news_text
stringlengths 0
312k
| title
stringlengths 0
11.1k
| hyperpartisan
bool 2
classes | url
stringlengths 20
344
| published_at
stringlengths 0
10
| bias
class label 5
classes | text
stringlengths 19
312k
| uid
int64 0
600k
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>TUCSON, Ariz. - Homeless people in Tucson will have to mind where they sit when new rules take effect in 30 days.</p>
<p>The Arizona Daily Star reports ( <a href="http://bit.ly/1U8oqlF" type="external">http://bit.ly/1U8oqlF</a> ) that the City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday to approve new rules that seek to minimize sidewalk obstructions.</p>
<p>Under the new rules, homeless people are not allowed to sleep on city sidewalks in downtown and university area commercial zones between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. They must also keep their belongings to less than 4 cubic feet, keep stuff 5 feet back from the curb and stay in a city park until the sitting and lying ban is lifted.</p>
<p>If a person is in violation of the rules, a police officer could ask the person to move or issue a citation.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Arizona Daily Star, <a href="http://www.tucson.com" type="external">http://www.tucson.com</a></p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Tucson approves stricter rules for homeless | false | https://abqjournal.com/689027/tucson-approves-stricter-rules-for-homeless.html | 2least
| Tucson approves stricter rules for homeless
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>TUCSON, Ariz. - Homeless people in Tucson will have to mind where they sit when new rules take effect in 30 days.</p>
<p>The Arizona Daily Star reports ( <a href="http://bit.ly/1U8oqlF" type="external">http://bit.ly/1U8oqlF</a> ) that the City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday to approve new rules that seek to minimize sidewalk obstructions.</p>
<p>Under the new rules, homeless people are not allowed to sleep on city sidewalks in downtown and university area commercial zones between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. They must also keep their belongings to less than 4 cubic feet, keep stuff 5 feet back from the curb and stay in a city park until the sitting and lying ban is lifted.</p>
<p>If a person is in violation of the rules, a police officer could ask the person to move or issue a citation.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Arizona Daily Star, <a href="http://www.tucson.com" type="external">http://www.tucson.com</a></p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 3,500 |
|
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Aug. 28, 2012</p>
<p>By Dave Roberts</p>
<p>When is a tax not a tax? When it’s called a fee by <a href="http://gov.ca.gov/home.php" type="external">Gov. Jerry Brown</a> and fellow Democrats. But the $30 million that has been proposed to be sucked out of Californians’ wallets and fed into the wood chipper of state government definitely walks, quacks and smells like a tax, according to some Republicans.</p>
<p>Brown’s 2012-13 budget includes a 1 percent tax hike on retail sales of lumber and wood products. The money will pay the cost for state agencies to regulate the timber industry. Timber company officials are backing the bill because consumers get stuck with the tab instead of them, and the legislation, <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/asm/ab_1451-1500/ab_1492_cfa_20120822_142638_sen_floor.html" type="external">AB 1492</a>, introduced by the Assembly Budget Committee,&#160;limits the amount of the judicial damages that timber companies can be hit with in the event of a forest fire.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://sbud.senate.ca.gov/" type="external">Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee</a> approved the bill 11-0, with five Republicans abstaining, on Aug. 15. Although calling it a fee rather than a tax means that AB 1492 does not need the two-thirds legislative approval mandated by <a href="http://www.ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_26,_Supermajority_Vote_to_Pass_New_Taxes_and_Fees_(2010)" type="external">Proposition 26</a>, the bill still requires two-thirds support because it’s been deemed an urgency item as the tax takes effect in January. Although the vote was lopsided in the budget committee, the bill was bashed and thrashed by several Republicans and even one Democrat before that.</p>
<p>That Democrat is <a href="http://sd25.senate.ca.gov/" type="external">Sen. Roderick Wright</a>, who represents Inglewood. He sounded positively Republican as he blasted California’s expensive regulatory practices. He ended up voting for AB 1492, but was not happy about it.</p>
<p>“One of the things that we seem to do in California is we make stuff decidedly more expensive for absolutely no benefit,” said Wright. “Those states, Oregon and Washington in particular, seem to have figured out a way to manage their forest as well or in some cases better than we do, have a lower timber harvest plan cost, deliver more board feet of lumber at a better price. We are importing lumber from them in many instances. And their fire danger seems to be less than ours. So they end up achieving all of the benefits at a lower cost than we do.</p>
<p>“It seems like to me we have an ass backwards system. And I’m not sure what we do with it. Today we may have to support this because it may be the best that we have. But I don’t think anyone would even suggest that this is a good idea. It’s just better than the stupidity that we have been operating under. We’re just making an improvement over something that was before admittedly stupid. So now it’s just less stupid.”</p>
<p>Another Senate Democrat who voted for the bill, <a href="http://sd32.senate.ca.gov/" type="external">Gloria Negrete McLeod</a>, also seemed skeptical about how the new tax on wood products would be implemented. “What if I go to the lumber store and I want a lath, and I only want six inches of a lath because I want to shore something up,” she asked. “Are you going to charge me six inches of a lath as opposed to a board as opposed to a bunch? What about toothpicks? They are made out of wood. [Laughter in the audience.] I’m serious.”</p>
<p>Although the specific wood products that will be taxed have yet to be identified, the intent is to focus on building products, responded Matt Paulin, assistant program budget manager for the <a href="http://www.dof.ca.gov/" type="external">California Department of Finance</a>. But that answer did not satisfy Mira Guertin, a lobbyist representing <a href="" type="external">Home Depot</a>.</p>
<p>“Home Depot has concerns this new assessment burdens retailers like Home Depot,” she said. “The definitions are vague. The toothpick example raised by Sen. Negrete Mcleod is not really all that farfetched. There’s a lot of things like doors, window frames, lattice work, gardening barrels, tool handles, all sorts of things, thousands of products in these stores that could potentially be subject to the tax. And that is a big burden for retailers to try to program around that. And also the list will change every year.</p>
<p>“We are also concerned that this is potentially a double increase for our customers. They may be facing or choosing to impose on themselves a half-percent sales tax increase in the fall [Proposition 30]. This would go on top of that. It’s currently unclear in the language whether the sales tax is applied to the 1 percent lumber assessment or not. That’s something we’d like to see clarified at the very least.”</p>
<p><a href="http://cssrc.us/web/4/" type="external">Senator Doug La Malfa</a>, who represents Butte, led the Republican attack on the bill, which he said should first have been considered by other committees dealing with governance, finances and natural resources.</p>
<p>“Here we are with 16 days to go in the session taking up some very important policy that should be heard and fully vetted in these committees,” he said. “And we are doing it once again as a budget trailer item on some key tax and resource policy. Traditionally, when we have the implications on the regulatory side and the new tax that’s going to be involved, I think we would like to vet out in the committee process and have input on … what is going to be deemed a wood product that’s going to be subject to the 1 percent sales tax.”</p>
<p>Hearing the word “tax,” Committee <a href="http://sd03.senate.ca.gov/" type="external">Chairman Mark Leno</a>, D-San Francisco, smiled and corrected La Malfa, calling it a “regulatory fee.”</p>
<p>La Malfa responded, “If it walks and quacks like a tax …” He went on to agree with Wright about incompetent regulations: “I’m just really troubled by this. And this is something that I care passionately about. I’ve served here almost eight years in the Legislature. And forestry management issues, the ability to harvest timber within our state instead of exporting our so-called environmental problem to other states or countries, I think great strides need to be made. Yet what we are doing is conceding California’s costs are going to be tremendously higher for timber harvest plans than Oregon or Washington, which are very successful in managing forests.”</p>
<p><a href="http://cssrc.us/web/37/" type="external">Sen. Bill Emerson</a>, R-Riverside, is concerned that the lumber tax revenue will be sawed off to other programs, especially if more money comes in than is needed to regulate timber.</p>
<p>“What happens when the economy improves and the dollars go to, say, $60 million?” Emerson asked Paulin. “You’re telling me that any excess funds would be protected and not ripped off as we’ve done traditionally in this state of California. Will they go into the General Fund and just be used for whatever?”</p>
<p>Paulin responded, “No, they clearly can’t go into the General Fund, being a regulatory fee.”</p>
<p>Emerson interrupted, “Sir, sir, it’s not a regulatory fee. Individuals are paying. This is a tax. It’s a consumer tax that individuals are paying. It has nothing to do with regulatory. You may use it for regulatory, but it has nothing to do with a regulatory fee. Let’s be honest about that one.”</p>
<p>But the committee Democrats were persuaded by the pleas from timber company officials, some of whom said that they are in danger of going out of business if AB 1492 is not passed. One of those is Chuck Henderson, manager for <a href="http://shastaforests.com/" type="external">Shasta Forest Timberlands</a>, who said his family-owned company owns 140,000 acres of timberland in northeast California and has been in business since 1894. It is being sued by the federal government for $791 million in connection with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonlight_Fire" type="external">Moonlight fire</a>, which burned 65,000 acres in the Plumas National Forest in 2007. If the federal government is successful in court, Henderson called it “a virtual economic death penalty.</p>
<p>“This law is critical to the survival of family-owned timberland companies such as ours as well as farmers, ranchers, ski areas and anyone else whose business abuts government property. This law sensibly seeks a balance between economic and environmental damages and the value of the land damaged. It recognizes the cost of negligence while also ensuring the risk of accidents is insurable. Last year our insurance doubled for half the coverage. And what’s more, we now have four layers of insurance where we used to have two. This is not sustainable. If we are no longer able to afford insurance, we will no longer be able to stay in business and no longer be able to stewards of our land and no longer able to deliver the economic and environmental benefits that we have provided to the community and to the citizens of California for over a century.”</p>
<p>Leno cited the pleas from Henderson and other timber harvesters as he called for the vote. AB 1492 received two-thirds support, 47-23, in the Assembly on March 22. No Republicans voted for it, but four abstained. The full Senate still is considering it.</p> | Gov. Brown, Democrats push lumber tax | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2012/08/28/gov-brown-democrats-push-lumber-tax/ | 2018-08-20 | 3left-center
| Gov. Brown, Democrats push lumber tax
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Aug. 28, 2012</p>
<p>By Dave Roberts</p>
<p>When is a tax not a tax? When it’s called a fee by <a href="http://gov.ca.gov/home.php" type="external">Gov. Jerry Brown</a> and fellow Democrats. But the $30 million that has been proposed to be sucked out of Californians’ wallets and fed into the wood chipper of state government definitely walks, quacks and smells like a tax, according to some Republicans.</p>
<p>Brown’s 2012-13 budget includes a 1 percent tax hike on retail sales of lumber and wood products. The money will pay the cost for state agencies to regulate the timber industry. Timber company officials are backing the bill because consumers get stuck with the tab instead of them, and the legislation, <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/asm/ab_1451-1500/ab_1492_cfa_20120822_142638_sen_floor.html" type="external">AB 1492</a>, introduced by the Assembly Budget Committee,&#160;limits the amount of the judicial damages that timber companies can be hit with in the event of a forest fire.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://sbud.senate.ca.gov/" type="external">Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee</a> approved the bill 11-0, with five Republicans abstaining, on Aug. 15. Although calling it a fee rather than a tax means that AB 1492 does not need the two-thirds legislative approval mandated by <a href="http://www.ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_26,_Supermajority_Vote_to_Pass_New_Taxes_and_Fees_(2010)" type="external">Proposition 26</a>, the bill still requires two-thirds support because it’s been deemed an urgency item as the tax takes effect in January. Although the vote was lopsided in the budget committee, the bill was bashed and thrashed by several Republicans and even one Democrat before that.</p>
<p>That Democrat is <a href="http://sd25.senate.ca.gov/" type="external">Sen. Roderick Wright</a>, who represents Inglewood. He sounded positively Republican as he blasted California’s expensive regulatory practices. He ended up voting for AB 1492, but was not happy about it.</p>
<p>“One of the things that we seem to do in California is we make stuff decidedly more expensive for absolutely no benefit,” said Wright. “Those states, Oregon and Washington in particular, seem to have figured out a way to manage their forest as well or in some cases better than we do, have a lower timber harvest plan cost, deliver more board feet of lumber at a better price. We are importing lumber from them in many instances. And their fire danger seems to be less than ours. So they end up achieving all of the benefits at a lower cost than we do.</p>
<p>“It seems like to me we have an ass backwards system. And I’m not sure what we do with it. Today we may have to support this because it may be the best that we have. But I don’t think anyone would even suggest that this is a good idea. It’s just better than the stupidity that we have been operating under. We’re just making an improvement over something that was before admittedly stupid. So now it’s just less stupid.”</p>
<p>Another Senate Democrat who voted for the bill, <a href="http://sd32.senate.ca.gov/" type="external">Gloria Negrete McLeod</a>, also seemed skeptical about how the new tax on wood products would be implemented. “What if I go to the lumber store and I want a lath, and I only want six inches of a lath because I want to shore something up,” she asked. “Are you going to charge me six inches of a lath as opposed to a board as opposed to a bunch? What about toothpicks? They are made out of wood. [Laughter in the audience.] I’m serious.”</p>
<p>Although the specific wood products that will be taxed have yet to be identified, the intent is to focus on building products, responded Matt Paulin, assistant program budget manager for the <a href="http://www.dof.ca.gov/" type="external">California Department of Finance</a>. But that answer did not satisfy Mira Guertin, a lobbyist representing <a href="" type="external">Home Depot</a>.</p>
<p>“Home Depot has concerns this new assessment burdens retailers like Home Depot,” she said. “The definitions are vague. The toothpick example raised by Sen. Negrete Mcleod is not really all that farfetched. There’s a lot of things like doors, window frames, lattice work, gardening barrels, tool handles, all sorts of things, thousands of products in these stores that could potentially be subject to the tax. And that is a big burden for retailers to try to program around that. And also the list will change every year.</p>
<p>“We are also concerned that this is potentially a double increase for our customers. They may be facing or choosing to impose on themselves a half-percent sales tax increase in the fall [Proposition 30]. This would go on top of that. It’s currently unclear in the language whether the sales tax is applied to the 1 percent lumber assessment or not. That’s something we’d like to see clarified at the very least.”</p>
<p><a href="http://cssrc.us/web/4/" type="external">Senator Doug La Malfa</a>, who represents Butte, led the Republican attack on the bill, which he said should first have been considered by other committees dealing with governance, finances and natural resources.</p>
<p>“Here we are with 16 days to go in the session taking up some very important policy that should be heard and fully vetted in these committees,” he said. “And we are doing it once again as a budget trailer item on some key tax and resource policy. Traditionally, when we have the implications on the regulatory side and the new tax that’s going to be involved, I think we would like to vet out in the committee process and have input on … what is going to be deemed a wood product that’s going to be subject to the 1 percent sales tax.”</p>
<p>Hearing the word “tax,” Committee <a href="http://sd03.senate.ca.gov/" type="external">Chairman Mark Leno</a>, D-San Francisco, smiled and corrected La Malfa, calling it a “regulatory fee.”</p>
<p>La Malfa responded, “If it walks and quacks like a tax …” He went on to agree with Wright about incompetent regulations: “I’m just really troubled by this. And this is something that I care passionately about. I’ve served here almost eight years in the Legislature. And forestry management issues, the ability to harvest timber within our state instead of exporting our so-called environmental problem to other states or countries, I think great strides need to be made. Yet what we are doing is conceding California’s costs are going to be tremendously higher for timber harvest plans than Oregon or Washington, which are very successful in managing forests.”</p>
<p><a href="http://cssrc.us/web/37/" type="external">Sen. Bill Emerson</a>, R-Riverside, is concerned that the lumber tax revenue will be sawed off to other programs, especially if more money comes in than is needed to regulate timber.</p>
<p>“What happens when the economy improves and the dollars go to, say, $60 million?” Emerson asked Paulin. “You’re telling me that any excess funds would be protected and not ripped off as we’ve done traditionally in this state of California. Will they go into the General Fund and just be used for whatever?”</p>
<p>Paulin responded, “No, they clearly can’t go into the General Fund, being a regulatory fee.”</p>
<p>Emerson interrupted, “Sir, sir, it’s not a regulatory fee. Individuals are paying. This is a tax. It’s a consumer tax that individuals are paying. It has nothing to do with regulatory. You may use it for regulatory, but it has nothing to do with a regulatory fee. Let’s be honest about that one.”</p>
<p>But the committee Democrats were persuaded by the pleas from timber company officials, some of whom said that they are in danger of going out of business if AB 1492 is not passed. One of those is Chuck Henderson, manager for <a href="http://shastaforests.com/" type="external">Shasta Forest Timberlands</a>, who said his family-owned company owns 140,000 acres of timberland in northeast California and has been in business since 1894. It is being sued by the federal government for $791 million in connection with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonlight_Fire" type="external">Moonlight fire</a>, which burned 65,000 acres in the Plumas National Forest in 2007. If the federal government is successful in court, Henderson called it “a virtual economic death penalty.</p>
<p>“This law is critical to the survival of family-owned timberland companies such as ours as well as farmers, ranchers, ski areas and anyone else whose business abuts government property. This law sensibly seeks a balance between economic and environmental damages and the value of the land damaged. It recognizes the cost of negligence while also ensuring the risk of accidents is insurable. Last year our insurance doubled for half the coverage. And what’s more, we now have four layers of insurance where we used to have two. This is not sustainable. If we are no longer able to afford insurance, we will no longer be able to stay in business and no longer be able to stewards of our land and no longer able to deliver the economic and environmental benefits that we have provided to the community and to the citizens of California for over a century.”</p>
<p>Leno cited the pleas from Henderson and other timber harvesters as he called for the vote. AB 1492 received two-thirds support, 47-23, in the Assembly on March 22. No Republicans voted for it, but four abstained. The full Senate still is considering it.</p> | 3,501 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Containment was at 60 percent Sunday in the Valencia County fire, as crews continued to mop up the fire area, looking for remaining hot spots and patrolling the fire lines, according to Dan Ware, spokesman for New Mexico State Forestry.</p>
<p>There was no change in the size of the burn area, Ware said in an email, and acreage was holding at 198 acres.</p>
<p>No structures on the private property remain threatened and none was damaged, he said. There were no evacuations.</p>
<p>Valencia County fire crews did have to respond to two additional, small fires Sunday in the Los Chavez area. One of the fires damaged a barn.</p>
<p>Ware said crews will continue to work the area today.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Valencia County fire 60 percent contained | false | https://abqjournal.com/376613/valencia-county-fire-60-percent-contained.html | 2014-03-30 | 2least
| Valencia County fire 60 percent contained
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Containment was at 60 percent Sunday in the Valencia County fire, as crews continued to mop up the fire area, looking for remaining hot spots and patrolling the fire lines, according to Dan Ware, spokesman for New Mexico State Forestry.</p>
<p>There was no change in the size of the burn area, Ware said in an email, and acreage was holding at 198 acres.</p>
<p>No structures on the private property remain threatened and none was damaged, he said. There were no evacuations.</p>
<p>Valencia County fire crews did have to respond to two additional, small fires Sunday in the Los Chavez area. One of the fires damaged a barn.</p>
<p>Ware said crews will continue to work the area today.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 3,502 |
<p>PERRY COUNTY, Ohio (AP) — Two-thirds of Appalachia’s coal industry jobs have disappeared since the 1990s. Now the region is hoping tourism will help rebuild its economy by tapping into history and its rugged natural beauty.</p>
<p>A Shawnee, Ohio, event re-enacted a Prohibition rally outside the real-life former speakeasy. In Corbin, Kentucky, they’re constructing an elk-viewing area on a former mountaintop mine. Virginia’s Crooked Road traces country music history. Ohio’s Winding Road takes visitors back to the birth of the U.S. labor movement.</p>
<p>“We’d like to promote Appalachia as an exotic, interesting place, not the Godforsaken place that we usually get in the national press,” said Todd Christensen, executive director of the Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Foundation.</p>
<p>AUTHENTIC STORIES</p>
<p>For Ohio activist John Winnenberg, the rebirth goes deeper. As eastern Ohio has endured boom-and-bust cycles — of timber, coal, clay and, lately, oil-and-gas extraction — residents have internalized a sense of futility and abandonment that’s hard to shake, he says. That mentality could fade if locals succeed in building their own tourism-based economy. “We’ve been owned before,” said Winnenberg, director of The Winding Road initiative centered in historic Shawnee. “We don’t want to be owned again.”</p>
<p>The promise of a new future for coal country is not new. Billions of dollars have been spent closing, reclaiming, reforesting and redeveloping abandoned mine land since the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act passed 40 years ago.</p>
<p>What’s fresh is the new energy among baby boomers and millennials alike, who seem to enjoy the Rust Belt chic of enjoying a drink or overnight stay in a place full of authentic stories built on sweat and strife.</p>
<p>In Nelsonville, Ohio, Sunday Creek Coal Co. was among dozens of companies that thrived in eastern Ohio during mining’s heyday, 1850 to 1940. Vestiges of that era — opera houses, speakeasies, union halls, railroad depots — are being preserved and promoted for tours, lodging and quirky events like the re-enactment of a Prohibition rally.</p>
<p>“It’s not creating tourism just for other people. We’re going for ourselves as well,” said Winnenberg.</p>
<p>ECOTOURISM</p>
<p>The Corbin, Kentucky-based Appalachian Wildlife Foundation is developing an ecology education site on Kentucky’s first mountaintop removal coal mine.</p>
<p>“Capitalizing on the wildlife of the region for conservation, based on our work, turned into a tourist attraction,” said board chairman Frank Allen.</p>
<p>A wildlife center rich with elk, deer, bear and more than 260 species of birds will open in 2019 while mining operations continue nearby. An economic impact study predicts the 19-square-mile tract of former mine land will attract 638,000 annual visitors, generate $124 million in annual spending by its fifth year and create 2,300 jobs.</p>
<p>“The mining has created phenomenal elk habitat. Elk are, by nature, prairie animals, and the grassland habitat that’s created when the coal mines are restored is very conducive to the elk,” Allen said. “It’s kind of the ultimate irony: The ‘evil’ mountaintop removal process and, all of the sudden, it’s created the ideal habitat for wildlife.”</p>
<p>The Monday Creek Restoration Project in New Straitsville, Ohio, gave locals their first look at a clear-running stream in generations, according to project manager Nate Schlater.</p>
<p>“The stream where a lot of my work has been focused, Monday Creek, was a dead stream, declared possibly unrecoverable in 1994,” he said. “Today, there’s 36 species of fish living in the stream, it’s nearing achieving EPA warm water habitat status. People are now fishing in the stream. My grandkids are catching fish where there’s never been a fish in my lifetime.”</p>
<p>CHANGING ECONOMIES AND MINDS</p>
<p>Coal country overwhelmingly supported President Donald Trump, who pledged to reverse coal’s decline, but just 1,200 new mining jobs have been created across the region since January. That can’t make up for the hemorrhage of the past: In Southwest Virginia, mining employment plunged 45 percent from 1990 to 2014.</p>
<p>Even those with good coal jobs sometimes feel they need backup plans. Rodney Embrey loves his job in communications at the Buckhingham mine in Corning, Ohio, but he’s also started a lucrative side business with a friend selling antiques. Their store is in a building once slated for demolition as an eyesore. “It was a dry goods store when it opened up” in 1905, he said, an era he and others call “the boom.”</p>
<p>The new economy appears to be attracting jobs, tourists and even new residents to the Virginia region that’s furthest along in its efforts. One study there found that arts, entertainment, recreation and related fields added over 5,000 jobs between the year 2000 and 2014. The region’s professional, scientific, education and health sectors also grew by double-digit percentages in 15 years, the study found, as millennials in tech and other location-flexible industries select the region for its down-home charm and outdoor recreation.</p>
<p>“We’ve lost many, many more jobs to coal losses than we’ve attracted,” Christensen said. “But what we’re also finding is that communities that have embraced the creative economy have seen an influx of 25- to 34-year-old college-educated people moving in. We can’t say it’s related, but there’s a correlation.”</p>
<p>He added that visitors often come in with a “stereotype of what they think they’ll find. ... Nine times out of ten, they leave with a different perspective than what they brought.”</p>
<p>PERRY COUNTY, Ohio (AP) — Two-thirds of Appalachia’s coal industry jobs have disappeared since the 1990s. Now the region is hoping tourism will help rebuild its economy by tapping into history and its rugged natural beauty.</p>
<p>A Shawnee, Ohio, event re-enacted a Prohibition rally outside the real-life former speakeasy. In Corbin, Kentucky, they’re constructing an elk-viewing area on a former mountaintop mine. Virginia’s Crooked Road traces country music history. Ohio’s Winding Road takes visitors back to the birth of the U.S. labor movement.</p>
<p>“We’d like to promote Appalachia as an exotic, interesting place, not the Godforsaken place that we usually get in the national press,” said Todd Christensen, executive director of the Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Foundation.</p>
<p>AUTHENTIC STORIES</p>
<p>For Ohio activist John Winnenberg, the rebirth goes deeper. As eastern Ohio has endured boom-and-bust cycles — of timber, coal, clay and, lately, oil-and-gas extraction — residents have internalized a sense of futility and abandonment that’s hard to shake, he says. That mentality could fade if locals succeed in building their own tourism-based economy. “We’ve been owned before,” said Winnenberg, director of The Winding Road initiative centered in historic Shawnee. “We don’t want to be owned again.”</p>
<p>The promise of a new future for coal country is not new. Billions of dollars have been spent closing, reclaiming, reforesting and redeveloping abandoned mine land since the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act passed 40 years ago.</p>
<p>What’s fresh is the new energy among baby boomers and millennials alike, who seem to enjoy the Rust Belt chic of enjoying a drink or overnight stay in a place full of authentic stories built on sweat and strife.</p>
<p>In Nelsonville, Ohio, Sunday Creek Coal Co. was among dozens of companies that thrived in eastern Ohio during mining’s heyday, 1850 to 1940. Vestiges of that era — opera houses, speakeasies, union halls, railroad depots — are being preserved and promoted for tours, lodging and quirky events like the re-enactment of a Prohibition rally.</p>
<p>“It’s not creating tourism just for other people. We’re going for ourselves as well,” said Winnenberg.</p>
<p>ECOTOURISM</p>
<p>The Corbin, Kentucky-based Appalachian Wildlife Foundation is developing an ecology education site on Kentucky’s first mountaintop removal coal mine.</p>
<p>“Capitalizing on the wildlife of the region for conservation, based on our work, turned into a tourist attraction,” said board chairman Frank Allen.</p>
<p>A wildlife center rich with elk, deer, bear and more than 260 species of birds will open in 2019 while mining operations continue nearby. An economic impact study predicts the 19-square-mile tract of former mine land will attract 638,000 annual visitors, generate $124 million in annual spending by its fifth year and create 2,300 jobs.</p>
<p>“The mining has created phenomenal elk habitat. Elk are, by nature, prairie animals, and the grassland habitat that’s created when the coal mines are restored is very conducive to the elk,” Allen said. “It’s kind of the ultimate irony: The ‘evil’ mountaintop removal process and, all of the sudden, it’s created the ideal habitat for wildlife.”</p>
<p>The Monday Creek Restoration Project in New Straitsville, Ohio, gave locals their first look at a clear-running stream in generations, according to project manager Nate Schlater.</p>
<p>“The stream where a lot of my work has been focused, Monday Creek, was a dead stream, declared possibly unrecoverable in 1994,” he said. “Today, there’s 36 species of fish living in the stream, it’s nearing achieving EPA warm water habitat status. People are now fishing in the stream. My grandkids are catching fish where there’s never been a fish in my lifetime.”</p>
<p>CHANGING ECONOMIES AND MINDS</p>
<p>Coal country overwhelmingly supported President Donald Trump, who pledged to reverse coal’s decline, but just 1,200 new mining jobs have been created across the region since January. That can’t make up for the hemorrhage of the past: In Southwest Virginia, mining employment plunged 45 percent from 1990 to 2014.</p>
<p>Even those with good coal jobs sometimes feel they need backup plans. Rodney Embrey loves his job in communications at the Buckhingham mine in Corning, Ohio, but he’s also started a lucrative side business with a friend selling antiques. Their store is in a building once slated for demolition as an eyesore. “It was a dry goods store when it opened up” in 1905, he said, an era he and others call “the boom.”</p>
<p>The new economy appears to be attracting jobs, tourists and even new residents to the Virginia region that’s furthest along in its efforts. One study there found that arts, entertainment, recreation and related fields added over 5,000 jobs between the year 2000 and 2014. The region’s professional, scientific, education and health sectors also grew by double-digit percentages in 15 years, the study found, as millennials in tech and other location-flexible industries select the region for its down-home charm and outdoor recreation.</p>
<p>“We’ve lost many, many more jobs to coal losses than we’ve attracted,” Christensen said. “But what we’re also finding is that communities that have embraced the creative economy have seen an influx of 25- to 34-year-old college-educated people moving in. We can’t say it’s related, but there’s a correlation.”</p>
<p>He added that visitors often come in with a “stereotype of what they think they’ll find. ... Nine times out of ten, they leave with a different perspective than what they brought.”</p> | Tourism in coal country: Digging into culture, ecotourism | false | https://apnews.com/7c710c4f5746477880fd27b9ee7dc8e3 | 2017-12-26 | 2least
| Tourism in coal country: Digging into culture, ecotourism
<p>PERRY COUNTY, Ohio (AP) — Two-thirds of Appalachia’s coal industry jobs have disappeared since the 1990s. Now the region is hoping tourism will help rebuild its economy by tapping into history and its rugged natural beauty.</p>
<p>A Shawnee, Ohio, event re-enacted a Prohibition rally outside the real-life former speakeasy. In Corbin, Kentucky, they’re constructing an elk-viewing area on a former mountaintop mine. Virginia’s Crooked Road traces country music history. Ohio’s Winding Road takes visitors back to the birth of the U.S. labor movement.</p>
<p>“We’d like to promote Appalachia as an exotic, interesting place, not the Godforsaken place that we usually get in the national press,” said Todd Christensen, executive director of the Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Foundation.</p>
<p>AUTHENTIC STORIES</p>
<p>For Ohio activist John Winnenberg, the rebirth goes deeper. As eastern Ohio has endured boom-and-bust cycles — of timber, coal, clay and, lately, oil-and-gas extraction — residents have internalized a sense of futility and abandonment that’s hard to shake, he says. That mentality could fade if locals succeed in building their own tourism-based economy. “We’ve been owned before,” said Winnenberg, director of The Winding Road initiative centered in historic Shawnee. “We don’t want to be owned again.”</p>
<p>The promise of a new future for coal country is not new. Billions of dollars have been spent closing, reclaiming, reforesting and redeveloping abandoned mine land since the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act passed 40 years ago.</p>
<p>What’s fresh is the new energy among baby boomers and millennials alike, who seem to enjoy the Rust Belt chic of enjoying a drink or overnight stay in a place full of authentic stories built on sweat and strife.</p>
<p>In Nelsonville, Ohio, Sunday Creek Coal Co. was among dozens of companies that thrived in eastern Ohio during mining’s heyday, 1850 to 1940. Vestiges of that era — opera houses, speakeasies, union halls, railroad depots — are being preserved and promoted for tours, lodging and quirky events like the re-enactment of a Prohibition rally.</p>
<p>“It’s not creating tourism just for other people. We’re going for ourselves as well,” said Winnenberg.</p>
<p>ECOTOURISM</p>
<p>The Corbin, Kentucky-based Appalachian Wildlife Foundation is developing an ecology education site on Kentucky’s first mountaintop removal coal mine.</p>
<p>“Capitalizing on the wildlife of the region for conservation, based on our work, turned into a tourist attraction,” said board chairman Frank Allen.</p>
<p>A wildlife center rich with elk, deer, bear and more than 260 species of birds will open in 2019 while mining operations continue nearby. An economic impact study predicts the 19-square-mile tract of former mine land will attract 638,000 annual visitors, generate $124 million in annual spending by its fifth year and create 2,300 jobs.</p>
<p>“The mining has created phenomenal elk habitat. Elk are, by nature, prairie animals, and the grassland habitat that’s created when the coal mines are restored is very conducive to the elk,” Allen said. “It’s kind of the ultimate irony: The ‘evil’ mountaintop removal process and, all of the sudden, it’s created the ideal habitat for wildlife.”</p>
<p>The Monday Creek Restoration Project in New Straitsville, Ohio, gave locals their first look at a clear-running stream in generations, according to project manager Nate Schlater.</p>
<p>“The stream where a lot of my work has been focused, Monday Creek, was a dead stream, declared possibly unrecoverable in 1994,” he said. “Today, there’s 36 species of fish living in the stream, it’s nearing achieving EPA warm water habitat status. People are now fishing in the stream. My grandkids are catching fish where there’s never been a fish in my lifetime.”</p>
<p>CHANGING ECONOMIES AND MINDS</p>
<p>Coal country overwhelmingly supported President Donald Trump, who pledged to reverse coal’s decline, but just 1,200 new mining jobs have been created across the region since January. That can’t make up for the hemorrhage of the past: In Southwest Virginia, mining employment plunged 45 percent from 1990 to 2014.</p>
<p>Even those with good coal jobs sometimes feel they need backup plans. Rodney Embrey loves his job in communications at the Buckhingham mine in Corning, Ohio, but he’s also started a lucrative side business with a friend selling antiques. Their store is in a building once slated for demolition as an eyesore. “It was a dry goods store when it opened up” in 1905, he said, an era he and others call “the boom.”</p>
<p>The new economy appears to be attracting jobs, tourists and even new residents to the Virginia region that’s furthest along in its efforts. One study there found that arts, entertainment, recreation and related fields added over 5,000 jobs between the year 2000 and 2014. The region’s professional, scientific, education and health sectors also grew by double-digit percentages in 15 years, the study found, as millennials in tech and other location-flexible industries select the region for its down-home charm and outdoor recreation.</p>
<p>“We’ve lost many, many more jobs to coal losses than we’ve attracted,” Christensen said. “But what we’re also finding is that communities that have embraced the creative economy have seen an influx of 25- to 34-year-old college-educated people moving in. We can’t say it’s related, but there’s a correlation.”</p>
<p>He added that visitors often come in with a “stereotype of what they think they’ll find. ... Nine times out of ten, they leave with a different perspective than what they brought.”</p>
<p>PERRY COUNTY, Ohio (AP) — Two-thirds of Appalachia’s coal industry jobs have disappeared since the 1990s. Now the region is hoping tourism will help rebuild its economy by tapping into history and its rugged natural beauty.</p>
<p>A Shawnee, Ohio, event re-enacted a Prohibition rally outside the real-life former speakeasy. In Corbin, Kentucky, they’re constructing an elk-viewing area on a former mountaintop mine. Virginia’s Crooked Road traces country music history. Ohio’s Winding Road takes visitors back to the birth of the U.S. labor movement.</p>
<p>“We’d like to promote Appalachia as an exotic, interesting place, not the Godforsaken place that we usually get in the national press,” said Todd Christensen, executive director of the Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Foundation.</p>
<p>AUTHENTIC STORIES</p>
<p>For Ohio activist John Winnenberg, the rebirth goes deeper. As eastern Ohio has endured boom-and-bust cycles — of timber, coal, clay and, lately, oil-and-gas extraction — residents have internalized a sense of futility and abandonment that’s hard to shake, he says. That mentality could fade if locals succeed in building their own tourism-based economy. “We’ve been owned before,” said Winnenberg, director of The Winding Road initiative centered in historic Shawnee. “We don’t want to be owned again.”</p>
<p>The promise of a new future for coal country is not new. Billions of dollars have been spent closing, reclaiming, reforesting and redeveloping abandoned mine land since the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act passed 40 years ago.</p>
<p>What’s fresh is the new energy among baby boomers and millennials alike, who seem to enjoy the Rust Belt chic of enjoying a drink or overnight stay in a place full of authentic stories built on sweat and strife.</p>
<p>In Nelsonville, Ohio, Sunday Creek Coal Co. was among dozens of companies that thrived in eastern Ohio during mining’s heyday, 1850 to 1940. Vestiges of that era — opera houses, speakeasies, union halls, railroad depots — are being preserved and promoted for tours, lodging and quirky events like the re-enactment of a Prohibition rally.</p>
<p>“It’s not creating tourism just for other people. We’re going for ourselves as well,” said Winnenberg.</p>
<p>ECOTOURISM</p>
<p>The Corbin, Kentucky-based Appalachian Wildlife Foundation is developing an ecology education site on Kentucky’s first mountaintop removal coal mine.</p>
<p>“Capitalizing on the wildlife of the region for conservation, based on our work, turned into a tourist attraction,” said board chairman Frank Allen.</p>
<p>A wildlife center rich with elk, deer, bear and more than 260 species of birds will open in 2019 while mining operations continue nearby. An economic impact study predicts the 19-square-mile tract of former mine land will attract 638,000 annual visitors, generate $124 million in annual spending by its fifth year and create 2,300 jobs.</p>
<p>“The mining has created phenomenal elk habitat. Elk are, by nature, prairie animals, and the grassland habitat that’s created when the coal mines are restored is very conducive to the elk,” Allen said. “It’s kind of the ultimate irony: The ‘evil’ mountaintop removal process and, all of the sudden, it’s created the ideal habitat for wildlife.”</p>
<p>The Monday Creek Restoration Project in New Straitsville, Ohio, gave locals their first look at a clear-running stream in generations, according to project manager Nate Schlater.</p>
<p>“The stream where a lot of my work has been focused, Monday Creek, was a dead stream, declared possibly unrecoverable in 1994,” he said. “Today, there’s 36 species of fish living in the stream, it’s nearing achieving EPA warm water habitat status. People are now fishing in the stream. My grandkids are catching fish where there’s never been a fish in my lifetime.”</p>
<p>CHANGING ECONOMIES AND MINDS</p>
<p>Coal country overwhelmingly supported President Donald Trump, who pledged to reverse coal’s decline, but just 1,200 new mining jobs have been created across the region since January. That can’t make up for the hemorrhage of the past: In Southwest Virginia, mining employment plunged 45 percent from 1990 to 2014.</p>
<p>Even those with good coal jobs sometimes feel they need backup plans. Rodney Embrey loves his job in communications at the Buckhingham mine in Corning, Ohio, but he’s also started a lucrative side business with a friend selling antiques. Their store is in a building once slated for demolition as an eyesore. “It was a dry goods store when it opened up” in 1905, he said, an era he and others call “the boom.”</p>
<p>The new economy appears to be attracting jobs, tourists and even new residents to the Virginia region that’s furthest along in its efforts. One study there found that arts, entertainment, recreation and related fields added over 5,000 jobs between the year 2000 and 2014. The region’s professional, scientific, education and health sectors also grew by double-digit percentages in 15 years, the study found, as millennials in tech and other location-flexible industries select the region for its down-home charm and outdoor recreation.</p>
<p>“We’ve lost many, many more jobs to coal losses than we’ve attracted,” Christensen said. “But what we’re also finding is that communities that have embraced the creative economy have seen an influx of 25- to 34-year-old college-educated people moving in. We can’t say it’s related, but there’s a correlation.”</p>
<p>He added that visitors often come in with a “stereotype of what they think they’ll find. ... Nine times out of ten, they leave with a different perspective than what they brought.”</p> | 3,503 |
<p>President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to slam Republican Sen.&#160;Lisa Murkowski for her <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/gop-plan-repeal-replace/2017/07/25/id/803785/" type="external">opposition against the healthcare bill</a> Tuesday night.</p>
<p>Senator <a href="https://twitter.com/lisamurkowski" type="external">@lisamurkowski</a> of the Great State of Alaska really let the Republicans, and our country, down yesterday. Too bad!</p>
<p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890168183079960576" type="external">July 26, 2017</a></p>
<p>Murkowski was one of two Republican senators who voted against even opening debate on the measure; she and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, believe no such repeal of Obamacare should happen without a suitable replacement plan.</p>
<p>Nine Republicans altogether voted against the healthcare measure, which needed 60 votes for passage; it got just 43.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/25/trump-senators-who-oppose-obamacare-replacement-will-have-problems.html" type="external">Trump issued a warning</a> Tuesday to Republican senators who vote against any of the sundry bills being floated in the upper chamber.</p>
<p>“Any senator who votes against repeal and replace is telling America that they are fine with the Obamacare nightmare,” Trump said at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio. “And I predict they’ll have a lot of problems.”</p> | Trump: Sen. Murkowski 'Really Let Republicans Down' Over Healthcare | false | https://newsline.com/trump-sen-murkowski-really-let-republicans-down-over-healthcare/ | 2017-07-26 | 1right-center
| Trump: Sen. Murkowski 'Really Let Republicans Down' Over Healthcare
<p>President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to slam Republican Sen.&#160;Lisa Murkowski for her <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/gop-plan-repeal-replace/2017/07/25/id/803785/" type="external">opposition against the healthcare bill</a> Tuesday night.</p>
<p>Senator <a href="https://twitter.com/lisamurkowski" type="external">@lisamurkowski</a> of the Great State of Alaska really let the Republicans, and our country, down yesterday. Too bad!</p>
<p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890168183079960576" type="external">July 26, 2017</a></p>
<p>Murkowski was one of two Republican senators who voted against even opening debate on the measure; she and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, believe no such repeal of Obamacare should happen without a suitable replacement plan.</p>
<p>Nine Republicans altogether voted against the healthcare measure, which needed 60 votes for passage; it got just 43.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/25/trump-senators-who-oppose-obamacare-replacement-will-have-problems.html" type="external">Trump issued a warning</a> Tuesday to Republican senators who vote against any of the sundry bills being floated in the upper chamber.</p>
<p>“Any senator who votes against repeal and replace is telling America that they are fine with the Obamacare nightmare,” Trump said at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio. “And I predict they’ll have a lot of problems.”</p> | 3,504 |
<p>NEW&#160; YORK - US jobs have been going overseas for decades, along the way decimating whole swaths of the country.</p>
<p>Textile and apparel workers have been particularly hard hit: since 1994, more than a million people have lost their jobs in this one industry.</p>
<p>But it's a different story overseas, where many of these jobs have gone.</p>
<p>For workers in places like this one - in a suburb of Manila - a factory job can mean the difference between chronic hunger and a middle class life.&#160;</p>
<p>Here's a snippet:</p> | America the Gutted: Where the jobs have gone (VIDEO) | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-09-10/america-gutted-where-jobs-have-gone-video | 2012-09-10 | 3left-center
| America the Gutted: Where the jobs have gone (VIDEO)
<p>NEW&#160; YORK - US jobs have been going overseas for decades, along the way decimating whole swaths of the country.</p>
<p>Textile and apparel workers have been particularly hard hit: since 1994, more than a million people have lost their jobs in this one industry.</p>
<p>But it's a different story overseas, where many of these jobs have gone.</p>
<p>For workers in places like this one - in a suburb of Manila - a factory job can mean the difference between chronic hunger and a middle class life.&#160;</p>
<p>Here's a snippet:</p> | 3,505 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>WASHINGTON — President Obama began his second inaugural address with a reminder that this ceremony, like the 56 inaugurations before it in U.S. history, was a unifying symbol.</p>
<p>“Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution,” he said from the West Front of the Capitol, his voice echoing across the Mall, where hundreds of thousands of people waved American flags. “We affirm the promise of our democracy.”</p>
<p>Thus ended the warm-courage-of-national-unity portion of the proceedings.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>What followed was less an inaugural address for the ages than a leftover campaign speech combined with an early draft of the State of the Union address. Obama used the most visible platform any president has to decry global-warming skeptics who “still deny the overwhelming judgment of science.” He quarreled with Republicans who say entitlement programs “make us a nation of takers.” He condemned the foreign policy of his predecessor by saying that “enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war.”</p>
<p>“We cannot mistake absolutism for principle or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate,” the president informed his opponents.</p>
<p>Not that they were listening.</p>
<p>George W. Bush declined to join former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter at the ceremony (Bush’s father missed it, too, although he has been in poor health.) Mitt Romney sent regrets and, it appeared, the vast majority of House Republicans skipped the proceedings as well.</p>
<p>With Republican citizens also shunning the event, the crowd gave huge cheers for liberal favorites — John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi, the Clintons, Sonia Sotomayor — and hardly a peep when Lamar Alexander, a Senate GOP leader, gave a magnanimous speech about the moment, “our most conspicuous and enduring symbol of the American democracy … this freedom to vote for our leaders, and the restraint to respect the results.”</p>
<p>Obama’s main event was full of crowd-pleasing lines about equal pay, same-sex marriage, poll access, immigration, gun control and health care. Although it tied together the various elements of his agenda, it failed to rise to the moment.</p>
<p>The president read from the founding documents (“We hold these truths to be self-evident”), echoed John F. Kennedy (“This generation of Americans has been tested by crises”), and even tossed in a Neville Chamberlain phrase (“peace in our time”) and some Hallmark sentiment (“Embrace with solemn duty, and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright”). However, the emphasis was unusually political for an inaugural address. Obama reminded his opponents that his oath of office, “like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction.”</p>
<p>But if the speech wasn’t as grand or as memorable as previous addresses, perhaps that’s not entirely a bad thing. In his first term, Obama was undone by impossibly high expectations. This time, expectations are quite low that he can do much to change the grim state of Washington. With a lower hurdle to clear, Obama’s pedestrian rhetoric and tough words for his opponents gave Americans a fair sense of what to expect in the coming years.</p>
<p>The lower altitude fit the day well. The crowd was big and enthusiastic — a sea of red, white and blue flags extended several blocks — but nothing like the euphoric celebration of four years ago. High clouds blocked the sun and a cold wind chilled the spectators. Chief Justice John Roberts got the oath of office right this time, although Myrlie Evers-Williams, in her invocation, declared Obama the 45th president (he remains the 44th).</p>
<p>Capping the less-than-historic feel of the moment, “American Idol” winner Kelly Clarkson sang “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee.” “Wow,” said the emcee, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., when he returned to the microphone.</p>
<p>There was less wow in the address that preceded Clarkson. Obama teased the crowd with a theme of unity: “Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation and one people.” But his “we the people” theme turned out to be more of a campaign retread. “We the people understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it,” he said. “We reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future.”</p>
<p>And we the people accept that we live in an era of diminished oratory.</p>
<p>E-mail: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group.</p> | An Overly Political Inauguration | false | https://abqjournal.com/162531/an-overly-political-inauguration.html | 2013-01-23 | 2least
| An Overly Political Inauguration
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>WASHINGTON — President Obama began his second inaugural address with a reminder that this ceremony, like the 56 inaugurations before it in U.S. history, was a unifying symbol.</p>
<p>“Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution,” he said from the West Front of the Capitol, his voice echoing across the Mall, where hundreds of thousands of people waved American flags. “We affirm the promise of our democracy.”</p>
<p>Thus ended the warm-courage-of-national-unity portion of the proceedings.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>What followed was less an inaugural address for the ages than a leftover campaign speech combined with an early draft of the State of the Union address. Obama used the most visible platform any president has to decry global-warming skeptics who “still deny the overwhelming judgment of science.” He quarreled with Republicans who say entitlement programs “make us a nation of takers.” He condemned the foreign policy of his predecessor by saying that “enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war.”</p>
<p>“We cannot mistake absolutism for principle or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate,” the president informed his opponents.</p>
<p>Not that they were listening.</p>
<p>George W. Bush declined to join former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter at the ceremony (Bush’s father missed it, too, although he has been in poor health.) Mitt Romney sent regrets and, it appeared, the vast majority of House Republicans skipped the proceedings as well.</p>
<p>With Republican citizens also shunning the event, the crowd gave huge cheers for liberal favorites — John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi, the Clintons, Sonia Sotomayor — and hardly a peep when Lamar Alexander, a Senate GOP leader, gave a magnanimous speech about the moment, “our most conspicuous and enduring symbol of the American democracy … this freedom to vote for our leaders, and the restraint to respect the results.”</p>
<p>Obama’s main event was full of crowd-pleasing lines about equal pay, same-sex marriage, poll access, immigration, gun control and health care. Although it tied together the various elements of his agenda, it failed to rise to the moment.</p>
<p>The president read from the founding documents (“We hold these truths to be self-evident”), echoed John F. Kennedy (“This generation of Americans has been tested by crises”), and even tossed in a Neville Chamberlain phrase (“peace in our time”) and some Hallmark sentiment (“Embrace with solemn duty, and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright”). However, the emphasis was unusually political for an inaugural address. Obama reminded his opponents that his oath of office, “like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction.”</p>
<p>But if the speech wasn’t as grand or as memorable as previous addresses, perhaps that’s not entirely a bad thing. In his first term, Obama was undone by impossibly high expectations. This time, expectations are quite low that he can do much to change the grim state of Washington. With a lower hurdle to clear, Obama’s pedestrian rhetoric and tough words for his opponents gave Americans a fair sense of what to expect in the coming years.</p>
<p>The lower altitude fit the day well. The crowd was big and enthusiastic — a sea of red, white and blue flags extended several blocks — but nothing like the euphoric celebration of four years ago. High clouds blocked the sun and a cold wind chilled the spectators. Chief Justice John Roberts got the oath of office right this time, although Myrlie Evers-Williams, in her invocation, declared Obama the 45th president (he remains the 44th).</p>
<p>Capping the less-than-historic feel of the moment, “American Idol” winner Kelly Clarkson sang “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee.” “Wow,” said the emcee, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., when he returned to the microphone.</p>
<p>There was less wow in the address that preceded Clarkson. Obama teased the crowd with a theme of unity: “Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation and one people.” But his “we the people” theme turned out to be more of a campaign retread. “We the people understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it,” he said. “We reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future.”</p>
<p>And we the people accept that we live in an era of diminished oratory.</p>
<p>E-mail: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group.</p> | 3,506 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Biophagy LLC, which formed late last year, obtained a provisional license in January from UNM’s Science and Technology Corp. to commercialize a process to fight targeted diseases by inciting a natural cleansing system in cells known as “autophagy.”</p>
<p>Vojo Deretic, chair of UNM’s molecular genetic and microbiology department, developed the autophagy-stimulation process through extensive cell-culture research. Now, Biophagy will conduct the first clinical trials, said Stuart Rose, investor and company founder.</p>
<p>“All his (Deretic’s) work to date has been done in petri-dish cell cultures, so the challenge now is how to use his process in living beings,” Rose said. “Biophagy will begin that kind of research, starting with mice. We’re organizing our management team now and getting ready to design the experiments.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Deretic has for years been at the forefront of international efforts to harness autophagy to fight disease. UNM, for example, received a $1 million grant in 2011 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for Deretic to search for drugs that can stimulate the natural cleansing process, which relies on specialized organs inside cells that eliminate harmful microbes.</p>
<p>“It’s like an internal vacuum cleaner,” Deretic said. “If a pathogen, virus or anything malfunctioning gets inside the cell, the vacuum comes in to get it.”</p>
<p>As people grow older, autophagy becomes less efficient, which is one possible explanation for why elderly people develop diseases such as Alzheimer’s. In addition, autophagy often breaks down with many chronic illnesses, such HIV or Crohn’s disease.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>But after screening thousands of existing drugs, Deretic’s team has found compounds that appear to stimulate autophagy in laboratory cultures.</p>
<p>Biophagy will now look at how to deliver the compounds to fight targeted diseases. Since it’s testing existing drugs, Biophagy could achieve U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval faster than with new pharmaceuticals.</p>
<p>“That can help us get to market quicker,” Rose siad.</p>
<p>Biophagy is housed at Albuquerque’s new BioScience Center, which Rose founded last summer. Rose expects to spend about $300,000 for initial research before seeking venture capital or corporate partners. “It’s still very early, but there’s tremendous interest in this field across the pharmaceutical industry,” Rose said. — This article appeared on page B1 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | UNM licenses ‘cell cleaning’ technology | false | https://abqjournal.com/167990/unm-licenses-cell-cleaning-technology.html | 2least
| UNM licenses ‘cell cleaning’ technology
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Biophagy LLC, which formed late last year, obtained a provisional license in January from UNM’s Science and Technology Corp. to commercialize a process to fight targeted diseases by inciting a natural cleansing system in cells known as “autophagy.”</p>
<p>Vojo Deretic, chair of UNM’s molecular genetic and microbiology department, developed the autophagy-stimulation process through extensive cell-culture research. Now, Biophagy will conduct the first clinical trials, said Stuart Rose, investor and company founder.</p>
<p>“All his (Deretic’s) work to date has been done in petri-dish cell cultures, so the challenge now is how to use his process in living beings,” Rose said. “Biophagy will begin that kind of research, starting with mice. We’re organizing our management team now and getting ready to design the experiments.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Deretic has for years been at the forefront of international efforts to harness autophagy to fight disease. UNM, for example, received a $1 million grant in 2011 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for Deretic to search for drugs that can stimulate the natural cleansing process, which relies on specialized organs inside cells that eliminate harmful microbes.</p>
<p>“It’s like an internal vacuum cleaner,” Deretic said. “If a pathogen, virus or anything malfunctioning gets inside the cell, the vacuum comes in to get it.”</p>
<p>As people grow older, autophagy becomes less efficient, which is one possible explanation for why elderly people develop diseases such as Alzheimer’s. In addition, autophagy often breaks down with many chronic illnesses, such HIV or Crohn’s disease.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>But after screening thousands of existing drugs, Deretic’s team has found compounds that appear to stimulate autophagy in laboratory cultures.</p>
<p>Biophagy will now look at how to deliver the compounds to fight targeted diseases. Since it’s testing existing drugs, Biophagy could achieve U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval faster than with new pharmaceuticals.</p>
<p>“That can help us get to market quicker,” Rose siad.</p>
<p>Biophagy is housed at Albuquerque’s new BioScience Center, which Rose founded last summer. Rose expects to spend about $300,000 for initial research before seeking venture capital or corporate partners. “It’s still very early, but there’s tremendous interest in this field across the pharmaceutical industry,” Rose said. — This article appeared on page B1 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | 3,507 |
|
<p>Fox News host and staunch climate change denier Brian Kilmeade got into an argument with a listener on his radio show Tuesday when the caller pointed out that most climatologists believe global warming is real, something that doesn’t jibe with the conservative’s beliefs.</p>
<p>It all started when the caller, who identified himself as “John,” told Kilmeade that the issue was the “most important thing we need to be concerned about.”</p>
<p>Kilmeade, demonstrating his absolute ignorance on the subject, responded sarcastically, “This morning it snowed, only because there was pollution in China.” He added, “You mean the corrupt ones? You mean the corrupt ones who admit they skew their findings?”</p>
<p>But here’s the thing that Kilmeade won’t acknowledge: Studies have shown nearly all climatologists support the science of global warming. Don’t try telling that to the “Fox &amp; Friends” host, who has never let facts get in the way of his opinions.</p>
<p />
<p>The Raw Story:</p>
<p>A 2010 study, though, confirmed that the matter <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/06/04/1003187107.abstract" type="external">really is settled</a> for 97 to 98 percent of climate researchers, echoing a University of Illinois <a href="http://tigger.uic.edu/~pdoran/012009_Doran_final.pdf" type="external">study</a> (PDF) the previous year.</p>
<p>The issue was pushed further into the spotlight when President Barack Obama <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2013/01/22/environmentalists-hail-obama-climate-change-focus" type="external">insisted</a> during his second inaugural address on Monday that his administration would respond to “the threat of climate change,” a move the caller praised.</p>
<p>But conservatives have <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/14/fox-news-contributor-hundreds-of-thousands-of-scientists-deny-climate-change/" type="external">long resisted</a> the idea that the planet is getting warmer.</p>
<p><a href="http://s.tt/1yPWu" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Tracy Bloom</a>.</p> | Only 'Corrupt' Scientists Believe in Climate Change, Fox News Host Claims | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/only-corrupt-scientists-believe-in-climate-change-fox-news-host-claims/ | 2013-02-06 | 4left
| Only 'Corrupt' Scientists Believe in Climate Change, Fox News Host Claims
<p>Fox News host and staunch climate change denier Brian Kilmeade got into an argument with a listener on his radio show Tuesday when the caller pointed out that most climatologists believe global warming is real, something that doesn’t jibe with the conservative’s beliefs.</p>
<p>It all started when the caller, who identified himself as “John,” told Kilmeade that the issue was the “most important thing we need to be concerned about.”</p>
<p>Kilmeade, demonstrating his absolute ignorance on the subject, responded sarcastically, “This morning it snowed, only because there was pollution in China.” He added, “You mean the corrupt ones? You mean the corrupt ones who admit they skew their findings?”</p>
<p>But here’s the thing that Kilmeade won’t acknowledge: Studies have shown nearly all climatologists support the science of global warming. Don’t try telling that to the “Fox &amp; Friends” host, who has never let facts get in the way of his opinions.</p>
<p />
<p>The Raw Story:</p>
<p>A 2010 study, though, confirmed that the matter <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/06/04/1003187107.abstract" type="external">really is settled</a> for 97 to 98 percent of climate researchers, echoing a University of Illinois <a href="http://tigger.uic.edu/~pdoran/012009_Doran_final.pdf" type="external">study</a> (PDF) the previous year.</p>
<p>The issue was pushed further into the spotlight when President Barack Obama <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2013/01/22/environmentalists-hail-obama-climate-change-focus" type="external">insisted</a> during his second inaugural address on Monday that his administration would respond to “the threat of climate change,” a move the caller praised.</p>
<p>But conservatives have <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/14/fox-news-contributor-hundreds-of-thousands-of-scientists-deny-climate-change/" type="external">long resisted</a> the idea that the planet is getting warmer.</p>
<p><a href="http://s.tt/1yPWu" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Tracy Bloom</a>.</p> | 3,508 |
<p>U.S. government bond prices fell Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept a December interest rate increase on the table and said it would start shrinking its asset holdings in October.</p>
<p>The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note increased to 2.273%, compared with 2.238% ahead of the announcement. Yields, which climbed for seven straight sessions through Tuesday, rise as bond prices fall.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Some analysts attributed the rise in yields to what they saw as a more hawkish stance from the Fed. The central bank is still expecting to raise rates again this year and sees three more rate increases next year.</p>
<p>The central bank "gave only passing mention to inflation outside of assuming it will return to the 2% level in the medium term," while continuing to leave near-term rate projections in place, said Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets.</p>
<p>Fears that the Fed will continue to raise rates despite lackluster inflation could keep pressure on the bond market in the near term,</p>
<p>The Fed also said it would begin unwinding its $4.2 trillion bond portfolio built up in the wake of the financial crisis in October. The decision had been widely expected by investors.</p>
<p>Some investors and analysts said the Fed's next steps toward normalizing monetary policy are unprecedented -- raising the possibility of shocks in the debt market, similar to the 2013 "taper tantrum." Yet many say the central bank has telegraphed its moves clearly enough that the bond market's reaction is likely to be muted, at least initially.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Write to Akane Otani at [email protected]</p>
<p>U.S. government bond prices fell for an eighth consecutive session after the Federal Reserve indicated on Wednesday that it could raise rates again in 2017.</p>
<p>The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note settled at 2.276%, its highest close since Aug. 8, up from 2.239% Tuesday. Yields rise as bond prices fall.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the yield on the two-year U.S. Treasury note, which tends to be more sensitive to market expectations for Fed policy, rose to its highest level since November 2008, settling at 1.442%, compared with 1.401% on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Bond yields had inched lower ahead of the Fed meeting, then jumped alongside the U.S. dollar after the bank suggested it is open to raising rates once more this year in December, and three times next year. The central bank also said in a widely expected announcement that it would begin shrinking its $4.2 trillion bond portfolio starting in October.</p>
<p>After the announcement, Investors and analysts sensed a greater chance of a rate rise, with federal-funds futures late Wednesday pointing to a roughly 68% chance of a rate increase by December, according to data from CME Group, compared with about 49% a week ago.</p>
<p>Disappointment that the central bank "gave only passing mention to inflation" while continuing to leave near-term rate projections in place likely accounted for selling in the bond market, said Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets.</p>
<p>A streak of muted inflation readings had made many skeptical of how quickly the Fed would be able to raise rates, although some investors revised their bets last week after data showed an unexpected acceleration in U.S. consumer prices.</p>
<p>Fears that the Fed will continue to raise rates despite lackluster inflation could keep pressure on the bond market in the near term, analysts say, although others believe the Fed is unlikely to move aggressively in normalizing monetary policy.</p>
<p>The central bank said Wednesday that it reduced its longer-term projection for its federal-funds rate. Fed officials now see a rate target of 2.8%, rather than 3%.</p>
<p>The move, analysts say, suggests the Fed will proceed cautiously.</p>
<p>"It's going to be a slow, slow climb," said Chris Gaffney, president of EverBank World Markets, adding that he sees the central bank moving slowly to prevent a market shock.</p>
<p>Write to Akane Otani at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>September 20, 2017 16:35 ET (20:35 GMT)</p> | U.S. Government Bond Prices Fall After Fed Announcement | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/09/20/u-s-government-bond-prices-fall-after-fed-announcement0.html | 2017-09-20 | 0right
| U.S. Government Bond Prices Fall After Fed Announcement
<p>U.S. government bond prices fell Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept a December interest rate increase on the table and said it would start shrinking its asset holdings in October.</p>
<p>The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note increased to 2.273%, compared with 2.238% ahead of the announcement. Yields, which climbed for seven straight sessions through Tuesday, rise as bond prices fall.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Some analysts attributed the rise in yields to what they saw as a more hawkish stance from the Fed. The central bank is still expecting to raise rates again this year and sees three more rate increases next year.</p>
<p>The central bank "gave only passing mention to inflation outside of assuming it will return to the 2% level in the medium term," while continuing to leave near-term rate projections in place, said Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets.</p>
<p>Fears that the Fed will continue to raise rates despite lackluster inflation could keep pressure on the bond market in the near term,</p>
<p>The Fed also said it would begin unwinding its $4.2 trillion bond portfolio built up in the wake of the financial crisis in October. The decision had been widely expected by investors.</p>
<p>Some investors and analysts said the Fed's next steps toward normalizing monetary policy are unprecedented -- raising the possibility of shocks in the debt market, similar to the 2013 "taper tantrum." Yet many say the central bank has telegraphed its moves clearly enough that the bond market's reaction is likely to be muted, at least initially.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Write to Akane Otani at [email protected]</p>
<p>U.S. government bond prices fell for an eighth consecutive session after the Federal Reserve indicated on Wednesday that it could raise rates again in 2017.</p>
<p>The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note settled at 2.276%, its highest close since Aug. 8, up from 2.239% Tuesday. Yields rise as bond prices fall.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the yield on the two-year U.S. Treasury note, which tends to be more sensitive to market expectations for Fed policy, rose to its highest level since November 2008, settling at 1.442%, compared with 1.401% on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Bond yields had inched lower ahead of the Fed meeting, then jumped alongside the U.S. dollar after the bank suggested it is open to raising rates once more this year in December, and three times next year. The central bank also said in a widely expected announcement that it would begin shrinking its $4.2 trillion bond portfolio starting in October.</p>
<p>After the announcement, Investors and analysts sensed a greater chance of a rate rise, with federal-funds futures late Wednesday pointing to a roughly 68% chance of a rate increase by December, according to data from CME Group, compared with about 49% a week ago.</p>
<p>Disappointment that the central bank "gave only passing mention to inflation" while continuing to leave near-term rate projections in place likely accounted for selling in the bond market, said Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets.</p>
<p>A streak of muted inflation readings had made many skeptical of how quickly the Fed would be able to raise rates, although some investors revised their bets last week after data showed an unexpected acceleration in U.S. consumer prices.</p>
<p>Fears that the Fed will continue to raise rates despite lackluster inflation could keep pressure on the bond market in the near term, analysts say, although others believe the Fed is unlikely to move aggressively in normalizing monetary policy.</p>
<p>The central bank said Wednesday that it reduced its longer-term projection for its federal-funds rate. Fed officials now see a rate target of 2.8%, rather than 3%.</p>
<p>The move, analysts say, suggests the Fed will proceed cautiously.</p>
<p>"It's going to be a slow, slow climb," said Chris Gaffney, president of EverBank World Markets, adding that he sees the central bank moving slowly to prevent a market shock.</p>
<p>Write to Akane Otani at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>September 20, 2017 16:35 ET (20:35 GMT)</p> | 3,509 |
<p />
<p>Another day, another poll on Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to voucherize Medicare. The latest one comes from two liberal groups, Herndon Alliance and Know Your Care, which found that voters rejected RyanCare by a 16-point margin, with 54 percent of voters opposing the plan and 38 percent supporting it.</p>
<p>Via Greg Sargent, here’s the way the plan was <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/the-morning-plum/2011/03/03/AGEfAEGH_blog.html" type="external">described</a> to voters: “Instead of the government paying doctors and hospitals directly for treating seniors as Medicare does now, the government would provide vouchers to help seniors buy their own private health insurance policy.” Among two key voting blocs, opposition was even more adamant, with nearly 58 percent of seniors and 60 percent of independents rejecting the plan.</p>
<p>But as Jonathan Chait <a href="http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/05/pseudo-poll-kool-aid-1-1.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+andrewsullivan%2FrApM+%28The+Daily+Dish%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" type="external">points out</a>, it’s important to take all these one-off polls with a grain of salt, particularly those commissioned by groups with an agenda. “Advocacy groups for every cause under the sun like to commission polls that show that the public agrees with them, and it can almost always be done if the wording is just right. If that somehow fails, the pollster-for-hire can present the respondents with arguments that are designed to push them toward the desired result,” Chait writes.</p>
<p>What’s more, the problem with this type of poll is that they often pose the question outside of a broader political discussion or debate—the context in which voters are far more likely to encounter them, as opposed to a succinct, one-message description. To that end, Nate Silver <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/republicans-may-need-exit-strategy-from-medicare-plan/" type="external">highlights</a> a poll recently conducted by the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation that presented voters with the broader arguments that the supporters and opponents of RyanCare have been making:</p>
<p>To the 50 percent who were opposed to the plan originally, Kaiser recited a series of arguments that resemble those that Mr. Ryan himself is making: That the plan would reduce the deficit, that the plan would increase choice and that it would save Medicare from fiscal insolvency. Some respondents, 17 percent of those who were originally opposed to the plan, changed their mind after hearing these arguments.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, to the voters who originally supported the plan, Kaiser read another set of arguments, those which resemble the ones that Democrats are making. They said that the plan would increase health care costs and reduce benefits, would do too much to empower private insurance companies, and would “eliminate traditional Medicare.” Upon hearing these arguments, 42 percent of voters who originally supported the plans changed their minds and said they were no longer in favor of it.</p>
<p>Democrats, in other words, seem to have the more persuasive side of the argument — their case was more than twice as likely to change a voter’s mind.</p>
<p>So while both the Herndon Alliance/Know Your Care and Kaiser polls are likely to cheer Democrats who are betting that RyanCare is widely unpopular, the results of the latter may be a better indicator of how voters will really react to Democratic entreaties to reject the GOP plan.</p>
<p /> | What Good are Polls on RyanCare? | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2011/06/what-good-are-polls-ryancare/ | 2011-06-02 | 4left
| What Good are Polls on RyanCare?
