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<p>Actress Julianne Moore and&#160;“American Beauty” producer Bruce Cohen have <a href="https://www.change.org/p/rename-j-e-b-stuart-high-school-after-supreme-court-justice-thurgood-marshall" type="external">launched a petition</a> to <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebrity/julianne-moore-and-producer-bruce-cohen-launch-petition-to-rename-their-high-school/ar-BBm3lLp?ocid=ansmsnent11" type="external">change the name of their former high schoo</a>l. Why? Because their former high school in Virginia is named after&#160;J.E.B Stuart, a Confederate general. The name was specifically chosen in 1959, to protest the 1954 Brown vs.&#160;The Board of Education ruling banning segregated high schools. Charming!</p>
<p>Moore and Cohen have suggested, instead, changing its name to Thurgood Marshall High School, after the civil rights leader and Supreme Court Justice who grew up in the area.</p>
<p>The petition reads:</p>
<p>Today, this school is attended by a diverse group of students who should not have to attend a school that bears the name of a man who fought to keep African Americans enslaved. So we’re calling on the Fairfax County School Board to rename it Thurgood Marshall High School. Not only was Marshall the first African American Supreme Court Justice and a civil rights leader, he was our neighbor and a member of our community.</p>
<p>When we were at J.E.B. Stuart in the late ’70’s, the school symbol was Stuart riding a horse and waving the Confederate flag. The Confederate flag was at the center of our basketball court and on our athletic letter jackets and wasn’t removed until 2001–but the symbol of Stuart on a horse waving a flag (now solid blue) remains. No one should have to apologize for the name of the public high school you attended and the history of racism it represents, as we and so many alumni of Stuart have felt the need to do our whole lives.</p>
<p>The killings of nine African Americans in Charleston, South Carolina by a white supremacist who proudly flew and wore the Confederate battle flag was a tragic reminder of how these symbols of hate continue to fuel racism and violence. And it’s sparked a national conversation about the appropriateness of honoring the Confederacy, especially in institutions of learning.</p>
<p>I would say it’s not appropriate at all. It is particularly inappropriate in light of the fact that the school was named in the spirit of sour grapes, because a bunch of dumb ass bigots had a sad about their kids attending school with black children. I mean, honestly–it’s a little pathetic.</p>
<p>Hopefully the school will just change the stupid name instead of digging its heels in and trying to pretend like they can’t figure out why anyone would find this offensive. Because that is getting tired.</p>
<p>[ <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebrity/julianne-moore-and-producer-bruce-cohen-launch-petition-to-rename-their-high-school/ar-BBm3lLp?ocid=ansmsnent11" type="external">MSN.com</a>]</p>
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Julianne Moore Hopes To Rename Her High School After Someone Who DIDN’T Love Slavery
| true |
http://thefrisky.com/2015-08-25/julianne-moore-hopes-to-rename-her-high-school-after-someone-who-didnt-love-slavery/?utm_source%3Dsc-fb%26utm_medium%3Dref%26utm_campaign%3Djulianne-moore
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2018-10-06
| 4left
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Julianne Moore Hopes To Rename Her High School After Someone Who DIDN’T Love Slavery
<p>Actress Julianne Moore and&#160;“American Beauty” producer Bruce Cohen have <a href="https://www.change.org/p/rename-j-e-b-stuart-high-school-after-supreme-court-justice-thurgood-marshall" type="external">launched a petition</a> to <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebrity/julianne-moore-and-producer-bruce-cohen-launch-petition-to-rename-their-high-school/ar-BBm3lLp?ocid=ansmsnent11" type="external">change the name of their former high schoo</a>l. Why? Because their former high school in Virginia is named after&#160;J.E.B Stuart, a Confederate general. The name was specifically chosen in 1959, to protest the 1954 Brown vs.&#160;The Board of Education ruling banning segregated high schools. Charming!</p>
<p>Moore and Cohen have suggested, instead, changing its name to Thurgood Marshall High School, after the civil rights leader and Supreme Court Justice who grew up in the area.</p>
<p>The petition reads:</p>
<p>Today, this school is attended by a diverse group of students who should not have to attend a school that bears the name of a man who fought to keep African Americans enslaved. So we’re calling on the Fairfax County School Board to rename it Thurgood Marshall High School. Not only was Marshall the first African American Supreme Court Justice and a civil rights leader, he was our neighbor and a member of our community.</p>
<p>When we were at J.E.B. Stuart in the late ’70’s, the school symbol was Stuart riding a horse and waving the Confederate flag. The Confederate flag was at the center of our basketball court and on our athletic letter jackets and wasn’t removed until 2001–but the symbol of Stuart on a horse waving a flag (now solid blue) remains. No one should have to apologize for the name of the public high school you attended and the history of racism it represents, as we and so many alumni of Stuart have felt the need to do our whole lives.</p>
<p>The killings of nine African Americans in Charleston, South Carolina by a white supremacist who proudly flew and wore the Confederate battle flag was a tragic reminder of how these symbols of hate continue to fuel racism and violence. And it’s sparked a national conversation about the appropriateness of honoring the Confederacy, especially in institutions of learning.</p>
<p>I would say it’s not appropriate at all. It is particularly inappropriate in light of the fact that the school was named in the spirit of sour grapes, because a bunch of dumb ass bigots had a sad about their kids attending school with black children. I mean, honestly–it’s a little pathetic.</p>
<p>Hopefully the school will just change the stupid name instead of digging its heels in and trying to pretend like they can’t figure out why anyone would find this offensive. Because that is getting tired.</p>
<p>[ <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebrity/julianne-moore-and-producer-bruce-cohen-launch-petition-to-rename-their-high-school/ar-BBm3lLp?ocid=ansmsnent11" type="external">MSN.com</a>]</p>
| 4,900 |
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<p />
<p>The producer price index increased 0.2 percent in March, after sharp drops in the two previous months, the Labor Department said Tuesday. The index measures prices before they reach the consumer.</p>
<p>Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices also rose 0.2 percent.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>In the past year, wholesale prices have plummeted 0.8 percent, the sharpest drop in the four years since the government updated its methods for calculating the index. Cheaper gas caused most of the decline. Core prices have risen 0.8 percent in the past 12 months.</p>
<p>If March's increase is sustained, inflation could move closer to levels that the Federal Reserve believes is consistent with a healthy economy. The government reports consumer prices Friday.</p>
<p>Cheaper gas and a strong dollar have kept most measures of inflation at very low levels, and in some cases in negative territory. Gas prices have leveled off in recent months, however, eliminating one source of deflationary pressure. The strong dollar, which makes imports cheaper, will likely continue to keep a lid on inflation, economists say.</p>
<p>"Inflation remains very soft," Jennifer Lee, an economist at BMO Capital Markets.</p>
<p>Federal Reserve officials are closely watching measures of inflation as they consider when they will raise the short-term interest rate they control. That rate has been pinned at zero for more than six years.</p>
<p>Fed officials have said they want to be "reasonably confident" that inflation will move closer to its 2 percent goal before they raise rates. Many economists predict the Fed won't move until September.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Gas prices fell about 60 percent from last June through January, when they reached a six-year low of $2.03. But they moved up since then. Gas prices averaged $2.39 a gallon nationwide Monday, according to AAA. That's five cents cheaper than a month earlier.</p>
<p>The Fed aims for 2 percent inflation to guard against deflation, which can cause a destabilizing drop in prices and wages.</p>
<p>Yet the Fed's preferred measure of inflation has been stuck below 2 percent for nearly three years. Another factor holding down prices has been the strong U.S. dollar, which makes imported goods cheaper.</p>
<p>Some Fed officials pointed to the low inflation readings in their March meeting and argued for delaying the first rate increase until later this year, according to minutes of the meeting, which were released last week. Other officials supported making the first move in June.</p>
<p>After that meeting, the Fed said in a statement that it wanted to see more improvement in the job market and to be confident that inflation would move toward its 2 percent goal before raising rates.</p>
|
More expensive gas lifts wholesale prices in March
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/568994/more-expensive-gas-lifts-wholesale-prices-in-march.html
| 2least
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More expensive gas lifts wholesale prices in March
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The producer price index increased 0.2 percent in March, after sharp drops in the two previous months, the Labor Department said Tuesday. The index measures prices before they reach the consumer.</p>
<p>Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices also rose 0.2 percent.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>In the past year, wholesale prices have plummeted 0.8 percent, the sharpest drop in the four years since the government updated its methods for calculating the index. Cheaper gas caused most of the decline. Core prices have risen 0.8 percent in the past 12 months.</p>
<p>If March's increase is sustained, inflation could move closer to levels that the Federal Reserve believes is consistent with a healthy economy. The government reports consumer prices Friday.</p>
<p>Cheaper gas and a strong dollar have kept most measures of inflation at very low levels, and in some cases in negative territory. Gas prices have leveled off in recent months, however, eliminating one source of deflationary pressure. The strong dollar, which makes imports cheaper, will likely continue to keep a lid on inflation, economists say.</p>
<p>"Inflation remains very soft," Jennifer Lee, an economist at BMO Capital Markets.</p>
<p>Federal Reserve officials are closely watching measures of inflation as they consider when they will raise the short-term interest rate they control. That rate has been pinned at zero for more than six years.</p>
<p>Fed officials have said they want to be "reasonably confident" that inflation will move closer to its 2 percent goal before they raise rates. Many economists predict the Fed won't move until September.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Gas prices fell about 60 percent from last June through January, when they reached a six-year low of $2.03. But they moved up since then. Gas prices averaged $2.39 a gallon nationwide Monday, according to AAA. That's five cents cheaper than a month earlier.</p>
<p>The Fed aims for 2 percent inflation to guard against deflation, which can cause a destabilizing drop in prices and wages.</p>
<p>Yet the Fed's preferred measure of inflation has been stuck below 2 percent for nearly three years. Another factor holding down prices has been the strong U.S. dollar, which makes imported goods cheaper.</p>
<p>Some Fed officials pointed to the low inflation readings in their March meeting and argued for delaying the first rate increase until later this year, according to minutes of the meeting, which were released last week. Other officials supported making the first move in June.</p>
<p>After that meeting, the Fed said in a statement that it wanted to see more improvement in the job market and to be confident that inflation would move toward its 2 percent goal before raising rates.</p>
| 4,901 |
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<p>‘Retired Inspired’ author Chris Hogan explains why baby boomers are facing financial challenges when it comes to retirement savings.</p>
<p>There's no magical, one-size-fits-all way to calculate a retirement number. For example, I've heard many experts say that a good estimator is to multiply your current income by 25, or some similar method.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>While these may be good for vague, ballpark estimates, if you want a more accurate picture of how much you'll need in savings for a comfortable retirement, here are five steps that can help you calculate your own retirement number and figure out how much you should be saving each month in order to get there.</p>
<p>Let's look at these steps in more detail, along with an example:</p>
<p>Determine how much income you'll need after you retire</p>
<p>The average retiree needs about 80% of their pre-retirement income in order to maintain the same standard of living after they retire. In other words, if you and your spouse are currently earning $100,000, you'll need about $80,000 per year after you retire.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Admittedly, this isn't perfect, and you should adjust this percentage up or down to better fit your goals. For example, if you've always been a super-saver and plan to downsize your home and lifestyle after retirement, you could probably live comfortably with significantly less than 80% of your income. On the other hand, if you plan to travel more, spoil your grandkids, and pursue expensive hobbies, you may want to aim for more than 80%.</p>
<p>Estimate your other income sources</p>
<p>The good news is that your retirement savings are likely not your only source of income in retirement. Most Americans over the age of 62 are eligible for Social Security benefits, and many people have pensions from current or former employment.</p>
<p>The Social Security benefit formula is <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/04/23/how-much-social-security-will-i-get.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=d43a3182-76c9-11e7-a235-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">rather complex Opens a New Window.</a>, and it's also impossible to know how much you'll earn between now and when you retire. However, you can get a good idea of what to expect if you create an account at <a href="http://www.ssa.gov" type="external">www.ssa.gov Opens a New Window.</a> and view your most recent Social Security statement.</p>
<p>If you have a pension plan, you can usually log on to your plan's online portal and get an estimate of how much income you can expect in retirement.</p>
<p>Calculate how much you'll need from your retirement savings</p>
<p>Here's the easy step. To calculate how much annual income you'll need to generate from your retirement savings, simply subtract your other sources of retirement income from your overall income need you estimated in the first step. In other words, if you estimate you'll need $80,000 after retirement and between Social Security and pensions, you and your spouse expect $35,000 per year, this implies that you'll need $45,000 from savings.</p>
<p>Determine how much you'll need in savings</p>
<p>The 4% rule of retirement essentially says that you can withdraw 4% of your savings during your first year of retirement, and then give yourself cost-of-living adjustments in subsequent years, without having to worry about running out of money. While this rule certainly <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/07/02/3-serious-problems-with-the-4-retirement-rule.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=d43a3182-76c9-11e7-a235-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">has its shortcomings Opens a New Window.</a>, it's a good tool to use to estimate your savings goal.</p>
<p>To apply the rule, simply take your income need from savings that you calculated in the previous step, and multiply it by 25. If you determined that you'll need $45,000 in annual income from savings, this translates to a target nest egg of $1,125,000.</p>
<p>Adjust for inflation</p>
<p>We're not done just yet. The savings target you just calculated is in 2017 dollars. A million dollars in 2017 is not going to have the same purchasing power when you retire, and this is especially true if you're still a decade or more away from retirement.</p>
<p>While there's no way to know what inflation is going to be each year in the future, a reasonable expectation, based on historical data, is a long-term inflation rate of around 3% per year.</p>
<p>To adjust your savings goal for inflation using the 3% estimate, take 1.03 and raise it to the power of how many years you have left until retirement (don't worry, I'll make this easier in a second). This is your "inflation multiplier." To save you the math, here are some inflation multipliers based on how many years you have left until retirement.</p>
<p>An example</p>
<p>To illustrate the process, let's take a look at an example.</p>
<p>Let's say that you earn $75,000 per year, and that you estimate that you'll need 80% of your income after retirement, or $60,000 per year. You're 45 years old and plan to retire at 65.</p>
<p>We'll say that you expect $20,000 per year from Social Security, and that you have a pension from an old job that should pay you about $10,000 per year. So, you'll need $30,000 per year from your savings.</p>
<p>Applying the 4% rule shows that you should aim for $750,000 in savings, in today's dollars. Since you plan to retire in 20 years, multiply this amount by 1.81 to compensate for inflation. This implies that in 20 years, you should aim to have a retirement savings balance of approximately $1.36 million to produce the quality of life in retirement that you want.</p>
<p>The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after.&#160; <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=d43a3182-76c9-11e7-a235-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=d43a3182-76c9-11e7-a235-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
|
The simple way to find your retirement number
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/17/simple-way-to-find-your-retirement-number.html
|
2017-08-04
| 0right
|
The simple way to find your retirement number
<p>‘Retired Inspired’ author Chris Hogan explains why baby boomers are facing financial challenges when it comes to retirement savings.</p>
<p>There's no magical, one-size-fits-all way to calculate a retirement number. For example, I've heard many experts say that a good estimator is to multiply your current income by 25, or some similar method.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>While these may be good for vague, ballpark estimates, if you want a more accurate picture of how much you'll need in savings for a comfortable retirement, here are five steps that can help you calculate your own retirement number and figure out how much you should be saving each month in order to get there.</p>
<p>Let's look at these steps in more detail, along with an example:</p>
<p>Determine how much income you'll need after you retire</p>
<p>The average retiree needs about 80% of their pre-retirement income in order to maintain the same standard of living after they retire. In other words, if you and your spouse are currently earning $100,000, you'll need about $80,000 per year after you retire.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Admittedly, this isn't perfect, and you should adjust this percentage up or down to better fit your goals. For example, if you've always been a super-saver and plan to downsize your home and lifestyle after retirement, you could probably live comfortably with significantly less than 80% of your income. On the other hand, if you plan to travel more, spoil your grandkids, and pursue expensive hobbies, you may want to aim for more than 80%.</p>
<p>Estimate your other income sources</p>
<p>The good news is that your retirement savings are likely not your only source of income in retirement. Most Americans over the age of 62 are eligible for Social Security benefits, and many people have pensions from current or former employment.</p>
<p>The Social Security benefit formula is <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/04/23/how-much-social-security-will-i-get.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=d43a3182-76c9-11e7-a235-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">rather complex Opens a New Window.</a>, and it's also impossible to know how much you'll earn between now and when you retire. However, you can get a good idea of what to expect if you create an account at <a href="http://www.ssa.gov" type="external">www.ssa.gov Opens a New Window.</a> and view your most recent Social Security statement.</p>
<p>If you have a pension plan, you can usually log on to your plan's online portal and get an estimate of how much income you can expect in retirement.</p>
<p>Calculate how much you'll need from your retirement savings</p>
<p>Here's the easy step. To calculate how much annual income you'll need to generate from your retirement savings, simply subtract your other sources of retirement income from your overall income need you estimated in the first step. In other words, if you estimate you'll need $80,000 after retirement and between Social Security and pensions, you and your spouse expect $35,000 per year, this implies that you'll need $45,000 from savings.</p>
<p>Determine how much you'll need in savings</p>
<p>The 4% rule of retirement essentially says that you can withdraw 4% of your savings during your first year of retirement, and then give yourself cost-of-living adjustments in subsequent years, without having to worry about running out of money. While this rule certainly <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/07/02/3-serious-problems-with-the-4-retirement-rule.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=d43a3182-76c9-11e7-a235-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">has its shortcomings Opens a New Window.</a>, it's a good tool to use to estimate your savings goal.</p>
<p>To apply the rule, simply take your income need from savings that you calculated in the previous step, and multiply it by 25. If you determined that you'll need $45,000 in annual income from savings, this translates to a target nest egg of $1,125,000.</p>
<p>Adjust for inflation</p>
<p>We're not done just yet. The savings target you just calculated is in 2017 dollars. A million dollars in 2017 is not going to have the same purchasing power when you retire, and this is especially true if you're still a decade or more away from retirement.</p>
<p>While there's no way to know what inflation is going to be each year in the future, a reasonable expectation, based on historical data, is a long-term inflation rate of around 3% per year.</p>
<p>To adjust your savings goal for inflation using the 3% estimate, take 1.03 and raise it to the power of how many years you have left until retirement (don't worry, I'll make this easier in a second). This is your "inflation multiplier." To save you the math, here are some inflation multipliers based on how many years you have left until retirement.</p>
<p>An example</p>
<p>To illustrate the process, let's take a look at an example.</p>
<p>Let's say that you earn $75,000 per year, and that you estimate that you'll need 80% of your income after retirement, or $60,000 per year. You're 45 years old and plan to retire at 65.</p>
<p>We'll say that you expect $20,000 per year from Social Security, and that you have a pension from an old job that should pay you about $10,000 per year. So, you'll need $30,000 per year from your savings.</p>
<p>Applying the 4% rule shows that you should aim for $750,000 in savings, in today's dollars. Since you plan to retire in 20 years, multiply this amount by 1.81 to compensate for inflation. This implies that in 20 years, you should aim to have a retirement savings balance of approximately $1.36 million to produce the quality of life in retirement that you want.</p>
<p>The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after.&#160; <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=d43a3182-76c9-11e7-a235-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=d43a3182-76c9-11e7-a235-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
| 4,902 |
<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors will not charge a Los Angeles police officer who pulled out a gun and fired a warning shot during an off-duty scuffle with a 13-year-old boy that was caught on video and led to protests after the teen was arrested but the officer was not, officials announced Wednesday.</p>
<p>The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said prosecutors would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Kevin Ferguson used excessive force as he tried to make a citizen’s arrest of the boy. More than a dozen other teenagers shouted at the officer to let him go.</p>
<p>Cellphone videos showed Ferguson exchanging angry words with several kids who had walked across his lawn in suburban Anaheim, south of Los Angeles. The argument turned physical with the 13-year-old.</p>
<p>At one point, another boy shoved Ferguson, knocking him and the 13-year-old over a hedge. After trying to hold on to the squirming boy for several minutes, Ferguson pulled out a gun and fired it into the ground, sending the teens running and screaming. No one was seriously hurt.</p>
<p>Prosecutors called Ferguson’s actions “unwise, immature and flat-out horrible” but said they did not violate the law during the Feb. 21, 2017, confrontation.</p>
<p>“The conduct of Mr. Ferguson on that day ... did endanger a large group of juveniles” but did not rise to the level of a crime, Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh said at a press conference.</p>
<p>The boy and one other teen were arrested, but Ferguson was not, fueling the anger of hundreds of protesters who took to the streets in the nights that followed. Dozens were arrested after blocking traffic.</p>
<p>In one of the videos, which was posted on YouTube and spread on social media, Ferguson said he had heard the boy say he was going to “shoot” him, but the teen insists he said he was going to “sue” him.</p>
<p>Baytieh conceded that a “reasonable person can hear shoot” instead of sue.</p>
<p>The 13-year-old boy, whose name has not been released, told investigators that the physical struggle came after the off-duty officer referred to a teen girl with an offensive slur, spurring him to defend her honor.</p>
<p>Ferguson’s attorney, Larry Hanna, has said his client feared for his safety and that of his sick father’s. He says Ferguson had reported the teens to police before.</p>
<p>Ferguson was put on desk duty for the Los Angeles Police Department at the time, but his current status is not clear. The LAPD is conducting its own investigation.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Weber at <a href="https://twitter.com/WeberCM" type="external" /> <a href="https://twitter.com/WeberCM" type="external">https://twitter.com/WeberCM</a> .</p>
<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors will not charge a Los Angeles police officer who pulled out a gun and fired a warning shot during an off-duty scuffle with a 13-year-old boy that was caught on video and led to protests after the teen was arrested but the officer was not, officials announced Wednesday.</p>
<p>The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said prosecutors would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Kevin Ferguson used excessive force as he tried to make a citizen’s arrest of the boy. More than a dozen other teenagers shouted at the officer to let him go.</p>
<p>Cellphone videos showed Ferguson exchanging angry words with several kids who had walked across his lawn in suburban Anaheim, south of Los Angeles. The argument turned physical with the 13-year-old.</p>
<p>At one point, another boy shoved Ferguson, knocking him and the 13-year-old over a hedge. After trying to hold on to the squirming boy for several minutes, Ferguson pulled out a gun and fired it into the ground, sending the teens running and screaming. No one was seriously hurt.</p>
<p>Prosecutors called Ferguson’s actions “unwise, immature and flat-out horrible” but said they did not violate the law during the Feb. 21, 2017, confrontation.</p>
<p>“The conduct of Mr. Ferguson on that day ... did endanger a large group of juveniles” but did not rise to the level of a crime, Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh said at a press conference.</p>
<p>The boy and one other teen were arrested, but Ferguson was not, fueling the anger of hundreds of protesters who took to the streets in the nights that followed. Dozens were arrested after blocking traffic.</p>
<p>In one of the videos, which was posted on YouTube and spread on social media, Ferguson said he had heard the boy say he was going to “shoot” him, but the teen insists he said he was going to “sue” him.</p>
<p>Baytieh conceded that a “reasonable person can hear shoot” instead of sue.</p>
<p>The 13-year-old boy, whose name has not been released, told investigators that the physical struggle came after the off-duty officer referred to a teen girl with an offensive slur, spurring him to defend her honor.</p>
<p>Ferguson’s attorney, Larry Hanna, has said his client feared for his safety and that of his sick father’s. He says Ferguson had reported the teens to police before.</p>
<p>Ferguson was put on desk duty for the Los Angeles Police Department at the time, but his current status is not clear. The LAPD is conducting its own investigation.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Weber at <a href="https://twitter.com/WeberCM" type="external" /> <a href="https://twitter.com/WeberCM" type="external">https://twitter.com/WeberCM</a> .</p>
|
No charges for California officer who fired amid teen fight
| false |
https://apnews.com/bdddeefdd7204be58f4a19e95666cf3b
|
2018-01-24
| 2least
|
No charges for California officer who fired amid teen fight
<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors will not charge a Los Angeles police officer who pulled out a gun and fired a warning shot during an off-duty scuffle with a 13-year-old boy that was caught on video and led to protests after the teen was arrested but the officer was not, officials announced Wednesday.</p>
<p>The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said prosecutors would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Kevin Ferguson used excessive force as he tried to make a citizen’s arrest of the boy. More than a dozen other teenagers shouted at the officer to let him go.</p>
<p>Cellphone videos showed Ferguson exchanging angry words with several kids who had walked across his lawn in suburban Anaheim, south of Los Angeles. The argument turned physical with the 13-year-old.</p>
<p>At one point, another boy shoved Ferguson, knocking him and the 13-year-old over a hedge. After trying to hold on to the squirming boy for several minutes, Ferguson pulled out a gun and fired it into the ground, sending the teens running and screaming. No one was seriously hurt.</p>
<p>Prosecutors called Ferguson’s actions “unwise, immature and flat-out horrible” but said they did not violate the law during the Feb. 21, 2017, confrontation.</p>
<p>“The conduct of Mr. Ferguson on that day ... did endanger a large group of juveniles” but did not rise to the level of a crime, Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh said at a press conference.</p>
<p>The boy and one other teen were arrested, but Ferguson was not, fueling the anger of hundreds of protesters who took to the streets in the nights that followed. Dozens were arrested after blocking traffic.</p>
<p>In one of the videos, which was posted on YouTube and spread on social media, Ferguson said he had heard the boy say he was going to “shoot” him, but the teen insists he said he was going to “sue” him.</p>
<p>Baytieh conceded that a “reasonable person can hear shoot” instead of sue.</p>
<p>The 13-year-old boy, whose name has not been released, told investigators that the physical struggle came after the off-duty officer referred to a teen girl with an offensive slur, spurring him to defend her honor.</p>
<p>Ferguson’s attorney, Larry Hanna, has said his client feared for his safety and that of his sick father’s. He says Ferguson had reported the teens to police before.</p>
<p>Ferguson was put on desk duty for the Los Angeles Police Department at the time, but his current status is not clear. The LAPD is conducting its own investigation.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Weber at <a href="https://twitter.com/WeberCM" type="external" /> <a href="https://twitter.com/WeberCM" type="external">https://twitter.com/WeberCM</a> .</p>
<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors will not charge a Los Angeles police officer who pulled out a gun and fired a warning shot during an off-duty scuffle with a 13-year-old boy that was caught on video and led to protests after the teen was arrested but the officer was not, officials announced Wednesday.</p>
<p>The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said prosecutors would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Kevin Ferguson used excessive force as he tried to make a citizen’s arrest of the boy. More than a dozen other teenagers shouted at the officer to let him go.</p>
<p>Cellphone videos showed Ferguson exchanging angry words with several kids who had walked across his lawn in suburban Anaheim, south of Los Angeles. The argument turned physical with the 13-year-old.</p>
<p>At one point, another boy shoved Ferguson, knocking him and the 13-year-old over a hedge. After trying to hold on to the squirming boy for several minutes, Ferguson pulled out a gun and fired it into the ground, sending the teens running and screaming. No one was seriously hurt.</p>
<p>Prosecutors called Ferguson’s actions “unwise, immature and flat-out horrible” but said they did not violate the law during the Feb. 21, 2017, confrontation.</p>
<p>“The conduct of Mr. Ferguson on that day ... did endanger a large group of juveniles” but did not rise to the level of a crime, Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh said at a press conference.</p>
<p>The boy and one other teen were arrested, but Ferguson was not, fueling the anger of hundreds of protesters who took to the streets in the nights that followed. Dozens were arrested after blocking traffic.</p>
<p>In one of the videos, which was posted on YouTube and spread on social media, Ferguson said he had heard the boy say he was going to “shoot” him, but the teen insists he said he was going to “sue” him.</p>
<p>Baytieh conceded that a “reasonable person can hear shoot” instead of sue.</p>
<p>The 13-year-old boy, whose name has not been released, told investigators that the physical struggle came after the off-duty officer referred to a teen girl with an offensive slur, spurring him to defend her honor.</p>
<p>Ferguson’s attorney, Larry Hanna, has said his client feared for his safety and that of his sick father’s. He says Ferguson had reported the teens to police before.</p>
<p>Ferguson was put on desk duty for the Los Angeles Police Department at the time, but his current status is not clear. The LAPD is conducting its own investigation.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Weber at <a href="https://twitter.com/WeberCM" type="external" /> <a href="https://twitter.com/WeberCM" type="external">https://twitter.com/WeberCM</a> .</p>
| 4,903 |
<p />
<p>Over the weekend, a friend and I were enjoying a couple of beers in my neighborhood. As we sat outside people watching, he drooled over every fancy car that drove by.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>“That's a whatever-whatever,” he would tell me. “It costs $100,000.”</p>
<p>I live in Los Angeles, where these symbols of affluence are common.</p>
<p>“I can't help it,” I told him. “All I can think of when I see a car&#160;that&#160;expensive is that the driver made a terrible financial decision.”</p>
<p>“But what if the driver is rich and can afford it?” my friend argued.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>We then got into a conversation about fancy cars, happiness and&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/10/25/frugality-is-not-a-dirty-word/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">frugality Opens a New Window.</a>. I argued that, no matter how much money I might make in the near future, I plan on driving my Corolla into the ground.</p>
<p>“You wouldn't trade it in for a nice, sleek Mercedes?” he asked. I said no, and he looked suspicious. But here's why I think I'll drive my car until it wears out.</p>
<p>It's got sentimental value</p>
<p>The non-money answer is that I love my car because it used to be my brother's.</p>
<p>Both of us had Corollas. I paid for the down payment on mine and spent five years paying it off completely. Since college, Old Trusty and I had been through a lot together; he had a good 150,000 miles on him. So I wanted to take him with me when I moved to California, but my parents thought he was unfit to make the trip. My car was a 2004, and my brother's was a 2008 with considerably fewer miles. For some reason, when my brother went off to college, my parents bought him a new truck (how come I never got a new truck, guys?). Mom and Dad insisted I accept his newer, less worn-out Corolla, saying it would give them peace of mind.</p>
<p>Who am I to&#160;turn down a better car and worry my parents? I said goodbye to Old Trusty and drove my brother's car to LA.</p>
<p>Maybe it's sappy and weird, but this car reminds me of home. My apartment and pretty much everything in it (even Brian) came from LA. My car is one of the few things from home that I still have with me.</p>
<p>Car payments scare me</p>
<p>“You wouldn't want a car with heated seats and a comfortable interior?” my friend asked.</p>
<p>Of course I would. But as comfortable as heated seats are, they don't feel nearly as good as&#160;nothaving&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/12/24/driven-crazy-by-car-loans/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">car payments Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>If my car was on its last leg, or if it was severely uncomfortable and I had a two-hour commute, it might be a different story. But for me, upgrading simply for the sake of upgrading isn't worth the expense.</p>
<p>I've always found it odd that many people consider car payments to be a constant. For lots of people, paying off their car loan means trading in their car for a newer one with all new payments. I guess if you can work it into your budget, maybe you&#160;can&#160;afford it. But I've always been a fan of the Dave Ramsey&#160; <a href="http://www.daveramsey.com/article/the-truth-about-car-payments/lifeandmoney_automobiles/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">school of thought: Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>My cost of ownership is low</p>
<p>Last year, my auto maintenance expenses totaled $523, but that included a new set of tires. Granted, I don't drive much (mostly on weekends and road trips). But I still think this expense is relatively low. In fact, Edmunds shows that the total estimated cost of my car's annual maintenance (not including the tires) is&#160; <a href="http://www.edmunds.com/car-maintenance/results.html?year=2008&amp;makeId=200003381&amp;modelYearId=100519101&amp;styleId=100884946&amp;engCode=4INAG1.8&amp;transCode=AUTOMATIC&amp;mileage=45000&amp;zip=91604&amp;WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">$150 Opens a New Window.</a>. For a Mercedes C-Class, it's&#160; <a href="http://www.edmunds.com/car-maintenance/results.html?year=2008&amp;make=&amp;model=&amp;styleId=100952714&amp;engCode=6VNAG3.0&amp;transCode=AUTOMATIC&amp;mileage=45000&amp;zip=91604&amp;serviceType=A-Service&amp;WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">$260 Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Let's say I&#160;did&#160;buy a new car this year - even a new Corolla. At least until its&#160; <a href="http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/what-that-car-really-costs-to-own/index.htm?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">eighth birthday Opens a New Window.</a>, depreciation is the car's biggest cost. At year one, the cost of depreciation is obviously at its highest - 57% of the total owner cost, according to Consumer Reports. Considering my current driving habits, my car would incur&#160; <a href="http://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/how-fast-does-my-new-car-lose-value-infographic.html?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">higher-than-ever depreciation Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;while it sits in a parking spot. Seems like a waste. At five years, depreciation is still my largest expense, but at least it's not depreciating as much (48%) while it mostly just sits there during the week.</p>
<p>This is a unique example, and perhaps it depends on perception, but the point is, the costs over time should be considered.</p>
<p>My car still has value</p>
<p>I don't consider buying a new car to be an investment. It doesn't make sense to think of it that way, because it's not an asset that has the possibility of appreciating. Yes, if you buy an expensive car, you can later sell it for more money than you could a cheaper car, but the same can be said for a&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2013/03/25/spring-clean-your-closet-and-make-money/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">pair of boots. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>I simply think of my car as part of my Stuff. Sure, I kind of need it, and it's worth more than most of my other Stuff, but the bottom line is, I bought it to be used, not to watch its value increase. Thus, wouldn't I want to get as much out of my money as possible?</p>
<p>While I don't think of cars as investments, they also aren't like the rest of our Stuff; usually, they're a lot more expensive to replace. In an age when cellphones and computers are always upgraded, I feel like it's easy to believe your vehicle needs an upgrade, too. I'm surprised at how many people say it's “time for a new car” simply because they haven't had a new car in a while. That's a costly treat. Though some would argue upgrading a perfectly usable phone is a costly treat, too.</p>
<p>But what if you're a gazillionaire?</p>
<p>“But if you're a billionaire, why&#160;not&#160;just buy a new car? It would be&#160;nothing&#160;to you,” my friend argued.</p>
<p>I'd like to think that,&#160; <a href="http://www.fivecentnickel.com/2013/04/08/if-you-were-rich-how-frugal-would-you-be/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">even if I had all the money in the world Opens a New Window.</a>, I'd still drive my little Corolla around town. I'd like to think a lot of things. But most likely, if I were a billionaire, the little dings and scratches on my car would probably start to bother me, as would the non-heated seat cushions.</p>
<p>No matter how much wealth I may build, I hope I never lose sight of value. Because to me, this argument is like saying, “Well, you have a lot of money, so why not throw a buck down the toilet?”</p>
<p>But then again, when you throw money at a fancy car, you're still getting a fancy car.</p>
<p>As your wealth grows, I suppose&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/11/11/reader-stories-when-lifestyle-upgrade-ok/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">your idea of value often changes Opens a New Window.</a>. “Comfortable” isn't what it used to be, and you experience lifestyle inflation. This is where my friend and I came to a standstill - where do you draw the line? At 20, spending a couple of hundred bucks on a phone seemed like a huge waste of money, but nowadays, it's just part of my budget. “You could just live bare bones, but why else do you have money?” my friend argued.</p>
<p>But then&#160;again, a $100,000+ Porsche Carrera is pretty far from bare bones. That's an extreme example, but I see a lot of them around town, and I often wonder about the mind-set that went into spending&#160;that&#160;much on a vehicle.</p>
<p>Getting off my frugal high horse</p>
<p>Having control over my finances makes me happier than any luxury vehicle could. But not everyone has as much&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/07/31/frugality-welcome-challenge-or-only-a-chore/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">fun with frugality Opens a New Window.</a>. I also don't get than new car&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/09/17/shaking-the-new-car-itch-a-tale-of-priorities/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">itch Opens a New Window.</a>. But plenty of people do, and I itch for other things that some people might see as a waste.</p>
<p>I'm about to take a pretty pricey vacation. I've been saving up for it, and I'm relishing it, the way many luxury car lovers would relish&#160;their&#160;purchase. I forget there's an important difference between me and people who buy fancy cars: they like fancy cars.</p>
<p>There are plenty of practical reasons for not buying a luxury car. But we all have the urge to&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/04/11/ask-the-readers-what-do-you-splurge-on/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">splurge Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;on different things.</p>
<p>I'll end with a&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/06/02/luxury-car-or-practical-car/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">question Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;a GRS reader once posed. She wondered whether she should buy a new, luxury car. She could afford it, but she didn't&#160;need&#160;it.</p>
<p>This comment was singled out as a favorite:</p>
<p>I would agree with the above comment. When you're financially free and fully prepared for your financial future, money is for buying things.</p>
<p>It's a great comment. But I would have closed it with:</p>
<p>“Unless the car costs six figures.”</p>
<p>Even dismounted from my frugal high horse, I still can't fathom a vehicle being that expensive.</p>
<p>The original article can be found at GetRichSlowly.org: <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2013/04/11/why-i-plan-on-driving-my-car-into-the-ground/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">Why I plan on driving my car into the ground Opens a New Window.</a></p>
|
Why I Plan on Driving my Car Into the Ground
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/04/19/why-plan-on-driving-my-car-into-ground.html
|
2016-03-05
| 0right
|
Why I Plan on Driving my Car Into the Ground
<p />
<p>Over the weekend, a friend and I were enjoying a couple of beers in my neighborhood. As we sat outside people watching, he drooled over every fancy car that drove by.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>“That's a whatever-whatever,” he would tell me. “It costs $100,000.”</p>
<p>I live in Los Angeles, where these symbols of affluence are common.</p>
<p>“I can't help it,” I told him. “All I can think of when I see a car&#160;that&#160;expensive is that the driver made a terrible financial decision.”</p>
<p>“But what if the driver is rich and can afford it?” my friend argued.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>We then got into a conversation about fancy cars, happiness and&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/10/25/frugality-is-not-a-dirty-word/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">frugality Opens a New Window.</a>. I argued that, no matter how much money I might make in the near future, I plan on driving my Corolla into the ground.</p>
<p>“You wouldn't trade it in for a nice, sleek Mercedes?” he asked. I said no, and he looked suspicious. But here's why I think I'll drive my car until it wears out.</p>
<p>It's got sentimental value</p>
<p>The non-money answer is that I love my car because it used to be my brother's.</p>
<p>Both of us had Corollas. I paid for the down payment on mine and spent five years paying it off completely. Since college, Old Trusty and I had been through a lot together; he had a good 150,000 miles on him. So I wanted to take him with me when I moved to California, but my parents thought he was unfit to make the trip. My car was a 2004, and my brother's was a 2008 with considerably fewer miles. For some reason, when my brother went off to college, my parents bought him a new truck (how come I never got a new truck, guys?). Mom and Dad insisted I accept his newer, less worn-out Corolla, saying it would give them peace of mind.</p>
<p>Who am I to&#160;turn down a better car and worry my parents? I said goodbye to Old Trusty and drove my brother's car to LA.</p>
<p>Maybe it's sappy and weird, but this car reminds me of home. My apartment and pretty much everything in it (even Brian) came from LA. My car is one of the few things from home that I still have with me.</p>
<p>Car payments scare me</p>
<p>“You wouldn't want a car with heated seats and a comfortable interior?” my friend asked.</p>
<p>Of course I would. But as comfortable as heated seats are, they don't feel nearly as good as&#160;nothaving&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/12/24/driven-crazy-by-car-loans/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">car payments Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>If my car was on its last leg, or if it was severely uncomfortable and I had a two-hour commute, it might be a different story. But for me, upgrading simply for the sake of upgrading isn't worth the expense.</p>
<p>I've always found it odd that many people consider car payments to be a constant. For lots of people, paying off their car loan means trading in their car for a newer one with all new payments. I guess if you can work it into your budget, maybe you&#160;can&#160;afford it. But I've always been a fan of the Dave Ramsey&#160; <a href="http://www.daveramsey.com/article/the-truth-about-car-payments/lifeandmoney_automobiles/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">school of thought: Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>My cost of ownership is low</p>
<p>Last year, my auto maintenance expenses totaled $523, but that included a new set of tires. Granted, I don't drive much (mostly on weekends and road trips). But I still think this expense is relatively low. In fact, Edmunds shows that the total estimated cost of my car's annual maintenance (not including the tires) is&#160; <a href="http://www.edmunds.com/car-maintenance/results.html?year=2008&amp;makeId=200003381&amp;modelYearId=100519101&amp;styleId=100884946&amp;engCode=4INAG1.8&amp;transCode=AUTOMATIC&amp;mileage=45000&amp;zip=91604&amp;WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">$150 Opens a New Window.</a>. For a Mercedes C-Class, it's&#160; <a href="http://www.edmunds.com/car-maintenance/results.html?year=2008&amp;make=&amp;model=&amp;styleId=100952714&amp;engCode=6VNAG3.0&amp;transCode=AUTOMATIC&amp;mileage=45000&amp;zip=91604&amp;serviceType=A-Service&amp;WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">$260 Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Let's say I&#160;did&#160;buy a new car this year - even a new Corolla. At least until its&#160; <a href="http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/what-that-car-really-costs-to-own/index.htm?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">eighth birthday Opens a New Window.</a>, depreciation is the car's biggest cost. At year one, the cost of depreciation is obviously at its highest - 57% of the total owner cost, according to Consumer Reports. Considering my current driving habits, my car would incur&#160; <a href="http://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/how-fast-does-my-new-car-lose-value-infographic.html?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">higher-than-ever depreciation Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;while it sits in a parking spot. Seems like a waste. At five years, depreciation is still my largest expense, but at least it's not depreciating as much (48%) while it mostly just sits there during the week.</p>
<p>This is a unique example, and perhaps it depends on perception, but the point is, the costs over time should be considered.</p>
<p>My car still has value</p>
<p>I don't consider buying a new car to be an investment. It doesn't make sense to think of it that way, because it's not an asset that has the possibility of appreciating. Yes, if you buy an expensive car, you can later sell it for more money than you could a cheaper car, but the same can be said for a&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2013/03/25/spring-clean-your-closet-and-make-money/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">pair of boots. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>I simply think of my car as part of my Stuff. Sure, I kind of need it, and it's worth more than most of my other Stuff, but the bottom line is, I bought it to be used, not to watch its value increase. Thus, wouldn't I want to get as much out of my money as possible?</p>
<p>While I don't think of cars as investments, they also aren't like the rest of our Stuff; usually, they're a lot more expensive to replace. In an age when cellphones and computers are always upgraded, I feel like it's easy to believe your vehicle needs an upgrade, too. I'm surprised at how many people say it's “time for a new car” simply because they haven't had a new car in a while. That's a costly treat. Though some would argue upgrading a perfectly usable phone is a costly treat, too.</p>
<p>But what if you're a gazillionaire?</p>
<p>“But if you're a billionaire, why&#160;not&#160;just buy a new car? It would be&#160;nothing&#160;to you,” my friend argued.</p>
<p>I'd like to think that,&#160; <a href="http://www.fivecentnickel.com/2013/04/08/if-you-were-rich-how-frugal-would-you-be/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">even if I had all the money in the world Opens a New Window.</a>, I'd still drive my little Corolla around town. I'd like to think a lot of things. But most likely, if I were a billionaire, the little dings and scratches on my car would probably start to bother me, as would the non-heated seat cushions.</p>
<p>No matter how much wealth I may build, I hope I never lose sight of value. Because to me, this argument is like saying, “Well, you have a lot of money, so why not throw a buck down the toilet?”</p>
<p>But then again, when you throw money at a fancy car, you're still getting a fancy car.</p>
<p>As your wealth grows, I suppose&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/11/11/reader-stories-when-lifestyle-upgrade-ok/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">your idea of value often changes Opens a New Window.</a>. “Comfortable” isn't what it used to be, and you experience lifestyle inflation. This is where my friend and I came to a standstill - where do you draw the line? At 20, spending a couple of hundred bucks on a phone seemed like a huge waste of money, but nowadays, it's just part of my budget. “You could just live bare bones, but why else do you have money?” my friend argued.</p>
<p>But then&#160;again, a $100,000+ Porsche Carrera is pretty far from bare bones. That's an extreme example, but I see a lot of them around town, and I often wonder about the mind-set that went into spending&#160;that&#160;much on a vehicle.</p>
<p>Getting off my frugal high horse</p>
<p>Having control over my finances makes me happier than any luxury vehicle could. But not everyone has as much&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/07/31/frugality-welcome-challenge-or-only-a-chore/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">fun with frugality Opens a New Window.</a>. I also don't get than new car&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/09/17/shaking-the-new-car-itch-a-tale-of-priorities/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">itch Opens a New Window.</a>. But plenty of people do, and I itch for other things that some people might see as a waste.</p>
<p>I'm about to take a pretty pricey vacation. I've been saving up for it, and I'm relishing it, the way many luxury car lovers would relish&#160;their&#160;purchase. I forget there's an important difference between me and people who buy fancy cars: they like fancy cars.</p>
<p>There are plenty of practical reasons for not buying a luxury car. But we all have the urge to&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/04/11/ask-the-readers-what-do-you-splurge-on/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">splurge Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;on different things.</p>
<p>I'll end with a&#160; <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/06/02/luxury-car-or-practical-car/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">question Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;a GRS reader once posed. She wondered whether she should buy a new, luxury car. She could afford it, but she didn't&#160;need&#160;it.</p>
<p>This comment was singled out as a favorite:</p>
<p>I would agree with the above comment. When you're financially free and fully prepared for your financial future, money is for buying things.</p>
<p>It's a great comment. But I would have closed it with:</p>
<p>“Unless the car costs six figures.”</p>
<p>Even dismounted from my frugal high horse, I still can't fathom a vehicle being that expensive.</p>
<p>The original article can be found at GetRichSlowly.org: <a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2013/04/11/why-i-plan-on-driving-my-car-into-the-ground/?WT.qs_osrc=fxb-170087010" type="external">Why I plan on driving my car into the ground Opens a New Window.</a></p>
| 4,904 |
<p>Verizon Communications Inc. has topped AT&amp;T Inc.'s offer for Straight Path Communications Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter, sparking a bidding war over a tiny company that controls a swath of wireless airwaves thought to be at the forefront of next-generation networks.</p>
<p>Verizon bid $1.8 billion for Straight Path, topping AT&amp;T's stock bid of $1.6 billion earlier this month. AT&amp;T, which has until next week to respond, said Tuesday it was evaluating the situation. Verizon declined to comment. Straight Path didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The competing offers show how wireless networks are changing. Both telecommunications companies surprised investors this month by largely sitting out a major government airwaves auction. The airwaves being sold were low-frequency, once considered "beachfront" property because they travel long distances and penetrate buildings -- perfect for wireless carriers that want to cover large areas.</p>
<p>But consumers are now more likely to watch videos than talk on their smartphones. As a result, carriers must focus on expanding network capacity in targeted areas of high demand.</p>
<p>The airwaves controlled by Straight Path are in ultrahigh frequencies that were once considered all but useless for wireless carriers. These frequencies don't travel far or penetrate walls -- they are so sensitive, in fact, that they can be influenced by rain and falling leaves.</p>
<p>But the frequencies are thought to be necessary for fifth-generation networks. They aren't yet commercially available, though Verizon and AT&amp;T are racing to launch them in the coming years. The two companies have already struck smaller deals to gain access to other high-frequency airwaves.</p>
<p>These 5G networks require different types of network architecture: Instead of placing surfboard-sized antennas atop 200-foot towers, 5G antennas will be much smaller and hung from structures such as lampposts. Placing antennas closer to consumers, along with other technological developments, will mitigate the spectrum's shorter reach.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>T-Mobile US Inc. Chief Executive John Legere said Monday that his company had also bid for Straight Path but considered AT&amp;T's offer too expensive to match.</p>
<p>Straight Path was spun out of telecom provider IDT Corp. in July 2013. IDT paid $56 million in 2001 and 2002 for the airwaves licenses, buying them from another telecom, WinStar Communications, after it sought bankruptcy protection.</p>
<p>In January, the Federal Communications Commission fined Straight Path $100 million for failing to use its spectrum. The FCC also forced Straight Path to relinquish some of its airwaves, put itself up for sale and remit 20% of the sale proceeds to the Treasury Department as an additional penalty.</p>
<p>Reuters earlier reported that Verizon outbid AT&amp;T for Straight Path.</p>
<p>--Drew FitzGerald contributed to this article.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>April 25, 2017 15:17 ET (19:17 GMT)</p>
|
Verizon, AT&T in Billion-Dollar Bidding War for 5G Spectrum
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/04/25/verizon-at-t-in-billion-dollar-bidding-war-for-5g-spectrum.html
|
2017-04-25
| 0right
|
Verizon, AT&T in Billion-Dollar Bidding War for 5G Spectrum
<p>Verizon Communications Inc. has topped AT&amp;T Inc.'s offer for Straight Path Communications Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter, sparking a bidding war over a tiny company that controls a swath of wireless airwaves thought to be at the forefront of next-generation networks.</p>
<p>Verizon bid $1.8 billion for Straight Path, topping AT&amp;T's stock bid of $1.6 billion earlier this month. AT&amp;T, which has until next week to respond, said Tuesday it was evaluating the situation. Verizon declined to comment. Straight Path didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The competing offers show how wireless networks are changing. Both telecommunications companies surprised investors this month by largely sitting out a major government airwaves auction. The airwaves being sold were low-frequency, once considered "beachfront" property because they travel long distances and penetrate buildings -- perfect for wireless carriers that want to cover large areas.</p>
<p>But consumers are now more likely to watch videos than talk on their smartphones. As a result, carriers must focus on expanding network capacity in targeted areas of high demand.</p>
<p>The airwaves controlled by Straight Path are in ultrahigh frequencies that were once considered all but useless for wireless carriers. These frequencies don't travel far or penetrate walls -- they are so sensitive, in fact, that they can be influenced by rain and falling leaves.</p>
<p>But the frequencies are thought to be necessary for fifth-generation networks. They aren't yet commercially available, though Verizon and AT&amp;T are racing to launch them in the coming years. The two companies have already struck smaller deals to gain access to other high-frequency airwaves.</p>
<p>These 5G networks require different types of network architecture: Instead of placing surfboard-sized antennas atop 200-foot towers, 5G antennas will be much smaller and hung from structures such as lampposts. Placing antennas closer to consumers, along with other technological developments, will mitigate the spectrum's shorter reach.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>T-Mobile US Inc. Chief Executive John Legere said Monday that his company had also bid for Straight Path but considered AT&amp;T's offer too expensive to match.</p>
<p>Straight Path was spun out of telecom provider IDT Corp. in July 2013. IDT paid $56 million in 2001 and 2002 for the airwaves licenses, buying them from another telecom, WinStar Communications, after it sought bankruptcy protection.</p>
<p>In January, the Federal Communications Commission fined Straight Path $100 million for failing to use its spectrum. The FCC also forced Straight Path to relinquish some of its airwaves, put itself up for sale and remit 20% of the sale proceeds to the Treasury Department as an additional penalty.</p>
<p>Reuters earlier reported that Verizon outbid AT&amp;T for Straight Path.</p>
<p>--Drew FitzGerald contributed to this article.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>April 25, 2017 15:17 ET (19:17 GMT)</p>
| 4,905 |
<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ These Arkansas lotteries were drawn Thursday:</p>
<p>Cash 3 Evening</p>
<p>2-7-1</p>
<p>(two, seven, one)</p>
<p>Cash 3 Midday</p>
<p>1-2-4</p>
<p>(one, two, four)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Evening</p>
<p>4-1-2-5</p>
<p>(four, one, two, five)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Midday</p>
<p>1-6-6-1</p>
<p>(one, six, six, one)</p>
<p>Lucky For Life</p>
<p>05-15-21-28-36, Lucky Ball: 14</p>
<p>(five, fifteen, twenty-one, twenty-eight, thirty-six; Lucky Ball: fourteen)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $55 million</p>
<p>Natural State Jackpot</p>
<p>09-16-29-37-39</p>
<p>(nine, sixteen, twenty-nine, thirty-seven, thirty-nine)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $90,000</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $78 million</p>
<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ These Arkansas lotteries were drawn Thursday:</p>
<p>Cash 3 Evening</p>
<p>2-7-1</p>
<p>(two, seven, one)</p>
<p>Cash 3 Midday</p>
<p>1-2-4</p>
<p>(one, two, four)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Evening</p>
<p>4-1-2-5</p>
<p>(four, one, two, five)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Midday</p>
<p>1-6-6-1</p>
<p>(one, six, six, one)</p>
<p>Lucky For Life</p>
<p>05-15-21-28-36, Lucky Ball: 14</p>
<p>(five, fifteen, twenty-one, twenty-eight, thirty-six; Lucky Ball: fourteen)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $55 million</p>
<p>Natural State Jackpot</p>
<p>09-16-29-37-39</p>
<p>(nine, sixteen, twenty-nine, thirty-seven, thirty-nine)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $90,000</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $78 million</p>
|
AR Lottery
| false |
https://apnews.com/bbcb577bcc0340bbb67dbdc42f1a822e
|
2018-01-19
| 2least
|
AR Lottery
<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ These Arkansas lotteries were drawn Thursday:</p>
<p>Cash 3 Evening</p>
<p>2-7-1</p>
<p>(two, seven, one)</p>
<p>Cash 3 Midday</p>
<p>1-2-4</p>
<p>(one, two, four)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Evening</p>
<p>4-1-2-5</p>
<p>(four, one, two, five)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Midday</p>
<p>1-6-6-1</p>
<p>(one, six, six, one)</p>
<p>Lucky For Life</p>
<p>05-15-21-28-36, Lucky Ball: 14</p>
<p>(five, fifteen, twenty-one, twenty-eight, thirty-six; Lucky Ball: fourteen)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $55 million</p>
<p>Natural State Jackpot</p>
<p>09-16-29-37-39</p>
<p>(nine, sixteen, twenty-nine, thirty-seven, thirty-nine)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $90,000</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $78 million</p>
<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ These Arkansas lotteries were drawn Thursday:</p>
<p>Cash 3 Evening</p>
<p>2-7-1</p>
<p>(two, seven, one)</p>
<p>Cash 3 Midday</p>
<p>1-2-4</p>
<p>(one, two, four)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Evening</p>
<p>4-1-2-5</p>
<p>(four, one, two, five)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Midday</p>
<p>1-6-6-1</p>
<p>(one, six, six, one)</p>
<p>Lucky For Life</p>
<p>05-15-21-28-36, Lucky Ball: 14</p>
<p>(five, fifteen, twenty-one, twenty-eight, thirty-six; Lucky Ball: fourteen)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $55 million</p>
<p>Natural State Jackpot</p>
<p>09-16-29-37-39</p>
<p>(nine, sixteen, twenty-nine, thirty-seven, thirty-nine)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $90,000</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $78 million</p>
| 4,906 |
<p>The shock of Brexit has led to a number of “How did it happen?” style investigations, which&#160;collectively portray&#160;a British political scene that seems to have become as chaotic as our&#160;own. That development may be partly due to the UK’s adoption of one of the worst practices of American political culture, if this <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/05/how-remain-failed-inside-story-doomed-campaign" type="external">bracing Guardian report</a> is any indication:</p>
<p>More infuriating still was the amount of air time given to claims from the leave campaign that were either grotesque distortions or flagrant lies—the fiction that EU membership cost £350m per week; the pretence that Turkey was close to EU membership and the denial that the UK had a veto on that point…. The idea that both sides were engaged in equivalent hysteria became a theme of commentary. Stronger In’s strategy of highlighting economic risk was portrayed as a hysterical fear-mongering plot, no more anchored in reason than the leave side’s mobilisation of anti-immigration feeling. &#160; …Again, the remain side was taken aback by the effectiveness of this scorched-earth approach to evidence-based argument and by the media’s complicity—deliberate in the case of many newspapers, unwitting on the part of the BBC which was bound by impartiality rules to present the claims of both sides as equally valid.&#160;</p>
<p>In response, Jay Rosen <a href="https://twitter.com/jayrosen_nyu/status/750365623075635200" type="external">aptly remarks</a>: “I hope every both-sides-do-it journalist reads this piece.” I think that reaction can be read in at least two ways. The most obvious interpretation is that both-sides-do-it journalists are by definition incapable of accurately covering any controversy in which one of the disputants is more willing to mislead. Not every controversy fits this description, but more than a few do—and the category grows even larger when you consider disputes that, even if they could not be settled by a preponderance of evidence in “ <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2016/07/neil_degrasse_tyson_wants_a_nation_ruled_by_evidence_but_evidence_explains.html" type="external">Rationalia</a>,” nevertheless turn partly on some empirical question that is a matter of expert consensus. Yet one of the leading clichés of American—and, it seems, British—journalism is premised on the idea that the side that&#160;relies on expert knowledge is just as reliable (or just as unreliable) as one that disdains it, and that it’s not the media’s job to note such distinctions.</p>
<p>Yet if members of the Church of Balance can’t be swayed by the massive societal costs of raising ignorance to the status of&#160;knowledge, it might be worth appealing to their&#160;self-interest. This is the second way of reading Rosen’s remark. Imagine that, as is likely, Brexit proceeds and the UK suffers the widely-predicted consequences.&#160;It’s not inconceivable that some pro-Leave voters might feel burned by media sources who fed the misleading perception that the Remain voices were peddling baseless hysteria, no different from their rivals. There is a corrosive cynicism underlying both-sides journalism, and there’s no reason to think it won’t&#160;come back to haunt journalists. They too rely on a distinction between reliable and unreliable information.</p>
<p>In that sense, it’s been interesting to observe how&#160;journalists are adjusting their coverage&#160;of&#160;subjects that&#160;pose increasingly radical challenges to the standard practices of their craft. <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/07/our_political_culture_doesn_t_know_what_to_do_with_trump_s_explicit_prejudice.html" type="external">Jamelle Bouie argues</a> that, on some issues, “the media seems ill-equipped for the job” of educating their audiences and contextualizing the most absurd or offensive statements from&#160;major political figures. On the topic of Donald Trump’s frequent sharing of material originating from anti-Semitic and white nationalist sources, he notes: “For every display of&#160; <a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2016/05/24/cnns-jake-tapper-blasts-trump-reviving-bizarre-conspiracy-theory-clintons-killed-vince-foster/210564" type="external">‘pro-truth’ bias</a>, there are a dozen examples of mindless coverage, as reporters present racist rhetoric as simple ‘ <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/04/politics/donald-trump-star-of-david-tweet-explained/" type="external">controversy</a>’ or frame anti-Semitic propaganda as a ‘he said/she said’ dispute.” As disturbing as that is, there may be signs of minor progress, on some issues at least: a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/us/politics/hillary-clintons-ambitious-climate-change-plan-avoids-carbon-tax.html?_r=0" type="external">recent Times article</a> on Hillary Clinton’s energy plans referred, simply and accurately, to “the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump, who denies the established science of human-caused climate change.”</p>
<p>It won’t be easy to import this model to every story. There’s not always “established science,” and, even with an overwhelming expert consensus on global warming, it has taken years of agitation to convince the media and public officials to describe the issue in language that reflects reality. But that is a key obligation of journalism in this moment, and mischaracterizing the relative merits and credibility of competing arguments is neither accurate nor even-handed. Soon, the contempt that it breeds for experts and elites—a contempt that&#160;falls on the undeserving and deserving alike—may eventually turn back on the writers who abetted its rise.</p>
|
The Perils of “Both-Sides” Journalism
| true |
http://democracyjournal.org/arguments/the-perils-of-both-sides-journalism/
|
2016-07-06
| 4left
|
The Perils of “Both-Sides” Journalism
<p>The shock of Brexit has led to a number of “How did it happen?” style investigations, which&#160;collectively portray&#160;a British political scene that seems to have become as chaotic as our&#160;own. That development may be partly due to the UK’s adoption of one of the worst practices of American political culture, if this <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/05/how-remain-failed-inside-story-doomed-campaign" type="external">bracing Guardian report</a> is any indication:</p>
<p>More infuriating still was the amount of air time given to claims from the leave campaign that were either grotesque distortions or flagrant lies—the fiction that EU membership cost £350m per week; the pretence that Turkey was close to EU membership and the denial that the UK had a veto on that point…. The idea that both sides were engaged in equivalent hysteria became a theme of commentary. Stronger In’s strategy of highlighting economic risk was portrayed as a hysterical fear-mongering plot, no more anchored in reason than the leave side’s mobilisation of anti-immigration feeling. &#160; …Again, the remain side was taken aback by the effectiveness of this scorched-earth approach to evidence-based argument and by the media’s complicity—deliberate in the case of many newspapers, unwitting on the part of the BBC which was bound by impartiality rules to present the claims of both sides as equally valid.&#160;</p>
<p>In response, Jay Rosen <a href="https://twitter.com/jayrosen_nyu/status/750365623075635200" type="external">aptly remarks</a>: “I hope every both-sides-do-it journalist reads this piece.” I think that reaction can be read in at least two ways. The most obvious interpretation is that both-sides-do-it journalists are by definition incapable of accurately covering any controversy in which one of the disputants is more willing to mislead. Not every controversy fits this description, but more than a few do—and the category grows even larger when you consider disputes that, even if they could not be settled by a preponderance of evidence in “ <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2016/07/neil_degrasse_tyson_wants_a_nation_ruled_by_evidence_but_evidence_explains.html" type="external">Rationalia</a>,” nevertheless turn partly on some empirical question that is a matter of expert consensus. Yet one of the leading clichés of American—and, it seems, British—journalism is premised on the idea that the side that&#160;relies on expert knowledge is just as reliable (or just as unreliable) as one that disdains it, and that it’s not the media’s job to note such distinctions.</p>
<p>Yet if members of the Church of Balance can’t be swayed by the massive societal costs of raising ignorance to the status of&#160;knowledge, it might be worth appealing to their&#160;self-interest. This is the second way of reading Rosen’s remark. Imagine that, as is likely, Brexit proceeds and the UK suffers the widely-predicted consequences.&#160;It’s not inconceivable that some pro-Leave voters might feel burned by media sources who fed the misleading perception that the Remain voices were peddling baseless hysteria, no different from their rivals. There is a corrosive cynicism underlying both-sides journalism, and there’s no reason to think it won’t&#160;come back to haunt journalists. They too rely on a distinction between reliable and unreliable information.</p>
<p>In that sense, it’s been interesting to observe how&#160;journalists are adjusting their coverage&#160;of&#160;subjects that&#160;pose increasingly radical challenges to the standard practices of their craft. <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/07/our_political_culture_doesn_t_know_what_to_do_with_trump_s_explicit_prejudice.html" type="external">Jamelle Bouie argues</a> that, on some issues, “the media seems ill-equipped for the job” of educating their audiences and contextualizing the most absurd or offensive statements from&#160;major political figures. On the topic of Donald Trump’s frequent sharing of material originating from anti-Semitic and white nationalist sources, he notes: “For every display of&#160; <a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2016/05/24/cnns-jake-tapper-blasts-trump-reviving-bizarre-conspiracy-theory-clintons-killed-vince-foster/210564" type="external">‘pro-truth’ bias</a>, there are a dozen examples of mindless coverage, as reporters present racist rhetoric as simple ‘ <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/04/politics/donald-trump-star-of-david-tweet-explained/" type="external">controversy</a>’ or frame anti-Semitic propaganda as a ‘he said/she said’ dispute.” As disturbing as that is, there may be signs of minor progress, on some issues at least: a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/us/politics/hillary-clintons-ambitious-climate-change-plan-avoids-carbon-tax.html?_r=0" type="external">recent Times article</a> on Hillary Clinton’s energy plans referred, simply and accurately, to “the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump, who denies the established science of human-caused climate change.”</p>
<p>It won’t be easy to import this model to every story. There’s not always “established science,” and, even with an overwhelming expert consensus on global warming, it has taken years of agitation to convince the media and public officials to describe the issue in language that reflects reality. But that is a key obligation of journalism in this moment, and mischaracterizing the relative merits and credibility of competing arguments is neither accurate nor even-handed. Soon, the contempt that it breeds for experts and elites—a contempt that&#160;falls on the undeserving and deserving alike—may eventually turn back on the writers who abetted its rise.</p>
| 4,907 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>The Taos Ski Valley village, seen here in 2011, may be more “European” under its new owner. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — Hedge fund billionaire Louis Bacon’s purchase of Taos Ski Valley earlier this year gets some attention from Forbes magazine in its Nov. 3 issue.</p>
<p>“Bacon puts forward three major objectives for TSV: to revitalize the core village, to retain the historic appeal of the iconic ski valley and to earn a return on the effort,” Forbes reports.</p>
<p>There are a couple of interesting items in the piece that don’t appear to have come out previously in New Mexico news coverage (of course, Bacon appears to have given Forbes an interview, or at least provided comments directly attributable to him, something so far not made available to us local yokels of the Fourth Estate).</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The article notes that Bacon has already run a new high-altitude ski lift to the top of Kachina Peak, “one of the most cult-prized, hard-core in-bounds areas at any American ski resort.”</p>
<p>Louis Bacon. (Courtesy of <a href="http://facebook.com/louismoorebacon" type="external">facebook.com/louismoorebacon</a>)</p>
<p>“Next on his agenda,” Forbes reports, is Taos Ski Valley itself, “where the idea, according to TSV CEO Gordon Briner, ‘is to create one great village, not a couple of interesting real estate developments.’</p>
<p>“The word one hears when the village redevelopment is mentioned is ‘European,'” reflecting TSV’s “deep Euro roots” going back to its founding in 1954 by Ernie Blake, who had fled Germany in the 1930s, and Frenchman Jean Mayer, the ski school head who opened the Hotel St. Bernard in 1960, “a place that resembles the kind of family auberge one might find in Chamonix.”</p>
<p>“The hotel will stay, but much else will change, including access to TSV,” says the Forbes piece, before the article moves, perhaps inadvertently, into more controversial territory by adding:</p>
<p>“Bacon has been working with the local community to have the airport become a more elite jetport, capable of handling up to 45-passenger regional jets. Eliminating the current three-hour road trip from Albuquerque would be a serious game-changer.”</p>
<p>That paragraph puts Bacon in the middle of the latest round of a community fight that goes back decades over adding a second runway at the airport just outside town. A divided Town Council voted last month to go ahead with the runway, but a lawsuit filed by six plaintiffs, including “Milagro Beanfield War” novelist John Nichols, seeks to stop the project.</p>
<p>Supporters say the cross-runway will make the high-altitude airport safer and be an economic development boost for the town. Opponents contend the runway will mean more air traffic and noise over residential areas.</p>
<p>And there has also been criticism that the runway is just intended to help bring in aircraft for the wealthy.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Town Councilor Fritz Hahn, before voting against the runway, said, “I feel that we need to invest in the community at large, not a select few” and referenced contentions that the project “would generally benefit only wealthy pilots and jet owners,” the Taos News reported.</p>
<p>The newspaper’s coverage also includes comments by pro-runway Councilor Andrew Gonzáles, who objected to “billionaire bashing” and said Taos’ influx of wealthy people has allowed small-business owners to survive.</p>
<p>“Right now, we survive on the crumbs of these millionaires,” Gonzáles said, according to the Taos News report. “But the difference is we survive.”</p>
<p>Stoners on the slopes</p>
<p>Forbes said it’s easy to see why Bacon fell for Taos Ski Valley, even if – as U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officers who made a controversial raid on the place last season might know – the sweet smoke around the mountains isn’t always from burning piñon.</p>
<p>“… like many powder hounds before him, he’s been seduced by one of America’s most challenging hills. It can happen the first time you ascend this magic mountain covered with 300 inches of perfect snow, riding a lift with local stoners getting in their morning tokes. TSV is a seriously laid-back world-class ski mountain, beloved for its staggeringly steep expert terrain, endless views and hidden shots of champagne powder in the trees.”</p>
<p>Ah, but the local politics may not be quite as inviting. Welcome to northern New Mexico, Mr. Bacon.</p>
<p />
<p />
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A more “European” TSV, and getting into that Taos airport fight
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https://abqjournal.com/485163/include-elite-jetport.html
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A more “European” TSV, and getting into that Taos airport fight
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<p>The Taos Ski Valley village, seen here in 2011, may be more “European” under its new owner. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — Hedge fund billionaire Louis Bacon’s purchase of Taos Ski Valley earlier this year gets some attention from Forbes magazine in its Nov. 3 issue.</p>
<p>“Bacon puts forward three major objectives for TSV: to revitalize the core village, to retain the historic appeal of the iconic ski valley and to earn a return on the effort,” Forbes reports.</p>
<p>There are a couple of interesting items in the piece that don’t appear to have come out previously in New Mexico news coverage (of course, Bacon appears to have given Forbes an interview, or at least provided comments directly attributable to him, something so far not made available to us local yokels of the Fourth Estate).</p>
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<p>The article notes that Bacon has already run a new high-altitude ski lift to the top of Kachina Peak, “one of the most cult-prized, hard-core in-bounds areas at any American ski resort.”</p>
<p>Louis Bacon. (Courtesy of <a href="http://facebook.com/louismoorebacon" type="external">facebook.com/louismoorebacon</a>)</p>
<p>“Next on his agenda,” Forbes reports, is Taos Ski Valley itself, “where the idea, according to TSV CEO Gordon Briner, ‘is to create one great village, not a couple of interesting real estate developments.’</p>
<p>“The word one hears when the village redevelopment is mentioned is ‘European,'” reflecting TSV’s “deep Euro roots” going back to its founding in 1954 by Ernie Blake, who had fled Germany in the 1930s, and Frenchman Jean Mayer, the ski school head who opened the Hotel St. Bernard in 1960, “a place that resembles the kind of family auberge one might find in Chamonix.”</p>
<p>“The hotel will stay, but much else will change, including access to TSV,” says the Forbes piece, before the article moves, perhaps inadvertently, into more controversial territory by adding:</p>
<p>“Bacon has been working with the local community to have the airport become a more elite jetport, capable of handling up to 45-passenger regional jets. Eliminating the current three-hour road trip from Albuquerque would be a serious game-changer.”</p>
<p>That paragraph puts Bacon in the middle of the latest round of a community fight that goes back decades over adding a second runway at the airport just outside town. A divided Town Council voted last month to go ahead with the runway, but a lawsuit filed by six plaintiffs, including “Milagro Beanfield War” novelist John Nichols, seeks to stop the project.</p>
<p>Supporters say the cross-runway will make the high-altitude airport safer and be an economic development boost for the town. Opponents contend the runway will mean more air traffic and noise over residential areas.</p>
<p>And there has also been criticism that the runway is just intended to help bring in aircraft for the wealthy.</p>
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<p>Town Councilor Fritz Hahn, before voting against the runway, said, “I feel that we need to invest in the community at large, not a select few” and referenced contentions that the project “would generally benefit only wealthy pilots and jet owners,” the Taos News reported.</p>
<p>The newspaper’s coverage also includes comments by pro-runway Councilor Andrew Gonzáles, who objected to “billionaire bashing” and said Taos’ influx of wealthy people has allowed small-business owners to survive.</p>
<p>“Right now, we survive on the crumbs of these millionaires,” Gonzáles said, according to the Taos News report. “But the difference is we survive.”</p>
<p>Stoners on the slopes</p>
<p>Forbes said it’s easy to see why Bacon fell for Taos Ski Valley, even if – as U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officers who made a controversial raid on the place last season might know – the sweet smoke around the mountains isn’t always from burning piñon.</p>
<p>“… like many powder hounds before him, he’s been seduced by one of America’s most challenging hills. It can happen the first time you ascend this magic mountain covered with 300 inches of perfect snow, riding a lift with local stoners getting in their morning tokes. TSV is a seriously laid-back world-class ski mountain, beloved for its staggeringly steep expert terrain, endless views and hidden shots of champagne powder in the trees.”</p>
<p>Ah, but the local politics may not be quite as inviting. Welcome to northern New Mexico, Mr. Bacon.</p>
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<p>PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota is going to ask the Trump administration to allow the state to require some Medicaid recipients to work to qualify for the government-funded health coverage for the poor, Gov. Dennis Daugaard said Tuesday in his State of the State address.</p>
<p>The change would apply to about 4,500 low-income, able-bodied parents who are not caring for a child under the age of 1, Daugaard told state lawmakers gathered for the first day of the 2018 legislative session. The governor proposed piloting the new requirement in Minnehaha and Pennington counties.</p>
<p>"Work is an important part of personal fulfillment," Daugaard said. "By making this adjustment to our Medicaid program, we can continue to help those who need it the most and start to connect those who can work with jobs that give them that sense of self-worth and accomplishment."</p>
<p>Daugaard said he has asked the state Department of Social Services to pursue the work requirement waiver. The average monthly Medicaid enrollment was roughly 120,000 people last state budget year.</p>
<p>Joan Alker, executive director at Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families, said low-income parents are not driving the costs of the Medicaid program.</p>
<p>"We're talking about the very, very poorest families in a state, and applying a work requirement to these parents, the majority of whom are women, is in my judgment counterproductive, it's fiscally inefficient, and it's just downright cruel," Alker said.</p>
<p>During the current legislative session, the Republican-controlled Legislature will make a new state budget and take up policy proposals on issues ranging from the state's ballot question system to the use of lakes on private land for recreation. Legislators will adjourn in late March.</p>
<p>Daugaard asked lawmakers to extend an expiring law that restored access to nearly 30 specific lakes for public recreation that was curtailed by a state Supreme Court decision. The rules were the product of a special legislative session last year on so-called nonmeandered waters. The governor's bill would move the law's June expiration date to 2021.</p>
<p>House Democratic leader Spencer Hawley said he supports the extension because too little time has passed to evaluate issues with the law.</p>
<p>"We need to extend this," he said. "We need to work with it."</p>
<p>Daugaard said he's also proposing legislation that would make South Dakota microbrewers more competitive with those in surrounding states. He noted that current law caps South Dakota craft brewers at 5,000 barrels of beer annually, compared to 60,000 in Montana, 50,000 in Wyoming and 25,000 in North Dakota.</p>
<p>The governor's proposal would increase the limit to 30,000 barrels per year.</p>
<p>The governor has made workforce development a key policy focus. He said South Dakota doesn't have enough workers in many skilled fields, which is a barrier to economic growth.</p>
<p>Officials are encouraging high schools to expand the availability of apprenticeships, internships or job shadowing during school, Daugaard said. And he's pushing a new law to create a professional licensure reciprocity compact with other states.</p>
