to who we are as a people, and what we want for our future.”</p>
</q> Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, who represents California’s 4oth district: Jon Coupal,
<a href="http://www.kcra.com/news/free-tuition-proposed-for-community-college-students-in-california/37807358" type="external">President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association said</a>, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch — and there’s really no such thing as a free education.” Coupal argues that students take their education “more seriously” when they pay for it. The mayor’s office released a list of donors supporting
<a href="https://mayorsfundla.org/" type="external">the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles</a>: The Karsh Family Foundation The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation JPMorgan Chase Foundation Los Angeles Dodgers Union Bank Foundation The Baxter Family Foundation Share on
<a href="" type="internal">Facebook</a>
<a href="" type="internal">Twitter</a>
<a href="" type="internal">Email</a> | Los Angeles to Offer 1 Year of Free Community College | false | http://thewhim.com/los-angeles-offer-1-year-of-free-community-college/ | 2016-09-15 | 2least
| Los Angeles to Offer 1 Year of Free Community College
<a href="http://lacollegepromise.org/doc/090116%20LACP%20One%20Pager.pdf" type="external">the Los Angeles College Promise</a> on Wednesday. LA College Promise guarantees&#160;admission and one tuition-free year at LA community&#160;colleges for students who graduate from the
<a href="http://home.lausd.net/" type="external">Los Angeles Unified School District</a>. There are nine campuses in the Los Angeles Community College District. The
<a href="http://www.lamayor.org/la-puts-higher-education-within-reach-all-students" type="external">mayor’s office released a statement</a> saying the program will offer students “resources and support that ranges from tutoring and mentoring programs to financial literacy workshops.” The program begins with the 2017 class of high school graduates. In order to be eligible, applicants must qualify for California in-state tuition and have submitted FAFSA or California Dream Act applications. Students must attend classes full time in order to remain eligible. On paying for the program: So far, the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles has raised $1.75 million. The mayor’s office says these funds will “cover more than half the cost of the first year of LA College Promise.” In an
<a href="http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/09/14/lausd-graduates-free-college-tuition/" type="external">interview with CBS Los Angeles</a>, Garcetti said,&#160;“We raised enough money privately so no taxpayer money comes from the city of LA, and the community college school district stepped up with the rest of the resources.” In January 2015, the White House released a proposal to offer
<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/09/fact-sheet-white-house-unveils-america-s-college-promise-proposal-tuitio" type="external">two free years of community college for “responsible students.”</a> Scott Svonkin, President of the LACCD Board of Trustees, said LA College Promise was created “as President Obama envisioned.” Svonkin also said, “Our goal is free community college for everyone.” The announcement makes Los Angeles the largest US city to guarantee&#160;high school graduates at least one tuition-free year of higher education, the mayor’s office said in a statement. KCRA News reports that the
<a href="http://www.kcra.com/news/free-tuition-proposed-for-community-college-students-in-california/37807358" type="external">average year of tuition for California community college is around $1,100.</a> Because of California grants and other stipends, roughly 65% of community college students pay no tuition, according to KCRA. Mayor Garcetti:
<q>
<p>“Higher education should be within reach for every student in Los Angeles. The L.A. College Promise is a path for every Angeleno to earn a high school diploma and pursue the skills and education they need to realize their dreams and potential. When the first Promise students step onto campus next fall, they’ll be doing more than putting themselves on a launching pad to prosperity — they’ll embody a commitment that is fundamental to who we are as a people, and what we want for our future.”</p>
</q> Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, who represents California’s 4oth district: Jon Coupal,
<a href="http://www.kcra.com/news/free-tuition-proposed-for-community-college-students-in-california/37807358" type="external">President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association said</a>, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch — and there’s really no such thing as a free education.” Coupal argues that students take their education “more seriously” when they pay for it. The mayor’s office released a list of donors supporting
<a href="https://mayorsfundla.org/" type="external">the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles</a>: The Karsh Family Foundation The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation JPMorgan Chase Foundation Los Angeles Dodgers Union Bank Foundation The Baxter Family Foundation Share on
<a href="" type="internal">Facebook</a>
<a href="" type="internal">Twitter</a>
<a href="" type="internal">Email</a> | 208 |
<p>SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Offense trumped defense on a night when one of the NBA’s most efficient offensive teams met one of the top defensive units.</p>
<p>Victor Oladipo scored 28 points and the Indiana Pacers shot 54 percent from 3-point range in a 109-94 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday.</p>
<p>“Execution,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. “We talked about establishing our pace, but controlling the tempo. We didn’t want to get in an up-and-down game and allow the crowd to get into the game. Our guys did a nice job of taking opportunities early when we had them. And if we didn’t, we made them defend and were able to execute and score.</p>
<p>“Guys have confidence. When we get good ball movement and we’re sharing the ball, we shoot the ball a lot better.”</p>
<p>Oladipo got going late in the second quarter during a 15-2 run that gave Indiana a 14-point lead. Then his back-to-back buckets early in the third capped a 9-0 surge to push the advantage to 67-47. He also had six rebounds and six assists.</p>
<p>“Guys were getting wide-open shots,” Oladipo said. “Guys shooting the ball with confidence.</p>
<p>“Just ball movement, getting the right shot, making the right play. Most of all, defensively, making it tough on them.”</p>
<p>Domantas Sabonis finished with 15 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers, and Thaddeus Young scored 17.</p>
<p>Donovan Mitchell scored 23 for the struggling Jazz, while Derrick Favors added 16 points and seven rebounds. Utah has lost 15 of 19.</p>
<p>“We’re not playing with a lot of confidence on offense right now, both individually and collectively,” coach Quin Snyder said. “If that’s the case, you can’t force that. You just got to connect even more and, in some respects, it puts more pressure on your offense.</p>
<p>“But that pressure can’t be felt by any one guy. It’s got to be collective. When you turn the ball over, that’s not confidence. That’s just, we have to be more mentally tough.”</p>
<p>The Jazz put themselves in a hole with seven first-quarter turnovers, but rallied with a 14-0 spurt in the second to cut the deficit to 38-37. They never got that close again.</p>
<p>The Pacers were efficient on offense all night, shooting 53 percent from the field and 14 of 26 from 3-point territory. Indiana is 15-0 when shooting better than 50 percent.</p>
<p>“There were times we just didn’t talk to each other and I think that’s the biggest thing,” Mitchell said about Utah’s defense. “We’ve got to be able to talk and communicate and understand.”</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Pacers: Indiana began the night ranked second in the NBA in 3-point shooting at 38.3 percent.</p>
<p>Jazz: Raul Neto returned from a 15-game absence due to a concussion and bruised left knee. ... Rudy Gobert went through an extensive workout with braces on both knees before the game. He’s thought to be close to returning from a left PCL sprain and bone bruise.</p>
<p>TURNER OUT</p>
<p>Pacers center Myles Turner did not play due to a ligament sprain and muscle strain in his right elbow. He will not play the remaining three games of the road trip. The team lists him as week-to-week depending on how quickly Turner heals, but said he will not need surgery.</p>
<p>SEFOLOSHA’S STATUS</p>
<p>Jazz forward Thabo Sefolosha has been diagnosed with a serious right knee sprain and wore a bulky brace before the game. The team has not announced a timeline for his return, but there are fears it could be a long-term injury.</p>
<p>QUOTABLE</p>
<p>“He’s a very confident kid with a lot of talent,” McMillan said of Oladipo. “We knew that he had potential in making the move to trade him for Paul (George). He’s showing pretty much what I think the league expected him to become. He’s come out very aggressive this season. I think he feels he has something to prove to not only himself, but to the league.”</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Pacers: Travel to face Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.</p>
<p>Jazz: Travel to play Zach Randolph and the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP basketball: <a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball</a></p>
<p>SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Offense trumped defense on a night when one of the NBA’s most efficient offensive teams met one of the top defensive units.</p>
<p>Victor Oladipo scored 28 points and the Indiana Pacers shot 54 percent from 3-point range in a 109-94 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday.</p>
<p>“Execution,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. “We talked about establishing our pace, but controlling the tempo. We didn’t want to get in an up-and-down game and allow the crowd to get into the game. Our guys did a nice job of taking opportunities early when we had them. And if we didn’t, we made them defend and were able to execute and score.</p>
<p>“Guys have confidence. When we get good ball movement and we’re sharing the ball, we shoot the ball a lot better.”</p>
<p>Oladipo got going late in the second quarter during a 15-2 run that gave Indiana a 14-point lead. Then his back-to-back buckets early in the third capped a 9-0 surge to push the advantage to 67-47. He also had six rebounds and six assists.</p>
<p>“Guys were getting wide-open shots,” Oladipo said. “Guys shooting the ball with confidence.</p>
<p>“Just ball movement, getting the right shot, making the right play. Most of all, defensively, making it tough on them.”</p>
<p>Domantas Sabonis finished with 15 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers, and Thaddeus Young scored 17.</p>
<p>Donovan Mitchell scored 23 for the struggling Jazz, while Derrick Favors added 16 points and seven rebounds. Utah has lost 15 of 19.</p>
<p>“We’re not playing with a lot of confidence on offense right now, both individually and collectively,” coach Quin Snyder said. “If that’s the case, you can’t force that. You just got to connect even more and, in some respects, it puts more pressure on your offense.</p>
<p>“But that pressure can’t be felt by any one guy. It’s got to be collective. When you turn the ball over, that’s not confidence. That’s just, we have to be more mentally tough.”</p>
<p>The Jazz put themselves in a hole with seven first-quarter turnovers, but rallied with a 14-0 spurt in the second to cut the deficit to 38-37. They never got that close again.</p>
<p>The Pacers were efficient on offense all night, shooting 53 percent from the field and 14 of 26 from 3-point territory. Indiana is 15-0 when shooting better than 50 percent.</p>
<p>“There were times we just didn’t talk to each other and I think that’s the biggest thing,” Mitchell said about Utah’s defense. “We’ve got to be able to talk and communicate and understand.”</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Pacers: Indiana began the night ranked second in the NBA in 3-point shooting at 38.3 percent.</p>
<p>Jazz: Raul Neto returned from a 15-game absence due to a concussion and bruised left knee. ... Rudy Gobert went through an extensive workout with braces on both knees before the game. He’s thought to be close to returning from a left PCL sprain and bone bruise.</p>
<p>TURNER OUT</p>
<p>Pacers center Myles Turner did not play due to a ligament sprain and muscle strain in his right elbow. He will not play the remaining three games of the road trip. The team lists him as week-to-week depending on how quickly Turner heals, but said he will not need surgery.</p>
<p>SEFOLOSHA’S STATUS</p>
<p>Jazz forward Thabo Sefolosha has been diagnosed with a serious right knee sprain and wore a bulky brace before the game. The team has not announced a timeline for his return, but there are fears it could be a long-term injury.</p>
<p>QUOTABLE</p>
<p>“He’s a very confident kid with a lot of talent,” McMillan said of Oladipo. “We knew that he had potential in making the move to trade him for Paul (George). He’s showing pretty much what I think the league expected him to become. He’s come out very aggressive this season. I think he feels he has something to prove to not only himself, but to the league.”</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Pacers: Travel to face Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.</p>
<p>Jazz: Travel to play Zach Randolph and the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP basketball: <a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball</a></p> | Oladipo scores 28, hot-shooting Pacers beat Jazz 109-94 | false | https://apnews.com/405c9723dcc5458192488e6a5fa60ad7 | 2018-01-16 | 2least
| Oladipo scores 28, hot-shooting Pacers beat Jazz 109-94
<p>SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Offense trumped defense on a night when one of the NBA’s most efficient offensive teams met one of the top defensive units.</p>
<p>Victor Oladipo scored 28 points and the Indiana Pacers shot 54 percent from 3-point range in a 109-94 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday.</p>
<p>“Execution,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. “We talked about establishing our pace, but controlling the tempo. We didn’t want to get in an up-and-down game and allow the crowd to get into the game. Our guys did a nice job of taking opportunities early when we had them. And if we didn’t, we made them defend and were able to execute and score.</p>
<p>“Guys have confidence. When we get good ball movement and we’re sharing the ball, we shoot the ball a lot better.”</p>
<p>Oladipo got going late in the second quarter during a 15-2 run that gave Indiana a 14-point lead. Then his back-to-back buckets early in the third capped a 9-0 surge to push the advantage to 67-47. He also had six rebounds and six assists.</p>
<p>“Guys were getting wide-open shots,” Oladipo said. “Guys shooting the ball with confidence.</p>
<p>“Just ball movement, getting the right shot, making the right play. Most of all, defensively, making it tough on them.”</p>
<p>Domantas Sabonis finished with 15 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers, and Thaddeus Young scored 17.</p>
<p>Donovan Mitchell scored 23 for the struggling Jazz, while Derrick Favors added 16 points and seven rebounds. Utah has lost 15 of 19.</p>
<p>“We’re not playing with a lot of confidence on offense right now, both individually and collectively,” coach Quin Snyder said. “If that’s the case, you can’t force that. You just got to connect even more and, in some respects, it puts more pressure on your offense.</p>
<p>“But that pressure can’t be felt by any one guy. It’s got to be collective. When you turn the ball over, that’s not confidence. That’s just, we have to be more mentally tough.”</p>
<p>The Jazz put themselves in a hole with seven first-quarter turnovers, but rallied with a 14-0 spurt in the second to cut the deficit to 38-37. They never got that close again.</p>
<p>The Pacers were efficient on offense all night, shooting 53 percent from the field and 14 of 26 from 3-point territory. Indiana is 15-0 when shooting better than 50 percent.</p>
<p>“There were times we just didn’t talk to each other and I think that’s the biggest thing,” Mitchell said about Utah’s defense. “We’ve got to be able to talk and communicate and understand.”</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Pacers: Indiana began the night ranked second in the NBA in 3-point shooting at 38.3 percent.</p>
<p>Jazz: Raul Neto returned from a 15-game absence due to a concussion and bruised left knee. ... Rudy Gobert went through an extensive workout with braces on both knees before the game. He’s thought to be close to returning from a left PCL sprain and bone bruise.</p>
<p>TURNER OUT</p>
<p>Pacers center Myles Turner did not play due to a ligament sprain and muscle strain in his right elbow. He will not play the remaining three games of the road trip. The team lists him as week-to-week depending on how quickly Turner heals, but said he will not need surgery.</p>
<p>SEFOLOSHA’S STATUS</p>
<p>Jazz forward Thabo Sefolosha has been diagnosed with a serious right knee sprain and wore a bulky brace before the game. The team has not announced a timeline for his return, but there are fears it could be a long-term injury.</p>
<p>QUOTABLE</p>
<p>“He’s a very confident kid with a lot of talent,” McMillan said of Oladipo. “We knew that he had potential in making the move to trade him for Paul (George). He’s showing pretty much what I think the league expected him to become. He’s come out very aggressive this season. I think he feels he has something to prove to not only himself, but to the league.”</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Pacers: Travel to face Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.</p>
<p>Jazz: Travel to play Zach Randolph and the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP basketball: <a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball</a></p>
<p>SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Offense trumped defense on a night when one of the NBA’s most efficient offensive teams met one of the top defensive units.</p>
<p>Victor Oladipo scored 28 points and the Indiana Pacers shot 54 percent from 3-point range in a 109-94 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday.</p>
<p>“Execution,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. “We talked about establishing our pace, but controlling the tempo. We didn’t want to get in an up-and-down game and allow the crowd to get into the game. Our guys did a nice job of taking opportunities early when we had them. And if we didn’t, we made them defend and were able to execute and score.</p>
<p>“Guys have confidence. When we get good ball movement and we’re sharing the ball, we shoot the ball a lot better.”</p>
<p>Oladipo got going late in the second quarter during a 15-2 run that gave Indiana a 14-point lead. Then his back-to-back buckets early in the third capped a 9-0 surge to push the advantage to 67-47. He also had six rebounds and six assists.</p>
<p>“Guys were getting wide-open shots,” Oladipo said. “Guys shooting the ball with confidence.</p>
<p>“Just ball movement, getting the right shot, making the right play. Most of all, defensively, making it tough on them.”</p>
<p>Domantas Sabonis finished with 15 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers, and Thaddeus Young scored 17.</p>
<p>Donovan Mitchell scored 23 for the struggling Jazz, while Derrick Favors added 16 points and seven rebounds. Utah has lost 15 of 19.</p>
<p>“We’re not playing with a lot of confidence on offense right now, both individually and collectively,” coach Quin Snyder said. “If that’s the case, you can’t force that. You just got to connect even more and, in some respects, it puts more pressure on your offense.</p>
<p>“But that pressure can’t be felt by any one guy. It’s got to be collective. When you turn the ball over, that’s not confidence. That’s just, we have to be more mentally tough.”</p>
<p>The Jazz put themselves in a hole with seven first-quarter turnovers, but rallied with a 14-0 spurt in the second to cut the deficit to 38-37. They never got that close again.</p>
<p>The Pacers were efficient on offense all night, shooting 53 percent from the field and 14 of 26 from 3-point territory. Indiana is 15-0 when shooting better than 50 percent.</p>
<p>“There were times we just didn’t talk to each other and I think that’s the biggest thing,” Mitchell said about Utah’s defense. “We’ve got to be able to talk and communicate and understand.”</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Pacers: Indiana began the night ranked second in the NBA in 3-point shooting at 38.3 percent.</p>
<p>Jazz: Raul Neto returned from a 15-game absence due to a concussion and bruised left knee. ... Rudy Gobert went through an extensive workout with braces on both knees before the game. He’s thought to be close to returning from a left PCL sprain and bone bruise.</p>
<p>TURNER OUT</p>
<p>Pacers center Myles Turner did not play due to a ligament sprain and muscle strain in his right elbow. He will not play the remaining three games of the road trip. The team lists him as week-to-week depending on how quickly Turner heals, but said he will not need surgery.</p>
<p>SEFOLOSHA’S STATUS</p>
<p>Jazz forward Thabo Sefolosha has been diagnosed with a serious right knee sprain and wore a bulky brace before the game. The team has not announced a timeline for his return, but there are fears it could be a long-term injury.</p>
<p>QUOTABLE</p>
<p>“He’s a very confident kid with a lot of talent,” McMillan said of Oladipo. “We knew that he had potential in making the move to trade him for Paul (George). He’s showing pretty much what I think the league expected him to become. He’s come out very aggressive this season. I think he feels he has something to prove to not only himself, but to the league.”</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Pacers: Travel to face Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.</p>
<p>Jazz: Travel to play Zach Randolph and the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP basketball: <a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball</a></p> | 209 |
<p>Opponents of "Obamacare" are asking that an appeals court case on the Affordable Care Act be delayed because the Supreme Court is stepping into a separate case covering the same legal ground.</p>
<p>In a court filing Monday, the opponents say there is no reason to consume the resources in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit when the Supreme Court is poised to decide the same issue on virtually the same timeline.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments within three to four months about subsidies that help millions of low- and middle-income people afford their health insurance premiums. And that court is expected resolve the matter this term. The Supreme Court ruling will directly impact the appeals court case.</p>
<p>The case before the Supreme Court threatens those subsidies.</p> | Obamacare opponents ask that appeals court case be delayed to make way for Supreme Court case | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/11/10/obamacare-opponents-ask-that-appeals-court-case-be-delayed-to-make-way-for.html | 2016-03-09 | 0right
| Obamacare opponents ask that appeals court case be delayed to make way for Supreme Court case
<p>Opponents of "Obamacare" are asking that an appeals court case on the Affordable Care Act be delayed because the Supreme Court is stepping into a separate case covering the same legal ground.</p>
<p>In a court filing Monday, the opponents say there is no reason to consume the resources in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit when the Supreme Court is poised to decide the same issue on virtually the same timeline.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments within three to four months about subsidies that help millions of low- and middle-income people afford their health insurance premiums. And that court is expected resolve the matter this term. The Supreme Court ruling will directly impact the appeals court case.</p>
<p>The case before the Supreme Court threatens those subsidies.</p> | 210 |
<p>A new <a href="http://www.prri.org/research/poll-post-election-holiday-war-christmas/" type="external">study</a>conducted by Public Religion Research Institute has revealed some unsurprising findings about the Party of Tolerance: Democrats are more likely than Republicans to block or unfriend those they disagree with politically on social media, with Democratic women leading the pack as most likely to block political foes.</p>
<p>The study, which reviewed over 1,000 respondents' answers, found that "13% of the public say they blocked, unfriended, or stopped following someone on social media because of what they posted about politics."</p>
<p>Democratic women were found to be the most block-happy, with 30 percent of female Democrats admitting to blocking or unfriending those with differing political views; while male Democrats came a close second with 14 percent.</p>
<p>Republicans overall were far less likely to censor the views surrounding them: Less than one in ten Republicans engaged in blocking or unfriending on social media over politics, with Republican women slightly more inclined to block than their male counterparts at 10 percent and 8 percent respectively.</p>
<p>Again, this is wholly unsurprising. The Democrat Party has become increasingly intolerant, most notably on college campuses and "protest" spaces. In recent years, leftists have called for "safe spaces," the censorship of so-called "hate speech" and have violently "protested" the democratic election of Republican Donald Trump and speakers with whom they disagree with, such as Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro.</p>
<p>Censorship is the name of the game in Leftist Land.</p>
<p><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/19/democratic-women-are-most-likely-to-block-people-online-because-of-political-views/?utm_campaign=atdailycaller&amp;utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_medium=Social" type="external">H/T</a>The Daily Caller</p> | Snowflake Alert: Guess Who's Most Likely to Block You On Social Media Over Political Views | true | https://dailywire.com/news/11734/snowflake-alert-heres-whos-most-likely-block-you-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2016-12-19 | 0right
| Snowflake Alert: Guess Who's Most Likely to Block You On Social Media Over Political Views
<p>A new <a href="http://www.prri.org/research/poll-post-election-holiday-war-christmas/" type="external">study</a>conducted by Public Religion Research Institute has revealed some unsurprising findings about the Party of Tolerance: Democrats are more likely than Republicans to block or unfriend those they disagree with politically on social media, with Democratic women leading the pack as most likely to block political foes.</p>
<p>The study, which reviewed over 1,000 respondents' answers, found that "13% of the public say they blocked, unfriended, or stopped following someone on social media because of what they posted about politics."</p>
<p>Democratic women were found to be the most block-happy, with 30 percent of female Democrats admitting to blocking or unfriending those with differing political views; while male Democrats came a close second with 14 percent.</p>
<p>Republicans overall were far less likely to censor the views surrounding them: Less than one in ten Republicans engaged in blocking or unfriending on social media over politics, with Republican women slightly more inclined to block than their male counterparts at 10 percent and 8 percent respectively.</p>
<p>Again, this is wholly unsurprising. The Democrat Party has become increasingly intolerant, most notably on college campuses and "protest" spaces. In recent years, leftists have called for "safe spaces," the censorship of so-called "hate speech" and have violently "protested" the democratic election of Republican Donald Trump and speakers with whom they disagree with, such as Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro.</p>
<p>Censorship is the name of the game in Leftist Land.</p>
<p><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/19/democratic-women-are-most-likely-to-block-people-online-because-of-political-views/?utm_campaign=atdailycaller&amp;utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_medium=Social" type="external">H/T</a>The Daily Caller</p> | 211 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
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<p>Lawmakers called anew for a special prosecutor to look into the matter.</p>
<p>The criticism during a House subcommittee meeting came as Deputy Attorney General James Cole, the Justice Department’s No. 2 official, said the investigation has been broadened to include the disappearance of emails from the computer of Lois Lerner, who formerly headed the IRS division that deals with tax-exempt organizations.</p>
<p>Deputy Attorney General James Cole appears before the House Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs subcommittee on Thursday in Washington. (Scott Applewhite/The Associated Press)</p>
<p>Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs, told Cole that he had “serious concerns” about the investigation and asked what it would take for an independent prosecutor to be appointed.</p>
<p>He also demanded that prosecutors investigate why it took the IRS two months to publicly report the missing emails.</p>
<p>Jordan asked, “Are you going to look at the fact that the head of the agency that targeted conservative groups knew in April and didn’t tell us” until June?</p>
<p>Cole, who said the Justice Department didn’t learn about the email loss until after it was reported in the news media, said he did not know the reason for the two-month lag but that he expected it to be looked into as part of the broader investigation.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Lerner, who refused to answer questions at two House committee hearings, has become a central figure in several congressional investigations into the handling of applications for tax-exempt status by tea party groups.</p>
<p>At both hearings, Lerner cited her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself. In May, the Republican-led House voted to hold Lerner in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify.</p>
<p>The IRS revealed last month that it lost the emails in 2011 when Lerner’s computer crashed. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has said he’s seen no evidence that anyone committed a crime in connection with the lost emails.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Republicans criticize IRS inquiry | false | https://abqjournal.com/431020/republicans-criticize-irs-inquiry.html | 2least
| Republicans criticize IRS inquiry
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Lawmakers called anew for a special prosecutor to look into the matter.</p>
<p>The criticism during a House subcommittee meeting came as Deputy Attorney General James Cole, the Justice Department’s No. 2 official, said the investigation has been broadened to include the disappearance of emails from the computer of Lois Lerner, who formerly headed the IRS division that deals with tax-exempt organizations.</p>
<p>Deputy Attorney General James Cole appears before the House Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs subcommittee on Thursday in Washington. (Scott Applewhite/The Associated Press)</p>
<p>Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs, told Cole that he had “serious concerns” about the investigation and asked what it would take for an independent prosecutor to be appointed.</p>
<p>He also demanded that prosecutors investigate why it took the IRS two months to publicly report the missing emails.</p>
<p>Jordan asked, “Are you going to look at the fact that the head of the agency that targeted conservative groups knew in April and didn’t tell us” until June?</p>
<p>Cole, who said the Justice Department didn’t learn about the email loss until after it was reported in the news media, said he did not know the reason for the two-month lag but that he expected it to be looked into as part of the broader investigation.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Lerner, who refused to answer questions at two House committee hearings, has become a central figure in several congressional investigations into the handling of applications for tax-exempt status by tea party groups.</p>
<p>At both hearings, Lerner cited her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself. In May, the Republican-led House voted to hold Lerner in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify.</p>
<p>The IRS revealed last month that it lost the emails in 2011 when Lerner’s computer crashed. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has said he’s seen no evidence that anyone committed a crime in connection with the lost emails.</p>
<p />
<p /> | 212 |
|
<p />
<p>The other day, my 12-year-old daughter and I stopped at the gas station/market and she wanted to buy one of those <a href="http://www.druginfo.adf.org.au/article.asp?ContentID=energy_drinks" type="external">energy drinks</a> that have become so popular. "What could be wrong with something called an 'energy drink'?" I thought, then my wife suggested that the energy might be coming from tons of sugar or caffeine that would have our kids talking like Daffy Duck. I suggested that we might find something else. I started looking around and found a good bit of concern over kids and energy drinks.&#160; <a href="http://www.redbull.co.uk/faq.action#9" type="external">Even Red Bull, one of the most popular drink companies, says:</a></p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>It is important to note that children are the only group that we specifically do not target as we believe that they do not need that extra boost of energy (most children already have that natural 'exuberance'!)It is generally considered that products containing caffeine are not particularly suitable for young children. The real problem with this is that it is not possible to categorically state at which age someone is no longer a child in this situation. For example, if a child is already consuming caffeine-based products such as tea, coffee, colas or other energy drinks, there is no real reason why they should not be able to drink Red Bull. However, sensitivity to caffeine is subjective no matter if you are a child or a fully grown adult. One adult person might be able to drink 2-3 cans without getting the same feelings as those associated with drinking too much caffeine, whereas another adult will drink&#160;one can and feel that they shouldn't drink another that day. Caffeine sensitivity is very personalized.</p>
<p>The best guideline we can offer is that if a child already drinks coffee, tea or colas etc., then there is no reason&#160;they shouldn't drink Red Bull. This is the&#160;amount of caffeine in Red Bull (80mg) compared to that of another soft drink (for instance a cola, which contains roughly 33mg of caffeine.) Red Bull therefore contains roughly 2½ times the caffeine in a can of cola.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2005/253.html" type="external">FoodProcessing.com</a> reports:</p>
<p>The two beverage segments (sports drinks and energy drinks) appealed initially to young and active rather than simply "athletic" males, but recently have become more popular with women and teenagers.</p>
<p>An <a href="http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.aspx?id=102495&amp;catId=100406&amp;tid=100008&amp;p=3" type="external">Australian consumer group says:</a></p>
<p>Twenty-seven percent&#160;of 8–12-year-old boys, 12 percent&#160;of 8–12-year-old girls, 24 percent&#160;of 12–18-year-old boys and 20 percent&#160;of 12–18-year-old girls had had at least one energy drink in the two weeks prior to the survey. It's thought that parents may also be buying these drinks for their kids, probably under the misguided assumption that they're better than soft drinks because they're called energy drinks.</p>
<p>These drinks are particularly high in caffeine, and it only takes one or two cans to give kids more than the amount that's been reported to cause increased anxiety. And if they had the 'dosage' recommended for some of the products of five cans a day, they'd also get enough to increase blood pressure and heart rate (and even cause palpitations), along with jitters and possible sleep disturbances. They can also suffer withdrawal symptoms (headaches and lethargy) when they stop taking in caffeine.</p>
<p>The article continues:</p>
<p>A further study found that some teenagers are drinking up to five cans of energy drink before sporting events, believing it will boost their performance. Energy drinks shouldn't be confused with sports drinks, which are designed to maximize hydration. The caffeine content of energy drinks has the opposite effect&#160;-- it dehydrates. At such levels, caffeine can increase diastolic blood pressure and heart rate (sometimes with palpitations) and provoke feelings of anxiety. It would also be enough to disqualify athletes from some formal competition. And while caffeine is known to enhance performance in sport, at levels of about 200–300 mg, its diuretic effect could be a considerable disadvantage.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tonganoxiemirror.com/section/living/story/7887" type="external">The Tonganoxie (Kansas)&#160;Mirror</a> did a terrific story on high school athletes who drink this stuff before and even during a game.&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jan2005/sb2005015_8196_sb017.htm" type="external">Business Week says</a> the $2-a-can energy drink market is packed with competitors who are going after the youth market in a big way.</p>
<p>The target market for energy drinks is mostly male teenagers and twentysomethings, a notoriously fickle bunch. So unlike the cola market, where Coke and Pepsi push their offerings to all soda-drinkers, most of the smaller power-drink players have decided that their best hope of gaining traction is by appealing to very specialized market segments. "Right now there's an ability to get a toehold more quickly if you can build loyalty with a niche of the market," says Kelly O'Keefe, CEO of brand-consulting firm Emergence, based in Atlanta. "The margins are high enough that you can make money on a small run of the product." Drinks have been aimed at consumers interested in extreme sports (Red Bull, Go Fast!), video games (Bawls Guarana, which sponsors gaming tournaments and encourages players to pull all-nighters), hip-hop (Crunk!!!, Pimp Juice, and DefCon 3), and even marijuana, courtesy of Merrilville (Ind.)-based brand Bong Water.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.med.umich.edu/psych/sub/maher.htm" type="external">Maher Karam-Hage</a>, M.D., an addiction specialist at the University of Michigan Health System, raises some concerns about the beverages, particularly when they are mixed with alcohol, ingested before intensive exercise or used by children. "In the United States, these energy drinks have not had any warnings. In Europe, it's been more cautionary," says Karam-Hage, medical director of the Chelsea-Arbor Treatment Center, a joint program of the U-M Health System and Chelsea Community Hospital. He notes that France has banned some of the drinks and other countries have placed restrictions on them. "In this country, our advertisements for these drinks and the marketing are ahead of the science." <a href="http://www.redbullusa.com/extras/ingredients.jsp" type="external">The energy drinks typically contain sugar, caffeine (often 80 mg per can, about the same as a cup of coffee),</a> and taurine, a sulfur-containing amino acid. Some countries have raised concerns about the amount of caffeine in the drinks and the uncertain health effects of taurine. Energy drinks are different from sports drinks, which tend not to have caffeine or taurine and are lower in carbohydrates. While Karam-Hage stops short of saying people never should consume energy drinks, he says that mixing them with alcohol is dangerous and should be avoided. "The best analogy I can come up with is it's the same as driving a car, putting one foot on the gas and one foot on the brakes," he says of combining the stimulants in caffeine and the intoxicating effects of alcohol.</p>
<p>Popping the Gum Market <a href="http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/living/12064899.htm" type="external">The (Ft. Worth) Star-Telegram</a></p>
<p>The gum market is expanding, stretching out in two new definitive directions: health-enhancing chews and unusual flavors.</p>
<p>New so-called functional gums for adults lean toward the medicinal as they become the latest "delivery systems" for a variety of nutrients, caffeine and herbs. Their function is not necessarily in their taste or texture.</p>
<p>Emerging as well are startling and exotic flavors, including a hot and spicy mango-curry gum base just created by a European manufacturer (not yet for sale in the United States), and the limited availability sugar-free chocolate gum by O'lala Foods of Chicago. Gum marketeers also are hoping to capture the attention of kids with more intense flavors, as well as with blended-fruit flavors not found in nature, as in the surprising "grapermelon" from Juicy Fruit.</p>
<p>Why the sudden pop of interest in gum? Americans spend $3.3 billion a year on the sticky stuff. About half of us chew gum, and those who choose to chew gnaw an average of 170 pieces a year. But gum sales and snack sales have not been increasing at a rate that pleases producers.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>The Plymouth-Canton school board voted unanimously June 28 to consider commercial naming opportunities for everything from the new school to athletic fields to events such as the prom.</p>
<p>It's not exactly a first: A school district in New Jersey sold the naming rights to its high school gymnasium to a local Shop-Rite, while the Grapevine-Colleyville school district in Texas has offered advertising space on school buses, sporting venues and a middle-school roof.</p>
<p>Sponsorship experts say it's hard to pin down a number for naming rights to a school because of the many variables -- size of district and wealth of community, for example -- but officials in Plymouth-Canton said that if they pursued a sponsor they'd seek a 51 percent investment, meaning a marketer would probably have to pony up $7.5 million of the $15 million cost of building the new elementary school.</p>
<p>But replacing George Washington Junior High or Martin Luther King Magnet School with Fed-Ex Elementary or Nike Public School is taking the trend to a new -- and to some, troubling -- stage.</p>
<p>"What this issue is, first of all, is the way we have abandoned public space and the notion of the public good," said psychologist Susan Linn, co-founder of the Boston-based <a href="http://www.commercialexploitation.org/" type="external">Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood</a>. "People don't see the cost, and the cost is our values and the values we are passing onto children."</p>
<p>The story continues:</p>
<p>From the secondary level to the university level there has been a sense that commercialization -- already common on the athletic field, where even pizza magnate Papa John has an eponymous football stadium at the University of Louisville, for instance -- is creeping into the classroom.</p>
<p>In Philadelphia, Temple University is considering selling naming rights to its new $150 million medical school and research facility. The idea, backed by some, including the medical school dean, has drawn outrage from others who see a clear difference between naming schools and buildings after donations from influential alumni, philanthropists and foundations, and selling naming rights to marketers.&#160;</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.watchingamerica.com/" type="external">A new website&#160;"watches" America from newspapers and websites afar.</a> It is interesting reading how critical these sites are of Americans and American&#160;policy. I doubt that it will become daily reading for me, but I added the RSS feed to my reader because it seems useful to know what others are saying about us.&#160;&#160;&#160;</p>
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<p>We are always looking for your great ideas. <a href="" type="internal">Send Al</a> a few sentences and hot links.</p>
<p />
<p>Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed, and a link will be provided, whenever possible.</p> | Thursday Edition: Energy Drinks and Kids | false | https://poynter.org/news/thursday-edition-energy-drinks-and-kids | 2005-07-06 | 2least
| Thursday Edition: Energy Drinks and Kids
<p />
<p>The other day, my 12-year-old daughter and I stopped at the gas station/market and she wanted to buy one of those <a href="http://www.druginfo.adf.org.au/article.asp?ContentID=energy_drinks" type="external">energy drinks</a> that have become so popular. "What could be wrong with something called an 'energy drink'?" I thought, then my wife suggested that the energy might be coming from tons of sugar or caffeine that would have our kids talking like Daffy Duck. I suggested that we might find something else. I started looking around and found a good bit of concern over kids and energy drinks.&#160; <a href="http://www.redbull.co.uk/faq.action#9" type="external">Even Red Bull, one of the most popular drink companies, says:</a></p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>It is important to note that children are the only group that we specifically do not target as we believe that they do not need that extra boost of energy (most children already have that natural 'exuberance'!)It is generally considered that products containing caffeine are not particularly suitable for young children. The real problem with this is that it is not possible to categorically state at which age someone is no longer a child in this situation. For example, if a child is already consuming caffeine-based products such as tea, coffee, colas or other energy drinks, there is no real reason why they should not be able to drink Red Bull. However, sensitivity to caffeine is subjective no matter if you are a child or a fully grown adult. One adult person might be able to drink 2-3 cans without getting the same feelings as those associated with drinking too much caffeine, whereas another adult will drink&#160;one can and feel that they shouldn't drink another that day. Caffeine sensitivity is very personalized.</p>
<p>The best guideline we can offer is that if a child already drinks coffee, tea or colas etc., then there is no reason&#160;they shouldn't drink Red Bull. This is the&#160;amount of caffeine in Red Bull (80mg) compared to that of another soft drink (for instance a cola, which contains roughly 33mg of caffeine.) Red Bull therefore contains roughly 2½ times the caffeine in a can of cola.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2005/253.html" type="external">FoodProcessing.com</a> reports:</p>
<p>The two beverage segments (sports drinks and energy drinks) appealed initially to young and active rather than simply "athletic" males, but recently have become more popular with women and teenagers.</p>
<p>An <a href="http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.aspx?id=102495&amp;catId=100406&amp;tid=100008&amp;p=3" type="external">Australian consumer group says:</a></p>
<p>Twenty-seven percent&#160;of 8–12-year-old boys, 12 percent&#160;of 8–12-year-old girls, 24 percent&#160;of 12–18-year-old boys and 20 percent&#160;of 12–18-year-old girls had had at least one energy drink in the two weeks prior to the survey. It's thought that parents may also be buying these drinks for their kids, probably under the misguided assumption that they're better than soft drinks because they're called energy drinks.</p>
<p>These drinks are particularly high in caffeine, and it only takes one or two cans to give kids more than the amount that's been reported to cause increased anxiety. And if they had the 'dosage' recommended for some of the products of five cans a day, they'd also get enough to increase blood pressure and heart rate (and even cause palpitations), along with jitters and possible sleep disturbances. They can also suffer withdrawal symptoms (headaches and lethargy) when they stop taking in caffeine.</p>
<p>The article continues:</p>
<p>A further study found that some teenagers are drinking up to five cans of energy drink before sporting events, believing it will boost their performance. Energy drinks shouldn't be confused with sports drinks, which are designed to maximize hydration. The caffeine content of energy drinks has the opposite effect&#160;-- it dehydrates. At such levels, caffeine can increase diastolic blood pressure and heart rate (sometimes with palpitations) and provoke feelings of anxiety. It would also be enough to disqualify athletes from some formal competition. And while caffeine is known to enhance performance in sport, at levels of about 200–300 mg, its diuretic effect could be a considerable disadvantage.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tonganoxiemirror.com/section/living/story/7887" type="external">The Tonganoxie (Kansas)&#160;Mirror</a> did a terrific story on high school athletes who drink this stuff before and even during a game.&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jan2005/sb2005015_8196_sb017.htm" type="external">Business Week says</a> the $2-a-can energy drink market is packed with competitors who are going after the youth market in a big way.</p>
<p>The target market for energy drinks is mostly male teenagers and twentysomethings, a notoriously fickle bunch. So unlike the cola market, where Coke and Pepsi push their offerings to all soda-drinkers, most of the smaller power-drink players have decided that their best hope of gaining traction is by appealing to very specialized market segments. "Right now there's an ability to get a toehold more quickly if you can build loyalty with a niche of the market," says Kelly O'Keefe, CEO of brand-consulting firm Emergence, based in Atlanta. "The margins are high enough that you can make money on a small run of the product." Drinks have been aimed at consumers interested in extreme sports (Red Bull, Go Fast!), video games (Bawls Guarana, which sponsors gaming tournaments and encourages players to pull all-nighters), hip-hop (Crunk!!!, Pimp Juice, and DefCon 3), and even marijuana, courtesy of Merrilville (Ind.)-based brand Bong Water.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.med.umich.edu/psych/sub/maher.htm" type="external">Maher Karam-Hage</a>, M.D., an addiction specialist at the University of Michigan Health System, raises some concerns about the beverages, particularly when they are mixed with alcohol, ingested before intensive exercise or used by children. "In the United States, these energy drinks have not had any warnings. In Europe, it's been more cautionary," says Karam-Hage, medical director of the Chelsea-Arbor Treatment Center, a joint program of the U-M Health System and Chelsea Community Hospital. He notes that France has banned some of the drinks and other countries have placed restrictions on them. "In this country, our advertisements for these drinks and the marketing are ahead of the science." <a href="http://www.redbullusa.com/extras/ingredients.jsp" type="external">The energy drinks typically contain sugar, caffeine (often 80 mg per can, about the same as a cup of coffee),</a> and taurine, a sulfur-containing amino acid. Some countries have raised concerns about the amount of caffeine in the drinks and the uncertain health effects of taurine. Energy drinks are different from sports drinks, which tend not to have caffeine or taurine and are lower in carbohydrates. While Karam-Hage stops short of saying people never should consume energy drinks, he says that mixing them with alcohol is dangerous and should be avoided. "The best analogy I can come up with is it's the same as driving a car, putting one foot on the gas and one foot on the brakes," he says of combining the stimulants in caffeine and the intoxicating effects of alcohol.</p>
<p>Popping the Gum Market <a href="http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/living/12064899.htm" type="external">The (Ft. Worth) Star-Telegram</a></p>
<p>The gum market is expanding, stretching out in two new definitive directions: health-enhancing chews and unusual flavors.</p>
<p>New so-called functional gums for adults lean toward the medicinal as they become the latest "delivery systems" for a variety of nutrients, caffeine and herbs. Their function is not necessarily in their taste or texture.</p>
<p>Emerging as well are startling and exotic flavors, including a hot and spicy mango-curry gum base just created by a European manufacturer (not yet for sale in the United States), and the limited availability sugar-free chocolate gum by O'lala Foods of Chicago. Gum marketeers also are hoping to capture the attention of kids with more intense flavors, as well as with blended-fruit flavors not found in nature, as in the surprising "grapermelon" from Juicy Fruit.</p>
<p>Why the sudden pop of interest in gum? Americans spend $3.3 billion a year on the sticky stuff. About half of us chew gum, and those who choose to chew gnaw an average of 170 pieces a year. But gum sales and snack sales have not been increasing at a rate that pleases producers.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>The Plymouth-Canton school board voted unanimously June 28 to consider commercial naming opportunities for everything from the new school to athletic fields to events such as the prom.</p>
<p>It's not exactly a first: A school district in New Jersey sold the naming rights to its high school gymnasium to a local Shop-Rite, while the Grapevine-Colleyville school district in Texas has offered advertising space on school buses, sporting venues and a middle-school roof.</p>
<p>Sponsorship experts say it's hard to pin down a number for naming rights to a school because of the many variables -- size of district and wealth of community, for example -- but officials in Plymouth-Canton said that if they pursued a sponsor they'd seek a 51 percent investment, meaning a marketer would probably have to pony up $7.5 million of the $15 million cost of building the new elementary school.</p>
<p>But replacing George Washington Junior High or Martin Luther King Magnet School with Fed-Ex Elementary or Nike Public School is taking the trend to a new -- and to some, troubling -- stage.</p>
<p>"What this issue is, first of all, is the way we have abandoned public space and the notion of the public good," said psychologist Susan Linn, co-founder of the Boston-based <a href="http://www.commercialexploitation.org/" type="external">Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood</a>. "People don't see the cost, and the cost is our values and the values we are passing onto children."</p>
<p>The story continues:</p>
<p>From the secondary level to the university level there has been a sense that commercialization -- already common on the athletic field, where even pizza magnate Papa John has an eponymous football stadium at the University of Louisville, for instance -- is creeping into the classroom.</p>
<p>In Philadelphia, Temple University is considering selling naming rights to its new $150 million medical school and research facility. The idea, backed by some, including the medical school dean, has drawn outrage from others who see a clear difference between naming schools and buildings after donations from influential alumni, philanthropists and foundations, and selling naming rights to marketers.&#160;</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.watchingamerica.com/" type="external">A new website&#160;"watches" America from newspapers and websites afar.</a> It is interesting reading how critical these sites are of Americans and American&#160;policy. I doubt that it will become daily reading for me, but I added the RSS feed to my reader because it seems useful to know what others are saying about us.&#160;&#160;&#160;</p>
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<p>We are always looking for your great ideas. <a href="" type="internal">Send Al</a> a few sentences and hot links.</p>
<p />
<p>Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed, and a link will be provided, whenever possible.</p> | 213 |
<p>Photoillustration by &lt;a href="http://www.motherjones.com/authors/dave-gilson"&gt;Dave Gilson&lt;/a&gt;/MoJo. Shutterstock photos by &lt;a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-109669508/stock-photo-mormons-temple-in-salt-lake-city-ut-in-the-evening.html"&gt;photo.ua&lt;/a&gt; (temple) and &lt;a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-108300971/stock-vector-vector-icon-rainbow.html?src=Z16kczFGwQWk_Ip1SoqJWg-1-3"&gt;zzveillust&lt;/a&gt; (rainbow)</p>
<p />
<p>Last month, hundreds of boisterous protesters converged in Washington, DC, as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry, the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of California’s anti-gay marriage initiative, Proposition 8. Faith-based groups were on prominent display: the Methodists supporting marriage equality, the <a href="" type="internal">Westboro Baptists</a> suggesting (per usual) that “God hates fags,” the Catholics both for and against gay marriage, clergy of all stripes. But one group that wasn’t there in any official capacity was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—a.k.a. the Mormons—which perhaps more than any other religious group was responsible for getting Prop. 8 passed in the first place.</p>
<p>In the five years since the LDS church sent busloads of the faithful to California to canvass neighborhoods, and contributed more than $20 million via its members to support the initiative, it has all but dropped the rope in the public policy tug of war over marriage equality. The change stems from an even more remarkable if somewhat invisible transformation happening within the church, prompted by the ugly fight over Prop. 8 and the ensuing backlash from the flock.</p>
<p>Although the LDS’s prophet hasn’t described a holy revelation directing a revision in church doctrine on same-sex marriage or gay rights in general, the church has shown a rare capacity for introspection and humane cultural change unusual for a large conservative religious organization.</p>
<p>“It seems like the [Mormon] hierarchy has pulled the plug and is no longer taking the lead in the fight to stop same-sex marriage,” says <a href="" type="internal">Fred Karger</a>, the LGBT activist who first exposed the church’s major role in the passage of Prop. 8. “The Mormon Church has lost so many members and suffered such a black eye because of all its anti-gay activities that they really had no choice. I am hopeful that the Catholic Church cannot be far behind.”</p>
<p>The LDS church has been a driving force against gay-marriage initiatives since at least 1995. It was instrumental in fending off same-sex marriage in Hawaii and Alaska and, in 2000, it helped pass California’s Proposition 22 (the Prop. 8 precursor known as the Knight Initiative), which defined marriage as solely between a man and woman. (Prop. 22 was struck down by the California Supreme Court in 2008.)</p>
<p>The church’s anti-gay positions and lobbying on gay marriage have always been divisive. In 2000, during the fight over the Knight Initiative, a young gay Mormon named Stuart Matis killed himself on the steps of a Mormon ward in Los Altos, California. In a letter to his cousin shortly before his suicide, he despaired over the impact of the church’s political activities on Mormon families: “On the night of March 7th, many California couples will retire to their beds thrilled that they helped pass the Knight Initiative. What they don’t realize is that in the next room, their son or daughter is lying in bed crying and could very well one day be the victim of society’s homophobia. The Knight Initiative will certainly save no family. It is codified hatred. It is anti-family, anti-love and it is wrong.”</p>
<p>But Matis’ death didn’t slow the church’s efforts to beat back same-sex marriage initiatives. In 2008, after the California Supreme Court briefly legalized gay marriage in the state, the Latter Day Saints lent their formidable organizing skills and networks to the Prop. 8 effort, sending canvassers door to door by zip code—sometimes as many as 25,000 per weekend—much as they send out missionaries to spread the Gospel. The church has been credited with almost single-handedly getting Prop. 8 passed, despite a well-funded opposition with backing from Hollywood.</p>
<p>Prop. 8 was a Pyrrhic victory for the Mormons, however. Their role, which the church sought to keep under wraps, was exposed by Karger, who tracked the individual donations pouring into the Yes on 8 campaign back to church members. LGBT activists responded by publicizing the church’s involvement, running an ad, for example, showing fake Mormon missionaries knocking on the door of a lesbian couple and then rifling through their drawers and tearing up their marriage license.</p>
<p>The negative exposure prompted protests, and many Mormons publicly renounced their church membership. One of them was then 28-year-old Matthew Lawrence, the son of official LDS pollster Gary Lawrence, who had led the Prop. 8 fight. “I love my family so much, but it’s hard to not take this personally. We had a brief falling-out over Prop. 22, but that got mended. But two anti-gay initiatives in eight years, it’s impossible not to feel attacked,” Matthew, who is gay, wrote in 2008.</p>
<p>The LDS church had always struggled for public acceptance, and the negative press wasn’t helping. One poll, conducted a year after Prop. 8 passed, showed that the church’s favorability rating had fallen from 42 percent to 37 percent. But its image problem was nothing compared to the internal rifts the Mormons were experiencing. “The church probably deserved the black eye we got from Prop. 8,” says Mitch Mayne, an openly gay Mormon leader in the San Francisco area. “What the non-Mormon world didn’t get to see was how destructive that was inside the faith.”</p>
<p>In response to the anger within Mormon ranks over Prop. 8, the president of the Oakland, California, stake (a stake is akin to a Catholic diocese) began organizing&#160;gatherings of gay and straight members to try to bridge the differences. In September 2010, the disgruntled church members received a private audience with one of the church’s top officials, Marlin Jensen, who serves as the LDS’s historian. The church members tearfully told Jensen their stories—of being shunned by their families, and the homophobia generated by the Prop. 8 campaign. “We explained that [the church had] pitted father against son, mother against daughter, exactly the opposite of what we stand for,” says Mayne, who attended the meeting.</p>
<p>After listening to them talk, Jensen did something almost unheard of in a church whose strict authoritarian hierarchy is unaccustomed to being challenged from below: He apologized “for the pain that Prop. 8 caused [us],” Mayne recalls, choking up at the memory. It was, he says, a “very meaningful event.”</p>
<p>The apology from a high church official turned out to be just the beginning of a cultural shift toward greater acceptance of gays and lesbians within LDS ranks. In 2011, Mayne was called to serve as an official of his local San Francisco ward, as an openly gay man. It was a historic appointment in an institution with a long history of excommunicating openly gay members, which it referred to as people who were “afflicted” with same-sex attraction.</p>
<p>Since then, the church has opened its doors to LGBT members in many places, Mayne says: “Everybody is welcome here. Nobody is under that threat of being excommunicated.” In 2012, the church even created a website, <a href="http://www.mormonsandgays.org" type="external">Mormonsandgays.org</a>, to convey its desire for more-humane treatment of LGBT members. Also last year, about 300 straight Mormons marched in the Salt Lake City pride parade, a significant and emotional first. Mayne says the new website, like the church, still has a long way to go, but he and other gay Mormons see it as a step in the right direction.</p>
<p />
<p>Perhaps most significantly, the church has made a concerted effort to bring LGBT kids back into the fold. Mayne points out that gay Mormon kids have significantly higher suicide rates than gay non-Mormon ones—a problem that has been attributed to the church’s longtime policy of forcing parents of gay kids to choose between their church and their children. It also has long been common practice for Mormon parents to kick LGBT adolescents out of their homes because of their sexual orientation. (When Matt Lawrence, the church pollster’s son, broke with his family over Prop. 8, he told stories about his family’s efforts to “straighten me out” by sending him to live with homophobic cousins in Utah.) Utah foster parents, too, generally <a href="" type="internal">won’t take in LGBT children</a>. That’s one reason why heavily Mormon Utah has so many homeless LGBT kids on the streets. But even that is starting to change.&#160;</p>
<p>The church has worked with the Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco State University to craft an educational booklet aimed specifically at helping Mormons parent their gay kids, to keep them safe at home and to prevent suicide. It’s a remarkably humane document instructing church members on how to embrace their gay kids even when they’re uncomfortable with their purple hair and transgendered friends. The pamphlet is now being used in lots of Mormon wards. Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City, where the church is headquartered, the church has teamed up with the&#160;LGBT&#160;community to open a shelter for young homeless people there, about 40 percent of whom are known to be&#160;LGBT.&#160;</p>
<p>“The LGBT community had reached out to the church several times before Prop. 8 and we’ve never been able to connect,” says Jim Dabakis, head of the Utah Democratic Party and cofounder of the Utah Pride Center in Salt Lake, who has been involved in these conversations. But after the Prop. 8 backlash, the Utah LGBT community, along with national leaders, commenced a series of meetings with church hierarchy. The first meetings were “a bit uncomfortable,”&#160;Dabakis recalls. But then, “as we began to meet, and we began to introduce our families, it became much less an issue about legal points, what is the definition of a family, what kind of overarching legal principals are involved, and much more about Christian values and how people should be treated. Minds changed on both sides.”</p>
<p>Not everything has changed, of course. The church still filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in support of Prop. 8, although it doesn’t read like the same sort of full-throated anti-gay sentiment that drove the initiative. The church lawyers who drafted the document seem to have bent over backward to express how much they like gays, and to frame the issue in terms of states’ rights, as opposed to morality.</p>
<p>Mormon church doctrine still defines homosexuality as a sin. The gay Mormon website clarifies that while having a same-sex attraction is not a sin, acting on it is. Mayne was only able to take on his leadership role in the church after he broke up with his longtime partner and was single again. And noncelibate LGBT members are still excluded from “temple recommends”—access to the church’s most sacred spaces and ceremonies.</p>
<p>Dabakis says that there are still many points of disagreement. “I don’t think the church has given one iota on gay marriage—maybe they never will—and neither have we. On the other hand, we have found a lot of commonalities that we can work on,” he says, pointing towards the joint efforts to help homeless kids.</p>
<p>The LGBT community’s best evidence of change within the church is that last year, in the only four states ever to pass marriage equality laws, the church “did not provide one dime or one volunteer,” Dabakis says. He adds that in Maryland, when one local Mormon leader tried to organize to oppose a pro-marriage-equality initiative, the church shut her down.</p>
<p>Regardless of how the Supreme Court rules in the Prop. 8 case, the church responsible for its passage has been permanently changed for the better. In Mayne’s view, this all means that Prop. 8, with all its ugliness, happened for a reason: “I believe in our attempt to nail shut the Pandora’s box of gay marriage, we essentially blew the lid off of it.”</p>
<p /> | Mormon Church Abandons Its Crusade Against Gay Marriage | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/04/prop-8-mormons-gay-marriage-shift/ | 2013-04-12 | 4left
| Mormon Church Abandons Its Crusade Against Gay Marriage
<p>Photoillustration by &lt;a href="http://www.motherjones.com/authors/dave-gilson"&gt;Dave Gilson&lt;/a&gt;/MoJo. Shutterstock photos by &lt;a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-109669508/stock-photo-mormons-temple-in-salt-lake-city-ut-in-the-evening.html"&gt;photo.ua&lt;/a&gt; (temple) and &lt;a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-108300971/stock-vector-vector-icon-rainbow.html?src=Z16kczFGwQWk_Ip1SoqJWg-1-3"&gt;zzveillust&lt;/a&gt; (rainbow)</p>
<p />
<p>Last month, hundreds of boisterous protesters converged in Washington, DC, as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry, the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of California’s anti-gay marriage initiative, Proposition 8. Faith-based groups were on prominent display: the Methodists supporting marriage equality, the <a href="" type="internal">Westboro Baptists</a> suggesting (per usual) that “God hates fags,” the Catholics both for and against gay marriage, clergy of all stripes. But one group that wasn’t there in any official capacity was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—a.k.a. the Mormons—which perhaps more than any other religious group was responsible for getting Prop. 8 passed in the first place.</p>
<p>In the five years since the LDS church sent busloads of the faithful to California to canvass neighborhoods, and contributed more than $20 million via its members to support the initiative, it has all but dropped the rope in the public policy tug of war over marriage equality. The change stems from an even more remarkable if somewhat invisible transformation happening within the church, prompted by the ugly fight over Prop. 8 and the ensuing backlash from the flock.</p>
<p>Although the LDS’s prophet hasn’t described a holy revelation directing a revision in church doctrine on same-sex marriage or gay rights in general, the church has shown a rare capacity for introspection and humane cultural change unusual for a large conservative religious organization.</p>
<p>“It seems like the [Mormon] hierarchy has pulled the plug and is no longer taking the lead in the fight to stop same-sex marriage,” says <a href="" type="internal">Fred Karger</a>, the LGBT activist who first exposed the church’s major role in the passage of Prop. 8. “The Mormon Church has lost so many members and suffered such a black eye because of all its anti-gay activities that they really had no choice. I am hopeful that the Catholic Church cannot be far behind.”</p>
<p>The LDS church has been a driving force against gay-marriage initiatives since at least 1995. It was instrumental in fending off same-sex marriage in Hawaii and Alaska and, in 2000, it helped pass California’s Proposition 22 (the Prop. 8 precursor known as the Knight Initiative), which defined marriage as solely between a man and woman. (Prop. 22 was struck down by the California Supreme Court in 2008.)</p>
<p>The church’s anti-gay positions and lobbying on gay marriage have always been divisive. In 2000, during the fight over the Knight Initiative, a young gay Mormon named Stuart Matis killed himself on the steps of a Mormon ward in Los Altos, California. In a letter to his cousin shortly before his suicide, he despaired over the impact of the church’s political activities on Mormon families: “On the night of March 7th, many California couples will retire to their beds thrilled that they helped pass the Knight Initiative. What they don’t realize is that in the next room, their son or daughter is lying in bed crying and could very well one day be the victim of society’s homophobia. The Knight Initiative will certainly save no family. It is codified hatred. It is anti-family, anti-love and it is wrong.”</p>
<p>But Matis’ death didn’t slow the church’s efforts to beat back same-sex marriage initiatives. In 2008, after the California Supreme Court briefly legalized gay marriage in the state, the Latter Day Saints lent their formidable organizing skills and networks to the Prop. 8 effort, sending canvassers door to door by zip code—sometimes as many as 25,000 per weekend—much as they send out missionaries to spread the Gospel. The church has been credited with almost single-handedly getting Prop. 8 passed, despite a well-funded opposition with backing from Hollywood.</p>
<p>Prop. 8 was a Pyrrhic victory for the Mormons, however. Their role, which the church sought to keep under wraps, was exposed by Karger, who tracked the individual donations pouring into the Yes on 8 campaign back to church members. LGBT activists responded by publicizing the church’s involvement, running an ad, for example, showing fake Mormon missionaries knocking on the door of a lesbian couple and then rifling through their drawers and tearing up their marriage license.</p>
<p>The negative exposure prompted protests, and many Mormons publicly renounced their church membership. One of them was then 28-year-old Matthew Lawrence, the son of official LDS pollster Gary Lawrence, who had led the Prop. 8 fight. “I love my family so much, but it’s hard to not take this personally. We had a brief falling-out over Prop. 22, but that got mended. But two anti-gay initiatives in eight years, it’s impossible not to feel attacked,” Matthew, who is gay, wrote in 2008.</p>
<p>The LDS church had always struggled for public acceptance, and the negative press wasn’t helping. One poll, conducted a year after Prop. 8 passed, showed that the church’s favorability rating had fallen from 42 percent to 37 percent. But its image problem was nothing compared to the internal rifts the Mormons were experiencing. “The church probably deserved the black eye we got from Prop. 8,” says Mitch Mayne, an openly gay Mormon leader in the San Francisco area. “What the non-Mormon world didn’t get to see was how destructive that was inside the faith.”</p>
<p>In response to the anger within Mormon ranks over Prop. 8, the president of the Oakland, California, stake (a stake is akin to a Catholic diocese) began organizing&#160;gatherings of gay and straight members to try to bridge the differences. In September 2010, the disgruntled church members received a private audience with one of the church’s top officials, Marlin Jensen, who serves as the LDS’s historian. The church members tearfully told Jensen their stories—of being shunned by their families, and the homophobia generated by the Prop. 8 campaign. “We explained that [the church had] pitted father against son, mother against daughter, exactly the opposite of what we stand for,” says Mayne, who attended the meeting.</p>
<p>After listening to them talk, Jensen did something almost unheard of in a church whose strict authoritarian hierarchy is unaccustomed to being challenged from below: He apologized “for the pain that Prop. 8 caused [us],” Mayne recalls, choking up at the memory. It was, he says, a “very meaningful event.”</p>
<p>The apology from a high church official turned out to be just the beginning of a cultural shift toward greater acceptance of gays and lesbians within LDS ranks. In 2011, Mayne was called to serve as an official of his local San Francisco ward, as an openly gay man. It was a historic appointment in an institution with a long history of excommunicating openly gay members, which it referred to as people who were “afflicted” with same-sex attraction.</p>
<p>Since then, the church has opened its doors to LGBT members in many places, Mayne says: “Everybody is welcome here. Nobody is under that threat of being excommunicated.” In 2012, the church even created a website, <a href="http://www.mormonsandgays.org" type="external">Mormonsandgays.org</a>, to convey its desire for more-humane treatment of LGBT members. Also last year, about 300 straight Mormons marched in the Salt Lake City pride parade, a significant and emotional first. Mayne says the new website, like the church, still has a long way to go, but he and other gay Mormons see it as a step in the right direction.</p>
<p />
<p>Perhaps most significantly, the church has made a concerted effort to bring LGBT kids back into the fold. Mayne points out that gay Mormon kids have significantly higher suicide rates than gay non-Mormon ones—a problem that has been attributed to the church’s longtime policy of forcing parents of gay kids to choose between their church and their children. It also has long been common practice for Mormon parents to kick LGBT adolescents out of their homes because of their sexual orientation. (When Matt Lawrence, the church pollster’s son, broke with his family over Prop. 8, he told stories about his family’s efforts to “straighten me out” by sending him to live with homophobic cousins in Utah.) Utah foster parents, too, generally <a href="" type="internal">won’t take in LGBT children</a>. That’s one reason why heavily Mormon Utah has so many homeless LGBT kids on the streets. But even that is starting to change.&#160;</p>
<p>The church has worked with the Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco State University to craft an educational booklet aimed specifically at helping Mormons parent their gay kids, to keep them safe at home and to prevent suicide. It’s a remarkably humane document instructing church members on how to embrace their gay kids even when they’re uncomfortable with their purple hair and transgendered friends. The pamphlet is now being used in lots of Mormon wards. Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City, where the church is headquartered, the church has teamed up with the&#160;LGBT&#160;community to open a shelter for young homeless people there, about 40 percent of whom are known to be&#160;LGBT.&#160;</p>
<p>“The LGBT community had reached out to the church several times before Prop. 8 and we’ve never been able to connect,” says Jim Dabakis, head of the Utah Democratic Party and cofounder of the Utah Pride Center in Salt Lake, who has been involved in these conversations. But after the Prop. 8 backlash, the Utah LGBT community, along with national leaders, commenced a series of meetings with church hierarchy. The first meetings were “a bit uncomfortable,”&#160;Dabakis recalls. But then, “as we began to meet, and we began to introduce our families, it became much less an issue about legal points, what is the definition of a family, what kind of overarching legal principals are involved, and much more about Christian values and how people should be treated. Minds changed on both sides.”</p>
<p>Not everything has changed, of course. The church still filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in support of Prop. 8, although it doesn’t read like the same sort of full-throated anti-gay sentiment that drove the initiative. The church lawyers who drafted the document seem to have bent over backward to express how much they like gays, and to frame the issue in terms of states’ rights, as opposed to morality.</p>
<p>Mormon church doctrine still defines homosexuality as a sin. The gay Mormon website clarifies that while having a same-sex attraction is not a sin, acting on it is. Mayne was only able to take on his leadership role in the church after he broke up with his longtime partner and was single again. And noncelibate LGBT members are still excluded from “temple recommends”—access to the church’s most sacred spaces and ceremonies.</p>
<p>Dabakis says that there are still many points of disagreement. “I don’t think the church has given one iota on gay marriage—maybe they never will—and neither have we. On the other hand, we have found a lot of commonalities that we can work on,” he says, pointing towards the joint efforts to help homeless kids.</p>
<p>The LGBT community’s best evidence of change within the church is that last year, in the only four states ever to pass marriage equality laws, the church “did not provide one dime or one volunteer,” Dabakis says. He adds that in Maryland, when one local Mormon leader tried to organize to oppose a pro-marriage-equality initiative, the church shut her down.</p>
<p>Regardless of how the Supreme Court rules in the Prop. 8 case, the church responsible for its passage has been permanently changed for the better. In Mayne’s view, this all means that Prop. 8, with all its ugliness, happened for a reason: “I believe in our attempt to nail shut the Pandora’s box of gay marriage, we essentially blew the lid off of it.”</p>
<p /> | 214 |
<p>My name is JACK ELY and I’m the one whose voice is heard daily on The Kingsmen’s 1963 recording of Louie Louie, (may it rest in peace) so you know I have some music business experience.</p>
<p>First I’d like to express an opinion that probably will not be very popular but which oozes with truth. In the early ’60’s when I was recording, records were thought of as a tool to help promote live performances. The live performances were the main revenue stream and the records were just promotional tools to get people to come see the shows. Somewhere this mode of thinking got turned upside down. Consequently in years hence, record companies, producers, et. all, have made recordings, hoping to profit from the sale of those recordings alone, regardless of whether or not the artist could ever pull it off live. This did some things to the music business that weren’t very healthy. First it made available to the general public, music of artists who may or may not be good live performers; almost anyone can make a good recording with enough cut-ins and loops. And… it made music by groups of players who never ever intended to perform that music live, and who may or may not have ever been able to get along with each other long enough to really sustain any kind of a road show.</p>
<p>Music is meant to be played for the enjoyment of the audiences. For instance, if I go into the studio with an acoustic guitar and simultaneously play and sing on a recording, people would come to see me perform in that same mode; I.e. playing guitar and singing as a solo act. I don’t think they would come to see me expecting a full band. Conversely, if I advertised a ‘Night with Louie Louie” people would come expecting to see a rock band that they could dance to, and would be quite disappointed if I showed up with just my acoustic guitar.</p>
<p>The suggestions that recordings are produced today just to sell recorded music is all backwards and the sooner the record companies and producers and artists figure this out the sooner they will all quit sniveling over the fact that the entire world is freely sharing their music digitally and isn’t willing to stop; and in fact will do anything to circumvent their efforts to get paid for the recordings alone.</p>
<p>The days of producers and musicians putting bands together just to get a recording deal so they can get paid by the record company for a product that usually never even gets released; those days are over. It’s time record companies went back to their roots and became what they started out to be; entities who record working acts in order to</p>
<p>1) capture the performance for posterity, and</p>
<p>2) make a promotional tool to get audiences to the next show.</p>
<p>The solution is to give the world all the free music it wants, but to give the recording entity, whether it be a record company or a producer, or whomever, a cut of every live performance. That will do at least two things and maybe more that I haven’t even thought about yet. First it will give everyone involved in the recordings a source of revenue (pay day) for all their hard work of producing and promoting the recordings. Second, it will weed out all the so-called “recording artists” who couldn’t, in a live venue, perform their way out of a paper bag. In a down economy the public craves live entertainment, so what better time to get back to basics. The timing couldn’t be better for a profitable turn around. So now is the time to get it going.</p>
<p>I send you these thoughts in hopes that just maybe a new/old perspective on the subject of recorded music can be presented to the entire recording world and they can all start making a real profit.</p>
<p>JACK ELY, the former lead singer of The Kingsmen, is a veteran horse trainer. He lives in central Oregon.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Stop Sobbing About Free Music Downloads | true | https://counterpunch.org/2008/12/10/stop-sobbing-about-free-music-downloads-2/ | 2008-12-10 | 4left
| Stop Sobbing About Free Music Downloads
<p>My name is JACK ELY and I’m the one whose voice is heard daily on The Kingsmen’s 1963 recording of Louie Louie, (may it rest in peace) so you know I have some music business experience.</p>
<p>First I’d like to express an opinion that probably will not be very popular but which oozes with truth. In the early ’60’s when I was recording, records were thought of as a tool to help promote live performances. The live performances were the main revenue stream and the records were just promotional tools to get people to come see the shows. Somewhere this mode of thinking got turned upside down. Consequently in years hence, record companies, producers, et. all, have made recordings, hoping to profit from the sale of those recordings alone, regardless of whether or not the artist could ever pull it off live. This did some things to the music business that weren’t very healthy. First it made available to the general public, music of artists who may or may not be good live performers; almost anyone can make a good recording with enough cut-ins and loops. And… it made music by groups of players who never ever intended to perform that music live, and who may or may not have ever been able to get along with each other long enough to really sustain any kind of a road show.</p>
<p>Music is meant to be played for the enjoyment of the audiences. For instance, if I go into the studio with an acoustic guitar and simultaneously play and sing on a recording, people would come to see me perform in that same mode; I.e. playing guitar and singing as a solo act. I don’t think they would come to see me expecting a full band. Conversely, if I advertised a ‘Night with Louie Louie” people would come expecting to see a rock band that they could dance to, and would be quite disappointed if I showed up with just my acoustic guitar.</p>
<p>The suggestions that recordings are produced today just to sell recorded music is all backwards and the sooner the record companies and producers and artists figure this out the sooner they will all quit sniveling over the fact that the entire world is freely sharing their music digitally and isn’t willing to stop; and in fact will do anything to circumvent their efforts to get paid for the recordings alone.</p>
<p>The days of producers and musicians putting bands together just to get a recording deal so they can get paid by the record company for a product that usually never even gets released; those days are over. It’s time record companies went back to their roots and became what they started out to be; entities who record working acts in order to</p>
<p>1) capture the performance for posterity, and</p>
<p>2) make a promotional tool to get audiences to the next show.</p>
<p>The solution is to give the world all the free music it wants, but to give the recording entity, whether it be a record company or a producer, or whomever, a cut of every live performance. That will do at least two things and maybe more that I haven’t even thought about yet. First it will give everyone involved in the recordings a source of revenue (pay day) for all their hard work of producing and promoting the recordings. Second, it will weed out all the so-called “recording artists” who couldn’t, in a live venue, perform their way out of a paper bag. In a down economy the public craves live entertainment, so what better time to get back to basics. The timing couldn’t be better for a profitable turn around. So now is the time to get it going.</p>
<p>I send you these thoughts in hopes that just maybe a new/old perspective on the subject of recorded music can be presented to the entire recording world and they can all start making a real profit.</p>
<p>JACK ELY, the former lead singer of The Kingsmen, is a veteran horse trainer. He lives in central Oregon.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 215 |
<p>By Ken Camp</p>
<p>One high school student’s dream prompted a church to raise more than $94,000 for a ministry that provides clean water sources to people in developing nations.</p>
<p>About five years ago, Katie Honeycutt, a sophomore in the youth group at&#160; <a href="http://www.sugarlandbaptist.org/" type="external">Sugar Land Baptist Church</a>, fell asleep in the car on a family road trip. She dreamed about her Houston-area youth group holding fundraising events for&#160; <a href="https://www.water.cc/" type="external">Living Water International</a>, an organization she had heard about at school.</p>
<p>When she awoke, she described the dream to her mother, who encouraged her to tell Debi Foley, associate pastor to students at Sugar Land Baptist.</p>
<p>“She came to me with a folder filed with information about Living Water International,” Foley recalled.</p>
<p>The faith-based nonprofit organization in nearby Stafford, Texas, exists “to demonstrate the love of God by helping communities acquire desperately needed clean water and experience ‘Living Water’ — the gospel of Jesus Christ — which alone satisfies the deepest thirst,” according to its mission statement. Living Water’s board of directors includes Mark Hartman, pastor of&#160; <a href="http://sugarcreek.net/" type="external">Sugar Creek Baptist Church</a>&#160;in Sugar Land, and Chris Seay, pastor of&#160; <a href="http://www.ecclesiahouston.org/" type="external">Ecclesia Church</a>&#160;in Houston.</p>
<p>“Living Water International not only builds wells across the globe to help bring clean drinking water, but they also do hygiene classes with the community and train individuals in each location in well-maintenance,” Foley said.</p>
<p>The ministry grew out of a 1990 mission trip to Kenya involving about three-dozen volunteers from Sugar Creek Baptist Church. It began by teaching Kenyans in the Mombasa area how to drill a water well, and it grew into a ministry that has resulted in 12,797 completed water projects in 23 countries, mostly in Africa, South Asia and Latin America.</p>
<p>Honeycutt presented a plan to Foley, complete with ideas about how to involve the church’s youth group in various events to raise money for the ministry and raise awareness about the need for clean water in developing nations.</p>
<p>“I told her, ‘If you have the plan and the vision, I am in full support,’” Foley recalled.</p>
<p>The student group washed cars and donated all the proceeds to Living Water International.</p>
<p>Another initiative involved Project H2O, in which church members were challenged to drink nothing but water for two weeks and donate any money they would have spent on beverages to Living Water.</p>
<p>“It has made our church aware of the number of people around the globe who don’t have access to something that we often take for granted,” Foley said.</p>
<p>The youth group also organized an annual churchwide dessert auction. The students provide entertainment and church members bid on donated baked goods. Proceeds are designated for well-drilling projects.</p>
<p>“The dessert auction raised $13,000 in one night early on, and we raised $22,000 in one night last year,” Foley recalled.</p>
<p>In five years, the youth group has inspired Sugar Land Baptist Church to donate $94,817 to build and maintain 12 wells in Africa and India.</p>
<p>“What started as a dream has become a reality for 12 different communities, including a school in Uganda,” Foley said. “In those 12 locations, there is now access to clean drinking water, information about proper hygiene and the knowledge of the Living Water of Jesus Christ.”</p>
<p>Sugar Land Baptist Pastor Phil Lineberger praised the students’ commitment to alleviating human suffering.</p>
<p>“It speaks volumes about their priorities and their sensitivity to the most pressing needs of our world. That cup of water given in Jesus’ name is ministry extended to Jesus himself,” he said.</p>
<p>Honeycutt, a graphic design major at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, has returned home to Sugar Land Baptist Church for every dessert auction.</p>
<p>“It was never about me or something I had to lead — it always was something we could do together as a youth group,” she said.</p>
<p>— Ken Camp is managing editor of The Baptist Standard.</p> | Baptist youth inspire giving to Africa, India water projects | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/baptist-youth-inspire-giving-to-africa-india-water-projects/ | 3left-center
| Baptist youth inspire giving to Africa, India water projects
<p>By Ken Camp</p>
<p>One high school student’s dream prompted a church to raise more than $94,000 for a ministry that provides clean water sources to people in developing nations.</p>
<p>About five years ago, Katie Honeycutt, a sophomore in the youth group at&#160; <a href="http://www.sugarlandbaptist.org/" type="external">Sugar Land Baptist Church</a>, fell asleep in the car on a family road trip. She dreamed about her Houston-area youth group holding fundraising events for&#160; <a href="https://www.water.cc/" type="external">Living Water International</a>, an organization she had heard about at school.</p>
<p>When she awoke, she described the dream to her mother, who encouraged her to tell Debi Foley, associate pastor to students at Sugar Land Baptist.</p>
<p>“She came to me with a folder filed with information about Living Water International,” Foley recalled.</p>
<p>The faith-based nonprofit organization in nearby Stafford, Texas, exists “to demonstrate the love of God by helping communities acquire desperately needed clean water and experience ‘Living Water’ — the gospel of Jesus Christ — which alone satisfies the deepest thirst,” according to its mission statement. Living Water’s board of directors includes Mark Hartman, pastor of&#160; <a href="http://sugarcreek.net/" type="external">Sugar Creek Baptist Church</a>&#160;in Sugar Land, and Chris Seay, pastor of&#160; <a href="http://www.ecclesiahouston.org/" type="external">Ecclesia Church</a>&#160;in Houston.</p>
<p>“Living Water International not only builds wells across the globe to help bring clean drinking water, but they also do hygiene classes with the community and train individuals in each location in well-maintenance,” Foley said.</p>
<p>The ministry grew out of a 1990 mission trip to Kenya involving about three-dozen volunteers from Sugar Creek Baptist Church. It began by teaching Kenyans in the Mombasa area how to drill a water well, and it grew into a ministry that has resulted in 12,797 completed water projects in 23 countries, mostly in Africa, South Asia and Latin America.</p>
<p>Honeycutt presented a plan to Foley, complete with ideas about how to involve the church’s youth group in various events to raise money for the ministry and raise awareness about the need for clean water in developing nations.</p>
<p>“I told her, ‘If you have the plan and the vision, I am in full support,’” Foley recalled.</p>
<p>The student group washed cars and donated all the proceeds to Living Water International.</p>
<p>Another initiative involved Project H2O, in which church members were challenged to drink nothing but water for two weeks and donate any money they would have spent on beverages to Living Water.</p>
<p>“It has made our church aware of the number of people around the globe who don’t have access to something that we often take for granted,” Foley said.</p>
<p>The youth group also organized an annual churchwide dessert auction. The students provide entertainment and church members bid on donated baked goods. Proceeds are designated for well-drilling projects.</p>
<p>“The dessert auction raised $13,000 in one night early on, and we raised $22,000 in one night last year,” Foley recalled.</p>
<p>In five years, the youth group has inspired Sugar Land Baptist Church to donate $94,817 to build and maintain 12 wells in Africa and India.</p>
<p>“What started as a dream has become a reality for 12 different communities, including a school in Uganda,” Foley said. “In those 12 locations, there is now access to clean drinking water, information about proper hygiene and the knowledge of the Living Water of Jesus Christ.”</p>
<p>Sugar Land Baptist Pastor Phil Lineberger praised the students’ commitment to alleviating human suffering.</p>
<p>“It speaks volumes about their priorities and their sensitivity to the most pressing needs of our world. That cup of water given in Jesus’ name is ministry extended to Jesus himself,” he said.</p>
<p>Honeycutt, a graphic design major at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, has returned home to Sugar Land Baptist Church for every dessert auction.</p>
<p>“It was never about me or something I had to lead — it always was something we could do together as a youth group,” she said.</p>
<p>— Ken Camp is managing editor of The Baptist Standard.</p> | 216 |
|
<p>Sept. 7 (UPI) — Australia is developing a data recorder to be worn by soldiers on the battlefield, Minister for Defense Industry Christopher Pyne said Thursday.</p>
<p>The “Fight Recorder” — akin to the so-called black box used on aircraft — would act as an emergency beacon to reduce the time taken to reach and treat battlefield casualties.</p>
<p>“In addition to serving as a location beacon, the data captured by the Fight Recorder could be used to inform the design and performance of soldier equipment and protective wear,” Pyne <a href="https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/news/2017/09/07/black-box-soldiers-capture-crucial-data-battlefield" type="external">said in a press release</a>.</p>
<p>Australian telecommunications company Myriota and wearable technology company IMeasureU, will conduct the system development with about $559,000 of funding from the government’s Next Generation Technologies Fund.</p>
<p>“Defense will work closely with these companies to help deliver this world-first innovation,” Pyne said.</p>
<p>The minister said that when fully developed the recorder could also be used by emergency services and law enforcement personnel.</p> | Australia developing wearable 'Fight Recorder' for soldiers | false | https://newsline.com/australia-developing-wearable-fight-recorder-for-soldiers/ | 2017-09-07 | 1right-center
| Australia developing wearable 'Fight Recorder' for soldiers
<p>Sept. 7 (UPI) — Australia is developing a data recorder to be worn by soldiers on the battlefield, Minister for Defense Industry Christopher Pyne said Thursday.</p>
<p>The “Fight Recorder” — akin to the so-called black box used on aircraft — would act as an emergency beacon to reduce the time taken to reach and treat battlefield casualties.</p>
<p>“In addition to serving as a location beacon, the data captured by the Fight Recorder could be used to inform the design and performance of soldier equipment and protective wear,” Pyne <a href="https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/news/2017/09/07/black-box-soldiers-capture-crucial-data-battlefield" type="external">said in a press release</a>.</p>
<p>Australian telecommunications company Myriota and wearable technology company IMeasureU, will conduct the system development with about $559,000 of funding from the government’s Next Generation Technologies Fund.</p>
<p>“Defense will work closely with these companies to help deliver this world-first innovation,” Pyne said.</p>
<p>The minister said that when fully developed the recorder could also be used by emergency services and law enforcement personnel.</p> | 217 |
<p>By Jeff Brumley</p>
<p>Andy Jones says he has just one answer for church groups still looking for that quick spring or early summer mission: come to Augusta, Ga.</p>
<p>As the minister of missions at <a href="http://www.fbcaugusta.org/" type="external">First Baptist Church</a> there, Jones has been overseeing the recovery and cleanup work in the month since <a href="http://www.weather.com/news/winter/storms/2013/pax" type="external">a winter ice storm</a> blew through the Southeast.</p>
<p>In Augusta and the surrounding area, the mid-February storm left fallen trees, damaged homes and hundreds without power for up to two weeks.</p>
<p>A First Baptist volunteer force got to work the day after Winter Storm Pax departed the area.</p>
<p>“We have been going at this since the Friday after the storm,” Jones told ABPnews/Herald. “We attacked the structural things first —&#160;limbs on houses, patching holes in ceilings, putting tarps on roofs.”</p>
<p>But there is still a lot to do. Two other disaster-relief organizations recently left Augusta, bequeathing nearly 100 names of residents still in need of help. That’s on top of a list of 30 the church still has yet to get to, Jones said.</p>
<p>With a volunteer force of around 55 from the congregation, that means a lot of outside help is needed mostly for debris removal and clearing limbs from yards in a two-county area.</p>
<p>Two Cooperative Baptist Fellowship groups —&#160;one from South Carolina, another from Georgia —&#160;recently visited to help. But more are needed.</p>
<p>“If I could get some more groups like that, I could get this thing knocked out and done,” he said.</p>
<p>Tommy Deal, CBF national disaster response coordinator, issued a call for help on the Fellowship’s disaster Facebook page Monday. He is headed to Augusta on Sunday.</p>
<p>“I’m just going to encourage them and thank them,” Deal said.</p>
<p>Churches and individuals interested in helping may contact Jones by email at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>, or by calling him at 706.306.3015.</p> | Churches respond to call for disaster relief in Augusta, Ga. | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/church-cbf-issue-call-for-disaster-relief-in-augusta/ | 3left-center
| Churches respond to call for disaster relief in Augusta, Ga.