<p />
<p>Another day, another poll on Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to voucherize Medicare. The latest one comes from two liberal groups, Herndon Alliance and Know Your Care, which found that voters rejected RyanCare by a 16-point margin, with 54 percent of voters opposing the plan and 38 percent supporting it.</p>
<p>Via Greg Sargent, here’s the way the plan was <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/the-morning-plum/2011/03/03/AGEfAEGH_blog.html" type="external">described</a> to voters: “Instead of the government paying doctors and hospitals directly for treating seniors as Medicare does now, the government would provide vouchers to help seniors buy their own private health insurance policy.” Among two key voting blocs, opposition was even more adamant, with nearly 58 percent of seniors and 60 percent of independents rejecting the plan.</p>
<p>But as Jonathan Chait <a href="http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/05/pseudo-poll-kool-aid-1-1.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+andrewsullivan%2FrApM+%28The+Daily+Dish%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" type="external">points out</a>, it’s important to take all these one-off polls with a grain of salt, particularly those commissioned by groups with an agenda. “Advocacy groups for every cause under the sun like to commission polls that show that the public agrees with them, and it can almost always be done if the wording is just right. If that somehow fails, the pollster-for-hire can present the respondents with arguments that are designed to push them toward the desired result,” Chait writes.</p>
<p>What’s more, the problem with this type of poll is that they often pose the question outside of a broader political discussion or debate—the context in which voters are far more likely to encounter them, as opposed to a succinct, one-message description. To that end, Nate Silver <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/republicans-may-need-exit-strategy-from-medicare-plan/" type="external">highlights</a> a poll recently conducted by the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation that presented voters with the broader arguments that the supporters and opponents of RyanCare have been making:</p>
<p>To the 50 percent who were opposed to the plan originally, Kaiser recited a series of arguments that resemble those that Mr. Ryan himself is making: That the plan would reduce the deficit, that the plan would increase choice and that it would save Medicare from fiscal insolvency. Some respondents, 17 percent of those who were originally opposed to the plan, changed their mind after hearing these arguments.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, to the voters who originally supported the plan, Kaiser read another set of arguments, those which resemble the ones that Democrats are making. They said that the plan would increase health care costs and reduce benefits, would do too much to empower private insurance companies, and would “eliminate traditional Medicare.” Upon hearing these arguments, 42 percent of voters who originally supported the plans changed their minds and said they were no longer in favor of it.</p>
<p>Democrats, in other words, seem to have the more persuasive side of the argument — their case was more than twice as likely to change a voter’s mind.</p>
<p>So while both the Herndon Alliance/Know Your Care and Kaiser polls are likely to cheer Democrats who are betting that RyanCare is widely unpopular, the results of the latter may be a better indicator of how voters will really react to Democratic entreaties to reject the GOP plan.</p>
<p /> | 3,510 |
<p />
<p>Chrysler Group will likely file documents for its initial public offering this week, Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said, as Italian parent Fiat and a union healthcare trust look to resolve a dispute over the automaker’s value.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Marchionne, who is also the CEO of Fiat, provided the timeline in an interview with the U.K.’s Financial Times newspaper. Last week, the executive told reporters in Italy that <a href="" type="internal">Chrysler’s IPO would likely happen in early 2014</a>.</p>
<p>A Chrysler IPO is widely seen as a way to end the disagreement between Fiat and VEBA, the United Auto Workers union retiree healthcare trust that holds the remaining 41.5% stake in the third-largest U.S. car maker.</p>
<p>Marchionne has long planned to acquire VEBA’s ownership in Chrysler and merge the two automakers into one company. A merger between Fiat and Chrysler would allow them to better compete in a competitive industry. It would also provide cost savings and give Fiat more direct access to the rebounding U.S. auto market and Chrysler’s cash flow.</p>
<p>Instead, Fiat and VEBA have sparred over how much the healthcare trust’s stake is worth, a dispute that ended up in court.</p>
<p>While Fiat has exercised options to potentially increase its stake to 68.4%, VEBA exercised a legal right to demand that 16.6% of Chrysler get listed. VEBA can sell a stake of up to 25% in a stock market listing, while the rest of its stake are part of the agreement that allows Fiat to gradually purchase more shares.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The healthcare trust has said Chrysler is worth around $10.3 billion. Reuters has cited sources as saying VEBA is seeking $5 billion for its stake, while UBS analysts believe it’s worth $4 billion.</p>
<p>In court documents, Fiat said Chrysler in its entirety is worth about $4.2 billion.</p>
<p>The IPO will serve as an independent valuation of VEBA’s shares.</p>
<p>“We need to go through this process of determining value,” Marchionne told the Financial Times. “[The trust] have been very clear that they are not long-term holders of the assets. They want to monetise, so we need to find a way for them to exit in a way that…does not create what I consider to be exceptionally high or abnormally expectations of value. The market will tell us. Let the market talk.”</p>
<p>Marchionne also criticized VEBA for failing to lower its demands, saying the dispute threatens the automakers’ business.</p>
<p>“It’s not a toy. There are customers and brands and networks and people…I understand monetising the asset, but you can’t play,” he said, adding that Chrysler is worth “what I offered and less than their expectations.”</p> | Marchionne: Chrysler to Kick Off IPO Plans This Week | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/09/16/chrysler-ipo-to-bring-shareholder-battle-to-head.html | 2016-03-05 | 0right
| Marchionne: Chrysler to Kick Off IPO Plans This Week
<p />
<p>Chrysler Group will likely file documents for its initial public offering this week, Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said, as Italian parent Fiat and a union healthcare trust look to resolve a dispute over the automaker’s value.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Marchionne, who is also the CEO of Fiat, provided the timeline in an interview with the U.K.’s Financial Times newspaper. Last week, the executive told reporters in Italy that <a href="" type="internal">Chrysler’s IPO would likely happen in early 2014</a>.</p>
<p>A Chrysler IPO is widely seen as a way to end the disagreement between Fiat and VEBA, the United Auto Workers union retiree healthcare trust that holds the remaining 41.5% stake in the third-largest U.S. car maker.</p>
<p>Marchionne has long planned to acquire VEBA’s ownership in Chrysler and merge the two automakers into one company. A merger between Fiat and Chrysler would allow them to better compete in a competitive industry. It would also provide cost savings and give Fiat more direct access to the rebounding U.S. auto market and Chrysler’s cash flow.</p>
<p>Instead, Fiat and VEBA have sparred over how much the healthcare trust’s stake is worth, a dispute that ended up in court.</p>
<p>While Fiat has exercised options to potentially increase its stake to 68.4%, VEBA exercised a legal right to demand that 16.6% of Chrysler get listed. VEBA can sell a stake of up to 25% in a stock market listing, while the rest of its stake are part of the agreement that allows Fiat to gradually purchase more shares.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The healthcare trust has said Chrysler is worth around $10.3 billion. Reuters has cited sources as saying VEBA is seeking $5 billion for its stake, while UBS analysts believe it’s worth $4 billion.</p>
<p>In court documents, Fiat said Chrysler in its entirety is worth about $4.2 billion.</p>
<p>The IPO will serve as an independent valuation of VEBA’s shares.</p>
<p>“We need to go through this process of determining value,” Marchionne told the Financial Times. “[The trust] have been very clear that they are not long-term holders of the assets. They want to monetise, so we need to find a way for them to exit in a way that…does not create what I consider to be exceptionally high or abnormally expectations of value. The market will tell us. Let the market talk.”</p>
<p>Marchionne also criticized VEBA for failing to lower its demands, saying the dispute threatens the automakers’ business.</p>
<p>“It’s not a toy. There are customers and brands and networks and people…I understand monetising the asset, but you can’t play,” he said, adding that Chrysler is worth “what I offered and less than their expectations.”</p> | 3,511 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>More Californians — but slightly fewer Americans — would support the Golden State’s withdrawal from the Union, according to a new poll feeding attention around a nascent movement to achieve a lawful, peaceful secession.</p>
<p>“About 32 percent of Californians want to create their own country, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found, including many Democrats who are frustrated with the election of President Trump,” the Hill <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/315804-more-californians-than-ever-want-state-to-secede-from-us" type="external">reported</a>. “Pollsters surveyed 500 Californians between Dec. 6 and Jan. 19. Nationally, 22 percent of respondents favor secession, they found” — a figure, like the California number, sure to have included some people with federalist or libertarian interests in seeing a discussion over the state’s status change.</p>
<p>“Still, half of Californians opposed the idea,” the Los Angeles Times <a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-poll-shows-support-for-california-1485281419-htmlstory.html" type="external">reported</a>, “though Democrats were more inclined to support it than Republicans. The survey found that 60 percent of Republicans gave the idea of peacefully seceding&#160;a thumbs down compared with&#160;48 percent of Democrats and 50 percent of independents.”</p>
<p>In 2014, 24 percent of respondents nationwide were found to be amenable to California secession. But in-state, the new percentage represented a big jump. “The 32 percent support rate is sharply higher than the last time the poll asked Californians about secession, in 2014, when one-in-five or 20 percent favored it around the time Scotland held its independence referendum and voted to remain in the United Kingdom,” Newsmax <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/california-poll-secession-trump/2017/01/23/id/770029/" type="external">noted</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>Although peaceful secession has long been confined to the realm of political fantasy, California’s&#160;perceived increased deviation from broader political trends nationwide has helped ensure the scheme a prominent place in the popular imagination and the press. “Even though California is the most populous state in the union and has the sixth-largest economy in the world, secession would be, realistically speaking, very difficult,” as the San Francisco Chronicle <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Reuters-poll-says-1-in-3-Californians-calexit-10879933.php" type="external">noted</a>. “Two-thirds of Congress and three-quarters of U.S. states (at least 38) would need to approve of the creation of an amendment that would allow for the legality of the state’s withdrawal.” But California Democrats, leery of losing ground on several fronts, have taken advantage of the state’s big popular vote margin in favor of Hillary Clinton to promise a continuation of their hallmark policies.&#160;</p>
<p>“It may not be ‘Calexit’&#160;— the name of a decidedly quixotic campaign for California to withdraw from the union — but it is turning into what is, for all intents and purposes, a slow-motion secession,” the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/us/california-strikes-a-bold-pose-as-vanguard-of-the-resistance.html" type="external">suggested</a>. “California is becoming to Mr. Trump what Texas —&#160;which is as Republican as California is Democratic&#160;— was to President Obama: a sea of defiance and a potential source of unending legal and legislative challenges.” On the other hand,&#160;“it will be difficult for California to promote the kind of spending program[s] lawmakers want to make up for cuts in Washington, particularly on health care,” the Times observed, complicating the rosy picture summoned by secessionist leaders of a prosperous march to the beat of the state’s own drum.&#160;</p>
<p>For members of Yes California, the quixotic group working hardest&#160;toward secession, the increased popularity of a break with the union came as welcome&#160;news that seemed to square with their expectations. “We always thought that if we just connected with the people who thought about this, but didn’t tell their friends and family because they would be seen as kooky and weird, that the quiet population would become vocal,” as Marcus Evans, vice president of Yes California, <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article116250838.html" type="external">told</a> the Sacramento Bee.&#160;</p>
<p>Nevertheless, growing support could be largely symbolic — a familiar way of expressing dissatisfaction with national politics. “California isn’t the only state which has flirted with&#160;abandoning the U.S.,” as HotAir <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2017/01/24/one-third-of-californians-support-calexit/" type="external">pointed</a> out. “Prior to the election, Public Policy Polling, which often asks gag questions intended to embarrass Republicans, found that 40 percent of Texans would consider secession if Clinton won the election.”</p> | More Californians would support CA secession | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2017/01/27/californians-support-ca-secession/ | 2018-01-20 | 3left-center
| More Californians would support CA secession
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>More Californians — but slightly fewer Americans — would support the Golden State’s withdrawal from the Union, according to a new poll feeding attention around a nascent movement to achieve a lawful, peaceful secession.</p>
<p>“About 32 percent of Californians want to create their own country, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found, including many Democrats who are frustrated with the election of President Trump,” the Hill <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/315804-more-californians-than-ever-want-state-to-secede-from-us" type="external">reported</a>. “Pollsters surveyed 500 Californians between Dec. 6 and Jan. 19. Nationally, 22 percent of respondents favor secession, they found” — a figure, like the California number, sure to have included some people with federalist or libertarian interests in seeing a discussion over the state’s status change.</p>
<p>“Still, half of Californians opposed the idea,” the Los Angeles Times <a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-poll-shows-support-for-california-1485281419-htmlstory.html" type="external">reported</a>, “though Democrats were more inclined to support it than Republicans. The survey found that 60 percent of Republicans gave the idea of peacefully seceding&#160;a thumbs down compared with&#160;48 percent of Democrats and 50 percent of independents.”</p>
<p>In 2014, 24 percent of respondents nationwide were found to be amenable to California secession. But in-state, the new percentage represented a big jump. “The 32 percent support rate is sharply higher than the last time the poll asked Californians about secession, in 2014, when one-in-five or 20 percent favored it around the time Scotland held its independence referendum and voted to remain in the United Kingdom,” Newsmax <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/california-poll-secession-trump/2017/01/23/id/770029/" type="external">noted</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>Although peaceful secession has long been confined to the realm of political fantasy, California’s&#160;perceived increased deviation from broader political trends nationwide has helped ensure the scheme a prominent place in the popular imagination and the press. “Even though California is the most populous state in the union and has the sixth-largest economy in the world, secession would be, realistically speaking, very difficult,” as the San Francisco Chronicle <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Reuters-poll-says-1-in-3-Californians-calexit-10879933.php" type="external">noted</a>. “Two-thirds of Congress and three-quarters of U.S. states (at least 38) would need to approve of the creation of an amendment that would allow for the legality of the state’s withdrawal.” But California Democrats, leery of losing ground on several fronts, have taken advantage of the state’s big popular vote margin in favor of Hillary Clinton to promise a continuation of their hallmark policies.&#160;</p>
<p>“It may not be ‘Calexit’&#160;— the name of a decidedly quixotic campaign for California to withdraw from the union — but it is turning into what is, for all intents and purposes, a slow-motion secession,” the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/us/california-strikes-a-bold-pose-as-vanguard-of-the-resistance.html" type="external">suggested</a>. “California is becoming to Mr. Trump what Texas —&#160;which is as Republican as California is Democratic&#160;— was to President Obama: a sea of defiance and a potential source of unending legal and legislative challenges.” On the other hand,&#160;“it will be difficult for California to promote the kind of spending program[s] lawmakers want to make up for cuts in Washington, particularly on health care,” the Times observed, complicating the rosy picture summoned by secessionist leaders of a prosperous march to the beat of the state’s own drum.&#160;</p>
<p>For members of Yes California, the quixotic group working hardest&#160;toward secession, the increased popularity of a break with the union came as welcome&#160;news that seemed to square with their expectations. “We always thought that if we just connected with the people who thought about this, but didn’t tell their friends and family because they would be seen as kooky and weird, that the quiet population would become vocal,” as Marcus Evans, vice president of Yes California, <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article116250838.html" type="external">told</a> the Sacramento Bee.&#160;</p>
<p>Nevertheless, growing support could be largely symbolic — a familiar way of expressing dissatisfaction with national politics. “California isn’t the only state which has flirted with&#160;abandoning the U.S.,” as HotAir <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2017/01/24/one-third-of-californians-support-calexit/" type="external">pointed</a> out. “Prior to the election, Public Policy Polling, which often asks gag questions intended to embarrass Republicans, found that 40 percent of Texans would consider secession if Clinton won the election.”</p> | 3,512 |
<p>VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican set the stage Tuesday for Pope Francis' next church meeting on the family, urging bishops to be guided not just by doctrine but by Francis' message of mercy and the "turning point" of the first meeting that sought to provide better pastoral care for gays and divorcees.</p>
<p>The Vatican sent a new questionnaire to bishops' conferences around the world seeking input on a host of family issues from a broad swath of Catholics, including ordinary churchgoers. Their responses will help form the basis of debate for October's meeting of top churchmen who will make final recommendations to Francis about how the Catholic Church can better tend to its families.</p>
<p>Among other things, the questionnaire asked how the church can care for families with gay children and discern "positive and negative elements" in heterosexual civil unions.</p>
<p>It also asked how the church can better provide sacraments for Catholics who divorce and remarry outside the church. Church teaching holds that without an annulment, or a church decree that the first marriage was null, such Catholics are living in sin and are thus ineligible to receive communion.</p>
<p>Francis has sought to end what he calls "de facto excommunication" for these Catholics, and the issue was a source of heated debate during the first family synod last October.</p>
<p>The new questionnaire urges bishops to "let yourselves be guided by the pastoral turning point that the extraordinary synod began to sketch out." It urged bishops not to turn in responses that were purely doctrinal in nature or ones that "start from zero" by ignoring what emerged from the first synod.</p>
<p>That meeting was marked by deep divisions over how to welcome gays and Catholics not living in sacramental marriages while also insisting on church teaching.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Nicole Winfield at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/nwinfield" type="external">www.twitter.com/nwinfield</a></p>
<p>VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican set the stage Tuesday for Pope Francis' next church meeting on the family, urging bishops to be guided not just by doctrine but by Francis' message of mercy and the "turning point" of the first meeting that sought to provide better pastoral care for gays and divorcees.</p>
<p>The Vatican sent a new questionnaire to bishops' conferences around the world seeking input on a host of family issues from a broad swath of Catholics, including ordinary churchgoers. Their responses will help form the basis of debate for October's meeting of top churchmen who will make final recommendations to Francis about how the Catholic Church can better tend to its families.</p>
<p>Among other things, the questionnaire asked how the church can care for families with gay children and discern "positive and negative elements" in heterosexual civil unions.</p>
<p>It also asked how the church can better provide sacraments for Catholics who divorce and remarry outside the church. Church teaching holds that without an annulment, or a church decree that the first marriage was null, such Catholics are living in sin and are thus ineligible to receive communion.</p>
<p>Francis has sought to end what he calls "de facto excommunication" for these Catholics, and the issue was a source of heated debate during the first family synod last October.</p>
<p>The new questionnaire urges bishops to "let yourselves be guided by the pastoral turning point that the extraordinary synod began to sketch out." It urged bishops not to turn in responses that were purely doctrinal in nature or ones that "start from zero" by ignoring what emerged from the first synod.</p>
<p>That meeting was marked by deep divisions over how to welcome gays and Catholics not living in sacramental marriages while also insisting on church teaching.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Nicole Winfield at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/nwinfield" type="external">www.twitter.com/nwinfield</a></p> | Vatican: Bishops should move forward on family | false | https://apnews.com/amp/1e09a6cee58c49ae8b02cef6ec829861 | 2014-12-09 | 2least
| Vatican: Bishops should move forward on family
<p>VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican set the stage Tuesday for Pope Francis' next church meeting on the family, urging bishops to be guided not just by doctrine but by Francis' message of mercy and the "turning point" of the first meeting that sought to provide better pastoral care for gays and divorcees.</p>
<p>The Vatican sent a new questionnaire to bishops' conferences around the world seeking input on a host of family issues from a broad swath of Catholics, including ordinary churchgoers. Their responses will help form the basis of debate for October's meeting of top churchmen who will make final recommendations to Francis about how the Catholic Church can better tend to its families.</p>
<p>Among other things, the questionnaire asked how the church can care for families with gay children and discern "positive and negative elements" in heterosexual civil unions.</p>
<p>It also asked how the church can better provide sacraments for Catholics who divorce and remarry outside the church. Church teaching holds that without an annulment, or a church decree that the first marriage was null, such Catholics are living in sin and are thus ineligible to receive communion.</p>
<p>Francis has sought to end what he calls "de facto excommunication" for these Catholics, and the issue was a source of heated debate during the first family synod last October.</p>
<p>The new questionnaire urges bishops to "let yourselves be guided by the pastoral turning point that the extraordinary synod began to sketch out." It urged bishops not to turn in responses that were purely doctrinal in nature or ones that "start from zero" by ignoring what emerged from the first synod.</p>
<p>That meeting was marked by deep divisions over how to welcome gays and Catholics not living in sacramental marriages while also insisting on church teaching.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Nicole Winfield at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/nwinfield" type="external">www.twitter.com/nwinfield</a></p>
<p>VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican set the stage Tuesday for Pope Francis' next church meeting on the family, urging bishops to be guided not just by doctrine but by Francis' message of mercy and the "turning point" of the first meeting that sought to provide better pastoral care for gays and divorcees.</p>
<p>The Vatican sent a new questionnaire to bishops' conferences around the world seeking input on a host of family issues from a broad swath of Catholics, including ordinary churchgoers. Their responses will help form the basis of debate for October's meeting of top churchmen who will make final recommendations to Francis about how the Catholic Church can better tend to its families.</p>
<p>Among other things, the questionnaire asked how the church can care for families with gay children and discern "positive and negative elements" in heterosexual civil unions.</p>
<p>It also asked how the church can better provide sacraments for Catholics who divorce and remarry outside the church. Church teaching holds that without an annulment, or a church decree that the first marriage was null, such Catholics are living in sin and are thus ineligible to receive communion.</p>
<p>Francis has sought to end what he calls "de facto excommunication" for these Catholics, and the issue was a source of heated debate during the first family synod last October.</p>
<p>The new questionnaire urges bishops to "let yourselves be guided by the pastoral turning point that the extraordinary synod began to sketch out." It urged bishops not to turn in responses that were purely doctrinal in nature or ones that "start from zero" by ignoring what emerged from the first synod.</p>
<p>That meeting was marked by deep divisions over how to welcome gays and Catholics not living in sacramental marriages while also insisting on church teaching.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Nicole Winfield at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/nwinfield" type="external">www.twitter.com/nwinfield</a></p> | 3,513 |
<p>According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, entrepreneurs are creating the fewest new U.S. businesses in more than a decade.</p>
<p>‪Since March 2010, approximately 550,000 new businesses opened in the U.S. That's the weakest growth since the Bureau started tracking the data in the early 1990s, and down sharply from the record 667,000 new businesses added from March 2005 to March 2006.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>For those small businesses that are up and running, optimism is waning. According to a report from the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents more than 300,000 small businesses, optimism among small business owners fell in May for the third consecutive month. The main factor of the depleting optimism could be 1 in 4 owners still reporting weak sales as their top problem.‬</p>
<p>‪But there was some good news for small businesses in June….</p>
<p>‪In a move intended to provide relief to mobile small businesses facing high gas prices, the IRS increased the optional standard mileage rate. The 4.5-cent increase, to 55.5 cents a mile, goes into effect on July 1 through the remainder of the year. Taxpayers use the optional standard mileage rate to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business.</p>
<p>The <a href="" type="internal">Federal Reserve</a> capped the amount banks can charge merchants for processing debit-card payments at 21 cents, down from the current average of 44 cents. According to <a href="" type="internal">the Fed</a>, banks charged retailers more than $16 billion dollars in swipe fees in 2009 on 38 billion consumer transactions.</p> | June’s Small Business Monthly News | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/06/30/junes-small-business-monthly-news.html | 2016-03-22 | 0right
| June’s Small Business Monthly News
<p>According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, entrepreneurs are creating the fewest new U.S. businesses in more than a decade.</p>
<p>‪Since March 2010, approximately 550,000 new businesses opened in the U.S. That's the weakest growth since the Bureau started tracking the data in the early 1990s, and down sharply from the record 667,000 new businesses added from March 2005 to March 2006.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>For those small businesses that are up and running, optimism is waning. According to a report from the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents more than 300,000 small businesses, optimism among small business owners fell in May for the third consecutive month. The main factor of the depleting optimism could be 1 in 4 owners still reporting weak sales as their top problem.‬</p>
<p>‪But there was some good news for small businesses in June….</p>
<p>‪In a move intended to provide relief to mobile small businesses facing high gas prices, the IRS increased the optional standard mileage rate. The 4.5-cent increase, to 55.5 cents a mile, goes into effect on July 1 through the remainder of the year. Taxpayers use the optional standard mileage rate to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business.</p>
<p>The <a href="" type="internal">Federal Reserve</a> capped the amount banks can charge merchants for processing debit-card payments at 21 cents, down from the current average of 44 cents. According to <a href="" type="internal">the Fed</a>, banks charged retailers more than $16 billion dollars in swipe fees in 2009 on 38 billion consumer transactions.</p> | 3,514 |
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p /> JESSE FREESTON, PRODUCER, TRNN: Welcome to Real News Network. I'm Jesse Freeston, reporting from the G-20 Summit in Toronto. On Saturday afternoon outside the Toronto G-20 meetings, a group of people dressed in black using a tactic known as the black bloc smashed windows of corporate franchises and banks and burned police vehicles. After weeks of suggesting that the reason for a $1 billion police presence was precisely to stop such groups, when the time came the police were nowhere to be seen. So far there have been no reports of people being hurt by the black bloc. The same cannot be said about the Toronto Police. During a press conference with Toronto Chief of Police William Blair following the black bloc events, Real News senior editor Paul Jay asked about a different confrontation.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: On television this morning, before the black bloc tactic was used, the images on CNN and a lot of local television were of what happened yesterday, and there were images of police officers hitting and kicking demonstrators. And I have to say one of our own journalists was punched in the face, and we have video footage of that. My question is: are you aware of the incident, and are you going to investigate it, and will there be some public explanation about why there was that type of confrontation and violence?
<p />
<p />BILL BLAIR, TORONTO CHIEF OF POLICE: Unfortunately, Paul, I'm very aware of the incident, and we were videotaping it as well. We videotaped all aspects of that. One of the things the media missed yesterday was a large cadre of black bloc dressed people in the center of that crowd. As it approached along College Street they began to throw things at my officers. It was necessary for my people to put their helmets on, and it was also necessary for us to go into that crowd and arrest some of the people that were attacking them. That�all of that was videoed. Now, if your reporter wishes to make a complaint of any kind against the police, there's a proper format to do that, and I urge you either to contact us in writing and have them do that, or he can call the Office of the Independent Police Review. And I'm not going to comment on [inaudible]
<p />
<p />JAY: No, I'm not�I know you�I'm not asking you to, 'cause I know you can't. But we will also make our footage available to you, 'cause in our footage there's no view of any kind of black bloc tactic in that incident. But we'll be happy to share it with you.
<p />
<p />BLAIR: I have photographs of that, and, actually, they were taken right from the balcony outside my office. I'll be more than happy to share that with you and all of the media.
<p />
<p />JAY: We can compare tape.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: Here's what happened from my perspective. A few thousand people left Allan Gardens Park for a peaceful march entitled Justice for Our Communities. At some point, order came for the police to put on their riot gear. Minutes later a marcher named Emomotimi Azorbo was detained by police and taken into a nearby Winners clothing store. Police then surrounded the entrance. It was later discovered that Azorbo was arrested for ignoring police orders. Azorbo is deaf. His friends and supporters had gathered around, demanding his immediate release and trying to explain his deafness to police.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />ACQUAINTANCE OF EMOMOTIMI AZORBO (SUBTITLED): So then the police�. He's completely deaf, yes.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: Contrary to the police chief's statement, there was no black bloc in the vicinity. Then police began to violently clear all people and the media out of the area. I was filming the assaults and clearly wearing my press credentials. I was forcefully removed. As I was being thrown out, the man beside me was punched clear off his feet by an officer. A group of officers then threw me on their bikes and I was punched in the face twice. Immediately afterward, I asked the officer why he punched me.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: Is that your orders, to punish journalists in the face? Is that your orders today?
<p />
<p />TORONTO POLICE OFFICER: Hold the line.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: When I tried to ask the supervisor for more details,�
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />SUPERVISOR, TORONTO POLICE (SUBTITLED): Okay, just give him another shot.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: �another officer appeared and snatched my microphone,�
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: What are you doing? That's my mic!
<p />
<p />OFFICER: Get out!
<p />
<p />FREESTON: Give me my mic! I want my mic back!
<p />
<p />WITNESS: How can you attack the media?
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: �then kicked it further behind the police line. I was told to leave immediately, while officers jabbed me with their bike handle. Other journalists gathered to demand my mic be returned, and after a few minutes it was thrown back to me.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: Thank you. Alright. Does it still work?
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: More police were then called in to fortify the building. Azorbo was eventually transferred to a jail, and his friends say that he was held in custody for an additional day without independent translation before being released. More than 400 people have been arrested this week, currently being held at an old film studio on Eastern Avenue, including numerous mass arrests of peaceful demonstrations and targeting of community organizers. On Saturday night, police arrested and beat up Guardian correspondent Jesse Rosenfeld. Numerous other journalists have shared his fate. I include my own story here not to draw attention to the fact that I was punched, but to the fact that when police attack journalists, they're attacking a basic democratic right, the public's right to know what's going on.
<p />
<p />End of Transcript
<p />
<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | Real News Journalist Attacked at G-20 | true | http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?Itemid%3D74%26id%3D31%26jumival%3D5326%26option%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview | 2010-06-27 | 4left
| Real News Journalist Attacked at G-20
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p /> JESSE FREESTON, PRODUCER, TRNN: Welcome to Real News Network. I'm Jesse Freeston, reporting from the G-20 Summit in Toronto. On Saturday afternoon outside the Toronto G-20 meetings, a group of people dressed in black using a tactic known as the black bloc smashed windows of corporate franchises and banks and burned police vehicles. After weeks of suggesting that the reason for a $1 billion police presence was precisely to stop such groups, when the time came the police were nowhere to be seen. So far there have been no reports of people being hurt by the black bloc. The same cannot be said about the Toronto Police. During a press conference with Toronto Chief of Police William Blair following the black bloc events, Real News senior editor Paul Jay asked about a different confrontation.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: On television this morning, before the black bloc tactic was used, the images on CNN and a lot of local television were of what happened yesterday, and there were images of police officers hitting and kicking demonstrators. And I have to say one of our own journalists was punched in the face, and we have video footage of that. My question is: are you aware of the incident, and are you going to investigate it, and will there be some public explanation about why there was that type of confrontation and violence?
<p />
<p />BILL BLAIR, TORONTO CHIEF OF POLICE: Unfortunately, Paul, I'm very aware of the incident, and we were videotaping it as well. We videotaped all aspects of that. One of the things the media missed yesterday was a large cadre of black bloc dressed people in the center of that crowd. As it approached along College Street they began to throw things at my officers. It was necessary for my people to put their helmets on, and it was also necessary for us to go into that crowd and arrest some of the people that were attacking them. That�all of that was videoed. Now, if your reporter wishes to make a complaint of any kind against the police, there's a proper format to do that, and I urge you either to contact us in writing and have them do that, or he can call the Office of the Independent Police Review. And I'm not going to comment on [inaudible]
<p />
<p />JAY: No, I'm not�I know you�I'm not asking you to, 'cause I know you can't. But we will also make our footage available to you, 'cause in our footage there's no view of any kind of black bloc tactic in that incident. But we'll be happy to share it with you.
<p />
<p />BLAIR: I have photographs of that, and, actually, they were taken right from the balcony outside my office. I'll be more than happy to share that with you and all of the media.
<p />
<p />JAY: We can compare tape.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: Here's what happened from my perspective. A few thousand people left Allan Gardens Park for a peaceful march entitled Justice for Our Communities. At some point, order came for the police to put on their riot gear. Minutes later a marcher named Emomotimi Azorbo was detained by police and taken into a nearby Winners clothing store. Police then surrounded the entrance. It was later discovered that Azorbo was arrested for ignoring police orders. Azorbo is deaf. His friends and supporters had gathered around, demanding his immediate release and trying to explain his deafness to police.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />ACQUAINTANCE OF EMOMOTIMI AZORBO (SUBTITLED): So then the police�. He's completely deaf, yes.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: Contrary to the police chief's statement, there was no black bloc in the vicinity. Then police began to violently clear all people and the media out of the area. I was filming the assaults and clearly wearing my press credentials. I was forcefully removed. As I was being thrown out, the man beside me was punched clear off his feet by an officer. A group of officers then threw me on their bikes and I was punched in the face twice. Immediately afterward, I asked the officer why he punched me.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: Is that your orders, to punish journalists in the face? Is that your orders today?
<p />
<p />TORONTO POLICE OFFICER: Hold the line.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: When I tried to ask the supervisor for more details,�
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />SUPERVISOR, TORONTO POLICE (SUBTITLED): Okay, just give him another shot.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: �another officer appeared and snatched my microphone,�
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: What are you doing? That's my mic!
<p />
<p />OFFICER: Get out!
<p />
<p />FREESTON: Give me my mic! I want my mic back!
<p />
<p />WITNESS: How can you attack the media?
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: �then kicked it further behind the police line. I was told to leave immediately, while officers jabbed me with their bike handle. Other journalists gathered to demand my mic be returned, and after a few minutes it was thrown back to me.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: Thank you. Alright. Does it still work?
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />FREESTON: More police were then called in to fortify the building. Azorbo was eventually transferred to a jail, and his friends say that he was held in custody for an additional day without independent translation before being released. More than 400 people have been arrested this week, currently being held at an old film studio on Eastern Avenue, including numerous mass arrests of peaceful demonstrations and targeting of community organizers. On Saturday night, police arrested and beat up Guardian correspondent Jesse Rosenfeld. Numerous other journalists have shared his fate. I include my own story here not to draw attention to the fact that I was punched, but to the fact that when police attack journalists, they're attacking a basic democratic right, the public's right to know what's going on.
<p />
<p />End of Transcript
<p />
<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | 3,515 |
<p>State Department spokeswoman <a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Jen Psaki</a>, who worked on <a href="/topics/barack-obama/" type="external">President Obama</a>’s re-election campaign in 2012, will become the president’s new communications director, <a href="/topics/white-house/" type="external">White House</a> officials said Thursday.</p>
<p><a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Ms. Psaki</a> will replace Jennifer Palmieri, a veteran Democratic strategist who is leaving the <a href="/topics/white-house/" type="external">White House</a> to join Hillary Rodham Clinton’s likely presidential campaign. She will start her new job April 1. The Associated Press first reported the move.</p>
<p>In a statement, Mr. Obama said Ms. Palmieri is a “good friend” and praised her as a “brilliant and effective communications director and trusted adviser.”</p>
<p>“I’d say <a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Jen</a> is irreplaceable — if <a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Jen Psaki</a> hadn’t agreed to step in,” Mr. Obama said. “I fully trust <a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Jen</a> — and I am thrilled she’s agreed to come back to the <a href="/topics/white-house/" type="external">White House</a> as communications director.”</p>
<p>When Jay Carney departed last year as <a href="/topics/white-house/" type="external">White House</a> press secretary, there was speculation that <a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Ms. Psaki</a> would get the post. Instead the president chose Josh Earnest, who had served as Mr. Carney’s chief deputy.</p>
<p><a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Ms. Psaki</a> has been part of Mr. Obama’s team since 2007, when she was traveling press secretary during his first presidential campaign. She also served in that role for <a href="/topics/barack-obama/" type="external">Mr. Obama</a>’s re-election campaign in 2012.</p>
<p>In her new role, <a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Ms. Psaki</a> will be responsible for crafting the <a href="/topics/white-house/" type="external">White House</a>’s overall communications strategy.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC. <a href="http://license.icopyright.net/3.7280?icx_id=/news/2015/feb/19/obama-picks-jen-psaki-head-wh-communications/" type="external">Click here for reprint permission</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Obama picks State Dept.’s Jen Psaki to head White House communications | true | http://washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/19/obama-picks-jen-psaki-head-wh-communications/ | 2015-02-19 | 0right
| Obama picks State Dept.’s Jen Psaki to head White House communications
<p>State Department spokeswoman <a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Jen Psaki</a>, who worked on <a href="/topics/barack-obama/" type="external">President Obama</a>’s re-election campaign in 2012, will become the president’s new communications director, <a href="/topics/white-house/" type="external">White House</a> officials said Thursday.</p>
<p><a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Ms. Psaki</a> will replace Jennifer Palmieri, a veteran Democratic strategist who is leaving the <a href="/topics/white-house/" type="external">White House</a> to join Hillary Rodham Clinton’s likely presidential campaign. She will start her new job April 1. The Associated Press first reported the move.</p>
<p>In a statement, Mr. Obama said Ms. Palmieri is a “good friend” and praised her as a “brilliant and effective communications director and trusted adviser.”</p>
<p>“I’d say <a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Jen</a> is irreplaceable — if <a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Jen Psaki</a> hadn’t agreed to step in,” Mr. Obama said. “I fully trust <a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Jen</a> — and I am thrilled she’s agreed to come back to the <a href="/topics/white-house/" type="external">White House</a> as communications director.”</p>
<p>When Jay Carney departed last year as <a href="/topics/white-house/" type="external">White House</a> press secretary, there was speculation that <a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Ms. Psaki</a> would get the post. Instead the president chose Josh Earnest, who had served as Mr. Carney’s chief deputy.</p>
<p><a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Ms. Psaki</a> has been part of Mr. Obama’s team since 2007, when she was traveling press secretary during his first presidential campaign. She also served in that role for <a href="/topics/barack-obama/" type="external">Mr. Obama</a>’s re-election campaign in 2012.</p>
<p>In her new role, <a href="/topics/jennifer-psaki/" type="external">Ms. Psaki</a> will be responsible for crafting the <a href="/topics/white-house/" type="external">White House</a>’s overall communications strategy.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC. <a href="http://license.icopyright.net/3.7280?icx_id=/news/2015/feb/19/obama-picks-jen-psaki-head-wh-communications/" type="external">Click here for reprint permission</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 3,516 |
<p>Abound Solar, a Loveland, Colo.-based solar panel manufacturer that received a $400 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, has announced it will suspend operations next week and file for bankruptcy protection, <a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Solar-firm-that-got-DOE-loan-to-declare-bankruptcy-3670556.php" type="external">the Associated Press reported</a>. Abound borrowed about $70 million from the feds before the DOE froze its credit line last year.</p>
<p>California solar panel maker Solyndra, which filed for bankruptcy last year, received a $528 million loan guarantee through the same DOE program, <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-28/abound-solar-to-close-as-early-as-today-greentech-media-says" type="external">Bloomberg Businessweek reported</a>.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/110831/solyndra-solar-panel-manufacturer-bankruptcy-obama-energy-department" type="external">Solar panel company abruptly shuts down</a></p>
<p>Abound said its panels were too expensive to compete with Chinese panels, according to the AP. "Aggressive pricing actions from Chinese solar panel companies have made it very difficult for an early-stage startup company like Abound to scale in current market conditions," the company said in a statement.</p>
<p>The price of solar panels fell by half last year, due in part to stepped-up Chinese competition, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.</p>
<p>Abound's bankruptcy announcement "is not surprising at all," Anthony Kim, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in New York, told Bloomberg Businessweek. "They were trying to sell to a competitive, over-supplied market with limited production. That keeps costs high."</p>
<p>Damien LaVera, a spokesman for the Energy Department, said that Abound's failure won't stop the Obama administration from pushing for clean energy, the AP reported, "Americans invented solar technology, and with the right support our companies can out-innovate and out-build any competitor, anywhere in the world," LaVera said.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/120320/chinese-solar-panels-us-import-tariffs-unfair-subsidies" type="external">Chinese solar panels hit with new US import duties</a> &#160;</p> | Abound Solar to file for bankruptcy | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-06-28/abound-solar-file-bankruptcy | 2012-06-28 | 3left-center
| Abound Solar to file for bankruptcy
<p>Abound Solar, a Loveland, Colo.-based solar panel manufacturer that received a $400 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, has announced it will suspend operations next week and file for bankruptcy protection, <a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Solar-firm-that-got-DOE-loan-to-declare-bankruptcy-3670556.php" type="external">the Associated Press reported</a>. Abound borrowed about $70 million from the feds before the DOE froze its credit line last year.</p>
<p>California solar panel maker Solyndra, which filed for bankruptcy last year, received a $528 million loan guarantee through the same DOE program, <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-28/abound-solar-to-close-as-early-as-today-greentech-media-says" type="external">Bloomberg Businessweek reported</a>.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/110831/solyndra-solar-panel-manufacturer-bankruptcy-obama-energy-department" type="external">Solar panel company abruptly shuts down</a></p>
<p>Abound said its panels were too expensive to compete with Chinese panels, according to the AP. "Aggressive pricing actions from Chinese solar panel companies have made it very difficult for an early-stage startup company like Abound to scale in current market conditions," the company said in a statement.</p>
<p>The price of solar panels fell by half last year, due in part to stepped-up Chinese competition, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.</p>
<p>Abound's bankruptcy announcement "is not surprising at all," Anthony Kim, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in New York, told Bloomberg Businessweek. "They were trying to sell to a competitive, over-supplied market with limited production. That keeps costs high."</p>
<p>Damien LaVera, a spokesman for the Energy Department, said that Abound's failure won't stop the Obama administration from pushing for clean energy, the AP reported, "Americans invented solar technology, and with the right support our companies can out-innovate and out-build any competitor, anywhere in the world," LaVera said.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/120320/chinese-solar-panels-us-import-tariffs-unfair-subsidies" type="external">Chinese solar panels hit with new US import duties</a> &#160;</p> | 3,517 |
<p>CAMP MOREHEAD, Afghanistan—Signaling that the U.S. military expects its mission to continue, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan on Sunday hailed the launch of the Afghan Army’s new special operations corps, declaring that “we are with you and we will stay with you.”</p>
<p>Gen. John Nicholson’s exhortation of continued support for the Afghans suggested the Pentagon may have won its argument that America’s military must stay engaged in the conflict in order to ensure terrorists don’t once again threaten the U.S. from safe havens in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>The White House announced that President Donald Trump would address the nation’s troops and the American people Monday night to update the path forward in Afghanistan and South Asia.</p>
<p>Nicholson, speaking prior to the White House announcement, said the commandos and a plan to double the size of the Afghan’s special operations forces are critical to winning the war.</p>
<p />
<p>“I assure you we are with you in this fight. We are with you and we will stay with you,” he said during a ceremony at Camp Morehead, a training base for Afghan commandos southeast of Kabul.</p>
<p>The Pentagon was awaiting a final announcement by Trump on a proposal to send nearly 4,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. The added forces would increase training and advising of the Afghan forces and bolster counterterrorism operations against the Taliban and an Islamic State group affiliate trying to gain a foothold in the country.</p>
<p>The administration has been at odds for months over how to craft a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan amid frustrations that 16 years after 9/11 the conflict is stalemated.</p>
<p>The Afghan government controls only half of the country and is beset by endemic corruption and infighting. The Islamic State group has been hit hard but continues to attempt major attacks, insurgents still find safe harbor in Pakistan, and Russia, Iran and others are increasingly trying to shape the outcome. At this point, everything the U.S. military has proposed points to keeping the Afghan government in place and struggling to turn around a conflict that has become a quagmire.</p>
<p>U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he is satisfied with how the administration formulated its new Afghanistan war strategy. But he refused to talk about the new policy until it was disclosed by Trump.</p>
<p>He said the deliberations, including talks at the Camp David presidential retreat on Friday, were done properly.</p>
<p>“I am very comfortable that the strategic process was sufficiently rigorous,” Mattis said, speaking aboard a military aircraft on an overnight flight from Washington to Amman, Jordan.</p>
<p>Months ago, Trump gave Mattis authority to set U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, but Mattis said he has not yet sent significant additional forces to the fight. He has said he would wait for Trump to set the strategic direction first.</p>
<p>Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday that he had made decisions at Camp David, “including on Afghanistan,” but he did not say more about it. The expectation had been that he would agree to a modest boost in the U.S. war effort, while also addressing broader political, economic and regional issues.</p>
<p>Mattis said Trump had been presented with multiple options. He did not name them, but others have said one option was to pull out of Afghanistan entirely. Another, which Mattis had mentioned recently in Washington, was to hire private contractors to perform some of the U.S. military’s duties.</p>
<p>At Camp Morehead, lines of Afghan commandos stood at attention as Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and a host of proud dignitaries sat under flag-draped canopies and welcomed the advancement in their nation’s long-struggling military.</p>
<p>In short remarks to the force, Nicholson said a defeat in Afghanistan would erode safety in the U.S. and “embolden jihadists around the world.”</p>
<p>That’s why, he said, the U.S. is helping to double the size of the Afghan commando force, adding that the ceremony “marks the beginning of the end of the Taliban.”</p>
<p>Maj. Gen. James Linder, the head of U.S. and NATO special operations forces in Afghanistan, said the nearly 4,000 troops requested by the Pentagon for Afghanistan includes about 460 trainers for his staff to help increase the size of the special operations forces.</p>
<p>He said he’d be able expand training locations and ensure they have advisers at all the right levels, including on the new Afghan special operations corps staff.</p>
<p>According to a senior U.S. military officer in Kabul, increasing the number of American troops would allow the military to quickly send additional advisers or airstrike support to two simultaneous operations. Right now, the official said, they can only do so for one.</p>
<p>The officer said it would allow the U.S. to send fighter aircraft, refueling aircraft and surveillance aircraft to multiple locations for missions.</p>
<p>The officer was not authorized to discuss the details publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>Afghan military commanders have been clear that they want and expect continued U.S. military help.</p>
<p>Pulling out American forces “would be a total failure,” Col. Abdul Mahfuz, the Afghan intelligence agency chief for Qarahbagh, north of Kabul, said Saturday. And he said that substituting paid contractors for U.S. troops would be a formula for continuing the war, rather than completing it.</p>
<p>Mahfuz and other Afghan commanders spoke at a shura council meeting at Bagram air base attended also by U.S. military officers and Afghan intelligence officials.</p>
<p>Col. Abdul Mobin, who commands an Afghan mechanized battalion in the 111th Division, said any reduction in the U.S. military presence “leads to total failure.”</p>
<p>Speaking through an interpreter, he added that operations by Afghan and U.S. special operations forces have been very effective, and that “the presence of U.S. military personnel is felt and considered a positive step for peace.”</p>
<p>He said he’d like to see an additional 10,000 American troops in the country.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Trump Will Address Path Forward on Afghanistan | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/trump-will-address-path-forward-afghanistan/ | 2017-08-20 | 4left
| Trump Will Address Path Forward on Afghanistan
<p>CAMP MOREHEAD, Afghanistan—Signaling that the U.S. military expects its mission to continue, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan on Sunday hailed the launch of the Afghan Army’s new special operations corps, declaring that “we are with you and we will stay with you.”</p>
<p>Gen. John Nicholson’s exhortation of continued support for the Afghans suggested the Pentagon may have won its argument that America’s military must stay engaged in the conflict in order to ensure terrorists don’t once again threaten the U.S. from safe havens in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>The White House announced that President Donald Trump would address the nation’s troops and the American people Monday night to update the path forward in Afghanistan and South Asia.</p>
<p>Nicholson, speaking prior to the White House announcement, said the commandos and a plan to double the size of the Afghan’s special operations forces are critical to winning the war.</p>
<p />
<p>“I assure you we are with you in this fight. We are with you and we will stay with you,” he said during a ceremony at Camp Morehead, a training base for Afghan commandos southeast of Kabul.</p>
<p>The Pentagon was awaiting a final announcement by Trump on a proposal to send nearly 4,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. The added forces would increase training and advising of the Afghan forces and bolster counterterrorism operations against the Taliban and an Islamic State group affiliate trying to gain a foothold in the country.</p>
<p>The administration has been at odds for months over how to craft a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan amid frustrations that 16 years after 9/11 the conflict is stalemated.</p>
<p>The Afghan government controls only half of the country and is beset by endemic corruption and infighting. The Islamic State group has been hit hard but continues to attempt major attacks, insurgents still find safe harbor in Pakistan, and Russia, Iran and others are increasingly trying to shape the outcome. At this point, everything the U.S. military has proposed points to keeping the Afghan government in place and struggling to turn around a conflict that has become a quagmire.</p>
<p>U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he is satisfied with how the administration formulated its new Afghanistan war strategy. But he refused to talk about the new policy until it was disclosed by Trump.</p>
<p>He said the deliberations, including talks at the Camp David presidential retreat on Friday, were done properly.</p>
<p>“I am very comfortable that the strategic process was sufficiently rigorous,” Mattis said, speaking aboard a military aircraft on an overnight flight from Washington to Amman, Jordan.</p>
<p>Months ago, Trump gave Mattis authority to set U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, but Mattis said he has not yet sent significant additional forces to the fight. He has said he would wait for Trump to set the strategic direction first.</p>
<p>Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday that he had made decisions at Camp David, “including on Afghanistan,” but he did not say more about it. The expectation had been that he would agree to a modest boost in the U.S. war effort, while also addressing broader political, economic and regional issues.</p>
<p>Mattis said Trump had been presented with multiple options. He did not name them, but others have said one option was to pull out of Afghanistan entirely. Another, which Mattis had mentioned recently in Washington, was to hire private contractors to perform some of the U.S. military’s duties.</p>
<p>At Camp Morehead, lines of Afghan commandos stood at attention as Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and a host of proud dignitaries sat under flag-draped canopies and welcomed the advancement in their nation’s long-struggling military.</p>
<p>In short remarks to the force, Nicholson said a defeat in Afghanistan would erode safety in the U.S. and “embolden jihadists around the world.”</p>
<p>That’s why, he said, the U.S. is helping to double the size of the Afghan commando force, adding that the ceremony “marks the beginning of the end of the Taliban.”</p>
<p>Maj. Gen. James Linder, the head of U.S. and NATO special operations forces in Afghanistan, said the nearly 4,000 troops requested by the Pentagon for Afghanistan includes about 460 trainers for his staff to help increase the size of the special operations forces.</p>
<p>He said he’d be able expand training locations and ensure they have advisers at all the right levels, including on the new Afghan special operations corps staff.</p>
<p>According to a senior U.S. military officer in Kabul, increasing the number of American troops would allow the military to quickly send additional advisers or airstrike support to two simultaneous operations. Right now, the official said, they can only do so for one.</p>
<p>The officer said it would allow the U.S. to send fighter aircraft, refueling aircraft and surveillance aircraft to multiple locations for missions.</p>
<p>The officer was not authorized to discuss the details publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>Afghan military commanders have been clear that they want and expect continued U.S. military help.</p>
<p>Pulling out American forces “would be a total failure,” Col. Abdul Mahfuz, the Afghan intelligence agency chief for Qarahbagh, north of Kabul, said Saturday. And he said that substituting paid contractors for U.S. troops would be a formula for continuing the war, rather than completing it.</p>
<p>Mahfuz and other Afghan commanders spoke at a shura council meeting at Bagram air base attended also by U.S. military officers and Afghan intelligence officials.</p>
<p>Col. Abdul Mobin, who commands an Afghan mechanized battalion in the 111th Division, said any reduction in the U.S. military presence “leads to total failure.”</p>
<p>Speaking through an interpreter, he added that operations by Afghan and U.S. special operations forces have been very effective, and that “the presence of U.S. military personnel is felt and considered a positive step for peace.”</p>
<p>He said he’d like to see an additional 10,000 American troops in the country.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 3,518 |
<p>Elizabeth Warren's twitter war with the bombastic Trump seems to have already gotten under his skin.</p>
<p>Good.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/273783-trump-on-warren-you-mean-the-indian" type="external">The Hill</a></p>
<p>GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Monday called Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) an “Indian,” resurrecting a controversy over whether she can claim Native American ancestry.</p>
<p>“You mean the Indian?” Trump asked when a reporter inquired about Warren during a press conference in Washington, D.C. “Who’s that? The Indian?”</p>
<p>Trump then accused Warren of inflaming tensions between everyday Americans by attacking the legitimacy of his White House run earlier the same day. “The problem with this country right now is it’s so divided,” he said. "People like Elizabeth Warren really have to get their act together because it’s going to stay divided.</p>
<p>“That includes Hillary,” Trump continued, referencing Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton. "And that probably includes me.</p> | Donald Trump Refers To Elizabeth Warren As 'The Indian' At Presser | true | http://crooksandliars.com/2016/03/donald-trump-refers-elizabeth-warren | 2016-03-21 | 4left
| Donald Trump Refers To Elizabeth Warren As 'The Indian' At Presser
<p>Elizabeth Warren's twitter war with the bombastic Trump seems to have already gotten under his skin.</p>
<p>Good.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/273783-trump-on-warren-you-mean-the-indian" type="external">The Hill</a></p>
<p>GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Monday called Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) an “Indian,” resurrecting a controversy over whether she can claim Native American ancestry.</p>
<p>“You mean the Indian?” Trump asked when a reporter inquired about Warren during a press conference in Washington, D.C. “Who’s that? The Indian?”</p>
<p>Trump then accused Warren of inflaming tensions between everyday Americans by attacking the legitimacy of his White House run earlier the same day. “The problem with this country right now is it’s so divided,” he said. "People like Elizabeth Warren really have to get their act together because it’s going to stay divided.</p>
<p>“That includes Hillary,” Trump continued, referencing Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton. "And that probably includes me.</p> | 3,519 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Albuquerque already has a bike sharing program, as pictured here, and Santa Fe city officials have discussed starting one here. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>While humans have been planning cities and transportation networks for millennia, planning for bikeshare is something new.</p>
<p>In just the last few years, many American cities have launched ambitious bikeshare services - with systems in at least 78 major U.S. cities - all aimed at providing a new transportation option. (Editor's note: Santa Fe is considering a similar program)</p>
<p>Planners have learned much about the technical side of putting together these networks, from station density to operating procedures. However, the ideal public side of this process hasn't been formalized, particularly for individual stations.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Are new stations more like, say, new passenger rail stations? Or are they more like bus stops? What is the right level of public outreach for an individual station? Approaches in the field have varied, from handling planning in large batches to working on a smaller scale.</p>
<p>In the public-policy world, Arlington, Va., is known for the "Arlington Way" - a commitment to an open and participatory planning process. That ideal is not only built into planning for the Capital Bikeshare system in Arlington, but on a very granular level - meetings and communication with civic associations and individual residents about individual sites.</p>
<p>Working with BikeArlington, the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services, and Capital Bikeshare, Arlington County Capital Bikeshare Manager Paul DeMaio and I recently developed a brief document, Building Bikeshare Together, which outlines this process step by step.</p>
<p>Hyperlocal input helps achieve a balance of a network that functions from the 30,000-foot perspective and individual stations that fit seamlessly into communities and are free of flaws that sometimes only residents spot. This is particularly crucial in more suburban areas, where bikeshare may be seen as a more "urban" feature and where sensitivity to change can be more acute.</p>
<p>Hyperlocal input is also important in less direct ways. It serves as a way to familiarize residents with bikeshare. Everyone knows what a road or subdivision looks like and how it might benefit or change a neighborhood. Not so much with bikeshare. Often, the planning process is a resident's first exposure to it.</p>
<p>This process helps to build broader support for bikeshare overall. By demonstrating a process that is rational and responsive to feedback, confidence in the system grows.</p>
<p>Here are the basic steps - from virtual dot on a map to physical docks on the street - that individual stations go through in Arlington:</p>
<p>Finally, just as stations are monitored with an eye to how they are performing, so is the planning process itself. Planners evaluate how it can be improved to obtain greater input, which ultimately results in the best locations.</p>
<p>Sometimes this may not be the speediest process, but it results in higher satisfaction from neighborhoods and fewer issues with final station sites.</p>
<p>For more information on Arlington's bikeshare planning process, go to <a href="http://www.bikearlington.com" type="external">bikearlington.com</a>.</p>
<p>Jason Hardin is Arlington's Capital Bikeshare Planner and a consultant to Arlington County (Va.) Commuter Services.</p>
<p /> | Getting public on board with bikeshare system | false | https://abqjournal.com/639022/getting-public-on-board-with-bikeshare-system.html | 2least
| Getting public on board with bikeshare system
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Albuquerque already has a bike sharing program, as pictured here, and Santa Fe city officials have discussed starting one here. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>While humans have been planning cities and transportation networks for millennia, planning for bikeshare is something new.</p>
<p>In just the last few years, many American cities have launched ambitious bikeshare services - with systems in at least 78 major U.S. cities - all aimed at providing a new transportation option. (Editor's note: Santa Fe is considering a similar program)</p>
<p>Planners have learned much about the technical side of putting together these networks, from station density to operating procedures. However, the ideal public side of this process hasn't been formalized, particularly for individual stations.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Are new stations more like, say, new passenger rail stations? Or are they more like bus stops? What is the right level of public outreach for an individual station? Approaches in the field have varied, from handling planning in large batches to working on a smaller scale.</p>
<p>In the public-policy world, Arlington, Va., is known for the "Arlington Way" - a commitment to an open and participatory planning process. That ideal is not only built into planning for the Capital Bikeshare system in Arlington, but on a very granular level - meetings and communication with civic associations and individual residents about individual sites.</p>
<p>Working with BikeArlington, the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services, and Capital Bikeshare, Arlington County Capital Bikeshare Manager Paul DeMaio and I recently developed a brief document, Building Bikeshare Together, which outlines this process step by step.</p>
<p>Hyperlocal input helps achieve a balance of a network that functions from the 30,000-foot perspective and individual stations that fit seamlessly into communities and are free of flaws that sometimes only residents spot. This is particularly crucial in more suburban areas, where bikeshare may be seen as a more "urban" feature and where sensitivity to change can be more acute.</p>
<p>Hyperlocal input is also important in less direct ways. It serves as a way to familiarize residents with bikeshare. Everyone knows what a road or subdivision looks like and how it might benefit or change a neighborhood. Not so much with bikeshare. Often, the planning process is a resident's first exposure to it.</p>
<p>This process helps to build broader support for bikeshare overall. By demonstrating a process that is rational and responsive to feedback, confidence in the system grows.</p>
<p>Here are the basic steps - from virtual dot on a map to physical docks on the street - that individual stations go through in Arlington:</p>
<p>Finally, just as stations are monitored with an eye to how they are performing, so is the planning process itself. Planners evaluate how it can be improved to obtain greater input, which ultimately results in the best locations.</p>
<p>Sometimes this may not be the speediest process, but it results in higher satisfaction from neighborhoods and fewer issues with final station sites.</p>
<p>For more information on Arlington's bikeshare planning process, go to <a href="http://www.bikearlington.com" type="external">bikearlington.com</a>.</p>
<p>Jason Hardin is Arlington's Capital Bikeshare Planner and a consultant to Arlington County (Va.) Commuter Services.</p>
<p /> | 3,520 |
|
<p>* Sberbank CEO bets on new technology</p>
<p>* Targets small companies deemed unbankable</p>
<p>* Lending to small firms can offer high returns</p>
<p>By Andrey Kuzmin</p>
<p>MOSCOW, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank plans to help small firms raise funds from private investors with a peer-to-business platform, three sources familiar with the plans said, competing with two other ventures that support the cash-starved companies.</p>
<p>The state bank’s foray into p2b lending suggests it sees a revival in fortunes for small businesses as consumer spending picks up. It also reflects the commitment of Chief Executive German Gref to enhance the bank’s use of new technology.</p>
<p>Such platforms, offering a service known as crowdinvesting, target small firms deemed unbankable by bankers, such as bakeries, kids clothing stores or football schools, because they do not have a high enough credit score or cannot offer sufficient collateral.</p>
<p>But private investors are attracted by lending to small companies, as it offers better rates than bank deposits or fixed income assets of up to 17 to 25 percent, albeit at higher risk.</p>
<p>By matching the two sides, p2b platforms earn a commission on every transaction of about 4 to 5 percent, while handing 100 percent of default risks to investors.</p>
<p>One banking source told Reuters that Sberbank was planning to launch a p2b project this year. Two financial sources said the bank was ready to announce the project as soon as the first half of 2018. All the sources asked not to be identified.</p>
<p>Sberbank, which declined to comment on the matter, will pitch its platform against the Stream project of Russia’s top private lender Alfa Bank and the largest peer-to-business platform StartTrack financed by the Internet Initiatives Development Fund that is backed by the state.</p>
<p>Both rivals are still lossmaking, their CEOs told Reuters, but they aim to boost turnover and show a profit in two years.</p> UNREGULATED MARKET
<p>Russian crowdinvesting platforms mimic Western firms that have launched initial public offerings (IPOs), such as U.S. firm LendingClub with a market capitalisation of $1.8 billion or Britain’s Funding Circle with 320 million pounds.</p>
<p>Russian p2b lending market is small, standing at about 2.5 billion roubles ($44 million) last year, while Sberbank’s net profit was more than 670 billion roubles in 2017..</p>
<p>Crowdinvesting is not regulated in Russia, making it easier for small firms to secure loans via p2b platforms, StartTrack CEO Konstantin Shabalin said.</p>
<p>“There’s no law governing crowdinvesting, and we fit poorly within the law we currently have. We all are in a somewhat grey area,” Shabalin said.</p>
<p>The Russian central bank did not respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>Russian consumer spending began rising in mid-2017 after falling for two years, the statistics service data show.</p>
<p>Small firms, which rely on consumer confidence, contribute about 20 percent of Russian economic output, about three times less than in the developed world, Gref said in November.</p>
<p>“Russian companies are choking on the lack of funding. You may ask any company - big or small - they don’t know where to raise money,” StartTrack CEO Shabalin said.</p>
<p>$1=56.7534 roubles Additional reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Andrey Kuzmin; Editing by Katya Golubkova and Edmund Blair</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | Russia's Sberbank plans crowdinvesting platform for small firms - sources | false | https://reuters.com/article/russia-sberbank-p2b/russias-sberbank-plans-crowdinvesting-platform-for-small-firms-sources-idUSL8N1PB49R | 2018-01-19 | 2least
| Russia's Sberbank plans crowdinvesting platform for small firms - sources
<p>* Sberbank CEO bets on new technology</p>
<p>* Targets small companies deemed unbankable</p>
<p>* Lending to small firms can offer high returns</p>
<p>By Andrey Kuzmin</p>
<p>MOSCOW, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank plans to help small firms raise funds from private investors with a peer-to-business platform, three sources familiar with the plans said, competing with two other ventures that support the cash-starved companies.</p>
<p>The state bank’s foray into p2b lending suggests it sees a revival in fortunes for small businesses as consumer spending picks up. It also reflects the commitment of Chief Executive German Gref to enhance the bank’s use of new technology.</p>
<p>Such platforms, offering a service known as crowdinvesting, target small firms deemed unbankable by bankers, such as bakeries, kids clothing stores or football schools, because they do not have a high enough credit score or cannot offer sufficient collateral.</p>
<p>But private investors are attracted by lending to small companies, as it offers better rates than bank deposits or fixed income assets of up to 17 to 25 percent, albeit at higher risk.</p>
<p>By matching the two sides, p2b platforms earn a commission on every transaction of about 4 to 5 percent, while handing 100 percent of default risks to investors.</p>
<p>One banking source told Reuters that Sberbank was planning to launch a p2b project this year. Two financial sources said the bank was ready to announce the project as soon as the first half of 2018. All the sources asked not to be identified.</p>
<p>Sberbank, which declined to comment on the matter, will pitch its platform against the Stream project of Russia’s top private lender Alfa Bank and the largest peer-to-business platform StartTrack financed by the Internet Initiatives Development Fund that is backed by the state.</p>
<p>Both rivals are still lossmaking, their CEOs told Reuters, but they aim to boost turnover and show a profit in two years.</p> UNREGULATED MARKET
<p>Russian crowdinvesting platforms mimic Western firms that have launched initial public offerings (IPOs), such as U.S. firm LendingClub with a market capitalisation of $1.8 billion or Britain’s Funding Circle with 320 million pounds.</p>
<p>Russian p2b lending market is small, standing at about 2.5 billion roubles ($44 million) last year, while Sberbank’s net profit was more than 670 billion roubles in 2017..</p>
<p>Crowdinvesting is not regulated in Russia, making it easier for small firms to secure loans via p2b platforms, StartTrack CEO Konstantin Shabalin said.</p>
<p>“There’s no law governing crowdinvesting, and we fit poorly within the law we currently have. We all are in a somewhat grey area,” Shabalin said.</p>
<p>The Russian central bank did not respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>Russian consumer spending began rising in mid-2017 after falling for two years, the statistics service data show.</p>
<p>Small firms, which rely on consumer confidence, contribute about 20 percent of Russian economic output, about three times less than in the developed world, Gref said in November.</p>
<p>“Russian companies are choking on the lack of funding. You may ask any company - big or small - they don’t know where to raise money,” StartTrack CEO Shabalin said.</p>
<p>$1=56.7534 roubles Additional reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Andrey Kuzmin; Editing by Katya Golubkova and Edmund Blair</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | 3,521 |
<p />
<p>Nokia (NYSE:NOK) shares rallied 4.4% late Wednesday morning after receiving two upgrades from analysts, with the Finnish company nearing the sale of its smartphone business to Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Last week, Microsoft announced it agreed to <a href="" type="internal">a $7.2 billion deal to purchase Nokia’s phone unit and license its patents</a>. The software giant already had a partnership with Nokia to make Lumia smartphones that run on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system.</p>
<p>RBC Capital Markets said it upgraded Nokia to outperform and raise its price target to $7 from $5, while Bank of America-Merrill Lynch raised the company to buy from neutral.</p>
<p>In a research note to clients, analysts at RBC Capital Markets praised Nokia for its newfound focus on its patents and network solutions business after agreeing to shed the smartphone unit.</p>
<p>The adjusted price target is a result of the big cash infusion and a favorable outlook for Nokia Solutions and Networks, <a href="" type="internal">formerly known as Nokia Siemens Networks but now fully owned by Nokia</a>. RBC Capital Markets also noted the positive influence of the company’s HERE businesses that include mobile apps for travel and turn-by-turn navigation.</p>
<p>“We believe carrier upgrades in Europe and North America may drive wireless infrastructure stocks, including Nokia, to move higher,” the analysts added.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Nokia’s &#160;may use its new cash to add more scale, services or software through acquisitions, with the analysts saying they believe “Nokia is investigating bolstering its patent portfolio to ensure it can build upon its annual receipt of €500M ($663 million).”</p>
<p>RBC Capital Markets also said Nokia’s quick decline in mobile market share is “now a problem for Microsoft” and Nokia can focus on expanding its LTE network footprint.</p>
<p>Nokia peaked at about 468 million mobile devices shipped in a year. This year, the company is expected to ship just 242 million units.</p>
<p>Shares were recently trading 25 cents higher at $5.91. As of Tuesday’s close, the stock was already up about 43% so far this year.</p> | Nokia Shares Rally on Upgrades | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/09/11/nokia-shares-rally-on-upgrades.html | 2016-03-06 | 0right
| Nokia Shares Rally on Upgrades
<p />
<p>Nokia (NYSE:NOK) shares rallied 4.4% late Wednesday morning after receiving two upgrades from analysts, with the Finnish company nearing the sale of its smartphone business to Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Last week, Microsoft announced it agreed to <a href="" type="internal">a $7.2 billion deal to purchase Nokia’s phone unit and license its patents</a>. The software giant already had a partnership with Nokia to make Lumia smartphones that run on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system.</p>
<p>RBC Capital Markets said it upgraded Nokia to outperform and raise its price target to $7 from $5, while Bank of America-Merrill Lynch raised the company to buy from neutral.</p>
<p>In a research note to clients, analysts at RBC Capital Markets praised Nokia for its newfound focus on its patents and network solutions business after agreeing to shed the smartphone unit.</p>
<p>The adjusted price target is a result of the big cash infusion and a favorable outlook for Nokia Solutions and Networks, <a href="" type="internal">formerly known as Nokia Siemens Networks but now fully owned by Nokia</a>. RBC Capital Markets also noted the positive influence of the company’s HERE businesses that include mobile apps for travel and turn-by-turn navigation.</p>
<p>“We believe carrier upgrades in Europe and North America may drive wireless infrastructure stocks, including Nokia, to move higher,” the analysts added.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Nokia’s &#160;may use its new cash to add more scale, services or software through acquisitions, with the analysts saying they believe “Nokia is investigating bolstering its patent portfolio to ensure it can build upon its annual receipt of €500M ($663 million).”</p>
<p>RBC Capital Markets also said Nokia’s quick decline in mobile market share is “now a problem for Microsoft” and Nokia can focus on expanding its LTE network footprint.</p>
<p>Nokia peaked at about 468 million mobile devices shipped in a year. This year, the company is expected to ship just 242 million units.</p>
<p>Shares were recently trading 25 cents higher at $5.91. As of Tuesday’s close, the stock was already up about 43% so far this year.</p> | 3,522 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>And he’s excited to get back to town.</p>
<p>“Albuquerque has always been a place that embraced us,” he says in a recent phone interview. “We’ve continued to grow the shows out there.”</p>
<p>Hrasky is a member of the Texas-based rock band Explosions in the Sky.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The band has been performing under the name since 1999. It has released seven studio albums, with 2016’s “The Wilderness” being the latest.</p>
<p>Michael James, Munaf Rayani and Mark Smith round out the band with Hrasky.</p>
<p>Explosions in the Sky plays mostly instrumental music.</p>
<p>This leg of the tour will be the last for a while for the band, which will then take a short hiatus off the road to rest.</p>
<p>“We still love playing shows,” he says. “We’ve been doing this nonstop for 18 years. We’re ready for a little bit of a break.”</p>
<p>Hrasky says the members reached an agreement to take a break about six months ago.</p>
<p>“We feel very lucky that we’re able to make this decision,” he says. “Each tour seems to be a little bit bigger. It was a gradual ascent. We started playing to two people in the audience, and now it’s thousands at times. It’s been part of why we have lasted so long. We took each step as a band and made sure each one of us was on board.”</p>
<p>Hrasky says Explosions in the Sky has also done music its own way from the beginning of the band.</p>
<p>In having the majority of its music as instrumental, he says, it’s important for each band member to challenge themselves.</p>
<p>“If you listen to our catalog, you can see the biggest jump from our first to second albums,” he says. “Our process has changed over time, and we’re always looking for ways to make our music different. On this last album, we were so immersed in the entire process.”</p>
<p>Hrasky says getting some time off will also help give the band some new inspiration.</p>
<p>“We’ve been on the road and together for so long that sometimes we can go stir-crazy,” he says with a laugh. “The relaxation will be nice and a great way to start up working on the next album.”</p>
<p>Explosions in the Sky WHEN: 8 tonight WHERE: Sunshine Theater, 120 W. Central HOW MUCH: $25 plus fees at <a href="http://holdmyticket.com" type="external">holdmyticket.com</a></p>
<p /> | Agents of change: Explosions in the Sky ‘always looking for ways to make our music different’ | false | https://abqjournal.com/1063193/agents-of-change.html | 2017-09-15 | 2least
| Agents of change: Explosions in the Sky ‘always looking for ways to make our music different’
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>And he’s excited to get back to town.</p>
<p>“Albuquerque has always been a place that embraced us,” he says in a recent phone interview. “We’ve continued to grow the shows out there.”</p>
<p>Hrasky is a member of the Texas-based rock band Explosions in the Sky.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The band has been performing under the name since 1999. It has released seven studio albums, with 2016’s “The Wilderness” being the latest.</p>
<p>Michael James, Munaf Rayani and Mark Smith round out the band with Hrasky.</p>
<p>Explosions in the Sky plays mostly instrumental music.</p>
<p>This leg of the tour will be the last for a while for the band, which will then take a short hiatus off the road to rest.</p>
<p>“We still love playing shows,” he says. “We’ve been doing this nonstop for 18 years. We’re ready for a little bit of a break.”</p>
<p>Hrasky says the members reached an agreement to take a break about six months ago.</p>
<p>“We feel very lucky that we’re able to make this decision,” he says. “Each tour seems to be a little bit bigger. It was a gradual ascent. We started playing to two people in the audience, and now it’s thousands at times. It’s been part of why we have lasted so long. We took each step as a band and made sure each one of us was on board.”</p>
<p>Hrasky says Explosions in the Sky has also done music its own way from the beginning of the band.</p>
<p>In having the majority of its music as instrumental, he says, it’s important for each band member to challenge themselves.</p>
<p>“If you listen to our catalog, you can see the biggest jump from our first to second albums,” he says. “Our process has changed over time, and we’re always looking for ways to make our music different. On this last album, we were so immersed in the entire process.”</p>
<p>Hrasky says getting some time off will also help give the band some new inspiration.</p>
<p>“We’ve been on the road and together for so long that sometimes we can go stir-crazy,” he says with a laugh. “The relaxation will be nice and a great way to start up working on the next album.”</p>
<p>Explosions in the Sky WHEN: 8 tonight WHERE: Sunshine Theater, 120 W. Central HOW MUCH: $25 plus fees at <a href="http://holdmyticket.com" type="external">holdmyticket.com</a></p>
<p /> | 3,523 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Denise M. Chanez, a director in the Albuquerque office of Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin &amp; Robb PA, has been named a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.</p>
<p>The Fellows of the American Bar Association is an honorary organization of lawyers, judges and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding</p>
<p>dedication to the welfare of their communities and to the highest principles of the legal profession.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Chanez named fellow in Bar Foundation | false | https://abqjournal.com/728161/chanez-named-fellow-in-bar-foundation.html | 2least
| Chanez named fellow in Bar Foundation
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Denise M. Chanez, a director in the Albuquerque office of Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin &amp; Robb PA, has been named a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.</p>
<p>The Fellows of the American Bar Association is an honorary organization of lawyers, judges and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding</p>
<p>dedication to the welfare of their communities and to the highest principles of the legal profession.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 3,524 |
|
<p />
<p>U.S. labor markets were tight enough to fuel small wage gains in some professions in recent weeks, though some companies already were feeling a chill from an economic slowdown in China, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Overall, U.S. economic activity continued to expand across most regions and sectors from July to mid-August, the Fed said in its Beige Book report of anecdotal information on business activity collected from contacts nationwide.</p>
<p>The combination of a healing labor market and worries about Chinese economic growth underscored the challenge faced by the U.S. central bank as it mulls raising interest rates as soon as this month.</p>