<p>Daugaard looked back on his time in office during the final State of the State address of his second term, saying he's pleased with progress on boosting teacher pay and that revenue increases for road and bridge funding are "being put to good use." The 64-year-old Republican cannot run again this year because of term limits.</p>
<p>"I look forward to working hard with you, over this session and over this, my last year, to make South Dakota a better place than it is today," Daugaard said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow James Nord on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Jvnord</p>
<p>PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota is going to ask the Trump administration to allow the state to require some Medicaid recipients to work to qualify for the government-funded health coverage for the poor, Gov. Dennis Daugaard said Tuesday in his State of the State address.</p>
<p>The change would apply to about 4,500 low-income, able-bodied parents who are not caring for a child under the age of 1, Daugaard told state lawmakers gathered for the first day of the 2018 legislative session. The governor proposed piloting the new requirement in Minnehaha and Pennington counties.</p>
<p>"Work is an important part of personal fulfillment," Daugaard said. "By making this adjustment to our Medicaid program, we can continue to help those who need it the most and start to connect those who can work with jobs that give them that sense of self-worth and accomplishment."</p>
<p>Daugaard said he has asked the state Department of Social Services to pursue the work requirement waiver. The average monthly Medicaid enrollment was roughly 120,000 people last state budget year.</p>
<p>Joan Alker, executive director at Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families, said low-income parents are not driving the costs of the Medicaid program.</p>
<p>"We're talking about the very, very poorest families in a state, and applying a work requirement to these parents, the majority of whom are women, is in my judgment counterproductive, it's fiscally inefficient, and it's just downright cruel," Alker said.</p>
<p>During the current legislative session, the Republican-controlled Legislature will make a new state budget and take up policy proposals on issues ranging from the state's ballot question system to the use of lakes on private land for recreation. Legislators will adjourn in late March.</p>
<p>Daugaard asked lawmakers to extend an expiring law that restored access to nearly 30 specific lakes for public recreation that was curtailed by a state Supreme Court decision. The rules were the product of a special legislative session last year on so-called nonmeandered waters. The governor's bill would move the law's June expiration date to 2021.</p>
<p>House Democratic leader Spencer Hawley said he supports the extension because too little time has passed to evaluate issues with the law.</p>
<p>"We need to extend this," he said. "We need to work with it."</p>
<p>Daugaard said he's also proposing legislation that would make South Dakota microbrewers more competitive with those in surrounding states. He noted that current law caps South Dakota craft brewers at 5,000 barrels of beer annually, compared to 60,000 in Montana, 50,000 in Wyoming and 25,000 in North Dakota.</p>
<p>The governor's proposal would increase the limit to 30,000 barrels per year.</p>
<p>The governor has made workforce development a key policy focus. He said South Dakota doesn't have enough workers in many skilled fields, which is a barrier to economic growth.</p>
<p>Officials are encouraging high schools to expand the availability of apprenticeships, internships or job shadowing during school, Daugaard said. And he's pushing a new law to create a professional licensure reciprocity compact with other states.</p>
<p>Daugaard looked back on his time in office during the final State of the State address of his second term, saying he's pleased with progress on boosting teacher pay and that revenue increases for road and bridge funding are "being put to good use." The 64-year-old Republican cannot run again this year because of term limits.</p>
<p>"I look forward to working hard with you, over this session and over this, my last year, to make South Dakota a better place than it is today," Daugaard said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow James Nord on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Jvnord</p>
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Daugaard: South Dakota seeking Medicaid work requirement
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https://apnews.com/amp/99f5c440e4d2408b97c8ecc02bf32a88
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2018-01-09
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Daugaard: South Dakota seeking Medicaid work requirement
<p>PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota is going to ask the Trump administration to allow the state to require some Medicaid recipients to work to qualify for the government-funded health coverage for the poor, Gov. Dennis Daugaard said Tuesday in his State of the State address.</p>
<p>The change would apply to about 4,500 low-income, able-bodied parents who are not caring for a child under the age of 1, Daugaard told state lawmakers gathered for the first day of the 2018 legislative session. The governor proposed piloting the new requirement in Minnehaha and Pennington counties.</p>
<p>"Work is an important part of personal fulfillment," Daugaard said. "By making this adjustment to our Medicaid program, we can continue to help those who need it the most and start to connect those who can work with jobs that give them that sense of self-worth and accomplishment."</p>
<p>Daugaard said he has asked the state Department of Social Services to pursue the work requirement waiver. The average monthly Medicaid enrollment was roughly 120,000 people last state budget year.</p>
<p>Joan Alker, executive director at Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families, said low-income parents are not driving the costs of the Medicaid program.</p>
<p>"We're talking about the very, very poorest families in a state, and applying a work requirement to these parents, the majority of whom are women, is in my judgment counterproductive, it's fiscally inefficient, and it's just downright cruel," Alker said.</p>
<p>During the current legislative session, the Republican-controlled Legislature will make a new state budget and take up policy proposals on issues ranging from the state's ballot question system to the use of lakes on private land for recreation. Legislators will adjourn in late March.</p>
<p>Daugaard asked lawmakers to extend an expiring law that restored access to nearly 30 specific lakes for public recreation that was curtailed by a state Supreme Court decision. The rules were the product of a special legislative session last year on so-called nonmeandered waters. The governor's bill would move the law's June expiration date to 2021.</p>
<p>House Democratic leader Spencer Hawley said he supports the extension because too little time has passed to evaluate issues with the law.</p>
<p>"We need to extend this," he said. "We need to work with it."</p>
<p>Daugaard said he's also proposing legislation that would make South Dakota microbrewers more competitive with those in surrounding states. He noted that current law caps South Dakota craft brewers at 5,000 barrels of beer annually, compared to 60,000 in Montana, 50,000 in Wyoming and 25,000 in North Dakota.</p>
<p>The governor's proposal would increase the limit to 30,000 barrels per year.</p>
<p>The governor has made workforce development a key policy focus. He said South Dakota doesn't have enough workers in many skilled fields, which is a barrier to economic growth.</p>
<p>Officials are encouraging high schools to expand the availability of apprenticeships, internships or job shadowing during school, Daugaard said. And he's pushing a new law to create a professional licensure reciprocity compact with other states.</p>
<p>Daugaard looked back on his time in office during the final State of the State address of his second term, saying he's pleased with progress on boosting teacher pay and that revenue increases for road and bridge funding are "being put to good use." The 64-year-old Republican cannot run again this year because of term limits.</p>
<p>"I look forward to working hard with you, over this session and over this, my last year, to make South Dakota a better place than it is today," Daugaard said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow James Nord on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Jvnord</p>
<p>PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota is going to ask the Trump administration to allow the state to require some Medicaid recipients to work to qualify for the government-funded health coverage for the poor, Gov. Dennis Daugaard said Tuesday in his State of the State address.</p>
<p>The change would apply to about 4,500 low-income, able-bodied parents who are not caring for a child under the age of 1, Daugaard told state lawmakers gathered for the first day of the 2018 legislative session. The governor proposed piloting the new requirement in Minnehaha and Pennington counties.</p>
<p>"Work is an important part of personal fulfillment," Daugaard said. "By making this adjustment to our Medicaid program, we can continue to help those who need it the most and start to connect those who can work with jobs that give them that sense of self-worth and accomplishment."</p>
<p>Daugaard said he has asked the state Department of Social Services to pursue the work requirement waiver. The average monthly Medicaid enrollment was roughly 120,000 people last state budget year.</p>
<p>Joan Alker, executive director at Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families, said low-income parents are not driving the costs of the Medicaid program.</p>
<p>"We're talking about the very, very poorest families in a state, and applying a work requirement to these parents, the majority of whom are women, is in my judgment counterproductive, it's fiscally inefficient, and it's just downright cruel," Alker said.</p>
<p>During the current legislative session, the Republican-controlled Legislature will make a new state budget and take up policy proposals on issues ranging from the state's ballot question system to the use of lakes on private land for recreation. Legislators will adjourn in late March.</p>
<p>Daugaard asked lawmakers to extend an expiring law that restored access to nearly 30 specific lakes for public recreation that was curtailed by a state Supreme Court decision. The rules were the product of a special legislative session last year on so-called nonmeandered waters. The governor's bill would move the law's June expiration date to 2021.</p>
<p>House Democratic leader Spencer Hawley said he supports the extension because too little time has passed to evaluate issues with the law.</p>
<p>"We need to extend this," he said. "We need to work with it."</p>
<p>Daugaard said he's also proposing legislation that would make South Dakota microbrewers more competitive with those in surrounding states. He noted that current law caps South Dakota craft brewers at 5,000 barrels of beer annually, compared to 60,000 in Montana, 50,000 in Wyoming and 25,000 in North Dakota.</p>
<p>The governor's proposal would increase the limit to 30,000 barrels per year.</p>
<p>The governor has made workforce development a key policy focus. He said South Dakota doesn't have enough workers in many skilled fields, which is a barrier to economic growth.</p>
<p>Officials are encouraging high schools to expand the availability of apprenticeships, internships or job shadowing during school, Daugaard said. And he's pushing a new law to create a professional licensure reciprocity compact with other states.</p>
<p>Daugaard looked back on his time in office during the final State of the State address of his second term, saying he's pleased with progress on boosting teacher pay and that revenue increases for road and bridge funding are "being put to good use." The 64-year-old Republican cannot run again this year because of term limits.</p>
<p>"I look forward to working hard with you, over this session and over this, my last year, to make South Dakota a better place than it is today," Daugaard said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow James Nord on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Jvnord</p>
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<p>J.P. Morgan (NYSE:JPM) announced sweeping management changes on Friday that has the biggest U.S. bank replacing more than a half a dozen positions under chief executive Jamie Dimon with slightly younger executives.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Todd Maclin, 56, and Gordon Smith, 53, will become co-CEOs of consumer and community banking, which includes the company’s mortgage banking group.</p>
<p>Frank Bisignano, 52, who was tapped by J.P. Morgan in early 2011 to lead the turnaround of the mortgage bank in addition to serving as chief administrative officer, will hand over the mortgage business to Smith in early 2013 and become co-chief operating officer of the entire company, where he will be responsible for technology and operations, security and resiliency, real estate, procurement and general services.</p>
<p>Mike Cavanagh, 46, currently head of the bank’s treasury and securities services business, and Daniel Pinto, 49, head of EMEA and global fixed income, will become co-CEOs of the newly combined corporate and investment bank.</p>
<p>J.P. Morgan called the combined investment and corporate bank the “strongest and most complete institutional client franchise in the industry.” Cavanagh will be the first point of contact for escalation and decision-making for the banking businesses while Pinto will have that same role for markets and investor services.</p>
<p>As a result of these changes, the investment bank’s current chief executive, Jes Staley, 55, will become chairman of the combined corporate and investment bank, a newly created position, and will remain on the firm’s operating committee. In his new role, Staley will head a group of senior executives who will be responsible for keeping tabs on changing client needs, new technologies extensive global regulatory reform and future trade and investment flows.</p>
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<p>Matt Zames, 41, will remain head of the chief investment office and mortgage capital markets and will also become co-chief operating officer of the entire firm with Bisignano where he will oversee finance and regulatory affairs.</p>
<p>Cavanagh, Bisignano, Pinto, Zames and Staley will all be a part of the firm-wide operating committee, reporting directly to Dimon.</p>
<p>“We are blessed with extraordinary leaders and outstanding businesses across our company,” Dimon said in a statement. “Today's appointments are a natural step in aligning our businesses more closely to make our company even stronger."</p>
<p>The realignment was supposed to be announced earlier this year but was held off following a multibillion-dollar trading loss.</p>
<p>J.P. Morgan said the company’s asset management and commercial banking businesses will remain separately managed from the other businesses, led by current CEO of asset management, Mary Erdoes, and current commercial bank head, Douglas Petno.</p>
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J.P. Morgan Promotes Younger Executives, Announces Sweeping Realignment
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http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/07/27/jpmorgan-promotes-younger-execs-in-realignment.html
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2016-03-03
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J.P. Morgan Promotes Younger Executives, Announces Sweeping Realignment
<p />
<p>J.P. Morgan (NYSE:JPM) announced sweeping management changes on Friday that has the biggest U.S. bank replacing more than a half a dozen positions under chief executive Jamie Dimon with slightly younger executives.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Todd Maclin, 56, and Gordon Smith, 53, will become co-CEOs of consumer and community banking, which includes the company’s mortgage banking group.</p>
<p>Frank Bisignano, 52, who was tapped by J.P. Morgan in early 2011 to lead the turnaround of the mortgage bank in addition to serving as chief administrative officer, will hand over the mortgage business to Smith in early 2013 and become co-chief operating officer of the entire company, where he will be responsible for technology and operations, security and resiliency, real estate, procurement and general services.</p>
<p>Mike Cavanagh, 46, currently head of the bank’s treasury and securities services business, and Daniel Pinto, 49, head of EMEA and global fixed income, will become co-CEOs of the newly combined corporate and investment bank.</p>
<p>J.P. Morgan called the combined investment and corporate bank the “strongest and most complete institutional client franchise in the industry.” Cavanagh will be the first point of contact for escalation and decision-making for the banking businesses while Pinto will have that same role for markets and investor services.</p>
<p>As a result of these changes, the investment bank’s current chief executive, Jes Staley, 55, will become chairman of the combined corporate and investment bank, a newly created position, and will remain on the firm’s operating committee. In his new role, Staley will head a group of senior executives who will be responsible for keeping tabs on changing client needs, new technologies extensive global regulatory reform and future trade and investment flows.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Matt Zames, 41, will remain head of the chief investment office and mortgage capital markets and will also become co-chief operating officer of the entire firm with Bisignano where he will oversee finance and regulatory affairs.</p>
<p>Cavanagh, Bisignano, Pinto, Zames and Staley will all be a part of the firm-wide operating committee, reporting directly to Dimon.</p>
<p>“We are blessed with extraordinary leaders and outstanding businesses across our company,” Dimon said in a statement. “Today's appointments are a natural step in aligning our businesses more closely to make our company even stronger."</p>
<p>The realignment was supposed to be announced earlier this year but was held off following a multibillion-dollar trading loss.</p>
<p>J.P. Morgan said the company’s asset management and commercial banking businesses will remain separately managed from the other businesses, led by current CEO of asset management, Mary Erdoes, and current commercial bank head, Douglas Petno.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.recruiter.com/entrepreneurship.html" type="external">Entrepreneur Opens a New Window.</a>, speaker, and author <a href="http://www.evancarmichael.com/" type="external">Evan Carmichael Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;might be a well-known business expert today, but his initial foray into the startup world wasn't an immediate success. When Carmichael and two of his friends started a biotech software company at the&#160;tender age of 19, they didn't rocket to success right away.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"We sucked at the start," Carmichael says. "We were making $300 a month."</p>
<p>But Carmichael and his friends stuck with it. They turned down jobs. They didn't want to walk away and end up regretting it.</p>
<p>Sure enough, they turned it around and sold the company by the time Carmichael was 22. Selling a business at such a young age thrust Carmichael into the spotlight. He became a venture capitalist, helping other companies raise money they needed to grow. He was invited to speak at numerous engagement. A lot of eyes were trained on him.</p>
<p>Carmichael decided to start a website where he could share advice with entrepreneurs. Then, he started a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKmkpoEqg1sOMGEiIysP8Tw" type="external">YouTube channel Opens a New Window.</a>, which has since gone on to become the largest YouTube channel for entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>Things were going great for Carmichael – but he still had the nagging feeling that he could do more.</p>
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<p>"I wasn't down on my luck or anything," he says. "But I felt like I had potential. I was walking through my life thinking I could do a lot more."</p>
<p>Initially, Carmichael decided he should focus on improving his marketing, but he quickly realized it wasn't his marketing strategy that was holding him back from his true potential. Rather,&#160;Carmichael realized he need to gain&#160;more insight into what he truly valued. That would show him the way toward fulfillment.</p>
<p>"At first, I approached it as a marketing thing: 'I need my tagline to be better; I need to explain what I do to more people,'" he says. "But that evolved into, 'I need a tagline for my life to figure out what I'm all about. I need the&#160;self-awareness to understand what my core values are so I can&#160;live a life and build a business around them.'"</p>
<p>This is when Carmichael came up with the idea for the "One Word," which forms the basis of his&#160;book,&#160; <a href="http://evancarmichael.com/oneword/" type="external">Your One Word: The Powerful Secret to Creating a Business and Life That Matter Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>"I believe everyone has one core value that represents who they are at a deep level," Carmichael says. "The more you realize that – the more you build a life around it and, for entrepreneurs, build a business around it – the more success you'll have from a financial perspective, as well as the fulfillment of doing something you love."</p>
<p>A little while back, I had the chance to talk with Carmichael about the book, how he found his "One Word," and the connection between our deepest values and business success. What follows is a transcript of that conversation, minimally edited for style and clarity.</p>
<p>Recruiter.com:&#160;Evan, your "One Word" is "Believe." Can you tell me a little bit about what it means to you and how it became your word?</p>
<p>Evan Carmichael:&#160;It started with me thinking about, "What are the things that make me happy? The highest highs in my life – what was happening at those moments?" And I was also thinking about my favorite songs and movies and what I learned from my parents and instructors growing up.</p>
<p>My favorite movie is Seabiscuit. It's about this horse that is undersized and a jockey that is too big and an owner that has no money – all these things that, on paper, make it look like they would never win, but they went out and won a bunch. For some people, it's a super cheesy, sappy movie, but I like it. It's about belief.</p>
<p>My parents told me when I was growing up that I could do anything, and that's a message I've passed on to my son.</p>
<p>It turned out that everything positive in my life has been around that concept of believe.</p>
<p>When I first stumbled upon it, I thought, "That's too big a word. We need to be more specific. Other people have done this." But then I got to thinking: How many times do we talk ourselves down from a big idea? It's not even our friends and families and the people around us who talk us down, it's us. We have a big, bold idea, and the next day we wake up and say we can't do it.</p>
<p>So I decided to test it. The first thing I did was write a newsletter about "Believe" and what it meant to me. It was the best newsletter I had put out, in terms of response from my audience. My sister even wrote back to me and said, "I actually read your newsletter now!" I was proud of my content before, but this felt more personal.</p>
<p>Next, I tried a video, to see how it would go. Up until that point, the best video I made had 100,000 views on it. I was super proud of it. It was a good milestone, and it took me a year to get it there. So I made a video about&#160;"Believe." A lot of my advisors hated it. They said it was too long, it was never going to work. But I still put it up. It hit 100,000 views in a month, and now it's coming up on 2 million views.</p>
<p>What started to happen was, anything that touched the realm of "Believe" started to have a bigger impact. I started getting more traction.&#160;If you look at it just from a marketing point of view: Yes, we're getting more audience, we're driving more sales, we're getting more subscribers.</p>
<p>But then I approached it from an operations perspective: How do you hire based off "Believe"? How do you write a job description based off "Believe"? What's the onboarding process? What are the rituals and the culture you need to build? How do you bring on suppliers or work with investors based on your "One Word"?</p>
<p>I quickly found out it is not just a marketing thing. It's the lens through which you see the world. When you have that self-awareness, it allows you to do better things for yourself that are more aligned with what you want to do&#160;– and it also attracts the right people to you, people who can help you.</p>
<p>RC:&#160;In the section of the book dedicated to helping people discover their own words, there's a quote that I found really fascinating: "Money is a tool, not a core value." Can you say a little more about what you mean by this?</p>
<p>EC:&#160;A lot of people, when asked what their "One Word" is, they'll say it's "Money." They want to make money. But money itself is not a value. Money is just an exchange of value. I get money because I provide a value for someone else. Maybe I wrote a great article, or I produced a great&#160;video, or I made a great shoe.&#160;I get paid for that, and I use that money to go buy something else. So it's just a trade of value.</p>
<p>Money's important. I'm not the guy saying you should go sell your Ferrari and live a street life. Money is important in business. But there has to be something that is a step above money. There has to be one thing that is higher than money for you that you chase with all your money, and it's that that makes you successful.</p>
<p>The people only chasing money, they may get some, but they aren't ever as successful as the people who are doing something&#160;for a greater reason. Look at a guy like Steve Jobs, who was a multimillionaire in his 20s. He had all the money he'd ever need in his twenties. He didn't go off and sail the world or do the things you think you might do when you have enough money; he worked until the day he died to build Apple. And he built it to be the No. 1 most valuable company in the world when money was not his No. 1&#160;goal.</p>
<p>Money is important to Apple, of course, but it's not the core reason why Steve Jobs did what he did.</p>
<p>RC:&#160;A central concern of the book is how entrepreneurs can apply their "One Word" to the building of a business. It's not just a marketing tactic, as you mentioned earlier. It's the basis of job descriptions, onboarding, vendor relationships, etc. Can you elaborate more on the connection between the "One Word" and a business?</p>
<p>EC: A&#160;lot of people who are entrepreneurs reading this book might think, "This is just for my business." What you need to realize is this is something for you first that you can then bring to your business.</p>
<p>It is not just a marketing thing for your company. It has to be authentic. People can see through you. If you say, "Our business is all about love," and you're not a loving person, then you're going to fall short. It's why we don't trust big brands a lot. They say they are for something, like "The customer is No. 1" or "We value service." Then you see from working with them that it's not something they actually value, it's just something they write on their wall.</p>
<p>I bet if you went to the CEO of most major companies and asked what their 15 core values were, nobody could actually recite them from heart. If you can't actually remember what your core values are, how are you actually living them?</p>
<p>That being said, the way I like to approach it at&#160;the start for entrepreneurs is through marketing, because it's the easiest concept to grasp and it brings in money for your business. Anything that generates ROI for your business is great.</p>
<p>So you start with your "One Word," and then you create your credo, where you explain to the world what it the word means to you. Most entrepreneurs — especially their websites — are super boring and impersonal. They are trying to be corporate and professional, but in the end they lose out to the corporations. If you look like a corporation, I'm not going to buy from you. I trust that big brand and its&#160;reputation. But who are you? You're some new startup. The only reason to buy from you would be price.</p>
<p>The real reason to buy from you should be your passion, your commitment, your story. Tell me why you're here. If I feel your passion and connection to what you're doing, then I'll buy from you. I might even pay more than I would at a big company, because I feel you're going to care more. You need both your credo and your founding story down to the point where it's something moving that you're really proud of.</p>
<p>Next is thinking about your audience. What is going to unite them? What rituals and gestures can you give them? What is it that your customers do that other customers don't do? Then think about the name of your business and the name of your products and services. How do they reflect the&#160;theme and your "One Word"?</p>
<p>You also want to have an enemy for what you're doing. If you stand for X,&#160;what's the enemy? It's good to have an enemy, because if you can articulate who your enemy is, it makes it easier to rally people around the cause.</p>
<p>And then you have to think&#160;about your logo, your font, your symbols.&#160;How does it all relate to the theme you put out there?</p>
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Money Isn't a Core Value: Evan Carmichael on Building Startups That Matter
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http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/03/03/money-isnt-core-value-evan-carmichael-on-building-startups-that-matter.html
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2017-03-17
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Money Isn't a Core Value: Evan Carmichael on Building Startups That Matter
<p />
<p><a href="https://www.recruiter.com/entrepreneurship.html" type="external">Entrepreneur Opens a New Window.</a>, speaker, and author <a href="http://www.evancarmichael.com/" type="external">Evan Carmichael Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;might be a well-known business expert today, but his initial foray into the startup world wasn't an immediate success. When Carmichael and two of his friends started a biotech software company at the&#160;tender age of 19, they didn't rocket to success right away.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"We sucked at the start," Carmichael says. "We were making $300 a month."</p>
<p>But Carmichael and his friends stuck with it. They turned down jobs. They didn't want to walk away and end up regretting it.</p>
<p>Sure enough, they turned it around and sold the company by the time Carmichael was 22. Selling a business at such a young age thrust Carmichael into the spotlight. He became a venture capitalist, helping other companies raise money they needed to grow. He was invited to speak at numerous engagement. A lot of eyes were trained on him.</p>
<p>Carmichael decided to start a website where he could share advice with entrepreneurs. Then, he started a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKmkpoEqg1sOMGEiIysP8Tw" type="external">YouTube channel Opens a New Window.</a>, which has since gone on to become the largest YouTube channel for entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>Things were going great for Carmichael – but he still had the nagging feeling that he could do more.</p>
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<p>"I wasn't down on my luck or anything," he says. "But I felt like I had potential. I was walking through my life thinking I could do a lot more."</p>
<p>Initially, Carmichael decided he should focus on improving his marketing, but he quickly realized it wasn't his marketing strategy that was holding him back from his true potential. Rather,&#160;Carmichael realized he need to gain&#160;more insight into what he truly valued. That would show him the way toward fulfillment.</p>
<p>"At first, I approached it as a marketing thing: 'I need my tagline to be better; I need to explain what I do to more people,'" he says. "But that evolved into, 'I need a tagline for my life to figure out what I'm all about. I need the&#160;self-awareness to understand what my core values are so I can&#160;live a life and build a business around them.'"</p>
<p>This is when Carmichael came up with the idea for the "One Word," which forms the basis of his&#160;book,&#160; <a href="http://evancarmichael.com/oneword/" type="external">Your One Word: The Powerful Secret to Creating a Business and Life That Matter Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>"I believe everyone has one core value that represents who they are at a deep level," Carmichael says. "The more you realize that – the more you build a life around it and, for entrepreneurs, build a business around it – the more success you'll have from a financial perspective, as well as the fulfillment of doing something you love."</p>
<p>A little while back, I had the chance to talk with Carmichael about the book, how he found his "One Word," and the connection between our deepest values and business success. What follows is a transcript of that conversation, minimally edited for style and clarity.</p>
<p>Recruiter.com:&#160;Evan, your "One Word" is "Believe." Can you tell me a little bit about what it means to you and how it became your word?</p>
<p>Evan Carmichael:&#160;It started with me thinking about, "What are the things that make me happy? The highest highs in my life – what was happening at those moments?" And I was also thinking about my favorite songs and movies and what I learned from my parents and instructors growing up.</p>
<p>My favorite movie is Seabiscuit. It's about this horse that is undersized and a jockey that is too big and an owner that has no money – all these things that, on paper, make it look like they would never win, but they went out and won a bunch. For some people, it's a super cheesy, sappy movie, but I like it. It's about belief.</p>
<p>My parents told me when I was growing up that I could do anything, and that's a message I've passed on to my son.</p>
<p>It turned out that everything positive in my life has been around that concept of believe.</p>
<p>When I first stumbled upon it, I thought, "That's too big a word. We need to be more specific. Other people have done this." But then I got to thinking: How many times do we talk ourselves down from a big idea? It's not even our friends and families and the people around us who talk us down, it's us. We have a big, bold idea, and the next day we wake up and say we can't do it.</p>
<p>So I decided to test it. The first thing I did was write a newsletter about "Believe" and what it meant to me. It was the best newsletter I had put out, in terms of response from my audience. My sister even wrote back to me and said, "I actually read your newsletter now!" I was proud of my content before, but this felt more personal.</p>
<p>Next, I tried a video, to see how it would go. Up until that point, the best video I made had 100,000 views on it. I was super proud of it. It was a good milestone, and it took me a year to get it there. So I made a video about&#160;"Believe." A lot of my advisors hated it. They said it was too long, it was never going to work. But I still put it up. It hit 100,000 views in a month, and now it's coming up on 2 million views.</p>
<p>What started to happen was, anything that touched the realm of "Believe" started to have a bigger impact. I started getting more traction.&#160;If you look at it just from a marketing point of view: Yes, we're getting more audience, we're driving more sales, we're getting more subscribers.</p>
<p>But then I approached it from an operations perspective: How do you hire based off "Believe"? How do you write a job description based off "Believe"? What's the onboarding process? What are the rituals and the culture you need to build? How do you bring on suppliers or work with investors based on your "One Word"?</p>
<p>I quickly found out it is not just a marketing thing. It's the lens through which you see the world. When you have that self-awareness, it allows you to do better things for yourself that are more aligned with what you want to do&#160;– and it also attracts the right people to you, people who can help you.</p>
<p>RC:&#160;In the section of the book dedicated to helping people discover their own words, there's a quote that I found really fascinating: "Money is a tool, not a core value." Can you say a little more about what you mean by this?</p>
<p>EC:&#160;A lot of people, when asked what their "One Word" is, they'll say it's "Money." They want to make money. But money itself is not a value. Money is just an exchange of value. I get money because I provide a value for someone else. Maybe I wrote a great article, or I produced a great&#160;video, or I made a great shoe.&#160;I get paid for that, and I use that money to go buy something else. So it's just a trade of value.</p>
<p>Money's important. I'm not the guy saying you should go sell your Ferrari and live a street life. Money is important in business. But there has to be something that is a step above money. There has to be one thing that is higher than money for you that you chase with all your money, and it's that that makes you successful.</p>
<p>The people only chasing money, they may get some, but they aren't ever as successful as the people who are doing something&#160;for a greater reason. Look at a guy like Steve Jobs, who was a multimillionaire in his 20s. He had all the money he'd ever need in his twenties. He didn't go off and sail the world or do the things you think you might do when you have enough money; he worked until the day he died to build Apple. And he built it to be the No. 1 most valuable company in the world when money was not his No. 1&#160;goal.</p>
<p>Money is important to Apple, of course, but it's not the core reason why Steve Jobs did what he did.</p>
<p>RC:&#160;A central concern of the book is how entrepreneurs can apply their "One Word" to the building of a business. It's not just a marketing tactic, as you mentioned earlier. It's the basis of job descriptions, onboarding, vendor relationships, etc. Can you elaborate more on the connection between the "One Word" and a business?</p>
<p>EC: A&#160;lot of people who are entrepreneurs reading this book might think, "This is just for my business." What you need to realize is this is something for you first that you can then bring to your business.</p>
<p>It is not just a marketing thing for your company. It has to be authentic. People can see through you. If you say, "Our business is all about love," and you're not a loving person, then you're going to fall short. It's why we don't trust big brands a lot. They say they are for something, like "The customer is No. 1" or "We value service." Then you see from working with them that it's not something they actually value, it's just something they write on their wall.</p>
<p>I bet if you went to the CEO of most major companies and asked what their 15 core values were, nobody could actually recite them from heart. If you can't actually remember what your core values are, how are you actually living them?</p>
<p>That being said, the way I like to approach it at&#160;the start for entrepreneurs is through marketing, because it's the easiest concept to grasp and it brings in money for your business. Anything that generates ROI for your business is great.</p>
<p>So you start with your "One Word," and then you create your credo, where you explain to the world what it the word means to you. Most entrepreneurs — especially their websites — are super boring and impersonal. They are trying to be corporate and professional, but in the end they lose out to the corporations. If you look like a corporation, I'm not going to buy from you. I trust that big brand and its&#160;reputation. But who are you? You're some new startup. The only reason to buy from you would be price.</p>
<p>The real reason to buy from you should be your passion, your commitment, your story. Tell me why you're here. If I feel your passion and connection to what you're doing, then I'll buy from you. I might even pay more than I would at a big company, because I feel you're going to care more. You need both your credo and your founding story down to the point where it's something moving that you're really proud of.</p>
<p>Next is thinking about your audience. What is going to unite them? What rituals and gestures can you give them? What is it that your customers do that other customers don't do? Then think about the name of your business and the name of your products and services. How do they reflect the&#160;theme and your "One Word"?</p>
<p>You also want to have an enemy for what you're doing. If you stand for X,&#160;what's the enemy? It's good to have an enemy, because if you can articulate who your enemy is, it makes it easier to rally people around the cause.</p>
<p>And then you have to think&#160;about your logo, your font, your symbols.&#160;How does it all relate to the theme you put out there?</p>
| 4,911 |
<p />
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>In February, the shortest month of the year, copper, gold, and oil company Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE: FCX) saw its shares tumble by nearly 20%. After a roughly 95% price gain in 2016, it was a painful reminder of years past, when Freeport-McMoRan was dealing with the aftermath of an ill-timed oil investment.</p>
<p>Shortly before oil prices started to fall in mid-2014, Freeport took on a heavy debt load to buy Plains Exploration &amp; Production Company and McMoRan Exploration Co. Debt went from $3.5 billion to roughly $20 billion in a single year. That poorly timed move -- in hindsight, anyway -- proved to be a huge drag on the company's shares...until 2016. Indeed, last year, Freeport started to make important headway trimming debt and selling non-core assets, importantly including pieces of its oil business.</p>
<p>Image source: Freeport-McMoRan Inc.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>In fact, it was starting to look like Freeport was turning the corner, aided, of course, by recovering commodity prices. And then there was a rule change in Indonesia that essentially shut down one of the company's largest copper and gold operations. The Grasberg mining complex in Indonesia is hugely important to Freeport-McMoRan, accounting for roughly 30% of the miner's copper reserves and about 95% of its gold reserves. It's been negotiating with the Indonesian government, but it hasn't been able to ink a deal. By the end of February, Freeport was getting ready to trim production and lay off staff at the mine. It's all a complex and political mess, but no matter how you look at it, things are pretty bad for Freeport right now.</p>
<p>In many ways, it seems like Freeport has gone from the frying pan into the fire. Adding insult to injury is all the work the company has done to improve its balance sheet and business only to find yet another headwind blowing at gale-force speeds. Simply put, the outcome of the Indonesian troubles will have a heavy influence on the company's results and shares. Investors would be better off avoiding Freeport until this issue is resolved.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Freeport-McMoRan Copper and GoldWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=525d1966-b88c-411c-9b5e-352a17b29385&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now...and Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=525d1966-b88c-411c-9b5e-352a17b29385&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of February 6, 2017.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/ReubenGBrewer/info.aspx" type="external">Reuben Brewer Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
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Why Freeport-McMoRan Inc Shares Fell a Painful 19.5% in February
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/03/07/why-freeport-mcmoran-inc-shares-fell-painful-15-in-february.html
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2017-03-17
| 0right
|
Why Freeport-McMoRan Inc Shares Fell a Painful 19.5% in February
<p />
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>In February, the shortest month of the year, copper, gold, and oil company Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE: FCX) saw its shares tumble by nearly 20%. After a roughly 95% price gain in 2016, it was a painful reminder of years past, when Freeport-McMoRan was dealing with the aftermath of an ill-timed oil investment.</p>
<p>Shortly before oil prices started to fall in mid-2014, Freeport took on a heavy debt load to buy Plains Exploration &amp; Production Company and McMoRan Exploration Co. Debt went from $3.5 billion to roughly $20 billion in a single year. That poorly timed move -- in hindsight, anyway -- proved to be a huge drag on the company's shares...until 2016. Indeed, last year, Freeport started to make important headway trimming debt and selling non-core assets, importantly including pieces of its oil business.</p>
<p>Image source: Freeport-McMoRan Inc.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>In fact, it was starting to look like Freeport was turning the corner, aided, of course, by recovering commodity prices. And then there was a rule change in Indonesia that essentially shut down one of the company's largest copper and gold operations. The Grasberg mining complex in Indonesia is hugely important to Freeport-McMoRan, accounting for roughly 30% of the miner's copper reserves and about 95% of its gold reserves. It's been negotiating with the Indonesian government, but it hasn't been able to ink a deal. By the end of February, Freeport was getting ready to trim production and lay off staff at the mine. It's all a complex and political mess, but no matter how you look at it, things are pretty bad for Freeport right now.</p>
<p>In many ways, it seems like Freeport has gone from the frying pan into the fire. Adding insult to injury is all the work the company has done to improve its balance sheet and business only to find yet another headwind blowing at gale-force speeds. Simply put, the outcome of the Indonesian troubles will have a heavy influence on the company's results and shares. Investors would be better off avoiding Freeport until this issue is resolved.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Freeport-McMoRan Copper and GoldWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=525d1966-b88c-411c-9b5e-352a17b29385&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now...and Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=525d1966-b88c-411c-9b5e-352a17b29385&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of February 6, 2017.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/ReubenGBrewer/info.aspx" type="external">Reuben Brewer Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
| 4,912 |
<p>CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — The two largest uranium producers in the country, both operating in Wyoming, are asking President Donald Trump for relief from one of their greatest challenges: foreign imports.</p>
<p>Denver-based Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy petitioned the Department of Commerce to look into whether imports from dominant uranium producers, like Russia, pose a national security risk. The firms are also asking the president to make adjustments to imports of uranium, according to a statement released by the companies last week.</p>
<p>The companies propose carving out about 25 percent of the domestic market solely for U.S. producers. That would hopefully boost prices and give companies like Energy Fuels an opportunity to grow their businesses, said Paul Goranson, executive vice president of operations for Energy Fuels.</p>
<p>Global uranium prices have hit near historic lows as cheap resources have been made available from mines in countries like Kazakhstan, companies argue.</p>
<p>Industry says that new nuclear power plants in the queue and a depletion of cheaply mined reserves in places like Kazakhstan could lift prices in years to come.</p>
<p>In the meantime, domestic companies are not doing well, the Casper Star-Tribune <a href="http://trib.com/business/energy/wyoming-uranium-producers-appeal-to-trump-to-decrease-foreign-imports/article_554ac9c4-060b-526a-b81d-947e77cb15da.html" type="external">reported</a> .</p>
<p>About 40 percent of U.S. uranium demand is served by cheaper resources from Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.</p>
<p>Domestic production of uranium only fills about 5 percent of U.S. demand. About half of that comes from Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy, according to the companies.</p>
<p>“I think they feel we are over-reliant on imports,” explained Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association. “Why would you import from Russia, a country we don’t have the best relations with right now, and Kazakhstan, when you have uranium in your own backyard?”</p>
<p>Restricting imports from these countries could make Wyoming companies more competitive within the U.S., he added.</p>
<p>The Wyoming Mining Association asked state lawmakers for a tax break for uranium last year given the low price environment. Companies in the state say they are only producing to meet their current contracts and that layoffs have and will result.</p>
<p>That request was denied by the minerals committee in June.</p>
<p>There is a downside to the proposed import quota.</p>
<p>It would likely put pressure on utilities that use enriched uranium for power and can buy it cheap from other countries.</p>
<p>“As you would expect, the utilities aren’t happy about this,” Goranson said. “They are the ones that are going to have to bear the burden of the higher prices.”</p>
<p>However, in the past, opening up the domestic market meant taking on fees for importing uranium, which is less flexible, and more punitive, than bartering contracts with U.S. producers, he argued.</p>
<p>Uranium is an incredibly powerful fuel source. A single pellet of uranium fuel holds the same amount of power potential as nearly 2,000 tons of coal. But last year it was the most expensive source of new power for utilities to build.</p>
<p>There are no nuclear power plants in Wyoming, but the state produced about two-thirds of the uranium in the U.S. in 2016.</p>
<p>Sen. John Barrasso came out in support of the investigation into uranium imports.</p>
<p>“For years, government-owned uranium producers in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan have unfairly flooded American markets with cheap uranium,” he said in a statement last week. “The Trump administration needs to expedite this investigation and take action to preserve this vital industry.”</p>
<p>The senator has his own gripe with uranium related to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her position as Secretary of State when Russia’s state-controlled nuclear power agency Rosatom took majority ownership of the Canadian company Uranium One. Uranium One has a mine in Wyoming, north of Casper. Rosatom also had significant uranium control in Kazakhstan.</p>
<p>The New York Times wrote a wave-making story in 2015 looking into whether the Clinton Foundation benefited from the deal. To date, no connection has been verified of greased wheels to get U.S. approval of the Rosatom acquisition.</p>
<p>Barrasso has repeatedly pressed for information in investigating various aspects of the Uranium One deal in his role as chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The Senate Judiciary Committee also launched an investigation into the matter in October.</p>
<p>Uranium producers in Wyoming have said they are not comfortable with the lingering Clinton-Uranium One saga, fearing it puts their industry in a bad light.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, <a href="http://www.trib.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.trib.com" type="external">http://www.trib.com</a></p>
<p>CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — The two largest uranium producers in the country, both operating in Wyoming, are asking President Donald Trump for relief from one of their greatest challenges: foreign imports.</p>
<p>Denver-based Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy petitioned the Department of Commerce to look into whether imports from dominant uranium producers, like Russia, pose a national security risk. The firms are also asking the president to make adjustments to imports of uranium, according to a statement released by the companies last week.</p>
<p>The companies propose carving out about 25 percent of the domestic market solely for U.S. producers. That would hopefully boost prices and give companies like Energy Fuels an opportunity to grow their businesses, said Paul Goranson, executive vice president of operations for Energy Fuels.</p>
<p>Global uranium prices have hit near historic lows as cheap resources have been made available from mines in countries like Kazakhstan, companies argue.</p>
<p>Industry says that new nuclear power plants in the queue and a depletion of cheaply mined reserves in places like Kazakhstan could lift prices in years to come.</p>
<p>In the meantime, domestic companies are not doing well, the Casper Star-Tribune <a href="http://trib.com/business/energy/wyoming-uranium-producers-appeal-to-trump-to-decrease-foreign-imports/article_554ac9c4-060b-526a-b81d-947e77cb15da.html" type="external">reported</a> .</p>
<p>About 40 percent of U.S. uranium demand is served by cheaper resources from Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.</p>
<p>Domestic production of uranium only fills about 5 percent of U.S. demand. About half of that comes from Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy, according to the companies.</p>
<p>“I think they feel we are over-reliant on imports,” explained Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association. “Why would you import from Russia, a country we don’t have the best relations with right now, and Kazakhstan, when you have uranium in your own backyard?”</p>
<p>Restricting imports from these countries could make Wyoming companies more competitive within the U.S., he added.</p>
<p>The Wyoming Mining Association asked state lawmakers for a tax break for uranium last year given the low price environment. Companies in the state say they are only producing to meet their current contracts and that layoffs have and will result.</p>
<p>That request was denied by the minerals committee in June.</p>
<p>There is a downside to the proposed import quota.</p>
<p>It would likely put pressure on utilities that use enriched uranium for power and can buy it cheap from other countries.</p>
<p>“As you would expect, the utilities aren’t happy about this,” Goranson said. “They are the ones that are going to have to bear the burden of the higher prices.”</p>
<p>However, in the past, opening up the domestic market meant taking on fees for importing uranium, which is less flexible, and more punitive, than bartering contracts with U.S. producers, he argued.</p>
<p>Uranium is an incredibly powerful fuel source. A single pellet of uranium fuel holds the same amount of power potential as nearly 2,000 tons of coal. But last year it was the most expensive source of new power for utilities to build.</p>
<p>There are no nuclear power plants in Wyoming, but the state produced about two-thirds of the uranium in the U.S. in 2016.</p>
<p>Sen. John Barrasso came out in support of the investigation into uranium imports.</p>
<p>“For years, government-owned uranium producers in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan have unfairly flooded American markets with cheap uranium,” he said in a statement last week. “The Trump administration needs to expedite this investigation and take action to preserve this vital industry.”</p>
<p>The senator has his own gripe with uranium related to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her position as Secretary of State when Russia’s state-controlled nuclear power agency Rosatom took majority ownership of the Canadian company Uranium One. Uranium One has a mine in Wyoming, north of Casper. Rosatom also had significant uranium control in Kazakhstan.</p>
<p>The New York Times wrote a wave-making story in 2015 looking into whether the Clinton Foundation benefited from the deal. To date, no connection has been verified of greased wheels to get U.S. approval of the Rosatom acquisition.</p>
<p>Barrasso has repeatedly pressed for information in investigating various aspects of the Uranium One deal in his role as chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The Senate Judiciary Committee also launched an investigation into the matter in October.</p>
<p>Uranium producers in Wyoming have said they are not comfortable with the lingering Clinton-Uranium One saga, fearing it puts their industry in a bad light.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, <a href="http://www.trib.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.trib.com" type="external">http://www.trib.com</a></p>
|
Wyoming uranium producers appeal to Trump for help
| false |
https://apnews.com/cbc208a1a854483c8e183f8b3c8bfba7
|
2018-01-22
| 2least
|
Wyoming uranium producers appeal to Trump for help
<p>CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — The two largest uranium producers in the country, both operating in Wyoming, are asking President Donald Trump for relief from one of their greatest challenges: foreign imports.</p>
<p>Denver-based Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy petitioned the Department of Commerce to look into whether imports from dominant uranium producers, like Russia, pose a national security risk. The firms are also asking the president to make adjustments to imports of uranium, according to a statement released by the companies last week.</p>
<p>The companies propose carving out about 25 percent of the domestic market solely for U.S. producers. That would hopefully boost prices and give companies like Energy Fuels an opportunity to grow their businesses, said Paul Goranson, executive vice president of operations for Energy Fuels.</p>
<p>Global uranium prices have hit near historic lows as cheap resources have been made available from mines in countries like Kazakhstan, companies argue.</p>
<p>Industry says that new nuclear power plants in the queue and a depletion of cheaply mined reserves in places like Kazakhstan could lift prices in years to come.</p>
<p>In the meantime, domestic companies are not doing well, the Casper Star-Tribune <a href="http://trib.com/business/energy/wyoming-uranium-producers-appeal-to-trump-to-decrease-foreign-imports/article_554ac9c4-060b-526a-b81d-947e77cb15da.html" type="external">reported</a> .</p>
<p>About 40 percent of U.S. uranium demand is served by cheaper resources from Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.</p>
<p>Domestic production of uranium only fills about 5 percent of U.S. demand. About half of that comes from Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy, according to the companies.</p>
<p>“I think they feel we are over-reliant on imports,” explained Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association. “Why would you import from Russia, a country we don’t have the best relations with right now, and Kazakhstan, when you have uranium in your own backyard?”</p>
<p>Restricting imports from these countries could make Wyoming companies more competitive within the U.S., he added.</p>
<p>The Wyoming Mining Association asked state lawmakers for a tax break for uranium last year given the low price environment. Companies in the state say they are only producing to meet their current contracts and that layoffs have and will result.</p>
<p>That request was denied by the minerals committee in June.</p>
<p>There is a downside to the proposed import quota.</p>
<p>It would likely put pressure on utilities that use enriched uranium for power and can buy it cheap from other countries.</p>
<p>“As you would expect, the utilities aren’t happy about this,” Goranson said. “They are the ones that are going to have to bear the burden of the higher prices.”</p>
<p>However, in the past, opening up the domestic market meant taking on fees for importing uranium, which is less flexible, and more punitive, than bartering contracts with U.S. producers, he argued.</p>
<p>Uranium is an incredibly powerful fuel source. A single pellet of uranium fuel holds the same amount of power potential as nearly 2,000 tons of coal. But last year it was the most expensive source of new power for utilities to build.</p>
<p>There are no nuclear power plants in Wyoming, but the state produced about two-thirds of the uranium in the U.S. in 2016.</p>
<p>Sen. John Barrasso came out in support of the investigation into uranium imports.</p>
<p>“For years, government-owned uranium producers in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan have unfairly flooded American markets with cheap uranium,” he said in a statement last week. “The Trump administration needs to expedite this investigation and take action to preserve this vital industry.”</p>
<p>The senator has his own gripe with uranium related to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her position as Secretary of State when Russia’s state-controlled nuclear power agency Rosatom took majority ownership of the Canadian company Uranium One. Uranium One has a mine in Wyoming, north of Casper. Rosatom also had significant uranium control in Kazakhstan.</p>
<p>The New York Times wrote a wave-making story in 2015 looking into whether the Clinton Foundation benefited from the deal. To date, no connection has been verified of greased wheels to get U.S. approval of the Rosatom acquisition.</p>
<p>Barrasso has repeatedly pressed for information in investigating various aspects of the Uranium One deal in his role as chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The Senate Judiciary Committee also launched an investigation into the matter in October.</p>
<p>Uranium producers in Wyoming have said they are not comfortable with the lingering Clinton-Uranium One saga, fearing it puts their industry in a bad light.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, <a href="http://www.trib.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.trib.com" type="external">http://www.trib.com</a></p>
<p>CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — The two largest uranium producers in the country, both operating in Wyoming, are asking President Donald Trump for relief from one of their greatest challenges: foreign imports.</p>
<p>Denver-based Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy petitioned the Department of Commerce to look into whether imports from dominant uranium producers, like Russia, pose a national security risk. The firms are also asking the president to make adjustments to imports of uranium, according to a statement released by the companies last week.</p>
<p>The companies propose carving out about 25 percent of the domestic market solely for U.S. producers. That would hopefully boost prices and give companies like Energy Fuels an opportunity to grow their businesses, said Paul Goranson, executive vice president of operations for Energy Fuels.</p>
<p>Global uranium prices have hit near historic lows as cheap resources have been made available from mines in countries like Kazakhstan, companies argue.</p>
<p>Industry says that new nuclear power plants in the queue and a depletion of cheaply mined reserves in places like Kazakhstan could lift prices in years to come.</p>
<p>In the meantime, domestic companies are not doing well, the Casper Star-Tribune <a href="http://trib.com/business/energy/wyoming-uranium-producers-appeal-to-trump-to-decrease-foreign-imports/article_554ac9c4-060b-526a-b81d-947e77cb15da.html" type="external">reported</a> .</p>
<p>About 40 percent of U.S. uranium demand is served by cheaper resources from Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.</p>
<p>Domestic production of uranium only fills about 5 percent of U.S. demand. About half of that comes from Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy, according to the companies.</p>
<p>“I think they feel we are over-reliant on imports,” explained Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association. “Why would you import from Russia, a country we don’t have the best relations with right now, and Kazakhstan, when you have uranium in your own backyard?”</p>
<p>Restricting imports from these countries could make Wyoming companies more competitive within the U.S., he added.</p>
<p>The Wyoming Mining Association asked state lawmakers for a tax break for uranium last year given the low price environment. Companies in the state say they are only producing to meet their current contracts and that layoffs have and will result.</p>
<p>That request was denied by the minerals committee in June.</p>
<p>There is a downside to the proposed import quota.</p>
<p>It would likely put pressure on utilities that use enriched uranium for power and can buy it cheap from other countries.</p>
<p>“As you would expect, the utilities aren’t happy about this,” Goranson said. “They are the ones that are going to have to bear the burden of the higher prices.”</p>
<p>However, in the past, opening up the domestic market meant taking on fees for importing uranium, which is less flexible, and more punitive, than bartering contracts with U.S. producers, he argued.</p>
<p>Uranium is an incredibly powerful fuel source. A single pellet of uranium fuel holds the same amount of power potential as nearly 2,000 tons of coal. But last year it was the most expensive source of new power for utilities to build.</p>
<p>There are no nuclear power plants in Wyoming, but the state produced about two-thirds of the uranium in the U.S. in 2016.</p>
<p>Sen. John Barrasso came out in support of the investigation into uranium imports.</p>
<p>“For years, government-owned uranium producers in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan have unfairly flooded American markets with cheap uranium,” he said in a statement last week. “The Trump administration needs to expedite this investigation and take action to preserve this vital industry.”</p>
<p>The senator has his own gripe with uranium related to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her position as Secretary of State when Russia’s state-controlled nuclear power agency Rosatom took majority ownership of the Canadian company Uranium One. Uranium One has a mine in Wyoming, north of Casper. Rosatom also had significant uranium control in Kazakhstan.</p>
<p>The New York Times wrote a wave-making story in 2015 looking into whether the Clinton Foundation benefited from the deal. To date, no connection has been verified of greased wheels to get U.S. approval of the Rosatom acquisition.</p>
<p>Barrasso has repeatedly pressed for information in investigating various aspects of the Uranium One deal in his role as chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The Senate Judiciary Committee also launched an investigation into the matter in October.</p>
<p>Uranium producers in Wyoming have said they are not comfortable with the lingering Clinton-Uranium One saga, fearing it puts their industry in a bad light.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, <a href="http://www.trib.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.trib.com" type="external">http://www.trib.com</a></p>
| 4,913 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque’s Hillary Smith and hONEyhoUSe will be among the performers in a benefit show from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. March 22 at The Cooperage, 7220 Lomas NE.</p>
<p>The band was voted Best of 2012 by the New Mexico Music Association. The event will be a CD pre-release party for the group’s new album.</p>
<p>Also on the bill are Chris Dracup and Soul Kitchen.</p>
<p>The event is a fundraiser for Birthing Project USA, The Underground Railroad for New Life, which is a global and child health organization. The projects are based on grassroots, community-based leadership, feminine principles and the belief in the power of sisterhood.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>More than 12,000 babies have been born into 100 birthing projects in the United State, Canada, Honduras, Cuba, Malawi and Ghana.</p>
<p>The project’s director, Kathryn Hall-Trujillo, is an Ashoka fellow and a CNN Hero and is featured in the new book, “Everyday Heroes, 50 Americans Changing the World One Nonprofit at a Time.”</p>
<p>Donations at the door are $15 per person, or $25 per couple. Tickets can be bought in advance online at <a href="http://www.birthingprojectusa.org" type="external">www.birthingprojectusa.org</a>.</p>
|
Local music takes part in benefit show
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/175802/local-music-takes-part-in-benefit-show.html
|
2013-03-08
| 2least
|
Local music takes part in benefit show
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque’s Hillary Smith and hONEyhoUSe will be among the performers in a benefit show from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. March 22 at The Cooperage, 7220 Lomas NE.</p>
<p>The band was voted Best of 2012 by the New Mexico Music Association. The event will be a CD pre-release party for the group’s new album.</p>
<p>Also on the bill are Chris Dracup and Soul Kitchen.</p>
<p>The event is a fundraiser for Birthing Project USA, The Underground Railroad for New Life, which is a global and child health organization. The projects are based on grassroots, community-based leadership, feminine principles and the belief in the power of sisterhood.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>More than 12,000 babies have been born into 100 birthing projects in the United State, Canada, Honduras, Cuba, Malawi and Ghana.</p>
<p>The project’s director, Kathryn Hall-Trujillo, is an Ashoka fellow and a CNN Hero and is featured in the new book, “Everyday Heroes, 50 Americans Changing the World One Nonprofit at a Time.”</p>
<p>Donations at the door are $15 per person, or $25 per couple. Tickets can be bought in advance online at <a href="http://www.birthingprojectusa.org" type="external">www.birthingprojectusa.org</a>.</p>
| 4,914 |
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<p />
<p>Some more details on the wild weather:</p>
<p>DEEP SOUTH DEVASTATION</p>
<p>A powerful storm system that tore across the Deep South over the weekend killed 20 people, including 15 in south Georgia. Rescuers were going through stricken areas Monday, searching for possible survivors.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Patrick Marsh of the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, said 39 possible tornadoes were reported across the Southeast from early Saturday into Sunday evening.</p>
<p>Marsh said while the risk of tornadoes is strongest in the spring in the central U.S., it “never really goes to zero” for most of the year in the Southeast.</p>
<p>Data from the Storm Prediction Center shows that, over the past decade, the nation has seen an average of 38 tornadoes in January, ranging from a high of 84 in 2008 to just four in 2014.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>NOR’EASTER</p>
<p>Millions of people from the mid-Atlantic through New England were being advised to hunker down as a nor’easter moved up the coast.</p>
<p>High wind warnings and advisories were in effect throughout the region. Some wind gusts were expected to approach 60 mph, while offshore winds could reach hurricane levels of 74 mph or higher.</p>
<p>Train service was interrupted by downed power lines. Amtrak suspended service for Northeast Regional and Acela Express trains traveling in New Jersey, and NJ Transit halted service between Trenton and New York City. Other railroads also were also contending with downed trees and utility poles on tracks.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Flooding and beach erosion was expected Monday and Tuesday. Downed power lines were also expected.</p>
<p>In Philadelphia, police say a man was killed when he was struck at a car lot by a sign knocked off a wall, and panels from a multistory mural blew off another wall and hit two parked cars.</p>
<p>In New Jersey, strong winds blew part of the roof off an oceanfront condo building in Long Branch. Debris fell onto several parked cars below.</p>
<p>In upstate New York and into northern New England, forecasts were calling for possibly as much as six inches of snow and sleet.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>WILD AND WET WEST</p>
<p>California finally got a break Monday from a three-day winter storm that broke rainfall records, washed out roads and churned up tremendous waves. Sunshine and rainbows alternated with thunderclaps, downpours, snow and hail as the last of the storm system broke up.</p>
<p>Authorities reported at least four people dead and several missing. Hail was reported northwest of Los Angeles, nearly 4 inches of rain fell south of the city and wind gusts topped 60 mph in some areas.</p>
<p>Further north, an avalanche shut down a highway in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and nearly 3 feet of snow fell on ski resorts. Avalanche warnings were issued for northern Utah. Forecasters predicted up to a foot of snow and winds gusting to near 50 mph.</p>
<p>The wet winter weather follows years of drought.</p>
|
Strong January storms stir destruction from coast-to-coast
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/934472/strong-january-storms-stir-destruction-from-coast-to-coast.html
|
2017-01-24
| 2least
|
Strong January storms stir destruction from coast-to-coast
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Some more details on the wild weather:</p>
<p>DEEP SOUTH DEVASTATION</p>
<p>A powerful storm system that tore across the Deep South over the weekend killed 20 people, including 15 in south Georgia. Rescuers were going through stricken areas Monday, searching for possible survivors.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Patrick Marsh of the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, said 39 possible tornadoes were reported across the Southeast from early Saturday into Sunday evening.</p>
<p>Marsh said while the risk of tornadoes is strongest in the spring in the central U.S., it “never really goes to zero” for most of the year in the Southeast.</p>
<p>Data from the Storm Prediction Center shows that, over the past decade, the nation has seen an average of 38 tornadoes in January, ranging from a high of 84 in 2008 to just four in 2014.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>NOR’EASTER</p>
<p>Millions of people from the mid-Atlantic through New England were being advised to hunker down as a nor’easter moved up the coast.</p>
<p>High wind warnings and advisories were in effect throughout the region. Some wind gusts were expected to approach 60 mph, while offshore winds could reach hurricane levels of 74 mph or higher.</p>
<p>Train service was interrupted by downed power lines. Amtrak suspended service for Northeast Regional and Acela Express trains traveling in New Jersey, and NJ Transit halted service between Trenton and New York City. Other railroads also were also contending with downed trees and utility poles on tracks.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Flooding and beach erosion was expected Monday and Tuesday. Downed power lines were also expected.</p>
<p>In Philadelphia, police say a man was killed when he was struck at a car lot by a sign knocked off a wall, and panels from a multistory mural blew off another wall and hit two parked cars.</p>
<p>In New Jersey, strong winds blew part of the roof off an oceanfront condo building in Long Branch. Debris fell onto several parked cars below.</p>
<p>In upstate New York and into northern New England, forecasts were calling for possibly as much as six inches of snow and sleet.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>WILD AND WET WEST</p>
<p>California finally got a break Monday from a three-day winter storm that broke rainfall records, washed out roads and churned up tremendous waves. Sunshine and rainbows alternated with thunderclaps, downpours, snow and hail as the last of the storm system broke up.</p>
<p>Authorities reported at least four people dead and several missing. Hail was reported northwest of Los Angeles, nearly 4 inches of rain fell south of the city and wind gusts topped 60 mph in some areas.</p>
<p>Further north, an avalanche shut down a highway in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and nearly 3 feet of snow fell on ski resorts. Avalanche warnings were issued for northern Utah. Forecasters predicted up to a foot of snow and winds gusting to near 50 mph.</p>
<p>The wet winter weather follows years of drought.</p>
| 4,915 |
<p>President Trump’s celerity in reshaping the judiciary and fighting back against <a href="http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/07/leftist-judges-turn-administrative-law-into-a-sham.php" type="external">leftist</a> <a href="http://dailysignal.com/2016/09/04/how-liberal-judges-took-control-of-70-percent-of-us-appeals-courts/" type="external">efforts</a> to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-obama-idUSKCN1110BC" type="external">reshape</a> the country through judicial means is astonishing; since January, he has moved with dizzying speed to fill federal court vacancies, far outstripping the speed displayed by Barack Obama and slightly surpassing the speed of George W. Bush.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://dailysignal.com/2017/08/10/trump-appoints-more-judges-in-200-days-than-obama-bush-clinton/" type="external">The Daily Signal</a>, in 200 days, Trump has nominated 44 federal judges; eight have been confirmed already, including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. Trump has nominated 11 people to circuit courts and 23 to district courts. Other nominations have been made for specialty courts such as the Court of Claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the U.S. Tax Court.</p>
<p>Barack Obama, in the first 200 days of 2009, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/judicial-nominations-in-the-bush-and-obama-administrations-first-nine-months/" type="external">nominated</a> five appeals judges and four district judges; in his first year, he nominated 15 district and 12 circuit nominees, along with Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. He got 10 confirmations.</p>
<p>George W. Bush <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL31868.pdf" type="external">nominated</a> 35 district judges in 2001; two during the first 200 days; because the Democrats controlled the Senate, he could only get six confirmed. Bill Clinton <a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/WCPD-1993-08-16/pdf/WCPD-1993-08-16.pdf" type="external">nominated</a> five appellate judges in his first year; he nominated 32 district judges, getting 24 confirmed.</p>
<p>Trump had roughly twice as many vacancies to fill as Obama; <a href="http://dailysignal.com/2017/01/04/trumps-historic-opportunity-to-reshape-the-federal-courts/" type="external">105</a> judicial vacancies, Obama had 54. In the last six months, 33 judges have left the bench, meaning that Trump had 138 vacancies to fill.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/08/03/president-donald-j-trump-announces-sixth-wave-judicial-candidates-and" type="external">Last week</a> Trump made 10 more nominations.</p>
<p>Three appeals court nominees have been confirmed by the Senate, crucial because the Supreme Court has a limited number of cases it can hear and thus appeals courts can often render final decisions. Those three judges are Amul Thapar and John K. Bush to the 6th Circuit, and Kevin Newsom to the 11th Circuit.</p>
<p>David Nye has been confirmed for the U.S. District Court in Idaho. Last week, the Senate confirmed Michael P. Allen, Amanda L. Meredith, and Joseph L. Toth for the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.</p>
<p>Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal, “During his time in office, President Obama appointed 38% of the federal judges in the country and was matched closely by George W. Bush.”</p>
|
GOOD TRUMP: Trump Way Ahead Of Pace On Nominating Judges
| true |
https://dailywire.com/news/19620/good-trump-trump-way-ahead-pace-nominating-judges-hank-berrien
|
2017-08-11
| 0right
|
GOOD TRUMP: Trump Way Ahead Of Pace On Nominating Judges
<p>President Trump’s celerity in reshaping the judiciary and fighting back against <a href="http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/07/leftist-judges-turn-administrative-law-into-a-sham.php" type="external">leftist</a> <a href="http://dailysignal.com/2016/09/04/how-liberal-judges-took-control-of-70-percent-of-us-appeals-courts/" type="external">efforts</a> to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-obama-idUSKCN1110BC" type="external">reshape</a> the country through judicial means is astonishing; since January, he has moved with dizzying speed to fill federal court vacancies, far outstripping the speed displayed by Barack Obama and slightly surpassing the speed of George W. Bush.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://dailysignal.com/2017/08/10/trump-appoints-more-judges-in-200-days-than-obama-bush-clinton/" type="external">The Daily Signal</a>, in 200 days, Trump has nominated 44 federal judges; eight have been confirmed already, including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. Trump has nominated 11 people to circuit courts and 23 to district courts. Other nominations have been made for specialty courts such as the Court of Claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the U.S. Tax Court.</p>
<p>Barack Obama, in the first 200 days of 2009, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/judicial-nominations-in-the-bush-and-obama-administrations-first-nine-months/" type="external">nominated</a> five appeals judges and four district judges; in his first year, he nominated 15 district and 12 circuit nominees, along with Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. He got 10 confirmations.</p>
<p>George W. Bush <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL31868.pdf" type="external">nominated</a> 35 district judges in 2001; two during the first 200 days; because the Democrats controlled the Senate, he could only get six confirmed. Bill Clinton <a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/WCPD-1993-08-16/pdf/WCPD-1993-08-16.pdf" type="external">nominated</a> five appellate judges in his first year; he nominated 32 district judges, getting 24 confirmed.</p>
<p>Trump had roughly twice as many vacancies to fill as Obama; <a href="http://dailysignal.com/2017/01/04/trumps-historic-opportunity-to-reshape-the-federal-courts/" type="external">105</a> judicial vacancies, Obama had 54. In the last six months, 33 judges have left the bench, meaning that Trump had 138 vacancies to fill.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/08/03/president-donald-j-trump-announces-sixth-wave-judicial-candidates-and" type="external">Last week</a> Trump made 10 more nominations.</p>
<p>Three appeals court nominees have been confirmed by the Senate, crucial because the Supreme Court has a limited number of cases it can hear and thus appeals courts can often render final decisions. Those three judges are Amul Thapar and John K. Bush to the 6th Circuit, and Kevin Newsom to the 11th Circuit.</p>
<p>David Nye has been confirmed for the U.S. District Court in Idaho. Last week, the Senate confirmed Michael P. Allen, Amanda L. Meredith, and Joseph L. Toth for the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.</p>
<p>Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal, “During his time in office, President Obama appointed 38% of the federal judges in the country and was matched closely by George W. Bush.”</p>
| 4,916 |
<p />
<p><a href="#one" type="external">Bush’s Scripted Safari</a> Bush’s trip to Africa: Hypocrisy or welcome relief?</p>
<p><a href="#two" type="external">False Start</a> A Republican bill could cheat pre-schoolers out of medicine and meals.</p>
<p><a href="#three" type="external">Still Sexed-Up</a> A House of Commons report in Britian shakes its finger at the Blair administration.</p>
<p />
<p><a type="external" href="">Bush’s Scripted Safari</a> George W. Bush began his <a href="http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/188/nation/Trip_to_Africa_presents_Bush_with_challenges+.shtml" type="external">first official trip</a> — or as African pundits are calling it, his <a href="http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1383150-6096-0,00.html" type="external">“well-scripted African safari”</a> — to the African continent today. He will visit Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda, and Nigeria. Leaving behind his cowboy persona and putting forward a more compassionate side, Bush is taking the junket to Africa as an opportunity to pledge to fight poverty and disease as well as to foster democracy.</p>
<p>Bush is hugely unpopular among most African people, and former South African president Nelson Mandela has arranged to be away for the entirety of Bush’s visit. It remains to be seen whether Bush’s bite will match his bark, in Africa. Many advocates are already accusing the his administration of spin and hypocrisy. Washington’s compassion, they argue, is <a href="http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/world/story/0,4386,198453,00.html" type="external">exploitative and callous</a>. The Straits Times reports:</p>
<p>‘We find US policy sorely lacking and we find the Africa trip lacking in substance,’ said Mr Salih Booker, executive director of Africa Action, a Washington-based advocacy group.</p>
<p>‘Is this a trip to demonstrate American compassion and a sophisticated understanding of Africa’s challenges…or is this trip a callous manipulation of African suffering to present a US that is more generous and caring than it really is?’</p>
<p>During his tour, Bush plans to focus on Africa’s “success stories” like Uganda’s anti-AIDS programs, Botswana’s political stability, and South Africa’s emergence from apartheid. But he is <a href="http://www.statesman.com/asection/content/auto/epaper/editions/sunday/news_f3709cb82221416910e0.html" type="external">steering clear</a> of war-torn countries like Liberia and the Congo, and ironically — this year’s summit of the African Union. Critics charge that Bush is not only avoiding the summit himself, but also pulling key leaders away from it. News 24 reports:</p>
<p>“‘Isn’t it ironic that of all the places on the Bush agenda, Bush is not going to the one meeting that is bringing together all of Africa’s heads of state,’ said Emira Woods of the Foreign Policy in Focus think-tank.</p>
<p>‘He has chosen instead to pull key leaders away from this Africa-focused summit and direct their attention to more narrowly focused US interests.'”</p>
<p>Although Bush maintains that Africa’s “successes” will remain at the heart of the discussion, many question his real intent. With Nigeria — the thirteenth largest oil producer in the world — on Bush’s itinerary, some argue that <a href="http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wxxi/news.newsmain?action=article&amp;ARTICLE_ID=518496" type="external">Bush’s hankering for Africa’s oil resources</a> may be what’s really at the heart of the African tour. Reuters reports:</p>
<p>“A rethinking under the Bush administration has hoisted Africa higher on the ladder of U.S. strategic interests.</p>
<p>Oil lies at the heart of that reassessment because of risks to traditional U.S. supplies from the Gulf and Middle East. Analysts say Africa’s share of U.S. oil imports has grown to some 17 percent and may climb to 25 percent.”</p>
<p>With the Middle East’s volatile situation, CNN writes, talks about Africa’s oil <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/07/nigeria.oil/" type="external">resources</a> are becoming increasingly important:</p>
<p>“Gus Selassie, a South African analyst at the World Market Research Center, said: ‘With the Middle East continuing to remain volatile it is important for the U.S. national interest to source its oil from other less volatile regions and Africa is one of those and becoming more significant.’</p>
<p>Nigeria will perhaps provide the focus for any talks on oil. “</p>
<p>Bush’s funding plan to fight the AIDS epidemic in Africa is also under fire. Critics argue that the $15 billion pledge is simply money that is being sidetracked away from the Global Fund for Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. According to the Christian Science Monitor’s Nicole Itano, the money is being funnelled directly into the countries receiving the aid instead of through the Global Fund — thus <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0708/p06s01-woaf.html" type="external">complicating</a> the process and phasing the money in slowly:</p>
<p>“[C]ritics question whether the pledge will be fully funded since the president only asked for about $1.5 billion in next year’s budget, rather than the $3 billion that was expected in order to meet his five-year, $15 billion target. They also complain that instead of contributing all the money to the Global Fund, they are complicating things by sending funds directly to the countries.</p>
<p>‘They’re phasing the money in very slowly and undermining the Global Fund,’ says Paul Zeitz, head of Global AIDS Alliance, a nonprofit group based in Washington. ‘There are 25 million people who have already died, 3 million dying each year, and 8,000 a day. You don’t go slow. We’re already way behind on this.'”</p>
<p>The Editors of The Post argue that Bush’s interests in Africa are not humanitarian acts of goodness. Rather, they say, the visit is another example of Washington <a href="http://www.zamnet.zm/zamnet/post/editcom.html" type="external">muscling the world into submission</a>:</p>
<p>“President George Bush’s visit to Africa is not about promoting democracy, peace and the economic well-being of the peoples of this continent.</p>
<p>Instead, we know that his visit is aimed at laying the basis for thorough-going and enduring United States military and economic hegemony all over the world.”</p>
<p />
<p />
<p><a type="external" href="">False Start</a> Educators and Head Start officials are worried that a new Republican-backed bill could gut the nation’s longstanding program to help underprivileged pre-schoolers prepare for school. By changing the regulations on how funds reach kids, the bill, now in the House, could take money away from the children it’s supposed to help. A Republican-backed bill in the House would <a href="http://www.newsday.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=ny-ushead073362347jul07&amp;section=%2Fnews%2Fnationworld%2Fnation" type="external">weaken the federal standards for the Nation’s Head Start Program</a>, and could result in a weaker state-run programs. The program provides health care, education, and meals to underprivileged youngsters. The Bush administration has proposed a “reauthorization” of the federal Head Start program, citing findings of a Health and Human Services report which claims that Head Start children are not improving enough to compete with their middle class counterparts.</p>
<p>But Head Start advocates assert that the report’s findings have been misrepresented, and worry that looser restrictions would result in lower standards for the program. Head Start supporters also argue that the bill’s proposal to merge state and federal funds, at a time when most states are already coping with budget crises, could cause states to divert funds meant to help low-income kids. The already strapped states might pool the funds meant for Head Start with other programs, reports Lily Hindy of Newsday.</p>
<p>The Children’s Defense Fund, a leading opponent to the House bill, believes that giving control of Head Start to the states would threaten the rigorous performance standards mandated by the program’s current federal guidelines. The Fund issued a report strongly critical of the bill’s proposal to let eight states run funding of the program in a “demonstration project,” reports Ruth Schubert of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.</p>