<p>By Jeff Brumley</p>
<p>Andy Jones says he has just one answer for church groups still looking for that quick spring or early summer mission: come to Augusta, Ga.</p>
<p>As the minister of missions at <a href="http://www.fbcaugusta.org/" type="external">First Baptist Church</a> there, Jones has been overseeing the recovery and cleanup work in the month since <a href="http://www.weather.com/news/winter/storms/2013/pax" type="external">a winter ice storm</a> blew through the Southeast.</p>
<p>In Augusta and the surrounding area, the mid-February storm left fallen trees, damaged homes and hundreds without power for up to two weeks.</p>
<p>A First Baptist volunteer force got to work the day after Winter Storm Pax departed the area.</p>
<p>“We have been going at this since the Friday after the storm,” Jones told ABPnews/Herald. “We attacked the structural things first —&#160;limbs on houses, patching holes in ceilings, putting tarps on roofs.”</p>
<p>But there is still a lot to do. Two other disaster-relief organizations recently left Augusta, bequeathing nearly 100 names of residents still in need of help. That’s on top of a list of 30 the church still has yet to get to, Jones said.</p>
<p>With a volunteer force of around 55 from the congregation, that means a lot of outside help is needed mostly for debris removal and clearing limbs from yards in a two-county area.</p>
<p>Two Cooperative Baptist Fellowship groups —&#160;one from South Carolina, another from Georgia —&#160;recently visited to help. But more are needed.</p>
<p>“If I could get some more groups like that, I could get this thing knocked out and done,” he said.</p>
<p>Tommy Deal, CBF national disaster response coordinator, issued a call for help on the Fellowship’s disaster Facebook page Monday. He is headed to Augusta on Sunday.</p>
<p>“I’m just going to encourage them and thank them,” Deal said.</p>
<p>Churches and individuals interested in helping may contact Jones by email at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>, or by calling him at 706.306.3015.</p> | 218 |
|
<p>The NDP win in Alberta is unprecedented — the party has never been more than a fringe. But what does it mean?</p>
<p />
<p>Ezra has ten thoughts on the night’s earthquake.&#160;</p>
<p>How will the new Premier, Rachel Notley, manage a caucus of accidental MLAs — including candidates so young, many are still in school?</p>
<p>Will Notley still oppose fracking, pipelines and oilsands expansion — or will she put jobs and economic growth first?</p>
<p>Notley’s husband, Lou Arab, is a senior union boss with CUPE. Will the unions gorge themselves on Canada’s most industrious province?</p>
<p>For Ezra’s answers to these and other perplexing questions, you won’t want to miss his sizzling hot take on the news. It’s a point of view you won’t find anywhere else!</p> | Ten interesting things about the NDP win in Alberta | true | http://therebel.media/ten_interesting_things_about_the_ndp_win_in_alberta | 2015-05-06 | 0right
| Ten interesting things about the NDP win in Alberta
<p>The NDP win in Alberta is unprecedented — the party has never been more than a fringe. But what does it mean?</p>
<p />
<p>Ezra has ten thoughts on the night’s earthquake.&#160;</p>
<p>How will the new Premier, Rachel Notley, manage a caucus of accidental MLAs — including candidates so young, many are still in school?</p>
<p>Will Notley still oppose fracking, pipelines and oilsands expansion — or will she put jobs and economic growth first?</p>
<p>Notley’s husband, Lou Arab, is a senior union boss with CUPE. Will the unions gorge themselves on Canada’s most industrious province?</p>
<p>For Ezra’s answers to these and other perplexing questions, you won’t want to miss his sizzling hot take on the news. It’s a point of view you won’t find anywhere else!</p> | 219 |
<p>What a couple of agnostics taught me about congregational business.</p>
<p>I have two friends who are particularly dear to me, both named Chuck. I first met The Chucks, as I call them, a few years ago in a writers’ group at Eagle Eye Bookstore here in Decatur. The group eventually got so large that the three of us peeled off to form a smaller circle, and for the better part of the next year we spent two hours every Monday afternoon reading aloud our works-in-progress and exchanging feedback and support. Chuck One worked in computers until he retired and is now penning a sci-fi thriller.&#160; Chuck Two used to be an architect and is halfway through a memoir about the years he spent as a boy in the company of Robert Frost.</p>
<p>Both are brilliant, hilarious and happily agnostic. “So this is where the abracadabra happens!” Chuck One said with a mixture of sarcasm and awe the first time I showed him our sanctuary. Quickly dubbing me their authority on all things religious, each week they dropped some new question at my feet, like a cat presents a prize mouse on the doorstep after a night’s hunt. No question was too lofty or absurd: Why did God allow the Crusades? Do TV preachers all use the same hair stylist? What does God do if Hitler converts just as the cyanide is kicking in?</p>
<p>Whenever the three of us met, in addition to our writing we also caught each other up on our families, our histories and whatever else was on our minds. We opened up to each other. We took risks with each other. In short, we became friends.</p>
<p>As it happened, during the entire time that The Chucks and I were meeting, our church was going through the kind of turmoil, anxiety and conflict that comes whenever a congregation grapples with a particularly difficult challenge. Our own conundrum had largely to do with the economic realities facing nearly every faith community in 21st century America. It was perhaps the hardest, most painful time I’d known in twenty-five years of ministry.</p>
<p>It wasn’t hard for The Chucks to see that I was exhausted, stressed and semi-depressed. One Monday as we were getting settled, they put their manuscripts aside and said, “Look, kiddo, you’ve got to tell us what’s going on. You’re a wreck. What gives?”&#160;I was caught off guard. I had never mentioned the situation to them. But they persisted, so for the next few minutes I did my best to describe it:</p>
<p>Well, see, we’re financially out of balance and, well . . . our deacons and personnel committee have called a congregational meeting and, um . . . our bylaws require that we, um, well . . . there’ll be a vote and, uh . . . we’re bringing in a professional parliamentarian and, well . . . it’s all really painful for our staff and congregation, and people are upset and some are leaving and, well . . .</p>
<p>I stopped. I could see from their earnest faces that they were totally there for me. They were leaning forward and nodding supportively like friends do. I looked at them looking at me.&#160;And then I understood.</p>
<p>This issue—over which our congregation had prayed, wept, agonized, cited Scripture, fretted, battled, held dozens of meetings and devoted hundreds of committee hours—was such an exclusively internal concern, it had about as much chance of encouraging my two agnostic friends toward God as a monster truck rally or the latest episode of Spongebob.</p>
<p>Eighteen months later I still find myself thinking about that afternoon. If your church happens to be on a steep path like the one we’ve been walking, I want to offer three encouragements:</p>
<p>1.&#160;&#160;&#160; The fact that an internal problem doesn’t translate easily to unchurched lives does not mean it’s unimportant.&#160; If the wheels are coming off the wagon, you’ve got to pull off the road and deal with it. In our own congregation the issue affected the livelihoods of beloved staff, not to mention the emotional and spiritual health of the congregation—you bet it was important. Some matters simply have to be addressed, even if they mystify the people&#160;we’re most wanting to befriend.</p>
<p>2.&#160;&#160;&#160; As you face the institutionally urgent, keep in mind the infinitely significant.&#160; In the end, it’s not about solving a problem in order to survive another day. It’s not about right-sizing the budget, or protecting staff, or releasing staff, or keeping big givers happy, or preserving our heritage. Ultimately, it’s about people who are at this moment at the gym, the corner pub, the city jail, the corporate dining room, the community garden, the immigration office, the Rotary Club or anywhere but these churches of ours.</p>
<p>3.&#160;&#160;&#160; Spend yourself for something big.&#160; When we find ourselves investing as much prayer and passion and intellect and committee energy and congregational wattage trying to befriend our estranged-from-God neighbors as we devote to all of our internal affairs—we will have taken a really promising step.</p>
<p>In the end, it’s about The Chucks.</p> | A tale of two Chucks | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/a-tale-of-two-chucks/ | 3left-center
| A tale of two Chucks
<p>What a couple of agnostics taught me about congregational business.</p>
<p>I have two friends who are particularly dear to me, both named Chuck. I first met The Chucks, as I call them, a few years ago in a writers’ group at Eagle Eye Bookstore here in Decatur. The group eventually got so large that the three of us peeled off to form a smaller circle, and for the better part of the next year we spent two hours every Monday afternoon reading aloud our works-in-progress and exchanging feedback and support. Chuck One worked in computers until he retired and is now penning a sci-fi thriller.&#160; Chuck Two used to be an architect and is halfway through a memoir about the years he spent as a boy in the company of Robert Frost.</p>
<p>Both are brilliant, hilarious and happily agnostic. “So this is where the abracadabra happens!” Chuck One said with a mixture of sarcasm and awe the first time I showed him our sanctuary. Quickly dubbing me their authority on all things religious, each week they dropped some new question at my feet, like a cat presents a prize mouse on the doorstep after a night’s hunt. No question was too lofty or absurd: Why did God allow the Crusades? Do TV preachers all use the same hair stylist? What does God do if Hitler converts just as the cyanide is kicking in?</p>
<p>Whenever the three of us met, in addition to our writing we also caught each other up on our families, our histories and whatever else was on our minds. We opened up to each other. We took risks with each other. In short, we became friends.</p>
<p>As it happened, during the entire time that The Chucks and I were meeting, our church was going through the kind of turmoil, anxiety and conflict that comes whenever a congregation grapples with a particularly difficult challenge. Our own conundrum had largely to do with the economic realities facing nearly every faith community in 21st century America. It was perhaps the hardest, most painful time I’d known in twenty-five years of ministry.</p>
<p>It wasn’t hard for The Chucks to see that I was exhausted, stressed and semi-depressed. One Monday as we were getting settled, they put their manuscripts aside and said, “Look, kiddo, you’ve got to tell us what’s going on. You’re a wreck. What gives?”&#160;I was caught off guard. I had never mentioned the situation to them. But they persisted, so for the next few minutes I did my best to describe it:</p>
<p>Well, see, we’re financially out of balance and, well . . . our deacons and personnel committee have called a congregational meeting and, um . . . our bylaws require that we, um, well . . . there’ll be a vote and, uh . . . we’re bringing in a professional parliamentarian and, well . . . it’s all really painful for our staff and congregation, and people are upset and some are leaving and, well . . .</p>
<p>I stopped. I could see from their earnest faces that they were totally there for me. They were leaning forward and nodding supportively like friends do. I looked at them looking at me.&#160;And then I understood.</p>
<p>This issue—over which our congregation had prayed, wept, agonized, cited Scripture, fretted, battled, held dozens of meetings and devoted hundreds of committee hours—was such an exclusively internal concern, it had about as much chance of encouraging my two agnostic friends toward God as a monster truck rally or the latest episode of Spongebob.</p>
<p>Eighteen months later I still find myself thinking about that afternoon. If your church happens to be on a steep path like the one we’ve been walking, I want to offer three encouragements:</p>
<p>1.&#160;&#160;&#160; The fact that an internal problem doesn’t translate easily to unchurched lives does not mean it’s unimportant.&#160; If the wheels are coming off the wagon, you’ve got to pull off the road and deal with it. In our own congregation the issue affected the livelihoods of beloved staff, not to mention the emotional and spiritual health of the congregation—you bet it was important. Some matters simply have to be addressed, even if they mystify the people&#160;we’re most wanting to befriend.</p>
<p>2.&#160;&#160;&#160; As you face the institutionally urgent, keep in mind the infinitely significant.&#160; In the end, it’s not about solving a problem in order to survive another day. It’s not about right-sizing the budget, or protecting staff, or releasing staff, or keeping big givers happy, or preserving our heritage. Ultimately, it’s about people who are at this moment at the gym, the corner pub, the city jail, the corporate dining room, the community garden, the immigration office, the Rotary Club or anywhere but these churches of ours.</p>
<p>3.&#160;&#160;&#160; Spend yourself for something big.&#160; When we find ourselves investing as much prayer and passion and intellect and committee energy and congregational wattage trying to befriend our estranged-from-God neighbors as we devote to all of our internal affairs—we will have taken a really promising step.</p>
<p>In the end, it’s about The Chucks.</p> | 220 |
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<p />
<p>New Mexico’s Spaceport America will be featured in an upcoming reality show.</p>
<p>NBC has announced an exclusive deal with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and One Three Media to create a series called “Space Race.”</p>
<p>The show will feature an elimination competition by real people vying for a free spot on one of Virgin Galactic’s commercial space flights.</p>
<p>The company is hoping to launch the flights from New Mexico’s futuristic spaceport in southern New Mexico next year at a cost of $200,000 a head.</p>
<p>Virgin Galactic is the anchor tenant at the spaceport, and much of its space will only be accessible by its high-paying customers.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>But according to a news release announcing the reality show, “Space Race” will have unprecedented access to Virgin Galactic’s home in the state-of-the-art spaceport.</p>
<p>The company’s rocket plane SpaceShipTwo last month went Mach 1.43 in a test flight in the skies above the Mojave Desert, a key milestone in Virgin Galactic’s effort to be the world’s first commercial space liner. It plans make several trips a day carrying scores of paying customers into space for a brief journey.</p>
<p>“Our spaceship is now the highest commercial winged vehicle in history,” Branson wrote in a blog post at the time.</p>
<p>Virgin Galactic has accepted more than $80 million in deposits from about 630 reservations made by people who are interested in the ride.</p>
<p>Virgin Galactic has said it hopes to reach space in test flight this year and make its first passenger flight in 2014 from Spaceport America in New Mexico.</p> | NM spaceport to be featured in reality show | false | https://abqjournal.com/275172/nm-spaceport-to-be-featured-in-reality-show-2.html | 2013-10-04 | 2least
| NM spaceport to be featured in reality show
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>New Mexico’s Spaceport America will be featured in an upcoming reality show.</p>
<p>NBC has announced an exclusive deal with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and One Three Media to create a series called “Space Race.”</p>
<p>The show will feature an elimination competition by real people vying for a free spot on one of Virgin Galactic’s commercial space flights.</p>
<p>The company is hoping to launch the flights from New Mexico’s futuristic spaceport in southern New Mexico next year at a cost of $200,000 a head.</p>
<p>Virgin Galactic is the anchor tenant at the spaceport, and much of its space will only be accessible by its high-paying customers.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>But according to a news release announcing the reality show, “Space Race” will have unprecedented access to Virgin Galactic’s home in the state-of-the-art spaceport.</p>
<p>The company’s rocket plane SpaceShipTwo last month went Mach 1.43 in a test flight in the skies above the Mojave Desert, a key milestone in Virgin Galactic’s effort to be the world’s first commercial space liner. It plans make several trips a day carrying scores of paying customers into space for a brief journey.</p>
<p>“Our spaceship is now the highest commercial winged vehicle in history,” Branson wrote in a blog post at the time.</p>
<p>Virgin Galactic has accepted more than $80 million in deposits from about 630 reservations made by people who are interested in the ride.</p>
<p>Virgin Galactic has said it hopes to reach space in test flight this year and make its first passenger flight in 2014 from Spaceport America in New Mexico.</p> | 221 |
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<p />
<p>Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry plans to let a bill that would create a new external oversight system for the Albuquerque Police Department become law, according to his spokeswoman.</p>
<p>The American Civil Liberties Union said the bill is a major step in the right direction. But the Albuquerque Police Officers Association said it “threatens the rights of police officers” and “poses significant liability issues for the city.”</p>
<p>The mayor plans to take no action on the bill, mayoral spokeswoman Breanna Anderson said, meaning it will be enacted by Monday unless he changes his mind and vetoes it over the weekend.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The measure would create a Civilian Police Oversight Agency, which would be funded from one-half of 1 percent of APD’s budget, and be separate from City Hall and the City Council.</p>
<p>The agency would answer to a board that would replace the Police Oversight Commission. The board would comprise nine members approved by the council.</p>
<p>The agency and the board would investigate civilian complaints against officers, internal affairs complaints and use-of-force incidents, which include officer-involved shootings.</p>
<p>The board would then make recommendations to the chief of police on officer discipline after reviewing those cases. If the chief does not follow the recommended discipline, he would have to give his reasons in writing within 30 days.</p>
<p>Peter Simonson, executive director of the ACLU in New Mexico, said he does have concerns that the new bill would cause the board to focus on citizen complaints instead of examining bigger policy or systemic issues facing the department. Because the agency and the board are tasked with reviewing all civilian complaints against officers, he questioned whether they would have time to analyze bigger issues.</p>
<p>“In my opinion, it’s a major step in the right direction,” Simonson said. “My hope is that the community will keep engaged, and monitor how it’s doing and advocate for improvements.”</p>
<p>Albuquerque Police Officers Association President Stephanie Lopez said some aspects of the bill conflict with policies in the contract between the APOA and the city.</p>
<p>“The APOA urges the Mayor and his people to take an extra careful look at this proposal,” Lopez said in a statement. “We believe it not only threatens the rights of police officers, but poses significant liability issues for the city.”</p>
<p>She said in an interview that the union’s biggest concern is that the board would have access to statements officers make under what is known as “Garrity” protection. That means the statements can be used only during an administrative review and not in a criminal trial.</p>
<p>The bill, which was sponsored by Councilors Rey Garduño, a Democrat, and Brad Winter, a Republican, states that the Department of Justice found that APD’s “external oversight system contributed to overall systemic problems with APD’s use-of-force encounters with citizens.”</p>
<p />
<p /> | Mayor to let APD oversight bill become law | false | https://abqjournal.com/473913/mayor-to-let-oversight-bill-for-apd-become-law.html | 2least
| Mayor to let APD oversight bill become law
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry plans to let a bill that would create a new external oversight system for the Albuquerque Police Department become law, according to his spokeswoman.</p>
<p>The American Civil Liberties Union said the bill is a major step in the right direction. But the Albuquerque Police Officers Association said it “threatens the rights of police officers” and “poses significant liability issues for the city.”</p>
<p>The mayor plans to take no action on the bill, mayoral spokeswoman Breanna Anderson said, meaning it will be enacted by Monday unless he changes his mind and vetoes it over the weekend.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The measure would create a Civilian Police Oversight Agency, which would be funded from one-half of 1 percent of APD’s budget, and be separate from City Hall and the City Council.</p>
<p>The agency would answer to a board that would replace the Police Oversight Commission. The board would comprise nine members approved by the council.</p>
<p>The agency and the board would investigate civilian complaints against officers, internal affairs complaints and use-of-force incidents, which include officer-involved shootings.</p>
<p>The board would then make recommendations to the chief of police on officer discipline after reviewing those cases. If the chief does not follow the recommended discipline, he would have to give his reasons in writing within 30 days.</p>
<p>Peter Simonson, executive director of the ACLU in New Mexico, said he does have concerns that the new bill would cause the board to focus on citizen complaints instead of examining bigger policy or systemic issues facing the department. Because the agency and the board are tasked with reviewing all civilian complaints against officers, he questioned whether they would have time to analyze bigger issues.</p>
<p>“In my opinion, it’s a major step in the right direction,” Simonson said. “My hope is that the community will keep engaged, and monitor how it’s doing and advocate for improvements.”</p>
<p>Albuquerque Police Officers Association President Stephanie Lopez said some aspects of the bill conflict with policies in the contract between the APOA and the city.</p>
<p>“The APOA urges the Mayor and his people to take an extra careful look at this proposal,” Lopez said in a statement. “We believe it not only threatens the rights of police officers, but poses significant liability issues for the city.”</p>
<p>She said in an interview that the union’s biggest concern is that the board would have access to statements officers make under what is known as “Garrity” protection. That means the statements can be used only during an administrative review and not in a criminal trial.</p>
<p>The bill, which was sponsored by Councilors Rey Garduño, a Democrat, and Brad Winter, a Republican, states that the Department of Justice found that APD’s “external oversight system contributed to overall systemic problems with APD’s use-of-force encounters with citizens.”</p>
<p />
<p /> | 222 |
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<p>BOULDER, Colo. - Boulder is increasing enforcement of the city's bear-resistant trash requirements in the wake of increased bear sightings.</p>
<p>The Daily Camera reports ( <a href="http://bit.ly/1hFOpTK" type="external">http://bit.ly/1hFOpTK</a> ) that code enforcement officers will start work earlier in the morning to catch those neglecting their trash before garbage crews arrive. When they find violations, those officers will write more tickets and give fewer warnings.</p>
<p>The decision comes after six bears have been removed from the city in just eight days.</p>
<p>The City Council pushed for increased enforcement at their Tuesday meeting. They heard from a member of the Boulder Bear Coalition, who said she sees alleys strewn with trash.</p>
<p>Boulder adopted a bear-resistant trash ordinance in 2014. All trash cans are supposed to remain latched at all times and can only be opened by garbage disposal crews.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Daily Camera, <a href="http://www.dailycamera.com/" type="external">http://www.dailycamera.com/</a></p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Boulder increases trash enforcement due to bears | false | https://abqjournal.com/639325/boulder-increases-trash-enforcement-due-to-bears.html | 2least
| Boulder increases trash enforcement due to bears
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>BOULDER, Colo. - Boulder is increasing enforcement of the city's bear-resistant trash requirements in the wake of increased bear sightings.</p>
<p>The Daily Camera reports ( <a href="http://bit.ly/1hFOpTK" type="external">http://bit.ly/1hFOpTK</a> ) that code enforcement officers will start work earlier in the morning to catch those neglecting their trash before garbage crews arrive. When they find violations, those officers will write more tickets and give fewer warnings.</p>
<p>The decision comes after six bears have been removed from the city in just eight days.</p>
<p>The City Council pushed for increased enforcement at their Tuesday meeting. They heard from a member of the Boulder Bear Coalition, who said she sees alleys strewn with trash.</p>
<p>Boulder adopted a bear-resistant trash ordinance in 2014. All trash cans are supposed to remain latched at all times and can only be opened by garbage disposal crews.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Daily Camera, <a href="http://www.dailycamera.com/" type="external">http://www.dailycamera.com/</a></p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 223 |
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<p />
<p>Dan Huss, a mortgage consultant with BNC National Bank in Scottsdale, Ariz., says buyers often call a Realtor first and then the Realtor refers them to a mortgage person.</p>
<p>“The first call really should be to a loan officer,” Huss says. But before you make that first call, sit down and do some hard thinking.</p>
<p>“Establish what you feel you could afford based on your budget,” says Huss. “Once you make that phone call and the loan officer tells you what you qualify for, the temptation to go higher is real.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Before diving into the housing market, ask yourself these five questions.</p>
<p>HOW MUCH CAN I AFFORD?</p>
<p>It may be hard to figure out what you can truly afford. “The very best ratio to have is one-fourth of your income going toward house payments,” says Jessica Cecere, formerly president of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast in Florida.</p>
<p>Cecere says she means net income, or 25 percent of what you earn after taxes — lenders calculate using gross income. “Anywhere between 25 (percent) and 32 (percent) is safe. Anything over 35 (percent) is the danger zone,” she says.</p>
<p>A higher ratio puts you at risk if anything changes, like an increase in insurance costs. “One hurricane in Florida and insurance charges can double,” she says.</p>
<p>Then there is the prospect of job loss. “With 25 percent, even with the loss of one income, you can still keep your home,” Cecere says.</p>
<p>Huss says you should know your financial situation before you approach a lender and borrow accordingly. A 30-year fixed mortgage is preferable. Chart out how high your payments would be at different rates by using Bankrate.com’s mortgage calculator.</p>
<p>Once you know what you can afford to pay on the mortgage, you can figure out your housing price range, Huss says.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>WHAT ARE MY COSTS OUTSIDE THE LOAN?</p>
<p>First-timers tend to miscalculate the total tab for sealing the purchase and the cost of maintaining a home.</p>
<p>“Have a thorough conversation about down payment costs and closing costs,” Huss says. You need to know the total out-of-pocket costs.</p>
<p>Next, make sure you consider all the monthly charges. Online calculators on realty sites don’t always include taxes, homeowners association dues, utilities, and home and mortgage insurance.</p>
<p>They certainly don’t allow for flooring and window treatments, which your landlord covered previously.</p>
<p>If you’re buying a fixer-upper, get several contractor bids so you know what lies ahead.</p>
<p>“You always have to be prepared, new or old, to make any repairs,” Cecere says. If your mortgage is at 25 percent of income, repairs can bring your cost to 30 percent.</p>
<p>“We always say you should have three months of basic living expenses in a very liquid place, and part of that is your house emergency fund,” Cecere says.</p>
<p>Finally, double-check utilities and tax costs to avoid nasty surprises.</p>
<p>WHAT DO I NEED IN A NEIGHBORHOOD?</p>
<p>“I always sit down and say, ‘Give me your wish list,'” says Chris Pagano, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker in Chicago. “What are the must-haves?”</p>
<p>Pagano says the way you live is key. He asks buyers, “What do you do when you come home?” That can help buyers determine whether proximity to a gym, park or good restaurants matters.</p>
<p>He urges buyers to consider how they will get from home to other places. Walking three blocks to a bus stop when it’s 10 degrees can be bone-chilling. If you drive, try it before you buy.</p>
<p>Check out potential neighborhoods at different times of day, Realtors emphasize.</p>
<p>“Sure, look at the MLS, see the reports, but walk the neighborhood,” says Michael Friedman, a Realtor with The Grubb Co. in the Oakland-Berkeley-Piedmont area in California.</p>
<p>WILL THIS HOUSE FIT MY LONG-TERM GOALS?</p>
<p>While you have to make a purchasing decision based on your current financial situation, you should imagine your future personal and work life.</p>
<p>Friedman suggests buyers ask themselves, “Are we going to grow our family?” and “How many bedrooms do we need?”</p>
<p>If you think an elderly parent may move in or you’ll need a home office, include that in your decision. Don’t forget about schools. Sometimes, paying more for a house can be cheaper in the long run. A pricier home in a better school district can be cheaper than a lower-priced home plus private school for 13 years.</p>
<p>“This home will let us go for public school and not pay $50,000 for private school,” may be the thinking, Friedman says.</p>
<p>AM I TRULY PREPARED TO BE A HOMEOWNER?</p>
<p>“Whatever your money attitude is, when you have a home, a lot of your money will go (to it),” says Cecere. “A lot of your time will be spent dealing with your home.”</p>
<p>Make sure you understand what’s involved. You should ask yourself before buying if you have good spending habits. If possible, take a homebuyer class in person or online.</p>
<p>If you’re ready and buy responsibly, experts say homebuying can still be a wise financial move.</p>
<p>“Owning a house is still better than renting,” Huss says. “You should absolutely be able to find a great house for what you can afford.”</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>ABOUT THE WRITER</p>
<p>Aviya Kushner writes for Bankrate.com. Visit Bankrate online at <a href="http://www.bankrate.com." type="external">http://www.bankrate.com.</a></p>
<p>——</p>
<p>©2015 Bankrate.com</p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC</p>
<p>_____</p>
<p>Topics: t000132490,t000023135,t000002537,t000040342,t000023136,t000023122</p> | Aviya Kushner: 5 questions for the first-time homebuyer | false | https://abqjournal.com/560571/aviya-kushner-5-questions-for-the-first-time-homebuyer.html | 2least
| Aviya Kushner: 5 questions for the first-time homebuyer
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Dan Huss, a mortgage consultant with BNC National Bank in Scottsdale, Ariz., says buyers often call a Realtor first and then the Realtor refers them to a mortgage person.</p>
<p>“The first call really should be to a loan officer,” Huss says. But before you make that first call, sit down and do some hard thinking.</p>
<p>“Establish what you feel you could afford based on your budget,” says Huss. “Once you make that phone call and the loan officer tells you what you qualify for, the temptation to go higher is real.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Before diving into the housing market, ask yourself these five questions.</p>
<p>HOW MUCH CAN I AFFORD?</p>
<p>It may be hard to figure out what you can truly afford. “The very best ratio to have is one-fourth of your income going toward house payments,” says Jessica Cecere, formerly president of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast in Florida.</p>
<p>Cecere says she means net income, or 25 percent of what you earn after taxes — lenders calculate using gross income. “Anywhere between 25 (percent) and 32 (percent) is safe. Anything over 35 (percent) is the danger zone,” she says.</p>
<p>A higher ratio puts you at risk if anything changes, like an increase in insurance costs. “One hurricane in Florida and insurance charges can double,” she says.</p>
<p>Then there is the prospect of job loss. “With 25 percent, even with the loss of one income, you can still keep your home,” Cecere says.</p>
<p>Huss says you should know your financial situation before you approach a lender and borrow accordingly. A 30-year fixed mortgage is preferable. Chart out how high your payments would be at different rates by using Bankrate.com’s mortgage calculator.</p>
<p>Once you know what you can afford to pay on the mortgage, you can figure out your housing price range, Huss says.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>WHAT ARE MY COSTS OUTSIDE THE LOAN?</p>
<p>First-timers tend to miscalculate the total tab for sealing the purchase and the cost of maintaining a home.</p>
<p>“Have a thorough conversation about down payment costs and closing costs,” Huss says. You need to know the total out-of-pocket costs.</p>
<p>Next, make sure you consider all the monthly charges. Online calculators on realty sites don’t always include taxes, homeowners association dues, utilities, and home and mortgage insurance.</p>
<p>They certainly don’t allow for flooring and window treatments, which your landlord covered previously.</p>
<p>If you’re buying a fixer-upper, get several contractor bids so you know what lies ahead.</p>
<p>“You always have to be prepared, new or old, to make any repairs,” Cecere says. If your mortgage is at 25 percent of income, repairs can bring your cost to 30 percent.</p>
<p>“We always say you should have three months of basic living expenses in a very liquid place, and part of that is your house emergency fund,” Cecere says.</p>
<p>Finally, double-check utilities and tax costs to avoid nasty surprises.</p>
<p>WHAT DO I NEED IN A NEIGHBORHOOD?</p>
<p>“I always sit down and say, ‘Give me your wish list,'” says Chris Pagano, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker in Chicago. “What are the must-haves?”</p>
<p>Pagano says the way you live is key. He asks buyers, “What do you do when you come home?” That can help buyers determine whether proximity to a gym, park or good restaurants matters.</p>
<p>He urges buyers to consider how they will get from home to other places. Walking three blocks to a bus stop when it’s 10 degrees can be bone-chilling. If you drive, try it before you buy.</p>
<p>Check out potential neighborhoods at different times of day, Realtors emphasize.</p>
<p>“Sure, look at the MLS, see the reports, but walk the neighborhood,” says Michael Friedman, a Realtor with The Grubb Co. in the Oakland-Berkeley-Piedmont area in California.</p>
<p>WILL THIS HOUSE FIT MY LONG-TERM GOALS?</p>
<p>While you have to make a purchasing decision based on your current financial situation, you should imagine your future personal and work life.</p>
<p>Friedman suggests buyers ask themselves, “Are we going to grow our family?” and “How many bedrooms do we need?”</p>
<p>If you think an elderly parent may move in or you’ll need a home office, include that in your decision. Don’t forget about schools. Sometimes, paying more for a house can be cheaper in the long run. A pricier home in a better school district can be cheaper than a lower-priced home plus private school for 13 years.</p>
<p>“This home will let us go for public school and not pay $50,000 for private school,” may be the thinking, Friedman says.</p>
<p>AM I TRULY PREPARED TO BE A HOMEOWNER?</p>
<p>“Whatever your money attitude is, when you have a home, a lot of your money will go (to it),” says Cecere. “A lot of your time will be spent dealing with your home.”</p>
<p>Make sure you understand what’s involved. You should ask yourself before buying if you have good spending habits. If possible, take a homebuyer class in person or online.</p>
<p>If you’re ready and buy responsibly, experts say homebuying can still be a wise financial move.</p>
<p>“Owning a house is still better than renting,” Huss says. “You should absolutely be able to find a great house for what you can afford.”</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>ABOUT THE WRITER</p>
<p>Aviya Kushner writes for Bankrate.com. Visit Bankrate online at <a href="http://www.bankrate.com." type="external">http://www.bankrate.com.</a></p>
<p>——</p>
<p>©2015 Bankrate.com</p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC</p>
<p>_____</p>
<p>Topics: t000132490,t000023135,t000002537,t000040342,t000023136,t000023122</p> | 224 |
|
<p>Oct. 30, 2012</p>
<p>By Katy Grimes</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Anyone who still has the hope of reforming California knows that it must begin with the political system. Far too many politicians in California are so heavily influenced by big money that constituents seem to be nothing more than an afterthought and a group to pander to for political advertisements.</p>
<p>For many years politicians have sought political contributions from corporations and unions, then voted the way those special interests ordered.</p>
<p>And, unfortunately, too many politically ambitious Republicans have gone along&#160;with the big-government party plan instead of thwarting the political dominance from unions and big corporations.</p>
<p>The only way to begin real reform in the Golden State is to neuter the money influences. <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_32,_the_%22Paycheck_Protection%22_Initiative_(2012)" type="external">Proposition 32</a>, the “Paycheck Protection” ballot initiative, could begin the reform process.</p>
<p><a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_32,_the_%22Paycheck_Protection%22_Initiative_(2012)" type="external">Prop. 32</a> would end the questionable practice of the automatic deduction of funds from employee paychecks for political purposes; would end union and corporate contributions to political candidates; and would end government contractor contributions to elected officials.&#160;The prohibition applies to labor unions and corporations, as well as to government contractors.</p>
<p>In only the last 10 years, the California Teachers Association, the Service Employees International Union, and the California State Employee Association, have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on lobbying and political contributions, according to the <a href="http://www.fppc.ca.gov/reports/Report31110.pdf" type="external">Fair Political Practices Commission</a>. Prominent members of the FPPC’s “Billion Dollar Club,” the CTA, a public employee union, spent $211.9 million, and the SEIU spent $107.5 million.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Between 2000 and 2010, the CSEA spent $31.8 million and the California Correctional Police Officers Association spent $32.4 million. Both are public employee unions.</p>
<p>From the private sector, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spending came in at $104.9 million between 2000 and 2010, the California Hospital Association spent $43.2 million, and the California Chamber of Commerce spent $39 million.</p>
<p>Utilities spent a great deal of ratepayer money as well: PG&amp;E spent $69.3 million, AT&amp;T $59.6 million and Southern California Edison $43.4 million.</p>
<p>The Morongo Band of Mission Indians spent $83.6 million, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians spent $69.3 million, and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians spent $49 million. There were three additional bands of American Indians that spent a combined $77 million.</p>
<p>The California Realtors Association spent $33.3 million. Even the trial lawyers association spent $21.3 million between 2000 and 2010.</p>
<p>The shocking spending increase in local political races should prove that the big political spenders think that local races matter even more than local voters do.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>In 2010, a friend of mine ran for the Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Directors. She was eminently qualified for the position. What should have been a local grassroots campaign turned into a dogged political battle when the AFL-CIO gave her opponent $30,000. She lost to union power.</p>
<p>I recently reported on the <a href="" type="internal">three Charter City initiatives</a> on the November ballot. <a href="http://www.escondido.org/charter-city-proposition.aspx" type="external">Escondido</a>, <a href="http://www.costamesaca.gov/index.aspx?page=1147" type="external">Costa Mesa</a>, and <a href="http://www.grover.org/DocumentView.aspx?DID=2510" type="external">Grover Beach</a>, currently&#160;general law cities under the California Constitution, are asking voters to allow the important change to charter cities.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cacities.org/UploadedFiles/LeagueInternet/6b/6bbb4ee3-88f9-4d8f-93ad-0075a7b486c4.pdf" type="external">Currently, California’s 121 charter cities</a>&#160;have the authority to determine their own policies concerning their municipal affairs. Some cities have used the charter more wisely than others. The three cities vying for charter approval plan to use the new charters to circumvent overbearing state mandates requiring that they pay prevailing union wages on public projects.</p>
<p>But the labor and public employee unions aren’t going to allow this to become law without a fight.</p>
<p>In the <a href="http://www.costamesaca.gov/index.aspx?page=1249" type="external">Costa Mesa charter city battle</a>, the “Taxpayers for Open and Accountable Government,” a group largely funded by the Orange County Employees Association, already has spent $360,000 to defeat the measure. Kevin Dayton, with <a href="http://laborissuessolutions.com/" type="external">Labor Issue Solutions</a>, broke the contribution down:</p>
<p>* $274,634 from the&#160;Orange County Employees Association;</p>
<p>* $20,000 from the&#160;Orange County Professional Firefighters&#160;Association;</p>
<p>* $10,000 from the&#160;California Federation of Teachers;</p>
<p>* $5,000 from the&#160;Orange County Labor Federation AFL-CIO;</p>
<p>* $5,000 from the&#160;United Nurses Associations of&#160;California/Union of Health Care&#160;Professionals.</p>
<p>Dayton reported that $110,000 has been collected by “Committee for Costa Mesa’s Future,” which is sponsored by labor unions.&#160;In fact, Dayton found that all of the $110,000 came from the <a href="http://laborissuessolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Committee-for-Costa-Mesas-Future-No-on-V-460-10-5-12.pdf" type="external">California Construction Industry Labor-Management Cooperation Committee</a>.</p>
<p>And $8,229.30&#160;has been spent by “ <a href="http://laborissuessolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/CM4RG-Form-460-Oct-1-to-Oct-20-2012.pdf" type="external">Costa Mesans 4 Responsible Government</a>” against Costa Mesa’s <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Adoption_of_a_Costa_Mesa_City_Charter,_Measure_V_(November_2012)" type="external">Measure V</a>. This big labor organization has collected a total of&#160;$39,439.67, according to Dayton. “Besides opposing Measure V, this group is trying to get a slate of three pro-union, anti-charter candidates elected to replace three fiscally responsible, pro-charter incumbent city council members,” Dayton reported.</p>
<p>Should Prop. 32 pass, the current pay-to-play, “money-in, favors out” system will largely end, and unions will be neutered monetarily. Employees should be able to decide where their vote and political contributions go, instead of by a union boss or board of directors.</p>
<p>The fight may not be a new one. But it’s clear that unions have outlived their usefulness. Today unions are only political money laundering machines.</p> | Reform for California only a vote away | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2012/10/30/reform-for-california-only-a-vote-away/ | 2018-10-20 | 3left-center
| Reform for California only a vote away
<p>Oct. 30, 2012</p>
<p>By Katy Grimes</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Anyone who still has the hope of reforming California knows that it must begin with the political system. Far too many politicians in California are so heavily influenced by big money that constituents seem to be nothing more than an afterthought and a group to pander to for political advertisements.</p>
<p>For many years politicians have sought political contributions from corporations and unions, then voted the way those special interests ordered.</p>
<p>And, unfortunately, too many politically ambitious Republicans have gone along&#160;with the big-government party plan instead of thwarting the political dominance from unions and big corporations.</p>
<p>The only way to begin real reform in the Golden State is to neuter the money influences. <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_32,_the_%22Paycheck_Protection%22_Initiative_(2012)" type="external">Proposition 32</a>, the “Paycheck Protection” ballot initiative, could begin the reform process.</p>
<p><a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_32,_the_%22Paycheck_Protection%22_Initiative_(2012)" type="external">Prop. 32</a> would end the questionable practice of the automatic deduction of funds from employee paychecks for political purposes; would end union and corporate contributions to political candidates; and would end government contractor contributions to elected officials.&#160;The prohibition applies to labor unions and corporations, as well as to government contractors.</p>
<p>In only the last 10 years, the California Teachers Association, the Service Employees International Union, and the California State Employee Association, have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on lobbying and political contributions, according to the <a href="http://www.fppc.ca.gov/reports/Report31110.pdf" type="external">Fair Political Practices Commission</a>. Prominent members of the FPPC’s “Billion Dollar Club,” the CTA, a public employee union, spent $211.9 million, and the SEIU spent $107.5 million.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Between 2000 and 2010, the CSEA spent $31.8 million and the California Correctional Police Officers Association spent $32.4 million. Both are public employee unions.</p>
<p>From the private sector, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spending came in at $104.9 million between 2000 and 2010, the California Hospital Association spent $43.2 million, and the California Chamber of Commerce spent $39 million.</p>
<p>Utilities spent a great deal of ratepayer money as well: PG&amp;E spent $69.3 million, AT&amp;T $59.6 million and Southern California Edison $43.4 million.</p>
<p>The Morongo Band of Mission Indians spent $83.6 million, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians spent $69.3 million, and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians spent $49 million. There were three additional bands of American Indians that spent a combined $77 million.</p>
<p>The California Realtors Association spent $33.3 million. Even the trial lawyers association spent $21.3 million between 2000 and 2010.</p>
<p>The shocking spending increase in local political races should prove that the big political spenders think that local races matter even more than local voters do.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>In 2010, a friend of mine ran for the Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Directors. She was eminently qualified for the position. What should have been a local grassroots campaign turned into a dogged political battle when the AFL-CIO gave her opponent $30,000. She lost to union power.</p>
<p>I recently reported on the <a href="" type="internal">three Charter City initiatives</a> on the November ballot. <a href="http://www.escondido.org/charter-city-proposition.aspx" type="external">Escondido</a>, <a href="http://www.costamesaca.gov/index.aspx?page=1147" type="external">Costa Mesa</a>, and <a href="http://www.grover.org/DocumentView.aspx?DID=2510" type="external">Grover Beach</a>, currently&#160;general law cities under the California Constitution, are asking voters to allow the important change to charter cities.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cacities.org/UploadedFiles/LeagueInternet/6b/6bbb4ee3-88f9-4d8f-93ad-0075a7b486c4.pdf" type="external">Currently, California’s 121 charter cities</a>&#160;have the authority to determine their own policies concerning their municipal affairs. Some cities have used the charter more wisely than others. The three cities vying for charter approval plan to use the new charters to circumvent overbearing state mandates requiring that they pay prevailing union wages on public projects.</p>
<p>But the labor and public employee unions aren’t going to allow this to become law without a fight.</p>
<p>In the <a href="http://www.costamesaca.gov/index.aspx?page=1249" type="external">Costa Mesa charter city battle</a>, the “Taxpayers for Open and Accountable Government,” a group largely funded by the Orange County Employees Association, already has spent $360,000 to defeat the measure. Kevin Dayton, with <a href="http://laborissuessolutions.com/" type="external">Labor Issue Solutions</a>, broke the contribution down:</p>
<p>* $274,634 from the&#160;Orange County Employees Association;</p>
<p>* $20,000 from the&#160;Orange County Professional Firefighters&#160;Association;</p>
<p>* $10,000 from the&#160;California Federation of Teachers;</p>
<p>* $5,000 from the&#160;Orange County Labor Federation AFL-CIO;</p>
<p>* $5,000 from the&#160;United Nurses Associations of&#160;California/Union of Health Care&#160;Professionals.</p>
<p>Dayton reported that $110,000 has been collected by “Committee for Costa Mesa’s Future,” which is sponsored by labor unions.&#160;In fact, Dayton found that all of the $110,000 came from the <a href="http://laborissuessolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Committee-for-Costa-Mesas-Future-No-on-V-460-10-5-12.pdf" type="external">California Construction Industry Labor-Management Cooperation Committee</a>.</p>
<p>And $8,229.30&#160;has been spent by “ <a href="http://laborissuessolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/CM4RG-Form-460-Oct-1-to-Oct-20-2012.pdf" type="external">Costa Mesans 4 Responsible Government</a>” against Costa Mesa’s <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Adoption_of_a_Costa_Mesa_City_Charter,_Measure_V_(November_2012)" type="external">Measure V</a>. This big labor organization has collected a total of&#160;$39,439.67, according to Dayton. “Besides opposing Measure V, this group is trying to get a slate of three pro-union, anti-charter candidates elected to replace three fiscally responsible, pro-charter incumbent city council members,” Dayton reported.</p>
<p>Should Prop. 32 pass, the current pay-to-play, “money-in, favors out” system will largely end, and unions will be neutered monetarily. Employees should be able to decide where their vote and political contributions go, instead of by a union boss or board of directors.</p>
<p>The fight may not be a new one. But it’s clear that unions have outlived their usefulness. Today unions are only political money laundering machines.</p> | 225 |
<p />
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Lieutenant General Herbert Raymond McMaster would be his new national security adviser, again turning to the U.S. military to play a central role on his foreign policy team.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Trump also named Keith Kellogg, a retired U.S. Army General who has been serving as the acting national security adviser, as chief of staff to the National Security Council. Speaking to reporters in West Palm Beach where he spent the weekend, Trump said John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, would serve the administration in another capacity.</p>
<p>McMaster is a highly regarded military tactician and strategic thinker, but his selection surprised some observers who wondered how McMaster, who is known for questioning authority, would deal with a White House that has not welcomed criticism.</p>
<p>He replaces a Trump loyalist. Michael Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, was fired as national security adviser on Feb. 13 after reports emerged that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about speaking to Russia's ambassador about U.S. sanctions before Trump's inauguration.</p>
<p>The ouster, coming so early in Trump's administration, was another upset for a White House that has been hit by miscues, including the controversial rollout of a travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries, since the Republican president took office on Jan. 20.</p>
<p>Trump spent the weekend considering his options for replacing Flynn. His first choice, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, turned down the job last week.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The national security adviser is an independent aide to the president and does not require confirmation by the U.S. Senate. The role has varied from administration to administration, but the adviser attends National Security Council meetings along with the heads of the State Department, the Department of Defense and key security agencies.</p>
<p>McMaster, 54, is a West Point graduate known as "H.R.," with a PhD in U.S. history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was listed as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2014, partly because of his willingness to buck the system.</p>
<p>A combat veteran, he gained renown in the first Gulf War - and was awarded a Silver Star - after he commanded a small troop of the U.S. 2nd Army Cavalry Regiment that destroyed a much larger Iraqi Republican Guard force in 1991 in a place called 73 Easting, for its map coordinates, in what many consider the biggest tank battle since World War Two.</p>
<p>As one fellow officer put it, referring to Trump's inner circle of aides and speaking on condition of anonymity, the Trump White House "has its own Republican Guard, which may be harder for him to deal with than the Iraqis were." The Iraqi Republican Guard was ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's elite military force.</p>
<p>McMaster's fame grew after his 1997 book "Dereliction of Duty" criticized the country's military and political leadership for poor leadership during the Vietnam War.</p> | Trump Names General McMaster National Security Adviser | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/02/20/trump-names-general-mcmaster-national-security-adviser.html | 2017-02-20 | 0right
| Trump Names General McMaster National Security Adviser
<p />
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Lieutenant General Herbert Raymond McMaster would be his new national security adviser, again turning to the U.S. military to play a central role on his foreign policy team.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Trump also named Keith Kellogg, a retired U.S. Army General who has been serving as the acting national security adviser, as chief of staff to the National Security Council. Speaking to reporters in West Palm Beach where he spent the weekend, Trump said John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, would serve the administration in another capacity.</p>
<p>McMaster is a highly regarded military tactician and strategic thinker, but his selection surprised some observers who wondered how McMaster, who is known for questioning authority, would deal with a White House that has not welcomed criticism.</p>
<p>He replaces a Trump loyalist. Michael Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, was fired as national security adviser on Feb. 13 after reports emerged that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about speaking to Russia's ambassador about U.S. sanctions before Trump's inauguration.</p>
<p>The ouster, coming so early in Trump's administration, was another upset for a White House that has been hit by miscues, including the controversial rollout of a travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries, since the Republican president took office on Jan. 20.</p>
<p>Trump spent the weekend considering his options for replacing Flynn. His first choice, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, turned down the job last week.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The national security adviser is an independent aide to the president and does not require confirmation by the U.S. Senate. The role has varied from administration to administration, but the adviser attends National Security Council meetings along with the heads of the State Department, the Department of Defense and key security agencies.</p>
<p>McMaster, 54, is a West Point graduate known as "H.R.," with a PhD in U.S. history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was listed as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2014, partly because of his willingness to buck the system.</p>
<p>A combat veteran, he gained renown in the first Gulf War - and was awarded a Silver Star - after he commanded a small troop of the U.S. 2nd Army Cavalry Regiment that destroyed a much larger Iraqi Republican Guard force in 1991 in a place called 73 Easting, for its map coordinates, in what many consider the biggest tank battle since World War Two.</p>
<p>As one fellow officer put it, referring to Trump's inner circle of aides and speaking on condition of anonymity, the Trump White House "has its own Republican Guard, which may be harder for him to deal with than the Iraqis were." The Iraqi Republican Guard was ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's elite military force.</p>
<p>McMaster's fame grew after his 1997 book "Dereliction of Duty" criticized the country's military and political leadership for poor leadership during the Vietnam War.</p> | 226 |
<p><a href="" type="internal">&lt;img class=" size-large wp-image-5065 aligncenter" src="http://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/GayPriest-Insert-1024x535.jpg" alt="GayPriest Insert" width="620" height="324" srcset="https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/GayPriest-Insert-1024x535.jpg 1024w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/GayPriest-Insert-300x157.jpg 300w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/GayPriest-Insert-900x470.jpg 900w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/GayPriest-Insert.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /&gt;</a></p>
<p>#LoveWins</p>
<p>#LoveConquorsHate</p>
<p>#LoveIsLove</p>
<p>#WhatIsLoveBabyDontHurtMeDontHurtMeNoMore</p>
<p>Remember all the talk about how “love wins” and we have to be tolerant of all the different things? Apparently that doesn’t count if <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/06/28/well-known-priests-amazing-response-after-he-said-two-men-spat-on-him-in-midst-of-nyc-gay-pride-parade/" type="external">you’re a Priest</a> walking down the street.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>To be fair, we have no proof of this incident. I know father Jonathan, and he’s an incredibly friendly gentleman. Almost to the point of being annoyingly nice. So this is mere conjecture, but I’ve never known him to sound a false alarm.</p>
<p>Also, to be fair, Fr. Jonathan Morris, is on Fox News and expresses opinions with which leftists disagree. If anything, it’s his fault for being out in public where leftists can see him and get triggered by his mere existence.&#160;What c <a href="http://twitchy.com/2015/06/28/lovewins-bronx-priest-reports-getting-spit-on-after-todays-gay-pride-parade-in-nyc/" type="external">hoice did they have?</a>&#160;This is how they do.</p>
<p>Father Jonathan had a choice, and he chose love. Irony much?</p>
<p /> | Priest Spit On at Gay Parade. His Loving Reaction Surprised Many… | true | http://louderwithcrowder.com/priest-turns-cheek-spit-pride-parade/ | 2015-06-29 | 0right
| Priest Spit On at Gay Parade. His Loving Reaction Surprised Many…
<p><a href="" type="internal">&lt;img class=" size-large wp-image-5065 aligncenter" src="http://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/GayPriest-Insert-1024x535.jpg" alt="GayPriest Insert" width="620" height="324" srcset="https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/GayPriest-Insert-1024x535.jpg 1024w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/GayPriest-Insert-300x157.jpg 300w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/GayPriest-Insert-900x470.jpg 900w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/GayPriest-Insert.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /&gt;</a></p>
<p>#LoveWins</p>
<p>#LoveConquorsHate</p>
<p>#LoveIsLove</p>
<p>#WhatIsLoveBabyDontHurtMeDontHurtMeNoMore</p>
<p>Remember all the talk about how “love wins” and we have to be tolerant of all the different things? Apparently that doesn’t count if <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/06/28/well-known-priests-amazing-response-after-he-said-two-men-spat-on-him-in-midst-of-nyc-gay-pride-parade/" type="external">you’re a Priest</a> walking down the street.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>To be fair, we have no proof of this incident. I know father Jonathan, and he’s an incredibly friendly gentleman. Almost to the point of being annoyingly nice. So this is mere conjecture, but I’ve never known him to sound a false alarm.</p>
<p>Also, to be fair, Fr. Jonathan Morris, is on Fox News and expresses opinions with which leftists disagree. If anything, it’s his fault for being out in public where leftists can see him and get triggered by his mere existence.&#160;What c <a href="http://twitchy.com/2015/06/28/lovewins-bronx-priest-reports-getting-spit-on-after-todays-gay-pride-parade-in-nyc/" type="external">hoice did they have?</a>&#160;This is how they do.</p>
<p>Father Jonathan had a choice, and he chose love. Irony much?</p>
<p /> | 227 |
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Rewriting the rules on health care for the poor, the Trump administration said Thursday it will allow states to require “able-bodied” Medicaid recipients to work, a hotly debated first in the program’s half-century history.</p>
<p>Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said requiring work or community involvement can make a positive difference in people’s lives and in their health. The goal is to help people move from public assistance into jobs that provide health insurance. “We see people moving off of Medicaid as a good outcome,” she said.</p>
<p>But advocates said work requirements will become one more hoop for low-income people to jump through, and many could be denied needed coverage because of technicalities and challenging new paperwork. Lawsuits are expected as individual states roll out work requirements.</p>
<p>“All of this on paper may sound reasonable, but if you think about the people who are affected, you can see people will fall through the cracks,” said Judy Solomon of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which advocates for the poor.</p>
<p>Created in 1965 for families on welfare and low-income seniors, Medicaid now covers more than 70 million people, or about 1 in 5 Americans. The federal-state collaboration has become the nation’s largest health insurance program.</p>
<p>Beneficiaries range from pregnant women and newborns to elderly nursing home residents. Medicaid was expanded under former President Barack Obama, with an option allowing states to cover millions more low-income adults. Many of them have jobs that don’t provide health insurance.</p>
<p>People are not legally required to hold a job to be on Medicaid, but states traditionally can seek federal waivers to test new ideas for the program.</p>
<p>Verma stressed that the administration is providing an option for states to require work, not making it mandatory across the country. Her agency spelled out safeguards that states should put in place to get federal approval for their waivers.</p>
<p>States can also require alternatives to work, including volunteering, caregiving, education, job training and even treatment for a substance abuse problem.</p>
<p>The administration said 10 states have applied for waivers involving work requirements or community involvement. They are: Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin. Advocates for low-income people say they expect Kentucky’s waiver to be approved shortly.</p>
<p>In Kentucky, which expanded Medicaid, Republican state Sen. Damon Thayer said work requirements could lessen the program’s impact on the state budget. They also hearken back to the program’s original intent, he added, “as temporary assistance to try to help people get back on their feet, not a permanent subsidy for someone’s lifestyle, if they’re capable of working.”</p>
<p>But congressional Democrats said the Trump administration is moving in the wrong direction. “Health care is a right that shouldn’t be contingent on the ideological agendas of politicians,” said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees Medicaid.</p>
<p>The debate about work requirements doesn’t break neatly along liberal-conservative lines.</p>
<p>A poll last year from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation found that 70 percent of the public supported allowing states to require Medicaid recipients to work, even as most Americans opposed deep Medicaid cuts sought by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration.</p>
<p>Another Kaiser study found that most working-age adults on Medicaid are already employed. Nearly 60 percent work either full time or part time, mainly for employers that don’t offer health insurance.</p>
<p>Most who are not working report reasons such as illness, caring for a family member or going to school. Some Medicaid recipients say the coverage has enabled them to get healthy enough to return to work.</p>
<p>Thursday’s administration guidance spells out safeguards that states should consider in seeking work requirements. These include:</p>
<p>—Exempting pregnant women, disabled people and the elderly.</p>
<p>—Taking into account hardships for people in areas with high unemployment, or for people caring for children or elderly relatives.</p>
<p>—Allowing people under treatment for substance abuse to have their care counted as “community engagement” for purposes of meeting a requirement.</p>
<p>The administration said states must fully comply with federal disability and civil rights laws to accommodate disabled people and prevent those who are medically frail from being denied coverage. States should try to align their Medicaid work requirements with similar conditions in other programs, such as food stamps and cash assistance.</p>
<p>The National Association of Medicaid Directors, a nonpartisan group representing state officials, said in a statement there’s no consensus on whether work requirements are the right approach.</p>
<p>“This is a very complex issue that will require thoughtful and nuanced approaches,” said the group.</p>
<p>Trump’s new direction can be reversed by a future administration. Although waivers can have lasting impact they don’t amount to a permanent change in the program. They’re considered “demonstration programs” to test ideas. The administration says the impact will be closely evaluated.</p>
<p>“We know that Republicans tend to think of Medicaid more as a welfare program, while Democrats tend to think of it as more of a health insurance program,” said Diane Rowland, the Kaiser foundation’s leading expert on the program. “It will be interesting to see how states are going to make this work for people.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Bruce Schreiner in Louisville, Ky., contributed to this report.</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Rewriting the rules on health care for the poor, the Trump administration said Thursday it will allow states to require “able-bodied” Medicaid recipients to work, a hotly debated first in the program’s half-century history.</p>
<p>Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said requiring work or community involvement can make a positive difference in people’s lives and in their health. The goal is to help people move from public assistance into jobs that provide health insurance. “We see people moving off of Medicaid as a good outcome,” she said.</p>
<p>But advocates said work requirements will become one more hoop for low-income people to jump through, and many could be denied needed coverage because of technicalities and challenging new paperwork. Lawsuits are expected as individual states roll out work requirements.</p>
<p>“All of this on paper may sound reasonable, but if you think about the people who are affected, you can see people will fall through the cracks,” said Judy Solomon of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which advocates for the poor.</p>
<p>Created in 1965 for families on welfare and low-income seniors, Medicaid now covers more than 70 million people, or about 1 in 5 Americans. The federal-state collaboration has become the nation’s largest health insurance program.</p>
<p>Beneficiaries range from pregnant women and newborns to elderly nursing home residents. Medicaid was expanded under former President Barack Obama, with an option allowing states to cover millions more low-income adults. Many of them have jobs that don’t provide health insurance.</p>
<p>People are not legally required to hold a job to be on Medicaid, but states traditionally can seek federal waivers to test new ideas for the program.</p>
<p>Verma stressed that the administration is providing an option for states to require work, not making it mandatory across the country. Her agency spelled out safeguards that states should put in place to get federal approval for their waivers.</p>
<p>States can also require alternatives to work, including volunteering, caregiving, education, job training and even treatment for a substance abuse problem.</p>
<p>The administration said 10 states have applied for waivers involving work requirements or community involvement. They are: Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin. Advocates for low-income people say they expect Kentucky’s waiver to be approved shortly.</p>
<p>In Kentucky, which expanded Medicaid, Republican state Sen. Damon Thayer said work requirements could lessen the program’s impact on the state budget. They also hearken back to the program’s original intent, he added, “as temporary assistance to try to help people get back on their feet, not a permanent subsidy for someone’s lifestyle, if they’re capable of working.”</p>
<p>But congressional Democrats said the Trump administration is moving in the wrong direction. “Health care is a right that shouldn’t be contingent on the ideological agendas of politicians,” said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees Medicaid.</p>
<p>The debate about work requirements doesn’t break neatly along liberal-conservative lines.</p>
<p>A poll last year from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation found that 70 percent of the public supported allowing states to require Medicaid recipients to work, even as most Americans opposed deep Medicaid cuts sought by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration.</p>
<p>Another Kaiser study found that most working-age adults on Medicaid are already employed. Nearly 60 percent work either full time or part time, mainly for employers that don’t offer health insurance.</p>
<p>Most who are not working report reasons such as illness, caring for a family member or going to school. Some Medicaid recipients say the coverage has enabled them to get healthy enough to return to work.</p>
<p>Thursday’s administration guidance spells out safeguards that states should consider in seeking work requirements. These include:</p>
<p>—Exempting pregnant women, disabled people and the elderly.</p>
<p>—Taking into account hardships for people in areas with high unemployment, or for people caring for children or elderly relatives.</p>
<p>—Allowing people under treatment for substance abuse to have their care counted as “community engagement” for purposes of meeting a requirement.</p>
<p>The administration said states must fully comply with federal disability and civil rights laws to accommodate disabled people and prevent those who are medically frail from being denied coverage. States should try to align their Medicaid work requirements with similar conditions in other programs, such as food stamps and cash assistance.</p>
<p>The National Association of Medicaid Directors, a nonpartisan group representing state officials, said in a statement there’s no consensus on whether work requirements are the right approach.</p>
<p>“This is a very complex issue that will require thoughtful and nuanced approaches,” said the group.</p>
<p>Trump’s new direction can be reversed by a future administration. Although waivers can have lasting impact they don’t amount to a permanent change in the program. They’re considered “demonstration programs” to test ideas. The administration says the impact will be closely evaluated.</p>
<p>“We know that Republicans tend to think of Medicaid more as a welfare program, while Democrats tend to think of it as more of a health insurance program,” said Diane Rowland, the Kaiser foundation’s leading expert on the program. “It will be interesting to see how states are going to make this work for people.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Bruce Schreiner in Louisville, Ky., contributed to this report.</p> | Medicaid recipients to get work requirements | false | https://apnews.com/2b5ad9b743ba4dd18b70d7e20d8b92d8 | 2018-01-12 | 2least
| Medicaid recipients to get work requirements
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Rewriting the rules on health care for the poor, the Trump administration said Thursday it will allow states to require “able-bodied” Medicaid recipients to work, a hotly debated first in the program’s half-century history.</p>
<p>Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said requiring work or community involvement can make a positive difference in people’s lives and in their health. The goal is to help people move from public assistance into jobs that provide health insurance. “We see people moving off of Medicaid as a good outcome,” she said.</p>
<p>But advocates said work requirements will become one more hoop for low-income people to jump through, and many could be denied needed coverage because of technicalities and challenging new paperwork. Lawsuits are expected as individual states roll out work requirements.</p>
<p>“All of this on paper may sound reasonable, but if you think about the people who are affected, you can see people will fall through the cracks,” said Judy Solomon of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which advocates for the poor.</p>
<p>Created in 1965 for families on welfare and low-income seniors, Medicaid now covers more than 70 million people, or about 1 in 5 Americans. The federal-state collaboration has become the nation’s largest health insurance program.</p>
<p>Beneficiaries range from pregnant women and newborns to elderly nursing home residents. Medicaid was expanded under former President Barack Obama, with an option allowing states to cover millions more low-income adults. Many of them have jobs that don’t provide health insurance.</p>
<p>People are not legally required to hold a job to be on Medicaid, but states traditionally can seek federal waivers to test new ideas for the program.</p>
<p>Verma stressed that the administration is providing an option for states to require work, not making it mandatory across the country. Her agency spelled out safeguards that states should put in place to get federal approval for their waivers.</p>
<p>States can also require alternatives to work, including volunteering, caregiving, education, job training and even treatment for a substance abuse problem.</p>
<p>The administration said 10 states have applied for waivers involving work requirements or community involvement. They are: Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin. Advocates for low-income people say they expect Kentucky’s waiver to be approved shortly.</p>
<p>In Kentucky, which expanded Medicaid, Republican state Sen. Damon Thayer said work requirements could lessen the program’s impact on the state budget. They also hearken back to the program’s original intent, he added, “as temporary assistance to try to help people get back on their feet, not a permanent subsidy for someone’s lifestyle, if they’re capable of working.”</p>