<p>While many Fed policymakers think the U.S. labor market is close to full strength, China is casting a long shadow on the global economy. Prospects of slower global growth are weighing on oil prices, making it likely the Fed will undershoot its 2 percent inflation target for some time.</p>
<p>Some companies contacted by the Boston Fed, which compiled data from other regional Fed banks, said China was weighing on their performance.</p>
<p>"Many of our contacts mentioned China as a performance factor, but so far the effects are modest," the Boston Fed said in the report, pointing to weaker Chinese demand for manufacturing and information technology products and services.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>In the Dallas Fed's district, the outlook for loan demand was more cautious due to low oil prices and recent developments in China.</p>
<p>Still, most of the Fed's districts said they were seeing modest to moderate growth in labor demand and employment. In some pockets of the economy, tighter labor markets were fueling modest increases in pay, the Fed said.</p>
<p>In the Richmond Fed's district, for example, some healthcare providers were using sign-on bonuses to attract talent, and wages were rising robustly in the service sector.</p> | Federal Reserve Cites Rise in Wages and China Activity in Beige Book | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2015/09/02/federal-reserve-cites-rise-in-wages-and-china-activity.html | 2016-03-10 | 0right
| Federal Reserve Cites Rise in Wages and China Activity in Beige Book
<p />
<p>U.S. labor markets were tight enough to fuel small wage gains in some professions in recent weeks, though some companies already were feeling a chill from an economic slowdown in China, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Overall, U.S. economic activity continued to expand across most regions and sectors from July to mid-August, the Fed said in its Beige Book report of anecdotal information on business activity collected from contacts nationwide.</p>
<p>The combination of a healing labor market and worries about Chinese economic growth underscored the challenge faced by the U.S. central bank as it mulls raising interest rates as soon as this month.</p>
<p>While many Fed policymakers think the U.S. labor market is close to full strength, China is casting a long shadow on the global economy. Prospects of slower global growth are weighing on oil prices, making it likely the Fed will undershoot its 2 percent inflation target for some time.</p>
<p>Some companies contacted by the Boston Fed, which compiled data from other regional Fed banks, said China was weighing on their performance.</p>
<p>"Many of our contacts mentioned China as a performance factor, but so far the effects are modest," the Boston Fed said in the report, pointing to weaker Chinese demand for manufacturing and information technology products and services.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>In the Dallas Fed's district, the outlook for loan demand was more cautious due to low oil prices and recent developments in China.</p>
<p>Still, most of the Fed's districts said they were seeing modest to moderate growth in labor demand and employment. In some pockets of the economy, tighter labor markets were fueling modest increases in pay, the Fed said.</p>
<p>In the Richmond Fed's district, for example, some healthcare providers were using sign-on bonuses to attract talent, and wages were rising robustly in the service sector.</p> | 3,525 |
<p>Venezuela church officials said Friday that food shortages and foreign exchange restrictions have led to a lack of altar wine and wheat to make wafers for Holy Communion.</p>
<p>The Catholic Church said it is running out of Holy wine because of a <a href="http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/venezuela_news/737954.html#axzz2Utel1As7" type="external">nationwide shortage of basic supplies</a>, with a lack of some supplies forcing Venezuela's only wine maker to stop selling to the Church.</p>
<p>"[Our supplier] Bodegas Pomar have told us that they can no longer make wine because they're facing difficulties," said Church spokesman Monsignor Lucker.</p>
<p>Monsignor Lucker also said that they had enough supplies for two more months and he did not know if the Church could afford imported wine.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/venezuela/130522/venezuela-toilet-paper-shortage-ends-new-toilet-pape" type="external">Venezuela toilet paper shortage ends with new toilet paper shipments</a></p>
<p>Communion wafers were said to be in jeopardy as well.</p>
<p>"The makers of consecrated bread have told us that they'll have to raise prices because they can't find enough flour. Wheat is not grown here; it all comes from abroad," Monsignor Lucker explained.&#160;"A packet of consecrated bread used to cost 50 bolivar ($8), but it's now 100."</p>
<p>The lack of wine and bread is the latest in <a href="http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2013/05/now_venezuela_is_running_out_o.php" type="external">a string of embarrassments for President Nicolas Maduro's new government</a>, which has struggled to keep the late Hugo Chavez's socialist programs in place.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/quick-click/venezuela-has-run-out-toilet-paper-cue-hysteria" type="external">Venezuela has run out of toilet paper. Cue the madness.</a></p>
<p>Last month, the National Assembly had to vote to import millions of packages of toilet paper from abroad because of a national shortage.</p>
<p>But Maduro has <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/05/31/venezuela-catholic-church-fears-running-out-wine-and-bread-for-holy-communion/" type="external">put the blame on hoarding</a> and said anti-government forces are trying to destabilize the country.</p> | Venezuela running out of wine and bread for Holy Communion | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-05-31/venezuela-running-out-wine-and-bread-holy-communion | 2013-05-31 | 3left-center
| Venezuela running out of wine and bread for Holy Communion
<p>Venezuela church officials said Friday that food shortages and foreign exchange restrictions have led to a lack of altar wine and wheat to make wafers for Holy Communion.</p>
<p>The Catholic Church said it is running out of Holy wine because of a <a href="http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/venezuela_news/737954.html#axzz2Utel1As7" type="external">nationwide shortage of basic supplies</a>, with a lack of some supplies forcing Venezuela's only wine maker to stop selling to the Church.</p>
<p>"[Our supplier] Bodegas Pomar have told us that they can no longer make wine because they're facing difficulties," said Church spokesman Monsignor Lucker.</p>
<p>Monsignor Lucker also said that they had enough supplies for two more months and he did not know if the Church could afford imported wine.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/venezuela/130522/venezuela-toilet-paper-shortage-ends-new-toilet-pape" type="external">Venezuela toilet paper shortage ends with new toilet paper shipments</a></p>
<p>Communion wafers were said to be in jeopardy as well.</p>
<p>"The makers of consecrated bread have told us that they'll have to raise prices because they can't find enough flour. Wheat is not grown here; it all comes from abroad," Monsignor Lucker explained.&#160;"A packet of consecrated bread used to cost 50 bolivar ($8), but it's now 100."</p>
<p>The lack of wine and bread is the latest in <a href="http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2013/05/now_venezuela_is_running_out_o.php" type="external">a string of embarrassments for President Nicolas Maduro's new government</a>, which has struggled to keep the late Hugo Chavez's socialist programs in place.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/quick-click/venezuela-has-run-out-toilet-paper-cue-hysteria" type="external">Venezuela has run out of toilet paper. Cue the madness.</a></p>
<p>Last month, the National Assembly had to vote to import millions of packages of toilet paper from abroad because of a national shortage.</p>
<p>But Maduro has <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/05/31/venezuela-catholic-church-fears-running-out-wine-and-bread-for-holy-communion/" type="external">put the blame on hoarding</a> and said anti-government forces are trying to destabilize the country.</p> | 3,526 |
<p>Through another executive order, President Barack Obama has created a new environmental council that’s sure to &#160;expand&#160;government’s role in how Americans use their own property and land, water and even energy sources. A prominent California mayor is going to be one of Obama’s new climate commissars.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://doc-0k-c8-docsviewer.googleusercontent.com/viewer/securedownload/pjpgkeeveo7pnce0vrpbaa8fvdk4mqj4/eknj60tjvv1vi0f2m9r4pp4o2mopql7e/1383332400000/Z21haWw=/AGZ5hq-9vWZ4VKojJtSn5nzr_-qe/MTQyMTRlN2Y0NWEyZmRjZXwwLjE=?docid=a64ff36e789ca722b7fbfaed9af5c56b%7C45ddc2011ac4520649782612a71b2e74&amp;chan=EQAAAAK0fALQe7an5CnPPFrUGQ3DbCtoeBI/PDSC8/cwcBQz&amp;sec=AHSqidaozq5rMuCls3D_IgntbvIKdR2oT_7XvPVSqzQTtday9JK7WNP_ZUsRHMUAfOrdqwmkPDSMMrhYnUPiq6jQG1pDDosZHq4C4czHmrjZSRl8hlmfaV3lzxqqAbq-kr8XP0Z2qiUGpEeh96jfQ1TfmNzHkzZQUtfo-qDhzx3BRv2U305fjHXxU-v0zlx-KFieRqBB1RCRS2DRiXxSD-we2shI9jp27xStbhvYyP6PvLLubAdnFZRR6NHNT4A1KJCYXqfaYjgGbMo0jk9OdFST8krI5BPnG9kxfZyYNQYe6Q2neUqXiL_3WMIWqKzAgqsX7HnWS0dssQjs2QqDAh8fmQLNuZ33XiaKA56SYtT2Fc43_11FoUHyUIL_HLc5BBfvdVwXenoNEDsAFMlBQtr82uCJ7ldBAQ&amp;a=gp&amp;filename=press+release+climate+task+force+1Nov2013.pdf&amp;nonce=jt1p3bd2u4ke0&amp;user=AGZ5hq-9vWZ4VKojJtSn5nzr_-qe&amp;hash=riatclij4uqg16p8r8k1ao1nshr70ofu" type="external">press release</a> sent &#160;out Friday by his office,&#160;“In recognition of Sacramento’s leadership in preparing for the impacts of climate change, Mayor Kevin Johnson was selected as a member of President Obama’s Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience.”</p>
<p>Mr. Arena, shown at right with activist Van Jones, is also Mr. Green.</p>
<p>Despite&#160;recent scientific data which contradict government claims that carbon energy and emissions cause climate change, Obama continues with climate alarmism.</p>
<p>Titled “ <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/11/01/executive-order-preparing-united-states-impacts-climate-change" type="external">Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change</a>,” the new executive order was issued at a strange &#160;time — much of the rest of the world has finally caught up to the fact that global warming is a fraud, and based on a myth.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>“Average temperatures have leveled for more than a decade, despite the sharply rising use of carbon energy in China and other countries,” the Daily Caller <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/11/01/obamas-new-climate-council-to-regulate-economy/#ixzz2jQGOkQOm" type="external">reported</a>. “U.S. use of carbon energy has stabilized with increasing market-driven efficiency and tightening regulations.”</p>
<p>Bypassing Congress once again, the executive order will be&#160;implemented by Obama’s czars and appointees.</p>
<p>The council is officially intended “to prepare the nation for the impacts of climate change by undertaking actions to enhance climate preparedness and resilience.”</p>
<p>“President Obama established the Task Force today as part of his Climate Action Plan to cut carbon pollution, prepare communities for the impacts of climate change that cannot be avoided,” Johnson’s <a href="http://greenwisejv.org/mayor-kevin-johnson-selected-for-president-obamas-task-force-on-climate-preparedness-and-resilience/" type="external">press release</a>&#160;said.</p>
<p>“Our top priority is the public safety of our citizens today and in the future when the impacts of climate change intensify,” Johnson said. “Building resilient communities, and the co-benefits of job creation, risk reduction and improved public health that result will be among the topics I bring to the discussion with my fellow Task Force members.”</p>
<p>Mr. Green Mayor is also in the middle of trying to get a <a href="" type="internal">new sports arena</a> built right in the middle of downtown Sacramento, and funded by taxpayers.</p>
<p>Johnson was elected in 2008 as a business-friendly mayor. But things changed after he took office — he turned left and green.&#160;As part of a statewide push on climate change, global warming and alternative energy creation, Johnson created “ <a href="" type="internal">Greenwise</a>,”&#160;to try to turn Sacramento “into the greenest city in the country.” &#160;Greenwise hosted monthly meetings, including having <a href="" type="internal">the controversial Van Jones</a>as a featured speaker.</p>
<p>Obama appointed Jones&#160; in March 2009 to the newly created White House “Green Czar” position, in which he acted as a special adviser for green jobs. Jones resigned just six months later after news surfaced about his past activism, including controversial statements about government involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center.</p>
<p>“In addition to bringing more frequent and severe storms, floods, heat waves and wildfires, climate change caused by carbon pollution can also increase the risk of asthma attacks and other illnesses,” Johnson’s press release claims. It’s dire, I tell you.</p>
<p>But <a href="http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/07/30/july-ends-on-a-frigid-note-as-record-cold-outpaces-warmth-nearly-10-to-1/" type="external">&#160;July in the USA ended on a frigid note as record cold outpaces warmth nearly 10 to&#160;1</a>, news reports said. Don’t tell that to KJ, though.</p>
<p>“The Sacramento region is already contending with a history of floods, droughts, wildfire and severe heat with local impacts projected to worsen over time,” said Johnson’s <a href="http://greenwisejv.org/mayor-kevin-johnson-selected-for-president-obamas-task-force-on-climate-preparedness-and-resilience/" type="external">press release</a>.</p>
<p>Sacramento was built on two rivers — the Sacramento River and the American River. The state’s largest river by discharge, the Sacramento River rises in the&#160;Klamath Mountains&#160;and flows south for over 400 miles before reaching the&#160;San Francisco Bay and the&#160;Pacific Ocean.</p>
<p>The American River&#160;river system runs from the crest of the&#160;Sierra Nevada&#160;mountain range&#160;to its confluence with the&#160;Sacramento River&#160;in&#160;Sacramento.</p>
<p>The levees along the two rivers have historically been poorly maintained by the federal government. And decades of corrupt Sacramento politics have led to crony developers developing the&#160;Natomas&#160;region, a large housing development&#160;neighborhood&#160;north of downtown&#160;Sacramento. The area is bordered by the&#160;American&#160;and&#160;Sacramento Rivers.&#160;The Natomas area is a flood plain protected only by aging and crumbling old levees.</p>
<p>The area is extremely vulnerable to annual flooding, as well as severe flooding when there is a levee break, as happened in 1986. I remember it well as I helped an elderly family member try to save his home during the 1986 flood with sandbags — to no avail.</p>
<p>And now, it appears Johnson is already moving to impose restrictive and unnecessary water limitations on Sacramento residents separate from his role on the president’s council.</p>
<p>“The city of Sacramento is positioning itself to become the capital region’s&#160;water conservation leader, a dramatic shift after decades of opposition to even basic conservation ideas likewater meters,” the Sacramento Bee <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2013/11/02/5875984/city-of-sacramento-strives-to.html#storylink=cpy" type="external">reported</a> Sunday. “On Tuesday, the City Council unanimously adopted a 150-page water conservation plan that will invest millions of dollars in a host of new measures, some normally associated with thirsty desert cities.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>One was authored by Democratic Senate President Darrell Steinberg, a former Sacramento councilman. &#160; <a href="http://www.water.ca.gov/wateruseefficiency/sb7/docs/SB7-7-TheLaw.pdf" type="external">SB 7</a>,&#160;passed and signed into law in 2009,&#160;requires all water suppliers to increase water-use efficiency. How’s that for a broad and overarching law?</p>
<p>“Sacramento faces a state deadline of 2025 to install water meters on all its residential customers or it could face penalties. The city resisted metering for decades: The&#160;city charter&#160;dating to 1921 actually banned water meters, and every City Council member in 1991 opposed a new state law that required meters on new homes,” the Bee <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2013/11/02/5875984/city-of-sacramento-strives-to.html#storylink=cpy" type="external">reported</a>.</p>
<p>Yet there are many communities in Southern California which are not water-metered. And, California does not collect and store water runoff. Most of the state’s water ends up running into the ocean.</p>
<p>If politicians were serious about water conservation, they’d start with water collection and storage. Since this is rarely discussed, it is evident these water restrictions are designed to control land and homeowners. &#160;How will elderly homeowners be able to afford large water bills? They won’t. Many will be forced to move into apartments or communities for the elderly.</p>
<p>Steinberg sold Sacramento down the river before the rest of the state in order to control the source of the water. And now it appears as if Johnson will as well.</p>
<p>Sacramento must install about 110,000 meters by 2025, at an estimated cost of $350 million, or&#160;it could be declared ineligible for state grants.</p>
<p>The city of Sacramento is the biggest water waster. The city’s parks allow broken sprinklers to run all night. The sprinklers continue to run during the rainy season. &#160;Johnson should start cleaning his own house before he sets his sights on the city’s responsible homeowners and businesses, operating as Obama’s newest climate change soldier.</p> | Mr. Arena named to Obama’s new climate change council | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2013/11/03/mr-arena-named-to-obamas-new-climate-change-council/ | 2018-11-20 | 3left-center
| Mr. Arena named to Obama’s new climate change council
<p>Through another executive order, President Barack Obama has created a new environmental council that’s sure to &#160;expand&#160;government’s role in how Americans use their own property and land, water and even energy sources. A prominent California mayor is going to be one of Obama’s new climate commissars.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://doc-0k-c8-docsviewer.googleusercontent.com/viewer/securedownload/pjpgkeeveo7pnce0vrpbaa8fvdk4mqj4/eknj60tjvv1vi0f2m9r4pp4o2mopql7e/1383332400000/Z21haWw=/AGZ5hq-9vWZ4VKojJtSn5nzr_-qe/MTQyMTRlN2Y0NWEyZmRjZXwwLjE=?docid=a64ff36e789ca722b7fbfaed9af5c56b%7C45ddc2011ac4520649782612a71b2e74&amp;chan=EQAAAAK0fALQe7an5CnPPFrUGQ3DbCtoeBI/PDSC8/cwcBQz&amp;sec=AHSqidaozq5rMuCls3D_IgntbvIKdR2oT_7XvPVSqzQTtday9JK7WNP_ZUsRHMUAfOrdqwmkPDSMMrhYnUPiq6jQG1pDDosZHq4C4czHmrjZSRl8hlmfaV3lzxqqAbq-kr8XP0Z2qiUGpEeh96jfQ1TfmNzHkzZQUtfo-qDhzx3BRv2U305fjHXxU-v0zlx-KFieRqBB1RCRS2DRiXxSD-we2shI9jp27xStbhvYyP6PvLLubAdnFZRR6NHNT4A1KJCYXqfaYjgGbMo0jk9OdFST8krI5BPnG9kxfZyYNQYe6Q2neUqXiL_3WMIWqKzAgqsX7HnWS0dssQjs2QqDAh8fmQLNuZ33XiaKA56SYtT2Fc43_11FoUHyUIL_HLc5BBfvdVwXenoNEDsAFMlBQtr82uCJ7ldBAQ&amp;a=gp&amp;filename=press+release+climate+task+force+1Nov2013.pdf&amp;nonce=jt1p3bd2u4ke0&amp;user=AGZ5hq-9vWZ4VKojJtSn5nzr_-qe&amp;hash=riatclij4uqg16p8r8k1ao1nshr70ofu" type="external">press release</a> sent &#160;out Friday by his office,&#160;“In recognition of Sacramento’s leadership in preparing for the impacts of climate change, Mayor Kevin Johnson was selected as a member of President Obama’s Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience.”</p>
<p>Mr. Arena, shown at right with activist Van Jones, is also Mr. Green.</p>
<p>Despite&#160;recent scientific data which contradict government claims that carbon energy and emissions cause climate change, Obama continues with climate alarmism.</p>
<p>Titled “ <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/11/01/executive-order-preparing-united-states-impacts-climate-change" type="external">Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change</a>,” the new executive order was issued at a strange &#160;time — much of the rest of the world has finally caught up to the fact that global warming is a fraud, and based on a myth.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>“Average temperatures have leveled for more than a decade, despite the sharply rising use of carbon energy in China and other countries,” the Daily Caller <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/11/01/obamas-new-climate-council-to-regulate-economy/#ixzz2jQGOkQOm" type="external">reported</a>. “U.S. use of carbon energy has stabilized with increasing market-driven efficiency and tightening regulations.”</p>
<p>Bypassing Congress once again, the executive order will be&#160;implemented by Obama’s czars and appointees.</p>
<p>The council is officially intended “to prepare the nation for the impacts of climate change by undertaking actions to enhance climate preparedness and resilience.”</p>
<p>“President Obama established the Task Force today as part of his Climate Action Plan to cut carbon pollution, prepare communities for the impacts of climate change that cannot be avoided,” Johnson’s <a href="http://greenwisejv.org/mayor-kevin-johnson-selected-for-president-obamas-task-force-on-climate-preparedness-and-resilience/" type="external">press release</a>&#160;said.</p>
<p>“Our top priority is the public safety of our citizens today and in the future when the impacts of climate change intensify,” Johnson said. “Building resilient communities, and the co-benefits of job creation, risk reduction and improved public health that result will be among the topics I bring to the discussion with my fellow Task Force members.”</p>
<p>Mr. Green Mayor is also in the middle of trying to get a <a href="" type="internal">new sports arena</a> built right in the middle of downtown Sacramento, and funded by taxpayers.</p>
<p>Johnson was elected in 2008 as a business-friendly mayor. But things changed after he took office — he turned left and green.&#160;As part of a statewide push on climate change, global warming and alternative energy creation, Johnson created “ <a href="" type="internal">Greenwise</a>,”&#160;to try to turn Sacramento “into the greenest city in the country.” &#160;Greenwise hosted monthly meetings, including having <a href="" type="internal">the controversial Van Jones</a>as a featured speaker.</p>
<p>Obama appointed Jones&#160; in March 2009 to the newly created White House “Green Czar” position, in which he acted as a special adviser for green jobs. Jones resigned just six months later after news surfaced about his past activism, including controversial statements about government involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center.</p>
<p>“In addition to bringing more frequent and severe storms, floods, heat waves and wildfires, climate change caused by carbon pollution can also increase the risk of asthma attacks and other illnesses,” Johnson’s press release claims. It’s dire, I tell you.</p>
<p>But <a href="http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/07/30/july-ends-on-a-frigid-note-as-record-cold-outpaces-warmth-nearly-10-to-1/" type="external">&#160;July in the USA ended on a frigid note as record cold outpaces warmth nearly 10 to&#160;1</a>, news reports said. Don’t tell that to KJ, though.</p>
<p>“The Sacramento region is already contending with a history of floods, droughts, wildfire and severe heat with local impacts projected to worsen over time,” said Johnson’s <a href="http://greenwisejv.org/mayor-kevin-johnson-selected-for-president-obamas-task-force-on-climate-preparedness-and-resilience/" type="external">press release</a>.</p>
<p>Sacramento was built on two rivers — the Sacramento River and the American River. The state’s largest river by discharge, the Sacramento River rises in the&#160;Klamath Mountains&#160;and flows south for over 400 miles before reaching the&#160;San Francisco Bay and the&#160;Pacific Ocean.</p>
<p>The American River&#160;river system runs from the crest of the&#160;Sierra Nevada&#160;mountain range&#160;to its confluence with the&#160;Sacramento River&#160;in&#160;Sacramento.</p>
<p>The levees along the two rivers have historically been poorly maintained by the federal government. And decades of corrupt Sacramento politics have led to crony developers developing the&#160;Natomas&#160;region, a large housing development&#160;neighborhood&#160;north of downtown&#160;Sacramento. The area is bordered by the&#160;American&#160;and&#160;Sacramento Rivers.&#160;The Natomas area is a flood plain protected only by aging and crumbling old levees.</p>
<p>The area is extremely vulnerable to annual flooding, as well as severe flooding when there is a levee break, as happened in 1986. I remember it well as I helped an elderly family member try to save his home during the 1986 flood with sandbags — to no avail.</p>
<p>And now, it appears Johnson is already moving to impose restrictive and unnecessary water limitations on Sacramento residents separate from his role on the president’s council.</p>
<p>“The city of Sacramento is positioning itself to become the capital region’s&#160;water conservation leader, a dramatic shift after decades of opposition to even basic conservation ideas likewater meters,” the Sacramento Bee <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2013/11/02/5875984/city-of-sacramento-strives-to.html#storylink=cpy" type="external">reported</a> Sunday. “On Tuesday, the City Council unanimously adopted a 150-page water conservation plan that will invest millions of dollars in a host of new measures, some normally associated with thirsty desert cities.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>One was authored by Democratic Senate President Darrell Steinberg, a former Sacramento councilman. &#160; <a href="http://www.water.ca.gov/wateruseefficiency/sb7/docs/SB7-7-TheLaw.pdf" type="external">SB 7</a>,&#160;passed and signed into law in 2009,&#160;requires all water suppliers to increase water-use efficiency. How’s that for a broad and overarching law?</p>
<p>“Sacramento faces a state deadline of 2025 to install water meters on all its residential customers or it could face penalties. The city resisted metering for decades: The&#160;city charter&#160;dating to 1921 actually banned water meters, and every City Council member in 1991 opposed a new state law that required meters on new homes,” the Bee <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2013/11/02/5875984/city-of-sacramento-strives-to.html#storylink=cpy" type="external">reported</a>.</p>
<p>Yet there are many communities in Southern California which are not water-metered. And, California does not collect and store water runoff. Most of the state’s water ends up running into the ocean.</p>
<p>If politicians were serious about water conservation, they’d start with water collection and storage. Since this is rarely discussed, it is evident these water restrictions are designed to control land and homeowners. &#160;How will elderly homeowners be able to afford large water bills? They won’t. Many will be forced to move into apartments or communities for the elderly.</p>
<p>Steinberg sold Sacramento down the river before the rest of the state in order to control the source of the water. And now it appears as if Johnson will as well.</p>
<p>Sacramento must install about 110,000 meters by 2025, at an estimated cost of $350 million, or&#160;it could be declared ineligible for state grants.</p>
<p>The city of Sacramento is the biggest water waster. The city’s parks allow broken sprinklers to run all night. The sprinklers continue to run during the rainy season. &#160;Johnson should start cleaning his own house before he sets his sights on the city’s responsible homeowners and businesses, operating as Obama’s newest climate change soldier.</p> | 3,527 |
<p>Yale Daily News Times-Picayune executive editor Jim Amoss says of Katrina: "If I could subtract all the personal anguish from this, this is a journalist's dream. This is an extraordinary story ... Nothing will ever surpass this in sheer fascination and drama and unpredictability and importance to the community that we serve." It's not easy, though, he adds. "It's utterly exhausting. It's just non-stop. It doesn't let up on the weekends. The story is relentlessly demanding, [but] the beast has to be fed."</p> | Covering Katrina is "utterly exhausting," says Times-Pic editor | false | https://poynter.org/news/covering-katrina-utterly-exhausting-says-times-pic-editor | 2005-09-30 | 2least
| Covering Katrina is "utterly exhausting," says Times-Pic editor
<p>Yale Daily News Times-Picayune executive editor Jim Amoss says of Katrina: "If I could subtract all the personal anguish from this, this is a journalist's dream. This is an extraordinary story ... Nothing will ever surpass this in sheer fascination and drama and unpredictability and importance to the community that we serve." It's not easy, though, he adds. "It's utterly exhausting. It's just non-stop. It doesn't let up on the weekends. The story is relentlessly demanding, [but] the beast has to be fed."</p> | 3,528 |
<p>The Boston Marathon Bomber suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will have his trial this coming Monday, despite his attorneys’ efforts to move the trial outside of Boston; Tsarnaev’s attorneys believe that he will not get a fair trial in Boston, because the location where the trial is taking place is no less than a few miles from where the bombing occurred, and that this aspect of the case will make jurors biased.</p>
<p>Tsarnaev is pleading not-guilty t0 30 charges that are connected to the April 2013 explosions in Boston that wounded more than 260 people and killed three. Tsarnaev will be facing the death penalty if convicted.</p>
<p>Tsarnaev’s attorney has tried twice to have the trial delayed and moved to another location, but the U.S. District Court Judge George O’ Toole denied the appeal. The only hope of Tsarnaev’s legal team at this moment to get the trial moved out of Boston, is an appeal from higher courts.</p>
<p>One of the major factors in Judge O’Toole’s decision to deny the appeal to move the trial out of Boston is the number of jurors that have already been summoned for this case, over 1,200. O’ Toole believes that to delay this case further would inconvenience too many people and create general unrest.</p>
<p>In an article from the <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/02/tsarnaev-trial-should-start-scheduled-federal-judge-insists/qKUu53PJfesUKvArDrrV3I/story.html" type="external">Boston Globe</a>&#160;O’ Toole was reported stating:&#160;“Those persons have likely arranged their affairs in reliance on the dates given them in their summonses, and any change in reporting dates would cause some unknown degree of disruption to those people.’’</p>
<p>Judge O’ Toole also remarked in the same article from the Boston Globe that the defense has known since last September that the trial would take place January 5th, so trying to postpone and move it now is unacceptable.</p>
<p>As of now the trial is scheduled to begin Monday January 5th, 2015 at the district courthouse in South Boston.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | Boston marathon bomber trial will go on in south boston, despite the defense’s appeal to switch locations | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/01/02/boston-marathon-bomber-trial-will-go-on-in-south-boston-despite-the-defenses-appeal-to-switch-locations/ | 2015-01-02 | 3left-center
| Boston marathon bomber trial will go on in south boston, despite the defense’s appeal to switch locations
<p>The Boston Marathon Bomber suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will have his trial this coming Monday, despite his attorneys’ efforts to move the trial outside of Boston; Tsarnaev’s attorneys believe that he will not get a fair trial in Boston, because the location where the trial is taking place is no less than a few miles from where the bombing occurred, and that this aspect of the case will make jurors biased.</p>
<p>Tsarnaev is pleading not-guilty t0 30 charges that are connected to the April 2013 explosions in Boston that wounded more than 260 people and killed three. Tsarnaev will be facing the death penalty if convicted.</p>
<p>Tsarnaev’s attorney has tried twice to have the trial delayed and moved to another location, but the U.S. District Court Judge George O’ Toole denied the appeal. The only hope of Tsarnaev’s legal team at this moment to get the trial moved out of Boston, is an appeal from higher courts.</p>
<p>One of the major factors in Judge O’Toole’s decision to deny the appeal to move the trial out of Boston is the number of jurors that have already been summoned for this case, over 1,200. O’ Toole believes that to delay this case further would inconvenience too many people and create general unrest.</p>
<p>In an article from the <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/02/tsarnaev-trial-should-start-scheduled-federal-judge-insists/qKUu53PJfesUKvArDrrV3I/story.html" type="external">Boston Globe</a>&#160;O’ Toole was reported stating:&#160;“Those persons have likely arranged their affairs in reliance on the dates given them in their summonses, and any change in reporting dates would cause some unknown degree of disruption to those people.’’</p>
<p>Judge O’ Toole also remarked in the same article from the Boston Globe that the defense has known since last September that the trial would take place January 5th, so trying to postpone and move it now is unacceptable.</p>
<p>As of now the trial is scheduled to begin Monday January 5th, 2015 at the district courthouse in South Boston.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | 3,529 |
<p>My Abuela (grandmother) was buried this weekend and I drove down to Florida from Virginia to attend the family gathering. As we left Virginia and entered North Carolina, I started to see billboards with biblical quotes and American flags on them. Just a few at first but then it became a steady stream that kept up all the way through South Carolina and into Georgia. Lots of billboards with Bald Eagles, American flags and a whole lot of Jesus.</p>
<p>I was in the Bible Belt for sure.</p>
<p>Now, we stopped several times and no one ran up to me and screamed “Have you found Jesus, you godless liberal scum?!”&#160;Still, as a recently transplanted New Yorker living in deep blue Northern Virginia, I couldn’t help but feel that I was in enemy territory.&#160;“Aha!” the few right wing readers I have are saying. “Proof that liberals hate Jesus and America!”</p>
<p>That might be true if I considered the Bible Belt to be representative of either Jesus or America. They are not and have not been for quite some time. The Bible Belt abandoned any pretense of patriotism or devotion to embrace the seductive succor of hatred. At every chance they’ve doubled down on rage instead of pulling away from its grasp.</p>
<p>After the Civil War, they spent decades terrorizing black communities. Actually, they spent the next 150 years doing it because they’ve never really stopped. Sure, the Bible Belt gave lip service to equality and freedom but they never forgave blacks for gaining their freedom. And they&#160;definitely&#160;never forgave the “liberal” North for forcing them to stop practicing slavery, something universally recognized as one of the most immoral institutions known to man. The way they cope with this barely concealed anger is to declare themselves the “real” America and the most devout Christians, thereby placing themselves on a pedestal looking down on the rest of us.</p>
<p>The result is what you see today. The entire region is awash in flag waving and Bible thumping. Giant billboards proclaim that lust will send you to hell and that only the fool denies the existence of Christ. Every roadside store has hats and shirts and key chains with the American flag and tough looking American symbolism.</p>
<p>The further along I went, the more distinct the impression became that this was a group of bitter people trying desperately to convince, not the rest of us, but&#160;themselves,&#160;that they are not who they actually are: People who absolutely despise America and willfully ignore Jesus’ message of peace, tolerance and brotherhood.</p>
<p>“I love America and Jesus more than you do!” is not all that persuasive when the person screaming it from the top of their lungs votes for laws that attack the constitutional freedoms of others or punishes the poor and sick. Actions, as always, speak louder than words. But in their need to justify their hatred of America and the poor/gays/blacks/women/etc., Bible Belt conservatives overcompensate exactly the same way a Chihuahua barks and growls at dogs 10 times their size. And they’re just as unconvincing.</p>
<p>The sad thing is that some of these people really do believe on some level that they are the true and pious patriots that America needs even as they curse and spit on everything America and Jesus stand for. For the rest of the not-so-delusional? Well, they can always put up more billboards.</p>
<p>‘Murica.</p> | Driving Through Jesusland | true | http://addictinginfo.org/2015/05/19/driving-through-jesusland/ | 2015-05-19 | 4left
| Driving Through Jesusland
<p>My Abuela (grandmother) was buried this weekend and I drove down to Florida from Virginia to attend the family gathering. As we left Virginia and entered North Carolina, I started to see billboards with biblical quotes and American flags on them. Just a few at first but then it became a steady stream that kept up all the way through South Carolina and into Georgia. Lots of billboards with Bald Eagles, American flags and a whole lot of Jesus.</p>
<p>I was in the Bible Belt for sure.</p>
<p>Now, we stopped several times and no one ran up to me and screamed “Have you found Jesus, you godless liberal scum?!”&#160;Still, as a recently transplanted New Yorker living in deep blue Northern Virginia, I couldn’t help but feel that I was in enemy territory.&#160;“Aha!” the few right wing readers I have are saying. “Proof that liberals hate Jesus and America!”</p>
<p>That might be true if I considered the Bible Belt to be representative of either Jesus or America. They are not and have not been for quite some time. The Bible Belt abandoned any pretense of patriotism or devotion to embrace the seductive succor of hatred. At every chance they’ve doubled down on rage instead of pulling away from its grasp.</p>
<p>After the Civil War, they spent decades terrorizing black communities. Actually, they spent the next 150 years doing it because they’ve never really stopped. Sure, the Bible Belt gave lip service to equality and freedom but they never forgave blacks for gaining their freedom. And they&#160;definitely&#160;never forgave the “liberal” North for forcing them to stop practicing slavery, something universally recognized as one of the most immoral institutions known to man. The way they cope with this barely concealed anger is to declare themselves the “real” America and the most devout Christians, thereby placing themselves on a pedestal looking down on the rest of us.</p>
<p>The result is what you see today. The entire region is awash in flag waving and Bible thumping. Giant billboards proclaim that lust will send you to hell and that only the fool denies the existence of Christ. Every roadside store has hats and shirts and key chains with the American flag and tough looking American symbolism.</p>
<p>The further along I went, the more distinct the impression became that this was a group of bitter people trying desperately to convince, not the rest of us, but&#160;themselves,&#160;that they are not who they actually are: People who absolutely despise America and willfully ignore Jesus’ message of peace, tolerance and brotherhood.</p>
<p>“I love America and Jesus more than you do!” is not all that persuasive when the person screaming it from the top of their lungs votes for laws that attack the constitutional freedoms of others or punishes the poor and sick. Actions, as always, speak louder than words. But in their need to justify their hatred of America and the poor/gays/blacks/women/etc., Bible Belt conservatives overcompensate exactly the same way a Chihuahua barks and growls at dogs 10 times their size. And they’re just as unconvincing.</p>
<p>The sad thing is that some of these people really do believe on some level that they are the true and pious patriots that America needs even as they curse and spit on everything America and Jesus stand for. For the rest of the not-so-delusional? Well, they can always put up more billboards.</p>
<p>‘Murica.</p> | 3,530 |
<p>On November 2nd, Theo Van Gogh was shot and fatally stabbed in the streets of Amsterdam.</p>
<p>Van Gogh was a newspaper columnist and a filmmaker. He was a supporter of Pym Fortuyn, the anti-Muslim and anti-migrant politician who was murdered by an ethnic Dutch animal- rights activist. Fortuyn had once said “This is a full country. I think 16 million Dutchmen are about enough. The killer was not a Muslim. He was not an immigrant.</p>
<p>Van Gogh,s own murder came after the television screening of his controversial short film, “Submission, a film critical of the treatment of women in Islam. His voice was silenced forever. A twenty-six year old Dutch-born Muslim of Moroccan origin was arrested.</p>
<p>Like the case of Pym Fortuyn, Van Gogh,s killer was not an immigrant. One Dutch murdered another. But the killings are followed by widespread anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim feelings in the Netherlands and in Europe.</p>
<p>Muslim primary schools were destroyed by arson. Mosques were firebombed. The Helden Islamic Mosque Foundation in the southern province of Limburg was set ablaze. Many Muslim buildings were vandalized or attacked. In Sinsheim, Germany, a mosque was damaged in an overnight attack with a Molotov cocktail.</p>
<p>Muslim migrants became suspected terrorists. Calls were made for stricter migration policy and harsher antiterrorist laws: the arrest and interrogation of suspected migrants, Muslims in particular. A member of the Dutch Parliament said: “It’s better to have 10 possibly innocent people temporarily in jail than one with a bomb on the street.”</p>
<p>Muslims migrants, a large community, became stigmatized and criminalized for the crimes of a handful of individuals.</p>
<p>A similar reaction to Muslim migrants occurred after the attack on the World Trade Center. Immediately after September 11, scores of Muslims were arrested across the United States. They were detained”many for months”without any charges having brought against them. In most cases, the families of the detainees were not informed. The Muslims simply disappeared.</p>
<p>In the United States and elsewhere stopping illegal migration and combating terrorism coincided. Muslim migrants became a threat to national security. They faced collective punishment.</p>
<p>Affected by these developments, I left New York City on September 1, 2002 on a personal mission, and a quest, following Muslim . migrants in their search for a home in the West. I met men and women from Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Sudan, and Somalia in their epic journey through Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, and other countries in Europe.</p>
<p>They were from different backgrounds. Some escaped war. Others fled political persecution. Among them were young boys and girls who lost their family in the bombing of their homes in Iraq and Afghanistan; they were orphans, Muslim orphans, searching for a new home. There were women from Iran and the Sudan who were fleeing religious fundamentalism and their treatment as second class citizens in their places of birth. There were young men and women seeking normality, hoping to live a life like the others in the West, a life free of fundamentalism, a life free of humiliation, a life free of war.</p>
<p>I met Muslims who crossed the oceans and snow-covered mountains, navigated rough seas on small floats and fishing boats, got assaulted by border guards, spent time in prison and detention camps, and continued their voyage for a new life, a life they are were deprived of at home. . We met in different stops on the journey”: camps, prisons, the ghettos and the underworld of Istanbul, the squat homes in Athens, the tent city in the ports in Greece, the city parks in Paris, and the woods in nNorthern France. These were Iraqi Kurds living in temporary homes made of plastic and cardboard, in the woods near Calais. . In Istanbul, I spent long weeks and months with mothers traveling with their infants or young babies, and those who were trapped in safe houses with no money and jobs, still hoping to cross and make it to a safe place in Europe.</p>
<p>I photographed teenagers whose bones were broken by the Greek police when they attempted to leave the country for Italy, men whose teeth were popped out, and those whose ribs were broken under the kicks and punches of the coastguards. And those attacked by the border dogs and the guards in Bulgaria. They told me tales of violence, beatings, and death in the hands of the guards.</p>
<p>Like the Irish, the Italian, and the others who came to America in the turn of the last century for a new life, the Muslim migrants are leaving their places of birth for a new home, a place that would embrace them as equals. They are men and women with dissimilar conditions. But, all have similar dreams. They long for normality. They hope for a day they could work with dignity, raise a family, get old, and see their grandchildren play. But, as they proceed on their journey, they face new walls.</p>
<p>They are not welcome. The gates are closed.</p>
<p>BEHZAD YAGHMAIAN is the author of the forthcoming book entitled Embracing the Infidel: The Secret World of Muslim Migrant (Bantam/Dell random House, 2005). He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The Murder of Theo Van Gogh and Muslim Migration | true | https://counterpunch.org/2004/12/02/the-murder-of-theo-van-gogh-and-muslim-migration/ | 2004-12-02 | 4left
| The Murder of Theo Van Gogh and Muslim Migration
<p>On November 2nd, Theo Van Gogh was shot and fatally stabbed in the streets of Amsterdam.</p>
<p>Van Gogh was a newspaper columnist and a filmmaker. He was a supporter of Pym Fortuyn, the anti-Muslim and anti-migrant politician who was murdered by an ethnic Dutch animal- rights activist. Fortuyn had once said “This is a full country. I think 16 million Dutchmen are about enough. The killer was not a Muslim. He was not an immigrant.</p>
<p>Van Gogh,s own murder came after the television screening of his controversial short film, “Submission, a film critical of the treatment of women in Islam. His voice was silenced forever. A twenty-six year old Dutch-born Muslim of Moroccan origin was arrested.</p>
<p>Like the case of Pym Fortuyn, Van Gogh,s killer was not an immigrant. One Dutch murdered another. But the killings are followed by widespread anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim feelings in the Netherlands and in Europe.</p>
<p>Muslim primary schools were destroyed by arson. Mosques were firebombed. The Helden Islamic Mosque Foundation in the southern province of Limburg was set ablaze. Many Muslim buildings were vandalized or attacked. In Sinsheim, Germany, a mosque was damaged in an overnight attack with a Molotov cocktail.</p>
<p>Muslim migrants became suspected terrorists. Calls were made for stricter migration policy and harsher antiterrorist laws: the arrest and interrogation of suspected migrants, Muslims in particular. A member of the Dutch Parliament said: “It’s better to have 10 possibly innocent people temporarily in jail than one with a bomb on the street.”</p>
<p>Muslims migrants, a large community, became stigmatized and criminalized for the crimes of a handful of individuals.</p>
<p>A similar reaction to Muslim migrants occurred after the attack on the World Trade Center. Immediately after September 11, scores of Muslims were arrested across the United States. They were detained”many for months”without any charges having brought against them. In most cases, the families of the detainees were not informed. The Muslims simply disappeared.</p>
<p>In the United States and elsewhere stopping illegal migration and combating terrorism coincided. Muslim migrants became a threat to national security. They faced collective punishment.</p>
<p>Affected by these developments, I left New York City on September 1, 2002 on a personal mission, and a quest, following Muslim . migrants in their search for a home in the West. I met men and women from Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Sudan, and Somalia in their epic journey through Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, and other countries in Europe.</p>
<p>They were from different backgrounds. Some escaped war. Others fled political persecution. Among them were young boys and girls who lost their family in the bombing of their homes in Iraq and Afghanistan; they were orphans, Muslim orphans, searching for a new home. There were women from Iran and the Sudan who were fleeing religious fundamentalism and their treatment as second class citizens in their places of birth. There were young men and women seeking normality, hoping to live a life like the others in the West, a life free of fundamentalism, a life free of humiliation, a life free of war.</p>
<p>I met Muslims who crossed the oceans and snow-covered mountains, navigated rough seas on small floats and fishing boats, got assaulted by border guards, spent time in prison and detention camps, and continued their voyage for a new life, a life they are were deprived of at home. . We met in different stops on the journey”: camps, prisons, the ghettos and the underworld of Istanbul, the squat homes in Athens, the tent city in the ports in Greece, the city parks in Paris, and the woods in nNorthern France. These were Iraqi Kurds living in temporary homes made of plastic and cardboard, in the woods near Calais. . In Istanbul, I spent long weeks and months with mothers traveling with their infants or young babies, and those who were trapped in safe houses with no money and jobs, still hoping to cross and make it to a safe place in Europe.</p>
<p>I photographed teenagers whose bones were broken by the Greek police when they attempted to leave the country for Italy, men whose teeth were popped out, and those whose ribs were broken under the kicks and punches of the coastguards. And those attacked by the border dogs and the guards in Bulgaria. They told me tales of violence, beatings, and death in the hands of the guards.</p>
<p>Like the Irish, the Italian, and the others who came to America in the turn of the last century for a new life, the Muslim migrants are leaving their places of birth for a new home, a place that would embrace them as equals. They are men and women with dissimilar conditions. But, all have similar dreams. They long for normality. They hope for a day they could work with dignity, raise a family, get old, and see their grandchildren play. But, as they proceed on their journey, they face new walls.</p>
<p>They are not welcome. The gates are closed.</p>
<p>BEHZAD YAGHMAIAN is the author of the forthcoming book entitled Embracing the Infidel: The Secret World of Muslim Migrant (Bantam/Dell random House, 2005). He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 3,531 |
<p>Photos: AP/Wide World Photos</p>
<p />
<p>The collapse of the Roman republic in 27 BC has significance today for the United States, which took many of its key political principles from its ancient predecessor. Separation of powers, checks and balances, government in accordance with constitutional law, a toleration of slavery, fixed terms in office, all these ideas were influenced by Roman precedents. John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams often read and spoke of Cicero as an inspiration to them. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, writing in the Federalist Papers in favor of ratification of the Constitution, signed their article with the name Publius Valerius Publicola, the first consul of the Roman republic.</p>
<p>The Roman republic, however, failed to adjust to the unintended consequences of its imperialism, leading to a drastic alteration in its form of government. The militarism that inescapably accompanied Rome’s imperial projects slowly undermined its constitution as well as the very considerable political and human rights its citizens enjoyed. The American republic, of course, has not yet collapsed; it is just under considerable strain as the imperial presidency — and its supporting military legions — undermine congress and the courts. However, the Roman outcome — turning over power to an autocracy backed by military force and welcomed by ordinary citizens because it seemed to bring stability — suggests what might happen after Bush and his neoconservatives are thrown out of office.</p>
<p>Obviously, there is nothing deterministic about this progression, and many prominent Romans, notably Brutus and Cicero, paid with their lives trying to head it off. But there is something utterly logical about it. Republican checks and balances are simply incompatible with the maintenance of a large empire and a huge standing army. Democratic nations sometimes acquire empires, which they are reluctant to give up because they are a source of wealth and national pride, but as a result their domestic liberties are thereby put at risk.</p>
<p>These not-particularly-original comparisons are inspired by the current situation of the United States, with its empire of well over 725 military bases located in other people’s countries, its huge and expensive military establishment demanding ever more pay and ever larger appropriations from a supine and manipulated legislature, unsolved anthrax attacks on senators and newsmen (much like Rome’s perennial assassinations), Congress’s gutting of the Bill of Rights through the panicky passage of the Patriot Act — by votes of 76-1 in the Senate and 337 to 79 in the House — and numerous signs that the public is indifferent to what it is about to lose. Many current aspects of our American government suggest a Roman-like fatigue with republican proprieties. After congress voted in October 2002 to give the president unrestricted power to use any means, including military force and nuclear weapons, in a preventive strike against Iraq whenever he — and he alone — deemed it “appropriate,” it would be hard to argue that the constitution of 1787 was still the supreme law of the land.</p>
<p>My thinking about the last days of republics was partly stimulated this past summer by a new book and an old play. The book is Anthony Everitt’s magnificent account of the man who had his head and both hands chopped off for opposing military dictatorship — Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest Politician (Random House, 2001). The play was a modern-dress production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, seen at San Diego’s Old Globe theater. The curtain opened on a huge backdrop portrait of Julius Caesar looking remarkably like any seedy politician with the word “tyrant” scrawled graffiti-style beneath his face in red paint. At play’s end, after Octavian’s hypocritical comments on the death of Brutus, who was one of the republic’s most stalwart supporters (“According to his virtue let us use him. . . .”), the picture of Caesar drops away to be replaced by one of Octavian — soon to become the self-proclaimed god Augustus Caesar — in full military uniform and bearing a marked resemblance to Arnold Schwarzenegger. In fact, Octavian’s military rule did not actually follow at once after the suicides of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi (42 BC) and Shakespeare does not say it did. But that is what the play — and the history — are all about: killing Julius Caesar on the Ides of March, 44 BC only prepared the ground for a more ruthless and determined successor.</p>
<p>THE ROMAN REPUBLIC is conventionally dated from 509 to 27 BC even though Romulus’s founding of the city is traditionally said to have occurred in 753 BC. All we know about its dim past, including the first two centuries of the republic, comes from the histories written by Livy and others and from the findings of modern archaeology. For the century preceding the republic, Rome had been ruled by Etruscan kings from their nearby state of Etruria (modern Tuscany), until in 510, according to legend, Sextus, the son of the king Tarquinius Superbus (“King Tarquin”), raped Lucretia, the daughter of a leading Roman family. A group of aristocrats backed by the Roman citizenry revolted against this outrage and expelled the Etruscans from Rome. The rebels were determined that never again would any single man be allowed to obtain supreme power in Rome, and for four centuries the system they established more or less succeeded in preventing that from happening. “This was the main principle,” writes Everitt, “that underpinned constitutional arrangements which, by Cicero’s time [106 to 43 BC], were of a baffling complexity.”</p>
<p>At the heart of the unwritten Roman constitution was the Senate, composed by the early years of the first century BC of about 300 members from whose ranks two chief executives, called consuls, were elected. The consuls took turns being in charge for a month each, and neither could hold office for more than a year. Over time an amazing set of “checks and balances” evolved to ensure that the consuls and other executives whose offices conferred on them imperium — the right to command an army, to interpret and carry out the law, and to pass sentences of death — did not entertain visions of grandeur and overstay their time. At the heart of these restraints were the principles of collegiality and term limits. The first meant that for every office there were at least two incumbents neither of whom had seniority or superiority over the other. Office holders were normally limited to one-year terms and could be reelected to the same office only after waiting ten years. Senators had to serve two to three years in lower offices — as quaestors, tribunes, aediles, or praetors — before they were eligible for election to a higher office, including the consulship. All office holders could veto the acts of their equals, and higher officials could veto decisions of lower ones. The chief exception to these rules was the office of “dictator,” appointed by the consuls in times of military emergency. There was always only one dictator and his decisions were immune to veto; according to the constitution, he could hold office only for six months or the duration of a crisis.</p>
<p>Once an official had ended his term as consul or praetor, the next post below consul, he was posted in Italy or abroad as governor of a province or colony and given the title of proconsul. It is absurd for journalistic admirers of the U.S. military today to pretend that its regional commanders-in-chief for the Middle East (Centcom), Europe (Eucom), the Pacific (Pacom), Latin America (Southcom), and the United States itself (Northcom) are the equivalents of Roman proconsuls. <a href="#notes" type="external">1</a> The Roman officials were seasoned members of the Senate who had held the highest executive post in the country, whereas American regional commanders are generals or admirals who have served their entire careers away from civilian concerns and risen to this post by managing to avoid making egregious mistakes. After serving as consul in 63 BC (the year of Octavian’s birth), for example, Cicero was sent to govern the colony of Cilicia in present-day southern Turkey, where his duties were both civilian and military.</p>
<p>Over time this complex system was made even more complex by the class struggle embedded in Roman society. During the first two centuries of the republic, what appeared to be a participatory democracy was in fact an oligarchy of aristocratic families that dominated the Senate. Not everyone was happy with this. After 287 BC, when the constitution was more or less formalized, a new institution came into being to defend the rights of the plebs or populares, that is, ordinary, non-aristocratic citizens of Rome. These were the tribunes of the people, charged with protection of the lives and property of plebians. Tribunes could veto any election, law, or decree of the Senate, of which they were ex officio members, as well as the acts of all other officials (except a dictator). They could also veto each others’ vetoes. “No doubt because their purpose in life was to annoy people,” Everitt notes, “their persons were sacrosanct.” Controlling appointments to the office of tribune became very important later to generals like Julius Caesar, who based their power on their armies plus the support of the populares against the aristocrats.</p>
<p>The system worked well enough and afforded extraordinary freedoms to the citizens of Rome so long as all members of the Senate recognized that compromise and consensus were the only ways to get anything done. Everitt poses the issue in terms of the different perspectives of Caesar and Cicero; Caesar was Rome’s, and perhaps history’s greatest general; whereas Cicero was the most intellectual defender of the Roman constitution. Both were former consuls: “Julius Caesar, with the pitiless insight of genius, understood that the constitution with its endless checks and balances prevented effective government, but like so many of his contemporaries Cicero regarded politics in personal rather than structural terms. For Caesar the solution lay in a completely new system of government; for Cicero it lay in finding better men to run the government — and better laws to keep them in order.”</p>
<p />
<p>Imperialism provoked the crisis that destroyed the Roman republic. After slowly consolidating its power over all of Italy and conquering the Greek colonies on the island of Sicily, the republic extended its conquests to Greece itself, to Carthage in North Africa, and to what is today southern France, Spain, and Asia Minor. By the first century BC, Rome dominated all of Gaul, most of Iberia, the coast of North Africa, Macedonia (including Greece), the Balkans, and large parts of modern Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon. “The republic became enormously rich on the spoils of empire,” Everitt writes, “so much so that from 167 BC Roman citizens in Italy no longer paid any personal taxes.” The republic also became increasingly self-important and arrogant, believing that its task was to bring civilization to lesser peoples and naming the Mediterranean Mare Nostrum (our sea), somewhat the way some Americans came in the twentieth century to refer to the Pacific Ocean as an “American lake.”</p>
<p>The problem was that the Roman constitution made administration of so large and diverse an area increasingly difficult and subtly altered the norms and interests that underlay the need for compromise and consensus. There were several aspects to this crisis, but the most important was the transformation of the Roman army into a professional military force and the growth of militarism. During the early and middle years of the republic, the Roman legions were a true citizen army composed of small, conscripted landowners. Differing from the American republic, all citizens between the age of 17 and 46 were liable to be called for military service. One of the more admirable aspects of the Roman system was that only those citizens who possessed a specified amount of property (namely, a horse and some land) could serve, thereby making those who had profited most from the state also responsible for its defense. (By contrast, of the 535 members of Congress, only seven have children in the U.S.’s all-volunteer armed forces.) The Roman plebs did their service as skirmishers with the army or in the navy, which had far less honor attached to it. At the beginning of each term, the consuls appointed tribunes to raise two legions from the census role of all eligible citizens.</p>
<p>When a campaign was over, the troops were promptly sent back to their farms, sometimes richer and flushed with military glory. Occasionally, the returning farmers got to march behind their general in a “triumph,” a victory procession allowed only to the greatest conquerors that was the most splendid ceremony in the Roman calendar. The general himself, who paid for this parade, rode in a chariot with his face covered in red lead to represent Jupiter, king of the gods. A boy slave stood behind him holding a laurel wreath above his head while whispering in his ear “Remember that you are human.” In Pompey’s great triumph of 61 BC, he actually wore a cloak that had belonged to Alexander the Great. After the general came his prisoners in chains and finally the legionnaires, who by ancient tradition sang obscene songs satirizing their general.</p>
<p>By the end of the second century BC, in Everitt’s words, “The responsibilities of empire meant that soldiers could no longer be demobilized at the end of each fighting season. Standing forces were required, with soldiers on long-term contracts.” The great general Caius Marius undertook to reform the armed forces, replacing the old conscript armies with a professional body of long-service volunteers. When their contracts expired, they expected their commanders, to whom they were personally loyal, to grant them farms. Unfortunately, land in Italy was by then in short supply, much of it tied up in huge sheep and cattle ranches owned by rich, often aristocratic, families and run by slave labor. The landowners were the dominant conservative influence in the Senate, and they resisted all efforts at land reform. Members of the upper classes became wealthy as a result of Rome’s wars of conquest and bought more land as the only safe investment, driving small holders off their property. In 133 BC the gentry arranged for the killing of the tribune Tiberius Gracchus (of plebian origin) for advocating a new land-use law. Rome’s population continued to swell with landless veterans. “Where would the land be found,” asks Everitt, “for the superannuated soldiers of Rome’s next war?”</p>
<p>DURING THE LAST CENTURY before its fall, the republic was assailed by many revolts of generals and their troops, leading to gross violations of the constitution and on several occasions to civil wars. These included the uprisings of Marius and Sulla and of the failed revolutionary Catilina. There was also the Spartacus slave rebellion of 73 BC, put down by the immensely wealthy Marcus Licinius Crassus, who in the process crucified some 6,000 survivors. Crassus was a member of the First Triumvirate, along with Pompey and Caesar, which attempted to bring the situation under control by direct cooperation among the generals. Everitt writes, “During his childhood and youth Cicero had watched with horror as Rome set about dismantling itself. If he had a mission as an adult, it was to recall the republic to order. . . . [He] noticed that the uninhibited freedom of speech which marked political life in the republic was giving way to caution at social gatherings and across dinner tables. . . . The Senate had no answer to Rome’s problems and indeed sought none. Its aim was simply to maintain the constitution and resist the continual attacks on its authority. . . . The populares had lost decisively with the defeat of Catilina, but the snake was only stunned. Caesar, who had been plotting against Senatorial interests behind the scenes, was rising up the political ladder and, barring accidents, would be consul in a few year’s time.”</p>
<p>Caesar became consul for the first time in 59 BC enjoying great popularity with the ordinary people. After his year in office, he was rewarded by being named governor of Gaul, a post he held between 58 and 49 during which he earned great military glory and became immensely wealthy. In 49 he famously allowed his armies to cross the Rubicon, a small river in northern Italy that served as a boundary against armies approaching the capital, and plunged the country into civil war, taking on his former ally and now rival, Pompey. He won, after which, as Everitt observes, “No one was left in the field for Caesar to fight. . . . His leading opponents were dead. The republic was dead too: he had become the state.” Julius Caesar exercised dictatorship from 48 to 44 and a month before the Ides of March had arranged to have himself named “dictator for life.” Instead, he was stabbed to death in the Senate by a conspiracy of eight members, led by Brutus and Cassius, both praetors, known to history as “principled tyrannicides.”</p>
<p>Shakespeare’s recreation of the scenes that followed, based upon Sir Thomas North’s translation of Plutarch, has become as immortal as the deed itself. In a speech to the plebians in the Forum, Brutus defended his actions. “If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar’s, to him I say that Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less than his. If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: Not that I lov’d Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living, and all die slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all freemen?” However, Mark Antony, Caesar’s chief lieutenant, speaking to the same audience, had the last word. He turned the populace against Brutus and Cassius, and as they raced forth to avenge Caesar’s murder, said cynically, “Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war.”</p>
<p>The Second Triumvirate, formed to avenge Caesar, ended like the first, with only one man standing, but that man, Caius Octavianus (Octavian), Caesar’s eighteen-year-old grand nephew, would decisively change Roman government by replacing the republic with an imperial dictatorship. Everitt characterizes Octavian as “a freebooting young privateer,” who on August 19, 43 BC, became the youngest consul in Rome’s history and set out, in violation of the constitution, to raise his own private army. “The boy would be a focus for the simmering resentments among the Roman masses, the disbanded veterans, and the standing legions.” Cicero, who had devoted his life to trying to curb the kind of power represented by Octavian, now gave up on the rule of law in favor of realpolitik. He recognized that “for all his struggles the constitution was dead and power lay in the hands of soldiers and their leaders.” In Cicero’s analysis, the only hope was to try to co-opt Octavian, leading him toward a more constitutional position, while doing everything not to “irritate rank-and-file opinion, which was fundamentally Caesarian.” Cicero would pay with his life for this last, desperate gamble. Octavian, allied with Mark Antony, ordered at least 130 senators (perhaps as many as 300) executed and their property confiscated after charging them with supporting the conspiracy against Caesar. Mark Antony personally added Cicero’s name to the list. When he met his death, the great scholar and orator had with him a copy of Euripides’ Medea, which he had been reading. His head and both hands were displayed in the Forum.</p>
<p>A year after Cicero’s death, following the battle of Philippi where Brutus and Cassius ended their lives, Octavian and Antony divided the known world between them. Octavian took the West and remained in Rome; Antony accepted the East and allied himself with Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt and Julius Caesar’s former mistress. In 31 BC, Octavian set out to end this unstable arrangement, and at the sea battle of Actium in the Gulf of Ambracia on the western coast of Greece, he defeated Antony’s and Cleopatra’s fleet. The following year in Alexandria Mark Antony fell on his sword and Cleopatra took an asp to her breast. By then, both had been thoroughly discredited for claiming that Antony was a descendant of Caesar’s and for seeking Roman citizenship rights for Cleopatra’s children by Caesar. Octavian would rule the Roman world for the next 45 years, until his death in 14 AD.</p>
<p>On January 13, 27 BC, Octavian appeared in the Senate, which had legitimized its own demise by ceding most of its powers to him, and bestowing on him the new title of Augustus, first Roman emperor. The majority of the Senators were his solid supporters, having been handpicked by him. In 23 BC, Augustus was granted further authority by being designated a tribune for life, which gave him ultimate veto power over anything the Senate might do. His power rested ultimately on his total control of the armed forces.</p>
<p>ALTHOUGH HIS RISE TO POWER was always tainted by constitutional illegitimacy — not unlike that of our own Boy Emperor from Crawford, Texas — Augustus proceeded to emasculate the Roman system and its representative institutions. He never abolished the old republican offices but merely united them under one person, himself. Imperial appointment became a badge of prestige and social standing rather than of authority. The Senate was turned into a club of old aristocratic families, and its approval of the acts of the emperor was purely ceremonial. The Roman legions continued to march under the banner SPQR — senatus populus que Romanus, “the Senate and the Roman People” — but the authority of Augustus was absolute.</p>
<p>The most serious problem was that the army had grown too large and was close to unmanageable. It constituted a state within a state, not unlike the Pentagon in the United States today. Augustus reduced the army’s size and provided generous cash payments to those soldiers who had served more than twelve years, making clear that this bounty came from him, not their military commanders. He also transferred all legions away from Rome to the remote provinces and borders of the Empire, to ensure their leaders were not tempted to meddle in political affairs. Equally astutely, he created the Praetorian Guard, an elite force of 9,000 men with the task of defending him personally, and stationed them in Rome. They were drawn only from Italy, not from distant provinces, and were paid more than soldiers in the regular legions. They began as Augustus’s personal bodyguards, but in the decades after his death they became decisive players in the selection of new emperors. It was one of the first illustrations of an old problem of authoritarian politics: create one bureaucracy, the Praetorian Guard, to control another bureaucracy, the regular army, but before long the question will arise Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who will watch the watchers?)</p>
<p>Augustus is credited with forging the Roman Peace (Pax Romana), which historians like to say lasted more than 200 years. It was, however, a military dictatorship and depended entirely on the incumbent emperor. And therein lay the problem. Tiberius, who reigned from 14-37 AD, retired to Capri with a covey of young boys who catered to his sexual tastes. His successor, Caligula, who held office from 37-41, was the darling of the army, but on January 24, 41 AD, the Praetorian Guard assassinated him and proceeded to loot the imperial palace. Modern archaeological evidence strongly suggests that Caligula was an eccentric maniac, just as history has always portrayed him. <a href="#notes" type="external">2</a></p>
<p>The fourth Roman emperor, Claudius, who reigned from 41 to 54, was selected and put into power by the Praetorian Guard in a de facto military coup. Despite the basically favorable portrayal of him by Robert Graves (I, Claudius, 1934) and years later on TV by Derek Jacobi, Claudius, who was Caligula’s uncle, was addicted to gladiatorial games and fond of watching his defeated opponents being put to death. As a child, Claudius limped, drooled, stuttered, and was constantly ill. He had his first wife killed and married Agrippina, daughter of the sister of Caligula, after having the law changed to allow uncles to marry their nieces. On October 13, 54 AD, Claudius was killed with a poisoned mushroom, probably fed to him by his wife, and at noon that same day, the sixteen-year-old Nero, Agrippina’s son by a former husband, was acclaimed emperor in a carefully orchestrated piece of political theater. Nero, who reigned from 54 to 68, was a probably insane tyrant who has been credited with setting fire to Rome in 64 and persecuting some famous early Christians (Paul and Peter), although his reputation has been somewhat rehabilitated in recent years as a patron of the arts.</p>
<p>After Augustus, not much recommends the Roman Empire as an example of enlightened government despite the enthusiasm for it of such neoconservative promoters of the George W. Bush administration as The Washington Post’s Charles Krauthammer, The Wall Street Journal’s Max Boot, and The Weekly Standard’s William Kristol. My reasons for going over this ancient history are not to suggest that our own Boy Emperor is a second Octavian but rather what might happen after he is gone. The history of the Roman republic from the time of Julius Caesar on suggests that it was imperialism and militarism, poorly understood by all conservative political leaders at the time, that brought it down. Militarism and the professionalization of a large standing army create invincible new sources of power within a polity. The government must mobilize the masses in order to exploit them as cannon fodder and this leads to the rise of populist generals who understand the grievances of their troops and veterans.</p>
<p>Service in the armed forces of the United States has not been a universal male obligation of citizenship since 1973. Our military today is a professional corps of men and women who join up for their own reasons, commonly to advance themselves in the face of one or another cul de sac of American society. They normally do not expect to be shot at, but they do expect all the benefits of state employment — steady pay, good housing, free medical benefits, relief from racial discrimination, world travel, and gratitude from the society for their military “service.” They are well aware that the alternatives civilian life in America offers today include difficult job searches, no job security, regular pilfering of retirement funds by company executives and their accountants, “privatized” medical care, bad public elementary education systems, and insanely expensive higher education. They are ripe, it seems to me, not for the political rhetoric of patrician politicians who have followed the Andover, Yale, Harvard Business School route to riches and power but for a Julius Caesar, Napoléon Bonaparte, or Juan Perón — a revolutionary, military populist with no interest in republican niceties so long as he is made emperor.</p>
<p>Given the course of the postwar situations in Afghanistan and Iraq, it may not be too hard to defeat George Bush in the election of 2004. But regardless of who replaces him, he will have to deal with the Pentagon, the military-industrial complex, our empire of bases, and a fifty-year-old tradition of not telling the public what our military establishment costs and the devastation it can inflict. History teaches us that the capacity for things to get worse is limitless. Roman history suggests that the short, happy life of the American republic is in serious trouble — and that conversion to a military empire is, to say the least, not the best answer. <a type="external" href="" /></p>
<p>1. See, for example, Dana Priest, The Mission: Waging War and Keeping Peace with America’s Military (New York: Norton, 2003).</p>
<p>2. Shasta Darlington, “New Dig Says Caligula Was Indeed a Maniac,” Reuters, August 16, 2003.</p>
<p />
<p>This commentary first appeared on <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external">TomDispatch.com</a>, a weblog of The Nation Institute.</p>
<p /> | The Scourge of Militarism | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2003/09/scourge-militarism/ | 2003-09-12 | 4left
| The Scourge of Militarism
<p>Photos: AP/Wide World Photos</p>
<p />
<p>The collapse of the Roman republic in 27 BC has significance today for the United States, which took many of its key political principles from its ancient predecessor. Separation of powers, checks and balances, government in accordance with constitutional law, a toleration of slavery, fixed terms in office, all these ideas were influenced by Roman precedents. John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams often read and spoke of Cicero as an inspiration to them. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, writing in the Federalist Papers in favor of ratification of the Constitution, signed their article with the name Publius Valerius Publicola, the first consul of the Roman republic.</p>
<p>The Roman republic, however, failed to adjust to the unintended consequences of its imperialism, leading to a drastic alteration in its form of government. The militarism that inescapably accompanied Rome’s imperial projects slowly undermined its constitution as well as the very considerable political and human rights its citizens enjoyed. The American republic, of course, has not yet collapsed; it is just under considerable strain as the imperial presidency — and its supporting military legions — undermine congress and the courts. However, the Roman outcome — turning over power to an autocracy backed by military force and welcomed by ordinary citizens because it seemed to bring stability — suggests what might happen after Bush and his neoconservatives are thrown out of office.</p>
<p>Obviously, there is nothing deterministic about this progression, and many prominent Romans, notably Brutus and Cicero, paid with their lives trying to head it off. But there is something utterly logical about it. Republican checks and balances are simply incompatible with the maintenance of a large empire and a huge standing army. Democratic nations sometimes acquire empires, which they are reluctant to give up because they are a source of wealth and national pride, but as a result their domestic liberties are thereby put at risk.</p>
<p>These not-particularly-original comparisons are inspired by the current situation of the United States, with its empire of well over 725 military bases located in other people’s countries, its huge and expensive military establishment demanding ever more pay and ever larger appropriations from a supine and manipulated legislature, unsolved anthrax attacks on senators and newsmen (much like Rome’s perennial assassinations), Congress’s gutting of the Bill of Rights through the panicky passage of the Patriot Act — by votes of 76-1 in the Senate and 337 to 79 in the House — and numerous signs that the public is indifferent to what it is about to lose. Many current aspects of our American government suggest a Roman-like fatigue with republican proprieties. After congress voted in October 2002 to give the president unrestricted power to use any means, including military force and nuclear weapons, in a preventive strike against Iraq whenever he — and he alone — deemed it “appropriate,” it would be hard to argue that the constitution of 1787 was still the supreme law of the land.</p>
<p>My thinking about the last days of republics was partly stimulated this past summer by a new book and an old play. The book is Anthony Everitt’s magnificent account of the man who had his head and both hands chopped off for opposing military dictatorship — Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest Politician (Random House, 2001). The play was a modern-dress production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, seen at San Diego’s Old Globe theater. The curtain opened on a huge backdrop portrait of Julius Caesar looking remarkably like any seedy politician with the word “tyrant” scrawled graffiti-style beneath his face in red paint. At play’s end, after Octavian’s hypocritical comments on the death of Brutus, who was one of the republic’s most stalwart supporters (“According to his virtue let us use him. . . .”), the picture of Caesar drops away to be replaced by one of Octavian — soon to become the self-proclaimed god Augustus Caesar — in full military uniform and bearing a marked resemblance to Arnold Schwarzenegger. In fact, Octavian’s military rule did not actually follow at once after the suicides of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi (42 BC) and Shakespeare does not say it did. But that is what the play — and the history — are all about: killing Julius Caesar on the Ides of March, 44 BC only prepared the ground for a more ruthless and determined successor.</p>
<p>THE ROMAN REPUBLIC is conventionally dated from 509 to 27 BC even though Romulus’s founding of the city is traditionally said to have occurred in 753 BC. All we know about its dim past, including the first two centuries of the republic, comes from the histories written by Livy and others and from the findings of modern archaeology. For the century preceding the republic, Rome had been ruled by Etruscan kings from their nearby state of Etruria (modern Tuscany), until in 510, according to legend, Sextus, the son of the king Tarquinius Superbus (“King Tarquin”), raped Lucretia, the daughter of a leading Roman family. A group of aristocrats backed by the Roman citizenry revolted against this outrage and expelled the Etruscans from Rome. The rebels were determined that never again would any single man be allowed to obtain supreme power in Rome, and for four centuries the system they established more or less succeeded in preventing that from happening. “This was the main principle,” writes Everitt, “that underpinned constitutional arrangements which, by Cicero’s time [106 to 43 BC], were of a baffling complexity.”</p>
<p>At the heart of the unwritten Roman constitution was the Senate, composed by the early years of the first century BC of about 300 members from whose ranks two chief executives, called consuls, were elected. The consuls took turns being in charge for a month each, and neither could hold office for more than a year. Over time an amazing set of “checks and balances” evolved to ensure that the consuls and other executives whose offices conferred on them imperium — the right to command an army, to interpret and carry out the law, and to pass sentences of death — did not entertain visions of grandeur and overstay their time. At the heart of these restraints were the principles of collegiality and term limits. The first meant that for every office there were at least two incumbents neither of whom had seniority or superiority over the other. Office holders were normally limited to one-year terms and could be reelected to the same office only after waiting ten years. Senators had to serve two to three years in lower offices — as quaestors, tribunes, aediles, or praetors — before they were eligible for election to a higher office, including the consulship. All office holders could veto the acts of their equals, and higher officials could veto decisions of lower ones. The chief exception to these rules was the office of “dictator,” appointed by the consuls in times of military emergency. There was always only one dictator and his decisions were immune to veto; according to the constitution, he could hold office only for six months or the duration of a crisis.</p>
<p>Once an official had ended his term as consul or praetor, the next post below consul, he was posted in Italy or abroad as governor of a province or colony and given the title of proconsul. It is absurd for journalistic admirers of the U.S. military today to pretend that its regional commanders-in-chief for the Middle East (Centcom), Europe (Eucom), the Pacific (Pacom), Latin America (Southcom), and the United States itself (Northcom) are the equivalents of Roman proconsuls. <a href="#notes" type="external">1</a> The Roman officials were seasoned members of the Senate who had held the highest executive post in the country, whereas American regional commanders are generals or admirals who have served their entire careers away from civilian concerns and risen to this post by managing to avoid making egregious mistakes. After serving as consul in 63 BC (the year of Octavian’s birth), for example, Cicero was sent to govern the colony of Cilicia in present-day southern Turkey, where his duties were both civilian and military.</p>
<p>Over time this complex system was made even more complex by the class struggle embedded in Roman society. During the first two centuries of the republic, what appeared to be a participatory democracy was in fact an oligarchy of aristocratic families that dominated the Senate. Not everyone was happy with this. After 287 BC, when the constitution was more or less formalized, a new institution came into being to defend the rights of the plebs or populares, that is, ordinary, non-aristocratic citizens of Rome. These were the tribunes of the people, charged with protection of the lives and property of plebians. Tribunes could veto any election, law, or decree of the Senate, of which they were ex officio members, as well as the acts of all other officials (except a dictator). They could also veto each others’ vetoes. “No doubt because their purpose in life was to annoy people,” Everitt notes, “their persons were sacrosanct.” Controlling appointments to the office of tribune became very important later to generals like Julius Caesar, who based their power on their armies plus the support of the populares against the aristocrats.</p>
<p>The system worked well enough and afforded extraordinary freedoms to the citizens of Rome so long as all members of the Senate recognized that compromise and consensus were the only ways to get anything done. Everitt poses the issue in terms of the different perspectives of Caesar and Cicero; Caesar was Rome’s, and perhaps history’s greatest general; whereas Cicero was the most intellectual defender of the Roman constitution. Both were former consuls: “Julius Caesar, with the pitiless insight of genius, understood that the constitution with its endless checks and balances prevented effective government, but like so many of his contemporaries Cicero regarded politics in personal rather than structural terms. For Caesar the solution lay in a completely new system of government; for Cicero it lay in finding better men to run the government — and better laws to keep them in order.”</p>
<p />
<p>Imperialism provoked the crisis that destroyed the Roman republic. After slowly consolidating its power over all of Italy and conquering the Greek colonies on the island of Sicily, the republic extended its conquests to Greece itself, to Carthage in North Africa, and to what is today southern France, Spain, and Asia Minor. By the first century BC, Rome dominated all of Gaul, most of Iberia, the coast of North Africa, Macedonia (including Greece), the Balkans, and large parts of modern Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon. “The republic became enormously rich on the spoils of empire,” Everitt writes, “so much so that from 167 BC Roman citizens in Italy no longer paid any personal taxes.” The republic also became increasingly self-important and arrogant, believing that its task was to bring civilization to lesser peoples and naming the Mediterranean Mare Nostrum (our sea), somewhat the way some Americans came in the twentieth century to refer to the Pacific Ocean as an “American lake.”</p>
<p>The problem was that the Roman constitution made administration of so large and diverse an area increasingly difficult and subtly altered the norms and interests that underlay the need for compromise and consensus. There were several aspects to this crisis, but the most important was the transformation of the Roman army into a professional military force and the growth of militarism. During the early and middle years of the republic, the Roman legions were a true citizen army composed of small, conscripted landowners. Differing from the American republic, all citizens between the age of 17 and 46 were liable to be called for military service. One of the more admirable aspects of the Roman system was that only those citizens who possessed a specified amount of property (namely, a horse and some land) could serve, thereby making those who had profited most from the state also responsible for its defense. (By contrast, of the 535 members of Congress, only seven have children in the U.S.’s all-volunteer armed forces.) The Roman plebs did their service as skirmishers with the army or in the navy, which had far less honor attached to it. At the beginning of each term, the consuls appointed tribunes to raise two legions from the census role of all eligible citizens.</p>
<p>When a campaign was over, the troops were promptly sent back to their farms, sometimes richer and flushed with military glory. Occasionally, the returning farmers got to march behind their general in a “triumph,” a victory procession allowed only to the greatest conquerors that was the most splendid ceremony in the Roman calendar. The general himself, who paid for this parade, rode in a chariot with his face covered in red lead to represent Jupiter, king of the gods. A boy slave stood behind him holding a laurel wreath above his head while whispering in his ear “Remember that you are human.” In Pompey’s great triumph of 61 BC, he actually wore a cloak that had belonged to Alexander the Great. After the general came his prisoners in chains and finally the legionnaires, who by ancient tradition sang obscene songs satirizing their general.</p>
<p>By the end of the second century BC, in Everitt’s words, “The responsibilities of empire meant that soldiers could no longer be demobilized at the end of each fighting season. Standing forces were required, with soldiers on long-term contracts.” The great general Caius Marius undertook to reform the armed forces, replacing the old conscript armies with a professional body of long-service volunteers. When their contracts expired, they expected their commanders, to whom they were personally loyal, to grant them farms. Unfortunately, land in Italy was by then in short supply, much of it tied up in huge sheep and cattle ranches owned by rich, often aristocratic, families and run by slave labor. The landowners were the dominant conservative influence in the Senate, and they resisted all efforts at land reform. Members of the upper classes became wealthy as a result of Rome’s wars of conquest and bought more land as the only safe investment, driving small holders off their property. In 133 BC the gentry arranged for the killing of the tribune Tiberius Gracchus (of plebian origin) for advocating a new land-use law. Rome’s population continued to swell with landless veterans. “Where would the land be found,” asks Everitt, “for the superannuated soldiers of Rome’s next war?”</p>