<p>“ <a href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/129752_headstart07.html" type="external">The proposal comes at a time when states are facing huge budget deficits</a>, amounting to between $70 billion and $85 billion for the 2004 fiscal year, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,” Schubert writes. And <a href="http://www.saveheadstart.org/070203_hispanic_release.html" type="external">states already struggle to meet the needs of low-income children</a> with the resources already provided — a Save Head Start press release reports that less than 23 percent of all Head Start-eligible Latino children in the US are served by the current program, according to the National Head Start Association’s analysis.</p>
<p>The main point, write the editors of the Washington Post, is that “most of what Head Start really needs — higher academic standards, better-educated teachers and the ability to reach more children — <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19852-2003Jul7.html" type="external">will cost more, not less</a>.” While the House’s Committee on Education has tempered the President’s initial proposal (Bush originally wanted to turn the funds over entirely to the states, no questions asked), Head Start supporters maintain that many states’ economic slumps, combined with loosened Head Start restrictions, will only spell trouble for the more than million children who depend on the Head Start program. Whatever the final version of the bill reads, the Post’s editors assess, “Congress must also ensure that the final version of the bill makes clear that the government’s intention is not to ‘water down’ Head Start’s standards or eliminate its family and health services but to preserve them.”</p>
<p />
<p><a type="external" href="">Still Sexed-Up</a> While the American media and congress haven’t yet fully turned up the heat on the Bush administration’s possible manipulation of evidence of weapons of mass destruction, in Britain, America’s best ally in the war is facing down a more and more heated scandal.</p>
<p>On Monday the British media was fussing over the newly released Foreign Affairs Committee Report, which criticized the Blair administration for putting <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3050582.stm" type="external">too much weight</a> on shabby intelligence reports. The committee found that announcing Iraq’s supposed ability to deploy biological weapons in 45-minutes was inappropriate since this alarming evidence was based on one uncorroborated source.</p>
<p>The committee members were split on the issue of whether media chief Alastair Campbell had actually changed evidence on Iraq’s WMD status, but the final report stated: “On the basis of the evidence available to us Alastair Campbell did not exert or seek to exert improper influence on the drafting of the September dossier.”</p>
<p>Campbell was quick to claim the opportunity to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3052730.stm" type="external">clear his name</a>, calling on the British Broadcasting Corporation to apologize for a report which finds that Campbell “sexed up” evidence on Iraq’s supposed WMDs.</p>
<p>But the BBC did no such thing, choosing instead to stand by <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3003296.stm" type="external">its reports</a>. In a statement on the BBC website, the agency gives itself a big pat on the back and <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3051720.stm" type="external">takes credit</a> for instigating the WMD row in Britain.</p>
<p>“It is because of BBC journalism that the problems surrounding the 45 minute claim have come to light and been given proper public attention.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the governmental committee’s report has not yet determined whether the Blair admin’s general assessment on Iraq’s threat was accurate.</p>
<p>While some in Britain are using the report to <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2003/07/07/do0701.xml&amp;sSheet=/opinion/2003/07/07/ixopinion.html&amp;secureRefresh=true&amp;_requestid=230241" type="external">criticize the BBC</a> for all possible sins, others are wondering why the debate has shifted from WMDs to <a href="/news/dailymojo/2003/07/we_473_03.html#three" type="external">Blair v. the BBC</a>. Andrew Marr of the BBC — who, granted, has a stake in the matter — suggests Campbell is trying to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3052592.stm" type="external">use the scandal to distract the public</a> from the meat of the issue of WMD evidence.</p>
<p>“There is no doubt that Mr Campbell is genuinely furious. MPs, including the former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, believe that he has played a brilliant diversionary tactic by making this a story about his fight with the BBC, rather than the missing weapons of mass destruction.”</p>
<p>Marr continues his interrogation to pose another question: If Campbell didn’t soup up the WMD report, then who did? The British intelligence service? Rod Liddle of the Guardian cites the latest opinion polls and ventures that the <a href="http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,993347,00.html" type="external">British public is not convinced</a> by Campbell’s protestations of innocence.</p>
<p>“There is not the slightest doubt in my mind — nor, I suspect, in the collective mind of the overwhelming majority of British people — that this government misled both parliament and the electorate about the nature and gravity of the threat posed by Iraq”</p>
<p>Whether or not the Blair admin lied outright or not, Liddle argues that the evidence given in defense of a pre-emptive strike against Iraq was meant to convince a skeptical public. He continues:</p>
<p>“Simply put, the prime minister did not attempt to present to the rest of us disinterested evidence compiled by disparate, well-informed sources. He wished only to convince us, by hook or by crook, and quite often the latter, that we should bomb Baghdad as soon as possible.”</p>
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Daily MoJo
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https://motherjones.com/politics/2003/07/daily-mojo-5-2/
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2003-07-08
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Daily MoJo
<p />
<p><a href="#one" type="external">Bush’s Scripted Safari</a> Bush’s trip to Africa: Hypocrisy or welcome relief?</p>
<p><a href="#two" type="external">False Start</a> A Republican bill could cheat pre-schoolers out of medicine and meals.</p>
<p><a href="#three" type="external">Still Sexed-Up</a> A House of Commons report in Britian shakes its finger at the Blair administration.</p>
<p />
<p><a type="external" href="">Bush’s Scripted Safari</a> George W. Bush began his <a href="http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/188/nation/Trip_to_Africa_presents_Bush_with_challenges+.shtml" type="external">first official trip</a> — or as African pundits are calling it, his <a href="http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1383150-6096-0,00.html" type="external">“well-scripted African safari”</a> — to the African continent today. He will visit Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda, and Nigeria. Leaving behind his cowboy persona and putting forward a more compassionate side, Bush is taking the junket to Africa as an opportunity to pledge to fight poverty and disease as well as to foster democracy.</p>
<p>Bush is hugely unpopular among most African people, and former South African president Nelson Mandela has arranged to be away for the entirety of Bush’s visit. It remains to be seen whether Bush’s bite will match his bark, in Africa. Many advocates are already accusing the his administration of spin and hypocrisy. Washington’s compassion, they argue, is <a href="http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/world/story/0,4386,198453,00.html" type="external">exploitative and callous</a>. The Straits Times reports:</p>
<p>‘We find US policy sorely lacking and we find the Africa trip lacking in substance,’ said Mr Salih Booker, executive director of Africa Action, a Washington-based advocacy group.</p>
<p>‘Is this a trip to demonstrate American compassion and a sophisticated understanding of Africa’s challenges…or is this trip a callous manipulation of African suffering to present a US that is more generous and caring than it really is?’</p>
<p>During his tour, Bush plans to focus on Africa’s “success stories” like Uganda’s anti-AIDS programs, Botswana’s political stability, and South Africa’s emergence from apartheid. But he is <a href="http://www.statesman.com/asection/content/auto/epaper/editions/sunday/news_f3709cb82221416910e0.html" type="external">steering clear</a> of war-torn countries like Liberia and the Congo, and ironically — this year’s summit of the African Union. Critics charge that Bush is not only avoiding the summit himself, but also pulling key leaders away from it. News 24 reports:</p>
<p>“‘Isn’t it ironic that of all the places on the Bush agenda, Bush is not going to the one meeting that is bringing together all of Africa’s heads of state,’ said Emira Woods of the Foreign Policy in Focus think-tank.</p>
<p>‘He has chosen instead to pull key leaders away from this Africa-focused summit and direct their attention to more narrowly focused US interests.'”</p>
<p>Although Bush maintains that Africa’s “successes” will remain at the heart of the discussion, many question his real intent. With Nigeria — the thirteenth largest oil producer in the world — on Bush’s itinerary, some argue that <a href="http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wxxi/news.newsmain?action=article&amp;ARTICLE_ID=518496" type="external">Bush’s hankering for Africa’s oil resources</a> may be what’s really at the heart of the African tour. Reuters reports:</p>
<p>“A rethinking under the Bush administration has hoisted Africa higher on the ladder of U.S. strategic interests.</p>
<p>Oil lies at the heart of that reassessment because of risks to traditional U.S. supplies from the Gulf and Middle East. Analysts say Africa’s share of U.S. oil imports has grown to some 17 percent and may climb to 25 percent.”</p>
<p>With the Middle East’s volatile situation, CNN writes, talks about Africa’s oil <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/07/nigeria.oil/" type="external">resources</a> are becoming increasingly important:</p>
<p>“Gus Selassie, a South African analyst at the World Market Research Center, said: ‘With the Middle East continuing to remain volatile it is important for the U.S. national interest to source its oil from other less volatile regions and Africa is one of those and becoming more significant.’</p>
<p>Nigeria will perhaps provide the focus for any talks on oil. “</p>
<p>Bush’s funding plan to fight the AIDS epidemic in Africa is also under fire. Critics argue that the $15 billion pledge is simply money that is being sidetracked away from the Global Fund for Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. According to the Christian Science Monitor’s Nicole Itano, the money is being funnelled directly into the countries receiving the aid instead of through the Global Fund — thus <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0708/p06s01-woaf.html" type="external">complicating</a> the process and phasing the money in slowly:</p>
<p>“[C]ritics question whether the pledge will be fully funded since the president only asked for about $1.5 billion in next year’s budget, rather than the $3 billion that was expected in order to meet his five-year, $15 billion target. They also complain that instead of contributing all the money to the Global Fund, they are complicating things by sending funds directly to the countries.</p>
<p>‘They’re phasing the money in very slowly and undermining the Global Fund,’ says Paul Zeitz, head of Global AIDS Alliance, a nonprofit group based in Washington. ‘There are 25 million people who have already died, 3 million dying each year, and 8,000 a day. You don’t go slow. We’re already way behind on this.'”</p>
<p>The Editors of The Post argue that Bush’s interests in Africa are not humanitarian acts of goodness. Rather, they say, the visit is another example of Washington <a href="http://www.zamnet.zm/zamnet/post/editcom.html" type="external">muscling the world into submission</a>:</p>
<p>“President George Bush’s visit to Africa is not about promoting democracy, peace and the economic well-being of the peoples of this continent.</p>
<p>Instead, we know that his visit is aimed at laying the basis for thorough-going and enduring United States military and economic hegemony all over the world.”</p>
<p />
<p />
<p><a type="external" href="">False Start</a> Educators and Head Start officials are worried that a new Republican-backed bill could gut the nation’s longstanding program to help underprivileged pre-schoolers prepare for school. By changing the regulations on how funds reach kids, the bill, now in the House, could take money away from the children it’s supposed to help. A Republican-backed bill in the House would <a href="http://www.newsday.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=ny-ushead073362347jul07&amp;section=%2Fnews%2Fnationworld%2Fnation" type="external">weaken the federal standards for the Nation’s Head Start Program</a>, and could result in a weaker state-run programs. The program provides health care, education, and meals to underprivileged youngsters. The Bush administration has proposed a “reauthorization” of the federal Head Start program, citing findings of a Health and Human Services report which claims that Head Start children are not improving enough to compete with their middle class counterparts.</p>
<p>But Head Start advocates assert that the report’s findings have been misrepresented, and worry that looser restrictions would result in lower standards for the program. Head Start supporters also argue that the bill’s proposal to merge state and federal funds, at a time when most states are already coping with budget crises, could cause states to divert funds meant to help low-income kids. The already strapped states might pool the funds meant for Head Start with other programs, reports Lily Hindy of Newsday.</p>
<p>The Children’s Defense Fund, a leading opponent to the House bill, believes that giving control of Head Start to the states would threaten the rigorous performance standards mandated by the program’s current federal guidelines. The Fund issued a report strongly critical of the bill’s proposal to let eight states run funding of the program in a “demonstration project,” reports Ruth Schubert of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.</p>
<p>“ <a href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/129752_headstart07.html" type="external">The proposal comes at a time when states are facing huge budget deficits</a>, amounting to between $70 billion and $85 billion for the 2004 fiscal year, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,” Schubert writes. And <a href="http://www.saveheadstart.org/070203_hispanic_release.html" type="external">states already struggle to meet the needs of low-income children</a> with the resources already provided — a Save Head Start press release reports that less than 23 percent of all Head Start-eligible Latino children in the US are served by the current program, according to the National Head Start Association’s analysis.</p>
<p>The main point, write the editors of the Washington Post, is that “most of what Head Start really needs — higher academic standards, better-educated teachers and the ability to reach more children — <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19852-2003Jul7.html" type="external">will cost more, not less</a>.” While the House’s Committee on Education has tempered the President’s initial proposal (Bush originally wanted to turn the funds over entirely to the states, no questions asked), Head Start supporters maintain that many states’ economic slumps, combined with loosened Head Start restrictions, will only spell trouble for the more than million children who depend on the Head Start program. Whatever the final version of the bill reads, the Post’s editors assess, “Congress must also ensure that the final version of the bill makes clear that the government’s intention is not to ‘water down’ Head Start’s standards or eliminate its family and health services but to preserve them.”</p>
<p />
<p><a type="external" href="">Still Sexed-Up</a> While the American media and congress haven’t yet fully turned up the heat on the Bush administration’s possible manipulation of evidence of weapons of mass destruction, in Britain, America’s best ally in the war is facing down a more and more heated scandal.</p>
<p>On Monday the British media was fussing over the newly released Foreign Affairs Committee Report, which criticized the Blair administration for putting <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3050582.stm" type="external">too much weight</a> on shabby intelligence reports. The committee found that announcing Iraq’s supposed ability to deploy biological weapons in 45-minutes was inappropriate since this alarming evidence was based on one uncorroborated source.</p>
<p>The committee members were split on the issue of whether media chief Alastair Campbell had actually changed evidence on Iraq’s WMD status, but the final report stated: “On the basis of the evidence available to us Alastair Campbell did not exert or seek to exert improper influence on the drafting of the September dossier.”</p>
<p>Campbell was quick to claim the opportunity to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3052730.stm" type="external">clear his name</a>, calling on the British Broadcasting Corporation to apologize for a report which finds that Campbell “sexed up” evidence on Iraq’s supposed WMDs.</p>
<p>But the BBC did no such thing, choosing instead to stand by <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3003296.stm" type="external">its reports</a>. In a statement on the BBC website, the agency gives itself a big pat on the back and <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3051720.stm" type="external">takes credit</a> for instigating the WMD row in Britain.</p>
<p>“It is because of BBC journalism that the problems surrounding the 45 minute claim have come to light and been given proper public attention.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the governmental committee’s report has not yet determined whether the Blair admin’s general assessment on Iraq’s threat was accurate.</p>
<p>While some in Britain are using the report to <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2003/07/07/do0701.xml&amp;sSheet=/opinion/2003/07/07/ixopinion.html&amp;secureRefresh=true&amp;_requestid=230241" type="external">criticize the BBC</a> for all possible sins, others are wondering why the debate has shifted from WMDs to <a href="/news/dailymojo/2003/07/we_473_03.html#three" type="external">Blair v. the BBC</a>. Andrew Marr of the BBC — who, granted, has a stake in the matter — suggests Campbell is trying to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3052592.stm" type="external">use the scandal to distract the public</a> from the meat of the issue of WMD evidence.</p>
<p>“There is no doubt that Mr Campbell is genuinely furious. MPs, including the former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, believe that he has played a brilliant diversionary tactic by making this a story about his fight with the BBC, rather than the missing weapons of mass destruction.”</p>
<p>Marr continues his interrogation to pose another question: If Campbell didn’t soup up the WMD report, then who did? The British intelligence service? Rod Liddle of the Guardian cites the latest opinion polls and ventures that the <a href="http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,993347,00.html" type="external">British public is not convinced</a> by Campbell’s protestations of innocence.</p>
<p>“There is not the slightest doubt in my mind — nor, I suspect, in the collective mind of the overwhelming majority of British people — that this government misled both parliament and the electorate about the nature and gravity of the threat posed by Iraq”</p>
<p>Whether or not the Blair admin lied outright or not, Liddle argues that the evidence given in defense of a pre-emptive strike against Iraq was meant to convince a skeptical public. He continues:</p>
<p>“Simply put, the prime minister did not attempt to present to the rest of us disinterested evidence compiled by disparate, well-informed sources. He wished only to convince us, by hook or by crook, and quite often the latter, that we should bomb Baghdad as soon as possible.”</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
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<p />
<p>That’s the advice of a recent study commissioned by the American Council on Exercise that tested the effectiveness of eight gadgets that promise to get your midsection in shape in no time.</p>
<p>“If you compare all the various gadgets to the traditional crunch, the crunch outperforms the majority of the exercises in terms of muscle activation,” says Dr. Cedric Bryant, chief science officer at the ACE.</p>
<p>In the study, researchers at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse used electrodes to measure the maximum voluntary contraction of participants’ major superficial muscles of the abdomen (the rectus abdominis). This is the region fitness enthusiasts target with exercise and diet to get a “six-pack.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>A basic crunch was performed and measured. Then equipment – Ab Circle Pro, Ab Roller, Ab Lounge, Perfect Sit-Up, Ab Coaster, Ab Rocket, Ab Wheel, and Ab Straps – was used for the same muscle activation tests. Other exercises tested included the yoga boat pose, stability ball crunch, decline bench curl-up, captain’s chair crunch, bicycle crunch, side plank and front plank.</p>
<p>Jeanette Harris demonstrates a roll-up</p>
<p>Ultimately, researchers found that none of the devices or exercises was more effective than the standard crunch.</p>
<p>Janelle Tapia, personal training manager at Del Norte Sports &amp; Wellness, says the findings are not surprising. “Any time you do exercises that also force you to stabilize your body, you are going to work more muscle and get faster results than if you use a machine that puts you in a fixed position.”</p>
<p>Tapia says she likes to have clients perform ab exercises using their body weight that not only contract the muscle, but engage stabilizing muscles as well – such as planks that include bringing an elbow to the opposite knee. Or bicycle crunches that bring the elbow to the opposite knee engaging the obliques. Or crunches on an unstable surface, like a physio ball</p>
<p>“Adding movement makes the exercise much more difficult and more effective,” she says.</p>
<p>Tapia adds that being able to see definition in the abdominals means eating well and being consistent with an overall fitness plan that includes strength, cardio-vascular exercise and flexibility exercise.</p>
<p>Bryant says it’s important to note that this doesn’t mean that if you are consistently using an ab device, you should stop.</p>
<p>“What it says is there is no one single abdominal exercise,” he says in a phone interview. “If you really want to have a complete ab training program, you really need several exercises.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>And the old adage that the best exercise is “the one you will do” still holds true.</p>
<p>“If you compare all the various gadgets to the traditional crunch, the crunch outperforms the majority of the exercises in terms of muscle activation,” says Dr. Cedric Bryant, chief science officer at the ACE.</p>
<p>In the study, researchers at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse used electrodes to measure the maximum voluntary contraction of participants’ major superficial muscles of the abdomen (the rectus abdominis). This is the region fitness enthusiasts target with exercise and diet to get a “six-pack.”</p>
<p>A basic crunch was performed and measured. Then equipment – Ab Circle Pro, Ab Roller, Ab Lounge, Perfect Sit-Up, Ab Coaster, Ab Rocket, Ab Wheel, and Ab Straps – was used for the same muscle activation tests. Other exercises tested included the yoga boat pose, stability ball crunch, decline bench curl-up, captain’s chair crunch, bicycle crunch, side plank and front plank.</p>
<p>Ultimately, researchers found that none of the devices or exercises was more effective than the standard crunch.</p>
<p>Janelle Tapia, personal training manager at Del Norte Sports &amp; Wellness, says the findings are not surprising. “Any time you do exercises that also force you to stabilize your body, you are going to work more muscle and get faster results than if you use a machine that puts you in a fixed position.”</p>
<p>Tapia says she likes to have clients perform ab exercises using their body weight that not only contract the muscle, but engage stabilizing muscles as well – such as planks that include bringing an elbow to the opposite knee. Or bicycle crunches that bring the elbow to the opposite knee engaging the obliques. Or crunches on an unstable surface, like a physio ball</p>
<p>“Adding movement makes the exercise much more difficult and more effective,” she says.</p>
<p>Tapia adds that being able to see definition in the abdominals means eating well and being consistent with an overall fitness plan that includes strength, cardio-vascular exercise and flexibility exercise.</p>
<p>Bryant says it’s important to note that this doesn’t mean that if you are consistently using an ab device, you should stop.</p>
<p>“What it says is there is no one single abdominal exercise,” he says in a phone interview. “If you really want to have a complete ab training program, you really need several exercises.”</p>
<p>And the old adage that the best exercise is “the one you will do” still holds true.</p>
|
The ultimate crunch
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/511244/the-ultimate-crunch.html
| 2least
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The ultimate crunch
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>That’s the advice of a recent study commissioned by the American Council on Exercise that tested the effectiveness of eight gadgets that promise to get your midsection in shape in no time.</p>
<p>“If you compare all the various gadgets to the traditional crunch, the crunch outperforms the majority of the exercises in terms of muscle activation,” says Dr. Cedric Bryant, chief science officer at the ACE.</p>
<p>In the study, researchers at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse used electrodes to measure the maximum voluntary contraction of participants’ major superficial muscles of the abdomen (the rectus abdominis). This is the region fitness enthusiasts target with exercise and diet to get a “six-pack.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>A basic crunch was performed and measured. Then equipment – Ab Circle Pro, Ab Roller, Ab Lounge, Perfect Sit-Up, Ab Coaster, Ab Rocket, Ab Wheel, and Ab Straps – was used for the same muscle activation tests. Other exercises tested included the yoga boat pose, stability ball crunch, decline bench curl-up, captain’s chair crunch, bicycle crunch, side plank and front plank.</p>
<p>Jeanette Harris demonstrates a roll-up</p>
<p>Ultimately, researchers found that none of the devices or exercises was more effective than the standard crunch.</p>
<p>Janelle Tapia, personal training manager at Del Norte Sports &amp; Wellness, says the findings are not surprising. “Any time you do exercises that also force you to stabilize your body, you are going to work more muscle and get faster results than if you use a machine that puts you in a fixed position.”</p>
<p>Tapia says she likes to have clients perform ab exercises using their body weight that not only contract the muscle, but engage stabilizing muscles as well – such as planks that include bringing an elbow to the opposite knee. Or bicycle crunches that bring the elbow to the opposite knee engaging the obliques. Or crunches on an unstable surface, like a physio ball</p>
<p>“Adding movement makes the exercise much more difficult and more effective,” she says.</p>
<p>Tapia adds that being able to see definition in the abdominals means eating well and being consistent with an overall fitness plan that includes strength, cardio-vascular exercise and flexibility exercise.</p>
<p>Bryant says it’s important to note that this doesn’t mean that if you are consistently using an ab device, you should stop.</p>
<p>“What it says is there is no one single abdominal exercise,” he says in a phone interview. “If you really want to have a complete ab training program, you really need several exercises.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>And the old adage that the best exercise is “the one you will do” still holds true.</p>
<p>“If you compare all the various gadgets to the traditional crunch, the crunch outperforms the majority of the exercises in terms of muscle activation,” says Dr. Cedric Bryant, chief science officer at the ACE.</p>
<p>In the study, researchers at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse used electrodes to measure the maximum voluntary contraction of participants’ major superficial muscles of the abdomen (the rectus abdominis). This is the region fitness enthusiasts target with exercise and diet to get a “six-pack.”</p>
<p>A basic crunch was performed and measured. Then equipment – Ab Circle Pro, Ab Roller, Ab Lounge, Perfect Sit-Up, Ab Coaster, Ab Rocket, Ab Wheel, and Ab Straps – was used for the same muscle activation tests. Other exercises tested included the yoga boat pose, stability ball crunch, decline bench curl-up, captain’s chair crunch, bicycle crunch, side plank and front plank.</p>
<p>Ultimately, researchers found that none of the devices or exercises was more effective than the standard crunch.</p>
<p>Janelle Tapia, personal training manager at Del Norte Sports &amp; Wellness, says the findings are not surprising. “Any time you do exercises that also force you to stabilize your body, you are going to work more muscle and get faster results than if you use a machine that puts you in a fixed position.”</p>
<p>Tapia says she likes to have clients perform ab exercises using their body weight that not only contract the muscle, but engage stabilizing muscles as well – such as planks that include bringing an elbow to the opposite knee. Or bicycle crunches that bring the elbow to the opposite knee engaging the obliques. Or crunches on an unstable surface, like a physio ball</p>
<p>“Adding movement makes the exercise much more difficult and more effective,” she says.</p>
<p>Tapia adds that being able to see definition in the abdominals means eating well and being consistent with an overall fitness plan that includes strength, cardio-vascular exercise and flexibility exercise.</p>
<p>Bryant says it’s important to note that this doesn’t mean that if you are consistently using an ab device, you should stop.</p>
<p>“What it says is there is no one single abdominal exercise,” he says in a phone interview. “If you really want to have a complete ab training program, you really need several exercises.”</p>
<p>And the old adage that the best exercise is “the one you will do” still holds true.</p>
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<p>When he’s not playing drums or learning the piano, when he’s not working at Subway, when he’s not ballroom dancing and when he’s not acting, Smith Weber-Sandager finds time to paint.</p>
<p>“I like to paint everything. I paint with acrylic,” said Weber-Sandager, who has Down Syndrome.</p>
<p>Artist Smith Weber-Sandager will have a show of his works at the Jewish Community Center.</p>
<p>More than 70 of his paintings will be exhibited at the Jewish Community Center through Aug. 14. The exhibit is titled “How I See the World.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“He likes to paint what’s in his mind. He mainly loves color,” said his mother, Susie Sandager.</p>
<p />
<p>HOW MUCH: Free and open to the public. A reception will be held 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 18 followed by a talk by Janet Howe Gaines on the Nazi’s T4 program that targeted the developmentally and physically disabled</p>
<p>Weber-Sandager, who is 31, has taken art classes at the VSA North Fourth Art Center and with a private teacher, Sandager said.</p>
<p>Sometimes she and her son paint together.</p>
<p>Weber-Sandager is on familiar ground at the JCC; he hangs out at the center when he’s not at home with his parents or at Hoffmantown Church.</p>
<p>“He works out at the JCC. He has breakfast there. He can be normal there. People treat him with respect,” Sandager said. “He makes friends I don’t even know.”</p>
<p>To Sandager, her son’s art show represents the Hebrew phrase tikkun olam, which can be translated as a restoring of the world or in terms of social policy as giving extra protection for the disadvantaged.</p>
<p>“Smith wants to give back to the community that has given him so much,” Sandager said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Proceeds of the sale of Weber-Sandager’s paintings will go to the JCC’s Art and Culture programming and to the Holocaust &amp; Intolerance Museum of New Mexico.</p>
<p>In connection with the exhibit, Janet Howe Gaines will give a talk titled “Those Who Wore the Black Triangle” at the JCC on Thursday, July 18.</p>
<p>Gaines’ talk is about the Nazi’s sterilization and mass-murder programs that targeted the developmentally and physically disabled.</p>
<p>“The Nazis’ thinking was that disabled people weakened German society’s ability to operate efficiently,” Gaines said. “These people, and this is a quote from the Nazi law, were ‘life unworthy of life.'”</p>
<p>Gaines teaches a class in Jewish literature, including Jewish writings on the Holocaust, at the University of New Mexico.</p>
<p>In conjunction with Weber-Sandager’s exhibit the award-winning Israeli documentary film “Special Interview” will be screened at 4 p.m. Aug. 11 at the JCC. The 55-minute film is about two young people, one with Down Syndrome and the other with developmental disabilities, who become star reporters. Tickets are $5 in advance and are available at&#160; <a href="http://www.santafejff.org/special-interview" type="external">www.santafejff.org/special-interview</a>. Tickets at the door are $8.</p>
|
Jewish Community Center champions acrylic artist
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/221082/jcc-champions-acrylic-artist.html
|
2013-07-14
| 2least
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Jewish Community Center champions acrylic artist
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>When he’s not playing drums or learning the piano, when he’s not working at Subway, when he’s not ballroom dancing and when he’s not acting, Smith Weber-Sandager finds time to paint.</p>
<p>“I like to paint everything. I paint with acrylic,” said Weber-Sandager, who has Down Syndrome.</p>
<p>Artist Smith Weber-Sandager will have a show of his works at the Jewish Community Center.</p>
<p>More than 70 of his paintings will be exhibited at the Jewish Community Center through Aug. 14. The exhibit is titled “How I See the World.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“He likes to paint what’s in his mind. He mainly loves color,” said his mother, Susie Sandager.</p>
<p />
<p>HOW MUCH: Free and open to the public. A reception will be held 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 18 followed by a talk by Janet Howe Gaines on the Nazi’s T4 program that targeted the developmentally and physically disabled</p>
<p>Weber-Sandager, who is 31, has taken art classes at the VSA North Fourth Art Center and with a private teacher, Sandager said.</p>
<p>Sometimes she and her son paint together.</p>
<p>Weber-Sandager is on familiar ground at the JCC; he hangs out at the center when he’s not at home with his parents or at Hoffmantown Church.</p>
<p>“He works out at the JCC. He has breakfast there. He can be normal there. People treat him with respect,” Sandager said. “He makes friends I don’t even know.”</p>
<p>To Sandager, her son’s art show represents the Hebrew phrase tikkun olam, which can be translated as a restoring of the world or in terms of social policy as giving extra protection for the disadvantaged.</p>
<p>“Smith wants to give back to the community that has given him so much,” Sandager said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Proceeds of the sale of Weber-Sandager’s paintings will go to the JCC’s Art and Culture programming and to the Holocaust &amp; Intolerance Museum of New Mexico.</p>
<p>In connection with the exhibit, Janet Howe Gaines will give a talk titled “Those Who Wore the Black Triangle” at the JCC on Thursday, July 18.</p>
<p>Gaines’ talk is about the Nazi’s sterilization and mass-murder programs that targeted the developmentally and physically disabled.</p>
<p>“The Nazis’ thinking was that disabled people weakened German society’s ability to operate efficiently,” Gaines said. “These people, and this is a quote from the Nazi law, were ‘life unworthy of life.'”</p>
<p>Gaines teaches a class in Jewish literature, including Jewish writings on the Holocaust, at the University of New Mexico.</p>
<p>In conjunction with Weber-Sandager’s exhibit the award-winning Israeli documentary film “Special Interview” will be screened at 4 p.m. Aug. 11 at the JCC. The 55-minute film is about two young people, one with Down Syndrome and the other with developmental disabilities, who become star reporters. Tickets are $5 in advance and are available at&#160; <a href="http://www.santafejff.org/special-interview" type="external">www.santafejff.org/special-interview</a>. Tickets at the door are $8.</p>
| 4,919 |
<p>Brett and Rennie SparksJason Creps</p>
<p />
<p>The Handsome FamilyWilderness Carrot Top</p>
<p />
<p>Albuquerque-based spouses Brett and Rennie Sparks have crafted their idiosyncratic version of Americana for more than two decades, blending his low growl of a voice with her askew lyrics to offer a subtly surreal take on traditional music. In songs like “Frogs,” “Caterpillars,” and “Eels” (you get their drift), the slow-cooking Wilderness, out this week, charts the uneasy interaction between humankind and the natural world, often to scary effect. “The owls they mock me and have stolen my pills,” Brett murmurs on—what else?—”Owls.” Things turn downright creepy on “Spider,” his account of how “a million little teeth tore me to pieces.” Amid familiar fiddles and banjos, the Handsome Family’s absorbing vision of decay and entropy is quietly unsettling, and makes most other modern roots music seem like child’s play.</p>
<p />
|
Review: The Handsome Family’s “Wilderness”
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/music-review-handsome-family-wilderness/
|
2013-05-13
| 4left
|
Review: The Handsome Family’s “Wilderness”
<p>Brett and Rennie SparksJason Creps</p>
<p />
<p>The Handsome FamilyWilderness Carrot Top</p>
<p />
<p>Albuquerque-based spouses Brett and Rennie Sparks have crafted their idiosyncratic version of Americana for more than two decades, blending his low growl of a voice with her askew lyrics to offer a subtly surreal take on traditional music. In songs like “Frogs,” “Caterpillars,” and “Eels” (you get their drift), the slow-cooking Wilderness, out this week, charts the uneasy interaction between humankind and the natural world, often to scary effect. “The owls they mock me and have stolen my pills,” Brett murmurs on—what else?—”Owls.” Things turn downright creepy on “Spider,” his account of how “a million little teeth tore me to pieces.” Amid familiar fiddles and banjos, the Handsome Family’s absorbing vision of decay and entropy is quietly unsettling, and makes most other modern roots music seem like child’s play.</p>
<p />
| 4,920 |
<p />
<p />
<p>Did Barack Obama just break his first campaign promise?</p>
<p>On the campaign trail, Obama railed against big oil companies. He often criticized John McCain for backing tax cuts that would reward ExxonMobil and other top oil manufacturers. But now Obama’s proposal to apply a windfall tax on big oil has vanished… at least from his transition website. The President-elect’s transition team hasn’t explicitly announced it will drop the windfall tax plan, but a transition aide, commenting on the condition he not be identified, backed off the promise in an email. “President-elect Obama announced the [windfall profits tax] policy during the campaign because oil prices were above $80 per barrel,” he said. “They are currently below that now and expected to stay below that.”</p>
<p>The windfall profits proposal was deleted from the transition website almost three weeks before the eagle-eyed American Small Business League (ASBL), an advocacy group for small businesses, noticed the change and protested in a press release Tuesday. The plan was mentioned in a version ( <a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/Economy_Change.pdf" type="external">PDF</a>) of the site that existed after Obama’s election win. But when the transition website <a href="http://change.gov/agenda/economy_agenda/" type="external">relaunched</a> on November 8, references to a excess profits tax on the oil and gas industry were gone.</p>
<p>Obama talked about a windfall profits tax as early as April. As crude oil prices topped $110 a barrel, Obama <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/25/barackobama.uselections20081" type="external">promised</a> to “put a windfall profits tax on oil companies and use it to help … families pay their heating and cooling bills and reduce energy costs.” And in August, the Democratic nominee issued a <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-08-04-ad-watch_N.htm" type="external">campaign ad</a> that promised “a windfall profits tax on big oil to give families a thousand dollar rebate.” The windfall profits tax was a key point of contention between President-elect Obama and McCain in June, when McCain <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-06-17-mccain_N.htm" type="external">criticized</a> Obama for the plan, calling it “dangerous”.</p>
<p>ASBL president and founder Lloyd Chapman says he was “disappointed” and “surprised” that Obama dropped the windfall tax plan. He maintains that a reduction in the price of oil does not justify the policy shift. “There’s not always a correlation between the price of a barrel of oil and what we’re paying at the pump,” Chapman said. “The oil and gas companies are clearly making excessive profits. They’ve taken advantage of the fact that there’s no regulation of that industry and overcharged at the pump and hurt our economy. The excessive profits tax is based on the excessive profits they’ve made in the last eight years. The tax was to get some of that money back for the American people.”</p>
<p>James Galbraith, an economist at the University of Texas and a frequent Mother Jones <a href="/news/feature/2008/09/exit-strategy-how-to-burn-the-speculators.html" type="external">contributor</a>, says that Obama’s change of course “makes sense” given the dramatically reduced amount of money a windfall profits tax would bring in now. “You could still pass the tax but the revenue from it would be much less,” Galbraith wrote in an email Tuesday.</p>
<p>Cathy Landry, a spokeswoman for the American Petroleum Institute, which lobbies for the oil and gas industry, says that her organization hadn’t heard any details of the Obama team’s change in plans, but that the oil and gas lobby was happy to hear about it. “[API] is pleased that President-elect Obama is reevaluating his position, particularly considering the economic situation,” Landry said. “The oil and gas industry has been one of the bright spots in the economy, and this would be a bad time to snuff out bright spots in the economy.”</p>
<p>By the way, on October 30, ExxonMobil <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/30/news/companies/exxon_earnings/" type="external">reported</a> its quarterly earnings. It netted $14.83 billion, setting a national record for quarterly profits. Bright spot, indeed.</p>
<p />
|
Obama’s First Policy Retreat?
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/12/obamas-first-policy-retreat/
|
2008-12-02
| 4left
|
Obama’s First Policy Retreat?
<p />
<p />
<p>Did Barack Obama just break his first campaign promise?</p>
<p>On the campaign trail, Obama railed against big oil companies. He often criticized John McCain for backing tax cuts that would reward ExxonMobil and other top oil manufacturers. But now Obama’s proposal to apply a windfall tax on big oil has vanished… at least from his transition website. The President-elect’s transition team hasn’t explicitly announced it will drop the windfall tax plan, but a transition aide, commenting on the condition he not be identified, backed off the promise in an email. “President-elect Obama announced the [windfall profits tax] policy during the campaign because oil prices were above $80 per barrel,” he said. “They are currently below that now and expected to stay below that.”</p>
<p>The windfall profits proposal was deleted from the transition website almost three weeks before the eagle-eyed American Small Business League (ASBL), an advocacy group for small businesses, noticed the change and protested in a press release Tuesday. The plan was mentioned in a version ( <a href="http://www.asbl.com/documents/Economy_Change.pdf" type="external">PDF</a>) of the site that existed after Obama’s election win. But when the transition website <a href="http://change.gov/agenda/economy_agenda/" type="external">relaunched</a> on November 8, references to a excess profits tax on the oil and gas industry were gone.</p>
<p>Obama talked about a windfall profits tax as early as April. As crude oil prices topped $110 a barrel, Obama <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/25/barackobama.uselections20081" type="external">promised</a> to “put a windfall profits tax on oil companies and use it to help … families pay their heating and cooling bills and reduce energy costs.” And in August, the Democratic nominee issued a <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-08-04-ad-watch_N.htm" type="external">campaign ad</a> that promised “a windfall profits tax on big oil to give families a thousand dollar rebate.” The windfall profits tax was a key point of contention between President-elect Obama and McCain in June, when McCain <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-06-17-mccain_N.htm" type="external">criticized</a> Obama for the plan, calling it “dangerous”.</p>
<p>ASBL president and founder Lloyd Chapman says he was “disappointed” and “surprised” that Obama dropped the windfall tax plan. He maintains that a reduction in the price of oil does not justify the policy shift. “There’s not always a correlation between the price of a barrel of oil and what we’re paying at the pump,” Chapman said. “The oil and gas companies are clearly making excessive profits. They’ve taken advantage of the fact that there’s no regulation of that industry and overcharged at the pump and hurt our economy. The excessive profits tax is based on the excessive profits they’ve made in the last eight years. The tax was to get some of that money back for the American people.”</p>
<p>James Galbraith, an economist at the University of Texas and a frequent Mother Jones <a href="/news/feature/2008/09/exit-strategy-how-to-burn-the-speculators.html" type="external">contributor</a>, says that Obama’s change of course “makes sense” given the dramatically reduced amount of money a windfall profits tax would bring in now. “You could still pass the tax but the revenue from it would be much less,” Galbraith wrote in an email Tuesday.</p>
<p>Cathy Landry, a spokeswoman for the American Petroleum Institute, which lobbies for the oil and gas industry, says that her organization hadn’t heard any details of the Obama team’s change in plans, but that the oil and gas lobby was happy to hear about it. “[API] is pleased that President-elect Obama is reevaluating his position, particularly considering the economic situation,” Landry said. “The oil and gas industry has been one of the bright spots in the economy, and this would be a bad time to snuff out bright spots in the economy.”</p>
<p>By the way, on October 30, ExxonMobil <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/30/news/companies/exxon_earnings/" type="external">reported</a> its quarterly earnings. It netted $14.83 billion, setting a national record for quarterly profits. Bright spot, indeed.</p>
<p />
| 4,921 |
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<p />
<p>My daughter, with whom I am very close, continues to have a relationship with this woman. While I know it’s not my place to tell her who to be friends with (she’s 22), I can’t help but feel betrayed.</p>
<p>My daughter is pregnant, and this woman seems to be attempting to play mother and push her way into every detail of my daughter’s pregnancy. It’s extremely upsetting to me to have to share one more thing with her. She already took my home and husband; I would like to keep my daughter and grandbaby. What to do? – THE REAL GRANDMA-TO-BE</p>
<p>DEAR REAL GRANDMA: Although you cannot cut this woman completely out of your life because she is now with your ex, calmly discuss this with your daughter. She may have reasons that you are unaware of for wanting to include the woman to the extent that she has.</p>
<p>DEAR ABBY: We need help with our dad. Many of his grandchildren participate in sports. For some reason, he thinks it’s perfectly fine to sit in the stands surrounded by people he doesn’t know and loudly criticize the other players.</p>
<p>We talk to him before the games. We remind him that he’s sitting by these players’ parents and what he’s doing is not cool. Some of the parents become quite emotional if things don’t go well and Dad doesn’t need to be doing this. Yet he continues.</p>
<p>Have you any ideas on getting Grandpa to keep his opinions to himself? We don’t want to ban him from games and treat him like a 5-year-old who can’t behave, since he is still able to travel to see us for these visits. We try to sit away from others, but it’s not always possible. – EMBARRASSED IN HOUSTON</p>
<p>DEAR EMBARRASSED: You already know the answer to your problem, and I do not understand why you haven’t taken action. Was your father always this way, or has he become demented? When an adult acts like a 5-year-old and behaves inappropriately after having been cautioned against it, there is cause for concern.</p>
<p>If he is unable to control his behavior at those games, instead of being allowed to ruin them for everyone within earshot, he should ABSOLUTELY be banned from attending. If you won’t do it for the sake of the players and other parents, then do it for your father’s safety because one of these days, an irate parent or relative may punch his lights out.</p>
<p>DEAR ABBY: My niece was married by a justice of the peace in October. She and her husband are having a church wedding this summer. What would be the proper date to recognize on a gift? – DONNA IN NORTH CAROLINA</p>
<p>DEAR DONNA: If you are having the wedding gift engraved, you should ask your niece which date she and her husband would prefer.</p>
<p>Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.</p>
<p />
<p />
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DEAR ABBY: Ex-wife’s anger at her friend’s betrayal spills over to daughter
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/988100/headline-here.html
| 2least
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DEAR ABBY: Ex-wife’s anger at her friend’s betrayal spills over to daughter
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>My daughter, with whom I am very close, continues to have a relationship with this woman. While I know it’s not my place to tell her who to be friends with (she’s 22), I can’t help but feel betrayed.</p>
<p>My daughter is pregnant, and this woman seems to be attempting to play mother and push her way into every detail of my daughter’s pregnancy. It’s extremely upsetting to me to have to share one more thing with her. She already took my home and husband; I would like to keep my daughter and grandbaby. What to do? – THE REAL GRANDMA-TO-BE</p>
<p>DEAR REAL GRANDMA: Although you cannot cut this woman completely out of your life because she is now with your ex, calmly discuss this with your daughter. She may have reasons that you are unaware of for wanting to include the woman to the extent that she has.</p>
<p>DEAR ABBY: We need help with our dad. Many of his grandchildren participate in sports. For some reason, he thinks it’s perfectly fine to sit in the stands surrounded by people he doesn’t know and loudly criticize the other players.</p>
<p>We talk to him before the games. We remind him that he’s sitting by these players’ parents and what he’s doing is not cool. Some of the parents become quite emotional if things don’t go well and Dad doesn’t need to be doing this. Yet he continues.</p>
<p>Have you any ideas on getting Grandpa to keep his opinions to himself? We don’t want to ban him from games and treat him like a 5-year-old who can’t behave, since he is still able to travel to see us for these visits. We try to sit away from others, but it’s not always possible. – EMBARRASSED IN HOUSTON</p>
<p>DEAR EMBARRASSED: You already know the answer to your problem, and I do not understand why you haven’t taken action. Was your father always this way, or has he become demented? When an adult acts like a 5-year-old and behaves inappropriately after having been cautioned against it, there is cause for concern.</p>
<p>If he is unable to control his behavior at those games, instead of being allowed to ruin them for everyone within earshot, he should ABSOLUTELY be banned from attending. If you won’t do it for the sake of the players and other parents, then do it for your father’s safety because one of these days, an irate parent or relative may punch his lights out.</p>
<p>DEAR ABBY: My niece was married by a justice of the peace in October. She and her husband are having a church wedding this summer. What would be the proper date to recognize on a gift? – DONNA IN NORTH CAROLINA</p>
<p>DEAR DONNA: If you are having the wedding gift engraved, you should ask your niece which date she and her husband would prefer.</p>
<p>Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.</p>
<p />
<p />
| 4,922 |
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<p><a href="" type="internal" />Ted Cruz hasn’t been a United States Senator very long, but he’s quickly rushed to the top of my list as the Republican politician I despise most. &#160;Every time I see his face, or hear his sniveling voice, my skin crawls.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/10/ted-cruz-rafael-father-video-christian-tea-party" type="external">So when someone sent me a link</a> titled “Look at what Ted Cruz’s father said,” I knew I was in for a mind-numbing bit of stupidity.</p>
<p>See, I’m well aware Cruz’s father is a bit of a crackpot. &#160;So when I watched <a href="http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/10/rafael-cruz-senators-dad-send-obama-back-to-kenya.html/?nclick_check=1" type="external">the video where he said his son was “destined by God for greatness,”</a>&#160;I wasn’t completely surprised. &#160;After all, the man is a radical right-wing pastor.</p>
<p>Almost any time you mix radical right-wing conservatism and religion you’re going to get someone who’s clearly not of this reality.</p>
<p>But Cruz’s father went even further. &#160;In a showcase of “true Christian values,” the Texas senator’s father went “full birther” by saying he’d like to “send Obama back to Kenya.”</p>
<p>These remarks were made during Ted Cruz’s senate campaign last year when Cruz’s father often was used as a surrogate to speak for the then candidate Ted Cruz. &#160;Though, Ted Cruz’s “official” response to this story was that the elder Cruz doesn’t speak for the senator. &#160;Even though Cruz’s father&#160;did often&#160;speak for his son during his campaign.</p>
<p>But the elder Cruz didn’t stop at just those remarks. &#160;He went on to claim that the United States is indeed a “Christian nation.” &#160;In fact, he said that, “The United States of America was formed to honor the word of God.”</p>
<p>Funny, I thought our First Amendment said we had the freedom of religion. &#160;Oh, and the Treaty of Tripoli says, right at the beginning, “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion..”</p>
<p>But let’s not let these facts dissuade Ted Cruz’s father’s beliefs that this nation was founded on Christianity – an argument I find baffling.</p>
<p>I always like to ask these people, “Why, if our nation was based on Christianity, did the Founding Fathers just not put that in our Constitution? &#160;Why does the Treaty of Tripoli clearly say the United States is not, in any sense, found on the Christian religion?”</p>
<p>I’m sure most people reading this would not be at all surprised that when I do ask these questions, I rarely get any kind of answer that even remotely makes sense. &#160;In fact, I usually just get something absurd along the lines of, “Well, they assumed people would just be Christians so they didn’t feel the need to put that in there.”</p>
<p>Or another fun one to ask these people is&#160;which&#160;version of the Christian religion were we founded on? &#160;Because, as most people are well aware of, there’s a&#160;huge&#160;difference in how many denominations of Christianity practice their religion. &#160;A country built by Catholics would be much&#160;different than one built by Baptists.</p>
<p>But after watching the video of the speech Ted Cruz’s father gave last year, it’s easy to see where Senator Cruz gets his right-wing radicalism from. &#160;I’m just ashamed that he represents my state.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">Ted Cruz's Father: If Hillary Clinton Is Elected, Kiss The United States Goodbye (Video)</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Ted Cruz's Father: "There's Nothing Scientific About Evolution," "Communism, Evolution Go Hand in Hand"</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Ted Cruz's Father Claims Obama Wants to 'Seize Guns' Like Stalin, Liberals Want to 'Do Away' with the Bill of Rights</a></p>
<p>0 Facebook comments</p>
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Ted Cruz’s Father: Son is ‘Destined’ by God for Greatness, ‘Send Obama Back to Kenya’
| true |
http://forwardprogressives.com/ted-cruzs-father-son-is-destined-by-god-for-greatness-send-obama-back-to-kenya/
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2013-11-01
| 4left
|
Ted Cruz’s Father: Son is ‘Destined’ by God for Greatness, ‘Send Obama Back to Kenya’
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Ted Cruz hasn’t been a United States Senator very long, but he’s quickly rushed to the top of my list as the Republican politician I despise most. &#160;Every time I see his face, or hear his sniveling voice, my skin crawls.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/10/ted-cruz-rafael-father-video-christian-tea-party" type="external">So when someone sent me a link</a> titled “Look at what Ted Cruz’s father said,” I knew I was in for a mind-numbing bit of stupidity.</p>
<p>See, I’m well aware Cruz’s father is a bit of a crackpot. &#160;So when I watched <a href="http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/10/rafael-cruz-senators-dad-send-obama-back-to-kenya.html/?nclick_check=1" type="external">the video where he said his son was “destined by God for greatness,”</a>&#160;I wasn’t completely surprised. &#160;After all, the man is a radical right-wing pastor.</p>
<p>Almost any time you mix radical right-wing conservatism and religion you’re going to get someone who’s clearly not of this reality.</p>
<p>But Cruz’s father went even further. &#160;In a showcase of “true Christian values,” the Texas senator’s father went “full birther” by saying he’d like to “send Obama back to Kenya.”</p>
<p>These remarks were made during Ted Cruz’s senate campaign last year when Cruz’s father often was used as a surrogate to speak for the then candidate Ted Cruz. &#160;Though, Ted Cruz’s “official” response to this story was that the elder Cruz doesn’t speak for the senator. &#160;Even though Cruz’s father&#160;did often&#160;speak for his son during his campaign.</p>
<p>But the elder Cruz didn’t stop at just those remarks. &#160;He went on to claim that the United States is indeed a “Christian nation.” &#160;In fact, he said that, “The United States of America was formed to honor the word of God.”</p>
<p>Funny, I thought our First Amendment said we had the freedom of religion. &#160;Oh, and the Treaty of Tripoli says, right at the beginning, “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion..”</p>
<p>But let’s not let these facts dissuade Ted Cruz’s father’s beliefs that this nation was founded on Christianity – an argument I find baffling.</p>
<p>I always like to ask these people, “Why, if our nation was based on Christianity, did the Founding Fathers just not put that in our Constitution? &#160;Why does the Treaty of Tripoli clearly say the United States is not, in any sense, found on the Christian religion?”</p>
<p>I’m sure most people reading this would not be at all surprised that when I do ask these questions, I rarely get any kind of answer that even remotely makes sense. &#160;In fact, I usually just get something absurd along the lines of, “Well, they assumed people would just be Christians so they didn’t feel the need to put that in there.”</p>
<p>Or another fun one to ask these people is&#160;which&#160;version of the Christian religion were we founded on? &#160;Because, as most people are well aware of, there’s a&#160;huge&#160;difference in how many denominations of Christianity practice their religion. &#160;A country built by Catholics would be much&#160;different than one built by Baptists.</p>
<p>But after watching the video of the speech Ted Cruz’s father gave last year, it’s easy to see where Senator Cruz gets his right-wing radicalism from. &#160;I’m just ashamed that he represents my state.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">Ted Cruz's Father: If Hillary Clinton Is Elected, Kiss The United States Goodbye (Video)</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Ted Cruz's Father: "There's Nothing Scientific About Evolution," "Communism, Evolution Go Hand in Hand"</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Ted Cruz's Father Claims Obama Wants to 'Seize Guns' Like Stalin, Liberals Want to 'Do Away' with the Bill of Rights</a></p>
<p>0 Facebook comments</p>
| 4,923 |
<p>BMW AG (BMW.XE) on Tuesday denied reports that software in some of its diesel-engine vehicles shuts off exhaust-filtering systems at certain driving conditions, leading to higher nitrogen-oxide emissions.</p>
<p>German daily Der Tagesspiegel and German public broadcaster ZDF's WISO program had reported that the environmental lobby group Deutsche Umwelthilfe had found that nitrogen-oxide emissions for five of BMW's diesel-engine vehicles were up to seven times higher under certain conditions on the road when compared to tests in a laboratory.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Bavarian car maker said that its vehicles have not been manipulated and comply with legal requirements. It said there were no activities or technical measures to influence the emissions testing and that its exhaust systems were active on the test stand as well as in practice.</p>
<p>Write to Max Bernhard at [email protected]; @mxbernhard</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>December 05, 2017 04:46 ET (09:46 GMT)</p>
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BMW Denies Reports That Exhaust Filtering Systems Shut Off
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/12/05/bmw-denies-reports-that-exhaust-filtering-systems-shut-off.html
|
2017-12-05
| 0right
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BMW Denies Reports That Exhaust Filtering Systems Shut Off
<p>BMW AG (BMW.XE) on Tuesday denied reports that software in some of its diesel-engine vehicles shuts off exhaust-filtering systems at certain driving conditions, leading to higher nitrogen-oxide emissions.</p>
<p>German daily Der Tagesspiegel and German public broadcaster ZDF's WISO program had reported that the environmental lobby group Deutsche Umwelthilfe had found that nitrogen-oxide emissions for five of BMW's diesel-engine vehicles were up to seven times higher under certain conditions on the road when compared to tests in a laboratory.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Bavarian car maker said that its vehicles have not been manipulated and comply with legal requirements. It said there were no activities or technical measures to influence the emissions testing and that its exhaust systems were active on the test stand as well as in practice.</p>
<p>Write to Max Bernhard at [email protected]; @mxbernhard</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>December 05, 2017 04:46 ET (09:46 GMT)</p>
| 4,924 |
<p />
<p>FOX Business has learned <a href="" type="internal">General Motors</a> (NYSE:GM) plans on announcing a program of $2 billion in spending to upgrade as many as 18 plants and hire in the neighborhood of 4,000 new workers.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>GM Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson will make the announcement at GM's Toledo, Ohio power train plant, one of those in eight states slated for the new investment. The Toledo plant currently makes 6-speed transmissions for two of GM's most popular vehicles, the Chevy Malibu and Cruze. It is expected to be in line to begin making new, more fuel efficient 8-speed transmissions and add between 250 and 400 new employees.</p>
<p>Ohio Governor John Kasich is expected to be on hand for the announcement, expected at 1:30 p.m. ET Tuesday. It is being billed as a "We're Back" milepost by GM, which last week announced its fifth consecutive profitable quarter.</p>
<p>Sources tell FOX Business, most of the dollars will be spent in the "short term" and that the program of expansion and hiring is also in response to an expected production deficit by Japanese automakers in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami. Though GM may not announce all of the specifics of the expansion program Tuesday, another source tells FOX Business the GM Detroit Hamtramck plant is expected to be one of the locations slated for upgrade and hiring.</p>
<p>The Hamtramck plant makes the <a href="" type="internal">Chevy Volt</a>. GM is believed to be selling all the Volts it can make and has outsold the <a href="" type="internal">Nissan</a> Leaf by a two to one margin since the two electrics started going head to head at the start of the year.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
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GM to Unveil $2 Billion U.S. Expansion
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/05/10/gm-unveil-2b-expansion.html
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2016-01-28
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GM to Unveil $2 Billion U.S. Expansion
<p />
<p>FOX Business has learned <a href="" type="internal">General Motors</a> (NYSE:GM) plans on announcing a program of $2 billion in spending to upgrade as many as 18 plants and hire in the neighborhood of 4,000 new workers.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>GM Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson will make the announcement at GM's Toledo, Ohio power train plant, one of those in eight states slated for the new investment. The Toledo plant currently makes 6-speed transmissions for two of GM's most popular vehicles, the Chevy Malibu and Cruze. It is expected to be in line to begin making new, more fuel efficient 8-speed transmissions and add between 250 and 400 new employees.</p>
<p>Ohio Governor John Kasich is expected to be on hand for the announcement, expected at 1:30 p.m. ET Tuesday. It is being billed as a "We're Back" milepost by GM, which last week announced its fifth consecutive profitable quarter.</p>
<p>Sources tell FOX Business, most of the dollars will be spent in the "short term" and that the program of expansion and hiring is also in response to an expected production deficit by Japanese automakers in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami. Though GM may not announce all of the specifics of the expansion program Tuesday, another source tells FOX Business the GM Detroit Hamtramck plant is expected to be one of the locations slated for upgrade and hiring.</p>
<p>The Hamtramck plant makes the <a href="" type="internal">Chevy Volt</a>. GM is believed to be selling all the Volts it can make and has outsold the <a href="" type="internal">Nissan</a> Leaf by a two to one margin since the two electrics started going head to head at the start of the year.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
| 4,925 |
<p>While most Republicans are putting up a positive, pro-Trump front for the public, you don’t need to be a political expert to know that, in private, most of them are aware he had no business being “president” and his incompetence is not only a threat to the entire GOP, <a href="" type="internal">but the nation as a whole</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for all of us, <a href="" type="internal">most Republicans</a> decided to put party over country by defending and supporting one of the biggest political mistakes in United States history.</p>
<p>Well, some light has been shed on some of the full-on panic many Republicans are privately experiencing right now after the <a href="https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/the-skinny/Content?oid=9242427" type="external">Tucson Weekly</a> obtained a leaked recording of Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) venting to a group of bankers that Trump’s erratic and unhinged behavior is threatening to sink the entire party:</p>
<p>Any Republican member of Congress, you are going down with the ship. And we’re going to hand the gavel to Pelosi in 2018, they only need 28 seats and the path to that gavel being handed over is through my seat. And right now, it doesn’t matter that it’s me, it doesn’t matter what I’ve done. I have an ‘R’ next to my name and right now, this environment would have me not prevail.</p>
<p>The environment has changed and some of it changed on January 20th. There’s just an element out there that’s just, like, so against the president.&#160;Like they just can’t see straight.&#160;And all of a sudden on January 20, I’m like his twin sister to them.&#160;And I’m, like, responsible for everything he does, and tweets and says.&#160;And they want me to be spending my time as a pundit. ‘I disagree with that. I agree with this.’&#160;I have a job in the legislature!</p>
<p>She also told the crowd that Trump’s tweets are “distractions” that are causing voters to turn on Republican candidates and that her job has become far more difficult since he took office.</p>
<p>Understandably, McSally is rather flustered right now with polls showing over half the people in her district disapprove of her job performance, her approval rating is in the mid-30’s (much like Trump’s), and she’s losing to a hypothetical Democratic opponent by 7 points.</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but I don’t feel the least bit sorry for any Republican right now. During last year’s election they had a choice between embracing and defending one of the most vile and disgusting presidential candidates in U.S. history, or rejecting someone they knew was completely unfit, unqualified, and dangerous if he were to be elected “president.”</p>
<p>They chose to embrace and <a href="" type="internal">defend the reprehensible person</a> who mocked POWs, defrauded Americans out of tens of thousands of dollars by setting up a fake university, belittled Gold Star parents, and was caught on video bragging about sexually assaulting women.</p>
<p>I don’t want to hear any whining about the repercussions that come along with that. They don’t get to distance themselves from the nightmare they helped bestow upon this country. They don’t get to complain because some voters want them to answer for the actions of the unqualified buffoon they helped get elected. They don’t get to say they’re willing to help pass <a href="" type="internal">Trump’s awful legislation</a>, but don’t want voters to hold them accountable for doing so.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">As I wrote</a> just after last year’s election, Republicans defended, supported, and wanted Trump to be “president” — now they got him.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">5 Reasons Why Tuesday Was So Incredibly Embarrassing for Trump, Republicans</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Here are 5 Republicans Who are Just as Terrible as, If Not Worse Than, Donald Trump</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">On This Fourth of July, Let’s Take a Look at What an Embarrassment the GOP Has Become</a></p>
<p>44 Facebook comments</p>
|
Leaked Recording Reveals Republican Panic Over Trump’s Unhinged Behavior
| true |
https://forwardprogressives.com/leaked-recording-reveals-republican-panic-trumps-unhinged-behavior/
|
2017-06-10
| 4left
|
Leaked Recording Reveals Republican Panic Over Trump’s Unhinged Behavior
<p>While most Republicans are putting up a positive, pro-Trump front for the public, you don’t need to be a political expert to know that, in private, most of them are aware he had no business being “president” and his incompetence is not only a threat to the entire GOP, <a href="" type="internal">but the nation as a whole</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for all of us, <a href="" type="internal">most Republicans</a> decided to put party over country by defending and supporting one of the biggest political mistakes in United States history.</p>
<p>Well, some light has been shed on some of the full-on panic many Republicans are privately experiencing right now after the <a href="https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/the-skinny/Content?oid=9242427" type="external">Tucson Weekly</a> obtained a leaked recording of Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) venting to a group of bankers that Trump’s erratic and unhinged behavior is threatening to sink the entire party:</p>
<p>Any Republican member of Congress, you are going down with the ship. And we’re going to hand the gavel to Pelosi in 2018, they only need 28 seats and the path to that gavel being handed over is through my seat. And right now, it doesn’t matter that it’s me, it doesn’t matter what I’ve done. I have an ‘R’ next to my name and right now, this environment would have me not prevail.</p>
<p>The environment has changed and some of it changed on January 20th. There’s just an element out there that’s just, like, so against the president.&#160;Like they just can’t see straight.&#160;And all of a sudden on January 20, I’m like his twin sister to them.&#160;And I’m, like, responsible for everything he does, and tweets and says.&#160;And they want me to be spending my time as a pundit. ‘I disagree with that. I agree with this.’&#160;I have a job in the legislature!</p>
<p>She also told the crowd that Trump’s tweets are “distractions” that are causing voters to turn on Republican candidates and that her job has become far more difficult since he took office.</p>
<p>Understandably, McSally is rather flustered right now with polls showing over half the people in her district disapprove of her job performance, her approval rating is in the mid-30’s (much like Trump’s), and she’s losing to a hypothetical Democratic opponent by 7 points.</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but I don’t feel the least bit sorry for any Republican right now. During last year’s election they had a choice between embracing and defending one of the most vile and disgusting presidential candidates in U.S. history, or rejecting someone they knew was completely unfit, unqualified, and dangerous if he were to be elected “president.”</p>
<p>They chose to embrace and <a href="" type="internal">defend the reprehensible person</a> who mocked POWs, defrauded Americans out of tens of thousands of dollars by setting up a fake university, belittled Gold Star parents, and was caught on video bragging about sexually assaulting women.</p>
<p>I don’t want to hear any whining about the repercussions that come along with that. They don’t get to distance themselves from the nightmare they helped bestow upon this country. They don’t get to complain because some voters want them to answer for the actions of the unqualified buffoon they helped get elected. They don’t get to say they’re willing to help pass <a href="" type="internal">Trump’s awful legislation</a>, but don’t want voters to hold them accountable for doing so.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">As I wrote</a> just after last year’s election, Republicans defended, supported, and wanted Trump to be “president” — now they got him.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">5 Reasons Why Tuesday Was So Incredibly Embarrassing for Trump, Republicans</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Here are 5 Republicans Who are Just as Terrible as, If Not Worse Than, Donald Trump</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">On This Fourth of July, Let’s Take a Look at What an Embarrassment the GOP Has Become</a></p>
<p>44 Facebook comments</p>
| 4,926 |
<p>(Reuters) – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state’s attorney general on Monday vowed to sue President Donald Trump if he scraps a program shielding from deportation immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children.</p>
<p>Reuters reported Trump plans to announce on Tuesday he will end the program but will give the U.S. Congress six months to craft legislation to replace it, citing sources familiar with the situation said.</p>
<p>Cuomo said “the president’s action would upend the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people who have only ever called America their home.”</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>
|
New York vows to sue Trump over immigrant children protections
| false |
https://newsline.com/new-york-vows-to-sue-trump-over-immigrant-children-protections/
|
2017-09-04
| 1right-center
|
New York vows to sue Trump over immigrant children protections
<p>(Reuters) – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state’s attorney general on Monday vowed to sue President Donald Trump if he scraps a program shielding from deportation immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children.</p>
<p>Reuters reported Trump plans to announce on Tuesday he will end the program but will give the U.S. Congress six months to craft legislation to replace it, citing sources familiar with the situation said.</p>
<p>Cuomo said “the president’s action would upend the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people who have only ever called America their home.”</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>
| 4,927 |
<p>Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Fox News contributor, on the failure of the 'skinny' repeal of ObamaCare.</p>
<p>Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act, joined the FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo to discuss what he described as a long-term affordability problem in health care.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>“I actually prepared, the President [Trump] has seen, a memo with about nine or ten things that can be done that could directly address this problem of cost control,” he said.</p>
<p>Emanuel said one of the most important things impacting the cost control of health care is changing how doctors and hospitals are paid.</p>
<p>“Right now, we pay them a fee for service every time they do something,” he said. “They remove a prostate for suspicion of prostate cancer. They do a procedure on the knee, they get paid.”</p>
<p>The Fox News contributor suggests creating a “bundle payment” system that includes all surgical fees, such as operating room cost, anesthesiologist fees and recovery time, would add efficiency to the system and remove unnecessary care.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>“Put it in one fee, give it to the doctors and hospitals and say, ‘guys figure out how to make this more efficient,’ that actually works remarkably well,” Emanuel said.</p>
<p>Emmanuel noted that under the Obama administration, 50 percent of Medicare fee-for-service payments will be tied to alternative payment models (APMs) by 2018.</p>
<p>“If they made private insurance companies do it, private insurance companies who get contracts with the government - through the exchanges, through TRICARE, through the federal employee health benefits - that they have to do it, you would have a big push in the right direction,” he said.</p>
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ObamaCare architect: Changing how we pay doctors and hospitals will reduce health care costs
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ObamaCare architect: Changing how we pay doctors and hospitals will reduce health care costs
<p>Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Fox News contributor, on the failure of the 'skinny' repeal of ObamaCare.</p>
<p>Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act, joined the FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo to discuss what he described as a long-term affordability problem in health care.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>“I actually prepared, the President [Trump] has seen, a memo with about nine or ten things that can be done that could directly address this problem of cost control,” he said.</p>
<p>Emanuel said one of the most important things impacting the cost control of health care is changing how doctors and hospitals are paid.</p>
<p>“Right now, we pay them a fee for service every time they do something,” he said. “They remove a prostate for suspicion of prostate cancer. They do a procedure on the knee, they get paid.”</p>
<p>The Fox News contributor suggests creating a “bundle payment” system that includes all surgical fees, such as operating room cost, anesthesiologist fees and recovery time, would add efficiency to the system and remove unnecessary care.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>“Put it in one fee, give it to the doctors and hospitals and say, ‘guys figure out how to make this more efficient,’ that actually works remarkably well,” Emanuel said.</p>
<p>Emmanuel noted that under the Obama administration, 50 percent of Medicare fee-for-service payments will be tied to alternative payment models (APMs) by 2018.</p>
<p>“If they made private insurance companies do it, private insurance companies who get contracts with the government - through the exchanges, through TRICARE, through the federal employee health benefits - that they have to do it, you would have a big push in the right direction,” he said.</p>
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<p>By George Prior via our partners at&#160;Iris.xyz Investors should expect volatility in global financial markets in the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency. This is the warning from Tom Elliott, International Investment Strategist at deVere Group, one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organizations. Mr Elliott comments: “Market volatility should be expected over… <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2017/01/trumps-first-100-days-get-ready-for-market-volatility/" type="external">Click to read more at ETFtrends.com. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
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Trump’s First 100 Days: Get Ready for Market Volatility
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2017-01-29
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Trump’s First 100 Days: Get Ready for Market Volatility
<p>By George Prior via our partners at&#160;Iris.xyz Investors should expect volatility in global financial markets in the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency. This is the warning from Tom Elliott, International Investment Strategist at deVere Group, one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organizations. Mr Elliott comments: “Market volatility should be expected over… <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2017/01/trumps-first-100-days-get-ready-for-market-volatility/" type="external">Click to read more at ETFtrends.com. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
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<p />
<p>Do your credit card balances keep you awake at night? Short of winning the lottery or coming into a large inheritance, you won't find a quick-fix solution that will make your debt disappear, despite what solicitors or infomercials might have you believe.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>There are, however, many reliable strategies for paying down your debt. They've worked for others. Will they work for you? Ultimately, you'll achieve success by:</p>
<p>Here are 6 different techniques for paying off credit card debt. Choose the method that motivates you most and get started now.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-cards.aspx?pid=p:foxbz?ic_id=Content_CTA1_/finance/debt/6-ways-pay-credit-card-debt-1.aspx?pid=p:foxbz" type="external">Find the best balance transfer credit card Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>1. Pay the Most Expensive Balance First</p>
<p>If you want to get out of debt as cheaply as possible, list your debts going from the highest interest rate to lowest. Make the minimum monthly payment on each, and throw all your extra cash at the highest-interest debt. This is sometimes called the debt "avalanche" method of repayment.</p>
<p>This strategy is the cheapest because when you've paid off all your debts, you will have paid the least amount of interest overall compared with other strategies, says J. Dennis Mancias, a financial adviser with Planto Roe Financial Services in San Antonio.</p>
<p>Say you owe:</p>
<p>If you have $600 a month to put toward your debts and you send $200 a month to each creditor, it will take 5 years and 3 months to pay off what you owe plus interest, which will total $20,364, Mancias says. This assumes once you pay off one credit card, you shift that $200 monthly payment to another credit card.</p>
<p>If, instead, you made the minimum monthly payment on the 2 lower interest debts -- $150 on the $10,000 debt and $15 on the $1,000 debt -- then put the remaining $435 toward the $5,000 debt that you're paying 22% interest on, you'll be debt-free in 2 years and 7 months and will have paid $18,452 in total.</p>
<p>"The key to this strategy is to maintain the $600-per-month debt payment throughout," Mancias says. "So, once one card is paid off, you don't eliminate that payment, but instead roll it over to the next card to accelerate the payoff."</p>
<p>Who this strategy is good for: Those motivated by interest savings.</p>
<p>2. The 'Snowball' Method</p>
<p>If you've ever listened to "The Dave Ramsey Show," a popular personal finance radio and online program, you've heard Ramsey, the host, advocate the debt "snowball" method of repayment. Taking this path, you pay off your debts from smallest to largest.</p>
<p>Getting a debt completely paid off in the shortest time possible creates confidence and a sense of hope that pushes you to stay on track.</p>
<p>Similar to the avalanche method, you make the minimum monthly payment on each debt except the one you're focused on paying off. Once you've repaid it in full, you focus on the next debt on your list.</p>
<p>Paying the most expensive balance first might be the cheapest way to get out of debt, but if you don't have the patience for this method and don't stay with it, it won't work.</p>
<p>Who this strategy is good for: Those motivated by small successes.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>3. Do a Balance Transfer</p>
<p>If you have good-to-excellent credit despite your debt -- which is possible if you've been making your minimum monthly payments on time and have kept your debt-utilization ratio low -- you might qualify for a low- or no-interest balance transfer. This offer will let you transfer your higher-interest balances to a new card and save on interest, making it easier and faster to get out of debt.</p>
<p>RATE SEARCH: Let Bankrate help you find the <a href="http://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-cards.aspx?pid=p:foxbz?ic_id=Content_CTA2_/finance/debt/6-ways-pay-credit-card-debt-1.aspx?pid=p:foxbz" type="external">best balance-transfer credit cards Opens a New Window.</a> today.</p>
<p>"Try to find a promotion with a low rate or no fee associated with the transfer," says Matt Freeman, manager of credit card products at Navy Federal Credit Union.</p>
<p>But if you make a late payment, you could lose the low promotional interest rate, Freeman cautions.</p>
<p>You should avoid making new purchases on the card, because those may not come with the same low interest rate, Freeman says. Besides, continuing to use cards when trying to pay down debt isn't a good choice. Put that card aside, make a dedicated payment plan and stick to it.</p>
<p>Who this strategy is good for: Determined risk-takers.</p>
<p>4. Get Spending Under Control</p>
<p>Sometimes people get into credit card debt because of bad luck. They encounter a health problem or get laid off and start charging everything. Other times, the source of the problem is chronic overspending, which often means you aren't really aware of how much you bring in and how much goes out each month. To gain that awareness, you need a budget.</p>
<p>Matt Kelly, owner of Momentum Personal Finance Coaching in Durango, Colorado, says he and his wife paid off $165,000 in debt from credit cards, student loans and a mortgage in 15 months using the snowball method and a realistic budget while also putting away $20,000 in savings. His experience inspired him to start his business.</p>
<p>Your budget should account for the following, Kelly says:</p>
<p>It's the last category that often trips people up and becomes the source of credit card debt, Kelly says. "These little and not-so-little expenses go onto the card and are hard to pay off."</p>
<p>Once you've put your expenses down on paper or entered them into a spreadsheet, go through each item and find ways to free up enough money each month to pay off all your debts in 12 to 18 months, he says.</p>
<p>Who this strategy is good for: Anyone who is consumed by their debt.</p>
<p>5. Grow Your Emergency Fund</p>
<p>In a June 2016 Bankrate survey, 28% of Americans reported they had <a href="http://www.bankrate.com/finance/consumer-index/financial-security-charts-0621.aspx?pid=p:foxbz" type="external">no emergency savings Opens a New Window.</a>. Another 21% said they had some savings, but not enough to cover 3 months of expenses.</p>
<p>That's bad news because it means an emergency will make going into credit card debt an enticing option, especially if it's not possible to borrow from friends or family or cut back on spending.</p>
<p>"You have to build your savings first before concentrating on debt," says Steve Repak, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based CFP professional and author of "6 Week Money Challenge."</p>
<p>He suggests building your short-term savings to at least $500 while making only the minimum payments on your existing credit cards before you start concentrating on your debts. That way, you can tap your savings instead of swiping your credit card if you have an unexpected expense.</p>
<p>"For consumers that have debt and their income isn't high enough to save anything, they either have to reduce expenditures or increase their income, and the best-case scenario would (be) to do both," Repak says. "Supplementing your living expenses using credit cards cannot be a solution."</p>
<p>Who this strategy is good for: Potential layoff victims.</p>
<p>6. Switch to Cash</p>
<p>If your goal is to pay off your credit card debt, the last thing you want to be doing is adding to that debt by continuing to charge your expenses.</p>
<p>"Quit using your credit cards," Repak says. "It seems like a no-brainer, but sometimes it is easier said than done."</p>
<p>Paying with cash not only prevents you from accumulating more debt, it can also help you spend less overall because of the psychological pain of handing over those $20s.</p>
<p>Switching to an all-cash spending plan can help you cut spending by as much as 20%. It requires you to plan ahead and makes certain purchases -- like the ones you make through the Amazon app on your phone -- inconvenient if not impossible, so you're less likely to make them.</p>
<p>Who this strategy is good for: Anyone who can't trust themselves with a credit card.</p>