<p>But congressional Democrats said the Trump administration is moving in the wrong direction. “Health care is a right that shouldn’t be contingent on the ideological agendas of politicians,” said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees Medicaid.</p>
<p>The debate about work requirements doesn’t break neatly along liberal-conservative lines.</p>
<p>A poll last year from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation found that 70 percent of the public supported allowing states to require Medicaid recipients to work, even as most Americans opposed deep Medicaid cuts sought by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration.</p>
<p>Another Kaiser study found that most working-age adults on Medicaid are already employed. Nearly 60 percent work either full time or part time, mainly for employers that don’t offer health insurance.</p>
<p>Most who are not working report reasons such as illness, caring for a family member or going to school. Some Medicaid recipients say the coverage has enabled them to get healthy enough to return to work.</p>
<p>Thursday’s administration guidance spells out safeguards that states should consider in seeking work requirements. These include:</p>
<p>—Exempting pregnant women, disabled people and the elderly.</p>
<p>—Taking into account hardships for people in areas with high unemployment, or for people caring for children or elderly relatives.</p>
<p>—Allowing people under treatment for substance abuse to have their care counted as “community engagement” for purposes of meeting a requirement.</p>
<p>The administration said states must fully comply with federal disability and civil rights laws to accommodate disabled people and prevent those who are medically frail from being denied coverage. States should try to align their Medicaid work requirements with similar conditions in other programs, such as food stamps and cash assistance.</p>
<p>The National Association of Medicaid Directors, a nonpartisan group representing state officials, said in a statement there’s no consensus on whether work requirements are the right approach.</p>
<p>“This is a very complex issue that will require thoughtful and nuanced approaches,” said the group.</p>
<p>Trump’s new direction can be reversed by a future administration. Although waivers can have lasting impact they don’t amount to a permanent change in the program. They’re considered “demonstration programs” to test ideas. The administration says the impact will be closely evaluated.</p>
<p>“We know that Republicans tend to think of Medicaid more as a welfare program, while Democrats tend to think of it as more of a health insurance program,” said Diane Rowland, the Kaiser foundation’s leading expert on the program. “It will be interesting to see how states are going to make this work for people.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Bruce Schreiner in Louisville, Ky., contributed to this report.</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Rewriting the rules on health care for the poor, the Trump administration said Thursday it will allow states to require “able-bodied” Medicaid recipients to work, a hotly debated first in the program’s half-century history.</p>
<p>Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said requiring work or community involvement can make a positive difference in people’s lives and in their health. The goal is to help people move from public assistance into jobs that provide health insurance. “We see people moving off of Medicaid as a good outcome,” she said.</p>
<p>But advocates said work requirements will become one more hoop for low-income people to jump through, and many could be denied needed coverage because of technicalities and challenging new paperwork. Lawsuits are expected as individual states roll out work requirements.</p>
<p>“All of this on paper may sound reasonable, but if you think about the people who are affected, you can see people will fall through the cracks,” said Judy Solomon of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which advocates for the poor.</p>
<p>Created in 1965 for families on welfare and low-income seniors, Medicaid now covers more than 70 million people, or about 1 in 5 Americans. The federal-state collaboration has become the nation’s largest health insurance program.</p>
<p>Beneficiaries range from pregnant women and newborns to elderly nursing home residents. Medicaid was expanded under former President Barack Obama, with an option allowing states to cover millions more low-income adults. Many of them have jobs that don’t provide health insurance.</p>
<p>People are not legally required to hold a job to be on Medicaid, but states traditionally can seek federal waivers to test new ideas for the program.</p>
<p>Verma stressed that the administration is providing an option for states to require work, not making it mandatory across the country. Her agency spelled out safeguards that states should put in place to get federal approval for their waivers.</p>
<p>States can also require alternatives to work, including volunteering, caregiving, education, job training and even treatment for a substance abuse problem.</p>
<p>The administration said 10 states have applied for waivers involving work requirements or community involvement. They are: Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin. Advocates for low-income people say they expect Kentucky’s waiver to be approved shortly.</p>
<p>In Kentucky, which expanded Medicaid, Republican state Sen. Damon Thayer said work requirements could lessen the program’s impact on the state budget. They also hearken back to the program’s original intent, he added, “as temporary assistance to try to help people get back on their feet, not a permanent subsidy for someone’s lifestyle, if they’re capable of working.”</p>
<p>But congressional Democrats said the Trump administration is moving in the wrong direction. “Health care is a right that shouldn’t be contingent on the ideological agendas of politicians,” said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees Medicaid.</p>
<p>The debate about work requirements doesn’t break neatly along liberal-conservative lines.</p>
<p>A poll last year from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation found that 70 percent of the public supported allowing states to require Medicaid recipients to work, even as most Americans opposed deep Medicaid cuts sought by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration.</p>
<p>Another Kaiser study found that most working-age adults on Medicaid are already employed. Nearly 60 percent work either full time or part time, mainly for employers that don’t offer health insurance.</p>
<p>Most who are not working report reasons such as illness, caring for a family member or going to school. Some Medicaid recipients say the coverage has enabled them to get healthy enough to return to work.</p>
<p>Thursday’s administration guidance spells out safeguards that states should consider in seeking work requirements. These include:</p>
<p>—Exempting pregnant women, disabled people and the elderly.</p>
<p>—Taking into account hardships for people in areas with high unemployment, or for people caring for children or elderly relatives.</p>
<p>—Allowing people under treatment for substance abuse to have their care counted as “community engagement” for purposes of meeting a requirement.</p>
<p>The administration said states must fully comply with federal disability and civil rights laws to accommodate disabled people and prevent those who are medically frail from being denied coverage. States should try to align their Medicaid work requirements with similar conditions in other programs, such as food stamps and cash assistance.</p>
<p>The National Association of Medicaid Directors, a nonpartisan group representing state officials, said in a statement there’s no consensus on whether work requirements are the right approach.</p>
<p>“This is a very complex issue that will require thoughtful and nuanced approaches,” said the group.</p>
<p>Trump’s new direction can be reversed by a future administration. Although waivers can have lasting impact they don’t amount to a permanent change in the program. They’re considered “demonstration programs” to test ideas. The administration says the impact will be closely evaluated.</p>
<p>“We know that Republicans tend to think of Medicaid more as a welfare program, while Democrats tend to think of it as more of a health insurance program,” said Diane Rowland, the Kaiser foundation’s leading expert on the program. “It will be interesting to see how states are going to make this work for people.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Bruce Schreiner in Louisville, Ky., contributed to this report.</p> | 228 |
<p>When I picked up a ringing phone Monday morning, the next thing I knew a producer was inviting me to appear on Glenn Beck’s TV show.</p>
<p>Beck has become a national phenom with his nightly hour of polemics on CNN Headline News — urging war on Iran, denouncing “political correctness” at home, trashing immigrants who don’t speak English, mocking environmentalists as repressive zealots, and generally trying to denigrate progressive outlooks.</p>
<p>Our segment, the producer said, would focus on a recent NBC news report praising the virtues of energy-efficient LED light bulbs without acknowledging that the network’s parent company, General Electric, sells them. I figured it was a safe bet that Beck’s enthusiasm for full disclosure from media would be selective.</p>
<p>A few hours later, I was staring into a camera lens at the CNN bureau in San Francisco while Beck launched into his opening. What had occurred on the “NBC Nightly News,” he explained, “was at best a major breach of journalistic integrity.” And he pointed out: “The problem isn’t what NBC is promoting. It’s what they’re not disclosing.”</p>
<p>A minute later, Beck asked his first question: “Norman, you agree with me that they should have disclosed this?” The unedited transcript tells what happened next.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “It’s a big problem when there’s not disclosure. I’m glad you opened this up. And I wouldn’t want any viewers of this program to be left with the impression that somehow General Electric is an environmentally conscious company.</p>
<p>“On the contrary, they have a 30-year history of refusing and actually fighting against efforts to make them clean up the Hudson River, which GE fouled with terrible quantities of horrific PCBs, other rivers as well. People told they can’t fish in the Hudson River. General Electric still lobbying to not have to clean up.</p>
<p>“General Electric, even today — and this report is very timely — General Electric is lobbying to get Congress to pass $18 billion in taxpayer-backed loan guarantees for a huge GE product which is General Electric components for nuclear power plants. So we should not be fooled in any way by efforts to greenwash General Electric or any other company.”</p>
<p>BECK: “You know what’s amazing to me? GE has a bigger budget for — special interest budget than all of the oil companies combined, and yet nobody says anything. Let me reverse this.</p>
<p>“Norman, do you think if I got on as somebody who says I don’t know what we can do about global warming, I’m not sure man causes it, and I certainly don’t want to have laws and regulations on this, if I got on and said that but I was being — my corporate — my corporate parent was Exxon Mobil, do you think I’d get away with that for a second without that being on the front page of the New York Times?”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “Well, other networks, including General Electric’s NBC, have been very slow on global warming. And in fact, General Electric has major interest in components and products used by the oil and gas industry.</p>
<p>“I think if you look across the board, all the major networks, even so-called public broadcasting, which has Chevron underwriting its ‘Washington Week’ program every Friday, there is a problem, as you say. I think your words are very apt, ‘promoting’ but ‘not disclosing.’</p>
<p>“But let’s be clear about this, Glenn. I have a list here, for instance, that I jotted down.</p>
<p>“ABC, owned by Disney. ABC doesn’t disclose in their relevant news reports about Disney’s stake in sweatshops.</p>
<p>“Fox News — and now as of the last couple of days now, Wall Street Journal owned by the same entity, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp — they don’t disclose that the ownership is entangled with the Chinese government to the detriment of human rights but to the advancement of the profit margin of the parent company.”</p>
<p>BECK: “See –”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “We would be remiss, Glenn, if we left out CNN, because CNN has a huge multi, multibillion-dollar stake in Internet deregulation and the failure of the Congress to safeguard so far what would be called net neutrality. So every time CNN does a news report on the Internet, on efforts to regulate or deregulate or create a two- or three-tier system of the Internet, CNN News should disclose that Time Warner, the parent company, stands to gain or lose billions of dollars in those terms.</p>
<p>“And one more thing.”</p>
<p>BECK: “Real quick.”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “A major — a major advertiser for CNN is the largest military contractor in the United States, Lockheed Martin. So when you and others –”</p>
<p>BECK: “I got news for you, Norman. Norman –”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “– promote war — when you and others promote war on this network –”</p>
<p>BECK: “Norman — Norman –”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “– we have Lockheed Martin paying millions of dollars undisclosed. So I would quote you –”</p>
<p>BECK: “Norman — Norman –”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “Promoting but not disclosing is a bad way to go.”</p>
<p>BECK: “Norman, let me just tell you this. First of all, Lockheed Martin is not a — not a corporate overlord of this program.”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “It’s a major advertiser on CNN.”</p>
<p>BECK: “That’s fine. That’s fine. Advertisers are different. But let –”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “Well, it is fine, but it should be disclosed.”</p>
<p>BECK: “Norman, let me just tell you something. If you think that it’s warmonger central downstairs at CNN, you’re out of your mind. But that’s a different story.”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “Well, upstairs, when I watch Glenn Beck, in terms of attacking Iran, it certainly is. It’s lucrative for the oil companies, as well as for the major advertiser on CNN, Lockheed Martin.”</p>
<p>BECK: “But we’re not talking about advertisers. We are talking about –”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “Well, you don’t want to talk about it. So let’s talk about the Internet stake.”</p>
<p>BECK: “No, no, no. Norman –”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “Let’s talk about the Internet stake that the owners of CNN have. Huge profits to be made or lost by the parent company of CNN depending on what happens in Washington in terms of Internet regulation.”</p>
<p>BECK: “Norman, let me tell you something.”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “That should be acknowledged, don’t you think?”</p>
<p>BECK: “Absolutely. And if it was on this program, it would be acknowledged.</p>
<p>“I thank you very much for your time.</p>
<p>“That just goes to show you, you’ve got to beware of everybody who you’re getting your news from. Wouldn’t it be nice if once in a while somebody came on and said, you know, I don’t really have an agenda except the truth? It’s my truth. If you don’t like it, you should go someplace else.”</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>During the back-and-forth, I’d understated the present-day role of Chevron as a funder of key news programming on PBS. Actually the Chevron Corporation, which signed on as an underwriter of “Washington Week” last year, no longer helps pay the piper there — but the massive energy firm does currently funnel big bucks to the most influential show on PBS, the nightly “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.”</p>
<p>The corporate funders of the “NewsHour” now include not only Chevron but also AT&amp;T and Pacific Life. There must be dozens of journalistic reports on the program every week — whether relevant to the business worlds of energy, communications or insurance — that warrant, and lack, real-time disclosures while the news accounts are on the air. Meanwhile, over at “Washington Week,” the corporate cash now flows in from the huge military contractor Boeing and the National Mining Association.</p>
<p>And that’s just “public broadcasting.” On avowedly commercial networks, awash in corporate ownership interests and advertising revenues, a thorough policy of disclosure in the course of news coverage would require that most of the airtime be devoted to shedding light on the media outlet conflicts-of-interest of the reporting in progress.</p>
<p>And what about Glenn Beck? The guy is another in a long line of demagogues riding a bull market for pseudo-populism. Brought to you by too many corporate interests to name.</p>
<p>NORMAN SOLOMON is the author of <a href="" type="internal">Made Love, Got War.</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The Mad Corporate World of Glenn Beck | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/12/19/the-mad-corporate-world-of-glenn-beck/ | 2007-12-19 | 4left
| The Mad Corporate World of Glenn Beck
<p>When I picked up a ringing phone Monday morning, the next thing I knew a producer was inviting me to appear on Glenn Beck’s TV show.</p>
<p>Beck has become a national phenom with his nightly hour of polemics on CNN Headline News — urging war on Iran, denouncing “political correctness” at home, trashing immigrants who don’t speak English, mocking environmentalists as repressive zealots, and generally trying to denigrate progressive outlooks.</p>
<p>Our segment, the producer said, would focus on a recent NBC news report praising the virtues of energy-efficient LED light bulbs without acknowledging that the network’s parent company, General Electric, sells them. I figured it was a safe bet that Beck’s enthusiasm for full disclosure from media would be selective.</p>
<p>A few hours later, I was staring into a camera lens at the CNN bureau in San Francisco while Beck launched into his opening. What had occurred on the “NBC Nightly News,” he explained, “was at best a major breach of journalistic integrity.” And he pointed out: “The problem isn’t what NBC is promoting. It’s what they’re not disclosing.”</p>
<p>A minute later, Beck asked his first question: “Norman, you agree with me that they should have disclosed this?” The unedited transcript tells what happened next.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “It’s a big problem when there’s not disclosure. I’m glad you opened this up. And I wouldn’t want any viewers of this program to be left with the impression that somehow General Electric is an environmentally conscious company.</p>
<p>“On the contrary, they have a 30-year history of refusing and actually fighting against efforts to make them clean up the Hudson River, which GE fouled with terrible quantities of horrific PCBs, other rivers as well. People told they can’t fish in the Hudson River. General Electric still lobbying to not have to clean up.</p>
<p>“General Electric, even today — and this report is very timely — General Electric is lobbying to get Congress to pass $18 billion in taxpayer-backed loan guarantees for a huge GE product which is General Electric components for nuclear power plants. So we should not be fooled in any way by efforts to greenwash General Electric or any other company.”</p>
<p>BECK: “You know what’s amazing to me? GE has a bigger budget for — special interest budget than all of the oil companies combined, and yet nobody says anything. Let me reverse this.</p>
<p>“Norman, do you think if I got on as somebody who says I don’t know what we can do about global warming, I’m not sure man causes it, and I certainly don’t want to have laws and regulations on this, if I got on and said that but I was being — my corporate — my corporate parent was Exxon Mobil, do you think I’d get away with that for a second without that being on the front page of the New York Times?”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “Well, other networks, including General Electric’s NBC, have been very slow on global warming. And in fact, General Electric has major interest in components and products used by the oil and gas industry.</p>
<p>“I think if you look across the board, all the major networks, even so-called public broadcasting, which has Chevron underwriting its ‘Washington Week’ program every Friday, there is a problem, as you say. I think your words are very apt, ‘promoting’ but ‘not disclosing.’</p>
<p>“But let’s be clear about this, Glenn. I have a list here, for instance, that I jotted down.</p>
<p>“ABC, owned by Disney. ABC doesn’t disclose in their relevant news reports about Disney’s stake in sweatshops.</p>
<p>“Fox News — and now as of the last couple of days now, Wall Street Journal owned by the same entity, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp — they don’t disclose that the ownership is entangled with the Chinese government to the detriment of human rights but to the advancement of the profit margin of the parent company.”</p>
<p>BECK: “See –”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “We would be remiss, Glenn, if we left out CNN, because CNN has a huge multi, multibillion-dollar stake in Internet deregulation and the failure of the Congress to safeguard so far what would be called net neutrality. So every time CNN does a news report on the Internet, on efforts to regulate or deregulate or create a two- or three-tier system of the Internet, CNN News should disclose that Time Warner, the parent company, stands to gain or lose billions of dollars in those terms.</p>
<p>“And one more thing.”</p>
<p>BECK: “Real quick.”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “A major — a major advertiser for CNN is the largest military contractor in the United States, Lockheed Martin. So when you and others –”</p>
<p>BECK: “I got news for you, Norman. Norman –”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “– promote war — when you and others promote war on this network –”</p>
<p>BECK: “Norman — Norman –”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “– we have Lockheed Martin paying millions of dollars undisclosed. So I would quote you –”</p>
<p>BECK: “Norman — Norman –”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “Promoting but not disclosing is a bad way to go.”</p>
<p>BECK: “Norman, let me just tell you this. First of all, Lockheed Martin is not a — not a corporate overlord of this program.”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “It’s a major advertiser on CNN.”</p>
<p>BECK: “That’s fine. That’s fine. Advertisers are different. But let –”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “Well, it is fine, but it should be disclosed.”</p>
<p>BECK: “Norman, let me just tell you something. If you think that it’s warmonger central downstairs at CNN, you’re out of your mind. But that’s a different story.”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “Well, upstairs, when I watch Glenn Beck, in terms of attacking Iran, it certainly is. It’s lucrative for the oil companies, as well as for the major advertiser on CNN, Lockheed Martin.”</p>
<p>BECK: “But we’re not talking about advertisers. We are talking about –”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “Well, you don’t want to talk about it. So let’s talk about the Internet stake.”</p>
<p>BECK: “No, no, no. Norman –”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “Let’s talk about the Internet stake that the owners of CNN have. Huge profits to be made or lost by the parent company of CNN depending on what happens in Washington in terms of Internet regulation.”</p>
<p>BECK: “Norman, let me tell you something.”</p>
<p>SOLOMON: “That should be acknowledged, don’t you think?”</p>
<p>BECK: “Absolutely. And if it was on this program, it would be acknowledged.</p>
<p>“I thank you very much for your time.</p>
<p>“That just goes to show you, you’ve got to beware of everybody who you’re getting your news from. Wouldn’t it be nice if once in a while somebody came on and said, you know, I don’t really have an agenda except the truth? It’s my truth. If you don’t like it, you should go someplace else.”</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>During the back-and-forth, I’d understated the present-day role of Chevron as a funder of key news programming on PBS. Actually the Chevron Corporation, which signed on as an underwriter of “Washington Week” last year, no longer helps pay the piper there — but the massive energy firm does currently funnel big bucks to the most influential show on PBS, the nightly “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.”</p>
<p>The corporate funders of the “NewsHour” now include not only Chevron but also AT&amp;T and Pacific Life. There must be dozens of journalistic reports on the program every week — whether relevant to the business worlds of energy, communications or insurance — that warrant, and lack, real-time disclosures while the news accounts are on the air. Meanwhile, over at “Washington Week,” the corporate cash now flows in from the huge military contractor Boeing and the National Mining Association.</p>
<p>And that’s just “public broadcasting.” On avowedly commercial networks, awash in corporate ownership interests and advertising revenues, a thorough policy of disclosure in the course of news coverage would require that most of the airtime be devoted to shedding light on the media outlet conflicts-of-interest of the reporting in progress.</p>
<p>And what about Glenn Beck? The guy is another in a long line of demagogues riding a bull market for pseudo-populism. Brought to you by too many corporate interests to name.</p>
<p>NORMAN SOLOMON is the author of <a href="" type="internal">Made Love, Got War.</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 229 |
<p>Iranian prosecutors today said the <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/iran/121108/sattar-beheshti-iranian-opposition-blogger-dies-days-a" type="external">death of opposition blogger Sattar Beheshti</a> while in jail earlier this month was probably due to "excessive psychological stress," according to official statements&#160; <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20463078" type="external">cited by BBC News</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/syria/121119/iran-200-syrian-politicians-convene-tehran" type="external">&#160;Iran: 200 Syrian politicians convene in Tehran</a></p>
<p>The 35-year-old dissident blogger was reported dead just days after being taken into custody on October 30 charges of working "against national security on social networks and Facebook." Online activists are often arrested on similar charges in Iran, where protest against the government is not tolerated.&#160;</p>
<p>The reason for his death was not clear, but rumors circulated that he had been tortured to death, sparking outcry from international leaders and leading to a <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/iran/121111/iran-parliament-probe-death-opposition-blogger-sattari" type="external">rare probe from parliament</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>Iran's prosecutor's office today said it is "not possible to determine the exact cause of [Beheshti's] death" but said "the most likely cause leading to death may be shock," according to statement <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20463078" type="external">quoted by BBC</a> as published by Iran's official <a href="http://old.irna.ir/ENService.aspx?SSID=151" type="external">IRNA news agency</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>Azerbaijan's Trend News <a href="http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/2091359.html" type="external">cited the same report</a> as saying "the most likely cause of death would be the shock of blows to sensitive body parts or psychological pressure."</p>
<p>Trend <a href="http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/2091359.html" type="external">also said</a> several people had been detained as part of lawmakers' probe into the incident.&#160;</p>
<p>Beheshti's mother has reportedly been banned from speaking about her son's death publicly, but <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20463078" type="external">BBC cited</a> her as <a href="http://www.kaleme.com/1391/09/02/klm-121231/" type="external">telling the opposition Kalameh website</a> that officials tried to give her "blood money."&#160;</p>
<p>"I said I didn't want any," she reportedly said. "What I want is for the world to know that they killed my son. They killed Sattar."</p>
<p>Beheshti indicated he had been harassed in the days leading up to his death, writing shortly before he died: "They threatened me yesterday that my mother would wear black because I don't shut my mouth," <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/08/iran-accused-torturing-blogger-death" type="external">The Guardian said</a>, citing his blog.&#160;</p>
<p>"I told them [the officials] that I only write what I see and what I hear, but they responded that they would do everything they can to shut me up, to stop me from spreading news," Beheshti said, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/08/iran-accused-torturing-blogger-death" type="external">according to The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>"They said they will shut me up in a way that no name or sign would remain of me." &#160;</p> | Iran: dissident blogger Sattar Beheshti probably died of 'shock' | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-11-23/iran-dissident-blogger-sattar-beheshti-probably-died-shock | 2012-11-23 | 3left-center
| Iran: dissident blogger Sattar Beheshti probably died of 'shock'
<p>Iranian prosecutors today said the <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/iran/121108/sattar-beheshti-iranian-opposition-blogger-dies-days-a" type="external">death of opposition blogger Sattar Beheshti</a> while in jail earlier this month was probably due to "excessive psychological stress," according to official statements&#160; <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20463078" type="external">cited by BBC News</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/syria/121119/iran-200-syrian-politicians-convene-tehran" type="external">&#160;Iran: 200 Syrian politicians convene in Tehran</a></p>
<p>The 35-year-old dissident blogger was reported dead just days after being taken into custody on October 30 charges of working "against national security on social networks and Facebook." Online activists are often arrested on similar charges in Iran, where protest against the government is not tolerated.&#160;</p>
<p>The reason for his death was not clear, but rumors circulated that he had been tortured to death, sparking outcry from international leaders and leading to a <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/iran/121111/iran-parliament-probe-death-opposition-blogger-sattari" type="external">rare probe from parliament</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>Iran's prosecutor's office today said it is "not possible to determine the exact cause of [Beheshti's] death" but said "the most likely cause leading to death may be shock," according to statement <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20463078" type="external">quoted by BBC</a> as published by Iran's official <a href="http://old.irna.ir/ENService.aspx?SSID=151" type="external">IRNA news agency</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>Azerbaijan's Trend News <a href="http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/2091359.html" type="external">cited the same report</a> as saying "the most likely cause of death would be the shock of blows to sensitive body parts or psychological pressure."</p>
<p>Trend <a href="http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/2091359.html" type="external">also said</a> several people had been detained as part of lawmakers' probe into the incident.&#160;</p>
<p>Beheshti's mother has reportedly been banned from speaking about her son's death publicly, but <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20463078" type="external">BBC cited</a> her as <a href="http://www.kaleme.com/1391/09/02/klm-121231/" type="external">telling the opposition Kalameh website</a> that officials tried to give her "blood money."&#160;</p>
<p>"I said I didn't want any," she reportedly said. "What I want is for the world to know that they killed my son. They killed Sattar."</p>
<p>Beheshti indicated he had been harassed in the days leading up to his death, writing shortly before he died: "They threatened me yesterday that my mother would wear black because I don't shut my mouth," <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/08/iran-accused-torturing-blogger-death" type="external">The Guardian said</a>, citing his blog.&#160;</p>
<p>"I told them [the officials] that I only write what I see and what I hear, but they responded that they would do everything they can to shut me up, to stop me from spreading news," Beheshti said, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/08/iran-accused-torturing-blogger-death" type="external">according to The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>"They said they will shut me up in a way that no name or sign would remain of me." &#160;</p> | 230 |
<p />
<p>SOURCE; PIXABAY.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Social Security provides a critical source of income for retirees, so if you're approaching retirement, knowing how much you and your spouse can expect to receive in benefits is smart. Although the amount of money that couples receive in Social Security income will vary depending on work history, income, and when couples begin receiving payments, the average couple is receiving $2,212 per month this year, according to the Social Security Administration.</p>
<p>Are you likely to get this much money, too? Read on to learn how Social Security calculates its payment, and what you should do to maximize your benefit.</p>
<p>First, a quick bit of backgroundMany Americans approach retirement thinking that Social Security is a savings account that's similar to a retirement account, such as an IRA or a 401(k) plan. It isn't. Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system, and that means that the 12.4% payroll tax you pay today covers the cost of current Social Security recipient's benefits, not your future benefit.</p>
<p>While Social Security accounts for 90% or more of income for nearly a quarter of current married retirees, the system was never meant to provide the lion's share of a retiree's income. Instead, Social Security is supposed to act as a safety net. As such, it replaces about 40% of the average recipient's pre-retirement income.</p>
<p>SOURCE: PIXABAY.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>How's it calculatedNow that we've covered those points, let's dig into the calculation Social Security uses to determine your benefit.</p>
<p>First, Social Security calculates your benefit using a complex formula that converts income earned during your highest 35 working years into today's dollars. Then, those adjusted figures are added together and divided by 420 -- the number of months in 35 years -- to get an average monthly earnings number. That average monthly earnings number is then broken into chunks, and multipliers are used to calculate your monthly benefit at full retirement age, or the age at which you can claim and receive 100% of your benefit (more on that in a bit).</p>
<p>For example, a person who was born in or after 1954 would multiply the first $856 in indexed monthly earnings by 90%, any amount between $856 and $5,157 by 32%, and any amount above $5,157 by 15%. Once those calculations are done, the resulting numbers are added together and rounded down to the nearest dollar. That sum is a person's estimated monthly retirement benefit at full retirement age.</p>
<p>This formula is used to calculate benefits for the primary recipient, but it's also the number that is used to calculate a spouse's benefit, too. Generally, if a spouse is retiring at full retirement age, the spouse can receive half of the amount that the primary recipient would receive at their full retirement age. If the spouse claims early, then the amount they receive will be reduced.</p>
<p>For example, if a spouse born in 1960 claims benefits two years before their full-retirement age, they'd receive 41.67% of the primary recipient's benefit.It may also be helpful to know that, if a spouse's own work record results in a higher Social Security payment than the spousal benefit, then the spouse would receive that higher payment instead.</p>
<p>Although these calculations can be complex, the Social Security Administration provides a <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/planners/benefitcalculators.html" type="external">handy calculator Opens a New Window.</a> that can allow married couples to better estimate their benefit when they retire, or individuals can log in to Social Security online and find out their specific benefit.</p>
<p>SOURCE: SENIORLIVING.ORG.</p>
<p>Maximizing your incomeIn the past, couples could use a file-and-suspend strategy to increase their overall Social Security income. This strategy involved the primary worker and the spouse claiming Social Security at full retirement age. Then the primary worker would suspend his or her payments so that they could benefit from delayed benefit credits that are awarded to people who hold off on receiving Social Security until they reach 70 years old.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, this "loophole" closes at the end of March, but there are a couple of options that can still help couples boost their Social Security income.</p>
<p>First, because Social Security uses the highest 35-years of income to calculate average monthly adjusted earnings, it may benefit couples to work a year or two longer. If the filer's work history includes more than 35 years, then every year worked at a higher income eliminates a low-income earning year, thereby boosting the monthly benefit.</p>
<p>If that's an unpalatable option (and trust me, I understand), and you have other sources of retirement income, then it might be worth delaying Social Security until you reach age 70. Claiming at age 62, the earliest age possible, results in income that is less than you'd receive at your full retirement age (currently age 66); but if you were born after 1943, you'll get an 8% yearly increase to your benefit for every year that you delay receiving Social Security beyond your full retirement age, up to age 70. Unfortunately, delaying until 70 won't increase your spouse's benefit because the spousal benefit will always be based on your full retirement benefit instead.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, combining your higher income from delaying with your spouse's benefit will still provide more income than if you both took Social Security sooner.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/19/how-much-do-married-couples-get-in-social-security.aspx" type="external">How Much Do Married Couples Get in Social Security? Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p>Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | How Much Do Married Couples Get in Social Security? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/03/19/how-much-do-married-couples-get-in-social-security.html | 2016-03-19 | 0right
| How Much Do Married Couples Get in Social Security?
<p />
<p>SOURCE; PIXABAY.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Social Security provides a critical source of income for retirees, so if you're approaching retirement, knowing how much you and your spouse can expect to receive in benefits is smart. Although the amount of money that couples receive in Social Security income will vary depending on work history, income, and when couples begin receiving payments, the average couple is receiving $2,212 per month this year, according to the Social Security Administration.</p>
<p>Are you likely to get this much money, too? Read on to learn how Social Security calculates its payment, and what you should do to maximize your benefit.</p>
<p>First, a quick bit of backgroundMany Americans approach retirement thinking that Social Security is a savings account that's similar to a retirement account, such as an IRA or a 401(k) plan. It isn't. Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system, and that means that the 12.4% payroll tax you pay today covers the cost of current Social Security recipient's benefits, not your future benefit.</p>
<p>While Social Security accounts for 90% or more of income for nearly a quarter of current married retirees, the system was never meant to provide the lion's share of a retiree's income. Instead, Social Security is supposed to act as a safety net. As such, it replaces about 40% of the average recipient's pre-retirement income.</p>
<p>SOURCE: PIXABAY.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>How's it calculatedNow that we've covered those points, let's dig into the calculation Social Security uses to determine your benefit.</p>
<p>First, Social Security calculates your benefit using a complex formula that converts income earned during your highest 35 working years into today's dollars. Then, those adjusted figures are added together and divided by 420 -- the number of months in 35 years -- to get an average monthly earnings number. That average monthly earnings number is then broken into chunks, and multipliers are used to calculate your monthly benefit at full retirement age, or the age at which you can claim and receive 100% of your benefit (more on that in a bit).</p>
<p>For example, a person who was born in or after 1954 would multiply the first $856 in indexed monthly earnings by 90%, any amount between $856 and $5,157 by 32%, and any amount above $5,157 by 15%. Once those calculations are done, the resulting numbers are added together and rounded down to the nearest dollar. That sum is a person's estimated monthly retirement benefit at full retirement age.</p>
<p>This formula is used to calculate benefits for the primary recipient, but it's also the number that is used to calculate a spouse's benefit, too. Generally, if a spouse is retiring at full retirement age, the spouse can receive half of the amount that the primary recipient would receive at their full retirement age. If the spouse claims early, then the amount they receive will be reduced.</p>
<p>For example, if a spouse born in 1960 claims benefits two years before their full-retirement age, they'd receive 41.67% of the primary recipient's benefit.It may also be helpful to know that, if a spouse's own work record results in a higher Social Security payment than the spousal benefit, then the spouse would receive that higher payment instead.</p>
<p>Although these calculations can be complex, the Social Security Administration provides a <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/planners/benefitcalculators.html" type="external">handy calculator Opens a New Window.</a> that can allow married couples to better estimate their benefit when they retire, or individuals can log in to Social Security online and find out their specific benefit.</p>
<p>SOURCE: SENIORLIVING.ORG.</p>
<p>Maximizing your incomeIn the past, couples could use a file-and-suspend strategy to increase their overall Social Security income. This strategy involved the primary worker and the spouse claiming Social Security at full retirement age. Then the primary worker would suspend his or her payments so that they could benefit from delayed benefit credits that are awarded to people who hold off on receiving Social Security until they reach 70 years old.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, this "loophole" closes at the end of March, but there are a couple of options that can still help couples boost their Social Security income.</p>
<p>First, because Social Security uses the highest 35-years of income to calculate average monthly adjusted earnings, it may benefit couples to work a year or two longer. If the filer's work history includes more than 35 years, then every year worked at a higher income eliminates a low-income earning year, thereby boosting the monthly benefit.</p>
<p>If that's an unpalatable option (and trust me, I understand), and you have other sources of retirement income, then it might be worth delaying Social Security until you reach age 70. Claiming at age 62, the earliest age possible, results in income that is less than you'd receive at your full retirement age (currently age 66); but if you were born after 1943, you'll get an 8% yearly increase to your benefit for every year that you delay receiving Social Security beyond your full retirement age, up to age 70. Unfortunately, delaying until 70 won't increase your spouse's benefit because the spousal benefit will always be based on your full retirement benefit instead.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, combining your higher income from delaying with your spouse's benefit will still provide more income than if you both took Social Security sooner.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/19/how-much-do-married-couples-get-in-social-security.aspx" type="external">How Much Do Married Couples Get in Social Security? Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p>Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 231 |
<p>On Friday, a private school teacher from California was charged with having repeated sex with a 16-year-old male student.</p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-brentwood-school-teacher-charged-sex-student-20170915-story.html" type="external">reported</a> by the LA Times, biology teacher Aimee Palmitessa was charged with "seven counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, two counts each of sodomy and sexual penetration by foreign object of a person under 18 and one count of oral copulation of a person under 18."</p>
<p>Palmitessa, who taught at Brentwood School, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.</p>
<p>The 45-year-old is facing up to ten years and four months in the slammer if found guilty.</p>
<p>The private school teacher was arrested in August, after accusations swirled that Palmitessa was having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student whom she taught.</p>
<p>"Parents at the school — which is attended by the children of several different celebrities — learned of Palmitessa’s arrest through a newsletter sent out by Brentwood School head Mike Riera," <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/brentwood-teacher-pleads-not-guilty-relationship-student-article-1.3500010" type="external">reports</a> The New York Daily News.</p>
<p>School officials were said to be “shocked and distressed” over such accusations, which quickly turned into criminal charges against the teacher.</p>
<p>The doctorate-holding educator has been put on leave from the school and students have been offered the option of counseling.</p>
<p>Palmitessa is set to return to court on October 16 and has been ordered to avoid contact with the victim.</p>
<p>As noted by the NYDN, Palmitessa is also facing an April drug charge from her time at Coachella.</p> | Private School Teacher Charged With Having Sex With 16-Year-Old | true | https://dailywire.com/news/21286/private-school-teacher-charged-having-sex-16-year-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2017-09-19 | 0right
| Private School Teacher Charged With Having Sex With 16-Year-Old
<p>On Friday, a private school teacher from California was charged with having repeated sex with a 16-year-old male student.</p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-brentwood-school-teacher-charged-sex-student-20170915-story.html" type="external">reported</a> by the LA Times, biology teacher Aimee Palmitessa was charged with "seven counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, two counts each of sodomy and sexual penetration by foreign object of a person under 18 and one count of oral copulation of a person under 18."</p>
<p>Palmitessa, who taught at Brentwood School, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.</p>
<p>The 45-year-old is facing up to ten years and four months in the slammer if found guilty.</p>
<p>The private school teacher was arrested in August, after accusations swirled that Palmitessa was having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student whom she taught.</p>
<p>"Parents at the school — which is attended by the children of several different celebrities — learned of Palmitessa’s arrest through a newsletter sent out by Brentwood School head Mike Riera," <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/brentwood-teacher-pleads-not-guilty-relationship-student-article-1.3500010" type="external">reports</a> The New York Daily News.</p>
<p>School officials were said to be “shocked and distressed” over such accusations, which quickly turned into criminal charges against the teacher.</p>
<p>The doctorate-holding educator has been put on leave from the school and students have been offered the option of counseling.</p>
<p>Palmitessa is set to return to court on October 16 and has been ordered to avoid contact with the victim.</p>
<p>As noted by the NYDN, Palmitessa is also facing an April drug charge from her time at Coachella.</p> | 232 |
<p />
<p>President Donald Trump says he has not made a decision yet on whether he will re-nominate Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for another term but says he respects her "a lot."</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Asked about Yellen by reporters on Air Force One on a trip back from Florida on Thursday, Trump said, "I like her and I respect her."</p>
<p>The president also noted that the economy is doing well, with the stock market hitting new highs, unemployment very low and companies moving jobs back from overseas.</p>
<p>Separately, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a conference in Washington that he has enjoyed working with Yellen but that Trump has "a lot of great candidates" to choose from if he decides to pick someone else when Yellen's term ends in February.</p> | Trump says no decision yet on Yellen but likes her 'a lot' | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/09/14/trump-says-no-decision-yet-on-yellen-but-likes-her-lot.html | 2017-09-14 | 0right
| Trump says no decision yet on Yellen but likes her 'a lot'
<p />
<p>President Donald Trump says he has not made a decision yet on whether he will re-nominate Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for another term but says he respects her "a lot."</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Asked about Yellen by reporters on Air Force One on a trip back from Florida on Thursday, Trump said, "I like her and I respect her."</p>
<p>The president also noted that the economy is doing well, with the stock market hitting new highs, unemployment very low and companies moving jobs back from overseas.</p>
<p>Separately, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a conference in Washington that he has enjoyed working with Yellen but that Trump has "a lot of great candidates" to choose from if he decides to pick someone else when Yellen's term ends in February.</p> | 233 |
<p>In the late 2000s, “climate change” began replacing “global warming” as the phrase used to encourage government intervention to prevent man-caused climate catastrophes. In 2006, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law the <a href="" type="internal">Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006</a>, greatly increasing regulatory control over state industries.</p>
<p>Shortly after, “global warming” went out of favor, replaced by “climate change.”&#160;Just two years later, in his <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/us/politics/28text-obama.html?pagewanted=all" type="external">acceptance speech</a>at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, candidate Barack Obama didn’t mention “global warming,” only “climate change.”</p>
<p>For example, in a debate over global warming on our site last week, <a href="" type="internal">one commentator wrote</a>, “It’s called climate change, John. You have record cold in some places and record heat in others.”</p>
<p>But the phrase “climate change” is a logical fallacy called a tautology, also called circular reasoning. According to the Philosophy Index, “A&#160;tautology&#160;in logic is a formula that is always true on any valuation or interpretation of its terms.”</p>
<p>Or as I put it, something that explains everything, explains nothing.</p>
<p>Here are some <a href="http://examples.yourdictionary.com/reference/examples/examples-of-tautology.html" type="external">examples</a>of tautologies:</p>
<p>So here are some examples using “climate change”:</p>
<p>Of course, the main reason this logical fallacy is used is to increase government control over our lives to make sure “climate change” doesn’t destroy the planet. It doesn’t hurt that some connected crony capitalists, such as Al Gore, <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/al-gore-pushes-global-warming-for-personal-profit" type="external">have become even richer</a>by investing in global warming/climate change technology boosted by governments.</p>
<p>The problem has cropped up that the global-warming hypothesis is hard to advance when temperatures have ceased increasing <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2013/sep/22/science/la-sci-climate-change-uncertainty-20130923" type="external">the past 15 years</a>. And although one year doesn’t make a trend, it doesn’t help that much of the United States <a href="" type="internal">continues to freeze</a> under record low temperatures.</p>
<p>So “climate change” seems a better phrase because it can, as has been shown, mean anything. The problem though is that, although most people are not logicians, many people can sense something isn’t quite right about phrases based on logical fallacies.</p>
<p>A common fallacy is the argument based on an irrelevant appeal to an authority, such as a celebrity pitching a credit card or diet program. (Appealing to a real authority, such as a physician to heal your aliment, may be valid.) Many people understand that the celebrity isn’t a banking expert; or might have lost weight not because of the advertised program, but because of personal chefs and trainers only the rich can afford.</p>
<p>With a tautology like “climate change,” at least some people understand that it’s a phrase with no explanatory value.</p>
<p>(Note: I am is not arguing about whether or not global warming is occurring, only that those who believe it is occurring should use that phrase, not “climate change.”)</p> | Why ‘climate change’ is a useless phrase | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2014/02/10/why-climate-change-is-a-useless-phrase/ | 2018-02-20 | 3left-center
| Why ‘climate change’ is a useless phrase
<p>In the late 2000s, “climate change” began replacing “global warming” as the phrase used to encourage government intervention to prevent man-caused climate catastrophes. In 2006, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law the <a href="" type="internal">Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006</a>, greatly increasing regulatory control over state industries.</p>
<p>Shortly after, “global warming” went out of favor, replaced by “climate change.”&#160;Just two years later, in his <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/us/politics/28text-obama.html?pagewanted=all" type="external">acceptance speech</a>at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, candidate Barack Obama didn’t mention “global warming,” only “climate change.”</p>
<p>For example, in a debate over global warming on our site last week, <a href="" type="internal">one commentator wrote</a>, “It’s called climate change, John. You have record cold in some places and record heat in others.”</p>
<p>But the phrase “climate change” is a logical fallacy called a tautology, also called circular reasoning. According to the Philosophy Index, “A&#160;tautology&#160;in logic is a formula that is always true on any valuation or interpretation of its terms.”</p>
<p>Or as I put it, something that explains everything, explains nothing.</p>
<p>Here are some <a href="http://examples.yourdictionary.com/reference/examples/examples-of-tautology.html" type="external">examples</a>of tautologies:</p>
<p>So here are some examples using “climate change”:</p>
<p>Of course, the main reason this logical fallacy is used is to increase government control over our lives to make sure “climate change” doesn’t destroy the planet. It doesn’t hurt that some connected crony capitalists, such as Al Gore, <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/al-gore-pushes-global-warming-for-personal-profit" type="external">have become even richer</a>by investing in global warming/climate change technology boosted by governments.</p>
<p>The problem has cropped up that the global-warming hypothesis is hard to advance when temperatures have ceased increasing <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2013/sep/22/science/la-sci-climate-change-uncertainty-20130923" type="external">the past 15 years</a>. And although one year doesn’t make a trend, it doesn’t help that much of the United States <a href="" type="internal">continues to freeze</a> under record low temperatures.</p>
<p>So “climate change” seems a better phrase because it can, as has been shown, mean anything. The problem though is that, although most people are not logicians, many people can sense something isn’t quite right about phrases based on logical fallacies.</p>
<p>A common fallacy is the argument based on an irrelevant appeal to an authority, such as a celebrity pitching a credit card or diet program. (Appealing to a real authority, such as a physician to heal your aliment, may be valid.) Many people understand that the celebrity isn’t a banking expert; or might have lost weight not because of the advertised program, but because of personal chefs and trainers only the rich can afford.</p>
<p>With a tautology like “climate change,” at least some people understand that it’s a phrase with no explanatory value.</p>
<p>(Note: I am is not arguing about whether or not global warming is occurring, only that those who believe it is occurring should use that phrase, not “climate change.”)</p> | 234 |
<p>Jan 22 (Reuters) - Nasdaq Inc:</p>
<p>* NASDAQ - AGENCY FOR COOPERATION OF ENERGY REGULATORS CONTINUES TO USE CO’S SMARTS FOR PAN-EUROPEAN MARKET MONITORING OF EU WHOLESALE ENERGY MARKETS</p>
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<p>* NASDAQ - SMARTS TECHNOLOGY WILL CONTINUE BEING LEVERAGED TO MONITOR EUROPEAN WHOLESALE GAS AND ELECTRICITY MARKETS Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:</p> Our Standards:
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<p>MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian authorities on Saturday arrested billionaire Ziyavudin Magomedov on charges of embezzling more than $35 million, in one of the highest-profile prosecutions of a Russian tycoon in years.</p> Ziyavudin Magomedov, the co-owner of Russia's Summa investment and trading group that was involved in construction of a soccer World Cup venue in Kaliningrad, attends a hearing on his detention at the Tverskoy District Court in Moscow, Russia March 31, 2018. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva
<p>Magomedov denied the charges at a pre-trial hearing, where a judge ordered that he be held in custody until May 30.</p>
<p>One of Russia’s richest men, the 49-year-old Magomedov holds assets in construction and logistics through his sprawling Summa Group. He also has investments in U.S. tech ventures, including the Virgin One Hyperloop project,</p>
<p>He was detained along with his business partner and brother, Magomed Magomedov, and Artur Maksidov, the head of a company in the Summa group that was involved in construction of a soccer World Cup venue in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.</p>
<p>The hearing in Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court was held to decide whether Magomedov and his associates should be detained pending trial.</p>
<p>The judge, Maria Sizintseva, said they acted as part of an organized crime group and had tried to put pressure on witnesses. She rejected an offer from Magomedov to put up a $35 million bail bond, and ordered he be detained.</p>
<p>Citing the arguments against granting bail, the judge said Magomedov had access to his own aircraft, and assets abroad. The day before he was detained, he had booked a flight from Moscow to Miami, the judge said.</p> Slideshow (4 Images) MUSCULAR STATE
<p>Invited to speak from a metal cage in the courtroom, Magomedov, dressed in a dark-blue jogging suit, said: “I categorically disagree with the charges presented.... The prosecution case does not stand up to scrutiny.”</p>
<p>He said he needed treatment in the United States for a medical problem, and offered to put up the $35 million bail. “I’m willing to pull together this money, so no one has any thoughts that I might go on the run,” Magomedov said.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=NMTP.MM" type="external">Novorossiyskiy Morskoy Torgovyi Port PAO</a> 7.765 NMTP.MM Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange -0.19 (-2.33%) NMTP.MM TRNF_p.MM FESH.MM
<p>Magomedov is part of a group of Russian multi-millionaires who, while publicly loyal to the Kremlin, are not in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.</p>
<p>Some members of the group say they are being squeezed by a tough economy, Western sanctions on Russia, and powerful state-run companies that are muscling in on nearly all sectors of the economy.</p>
<p>In past cases when magnates have been prosecuted, some in the Russia business community have said the tycoons were victims of a plot by the Kremlin or by politically connected business rivals - though the authorities deny that.</p>
<p>People familiar with the Russian judicial system say high-profile corruption cases are rarely fabricated, but that the law is applied selectively, and that prosecutions can be influenced by outside factors.</p>
<p>Ziyavudin Magomedov ranked 63rd last year on the Forbes list of the richest businesspeople in Russia with $1.4 billion. In January, he was listed by the U.S. Treasury Department as one of 96 “oligarchs” close to Putin.</p>
<p>His Caspian Venture Capital fund has investments in ride-hailing service Uber UBER.UL; Diamond Foundry, a company that produces man-made diamonds; and Peek, an online leisure activities company.</p>
<p>Magomedov is also co-executive chairman of Los Angeles-based tech firm Virgin Hyperloop One, which is chaired by Richard Branson. It is one of several firms developing a futuristic transport system that involves propelling people at high speed through sealed tubes.</p>
<p>He also co-owns the Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=NMTP.MM" type="external">NMTP.MM</a>) with Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=TRNF_p.MM" type="external">TRNF_p.MM</a>) and transportation group Fesco ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=FESH.MM" type="external">FESH.MM</a>).</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Writing by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber and Christian Lowe; Editing by Larry King</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli troops fired warning shots toward Palestinian youths gathered at the Gaza-Israel border on Saturday, wounding 13 people, health officials said.</p> A Palestinian hurls stones at Israeli troops during clashes at the Gaza-Israel border at a protest demanding the right to return to their homeland, in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
<p>Tension remained high in the area a day after deadly violence broke out in one of the biggest Palestinian demonstrations there in years.</p>
<p>An Israeli military spokesman said he was checking the details of Saturday’s unrest.</p>
<p>On Friday at least 15 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces confronting protesters, some of whom the military said had opened fire, rolled burning tires and hurled rocks and fire bombs toward troops across the border.</p> A Palestinian is evacuated during clashes with Israeli troops at the Gaza-Israel border at a protest demanding the right to return to their homeland, in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
<p>Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared Saturday a national day of mourning and a general strike was called across the occupied West Bank. Thousands in Gaza marched through the streets at funerals for those killed.</p>
<p>Tens of thousands of Palestinians had gathered on Friday along the fenced 65-km (40-mile) frontier, where tents were erected for a planned six-week protest pressing for a right of return for refugees and their descendents to what is now Israel. The Israeli military estimate was 30,000.</p>
<p>Families brought their children to the encampments just a few hundred meters (yards) from the Israeli security barrier with the Islamist Hamas-run enclave. But hundreds of Palestinian youths ignored calls from the organizers and the Israeli military to stay away from the frontier and violence broke out.</p> PALESTINIANS MARKING “CATASTROPHE”
<p>The protest, organized by Hamas and other Palestinian factions, is scheduled to culminate on May 15, the day Palestinians commemorate what they call the “Nakba” or “Catastrophe” when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven out of their homes in 1948, when the state of Israel was created.</p>
<p>Israel has long ruled out any right of return, fearing an influx of Arabs that would wipe out its Jewish majority. It argues that refugees should resettle in a future state the Palestinians seek in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. Peace talks to that end have been frozen since 2014.</p> Slideshow (12 Images)
<p>Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005 but still maintains tight control of its land and sea borders.</p>
<p>Egypt also keeps its border with Gaza largely closed.</p>
<p>Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdainah, said: “The message of the Palestinian people is clear. The Palestinian land will always belong to its legitimate owners and the occupation will be removed.”</p>
<p>Israeli military spokesman Brigadier-General Ronen Manelis said Hamas was using the protests as a guise to launch attacks against Israel and ignite the area. He said violence would likely continue along the border until May 15.</p>
<p>“We won’t let this turn into a ping-pong zone where they perpetrate a terrorist act and we respond with pinpoint action. If this continues we will not have no choice but to respond inside the Gaza Strip,” Manelis told reporters in a phone briefing.</p>
<p>The Gaza Health Ministry had said on Friday 16 people were killed but revised the death toll to 15 on Saturday.</p>
<p>Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Angus MacSwan</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - Baylor University in Texas paid more than $15.1 million to its former head football coach Art Briles after firing him in 2016 for failing to address students’ complaints of rape and sexual assault by football players, new tax filings show.</p> FILE PHOTO: Baylor University head coach Art Briles reacts against the University of Oklahoma in the first half of their NCAA Big 12 football game at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas, United States on November 19, 2011. REUTERS/Mike Stone/File Photo - TM3EC620ZKW01/File Photo
<p>A spokeswoman for Baylor, a private Baptist university in Waco, said the money was severance pay, made as part of a legal settlement, and came from institutional reserves.</p>
<p>Kenneth Starr, who was forced to step down as the university’s president and chancellor in the wake of the scandal, received more than $4.5 million in severance pay, the school said. Starr rose to prominence in the 1990s for his investigation of Bill Clinton’s sex scandals while Clinton was U.S. president.</p>
<p>Starr said in 2016 he was not aware of the assault allegations but accepted responsibility. Both Briles and Baylor have said there were “serious shortcomings” in how they responded to the complaints of assault.</p>
<p>The payments, which were first reported by the Dallas Morning News, appear in the university’s 990 form, a disclosure document the university must file annually with the Internal Revenue Service as a non-profit organization.</p>
<p>Last year, Baylor reached a settlement with a former student who had sued, saying she was a victim of gang rape by football players, and that the school overlooked a violent culture in order to keep good players on its team.</p>
<p>The U.S. Department of Education is investigating the school’s response to students’ complaints of sexual assault by football players.</p>
<p>In a statement, Baylor said the payments to the staff it removed were legal settlements, and that it had improved its procedures for reporting sexual assault, among other measures.</p>
<p>“Baylor remains steadfast in our unwavering commitment to care for our students and respond appropriately to incidents of sexual violence,” the school’s statement said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>CAMBRIDGE, England (Reuters) - Well-wishers filled the streets of Cambridge on Saturday for the funeral of British physicist Stephen Hawking, hailed by another leading scientist as “an imprisoned mind roaming the cosmos”.</p>
<p>Hawking, crippled since a young man by a degenerative disease, beat the odds stacked against him to became the most celebrated scientist of his era. His work ranged from the origins of the universe itself, through time travel and probing black holes in space.</p>
<p>He achieved international renown after the publication of ““A Brief History of Time” in 1988.</p>
<p>His coffin was topped with white “Universe” lilies and white “Polar Star” roses and carried by pallbearers from the University of Cambridge, where he worked. It was greeted by a large crowd outside the church who clapped as it was carried in.</p>
<p>The 76-year-old scientist was mourned by his children Robert, Lucy and Timothy, joined by guests including playwright Alan Bennett, businessman Elon Musk and model Lily Cole.</p>
<p>Eddie Redmayne, the actor who played Professor Hawking in the 2014 film “The Theory of Everything” was one of the readers in the ceremony and Felicity Jones, who played his wife, Jane Hawking in the film also attended the service.</p>
<p>The ceremony included space-themed music composed specially for Hawking called “Beyond the Night Sky”, inspired by a poem and quotes from “A Brief History of Time” and whistling and “shh” sounds based on recordings of space.</p> Pallbearers carry the coffin into Great St Marys Church, where the funeral of theoretical physicist Prof Stephen Hawking is being held, in Cambridge, Britain, March 31, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
<p>Astronomer Royal Martin Rees, a personal friend, read from Plato’s Apology 40, “The Death of Socrates”, which talks of the search for knowledge persisting after death.</p>
<p>Confined to a wheelchair for most of his life after being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease when he was 21, Hawking’s towering intellect and sheer persistence struck a chord with ordinary people, Rees said in an appreciation published earlier this month.</p>
<p>“Why did he become such a ‘cult figure’? The concept of an imprisoned mind roaming the cosmos plainly grabbed people’s imagination,” he said.</p> Slideshow (13 Images)
<p>“His name will live in the annals of science; millions have had their cosmic horizons widened by his best-selling books; and even more, around the world, have been inspired by a unique example of achievement against all the odds – a manifestation of amazing will-power and determination.”</p>
<p>Hawking’s ashes will be interred at Westminster Abbey in June, among some of the greatest scientists in history, Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.</p>
<p>Reporting by Henry Nicholls; Writing by Elisabeth O'Leary; Editing by Stephen Powell</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | BRIEF-Nasdaq - Agency For Cooperation Of Energy Regulators Continues To Use Co's Smarts For Pan-European Market Monitoring Of EU Wholesale Energy Markets Russian tycoon Magomedov arrested on embezzlement charges Israeli troops wound 13 on Gaza border, day after deadly protest Baylor University paid ex-football coach $15 million after sex scandal Friends, family, public flock to funeral of physicist Stephen Hawking | false | https://reuters.com/article/brief-nasdaq-agency-for-cooperation-of-e/brief-nasdaq-agency-for-cooperation-of-energy-regulators-continues-to-use-cos-smarts-for-pan-european-market-monitoring-of-eu-wholesale-energy-markets-idUSFWN1PH0ME | 2018-01-22 | 2least
| BRIEF-Nasdaq - Agency For Cooperation Of Energy Regulators Continues To Use Co's Smarts For Pan-European Market Monitoring Of EU Wholesale Energy Markets Russian tycoon Magomedov arrested on embezzlement charges Israeli troops wound 13 on Gaza border, day after deadly protest Baylor University paid ex-football coach $15 million after sex scandal Friends, family, public flock to funeral of physicist Stephen Hawking
<p>Jan 22 (Reuters) - Nasdaq Inc:</p>
<p>* NASDAQ - AGENCY FOR COOPERATION OF ENERGY REGULATORS CONTINUES TO USE CO’S SMARTS FOR PAN-EUROPEAN MARKET MONITORING OF EU WHOLESALE ENERGY MARKETS</p>
<p>* NASDAQ - NEW AGREEMENT CONTRACT EXTENSION WILL CONTINUE TO ALLOW NATIONAL REGULATORY AUTHORITIES TO SHARE DATA, TECHNOLOGY, AND EXPERTISE</p>
<p>* NASDAQ - SMARTS TECHNOLOGY WILL CONTINUE BEING LEVERAGED TO MONITOR EUROPEAN WHOLESALE GAS AND ELECTRICITY MARKETS Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian authorities on Saturday arrested billionaire Ziyavudin Magomedov on charges of embezzling more than $35 million, in one of the highest-profile prosecutions of a Russian tycoon in years.</p> Ziyavudin Magomedov, the co-owner of Russia's Summa investment and trading group that was involved in construction of a soccer World Cup venue in Kaliningrad, attends a hearing on his detention at the Tverskoy District Court in Moscow, Russia March 31, 2018. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva
<p>Magomedov denied the charges at a pre-trial hearing, where a judge ordered that he be held in custody until May 30.</p>
<p>One of Russia’s richest men, the 49-year-old Magomedov holds assets in construction and logistics through his sprawling Summa Group. He also has investments in U.S. tech ventures, including the Virgin One Hyperloop project,</p>
<p>He was detained along with his business partner and brother, Magomed Magomedov, and Artur Maksidov, the head of a company in the Summa group that was involved in construction of a soccer World Cup venue in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.</p>
<p>The hearing in Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court was held to decide whether Magomedov and his associates should be detained pending trial.</p>
<p>The judge, Maria Sizintseva, said they acted as part of an organized crime group and had tried to put pressure on witnesses. She rejected an offer from Magomedov to put up a $35 million bail bond, and ordered he be detained.</p>
<p>Citing the arguments against granting bail, the judge said Magomedov had access to his own aircraft, and assets abroad. The day before he was detained, he had booked a flight from Moscow to Miami, the judge said.</p> Slideshow (4 Images) MUSCULAR STATE
<p>Invited to speak from a metal cage in the courtroom, Magomedov, dressed in a dark-blue jogging suit, said: “I categorically disagree with the charges presented.... The prosecution case does not stand up to scrutiny.”</p>
<p>He said he needed treatment in the United States for a medical problem, and offered to put up the $35 million bail. “I’m willing to pull together this money, so no one has any thoughts that I might go on the run,” Magomedov said.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=NMTP.MM" type="external">Novorossiyskiy Morskoy Torgovyi Port PAO</a> 7.765 NMTP.MM Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange -0.19 (-2.33%) NMTP.MM TRNF_p.MM FESH.MM
<p>Magomedov is part of a group of Russian multi-millionaires who, while publicly loyal to the Kremlin, are not in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.</p>
<p>Some members of the group say they are being squeezed by a tough economy, Western sanctions on Russia, and powerful state-run companies that are muscling in on nearly all sectors of the economy.</p>
<p>In past cases when magnates have been prosecuted, some in the Russia business community have said the tycoons were victims of a plot by the Kremlin or by politically connected business rivals - though the authorities deny that.</p>
<p>People familiar with the Russian judicial system say high-profile corruption cases are rarely fabricated, but that the law is applied selectively, and that prosecutions can be influenced by outside factors.</p>
<p>Ziyavudin Magomedov ranked 63rd last year on the Forbes list of the richest businesspeople in Russia with $1.4 billion. In January, he was listed by the U.S. Treasury Department as one of 96 “oligarchs” close to Putin.</p>
<p>His Caspian Venture Capital fund has investments in ride-hailing service Uber UBER.UL; Diamond Foundry, a company that produces man-made diamonds; and Peek, an online leisure activities company.</p>