<p>DURING THE LAST CENTURY before its fall, the republic was assailed by many revolts of generals and their troops, leading to gross violations of the constitution and on several occasions to civil wars. These included the uprisings of Marius and Sulla and of the failed revolutionary Catilina. There was also the Spartacus slave rebellion of 73 BC, put down by the immensely wealthy Marcus Licinius Crassus, who in the process crucified some 6,000 survivors. Crassus was a member of the First Triumvirate, along with Pompey and Caesar, which attempted to bring the situation under control by direct cooperation among the generals. Everitt writes, “During his childhood and youth Cicero had watched with horror as Rome set about dismantling itself. If he had a mission as an adult, it was to recall the republic to order. . . . [He] noticed that the uninhibited freedom of speech which marked political life in the republic was giving way to caution at social gatherings and across dinner tables. . . . The Senate had no answer to Rome’s problems and indeed sought none. Its aim was simply to maintain the constitution and resist the continual attacks on its authority. . . . The populares had lost decisively with the defeat of Catilina, but the snake was only stunned. Caesar, who had been plotting against Senatorial interests behind the scenes, was rising up the political ladder and, barring accidents, would be consul in a few year’s time.”</p>
<p>Caesar became consul for the first time in 59 BC enjoying great popularity with the ordinary people. After his year in office, he was rewarded by being named governor of Gaul, a post he held between 58 and 49 during which he earned great military glory and became immensely wealthy. In 49 he famously allowed his armies to cross the Rubicon, a small river in northern Italy that served as a boundary against armies approaching the capital, and plunged the country into civil war, taking on his former ally and now rival, Pompey. He won, after which, as Everitt observes, “No one was left in the field for Caesar to fight. . . . His leading opponents were dead. The republic was dead too: he had become the state.” Julius Caesar exercised dictatorship from 48 to 44 and a month before the Ides of March had arranged to have himself named “dictator for life.” Instead, he was stabbed to death in the Senate by a conspiracy of eight members, led by Brutus and Cassius, both praetors, known to history as “principled tyrannicides.”</p>
<p>Shakespeare’s recreation of the scenes that followed, based upon Sir Thomas North’s translation of Plutarch, has become as immortal as the deed itself. In a speech to the plebians in the Forum, Brutus defended his actions. “If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar’s, to him I say that Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less than his. If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: Not that I lov’d Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living, and all die slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all freemen?” However, Mark Antony, Caesar’s chief lieutenant, speaking to the same audience, had the last word. He turned the populace against Brutus and Cassius, and as they raced forth to avenge Caesar’s murder, said cynically, “Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war.”</p>
<p>The Second Triumvirate, formed to avenge Caesar, ended like the first, with only one man standing, but that man, Caius Octavianus (Octavian), Caesar’s eighteen-year-old grand nephew, would decisively change Roman government by replacing the republic with an imperial dictatorship. Everitt characterizes Octavian as “a freebooting young privateer,” who on August 19, 43 BC, became the youngest consul in Rome’s history and set out, in violation of the constitution, to raise his own private army. “The boy would be a focus for the simmering resentments among the Roman masses, the disbanded veterans, and the standing legions.” Cicero, who had devoted his life to trying to curb the kind of power represented by Octavian, now gave up on the rule of law in favor of realpolitik. He recognized that “for all his struggles the constitution was dead and power lay in the hands of soldiers and their leaders.” In Cicero’s analysis, the only hope was to try to co-opt Octavian, leading him toward a more constitutional position, while doing everything not to “irritate rank-and-file opinion, which was fundamentally Caesarian.” Cicero would pay with his life for this last, desperate gamble. Octavian, allied with Mark Antony, ordered at least 130 senators (perhaps as many as 300) executed and their property confiscated after charging them with supporting the conspiracy against Caesar. Mark Antony personally added Cicero’s name to the list. When he met his death, the great scholar and orator had with him a copy of Euripides’ Medea, which he had been reading. His head and both hands were displayed in the Forum.</p>
<p>A year after Cicero’s death, following the battle of Philippi where Brutus and Cassius ended their lives, Octavian and Antony divided the known world between them. Octavian took the West and remained in Rome; Antony accepted the East and allied himself with Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt and Julius Caesar’s former mistress. In 31 BC, Octavian set out to end this unstable arrangement, and at the sea battle of Actium in the Gulf of Ambracia on the western coast of Greece, he defeated Antony’s and Cleopatra’s fleet. The following year in Alexandria Mark Antony fell on his sword and Cleopatra took an asp to her breast. By then, both had been thoroughly discredited for claiming that Antony was a descendant of Caesar’s and for seeking Roman citizenship rights for Cleopatra’s children by Caesar. Octavian would rule the Roman world for the next 45 years, until his death in 14 AD.</p>
<p>On January 13, 27 BC, Octavian appeared in the Senate, which had legitimized its own demise by ceding most of its powers to him, and bestowing on him the new title of Augustus, first Roman emperor. The majority of the Senators were his solid supporters, having been handpicked by him. In 23 BC, Augustus was granted further authority by being designated a tribune for life, which gave him ultimate veto power over anything the Senate might do. His power rested ultimately on his total control of the armed forces.</p>
<p>ALTHOUGH HIS RISE TO POWER was always tainted by constitutional illegitimacy — not unlike that of our own Boy Emperor from Crawford, Texas — Augustus proceeded to emasculate the Roman system and its representative institutions. He never abolished the old republican offices but merely united them under one person, himself. Imperial appointment became a badge of prestige and social standing rather than of authority. The Senate was turned into a club of old aristocratic families, and its approval of the acts of the emperor was purely ceremonial. The Roman legions continued to march under the banner SPQR — senatus populus que Romanus, “the Senate and the Roman People” — but the authority of Augustus was absolute.</p>
<p>The most serious problem was that the army had grown too large and was close to unmanageable. It constituted a state within a state, not unlike the Pentagon in the United States today. Augustus reduced the army’s size and provided generous cash payments to those soldiers who had served more than twelve years, making clear that this bounty came from him, not their military commanders. He also transferred all legions away from Rome to the remote provinces and borders of the Empire, to ensure their leaders were not tempted to meddle in political affairs. Equally astutely, he created the Praetorian Guard, an elite force of 9,000 men with the task of defending him personally, and stationed them in Rome. They were drawn only from Italy, not from distant provinces, and were paid more than soldiers in the regular legions. They began as Augustus’s personal bodyguards, but in the decades after his death they became decisive players in the selection of new emperors. It was one of the first illustrations of an old problem of authoritarian politics: create one bureaucracy, the Praetorian Guard, to control another bureaucracy, the regular army, but before long the question will arise Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who will watch the watchers?)</p>
<p>Augustus is credited with forging the Roman Peace (Pax Romana), which historians like to say lasted more than 200 years. It was, however, a military dictatorship and depended entirely on the incumbent emperor. And therein lay the problem. Tiberius, who reigned from 14-37 AD, retired to Capri with a covey of young boys who catered to his sexual tastes. His successor, Caligula, who held office from 37-41, was the darling of the army, but on January 24, 41 AD, the Praetorian Guard assassinated him and proceeded to loot the imperial palace. Modern archaeological evidence strongly suggests that Caligula was an eccentric maniac, just as history has always portrayed him. <a href="#notes" type="external">2</a></p>
<p>The fourth Roman emperor, Claudius, who reigned from 41 to 54, was selected and put into power by the Praetorian Guard in a de facto military coup. Despite the basically favorable portrayal of him by Robert Graves (I, Claudius, 1934) and years later on TV by Derek Jacobi, Claudius, who was Caligula’s uncle, was addicted to gladiatorial games and fond of watching his defeated opponents being put to death. As a child, Claudius limped, drooled, stuttered, and was constantly ill. He had his first wife killed and married Agrippina, daughter of the sister of Caligula, after having the law changed to allow uncles to marry their nieces. On October 13, 54 AD, Claudius was killed with a poisoned mushroom, probably fed to him by his wife, and at noon that same day, the sixteen-year-old Nero, Agrippina’s son by a former husband, was acclaimed emperor in a carefully orchestrated piece of political theater. Nero, who reigned from 54 to 68, was a probably insane tyrant who has been credited with setting fire to Rome in 64 and persecuting some famous early Christians (Paul and Peter), although his reputation has been somewhat rehabilitated in recent years as a patron of the arts.</p>
<p>After Augustus, not much recommends the Roman Empire as an example of enlightened government despite the enthusiasm for it of such neoconservative promoters of the George W. Bush administration as The Washington Post’s Charles Krauthammer, The Wall Street Journal’s Max Boot, and The Weekly Standard’s William Kristol. My reasons for going over this ancient history are not to suggest that our own Boy Emperor is a second Octavian but rather what might happen after he is gone. The history of the Roman republic from the time of Julius Caesar on suggests that it was imperialism and militarism, poorly understood by all conservative political leaders at the time, that brought it down. Militarism and the professionalization of a large standing army create invincible new sources of power within a polity. The government must mobilize the masses in order to exploit them as cannon fodder and this leads to the rise of populist generals who understand the grievances of their troops and veterans.</p>
<p>Service in the armed forces of the United States has not been a universal male obligation of citizenship since 1973. Our military today is a professional corps of men and women who join up for their own reasons, commonly to advance themselves in the face of one or another cul de sac of American society. They normally do not expect to be shot at, but they do expect all the benefits of state employment — steady pay, good housing, free medical benefits, relief from racial discrimination, world travel, and gratitude from the society for their military “service.” They are well aware that the alternatives civilian life in America offers today include difficult job searches, no job security, regular pilfering of retirement funds by company executives and their accountants, “privatized” medical care, bad public elementary education systems, and insanely expensive higher education. They are ripe, it seems to me, not for the political rhetoric of patrician politicians who have followed the Andover, Yale, Harvard Business School route to riches and power but for a Julius Caesar, Napoléon Bonaparte, or Juan Perón — a revolutionary, military populist with no interest in republican niceties so long as he is made emperor.</p>
<p>Given the course of the postwar situations in Afghanistan and Iraq, it may not be too hard to defeat George Bush in the election of 2004. But regardless of who replaces him, he will have to deal with the Pentagon, the military-industrial complex, our empire of bases, and a fifty-year-old tradition of not telling the public what our military establishment costs and the devastation it can inflict. History teaches us that the capacity for things to get worse is limitless. Roman history suggests that the short, happy life of the American republic is in serious trouble — and that conversion to a military empire is, to say the least, not the best answer. <a type="external" href="" /></p>
<p>1. See, for example, Dana Priest, The Mission: Waging War and Keeping Peace with America’s Military (New York: Norton, 2003).</p>
<p>2. Shasta Darlington, “New Dig Says Caligula Was Indeed a Maniac,” Reuters, August 16, 2003.</p>
<p />
<p>This commentary first appeared on <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external">TomDispatch.com</a>, a weblog of The Nation Institute.</p>
<p /> | 3,532 |
<p />
<p>DO you think that a government has the right to force your child to get vaccinated or go to jail — well that’s what one Oakland County mother now has to deal with and the consequences of not doing it will be rough.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>The mother, Rebecca Breedow, explained in an interview:</p>
<p>“I’m a mother of two and the last thing I want to do is to go to jail, of course, but I’ve been kind of backed into a corner. I’d rather go to jail than to give into my belief of what I am as a mother and what I believe in.”</p>
<p>Breedow and her now ex-husband had made the choice to put off their son’s vaccination shots when he was first born and then only gave him shots when they could space them out as far as possible. It rolled around to be 2010 and they made the choice to just kick the immunizations all together over the fear of what they called “grouped vaccinations.”</p>
<p>John Hawkins's book 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know is filled with lessons that newly minted adults need in order to get the most out of life. Gleaned from a lifetime of trial, error, and writing it down, Hawkins provides advice everyone can benefit from in short, digestible chapters.</p>
<p>“These are combo shots that could be up to 40 vaccines at once. So, I mean that’s pretty serious. That’s a lot of vaccines to inject into your child at once.”</p>
<p>I realize she is the mother and I fully support her decisions to make the choice for her family and child. But when vaccinations are scheduled like that, the amount that you receive at one time was chosen by a licensed medical professional, who I’m sure, understands if the amount given is “pretty serious.”</p>
<p>As it stands, Michigan is only one of 17 states that gives allowance for medical, religious and philosophical immunity from getting any sort of vaccine. Both of the parents had decided to kick the vaccine shots, even after they divorced. But what changed all that was the child custody case that they were going through, which was transferred from Washtenaw County over to Oakland County. Breedow had custody of her son, yet there was a motion set on the case over the lack of vaccination.</p>
<p>“I never was aware that he wanted vaccination, so he brought it to the judge’s attention that the child hasn’t been brought up to vaccination and she just ruled on it, vaccinate the child. They never gave me the opportunity to have a hearing on the vaccination part of it, they just ruled on it without me being there… without ever having heard my side of the story or why I haven’t vaccinated.”</p>
<p>What would you do in this situation?</p>
<p /> | Mother Faces Tough Decision: Vaccinate Your Child Or Go To Jail – This Is Bad For Everyone | true | http://rightwingnews.com/top-news/mother-faces-tough-decision-vaccinate-child-go-jail-bad-everyone-video/ | 2018-10-20 | 0right
| Mother Faces Tough Decision: Vaccinate Your Child Or Go To Jail – This Is Bad For Everyone
<p />
<p>DO you think that a government has the right to force your child to get vaccinated or go to jail — well that’s what one Oakland County mother now has to deal with and the consequences of not doing it will be rough.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>The mother, Rebecca Breedow, explained in an interview:</p>
<p>“I’m a mother of two and the last thing I want to do is to go to jail, of course, but I’ve been kind of backed into a corner. I’d rather go to jail than to give into my belief of what I am as a mother and what I believe in.”</p>
<p>Breedow and her now ex-husband had made the choice to put off their son’s vaccination shots when he was first born and then only gave him shots when they could space them out as far as possible. It rolled around to be 2010 and they made the choice to just kick the immunizations all together over the fear of what they called “grouped vaccinations.”</p>
<p>John Hawkins's book 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know is filled with lessons that newly minted adults need in order to get the most out of life. Gleaned from a lifetime of trial, error, and writing it down, Hawkins provides advice everyone can benefit from in short, digestible chapters.</p>
<p>“These are combo shots that could be up to 40 vaccines at once. So, I mean that’s pretty serious. That’s a lot of vaccines to inject into your child at once.”</p>
<p>I realize she is the mother and I fully support her decisions to make the choice for her family and child. But when vaccinations are scheduled like that, the amount that you receive at one time was chosen by a licensed medical professional, who I’m sure, understands if the amount given is “pretty serious.”</p>
<p>As it stands, Michigan is only one of 17 states that gives allowance for medical, religious and philosophical immunity from getting any sort of vaccine. Both of the parents had decided to kick the vaccine shots, even after they divorced. But what changed all that was the child custody case that they were going through, which was transferred from Washtenaw County over to Oakland County. Breedow had custody of her son, yet there was a motion set on the case over the lack of vaccination.</p>
<p>“I never was aware that he wanted vaccination, so he brought it to the judge’s attention that the child hasn’t been brought up to vaccination and she just ruled on it, vaccinate the child. They never gave me the opportunity to have a hearing on the vaccination part of it, they just ruled on it without me being there… without ever having heard my side of the story or why I haven’t vaccinated.”</p>
<p>What would you do in this situation?</p>
<p /> | 3,533 |
<p>This morning, the House debated the budget proposal <a href="http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=70&amp;sectiontree=5,70" type="external">put forth by the Congressional Progressive Caucus</a>, a response to the budget drafted by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). During the debate, CPC member Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) asked Rep. Todd Rokita (R-IN) when the Ryan budget would balance and create a surplus. After hemming and hawing for a few seconds, Rokita ultimately couldn’t come up with an answer:</p>
<p>ELLISON: When does the Ryan budget create a surplus?</p>
<p>ROKITA: The budget proposed and voted on by the committee — […]</p>
<p>ROKITA: With responsible, gradual reforms to the drivers of our debt, like Medicare and Social Security, this budget will balance —</p>
<p>ELLISON: I asked the gentlemen when the Ryan budget created a surplus. He could have given me a year. He didn’t. That’s because he’s probably embarrassed about when that is. Let me tell you when the Progressive Caucus comes to surplus: 2021. That is known as a responsible budget.</p>
<p>Watch it:</p>
<p>The answer to the question is that the “ <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/153909-lieberman-praises-ryans-courage-in-proposing-deep-spending-cuts%3Ecourageous" type="external">courageous</a>” and “ <a href="http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/peter-roff/2011/04/06/governors-like-republican-paul-ryans-budget-plan" type="external">innovative</a>” Ryan budget would create a surplus for the <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/121xx/doc12128/04-05-Ryan_Letter.pdf" type="external">first time in 2040</a>, according to the Congressional Budget Office. An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, meanwhile, determined that the CPC budget would indeed turn a <a href="http://grijalva.house.gov/uploads/The%20People%27s%20Budget%20-%20A%20Technical%20Analysis.pdf" type="external">$30.7 billion surplus</a> in 2021, nearly two full decades ahead of Ryan’s “ <a href="http://www.myheritage.org/news/how-paul-ryan-uses-heritage-analysis-in-his-budget-plan/" type="external">bold</a>” plan.</p> | Ellison Stumps Republican On House Floor By Asking Him When Paul Ryan’s Plan Would Balance The Budget | true | http://thinkprogress.org/2011/04/15/keith-ellison-stumps-todd-rokita/ | 2011-04-15 | 4left
| Ellison Stumps Republican On House Floor By Asking Him When Paul Ryan’s Plan Would Balance The Budget
<p>This morning, the House debated the budget proposal <a href="http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=70&amp;sectiontree=5,70" type="external">put forth by the Congressional Progressive Caucus</a>, a response to the budget drafted by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). During the debate, CPC member Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) asked Rep. Todd Rokita (R-IN) when the Ryan budget would balance and create a surplus. After hemming and hawing for a few seconds, Rokita ultimately couldn’t come up with an answer:</p>
<p>ELLISON: When does the Ryan budget create a surplus?</p>
<p>ROKITA: The budget proposed and voted on by the committee — […]</p>
<p>ROKITA: With responsible, gradual reforms to the drivers of our debt, like Medicare and Social Security, this budget will balance —</p>
<p>ELLISON: I asked the gentlemen when the Ryan budget created a surplus. He could have given me a year. He didn’t. That’s because he’s probably embarrassed about when that is. Let me tell you when the Progressive Caucus comes to surplus: 2021. That is known as a responsible budget.</p>
<p>Watch it:</p>
<p>The answer to the question is that the “ <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/153909-lieberman-praises-ryans-courage-in-proposing-deep-spending-cuts%3Ecourageous" type="external">courageous</a>” and “ <a href="http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/peter-roff/2011/04/06/governors-like-republican-paul-ryans-budget-plan" type="external">innovative</a>” Ryan budget would create a surplus for the <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/121xx/doc12128/04-05-Ryan_Letter.pdf" type="external">first time in 2040</a>, according to the Congressional Budget Office. An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, meanwhile, determined that the CPC budget would indeed turn a <a href="http://grijalva.house.gov/uploads/The%20People%27s%20Budget%20-%20A%20Technical%20Analysis.pdf" type="external">$30.7 billion surplus</a> in 2021, nearly two full decades ahead of Ryan’s “ <a href="http://www.myheritage.org/news/how-paul-ryan-uses-heritage-analysis-in-his-budget-plan/" type="external">bold</a>” plan.</p> | 3,534 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />I know, I know… people are sick and tired of hearing about the batcrap crazy Ted Nugent. &#160;Heck, I don’t even enjoy writing about him. &#160;But he was unfortunately thrust into the news&#160; <a href="" type="internal">when a few liberal websites fabricated a story</a>&#160;that went viral,&#160;claiming&#160;that Nugent had called the Native American tribe that canceled his concert “unclean vermin.”</p>
<p>Then one of those liberal sites took their initial lie a step further by doubling down on it – and&#160; <a href="" type="internal">fabricating a second false story about Nugent</a>.</p>
<p>If you happen to read either of those articles I linked, you’ll see that I wasn’t at all thrilled with these sites falsifying stories all in the name of driving “hits” for the purpose of generating revenue. Especially seeing as how some people thought I was “defending” Nugent, when in reality that couldn’t be further from the truth.</p>
<p>Well as it just so happens someone posted on&#160;Nugent’s Facebook page asking him if he had seen the article I had written. &#160;Nugent, who is fairly active responding to&#160;people on his page, responded to that post&#160;– by calling me a “terminal lying punk.”</p>
<p>Seeing that he called me a “terminal lying punk,” I felt compelled to inquire as to how he ascertained such an opinion:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>I followed that response with several direct questions, using his own words, asking him if he would be so kind as to point out where I had lied. &#160;And by doing so, to please clarify where I was inaccurate.</p>
<p>Though unfortunately I can’t post the screen shot of those questions. &#160;More on that later – but he never answered the questions anyway.</p>
<p>Well, I decided to try yet again to get Mr. Nugent to answer these questions by engaging him on his Facebook page.</p>
<p>And it just so happens he remembered me. &#160;Not only that, I managed to actually get a couple of responses out of him:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>I didn’t initially get a response to that question, so I decided to ask another:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>As you can see, and somewhat to my surprise, Nugent actually tried to answer both accusations. &#160;I say “tried,” because his answers were ridiculous. &#160;As I began to point out to him:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>You may notice that my response isn’t in “posted” form. &#160;Well, you see, a funny thing happened while I was countering Nugent’s absurd answers to my questions –&#160;he blocked me. &#160;</p>
<p>Which is actually pretty funny considering in our first exchange he tried to use his interview with Piers Morgan to claim that he could “shred” my “fantasy list of lies” if I ever tried to debate him.</p>
<p>Yet he&#160;blocked me&#160;because I dared to ask him a couple of questions,&#160;using his own words&#160;against him.</p>
<p>Some might say, “How do you know this was him?” &#160;Well, this is his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tednugent" type="external">verified Facebook page</a>. &#160;Meaning that it had to be proven that it was linked to the real Ted Nugent. &#160;Not only that, if it was someone else posting for Nugent on his official account, I highly doubt that they would respond (let alone try to answer) direct questions about his personal life.</p>
<p>Though I’m not sure if I’d call his responses “answers.” &#160;His defenders might claim that he “answered me,” but it’s clear these answers were complete garbage. &#160;In the VH1 video, the 17-year-old he became the legal guardian of, Pele Massa, said that their relationship occurred when she was underage.</p>
<p>Then his answer about other underage girls is preposterous. &#160;Why would Nugent need to seek the permission of parents for girls who were of legal age? &#160;That makes absolutely&#160;zero&#160;sense.</p>
<p>Then his defense for his interview in 1977 where he goes into great detail how he avoided the draft is laughable. &#160;Claiming that he was just “messing around.” &#160;Yet he conveniently didn’t address the fact that he was indeed deemed “unfit to serve” by the United States military.</p>
<p>So he claims that the whole elaborate story he told during a 1977 interview was completely fabricated by him as some “prank,” yet he managed to get an “unfit to serve” classification to avoid going to Vietnam – but won’t explain how.</p>
<p>Seems to me that Nugent is trying to rewrite history by claiming that his story of how he managed to avoid being sent to Vietnam was just a “joke,” because he damn well knows if he admitted that it’s true, even many conservatives would abandon him and his career would essentially be over.</p>
<p>But I found it fairly humorous that Nugent tried using his interview with Piers Morgan (I guess he thinks he came off looking powerful and tough) to imply that he would “shred” me if we were ever to have a debate (because I asked to have one). &#160;Yet the moment I started asking a few tough questions, and poking holes in the “logic” of his answers, he quickly banned me from posting on his page.</p>
<p>And for those of you who don’t know, when you ban someone from a page, their comments are then removed. &#160;Once he banned me, all of my comments (and his responses) immediately disappeared from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tednugent" type="external">his page</a>.</p>
<p>Ted Nugent is a coward. &#160;Sure, he can run off at the mouth when he’s unopposed. &#160;But as my exchange with him shows, when confronted with direct questions concerning&#160;his own words&#160;relating to his history of underage women and dodging the draft,&#160;he quickly ran away like the spineless bottom-feeder that he is.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">Ted Nugent: Native American Tribe That Canceled Concert is 'Weak and Stupid'</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Sarah Palin Praises Ted Nugent, Endorses Wendy Davis' Opponent For Governor of Texas</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Dishonest Liberal Websites Wrongfully Accusing Ted Nugent of Calling Native Americans 'Unclean Vermin'</a></p>
<p>0 Facebook comments</p> | Coward Ted Nugent Called Me a ‘Lying Punk,’ Then Embarrassed Himself Trying to Prove It | true | http://forwardprogressives.com/coward-ted-nugent-called-me-lying-punk-embarrassed-trying-prove/ | 2014-07-31 | 4left
| Coward Ted Nugent Called Me a ‘Lying Punk,’ Then Embarrassed Himself Trying to Prove It
<p><a href="" type="internal" />I know, I know… people are sick and tired of hearing about the batcrap crazy Ted Nugent. &#160;Heck, I don’t even enjoy writing about him. &#160;But he was unfortunately thrust into the news&#160; <a href="" type="internal">when a few liberal websites fabricated a story</a>&#160;that went viral,&#160;claiming&#160;that Nugent had called the Native American tribe that canceled his concert “unclean vermin.”</p>
<p>Then one of those liberal sites took their initial lie a step further by doubling down on it – and&#160; <a href="" type="internal">fabricating a second false story about Nugent</a>.</p>
<p>If you happen to read either of those articles I linked, you’ll see that I wasn’t at all thrilled with these sites falsifying stories all in the name of driving “hits” for the purpose of generating revenue. Especially seeing as how some people thought I was “defending” Nugent, when in reality that couldn’t be further from the truth.</p>
<p>Well as it just so happens someone posted on&#160;Nugent’s Facebook page asking him if he had seen the article I had written. &#160;Nugent, who is fairly active responding to&#160;people on his page, responded to that post&#160;– by calling me a “terminal lying punk.”</p>
<p>Seeing that he called me a “terminal lying punk,” I felt compelled to inquire as to how he ascertained such an opinion:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>I followed that response with several direct questions, using his own words, asking him if he would be so kind as to point out where I had lied. &#160;And by doing so, to please clarify where I was inaccurate.</p>
<p>Though unfortunately I can’t post the screen shot of those questions. &#160;More on that later – but he never answered the questions anyway.</p>
<p>Well, I decided to try yet again to get Mr. Nugent to answer these questions by engaging him on his Facebook page.</p>
<p>And it just so happens he remembered me. &#160;Not only that, I managed to actually get a couple of responses out of him:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>I didn’t initially get a response to that question, so I decided to ask another:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>As you can see, and somewhat to my surprise, Nugent actually tried to answer both accusations. &#160;I say “tried,” because his answers were ridiculous. &#160;As I began to point out to him:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>You may notice that my response isn’t in “posted” form. &#160;Well, you see, a funny thing happened while I was countering Nugent’s absurd answers to my questions –&#160;he blocked me. &#160;</p>
<p>Which is actually pretty funny considering in our first exchange he tried to use his interview with Piers Morgan to claim that he could “shred” my “fantasy list of lies” if I ever tried to debate him.</p>
<p>Yet he&#160;blocked me&#160;because I dared to ask him a couple of questions,&#160;using his own words&#160;against him.</p>
<p>Some might say, “How do you know this was him?” &#160;Well, this is his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tednugent" type="external">verified Facebook page</a>. &#160;Meaning that it had to be proven that it was linked to the real Ted Nugent. &#160;Not only that, if it was someone else posting for Nugent on his official account, I highly doubt that they would respond (let alone try to answer) direct questions about his personal life.</p>
<p>Though I’m not sure if I’d call his responses “answers.” &#160;His defenders might claim that he “answered me,” but it’s clear these answers were complete garbage. &#160;In the VH1 video, the 17-year-old he became the legal guardian of, Pele Massa, said that their relationship occurred when she was underage.</p>
<p>Then his answer about other underage girls is preposterous. &#160;Why would Nugent need to seek the permission of parents for girls who were of legal age? &#160;That makes absolutely&#160;zero&#160;sense.</p>
<p>Then his defense for his interview in 1977 where he goes into great detail how he avoided the draft is laughable. &#160;Claiming that he was just “messing around.” &#160;Yet he conveniently didn’t address the fact that he was indeed deemed “unfit to serve” by the United States military.</p>
<p>So he claims that the whole elaborate story he told during a 1977 interview was completely fabricated by him as some “prank,” yet he managed to get an “unfit to serve” classification to avoid going to Vietnam – but won’t explain how.</p>
<p>Seems to me that Nugent is trying to rewrite history by claiming that his story of how he managed to avoid being sent to Vietnam was just a “joke,” because he damn well knows if he admitted that it’s true, even many conservatives would abandon him and his career would essentially be over.</p>
<p>But I found it fairly humorous that Nugent tried using his interview with Piers Morgan (I guess he thinks he came off looking powerful and tough) to imply that he would “shred” me if we were ever to have a debate (because I asked to have one). &#160;Yet the moment I started asking a few tough questions, and poking holes in the “logic” of his answers, he quickly banned me from posting on his page.</p>
<p>And for those of you who don’t know, when you ban someone from a page, their comments are then removed. &#160;Once he banned me, all of my comments (and his responses) immediately disappeared from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tednugent" type="external">his page</a>.</p>
<p>Ted Nugent is a coward. &#160;Sure, he can run off at the mouth when he’s unopposed. &#160;But as my exchange with him shows, when confronted with direct questions concerning&#160;his own words&#160;relating to his history of underage women and dodging the draft,&#160;he quickly ran away like the spineless bottom-feeder that he is.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">Ted Nugent: Native American Tribe That Canceled Concert is 'Weak and Stupid'</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Sarah Palin Praises Ted Nugent, Endorses Wendy Davis' Opponent For Governor of Texas</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Dishonest Liberal Websites Wrongfully Accusing Ted Nugent of Calling Native Americans 'Unclean Vermin'</a></p>
<p>0 Facebook comments</p> | 3,535 |
<p>Brian Tashman reports at <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/jim-bakker-i-bound-demons-in-hell-to-save-donald-trump/" type="external">Right Wing Watch</a>:</p>
<p>Today, televangelist Jim Bakker described his experience attending President Trump’s inauguration, recounting how he cried when he first set eyes on Trump. “I cried,” he said. “I just stood there and cried.”</p>
<p>Bakker said God was telling him that all of his work promoting Trump’s candidacy helped make his presidency possible, noting that he “prayed, intercessed and bound more demons in hell to try to keep them from destroying Mr. Trump.”</p>
<p />
<p /> | Felon Grifter Jim Bakker: I Helped Trump Get Elected By Binding Demons Into Hell With My Prayers [VIDEO] | true | http://joemygod.com/2017/02/01/felon-grifter-jim-bakker-helped-trump-get-elected-binding-demons-hell-prayers-video/ | 2017-02-01 | 4left
| Felon Grifter Jim Bakker: I Helped Trump Get Elected By Binding Demons Into Hell With My Prayers [VIDEO]
<p>Brian Tashman reports at <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/jim-bakker-i-bound-demons-in-hell-to-save-donald-trump/" type="external">Right Wing Watch</a>:</p>
<p>Today, televangelist Jim Bakker described his experience attending President Trump’s inauguration, recounting how he cried when he first set eyes on Trump. “I cried,” he said. “I just stood there and cried.”</p>
<p>Bakker said God was telling him that all of his work promoting Trump’s candidacy helped make his presidency possible, noting that he “prayed, intercessed and bound more demons in hell to try to keep them from destroying Mr. Trump.”</p>
<p />
<p /> | 3,536 |
<p>Yesterday, the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) came out with a statement that reaffirmed its 2010 position on Orthodox female ordination: not acceptable. And yet, the situation for female religious professionals has never been better. They find jobs quickly, they are well-liked, and they are, despite the RCA's opposition, de facto rabbinic actors. Why are they so successful? Because they are a part of a modern Orthodox community that needs them.The 2010 statement by the Orthodox (entirely male) establishment said this:</p>
<p>In light of the opportunity created by advanced women's learning, the Rabbinical Council of America encourages a diversity of halakhically and communally appropriate professional opportunities for learned, committed women, in the service of our collective mission to preserve and transmit our heritage. Due to our aforesaid commitment to sacred continuity, however, we cannot accept either the ordination of women or the recognition of women as members of the Orthodox rabbinate, regardless of the title.</p>
<p>A few things bear pointing out in this statement: first, <a href="http://finkorswim.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Vol-11-Broyde.pdf" type="external">there is no halakhic problem with ordaining women</a>. It has never been a halakhic issue, and should not be made one now, a fact seen in through the minimal resistance some of the same issues have met with in Israel. From the Israeli Yoetzet Halakha program that trains women to be official halakhic advisers on particular women's issues to Kolech, an Orthodox women's NGO that invented the term "Rabba" (a feminized version of Rabbi) rejected out of hand by the RCA in 2010, to organizations like <a href="http://www.beithillel.org.il/english_show.asp?id=52888" type="external">Beit Hillel</a>, a national-religious rabbinic group with a women at its head, calling female religious professionals "Rabbaniot."</p>
<p>The second striking factor can only be described as the statement's lack of integrity. It's strangely myopic to say that "in the service of our collective mission to preserve and transmit our heritage" the RCA should bar Orthodox women from preserving and transmitting their heritage. I am certain that when the women of Maharat, outside of the context of the RCA, read the words "sacred continuity," they believe themselves to be part of it.</p>
<p>Finally, the line that the RCA "cannot accept either the ordination of women or the recognition of women as members of the Orthodox rabbinate, regardless of the title" dates back to 2010, when Rabbi Avi Weiss, the head of the program, was willing to compromise on the name. In light of RCA pressure at the time, he <a href="http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/03/07/1010944/weiss-will-not-ordain-orthodox-female-rabbis" type="external">changed</a> the then-proposed Kolech title "Rabba" to Maharat, a Hebrew acronym that stands for manhigah hilkhatit, ruhanit, toranit — "communal, spiritual, religious leader." At the time, <a href="http://matzav.com/rca-says-no-to-maharat-to-ordain-woman-rabbi-is-breach-of-mesora" type="external">the RCA didn't care</a>, and apparently it still doesn't.</p>
<p>The line that the Orthodox world today is "just not used to the idea" is old and tired. Of the new cohort of women to be ordained this year—there are three—all have been placed in synagogues in a professional capacity. A glance at the <a href="http://yeshivatmaharat.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Layout-1_Page-2-600dpi-11.jpg" type="external">invitation</a> to the Maharat graduation ceremony or even the broader <a href="http://yeshivatmaharat.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Layout-1_Page-2-600dpi-11.jpg" type="external">list of its students</a> in the program, gives a sense of just how deeply these women are mainstreamed into Orthodox life. And while the RCA establishment cudgels them, communities embrace them.</p>
<p>Examples of women serving—de facto—in rabbinic capacities abound, and not just through the Maharat program. <a href="http://www.thejewishweek.com/special_sections/36_under_36/gilah_kletenik_23" type="external">Gilah Kletenik</a> (a personal friend), is Congregational Scholar at Kehilath Jeshurun, in the heart of the Upper East Side of Manhattan. <a href="http://www.asbi.org/cat/about-us/leadership" type="external">Rachel Kohl Finefold</a>, one of this year's Maharat graduates, served as the "Education &amp; Ritual Director" and held the "Dr. Carol Fuchs Kaufman Rabbanit Chair" at Rabbi Asher Lopatin's former Anshe Sholom Bnei Israel Congregation in Chicago. And <a href="http://www.lss.org/content.php?pg=Clergy&amp;ID=96" type="external">Elana Stein Hain</a> has been serving at Lincoln Square Synagogue as "Community Scholar" for over five years, where she has been "sermonizing, counseling, building relationships, teaching and collaborating on programs…" Her position at Lincoln Square, no less, "was initially made possible through the support of Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future." If Yeshiva University isn't mainstream modern Orthodoxy, well then I'm not sure what is.</p>
<p>What all of this says is that these are women who are relevant. Who's services are needed. Who are essential parts of the community. The leadership landscape is changing in the modern Orthodox world, and it's the RCA and its cultural misogyny who are going to be left behind.</p> | Why It's Wrong To Reject Women Rabbis | true | https://thedailybeast.com/why-its-wrong-to-reject-women-rabbis | 2018-10-07 | 4left
| Why It's Wrong To Reject Women Rabbis
<p>Yesterday, the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) came out with a statement that reaffirmed its 2010 position on Orthodox female ordination: not acceptable. And yet, the situation for female religious professionals has never been better. They find jobs quickly, they are well-liked, and they are, despite the RCA's opposition, de facto rabbinic actors. Why are they so successful? Because they are a part of a modern Orthodox community that needs them.The 2010 statement by the Orthodox (entirely male) establishment said this:</p>
<p>In light of the opportunity created by advanced women's learning, the Rabbinical Council of America encourages a diversity of halakhically and communally appropriate professional opportunities for learned, committed women, in the service of our collective mission to preserve and transmit our heritage. Due to our aforesaid commitment to sacred continuity, however, we cannot accept either the ordination of women or the recognition of women as members of the Orthodox rabbinate, regardless of the title.</p>
<p>A few things bear pointing out in this statement: first, <a href="http://finkorswim.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Vol-11-Broyde.pdf" type="external">there is no halakhic problem with ordaining women</a>. It has never been a halakhic issue, and should not be made one now, a fact seen in through the minimal resistance some of the same issues have met with in Israel. From the Israeli Yoetzet Halakha program that trains women to be official halakhic advisers on particular women's issues to Kolech, an Orthodox women's NGO that invented the term "Rabba" (a feminized version of Rabbi) rejected out of hand by the RCA in 2010, to organizations like <a href="http://www.beithillel.org.il/english_show.asp?id=52888" type="external">Beit Hillel</a>, a national-religious rabbinic group with a women at its head, calling female religious professionals "Rabbaniot."</p>
<p>The second striking factor can only be described as the statement's lack of integrity. It's strangely myopic to say that "in the service of our collective mission to preserve and transmit our heritage" the RCA should bar Orthodox women from preserving and transmitting their heritage. I am certain that when the women of Maharat, outside of the context of the RCA, read the words "sacred continuity," they believe themselves to be part of it.</p>
<p>Finally, the line that the RCA "cannot accept either the ordination of women or the recognition of women as members of the Orthodox rabbinate, regardless of the title" dates back to 2010, when Rabbi Avi Weiss, the head of the program, was willing to compromise on the name. In light of RCA pressure at the time, he <a href="http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/03/07/1010944/weiss-will-not-ordain-orthodox-female-rabbis" type="external">changed</a> the then-proposed Kolech title "Rabba" to Maharat, a Hebrew acronym that stands for manhigah hilkhatit, ruhanit, toranit — "communal, spiritual, religious leader." At the time, <a href="http://matzav.com/rca-says-no-to-maharat-to-ordain-woman-rabbi-is-breach-of-mesora" type="external">the RCA didn't care</a>, and apparently it still doesn't.</p>
<p>The line that the Orthodox world today is "just not used to the idea" is old and tired. Of the new cohort of women to be ordained this year—there are three—all have been placed in synagogues in a professional capacity. A glance at the <a href="http://yeshivatmaharat.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Layout-1_Page-2-600dpi-11.jpg" type="external">invitation</a> to the Maharat graduation ceremony or even the broader <a href="http://yeshivatmaharat.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Layout-1_Page-2-600dpi-11.jpg" type="external">list of its students</a> in the program, gives a sense of just how deeply these women are mainstreamed into Orthodox life. And while the RCA establishment cudgels them, communities embrace them.</p>
<p>Examples of women serving—de facto—in rabbinic capacities abound, and not just through the Maharat program. <a href="http://www.thejewishweek.com/special_sections/36_under_36/gilah_kletenik_23" type="external">Gilah Kletenik</a> (a personal friend), is Congregational Scholar at Kehilath Jeshurun, in the heart of the Upper East Side of Manhattan. <a href="http://www.asbi.org/cat/about-us/leadership" type="external">Rachel Kohl Finefold</a>, one of this year's Maharat graduates, served as the "Education &amp; Ritual Director" and held the "Dr. Carol Fuchs Kaufman Rabbanit Chair" at Rabbi Asher Lopatin's former Anshe Sholom Bnei Israel Congregation in Chicago. And <a href="http://www.lss.org/content.php?pg=Clergy&amp;ID=96" type="external">Elana Stein Hain</a> has been serving at Lincoln Square Synagogue as "Community Scholar" for over five years, where she has been "sermonizing, counseling, building relationships, teaching and collaborating on programs…" Her position at Lincoln Square, no less, "was initially made possible through the support of Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future." If Yeshiva University isn't mainstream modern Orthodoxy, well then I'm not sure what is.</p>
<p>What all of this says is that these are women who are relevant. Who's services are needed. Who are essential parts of the community. The leadership landscape is changing in the modern Orthodox world, and it's the RCA and its cultural misogyny who are going to be left behind.</p> | 3,537 |
<p>A lament for the supposedly cohesive conservative grassroots is in order.</p>
<p>Earlier today, I cheered that the Tea Party had infiltrated and co-opted the establishment – that Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) ascension as an establishment favorite demonstrated that the grassroots had successfully pushed the Republicans to the right. Rubio is significantly more conservative than Senator John McCain (R-AZ) or Mitt Romney was, and far more conservative than establishment favorite former Florida governor Jeb Bush.</p>
<p>All that is true.</p>
<p>But reports of the establishment death may have been premature. Not because they're good at what they do, mind you, but because grassroots conservative favorites are making fools of themselves.</p>
<p>If Tea Partiers had to choose three figures they most admired one year ago, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Dr. Ben Carson, and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) would surely be near the top of the list. And now the first two are mud wrestling the third – all to the benefit of populist shaman Donald Trump and establishment favorite Rubio.</p>
<p>Carson’s campaign announced to CNN on Iowa caucus day that he’d be flying back to Florida following the caucuses no matter the result, and would spend no time in New Hampshire or South Carolina this week, instead going to Washington, D.C. for the National Prayer Breakfast. Jake Tapper of CNN stated, “It’s very unusual, to announce that you’re going home to rest for a few days, not going on to the next site.” Dana Bash agreed, “Very unusual…Look, if you want to be president of the United States, you don’t go home to Florida. That’s just bottom line, that’s the end of the story. If you want to signal to your supporters that you’re hungry, that you want them to get out and campaign, you have to get out there too, it’s very unusual.” Tapper reiterated, “Very unusual.” To which Wolf Blitzer said, “Very significant news indeed.” CNN also tweeted the news: “After the #IACaucus, @RealBenCarson plans to take a break from campaigning.”</p>
<p>Based on this, a member of the Cruz campaign sent out this email: “Breaking News. The press is reporting that Dr. Ben Carson is taking time off from the campaign trail after Iowa and making a big announcement next week. Please inform any Carson caucus goers of this news and urge them to caucus for Ted Cruz.”</p>
<p>This is not an unreasonable assumption. If any candidate now chooses to leave the campaign trail for a week to go home, that’s a good indicator the campaign is over.</p>
<p>Carson still has not explained where CNN got its information. Carson later said that he went to Florida for his laundry – no laundromats in Iowa, Dr. Carson? – or to sleep in his own bed.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, Cruz apologized to Carson for the email -- likely in order to quash evangelical unease about Carson's claims. But that wasn’t enough. Today, Carson called a press conference at which he essentially stated that Cruz ought to fire somebody or be held accountable for campaign dirty tricks. (Carson called no such press conference after Trump suggested that he was "pathological" like a child molester.) This, of course, gave cover to Donald Trump, who has been claiming that the Cruz campaign’s missives about Carson amounted to voter fraud, and that he wanted the results in Iowa overturned.</p>
<p>Ugh.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Sarah Palin entered the fray, too. Palin’s endorsement of Trump shocked a lot of conservatives, and for good reason: Trump is most of the things Palin once supposedly despised, a big government crony capitalist with New York values. But today, she went to the mat for Trump: she called Cruz a liar and a dirty trickster. “Thank heavens Donald Trump opened so many eyes to the lies, corruption and total lack of accountability that come so naturally to the permanent political class. And Sen. Ted Cruz was spot on when he once noted that "millions of Americans are asking for accountability and truth." Which is why it's so curious - and saddens us - this lack of accountability with the lies of Cruz's own campaign,” she wrote on Facebook. She accused Rep. Steve King (R-IA) of lying. She concluded, “Where is the accountability for these political actions? Very sad; typical Washington tactics. THIS is why ‘the status quo has got to go.’”</p>
<p>Ugh.</p>
<p>Cruz hasn’t responded to any of this. Instead, he’s focusing on Trump, who has been pushing the “Cruz cheated” narrative; today, Cruz said that Trump might “nuke Denmark.” At this point, war has been forced on Cruz by Trump. But that doesn’t mean that all of this doesn’t look like we’re approaching Peak S***show here in the conservative grassroots land.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Rubio – the new establishment favorite, even if he’s more conservative than normal establishment types – sits on the side and grins. This afternoon, as Carson and Palin and Trump attacked Cruz, Rubio deliberately avoided attacking Trump, instead focusing his fire on Cruz as well:</p>
<p>Obviously we've all seen the reports of the rumors they spread about Ben Carson, and you know those weren't accurate and I thought it was unfair to Ben. You know, ultimately I think it goes back to what I said before — and that is [Cruz's] willingness to say or do anything, in this case, spread a false rumor about Ben Carson.</p>
<p>Of course, Rubio’s campaign apparently also pushed the Carson rumors. But no matter. The mud fight is on. It’s all ridiculous and unprofessional and insane. And what’s worse, all of it makes conservative grassroots types look foolish for their pick of favorites.</p> | Establishment Smiles As Grassroots Conservative Favorites Go Full Clownshow | true | https://dailywire.com/news/3120/establishment-smiles-grassroots-conservative-ben-shapiro | 2016-02-03 | 0right
| Establishment Smiles As Grassroots Conservative Favorites Go Full Clownshow
<p>A lament for the supposedly cohesive conservative grassroots is in order.</p>
<p>Earlier today, I cheered that the Tea Party had infiltrated and co-opted the establishment – that Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) ascension as an establishment favorite demonstrated that the grassroots had successfully pushed the Republicans to the right. Rubio is significantly more conservative than Senator John McCain (R-AZ) or Mitt Romney was, and far more conservative than establishment favorite former Florida governor Jeb Bush.</p>
<p>All that is true.</p>
<p>But reports of the establishment death may have been premature. Not because they're good at what they do, mind you, but because grassroots conservative favorites are making fools of themselves.</p>
<p>If Tea Partiers had to choose three figures they most admired one year ago, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Dr. Ben Carson, and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) would surely be near the top of the list. And now the first two are mud wrestling the third – all to the benefit of populist shaman Donald Trump and establishment favorite Rubio.</p>
<p>Carson’s campaign announced to CNN on Iowa caucus day that he’d be flying back to Florida following the caucuses no matter the result, and would spend no time in New Hampshire or South Carolina this week, instead going to Washington, D.C. for the National Prayer Breakfast. Jake Tapper of CNN stated, “It’s very unusual, to announce that you’re going home to rest for a few days, not going on to the next site.” Dana Bash agreed, “Very unusual…Look, if you want to be president of the United States, you don’t go home to Florida. That’s just bottom line, that’s the end of the story. If you want to signal to your supporters that you’re hungry, that you want them to get out and campaign, you have to get out there too, it’s very unusual.” Tapper reiterated, “Very unusual.” To which Wolf Blitzer said, “Very significant news indeed.” CNN also tweeted the news: “After the #IACaucus, @RealBenCarson plans to take a break from campaigning.”</p>
<p>Based on this, a member of the Cruz campaign sent out this email: “Breaking News. The press is reporting that Dr. Ben Carson is taking time off from the campaign trail after Iowa and making a big announcement next week. Please inform any Carson caucus goers of this news and urge them to caucus for Ted Cruz.”</p>
<p>This is not an unreasonable assumption. If any candidate now chooses to leave the campaign trail for a week to go home, that’s a good indicator the campaign is over.</p>
<p>Carson still has not explained where CNN got its information. Carson later said that he went to Florida for his laundry – no laundromats in Iowa, Dr. Carson? – or to sleep in his own bed.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, Cruz apologized to Carson for the email -- likely in order to quash evangelical unease about Carson's claims. But that wasn’t enough. Today, Carson called a press conference at which he essentially stated that Cruz ought to fire somebody or be held accountable for campaign dirty tricks. (Carson called no such press conference after Trump suggested that he was "pathological" like a child molester.) This, of course, gave cover to Donald Trump, who has been claiming that the Cruz campaign’s missives about Carson amounted to voter fraud, and that he wanted the results in Iowa overturned.</p>
<p>Ugh.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Sarah Palin entered the fray, too. Palin’s endorsement of Trump shocked a lot of conservatives, and for good reason: Trump is most of the things Palin once supposedly despised, a big government crony capitalist with New York values. But today, she went to the mat for Trump: she called Cruz a liar and a dirty trickster. “Thank heavens Donald Trump opened so many eyes to the lies, corruption and total lack of accountability that come so naturally to the permanent political class. And Sen. Ted Cruz was spot on when he once noted that "millions of Americans are asking for accountability and truth." Which is why it's so curious - and saddens us - this lack of accountability with the lies of Cruz's own campaign,” she wrote on Facebook. She accused Rep. Steve King (R-IA) of lying. She concluded, “Where is the accountability for these political actions? Very sad; typical Washington tactics. THIS is why ‘the status quo has got to go.’”</p>
<p>Ugh.</p>
<p>Cruz hasn’t responded to any of this. Instead, he’s focusing on Trump, who has been pushing the “Cruz cheated” narrative; today, Cruz said that Trump might “nuke Denmark.” At this point, war has been forced on Cruz by Trump. But that doesn’t mean that all of this doesn’t look like we’re approaching Peak S***show here in the conservative grassroots land.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Rubio – the new establishment favorite, even if he’s more conservative than normal establishment types – sits on the side and grins. This afternoon, as Carson and Palin and Trump attacked Cruz, Rubio deliberately avoided attacking Trump, instead focusing his fire on Cruz as well:</p>
<p>Obviously we've all seen the reports of the rumors they spread about Ben Carson, and you know those weren't accurate and I thought it was unfair to Ben. You know, ultimately I think it goes back to what I said before — and that is [Cruz's] willingness to say or do anything, in this case, spread a false rumor about Ben Carson.</p>
<p>Of course, Rubio’s campaign apparently also pushed the Carson rumors. But no matter. The mud fight is on. It’s all ridiculous and unprofessional and insane. And what’s worse, all of it makes conservative grassroots types look foolish for their pick of favorites.</p> | 3,538 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>In regards to the planning of CNM's local bond election, however, we made a mistake when we selected early voting locations. We failed to ensure that there were early voting locations in northwest Albuquerque and Rio Rancho.</p>
<p>As president of CNM, I apologize, take full responsibility and will ensure that it doesn't happen again.</p>
<p>Voter expectations for early voting options have changed dramatically in recent years, and CNM did not adjust appropriately when planning for this election. However, CNM and its partners responded quickly to the problem.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>On Thursday, the CNM Governing Board approved two new early voting locations at the Don Newton Community Center in Taylor Ranch and the AMREP Southwest Building in Rio Rancho. Those locations were expected to be operating as of Saturday.</p>
<p>There will also be 32 voting locations on Election Day, Feb. 2, in locations spread across the CNM District. That includes a new polling location at Cabezon Community Center in Rio Rancho.</p>
<p>I hope voters will cast their ballots based on whether they believe the CNM local bond is good for the community, our local economy and the college.</p>
<p>Voters are being asked to approve $84 million in bonds for CNM that would be used to improve student learning facilities, projects that support local economic development and projects that will improve safety and security.</p>
<p>If the bond passes, it would result in a property tax increase for property owners in the CNM District through CNM's capital projects mill levy. The property tax increase would be $29.10 per year on a house with a market value of $200,000, which is the approximate average home value in the region.</p>
<p>The projects will not only improve aging facilities and better prepare our students to compete for the jobs of tomorrow, but they will also provide a much-needed boost to the economy and create work for those in the construction, architectural and design fields.</p>
<p>Some of the professionals who typically work on CNM bond projects are former CNM students who graduated in fields like plumbing, carpentry, electrical and construction management. The projects would support the local economy while improving the quality of education for our community members.</p>
<p>This is the first time since CNM's capital mill levy was introduced in 1996 that the college is seeking an increase to the tax rate. In 1996, there were 14,521 students enrolled at CNM. During the 2015 fall term, there were 25,760 students enrolled. There were 89 degree and certificate programs offered in 1996. Today, there are 182.</p>
<p>As CNM has grown in so many ways over the past two decades to meet community needs, our funding has lagged behind.</p>
<p>For 50 years, CNM has been proud to serve as a critical educational resource for people in our community who need a high-quality, affordable education that leads to meaningful careers and financial security for their families.</p>
<p>CNM is doing its best to ensure we continue that tradition for another 50 years, but it is more challenging in today's economy. Since the recession hit in 2008, state funding for higher education has significantly decreased and CNM has faced very challenging budget conditions year after year. Our budget outlook, combined with the need to improve our facilities to meet the expectations of our students, community members and 21st-century economy, has compelled us to ask for our community's support in this election.</p>
<p>At CNM, we have greatly appreciated our community's tremendous support through the years. I hope that you'll continue to support our community's college during this important election.</p>
<p /> | CNM needs bond money to keep up | false | https://abqjournal.com/711174/cnm-needs-bond-money-to-keep-up.html | 2least
| CNM needs bond money to keep up
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>In regards to the planning of CNM's local bond election, however, we made a mistake when we selected early voting locations. We failed to ensure that there were early voting locations in northwest Albuquerque and Rio Rancho.</p>
<p>As president of CNM, I apologize, take full responsibility and will ensure that it doesn't happen again.</p>
<p>Voter expectations for early voting options have changed dramatically in recent years, and CNM did not adjust appropriately when planning for this election. However, CNM and its partners responded quickly to the problem.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>On Thursday, the CNM Governing Board approved two new early voting locations at the Don Newton Community Center in Taylor Ranch and the AMREP Southwest Building in Rio Rancho. Those locations were expected to be operating as of Saturday.</p>
<p>There will also be 32 voting locations on Election Day, Feb. 2, in locations spread across the CNM District. That includes a new polling location at Cabezon Community Center in Rio Rancho.</p>
<p>I hope voters will cast their ballots based on whether they believe the CNM local bond is good for the community, our local economy and the college.</p>
<p>Voters are being asked to approve $84 million in bonds for CNM that would be used to improve student learning facilities, projects that support local economic development and projects that will improve safety and security.</p>
<p>If the bond passes, it would result in a property tax increase for property owners in the CNM District through CNM's capital projects mill levy. The property tax increase would be $29.10 per year on a house with a market value of $200,000, which is the approximate average home value in the region.</p>
<p>The projects will not only improve aging facilities and better prepare our students to compete for the jobs of tomorrow, but they will also provide a much-needed boost to the economy and create work for those in the construction, architectural and design fields.</p>
<p>Some of the professionals who typically work on CNM bond projects are former CNM students who graduated in fields like plumbing, carpentry, electrical and construction management. The projects would support the local economy while improving the quality of education for our community members.</p>
<p>This is the first time since CNM's capital mill levy was introduced in 1996 that the college is seeking an increase to the tax rate. In 1996, there were 14,521 students enrolled at CNM. During the 2015 fall term, there were 25,760 students enrolled. There were 89 degree and certificate programs offered in 1996. Today, there are 182.</p>
<p>As CNM has grown in so many ways over the past two decades to meet community needs, our funding has lagged behind.</p>
<p>For 50 years, CNM has been proud to serve as a critical educational resource for people in our community who need a high-quality, affordable education that leads to meaningful careers and financial security for their families.</p>
<p>CNM is doing its best to ensure we continue that tradition for another 50 years, but it is more challenging in today's economy. Since the recession hit in 2008, state funding for higher education has significantly decreased and CNM has faced very challenging budget conditions year after year. Our budget outlook, combined with the need to improve our facilities to meet the expectations of our students, community members and 21st-century economy, has compelled us to ask for our community's support in this election.</p>
<p>At CNM, we have greatly appreciated our community's tremendous support through the years. I hope that you'll continue to support our community's college during this important election.</p>
<p /> | 3,539 |
|
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>On Monday, lawyers for two gay couples and two straight couples questioned the validity of the new marriage licenses and asked a federal judge to order Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis' office to reissue them. If she refuses, the lawyers asked the judge to put the office in receivership and have someone else do it.</p>
<p>Davis is prepared to return to jail over her beliefs, according to an interview that aired Tuesday morning on "Good Morning America" - the first she's given since her refusal to issue licenses gained national attention.</p>
<p>"I have never once spouted a word of hate. I have not been hateful," she said. She also said the licenses going out of her office now, issued by a deputy clerk, don't have her authorization and are "not valid in God's eyes."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses in June after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling effectively legalized gay marriage nationwide. Two gay couples and two straight couples sued her. A federal judge ordered Davis to issue the licenses, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that order.</p>
<p>But Davis refused, citing "God's authority." That's when U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning threw her in jail, prompting a fierce debate in the public square about religious liberty versus the civil rights afforded to all U.S. citizens.</p>
<p>Davis' office issued marriage licenses while she was in jail, but the licenses did not include her name. Bunning ruled those licenses were valid and released Davis on the condition that she not interfere with her employees. Davis, a Democrat, was greeted at the Carter County Detention Center by a crowd of thousands and a church choir, flanked by her attorney and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.</p>
<p>But when Davis returned to work last week, she confiscated the marriage licenses and replaced them. The new licenses say they were issued not under the authority of the county clerk, but "pursuant to federal court order."</p>
<p>On Monday, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union wrote that the validity of the altered licenses is "questionable at best," and the new licenses bring "humiliation and stigma" to the gay couples who receive them. They asked Judge Bunning to order Davis' office to reissue the licenses. If Davis interferes, the lawyers say Bunning should place her office in a receivership for the purposes of issuing marriage licenses.</p>
<p>"The adulterated marriage licenses received by Rowan County couples will effectively feature a stamp of animus against the LGBT community, signaling that, in Rowan County, the government's position is that LGBT couples are second-class citizens unworthy of official recognition and authorization of their marriage licenses but for this Court's intervention and Order," the lawyers for the couples wrote in a court filing.</p>
<p>Mat Staver, Davis' attorney and founder of the Liberty Counsel law firm, did not directly respond to the ACLU's request for Bunning to put the office in a receivership. Staver said he would formally respond to the ACLU's motion Tuesday. But he noted that Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear said last week that the altered marriage licenses would be recognized by the state.</p>
<p>"Kim Davis has made a good-faith effort to comply with the court's order," Staver said. "The ACLU's motion to again hold Kim Davis in contempt reveals that their interest is not the license but rather a marriage license bearing the name of Kim Davis. They want her scalp to hang on the wall as a trophy."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Sam Marcosson, a constitutional law professor at the University of Louisville, said such receiverships are "unusual and extraordinary," generally reserved for situations where other legal remedies are unable to end an ongoing violation of the law. Marcosson described what the plaintiffs are now requesting as a "limited takeover" of her office. The judge could appoint another person to oversee the issuance of marriage licenses, both to ensure that the licenses are issued legally and to protect the deputy clerks, who have the difficult choice to defy their boss or defy a judge.</p>
<p>"It's almost a worst-case scenario," he said. "The worst-case scenario would be to send her to jail again."</p>
<p>The judge has wide discretion on who might be appointed. It could be a lawyer, another Rowan County public official or any citizen the judge trusts to carry out his orders impartially, Marcosson said. He said the judge will likely call a hearing, where he might hear testimony about the process Davis undertook to alter the licenses or the instructions she gave to her deputy clerks.</p>
<p>In her Tuesday interview, Davis was frequently tearful, and she said that she's received hate mail, with people calling her Hitler and a homophobe. But she says she's not a hypocrite, despite her own four marriages.</p>
<p>"I haven't always been a good person," she acknowledged. But she said that she's been forgiven, that godly authority trumps all, and that she won't resign her position.</p>
<p>"I'm good at my job," she said. "I have friends who are gay and lesbians. They know where I stand. And we don't agree on this issue, and we're OK because we respect each other."</p> | Kentucky clerk could head back to court over licenses | false | https://abqjournal.com/648271/kentucky-clerk-could-head-back-to-court-over-licenses.html | 2least
| Kentucky clerk could head back to court over licenses
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>On Monday, lawyers for two gay couples and two straight couples questioned the validity of the new marriage licenses and asked a federal judge to order Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis' office to reissue them. If she refuses, the lawyers asked the judge to put the office in receivership and have someone else do it.</p>
<p>Davis is prepared to return to jail over her beliefs, according to an interview that aired Tuesday morning on "Good Morning America" - the first she's given since her refusal to issue licenses gained national attention.</p>
<p>"I have never once spouted a word of hate. I have not been hateful," she said. She also said the licenses going out of her office now, issued by a deputy clerk, don't have her authorization and are "not valid in God's eyes."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses in June after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling effectively legalized gay marriage nationwide. Two gay couples and two straight couples sued her. A federal judge ordered Davis to issue the licenses, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that order.</p>
<p>But Davis refused, citing "God's authority." That's when U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning threw her in jail, prompting a fierce debate in the public square about religious liberty versus the civil rights afforded to all U.S. citizens.</p>
<p>Davis' office issued marriage licenses while she was in jail, but the licenses did not include her name. Bunning ruled those licenses were valid and released Davis on the condition that she not interfere with her employees. Davis, a Democrat, was greeted at the Carter County Detention Center by a crowd of thousands and a church choir, flanked by her attorney and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.</p>
<p>But when Davis returned to work last week, she confiscated the marriage licenses and replaced them. The new licenses say they were issued not under the authority of the county clerk, but "pursuant to federal court order."</p>
<p>On Monday, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union wrote that the validity of the altered licenses is "questionable at best," and the new licenses bring "humiliation and stigma" to the gay couples who receive them. They asked Judge Bunning to order Davis' office to reissue the licenses. If Davis interferes, the lawyers say Bunning should place her office in a receivership for the purposes of issuing marriage licenses.</p>
<p>"The adulterated marriage licenses received by Rowan County couples will effectively feature a stamp of animus against the LGBT community, signaling that, in Rowan County, the government's position is that LGBT couples are second-class citizens unworthy of official recognition and authorization of their marriage licenses but for this Court's intervention and Order," the lawyers for the couples wrote in a court filing.</p>
<p>Mat Staver, Davis' attorney and founder of the Liberty Counsel law firm, did not directly respond to the ACLU's request for Bunning to put the office in a receivership. Staver said he would formally respond to the ACLU's motion Tuesday. But he noted that Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear said last week that the altered marriage licenses would be recognized by the state.</p>
<p>"Kim Davis has made a good-faith effort to comply with the court's order," Staver said. "The ACLU's motion to again hold Kim Davis in contempt reveals that their interest is not the license but rather a marriage license bearing the name of Kim Davis. They want her scalp to hang on the wall as a trophy."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Sam Marcosson, a constitutional law professor at the University of Louisville, said such receiverships are "unusual and extraordinary," generally reserved for situations where other legal remedies are unable to end an ongoing violation of the law. Marcosson described what the plaintiffs are now requesting as a "limited takeover" of her office. The judge could appoint another person to oversee the issuance of marriage licenses, both to ensure that the licenses are issued legally and to protect the deputy clerks, who have the difficult choice to defy their boss or defy a judge.</p>
<p>"It's almost a worst-case scenario," he said. "The worst-case scenario would be to send her to jail again."</p>
<p>The judge has wide discretion on who might be appointed. It could be a lawyer, another Rowan County public official or any citizen the judge trusts to carry out his orders impartially, Marcosson said. He said the judge will likely call a hearing, where he might hear testimony about the process Davis undertook to alter the licenses or the instructions she gave to her deputy clerks.</p>
<p>In her Tuesday interview, Davis was frequently tearful, and she said that she's received hate mail, with people calling her Hitler and a homophobe. But she says she's not a hypocrite, despite her own four marriages.</p>
<p>"I haven't always been a good person," she acknowledged. But she said that she's been forgiven, that godly authority trumps all, and that she won't resign her position.</p>
<p>"I'm good at my job," she said. "I have friends who are gay and lesbians. They know where I stand. And we don't agree on this issue, and we're OK because we respect each other."</p> | 3,540 |
|
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>An Amber Alert was&#160; issued for two children — 8-year-old Michael Standingbear and 6-month-old James Wilkins — after police say their mother took them from a CYFD facility without permission. They were&#160; located late Tuesday in Colorado.</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — State Police have canceled an Amber Alert for two children after finding them and their mother in Alamosa, Colo.</p>
<p>The mother, 25-year-old Davina Wilkins, was arrested late Tuesday on two counts of custodial interference.</p>
<p>According to State Police, Wilkins&#160; was visiting her two children at a CYFD facility in Las Vegas, N.M., Tuesday afternoon when she took them and fled.</p>
<p>She did not put “proper restraints” on the children — a six-month-old and an 8-year-old — when she fled in a dark gray minivan, State Police said.</p>
<p>The children were taken away from Wilkins, who State Police say is a methamphetamine user, in May.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Police cancel Amber Alert for two New Mexico children | false | https://abqjournal.com/429818/amber-alert-issued-for-two-new-mexico-children.html | 2least
| Police cancel Amber Alert for two New Mexico children
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>An Amber Alert was&#160; issued for two children — 8-year-old Michael Standingbear and 6-month-old James Wilkins — after police say their mother took them from a CYFD facility without permission. They were&#160; located late Tuesday in Colorado.</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — State Police have canceled an Amber Alert for two children after finding them and their mother in Alamosa, Colo.</p>
<p>The mother, 25-year-old Davina Wilkins, was arrested late Tuesday on two counts of custodial interference.</p>
<p>According to State Police, Wilkins&#160; was visiting her two children at a CYFD facility in Las Vegas, N.M., Tuesday afternoon when she took them and fled.</p>
<p>She did not put “proper restraints” on the children — a six-month-old and an 8-year-old — when she fled in a dark gray minivan, State Police said.</p>
<p>The children were taken away from Wilkins, who State Police say is a methamphetamine user, in May.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 3,541 |
|
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Congress may be able to wrap up tax negotiations before Dec. 22 and send a final bill to President Donald Trump, Republican Senator John Cornyn said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The Senate will vote on Wednesday whether go to conference with the House of Representatives on tax legislation. The House voted on Monday. Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said he thought tax negotiators should be able to meet a Trump administration request to iron out the differences between the two bills before Dec. 22.</p>
<p>“They won’t be rewriting the bills, they’ll just be trying to reconcile those differences and I hope that can be done quickly because we need to get this to the president,” Cornyn told reporters.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Congress tax negotiators may have final bill before Dec. 22 | false | https://newsline.com/congress-tax-negotiators-may-have-final-bill-before-dec-22/ | 2017-12-06 | 1right-center
| Congress tax negotiators may have final bill before Dec. 22
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Congress may be able to wrap up tax negotiations before Dec. 22 and send a final bill to President Donald Trump, Republican Senator John Cornyn said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The Senate will vote on Wednesday whether go to conference with the House of Representatives on tax legislation. The House voted on Monday. Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said he thought tax negotiators should be able to meet a Trump administration request to iron out the differences between the two bills before Dec. 22.</p>
<p>“They won’t be rewriting the bills, they’ll just be trying to reconcile those differences and I hope that can be done quickly because we need to get this to the president,” Cornyn told reporters.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | 3,542 |
<p>Apple is set to launch a new suite of accessories for Apple TV. &#160;With sales over $1 Billion in 2013, CEO &#160; <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-apple-tv-coming-in-september-2015-7" type="external">Tim Cook</a>&#160;quips, “It’s a little more difficult to call it a hobby these days.”</p>
<p>According to&#160; <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-apple-tv-coming-in-september-2015-7" type="external">Buzzfeed’s John Paczkowski</a>, the Apple TV debut in September will be the buzz of their annual fall conference which normally is reserved for the iphone launches timed for frothing up holiday sales.</p>
<p>As usual, Apple is secretive about products, but &#160;still allowing a few tidbits out to mix with rumors. Apple watchers say to look for new streamlined tv. A new remote with haptic touch and more RAM to go with the new A8 chip.</p>
<p>Bringing &#160;a new dimension to the offering will be the launch of tv APPS– games, lifestyle and other apps. The platform will be a new playground for app developers.</p>
<p>The Wall Street Journal has reported that the fall will also see the unveiling of Apples own video streaming service in a market that is rapidly growing.</p>
<p>Not to be left out, Siri joins the television arena offering instructions and menu assistance.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | September to be launch for Apple TV | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/08/01/september-to-be-launch-for-apple-tv-launch/ | 2015-08-01 | 3left-center
| September to be launch for Apple TV
<p>Apple is set to launch a new suite of accessories for Apple TV. &#160;With sales over $1 Billion in 2013, CEO &#160; <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-apple-tv-coming-in-september-2015-7" type="external">Tim Cook</a>&#160;quips, “It’s a little more difficult to call it a hobby these days.”</p>
<p>According to&#160; <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-apple-tv-coming-in-september-2015-7" type="external">Buzzfeed’s John Paczkowski</a>, the Apple TV debut in September will be the buzz of their annual fall conference which normally is reserved for the iphone launches timed for frothing up holiday sales.</p>
<p>As usual, Apple is secretive about products, but &#160;still allowing a few tidbits out to mix with rumors. Apple watchers say to look for new streamlined tv. A new remote with haptic touch and more RAM to go with the new A8 chip.</p>
<p>Bringing &#160;a new dimension to the offering will be the launch of tv APPS– games, lifestyle and other apps. The platform will be a new playground for app developers.</p>
<p>The Wall Street Journal has reported that the fall will also see the unveiling of Apples own video streaming service in a market that is rapidly growing.</p>
<p>Not to be left out, Siri joins the television arena offering instructions and menu assistance.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | 3,543 |
<p>Published time: 4 Dec, 2017 22:51</p>
<p>“Push all the way, give it your maximum!” shouts assistant coach Egor Sorin to the group of extremely fit looking women and men in burgundy-colored race suits with the word RUS imprinted in bold letters on their backs.</p>
<p>The world at large might know the place for The World Economic Forum annual meetings held here, but for sporting fans it is synonymous with one of the most exciting international skiing competitions, held every December for the last 45 years.</p>
<p>The Russian cross-country skiing team is in Davos where it is preparing for the next stage in the FIS World Cup, to be held at the famed Swiss resort on December 9-10. Alexander Legkov, Maxim Vylezhanin, Evgeniy Belov, Julia Ivanova, Evgenia Shapovalova and Alexey Petukhov — stripped of their titles and banned from all competitions first by the IOC and then by the International Ski Federation – are no longer present, as their appeals to the IOC/FIS decisions are being processed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.</p>
<p>Yet, the Russian skiing team remains a formidable sporting force, with top contenders for Olympic medals in its ranks.</p>
<p>Its leader, 25-year-old Sergey Ustiugov, is, arguably, the planet’s strongest cross-country skier today, with five medals, including two golds, from five races at this year’s World Championships. The rest of the team members do not have his titles, but specialists and fans alike point at the several top medal contenders at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang 2018 among its ranks.</p>
<p>That is, if they get to participate in the Games at all. The International Olympic Committee will decide on December 5 if Russia can compete at the Pyeongchang Winter Games.</p>
<p>The mood among the best Russian cross-country skiers is understandably grim, but determined on the eve of the announcement.</p>
<p>The current team is not only exceptionally talented, especially on the male side – but also very young. The unspoken message is “if you won’t let us compete at these Olympics – we shall show what we are worth in 2022 in Beijing.”</p>
<p>Yet there is not sign of let-up in preparations at the snowy tracks of Davos – they are equally determined to win both in Switzerland this weekend – and in Korea in February.</p> | Russian XC Ski Team: Depleted but determined to win | false | https://newsline.com/russian-xc-ski-team-depleted-but-determined-to-win/ | 2017-12-04 | 1right-center
| Russian XC Ski Team: Depleted but determined to win
<p>Published time: 4 Dec, 2017 22:51</p>
<p>“Push all the way, give it your maximum!” shouts assistant coach Egor Sorin to the group of extremely fit looking women and men in burgundy-colored race suits with the word RUS imprinted in bold letters on their backs.</p>
<p>The world at large might know the place for The World Economic Forum annual meetings held here, but for sporting fans it is synonymous with one of the most exciting international skiing competitions, held every December for the last 45 years.</p>
<p>The Russian cross-country skiing team is in Davos where it is preparing for the next stage in the FIS World Cup, to be held at the famed Swiss resort on December 9-10. Alexander Legkov, Maxim Vylezhanin, Evgeniy Belov, Julia Ivanova, Evgenia Shapovalova and Alexey Petukhov — stripped of their titles and banned from all competitions first by the IOC and then by the International Ski Federation – are no longer present, as their appeals to the IOC/FIS decisions are being processed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.</p>
<p>Yet, the Russian skiing team remains a formidable sporting force, with top contenders for Olympic medals in its ranks.</p>
<p>Its leader, 25-year-old Sergey Ustiugov, is, arguably, the planet’s strongest cross-country skier today, with five medals, including two golds, from five races at this year’s World Championships. The rest of the team members do not have his titles, but specialists and fans alike point at the several top medal contenders at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang 2018 among its ranks.</p>
<p>That is, if they get to participate in the Games at all. The International Olympic Committee will decide on December 5 if Russia can compete at the Pyeongchang Winter Games.</p>
<p>The mood among the best Russian cross-country skiers is understandably grim, but determined on the eve of the announcement.</p>
<p>The current team is not only exceptionally talented, especially on the male side – but also very young. The unspoken message is “if you won’t let us compete at these Olympics – we shall show what we are worth in 2022 in Beijing.”</p>
<p>Yet there is not sign of let-up in preparations at the snowy tracks of Davos – they are equally determined to win both in Switzerland this weekend – and in Korea in February.</p> | 3,544 |
<p>With numbers coming in prompting economic analysts to use elated phrases such as “off the charts” and “its about time,” it looks as if Christmas may be a little bit better for a lot of Americans this year. Economists expected a 228,000 job gain, but the final number greatly exceeded predictions with 321,000 new jobs.</p>
<p>CNN Money states that close to 70 percent of U.S. industries have added jobs last month, which has not been matched in over a decade. To compare, 86 percent of the companies in the U.S. were cutting jobs 5 years ago.</p>
<p>To add to the surge, electronics chain stores and department stores are not cutting staff although losing income due to online shopping. Some part-time workers are being moved to full-time at this time, and the entire staff will generally experience longer work hours. Benefits may also be more available. For instance, a global outsourcing service in Nashville, Tenn. is offering close to 5,7000 full-time jobs with benefits. Kohl has hired 34 percent more seasonal workers than last year, Wal-Mart 10 percent more and shippers UPS and FedEx are also employing more workers than the year before.</p>
<p>CNN Money states that 2014 was a year of strong economic growth due to the public being able to meet the once-suppressed demand for homes and cars along with low energy prices. In contrast, local schools,state governments, coal mining companies and textile and clothing manufacturers are cutting jobs, which leads to the question of whether&#160;these new jobs available provide a long-term benefit to workers.</p>
<p>Many of the new jobs do not provide high pay. Median wages in retail and wholesale trade have dropped 15 percent, and hospitality and leisure wages have fallen 5 percent. Industries that typically hire 25 to 34-year-olds have mostly all fallen in the past 10 years. The healthcare industry, known for providing satisfactory wages, was the only group that saw an increase in wages— but only at 2 percent.</p>
<p>While living expenses such as gas prices have fallen for most U.S. citizens –&#160;South Carolina, Texas, Missouri, Virginia and New Mexico may soon be joining Oklahoma in their gas dropping below $2&#160;–&#160;workers are still discontent with the living/pay ratio. Wages have been notably stagnant in 2014 with a paltry 2.1 percent increase.</p>
<p>It has been theorized that the large number of unemployed in the nation enables employers to choose workers who agree to lower wages. The rotating door seems to equate to lethargic wages, although some expect the growth to increase soon.</p>
<p>While events such as these quickly raise political debates, it also adds to the current question of whether to raise the minimum wage. The&#160;Washington Post recently referenced the metropolitan with the highest percentage of annual job growth in the nation as well as the highest minimum wage in the nation— San Francisco— to suggest that raising the minimum wage may actually cause more job creation. The Washington Post suggests that providing more money to the working poor— the people most likely to take advantage of many of the new jobs recently made available— may increase the overall community’s level of sales by way of rent costs, food, child care and transportation.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Americans express an overall satisfaction with their jobs, but 76 percent of them told an Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll that they also felt as if they just “work to live.” Forty-seven percent of these workers also work nights and weekends and are likely to take advantage of the recently increased hours, and possibly take on another job as supplement this season.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | New job surge largest since 1999: Good or bad thing? | false | http://natmonitor.com/2014/12/05/new-job-surge-largest-since-1999-good-or-bad-thing/ | 2014-12-05 | 3left-center
| New job surge largest since 1999: Good or bad thing?