<p>Copyright 2016, Bankrate Inc.</p>
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6 Tips to Dig Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt
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2016-07-26
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6 Tips to Dig Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt
<p />
<p>Do your credit card balances keep you awake at night? Short of winning the lottery or coming into a large inheritance, you won't find a quick-fix solution that will make your debt disappear, despite what solicitors or infomercials might have you believe.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>There are, however, many reliable strategies for paying down your debt. They've worked for others. Will they work for you? Ultimately, you'll achieve success by:</p>
<p>Here are 6 different techniques for paying off credit card debt. Choose the method that motivates you most and get started now.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-cards.aspx?pid=p:foxbz?ic_id=Content_CTA1_/finance/debt/6-ways-pay-credit-card-debt-1.aspx?pid=p:foxbz" type="external">Find the best balance transfer credit card Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>1. Pay the Most Expensive Balance First</p>
<p>If you want to get out of debt as cheaply as possible, list your debts going from the highest interest rate to lowest. Make the minimum monthly payment on each, and throw all your extra cash at the highest-interest debt. This is sometimes called the debt "avalanche" method of repayment.</p>
<p>This strategy is the cheapest because when you've paid off all your debts, you will have paid the least amount of interest overall compared with other strategies, says J. Dennis Mancias, a financial adviser with Planto Roe Financial Services in San Antonio.</p>
<p>Say you owe:</p>
<p>If you have $600 a month to put toward your debts and you send $200 a month to each creditor, it will take 5 years and 3 months to pay off what you owe plus interest, which will total $20,364, Mancias says. This assumes once you pay off one credit card, you shift that $200 monthly payment to another credit card.</p>
<p>If, instead, you made the minimum monthly payment on the 2 lower interest debts -- $150 on the $10,000 debt and $15 on the $1,000 debt -- then put the remaining $435 toward the $5,000 debt that you're paying 22% interest on, you'll be debt-free in 2 years and 7 months and will have paid $18,452 in total.</p>
<p>"The key to this strategy is to maintain the $600-per-month debt payment throughout," Mancias says. "So, once one card is paid off, you don't eliminate that payment, but instead roll it over to the next card to accelerate the payoff."</p>
<p>Who this strategy is good for: Those motivated by interest savings.</p>
<p>2. The 'Snowball' Method</p>
<p>If you've ever listened to "The Dave Ramsey Show," a popular personal finance radio and online program, you've heard Ramsey, the host, advocate the debt "snowball" method of repayment. Taking this path, you pay off your debts from smallest to largest.</p>
<p>Getting a debt completely paid off in the shortest time possible creates confidence and a sense of hope that pushes you to stay on track.</p>
<p>Similar to the avalanche method, you make the minimum monthly payment on each debt except the one you're focused on paying off. Once you've repaid it in full, you focus on the next debt on your list.</p>
<p>Paying the most expensive balance first might be the cheapest way to get out of debt, but if you don't have the patience for this method and don't stay with it, it won't work.</p>
<p>Who this strategy is good for: Those motivated by small successes.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>3. Do a Balance Transfer</p>
<p>If you have good-to-excellent credit despite your debt -- which is possible if you've been making your minimum monthly payments on time and have kept your debt-utilization ratio low -- you might qualify for a low- or no-interest balance transfer. This offer will let you transfer your higher-interest balances to a new card and save on interest, making it easier and faster to get out of debt.</p>
<p>RATE SEARCH: Let Bankrate help you find the <a href="http://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-cards.aspx?pid=p:foxbz?ic_id=Content_CTA2_/finance/debt/6-ways-pay-credit-card-debt-1.aspx?pid=p:foxbz" type="external">best balance-transfer credit cards Opens a New Window.</a> today.</p>
<p>"Try to find a promotion with a low rate or no fee associated with the transfer," says Matt Freeman, manager of credit card products at Navy Federal Credit Union.</p>
<p>But if you make a late payment, you could lose the low promotional interest rate, Freeman cautions.</p>
<p>You should avoid making new purchases on the card, because those may not come with the same low interest rate, Freeman says. Besides, continuing to use cards when trying to pay down debt isn't a good choice. Put that card aside, make a dedicated payment plan and stick to it.</p>
<p>Who this strategy is good for: Determined risk-takers.</p>
<p>4. Get Spending Under Control</p>
<p>Sometimes people get into credit card debt because of bad luck. They encounter a health problem or get laid off and start charging everything. Other times, the source of the problem is chronic overspending, which often means you aren't really aware of how much you bring in and how much goes out each month. To gain that awareness, you need a budget.</p>
<p>Matt Kelly, owner of Momentum Personal Finance Coaching in Durango, Colorado, says he and his wife paid off $165,000 in debt from credit cards, student loans and a mortgage in 15 months using the snowball method and a realistic budget while also putting away $20,000 in savings. His experience inspired him to start his business.</p>
<p>Your budget should account for the following, Kelly says:</p>
<p>It's the last category that often trips people up and becomes the source of credit card debt, Kelly says. "These little and not-so-little expenses go onto the card and are hard to pay off."</p>
<p>Once you've put your expenses down on paper or entered them into a spreadsheet, go through each item and find ways to free up enough money each month to pay off all your debts in 12 to 18 months, he says.</p>
<p>Who this strategy is good for: Anyone who is consumed by their debt.</p>
<p>5. Grow Your Emergency Fund</p>
<p>In a June 2016 Bankrate survey, 28% of Americans reported they had <a href="http://www.bankrate.com/finance/consumer-index/financial-security-charts-0621.aspx?pid=p:foxbz" type="external">no emergency savings Opens a New Window.</a>. Another 21% said they had some savings, but not enough to cover 3 months of expenses.</p>
<p>That's bad news because it means an emergency will make going into credit card debt an enticing option, especially if it's not possible to borrow from friends or family or cut back on spending.</p>
<p>"You have to build your savings first before concentrating on debt," says Steve Repak, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based CFP professional and author of "6 Week Money Challenge."</p>
<p>He suggests building your short-term savings to at least $500 while making only the minimum payments on your existing credit cards before you start concentrating on your debts. That way, you can tap your savings instead of swiping your credit card if you have an unexpected expense.</p>
<p>"For consumers that have debt and their income isn't high enough to save anything, they either have to reduce expenditures or increase their income, and the best-case scenario would (be) to do both," Repak says. "Supplementing your living expenses using credit cards cannot be a solution."</p>
<p>Who this strategy is good for: Potential layoff victims.</p>
<p>6. Switch to Cash</p>
<p>If your goal is to pay off your credit card debt, the last thing you want to be doing is adding to that debt by continuing to charge your expenses.</p>
<p>"Quit using your credit cards," Repak says. "It seems like a no-brainer, but sometimes it is easier said than done."</p>
<p>Paying with cash not only prevents you from accumulating more debt, it can also help you spend less overall because of the psychological pain of handing over those $20s.</p>
<p>Switching to an all-cash spending plan can help you cut spending by as much as 20%. It requires you to plan ahead and makes certain purchases -- like the ones you make through the Amazon app on your phone -- inconvenient if not impossible, so you're less likely to make them.</p>
<p>Who this strategy is good for: Anyone who can't trust themselves with a credit card.</p>
<p>Copyright 2016, Bankrate Inc.</p>
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<p />
<p>You've got just under two weeks to get into the running to be recognized among the state's high-tech growth leaders.</p>
<p>The annual New Mexico Technology Flying 40 program, now in its 19th year, celebrates technology entrepreneurs and the contributions they make to New Mexico's economy.</p>
<p>The 2016 listing will be compiled from voluntary responses. Eligibility will be determined in three categories: top revenue growth companies with revenues between $1 million and $10 million; top revenue growth companies with revenues of more than $10 million; and top revenue-producing technology companies irrespective of revenue growth.</p>
<p>The deadline to file a Flying 40 qualification form is April 1. Find the form and apply online at <a href="http://www.techventures.org" type="external">www.techventures.org</a>.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>To be eligible, companies must have five or more employees and be headquartered in New Mexico; they may be publicly listed or privately owned, but cannot be a subsidiary of a company headquartered outside New Mexico.</p>
<p>The revenue figures will be used for a ranking published in a special edition of the June 20 Business Outlook. Companies selected for this recognition and their employees will be honored at a celebratory event at the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque on June 22.</p>
<p>Program sponsors include: Technology Ventures Corp.; KPMG LLP; New Mexico Bank and Trust; Albuquerque Journal Business Outlook; and Sandia Science &amp; Technology Park Development Corp.</p>
<p />
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Deadline nears for Flying 40
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Deadline nears for Flying 40
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>You've got just under two weeks to get into the running to be recognized among the state's high-tech growth leaders.</p>
<p>The annual New Mexico Technology Flying 40 program, now in its 19th year, celebrates technology entrepreneurs and the contributions they make to New Mexico's economy.</p>
<p>The 2016 listing will be compiled from voluntary responses. Eligibility will be determined in three categories: top revenue growth companies with revenues between $1 million and $10 million; top revenue growth companies with revenues of more than $10 million; and top revenue-producing technology companies irrespective of revenue growth.</p>
<p>The deadline to file a Flying 40 qualification form is April 1. Find the form and apply online at <a href="http://www.techventures.org" type="external">www.techventures.org</a>.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>To be eligible, companies must have five or more employees and be headquartered in New Mexico; they may be publicly listed or privately owned, but cannot be a subsidiary of a company headquartered outside New Mexico.</p>
<p>The revenue figures will be used for a ranking published in a special edition of the June 20 Business Outlook. Companies selected for this recognition and their employees will be honored at a celebratory event at the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque on June 22.</p>
<p>Program sponsors include: Technology Ventures Corp.; KPMG LLP; New Mexico Bank and Trust; Albuquerque Journal Business Outlook; and Sandia Science &amp; Technology Park Development Corp.</p>
<p />
| 4,931 |
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<p />
<p>Sony's new tablet computers failed to excite gadget reviewers and analysts who criticized the pricing and quality of the devices, underscoring the battle Sony faces regaining its consumer electronics crown.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE) is already late to the game with its first tablet, which hits stores this month, more than a year and a half after Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) launched the blockbuster iPad and almost a year since Samsung Electronics Co Ltd came out with the GalaxyTab. Samsung's Galaxy occupies the No.2 slot in tablets that Sony is targeting.</p>
<p>Reviewers and analysts highlighted a high price and features that suggested Sony would remain an also-ran rather than a leader in the tablet market. Two versions of Sony's main tablet cost $499 and $599, the same price as two lower-end Apple iPad models.</p>
<p>"Consumers want tablets, but they are not prepared to pay the same amount they'd pay for an iPad for something that's not an iPad," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. "Despite the brand and different design, with its pricing so close to the iPad, it will be challenging for Sony."</p>
<p>Once a symbol of Japan's high-tech might, the maker of the Walkman and PlayStation gaming console is struggling under the weight of its money-losing TV division and badly needs the boost of a hit product.</p>
<p>"Sony really must be in the tablet market and must succeed," said Mito Securities electronics analyst Keita Wakabayashi.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Worldwide tablet shipments are forecast to more than triple this year to 60 million tablets and then rise to 275.3 million units by 2015, according to a report this month from research firm IHS iSuppli.</p>
<p>DISTINGUISHING FEATURES</p>
<p>Sony's new tablets run on Google Inc's Android software, like the GalaxyTab and many other tablets from Acer Inc, Asustek Computer Inc and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc .</p>
<p>It is trying to distinguish its tablets from other Android players with features such as having one model function as a universal remote, while another folds like a clamshell and offers access to some first generation PlayStation games.</p>
<p>Backed by a disco beat during an event in Berlin to unveil the devices on Wednesday, Sony CEO Howard Stringer brushed off concerns the company waited too long to get into the tablet market.</p>
<p>"We want to prove it's not who makes it first that counts but who makes it better," Stringer said.</p>
<p>Based on the initial reception, Sony has failed in that regard.</p>
<p>Tech reviewers credited Sony for coming up with a unique curvy design for the S tablet, which resembles a folded-back magazine and makes it easier to hold with one hand, but the quality of the hardware was questioned.</p>
<p>A review on the Gizmodo tech blog called the tablet "extremely plasticky" and said its screen scratched more easily than other tablets.</p>
<p>Sony vowed in January to become the world's No. 2 tablet maker -- behind Apple -- by 2012 and Sony executives stuck to that ambitious claim ahead of the tablet launch.</p>
<p>But research firm Forrester put out a blog post saying Sony's pricing "raises a red flag."</p>
<p>At a low-key Japanese launch of the tablets in Tokyo on Thursday, Sony hinted it could be flexible on pricing.</p>
<p>"We'll see and study how the market will react and we'll take any necessary action," said Hideyuki Furumi, deputy president of the Sony division in charge of the new tablets.</p>
<p>"But then again, we don't want to do competition simply on prices, because we have a lot of differentiation points," he added, saying the entertainment features would be expanded over time.</p>
<p>One expert who has played with the single-screen "Sony Tablet: S" also was doubtful it could compete with rivals that sell high-end tablets at the same price.</p>
<p>Tim Stevens, editor-in-chief of the Engadget tech blog, said the tablet's hardware was underwhelming and its feel and design trailed the iPad 2 and the Galaxy Tab.</p>
<p>"I honestly don't think this is going to be the tablet that really catapults Sony into the lead on the Android front, which is where it needs to be if it wants to be No. 2 in the tablet market," Stevens said.</p>
<p>Some tech bloggers anticipate Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) will more likely prove a competitor to Apple, with a tablet that has not been officially announced but is expected in the next few weeks.</p>
<p>CROWDED MARKET</p>
<p>Sony joins a slew of technology companies hoping to win a share in a market where many have stumbled in pursuit of Apple.</p>
<p>Hewlett Packard's Co (NYSE:HPQ) decision to drop its Touchpad tablet only weeks after it came out shows how easy it is to fail. Sales soared only after HP slashed the price to $99 from $399 and $499, prompting the company to announce a further "final run" of the tablets to meet demand.</p>
<p>Sony said the S tablet is unique because of a universal remote inside the computer that can be used to control stereos, cable television boxes and TV sets.</p>
<p>The wifi-only device has a 9.4 inch screen, weighs 1.33 lbs and has front and rear cameras.</p>
<p>A 16 gigabyte version of the tablet will cost $499 in the United States, while the 32 GB version will retail for $599. In Europe, the S will cost 479 euros. It can be pre-ordered on Wednesday and will be in stores in September.</p>
<p>Sony's second tablet, the P, comes with 4 GB of memory and looks like a clutch purse. It has two 5.5-inch screens that can be folded together and weighs less than a pound.</p>
<p>The tablet also offers 4G cellular service. In Europe, the P will cost 599 euros and be out in November. Sony said it would be in stores in the United States later this year, but did not provide a date or price.</p>
<p>Sony's tablets tap its entertainment library by offering music and movies services, which should give it an edge over rivals, according to Stringer.</p>
<p>"Apple makes an iPad, but does it make a movie?" Stringer said.</p>
<p>Sony shares rose 2% in a firmer Tokyo market on Thursday after the tablets were unveiled. U.S. listed shares closed almost 0.3% down at $21.95 after opening higher.</p>
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Sony Unveils Tablets, Receives Tepid Response
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http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/09/01/sony-tablets-face-tough-sell-on-price-hardware.html
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2016-03-04
| 0right
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Sony Unveils Tablets, Receives Tepid Response
<p />
<p>Sony's new tablet computers failed to excite gadget reviewers and analysts who criticized the pricing and quality of the devices, underscoring the battle Sony faces regaining its consumer electronics crown.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE) is already late to the game with its first tablet, which hits stores this month, more than a year and a half after Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) launched the blockbuster iPad and almost a year since Samsung Electronics Co Ltd came out with the GalaxyTab. Samsung's Galaxy occupies the No.2 slot in tablets that Sony is targeting.</p>
<p>Reviewers and analysts highlighted a high price and features that suggested Sony would remain an also-ran rather than a leader in the tablet market. Two versions of Sony's main tablet cost $499 and $599, the same price as two lower-end Apple iPad models.</p>
<p>"Consumers want tablets, but they are not prepared to pay the same amount they'd pay for an iPad for something that's not an iPad," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. "Despite the brand and different design, with its pricing so close to the iPad, it will be challenging for Sony."</p>
<p>Once a symbol of Japan's high-tech might, the maker of the Walkman and PlayStation gaming console is struggling under the weight of its money-losing TV division and badly needs the boost of a hit product.</p>
<p>"Sony really must be in the tablet market and must succeed," said Mito Securities electronics analyst Keita Wakabayashi.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Worldwide tablet shipments are forecast to more than triple this year to 60 million tablets and then rise to 275.3 million units by 2015, according to a report this month from research firm IHS iSuppli.</p>
<p>DISTINGUISHING FEATURES</p>
<p>Sony's new tablets run on Google Inc's Android software, like the GalaxyTab and many other tablets from Acer Inc, Asustek Computer Inc and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc .</p>
<p>It is trying to distinguish its tablets from other Android players with features such as having one model function as a universal remote, while another folds like a clamshell and offers access to some first generation PlayStation games.</p>
<p>Backed by a disco beat during an event in Berlin to unveil the devices on Wednesday, Sony CEO Howard Stringer brushed off concerns the company waited too long to get into the tablet market.</p>
<p>"We want to prove it's not who makes it first that counts but who makes it better," Stringer said.</p>
<p>Based on the initial reception, Sony has failed in that regard.</p>
<p>Tech reviewers credited Sony for coming up with a unique curvy design for the S tablet, which resembles a folded-back magazine and makes it easier to hold with one hand, but the quality of the hardware was questioned.</p>
<p>A review on the Gizmodo tech blog called the tablet "extremely plasticky" and said its screen scratched more easily than other tablets.</p>
<p>Sony vowed in January to become the world's No. 2 tablet maker -- behind Apple -- by 2012 and Sony executives stuck to that ambitious claim ahead of the tablet launch.</p>
<p>But research firm Forrester put out a blog post saying Sony's pricing "raises a red flag."</p>
<p>At a low-key Japanese launch of the tablets in Tokyo on Thursday, Sony hinted it could be flexible on pricing.</p>
<p>"We'll see and study how the market will react and we'll take any necessary action," said Hideyuki Furumi, deputy president of the Sony division in charge of the new tablets.</p>
<p>"But then again, we don't want to do competition simply on prices, because we have a lot of differentiation points," he added, saying the entertainment features would be expanded over time.</p>
<p>One expert who has played with the single-screen "Sony Tablet: S" also was doubtful it could compete with rivals that sell high-end tablets at the same price.</p>
<p>Tim Stevens, editor-in-chief of the Engadget tech blog, said the tablet's hardware was underwhelming and its feel and design trailed the iPad 2 and the Galaxy Tab.</p>
<p>"I honestly don't think this is going to be the tablet that really catapults Sony into the lead on the Android front, which is where it needs to be if it wants to be No. 2 in the tablet market," Stevens said.</p>
<p>Some tech bloggers anticipate Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) will more likely prove a competitor to Apple, with a tablet that has not been officially announced but is expected in the next few weeks.</p>
<p>CROWDED MARKET</p>
<p>Sony joins a slew of technology companies hoping to win a share in a market where many have stumbled in pursuit of Apple.</p>
<p>Hewlett Packard's Co (NYSE:HPQ) decision to drop its Touchpad tablet only weeks after it came out shows how easy it is to fail. Sales soared only after HP slashed the price to $99 from $399 and $499, prompting the company to announce a further "final run" of the tablets to meet demand.</p>
<p>Sony said the S tablet is unique because of a universal remote inside the computer that can be used to control stereos, cable television boxes and TV sets.</p>
<p>The wifi-only device has a 9.4 inch screen, weighs 1.33 lbs and has front and rear cameras.</p>
<p>A 16 gigabyte version of the tablet will cost $499 in the United States, while the 32 GB version will retail for $599. In Europe, the S will cost 479 euros. It can be pre-ordered on Wednesday and will be in stores in September.</p>
<p>Sony's second tablet, the P, comes with 4 GB of memory and looks like a clutch purse. It has two 5.5-inch screens that can be folded together and weighs less than a pound.</p>
<p>The tablet also offers 4G cellular service. In Europe, the P will cost 599 euros and be out in November. Sony said it would be in stores in the United States later this year, but did not provide a date or price.</p>
<p>Sony's tablets tap its entertainment library by offering music and movies services, which should give it an edge over rivals, according to Stringer.</p>
<p>"Apple makes an iPad, but does it make a movie?" Stringer said.</p>
<p>Sony shares rose 2% in a firmer Tokyo market on Thursday after the tablets were unveiled. U.S. listed shares closed almost 0.3% down at $21.95 after opening higher.</p>
| 4,932 |
<p>Israel has charged five radical Jewish settlers with crimes against Israel’s military.</p>
<p>The men are accused of organizing vandalism against an Israeli army base in the occupied West Bank.&#160;They are charged with tracking Israeli military movements in order to thwart actions against Jewish settlements. There are also allegations that sensitive information on Israeli troop movements came from active duty soldiers. It's deeply troubling information that shines a light on a trend in the Israeli military.</p>
<p>It used to be that the bulk of Israel’s army officers – especially those from elite combat units – came from Israel’s largely secular kibbutz movement. After all, a soldier’s life can be incompatible with Orthodox Judaism’s strict rules on diet, prayer and study. But times have changed.</p>
<p>In the main study hall at the Har Etzion Hesder Yeshiva, located in a Jewish settlement southeast of Jerusalem, pairs of young men are hunched over religious books, debating in the traditional style of Jewish learning. Essentially, this is a way for observant young Israelis – mostly men, but some women as well – to combine religious study with mandatory army service.</p>
<p>“Even though it’s a Jewish army, it’s not necessarily a religious army,” said Greg Bank, 24, a South African-born Israeli.</p>
<p>He did two years at the yeshiva, then two years in the army, and he is completing his final year of religious study.</p>
<p>“It can be difficult some times, because of the nature of the army, the environment’s a very physical environment, sometimes you can forget about your more spiritual side,” he said.</p>
<p>There can be inherent conflicts between the rabbis, who are leaders of the faithful, and the army commanders, leaders of the soldiers.</p>
<p>“Thank goodness I haven’t been put in that situation,” he said.&#160;“But you’ve got to look at the picture holistically, because it’s very nice saying that we want every bit of land and that every bit of land is important to us, but if we don’t have an army that can defend this land, then everything will fall apart.”</p>
<p>In other words, soldiers must obey orders for the good of the country. But there are some hard-line, pro-settler rabbis who see things quite differently. For them, giving up any amount of Biblical Israel is heresy. These rabbis have encouraged young Israelis to serve, but also to refuse orders that contradict Jewish law, like orders to evacuate Jewish settlements.</p>
<p>One of the leading rabbis of the Har Etzion yeshiva, Mosheh Lichtenstein said such extreme views are not widespread. But he said there is inherent tension for his students between religious and military obligations.</p>
<p>“The military says, ‘let’s solve problems by force,’ and religion says, ‘let’s solve them by creating a harmonious and perfect society,’” Lichtenstein said. “So on one level, we want our students to feel the tension and be aware of that. We tell them, they go to the army, not because it’s a good idea, but because it’s a necessity.”</p>
<p>These tensions have flared up in recent weeks and months. Some Israeli men in uniform have objected on religious grounds to female singers at official military ceremonies. Last week, the military ruled that women cannot be prohibited from singing.</p>
<p>It also put in place new requirements for rabbis when addressing groups of student soldiers. The rabbis will have to clear such meetings ahead of time with the military rabbinate, and they will also be accompanied by a military minder. The new rules suggest the army brass is truly concerned about the impact of increasing religiosity within its ranks.</p>
<p>“Nobody at the top of the army has discussed this publicly,” said Gershom Gorenberg, author of “The Unmaking of Israel”. “So, we’re guessing here.”</p>
<p>If an order came down for a large scale evacuation of West Bank settlements, Gorenberg said he doubts massive numbers of Israeli soldiers would refuse those orders. But he said that is precisely the scenario that opponents of the two-state solution are trying to put in the public spotlight.</p>
<p>There are “rabbis and other ideologues who are publicizing this issue,” Gorenberg said. And these individuals are, “trying to create a deterrent against an evacuation by raising the question of the internal cohesion of the army in that case.”</p>
<p>Children enjoyed some playtime during a recent evening at the West Bank settlement of Migron, outside of the Palestinian city of Ramallah. Approximately 300 residents here are facing eviction, because an Israeli court determined the settlement is illegal and should be dismantled in the coming months.</p>
<p>Community spokesman Itai Chamo, holding his toddler in his arms, said he is not sure if Israeli soldiers would refuse evacuation orders. But he said, “the army is with us.”</p>
<p>“I do my reserves. I do 40 days a year. The military is me, not anyone else,” Chamo said.</p>
<p>He said he has never received such an order himseld and he said he is not worried about getting one anytime soon.</p>
|
Increasingly religious Israeli Army has some concerned about cohesion
| false |
https://pri.org/stories/2012-01-10/increasingly-religious-israeli-army-has-some-concerned-about-cohesion
|
2012-01-10
| 3left-center
|
Increasingly religious Israeli Army has some concerned about cohesion
<p>Israel has charged five radical Jewish settlers with crimes against Israel’s military.</p>
<p>The men are accused of organizing vandalism against an Israeli army base in the occupied West Bank.&#160;They are charged with tracking Israeli military movements in order to thwart actions against Jewish settlements. There are also allegations that sensitive information on Israeli troop movements came from active duty soldiers. It's deeply troubling information that shines a light on a trend in the Israeli military.</p>
<p>It used to be that the bulk of Israel’s army officers – especially those from elite combat units – came from Israel’s largely secular kibbutz movement. After all, a soldier’s life can be incompatible with Orthodox Judaism’s strict rules on diet, prayer and study. But times have changed.</p>
<p>In the main study hall at the Har Etzion Hesder Yeshiva, located in a Jewish settlement southeast of Jerusalem, pairs of young men are hunched over religious books, debating in the traditional style of Jewish learning. Essentially, this is a way for observant young Israelis – mostly men, but some women as well – to combine religious study with mandatory army service.</p>
<p>“Even though it’s a Jewish army, it’s not necessarily a religious army,” said Greg Bank, 24, a South African-born Israeli.</p>
<p>He did two years at the yeshiva, then two years in the army, and he is completing his final year of religious study.</p>
<p>“It can be difficult some times, because of the nature of the army, the environment’s a very physical environment, sometimes you can forget about your more spiritual side,” he said.</p>
<p>There can be inherent conflicts between the rabbis, who are leaders of the faithful, and the army commanders, leaders of the soldiers.</p>
<p>“Thank goodness I haven’t been put in that situation,” he said.&#160;“But you’ve got to look at the picture holistically, because it’s very nice saying that we want every bit of land and that every bit of land is important to us, but if we don’t have an army that can defend this land, then everything will fall apart.”</p>
<p>In other words, soldiers must obey orders for the good of the country. But there are some hard-line, pro-settler rabbis who see things quite differently. For them, giving up any amount of Biblical Israel is heresy. These rabbis have encouraged young Israelis to serve, but also to refuse orders that contradict Jewish law, like orders to evacuate Jewish settlements.</p>
<p>One of the leading rabbis of the Har Etzion yeshiva, Mosheh Lichtenstein said such extreme views are not widespread. But he said there is inherent tension for his students between religious and military obligations.</p>
<p>“The military says, ‘let’s solve problems by force,’ and religion says, ‘let’s solve them by creating a harmonious and perfect society,’” Lichtenstein said. “So on one level, we want our students to feel the tension and be aware of that. We tell them, they go to the army, not because it’s a good idea, but because it’s a necessity.”</p>
<p>These tensions have flared up in recent weeks and months. Some Israeli men in uniform have objected on religious grounds to female singers at official military ceremonies. Last week, the military ruled that women cannot be prohibited from singing.</p>
<p>It also put in place new requirements for rabbis when addressing groups of student soldiers. The rabbis will have to clear such meetings ahead of time with the military rabbinate, and they will also be accompanied by a military minder. The new rules suggest the army brass is truly concerned about the impact of increasing religiosity within its ranks.</p>
<p>“Nobody at the top of the army has discussed this publicly,” said Gershom Gorenberg, author of “The Unmaking of Israel”. “So, we’re guessing here.”</p>
<p>If an order came down for a large scale evacuation of West Bank settlements, Gorenberg said he doubts massive numbers of Israeli soldiers would refuse those orders. But he said that is precisely the scenario that opponents of the two-state solution are trying to put in the public spotlight.</p>
<p>There are “rabbis and other ideologues who are publicizing this issue,” Gorenberg said. And these individuals are, “trying to create a deterrent against an evacuation by raising the question of the internal cohesion of the army in that case.”</p>
<p>Children enjoyed some playtime during a recent evening at the West Bank settlement of Migron, outside of the Palestinian city of Ramallah. Approximately 300 residents here are facing eviction, because an Israeli court determined the settlement is illegal and should be dismantled in the coming months.</p>
<p>Community spokesman Itai Chamo, holding his toddler in his arms, said he is not sure if Israeli soldiers would refuse evacuation orders. But he said, “the army is with us.”</p>
<p>“I do my reserves. I do 40 days a year. The military is me, not anyone else,” Chamo said.</p>
<p>He said he has never received such an order himseld and he said he is not worried about getting one anytime soon.</p>
| 4,933 |
<p />
<p>Flexion Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FLXN), Cara Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CARA), and Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) may soon offer patients suffering from chronic pain a better option than opioids. Here's how these companies plan to reshape the way doctors treat the39 million Americans with chronic pain.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Flexion Therapeutics' Zilretta is under review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a new approach to treating knee pain caused by osteoarthtritis, and positive results from trials suggest it could eventually replace corticosteroid injections for millions of patients.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>The FDA will issue a go/no-go decision on Zilretta on Oct. 6, and data from studies may be compelling enough for a green light. In trials, Zilretta patients enjoyed a median 50% reduction in knee pain, and, more importantly, that pain relief was maintained throughout a three-month period. If Zilretta's effectiveness holds up in the real world, there's a good chance it will win support with doctors and patients because pain relief from corticosteroids typically wears off within weeks -- long before the next scheduled quarterly injection.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Roughly 5 million people currently receive corticosteroid shots because of their pain, and management thinks Zilretta could fetch $2,000 per patient per year. If this estimate is on target, it won't take a lot of market share for Zilretta to be a top seller.</p>
<p>Recently, rumors have surfaced that acquisition-hungrySanofi SA (NYSE: SNY) is kicking Flexion Therapeutics' tires. It wouldn't shock me if those rumors are true. Sanofi has attempted to buy Medivation and Actelion in the past year, so it's clearly on the hunt for acquisitions. Importantly, Sanofialready markets Synvisc-One -- a hyaluronan injection used to treat knee pain -- which generates $400 million per year,so it's already got the sales force in place to turn Zilretta into a winner.</p>
<p>Cara Therapeutics thinks CR845's ability to relieve pain with less risk of addiction could allow it to capture a big share of the 24 million pain prescriptions written for opioids every year.</p>
<p>Instead of targeting mu-opioid receptors in the nervous system like opioids, CR845 relieves pain at the source by targeting kappa-opioid receptors in the periphery of the body. Because CR845 is designed not to pass easily through the blood-brain barrier, it delivers less of a euphoric high than opioids.</p>
<p>CR845 is being studied in hip and knee pain in osteoarthritis patients, and management <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/03/28/cara-therapeutics-delivers-important-win.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just reported data Opens a New Window.</a> showing that it can help reduce chronic itch in dialysis patients.</p>
<p>The potential to elbow market share away from opioids and deliver greater relief to dialysis patients is exciting, but more trials are required before Cara Therapeutics can file for FDA approval of CR845. Because more work needs to be done, it may be a while before this drug makes it to market. Nevertheless, this company's opportunity is big, and that makes tracking its progress worthwhile.</p>
<p>Like CR845, Nektar Therapeutics' NKTR-181 may eventually reduce pain patients' need for opioids.But, unlike CR845, NKTR-181 still targets mu-opioid receptors in the nervous system to deliver pain relief.</p>
<p>However, it does so selectively. And it's specifically designed to cross the blood-brain barrier slowly to reduce euphoria. By more precisely targeting the receptors and limiting euphoria, it may deliver similar relief to opioids with less of a risk of abuse.</p>
<p>Last week, the company <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/03/23/could-nektar-therapeutics-be-worth-more.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">announced results Opens a New Window.</a> from a trial testing NKTR-181 for chronic back pain, and that trial's data didn't disappoint. NKTR-181 reduced pain relative to a placebo, and it did so without causing opioid-like levels of euphoria.</p>
<p>Those findings sentNektar Therapeutics shares soaring, but the company hasn't announced its plans to file for FDA approval yet. Instead, management is searching for a bigger peer to partner with on the drug. Assuming it secures a deal, an FDA filing should come shortly thereafter, with an official regulatory decision coming 10 months later.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Nektar TherapeuticsWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=5bccb9c0-1430-4880-9935-9e12e4267a25&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Nektar Therapeutics wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=5bccb9c0-1430-4880-9935-9e12e4267a25&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of February 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/EBCapitalMarkets/info.aspx" type="external">Todd Campbell Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned.His clients may have positions in the companies mentioned.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
|
3 Revolutionary Drugs for Chronic Pain
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/03/30/3-revolutionary-drugs-for-chronic-pain.html
|
2017-03-30
| 0right
|
3 Revolutionary Drugs for Chronic Pain
<p />
<p>Flexion Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FLXN), Cara Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CARA), and Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) may soon offer patients suffering from chronic pain a better option than opioids. Here's how these companies plan to reshape the way doctors treat the39 million Americans with chronic pain.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Flexion Therapeutics' Zilretta is under review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a new approach to treating knee pain caused by osteoarthtritis, and positive results from trials suggest it could eventually replace corticosteroid injections for millions of patients.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>The FDA will issue a go/no-go decision on Zilretta on Oct. 6, and data from studies may be compelling enough for a green light. In trials, Zilretta patients enjoyed a median 50% reduction in knee pain, and, more importantly, that pain relief was maintained throughout a three-month period. If Zilretta's effectiveness holds up in the real world, there's a good chance it will win support with doctors and patients because pain relief from corticosteroids typically wears off within weeks -- long before the next scheduled quarterly injection.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Roughly 5 million people currently receive corticosteroid shots because of their pain, and management thinks Zilretta could fetch $2,000 per patient per year. If this estimate is on target, it won't take a lot of market share for Zilretta to be a top seller.</p>
<p>Recently, rumors have surfaced that acquisition-hungrySanofi SA (NYSE: SNY) is kicking Flexion Therapeutics' tires. It wouldn't shock me if those rumors are true. Sanofi has attempted to buy Medivation and Actelion in the past year, so it's clearly on the hunt for acquisitions. Importantly, Sanofialready markets Synvisc-One -- a hyaluronan injection used to treat knee pain -- which generates $400 million per year,so it's already got the sales force in place to turn Zilretta into a winner.</p>
<p>Cara Therapeutics thinks CR845's ability to relieve pain with less risk of addiction could allow it to capture a big share of the 24 million pain prescriptions written for opioids every year.</p>
<p>Instead of targeting mu-opioid receptors in the nervous system like opioids, CR845 relieves pain at the source by targeting kappa-opioid receptors in the periphery of the body. Because CR845 is designed not to pass easily through the blood-brain barrier, it delivers less of a euphoric high than opioids.</p>
<p>CR845 is being studied in hip and knee pain in osteoarthritis patients, and management <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/03/28/cara-therapeutics-delivers-important-win.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just reported data Opens a New Window.</a> showing that it can help reduce chronic itch in dialysis patients.</p>
<p>The potential to elbow market share away from opioids and deliver greater relief to dialysis patients is exciting, but more trials are required before Cara Therapeutics can file for FDA approval of CR845. Because more work needs to be done, it may be a while before this drug makes it to market. Nevertheless, this company's opportunity is big, and that makes tracking its progress worthwhile.</p>
<p>Like CR845, Nektar Therapeutics' NKTR-181 may eventually reduce pain patients' need for opioids.But, unlike CR845, NKTR-181 still targets mu-opioid receptors in the nervous system to deliver pain relief.</p>
<p>However, it does so selectively. And it's specifically designed to cross the blood-brain barrier slowly to reduce euphoria. By more precisely targeting the receptors and limiting euphoria, it may deliver similar relief to opioids with less of a risk of abuse.</p>
<p>Last week, the company <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/03/23/could-nektar-therapeutics-be-worth-more.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">announced results Opens a New Window.</a> from a trial testing NKTR-181 for chronic back pain, and that trial's data didn't disappoint. NKTR-181 reduced pain relative to a placebo, and it did so without causing opioid-like levels of euphoria.</p>
<p>Those findings sentNektar Therapeutics shares soaring, but the company hasn't announced its plans to file for FDA approval yet. Instead, management is searching for a bigger peer to partner with on the drug. Assuming it secures a deal, an FDA filing should come shortly thereafter, with an official regulatory decision coming 10 months later.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Nektar TherapeuticsWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=5bccb9c0-1430-4880-9935-9e12e4267a25&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Nektar Therapeutics wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=5bccb9c0-1430-4880-9935-9e12e4267a25&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of February 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/EBCapitalMarkets/info.aspx" type="external">Todd Campbell Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned.His clients may have positions in the companies mentioned.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
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<p>The Aggies (29-23) did it with two stunning knockout punches: first, a four-run bottom of the seventh inning rally to nip the Redhawks 15-14 in the first game at the N.M. State Softball Complex.</p>
<p>Then as visiting team in the “if” game of the tournament, NMSU struck for seven runs in the top of the sixth inning for a 10-0 lead, and left two Redhawks (20-32) on base in the bottom half to enforce the game-ending mercy rule.</p>
<p>The NCAA Division I Tournament bracket will be unveiled today at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. The Aggies will hold a public selection show party in the clubhouse at the softball complex.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Rachel Rodriguez delivered the tournament-winning hit, an RBI single to score pinch-runner Alexis Maynez in the seventh inning of Game 1.</p>
<p>Catcher Nikki Butler homered and drove in six runs for the Aggies.</p>
<p>In the second game, Samaria Diaz and Fahren Glackin combined on a four-hit shutout.</p>
<p>■ At UNM, the Lobos ended their season with a 4-1 loss to visiting Boise State. UNM (20-30, 6-18 Mountain West Conference) lost their last 11 games and 15 of their last 16.</p>
<p>UNM scored the game’s final run, which came from two of its four seniors in the fifth inning. Michala Erickson beat out an infield single with two outs and scored on Jasmine Casados’ double to right-center. Callie McGarrigle had two of UNM’s six hits, their most in the three-game series. Tess McPherson (8-14) took the loss.</p>
<p>BASEBALL: In Fresno, Calif., New Mexico fell to Fresno State 16-2 in league play to host Fresno State on Saturday, and the Lobos may be on the verge of an even bigger loss.</p>
<p>UNM (28-22-1, 18-6-1 Mountain West) trailed 13-1 through four innings to Fresno State (28-22), which goes for the three-game series sweep today at 2 p.m.</p>
<p>“Our pitching got hammered tonight and they pitched outstanding,” UNM coach Ray Birmingham said. “It was really as simple as that.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>It was the Lobos’ first game without senior first baseman Jack Zoellner, who was hit by a pitch Friday night and injured his left hand in a 9-3 loss.</p>
<p>Birmingham told the Journal on Saturday that Zoellner’s hand could be broken and he would miss the rest of the season, though UNM isn’t saying for sure until the team returns to Albuquerque and Zoellner is inspected by doctors.</p>
<p>Zoeller is hitting .368 with 12 home runs and 56 RBIs.</p>
<p>With a San Diego State win at Air Force earlier Saturday, the Lobos’ magic number to clinch the conference (UNM wins or SDSU losses) and host the Mountain West tournament remains at three with four conference games remaining.</p>
<p>Luiz Gonzalez, today’s scheduled starting pitcher, finished 2-for-3 with a double and RBI. Johnathon Tripp picked up the loss, going 2⅔ innings and giving up six runs on eight hits with no strikeouts and a walk.</p>
<p>■ In Chicago, New Mexico State’s Marcel Renteria (7-2) allowed one run over six innings, and the offense came late as the Aggies (32-19, 16-4 WAC) won 10-4 over Chicago State (11-37, 7-13).</p>
<p>The Aggies and Chicago State wrap up their series today at 11 a.m.</p>
<p>TRACK AND FIELD: In Logan, Utah, Josh Kerr’s victories in the 1,500 and 800 meters paced the New Mexico men to a fourth-place finish in the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Championships. The UNM women placed ninth.</p>
<p>Kerr won the 1,500 for the second straight year, easing away from the field with a time of 3 minutes, 46.39 seconds. He won the 800 in 1:53.72 with a finishing kick that just caught Utah State’s Clay Lambourne at the tape.</p>
<p>New Mexico’s Jannell Hadnot won the MWC triple jump title for the third straight year with a leap of 42 feet, 2¼ inches. UNM’s Alice Wright won the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:17.42.</p>
<p>Air Force won the men’s title. San Diego State, coached by Rio Grande High School alumna Shelia Burrell, took the women’s title.</p>
|
Spring sports: Aggies take WAC title; Zoellner, Lobo baseball are hurting
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/1003134/spring-sports-aggies-take-wac-title-zoellner-lobo-baseball-are-hurting.html
| 2least
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Spring sports: Aggies take WAC title; Zoellner, Lobo baseball are hurting
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<p />
<p>The Aggies (29-23) did it with two stunning knockout punches: first, a four-run bottom of the seventh inning rally to nip the Redhawks 15-14 in the first game at the N.M. State Softball Complex.</p>
<p>Then as visiting team in the “if” game of the tournament, NMSU struck for seven runs in the top of the sixth inning for a 10-0 lead, and left two Redhawks (20-32) on base in the bottom half to enforce the game-ending mercy rule.</p>
<p>The NCAA Division I Tournament bracket will be unveiled today at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. The Aggies will hold a public selection show party in the clubhouse at the softball complex.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Rachel Rodriguez delivered the tournament-winning hit, an RBI single to score pinch-runner Alexis Maynez in the seventh inning of Game 1.</p>
<p>Catcher Nikki Butler homered and drove in six runs for the Aggies.</p>
<p>In the second game, Samaria Diaz and Fahren Glackin combined on a four-hit shutout.</p>
<p>■ At UNM, the Lobos ended their season with a 4-1 loss to visiting Boise State. UNM (20-30, 6-18 Mountain West Conference) lost their last 11 games and 15 of their last 16.</p>
<p>UNM scored the game’s final run, which came from two of its four seniors in the fifth inning. Michala Erickson beat out an infield single with two outs and scored on Jasmine Casados’ double to right-center. Callie McGarrigle had two of UNM’s six hits, their most in the three-game series. Tess McPherson (8-14) took the loss.</p>
<p>BASEBALL: In Fresno, Calif., New Mexico fell to Fresno State 16-2 in league play to host Fresno State on Saturday, and the Lobos may be on the verge of an even bigger loss.</p>
<p>UNM (28-22-1, 18-6-1 Mountain West) trailed 13-1 through four innings to Fresno State (28-22), which goes for the three-game series sweep today at 2 p.m.</p>
<p>“Our pitching got hammered tonight and they pitched outstanding,” UNM coach Ray Birmingham said. “It was really as simple as that.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>It was the Lobos’ first game without senior first baseman Jack Zoellner, who was hit by a pitch Friday night and injured his left hand in a 9-3 loss.</p>
<p>Birmingham told the Journal on Saturday that Zoellner’s hand could be broken and he would miss the rest of the season, though UNM isn’t saying for sure until the team returns to Albuquerque and Zoellner is inspected by doctors.</p>
<p>Zoeller is hitting .368 with 12 home runs and 56 RBIs.</p>
<p>With a San Diego State win at Air Force earlier Saturday, the Lobos’ magic number to clinch the conference (UNM wins or SDSU losses) and host the Mountain West tournament remains at three with four conference games remaining.</p>
<p>Luiz Gonzalez, today’s scheduled starting pitcher, finished 2-for-3 with a double and RBI. Johnathon Tripp picked up the loss, going 2⅔ innings and giving up six runs on eight hits with no strikeouts and a walk.</p>
<p>■ In Chicago, New Mexico State’s Marcel Renteria (7-2) allowed one run over six innings, and the offense came late as the Aggies (32-19, 16-4 WAC) won 10-4 over Chicago State (11-37, 7-13).</p>
<p>The Aggies and Chicago State wrap up their series today at 11 a.m.</p>
<p>TRACK AND FIELD: In Logan, Utah, Josh Kerr’s victories in the 1,500 and 800 meters paced the New Mexico men to a fourth-place finish in the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Championships. The UNM women placed ninth.</p>
<p>Kerr won the 1,500 for the second straight year, easing away from the field with a time of 3 minutes, 46.39 seconds. He won the 800 in 1:53.72 with a finishing kick that just caught Utah State’s Clay Lambourne at the tape.</p>
<p>New Mexico’s Jannell Hadnot won the MWC triple jump title for the third straight year with a leap of 42 feet, 2¼ inches. UNM’s Alice Wright won the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:17.42.</p>
<p>Air Force won the men’s title. San Diego State, coached by Rio Grande High School alumna Shelia Burrell, took the women’s title.</p>
| 4,935 |
|
<p />
<p />
<p>Various ArtistsThe Rough Guide to Unsung Heroes of Country Blues Rough Guide</p>
<p>There are any number of ways to approach this fine 24-track compilation of performances from the ’20s and ’30s. First, it’s an intriguing history lesson, showing how ragtime, jazz, folk, and other styles were blended to create the music that would ultimately become the blues. If that seems too much like eating your vegetables, instead consider it an exploration of the roots of more celebrated artists. The Lovin’ Spoonful covered Henry Thomas’ “Fishing Blues,” while Cream updated Blind Willie (Joe) Reynolds’ “Married Man Blues” and Muddy Waters turned Hambone Willie Newbern’s “Roll and Tumble Blues” into a landmark of the genre.</p>
<p>It’s easy to imagine the Stones cribbing from any of these songs. But the best way to appreciate The Rough Guide to Unsung Heroes of Country Blues is on a strictly musical level. There’s infinite variety and subtlety to be found in the artful singing and inventive acoustic guitar playing of the men—and a handful of women, including the elusive Geeshie Wiley—represented on this excellent set. Start with Lane Hardin’s spooky “California Desert Blues,” or practically any other song, and prepare to be hooked. &#160;</p>
<p />
|
This New Country Blues Compilation Is the Best Kind of History Lesson
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/2015/04/the-rough-guide-to-unsung-heroes-of-country-blues/
|
2015-04-06
| 4left
|
This New Country Blues Compilation Is the Best Kind of History Lesson
<p />
<p />
<p>Various ArtistsThe Rough Guide to Unsung Heroes of Country Blues Rough Guide</p>
<p>There are any number of ways to approach this fine 24-track compilation of performances from the ’20s and ’30s. First, it’s an intriguing history lesson, showing how ragtime, jazz, folk, and other styles were blended to create the music that would ultimately become the blues. If that seems too much like eating your vegetables, instead consider it an exploration of the roots of more celebrated artists. The Lovin’ Spoonful covered Henry Thomas’ “Fishing Blues,” while Cream updated Blind Willie (Joe) Reynolds’ “Married Man Blues” and Muddy Waters turned Hambone Willie Newbern’s “Roll and Tumble Blues” into a landmark of the genre.</p>
<p>It’s easy to imagine the Stones cribbing from any of these songs. But the best way to appreciate The Rough Guide to Unsung Heroes of Country Blues is on a strictly musical level. There’s infinite variety and subtlety to be found in the artful singing and inventive acoustic guitar playing of the men—and a handful of women, including the elusive Geeshie Wiley—represented on this excellent set. Start with Lane Hardin’s spooky “California Desert Blues,” or practically any other song, and prepare to be hooked. &#160;</p>
<p />
| 4,936 |
<p>On Sunday night, a reporter for The Weather Channel stood in a <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/238738691.html" type="external">Minnesota snowstorm</a>, talking about local <a href="" type="internal">efforts</a> to move homeless children into heated shelters. “How cold is it supposed to get?” the anchor, back in the studio, asked. The reporter replied: “ <a href="http://guardianlv.com/2014/01/earth-is-colder-than-mars/" type="external">Colder than Mars</a>.”</p>
<p>Indeed, recent temperatures across the U.S. have been Mars-like. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2014/01/06/sub-zero-temperatures-due-to-freeze-midwest-monday/" type="external">Forecasts in the midwest</a> call for temperatures to drop to 32 below zero in Fargo, N.D.; minus 21 in Madison, Wis.; and 15 below zero in Minneapolis, Indianapolis and Chicago. Wind chills have been predicted to fall to negative 60 degrees — a dangerous cold that <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/u-s-midwest-northeast-hit-by-bitter-cold-temperatures-1.2485191" type="external">could break decades-old records</a>.</p>
<p>All of which begs the question — if climate change is real, then how did it get so cold?&#160;The question is based on common misconceptions of how cold weather moves across the planet, said Greg Laden, a bioanthroplogist who writes for <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/" type="external">National Geographic’s Scienceblog</a>. According to Laden, the recent record-cold temperatures indicate to many that the Arctic’s cold air is expanding, engulfing other countries. If true, this would be a perfect argument for a “global cooling” theory. The Arctic’s coldness is growing. Laden asks, “How can such a thing happen with global warming?”</p>
<p>The answer, he writes, is that the Arctic air that usually sits on top of our planet is “taking an excursion” south for a couple of days, leaving the North Pole “relatively warm” and our temperate region not-so-temperate. “Go Home Arctic, You’re Drunk,” <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2014/01/05/go-home-arctic-youre-drunk/" type="external">he titled</a> the explanation.</p>
<p>“The Polar Vortex, a huge system of moving swirling air that normally contains the polar cold air, has shifted so it is not sitting right on the pole as it usually does,” <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2014/01/05/go-home-arctic-youre-drunk/" type="external">Laden writes</a>. “We are not seeing an expansion of cold, an ice age, or an anti-global warming phenomenon. We are seeing the usual cold polar air taking an excursion. So, this cold weather we are having does not disprove global warming.”</p>
<p>In fact, some scientists have theorized that the influx of extreme cold is actually fueled by effects of climate change. Jennifer Francis, a research professor at Rutgers University’s Institute of Marine and Coastal Science, told ClimateProgress on Monday that it’s not the Arctic who is drunk. It’s the jet stream.</p>
<p>“The drunk part is that the jet stream is in this wavy pattern, like a drunk walking along,” Francis, who primarily studies Arctic links to global weather patterns, said. “In other places, you could see the tropics are drunk.”</p>
<p>Arctic warming, she said, is causing less drastic changes in temperatures between northern and southern climates, leading to weakened west-to-east winds, and ultimately, a wavier jet stream. The stream’s recent “waviness” has been taking coldness down to the temperate United States and leaving Alaska and the Arctic relatively warm, Francis said. The same thing has been happening in other countries as well. Winter storms have been pounding the U.K., she noted, while Scandinavia is having a very warm winter.</p>
<p>“This kind of pattern is going to be more likely, and has been more likely,” she said. “Extremes on both ends are a symptom. Wild, unusual temperatures of both sides, both warmer and colder.”</p>
<p>Francis’ research, however, is still disputed. Dr. Kevin E. Trenberth, a distinguished senior climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, told ClimateProgress on Monday that he was skeptical of Francis’ assessment.</p>
<p>“Jennifer’s work shows a correlation, but correlation is not causation,” he cautioned. “In fact it is much more likely to work the other way around.”</p>
<p>Instead of Francis’ theory that a warm Arctic moves the jet stream, Trenberth said it could be that the jet stream moves, leading to a warmer Arctic. And Francis’ theory could work if the Arctic was, in fact, particularly warm and iceless — at the moment, in winter, the Arctic is cooler and icier.</p>
<p>“I am not saying there is no [climate change] influence, but in midwinter, the energy in these big storms is huge and the climate change influence is impossible to find statistically,” he said. “So we have to fall back on understanding the processes and mechanisms.”</p>
<p>Still, Trenberth — based in Boulder, CO., — just had 11 inches of snow on Saturday, which he said is the third largest ever for the month. Normally the area gets only light, fluffy snow. But, he said temperatures on Friday were 62 degrees, making for extra moisture and heat, “probably” contributing to the extra snow. The incident mimics what Trenberth’s research has shown — that increased moisture and heat from climate change has an effect on weather events.</p>
<p>“The answer to the oft-asked question of whether an event is caused by climate change is that it is the wrong question,” <a href="" type="internal">he has written</a>. “All weather events are affected by climate change because the environment in which they occur is warmer and moister than it used to be.”</p>
|
Everything You Wanted To Know About The ‘Polar Vortex’
| true |
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/06/3122491/cold-polar-vortex/
|
2014-01-06
| 4left
|
Everything You Wanted To Know About The ‘Polar Vortex’
<p>On Sunday night, a reporter for The Weather Channel stood in a <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/238738691.html" type="external">Minnesota snowstorm</a>, talking about local <a href="" type="internal">efforts</a> to move homeless children into heated shelters. “How cold is it supposed to get?” the anchor, back in the studio, asked. The reporter replied: “ <a href="http://guardianlv.com/2014/01/earth-is-colder-than-mars/" type="external">Colder than Mars</a>.”</p>
<p>Indeed, recent temperatures across the U.S. have been Mars-like. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2014/01/06/sub-zero-temperatures-due-to-freeze-midwest-monday/" type="external">Forecasts in the midwest</a> call for temperatures to drop to 32 below zero in Fargo, N.D.; minus 21 in Madison, Wis.; and 15 below zero in Minneapolis, Indianapolis and Chicago. Wind chills have been predicted to fall to negative 60 degrees — a dangerous cold that <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/u-s-midwest-northeast-hit-by-bitter-cold-temperatures-1.2485191" type="external">could break decades-old records</a>.</p>
<p>All of which begs the question — if climate change is real, then how did it get so cold?&#160;The question is based on common misconceptions of how cold weather moves across the planet, said Greg Laden, a bioanthroplogist who writes for <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/" type="external">National Geographic’s Scienceblog</a>. According to Laden, the recent record-cold temperatures indicate to many that the Arctic’s cold air is expanding, engulfing other countries. If true, this would be a perfect argument for a “global cooling” theory. The Arctic’s coldness is growing. Laden asks, “How can such a thing happen with global warming?”</p>
<p>The answer, he writes, is that the Arctic air that usually sits on top of our planet is “taking an excursion” south for a couple of days, leaving the North Pole “relatively warm” and our temperate region not-so-temperate. “Go Home Arctic, You’re Drunk,” <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2014/01/05/go-home-arctic-youre-drunk/" type="external">he titled</a> the explanation.</p>
<p>“The Polar Vortex, a huge system of moving swirling air that normally contains the polar cold air, has shifted so it is not sitting right on the pole as it usually does,” <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2014/01/05/go-home-arctic-youre-drunk/" type="external">Laden writes</a>. “We are not seeing an expansion of cold, an ice age, or an anti-global warming phenomenon. We are seeing the usual cold polar air taking an excursion. So, this cold weather we are having does not disprove global warming.”</p>
<p>In fact, some scientists have theorized that the influx of extreme cold is actually fueled by effects of climate change. Jennifer Francis, a research professor at Rutgers University’s Institute of Marine and Coastal Science, told ClimateProgress on Monday that it’s not the Arctic who is drunk. It’s the jet stream.</p>
<p>“The drunk part is that the jet stream is in this wavy pattern, like a drunk walking along,” Francis, who primarily studies Arctic links to global weather patterns, said. “In other places, you could see the tropics are drunk.”</p>
<p>Arctic warming, she said, is causing less drastic changes in temperatures between northern and southern climates, leading to weakened west-to-east winds, and ultimately, a wavier jet stream. The stream’s recent “waviness” has been taking coldness down to the temperate United States and leaving Alaska and the Arctic relatively warm, Francis said. The same thing has been happening in other countries as well. Winter storms have been pounding the U.K., she noted, while Scandinavia is having a very warm winter.</p>
<p>“This kind of pattern is going to be more likely, and has been more likely,” she said. “Extremes on both ends are a symptom. Wild, unusual temperatures of both sides, both warmer and colder.”</p>
<p>Francis’ research, however, is still disputed. Dr. Kevin E. Trenberth, a distinguished senior climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, told ClimateProgress on Monday that he was skeptical of Francis’ assessment.</p>
<p>“Jennifer’s work shows a correlation, but correlation is not causation,” he cautioned. “In fact it is much more likely to work the other way around.”</p>
<p>Instead of Francis’ theory that a warm Arctic moves the jet stream, Trenberth said it could be that the jet stream moves, leading to a warmer Arctic. And Francis’ theory could work if the Arctic was, in fact, particularly warm and iceless — at the moment, in winter, the Arctic is cooler and icier.</p>
<p>“I am not saying there is no [climate change] influence, but in midwinter, the energy in these big storms is huge and the climate change influence is impossible to find statistically,” he said. “So we have to fall back on understanding the processes and mechanisms.”</p>
<p>Still, Trenberth — based in Boulder, CO., — just had 11 inches of snow on Saturday, which he said is the third largest ever for the month. Normally the area gets only light, fluffy snow. But, he said temperatures on Friday were 62 degrees, making for extra moisture and heat, “probably” contributing to the extra snow. The incident mimics what Trenberth’s research has shown — that increased moisture and heat from climate change has an effect on weather events.</p>
<p>“The answer to the oft-asked question of whether an event is caused by climate change is that it is the wrong question,” <a href="" type="internal">he has written</a>. “All weather events are affected by climate change because the environment in which they occur is warmer and moister than it used to be.”</p>
| 4,937 |
<p>PHOENIX (AP) — Republican lawmakers in the Arizona House and Senate are proposing an increase in vehicle license fees to end years of raids on dedicated local highway funding that has paid for highway patrol operations.</p>
<p>The identical proposals from Sen. Bob Worsley of Mesa and Rep. Noel Campbell of Prescott mark the latest effort to end the raid of about $95 million a year that is supposed to fund local roads. Worsley pushed a similar bill last year but it died after Republican Senate President Steve Yarbrough refused to allow a formal vote because it was opposed by many majority Republicans.</p>
<p>Ending the raid on the Highway User Revenue Fund known as “HURF” is a longstanding goal of lawmakers from both parties. The fund raid is particularly hard for rural areas that have no way to pay for repairs and renovations without the state money, which comes from gas taxes and vehicle license fees.</p>
<p>Yarbrough said Wednesday that he’ll likely let the proposal proceed this year and see where it ends up. However, he’s concerned about how it makes an end-run around a requirement that bills that increase state revenue require a 2/3 vote to pass.</p>
<p>Worsley said this year’s effort would raise about $8 million by ending an exemption for alternative fuel vehicles. The rest of the $100 million needed for a dedicated highway patrol safety fund would come from giving the Department of Transportation director authority to raise license fees.</p>
<p>“He decides what’s fair,” Worsley said. “And every year we’re not back here fighting over ‘are we going to sweep it or not, how much are we going to sweep’ out of the HURF funds.”</p>
<p>Worsley said he didn’t have an estimate of how much fees could go up. But based on state registration numbers, if every vehicle registered in Arizona was assessed $11, it would raise about $90 million.</p>
<p>Allowing a department director to set the amount is the same maneuver that allows the state Medicaid agency leader to assess hospitals to pay for expanding that program. The Arizona Supreme Court upheld the Medicaid assessment earlier this year, saying it met the test for avoiding a supermajority vote needed to raise taxes under the voter-approved Proposition 108 by allowing state agency directors to set fees.</p>
<p>“I disagreed with the Supreme Court’s decision on Medicaid expansion,” Yarbrough said. “I think bills like this should be Prop 108 — I think we should be straight up.”</p>
<p>Four Republican senators are co-sponsoring the Senate bill, meaning it could pass if all Democrats sign on. Campbell’s House version also has three GOP co-sponsors, just shy of the commitment needed to guarantee passage if Democrats back it en masse.</p>
<p>House Speaker J.D. Mesnard said he believes Campbell’s proposal could pass this year.</p>
<p>“Considering the number of people who have come to me with the issue of HURF and transportation and infrastructure funding, I imagine it will have a lot of support,” Mesnard said.</p>
<p>Worsley also proposed a gas tax increase last year to end the raid, but it also failed. He said he has talked with Gov. Doug Ducey’s staff about his new proposal.</p>
<p>“They are not supporting the bill, but they’re saying see if you can get it up to us,” he said.</p>
<p>Daniel Scarpinato, Ducey’s spokesman, said he will support “good ideas” but declined to comment on pending legislation.</p>
<p>Campbell acknowledged that persuading Republicans opposed to tax increases will be difficult and there will likely be blowback in his conservative district. But he said the fee isn’t a tax and the need is dire.</p>
<p>“All I know is I’ll take heat. But there’s three essential things the government has to do, and all the rest are fluff,” he said. “The three essentials are transportation, public safety and public education. And for too long we’ve ignored transportation.”</p>
<p>PHOENIX (AP) — Republican lawmakers in the Arizona House and Senate are proposing an increase in vehicle license fees to end years of raids on dedicated local highway funding that has paid for highway patrol operations.</p>
<p>The identical proposals from Sen. Bob Worsley of Mesa and Rep. Noel Campbell of Prescott mark the latest effort to end the raid of about $95 million a year that is supposed to fund local roads. Worsley pushed a similar bill last year but it died after Republican Senate President Steve Yarbrough refused to allow a formal vote because it was opposed by many majority Republicans.</p>
<p>Ending the raid on the Highway User Revenue Fund known as “HURF” is a longstanding goal of lawmakers from both parties. The fund raid is particularly hard for rural areas that have no way to pay for repairs and renovations without the state money, which comes from gas taxes and vehicle license fees.</p>
<p>Yarbrough said Wednesday that he’ll likely let the proposal proceed this year and see where it ends up. However, he’s concerned about how it makes an end-run around a requirement that bills that increase state revenue require a 2/3 vote to pass.</p>
<p>Worsley said this year’s effort would raise about $8 million by ending an exemption for alternative fuel vehicles. The rest of the $100 million needed for a dedicated highway patrol safety fund would come from giving the Department of Transportation director authority to raise license fees.</p>
<p>“He decides what’s fair,” Worsley said. “And every year we’re not back here fighting over ‘are we going to sweep it or not, how much are we going to sweep’ out of the HURF funds.”</p>
<p>Worsley said he didn’t have an estimate of how much fees could go up. But based on state registration numbers, if every vehicle registered in Arizona was assessed $11, it would raise about $90 million.</p>
<p>Allowing a department director to set the amount is the same maneuver that allows the state Medicaid agency leader to assess hospitals to pay for expanding that program. The Arizona Supreme Court upheld the Medicaid assessment earlier this year, saying it met the test for avoiding a supermajority vote needed to raise taxes under the voter-approved Proposition 108 by allowing state agency directors to set fees.</p>
<p>“I disagreed with the Supreme Court’s decision on Medicaid expansion,” Yarbrough said. “I think bills like this should be Prop 108 — I think we should be straight up.”</p>
<p>Four Republican senators are co-sponsoring the Senate bill, meaning it could pass if all Democrats sign on. Campbell’s House version also has three GOP co-sponsors, just shy of the commitment needed to guarantee passage if Democrats back it en masse.</p>
<p>House Speaker J.D. Mesnard said he believes Campbell’s proposal could pass this year.</p>
<p>“Considering the number of people who have come to me with the issue of HURF and transportation and infrastructure funding, I imagine it will have a lot of support,” Mesnard said.</p>
<p>Worsley also proposed a gas tax increase last year to end the raid, but it also failed. He said he has talked with Gov. Doug Ducey’s staff about his new proposal.</p>
<p>“They are not supporting the bill, but they’re saying see if you can get it up to us,” he said.</p>
<p>Daniel Scarpinato, Ducey’s spokesman, said he will support “good ideas” but declined to comment on pending legislation.</p>
<p>Campbell acknowledged that persuading Republicans opposed to tax increases will be difficult and there will likely be blowback in his conservative district. But he said the fee isn’t a tax and the need is dire.</p>
<p>“All I know is I’ll take heat. But there’s three essential things the government has to do, and all the rest are fluff,” he said. “The three essentials are transportation, public safety and public education. And for too long we’ve ignored transportation.”</p>
|
Car registration fee boost proposed to end raid on road cash
| false |
https://apnews.com/00ecdbc51dfb419da5aa61c9ca2be562
|
2018-01-18
| 2least
|
Car registration fee boost proposed to end raid on road cash
<p>PHOENIX (AP) — Republican lawmakers in the Arizona House and Senate are proposing an increase in vehicle license fees to end years of raids on dedicated local highway funding that has paid for highway patrol operations.</p>
<p>The identical proposals from Sen. Bob Worsley of Mesa and Rep. Noel Campbell of Prescott mark the latest effort to end the raid of about $95 million a year that is supposed to fund local roads. Worsley pushed a similar bill last year but it died after Republican Senate President Steve Yarbrough refused to allow a formal vote because it was opposed by many majority Republicans.</p>
<p>Ending the raid on the Highway User Revenue Fund known as “HURF” is a longstanding goal of lawmakers from both parties. The fund raid is particularly hard for rural areas that have no way to pay for repairs and renovations without the state money, which comes from gas taxes and vehicle license fees.</p>
<p>Yarbrough said Wednesday that he’ll likely let the proposal proceed this year and see where it ends up. However, he’s concerned about how it makes an end-run around a requirement that bills that increase state revenue require a 2/3 vote to pass.</p>
<p>Worsley said this year’s effort would raise about $8 million by ending an exemption for alternative fuel vehicles. The rest of the $100 million needed for a dedicated highway patrol safety fund would come from giving the Department of Transportation director authority to raise license fees.</p>
<p>“He decides what’s fair,” Worsley said. “And every year we’re not back here fighting over ‘are we going to sweep it or not, how much are we going to sweep’ out of the HURF funds.”</p>
<p>Worsley said he didn’t have an estimate of how much fees could go up. But based on state registration numbers, if every vehicle registered in Arizona was assessed $11, it would raise about $90 million.</p>
<p>Allowing a department director to set the amount is the same maneuver that allows the state Medicaid agency leader to assess hospitals to pay for expanding that program. The Arizona Supreme Court upheld the Medicaid assessment earlier this year, saying it met the test for avoiding a supermajority vote needed to raise taxes under the voter-approved Proposition 108 by allowing state agency directors to set fees.</p>
<p>“I disagreed with the Supreme Court’s decision on Medicaid expansion,” Yarbrough said. “I think bills like this should be Prop 108 — I think we should be straight up.”</p>
<p>Four Republican senators are co-sponsoring the Senate bill, meaning it could pass if all Democrats sign on. Campbell’s House version also has three GOP co-sponsors, just shy of the commitment needed to guarantee passage if Democrats back it en masse.</p>
<p>House Speaker J.D. Mesnard said he believes Campbell’s proposal could pass this year.</p>
<p>“Considering the number of people who have come to me with the issue of HURF and transportation and infrastructure funding, I imagine it will have a lot of support,” Mesnard said.</p>
<p>Worsley also proposed a gas tax increase last year to end the raid, but it also failed. He said he has talked with Gov. Doug Ducey’s staff about his new proposal.</p>
<p>“They are not supporting the bill, but they’re saying see if you can get it up to us,” he said.</p>
<p>Daniel Scarpinato, Ducey’s spokesman, said he will support “good ideas” but declined to comment on pending legislation.</p>
<p>Campbell acknowledged that persuading Republicans opposed to tax increases will be difficult and there will likely be blowback in his conservative district. But he said the fee isn’t a tax and the need is dire.</p>
<p>“All I know is I’ll take heat. But there’s three essential things the government has to do, and all the rest are fluff,” he said. “The three essentials are transportation, public safety and public education. And for too long we’ve ignored transportation.”</p>
<p>PHOENIX (AP) — Republican lawmakers in the Arizona House and Senate are proposing an increase in vehicle license fees to end years of raids on dedicated local highway funding that has paid for highway patrol operations.</p>
<p>The identical proposals from Sen. Bob Worsley of Mesa and Rep. Noel Campbell of Prescott mark the latest effort to end the raid of about $95 million a year that is supposed to fund local roads. Worsley pushed a similar bill last year but it died after Republican Senate President Steve Yarbrough refused to allow a formal vote because it was opposed by many majority Republicans.</p>
<p>Ending the raid on the Highway User Revenue Fund known as “HURF” is a longstanding goal of lawmakers from both parties. The fund raid is particularly hard for rural areas that have no way to pay for repairs and renovations without the state money, which comes from gas taxes and vehicle license fees.</p>
<p>Yarbrough said Wednesday that he’ll likely let the proposal proceed this year and see where it ends up. However, he’s concerned about how it makes an end-run around a requirement that bills that increase state revenue require a 2/3 vote to pass.</p>
<p>Worsley said this year’s effort would raise about $8 million by ending an exemption for alternative fuel vehicles. The rest of the $100 million needed for a dedicated highway patrol safety fund would come from giving the Department of Transportation director authority to raise license fees.</p>
<p>“He decides what’s fair,” Worsley said. “And every year we’re not back here fighting over ‘are we going to sweep it or not, how much are we going to sweep’ out of the HURF funds.”</p>
<p>Worsley said he didn’t have an estimate of how much fees could go up. But based on state registration numbers, if every vehicle registered in Arizona was assessed $11, it would raise about $90 million.</p>
<p>Allowing a department director to set the amount is the same maneuver that allows the state Medicaid agency leader to assess hospitals to pay for expanding that program. The Arizona Supreme Court upheld the Medicaid assessment earlier this year, saying it met the test for avoiding a supermajority vote needed to raise taxes under the voter-approved Proposition 108 by allowing state agency directors to set fees.</p>
<p>“I disagreed with the Supreme Court’s decision on Medicaid expansion,” Yarbrough said. “I think bills like this should be Prop 108 — I think we should be straight up.”</p>
<p>Four Republican senators are co-sponsoring the Senate bill, meaning it could pass if all Democrats sign on. Campbell’s House version also has three GOP co-sponsors, just shy of the commitment needed to guarantee passage if Democrats back it en masse.</p>
<p>House Speaker J.D. Mesnard said he believes Campbell’s proposal could pass this year.</p>
<p>“Considering the number of people who have come to me with the issue of HURF and transportation and infrastructure funding, I imagine it will have a lot of support,” Mesnard said.</p>
<p>Worsley also proposed a gas tax increase last year to end the raid, but it also failed. He said he has talked with Gov. Doug Ducey’s staff about his new proposal.</p>
<p>“They are not supporting the bill, but they’re saying see if you can get it up to us,” he said.</p>
<p>Daniel Scarpinato, Ducey’s spokesman, said he will support “good ideas” but declined to comment on pending legislation.</p>
<p>Campbell acknowledged that persuading Republicans opposed to tax increases will be difficult and there will likely be blowback in his conservative district. But he said the fee isn’t a tax and the need is dire.</p>
<p>“All I know is I’ll take heat. But there’s three essential things the government has to do, and all the rest are fluff,” he said. “The three essentials are transportation, public safety and public education. And for too long we’ve ignored transportation.”</p>
| 4,938 |
<p>A dry run for an attack on high value Christian buildings? Or a distraction for an attack on somewhere else?</p>
<p>According to the Daily Mail:</p>
<p>A radicalised French woman who wanted to run away and join ISIS is in custody in Paris today after abandoning a car packed with gas cylinders close to Notre Dame Cathedral. [...]</p>
<p>There were seven gas canisters inside - promoting fears of a terrorist attack on the ancient place of worship, which is high on a list of ISIS targets.</p>
<p>Despite being in the heart of tourist Paris, the suspect vehicle had been left untouched in the no-parking zone for a full two hours before the alarm was raised by someone living nearby.</p>
<p>Christian institutions are frequently attacked in France by Muslims, from the recent <a href="" type="internal">spectacular decapitation of a Catholic priest</a> to the less reported but <a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;q=Churches+in+france+vandalized+by+Muslims&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-8" type="external">frequent desecration of churches,</a>&#160;Church iconography and statuary with vandalism and grafitti.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
|
Muslim owned car packed with gas cylinders found at Notre Dame Cathedral
| true |
http://therebel.media/muslim_owned_car_packed_with_gas_cylinders_found_at_notre_dame_cathedral
|
2016-09-07
| 0right
|
Muslim owned car packed with gas cylinders found at Notre Dame Cathedral
<p>A dry run for an attack on high value Christian buildings? Or a distraction for an attack on somewhere else?</p>
<p>According to the Daily Mail:</p>
<p>A radicalised French woman who wanted to run away and join ISIS is in custody in Paris today after abandoning a car packed with gas cylinders close to Notre Dame Cathedral. [...]</p>
<p>There were seven gas canisters inside - promoting fears of a terrorist attack on the ancient place of worship, which is high on a list of ISIS targets.</p>
<p>Despite being in the heart of tourist Paris, the suspect vehicle had been left untouched in the no-parking zone for a full two hours before the alarm was raised by someone living nearby.</p>
<p>Christian institutions are frequently attacked in France by Muslims, from the recent <a href="" type="internal">spectacular decapitation of a Catholic priest</a> to the less reported but <a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;q=Churches+in+france+vandalized+by+Muslims&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-8" type="external">frequent desecration of churches,</a>&#160;Church iconography and statuary with vandalism and grafitti.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
| 4,939 |
<p />
<p>In a volatile market, investors should beware of falling knives disguised as contrarian bargains. These stocks often look like they've been oversold, but could continue declining due to disruptive threats, market shifts, or unrealistic expectations. Let's take a look at two hated stocks which fit that description -- Ambarella and Twitter .</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>AmbarellaAmbarella manufactures image application processors for action cameras, drones, dash cams, security cameras, and other markets. However, its top customer is GoPro , which is expected topost a 15% decline in sales in 2016 due to <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/01/26/3-reasons-i-finally-sold-gopro-inc.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">sluggish demand Opens a New Window.</a> for action cameras. Pacific Crest estimates that GoPro orders will still account for around a quarter of Ambarella's sales this year.</p>
<p>Ambarella's A9 4K sports camera SoC. Source: Ambarella.</p>
<p>As a result, Ambarella expects its revenue to fall 20% to 22.5% annually during the first quarter, and its non-GAAP net income to plunge between 58% to 66%. To make matters worse, Qualcomm has been aggressively selling new mobile SoCs for <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/10/28/3-promising-markets-for-qualcomm-inc.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">connected cameras Opens a New Window.</a>. In addition to scoring several action camera and drone design wins last year, Qualcomm has been trying to win over GoPro and drone king DJI Innovations -- two ofAmbarella's biggest customers. Ambarella also faces rising competition from cheaper chipmakers, particularly in thesecurity and connected car markets. That pressure caused its gross margin to decline 20 basis points annually to 64.1% last quarter.</p>
<p>Simply put, Ambarella, a supplier which depends heavily on a niche market, is being targeted by a bigger chipmaker with deeper pockets, and could lose market share to cheaper rivals. Those big problems explain why Ambarella has fallen over 30% in 2016, and why it could continue sliding in the near future.</p>
<p>TwitterShares of Twitter have also fallen about 30% in 2016, and currently trade well below its IPO price of $26. Twitter's core problem is that its user growth has completely dried up. Last quarter, its monthly active users (MAUs) rose 9% annually and remained flat sequentially to 320 million.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>But excluding SMS Fast Follower users, which don't actually see Twitter's ads, MAUs actually fell 0.7% sequentially to 305 million. Revenue rose 58% in 2015, but that represents a big slowdown from111% growth in 2014 and 110% growth in 2013.</p>
<p>Twitter's mobile app. Source: iTunes.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, analysts expect Twitter's revenue growth to slow to 34% in 2016 and26% in 2017. To make matters worse, Twitter admitted that 8.5% of its MAUs probably weren't real people at the end of 2014, but it hasn't updated that figure since then. Twitter remains unprofitable on a GAAP basis, mainly due to stock-based compensation -- which rose 7.5% last year and gobbled up over 30% of its revenue.</p>
<p>After co-founder Jack Dorsey returned as CEO <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/10/06/twitter-inc-gets-a-permanent-ceo-now-what.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">last October Opens a New Window.</a>, Twitter curated its top tweets with Moments, tested out non-chronological tweets, tested new ads for logged out users, replaced favorites with "likes," launched "conversational" ads to connect marketers with customers, and integrated Periscope videos into the timeline. During the fourth quarter, those efforts led to a 33% annual increase in average ad revenue per user to $2.00, a 90% jump in active advertisers to 130,000, and a 220% jump in video views. Unfortunately, none of those initiatives generated fresh MAU growth, which Twitter desperately needs to prop up its stock price.</p>
<p>Don't be fooled by buyout rumorsThere's been a lot of buzz about Ambarella and Twitter being potential buyout targets. Ambarella certainly looks pretty cheap with an enterprise value under $1 billion, and could be <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/12/09/3-simple-reasons-qualcomm-inc-should-buy-ambarella.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">a smart purchase Opens a New Window.</a> for a bigger chipmaker like Qualcomm. Twitter, which has an enterprise value of $10 billion, could be a smart buy for tech giants which need a social networking presence.</p>
<p>But in my opinion, those suitors won't move in if they think Ambarella or Twitter could be bought at even cheaper prices. That could certainly happen, since Ambarella remains chained to the action camera market and Twitter's MAUs could flatten out and decline. Therefore, I'm steering clear of both stocks until I see sustainable signs of improvement.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/17/2-stocks-id-hate-to-buy-ambarella-inc-and-twitter.aspx" type="external">2 Stocks I'd Hate to Buy: Ambarella Inc. and Twitter Inc. Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSunLion/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Leo Sun Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Qualcomm. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Ambarella, GoPro, Qualcomm, and Twitter. 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>
|
2 Stocks I'd Hate to Buy: Ambarella Inc. and Twitter Inc.
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/03/17/2-stocks-id-hate-to-buy-ambarella-inc-and-twitter-inc.html