<p>Magomedov is also co-executive chairman of Los Angeles-based tech firm Virgin Hyperloop One, which is chaired by Richard Branson. It is one of several firms developing a futuristic transport system that involves propelling people at high speed through sealed tubes.</p>
<p>He also co-owns the Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=NMTP.MM" type="external">NMTP.MM</a>) with Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=TRNF_p.MM" type="external">TRNF_p.MM</a>) and transportation group Fesco ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=FESH.MM" type="external">FESH.MM</a>).</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Writing by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber and Christian Lowe; Editing by Larry King</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli troops fired warning shots toward Palestinian youths gathered at the Gaza-Israel border on Saturday, wounding 13 people, health officials said.</p> A Palestinian hurls stones at Israeli troops during clashes at the Gaza-Israel border at a protest demanding the right to return to their homeland, in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
<p>Tension remained high in the area a day after deadly violence broke out in one of the biggest Palestinian demonstrations there in years.</p>
<p>An Israeli military spokesman said he was checking the details of Saturday’s unrest.</p>
<p>On Friday at least 15 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces confronting protesters, some of whom the military said had opened fire, rolled burning tires and hurled rocks and fire bombs toward troops across the border.</p> A Palestinian is evacuated during clashes with Israeli troops at the Gaza-Israel border at a protest demanding the right to return to their homeland, in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
<p>Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared Saturday a national day of mourning and a general strike was called across the occupied West Bank. Thousands in Gaza marched through the streets at funerals for those killed.</p>
<p>Tens of thousands of Palestinians had gathered on Friday along the fenced 65-km (40-mile) frontier, where tents were erected for a planned six-week protest pressing for a right of return for refugees and their descendents to what is now Israel. The Israeli military estimate was 30,000.</p>
<p>Families brought their children to the encampments just a few hundred meters (yards) from the Israeli security barrier with the Islamist Hamas-run enclave. But hundreds of Palestinian youths ignored calls from the organizers and the Israeli military to stay away from the frontier and violence broke out.</p> PALESTINIANS MARKING “CATASTROPHE”
<p>The protest, organized by Hamas and other Palestinian factions, is scheduled to culminate on May 15, the day Palestinians commemorate what they call the “Nakba” or “Catastrophe” when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven out of their homes in 1948, when the state of Israel was created.</p>
<p>Israel has long ruled out any right of return, fearing an influx of Arabs that would wipe out its Jewish majority. It argues that refugees should resettle in a future state the Palestinians seek in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. Peace talks to that end have been frozen since 2014.</p> Slideshow (12 Images)
<p>Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005 but still maintains tight control of its land and sea borders.</p>
<p>Egypt also keeps its border with Gaza largely closed.</p>
<p>Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdainah, said: “The message of the Palestinian people is clear. The Palestinian land will always belong to its legitimate owners and the occupation will be removed.”</p>
<p>Israeli military spokesman Brigadier-General Ronen Manelis said Hamas was using the protests as a guise to launch attacks against Israel and ignite the area. He said violence would likely continue along the border until May 15.</p>
<p>“We won’t let this turn into a ping-pong zone where they perpetrate a terrorist act and we respond with pinpoint action. If this continues we will not have no choice but to respond inside the Gaza Strip,” Manelis told reporters in a phone briefing.</p>
<p>The Gaza Health Ministry had said on Friday 16 people were killed but revised the death toll to 15 on Saturday.</p>
<p>Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Angus MacSwan</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - Baylor University in Texas paid more than $15.1 million to its former head football coach Art Briles after firing him in 2016 for failing to address students’ complaints of rape and sexual assault by football players, new tax filings show.</p> FILE PHOTO: Baylor University head coach Art Briles reacts against the University of Oklahoma in the first half of their NCAA Big 12 football game at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas, United States on November 19, 2011. REUTERS/Mike Stone/File Photo - TM3EC620ZKW01/File Photo
<p>A spokeswoman for Baylor, a private Baptist university in Waco, said the money was severance pay, made as part of a legal settlement, and came from institutional reserves.</p>
<p>Kenneth Starr, who was forced to step down as the university’s president and chancellor in the wake of the scandal, received more than $4.5 million in severance pay, the school said. Starr rose to prominence in the 1990s for his investigation of Bill Clinton’s sex scandals while Clinton was U.S. president.</p>
<p>Starr said in 2016 he was not aware of the assault allegations but accepted responsibility. Both Briles and Baylor have said there were “serious shortcomings” in how they responded to the complaints of assault.</p>
<p>The payments, which were first reported by the Dallas Morning News, appear in the university’s 990 form, a disclosure document the university must file annually with the Internal Revenue Service as a non-profit organization.</p>
<p>Last year, Baylor reached a settlement with a former student who had sued, saying she was a victim of gang rape by football players, and that the school overlooked a violent culture in order to keep good players on its team.</p>
<p>The U.S. Department of Education is investigating the school’s response to students’ complaints of sexual assault by football players.</p>
<p>In a statement, Baylor said the payments to the staff it removed were legal settlements, and that it had improved its procedures for reporting sexual assault, among other measures.</p>
<p>“Baylor remains steadfast in our unwavering commitment to care for our students and respond appropriately to incidents of sexual violence,” the school’s statement said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>CAMBRIDGE, England (Reuters) - Well-wishers filled the streets of Cambridge on Saturday for the funeral of British physicist Stephen Hawking, hailed by another leading scientist as “an imprisoned mind roaming the cosmos”.</p>
<p>Hawking, crippled since a young man by a degenerative disease, beat the odds stacked against him to became the most celebrated scientist of his era. His work ranged from the origins of the universe itself, through time travel and probing black holes in space.</p>
<p>He achieved international renown after the publication of ““A Brief History of Time” in 1988.</p>
<p>His coffin was topped with white “Universe” lilies and white “Polar Star” roses and carried by pallbearers from the University of Cambridge, where he worked. It was greeted by a large crowd outside the church who clapped as it was carried in.</p>
<p>The 76-year-old scientist was mourned by his children Robert, Lucy and Timothy, joined by guests including playwright Alan Bennett, businessman Elon Musk and model Lily Cole.</p>
<p>Eddie Redmayne, the actor who played Professor Hawking in the 2014 film “The Theory of Everything” was one of the readers in the ceremony and Felicity Jones, who played his wife, Jane Hawking in the film also attended the service.</p>
<p>The ceremony included space-themed music composed specially for Hawking called “Beyond the Night Sky”, inspired by a poem and quotes from “A Brief History of Time” and whistling and “shh” sounds based on recordings of space.</p> Pallbearers carry the coffin into Great St Marys Church, where the funeral of theoretical physicist Prof Stephen Hawking is being held, in Cambridge, Britain, March 31, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
<p>Astronomer Royal Martin Rees, a personal friend, read from Plato’s Apology 40, “The Death of Socrates”, which talks of the search for knowledge persisting after death.</p>
<p>Confined to a wheelchair for most of his life after being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease when he was 21, Hawking’s towering intellect and sheer persistence struck a chord with ordinary people, Rees said in an appreciation published earlier this month.</p>
<p>“Why did he become such a ‘cult figure’? The concept of an imprisoned mind roaming the cosmos plainly grabbed people’s imagination,” he said.</p> Slideshow (13 Images)
<p>“His name will live in the annals of science; millions have had their cosmic horizons widened by his best-selling books; and even more, around the world, have been inspired by a unique example of achievement against all the odds – a manifestation of amazing will-power and determination.”</p>
<p>Hawking’s ashes will be interred at Westminster Abbey in June, among some of the greatest scientists in history, Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.</p>
<p>Reporting by Henry Nicholls; Writing by Elisabeth O'Leary; Editing by Stephen Powell</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | 235 |
<p />
<p>If you're in your 50s or 60s and only have a small sum tucked away for retirement, it's time to take drastic action. Presumably you don't want to forego having a happy retirement, so you'll need to find an approach that won't require you to work until you're 90 or live on cat food. Fortunately, it's not too late to get your act together and develop some sources of income.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Now is the time to pull out all the stops on saving money. Granted, you don't have tons of time for the magic of compounding to help that money grow, but you do have at least a decade or two -- that's enough time to allow some returns to build up, but only if you start saving right away. First, max out your retirement contributions for IRA and 401(k) accounts. Someone age 50 or older may contribute $6,500 per year to IRAs and $60,000 per year to 401(k)s. If you don't have access to a 401(k), then max out your IRA and stick the rest into a standard investment account. You won't get the immediate tax benefits, but at least you've got more capital building up to provide future income. https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/cola-increases-for-dollar-limitations-on-benefits-and-contributions</p>
<p>Of course, now you're probably wondering how you could possibly save thousands of dollars when you're living paycheck to paycheck. The answer is to find more income -- and put every penny of the extra money into savings. Some options for increasing your income include asking your boss for a raise, working longer hours, taking a part-time job on the side, holding a garage sale or otherwise disposing of unwanted items for a profit, turning a hobby into a source of income, and so on. Whatever new source of income you find, tuck the money away in savings immediately so you're not tempted to spend it on something else.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>If you planned to retire at age 65 or 67, consider putting it off a few years longer. Giving your retirement savings just a little longer to grow can make an <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/oact/quickcalc/early_late.html" type="external">enormous difference Opens a New Window.</a>, and <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/03/25/should-you-take-social-security-at-62-66-or-70.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">waiting until age 70 Opens a New Window.</a> to claim Social Security benefits will result in a significantly larger monthly benefit check. If your Social Security benefits are higher, you won't need as much income from those underfunded retirement accounts. And every year that you continue to put money into your retirement accounts instead of taking it out will help your long-term financial outlook immensely.</p>
<p>If you're laboring under a burden of heavy debt, you should make getting rid of that debt a priority. Not only will debt be an extra expense during retirement, but the interest you pay on that debt will require additional income just to keep up with the payments. Pay off high interest rate debt such as credit cards as soon as possible; the interest you pay on credit card debt will be more than enough to cancel out any returns you're getting on your investments. Once you've offloaded the most dangerous debt, consider paying off less expensive debt such as mortgages, car payments, and any remaining student loans as well. Getting rid of those monthly payments will lower your income needs considerably and allow you to live comfortably in retirement on a much lower income.</p>
<p>Obviously, a retirement won't be much of a retirement if you're working full time. However, if you have a part-time job working just a few hours a week, you can add to an income that's not quite enough to meet your needs. Rather than settling for flipping burgers at McDonald's, try to find a part-time job that you will actually enjoy. For example, if you love gardening, consider expanding your garden and selling seeds, plants, produce, and flowers at your local farmers market. The resulting income probably won't be enough to support you all by itself, but it could be enough to supplement the income from a small retirement account. It's not really work if you love doing it, right?</p>
<p>If you own a house, it can potentially be an excellent source of retirement income. You can tap directly into the equity you have stored in your house through a home equity line of credit or, more drastically, a <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2016/05/21/should-you-get-a-reverse-mortgage.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">reverse mortgage Opens a New Window.</a>(but be aware that the latter option comes with some serious <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2016/10/01/how-safe-is-a-reverse-mortgage.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">drawbacks Opens a New Window.</a>).You can sell the house outright and move into a cheaper house or an apartment, using the funds from the sale for income. Or you can simply rent out a room and increase your income that way. The latter is a particularly good option if you live in a college town, as students are often desperate for cheap digs.</p>
<p>When you start saving late, investments such as stocks and bonds have less time to accumulate returns and therefore provide a large base you can tap into for income. However, if you put that money into buying a rental property, you can have a steady stream of income for as long as you can keep tenants in the building. Whether or not this is a viable strategy will depend on your situation and on where you live; consult with your financial planner before making a firm decision to pursue real estate as an investment option.</p>
<p>If you've waited until you're near retirement to start saving, you have a problem but it's not an insurmountable one. Add up your expenses, figure out how much income you'll need to get by in retirement, and then try one or more of the above ideas to reach that income goal. You may have to work a little harder at it than you would if you'd started saving in your 20s, but you still have a chance at a long, happy, and economically secure retirement.</p>
<p>The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 7 Ways to Catch Up on Retirement Savings | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/04/02/7-ways-to-catch-up-on-retirement-savings.html | 2017-04-02 | 0right
| 7 Ways to Catch Up on Retirement Savings
<p />
<p>If you're in your 50s or 60s and only have a small sum tucked away for retirement, it's time to take drastic action. Presumably you don't want to forego having a happy retirement, so you'll need to find an approach that won't require you to work until you're 90 or live on cat food. Fortunately, it's not too late to get your act together and develop some sources of income.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Now is the time to pull out all the stops on saving money. Granted, you don't have tons of time for the magic of compounding to help that money grow, but you do have at least a decade or two -- that's enough time to allow some returns to build up, but only if you start saving right away. First, max out your retirement contributions for IRA and 401(k) accounts. Someone age 50 or older may contribute $6,500 per year to IRAs and $60,000 per year to 401(k)s. If you don't have access to a 401(k), then max out your IRA and stick the rest into a standard investment account. You won't get the immediate tax benefits, but at least you've got more capital building up to provide future income. https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/cola-increases-for-dollar-limitations-on-benefits-and-contributions</p>
<p>Of course, now you're probably wondering how you could possibly save thousands of dollars when you're living paycheck to paycheck. The answer is to find more income -- and put every penny of the extra money into savings. Some options for increasing your income include asking your boss for a raise, working longer hours, taking a part-time job on the side, holding a garage sale or otherwise disposing of unwanted items for a profit, turning a hobby into a source of income, and so on. Whatever new source of income you find, tuck the money away in savings immediately so you're not tempted to spend it on something else.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>If you planned to retire at age 65 or 67, consider putting it off a few years longer. Giving your retirement savings just a little longer to grow can make an <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/oact/quickcalc/early_late.html" type="external">enormous difference Opens a New Window.</a>, and <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/03/25/should-you-take-social-security-at-62-66-or-70.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">waiting until age 70 Opens a New Window.</a> to claim Social Security benefits will result in a significantly larger monthly benefit check. If your Social Security benefits are higher, you won't need as much income from those underfunded retirement accounts. And every year that you continue to put money into your retirement accounts instead of taking it out will help your long-term financial outlook immensely.</p>
<p>If you're laboring under a burden of heavy debt, you should make getting rid of that debt a priority. Not only will debt be an extra expense during retirement, but the interest you pay on that debt will require additional income just to keep up with the payments. Pay off high interest rate debt such as credit cards as soon as possible; the interest you pay on credit card debt will be more than enough to cancel out any returns you're getting on your investments. Once you've offloaded the most dangerous debt, consider paying off less expensive debt such as mortgages, car payments, and any remaining student loans as well. Getting rid of those monthly payments will lower your income needs considerably and allow you to live comfortably in retirement on a much lower income.</p>
<p>Obviously, a retirement won't be much of a retirement if you're working full time. However, if you have a part-time job working just a few hours a week, you can add to an income that's not quite enough to meet your needs. Rather than settling for flipping burgers at McDonald's, try to find a part-time job that you will actually enjoy. For example, if you love gardening, consider expanding your garden and selling seeds, plants, produce, and flowers at your local farmers market. The resulting income probably won't be enough to support you all by itself, but it could be enough to supplement the income from a small retirement account. It's not really work if you love doing it, right?</p>
<p>If you own a house, it can potentially be an excellent source of retirement income. You can tap directly into the equity you have stored in your house through a home equity line of credit or, more drastically, a <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2016/05/21/should-you-get-a-reverse-mortgage.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">reverse mortgage Opens a New Window.</a>(but be aware that the latter option comes with some serious <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2016/10/01/how-safe-is-a-reverse-mortgage.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">drawbacks Opens a New Window.</a>).You can sell the house outright and move into a cheaper house or an apartment, using the funds from the sale for income. Or you can simply rent out a room and increase your income that way. The latter is a particularly good option if you live in a college town, as students are often desperate for cheap digs.</p>
<p>When you start saving late, investments such as stocks and bonds have less time to accumulate returns and therefore provide a large base you can tap into for income. However, if you put that money into buying a rental property, you can have a steady stream of income for as long as you can keep tenants in the building. Whether or not this is a viable strategy will depend on your situation and on where you live; consult with your financial planner before making a firm decision to pursue real estate as an investment option.</p>
<p>If you've waited until you're near retirement to start saving, you have a problem but it's not an insurmountable one. Add up your expenses, figure out how much income you'll need to get by in retirement, and then try one or more of the above ideas to reach that income goal. You may have to work a little harder at it than you would if you'd started saving in your 20s, but you still have a chance at a long, happy, and economically secure retirement.</p>
<p>The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 236 |
<p />
<p>Big ad buyers and marketers are upset with Facebook Inc. after learning the tech giant vastly overestimated average viewing time for video ads on its platform for two years, according to people familiar with the situation.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Several weeks ago, Facebook disclosed in a post on its "Advertiser Help Center" that its metric for the average time users spent watching videos was artificially inflated because it was only factoring in video views of more than three seconds. The company said it was introducing a new metric to fix the problem.</p>
<p>Some ad agency executives who were also informed by Facebook about the change started digging deeper, prompting Facebook to give them a more detailed account, one of the people familiar with the situation said.</p>
<p>Ad buying agency Publicis Media was told by Facebook that the earlier counting method likely overestimated average time spent watching videos by between 60% and 80%, according to a late August letter Publicis Media sent to clients that was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Publicis Media, a division of Publicis Groupe SA, referred calls to Facebook. Publicis was responsible for purchasing roughly $77 billion in ads on behalf of marketers around the world in 2015, according to estimates from research firm RECMA.</p>
<p>GroupM, the ad buying unit of WPP Plc, also was notified of the discrepancy by Facebook, another person familiar with the matter said.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>"We recently discovered an error in the way we calculate one of our video metrics," Facebook said in a statement. "This error has been fixed, it did not impact billing, and we have notified our partners both through our product dashboards and via sales and publisher outreach. We also renamed the metric to make it clearer what we measure. This metric is one of many our partners use to assess their video campaigns."</p>
<p>The news is an embarrassment for Facebook, which has been touting the rapid growth of video consumption across its platform in recent years.</p>
<p>Due to the miscalculated data, marketers may have misjudged the performance of video advertising they have purchased from Facebook over the past two years. It also may have impacted their decisions about how much to spend on Facebook video versus other video ad sellers such as Google's YouTube, Twitter, and even TV networks.</p>
<p>Media companies and publishers are affected, too, since they've been given inaccurate data about the consumption of their video content across the social network. Many use that information to help determine the types of content they post.</p>
<p>For the past two years Facebook only counted video views of more than three seconds when calculating its "Average Duration of Video Viewed" metric. Video views of under three seconds were not factored in, thereby inflating the average. Facebook's new metric, "Average Watch Time", will reflect video views of any duration. That will replace the earlier metric.</p>
<p>In its note to clients, Publicis said the change was an attempt to obfuscate Facebook's earlier miscalculations.</p>
<p>"In an effort to distance themselves from the incorrect metrics, Facebook is deprecating [the old metrics] and introducing 'new' metrics in September. Essentially, they're coming up with new names for what they were meant to measure in the first place," the memo said.</p>
<p>The miscounting could also fuel concerns among advertisers and media companies about the so-called "walled gardens" that companies including Facebook and Google are often described as operating. Both companies keep a tight grip on data, and only allow limited third-party tracking firms to plug into their systems.</p>
<p>Keith Weed, chief marketing officer of Unilever, said in an interview last year, tech companies that don't let third parties measure their platforms is equivalent to "letting them mark their own homework."</p>
<p>The Publicis note said, "This once again illuminates the absolute need to have 3rd party tagging and verification on Facebook's platform. Two years of reporting inflated performance numbers is unacceptable."</p>
<p>Shalini Ramachandran contributed to this article.</p>
<p>Write to Suzanne Vranica at [email protected] and Jack Marshall at [email protected]</p> | Facebook Overestimated Key Video Metric for Two Years | true | http://foxbusiness.com/industries/2016/09/23/facebook-overestimated-key-video-metric-for-two-years622091.html | 2016-09-23 | 0right
| Facebook Overestimated Key Video Metric for Two Years
<p />
<p>Big ad buyers and marketers are upset with Facebook Inc. after learning the tech giant vastly overestimated average viewing time for video ads on its platform for two years, according to people familiar with the situation.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Several weeks ago, Facebook disclosed in a post on its "Advertiser Help Center" that its metric for the average time users spent watching videos was artificially inflated because it was only factoring in video views of more than three seconds. The company said it was introducing a new metric to fix the problem.</p>
<p>Some ad agency executives who were also informed by Facebook about the change started digging deeper, prompting Facebook to give them a more detailed account, one of the people familiar with the situation said.</p>
<p>Ad buying agency Publicis Media was told by Facebook that the earlier counting method likely overestimated average time spent watching videos by between 60% and 80%, according to a late August letter Publicis Media sent to clients that was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Publicis Media, a division of Publicis Groupe SA, referred calls to Facebook. Publicis was responsible for purchasing roughly $77 billion in ads on behalf of marketers around the world in 2015, according to estimates from research firm RECMA.</p>
<p>GroupM, the ad buying unit of WPP Plc, also was notified of the discrepancy by Facebook, another person familiar with the matter said.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>"We recently discovered an error in the way we calculate one of our video metrics," Facebook said in a statement. "This error has been fixed, it did not impact billing, and we have notified our partners both through our product dashboards and via sales and publisher outreach. We also renamed the metric to make it clearer what we measure. This metric is one of many our partners use to assess their video campaigns."</p>
<p>The news is an embarrassment for Facebook, which has been touting the rapid growth of video consumption across its platform in recent years.</p>
<p>Due to the miscalculated data, marketers may have misjudged the performance of video advertising they have purchased from Facebook over the past two years. It also may have impacted their decisions about how much to spend on Facebook video versus other video ad sellers such as Google's YouTube, Twitter, and even TV networks.</p>
<p>Media companies and publishers are affected, too, since they've been given inaccurate data about the consumption of their video content across the social network. Many use that information to help determine the types of content they post.</p>
<p>For the past two years Facebook only counted video views of more than three seconds when calculating its "Average Duration of Video Viewed" metric. Video views of under three seconds were not factored in, thereby inflating the average. Facebook's new metric, "Average Watch Time", will reflect video views of any duration. That will replace the earlier metric.</p>
<p>In its note to clients, Publicis said the change was an attempt to obfuscate Facebook's earlier miscalculations.</p>
<p>"In an effort to distance themselves from the incorrect metrics, Facebook is deprecating [the old metrics] and introducing 'new' metrics in September. Essentially, they're coming up with new names for what they were meant to measure in the first place," the memo said.</p>
<p>The miscounting could also fuel concerns among advertisers and media companies about the so-called "walled gardens" that companies including Facebook and Google are often described as operating. Both companies keep a tight grip on data, and only allow limited third-party tracking firms to plug into their systems.</p>
<p>Keith Weed, chief marketing officer of Unilever, said in an interview last year, tech companies that don't let third parties measure their platforms is equivalent to "letting them mark their own homework."</p>
<p>The Publicis note said, "This once again illuminates the absolute need to have 3rd party tagging and verification on Facebook's platform. Two years of reporting inflated performance numbers is unacceptable."</p>
<p>Shalini Ramachandran contributed to this article.</p>
<p>Write to Suzanne Vranica at [email protected] and Jack Marshall at [email protected]</p> | 237 |
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602429/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602429/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Justin Timberlake has a tattoo on his ankle of Chinese characters representing the word &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;qu&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; which translates to:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://www.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;online surveys&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602436/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602436/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Lindsay Lohan has the Italian phrase &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;La bella vita&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; on her lower back. It means:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;answers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602438/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602438/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Angelina Jolie has the Latin phrase &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;Quod me nutrit me destruit" on her stomach, meaning:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;answers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602440/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602440/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Rihanna has the Arabic phrase &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;Al Hurria fi Al Maseeh&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; tattooed on her back which translates to:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://www.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;online surveys&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602445/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602445/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;David Beckham&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rsquo;s left arm has a Sanskrit tattoo with a misspelled name on it. Is it:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;answers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602443/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602443/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Jessica Alba has a wrist tattoo with the Sanskrit word &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;Padma&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; which means:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;answers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602450/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602450/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Lost&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rsquo;s Matthew Fox has four Chinese characters on his left arm. They stand for:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://www.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;online surveys&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602452/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602452/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Megan Fox has the words &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;We will all laugh at gilded butterflies&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; on her back. The phrase comes from:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://www.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;online surveys&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602457/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602457/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Victoria Beckham has a Hebrew expression on her neck. It translates to:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;answers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602459/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602459/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Hayden Panettiere from Heroes has the Latin phrase &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;Vivere Memento&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; on her side. It translates to:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://www.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;online surveys&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602463/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602463/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Detroit Pistons point guard Allen Iverson has &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;CT&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; tattooed on his neck, which stands for &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;Cru Thik,&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; the name of:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://www.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;online surveys&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602469/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602469/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Kiefer Sutherland has a Chinese symbol tattooed on his arm that translates to:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://www.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;online surveys&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p> | Translate the Celebrity Tattoo | true | https://thedailybeast.com/translate-the-celebrity-tattoo | 2018-10-02 | 4left
| Translate the Celebrity Tattoo
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602429/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602429/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Justin Timberlake has a tattoo on his ankle of Chinese characters representing the word &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;qu&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; which translates to:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://www.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;online surveys&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602436/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602436/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Lindsay Lohan has the Italian phrase &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;La bella vita&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; on her lower back. It means:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;answers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602438/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602438/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Angelina Jolie has the Latin phrase &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;Quod me nutrit me destruit" on her stomach, meaning:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;answers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602440/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602440/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Rihanna has the Arabic phrase &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;Al Hurria fi Al Maseeh&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; tattooed on her back which translates to:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://www.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;online surveys&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602445/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602445/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;David Beckham&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rsquo;s left arm has a Sanskrit tattoo with a misspelled name on it. Is it:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;answers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602443/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602443/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Jessica Alba has a wrist tattoo with the Sanskrit word &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;Padma&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; which means:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;answers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602450/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602450/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Lost&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rsquo;s Matthew Fox has four Chinese characters on his left arm. They stand for:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://www.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;online surveys&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602452/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602452/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Megan Fox has the words &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;We will all laugh at gilded butterflies&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; on her back. The phrase comes from:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://www.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;online surveys&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602457/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602457/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Victoria Beckham has a Hebrew expression on her neck. It translates to:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;answers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602459/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602459/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Hayden Panettiere from Heroes has the Latin phrase &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;Vivere Memento&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; on her side. It translates to:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://www.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;online surveys&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602463/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602463/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Detroit Pistons point guard Allen Iverson has &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;CT&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; tattooed on his neck, which stands for &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ldquo;Cru Thik,&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rdquo; the name of:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://www.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;online surveys&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602469/" mce_href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1602469/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Kiefer Sutherland has a Chinese symbol tattooed on his arm that translates to:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-size:9px;" mce_style="font-size:9px;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.polldaddy.com" mce_href="http://www.polldaddy.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;online surveys&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;)&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p> | 238 |
<p>What defines the success of a state: the welfare and happiness of its people or its ability to pass a budget on time?</p>
<p>This is the maddening question that should hang over all the stories depicting Jerry Brown as some sort of genius governor. <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/25/5850305/california-jerry-brown-enjoying.html" type="external">David Siders</a> of the Sacramento Bee today became only the latest journalist to treat political process achievements as tantamount to real progress and successful stewardship:</p>
<p>“Praise for California and its governor, Jerry Brown, has drifted in for months now from the East Coast, ever since Brown and state lawmakers enacted a balanced budget this summer.</p>
<p>“The accomplishment followed years of deficits and budget standoffs at the Capitol. Coupled with the Legislature’s relatively frictionless action on issues ranging from education funding to gun control and immigration, the statehouse found itself comparing favorably to dysfunction in Washington, D.C. …</p>
<p>“Brown, the lunchtime speaker at the event, argued one reason for this success is that, through a series of ballot measures, Californians “broke a decade of dysfunction and laid the foundation for a government that actually works.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-jerry-brown-washington-20131024,0,6860597.story?track=rss#axzz2ih0vQZc5" type="external">Evan Halper</a> of the L.A. Times also today accepts the narrative that political process achievements are tantamount to real progress:</p>
<p>“'Three years ago California was called a failed state,' [Gov. Brown] said. 'They were virtually chortling in the conservative venues.'</p>
<p>“Brown credited California’s turnaround to a series of ballot measures. The measures allowed a state budget to get passed with a simple majority of lawmakers, put an independent commission in charge of voting boundaries, and raised taxes by billions of dollars.</p>
<p>“'The people themselves through the initiative actually broke a decade of dysfunction and laid the foundation for a government that works,' he said.”</p>
<p>How is it good journalism to accept uncritically the idea that California is doing better because its political process is less contentious?</p>
<p>How is it good journalism to focus on Brown's self-serving claims instead of the fact that California has the highest effective poverty rate in the nation? That California has the second-highest rate of people unable to find full-time work? Don't mass poverty and mass unemployment count as news?</p>
<p>I honestly don't know how Siders and Halper can't understand the flimsiness of equating process success with real-life progress. Nor do I understand why mass economic misery is a non-story. But here's what one veteran Sacramento watcher told me the <a href="" type="internal">last time</a> I expressed frustration with the reporters covering the state:</p> | L.A. Times, Sac Bee: Political process success=real progress. Groan. | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2013/10/25/l-a-times-sac-bee-political-process-successreal-progress-groan/ | 2018-10-20 | 3left-center
| L.A. Times, Sac Bee: Political process success=real progress. Groan.
<p>What defines the success of a state: the welfare and happiness of its people or its ability to pass a budget on time?</p>
<p>This is the maddening question that should hang over all the stories depicting Jerry Brown as some sort of genius governor. <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/25/5850305/california-jerry-brown-enjoying.html" type="external">David Siders</a> of the Sacramento Bee today became only the latest journalist to treat political process achievements as tantamount to real progress and successful stewardship:</p>
<p>“Praise for California and its governor, Jerry Brown, has drifted in for months now from the East Coast, ever since Brown and state lawmakers enacted a balanced budget this summer.</p>
<p>“The accomplishment followed years of deficits and budget standoffs at the Capitol. Coupled with the Legislature’s relatively frictionless action on issues ranging from education funding to gun control and immigration, the statehouse found itself comparing favorably to dysfunction in Washington, D.C. …</p>
<p>“Brown, the lunchtime speaker at the event, argued one reason for this success is that, through a series of ballot measures, Californians “broke a decade of dysfunction and laid the foundation for a government that actually works.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-jerry-brown-washington-20131024,0,6860597.story?track=rss#axzz2ih0vQZc5" type="external">Evan Halper</a> of the L.A. Times also today accepts the narrative that political process achievements are tantamount to real progress:</p>
<p>“'Three years ago California was called a failed state,' [Gov. Brown] said. 'They were virtually chortling in the conservative venues.'</p>
<p>“Brown credited California’s turnaround to a series of ballot measures. The measures allowed a state budget to get passed with a simple majority of lawmakers, put an independent commission in charge of voting boundaries, and raised taxes by billions of dollars.</p>
<p>“'The people themselves through the initiative actually broke a decade of dysfunction and laid the foundation for a government that works,' he said.”</p>
<p>How is it good journalism to accept uncritically the idea that California is doing better because its political process is less contentious?</p>
<p>How is it good journalism to focus on Brown's self-serving claims instead of the fact that California has the highest effective poverty rate in the nation? That California has the second-highest rate of people unable to find full-time work? Don't mass poverty and mass unemployment count as news?</p>
<p>I honestly don't know how Siders and Halper can't understand the flimsiness of equating process success with real-life progress. Nor do I understand why mass economic misery is a non-story. But here's what one veteran Sacramento watcher told me the <a href="" type="internal">last time</a> I expressed frustration with the reporters covering the state:</p> | 239 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>That’s a pity. The Civil War can tell us a great deal about ourselves, then and now. We have an unfortunate history of plunging into wars for God and democracy that have often made a mockery of both. If we can use this anniversary to learn more about why we rush to war, it will be an exercise worth undertaking.</p>
<p>More than 750,000 men died in the Civil War. Extrapolated to today’s population, the death toll would be close to 10 million. Most historians today would lament the casualties, but commend the outcome: the liberation of 4 million slaves.</p>
<p>I disagree. The Civil War was not a just war. It was a war of choice brought on by the insidious mixture of politics and religion that caused our political process and, ultimately, the nation to disintegrate. The war’s outcome did indeed end slavery, but could we have achieved this noble objective without the slaughter? The U.S. was the only slaveholding nation to abolish the institution with a civil war.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Our government governs best from the center and depends upon compromise. By 1861, however, the Bible had replaced the Constitution as the arbiter of public policy, particularly over the issue of extending slavery in the Western territories. Framing slavery as a moral cause rendered compromise unlikely, for you cannot compromise with sin. The party in power, the Republicans, deployed evangelical dogma to raise the stakes of political discourse.</p>
<p>The party’s ideology lay within the Second Great Awakening, a national religious revival begun in the early 1800s. Within a generation, nearly 40 percent of Americans who expressed a faith were members of evangelical Protestant denominations.</p>
<p>In the North evangelicals used the Gospel not only to convert individuals, but also to reform society. They viewed America as a God-blessed nation, ordained to conquer a continent from sea to shining sea and spread democracy and Protestant Christianity across the land and, eventually, throughout the world.</p>
<p>In order to accomplish this great objective, America must expiate its sins, foremost among them slavery and the Roman Catholic Church – two forms of despotism that undermined democracy and Christianity, according to Northern evangelicals. Historians have soft-pedaled the religious bigotry of Northern evangelicals and their allies, praising instead their antislavery position. However, you cannot discuss one without accounting for the other because they merged in the political arena.</p>
<p>Beginning in the early 1840s small evangelical political parties emerged in the North demanding government action against slavery and the Catholic Church. Violent clashes of Protestant and Catholic gangs in the streets of major Northern and border cities accompanied the entrance of evangelical parties into the political system. One of the bloodiest sectarian riots occurred in New York City in July 1857, an event depicted in Martin Scorcese’s film “Gangs of New York.”</p>
<p>By the time of the New York mêlée, the mixture of evangelical religion and politics was pervasive. Between 1847 and 1857, more than 1 million Irish Catholics emigrated to the United States to escape the potato famine. The sudden influx of Catholic immigrants alarmed evangelicals, especially those in the North. At the same time, the controversy over the extension of slavery in the territories worsened.</p>
<p>Northerners concerned about the Catholic “invasion” and the “Slave Power” formed a new political party in the mid-1850s, the Republicans. In 1858, when Abraham Lincoln ran for the U.S. Senate in Illinois as the Republican candidate, the party cited “The Two Despotisms – Catholicism and Slavery – Their Union and Identity.”</p>
<p>Lincoln was neither a religious bigot nor an evangelical Christian. But his speeches and writings in the late 1850s became increasingly messianic. His famous “House Divided” speech in 1858 derived from Matthew 12:25: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Self-righteousness eroded the vital center of American politics. Northerners and Southerners flung biblical verses at each other, deepening the divide. When the Republicans, avowedly evangelical and proudly sectional, took control of the government in March 1861, Southerners were rightly concerned to expect the worst. And the worst happened.</p>
<p>Young men marched off to war as crusaders. But the horrors of the war soon overcame the recruits’ religious zeal. At the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, a Confederate soldier cursed the war he had once welcomed: “Oh! What suffering, what misery, what untold agony this horrid hell-begotten war has caused.” Soldiers at Shiloh witnessed the destructive potential of modern weaponry and outdated tactics: fields puddled with blood and strewn with dead men, animals tearing at their entrails. This is the war that often gets lost in the self-congratulatory narratives of the history books.</p>
<p>And what of the former slaves, on whose behalf this carnage was allegedly undertaken? The Civil War sealed their freedom, but little else. It would be more than a century before African-Americans attained the basic rights of that freedom. In 1888, the 25th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, Frederick Douglass, the great black abolitionist, pronounced the document a “fraud.” The vast majority of blacks still toiled on the South’s farms and plantations.</p>
<p>Might not peace, rather than war, have put an end to slavery and secured the rights of African-Americans much sooner?</p>
<p>In commemorating the Civil War, we should remember that wars are easily made, difficult to end, and burdened with unintended consequences and unforeseen human casualties.</p>
<p>We should also keep in mind that there is no higher law than the Constitution. That is America’s Scripture.</p>
<p>David Goldfield is the author of “America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation.” He wrote this for The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va. Distributed by MCT Information Services</p> | Evangelical Zeal, Bigotry Helped Divide a Nation | false | https://abqjournal.com/115726/evangelical-zeal-bigotry-helped-divide-a-nation.html | 2012-06-29 | 2least
| Evangelical Zeal, Bigotry Helped Divide a Nation
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>That’s a pity. The Civil War can tell us a great deal about ourselves, then and now. We have an unfortunate history of plunging into wars for God and democracy that have often made a mockery of both. If we can use this anniversary to learn more about why we rush to war, it will be an exercise worth undertaking.</p>
<p>More than 750,000 men died in the Civil War. Extrapolated to today’s population, the death toll would be close to 10 million. Most historians today would lament the casualties, but commend the outcome: the liberation of 4 million slaves.</p>
<p>I disagree. The Civil War was not a just war. It was a war of choice brought on by the insidious mixture of politics and religion that caused our political process and, ultimately, the nation to disintegrate. The war’s outcome did indeed end slavery, but could we have achieved this noble objective without the slaughter? The U.S. was the only slaveholding nation to abolish the institution with a civil war.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Our government governs best from the center and depends upon compromise. By 1861, however, the Bible had replaced the Constitution as the arbiter of public policy, particularly over the issue of extending slavery in the Western territories. Framing slavery as a moral cause rendered compromise unlikely, for you cannot compromise with sin. The party in power, the Republicans, deployed evangelical dogma to raise the stakes of political discourse.</p>
<p>The party’s ideology lay within the Second Great Awakening, a national religious revival begun in the early 1800s. Within a generation, nearly 40 percent of Americans who expressed a faith were members of evangelical Protestant denominations.</p>
<p>In the North evangelicals used the Gospel not only to convert individuals, but also to reform society. They viewed America as a God-blessed nation, ordained to conquer a continent from sea to shining sea and spread democracy and Protestant Christianity across the land and, eventually, throughout the world.</p>
<p>In order to accomplish this great objective, America must expiate its sins, foremost among them slavery and the Roman Catholic Church – two forms of despotism that undermined democracy and Christianity, according to Northern evangelicals. Historians have soft-pedaled the religious bigotry of Northern evangelicals and their allies, praising instead their antislavery position. However, you cannot discuss one without accounting for the other because they merged in the political arena.</p>
<p>Beginning in the early 1840s small evangelical political parties emerged in the North demanding government action against slavery and the Catholic Church. Violent clashes of Protestant and Catholic gangs in the streets of major Northern and border cities accompanied the entrance of evangelical parties into the political system. One of the bloodiest sectarian riots occurred in New York City in July 1857, an event depicted in Martin Scorcese’s film “Gangs of New York.”</p>
<p>By the time of the New York mêlée, the mixture of evangelical religion and politics was pervasive. Between 1847 and 1857, more than 1 million Irish Catholics emigrated to the United States to escape the potato famine. The sudden influx of Catholic immigrants alarmed evangelicals, especially those in the North. At the same time, the controversy over the extension of slavery in the territories worsened.</p>
<p>Northerners concerned about the Catholic “invasion” and the “Slave Power” formed a new political party in the mid-1850s, the Republicans. In 1858, when Abraham Lincoln ran for the U.S. Senate in Illinois as the Republican candidate, the party cited “The Two Despotisms – Catholicism and Slavery – Their Union and Identity.”</p>
<p>Lincoln was neither a religious bigot nor an evangelical Christian. But his speeches and writings in the late 1850s became increasingly messianic. His famous “House Divided” speech in 1858 derived from Matthew 12:25: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Self-righteousness eroded the vital center of American politics. Northerners and Southerners flung biblical verses at each other, deepening the divide. When the Republicans, avowedly evangelical and proudly sectional, took control of the government in March 1861, Southerners were rightly concerned to expect the worst. And the worst happened.</p>
<p>Young men marched off to war as crusaders. But the horrors of the war soon overcame the recruits’ religious zeal. At the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, a Confederate soldier cursed the war he had once welcomed: “Oh! What suffering, what misery, what untold agony this horrid hell-begotten war has caused.” Soldiers at Shiloh witnessed the destructive potential of modern weaponry and outdated tactics: fields puddled with blood and strewn with dead men, animals tearing at their entrails. This is the war that often gets lost in the self-congratulatory narratives of the history books.</p>
<p>And what of the former slaves, on whose behalf this carnage was allegedly undertaken? The Civil War sealed their freedom, but little else. It would be more than a century before African-Americans attained the basic rights of that freedom. In 1888, the 25th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, Frederick Douglass, the great black abolitionist, pronounced the document a “fraud.” The vast majority of blacks still toiled on the South’s farms and plantations.</p>
<p>Might not peace, rather than war, have put an end to slavery and secured the rights of African-Americans much sooner?</p>
<p>In commemorating the Civil War, we should remember that wars are easily made, difficult to end, and burdened with unintended consequences and unforeseen human casualties.</p>
<p>We should also keep in mind that there is no higher law than the Constitution. That is America’s Scripture.</p>
<p>David Goldfield is the author of “America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation.” He wrote this for The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va. Distributed by MCT Information Services</p> | 240 |
<p>The Palestinian flag was raised at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Wednesday for the first time. In this video from The Guardian, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the move signals to the international community that “Palestinian statehood is achievable.”</p>
<p />
<p>Earlier this month, the U.N. General Assembly <a href="" type="internal">voted overwhelmingly</a> to fly Palestine’s flag at the headquarters in a move that has infuriated Israel and that Palestinians described as a step toward full U.N. membership. Of the 193 U.N. member states, 119 approved the resolution.</p>
<p>In June, the Vatican signed a treaty formally recognizing Palestine as a state, joining other major international entities including the European Parliament. The U.N. upgraded the Palestinian delegation’s status in 2012 to that of a nonmember observer state, and in 2014 the European Parliament voted in favor of a nonbinding resolution calling for the recognition of Palestinian statehood as part of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.</p>
<p />
<p>–Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Roisin Davis</a></p> | VIDEO: Palestinian Flag Is Raised at United Nations Headquarters | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/video-palestinian-flag-is-raised-at-united-nations-headquarters/ | 2015-10-01 | 4left
| VIDEO: Palestinian Flag Is Raised at United Nations Headquarters
<p>The Palestinian flag was raised at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Wednesday for the first time. In this video from The Guardian, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the move signals to the international community that “Palestinian statehood is achievable.”</p>
<p />
<p>Earlier this month, the U.N. General Assembly <a href="" type="internal">voted overwhelmingly</a> to fly Palestine’s flag at the headquarters in a move that has infuriated Israel and that Palestinians described as a step toward full U.N. membership. Of the 193 U.N. member states, 119 approved the resolution.</p>
<p>In June, the Vatican signed a treaty formally recognizing Palestine as a state, joining other major international entities including the European Parliament. The U.N. upgraded the Palestinian delegation’s status in 2012 to that of a nonmember observer state, and in 2014 the European Parliament voted in favor of a nonbinding resolution calling for the recognition of Palestinian statehood as part of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.</p>
<p />
<p>–Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Roisin Davis</a></p> | 241 |
<p>Here are the two great campaign mysteries at midsummer: Why does Mitt Romney appear to be getting so much traction from ripping a few of President Obama’s words out of context? And why aren’t Romney and other Republicans moving to the political center as the election approaches?</p>
<p>Both mysteries point to an important fact about the 2012 campaign: For conservatives, this is a go-for-broke election. They and a Republican Party now under their control hope to eke out a narrow victory in November on the basis of a quite radical program that includes more tax cuts for the rich, deep reductions in domestic spending, big increases in military spending, and a sharp rollback in government regulation.</p>
<p>In the process, the right hopes to redefine middle-of-the-road policies as “left wing,” thereby altering the balance in the American political debate.</p>
<p>What should alarm both liberals and moderates is that this is the rare election in which such a strategy has a chance of succeeding. Conservatives have their opening not because the country has moved far to the right but courtesy of economic discontent, partisan polarization and the right’s success in defining Obama as standing well to the left of where he actually does.</p>
<p />
<p>The Obama campaign is trying to disrupt this narrative on multiple fronts. Why did Obama respond so quickly and forcefully to Romney’s effort to use the president’s “you didn’t build that” quotation as a way of casting him as an enemy of small business? It’s not that the attack was true. In fact, it was blatantly false, given that in the same speech Obama praised “hard work,” “responsibility” and “individual initiative.”</p>
<p>The words did, however, play to a stereotype of Obama as an advocate of big government who mistrusts business. The distortion resonated, said Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster, because key voter groups that Romney is trying to win suspect the four words reflect “secretly what he [Obama] believes.”</p>
<p>Moreover, Republicans want to recast the Obama campaign’s most effective line of attack — that Romney is a very wealthy out-of-touch financier who “pioneered” the outsourcing of jobs, kept a lot of money in foreign accounts, and refuses to release additional tax returns — as being less about Romney than about the president’s supposed hostility to “success” and to business. Much is riding on the interpretation (or willful misinterpretation) of a short sentence in a long speech.</p>
<p>The go-for-broke strategy has a chance for another reason: In this election, the number of genuine, middle-of-the-road swing voters is very small. For both candidates, this puts a premium not only on high turnout among party base groups but also on very large victory margins within them. McInturff thinks we may be moving from an electoral model based on swing or undecided voters to a world of what he calls “committed versus elastic” voter groups.</p>
<p>For example, it is widely agreed that white working-class voters will support Romney. But much depends upon Romney’s margin among them. If Obama holds Romney’s lead in the white working class to around 15 points, he likely wins. Romney can win if he pushes his advantage with these less well-off voters to 25 points or more. Obama’s Bain/tax returns offensive against Romney is aimed directly at this constituency.</p>
<p>Similarly, Romney will lose the Latino vote by a landslide. But holding his deficit to, say, 30 points instead of 40 will matter. And by portraying Obama as anti-business, McInturff said, Romney could gain ground among college-educated white men. In the pollster’s terms, what matters is the “elasticity” in all these constituencies.</p>
<p>The potential flaw in the conservative strategy could turn out to be reality itself. Obama’s actual record is neither left wing nor anti-business. Public opinion is strongly hostile to many items on the conservative agenda. Most voters, for example, reject the idea that more tax cuts for the wealthy are central to future prosperity. Much of the domestic spending that Republicans would reduce has strong support, one reason Romney avoids budget specifics.</p>
<p>Republicans want to play down the implications of what they would do in power and paint Obama as someone he isn’t. Normally, this strategy wouldn’t work. But this is a moment when abnormal levels of economic turmoil are feeding a profound mistrust of government. Conservatives are making a large bet that if ever there was a year when they could mainstream out-of-the-mainstream ideas, this is it.</p>
<p>E.J. Dionne’s e-mail address is ejdionne(at)washpost.com.</p>
<p>© 2012, Washington Post Writers Group</p> | Romney and the Go-for-Broke Election | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/romney-and-the-go-for-broke-election/ | 2012-07-30 | 4left
| Romney and the Go-for-Broke Election
<p>Here are the two great campaign mysteries at midsummer: Why does Mitt Romney appear to be getting so much traction from ripping a few of President Obama’s words out of context? And why aren’t Romney and other Republicans moving to the political center as the election approaches?</p>
<p>Both mysteries point to an important fact about the 2012 campaign: For conservatives, this is a go-for-broke election. They and a Republican Party now under their control hope to eke out a narrow victory in November on the basis of a quite radical program that includes more tax cuts for the rich, deep reductions in domestic spending, big increases in military spending, and a sharp rollback in government regulation.</p>
<p>In the process, the right hopes to redefine middle-of-the-road policies as “left wing,” thereby altering the balance in the American political debate.</p>
<p>What should alarm both liberals and moderates is that this is the rare election in which such a strategy has a chance of succeeding. Conservatives have their opening not because the country has moved far to the right but courtesy of economic discontent, partisan polarization and the right’s success in defining Obama as standing well to the left of where he actually does.</p>
<p />
<p>The Obama campaign is trying to disrupt this narrative on multiple fronts. Why did Obama respond so quickly and forcefully to Romney’s effort to use the president’s “you didn’t build that” quotation as a way of casting him as an enemy of small business? It’s not that the attack was true. In fact, it was blatantly false, given that in the same speech Obama praised “hard work,” “responsibility” and “individual initiative.”</p>
<p>The words did, however, play to a stereotype of Obama as an advocate of big government who mistrusts business. The distortion resonated, said Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster, because key voter groups that Romney is trying to win suspect the four words reflect “secretly what he [Obama] believes.”</p>
<p>Moreover, Republicans want to recast the Obama campaign’s most effective line of attack — that Romney is a very wealthy out-of-touch financier who “pioneered” the outsourcing of jobs, kept a lot of money in foreign accounts, and refuses to release additional tax returns — as being less about Romney than about the president’s supposed hostility to “success” and to business. Much is riding on the interpretation (or willful misinterpretation) of a short sentence in a long speech.</p>
<p>The go-for-broke strategy has a chance for another reason: In this election, the number of genuine, middle-of-the-road swing voters is very small. For both candidates, this puts a premium not only on high turnout among party base groups but also on very large victory margins within them. McInturff thinks we may be moving from an electoral model based on swing or undecided voters to a world of what he calls “committed versus elastic” voter groups.</p>
<p>For example, it is widely agreed that white working-class voters will support Romney. But much depends upon Romney’s margin among them. If Obama holds Romney’s lead in the white working class to around 15 points, he likely wins. Romney can win if he pushes his advantage with these less well-off voters to 25 points or more. Obama’s Bain/tax returns offensive against Romney is aimed directly at this constituency.</p>
<p>Similarly, Romney will lose the Latino vote by a landslide. But holding his deficit to, say, 30 points instead of 40 will matter. And by portraying Obama as anti-business, McInturff said, Romney could gain ground among college-educated white men. In the pollster’s terms, what matters is the “elasticity” in all these constituencies.</p>
<p>The potential flaw in the conservative strategy could turn out to be reality itself. Obama’s actual record is neither left wing nor anti-business. Public opinion is strongly hostile to many items on the conservative agenda. Most voters, for example, reject the idea that more tax cuts for the wealthy are central to future prosperity. Much of the domestic spending that Republicans would reduce has strong support, one reason Romney avoids budget specifics.</p>
<p>Republicans want to play down the implications of what they would do in power and paint Obama as someone he isn’t. Normally, this strategy wouldn’t work. But this is a moment when abnormal levels of economic turmoil are feeding a profound mistrust of government. Conservatives are making a large bet that if ever there was a year when they could mainstream out-of-the-mainstream ideas, this is it.</p>
<p>E.J. Dionne’s e-mail address is ejdionne(at)washpost.com.</p>
<p>© 2012, Washington Post Writers Group</p> | 242 |
<p>The fall of the Gaddafi regime appears today to be imminent.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/110822/muammar-gaddafi-libya-news-tripoli-dow-jones-video" type="external">Here's the latest</a>, as rebels take most of Tripoli and world leaders <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/110822/libya-war-tripoli-gaddafi-obama-surrender" type="external">urge Muammar al-Gaddafi to surrender</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>"The surest way for the bloodshed to end is simple: Muammar Gaddafi and his regime need to recognize that their rule has come to an end," President Barack Obama said in a statement.</p>
<p>The dramatic events of the weekend will, no doubt, produce all sorts of interesting questions - from who ends up ruling the country if Gaddafi steps down, to how that transition is managed, to what role NATO might have to play.</p>
<p>There will also be plenty of jaw-boning about the political implications in the U.S.: is it a political victory for President Obama? How will the story play across the ongoing fight for the Republican nomination for the 2012 presidential elections?&#160;</p>
<p>But the most important consequence may end up being economic.</p>
<p>Why? Oil, of course.</p>
<p>Libya is the world's 17th-largest producer of the stuff, and there's a growing expectation among some analysts that with the conflict perhaps coming to a close, Libyan oil production will rapidly increase.&#160;That, in turn, would lower oil prices and, eventually, lead to a drop in gasoline prices in the U.S., the world's largest economy.</p>
<p>In short: the fall of Gaddafi could end up giving Americans what amounts to a big fat tax cut.&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/photo-galleries/planet-pic/5673627/photos-libyans-celebrate-rebels-take-tripoli" type="external">Photos:</a> <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/photo-galleries/planet-pic/5673627/photos-libyans-celebrate-rebels-take-tripoli" type="external">Libyans celebrate as rebels take Tripoli</a></p>
<p>David Kotok, the chairman and chief executive of Cumberland Advisors <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/libya-oil-prices-will-tank-stock-prices-will-soar-2011-8#ixzz1VlV4jkz9" type="external">makes the case in Business Insider</a>:</p>
<p>Libyan oil production will ramp up. As it does, oil prices in world markets will fall and oil futures markets will reflect the expected increase in production of oil from Libya...We expect oil prices to fall when highly desirable, sweet Libyan crude production is fully resumed and enters the pipeline. Maybe, they are going to fall by a lot. This will come as a much-needed boost to the US economy and to others in the world.&#160;</p>
<p>Remember: the oil price acts like a sales tax on consumption. To clarify this relationship we convert crude oil prices to gasoline prices and then estimate what a change in gas price will mean for the American consumer. Roughly, a penny drop in the gas price per gallon gives Americans 1.4 billion more dollars a year to spend on other than gasoline. That is a huge stimulant to the economy. The ratio is different in Europe because the gas taxes are so much higher there. Nevertheless, it is still significant.</p>
<p>Lower gas prices could not come at a more needed time. With weakening economies around the developed world, the lowering of the consumption "tax" from high oil prices will be a welcome boost. In the US, it is possible we will see gas prices with a $2 handle, instead of the $4 handle of a few months ago. This is a large positive change for the US economy, and it is not being incorporated in the gloomy forecasts that we see.&#160;</p>
<p>Of course, not everyone holds this rosy view.</p>
<p>"I see the price coming down on Brent as more of a knee jerk reaction," author and former oil trader <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/22/markets/oil_libya/" type="external">Dan Dicker told CNNMoney</a>, estimating that it will take a long time for Libyan oil to flow back into the market. "You're not going to see a barrel of oil from Libya for at least a year."&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/110822/tripoli-muammar-al-gaddafi-oil-libya-news-eni-gas" type="external">Italian oil company leads charge back into Libya</a></p>
<p>Manouchehr Takin, senior petroleum analyst at the Center for Global Energy Studies in London, also told CNNMoney that Libya's resumption of production is more likely to be a gradual flow.</p>
<p>"The state of the oil infrastructure in Libya remains uncertain, he said, and there could be unforeseen factors that would interfere with the resumption of production," CNNMoney reported.&#160;</p>
<p>Oil prices today have been volatile. Brent prices dropped, while crude prices jumped.</p>
<p>Here's a <a href="http://money.cnn.com/data/commodities/" type="external">link to the latest trading</a>.&#160;</p> | Fall of Gaddafi good for US economy? | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-08-22/fall-gaddafi-good-us-economy | 2011-08-22 | 3left-center
| Fall of Gaddafi good for US economy?