<p>With numbers coming in prompting economic analysts to use elated phrases such as “off the charts” and “its about time,” it looks as if Christmas may be a little bit better for a lot of Americans this year. Economists expected a 228,000 job gain, but the final number greatly exceeded predictions with 321,000 new jobs.</p>
<p>CNN Money states that close to 70 percent of U.S. industries have added jobs last month, which has not been matched in over a decade. To compare, 86 percent of the companies in the U.S. were cutting jobs 5 years ago.</p>
<p>To add to the surge, electronics chain stores and department stores are not cutting staff although losing income due to online shopping. Some part-time workers are being moved to full-time at this time, and the entire staff will generally experience longer work hours. Benefits may also be more available. For instance, a global outsourcing service in Nashville, Tenn. is offering close to 5,7000 full-time jobs with benefits. Kohl has hired 34 percent more seasonal workers than last year, Wal-Mart 10 percent more and shippers UPS and FedEx are also employing more workers than the year before.</p>
<p>CNN Money states that 2014 was a year of strong economic growth due to the public being able to meet the once-suppressed demand for homes and cars along with low energy prices. In contrast, local schools,state governments, coal mining companies and textile and clothing manufacturers are cutting jobs, which leads to the question of whether&#160;these new jobs available provide a long-term benefit to workers.</p>
<p>Many of the new jobs do not provide high pay. Median wages in retail and wholesale trade have dropped 15 percent, and hospitality and leisure wages have fallen 5 percent. Industries that typically hire 25 to 34-year-olds have mostly all fallen in the past 10 years. The healthcare industry, known for providing satisfactory wages, was the only group that saw an increase in wages— but only at 2 percent.</p>
<p>While living expenses such as gas prices have fallen for most U.S. citizens –&#160;South Carolina, Texas, Missouri, Virginia and New Mexico may soon be joining Oklahoma in their gas dropping below $2&#160;–&#160;workers are still discontent with the living/pay ratio. Wages have been notably stagnant in 2014 with a paltry 2.1 percent increase.</p>
<p>It has been theorized that the large number of unemployed in the nation enables employers to choose workers who agree to lower wages. The rotating door seems to equate to lethargic wages, although some expect the growth to increase soon.</p>
<p>While events such as these quickly raise political debates, it also adds to the current question of whether to raise the minimum wage. The&#160;Washington Post recently referenced the metropolitan with the highest percentage of annual job growth in the nation as well as the highest minimum wage in the nation— San Francisco— to suggest that raising the minimum wage may actually cause more job creation. The Washington Post suggests that providing more money to the working poor— the people most likely to take advantage of many of the new jobs recently made available— may increase the overall community’s level of sales by way of rent costs, food, child care and transportation.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Americans express an overall satisfaction with their jobs, but 76 percent of them told an Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll that they also felt as if they just “work to live.” Forty-seven percent of these workers also work nights and weekends and are likely to take advantage of the recently increased hours, and possibly take on another job as supplement this season.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | 3,545 |
<p>Seven principles characterize successful multiracial congregations, according to studies conducted by sociologist and author George Yancey.</p>
<p>• Inclusive worship. Racially distinctive elements of worship transcend music to include preaching style, the way the worship service is organized and interior décor of church buildings.</p>
<p>• Diverse leadership. These churches have “clergy and/or laity leadership that reflect the makeup or desired makeup of the congregation,” he said.</p>
<p>• An overarching goal. This is “a nonracial goal, which is easier to meet if the congregation becomes multiracial,” Yancey explained. Potential goals include desired results in evangelism, community service and translating the gospel into meeting societal needs.</p>
<p>• Intentionality. Churches communicate their willingness to go out of their way to become multiracial, think about what will be necessary to achieve that goal and find the motivation to reach out to various races.</p>
<p>• Personal skills. These include sensitivity to different needs of different races, patience to deal with transitions, willingness to empower people of other races, and the ability to relate well to people of different races.</p>
<p>• Location. “The vast majority of multiracial churches are located in the inner city or in racially diverse areas,” he said. “Suburban churches [often] are seen as rejection of minorities” since many suburbs developed because of “white flight.”</p>
<p>• Adaptability. Successful multiracial churches can “anticipate new challenges and/or adapt to unanticipated issues as they come up,” he said. These include difficulties in assimilating people who speak different languages; dealing with “interracial romance,” especially among the church's teenagers; and processing secular political and social issues without splintering the congregation.</p>
<p>Associated Baptist Press</p> | Characteristics of multiracial congregations | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/characteristicsofmultiracialcongregations/ | 3left-center
| Characteristics of multiracial congregations
<p>Seven principles characterize successful multiracial congregations, according to studies conducted by sociologist and author George Yancey.</p>
<p>• Inclusive worship. Racially distinctive elements of worship transcend music to include preaching style, the way the worship service is organized and interior décor of church buildings.</p>
<p>• Diverse leadership. These churches have “clergy and/or laity leadership that reflect the makeup or desired makeup of the congregation,” he said.</p>
<p>• An overarching goal. This is “a nonracial goal, which is easier to meet if the congregation becomes multiracial,” Yancey explained. Potential goals include desired results in evangelism, community service and translating the gospel into meeting societal needs.</p>
<p>• Intentionality. Churches communicate their willingness to go out of their way to become multiracial, think about what will be necessary to achieve that goal and find the motivation to reach out to various races.</p>
<p>• Personal skills. These include sensitivity to different needs of different races, patience to deal with transitions, willingness to empower people of other races, and the ability to relate well to people of different races.</p>
<p>• Location. “The vast majority of multiracial churches are located in the inner city or in racially diverse areas,” he said. “Suburban churches [often] are seen as rejection of minorities” since many suburbs developed because of “white flight.”</p>
<p>• Adaptability. Successful multiracial churches can “anticipate new challenges and/or adapt to unanticipated issues as they come up,” he said. These include difficulties in assimilating people who speak different languages; dealing with “interracial romance,” especially among the church's teenagers; and processing secular political and social issues without splintering the congregation.</p>
<p>Associated Baptist Press</p> | 3,546 |
|
<p />
<p>When <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2007/09/5483_blackwater_boot.html" type="external">this happened</a>, we should have known <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/22/AR2007092201424.html" type="external">this was the case</a>:</p>
<p>Senior Iraqi officials repeatedly complained to U.S. officials about Blackwater USA’s alleged involvement in the deaths of numerous Iraqis, but the Americans took little action to regulate the private security firm until 11 Iraqis were shot dead last Sunday, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.</p>
<p>Before that episode, U.S. officials were made aware in high-level meetings and formal memorandums of Blackwater’s alleged transgressions. They included six violent incidents this year allegedly involving the North Carolina firm that left a total of 10 Iraqis dead, the officials said.</p>
<p>“There were no concrete results,” Lt. Gen. Hussein Kamal, the deputy interior minister who oversees the private security industry on behalf of the Iraqi government, said in an interview Saturday.</p>
<p>The lack of a U.S. response underscores the powerlessness of Iraqi officials to control the tens of thousands of security contractors who operate under U.S.-drafted Iraqi regulations that shield them from Iraqi laws.</p>
<p>Read the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/22/AR2007092201424.html" type="external">full Post article</a> for more info. Read <a href="/news/feature/2003/05/ma_365_01.html" type="external">this Mother Jones feature</a> for more on Blackwater.</p>
<p /> | U.S. Officials Informed of Blackwater Misdeeds Many Times, Failed to Act | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/09/us-officials-informed-blackwater-misdeeds-many-times-failed-act/ | 2007-09-24 | 4left
| U.S. Officials Informed of Blackwater Misdeeds Many Times, Failed to Act
<p />
<p>When <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2007/09/5483_blackwater_boot.html" type="external">this happened</a>, we should have known <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/22/AR2007092201424.html" type="external">this was the case</a>:</p>
<p>Senior Iraqi officials repeatedly complained to U.S. officials about Blackwater USA’s alleged involvement in the deaths of numerous Iraqis, but the Americans took little action to regulate the private security firm until 11 Iraqis were shot dead last Sunday, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.</p>
<p>Before that episode, U.S. officials were made aware in high-level meetings and formal memorandums of Blackwater’s alleged transgressions. They included six violent incidents this year allegedly involving the North Carolina firm that left a total of 10 Iraqis dead, the officials said.</p>
<p>“There were no concrete results,” Lt. Gen. Hussein Kamal, the deputy interior minister who oversees the private security industry on behalf of the Iraqi government, said in an interview Saturday.</p>
<p>The lack of a U.S. response underscores the powerlessness of Iraqi officials to control the tens of thousands of security contractors who operate under U.S.-drafted Iraqi regulations that shield them from Iraqi laws.</p>
<p>Read the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/22/AR2007092201424.html" type="external">full Post article</a> for more info. Read <a href="/news/feature/2003/05/ma_365_01.html" type="external">this Mother Jones feature</a> for more on Blackwater.</p>
<p /> | 3,547 |
<p>Magazine and broadcasting company Meredith is buying magazine publisher Time for about $1.8 billion, with help from the billionaire Koch brothers, to bulk up on readers as the publishing industry navigates the difficult transition to digital from print.</p>
<p>Iowa-based Meredith Corp. owns 17 TV stations that reach 12 million U.S. households. Its women- and lifestyle-focused magazines and websites include Better Homes &amp; Gardens, Family Circle and Allrecipes. Time Inc., based in New York, has publications including Time, Sports Illustrated, People, Fortune and Entertainment Weekly.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Including Time's debt, Meredith values the deal at $2.8 billion.</p>
<p>To get the deal done, Meredith got $650 million in financial backing from the private equity arm of Koch Industries, the energy conglomerate of the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, known for their advocacy for conservative causes. The Koch investment has raised eyebrows in media circles. The company said that the Koch brothers would not influence editorial operations, however. Meredith CEO Steve Lacy said on a call Monday morning that the company had not wanted an investor who would want to help run the business, so it went with Koch for financial aid because of their desire to be "passive" investors and because they didn't require a board seat.</p>
<p>A Koch representative did not answer questions about why the company was interested in media but said Monday said that the investing arm, Koch Equity Development, was making a "passive financial investment" that doesn't include board or management representation.</p>
<p>Combined, the media companies posted $4.8 billion in revenue last year. Meredith says together they will have 135 million readers and 60 million paid subscribers. Meredith says the deal strengthens its appeal to advertisers as the media industry consolidates, and it may buy more properties. But the company will also evaluate whether to sell any magazines after the Time acquisition closes.</p>
<p>Meredith also expects to cut $400 million to $500 million in costs in the first two years of operation as a combined company, which potentially means layoffs.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Time is trying to shift to a digital strategy, but it has struggled. It posted two straight years of annual losses and its revenue has declined since it split off from Time Warner in 2014. Analysts expect a return to profit in 2017, however. Meredith has fared better.</p>
<p>Meredith will pay $18.50 per share in cash for Time's nearly 100 million outstanding shares.</p>
<p>Meredith shares climbed 11.9 percent to $68.25 in afternoon trading, while Time stock added 9.3 percent to $18.48.</p> | Meredith buying Time Inc. for about $1.8 billion | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/11/26/meredith-buying-time-inc-for-about-1-8-billion.html | 2017-11-27 | 0right
| Meredith buying Time Inc. for about $1.8 billion
<p>Magazine and broadcasting company Meredith is buying magazine publisher Time for about $1.8 billion, with help from the billionaire Koch brothers, to bulk up on readers as the publishing industry navigates the difficult transition to digital from print.</p>
<p>Iowa-based Meredith Corp. owns 17 TV stations that reach 12 million U.S. households. Its women- and lifestyle-focused magazines and websites include Better Homes &amp; Gardens, Family Circle and Allrecipes. Time Inc., based in New York, has publications including Time, Sports Illustrated, People, Fortune and Entertainment Weekly.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Including Time's debt, Meredith values the deal at $2.8 billion.</p>
<p>To get the deal done, Meredith got $650 million in financial backing from the private equity arm of Koch Industries, the energy conglomerate of the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, known for their advocacy for conservative causes. The Koch investment has raised eyebrows in media circles. The company said that the Koch brothers would not influence editorial operations, however. Meredith CEO Steve Lacy said on a call Monday morning that the company had not wanted an investor who would want to help run the business, so it went with Koch for financial aid because of their desire to be "passive" investors and because they didn't require a board seat.</p>
<p>A Koch representative did not answer questions about why the company was interested in media but said Monday said that the investing arm, Koch Equity Development, was making a "passive financial investment" that doesn't include board or management representation.</p>
<p>Combined, the media companies posted $4.8 billion in revenue last year. Meredith says together they will have 135 million readers and 60 million paid subscribers. Meredith says the deal strengthens its appeal to advertisers as the media industry consolidates, and it may buy more properties. But the company will also evaluate whether to sell any magazines after the Time acquisition closes.</p>
<p>Meredith also expects to cut $400 million to $500 million in costs in the first two years of operation as a combined company, which potentially means layoffs.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Time is trying to shift to a digital strategy, but it has struggled. It posted two straight years of annual losses and its revenue has declined since it split off from Time Warner in 2014. Analysts expect a return to profit in 2017, however. Meredith has fared better.</p>
<p>Meredith will pay $18.50 per share in cash for Time's nearly 100 million outstanding shares.</p>
<p>Meredith shares climbed 11.9 percent to $68.25 in afternoon trading, while Time stock added 9.3 percent to $18.48.</p> | 3,548 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>UDALL</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., will give the opening remarks Friday at 1 p.m. at the Albuquerque NAACP Civil Rights and Diversity Conference.</p>
<p>The conference is today and Saturday at the Hotel Cascada Urban Resort in Albuquerque, 2500 Carlisle NE. The conference includes national and local speakers addressing civil and human rights, health disparities, voter education, coalition building and more.</p>
<p>Cost to attend is $75 per person, $50 for students or $40 for the luncheon only.</p>
<p>For more information, contact Bailey at 505-908-0796 or visit the visit NAACP Albuquerque Branch on Facebook.</p>
<p>U.S.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Udall to give opening remarks at NAACP conference Friday | false | https://abqjournal.com/678764/udall-to-give-opening-remarks-at-naacp-conference-friday.html | 2least
| Udall to give opening remarks at NAACP conference Friday
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>UDALL</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., will give the opening remarks Friday at 1 p.m. at the Albuquerque NAACP Civil Rights and Diversity Conference.</p>
<p>The conference is today and Saturday at the Hotel Cascada Urban Resort in Albuquerque, 2500 Carlisle NE. The conference includes national and local speakers addressing civil and human rights, health disparities, voter education, coalition building and more.</p>
<p>Cost to attend is $75 per person, $50 for students or $40 for the luncheon only.</p>
<p>For more information, contact Bailey at 505-908-0796 or visit the visit NAACP Albuquerque Branch on Facebook.</p>
<p>U.S.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 3,549 |
|
<p />
<p>TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Transit spent more than $1 million on a digital advertising campaign this summer to inform riders about changes caused by a massive two-month repair project at Penn Station that limited service on its second-busiest rail line.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The campaign to promote a special&#160; <a href="http://njtransit-theupdate.com/" type="external">website Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;on service disruptions while making sure riders knew Amtrak is responsible for the project at the nation's busiest rail terminal cost about $300,000 more than New Jersey Transit says it typically spends in a full year on marketing.</p>
<p>"Given the magnitude of the summer rail service disruption, combined with its enduring impact to our customers, a unique and multi-faceted communications plan was crucial," said NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder. "To that end, NJ Transit enlisted outside assistance in formulating a comprehensive communications campaign that was efficient, effective and timely to keep our customers informed every step of the way and optimize their travel experience."</p>
<p>Some of the $1,009,775 was spent to target ads to those directly affected by the work, according to invoices that NJ Transit provided to The Associated Press after a records request. Snyder said the campaign drew 600,000 people to the website. NJ Transit is the nation's third-largest provider of bus, rail and light rail service, with a current operating budget of $2.2 billion.</p>
<p>A transit advocacy group said the campaign kept riders informed.</p>
<p>"I don't think I heard many reports of riders not knowing what was going on," said David Peter Alan, chairman of the Lackawanna Coalition, a group that advocates for better service on the Morristown &amp; Essex lines.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Democratic state Sen. Loretta Weinberg agreed that was valuable but questioned the need to spend any of the money to cast blame on Amtrak.</p>
<p>A section of the special website reads, "The reality is that Amtrak has been neglecting this work for years, but it must happen now to prevent even more delays and to create a safer commuting environment."</p>
<p>Weinberg said, "A dollar spent on advertising to prove whose fault this was or to embellish themselves is a dollar misspent away from the problems that the everyday commuters face."</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Amtrak declined to comment.</p>
<p>Amtrak, which owns Penn Station, drew the ire of Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie this spring after two derailments and a series of other problems that caused travel headaches throughout the Northeast Corridor.</p>
<p>Amtrak's replacement of aging tracks and other equipment, much of which dates to the 1970s, was originally to be done over two or three years but was condensed into a summer project scheduled to wrap up the end of August.</p>
<p>NJ Transit responded by having trains on the Morris &amp; Essex line serving the northern part of the state end in Hoboken, where riders had to catch another commuter line or ferries to get into New York.</p>
<p>The ad campaign, managed by MV Digital Group, included about $200,000 spent on search engines, $153,451 on Facebook and $82,991 on Twitter. Consulting firm Kivvit received about $66,000. MV Digital Group is the digital ad company owned by Advance Media, which publishes NJ.com, the Star-Ledger and other newspapers in the state.</p>
<p>Riders told the agency before work began that communications on disruptions was a priority, and a large majority said in a follow-up survey they had received the right amount of information, with some saying there could have been more, Snyder said.</p>
<p>Though many commuters have experienced longer trips and some delays, the "summer of hell" predicted by Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and others largely has failed to materialize. The timing of the work to coincide with summer vacations played a role, and rail officials have praised commuters for being flexible and keeping apprised of service changes through social media and official outreach efforts.</p>
<p>Most NJ Transit riders said in a survey they did not change how they traveled this summer.</p> | NJ Transit spent $1M on Penn Station project ad campaign | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/08/21/nj-transit-spent-1m-on-penn-station-project-ad-campaign.html | 2017-08-21 | 0right
| NJ Transit spent $1M on Penn Station project ad campaign
<p />
<p>TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Transit spent more than $1 million on a digital advertising campaign this summer to inform riders about changes caused by a massive two-month repair project at Penn Station that limited service on its second-busiest rail line.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The campaign to promote a special&#160; <a href="http://njtransit-theupdate.com/" type="external">website Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;on service disruptions while making sure riders knew Amtrak is responsible for the project at the nation's busiest rail terminal cost about $300,000 more than New Jersey Transit says it typically spends in a full year on marketing.</p>
<p>"Given the magnitude of the summer rail service disruption, combined with its enduring impact to our customers, a unique and multi-faceted communications plan was crucial," said NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder. "To that end, NJ Transit enlisted outside assistance in formulating a comprehensive communications campaign that was efficient, effective and timely to keep our customers informed every step of the way and optimize their travel experience."</p>
<p>Some of the $1,009,775 was spent to target ads to those directly affected by the work, according to invoices that NJ Transit provided to The Associated Press after a records request. Snyder said the campaign drew 600,000 people to the website. NJ Transit is the nation's third-largest provider of bus, rail and light rail service, with a current operating budget of $2.2 billion.</p>
<p>A transit advocacy group said the campaign kept riders informed.</p>
<p>"I don't think I heard many reports of riders not knowing what was going on," said David Peter Alan, chairman of the Lackawanna Coalition, a group that advocates for better service on the Morristown &amp; Essex lines.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Democratic state Sen. Loretta Weinberg agreed that was valuable but questioned the need to spend any of the money to cast blame on Amtrak.</p>
<p>A section of the special website reads, "The reality is that Amtrak has been neglecting this work for years, but it must happen now to prevent even more delays and to create a safer commuting environment."</p>
<p>Weinberg said, "A dollar spent on advertising to prove whose fault this was or to embellish themselves is a dollar misspent away from the problems that the everyday commuters face."</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Amtrak declined to comment.</p>
<p>Amtrak, which owns Penn Station, drew the ire of Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie this spring after two derailments and a series of other problems that caused travel headaches throughout the Northeast Corridor.</p>
<p>Amtrak's replacement of aging tracks and other equipment, much of which dates to the 1970s, was originally to be done over two or three years but was condensed into a summer project scheduled to wrap up the end of August.</p>
<p>NJ Transit responded by having trains on the Morris &amp; Essex line serving the northern part of the state end in Hoboken, where riders had to catch another commuter line or ferries to get into New York.</p>
<p>The ad campaign, managed by MV Digital Group, included about $200,000 spent on search engines, $153,451 on Facebook and $82,991 on Twitter. Consulting firm Kivvit received about $66,000. MV Digital Group is the digital ad company owned by Advance Media, which publishes NJ.com, the Star-Ledger and other newspapers in the state.</p>
<p>Riders told the agency before work began that communications on disruptions was a priority, and a large majority said in a follow-up survey they had received the right amount of information, with some saying there could have been more, Snyder said.</p>
<p>Though many commuters have experienced longer trips and some delays, the "summer of hell" predicted by Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and others largely has failed to materialize. The timing of the work to coincide with summer vacations played a role, and rail officials have praised commuters for being flexible and keeping apprised of service changes through social media and official outreach efforts.</p>
<p>Most NJ Transit riders said in a survey they did not change how they traveled this summer.</p> | 3,550 |
<p>Sen. Kamala Harris is leading a group of 44 Senate Democrats in urging DOJ to reinstate trans protections under Title VII. (Washington Blade file photo by Tom Hausman)</p>
<p>A group of 44 Senate Democrats led by Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) urged the Justice Department on Thursday to reinstate its interpretation of existing civil rights law to prohibit anti-transgender discrimination.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.harris.senate.gov/sites/default/files/Letter%20on%20Title%20VII%20Transgender%20Protections.pdf" type="external">letter dated Nov.</a> 2, the Senate Democrats insist Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination in the workplace, also applies to discrimination against transgender workers.</p>
<p>“The Civil Rights Division, charged with enforcement of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, states its purpose is ‘to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all Americans, particularly some of the most vulnerable members of our society,'” the letter says. “Transgender individuals are among the most vulnerable Americans. Your department would best serve its mission by clarifying that employees should be hired or fired based on their ability to do the job — not because of their gender identity.”</p>
<p>The letter urges reversal of an Oct. 4 memo signed by the U.S Attorney General Jeff Sessions asserting Title VII “ <a href="" type="internal">does not prohibit discrimination based on gender identity per se</a>.”</p>
<p>As the letter points out, the Sessions memo reverses an earlier memo former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder issued in 2014 under the Obama administration affirming Title VII “encompasses discrimination based on gender identity, including transgender status.”</p>
<p>Also as noted in the letter, Sessions’ memo defies interpretations of Title VII by numerous courts and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.&#160;Four federal appellate courts — the First, Sixth, Ninth and Eleventh circuit courts of appeals — have determined employment discrimination against transgender people is barred under Title VII.</p>
<p>“This most recent action by the department to roll back protections for transgender persons is anathema to the Civil Rights Act’s purpose,” the letter says. “When President Johnson signed the act into law on July 2, 1964, he wisely observed, ‘those who founded our country knew that freedom would be secure only if each generation fought to renew and enlarge its meaning.’ Your department has repeatedly undermined those very words.”</p>
<p>In addition to seeking a reversal of the interpretation of the Title VII, the letter calls on the Justice Department to disclose a list of all complaints of gender identity discrimination it has investigated under the past year. As part of this list, the letter asks for the status of each cases whether the Justice Department intends to resolve or simply close those open investigations.</p>
<p>The U.S. Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to the Washington Blade’s request to comment on the letter.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Jeff Sessions</a> <a href="" type="internal">Kamala Harris</a> <a href="" type="internal">Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964</a></p> | Senate Dems urge DOJ to reinstate trans protections under Title VII | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2017/11/02/senate-dems-urge-doj-reinstate-trans-protections-title-vii/ | 3left-center
| Senate Dems urge DOJ to reinstate trans protections under Title VII
<p>Sen. Kamala Harris is leading a group of 44 Senate Democrats in urging DOJ to reinstate trans protections under Title VII. (Washington Blade file photo by Tom Hausman)</p>
<p>A group of 44 Senate Democrats led by Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) urged the Justice Department on Thursday to reinstate its interpretation of existing civil rights law to prohibit anti-transgender discrimination.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.harris.senate.gov/sites/default/files/Letter%20on%20Title%20VII%20Transgender%20Protections.pdf" type="external">letter dated Nov.</a> 2, the Senate Democrats insist Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination in the workplace, also applies to discrimination against transgender workers.</p>
<p>“The Civil Rights Division, charged with enforcement of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, states its purpose is ‘to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all Americans, particularly some of the most vulnerable members of our society,'” the letter says. “Transgender individuals are among the most vulnerable Americans. Your department would best serve its mission by clarifying that employees should be hired or fired based on their ability to do the job — not because of their gender identity.”</p>
<p>The letter urges reversal of an Oct. 4 memo signed by the U.S Attorney General Jeff Sessions asserting Title VII “ <a href="" type="internal">does not prohibit discrimination based on gender identity per se</a>.”</p>
<p>As the letter points out, the Sessions memo reverses an earlier memo former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder issued in 2014 under the Obama administration affirming Title VII “encompasses discrimination based on gender identity, including transgender status.”</p>
<p>Also as noted in the letter, Sessions’ memo defies interpretations of Title VII by numerous courts and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.&#160;Four federal appellate courts — the First, Sixth, Ninth and Eleventh circuit courts of appeals — have determined employment discrimination against transgender people is barred under Title VII.</p>
<p>“This most recent action by the department to roll back protections for transgender persons is anathema to the Civil Rights Act’s purpose,” the letter says. “When President Johnson signed the act into law on July 2, 1964, he wisely observed, ‘those who founded our country knew that freedom would be secure only if each generation fought to renew and enlarge its meaning.’ Your department has repeatedly undermined those very words.”</p>
<p>In addition to seeking a reversal of the interpretation of the Title VII, the letter calls on the Justice Department to disclose a list of all complaints of gender identity discrimination it has investigated under the past year. As part of this list, the letter asks for the status of each cases whether the Justice Department intends to resolve or simply close those open investigations.</p>
<p>The U.S. Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to the Washington Blade’s request to comment on the letter.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Jeff Sessions</a> <a href="" type="internal">Kamala Harris</a> <a href="" type="internal">Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964</a></p> | 3,551 |
|
<p>As I have time to take a breath this summer before I start my final year of seminary, I am anxiously awaiting the opportunity to start looking for church positions that would allow me to use this training I’ve almost completed. I have asked professors and regional connection in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and I’ve been struck by their responses:</p>
<p>I wish I could tell you there were many churches that were ready to call a female senior pastor, but we’re just not quite there yet.</p>
<p>You may have to seriously consider expanding your search beyond baptist churches.</p>
<p>While I appreciate their honesty, I am now wondering if next year is also going to include&#160;denominational&#160;classes that would enable me to be considered in other&#160;denominations&#160;who do have openings ready and waiting for women in ministry. Although I consider myself a baptist and hold the foundational&#160;denominational&#160;doctrine to be freeing and empowering, I have to consider the reality of paying back student loans and supporting myself.</p>
<p>I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to experience so many different churches by providing pulpit supply, but is there a baptist pulpit out there for me after May or will the practicality of living out my call once my education is completed by delayed again because of my gender?</p> | Do Baptist women have to consider a denominational change? | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/do-baptist-women-have-to-consider-a-denominational-change/ | 3left-center
| Do Baptist women have to consider a denominational change?
<p>As I have time to take a breath this summer before I start my final year of seminary, I am anxiously awaiting the opportunity to start looking for church positions that would allow me to use this training I’ve almost completed. I have asked professors and regional connection in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and I’ve been struck by their responses:</p>
<p>I wish I could tell you there were many churches that were ready to call a female senior pastor, but we’re just not quite there yet.</p>
<p>You may have to seriously consider expanding your search beyond baptist churches.</p>
<p>While I appreciate their honesty, I am now wondering if next year is also going to include&#160;denominational&#160;classes that would enable me to be considered in other&#160;denominations&#160;who do have openings ready and waiting for women in ministry. Although I consider myself a baptist and hold the foundational&#160;denominational&#160;doctrine to be freeing and empowering, I have to consider the reality of paying back student loans and supporting myself.</p>
<p>I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to experience so many different churches by providing pulpit supply, but is there a baptist pulpit out there for me after May or will the practicality of living out my call once my education is completed by delayed again because of my gender?</p> | 3,552 |
|
<p>MARYLANDGazette.netby Scott M. Lowe Jr.</p>
<p>Staff Writer</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>July 3, 2003</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>A former Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual abuse has started his 18-month prison sentence at the Maryland State Detention Facility in Jessup.</p>
<p>In addition, 67-year-old Robert Petrella, who started his term June 30, was given three years of supervised probation.</p>
<p>According to the Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office, Petrella pleaded guilty in March and was sentenced June 27 for 10 years for each count, but the judge suspended all but 18 months of the jail time.</p>
<p>Ramon Korionoff, spokesman for the county's State's Attorney's Office, said he was pleased with the outcome despite the circumstances, including the weak child abuse laws of the '60s and '70s.</p> | Ex-priest sentenced for 30-year-old case | false | https://poynter.org/news/ex-priest-sentenced-30-year-old-case | 2003-07-02 | 2least
| Ex-priest sentenced for 30-year-old case
<p>MARYLANDGazette.netby Scott M. Lowe Jr.</p>
<p>Staff Writer</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>July 3, 2003</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>A former Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual abuse has started his 18-month prison sentence at the Maryland State Detention Facility in Jessup.</p>
<p>In addition, 67-year-old Robert Petrella, who started his term June 30, was given three years of supervised probation.</p>
<p>According to the Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office, Petrella pleaded guilty in March and was sentenced June 27 for 10 years for each count, but the judge suspended all but 18 months of the jail time.</p>
<p>Ramon Korionoff, spokesman for the county's State's Attorney's Office, said he was pleased with the outcome despite the circumstances, including the weak child abuse laws of the '60s and '70s.</p> | 3,553 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>An acquaintance who works at a popular downtown restaurant recommended Chris’ Cafe to me several times and I put it on my mental “check-it-out” list. Then, there I was, driving down Cerrillos Road at lunchtime. I saw the cafe, sequestered in a row of commercial buildings near The Lofts. Lucky for me, hunger and curiosity combined with good timing. I pulled into the parking lot to give this modest-looking place a try. From the first fragrant aroma, I knew I’d made a good choice.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Owner Chris Valdez, a long-time cook, manager and server at Tecolote Cafe, opened Chris’ Cafe in early 2012. The restaurant has less than a dozen tables and nothing fancy on the walls. It’s spotless and the staff – friends and family of Valdez – welcomes customers as if each one had the potential to become a friend. Valdez himself circulated among the diners the day of my visit. It was clear most of the clients were returning guests.</p>
<p>The menu makes choices simple. At lunch, we could pick from two specials, pork chops or green chile chicken enchiladas, and/or the menu: burritos, tacos, enchiladas and burgers.</p>
<p>I decided on a burger, with cheddar cheese and green chile, of course ($8.50). The one-third pound beef patty from Harris Ranch was juicy and full of flavor. The green chile had the perfect heat for a cold afternoon and the bun was fresh. The lettuce, tomato, mild red onion and pickle on the side create a mini salad. I liked the cottage fries that came with it, a nice change from the normal French fries. Other topping selections include Swiss cheese, caramelized onions and bacon.</p>
<p>My friend ordered the daily special of green chile chicken enchiladas ($9.95) after an unsolicited recommendation from a woman at the next table. “Best in Santa Fe,” she said. “I always have them.”</p>
<p>We could see why. He liked them so much I practically had to beg for a bite. Like all the New Mexican food involving tortillas served here, the enchiladas feature blue corn tortillas instead of the more common and less costly yellow corn. The tortillas were wonderfully soft, and enchiladas grew from this yummy base.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The special included plenty of hot, tender chicken and ample cheese with freshly-cooked pinto beans and posole that still had a bit of chew. Very nice. Valdez’s green chile sauce is first-rate: smooth, spicy, fresh-tasting and satisfying. I didn’t try the red, but it’s on the list for next time.</p>
<p>The carne adovada, another reason for me to return, gets high marks from Valdez’s fans on Trip Advisor, and comes inside the tacos, burritos and enchiladas. You also can order a side of carne adovada or jalapeño bacon at breakfast or as a full breakfast with eggs, beans and potatoes. The breakfast menu is larger than the lunch options, unless you count all the variations of burgers, enchiladas, tacos and burritos available.</p>
<p>You’ll find most of the northern New Mexican mainstays here: huevos rancheros, breakfast burritos and quesadillas. For five bucks, you can get a pair of eggs cooked to order with potatoes and toast or tortilla and, for $9.50, eggs Benedict on English muffins with Black Forest ham, poached eggs, hollandaise and potatoes.</p>
<p>Three-egg omelets come in eight flavors and with a pick-your-own-fillings option. You also can get pancakes and French toast. I’m getting hungry all over again writing this.</p>
<p>Chris’ Cafe has a red and black sign out front and is just across from the Hampton Inn on Cerrillos Road. You can park in the big lot in front of the restaurant.</p>
<p>One of the things I enjoyed most about Chris’ Cafe was the positive, optimistic attitude of Valdez and his staff. They work hard and, at least the day of my visit, seem to enjoy it. Valdez checked with my friend and me to make sure all was well, noting that “if I don’t know what’s wrong, I can’t fix it.” That attention to detail should help this little cafe in an out-of-the-way place continue to succeed. I wish them well.</p>
<p>On a personal note, I’d like to thank all of you who read these reviews and especially those who share their thoughts, recommendations and objections with me. I value your reactions and suggestions.</p> | Simplicity of Chris’ Cafe adds to allure | false | https://abqjournal.com/161180/simplicity-of-chris-cafe-adds-to-allure.html | 2013-01-18 | 2least
| Simplicity of Chris’ Cafe adds to allure
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>An acquaintance who works at a popular downtown restaurant recommended Chris’ Cafe to me several times and I put it on my mental “check-it-out” list. Then, there I was, driving down Cerrillos Road at lunchtime. I saw the cafe, sequestered in a row of commercial buildings near The Lofts. Lucky for me, hunger and curiosity combined with good timing. I pulled into the parking lot to give this modest-looking place a try. From the first fragrant aroma, I knew I’d made a good choice.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Owner Chris Valdez, a long-time cook, manager and server at Tecolote Cafe, opened Chris’ Cafe in early 2012. The restaurant has less than a dozen tables and nothing fancy on the walls. It’s spotless and the staff – friends and family of Valdez – welcomes customers as if each one had the potential to become a friend. Valdez himself circulated among the diners the day of my visit. It was clear most of the clients were returning guests.</p>
<p>The menu makes choices simple. At lunch, we could pick from two specials, pork chops or green chile chicken enchiladas, and/or the menu: burritos, tacos, enchiladas and burgers.</p>
<p>I decided on a burger, with cheddar cheese and green chile, of course ($8.50). The one-third pound beef patty from Harris Ranch was juicy and full of flavor. The green chile had the perfect heat for a cold afternoon and the bun was fresh. The lettuce, tomato, mild red onion and pickle on the side create a mini salad. I liked the cottage fries that came with it, a nice change from the normal French fries. Other topping selections include Swiss cheese, caramelized onions and bacon.</p>
<p>My friend ordered the daily special of green chile chicken enchiladas ($9.95) after an unsolicited recommendation from a woman at the next table. “Best in Santa Fe,” she said. “I always have them.”</p>
<p>We could see why. He liked them so much I practically had to beg for a bite. Like all the New Mexican food involving tortillas served here, the enchiladas feature blue corn tortillas instead of the more common and less costly yellow corn. The tortillas were wonderfully soft, and enchiladas grew from this yummy base.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The special included plenty of hot, tender chicken and ample cheese with freshly-cooked pinto beans and posole that still had a bit of chew. Very nice. Valdez’s green chile sauce is first-rate: smooth, spicy, fresh-tasting and satisfying. I didn’t try the red, but it’s on the list for next time.</p>
<p>The carne adovada, another reason for me to return, gets high marks from Valdez’s fans on Trip Advisor, and comes inside the tacos, burritos and enchiladas. You also can order a side of carne adovada or jalapeño bacon at breakfast or as a full breakfast with eggs, beans and potatoes. The breakfast menu is larger than the lunch options, unless you count all the variations of burgers, enchiladas, tacos and burritos available.</p>
<p>You’ll find most of the northern New Mexican mainstays here: huevos rancheros, breakfast burritos and quesadillas. For five bucks, you can get a pair of eggs cooked to order with potatoes and toast or tortilla and, for $9.50, eggs Benedict on English muffins with Black Forest ham, poached eggs, hollandaise and potatoes.</p>
<p>Three-egg omelets come in eight flavors and with a pick-your-own-fillings option. You also can get pancakes and French toast. I’m getting hungry all over again writing this.</p>
<p>Chris’ Cafe has a red and black sign out front and is just across from the Hampton Inn on Cerrillos Road. You can park in the big lot in front of the restaurant.</p>
<p>One of the things I enjoyed most about Chris’ Cafe was the positive, optimistic attitude of Valdez and his staff. They work hard and, at least the day of my visit, seem to enjoy it. Valdez checked with my friend and me to make sure all was well, noting that “if I don’t know what’s wrong, I can’t fix it.” That attention to detail should help this little cafe in an out-of-the-way place continue to succeed. I wish them well.</p>
<p>On a personal note, I’d like to thank all of you who read these reviews and especially those who share their thoughts, recommendations and objections with me. I value your reactions and suggestions.</p> | 3,554 |
<p />
<p>How many of us could green-light a Navy SEAL covert mission?</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Not seeing too many raised hands out there.</p>
<p>How many of us could be there, on the ground, helping carry one out?</p>
<p>Anyone? (Have to believe the select few who could raise their hand on this one aren’t sitting around reading my column.)</p>
<p>How many of us can hear the news that the United States freed two hostages in Somalia and feel a grand sense of pride and accomplishment?</p>
<p>Wow. Almost unanimous show of hands.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>This is why we watch sports.</p>
<p>Huh?</p>
<p>I swear I’m going somewhere with this.</p>
<p>Last Sunday evening, as I sat at a bar in my New Jersey town watching the Giants vs. 49ers game with friends, one friend looked at me when the grinding game got particularly tense and asked, “Why do people watch sports?”</p>
<p>Good question. Especially when you think about the billions of dollars generated by the answer.</p>
<p>As the news came out this week about the <a href="" type="internal">Navy SEALs</a> parachuting into Somalia to save two hostages, I felt a connection with my fellow citizens. It made me want to cheer, share the moment, express admiration about brave people whose job it is to be unwavering and exacting with lives on the line. But I wasn’t at a bar where I could high-five or fist pump with a bunch of fans. I was working, as were many other Americans who may have wanted to feel solidarity and knock back a beer for this mission accomplished.</p>
<p>Sports is where we get to do that. To be clear, I’m not doing the tired sports/war metaphor here. I don’t think Tom Brady or Eli Manning would appreciate being put in the same breath as a guy who took down a pirate this week. This is about experiencing a stake in something that makes us feel anything is possible, that diverts us from our routine, tests our loyalty and allows us to have a chance at feeling triumphant at something we can’t do.</p>
<p>But we can cheer. And we can learn.</p>
<p>I haven’t a clue how a quarterback gets up and carries on after six sacks, but I do know what it feels like to be rejected by potential clients, busy editors, and plenty of dates. If he can keep getting up after repeatedly having his head smashed into the turf, maybe I can persevere in my respective pursuits.</p>
<p>But there’s so much more playing out. Look at these two Super Bowl teams in a bigger picture and it’s easy to see what they mirror back to us, why we become so invested in what really is … sorry to point it out … just a game.</p>
<p>In preseason predictions, the Patriots were overwhelmingly favored to win the AFC East. They have met the expectations placed upon them. Don’t we love that feeling in our own lives? That sense of accomplishment, that validation of living up to our potential and sustaining excellence? They’re strong and storied. There’s a reason opponents get up for playing them.</p>
<p>As for the Giants, they appeal to a whole different part of us.</p>
<p>“I believe the Giants will struggle this season and it could mark the end of the [Coach Tom Coughlin] era in New York,” said <a href="http://www.profootball-fans.com/nfl-preview/2011-previews/new-york-giants.html" type="external">one 2011 preseason prediction Opens a New Window.</a>. It went on to guess they’d be 8-8 and take third place in the NFC East.</p>
<p>This is not meant to criticize or second guess anyone’s picks. The idea is to look at how they affect our own reactions to what then transpires. The Giants went 9-7 in the regular season, not far off from that prediction. But it’s what they’ve done with it, how their momentum grew, that attracts us to them more.</p>
<p>Ever have somebody count you out? Either blatantly tell you you’re dreaming too big or ever-so-gently, almost gratingly, give you the “isn’t that nice that you think you can do that” bit?</p>
<p>Some people internalize that and fold under its negative power. The goal never even gets an ounce of lift-off because they believe it. They’ve handed their power to another. But sometimes, blessedly, there is no better motivator than a naysayer or someone who is simply used to falling victim to that line of thinking in their own lives.</p>
<p>I confess to being a bit biased on this topic, as I owe most of what I’ve accomplished to those who said I couldn’t. Anger turned to fuel. There’s nothing new about this. It’s a motivating technique that can work wonders.</p>
<p>“The defining aspect of these Giants is their toughness, but out of that over the past five weeks has grown a patience and a discipline that's rooted in intense self-belief and has propelled them to unexpected heights,” <a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/52742/surprise-giants-fight-their-way-to-indy#comments" type="external">writes Dan Graziano on ESPN.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>When I asked some avid sports fans why they watch, I heard some answers that, like what I’ve referenced above, are about how we root for athletes and teams that reflect our values, i.e., commitment to excellence, admiration for how someone operates under pressure. But I also heard this.</p>
<p>“It’s about watching people do something you can’t do,” one friend said.</p>
<p>“I like to watch guys do things I can’t do,” said another.</p>
<p>It’s the closest most of us get to vocally, collectively expressing our enchantment with a mission well-executed.</p>
<p>Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is <a href="http://www.nancola.com" type="external">www.nancola.com Opens a New Window.</a> and you can follow her on <a href="" type="internal">Twitter</a> @nancola. Please direct all questions/comments to <a href="http://mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected] Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | This is Why We Watch Sports | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/01/26/why-all-fuss-over-game.html | 2016-03-04 | 0right
| This is Why We Watch Sports
<p />
<p>How many of us could green-light a Navy SEAL covert mission?</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Not seeing too many raised hands out there.</p>
<p>How many of us could be there, on the ground, helping carry one out?</p>
<p>Anyone? (Have to believe the select few who could raise their hand on this one aren’t sitting around reading my column.)</p>
<p>How many of us can hear the news that the United States freed two hostages in Somalia and feel a grand sense of pride and accomplishment?</p>
<p>Wow. Almost unanimous show of hands.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>This is why we watch sports.</p>
<p>Huh?</p>
<p>I swear I’m going somewhere with this.</p>
<p>Last Sunday evening, as I sat at a bar in my New Jersey town watching the Giants vs. 49ers game with friends, one friend looked at me when the grinding game got particularly tense and asked, “Why do people watch sports?”</p>
<p>Good question. Especially when you think about the billions of dollars generated by the answer.</p>
<p>As the news came out this week about the <a href="" type="internal">Navy SEALs</a> parachuting into Somalia to save two hostages, I felt a connection with my fellow citizens. It made me want to cheer, share the moment, express admiration about brave people whose job it is to be unwavering and exacting with lives on the line. But I wasn’t at a bar where I could high-five or fist pump with a bunch of fans. I was working, as were many other Americans who may have wanted to feel solidarity and knock back a beer for this mission accomplished.</p>
<p>Sports is where we get to do that. To be clear, I’m not doing the tired sports/war metaphor here. I don’t think Tom Brady or Eli Manning would appreciate being put in the same breath as a guy who took down a pirate this week. This is about experiencing a stake in something that makes us feel anything is possible, that diverts us from our routine, tests our loyalty and allows us to have a chance at feeling triumphant at something we can’t do.</p>
<p>But we can cheer. And we can learn.</p>
<p>I haven’t a clue how a quarterback gets up and carries on after six sacks, but I do know what it feels like to be rejected by potential clients, busy editors, and plenty of dates. If he can keep getting up after repeatedly having his head smashed into the turf, maybe I can persevere in my respective pursuits.</p>
<p>But there’s so much more playing out. Look at these two Super Bowl teams in a bigger picture and it’s easy to see what they mirror back to us, why we become so invested in what really is … sorry to point it out … just a game.</p>
<p>In preseason predictions, the Patriots were overwhelmingly favored to win the AFC East. They have met the expectations placed upon them. Don’t we love that feeling in our own lives? That sense of accomplishment, that validation of living up to our potential and sustaining excellence? They’re strong and storied. There’s a reason opponents get up for playing them.</p>
<p>As for the Giants, they appeal to a whole different part of us.</p>
<p>“I believe the Giants will struggle this season and it could mark the end of the [Coach Tom Coughlin] era in New York,” said <a href="http://www.profootball-fans.com/nfl-preview/2011-previews/new-york-giants.html" type="external">one 2011 preseason prediction Opens a New Window.</a>. It went on to guess they’d be 8-8 and take third place in the NFC East.</p>
<p>This is not meant to criticize or second guess anyone’s picks. The idea is to look at how they affect our own reactions to what then transpires. The Giants went 9-7 in the regular season, not far off from that prediction. But it’s what they’ve done with it, how their momentum grew, that attracts us to them more.</p>
<p>Ever have somebody count you out? Either blatantly tell you you’re dreaming too big or ever-so-gently, almost gratingly, give you the “isn’t that nice that you think you can do that” bit?</p>
<p>Some people internalize that and fold under its negative power. The goal never even gets an ounce of lift-off because they believe it. They’ve handed their power to another. But sometimes, blessedly, there is no better motivator than a naysayer or someone who is simply used to falling victim to that line of thinking in their own lives.</p>
<p>I confess to being a bit biased on this topic, as I owe most of what I’ve accomplished to those who said I couldn’t. Anger turned to fuel. There’s nothing new about this. It’s a motivating technique that can work wonders.</p>
<p>“The defining aspect of these Giants is their toughness, but out of that over the past five weeks has grown a patience and a discipline that's rooted in intense self-belief and has propelled them to unexpected heights,” <a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/52742/surprise-giants-fight-their-way-to-indy#comments" type="external">writes Dan Graziano on ESPN.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>When I asked some avid sports fans why they watch, I heard some answers that, like what I’ve referenced above, are about how we root for athletes and teams that reflect our values, i.e., commitment to excellence, admiration for how someone operates under pressure. But I also heard this.</p>
<p>“It’s about watching people do something you can’t do,” one friend said.</p>
<p>“I like to watch guys do things I can’t do,” said another.</p>
<p>It’s the closest most of us get to vocally, collectively expressing our enchantment with a mission well-executed.</p>
<p>Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is <a href="http://www.nancola.com" type="external">www.nancola.com Opens a New Window.</a> and you can follow her on <a href="" type="internal">Twitter</a> @nancola. Please direct all questions/comments to <a href="http://mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected] Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 3,555 |
<p>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian police shot a man armed with a knife at the main railway station in the western city of Ghent on Tuesday and the man was taken to hospital, state broadcaster VRT said.</p>
<p>Belgium reduced its national threat level on Monday, saying a militant attack had become less likely almost two years after bombings killed 32 people in Brussels.</p>
<p>The government reduced the threat level to two on a four-tier scale, indicating a medium risk. Authorities had been on alert at level three for the serious chance of an attack since the bombings on March 22, 2016.</p>
<p>Local police were not immediately available for comment on the incident in Ghent.</p>
<p>Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has unveiled the names for a new generation of nuclear-powered missiles touted by President Vladimir Putin as invincible after more than seven million people took part in a quirky public vote organized by the Russian military.</p>
<p>The names chosen include ‘Peresvet,’ after a medieval warrior monk, for a laser and ‘Burevestnik,’ after a seabird, for a cruise missile.</p>
<p>The arms systems, which Putin revealed in a bellicose state-of-the-nation speech this month, include a nuclear-powered cruise missile, an underwater nuclear-powered drone, and a laser weapon.</p>
<p>Putin has often used militaristic rhetoric to mobilize support and buttress his narrative that Russia is under siege from the West, and some critics complain that public discourse increasingly resembles that of a country at war.</p>
<p>The culmination of the “name that weapon” vote comes amid fears in both Russia and the West about a new arms race, something Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump have said they don’t want, and after Putin won a landslide re-election victory.</p>
<p>Russia’s Ministry of Defence asked the public to name the weapons systems in an online vote, something it has never done before, and unveiled the results late on Thursday on state TV.</p>
<p>After the results were announced, Deputy Defence Minister Yuri Borisov explained on state TV, to ripples of applause, what the new weapons were capable of.</p> FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with co-chairs of his campaign office at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 19, 2018. Yuri Kadobnov/POOL via Reuters/File Photo WARRIOR MONK, GREEK GOD AND SEABIRD
<p>The defense ministry said Russians had voted to name the new military laser ‘Peresvet’ after a medieval warrior monk, Alexander Peresvet, who took part in a 14th century battle against the Mongols. Peresvet is revered by some clerics in the Russian Orthodox Church, whose influence has grown under Putin.</p>
<p>The winning name for the underwater nuclear drone was more conventional - ‘Poseidon’ after the Greek god of the sea, drawing criticism from some Russians who complained the name was too foreign.</p>
<p>The new nuclear-powered cruise missile, which Putin has boasted could hit almost any point in the world and evade a U.S.-built missile shield, will be called ‘Burevestnik,’ Russian for the Storm Petrel bird, the defense ministry said.</p>
<p>The Storm Petrel is a seabird whose presence mariners believe foretells bad weather.</p>
<p>Putin’s boasts about the new weapons have been greeted with scepticism in Washington, where officials have cast doubt on whether Russia has added any new capabilities to its nuclear arsenal beyond those already known to the U.S. military and intelligence agencies.</p>
<p>Among the suggested names for the weapons systems that did not make the final cut: ‘Stalin,’ after the Soviet dictator, and ‘Palmyra,’ after the Syrian city which Russian forces helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad take back from Islamic State.</p>
<p>Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Incoming White House national security adviser John Bolton’s history of clashes with U.S. intelligence agencies suggests how he might handle North Korea and Iran, two of the thorniest challenges he and U.S. President Donald Trump face.</p> FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton arrives for a meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York, U.S., December 2, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
<p>Bolton takes over on April 9 from retiring Army Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster. Based on his public statements, he shares Trump’s dislike of the Iran nuclear deal and often-bellicose stance toward North Korea.</p>
<p>However, his pronouncements on both issues are at odds with the assessments of U.S. intelligence agencies.</p>
<p>In a 2017 article in the conservative National Review, Bolton accused Iran of “significant violations” of the 2015 nuclear accord curbing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.</p>
<p>U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, however, told Congress in February that Tehran has been in compliance with the deal, which is working as designed.</p>
<p>Bolton has characterized North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs as a threat best eliminated by a pre-emptive military strike. U.S. intelligence analysts have warned that such a strike would trigger a North Korean counterattack that would kill tens of thousands of South Koreans, American troops and civilians, and others as far away as Japan.</p>
<p>As a senior State Department official from 2001 to 2005, Bolton exaggerated what the U.S. government knew about weapons programs in Iraq, Cuba and Syria, and retaliated against analysts who differed with him, according to intelligence officials involved in the events.</p>
<p>“The question is, is he (Bolton) going to be like that, and start with the answer and shoehorn the intelligence to fit,” or take a more balanced view, said a former CIA official with more than 30 years’ experience.</p>
<p>The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, reflected many intelligence veterans’ wariness at Bolton’s appointment.</p>
<p>Bolton declined comment via a spokesman. A CIA spokeswoman also declined comment.</p>
<p>Bolton, 69, is known as a dedicated hawk who marries bureaucratic savvy with belligerent rhetoric.</p>
<p>The decisions the White House confronts on North Korea and Iran require, officials say, complicated judgments based on imperfect information about the status of secret weapons programs, conditions that Bolton’s critics say he has seized on in the past to promote his own agenda.</p> ‘NOT REFLECTED BY INTELLIGENCE’
<p>During President George W. Bush’s first term in office, Bolton was the State Department’s top official on weapons proliferation.</p>
<p>In a May 2002 speech, he declared that Cuba had “at least a limited offensive biological warfare research and development effort,” and was sharing the technology with other countries.</p>
<p>Greg Theilmann, a top State Department intelligence official at the time, recounted how Bolton tried to retaliate against one of Theilmann’s analysts for disputing that conclusion.</p>
<p>“Bolton wanted to make charges about Cuban biological warfare capabilities which were not reflected by the intelligence,” Theilmann said in a telephone interview.</p>
<p>Bolton tried to have analyst Christian Westermann reassigned for challenging him, but he and Carl Ford, the head of the State Department’s intelligence bureau, refused, Theilmann said.</p>
<p>In his 2007 memoir, “Surrender is Not an Option,” Bolton wrote that the language on Cuba’s bioweapons programs had been approved by U.S. intelligence agencies. Westermann, he wrote, “was attempting to impose his own policy views,” which intelligence analysts are not supposed to do.</p>
<p>Fulton Armstrong, who was the intelligence community’s top Cuba expert, said Bolton and several of his associates in government also tried to have him removed over the biological weapons issue.</p>
<p>Bolton “showed every despicable trait of an obsessed policy person who, when frustrated in his attempts to cook the intelligence, lashed out at the person delivering the news,” Armstrong said.</p>
<p>Bolton crossed swords with U.S. spy agencies again in July 2003, when the CIA and other agencies objected to testimony he planned to give describing Syria’s development of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons as a threat to Middle East stability.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by John Walcott and James Dalgleish</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union member states agreed at a summit on Friday to take additional punitive measures against Russia for a nerve agent attack in Britain, as Moscow accused the bloc of joining a London-driven hate campaign against it.</p>
<p>Moscow has denied that it is behind the attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, the first known offensive use of a nerve toxin in Europe since World War Two.</p>
<p>But German Chancellor Angela Merkel said evidence of Russian culpability presented by British Prime Minister Theresa May was “very solidly based” and promised new measures after EU leaders agreed late on Thursday to recall their ambassador to Moscow.</p>
<p>“Germany and France agree that additional steps, on top of the recall of the ambassador, are necessary,” Merkel said at a joint news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.</p>
<p>Macron called the attack “unprecedented” and said Europe must respond: “It is an aggression against the security and sovereignty of an ally that is today a member of the European Union. It demands a reaction. This is clear.”</p>
<p>In a boost for May, the 28-member EU collectively condemned the attack and declared in a Brussels summit statement that it was “highly likely” Moscow was responsible.</p>
<p>A British judge said on Thursday that both victims may have suffered brain damage from the attack. A policeman who was hospitalised after discovering the two unconscious on a park bench has now been discharged.</p>
<p>“Additional steps are expected as early as Monday at the national level,” summit chair Donald Tusk told reporters.</p> Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite, Slovenia's Prime Minister Miro Cerar and Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy attend a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, March 23, 2018. Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Pool via Reuters TENSIONS
<p>The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and the three Baltic states - Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania - were among those predicting further expulsions of Russian diplomats from their capitals.</p>
<p>However, Boyko Borissov, prime minister of Bulgaria which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, wanted more evidence so that “high probability becomes full probability” of Russian involvement.</p>
<p>“I expect very rapid tensions in the coming weeks because many countries will start to recall their ambassadors too. The current times are harder than the Cold War,” Borissov said, making clear his discomfort with further measures.</p> Slideshow (9 Images)
<p>Moscow has retaliated against Britain’s move to expel 23 Russians by ordering out the same number of Britons.</p>
<p>On Friday, the Russian foreign ministry described the EU allegation as “baseless” and accused the bloc of spurning cooperation with Moscow and joining “another anti-Russian campaign deployed by London and its allies overseas”.</p>
<p>The expulsion of British diplomats went ahead on Friday, with a convoy of minibuses speeding out of the embassy compound to applause after British embassy staff said their goodbyes in the courtyard under a light snowfall.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-britain-russia-portondown/uks-porton-down-denies-it-could-have-been-source-of-nerve-agent-that-poisoned-ex-spy-idUSKBN1GZ2OR" type="external">UK's Porton Down denies it could have been source of nerve agent that poisoned ex-spy</a>
<a href="/article/us-britain-russia-eu-skripal/russia-says-europe-being-drawn-into-anglo-american-anti-russia-campaign-idUSKBN1GZ1BW" type="external">Russia says Europe being drawn into Anglo-American anti-Russia campaign</a>
<p>“I welcomed 48 colleagues/families plus 4 dogs. Safe at home,” Foreign Office official Simon McDonald said on Twitter after the diplomats arrived back at a British air force base later on Friday.</p>
<p>France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, on a visit to Kiev, signalled that Paris was considering expelling Russian diplomats in solidarity with Britain. “You will see,” he said.</p>
<p>The summit statement hardened previous EU language on Russia’s alleged role as Macron and others helped May to overcome hesitation on the part of some states that feel friendlier to Moscow. Some of them had questioned how definitive Britain’s evidence is.</p>
<p>Welcoming the solidarity she secured from the summit, May told reporters on leaving: “The threat from Russia is one that respects no borders and I think it is clear that Russia is challenging the values we share as Europeans and it is right that we stand together in defence of those values.”</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber and Dmitry Madorsky in Moscow and Richard Lough, Gabriela Baczynska, Robin Emmott and Elizabeth Piper in Brussels; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Gareth Jones</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday Britain and the European Union had made significant progress in Brexit talks and that she was looking forward to talks on their future economic partnership.</p> Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, March 23, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
<p>At a summit in Brussels, May also welcomed a move by the United States to exempt the EU from steel tariffs and said she would work with the other 27 leaders to make the exemptions permanent.</p>
<p>“We’ve made good progress on withdrawal agreement but also I’m looking for a new dynamic in the next stage of the negotiations so that we can ensure that we do develop, that we work together to develop, a strong future economic and security partnership which I believe is in the interest of the UK and the European Union,” she told reporters.</p>
<p>Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, writing by Elizabeth Piper</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | Belgian police shoot man armed with knife at station Russia names Putin's new 'super weapons' after a quirky public vote Trump's new security adviser known for clashes with spy agencies Europeans promise more steps against Russia over UK spy attack Britain, EU make significant progress in Brexit talks: May | false | https://reuters.com/article/us-europe-attacks-belgium/belgian-police-shoot-man-armed-with-knife-at-station-idUSKBN1FC2X1 | 2018-01-23 | 2least
| Belgian police shoot man armed with knife at station Russia names Putin's new 'super weapons' after a quirky public vote Trump's new security adviser known for clashes with spy agencies Europeans promise more steps against Russia over UK spy attack Britain, EU make significant progress in Brexit talks: May
<p>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian police shot a man armed with a knife at the main railway station in the western city of Ghent on Tuesday and the man was taken to hospital, state broadcaster VRT said.</p>
<p>Belgium reduced its national threat level on Monday, saying a militant attack had become less likely almost two years after bombings killed 32 people in Brussels.</p>
<p>The government reduced the threat level to two on a four-tier scale, indicating a medium risk. Authorities had been on alert at level three for the serious chance of an attack since the bombings on March 22, 2016.</p>
<p>Local police were not immediately available for comment on the incident in Ghent.</p>
<p>Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has unveiled the names for a new generation of nuclear-powered missiles touted by President Vladimir Putin as invincible after more than seven million people took part in a quirky public vote organized by the Russian military.</p>
<p>The names chosen include ‘Peresvet,’ after a medieval warrior monk, for a laser and ‘Burevestnik,’ after a seabird, for a cruise missile.</p>
<p>The arms systems, which Putin revealed in a bellicose state-of-the-nation speech this month, include a nuclear-powered cruise missile, an underwater nuclear-powered drone, and a laser weapon.</p>
<p>Putin has often used militaristic rhetoric to mobilize support and buttress his narrative that Russia is under siege from the West, and some critics complain that public discourse increasingly resembles that of a country at war.</p>
<p>The culmination of the “name that weapon” vote comes amid fears in both Russia and the West about a new arms race, something Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump have said they don’t want, and after Putin won a landslide re-election victory.</p>
<p>Russia’s Ministry of Defence asked the public to name the weapons systems in an online vote, something it has never done before, and unveiled the results late on Thursday on state TV.</p>
<p>After the results were announced, Deputy Defence Minister Yuri Borisov explained on state TV, to ripples of applause, what the new weapons were capable of.</p> FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with co-chairs of his campaign office at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 19, 2018. Yuri Kadobnov/POOL via Reuters/File Photo WARRIOR MONK, GREEK GOD AND SEABIRD
<p>The defense ministry said Russians had voted to name the new military laser ‘Peresvet’ after a medieval warrior monk, Alexander Peresvet, who took part in a 14th century battle against the Mongols. Peresvet is revered by some clerics in the Russian Orthodox Church, whose influence has grown under Putin.</p>
<p>The winning name for the underwater nuclear drone was more conventional - ‘Poseidon’ after the Greek god of the sea, drawing criticism from some Russians who complained the name was too foreign.</p>
<p>The new nuclear-powered cruise missile, which Putin has boasted could hit almost any point in the world and evade a U.S.-built missile shield, will be called ‘Burevestnik,’ Russian for the Storm Petrel bird, the defense ministry said.</p>
<p>The Storm Petrel is a seabird whose presence mariners believe foretells bad weather.</p>
<p>Putin’s boasts about the new weapons have been greeted with scepticism in Washington, where officials have cast doubt on whether Russia has added any new capabilities to its nuclear arsenal beyond those already known to the U.S. military and intelligence agencies.</p>
<p>Among the suggested names for the weapons systems that did not make the final cut: ‘Stalin,’ after the Soviet dictator, and ‘Palmyra,’ after the Syrian city which Russian forces helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad take back from Islamic State.</p>
<p>Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Incoming White House national security adviser John Bolton’s history of clashes with U.S. intelligence agencies suggests how he might handle North Korea and Iran, two of the thorniest challenges he and U.S. President Donald Trump face.</p> FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton arrives for a meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York, U.S., December 2, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
<p>Bolton takes over on April 9 from retiring Army Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster. Based on his public statements, he shares Trump’s dislike of the Iran nuclear deal and often-bellicose stance toward North Korea.</p>
<p>However, his pronouncements on both issues are at odds with the assessments of U.S. intelligence agencies.</p>
<p>In a 2017 article in the conservative National Review, Bolton accused Iran of “significant violations” of the 2015 nuclear accord curbing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.</p>
<p>U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, however, told Congress in February that Tehran has been in compliance with the deal, which is working as designed.</p>
<p>Bolton has characterized North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs as a threat best eliminated by a pre-emptive military strike. U.S. intelligence analysts have warned that such a strike would trigger a North Korean counterattack that would kill tens of thousands of South Koreans, American troops and civilians, and others as far away as Japan.</p>
<p>As a senior State Department official from 2001 to 2005, Bolton exaggerated what the U.S. government knew about weapons programs in Iraq, Cuba and Syria, and retaliated against analysts who differed with him, according to intelligence officials involved in the events.</p>
<p>“The question is, is he (Bolton) going to be like that, and start with the answer and shoehorn the intelligence to fit,” or take a more balanced view, said a former CIA official with more than 30 years’ experience.</p>
<p>The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, reflected many intelligence veterans’ wariness at Bolton’s appointment.</p>
<p>Bolton declined comment via a spokesman. A CIA spokeswoman also declined comment.</p>
<p>Bolton, 69, is known as a dedicated hawk who marries bureaucratic savvy with belligerent rhetoric.</p>
<p>The decisions the White House confronts on North Korea and Iran require, officials say, complicated judgments based on imperfect information about the status of secret weapons programs, conditions that Bolton’s critics say he has seized on in the past to promote his own agenda.</p> ‘NOT REFLECTED BY INTELLIGENCE’
<p>During President George W. Bush’s first term in office, Bolton was the State Department’s top official on weapons proliferation.</p>
<p>In a May 2002 speech, he declared that Cuba had “at least a limited offensive biological warfare research and development effort,” and was sharing the technology with other countries.</p>
<p>Greg Theilmann, a top State Department intelligence official at the time, recounted how Bolton tried to retaliate against one of Theilmann’s analysts for disputing that conclusion.</p>
<p>“Bolton wanted to make charges about Cuban biological warfare capabilities which were not reflected by the intelligence,” Theilmann said in a telephone interview.</p>
<p>Bolton tried to have analyst Christian Westermann reassigned for challenging him, but he and Carl Ford, the head of the State Department’s intelligence bureau, refused, Theilmann said.</p>
<p>In his 2007 memoir, “Surrender is Not an Option,” Bolton wrote that the language on Cuba’s bioweapons programs had been approved by U.S. intelligence agencies. Westermann, he wrote, “was attempting to impose his own policy views,” which intelligence analysts are not supposed to do.</p>
<p>Fulton Armstrong, who was the intelligence community’s top Cuba expert, said Bolton and several of his associates in government also tried to have him removed over the biological weapons issue.</p>
<p>Bolton “showed every despicable trait of an obsessed policy person who, when frustrated in his attempts to cook the intelligence, lashed out at the person delivering the news,” Armstrong said.</p>
<p>Bolton crossed swords with U.S. spy agencies again in July 2003, when the CIA and other agencies objected to testimony he planned to give describing Syria’s development of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons as a threat to Middle East stability.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by John Walcott and James Dalgleish</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union member states agreed at a summit on Friday to take additional punitive measures against Russia for a nerve agent attack in Britain, as Moscow accused the bloc of joining a London-driven hate campaign against it.</p>
<p>Moscow has denied that it is behind the attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, the first known offensive use of a nerve toxin in Europe since World War Two.</p>
<p>But German Chancellor Angela Merkel said evidence of Russian culpability presented by British Prime Minister Theresa May was “very solidly based” and promised new measures after EU leaders agreed late on Thursday to recall their ambassador to Moscow.</p>
<p>“Germany and France agree that additional steps, on top of the recall of the ambassador, are necessary,” Merkel said at a joint news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.</p>
<p>Macron called the attack “unprecedented” and said Europe must respond: “It is an aggression against the security and sovereignty of an ally that is today a member of the European Union. It demands a reaction. This is clear.”</p>
<p>In a boost for May, the 28-member EU collectively condemned the attack and declared in a Brussels summit statement that it was “highly likely” Moscow was responsible.</p>
<p>A British judge said on Thursday that both victims may have suffered brain damage from the attack. A policeman who was hospitalised after discovering the two unconscious on a park bench has now been discharged.</p>
<p>“Additional steps are expected as early as Monday at the national level,” summit chair Donald Tusk told reporters.</p> Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite, Slovenia's Prime Minister Miro Cerar and Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy attend a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, March 23, 2018. Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Pool via Reuters TENSIONS
<p>The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and the three Baltic states - Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania - were among those predicting further expulsions of Russian diplomats from their capitals.</p>
<p>However, Boyko Borissov, prime minister of Bulgaria which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, wanted more evidence so that “high probability becomes full probability” of Russian involvement.</p>
<p>“I expect very rapid tensions in the coming weeks because many countries will start to recall their ambassadors too. The current times are harder than the Cold War,” Borissov said, making clear his discomfort with further measures.</p> Slideshow (9 Images)
<p>Moscow has retaliated against Britain’s move to expel 23 Russians by ordering out the same number of Britons.</p>
<p>On Friday, the Russian foreign ministry described the EU allegation as “baseless” and accused the bloc of spurning cooperation with Moscow and joining “another anti-Russian campaign deployed by London and its allies overseas”.</p>
<p>The expulsion of British diplomats went ahead on Friday, with a convoy of minibuses speeding out of the embassy compound to applause after British embassy staff said their goodbyes in the courtyard under a light snowfall.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-britain-russia-portondown/uks-porton-down-denies-it-could-have-been-source-of-nerve-agent-that-poisoned-ex-spy-idUSKBN1GZ2OR" type="external">UK's Porton Down denies it could have been source of nerve agent that poisoned ex-spy</a>
<a href="/article/us-britain-russia-eu-skripal/russia-says-europe-being-drawn-into-anglo-american-anti-russia-campaign-idUSKBN1GZ1BW" type="external">Russia says Europe being drawn into Anglo-American anti-Russia campaign</a>
<p>“I welcomed 48 colleagues/families plus 4 dogs. Safe at home,” Foreign Office official Simon McDonald said on Twitter after the diplomats arrived back at a British air force base later on Friday.</p>
<p>France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, on a visit to Kiev, signalled that Paris was considering expelling Russian diplomats in solidarity with Britain. “You will see,” he said.</p>
<p>The summit statement hardened previous EU language on Russia’s alleged role as Macron and others helped May to overcome hesitation on the part of some states that feel friendlier to Moscow. Some of them had questioned how definitive Britain’s evidence is.</p>
<p>Welcoming the solidarity she secured from the summit, May told reporters on leaving: “The threat from Russia is one that respects no borders and I think it is clear that Russia is challenging the values we share as Europeans and it is right that we stand together in defence of those values.”</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber and Dmitry Madorsky in Moscow and Richard Lough, Gabriela Baczynska, Robin Emmott and Elizabeth Piper in Brussels; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Gareth Jones</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday Britain and the European Union had made significant progress in Brexit talks and that she was looking forward to talks on their future economic partnership.</p> Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, March 23, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
<p>At a summit in Brussels, May also welcomed a move by the United States to exempt the EU from steel tariffs and said she would work with the other 27 leaders to make the exemptions permanent.</p>
<p>“We’ve made good progress on withdrawal agreement but also I’m looking for a new dynamic in the next stage of the negotiations so that we can ensure that we do develop, that we work together to develop, a strong future economic and security partnership which I believe is in the interest of the UK and the European Union,” she told reporters.</p>
<p>Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, writing by Elizabeth Piper</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | 3,556 |
<p>Still from “Moonlight.”</p>
<p>Both of these award-winning new releases are exclusively acted by Black Americans and could be seen as slices of African American life. Each focuses on the life of a man, the life of an individual that’s offered to us with such a high level of acting that the black in the story disappears.</p>
<p>I have long respected the talent of actor Denzel Washington despite his appearance in so many films with violent themes, and even though he usually plays noble men. The first time I saw him was in Mira Nair’s 1991 film <a href="" type="internal">Mississippi Masala</a> in the role of Demetrius Williams.&#160;There and his many superb performances thereafter is why I decided to view <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/peter-travers-fences-movie-review-w455997" type="external">Fences</a>. I wanted to hear his consummate voice again. Washington’s familiar timbre is barely recognizable in Fences. But I was not disappointed.</p>
<p>As strong as Viola Davis is as his co-star, Washington is outstanding, arguably because he’s able to totally disembody himself and build the complex character of Troy Maxson, the central figure in Fences. That performance stands out for me because I forgot that his skin color and that of the other characters is black. Not only this; I forgot that Troy Maxson is the actor Denzel Washington. In Fences, Troy completely overtakes Washington; moreover, we recognize him as a type of man who to one degree or another we feel we know personally. Troy is a person I know.</p>
<p>If you’re familiar with the narrative of <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/peter-travers-fences-movie-review-w455997" type="external">Fences</a>, you’ll understand what I mean. x. What many reviews overlook is the complexity of the character Maxson, a hard working man, but a man bent, wasted, and embittered. Troy Maxson is a man with unrealized expectations as a baseball player, a father unable to inspire his sons, a brother carrying a shame he cannot hide; he’s a father who does not enjoy the pride he desperately needs. Thanks to Washington’s artistry, we may walk away from the film reflecting on some failure in ourselves or someone close to us, how we manifest our letdown, and perhaps like Troy, inflict hardships on those dear to us. I hadn’t seen this human experience played so powerfully on screen in many years.</p>
<p>Few actors can transcend either their race or their celebrity with a performance like Washington gives us in Fences. Which takes me to Moonlight, another outstanding recent film with a full cast of African Americans and centered on a Black American family. Mahershala Ali, best known for his fine performance as the self-serving lobbyist in the televised series House of Cards, was awarded an Oscar for his supporting role in <a href="" type="internal">Moonlight</a>.&#160;But the real talent there is exhibited by the three actors who play the boy, the teen, and the adult ‘Chiron’ whose painful growth we follow into adulthood. Moonlight is also a story about manhood, about feelings unrealized (labeled by others as a “gay coming of age film”). Beautifully constructed and with restrained, spare dialogue, most of the film seems to be a story about one corner of Black American life. But with the final scene when Chiron, powerfully played by Trevante Rhodes, now transformed into a man, confronts his first love, a childhood friend, it rises to another level. It is a love story, pure and subtle. No race, no class; just two men quietly finding each other.</p> | Two Black Man Films | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/06/30/two-black-man-films/ | 2017-06-30 | 4left
| Two Black Man Films
<p>Still from “Moonlight.”</p>
<p>Both of these award-winning new releases are exclusively acted by Black Americans and could be seen as slices of African American life. Each focuses on the life of a man, the life of an individual that’s offered to us with such a high level of acting that the black in the story disappears.</p>
<p>I have long respected the talent of actor Denzel Washington despite his appearance in so many films with violent themes, and even though he usually plays noble men. The first time I saw him was in Mira Nair’s 1991 film <a href="" type="internal">Mississippi Masala</a> in the role of Demetrius Williams.&#160;There and his many superb performances thereafter is why I decided to view <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/peter-travers-fences-movie-review-w455997" type="external">Fences</a>. I wanted to hear his consummate voice again. Washington’s familiar timbre is barely recognizable in Fences. But I was not disappointed.</p>
<p>As strong as Viola Davis is as his co-star, Washington is outstanding, arguably because he’s able to totally disembody himself and build the complex character of Troy Maxson, the central figure in Fences. That performance stands out for me because I forgot that his skin color and that of the other characters is black. Not only this; I forgot that Troy Maxson is the actor Denzel Washington. In Fences, Troy completely overtakes Washington; moreover, we recognize him as a type of man who to one degree or another we feel we know personally. Troy is a person I know.</p>
<p>If you’re familiar with the narrative of <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/peter-travers-fences-movie-review-w455997" type="external">Fences</a>, you’ll understand what I mean. x. What many reviews overlook is the complexity of the character Maxson, a hard working man, but a man bent, wasted, and embittered. Troy Maxson is a man with unrealized expectations as a baseball player, a father unable to inspire his sons, a brother carrying a shame he cannot hide; he’s a father who does not enjoy the pride he desperately needs. Thanks to Washington’s artistry, we may walk away from the film reflecting on some failure in ourselves or someone close to us, how we manifest our letdown, and perhaps like Troy, inflict hardships on those dear to us. I hadn’t seen this human experience played so powerfully on screen in many years.</p>
<p>Few actors can transcend either their race or their celebrity with a performance like Washington gives us in Fences. Which takes me to Moonlight, another outstanding recent film with a full cast of African Americans and centered on a Black American family. Mahershala Ali, best known for his fine performance as the self-serving lobbyist in the televised series House of Cards, was awarded an Oscar for his supporting role in <a href="" type="internal">Moonlight</a>.&#160;But the real talent there is exhibited by the three actors who play the boy, the teen, and the adult ‘Chiron’ whose painful growth we follow into adulthood. Moonlight is also a story about manhood, about feelings unrealized (labeled by others as a “gay coming of age film”). Beautifully constructed and with restrained, spare dialogue, most of the film seems to be a story about one corner of Black American life. But with the final scene when Chiron, powerfully played by Trevante Rhodes, now transformed into a man, confronts his first love, a childhood friend, it rises to another level. It is a love story, pure and subtle. No race, no class; just two men quietly finding each other.</p> | 3,557 |
<p>Amazon’s dominance of the retail world is creeping over to the business-to-business market, where it recently reached a milestone with its Amazon Business brand.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/24/amazon-juggernaut-sets-its-sights-on-its-next-victim-the-middleman.html" type="external">CNBC reports</a> that the e-commerce giant has 300,000 corporate buyers registered on its online B2B selling platform, and it recently hit $1 billion in sales 12 years after purchasing B2B retailer SmallParts.com.</p>
<p>As CNBC notes, Amazon’s dominance in this lucrative market could signal the demise of the middleman.</p>
<p>Companies who for years have supplied other companies with things like screws and fasteners now find themselves competing against the Amazon machine that is targeting the same market — with its ease of simple online ordering and fast shipping.</p>
<p>CNBC cites a recent Goldman Sachs communication for its clients that claimed some of Amazon’s biggest competitors in this market — WW Grainger and Fastenal — charge higher prices for the same products Amazon sells.</p>
<p>B2B suppliers are being forced to rethink their strategies in the face of Amazon’s growing impact.</p>
<p>Amazon has made strides to capture several markets, including grocery when it announced last month it would <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Finance/Companies/amazon-whole-foods-buy/2017/06/16/id/796423/" type="external">purchase Whole Foods</a> for $13.7 billion. The company also sells <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/amazon-ready-cook-meals/2017/07/20/id/802727/" type="external">ready-to-cook meals</a> in select cities.</p> | Amazon Targets B2B Market With Amazon Business | false | https://newsline.com/amazon-targets-b2b-market-with-amazon-business/ | 2017-07-24 | 1right-center
| Amazon Targets B2B Market With Amazon Business
<p>Amazon’s dominance of the retail world is creeping over to the business-to-business market, where it recently reached a milestone with its Amazon Business brand.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/24/amazon-juggernaut-sets-its-sights-on-its-next-victim-the-middleman.html" type="external">CNBC reports</a> that the e-commerce giant has 300,000 corporate buyers registered on its online B2B selling platform, and it recently hit $1 billion in sales 12 years after purchasing B2B retailer SmallParts.com.</p>
<p>As CNBC notes, Amazon’s dominance in this lucrative market could signal the demise of the middleman.</p>
<p>Companies who for years have supplied other companies with things like screws and fasteners now find themselves competing against the Amazon machine that is targeting the same market — with its ease of simple online ordering and fast shipping.</p>
<p>CNBC cites a recent Goldman Sachs communication for its clients that claimed some of Amazon’s biggest competitors in this market — WW Grainger and Fastenal — charge higher prices for the same products Amazon sells.</p>
<p>B2B suppliers are being forced to rethink their strategies in the face of Amazon’s growing impact.</p>
<p>Amazon has made strides to capture several markets, including grocery when it announced last month it would <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Finance/Companies/amazon-whole-foods-buy/2017/06/16/id/796423/" type="external">purchase Whole Foods</a> for $13.7 billion. The company also sells <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/amazon-ready-cook-meals/2017/07/20/id/802727/" type="external">ready-to-cook meals</a> in select cities.</p> | 3,558 |
<p>By Jeff Brumley</p>
<p />
<p>Young adult Baptists and other Christians curious about living in intentional Christian communities can learn what that life is like through a summer program offered jointly by the&#160; <a href="http://allianceofbaptists.org/" type="external">Alliance of Baptists</a>&#160;and the&#160; <a href="http://www.ucc.org/" type="external">United Church of Christ</a>.</p>
<p>“ <a href="http://allianceofbaptists.org/NewsAndEvents/event_detail/561" type="external">Summer Communities of Service</a>” is a 10-week program for 19- to 30-year-olds interested in developing leadership skills and working in advocacy and service work in five locations in the Northeast, South and Midwest.</p>
<p>A news release described the program, now in its fifth year, as “intentionally ecumenical —&#160;even interfaith” and one that has “introduced those outside of Baptist life to some of the most progressive, cutting edge” faith communities in the country.</p>
<p>Placement sites for 2014 are&#160; <a href="http://ellisavenuechurch.org/" type="external">Ellis Avenue Church</a>&#160;in Chicago,&#160; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WellspringUnitedChurchOfChrist" type="external">Wellspring UCC</a>&#160;in Centreville, Va.,&#160; <a href="http://www.pullen.org/" type="external">Pullen Memorial Baptist Church</a>&#160;in Raleigh, N.C.,&#160; <a href="http://qcfamilytree.org/" type="external">The Family Tree</a>&#160;in Charlotte, N.C., and&#160; <a href="http://www.mbcnyc.org/" type="external">Metro Baptist Church</a>&#160;in New York City.</p>
<p>Family Tree co-Director Greg Jarrell said the service volunteers actually make that ministry’s work possible.</p>
<p>“Without them we would not be able to manage,” Jarrell said in the Alliance news release.</p>
<p>Participants will attend a May 28-31 orientation at Meredith College in Raleigh, and begin their summer service the following week. For more information, contact Paula Clayton Dempsey at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p> | Summer program offers intentional community experience | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/summer-program-offers-intentional-community-experience/ | 3left-center
| Summer program offers intentional community experience
<p>By Jeff Brumley</p>
<p />
<p>Young adult Baptists and other Christians curious about living in intentional Christian communities can learn what that life is like through a summer program offered jointly by the&#160; <a href="http://allianceofbaptists.org/" type="external">Alliance of Baptists</a>&#160;and the&#160; <a href="http://www.ucc.org/" type="external">United Church of Christ</a>.</p>
<p>“ <a href="http://allianceofbaptists.org/NewsAndEvents/event_detail/561" type="external">Summer Communities of Service</a>” is a 10-week program for 19- to 30-year-olds interested in developing leadership skills and working in advocacy and service work in five locations in the Northeast, South and Midwest.</p>
<p>A news release described the program, now in its fifth year, as “intentionally ecumenical —&#160;even interfaith” and one that has “introduced those outside of Baptist life to some of the most progressive, cutting edge” faith communities in the country.</p>
<p>Placement sites for 2014 are&#160; <a href="http://ellisavenuechurch.org/" type="external">Ellis Avenue Church</a>&#160;in Chicago,&#160; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WellspringUnitedChurchOfChrist" type="external">Wellspring UCC</a>&#160;in Centreville, Va.,&#160; <a href="http://www.pullen.org/" type="external">Pullen Memorial Baptist Church</a>&#160;in Raleigh, N.C.,&#160; <a href="http://qcfamilytree.org/" type="external">The Family Tree</a>&#160;in Charlotte, N.C., and&#160; <a href="http://www.mbcnyc.org/" type="external">Metro Baptist Church</a>&#160;in New York City.</p>
<p>Family Tree co-Director Greg Jarrell said the service volunteers actually make that ministry’s work possible.</p>
<p>“Without them we would not be able to manage,” Jarrell said in the Alliance news release.</p>
<p>Participants will attend a May 28-31 orientation at Meredith College in Raleigh, and begin their summer service the following week. For more information, contact Paula Clayton Dempsey at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p> | 3,559 |
|
<p>The sophistication in the methods used by Israel in its systematic destruction of Palestinian society today struck a raw cord with every Palestinian parent and child.</p>
<p>Only four days has passed since the beginning of the Palestinian school year, where over one million Palestinian students returned to their classrooms after a summer of living under the direct physical, emotional and mental distress of Israeli military rule. For the last four days the world community closely watched to see whether Israel would lift the 24-hour curfew/lockdown that has become routine across the West Bank. Israel did lift the total curfew from 6am-6pm to allow the school season to start and in order to avoid international criticism. But the world’s eye has barely blinked and Israel is already escalating its violent practice of curfew.</p>
<p>Today Palestinian children and parents were exposed to the latest cruelty of the Israel military occupation. For the last four days parents prepared their children for school, my wife Abeer and I included. Our eight-year-old daughter Areen anxiously put on her school uniform and had breakfast. For her, today was an important day because the textbooks that were delayed the first day of school (because of military closures and travel restrictions) were supposed to arrive and be distributed to the students. Areen couldn’t wait for her English reading book. At 7:30am we headed to school. At 7:45am and with a big kiss, I dropped Areen off at the Friends School and headed to an 8:00am business meeting I had outside of my office. As I usually do in business meetings I turned off my mobile phone in order not to be disturbed. I will not turn it off again.</p>
<p>At 9:15am one of the persons in our meeting interrupted to advise us that he received word that Israeli tanks and jeeps had entered the city center and were announcing that the cities of Ramallah and Al-Bireh were under total military curfew. Israeli jeeps roamed the streets announcing that anyone caught in public would be arrested. By the time I turned on my phone to call my wife three other persons in my meeting were already on their mobile phones assessing the situation. Abeer, who was at home with our two-year-old daughter, was frantic. She had been trying to call me after seeing and hearing an Israeli armored personnel carrier on our street announcing the closure. Was Areen in danger? Who should go pick her up from school? How could we go out, given the curfew and military vehicles in the streets? Has the school administration advised the students of the situation? How is Areen, who is very emotionally sensitive, reacting? Is school still in session? These and a hundred other questions rush to the mind in such predicaments.</p>
<p>Abeer turned on Israeli radio and heard the Israeli plan. The radio newscast announced that the Israeli military had put Ramallah under full curfew starting from 9:00am and would only lift the curfew from 1:00pm-3:00pm in order for parents to leave their workplaces and take their children home.</p>
<p>As if the recent months of varying degrees of Israeli military curfews were not enough violence to terrorize the Palestinian society as a whole, the Israeli government created a new and improved curfew–one that would ensure that the violence of occupation would come between every child and parent.</p>
<p>After getting through to the Friends School’s hotline we were assured that the gates of the school had been secured and that the school day was going to continue as scheduled. Although still a little nervous, we trusted the school administration and knew that if they felt the children were in any immediate danger they would advise us. I agreed with Abeer that I would pick up Areen at 2:15pm and the meeting I was in was called back into session, albeit slightly less focused. After the meeting I headed to the office for an hour of work. I had two other engagements planned for today, a training session for the Commercial Arbitration Center being established and a seminar titled, From Re-occupation to Reform. Both were cancelled.</p>
<p>At 1:45pm we closed our office and everyone headed out to pick up their children. I headed home instead to pick up Nadine, Areen’s little sister. When we left the house this morning Nadine asked if I would promise to pick her up to go get Areen from school and both Areen and I agreed with her that I would. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let an illegal foreign military occupation make me break a promise to my daughters. Nadine was waiting for me at the front porch window. She rushed downstairs wearing her new pink tennis shoes, a pink hat and had a pink purse strapped across her chest. She was ready to hit the town.</p>
<p>Nadine and I arrived at Areen’s school a little early and I had the opportunity to chat with some of the other parents that were also waiting. In twenty minutes we all vented our anger and frustration, discussed the political situation, and we even joked that all the Israelis had left to do now was to publish a daily ad in the newspaper with names of specific people that the curfew would be applied to on any specific day.</p>
<p>As the end of day bell rang the students rushed, as always, to the main gate. The older students knew what was going on, the younger ones did not. Areen came out of her building with a smile from ear to ear and her bright pink Jansport backpack on her back. She waved a big bulky book in the air. It was her new English reading book. Nadine gave her sister a big hug and kiss and we were on our way. While walking to the car I asked Areen if she heard what was happening with the curfew. She had not. She told me that they probably did not tell them so they would not be scared. She asked if she could buy an ice cream cone for her and her sister before going home. After quickly stopping for three ice cream cones we headed straight home. We pulled in the driveway at 2:40pm and as we got out of the car an Israeli jeep passed on the main Jerusalem Street next to our home yelling through a loud speaker, “To the people of Ramallah, the curfew is applied. Anyone in the streets will be arrested”.</p>
<p>So as the world causally watches the entire Palestinian people be terrorized by the most sophisticated form of violence possible–Israeli occupation–life goes on. And as the Israeli military generals dream up new ways to batter Palestinians into submission and strip away every sense of public and personal security, I will be reading with my daughter the first three pages her new English reading book wondering about tomorrow’s curfew schedule.</p>
<p>Note: This essay is a follow-up to “ <a href="" type="internal">The Violence of Curfew</a>,” published at CounterPunch on August 28.</p>
<p>Sam Bahour is a Palestinian-American businessman living in the besieged Palestinian City of Al-Bireh in the West Bank. He is co-author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1566561329/counterpunchmaga" type="external">HOMELAND: Oral Histories of Palestine and Palestinians</a> (1994). He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Parents, Children and the Violence of Israeli Curfews | true | https://counterpunch.org/2002/09/04/parents-children-and-the-violence-of-israeli-curfews/ | 2002-09-04 | 4left
| Parents, Children and the Violence of Israeli Curfews
<p>The sophistication in the methods used by Israel in its systematic destruction of Palestinian society today struck a raw cord with every Palestinian parent and child.</p>
<p>Only four days has passed since the beginning of the Palestinian school year, where over one million Palestinian students returned to their classrooms after a summer of living under the direct physical, emotional and mental distress of Israeli military rule. For the last four days the world community closely watched to see whether Israel would lift the 24-hour curfew/lockdown that has become routine across the West Bank. Israel did lift the total curfew from 6am-6pm to allow the school season to start and in order to avoid international criticism. But the world’s eye has barely blinked and Israel is already escalating its violent practice of curfew.</p>
<p>Today Palestinian children and parents were exposed to the latest cruelty of the Israel military occupation. For the last four days parents prepared their children for school, my wife Abeer and I included. Our eight-year-old daughter Areen anxiously put on her school uniform and had breakfast. For her, today was an important day because the textbooks that were delayed the first day of school (because of military closures and travel restrictions) were supposed to arrive and be distributed to the students. Areen couldn’t wait for her English reading book. At 7:30am we headed to school. At 7:45am and with a big kiss, I dropped Areen off at the Friends School and headed to an 8:00am business meeting I had outside of my office. As I usually do in business meetings I turned off my mobile phone in order not to be disturbed. I will not turn it off again.</p>
<p>At 9:15am one of the persons in our meeting interrupted to advise us that he received word that Israeli tanks and jeeps had entered the city center and were announcing that the cities of Ramallah and Al-Bireh were under total military curfew. Israeli jeeps roamed the streets announcing that anyone caught in public would be arrested. By the time I turned on my phone to call my wife three other persons in my meeting were already on their mobile phones assessing the situation. Abeer, who was at home with our two-year-old daughter, was frantic. She had been trying to call me after seeing and hearing an Israeli armored personnel carrier on our street announcing the closure. Was Areen in danger? Who should go pick her up from school? How could we go out, given the curfew and military vehicles in the streets? Has the school administration advised the students of the situation? How is Areen, who is very emotionally sensitive, reacting? Is school still in session? These and a hundred other questions rush to the mind in such predicaments.</p>
<p>Abeer turned on Israeli radio and heard the Israeli plan. The radio newscast announced that the Israeli military had put Ramallah under full curfew starting from 9:00am and would only lift the curfew from 1:00pm-3:00pm in order for parents to leave their workplaces and take their children home.</p>
<p>As if the recent months of varying degrees of Israeli military curfews were not enough violence to terrorize the Palestinian society as a whole, the Israeli government created a new and improved curfew–one that would ensure that the violence of occupation would come between every child and parent.</p>
<p>After getting through to the Friends School’s hotline we were assured that the gates of the school had been secured and that the school day was going to continue as scheduled. Although still a little nervous, we trusted the school administration and knew that if they felt the children were in any immediate danger they would advise us. I agreed with Abeer that I would pick up Areen at 2:15pm and the meeting I was in was called back into session, albeit slightly less focused. After the meeting I headed to the office for an hour of work. I had two other engagements planned for today, a training session for the Commercial Arbitration Center being established and a seminar titled, From Re-occupation to Reform. Both were cancelled.</p>
<p>At 1:45pm we closed our office and everyone headed out to pick up their children. I headed home instead to pick up Nadine, Areen’s little sister. When we left the house this morning Nadine asked if I would promise to pick her up to go get Areen from school and both Areen and I agreed with her that I would. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let an illegal foreign military occupation make me break a promise to my daughters. Nadine was waiting for me at the front porch window. She rushed downstairs wearing her new pink tennis shoes, a pink hat and had a pink purse strapped across her chest. She was ready to hit the town.</p>
<p>Nadine and I arrived at Areen’s school a little early and I had the opportunity to chat with some of the other parents that were also waiting. In twenty minutes we all vented our anger and frustration, discussed the political situation, and we even joked that all the Israelis had left to do now was to publish a daily ad in the newspaper with names of specific people that the curfew would be applied to on any specific day.</p>
<p>As the end of day bell rang the students rushed, as always, to the main gate. The older students knew what was going on, the younger ones did not. Areen came out of her building with a smile from ear to ear and her bright pink Jansport backpack on her back. She waved a big bulky book in the air. It was her new English reading book. Nadine gave her sister a big hug and kiss and we were on our way. While walking to the car I asked Areen if she heard what was happening with the curfew. She had not. She told me that they probably did not tell them so they would not be scared. She asked if she could buy an ice cream cone for her and her sister before going home. After quickly stopping for three ice cream cones we headed straight home. We pulled in the driveway at 2:40pm and as we got out of the car an Israeli jeep passed on the main Jerusalem Street next to our home yelling through a loud speaker, “To the people of Ramallah, the curfew is applied. Anyone in the streets will be arrested”.</p>
<p>So as the world causally watches the entire Palestinian people be terrorized by the most sophisticated form of violence possible–Israeli occupation–life goes on. And as the Israeli military generals dream up new ways to batter Palestinians into submission and strip away every sense of public and personal security, I will be reading with my daughter the first three pages her new English reading book wondering about tomorrow’s curfew schedule.</p>
<p>Note: This essay is a follow-up to “ <a href="" type="internal">The Violence of Curfew</a>,” published at CounterPunch on August 28.</p>
<p>Sam Bahour is a Palestinian-American businessman living in the besieged Palestinian City of Al-Bireh in the West Bank. He is co-author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1566561329/counterpunchmaga" type="external">HOMELAND: Oral Histories of Palestine and Palestinians</a> (1994). He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 3,560 |
<p>By <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/01/12/whos-funding-2016-election-mostly-well-never-know" type="external">Nadia Prupis / Common Dreams</a></p>
<p>Dark money groups have spent $143 million on the 2016 U.S. presidential election since last July—nearly four times as much as the candidates’ own campaigns, Politico <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/undisclosed-dollars-dominate-campaign-spending-217599" type="external">reported</a> in a new analysis on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The origins of most of that funding will never be revealed, while some of it will be made public at midnight on January 31, just hours before the Iowa caucuses, writes Politico’s chief investigative reporter Kenneth P. Vogel.</p>
<p>With federal regulators struggling to navigate the election landscape in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision, outside groups are having an increasingly powerful influence over the proceedings, Vogel found.</p>
<p />
<p>“Every day, we learn more and more about how super PACs and other outside groups are working extremely closely with federal candidates,” said Federal Election Committee (FEC) member Ann Ravel.</p>
<p>While the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision opened the door to unlimited campaign spending by outside groups like corporations and super PACs, the blame is also shared by the FEC itself, which has been <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/10/28/amid-flood-dark-money-groups-make-simple-request-fec-do-your-job" type="external">criticized</a> for its toothless approach to regulating the flow of dark money, Ravel said.</p>
<p>In the intervening years since they handed down the decision, it’s become clear justices “did not understand what the implications were going to be of what they did,” she continued, adding that enforcing transparency and preventing coordination between candidates and their supporting groups “are the two issues that are the most frustrating, because the court was very clear about it and the law is very clear about it, but it’s clear that this is not the reality in the 2016 election.”</p>
<p>Some candidates are reaping more rewards than others. Vogel reports:</p>
<p>Among the most aggressive interpretations of the coordination rules is the work of [Hillary] Clinton and her big-money allies. They have pioneered a relationship in which a super PAC called Correct the Record provides research and communications assistance directly to the former secretary of state’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.</p>
<p>In addition to paying Correct the Record more than $280,000 for research through July, the Clinton campaign also coordinates its media talking points and messaging with the super PAC, which was created by Clinton <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/david-brock-bill-clinton-hillary-clinton-104976" type="external">antagonist-turned-enforcer</a> David Brock. Correct the Record argues that this relationship is permissible because the coordination ban applies only to paid television and radio advertisements known as “ <a href="http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=a8f74e22426c2a67f75a4884e2b2348f&amp;mc=true&amp;node=pt11.1.109&amp;rgn=div5#se11.1.109_121" type="external">public communication</a>(s)” and not to communications with the news media or those with the public made through emails or the Internet, which since 2006 mostly <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/27/AR2006032701474.html" type="external">have been exempt</a> from FEC regulation.</p>
<p>According to Paul S. Ryan, an executive at the election finance watchdog group Campaign Legal Center, that tactic is a “misunderstanding of the law”—specifically, a section which defines coordination as “expenditures made by any person in cooperation, consultation, or concert, with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate, his authorized political committees, or their agents.”</p>
<p>Elsewhere on the campaign trail, groups supporting Jeb Bush have reportedly spent a whopping $61 million on advertisements for the former Florida governor, culled through fundraising dinners where the candidate himself appeared—before and after declaring his run. And Marco Rubio’s backers have launched a nonprofit called the Conservative Solutions Project, which has reportedly spent $9.5 million on ads for his run. The group is registered under a 501(c)(4) tax code, which allows it to hide its donors’ identities.</p>
<p>All of the major candidates—with the exception of Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side and Donald Trump for the Republicans—has the support of at least one outside spending group dedicated to their election, Vogel said.</p> | Who's Funding the 2016 Election? For the Most Part, We'll Never Know | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/whos-funding-the-2016-election-for-the-most-part-well-never-know/ | 2016-01-13 | 4left
| Who's Funding the 2016 Election? For the Most Part, We'll Never Know
<p>By <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/01/12/whos-funding-2016-election-mostly-well-never-know" type="external">Nadia Prupis / Common Dreams</a></p>
<p>Dark money groups have spent $143 million on the 2016 U.S. presidential election since last July—nearly four times as much as the candidates’ own campaigns, Politico <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/undisclosed-dollars-dominate-campaign-spending-217599" type="external">reported</a> in a new analysis on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The origins of most of that funding will never be revealed, while some of it will be made public at midnight on January 31, just hours before the Iowa caucuses, writes Politico’s chief investigative reporter Kenneth P. Vogel.</p>
<p>With federal regulators struggling to navigate the election landscape in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision, outside groups are having an increasingly powerful influence over the proceedings, Vogel found.</p>
<p />
<p>“Every day, we learn more and more about how super PACs and other outside groups are working extremely closely with federal candidates,” said Federal Election Committee (FEC) member Ann Ravel.</p>
<p>While the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision opened the door to unlimited campaign spending by outside groups like corporations and super PACs, the blame is also shared by the FEC itself, which has been <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/10/28/amid-flood-dark-money-groups-make-simple-request-fec-do-your-job" type="external">criticized</a> for its toothless approach to regulating the flow of dark money, Ravel said.</p>
<p>In the intervening years since they handed down the decision, it’s become clear justices “did not understand what the implications were going to be of what they did,” she continued, adding that enforcing transparency and preventing coordination between candidates and their supporting groups “are the two issues that are the most frustrating, because the court was very clear about it and the law is very clear about it, but it’s clear that this is not the reality in the 2016 election.”</p>
<p>Some candidates are reaping more rewards than others. Vogel reports:</p>
<p>Among the most aggressive interpretations of the coordination rules is the work of [Hillary] Clinton and her big-money allies. They have pioneered a relationship in which a super PAC called Correct the Record provides research and communications assistance directly to the former secretary of state’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.</p>
<p>In addition to paying Correct the Record more than $280,000 for research through July, the Clinton campaign also coordinates its media talking points and messaging with the super PAC, which was created by Clinton <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/david-brock-bill-clinton-hillary-clinton-104976" type="external">antagonist-turned-enforcer</a> David Brock. Correct the Record argues that this relationship is permissible because the coordination ban applies only to paid television and radio advertisements known as “ <a href="http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=a8f74e22426c2a67f75a4884e2b2348f&amp;mc=true&amp;node=pt11.1.109&amp;rgn=div5#se11.1.109_121" type="external">public communication</a>(s)” and not to communications with the news media or those with the public made through emails or the Internet, which since 2006 mostly <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/27/AR2006032701474.html" type="external">have been exempt</a> from FEC regulation.</p>
<p>According to Paul S. Ryan, an executive at the election finance watchdog group Campaign Legal Center, that tactic is a “misunderstanding of the law”—specifically, a section which defines coordination as “expenditures made by any person in cooperation, consultation, or concert, with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate, his authorized political committees, or their agents.”</p>
<p>Elsewhere on the campaign trail, groups supporting Jeb Bush have reportedly spent a whopping $61 million on advertisements for the former Florida governor, culled through fundraising dinners where the candidate himself appeared—before and after declaring his run. And Marco Rubio’s backers have launched a nonprofit called the Conservative Solutions Project, which has reportedly spent $9.5 million on ads for his run. The group is registered under a 501(c)(4) tax code, which allows it to hide its donors’ identities.</p>
<p>All of the major candidates—with the exception of Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side and Donald Trump for the Republicans—has the support of at least one outside spending group dedicated to their election, Vogel said.</p> | 3,561 |
<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Will Smith doesn’t plan to be at the Academy Awards, but he’s scheduled to attend the NAACP Image Awards.</p>
<p>The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People says the “Concussion” star is among the nominees expected to attend Friday’s ceremony at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Southern California.</p>
<p>Smith is up for the outstanding actor in a motion picture trophy alongside Abraham Attah, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael B. Jordan and Michael Ealy.</p>
<p>Some of Hollywood’s prominent African-Americans, including Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith, have said they won’t attend this year’s Oscar ceremony after a second season of all-white acting nominees.</p>
<p>Other celebrities expected to attend and present NAACP Image Awards include Jordan, Viola Davis, Kerry Washington, Ice Cube and the cast of “Empire.”</p>
<p>“black-ish” star Anthony Anderson is hosting.</p>
<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Will Smith doesn’t plan to be at the Academy Awards, but he’s scheduled to attend the NAACP Image Awards.</p>
<p>The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People says the “Concussion” star is among the nominees expected to attend Friday’s ceremony at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Southern California.</p>
<p>Smith is up for the outstanding actor in a motion picture trophy alongside Abraham Attah, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael B. Jordan and Michael Ealy.</p>
<p>Some of Hollywood’s prominent African-Americans, including Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith, have said they won’t attend this year’s Oscar ceremony after a second season of all-white acting nominees.</p>
<p>Other celebrities expected to attend and present NAACP Image Awards include Jordan, Viola Davis, Kerry Washington, Ice Cube and the cast of “Empire.”</p>
<p>“black-ish” star Anthony Anderson is hosting.</p> | Will Smith among NAACP Image Awards attendees and presenters | false | https://apnews.com/a6ab41051a1047159d6351a7ceff0c0d | 2016-02-01 | 2least
| Will Smith among NAACP Image Awards attendees and presenters
<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Will Smith doesn’t plan to be at the Academy Awards, but he’s scheduled to attend the NAACP Image Awards.</p>
<p>The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People says the “Concussion” star is among the nominees expected to attend Friday’s ceremony at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Southern California.</p>
<p>Smith is up for the outstanding actor in a motion picture trophy alongside Abraham Attah, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael B. Jordan and Michael Ealy.</p>
<p>Some of Hollywood’s prominent African-Americans, including Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith, have said they won’t attend this year’s Oscar ceremony after a second season of all-white acting nominees.</p>
<p>Other celebrities expected to attend and present NAACP Image Awards include Jordan, Viola Davis, Kerry Washington, Ice Cube and the cast of “Empire.”</p>
<p>“black-ish” star Anthony Anderson is hosting.</p>
<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Will Smith doesn’t plan to be at the Academy Awards, but he’s scheduled to attend the NAACP Image Awards.</p>
<p>The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People says the “Concussion” star is among the nominees expected to attend Friday’s ceremony at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Southern California.</p>
<p>Smith is up for the outstanding actor in a motion picture trophy alongside Abraham Attah, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael B. Jordan and Michael Ealy.</p>
<p>Some of Hollywood’s prominent African-Americans, including Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith, have said they won’t attend this year’s Oscar ceremony after a second season of all-white acting nominees.</p>
<p>Other celebrities expected to attend and present NAACP Image Awards include Jordan, Viola Davis, Kerry Washington, Ice Cube and the cast of “Empire.”</p>
<p>“black-ish” star Anthony Anderson is hosting.</p> | 3,562 |
<p>Donald Trump’s chief of staff John Kelly was brought into the administration to tighten up the ship and to reign in Trump. Neither of those things have happened, though not for a lack of trying on Kelly’s part. <a href="" type="external">Now reports tell us that Kelly and Trump are fighting constantly,</a> a sign that things are not good in Trumpland. Ring of Fire’s <a href="https://twitter.com/farronbalanced?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" type="external">Farron Cousins</a> explains.</p>
<p>&#160; Transcript:</p>
<p>According to a new report in Vanity Fair, Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff, John Kelly, is reportedly fighting with Donald Trump a lot, according to the article. Now, Donald Trump fights with everybody in the White House. Recept reports say that he’s not getting along with anyone, nobody likes him, nobody wants to talk to him, nobody wants to deal with his toddler-like antics. But John Kelly, General John Kelly, the fact that these two are fighting a lot tells you a lot about what’s actually happening in the White House.</p>
<p>See, John Kelly came on board in July when Reince Priebus was removed as Chief of Staff. Kelly came in as the guy, the stern military guy, who was going to reign in Donald Trump. He was going to stop all the nonsense, he was going to stop the incessant tweeting, he was going to get Donald Trump to actually act or pretend that he was president of the United States. And for a while, in a few different situations, we’ve kind of seen it happen. Every now and then Donald Trump lets a little nugget slip where he gets on Twitter and says something that’s not entirely offensive, or racist, or horrible, or demeaning. Every once in a while. And you can bet that those tweets are basically coming from John Kelly. However, those are too few and far between, and to be honest, they’re starting to taper off a hell of a lot.</p>
<p>John Kelly’s influence that he was allegedly supposed to have over Donald Trump never materialized. Why? It’s not because General Kelly’s a failure. It’s because Donald Trump will not take direction from anyone in this country on any issue, ever, whatsoever. That’s the kind of person he is. That’s part of the narcissistic personality disorder. They will not listen to people who are smarter than them because they do not believe that anyone could be smarter than them. Probably another reason why Donald Trump decided to challenge Rex Tillerson to an IQ test.</p>
<p>General Kelly, to his credit, has tried very hard to reign in Donald Trump, but I guess the best analogy here is, yes, it’s like herding cats, except you have one person who is essentially a bag of cats. Donald Trump cannot be controlled, he cannot be reigned in, and more importantly, he cannot be reasoned with. He believe that everything he does is correct, everything he does is the right thing to do. Everyone who tells him otherwise is a moron, or they’re trying to personally attack him, or they just flat out don’t like him and they’re trying to sabotage him. That’s what’s going on in Donald Trump’s deluded little brain, and no matter how good General Kelly is at his job, he’s not going to be able to fight back against that. You can’t tame a beast that doesn’t want to be tamed, especially if there’s something mentally wrong with the beast, and that seems to be the case here with Donald Trump.</p>
<p>So, Kelly and Trump can continue to fight all they want, Kelly can try to reign in Donald Trump and make him act like a president every now and then, but at the end of the day, Trump’s going to do what Trump wants to do, and that’s going to always prove to be a disaster for this country.</p> | Trump And Chief Of Staff Constantly Fighting, Could Kelly Be Quitting Soon? | true | https://trofire.com/2017/10/14/trump-chief-staff-constantly-fighting-kelly-quitting-soon/ | 2017-10-14 | 4left
| Trump And Chief Of Staff Constantly Fighting, Could Kelly Be Quitting Soon?