|
2016-03-17
| 0right
|
2 Stocks I'd Hate to Buy: Ambarella Inc. and Twitter Inc.
<p />
<p>In a volatile market, investors should beware of falling knives disguised as contrarian bargains. These stocks often look like they've been oversold, but could continue declining due to disruptive threats, market shifts, or unrealistic expectations. Let's take a look at two hated stocks which fit that description -- Ambarella and Twitter .</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>AmbarellaAmbarella manufactures image application processors for action cameras, drones, dash cams, security cameras, and other markets. However, its top customer is GoPro , which is expected topost a 15% decline in sales in 2016 due to <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/01/26/3-reasons-i-finally-sold-gopro-inc.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">sluggish demand Opens a New Window.</a> for action cameras. Pacific Crest estimates that GoPro orders will still account for around a quarter of Ambarella's sales this year.</p>
<p>Ambarella's A9 4K sports camera SoC. Source: Ambarella.</p>
<p>As a result, Ambarella expects its revenue to fall 20% to 22.5% annually during the first quarter, and its non-GAAP net income to plunge between 58% to 66%. To make matters worse, Qualcomm has been aggressively selling new mobile SoCs for <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/10/28/3-promising-markets-for-qualcomm-inc.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">connected cameras Opens a New Window.</a>. In addition to scoring several action camera and drone design wins last year, Qualcomm has been trying to win over GoPro and drone king DJI Innovations -- two ofAmbarella's biggest customers. Ambarella also faces rising competition from cheaper chipmakers, particularly in thesecurity and connected car markets. That pressure caused its gross margin to decline 20 basis points annually to 64.1% last quarter.</p>
<p>Simply put, Ambarella, a supplier which depends heavily on a niche market, is being targeted by a bigger chipmaker with deeper pockets, and could lose market share to cheaper rivals. Those big problems explain why Ambarella has fallen over 30% in 2016, and why it could continue sliding in the near future.</p>
<p>TwitterShares of Twitter have also fallen about 30% in 2016, and currently trade well below its IPO price of $26. Twitter's core problem is that its user growth has completely dried up. Last quarter, its monthly active users (MAUs) rose 9% annually and remained flat sequentially to 320 million.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>But excluding SMS Fast Follower users, which don't actually see Twitter's ads, MAUs actually fell 0.7% sequentially to 305 million. Revenue rose 58% in 2015, but that represents a big slowdown from111% growth in 2014 and 110% growth in 2013.</p>
<p>Twitter's mobile app. Source: iTunes.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, analysts expect Twitter's revenue growth to slow to 34% in 2016 and26% in 2017. To make matters worse, Twitter admitted that 8.5% of its MAUs probably weren't real people at the end of 2014, but it hasn't updated that figure since then. Twitter remains unprofitable on a GAAP basis, mainly due to stock-based compensation -- which rose 7.5% last year and gobbled up over 30% of its revenue.</p>
<p>After co-founder Jack Dorsey returned as CEO <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/10/06/twitter-inc-gets-a-permanent-ceo-now-what.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">last October Opens a New Window.</a>, Twitter curated its top tweets with Moments, tested out non-chronological tweets, tested new ads for logged out users, replaced favorites with "likes," launched "conversational" ads to connect marketers with customers, and integrated Periscope videos into the timeline. During the fourth quarter, those efforts led to a 33% annual increase in average ad revenue per user to $2.00, a 90% jump in active advertisers to 130,000, and a 220% jump in video views. Unfortunately, none of those initiatives generated fresh MAU growth, which Twitter desperately needs to prop up its stock price.</p>
<p>Don't be fooled by buyout rumorsThere's been a lot of buzz about Ambarella and Twitter being potential buyout targets. Ambarella certainly looks pretty cheap with an enterprise value under $1 billion, and could be <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/12/09/3-simple-reasons-qualcomm-inc-should-buy-ambarella.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">a smart purchase Opens a New Window.</a> for a bigger chipmaker like Qualcomm. Twitter, which has an enterprise value of $10 billion, could be a smart buy for tech giants which need a social networking presence.</p>
<p>But in my opinion, those suitors won't move in if they think Ambarella or Twitter could be bought at even cheaper prices. That could certainly happen, since Ambarella remains chained to the action camera market and Twitter's MAUs could flatten out and decline. Therefore, I'm steering clear of both stocks until I see sustainable signs of improvement.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/17/2-stocks-id-hate-to-buy-ambarella-inc-and-twitter.aspx" type="external">2 Stocks I'd Hate to Buy: Ambarella Inc. and Twitter Inc. Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSunLion/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Leo Sun Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Qualcomm. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Ambarella, GoPro, Qualcomm, and Twitter. 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>
| 4,940 |
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>As megachurches continue to sprout across the country, a new study concludes that many of the common assumptions about these large houses of worship are simply not true.</p>
<p>The study, Megachurches Today 2005, also concludes that they are not a passing religious fancy. The number of congregations of over 2,000 members has increased by nearly 50 percent since 2000.</p>
<p>The story said:</p>
<p>The conclusions were based on an eight-month survey of 400 megachurches undertaken by the <a href="http://hirr.hartsem.edu/org/faith_megachurches_research.html" type="external">Hartford Institute for Religion Research</a>&#160;-- a research arm of the seminary&#160;-- and the Leadership Network, a church growth consulting firm based in Dallas. The findings are based on answers supplied by the churches themselves.</p>
<p>The survey reveals that virtually all megachurches share common traits of a dynamic senior pastor, emphasis on conservative values, and building small groups to offset its size.</p>
<p>They also know how to make worship entertaining. Roughly 80 percent use electric guitars and drums while nearly all use visual projection equipment for sermons and song aids.</p>
<p><a href="http://hirr.hartsem.edu/org/megastoday2005_profile.html" type="external">See the report's profile of 1200 megachurches nationwide</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The report says this is where the big churches are:</p>
<p />
<p>I found this idea on the <a href="http://notes.sej.org/sej/tipsheet.nsf/5c4d381a935008dd86256e7b000312eb/D63475D1265887258625711600512971" type="external">Society&#160;of Environmental Journalists</a> Web site.</p>
<p>For years, it's been generally known that larger urban areas can be 5-10 degrees warmer than the nearby countryside. The increased simmer can cause problems such as higher energy use for cooling, heat stress on humans, and increased pollution as airborne chemicals cook.</p>
<p>Now NASA researchers have come out with more hard information about viable solutions. Based on the results of a study conducted in 2002 of many areas of New York City, they have concluded that two of the simple solutions proposed in years past&#160;-- increased use of light-colored roofs, and increased planting of trees&#160;-- likely will be the most effective in damping down the heat. They presented <a href="http://www.sej.org/go/060215-10.htm" type="external">their findings</a> at the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society, held Jan. 29-Feb. 2, 2006, in Atlanta.</p>
<p>But planting appropriate trees is critical. <a href="http://www.sej.org/go/060215-11.htm" type="external">EPA researchers have found</a> that emissions from a number of species, such as oaks, maples, cottonwoods, pines, citrus, and eucalyptus, can significantly increase ozone.</p>
<p>Other urban heat island and urban forestry resources include:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2006-02-16-smokers-cost-more_x.htm?csp=34" type="external">USA Today</a> carried a story from the AP wire saying:</p>
<p>Smokers squeezed by soaring cigarette costs and workplace smoking bans are increasingly being hit with another cost increase&#160;-- this time for health insurance.</p>
<p>A growing number of private and public employers are requiring employees who use tobacco to pay higher premiums, hoping that will motivate more of them to stop smoking and lower health care costs for the companies and their workers.</p>
<p>Meijer, Gannett, American Financial, Pepsi and General Mills are among the companies already charging or planning to charge smokers higher premiums. The amounts range from about $20 to $50 a month.</p>
<p>"With health care costs increasing by double digits in the last few years, employers are desperate to rein in costs to themselves and their employees," said Linda Cushman, senior health care strategist with <a href="http://was4.hewitt.com/hewitt/" type="external">Hewitt Associates</a>, a human resources consulting and services firm.</p>
<p>She said the practice of smoker surcharges is becoming such a significant trend that this year, it will be part of Hewitt's annual survey of companies' current and future health care plans.</p>
|
Friday Edition: Megachurches Growing
| false |
https://poynter.org/news/friday-edition-megachurches-growing
|
2006-02-16
| 2least
|
Friday Edition: Megachurches Growing
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>As megachurches continue to sprout across the country, a new study concludes that many of the common assumptions about these large houses of worship are simply not true.</p>
<p>The study, Megachurches Today 2005, also concludes that they are not a passing religious fancy. The number of congregations of over 2,000 members has increased by nearly 50 percent since 2000.</p>
<p>The story said:</p>
<p>The conclusions were based on an eight-month survey of 400 megachurches undertaken by the <a href="http://hirr.hartsem.edu/org/faith_megachurches_research.html" type="external">Hartford Institute for Religion Research</a>&#160;-- a research arm of the seminary&#160;-- and the Leadership Network, a church growth consulting firm based in Dallas. The findings are based on answers supplied by the churches themselves.</p>
<p>The survey reveals that virtually all megachurches share common traits of a dynamic senior pastor, emphasis on conservative values, and building small groups to offset its size.</p>
<p>They also know how to make worship entertaining. Roughly 80 percent use electric guitars and drums while nearly all use visual projection equipment for sermons and song aids.</p>
<p><a href="http://hirr.hartsem.edu/org/megastoday2005_profile.html" type="external">See the report's profile of 1200 megachurches nationwide</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The report says this is where the big churches are:</p>
<p />
<p>I found this idea on the <a href="http://notes.sej.org/sej/tipsheet.nsf/5c4d381a935008dd86256e7b000312eb/D63475D1265887258625711600512971" type="external">Society&#160;of Environmental Journalists</a> Web site.</p>
<p>For years, it's been generally known that larger urban areas can be 5-10 degrees warmer than the nearby countryside. The increased simmer can cause problems such as higher energy use for cooling, heat stress on humans, and increased pollution as airborne chemicals cook.</p>
<p>Now NASA researchers have come out with more hard information about viable solutions. Based on the results of a study conducted in 2002 of many areas of New York City, they have concluded that two of the simple solutions proposed in years past&#160;-- increased use of light-colored roofs, and increased planting of trees&#160;-- likely will be the most effective in damping down the heat. They presented <a href="http://www.sej.org/go/060215-10.htm" type="external">their findings</a> at the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society, held Jan. 29-Feb. 2, 2006, in Atlanta.</p>
<p>But planting appropriate trees is critical. <a href="http://www.sej.org/go/060215-11.htm" type="external">EPA researchers have found</a> that emissions from a number of species, such as oaks, maples, cottonwoods, pines, citrus, and eucalyptus, can significantly increase ozone.</p>
<p>Other urban heat island and urban forestry resources include:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2006-02-16-smokers-cost-more_x.htm?csp=34" type="external">USA Today</a> carried a story from the AP wire saying:</p>
<p>Smokers squeezed by soaring cigarette costs and workplace smoking bans are increasingly being hit with another cost increase&#160;-- this time for health insurance.</p>
<p>A growing number of private and public employers are requiring employees who use tobacco to pay higher premiums, hoping that will motivate more of them to stop smoking and lower health care costs for the companies and their workers.</p>
<p>Meijer, Gannett, American Financial, Pepsi and General Mills are among the companies already charging or planning to charge smokers higher premiums. The amounts range from about $20 to $50 a month.</p>
<p>"With health care costs increasing by double digits in the last few years, employers are desperate to rein in costs to themselves and their employees," said Linda Cushman, senior health care strategist with <a href="http://was4.hewitt.com/hewitt/" type="external">Hewitt Associates</a>, a human resources consulting and services firm.</p>
<p>She said the practice of smoker surcharges is becoming such a significant trend that this year, it will be part of Hewitt's annual survey of companies' current and future health care plans.</p>
| 4,941 |
<p>What pretty, plush new seats the Hayes Theater has. This compact <a href="" type="internal">Broadway</a> house, the smallest on the Great White Way, has been renovated under its new owners Second Stage and reopened as a non-profit. Sadly, <a href="https://2st.com/shows/current-production/lobby-hero" type="external">Lobby Hero</a>, starring Chris “ <a href="" type="internal">Captain America</a>” Evans and <a href="" type="internal">Michael Cera</a> and directed by Trip Cullman, does not blazingly usher in the new dawn.</p>
<p>This stilted and tonally bizarre adaptation of Kenneth Lonergan’s 2001 play is about Jeff (Cera), a security guard in a Manhattan apartment building, whose slacker demeanor and barely applied dedication to the job hides a creepy horniness when it comes to the opposite sex which I think is supposed to be charming.</p>
<p>His senior is the African-American William (Brian Tyree Henry), who finds Jeff’s dry wit and nonchalant defiance of simple instruction understandably grating. Henry’s performance is the most affecting and energetic, as he wittily smacks down Jeff’s impertinence before wrestling with the consequences of giving his brother an alibi following an appalling rape and murder of a woman.</p>
<p>How true we should be to ourselves, the nature of justice, and how morally compromised we are in the service of justice are the play’s not small concerns.</p>
<p>The play’s other characters are two police officers, Bill (Evans, impressively not looking like <a href="" type="internal">superhero-Chris-Evans</a>) and Dawn (Bel Powley). Bill is an officer of the old school, which is to say likely-corrupt-school but who absolutely believes, or has made himself believe, that he is in the right about everything. He comes to the building to visit an apartment on the 22nd floor, presumably to have sex with its female occupant. Because he can.</p>
<p>Dawn is a rookie cop, and at first seems to simply hero worship Bill; but actually they’re having sex too. Jeff also wants Dawn, and creeps on her in such a way that we are supposed to find funny. It’s not, it’s skin-crawling— yet it’s written and played for laughs. Dawn wants to be taken seriously, is gas-lighted by her boss, then suddenly apparently wants to be loved, sporadically explodes <a href="" type="internal">Veruca Salt</a>-style, then asserts herself and her professionalism.</p>
<p>How should Lobby Hero sound or look for it to make sense? This production feels lost between slacker farce and corruption drama. You’re not really sure how to feel about any of these four characters, except William—and even then we’re not clued in enough to the truth of his situation to know how skewed our sympathies should be. The play raises, then leaves floating, the racism William rightly fears within the justice system.</p>
<p>Cera plays Jeff best as a ruffled, lost young man – with a steely guile to be deployed against Bill – that you could root for if he wasn't so weird around Dawn. Life has dealt him an unlucky hand, and he needs the money from this job desperately for independence.</p>
<p>But Jeff also comes across as a drifting millennial, diffidently keeping his hands glued to his hips (which looks strange), and speaking so quietly that if you are not in the front rows the biggest impulse must be to bellow for him to speak up, especially when the focus of the play and his own moment of moral choice emerges.</p>
<p>Evans and Powley both suffer from “New Yoikk cop” accent-itis; that is Evans keeps stroking his bushy ‘stache, and being either smart, cocky, or menacing, or a puffed-up fool. Again, is he manipulative sociopath or self-important dunderhead? Evans plays him as both (better, chillingly, as the sociopath), diluting the character.</p>
<p>Dawn reminded me of Scrappy-Doo, Scooby’s nephew. Her character shifts are plain baffling, such as when she ruminates to Jeff that she will be raped after her shift by Bill, who is coercing her into having sex with him that so he backs her up in an assault incident she is under scrutiny for.</p>
<p>That’s a huge and terrible thing to reveal, or feel. But the line pops out, its consequence and impact go unexamined, and suddenly we’re back to Jeff trying to greasily wheedle his way into her good graces. Rape is a convenient plot adornment in Lobby Hero, and it should be more than that. Yes, Dawn gets a great last line, and you may cheer its delivery. But she deserves much more in the course of the play.</p>
<p>Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast.</p>
<p>A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't).</p>
<p>Who is the "lobby hero"? Lonergan presumably means Jeff whose occasional acts of heroism are for sure cute and emphatic, but he also seems as selfish, sexist, and self-interested as the more obviously heinous Bill. The actors don’t discern the shifts of their characters subtly enough for us to reconcile those jangling opposites. There are odd gaps during conversations. Are these stylistic? They bring a halting sense to what should be flowing exchanges.</p>
<p>The static nature of the characters’ encounters is signaled by one of the strangest sets on Broadway I've seen so far this season. A third of the stage on the left side goes completely unused, meaning if you are on the left-hand side of the theater you are always, apart from one moment towards the end, looking right to the rotating turntable that is set up – with standing desk, chairs and elevator doors – as the apartment building lobby.</p>
<p>The play is performed, for no discernible reason, on the right-hand side of the Hayes stage. If you are sitting on the left flank, your main bit of design company comes care of a large street lamp.</p>
<p>The segues between scenes, day, and night, take place with little rotations of this lobby. Although the mechanism doesn’t creak, your puzzled mind adds a creak to it. This turntable is set back itself on the stage, because the gap in between is supposed to be the rarely-used street outside the apartment block. That distance from audience to action, and physically off-center nature of the stage itself, makes the production look and feel even more off-key.</p>
<p>Still, there is always the mystery of what Evans does when he disappears behind the supposed elevator doors every time his character goes up to that 22nd floor. He doesn’t seem to leave the stage. (Maybe he does, he’s Captain America in another life after all.) Is he just standing there, awaiting his character’s re-entry, for long slices of time? If so, top marks for the kind of stealthy concealment worthy of a superhero.</p>
<p>Lobby Hero is at the Hayes Theater, 250 West 44th Street. <a href="https://2st.com/shows/current-production/lobby-hero" type="external">Book here</a>.</p>
|
Captain America Turns Bad Cop: Review of Chris Evans in ‘Lobby Hero’
| true |
https://thedailybeast.com/captain-america-turns-bad-cop-review-of-chris-evans-in-lobby-hero
|
2018-10-03
| 4left
|
Captain America Turns Bad Cop: Review of Chris Evans in ‘Lobby Hero’
<p>What pretty, plush new seats the Hayes Theater has. This compact <a href="" type="internal">Broadway</a> house, the smallest on the Great White Way, has been renovated under its new owners Second Stage and reopened as a non-profit. Sadly, <a href="https://2st.com/shows/current-production/lobby-hero" type="external">Lobby Hero</a>, starring Chris “ <a href="" type="internal">Captain America</a>” Evans and <a href="" type="internal">Michael Cera</a> and directed by Trip Cullman, does not blazingly usher in the new dawn.</p>
<p>This stilted and tonally bizarre adaptation of Kenneth Lonergan’s 2001 play is about Jeff (Cera), a security guard in a Manhattan apartment building, whose slacker demeanor and barely applied dedication to the job hides a creepy horniness when it comes to the opposite sex which I think is supposed to be charming.</p>
<p>His senior is the African-American William (Brian Tyree Henry), who finds Jeff’s dry wit and nonchalant defiance of simple instruction understandably grating. Henry’s performance is the most affecting and energetic, as he wittily smacks down Jeff’s impertinence before wrestling with the consequences of giving his brother an alibi following an appalling rape and murder of a woman.</p>
<p>How true we should be to ourselves, the nature of justice, and how morally compromised we are in the service of justice are the play’s not small concerns.</p>
<p>The play’s other characters are two police officers, Bill (Evans, impressively not looking like <a href="" type="internal">superhero-Chris-Evans</a>) and Dawn (Bel Powley). Bill is an officer of the old school, which is to say likely-corrupt-school but who absolutely believes, or has made himself believe, that he is in the right about everything. He comes to the building to visit an apartment on the 22nd floor, presumably to have sex with its female occupant. Because he can.</p>
<p>Dawn is a rookie cop, and at first seems to simply hero worship Bill; but actually they’re having sex too. Jeff also wants Dawn, and creeps on her in such a way that we are supposed to find funny. It’s not, it’s skin-crawling— yet it’s written and played for laughs. Dawn wants to be taken seriously, is gas-lighted by her boss, then suddenly apparently wants to be loved, sporadically explodes <a href="" type="internal">Veruca Salt</a>-style, then asserts herself and her professionalism.</p>
<p>How should Lobby Hero sound or look for it to make sense? This production feels lost between slacker farce and corruption drama. You’re not really sure how to feel about any of these four characters, except William—and even then we’re not clued in enough to the truth of his situation to know how skewed our sympathies should be. The play raises, then leaves floating, the racism William rightly fears within the justice system.</p>
<p>Cera plays Jeff best as a ruffled, lost young man – with a steely guile to be deployed against Bill – that you could root for if he wasn't so weird around Dawn. Life has dealt him an unlucky hand, and he needs the money from this job desperately for independence.</p>
<p>But Jeff also comes across as a drifting millennial, diffidently keeping his hands glued to his hips (which looks strange), and speaking so quietly that if you are not in the front rows the biggest impulse must be to bellow for him to speak up, especially when the focus of the play and his own moment of moral choice emerges.</p>
<p>Evans and Powley both suffer from “New Yoikk cop” accent-itis; that is Evans keeps stroking his bushy ‘stache, and being either smart, cocky, or menacing, or a puffed-up fool. Again, is he manipulative sociopath or self-important dunderhead? Evans plays him as both (better, chillingly, as the sociopath), diluting the character.</p>
<p>Dawn reminded me of Scrappy-Doo, Scooby’s nephew. Her character shifts are plain baffling, such as when she ruminates to Jeff that she will be raped after her shift by Bill, who is coercing her into having sex with him that so he backs her up in an assault incident she is under scrutiny for.</p>
<p>That’s a huge and terrible thing to reveal, or feel. But the line pops out, its consequence and impact go unexamined, and suddenly we’re back to Jeff trying to greasily wheedle his way into her good graces. Rape is a convenient plot adornment in Lobby Hero, and it should be more than that. Yes, Dawn gets a great last line, and you may cheer its delivery. But she deserves much more in the course of the play.</p>
<p>Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast.</p>
<p>A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't).</p>
<p>Who is the "lobby hero"? Lonergan presumably means Jeff whose occasional acts of heroism are for sure cute and emphatic, but he also seems as selfish, sexist, and self-interested as the more obviously heinous Bill. The actors don’t discern the shifts of their characters subtly enough for us to reconcile those jangling opposites. There are odd gaps during conversations. Are these stylistic? They bring a halting sense to what should be flowing exchanges.</p>
<p>The static nature of the characters’ encounters is signaled by one of the strangest sets on Broadway I've seen so far this season. A third of the stage on the left side goes completely unused, meaning if you are on the left-hand side of the theater you are always, apart from one moment towards the end, looking right to the rotating turntable that is set up – with standing desk, chairs and elevator doors – as the apartment building lobby.</p>
<p>The play is performed, for no discernible reason, on the right-hand side of the Hayes stage. If you are sitting on the left flank, your main bit of design company comes care of a large street lamp.</p>
<p>The segues between scenes, day, and night, take place with little rotations of this lobby. Although the mechanism doesn’t creak, your puzzled mind adds a creak to it. This turntable is set back itself on the stage, because the gap in between is supposed to be the rarely-used street outside the apartment block. That distance from audience to action, and physically off-center nature of the stage itself, makes the production look and feel even more off-key.</p>
<p>Still, there is always the mystery of what Evans does when he disappears behind the supposed elevator doors every time his character goes up to that 22nd floor. He doesn’t seem to leave the stage. (Maybe he does, he’s Captain America in another life after all.) Is he just standing there, awaiting his character’s re-entry, for long slices of time? If so, top marks for the kind of stealthy concealment worthy of a superhero.</p>
<p>Lobby Hero is at the Hayes Theater, 250 West 44th Street. <a href="https://2st.com/shows/current-production/lobby-hero" type="external">Book here</a>.</p>
| 4,942 |
<p />
<p>The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is in the early stages of launching a debate about climate change that could air on television – challenging scientists to prove the widespread view that global warming is a serious threat, the head of the agency said.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The move comes as the administration of President Donald Trump seeks to roll back a slew of Obama-era regulations limiting carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, and begins a withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement - a global pact to stem planetary warming through emissions cuts.</p>
<p>"There are lots of questions that have not been asked and answered (about climate change)," EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt told Reuters in an interview late on Monday.</p>
<p>"Who better to do that than a group of scientists... getting together and having a robust discussion for all the world to see," he added without explaining how the scientists would be chosen.</p>
<p>Asked if he thought the debate should be televised, Pruitt said: "I think so. I think so. I mean, I don’t know yet, but you want this to be open to the world. You want this to be on full display. I think the American people would be very interested in consuming that. I think they deserve it."</p>
<p>Pruitt, one of the most controversial figures in the Trump administration, has repeatedly expressed doubts about climate change – one of the main points of contention in his narrow confirmation by the Senate.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>While acknowledging the planet is warming, Pruitt says he questions the gravity of the problem and the need for regulations that require companies to take costly measures to reduce their carbon footprint.</p>
<p>"It is a question about how much we contribute to it. How do we measure that with precision? And by the way, are we on an unsustainable path? And is it causing an existential threat?" he said in the interview.</p>
<p>Since taking up his role at EPA, he has emerged as one of the more prolific Trump cabinet appointees, taking steps to undo more than two dozen regulations, and influencing Trump’s decision to pull the United States from the Paris climate change deal, agreed by nearly 200 countries in 2015.</p>
<p>Pruitt rejected global criticism of the United States for pulling out of the climate deal, which Trump has said would have cost America trillions of dollars without benefit.</p>
<p>"We have nothing to be apologetic about," Pruitt said. "It was absolutely a decision of courage and fortitude and truly represented an America First strategy with respect to how we are leading on this issue."</p>
<p>Pruitt said the United States had already cut its carbon output to the lowest levels in nearly 25 years without mandates, thanks mainly to increased use of natural gas - which burns cleaner than coal.</p>
<p>"RED TEAM, BLUE TEAM" TACTICS</p>
<p>Pruitt said his desire for the agency to host an ongoing climate change debate was inspired by two articles published in April – one in the Wall Street Journal by theoretical physicist Steve Koonin, who served as undersecretary of energy under Obama – and one by conservative columnist Brett Stephens in the New York Times.</p>
<p>Koonin’s article made the case that climate science should use the "red team-blue team" methodology used by the national security community to test assumptions. Stephens’ article criticized claims of complete certainty in climate science, saying that it "traduces the spirit of science."</p>
<p>Pruitt said scientists should not scoff at the idea of participating in these debates.</p>
<p>"If you’re going to win and if you’re so certain about it, come and do your deal. They shouldn’t be scared of the debate and discussion," he said.</p>
<p>Pruitt said debate is not necessarily aimed at undermining the 2009 "endangerment finding," the scientific determination that carbon dioxide harms human health that formed the basis for the Democratic Obama administration's regulation of greenhouse gases. He said there may be a legal basis to challenge the finding but would prefer Congress weigh in on the matter.</p>
<p>In the interview, Pruitt added that he intended to deal "very aggressively" with automakers that use devices to cheat emissions tests, and would also seek to boost accountability for companies to clean up polluted sites under the Superfund program.</p>
<p>He said EPA was also not ready to decide yet on a change proposed by Trump’s special adviser Carl Icahn to the U.S. biofuels program, that would shift the burden of blending biofuels like ethanol into gasoline away from refiners to companies further down the supply chain.</p>
<p>(Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Marguerita Choy)</p>
|
EPA chief wants scientists to debate climate on TV
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/07/11/epa-chief-wants-scientists-to-debate-climate-on-tv.html
|
2017-07-11
| 0right
|
EPA chief wants scientists to debate climate on TV
<p />
<p>The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is in the early stages of launching a debate about climate change that could air on television – challenging scientists to prove the widespread view that global warming is a serious threat, the head of the agency said.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The move comes as the administration of President Donald Trump seeks to roll back a slew of Obama-era regulations limiting carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, and begins a withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement - a global pact to stem planetary warming through emissions cuts.</p>
<p>"There are lots of questions that have not been asked and answered (about climate change)," EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt told Reuters in an interview late on Monday.</p>
<p>"Who better to do that than a group of scientists... getting together and having a robust discussion for all the world to see," he added without explaining how the scientists would be chosen.</p>
<p>Asked if he thought the debate should be televised, Pruitt said: "I think so. I think so. I mean, I don’t know yet, but you want this to be open to the world. You want this to be on full display. I think the American people would be very interested in consuming that. I think they deserve it."</p>
<p>Pruitt, one of the most controversial figures in the Trump administration, has repeatedly expressed doubts about climate change – one of the main points of contention in his narrow confirmation by the Senate.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>While acknowledging the planet is warming, Pruitt says he questions the gravity of the problem and the need for regulations that require companies to take costly measures to reduce their carbon footprint.</p>
<p>"It is a question about how much we contribute to it. How do we measure that with precision? And by the way, are we on an unsustainable path? And is it causing an existential threat?" he said in the interview.</p>
<p>Since taking up his role at EPA, he has emerged as one of the more prolific Trump cabinet appointees, taking steps to undo more than two dozen regulations, and influencing Trump’s decision to pull the United States from the Paris climate change deal, agreed by nearly 200 countries in 2015.</p>
<p>Pruitt rejected global criticism of the United States for pulling out of the climate deal, which Trump has said would have cost America trillions of dollars without benefit.</p>
<p>"We have nothing to be apologetic about," Pruitt said. "It was absolutely a decision of courage and fortitude and truly represented an America First strategy with respect to how we are leading on this issue."</p>
<p>Pruitt said the United States had already cut its carbon output to the lowest levels in nearly 25 years without mandates, thanks mainly to increased use of natural gas - which burns cleaner than coal.</p>
<p>"RED TEAM, BLUE TEAM" TACTICS</p>
<p>Pruitt said his desire for the agency to host an ongoing climate change debate was inspired by two articles published in April – one in the Wall Street Journal by theoretical physicist Steve Koonin, who served as undersecretary of energy under Obama – and one by conservative columnist Brett Stephens in the New York Times.</p>
<p>Koonin’s article made the case that climate science should use the "red team-blue team" methodology used by the national security community to test assumptions. Stephens’ article criticized claims of complete certainty in climate science, saying that it "traduces the spirit of science."</p>
<p>Pruitt said scientists should not scoff at the idea of participating in these debates.</p>
<p>"If you’re going to win and if you’re so certain about it, come and do your deal. They shouldn’t be scared of the debate and discussion," he said.</p>
<p>Pruitt said debate is not necessarily aimed at undermining the 2009 "endangerment finding," the scientific determination that carbon dioxide harms human health that formed the basis for the Democratic Obama administration's regulation of greenhouse gases. He said there may be a legal basis to challenge the finding but would prefer Congress weigh in on the matter.</p>
<p>In the interview, Pruitt added that he intended to deal "very aggressively" with automakers that use devices to cheat emissions tests, and would also seek to boost accountability for companies to clean up polluted sites under the Superfund program.</p>
<p>He said EPA was also not ready to decide yet on a change proposed by Trump’s special adviser Carl Icahn to the U.S. biofuels program, that would shift the burden of blending biofuels like ethanol into gasoline away from refiners to companies further down the supply chain.</p>
<p>(Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Marguerita Choy)</p>
| 4,943 |
<p>Alexandra and Lori, getting weird.</p>
<p>This coming weekend our own <a href="" type="internal">Alexandra Brodsky</a> is celebrating her birthday. We’re so glad she came into this world, and even more glad that she entered our <a href="" type="internal">So You Think You Can Blog</a> contest a year and half ago.</p>
<p>These days, Alexandra juggles being an editor at Feministing and leading a <a href="http://knowyourix.org/" type="external">nationwide movement to end campus sexual assault</a> that’s gotten the attention of very important people like <a href="" type="internal">Amy Poehler</a> and the <a href="" type="internal">President of the United States</a>. And I hear she somehow still has time to&#160;attend Yale law school too.&#160;</p>
<p>Not only has Alexandra done a ton of work to highlight the efforts of campus activists fighting against sexual assault–and expose the failures of the system–she has really pushed the conversation around rape culture and sexual violence forward. She’s called for <a href="" type="internal">school sexual misconduct boards to be sites of transformative justice</a>, challenged the&#160; <a href="" type="internal">singular narrative of the&#160;Platonic Rape Victim</a>, and <a href="" type="internal">denounced</a> <a href="" type="internal">victim-blaming</a> <a href="" type="internal">time and time</a> again–on this blog and in the mainstream media. Just yesterday, she had a really important piece about why <a href="" type="internal">you shouldn’t be friends with rapists</a>, which you should read now. I have so much respect and appreciation for Alexandra’s deep commitment to not only challenging the status quo but also <a href="" type="internal">imagining and aiming for the world we want</a>, and I’m incredibly thankful to have her insight on this blog.</p>
<p>Little known facts about Alexandra: She was&#160;a competitive chess player as a child.&#160;Her Hebrew name translates to “Queen Angel,” which was what she planned to name her pop debut as a kid. In related news, Alexandra’s nickname among the Feministing crew will henceforth be&#160;Queen Angel.</p>
<p>Join me in wishing Alexandra the happiest of birthdays on <a href="https://twitter.com/azbrodsky" type="external">Twitter</a> today!</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="https://twitter.com/mayadusenbery" type="external">Maya Dusenbery</a> is an Executive Director of Feministing.</p>
|
Happy birthday Alexandra!
| true |
http://feministing.com/2014/02/07/happy-birthday-alexandra/
| 4left
|
Happy birthday Alexandra!
<p>Alexandra and Lori, getting weird.</p>
<p>This coming weekend our own <a href="" type="internal">Alexandra Brodsky</a> is celebrating her birthday. We’re so glad she came into this world, and even more glad that she entered our <a href="" type="internal">So You Think You Can Blog</a> contest a year and half ago.</p>
<p>These days, Alexandra juggles being an editor at Feministing and leading a <a href="http://knowyourix.org/" type="external">nationwide movement to end campus sexual assault</a> that’s gotten the attention of very important people like <a href="" type="internal">Amy Poehler</a> and the <a href="" type="internal">President of the United States</a>. And I hear she somehow still has time to&#160;attend Yale law school too.&#160;</p>
<p>Not only has Alexandra done a ton of work to highlight the efforts of campus activists fighting against sexual assault–and expose the failures of the system–she has really pushed the conversation around rape culture and sexual violence forward. She’s called for <a href="" type="internal">school sexual misconduct boards to be sites of transformative justice</a>, challenged the&#160; <a href="" type="internal">singular narrative of the&#160;Platonic Rape Victim</a>, and <a href="" type="internal">denounced</a> <a href="" type="internal">victim-blaming</a> <a href="" type="internal">time and time</a> again–on this blog and in the mainstream media. Just yesterday, she had a really important piece about why <a href="" type="internal">you shouldn’t be friends with rapists</a>, which you should read now. I have so much respect and appreciation for Alexandra’s deep commitment to not only challenging the status quo but also <a href="" type="internal">imagining and aiming for the world we want</a>, and I’m incredibly thankful to have her insight on this blog.</p>
<p>Little known facts about Alexandra: She was&#160;a competitive chess player as a child.&#160;Her Hebrew name translates to “Queen Angel,” which was what she planned to name her pop debut as a kid. In related news, Alexandra’s nickname among the Feministing crew will henceforth be&#160;Queen Angel.</p>
<p>Join me in wishing Alexandra the happiest of birthdays on <a href="https://twitter.com/azbrodsky" type="external">Twitter</a> today!</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="https://twitter.com/mayadusenbery" type="external">Maya Dusenbery</a> is an Executive Director of Feministing.</p>
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|
<p>MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A nephew of Madison Police Chief Mike Koval is accused of battering a police officer, resisting arrest and threatening to have officers fired following a fight at a bar in December.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/courts/nephew-of-madison-police-chief-charged-with-battering-threatening-police/article_0f22307f-9160-5974-8cb5-165be6ceea5a.html?utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=wisconsin%20state%20journal" type="external">State Journal</a> reports that 22-year-old Connor Koval is charged with felony battery to a law enforcement officer, misdemeanor resisting arrest and misdemeanor disorderly conduct.</p>
<p>Authorities say Connor Koval aggressively lunged at and battered Sgt. Matthew Baker in the early morning hours of Dec. 9 outside of the Double U bar, while also stating he hoped the arresting officers would be shot.</p>
<p>The defendant’s attorney, Chris Van Wagner, says Koval was intoxicated and said a number of things he “truly regrets.” Van Wagner says Koval is embarrassed that he “has put his uncle, the chief, in this position.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Wisconsin State Journal, <a href="http://www.madison.com/wsj" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.madison.com/wsj" type="external">http://www.madison.com/wsj</a></p>
<p>MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A nephew of Madison Police Chief Mike Koval is accused of battering a police officer, resisting arrest and threatening to have officers fired following a fight at a bar in December.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/courts/nephew-of-madison-police-chief-charged-with-battering-threatening-police/article_0f22307f-9160-5974-8cb5-165be6ceea5a.html?utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=wisconsin%20state%20journal" type="external">State Journal</a> reports that 22-year-old Connor Koval is charged with felony battery to a law enforcement officer, misdemeanor resisting arrest and misdemeanor disorderly conduct.</p>
<p>Authorities say Connor Koval aggressively lunged at and battered Sgt. Matthew Baker in the early morning hours of Dec. 9 outside of the Double U bar, while also stating he hoped the arresting officers would be shot.</p>
<p>The defendant’s attorney, Chris Van Wagner, says Koval was intoxicated and said a number of things he “truly regrets.” Van Wagner says Koval is embarrassed that he “has put his uncle, the chief, in this position.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Wisconsin State Journal, <a href="http://www.madison.com/wsj" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.madison.com/wsj" type="external">http://www.madison.com/wsj</a></p>
|
Madison police chief’s nephew charged in scuffle with police
| false |
https://apnews.com/8c1af80f966c438288688356ac686c55
|
2018-01-26
| 2least
|
Madison police chief’s nephew charged in scuffle with police
<p>MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A nephew of Madison Police Chief Mike Koval is accused of battering a police officer, resisting arrest and threatening to have officers fired following a fight at a bar in December.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/courts/nephew-of-madison-police-chief-charged-with-battering-threatening-police/article_0f22307f-9160-5974-8cb5-165be6ceea5a.html?utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=wisconsin%20state%20journal" type="external">State Journal</a> reports that 22-year-old Connor Koval is charged with felony battery to a law enforcement officer, misdemeanor resisting arrest and misdemeanor disorderly conduct.</p>
<p>Authorities say Connor Koval aggressively lunged at and battered Sgt. Matthew Baker in the early morning hours of Dec. 9 outside of the Double U bar, while also stating he hoped the arresting officers would be shot.</p>
<p>The defendant’s attorney, Chris Van Wagner, says Koval was intoxicated and said a number of things he “truly regrets.” Van Wagner says Koval is embarrassed that he “has put his uncle, the chief, in this position.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Wisconsin State Journal, <a href="http://www.madison.com/wsj" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.madison.com/wsj" type="external">http://www.madison.com/wsj</a></p>
<p>MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A nephew of Madison Police Chief Mike Koval is accused of battering a police officer, resisting arrest and threatening to have officers fired following a fight at a bar in December.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/courts/nephew-of-madison-police-chief-charged-with-battering-threatening-police/article_0f22307f-9160-5974-8cb5-165be6ceea5a.html?utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=wisconsin%20state%20journal" type="external">State Journal</a> reports that 22-year-old Connor Koval is charged with felony battery to a law enforcement officer, misdemeanor resisting arrest and misdemeanor disorderly conduct.</p>
<p>Authorities say Connor Koval aggressively lunged at and battered Sgt. Matthew Baker in the early morning hours of Dec. 9 outside of the Double U bar, while also stating he hoped the arresting officers would be shot.</p>
<p>The defendant’s attorney, Chris Van Wagner, says Koval was intoxicated and said a number of things he “truly regrets.” Van Wagner says Koval is embarrassed that he “has put his uncle, the chief, in this position.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Wisconsin State Journal, <a href="http://www.madison.com/wsj" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.madison.com/wsj" type="external">http://www.madison.com/wsj</a></p>
| 4,945 |
<p />
<p>Starting over is never easy, but many small business owners will tell you the lessons learned from a failed startup were critical to the success of the their next venture.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Here, three entrepreneurs share their first-time failures that ultimately led to successful startups the second time around.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.topclassactions.com/" type="external">Scott Hardy, Founder of Top Class Actions&#160; Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>When the dot-com bubble burst, Scott Hardy was an IT manager at a major technology firm. He was laid off in 2001 and figured he would hang his own shingle.</p>
<p>Since he worked in the tech sector, he settled on an IT consulting business. But looking back, Hardy says his approach was more like "throwing a dart at the board."</p>
<p>Although he had been an IT manager, his technical expertise in the trenches had quickly become outdated. He was in over his head, and wasn't really driven to change. "I didn't have the passion to make it succeed," Hardy said. "So I set myself up to fail. The business imploded within eight months."</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Biggest Mistakes: "There was no marketing, no real business plan. I didn't put down on paper what I was going to do. I also thought I was a lot more qualified than I really was."</p>
<p>Tipping Point: "When I lost my main client, which was 90% of my revenue, I didn't press on because I wasn't confident in my abilities or myself." The business shut down in 2002 and Hardy went back to the corporate world.</p>
<p>Starting Over: Six years later, while flipping through a magazine, Hardy spotted a legal notice for a class-action lawsuit. Surely, there was a Web site to track these easy-to-claim lawsuits, he thought. But there wasn't, so he built one.</p>
<p><a href="http://topclassactions.com/" type="external">TopClassActions.com Opens a New Window.</a> was founded in 2008.</p>
<p>"At this point in my life I was emotionally ready to do it. I created a business plan and brought on an advisor," Hardy said. "I really put my heart and soul into this business and did the right things." Two years later, Hardy expects 2010 revenue for Top Class Actions to reach $250,000.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.icontact.com" type="external">Aaron Houghton, Co-founder of iContact&#160; Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>At 21, Aaron Houghton co-founded MainBrain School, a software application to be used from Kindergarten to high school, that would link the classroom to students' homes in an effort to increase communication between teachers and parents.</p>
<p>While the company did sign on several schools, the software was not sold as a service, and the 30-day payment cycle Houghton envisioned simply wasn't available. The schools planned their purchases long in advance and Houghton realized he would be waiting at least a year for a significant chunk of revenue to come in.</p>
<p>The business, which had two employees, reached a point where it couldn't afford to pay the employees or even cover all the expenses.</p>
<p>Biggest Mistakes: "Selling into the school system was much more challenging than we thought. The sales cycle was too long and our overhead was too high, so our business was cash-starved."</p>
<p>Tipping Point: In less than two years, the business was almost out of cash. "We had to either double down and get a loan or find something else. We weren't prepared to take on more risk, so we used the rest of the cash to pay off the credit cards, vendors and our parents." The business shut down in early 2003.</p>
<p>Starting Over: Just a few months later, Houghton joined forces with a new business partner to found iContact, a software company with a subscription-based business model. The firm provides e-mail-marketing services to small businesses for a monthly fee.</p>
<p>"By having lots of little clients, the risk is divided across them and there's the consistency of the monthly subscriptions," Houghton said. "This time we got it right." Today, iContact has 230 employees, $40 million in annual revenue and Houghton has raised a total of $58 million in venture capital.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sourdoughcommunications.com" type="external">Julie Levitch, Founder of Sourdough Communications&#160; Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>While visiting wineries in Gisborne and Hawke's Bay, New Zealand in 2001, Julie Levitch and her husband turned their vacation into a business opportunity.</p>
<p>"We tasted wonderful biodynamic and organic wines that were not available in the U.S.," Levitch said. The couple launched Charles Global Imports and started selling wine from six small New Zealand wineries. While the wines were widely praised by wine critics, the business never truly became profitable.</p>
<p>"The market wasn't ready to pay a premium for organic wine," Levitch said. "And we were paying 50% upfront for the wine, but it was two months before we received the shipments -- and then we had to sell it."</p>
<p>Biggest Mistakes: "We had too much overhead and the wines were priced too high; we couldn't get the quantities needed to be competitive with national stores that started selling the same kinds of wines."</p>
<p>Tipping Point: "We kept it going until April 1, 2006, when I learned I was pregnant with our second child. My husband kept thinking the business was going to get better. I said, 'That's it, no more.'"</p>
<p>Starting Over:&#160; Levitch launched Sourdough Communications a month later, drawing on the marketing and communications experience she gained from working in that industry, before the wine business.</p>
<p>"I'm selling my time now, which is much easier to manage then a product with so many variables," Levitch said.</p>
<p>Today, annual revenues for her new company top $100,000.</p>
|
Starting Over: Live, Learn and Move On
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/features/2010/11/03/starting-easy.html
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2016-03-23
| 0right
|
Starting Over: Live, Learn and Move On
<p />
<p>Starting over is never easy, but many small business owners will tell you the lessons learned from a failed startup were critical to the success of the their next venture.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Here, three entrepreneurs share their first-time failures that ultimately led to successful startups the second time around.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.topclassactions.com/" type="external">Scott Hardy, Founder of Top Class Actions&#160; Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>When the dot-com bubble burst, Scott Hardy was an IT manager at a major technology firm. He was laid off in 2001 and figured he would hang his own shingle.</p>
<p>Since he worked in the tech sector, he settled on an IT consulting business. But looking back, Hardy says his approach was more like "throwing a dart at the board."</p>
<p>Although he had been an IT manager, his technical expertise in the trenches had quickly become outdated. He was in over his head, and wasn't really driven to change. "I didn't have the passion to make it succeed," Hardy said. "So I set myself up to fail. The business imploded within eight months."</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Biggest Mistakes: "There was no marketing, no real business plan. I didn't put down on paper what I was going to do. I also thought I was a lot more qualified than I really was."</p>
<p>Tipping Point: "When I lost my main client, which was 90% of my revenue, I didn't press on because I wasn't confident in my abilities or myself." The business shut down in 2002 and Hardy went back to the corporate world.</p>
<p>Starting Over: Six years later, while flipping through a magazine, Hardy spotted a legal notice for a class-action lawsuit. Surely, there was a Web site to track these easy-to-claim lawsuits, he thought. But there wasn't, so he built one.</p>
<p><a href="http://topclassactions.com/" type="external">TopClassActions.com Opens a New Window.</a> was founded in 2008.</p>
<p>"At this point in my life I was emotionally ready to do it. I created a business plan and brought on an advisor," Hardy said. "I really put my heart and soul into this business and did the right things." Two years later, Hardy expects 2010 revenue for Top Class Actions to reach $250,000.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.icontact.com" type="external">Aaron Houghton, Co-founder of iContact&#160; Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>At 21, Aaron Houghton co-founded MainBrain School, a software application to be used from Kindergarten to high school, that would link the classroom to students' homes in an effort to increase communication between teachers and parents.</p>
<p>While the company did sign on several schools, the software was not sold as a service, and the 30-day payment cycle Houghton envisioned simply wasn't available. The schools planned their purchases long in advance and Houghton realized he would be waiting at least a year for a significant chunk of revenue to come in.</p>
<p>The business, which had two employees, reached a point where it couldn't afford to pay the employees or even cover all the expenses.</p>
<p>Biggest Mistakes: "Selling into the school system was much more challenging than we thought. The sales cycle was too long and our overhead was too high, so our business was cash-starved."</p>
<p>Tipping Point: In less than two years, the business was almost out of cash. "We had to either double down and get a loan or find something else. We weren't prepared to take on more risk, so we used the rest of the cash to pay off the credit cards, vendors and our parents." The business shut down in early 2003.</p>
<p>Starting Over: Just a few months later, Houghton joined forces with a new business partner to found iContact, a software company with a subscription-based business model. The firm provides e-mail-marketing services to small businesses for a monthly fee.</p>
<p>"By having lots of little clients, the risk is divided across them and there's the consistency of the monthly subscriptions," Houghton said. "This time we got it right." Today, iContact has 230 employees, $40 million in annual revenue and Houghton has raised a total of $58 million in venture capital.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sourdoughcommunications.com" type="external">Julie Levitch, Founder of Sourdough Communications&#160; Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>While visiting wineries in Gisborne and Hawke's Bay, New Zealand in 2001, Julie Levitch and her husband turned their vacation into a business opportunity.</p>
<p>"We tasted wonderful biodynamic and organic wines that were not available in the U.S.," Levitch said. The couple launched Charles Global Imports and started selling wine from six small New Zealand wineries. While the wines were widely praised by wine critics, the business never truly became profitable.</p>
<p>"The market wasn't ready to pay a premium for organic wine," Levitch said. "And we were paying 50% upfront for the wine, but it was two months before we received the shipments -- and then we had to sell it."</p>
<p>Biggest Mistakes: "We had too much overhead and the wines were priced too high; we couldn't get the quantities needed to be competitive with national stores that started selling the same kinds of wines."</p>
<p>Tipping Point: "We kept it going until April 1, 2006, when I learned I was pregnant with our second child. My husband kept thinking the business was going to get better. I said, 'That's it, no more.'"</p>
<p>Starting Over:&#160; Levitch launched Sourdough Communications a month later, drawing on the marketing and communications experience she gained from working in that industry, before the wine business.</p>
<p>"I'm selling my time now, which is much easier to manage then a product with so many variables," Levitch said.</p>
<p>Today, annual revenues for her new company top $100,000.</p>
| 4,946 |
<p />
<p>One week after Starbucks (NYSE:SBUX) founder and CEO Howard Schultz surprised investors with an <a href="" type="internal">after-the-bell announcement that he will step down from his post,</a> he took the stage Wednesday at the company's investor day in New York to outline an ambitious vision for his company's future.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Over the next five years, the coffee giant looks to achieve revenue growth of 10% alongside profit-per-share growth of between 15% and 20%. While growth among stores open 12 months or longer remained steady in the final quarter of 2016, the rate slowed by four percentage points to 4% from the same period in 2015. The company still expects to see mid- to single-digit comp growth each year as it plans to open 12,000 new global stores by 2021. The dip in same-store sales growth has spooked investors, but Schultz repeatedly said Wednesday he’s not worried, citing innovation in the Starbucks pipeline, saying the core business has “never been stronger.”</p>
<p>“If Starbucks was a 20-chapter book, I still think we’re in chapter four or five,” he said to a packed room of Starbucks shareholders before quelling lingering concerns that his transition from CEO to executive chairman meant he was departing the company. “I’m not leaving.”</p>
<p>Schultz reiterated his “full confidence” in Kevin Johnson who currently serves as the company’s president and chief operating officer, and who will take over as chief executive in April.</p>
<p>“I want you to know he is going to be CEO. He’s got the last word, he’s running the company,” Schultz said of Johnson.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The soon-to-be-CEO outlined the pillars of the company’s next-phase growth strategy, which puts significant focus on building out premium offerings through an expansion of its Reserve coffees and the first-of-its kind Roastery experience. The introduction of its cold brew coffee has led to a bigger customer desire for cold beverages, which Johnson expects will represent about 50% of the company's overall beverage sales by 2021. Alongside focus on those offerings, Johnson explained the company looks to capitalize on the busy lunch rush with new, fresh and healthy food offerings, which he hopes will drive 21% of food sales over the next five years.</p>
<p>It’s not just in-store offerings Starbucks is looking to boost: The company is also placing more importance on digital engagement by enhancing its mobile app. While just 40% of the company’s stores, though, are able to take advantage of mobile order and pay options, Johnson said there’s an effort underway to extend that opportunity to its licensed partners around the globe. Last September, the company rolled out the option for customers to place orders on their smartphones and pick up those beverages and food in store -- a feature fit for on-the-go coffee drinkers who want to skip the in-store lines. Now, the coffee giant is expanding that ability for its 12 million Starbucks Rewards members through voice command order personalization, and more customized rewards, recommendations and opportunities to earn stars, its version of reward points, for purchases.</p>
<p>“I will honor and respect the mission and values that drive this company, will always strive to make the right decision and do the right things for partners, customers and shareholders,” Johnson said, reiterating his confidence in the leadership team to carry out the company’s five-year plan.</p>
<p>Shares of Starbucks, which are down more than 4% year to date, jumped 2.21% on Wednesday amid a broad market rally.</p>
<p>Focus on Premium to Grab Customer Attention</p>
<p>With Johnson set to take over the c-suite next year, Schultz will shift his focus to growing Starbucks’ premium offerings and expansion in Reserve and Roastery experiences.</p>
<p>“I’m going to focus my attention on building a new business within Starbucks which will be complimentary to the core,” Schultz said.</p>
<p>Focus for that growth -- which will be on delivering more premium customer experiences and more store capacity -- will remain in North America, where the U.S. has driven double-digit revenue growth. It will also remain on China, a market that is included in the company's fastest growing Asia Pacific region, which is home to 6,400 stores. Starbucks looks to double revenues and store count there over the next five years, and expects Japan to grow its store count to 1,700 after notching 5% comp sales growth over the last two years.</p>
<p>Following the success and feedback of the company's Seattle Roastery, Starbucks has planned to open subsequent cafes that mimic that experience across the world. The next two phases will roll out in Shanghai and New York over the next 18 months, and will each be double the size of the Seattle location. In Shanghai, visitors will be able to purchase artisanal bakery items and sit at a Teavana bar. In the U.S., customers will also be able to try out a 45-foot long spirit and mixology bar.</p>
|
Starbucks Steps Up Expansion as CEO Schultz Preps High-End Market Push
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/07/starbucks-steps-up-expansion-as-ceo-schultz-preps-high-end-market-push.html
|
2016-12-07
| 0right
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Starbucks Steps Up Expansion as CEO Schultz Preps High-End Market Push
<p />
<p>One week after Starbucks (NYSE:SBUX) founder and CEO Howard Schultz surprised investors with an <a href="" type="internal">after-the-bell announcement that he will step down from his post,</a> he took the stage Wednesday at the company's investor day in New York to outline an ambitious vision for his company's future.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Over the next five years, the coffee giant looks to achieve revenue growth of 10% alongside profit-per-share growth of between 15% and 20%. While growth among stores open 12 months or longer remained steady in the final quarter of 2016, the rate slowed by four percentage points to 4% from the same period in 2015. The company still expects to see mid- to single-digit comp growth each year as it plans to open 12,000 new global stores by 2021. The dip in same-store sales growth has spooked investors, but Schultz repeatedly said Wednesday he’s not worried, citing innovation in the Starbucks pipeline, saying the core business has “never been stronger.”</p>
<p>“If Starbucks was a 20-chapter book, I still think we’re in chapter four or five,” he said to a packed room of Starbucks shareholders before quelling lingering concerns that his transition from CEO to executive chairman meant he was departing the company. “I’m not leaving.”</p>
<p>Schultz reiterated his “full confidence” in Kevin Johnson who currently serves as the company’s president and chief operating officer, and who will take over as chief executive in April.</p>
<p>“I want you to know he is going to be CEO. He’s got the last word, he’s running the company,” Schultz said of Johnson.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The soon-to-be-CEO outlined the pillars of the company’s next-phase growth strategy, which puts significant focus on building out premium offerings through an expansion of its Reserve coffees and the first-of-its kind Roastery experience. The introduction of its cold brew coffee has led to a bigger customer desire for cold beverages, which Johnson expects will represent about 50% of the company's overall beverage sales by 2021. Alongside focus on those offerings, Johnson explained the company looks to capitalize on the busy lunch rush with new, fresh and healthy food offerings, which he hopes will drive 21% of food sales over the next five years.</p>
<p>It’s not just in-store offerings Starbucks is looking to boost: The company is also placing more importance on digital engagement by enhancing its mobile app. While just 40% of the company’s stores, though, are able to take advantage of mobile order and pay options, Johnson said there’s an effort underway to extend that opportunity to its licensed partners around the globe. Last September, the company rolled out the option for customers to place orders on their smartphones and pick up those beverages and food in store -- a feature fit for on-the-go coffee drinkers who want to skip the in-store lines. Now, the coffee giant is expanding that ability for its 12 million Starbucks Rewards members through voice command order personalization, and more customized rewards, recommendations and opportunities to earn stars, its version of reward points, for purchases.</p>
<p>“I will honor and respect the mission and values that drive this company, will always strive to make the right decision and do the right things for partners, customers and shareholders,” Johnson said, reiterating his confidence in the leadership team to carry out the company’s five-year plan.</p>
<p>Shares of Starbucks, which are down more than 4% year to date, jumped 2.21% on Wednesday amid a broad market rally.</p>
<p>Focus on Premium to Grab Customer Attention</p>
<p>With Johnson set to take over the c-suite next year, Schultz will shift his focus to growing Starbucks’ premium offerings and expansion in Reserve and Roastery experiences.</p>
<p>“I’m going to focus my attention on building a new business within Starbucks which will be complimentary to the core,” Schultz said.</p>
<p>Focus for that growth -- which will be on delivering more premium customer experiences and more store capacity -- will remain in North America, where the U.S. has driven double-digit revenue growth. It will also remain on China, a market that is included in the company's fastest growing Asia Pacific region, which is home to 6,400 stores. Starbucks looks to double revenues and store count there over the next five years, and expects Japan to grow its store count to 1,700 after notching 5% comp sales growth over the last two years.</p>
<p>Following the success and feedback of the company's Seattle Roastery, Starbucks has planned to open subsequent cafes that mimic that experience across the world. The next two phases will roll out in Shanghai and New York over the next 18 months, and will each be double the size of the Seattle location. In Shanghai, visitors will be able to purchase artisanal bakery items and sit at a Teavana bar. In the U.S., customers will also be able to try out a 45-foot long spirit and mixology bar.</p>
| 4,947 |
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<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="http://www.nambe.com/" type="external">Namb?</a> has tapped a former Eddie Bauer and Williams-Sonoma executive as its new president and CEO.</p>
<p>The Santa Fe-based company announced that it has appointed board members Wayne Badovinus and Jim Weyhrauch to its executive team. Badovinus is the new president and CEO, while Weyhrauch will serve as interim executive vice president for sales and marketing.</p>
<p>Badovinus is the former president and COO of Williams-Sonoma and former president and CEO of Eddie Bauer. He also spent six years as CEO of Design Within Reach, a Connecticut-based modern furniture and accessories retailer.</p>
<p>Nambe's last CEO, Bob Varakian, left in January to take a job with Lifetime Brands.</p>
<p>Weyhrauch, vice chairman of Namb??s board, joined the company in 1986. He was previously headed the company's sales and marketing team and also has served as president and CEO.</p>
<p>Namb?, a family-owned company, is a design brand known for vases, bowls and other home goods made from a distinct metal alloy.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
|
Former Eddie Bauer CEO to head Namb?
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/383918/former-eddie-bauer-ceo-to-head-nambe.html
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Former Eddie Bauer CEO to head Namb?