<p>The fall of the Gaddafi regime appears today to be imminent.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/110822/muammar-gaddafi-libya-news-tripoli-dow-jones-video" type="external">Here's the latest</a>, as rebels take most of Tripoli and world leaders <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/110822/libya-war-tripoli-gaddafi-obama-surrender" type="external">urge Muammar al-Gaddafi to surrender</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>"The surest way for the bloodshed to end is simple: Muammar Gaddafi and his regime need to recognize that their rule has come to an end," President Barack Obama said in a statement.</p>
<p>The dramatic events of the weekend will, no doubt, produce all sorts of interesting questions - from who ends up ruling the country if Gaddafi steps down, to how that transition is managed, to what role NATO might have to play.</p>
<p>There will also be plenty of jaw-boning about the political implications in the U.S.: is it a political victory for President Obama? How will the story play across the ongoing fight for the Republican nomination for the 2012 presidential elections?&#160;</p>
<p>But the most important consequence may end up being economic.</p>
<p>Why? Oil, of course.</p>
<p>Libya is the world's 17th-largest producer of the stuff, and there's a growing expectation among some analysts that with the conflict perhaps coming to a close, Libyan oil production will rapidly increase.&#160;That, in turn, would lower oil prices and, eventually, lead to a drop in gasoline prices in the U.S., the world's largest economy.</p>
<p>In short: the fall of Gaddafi could end up giving Americans what amounts to a big fat tax cut.&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/photo-galleries/planet-pic/5673627/photos-libyans-celebrate-rebels-take-tripoli" type="external">Photos:</a> <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/photo-galleries/planet-pic/5673627/photos-libyans-celebrate-rebels-take-tripoli" type="external">Libyans celebrate as rebels take Tripoli</a></p>
<p>David Kotok, the chairman and chief executive of Cumberland Advisors <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/libya-oil-prices-will-tank-stock-prices-will-soar-2011-8#ixzz1VlV4jkz9" type="external">makes the case in Business Insider</a>:</p>
<p>Libyan oil production will ramp up. As it does, oil prices in world markets will fall and oil futures markets will reflect the expected increase in production of oil from Libya...We expect oil prices to fall when highly desirable, sweet Libyan crude production is fully resumed and enters the pipeline. Maybe, they are going to fall by a lot. This will come as a much-needed boost to the US economy and to others in the world.&#160;</p>
<p>Remember: the oil price acts like a sales tax on consumption. To clarify this relationship we convert crude oil prices to gasoline prices and then estimate what a change in gas price will mean for the American consumer. Roughly, a penny drop in the gas price per gallon gives Americans 1.4 billion more dollars a year to spend on other than gasoline. That is a huge stimulant to the economy. The ratio is different in Europe because the gas taxes are so much higher there. Nevertheless, it is still significant.</p>
<p>Lower gas prices could not come at a more needed time. With weakening economies around the developed world, the lowering of the consumption "tax" from high oil prices will be a welcome boost. In the US, it is possible we will see gas prices with a $2 handle, instead of the $4 handle of a few months ago. This is a large positive change for the US economy, and it is not being incorporated in the gloomy forecasts that we see.&#160;</p>
<p>Of course, not everyone holds this rosy view.</p>
<p>"I see the price coming down on Brent as more of a knee jerk reaction," author and former oil trader <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/22/markets/oil_libya/" type="external">Dan Dicker told CNNMoney</a>, estimating that it will take a long time for Libyan oil to flow back into the market. "You're not going to see a barrel of oil from Libya for at least a year."&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/110822/tripoli-muammar-al-gaddafi-oil-libya-news-eni-gas" type="external">Italian oil company leads charge back into Libya</a></p>
<p>Manouchehr Takin, senior petroleum analyst at the Center for Global Energy Studies in London, also told CNNMoney that Libya's resumption of production is more likely to be a gradual flow.</p>
<p>"The state of the oil infrastructure in Libya remains uncertain, he said, and there could be unforeseen factors that would interfere with the resumption of production," CNNMoney reported.&#160;</p>
<p>Oil prices today have been volatile. Brent prices dropped, while crude prices jumped.</p>
<p>Here's a <a href="http://money.cnn.com/data/commodities/" type="external">link to the latest trading</a>.&#160;</p> | 243 |
<p>SYDNEY (AP) — Former No. 1-ranked Angelique Kerber needed to save two match points before fending off Lucie Safarova 6-7 (3), 7-6 (8), 6-2 on Monday to set up a second-round match against Venus Williams.</p>
<p>Kerber, coming off a run to the Hopman Cup final in Perth, overcame two rain delays and a tricky second-set tiebreaker to extend her streak to five straight singles wins. Second-seeded Venus Williams had a bye in the first round.</p>
<p>U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens lost her first match of the year, beaten 6-3, 6-0 by Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi and is short of match practice ahead of the Australian Open which starts in Melbourne next week.</p>
<p>No. 13-ranked Stephens has not won a match since her breakthrough victory over Madison Keys in the U.S. Open final.</p>
<p>The 24-year-old American took a two-month break from tennis after losing her last six matches in 2017 and is now on a seven-match losing streak.</p>
<p>Stephens' exit from Sydney came just one day after French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko was upset 7-6 (3), 6-1 by Ekaterina Makarova on the opening day of the Sydney tournament.</p>
<p>In other first-round matches Monday, former Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova beat No. 8-seeded Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-1 and Australia's Ash Barty posted her first win of the summer in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over qualifier Veronica Cepede Royg.</p>
<p>SYDNEY (AP) — Former No. 1-ranked Angelique Kerber needed to save two match points before fending off Lucie Safarova 6-7 (3), 7-6 (8), 6-2 on Monday to set up a second-round match against Venus Williams.</p>
<p>Kerber, coming off a run to the Hopman Cup final in Perth, overcame two rain delays and a tricky second-set tiebreaker to extend her streak to five straight singles wins. Second-seeded Venus Williams had a bye in the first round.</p>
<p>U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens lost her first match of the year, beaten 6-3, 6-0 by Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi and is short of match practice ahead of the Australian Open which starts in Melbourne next week.</p>
<p>No. 13-ranked Stephens has not won a match since her breakthrough victory over Madison Keys in the U.S. Open final.</p>
<p>The 24-year-old American took a two-month break from tennis after losing her last six matches in 2017 and is now on a seven-match losing streak.</p>
<p>Stephens' exit from Sydney came just one day after French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko was upset 7-6 (3), 6-1 by Ekaterina Makarova on the opening day of the Sydney tournament.</p>
<p>In other first-round matches Monday, former Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova beat No. 8-seeded Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-1 and Australia's Ash Barty posted her first win of the summer in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over qualifier Veronica Cepede Royg.</p> | Kerber advances; US Open champion Stephens out in Sydney | false | https://apnews.com/amp/2c13c72b03134866a3b9dde9a25cff22 | 2018-01-08 | 2least
| Kerber advances; US Open champion Stephens out in Sydney
<p>SYDNEY (AP) — Former No. 1-ranked Angelique Kerber needed to save two match points before fending off Lucie Safarova 6-7 (3), 7-6 (8), 6-2 on Monday to set up a second-round match against Venus Williams.</p>
<p>Kerber, coming off a run to the Hopman Cup final in Perth, overcame two rain delays and a tricky second-set tiebreaker to extend her streak to five straight singles wins. Second-seeded Venus Williams had a bye in the first round.</p>
<p>U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens lost her first match of the year, beaten 6-3, 6-0 by Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi and is short of match practice ahead of the Australian Open which starts in Melbourne next week.</p>
<p>No. 13-ranked Stephens has not won a match since her breakthrough victory over Madison Keys in the U.S. Open final.</p>
<p>The 24-year-old American took a two-month break from tennis after losing her last six matches in 2017 and is now on a seven-match losing streak.</p>
<p>Stephens' exit from Sydney came just one day after French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko was upset 7-6 (3), 6-1 by Ekaterina Makarova on the opening day of the Sydney tournament.</p>
<p>In other first-round matches Monday, former Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova beat No. 8-seeded Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-1 and Australia's Ash Barty posted her first win of the summer in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over qualifier Veronica Cepede Royg.</p>
<p>SYDNEY (AP) — Former No. 1-ranked Angelique Kerber needed to save two match points before fending off Lucie Safarova 6-7 (3), 7-6 (8), 6-2 on Monday to set up a second-round match against Venus Williams.</p>
<p>Kerber, coming off a run to the Hopman Cup final in Perth, overcame two rain delays and a tricky second-set tiebreaker to extend her streak to five straight singles wins. Second-seeded Venus Williams had a bye in the first round.</p>
<p>U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens lost her first match of the year, beaten 6-3, 6-0 by Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi and is short of match practice ahead of the Australian Open which starts in Melbourne next week.</p>
<p>No. 13-ranked Stephens has not won a match since her breakthrough victory over Madison Keys in the U.S. Open final.</p>
<p>The 24-year-old American took a two-month break from tennis after losing her last six matches in 2017 and is now on a seven-match losing streak.</p>
<p>Stephens' exit from Sydney came just one day after French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko was upset 7-6 (3), 6-1 by Ekaterina Makarova on the opening day of the Sydney tournament.</p>
<p>In other first-round matches Monday, former Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova beat No. 8-seeded Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-1 and Australia's Ash Barty posted her first win of the summer in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over qualifier Veronica Cepede Royg.</p> | 244 |
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<p />
<p>Fishing bag limits and tackle restrictions have been lifted for Cowles Ponds in upper Pecos Canyon until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday (Sept. 19), which is when the U.S. Forest Service will close the two ponds for dredging work that will be done to improve fishing, the New Mexico Game and Fish Department said Monday.</p>
<p>The state agency said in a news release that it has issued an official emergency salvage order that will allow anglers to catch and keep unlimited numbers of fish from the ponds until the Sunday night deadline.</p>
<p>Tackle regulations also will be suspended and fish can be removed from the ponds with nets, spears or by other methods, although swimming at the ponds is prohibited, according to the news release.</p>
<p>The news release said that the smaller of the two ponds will continue to be open only to handicapped anglers and children young than age 12. Anyone 12 or older is required to have a state fishing license.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>For more information, go to <a href="http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/" type="external">www.wildlife.state.nm.us</a> or call 505-476-8000.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Fishing Bag Limits, Tackle Restrictions Lifted for Cowles Ponds | false | https://abqjournal.com/9296/fishing-bag-limits-tackle-restrictions-lifted-for-cowles-ponds.html | 2least
| Fishing Bag Limits, Tackle Restrictions Lifted for Cowles Ponds
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Fishing bag limits and tackle restrictions have been lifted for Cowles Ponds in upper Pecos Canyon until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday (Sept. 19), which is when the U.S. Forest Service will close the two ponds for dredging work that will be done to improve fishing, the New Mexico Game and Fish Department said Monday.</p>
<p>The state agency said in a news release that it has issued an official emergency salvage order that will allow anglers to catch and keep unlimited numbers of fish from the ponds until the Sunday night deadline.</p>
<p>Tackle regulations also will be suspended and fish can be removed from the ponds with nets, spears or by other methods, although swimming at the ponds is prohibited, according to the news release.</p>
<p>The news release said that the smaller of the two ponds will continue to be open only to handicapped anglers and children young than age 12. Anyone 12 or older is required to have a state fishing license.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>For more information, go to <a href="http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/" type="external">www.wildlife.state.nm.us</a> or call 505-476-8000.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 245 |
|
<p />
<p>The Roman Theater in Palmyra, Syria. ( <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/The_Scene_of_the_Theater_in_Palmyra.JPG" type="external">Wikimedia)</a></p>
<p>This post originally ran on <a href="http://www.juancole.com/2015/05/beheaded-palmyra-strategic.html" type="external">Juan Cole’s website</a>.</p>
<p>Nearly 500 people died in the campaign by Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) to take the Syrian city of Palmyra, including <a href="http://www.alarabiya.net/ar/arab-and-world/syria/2015/05/22/%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%B4-%D9%8A%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AA%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%B1-%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%81%D8%B5%D9%84-%D8%B1%D8%A4%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%87%D9%85-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A3%D8%AC%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87%D9%85.html" type="external">49 who were executed before the fundamentalists reached the city center. On Thursday, they are alleged by the Syrian Observatory on Human Rights to have beheaded at least 17 more people</a>, among them Syrian Arab Army POWs, pro-regime militiamen, and pro-regime civilians. The terrorist organization ordered the population of the city to remain in doors. The city of some 140,000 (many of them refugees from Homs and other urban centers damaged by the civil war) fell to Daesh on Wednesday, marking the second city conquered by the organization this week (Ramadi in Iraq fell to them on Sunday).</p>
<p />
<p>On Thursday, Daesh forces took two villages outside Palmyra on the road to Damascus, <a href="http://www.aljazeera.net/news/arabic/2015/5/22/%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%8A%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A9-%D9%8A%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B9-%D8%A8%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%B7-%D8%AA%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%B1-%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%82%D8%AA%D9%84-%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%86%D9%88%D8%AF%20" type="external">claiming to have killed 50 Syrian Arab Army troops who were attempt to flee to Homs.</a></p>
<p>For Syrians, Palmyra is famous not only for its historical ruins but more darkly as the site of the notorious Tadmor Prison, where Muslim fundamentalists were imprisoned, including for thought crimes, and torture was practiced intensively. The regime is said to have moved the prisoners to a secret location before the city fell.</p>
<p>Personally, I disagree with those analysts suggesting that Palmyra is a strategic asset or that its fall brings Daesh to the gates of Damascus. It is a small town out in the eastern desert away from the population centers along the western border of Syria. Two-thirds of Syrians live in the corridors linking Damascus to Latakia and Aleppo via Homs. Daesh isn’t all that much closer to Damascus than it was in southern Raqqa province already. Maybe having it improves the organization’s logistics with its assets in Iraq, but that is about it. Some observers are also claiming that Daesh now controls half of Syrian territory. But that is a silly way of counting things. The eastern desert is sparsely populated and it isn’t even clear what ‘controlling’ it would mean. The scorpions and lizards wave black banners? What Daesh controls is mostly white <a href="http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/images/maps/Syria_Ethnic_1935_lg.png%20" type="external">in the below ethnic map of Syria</a> (i.e. unpopulated).</p>
<p><a href="http://www.juancole.com/images/2015/05/Screen-Shot-2015-05-22-at-2.44.30-AM.png" type="external" /></p>
<p>The more colorful spots are non-Sunni ethnic minorities like the Druze, Alawites, Christians, etc. However tired these groups might be of the war, they will go to Israeli-style mass citizen mobilization before they will accept being conquered by Daesh. That is, the al-Assad regime may well fall in the end, but the conquest of Palmyra by Daesh does not actually indicate that fall is imminent.</p>
<p>Many Syrians on Twitter are complaining that world leaders like President Francois Hollande of France are all of a sudden energized about Syria now that Palmyra has fallen to Daesh, because of the organization’s iconoclastic policies and the danger it will destroy the Roman ruins. They want to know where Hollande has been while over 200,000 Syrians were killed in the civil war.</p>
<p>The big question is how Daesh, supposedly being bombed by coalition aircraft, was allowed to send out a substantial convoy down desert roads to Palmyra from Raqqa. The Pentagon has been issuing statistics on so many bombing raids etc. for months, but unless the bombing is degrading Daesh’s capabilities then it is a waste of taxpayer money. In Kobane, the bombing succeeded in keeping the city out of Daesh hands because Kurdish Marxist guerrillas also fought it on the ground. But the US can hardly give the genocidal al-Assad regime close air support. Without a ground force to support, the US bombing is merely symbolic.</p>
<p>The situation is different in Iraq, where US and coalition bombing raids have helped push Daesh back in Diyala, Salahuddin and Ninewa Provinces, in conjunction with ground operations by Kurdish Peshmerga or the Iraqi army and its Shiite paramilitaries. In that context, the fall of Ramadi was probably preventable with the right coordination. In Syria, I don’t see the US aerial intervention as so far having been consequential.</p>
<p>—–</p>
<p>Related video:</p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/JrsJturkS7s%20" type="external">Associated Press: ”Ancient City of Palmyra Falls to IS Militants”</a></p>
<p />
<p /> | Islamic State Beheaded Dozens in Palmyra, but How Strategic Is the City? | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/islamic-state-beheaded-dozens-in-palmyra-but-how-strategic-is-the-city/ | 2015-05-23 | 4left
| Islamic State Beheaded Dozens in Palmyra, but How Strategic Is the City?
<p />
<p>The Roman Theater in Palmyra, Syria. ( <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/The_Scene_of_the_Theater_in_Palmyra.JPG" type="external">Wikimedia)</a></p>
<p>This post originally ran on <a href="http://www.juancole.com/2015/05/beheaded-palmyra-strategic.html" type="external">Juan Cole’s website</a>.</p>
<p>Nearly 500 people died in the campaign by Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) to take the Syrian city of Palmyra, including <a href="http://www.alarabiya.net/ar/arab-and-world/syria/2015/05/22/%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%B4-%D9%8A%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AA%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%B1-%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%81%D8%B5%D9%84-%D8%B1%D8%A4%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%87%D9%85-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A3%D8%AC%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87%D9%85.html" type="external">49 who were executed before the fundamentalists reached the city center. On Thursday, they are alleged by the Syrian Observatory on Human Rights to have beheaded at least 17 more people</a>, among them Syrian Arab Army POWs, pro-regime militiamen, and pro-regime civilians. The terrorist organization ordered the population of the city to remain in doors. The city of some 140,000 (many of them refugees from Homs and other urban centers damaged by the civil war) fell to Daesh on Wednesday, marking the second city conquered by the organization this week (Ramadi in Iraq fell to them on Sunday).</p>
<p />
<p>On Thursday, Daesh forces took two villages outside Palmyra on the road to Damascus, <a href="http://www.aljazeera.net/news/arabic/2015/5/22/%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%8A%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A9-%D9%8A%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B9-%D8%A8%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%B7-%D8%AA%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%B1-%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%82%D8%AA%D9%84-%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%86%D9%88%D8%AF%20" type="external">claiming to have killed 50 Syrian Arab Army troops who were attempt to flee to Homs.</a></p>
<p>For Syrians, Palmyra is famous not only for its historical ruins but more darkly as the site of the notorious Tadmor Prison, where Muslim fundamentalists were imprisoned, including for thought crimes, and torture was practiced intensively. The regime is said to have moved the prisoners to a secret location before the city fell.</p>
<p>Personally, I disagree with those analysts suggesting that Palmyra is a strategic asset or that its fall brings Daesh to the gates of Damascus. It is a small town out in the eastern desert away from the population centers along the western border of Syria. Two-thirds of Syrians live in the corridors linking Damascus to Latakia and Aleppo via Homs. Daesh isn’t all that much closer to Damascus than it was in southern Raqqa province already. Maybe having it improves the organization’s logistics with its assets in Iraq, but that is about it. Some observers are also claiming that Daesh now controls half of Syrian territory. But that is a silly way of counting things. The eastern desert is sparsely populated and it isn’t even clear what ‘controlling’ it would mean. The scorpions and lizards wave black banners? What Daesh controls is mostly white <a href="http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/images/maps/Syria_Ethnic_1935_lg.png%20" type="external">in the below ethnic map of Syria</a> (i.e. unpopulated).</p>
<p><a href="http://www.juancole.com/images/2015/05/Screen-Shot-2015-05-22-at-2.44.30-AM.png" type="external" /></p>
<p>The more colorful spots are non-Sunni ethnic minorities like the Druze, Alawites, Christians, etc. However tired these groups might be of the war, they will go to Israeli-style mass citizen mobilization before they will accept being conquered by Daesh. That is, the al-Assad regime may well fall in the end, but the conquest of Palmyra by Daesh does not actually indicate that fall is imminent.</p>
<p>Many Syrians on Twitter are complaining that world leaders like President Francois Hollande of France are all of a sudden energized about Syria now that Palmyra has fallen to Daesh, because of the organization’s iconoclastic policies and the danger it will destroy the Roman ruins. They want to know where Hollande has been while over 200,000 Syrians were killed in the civil war.</p>
<p>The big question is how Daesh, supposedly being bombed by coalition aircraft, was allowed to send out a substantial convoy down desert roads to Palmyra from Raqqa. The Pentagon has been issuing statistics on so many bombing raids etc. for months, but unless the bombing is degrading Daesh’s capabilities then it is a waste of taxpayer money. In Kobane, the bombing succeeded in keeping the city out of Daesh hands because Kurdish Marxist guerrillas also fought it on the ground. But the US can hardly give the genocidal al-Assad regime close air support. Without a ground force to support, the US bombing is merely symbolic.</p>
<p>The situation is different in Iraq, where US and coalition bombing raids have helped push Daesh back in Diyala, Salahuddin and Ninewa Provinces, in conjunction with ground operations by Kurdish Peshmerga or the Iraqi army and its Shiite paramilitaries. In that context, the fall of Ramadi was probably preventable with the right coordination. In Syria, I don’t see the US aerial intervention as so far having been consequential.</p>
<p>—–</p>
<p>Related video:</p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/JrsJturkS7s%20" type="external">Associated Press: ”Ancient City of Palmyra Falls to IS Militants”</a></p>
<p />
<p /> | 246 |
<p>Your daily look at late-breaking California news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:</p>
<p>1. STORM</p>
<p>Heavy rain pounds Southern California, flooding and debris blocks highways; storm diminishing in Bay Area.</p>
<p>2. RECORD</p>
<p>Storm brought 3.15 inches of rain to downtown San Francisco, making Monday 16th wettest day in records dating to 1849.</p>
<p>3. DELUGE</p>
<p>Big Sur coast received up to 9.6 inches of rain; Highway 1 blocked by rock slides.</p>
<p>4. SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR</p>
<p>Candidates face a deadline Tuesday to enter the 2018 race for mayor, a contest moved up after sudden death of Mayor Ed Lee last month.</p>
<p>5. ROMAN POLANSKI</p>
<p>LA prosecutors won't charge Oscar-winning director in alleged 1975 molestation because the allegations are too old.</p>
<p>Your daily look at late-breaking California news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:</p>
<p>1. STORM</p>
<p>Heavy rain pounds Southern California, flooding and debris blocks highways; storm diminishing in Bay Area.</p>
<p>2. RECORD</p>
<p>Storm brought 3.15 inches of rain to downtown San Francisco, making Monday 16th wettest day in records dating to 1849.</p>
<p>3. DELUGE</p>
<p>Big Sur coast received up to 9.6 inches of rain; Highway 1 blocked by rock slides.</p>
<p>4. SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR</p>
<p>Candidates face a deadline Tuesday to enter the 2018 race for mayor, a contest moved up after sudden death of Mayor Ed Lee last month.</p>
<p>5. ROMAN POLANSKI</p>
<p>LA prosecutors won't charge Oscar-winning director in alleged 1975 molestation because the allegations are too old.</p> | 5 California Things to Know for Today | false | https://apnews.com/amp/697c81adc4434be0a48bfbe01a70afd5 | 2018-01-09 | 2least
| 5 California Things to Know for Today
<p>Your daily look at late-breaking California news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:</p>
<p>1. STORM</p>
<p>Heavy rain pounds Southern California, flooding and debris blocks highways; storm diminishing in Bay Area.</p>
<p>2. RECORD</p>
<p>Storm brought 3.15 inches of rain to downtown San Francisco, making Monday 16th wettest day in records dating to 1849.</p>
<p>3. DELUGE</p>
<p>Big Sur coast received up to 9.6 inches of rain; Highway 1 blocked by rock slides.</p>
<p>4. SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR</p>
<p>Candidates face a deadline Tuesday to enter the 2018 race for mayor, a contest moved up after sudden death of Mayor Ed Lee last month.</p>
<p>5. ROMAN POLANSKI</p>
<p>LA prosecutors won't charge Oscar-winning director in alleged 1975 molestation because the allegations are too old.</p>
<p>Your daily look at late-breaking California news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:</p>
<p>1. STORM</p>
<p>Heavy rain pounds Southern California, flooding and debris blocks highways; storm diminishing in Bay Area.</p>
<p>2. RECORD</p>
<p>Storm brought 3.15 inches of rain to downtown San Francisco, making Monday 16th wettest day in records dating to 1849.</p>
<p>3. DELUGE</p>
<p>Big Sur coast received up to 9.6 inches of rain; Highway 1 blocked by rock slides.</p>
<p>4. SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR</p>
<p>Candidates face a deadline Tuesday to enter the 2018 race for mayor, a contest moved up after sudden death of Mayor Ed Lee last month.</p>
<p>5. ROMAN POLANSKI</p>
<p>LA prosecutors won't charge Oscar-winning director in alleged 1975 molestation because the allegations are too old.</p> | 247 |
<p>In what is already being called the worst flu season in a decade, an abnormally high number of influenza cases could end up costing employers billions of dollars.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The likely increase would be related to higher health-care costs and an expected decline in production as more employees miss work due to sick days.</p>
<p>When calculating the direct cost of hospitalizations and outpatient visits, the Centers for Disease Control estimates that an average seasonal flu outbreak costs the nation's employers $10.4 billion.</p>
<p>And that doesn't even include indirect costs such as the loss of productivity.</p>
<p>We're three months into the flu season and already it appears worse than usual, and the season's peak, typically January and February, is only just beginning.</p>
<p>So far, 29 of 41 states reporting flu cases said the outbreak is at "severe" levels. On Wednesday, a state of public health emergency was declared in Boston because of the expanding flu outbreak that has already killed 18 people in Massachusetts.&#160;</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>To put it in perspective, Boston has 700 confirmed cases of flu so far this year, up a whopping 900% from just 70 total cases last year.&#160;</p>
<p>Economically, this means companies that are already struggling to stay afloat as they loosen themselves from the clutches of 2008's Great Recession and take a breather from the uncertainty of the fiscal cliff, can look forward to another major road block -- a multi-billion-dollar one -- in the first eight weeks of 2013.</p>
<p>"Companies that may already be shorthanded coming out of the recession could find themselves struggling to keep up with demand in the weeks ahead as absenteeism claims more manpower," said John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray &amp; Christmas, a Chicago-based executive outplacement firm.&#160;</p>
<p>Worsening matters, the still downtrodden economy has people fearsome of losing their jobs, and that is luring employees to work despite fighting the highly contagious illness.</p>
<p>Some advice from Challenger, Gray &amp; Christmas:</p>
<p>For the sick person: stay out of work.</p>
<p>Influenza is highly contagious and rest is required for recovery. While coming in may seem like the valiant thing to do, it could actually lead to financial consequences as the virus not only lowers productivity but could cause coworkers to become infected.</p>
<p>That would ultimately lead to greater financial consequences for the employer as absenteeism surges and productivity slows, potentially cutting into the company's bottom line.</p>
<p>For the employer: Discourage workers from "toughing it out."</p>
<p>One way to do that is by implementing an effective leave policy so workers aren't afraid of losing their jobs should they need to call out. Preparing for the worst, companies should also have plans in place in the event of a massive outbreak.</p>
<p>That includes, if possible, not running at full capacity by building inventories, as well as taking appropriate measures to shift to telecom mode if necessary by giving employees the ability to efficiently set up shop and work from home.</p>
<p>Lastly, companies that host flu vaccinations, promote the importance of getting vaccinated and cut down on meetings when a flu outbreak begins are ahead of the game, Challenger said.</p>
<p /> | Worst Flu Season in a Decade Could Cost Employers Billions | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/01/09/worsening-flu-season-could-costs-companies-billions.html | 2013-01-09 | 0right
| Worst Flu Season in a Decade Could Cost Employers Billions
<p>In what is already being called the worst flu season in a decade, an abnormally high number of influenza cases could end up costing employers billions of dollars.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The likely increase would be related to higher health-care costs and an expected decline in production as more employees miss work due to sick days.</p>
<p>When calculating the direct cost of hospitalizations and outpatient visits, the Centers for Disease Control estimates that an average seasonal flu outbreak costs the nation's employers $10.4 billion.</p>
<p>And that doesn't even include indirect costs such as the loss of productivity.</p>
<p>We're three months into the flu season and already it appears worse than usual, and the season's peak, typically January and February, is only just beginning.</p>
<p>So far, 29 of 41 states reporting flu cases said the outbreak is at "severe" levels. On Wednesday, a state of public health emergency was declared in Boston because of the expanding flu outbreak that has already killed 18 people in Massachusetts.&#160;</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
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<p>To put it in perspective, Boston has 700 confirmed cases of flu so far this year, up a whopping 900% from just 70 total cases last year.&#160;</p>
<p>Economically, this means companies that are already struggling to stay afloat as they loosen themselves from the clutches of 2008's Great Recession and take a breather from the uncertainty of the fiscal cliff, can look forward to another major road block -- a multi-billion-dollar one -- in the first eight weeks of 2013.</p>
<p>"Companies that may already be shorthanded coming out of the recession could find themselves struggling to keep up with demand in the weeks ahead as absenteeism claims more manpower," said John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray &amp; Christmas, a Chicago-based executive outplacement firm.&#160;</p>
<p>Worsening matters, the still downtrodden economy has people fearsome of losing their jobs, and that is luring employees to work despite fighting the highly contagious illness.</p>
<p>Some advice from Challenger, Gray &amp; Christmas:</p>
<p>For the sick person: stay out of work.</p>
<p>Influenza is highly contagious and rest is required for recovery. While coming in may seem like the valiant thing to do, it could actually lead to financial consequences as the virus not only lowers productivity but could cause coworkers to become infected.</p>
<p>That would ultimately lead to greater financial consequences for the employer as absenteeism surges and productivity slows, potentially cutting into the company's bottom line.</p>
<p>For the employer: Discourage workers from "toughing it out."</p>
<p>One way to do that is by implementing an effective leave policy so workers aren't afraid of losing their jobs should they need to call out. Preparing for the worst, companies should also have plans in place in the event of a massive outbreak.</p>
<p>That includes, if possible, not running at full capacity by building inventories, as well as taking appropriate measures to shift to telecom mode if necessary by giving employees the ability to efficiently set up shop and work from home.</p>
<p>Lastly, companies that host flu vaccinations, promote the importance of getting vaccinated and cut down on meetings when a flu outbreak begins are ahead of the game, Challenger said.</p>
<p /> | 248 |
<p>Somehow, by some miracle, the California Legislature has confirmed Senator Abel Maldonado as Lieutenant Governor, ending five months of political drama and maneuvering that rivaled President Obama’s push for healthcare reform.</p>
<p>“Senator Maldonado is a model of post-partisanship, reaching across the aisle to improve education and strengthen public safety,” Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said in <a href="http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/14997" type="external">this press release</a>, apparently forgetting — like the legislators who dragged this whole sorry business on month after month — that as lieutenant governor, Maldonado is constitutionally prohibited from doing anything more than opening shopping malls, smiling gratuitously and exploring other open seats to run for.</p>
<p>What? Are you sure that’s not in the state constitution? Even the part about the shopping malls? Well, I’m sure it’s in the back somewhere…</p>
<p>-Anthony Pignataro</p> | Maldonado Confirmed | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2010/04/26/maldonado-confirmed/ | 2018-04-20 | 3left-center
| Maldonado Confirmed
<p>Somehow, by some miracle, the California Legislature has confirmed Senator Abel Maldonado as Lieutenant Governor, ending five months of political drama and maneuvering that rivaled President Obama’s push for healthcare reform.</p>
<p>“Senator Maldonado is a model of post-partisanship, reaching across the aisle to improve education and strengthen public safety,” Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said in <a href="http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/14997" type="external">this press release</a>, apparently forgetting — like the legislators who dragged this whole sorry business on month after month — that as lieutenant governor, Maldonado is constitutionally prohibited from doing anything more than opening shopping malls, smiling gratuitously and exploring other open seats to run for.</p>
<p>What? Are you sure that’s not in the state constitution? Even the part about the shopping malls? Well, I’m sure it’s in the back somewhere…</p>
<p>-Anthony Pignataro</p> | 249 |
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<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — Tiny flags fluttered in the breeze, and a rainbow of flowers sprouted on grave sites at Santa Fe National and Rosario cemeteries Monday to the echo of political speeches and bird song.</p>
<p>Memorial Day drew between 200-300 people to the official ceremony helmed by Gov. Susana Martinez and other dignitaries. But for those visiting the graves of loved ones, it was a deeply personal day of remembrance and prayers, mixed with some laughter and a few tears.</p>
<p>Tomas Gomez, 71, of Santa Fe, came to remember his wife Betty, to whom he was married for nearly 49 years. She died two years ago. Seven silk bouquets bloomed from her grave site.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>She was “my half of my life,” he said, holding some silk flowers to place on her stone. “Today is important because of the respect for the dead,” he said. “She was my life. She was very sweet, gentle and stern. She made me what I am.”</p>
<p>The pair married after high school and had six children. “I pay her a Mass every month close to the day of her death,” he added.</p>
<p>Santa Fe’s Henrietta Quintana came to honor and talk to her mother Concha, who died two years ago at 96.</p>
<p>“My mother came here every Memorial Day since I can remember, and I’m an old woman,” Quintana said. “She had flowers for her parents and an aunt. She had brothers and a brother-in-law who died in the military. Memorial Day is a big day.”</p>
<p>The family still runs the Santa Fe bed-and-breakfast Guadalupe Inn.</p>
<p>“She used to be there every morning,” Quintana said. “I said, ‘Look, I brought you water from the inn.’ I usually bring my Dad a beer and maybe a piece of chocolate.”</p>
<p>Anna Jaramillo and 12 of her family members spread a tablecloth on the ground and munched on doughnuts and chips while they talked about her grandson Joshua, who died of a congenital skin disease at the age of 9.</p>
<p>The Santa Fe resident also lost her 16-year-old nephew Anthony to a gunshot. The youth was killed by some jealous former friends while he was playing basketball, she said. No one was charged with the crime.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We just talk to them like we talk to them at home,” she said. “We circle afterward saying the Rosary. We say how we’re doing and we ask for help. Sometimes we leave Cheetos — Joshua’s favorite stuff — chocolate milk, bubble gum.</p>
<p>“He was a fighter,” she continued. “He never complained. He was blistered from top to bottom. He was a strong little boy.”</p>
<p>Lupe Jackson of San Felipe Pueblo placed a fresh vase of tulips and carnations on the grave of her brother David Townsend, who died in 1968 after returning home from Vietnam. He was killed by their brother, she said. No charges were filed.</p>
<p>“We’ve never talked about it very much,” she said.</p>
<p>“He was a good-hearted type person. My brother used to get mad at me because I would take big steps like a man. He’d say, ‘Take little steps like a lady.’ He was funny,” she continued. “He played basketball in high school. He was voted most popular or something like that.</p>
<p>“He went to the service right out of high school. He felt it was his duty. Of course, my Mom didn’t like it. He was over there about 1 1/2 years. When he came back, he brought back some pictures of dead men, women and children. I think that was his way of torturing himself. We kept them for a long time.”</p>
<p>Jackson visits David’s grave on Memorial Day or on his birthday to bring him flowers and pray.</p>
<p>“It’s kind of sacred,” she said.</p>
<p>Tonia Elan drove to the Santa Fe National Cemetery from Albuquerque to pay tribute to her mother Mary Jo, an Air Force nurse. She served during the Vietnam era, but was stationed in Taiwan. She died in January.</p>
<p>“She was great,” her daughter said. “She had been in the Air Force with my Dad. It was a pretty intense time. She saw some pretty horrific things. But she always tried to help whoever she could.</p>
<p>“We kind of circle around holding hands and give all the blessings,” she said. “We love her and we miss her.”</p> | Hundreds Gather for Day of Remembrance | false | https://abqjournal.com/109359/hundreds-gather-for-day-of-remembrance.html | 2012-05-29 | 2least
| Hundreds Gather for Day of Remembrance
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<p />
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — Tiny flags fluttered in the breeze, and a rainbow of flowers sprouted on grave sites at Santa Fe National and Rosario cemeteries Monday to the echo of political speeches and bird song.</p>
<p>Memorial Day drew between 200-300 people to the official ceremony helmed by Gov. Susana Martinez and other dignitaries. But for those visiting the graves of loved ones, it was a deeply personal day of remembrance and prayers, mixed with some laughter and a few tears.</p>
<p>Tomas Gomez, 71, of Santa Fe, came to remember his wife Betty, to whom he was married for nearly 49 years. She died two years ago. Seven silk bouquets bloomed from her grave site.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>She was “my half of my life,” he said, holding some silk flowers to place on her stone. “Today is important because of the respect for the dead,” he said. “She was my life. She was very sweet, gentle and stern. She made me what I am.”</p>
<p>The pair married after high school and had six children. “I pay her a Mass every month close to the day of her death,” he added.</p>
<p>Santa Fe’s Henrietta Quintana came to honor and talk to her mother Concha, who died two years ago at 96.</p>
<p>“My mother came here every Memorial Day since I can remember, and I’m an old woman,” Quintana said. “She had flowers for her parents and an aunt. She had brothers and a brother-in-law who died in the military. Memorial Day is a big day.”</p>
<p>The family still runs the Santa Fe bed-and-breakfast Guadalupe Inn.</p>
<p>“She used to be there every morning,” Quintana said. “I said, ‘Look, I brought you water from the inn.’ I usually bring my Dad a beer and maybe a piece of chocolate.”</p>
<p>Anna Jaramillo and 12 of her family members spread a tablecloth on the ground and munched on doughnuts and chips while they talked about her grandson Joshua, who died of a congenital skin disease at the age of 9.</p>
<p>The Santa Fe resident also lost her 16-year-old nephew Anthony to a gunshot. The youth was killed by some jealous former friends while he was playing basketball, she said. No one was charged with the crime.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We just talk to them like we talk to them at home,” she said. “We circle afterward saying the Rosary. We say how we’re doing and we ask for help. Sometimes we leave Cheetos — Joshua’s favorite stuff — chocolate milk, bubble gum.</p>
<p>“He was a fighter,” she continued. “He never complained. He was blistered from top to bottom. He was a strong little boy.”</p>
<p>Lupe Jackson of San Felipe Pueblo placed a fresh vase of tulips and carnations on the grave of her brother David Townsend, who died in 1968 after returning home from Vietnam. He was killed by their brother, she said. No charges were filed.</p>
<p>“We’ve never talked about it very much,” she said.</p>
<p>“He was a good-hearted type person. My brother used to get mad at me because I would take big steps like a man. He’d say, ‘Take little steps like a lady.’ He was funny,” she continued. “He played basketball in high school. He was voted most popular or something like that.</p>
<p>“He went to the service right out of high school. He felt it was his duty. Of course, my Mom didn’t like it. He was over there about 1 1/2 years. When he came back, he brought back some pictures of dead men, women and children. I think that was his way of torturing himself. We kept them for a long time.”</p>
<p>Jackson visits David’s grave on Memorial Day or on his birthday to bring him flowers and pray.</p>
<p>“It’s kind of sacred,” she said.</p>
<p>Tonia Elan drove to the Santa Fe National Cemetery from Albuquerque to pay tribute to her mother Mary Jo, an Air Force nurse. She served during the Vietnam era, but was stationed in Taiwan. She died in January.</p>
<p>“She was great,” her daughter said. “She had been in the Air Force with my Dad. It was a pretty intense time. She saw some pretty horrific things. But she always tried to help whoever she could.</p>
<p>“We kind of circle around holding hands and give all the blessings,” she said. “We love her and we miss her.”</p> | 250 |
<p>Veteran newsman Ted Koppel stopped by "The O'Reilly Factor" to share his thoughts on what networks like Fox News are doing to this country. I don't think he's a fan. Highlight: At the end of the clip, O'Reilly states that he thinks he does a noble thing for a living. Koppel's response is priceless.</p> | Ever Wonder What Real Journalists Think Of People Like Bill O'Reilly? | true | http://upworthy.com/ever-wonder-what-real-journalists-think-of-people-like-bill-oreilly | 2018-09-24 | 4left
| Ever Wonder What Real Journalists Think Of People Like Bill O'Reilly?
<p>Veteran newsman Ted Koppel stopped by "The O'Reilly Factor" to share his thoughts on what networks like Fox News are doing to this country. I don't think he's a fan. Highlight: At the end of the clip, O'Reilly states that he thinks he does a noble thing for a living. Koppel's response is priceless.</p> | 251 |
<p />
<p>At issue</p>
<p>NOW chapters began their boycott in 1989 after Domino’s president, Thomas Monaghan, helped finance a referendum drive ending Medicaid-funded abortions in Michigan. He’s also been involved with Christian fundamentalist groups opposed to the former Sandinista government in Nicaragua.</p>
<p>Impact</p>
<p>Some franchises near college campuses experienced a significant but temporary drop in sales. “As a result, Mr. Monaghan hasn’t given any more money to pro-life groups,” says a Domino’s spokesperson. As for the boycott: “We’re not aware that NOW is still boycotting. Perhaps that shows how effective it is.”</p>
<p><a href="/news/outfront/1994/03/nestle.html" type="external">Next Company . . .</a></p>
<p /> | Domino’s Pizza | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/1994/03/dominos-pizza/ | 2018-03-01 | 4left
| Domino’s Pizza
<p />
<p>At issue</p>
<p>NOW chapters began their boycott in 1989 after Domino’s president, Thomas Monaghan, helped finance a referendum drive ending Medicaid-funded abortions in Michigan. He’s also been involved with Christian fundamentalist groups opposed to the former Sandinista government in Nicaragua.</p>
<p>Impact</p>
<p>Some franchises near college campuses experienced a significant but temporary drop in sales. “As a result, Mr. Monaghan hasn’t given any more money to pro-life groups,” says a Domino’s spokesperson. As for the boycott: “We’re not aware that NOW is still boycotting. Perhaps that shows how effective it is.”</p>
<p><a href="/news/outfront/1994/03/nestle.html" type="external">Next Company . . .</a></p>
<p /> | 252 |
<p />
<p />
<p>Hysterical! And after all, it is for Halloween, so doesn’t that imply that it’s a scary thing? It does, however, look like the guy wearing The Wall looks pretty happy. But maybe he just enjoys being scared, or something. I hope Party City doesn’t cave. With promotion like this, it’s bound to become a best seller!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/2017/10/14/party-city-s-wall-costume-outrages-twitter-users.html" type="external">Via Fox News.</a></p>
<p>Halloween is on the horizon, which means that the early contenders for offensive costumes are hitting the stores. Party City has become the latest retailer to come under fire after releasing its “Adult Wall Costume.”</p>
<p>The company does not outright mention President Donald Trump’s immigration policy in the costume description, but the getup has led many social media users to comment that it’s a reference to his border wall proposal.</p>
<p>The costume, which features bricks with the words “the wall” on the front, is advertised online as a “unique Halloween look.”</p>
<p>“Really @PartyCity? A “Build The Wall” costume?” wrote on Twitter user. “This isn’t about being politically correct, it’s about being decent [sic] human beings!!!!!”</p>
<p>Another furious user tweeted, “If I see anyone wearing a “The Wall” costume, fair warning, you’re getting punched. Like hard.”</p>
<p>Others, however, suggested that the costume was referencing Pink Floyd.</p>
<p>“This is not a racist costume,” argued a Twitter user. “It’s just a reference to Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ album cover.”</p>
<p />
<p />
<p /> | true | http://tammybruce.com/2017/10/party-citys-the-wall-halloween-costume-upsets-twitter-libs.html | 0right
|
<p />
<p />
<p>Hysterical! And after all, it is for Halloween, so doesn’t that imply that it’s a scary thing? It does, however, look like the guy wearing The Wall looks pretty happy. But maybe he just enjoys being scared, or something. I hope Party City doesn’t cave. With promotion like this, it’s bound to become a best seller!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/2017/10/14/party-city-s-wall-costume-outrages-twitter-users.html" type="external">Via Fox News.</a></p>
<p>Halloween is on the horizon, which means that the early contenders for offensive costumes are hitting the stores. Party City has become the latest retailer to come under fire after releasing its “Adult Wall Costume.”</p>
<p>The company does not outright mention President Donald Trump’s immigration policy in the costume description, but the getup has led many social media users to comment that it’s a reference to his border wall proposal.</p>
<p>The costume, which features bricks with the words “the wall” on the front, is advertised online as a “unique Halloween look.”</p>
<p>“Really @PartyCity? A “Build The Wall” costume?” wrote on Twitter user. “This isn’t about being politically correct, it’s about being decent [sic] human beings!!!!!”</p>
<p>Another furious user tweeted, “If I see anyone wearing a “The Wall” costume, fair warning, you’re getting punched. Like hard.”</p>
<p>Others, however, suggested that the costume was referencing Pink Floyd.</p>
<p>“This is not a racist costume,” argued a Twitter user. “It’s just a reference to Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ album cover.”</p>
<p />
<p />
<p /> | 253 |
||
<p>In reversing himself and declaring that the US government will not release further photos in its possession of torture being practiced on captives held by the US military and the CIA, President Obama is sounding increasingly like the Bush/Cheney administration before him.</p>
<p>It may well be that, as Obama says, release of those photos could lead to anger in the Islamic world and perhaps to recruitment gains among groups like Al Qaeda that are attacking American troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, but this is only true because at the same time, the Obama administration is opposing taking any legal action against the people who authorized and promoted that torture.</p>
<p>If the Obama administration were to open a full-scale legal investigation into torture, with an independent prosecutor assigned to go after anyone who violated the Geneva Conventions and the US Criminal Code outlawing torture and the authorization, condoning or covering-up of torture, quite the opposite would happen: people in the Islamic world would see that this nation was coming to terms with those who abused the law.</p>
<p>As things stand, we have a only few people at the very bottom of the chain of command who are doing jail time or suffering administrative punishments for committing acts of torture and abuse which they believed had been ordered and authorized by leaders in the military, the Secretary of Defense’s office, and the White House, but not one of those in authority who set the torture of captives in motion has been called to justice. Obama has endorsed that situation by again referring to the torture as just the actions of “a few people.”</p>
<p>It was hardly that, however, and he knows it. Torture was a major part of the Bush/Cheney so-called “War” on Terror, and was being conducted on an industrial scale, with White House lawyers providing legal cover, the Secretary of Defense sending memos urging every more aggressive techniques, and government doctors and psychologists working assiduously to make them more “effective.”</p>
<p>The illogic of Obama’s position on these photos is stunning. Since we know the photos exist, the refusal to make them public can only feed a sense that they must be worse than the horrific photos of torture at Abu Ghraib Prison which were already released. Nobody is going to assume that the photos in the White House’s possession are less offensive than what has already been discovered and made public–for why would the administration be worried about that?</p>
<p>The truth is always better than a cover-up, and what we now have the president advocating is a cover-up of American torture.</p>
<p>But that’s only part of the president’s slide into Cheneyism. We have the president now calling for the possible indefinite detention of terror suspects–an idea that only insures that there will always be an incentive for recruiting more terrorists (to avenge those in captivity)–and that makes a joke of our own Constitution, which guarantees everyone–not just citizens–the right to a trial, the right to a presumption of innocence, and protection from “cruel and unusual punishment,” which indefinite detention certainly is.</p>
<p>The war in Afghanistan, which now must be called Obama’s War, thanks to his policy of escalation, is also becoming Cheneyesque, with the firing of Gen. David McKiernan, and his replacement as head of the Afghanistan War by Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Gen. McChrystal hails from the Special Forces, and played a role in the torture that was integral to the US war and occupation in Iraq.&#160; Far from being put in charge of operations in Afghanistan, where public backing for the US military is virtually non-existent at this point, McChrystal should be facing investigation and possible prosecution here at home for his role in torture of captives.</p>
<p>It has never made sense to initiate a war in Afghanistan in order to go after a band of criminal terrorists hidiing out in the mountains. Bush and Cheney turned what should have been a focused hunt for Al Qaeda terrorists into a war on the Taliban government and ultimately the people of Afghanistan.&#160; Obama has continued that error, and now blithely hyphenates the terms Al Qaeda and Taliban in defining the “enemy” of American forces in that country.</p>
<p>Such a war can never be won, and can only lead to tragedy, not just for the people of Afghanistan, for whom it is already that, but for American troops and ultimately for America itself.</p>
<p>It is a war that never should have been fought, and which now should be ended as rapidly as possible.</p>
<p>Obama at this point, by covering up for official torture, and by signing on to and expanding the war in Afghanistan, is dooming his presidency, further staining the reputation of the United States, and ultimately furthering the decline of the country that was set in motion by his predecessors.</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> | Obama Channels Cheney | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/05/14/obama-channels-cheney/ | 2009-05-14 | 4left
| Obama Channels Cheney
<p>In reversing himself and declaring that the US government will not release further photos in its possession of torture being practiced on captives held by the US military and the CIA, President Obama is sounding increasingly like the Bush/Cheney administration before him.</p>
<p>It may well be that, as Obama says, release of those photos could lead to anger in the Islamic world and perhaps to recruitment gains among groups like Al Qaeda that are attacking American troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, but this is only true because at the same time, the Obama administration is opposing taking any legal action against the people who authorized and promoted that torture.</p>
<p>If the Obama administration were to open a full-scale legal investigation into torture, with an independent prosecutor assigned to go after anyone who violated the Geneva Conventions and the US Criminal Code outlawing torture and the authorization, condoning or covering-up of torture, quite the opposite would happen: people in the Islamic world would see that this nation was coming to terms with those who abused the law.</p>
<p>As things stand, we have a only few people at the very bottom of the chain of command who are doing jail time or suffering administrative punishments for committing acts of torture and abuse which they believed had been ordered and authorized by leaders in the military, the Secretary of Defense’s office, and the White House, but not one of those in authority who set the torture of captives in motion has been called to justice. Obama has endorsed that situation by again referring to the torture as just the actions of “a few people.”</p>
<p>It was hardly that, however, and he knows it. Torture was a major part of the Bush/Cheney so-called “War” on Terror, and was being conducted on an industrial scale, with White House lawyers providing legal cover, the Secretary of Defense sending memos urging every more aggressive techniques, and government doctors and psychologists working assiduously to make them more “effective.”</p>
<p>The illogic of Obama’s position on these photos is stunning. Since we know the photos exist, the refusal to make them public can only feed a sense that they must be worse than the horrific photos of torture at Abu Ghraib Prison which were already released. Nobody is going to assume that the photos in the White House’s possession are less offensive than what has already been discovered and made public–for why would the administration be worried about that?</p>
<p>The truth is always better than a cover-up, and what we now have the president advocating is a cover-up of American torture.</p>
<p>But that’s only part of the president’s slide into Cheneyism. We have the president now calling for the possible indefinite detention of terror suspects–an idea that only insures that there will always be an incentive for recruiting more terrorists (to avenge those in captivity)–and that makes a joke of our own Constitution, which guarantees everyone–not just citizens–the right to a trial, the right to a presumption of innocence, and protection from “cruel and unusual punishment,” which indefinite detention certainly is.</p>
<p>The war in Afghanistan, which now must be called Obama’s War, thanks to his policy of escalation, is also becoming Cheneyesque, with the firing of Gen. David McKiernan, and his replacement as head of the Afghanistan War by Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Gen. McChrystal hails from the Special Forces, and played a role in the torture that was integral to the US war and occupation in Iraq.&#160; Far from being put in charge of operations in Afghanistan, where public backing for the US military is virtually non-existent at this point, McChrystal should be facing investigation and possible prosecution here at home for his role in torture of captives.</p>
<p>It has never made sense to initiate a war in Afghanistan in order to go after a band of criminal terrorists hidiing out in the mountains. Bush and Cheney turned what should have been a focused hunt for Al Qaeda terrorists into a war on the Taliban government and ultimately the people of Afghanistan.&#160; Obama has continued that error, and now blithely hyphenates the terms Al Qaeda and Taliban in defining the “enemy” of American forces in that country.</p>
<p>Such a war can never be won, and can only lead to tragedy, not just for the people of Afghanistan, for whom it is already that, but for American troops and ultimately for America itself.</p>
<p>It is a war that never should have been fought, and which now should be ended as rapidly as possible.</p>
<p>Obama at this point, by covering up for official torture, and by signing on to and expanding the war in Afghanistan, is dooming his presidency, further staining the reputation of the United States, and ultimately furthering the decline of the country that was set in motion by his predecessors.</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> | 254 |
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<p />
<p>Christian Herrera was found Sunday afternoon in the Uinta Mountains, 75 miles east of Salt Lake City. He was dehydrated and had minor injuries, but was in pretty good shape considering the circumstances, Summit County sheriff's deputy Ashley Fugal said.</p>
<p>"He used the resources available to him and his knowledge and willpower to survive," Fugal said.</p>
<p>Herrera, a doctor from Provo, went missing Thursday afternoon while camping, she said.</p>
<p>He and another man set off from camp on horseback toward a nearby spot known as King's Peak, Fugal said. At some point, Herrera got off his horse to hike up to take pictures.</p>
<p>After that, his camping companions couldn't find him, and the Summit County Sheriff's Office launched a search late Thursday.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Temperatures were in the low 40s and high 30s over the three nights he was out, National Weather Service meteorologist Lisa Venzella said. Herrera was fortunate that there was no rain, and that he was found before an incoming storm that was bringing colder weather Monday, she said.</p>
<p>Fields of boulders and dense groupings of trees made the search difficult for crews on foot and in the air. But a team aboard a helicopter found Herrera at about 11,000 feet elevation.</p>
<p>Herrera's family was elated that he was found alive, Fugal said, but they are declining interview requests.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>This story has been corrected to show Herrera spent three nights and four days in the wilderness, not three days and four nights.</p> | Utah man huddled in brush to stay warm while lost in woods | false | https://abqjournal.com/644006/utah-man-huddled-in-brush-to-stay-warm-while-lost-in-woods.html | 2least
| Utah man huddled in brush to stay warm while lost in woods
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<p />
<p>Christian Herrera was found Sunday afternoon in the Uinta Mountains, 75 miles east of Salt Lake City. He was dehydrated and had minor injuries, but was in pretty good shape considering the circumstances, Summit County sheriff's deputy Ashley Fugal said.</p>
<p>"He used the resources available to him and his knowledge and willpower to survive," Fugal said.</p>
<p>Herrera, a doctor from Provo, went missing Thursday afternoon while camping, she said.</p>
<p>He and another man set off from camp on horseback toward a nearby spot known as King's Peak, Fugal said. At some point, Herrera got off his horse to hike up to take pictures.</p>
<p>After that, his camping companions couldn't find him, and the Summit County Sheriff's Office launched a search late Thursday.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Temperatures were in the low 40s and high 30s over the three nights he was out, National Weather Service meteorologist Lisa Venzella said. Herrera was fortunate that there was no rain, and that he was found before an incoming storm that was bringing colder weather Monday, she said.</p>
<p>Fields of boulders and dense groupings of trees made the search difficult for crews on foot and in the air. But a team aboard a helicopter found Herrera at about 11,000 feet elevation.</p>
<p>Herrera's family was elated that he was found alive, Fugal said, but they are declining interview requests.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>This story has been corrected to show Herrera spent three nights and four days in the wilderness, not three days and four nights.</p> | 255 |
|
<p>RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the Virginia Lottery's "Bank a Million" game were:</p>
<p>06-07-08-31-36-37, Bonus: 29</p>
<p>(six, seven, eight, thirty-one, thirty-six, thirty-seven; Bonus: twenty-nine)</p>
<p>RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the Virginia Lottery's "Bank a Million" game were:</p>
<p>06-07-08-31-36-37, Bonus: 29</p>
<p>(six, seven, eight, thirty-one, thirty-six, thirty-seven; Bonus: twenty-nine)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in 'Bank a Million' game | false | https://apnews.com/amp/b02e83088de04e348186da3917020ec6 | 2018-01-11 | 2least
| Winning numbers drawn in 'Bank a Million' game
<p>RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the Virginia Lottery's "Bank a Million" game were:</p>
<p>06-07-08-31-36-37, Bonus: 29</p>
<p>(six, seven, eight, thirty-one, thirty-six, thirty-seven; Bonus: twenty-nine)</p>
<p>RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the Virginia Lottery's "Bank a Million" game were:</p>
<p>06-07-08-31-36-37, Bonus: 29</p>
<p>(six, seven, eight, thirty-one, thirty-six, thirty-seven; Bonus: twenty-nine)</p> | 256 |
<p>As budget hawks continue their attack on spending cuts around the country, it might be useful to look at the Pentagon after a report released Thursday claimed that at least $7 billion in taxpayer funds is being wasted on purchases of spare parts that the military ends up not needing.</p>
<p>The Pentagon’s 2010 budget of $663.8 billion is more than seven times the combined military budgets of the next 14 ranking nations. –JCL</p>
<p>Reuters:</p>
<p>A Pentagon agency buys over $7 billion worth of spare parts every year the Defense Department ends up not needing, a practice one senator decried as an “unbelievable” waste of taxpayer money.</p>
<p />
<p>The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a new report released on Thursday that the Defense Logistics Agency had no use for parts worth $7.1 billion, more than half of the $13.7 billion in equipment stacked in Defense Department warehouses on average from 2006 to 2008.</p>
<p>“The waste of taxpayer dollars is unbelievable,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent and Senate Budget Committee member who requested the study.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65964T20100610?type=politicsNews" type="external">Read more</a></p> | The Pentagon's Spare Parts Problem | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/the-pentagons-spare-parts-problem/ | 2010-06-12 | 4left
| The Pentagon's Spare Parts Problem
<p>As budget hawks continue their attack on spending cuts around the country, it might be useful to look at the Pentagon after a report released Thursday claimed that at least $7 billion in taxpayer funds is being wasted on purchases of spare parts that the military ends up not needing.</p>
<p>The Pentagon’s 2010 budget of $663.8 billion is more than seven times the combined military budgets of the next 14 ranking nations. –JCL</p>
<p>Reuters:</p>
<p>A Pentagon agency buys over $7 billion worth of spare parts every year the Defense Department ends up not needing, a practice one senator decried as an “unbelievable” waste of taxpayer money.</p>
<p />
<p>The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a new report released on Thursday that the Defense Logistics Agency had no use for parts worth $7.1 billion, more than half of the $13.7 billion in equipment stacked in Defense Department warehouses on average from 2006 to 2008.</p>
<p>“The waste of taxpayer dollars is unbelievable,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent and Senate Budget Committee member who requested the study.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65964T20100610?type=politicsNews" type="external">Read more</a></p> | 257 |
<p>CINCINNATI (AP) - Merchandise inspired by Ohio's famous baby hippo, Fiona, has returned nearly half a million dollars to the Cincinnati Zoo.</p>
<p>The Cincinnati Enquirer <a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/01/03/fiona-inc-nearly-500-k-cincinnati-zoo-sales-hippo-books-beer-and-ice-cream/999850001/" type="external">reports</a> the zoo has collected about $480,000 in sales from businesses with merchandising agreements. Products include everything from clothing and ornaments to beer and ice cream.</p>
<p>The zoo says it isn't keeping track of cash the hippo-themed products are turning over. But zoo spokeswoman Michelle Curley says more than $200,000 of the money was used for Fiona's neonatal care. Curley says the remainder is helping with the care, feeding and enrichment of all the zoo's hippos.</p>
<p>The beloved baby hippo will celebrate her first birthday Jan. 24. Local merchants expect the celebration to spur an economic boost as businesses roll out more Fiona-themed products.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, <a href="http://www.enquirer.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.enquirer.com" type="external">http://www.enquirer.com</a></p>
<p>CINCINNATI (AP) - Merchandise inspired by Ohio's famous baby hippo, Fiona, has returned nearly half a million dollars to the Cincinnati Zoo.</p>
<p>The Cincinnati Enquirer <a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/01/03/fiona-inc-nearly-500-k-cincinnati-zoo-sales-hippo-books-beer-and-ice-cream/999850001/" type="external">reports</a> the zoo has collected about $480,000 in sales from businesses with merchandising agreements. Products include everything from clothing and ornaments to beer and ice cream.</p>
<p>The zoo says it isn't keeping track of cash the hippo-themed products are turning over. But zoo spokeswoman Michelle Curley says more than $200,000 of the money was used for Fiona's neonatal care. Curley says the remainder is helping with the care, feeding and enrichment of all the zoo's hippos.</p>
<p>The beloved baby hippo will celebrate her first birthday Jan. 24. Local merchants expect the celebration to spur an economic boost as businesses roll out more Fiona-themed products.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, <a href="http://www.enquirer.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.enquirer.com" type="external">http://www.enquirer.com</a></p> | Merchandise featuring Fiona the hippo brings in big bucks | false | https://apnews.com/6df9ca75b28244aeb7f3bea517b2635f | 2018-01-04 | 2least
| Merchandise featuring Fiona the hippo brings in big bucks
<p>CINCINNATI (AP) - Merchandise inspired by Ohio's famous baby hippo, Fiona, has returned nearly half a million dollars to the Cincinnati Zoo.</p>
<p>The Cincinnati Enquirer <a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/01/03/fiona-inc-nearly-500-k-cincinnati-zoo-sales-hippo-books-beer-and-ice-cream/999850001/" type="external">reports</a> the zoo has collected about $480,000 in sales from businesses with merchandising agreements. Products include everything from clothing and ornaments to beer and ice cream.</p>
<p>The zoo says it isn't keeping track of cash the hippo-themed products are turning over. But zoo spokeswoman Michelle Curley says more than $200,000 of the money was used for Fiona's neonatal care. Curley says the remainder is helping with the care, feeding and enrichment of all the zoo's hippos.</p>
<p>The beloved baby hippo will celebrate her first birthday Jan. 24. Local merchants expect the celebration to spur an economic boost as businesses roll out more Fiona-themed products.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, <a href="http://www.enquirer.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.enquirer.com" type="external">http://www.enquirer.com</a></p>
<p>CINCINNATI (AP) - Merchandise inspired by Ohio's famous baby hippo, Fiona, has returned nearly half a million dollars to the Cincinnati Zoo.</p>
<p>The Cincinnati Enquirer <a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/01/03/fiona-inc-nearly-500-k-cincinnati-zoo-sales-hippo-books-beer-and-ice-cream/999850001/" type="external">reports</a> the zoo has collected about $480,000 in sales from businesses with merchandising agreements. Products include everything from clothing and ornaments to beer and ice cream.</p>
<p>The zoo says it isn't keeping track of cash the hippo-themed products are turning over. But zoo spokeswoman Michelle Curley says more than $200,000 of the money was used for Fiona's neonatal care. Curley says the remainder is helping with the care, feeding and enrichment of all the zoo's hippos.</p>
<p>The beloved baby hippo will celebrate her first birthday Jan. 24. Local merchants expect the celebration to spur an economic boost as businesses roll out more Fiona-themed products.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, <a href="http://www.enquirer.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.enquirer.com" type="external">http://www.enquirer.com</a></p> | 258 |
<p />
<p>Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said Tuesday the country intends to have its flag-carrying airline purchase more Boeing (NYSE:BA) aircraft, as part of its effort to help strengthen the U.S. economy.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>“We intend to increase the number of Boeing planes to be purchased by MAS. We have committed to 25 planes of the 737 MAX 10, plus eight 787 Dreamliners, and a very strong probability—not possibility—that we will add 24-25 more 737 MAX 10 in the near future. So within five years the deal will be worth beyond $10 billion,” Razak said during a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House.</p>
<p>Boeing and Malaysia Airlines announced an order for 10 of the airplane maker’s 737 MAX 10, the latest version in the 737 family, at the Paris Air Show in late June. The deal, which is valued at $1.25 billion at list prices, will convert 10 of the airline’s current 737 MAXs on order to the newest version of the jet.</p>
<p>Additionally, the prime minister said his government would try to “persuade” Malaysia’s long-haul budget carrier AirAsia to switch to General Electric (NYSE:GE) engines. In June, one of the airline’s flights from Malaysia to Perth, Australia was <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/06/25/airasia-pilot-calls-on-passengers-to-pray-amid-engine-trouble-on-flight.html" type="external">forced to turn around Opens a New Window.</a> due to a “technical issue,” after its Airbus A330-300 aircraft experienced a problem with one of its Rolls-Royce engines.</p>
<p>Boeing did not have comment regarding Prime Minister Razak's remarks. GE did not return FOX Business' request for comment at the time of publication.</p> | Boeing to get more orders from Malaysia Airlines: Malaysian Prime Minister | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/09/12/boeing-getting-more-orders-from-malaysia-airlines-malaysian-prime-minister.html | 2017-09-12 | 0right
| Boeing to get more orders from Malaysia Airlines: Malaysian Prime Minister
<p />
<p>Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said Tuesday the country intends to have its flag-carrying airline purchase more Boeing (NYSE:BA) aircraft, as part of its effort to help strengthen the U.S. economy.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>“We intend to increase the number of Boeing planes to be purchased by MAS. We have committed to 25 planes of the 737 MAX 10, plus eight 787 Dreamliners, and a very strong probability—not possibility—that we will add 24-25 more 737 MAX 10 in the near future. So within five years the deal will be worth beyond $10 billion,” Razak said during a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House.</p>
<p>Boeing and Malaysia Airlines announced an order for 10 of the airplane maker’s 737 MAX 10, the latest version in the 737 family, at the Paris Air Show in late June. The deal, which is valued at $1.25 billion at list prices, will convert 10 of the airline’s current 737 MAXs on order to the newest version of the jet.</p>
<p>Additionally, the prime minister said his government would try to “persuade” Malaysia’s long-haul budget carrier AirAsia to switch to General Electric (NYSE:GE) engines. In June, one of the airline’s flights from Malaysia to Perth, Australia was <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/06/25/airasia-pilot-calls-on-passengers-to-pray-amid-engine-trouble-on-flight.html" type="external">forced to turn around Opens a New Window.</a> due to a “technical issue,” after its Airbus A330-300 aircraft experienced a problem with one of its Rolls-Royce engines.</p>
<p>Boeing did not have comment regarding Prime Minister Razak's remarks. GE did not return FOX Business' request for comment at the time of publication.</p> | 259 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Jack in the Box.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>What:Shares of Jack in the Box were bouncing back today on a better-than-expected earnings report. As of 11:48 a.m. ET, the stock was up 14%.</p>
<p>So what: The fast-food chainhad tumbled following its prior earnings report on competition fromMcDonald'sall-day breakfast, but today the chain was helped by Qdoba, its Mexican-food chain andChipotlecompetitor. The fast-food chain posted an adjusted earnings per share of $0.84, up from $0.61 and ahead of estimates at $0.70, while revenue improved 0.8% to $361.2 million, essentially in line with expectations.</p>
<p>Same-store sales at Jack in the Box restaurants were flat in the quarter, but grew 2.1% at Qdoba. Profits improved as the company eliminated close to $6 million in SG&amp;A expenses as it worked to control costs.</p>
<p>CEO Lenny Comma said, "Operating earnings per share exceeded our expectations and guidance," benefiting from cost controls and improved margins.</p>
<p>Now what: Jack in the Box's guidance was not particularly inspiring. The company expects same-store sales of flat to 1% at Jack in the Box locations and 1.5%-2.5% at Qdoba restaurants. The guidance may be due to its lapping a strong year of same-store sales growth, and that it still sees earnings per share improving close to 20%, projecting a range of $3.50-$3.63 for the year as it continues to make improvements in its cost structure. Still, I'd like to see more robust sales growth before diving into the stock.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/12/why-jack-in-the-box-inc-shares-bounced-back-today.aspx" type="external">Why Jack in the Box Inc. Shares Bounced Back Today Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFHobo/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Jeremy Bowman Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Chipotle Mexican Grill. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why Jack in the Box Inc. Shares Bounced Back Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/05/12/why-jack-in-box-inc-shares-bounced-back-today.html | 2016-05-12 | 0right
| Why Jack in the Box Inc. Shares Bounced Back Today
<p />
<p>Image source: Jack in the Box.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>What:Shares of Jack in the Box were bouncing back today on a better-than-expected earnings report. As of 11:48 a.m. ET, the stock was up 14%.</p>
<p>So what: The fast-food chainhad tumbled following its prior earnings report on competition fromMcDonald'sall-day breakfast, but today the chain was helped by Qdoba, its Mexican-food chain andChipotlecompetitor. The fast-food chain posted an adjusted earnings per share of $0.84, up from $0.61 and ahead of estimates at $0.70, while revenue improved 0.8% to $361.2 million, essentially in line with expectations.</p>
<p>Same-store sales at Jack in the Box restaurants were flat in the quarter, but grew 2.1% at Qdoba. Profits improved as the company eliminated close to $6 million in SG&amp;A expenses as it worked to control costs.</p>
<p>CEO Lenny Comma said, "Operating earnings per share exceeded our expectations and guidance," benefiting from cost controls and improved margins.</p>
<p>Now what: Jack in the Box's guidance was not particularly inspiring. The company expects same-store sales of flat to 1% at Jack in the Box locations and 1.5%-2.5% at Qdoba restaurants. The guidance may be due to its lapping a strong year of same-store sales growth, and that it still sees earnings per share improving close to 20%, projecting a range of $3.50-$3.63 for the year as it continues to make improvements in its cost structure. Still, I'd like to see more robust sales growth before diving into the stock.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/12/why-jack-in-the-box-inc-shares-bounced-back-today.aspx" type="external">Why Jack in the Box Inc. Shares Bounced Back Today Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFHobo/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Jeremy Bowman Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Chipotle Mexican Grill. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 260 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" />GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Mesa County authorities have arrested a 15-year-old boy in the shooting death of another 15-year-old over the weekend.</p>
<p>The Daily Sentinel reports ( <a href="http://bit.ly/1qs43G4" type="external">http://bit.ly/1qs43G4</a> ) that the boy’s arrest was announced Wednesday. He faces a felony count of manslaughter and two misdemeanor charges.</p>
<p>The victim, Brandon Crawford, was also 15. He died Sunday of a single gunshot wound to the chest.</p>
<p>Multiple people were reportedly inside a home at the time of the shooting.</p>
<p>Authorities on Monday had indicated there was no evidence of “malicious” intent by the shooter and characterized it as an “isolated incident.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 15-year-old charged in Colorado shooting death | false | https://abqjournal.com/498570/15-year-old-charged-in-shooting-death.html | 2least
| 15-year-old charged in Colorado shooting death
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" />GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Mesa County authorities have arrested a 15-year-old boy in the shooting death of another 15-year-old over the weekend.</p>
<p>The Daily Sentinel reports ( <a href="http://bit.ly/1qs43G4" type="external">http://bit.ly/1qs43G4</a> ) that the boy’s arrest was announced Wednesday. He faces a felony count of manslaughter and two misdemeanor charges.</p>
<p>The victim, Brandon Crawford, was also 15. He died Sunday of a single gunshot wound to the chest.</p>
<p>Multiple people were reportedly inside a home at the time of the shooting.</p>
<p>Authorities on Monday had indicated there was no evidence of “malicious” intent by the shooter and characterized it as an “isolated incident.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 261 |
|
<p>SEOUL, South Korea — After 2 ½ months of relative quiet, North Korea launched its most powerful weapon yet early Wednesday, claiming a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile that some observers believe could reach Washington and the entire eastern U.S. seaboard.</p>
<p>In a special state media broadcast hours later, North Korea said it successfully fired a “significantly more” powerful, nuclear-capable ICBM it called the Hwasong-15. Outside governments and analysts concurred the North had made a jump in missile capability.</p>
<p>A resumption of Pyongyang’s torrid testing pace in pursuit of its goal of a viable arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles that can hit the U.S. mainland had been widely expected, but the power of the missile and suddenness of the test still jolted the Korean Peninsula and Washington. The launch at 3:17 a.m. local time and midday in the U.S. capital indicated an effort to perfect the element of surprise and to obtain maximum attention in the United States.</p>
<p>In a government statement released through state media, North Korea said the Hwasong-15, the “greatest ICBM,” could be armed with a “super-large heavy nuclear warhead” and is capable of striking the “whole mainland” of the United States. The North said the missile reached a height of 4,475 kilometers (2,780 miles) and traveled 950 kilometers (590 miles) before accurately hitting a sea target, similar to the flight data announced by South Korea’s military.</p>
<p />
<p>It said leader Kim Jong Un after the successful launch “declared with pride” that the country has achieved its goal of becoming a “rocket power.” State TV said Kim gave the order on Tuesday and broadcast a photo of Kim’s signed order where he wrote: “Test launch is approved. Taking place at the daybreak of Nov. 29! Fire with courage for the party and country!”</p>
<p>The firing is a clear message of defiance aimed at the Trump administration, which a week earlier had restored North Korea to a U.S. list of terror sponsors. It also ruins nascent diplomatic efforts, raises fears of war or a pre-emptive U.S. strike and casts a deeper shadow over the security of the Winter Olympics early next year in South Korea.</p>
<p>A rattled Seoul responded by almost immediately launching three of its own missiles in a show of force. President Moon Jae-in expressed worry North Korea’s missile threat could force the United States to attack the North before it masters a nuclear-tipped long-range missile, something experts say may be imminent.</p>
<p>“If North Korea completes a ballistic missile that could reach from one continent to another, the situation can spiral out of control,” Moon said at an emergency meeting in Seoul, according to his office. “We must stop a situation where North Korea miscalculates and threatens us with nuclear weapons or where the United States considers a pre-emptive strike.”</p>
<p>Moon has repeatedly declared the U.S. cannot attack the North without Seoul’s approval, but many here worry Washington may act without South Korean input.</p>
<p>The launch was North Korea’s first since it fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan on Sept. 15 and may have broken any efforts at diplomacy. U.S. officials have sporadically floated the idea of direct talks with North Korea if it maintained restraint.</p>
<p>The missile also appears to improve on North Korea’s past launches.</p>
<p>If flown on a standard trajectory, instead of Wednesday’s lofted angle, the missile would have a range of more than 13,000 kilometers (8,100 miles), said U.S. scientist David Wright, a physicist who closely tracks North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs. “Such a missile would have more than enough range to reach Washington, D.C., and in fact any part of the continental United States,” Wright wrote in a blog post for the Union for Concerned Scientists.</p>
<p>North Korea’s description of a “super-large heavy” warhead could raise debate on whether it plans another nuclear test to demonstrate it has such a weapon. When the North flight-tested two of its older ICBM models, the Hwasong-14s, in July, it said the missiles were capable of delivering “large-sized heavy” warheads. The North went on to conduct its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3, which it described as a detonation of a weapon built for ICBMs.</p>
<p>South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing the possibility of a nuclear test “cannot be discounted,” lawmaker Kim Byung-kee said.</p>
<p>The missile was launched from near Pyongyang, and Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said it landed inside of Japan’s special economic zone in the Sea of Japan, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) west of Aomori, which is on the northern part of Japan’s main island of Honshu.</p>
<p>A big unknown, however, is the missile’s payload. If, as expected, it carried a light mock warhead, then its effective range would have been shorter, analysts said.</p>
<p>The analyses of Wednesday’s test suggest progress by Pyongyang in developing a weapon of mass destruction that could strike the U.S. mainland. President Donald Trump has vowed to prevent North Korea from having that capability — using military force if necessary.</p>
<p>Kim Dong-yub, a former South Korean military official who is now an analyst at Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said the missile is likely an upgraded version of its old ICBM with an enhanced second-stage. He believes the North will try to evaluate the weapon’s performance, including the warhead’s ability to survive atmospheric re-entry and strike the intended target, before it attempts a test that shows the full range of the missile.</p>
<p>In response to the launch, Trump said the United States will “take care of it.” He told reporters after the launch: “It is a situation that we will handle.” He did not elaborate.</p>
<p>The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting for Wednesday afternoon at the request of Japan, the U.S. and South Korea.</p>
<p>When the Trump administration declared North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism, the U.S. also imposed new sanctions on North Korean shipping firms and Chinese trading companies dealing with the North. North Korea called the terror designation a “serious provocation” that justifies its development of nuclear weapons.</p>
<p>South Koreans are famously nonchalant about North Korea’s military moves, but there is worry about what the North’s weapons tests might mean for next year’s Winter Olympics in the South. Moon ordered a close review of whether the launch could hurt South Korea’s efforts to successfully host the games in Pyeongchang, which begin Feb. 9.</p>
<p>Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who spoke with Trump, said Japan will not back down against any provocation and would maximize pressure on the North in its strong alliance with the U.S.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Matthew Pennington, Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns in Washington, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.</p> | North Korea Fires a Much More Powerful ICBM | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/north-korea-fires-icbm-says-significantly-powerful/ | 2017-11-29 | 4left
| North Korea Fires a Much More Powerful ICBM
<p>SEOUL, South Korea — After 2 ½ months of relative quiet, North Korea launched its most powerful weapon yet early Wednesday, claiming a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile that some observers believe could reach Washington and the entire eastern U.S. seaboard.</p>
<p>In a special state media broadcast hours later, North Korea said it successfully fired a “significantly more” powerful, nuclear-capable ICBM it called the Hwasong-15. Outside governments and analysts concurred the North had made a jump in missile capability.</p>
<p>A resumption of Pyongyang’s torrid testing pace in pursuit of its goal of a viable arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles that can hit the U.S. mainland had been widely expected, but the power of the missile and suddenness of the test still jolted the Korean Peninsula and Washington. The launch at 3:17 a.m. local time and midday in the U.S. capital indicated an effort to perfect the element of surprise and to obtain maximum attention in the United States.</p>
<p>In a government statement released through state media, North Korea said the Hwasong-15, the “greatest ICBM,” could be armed with a “super-large heavy nuclear warhead” and is capable of striking the “whole mainland” of the United States. The North said the missile reached a height of 4,475 kilometers (2,780 miles) and traveled 950 kilometers (590 miles) before accurately hitting a sea target, similar to the flight data announced by South Korea’s military.</p>
<p />
<p>It said leader Kim Jong Un after the successful launch “declared with pride” that the country has achieved its goal of becoming a “rocket power.” State TV said Kim gave the order on Tuesday and broadcast a photo of Kim’s signed order where he wrote: “Test launch is approved. Taking place at the daybreak of Nov. 29! Fire with courage for the party and country!”</p>
<p>The firing is a clear message of defiance aimed at the Trump administration, which a week earlier had restored North Korea to a U.S. list of terror sponsors. It also ruins nascent diplomatic efforts, raises fears of war or a pre-emptive U.S. strike and casts a deeper shadow over the security of the Winter Olympics early next year in South Korea.</p>
<p>A rattled Seoul responded by almost immediately launching three of its own missiles in a show of force. President Moon Jae-in expressed worry North Korea’s missile threat could force the United States to attack the North before it masters a nuclear-tipped long-range missile, something experts say may be imminent.</p>
<p>“If North Korea completes a ballistic missile that could reach from one continent to another, the situation can spiral out of control,” Moon said at an emergency meeting in Seoul, according to his office. “We must stop a situation where North Korea miscalculates and threatens us with nuclear weapons or where the United States considers a pre-emptive strike.”</p>
<p>Moon has repeatedly declared the U.S. cannot attack the North without Seoul’s approval, but many here worry Washington may act without South Korean input.</p>
<p>The launch was North Korea’s first since it fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan on Sept. 15 and may have broken any efforts at diplomacy. U.S. officials have sporadically floated the idea of direct talks with North Korea if it maintained restraint.</p>
<p>The missile also appears to improve on North Korea’s past launches.</p>
<p>If flown on a standard trajectory, instead of Wednesday’s lofted angle, the missile would have a range of more than 13,000 kilometers (8,100 miles), said U.S. scientist David Wright, a physicist who closely tracks North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs. “Such a missile would have more than enough range to reach Washington, D.C., and in fact any part of the continental United States,” Wright wrote in a blog post for the Union for Concerned Scientists.</p>
<p>North Korea’s description of a “super-large heavy” warhead could raise debate on whether it plans another nuclear test to demonstrate it has such a weapon. When the North flight-tested two of its older ICBM models, the Hwasong-14s, in July, it said the missiles were capable of delivering “large-sized heavy” warheads. The North went on to conduct its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3, which it described as a detonation of a weapon built for ICBMs.</p>
<p>South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing the possibility of a nuclear test “cannot be discounted,” lawmaker Kim Byung-kee said.</p>
<p>The missile was launched from near Pyongyang, and Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said it landed inside of Japan’s special economic zone in the Sea of Japan, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) west of Aomori, which is on the northern part of Japan’s main island of Honshu.</p>
<p>A big unknown, however, is the missile’s payload. If, as expected, it carried a light mock warhead, then its effective range would have been shorter, analysts said.</p>
<p>The analyses of Wednesday’s test suggest progress by Pyongyang in developing a weapon of mass destruction that could strike the U.S. mainland. President Donald Trump has vowed to prevent North Korea from having that capability — using military force if necessary.</p>
<p>Kim Dong-yub, a former South Korean military official who is now an analyst at Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said the missile is likely an upgraded version of its old ICBM with an enhanced second-stage. He believes the North will try to evaluate the weapon’s performance, including the warhead’s ability to survive atmospheric re-entry and strike the intended target, before it attempts a test that shows the full range of the missile.</p>
<p>In response to the launch, Trump said the United States will “take care of it.” He told reporters after the launch: “It is a situation that we will handle.” He did not elaborate.</p>
<p>The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting for Wednesday afternoon at the request of Japan, the U.S. and South Korea.</p>
<p>When the Trump administration declared North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism, the U.S. also imposed new sanctions on North Korean shipping firms and Chinese trading companies dealing with the North. North Korea called the terror designation a “serious provocation” that justifies its development of nuclear weapons.</p>
<p>South Koreans are famously nonchalant about North Korea’s military moves, but there is worry about what the North’s weapons tests might mean for next year’s Winter Olympics in the South. Moon ordered a close review of whether the launch could hurt South Korea’s efforts to successfully host the games in Pyeongchang, which begin Feb. 9.</p>
<p>Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who spoke with Trump, said Japan will not back down against any provocation and would maximize pressure on the North in its strong alliance with the U.S.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Matthew Pennington, Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns in Washington, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.</p> | 262 |
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<p />
<p>Focusing on Amazon’s Echo (or the smaller Echo Dot) and Google’s Home devices, we’ve put together a few basic tips to help you go beyond the setup menu and get the most from these gadgets:</p>
<p>–Location is everything. One of the first things you should figure out is where it’s best to place them. The ability to set timers makes them useful in the kitchen. Their function as speakers makes them good for the living room. Being able to set alarms makes them pretty handy on your nightstand. Think carefully about how you think you’ll use the home hub in your everyday life and place accordingly.</p>
<p>If, in a couple of days, you find you aren’t using the gadget that much, consider moving it to another location where you might get more use from it. You may find it’s almost useless by your bed, but becomes incredibly useful once you move it to your kitchen – or vice versa.</p>
<p>(Amazon makes the Echo and Echo Dot; Jeffrey P. Bezos is the chief executive of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post.)</p>
<p>–Think about links. While both the Echo and the Google Home are pretty cool on their own, the real magic happens when you start linking them to other devices. For example, you can yell out requests to the Home to turn on your television if you link it to Google’s Chromecast streaming device. You can link your Netflix account to Google Home now, as well as YouTube. Many other services including Uber and Domino’s Pizza also work with the Home.</p>
<p>The Echo can link with Uber, Domino’s Pizza and some music services. It also directly links with your Amazon account, making it possible to ask Echo to add things to your wish list for the site or even order some products. It doubles as a Bluetooth speaker if you want to play your audio through the Echo, but it lacks the video controls that the Home has with Netflix and YouTube.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Both home hubs can link with smart lights and the Nest thermostat, as well as other smart home products. If you’ve taken the plunge into the smart home, these hubs can prove enormously convenient for turning “the lights off in the bedroom” or bringing your house’s temperature down for bedtime.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that if you want to get your money’s worth, then you should connect the smart speakers to an Amazon or Google account if you have one. But if you are worried about privacy – particularly your voice history – there is a way to delete queries the home hubs have heard from your device. For Echo, the “Home” feed will display everything you’ve asked Echo to do; to delete any individual request, tap on the “More” in the lower right-hand corner and hit “Remove card.” On Home, go into your device’s settings and scroll down to “My Activity.” From there you will be able to delete requests by hitting the icon that looks like three dots in a vertical line at the top of the screen.</p>
<p>–Really dive into those apps. After testing out your smart hub for some time, you may start to wonder, “What am I really going to use this thing for?” It’s a good question. Once the novelty of asking your home hub what time it is wears off, you may wonder what it’s really capable of. So before you fall out of love, dive into the apps that link your home hub to your phone and dig around for the most useful applications. You may find that you really want daily news briefings, a summary of your schedule for the day or the option to play a round of “Jeopardy!”</p>
<p>On Google Home, head into the settings menu for the hub and tap “More” to get a full list of the things your hub can do and the services with which it can connect. (One of my favorites is to get recipes emailed from the Food Network.) On the Echo’s Alexa app – named for the voice assistant – this list is tucked into the “Things to Try” category, which tells you more about the basic operation of your Echo, or head to the “Skills” section to get a long list of the things the Echo can do.</p>
<p>tech-home</p> | Did you just open a brand new home hub? Tips. | false | https://abqjournal.com/915805/did-you-just-open-a-brand-new-home-hub-tips.html | 2least
| Did you just open a brand new home hub? Tips.