<p>Donald Trump’s chief of staff John Kelly was brought into the administration to tighten up the ship and to reign in Trump. Neither of those things have happened, though not for a lack of trying on Kelly’s part. <a href="" type="external">Now reports tell us that Kelly and Trump are fighting constantly,</a> a sign that things are not good in Trumpland. Ring of Fire’s <a href="https://twitter.com/farronbalanced?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" type="external">Farron Cousins</a> explains.</p>
<p>&#160; Transcript:</p>
<p>According to a new report in Vanity Fair, Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff, John Kelly, is reportedly fighting with Donald Trump a lot, according to the article. Now, Donald Trump fights with everybody in the White House. Recept reports say that he’s not getting along with anyone, nobody likes him, nobody wants to talk to him, nobody wants to deal with his toddler-like antics. But John Kelly, General John Kelly, the fact that these two are fighting a lot tells you a lot about what’s actually happening in the White House.</p>
<p>See, John Kelly came on board in July when Reince Priebus was removed as Chief of Staff. Kelly came in as the guy, the stern military guy, who was going to reign in Donald Trump. He was going to stop all the nonsense, he was going to stop the incessant tweeting, he was going to get Donald Trump to actually act or pretend that he was president of the United States. And for a while, in a few different situations, we’ve kind of seen it happen. Every now and then Donald Trump lets a little nugget slip where he gets on Twitter and says something that’s not entirely offensive, or racist, or horrible, or demeaning. Every once in a while. And you can bet that those tweets are basically coming from John Kelly. However, those are too few and far between, and to be honest, they’re starting to taper off a hell of a lot.</p>
<p>John Kelly’s influence that he was allegedly supposed to have over Donald Trump never materialized. Why? It’s not because General Kelly’s a failure. It’s because Donald Trump will not take direction from anyone in this country on any issue, ever, whatsoever. That’s the kind of person he is. That’s part of the narcissistic personality disorder. They will not listen to people who are smarter than them because they do not believe that anyone could be smarter than them. Probably another reason why Donald Trump decided to challenge Rex Tillerson to an IQ test.</p>
<p>General Kelly, to his credit, has tried very hard to reign in Donald Trump, but I guess the best analogy here is, yes, it’s like herding cats, except you have one person who is essentially a bag of cats. Donald Trump cannot be controlled, he cannot be reigned in, and more importantly, he cannot be reasoned with. He believe that everything he does is correct, everything he does is the right thing to do. Everyone who tells him otherwise is a moron, or they’re trying to personally attack him, or they just flat out don’t like him and they’re trying to sabotage him. That’s what’s going on in Donald Trump’s deluded little brain, and no matter how good General Kelly is at his job, he’s not going to be able to fight back against that. You can’t tame a beast that doesn’t want to be tamed, especially if there’s something mentally wrong with the beast, and that seems to be the case here with Donald Trump.</p>
<p>So, Kelly and Trump can continue to fight all they want, Kelly can try to reign in Donald Trump and make him act like a president every now and then, but at the end of the day, Trump’s going to do what Trump wants to do, and that’s going to always prove to be a disaster for this country.</p> | 3,563 |
<p>Conservatives waking up to the news Thursday could probably use this.</p>
<p>The Ted Cruz-led fight to defund Obamacare might have not have succeeded this time around but it will help Republicans in the long run, self-described “conservative ayatollah” Ann Coulter told Piers Morgan on Wednesday.</p>
<p>&lt;img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-85399" alt="anncoulter1017" src="http://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/anncoulter1017-150x150.png" width="150" height="150" /&gt; That’s because it branded them even more as the party determined to get rid of a law a majority of the country hates, Coulter said.</p>
<p>“I think the last three weeks have been magnificent,” Coulter said, flying in the face of conventional wisdom, as always.</p>
<p>Appearing on Morgan’s show to plug her new book, “Never Trust a Liberal over 3,” Coulter said the defunding fight and government shutdown helped define Republicans in a way that will pay off at the polls in the future – in what it stands for, and what it’s against.</p>
<p>Without the defunding fight and the government shutdown, “we would not have been talking about Obamacare the last three weeks,” Coulter said</p>
<p>“It’s very clear the Republican Party is the party that stands for revisiting Obamacare.”</p>
<p>Morgan, a creature of the liberal establishment of ever there was one, seemed to have trouble seeing the point, noting recent polls that show the Republican brand suffered in the fight.</p>
<p>Coulter said that will turn out to be a plus.</p>
<p>“The Republican Party is not just allowing the Democrats to say, ‘we passed this bill …,’ “ she said. “This makes it very clear the Republicans are not just moving on.”</p>
<p>( <a href="" type="external">In her latest column</a>, Coulter details the reasons Obamacare needs to be overturned and belittles libs who claim it’s now “settled law.”)</p>
<p>Coulter also praised the Senate leaders of the GOP fight, Cruz and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, as examples of the way forward to future GOP electoral wins at the congressional and presidential levels — once Obama is out of the picture.</p>
<p>And to make those wins more likely, Coulter said tea party activists need to be more realistic about demanding ideological “purity” from candidates running for statewide seats in states like Delaware, where the electorate isn’t conservative enough to support a tea party candidacy.</p>
<p>“We need to win elections,” she said.</p>
<p>“As long as we don’t run Todd Aiken, we’re doing just fine.”</p>
<p>Check out Coulter’s interview with Morgan here. After Wednesday night, it’s a real pick-me-up.</p>
<p />
<p>[poll id=”128″]</p> | ‘Conservative ayatollah’ Ann Coulter helps Piers Morgan understand GOP | true | http://bizpacreview.com/2013/10/17/conservative-ayatollah-ann-coulter-helps-piers-morgan-understand-gop-85387 | 2013-10-17 | 0right
| ‘Conservative ayatollah’ Ann Coulter helps Piers Morgan understand GOP
<p>Conservatives waking up to the news Thursday could probably use this.</p>
<p>The Ted Cruz-led fight to defund Obamacare might have not have succeeded this time around but it will help Republicans in the long run, self-described “conservative ayatollah” Ann Coulter told Piers Morgan on Wednesday.</p>
<p>&lt;img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-85399" alt="anncoulter1017" src="http://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/anncoulter1017-150x150.png" width="150" height="150" /&gt; That’s because it branded them even more as the party determined to get rid of a law a majority of the country hates, Coulter said.</p>
<p>“I think the last three weeks have been magnificent,” Coulter said, flying in the face of conventional wisdom, as always.</p>
<p>Appearing on Morgan’s show to plug her new book, “Never Trust a Liberal over 3,” Coulter said the defunding fight and government shutdown helped define Republicans in a way that will pay off at the polls in the future – in what it stands for, and what it’s against.</p>
<p>Without the defunding fight and the government shutdown, “we would not have been talking about Obamacare the last three weeks,” Coulter said</p>
<p>“It’s very clear the Republican Party is the party that stands for revisiting Obamacare.”</p>
<p>Morgan, a creature of the liberal establishment of ever there was one, seemed to have trouble seeing the point, noting recent polls that show the Republican brand suffered in the fight.</p>
<p>Coulter said that will turn out to be a plus.</p>
<p>“The Republican Party is not just allowing the Democrats to say, ‘we passed this bill …,’ “ she said. “This makes it very clear the Republicans are not just moving on.”</p>
<p>( <a href="" type="external">In her latest column</a>, Coulter details the reasons Obamacare needs to be overturned and belittles libs who claim it’s now “settled law.”)</p>
<p>Coulter also praised the Senate leaders of the GOP fight, Cruz and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, as examples of the way forward to future GOP electoral wins at the congressional and presidential levels — once Obama is out of the picture.</p>
<p>And to make those wins more likely, Coulter said tea party activists need to be more realistic about demanding ideological “purity” from candidates running for statewide seats in states like Delaware, where the electorate isn’t conservative enough to support a tea party candidacy.</p>
<p>“We need to win elections,” she said.</p>
<p>“As long as we don’t run Todd Aiken, we’re doing just fine.”</p>
<p>Check out Coulter’s interview with Morgan here. After Wednesday night, it’s a real pick-me-up.</p>
<p />
<p>[poll id=”128″]</p> | 3,564 |
<p>(If this program which has been so lauded goes well for years longer, the U.S. has to continue funding it. to what extent is the U.S. aware of this potential long term commitment?) I think the people who are applauding this program from the level of the taxpayer, I think people are aware we're treating this as an emergency and responding immediately. But I don't think people are aware of the long term implications. (How much could be saved by the fact that the cost of anti retrovirals, or ARVs, is going down?) The more people are on ARVs and the more they spread through erratic health systems, the more we're going to get resistance. (PEPFAR spends money on prevention and is that money having any effect?) It's not having any measurable effect. These are programs concerning abstinence for example. (What has Obama said about where he would take PEPFAR?) Obama has made a clear commitment to science and evidence based programming in all of his approaches to health including HIV. I think his approach will be based more in reality than ideology and morality.</p> | Attack strains India-Pakistan relations | false | https://pri.org/stories/2008-12-01/attack-strains-india-pakistan-relations | 2008-12-01 | 3left-center
| Attack strains India-Pakistan relations
<p>(If this program which has been so lauded goes well for years longer, the U.S. has to continue funding it. to what extent is the U.S. aware of this potential long term commitment?) I think the people who are applauding this program from the level of the taxpayer, I think people are aware we're treating this as an emergency and responding immediately. But I don't think people are aware of the long term implications. (How much could be saved by the fact that the cost of anti retrovirals, or ARVs, is going down?) The more people are on ARVs and the more they spread through erratic health systems, the more we're going to get resistance. (PEPFAR spends money on prevention and is that money having any effect?) It's not having any measurable effect. These are programs concerning abstinence for example. (What has Obama said about where he would take PEPFAR?) Obama has made a clear commitment to science and evidence based programming in all of his approaches to health including HIV. I think his approach will be based more in reality than ideology and morality.</p> | 3,565 |
<p />
<p>The perceived risk of a big U.S. bank failure has receded in recent years, but more study is needed to understand whether the improvement is due to government policies or simply an improved economic outlook, a top Federal Reserve official said on Friday.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Studies using measures of market risk including credit default swaps show "that the size of the too-big-to-fail problem has fallen over the past couple of years but remains large," Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, said in remarks prepared for a conference sponsored by the Boston Fed and Boston University.</p>
<p>For any given financial institution, he said, "it could be that creditors believe that there is little likelihood of that financial institution becoming distressed," perhaps because new rules require banks to put up more capital.</p>
<p>It could also be that creditors believe that a government bailout is unlikely, suggesting that other policies -- such as the requirement banks devise blueprints for a wind-down should they become insolvent -- are working, he said.</p>
<p>But metrics could be improving "simply because creditors' assessments of future macroeconomic conditions improve," he said.</p>
<p>Teasing apart the reasons for the improvement in the too-big-to-fail problem is key to understanding whether approaches like those enshrined in the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform act are having the intended effect, Kocherlakota said.</p>
<p>The wide-ranging law, written in response to the 2007-2009 financial crisis, aims to reduce the likelihood of banks failing and to lessen the cost to society if they do.</p>
<p>Kocherlakota has urged the Fed to adopt guideposts for policy in terms of unemployment and inflation, and on Friday reiterated his view that without such metrics "it is challenging to know whether monetary policy is overly accommodative or not."</p>
<p>The same point can be made for the too-big-to-fail bank problem, which Congress has set out to resolve, he said.</p>
<p>"The public can only hold Congress and its delegees responsible for achieving this mandate if there are quantitative measures of the size of the too-big-to-fail problem," he said.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | 'Too Big to Fail' Problem Smaller, But Why? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/11/30/too-big-to-fail-problem-smaller-but-why.html | 2016-01-26 | 0right
| 'Too Big to Fail' Problem Smaller, But Why?
<p />
<p>The perceived risk of a big U.S. bank failure has receded in recent years, but more study is needed to understand whether the improvement is due to government policies or simply an improved economic outlook, a top Federal Reserve official said on Friday.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Studies using measures of market risk including credit default swaps show "that the size of the too-big-to-fail problem has fallen over the past couple of years but remains large," Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, said in remarks prepared for a conference sponsored by the Boston Fed and Boston University.</p>
<p>For any given financial institution, he said, "it could be that creditors believe that there is little likelihood of that financial institution becoming distressed," perhaps because new rules require banks to put up more capital.</p>
<p>It could also be that creditors believe that a government bailout is unlikely, suggesting that other policies -- such as the requirement banks devise blueprints for a wind-down should they become insolvent -- are working, he said.</p>
<p>But metrics could be improving "simply because creditors' assessments of future macroeconomic conditions improve," he said.</p>
<p>Teasing apart the reasons for the improvement in the too-big-to-fail problem is key to understanding whether approaches like those enshrined in the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform act are having the intended effect, Kocherlakota said.</p>
<p>The wide-ranging law, written in response to the 2007-2009 financial crisis, aims to reduce the likelihood of banks failing and to lessen the cost to society if they do.</p>
<p>Kocherlakota has urged the Fed to adopt guideposts for policy in terms of unemployment and inflation, and on Friday reiterated his view that without such metrics "it is challenging to know whether monetary policy is overly accommodative or not."</p>
<p>The same point can be made for the too-big-to-fail bank problem, which Congress has set out to resolve, he said.</p>
<p>"The public can only hold Congress and its delegees responsible for achieving this mandate if there are quantitative measures of the size of the too-big-to-fail problem," he said.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | 3,566 |
<p>Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke wants US taxpayers to purchase more of the garbage loans and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) that the big banks still have on their&#160;books. (Cash for trash)&#160;That’s the&#160;impetus behind&#160;the Fed’s 26-page white paper that was delivered to Congress last Wednesday. The document outlines the Fed’s plan for ‘stabilizing the housing market’,&#160;which is a&#160;phrase&#160;that&#160;Bernanke employs when he wants&#160;to provide more buy-backs, giveaways, subsidies and other corporate welfare to big finance.</p>
<p>“Restoring the health of the housing market is a necessary part of a broader strategy for economic recovery,”&#160; Bernanke opined in a letter to the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees.</p>
<p>Indeed. The housing depression continues into its 5th year with no end in sight, mainly because the people who created the crisis are still in positions of power. And, they’re still offering the same remedies, too, like handing the banks another blank check to save them from&#160;losses on their bad bets.&#160;That’s what this new “housing stabilization” boondoggle is really all about, bailing out the bankers.&#160;Here’s a summary from Bloomberg:</p>
<p>“Bernanke’s Fed study said “more might be done,” including eliminating entirely the reduced fees for risky loans, “more comprehensively” cutting lenders’ put-back risks; and further streamlining refinancing for other Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac borrowers. The U.S. also should consider having Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinance loans not already backed by the government, which would add credit risk for the companies, according to the report….” (Bloomberg)</p>
<p>First of all, Fannie and Freddie only return loans (“put-backs”) that don’t meet their standards and which the banks&#160;foisted on&#160;them so they wouldn’t have to face&#160;the losses. The idea that the publicly-funded GSE’s should just “eat the losses” is ridiculous.</p>
<p>And, why–in heaven’s name–would congress want to take on more risk when they can keep millions of people in their homes by simply reducing the principle on their mortgages to the present value of the house? (aka–“Cramdowns”) Naturally, the losses would have to be absorbed by the banks who–by everyone’s admission–were <a href="" type="internal" /> responsible for the present crisis due to their lax lending standards and, oftentimes, fraudulent behavior.&#160;This would lead to a restructuring of the country’s biggest banks through a Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) so their toxic assets and backlog of foreclosed properties can be auctioned off as soon as possible.</p>
<p>This is&#160;a&#160;straightforward way&#160;to fix the housing market and it should have been done long ago.&#160;Bernanke’s solution is not only unreasonable, it’s also deceitful. Here’s more from the Fed’s paper: “Continued weakness in the housing market poses a significant barrier to a more vigorous economic recovery”..(without action)…“the adjustment process will take longer and incur more deadweight losses, pushing house prices lower and thereby prolonging the downward pressure on the wealth of current homeowners and the resultant drag on the economy at large.”</p>
<p>Did it really take Bernanke 5 years to figure out that housing is a “drag on the economy”?</p>
<p>No, of course not. So, what’s going on now that has suddenly spurred him to act?</p>
<p>Well, for one thing, the banks are losing a great deal of money on the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) that they bought in the last few years. Here’s the story in the Wall Street Journal:</p>
<p>“After flickering to life early in 2011, the market for subprime- and other risky residential-mortgage bonds has returned to its comatose state. And many investors believe a revival could be years away.</p>
<p>Prices on some bonds, which are backed by mortgages that don’t meet the standards needed to get backing from government-controlled companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, plummeted as much as 30% last year. The ABX, an index that tracks the value of subprime bonds, ended the year at 43.44 cents on the dollar, down from 59.90 cents at year-end 2010 and a peak of 62.68 cents in February 2011</p>
<p>While that decline pushed yields up to as much as 17%—bond yields rise as prices fall—many fund managers have pulled out of the market due to worries about further price declines. Moreover, repeated downgrades have left too few investment-grade securities for them to own. Wall Street banks, which traditionally have played a key role in the market matching buyers and sellers, are backing away ahead of new regulations that will make it more expensive to hold riskier assets.” (Investors Sour on Subprime Bonds, WSJ)</p>
<p>So,&#160;Wall Street’s financial geniuses got back&#160;into the MBS-biz (for a second time) and got whacked again? That’s right; and now they want&#160;John Q. Public to pay for&#160;it with another bailout.</p>
<p>And, there’s more to this story, too. European banks&#160;own&#160;roughly $100 billion of these mortgage-backed turkeys&#160;which they’re&#160;presently shedding like crazy in order to meet new capital requirements. That means US bank balance sheets are dripping red as the value of their financial asset-stockpile continues to plunge. That’s&#160; why Sugar Daddy Bernanke has stepped in, because it’s time for another multi-billion dollar bank rescue.</p>
<p>Look, the Fed has already purchased over $1.25 trillion of these toxic MBS which represents humongous long-term losses for the taxpayer. Do we really need more of this sludge?</p>
<p>Bernanke promised that the first round of quantitative easing (QE1) would boost employment (It hasn’t) and improve housing sales (it never happened) The only uptick in sales occurred because the colluding banks deliberately reduced the supply of foreclosed homes they put on the market. The reduction has led to a massive 1.7 million backlog of housing units (shadow inventory) that will eventually be dumped onto the market triggering another sharp decline in housing prices. Bernanke wants to do something about the bulging inventory as well as prop up the value of sagging MBS. So, the Fed’s plan actually has two main objectives; in other words, it’s the double whammy. Here’s more from Bloomberg:</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“Since the Fed started buying $1.25 trillion of mortgage bonds in January 2009, the value of U.S. housing has fallen 4.1 percent, and is down 32 percent from its 2006 peak, according to an S&amp;amp;P/Case-Shiller index. The central bank is poised to buy about $200 billion this year, or more than 20 percent of new loans, as it reinvests debt that’s being paid off. Some Fed officials have said they may support additional purchases that Barclays Capital estimates could total as much as $750 billion.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Did you catch that? Taxpayers are going to get slammed for another $750 billion. That’s nearly as much as Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the fiscal stimulus that added 2 percent to GDP and kept unemployment from rocketing to 13 percent.&#160;Bernanke&#160;wants to&#160;throw&#160;that same amount down a Wall Street sinkhole.</p>
<p>So maybe you think this won’t happen, after all, could Congress really be so&#160;gullible as to fall for Bernanke’s fearmongering flim-flam again?</p>
<p>Maybe and maybe not. But there are some pretty wealthy and well-connected people who are betting that the Fed will do as it’s told and pave the way for another hefty bailout. In fact, the world’s largest bond fund (Pimco)&#160;has stumped up a mountain of cash betting that good buddy Bernanke will get the printing presses whirring sometime in mid-January. Here’s the story from Zero Hedge:</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>”….in December the fund (Total Return Fund or TRF) doubled down on its QE3 all in bet, by “borrowing” even more cash, or a record $78 billion, using the proceeds to buy even more MBS, as well as Treasurys, which hit a combined 31% of the TRF’s holdings. In other words, between MBS and USTs, Pimco holds a whopping 79% of total, mostly in very long duration exposure. In fact, this combination of long duration and pre-QE exposure has not been seen at PIMCO since late 2008, early 2009, meaning that as many banks have been suggesting, (Bill) Gross is convinced that the Fed will announce if not outright QE3 this January, then at least intimate it is coming.”(“Pimco Doubles Down On All In Bet Fed Will Monetize MBS”, Zero Hedge)</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>So what does Pimco know that we don’t know? More importantly, from whom are they getting their information?</p>
<p>And, there’s another thing, too. This whole deal about converting foreclosed homes into rental properties is another scam. Here’s the scoop from&#160;another article in the&#160;Wall Street Journal:</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“The paper also signaled that the Fed…. will try to involve banks more directly in housing-revival approaches… One area involves efforts to turn foreclosed homes into rental properties….</p>
<p>Banking regulations typically direct banks to sell foreclosed homes quickly, although the rules do recognize this isn’t always practical and so these properties can be held up to five years. The Fed said it is now “contemplating issuing guidance” to banks and regulators that would possibly allow banks to turn some of these foreclosed homes into rental properties…..The hope is this may help stanch the flow of foreclosed properties into markets…” (“Fed Up With the Depressed State of Housing”, Wall Street Journal)</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Bingo. The banks are not only sitting on 1.7 million shadow inventory of homes they’ve stockpiled to keep prices artificially high. They also have millions more in the pipeline when a settlement is finally reached on the robo-signing scandal. So, what are they going to do with all that backlog?</p>
<p>That’s easy. They’ll schluff it off on the taxpayer by creating a foreclosure-to-rental swindle where the government provides lavish incentives for banks and private equity scavengers to buy the homes (in bulk) for pennies on the dollar with loans provided by–you guessed it–Uncle Sam.&#160; Here’s a summary of what’s going on behind the scenes:</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“As the Obama administration and federal regulators work on a program to sell government-owned foreclosures in bulk to investors, those investors aren’t wasting any time stockpiling cash and buying foreclosed properties at auction and from the major banks.</p>
<p>Oakland, California-based Waypoint Real Estate Group, a major acquirer of so-called “REO to Rental” (Real Estate Owned) just announced a partnership with a private equity firm, Menlo Park, California-based GI Partners, to buy foreclosed properties….</p>
<p>“Our approach to buying distressed single-family houses, renovating them, and leasing to residents who are committed to a path to future home ownership is a viable solution to our nation’s housing crisis,” said Colin Wiel, managing director and co-founder of Waypoint in a press release. “Our partnership with GI Partners ensures we can take the next step in our company’s evolution.”</p>
<p>GI is taking an increasingly popular bet on distressed real estate, closing on a $400 million fund with Waypoint, which has plans to purchase $1 billion in distressed real estate assets over the next two years, according to its release. (“Private Equity Readying a Run on Foreclosures”, Diana Olick, CNBC)</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>So, what do these guys know that we don’t know? And why are they plunking down&#160;big money when the details have not even been&#160;released yet?</p>
<p>None of this really passes the smell test, does it? The only thing we know for sure is that&#160;the “fix is in” and that Bernanke will do what he always does when the banks are in a pinch. Throw them a lifeline.</p>
<p>MIKE WHITNEY&#160;lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion</a>, forthcoming from AK Press. He can be reached at&#160; <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The Foreclosure-to-Rental Screwjob | true | https://counterpunch.org/2012/01/13/the-foreclosure-to-rental-screwjob/ | 2012-01-13 | 4left
| The Foreclosure-to-Rental Screwjob
<p>Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke wants US taxpayers to purchase more of the garbage loans and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) that the big banks still have on their&#160;books. (Cash for trash)&#160;That’s the&#160;impetus behind&#160;the Fed’s 26-page white paper that was delivered to Congress last Wednesday. The document outlines the Fed’s plan for ‘stabilizing the housing market’,&#160;which is a&#160;phrase&#160;that&#160;Bernanke employs when he wants&#160;to provide more buy-backs, giveaways, subsidies and other corporate welfare to big finance.</p>
<p>“Restoring the health of the housing market is a necessary part of a broader strategy for economic recovery,”&#160; Bernanke opined in a letter to the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees.</p>
<p>Indeed. The housing depression continues into its 5th year with no end in sight, mainly because the people who created the crisis are still in positions of power. And, they’re still offering the same remedies, too, like handing the banks another blank check to save them from&#160;losses on their bad bets.&#160;That’s what this new “housing stabilization” boondoggle is really all about, bailing out the bankers.&#160;Here’s a summary from Bloomberg:</p>
<p>“Bernanke’s Fed study said “more might be done,” including eliminating entirely the reduced fees for risky loans, “more comprehensively” cutting lenders’ put-back risks; and further streamlining refinancing for other Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac borrowers. The U.S. also should consider having Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinance loans not already backed by the government, which would add credit risk for the companies, according to the report….” (Bloomberg)</p>
<p>First of all, Fannie and Freddie only return loans (“put-backs”) that don’t meet their standards and which the banks&#160;foisted on&#160;them so they wouldn’t have to face&#160;the losses. The idea that the publicly-funded GSE’s should just “eat the losses” is ridiculous.</p>
<p>And, why–in heaven’s name–would congress want to take on more risk when they can keep millions of people in their homes by simply reducing the principle on their mortgages to the present value of the house? (aka–“Cramdowns”) Naturally, the losses would have to be absorbed by the banks who–by everyone’s admission–were <a href="" type="internal" /> responsible for the present crisis due to their lax lending standards and, oftentimes, fraudulent behavior.&#160;This would lead to a restructuring of the country’s biggest banks through a Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) so their toxic assets and backlog of foreclosed properties can be auctioned off as soon as possible.</p>
<p>This is&#160;a&#160;straightforward way&#160;to fix the housing market and it should have been done long ago.&#160;Bernanke’s solution is not only unreasonable, it’s also deceitful. Here’s more from the Fed’s paper: “Continued weakness in the housing market poses a significant barrier to a more vigorous economic recovery”..(without action)…“the adjustment process will take longer and incur more deadweight losses, pushing house prices lower and thereby prolonging the downward pressure on the wealth of current homeowners and the resultant drag on the economy at large.”</p>
<p>Did it really take Bernanke 5 years to figure out that housing is a “drag on the economy”?</p>
<p>No, of course not. So, what’s going on now that has suddenly spurred him to act?</p>
<p>Well, for one thing, the banks are losing a great deal of money on the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) that they bought in the last few years. Here’s the story in the Wall Street Journal:</p>
<p>“After flickering to life early in 2011, the market for subprime- and other risky residential-mortgage bonds has returned to its comatose state. And many investors believe a revival could be years away.</p>
<p>Prices on some bonds, which are backed by mortgages that don’t meet the standards needed to get backing from government-controlled companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, plummeted as much as 30% last year. The ABX, an index that tracks the value of subprime bonds, ended the year at 43.44 cents on the dollar, down from 59.90 cents at year-end 2010 and a peak of 62.68 cents in February 2011</p>
<p>While that decline pushed yields up to as much as 17%—bond yields rise as prices fall—many fund managers have pulled out of the market due to worries about further price declines. Moreover, repeated downgrades have left too few investment-grade securities for them to own. Wall Street banks, which traditionally have played a key role in the market matching buyers and sellers, are backing away ahead of new regulations that will make it more expensive to hold riskier assets.” (Investors Sour on Subprime Bonds, WSJ)</p>
<p>So,&#160;Wall Street’s financial geniuses got back&#160;into the MBS-biz (for a second time) and got whacked again? That’s right; and now they want&#160;John Q. Public to pay for&#160;it with another bailout.</p>
<p>And, there’s more to this story, too. European banks&#160;own&#160;roughly $100 billion of these mortgage-backed turkeys&#160;which they’re&#160;presently shedding like crazy in order to meet new capital requirements. That means US bank balance sheets are dripping red as the value of their financial asset-stockpile continues to plunge. That’s&#160; why Sugar Daddy Bernanke has stepped in, because it’s time for another multi-billion dollar bank rescue.</p>
<p>Look, the Fed has already purchased over $1.25 trillion of these toxic MBS which represents humongous long-term losses for the taxpayer. Do we really need more of this sludge?</p>
<p>Bernanke promised that the first round of quantitative easing (QE1) would boost employment (It hasn’t) and improve housing sales (it never happened) The only uptick in sales occurred because the colluding banks deliberately reduced the supply of foreclosed homes they put on the market. The reduction has led to a massive 1.7 million backlog of housing units (shadow inventory) that will eventually be dumped onto the market triggering another sharp decline in housing prices. Bernanke wants to do something about the bulging inventory as well as prop up the value of sagging MBS. So, the Fed’s plan actually has two main objectives; in other words, it’s the double whammy. Here’s more from Bloomberg:</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“Since the Fed started buying $1.25 trillion of mortgage bonds in January 2009, the value of U.S. housing has fallen 4.1 percent, and is down 32 percent from its 2006 peak, according to an S&amp;amp;P/Case-Shiller index. The central bank is poised to buy about $200 billion this year, or more than 20 percent of new loans, as it reinvests debt that’s being paid off. Some Fed officials have said they may support additional purchases that Barclays Capital estimates could total as much as $750 billion.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Did you catch that? Taxpayers are going to get slammed for another $750 billion. That’s nearly as much as Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the fiscal stimulus that added 2 percent to GDP and kept unemployment from rocketing to 13 percent.&#160;Bernanke&#160;wants to&#160;throw&#160;that same amount down a Wall Street sinkhole.</p>
<p>So maybe you think this won’t happen, after all, could Congress really be so&#160;gullible as to fall for Bernanke’s fearmongering flim-flam again?</p>
<p>Maybe and maybe not. But there are some pretty wealthy and well-connected people who are betting that the Fed will do as it’s told and pave the way for another hefty bailout. In fact, the world’s largest bond fund (Pimco)&#160;has stumped up a mountain of cash betting that good buddy Bernanke will get the printing presses whirring sometime in mid-January. Here’s the story from Zero Hedge:</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>”….in December the fund (Total Return Fund or TRF) doubled down on its QE3 all in bet, by “borrowing” even more cash, or a record $78 billion, using the proceeds to buy even more MBS, as well as Treasurys, which hit a combined 31% of the TRF’s holdings. In other words, between MBS and USTs, Pimco holds a whopping 79% of total, mostly in very long duration exposure. In fact, this combination of long duration and pre-QE exposure has not been seen at PIMCO since late 2008, early 2009, meaning that as many banks have been suggesting, (Bill) Gross is convinced that the Fed will announce if not outright QE3 this January, then at least intimate it is coming.”(“Pimco Doubles Down On All In Bet Fed Will Monetize MBS”, Zero Hedge)</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>So what does Pimco know that we don’t know? More importantly, from whom are they getting their information?</p>
<p>And, there’s another thing, too. This whole deal about converting foreclosed homes into rental properties is another scam. Here’s the scoop from&#160;another article in the&#160;Wall Street Journal:</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“The paper also signaled that the Fed…. will try to involve banks more directly in housing-revival approaches… One area involves efforts to turn foreclosed homes into rental properties….</p>
<p>Banking regulations typically direct banks to sell foreclosed homes quickly, although the rules do recognize this isn’t always practical and so these properties can be held up to five years. The Fed said it is now “contemplating issuing guidance” to banks and regulators that would possibly allow banks to turn some of these foreclosed homes into rental properties…..The hope is this may help stanch the flow of foreclosed properties into markets…” (“Fed Up With the Depressed State of Housing”, Wall Street Journal)</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Bingo. The banks are not only sitting on 1.7 million shadow inventory of homes they’ve stockpiled to keep prices artificially high. They also have millions more in the pipeline when a settlement is finally reached on the robo-signing scandal. So, what are they going to do with all that backlog?</p>
<p>That’s easy. They’ll schluff it off on the taxpayer by creating a foreclosure-to-rental swindle where the government provides lavish incentives for banks and private equity scavengers to buy the homes (in bulk) for pennies on the dollar with loans provided by–you guessed it–Uncle Sam.&#160; Here’s a summary of what’s going on behind the scenes:</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“As the Obama administration and federal regulators work on a program to sell government-owned foreclosures in bulk to investors, those investors aren’t wasting any time stockpiling cash and buying foreclosed properties at auction and from the major banks.</p>
<p>Oakland, California-based Waypoint Real Estate Group, a major acquirer of so-called “REO to Rental” (Real Estate Owned) just announced a partnership with a private equity firm, Menlo Park, California-based GI Partners, to buy foreclosed properties….</p>
<p>“Our approach to buying distressed single-family houses, renovating them, and leasing to residents who are committed to a path to future home ownership is a viable solution to our nation’s housing crisis,” said Colin Wiel, managing director and co-founder of Waypoint in a press release. “Our partnership with GI Partners ensures we can take the next step in our company’s evolution.”</p>
<p>GI is taking an increasingly popular bet on distressed real estate, closing on a $400 million fund with Waypoint, which has plans to purchase $1 billion in distressed real estate assets over the next two years, according to its release. (“Private Equity Readying a Run on Foreclosures”, Diana Olick, CNBC)</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>So, what do these guys know that we don’t know? And why are they plunking down&#160;big money when the details have not even been&#160;released yet?</p>
<p>None of this really passes the smell test, does it? The only thing we know for sure is that&#160;the “fix is in” and that Bernanke will do what he always does when the banks are in a pinch. Throw them a lifeline.</p>
<p>MIKE WHITNEY&#160;lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion</a>, forthcoming from AK Press. He can be reached at&#160; <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 3,567 |
<p />
<p>House Speaker Paul Ryan sidestepped an opportunity Friday to embrace President Donald Trump's goal of "insurance for everybody," saying instead that congressional Republicans are aiming for "universal access."</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Ryan, R-Wis., made the remark in an interview with Politico after Republicans ended a three-day policy retreat in Philadelphia. The meetings left them still facing decisions about exactly how they will scuttle President Barack Obama's health care overhaul and replace it with a system of their own.</p>
<p>Trump told The Washington Post this month that he was "down to the final strokes" on a package that will have "insurance for everybody." He provided few details.</p>
<p>Asked about that Friday, Ryan said, "Universal access is what our goal is." Congressional Republicans have been using that phrase for several weeks, words that suggest a more modest number of people would be covered than under Trump's more expansive term.</p>
<p>"We believe in giving everybody the ability and the resources to buy affordable health care coverage," Ryan said. He added, "If you choose not to do that, we're not going to have government make you do something."</p>
<p>The so-called individual mandate — under which people are fined if they don't buy insurance — is one of the most unpopular features of Obama's statute. However, many analysts consider it crucial because it pressures younger, healthier people to purchase coverage, putting downward pressure on rates.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Instead of the mandate, Republicans have discussed creating separate, subsidized high-risk insurance pools for sicker people, who tend to be more expensive to cover. They've also considered letting insurers charge higher premiums for people who've let their coverage lapse, creating a financial incentive for them to buy policies.</p>
<p>Ryan reiterated that the GOP's goal is to enact bills this year dismantling Obama's law and replacing it. The new policies would be phased in over a period of time that Republicans have yet to decide.</p>
<p>A flow chart distributed to lawmakers at the Philadelphia meetings shows a target of congressional completion of initial bills by early spring. Follow-up measures would take months longer and administrative actions and a communications campaign would last all year.</p>
<p>But there's no guarantee they'll be able to stick to that schedule.</p>
<p>Complicated decisions Republicans must make include how much of the tax increases in Obama's law to repeal, how to protect insurers and consumers during a transition period, and how to reshape Medicaid, the health care program for the poor that Obama expanded.</p>
<p>Republicans know their party would be blamed if their effort results in high rates, poor health care access and angry voters.</p>
<p>"The mood is pretty optimistic, but also sobering because we know how much is at stake politically," said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who attended this week's meetings.</p> | Ryan sidesteps Trump's goal of health coverage for all | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/27/ryan-sidesteps-trump-goal-health-coverage-for-all.html | 2017-01-27 | 0right
| Ryan sidesteps Trump's goal of health coverage for all
<p />
<p>House Speaker Paul Ryan sidestepped an opportunity Friday to embrace President Donald Trump's goal of "insurance for everybody," saying instead that congressional Republicans are aiming for "universal access."</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Ryan, R-Wis., made the remark in an interview with Politico after Republicans ended a three-day policy retreat in Philadelphia. The meetings left them still facing decisions about exactly how they will scuttle President Barack Obama's health care overhaul and replace it with a system of their own.</p>
<p>Trump told The Washington Post this month that he was "down to the final strokes" on a package that will have "insurance for everybody." He provided few details.</p>
<p>Asked about that Friday, Ryan said, "Universal access is what our goal is." Congressional Republicans have been using that phrase for several weeks, words that suggest a more modest number of people would be covered than under Trump's more expansive term.</p>
<p>"We believe in giving everybody the ability and the resources to buy affordable health care coverage," Ryan said. He added, "If you choose not to do that, we're not going to have government make you do something."</p>
<p>The so-called individual mandate — under which people are fined if they don't buy insurance — is one of the most unpopular features of Obama's statute. However, many analysts consider it crucial because it pressures younger, healthier people to purchase coverage, putting downward pressure on rates.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Instead of the mandate, Republicans have discussed creating separate, subsidized high-risk insurance pools for sicker people, who tend to be more expensive to cover. They've also considered letting insurers charge higher premiums for people who've let their coverage lapse, creating a financial incentive for them to buy policies.</p>
<p>Ryan reiterated that the GOP's goal is to enact bills this year dismantling Obama's law and replacing it. The new policies would be phased in over a period of time that Republicans have yet to decide.</p>
<p>A flow chart distributed to lawmakers at the Philadelphia meetings shows a target of congressional completion of initial bills by early spring. Follow-up measures would take months longer and administrative actions and a communications campaign would last all year.</p>
<p>But there's no guarantee they'll be able to stick to that schedule.</p>
<p>Complicated decisions Republicans must make include how much of the tax increases in Obama's law to repeal, how to protect insurers and consumers during a transition period, and how to reshape Medicaid, the health care program for the poor that Obama expanded.</p>
<p>Republicans know their party would be blamed if their effort results in high rates, poor health care access and angry voters.</p>
<p>"The mood is pretty optimistic, but also sobering because we know how much is at stake politically," said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who attended this week's meetings.</p> | 3,568 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>WASHINGTON — Supreme Court litigation is a bit like bread-baking. If the dough goes in the oven too soon, before it’s had enough time to rise, the end product is unpalatable. Yet at a certain point, the oven beckons. Baking is key to the process.</p>
<p>This is the conundrum presented by the Supreme Court’s decision to tackle the subject of same-sex marriage. For those who believe in marriage equality, the court’s move is both exhilarating and scary.</p>
<p>To understand why, remember that the court agreed to hear two very different cases. One involves the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, and the question of whether the federal government, in states that recognize same-sex marriage, can refuse to provide some married couples the federal benefits available to others.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The court was widely expected to accept the DOMA case because the law was declared unconstitutional in the lower courts. It is possible to imagine a majority — the four liberal justices and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, most likely — agreeing. After all, the DOMA argument has overtones of federalism that ought to appeal to conservatives: the right of states to have their judgments about marriage respected by the federal government.</p>
<p>Moreover, the DOMA issue does not call on the court to wade into the far more controversial matter of whether the Constitution affirmatively requires states to grant same-sex couples an equal right to marry.</p>
<p>How the court decides the DOMA case will be illuminating for how the justices might deal with that question. For example, how strict a test will the justices apply to laws that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation? But striking down DOMA would be a much less consequential step — albeit an exhilarating one — than extending to same-sex couples a constitutional right to marry.</p>
<p>This issue is implicated by the second case, involving California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage. The court doesn’t have to reach the constitutional question in the California case, and my guess is it won’t. There are various offramps for the justices to take.</p>
<p>For example, the court raised the question of whether those arguing to reinstate Prop 8 had standing to do so. Even if it doesn’t avail itself of a procedural out, the court could avoid declaring — or rejecting — a broad right to marriage equality because of the unusual facts of California, which recognized same-sex marriage before voters rejected it. The appeals court relied on that about-face in declaring Prop 8 unconstitutional.</p>
<p>Still, the prospect that the justices could decide on the constitutional right to marry is unsettling, even scary, because it’s far easier to count five votes for “no” than for “yes.”</p>
<p>Much like the step-by-step litigation that produced Supreme Court victories against racial discrimination, the court may need time — and new members — to get there. On the then-divisive issue of interracial marriage, the Supreme Court deliberately dawdled until more states had lifted their bans. Waiting is hard. Losing is worse.</p>
<p>As justification for such anxieties, look no further than President Obama. Earlier this year, he finally backed same-sex marriage. But he stopped short of declaring that the Constitution protects the right of same-sex couples to marry, as it does interracial couples.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Worrying that this case is premature is very different from saying that court protection is unnecessary. Some observers have looked at rapidly changing attitudes and suggested that court intervention is unwarranted and unwise.</p>
<p>This is an updated — and equally wrongheaded — version of the contention that the court’s declaration of a constitutional right to abortion pre-empted formation of a national consensus on the divisive subject. If only the court had stayed out, this argument goes, states would have moved on abortion rights.</p>
<p>Nonsense. The movement toward same-sex marriage — three states just approved marriage-equality measures, the first time such efforts had succeeded at the ballot box — is gratifying and instructive. Whether the Supreme Court follows election returns, the justices are exquisitely aware of the public mood.</p>
<p>Yet leaving the issue solely to public whim won’t work. Mississippi will never allow same-sex marriage, or, if it could choose, abortion. Its citizens deserve the same rights as those of Massachusetts.</p>
<p>This is the fundamental meaning of a national Constitution and the role of federal courts. Constitutional protection for marriage equality may not be immediate, but it is, ultimately, both essential and inevitable.</p>
<p>E-mail: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Copyright 2011, Washington Post Writers Group.</p> | Is It Too Soon for Marriage Ruling? | false | https://abqjournal.com/152885/is-it-too-soon-for-marriage-ruling.html | 2012-12-13 | 2least
| Is It Too Soon for Marriage Ruling?