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="http://www.nambe.com/" type="external">Namb?</a> has tapped a former Eddie Bauer and Williams-Sonoma executive as its new president and CEO.</p>
<p>The Santa Fe-based company announced that it has appointed board members Wayne Badovinus and Jim Weyhrauch to its executive team. Badovinus is the new president and CEO, while Weyhrauch will serve as interim executive vice president for sales and marketing.</p>
<p>Badovinus is the former president and COO of Williams-Sonoma and former president and CEO of Eddie Bauer. He also spent six years as CEO of Design Within Reach, a Connecticut-based modern furniture and accessories retailer.</p>
<p>Nambe's last CEO, Bob Varakian, left in January to take a job with Lifetime Brands.</p>
<p>Weyhrauch, vice chairman of Namb??s board, joined the company in 1986. He was previously headed the company's sales and marketing team and also has served as president and CEO.</p>
<p>Namb?, a family-owned company, is a design brand known for vases, bowls and other home goods made from a distinct metal alloy.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
| 4,948 |
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<p>ST. LOUIS (MO)Post-DispatchBy <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">PETER SHINKLE</a> Post-Dispatch12/23/2003</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>A federal appeals court in St. Louis announced Tuesday it had overturned the conviction of former Catholic priest and St. Louis public school counselor James Beine on charges of possessing child pornography. The action does not affect Beine's conviction in state court of exposing himself to students at Patrick Henry School, where he worked. But if federal authorities do not retry and convict Beine, Tuesday's ruling might spare him considerable prison time. That's because the nearly five years in prison he got for that case was expected to run consecutively with his 12-year state term, said St. Louis Assistant Circuit Attorney Ed Postawko. The appellate judges ruled that St. Louis police detectives violated Beine's rights by failing to obtain a search warrant before examining CDs he had left with a friend. Officials said one contained child pornography.</p>
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Court overturns ex-priest's conviction on possession of porn
| false |
https://poynter.org/news/court-overturns-ex-priests-conviction-possession-porn
|
2003-12-24
| 2least
|
Court overturns ex-priest's conviction on possession of porn
<p>ST. LOUIS (MO)Post-DispatchBy <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">PETER SHINKLE</a> Post-Dispatch12/23/2003</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>A federal appeals court in St. Louis announced Tuesday it had overturned the conviction of former Catholic priest and St. Louis public school counselor James Beine on charges of possessing child pornography. The action does not affect Beine's conviction in state court of exposing himself to students at Patrick Henry School, where he worked. But if federal authorities do not retry and convict Beine, Tuesday's ruling might spare him considerable prison time. That's because the nearly five years in prison he got for that case was expected to run consecutively with his 12-year state term, said St. Louis Assistant Circuit Attorney Ed Postawko. The appellate judges ruled that St. Louis police detectives violated Beine's rights by failing to obtain a search warrant before examining CDs he had left with a friend. Officials said one contained child pornography.</p>
| 4,949 |
<p>Group therapy helps LGBT people learn they are not isolated, gives opportunities for role play and practice interacting with others and getting feedback.</p>
<p>SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Group counseling and systemic interventions can be more effective with LGBT people, grief experts say.</p>
<p>In a new book called “Group Counseling With LGBTQI Persons,” Kristopher Goodrich, a licensed mental health counselor, and Melissa Luke, coordinator of school counseling at Syracuse University, noticed over a decade of working on several mental health projects, gaps in the ways group counseling work can help meet the needs of LGBT people.</p>
<p>“A group dynamic can be a powerful setting that induces growth and change for clients,” they said in a press release for the book. “Group work is distinctive in its ability to offer an in vivo space to explore, develop and try out new ways of being with and relating to others in a therapeutic setting. It allows for the individual to learn they are not isolated or alone, and the presenting concerns they may have can be identified and felt by others. In addition, it allows the individual to role-play and practice new ways of interacting with others, as well as practice revealing additional aspects of themselves with feedback from others.”</p>
<p>Group counseling helps LGBT people learn they are not isolated, gives opportunities for role play and practice interacting with others and getting feedback.</p>
<p>“Pulling from ecological counseling theory, we know that systemic interventions can be extremely powerful and, in many ways, more influential for long-term change processes,” the authors said in an interview with <a href="http://ct.counseling.org/2015/08/behind-the-book-group-counseling-with-lgbtqi-persons/" type="external">Counseling Today</a>.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Counseling Today</a> <a href="" type="internal">grief counseling</a> <a href="" type="internal">Group Counseling With LGBTQI Persons</a> <a href="" type="internal">group therapy</a> <a href="" type="internal">Kristopher Goodrich</a> <a href="" type="internal">LGBT</a> <a href="" type="internal">Melissa Luke</a> <a href="" type="internal">Syracuse University</a></p>
|
Group therapy better for gay grievers: researchers
| false |
http://washingtonblade.com/2016/01/16/group-therapy-better-for-gay-grievers-researchers/
| 3left-center
|
Group therapy better for gay grievers: researchers
<p>Group therapy helps LGBT people learn they are not isolated, gives opportunities for role play and practice interacting with others and getting feedback.</p>
<p>SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Group counseling and systemic interventions can be more effective with LGBT people, grief experts say.</p>
<p>In a new book called “Group Counseling With LGBTQI Persons,” Kristopher Goodrich, a licensed mental health counselor, and Melissa Luke, coordinator of school counseling at Syracuse University, noticed over a decade of working on several mental health projects, gaps in the ways group counseling work can help meet the needs of LGBT people.</p>
<p>“A group dynamic can be a powerful setting that induces growth and change for clients,” they said in a press release for the book. “Group work is distinctive in its ability to offer an in vivo space to explore, develop and try out new ways of being with and relating to others in a therapeutic setting. It allows for the individual to learn they are not isolated or alone, and the presenting concerns they may have can be identified and felt by others. In addition, it allows the individual to role-play and practice new ways of interacting with others, as well as practice revealing additional aspects of themselves with feedback from others.”</p>
<p>Group counseling helps LGBT people learn they are not isolated, gives opportunities for role play and practice interacting with others and getting feedback.</p>
<p>“Pulling from ecological counseling theory, we know that systemic interventions can be extremely powerful and, in many ways, more influential for long-term change processes,” the authors said in an interview with <a href="http://ct.counseling.org/2015/08/behind-the-book-group-counseling-with-lgbtqi-persons/" type="external">Counseling Today</a>.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Counseling Today</a> <a href="" type="internal">grief counseling</a> <a href="" type="internal">Group Counseling With LGBTQI Persons</a> <a href="" type="internal">group therapy</a> <a href="" type="internal">Kristopher Goodrich</a> <a href="" type="internal">LGBT</a> <a href="" type="internal">Melissa Luke</a> <a href="" type="internal">Syracuse University</a></p>
| 4,950 |
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<p>NYBZSSummer gas prices expected to be 32 percent lower this year In this Monday, April 6, 2015 photo, cars pass by a gas station in Charlotte, N.C. Drivers will see the lowest summer gasoline prices in about 6 years, according to an Energy Department report released Tuesday. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>NEW YORK — Drivers will see the lowest summer gasoline prices in about 6 years, according to the Energy Department.</p>
<p>The national average price is forecast to fall 32 percent from a year ago to $2.45 a gallon between April and September, the period when Americans do most of their driving. That would mark the lowest seasonal average since 2009.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>For the year, the department’s Energy Information Administration expects gasoline to average $2.40 a gallon, down from $3.36 a year prior.</p>
<p>The lower prices are a result of world oil supplies growing faster than demand because of higher production in North America and elsewhere. That dynamic has been depressing the price of crude oil.</p>
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Summer gas prices to be 32 percent lower than a year ago
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/565935/summer-gas-prices-to-be-32-percent-lower-than-a-year-ago.html
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2015-04-07
| 2least
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Summer gas prices to be 32 percent lower than a year ago
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<p>NYBZSSummer gas prices expected to be 32 percent lower this year In this Monday, April 6, 2015 photo, cars pass by a gas station in Charlotte, N.C. Drivers will see the lowest summer gasoline prices in about 6 years, according to an Energy Department report released Tuesday. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>NEW YORK — Drivers will see the lowest summer gasoline prices in about 6 years, according to the Energy Department.</p>
<p>The national average price is forecast to fall 32 percent from a year ago to $2.45 a gallon between April and September, the period when Americans do most of their driving. That would mark the lowest seasonal average since 2009.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>For the year, the department’s Energy Information Administration expects gasoline to average $2.40 a gallon, down from $3.36 a year prior.</p>
<p>The lower prices are a result of world oil supplies growing faster than demand because of higher production in North America and elsewhere. That dynamic has been depressing the price of crude oil.</p>
| 4,951 |
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<p>Video surveillance photo from KFC on Southern Blvd.</p>
<p>Rio Rancho police are asking for help in identifying the suspect who robbed the GameStop store at 701 Unser Blvd. at gunpoint about 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.</p>
<p>The suspect ran out of the store after obtaining money from the cash register.</p>
<p>Police believe this robbery may be connected with another that occurred on Monday at the KFC restaurant at 2003 Southern Blvd. The suspect went into the restaurant and approached the cash register. He lifted his jacket revealing the butt of a handgun and ordered the cashier to give him money.</p>
<p>In that case, the suspect did not obtain any money before he fled from the store.</p>
<p>Police are asking anyone who may help in identifying the person in the pictures, or may have information about the crime to contact Detective Janet Garcia at 891-5942.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
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Rio Rancho police seeking GameStop robbery suspect
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/481845/rio-rancho-police-seeking-gamestop-robbery-suspect.html
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Rio Rancho police seeking GameStop robbery suspect
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Video surveillance photo from KFC on Southern Blvd.</p>
<p>Rio Rancho police are asking for help in identifying the suspect who robbed the GameStop store at 701 Unser Blvd. at gunpoint about 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.</p>
<p>The suspect ran out of the store after obtaining money from the cash register.</p>
<p>Police believe this robbery may be connected with another that occurred on Monday at the KFC restaurant at 2003 Southern Blvd. The suspect went into the restaurant and approached the cash register. He lifted his jacket revealing the butt of a handgun and ordered the cashier to give him money.</p>
<p>In that case, the suspect did not obtain any money before he fled from the store.</p>
<p>Police are asking anyone who may help in identifying the person in the pictures, or may have information about the crime to contact Detective Janet Garcia at 891-5942.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
| 4,952 |
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<p>LONDON (AP) — The British government, pressured by major charities to do more to help migrant children in dire need, announced plans Thursday to allow an unspecified number of vulnerable children to come live legally in Britain.</p>
<p>Britain also said it will provide more funding to the European Asylum Support Office to help Greece and Italy reunite migrants, including children, with family members already in Europe.</p>
<p>The government's latest measures to help with the migrant crisis challenging much of Europe comes after charities led by Save the Children and opposition leaders urged it to accept 3,000 children immediately because they are already in Europe and living in harsh conditions. The children are judged to be at risk of traffickers and sex abusers.</p>
<p>Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said under the new program Britain will work with the United Nations refugee agency to identify "exceptional cases" in which unaccompanied children would benefit by receiving shelter in Britain. He said in most cases, however, a child displaced by the war in Syria would be better off staying close by their home country.</p>
<p>"The vast majority are better off staying in the region so they can be reunited with surviving family members," he said. "So we have asked the UNHCR to identify the exceptional cases where a child's best interests are served by resettlement to the UK and help us to bring them here."</p>
<p>Kitty Arie of Save the Children said support for reuniting families in Europe could potentially benefit thousands of children.</p>
<p>"They face freezing temperatures and the threat of exploitation, trafficking and abuse," she said. "The government's promise to fast-track family reunification across Europe will help these vulnerable child refugees build a better life alongside their loved ones already here." The new program is in addition to the 20,000 refugees that Britain has agreed to settle in the next five years.</p>
<p>LONDON (AP) — The British government, pressured by major charities to do more to help migrant children in dire need, announced plans Thursday to allow an unspecified number of vulnerable children to come live legally in Britain.</p>
<p>Britain also said it will provide more funding to the European Asylum Support Office to help Greece and Italy reunite migrants, including children, with family members already in Europe.</p>
<p>The government's latest measures to help with the migrant crisis challenging much of Europe comes after charities led by Save the Children and opposition leaders urged it to accept 3,000 children immediately because they are already in Europe and living in harsh conditions. The children are judged to be at risk of traffickers and sex abusers.</p>
<p>Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said under the new program Britain will work with the United Nations refugee agency to identify "exceptional cases" in which unaccompanied children would benefit by receiving shelter in Britain. He said in most cases, however, a child displaced by the war in Syria would be better off staying close by their home country.</p>
<p>"The vast majority are better off staying in the region so they can be reunited with surviving family members," he said. "So we have asked the UNHCR to identify the exceptional cases where a child's best interests are served by resettlement to the UK and help us to bring them here."</p>
<p>Kitty Arie of Save the Children said support for reuniting families in Europe could potentially benefit thousands of children.</p>
<p>"They face freezing temperatures and the threat of exploitation, trafficking and abuse," she said. "The government's promise to fast-track family reunification across Europe will help these vulnerable child refugees build a better life alongside their loved ones already here." The new program is in addition to the 20,000 refugees that Britain has agreed to settle in the next five years.</p>
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Britain announces plans to take in migrant children
| false |
https://apnews.com/amp/ec591dd913fc44288c37f702ce6672ea
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2016-01-28
| 2least
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Britain announces plans to take in migrant children
<p>LONDON (AP) — The British government, pressured by major charities to do more to help migrant children in dire need, announced plans Thursday to allow an unspecified number of vulnerable children to come live legally in Britain.</p>
<p>Britain also said it will provide more funding to the European Asylum Support Office to help Greece and Italy reunite migrants, including children, with family members already in Europe.</p>
<p>The government's latest measures to help with the migrant crisis challenging much of Europe comes after charities led by Save the Children and opposition leaders urged it to accept 3,000 children immediately because they are already in Europe and living in harsh conditions. The children are judged to be at risk of traffickers and sex abusers.</p>
<p>Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said under the new program Britain will work with the United Nations refugee agency to identify "exceptional cases" in which unaccompanied children would benefit by receiving shelter in Britain. He said in most cases, however, a child displaced by the war in Syria would be better off staying close by their home country.</p>
<p>"The vast majority are better off staying in the region so they can be reunited with surviving family members," he said. "So we have asked the UNHCR to identify the exceptional cases where a child's best interests are served by resettlement to the UK and help us to bring them here."</p>
<p>Kitty Arie of Save the Children said support for reuniting families in Europe could potentially benefit thousands of children.</p>
<p>"They face freezing temperatures and the threat of exploitation, trafficking and abuse," she said. "The government's promise to fast-track family reunification across Europe will help these vulnerable child refugees build a better life alongside their loved ones already here." The new program is in addition to the 20,000 refugees that Britain has agreed to settle in the next five years.</p>
<p>LONDON (AP) — The British government, pressured by major charities to do more to help migrant children in dire need, announced plans Thursday to allow an unspecified number of vulnerable children to come live legally in Britain.</p>
<p>Britain also said it will provide more funding to the European Asylum Support Office to help Greece and Italy reunite migrants, including children, with family members already in Europe.</p>
<p>The government's latest measures to help with the migrant crisis challenging much of Europe comes after charities led by Save the Children and opposition leaders urged it to accept 3,000 children immediately because they are already in Europe and living in harsh conditions. The children are judged to be at risk of traffickers and sex abusers.</p>
<p>Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said under the new program Britain will work with the United Nations refugee agency to identify "exceptional cases" in which unaccompanied children would benefit by receiving shelter in Britain. He said in most cases, however, a child displaced by the war in Syria would be better off staying close by their home country.</p>
<p>"The vast majority are better off staying in the region so they can be reunited with surviving family members," he said. "So we have asked the UNHCR to identify the exceptional cases where a child's best interests are served by resettlement to the UK and help us to bring them here."</p>
<p>Kitty Arie of Save the Children said support for reuniting families in Europe could potentially benefit thousands of children.</p>
<p>"They face freezing temperatures and the threat of exploitation, trafficking and abuse," she said. "The government's promise to fast-track family reunification across Europe will help these vulnerable child refugees build a better life alongside their loved ones already here." The new program is in addition to the 20,000 refugees that Britain has agreed to settle in the next five years.</p>
| 4,953 |
<p>Shares of Imax Corp. were indicated up more than 3% in light premarket trade Thursday, after the movie theater operator reported first-quarter profit and sales that rose well above expectations, on the back strong box office growth. Earnings for the latest quarter came to $9.53 million, or 14 cents a share, compared with $391,000, or breakeven on a per-share basis, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share were 22 cents, beating the FactSet consensus of 15 cents. Revenue rose 48% to $92.1 million, above the FactSet consensus of $83.9 million. Global box office grew 64% to $272 million. The company approved a $50 million increase to its share repurchase program. The stock has dropped 7.3% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&amp;P 500 has gained 2.9%.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
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Imax's Stock Set To Rally After Profit Rises Well Above Expectations
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http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/04/21/imax-stock-set-to-rally-after-profit-rises-well-above-expectations.html
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2016-04-21
| 0right
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Imax's Stock Set To Rally After Profit Rises Well Above Expectations
<p>Shares of Imax Corp. were indicated up more than 3% in light premarket trade Thursday, after the movie theater operator reported first-quarter profit and sales that rose well above expectations, on the back strong box office growth. Earnings for the latest quarter came to $9.53 million, or 14 cents a share, compared with $391,000, or breakeven on a per-share basis, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share were 22 cents, beating the FactSet consensus of 15 cents. Revenue rose 48% to $92.1 million, above the FactSet consensus of $83.9 million. Global box office grew 64% to $272 million. The company approved a $50 million increase to its share repurchase program. The stock has dropped 7.3% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&amp;P 500 has gained 2.9%.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
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<p>Spain's unemployment rate climbed to a new record high of 27.16 percent in the first quarter of 2013, the Spanish National Institute of Statistics said Thursday.</p>
<p>The jobless rate grew from a high of 26.02 percent in the previous quarter. The number of unemployed climbed by 237,400 people to 6.2 million, the Institute said.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, France was to release official data overnight <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-25/spanish-unemployment-rate-at-record-2716-per-cent/4651712" type="external">showing a record number of jobless workers</a> in the second largest euro zone economy.</p>
<p>The collapse of the property bubble in Spain — the euro zone's fourth-largest economy — has sparked a deep double-dip recession.</p>
<p>The country, which once drove job creation in the 17-member single currency area, has yet to recover from the collapse in 2008 of a labor-intensive property boom.</p>
<p>That same boom had allowed Spain's economic growth to outpace that of the EU for more than a decade, <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/25/world/europe/spain-unemployment/index.html?hpt=ieu_c1" type="external">CNN pointed out</a>, adding: "In 2007, before the global economic crisis hit, Spain had 1.9 million people unemployed — 8.6 percent of the active population."</p>
<p>Joblessness in Spain is currently higher among men than women, while youth unemployment is higher on average. Food banks are overwhelmed, evictions are soaring and tens of thousands of immigrants have returned home.</p>
<p>Austerity measures by the Spanish government, which refused to follow Greece, Ireland and Portugal in requesting a full EU bailout, have encountered violent opposition.</p>
<p>Another march on the Spanish Parliament in the capital, Madrid, is planned for Thursday.</p>
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Spain's unemployment hits record 27 percent amid double-dip recession
| false |
https://pri.org/stories/2013-04-25/spains-unemployment-hits-record-27-percent-amid-double-dip-recession
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2013-04-25
| 3left-center
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Spain's unemployment hits record 27 percent amid double-dip recession
<p>Spain's unemployment rate climbed to a new record high of 27.16 percent in the first quarter of 2013, the Spanish National Institute of Statistics said Thursday.</p>
<p>The jobless rate grew from a high of 26.02 percent in the previous quarter. The number of unemployed climbed by 237,400 people to 6.2 million, the Institute said.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, France was to release official data overnight <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-25/spanish-unemployment-rate-at-record-2716-per-cent/4651712" type="external">showing a record number of jobless workers</a> in the second largest euro zone economy.</p>
<p>The collapse of the property bubble in Spain — the euro zone's fourth-largest economy — has sparked a deep double-dip recession.</p>
<p>The country, which once drove job creation in the 17-member single currency area, has yet to recover from the collapse in 2008 of a labor-intensive property boom.</p>
<p>That same boom had allowed Spain's economic growth to outpace that of the EU for more than a decade, <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/25/world/europe/spain-unemployment/index.html?hpt=ieu_c1" type="external">CNN pointed out</a>, adding: "In 2007, before the global economic crisis hit, Spain had 1.9 million people unemployed — 8.6 percent of the active population."</p>
<p>Joblessness in Spain is currently higher among men than women, while youth unemployment is higher on average. Food banks are overwhelmed, evictions are soaring and tens of thousands of immigrants have returned home.</p>
<p>Austerity measures by the Spanish government, which refused to follow Greece, Ireland and Portugal in requesting a full EU bailout, have encountered violent opposition.</p>
<p>Another march on the Spanish Parliament in the capital, Madrid, is planned for Thursday.</p>
| 4,955 |
<p>Global warming and other environmental problems have emerged as the most controversial issues within a national coalition trying to broaden the agenda of evangelical Christians.</p>
<p>At a Capitol Hill forum March 10, the National Association of Evangelicals formally unveiled a document, “For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility,” that addresses a range of topics-from abortion and family issues to religious freedom, racial reconciliation and “care for God's earth.”</p>
<p>The document was approved by the association's board in October and has been signed by more than 80 evangelical leaders. But some who embraced the overall plan are now raising questions about its environmental emphasis.</p>
<p>“There are great sentiments about broad issues, about bringing evangelicals together, particularly whites and blacks,” said Tom Minnery-vice president of public policy for the conservative, Colorado-based Focus on the Family-in an interview. “The movement to preserve marriage characterizes evangelicalism. The issue of global warming does not characterize evangelicalism.”</p>
<p>Mariam M. Bell, national director of public policy for Prison Fellowship's Wilberforce Forum, agreed, saying Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson, an influential conservative, questioned where the discussion is headed.</p>
<p>“He is concerned that this could possibly be co-opted, this whole wonderful initiative, by the environmental left,” she said in an interview.</p>
<p>Ron Sider, one of the principal authors of the document, said association leaders have received mostly positive responses to the overall document and are addressing environmental issues along with other topics.</p>
<p>“They're not in any way making that their central crusade,” said Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action, a more moderate group. “What's happening is you're getting a more biblically balanced agenda, which is exactly what the document calls for.”</p>
<p>Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Jewish Democrat from Connecticut, addressed the crowd of more than 120 by urging their advocacy on reduction of global warming, a topic of legislation he has co-sponsored.</p>
<p>“I hope you will join us in this effort to not only cultivate but better protect the earth or once more we will lose the garden for ourselves and for generations to come,” he said, referring to the Garden of Eden.</p>
<p>Other forum speakers said the document highlights the need to move beyond a focus on political parties and to concentrate in a new way on issues such as race relations.</p>
<p>Religion News Service</p>
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Evangelicals broaden agenda during meeting
| false |
https://baptistnews.com/article/evangelicalsbroadenagendaduringmeeting/
| 3left-center
|
Evangelicals broaden agenda during meeting
<p>Global warming and other environmental problems have emerged as the most controversial issues within a national coalition trying to broaden the agenda of evangelical Christians.</p>
<p>At a Capitol Hill forum March 10, the National Association of Evangelicals formally unveiled a document, “For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility,” that addresses a range of topics-from abortion and family issues to religious freedom, racial reconciliation and “care for God's earth.”</p>
<p>The document was approved by the association's board in October and has been signed by more than 80 evangelical leaders. But some who embraced the overall plan are now raising questions about its environmental emphasis.</p>
<p>“There are great sentiments about broad issues, about bringing evangelicals together, particularly whites and blacks,” said Tom Minnery-vice president of public policy for the conservative, Colorado-based Focus on the Family-in an interview. “The movement to preserve marriage characterizes evangelicalism. The issue of global warming does not characterize evangelicalism.”</p>
<p>Mariam M. Bell, national director of public policy for Prison Fellowship's Wilberforce Forum, agreed, saying Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson, an influential conservative, questioned where the discussion is headed.</p>
<p>“He is concerned that this could possibly be co-opted, this whole wonderful initiative, by the environmental left,” she said in an interview.</p>
<p>Ron Sider, one of the principal authors of the document, said association leaders have received mostly positive responses to the overall document and are addressing environmental issues along with other topics.</p>
<p>“They're not in any way making that their central crusade,” said Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action, a more moderate group. “What's happening is you're getting a more biblically balanced agenda, which is exactly what the document calls for.”</p>
<p>Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Jewish Democrat from Connecticut, addressed the crowd of more than 120 by urging their advocacy on reduction of global warming, a topic of legislation he has co-sponsored.</p>
<p>“I hope you will join us in this effort to not only cultivate but better protect the earth or once more we will lose the garden for ourselves and for generations to come,” he said, referring to the Garden of Eden.</p>
<p>Other forum speakers said the document highlights the need to move beyond a focus on political parties and to concentrate in a new way on issues such as race relations.</p>
<p>Religion News Service</p>
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<p />
<p>Patrick Wadsworth, 47, was sentenced to 27 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release in federal court on Tuesday, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release.</p>
<p>The Daily Times reported Wadsworth was arrested on Jan. 22 for allegedly assaulting a woman in an incident that resulted in serious bodily injury on Nov. 6, 2014. He pleaded guilty to the charges on June 27.</p>
<p>Wadsworth admitted on Nov. 6, 2014, to striking the victim and causing bruising to her face, arms and knees in his home on the Navajo Reservation in San Juan County, according to the release.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>©2016 The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.)</p>
<p>Visit The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.) at <a href="http://www.daily-times.com" type="external">www.daily-times.com</a></p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.</p>
<p>_____</p>
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Sanostee man sentenced on assault charges
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https://abqjournal.com/886293/brief-sanostee-man-sentenced-on-assault-charges.html
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2016-11-10
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Sanostee man sentenced on assault charges
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<p />
<p>Patrick Wadsworth, 47, was sentenced to 27 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release in federal court on Tuesday, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release.</p>
<p>The Daily Times reported Wadsworth was arrested on Jan. 22 for allegedly assaulting a woman in an incident that resulted in serious bodily injury on Nov. 6, 2014. He pleaded guilty to the charges on June 27.</p>
<p>Wadsworth admitted on Nov. 6, 2014, to striking the victim and causing bruising to her face, arms and knees in his home on the Navajo Reservation in San Juan County, according to the release.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>©2016 The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.)</p>
<p>Visit The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.) at <a href="http://www.daily-times.com" type="external">www.daily-times.com</a></p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.</p>
<p>_____</p>
| 4,957 |
<p>Throughout his campaign, President Trump claimed repeatedly that&#160;his superior business skills would help him successfully run the country. According to the 125 people who were&#160;recently polled at the annual Yale CEO Summit, though, his business experience isn’t doing him much good.</p>
<p>The results of the&#160; <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/15/investing/ceos-give-trump-f-yale-survey/index.html" type="external">poll</a> conducted&#160;at the summit revealed that 50 percent of respondents&#160;gave Trump an “F” for his first 130 days in office. Another 21 percent gave him a “D,” and a mere 1 percent gave him an “A.”</p>
<p>The leader of the summit, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management, said that the majority of&#160;business leaders have the following message for&#160;Trump:</p>
<p>‘Stop the random 3 a.m. tweets and stop the needless brushfires diverting from the agenda.’</p>
<p>Sonnenfeld also made sure to point out that the attendees who were polled were not all Democrats who inherently dislike the president.</p>
<p>‘This was not a granola-eating crowd of Democrat entrepreneurs. It’s a cross-section of the business community, including some who are quite pro-Trump.’</p>
<p>Included in the group of people surveyed was Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman&#160;and two other business leaders who&#160;are actually advisers to the president:&#160;IBM’s&#160;Ginni Rometty and Merck CEO Ken Frazier. Individual responses to the survey were not released, so the&#160;specific grade Trump received from these individuals is unknown.</p>
<p>Trump’s standing in the business community was greatly diminished recently as a result of his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord. Almost immediately after&#160;he made this announcement, Trump lost the support of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who was serving as one of his advisers.</p>
<p />
<p>His decision was also swiftly criticized by&#160;General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt.</p>
<p />
<p>Many of the CEOs surveyed during the summit appeared to be in agreement with Musk and Immelt on this issue. Two-thirds of the group said that Trump’s decision had negatively affected the U.S.’s global standing.</p>
<p>In addition to expressing concerns about the Paris Agreement, 86 percent of respondents also said they were worried about Trump downplaying the seriousness of “Russian security mischief.”</p>
<p>When it comes to Trump’s&#160;budget, three-fourths of the nation’s top business leaders are less than impressed. They are also not optimistic when it comes to corporate tax reform — only 42 percent said that they think Trump will be able to make this happen.</p>
<p>The results of this poll are just the latest piece of evidence that support for the president is quickly dwindling. Ideally, Trump&#160;would listen to the concerns of those who were polled and work to improve. We all know that he’s just going to dismiss&#160;this poll as fake news, though.</p>
<p>Featured Image via&#160; <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/license/694251336" type="external">Pete Marovich/Bloomberg via Getty Images</a>.</p>
|
CEOs At Yale Summit Grade Trump’s Presidency & It Is Going To Wreck The Donald
| true |
http://bipartisanreport.com/2017/06/15/ceos-at-yale-summit-grade-trumps-presidency-it-is-going-to-wreck-the-donald/
|
2017-06-15
| 4left
|
CEOs At Yale Summit Grade Trump’s Presidency & It Is Going To Wreck The Donald
<p>Throughout his campaign, President Trump claimed repeatedly that&#160;his superior business skills would help him successfully run the country. According to the 125 people who were&#160;recently polled at the annual Yale CEO Summit, though, his business experience isn’t doing him much good.</p>
<p>The results of the&#160; <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/15/investing/ceos-give-trump-f-yale-survey/index.html" type="external">poll</a> conducted&#160;at the summit revealed that 50 percent of respondents&#160;gave Trump an “F” for his first 130 days in office. Another 21 percent gave him a “D,” and a mere 1 percent gave him an “A.”</p>
<p>The leader of the summit, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management, said that the majority of&#160;business leaders have the following message for&#160;Trump:</p>
<p>‘Stop the random 3 a.m. tweets and stop the needless brushfires diverting from the agenda.’</p>
<p>Sonnenfeld also made sure to point out that the attendees who were polled were not all Democrats who inherently dislike the president.</p>
<p>‘This was not a granola-eating crowd of Democrat entrepreneurs. It’s a cross-section of the business community, including some who are quite pro-Trump.’</p>
<p>Included in the group of people surveyed was Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman&#160;and two other business leaders who&#160;are actually advisers to the president:&#160;IBM’s&#160;Ginni Rometty and Merck CEO Ken Frazier. Individual responses to the survey were not released, so the&#160;specific grade Trump received from these individuals is unknown.</p>
<p>Trump’s standing in the business community was greatly diminished recently as a result of his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord. Almost immediately after&#160;he made this announcement, Trump lost the support of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who was serving as one of his advisers.</p>
<p />
<p>His decision was also swiftly criticized by&#160;General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt.</p>
<p />
<p>Many of the CEOs surveyed during the summit appeared to be in agreement with Musk and Immelt on this issue. Two-thirds of the group said that Trump’s decision had negatively affected the U.S.’s global standing.</p>
<p>In addition to expressing concerns about the Paris Agreement, 86 percent of respondents also said they were worried about Trump downplaying the seriousness of “Russian security mischief.”</p>
<p>When it comes to Trump’s&#160;budget, three-fourths of the nation’s top business leaders are less than impressed. They are also not optimistic when it comes to corporate tax reform — only 42 percent said that they think Trump will be able to make this happen.</p>
<p>The results of this poll are just the latest piece of evidence that support for the president is quickly dwindling. Ideally, Trump&#160;would listen to the concerns of those who were polled and work to improve. We all know that he’s just going to dismiss&#160;this poll as fake news, though.</p>
<p>Featured Image via&#160; <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/license/694251336" type="external">Pete Marovich/Bloomberg via Getty Images</a>.</p>
| 4,958 |
<p>After a string of unsuccessful albums, R&amp;B princess Monica releases "Still Standing" on March 23 with a hot list of producers like Ne-Yo, Missy Elliot and Jermaine Dupri. Let's hope she can bring it back to her "The Boys Is Mine" heyday.</p>
<p>Coming April 6 is the highly anticipated release of Madonna's "Sticky &amp; Sweet Tour," which was the most successful tour of all time by a solo artist. The footage used for this release was filmed over four days from her shows in Buenos Aires. It will be available in a CD/DVD and Blu-Ray format.</p>
<p>Lesbian rocker and breast cancer survivor Melissa Etheridge is out with her tenth studio album "Fearless Love" on April 27. Etheridge has said this will be even more rock oriented than her past efforts. The radio-friendly lead single, which is the title track, shows potential of becoming a well deserved hit.</p>
<p>On April 20 comes the long-awaited release of "Judy Garland &amp; Liza Minnelli: Live at the Palladium." Recorded live on Nov. 8, 1964, before a standing room only house at London's Palladium Theater and boasting 25 tracks, this is sure to be a must-have for fans of this iconic mother-daughter pair.</p>
<p>After a five-year absence, Toni Braxton makes a return to the music scene on May 4 with "Pulse." Braxton chose to collaborate with an impressive list of producers and songwriters, including Frank E (Madonna, Flo Rida), Steve Mac (Leona Lewis), Lucas Secon (Britney Spears, The Pussycat Dolls), Dapo Torimiro (David Archuletta, Brandy), and David Foster (Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion). It certainly sounds like she is pulling out all the stops.</p>
<p>Be on the lookout for other notable upcoming 2010 releases by these artists, which currently have no set release dates: Christina Aguilera, Blondie, Janet Jackson, Kelis and Katy Perry. Jackson's new single, "Nothing," from the soundtrack of Tyler Perry's "Why Did I Get Married, Too?" is expected to be released within days.</p>
|
Divas on deck
| false |
http://washingtonblade.com/2010/03/18/divas-on-deck/
| 3left-center
|
Divas on deck
<p>After a string of unsuccessful albums, R&amp;B princess Monica releases "Still Standing" on March 23 with a hot list of producers like Ne-Yo, Missy Elliot and Jermaine Dupri. Let's hope she can bring it back to her "The Boys Is Mine" heyday.</p>
<p>Coming April 6 is the highly anticipated release of Madonna's "Sticky &amp; Sweet Tour," which was the most successful tour of all time by a solo artist. The footage used for this release was filmed over four days from her shows in Buenos Aires. It will be available in a CD/DVD and Blu-Ray format.</p>
<p>Lesbian rocker and breast cancer survivor Melissa Etheridge is out with her tenth studio album "Fearless Love" on April 27. Etheridge has said this will be even more rock oriented than her past efforts. The radio-friendly lead single, which is the title track, shows potential of becoming a well deserved hit.</p>
<p>On April 20 comes the long-awaited release of "Judy Garland &amp; Liza Minnelli: Live at the Palladium." Recorded live on Nov. 8, 1964, before a standing room only house at London's Palladium Theater and boasting 25 tracks, this is sure to be a must-have for fans of this iconic mother-daughter pair.</p>
<p>After a five-year absence, Toni Braxton makes a return to the music scene on May 4 with "Pulse." Braxton chose to collaborate with an impressive list of producers and songwriters, including Frank E (Madonna, Flo Rida), Steve Mac (Leona Lewis), Lucas Secon (Britney Spears, The Pussycat Dolls), Dapo Torimiro (David Archuletta, Brandy), and David Foster (Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion). It certainly sounds like she is pulling out all the stops.</p>
<p>Be on the lookout for other notable upcoming 2010 releases by these artists, which currently have no set release dates: Christina Aguilera, Blondie, Janet Jackson, Kelis and Katy Perry. Jackson's new single, "Nothing," from the soundtrack of Tyler Perry's "Why Did I Get Married, Too?" is expected to be released within days.</p>
| 4,959 |
|
<p>It is sad that even with a video showing a police officer shooting a black man in the back that our fellow Americans will not convict. The killing was an execution. The judge showed a calm but on could infer from his tonality that he felt the pain.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>CNN.com <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/05/us/michael-slager-murder-trial-walter-scott-mistrial/index.html" type="external">reported</a> the following.</p>
<p>Charleston, South Carolina (CNN)The judge in the murder trial of former North Charleston, South Carolina, police officer Michael Slager on Monday declared a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a verdict after three days of deliberations.</p>
<p>Slager shot and killed Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, after a 2015 traffic stop. It wasn't immediately clear whether Charleston County prosecutors will seek a retrial.&#160;The jury, which deliberated for 22 hours in the case, passed a note to the judge. "Despite the best efforts of our members we are unable to come to a unanimous decision," jurors said in the note.</p>
<p>If <a href="" type="internal">this video</a> does not show a clear act of murder by a police officer, I do not know what would? Does anyone wonder why people of color are nervous especially with a xenophobic, racist, sexist, misogynist about to lead us all?</p>
<p>Good Americans need to speak up. We need to all be out brothers' and sisters' keepers.</p>
|
Judge declare mistrial in South Carolina Police murder of black man (VIDEO)
| true |
https://egbertowillies.com/2016/12/05/mistrial-south-carolina-police-murder/
|
2016-12-05
| 4left
|
Judge declare mistrial in South Carolina Police murder of black man (VIDEO)
<p>It is sad that even with a video showing a police officer shooting a black man in the back that our fellow Americans will not convict. The killing was an execution. The judge showed a calm but on could infer from his tonality that he felt the pain.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>CNN.com <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/05/us/michael-slager-murder-trial-walter-scott-mistrial/index.html" type="external">reported</a> the following.</p>
<p>Charleston, South Carolina (CNN)The judge in the murder trial of former North Charleston, South Carolina, police officer Michael Slager on Monday declared a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a verdict after three days of deliberations.</p>
<p>Slager shot and killed Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, after a 2015 traffic stop. It wasn't immediately clear whether Charleston County prosecutors will seek a retrial.&#160;The jury, which deliberated for 22 hours in the case, passed a note to the judge. "Despite the best efforts of our members we are unable to come to a unanimous decision," jurors said in the note.</p>
<p>If <a href="" type="internal">this video</a> does not show a clear act of murder by a police officer, I do not know what would? Does anyone wonder why people of color are nervous especially with a xenophobic, racist, sexist, misogynist about to lead us all?</p>
<p>Good Americans need to speak up. We need to all be out brothers' and sisters' keepers.</p>
| 4,960 |
<p>More and more newspapers in Europe are encouraging their readers to blog. <a href="http://www.kleine.at" type="external">Kleine Zeitung</a> in Austria started its blogs in December as a feature within the "Vorteilsclub" community that it tries to establish with its online readers. (Readers eventually will pay for the service, but at the moment it's still free.) <a href="http://www.sueddeutsche.de" type="external">Süddeutsche Zeitung</a>'s youth magazine, <a href="http://jetzt.sueddeutsche.de" type="external">jetzt</a>, has encouraged readers to participate (and to blog) for a long time (look for the blogs at "Tagebuch").However, the German regional daily Rheinische Post and its website, <a href="http://www.rp-online.de" type="external">RP-Online.de</a>, head for a totally new concept, as <a href="http://www.dwdl.de/conpresso/medien-inhalte/detail.php?nr=12975&amp;kategorie=medien-inhalte" type="external">dwdl-online-medien.de reports</a> (in German). <a href="http://www.rp-online.de/hps/client/opinio/public/hxfront/index.hbs" type="external">Opinio</a> is a group blog conducted by users of the RP-Online website. It will gain a second life as a printed magazine in February this year. Published twice a month, it will be distributed together with the printed newspaper. Is a commonly written magazine an advantage or a disadvantage compared to individual blogs? For sure it's civic journalism and worth a try. On the Opinio website there is no lack of interest by users. You'll find more than a dozen new entries each day, ranging form lyrics to product testing and personal testimonials.</p>
|
More Use of Weblogs by Newspapers in Europe
| false |
https://poynter.org/news/more-use-weblogs-newspapers-europe
|
2005-01-17
| 2least
|
More Use of Weblogs by Newspapers in Europe
<p>More and more newspapers in Europe are encouraging their readers to blog. <a href="http://www.kleine.at" type="external">Kleine Zeitung</a> in Austria started its blogs in December as a feature within the "Vorteilsclub" community that it tries to establish with its online readers. (Readers eventually will pay for the service, but at the moment it's still free.) <a href="http://www.sueddeutsche.de" type="external">Süddeutsche Zeitung</a>'s youth magazine, <a href="http://jetzt.sueddeutsche.de" type="external">jetzt</a>, has encouraged readers to participate (and to blog) for a long time (look for the blogs at "Tagebuch").However, the German regional daily Rheinische Post and its website, <a href="http://www.rp-online.de" type="external">RP-Online.de</a>, head for a totally new concept, as <a href="http://www.dwdl.de/conpresso/medien-inhalte/detail.php?nr=12975&amp;kategorie=medien-inhalte" type="external">dwdl-online-medien.de reports</a> (in German). <a href="http://www.rp-online.de/hps/client/opinio/public/hxfront/index.hbs" type="external">Opinio</a> is a group blog conducted by users of the RP-Online website. It will gain a second life as a printed magazine in February this year. Published twice a month, it will be distributed together with the printed newspaper. Is a commonly written magazine an advantage or a disadvantage compared to individual blogs? For sure it's civic journalism and worth a try. On the Opinio website there is no lack of interest by users. You'll find more than a dozen new entries each day, ranging form lyrics to product testing and personal testimonials.</p>
| 4,961 |
<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday evening’s drawing of the Arkansas Lottery’s “Natural State Jackpot” game were:</p>
<p>08-13-25-27-36</p>
<p>(eight, thirteen, twenty-five, twenty-seven, thirty-six)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $170,000</p>
<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday evening’s drawing of the Arkansas Lottery’s “Natural State Jackpot” game were:</p>
<p>08-13-25-27-36</p>
<p>(eight, thirteen, twenty-five, twenty-seven, thirty-six)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $170,000</p>
|
Winning numbers drawn in ‘Natural State Jackpot’ game
| false |
https://apnews.com/bec0f6e4c2734e799f61062f3c4ff133
|
2018-01-09
| 2least
|
Winning numbers drawn in ‘Natural State Jackpot’ game
<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday evening’s drawing of the Arkansas Lottery’s “Natural State Jackpot” game were:</p>
<p>08-13-25-27-36</p>
<p>(eight, thirteen, twenty-five, twenty-seven, thirty-six)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $170,000</p>
<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday evening’s drawing of the Arkansas Lottery’s “Natural State Jackpot” game were:</p>
<p>08-13-25-27-36</p>
<p>(eight, thirteen, twenty-five, twenty-seven, thirty-six)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $170,000</p>
| 4,962 |
<p>LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Temidayo Yussuf had his first double-double of the season and Long Beach State used two first-half runs to pull away for an 81-73 win over CS Fullerton on Saturday night.</p>
<p>Yussuf finished with a season-high 19 points and tied his season best with 14 rebounds. Gabe Levin also scored 19 points, Deishaun Booker added 14 and Jordan Roberts and Edon Maxhuni had 11 points apiece for Long Beach State (10-12, 4-2 Big West).</p>
<p>Maxhuni hit two 3-pointers and Yussuf scored six points during a 19-4 run that gave the 49ers a 13-point lead 6½ minutes in and Fullerton (11-7, 4-2) trailed the rest of the way. Khalil Ahmad's dunk pulled the Titans within seven points late in the first half, but LBSU closed on a 13-3 run, including six points by Booker, to take a 46-29 lead into the break. Fullerton trailed by 20 in the final minutes before scoring the last 12 points.</p>
<p>Ahmad had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Titans. Austen Awosika, Jackson Rowe and Kyle Allman scored 13 points apiece.</p>
<p>Long Beach State coach Dan Monson earned his 350th career win, including 180 with the 49ers.</p>
<p>LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Temidayo Yussuf had his first double-double of the season and Long Beach State used two first-half runs to pull away for an 81-73 win over CS Fullerton on Saturday night.</p>
<p>Yussuf finished with a season-high 19 points and tied his season best with 14 rebounds. Gabe Levin also scored 19 points, Deishaun Booker added 14 and Jordan Roberts and Edon Maxhuni had 11 points apiece for Long Beach State (10-12, 4-2 Big West).</p>
<p>Maxhuni hit two 3-pointers and Yussuf scored six points during a 19-4 run that gave the 49ers a 13-point lead 6½ minutes in and Fullerton (11-7, 4-2) trailed the rest of the way. Khalil Ahmad's dunk pulled the Titans within seven points late in the first half, but LBSU closed on a 13-3 run, including six points by Booker, to take a 46-29 lead into the break. Fullerton trailed by 20 in the final minutes before scoring the last 12 points.</p>
<p>Ahmad had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Titans. Austen Awosika, Jackson Rowe and Kyle Allman scored 13 points apiece.</p>
<p>Long Beach State coach Dan Monson earned his 350th career win, including 180 with the 49ers.</p>
|
Yussuf, first-half runs help LBSU beat CS Fullerton 81-73
| false |
https://apnews.com/amp/d613babc27504f178284278ba9346445
|
2018-01-21
| 2least
|
Yussuf, first-half runs help LBSU beat CS Fullerton 81-73
<p>LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Temidayo Yussuf had his first double-double of the season and Long Beach State used two first-half runs to pull away for an 81-73 win over CS Fullerton on Saturday night.</p>
<p>Yussuf finished with a season-high 19 points and tied his season best with 14 rebounds. Gabe Levin also scored 19 points, Deishaun Booker added 14 and Jordan Roberts and Edon Maxhuni had 11 points apiece for Long Beach State (10-12, 4-2 Big West).</p>
<p>Maxhuni hit two 3-pointers and Yussuf scored six points during a 19-4 run that gave the 49ers a 13-point lead 6½ minutes in and Fullerton (11-7, 4-2) trailed the rest of the way. Khalil Ahmad's dunk pulled the Titans within seven points late in the first half, but LBSU closed on a 13-3 run, including six points by Booker, to take a 46-29 lead into the break. Fullerton trailed by 20 in the final minutes before scoring the last 12 points.</p>
<p>Ahmad had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Titans. Austen Awosika, Jackson Rowe and Kyle Allman scored 13 points apiece.</p>
<p>Long Beach State coach Dan Monson earned his 350th career win, including 180 with the 49ers.</p>
<p>LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Temidayo Yussuf had his first double-double of the season and Long Beach State used two first-half runs to pull away for an 81-73 win over CS Fullerton on Saturday night.</p>
<p>Yussuf finished with a season-high 19 points and tied his season best with 14 rebounds. Gabe Levin also scored 19 points, Deishaun Booker added 14 and Jordan Roberts and Edon Maxhuni had 11 points apiece for Long Beach State (10-12, 4-2 Big West).</p>
<p>Maxhuni hit two 3-pointers and Yussuf scored six points during a 19-4 run that gave the 49ers a 13-point lead 6½ minutes in and Fullerton (11-7, 4-2) trailed the rest of the way. Khalil Ahmad's dunk pulled the Titans within seven points late in the first half, but LBSU closed on a 13-3 run, including six points by Booker, to take a 46-29 lead into the break. Fullerton trailed by 20 in the final minutes before scoring the last 12 points.</p>
<p>Ahmad had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Titans. Austen Awosika, Jackson Rowe and Kyle Allman scored 13 points apiece.</p>
<p>Long Beach State coach Dan Monson earned his 350th career win, including 180 with the 49ers.</p>
| 4,963 |
<p>Published time: 12 Oct, 2017 07:46Edited time: 12 Oct, 2017 08:04</p>
<p>The Pentagon is looking into a media report citing the CIA that Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) poster girl Sally Jones is dead. The “white widow,” the world’s most wanted female terrorist, was reportedly killed in a US drone strike in June.</p>
<p>According to a report by the Sun, British woman Sally Jones was killed while trying to escape Raqqa.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/uk/387591-isis-sally-jones-drones/" type="external" /></p>
<p>“The Americans zapped her trying to get away from Raqqa. Quite frankly, it’s good riddance,” <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4665086/british-jihadi-sally-jones-killed-us-drone-strike-on-isis-syria/" type="external">the Sun</a> quoted a Whitehall source as saying.&#160;</p>
<p>The Sun’s article claims that the CIA told their British counterparts that Jones had been killed by a Predator drone strike.</p>
<p>There are fears that the strike might have also killed her 12-year-old son Joe ‘Jojo’ Dixon. The Sun’s sources said ‘Jojo’ was not specifically targeted in the strike, and it would have been called off if he had been known to be in the vicinity.</p>
<p>The Pentagon, however, declined to confirm the report of Jones’ death officially.</p>
<p>“I do not have any information that would substantiate that report but that could change and we are looking into this,” Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway was quoted as saying by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/12/british-isis-member-sally-jones-white-widow-killed-airstrike-son-islamic-state-syria" type="external">the Guardian</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>There was no immediate comment from the CIA either.</p>
<p>Jones, who was the lead guitarist of an all-girl rock-band in the 1990s, left her home in Kent to join the terrorists in Syria with her husband Junaid Hussain back in 2013.</p>
<p>The couple were reportedly involved in planning IS attacks, and were considered to be among the organization’s most effective western recruiters. Hussain was killed in a US drone strike in 2015.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/uk/395223-isis-sally-jones-return/" type="external">‘Most wanted’ British jihadist bride now ‘desperate’ to flee ISIS, return to UK</a></p>
<p>Jones used her social media accounts to recruit women for IS and was giving practical tips on how to travel to Syria. She also encouraged IS sympathizers to carry out attacks in the UK, reportedly offering practical guidance.</p>
<p>The “white widow” was also reportedly in charge of training European female fighters, or “muhajirat,” in Raqqa, according to British broadsheet the Telegraph.</p>
|
Pentagon looking into report ISIS ‘White Widow’ Sally Jones killed in US drone strike
| false |
https://newsline.com/pentagon-looking-into-report-isis-white-widow-sally-jones-killed-in-us-drone-strike/
|
2017-10-12
| 1right-center
|
Pentagon looking into report ISIS ‘White Widow’ Sally Jones killed in US drone strike
<p>Published time: 12 Oct, 2017 07:46Edited time: 12 Oct, 2017 08:04</p>
<p>The Pentagon is looking into a media report citing the CIA that Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) poster girl Sally Jones is dead. The “white widow,” the world’s most wanted female terrorist, was reportedly killed in a US drone strike in June.</p>
<p>According to a report by the Sun, British woman Sally Jones was killed while trying to escape Raqqa.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/uk/387591-isis-sally-jones-drones/" type="external" /></p>
<p>“The Americans zapped her trying to get away from Raqqa. Quite frankly, it’s good riddance,” <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4665086/british-jihadi-sally-jones-killed-us-drone-strike-on-isis-syria/" type="external">the Sun</a> quoted a Whitehall source as saying.&#160;</p>
<p>The Sun’s article claims that the CIA told their British counterparts that Jones had been killed by a Predator drone strike.</p>
<p>There are fears that the strike might have also killed her 12-year-old son Joe ‘Jojo’ Dixon. The Sun’s sources said ‘Jojo’ was not specifically targeted in the strike, and it would have been called off if he had been known to be in the vicinity.</p>
<p>The Pentagon, however, declined to confirm the report of Jones’ death officially.</p>
<p>“I do not have any information that would substantiate that report but that could change and we are looking into this,” Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway was quoted as saying by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/12/british-isis-member-sally-jones-white-widow-killed-airstrike-son-islamic-state-syria" type="external">the Guardian</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>There was no immediate comment from the CIA either.</p>
<p>Jones, who was the lead guitarist of an all-girl rock-band in the 1990s, left her home in Kent to join the terrorists in Syria with her husband Junaid Hussain back in 2013.</p>
<p>The couple were reportedly involved in planning IS attacks, and were considered to be among the organization’s most effective western recruiters. Hussain was killed in a US drone strike in 2015.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/uk/395223-isis-sally-jones-return/" type="external">‘Most wanted’ British jihadist bride now ‘desperate’ to flee ISIS, return to UK</a></p>
<p>Jones used her social media accounts to recruit women for IS and was giving practical tips on how to travel to Syria. She also encouraged IS sympathizers to carry out attacks in the UK, reportedly offering practical guidance.</p>
<p>The “white widow” was also reportedly in charge of training European female fighters, or “muhajirat,” in Raqqa, according to British broadsheet the Telegraph.</p>
| 4,964 |
<p />
<p>I didn’t know we were entering into a new “artpolitical” era. And if this is a new one, was there an old one?</p>
<p>I probably don’t know these things because I’m not an art history professor writing in the LA Times. If I was, I would understand that Mike Gravel, what with his <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2007/06/4658_mike_gravel_wil.html" type="external">crazy campaign ads</a>, is a genius on par with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, and Jackson Pollack. And the interpretation of Gravel and his campaign goes something like this:</p>
<p>Gravel’s works confront us with our own existences and our deaths, the brute thereness of truth, the skull beneath the $400 haircut, the cellulite under the pants suit. His is neo-existentialist, post-apocalyptic, post-post modern art, a silence that screams and cajoles.</p>
<p>Gravel’s politics are a politics of the body and of the physical world, of what is underneath our language and above it, what is broken and beautiful, the real world of human beings.</p>
<p>I suggest to you that a Gravel presidency would lead to an entirely new America, doing to us what cubism did to post-impressionism: dragging us moaning in glorious epiphanic pain into a new world.</p>
<p>It may be that Gravel, like Vincent van Gogh, Friedrich Nietzsche or indeed, Crispin Sartwell, is a premature birth of an astonishing future. He may toil in obscurity, misunderstood or ignored in his own time. And yet, whether we can fully theorize him or not, Mike Gravel, though he may never be president, has brought us all to the very brink of political ecstasy.</p>
<p>A ten on the crazy meter? That’s probably what most Times readers will say. But I’ll go with an eight — there are some kernels of truth in there.</p>
<p>And good golly, I enjoyed that op-ed more than any other in a long, long time.</p>
<p>Via <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/the_plank?pid=122831" type="external">The Plank</a>.</p>
<p />
|
Mike Gravel the “Avant Garde of the New Artpolitical Era”?
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/07/mike-gravel-avant-garde-new-artpolitical-era/
|
2007-07-06
| 4left
|
Mike Gravel the “Avant Garde of the New Artpolitical Era”?
<p />
<p>I didn’t know we were entering into a new “artpolitical” era. And if this is a new one, was there an old one?</p>
<p>I probably don’t know these things because I’m not an art history professor writing in the LA Times. If I was, I would understand that Mike Gravel, what with his <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2007/06/4658_mike_gravel_wil.html" type="external">crazy campaign ads</a>, is a genius on par with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, and Jackson Pollack. And the interpretation of Gravel and his campaign goes something like this:</p>
<p>Gravel’s works confront us with our own existences and our deaths, the brute thereness of truth, the skull beneath the $400 haircut, the cellulite under the pants suit. His is neo-existentialist, post-apocalyptic, post-post modern art, a silence that screams and cajoles.</p>
<p>Gravel’s politics are a politics of the body and of the physical world, of what is underneath our language and above it, what is broken and beautiful, the real world of human beings.</p>
<p>I suggest to you that a Gravel presidency would lead to an entirely new America, doing to us what cubism did to post-impressionism: dragging us moaning in glorious epiphanic pain into a new world.</p>
<p>It may be that Gravel, like Vincent van Gogh, Friedrich Nietzsche or indeed, Crispin Sartwell, is a premature birth of an astonishing future. He may toil in obscurity, misunderstood or ignored in his own time. And yet, whether we can fully theorize him or not, Mike Gravel, though he may never be president, has brought us all to the very brink of political ecstasy.</p>
<p>A ten on the crazy meter? That’s probably what most Times readers will say. But I’ll go with an eight — there are some kernels of truth in there.</p>
<p>And good golly, I enjoyed that op-ed more than any other in a long, long time.</p>
<p>Via <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/the_plank?pid=122831" type="external">The Plank</a>.</p>
<p />
| 4,965 |
<p>PEORIA, Ill. (AP) - Donte Thomas scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Bradley beat Valparaiso 80-71 in Missouri Valley Conference action on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Koch Bar and Nate Kennell added 14 points apiece for the Braves (12-4, 2-1). Darrell Brown had 12 points and seven assists and Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye pulled down 14 rebounds in addition to his six points.</p>
<p>The teams were tied 33-all at intermission and Bradley pulled away on a 16-11 run early in the second half to lead 49-44 with 13:03 to play. The Braves led the rest of the way.</p>
<p>Valparaiso closed to 70-65 with 2:30 left but Thomas, Brown, Kennell and Jayden Hodgson combined to hit 8 of 8 from the line after that to help keep the Braves on top.</p>
<p>Tevonn Walker scored with 25 points and seven rebounds for the Crusaders (9-7, 0-3) who have lost four straight. Markus Golder added 11 points off the bench.</p>
<p>PEORIA, Ill. (AP) - Donte Thomas scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Bradley beat Valparaiso 80-71 in Missouri Valley Conference action on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Koch Bar and Nate Kennell added 14 points apiece for the Braves (12-4, 2-1). Darrell Brown had 12 points and seven assists and Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye pulled down 14 rebounds in addition to his six points.</p>
<p>The teams were tied 33-all at intermission and Bradley pulled away on a 16-11 run early in the second half to lead 49-44 with 13:03 to play. The Braves led the rest of the way.</p>
<p>Valparaiso closed to 70-65 with 2:30 left but Thomas, Brown, Kennell and Jayden Hodgson combined to hit 8 of 8 from the line after that to help keep the Braves on top.</p>
<p>Tevonn Walker scored with 25 points and seven rebounds for the Crusaders (9-7, 0-3) who have lost four straight. Markus Golder added 11 points off the bench.</p>
|
Thomas scores 19 as Bradley beats Valparaiso 80-71
| false |
https://apnews.com/a8f0e73e16e84d19a9841a448abd5fe7
|
2018-01-04
| 2least
|
Thomas scores 19 as Bradley beats Valparaiso 80-71
<p>PEORIA, Ill. (AP) - Donte Thomas scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Bradley beat Valparaiso 80-71 in Missouri Valley Conference action on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Koch Bar and Nate Kennell added 14 points apiece for the Braves (12-4, 2-1). Darrell Brown had 12 points and seven assists and Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye pulled down 14 rebounds in addition to his six points.</p>
<p>The teams were tied 33-all at intermission and Bradley pulled away on a 16-11 run early in the second half to lead 49-44 with 13:03 to play. The Braves led the rest of the way.</p>
<p>Valparaiso closed to 70-65 with 2:30 left but Thomas, Brown, Kennell and Jayden Hodgson combined to hit 8 of 8 from the line after that to help keep the Braves on top.</p>
<p>Tevonn Walker scored with 25 points and seven rebounds for the Crusaders (9-7, 0-3) who have lost four straight. Markus Golder added 11 points off the bench.</p>
<p>PEORIA, Ill. (AP) - Donte Thomas scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Bradley beat Valparaiso 80-71 in Missouri Valley Conference action on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Koch Bar and Nate Kennell added 14 points apiece for the Braves (12-4, 2-1). Darrell Brown had 12 points and seven assists and Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye pulled down 14 rebounds in addition to his six points.</p>
<p>The teams were tied 33-all at intermission and Bradley pulled away on a 16-11 run early in the second half to lead 49-44 with 13:03 to play. The Braves led the rest of the way.</p>
<p>Valparaiso closed to 70-65 with 2:30 left but Thomas, Brown, Kennell and Jayden Hodgson combined to hit 8 of 8 from the line after that to help keep the Braves on top.</p>
<p>Tevonn Walker scored with 25 points and seven rebounds for the Crusaders (9-7, 0-3) who have lost four straight. Markus Golder added 11 points off the bench.</p>
| 4,966 |
<p>Belize's deputy prime minister wants those responsible for destroying a Mayan temple during a road project prosecuted "to the fullest extent of the law."</p>
<p>Gaspar Vega, who also represents the area where the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nohmul" type="external">Nohmul pyramid</a> was destroyed last week, called for the punishments in a a statement today <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/15/world/americas/belize-mayan-pyramid-destroyed/?hpt=hp_t4" type="external">obtained by CNN</a>.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/130513/ancient-mayan-pyramid-gutted-belize-road-project-report" type="external">Ancient Mayan pryamid gutted for Belize road project</a></p>
<p>"Cultural landmarks such as Noh Mul are sacred artifacts of Belizean history and should be protected at all costs. This expressed disdain for our laws and policies is incomprehensible," the statement said.</p>
<p>According to reports,&#160;only a <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/130513/ancient-mayan-pyramid-gutted-belize-road-project-report" type="external">tiny piece</a> of the pyramid was left after the bulldozers and backhoes started their work.</p>
<p>The ruins were reportedly on private land but ancient Mayan buildings have state protection.</p>
<p>Archaeologists called the destruction shocking and a disgrace, and&#160;Belize's Ministry of Tourism and Culture said it had commissioned a full investigation of the incident.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/121223/maya-calendar-cycle-celebrations-central-america-belize" type="external">Maya calendar cycle celebrated throughout Central America (PHOTOS)</a></p>
<p>Belize's&#160;Institute of Archaeology also promised <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130515-belize-pyramid-destroyed-archeology-maya-nohmul-world-road/" type="external">an investigation</a>and said it planned to take those responsible to court.</p>
<p>"This Maya site is well known to the local community, who have worked on various projects at the site," John Morris, the institute's associate director of research, <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130515-belize-pyramid-destroyed-archeology-maya-nohmul-world-road/" type="external">told National Geographic</a>. "The Institute of Archaeology is going to use this opportunity to really embark on a national awareness campaign for the preservation and protection of the country."</p>
<p>First recorded in 1897, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nohmul" type="external">Nohmul site</a> on Belize's northern tip had been excavated on and off since the early 1900s and it thought to have been the center of a settlement of about 40,000 people in 250 BC.</p>
|
Belize calls for prosecutions in Mayan pyramid gutting
| false |
https://pri.org/stories/2013-05-15/belize-calls-prosecutions-mayan-pyramid-gutting
|
2013-05-15
| 3left-center
|
Belize calls for prosecutions in Mayan pyramid gutting
<p>Belize's deputy prime minister wants those responsible for destroying a Mayan temple during a road project prosecuted "to the fullest extent of the law."</p>
<p>Gaspar Vega, who also represents the area where the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nohmul" type="external">Nohmul pyramid</a> was destroyed last week, called for the punishments in a a statement today <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/15/world/americas/belize-mayan-pyramid-destroyed/?hpt=hp_t4" type="external">obtained by CNN</a>.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/130513/ancient-mayan-pyramid-gutted-belize-road-project-report" type="external">Ancient Mayan pryamid gutted for Belize road project</a></p>
<p>"Cultural landmarks such as Noh Mul are sacred artifacts of Belizean history and should be protected at all costs. This expressed disdain for our laws and policies is incomprehensible," the statement said.</p>
<p>According to reports,&#160;only a <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/130513/ancient-mayan-pyramid-gutted-belize-road-project-report" type="external">tiny piece</a> of the pyramid was left after the bulldozers and backhoes started their work.</p>
<p>The ruins were reportedly on private land but ancient Mayan buildings have state protection.</p>
<p>Archaeologists called the destruction shocking and a disgrace, and&#160;Belize's Ministry of Tourism and Culture said it had commissioned a full investigation of the incident.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/121223/maya-calendar-cycle-celebrations-central-america-belize" type="external">Maya calendar cycle celebrated throughout Central America (PHOTOS)</a></p>
<p>Belize's&#160;Institute of Archaeology also promised <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130515-belize-pyramid-destroyed-archeology-maya-nohmul-world-road/" type="external">an investigation</a>and said it planned to take those responsible to court.</p>
<p>"This Maya site is well known to the local community, who have worked on various projects at the site," John Morris, the institute's associate director of research, <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130515-belize-pyramid-destroyed-archeology-maya-nohmul-world-road/" type="external">told National Geographic</a>. "The Institute of Archaeology is going to use this opportunity to really embark on a national awareness campaign for the preservation and protection of the country."</p>
<p>First recorded in 1897, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nohmul" type="external">Nohmul site</a> on Belize's northern tip had been excavated on and off since the early 1900s and it thought to have been the center of a settlement of about 40,000 people in 250 BC.</p>
| 4,967 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>HOBBY LOBBY will end up caving on this issue. Just wait for their insurance premiums to shoot through the roof. — J.C.</p>
<p>HOW DOES THIS fish (silvery minnow) affect my quality of life, except as bait? — T.W.</p>
<p>THE ONLY NORTH American city in which I’ve seen as much good public art as in Albuquerque is Montreal. Laissez le bon temps roulez. — J.S.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>PUBLIC EMPLOYEE unions need to be eliminated. Allowing taxpayer supported employees to organize was a huge mistake. — J.K.A.</p>
<p>THIS LAST ELECTION chose a candidate to represent a party. If you do not support my party, you can’t choose my candidate. Pick a side or watch how the system works. — S.L.</p>
<p>I CANNOT UNDERSTAND why the Forest Service cannot patrol a few trails extensively and keep them open. Closing the La Luz Trail and the foothills trails just seems like overkill. — D.C.</p>
<p>I AM SHOCKED to be told the U.S. government has made a mess of something that worked before the government became involved! — P.H.</p>
<p>SO NOW CORPORATIONS, who we know are now people just like we are, have political rights – to financially support candidates – and religious rights. I wonder which church corporations attend. Will they go to heaven? — E.M.</p>
<p>DEAR COMMUNITY, teachers, principals, superintendents, school board, etc. Has enough sand been kicked in your faces yet? — G.S.</p>
<p>IT IS JULY 1 and I still have not received my “corrected” teacher evaluation. Does this mean that the PED gets a score of “ineffective”? Who are they going to go to for their remedial training? — D.R.</p>
<p>WILL THE TEACHER’S unions please file a class action suit against the PED for denying teachers the data it used to come up with its teacher effectiveness designations. We are not in Nazi Germany! — M.L.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>VERY UPSETTING (trail closures). I love to hike with my dog and take photographs. These closures do – to my mind – really seem like the forest service is depriving the public of a lot. — J.G.</p>
<p>THE RIO GRANDE was and is a mecca for wildlife. We should embrace our wildlife environment, not vilify it. We live along the bosque, we have wild raccoons and we have never had a problem. The few times we have seen the raccoon, we smile and get out our camera. — E.K.D.</p>
<p>THE ABCWUA said “plant more trees,” so I did. They said “deep-water the drip-line of your trees,” so I did. My bill averages “conservation-penalties” of $50-$100 per month. — S.S.</p>
<p>I SUGGEST THAT everyone who wants to think for themselves and keep what they earn just leave the country to the Democrats, nanny-crats, and illegal aliens. The Dems stay in power and everyone else gets to have government make all the decisions. — P.P.</p>
<p>ONCE AGAIN, our Supreme Court has demonstrated their hallmark twisted mentality that cannot distinguish between a warm-blooded citizen and a legal business construct called a corporation. With the Hobby Lobby verdict, we now have the blessings of the court for religious fiat against employees. I will bet they won’t exercise it with customers. — J.E.S.</p>
<p>I WOULD LIKE to compliment two very nice policemen who came to my rescue June 21 on Tramway Blvd., when I had a blowout. They stopped and changed my tire. The good deeds APD do very seldom get recognized. I appreciated their help very much. They made my day! — M.B.</p>
<p>WHAT SCHOOL OF journalism taught you that photos of dead horses, dead bears, dead cranes, etc., were necessary to illustrate a story? You deserve an F. Grotesque and disrespectful. — P.A.</p>
<p>OH MY GOD! The recent evening news reported that San Bernardino and Los Angeles County cops shot a victim! I will gladly pay for a one-way airplane ticket for all our APD protesters to get out of Albuquerque and never come back. Adios! — E.W.N.</p>
<p>Speak Up Rules:</p>
<p>If you want to gripe, grouse, whine or bellyache about a generic topic, send us your message at <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a>. The same goes if you want to dish out praise or thanks. Either way, you have to do it in 50 words or less. You can’t identify anyone you criticize. Keep it clean. No cursing, please. We don’t need your name, just initials. And it’s cheaper than therapy.</p>
<p />
|
Speak Up!
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/427164/speak-up-119.html
|
2014-07-08
| 2least
|
Speak Up!
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>HOBBY LOBBY will end up caving on this issue. Just wait for their insurance premiums to shoot through the roof. — J.C.</p>
<p>HOW DOES THIS fish (silvery minnow) affect my quality of life, except as bait? — T.W.</p>
<p>THE ONLY NORTH American city in which I’ve seen as much good public art as in Albuquerque is Montreal. Laissez le bon temps roulez. — J.S.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>PUBLIC EMPLOYEE unions need to be eliminated. Allowing taxpayer supported employees to organize was a huge mistake. — J.K.A.</p>
<p>THIS LAST ELECTION chose a candidate to represent a party. If you do not support my party, you can’t choose my candidate. Pick a side or watch how the system works. — S.L.</p>
<p>I CANNOT UNDERSTAND why the Forest Service cannot patrol a few trails extensively and keep them open. Closing the La Luz Trail and the foothills trails just seems like overkill. — D.C.</p>
<p>I AM SHOCKED to be told the U.S. government has made a mess of something that worked before the government became involved! — P.H.</p>
<p>SO NOW CORPORATIONS, who we know are now people just like we are, have political rights – to financially support candidates – and religious rights. I wonder which church corporations attend. Will they go to heaven? — E.M.</p>
<p>DEAR COMMUNITY, teachers, principals, superintendents, school board, etc. Has enough sand been kicked in your faces yet? — G.S.</p>
<p>IT IS JULY 1 and I still have not received my “corrected” teacher evaluation. Does this mean that the PED gets a score of “ineffective”? Who are they going to go to for their remedial training? — D.R.</p>
<p>WILL THE TEACHER’S unions please file a class action suit against the PED for denying teachers the data it used to come up with its teacher effectiveness designations. We are not in Nazi Germany! — M.L.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>VERY UPSETTING (trail closures). I love to hike with my dog and take photographs. These closures do – to my mind – really seem like the forest service is depriving the public of a lot. — J.G.</p>
<p>THE RIO GRANDE was and is a mecca for wildlife. We should embrace our wildlife environment, not vilify it. We live along the bosque, we have wild raccoons and we have never had a problem. The few times we have seen the raccoon, we smile and get out our camera. — E.K.D.</p>
<p>THE ABCWUA said “plant more trees,” so I did. They said “deep-water the drip-line of your trees,” so I did. My bill averages “conservation-penalties” of $50-$100 per month. — S.S.</p>
<p>I SUGGEST THAT everyone who wants to think for themselves and keep what they earn just leave the country to the Democrats, nanny-crats, and illegal aliens. The Dems stay in power and everyone else gets to have government make all the decisions. — P.P.</p>
<p>ONCE AGAIN, our Supreme Court has demonstrated their hallmark twisted mentality that cannot distinguish between a warm-blooded citizen and a legal business construct called a corporation. With the Hobby Lobby verdict, we now have the blessings of the court for religious fiat against employees. I will bet they won’t exercise it with customers. — J.E.S.</p>
<p>I WOULD LIKE to compliment two very nice policemen who came to my rescue June 21 on Tramway Blvd., when I had a blowout. They stopped and changed my tire. The good deeds APD do very seldom get recognized. I appreciated their help very much. They made my day! — M.B.</p>
<p>WHAT SCHOOL OF journalism taught you that photos of dead horses, dead bears, dead cranes, etc., were necessary to illustrate a story? You deserve an F. Grotesque and disrespectful. — P.A.</p>
<p>OH MY GOD! The recent evening news reported that San Bernardino and Los Angeles County cops shot a victim! I will gladly pay for a one-way airplane ticket for all our APD protesters to get out of Albuquerque and never come back. Adios! — E.W.N.</p>
<p>Speak Up Rules:</p>
<p>If you want to gripe, grouse, whine or bellyache about a generic topic, send us your message at <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a>. The same goes if you want to dish out praise or thanks. Either way, you have to do it in 50 words or less. You can’t identify anyone you criticize. Keep it clean. No cursing, please. We don’t need your name, just initials. And it’s cheaper than therapy.</p>
<p />
| 4,968 |
<p>An army of volunteers is descending upon Sochi for the Winter Olympics right along with the athletes, ready for a sporting spectacle and the trip of a lifetime.</p>
<p>Some 25,000 people will be donning the colorful volunteer uniforms, with 2,000 of them coming from outside of Russia, according to the Organizing Committee of the Winter Games in Sochi. Ten percent of those international volunteers are from the United States.</p>
<p>They’re facing daunting flight itineraries, a <a href="http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/russia-travel-alert.html" type="external">travel alert</a>, security concerns and the challenges of a different culture and language, but they are determined to enjoy their two weeks in Sochi.</p>
<p>Yvonne Batal of Fairfax Station, Va., is an avid skier who credits “beautiful timing” for her trip to the Games. The flight attendant took a leave of absence from her job last year to spend some time at home and was searching online for volunteer work when she first got the idea to go to Russia.</p>
<p>“I thought, what is my passion? I wrote down skiing and the first thing that popped up was be a volunteer in Sochi. And I looked at that and said, oh my God, I have to do this,” she recalled.</p>
<p>Batal, 52, applied three days before the deadline, calling the online form “one of the longest applications I’ve ever filled out for anything.” A battery of correspondence and a Skype interview with Russian officials later, she found out she had made the cut and would be helping the alpine ski crew in the <a href="http://www.olympic.org/news/sochi-2014-s-mountain-venues-set-to-provide-lasting-legacy/189314" type="external">Mountain Cluster</a> — the site of ski events just outside of Sochi.</p>
<p>“I was so excited,” Batal said, noting she wanted to compete in the Olympics when she was younger but was sidelined by injuries. “It was the dream of a lifetime for me.”</p>
<p>For Allison McFarland, the big draw was the chance to see behind the scenes at the biggest sporting event in the world.</p>
<p>McFarland, who chairs the department of business and economics at Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., said the trip is part of a sabbatical that will help her observe Russian leadership style. She’ll work for the event management services team in the Mountain Cluster, helping with logistics.</p>
<p>McFarland, 52, is especially excited to see another part of the world.</p>
<p>“I’ve done quite a bit of international traveling, but I’ve never been to Eastern Europe and I’ve never been to Russia. So the opportunity to be able to experience a little bit of that culture was part of the appeal,” she said.</p>
<p>Her journey took her from Kansas City to Paris, France. Then it was on to Moscow, plus one final flight to Sochi.</p>
<p>“I don’t know that there’s a quick way to get from Kansas to Sochi,” McFarland said.</p>
<p>Another American volunteer had a much shorter journey. Connecticut native Tamara Smith has lived in Russia for almost a decade, moving to Moscow when her husband began working in the local office of a U.S. law firm. Once she learned that the 2014 Winter Olympics would take place in Russia, she was determined to get involved.</p>
<p>“I'm a former figure skater, but I was never going to make an Olympic team. This is the next best way to be here,” Smith said, noting she was ecstatic when she found out she was selected. “I started screaming and jumping up and down.”</p>
<p>Smith, 41, will be a National Olympic Committee assistant for the French delegation, helping athletes who are competing in figure skating, speed skating, curling and hockey. She’ll be based in the <a href="" type="internal">Coastal Cluster</a> — an area of six arenas along the Black Sea — staying in a Soviet-era summer resort complex.</p>
<p>Sochi volunteers have to pay their own way to get to the Games, but once there, they receive free room and board, though the accommodations will be a tight squeeze.</p>
<p>“The most exciting thing is to meet people from all over the world,” Batal said.</p>
<p>The volunteers have varying knowledge of Russian, with Batal somewhat familiar with the language because of her Serbian heritage. McFarland has been practicing Russian with the help of an app, but noticed Olympic organizers were more interested in volunteers’ ability to speak English. Smith speaks fluent Russian and French.</p>
<p>All three women were philosophical about the <a href="" type="internal">security concerns</a> surrounding the Olympics.</p>
<p>“I can’t deny the fact that that’s a little unnerving,” McFarland said. “(But) these are things that are beyond my control — I just need to make smart decisions and pray for safety.”</p>
<p>Batal, who is familiar with security concerns from her years of flying, said the issue is on her mind but would not stop her from going. Smith said she was impressed by the multiple levels of security in Sochi.</p>
<p>“It is so much fun being here,” she said. “It will have been incredible to play a small part in these Games.”</p>
|
Sochi Trip Is ‘Dream of a Lifetime’ for U.S. Volunteers
| false |
http://nbcnews.com/storyline/sochi-olympics/sochi-trip-dream-lifetime-u-s-volunteers-n20186
|
2014-02-07
| 3left-center
|
Sochi Trip Is ‘Dream of a Lifetime’ for U.S. Volunteers
<p>An army of volunteers is descending upon Sochi for the Winter Olympics right along with the athletes, ready for a sporting spectacle and the trip of a lifetime.</p>
<p>Some 25,000 people will be donning the colorful volunteer uniforms, with 2,000 of them coming from outside of Russia, according to the Organizing Committee of the Winter Games in Sochi. Ten percent of those international volunteers are from the United States.</p>
<p>They’re facing daunting flight itineraries, a <a href="http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/russia-travel-alert.html" type="external">travel alert</a>, security concerns and the challenges of a different culture and language, but they are determined to enjoy their two weeks in Sochi.</p>
<p>Yvonne Batal of Fairfax Station, Va., is an avid skier who credits “beautiful timing” for her trip to the Games. The flight attendant took a leave of absence from her job last year to spend some time at home and was searching online for volunteer work when she first got the idea to go to Russia.</p>
<p>“I thought, what is my passion? I wrote down skiing and the first thing that popped up was be a volunteer in Sochi. And I looked at that and said, oh my God, I have to do this,” she recalled.</p>
<p>Batal, 52, applied three days before the deadline, calling the online form “one of the longest applications I’ve ever filled out for anything.” A battery of correspondence and a Skype interview with Russian officials later, she found out she had made the cut and would be helping the alpine ski crew in the <a href="http://www.olympic.org/news/sochi-2014-s-mountain-venues-set-to-provide-lasting-legacy/189314" type="external">Mountain Cluster</a> — the site of ski events just outside of Sochi.</p>
<p>“I was so excited,” Batal said, noting she wanted to compete in the Olympics when she was younger but was sidelined by injuries. “It was the dream of a lifetime for me.”</p>
<p>For Allison McFarland, the big draw was the chance to see behind the scenes at the biggest sporting event in the world.</p>
<p>McFarland, who chairs the department of business and economics at Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., said the trip is part of a sabbatical that will help her observe Russian leadership style. She’ll work for the event management services team in the Mountain Cluster, helping with logistics.</p>
<p>McFarland, 52, is especially excited to see another part of the world.</p>
<p>“I’ve done quite a bit of international traveling, but I’ve never been to Eastern Europe and I’ve never been to Russia. So the opportunity to be able to experience a little bit of that culture was part of the appeal,” she said.</p>
<p>Her journey took her from Kansas City to Paris, France. Then it was on to Moscow, plus one final flight to Sochi.</p>
<p>“I don’t know that there’s a quick way to get from Kansas to Sochi,” McFarland said.</p>
<p>Another American volunteer had a much shorter journey. Connecticut native Tamara Smith has lived in Russia for almost a decade, moving to Moscow when her husband began working in the local office of a U.S. law firm. Once she learned that the 2014 Winter Olympics would take place in Russia, she was determined to get involved.</p>
<p>“I'm a former figure skater, but I was never going to make an Olympic team. This is the next best way to be here,” Smith said, noting she was ecstatic when she found out she was selected. “I started screaming and jumping up and down.”</p>
<p>Smith, 41, will be a National Olympic Committee assistant for the French delegation, helping athletes who are competing in figure skating, speed skating, curling and hockey. She’ll be based in the <a href="" type="internal">Coastal Cluster</a> — an area of six arenas along the Black Sea — staying in a Soviet-era summer resort complex.</p>
<p>Sochi volunteers have to pay their own way to get to the Games, but once there, they receive free room and board, though the accommodations will be a tight squeeze.</p>
<p>“The most exciting thing is to meet people from all over the world,” Batal said.</p>
<p>The volunteers have varying knowledge of Russian, with Batal somewhat familiar with the language because of her Serbian heritage. McFarland has been practicing Russian with the help of an app, but noticed Olympic organizers were more interested in volunteers’ ability to speak English. Smith speaks fluent Russian and French.</p>
<p>All three women were philosophical about the <a href="" type="internal">security concerns</a> surrounding the Olympics.</p>
<p>“I can’t deny the fact that that’s a little unnerving,” McFarland said. “(But) these are things that are beyond my control — I just need to make smart decisions and pray for safety.”</p>
<p>Batal, who is familiar with security concerns from her years of flying, said the issue is on her mind but would not stop her from going. Smith said she was impressed by the multiple levels of security in Sochi.</p>
<p>“It is so much fun being here,” she said. “It will have been incredible to play a small part in these Games.”</p>
| 4,969 |
<p>That was fast. After just four days of the new Countdown, Keith Olbermann has reversed course and conceded defeat to MSNBC and Rachel Maddow fans by declaring that he will no longer run his program into the 9 p.m. hour.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Maddow’s fans had complained about Olbermann’s deliberate decision to run his program past 9 p.m. and into the opening minutes of her program, but Olbermann was unapologetic, noting that Maddow appeared on the last few minutes of Lawrence O’Donnell’s program on Monday as a pre-emptive strike against Olbermann.</p>
<p>But Olbermann apparently had enough of the complaints and told his followers via Twitter that the program would no longer step on Maddow’s opening minutes:</p>
<p>At @current we’ll soon have a 9 PM companion commentary show to mine. But in the interim there is no reason for me to be overlapping with my friend Rachel, nor to ignore the wishes of those who’ve been so loyal to both of us for so long. We’ve heard you: as of tomorrow night Countdown finishes at 9. Bonus stuff will instead go to Countdown Online. Thanks for upsiding my head on this :)”</p>
<p>Olbermann never really wanted to inflict any damage on Maddow personally, but was hoping to steal a little extra ratings juice for Current by going overtime as well as to stick it to MSNBC by attempting to drive Maddow’s ratings down a bit.</p>
<p>Well, as with most things since his launch this week, he failed to do either and has retreated with his tail between his legs.</p>
<p>It’s not easy being a liberal outcast.</p>
|
MSNBC Wins, Olbermann Backs off Extending Program
| true |
http://aim.org/don-irvine-blog/msnbc-wins-olbermann-backs-off-extending-program/
|
2011-06-24
| 0right
|
MSNBC Wins, Olbermann Backs off Extending Program
<p>That was fast. After just four days of the new Countdown, Keith Olbermann has reversed course and conceded defeat to MSNBC and Rachel Maddow fans by declaring that he will no longer run his program into the 9 p.m. hour.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Maddow’s fans had complained about Olbermann’s deliberate decision to run his program past 9 p.m. and into the opening minutes of her program, but Olbermann was unapologetic, noting that Maddow appeared on the last few minutes of Lawrence O’Donnell’s program on Monday as a pre-emptive strike against Olbermann.</p>
<p>But Olbermann apparently had enough of the complaints and told his followers via Twitter that the program would no longer step on Maddow’s opening minutes:</p>