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<p />
<p>Focusing on Amazon’s Echo (or the smaller Echo Dot) and Google’s Home devices, we’ve put together a few basic tips to help you go beyond the setup menu and get the most from these gadgets:</p>
<p>–Location is everything. One of the first things you should figure out is where it’s best to place them. The ability to set timers makes them useful in the kitchen. Their function as speakers makes them good for the living room. Being able to set alarms makes them pretty handy on your nightstand. Think carefully about how you think you’ll use the home hub in your everyday life and place accordingly.</p>
<p>If, in a couple of days, you find you aren’t using the gadget that much, consider moving it to another location where you might get more use from it. You may find it’s almost useless by your bed, but becomes incredibly useful once you move it to your kitchen – or vice versa.</p>
<p>(Amazon makes the Echo and Echo Dot; Jeffrey P. Bezos is the chief executive of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post.)</p>
<p>–Think about links. While both the Echo and the Google Home are pretty cool on their own, the real magic happens when you start linking them to other devices. For example, you can yell out requests to the Home to turn on your television if you link it to Google’s Chromecast streaming device. You can link your Netflix account to Google Home now, as well as YouTube. Many other services including Uber and Domino’s Pizza also work with the Home.</p>
<p>The Echo can link with Uber, Domino’s Pizza and some music services. It also directly links with your Amazon account, making it possible to ask Echo to add things to your wish list for the site or even order some products. It doubles as a Bluetooth speaker if you want to play your audio through the Echo, but it lacks the video controls that the Home has with Netflix and YouTube.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Both home hubs can link with smart lights and the Nest thermostat, as well as other smart home products. If you’ve taken the plunge into the smart home, these hubs can prove enormously convenient for turning “the lights off in the bedroom” or bringing your house’s temperature down for bedtime.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that if you want to get your money’s worth, then you should connect the smart speakers to an Amazon or Google account if you have one. But if you are worried about privacy – particularly your voice history – there is a way to delete queries the home hubs have heard from your device. For Echo, the “Home” feed will display everything you’ve asked Echo to do; to delete any individual request, tap on the “More” in the lower right-hand corner and hit “Remove card.” On Home, go into your device’s settings and scroll down to “My Activity.” From there you will be able to delete requests by hitting the icon that looks like three dots in a vertical line at the top of the screen.</p>
<p>–Really dive into those apps. After testing out your smart hub for some time, you may start to wonder, “What am I really going to use this thing for?” It’s a good question. Once the novelty of asking your home hub what time it is wears off, you may wonder what it’s really capable of. So before you fall out of love, dive into the apps that link your home hub to your phone and dig around for the most useful applications. You may find that you really want daily news briefings, a summary of your schedule for the day or the option to play a round of “Jeopardy!”</p>
<p>On Google Home, head into the settings menu for the hub and tap “More” to get a full list of the things your hub can do and the services with which it can connect. (One of my favorites is to get recipes emailed from the Food Network.) On the Echo’s Alexa app – named for the voice assistant – this list is tucked into the “Things to Try” category, which tells you more about the basic operation of your Echo, or head to the “Skills” section to get a long list of the things the Echo can do.</p>
<p>tech-home</p> | 263 |
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<p>TRENTON, N.J. — Kelly Ripa, singer Wyclef Jean and soccer pro Carli Lloyd are among the 15 newest members of the New Jersey Hall of Fame.</p>
<p>The group announced Tuesday also includes singer Connie Francis, actor Ray Liotta and musician Tommy James for the performing arts. TV journalist Connie Chung and author Carol Higgins Clark represent arts and letters.</p>
<p>Basketball Hall of Famer Carol Blazejowski, heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner and NFL Pro-bowler Rosey Grier are the sports inductees.</p>
<p>Businessmen Alfred Koeppe, Arthur Imperatore, spiritual teacher Peace Pilgrim and Army officer Philip Kearny also are in the Class of 2016.</p>
<p>All will be inducted during a ceremony in May.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Kelly Ripa, Wyclef Jean named to New Jersey Hall of Fame | false | https://abqjournal.com/930398/kelly-ripa-wyclef-jean-named-to-new-jersey-hall-of-fame.html | 2017-01-18 | 2least
| Kelly Ripa, Wyclef Jean named to New Jersey Hall of Fame
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<p>TRENTON, N.J. — Kelly Ripa, singer Wyclef Jean and soccer pro Carli Lloyd are among the 15 newest members of the New Jersey Hall of Fame.</p>
<p>The group announced Tuesday also includes singer Connie Francis, actor Ray Liotta and musician Tommy James for the performing arts. TV journalist Connie Chung and author Carol Higgins Clark represent arts and letters.</p>
<p>Basketball Hall of Famer Carol Blazejowski, heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner and NFL Pro-bowler Rosey Grier are the sports inductees.</p>
<p>Businessmen Alfred Koeppe, Arthur Imperatore, spiritual teacher Peace Pilgrim and Army officer Philip Kearny also are in the Class of 2016.</p>
<p>All will be inducted during a ceremony in May.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 264 |
<p>On Friday, <a href="http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/nbc-cancels-friday-tonight-show-taping-jimmy-fallon-1202606516/" type="external">Variety</a> relayed a report from NBC that taping for The Tonight Show had been cancelled due to "a private Fallon family matter."</p>
<p>Fallon’s mother is ill and in a hospital, according to a person familiar with the matter, and the “Tonight” host is joining his family to be with her.</p>
<p>On Saturday, Fallon’s mother, Gloria, passed away at age 68.</p>
<p>A Fallon spokesperson released a <a href="http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/jimmy-fallon-mom-dead-dies-tonight-show-taping-canceled-1202607401/" type="external">statement</a>, which reads: "Jimmy Fallon’s mother, Gloria, died peacefully on Saturday. Jimmy was at his mother’s bedside, along with her loved ones, when she passed away at NYU Langone Medical Center in NYC. Our prayers go out to Jimmy and his family as they go through this tough time."</p>
<p>While Fallon has been quiet on social media, other celebrities have offered their condolences:</p>
<p>As of publication, there’s no word on whether Fallon will return for Monday’s show, or if he will take more time away.</p> | ‘Tonight Show’ Host Jimmy Fallon’s Mother, Gloria, Dead At 68 | true | https://dailywire.com/news/23186/tonight-show-host-jimmy-fallons-mother-gloria-dead-frank-camp | 2017-11-05 | 0right
| ‘Tonight Show’ Host Jimmy Fallon’s Mother, Gloria, Dead At 68
<p>On Friday, <a href="http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/nbc-cancels-friday-tonight-show-taping-jimmy-fallon-1202606516/" type="external">Variety</a> relayed a report from NBC that taping for The Tonight Show had been cancelled due to "a private Fallon family matter."</p>
<p>Fallon’s mother is ill and in a hospital, according to a person familiar with the matter, and the “Tonight” host is joining his family to be with her.</p>
<p>On Saturday, Fallon’s mother, Gloria, passed away at age 68.</p>
<p>A Fallon spokesperson released a <a href="http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/jimmy-fallon-mom-dead-dies-tonight-show-taping-canceled-1202607401/" type="external">statement</a>, which reads: "Jimmy Fallon’s mother, Gloria, died peacefully on Saturday. Jimmy was at his mother’s bedside, along with her loved ones, when she passed away at NYU Langone Medical Center in NYC. Our prayers go out to Jimmy and his family as they go through this tough time."</p>
<p>While Fallon has been quiet on social media, other celebrities have offered their condolences:</p>
<p>As of publication, there’s no word on whether Fallon will return for Monday’s show, or if he will take more time away.</p> | 265 |
<p>WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Harvey Weinstein scandal is only the prelude to Hollywood’s best kept secret scandal, namely, <a href="https://listverse.com/2017/02/26/10-disturbing-stories-about-hollywoods-pedophile-problem/" type="external">widespread pedophilia</a> in which older men, frequently acting as agents, engage in a systematic and continuing pattern of sexually abuse of child stars as well as underage aspiring actors and actresses.</p>
<p>The career of any Hollywood child star or rising star who goes public to expose the rampant pedophilia risks having their career destroyed by a Hollywood elite determined to circle the wagons to protect the pedophiles from press exposure and/or criminal prosecution.</p>
<p>While the mainstream media typically avoids reporting on Hollywood pedophilia, the case of Brian Peck, a Hollywood X-Men and Living Dead actor, who used his movie industry roles to abuse a Nickelodeon star proves the point.</p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3115792/Pedophile-X-Men-actor-convicted-sexually-abusing-Nickelodeon-child-star-working-underage-kids.html" type="external">reported</a> by the Daily Mail on June 8, 2015, Peck served 16 months in prison for a 2004 conviction in which he admitted to two counts of sexual abuse with the child Nickelodeon star.</p>
<p>In the circle of pedophilia accusations that circulated around director Bryan Singer’s X-men movies, Marc Collins-Rector pleaded guilty to having sex with under young boy actors who were invited to parties and given drugs and alcohol as the opening act of a play that ended in older men sexually abusing them.</p>
<p>USA Today <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-06-14-den-head-pleads_x.htm" type="external">reported</a> on June 14, 2004, that Marc Collins-Rector who had been in custody since his capture in Spain two years previously, pleaded guilty to charges brought against him by federal prosecutors in California and New Jersey, accusing him of luring five minors across sex lines.</p>
<p>Collins-Rector founded Digital Entertainment Network to create video-based websites targeting 14- to 24- year-olds.&#160; Executives had planned a $75 million stock offering, but USA Today reported the stock offering collapsed after Collins-Rector and his partners resigned after accusations of sexual abuse became known, and the company collapsed in 2000.</p>
<p>According to USA Today, Collins-Rector settled a five-count federal indictment from New Jersey by pleading to one charge, transporting “J.W.” from New Jersey to California, Michigan and elsewhere to engage in illegal sex from 1993 to 1997.</p>
<p>Collins-Rector also pleaded guilty to eight charges stemming from a 21-count California federal indictment. Those eight charges deal with transporting four minors for sex: “R.G.” and “J.T.” from Michigan to California in the mid-1990s, “B.L.” from Minnesota to California in 1997, and “D.S.” from California to Arizona in 1999.</p>
<p>Federal authorities had been searching for Collins-Rector since August 2000, when he was indicted by a federal grand jury.&#160; He was extradited from Spain on Oct. 24, 2003.</p>
<p>One of the boys involved in the Collins-Rector case was Alexander Burton, who was given the role of Pryo in Bryan Singer’s X-men.&#160; The boys in the Collins-Rector case were awarded $4.5 million in damages, <a href="https://listverse.com/2017/02/26/10-disturbing-stories-about-hollywoods-pedophile-problem/" type="external">according to</a> ListVerse.com.</p>
<p>Child actor Corey Feldman appeared on The View in 2013 to discuss his 2013 book published by St. Martin’s Press, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Coreyography-Memoir-Corey-Feldman/dp/0312609337/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1508168721&amp;sr=8-1" type="external">entitled</a> “Coreyography: A Memoir.”</p>
<p>As <a href="https://100percentfedup.com/watch-former-child-actor-tried-call-powerful-hollywood-pedophiles-viewbarbara-walters-female-co-host-shamed-youre-damaging-entire-industry/" type="external">reported</a> by 100PercentFedUp.com, during that interview, Barbara Walters and Star Jones “went out of their way to discredit and shut him up.”</p>
<p>During the interview, Feldman insisted: “I’m saying there are people that were the people that did this to both me and Corey [Haim] that are still working.&#160; They’re out there, and that are some of the richest, most powerful people in this business.”</p>
<p>Walters tried to interrupt, but Feldman continued: “And they do not want me saying what I am saying right now.”</p>
<p>Walters asked Feldman, “Are you saying they are pedophiles … and that they are still in this business?”</p>
<p>Feldman answered, “Yes.”</p> | Rampant Pedophilia with Child Actors the Next Shoe to Drop in Hollywood Sex Scandal | true | https://infowars.com/rampant-pedophilia-with-child-actors-the-next-shoe-to-drop-in-hollywood-sex-scandal/ | 2017-10-16 | 0right
| Rampant Pedophilia with Child Actors the Next Shoe to Drop in Hollywood Sex Scandal
<p>WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Harvey Weinstein scandal is only the prelude to Hollywood’s best kept secret scandal, namely, <a href="https://listverse.com/2017/02/26/10-disturbing-stories-about-hollywoods-pedophile-problem/" type="external">widespread pedophilia</a> in which older men, frequently acting as agents, engage in a systematic and continuing pattern of sexually abuse of child stars as well as underage aspiring actors and actresses.</p>
<p>The career of any Hollywood child star or rising star who goes public to expose the rampant pedophilia risks having their career destroyed by a Hollywood elite determined to circle the wagons to protect the pedophiles from press exposure and/or criminal prosecution.</p>
<p>While the mainstream media typically avoids reporting on Hollywood pedophilia, the case of Brian Peck, a Hollywood X-Men and Living Dead actor, who used his movie industry roles to abuse a Nickelodeon star proves the point.</p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3115792/Pedophile-X-Men-actor-convicted-sexually-abusing-Nickelodeon-child-star-working-underage-kids.html" type="external">reported</a> by the Daily Mail on June 8, 2015, Peck served 16 months in prison for a 2004 conviction in which he admitted to two counts of sexual abuse with the child Nickelodeon star.</p>
<p>In the circle of pedophilia accusations that circulated around director Bryan Singer’s X-men movies, Marc Collins-Rector pleaded guilty to having sex with under young boy actors who were invited to parties and given drugs and alcohol as the opening act of a play that ended in older men sexually abusing them.</p>
<p>USA Today <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-06-14-den-head-pleads_x.htm" type="external">reported</a> on June 14, 2004, that Marc Collins-Rector who had been in custody since his capture in Spain two years previously, pleaded guilty to charges brought against him by federal prosecutors in California and New Jersey, accusing him of luring five minors across sex lines.</p>
<p>Collins-Rector founded Digital Entertainment Network to create video-based websites targeting 14- to 24- year-olds.&#160; Executives had planned a $75 million stock offering, but USA Today reported the stock offering collapsed after Collins-Rector and his partners resigned after accusations of sexual abuse became known, and the company collapsed in 2000.</p>
<p>According to USA Today, Collins-Rector settled a five-count federal indictment from New Jersey by pleading to one charge, transporting “J.W.” from New Jersey to California, Michigan and elsewhere to engage in illegal sex from 1993 to 1997.</p>
<p>Collins-Rector also pleaded guilty to eight charges stemming from a 21-count California federal indictment. Those eight charges deal with transporting four minors for sex: “R.G.” and “J.T.” from Michigan to California in the mid-1990s, “B.L.” from Minnesota to California in 1997, and “D.S.” from California to Arizona in 1999.</p>
<p>Federal authorities had been searching for Collins-Rector since August 2000, when he was indicted by a federal grand jury.&#160; He was extradited from Spain on Oct. 24, 2003.</p>
<p>One of the boys involved in the Collins-Rector case was Alexander Burton, who was given the role of Pryo in Bryan Singer’s X-men.&#160; The boys in the Collins-Rector case were awarded $4.5 million in damages, <a href="https://listverse.com/2017/02/26/10-disturbing-stories-about-hollywoods-pedophile-problem/" type="external">according to</a> ListVerse.com.</p>
<p>Child actor Corey Feldman appeared on The View in 2013 to discuss his 2013 book published by St. Martin’s Press, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Coreyography-Memoir-Corey-Feldman/dp/0312609337/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1508168721&amp;sr=8-1" type="external">entitled</a> “Coreyography: A Memoir.”</p>
<p>As <a href="https://100percentfedup.com/watch-former-child-actor-tried-call-powerful-hollywood-pedophiles-viewbarbara-walters-female-co-host-shamed-youre-damaging-entire-industry/" type="external">reported</a> by 100PercentFedUp.com, during that interview, Barbara Walters and Star Jones “went out of their way to discredit and shut him up.”</p>
<p>During the interview, Feldman insisted: “I’m saying there are people that were the people that did this to both me and Corey [Haim] that are still working.&#160; They’re out there, and that are some of the richest, most powerful people in this business.”</p>
<p>Walters tried to interrupt, but Feldman continued: “And they do not want me saying what I am saying right now.”</p>
<p>Walters asked Feldman, “Are you saying they are pedophiles … and that they are still in this business?”</p>
<p>Feldman answered, “Yes.”</p> | 266 |
<p>Dear Buddy,</p>
<p>I’ve been worried about you. How are you getting along without a country? Last I heard you were stuck in that broken down bus known as the old U S of A. Didn’t that thing lose its steering after they ripped out the old Constitution? Now, shit, you tell me the brakes are shot and the passengers are what? Bat shit? Still talking about the Democratic Party as if it were, you know, a thing? Trying to shoe-horn yet another Clintonista into the driver’s seat. Hey, look on the bright side. It might only be mad cow. You can hope. Anyway, enough of Trump, Hilary, Republicans, Democrats and the whole God awful stew of yesterday’s news. Good-bye to the whole have-your-cake-and-bomb-them-too mentality. Bury the fuckers. It’s over. Good riddance.</p>
<p>The question is what are you going to do now, player? I mean that bus is headed down the mountain. All the f’ing passingers are screaming. “do something! Do something!” But there’s not one f’ing asshole on the whole God damned bus who can act. I know, scientists are revealing truths, politicians scheming and babbling incoherently, but hey, who is shitting whom? All that means jack. It’s out of f’ing control! It’s obvious. The land of the free and the home of the brave? No man, it’s an improvised explosive device tied to a runaway bus. Where is right and where wrong? Who the fuck’s got his finger on the nukes? Two to one his other finger is up his ass. What’s the dot gov doing man? The vehicle is smashing into people, wrecking countries. What for? Democracy? Excuse me? It is death in the largefamily size, plain and simple. And the family is your family, Buddy..</p>
<p>The whole world watches with horror while this out-of-control motherfucker careens down the mountain. This sad remains of a country is smashing everything up. I know, I know, it’s the deep state, pulling levers, wrenching the wheel, pumping pedals but it don’t mean shit. That’s because the deep-state is bonkers, stupid, vicious and never learned to drive an out-of-control motherfucker like this baby. That is, if the deep-state exists. I mean who the fuck knows? Anyway, the shit they pull, if they really pull shit, is not going to save their asses let alone yours.</p>
<p>So why is the deep-state still in control? What keeps the deep-state in control of this out-of-control mother fucker? Assuming they exist of course. Nothing about them is legitimate. The whole dot gov thing is a punch and judy show with a stick of dynamite up its ass. Secretly, behind the scenes the deep state is babbling out of f’ing control. They are hopeless on every count. Still they slip the bullshit to the bullshitters and everyone toddles along behind.</p>
<p>How does it work? How does the bullshit get to the bullshitter. Deep-state guys must tell non-deep-state guys to do things, or convey to them that they should do things in some circuitous underhand deep-state way, right? That is if there really are deep-state guys. I mean it’s non-deep-state guys who actually do the dirty work, correct? Deep-state guys don’t actually do shit. Deep-state guys get things done with hints and signs and shit and who knows what to signal their pleasure or displeasure to non-deep-state guys who toddle off in service to the deep state guys who may or may not exist. Non-deep-state guys learn to divine deep-state guys’ desires even without nods and winks and whatever. It’s all one big bollocks of bosses and lackeys and subtle hints and raised eyebrows and gobs of hypocrisy to cover over a cuckoo, vicious, moronic, and totally fucked up pile of deep-state shit. Of course now I’m talking about the highest level.</p>
<p>But deep-state guys, if they exist, are still just guys, right? I mean, they are just guys! Why are those non-deep-state guys kissing their butts? Given the obvious cluelessness of the deep-state guys hinting the planet into the crapper, isn’t your obedience a little, how should I put it, dumb? I know those deep-state guys are awesome, but come on. It’s just habit, isn’t it? I mean the USA, aside from being this out-of-control bomb, is now just a bad habit, isn’t it? Courts? Elections? Constitution? Forget about it. It’s just habit. There’s no rhyme or reason, even for the deep-state guys. And given that it’s taking us to the crapper, a bad habit. Forget about the founding fathers, this shit is really happening, dude.</p>
<p>I suppose you could get money and power so-called from sucking up, but is that enough to trade for species extinction? What good is toddling along behind the deep state guys on a planet cooked well-done? Why not, as Nancy Reagan put it, just say no? Okay, deep-state guys will be deep-state guys. I sure as hell am not going to talk them out of it, even though they are being stupid. They are going to deep-state themselves right into deep do do, assuming they exist. But you, kid, you! Are you ready to crash headfirst into eternity? Is this a new sexual orientation?</p>
<p>Now I’m sure you don’t need any more proof that everything is fucked up and on the way to the crapper. All roads lead to shit. That, I think, is one thing everyone can agree to. The bedrock of civilized conversation. So that’s why I skipped that part. Maybe it’s a hundred years, maybe two hundred. It’s hard to imagine more. Most likely much less, more like fifteen or two, but what do I know? After whatever, eternity. The difference is the difference of a blink of an eye. Anyway, what I want to ask is, is that okay with you?</p>
<p>Now before you get your knickers in a twist let me just say I am not trying to get you to do anything you don’t want to do. I’m not going to say, “it’s all going to shit unless…” Unless..? No, buddy. I don’t think there is an “unless”. Disabuse yourself of that “unless”. We’re headed for the crapper. Period, full stop.</p>
<p>Don’t believe me? Still of the what-me-worry persuasion? How about alternative fuels? If we are gobbling down energy of any kind we will burn hydrocarbons. If nobody is using them they will be cheap. Laws won’t stop deep-state people from finding a way to make a buck. And poverty makes laws disappear. In industrial civilization we always want more– vacations, houses, cars, entertainment. And industrial civilization needs to sell us more. Chug all the alternative fuels you want, we will still want more. We will fight for more and so need armies, navies and cyber-warriors. Militaries will use hydrocarbons and fuck you if you don’t like it. If it’s there we will use it. Industrial civilization always needs more. Only the end of industrial civilization will end hydrocarbon burning and that ain’t happening, buster. No, babe, the rock has begun to roll. It would take an absolute all-out mobilization of the entire species in a unified well-organized crash-course of action to eliminate industrial civilization without blowing up the world to give the planet even the ghost of a chance of a snowball in a steaming pile of shit. So that all-out effort will almost certainly fail. I hope that’s not too alarmist.</p>
<p>So no, I don’t expect you to do anything, Buddy. Put your mind to rest. The planet is barbecuing, shit is spreading, people are getting upset, and the deep-state is doubling down in order to pursue an astonishingly stupid mind-fuck of world-domination, — unless they don’t exist in which case nobody is steering the fucking bus. Put it all together and it spells bye-bye.</p>
<p>Hey, know what? Every deep-state guy, if he exists, is pursuing a sub-rosa scheme to feather a tropical-island bolt-hole nest a la Saddam. A comfy little hidey-hole for our bird-brained leaders. They plan to skip out and lay low in style when whatever hits the whatever. Maybe you can flap your way to one of those with them? Kiss the right ass and win a trip to cloud-cuckoo land. When the champagne runs out and they scamper aboard their jets maybe you can hitch a ride as drink steward or just stow away like a bed bug.</p>
<p>Of course that won’t last long. In the end you just dry up into a parasite’s remains, the fossil of an exoskeleton. Is that what you want, Buddy? To end up as a kind of parasitic remains? This, I admit, is what I am worried about. You, Buddy, you! Buddy, you’re not a tapeworm. You’re better than that. Wouldn’t it be better to make this all-out last-ditch effort even if it is, in all likelihood, futile? Wouldn’t that be a better, a nobler way to go than sucking blood til the earth runs dry! Killing people, destroying cities, fucking up every place you are not? So if you think it would be a good idea to make this effort, it might be worthwhile to ask just what this effort would entail. I mean for fucking real.</p> | Is This What You Want, Buddy? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/08/04/is-this-what-you-want-buddy/ | 2017-08-04 | 4left
| Is This What You Want, Buddy?
<p>Dear Buddy,</p>
<p>I’ve been worried about you. How are you getting along without a country? Last I heard you were stuck in that broken down bus known as the old U S of A. Didn’t that thing lose its steering after they ripped out the old Constitution? Now, shit, you tell me the brakes are shot and the passengers are what? Bat shit? Still talking about the Democratic Party as if it were, you know, a thing? Trying to shoe-horn yet another Clintonista into the driver’s seat. Hey, look on the bright side. It might only be mad cow. You can hope. Anyway, enough of Trump, Hilary, Republicans, Democrats and the whole God awful stew of yesterday’s news. Good-bye to the whole have-your-cake-and-bomb-them-too mentality. Bury the fuckers. It’s over. Good riddance.</p>
<p>The question is what are you going to do now, player? I mean that bus is headed down the mountain. All the f’ing passingers are screaming. “do something! Do something!” But there’s not one f’ing asshole on the whole God damned bus who can act. I know, scientists are revealing truths, politicians scheming and babbling incoherently, but hey, who is shitting whom? All that means jack. It’s out of f’ing control! It’s obvious. The land of the free and the home of the brave? No man, it’s an improvised explosive device tied to a runaway bus. Where is right and where wrong? Who the fuck’s got his finger on the nukes? Two to one his other finger is up his ass. What’s the dot gov doing man? The vehicle is smashing into people, wrecking countries. What for? Democracy? Excuse me? It is death in the largefamily size, plain and simple. And the family is your family, Buddy..</p>
<p>The whole world watches with horror while this out-of-control motherfucker careens down the mountain. This sad remains of a country is smashing everything up. I know, I know, it’s the deep state, pulling levers, wrenching the wheel, pumping pedals but it don’t mean shit. That’s because the deep-state is bonkers, stupid, vicious and never learned to drive an out-of-control motherfucker like this baby. That is, if the deep-state exists. I mean who the fuck knows? Anyway, the shit they pull, if they really pull shit, is not going to save their asses let alone yours.</p>
<p>So why is the deep-state still in control? What keeps the deep-state in control of this out-of-control mother fucker? Assuming they exist of course. Nothing about them is legitimate. The whole dot gov thing is a punch and judy show with a stick of dynamite up its ass. Secretly, behind the scenes the deep state is babbling out of f’ing control. They are hopeless on every count. Still they slip the bullshit to the bullshitters and everyone toddles along behind.</p>
<p>How does it work? How does the bullshit get to the bullshitter. Deep-state guys must tell non-deep-state guys to do things, or convey to them that they should do things in some circuitous underhand deep-state way, right? That is if there really are deep-state guys. I mean it’s non-deep-state guys who actually do the dirty work, correct? Deep-state guys don’t actually do shit. Deep-state guys get things done with hints and signs and shit and who knows what to signal their pleasure or displeasure to non-deep-state guys who toddle off in service to the deep state guys who may or may not exist. Non-deep-state guys learn to divine deep-state guys’ desires even without nods and winks and whatever. It’s all one big bollocks of bosses and lackeys and subtle hints and raised eyebrows and gobs of hypocrisy to cover over a cuckoo, vicious, moronic, and totally fucked up pile of deep-state shit. Of course now I’m talking about the highest level.</p>
<p>But deep-state guys, if they exist, are still just guys, right? I mean, they are just guys! Why are those non-deep-state guys kissing their butts? Given the obvious cluelessness of the deep-state guys hinting the planet into the crapper, isn’t your obedience a little, how should I put it, dumb? I know those deep-state guys are awesome, but come on. It’s just habit, isn’t it? I mean the USA, aside from being this out-of-control bomb, is now just a bad habit, isn’t it? Courts? Elections? Constitution? Forget about it. It’s just habit. There’s no rhyme or reason, even for the deep-state guys. And given that it’s taking us to the crapper, a bad habit. Forget about the founding fathers, this shit is really happening, dude.</p>
<p>I suppose you could get money and power so-called from sucking up, but is that enough to trade for species extinction? What good is toddling along behind the deep state guys on a planet cooked well-done? Why not, as Nancy Reagan put it, just say no? Okay, deep-state guys will be deep-state guys. I sure as hell am not going to talk them out of it, even though they are being stupid. They are going to deep-state themselves right into deep do do, assuming they exist. But you, kid, you! Are you ready to crash headfirst into eternity? Is this a new sexual orientation?</p>
<p>Now I’m sure you don’t need any more proof that everything is fucked up and on the way to the crapper. All roads lead to shit. That, I think, is one thing everyone can agree to. The bedrock of civilized conversation. So that’s why I skipped that part. Maybe it’s a hundred years, maybe two hundred. It’s hard to imagine more. Most likely much less, more like fifteen or two, but what do I know? After whatever, eternity. The difference is the difference of a blink of an eye. Anyway, what I want to ask is, is that okay with you?</p>
<p>Now before you get your knickers in a twist let me just say I am not trying to get you to do anything you don’t want to do. I’m not going to say, “it’s all going to shit unless…” Unless..? No, buddy. I don’t think there is an “unless”. Disabuse yourself of that “unless”. We’re headed for the crapper. Period, full stop.</p>
<p>Don’t believe me? Still of the what-me-worry persuasion? How about alternative fuels? If we are gobbling down energy of any kind we will burn hydrocarbons. If nobody is using them they will be cheap. Laws won’t stop deep-state people from finding a way to make a buck. And poverty makes laws disappear. In industrial civilization we always want more– vacations, houses, cars, entertainment. And industrial civilization needs to sell us more. Chug all the alternative fuels you want, we will still want more. We will fight for more and so need armies, navies and cyber-warriors. Militaries will use hydrocarbons and fuck you if you don’t like it. If it’s there we will use it. Industrial civilization always needs more. Only the end of industrial civilization will end hydrocarbon burning and that ain’t happening, buster. No, babe, the rock has begun to roll. It would take an absolute all-out mobilization of the entire species in a unified well-organized crash-course of action to eliminate industrial civilization without blowing up the world to give the planet even the ghost of a chance of a snowball in a steaming pile of shit. So that all-out effort will almost certainly fail. I hope that’s not too alarmist.</p>
<p>So no, I don’t expect you to do anything, Buddy. Put your mind to rest. The planet is barbecuing, shit is spreading, people are getting upset, and the deep-state is doubling down in order to pursue an astonishingly stupid mind-fuck of world-domination, — unless they don’t exist in which case nobody is steering the fucking bus. Put it all together and it spells bye-bye.</p>
<p>Hey, know what? Every deep-state guy, if he exists, is pursuing a sub-rosa scheme to feather a tropical-island bolt-hole nest a la Saddam. A comfy little hidey-hole for our bird-brained leaders. They plan to skip out and lay low in style when whatever hits the whatever. Maybe you can flap your way to one of those with them? Kiss the right ass and win a trip to cloud-cuckoo land. When the champagne runs out and they scamper aboard their jets maybe you can hitch a ride as drink steward or just stow away like a bed bug.</p>
<p>Of course that won’t last long. In the end you just dry up into a parasite’s remains, the fossil of an exoskeleton. Is that what you want, Buddy? To end up as a kind of parasitic remains? This, I admit, is what I am worried about. You, Buddy, you! Buddy, you’re not a tapeworm. You’re better than that. Wouldn’t it be better to make this all-out last-ditch effort even if it is, in all likelihood, futile? Wouldn’t that be a better, a nobler way to go than sucking blood til the earth runs dry! Killing people, destroying cities, fucking up every place you are not? So if you think it would be a good idea to make this effort, it might be worthwhile to ask just what this effort would entail. I mean for fucking real.</p> | 267 |
<p>Five&#160; <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2080025,00.html" type="external">killed</a> over the weekend, almost <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2079964,00.html" type="external">$100 million</a> lost to strikes and a weeklong <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-27/peru-s-stocks-fall-for-a-sixth-day-on-concern-growth-to-slow-with-humala.html" type="external">stock market slide</a>.</p>
<p>For Peru, that's only a partial tally of the cost of weeks of protests over a proposed silver mine.</p>
<p>The mining project, by Canadian firm Bear Creek, has now been <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/peru-revokes-licence-of-canadian-mining-firm-bear-creek/article2076459/" type="external">cancelled</a>. The Peruvian government revoked the company's license to build a mine near the shores of Lake Titicaca and halted all new mining concessions in the Puno province for the next 36 months.</p>
<p>(See photos:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/que-pasa/peru-bolivia-border-protest-mine" type="external">Protests shut down Peru-Bolivia border</a>)</p>
<p>But while the agreement might put an end to the most recent violence, it&#160;hardly seems like a lasting solution to the social protests besetting the Andean nation.</p>
<p>Demonstrators march against violence in Juliaca, southern Peru, on June 25, 2010.</p>
<p>The country has been growing at more than 7 percent a year, the highest rate in Latin America. Much of that growth has been fueled by an increase in foreign investment, with current President Alan Garcia encouraging mining and oil extraction.</p>
<p>Peru is pound for pound one of the world's <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2010/0105/Latin-America-s-surprise-rising-economic-star-Peru" type="external">richest countries</a> in terms of resources, with&#160;vast reserves of gold, silver, tin, iron, zinc and copper.</p>
<p>Yet projects to mine those resources are&#160;often unpopular among local residents, who see few&#160;direct economic benefits.&#160;Nearly 100 protesters have been killed in the past three years in clashes with police, <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2079964,00.html" type="external">reports Time</a>. The government's human rights ombudsman's office catalogued 227 local protest movements in May. Economist&#160;Hernando de Soto told Time that his instititute estimates there are about 1,000 simmering social conflicts in Peru.</p>
<p>The unrest over the silver mine near Lake Titicaca began in early May. Protesters blocked the border crossing with Bolivia and then set fire to several government buildings. The demonstrations spread throughout the region and came to a head this weekend when 4,000 protesters marched on the Juliaca airport.</p>
<p>Demonstrators seize and burn the grass field around the airstrip at the the airport of Juliaca.</p>
<p>Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world and the largest lake in South America. The lake was considered sacred by the Incas and is a major tourist draw today.&#160;The protesters said mining would pollute Lake Titicaca, the Desaguadero River and its tributaries.</p>
<p>(See photos: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/que-pasa/peru-puno-protests-tourism-lake-titicaca" type="external">Lake Titicaca draws tourists</a>)</p>
<p>President-elect Ollanta Humala campaigned on the promise to better distribute the country's wealth. He said this week that&#160;rural towns <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/perus-president-elect-vows-consultation-in-bid-to-end-mining-conflicts/article2078116/" type="external">bear the costs</a> of the mines, which can&#160;cause pollution and monopolize scarce water supplies.</p>
<p>Humala's&#160;talk about a <a href="http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110608/wl_nm/us_peru_election" type="external">tax on windfall profits</a>&#160;has&#160;unnerved some mining companies, who said it would encourage them to build mines elsewhere. (The Canadian firm Bear Creek is <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/canadian-mining-firm-threatens-legal-action-against-peru/article2076445/" type="external">threatening legal action</a> against Peru for revoking its mining rights.)</p>
<p>Yet the government and mining and oil/gas companies estimate there will be more than $50 billion in investment in new projects in the next decade, reports Time.&#160;</p>
<p>For Humala, who takes office on July 28, that means plenty of more potential conflicts like the one that just ended in Puno.</p>
<p>Demonstrators stand by burnt down cars in Juliaca, southern Peru, on June 25, 2010.</p>
<p>Demonstrators block a road in Juliaca, southern Peru, on June 25, 2010.</p>
<p>Demonstrators carry the coffin of one of their fellow protesters killed in clashes with police in Juliaca.</p>
<p>(Photos from STR/AFP/Getty Images)</p>
<p>div.lead-media-photo {</p>
<p>display:none;</p>
<p>}</p> | Can Peru avoid the protest bug? | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-06-28/can-peru-avoid-protest-bug | 2011-06-28 | 3left-center
| Can Peru avoid the protest bug?
<p>Five&#160; <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2080025,00.html" type="external">killed</a> over the weekend, almost <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2079964,00.html" type="external">$100 million</a> lost to strikes and a weeklong <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-27/peru-s-stocks-fall-for-a-sixth-day-on-concern-growth-to-slow-with-humala.html" type="external">stock market slide</a>.</p>
<p>For Peru, that's only a partial tally of the cost of weeks of protests over a proposed silver mine.</p>
<p>The mining project, by Canadian firm Bear Creek, has now been <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/peru-revokes-licence-of-canadian-mining-firm-bear-creek/article2076459/" type="external">cancelled</a>. The Peruvian government revoked the company's license to build a mine near the shores of Lake Titicaca and halted all new mining concessions in the Puno province for the next 36 months.</p>
<p>(See photos:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/que-pasa/peru-bolivia-border-protest-mine" type="external">Protests shut down Peru-Bolivia border</a>)</p>
<p>But while the agreement might put an end to the most recent violence, it&#160;hardly seems like a lasting solution to the social protests besetting the Andean nation.</p>
<p>Demonstrators march against violence in Juliaca, southern Peru, on June 25, 2010.</p>
<p>The country has been growing at more than 7 percent a year, the highest rate in Latin America. Much of that growth has been fueled by an increase in foreign investment, with current President Alan Garcia encouraging mining and oil extraction.</p>
<p>Peru is pound for pound one of the world's <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2010/0105/Latin-America-s-surprise-rising-economic-star-Peru" type="external">richest countries</a> in terms of resources, with&#160;vast reserves of gold, silver, tin, iron, zinc and copper.</p>
<p>Yet projects to mine those resources are&#160;often unpopular among local residents, who see few&#160;direct economic benefits.&#160;Nearly 100 protesters have been killed in the past three years in clashes with police, <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2079964,00.html" type="external">reports Time</a>. The government's human rights ombudsman's office catalogued 227 local protest movements in May. Economist&#160;Hernando de Soto told Time that his instititute estimates there are about 1,000 simmering social conflicts in Peru.</p>
<p>The unrest over the silver mine near Lake Titicaca began in early May. Protesters blocked the border crossing with Bolivia and then set fire to several government buildings. The demonstrations spread throughout the region and came to a head this weekend when 4,000 protesters marched on the Juliaca airport.</p>
<p>Demonstrators seize and burn the grass field around the airstrip at the the airport of Juliaca.</p>
<p>Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world and the largest lake in South America. The lake was considered sacred by the Incas and is a major tourist draw today.&#160;The protesters said mining would pollute Lake Titicaca, the Desaguadero River and its tributaries.</p>
<p>(See photos: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/que-pasa/peru-puno-protests-tourism-lake-titicaca" type="external">Lake Titicaca draws tourists</a>)</p>
<p>President-elect Ollanta Humala campaigned on the promise to better distribute the country's wealth. He said this week that&#160;rural towns <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/perus-president-elect-vows-consultation-in-bid-to-end-mining-conflicts/article2078116/" type="external">bear the costs</a> of the mines, which can&#160;cause pollution and monopolize scarce water supplies.</p>
<p>Humala's&#160;talk about a <a href="http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110608/wl_nm/us_peru_election" type="external">tax on windfall profits</a>&#160;has&#160;unnerved some mining companies, who said it would encourage them to build mines elsewhere. (The Canadian firm Bear Creek is <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/canadian-mining-firm-threatens-legal-action-against-peru/article2076445/" type="external">threatening legal action</a> against Peru for revoking its mining rights.)</p>
<p>Yet the government and mining and oil/gas companies estimate there will be more than $50 billion in investment in new projects in the next decade, reports Time.&#160;</p>
<p>For Humala, who takes office on July 28, that means plenty of more potential conflicts like the one that just ended in Puno.</p>
<p>Demonstrators stand by burnt down cars in Juliaca, southern Peru, on June 25, 2010.</p>
<p>Demonstrators block a road in Juliaca, southern Peru, on June 25, 2010.</p>
<p>Demonstrators carry the coffin of one of their fellow protesters killed in clashes with police in Juliaca.</p>
<p>(Photos from STR/AFP/Getty Images)</p>
<p>div.lead-media-photo {</p>
<p>display:none;</p>
<p>}</p> | 268 |
<p>ATCO, Hormel, Greyhound, Eastern, Nordstrom, Equitable: the list goes on and on. Organized labor has suffered its worst decade since the 1920s, as intense employer opposition, encouraged and supported by conservative national administrations, left the labor movement reeling, its membership falling, its morale plummeting. Even victories, such as occurred in the Pittston coal strike, left an odd taste. The United Mine Workers and their allies won a major victory to maintain the status quo; but the hope that this success would rejuvenate labor's spirit has proved elusive.</p>
<p /> | The Decline of Labor | true | https://dissentmagazine.org/article/the-decline-of-labor | 2018-10-04 | 4left
| The Decline of Labor
<p>ATCO, Hormel, Greyhound, Eastern, Nordstrom, Equitable: the list goes on and on. Organized labor has suffered its worst decade since the 1920s, as intense employer opposition, encouraged and supported by conservative national administrations, left the labor movement reeling, its membership falling, its morale plummeting. Even victories, such as occurred in the Pittston coal strike, left an odd taste. The United Mine Workers and their allies won a major victory to maintain the status quo; but the hope that this success would rejuvenate labor's spirit has proved elusive.</p>
<p /> | 269 |
<p>Chinese police have stopped a plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s 22-year-old nephew, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-30/china-breaks-up-plot-to-kill-kim-jong-un-s-nephew-report-says?cmpid=socialflow-facebook-business&amp;utm_content=business&amp;utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&amp;utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=social" type="external">Bloomberg</a>.</p>
<p>Bloomberg on Monday reported that several North Koreans dispatched to Beijing on suspicion of scheming to murder Kim Han Sol have been arrested.</p>
<p>Two of seven North Korean agents were apprehended over the alleged plot, according to South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, which first reported the news.</p>
<p>The Ilbo cited a person familiar with North Korean issues, and the publication did not elaborate on whether the other five people were arrested.</p>
<p>The newspaper additionally reported that some of the agents are getting interrogated in special facilities on the outskirts of Beijing.</p>
<p>Kim Han Sol last March said in a YouTube clip that he is the son of Kim Jong Nam, who was assassinated in Malaysia earlier this year.</p>
<p>Two women are currently facing trial in Malaysia on charges of murdering Kim Jong Nam at a Kuala Lumpur airport in February.</p>
<p>The pair have pleaded not guilty, but Malaysian authorities say the duo used the chemical weapon VX in the attack.</p>
<p>Malaysian authorities have also claimed the two women were trained to swipe the poison on Kim Jong Nam’s face as they knew it was toxic.</p>
<p>South Korean government officials have speculated that Kim Jong Un engineered the murder of his half-brother, who lived outside of North Korea for years and criticized his leadership.</p>
<p>Kim Jong Un previously executed his uncle Jang Song Thaek in 2013 on charges of factionalism and graft.</p>
<p>The North Korean leader earlier in October promoted his sister Kim Yo Jong, 28, to the political wing of their nation’s ruling party.Kim Yo Jong’s promotion brought her closer to North Korea’s center of power and tightened her family’s control over the reclusive Asian country.</p>
<p>President Trump has repeatedly traded barbs with Kim Jong Un over North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons this year, provoking fears of a conflict between their nations.</p> | China reportedly foiled a plot to kill Kim Jong Un's nephew | false | https://circa.com/story/2017/10/30/world/china-foils-plot-to-kill-kim-jong-uns-nephew-kim-han-sol-report | 2017-10-30 | 1right-center
| China reportedly foiled a plot to kill Kim Jong Un's nephew
<p>Chinese police have stopped a plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s 22-year-old nephew, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-30/china-breaks-up-plot-to-kill-kim-jong-un-s-nephew-report-says?cmpid=socialflow-facebook-business&amp;utm_content=business&amp;utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&amp;utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=social" type="external">Bloomberg</a>.</p>
<p>Bloomberg on Monday reported that several North Koreans dispatched to Beijing on suspicion of scheming to murder Kim Han Sol have been arrested.</p>
<p>Two of seven North Korean agents were apprehended over the alleged plot, according to South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, which first reported the news.</p>
<p>The Ilbo cited a person familiar with North Korean issues, and the publication did not elaborate on whether the other five people were arrested.</p>
<p>The newspaper additionally reported that some of the agents are getting interrogated in special facilities on the outskirts of Beijing.</p>
<p>Kim Han Sol last March said in a YouTube clip that he is the son of Kim Jong Nam, who was assassinated in Malaysia earlier this year.</p>
<p>Two women are currently facing trial in Malaysia on charges of murdering Kim Jong Nam at a Kuala Lumpur airport in February.</p>
<p>The pair have pleaded not guilty, but Malaysian authorities say the duo used the chemical weapon VX in the attack.</p>
<p>Malaysian authorities have also claimed the two women were trained to swipe the poison on Kim Jong Nam’s face as they knew it was toxic.</p>
<p>South Korean government officials have speculated that Kim Jong Un engineered the murder of his half-brother, who lived outside of North Korea for years and criticized his leadership.</p>
<p>Kim Jong Un previously executed his uncle Jang Song Thaek in 2013 on charges of factionalism and graft.</p>
<p>The North Korean leader earlier in October promoted his sister Kim Yo Jong, 28, to the political wing of their nation’s ruling party.Kim Yo Jong’s promotion brought her closer to North Korea’s center of power and tightened her family’s control over the reclusive Asian country.</p>
<p>President Trump has repeatedly traded barbs with Kim Jong Un over North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons this year, provoking fears of a conflict between their nations.</p> | 270 |
<p>A jury has convicted two Vanderbilt football players after seeing photos and video of a sexual attack on an unconscious woman in Nashville two years ago.</p>
<p>The jury convicted the football players of aggravated rape and related charges, who were among four players who allegedly participated in the assault, according to a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/01/28/two-former-vanderbilt-football-players-convicted-of-rape-thanks-to-pictures-one-of-them-took-of-it/" type="external">Washington Post report</a>. The other two have pleaded not guilty and will be tried later.</p>
<p>Brandon Vandenburg and Cory Battery, both 21 years old, will face between 15 and 80 years in prison depending on sentencing. After 12 days of trial, the jury took about three hours to convict them.</p>
<p>The victim had no memory of the assault and could not testify against the players. However, some images were taken of the attack and sent to friends, which helped convict the two players. Vandenburg was a tight end on the Vanderbilt football team, and Batey was a wide receiver.</p>
<p>Other individuals in the dorm were alleged to have been aware that the victim was in trouble but did nothing to help, according to the report.</p>
<p>The victim, also 21, had gone out with Vandenburg earlier that evening. Vandenburg did not have sex with her, but he was convicted with rape because he encouraged Batey and two others to assault her, the jury decided.</p>
<p>According to testimony, he passed out condoms to the other players and slapped her buttocks, saying he couldn’t have sex with her because he was high on cocaine. Prosecutors said Batey did have sex with her as well as urinate on her.</p>
<p>The defense said alcohol was the reason for their behavior, arguing that Batey was so “crazy drunk” he didn’t know what he was doing, according to the report.</p>
<p>However, the jury was not swayed by arguments that the defendants were out of their minds, or that the college culture encouraged such wild behavior.</p>
<p>The rape allegations quickly surfaced after the assault, and the university found closed-circuit footage of the players dragging the woman into a room and photographing her, calling the police and kicking the players off the team and expelling them.</p>
<p /> | Jury convicts two Vanderbilt football players of rape; two more yet to be tried | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/01/28/jury-convicts-two-vanderbilt-football-players-of-rape-two-more-yet-to-be-tried/ | 2015-01-28 | 3left-center
| Jury convicts two Vanderbilt football players of rape; two more yet to be tried
<p>A jury has convicted two Vanderbilt football players after seeing photos and video of a sexual attack on an unconscious woman in Nashville two years ago.</p>
<p>The jury convicted the football players of aggravated rape and related charges, who were among four players who allegedly participated in the assault, according to a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/01/28/two-former-vanderbilt-football-players-convicted-of-rape-thanks-to-pictures-one-of-them-took-of-it/" type="external">Washington Post report</a>. The other two have pleaded not guilty and will be tried later.</p>
<p>Brandon Vandenburg and Cory Battery, both 21 years old, will face between 15 and 80 years in prison depending on sentencing. After 12 days of trial, the jury took about three hours to convict them.</p>
<p>The victim had no memory of the assault and could not testify against the players. However, some images were taken of the attack and sent to friends, which helped convict the two players. Vandenburg was a tight end on the Vanderbilt football team, and Batey was a wide receiver.</p>
<p>Other individuals in the dorm were alleged to have been aware that the victim was in trouble but did nothing to help, according to the report.</p>
<p>The victim, also 21, had gone out with Vandenburg earlier that evening. Vandenburg did not have sex with her, but he was convicted with rape because he encouraged Batey and two others to assault her, the jury decided.</p>
<p>According to testimony, he passed out condoms to the other players and slapped her buttocks, saying he couldn’t have sex with her because he was high on cocaine. Prosecutors said Batey did have sex with her as well as urinate on her.</p>
<p>The defense said alcohol was the reason for their behavior, arguing that Batey was so “crazy drunk” he didn’t know what he was doing, according to the report.</p>
<p>However, the jury was not swayed by arguments that the defendants were out of their minds, or that the college culture encouraged such wild behavior.</p>
<p>The rape allegations quickly surfaced after the assault, and the university found closed-circuit footage of the players dragging the woman into a room and photographing her, calling the police and kicking the players off the team and expelling them.</p>
<p /> | 271 |
<p>The European Union is a “disaster” and a “danger” for Europe that has no place in its future, leaders of far-right European parties said at a gathering in Prague. They also vowed to develop cooperation outside the EU structures.</p>
<p>“Because we love Europe, we accuse the EU of killing Europe,” the leader of the French National Front, Marine Le Pen, told reporters at congress of European right-wing&#160;parties in the Czech capital, Prague. She also advocated the establishment of a new sort of union, which she defined as a “Europe of sovereign nations.”</p>
<p>“We are not xenophobes, we are opponents of the European Union,” she said. “I think this is something we have in common, because the European Union is a disastrous organization which is leading our continent to destruction through dilution by drowning it in migrants, by the negation of our respective countries, by the draining of our diversity.”</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/409085-germany-leak-predicts-eu-collapse/" type="external" /></p>
<p>Her words were echoed by Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch anti-Islam and anti-immigrant Party for Freedom (PVV), who also called the EU an “existential threat” for European nation states.</p>
<p>“My party is convinced that the Netherlands would be better off outside the European Union, and it will be better for our economy, for our security,” Wilders said. He also once again called for putting an end to mass immigration into Europe and said that the European countries should follow the example of US President Donald Trump on this issue by imposing travel bans to restrict the inflow of migrants and even by building walls.</p>
<p>The delegates also welcomed the fact that the Austrian right-wing Freedom Party (FPO) had just entered the country’s new coalition government. Le Pen particularly called it “very good news for Europe.”</p>
<p>The leaders were attending a congress of the Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom (MENL), a European Parliament group established in 2015, which consists of far-right, far-right and Eurosceptic parties. The congress, held under the slogan “For a Europe of sovereign nations,” was organized by the Czech populist Freedom and Direct Democracy Party (SPD), which itself is not a member of MENL.</p>
<p>The SPD leader, a Czech businessman of Japanese descent, Tomio Okamura, also denounced the EU model as “dysfunctional” and called for reform. Apart from Le Pen and Wilders, the meeting was also attended by far-right politicians from Belgium, the UK and Poland, as well as by members of the Austrian FPO and Italy’s Northern League parties.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/406796-austria-vote-results-europe/" type="external" /></p>
<p>The congress was held as the far-right are gaining in popularity across Europe due to growing anti-immigrant sentiments. On Friday, the FPO entered Austria’s new government in a coalition with the conservatives, following its resounding success in the recent parliamentary elections in October.</p>
<p>Earlier, another populist party known for its extremely hardline stance on immigration and Islam, Alternative for Germany (AfD), enjoyed what it described as a historic success in federal parliamentary elections.</p>
<p>In late October, anti-immigrant and Eurosceptic parties also led the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic. Okamura’s SPD became the fourth largest political force in the parliament as it gained slightly more than 10 percent of the vote.</p>
<p>In the French presidential elections in spring 2017, Marine le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Front party, made it into the run-off, beating candidates from such major establishment parties as the Republicans and the Socialists. And in the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ ultra-nationalist Party of Freedom came second in this year’s parliamentary elections.</p>
<p>The opposition to the far-right remains nonetheless significant. The Czech police had to tighten security measures around the congress venue, as hundreds of protesters demonstrated in Prague against the congress, according to Radio Praha. Police also took additional security measures to protect Wilders, who has faced death threats over his radical anti-Islam remarks.</p> | ‘EU is killing Europe’: Far-right leaders call for end to ‘disastrous’ union | false | https://newsline.com/eu-is-killing-europe-far-right-leaders-call-for-end-to-disastrous-union/ | 2017-12-16 | 1right-center
| ‘EU is killing Europe’: Far-right leaders call for end to ‘disastrous’ union
<p>The European Union is a “disaster” and a “danger” for Europe that has no place in its future, leaders of far-right European parties said at a gathering in Prague. They also vowed to develop cooperation outside the EU structures.</p>
<p>“Because we love Europe, we accuse the EU of killing Europe,” the leader of the French National Front, Marine Le Pen, told reporters at congress of European right-wing&#160;parties in the Czech capital, Prague. She also advocated the establishment of a new sort of union, which she defined as a “Europe of sovereign nations.”</p>
<p>“We are not xenophobes, we are opponents of the European Union,” she said. “I think this is something we have in common, because the European Union is a disastrous organization which is leading our continent to destruction through dilution by drowning it in migrants, by the negation of our respective countries, by the draining of our diversity.”</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/409085-germany-leak-predicts-eu-collapse/" type="external" /></p>
<p>Her words were echoed by Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch anti-Islam and anti-immigrant Party for Freedom (PVV), who also called the EU an “existential threat” for European nation states.</p>
<p>“My party is convinced that the Netherlands would be better off outside the European Union, and it will be better for our economy, for our security,” Wilders said. He also once again called for putting an end to mass immigration into Europe and said that the European countries should follow the example of US President Donald Trump on this issue by imposing travel bans to restrict the inflow of migrants and even by building walls.</p>
<p>The delegates also welcomed the fact that the Austrian right-wing Freedom Party (FPO) had just entered the country’s new coalition government. Le Pen particularly called it “very good news for Europe.”</p>
<p>The leaders were attending a congress of the Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom (MENL), a European Parliament group established in 2015, which consists of far-right, far-right and Eurosceptic parties. The congress, held under the slogan “For a Europe of sovereign nations,” was organized by the Czech populist Freedom and Direct Democracy Party (SPD), which itself is not a member of MENL.</p>
<p>The SPD leader, a Czech businessman of Japanese descent, Tomio Okamura, also denounced the EU model as “dysfunctional” and called for reform. Apart from Le Pen and Wilders, the meeting was also attended by far-right politicians from Belgium, the UK and Poland, as well as by members of the Austrian FPO and Italy’s Northern League parties.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/406796-austria-vote-results-europe/" type="external" /></p>
<p>The congress was held as the far-right are gaining in popularity across Europe due to growing anti-immigrant sentiments. On Friday, the FPO entered Austria’s new government in a coalition with the conservatives, following its resounding success in the recent parliamentary elections in October.</p>
<p>Earlier, another populist party known for its extremely hardline stance on immigration and Islam, Alternative for Germany (AfD), enjoyed what it described as a historic success in federal parliamentary elections.</p>
<p>In late October, anti-immigrant and Eurosceptic parties also led the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic. Okamura’s SPD became the fourth largest political force in the parliament as it gained slightly more than 10 percent of the vote.</p>
<p>In the French presidential elections in spring 2017, Marine le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Front party, made it into the run-off, beating candidates from such major establishment parties as the Republicans and the Socialists. And in the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ ultra-nationalist Party of Freedom came second in this year’s parliamentary elections.</p>
<p>The opposition to the far-right remains nonetheless significant. The Czech police had to tighten security measures around the congress venue, as hundreds of protesters demonstrated in Prague against the congress, according to Radio Praha. Police also took additional security measures to protect Wilders, who has faced death threats over his radical anti-Islam remarks.</p> | 272 |
<p>Conservatives have long complained that American universities have effectively become boot camps for social justice warriors. Well, the University of Iowa has gone ahead and made it official.</p>
<p>The Iowa university system's Board of Regents has just approved the <a href="http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=8106" type="external">first ever bachelor's degree in "Social Justice"</a> for all those students who want to focus on the "systemic problems in our society" — by which, of course, they mean racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, white privilege, conservatism, pro-free-marketism, and the existence of the Republican Party.</p>
<p>The new SJW degree was inspired by two wildly successful programs: a first-year social justice seminar and the " <a href="http://housing.uiowa.edu/living-learning-communities/justice-all" type="external">Justice for All</a>" community, which gives students a chance to be involved in various social justice-focused activities (including, of course, get out the vote efforts).</p>
<p>"The proposed program will appeal to students who want a vocation related to helping others, or careers in government services or the nonprofit sector, but are not necessarily interested in teaching or social work," the program proposal <a href="http://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/education/university-of-iowa/2016/09/07/ui-offer-bachelors-program-social-justice/85568120/" type="external">explains</a>. In other words, the program is focused on those who want nothing to do with the much vilified private sector, but don't want to be stuck in a classroom or handling welfare cases.</p>
<p>Fittingly, the program will be housed in the Department of Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies.</p>
<p>Campus Reform <a href="http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=8106" type="external">notes</a> that the program is slated to launch next year, with a projected first-year enrollment of about 25 students, with the goal of 110 by year seven.</p> | Good News: Social Justice Warriors Get Their Own Bachelor's Degree! | true | https://dailywire.com/news/9007/good-news-social-justice-warriors-get-their-own-james-barrett | 2016-09-09 | 0right
| Good News: Social Justice Warriors Get Their Own Bachelor's Degree!