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>WASHINGTON — Supreme Court litigation is a bit like bread-baking. If the dough goes in the oven too soon, before it’s had enough time to rise, the end product is unpalatable. Yet at a certain point, the oven beckons. Baking is key to the process.</p>
<p>This is the conundrum presented by the Supreme Court’s decision to tackle the subject of same-sex marriage. For those who believe in marriage equality, the court’s move is both exhilarating and scary.</p>
<p>To understand why, remember that the court agreed to hear two very different cases. One involves the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, and the question of whether the federal government, in states that recognize same-sex marriage, can refuse to provide some married couples the federal benefits available to others.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The court was widely expected to accept the DOMA case because the law was declared unconstitutional in the lower courts. It is possible to imagine a majority — the four liberal justices and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, most likely — agreeing. After all, the DOMA argument has overtones of federalism that ought to appeal to conservatives: the right of states to have their judgments about marriage respected by the federal government.</p>
<p>Moreover, the DOMA issue does not call on the court to wade into the far more controversial matter of whether the Constitution affirmatively requires states to grant same-sex couples an equal right to marry.</p>
<p>How the court decides the DOMA case will be illuminating for how the justices might deal with that question. For example, how strict a test will the justices apply to laws that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation? But striking down DOMA would be a much less consequential step — albeit an exhilarating one — than extending to same-sex couples a constitutional right to marry.</p>
<p>This issue is implicated by the second case, involving California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage. The court doesn’t have to reach the constitutional question in the California case, and my guess is it won’t. There are various offramps for the justices to take.</p>
<p>For example, the court raised the question of whether those arguing to reinstate Prop 8 had standing to do so. Even if it doesn’t avail itself of a procedural out, the court could avoid declaring — or rejecting — a broad right to marriage equality because of the unusual facts of California, which recognized same-sex marriage before voters rejected it. The appeals court relied on that about-face in declaring Prop 8 unconstitutional.</p>
<p>Still, the prospect that the justices could decide on the constitutional right to marry is unsettling, even scary, because it’s far easier to count five votes for “no” than for “yes.”</p>
<p>Much like the step-by-step litigation that produced Supreme Court victories against racial discrimination, the court may need time — and new members — to get there. On the then-divisive issue of interracial marriage, the Supreme Court deliberately dawdled until more states had lifted their bans. Waiting is hard. Losing is worse.</p>
<p>As justification for such anxieties, look no further than President Obama. Earlier this year, he finally backed same-sex marriage. But he stopped short of declaring that the Constitution protects the right of same-sex couples to marry, as it does interracial couples.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Worrying that this case is premature is very different from saying that court protection is unnecessary. Some observers have looked at rapidly changing attitudes and suggested that court intervention is unwarranted and unwise.</p>
<p>This is an updated — and equally wrongheaded — version of the contention that the court’s declaration of a constitutional right to abortion pre-empted formation of a national consensus on the divisive subject. If only the court had stayed out, this argument goes, states would have moved on abortion rights.</p>
<p>Nonsense. The movement toward same-sex marriage — three states just approved marriage-equality measures, the first time such efforts had succeeded at the ballot box — is gratifying and instructive. Whether the Supreme Court follows election returns, the justices are exquisitely aware of the public mood.</p>
<p>Yet leaving the issue solely to public whim won’t work. Mississippi will never allow same-sex marriage, or, if it could choose, abortion. Its citizens deserve the same rights as those of Massachusetts.</p>
<p>This is the fundamental meaning of a national Constitution and the role of federal courts. Constitutional protection for marriage equality may not be immediate, but it is, ultimately, both essential and inevitable.</p>
<p>E-mail: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Copyright 2011, Washington Post Writers Group.</p> | 3,569 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="http://wp.me/p3bwni-795" type="external">21st Century Wire</a> says…</p>
<p>The official <a href="http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/index.html" type="external">Bilderberg website</a> claims that the 60th Bilderberg Meeting will take place in or around the capital city of Copenhagen in Denmark, on the last week of May 2014.</p>
<p>A shortlist of possible venues in and around Copenhagen reveals a few contenders. Some online sources have put forth the Marriott Hotel in Copenhagen, which appears to be block booked between Wednesday, May 28th through to Sunday, June 1st. But as we will show you, Bilderberg may be held in two venues this year – an official ‘announced’ venue (Marriot Hotel) and a secret venue nearby, as what appears to be the case&#160;last year…</p>
<p>PHOTO: A partial glimpse of Bilderberg matriarch, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands at last year’s meeting.</p>
<p>A Bilderberg Red Herring in 2014?</p>
<p>It’s important to note that this year is the first time the location of their annual meeting has been announced by Bilderberg in advance, and any ‘official’ venue announcement could also be a diversion from its real location in or out of Copenhagen –&#160;or even outside of Denmark itself. Despite their announcement of this year’s event being in Denmark, both Belgium or the Netherlands still seem like more likely locations considering proximity to this year’s G7 in Brussels. We’ll see (or maybe we won’t).</p>
<p>Demonstrators hoping to gatecrash the annual embryonic global government confab should beware that the secretive organisation has already deployed slight of hand deception regarding the actual location of the main conference in order to herd activists and truth seekers to the wrong location, as looks to be the case in London in 2013…</p>
<p>‘Bait and Switch’</p>
<p>Last year, many hundreds of Bilderberg enthusiasts gathered at Watford’s Grove Hotel last summer, and even staged a ‘Bilderberg Festival’ on the adjacent grounds, but unknown to the alternative media crowds in attendance, the Grove Hotel was only an ‘R &amp; R’, or ‘rest and recovery’ venue for conference attendees Thursday to Sunday, with social events, golfing and <a href="" type="internal">at least one interesting corporate presentations for delegates</a>. Meanwhile, the real Bilderberg Conference actually took place on the other side of London, with steering committee meetings on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the luxury <a href="http://www.selsdonparkcroydon.co.uk/" type="external">Selsdon Park Hotel</a> resort (photo, Below) located in Croydon, South London – a venue with its own heliport and only minutes away from Gatwick International Airport.</p>
<p>SELSDON PARK: The real location of last year’s Bilderberg Meeting.</p>
<p>Although this information was available in the alternative media circles and on social media in advance of last year’s event (we are told that the original source of this information came via a law enforcement tip off), it was ignored by crowds who seemed more attracted to the party on offer rather than actual meeting. Everyone was hoodwinked it seems.</p>
<p>With last year’s event long over, there are few activists or alternative media pundits keen to entertain the possibility that they had been a victim of misdirection at the hands of Bilderberg, with some brushing off the plot as irrelevant in comparison to the ‘networking opportunity’ that Bilderberg 2013 provided them, and the sense of community felt at the Grove, which it was. As well-organised as the alternative media appear to have been however, it should be noted also how well-organised the Bilderbergers were in diverting their adversarial herd into a designer corral – all the way across town from the actual conference (there’s a real lesson in that for everyone).</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> BON VOYAGE BILDERBARGE: American Radio Host Alex Jones may have been bull-horning the wrong venue in 2013.</p>
<p>Another prime Conference, or ‘R &amp; R’ venue, for this year’s Bilderberg could be <a href="http://www.kokkedalslotcopenhagen.dk/en" type="external">Copenhagen’s Kokkedal Castle</a>, a secluded venue with suitable alternative access and egress points, along with golf course facilities and other function staging areas (and a dungeon or two), and it is also said to be fully booked from the 29th May 2014. Which ever venue it is, proximity and easy access to an international airport would be at the top of the organisers’ list.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.kokkedalslotcopenhagen.dk/en" type="external">Kokkedal Castle</a>: Could this be the venue for this year’s Bilderberg Meeting?</p>
<p>Bilderberg paradigm certainly shifted in 2013, a year which saw the formerly private meeting come out of the closet, posting what it said to <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10102170/Bilderberg-Group-2013-guest-list-and-agenda.html" type="external">its full guestlist and agenda in a major media outlet</a>, the London Telegraph, announcements of venues in advance and aided by the alternative media’s circus-like ‘fringe festival’ staged at the Grove Hotel that provided a convenient diversion away from the real location at Selsdon Park, indicates that Bilderberg is getting more proactive in terms of its PR management. It’s safe to say that Bilderberg has been forced into the public&#160;eye due to the fact that alternative and mainstream media coverage, as well as access to information on Bilderberg, has grown in recent years – making it impossible to remain completely in the shadows. In light of this shift, it’s safe to assume that&#160;Bilderberg will run diversions as standard, and that the meeting itself will contain less and less substance as the public light increases, as the global elite move out of their steering committees and nudge ever closer to implementing a working framework for their beloved world government institution.</p>
<p>This Year’s Agenda</p>
<p>Much has been made in the past of Bilderberg being an audition weekend for future US Presidents and UK Prime Ministers. Past attendees included Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, and even Barack Obama – who is said to have attended with Hillary Clinton during the 2008 primary race, and where a deal may have been brokered by Bilderberg for Hillary to stand down and wait until her turn in 2016. Other hopefuls like Texas Governor Rick Perry and GOP nominee Mitt Romney have showed their face before or during their campaign trails, so attendance itself does not necessarily mean they are selected for leadership. This year could see Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, or Florida’s Jeb Bush in attendance, which would send the Bilderberg rumours flying of course.</p>
<p>So rather than the meeting itself, what could be more important than VIP appearances – are announcements of other globalist events taking place before and after Bilderberg. Last year saw Google’s ‘Big Tent’ event which took place before Bilderberg at their Watford venue, and shortly afterwards, the G8 was held in Ireland. As <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire reported</a> last summer, one of their big announcements was of course the plan for a <a href="" type="internal">‘global taxation regime’</a>, which appeared to be a stage-managed crisis including a fake joust between UK Chancellor George Osbourne and Google ahead of the Google Summit. Nonetheless, all players appeared to be on board with the directive. This important development went mostly unnoticed by top alternative media outlets, who perhaps were more focused on the celebrity aspect which defined the spectacle that became Bilderberg 2013. Look for a similar globalist-corporate announcement or new policy directive likely to be rubber-stamped at Bilderberg this year.</p>
<p>One item certainly on their list will be negotiations on the EU-US <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/02/transatlantic-free-trade-deal-regulation-by-lawyers-eu-us" type="external">Transatlantic Partnership (TP)</a>and Free Trade Agreements, which the public and sleeping politicians are now waking up to. The TP is dangerous. Like its other half – the <a href="" type="internal">Transpacific Partnership (TPP)</a>, it gives transnational corporations and their lawyers dominion over a nation’s laws and sovereignty. TP working groups are already way ahead of any public discourse, giving the transnational corporations behind the TP a massive head start. Bilderberg’s captains of industry and political water carriers will certainly be working hard to accelerate their TP agenda during that week in Denmark.</p>
<p>Another one to look out for is any major IMF, ECB, or US Fed announcement after Bilderberg, specifically relating to <a href="" type="internal">global crisis in currency valuations</a>.</p>
<p>On the foreign policy and geopolitical front, the West’s severing of cooperation with Russia will be front and centre on the agenda, but look out for a major diplomatic crisis and announcement involving Iran before Bilderberg as globalists move on to the G7 (formerly G8, now sans Russia) the following week at the beginning of June 2014. The US are also in the process of ramping up the war in Syria for the summer of 2014, and new arms shipments to opposition fighters are already underway via Jordan, so Syria will be in the frame for sure.</p>
<p>Denmark certainly has the pedigree required for a Bilderberg bash, with many commentators pointing out its global government credentials, from its <a href="" type="internal">2009 UN Climate Summit ‘COP13’, where the framework for global government was unveiled to its much hyped ‘green image’</a>, Denmark is a bonafide internationalist nation, and synonymous with the word “progressive”, especially in liberal discourse. Interestingly, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt has also recently ascended into political celebrity status following the recent funeral of Nelson Mandela in South Africa, where she posed for a ‘selfie’ with Barack Obama and David Cameron (see her in photo below).</p>
<p>Rumour has it that PM Thorning-Schmidt is being groomed for one of the top EU positions, perhaps even President once top technocrat Herman Van Rompuy steps down this year.</p>
<p>It’s important to note that the EU is more of a template for a New World Government than even the UN, because the EU has achieved real override over an individual nation’s sovereignty in Europe. Also note that the EU is expanding, and its role in the civil, social and political life of its ‘member’ states is increasing every day. Here is some additional commentary on the link between Copenhagen and world government by Creatrix 13:</p>
<p>Stay tuned for more Bilderberg coverage at 21WIRE.</p>
<p>READ MORE BILDERBERG NEWS AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire Bilderberg Files</a></p>
<p>–</p> | Bilderberg 2014: Watch Out for the Red Herrings | true | http://21stcenturywire.com/2014/04/08/bilderberg-2014-watch-out-for-the-red-herring-in-copenhagen/ | 2014-04-08 | 4left
| Bilderberg 2014: Watch Out for the Red Herrings
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="http://wp.me/p3bwni-795" type="external">21st Century Wire</a> says…</p>
<p>The official <a href="http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/index.html" type="external">Bilderberg website</a> claims that the 60th Bilderberg Meeting will take place in or around the capital city of Copenhagen in Denmark, on the last week of May 2014.</p>
<p>A shortlist of possible venues in and around Copenhagen reveals a few contenders. Some online sources have put forth the Marriott Hotel in Copenhagen, which appears to be block booked between Wednesday, May 28th through to Sunday, June 1st. But as we will show you, Bilderberg may be held in two venues this year – an official ‘announced’ venue (Marriot Hotel) and a secret venue nearby, as what appears to be the case&#160;last year…</p>
<p>PHOTO: A partial glimpse of Bilderberg matriarch, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands at last year’s meeting.</p>
<p>A Bilderberg Red Herring in 2014?</p>
<p>It’s important to note that this year is the first time the location of their annual meeting has been announced by Bilderberg in advance, and any ‘official’ venue announcement could also be a diversion from its real location in or out of Copenhagen –&#160;or even outside of Denmark itself. Despite their announcement of this year’s event being in Denmark, both Belgium or the Netherlands still seem like more likely locations considering proximity to this year’s G7 in Brussels. We’ll see (or maybe we won’t).</p>
<p>Demonstrators hoping to gatecrash the annual embryonic global government confab should beware that the secretive organisation has already deployed slight of hand deception regarding the actual location of the main conference in order to herd activists and truth seekers to the wrong location, as looks to be the case in London in 2013…</p>
<p>‘Bait and Switch’</p>
<p>Last year, many hundreds of Bilderberg enthusiasts gathered at Watford’s Grove Hotel last summer, and even staged a ‘Bilderberg Festival’ on the adjacent grounds, but unknown to the alternative media crowds in attendance, the Grove Hotel was only an ‘R &amp; R’, or ‘rest and recovery’ venue for conference attendees Thursday to Sunday, with social events, golfing and <a href="" type="internal">at least one interesting corporate presentations for delegates</a>. Meanwhile, the real Bilderberg Conference actually took place on the other side of London, with steering committee meetings on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the luxury <a href="http://www.selsdonparkcroydon.co.uk/" type="external">Selsdon Park Hotel</a> resort (photo, Below) located in Croydon, South London – a venue with its own heliport and only minutes away from Gatwick International Airport.</p>
<p>SELSDON PARK: The real location of last year’s Bilderberg Meeting.</p>
<p>Although this information was available in the alternative media circles and on social media in advance of last year’s event (we are told that the original source of this information came via a law enforcement tip off), it was ignored by crowds who seemed more attracted to the party on offer rather than actual meeting. Everyone was hoodwinked it seems.</p>
<p>With last year’s event long over, there are few activists or alternative media pundits keen to entertain the possibility that they had been a victim of misdirection at the hands of Bilderberg, with some brushing off the plot as irrelevant in comparison to the ‘networking opportunity’ that Bilderberg 2013 provided them, and the sense of community felt at the Grove, which it was. As well-organised as the alternative media appear to have been however, it should be noted also how well-organised the Bilderbergers were in diverting their adversarial herd into a designer corral – all the way across town from the actual conference (there’s a real lesson in that for everyone).</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> BON VOYAGE BILDERBARGE: American Radio Host Alex Jones may have been bull-horning the wrong venue in 2013.</p>
<p>Another prime Conference, or ‘R &amp; R’ venue, for this year’s Bilderberg could be <a href="http://www.kokkedalslotcopenhagen.dk/en" type="external">Copenhagen’s Kokkedal Castle</a>, a secluded venue with suitable alternative access and egress points, along with golf course facilities and other function staging areas (and a dungeon or two), and it is also said to be fully booked from the 29th May 2014. Which ever venue it is, proximity and easy access to an international airport would be at the top of the organisers’ list.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.kokkedalslotcopenhagen.dk/en" type="external">Kokkedal Castle</a>: Could this be the venue for this year’s Bilderberg Meeting?</p>
<p>Bilderberg paradigm certainly shifted in 2013, a year which saw the formerly private meeting come out of the closet, posting what it said to <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10102170/Bilderberg-Group-2013-guest-list-and-agenda.html" type="external">its full guestlist and agenda in a major media outlet</a>, the London Telegraph, announcements of venues in advance and aided by the alternative media’s circus-like ‘fringe festival’ staged at the Grove Hotel that provided a convenient diversion away from the real location at Selsdon Park, indicates that Bilderberg is getting more proactive in terms of its PR management. It’s safe to say that Bilderberg has been forced into the public&#160;eye due to the fact that alternative and mainstream media coverage, as well as access to information on Bilderberg, has grown in recent years – making it impossible to remain completely in the shadows. In light of this shift, it’s safe to assume that&#160;Bilderberg will run diversions as standard, and that the meeting itself will contain less and less substance as the public light increases, as the global elite move out of their steering committees and nudge ever closer to implementing a working framework for their beloved world government institution.</p>
<p>This Year’s Agenda</p>
<p>Much has been made in the past of Bilderberg being an audition weekend for future US Presidents and UK Prime Ministers. Past attendees included Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, and even Barack Obama – who is said to have attended with Hillary Clinton during the 2008 primary race, and where a deal may have been brokered by Bilderberg for Hillary to stand down and wait until her turn in 2016. Other hopefuls like Texas Governor Rick Perry and GOP nominee Mitt Romney have showed their face before or during their campaign trails, so attendance itself does not necessarily mean they are selected for leadership. This year could see Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, or Florida’s Jeb Bush in attendance, which would send the Bilderberg rumours flying of course.</p>
<p>So rather than the meeting itself, what could be more important than VIP appearances – are announcements of other globalist events taking place before and after Bilderberg. Last year saw Google’s ‘Big Tent’ event which took place before Bilderberg at their Watford venue, and shortly afterwards, the G8 was held in Ireland. As <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire reported</a> last summer, one of their big announcements was of course the plan for a <a href="" type="internal">‘global taxation regime’</a>, which appeared to be a stage-managed crisis including a fake joust between UK Chancellor George Osbourne and Google ahead of the Google Summit. Nonetheless, all players appeared to be on board with the directive. This important development went mostly unnoticed by top alternative media outlets, who perhaps were more focused on the celebrity aspect which defined the spectacle that became Bilderberg 2013. Look for a similar globalist-corporate announcement or new policy directive likely to be rubber-stamped at Bilderberg this year.</p>
<p>One item certainly on their list will be negotiations on the EU-US <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/02/transatlantic-free-trade-deal-regulation-by-lawyers-eu-us" type="external">Transatlantic Partnership (TP)</a>and Free Trade Agreements, which the public and sleeping politicians are now waking up to. The TP is dangerous. Like its other half – the <a href="" type="internal">Transpacific Partnership (TPP)</a>, it gives transnational corporations and their lawyers dominion over a nation’s laws and sovereignty. TP working groups are already way ahead of any public discourse, giving the transnational corporations behind the TP a massive head start. Bilderberg’s captains of industry and political water carriers will certainly be working hard to accelerate their TP agenda during that week in Denmark.</p>
<p>Another one to look out for is any major IMF, ECB, or US Fed announcement after Bilderberg, specifically relating to <a href="" type="internal">global crisis in currency valuations</a>.</p>
<p>On the foreign policy and geopolitical front, the West’s severing of cooperation with Russia will be front and centre on the agenda, but look out for a major diplomatic crisis and announcement involving Iran before Bilderberg as globalists move on to the G7 (formerly G8, now sans Russia) the following week at the beginning of June 2014. The US are also in the process of ramping up the war in Syria for the summer of 2014, and new arms shipments to opposition fighters are already underway via Jordan, so Syria will be in the frame for sure.</p>
<p>Denmark certainly has the pedigree required for a Bilderberg bash, with many commentators pointing out its global government credentials, from its <a href="" type="internal">2009 UN Climate Summit ‘COP13’, where the framework for global government was unveiled to its much hyped ‘green image’</a>, Denmark is a bonafide internationalist nation, and synonymous with the word “progressive”, especially in liberal discourse. Interestingly, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt has also recently ascended into political celebrity status following the recent funeral of Nelson Mandela in South Africa, where she posed for a ‘selfie’ with Barack Obama and David Cameron (see her in photo below).</p>
<p>Rumour has it that PM Thorning-Schmidt is being groomed for one of the top EU positions, perhaps even President once top technocrat Herman Van Rompuy steps down this year.</p>
<p>It’s important to note that the EU is more of a template for a New World Government than even the UN, because the EU has achieved real override over an individual nation’s sovereignty in Europe. Also note that the EU is expanding, and its role in the civil, social and political life of its ‘member’ states is increasing every day. Here is some additional commentary on the link between Copenhagen and world government by Creatrix 13:</p>
<p>Stay tuned for more Bilderberg coverage at 21WIRE.</p>
<p>READ MORE BILDERBERG NEWS AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire Bilderberg Files</a></p>
<p>–</p> | 3,570 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>I recently found out on social media that my girlfriend’s husband viewed and copied my private photos, and shared them online with mutual male friends of ours. I’m devastated. My girlfriend is sorry to the max.</p>
<p>My husband isn’t yet aware of my exposure to others. I don’t want to tell him, but at the same time, I don’t want some guy spilling the beans. My girlfriend is helping to stop the sharing of my pictures. Should I hope for the best or tell my husband? – ASHAMED IN THE U.S.A.</p>
<p>DEAR ASHAMED: Inform your husband immediately about what happened because he needs to hear it from you.</p>
<p>Your friend’s carelessness in allowing her husband to see – and share – the photos was deplorable. It is nearly impossible now that those images have been posted online to stop their proliferation. That your friend’s husband would display such immaturity and poor judgment by showing them around is shocking.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>DEAR ABBY: My wife and I are at opposite ends of the political spectrum: I am conservative; she is liberal. We do our best not to argue about our strongly held views, but sometimes we are unsuccessful.</p>
<p>My problem is, she’ll have three TVs going, all tuned to her favorite political channel, while doing housework. I find it annoying. I usually leave the room when she’s going to do prolonged work in our home office and informs me that she will be listening to her channel. It’s the three-TV thing that I would like stopped. What do you suggest? – INUNDATED IN WASHINGTON</p>
<p>DEAR INUNDATED: Your wife should show you the same consideration that you show to her. In this case, she does not have to have three TVs blaring “her” channel throughout your home while she does housecleaning. She should have ONE television set on in the room she is in.</p>
<p>DEAR ABBY: My husband had not seen a dentist in 18 years. I come from a family of dentists, and dental health is very important to me. When I finally convinced my husband to go to the dentist because he’d broken a front tooth, he ended up needing eight extractions!</p>
<p>I’m happy he finally saw a dentist, but he rarely wears the bridges the dentist made for him. He looks like a jack-o’-lantern, and I’m embarrassed to be with him in public. I am having such a hard time with this that I no longer know if I can stay in this marriage.</p>
<p>He is a good man and a great husband and father, but his lack of teeth is almost more than I can handle. Any advice on how I can get him to wear his dentures daily? – EMBARRASSED IN NEW HAMPSHIRE</p>
<p>DEAR EMBARRASSED: Your husband may not be wearing the bridges the dentist made because they are uncomfortable. You may be able to convince him to wear them by encouraging him to return to the dentist who made them and have them adjusted until they fit properly.</p>
<p>Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.</p>
<p />
<p /> | DEAR ABBY: Wife’s private photo album makes its way onto the web | false | https://abqjournal.com/1096489/wifes-private-photo-album-makes-its-way-onto-the-web.html | 2least
| DEAR ABBY: Wife’s private photo album makes its way onto the web
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>I recently found out on social media that my girlfriend’s husband viewed and copied my private photos, and shared them online with mutual male friends of ours. I’m devastated. My girlfriend is sorry to the max.</p>
<p>My husband isn’t yet aware of my exposure to others. I don’t want to tell him, but at the same time, I don’t want some guy spilling the beans. My girlfriend is helping to stop the sharing of my pictures. Should I hope for the best or tell my husband? – ASHAMED IN THE U.S.A.</p>
<p>DEAR ASHAMED: Inform your husband immediately about what happened because he needs to hear it from you.</p>
<p>Your friend’s carelessness in allowing her husband to see – and share – the photos was deplorable. It is nearly impossible now that those images have been posted online to stop their proliferation. That your friend’s husband would display such immaturity and poor judgment by showing them around is shocking.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>DEAR ABBY: My wife and I are at opposite ends of the political spectrum: I am conservative; she is liberal. We do our best not to argue about our strongly held views, but sometimes we are unsuccessful.</p>
<p>My problem is, she’ll have three TVs going, all tuned to her favorite political channel, while doing housework. I find it annoying. I usually leave the room when she’s going to do prolonged work in our home office and informs me that she will be listening to her channel. It’s the three-TV thing that I would like stopped. What do you suggest? – INUNDATED IN WASHINGTON</p>
<p>DEAR INUNDATED: Your wife should show you the same consideration that you show to her. In this case, she does not have to have three TVs blaring “her” channel throughout your home while she does housecleaning. She should have ONE television set on in the room she is in.</p>
<p>DEAR ABBY: My husband had not seen a dentist in 18 years. I come from a family of dentists, and dental health is very important to me. When I finally convinced my husband to go to the dentist because he’d broken a front tooth, he ended up needing eight extractions!</p>
<p>I’m happy he finally saw a dentist, but he rarely wears the bridges the dentist made for him. He looks like a jack-o’-lantern, and I’m embarrassed to be with him in public. I am having such a hard time with this that I no longer know if I can stay in this marriage.</p>
<p>He is a good man and a great husband and father, but his lack of teeth is almost more than I can handle. Any advice on how I can get him to wear his dentures daily? – EMBARRASSED IN NEW HAMPSHIRE</p>
<p>DEAR EMBARRASSED: Your husband may not be wearing the bridges the dentist made because they are uncomfortable. You may be able to convince him to wear them by encouraging him to return to the dentist who made them and have them adjusted until they fit properly.</p>
<p>Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.</p>
<p />
<p /> | 3,571 |
|
<p>Deere &amp; Co. reported rising sales in its fiscal third quarter, but the metric fell short of analysts' expectations as the company works past the challenges facing U.S. farmers by extending its reach in higher-growth markets overseas.</p>
<p>The company said Friday that the farm and construction equipment market grew stronger during the quarter on increased demand in South America, helping boost farm machinery and construction equipment sales. Sales of Deere's green-and-yellow tractors and combines are projected to grow 10% in the current fiscal year.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The company also raised its full-year earnings guidance to $2.08 billion from $2 billion.</p>
<p>Elsewhere internationally, the Moline, Ill., company agreed to acquire Germany's Wirtgen Group for about 4.36 billion euros ($5.12 billion) in June. Wirtgen, with strong operations in China and Brazil, could be an opportunity for Deere to increase its volume those regions.</p>
<p>In its third quarter ended July 31, Deere reported a profit of $641.8 million, or $1.97 per share, compared with $488.8 million, or $1.55 a share, a year earlier.</p>
<p>Total revenue, including Deere's financial-services business, rose 16% to $7.81 billion. Net equipment sales reached $6.83 billion, up 17% from last year.</p>
<p>Analysts had expected Deere to earn $1.95 a share on net equipment sales of $6.92 billion.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Deere said sales of farm and construction equipment in the U.S. and Canada grew 11% in its third quarter, while sales elsewhere in the world increased 25%. Equipment sales are expected to climb 24% in the fourth quarter and rise 10% for the fiscal year.</p>
<p>Deere shares, which are up 60% in the last 12 months, fell 4.6% to $118.25 in premarket trading.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>August 18, 2017 08:43 ET (12:43 GMT)</p> | Deere Sales Miss Expectations Despite Strong Growth | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/08/18/deere-sales-miss-expectations-despite-strong-growth.html | 2017-08-18 | 0right
| Deere Sales Miss Expectations Despite Strong Growth
<p>Deere &amp; Co. reported rising sales in its fiscal third quarter, but the metric fell short of analysts' expectations as the company works past the challenges facing U.S. farmers by extending its reach in higher-growth markets overseas.</p>
<p>The company said Friday that the farm and construction equipment market grew stronger during the quarter on increased demand in South America, helping boost farm machinery and construction equipment sales. Sales of Deere's green-and-yellow tractors and combines are projected to grow 10% in the current fiscal year.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The company also raised its full-year earnings guidance to $2.08 billion from $2 billion.</p>
<p>Elsewhere internationally, the Moline, Ill., company agreed to acquire Germany's Wirtgen Group for about 4.36 billion euros ($5.12 billion) in June. Wirtgen, with strong operations in China and Brazil, could be an opportunity for Deere to increase its volume those regions.</p>
<p>In its third quarter ended July 31, Deere reported a profit of $641.8 million, or $1.97 per share, compared with $488.8 million, or $1.55 a share, a year earlier.</p>
<p>Total revenue, including Deere's financial-services business, rose 16% to $7.81 billion. Net equipment sales reached $6.83 billion, up 17% from last year.</p>
<p>Analysts had expected Deere to earn $1.95 a share on net equipment sales of $6.92 billion.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Deere said sales of farm and construction equipment in the U.S. and Canada grew 11% in its third quarter, while sales elsewhere in the world increased 25%. Equipment sales are expected to climb 24% in the fourth quarter and rise 10% for the fiscal year.</p>
<p>Deere shares, which are up 60% in the last 12 months, fell 4.6% to $118.25 in premarket trading.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>August 18, 2017 08:43 ET (12:43 GMT)</p> | 3,572 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>file photo</p>
<p>LAS CRUCES — Inside a filth-strewn residence on Picacho Avenue, Robynne Cox lived in constant fear of her boyfriend, Manuel Tellez-Edmond, who, according to a criminal complaint, confined Cox to the home under extreme physical and verbal abuse, and used drugs in the presence of their 11-month-old son, who had only been bathed four times in his life and later tested positive for methamphetamine.</p>
<p>But Cox, 21, eventually overcame her fear and reported her boyfriend to Las Cruces police, who arrested Tellez-Edmond, 18, on Jan. 12.</p>
<p>Tellez-Edmond was indicted Thursday by a Doña Ana County grand jury on six counts that include first-degree kidnapping; child abuse; aggravated assault against a household member with a deadly weapon; aggravated battery against a household member with a deadly weapon; trafficking; and possession of drug paraphernalia.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Tellez-Edmond’s mother, Margaret Edmond, 57, who also lived in the home, was arrested and charged late last month with one count of intentional child abuse. She has not been indicted.</p>
<p>Court documents filed in Magistrate Court depict Tellez-Edmond as a highly abusive and controlling individual, who repeatedly threatened Cox’s life, got her hooked on methamphetamine and neglected their son.</p>
<p>According to the court documents, Cox told police that the most recent abuse incident occurred on Jan. 10, two days before Tellez-Edmond was arrested.</p>
<p>After making numerous unknown accusations, Tellez-Edmond allegedly “threw her (Cox) on the ground and bit her on the back and then pulled her hair to turn (her) face to him and bit her twice on the chin,” the court documents state.</p>
<p>Next, Cox alleged that Tellez-Edmond loaded a handgun and pointed it at her eye, threatening to kill her, according to the indictment and court documents.</p>
<p>Tellez-Edmond then allegedly struck Cox on the head with the handgun, one of two found in the home along with two rifles and four “airsoft guns,” the court documents state.</p>
<p>The criminal complaint also notes that Cox had several bite marks on her chin and back, as well as bruises her biceps, hands and wrists, at the time she gave a statement to authorities.</p>
<p>According to the affidavit, Cox, who said she wasn’t allowed to leave the home unless it was for work and had her cell phone monitored by Tellez-Edmond, initially told a supervisor about the incident. She then went to police and reported Tellez-Edmond.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Because Tellez-Edmond had numerous firearms and was possibly under the influence of methamphetamine, police used its SWAT team to serve an arrest warrant. Tellez-Edmond exited the home without incident and was taken into custody.</p>
<p>Home conditions</p>
<p>Inside the home, detectives found more than 15 animals, mostly dogs, as well as a strong odor of urine and defecation, which covered floors throughout the home, according to the court documents.</p>
<p>Electricity was functional in only a portion of the home and there was no means of heating water, police reported. Detectives reportedly also found 5.8 grams of methamphetamine as well as drug paraphernalia commonly used to distribute methamphetamine.</p>
<p>A crib was found in a room belonging to Margaret Edmond, who said she was the baby’s primary caregiver, the court documents state.</p>
<p>Investigators also discovered a digital video recorder and cameras strategically placed within the home, police reported.</p>
<p>Baby’s plight</p>
<p>One of the cameras depicted activities at the infant’s crib and seemed to indicate that the young boy was removed from the crib for only 30 minutes to an hour a day, indicating the young boy had no contact with Tellez-Edmond and minimal daily contact with Cox and Edmond.</p>
<p>The video evidence purports to shows that the most regular contact the baby had was with the family’s pit bull terrier, which would lick the child’s face on occasion and appeared to keep the boy company, according to police.</p>
<p>According to the indictment, Tellez-Edmond “smoked and snorted” and sold methamphetamine in front of his infant son.</p>
<p>“After being removed from the home,” the indictment says, “a drug test was preformed on the child and he tested positive for methamphetamine.”</p>
<p>Tellez-Edmond admitted to police that he had not allowed Cox or his son to bathe in more than a month, according to the court documents. Police later learned the infant had only been bathed four times in almost a year.</p>
<p>He also told police that he has “anger problems” and has been “self-medicating with methamphetamine,” according to the court documents.</p>
<p>Tellez-Edmond remains jailed at the Doña Ana County Detention Center on a $40,000 bond. Edmond, who admitted to police that she was afraid of her son, also remains jailed on a $10,000 bond.</p>
<p>An arraignment for Tellez-Edmond has been scheduled for 8 a.m. Feb. 9 before Judge Lisa Schultz in 3rd Judicial District Court in Las Cruces.</p>
<p>Carlos Andres López can be reached at 575-541-5354.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>©2015 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.)</p>
<p>Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at <a href="http://www.lcsun-news.com" type="external">www.lcsun-news.com</a></p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC</p>
<p>———-</p>
<p>Topics: t000002490,t000002458,t000002487,t000002465,t000027866,t000027879,t000148159</p> | Dad accused of assault, child abuse indicted by grand jury | false | https://abqjournal.com/535783/dad-accused-of-assault-child-abuse-indicted-by-grand-jury.html | 2least
| Dad accused of assault, child abuse indicted by grand jury
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>file photo</p>
<p>LAS CRUCES — Inside a filth-strewn residence on Picacho Avenue, Robynne Cox lived in constant fear of her boyfriend, Manuel Tellez-Edmond, who, according to a criminal complaint, confined Cox to the home under extreme physical and verbal abuse, and used drugs in the presence of their 11-month-old son, who had only been bathed four times in his life and later tested positive for methamphetamine.</p>
<p>But Cox, 21, eventually overcame her fear and reported her boyfriend to Las Cruces police, who arrested Tellez-Edmond, 18, on Jan. 12.</p>
<p>Tellez-Edmond was indicted Thursday by a Doña Ana County grand jury on six counts that include first-degree kidnapping; child abuse; aggravated assault against a household member with a deadly weapon; aggravated battery against a household member with a deadly weapon; trafficking; and possession of drug paraphernalia.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Tellez-Edmond’s mother, Margaret Edmond, 57, who also lived in the home, was arrested and charged late last month with one count of intentional child abuse. She has not been indicted.</p>
<p>Court documents filed in Magistrate Court depict Tellez-Edmond as a highly abusive and controlling individual, who repeatedly threatened Cox’s life, got her hooked on methamphetamine and neglected their son.</p>
<p>According to the court documents, Cox told police that the most recent abuse incident occurred on Jan. 10, two days before Tellez-Edmond was arrested.</p>
<p>After making numerous unknown accusations, Tellez-Edmond allegedly “threw her (Cox) on the ground and bit her on the back and then pulled her hair to turn (her) face to him and bit her twice on the chin,” the court documents state.</p>
<p>Next, Cox alleged that Tellez-Edmond loaded a handgun and pointed it at her eye, threatening to kill her, according to the indictment and court documents.</p>
<p>Tellez-Edmond then allegedly struck Cox on the head with the handgun, one of two found in the home along with two rifles and four “airsoft guns,” the court documents state.</p>
<p>The criminal complaint also notes that Cox had several bite marks on her chin and back, as well as bruises her biceps, hands and wrists, at the time she gave a statement to authorities.</p>
<p>According to the affidavit, Cox, who said she wasn’t allowed to leave the home unless it was for work and had her cell phone monitored by Tellez-Edmond, initially told a supervisor about the incident. She then went to police and reported Tellez-Edmond.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Because Tellez-Edmond had numerous firearms and was possibly under the influence of methamphetamine, police used its SWAT team to serve an arrest warrant. Tellez-Edmond exited the home without incident and was taken into custody.</p>
<p>Home conditions</p>
<p>Inside the home, detectives found more than 15 animals, mostly dogs, as well as a strong odor of urine and defecation, which covered floors throughout the home, according to the court documents.</p>
<p>Electricity was functional in only a portion of the home and there was no means of heating water, police reported. Detectives reportedly also found 5.8 grams of methamphetamine as well as drug paraphernalia commonly used to distribute methamphetamine.</p>
<p>A crib was found in a room belonging to Margaret Edmond, who said she was the baby’s primary caregiver, the court documents state.</p>
<p>Investigators also discovered a digital video recorder and cameras strategically placed within the home, police reported.</p>
<p>Baby’s plight</p>
<p>One of the cameras depicted activities at the infant’s crib and seemed to indicate that the young boy was removed from the crib for only 30 minutes to an hour a day, indicating the young boy had no contact with Tellez-Edmond and minimal daily contact with Cox and Edmond.</p>
<p>The video evidence purports to shows that the most regular contact the baby had was with the family’s pit bull terrier, which would lick the child’s face on occasion and appeared to keep the boy company, according to police.</p>
<p>According to the indictment, Tellez-Edmond “smoked and snorted” and sold methamphetamine in front of his infant son.</p>
<p>“After being removed from the home,” the indictment says, “a drug test was preformed on the child and he tested positive for methamphetamine.”</p>
<p>Tellez-Edmond admitted to police that he had not allowed Cox or his son to bathe in more than a month, according to the court documents. Police later learned the infant had only been bathed four times in almost a year.</p>
<p>He also told police that he has “anger problems” and has been “self-medicating with methamphetamine,” according to the court documents.</p>
<p>Tellez-Edmond remains jailed at the Doña Ana County Detention Center on a $40,000 bond. Edmond, who admitted to police that she was afraid of her son, also remains jailed on a $10,000 bond.</p>
<p>An arraignment for Tellez-Edmond has been scheduled for 8 a.m. Feb. 9 before Judge Lisa Schultz in 3rd Judicial District Court in Las Cruces.</p>
<p>Carlos Andres López can be reached at 575-541-5354.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>©2015 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.)</p>
<p>Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at <a href="http://www.lcsun-news.com" type="external">www.lcsun-news.com</a></p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC</p>
<p>———-</p>
<p>Topics: t000002490,t000002458,t000002487,t000002465,t000027866,t000027879,t000148159</p> | 3,573 |
|
<p>BOSTON — The presses will stop at The Boston Phoenix.</p>
<p>The 47-year-old tabloid-sized newspaper which only recently reinvented itself into a glossy magazine will be closing immediately, according to a statement from the company.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.boston.com/culturedesk/2013/03/14/phoenix/QqQzavbEwKfG70lq9GCWVO/story.html" type="external">A press release from Phoenix Media said</a>:</p>
<p>With the issue dated March 15, The Phoenix, the 47 year old alternative arts and news weekly will cease print publication. The online issue slated for the week of March 22, will be the publication’s last.</p>
<p>The Portland Phoenix in Maine and the Providence Phoenix in Rhode Island will be unaffected. They will continue weekly publication.</p>
<p>The Phoenix's Twitter account posted this last message:</p>
<p>Thank you Boston. Good night and good luck.</p>
<p>— Boston Phoenix (@BostonPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/BostonPhoenix/status/312274833822085120" type="external">March 14, 2013</a></p>
<p>Publisher Stephen Mindich sent a memo to staff announcing the changes.</p>
<p>What I can and will say is I am extremely proud, as all of you should be, of the highest standards of journalism we have set and maintained throughout the decades in all of our areas of coverage and the important role we have played in driving political and socially progressive and responsible agendas; in covering the worlds of arts and entertainment, food and fashion – always with a critical view, while at the same time promoting their enormous importance in maintaining a healthy society; and in advocating for the recognition and acceptance of a wide range of lifestyles that are so valuable for a vibrant society.</p>
<p>Many were sorry to see the publication go:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>[ <a href="//storify.com/globalpost/boston-phoenix-closing-greeted-with-sadness" type="external">View the story "Boston Phoenix closing greeted with sadness" on Storify</a>]</p> | Boston Phoenix closing | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-03-14/boston-phoenix-closing | 2013-03-14 | 3left-center
| Boston Phoenix closing
<p>BOSTON — The presses will stop at The Boston Phoenix.</p>
<p>The 47-year-old tabloid-sized newspaper which only recently reinvented itself into a glossy magazine will be closing immediately, according to a statement from the company.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.boston.com/culturedesk/2013/03/14/phoenix/QqQzavbEwKfG70lq9GCWVO/story.html" type="external">A press release from Phoenix Media said</a>:</p>
<p>With the issue dated March 15, The Phoenix, the 47 year old alternative arts and news weekly will cease print publication. The online issue slated for the week of March 22, will be the publication’s last.</p>
<p>The Portland Phoenix in Maine and the Providence Phoenix in Rhode Island will be unaffected. They will continue weekly publication.</p>
<p>The Phoenix's Twitter account posted this last message:</p>
<p>Thank you Boston. Good night and good luck.</p>
<p>— Boston Phoenix (@BostonPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/BostonPhoenix/status/312274833822085120" type="external">March 14, 2013</a></p>
<p>Publisher Stephen Mindich sent a memo to staff announcing the changes.</p>
<p>What I can and will say is I am extremely proud, as all of you should be, of the highest standards of journalism we have set and maintained throughout the decades in all of our areas of coverage and the important role we have played in driving political and socially progressive and responsible agendas; in covering the worlds of arts and entertainment, food and fashion – always with a critical view, while at the same time promoting their enormous importance in maintaining a healthy society; and in advocating for the recognition and acceptance of a wide range of lifestyles that are so valuable for a vibrant society.</p>
<p>Many were sorry to see the publication go:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>[ <a href="//storify.com/globalpost/boston-phoenix-closing-greeted-with-sadness" type="external">View the story "Boston Phoenix closing greeted with sadness" on Storify</a>]</p> | 3,574 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The song is about a debutante who becomes a loner when she's cast from upper-class social circles.</p>
<p>The draft is written in pencil on four sheets of hotel letterhead stationery, with revisions, additions, notes and doodles: a hat, a bird, an animal with antlers. The stationery comes from the Roger Smith Hotel in Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>"How does it feel To be on your own" it says in his handwriting. "No direction home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone."</p>
<p>Scrawls seem to reflect the artist's experimentation with rhymes.</p>
<p>The name "Al Capone" is scrawled in the margin, with a line leading to the lyrics "Like a complete unknown." Another note says: "" dry vermouth, you'll tell the truth ""</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Dylan was only 24 when he recorded the song in 1965.</p>
<p>The auction is June 24 as part of Sotheby's rock and pop music sale. The auction house described the seller as a longtime fan from California "who met his hero in a non-rock context and bought directly from Dylan." He was not identified.</p>
<p>Sotheby's says it is "the only known surviving draft of the final lyrics for this transformative rock anthem."</p>
<p /> | Dylan's 'Like a Rolling Stone' at auction | false | https://abqjournal.com/393302/dylans-like-a-rolling-stone-at-auction.html | 2least
| Dylan's 'Like a Rolling Stone' at auction
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The song is about a debutante who becomes a loner when she's cast from upper-class social circles.</p>
<p>The draft is written in pencil on four sheets of hotel letterhead stationery, with revisions, additions, notes and doodles: a hat, a bird, an animal with antlers. The stationery comes from the Roger Smith Hotel in Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>"How does it feel To be on your own" it says in his handwriting. "No direction home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone."</p>
<p>Scrawls seem to reflect the artist's experimentation with rhymes.</p>
<p>The name "Al Capone" is scrawled in the margin, with a line leading to the lyrics "Like a complete unknown." Another note says: "" dry vermouth, you'll tell the truth ""</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Dylan was only 24 when he recorded the song in 1965.</p>
<p>The auction is June 24 as part of Sotheby's rock and pop music sale. The auction house described the seller as a longtime fan from California "who met his hero in a non-rock context and bought directly from Dylan." He was not identified.</p>
<p>Sotheby's says it is "the only known surviving draft of the final lyrics for this transformative rock anthem."</p>
<p /> | 3,575 |
|
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>GARCIA MARQUEZ: Died of cancer last year</p>
<p>Since his death of cancer at age 87, Garcia Marquez's ability to delight audiences has only grown, his name cropping up on everything from several documentary films to a bottle of rum.</p>
<p>His best-known work, "One Hundred Years of Solitude," continues to crop up on best-seller lists around the world. Colombia's congress is even debating legislation for putting his affable grin and bushy eyebrows on a new banknote.</p>
<p>Garcia Marquez's native Colombia inspired and dismayed the author in equal measure, and the feeling was often mutual. The main memorial a year ago took place in Mexico City, the author's home for decades, and the family's decision to sell his personal archive to the University of Texas in Austin for $2.2 million irked Colombian sensibilities.</p>
<p>But any lingering resentment appeared to have lifted.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>On Friday, the National Library in Bogota exhibited personal objects donated by the author's family, including the gold Nobel Prize medal and the first Smith-Corona typewriter he used when writing "One Hundred Years."</p>
<p>Across town, the National Museum displayed the traditional linen suit that the author wore when he accepted the Nobel Prize in 1982.</p>
<p>And the guest of honor at Bogota's International Book Fair next week will be "Macondo," the fictitious Caribbean town made famous by Garcia Marquez.</p>
<p /> | Colombians honor Garcia Marquez | false | https://abqjournal.com/571365/colombians-honor-garcia-marquez.html | 2least
| Colombians honor Garcia Marquez
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>GARCIA MARQUEZ: Died of cancer last year</p>
<p>Since his death of cancer at age 87, Garcia Marquez's ability to delight audiences has only grown, his name cropping up on everything from several documentary films to a bottle of rum.</p>
<p>His best-known work, "One Hundred Years of Solitude," continues to crop up on best-seller lists around the world. Colombia's congress is even debating legislation for putting his affable grin and bushy eyebrows on a new banknote.</p>
<p>Garcia Marquez's native Colombia inspired and dismayed the author in equal measure, and the feeling was often mutual. The main memorial a year ago took place in Mexico City, the author's home for decades, and the family's decision to sell his personal archive to the University of Texas in Austin for $2.2 million irked Colombian sensibilities.</p>
<p>But any lingering resentment appeared to have lifted.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>On Friday, the National Library in Bogota exhibited personal objects donated by the author's family, including the gold Nobel Prize medal and the first Smith-Corona typewriter he used when writing "One Hundred Years."</p>
<p>Across town, the National Museum displayed the traditional linen suit that the author wore when he accepted the Nobel Prize in 1982.</p>
<p>And the guest of honor at Bogota's International Book Fair next week will be "Macondo," the fictitious Caribbean town made famous by Garcia Marquez.</p>
<p /> | 3,576 |
|
<p>In one of his first moves since becoming the President-Elect, Donald Trump has chosen one of the worst human beings in the country as his Chief Strategist. Steve Bannon was the Editor in Chief of Breitbart News, a site that’s popular with white nationalists. Democrats in Congress have penned a letter asking Trump to fire Bannon. Every single Republican sided with the white nationalist. If that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about today’s Republican party, nothing will.</p>
<p>Why do white nationalists flock to Bannon’s former site? Well, for one thing, the site defends white nationalists. If you want to be creeped out, <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/03/29/an-establishment-conservatives-guide-to-the-alt-right/" type="external">read this</a>. If you aren’t sure what the alt-right is, this article will tell you in chilling detail about the pro-Russian isolationists who believe in studying race differences, with, of course, white Christians coming out on top.</p>
<p>Then there are <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/05/30/ferguson-effect-americas-new-crime-wave-is-all-part-of-the-plan/" type="external">articles blaming African-Americans</a>, really for nearly everything, but especially for crime.</p>
<p>In normal times, Washington conservatives and the Bannon alt-right can’t stand each other. The alt-right is isolationist. Washington conservatives are hawkish. More significantly, as the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/08/18/the-breitbart-alt-right-just-took-over-the-gop/?utm_term=.791c68d5a2b2" type="external">Washington Post</a> put it:</p>
<p>Constitutional conservatives can’t stand the alt-right. Conservatives — real conservatives — believe that only a philosophy of limited government, God-given rights and personal responsibility can save the country. And that creed is not bound to race or ethnicity. Broad swaths of the alt-right, by contrast, believe in a creed-free, race-based nationalism, insisting, among other things, that birth on American soil confers superiority. The alt-right sees limited-government constitutionalism as passé; it holds that only nationalist populism on the basis of shared tribal identity can save the country. It’s a movement shot through with racism and anti-Semitism.</p>
<p>Not this year. Donald Trump has effectively normalized the underbelly of racism. While Congress for years has been hinting at their own racism with their refusal to acknowledge the legitimacy of our first African-American President, few have admitted their racism, until now.</p>
<p>If you still aren’t convinced, those applauding the Bannon appointment include former KKK leader David Duke and the chairman of the Nazi Party. Nearly every civil rights group opposed the appointment.</p>
<p>When Democrats wrote the letter, signed by 169 members of Congress, to fire Bannon, not a single Republican was brave enough or had enough integrity to agree that a white nationalist shouldn’t be in the White House.</p>
<p>Here’s one of the key passages:</p>
<p>Since the election there have been a number of incidents across the country in which minorities, including Muslim-Americans, African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Jewish-Americans have been the targets of violence, harassment and intimidation. Mr. Bannon’s appointment sends the wrong message to people who have engaged in those types of activities, indicating that they will not only be tolerated, but endorsed by your administration. Millions of Americans have expressed fear and concern about how they will be treated by the Trump administration, and your appointment of Mr. Bannon only exacerbates and validates their concerns.</p>
<p />
<p>There is little political fallout from disavowing a white nationalist, at least you’d think, but the Republican voters have proven that racism and white supremacy no longer belong in the closet. The mostly white Republicans in Congress might still keep pretending that they aren’t as racist as their party’s President Elect, but their failure to sign this letter was really all we needed to know.</p>
<p>Featured image via <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/license/621954912" type="external">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a>.</p> | In One Cowardice Move, GOP Congress Just PROVED They’re As Racist As Trump | true | http://addictinginfo.org/2016/11/16/in-one-cowardice-move-gop-congress-just-proved-theyre-as-racist-as-trump/ | 2016-11-16 | 4left
| In One Cowardice Move, GOP Congress Just PROVED They’re As Racist As Trump
<p>In one of his first moves since becoming the President-Elect, Donald Trump has chosen one of the worst human beings in the country as his Chief Strategist. Steve Bannon was the Editor in Chief of Breitbart News, a site that’s popular with white nationalists. Democrats in Congress have penned a letter asking Trump to fire Bannon. Every single Republican sided with the white nationalist. If that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about today’s Republican party, nothing will.</p>
<p>Why do white nationalists flock to Bannon’s former site? Well, for one thing, the site defends white nationalists. If you want to be creeped out, <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/03/29/an-establishment-conservatives-guide-to-the-alt-right/" type="external">read this</a>. If you aren’t sure what the alt-right is, this article will tell you in chilling detail about the pro-Russian isolationists who believe in studying race differences, with, of course, white Christians coming out on top.</p>
<p>Then there are <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/05/30/ferguson-effect-americas-new-crime-wave-is-all-part-of-the-plan/" type="external">articles blaming African-Americans</a>, really for nearly everything, but especially for crime.</p>
<p>In normal times, Washington conservatives and the Bannon alt-right can’t stand each other. The alt-right is isolationist. Washington conservatives are hawkish. More significantly, as the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/08/18/the-breitbart-alt-right-just-took-over-the-gop/?utm_term=.791c68d5a2b2" type="external">Washington Post</a> put it:</p>
<p>Constitutional conservatives can’t stand the alt-right. Conservatives — real conservatives — believe that only a philosophy of limited government, God-given rights and personal responsibility can save the country. And that creed is not bound to race or ethnicity. Broad swaths of the alt-right, by contrast, believe in a creed-free, race-based nationalism, insisting, among other things, that birth on American soil confers superiority. The alt-right sees limited-government constitutionalism as passé; it holds that only nationalist populism on the basis of shared tribal identity can save the country. It’s a movement shot through with racism and anti-Semitism.</p>
<p>Not this year. Donald Trump has effectively normalized the underbelly of racism. While Congress for years has been hinting at their own racism with their refusal to acknowledge the legitimacy of our first African-American President, few have admitted their racism, until now.</p>
<p>If you still aren’t convinced, those applauding the Bannon appointment include former KKK leader David Duke and the chairman of the Nazi Party. Nearly every civil rights group opposed the appointment.</p>
<p>When Democrats wrote the letter, signed by 169 members of Congress, to fire Bannon, not a single Republican was brave enough or had enough integrity to agree that a white nationalist shouldn’t be in the White House.</p>
<p>Here’s one of the key passages:</p>
<p>Since the election there have been a number of incidents across the country in which minorities, including Muslim-Americans, African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Jewish-Americans have been the targets of violence, harassment and intimidation. Mr. Bannon’s appointment sends the wrong message to people who have engaged in those types of activities, indicating that they will not only be tolerated, but endorsed by your administration. Millions of Americans have expressed fear and concern about how they will be treated by the Trump administration, and your appointment of Mr. Bannon only exacerbates and validates their concerns.</p>
<p />
<p>There is little political fallout from disavowing a white nationalist, at least you’d think, but the Republican voters have proven that racism and white supremacy no longer belong in the closet. The mostly white Republicans in Congress might still keep pretending that they aren’t as racist as their party’s President Elect, but their failure to sign this letter was really all we needed to know.</p>
<p>Featured image via <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/license/621954912" type="external">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a>.</p> | 3,577 |
<p>CAIRO, Egypt — Thousands gathered after midday prayers in response to the Muslim Brotherhood's call for a "Day of Rage."</p>
<p>Morsi supporters were joined by a healthy contingent of people who said they were not there for the ousted president, but instead because they were disgusted at the security services' brutal repression of supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi two days earlier.</p>
<p>Protesters at Ramses Square in central Cairo chanted vociferously against the military and the interior ministry. Hoisted upon the shoulders of a friend, one young man directed the crowd through a Mexican wave to accompany their jeers.</p>
<p>After one of Egypt's bloodiest weeks in its modern history, the protesters' defiance was underpinned by real anger.</p>
<p>"The army shot us in the streets on Wednesday," Mohamed Ali said. "How can we stand for that? I was a military man; I served three years in the army. These men who now run the country are not patriotic, you cannot call them Egyptians."</p>
<p>Egypt is as divided as ever. Many have welcomed the joint military and police operation to clear tens of thousands of pro-Morsi supporters from their encampments, arguing they were a threat to national security.</p>
<p>But when the first pops of gunfire sounded out from atop the October 6th Bridge, a flyover that crosses the square, the protesters' mood changed in a moment.</p>
<p>Crowds below stood frozen as they watched the dozens marching on the bridge flatten to the ground.</p>
<p>Then the square sprang into life: young men lit fires to combat police tear gas, ripped iron fences from the ground and broke up the pavement to hurl back at security forces.</p>
<p>The casualties came fast and were ferried into the nearby al-Fateh mosque. Inside, families crowded around their loved ones, fashioning makeshift tourniquets in desperate attempts to stem the blood from their wounds.</p>
<p>For many, the interventions came too late. By nightfall, dozens of dead bodies lay at the back of the mosque. And according to reports, police and army troops had it surrounded. &#160;</p> | Reporter's notebook: death in Cairo's Ramses Square | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-08-17/reporters-notebook-death-cairos-ramses-square | 2013-08-17 | 3left-center
| Reporter's notebook: death in Cairo's Ramses Square
<p>CAIRO, Egypt — Thousands gathered after midday prayers in response to the Muslim Brotherhood's call for a "Day of Rage."</p>
<p>Morsi supporters were joined by a healthy contingent of people who said they were not there for the ousted president, but instead because they were disgusted at the security services' brutal repression of supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi two days earlier.</p>
<p>Protesters at Ramses Square in central Cairo chanted vociferously against the military and the interior ministry. Hoisted upon the shoulders of a friend, one young man directed the crowd through a Mexican wave to accompany their jeers.</p>
<p>After one of Egypt's bloodiest weeks in its modern history, the protesters' defiance was underpinned by real anger.</p>
<p>"The army shot us in the streets on Wednesday," Mohamed Ali said. "How can we stand for that? I was a military man; I served three years in the army. These men who now run the country are not patriotic, you cannot call them Egyptians."</p>
<p>Egypt is as divided as ever. Many have welcomed the joint military and police operation to clear tens of thousands of pro-Morsi supporters from their encampments, arguing they were a threat to national security.</p>
<p>But when the first pops of gunfire sounded out from atop the October 6th Bridge, a flyover that crosses the square, the protesters' mood changed in a moment.</p>
<p>Crowds below stood frozen as they watched the dozens marching on the bridge flatten to the ground.</p>
<p>Then the square sprang into life: young men lit fires to combat police tear gas, ripped iron fences from the ground and broke up the pavement to hurl back at security forces.</p>
<p>The casualties came fast and were ferried into the nearby al-Fateh mosque. Inside, families crowded around their loved ones, fashioning makeshift tourniquets in desperate attempts to stem the blood from their wounds.</p>
<p>For many, the interventions came too late. By nightfall, dozens of dead bodies lay at the back of the mosque. And according to reports, police and army troops had it surrounded. &#160;</p> | 3,578 |
<p>Consumer advocates say the new YouTube Kids mobile app targets children with unfair and deceptive advertising, and they're asking federal regulators to investigate.</p>
<p>Google introduced the app in February as a "safer" place for kids to explore videos because it was restricted to "family-focused content."</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But consumer activists say the app is so stuffed with advertisements and product placements that it's hard to tell the difference between entertainment and commercials. One example is a 7-minute video of Disney's "Frozen" characters who appear as dolls inside a toy McDonald's eating ice cream and drinking Sprite.</p>
<p>In a letter Tuesday to the Federal Trade Commission, the activists say digital media should be subject to the same rules as television, which limits commercial content on kids' programming.</p> | Consumer groups say YouTube Kids uses deceptive advertising, urges FTC investigation | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2015/04/07/consumer-groups-say-youtube-kids-uses-deceptive-advertising-urges-ftc.html | 2016-03-09 | 0right
| Consumer groups say YouTube Kids uses deceptive advertising, urges FTC investigation
<p>Consumer advocates say the new YouTube Kids mobile app targets children with unfair and deceptive advertising, and they're asking federal regulators to investigate.</p>
<p>Google introduced the app in February as a "safer" place for kids to explore videos because it was restricted to "family-focused content."</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But consumer activists say the app is so stuffed with advertisements and product placements that it's hard to tell the difference between entertainment and commercials. One example is a 7-minute video of Disney's "Frozen" characters who appear as dolls inside a toy McDonald's eating ice cream and drinking Sprite.</p>
<p>In a letter Tuesday to the Federal Trade Commission, the activists say digital media should be subject to the same rules as television, which limits commercial content on kids' programming.</p> | 3,579 |
<p>Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, on the president's immigration reform push and battle with Sen. Corker.</p>
<p>President Trump laid out his plans to change the country’s immigration system on Sunday in exchange for a deal on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, told FOX Business, she’s hopeful Democrats will agree to the deal.</p>
<p>Top immigration priorities reportedly include building the border wall, hiring 10,000 ICE officers and 600 prosecutors, using mandatory e-verify and a new points-based system for green cards.</p>
<p>“I don’t know what’s so unreasonable about wanting to have 300 new immigration judges, 10,000 additional ice agents because these folks just don’t have the resources they need to enforce our existing laws,” Conway said on “ <a href="" type="internal">Mornings with Maria</a>”. “It still is very vexing, all the folks who are trying to come into this country illegally.”</p>
<p>Democrat leaders, Pelosi and Schumer pushed back on the plan, saying the list of demands “goes so far beyond what is reasonable” and “fails to represent any attempt at compromise,” in a joint statement.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>However, in Conway’s opinion, the President is not pushing a new idea, he is enforcing “the laws that exist”.</p>
<p>“People are flatting laws, folks are looking the other way, and again, it’s a real challenge to the Democrats to go home and tell their constituents, “What is so unreasonable about enforcing the law, about stop[ping] granting sanctuary to illegal aliens in some cases we know have been deported multiple times, have broken the law multiple times and have murdered or been responsible for the death of Americans,” she said.</p> | Kellyanne Conway on immigration: What is so unreasonable about enforcing the law? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/10/09/kellyanne-conway-on-immigration-what-is-so-unreasonable-about-enforcing-law.html | 2017-10-09 | 0right
| Kellyanne Conway on immigration: What is so unreasonable about enforcing the law?
<p>Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, on the president's immigration reform push and battle with Sen. Corker.</p>
<p>President Trump laid out his plans to change the country’s immigration system on Sunday in exchange for a deal on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, told FOX Business, she’s hopeful Democrats will agree to the deal.</p>
<p>Top immigration priorities reportedly include building the border wall, hiring 10,000 ICE officers and 600 prosecutors, using mandatory e-verify and a new points-based system for green cards.</p>
<p>“I don’t know what’s so unreasonable about wanting to have 300 new immigration judges, 10,000 additional ice agents because these folks just don’t have the resources they need to enforce our existing laws,” Conway said on “ <a href="" type="internal">Mornings with Maria</a>”. “It still is very vexing, all the folks who are trying to come into this country illegally.”</p>
<p>Democrat leaders, Pelosi and Schumer pushed back on the plan, saying the list of demands “goes so far beyond what is reasonable” and “fails to represent any attempt at compromise,” in a joint statement.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>However, in Conway’s opinion, the President is not pushing a new idea, he is enforcing “the laws that exist”.</p>
<p>“People are flatting laws, folks are looking the other way, and again, it’s a real challenge to the Democrats to go home and tell their constituents, “What is so unreasonable about enforcing the law, about stop[ping] granting sanctuary to illegal aliens in some cases we know have been deported multiple times, have broken the law multiple times and have murdered or been responsible for the death of Americans,” she said.</p> | 3,580 |
<p>The world's biggest container-ship operator sharpens focus on core business</p>
<p>This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (September 21, 2017).</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S on Wednesday said it would sell its tankers unit to its controlling shareholder for $1.17 billion, the latest move by the Danish shipping and energy conglomerate to break up its sprawling operations and focus on container shipping.</p>
<p>The sale of Maersk Tankers A/S, one of the world's largest operators of oil tankers, follows on the conglomerate's decision a year ago to separate its transport and energy businesses.</p>
<p>Under that plan, Maersk announced last month the sale of its Maersk Oil unit to France's Total SA for $4.95 billion. It still has its Maersk Drilling division, which operates oil and gas rigs mainly in the North Sea, and Maersk Supply, a fleet of 44 support ships for offshore operations, to sell or list.</p>
<p>Maersk Chief Executive Soren Skou said Wednesday the sale of Maersk Tankers represents "an important step in our strategy to free up resources and focus growth in A.P. Moeller-Maersk on container shipping, ports and logistics."</p>
<p>The company is trying to reshape itself into a global supply-chain player like United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. The shipping unit, Maersk Line, is the world's biggest container operator in terms of capacity.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The tankers unit is being bought by APMH Invest A/S, a subsidiary of A.P. Moller Holding A/S -- the controlling shareholder of A.P. Moller-Maersk. After the sale is completed, the buyer plans to establish a consortium with Japan's Mitsui &amp; Co. Ltd. to hold the tankers business.</p>
<p>Headed by Maersk family heir Robert Uggla, A.P. Moller Holding is a private investment arm that controls 41.5% of Maersk shares and 51% of shareholder votes. It also controls 20% of Danske Bank, one of Denmark's largest financial institutions.</p>
<p>A.P. Moller Holding said it is looking for other acquisitions as part of its strategy to develop a new portfolio of companies. It recently set up A.P. Moller Capital, which will invest in infrastructure projects.</p>
<p>Maersk has owned the tanker business since 1928. The unit transports refined oil products around the world, has a fleet of 161 vessels and employs 3,100 people. Maersk said it would use the proceeds from the sale to reduce debt.</p>
<p>Mitsui is one of Japan's biggest trading companies, with interests in energy, chemicals, food, textiles, logistics and machinery. Its assets are worth $102.7 billion and its revenue for its most recent fiscal year was $39 billion.</p>
<p>Corrections &amp; Amplifications Maersk Chief Executive Soren Skou said Wednesday's sale represented "an important step in our strategy." An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the day as Thursday. (Sept. 20, 2017)</p>
<p>Write to Dominic Chopping at [email protected] and Costas Paris at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>September 21, 2017 05:15 ET (09:15 GMT)</p> | Sharpening Its Focus, Maersk Agrees to Sell Tanker Business for $1.17 Billion -- WSJ | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/09/21/sharpening-its-focus-maersk-agrees-to-sell-tanker-business-for-1-17-billion-wsj.html | 2017-09-21 | 0right
| Sharpening Its Focus, Maersk Agrees to Sell Tanker Business for $1.17 Billion -- WSJ
<p>The world's biggest container-ship operator sharpens focus on core business</p>
<p>This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (September 21, 2017).</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S on Wednesday said it would sell its tankers unit to its controlling shareholder for $1.17 billion, the latest move by the Danish shipping and energy conglomerate to break up its sprawling operations and focus on container shipping.</p>
<p>The sale of Maersk Tankers A/S, one of the world's largest operators of oil tankers, follows on the conglomerate's decision a year ago to separate its transport and energy businesses.</p>
<p>Under that plan, Maersk announced last month the sale of its Maersk Oil unit to France's Total SA for $4.95 billion. It still has its Maersk Drilling division, which operates oil and gas rigs mainly in the North Sea, and Maersk Supply, a fleet of 44 support ships for offshore operations, to sell or list.</p>
<p>Maersk Chief Executive Soren Skou said Wednesday the sale of Maersk Tankers represents "an important step in our strategy to free up resources and focus growth in A.P. Moeller-Maersk on container shipping, ports and logistics."</p>
<p>The company is trying to reshape itself into a global supply-chain player like United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. The shipping unit, Maersk Line, is the world's biggest container operator in terms of capacity.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The tankers unit is being bought by APMH Invest A/S, a subsidiary of A.P. Moller Holding A/S -- the controlling shareholder of A.P. Moller-Maersk. After the sale is completed, the buyer plans to establish a consortium with Japan's Mitsui &amp; Co. Ltd. to hold the tankers business.</p>
<p>Headed by Maersk family heir Robert Uggla, A.P. Moller Holding is a private investment arm that controls 41.5% of Maersk shares and 51% of shareholder votes. It also controls 20% of Danske Bank, one of Denmark's largest financial institutions.</p>
<p>A.P. Moller Holding said it is looking for other acquisitions as part of its strategy to develop a new portfolio of companies. It recently set up A.P. Moller Capital, which will invest in infrastructure projects.</p>
<p>Maersk has owned the tanker business since 1928. The unit transports refined oil products around the world, has a fleet of 161 vessels and employs 3,100 people. Maersk said it would use the proceeds from the sale to reduce debt.</p>
<p>Mitsui is one of Japan's biggest trading companies, with interests in energy, chemicals, food, textiles, logistics and machinery. Its assets are worth $102.7 billion and its revenue for its most recent fiscal year was $39 billion.</p>
<p>Corrections &amp; Amplifications Maersk Chief Executive Soren Skou said Wednesday's sale represented "an important step in our strategy." An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the day as Thursday. (Sept. 20, 2017)</p>
<p>Write to Dominic Chopping at [email protected] and Costas Paris at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>September 21, 2017 05:15 ET (09:15 GMT)</p> | 3,581 |
<p>Nov. 19 (UPI) — Two young boys were killed and their mother is in critical condition after a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department SUV crashed onto the sidewalk in an East Los Angeles neighborhood Thursday night.</p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://local.nixle.com/alert/6262953/" type="external">news release</a> from the LACSD, deputies were responding to an emergency call when the police SUV crashed into an oncoming vehicle, which then “caused the deputy’s patrol vehicle to run off the roadway and hit three pedestrians, a mother and her two children.”</p>
<p>The boys were identified as Marcos and Jose <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Luis_Hernandez/" type="external">Luis Hernandez</a>.</p>
<p>A second car struck a third vehicle, causing injury to two other pedestrians in the crosswalk.</p>
<p>Surveillance video obtained by the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-boyle-heights-crash-20171116-story.html" type="external">Los Angeles Times</a> shows the moments just after the sheriff’s SUV hit the boys and their mother. The vehicle’s lights appear to be on as the body of one of the victims is seen reeling from the impact of the collision.</p>
<p>One of the boys was declared dead at the scene The other died later at the hospital. Their mother was listed as in critical condition and suffered a “broken pelvic bone, head injury, fractured neck, fractured leg and a broken nose,” according to a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/jose-marco-hernandez-memorial" type="external">GoFundMe page</a> set-up by her daughter, Jessa Ramos.</p>
<p>“I don’t have no words right now. You should understand what we’re going through right now. It’s painful,” Luis Hernandez Jr., the brother of the woman who lost her two sons, <a href="http://abc7.com/2-boys-dead-mother-critical-after-crash-involving-sheriffs-suv/2662647/" type="external">told KABC-TV</a>.</p>
<p>In total, seven people were taken to local hospitals, five with minor injuries, including two LACSD deputies.</p>
<p>At a <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-boyle-heights-vigil-20171118-story.html" type="external">news conference Friday</a>, witness Julie Valle, 34, said the police vehicle was speeding down the street with no sirens and no light. She said the vehicle’s lights came on just as it was about to go through the intersection, which is when it hit the other car.</p>
<p>Chris Alvidrez, <a href="http://ktla.com/2017/11/17/witness-says-lights-sirens-were-not-on-before-boyle-heights-crash-that-killed-2-children/" type="external">told KTLA-TV</a> that he witnessed the accident, and also said the police vehicle was going very fast and didn’t have lights or a siren on.</p>
<p>“That’s a busy intersection right there,” he said.</p>
<p>Law enforcement sources told the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-boyle-heights-vigil-20171118-story.html" type="external">Los Angeles Times</a> that the police vehicle was being driven by a trainee deputy who was riding with her field training officer.</p>
<p>The collision is being investigated by the LAPD’s Multi-disciplinary Collision Investigation Team.</p> | Two children killed after LA police vehicle crashes onto sidewalk | false | https://newsline.com/two-children-killed-after-la-police-vehicle-crashes-onto-sidewalk/ | 2017-11-19 | 1right-center
| Two children killed after LA police vehicle crashes onto sidewalk
<p>Nov. 19 (UPI) — Two young boys were killed and their mother is in critical condition after a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department SUV crashed onto the sidewalk in an East Los Angeles neighborhood Thursday night.</p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://local.nixle.com/alert/6262953/" type="external">news release</a> from the LACSD, deputies were responding to an emergency call when the police SUV crashed into an oncoming vehicle, which then “caused the deputy’s patrol vehicle to run off the roadway and hit three pedestrians, a mother and her two children.”</p>
<p>The boys were identified as Marcos and Jose <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Luis_Hernandez/" type="external">Luis Hernandez</a>.</p>
<p>A second car struck a third vehicle, causing injury to two other pedestrians in the crosswalk.</p>
<p>Surveillance video obtained by the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-boyle-heights-crash-20171116-story.html" type="external">Los Angeles Times</a> shows the moments just after the sheriff’s SUV hit the boys and their mother. The vehicle’s lights appear to be on as the body of one of the victims is seen reeling from the impact of the collision.</p>
<p>One of the boys was declared dead at the scene The other died later at the hospital. Their mother was listed as in critical condition and suffered a “broken pelvic bone, head injury, fractured neck, fractured leg and a broken nose,” according to a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/jose-marco-hernandez-memorial" type="external">GoFundMe page</a> set-up by her daughter, Jessa Ramos.</p>
<p>“I don’t have no words right now. You should understand what we’re going through right now. It’s painful,” Luis Hernandez Jr., the brother of the woman who lost her two sons, <a href="http://abc7.com/2-boys-dead-mother-critical-after-crash-involving-sheriffs-suv/2662647/" type="external">told KABC-TV</a>.</p>
<p>In total, seven people were taken to local hospitals, five with minor injuries, including two LACSD deputies.</p>
<p>At a <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-boyle-heights-vigil-20171118-story.html" type="external">news conference Friday</a>, witness Julie Valle, 34, said the police vehicle was speeding down the street with no sirens and no light. She said the vehicle’s lights came on just as it was about to go through the intersection, which is when it hit the other car.</p>
<p>Chris Alvidrez, <a href="http://ktla.com/2017/11/17/witness-says-lights-sirens-were-not-on-before-boyle-heights-crash-that-killed-2-children/" type="external">told KTLA-TV</a> that he witnessed the accident, and also said the police vehicle was going very fast and didn’t have lights or a siren on.</p>
<p>“That’s a busy intersection right there,” he said.</p>
<p>Law enforcement sources told the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-boyle-heights-vigil-20171118-story.html" type="external">Los Angeles Times</a> that the police vehicle was being driven by a trainee deputy who was riding with her field training officer.</p>
<p>The collision is being investigated by the LAPD’s Multi-disciplinary Collision Investigation Team.</p> | 3,582 |
<p>Jobless claims fall by 12,000 in latest week</p>
<p>U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, with the Dow on track to snap a four-day streak of gains as quarterly results from a pair of bellwether stocks disappointed.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 43 points, or 0.2%, to 21,980. The S&amp;P 500 fell 6.6 points to 2,461, a decline of 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 22 points to 6,323, a drop of 0.3%.</p>
<p>A pair of Dow components drove the day's trading, weighing on overall indexes. Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) fell 3.1% after its results, which included lower-than-expected sales from its Sam's Club division (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wal-mart-earnings-revenue-beat-estimates-2017-08-17). Thursday marked the biggest one-day percentage drop for the stock since June, though it remains up 13% for the year, ahead of the broader market.</p>
<p>Cisco Systems Inc.(CSCO) lost 3% after the networking-equipment company late Wednesday reported earnings that missed forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cisco-shares-fall-after-company-predicts-another-drop-in-sales-2017-08-16) and predicted a drop in revenue next quarter.</p>
<p>"Cisco is in the midst of a turnaround, and it is showing very slow progress in that, while Wal-Mart has had something like 12 straight quarters of revenue growth, which led to expectations getting a little ahead of themselves. They're just taking a little bit of a step back, and so is the market," said Mark Spellman, portfolio manager at Alpine Funds, which has a total of $3.8 billion in assets.</p>
<p>"Ultimately I think the trends in the market remain constructive: the dollar is low, overseas economies are growing, and when I look for things that would get me worried I don't see them occurring."</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The equity market was also digesting minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting, as well as President Donald Trump's disbanding of a pair of his business advisory panels (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-business-councils-disband-amid-wave-of-ceo-exits-2017-08-16), which could underscores the president's challenges in promoting his Wall Street-friendly policies.</p>
<p>Trump has faced a furor after he repeatedly blamed "both sides" for violence last weekend at a white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.</p>
<p>Overall, stock benchmarks have lost some momentum after Fed minutes were read as dovish, lowering expectations of another rate increase this year.</p>
<p>"There's no direct market impact in what Trump has done recently, but if things continue to be so polarized that his agenda is completely dead on arrival, that would have a negative impact," Spellman said.</p>
<p>Fed in focus: The dollar on Wednesday declined after Fed minutes from the July meeting (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-eyes-september-debt-drawdown-some-want-patient-on-rates-2017-08-16) suggested the central bank is worried about sluggish inflation.</p>
<p>"This kind of uncertainty leads to fresh doubts over whether the Fed will be able to raise rates again this year and clearly investors are growing more nervous," said Konstantinos Anthis, researcher at ADS Securities in a note.</p>
<p>"Looking ahead, the dollar's price action might be dictated by any fresh news on the North Korea front as President Trump is rumored to have asked his military advisers about credible military options," he added.</p>
<p>The greenback rebounded a little on Thursday, with the ICE Dollar Index up 0.1% at 93.647.</p>
<p>Read:Trump agrees to seek Seoul's OK before any action on North Korea, says President Moon (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-agrees-to-seek-seouls-ok-before-any-action-on-north-korea-says-president-moon-2017-08-17)</p>
<p>Economic news: Initial jobless claims in the period running from Aug. 6 to Aug. 12 declined by 12,000 to 232,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Philly Fed's manufacturing index (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/philadelphia-fed-factory-gauge-eases-but-hints-at-future-strength-in-august-2017-08-17) for August came in at 18.9, compared with a reading of 17.0 expected by economists polled by MarketWatch and 19.5 in the prior period.</p>
<p>A reading off industrial production, which was released earlier than expected Thursday morning, missed expectations, rising by 0.2% in July, compared with expectations for a rise of 0.3% and 0.4% gain in the prior month.</p>
<p>See:MarketWatch's economic calendar (http://www.marketwatch.com/economy-politics/calendars/economic)</p>
<p>Stock movers:Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.(BABA) jumped 4.2% after the Chinese e-commerce giant reported earnings and sales above expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alibabas-stock-jumps-after-profit-revenue-rise-above-expectations-2017-08-17).</p>
<p>L Brands Inc. (LB) slumped 7.3% after the Victoria's Secret parent late Wednesday cut its forecast (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/victorias-secret-parent-l-brands-shares-fall-after-company-cuts-full-year-view-2017-08-16) for third-quarter and full-year earnings.</p>
<p>NetApp Inc.(NTAP) could also move after late Wednesday reporting earnings that came in ahead of expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/data-storage-company-netapp-shares-edge-up-on-first-quarter-earnings-beat-2017-08-16). Shares lost 4.2%.</p>
<p>(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wal-mart-earnings-some-analysts-say-traffic-has-fallen-others-say-it-has-grown-2017-08-14)After the market closes, Gap Inc.(GPS), Ross Stores Inc.(ROST), and Applied Materials Inc.(AMAT) are expected to report.</p>
<p>Other markets:Asia markets closed mixed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-stocks-broadly-bounce-higher-on-tech-gains-2017-08-16) as investors there digested the Fed minutes.</p>
<p>European markets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-veer-lower-as-fed-rate-hike-doubts-hurt-bank-shares-2017-08-17) were broadly lower, after a three-day winning streak.</p>
<p>Oil prices (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-rebound-after-eia-fueled-selloff-2017-08-17) continued to fall, extending losses made Wednesday after data showed U.S. oil production has jumped to a more than two-year high. Most metals prices, including , traded in positive territory.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>August 17, 2017 09:53 ET (13:53 GMT)</p> | MARKET SNAPSHOT: Cisco, Wal-Mart Lead Stock Market Lower; Dow Set To Break 4-day Win Streak | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/08/17/market-snapshot-cisco-wal-mart-lead-stock-market-lower-dow-set-to-break-4-day-win-streak.html | 2017-08-17 | 0right
| MARKET SNAPSHOT: Cisco, Wal-Mart Lead Stock Market Lower; Dow Set To Break 4-day Win Streak
<p>Jobless claims fall by 12,000 in latest week</p>
<p>U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, with the Dow on track to snap a four-day streak of gains as quarterly results from a pair of bellwether stocks disappointed.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 43 points, or 0.2%, to 21,980. The S&amp;P 500 fell 6.6 points to 2,461, a decline of 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 22 points to 6,323, a drop of 0.3%.</p>
<p>A pair of Dow components drove the day's trading, weighing on overall indexes. Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) fell 3.1% after its results, which included lower-than-expected sales from its Sam's Club division (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wal-mart-earnings-revenue-beat-estimates-2017-08-17). Thursday marked the biggest one-day percentage drop for the stock since June, though it remains up 13% for the year, ahead of the broader market.</p>
<p>Cisco Systems Inc.(CSCO) lost 3% after the networking-equipment company late Wednesday reported earnings that missed forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cisco-shares-fall-after-company-predicts-another-drop-in-sales-2017-08-16) and predicted a drop in revenue next quarter.</p>
<p>"Cisco is in the midst of a turnaround, and it is showing very slow progress in that, while Wal-Mart has had something like 12 straight quarters of revenue growth, which led to expectations getting a little ahead of themselves. They're just taking a little bit of a step back, and so is the market," said Mark Spellman, portfolio manager at Alpine Funds, which has a total of $3.8 billion in assets.</p>
<p>"Ultimately I think the trends in the market remain constructive: the dollar is low, overseas economies are growing, and when I look for things that would get me worried I don't see them occurring."</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The equity market was also digesting minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting, as well as President Donald Trump's disbanding of a pair of his business advisory panels (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-business-councils-disband-amid-wave-of-ceo-exits-2017-08-16), which could underscores the president's challenges in promoting his Wall Street-friendly policies.</p>
<p>Trump has faced a furor after he repeatedly blamed "both sides" for violence last weekend at a white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.</p>
<p>Overall, stock benchmarks have lost some momentum after Fed minutes were read as dovish, lowering expectations of another rate increase this year.</p>
<p>"There's no direct market impact in what Trump has done recently, but if things continue to be so polarized that his agenda is completely dead on arrival, that would have a negative impact," Spellman said.</p>
<p>Fed in focus: The dollar on Wednesday declined after Fed minutes from the July meeting (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-eyes-september-debt-drawdown-some-want-patient-on-rates-2017-08-16) suggested the central bank is worried about sluggish inflation.</p>
<p>"This kind of uncertainty leads to fresh doubts over whether the Fed will be able to raise rates again this year and clearly investors are growing more nervous," said Konstantinos Anthis, researcher at ADS Securities in a note.</p>
<p>"Looking ahead, the dollar's price action might be dictated by any fresh news on the North Korea front as President Trump is rumored to have asked his military advisers about credible military options," he added.</p>
<p>The greenback rebounded a little on Thursday, with the ICE Dollar Index up 0.1% at 93.647.</p>
<p>Read:Trump agrees to seek Seoul's OK before any action on North Korea, says President Moon (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-agrees-to-seek-seouls-ok-before-any-action-on-north-korea-says-president-moon-2017-08-17)</p>
<p>Economic news: Initial jobless claims in the period running from Aug. 6 to Aug. 12 declined by 12,000 to 232,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Philly Fed's manufacturing index (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/philadelphia-fed-factory-gauge-eases-but-hints-at-future-strength-in-august-2017-08-17) for August came in at 18.9, compared with a reading of 17.0 expected by economists polled by MarketWatch and 19.5 in the prior period.</p>
<p>A reading off industrial production, which was released earlier than expected Thursday morning, missed expectations, rising by 0.2% in July, compared with expectations for a rise of 0.3% and 0.4% gain in the prior month.</p>
<p>See:MarketWatch's economic calendar (http://www.marketwatch.com/economy-politics/calendars/economic)</p>
<p>Stock movers:Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.(BABA) jumped 4.2% after the Chinese e-commerce giant reported earnings and sales above expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alibabas-stock-jumps-after-profit-revenue-rise-above-expectations-2017-08-17).</p>