<p>At @current we’ll soon have a 9 PM companion commentary show to mine. But in the interim there is no reason for me to be overlapping with my friend Rachel, nor to ignore the wishes of those who’ve been so loyal to both of us for so long. We’ve heard you: as of tomorrow night Countdown finishes at 9. Bonus stuff will instead go to Countdown Online. Thanks for upsiding my head on this :)”</p>
<p>Olbermann never really wanted to inflict any damage on Maddow personally, but was hoping to steal a little extra ratings juice for Current by going overtime as well as to stick it to MSNBC by attempting to drive Maddow’s ratings down a bit.</p>
<p>Well, as with most things since his launch this week, he failed to do either and has retreated with his tail between his legs.</p>
<p>It’s not easy being a liberal outcast.</p>
| 4,970 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Madison, Wisconsin. Amid the national flag waving as the War on Terrorism continues its bloody toll, on this idyllic Monday morning about 80 people gathered in James Madison park here to honor the efforts and sacrifices for justice made by 45,000 freedom fighters who during the Spanish civil war fought the fascist military insurrection led by its dictator general, Francisco Franco.</p>
<p>Among the 45,000 were 2,800 men and women from the United States, including some 90 disenfranchised African-Americans, who formed what was later called the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.</p>
<p>The Wisconsin Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade sponsored this Memorial Day celebration honoring Madison’s local hero, Abraham Lincoln Brigade veteran Clarence Kailin, and his comrades by “publicly addressing the continuous, on-going struggle to establish and maintain full, whole, and complete democracy–of the People, by the People, for the People–at home and abroad.”</p>
<p>At the Memorial Day event, speakers who fought in such conflicts as the Korean, Vietnam and the Spanish Civil war opined that American foreign has rarely been on the side of democratic forces in world affairs–an assessment so at variance with the pieties expressed at Memorial Day services across the country that one cannot help but ruminate on the nature of these people celebrating the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.</p>
<p>What type of person would travel across the world to fight for democracy and liberty in the face of western rejection back then? Why would someone identify with the victims of the American military right now?</p>
<p>The answer to both questions is the very same type of person–a liberty-loving democrat.</p>
<p>Crystallizing its abandonment of the Spanish Republic during the civil war that lasted from 1936 to 1939 leading to the fascist victory, the United States officially recognized the government of Francisco Franco right after World War II. The enumeration of serial crimes of American-supported, anti-democratic forces between then and now is long and dishonorable. An unfortunate fact of history that is all the more ironic as President Bush at a Memorial service in Colleville-Sur-Mer, France today cast the War on Terrorism in the “same, stark moral terms (ABC News)” used to describe the “war on fascism” some 60 years ago.</p>
<p>“If Memorial Day is to have any meaning and content whatsoever, it should not simply and solely be burgers on the grill, or even worse some stars-and-stripes patriotic praise for the empire…We should be honoring those who fought for freedom, for democracy, and against fascism. Consider the ‘pre-mature’ anti-fascists (those fighting for the Spanish Republic) who gathered from all over the world to fight the beast at that time. The continuities today all over the world are stark once you cut through the fog and the globaloney,” said Allen Ruff, a member of Jews for Equal Justice.</p>
<p>Clarence Kailin, age 87, is a surviving member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and still tirelessly works for peace and justice. “Our fight for economic and social justice, for peace and freedom is a struggle that is just as important today as it was in 1937 and 1938,” said Kailin describing what the Memorial Day event represents. “This will be more than memories of the past. Our immediate fight must be against our own militarism and for the struggle for peace and equality.”</p>
<p>Asked why he wasn’t out attending a conventional parade or waving an American flag, Kailin answered, “We’re waving our own flag today. The destruction of the World Trade towers was the best opportunity that could happen to Bush. So he could use it as a scare tactic–‘the world is full of terrorism and we have to go after it. And we will lose a few civil liberties along the way, but we have to do this and have a bigger military budget.’ Our whole foreign policy is based on solving things by force and violence.”</p>
<p>“We’re very wealthy here. But at least one half of the world is living on a dollar or two a day; it’s a terrible situation. In Iraq, we have undermined the whole structure there. A half a million children there have died–all absolutely unnecessary. We won’t give up the fight. This is simply a military government (in Washington) and we are going to pay a hell of a price if we don’t find a way to put a stop to it.”</p>
<p>Following is the text from which Mr. Kailin read as the opening speaker at the Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade event:</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>“One month ago, on April 28, I was in New York with my daughter, Julie. We attended the annual affair of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade held at New York University. This was in celebration of the 66th anniversary of the Volunteers for Liberty. There were 900 people there, and among others, we heard the San Francisco Mime Troupe who sang many songs from the Spanish Civil War. That was the emotional high point of the day.</p>
<p>However, we were there for more than memories. At this time of international crisis, we find an urgent need to carry on the spirit of struggle in which we, along with the Spanish people, were involved sixty some years ago when fascism was threatening the world, when Spain was the only country to stand up to Hitler, and when the democracies betrayed the Spanish Republic, giving Hitler and Mussolini everything they wanted. This was when the International Brigades were formed. Spain and the Volunteers made that period one of the most unusual and unique in history.</p>
<p>Today, with the United States having become the dominant world power and seeking to extend its empire to every part of the globe, the danger is much greater than at any other time. Almost total control of information by the monopolized news media has made our work that much more difficult.</p>
<p>I want to quote from the latest edition of The Progressive magazine. This is in Matt Rothschild’s column. He quotes from Tariq Ali, an editor of the New Left Review. In the prologue of his latest book, The Clash of Fundamentalisms, he (Ali) criticizes our ‘increasingly parochial culture that celebrates the virtues of ignorance, promotes a cult of stupidity, and extols the present as a process without an alternative.’</p>
<p>‘The virtual outlawing of history by the dominant culture has reduced the process of democracy to farce. The result is a mishmash of cynicism, despair and escapism. This is precisely an environment designed to nurture irrationalisms of every sort. Over the last fifty years, religious revivalism with a political edge has flourished in many different cultures. Nor is the process finished. A major cause is the fact that all other exit routes have been sealed off by the mother of all fundamentalism: American imperialism.’</p>
<p>American capitalism is the common denominator, the main reason why we want to encourage the many single-issue organizations in this area to come together in common cause–but without asking them to giving up their own important work. … This is the work of lifetime. But I always see the fact that we outnumber them by a thousand to one. So one should never despair. So, again, seeing you here tells me that in the long run the people can win.</p>
<p>(clinched fist in the air) Salud, everyone!”</p>
<p>Among the many speakers following Mr. Kailin was a representative of the <a href="http://www.resist-the-mayors.org/" type="external">Creative People’s Resistance</a> and the <a href="http://prodane.org/citiesforpeople/" type="external">Cities for People</a> organizing a protest and other action June 15, 16 to the US Conference of Mayors to be held in Madison, Wisconsin from June 13 – 18.</p>
<p>Mike Leon is a writer living in Madison, Wisconsin. His work has appeared nationally in In These Times, The Progressive and CounterPunch. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
|
Lincoln Brigade Memorial
| true |
https://counterpunch.org/2002/05/28/lincoln-brigade-memorial/
|
2002-05-28
| 4left
|
Lincoln Brigade Memorial
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Madison, Wisconsin. Amid the national flag waving as the War on Terrorism continues its bloody toll, on this idyllic Monday morning about 80 people gathered in James Madison park here to honor the efforts and sacrifices for justice made by 45,000 freedom fighters who during the Spanish civil war fought the fascist military insurrection led by its dictator general, Francisco Franco.</p>
<p>Among the 45,000 were 2,800 men and women from the United States, including some 90 disenfranchised African-Americans, who formed what was later called the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.</p>
<p>The Wisconsin Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade sponsored this Memorial Day celebration honoring Madison’s local hero, Abraham Lincoln Brigade veteran Clarence Kailin, and his comrades by “publicly addressing the continuous, on-going struggle to establish and maintain full, whole, and complete democracy–of the People, by the People, for the People–at home and abroad.”</p>
<p>At the Memorial Day event, speakers who fought in such conflicts as the Korean, Vietnam and the Spanish Civil war opined that American foreign has rarely been on the side of democratic forces in world affairs–an assessment so at variance with the pieties expressed at Memorial Day services across the country that one cannot help but ruminate on the nature of these people celebrating the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.</p>
<p>What type of person would travel across the world to fight for democracy and liberty in the face of western rejection back then? Why would someone identify with the victims of the American military right now?</p>
<p>The answer to both questions is the very same type of person–a liberty-loving democrat.</p>
<p>Crystallizing its abandonment of the Spanish Republic during the civil war that lasted from 1936 to 1939 leading to the fascist victory, the United States officially recognized the government of Francisco Franco right after World War II. The enumeration of serial crimes of American-supported, anti-democratic forces between then and now is long and dishonorable. An unfortunate fact of history that is all the more ironic as President Bush at a Memorial service in Colleville-Sur-Mer, France today cast the War on Terrorism in the “same, stark moral terms (ABC News)” used to describe the “war on fascism” some 60 years ago.</p>
<p>“If Memorial Day is to have any meaning and content whatsoever, it should not simply and solely be burgers on the grill, or even worse some stars-and-stripes patriotic praise for the empire…We should be honoring those who fought for freedom, for democracy, and against fascism. Consider the ‘pre-mature’ anti-fascists (those fighting for the Spanish Republic) who gathered from all over the world to fight the beast at that time. The continuities today all over the world are stark once you cut through the fog and the globaloney,” said Allen Ruff, a member of Jews for Equal Justice.</p>
<p>Clarence Kailin, age 87, is a surviving member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and still tirelessly works for peace and justice. “Our fight for economic and social justice, for peace and freedom is a struggle that is just as important today as it was in 1937 and 1938,” said Kailin describing what the Memorial Day event represents. “This will be more than memories of the past. Our immediate fight must be against our own militarism and for the struggle for peace and equality.”</p>
<p>Asked why he wasn’t out attending a conventional parade or waving an American flag, Kailin answered, “We’re waving our own flag today. The destruction of the World Trade towers was the best opportunity that could happen to Bush. So he could use it as a scare tactic–‘the world is full of terrorism and we have to go after it. And we will lose a few civil liberties along the way, but we have to do this and have a bigger military budget.’ Our whole foreign policy is based on solving things by force and violence.”</p>
<p>“We’re very wealthy here. But at least one half of the world is living on a dollar or two a day; it’s a terrible situation. In Iraq, we have undermined the whole structure there. A half a million children there have died–all absolutely unnecessary. We won’t give up the fight. This is simply a military government (in Washington) and we are going to pay a hell of a price if we don’t find a way to put a stop to it.”</p>
<p>Following is the text from which Mr. Kailin read as the opening speaker at the Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade event:</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>“One month ago, on April 28, I was in New York with my daughter, Julie. We attended the annual affair of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade held at New York University. This was in celebration of the 66th anniversary of the Volunteers for Liberty. There were 900 people there, and among others, we heard the San Francisco Mime Troupe who sang many songs from the Spanish Civil War. That was the emotional high point of the day.</p>
<p>However, we were there for more than memories. At this time of international crisis, we find an urgent need to carry on the spirit of struggle in which we, along with the Spanish people, were involved sixty some years ago when fascism was threatening the world, when Spain was the only country to stand up to Hitler, and when the democracies betrayed the Spanish Republic, giving Hitler and Mussolini everything they wanted. This was when the International Brigades were formed. Spain and the Volunteers made that period one of the most unusual and unique in history.</p>
<p>Today, with the United States having become the dominant world power and seeking to extend its empire to every part of the globe, the danger is much greater than at any other time. Almost total control of information by the monopolized news media has made our work that much more difficult.</p>
<p>I want to quote from the latest edition of The Progressive magazine. This is in Matt Rothschild’s column. He quotes from Tariq Ali, an editor of the New Left Review. In the prologue of his latest book, The Clash of Fundamentalisms, he (Ali) criticizes our ‘increasingly parochial culture that celebrates the virtues of ignorance, promotes a cult of stupidity, and extols the present as a process without an alternative.’</p>
<p>‘The virtual outlawing of history by the dominant culture has reduced the process of democracy to farce. The result is a mishmash of cynicism, despair and escapism. This is precisely an environment designed to nurture irrationalisms of every sort. Over the last fifty years, religious revivalism with a political edge has flourished in many different cultures. Nor is the process finished. A major cause is the fact that all other exit routes have been sealed off by the mother of all fundamentalism: American imperialism.’</p>
<p>American capitalism is the common denominator, the main reason why we want to encourage the many single-issue organizations in this area to come together in common cause–but without asking them to giving up their own important work. … This is the work of lifetime. But I always see the fact that we outnumber them by a thousand to one. So one should never despair. So, again, seeing you here tells me that in the long run the people can win.</p>
<p>(clinched fist in the air) Salud, everyone!”</p>
<p>Among the many speakers following Mr. Kailin was a representative of the <a href="http://www.resist-the-mayors.org/" type="external">Creative People’s Resistance</a> and the <a href="http://prodane.org/citiesforpeople/" type="external">Cities for People</a> organizing a protest and other action June 15, 16 to the US Conference of Mayors to be held in Madison, Wisconsin from June 13 – 18.</p>
<p>Mike Leon is a writer living in Madison, Wisconsin. His work has appeared nationally in In These Times, The Progressive and CounterPunch. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
| 4,971 |
<p>Mark Levin joined Sean Hannity’s eponymous Fox News Channel program to elaborate on his ongoing calls for congressional inquiry into allegations of Barack Obama’s partisan weaponization of intelligence agencies against Donald Trump as a presidential candidate and president-elect.</p>
<p>Levin pointed to reporting from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/politics/trump-russia-associates-investigation.html" type="external">The New York Times</a> alleging that “wiretapped communications [had] been provided to the White House” during the last months of the Obama administration in the context of a “broad investigation into possible links between Russian officials and President-elect Donald J. Trump [and his transition team].”</p>
<p>Levin noted the breadth of the federal government's investigation of Trump and his campaign-turned-transition team as per reporting from The New York Times and McClatchy. Such a broad investigation, if existing, must have at least come to Obama's attention:</p>
<p>"We know that if a FISA warrant was secured it's very likely in [Barack Obama's] daily intelligence briefing, or in a call from his attorney general, or the director of the FBI, he president would be given a heads up.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Based on these reports, [there's all kinds of] investigative activities going on. <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article127231799.html" type="external">McClatchy reported</a> on the agencies involved: the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency, Justice Department, Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. I assume Obama knew something, I mean unless he's Helen Keller... That's a hell of a lot of agency resources. Those are a hell of a lot of investigators."</p>
<p>Levin noted that wiretapping of electronic communications as part of a "broad investigation" - as reported to have occurred by news media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and McClatchy - by federal authorities into allegations of nefarious relationships between the Russian government and Trump and his campaign-turned-transition would certainly have been known about by Obama's top intelligence advisor James Clapper:</p>
<p>"Didn't Mr. Clapper say there were no FISA orders issued?</p>
<p>If Clapper says there was no FISA order... then what the hell are we talking about? The means they didn't have enough information for probable cause to get a warrant for investigation in front of the FISA court. So, what's the FBI, the CIA, the National Security Agency, the Justice Department, the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network investigating? What are these wiretaps that The New York Times is talking about?"</p>
<p>Various news media outlets, said Levin, were struggling with internal contradictions. One the one hand, they published reports of wide-ranging federal surveillance of Trump and his campaign-turned-transition teams. On the other hand, they scoffed at any allegation of Obama directing such surveillance:</p>
<p>"You have no basis for all these investigations. Now they’re saying, ‘Wait a minute, we didn’t have a FISA warrant. We didn’t do these wiretaps, eavesdropping, electronic surveillance.' Now the media are completely confounded.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Which is it? Were there FISA warrants or not? If there weren’t, why didn’t you report that weeks ago? If there are, some of us would like to see them. So we have a real problem, right now. The media’s turning on the media. We have leaks coming out that are felonies. We have stories about six federal departments and agencies - intelligence and law enforcement - that were investigating something, somebody, by somehow. So what’s the answer? That’s why we need to get to the bottom of this.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>I have a question. Why all the investigations? Is there any evidence? Was there any evidence, a scintilla of evidence, at all that Trump, his campaign advisors, and his transition team were on the take? Then why are six federal departments and agencies involved in an investigation, and now Clapper says he doesn’t know anything?"</p>
<p>Levin noted the disinterest of left-wing news media outlets and their personalities in investigating Obama's potential abuses of power via weaponization of federal intelligence agencies in pursuit of partisan political objectives.</p>
<p>“Why are the media so lackadaisical and not curious?” asked Levin, indirectly pointing to MSNBC’s Chuck Todd and Joe Scarborough. "Why aren't CNN, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and all the rest of them - why aren't they concerned about this? Rather than mock the president and his tweet, pay attention to what your own reporters and other reporters are saying."</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">This past Sunday</a>, former Director of National Intelligence for Barack Obama claimed to be unaware of any federal government surveillance of electronic communications of Trump as the Republican presidential nominee or as president-elect:</p>
<p>“I will say that for the part of the national security apparatus that I oversaw as DNI, there was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time, or [him] as a candidate, or against his campaign.”</p>
<p>Levin first took his case to television on <a href="" type="internal">yesterday’s Fox &amp; Friends</a>, pointing to reporting from outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe suggesting partisan weaponization of intelligence agencies - presumably at the direction of Obama - against Trump’s presidential campaign and transition team.</p>
<p>Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p>
|
Levin: Media Won't Investigate Its Own Reporting
| true |
https://dailywire.com/news/14160/levin-media-wont-investigate-its-own-reporting-robert-kraychik
|
2017-03-06
| 0right
|
Levin: Media Won't Investigate Its Own Reporting
<p>Mark Levin joined Sean Hannity’s eponymous Fox News Channel program to elaborate on his ongoing calls for congressional inquiry into allegations of Barack Obama’s partisan weaponization of intelligence agencies against Donald Trump as a presidential candidate and president-elect.</p>
<p>Levin pointed to reporting from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/politics/trump-russia-associates-investigation.html" type="external">The New York Times</a> alleging that “wiretapped communications [had] been provided to the White House” during the last months of the Obama administration in the context of a “broad investigation into possible links between Russian officials and President-elect Donald J. Trump [and his transition team].”</p>
<p>Levin noted the breadth of the federal government's investigation of Trump and his campaign-turned-transition team as per reporting from The New York Times and McClatchy. Such a broad investigation, if existing, must have at least come to Obama's attention:</p>
<p>"We know that if a FISA warrant was secured it's very likely in [Barack Obama's] daily intelligence briefing, or in a call from his attorney general, or the director of the FBI, he president would be given a heads up.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Based on these reports, [there's all kinds of] investigative activities going on. <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article127231799.html" type="external">McClatchy reported</a> on the agencies involved: the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency, Justice Department, Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. I assume Obama knew something, I mean unless he's Helen Keller... That's a hell of a lot of agency resources. Those are a hell of a lot of investigators."</p>
<p>Levin noted that wiretapping of electronic communications as part of a "broad investigation" - as reported to have occurred by news media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and McClatchy - by federal authorities into allegations of nefarious relationships between the Russian government and Trump and his campaign-turned-transition would certainly have been known about by Obama's top intelligence advisor James Clapper:</p>
<p>"Didn't Mr. Clapper say there were no FISA orders issued?</p>
<p>If Clapper says there was no FISA order... then what the hell are we talking about? The means they didn't have enough information for probable cause to get a warrant for investigation in front of the FISA court. So, what's the FBI, the CIA, the National Security Agency, the Justice Department, the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network investigating? What are these wiretaps that The New York Times is talking about?"</p>
<p>Various news media outlets, said Levin, were struggling with internal contradictions. One the one hand, they published reports of wide-ranging federal surveillance of Trump and his campaign-turned-transition teams. On the other hand, they scoffed at any allegation of Obama directing such surveillance:</p>
<p>"You have no basis for all these investigations. Now they’re saying, ‘Wait a minute, we didn’t have a FISA warrant. We didn’t do these wiretaps, eavesdropping, electronic surveillance.' Now the media are completely confounded.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Which is it? Were there FISA warrants or not? If there weren’t, why didn’t you report that weeks ago? If there are, some of us would like to see them. So we have a real problem, right now. The media’s turning on the media. We have leaks coming out that are felonies. We have stories about six federal departments and agencies - intelligence and law enforcement - that were investigating something, somebody, by somehow. So what’s the answer? That’s why we need to get to the bottom of this.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>I have a question. Why all the investigations? Is there any evidence? Was there any evidence, a scintilla of evidence, at all that Trump, his campaign advisors, and his transition team were on the take? Then why are six federal departments and agencies involved in an investigation, and now Clapper says he doesn’t know anything?"</p>
<p>Levin noted the disinterest of left-wing news media outlets and their personalities in investigating Obama's potential abuses of power via weaponization of federal intelligence agencies in pursuit of partisan political objectives.</p>
<p>“Why are the media so lackadaisical and not curious?” asked Levin, indirectly pointing to MSNBC’s Chuck Todd and Joe Scarborough. "Why aren't CNN, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and all the rest of them - why aren't they concerned about this? Rather than mock the president and his tweet, pay attention to what your own reporters and other reporters are saying."</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">This past Sunday</a>, former Director of National Intelligence for Barack Obama claimed to be unaware of any federal government surveillance of electronic communications of Trump as the Republican presidential nominee or as president-elect:</p>
<p>“I will say that for the part of the national security apparatus that I oversaw as DNI, there was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time, or [him] as a candidate, or against his campaign.”</p>
<p>Levin first took his case to television on <a href="" type="internal">yesterday’s Fox &amp; Friends</a>, pointing to reporting from outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe suggesting partisan weaponization of intelligence agencies - presumably at the direction of Obama - against Trump’s presidential campaign and transition team.</p>
<p>Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p>
| 4,972 |
<p>By Ann Jones, TomDispatchThis piece first appeared at TomDispatch. Read Tom Engelhardt’s introduction <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175769/tomgram%3A_ann_jones%2C_silent_soldiers%2C_the_losers_from_our_lost_wars/#more" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>The last time I saw American soldiers in Afghanistan, they were silent. Knocked out by gunfire and explosions that left them grievously injured, as well as drugs administered by medics in the field, they were carried from medevac helicopters into a base hospital to be plugged into machines that would measure how much life they had left to save. They were bloody.&#160; They were missing pieces of themselves. They were quiet.</p>
<p>It’s that silence I remember from the time I spent in trauma hospitals among the wounded and the dying and the dead. It was almost as if they had fled their own bodies, abandoning that bloodied flesh upon the gurneys to surgeons ready to have a go at salvation. Later, sometimes much later, they might return to inhabit whatever the doctors had managed to salvage.&#160; They might take up those bodies or what was left of them and make them walk again, or run, or even ski.&#160; They might dress themselves, get a job, or conceive a child. But what I remember is the first days when they were swept up and dropped into the hospital so deathly still.</p>
<p>They were so unlike themselves. Or rather, unlike the American soldiers I had first seen in that country. Then, fired up by 9/11, they moved with the aggressive confidence of men high on their macho training and their own advance publicity.</p>
<p />
<p>I remember the very <a href="http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/Afghanistan/Operation%20Enduring%20Freedom.htm" type="external">first American soldiers</a> I saw in Afghanistan.&#160; It must have been in 2002.&#160; In those days, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/did-bush-screw-up-afghani_b_320734.html" type="external">very few</a> American troops were on the ground in that country — most were being readied for Iraq to fulfill the vainglorious dreams of George W. Bush and Co. — and they were not stationed in Kabul, the Afghan capital, but in the countryside, still supposedly searching for Osama bin Laden.&#160;</p>
<p>I was in the north, at the historic Dasht-i Shadian stadium near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, watching an afternoon of <a href="http://www.afghan-web.com/sports/buzkashi.html" type="external">buzkashi</a>, the traditional Afghan sport in which mounted men, mostly farmers, vie for possession of a dead calf.&#160; The stadium was famous not only for the most fiercely contested buzkashi games in the country, but also for a day during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan when local people invited 50 Soviet soldiers to enjoy the spectacle at Dasht-i Shadian and slaughtered them on the spot.</p>
<p>I was seated with Afghan friends in the bleachers when a squad of Americans in full battle gear barged into the dignitaries’ box and interrupted play. Some of them insisted on riding the horses.&#160; At a sign from the local warlord presiding over the games, Afghan riders helped the Americans mount.&#160; They may also have cued their horses to bolt, race away, and dump them in the dirt.</p>
<p>A little stiffly, the soldiers hiked back to the grandstand, took up their rifles, and made a great show of laughing off the incident — of being loud and boisterous “good sports.” But a large audience of poker-faced Afghan men had taken their measure.&#160; A friend said something to me that I never forgot in years after as I watched the “progress” of the war unfold: “They didn’t know what they were getting into.”</p>
<p>The next day, I spotted another squad of American soldiers in the city’s central bazaar.&#160; In the midst of busy shops, they had fanned out in full battle gear in front of a well-known carpet store, dropped to one knee, and assumed the firing position. They aimed their assault rifles at women shoppers clad in the white burqas of Mazar and frozen in place like frightened ghosts.&#160; The Americans were protecting their lieutenant who was inside the store, shopping for a souvenir of his sojourn in this foreign land.&#160;</p>
<p>I can’t say exactly when the U.S. military brought that swagger to Kabul. But by 2004 the Americans were there behind the walls of fortified urban bases, behind concrete barriers and gigantic sandbags at armed checkpoints, blocking traffic, and closing thoroughfares. Their <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/29/world/asia/29cnd-afghan.html" type="external">convoys</a> were racing at top speed through city streets with machine-gunners on alert in the turrets of their armored vehicles.&#160; Women half-blind under their burqas brought their children to guide them across suddenly dangerous streets.</p>
<p>Enter the Warriors</p>
<p>I had come to Afghanistan to work for those women and children.&#160; In 2002, I started spending winters there, traveling the country but settling in Kabul. Schools long closed by the Taliban were reopening, and I volunteered to help English teachers revive memories of the language they had studied and taught in those schools before the wars swept so much away. I also worked with Afghan women and other internationals — few in number then — to start up organizations and services for women and girls brutalized by war and stunned by long confinement to their homes.&#160; They were emerging silently, like sleepwalkers, to find life as they had once known it long gone. Most of Kabul was gone too, a landscape of rubble left from years of civil war followed by Taliban neglect and then American bombs.</p>
<p>After the Taliban fled those bombs, the first soldiers to patrol the ruined streets of Kabul were members of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Security_Assistance_Force" type="external">ISAF</a>, the International Security Assistance Force established by the U.N. to safeguard the capital. &#160;Turks, Spaniards, Brits, and others strolled around downtown, wearing berets or caps — no helmets or armor — and walked into shops like casual tourists.&#160; They parked their military vehicles and let kids climb all over them. Afghans seemed to welcome the ISAF soldiers as an inconspicuous but friendly and reassuring presence.</p>
<p>Then they were supplanted by the aggressive Americans. The teachers in my English classes began to ask for help in writing letters to the U.S. military to claim compensation for friends or neighbors whose children had been <a href="http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/U.S._Military_truck_crash_kills_civilians;_Kabul_riots" type="external">run over</a> by speeding soldiers.&#160; A teacher asked, “Why do Americans act in this way?”&#160; I had, at the time, no answer for her.</p>
<p>In my work, I found myself embroiled ever more often with those soldiers as I tried to get compensation, if not justice, for Afghans.&#160; As a reporter, I also occasionally felt duty-bound to attend press briefings concocted by Washington’s militarized theorists of a future American-dominated world of global free markets, spreading democracy, and perfect security in the oddly rebranded “homeland.”</p>
<p>The Pentagon prepared PowerPoint presentations cluttered with charts and arrows indicating how everything was ultimately connected to everything else in an insulated circularity of hokum.&#160; Subordinates based in Kabul delivered those talks to American journalists who dutifully took notes and submitted soon-familiar stories about new strategies and tactics, each guaranteed to bring success to Washington’s Afghan War, even as commanding generals came and went year after year.</p>
<p>To American officials back in that homeland, war was clearly a theoretical construct, and victory a matter of dreaming up those winning <a href="http://csis.org/publication/obamas-new-strategy-afghanistan" type="external">new strategies</a>, or choosing some from past wars — <a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/09/surge-report-card/" type="external">Iraq</a>, for example, or <a href="http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/01/11/counterinsurgency-strategy-not-working-in-afghanistan-critics-s/" type="external">Vietnam</a> — and then sending in the brash kids I would see in that stadium near Mazar-i-Sharif to carry them out. War was, in short, a business plan encoded in visual graphics.&#160; To Afghans, whose land had already served as the playing field for more than 20 years of Washington’s devastating modern wars, it wasn’t like that at all.</p>
<p>Frankly, I didn’t like the U.S. soldiers I met in those years.&#160; Unlike the ISAF troops, who appeared to be real people in uniforms, the Americans acted like PowerPoint Soldiers (with a capital S), or, as they preferred to be called, Warriors (with a capital W).&#160; What they seldom acted like was real people.&#160; For one thing, they seemed to have been trained to invade the space of any hapless civilian.&#160; They snapped to attention in your face and spat out sentences that splashed your flesh, something they hadn’t learned from their mothers.</p>
<p>In time, though, their canned — and fearful — aggressiveness stirred my sympathy and my curiosity to know something about who they really were, or had been.&#160; So much so that in the summer of 2010, I borrowed body armor from a friend and applied to embed with U.S. soldiers.&#160; At the time, General Stanley McChrystal was massing troops (and journalists) in the Taliban heartland of Helmand Province in southwestern Afghanistan for a well-advertised “decisive” showdown with the insurgency.&#160; I, on the other hand, was permitted to go to a forward operating base in northeast Afghanistan on the Pakistani border where, it was said, nothing was going on.&#160; In fact, American soldiers were “falling” there at a rate that took their commanders by surprise and troubled them.</p>
<p>By the time I arrived, those commanders had become secretive, cloistering themselves behind closed doors — no more PowerPoint presentations offering the press (me) straight-faced assessments of “progress.”</p>
<p>For TomDispatch, I wrote a <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175280/tomgram%3A_ann_jones%2C_in_bed_with_the_u.s._army__/#more" type="external">piece</a> about that base and included one fact that brought me a deluge of outraged email from wives and girlfriends of the Warriors.&#160; It wasn’t my description of the deaths of soldiers that upset them, but my noting that the most common disabling injury on that base was a sprained ankle — the result of jogging in the rocky high-desert terrain. How dare I say such a thing, the women demanded.&#160; It demeaned our nation’s great Warriors. It was an insult to all patriotic Americans.</p>
<p>I learned a lesson from that.&#160; America’s soldiers, when deployed, may no longer be “real people” even to their loved ones.&#160; To girlfriends and wives, left alone at home with bills to pay and kids to raise, they evidently had to be mythic Warriors of historic importance saving the nation even at the sacrifice of their own lives. &#160;Otherwise, what was the point?</p>
<p>Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?</p>
<p>And that may be the point: that there wasn’t one, not to this war of choice and revenge, or the one in Iraq either.&#160; There were only kids in uniform, most of whom by that time knew that they hadn’t known what they were getting into, and now were struggling to keep their illusions and themselves alive.&#160; They walked the streets of the base, two by two, battle buddies heading for the DFAC (mess hall), the laundry, the latrine, the gym. They hung out on the Internet and the international phones, in the war and out of it at the same time, until orders came down from somewhere: Washington, Kabul, Bagram, or the map-lined room behind the closed door of the base commander’s office.&#160; As a result, every day while I was on that base, patrols were ordered to drive or walk out into the surrounding mountains where Taliban flags flew. Very often they returned with men missing.</p>
<p>What had happened to those boys who had been there at breakfast in the DFAC? Dead or torn up by a sniper or a roadside bomb, they had been whisked off by helicopters and then… what?</p>
<p>They lodged in my memory.&#160; Unable to forget them, almost a year later, when I was officially not a nosy journalist but a research fellow at a leading university, I again applied for permission to embed in the military.&#160; This time, I asked to follow casualties from that high desert “battle space” to the trauma <a href="http://www.amc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123247346" type="external">hospital</a> at Bagram Air Base, onto a C-17 with the medical teams that accompanied the wounded soldiers to <a href="http://ermc.amedd.army.mil/landstuhl/index.cfm" type="external">Landstuhl Regional Medical Center</a> in Germany — the biggest American hospital outside the United States — then back onto a C-17 to <a href="http://www.army.mil/article/62449/" type="external">Walter Reed Army Medical Center</a> in Washington, and in some cases, all the way home.</p>
<p>Over the years, more and more of America’s kids made that medevac journey back to the States. <a href="http://costsofwar.org/article/us-and-allied-wounded" type="external">Costsofwar.com</a> has tallied 106,000 Americans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan or evacuated from those war zones because of accident or disease.&#160; Because so many so-called “invisible wounds” are not diagnosed until after soldiers return home, the true number of wounded must be much higher. Witness the fact that, as of June 2012, 247,000 veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq had been diagnosed by the VA with post-traumatic stress disorder, and as of May 31, 2012, more than 745,000 veterans of those wars had filed disability claims with the Veterans Administration (VA).&#160; Taxpayers have already <a href="http://costsofwar.org/article/economic-cost-summary" type="external">spent</a> $135 billion on medical and disability payments for the veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the long-term medical and disability costs are expected to peak at about midcentury, at an estimated $754 billion.</p>
<p>Then there were the “fallen,” the dead, shipped to Dover Air Base in metal “transfer cases” aboard standard cargo planes. They were transferred to the official military mortuary in ceremonies from which the media, and thus the public, were until 2009 <a href="http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4757" type="external">excluded</a> — at least <a href="http://costsofwar.org/article/us-killed-0" type="external">6,656</a> of them from Iraq and Afghanistan by February of this year. At least 3,000 private contractors have also been killed in both wars. Add to this list the toll of post-deployment <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/01/veteran-suicide-rate_n_2599019.html" type="external">suicides</a>, and soldiers or veterans hooked on <a href="http://usmedicine.com/more-opioid-prescriptions-adverse-effects-for-vets-with-ptsd.html#.Umv15hZ0pUQ" type="external">addictive opioids</a> pushed by Big Pharma and prescribed by military doctors or VA psychiatrists either to keep them on the job or, after they break down, to “cure” them of their war experiences.</p>
<p>The first veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq returned to the United States 10 years ago in 2003, yet I’ve never spoken to a damaged soldier or a soldier’s family members who thought the care he or she received from the Veterans Administration was anything like appropriate or enough.&#160; By the VA’s own admission, the time it takes to reach a decision on a veteran’s benefits, or simply to offer an appointment, is so long that some vets <a href="http://www.armytimes.com/article/20130315/BENEFITS04/303150016/VA-wait-times-mean-some-die-before-getting-care" type="external">die while waiting</a>.</p>
<p>So it is that, since their return, untold numbers of soldiers have been looked after by their parents. &#160;I visited a home on the Great Plains where a veteran has lain in his childhood bed, in his mother’s care, for most of the last decade, and another home in New England where a veteran spent the last evening before he took his own life sitting on his father’s lap.</p>
<p>As I followed the sad trail of damaged veterans to write my new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463710/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">They Were Soldiers: How the Wounded Return From America’s Wars — the Untold Story</a>, I came to see how much they and their families have suffered, like Afghans, from the delusions of this nation’s leaders — many running counter to international law — and of other influential Americans, in and out of the military, more powerful and less accountable than themselves.</p>
<p>Like the soldiers, the country has changed.&#160; Muted now is the braggadocio of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKdbZWNqF00" type="external">bring-‘em-on</a> decider who started the preemptive process that ate the children of the poor and patriotic.&#160; Now, in Afghanistan as in Iraq, Washington scrambles to make the exit look less like a defeat — or worse, pointless waste.&#160; Most Americans no longer ask what the wars were for.</p>
<p>“Follow the money,” a furious Army officer, near the end of his career, instructed me. I had spent my time with poor kids in search of an honorable future who do the grunt work of America’s military.&#160; They are part of the nation’s lowliest 1%. But as that angry career officer told me, “They only follow orders.” It’s the other 1% at the top who are served by war, the great American engine that powers the transfer of wealth from the public treasury upward and into their pockets. Following that money trail reveals the real point of the chosen conflicts. As that disillusioned officer put it to me, the wars have made those profiteers “monu-fuckin’-mentally rich.” It’s the soldiers and their families who lost out.</p>
<p>Ann Jones has a new book published today: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463710/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">They Were Soldiers: How the Wounded Return from America’s Wars — the Untold Story</a>, a Dispatch Books project in cooperation with Haymarket Books. Andrew Bacevich has already had this to say about it: “Read this unsparing, scathingly direct, and gut-wrenching account — the war Washington doesn’t want you to see. Then see if you still believe that Americans ‘support the troops.’” Jones, who has reported from Afghanistan since 2002, is also the author of two books about the impact of war on civilians: Kabul in Winter and War Is Not Over When It’s Over.</p>
<p>Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/tomdispatch" type="external">Facebook</a> or <a href="http://tomdispatch.tumblr.com/" type="external">Tumblr</a>. Check out Nick Turse’s Dispatch book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Changing-Face-Empire-Cyberwarfare/dp/1608463109/" type="external">The Changing Face of Empire: Special Ops, Drones, Proxy Fighters, Secret Bases, and Cyberwarfare</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 2013 Ann Jones</p>
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They Didn’t Know What They Were Getting Into
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https://truthdig.com/articles/they-didnt-know-what-they-were-getting-into/
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2013-11-08
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They Didn’t Know What They Were Getting Into
<p>By Ann Jones, TomDispatchThis piece first appeared at TomDispatch. Read Tom Engelhardt’s introduction <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175769/tomgram%3A_ann_jones%2C_silent_soldiers%2C_the_losers_from_our_lost_wars/#more" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>The last time I saw American soldiers in Afghanistan, they were silent. Knocked out by gunfire and explosions that left them grievously injured, as well as drugs administered by medics in the field, they were carried from medevac helicopters into a base hospital to be plugged into machines that would measure how much life they had left to save. They were bloody.&#160; They were missing pieces of themselves. They were quiet.</p>
<p>It’s that silence I remember from the time I spent in trauma hospitals among the wounded and the dying and the dead. It was almost as if they had fled their own bodies, abandoning that bloodied flesh upon the gurneys to surgeons ready to have a go at salvation. Later, sometimes much later, they might return to inhabit whatever the doctors had managed to salvage.&#160; They might take up those bodies or what was left of them and make them walk again, or run, or even ski.&#160; They might dress themselves, get a job, or conceive a child. But what I remember is the first days when they were swept up and dropped into the hospital so deathly still.</p>
<p>They were so unlike themselves. Or rather, unlike the American soldiers I had first seen in that country. Then, fired up by 9/11, they moved with the aggressive confidence of men high on their macho training and their own advance publicity.</p>
<p />
<p>I remember the very <a href="http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/Afghanistan/Operation%20Enduring%20Freedom.htm" type="external">first American soldiers</a> I saw in Afghanistan.&#160; It must have been in 2002.&#160; In those days, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/did-bush-screw-up-afghani_b_320734.html" type="external">very few</a> American troops were on the ground in that country — most were being readied for Iraq to fulfill the vainglorious dreams of George W. Bush and Co. — and they were not stationed in Kabul, the Afghan capital, but in the countryside, still supposedly searching for Osama bin Laden.&#160;</p>
<p>I was in the north, at the historic Dasht-i Shadian stadium near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, watching an afternoon of <a href="http://www.afghan-web.com/sports/buzkashi.html" type="external">buzkashi</a>, the traditional Afghan sport in which mounted men, mostly farmers, vie for possession of a dead calf.&#160; The stadium was famous not only for the most fiercely contested buzkashi games in the country, but also for a day during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan when local people invited 50 Soviet soldiers to enjoy the spectacle at Dasht-i Shadian and slaughtered them on the spot.</p>
<p>I was seated with Afghan friends in the bleachers when a squad of Americans in full battle gear barged into the dignitaries’ box and interrupted play. Some of them insisted on riding the horses.&#160; At a sign from the local warlord presiding over the games, Afghan riders helped the Americans mount.&#160; They may also have cued their horses to bolt, race away, and dump them in the dirt.</p>
<p>A little stiffly, the soldiers hiked back to the grandstand, took up their rifles, and made a great show of laughing off the incident — of being loud and boisterous “good sports.” But a large audience of poker-faced Afghan men had taken their measure.&#160; A friend said something to me that I never forgot in years after as I watched the “progress” of the war unfold: “They didn’t know what they were getting into.”</p>
<p>The next day, I spotted another squad of American soldiers in the city’s central bazaar.&#160; In the midst of busy shops, they had fanned out in full battle gear in front of a well-known carpet store, dropped to one knee, and assumed the firing position. They aimed their assault rifles at women shoppers clad in the white burqas of Mazar and frozen in place like frightened ghosts.&#160; The Americans were protecting their lieutenant who was inside the store, shopping for a souvenir of his sojourn in this foreign land.&#160;</p>
<p>I can’t say exactly when the U.S. military brought that swagger to Kabul. But by 2004 the Americans were there behind the walls of fortified urban bases, behind concrete barriers and gigantic sandbags at armed checkpoints, blocking traffic, and closing thoroughfares. Their <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/29/world/asia/29cnd-afghan.html" type="external">convoys</a> were racing at top speed through city streets with machine-gunners on alert in the turrets of their armored vehicles.&#160; Women half-blind under their burqas brought their children to guide them across suddenly dangerous streets.</p>
<p>Enter the Warriors</p>
<p>I had come to Afghanistan to work for those women and children.&#160; In 2002, I started spending winters there, traveling the country but settling in Kabul. Schools long closed by the Taliban were reopening, and I volunteered to help English teachers revive memories of the language they had studied and taught in those schools before the wars swept so much away. I also worked with Afghan women and other internationals — few in number then — to start up organizations and services for women and girls brutalized by war and stunned by long confinement to their homes.&#160; They were emerging silently, like sleepwalkers, to find life as they had once known it long gone. Most of Kabul was gone too, a landscape of rubble left from years of civil war followed by Taliban neglect and then American bombs.</p>
<p>After the Taliban fled those bombs, the first soldiers to patrol the ruined streets of Kabul were members of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Security_Assistance_Force" type="external">ISAF</a>, the International Security Assistance Force established by the U.N. to safeguard the capital. &#160;Turks, Spaniards, Brits, and others strolled around downtown, wearing berets or caps — no helmets or armor — and walked into shops like casual tourists.&#160; They parked their military vehicles and let kids climb all over them. Afghans seemed to welcome the ISAF soldiers as an inconspicuous but friendly and reassuring presence.</p>
<p>Then they were supplanted by the aggressive Americans. The teachers in my English classes began to ask for help in writing letters to the U.S. military to claim compensation for friends or neighbors whose children had been <a href="http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/U.S._Military_truck_crash_kills_civilians;_Kabul_riots" type="external">run over</a> by speeding soldiers.&#160; A teacher asked, “Why do Americans act in this way?”&#160; I had, at the time, no answer for her.</p>
<p>In my work, I found myself embroiled ever more often with those soldiers as I tried to get compensation, if not justice, for Afghans.&#160; As a reporter, I also occasionally felt duty-bound to attend press briefings concocted by Washington’s militarized theorists of a future American-dominated world of global free markets, spreading democracy, and perfect security in the oddly rebranded “homeland.”</p>
<p>The Pentagon prepared PowerPoint presentations cluttered with charts and arrows indicating how everything was ultimately connected to everything else in an insulated circularity of hokum.&#160; Subordinates based in Kabul delivered those talks to American journalists who dutifully took notes and submitted soon-familiar stories about new strategies and tactics, each guaranteed to bring success to Washington’s Afghan War, even as commanding generals came and went year after year.</p>
<p>To American officials back in that homeland, war was clearly a theoretical construct, and victory a matter of dreaming up those winning <a href="http://csis.org/publication/obamas-new-strategy-afghanistan" type="external">new strategies</a>, or choosing some from past wars — <a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/09/surge-report-card/" type="external">Iraq</a>, for example, or <a href="http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/01/11/counterinsurgency-strategy-not-working-in-afghanistan-critics-s/" type="external">Vietnam</a> — and then sending in the brash kids I would see in that stadium near Mazar-i-Sharif to carry them out. War was, in short, a business plan encoded in visual graphics.&#160; To Afghans, whose land had already served as the playing field for more than 20 years of Washington’s devastating modern wars, it wasn’t like that at all.</p>
<p>Frankly, I didn’t like the U.S. soldiers I met in those years.&#160; Unlike the ISAF troops, who appeared to be real people in uniforms, the Americans acted like PowerPoint Soldiers (with a capital S), or, as they preferred to be called, Warriors (with a capital W).&#160; What they seldom acted like was real people.&#160; For one thing, they seemed to have been trained to invade the space of any hapless civilian.&#160; They snapped to attention in your face and spat out sentences that splashed your flesh, something they hadn’t learned from their mothers.</p>
<p>In time, though, their canned — and fearful — aggressiveness stirred my sympathy and my curiosity to know something about who they really were, or had been.&#160; So much so that in the summer of 2010, I borrowed body armor from a friend and applied to embed with U.S. soldiers.&#160; At the time, General Stanley McChrystal was massing troops (and journalists) in the Taliban heartland of Helmand Province in southwestern Afghanistan for a well-advertised “decisive” showdown with the insurgency.&#160; I, on the other hand, was permitted to go to a forward operating base in northeast Afghanistan on the Pakistani border where, it was said, nothing was going on.&#160; In fact, American soldiers were “falling” there at a rate that took their commanders by surprise and troubled them.</p>
<p>By the time I arrived, those commanders had become secretive, cloistering themselves behind closed doors — no more PowerPoint presentations offering the press (me) straight-faced assessments of “progress.”</p>
<p>For TomDispatch, I wrote a <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175280/tomgram%3A_ann_jones%2C_in_bed_with_the_u.s._army__/#more" type="external">piece</a> about that base and included one fact that brought me a deluge of outraged email from wives and girlfriends of the Warriors.&#160; It wasn’t my description of the deaths of soldiers that upset them, but my noting that the most common disabling injury on that base was a sprained ankle — the result of jogging in the rocky high-desert terrain. How dare I say such a thing, the women demanded.&#160; It demeaned our nation’s great Warriors. It was an insult to all patriotic Americans.</p>
<p>I learned a lesson from that.&#160; America’s soldiers, when deployed, may no longer be “real people” even to their loved ones.&#160; To girlfriends and wives, left alone at home with bills to pay and kids to raise, they evidently had to be mythic Warriors of historic importance saving the nation even at the sacrifice of their own lives. &#160;Otherwise, what was the point?</p>
<p>Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?</p>
<p>And that may be the point: that there wasn’t one, not to this war of choice and revenge, or the one in Iraq either.&#160; There were only kids in uniform, most of whom by that time knew that they hadn’t known what they were getting into, and now were struggling to keep their illusions and themselves alive.&#160; They walked the streets of the base, two by two, battle buddies heading for the DFAC (mess hall), the laundry, the latrine, the gym. They hung out on the Internet and the international phones, in the war and out of it at the same time, until orders came down from somewhere: Washington, Kabul, Bagram, or the map-lined room behind the closed door of the base commander’s office.&#160; As a result, every day while I was on that base, patrols were ordered to drive or walk out into the surrounding mountains where Taliban flags flew. Very often they returned with men missing.</p>
<p>What had happened to those boys who had been there at breakfast in the DFAC? Dead or torn up by a sniper or a roadside bomb, they had been whisked off by helicopters and then… what?</p>
<p>They lodged in my memory.&#160; Unable to forget them, almost a year later, when I was officially not a nosy journalist but a research fellow at a leading university, I again applied for permission to embed in the military.&#160; This time, I asked to follow casualties from that high desert “battle space” to the trauma <a href="http://www.amc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123247346" type="external">hospital</a> at Bagram Air Base, onto a C-17 with the medical teams that accompanied the wounded soldiers to <a href="http://ermc.amedd.army.mil/landstuhl/index.cfm" type="external">Landstuhl Regional Medical Center</a> in Germany — the biggest American hospital outside the United States — then back onto a C-17 to <a href="http://www.army.mil/article/62449/" type="external">Walter Reed Army Medical Center</a> in Washington, and in some cases, all the way home.</p>
<p>Over the years, more and more of America’s kids made that medevac journey back to the States. <a href="http://costsofwar.org/article/us-and-allied-wounded" type="external">Costsofwar.com</a> has tallied 106,000 Americans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan or evacuated from those war zones because of accident or disease.&#160; Because so many so-called “invisible wounds” are not diagnosed until after soldiers return home, the true number of wounded must be much higher. Witness the fact that, as of June 2012, 247,000 veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq had been diagnosed by the VA with post-traumatic stress disorder, and as of May 31, 2012, more than 745,000 veterans of those wars had filed disability claims with the Veterans Administration (VA).&#160; Taxpayers have already <a href="http://costsofwar.org/article/economic-cost-summary" type="external">spent</a> $135 billion on medical and disability payments for the veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the long-term medical and disability costs are expected to peak at about midcentury, at an estimated $754 billion.</p>
<p>Then there were the “fallen,” the dead, shipped to Dover Air Base in metal “transfer cases” aboard standard cargo planes. They were transferred to the official military mortuary in ceremonies from which the media, and thus the public, were until 2009 <a href="http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4757" type="external">excluded</a> — at least <a href="http://costsofwar.org/article/us-killed-0" type="external">6,656</a> of them from Iraq and Afghanistan by February of this year. At least 3,000 private contractors have also been killed in both wars. Add to this list the toll of post-deployment <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/01/veteran-suicide-rate_n_2599019.html" type="external">suicides</a>, and soldiers or veterans hooked on <a href="http://usmedicine.com/more-opioid-prescriptions-adverse-effects-for-vets-with-ptsd.html#.Umv15hZ0pUQ" type="external">addictive opioids</a> pushed by Big Pharma and prescribed by military doctors or VA psychiatrists either to keep them on the job or, after they break down, to “cure” them of their war experiences.</p>
<p>The first veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq returned to the United States 10 years ago in 2003, yet I’ve never spoken to a damaged soldier or a soldier’s family members who thought the care he or she received from the Veterans Administration was anything like appropriate or enough.&#160; By the VA’s own admission, the time it takes to reach a decision on a veteran’s benefits, or simply to offer an appointment, is so long that some vets <a href="http://www.armytimes.com/article/20130315/BENEFITS04/303150016/VA-wait-times-mean-some-die-before-getting-care" type="external">die while waiting</a>.</p>
<p>So it is that, since their return, untold numbers of soldiers have been looked after by their parents. &#160;I visited a home on the Great Plains where a veteran has lain in his childhood bed, in his mother’s care, for most of the last decade, and another home in New England where a veteran spent the last evening before he took his own life sitting on his father’s lap.</p>
<p>As I followed the sad trail of damaged veterans to write my new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463710/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">They Were Soldiers: How the Wounded Return From America’s Wars — the Untold Story</a>, I came to see how much they and their families have suffered, like Afghans, from the delusions of this nation’s leaders — many running counter to international law — and of other influential Americans, in and out of the military, more powerful and less accountable than themselves.</p>
<p>Like the soldiers, the country has changed.&#160; Muted now is the braggadocio of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKdbZWNqF00" type="external">bring-‘em-on</a> decider who started the preemptive process that ate the children of the poor and patriotic.&#160; Now, in Afghanistan as in Iraq, Washington scrambles to make the exit look less like a defeat — or worse, pointless waste.&#160; Most Americans no longer ask what the wars were for.</p>
<p>“Follow the money,” a furious Army officer, near the end of his career, instructed me. I had spent my time with poor kids in search of an honorable future who do the grunt work of America’s military.&#160; They are part of the nation’s lowliest 1%. But as that angry career officer told me, “They only follow orders.” It’s the other 1% at the top who are served by war, the great American engine that powers the transfer of wealth from the public treasury upward and into their pockets. Following that money trail reveals the real point of the chosen conflicts. As that disillusioned officer put it to me, the wars have made those profiteers “monu-fuckin’-mentally rich.” It’s the soldiers and their families who lost out.</p>
<p>Ann Jones has a new book published today: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463710/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">They Were Soldiers: How the Wounded Return from America’s Wars — the Untold Story</a>, a Dispatch Books project in cooperation with Haymarket Books. Andrew Bacevich has already had this to say about it: “Read this unsparing, scathingly direct, and gut-wrenching account — the war Washington doesn’t want you to see. Then see if you still believe that Americans ‘support the troops.’” Jones, who has reported from Afghanistan since 2002, is also the author of two books about the impact of war on civilians: Kabul in Winter and War Is Not Over When It’s Over.</p>
<p>Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/tomdispatch" type="external">Facebook</a> or <a href="http://tomdispatch.tumblr.com/" type="external">Tumblr</a>. Check out Nick Turse’s Dispatch book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Changing-Face-Empire-Cyberwarfare/dp/1608463109/" type="external">The Changing Face of Empire: Special Ops, Drones, Proxy Fighters, Secret Bases, and Cyberwarfare</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 2013 Ann Jones</p>
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<p>BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts’ unemployment rate has fallen slightly to 3.5 percent while preliminary estimates show the state lost about 300 jobs last month.</p>
<p>The state Office of Labor and Workforce Development also reported Thursday that during calendar year 2017 Massachusetts added an estimated 63,000 jobs, including 2,800 manufacturing jobs.</p>
<p>Labor Secretary Rosalin Acosta says it would mark the first time in 18 years that Massachusetts has seen a year-over-year increase in manufacturing employment.</p>
<p>The 3.5 percent unemployment rate for December was down from 3.6 percent from the previous month.</p>
<p>The U.S. unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent for December.</p>
<p>Officials say the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics also revised its estimate for November job growth in Massachusetts to show a gain of 7,800 jobs, up from its previous estimate of 6,700.</p>
<p>BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts’ unemployment rate has fallen slightly to 3.5 percent while preliminary estimates show the state lost about 300 jobs last month.</p>
<p>The state Office of Labor and Workforce Development also reported Thursday that during calendar year 2017 Massachusetts added an estimated 63,000 jobs, including 2,800 manufacturing jobs.</p>
<p>Labor Secretary Rosalin Acosta says it would mark the first time in 18 years that Massachusetts has seen a year-over-year increase in manufacturing employment.</p>
<p>The 3.5 percent unemployment rate for December was down from 3.6 percent from the previous month.</p>
<p>The U.S. unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent for December.</p>
<p>Officials say the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics also revised its estimate for November job growth in Massachusetts to show a gain of 7,800 jobs, up from its previous estimate of 6,700.</p>
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State’s jobless rate at 3.5 percent; 63K jobs gained in 2017
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https://apnews.com/59e5aedaf46440788d13073231a1e8d9
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2018-01-18
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State’s jobless rate at 3.5 percent; 63K jobs gained in 2017
<p>BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts’ unemployment rate has fallen slightly to 3.5 percent while preliminary estimates show the state lost about 300 jobs last month.</p>
<p>The state Office of Labor and Workforce Development also reported Thursday that during calendar year 2017 Massachusetts added an estimated 63,000 jobs, including 2,800 manufacturing jobs.</p>
<p>Labor Secretary Rosalin Acosta says it would mark the first time in 18 years that Massachusetts has seen a year-over-year increase in manufacturing employment.</p>
<p>The 3.5 percent unemployment rate for December was down from 3.6 percent from the previous month.</p>
<p>The U.S. unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent for December.</p>
<p>Officials say the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics also revised its estimate for November job growth in Massachusetts to show a gain of 7,800 jobs, up from its previous estimate of 6,700.</p>
<p>BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts’ unemployment rate has fallen slightly to 3.5 percent while preliminary estimates show the state lost about 300 jobs last month.</p>
<p>The state Office of Labor and Workforce Development also reported Thursday that during calendar year 2017 Massachusetts added an estimated 63,000 jobs, including 2,800 manufacturing jobs.</p>
<p>Labor Secretary Rosalin Acosta says it would mark the first time in 18 years that Massachusetts has seen a year-over-year increase in manufacturing employment.</p>
<p>The 3.5 percent unemployment rate for December was down from 3.6 percent from the previous month.</p>
<p>The U.S. unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent for December.</p>
<p>Officials say the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics also revised its estimate for November job growth in Massachusetts to show a gain of 7,800 jobs, up from its previous estimate of 6,700.</p>
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE - Authorities say shots were fired at a Santa Fe police car being driven in Bernalillo County.</p>
<p>The Sheriff's Department says no injuries were reported as a result of the shooting incident Tuesday night and that a search of the area turned up no suspects.</p>
<p>Two people had been seen running into a trailer park.</p>
<p>Sheriff's Sgt. Aaron Williamson says deputies believe the shooting was a random act not specifically targeting law enforcement.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
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<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE - Authorities say shots were fired at a Santa Fe police car being driven in Bernalillo County.</p>
<p>The Sheriff's Department says no injuries were reported as a result of the shooting incident Tuesday night and that a search of the area turned up no suspects.</p>
<p>Two people had been seen running into a trailer park.</p>
<p>Sheriff's Sgt. Aaron Williamson says deputies believe the shooting was a random act not specifically targeting law enforcement.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
| 4,975 |
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<p>After a story was published by Forbes&#160;that exposed unlawful business practices taking place inside the Eric Trump Foundation, the New York Attorney General is taking a closer look.</p>
<p>Due to the possibility that the Eric Trump Foundation might have funneled money meant for sick children to the Donald J. Trump Foundation, New York’s Democratic Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2017/06/09/new-york-attorney-general-looking-into-eric-trump-foundation/#19e454c21075" type="external">investigating further</a>.</p>
<p>Earlier this week,&#160;Forbes released a report saying that President Donald Trump’s charity funneled $100,000 in donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital into personal profit for the Trump Organization by going through his son’s own charity.</p>
<p>Now, a New York State Attorney General is investigating further.&#160;Eric Soufer, communications director of the New York State Attorney General said:</p>
<p>‘The attorney general’s office is looking into the issues raised in the report.’</p>
<p>The money that was made during an annual golf tournament that was hosted by Eric Trump went right back to Donald Trump’s golf courses for expenses that occurred during the tournament. The problem is that donors were told that all of their money would be going towards charity.</p>
<p>Forbes reports that according to IRS filings that the Eric Trump Foundation submitted, &#160;more than $500,000 was “re-donated” to other charities, some connected directly to the Trump family. Charity events were held no less than four times in the form of golf tournaments at Trump owned golf courses.</p>
<p>According to Forbes, Donald Trump actually gave the go ahead to bill his son’s charity. If that is true, he is in violation of Federal and New York state laws.</p>
<p />
<p>Featured Image via <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/license/578131276" type="external">Getty Images</a></p>
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Attorney General Announces Investigation Into Trump’s Kid Over Money Diversion Scandal
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2017-06-09
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Attorney General Announces Investigation Into Trump’s Kid Over Money Diversion Scandal
<p>After a story was published by Forbes&#160;that exposed unlawful business practices taking place inside the Eric Trump Foundation, the New York Attorney General is taking a closer look.</p>
<p>Due to the possibility that the Eric Trump Foundation might have funneled money meant for sick children to the Donald J. Trump Foundation, New York’s Democratic Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2017/06/09/new-york-attorney-general-looking-into-eric-trump-foundation/#19e454c21075" type="external">investigating further</a>.</p>
<p>Earlier this week,&#160;Forbes released a report saying that President Donald Trump’s charity funneled $100,000 in donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital into personal profit for the Trump Organization by going through his son’s own charity.</p>
<p>Now, a New York State Attorney General is investigating further.&#160;Eric Soufer, communications director of the New York State Attorney General said:</p>
<p>‘The attorney general’s office is looking into the issues raised in the report.’</p>
<p>The money that was made during an annual golf tournament that was hosted by Eric Trump went right back to Donald Trump’s golf courses for expenses that occurred during the tournament. The problem is that donors were told that all of their money would be going towards charity.</p>
<p>Forbes reports that according to IRS filings that the Eric Trump Foundation submitted, &#160;more than $500,000 was “re-donated” to other charities, some connected directly to the Trump family. Charity events were held no less than four times in the form of golf tournaments at Trump owned golf courses.</p>
<p>According to Forbes, Donald Trump actually gave the go ahead to bill his son’s charity. If that is true, he is in violation of Federal and New York state laws.</p>
<p />
<p>Featured Image via <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/license/578131276" type="external">Getty Images</a></p>
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<p />
<p>PHOENIX (AP) — Federal filings released Tuesday show the largest seller of individual health insurance on Arizona's Affordable Care Act marketplace is seeking price increases of less than 5 percent next year for clients in Maricopa and Pima counties.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The filings by Centene Corp's Ambetter by Health Net mark a big departure from this year's major increases and come a day after Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona said its average rates would be rising by only about 7.2 percent next year amid growing market stability.</p>
<p>Health Net offers individual policies in the state's two largest counties that cover about two-thirds of the 140,000 people with marketplace policies statewide. Blue Cross insures in the other 13 counties.</p>
<p>This year's increases for both insurers topped 50 percent. A Blue Cross executive told The Associated Press Monday that a stabilizing market led to its smaller planned boosts. Health Net officials didn't comment on its reasoning.</p>
<p>The relatively small increases and market stability undercut some of Gov. Doug Ducey's arguments that the state's marketplace is broken. Ducey was in Washington on Monday to meet with Trump administration officials and a handful of other Republican governors on a possible repeal of former President Barack Obama's health law in the wake of the failure of an effort last week in the U.S. Senate.</p>
<p>Arizona had some of the lowest rates in the nation and robust competition from multiple insurers when the individual marketplaces launched for the 2014 coverage year. But insurers underpriced their plans and saw big losses, leading all but Blue Cross and Health Net to leave the state by this year and premiums to skyrocket.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Ducey spokesman Patrick Ptak issued a statement noting that prior to the Obama law the state had over two dozen companies selling plans on the individual market.</p>
<p>"This year, most Arizonans had only a single provider to choose from in the federal marketplace while facing premium increases on average of 50 percent," he said in a statement. "The governor believes a healthy individual marketplace should provide choice, competition, and lower premiums for consumers."</p>
<p>University of Arizona health insurance expert Dr. Daniel Derksen said that's partially true but neglects pre-ACA issues that showed a troubled marketplace.</p>
<p>"I think a more complete context is that the individual or non-group marketplace has been unstable and volatile for the last 10 years, certainly preceding the ACA," Derksen said.</p>
<p>Blue Cross designed its 2018 rates to reflect the elimination of "cost sharing reduction" payments from the federal government that help lower costs for people earning less than 250 percent of the poverty line.</p>
<p>The law requires insurers to lower copays and deductibles for that group, but President Donald Trump has threatened to withhold the payments and let the Affordable Care Act marketplaces fail.</p>
<p>If Congress passes a bill ensuring the payments, there will likely be no rate increases next year, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Vice President Jeff Stelnik said.</p>
<p>Health Net spokeswoman Monica Coury said its rate request assumes the payments continue.</p>
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2nd Arizona insurer also asking for small 2018 rate boost
<p />
<p>PHOENIX (AP) — Federal filings released Tuesday show the largest seller of individual health insurance on Arizona's Affordable Care Act marketplace is seeking price increases of less than 5 percent next year for clients in Maricopa and Pima counties.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The filings by Centene Corp's Ambetter by Health Net mark a big departure from this year's major increases and come a day after Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona said its average rates would be rising by only about 7.2 percent next year amid growing market stability.</p>
<p>Health Net offers individual policies in the state's two largest counties that cover about two-thirds of the 140,000 people with marketplace policies statewide. Blue Cross insures in the other 13 counties.</p>
<p>This year's increases for both insurers topped 50 percent. A Blue Cross executive told The Associated Press Monday that a stabilizing market led to its smaller planned boosts. Health Net officials didn't comment on its reasoning.</p>
<p>The relatively small increases and market stability undercut some of Gov. Doug Ducey's arguments that the state's marketplace is broken. Ducey was in Washington on Monday to meet with Trump administration officials and a handful of other Republican governors on a possible repeal of former President Barack Obama's health law in the wake of the failure of an effort last week in the U.S. Senate.</p>
<p>Arizona had some of the lowest rates in the nation and robust competition from multiple insurers when the individual marketplaces launched for the 2014 coverage year. But insurers underpriced their plans and saw big losses, leading all but Blue Cross and Health Net to leave the state by this year and premiums to skyrocket.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Ducey spokesman Patrick Ptak issued a statement noting that prior to the Obama law the state had over two dozen companies selling plans on the individual market.</p>
<p>"This year, most Arizonans had only a single provider to choose from in the federal marketplace while facing premium increases on average of 50 percent," he said in a statement. "The governor believes a healthy individual marketplace should provide choice, competition, and lower premiums for consumers."</p>
<p>University of Arizona health insurance expert Dr. Daniel Derksen said that's partially true but neglects pre-ACA issues that showed a troubled marketplace.</p>
<p>"I think a more complete context is that the individual or non-group marketplace has been unstable and volatile for the last 10 years, certainly preceding the ACA," Derksen said.</p>
<p>Blue Cross designed its 2018 rates to reflect the elimination of "cost sharing reduction" payments from the federal government that help lower costs for people earning less than 250 percent of the poverty line.</p>
<p>The law requires insurers to lower copays and deductibles for that group, but President Donald Trump has threatened to withhold the payments and let the Affordable Care Act marketplaces fail.</p>
<p>If Congress passes a bill ensuring the payments, there will likely be no rate increases next year, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Vice President Jeff Stelnik said.</p>
<p>Health Net spokeswoman Monica Coury said its rate request assumes the payments continue.</p>
| 4,977 |
<p>RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - The doctor was late. So the women sat quietly in the waiting area of a clinic in an upscale neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro until they were overcome by thoughts of what they were about to do and what might happen to them. They began to talk.</p>
<p>One woman said she was in a relationship with a drug lord and knew he would force her to have "his" baby if he found out she was pregnant. Another was a successful businesswoman who had separated from her children's father and become pregnant accidentally by another man. A third just cried.</p>
<p>A fourth, Roberta Cardoso, had become pregnant accidentally with her boyfriend and felt she wasn't mature enough to become a mother.</p>
<p>"At that moment I probably knew much more about their stories than their families did," Cardoso, 26, said during a recent interview with The Associated Press.</p>
<p>As in many countries, abortion is a subject of taboo in Brazil, a socially conservative nation with the world's largest Roman Catholic population as well as a growing evangelical Christian community. Abortion is illegal here except when a woman's life is at risk, when she has been raped or when the fetus has a usually fatal brain abnormality called anencephaly.</p>
<p>But amid a rising tide of conservatism in Brazil and concerns that abortion will become further restricted, women are coming out of the shadows to tell their stories in the hopes of galvanizing support for expanded access to abortion.</p>
<p>"We have stopped thinking of this as a private subject. It's a public subject," said Rosangela Talib, a coordinator for Catholics for Choice, a leading advocate in Brazil for reproductive rights.</p>
<p>An estimated 400,000 to 800,000 women have an abortion each year in Brazil - the vast majority of them illegal. According to Health Ministry statistics, more than 200 women died in 2015 after abortions. If caught, a woman can be sentenced to up to three years and the performer of the procedure up to four, though prosecutions are rare.</p>
<p>More than 170 women, including prominent actresses, directors and academics, have signed a manifesto declaring publicly that they had abortions. Thousands of women have also taken to the streets to protest attempts to further restrict abortion, and more than 34,000 have signed petitions sent to Congress.</p>
<p>When the Anis-Bioethics Institute, an NGO that conducts research on women's issues, put out a call on Facebook asking for women to tell their stories, 110 came forward in just 19 days.</p>
<p>One of them was Rebeca Mendes, who was seeking an abortion.</p>
<p>The NGO filed an urgent request with the Supreme Court to terminate Mendes' pregnancy, drawing national attention and putting a name and a face to its quest to legalize abortion. The petition was denied and Mendes eventually had the procedure legally in Colombia.</p>
<p>The wave of public testimony is amplifying a heated debate in Latin America's largest country, where conservatives fear the Supreme Court could rule to legalize the procedure and women's activists fear Congress will roll back the already limited abortion rights.</p>
<p>In November 2016, a Supreme Court justice wrote that criminalizing first-trimester abortions violated women's fundamental rights, a decision that granted the habeas corpus release of two people accused of running an abortion clinic.</p>
<p>Hours after the decision, Congress created a special commission to clarify the law. It has proposed amending Brazil's constitution to state that protections for life begin at conception. Lawmaker Sostenes Cavalcante said it would be supported by all "who believe in life" and opposed by those "who want to kill the defenseless."</p>
<p>Cavalcante described the measure as a complete abortion ban, though the lawmaker who wrote it has since said it would not change current law and is meant only to hold off any attempt to further legalize abortion.</p>
<p>Jefferson Drezett, who runs the abortion and sexual violence response department at Perola Byington state hospital in Sao Paulo, said abortion services are already insufficient for women who seek them legally, for reasons ranging from poor management to pressure from politicians and religious groups.</p>
<p>"It's been almost 80 years that the law (that includes the exceptions) exists, and we still haven't managed to make this law valid in Brazilian public hospitals," he said.</p>
<p>Support for legal abortions has been rising, though most Brazilians apparently still oppose them.</p>
<p>A Datafolha survey released Dec. 31 said 36 percent of Brazilians interviewed were in favor of decriminalizing abortion, up from 23 percent in 2016. But 57 percent were still against abortions. The survey interviewed over 2,700 people from 192 municipalities in Brazil and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.</p>
<p>Among those who want fewer restrictions is Raissa Arruda, a 30-year-old artist who told AP: "I've lost the shame around speaking out. ... I think we need to speak, so we can decriminalize it."</p>
<p>Arruda was 18 when she discovered she was pregnant, and her mother didn't talk to her for weeks after she told her. Arruda eventually had a miscarriage after several painful weeks of feeling judged.</p>
<p>When she got pregnant again a month later, she told almost no one. She couldn't stand the shame.</p>
<p>She borrowed money from a friend to buy misoprostol, a drug that can be used to cause an abortion. Since the 1990s, misoprostol, which has uses ranging from treating ulcers to inducing labor, has been legally available only at hospital pharmacies in Brazil. However, Arruda said everyone knows where to get it in Florianopolis, the southern city where she grew up.</p>
<p>Djacelina dos Prazeres Chrispim also decided to share her story in an interview with AP.</p>
<p>Fifteen years ago, Chrispim went to a private hospital in Sao Paulo to have an abortion. As a black woman who had a turbulent childhood, she said she didn't want to bring a child into the world who she feared would face racism and exclusion.</p>
<p>While she had spoken about her experience with some friends and women's groups over the years, Chrispim had never talked about it publicly until now.</p>
<p>"A woman only has an abortion because she needs to," said the 42-year-old food activist. "When people speak, it demystifies it."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Renata Brito reported this story in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and AP writer Sarah DiLorenzo reported in Sao Paulo.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Renata Brito on Twitter: twitter.com/RenataBrito91</p>
<p>Sarah DiLorenzo on Twitter: twitter.com/sdilorenzo</p>
<p>RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - The doctor was late. So the women sat quietly in the waiting area of a clinic in an upscale neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro until they were overcome by thoughts of what they were about to do and what might happen to them. They began to talk.</p>
<p>One woman said she was in a relationship with a drug lord and knew he would force her to have "his" baby if he found out she was pregnant. Another was a successful businesswoman who had separated from her children's father and become pregnant accidentally by another man. A third just cried.</p>
<p>A fourth, Roberta Cardoso, had become pregnant accidentally with her boyfriend and felt she wasn't mature enough to become a mother.</p>
<p>"At that moment I probably knew much more about their stories than their families did," Cardoso, 26, said during a recent interview with The Associated Press.</p>
<p>As in many countries, abortion is a subject of taboo in Brazil, a socially conservative nation with the world's largest Roman Catholic population as well as a growing evangelical Christian community. Abortion is illegal here except when a woman's life is at risk, when she has been raped or when the fetus has a usually fatal brain abnormality called anencephaly.</p>
<p>But amid a rising tide of conservatism in Brazil and concerns that abortion will become further restricted, women are coming out of the shadows to tell their stories in the hopes of galvanizing support for expanded access to abortion.</p>
<p>"We have stopped thinking of this as a private subject. It's a public subject," said Rosangela Talib, a coordinator for Catholics for Choice, a leading advocate in Brazil for reproductive rights.</p>
<p>An estimated 400,000 to 800,000 women have an abortion each year in Brazil - the vast majority of them illegal. According to Health Ministry statistics, more than 200 women died in 2015 after abortions. If caught, a woman can be sentenced to up to three years and the performer of the procedure up to four, though prosecutions are rare.</p>
<p>More than 170 women, including prominent actresses, directors and academics, have signed a manifesto declaring publicly that they had abortions. Thousands of women have also taken to the streets to protest attempts to further restrict abortion, and more than 34,000 have signed petitions sent to Congress.</p>
<p>When the Anis-Bioethics Institute, an NGO that conducts research on women's issues, put out a call on Facebook asking for women to tell their stories, 110 came forward in just 19 days.</p>
<p>One of them was Rebeca Mendes, who was seeking an abortion.</p>
<p>The NGO filed an urgent request with the Supreme Court to terminate Mendes' pregnancy, drawing national attention and putting a name and a face to its quest to legalize abortion. The petition was denied and Mendes eventually had the procedure legally in Colombia.</p>
<p>The wave of public testimony is amplifying a heated debate in Latin America's largest country, where conservatives fear the Supreme Court could rule to legalize the procedure and women's activists fear Congress will roll back the already limited abortion rights.</p>
<p>In November 2016, a Supreme Court justice wrote that criminalizing first-trimester abortions violated women's fundamental rights, a decision that granted the habeas corpus release of two people accused of running an abortion clinic.</p>
<p>Hours after the decision, Congress created a special commission to clarify the law. It has proposed amending Brazil's constitution to state that protections for life begin at conception. Lawmaker Sostenes Cavalcante said it would be supported by all "who believe in life" and opposed by those "who want to kill the defenseless."</p>
<p>Cavalcante described the measure as a complete abortion ban, though the lawmaker who wrote it has since said it would not change current law and is meant only to hold off any attempt to further legalize abortion.</p>
<p>Jefferson Drezett, who runs the abortion and sexual violence response department at Perola Byington state hospital in Sao Paulo, said abortion services are already insufficient for women who seek them legally, for reasons ranging from poor management to pressure from politicians and religious groups.</p>
<p>"It's been almost 80 years that the law (that includes the exceptions) exists, and we still haven't managed to make this law valid in Brazilian public hospitals," he said.</p>
<p>Support for legal abortions has been rising, though most Brazilians apparently still oppose them.</p>
<p>A Datafolha survey released Dec. 31 said 36 percent of Brazilians interviewed were in favor of decriminalizing abortion, up from 23 percent in 2016. But 57 percent were still against abortions. The survey interviewed over 2,700 people from 192 municipalities in Brazil and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.</p>
<p>Among those who want fewer restrictions is Raissa Arruda, a 30-year-old artist who told AP: "I've lost the shame around speaking out. ... I think we need to speak, so we can decriminalize it."</p>
<p>Arruda was 18 when she discovered she was pregnant, and her mother didn't talk to her for weeks after she told her. Arruda eventually had a miscarriage after several painful weeks of feeling judged.</p>
<p>When she got pregnant again a month later, she told almost no one. She couldn't stand the shame.</p>
<p>She borrowed money from a friend to buy misoprostol, a drug that can be used to cause an abortion. Since the 1990s, misoprostol, which has uses ranging from treating ulcers to inducing labor, has been legally available only at hospital pharmacies in Brazil. However, Arruda said everyone knows where to get it in Florianopolis, the southern city where she grew up.</p>
<p>Djacelina dos Prazeres Chrispim also decided to share her story in an interview with AP.</p>
<p>Fifteen years ago, Chrispim went to a private hospital in Sao Paulo to have an abortion. As a black woman who had a turbulent childhood, she said she didn't want to bring a child into the world who she feared would face racism and exclusion.</p>
<p>While she had spoken about her experience with some friends and women's groups over the years, Chrispim had never talked about it publicly until now.</p>
<p>"A woman only has an abortion because she needs to," said the 42-year-old food activist. "When people speak, it demystifies it."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Renata Brito reported this story in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and AP writer Sarah DiLorenzo reported in Sao Paulo.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Renata Brito on Twitter: twitter.com/RenataBrito91</p>
<p>Sarah DiLorenzo on Twitter: twitter.com/sdilorenzo</p>
|
Brazilian women break taboo to talk about illegal abortions
| false |
https://apnews.com/amp/d92aab35b05740bdbb745555eef84532
|
2018-01-04
| 2least
|
Brazilian women break taboo to talk about illegal abortions
<p>RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - The doctor was late. So the women sat quietly in the waiting area of a clinic in an upscale neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro until they were overcome by thoughts of what they were about to do and what might happen to them. They began to talk.</p>
<p>One woman said she was in a relationship with a drug lord and knew he would force her to have "his" baby if he found out she was pregnant. Another was a successful businesswoman who had separated from her children's father and become pregnant accidentally by another man. A third just cried.</p>
<p>A fourth, Roberta Cardoso, had become pregnant accidentally with her boyfriend and felt she wasn't mature enough to become a mother.</p>
<p>"At that moment I probably knew much more about their stories than their families did," Cardoso, 26, said during a recent interview with The Associated Press.</p>
<p>As in many countries, abortion is a subject of taboo in Brazil, a socially conservative nation with the world's largest Roman Catholic population as well as a growing evangelical Christian community. Abortion is illegal here except when a woman's life is at risk, when she has been raped or when the fetus has a usually fatal brain abnormality called anencephaly.</p>
<p>But amid a rising tide of conservatism in Brazil and concerns that abortion will become further restricted, women are coming out of the shadows to tell their stories in the hopes of galvanizing support for expanded access to abortion.</p>
<p>"We have stopped thinking of this as a private subject. It's a public subject," said Rosangela Talib, a coordinator for Catholics for Choice, a leading advocate in Brazil for reproductive rights.</p>
<p>An estimated 400,000 to 800,000 women have an abortion each year in Brazil - the vast majority of them illegal. According to Health Ministry statistics, more than 200 women died in 2015 after abortions. If caught, a woman can be sentenced to up to three years and the performer of the procedure up to four, though prosecutions are rare.</p>
<p>More than 170 women, including prominent actresses, directors and academics, have signed a manifesto declaring publicly that they had abortions. Thousands of women have also taken to the streets to protest attempts to further restrict abortion, and more than 34,000 have signed petitions sent to Congress.</p>
<p>When the Anis-Bioethics Institute, an NGO that conducts research on women's issues, put out a call on Facebook asking for women to tell their stories, 110 came forward in just 19 days.</p>
<p>One of them was Rebeca Mendes, who was seeking an abortion.</p>
<p>The NGO filed an urgent request with the Supreme Court to terminate Mendes' pregnancy, drawing national attention and putting a name and a face to its quest to legalize abortion. The petition was denied and Mendes eventually had the procedure legally in Colombia.</p>
<p>The wave of public testimony is amplifying a heated debate in Latin America's largest country, where conservatives fear the Supreme Court could rule to legalize the procedure and women's activists fear Congress will roll back the already limited abortion rights.</p>