<p>Conservatives have long complained that American universities have effectively become boot camps for social justice warriors. Well, the University of Iowa has gone ahead and made it official.</p>
<p>The Iowa university system's Board of Regents has just approved the <a href="http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=8106" type="external">first ever bachelor's degree in "Social Justice"</a> for all those students who want to focus on the "systemic problems in our society" — by which, of course, they mean racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, white privilege, conservatism, pro-free-marketism, and the existence of the Republican Party.</p>
<p>The new SJW degree was inspired by two wildly successful programs: a first-year social justice seminar and the " <a href="http://housing.uiowa.edu/living-learning-communities/justice-all" type="external">Justice for All</a>" community, which gives students a chance to be involved in various social justice-focused activities (including, of course, get out the vote efforts).</p>
<p>"The proposed program will appeal to students who want a vocation related to helping others, or careers in government services or the nonprofit sector, but are not necessarily interested in teaching or social work," the program proposal <a href="http://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/education/university-of-iowa/2016/09/07/ui-offer-bachelors-program-social-justice/85568120/" type="external">explains</a>. In other words, the program is focused on those who want nothing to do with the much vilified private sector, but don't want to be stuck in a classroom or handling welfare cases.</p>
<p>Fittingly, the program will be housed in the Department of Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies.</p>
<p>Campus Reform <a href="http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=8106" type="external">notes</a> that the program is slated to launch next year, with a projected first-year enrollment of about 25 students, with the goal of 110 by year seven.</p> | 273 |
<p>Screen Actors Guild Awards winner Nicole Kidman talks backstage at the Los Angeles ceremony about her work with UN Women, while Allison Janney - awarded Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role - discusses the “watershed” Time’s Up movement. (Jan. 22)</p>
<p>Screen Actors Guild Awards winner Nicole Kidman talks backstage at the Los Angeles ceremony about her work with UN Women, while Allison Janney - awarded Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role - discusses the “watershed” Time’s Up movement. (Jan. 22)</p> | Kidman’s mission to ‘eradicate violence against women’ | false | https://apnews.com/e0d196e428194ac3958f4b1067435c2c | 2018-01-22 | 2least
| Kidman’s mission to ‘eradicate violence against women’
<p>Screen Actors Guild Awards winner Nicole Kidman talks backstage at the Los Angeles ceremony about her work with UN Women, while Allison Janney - awarded Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role - discusses the “watershed” Time’s Up movement. (Jan. 22)</p>
<p>Screen Actors Guild Awards winner Nicole Kidman talks backstage at the Los Angeles ceremony about her work with UN Women, while Allison Janney - awarded Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role - discusses the “watershed” Time’s Up movement. (Jan. 22)</p> | 274 |
<p>Folly, thou conquerest, and I must yield! Against stupidity the very gods Themselves contend in vain. Exalted reason, Resplendent daughter of the head divine, Wise foundress of the system of the world, Guide of the stars, who art thou then if thou, Bound to the tail of folly’s uncurbed steed, Must, vainly shrieking with the drunken crowd, Eyes open, plunge down headlong in the abyss. Accursed, who striveth after noble ends, And with deliberate wisdom forms his plans! To the fool-king belongs the world.</p>
<p>FRIEDRICH von SCHILLER The Maid of Orleans (1801) Act iii scene 6 (as translated by Anna Swanwick)</p>
<p>Thanks to Roger Grahn for sending us this passage.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Folly, Thou Conquerest | true | https://counterpunch.org/2004/11/03/folly-thou-conquerest/ | 2004-11-03 | 4left
| Folly, Thou Conquerest
<p>Folly, thou conquerest, and I must yield! Against stupidity the very gods Themselves contend in vain. Exalted reason, Resplendent daughter of the head divine, Wise foundress of the system of the world, Guide of the stars, who art thou then if thou, Bound to the tail of folly’s uncurbed steed, Must, vainly shrieking with the drunken crowd, Eyes open, plunge down headlong in the abyss. Accursed, who striveth after noble ends, And with deliberate wisdom forms his plans! To the fool-king belongs the world.</p>
<p>FRIEDRICH von SCHILLER The Maid of Orleans (1801) Act iii scene 6 (as translated by Anna Swanwick)</p>
<p>Thanks to Roger Grahn for sending us this passage.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 275 |
<p>TOP STORIES</p>
<p>Value Meals Drive McDonald's Sales - 2nd Update</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>McDonald's Corp. gained sales again by luring core customers to its cheapest meals and drinks.</p>
<p>The burger giant attributed U.S. sales growth in the fourth quarter to a "McPick 2" meal deal and low-price beverages, as well as to higher-priced Buttermilk Crispy Tenders. The chain introduced a new nationwide value menu this month with items priced at $1, $2 and $3, hoping consumers drawn in for cheap sodas and burgers will also order more expensive items.</p>
<p>STORIES OF INTEREST</p>
<p>Food Union Hails USDA Move on Chicken Plants -- Market Talk</p>
<p>12:06 ET -- United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents meat plant employees, claims victory after the U.S. Department of Agriculture rejected a U.S. chicken industry petition to eliminate poultry processing line speed caps in meat plants. The organization and other consumer groups opposed the request, saying it could make food less safe and pose risks to meat plant workers, who already deal with higher rates of injury than other industries. The union says it remains "concerned" that the USDA plans to let some chicken plants apply to run processing lines at speeds up to 175 birds a minute, with most currently capped at 140. ([email protected]; @jacobbunge)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>USDA Pumps Brakes on Faster Chicken Processing -- Market Talk</p>
<p>12:01 ET -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture denies a request by the National Chicken Council to lift all limits on how fast poultry plants can process birds--but the agency says it does plan to let some plants speed up. USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service says the chicken industry group's Sept. 1 petition to eliminate speed limits in chicken plants didn't demonstrate that inspectors could effectively check each carcass for safety at speeds beyond 175 birds a minute--nearly three chickens a second. But FSIS said that the agency plans to lay out criteria for poultry plants, most of which are limited to processing 140 chickens each minute, to run at speeds up to 175, as long as they demonstrate how they will assess food safety and meet other criteria. ([email protected]; @jacobbunge)</p>
<p>Wheat Futures Pop on Plains Drought</p>
<p>A drought in the Great Plains sparked a rally in wheat prices on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture said that the condition of the hard red winter wheat crop, primarily grown in southern Plains states like Kansas, dropped sharply as farmers in the region struggle through dry conditions.</p>
<p>FUTURES MARKETS</p>
<p>Live Cattle Futures Ease</p>
<p>Cattle futures were mixed on Tuesday, easing off multimonth highs.</p>
<p>The futures market started the week by hitting a two-month high, after cash prices for physical cattle rose more than expected. But analysts say futures bumped up against selling pressure after falling from those highs, with chart signals suggesting to traders that prices were headed lower.</p>
<p>CASH MARKETS</p>
<p>Zumbrota, Minn Hog Steady At $44.00 - Jan 30</p>
<p>Barrow and gilt prices at the Zumbrota, Minn., livestock market today are steady at $44.00 a hundredweight. Sow prices are steady. Sows weighing 400-450 pounds are at $43.00, 450-500 pounds are $43.00 and those over 500 pounds are $45.00-$47.00.</p>
<p>The day's total run is estimated at 180 head.</p>
<p>Prices are provided by the Central Livestock Association.</p>
<p>Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Jan 30</p>
<p>This report reflects U.S. pork packer processing margins. The margin indices</p>
<p>are calculated using current cash hog or carcass values and wholesale pork</p>
<p>cutout values and may not reflect actual margins at the plants. These</p>
<p>estimates reflect the general health of the industry and are not meant to</p>
<p>be indicative of any particular company or plant.</p>
<p>Source: USDA, based on Wall Street Journal calculations</p>
<p>All figures are on a per-head basis.</p>
<p>Date Standard Margin Estimated margin</p>
<p>Operating Index at vertically -</p>
<p>integrated operations</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Jan 30 +$20.58 +$ 45.01</p>
<p>Jan 29 +$20.88 +$ 45.57</p>
<p>Jan 26 +$22.51 +$ 45.96</p>
<p>* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production.</p>
<p>A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of</p>
<p>production of the animals.</p>
<p>Beef-O-Meter</p>
<p>This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite</p>
<p>values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices.</p>
<p>Beef</p>
<p>For Today Choice 108.5</p>
<p>(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 108.2</p>
<p>USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports</p>
<p>Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Tuesday rose 58 cents per hundred pounds, to $209.69, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose 24 cents per hundred pounds, to $204.37. The total load count was 109. Wholesale pork prices fell 26 cents, to $81.34 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>January 30, 2018 17:31 ET (22:31 GMT)</p> | Livestock Highlights: Top Stories of the Day | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/12/06/livestock-highlights-top-stories-day.html | 2018-01-30 | 0right
| Livestock Highlights: Top Stories of the Day
<p>TOP STORIES</p>
<p>Value Meals Drive McDonald's Sales - 2nd Update</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>McDonald's Corp. gained sales again by luring core customers to its cheapest meals and drinks.</p>
<p>The burger giant attributed U.S. sales growth in the fourth quarter to a "McPick 2" meal deal and low-price beverages, as well as to higher-priced Buttermilk Crispy Tenders. The chain introduced a new nationwide value menu this month with items priced at $1, $2 and $3, hoping consumers drawn in for cheap sodas and burgers will also order more expensive items.</p>
<p>STORIES OF INTEREST</p>
<p>Food Union Hails USDA Move on Chicken Plants -- Market Talk</p>
<p>12:06 ET -- United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents meat plant employees, claims victory after the U.S. Department of Agriculture rejected a U.S. chicken industry petition to eliminate poultry processing line speed caps in meat plants. The organization and other consumer groups opposed the request, saying it could make food less safe and pose risks to meat plant workers, who already deal with higher rates of injury than other industries. The union says it remains "concerned" that the USDA plans to let some chicken plants apply to run processing lines at speeds up to 175 birds a minute, with most currently capped at 140. ([email protected]; @jacobbunge)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>USDA Pumps Brakes on Faster Chicken Processing -- Market Talk</p>
<p>12:01 ET -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture denies a request by the National Chicken Council to lift all limits on how fast poultry plants can process birds--but the agency says it does plan to let some plants speed up. USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service says the chicken industry group's Sept. 1 petition to eliminate speed limits in chicken plants didn't demonstrate that inspectors could effectively check each carcass for safety at speeds beyond 175 birds a minute--nearly three chickens a second. But FSIS said that the agency plans to lay out criteria for poultry plants, most of which are limited to processing 140 chickens each minute, to run at speeds up to 175, as long as they demonstrate how they will assess food safety and meet other criteria. ([email protected]; @jacobbunge)</p>
<p>Wheat Futures Pop on Plains Drought</p>
<p>A drought in the Great Plains sparked a rally in wheat prices on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture said that the condition of the hard red winter wheat crop, primarily grown in southern Plains states like Kansas, dropped sharply as farmers in the region struggle through dry conditions.</p>
<p>FUTURES MARKETS</p>
<p>Live Cattle Futures Ease</p>
<p>Cattle futures were mixed on Tuesday, easing off multimonth highs.</p>
<p>The futures market started the week by hitting a two-month high, after cash prices for physical cattle rose more than expected. But analysts say futures bumped up against selling pressure after falling from those highs, with chart signals suggesting to traders that prices were headed lower.</p>
<p>CASH MARKETS</p>
<p>Zumbrota, Minn Hog Steady At $44.00 - Jan 30</p>
<p>Barrow and gilt prices at the Zumbrota, Minn., livestock market today are steady at $44.00 a hundredweight. Sow prices are steady. Sows weighing 400-450 pounds are at $43.00, 450-500 pounds are $43.00 and those over 500 pounds are $45.00-$47.00.</p>
<p>The day's total run is estimated at 180 head.</p>
<p>Prices are provided by the Central Livestock Association.</p>
<p>Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Jan 30</p>
<p>This report reflects U.S. pork packer processing margins. The margin indices</p>
<p>are calculated using current cash hog or carcass values and wholesale pork</p>
<p>cutout values and may not reflect actual margins at the plants. These</p>
<p>estimates reflect the general health of the industry and are not meant to</p>
<p>be indicative of any particular company or plant.</p>
<p>Source: USDA, based on Wall Street Journal calculations</p>
<p>All figures are on a per-head basis.</p>
<p>Date Standard Margin Estimated margin</p>
<p>Operating Index at vertically -</p>
<p>integrated operations</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Jan 30 +$20.58 +$ 45.01</p>
<p>Jan 29 +$20.88 +$ 45.57</p>
<p>Jan 26 +$22.51 +$ 45.96</p>
<p>* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production.</p>
<p>A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of</p>
<p>production of the animals.</p>
<p>Beef-O-Meter</p>
<p>This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite</p>
<p>values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices.</p>
<p>Beef</p>
<p>For Today Choice 108.5</p>
<p>(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 108.2</p>
<p>USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports</p>
<p>Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Tuesday rose 58 cents per hundred pounds, to $209.69, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose 24 cents per hundred pounds, to $204.37. The total load count was 109. Wholesale pork prices fell 26 cents, to $81.34 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>January 30, 2018 17:31 ET (22:31 GMT)</p> | 276 |
<p>Gal Gadot, Mary J. Blige, Salma Hayek, Jessica Chastain and Saoirse Ronan were among the best dressed at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in California. (Jan. 3)</p>
<p>Gal Gadot, Mary J. Blige, Salma Hayek, Jessica Chastain and Saoirse Ronan were among the best dressed at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in California. (Jan. 3)</p> | Gadot, Blige, Hayek rock Palm Springs carpet | false | https://apnews.com/4356bbad73634195acc965b646cbd90b | 2018-01-03 | 2least
| Gadot, Blige, Hayek rock Palm Springs carpet
<p>Gal Gadot, Mary J. Blige, Salma Hayek, Jessica Chastain and Saoirse Ronan were among the best dressed at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in California. (Jan. 3)</p>
<p>Gal Gadot, Mary J. Blige, Salma Hayek, Jessica Chastain and Saoirse Ronan were among the best dressed at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in California. (Jan. 3)</p> | 277 |
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<p />
<p>The driver, a U.S. citizen, and two others in the vehicle are believed to be members of the smuggling organization, Leticia Zamarripa, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a statement.</p>
<p>The driver was one of the individuals who died in the accident, while the other five killed were immigrants in the U.S. illegally.</p>
<p>Officials say the vehicle was packed with the three smuggling ring members and 13 people who were in the country illegally.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Those being smuggled in the vehicle were adults from Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, Zamarripa said. One of the smuggling suspects is from Mexico, and the nationality of the other is unknown, she said.</p>
<p>The chase began early Thursday as officers in Edna, 90 miles southwest of Houston, tried to stop the 2003 Ford Explorer for a traffic violation, said city police Chief Clinton Wooldridge.</p>
<p>As the vehicle veered onto Highway 59, the driver seemed to overcorrect and the SUV flipped several times, police said.</p>
<p>Four people died at the scene and two more died at hospitals, Wooldridge said.</p>
<p>"It is a tragedy and it is a horrible situation," Wooldridge said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.</p>
<p>Two of the immigrants were being treated at a hospital in nearby Victoria for fractures, while another was in critical condition at a Houston hospital, Wooldridge said. The other immigrants who were injured in the crash were treated at Jackson County Hospital in Edna and later released into the custody of U.S. Border Patrol agents.</p>
<p>Two people who ran from the scene were tracked down and detained. A third person was found around 3 p.m. Thursday across the roadway from the crash site, near a home, Wooldridge said.</p>
<p>"We've been in contact with consulates and they are working with the medical examiner's offices to try and find these people's families," he said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The car had been modified so it would hold 16 people, with the center seat having been removed, Wooldridge said.</p>
<p>"I believe the Ford Explorer is built on a half-ton chassis and it had - of a ton of people. So that probably had something to do with the instability of the vehicle," he said.</p>
<p>It is not uncommon for vehicles packed with immigrants who have entered the U.S. illegally to be involved in deadly crashes as they are shuttled away from the border.</p>
<p>Last year, a South Texas teenager was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted in a 2012 accident that killed nine immigrants. The teenager had been fleeing Border Patrol agents when the van he was driving with at least 17 immigrants inside flipped. Also, a Mexican man was sentenced to 45 years in prison over a crash that left seven immigrants dead in 2013.</p>
<p>Wooldridge said his agency and others in the area have a lot of experience stopping northbound vehicles that are transporting drugs and immigrants in the country illegally.</p>
<p>"That's fairly common in our area," he said.</p> | 6 killed in Texas while being transported by smuggling ring | false | https://abqjournal.com/648790/6-killed-7-hurt-when-suv-rolls-during-texas-police-chase.html | 2015-09-24 | 2least
| 6 killed in Texas while being transported by smuggling ring
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<p />
<p>The driver, a U.S. citizen, and two others in the vehicle are believed to be members of the smuggling organization, Leticia Zamarripa, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a statement.</p>
<p>The driver was one of the individuals who died in the accident, while the other five killed were immigrants in the U.S. illegally.</p>
<p>Officials say the vehicle was packed with the three smuggling ring members and 13 people who were in the country illegally.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Those being smuggled in the vehicle were adults from Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, Zamarripa said. One of the smuggling suspects is from Mexico, and the nationality of the other is unknown, she said.</p>
<p>The chase began early Thursday as officers in Edna, 90 miles southwest of Houston, tried to stop the 2003 Ford Explorer for a traffic violation, said city police Chief Clinton Wooldridge.</p>
<p>As the vehicle veered onto Highway 59, the driver seemed to overcorrect and the SUV flipped several times, police said.</p>
<p>Four people died at the scene and two more died at hospitals, Wooldridge said.</p>
<p>"It is a tragedy and it is a horrible situation," Wooldridge said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.</p>
<p>Two of the immigrants were being treated at a hospital in nearby Victoria for fractures, while another was in critical condition at a Houston hospital, Wooldridge said. The other immigrants who were injured in the crash were treated at Jackson County Hospital in Edna and later released into the custody of U.S. Border Patrol agents.</p>
<p>Two people who ran from the scene were tracked down and detained. A third person was found around 3 p.m. Thursday across the roadway from the crash site, near a home, Wooldridge said.</p>
<p>"We've been in contact with consulates and they are working with the medical examiner's offices to try and find these people's families," he said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The car had been modified so it would hold 16 people, with the center seat having been removed, Wooldridge said.</p>
<p>"I believe the Ford Explorer is built on a half-ton chassis and it had - of a ton of people. So that probably had something to do with the instability of the vehicle," he said.</p>
<p>It is not uncommon for vehicles packed with immigrants who have entered the U.S. illegally to be involved in deadly crashes as they are shuttled away from the border.</p>
<p>Last year, a South Texas teenager was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted in a 2012 accident that killed nine immigrants. The teenager had been fleeing Border Patrol agents when the van he was driving with at least 17 immigrants inside flipped. Also, a Mexican man was sentenced to 45 years in prison over a crash that left seven immigrants dead in 2013.</p>
<p>Wooldridge said his agency and others in the area have a lot of experience stopping northbound vehicles that are transporting drugs and immigrants in the country illegally.</p>
<p>"That's fairly common in our area," he said.</p> | 278 |
<p>UK coroner awaiting test results on late Cranberries singer; “Jersey Shore” reality star The Situation expected to plead guilty to tax charges; Sundance Film Festival opens with the premiere of Netflix dramedy “Private Life.” (Jan. 19)</p>
<p>UK coroner awaiting test results on late Cranberries singer; “Jersey Shore” reality star The Situation expected to plead guilty to tax charges; Sundance Film Festival opens with the premiere of Netflix dramedy “Private Life.” (Jan. 19)</p> | ShowBiz Minute: Cranberries, The Situtation, Sundance | false | https://apnews.com/803f41eaa39d4e44bec3a73a9d44979e | 2018-01-19 | 2least
| ShowBiz Minute: Cranberries, The Situtation, Sundance
<p>UK coroner awaiting test results on late Cranberries singer; “Jersey Shore” reality star The Situation expected to plead guilty to tax charges; Sundance Film Festival opens with the premiere of Netflix dramedy “Private Life.” (Jan. 19)</p>
<p>UK coroner awaiting test results on late Cranberries singer; “Jersey Shore” reality star The Situation expected to plead guilty to tax charges; Sundance Film Festival opens with the premiere of Netflix dramedy “Private Life.” (Jan. 19)</p> | 279 |
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<p>SEOUL, South Korea — Asian stocks were moderately higher on Thursday with few data reports to move the markets. Investors are watching tax reform developments in the U.S. after President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI chief James Comey. Oil prices extended gains.</p>
<p>KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 percent to 19,929.27 and South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.8 percent to 2,288.90. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.3 percent to 25,096.16. Australia’s S&amp;P/ASX 200 was up 0.3 percent to 5,891.60. But Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4 percent to 3,041.00. Stocks in Taiwan, Singapore and Southeast Asia were higher.</p>
<p>ANALYST’S VIEWPOINT: “Trump’s decision to fire FBI director Comey continues to reverberate, with markets uncertain whether this could distract the government from its tax reform agenda,” said Mizuho Bank in a daily report.</p>
<p>WALL STREET: Stocks finished slightly higher on Wednesday on Wall Street. The Standard &amp; Poor’s 500 index picked up 0.1 percent to 2,399.63. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 0.2 percent to 20,943.11. The Nasdaq composite finished at a record for the fourth day in a row as it rose 0.1 percent to 6,129.14.</p>
<p>OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude added 21 cents to $47.54 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after surging $1.45, or 3.2 percent, to $47.33 a barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 20 cents to $50.42 per barrel in London after closing up $1.49, or 3.1 percent, at $50.22 in the previous session. The price of U.S. crude oil jumped as reports showed U.S. crude stockpiles dropped by 5.2 million barrels last week, bigger than analysts expected.</p>
<p>CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 114.21 yen from 114.29 yen. The euro rose to $1.0874 from $1.0868.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Asian stocks mostly higher in quiet trading; oil prices gain | false | https://abqjournal.com/1001378/us-stocks-mixed-on-weak-earnings-and-higher-oil-prices.html | 2017-05-10 | 2least
| Asian stocks mostly higher in quiet trading; oil prices gain
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<p>SEOUL, South Korea — Asian stocks were moderately higher on Thursday with few data reports to move the markets. Investors are watching tax reform developments in the U.S. after President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI chief James Comey. Oil prices extended gains.</p>
<p>KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 percent to 19,929.27 and South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.8 percent to 2,288.90. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.3 percent to 25,096.16. Australia’s S&amp;P/ASX 200 was up 0.3 percent to 5,891.60. But Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4 percent to 3,041.00. Stocks in Taiwan, Singapore and Southeast Asia were higher.</p>
<p>ANALYST’S VIEWPOINT: “Trump’s decision to fire FBI director Comey continues to reverberate, with markets uncertain whether this could distract the government from its tax reform agenda,” said Mizuho Bank in a daily report.</p>
<p>WALL STREET: Stocks finished slightly higher on Wednesday on Wall Street. The Standard &amp; Poor’s 500 index picked up 0.1 percent to 2,399.63. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 0.2 percent to 20,943.11. The Nasdaq composite finished at a record for the fourth day in a row as it rose 0.1 percent to 6,129.14.</p>
<p>OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude added 21 cents to $47.54 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after surging $1.45, or 3.2 percent, to $47.33 a barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 20 cents to $50.42 per barrel in London after closing up $1.49, or 3.1 percent, at $50.22 in the previous session. The price of U.S. crude oil jumped as reports showed U.S. crude stockpiles dropped by 5.2 million barrels last week, bigger than analysts expected.</p>
<p>CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 114.21 yen from 114.29 yen. The euro rose to $1.0874 from $1.0868.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 280 |
<p>The top executives of five of the country’s biggest oil companies will <a href="" type="internal">testify to Congress today</a> about the safety of drilling, in light of the Gulf disaster. I’ll be live-Tweeting the hearing, which you can follow below.</p>
<p>Appearing at the hearing will be BP America President Lamar McKay, as well as Rex Tillerson, chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil; John Watson, chairman and CEO of Chevron Corporation; James Mulva, chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips; and Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Company.</p>
<p /> | Live-Tweeting the Oil Executive Hearing | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/06/live-tweeting-oil-executive-hearing/ | 2010-06-15 | 4left
| Live-Tweeting the Oil Executive Hearing
<p>The top executives of five of the country’s biggest oil companies will <a href="" type="internal">testify to Congress today</a> about the safety of drilling, in light of the Gulf disaster. I’ll be live-Tweeting the hearing, which you can follow below.</p>
<p>Appearing at the hearing will be BP America President Lamar McKay, as well as Rex Tillerson, chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil; John Watson, chairman and CEO of Chevron Corporation; James Mulva, chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips; and Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Company.</p>
<p /> | 281 |
<p />
<p />
<p>Illegal operators have found a more modern, faster and a lot more expensive way to transport migrants from Africa to Europe by smuggling them on high-speed jet skis for more than $3,500 fees per person.</p>
<p />
<p>The hopeful but illegal migrants are being whisked on a scary nine-mile journey across the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain.</p>
<p />
<p>There's a footage that emerged showing several migrants being left at Ceuta, a Spanish territory north of Morocco. Traffickers are also dumping the migrants close to shore and abandoning them so they could be rescued by coastguards. They have to be sent back, though.</p>
<p />
<p>Coastguards saved 12 men from the waters but one died. The casualty, a 28-year-old man from Guinea drowned before he could be dropped off on the coast of Ceuta.</p>
<p />
<p>The illegal gangs also charge nearly $500 to take migrants on dinghies. Jetskis have proven to be the most efficient mode of transportation for their criminal activity. The jet skis allow the gangs to smuggle migrants to their point of destination in less than half an hour, also allowing them to make more trips.</p>
<p />
<p>The video shows the migrants getting off on the shore by the small settlement of Benzu.</p>
<p />
<p>Spanish rescue workers saved 11 other refugees from a boat. There were also photos of the migrants rescued from the shore sit on the sand near Benzu.</p>
<p />
<p>Nine smugglers were seen taking part in the illegal operation that left a dozen jetski-riding sub-Saharan Africans near a beachside cafeteria. They quickly escaped after dropping off the migrants.</p>
<p />
<p>The smugglers were not apprehended. The fresh arrival of migrants happened only days after another boat full of African immigrants dramatically landed on a Spanish beach, to the surprise of many holidaymakers out enjoying a popular tourist destination. The illegal migrants managed to leave the beach before authorities arrived.</p>
<p />
<p>Ceuta and Melilla have the EU's only land borders with Africa and as such are being used as entry points for people desperate to get to Europe and escape life in Africa. They attempt to climb the high double border fences, swim along the coast or hide in vehicles crossing the frontier.</p>
<p />
<p>The International Organization for Migration warned Spain recently that it could overtake Greece this year in the number of illegal migrants arriving by sea. Already, 8,200 people arrived this year, triple the number from last year.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Source:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4227347/migrants-are-being-trafficked-into-europe-on-high-speed-jet-skis-for-3000/" type="external">thesun.co.uk/news/4227347/migrants-are-being-trafficked-into-europe-on-high-speed-jet-skis-for-3000</a></p> | Illegal Migrants Being Smuggled into Europe Via Jetski for $3,500 Per Person | true | http://thegoldwater.com/news/6433-Illegal-Migrants-Being-Smuggled-into-Europe-Via-Jetski-for-3-500-Per-Person | 2017-08-12 | 0right
| Illegal Migrants Being Smuggled into Europe Via Jetski for $3,500 Per Person
<p />
<p />
<p>Illegal operators have found a more modern, faster and a lot more expensive way to transport migrants from Africa to Europe by smuggling them on high-speed jet skis for more than $3,500 fees per person.</p>
<p />
<p>The hopeful but illegal migrants are being whisked on a scary nine-mile journey across the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain.</p>
<p />
<p>There's a footage that emerged showing several migrants being left at Ceuta, a Spanish territory north of Morocco. Traffickers are also dumping the migrants close to shore and abandoning them so they could be rescued by coastguards. They have to be sent back, though.</p>
<p />
<p>Coastguards saved 12 men from the waters but one died. The casualty, a 28-year-old man from Guinea drowned before he could be dropped off on the coast of Ceuta.</p>
<p />
<p>The illegal gangs also charge nearly $500 to take migrants on dinghies. Jetskis have proven to be the most efficient mode of transportation for their criminal activity. The jet skis allow the gangs to smuggle migrants to their point of destination in less than half an hour, also allowing them to make more trips.</p>
<p />
<p>The video shows the migrants getting off on the shore by the small settlement of Benzu.</p>
<p />
<p>Spanish rescue workers saved 11 other refugees from a boat. There were also photos of the migrants rescued from the shore sit on the sand near Benzu.</p>
<p />
<p>Nine smugglers were seen taking part in the illegal operation that left a dozen jetski-riding sub-Saharan Africans near a beachside cafeteria. They quickly escaped after dropping off the migrants.</p>
<p />
<p>The smugglers were not apprehended. The fresh arrival of migrants happened only days after another boat full of African immigrants dramatically landed on a Spanish beach, to the surprise of many holidaymakers out enjoying a popular tourist destination. The illegal migrants managed to leave the beach before authorities arrived.</p>
<p />
<p>Ceuta and Melilla have the EU's only land borders with Africa and as such are being used as entry points for people desperate to get to Europe and escape life in Africa. They attempt to climb the high double border fences, swim along the coast or hide in vehicles crossing the frontier.</p>
<p />
<p>The International Organization for Migration warned Spain recently that it could overtake Greece this year in the number of illegal migrants arriving by sea. Already, 8,200 people arrived this year, triple the number from last year.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Source:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4227347/migrants-are-being-trafficked-into-europe-on-high-speed-jet-skis-for-3000/" type="external">thesun.co.uk/news/4227347/migrants-are-being-trafficked-into-europe-on-high-speed-jet-skis-for-3000</a></p> | 282 |
<p>The US House of Representatives passed an expanded version of the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday, after rejecting an alternate GOP version.</p>
<p><a href="http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/house-passes-expanded-vawa" type="external">According to Talking Points Memo</a>, the vote was 286-138 in favor of the expanded version of VAWA that was approved earlier by the Senate.</p>
<p>The bill will now head to President Barack Obama's desk for approval.</p>
<p>The version approved by the Senate faced an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled House over expanding protections to Native American, LGBT and immigrant victims of domestic violence, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/28/violence-against-women-act_n_2781433.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003" type="external">The Huffington Post noted</a>.</p>
<p>Rep. Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma, and a leading voice on tribal issues, said the GOP version of the bill did "not adequately recognize sovereignty" and failed to give tribal courts "the tools they need to combat violence against women."</p>
<p>More on GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/politics/130227/house-republicans-clear-path-renew-violence-against-women-act" type="external">House Republicans clear path to renew the Violence Against Women Act</a></p> | House passes expanded Violence Against Women Act | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-02-28/house-passes-expanded-violence-against-women-act | 2013-02-28 | 3left-center
| House passes expanded Violence Against Women Act
<p>The US House of Representatives passed an expanded version of the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday, after rejecting an alternate GOP version.</p>
<p><a href="http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/house-passes-expanded-vawa" type="external">According to Talking Points Memo</a>, the vote was 286-138 in favor of the expanded version of VAWA that was approved earlier by the Senate.</p>
<p>The bill will now head to President Barack Obama's desk for approval.</p>
<p>The version approved by the Senate faced an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled House over expanding protections to Native American, LGBT and immigrant victims of domestic violence, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/28/violence-against-women-act_n_2781433.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003" type="external">The Huffington Post noted</a>.</p>
<p>Rep. Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma, and a leading voice on tribal issues, said the GOP version of the bill did "not adequately recognize sovereignty" and failed to give tribal courts "the tools they need to combat violence against women."</p>
<p>More on GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/politics/130227/house-republicans-clear-path-renew-violence-against-women-act" type="external">House Republicans clear path to renew the Violence Against Women Act</a></p> | 283 |
<p />
<p>Bob Barr (R-Geor.) has never met a gun he didn’t like. That and his power position in the House earn him high marks from the National Rifle Association. In 1993-94, the NRA spent more than $4.7 million to help the Republicans take over Congress. And no other member of the House owes as much to the gun group as Barr. The NRA hand-picked him for the primary and then, in a move motivated by revenge, helped him defeat veteran Democrat Buddy Darden in November.</p>
<p>Early in 1994, when Barr began his run for Congress, the NRA provided his campaign with critical support and worked closely with him to get out the vote, knowing that with the low turnout expected for the off-year primary, it could make the difference. The Georgia Gun Owners’ PAC, which received funds from the NRA, also threw its support behind Barr and provided $5,000 in crucial money for the primary race. Barr won handily.</p>
<p>The NRA put $4,950 more into Barr’s campaign coffers when he moved on to face Darden in the general election. During his 11 previous years in Congress, Darden had enjoyed the NRA’s backing. But not this time. Darden, annoyed at the organization’s backroom maneuvering, had voted for the president’s 1994 crime bill, which included the assault weapons ban. “The NRA decided to make an example of Buddy Darden, as a warning to others,” says a leading Democratic strategist in Georgia. (A similar scenario played out in Texas, where <a href="/news/special_reports/1996/09/stockman.html" type="external">Steve Stockman</a> defeated Rep. Jack Brooks, a longtime NRA friend.)</p>
<p>The NRA backed Barr’s campaign even though he seemed vulnerable on the “character” issue. Married three times and embroiled in a messy court battle with his second wife over his failure to pay child support, Barr had been photographed in 1992 licking whipped cream off two buxom young women’s chests. And this from the man who would later sponsor the Defense of Marriage Act.</p>
<p>But with the support of a far-right coalition including elements of the NRA, the John Birch Society, the Christian Coalition, and the National Right to Life Committee, Barr won the election with 52 percent of the vote. The payoff for the NRA came in early 1995, when Newt Gingrich appointed a task force to examine firearms legislation. At the NRA’s urging, the speaker named Barr to head the task force.</p>
<p>Barr’s agenda is unabashedly pro-NRA. He proposes abolishing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and revoking the Brady Bill that requires waiting periods for the purchase of handguns. This summer he stumped for a bill that eliminated funding for research at the Centers for Disease Control on gun-related fatalities. “[The CDC has] not eradicated disease,” said Barr. “They have work left to do.”</p>
<p>Most importantly, he engineered the March 22 House vote repealing the ban on semiautomatic assault weapons. “It was Bob Barr’s job to get it done, and he did,” says <a href="/news/feature/1996/07/dreyfuss.html" type="external">Neal Knox</a>, the NRA’s first vice president.</p>
<p>Three times, Barr charged up the Hill to push the repeal vote. He managed to get a vote scheduled for May 1995, but it was taken off the agenda after the Oklahoma City bombing. Last fall, Barr organized more than 100 of his colleagues, Democrats as well as Republicans, to repeal the ban. But his effort got lost in the furor over the 1996 budget.</p>
<p>Finally, in early March this year, Barr had lined up enough House members to force a vote. With only two hours scheduled for debate, and no committee hearings, the bill passed 239-173. Sixty-eight out of 86 House freshmen voted to repeal the ban.</p>
<p>Tanya Metaksa, executive director of the NRA’s political arm, told Mother Jones, “It wasn’t the task force that got the vote scheduled. It was Bob. He convinced his colleagues in the Republican Caucus to do it.”</p>
<p /> | Uzi does it | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/1996/09/uzi-does-it/ | 2018-09-01 | 4left
| Uzi does it
<p />
<p>Bob Barr (R-Geor.) has never met a gun he didn’t like. That and his power position in the House earn him high marks from the National Rifle Association. In 1993-94, the NRA spent more than $4.7 million to help the Republicans take over Congress. And no other member of the House owes as much to the gun group as Barr. The NRA hand-picked him for the primary and then, in a move motivated by revenge, helped him defeat veteran Democrat Buddy Darden in November.</p>
<p>Early in 1994, when Barr began his run for Congress, the NRA provided his campaign with critical support and worked closely with him to get out the vote, knowing that with the low turnout expected for the off-year primary, it could make the difference. The Georgia Gun Owners’ PAC, which received funds from the NRA, also threw its support behind Barr and provided $5,000 in crucial money for the primary race. Barr won handily.</p>
<p>The NRA put $4,950 more into Barr’s campaign coffers when he moved on to face Darden in the general election. During his 11 previous years in Congress, Darden had enjoyed the NRA’s backing. But not this time. Darden, annoyed at the organization’s backroom maneuvering, had voted for the president’s 1994 crime bill, which included the assault weapons ban. “The NRA decided to make an example of Buddy Darden, as a warning to others,” says a leading Democratic strategist in Georgia. (A similar scenario played out in Texas, where <a href="/news/special_reports/1996/09/stockman.html" type="external">Steve Stockman</a> defeated Rep. Jack Brooks, a longtime NRA friend.)</p>
<p>The NRA backed Barr’s campaign even though he seemed vulnerable on the “character” issue. Married three times and embroiled in a messy court battle with his second wife over his failure to pay child support, Barr had been photographed in 1992 licking whipped cream off two buxom young women’s chests. And this from the man who would later sponsor the Defense of Marriage Act.</p>
<p>But with the support of a far-right coalition including elements of the NRA, the John Birch Society, the Christian Coalition, and the National Right to Life Committee, Barr won the election with 52 percent of the vote. The payoff for the NRA came in early 1995, when Newt Gingrich appointed a task force to examine firearms legislation. At the NRA’s urging, the speaker named Barr to head the task force.</p>
<p>Barr’s agenda is unabashedly pro-NRA. He proposes abolishing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and revoking the Brady Bill that requires waiting periods for the purchase of handguns. This summer he stumped for a bill that eliminated funding for research at the Centers for Disease Control on gun-related fatalities. “[The CDC has] not eradicated disease,” said Barr. “They have work left to do.”</p>
<p>Most importantly, he engineered the March 22 House vote repealing the ban on semiautomatic assault weapons. “It was Bob Barr’s job to get it done, and he did,” says <a href="/news/feature/1996/07/dreyfuss.html" type="external">Neal Knox</a>, the NRA’s first vice president.</p>
<p>Three times, Barr charged up the Hill to push the repeal vote. He managed to get a vote scheduled for May 1995, but it was taken off the agenda after the Oklahoma City bombing. Last fall, Barr organized more than 100 of his colleagues, Democrats as well as Republicans, to repeal the ban. But his effort got lost in the furor over the 1996 budget.</p>
<p>Finally, in early March this year, Barr had lined up enough House members to force a vote. With only two hours scheduled for debate, and no committee hearings, the bill passed 239-173. Sixty-eight out of 86 House freshmen voted to repeal the ban.</p>
<p>Tanya Metaksa, executive director of the NRA’s political arm, told Mother Jones, “It wasn’t the task force that got the vote scheduled. It was Bob. He convinced his colleagues in the Republican Caucus to do it.”</p>
<p /> | 284 |
<p>A federal district court in El Paso, Texas, accepted many of the Government’s arguments, not allowing certain evidence in the case of Luis Posada Carriles to be made public.&#160; Posada is scheduled for trial on perjury charges in March of 2010.</p>
<p>The Judge imposed a protective order on part of the evidence that will be used at trial.&#160; Specifically, Judge Kathleen Cardone ordered a protective seal around tapes and transcriptions that journalist Ann Louise Bardach made in the course of interviewing Posada Carriles in 1998 concerning terrorist actions that he masterminded the previous year.</p>
<p>The judge’s decision, is incredibly, and based on the journalist’s right to “sell her material and she is entitled to the proceeds of that sale.”&#160; The Court concluded that “Ms. Bardach should not . . . lose control over that material.”</p>
<p>The economic interests of a journalist to sell her tape recordings, or a book based on those recordings, ought not take precedence over the public’s right to know, as well as the rights of the families affected by the terrorist acts to review the evidence.&#160; This decision is a sad reflection of what is truly most important in this society:&#160; business above all else.</p>
<p>Fabio DiCelmo, the young Italian that Posada brutally murdered in Havana on September 4, 1997, left behind a family that grieves his absence:&#160; Giustino and Ora, his parents, as well as Livio his brother.&#160; They, and also the public, ought not have to await the publication of a book that they would subsequently have to purchase in order to review the taped interviews of Posada Carriles.</p>
<p>During all of the legal vicissitudes that we will come across in the coming months relating to the trial of Posada Carriles in El Paso, we must not lose sight that the terrorist has 73 counts of first degree murder pending in Caracas in relation to the downing of a passenger plane.</p>
<p>The charges that are pending against Posada in Caracas are much more serious than those pending in El Paso.&#160; Perjury is a poor substitute for 73 counts of first degree murder, and a murder prosecution ought take precedence.</p>
<p>The Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Illicit Acts for the Protection of Civil Aviation, signed in Montreal in 1971, obligates Washington to try Posada in the United States for 73 counts of first degree murder, if it decides not to extradite him.</p>
<p>Posada Carriles is an international fugitive from justice.&#160; He fled from a Venezuelan prison to escape justice.&#160; If it does not extradite him to Venezuela, the United States is legally obligated to prosecute him for the downing of the plane.&#160; Why doesn’t Washington abide by its obligations under international law?&#160; This is the heart of the matter.</p>
<p>JOSÉ PERTIERRA represents the government of Venezuela in the extradition case against Luis Posada Carriles.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | A Decision in the Posada Case | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/08/28/a-decision-in-the-posada-case/ | 2009-08-28 | 4left
| A Decision in the Posada Case
<p>A federal district court in El Paso, Texas, accepted many of the Government’s arguments, not allowing certain evidence in the case of Luis Posada Carriles to be made public.&#160; Posada is scheduled for trial on perjury charges in March of 2010.</p>
<p>The Judge imposed a protective order on part of the evidence that will be used at trial.&#160; Specifically, Judge Kathleen Cardone ordered a protective seal around tapes and transcriptions that journalist Ann Louise Bardach made in the course of interviewing Posada Carriles in 1998 concerning terrorist actions that he masterminded the previous year.</p>
<p>The judge’s decision, is incredibly, and based on the journalist’s right to “sell her material and she is entitled to the proceeds of that sale.”&#160; The Court concluded that “Ms. Bardach should not . . . lose control over that material.”</p>
<p>The economic interests of a journalist to sell her tape recordings, or a book based on those recordings, ought not take precedence over the public’s right to know, as well as the rights of the families affected by the terrorist acts to review the evidence.&#160; This decision is a sad reflection of what is truly most important in this society:&#160; business above all else.</p>
<p>Fabio DiCelmo, the young Italian that Posada brutally murdered in Havana on September 4, 1997, left behind a family that grieves his absence:&#160; Giustino and Ora, his parents, as well as Livio his brother.&#160; They, and also the public, ought not have to await the publication of a book that they would subsequently have to purchase in order to review the taped interviews of Posada Carriles.</p>
<p>During all of the legal vicissitudes that we will come across in the coming months relating to the trial of Posada Carriles in El Paso, we must not lose sight that the terrorist has 73 counts of first degree murder pending in Caracas in relation to the downing of a passenger plane.</p>
<p>The charges that are pending against Posada in Caracas are much more serious than those pending in El Paso.&#160; Perjury is a poor substitute for 73 counts of first degree murder, and a murder prosecution ought take precedence.</p>
<p>The Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Illicit Acts for the Protection of Civil Aviation, signed in Montreal in 1971, obligates Washington to try Posada in the United States for 73 counts of first degree murder, if it decides not to extradite him.</p>
<p>Posada Carriles is an international fugitive from justice.&#160; He fled from a Venezuelan prison to escape justice.&#160; If it does not extradite him to Venezuela, the United States is legally obligated to prosecute him for the downing of the plane.&#160; Why doesn’t Washington abide by its obligations under international law?&#160; This is the heart of the matter.</p>
<p>JOSÉ PERTIERRA represents the government of Venezuela in the extradition case against Luis Posada Carriles.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 285 |
<p>ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — One of Ethiopia’s most prominent opposition politicians has been sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court along with three others after they sang a protest song during proceedings.</p>
<p>Bekele Gerba, former deputy head of the Oromo Federalist Congress party, protested after the court withdrew a previous ruling requiring Ethiopia’s prime minister to appear as a defense witness. The state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate says Bekele and the other defendants “wreaked havoc.”</p>
<p>Bekele had been arrested in December 2015 after anti-government protests erupted in parts of the East African country. He was charged with terrorism offenses that later were changed to criminal charges.</p>
<p>He was among the opposition figures expected to be released as part of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s recent announcement to free some imprisoned politicians.</p>
<p>ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — One of Ethiopia’s most prominent opposition politicians has been sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court along with three others after they sang a protest song during proceedings.</p>
<p>Bekele Gerba, former deputy head of the Oromo Federalist Congress party, protested after the court withdrew a previous ruling requiring Ethiopia’s prime minister to appear as a defense witness. The state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate says Bekele and the other defendants “wreaked havoc.”</p>
<p>Bekele had been arrested in December 2015 after anti-government protests erupted in parts of the East African country. He was charged with terrorism offenses that later were changed to criminal charges.</p>
<p>He was among the opposition figures expected to be released as part of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s recent announcement to free some imprisoned politicians.</p> | Ethiopia top opposition figure gets prison time for contempt | false | https://apnews.com/92a55edc6d5443ccbe683ae4cbb192cc | 2018-01-11 | 2least
| Ethiopia top opposition figure gets prison time for contempt
<p>ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — One of Ethiopia’s most prominent opposition politicians has been sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court along with three others after they sang a protest song during proceedings.</p>
<p>Bekele Gerba, former deputy head of the Oromo Federalist Congress party, protested after the court withdrew a previous ruling requiring Ethiopia’s prime minister to appear as a defense witness. The state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate says Bekele and the other defendants “wreaked havoc.”</p>
<p>Bekele had been arrested in December 2015 after anti-government protests erupted in parts of the East African country. He was charged with terrorism offenses that later were changed to criminal charges.</p>
<p>He was among the opposition figures expected to be released as part of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s recent announcement to free some imprisoned politicians.</p>
<p>ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — One of Ethiopia’s most prominent opposition politicians has been sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court along with three others after they sang a protest song during proceedings.</p>
<p>Bekele Gerba, former deputy head of the Oromo Federalist Congress party, protested after the court withdrew a previous ruling requiring Ethiopia’s prime minister to appear as a defense witness. The state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate says Bekele and the other defendants “wreaked havoc.”</p>
<p>Bekele had been arrested in December 2015 after anti-government protests erupted in parts of the East African country. He was charged with terrorism offenses that later were changed to criminal charges.</p>
<p>He was among the opposition figures expected to be released as part of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s recent announcement to free some imprisoned politicians.</p> | 286 |
<p>Policy Brief - Harvard Project on Climate Agreements, Belfer Center</p>
<p />
<p>The current global economic crisis highlights the fact that environmental objectives exist in a balance with economic growth, a balance that political leaders struggle to find in their own countries and at the global level. The UNFCCC contributes importantly to achieving a healthy balance by providing an overall framework for action to address climate change and as a regular gathering point for diplomats, policymakers, and technical experts from the widest range of countries. As such, it is a unique forum for building partnerships to help countries meet their own national objectives and to forge the consensus needed for success in global efforts to address climate change. It could also help to coordinate international efforts, creating synergies, and avoiding duplication.</p>
<p>Despite these many advantages, however, it would be a mistake either to rely solely on UNFCCC processes or to give insufficient resources and attention to the many other venues and partnerships that advance global climate objectives, including the diverse contributions from governments, companies, NGOs, and other groups acting individually and collectively.</p>
<p /> | Climate Change Policies: Many Paths Forward | false | http://belfercenter.org/publication/climate-change-policies-many-paths-forward | 2010-02-01 | 2least
| Climate Change Policies: Many Paths Forward
<p>Policy Brief - Harvard Project on Climate Agreements, Belfer Center</p>
<p />
<p>The current global economic crisis highlights the fact that environmental objectives exist in a balance with economic growth, a balance that political leaders struggle to find in their own countries and at the global level. The UNFCCC contributes importantly to achieving a healthy balance by providing an overall framework for action to address climate change and as a regular gathering point for diplomats, policymakers, and technical experts from the widest range of countries. As such, it is a unique forum for building partnerships to help countries meet their own national objectives and to forge the consensus needed for success in global efforts to address climate change. It could also help to coordinate international efforts, creating synergies, and avoiding duplication.</p>
<p>Despite these many advantages, however, it would be a mistake either to rely solely on UNFCCC processes or to give insufficient resources and attention to the many other venues and partnerships that advance global climate objectives, including the diverse contributions from governments, companies, NGOs, and other groups acting individually and collectively.</p>
<p /> | 287 |
<p />
<p>Sarah Palin’s Katie Couric interviews have made her look like a goofball, but maybe that was the idea. Noodling around with the media certainly has depressed expectations for her performance tomorrow night in the debate with Joe Biden, but perhaps the campaign was hoping to downplay the fact that the former TV sportscaster, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122281636354892281.html?mod=djemITP#video%3D%26articleTabs%3Darticle" type="external">according to the Wall Street Journal</a>, is a damn good debater. During the Alaska gubernatorial debates in 2006, Palin trounced her opponents with her folksy nature, which trumped her utter lack of specific policy knowledge. The Journal says:</p>
<p>“her métier was projecting winsomeness — making a virtue of not knowing as much about the minutiae of state government because, for most of her adulthood, she was immersed in small-town life and raising a family. The candidates she squared off against, and the reporters who posed questions in several debates, recall that she related high gas prices to the difficulties her family had buying a car. She explained that she was in tune with environmentalists because she named a daughter, Bristol, for Alaska’s Bristol Bay. She demonstrated her affinity for Native American culture by citing the teachings of her husband’s Yu’pik Eskimo grandparent. ”</p>
<p>The old guys at the table didn’t have a chance. You can watch the video clips <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122281636354892281.html?mod=djemITP#video%3D%26articleTabs%3Dvideo" type="external">here</a> and decide whether Biden is in big trouble.</p>
<p /> | Palin Knows How To Debate | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/10/palin-knows-how-debate/ | 2008-10-01 | 4left
| Palin Knows How To Debate
<p />
<p>Sarah Palin’s Katie Couric interviews have made her look like a goofball, but maybe that was the idea. Noodling around with the media certainly has depressed expectations for her performance tomorrow night in the debate with Joe Biden, but perhaps the campaign was hoping to downplay the fact that the former TV sportscaster, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122281636354892281.html?mod=djemITP#video%3D%26articleTabs%3Darticle" type="external">according to the Wall Street Journal</a>, is a damn good debater. During the Alaska gubernatorial debates in 2006, Palin trounced her opponents with her folksy nature, which trumped her utter lack of specific policy knowledge. The Journal says:</p>
<p>“her métier was projecting winsomeness — making a virtue of not knowing as much about the minutiae of state government because, for most of her adulthood, she was immersed in small-town life and raising a family. The candidates she squared off against, and the reporters who posed questions in several debates, recall that she related high gas prices to the difficulties her family had buying a car. She explained that she was in tune with environmentalists because she named a daughter, Bristol, for Alaska’s Bristol Bay. She demonstrated her affinity for Native American culture by citing the teachings of her husband’s Yu’pik Eskimo grandparent. ”</p>
<p>The old guys at the table didn’t have a chance. You can watch the video clips <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122281636354892281.html?mod=djemITP#video%3D%26articleTabs%3Dvideo" type="external">here</a> and decide whether Biden is in big trouble.</p>
<p /> | 288 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>With Wednesday’s official departure of Marc Hsu, the University of New Mexico assistant who accepted a large pay raise to join the Western Kentucky coaching staff, the Lobos staff now has three coaches hitting the road for the heavy July evaluation period — all while first-year head coach Paul Weir is also closing in on picking Hsu’s replacement.</p>
<p>“I’ve probably had conversations with about 10 (possible replacements) since we knew this was a possibility with Marc for a couple weeks,” said Weir, who will be leaving Albuquerque for Atlanta today to recruit.</p>
<p>He said he doesn’t have a timetable on when a hire will be made, noting human resources approval and other matters will come into play, but he may be comfortable making an offer in the next few days and certainly has a short list.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Weir added he was grateful for the work Hsu did in laying the foundation for the five players UNM has signed this offseason and is optimistic the next assistant, too, will open up several more recruiting doors.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, he and assistants Jerome Robinson and Chris Harriman are recruiting players for this season (UNM has three scholarships available) and for the signing class of 2018.</p>
<p>Weir said for now, he’s leaning toward UNM filling two of the three open scholarships this summer and keeping the third open to use for a possible midseason transfer, for which the team would need an open scholarship to recruit. The last midseason transfer at UNM was Drew Gordon.</p>
<p>PASSING GRADE: The Lobos were one of two Mountain West teams this week awarded a 2016-17 Team Academic Excellence Award by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Boise State was the other league team honored.</p>
<p>The award, which UNM has received for two consecutive years, goes to teams with cumulative grade point averages of 3.0 or better for the academic season. UNM finished with a 3.05 GPA for the 2016-17 season.</p>
<p>Weir took to Twitter to send a public thank you to the team’s academic advisor, Keyanna Smith.</p>
<p>“Yet to find a more conscientious academic advisor in my 14yrs of NCAA (than) @_Keyana_Smith_. My most valuable player,” Weir wrote.</p>
<p>SEASON TICKETS: UNM has sold 750 season tickets so far this summer for men’s basketball, though renewals from last season aren’t due until the second week of August and invoices for renewals were just sent out last week. So it’s too early to compare current numbers with past seasons.</p>
<p>Drew Ingraham, associate athletic director for Marketing &amp; Fan Engagement, said single-game tickets, including for the Dec. 16 game in Dreamstyle Arena vs. potential preseason No. 1 Arizona being the game many fans have already inquired about, are still scheduled to go on sale online at unmtickets.com and golobos.com on Oct. 21. They also go on sale by phone or in person at the UNM Ticket Office on Oct. 23.</p>
<p>CAMPING UP NORTH: The Lobos are planning to hold a youth skills basketball camp Aug. 5-6 at St. Michael’s High School in Santa Fe for kids in grades 1-8. The camp will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 5 and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Aug. 6. The cost is $135 and registration and more information can be found online at <a href="http://www.camppros.com/register/preview.aspx?OrgId=61" type="external">www.CoachPaulWeir.com</a>.</p> | Lobo hoops notebook: Weir looking to find players and new assistant | false | https://abqjournal.com/1032790/weir-looking-to-find-players-and-assistant.html | 2least
| Lobo hoops notebook: Weir looking to find players and new assistant
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>With Wednesday’s official departure of Marc Hsu, the University of New Mexico assistant who accepted a large pay raise to join the Western Kentucky coaching staff, the Lobos staff now has three coaches hitting the road for the heavy July evaluation period — all while first-year head coach Paul Weir is also closing in on picking Hsu’s replacement.</p>
<p>“I’ve probably had conversations with about 10 (possible replacements) since we knew this was a possibility with Marc for a couple weeks,” said Weir, who will be leaving Albuquerque for Atlanta today to recruit.</p>
<p>He said he doesn’t have a timetable on when a hire will be made, noting human resources approval and other matters will come into play, but he may be comfortable making an offer in the next few days and certainly has a short list.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Weir added he was grateful for the work Hsu did in laying the foundation for the five players UNM has signed this offseason and is optimistic the next assistant, too, will open up several more recruiting doors.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, he and assistants Jerome Robinson and Chris Harriman are recruiting players for this season (UNM has three scholarships available) and for the signing class of 2018.</p>
<p>Weir said for now, he’s leaning toward UNM filling two of the three open scholarships this summer and keeping the third open to use for a possible midseason transfer, for which the team would need an open scholarship to recruit. The last midseason transfer at UNM was Drew Gordon.</p>
<p>PASSING GRADE: The Lobos were one of two Mountain West teams this week awarded a 2016-17 Team Academic Excellence Award by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Boise State was the other league team honored.</p>
<p>The award, which UNM has received for two consecutive years, goes to teams with cumulative grade point averages of 3.0 or better for the academic season. UNM finished with a 3.05 GPA for the 2016-17 season.</p>
<p>Weir took to Twitter to send a public thank you to the team’s academic advisor, Keyanna Smith.</p>
<p>“Yet to find a more conscientious academic advisor in my 14yrs of NCAA (than) @_Keyana_Smith_. My most valuable player,” Weir wrote.</p>
<p>SEASON TICKETS: UNM has sold 750 season tickets so far this summer for men’s basketball, though renewals from last season aren’t due until the second week of August and invoices for renewals were just sent out last week. So it’s too early to compare current numbers with past seasons.</p>
<p>Drew Ingraham, associate athletic director for Marketing &amp; Fan Engagement, said single-game tickets, including for the Dec. 16 game in Dreamstyle Arena vs. potential preseason No. 1 Arizona being the game many fans have already inquired about, are still scheduled to go on sale online at unmtickets.com and golobos.com on Oct. 21. They also go on sale by phone or in person at the UNM Ticket Office on Oct. 23.</p>
<p>CAMPING UP NORTH: The Lobos are planning to hold a youth skills basketball camp Aug. 5-6 at St. Michael’s High School in Santa Fe for kids in grades 1-8. The camp will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 5 and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Aug. 6. The cost is $135 and registration and more information can be found online at <a href="http://www.camppros.com/register/preview.aspx?OrgId=61" type="external">www.CoachPaulWeir.com</a>.</p> | 289 |
|
<p>TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — An inmate has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder stemming from a prison uprising in southeast Nebraska.</p>
<p>Court records say 27-year-old Eric Ramos entered several pleas of not guilty during a teleconference Tuesday. He’s charged with first-degree murder, assault, two weapons counts, and tampering with evidence. The records don’t show that a trial date has been set.</p>
<p>Prosecutors say Ramos killed 31-year-old Michael Galindo during the outbreak of violence March 2 at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution. The bodies of Galindo and 39-year-old Damon Fitzgerald were found after authorities restored order. No one has been charged yet with killing Fitzgerald.</p>
<p>Authorities have said the uprising began because inmates were angry that prison staffers had confiscated 150 pounds (68 kilograms) of homemade alcohol from them.</p>
<p>TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — An inmate has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder stemming from a prison uprising in southeast Nebraska.</p>
<p>Court records say 27-year-old Eric Ramos entered several pleas of not guilty during a teleconference Tuesday. He’s charged with first-degree murder, assault, two weapons counts, and tampering with evidence. The records don’t show that a trial date has been set.</p>
<p>Prosecutors say Ramos killed 31-year-old Michael Galindo during the outbreak of violence March 2 at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution. The bodies of Galindo and 39-year-old Damon Fitzgerald were found after authorities restored order. No one has been charged yet with killing Fitzgerald.</p>
<p>Authorities have said the uprising began because inmates were angry that prison staffers had confiscated 150 pounds (68 kilograms) of homemade alcohol from them.</p> | Inmate charged with murder in Nebraska prison uprising | false | https://apnews.com/ce8f969c1eed4746aaa015200b54fc0d | 2018-01-25 | 2least
| Inmate charged with murder in Nebraska prison uprising
<p>TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — An inmate has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder stemming from a prison uprising in southeast Nebraska.</p>
<p>Court records say 27-year-old Eric Ramos entered several pleas of not guilty during a teleconference Tuesday. He’s charged with first-degree murder, assault, two weapons counts, and tampering with evidence. The records don’t show that a trial date has been set.</p>
<p>Prosecutors say Ramos killed 31-year-old Michael Galindo during the outbreak of violence March 2 at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution. The bodies of Galindo and 39-year-old Damon Fitzgerald were found after authorities restored order. No one has been charged yet with killing Fitzgerald.</p>
<p>Authorities have said the uprising began because inmates were angry that prison staffers had confiscated 150 pounds (68 kilograms) of homemade alcohol from them.</p>
<p>TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — An inmate has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder stemming from a prison uprising in southeast Nebraska.</p>
<p>Court records say 27-year-old Eric Ramos entered several pleas of not guilty during a teleconference Tuesday. He’s charged with first-degree murder, assault, two weapons counts, and tampering with evidence. The records don’t show that a trial date has been set.</p>
<p>Prosecutors say Ramos killed 31-year-old Michael Galindo during the outbreak of violence March 2 at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution. The bodies of Galindo and 39-year-old Damon Fitzgerald were found after authorities restored order. No one has been charged yet with killing Fitzgerald.</p>
<p>Authorities have said the uprising began because inmates were angry that prison staffers had confiscated 150 pounds (68 kilograms) of homemade alcohol from them.</p> | 290 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Internet users experienced problems getting around the Web on Tuesday because of an outage affecting Amazon Web Services, the Amazon-owned platform that many websites rely on to keep their pages humming.</p>
<p>Amazon confirmed that it was experiencing a “high error rate” in one of its regional data centers in northern Virginia on Tuesday afternoon. (Amazon founder Jeffrey Bezos also owns The Washington Post.)</p>
<p>The company confirmation, posted to AWS’ status page, said the outage was also “impacting applications and services dependent on S3,” the company’s popular cloud-based storage platform.</p>
<p>Slack, Medium and Quora were among the services affected by Tuesday’s outage. In addition, certain sites whose whole purpose is to check whether other sites are online also seemed to have been taken down by the incident.</p>
<p>Several of the Internet’s most visible companies are hosted on Amazon Web Services, including Airbnb, Expedia, Netflix and others. An outage in 2015 accidentally took down many of these services for several hours. And in 2011, AWS suffered a days-long outage that knocked popular sites such as Reddit and the New York Times offline.</p>
<p>For an industry that so widely depends on AWS, losing access to the service can be incredibly disruptive, even if the outage lasts only a few hours.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“This afternoon, CEOs and CIOs are asking: ‘What do we have in the cloud? Is it available? What do we do?'” said Bill Wohl, a spokesman for Commvault, a data backup and protection company. “Not knowing is a risk to business, and time is of the essence.”</p>
<p>At about 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Amazon announced on AWS’ page that it had resolved the issues.</p>
<p>“The Amazon S3 service is operating normally,” the company said on its status page. It did not provide details on the cause of the outage.</p>
<p>AWS’ data centers in northern Virginia may be among the service’s oldest, and they are located there because the region has become a major hub for Web traffic as data passes back and forth on its way to computers or smartphones. AWS itself has become a core piece of the Internet’s underlying infrastructure; it is now an $11 billion-a-year business, according to Amazon’s financial reports.</p>
<p>A spokesman for Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p> | Internet slowdown caused by Amazon-owned Web platform | false | https://abqjournal.com/959060/outage-at-amazon-web-services-affecting-multiple-websites.html | 2017-02-28 | 2least
| Internet slowdown caused by Amazon-owned Web platform
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Internet users experienced problems getting around the Web on Tuesday because of an outage affecting Amazon Web Services, the Amazon-owned platform that many websites rely on to keep their pages humming.</p>
<p>Amazon confirmed that it was experiencing a “high error rate” in one of its regional data centers in northern Virginia on Tuesday afternoon. (Amazon founder Jeffrey Bezos also owns The Washington Post.)</p>
<p>The company confirmation, posted to AWS’ status page, said the outage was also “impacting applications and services dependent on S3,” the company’s popular cloud-based storage platform.</p>
<p>Slack, Medium and Quora were among the services affected by Tuesday’s outage. In addition, certain sites whose whole purpose is to check whether other sites are online also seemed to have been taken down by the incident.</p>
<p>Several of the Internet’s most visible companies are hosted on Amazon Web Services, including Airbnb, Expedia, Netflix and others. An outage in 2015 accidentally took down many of these services for several hours. And in 2011, AWS suffered a days-long outage that knocked popular sites such as Reddit and the New York Times offline.</p>
<p>For an industry that so widely depends on AWS, losing access to the service can be incredibly disruptive, even if the outage lasts only a few hours.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“This afternoon, CEOs and CIOs are asking: ‘What do we have in the cloud? Is it available? What do we do?'” said Bill Wohl, a spokesman for Commvault, a data backup and protection company. “Not knowing is a risk to business, and time is of the essence.”</p>