<p>L Brands Inc. (LB) slumped 7.3% after the Victoria's Secret parent late Wednesday cut its forecast (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/victorias-secret-parent-l-brands-shares-fall-after-company-cuts-full-year-view-2017-08-16) for third-quarter and full-year earnings.</p>
<p>NetApp Inc.(NTAP) could also move after late Wednesday reporting earnings that came in ahead of expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/data-storage-company-netapp-shares-edge-up-on-first-quarter-earnings-beat-2017-08-16). Shares lost 4.2%.</p>
<p>(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wal-mart-earnings-some-analysts-say-traffic-has-fallen-others-say-it-has-grown-2017-08-14)After the market closes, Gap Inc.(GPS), Ross Stores Inc.(ROST), and Applied Materials Inc.(AMAT) are expected to report.</p>
<p>Other markets:Asia markets closed mixed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-stocks-broadly-bounce-higher-on-tech-gains-2017-08-16) as investors there digested the Fed minutes.</p>
<p>European markets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-veer-lower-as-fed-rate-hike-doubts-hurt-bank-shares-2017-08-17) were broadly lower, after a three-day winning streak.</p>
<p>Oil prices (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-rebound-after-eia-fueled-selloff-2017-08-17) continued to fall, extending losses made Wednesday after data showed U.S. oil production has jumped to a more than two-year high. Most metals prices, including , traded in positive territory.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>August 17, 2017 09:53 ET (13:53 GMT)</p> | 3,583 |
<p>Published time: 14 Nov, 2017 11:24</p>
<p>The bottom half of adults in the world collectively own less than the richest one percent, according to a Credit Suisse report. The gap between the super-rich and the poor has significantly grown since the global crisis.</p>
<p>The wealthiest one percent owned 42.5 percent of global wealth in 2008, the bank reports.</p>
<p>“The downward trend reversed after 2008 and the share of the top one percent has been on an upward path ever since, passing the 2000 level in 2013 and achieving new peaks every year thereafter. According to our latest estimates, the top one percent own 50.1 percent of all household wealth in the world,” the report said.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/business/409316-gates-buffett-bezos-poor-wealth/" type="external" /></p>
<p>“Global wealth inequality has certainly been high and rising in the post-crisis period,” according to the bank.</p>
<p>While the bottom half of adults collectively own less than one percent of total wealth, the richest ten percent owns 88 percent of global assets.</p>
<p>Last year saw 2.3 million people becoming new dollar millionaires. The total number of millionaires has increased to 36 million. “The number of millionaires, which fell in 2008, recovered fast after the financial crisis, and is now nearly three times the 2000 figure,” Credit Suisse said.</p>
<p>The poorest 3.5 billion people, who account for 70 percent of the working age population, each earn less than $10,000 and account for just 2.7 percent of global wealth.</p>
<p>Global wealth now stands at $280 trillion, and this figure is likely to be over $340 trillion in five years. On average, each adult owns $56,540.</p>
<p>You need to own $76,754 to be a member of the top 10 percent of global wealth holders and $770,368 to belong to the top one percent.</p> | Richest 1% have more money than poorest half of world’s population | false | https://newsline.com/richest-1-have-more-money-than-poorest-half-of-worlds-population/ | 2017-11-14 | 1right-center
| Richest 1% have more money than poorest half of world’s population
<p>Published time: 14 Nov, 2017 11:24</p>
<p>The bottom half of adults in the world collectively own less than the richest one percent, according to a Credit Suisse report. The gap between the super-rich and the poor has significantly grown since the global crisis.</p>
<p>The wealthiest one percent owned 42.5 percent of global wealth in 2008, the bank reports.</p>
<p>“The downward trend reversed after 2008 and the share of the top one percent has been on an upward path ever since, passing the 2000 level in 2013 and achieving new peaks every year thereafter. According to our latest estimates, the top one percent own 50.1 percent of all household wealth in the world,” the report said.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/business/409316-gates-buffett-bezos-poor-wealth/" type="external" /></p>
<p>“Global wealth inequality has certainly been high and rising in the post-crisis period,” according to the bank.</p>
<p>While the bottom half of adults collectively own less than one percent of total wealth, the richest ten percent owns 88 percent of global assets.</p>
<p>Last year saw 2.3 million people becoming new dollar millionaires. The total number of millionaires has increased to 36 million. “The number of millionaires, which fell in 2008, recovered fast after the financial crisis, and is now nearly three times the 2000 figure,” Credit Suisse said.</p>
<p>The poorest 3.5 billion people, who account for 70 percent of the working age population, each earn less than $10,000 and account for just 2.7 percent of global wealth.</p>
<p>Global wealth now stands at $280 trillion, and this figure is likely to be over $340 trillion in five years. On average, each adult owns $56,540.</p>
<p>You need to own $76,754 to be a member of the top 10 percent of global wealth holders and $770,368 to belong to the top one percent.</p> | 3,584 |
<p>Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) opened the Democratic debate Sunday night in Flint, Michigan, by declaring that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder needed to step down or be recalled over the water crisis.</p>
<p>It was the first time Clinton had called for Snyder to resign. Sanders had previously called for Snyder’s resignation.</p>
<p />
<p>“I agree the governor should resign or be recalled and we should support the efforts of citizens attempting to achieve that,” Clinton said. “But that is not enough. We have to focus on what must be done to help the people of Flint. I support 100 percent the efforts by your senators and members of Congress to get the money from.”</p>
<p>Sanders argued that the federal government should have taken a bigger role in cleaning up the area’s drinking water. When asked if he would fire the head of the EPA, Sanders responded that he would fire “anyone who knew what was happening and did not act appropriately.”</p>
<p>“President Sanders would make the point that how does it happen in the wealthiest country in the history of the world?” Sanders said. “How did we have so much money available to go to war in Iraq and spend trillions of dollars, but somehow not have enough money not just for Flint, the secretary is right. There are communities all over the country. Not just infrastructure, but education. Detroit’s public school system is collapsing.”</p> | Clinton, Sanders Call on Michigan Governor to Resign Over Flint Crisis | true | http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/clinton-calls-for-gov-snyder-to-be-recalled | 4left
| Clinton, Sanders Call on Michigan Governor to Resign Over Flint Crisis
<p>Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) opened the Democratic debate Sunday night in Flint, Michigan, by declaring that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder needed to step down or be recalled over the water crisis.</p>
<p>It was the first time Clinton had called for Snyder to resign. Sanders had previously called for Snyder’s resignation.</p>
<p />
<p>“I agree the governor should resign or be recalled and we should support the efforts of citizens attempting to achieve that,” Clinton said. “But that is not enough. We have to focus on what must be done to help the people of Flint. I support 100 percent the efforts by your senators and members of Congress to get the money from.”</p>
<p>Sanders argued that the federal government should have taken a bigger role in cleaning up the area’s drinking water. When asked if he would fire the head of the EPA, Sanders responded that he would fire “anyone who knew what was happening and did not act appropriately.”</p>
<p>“President Sanders would make the point that how does it happen in the wealthiest country in the history of the world?” Sanders said. “How did we have so much money available to go to war in Iraq and spend trillions of dollars, but somehow not have enough money not just for Flint, the secretary is right. There are communities all over the country. Not just infrastructure, but education. Detroit’s public school system is collapsing.”</p> | 3,585 |
|
<p>Former President Barack Hussein Obama proved again that all the rhetoric of "hope and change" and moving "forward" was nothing more than pandering to his left-wing base. According to reports, he and former First Lady Michelle Obama have become the most expensive ex-presidential couple in modern history.</p>
<p>Stephen Dinan of The Washington Post <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/31/obama-will-top-bush-most-costly-ex-president/" type="external">writes</a>:</p>
<p>Former President Barack Obama is about to become the most expensive ex-president, costing taxpayers $1,153,000 next year, according to a new Congressional Research Service memo looking at the official allowances for the five living former chief executives.</p>
<p>His $1,153,000 budget request for 2018 is more than $100,000 higher than George W. Bush’s request for next year and nearly $200,000 more than Bill Clinton’s expected budget. George H.W. Bush is slated to get $942,000, while Jimmy Carter will get less than half that, at just $456,000.</p>
<p>Obama is not simply spending the money on lavish vacations for himself and Michelle to hobnob with European socialists and their celebrity friends. They are also renting a Washington, D.C.-based office space that is over 8,000 square feet for $536,000, all at the taxpayer’s expense.</p>
<p>His pension payment is the highest of all living presidents, costing Americans $236,000 a year.</p>
<p>Obama presented himself as a"‘man of the people" who understood the troubles of the middle and lower class. As more details about his past and behind-the-scenes activities came to light, this has proven to be false.</p>
<p>During his administration, he directed the government to spend millions of dollars on global warming research, gender studies, lavish vacations, golfing trips, and prosecuting his political enemies with the IRS and the Department of Justice. Meanwhile, Americans fell deeper into poverty and veterans suffered at the hands of an ambivalent VA Department.</p>
<p>Even though he has been out of the White House, Obama is still taking advantage of the perks of his office at the expense of the American taxpayer.</p> | MAN OF THE PEOPLE: Barack Obama Is The Most Expensive Ex-President Ever | true | https://dailywire.com/news/20557/man-people-barack-obama-most-expensive-ex-jacob-airey | 2017-09-01 | 0right
| MAN OF THE PEOPLE: Barack Obama Is The Most Expensive Ex-President Ever
<p>Former President Barack Hussein Obama proved again that all the rhetoric of "hope and change" and moving "forward" was nothing more than pandering to his left-wing base. According to reports, he and former First Lady Michelle Obama have become the most expensive ex-presidential couple in modern history.</p>
<p>Stephen Dinan of The Washington Post <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/31/obama-will-top-bush-most-costly-ex-president/" type="external">writes</a>:</p>
<p>Former President Barack Obama is about to become the most expensive ex-president, costing taxpayers $1,153,000 next year, according to a new Congressional Research Service memo looking at the official allowances for the five living former chief executives.</p>
<p>His $1,153,000 budget request for 2018 is more than $100,000 higher than George W. Bush’s request for next year and nearly $200,000 more than Bill Clinton’s expected budget. George H.W. Bush is slated to get $942,000, while Jimmy Carter will get less than half that, at just $456,000.</p>
<p>Obama is not simply spending the money on lavish vacations for himself and Michelle to hobnob with European socialists and their celebrity friends. They are also renting a Washington, D.C.-based office space that is over 8,000 square feet for $536,000, all at the taxpayer’s expense.</p>
<p>His pension payment is the highest of all living presidents, costing Americans $236,000 a year.</p>
<p>Obama presented himself as a"‘man of the people" who understood the troubles of the middle and lower class. As more details about his past and behind-the-scenes activities came to light, this has proven to be false.</p>
<p>During his administration, he directed the government to spend millions of dollars on global warming research, gender studies, lavish vacations, golfing trips, and prosecuting his political enemies with the IRS and the Department of Justice. Meanwhile, Americans fell deeper into poverty and veterans suffered at the hands of an ambivalent VA Department.</p>
<p>Even though he has been out of the White House, Obama is still taking advantage of the perks of his office at the expense of the American taxpayer.</p> | 3,586 |
<p>Iran, which has reportedly sent a monkey doll into space, plans to launch a live <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/iran-plans-to-send-monkey-into-space/story-e6frf7jx-1226076634618" type="external">monkey into space</a> aboard its Kavoshgar-5 rocket this summer, according to state television.</p>
<p>The Kavoshgar-5 rocket will be launched between July 23 and August 23, with a capsule carrying a monkey to an altitude of 74 miles, said Hamid Fazeli, head of Iran's Space Organization.</p>
<p>Iran first put a satellite into orbit in 2009, and has outlined an ambitious space program in the face of Western concerns.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/middle-east/101111/iran-tourism-penis-tombstones" type="external">(From GlobalPost in Iran:&#160;In Iran, tombstones shaped like penises delight tourists)</a></p>
<p>In February, <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/iran-plans-to-send-monkey-into-space/story-e6frf7jx-1226076634618" type="external">President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad</a> unveiled a space capsule designed to carry a live monkey into space, along with prototypes of home-built satellites the country hopes to launch in 2012, Agence France-Presse reports.</p>
<p>Fazeli has touted the launch of a large animal into space as the first step toward sending a man into space, which Tehran said it is aiming to do by 2020, AFP reports.</p>
<p>Iran launched its Kavoshgar-4 rocket in March, but there were no live animals on board, according to the official IRNA news agency. A photo released by IRNA showed a monkey doll in the capsule.</p>
<p>In 2010, the Islamic republic sent small animals into space, including a rat, turtle and worms, on its Kavoshgar-3 rocket.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, Iran said it had successfully launched its <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/16/iran-satellite-launch-orbit" type="external">Rassad-1 (Observation-1) satellite</a> into orbit 160 miles above the Earth.</p>
<p>Rassad-1, which orbits the Earth 15 times a day, will be used to photograph the planet and transmit images, and is designed to produce high-resolution maps, Iranian TV reports said.</p>
<p>Western powers fear that Tehran could develop a missiles capable of firing nuclear warheads, masked behind a science program, the Associated Press reports. Iran denies that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons.</p> | Iran plans to send a monkey into space | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-06-16/iran-plans-send-monkey-space | 2011-06-16 | 3left-center
| Iran plans to send a monkey into space
<p>Iran, which has reportedly sent a monkey doll into space, plans to launch a live <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/iran-plans-to-send-monkey-into-space/story-e6frf7jx-1226076634618" type="external">monkey into space</a> aboard its Kavoshgar-5 rocket this summer, according to state television.</p>
<p>The Kavoshgar-5 rocket will be launched between July 23 and August 23, with a capsule carrying a monkey to an altitude of 74 miles, said Hamid Fazeli, head of Iran's Space Organization.</p>
<p>Iran first put a satellite into orbit in 2009, and has outlined an ambitious space program in the face of Western concerns.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/middle-east/101111/iran-tourism-penis-tombstones" type="external">(From GlobalPost in Iran:&#160;In Iran, tombstones shaped like penises delight tourists)</a></p>
<p>In February, <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/iran-plans-to-send-monkey-into-space/story-e6frf7jx-1226076634618" type="external">President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad</a> unveiled a space capsule designed to carry a live monkey into space, along with prototypes of home-built satellites the country hopes to launch in 2012, Agence France-Presse reports.</p>
<p>Fazeli has touted the launch of a large animal into space as the first step toward sending a man into space, which Tehran said it is aiming to do by 2020, AFP reports.</p>
<p>Iran launched its Kavoshgar-4 rocket in March, but there were no live animals on board, according to the official IRNA news agency. A photo released by IRNA showed a monkey doll in the capsule.</p>
<p>In 2010, the Islamic republic sent small animals into space, including a rat, turtle and worms, on its Kavoshgar-3 rocket.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, Iran said it had successfully launched its <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/16/iran-satellite-launch-orbit" type="external">Rassad-1 (Observation-1) satellite</a> into orbit 160 miles above the Earth.</p>
<p>Rassad-1, which orbits the Earth 15 times a day, will be used to photograph the planet and transmit images, and is designed to produce high-resolution maps, Iranian TV reports said.</p>
<p>Western powers fear that Tehran could develop a missiles capable of firing nuclear warheads, masked behind a science program, the Associated Press reports. Iran denies that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons.</p> | 3,587 |
<p>White House officials think that Chief of Staff John Kelly’s personal cellphone was compromised at some point, according to <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/05/john-kelly-cell-phone-compromised-243514" type="external">Politico</a>.</p>
<p>Politico on Thursday reported that three U.S. government officials say the breach potentially occurred as early as last December.</p>
<p>The discovery inspires fear that data on Kelly’s device was exposed to foreign governments or hackers while he was Homeland Security secretary or after he joined the West Wing.</p>
<p>The potential breach was detected earlier this summer when Kelly turned his phone in to White House tech support staff.</p>
<p>Officials said Kelly told the staffers the phone had not been updating software or working properly for months.</p>
<p>Some Twitter users on Friday expressed anxiety over the possibility that Kelly’s device was breached.</p>
<p>A White House official said that Kelly had not used the personal phone often since joining President Trump’s administration.</p>
<p>Politico’s source said Kelly instead relied on his government-issued phone for official communications.</p>
<p>The official did not dispute any reporting on the timeline of events or the existence of a one-page memo last month summarizing the incident to administration officials.</p>
<p>The source added that Kelly no longer has possession of the device before declining to say where it is now.</p>
<p>One of the U.S. government officials noted that Kelly is now using a different phone, though he relies on a government version when inside the White House.</p>
<p>One source also said that the September memo triggered concern in the White House about what information may have been exposed.</p>
<p>Several government officials added it is unclear when or where Kelly’s phone was first compromised, and what, if any, data was accessed.</p>
<p>Kelly joined Trump’s administration last January after the former Marine general retired in 2016 as chief of U.S. Southern Command.</p> | White House officials believe Chief of Staff John Kelly's cellphone was compromised | false | https://circa.com/story/2017/10/06/politics/john-kelly-cellphone-compromised-report | 2017-10-06 | 1right-center
| White House officials believe Chief of Staff John Kelly's cellphone was compromised
<p>White House officials think that Chief of Staff John Kelly’s personal cellphone was compromised at some point, according to <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/05/john-kelly-cell-phone-compromised-243514" type="external">Politico</a>.</p>
<p>Politico on Thursday reported that three U.S. government officials say the breach potentially occurred as early as last December.</p>
<p>The discovery inspires fear that data on Kelly’s device was exposed to foreign governments or hackers while he was Homeland Security secretary or after he joined the West Wing.</p>
<p>The potential breach was detected earlier this summer when Kelly turned his phone in to White House tech support staff.</p>
<p>Officials said Kelly told the staffers the phone had not been updating software or working properly for months.</p>
<p>Some Twitter users on Friday expressed anxiety over the possibility that Kelly’s device was breached.</p>
<p>A White House official said that Kelly had not used the personal phone often since joining President Trump’s administration.</p>
<p>Politico’s source said Kelly instead relied on his government-issued phone for official communications.</p>
<p>The official did not dispute any reporting on the timeline of events or the existence of a one-page memo last month summarizing the incident to administration officials.</p>
<p>The source added that Kelly no longer has possession of the device before declining to say where it is now.</p>
<p>One of the U.S. government officials noted that Kelly is now using a different phone, though he relies on a government version when inside the White House.</p>
<p>One source also said that the September memo triggered concern in the White House about what information may have been exposed.</p>
<p>Several government officials added it is unclear when or where Kelly’s phone was first compromised, and what, if any, data was accessed.</p>
<p>Kelly joined Trump’s administration last January after the former Marine general retired in 2016 as chief of U.S. Southern Command.</p> | 3,588 |
<p>Jennifer Lopez's husband Marc Anthony owes New York loads in cash after the state filed a demand for $1.8 million in back taxes, the New York Post reported Thursday.</p>
<p>State officials filed the demand for back taxes against Anthony on March 29, 2010 in Nassau County, Radar Online reported.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Three months prior, a US federal tax lien for $1.6 million was placed on the same property owned by the singer.</p>
<p>It remains unclear if Anthony settled the debt.</p>
<p>Facing debt in excess of $3.4 million, it is the latest tax trouble for the 41-year-old singer, who married J.Lo in 2004.</p>
<p>In 2007, he was ordered to pay $2.5 million in back taxes, after ignoring his tax obligation for four years.</p>
<p>At the time, Anthony claimed it was the fault of his business management company but he ultimately paid a fine after his financial team pleaded guilty to a series of tax felonies.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Read more: <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/singer_marc_anthony_owes_ny_in_back_6jfLtHZVw6KAgezPm3fCdK" type="external">http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/singer_marc_anthony_owes_ny_in_back_6jfLtHZVw6KAgezPm3fCdK Opens a New Window.</a></p> | Singer Marc Anthony Owes NY $1.8M in Back Taxes: Report | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2010/12/30/singer-marc-anthony-owes-ny-m-taxes-report.html | 2016-03-18 | 0right
| Singer Marc Anthony Owes NY $1.8M in Back Taxes: Report
<p>Jennifer Lopez's husband Marc Anthony owes New York loads in cash after the state filed a demand for $1.8 million in back taxes, the New York Post reported Thursday.</p>
<p>State officials filed the demand for back taxes against Anthony on March 29, 2010 in Nassau County, Radar Online reported.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Three months prior, a US federal tax lien for $1.6 million was placed on the same property owned by the singer.</p>
<p>It remains unclear if Anthony settled the debt.</p>
<p>Facing debt in excess of $3.4 million, it is the latest tax trouble for the 41-year-old singer, who married J.Lo in 2004.</p>
<p>In 2007, he was ordered to pay $2.5 million in back taxes, after ignoring his tax obligation for four years.</p>
<p>At the time, Anthony claimed it was the fault of his business management company but he ultimately paid a fine after his financial team pleaded guilty to a series of tax felonies.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Read more: <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/singer_marc_anthony_owes_ny_in_back_6jfLtHZVw6KAgezPm3fCdK" type="external">http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/singer_marc_anthony_owes_ny_in_back_6jfLtHZVw6KAgezPm3fCdK Opens a New Window.</a></p> | 3,589 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>FRANKFURT, Germany — Automaker Daimler AG and industry supplier Bosch Group are teaming up to make driverless cars that they say could be on city streets at the start of the next decade.</p>
<p>The companies would combine expertise in car making, sensors and software so that people in a specific part of town could order a shared car through their smart phone. The driverless car would pick them up and take them where they want to go.</p>
<p>The companies said Tuesday the system would let people make better use of their time in cars and help those who do not have driver’s licenses.</p>
<p>The auto industry and tech firms have been investing heavily in autonomous driving technology. Many basic elements of autonomous driving are already in use, such as driver assistance systems that can keep cars in freeway lanes or detect pedestrians ahead. But legal issues surrounding driver responsibility remain to be solved.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Other automakers are also working on the concept. BMW, a top competitor for Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz luxury cars, has teamed up with chip maker Intel and Mobileye, maker of driver-assistance systems. Together they plan to have 40 autonomous BMW vehicles on the road testing the technology this year, and BMW says it will introduce an autonomous vehicle called the iNEXT by 2021. Last month at the Geneva auto show, Volkswagen showed off an autonomous vehicle with no steering wheel and facing sofa-style seats. Alphabet’s Waymo, the former Google autonomous car project, is testing autonomous vehicles on public roads in the United States with test drivers aboard.</p>
<p>The two companies provided little additional detail about the project in their statement but were clear that they intended to come up with an automated system that is “ready for production.” The news release said they were aiming for what is known as Level 5 automation — with sensors and software controlling the vehicle fulltime.</p>
<p>Bosch, headquartered in the German town of Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, has some 390,000 employees in 120 countries. It is a leading auto industry supplier, making vehicle safety and driver assistance systems, sensor technology and software.</p>
<p>“By introducing fully automated and driverless driving to the urban environment, Bosch and Daimler aim to improve the flow of traffic in cities, enhance safety on the road and provide an important building block for the way traffic will work in the future,” the companies said in a statement.</p> | Daimler, parts firm Bosch team up to make driverless cars | false | https://abqjournal.com/982108/daimler-parts-firm-bosch-team-up-to-make-driverless-cars.html | 2017-04-04 | 2least
| Daimler, parts firm Bosch team up to make driverless cars
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>FRANKFURT, Germany — Automaker Daimler AG and industry supplier Bosch Group are teaming up to make driverless cars that they say could be on city streets at the start of the next decade.</p>
<p>The companies would combine expertise in car making, sensors and software so that people in a specific part of town could order a shared car through their smart phone. The driverless car would pick them up and take them where they want to go.</p>
<p>The companies said Tuesday the system would let people make better use of their time in cars and help those who do not have driver’s licenses.</p>
<p>The auto industry and tech firms have been investing heavily in autonomous driving technology. Many basic elements of autonomous driving are already in use, such as driver assistance systems that can keep cars in freeway lanes or detect pedestrians ahead. But legal issues surrounding driver responsibility remain to be solved.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Other automakers are also working on the concept. BMW, a top competitor for Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz luxury cars, has teamed up with chip maker Intel and Mobileye, maker of driver-assistance systems. Together they plan to have 40 autonomous BMW vehicles on the road testing the technology this year, and BMW says it will introduce an autonomous vehicle called the iNEXT by 2021. Last month at the Geneva auto show, Volkswagen showed off an autonomous vehicle with no steering wheel and facing sofa-style seats. Alphabet’s Waymo, the former Google autonomous car project, is testing autonomous vehicles on public roads in the United States with test drivers aboard.</p>
<p>The two companies provided little additional detail about the project in their statement but were clear that they intended to come up with an automated system that is “ready for production.” The news release said they were aiming for what is known as Level 5 automation — with sensors and software controlling the vehicle fulltime.</p>
<p>Bosch, headquartered in the German town of Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, has some 390,000 employees in 120 countries. It is a leading auto industry supplier, making vehicle safety and driver assistance systems, sensor technology and software.</p>
<p>“By introducing fully automated and driverless driving to the urban environment, Bosch and Daimler aim to improve the flow of traffic in cities, enhance safety on the road and provide an important building block for the way traffic will work in the future,” the companies said in a statement.</p> | 3,590 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>My friend and I were getting ready to leave The Blue Heron, having enjoyed a light dinner on the deck overlooking the pond. A flash of movement in the huge old cottonwood tree near the walkway caught my eye. A large, healthy looking critter, maybe 50 pounds, scurried up the bark. I didn’t see the characteristic black mask, but the striped tail provided a good clue. I asked the waiter. A whole family of raccoons — mom, dad and babies — lived in the cottonwood, he said. The adults sometimes approached him when he went to clear off the dishes, attempting to claim the leftovers.</p>
<p>I’ve seen the unusual and eaten the unexpected in my years as a restaurant reviewer, but this was a first. (I’m glad they don’t have raccoon on The Blue Heron menu.) Outdoor dining can mean sharing the space with critters, but up to now I’d encountered insects, birds, dogs, cats and the delightful barnyard menagerie they keep at San Marcos Cafe. I once watched a seagull steal a sandwich off a plate at a wharf-side restaurant in northern California’s Tiburon.</p>
<p>Its lush environment and the presence of so much water in our high desert climate make The Blue Heron special. The restaurant, part of Sunrise Springs Resort just south of Santa Fe in La Cienega, is blessed with one of the loveliest locations I can imagine. It uses the space to great advantage in summer when the large deck becomes an outdoor dining room. The wildlife, flitting birds, turtles and an occasional chirping frog, provide an extra touch of ambiance. Sunday brunch includes mellow live jazz from a trio that sets up on the deck by the pond.</p>
<p>It’s strange to realize that after more than 20 years, The Blue Heron remains a hidden gem.</p>
<p>Perhaps it’s the lack of marketing or the out-of-the-way location (the restaurant is about a 30-minute drive south from the Santa Fe Plaza). Also, the restaurant was closed for awhile and has had a parade of chefs. Whatever the reasons, the quiet makes a meal here all the sweeter. The place only had three additional occupied tables the night my friend and I visited; Sunday brunch was busier, but far from crowded.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Although we came for the ambiance, my friends and I liked the food. In the evening, two of us shared a plate of nachos topped with delicious juicy pulled pork. We also split a standard blue cheese wedge salad that had a nice creamy dressing. Like our choices, most of the menu reflects the tried and true: burgers, enchiladas, noodles with tofu or chicken and vegetables, crab cakes, fish and chips, a steak, pizza and salads. Nothing whispers “innovation” or begs “try me,” but nothing will scare anyone away. Food prices top out at $24.95 for a sirloin with most choices less than $11.</p>
<p>At brunch, in addition to the regular menu, customers can select from the specials — most under $10. When my friends and I ate here, the menu included an omelet (with spinach and feta cheese), salmon, pancakes, breakfast burrito, bread pudding and lemon sorbet with berries. The blackened salmon ($14.50) was good, not a bit overcooked and just spicy enough. The cucumber salsa added a nice bit of cool and the skin-on pan-fried potatoes were good. I especially liked the fresh-tasting corn kernels in the calabacitas, a traditional New Mexican blend of zucchini, onions and corn.</p>
<p>The light blueberry pancakes ($8.95) had plenty of berries inside and on top and came with crisp (as requested) bacon. The breakfast burrito ($8.95), stuffed with eggs, potatoes and choice of bacon or sausage, did the job. Next time, we’ll ask for more chile sauce on the side. The pretty slice of watermelon was a nice addition.</p>
<p>Evening service was fine. On Sunday, when the restaurant was busier, the establishment seemed understaffed. We ultimately refilled our own coffee cups from the hot plate on the deck. My friends and I didn’t mind the leisurely dining on that beautiful music-rich afternoon, but it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.</p>
<p>My main regret about the Blue Heron is its slightly untended, unloved subtext. No one returned my call for reservations or my second call for information on handicapped accessibility. The outdoor space could use a good cleaning and a coat of paint or sealer. Even a few hours with a broom to remove the fallen leaves and cotton from the trees would make the place more inviting.</p> | A Hidden Blue Gem | false | https://abqjournal.com/119357/a-hidden-blue-gem.html | 2012-07-20 | 2least
| A Hidden Blue Gem
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>My friend and I were getting ready to leave The Blue Heron, having enjoyed a light dinner on the deck overlooking the pond. A flash of movement in the huge old cottonwood tree near the walkway caught my eye. A large, healthy looking critter, maybe 50 pounds, scurried up the bark. I didn’t see the characteristic black mask, but the striped tail provided a good clue. I asked the waiter. A whole family of raccoons — mom, dad and babies — lived in the cottonwood, he said. The adults sometimes approached him when he went to clear off the dishes, attempting to claim the leftovers.</p>
<p>I’ve seen the unusual and eaten the unexpected in my years as a restaurant reviewer, but this was a first. (I’m glad they don’t have raccoon on The Blue Heron menu.) Outdoor dining can mean sharing the space with critters, but up to now I’d encountered insects, birds, dogs, cats and the delightful barnyard menagerie they keep at San Marcos Cafe. I once watched a seagull steal a sandwich off a plate at a wharf-side restaurant in northern California’s Tiburon.</p>
<p>Its lush environment and the presence of so much water in our high desert climate make The Blue Heron special. The restaurant, part of Sunrise Springs Resort just south of Santa Fe in La Cienega, is blessed with one of the loveliest locations I can imagine. It uses the space to great advantage in summer when the large deck becomes an outdoor dining room. The wildlife, flitting birds, turtles and an occasional chirping frog, provide an extra touch of ambiance. Sunday brunch includes mellow live jazz from a trio that sets up on the deck by the pond.</p>
<p>It’s strange to realize that after more than 20 years, The Blue Heron remains a hidden gem.</p>
<p>Perhaps it’s the lack of marketing or the out-of-the-way location (the restaurant is about a 30-minute drive south from the Santa Fe Plaza). Also, the restaurant was closed for awhile and has had a parade of chefs. Whatever the reasons, the quiet makes a meal here all the sweeter. The place only had three additional occupied tables the night my friend and I visited; Sunday brunch was busier, but far from crowded.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Although we came for the ambiance, my friends and I liked the food. In the evening, two of us shared a plate of nachos topped with delicious juicy pulled pork. We also split a standard blue cheese wedge salad that had a nice creamy dressing. Like our choices, most of the menu reflects the tried and true: burgers, enchiladas, noodles with tofu or chicken and vegetables, crab cakes, fish and chips, a steak, pizza and salads. Nothing whispers “innovation” or begs “try me,” but nothing will scare anyone away. Food prices top out at $24.95 for a sirloin with most choices less than $11.</p>
<p>At brunch, in addition to the regular menu, customers can select from the specials — most under $10. When my friends and I ate here, the menu included an omelet (with spinach and feta cheese), salmon, pancakes, breakfast burrito, bread pudding and lemon sorbet with berries. The blackened salmon ($14.50) was good, not a bit overcooked and just spicy enough. The cucumber salsa added a nice bit of cool and the skin-on pan-fried potatoes were good. I especially liked the fresh-tasting corn kernels in the calabacitas, a traditional New Mexican blend of zucchini, onions and corn.</p>
<p>The light blueberry pancakes ($8.95) had plenty of berries inside and on top and came with crisp (as requested) bacon. The breakfast burrito ($8.95), stuffed with eggs, potatoes and choice of bacon or sausage, did the job. Next time, we’ll ask for more chile sauce on the side. The pretty slice of watermelon was a nice addition.</p>
<p>Evening service was fine. On Sunday, when the restaurant was busier, the establishment seemed understaffed. We ultimately refilled our own coffee cups from the hot plate on the deck. My friends and I didn’t mind the leisurely dining on that beautiful music-rich afternoon, but it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.</p>
<p>My main regret about the Blue Heron is its slightly untended, unloved subtext. No one returned my call for reservations or my second call for information on handicapped accessibility. The outdoor space could use a good cleaning and a coat of paint or sealer. Even a few hours with a broom to remove the fallen leaves and cotton from the trees would make the place more inviting.</p> | 3,591 |
<p />
<p>Investing can often seem more complicated than it needs to be. With a financial services industry worth billions of dollars, that may be by design, but investors new and old can find success with a few basic rules. The most important of those is compound interest. Thanks to this simple piece of math, returns will accelerate over time as your holdings increase in value.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Beginning investors should be bear in mind that even experts can't beat the market consistently. After all, the market is endlessly complex, with thousands of stock prices, moving every second. There's more information than any single investor can take in, but while the market is complex, making money doesn't have to be.</p>
<p>The fact that it's so hard to beat the market should give solace to investors satisfied to make average returns the easy way. Here are three simple strategies that even the newest investor can learn to build savings for a happy retirement.</p>
<p>There's no need to pick individual stock when index funds are available. Index funds offer an easy way to invest your money into the market by allocating it into an exchange-traded fund that tracks theS&amp;P 500or another index for a low annual fee. For investors looking to get into stocks, and you should be, considering the historical average annual return is near 10%, this is one of the safest ways to do it.</p>
<p>Among the index funds worth considering are theVanguard 500 Index Fund, which is the lowest-cost index fund, with an expense ratio of just 0.05% -- in other words, an annual fee of just $0.05 per $100 invested.Those with more than $10,000 to invest may want to choose the Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Class , which unlike the above index fund does not require transaction fees to buy shares. If you're planning to add money to your fund regularly, this may be a better option.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>For an index fund of small-cap stocks, you could choose theVanguard Russell 2000 Index Fund, which has an expense ratio of just 0.08%.</p>
<p>Even the great oracle Warren Buffett recommends that 90% of his estate be put in a low-cost S&amp;P 500 index fund.</p>
<p>Dividends should be a part of any investor's long-term strategy. Not only have dividend stocks been shown to outperform non-dividend payers, but the income can give you extra spending money or even better, accelerate your returns through a dividend reinvestment plan (Drip).Hundreds of stocks allow shareholders to enroll in DRIP plans directly, and for the ones that don't, most major brokerages will set you up to reinvest dividend income. Once enrolled, the process is entirely automated, requiring basically no attention.</p>
<p>How powerful is dividend reinvesting? Over the last ten years, the S&amp;P's annualized total return is just 4.9%, but with dividends reinvested its 7.1%. Over the 10-year span, reinvesting dividends would increase your return 61.3% to 98.1%.</p>
<p>Over the last 20 years, the difference in total gains is 214% vs. 351%, and that's with the S&amp;P 500, which pays a modest dividend yield of just 2% now. With high dividend stocks, the difference is much greater.</p>
<p>What could be a simpler investing strategy than buying a stock and holding it for most of the rest of your life? Buying and holding is a favorite investing technique of Buffett and plenty of other investing gurus. Not only is the strategy a simple one, but it is also productive. Holding stocks for a longer period of time helps counteract volatility and prevents panic selling. For example, from 1926-2011, the one-year return on the S&amp;P 500 ranged from -43% to 64%, but a 20-year annualized return over the same period was between 3.1% and 17.9%. While the midpoint of the two is roughly the same, the risk is much is lower in the 20-year return. In fact, there has been no point in the last 90 years at least when holding stocks did not generate a positive return. Market timing, the opposite of buy and hold, could lead to outsize returns but also steep losses.</p>
<p>Another benefit of buy-and-hold investing is that it acts like a tax shelter. If you're investing outside of a retirement account like a 401 (k) or an IRA, you'll get hit with a capital gains tax every time you sell and an even stiffer tax if your holding period is less than a year. Similarly, by avoiding frequent trading, you also escape the brokerage fees and commissions that come with trading stocks.</p>
<p>For dividend investors, the strategy provides an added benefit for growing dividend stocks -- the yield improves every time the dividend goes up since your actual yield is determined by your cost basis.</p>
<p>For the ultimate simple investing strategy, consider combing the three tactics above. It's easy to build your nest egg by keeping your money in an index fund for the long term and reinvesting the dividends. Thanks to the magic of compound interest, investing just $5,000 a year will turn into $1 million after 30 years, assuming a 10% annual return. That's the power of simple investing.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/2016/05/31/3-simple-investing-strategies-for-a-happy-retireme.aspx" type="external">3 Simple Investing Strategies for a Happy Retirement 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> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 3 Simple Investing Strategies for a Happy Retirement | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/05/31/3-simple-investing-strategies-for-happy-retirement.html | 2016-05-31 | 0right
| 3 Simple Investing Strategies for a Happy Retirement
<p />
<p>Investing can often seem more complicated than it needs to be. With a financial services industry worth billions of dollars, that may be by design, but investors new and old can find success with a few basic rules. The most important of those is compound interest. Thanks to this simple piece of math, returns will accelerate over time as your holdings increase in value.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Beginning investors should be bear in mind that even experts can't beat the market consistently. After all, the market is endlessly complex, with thousands of stock prices, moving every second. There's more information than any single investor can take in, but while the market is complex, making money doesn't have to be.</p>
<p>The fact that it's so hard to beat the market should give solace to investors satisfied to make average returns the easy way. Here are three simple strategies that even the newest investor can learn to build savings for a happy retirement.</p>
<p>There's no need to pick individual stock when index funds are available. Index funds offer an easy way to invest your money into the market by allocating it into an exchange-traded fund that tracks theS&amp;P 500or another index for a low annual fee. For investors looking to get into stocks, and you should be, considering the historical average annual return is near 10%, this is one of the safest ways to do it.</p>
<p>Among the index funds worth considering are theVanguard 500 Index Fund, which is the lowest-cost index fund, with an expense ratio of just 0.05% -- in other words, an annual fee of just $0.05 per $100 invested.Those with more than $10,000 to invest may want to choose the Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Class , which unlike the above index fund does not require transaction fees to buy shares. If you're planning to add money to your fund regularly, this may be a better option.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>For an index fund of small-cap stocks, you could choose theVanguard Russell 2000 Index Fund, which has an expense ratio of just 0.08%.</p>
<p>Even the great oracle Warren Buffett recommends that 90% of his estate be put in a low-cost S&amp;P 500 index fund.</p>
<p>Dividends should be a part of any investor's long-term strategy. Not only have dividend stocks been shown to outperform non-dividend payers, but the income can give you extra spending money or even better, accelerate your returns through a dividend reinvestment plan (Drip).Hundreds of stocks allow shareholders to enroll in DRIP plans directly, and for the ones that don't, most major brokerages will set you up to reinvest dividend income. Once enrolled, the process is entirely automated, requiring basically no attention.</p>
<p>How powerful is dividend reinvesting? Over the last ten years, the S&amp;P's annualized total return is just 4.9%, but with dividends reinvested its 7.1%. Over the 10-year span, reinvesting dividends would increase your return 61.3% to 98.1%.</p>
<p>Over the last 20 years, the difference in total gains is 214% vs. 351%, and that's with the S&amp;P 500, which pays a modest dividend yield of just 2% now. With high dividend stocks, the difference is much greater.</p>
<p>What could be a simpler investing strategy than buying a stock and holding it for most of the rest of your life? Buying and holding is a favorite investing technique of Buffett and plenty of other investing gurus. Not only is the strategy a simple one, but it is also productive. Holding stocks for a longer period of time helps counteract volatility and prevents panic selling. For example, from 1926-2011, the one-year return on the S&amp;P 500 ranged from -43% to 64%, but a 20-year annualized return over the same period was between 3.1% and 17.9%. While the midpoint of the two is roughly the same, the risk is much is lower in the 20-year return. In fact, there has been no point in the last 90 years at least when holding stocks did not generate a positive return. Market timing, the opposite of buy and hold, could lead to outsize returns but also steep losses.</p>
<p>Another benefit of buy-and-hold investing is that it acts like a tax shelter. If you're investing outside of a retirement account like a 401 (k) or an IRA, you'll get hit with a capital gains tax every time you sell and an even stiffer tax if your holding period is less than a year. Similarly, by avoiding frequent trading, you also escape the brokerage fees and commissions that come with trading stocks.</p>
<p>For dividend investors, the strategy provides an added benefit for growing dividend stocks -- the yield improves every time the dividend goes up since your actual yield is determined by your cost basis.</p>
<p>For the ultimate simple investing strategy, consider combing the three tactics above. It's easy to build your nest egg by keeping your money in an index fund for the long term and reinvesting the dividends. Thanks to the magic of compound interest, investing just $5,000 a year will turn into $1 million after 30 years, assuming a 10% annual return. That's the power of simple investing.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/2016/05/31/3-simple-investing-strategies-for-a-happy-retireme.aspx" type="external">3 Simple Investing Strategies for a Happy Retirement 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> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 3,592 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>CARLSBAD – Carlsbad Caverns National Park has joined other parks in banning drones.</p>
<p>Officials say anyone caught using model airplanes or other types of drones within the park’s boundaries could face fines and jail time.</p>
<p>Southwestern national parks including Canyonlands, Arches, Grand Canyon and Zion have recently put bans into place.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Carlsbad Caverns bans drones | false | https://abqjournal.com/454294/carlsbad-caverns-bans-drones.html | 2least
| Carlsbad Caverns bans drones
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>CARLSBAD – Carlsbad Caverns National Park has joined other parks in banning drones.</p>
<p>Officials say anyone caught using model airplanes or other types of drones within the park’s boundaries could face fines and jail time.</p>
<p>Southwestern national parks including Canyonlands, Arches, Grand Canyon and Zion have recently put bans into place.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 3,593 |
|
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>In this Monday, April 21, 2014 photo, a worker inspects a crate that will be loaded on the Amsterdam-bound Fortunagracht at the Port of Cleveland in Cleveland. The Commerce Department releases international trade data for May on Thursday, July 3, 2014. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)</p>
<p>WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit fell in May as U.S. exports hit an all-time high, helped by a jump in exports of petroleum products. Imports dipped slightly.</p>
<p>The trade deficit narrowed 5.6 percent in May to $44.4 billion after hitting a two-year high of $47 billion in April, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.</p>
<p>Exports of goods and services rose 1 percent to a record $195.5 billion in May while imports fell a slight 0.3 percent to $239.8 billion.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>A lower trade deficit boosts overall economic growth when it shows U.S. companies are earning more in their overseas sales. Economists are looking for a smaller trade deficit in the April-June quarter which will mean less of a drag on overall growth than in the first quarter, when the economy shrank at an annual rate of 2.9 percent.</p>
<p>Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said he looked for the trade deficit to be just about half of the 1.5 percentage point drag it represented in the first quarter.</p>
<p>Many analysts are looking for overall growth to rebound to a healthy rate between 3 percent and 3.5 percent in the second quarter.</p>
<p>In 2013, the trade deficit declined 11.3 percent to $476.4 billion. That reflected in part a boom in U.S. energy production that cut into America’s dependence on foreign oil while boosting U.S. petroleum exports to a record high.</p>
<p>The larger trade gap in the first three months of this year, compared to the fourth quarter, shaved 1.5 percentage points from growth. That was a big factor in helping to push the economy into reverse. In addition to a higher trade deficit, the economy was held back by severe winter which dampened consumer spending.</p>
<p>In May, the U.S. trade deficit with China rose 5.4 percent to $28.8 billion. Through the first five months of this year, America’s deficit with China is running 3.2 percent ahead of last year’s record pace.</p>
<p>The rise in exports reflected record sales of U.S.-made autos and auto parts and an 11.3 percent jump in exports of U.S. petroleum products. The rise in U.S. production has helped lower the need for imported oil, which dropped by 5 percent in May to $28.3 billion, the lowest monthly import total since November 2010.</p>
<p>Total U.S. exports to Canada were the highest on record while imports from Canada were the highest since July 2008, leaving a trade deficit of $2.8 billion with Canada. America had a record $2.7 billion trade deficit with South Korea in May as imports from that country hit a record high.</p>
<p>Obama administration officials will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing next week for annual high-level talks covering economic and foreign policy issues. Previewing the discussions on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the Obama administration would push China to allow its currency to rise against the dollar. The Chinese yuan has declined by about 2.4 percent against the dollar so far this year.</p>
<p>American manufacturers contend the Chinese currency is undervalued by as much as 40 percent and the Chinese government is manipulating the value to gain trade advantages. A weaker yuan makes Chinese goods cheaper in the United States and U.S. products more expensive in China.</p>
<p>Lew said that computer security would be another issue discussed. In May, the Justice Department charged five Chinese military officers with hacking into U.S. companies’ computer systems to steal trade secrets.</p> | US trade deficit drops to $44.4 billion in May | false | https://abqjournal.com/424569/us-trade-deficit-drops-to-44-4-billion-in-may.html | 2least
| US trade deficit drops to $44.4 billion in May
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>In this Monday, April 21, 2014 photo, a worker inspects a crate that will be loaded on the Amsterdam-bound Fortunagracht at the Port of Cleveland in Cleveland. The Commerce Department releases international trade data for May on Thursday, July 3, 2014. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)</p>
<p>WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit fell in May as U.S. exports hit an all-time high, helped by a jump in exports of petroleum products. Imports dipped slightly.</p>
<p>The trade deficit narrowed 5.6 percent in May to $44.4 billion after hitting a two-year high of $47 billion in April, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.</p>
<p>Exports of goods and services rose 1 percent to a record $195.5 billion in May while imports fell a slight 0.3 percent to $239.8 billion.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>A lower trade deficit boosts overall economic growth when it shows U.S. companies are earning more in their overseas sales. Economists are looking for a smaller trade deficit in the April-June quarter which will mean less of a drag on overall growth than in the first quarter, when the economy shrank at an annual rate of 2.9 percent.</p>
<p>Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said he looked for the trade deficit to be just about half of the 1.5 percentage point drag it represented in the first quarter.</p>
<p>Many analysts are looking for overall growth to rebound to a healthy rate between 3 percent and 3.5 percent in the second quarter.</p>
<p>In 2013, the trade deficit declined 11.3 percent to $476.4 billion. That reflected in part a boom in U.S. energy production that cut into America’s dependence on foreign oil while boosting U.S. petroleum exports to a record high.</p>
<p>The larger trade gap in the first three months of this year, compared to the fourth quarter, shaved 1.5 percentage points from growth. That was a big factor in helping to push the economy into reverse. In addition to a higher trade deficit, the economy was held back by severe winter which dampened consumer spending.</p>
<p>In May, the U.S. trade deficit with China rose 5.4 percent to $28.8 billion. Through the first five months of this year, America’s deficit with China is running 3.2 percent ahead of last year’s record pace.</p>
<p>The rise in exports reflected record sales of U.S.-made autos and auto parts and an 11.3 percent jump in exports of U.S. petroleum products. The rise in U.S. production has helped lower the need for imported oil, which dropped by 5 percent in May to $28.3 billion, the lowest monthly import total since November 2010.</p>
<p>Total U.S. exports to Canada were the highest on record while imports from Canada were the highest since July 2008, leaving a trade deficit of $2.8 billion with Canada. America had a record $2.7 billion trade deficit with South Korea in May as imports from that country hit a record high.</p>
<p>Obama administration officials will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing next week for annual high-level talks covering economic and foreign policy issues. Previewing the discussions on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the Obama administration would push China to allow its currency to rise against the dollar. The Chinese yuan has declined by about 2.4 percent against the dollar so far this year.</p>
<p>American manufacturers contend the Chinese currency is undervalued by as much as 40 percent and the Chinese government is manipulating the value to gain trade advantages. A weaker yuan makes Chinese goods cheaper in the United States and U.S. products more expensive in China.</p>
<p>Lew said that computer security would be another issue discussed. In May, the Justice Department charged five Chinese military officers with hacking into U.S. companies’ computer systems to steal trade secrets.</p> | 3,594 |
|
<p />
<p>Airbus plans this week to fly its A350 jet for the first time, as the company prepares to launch its first new airplane since 2005.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The European Aeronautic Defence &amp; Space unit was conducting final ground tests on Tuesday and expects the first flight to happen on Friday. An A350 will take off from a French airport at 10 a.m. local time, or 4 a.m. ET.</p>
<p>Airbus said its flight test teams are carrying out the last checks before they give their final green light for Friday’s flight.</p>
<p>The 300-seat aircraft will compete with Boeing’s (NYSE:BA) 777 and 787 Dreamliner.</p>
<p>The first version of the A350 is expected to go through a year-long flight test phases before entering service in the second half of 2014 with Qatar Airways.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>According to Airbus, the A350 XWB to be tested Friday has already won 613 orders from 33 customers. The A350 family will include jets that have seating for 270 to 350 passengers.</p> | Airbus A350’s First Flight Coming Friday | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/06/11/report-airbus-a350s-first-flight-coming-friday.html | 2016-01-25 | 0right
| Airbus A350’s First Flight Coming Friday
<p />
<p>Airbus plans this week to fly its A350 jet for the first time, as the company prepares to launch its first new airplane since 2005.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The European Aeronautic Defence &amp; Space unit was conducting final ground tests on Tuesday and expects the first flight to happen on Friday. An A350 will take off from a French airport at 10 a.m. local time, or 4 a.m. ET.</p>
<p>Airbus said its flight test teams are carrying out the last checks before they give their final green light for Friday’s flight.</p>
<p>The 300-seat aircraft will compete with Boeing’s (NYSE:BA) 777 and 787 Dreamliner.</p>
<p>The first version of the A350 is expected to go through a year-long flight test phases before entering service in the second half of 2014 with Qatar Airways.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>According to Airbus, the A350 XWB to be tested Friday has already won 613 orders from 33 customers. The A350 family will include jets that have seating for 270 to 350 passengers.</p> | 3,595 |
<p>ESPN may have bigger problems than its suddenly shrinking subscriber base.</p>
<p>The sports broadcasting leader and crown jewel inWalt Disney Co's entertainment empire is rapidly losing the very things that made it such a distinct and beloved brand over the last 20 years. A combination of a talent drain and dwindling interest in its trademark shows is rendering the company a shell of its former self, a commodity with little more to offer than live sports.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Here's what could ultimately undo the cable powerhouse.</p>
<p>Bill Simmons' exodus from ESPN last year got a lot of attention, but he's not the only popular personality to leave the network over the past year. Among the on-air talent heading for the door are Skip Bayless, Mike Tirico, Jason Whitlock, Keith Olbermann, and Colin Cowherd.</p>
<p>Some were drawn away by fatter paychecks; Bayless is reportedly getting $5 million to $6 million a year from Fox Sports 1.Others left due to creative differences. Bill Simmons blasted ESPN's too-comfortable relationship with the NFL when he left for HBO, after ESPN suspended him for criticizing NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.</p>
<p>Like the sports that ESPN covers, talent is vitally important in broadcasting. Viewers get to know their favorite on-air personalities, and those talking heads are what separate one network from another, as much as anything else in an era where highlight reels are as accessible as your smartphone.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Simmons' story may best illustrate this phenomenon. A superfan turned sports-entertainment juggernaut, he developed his own massive fan base through a blog and podcast, the B.S. Report. From there he went on to lead ESPN's popular long-form website, Grantland, which ESPN canned last year, and was the guiding hand behind such distinguished products as the acclaimed 30 for 30 documentary series. Simmons even occupied a coveted seat next to Magic Johnson and Jalen Rose on NBA broadcasts. In other words, he was everywhere on the network.</p>
<p>ESPN may have a better farm team than any of their competitors, but viewers notice such absences and popular personas aren't easily replaced. Similarly, the decision to squash Grantland was also greeted with disgust by sports fans.</p>
<p>More than any other show, SportsCenterhas come to define ESPN. The flagship sports-news-and-highlights show used to be a unique feature of the network, running on a seemingly endless loop through much of the day, prompting sports junkies to watch the same episode repeatedly. But highlights and scores are much easier to come by than they were a decade or two ago, and that's clearly taking a toll on ESPN's trademark show.</p>
<p>Since 2010, SportsCenter's ratings have fallen by 27%, and dropped 36% in the all-important 18-34 category.Subscribership, however, is only down 8% during that span, so most of the reason for the decline is viewers simply getting their sports highlights elsewhere.</p>
<p>ESPN recently spent $125 million on a revamped studio for the show, but the audience is shifting for a reason. Highlights are readily available anywhere on the Internet, and dozens of blogs and websites like Bleacher Report and Deadspin offer the kind of commentary that ESPN once had a monopoly on.</p>
<p>ESPN still reigns supreme in the digital realm among sports entertainment brands, but the company may struggle to leverage the same brand equity in the future without platforms like SportsCenter.</p>
<p>In addition to spending dearly on a new SportsCenter studio, ESPN has also coughed up excessive sums for broadcast rights to live sports. It has to -- that's its business, after all -- but live sports are a commodity, and viewers will flip to whatever station is showing the game they want to watch. In the cord-cuttingera, the live nature of sports has proven sticky enough to drive viewership and therefore ad sales, but the ensuing bidding wars over broadcast rights aren't a good thing for ESPN, as rivals like CBS and FOX bring deep pockets as well.</p>
<p>There's also evidence that ESPN's efforts aren't exactly in the right place, as it remains tied to the cable bundle. The NFL earlier this year agreed to sell streaming rights for ten games this season toTwitter , a move that surprised observers, as it was chosen over much larger rivals. Ten games is just a handful, but this shows how the league values Twitter's reputation for liveas well as its global reach. As technology improves and viewers demand it, more such streaming deals are likely to follow suit across all leagues, making the bidding wars even more intense. It seems inevitable that ESPN, like the traditional TV channel, continues to lose its preeminence with these upstarts in the mix.</p>
<p>As cord-cutting options get better, ESPN's subscriber numbers will continue to fall, but without its top talent and name-brand programming likeSportsCenter the network will lose cultural relevance, which could cost it dearly when it decides to make the move to over-the-top.</p>
<p>For Disney, managing this transition correctly is more important than any Star Wars movie or new theme park. The company's media networks contribute half of its profits, and ESPN is by far its biggest component.</p>
<p>Demand for sports will always exist, but ESPN's prized position is looking more dubious than ever.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/20/espn-is-rapidly-becoming-a-commodity-business-an-2.aspx" type="external">ESPN Is Rapidly Becoming a Commodity Business -- and That's Terrible News for Disney 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> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Twitter and Walt Disney. 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> | ESPN Is Rapidly Becoming a Commodity Business -- and That's Terrible News for Disney | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/05/20/espn-is-rapidly-becoming-commodity-business-and-that-terrible-news-for-disney.html | 2016-05-20 | 0right
| ESPN Is Rapidly Becoming a Commodity Business -- and That's Terrible News for Disney
<p>ESPN may have bigger problems than its suddenly shrinking subscriber base.</p>
<p>The sports broadcasting leader and crown jewel inWalt Disney Co's entertainment empire is rapidly losing the very things that made it such a distinct and beloved brand over the last 20 years. A combination of a talent drain and dwindling interest in its trademark shows is rendering the company a shell of its former self, a commodity with little more to offer than live sports.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Here's what could ultimately undo the cable powerhouse.</p>
<p>Bill Simmons' exodus from ESPN last year got a lot of attention, but he's not the only popular personality to leave the network over the past year. Among the on-air talent heading for the door are Skip Bayless, Mike Tirico, Jason Whitlock, Keith Olbermann, and Colin Cowherd.</p>
<p>Some were drawn away by fatter paychecks; Bayless is reportedly getting $5 million to $6 million a year from Fox Sports 1.Others left due to creative differences. Bill Simmons blasted ESPN's too-comfortable relationship with the NFL when he left for HBO, after ESPN suspended him for criticizing NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.</p>
<p>Like the sports that ESPN covers, talent is vitally important in broadcasting. Viewers get to know their favorite on-air personalities, and those talking heads are what separate one network from another, as much as anything else in an era where highlight reels are as accessible as your smartphone.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Simmons' story may best illustrate this phenomenon. A superfan turned sports-entertainment juggernaut, he developed his own massive fan base through a blog and podcast, the B.S. Report. From there he went on to lead ESPN's popular long-form website, Grantland, which ESPN canned last year, and was the guiding hand behind such distinguished products as the acclaimed 30 for 30 documentary series. Simmons even occupied a coveted seat next to Magic Johnson and Jalen Rose on NBA broadcasts. In other words, he was everywhere on the network.</p>
<p>ESPN may have a better farm team than any of their competitors, but viewers notice such absences and popular personas aren't easily replaced. Similarly, the decision to squash Grantland was also greeted with disgust by sports fans.</p>
<p>More than any other show, SportsCenterhas come to define ESPN. The flagship sports-news-and-highlights show used to be a unique feature of the network, running on a seemingly endless loop through much of the day, prompting sports junkies to watch the same episode repeatedly. But highlights and scores are much easier to come by than they were a decade or two ago, and that's clearly taking a toll on ESPN's trademark show.</p>
<p>Since 2010, SportsCenter's ratings have fallen by 27%, and dropped 36% in the all-important 18-34 category.Subscribership, however, is only down 8% during that span, so most of the reason for the decline is viewers simply getting their sports highlights elsewhere.</p>
<p>ESPN recently spent $125 million on a revamped studio for the show, but the audience is shifting for a reason. Highlights are readily available anywhere on the Internet, and dozens of blogs and websites like Bleacher Report and Deadspin offer the kind of commentary that ESPN once had a monopoly on.</p>
<p>ESPN still reigns supreme in the digital realm among sports entertainment brands, but the company may struggle to leverage the same brand equity in the future without platforms like SportsCenter.</p>
<p>In addition to spending dearly on a new SportsCenter studio, ESPN has also coughed up excessive sums for broadcast rights to live sports. It has to -- that's its business, after all -- but live sports are a commodity, and viewers will flip to whatever station is showing the game they want to watch. In the cord-cuttingera, the live nature of sports has proven sticky enough to drive viewership and therefore ad sales, but the ensuing bidding wars over broadcast rights aren't a good thing for ESPN, as rivals like CBS and FOX bring deep pockets as well.</p>
<p>There's also evidence that ESPN's efforts aren't exactly in the right place, as it remains tied to the cable bundle. The NFL earlier this year agreed to sell streaming rights for ten games this season toTwitter , a move that surprised observers, as it was chosen over much larger rivals. Ten games is just a handful, but this shows how the league values Twitter's reputation for liveas well as its global reach. As technology improves and viewers demand it, more such streaming deals are likely to follow suit across all leagues, making the bidding wars even more intense. It seems inevitable that ESPN, like the traditional TV channel, continues to lose its preeminence with these upstarts in the mix.</p>
<p>As cord-cutting options get better, ESPN's subscriber numbers will continue to fall, but without its top talent and name-brand programming likeSportsCenter the network will lose cultural relevance, which could cost it dearly when it decides to make the move to over-the-top.</p>
<p>For Disney, managing this transition correctly is more important than any Star Wars movie or new theme park. The company's media networks contribute half of its profits, and ESPN is by far its biggest component.</p>
<p>Demand for sports will always exist, but ESPN's prized position is looking more dubious than ever.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/20/espn-is-rapidly-becoming-a-commodity-business-an-2.aspx" type="external">ESPN Is Rapidly Becoming a Commodity Business -- and That's Terrible News for Disney 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> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Twitter and Walt Disney. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 3,596 |
<p>COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (RNS) — After disgraced evangelical leader Ted Haggard decided to start holding prayer meetings at his Colorado home, advisers and observers, perhaps not surprisingly, reacted with disappointment.</p>
<p>But the fact he’s chosen to host the meetings within a few miles of the Colorado Springs megachurch that dismissed him three years ago — because of a sex and drug scandal involving a male escort — has drawn stronger reactions.</p>
<p />
<p>“When you think of the ethics of that, it, to me, just defies explanation,” said H.B. London, who chaired Haggard’s restoration committee and is vice president of church and clergy at Focus on the Family, also in Colorado Springs.</p>
<p>Joe Trull, editor of the journal Christian Ethics Today, said starting a religious gathering near one’s former church is “disrupting” and can lead to accusations of “sheep stealing” from a former flock.</p>
<p>“I don’t think he should ever start a church or a group in the same community as his former church,” said Trull, co-author of a book on ministerial ethics. “That’s just verboten.”</p>
<p>Ethicists say cases of fallen clergy run the gamut, as does the appropriateness of their return to ministry. While some succeed and turn to work beyond the pulpit — such as chaplaincies or writing opportunities — others never are able to minister again.</p>
<p>Haggard’s decision to start the prayer gatherings after the high-profile scandal has drawn support from the more than 100 attendees at his first prayer meeting, as well as criticism from hundreds of responses to an online column by London that questioned his return.</p>
<p>His former New Life Church said in a brief statement that it wished “him and his family only the best.”</p>
<p>Ironically, Haggard’s former church, which now attracts thousands of worshippers, was born out of small sessions he held in his basement nearly 25 years ago.</p>
<p>Both London and Michael Ware, who served on the board of overseers at New Life shortly after Haggard’s dismissal, recalled that Haggard assured them he would never start a new church in Colorado Springs.</p>
<p>“It was the decision of the … overseers that Ted relocate to a city of his choice for his future and for his restoration,” said Ware, senior pastor of Victory Church in Denver. “That was just what we recommended was the most healthy thing for him at that time.”</p>
<p>Haggard, who also resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals in the wake of the scandal, did move away for a time and lived in Arizona. Last year, New Life announced that Haggard had ended a “spiritual restoration” process and had an “accountability relationship” with Pastor Tom-my Barnett of Phoenix First As-sembly, who had been on the restoration committee.</p>
<p>“It was pretty much of a mutual thing, because we saw that it wasn’t really going anywhere,” London said of the committee, which also included Jack Hayford, former president of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. “We were concerned about his lack of submission to spiritual authority.”</p>
<p>Attempts to reach Haggard for comment were unsuccessful. His home voice-mail message included an announcement about the time of the prayer meeting.</p>
<p>The Gazette in Colorado Springs reported that Haggard says he now has a self-selected “accountability team” of five pastors from nondenominational evangelical churches, and he has met with them for the past several months.</p>
<p>Glen Stassen, a professor of Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary, said he believes forgiveness is a central aspect of recovery from a scandal like Haggard’s, but so is an appropriate process including discipline.</p>
<p>“I am not a perfect person myself,” said Stassen. “I’m really reluctant to be judgmental, but I really am in favor of restoration and disciplined processes and staying with them.”</p>
<p>It may be possible for people “who have done something far worse” than Haggard’s transgressions to be restored, Stassen said.</p>
<p>“Will the person be honest in the future, and will the person be faithful to others?” are questions that must be asked in circumstances like Haggard’s, he said.</p>
<p>&#160;“Sometimes we can do that. We can be restored. But sometimes if people don’t go through the process, they may not.”</p> | As scandal-plagued pastor returns, questions linger about ‘restoration’ | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/asscandal-plaguedpastorreturnsquestionslingeraboutrestoration/ | 3left-center
| As scandal-plagued pastor returns, questions linger about ‘restoration’
<p>COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (RNS) — After disgraced evangelical leader Ted Haggard decided to start holding prayer meetings at his Colorado home, advisers and observers, perhaps not surprisingly, reacted with disappointment.</p>
<p>But the fact he’s chosen to host the meetings within a few miles of the Colorado Springs megachurch that dismissed him three years ago — because of a sex and drug scandal involving a male escort — has drawn stronger reactions.</p>
<p />
<p>“When you think of the ethics of that, it, to me, just defies explanation,” said H.B. London, who chaired Haggard’s restoration committee and is vice president of church and clergy at Focus on the Family, also in Colorado Springs.</p>
<p>Joe Trull, editor of the journal Christian Ethics Today, said starting a religious gathering near one’s former church is “disrupting” and can lead to accusations of “sheep stealing” from a former flock.</p>
<p>“I don’t think he should ever start a church or a group in the same community as his former church,” said Trull, co-author of a book on ministerial ethics. “That’s just verboten.”</p>
<p>Ethicists say cases of fallen clergy run the gamut, as does the appropriateness of their return to ministry. While some succeed and turn to work beyond the pulpit — such as chaplaincies or writing opportunities — others never are able to minister again.</p>
<p>Haggard’s decision to start the prayer gatherings after the high-profile scandal has drawn support from the more than 100 attendees at his first prayer meeting, as well as criticism from hundreds of responses to an online column by London that questioned his return.</p>
<p>His former New Life Church said in a brief statement that it wished “him and his family only the best.”</p>
<p>Ironically, Haggard’s former church, which now attracts thousands of worshippers, was born out of small sessions he held in his basement nearly 25 years ago.</p>
<p>Both London and Michael Ware, who served on the board of overseers at New Life shortly after Haggard’s dismissal, recalled that Haggard assured them he would never start a new church in Colorado Springs.</p>
<p>“It was the decision of the … overseers that Ted relocate to a city of his choice for his future and for his restoration,” said Ware, senior pastor of Victory Church in Denver. “That was just what we recommended was the most healthy thing for him at that time.”</p>
<p>Haggard, who also resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals in the wake of the scandal, did move away for a time and lived in Arizona. Last year, New Life announced that Haggard had ended a “spiritual restoration” process and had an “accountability relationship” with Pastor Tom-my Barnett of Phoenix First As-sembly, who had been on the restoration committee.</p>
<p>“It was pretty much of a mutual thing, because we saw that it wasn’t really going anywhere,” London said of the committee, which also included Jack Hayford, former president of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. “We were concerned about his lack of submission to spiritual authority.”</p>
<p>Attempts to reach Haggard for comment were unsuccessful. His home voice-mail message included an announcement about the time of the prayer meeting.</p>
<p>The Gazette in Colorado Springs reported that Haggard says he now has a self-selected “accountability team” of five pastors from nondenominational evangelical churches, and he has met with them for the past several months.</p>
<p>Glen Stassen, a professor of Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary, said he believes forgiveness is a central aspect of recovery from a scandal like Haggard’s, but so is an appropriate process including discipline.</p>
<p>“I am not a perfect person myself,” said Stassen. “I’m really reluctant to be judgmental, but I really am in favor of restoration and disciplined processes and staying with them.”</p>
<p>It may be possible for people “who have done something far worse” than Haggard’s transgressions to be restored, Stassen said.</p>
<p>“Will the person be honest in the future, and will the person be faithful to others?” are questions that must be asked in circumstances like Haggard’s, he said.</p>
<p>&#160;“Sometimes we can do that. We can be restored. But sometimes if people don’t go through the process, they may not.”</p> | 3,597 |
|
<p>TIDMTSCO</p>
<p>FORM 8.3</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY</p>
<p>A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE</p>
<p>Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the "Code")</p>
<p>1. KEY INFORMATION</p>
<p>(a) Full name of discloser: Invesco Ltd.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>(b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions</p>
<p>disclosed, if different from 1(a):</p>
<p>The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient.</p>
<p>For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries</p>
<p>must be named.</p>
<p>(c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant</p>
<p>securities this form relates: Tesco Plc.</p>
<p>Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree</p>
<p>(d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree,</p>
<p>state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree:</p>
<p>(e) Date position held/dealing undertaken: 30 January 2018</p>
<p>For an opening position disclosure, state the latest</p>
<p>practicable date prior to the disclosure</p>
<p>(f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the Yes: Booker Group Plc.</p>
<p>discloser making disclosures in respect of any other</p>
<p>party to the offer?</p>
<p>If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state</p>
<p>"N/A"</p>
<p>2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE</p>
<p>If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than</p>
<p>one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c),</p>
<p>copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of</p>
<p>relevant security.</p>
<p>1. Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror</p>
<p>or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)</p>
<p>GB0008847096</p>
<p>Class of relevant security: 5p Ordinary</p>
<p>Interests Short positions</p>
<p>Number % Number %</p>
<p>(1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 28,477,787 0.34%</p>
<p>(2) Cash-settled derivatives:</p>
<p>(3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options)</p>
<p>and agreements to purchase/sell:</p>
<p>TOTAL: 28,477,787 0.34%</p>
<p>All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.</p>
<p>Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded</p>
<p>options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should</p>
<p>be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).</p>
<p>(b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors'</p>
<p>and other employee options)</p>
<p>Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription</p>
<p>right exists:</p>
<p>Details, including nature of the rights concerned</p>
<p>and relevant percentages:</p>
<p>3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE</p>
<p>Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant</p>
<p>securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b),</p>
<p>(c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant</p>
<p>security dealt in.</p>
<p>The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.</p>
<p>1. Purchases and sales</p>
<p>Class of relevant Purchase/sale Number of securities Price per unit</p>
<p>security</p>
<p>Ordinary Purchase 2,515,429 2.09 GBP</p>
<p>(b) Cash-settled derivative transactions</p>
<p>Class of Product description Nature of dealing Number of Price</p>
<p>relevant e.g. CFD e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing reference per</p>
<p>security a long/short position securities unit</p>
<p>(c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)</p>
<p>(i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying</p>
<p>Class of Product Writing, Number of Exercise Type Expiry Option</p>
<p>relevant description purchasing, securities price e.g. American, European etc. date money</p>
<p>security e.g. call selling, to which per paid/</p>
<p>option varying option unit received</p>
<p>etc. relates per</p>
<p>unit</p>
<p>(ii) Exercise</p>
<p>Class of Product description Exercising/ Number of Exercise</p>
<p>relevant e.g. call option exercised securities price per</p>
<p>security against unit</p>
<p>(d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)</p>
<p>Class of Nature of dealing Details Price per unit</p>
<p>relevant e.g. subscription, conversion (if</p>
<p>security applicable)</p>
<p>4. OTHER INFORMATION</p>
<p>(a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements</p>
<p>Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or</p>
<p>any agreement or understanding, formal or informal,</p>
<p>relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement</p>
<p>to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the</p>
<p>person making the disclosure and any party to the</p>
<p>offer or any person acting in concert with a party</p>
<p>to the offer:</p>
<p>Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should</p>
<p>not be included. If there are no such agreements,</p>
<p>arrangements or understandings, state "none"</p>
<p>None</p>
<p>(b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to</p>
<p>options or derivatives</p>
<p>Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding,</p>
<p>formal or informal, between the person making the</p>
<p>disclosure and any other person relating to:</p>
<p>(i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under</p>
<p>any option; or</p>
<p>(ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal</p>
<p>of any relevant securities to which any derivative</p>
<p>is referenced:</p>
<p>If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings,</p>
<p>state "none"</p>
<p>None</p>
<p>(c) Attachments</p>
<p>Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO</p>
<p>Date of disclosure: 31 January 2018</p>
<p>Contact name: Philippa Holmes</p>
<p>Telephone number: 01491 417 447</p>
<p>Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory</p>
<p>Information Service and must also be emailed to the Takeover Panel at</p>
<p>[email protected]. The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is</p>
<p>available for consultation in relation to the Code's disclosure</p>
<p>requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.</p>
<p>The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at</p>
<p>www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.</p>
<p>This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf</p>
<p>of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.</p>
<p>The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely</p>
<p>responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information</p>
<p>contained therein.</p>
<p>Source: Invesco Ltd. via Globenewswire</p>
<p>http://www.invescoperpetual.co.uk/</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>January 31, 2018 09:06 ET (14:06 GMT)</p> | Invesco UK Ltd Invesco Ltd. : Form 8.3 - Tesco Plc | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/12/01/invesco-uk-ltd-invesco-ltd-form-8-3-tesco-plc.html | 2018-01-31 | 0right
| Invesco UK Ltd Invesco Ltd. : Form 8.3 - Tesco Plc
<p>TIDMTSCO</p>
<p>FORM 8.3</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY</p>
<p>A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE</p>
<p>Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the "Code")</p>
<p>1. KEY INFORMATION</p>
<p>(a) Full name of discloser: Invesco Ltd.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>(b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions</p>
<p>disclosed, if different from 1(a):</p>
<p>The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient.</p>
<p>For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries</p>
<p>must be named.</p>
<p>(c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant</p>
<p>securities this form relates: Tesco Plc.</p>
<p>Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree</p>
<p>(d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree,</p>
<p>state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree:</p>
<p>(e) Date position held/dealing undertaken: 30 January 2018</p>
<p>For an opening position disclosure, state the latest</p>
<p>practicable date prior to the disclosure</p>
<p>(f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the Yes: Booker Group Plc.</p>
<p>discloser making disclosures in respect of any other</p>
<p>party to the offer?</p>
<p>If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state</p>
<p>"N/A"</p>
<p>2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE</p>
<p>If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than</p>
<p>one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c),</p>
<p>copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of</p>
<p>relevant security.</p>
<p>1. Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror</p>
<p>or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)</p>
<p>GB0008847096</p>
<p>Class of relevant security: 5p Ordinary</p>
<p>Interests Short positions</p>
<p>Number % Number %</p>
<p>(1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 28,477,787 0.34%</p>
<p>(2) Cash-settled derivatives:</p>
<p>(3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options)</p>
<p>and agreements to purchase/sell:</p>
<p>TOTAL: 28,477,787 0.34%</p>
<p>All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.</p>
<p>Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded</p>
<p>options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should</p>
<p>be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).</p>
<p>(b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors'</p>
<p>and other employee options)</p>
<p>Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription</p>
<p>right exists:</p>
<p>Details, including nature of the rights concerned</p>
<p>and relevant percentages:</p>
<p>3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE</p>
<p>Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant</p>
<p>securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b),</p>
<p>(c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant</p>
<p>security dealt in.</p>
<p>The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.</p>
<p>1. Purchases and sales</p>
<p>Class of relevant Purchase/sale Number of securities Price per unit</p>
<p>security</p>
<p>Ordinary Purchase 2,515,429 2.09 GBP</p>
<p>(b) Cash-settled derivative transactions</p>
<p>Class of Product description Nature of dealing Number of Price</p>
<p>relevant e.g. CFD e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing reference per</p>
<p>security a long/short position securities unit</p>
<p>(c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)</p>
<p>(i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying</p>
<p>Class of Product Writing, Number of Exercise Type Expiry Option</p>
<p>relevant description purchasing, securities price e.g. American, European etc. date money</p>
<p>security e.g. call selling, to which per paid/</p>
<p>option varying option unit received</p>
<p>etc. relates per</p>
<p>unit</p>
<p>(ii) Exercise</p>
<p>Class of Product description Exercising/ Number of Exercise</p>
<p>relevant e.g. call option exercised securities price per</p>
<p>security against unit</p>
<p>(d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)</p>
<p>Class of Nature of dealing Details Price per unit</p>
<p>relevant e.g. subscription, conversion (if</p>
<p>security applicable)</p>
<p>4. OTHER INFORMATION</p>
<p>(a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements</p>
<p>Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or</p>
<p>any agreement or understanding, formal or informal,</p>
<p>relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement</p>
<p>to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the</p>
<p>person making the disclosure and any party to the</p>
<p>offer or any person acting in concert with a party</p>
<p>to the offer:</p>
<p>Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should</p>
<p>not be included. If there are no such agreements,</p>
<p>arrangements or understandings, state "none"</p>
<p>None</p>
<p>(b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to</p>
<p>options or derivatives</p>
<p>Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding,</p>
<p>formal or informal, between the person making the</p>
<p>disclosure and any other person relating to:</p>
<p>(i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under</p>
<p>any option; or</p>
<p>(ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal</p>
<p>of any relevant securities to which any derivative</p>
<p>is referenced:</p>
<p>If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings,</p>
<p>state "none"</p>
<p>None</p>
<p>(c) Attachments</p>
<p>Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO</p>
<p>Date of disclosure: 31 January 2018</p>
<p>Contact name: Philippa Holmes</p>
<p>Telephone number: 01491 417 447</p>
<p>Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory</p>
<p>Information Service and must also be emailed to the Takeover Panel at</p>
<p>[email protected]. The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is</p>
<p>available for consultation in relation to the Code's disclosure</p>
<p>requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.</p>
<p>The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at</p>
<p>www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.</p>
<p>This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf</p>
<p>of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.</p>
<p>The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely</p>
<p>responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information</p>
<p>contained therein.</p>
<p>Source: Invesco Ltd. via Globenewswire</p>
<p>http://www.invescoperpetual.co.uk/</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>January 31, 2018 09:06 ET (14:06 GMT)</p> | 3,598 |
<p>By Matthew Bell</p>
<p>On his first full day in his new job, Egypt's new prime minister went to Cairo's Tahrir Square to address thousands of demonstrators. Essam Sharaf told the crowd that he would work to meet their demands. And that he would resign if he fails.</p>
<p>Sharaf already had credibility with the crowds of demonstrators in Tahrir Square. He's an American-educated engineer and former transport minister under former president Hosni Mubarak. Sharaf resigned from the post, went on to be critical of the Mubarak government, and then, joined anti-government demonstrations in Cairo.</p>
<p>When the new prime minister was spotted entering the square today, demonstrator Walid Abdenemizek was delighted. "Very, very, very happy!" he exulted.</p>
<p>Mona Meena is an Egyptian doctor who treated injured demonstrators in Tahrir Square during the worst of the violence last month. She says tens of people died in front of her. She too is supportive of Essam Sharaf as prime minister.</p>
<p>"It's good that the army chose someone who's accepted by the demonstrators," she said. "And it's also good that he's visiting here today."</p>
<p>After a short prayer for those killed and injured in the revolution, the new prime minister made his way through the crowd and onto the stage. Sharaf told the crowd that he gets his legitimacy from them. He vowed to work to realize all of their demands.</p>
<p>The prime minister expressed his condolences to the families of those who were killed and injured during the uprising. Sharaf also spoke on behalf of the military rulers who appointed him, saying that they support change. Then, he was carried away, on the shoulders of demonstrators and Egyptian soldiers.</p>
<p>But for all the euphoria on the square, demonstrators are far from fully satisfied. They're determined to keep up the pressure on Egypt's military rulers. A key demand expressed by demonstrators is for Egypt's much-reviled state security apparatus to be dismantled. This is the network of Mubarak's secret police, notorious for their brutality and abuse of power.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, they celebrated Sharaf's visit to the square. "Nobody was expecting him to come today," said one protester. "But it's something he did voluntarily; to assure the people … that someone is caring about them."</p>
<p>Another protester said it was good for Sharaf to be with the people, because there's still a lot to be done. "We have about 50 percent of our demands that we have achieved now, there is another 50 percent to go."</p>
<p>Egypt's transitional military government has scheduled a referendum on constitutional reform for March 19th. Some Egyptians are calling for a whole new constitution. Others want to amend the existing one. Beyond that, the military council says it wants to hand over power to a civilian government in about six months, or after elections for the presidency and parliament.</p> | Egypt's new prime minister addresses Cairo crowd | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-03-04/egypts-new-prime-minister-addresses-cairo-crowd | 2011-03-04 | 3left-center
| Egypt's new prime minister addresses Cairo crowd
<p>By Matthew Bell</p>
<p>On his first full day in his new job, Egypt's new prime minister went to Cairo's Tahrir Square to address thousands of demonstrators. Essam Sharaf told the crowd that he would work to meet their demands. And that he would resign if he fails.</p>
<p>Sharaf already had credibility with the crowds of demonstrators in Tahrir Square. He's an American-educated engineer and former transport minister under former president Hosni Mubarak. Sharaf resigned from the post, went on to be critical of the Mubarak government, and then, joined anti-government demonstrations in Cairo.</p>
<p>When the new prime minister was spotted entering the square today, demonstrator Walid Abdenemizek was delighted. "Very, very, very happy!" he exulted.</p>
<p>Mona Meena is an Egyptian doctor who treated injured demonstrators in Tahrir Square during the worst of the violence last month. She says tens of people died in front of her. She too is supportive of Essam Sharaf as prime minister.</p>
<p>"It's good that the army chose someone who's accepted by the demonstrators," she said. "And it's also good that he's visiting here today."</p>
<p>After a short prayer for those killed and injured in the revolution, the new prime minister made his way through the crowd and onto the stage. Sharaf told the crowd that he gets his legitimacy from them. He vowed to work to realize all of their demands.</p>
<p>The prime minister expressed his condolences to the families of those who were killed and injured during the uprising. Sharaf also spoke on behalf of the military rulers who appointed him, saying that they support change. Then, he was carried away, on the shoulders of demonstrators and Egyptian soldiers.</p>
<p>But for all the euphoria on the square, demonstrators are far from fully satisfied. They're determined to keep up the pressure on Egypt's military rulers. A key demand expressed by demonstrators is for Egypt's much-reviled state security apparatus to be dismantled. This is the network of Mubarak's secret police, notorious for their brutality and abuse of power.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, they celebrated Sharaf's visit to the square. "Nobody was expecting him to come today," said one protester. "But it's something he did voluntarily; to assure the people … that someone is caring about them."</p>
<p>Another protester said it was good for Sharaf to be with the people, because there's still a lot to be done. "We have about 50 percent of our demands that we have achieved now, there is another 50 percent to go."</p>
<p>Egypt's transitional military government has scheduled a referendum on constitutional reform for March 19th. Some Egyptians are calling for a whole new constitution. Others want to amend the existing one. Beyond that, the military council says it wants to hand over power to a civilian government in about six months, or after elections for the presidency and parliament.</p> | 3,599 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.