<p>At about 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Amazon announced on AWS’ page that it had resolved the issues.</p>
<p>“The Amazon S3 service is operating normally,” the company said on its status page. It did not provide details on the cause of the outage.</p>
<p>AWS’ data centers in northern Virginia may be among the service’s oldest, and they are located there because the region has become a major hub for Web traffic as data passes back and forth on its way to computers or smartphones. AWS itself has become a core piece of the Internet’s underlying infrastructure; it is now an $11 billion-a-year business, according to Amazon’s financial reports.</p>
<p>A spokesman for Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p> | 291 |
<p>Janine Jackson interviewed Kica Matos about Trump’s deportation policy for the <a href="" type="internal">November 18, 2016, episode</a> of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.</p>
<p>Kica Matos: “I think it behooves all of us to wrap our arms around our communities.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">MP3 Link</a></p>
<p>Janine Jackson: Few if any groups received more venom from the Trump campaign than immigrants. Slurring millions of people as rapists, terrorists and freeloaders, Donald Trump promised, along with the infamous wall on the southern border and a ban of Muslims, tens of thousands of deportations and the seizure of money that people in the US send to families in Mexico. Distressing as all of this is in itself, it’s coming after years that have already seen many, many family-severing deportations and a struggle to enact reforms.</p>
<p>So what now? Joining us to talk about what’s needed and what’s being done is Kica Matos, director of immigrant rights and racial justice at the Center for Community Change. She joins us by phone from Connecticut. Welcome to CounterSpin, Kica Matos.</p>
<p>Kica Matos: Thank you for having me.</p>
<p>JJ: Let me ask you first: Some are saying—I think wishfully—oh, he can’t possibly do everything he talked about. But the array of harms that a Trump presidency represents for immigrant communities, undocumented and documented, should not be minimized. What is your initial response when people ask you, what now?</p>
<p>KM: So I think a couple of things. One is there is a cautious optimism amongst some of my progressive friends who think that Trump really was engaged in a campaign to win and to win at all costs, and he stoked the fires of bigotry and racism in order to win, and they think that he will, as president, be a different person. I can tell you right now that that is not the case when it comes to immigration.</p>
<p>If you look at his hundred-day plan, he intends in a very short amount of time to defund sanctuary cities; to repeal the relief that was extended to young people, so that they will be subject to deportation; he wants to build his notorious wall between the US and Mexico; and, finally, he intends to deport what he calls “undocumented immigrants with criminal histories,” though “criminal histories” are as yet undefined, but that is a very significant number of people. So the “what now” for us is to mount a formidable defense, and to do everything we can to stop him at the local, state and national level.</p>
<p>JJ: Well, let me draw you out on one point. Because I have seen already some stories with a kind of tone of relief: Oh, if he’s just going to deport the criminals…. You know, we see this also with welfare policy, people looking—liberals, you know—for policy that would punish bad poor people but help good poor people. There’s something very dangerous in itself about this attempt at division, and then the push to legitimize a crime-focused approach to immigration policy in general.</p>
<p>KM: That’s right. And I’ll say a couple of things. One is, they are finding it very difficult to defend their number of 2.5 to 3 million people who they believe to be in this country as undocumented with some kind of criminal history. So we think that A) this number is made up and B) that as they move forward with their deportation machinery, that they’re really going to go after people with misdemeanors or people, for example, who will get pulled over because of a pretextual broken headlight. And one of what we call the architects of hate, Kris Kobach, has <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/kris-kobach-trump-immigration-231430" type="external">already said</a> that in a situation like that, they don’t plan to adjudicate the case. So if you get pulled over with a broken headlight or some minor infraction, their intention, once they find out you’re undocumented, is to deport you.</p>
<p>But it is this dangerous narrative that they’re moving forward to facilitate the deportation of millions, because if we demonize immigrants and we call them criminals, then I think they’re betting on Americans feeling this great sense of ease that, well, look at that, we’re getting rid of the, quote unquote, “bad immigrant.”</p>
<p>And it creates, also, this dynamic amongst the immigrant community that is very uncomfortable for many, where the good immigrant gets saved and the bad immigrant gets targeted for actual deportation. And that’s a narrative that people feel very uncomfortable with, given the fact that they are playing fast and loose with what their definition of a “criminal” undocumented immigrant is.</p>
<p>JJ: And it almost goes without saying — and that’s why, I guess, you have to say it — the conversation and the coverage of immigration is very racially coded. You know, we aren’t talking about immigrants from Belgium, for example.</p>
<p>KM: Uh-huh. When Trump talks about undocumented immigrants, he’s talking about Latinos, and he targets in particular Mexicans, right? To him, Mexicans are the epitome of the vile immigrant. They’re brown and they are repulsive to him, and so he had no problem calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals that he had no problem demonizing. It is very clear to us that race is at the bottom of his immigration policy, because when he or his peers talk about the undocumented, they don’t refer, for example, to his wife, who at one point in time was undocumented in the United States. They don’t refer to the undocumented who are from Ireland or Eastern Europe or any other European country. When they refer to undocumented immigrants, and they demonize these undocumented immigrants, they are talking about brown and black people.</p>
<p>JJ: Well, I see limits even in possibly sympathetic coverage. For example, I’m seeing praise heaped on the Los Angeles Police Department for saying that they aren’t going to work with federal law enforcement to enforce immigration policy, that they won’t randomly ask brown people to show their papers. And while I think that’s good, it seems like kind of a low bar.</p>
<p>KM: The reality is when the immigration authorities decide to move forward with deportation under Trump, the low-hanging fruit, as you say, are going to be brown people—brown people like me, I’m a Latino—and I think there’s going to be a lot of racism that’s going to advance the enforcement machinery: pretextual stops, stop and frisk, racial profiling. The Trump administration is already saying that they’re going to go after undocumented immigrants and anybody who surrounds them. So if they’re looking for John Smith, and you happen to be next to John Smith and you are brown, they will come after you as well if you can’t show your papers. So this to us is a very intentional effort to malign and demonize people of color in this country.</p>
<p>And so it behooves sanctuary cities, and cities who care about their communities, to do everything they can to protect them. Because these policies will not just affect those targeted, it will affect entire communities. I think it will come as no surprise that we live mostly—except for, you know, gerrymandered districts—in multi-racial communities. And those of us who do live in multi-racial communities will wake up one day and see our next-door neighbors taken away.</p>
<p>We’ll go to our church and wonder what happened to that family, and we will learn that that family was deported. We will see acts of terror in public spaces, in houses, in places where people work. And so I think it behooves all of us to wrap our arms around our communities, and it behooves city officials and state officials to mount a control wall — talking about walls — good strong walls to protect their residents from the terror that Trump and his administration intends to unleash in a few months.</p>
<p>JJ: Are sanctuary cities — I’ve been very interested to hear cities proclaiming themselves, or underscoring that they are, sanctuary cities. Does that have a legal underpinning, or is that a statement of an intention and policy? How tough is that?</p>
<p>KM: Yeah, so, the understood definition of sanctuary city is any city that refuses to carry out the law enforcement job of immigration and customs enforcement. There were efforts under Obama with 287(g) and Secure Communities to encourage local law enforcement to carry out the mandate of immigration and customs enforcement, to advance deportation. Many cities resisted. When people talk about sanctuary cities, a lot of the time they’re really referring to the refusal of local communities to carry out deportation policies for the federal government.</p>
<p>But more broadly, sanctuary cities are understood as places that protect the undocumented immigrant and provide a haven for them and provide the opportunity for immigrants, irrespective of their status, to be welcomed, to be productive citizens in their respective communities, and to engage in the civic life of the cities.</p>
<p>So if you look at some of the anti-immigrant organizations, Center for Immigrant Studies has a broader definition of sanctuary city, where they define sanctuary cities as any city that is friendly towards immigrants. So where I live, for example, New Haven, Connecticut, it’s considered a sanctuary city under their definition, because the city implemented a program to offer city identification cards to any resident of the city, irrespective of their status. So if you go by that broader definition, there are hundreds of sanctuary cities in the United States, and many of them are already engaged in acts of defiance, publicly letting the federal government know that they will do absolutely everything they can to protect immigrants in their communities.</p>
<p>JJ: Let me just ask you, finally, is there anything that you think reporters could be doing more of or less of in these difficult times, particularly with regard to coverage of, not just the White House moves on immigration, but on the status of immigrant communities generally?</p>
<p>KM: I have seen the damage that happens in communities when aggressive deportation policies are carried out. And let me just be really clear about something: They traumatize families, they traumatize communities, and they rip apart the fabric of whatever community, whatever city these deportations are carried out in. I think that journalists should tell those stories. When they hear of deportations, and they hear of raids being carried out in whatever community they’re in, I would encourage them to cover those stories, interview the families that are impacted, talk to community members.</p>
<p>Because I want to believe, despite the outcome of the election, that most Americans care about justice, that most Americans really want to live up to the ideals of our democracy. And the kind of vision and future that Donald Trump sees for Americans, I want to believe, is not what Americans want at the end of the day. The average length of stay here, the median stay for undocumented immigrants, is 15 years, so we are talking about people who have made their lives in this country.</p>
<p>Many undocumented immigrants live in what is known as mixed status families, so there are many instances of undocumented parents with US citizen kids. So when that deportation machinery starts revving up, I want reporters to talk about those US citizen kids who are orphaned because of the horrifying policies that our government is choosing to carry out.</p>
<p>JJ: We’ve been speaking with Kica Matos. She’s director of immigrant rights and racial justice at the Center for Community Change. They’re online at <a href="https://www.communitychange.org/" type="external">CommunityChange.org</a>. Kica Matos, thank you very much for joining us today on CounterSpin.</p>
<p>KM: Thank you for having me.</p>
<p>Subscribe: <a href="" type="internal">Android</a> | <a href="" type="internal">RSS</a></p> | ‘Race Is at the Bottom of His Immigration Policy’ | true | http://fair.org/home/race-is-at-the-bottom-of-his-immigration-policy/ | 2016-11-25 | 4left
| ‘Race Is at the Bottom of His Immigration Policy’
<p>Janine Jackson interviewed Kica Matos about Trump’s deportation policy for the <a href="" type="internal">November 18, 2016, episode</a> of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.</p>
<p>Kica Matos: “I think it behooves all of us to wrap our arms around our communities.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">MP3 Link</a></p>
<p>Janine Jackson: Few if any groups received more venom from the Trump campaign than immigrants. Slurring millions of people as rapists, terrorists and freeloaders, Donald Trump promised, along with the infamous wall on the southern border and a ban of Muslims, tens of thousands of deportations and the seizure of money that people in the US send to families in Mexico. Distressing as all of this is in itself, it’s coming after years that have already seen many, many family-severing deportations and a struggle to enact reforms.</p>
<p>So what now? Joining us to talk about what’s needed and what’s being done is Kica Matos, director of immigrant rights and racial justice at the Center for Community Change. She joins us by phone from Connecticut. Welcome to CounterSpin, Kica Matos.</p>
<p>Kica Matos: Thank you for having me.</p>
<p>JJ: Let me ask you first: Some are saying—I think wishfully—oh, he can’t possibly do everything he talked about. But the array of harms that a Trump presidency represents for immigrant communities, undocumented and documented, should not be minimized. What is your initial response when people ask you, what now?</p>
<p>KM: So I think a couple of things. One is there is a cautious optimism amongst some of my progressive friends who think that Trump really was engaged in a campaign to win and to win at all costs, and he stoked the fires of bigotry and racism in order to win, and they think that he will, as president, be a different person. I can tell you right now that that is not the case when it comes to immigration.</p>
<p>If you look at his hundred-day plan, he intends in a very short amount of time to defund sanctuary cities; to repeal the relief that was extended to young people, so that they will be subject to deportation; he wants to build his notorious wall between the US and Mexico; and, finally, he intends to deport what he calls “undocumented immigrants with criminal histories,” though “criminal histories” are as yet undefined, but that is a very significant number of people. So the “what now” for us is to mount a formidable defense, and to do everything we can to stop him at the local, state and national level.</p>
<p>JJ: Well, let me draw you out on one point. Because I have seen already some stories with a kind of tone of relief: Oh, if he’s just going to deport the criminals…. You know, we see this also with welfare policy, people looking—liberals, you know—for policy that would punish bad poor people but help good poor people. There’s something very dangerous in itself about this attempt at division, and then the push to legitimize a crime-focused approach to immigration policy in general.</p>
<p>KM: That’s right. And I’ll say a couple of things. One is, they are finding it very difficult to defend their number of 2.5 to 3 million people who they believe to be in this country as undocumented with some kind of criminal history. So we think that A) this number is made up and B) that as they move forward with their deportation machinery, that they’re really going to go after people with misdemeanors or people, for example, who will get pulled over because of a pretextual broken headlight. And one of what we call the architects of hate, Kris Kobach, has <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/kris-kobach-trump-immigration-231430" type="external">already said</a> that in a situation like that, they don’t plan to adjudicate the case. So if you get pulled over with a broken headlight or some minor infraction, their intention, once they find out you’re undocumented, is to deport you.</p>
<p>But it is this dangerous narrative that they’re moving forward to facilitate the deportation of millions, because if we demonize immigrants and we call them criminals, then I think they’re betting on Americans feeling this great sense of ease that, well, look at that, we’re getting rid of the, quote unquote, “bad immigrant.”</p>
<p>And it creates, also, this dynamic amongst the immigrant community that is very uncomfortable for many, where the good immigrant gets saved and the bad immigrant gets targeted for actual deportation. And that’s a narrative that people feel very uncomfortable with, given the fact that they are playing fast and loose with what their definition of a “criminal” undocumented immigrant is.</p>
<p>JJ: And it almost goes without saying — and that’s why, I guess, you have to say it — the conversation and the coverage of immigration is very racially coded. You know, we aren’t talking about immigrants from Belgium, for example.</p>
<p>KM: Uh-huh. When Trump talks about undocumented immigrants, he’s talking about Latinos, and he targets in particular Mexicans, right? To him, Mexicans are the epitome of the vile immigrant. They’re brown and they are repulsive to him, and so he had no problem calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals that he had no problem demonizing. It is very clear to us that race is at the bottom of his immigration policy, because when he or his peers talk about the undocumented, they don’t refer, for example, to his wife, who at one point in time was undocumented in the United States. They don’t refer to the undocumented who are from Ireland or Eastern Europe or any other European country. When they refer to undocumented immigrants, and they demonize these undocumented immigrants, they are talking about brown and black people.</p>
<p>JJ: Well, I see limits even in possibly sympathetic coverage. For example, I’m seeing praise heaped on the Los Angeles Police Department for saying that they aren’t going to work with federal law enforcement to enforce immigration policy, that they won’t randomly ask brown people to show their papers. And while I think that’s good, it seems like kind of a low bar.</p>
<p>KM: The reality is when the immigration authorities decide to move forward with deportation under Trump, the low-hanging fruit, as you say, are going to be brown people—brown people like me, I’m a Latino—and I think there’s going to be a lot of racism that’s going to advance the enforcement machinery: pretextual stops, stop and frisk, racial profiling. The Trump administration is already saying that they’re going to go after undocumented immigrants and anybody who surrounds them. So if they’re looking for John Smith, and you happen to be next to John Smith and you are brown, they will come after you as well if you can’t show your papers. So this to us is a very intentional effort to malign and demonize people of color in this country.</p>
<p>And so it behooves sanctuary cities, and cities who care about their communities, to do everything they can to protect them. Because these policies will not just affect those targeted, it will affect entire communities. I think it will come as no surprise that we live mostly—except for, you know, gerrymandered districts—in multi-racial communities. And those of us who do live in multi-racial communities will wake up one day and see our next-door neighbors taken away.</p>
<p>We’ll go to our church and wonder what happened to that family, and we will learn that that family was deported. We will see acts of terror in public spaces, in houses, in places where people work. And so I think it behooves all of us to wrap our arms around our communities, and it behooves city officials and state officials to mount a control wall — talking about walls — good strong walls to protect their residents from the terror that Trump and his administration intends to unleash in a few months.</p>
<p>JJ: Are sanctuary cities — I’ve been very interested to hear cities proclaiming themselves, or underscoring that they are, sanctuary cities. Does that have a legal underpinning, or is that a statement of an intention and policy? How tough is that?</p>
<p>KM: Yeah, so, the understood definition of sanctuary city is any city that refuses to carry out the law enforcement job of immigration and customs enforcement. There were efforts under Obama with 287(g) and Secure Communities to encourage local law enforcement to carry out the mandate of immigration and customs enforcement, to advance deportation. Many cities resisted. When people talk about sanctuary cities, a lot of the time they’re really referring to the refusal of local communities to carry out deportation policies for the federal government.</p>
<p>But more broadly, sanctuary cities are understood as places that protect the undocumented immigrant and provide a haven for them and provide the opportunity for immigrants, irrespective of their status, to be welcomed, to be productive citizens in their respective communities, and to engage in the civic life of the cities.</p>
<p>So if you look at some of the anti-immigrant organizations, Center for Immigrant Studies has a broader definition of sanctuary city, where they define sanctuary cities as any city that is friendly towards immigrants. So where I live, for example, New Haven, Connecticut, it’s considered a sanctuary city under their definition, because the city implemented a program to offer city identification cards to any resident of the city, irrespective of their status. So if you go by that broader definition, there are hundreds of sanctuary cities in the United States, and many of them are already engaged in acts of defiance, publicly letting the federal government know that they will do absolutely everything they can to protect immigrants in their communities.</p>
<p>JJ: Let me just ask you, finally, is there anything that you think reporters could be doing more of or less of in these difficult times, particularly with regard to coverage of, not just the White House moves on immigration, but on the status of immigrant communities generally?</p>
<p>KM: I have seen the damage that happens in communities when aggressive deportation policies are carried out. And let me just be really clear about something: They traumatize families, they traumatize communities, and they rip apart the fabric of whatever community, whatever city these deportations are carried out in. I think that journalists should tell those stories. When they hear of deportations, and they hear of raids being carried out in whatever community they’re in, I would encourage them to cover those stories, interview the families that are impacted, talk to community members.</p>
<p>Because I want to believe, despite the outcome of the election, that most Americans care about justice, that most Americans really want to live up to the ideals of our democracy. And the kind of vision and future that Donald Trump sees for Americans, I want to believe, is not what Americans want at the end of the day. The average length of stay here, the median stay for undocumented immigrants, is 15 years, so we are talking about people who have made their lives in this country.</p>
<p>Many undocumented immigrants live in what is known as mixed status families, so there are many instances of undocumented parents with US citizen kids. So when that deportation machinery starts revving up, I want reporters to talk about those US citizen kids who are orphaned because of the horrifying policies that our government is choosing to carry out.</p>
<p>JJ: We’ve been speaking with Kica Matos. She’s director of immigrant rights and racial justice at the Center for Community Change. They’re online at <a href="https://www.communitychange.org/" type="external">CommunityChange.org</a>. Kica Matos, thank you very much for joining us today on CounterSpin.</p>
<p>KM: Thank you for having me.</p>
<p>Subscribe: <a href="" type="internal">Android</a> | <a href="" type="internal">RSS</a></p> | 292 |
<p>Charles Rex Arbogast/AP</p>
<p />
<p>Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump ignited a firestorm last week when he said that he wants to outlaw abortion and punish women who obtain abortions anyway. He soon clarified his comment, suggesting that women who get abortions should not be penalized. But most recently, he doubled down on his initial statement.</p>
<p>Here’s the chronology: During an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews last Wednesday, Trump said that abortion should be banned and that “ <a href="" type="internal">there has to be some form of punishment</a>” for women who obtain abortions once they are outlawed. Faced with immediate <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/30/politics/donald-trump-abortion-town-hall/" type="external">criticism</a> from both anti-abortion and pro-abortion rights groups, his campaign issued a statement saying that Trump believed that only the abortion provider, not the woman, should be held legally responsible.</p>
<p>But a few days later, on Saturday, Trump essentially reaffirmed his initial comments. His answer to Matthews’ question was “excellent,” Trump told talk radio host Joe Pags, in an interview <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/donald-trump-defends-call-punishing-women-who-have-abortions-i-didnt-see-any-big-deal" type="external">flagged</a> on Tuesday by the liberal website Right Wing Watch. Here’s the exchange:</p>
<p>TRUMP: A lot of people thought my answer was excellent, by the way. There were a lot of people who thought that was a very good answer. It was a hypothetical question. I didn’t see any big deal and then all of a sudden there was somewhat of a storm. And you know, it’s interesting, this morning I’m hearing two hosts on television that were critical and they said, “We really thought his first answer was very good.” Because you can’t win. “We thought it was good, what was wrong with his first answer?” And I heard a pastor, who is a fantastic pastor, saying, “Well, you know, if you think about it, his first answer was right”…</p>
<p>PAGS: Well, your answer was consistent with conservatism but Chris Matthews has an agenda, so I’m not even wondering about the question because I thought it was loaded and stupid and hypothetical.</p>
<p>TRUMP: It was disgraceful.</p>
<p>PAGS: Why go on the show? Why go?</p>
<p>TRUMP: I heard people defending it today. Now they defend it. Now they say, “It was really right.” The whole thing is just so—look, the press is extremely unfair.</p>
<p>Trump, though, was not done with this subject. The next day, he had yet another position on abortion. He appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation and stated that the current law on abortion should not be changed. Once again, his campaign had to renovate his message. It quickly <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-dont-change-abortion-laws/" type="external">walked back</a> this statement, asserting that Trump meant the law will remain the same “until he is President.”</p>
<p /> | Trump Says His Controversial Comment About Abortion Was “Excellent” | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2016/04/trump-abortion-comment-punish-women-excellent/ | 2016-04-05 | 4left
| Trump Says His Controversial Comment About Abortion Was “Excellent”
<p>Charles Rex Arbogast/AP</p>
<p />
<p>Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump ignited a firestorm last week when he said that he wants to outlaw abortion and punish women who obtain abortions anyway. He soon clarified his comment, suggesting that women who get abortions should not be penalized. But most recently, he doubled down on his initial statement.</p>
<p>Here’s the chronology: During an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews last Wednesday, Trump said that abortion should be banned and that “ <a href="" type="internal">there has to be some form of punishment</a>” for women who obtain abortions once they are outlawed. Faced with immediate <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/30/politics/donald-trump-abortion-town-hall/" type="external">criticism</a> from both anti-abortion and pro-abortion rights groups, his campaign issued a statement saying that Trump believed that only the abortion provider, not the woman, should be held legally responsible.</p>
<p>But a few days later, on Saturday, Trump essentially reaffirmed his initial comments. His answer to Matthews’ question was “excellent,” Trump told talk radio host Joe Pags, in an interview <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/donald-trump-defends-call-punishing-women-who-have-abortions-i-didnt-see-any-big-deal" type="external">flagged</a> on Tuesday by the liberal website Right Wing Watch. Here’s the exchange:</p>
<p>TRUMP: A lot of people thought my answer was excellent, by the way. There were a lot of people who thought that was a very good answer. It was a hypothetical question. I didn’t see any big deal and then all of a sudden there was somewhat of a storm. And you know, it’s interesting, this morning I’m hearing two hosts on television that were critical and they said, “We really thought his first answer was very good.” Because you can’t win. “We thought it was good, what was wrong with his first answer?” And I heard a pastor, who is a fantastic pastor, saying, “Well, you know, if you think about it, his first answer was right”…</p>
<p>PAGS: Well, your answer was consistent with conservatism but Chris Matthews has an agenda, so I’m not even wondering about the question because I thought it was loaded and stupid and hypothetical.</p>
<p>TRUMP: It was disgraceful.</p>
<p>PAGS: Why go on the show? Why go?</p>
<p>TRUMP: I heard people defending it today. Now they defend it. Now they say, “It was really right.” The whole thing is just so—look, the press is extremely unfair.</p>
<p>Trump, though, was not done with this subject. The next day, he had yet another position on abortion. He appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation and stated that the current law on abortion should not be changed. Once again, his campaign had to renovate his message. It quickly <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-dont-change-abortion-laws/" type="external">walked back</a> this statement, asserting that Trump meant the law will remain the same “until he is President.”</p>
<p /> | 293 |
<p>With a contested primary on the horizon for the Nevada U.S. Senate race, some big Republican names have thrown their support behind Dean Heller, the vulnerable GOP incumbent.</p>
<p>In a campaign email to Heller supporters, Nevada Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison said that he will be chairman of Heller’s Senate campaign for the 2018 election.</p>
<p>“As chairman, I’ll fight to make sure Nevadans know the real Dean Heller, not the Dean Heller falsely portrayed by special interest ads or the media. Dean is who we need fighting for us in Washington,” the email said.</p>
<p>Heller will also be at a Nevada Republican Party fundraising dinner next month at the South Point with another powerful Republican: Wynn Resorts Ltd. CEO and Republican National Committee Finance Chairman Steve Wynn.</p>
<p>That dinner is at 7 p.m. Sept. 8. Tickets are $150 a piece.</p>
<p>Palin endorses Tarkanian</p>
<p>Meanwhile, former Alaska Gov. and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin endorsed Heller’s primary foe, Las Vegas businessman Danny Tarkanian.</p>
<p>“Danny Tarkanian is a conservative outsider who will support the ‘America First’ policies our nation needs to survive and thrive, including building the border wall, ending sanctuary cities and finally repealing Obamacare,” Palin said in the endorsement letter.</p>
<p>Republicans go after Rosen</p>
<p>The political arm for Senate Republicans launched digital ads last week going after Rep. Jacky Rosen, the District 3 representative looking to jump congressional chambers and give Democrats both of Nevada’s seats in the U.S. Senate.</p>
<p>The digital ads, which are running on Facebook, call Rosen “Pelosi’s puppet,” referring to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.</p>
<p>Similar ads posted on billboards began popping up this month in Reno.</p>
<p>Primary challenge for Hambrick</p>
<p>Summerlin resident Jim Small announced last week that he plans to challenge five-term Assemblyman John Hambrick for his seat in the Republican primary next June.</p>
<p>In the news release announcing his candidacy, Small said the passage of the Commerce Tax, which Hambrick voted for during the 2015 legislative session, was the tipping point for him.</p>
<p>Hambrick was first elected in 2008 to Assembly District 2, which represents much of the far west side of the Las Vegas Valley.</p>
<p>Contact Colton Lochhead at [email protected] or 702-383-4638. Follow <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ColtonLochhead" type="external">@ColtonLochhead</a> on Twitter.</p> | Key Republicans throw support behind Heller | false | https://reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/key-republicans-throw-support-behind-heller/ | 2017-08-27 | 1right-center
| Key Republicans throw support behind Heller
<p>With a contested primary on the horizon for the Nevada U.S. Senate race, some big Republican names have thrown their support behind Dean Heller, the vulnerable GOP incumbent.</p>
<p>In a campaign email to Heller supporters, Nevada Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison said that he will be chairman of Heller’s Senate campaign for the 2018 election.</p>
<p>“As chairman, I’ll fight to make sure Nevadans know the real Dean Heller, not the Dean Heller falsely portrayed by special interest ads or the media. Dean is who we need fighting for us in Washington,” the email said.</p>
<p>Heller will also be at a Nevada Republican Party fundraising dinner next month at the South Point with another powerful Republican: Wynn Resorts Ltd. CEO and Republican National Committee Finance Chairman Steve Wynn.</p>
<p>That dinner is at 7 p.m. Sept. 8. Tickets are $150 a piece.</p>
<p>Palin endorses Tarkanian</p>
<p>Meanwhile, former Alaska Gov. and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin endorsed Heller’s primary foe, Las Vegas businessman Danny Tarkanian.</p>
<p>“Danny Tarkanian is a conservative outsider who will support the ‘America First’ policies our nation needs to survive and thrive, including building the border wall, ending sanctuary cities and finally repealing Obamacare,” Palin said in the endorsement letter.</p>
<p>Republicans go after Rosen</p>
<p>The political arm for Senate Republicans launched digital ads last week going after Rep. Jacky Rosen, the District 3 representative looking to jump congressional chambers and give Democrats both of Nevada’s seats in the U.S. Senate.</p>
<p>The digital ads, which are running on Facebook, call Rosen “Pelosi’s puppet,” referring to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.</p>
<p>Similar ads posted on billboards began popping up this month in Reno.</p>
<p>Primary challenge for Hambrick</p>
<p>Summerlin resident Jim Small announced last week that he plans to challenge five-term Assemblyman John Hambrick for his seat in the Republican primary next June.</p>
<p>In the news release announcing his candidacy, Small said the passage of the Commerce Tax, which Hambrick voted for during the 2015 legislative session, was the tipping point for him.</p>
<p>Hambrick was first elected in 2008 to Assembly District 2, which represents much of the far west side of the Las Vegas Valley.</p>
<p>Contact Colton Lochhead at [email protected] or 702-383-4638. Follow <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ColtonLochhead" type="external">@ColtonLochhead</a> on Twitter.</p> | 294 |
<p>A new video produced by Campus Reform interviews a few college students to find out how they feel about Antifa and their violent tactics. The results are not surprising for those who've been watching what's taken place on college campuses in recent months.</p>
<p>Over the last year, the social justice left on campuses across the country has increasingly used violence and disruption to suppress speech they deem offensive — messages that do not align with their ideological and political agenda. The situation has been exacerbated by social justice-sympathizing administrations empowering the radical "activists" by disempowering law enforcement.</p>
<p>But what is most troubling is that these anti-free speech beliefs and tactics are not simply embraced by a radical fringe. A recent <a href="" type="internal">Brookings Institute study</a> found that a majority of students believe that disrupting speakers to silence them is "acceptable" and one in five students (19%) endorse the use of violence to silence an "offensive" speaker. A plurality of students believe that "hate speech" is not covered by the First Amendment, despite Supreme Court precedent establishing otherwise.</p>
<p>As a follow-up to the Brookings' study, Campus Reform decided to hit the campus greens to talk in person with some students to see if they really do endorse violence and those leading the violence, Antifa. All of the students the video features say they have a generally "positive" view of Antifa, and most of them say they believe violence against "fascists" is justified and can be a useful "tool" for pushing back against "hate."</p>
<p>"I like them," one student says of Antifa. "Beating up fascists is good."</p>
<p>One student says that her impression of Antifa is good because she only sees them marching next to her and "standing for what I believe in." Another says she sees them "more on the positive side because they're combating hate."</p>
<p>"I think that a lot of them are trying to educate," says one student.</p>
<p>"A lot of people say that they're creating more hate," says a female student, "but I think if you're combating hate then it automatically makes you more on the positive side."</p>
<p>When one male is asked directly if violence is sometimes justified, he replies, "Absolutely. Yeah, in the right context, absolutely." Asked who decides what the right context is, he responds, "Well, obviously the Antifa are."</p>
<p>"I think that violence is definitely a tool and it can be justified," says one college girl. "Just like any other tool, there are certain times when you can use it.</p>
<p>"If black bloc tactics and destruction of property, things like that, can actually further the cause, then I'm all for it," says a male student.</p>
<p>One student even suggests that sometimes violence might be justified even if innocent people get hurt.</p>
<p>Watch the full video below via <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9807" type="external">Campus Reform</a>:</p>
<p>More from The Daily Wire on college students' views on <a href="" type="internal">free speech, hate speech and violence</a>.</p> | WATCH: College Students Defend Antifa's Violence | true | https://dailywire.com/news/21396/watch-college-students-defend-antifas-violence-james-barrett | 2017-09-21 | 0right
| WATCH: College Students Defend Antifa's Violence
<p>A new video produced by Campus Reform interviews a few college students to find out how they feel about Antifa and their violent tactics. The results are not surprising for those who've been watching what's taken place on college campuses in recent months.</p>
<p>Over the last year, the social justice left on campuses across the country has increasingly used violence and disruption to suppress speech they deem offensive — messages that do not align with their ideological and political agenda. The situation has been exacerbated by social justice-sympathizing administrations empowering the radical "activists" by disempowering law enforcement.</p>
<p>But what is most troubling is that these anti-free speech beliefs and tactics are not simply embraced by a radical fringe. A recent <a href="" type="internal">Brookings Institute study</a> found that a majority of students believe that disrupting speakers to silence them is "acceptable" and one in five students (19%) endorse the use of violence to silence an "offensive" speaker. A plurality of students believe that "hate speech" is not covered by the First Amendment, despite Supreme Court precedent establishing otherwise.</p>
<p>As a follow-up to the Brookings' study, Campus Reform decided to hit the campus greens to talk in person with some students to see if they really do endorse violence and those leading the violence, Antifa. All of the students the video features say they have a generally "positive" view of Antifa, and most of them say they believe violence against "fascists" is justified and can be a useful "tool" for pushing back against "hate."</p>
<p>"I like them," one student says of Antifa. "Beating up fascists is good."</p>
<p>One student says that her impression of Antifa is good because she only sees them marching next to her and "standing for what I believe in." Another says she sees them "more on the positive side because they're combating hate."</p>
<p>"I think that a lot of them are trying to educate," says one student.</p>
<p>"A lot of people say that they're creating more hate," says a female student, "but I think if you're combating hate then it automatically makes you more on the positive side."</p>
<p>When one male is asked directly if violence is sometimes justified, he replies, "Absolutely. Yeah, in the right context, absolutely." Asked who decides what the right context is, he responds, "Well, obviously the Antifa are."</p>
<p>"I think that violence is definitely a tool and it can be justified," says one college girl. "Just like any other tool, there are certain times when you can use it.</p>
<p>"If black bloc tactics and destruction of property, things like that, can actually further the cause, then I'm all for it," says a male student.</p>
<p>One student even suggests that sometimes violence might be justified even if innocent people get hurt.</p>
<p>Watch the full video below via <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9807" type="external">Campus Reform</a>:</p>
<p>More from The Daily Wire on college students' views on <a href="" type="internal">free speech, hate speech and violence</a>.</p> | 295 |
<p>Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG), parent company of Google, recently put a date on its third-quarter earnings release. The company will report its results for the quarter on Thursday, Oct. 26, after market close.</p>
<p>Ahead of Alphabet's third-quarter report, here's an early look at three areas investors may want to check in on after the update: revenue growth, Alphabet's "Google other" segment, and its "other bets" segment.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>For Alphabet's third quarter, analysts' consensus estimate&#160;for revenue is $27.2 billion. This compares to revenue of $22.5 billion in the year-ago quarter, representing about a 21% increase.</p>
<p>The analysts' consensus estimate seems well founded, given that Alphabet's revenue in its second quarter was similarly up 21% year over year.</p>
<p>Alphabet's strong revenue growth recently continues to demonstrate the search giant's ability to consistently grow its business at heady rates. In its second quarter, management said its&#160;solid top line was <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/25/alphabet-inc-earnings-5-metrics-you-shouldnt-overl.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=72b890f2-a54a-11e7-b600-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">primarily driven Opens a New Window.</a> by strong Google advertising revenue growth in mobile search and on YouTube. Alphabet's Google advertising revenue accounts for 87%&#160;of Alphabet's total revenue. The segment revenue was up 18% year over year.</p>
<p>Investors should look for strong advertising growth to similarly help drive Alphabet's top line in Q3.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Made up primarily of revenue from the Android app store, Google-branded hardware, and cloud services, Alphabet's "Google other" segment is becoming increasingly important to the company's results. In Alphabet's second quarter, other revenue was up 42% year over year. Further, other revenue accounted for a notable 12% of second-quarter revenue, up from 10% in the year-ago quarter.</p>
<p>Can Alphabet's Google other segment keep up this strong growth in Q3?</p>
<p>Not to be consumed with Google other revenue, which falls under the company's Google reporting segment, Alphabet's "other bets" segment represents a much smaller portion of the company. It's where Alphabet files its "moonshot" projects like Nest, Verily, Fiber, and its self-driving car company <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/12/14/alphabet-incs-self-driving-car-project-becomes-a-c.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=72b890f2-a54a-11e7-b600-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Waymo Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>In Alphabet's second quarter, other-bets revenue represented only a fraction of the company's total top line -- at less than 1%. The segment is growing rapidly. Second-quarter other-bets revenue climbed 34% year over year.</p>
<p>But it's not the growth of Alphabet's other bets segment that investors should be keeping an eye on. Rather, investors should be watching how quickly Alphabet can reduce the segment's massive operating losses. In Alphabet's second quarter, other bets' operating loss was $772 million, weighing meaningfully on overall profitability.</p>
<p>Fortunately, Alphabet has made progress recently on improving its other bets operating losses. In Alphabet's second quarter, other bets $772 million operating loss was narrower than the segment's $855 million operating loss in the year-ago quarter. Further, Alphabet's other bets operating losses are improving rapidly on a sequential basis lately, narrowing from $1.088 billion&#160;in the fourth quarter of 2016 and $855 million in the first quarter of 2017.</p>
<p>Investors should look for Alphabet's other bets operating loss to continue to improve on both a year-over-year and sequential basis in Q3.</p>
<p>Overall, investors should look for Alphabet's results to continue highlighting the strength of its search business while also showing promising signs in its smaller segments.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than AlphabetWhen 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=9fc4c31c-d2aa-4aea-a6df-3507665d07db&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=72b890f2-a54a-11e7-b600-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Alphabet (A shares) wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=9fc4c31c-d2aa-4aea-a6df-3507665d07db&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=72b890f2-a54a-11e7-b600-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of September 5, 2017</p>
<p>Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFDanielSparks/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=72b890f2-a54a-11e7-b600-0050569d4be0&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 owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares) and Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=72b890f2-a54a-11e7-b600-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Alphabet, Inc. Earnings: Mark Your Calendar | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/11/alphabet-inc-earnings-mark-your-calendar.html | 2017-09-29 | 0right
| Alphabet, Inc. Earnings: Mark Your Calendar
<p>Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG), parent company of Google, recently put a date on its third-quarter earnings release. The company will report its results for the quarter on Thursday, Oct. 26, after market close.</p>
<p>Ahead of Alphabet's third-quarter report, here's an early look at three areas investors may want to check in on after the update: revenue growth, Alphabet's "Google other" segment, and its "other bets" segment.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>For Alphabet's third quarter, analysts' consensus estimate&#160;for revenue is $27.2 billion. This compares to revenue of $22.5 billion in the year-ago quarter, representing about a 21% increase.</p>
<p>The analysts' consensus estimate seems well founded, given that Alphabet's revenue in its second quarter was similarly up 21% year over year.</p>
<p>Alphabet's strong revenue growth recently continues to demonstrate the search giant's ability to consistently grow its business at heady rates. In its second quarter, management said its&#160;solid top line was <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/25/alphabet-inc-earnings-5-metrics-you-shouldnt-overl.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=72b890f2-a54a-11e7-b600-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">primarily driven Opens a New Window.</a> by strong Google advertising revenue growth in mobile search and on YouTube. Alphabet's Google advertising revenue accounts for 87%&#160;of Alphabet's total revenue. The segment revenue was up 18% year over year.</p>
<p>Investors should look for strong advertising growth to similarly help drive Alphabet's top line in Q3.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Made up primarily of revenue from the Android app store, Google-branded hardware, and cloud services, Alphabet's "Google other" segment is becoming increasingly important to the company's results. In Alphabet's second quarter, other revenue was up 42% year over year. Further, other revenue accounted for a notable 12% of second-quarter revenue, up from 10% in the year-ago quarter.</p>
<p>Can Alphabet's Google other segment keep up this strong growth in Q3?</p>
<p>Not to be consumed with Google other revenue, which falls under the company's Google reporting segment, Alphabet's "other bets" segment represents a much smaller portion of the company. It's where Alphabet files its "moonshot" projects like Nest, Verily, Fiber, and its self-driving car company <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/12/14/alphabet-incs-self-driving-car-project-becomes-a-c.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=72b890f2-a54a-11e7-b600-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Waymo Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>In Alphabet's second quarter, other-bets revenue represented only a fraction of the company's total top line -- at less than 1%. The segment is growing rapidly. Second-quarter other-bets revenue climbed 34% year over year.</p>
<p>But it's not the growth of Alphabet's other bets segment that investors should be keeping an eye on. Rather, investors should be watching how quickly Alphabet can reduce the segment's massive operating losses. In Alphabet's second quarter, other bets' operating loss was $772 million, weighing meaningfully on overall profitability.</p>
<p>Fortunately, Alphabet has made progress recently on improving its other bets operating losses. In Alphabet's second quarter, other bets $772 million operating loss was narrower than the segment's $855 million operating loss in the year-ago quarter. Further, Alphabet's other bets operating losses are improving rapidly on a sequential basis lately, narrowing from $1.088 billion&#160;in the fourth quarter of 2016 and $855 million in the first quarter of 2017.</p>
<p>Investors should look for Alphabet's other bets operating loss to continue to improve on both a year-over-year and sequential basis in Q3.</p>
<p>Overall, investors should look for Alphabet's results to continue highlighting the strength of its search business while also showing promising signs in its smaller segments.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than AlphabetWhen 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=9fc4c31c-d2aa-4aea-a6df-3507665d07db&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=72b890f2-a54a-11e7-b600-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Alphabet (A shares) wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=9fc4c31c-d2aa-4aea-a6df-3507665d07db&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=72b890f2-a54a-11e7-b600-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of September 5, 2017</p>
<p>Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFDanielSparks/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=72b890f2-a54a-11e7-b600-0050569d4be0&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 owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares) and Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=72b890f2-a54a-11e7-b600-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 296 |
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<p />
<p>Because, once, the State Fair opens in September, followed closely by the Balloon Fiesta in October, the race is on. Halloween is just around the corner, followed by Thanksgiving, and then – before we know it – Christmas and New Year. This year, we have to add in Election Day as another special event because it is guaranteed to cause plenty of distractions. We wish these wonderful fall days were more than just a brief lull in the annual holiday rush.</p>
<p>If we don’t get busy soon, it will be Jan. 2, 2017, and the holidays will be in the history books without us making any contributions to the joyful season. Because, believe it or not, preparing for the holidays is almost a season unto itself. There are no flashing lights or holiday songs to pay tribute to the planning and preparations, but it is a real “season.” And it takes a lot of real work to get through it.</p>
<p>So, we’re already behind and we have to get going if we want to stay on top of things. It’s time to make our lists, check them twice and get organized. And for the people who decorate for Halloween or celebrate it in a big way, the time is right on top of you.</p>
<p>Every year, we promise to be more organized. It’s not like the holidays are a surprise. They tend to occur every year at about the same time, so why aren’t we prepared, why aren’t we always prepared? Who knows – maybe we just enjoy the hustle and bustle of rushing around trying to get everything ready on time.</p>
<p>We have a plan, however. This year, although we’re late starting, we’re going to be organized enough that we get everything done without letting it get too stressful. We’re going to remember to be truly thankful during Thanksgiving, even if our meal or our decorations aren’t perfect. We’re aiming for a Christmas season during which we honor the religious significance, while having fun and enjoying the rest of the season.</p>
<p>Maybe we won’t have a holiday worthy of a photo spread in some fancy magazine, but we’re going to aim for one filled with love and laughter, good food and good cheer – and, of course, family and friends. We vow to help those in need have a special holiday because those gifts are often more valuable than buying things for people who already have everything.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>We have decided that the holidays and our enjoyment of them will not be overtaken by Things To Do lists. The season itself is much more important than marking one more thing off “the list.” We will be in charge, not the lists.</p>
<p>Or maybe, this year, we’ll just relax, have a margarita and consider whether we want red or green on our burrito. That could work, too.</p>
<p>Contact the Ryans at <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a></p>
<p />
<p /> | ‘Lists’ will not rule our holidays! | false | https://abqjournal.com/872963/lists-will-not-rule-our-holidays.html | 2016-10-22 | 2least
| ‘Lists’ will not rule our holidays!
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Because, once, the State Fair opens in September, followed closely by the Balloon Fiesta in October, the race is on. Halloween is just around the corner, followed by Thanksgiving, and then – before we know it – Christmas and New Year. This year, we have to add in Election Day as another special event because it is guaranteed to cause plenty of distractions. We wish these wonderful fall days were more than just a brief lull in the annual holiday rush.</p>
<p>If we don’t get busy soon, it will be Jan. 2, 2017, and the holidays will be in the history books without us making any contributions to the joyful season. Because, believe it or not, preparing for the holidays is almost a season unto itself. There are no flashing lights or holiday songs to pay tribute to the planning and preparations, but it is a real “season.” And it takes a lot of real work to get through it.</p>
<p>So, we’re already behind and we have to get going if we want to stay on top of things. It’s time to make our lists, check them twice and get organized. And for the people who decorate for Halloween or celebrate it in a big way, the time is right on top of you.</p>
<p>Every year, we promise to be more organized. It’s not like the holidays are a surprise. They tend to occur every year at about the same time, so why aren’t we prepared, why aren’t we always prepared? Who knows – maybe we just enjoy the hustle and bustle of rushing around trying to get everything ready on time.</p>
<p>We have a plan, however. This year, although we’re late starting, we’re going to be organized enough that we get everything done without letting it get too stressful. We’re going to remember to be truly thankful during Thanksgiving, even if our meal or our decorations aren’t perfect. We’re aiming for a Christmas season during which we honor the religious significance, while having fun and enjoying the rest of the season.</p>
<p>Maybe we won’t have a holiday worthy of a photo spread in some fancy magazine, but we’re going to aim for one filled with love and laughter, good food and good cheer – and, of course, family and friends. We vow to help those in need have a special holiday because those gifts are often more valuable than buying things for people who already have everything.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>We have decided that the holidays and our enjoyment of them will not be overtaken by Things To Do lists. The season itself is much more important than marking one more thing off “the list.” We will be in charge, not the lists.</p>
<p>Or maybe, this year, we’ll just relax, have a margarita and consider whether we want red or green on our burrito. That could work, too.</p>
<p>Contact the Ryans at <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a></p>
<p />
<p /> | 297 |
<p>An American Olympic gold-medal winning gymnast says she was molested by a former USA Gymnastics team doctor.</p>
<p>McKayla Maroney, 21, on Wednesday joined the #MeToo movement by sharing her experiences with sexual assault and harassment.</p>
<p>“I had a dream to go to the Olympics, and the things that I had to endure to get there, were unnecessary, and disgusting,” she wrote in <a href="https://twitter.com/McKaylaMaroney/status/920548528870400001" type="external">a statement</a> on Twitter.</p>
<p>“I was molested by Dr. Larry Nassar, the team doctor for the US Women’s National Gymnastics Team, and Olympic Team,” Maroney continued.</p>
<p>“It started when I was 13 years old, at one of my first National Team training camps, in Texas, and it didn’t end until I left the sport.”</p>
<p>Time on Wednesday reported that Nassar is currently awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to federal child pornography charges in July.</p>
<p>Several of Maroney’s former teammates have accused him of abusing them while they were minors, but she is the highest profile gymnast yet to come forward.</p>
<p>Nassar, who was team doctor for USA Gymnastics from 1996 to 2015, is due to stand trial over charges of sexually assaulting nine girls, charges for which he has pleaded not guilty.</p>
<p>Maroney won gold in the team gymnastics competition at the 2012 Olympics in London and later scored a silver there at the individual vault finals.</p>
<p>The #MeToo hashtag has been tweeted hundreds of thousands of times this week after actress Alyssa Milano shared if following sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein.</p>
<p>Multiple women have accused Weinstein, a top Hollywood movie producer, of sexual misconduct against him since allegations first emerged last month.</p>
<p>The #MeToo campaign on social media aims to illustrate the prevalence of sexual harassment by showing how it impacts all manner of people.</p> | McKayla Maroney said she was molested by a USA Gymnastics team doctor | false | https://circa.com/story/2017/10/18/action-sports/mckayla-maroney-says-she-was-molested-by-larry-nassar-usa-gymnastics-team-doctor | 2017-10-18 | 1right-center
| McKayla Maroney said she was molested by a USA Gymnastics team doctor
<p>An American Olympic gold-medal winning gymnast says she was molested by a former USA Gymnastics team doctor.</p>
<p>McKayla Maroney, 21, on Wednesday joined the #MeToo movement by sharing her experiences with sexual assault and harassment.</p>
<p>“I had a dream to go to the Olympics, and the things that I had to endure to get there, were unnecessary, and disgusting,” she wrote in <a href="https://twitter.com/McKaylaMaroney/status/920548528870400001" type="external">a statement</a> on Twitter.</p>
<p>“I was molested by Dr. Larry Nassar, the team doctor for the US Women’s National Gymnastics Team, and Olympic Team,” Maroney continued.</p>
<p>“It started when I was 13 years old, at one of my first National Team training camps, in Texas, and it didn’t end until I left the sport.”</p>
<p>Time on Wednesday reported that Nassar is currently awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to federal child pornography charges in July.</p>
<p>Several of Maroney’s former teammates have accused him of abusing them while they were minors, but she is the highest profile gymnast yet to come forward.</p>
<p>Nassar, who was team doctor for USA Gymnastics from 1996 to 2015, is due to stand trial over charges of sexually assaulting nine girls, charges for which he has pleaded not guilty.</p>
<p>Maroney won gold in the team gymnastics competition at the 2012 Olympics in London and later scored a silver there at the individual vault finals.</p>
<p>The #MeToo hashtag has been tweeted hundreds of thousands of times this week after actress Alyssa Milano shared if following sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein.</p>
<p>Multiple women have accused Weinstein, a top Hollywood movie producer, of sexual misconduct against him since allegations first emerged last month.</p>
<p>The #MeToo campaign on social media aims to illustrate the prevalence of sexual harassment by showing how it impacts all manner of people.</p> | 298 |
<p>President Obama’s National AIDS Strategy advocates a focus on prevention efforts targeting gay, bi and trans people. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)</p>
<p>The White House on Thursday released an updated version of its National HIV/AIDS Strategy that includes a comprehensive plan for reducing the number of new HIV infections between 2015 and 2020 by at least 25 percent.</p>
<p>The 74-page strategy document, which updates the Obama administration’s AIDS strategy plan first adopted in 2010, also calls for significantly reducing the rate of new HIV infections among gay and bisexual men, young black gay and bisexual men, black women and “persons living in the Southern United States.”</p>
<p>In addition, the document calls for focusing more resources on curtailing the HIV infection rate for transgender women, “particularly the high burden of HIV among black transgender women.”</p>
<p>The overall number of new HIV infections in the U.S. has remained at about 50,000 new cases each year for the past decade despite ongoing HIV education and prevention programs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p>
<p>The White House announced on Thursday that President Obama officially launched the updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy through an executive order.</p>
<p>“This order is designed to ensure successful implementation of the Updated Strategy by requiring coordination and collaboration by, and accountability of, the Federal Government; fostering enhanced and innovative partnerships with state, tribal, and local governments; and encouraging the commitment of all parts of society,” Obama states in the order.</p>
<p>A statement and fact sheet released by the White House says the updated strategy retains the four main goals set in the 2010 strategy document: reducing new HIV infections; increasing access to care and improving health outcomes for people living with HIV; reducing HIV-related disparities and health inequities; and achieving a more coordinated national response to the AIDS epidemic.</p>
<p>The updated strategy calls for focusing on four “priority activities”:</p>
<p>• Widespread HIV testing and ensuring that those who test positive are given full access to care and treatment.</p>
<p>• Broad support for people living with HIV to ensure that they remain engaged in comprehensive care and they adhere to their treatment regimen.</p>
<p>• Universal viral suppression among people with HIV, which means lowering the level of the HIV virus through effective drug treatment so that the virus is undetectable and the chances that the person can infect someone else with HIV are greatly reduced.</p>
<p>• Full access to comprehensive pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, services “for those whom it is appropriate and desired.”</p>
<p>“As one of the tools in the HIV prevention toolkit, PrEP is a way for people who don’t have HIV to prevent HIV infection by taking a pill every day,” the White House fact sheet says.</p>
<p>The fact sheet and the updated strategy document don’t mention that the PrEP program has been criticized by some AIDS activists as a poor approach for HIV prevention because it could prompt people at risk for HIV to discontinue safe-sex practices, such as condom use, and lead to HIV infection if those on the prophylaxis drug fail to take it every day.</p>
<p>Supporters of the PrEP program, including officials with the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, point to studies showing that PrEP has been effective in preventing HIV infection among those who adhere to taking the required daily pill.</p>
<p>Several national AIDS advocacy groups released statements expressing support for the updated strategy document, saying it builds on the 2010 document’s goals for greatly curtailing the AIDS epidemic in the U.S.</p>
<p>“Since the first National HIV/AIDS Strategy was released in 2010, major advances have transformed how we respond to HIV, provided new tools to prevent new infections, and improved access to care,” a statement released by the New York based Gay Men’s Health Crisis says. “This updated strategy seeks to scale what is working, looking ahead to 2020 with a clear road map to help end the epidemic, once and for all,” the statement says.</p>
<p>Don Blanchon, executive director of D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Health, called the updated strategy “a more detailed roadmap to guide our ongoing journey to end HIV.”</p>
<p>Carl Schmid, deputy executive director of the AIDS Institute, a national AIDS advocacy group, called the updated document an “exceptional national strategy to address HIV in the U.S.,” but cautioned that the strategy could be undermined by proposed congressional budget cuts in various AIDS programs, including parts of the Ryan White AIDS CARE Act programs.</p>
<p>Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the nation’s largest AIDS services and advocacy organization, praised the updated strategy for its focus on greater efforts to curtail HIV infections in the South, where he said the epidemic has been “exploding” during the past decade.</p>
<p>But Weinstein, a vocal critic of the PrEP program, said in a statement that the White House strategy should focus more on its call for universal treatment of people who are HIV positive than on “an overreliance on PrEP.”</p>
<p>He pointed to studies, which are also cited in the updated HIV/AIDS Strategy document, showing that people with HIV who are successfully treated with anti-retroviral drugs are 96 percent less likely to infect someone else with HIV than those who are not being treated with effective AIDS drugs.</p>
<p>The strategy document notes that as of 2012, the latest year in which figures were available, only 30 percent of all people living with HIV in the U.S. achieved full viral suppression.</p>
<p>“The HIV epidemic in the United States is concentrated in key populations and geographic areas and the Update guides our response to prioritize the following groups,” the White House statement accompanying the new strategy document says.</p>
<p>• Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men of all races and ethnicities, “noting the particularly high burden of HIV among black gay and bisexual men.”</p>
<p>• Black women and men</p>
<p>• Latinos and Latinas</p>
<p>• People who inject drugs</p>
<p>• Youth aged 13 to 24 years, “noting the particularly high burden of HIV among young black gay and bisexual men”</p>
<p>• People living in the South</p>
<p>• Transgender women, “noting the particularly high burden of HIV among black transgender women.”</p>
<p>The updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States can be accessed <a href="" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">AIDS</a> <a href="" type="internal">AIDS Institute</a> <a href="" type="internal">Barack Obama</a> <a href="" type="internal">bisexual</a> <a href="" type="internal">Carl Schmid</a> <a href="" type="internal">CDC</a> <a href="" type="internal">Don Blanchon</a> <a href="" type="internal">gay</a> <a href="" type="internal">Gay Men's Health Crisis</a> <a href="" type="internal">HIV</a> <a href="" type="internal">HIV/AIDS</a> <a href="" type="internal">MSM</a> <a href="" type="internal">National HIV/AIDS Strategy</a> <a href="" type="internal">PrEP</a> <a href="" type="internal">Ryan White</a> <a href="" type="internal">transgender</a> <a href="" type="internal">U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> <a href="" type="internal">White House</a> <a href="" type="internal">Whitman-Walker Health</a></p> | White House updates National HIV/AIDS Strategy | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2015/07/31/white-house-updates-national-hivaids-strategy/ | 3left-center
| White House updates National HIV/AIDS Strategy
<p>President Obama’s National AIDS Strategy advocates a focus on prevention efforts targeting gay, bi and trans people. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)</p>
<p>The White House on Thursday released an updated version of its National HIV/AIDS Strategy that includes a comprehensive plan for reducing the number of new HIV infections between 2015 and 2020 by at least 25 percent.</p>
<p>The 74-page strategy document, which updates the Obama administration’s AIDS strategy plan first adopted in 2010, also calls for significantly reducing the rate of new HIV infections among gay and bisexual men, young black gay and bisexual men, black women and “persons living in the Southern United States.”</p>
<p>In addition, the document calls for focusing more resources on curtailing the HIV infection rate for transgender women, “particularly the high burden of HIV among black transgender women.”</p>
<p>The overall number of new HIV infections in the U.S. has remained at about 50,000 new cases each year for the past decade despite ongoing HIV education and prevention programs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p>
<p>The White House announced on Thursday that President Obama officially launched the updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy through an executive order.</p>
<p>“This order is designed to ensure successful implementation of the Updated Strategy by requiring coordination and collaboration by, and accountability of, the Federal Government; fostering enhanced and innovative partnerships with state, tribal, and local governments; and encouraging the commitment of all parts of society,” Obama states in the order.</p>
<p>A statement and fact sheet released by the White House says the updated strategy retains the four main goals set in the 2010 strategy document: reducing new HIV infections; increasing access to care and improving health outcomes for people living with HIV; reducing HIV-related disparities and health inequities; and achieving a more coordinated national response to the AIDS epidemic.</p>
<p>The updated strategy calls for focusing on four “priority activities”:</p>
<p>• Widespread HIV testing and ensuring that those who test positive are given full access to care and treatment.</p>
<p>• Broad support for people living with HIV to ensure that they remain engaged in comprehensive care and they adhere to their treatment regimen.</p>
<p>• Universal viral suppression among people with HIV, which means lowering the level of the HIV virus through effective drug treatment so that the virus is undetectable and the chances that the person can infect someone else with HIV are greatly reduced.</p>
<p>• Full access to comprehensive pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, services “for those whom it is appropriate and desired.”</p>
<p>“As one of the tools in the HIV prevention toolkit, PrEP is a way for people who don’t have HIV to prevent HIV infection by taking a pill every day,” the White House fact sheet says.</p>
<p>The fact sheet and the updated strategy document don’t mention that the PrEP program has been criticized by some AIDS activists as a poor approach for HIV prevention because it could prompt people at risk for HIV to discontinue safe-sex practices, such as condom use, and lead to HIV infection if those on the prophylaxis drug fail to take it every day.</p>
<p>Supporters of the PrEP program, including officials with the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, point to studies showing that PrEP has been effective in preventing HIV infection among those who adhere to taking the required daily pill.</p>
<p>Several national AIDS advocacy groups released statements expressing support for the updated strategy document, saying it builds on the 2010 document’s goals for greatly curtailing the AIDS epidemic in the U.S.</p>
<p>“Since the first National HIV/AIDS Strategy was released in 2010, major advances have transformed how we respond to HIV, provided new tools to prevent new infections, and improved access to care,” a statement released by the New York based Gay Men’s Health Crisis says. “This updated strategy seeks to scale what is working, looking ahead to 2020 with a clear road map to help end the epidemic, once and for all,” the statement says.</p>
<p>Don Blanchon, executive director of D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Health, called the updated strategy “a more detailed roadmap to guide our ongoing journey to end HIV.”</p>
<p>Carl Schmid, deputy executive director of the AIDS Institute, a national AIDS advocacy group, called the updated document an “exceptional national strategy to address HIV in the U.S.,” but cautioned that the strategy could be undermined by proposed congressional budget cuts in various AIDS programs, including parts of the Ryan White AIDS CARE Act programs.</p>
<p>Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the nation’s largest AIDS services and advocacy organization, praised the updated strategy for its focus on greater efforts to curtail HIV infections in the South, where he said the epidemic has been “exploding” during the past decade.</p>
<p>But Weinstein, a vocal critic of the PrEP program, said in a statement that the White House strategy should focus more on its call for universal treatment of people who are HIV positive than on “an overreliance on PrEP.”</p>
<p>He pointed to studies, which are also cited in the updated HIV/AIDS Strategy document, showing that people with HIV who are successfully treated with anti-retroviral drugs are 96 percent less likely to infect someone else with HIV than those who are not being treated with effective AIDS drugs.</p>
<p>The strategy document notes that as of 2012, the latest year in which figures were available, only 30 percent of all people living with HIV in the U.S. achieved full viral suppression.</p>
<p>“The HIV epidemic in the United States is concentrated in key populations and geographic areas and the Update guides our response to prioritize the following groups,” the White House statement accompanying the new strategy document says.</p>
<p>• Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men of all races and ethnicities, “noting the particularly high burden of HIV among black gay and bisexual men.”</p>
<p>• Black women and men</p>
<p>• Latinos and Latinas</p>
<p>• People who inject drugs</p>
<p>• Youth aged 13 to 24 years, “noting the particularly high burden of HIV among young black gay and bisexual men”</p>
<p>• People living in the South</p>
<p>• Transgender women, “noting the particularly high burden of HIV among black transgender women.”</p>
<p>The updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States can be accessed <a href="" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">AIDS</a> <a href="" type="internal">AIDS Institute</a> <a href="" type="internal">Barack Obama</a> <a href="" type="internal">bisexual</a> <a href="" type="internal">Carl Schmid</a> <a href="" type="internal">CDC</a> <a href="" type="internal">Don Blanchon</a> <a href="" type="internal">gay</a> <a href="" type="internal">Gay Men's Health Crisis</a> <a href="" type="internal">HIV</a> <a href="" type="internal">HIV/AIDS</a> <a href="" type="internal">MSM</a> <a href="" type="internal">National HIV/AIDS Strategy</a> <a href="" type="internal">PrEP</a> <a href="" type="internal">Ryan White</a> <a href="" type="internal">transgender</a> <a href="" type="internal">U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> <a href="" type="internal">White House</a> <a href="" type="internal">Whitman-Walker Health</a></p> | 299 |