<p>In November 2016, a Supreme Court justice wrote that criminalizing first-trimester abortions violated women's fundamental rights, a decision that granted the habeas corpus release of two people accused of running an abortion clinic.</p>
<p>Hours after the decision, Congress created a special commission to clarify the law. It has proposed amending Brazil's constitution to state that protections for life begin at conception. Lawmaker Sostenes Cavalcante said it would be supported by all "who believe in life" and opposed by those "who want to kill the defenseless."</p>
<p>Cavalcante described the measure as a complete abortion ban, though the lawmaker who wrote it has since said it would not change current law and is meant only to hold off any attempt to further legalize abortion.</p>
<p>Jefferson Drezett, who runs the abortion and sexual violence response department at Perola Byington state hospital in Sao Paulo, said abortion services are already insufficient for women who seek them legally, for reasons ranging from poor management to pressure from politicians and religious groups.</p>
<p>"It's been almost 80 years that the law (that includes the exceptions) exists, and we still haven't managed to make this law valid in Brazilian public hospitals," he said.</p>
<p>Support for legal abortions has been rising, though most Brazilians apparently still oppose them.</p>
<p>A Datafolha survey released Dec. 31 said 36 percent of Brazilians interviewed were in favor of decriminalizing abortion, up from 23 percent in 2016. But 57 percent were still against abortions. The survey interviewed over 2,700 people from 192 municipalities in Brazil and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.</p>
<p>Among those who want fewer restrictions is Raissa Arruda, a 30-year-old artist who told AP: "I've lost the shame around speaking out. ... I think we need to speak, so we can decriminalize it."</p>
<p>Arruda was 18 when she discovered she was pregnant, and her mother didn't talk to her for weeks after she told her. Arruda eventually had a miscarriage after several painful weeks of feeling judged.</p>
<p>When she got pregnant again a month later, she told almost no one. She couldn't stand the shame.</p>
<p>She borrowed money from a friend to buy misoprostol, a drug that can be used to cause an abortion. Since the 1990s, misoprostol, which has uses ranging from treating ulcers to inducing labor, has been legally available only at hospital pharmacies in Brazil. However, Arruda said everyone knows where to get it in Florianopolis, the southern city where she grew up.</p>
<p>Djacelina dos Prazeres Chrispim also decided to share her story in an interview with AP.</p>
<p>Fifteen years ago, Chrispim went to a private hospital in Sao Paulo to have an abortion. As a black woman who had a turbulent childhood, she said she didn't want to bring a child into the world who she feared would face racism and exclusion.</p>
<p>While she had spoken about her experience with some friends and women's groups over the years, Chrispim had never talked about it publicly until now.</p>
<p>"A woman only has an abortion because she needs to," said the 42-year-old food activist. "When people speak, it demystifies it."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Renata Brito reported this story in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and AP writer Sarah DiLorenzo reported in Sao Paulo.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Renata Brito on Twitter: twitter.com/RenataBrito91</p>
<p>Sarah DiLorenzo on Twitter: twitter.com/sdilorenzo</p>
<p>RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - The doctor was late. So the women sat quietly in the waiting area of a clinic in an upscale neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro until they were overcome by thoughts of what they were about to do and what might happen to them. They began to talk.</p>
<p>One woman said she was in a relationship with a drug lord and knew he would force her to have "his" baby if he found out she was pregnant. Another was a successful businesswoman who had separated from her children's father and become pregnant accidentally by another man. A third just cried.</p>
<p>A fourth, Roberta Cardoso, had become pregnant accidentally with her boyfriend and felt she wasn't mature enough to become a mother.</p>
<p>"At that moment I probably knew much more about their stories than their families did," Cardoso, 26, said during a recent interview with The Associated Press.</p>
<p>As in many countries, abortion is a subject of taboo in Brazil, a socially conservative nation with the world's largest Roman Catholic population as well as a growing evangelical Christian community. Abortion is illegal here except when a woman's life is at risk, when she has been raped or when the fetus has a usually fatal brain abnormality called anencephaly.</p>
<p>But amid a rising tide of conservatism in Brazil and concerns that abortion will become further restricted, women are coming out of the shadows to tell their stories in the hopes of galvanizing support for expanded access to abortion.</p>
<p>"We have stopped thinking of this as a private subject. It's a public subject," said Rosangela Talib, a coordinator for Catholics for Choice, a leading advocate in Brazil for reproductive rights.</p>
<p>An estimated 400,000 to 800,000 women have an abortion each year in Brazil - the vast majority of them illegal. According to Health Ministry statistics, more than 200 women died in 2015 after abortions. If caught, a woman can be sentenced to up to three years and the performer of the procedure up to four, though prosecutions are rare.</p>
<p>More than 170 women, including prominent actresses, directors and academics, have signed a manifesto declaring publicly that they had abortions. Thousands of women have also taken to the streets to protest attempts to further restrict abortion, and more than 34,000 have signed petitions sent to Congress.</p>
<p>When the Anis-Bioethics Institute, an NGO that conducts research on women's issues, put out a call on Facebook asking for women to tell their stories, 110 came forward in just 19 days.</p>
<p>One of them was Rebeca Mendes, who was seeking an abortion.</p>
<p>The NGO filed an urgent request with the Supreme Court to terminate Mendes' pregnancy, drawing national attention and putting a name and a face to its quest to legalize abortion. The petition was denied and Mendes eventually had the procedure legally in Colombia.</p>
<p>The wave of public testimony is amplifying a heated debate in Latin America's largest country, where conservatives fear the Supreme Court could rule to legalize the procedure and women's activists fear Congress will roll back the already limited abortion rights.</p>
<p>In November 2016, a Supreme Court justice wrote that criminalizing first-trimester abortions violated women's fundamental rights, a decision that granted the habeas corpus release of two people accused of running an abortion clinic.</p>
<p>Hours after the decision, Congress created a special commission to clarify the law. It has proposed amending Brazil's constitution to state that protections for life begin at conception. Lawmaker Sostenes Cavalcante said it would be supported by all "who believe in life" and opposed by those "who want to kill the defenseless."</p>
<p>Cavalcante described the measure as a complete abortion ban, though the lawmaker who wrote it has since said it would not change current law and is meant only to hold off any attempt to further legalize abortion.</p>
<p>Jefferson Drezett, who runs the abortion and sexual violence response department at Perola Byington state hospital in Sao Paulo, said abortion services are already insufficient for women who seek them legally, for reasons ranging from poor management to pressure from politicians and religious groups.</p>
<p>"It's been almost 80 years that the law (that includes the exceptions) exists, and we still haven't managed to make this law valid in Brazilian public hospitals," he said.</p>
<p>Support for legal abortions has been rising, though most Brazilians apparently still oppose them.</p>
<p>A Datafolha survey released Dec. 31 said 36 percent of Brazilians interviewed were in favor of decriminalizing abortion, up from 23 percent in 2016. But 57 percent were still against abortions. The survey interviewed over 2,700 people from 192 municipalities in Brazil and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.</p>
<p>Among those who want fewer restrictions is Raissa Arruda, a 30-year-old artist who told AP: "I've lost the shame around speaking out. ... I think we need to speak, so we can decriminalize it."</p>
<p>Arruda was 18 when she discovered she was pregnant, and her mother didn't talk to her for weeks after she told her. Arruda eventually had a miscarriage after several painful weeks of feeling judged.</p>
<p>When she got pregnant again a month later, she told almost no one. She couldn't stand the shame.</p>
<p>She borrowed money from a friend to buy misoprostol, a drug that can be used to cause an abortion. Since the 1990s, misoprostol, which has uses ranging from treating ulcers to inducing labor, has been legally available only at hospital pharmacies in Brazil. However, Arruda said everyone knows where to get it in Florianopolis, the southern city where she grew up.</p>
<p>Djacelina dos Prazeres Chrispim also decided to share her story in an interview with AP.</p>
<p>Fifteen years ago, Chrispim went to a private hospital in Sao Paulo to have an abortion. As a black woman who had a turbulent childhood, she said she didn't want to bring a child into the world who she feared would face racism and exclusion.</p>
<p>While she had spoken about her experience with some friends and women's groups over the years, Chrispim had never talked about it publicly until now.</p>
<p>"A woman only has an abortion because she needs to," said the 42-year-old food activist. "When people speak, it demystifies it."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Renata Brito reported this story in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and AP writer Sarah DiLorenzo reported in Sao Paulo.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Renata Brito on Twitter: twitter.com/RenataBrito91</p>
<p>Sarah DiLorenzo on Twitter: twitter.com/sdilorenzo</p>
| 4,978 |
<p>(Reuters) – British police said on Tuesday they made a third arrest linked to Friday’s tube attack in Parsons Green, London, that injured 30 people.</p>
<p>The arrest, of a 25-year-old man, was made in Newport, Wales, they said in a statement.</p>
<p>A search was taking place at an address in the town.</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>
|
British police arrest third man in London tube attack investigation
| false |
https://newsline.com/british-police-arrest-third-man-in-london-tube-attack-investigation/
|
2017-09-19
| 1right-center
|
British police arrest third man in London tube attack investigation
<p>(Reuters) – British police said on Tuesday they made a third arrest linked to Friday’s tube attack in Parsons Green, London, that injured 30 people.</p>
<p>The arrest, of a 25-year-old man, was made in Newport, Wales, they said in a statement.</p>
<p>A search was taking place at an address in the town.</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>
| 4,979 |
<p>If you or someone you know has ever gone out in Bangkok and come back tattooed, this post may be for you.</p>
<p>The Thai Culture Ministry is pondering a ban on foreigners getting religious tattoos, especially in the key cities of Bangkok and Chiang Mai.</p>
<p>Culture Minister Nipit Intarasombat said that an uncomfortably high number of foreigners are interested in tattoos with sacred Buddhist and Hindu images, according to a new survey on the island of Phuket, another tourist spot.</p>
<p>"Some of the tourists deem religious tattoo patterns a fashion without any religious respect while some probably have those tattoos because of ignorance," reports the <a href="http://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news.php?id=255405310011" type="external">National News Bureau of Thailand</a>.</p>
<p>The ban is yet to be official, but in the meantime, provincial governors have been asked to "inspect" tattoo studios, seeking their cooperation in not using sacred religious objects in the tattoo process.</p>
<p>Here's a closer look at religious tattoos in Thailand (below) and in <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/asia/090902/ancient-khmer-tattoos-powerful-dying-art" type="external">neighboring Cambodia</a>, where soldiers have gone so far as to use the ink as armor.</p>
<p />
<p>A Thai stall employee with a tattooed back arranges vegetables at a market in downtown Bangkok on March 9, 2011. (Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images)</p>
<p />
<p>A Thai Buddhist artist draws a traditional tattoo on the chest of a devotee, during a tattoo festival at the Bang Phra Temple in Nakhon Chaisi, west of Bangkok on March 7, 2009. (Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images)</p>
<p />
<p>A Thai Buddhist devotee gets a tattoo that he believes will protect him from harm. (Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images)</p>
<p />
<p>Some men take on the characteristics of sacred animals that have been carved onto their skin. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)</p>
<p />
<p>In Thai culture the tattoo or Thai word 'sak yant' is worn as a symbol of spiritual and physical protection, as many believe that the tattoo has mystical powers. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)</p>
<p />
<p>A Thai tattoo master, Whaw Hongsakul, carves a tattoo on a devotee's back as volunteers hold the woman's back steady. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)</p>
<p>div.lead-media-photo { display:none; }</p>
|
Thailand to ban foreigners from getting spiritual tattoos
| false |
https://pri.org/stories/2011-06-01/thailand-ban-foreigners-getting-spiritual-tattoos
|
2011-06-01
| 3left-center
|
Thailand to ban foreigners from getting spiritual tattoos
<p>If you or someone you know has ever gone out in Bangkok and come back tattooed, this post may be for you.</p>
<p>The Thai Culture Ministry is pondering a ban on foreigners getting religious tattoos, especially in the key cities of Bangkok and Chiang Mai.</p>
<p>Culture Minister Nipit Intarasombat said that an uncomfortably high number of foreigners are interested in tattoos with sacred Buddhist and Hindu images, according to a new survey on the island of Phuket, another tourist spot.</p>
<p>"Some of the tourists deem religious tattoo patterns a fashion without any religious respect while some probably have those tattoos because of ignorance," reports the <a href="http://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news.php?id=255405310011" type="external">National News Bureau of Thailand</a>.</p>
<p>The ban is yet to be official, but in the meantime, provincial governors have been asked to "inspect" tattoo studios, seeking their cooperation in not using sacred religious objects in the tattoo process.</p>
<p>Here's a closer look at religious tattoos in Thailand (below) and in <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/asia/090902/ancient-khmer-tattoos-powerful-dying-art" type="external">neighboring Cambodia</a>, where soldiers have gone so far as to use the ink as armor.</p>
<p />
<p>A Thai stall employee with a tattooed back arranges vegetables at a market in downtown Bangkok on March 9, 2011. (Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images)</p>
<p />
<p>A Thai Buddhist artist draws a traditional tattoo on the chest of a devotee, during a tattoo festival at the Bang Phra Temple in Nakhon Chaisi, west of Bangkok on March 7, 2009. (Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images)</p>
<p />
<p>A Thai Buddhist devotee gets a tattoo that he believes will protect him from harm. (Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images)</p>
<p />
<p>Some men take on the characteristics of sacred animals that have been carved onto their skin. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)</p>
<p />
<p>In Thai culture the tattoo or Thai word 'sak yant' is worn as a symbol of spiritual and physical protection, as many believe that the tattoo has mystical powers. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)</p>
<p />
<p>A Thai tattoo master, Whaw Hongsakul, carves a tattoo on a devotee's back as volunteers hold the woman's back steady. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)</p>
<p>div.lead-media-photo { display:none; }</p>
| 4,980 |
<p />
<p>A flack for the lobbying arm of the National Rifle Association (NRA) used the Jim Crow-era term "poll tax" to describe a new Seattle ordinance that imposes a tax on the sale of guns and ammunition to fund research on gun violence, which the NRA has <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nra-sues-over-seattles-adoption-gun-violence-tax-181145804.html" type="external">challenged in a lawsuit</a>.</p>
<p>On August 10, the Seattle City Council <a href="http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/seattle-city-council-vote-new-gun-tax/nnGmq/" type="external">unanimously approved</a> a new tax on firearm and ammunition sales. Beginning in January, firearms will be subject to a $25 tax, while most types of ammunition will be taxed at 5 cents per round. Seattle has embraced a research-based approach to preventing gun violence and already has a "hospital-based intervention program for gun violence victims." Revenue from the new tax will fund additional research. Seattle City Council data shows that in 2014, Seattle taxpayers <a href="http://www.seattle.gov/council/issues/gunsafety/" type="external">paid $12 million</a> to cover the direct medical costs of gunshot wounds.</p>
<p>During the August 21 broadcast of the NRA's radio show, Cam &amp; Company, NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) media liaison Lars Dalseide -- who has been <a href="http://mynorthwest.com/11/2800453/NRA-aims-to-shoot-down-City-of-Seattles-gun-violence-tax" type="external">attacking the tax</a> in media interviews -- compared the measure to a "poll tax" that is "meant to punish a certain group."</p>
<p>Dalseide said, "Basically what this really is is a poll tax. It's something to stop people from doing something. I know traditionally here in the states a poll tax is tied to voting, but if you go worldwide, a poll tax is just meant to punish a certain group, and this is exactly what this is doing."</p>
<p />
<p>In the United States, poll taxes were voter registration fees aimed primarily at disenfranchising African-Americans that began during the 19th century following the ratification of the 15th Amendment. Poll taxes also disenfranchised poor people and women in some states. The practice was barred in federal elections by the 24th Amendment and state poll taxes have been found to <a href="http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1965/1965_48" type="external">violate</a> the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.</p>
<p>Outside of the United States, the term "poll tax" is synonymous with a "head tax" -- a fee imposed on certain immigrants depending on their country of origin that was most infamously levied against Chinese immigrants to <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/05/14/bc_to_apologize_for_chinese_head_tax.html" type="external">Canada</a> and <a href="http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/a-poll-tax-of-10-pounds-on-chinese-arrivals-in-new-zealand-is-introduced" type="external">New Zealand</a>&#160;in the 19th and 20th centuries.</p>
<p>Dalseide's inflammatory comparison&#160;ignores the fact&#160;that firearm sales are already taxed -- gun&#160;and ammunition sales have been subject to a federal excise tax for decades that is used <a href="http://www.ttb.gov/firearms/faet-faqs.shtml" type="external">to fund conservation programs</a>.</p>
<p>The NRA -- which is joined in its lawsuit by the Second Amendment Foundation and a gun industry trade group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) -- says the tax violates a Washington state law limiting the kinds of gun regulations localities can enact. The Seattle City Council contends that the new tax does not regulate firearms and falls within their <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nra-sues-over-seattles-adoption-gun-violence-tax-181145804.html" type="external">taxation authority</a>.</p>
<p>In an August 24 NRA-ILA&#160; <a href="http://www.nssfblog.com/nssf-joins-nra-second-amendment-foundation-in-lawsuit-against-illegal-seattle-gun-and-ammunition-tax-ordinance/" type="external">press release</a>, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Larry Keane also referred to the tax as "nothing but a 'poll tax' on the Second Amendment..."</p>
<p>The NRA frequently <a href="/blog/2015/07/24/national-rifle-association-assault-weapons-bans/204581" type="external">compares</a> the <a href="/blog/2013/01/10/ted-nugent-calls-gun-owners-the-next-rosa-parks/192149" type="external">conditions placed on</a> firearm ownership to <a href="/blog/2013/01/04/new-nra-talking-point-banning-assault-weapons-i/192021" type="external">racial discrimination</a>, and draws <a href="/blog/2013/05/06/nine-extreme-moments-from-the-nras-2013-annual/193928" type="external">parallels</a> with <a href="/blog/2014/07/08/nra-gun-regulations-are-equally-as-unconstituti/200022" type="external">Jim Crow</a> laws and the <a href="/blog/2013/06/05/latest-nra-talking-point-opponents-of-new-color/194356" type="external">segregation-era "separate but equal" doctrine</a>.</p>
|
NRA Flack Calls Seattle's New "Gun Violence Tax" A "Poll Tax"
| true |
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/08/25/nra-flack-calls-seattles-new-gun-violence-tax-a/205139
|
2015-08-25
| 4left
|
NRA Flack Calls Seattle's New "Gun Violence Tax" A "Poll Tax"
<p />
<p>A flack for the lobbying arm of the National Rifle Association (NRA) used the Jim Crow-era term "poll tax" to describe a new Seattle ordinance that imposes a tax on the sale of guns and ammunition to fund research on gun violence, which the NRA has <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nra-sues-over-seattles-adoption-gun-violence-tax-181145804.html" type="external">challenged in a lawsuit</a>.</p>
<p>On August 10, the Seattle City Council <a href="http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/seattle-city-council-vote-new-gun-tax/nnGmq/" type="external">unanimously approved</a> a new tax on firearm and ammunition sales. Beginning in January, firearms will be subject to a $25 tax, while most types of ammunition will be taxed at 5 cents per round. Seattle has embraced a research-based approach to preventing gun violence and already has a "hospital-based intervention program for gun violence victims." Revenue from the new tax will fund additional research. Seattle City Council data shows that in 2014, Seattle taxpayers <a href="http://www.seattle.gov/council/issues/gunsafety/" type="external">paid $12 million</a> to cover the direct medical costs of gunshot wounds.</p>
<p>During the August 21 broadcast of the NRA's radio show, Cam &amp; Company, NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) media liaison Lars Dalseide -- who has been <a href="http://mynorthwest.com/11/2800453/NRA-aims-to-shoot-down-City-of-Seattles-gun-violence-tax" type="external">attacking the tax</a> in media interviews -- compared the measure to a "poll tax" that is "meant to punish a certain group."</p>
<p>Dalseide said, "Basically what this really is is a poll tax. It's something to stop people from doing something. I know traditionally here in the states a poll tax is tied to voting, but if you go worldwide, a poll tax is just meant to punish a certain group, and this is exactly what this is doing."</p>
<p />
<p>In the United States, poll taxes were voter registration fees aimed primarily at disenfranchising African-Americans that began during the 19th century following the ratification of the 15th Amendment. Poll taxes also disenfranchised poor people and women in some states. The practice was barred in federal elections by the 24th Amendment and state poll taxes have been found to <a href="http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1965/1965_48" type="external">violate</a> the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.</p>
<p>Outside of the United States, the term "poll tax" is synonymous with a "head tax" -- a fee imposed on certain immigrants depending on their country of origin that was most infamously levied against Chinese immigrants to <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/05/14/bc_to_apologize_for_chinese_head_tax.html" type="external">Canada</a> and <a href="http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/a-poll-tax-of-10-pounds-on-chinese-arrivals-in-new-zealand-is-introduced" type="external">New Zealand</a>&#160;in the 19th and 20th centuries.</p>
<p>Dalseide's inflammatory comparison&#160;ignores the fact&#160;that firearm sales are already taxed -- gun&#160;and ammunition sales have been subject to a federal excise tax for decades that is used <a href="http://www.ttb.gov/firearms/faet-faqs.shtml" type="external">to fund conservation programs</a>.</p>
<p>The NRA -- which is joined in its lawsuit by the Second Amendment Foundation and a gun industry trade group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) -- says the tax violates a Washington state law limiting the kinds of gun regulations localities can enact. The Seattle City Council contends that the new tax does not regulate firearms and falls within their <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nra-sues-over-seattles-adoption-gun-violence-tax-181145804.html" type="external">taxation authority</a>.</p>
<p>In an August 24 NRA-ILA&#160; <a href="http://www.nssfblog.com/nssf-joins-nra-second-amendment-foundation-in-lawsuit-against-illegal-seattle-gun-and-ammunition-tax-ordinance/" type="external">press release</a>, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Larry Keane also referred to the tax as "nothing but a 'poll tax' on the Second Amendment..."</p>
<p>The NRA frequently <a href="/blog/2015/07/24/national-rifle-association-assault-weapons-bans/204581" type="external">compares</a> the <a href="/blog/2013/01/10/ted-nugent-calls-gun-owners-the-next-rosa-parks/192149" type="external">conditions placed on</a> firearm ownership to <a href="/blog/2013/01/04/new-nra-talking-point-banning-assault-weapons-i/192021" type="external">racial discrimination</a>, and draws <a href="/blog/2013/05/06/nine-extreme-moments-from-the-nras-2013-annual/193928" type="external">parallels</a> with <a href="/blog/2014/07/08/nra-gun-regulations-are-equally-as-unconstituti/200022" type="external">Jim Crow</a> laws and the <a href="/blog/2013/06/05/latest-nra-talking-point-opponents-of-new-color/194356" type="external">segregation-era "separate but equal" doctrine</a>.</p>
| 4,981 |
<p />
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="/news/feature/2008/03/louisianas-mulch-madness.html" type="external">« return to main article</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.lmrk.org/cypressmap.html" type="external" /></p>
<p>If you’ve read Michael Behar’s “ <a href="/news/feature/2008/03/louisianas-mulch-madness.html" type="external">Mulch Madness,</a>” you already know that the sale of cypress mulch is threatening to destroy Louisiana’s best defense against hurricanes and one of the country’s most diverse ecosystems. And once destroyed, Louisiana’s cypress will never return.</p>
<p>So what can you to help? Wherever you live, making sustainable choices in your own garden is a great first step.</p>
<p>1) The first question to consider when planning to mulch your garden is whether you need to buy mulch at all. One of the biggest myths about cypress mulch is that it is especially rot resistant. In fact, the young trees that are being harvested are just as susceptible to rot as other species. So instead of buying mulch, take a lesson from Mother Nature, and consider using fallen leaves or pine needles in place of commercial mulch.</p>
<p>2) If you must buy bagged mulch, question your supplier closely to make sure you are not buying Louisiana cypress mulch or any other mulch that is not sustainably harvested. A good alternative to cypress is pine, which has many of the same properties but is far more abundant and harvested as a byproduct of the pine lumber industry.</p>
<p>3) <a href="http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=221" type="external">Wal-Mart</a>, <a href="https://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=custSvcOrderIssue&amp;topic=customerService" type="external">Lowe’s</a>, and <a href="http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?pn=About_Our_Stores&amp;langId=-1&amp;storeId=10051&amp;catalogId=10053#email" type="external">Home Depot</a> are the largest commercial sellers of mulch. Wal-Mart has already agreed not to sell Louisiana cypress mulch, Lowe’s has a moratorium on cypress harvested from certain parts of Louisiana, and Home Depot is still crafting its policy, but all three can take steps to ensure that whatever mulch they do sell is sustainably harvested.</p>
<p>Learn More and Take Action: To read more about local and national organizations working together to fight cypress mulching and Louisiana restoration projects, please visit:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.basinkeeper.org" type="external">Atchafalaya Basinkeeper</a>, (225) 659-2499</p>
<p><a href="http://www.crcl.org" type="external">Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana</a>, (225) 767-4181</p>
<p><a href="http://www.healthygulf.org" type="external">Gulf Restoration Network</a> (GRN), (504) 525-1528</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lapurchasecypresslegacy.net" type="external">Louisiana Cypress Purchase Legacy</a>, (504) 891-7116</p>
<p><a href="http://lmrk.org" type="external">Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper</a>, (225) 928-1315</p>
<p><a href="http://www.saveourcypress.org/" type="external">Save Our Cypress</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.waterkeeper.org/mainarticledetails.aspx?articleid=255" type="external">Waterkeeper Alliance</a>, 914.674.0622</p>
<p />
|
Mulch 101
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/03/mulch-101/
|
2008-03-24
| 4left
|
Mulch 101
<p />
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="/news/feature/2008/03/louisianas-mulch-madness.html" type="external">« return to main article</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.lmrk.org/cypressmap.html" type="external" /></p>
<p>If you’ve read Michael Behar’s “ <a href="/news/feature/2008/03/louisianas-mulch-madness.html" type="external">Mulch Madness,</a>” you already know that the sale of cypress mulch is threatening to destroy Louisiana’s best defense against hurricanes and one of the country’s most diverse ecosystems. And once destroyed, Louisiana’s cypress will never return.</p>
<p>So what can you to help? Wherever you live, making sustainable choices in your own garden is a great first step.</p>
<p>1) The first question to consider when planning to mulch your garden is whether you need to buy mulch at all. One of the biggest myths about cypress mulch is that it is especially rot resistant. In fact, the young trees that are being harvested are just as susceptible to rot as other species. So instead of buying mulch, take a lesson from Mother Nature, and consider using fallen leaves or pine needles in place of commercial mulch.</p>
<p>2) If you must buy bagged mulch, question your supplier closely to make sure you are not buying Louisiana cypress mulch or any other mulch that is not sustainably harvested. A good alternative to cypress is pine, which has many of the same properties but is far more abundant and harvested as a byproduct of the pine lumber industry.</p>
<p>3) <a href="http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=221" type="external">Wal-Mart</a>, <a href="https://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=custSvcOrderIssue&amp;topic=customerService" type="external">Lowe’s</a>, and <a href="http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?pn=About_Our_Stores&amp;langId=-1&amp;storeId=10051&amp;catalogId=10053#email" type="external">Home Depot</a> are the largest commercial sellers of mulch. Wal-Mart has already agreed not to sell Louisiana cypress mulch, Lowe’s has a moratorium on cypress harvested from certain parts of Louisiana, and Home Depot is still crafting its policy, but all three can take steps to ensure that whatever mulch they do sell is sustainably harvested.</p>
<p>Learn More and Take Action: To read more about local and national organizations working together to fight cypress mulching and Louisiana restoration projects, please visit:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.basinkeeper.org" type="external">Atchafalaya Basinkeeper</a>, (225) 659-2499</p>
<p><a href="http://www.crcl.org" type="external">Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana</a>, (225) 767-4181</p>
<p><a href="http://www.healthygulf.org" type="external">Gulf Restoration Network</a> (GRN), (504) 525-1528</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lapurchasecypresslegacy.net" type="external">Louisiana Cypress Purchase Legacy</a>, (504) 891-7116</p>
<p><a href="http://lmrk.org" type="external">Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper</a>, (225) 928-1315</p>
<p><a href="http://www.saveourcypress.org/" type="external">Save Our Cypress</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.waterkeeper.org/mainarticledetails.aspx?articleid=255" type="external">Waterkeeper Alliance</a>, 914.674.0622</p>
<p />
| 4,982 |
<p />
<p>Sit-in1960: Black students sit at whites-only lunch counter in Jackson, Mississippi.</p>
<p>Building takeover1964: Berkeley students rally for free speech.</p>
<p>Teach-in1965: sds drops knowledge on U Mich.</p>
<p>Draft-card burning1965: Cal students say hell no to Vietnam.</p>
<p>Nationwide student strike1970: Kent State shootings inspire weeks of class cutting.</p>
<p>Divestment from South Africa1977: Hampshire College pulls out.</p>
<p>First daughter arrest1987: Amy Carter busted for U Mass anti-cia break-in.</p>
<p>Booze riot1991: 1,000 University of Hartford students battle cops over a confiscated beer keg.</p>
<p>Political smart mob1999: Anti-wto protesters hit Seattle, cell phones in hand.</p>
<p>Netroots organizing2003: Students for Dean website goes up.</p>
<p>Darfur divestment2005: Harvard pulls its money from Sudan; 61 schools follow suit.</p>
<p>Congressperson discovers Facebook2008: Rep. Greg Harris (D-Ill.) enlists a Lake Forest College sophomore’s 9,000-strong Facebook group to support his pro-civil-union bill.</p>
<p />
|
Student Activism Firsts
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/08/student-activism-firsts/
|
2008-08-21
| 4left
|
Student Activism Firsts
<p />
<p>Sit-in1960: Black students sit at whites-only lunch counter in Jackson, Mississippi.</p>
<p>Building takeover1964: Berkeley students rally for free speech.</p>
<p>Teach-in1965: sds drops knowledge on U Mich.</p>
<p>Draft-card burning1965: Cal students say hell no to Vietnam.</p>
<p>Nationwide student strike1970: Kent State shootings inspire weeks of class cutting.</p>
<p>Divestment from South Africa1977: Hampshire College pulls out.</p>
<p>First daughter arrest1987: Amy Carter busted for U Mass anti-cia break-in.</p>
<p>Booze riot1991: 1,000 University of Hartford students battle cops over a confiscated beer keg.</p>
<p>Political smart mob1999: Anti-wto protesters hit Seattle, cell phones in hand.</p>
<p>Netroots organizing2003: Students for Dean website goes up.</p>
<p>Darfur divestment2005: Harvard pulls its money from Sudan; 61 schools follow suit.</p>
<p>Congressperson discovers Facebook2008: Rep. Greg Harris (D-Ill.) enlists a Lake Forest College sophomore’s 9,000-strong Facebook group to support his pro-civil-union bill.</p>
<p />
| 4,983 |
<p>NPR has apparently decided not to sit idly by while Fox News and Bloomberg duke it out for the seat Helen Thomas vacated last month in the White House briefing room.</p>
<p>From the <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100719/pl_yblog_upshot/npr-now-vying-for-front-row-white-house-seat" type="external">Upshot</a></p>
<p>Fox News and Bloomberg aren't the only news organizations vying for the front-row-center seat that's been up for grabs since <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/yblog_upshot/pl_yblog_upshot/storytext/npr-now-vying-for-front-row-white-house-seat/36949294/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts2430" type="external">Helen Thomas's resignation</a> last month.</p>
<p>The Upshot has learned that NPR is also making a run for it</p>
<p>The White House Correspondents Association, which determines seating in the briefing room, <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/yblog_upshot/pl_yblog_upshot/storytext/npr-now-vying-for-front-row-white-house-seat/36949294/SIG=13b60257h/*http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/west_wing_reportage/helen_thomas_seat_tbd_by_august_2nd__168024.asp" type="external">is expected to make a decision on August 2</a>. And competition is heating up.</p>
<p>David Jackson, a <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100719/pl_yblog_upshot/npr-now-vying-for-front-row-white-house-seat#" type="external">USA Today reporter</a> and WHCA board president, confirmed to The Upshot that NPR sent a letter asking to also be considered for the prime spot.</p>
<p>Managing editor David Sweeney, in the letter obtained by The Upshot, emphasized NPR's "audience size, national and international reach, presence at the daily briefings, regular service in the radio-pool rotation and on White House travel both domestic and foreign" as factors that testify to the radio network's "place among the premier news organizations covering the White House."</p>
<p>Sweeney added that the radio network has had a full-time White House correspondent since the 1970s. (That predates the existence of both Fox News and Bloomberg News.)</p>
<p>The buzz over who gets the seat began within days of Thomas resigning from Hearst, following a controversy sparked by her criticism of Israel.</p>
<p>White House reporters have considered the showdown to be between Fox News and Bloomberg News.</p>
<p>Last month, the two news organizations <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/yblog_upshot/pl_yblog_upshot/storytext/npr-now-vying-for-front-row-white-house-seat/36949294/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100616/bs_ynews/ynews_bs2653" type="external">sent dueling letters to the WHCA board</a> arguing why they should each get the spot (and why the other shouldn't).</p>
<p>UPDATE: This post was updated after obtaining NPR's letter to the board. (Read the full letter <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/yblog_upshot/pl_yblog_upshot/storytext/npr-now-vying-for-front-row-white-house-seat/36949294/SIG=12j9i3pmf/*http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/c/2c/c2c5dca583680ece5e236fd7caa60305.png" type="external">here</a>.)</p>
<p>NPR is pinning it's hopes on the fact that it has been around longer and this covered the White House for nearly 40 years compared to Fox and Bloomberg which have come on the scene only in the last decade or so.</p>
<p>But older doesn't mean that they are more qualified.&#160; Fox has gone from zero to now leading all cable news networks in audience size.&#160; It has far greater influence in D.C. than NPR and unlike the liberal radio giant actually attempts to discuss issues with people on opposing sides.</p>
<p>Giving the seat to Fox would start to level the playing field in the briefing room and give the conservatives a seat at the liberal media table.</p>
<p>Even though the Obama administration isn't in charge of making this decision even they should appreciate the WHCA reaching across the aisle to provide more equity and transparency in the briefing room.</p>
|
NPR Wants Thomas? W.H. Seat
| true |
http://aim.org/don-irvine-blog/npr-wants-thomas-w-h-seat/
|
2010-07-21
| 0right
|
NPR Wants Thomas? W.H. Seat
<p>NPR has apparently decided not to sit idly by while Fox News and Bloomberg duke it out for the seat Helen Thomas vacated last month in the White House briefing room.</p>
<p>From the <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100719/pl_yblog_upshot/npr-now-vying-for-front-row-white-house-seat" type="external">Upshot</a></p>
<p>Fox News and Bloomberg aren't the only news organizations vying for the front-row-center seat that's been up for grabs since <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/yblog_upshot/pl_yblog_upshot/storytext/npr-now-vying-for-front-row-white-house-seat/36949294/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts2430" type="external">Helen Thomas's resignation</a> last month.</p>
<p>The Upshot has learned that NPR is also making a run for it</p>
<p>The White House Correspondents Association, which determines seating in the briefing room, <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/yblog_upshot/pl_yblog_upshot/storytext/npr-now-vying-for-front-row-white-house-seat/36949294/SIG=13b60257h/*http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/west_wing_reportage/helen_thomas_seat_tbd_by_august_2nd__168024.asp" type="external">is expected to make a decision on August 2</a>. And competition is heating up.</p>
<p>David Jackson, a <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100719/pl_yblog_upshot/npr-now-vying-for-front-row-white-house-seat#" type="external">USA Today reporter</a> and WHCA board president, confirmed to The Upshot that NPR sent a letter asking to also be considered for the prime spot.</p>
<p>Managing editor David Sweeney, in the letter obtained by The Upshot, emphasized NPR's "audience size, national and international reach, presence at the daily briefings, regular service in the radio-pool rotation and on White House travel both domestic and foreign" as factors that testify to the radio network's "place among the premier news organizations covering the White House."</p>
<p>Sweeney added that the radio network has had a full-time White House correspondent since the 1970s. (That predates the existence of both Fox News and Bloomberg News.)</p>
<p>The buzz over who gets the seat began within days of Thomas resigning from Hearst, following a controversy sparked by her criticism of Israel.</p>
<p>White House reporters have considered the showdown to be between Fox News and Bloomberg News.</p>
<p>Last month, the two news organizations <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/yblog_upshot/pl_yblog_upshot/storytext/npr-now-vying-for-front-row-white-house-seat/36949294/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100616/bs_ynews/ynews_bs2653" type="external">sent dueling letters to the WHCA board</a> arguing why they should each get the spot (and why the other shouldn't).</p>
<p>UPDATE: This post was updated after obtaining NPR's letter to the board. (Read the full letter <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/yblog_upshot/pl_yblog_upshot/storytext/npr-now-vying-for-front-row-white-house-seat/36949294/SIG=12j9i3pmf/*http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/c/2c/c2c5dca583680ece5e236fd7caa60305.png" type="external">here</a>.)</p>
<p>NPR is pinning it's hopes on the fact that it has been around longer and this covered the White House for nearly 40 years compared to Fox and Bloomberg which have come on the scene only in the last decade or so.</p>
<p>But older doesn't mean that they are more qualified.&#160; Fox has gone from zero to now leading all cable news networks in audience size.&#160; It has far greater influence in D.C. than NPR and unlike the liberal radio giant actually attempts to discuss issues with people on opposing sides.</p>
<p>Giving the seat to Fox would start to level the playing field in the briefing room and give the conservatives a seat at the liberal media table.</p>
<p>Even though the Obama administration isn't in charge of making this decision even they should appreciate the WHCA reaching across the aisle to provide more equity and transparency in the briefing room.</p>
| 4,984 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Is it it your goal to spend your golden years living in a hut on the beach of a Caribbean island?</p>
<p>Or do you dream of a second act running a vineyard in Tuscany? Retiring overseas can be both more enticing and and more affordable - depending on the locale - than retiring in the United States. But a smooth transition requires careful planning.</p>
<p>"When you just begin thinking about it at a superficial infatuation level, it's a very exotic, romantic, sexy idea," says Kathleen Peddicord, publisher of Live and Invest Overseas, which publishes an annual ranking of the best places to retire overseas. "But the truth is that once you get into it, it's not easy."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Not all of the lifestyle changes that come with moving overseas will be ideal. Retirees will want to research how the move could affect their cost of living, tax bill and health. Here are some of factors to think about before you sell your belongings and buy a one-way plane ticket:</p>
<p>Residency. Some countries are extremely welcoming to retirees from the United States, luring them with tax breaks, property rights and other perks. In parts of Latin America, "pensionado" programs may let retirees live in the country indefinitely and import property such as a car to the country tax free, Peddicord says. The initiatives typically require retirees to show they have a certain amount of income coming in each month - a threshold that can often be reached with Social Security benefits, she says.</p>
<p>Other countries have a higher bar for residency, requiring retirees to have sizable savings as proof that they can sustain themselves and won't become a burden. In some countries, the minimum needed may be about $250,000, Peddicord says. Retirees may also start by getting a temporary visa before establishing long-term residency.</p>
<p>Cost of living and lifestyle. One of the biggest factors motivating people to retire abroad is the realization that their savings may go a lot further in another country, Peddicord says. The average rent bill in some major U.S. cities may be enough to cover a month of housing, food, utilities and entertainment abroad. For instance, in the Algarve region of Portugal, named the most attractive place to retire abroad by Live and Invest Overseas, a retiree could live on $1,410 a month, including $600 for rent. One of the more affordable cities, Da Nang, Vietnam, requires $840 total monthly to cover housing, food, utilities and other bills.</p>
<p>But retirees need to keep in mind that those lower bills usually mean making some changes when it comes to lifestyle. Someone living cheaply in a third-world country may have to deal with the power going on and off, the water disconnections and limited access to appliances they might be used to having back home, says Ben Gurwitz, a financial adviser with Financial Life Advisors in San Antonio.</p>
<p>"If you're trying to bring America somewhere else, you're going to be disappointed," he said. "If you embrace what the locals do, you'll be happier with the move."</p>
<p>Health care. Medicare, the health insurance most Americans rely on in retirement, won't cover you out of the country. People living outside of the states will generally need to buy a health insurance policy that protects them in whatever country they're in, Peddicord says. Or they can buy an international plan that covers them in multiple countries, including the United States, she adds. (Those will generally cost more since health care in the U.S. tends to be more expensive than in other countries.) In some countries with low health-care costs, retirees may be able to skip insurance and pay for routine doctor's visits and other basic treatment out of pocket, Peddicord says. People going this route can buy a plan with a high deductible that would help cover costs after a major accident or other emergency, she says.</p>
<p>Some people will still want to enroll and pay for Medicare, even if they are living abroad, Gurwitz says. That will ensure they are covered if they need to return to the states for surgery or other treatment, he says. Signing up when they become eligible can also help people avoid late enrollment penalties if they decide to move back to the U.S. later on. (Those penalties typically increase monthly premium costs by more than 10 percent.)</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Where to keep your money. The ideal strategy may require at least two bank accounts - one in the United States where you keep the bulk of your savings and one in the foreign country where you keep your spending cash, says Scott Bishop, director of financial planning at STA Wealth Management in Houston. Retirement savings in a 401(k) or an IRA should be kept in the states because otherwise the account may need to be cashed out completely, an event that would require people to pay taxes on all of their savings at once, he says.</p>
<p>Having a U.S. checking account will make it easy to receive Social Security benefits and simplify matters for taxes. You can transfer a few months worth of spending money into a local bank account, which might be easiest for withdrawing cash and having money in the local currency, Bishop says. That foreign checking account may need to be registered with the Internal Revenue Service, he adds. And retirees should factor in the fees for transferring cash and any foreign transaction fees they might face for withdrawing money from a U.S. bank account while abroad, he says.</p>
<p>Social Security. Most of the time, U.S. citizens find that their Social Security benefits will follow them wherever they land. There are some exceptions, however.The Social Security Administration won't send payments to beneficiaries in Cuba and North Korea. It also won't send payments to people in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, to name a few. (Check with the Social Security Administration and the Treasury Department, which periodically update the list of countries with restrictions.)</p>
<p>Some people can qualify for exceptions if they agree to certain rules, such as picking up their checks in person each month at the U.S. embassy. But generally, the administration will withhold payments until a U.S. citizen moves to a country where benefits are not restricted.</p>
<p>Taxes. Moving to, say, Belize won't offer an escape to the dreaded April 15 deadline. Retirees living abroad still have to file a tax return every year. Many retirees will receive credits for the taxes they pay to other countries, helping them to avoid double taxation, Bishop says. Retirees need to research the rules for the places they think they want to move so that they can estimate taxes and factor the costs into their planning, he says.</p>
<p>Property. Real estate can often be much more affordable outside of the United States, especially after you account for the dollar's recent rise against the euro and other currencies. But people looking to establish a permanent abode for themselves in another country may find that they're restricted from buying property. In Mexico, for example, foreigners can't buy property near the coast unless they do it through a corporation or trust, according to Live and Invest Overseas.</p>
<p>Still many countries, including France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and the Dominican Republic, allow foreigners to buy property as any citizen would, the report notes. If owning your home is important to you, look up the rules before you make a final decision. One option is to rent out your home in the states to pay the last of your mortgage or to provide rental income that can pad your living expenses overseas.</p>
<p>bc-retire-abroad</p>
|
A financial guide to retiring abroad
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/647457/a-financial-guide-to-retiring-abroad.html
| 2least
|
A financial guide to retiring abroad
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Is it it your goal to spend your golden years living in a hut on the beach of a Caribbean island?</p>
<p>Or do you dream of a second act running a vineyard in Tuscany? Retiring overseas can be both more enticing and and more affordable - depending on the locale - than retiring in the United States. But a smooth transition requires careful planning.</p>
<p>"When you just begin thinking about it at a superficial infatuation level, it's a very exotic, romantic, sexy idea," says Kathleen Peddicord, publisher of Live and Invest Overseas, which publishes an annual ranking of the best places to retire overseas. "But the truth is that once you get into it, it's not easy."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Not all of the lifestyle changes that come with moving overseas will be ideal. Retirees will want to research how the move could affect their cost of living, tax bill and health. Here are some of factors to think about before you sell your belongings and buy a one-way plane ticket:</p>
<p>Residency. Some countries are extremely welcoming to retirees from the United States, luring them with tax breaks, property rights and other perks. In parts of Latin America, "pensionado" programs may let retirees live in the country indefinitely and import property such as a car to the country tax free, Peddicord says. The initiatives typically require retirees to show they have a certain amount of income coming in each month - a threshold that can often be reached with Social Security benefits, she says.</p>
<p>Other countries have a higher bar for residency, requiring retirees to have sizable savings as proof that they can sustain themselves and won't become a burden. In some countries, the minimum needed may be about $250,000, Peddicord says. Retirees may also start by getting a temporary visa before establishing long-term residency.</p>
<p>Cost of living and lifestyle. One of the biggest factors motivating people to retire abroad is the realization that their savings may go a lot further in another country, Peddicord says. The average rent bill in some major U.S. cities may be enough to cover a month of housing, food, utilities and entertainment abroad. For instance, in the Algarve region of Portugal, named the most attractive place to retire abroad by Live and Invest Overseas, a retiree could live on $1,410 a month, including $600 for rent. One of the more affordable cities, Da Nang, Vietnam, requires $840 total monthly to cover housing, food, utilities and other bills.</p>
<p>But retirees need to keep in mind that those lower bills usually mean making some changes when it comes to lifestyle. Someone living cheaply in a third-world country may have to deal with the power going on and off, the water disconnections and limited access to appliances they might be used to having back home, says Ben Gurwitz, a financial adviser with Financial Life Advisors in San Antonio.</p>
<p>"If you're trying to bring America somewhere else, you're going to be disappointed," he said. "If you embrace what the locals do, you'll be happier with the move."</p>
<p>Health care. Medicare, the health insurance most Americans rely on in retirement, won't cover you out of the country. People living outside of the states will generally need to buy a health insurance policy that protects them in whatever country they're in, Peddicord says. Or they can buy an international plan that covers them in multiple countries, including the United States, she adds. (Those will generally cost more since health care in the U.S. tends to be more expensive than in other countries.) In some countries with low health-care costs, retirees may be able to skip insurance and pay for routine doctor's visits and other basic treatment out of pocket, Peddicord says. People going this route can buy a plan with a high deductible that would help cover costs after a major accident or other emergency, she says.</p>
<p>Some people will still want to enroll and pay for Medicare, even if they are living abroad, Gurwitz says. That will ensure they are covered if they need to return to the states for surgery or other treatment, he says. Signing up when they become eligible can also help people avoid late enrollment penalties if they decide to move back to the U.S. later on. (Those penalties typically increase monthly premium costs by more than 10 percent.)</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Where to keep your money. The ideal strategy may require at least two bank accounts - one in the United States where you keep the bulk of your savings and one in the foreign country where you keep your spending cash, says Scott Bishop, director of financial planning at STA Wealth Management in Houston. Retirement savings in a 401(k) or an IRA should be kept in the states because otherwise the account may need to be cashed out completely, an event that would require people to pay taxes on all of their savings at once, he says.</p>
<p>Having a U.S. checking account will make it easy to receive Social Security benefits and simplify matters for taxes. You can transfer a few months worth of spending money into a local bank account, which might be easiest for withdrawing cash and having money in the local currency, Bishop says. That foreign checking account may need to be registered with the Internal Revenue Service, he adds. And retirees should factor in the fees for transferring cash and any foreign transaction fees they might face for withdrawing money from a U.S. bank account while abroad, he says.</p>
<p>Social Security. Most of the time, U.S. citizens find that their Social Security benefits will follow them wherever they land. There are some exceptions, however.The Social Security Administration won't send payments to beneficiaries in Cuba and North Korea. It also won't send payments to people in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, to name a few. (Check with the Social Security Administration and the Treasury Department, which periodically update the list of countries with restrictions.)</p>
<p>Some people can qualify for exceptions if they agree to certain rules, such as picking up their checks in person each month at the U.S. embassy. But generally, the administration will withhold payments until a U.S. citizen moves to a country where benefits are not restricted.</p>
<p>Taxes. Moving to, say, Belize won't offer an escape to the dreaded April 15 deadline. Retirees living abroad still have to file a tax return every year. Many retirees will receive credits for the taxes they pay to other countries, helping them to avoid double taxation, Bishop says. Retirees need to research the rules for the places they think they want to move so that they can estimate taxes and factor the costs into their planning, he says.</p>
<p>Property. Real estate can often be much more affordable outside of the United States, especially after you account for the dollar's recent rise against the euro and other currencies. But people looking to establish a permanent abode for themselves in another country may find that they're restricted from buying property. In Mexico, for example, foreigners can't buy property near the coast unless they do it through a corporation or trust, according to Live and Invest Overseas.</p>
<p>Still many countries, including France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and the Dominican Republic, allow foreigners to buy property as any citizen would, the report notes. If owning your home is important to you, look up the rules before you make a final decision. One option is to rent out your home in the states to pay the last of your mortgage or to provide rental income that can pad your living expenses overseas.</p>
<p>bc-retire-abroad</p>
| 4,985 |
|
<p>tigrilla/Thinkstock</p>
<p />
<p>Goodmorning. Here is <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/winnie-the-pooh-banned-from-polish-playground-for-being-an-inappropriate-hermaphrodite-9872278.html" type="external">something stupid</a>:</p>
<p>Winnie the Pooh has been banned from a Polish playground because of his “dubious sexuality” and “inappropriate” dress.</p>
<p>The much-loved animated bear was suggested at a local council meeting to decide which famous character should become the face of the play area in the small town of Tuszyn. But the idea soon sparked outrage among more conservative members, with one councillor even denouncing poor Pooh as a “hermaphrodite”.</p>
<p>“The problem with that bear is it doesn’t have a complete wardrobe,” said Ryszard Cichy during the discussion. “It is half naked which is wholly inappropriate for children.”</p>
<p>“The author was over 60 and cut [Pooh’s] testicles off with a razor blade because he had a problem with his identity,” she said.</p>
<p>Here’s the thing, Winnie the Pooh should be banned but not because he doesn’t wear pants. He should be banned because he glamorizes stealing honey and tells children to play with bees. It’s like he’s never even seen My Girl.</p>
<p />
|
Winnie the Pooh Banned From Playground For Wrong Reason
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/2014/11/winnie-pooh-banned-playground-because-people-are-stupid/
|
2014-11-21
| 4left
|
Winnie the Pooh Banned From Playground For Wrong Reason
<p>tigrilla/Thinkstock</p>
<p />
<p>Goodmorning. Here is <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/winnie-the-pooh-banned-from-polish-playground-for-being-an-inappropriate-hermaphrodite-9872278.html" type="external">something stupid</a>:</p>
<p>Winnie the Pooh has been banned from a Polish playground because of his “dubious sexuality” and “inappropriate” dress.</p>
<p>The much-loved animated bear was suggested at a local council meeting to decide which famous character should become the face of the play area in the small town of Tuszyn. But the idea soon sparked outrage among more conservative members, with one councillor even denouncing poor Pooh as a “hermaphrodite”.</p>
<p>“The problem with that bear is it doesn’t have a complete wardrobe,” said Ryszard Cichy during the discussion. “It is half naked which is wholly inappropriate for children.”</p>
<p>“The author was over 60 and cut [Pooh’s] testicles off with a razor blade because he had a problem with his identity,” she said.</p>
<p>Here’s the thing, Winnie the Pooh should be banned but not because he doesn’t wear pants. He should be banned because he glamorizes stealing honey and tells children to play with bees. It’s like he’s never even seen My Girl.</p>
<p />
| 4,986 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Two vehicles were involved in an accident on eastbound Interstate 40 west of Carlisle NE around 11:30 a.m Monday. One vehicle rolled over trapping a male and a female.</p>
<p>Albuquerque Fire Department extricated the passengers from the vehicle. Both reported minor injuries and were transported to University of New Mexico Hospital.</p>
<p>The second vehicle had one female passenger who was transported to Presbyterian Hospital with minor injuries.</p>
<p>All lanes have been reopened on I-40. Drivers should expect residual delays.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
|
Rollover slows traffic on I-40
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/174734/rollover-slows-traffic-on-i-40.html
|
2013-03-04
| 2least
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Rollover slows traffic on I-40
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Two vehicles were involved in an accident on eastbound Interstate 40 west of Carlisle NE around 11:30 a.m Monday. One vehicle rolled over trapping a male and a female.</p>
<p>Albuquerque Fire Department extricated the passengers from the vehicle. Both reported minor injuries and were transported to University of New Mexico Hospital.</p>
<p>The second vehicle had one female passenger who was transported to Presbyterian Hospital with minor injuries.</p>
<p>All lanes have been reopened on I-40. Drivers should expect residual delays.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
| 4,987 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>“It’s just something I like to do,” he says during a recent phone interview. “I even wrote some of the songs on the new album while I was writing my previous album.”</p>
<p>Costa released his fourth album earlier this month and is on tour in support of it.</p>
<p>“It took me about two months to actually record,” he says of the self-titled release. “I also got to record the album in Scotland with some really great musicians.”</p>
<p>Costa says he envisioned the album to be a stripped-down selection of rootsy folk songs. But once he plunged deeper into writing, something much more sonically adventurous began to emerge.</p>
<p>“The songs started morphing and twisting and taking on a more mystic sound,” Costa says. “At the same time I began opening up my sense of what’s possible with melody.”</p>
<p>Costa then resculpted his songs and headed to Glasgow to record with longtime Belle &amp; Sebastian/Mogwai cohort Tony Doogan.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The new album is the follow-up to 2010’s “Mobile Chateau” and like its predecessor reveals Costa’s sun-soaked pop with British folk-influenced rock.</p>
<p>Costa says it was Doogan who helped elevate the album to a new level.</p>
<p>“It was amazing to work with Tony on getting the sound we needed,” he says. “He pushed me in creating the music and I’m so glad he did. It was an effort on all parts to get this done.”</p>
<p>Costa says he worked with friend and guitarist Danny Garcia, Belle &amp; Sebastian guitarist Stevie Jackson and bassist Bobby Kildea, and former Isobel Campbell collaborators Chris Geddes and Dave McGowan.</p>
<p>“These guys were able to make some really great music,” he says. “What we’re trying to do now is recreate it with new players. It’s coming together nicely and I’m ready to get out on tour.”</p>
|
New album has a ‘mystic’ shade
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/192581/new-album-has-a-mystic-shade.html
|
2013-04-26
| 2least
|
New album has a ‘mystic’ shade
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>“It’s just something I like to do,” he says during a recent phone interview. “I even wrote some of the songs on the new album while I was writing my previous album.”</p>
<p>Costa released his fourth album earlier this month and is on tour in support of it.</p>
<p>“It took me about two months to actually record,” he says of the self-titled release. “I also got to record the album in Scotland with some really great musicians.”</p>
<p>Costa says he envisioned the album to be a stripped-down selection of rootsy folk songs. But once he plunged deeper into writing, something much more sonically adventurous began to emerge.</p>
<p>“The songs started morphing and twisting and taking on a more mystic sound,” Costa says. “At the same time I began opening up my sense of what’s possible with melody.”</p>
<p>Costa then resculpted his songs and headed to Glasgow to record with longtime Belle &amp; Sebastian/Mogwai cohort Tony Doogan.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The new album is the follow-up to 2010’s “Mobile Chateau” and like its predecessor reveals Costa’s sun-soaked pop with British folk-influenced rock.</p>
<p>Costa says it was Doogan who helped elevate the album to a new level.</p>
<p>“It was amazing to work with Tony on getting the sound we needed,” he says. “He pushed me in creating the music and I’m so glad he did. It was an effort on all parts to get this done.”</p>
<p>Costa says he worked with friend and guitarist Danny Garcia, Belle &amp; Sebastian guitarist Stevie Jackson and bassist Bobby Kildea, and former Isobel Campbell collaborators Chris Geddes and Dave McGowan.</p>
<p>“These guys were able to make some really great music,” he says. “What we’re trying to do now is recreate it with new players. It’s coming together nicely and I’m ready to get out on tour.”</p>
| 4,988 |
<p />
<p>Oh, the heartbreak of a stinky lawn. What will the neighbors think?</p>
<p>In Ontario, Canada, some locals faced just such an embarrassment because the heavy doses of pesticides they used on their lawns didn’t smell all that lovely, according to the ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS NETWORK.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p><a href="/mustreads/083000.html" type="external">8/30 – Catch a speeding Gore</a></p>
<p><a href="/mustreads/082900.html" type="external">8/29 – Lone Star lockdown</a></p>
<p><a href="/mustreads/082600.html" type="external">8/26 – Black rhinos buy the farm</a></p>
<p><a href="/mustreads/082500.html" type="external">8/25 – 1-900-MIGRATE</a></p>
<p>Happily, there’s a quick and easy solution. No, not stopping the application of dangerous pesticides, silly! Masking them with pretty smelling sprays sold under the brand name “Masker-Aid.” You can pick from an array of scents, including bubble gum and cherry. No word on whether there’s a “grass” aroma available.</p>
<p>Environmentalists are concerned that the yummy smells will attract children to areas where dangerous pesticides recently have been applied.</p>
<p />
|
Gee, your lawn smells terrific
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/2000/08/gee-your-lawn-smells-terrific/
|
2000-08-31
| 4left
|
Gee, your lawn smells terrific
<p />
<p>Oh, the heartbreak of a stinky lawn. What will the neighbors think?</p>
<p>In Ontario, Canada, some locals faced just such an embarrassment because the heavy doses of pesticides they used on their lawns didn’t smell all that lovely, according to the ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS NETWORK.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p><a href="/mustreads/083000.html" type="external">8/30 – Catch a speeding Gore</a></p>
<p><a href="/mustreads/082900.html" type="external">8/29 – Lone Star lockdown</a></p>
<p><a href="/mustreads/082600.html" type="external">8/26 – Black rhinos buy the farm</a></p>
<p><a href="/mustreads/082500.html" type="external">8/25 – 1-900-MIGRATE</a></p>
<p>Happily, there’s a quick and easy solution. No, not stopping the application of dangerous pesticides, silly! Masking them with pretty smelling sprays sold under the brand name “Masker-Aid.” You can pick from an array of scents, including bubble gum and cherry. No word on whether there’s a “grass” aroma available.</p>
<p>Environmentalists are concerned that the yummy smells will attract children to areas where dangerous pesticides recently have been applied.</p>
<p />
| 4,989 |
<p>Energy transportation company Dominion Resources Inc. said Monday it has agreed to buy natural-gas company Questar Corp. in an all-cash deal valued at $4.4 billion. Dominion will pay Questar shareholders $25 a share in cash, or a 30% premium over the average stock price of Questar's last 20 trading days ended Jan. 29, and assume its debt. Dominion said the combined company will serve about 2.5 million electric utility customers and 2.3 million gas utility customers in seven states. The deal is expected to close by year-end and to boost Dominion earnings. Separately, Dominion said it has committed about $1 billion to three solar generating facilities in Utah, backed by long-term power purchase agreements with local electric utilities. Dominion shares were not yet active in premarket trade, while Questar was indicating higher.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
|
Dominion Resources Agrees To Buy Questar In $4.4 Billion Deal
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/02/01/dominion-resources-agrees-to-buy-questar-in-44-billion-deal.html
|
2016-02-01
| 0right
|
Dominion Resources Agrees To Buy Questar In $4.4 Billion Deal
<p>Energy transportation company Dominion Resources Inc. said Monday it has agreed to buy natural-gas company Questar Corp. in an all-cash deal valued at $4.4 billion. Dominion will pay Questar shareholders $25 a share in cash, or a 30% premium over the average stock price of Questar's last 20 trading days ended Jan. 29, and assume its debt. Dominion said the combined company will serve about 2.5 million electric utility customers and 2.3 million gas utility customers in seven states. The deal is expected to close by year-end and to boost Dominion earnings. Separately, Dominion said it has committed about $1 billion to three solar generating facilities in Utah, backed by long-term power purchase agreements with local electric utilities. Dominion shares were not yet active in premarket trade, while Questar was indicating higher.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
| 4,990 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>RENO ALBUQUERQUE</p>
<p>ab r h bi ab r h bi</p>
<p>Campana cf-lf 4 1 1 1 Gwynn cf 5 1 1 0</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>De la Rosa p 0 0 0 0 Herrera 2b 5 1 3 0</p>
<p>Owings ss 5 1 2 0 Castellanos rf 5 1 1 2</p>
<p>Ka’aihue 1b 4 1 1 1 Moore lf 5 0 0 0</p>
<p>Davidson 3b 4 1 1 1 Ryal 1b 4 0 2 1</p>
<p>Marte rf 4 1 2 0 Barden 3b 3 0 2 0</p>
<p>Rivera lf 3 0 0 0 Sellers ss 3 0 2 0</p>
<p>Madrigal p 0 0 0 0 Wallach c 3 0 0 0</p>
<p>Schultz p 0 0 0 0 Johnson p 1 0 0 0</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Paterson p 0 0 0 0 Angle ph 1 0 0 0</p>
<p>Frey ph-lf 0 1 0 0 Patterson p 1 0 0 0</p>
<p>Kuhn 2b 2 1 0 1 Aguasviva p 0 0 0 0</p>
<p>Gosewisch c 4 1 2 3 Amezaga ph 1 0 0 0</p>
<p>Brewer p 2 0 0 0 Ames p 0 0 0 0</p>
<p>Snyder cf 2 0 1 0 Ortega p 0 0 0 0</p>
<p />
<p>Totals 34 8 10 7 Totals 37 3 11 3</p>
<p>Reno 000 210 005—8</p>
<p>Albuquerque 000 003 000—3</p>
<p>E— Barden (4, fielding), Ames (1, fielding). DP— Reno 1, Albuquerque 2. LOB— Reno 5, Albuquerque 10. 2B— Ka’aihue (7, Johnson), Marte (6, Johnson); Castellanos (1, Brewer). HR— Gosewisch (4). SB— Herrera (6). CS— Gosewisch (1), Snyder (4). S— Frey. SF— Kuhn. IP H R ER BB SO</p>
<p>Reno</p>
<p>Brewer 5.2 6 3 3 1 7</p>
<p>Madrigal 1.1 2 0 0 1 2</p>
<p>Schultz 0.2 2 0 0 0 1</p>
<p>Paterson (W, 2-1) 0.1 0 0 0 1 0</p>
<p>De La Rosa 1.0 1 0 0 0 3</p>
<p>Albuquerque</p>
<p>Johnson 6.0 6 3 3 1 8</p>
<p>Patterson 1.0 0 0 0 0 1</p>
<p>Aguasviva 1.0 0 0 0 0 0</p>
<p>Ames (L, 1-1) 0.2 4 5 3 2 0</p>
<p>Ortega 0.1 0 0 0 1 1</p>
<p>WP— Ortega. T— 3:18. A— 4,537.Ninth-inning misery starts home stand with lossSee ISOTOPES on PAGE D3from PAGE D1Isotopes scuffle in 9th, lose 8-3reno 8, albuquerque 3Today Reno at Albuquerque, 7:05 p.m., 610 AM. See ’Topes Today on D3.This is the web headline</p>
|
Topes Today
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/239596/ninthinning-misery-starts-home-stand-with-loss.html
| 2least
|
Topes Today
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>RENO ALBUQUERQUE</p>
<p>ab r h bi ab r h bi</p>
<p>Campana cf-lf 4 1 1 1 Gwynn cf 5 1 1 0</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>De la Rosa p 0 0 0 0 Herrera 2b 5 1 3 0</p>
<p>Owings ss 5 1 2 0 Castellanos rf 5 1 1 2</p>
<p>Ka’aihue 1b 4 1 1 1 Moore lf 5 0 0 0</p>
<p>Davidson 3b 4 1 1 1 Ryal 1b 4 0 2 1</p>
<p>Marte rf 4 1 2 0 Barden 3b 3 0 2 0</p>
<p>Rivera lf 3 0 0 0 Sellers ss 3 0 2 0</p>
<p>Madrigal p 0 0 0 0 Wallach c 3 0 0 0</p>
<p>Schultz p 0 0 0 0 Johnson p 1 0 0 0</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Paterson p 0 0 0 0 Angle ph 1 0 0 0</p>
<p>Frey ph-lf 0 1 0 0 Patterson p 1 0 0 0</p>
<p>Kuhn 2b 2 1 0 1 Aguasviva p 0 0 0 0</p>
<p>Gosewisch c 4 1 2 3 Amezaga ph 1 0 0 0</p>
<p>Brewer p 2 0 0 0 Ames p 0 0 0 0</p>
<p>Snyder cf 2 0 1 0 Ortega p 0 0 0 0</p>
<p />
<p>Totals 34 8 10 7 Totals 37 3 11 3</p>
<p>Reno 000 210 005—8</p>
<p>Albuquerque 000 003 000—3</p>
<p>E— Barden (4, fielding), Ames (1, fielding). DP— Reno 1, Albuquerque 2. LOB— Reno 5, Albuquerque 10. 2B— Ka’aihue (7, Johnson), Marte (6, Johnson); Castellanos (1, Brewer). HR— Gosewisch (4). SB— Herrera (6). CS— Gosewisch (1), Snyder (4). S— Frey. SF— Kuhn. IP H R ER BB SO</p>
<p>Reno</p>
<p>Brewer 5.2 6 3 3 1 7</p>
<p>Madrigal 1.1 2 0 0 1 2</p>
<p>Schultz 0.2 2 0 0 0 1</p>
<p>Paterson (W, 2-1) 0.1 0 0 0 1 0</p>
<p>De La Rosa 1.0 1 0 0 0 3</p>
<p>Albuquerque</p>
<p>Johnson 6.0 6 3 3 1 8</p>
<p>Patterson 1.0 0 0 0 0 1</p>
<p>Aguasviva 1.0 0 0 0 0 0</p>
<p>Ames (L, 1-1) 0.2 4 5 3 2 0</p>
<p>Ortega 0.1 0 0 0 1 1</p>
<p>WP— Ortega. T— 3:18. A— 4,537.Ninth-inning misery starts home stand with lossSee ISOTOPES on PAGE D3from PAGE D1Isotopes scuffle in 9th, lose 8-3reno 8, albuquerque 3Today Reno at Albuquerque, 7:05 p.m., 610 AM. See ’Topes Today on D3.This is the web headline</p>
| 4,991 |
|
<p>President Donald Trump is willing to begin a preemptive attack on North Korea if talks do not pan out, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.</p>
<p>“If negotiations fail, he is willing to abandon strategic patience and use preemption. I think he’s there mentally. He has told me this,” Graham said in a Thursday interview with <a href="http://www.hughhewitt.com/senator-lindsey-graham-crisis-korean-peninsula/" type="external">Hugh Hewitt.</a></p>
<p>“We cannot allow the capability to mature in North Korea that could put every American sitting in the crosshairs of a nuclear attack by a very unstable, provocative leader of North Korea,” Graham said.</p>
<p>The U.S. has changed its stance on North Korea away from “strategic patience,” which is a code word for weakness,&#160;Graham said.</p>
<p>While Graham has been critical of the president, he told Hewitt they agree on North Korea policy.</p>
<p>Trump’s outlook on the situation is “deadly serious, very curious,” Graham told Hewitt. “Now the question for him is what are the options available to him under the preemption scenario.”</p>
<p>North Korea leader Kim Jong Un does not behave rationally, Graham said. “The last person I want to have the capability to strike the American homeland is the leader of North Korea, because he is crazy.”</p>
<p>The senator, during a <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/lindsey-graham-china-face-kim-jong-un/2017/08/09/id/806659/" type="external">CBS News interview</a>&#160;Wednesday, called on China to take action against North Korea.</p>
<p>“You’re going to have a war in your backyard,” if they do not deal with Kim Jong Un, Graham said.</p>
|
Sen. Graham: Trump Willing to Attack NKorea 'If Negotiations Fail'
| false |
https://newsline.com/sen-graham-trump-willing-to-attack-nkorea-if-negotiations-fail/
|
2017-08-10
| 1right-center
|
Sen. Graham: Trump Willing to Attack NKorea 'If Negotiations Fail'
<p>President Donald Trump is willing to begin a preemptive attack on North Korea if talks do not pan out, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.</p>
<p>“If negotiations fail, he is willing to abandon strategic patience and use preemption. I think he’s there mentally. He has told me this,” Graham said in a Thursday interview with <a href="http://www.hughhewitt.com/senator-lindsey-graham-crisis-korean-peninsula/" type="external">Hugh Hewitt.</a></p>
<p>“We cannot allow the capability to mature in North Korea that could put every American sitting in the crosshairs of a nuclear attack by a very unstable, provocative leader of North Korea,” Graham said.</p>
<p>The U.S. has changed its stance on North Korea away from “strategic patience,” which is a code word for weakness,&#160;Graham said.</p>
<p>While Graham has been critical of the president, he told Hewitt they agree on North Korea policy.</p>
<p>Trump’s outlook on the situation is “deadly serious, very curious,” Graham told Hewitt. “Now the question for him is what are the options available to him under the preemption scenario.”</p>
<p>North Korea leader Kim Jong Un does not behave rationally, Graham said. “The last person I want to have the capability to strike the American homeland is the leader of North Korea, because he is crazy.”</p>
<p>The senator, during a <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/lindsey-graham-china-face-kim-jong-un/2017/08/09/id/806659/" type="external">CBS News interview</a>&#160;Wednesday, called on China to take action against North Korea.</p>
<p>“You’re going to have a war in your backyard,” if they do not deal with Kim Jong Un, Graham said.</p>
| 4,992 |
<p>Obama famously pronounced that the radical Rev. Jeremiah “God damn America” Wright that emerged in the 2008 campaign “is not the Rev. Wright that I know,” but the new videos suggest that Obama knows exactly who Rev. Wright is, and has no problem with it.&#160; Charles Kesler points out in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006207296X/amazon0156-20/" type="external">I Am the Change</a> that a close reading of Obama’s much-praised Philadelphia speech that supposedly threw Wright under the bus shows that Obama didn’t really express a fundamental disagreement with Wright at all:</p>
<p>The dog that didn’t bark on March 18, 2008, was that the crucial words “all men are created equal” do not appear in Obama’s carefully composed speech. And so that “already classic address,” as James Kloppenberg calls it, on a topic that Obama declared he’d been thinking about for twenty years, constitutes a very different kind of argument, with a very different view of America, than one finds in, say, Martin Luther King’s great speech in 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial. Obama invokes neither Jefferson nor Lincoln. He refers to the Constitution briefly, noting its “ideal of equal citizenship” and that it “promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.” But he doesn’t mention the conclusion that he had announced in his book, namely, that the Declaration’s and the Constitution’s “people” did not include blacks, and especially not black slaves.</p>
<p>In short, Obama regards the original intention of both the Declaration and the Constitution to be racist and even pro-slavery. But he refrains from making the point explicit because it would confirm the Reverend Wright’s fundamental charge, that the United States is a racist country. And the point of the speech in Philadelphia, at the National Constitution Center, close by Independence Hall, the scene of the great events of 1776 and 1787, was not merely to repeat his condemnation of Wright’s remarks “in unequivocal terms” but to put the whole controversy behind him, without dwelling on his fundamental agreement with Wright’s interpretation of American principles.</p>
|
Obama Has the Wright Stuff
| true |
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/10/obama-has-the-wright-stuff.php
|
2012-10-03
| 0right
|
Obama Has the Wright Stuff
<p>Obama famously pronounced that the radical Rev. Jeremiah “God damn America” Wright that emerged in the 2008 campaign “is not the Rev. Wright that I know,” but the new videos suggest that Obama knows exactly who Rev. Wright is, and has no problem with it.&#160; Charles Kesler points out in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006207296X/amazon0156-20/" type="external">I Am the Change</a> that a close reading of Obama’s much-praised Philadelphia speech that supposedly threw Wright under the bus shows that Obama didn’t really express a fundamental disagreement with Wright at all:</p>
<p>The dog that didn’t bark on March 18, 2008, was that the crucial words “all men are created equal” do not appear in Obama’s carefully composed speech. And so that “already classic address,” as James Kloppenberg calls it, on a topic that Obama declared he’d been thinking about for twenty years, constitutes a very different kind of argument, with a very different view of America, than one finds in, say, Martin Luther King’s great speech in 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial. Obama invokes neither Jefferson nor Lincoln. He refers to the Constitution briefly, noting its “ideal of equal citizenship” and that it “promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.” But he doesn’t mention the conclusion that he had announced in his book, namely, that the Declaration’s and the Constitution’s “people” did not include blacks, and especially not black slaves.</p>
<p>In short, Obama regards the original intention of both the Declaration and the Constitution to be racist and even pro-slavery. But he refrains from making the point explicit because it would confirm the Reverend Wright’s fundamental charge, that the United States is a racist country. And the point of the speech in Philadelphia, at the National Constitution Center, close by Independence Hall, the scene of the great events of 1776 and 1787, was not merely to repeat his condemnation of Wright’s remarks “in unequivocal terms” but to put the whole controversy behind him, without dwelling on his fundamental agreement with Wright’s interpretation of American principles.</p>
| 4,993 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Another inmate was stabbed in a prison yard at Alabama's Elmore Correctional Facility, the third prisoner slain this year at the overcrowded and understaffed lockup, officials said Wednesday.</p>
<p>Timothy Robertson, 47, was fatally wounded Tuesday night. Another inmate, Jason Lee Jackson, 28, was being charged with murder, the Department of Corrections said.</p>
<p>Video surveillance and witnesses identified Jackson as a suspect after an officer found Robertson in distress in a prison yard, the statement said. Robertson was serving 35 years for rape. Jackson is serving five years for robbery.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Two other prisoners died in separate stabbings in February, and an officer was wounded in a stabbing in March at the medium-security lockup north of Montgomery.</p>
<p>Prison Commissioner Jeff Dunn said the agency is assessing all of its maximum- and medium-security facilities to determine where “critical staffing” is needed.</p>
<p>“The safety of our officers and those in our custody is our utmost concern, and we will employ all available resources to prevent the escalation of violence in light of recent incidents,” Dunn said in the statement.</p>
<p>In all this year, four homicides have happened in Alabama prisons, including one at nearby Staton Correctional Facility, and officers have been injured in six assaults, prison spokesman Bob Horton said in an email interview.</p>
<p>Officials don't know of any single reason Elmore has a higher homicide rate than other state prisons, but the facility is badly overcrowded and understaffed.</p>
<p>Elmore has only 72 of the 169 officers it is authorized to employ, yet the prison population is at 190 percent of its designed capacity with 1,145 inmates, Horton said. As a result, inmates are packed into huge dormitories with limited oversight.</p>
<p>“The inmates are double-bunked and an officer's line of sight inside the dorms is limited, which can lead to a higher risk of violent activity,” Horton said.</p>
<p>State lawmakers have refused proposals to construct new prisons, and administrators say low pay and dangerous working conditions make it difficult to hire and retain officers.</p>
<p><a href="#56ddae60-2b7e-4dff-8c53-f3685bb9562d" type="external">© 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</a> Learn more about our <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/privacy" type="external">Privacy Policy</a> and <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/terms" type="external">Terms of Use</a>.</p>
|
Alabama prison toll rises; 4 inmates killed, 6 officers hurt
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/1041115/alabama-prison-toll-rises-4-inmates-killed-6-officers-hurt.html
|
2017-07-26
| 2least
|
Alabama prison toll rises; 4 inmates killed, 6 officers hurt
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Another inmate was stabbed in a prison yard at Alabama's Elmore Correctional Facility, the third prisoner slain this year at the overcrowded and understaffed lockup, officials said Wednesday.</p>
<p>Timothy Robertson, 47, was fatally wounded Tuesday night. Another inmate, Jason Lee Jackson, 28, was being charged with murder, the Department of Corrections said.</p>
<p>Video surveillance and witnesses identified Jackson as a suspect after an officer found Robertson in distress in a prison yard, the statement said. Robertson was serving 35 years for rape. Jackson is serving five years for robbery.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Two other prisoners died in separate stabbings in February, and an officer was wounded in a stabbing in March at the medium-security lockup north of Montgomery.</p>
<p>Prison Commissioner Jeff Dunn said the agency is assessing all of its maximum- and medium-security facilities to determine where “critical staffing” is needed.</p>
<p>“The safety of our officers and those in our custody is our utmost concern, and we will employ all available resources to prevent the escalation of violence in light of recent incidents,” Dunn said in the statement.</p>
<p>In all this year, four homicides have happened in Alabama prisons, including one at nearby Staton Correctional Facility, and officers have been injured in six assaults, prison spokesman Bob Horton said in an email interview.</p>
<p>Officials don't know of any single reason Elmore has a higher homicide rate than other state prisons, but the facility is badly overcrowded and understaffed.</p>
<p>Elmore has only 72 of the 169 officers it is authorized to employ, yet the prison population is at 190 percent of its designed capacity with 1,145 inmates, Horton said. As a result, inmates are packed into huge dormitories with limited oversight.</p>
<p>“The inmates are double-bunked and an officer's line of sight inside the dorms is limited, which can lead to a higher risk of violent activity,” Horton said.</p>
<p>State lawmakers have refused proposals to construct new prisons, and administrators say low pay and dangerous working conditions make it difficult to hire and retain officers.</p>
<p><a href="#56ddae60-2b7e-4dff-8c53-f3685bb9562d" type="external">© 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</a> Learn more about our <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/privacy" type="external">Privacy Policy</a> and <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/terms" type="external">Terms of Use</a>.</p>
| 4,994 |
<p />
<p>Over the past six years, President Bush has proven pretty definitively that he was just kidding when he once claimed to be a “compassionate conservative.” But his opposition to providing health insurance for impoverished and working class kids might rank as an all time low, even for him.</p>
<p>The administration has actively opposed reauthorization of the State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a highly successful Clinton-era initiative that extended health insurance to families who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to buy private insurance. The plan enrolls some 7 million children. In attempting to put a lid on the program, the administration already has banned states from using federal money to cover kids who are above 250 percent of the poverty line, which many had begun to do.</p>
<p>Bush officials have argued that the states hadn’t yet enrolled enough eligible poor kids in Medicaid to justify extending government aid to better off families. But now, the administration is trying to prevent states from doing just that–signing up more eligible kids.</p>
<p>On Aug. 31, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a new regulation that would ban states from using federal funds to enroll poor kids for Medicaid or SCHIP if the work takes place in a public school. Not surprisingly, some states have found that the single best way to sign up lots of kids for Medicaid is to do outreach through their schools. If the new rule is approved, those programs will all but disappear, leaving thousands of kids without access to the health care they’re already entitled to. Read more about the new reg <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/9-17-07health.htm" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p />
|
Bush to Poor Kids: We Want You to Have Health Insurance. We Just Don’t Want You to Know About It.
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/09/bush-poor-kids-we-want-you-have-health-insurance-we-just-dont-want-you-know-about-it/
|
2007-09-17
| 4left
|
Bush to Poor Kids: We Want You to Have Health Insurance. We Just Don’t Want You to Know About It.
<p />
<p>Over the past six years, President Bush has proven pretty definitively that he was just kidding when he once claimed to be a “compassionate conservative.” But his opposition to providing health insurance for impoverished and working class kids might rank as an all time low, even for him.</p>
<p>The administration has actively opposed reauthorization of the State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a highly successful Clinton-era initiative that extended health insurance to families who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to buy private insurance. The plan enrolls some 7 million children. In attempting to put a lid on the program, the administration already has banned states from using federal money to cover kids who are above 250 percent of the poverty line, which many had begun to do.</p>
<p>Bush officials have argued that the states hadn’t yet enrolled enough eligible poor kids in Medicaid to justify extending government aid to better off families. But now, the administration is trying to prevent states from doing just that–signing up more eligible kids.</p>
<p>On Aug. 31, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a new regulation that would ban states from using federal funds to enroll poor kids for Medicaid or SCHIP if the work takes place in a public school. Not surprisingly, some states have found that the single best way to sign up lots of kids for Medicaid is to do outreach through their schools. If the new rule is approved, those programs will all but disappear, leaving thousands of kids without access to the health care they’re already entitled to. Read more about the new reg <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/9-17-07health.htm" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p />
| 4,995 |
<p>Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain will make a "major announcement" on Saturday, his press secretary said, <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/12/herman-cain-announcement-saturday-/1" type="external">according to NBC News</a>.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/cain-nearing-decision-on-candidacy/2011/12/02/gIQAaxFOLO_story.html?hpid=z1" type="external">the Washington Post</a>, Cain is inviting his top supporters and donors for a meeting in which he'll let them know if he intends to continue his campaign.</p>
<p>"Tomorrow in Atlanta, I will be making an announcement. But no one is gonna get me to make that prematurely," Cain said at a town hall event in South Carolina on Friday.</p>
<p>The jury's out on what Cain plans to say during this meeting.</p>
<p>Some believe he'll announce the end of his candidacy. Others believe he'll be expressing his gratitude to his supporters.</p>
<p>According to the Washington Post, Cain is likely to announce his plans publicly at a news conference after the meeting.</p>
<p>Cain is <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111202/herman-cain-meet-his-wife-today-affair" type="external">scheduled to consult with his wife</a> this evening about the allegations that have followed his campaign.</p>
<p>Cain's standing in the polls has sunk since the allegations surfaced, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/herman-cains-wife-in-the-spotlight-can-she-save-his-campaign/" type="external">ABC News reported</a>. Only 8 percent of Iowa Republicans said that they would vote for the former Godfather's Pizza CEO. &#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111129/ginger-white-herman-cain-affair" type="external">Who is Ginger White?</a></p>
|
Herman Cain to make announcement on Saturday
| false |
https://pri.org/stories/2011-12-02/herman-cain-make-announcement-saturday
|
2011-12-02
| 3left-center
|
Herman Cain to make announcement on Saturday
<p>Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain will make a "major announcement" on Saturday, his press secretary said, <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/12/herman-cain-announcement-saturday-/1" type="external">according to NBC News</a>.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/cain-nearing-decision-on-candidacy/2011/12/02/gIQAaxFOLO_story.html?hpid=z1" type="external">the Washington Post</a>, Cain is inviting his top supporters and donors for a meeting in which he'll let them know if he intends to continue his campaign.</p>
<p>"Tomorrow in Atlanta, I will be making an announcement. But no one is gonna get me to make that prematurely," Cain said at a town hall event in South Carolina on Friday.</p>
<p>The jury's out on what Cain plans to say during this meeting.</p>
<p>Some believe he'll announce the end of his candidacy. Others believe he'll be expressing his gratitude to his supporters.</p>
<p>According to the Washington Post, Cain is likely to announce his plans publicly at a news conference after the meeting.</p>
<p>Cain is <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111202/herman-cain-meet-his-wife-today-affair" type="external">scheduled to consult with his wife</a> this evening about the allegations that have followed his campaign.</p>
<p>Cain's standing in the polls has sunk since the allegations surfaced, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/herman-cains-wife-in-the-spotlight-can-she-save-his-campaign/" type="external">ABC News reported</a>. Only 8 percent of Iowa Republicans said that they would vote for the former Godfather's Pizza CEO. &#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111129/ginger-white-herman-cain-affair" type="external">Who is Ginger White?</a></p>
| 4,996 |
<p />
<p>Happy Friday, folks. A sampling of health and environment news on our other blogs:</p>
<p>Abortion support declining? A new Pew poll says yes, but ABC’s polling director <a href="" type="internal">doubts it</a>.</p>
<p>Keep on the sunny side: <a href="" type="internal">Don’t worry about global warming</a>, says the US Chamber of Commerce. After all, humans are now less vulnerable to rising temperatures because of the growing use of air conditioners. Right.</p>
<p>Changes to Kerry-Boxer: Gone are any mention of China and India in the <a href="" type="internal">latest version</a> of climate bill.</p>
<p>More Chamber unease: <a href="" type="internal">GE</a> is the latest company to disapprove of the US Chamber of Commerce’s stance on climate change.</p>
<p>Charting public health-care opinion: Bottom line: the public <a href="" type="internal">really likes</a> the idea of having a choice between a private and a public health insurance plan.</p>
<p>Opt-out revolution? <a href="" type="internal">One in four moms stay home</a>. Proof that women ditch their fulfilling and high-paying careers once it’s baby time?</p>
<p>Republicans know they don’t like Kerry-Boxer: <a href="" type="internal">They just can’t figure out why.</a> The party is divided between those who think action will destroy the economy and those who still question whether climate change is occurring at all.</p>
<p>The NSF’s porn problem: The National Science Foundation handles twenty percent of all federally supported research in all American colleges. Some of its employees are having a <a href="" type="internal">grand old time surfing sex sites</a>. Way more fun than reviewing grant applications.</p>
<p>Climate change crystal ball: What does prediction guru Bueno de Mesquita think about the <a href="" type="internal">odds</a> of getting any kind of serious global action on climate change?</p>
<p />
|
Eco-News Roundup: Friday, October 2
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/10/eco-news-roundup-friday-october-2/
|
2009-10-02
| 4left
|
Eco-News Roundup: Friday, October 2
<p />
<p>Happy Friday, folks. A sampling of health and environment news on our other blogs:</p>
<p>Abortion support declining? A new Pew poll says yes, but ABC’s polling director <a href="" type="internal">doubts it</a>.</p>
<p>Keep on the sunny side: <a href="" type="internal">Don’t worry about global warming</a>, says the US Chamber of Commerce. After all, humans are now less vulnerable to rising temperatures because of the growing use of air conditioners. Right.</p>
<p>Changes to Kerry-Boxer: Gone are any mention of China and India in the <a href="" type="internal">latest version</a> of climate bill.</p>
<p>More Chamber unease: <a href="" type="internal">GE</a> is the latest company to disapprove of the US Chamber of Commerce’s stance on climate change.</p>
<p>Charting public health-care opinion: Bottom line: the public <a href="" type="internal">really likes</a> the idea of having a choice between a private and a public health insurance plan.</p>
<p>Opt-out revolution? <a href="" type="internal">One in four moms stay home</a>. Proof that women ditch their fulfilling and high-paying careers once it’s baby time?</p>
<p>Republicans know they don’t like Kerry-Boxer: <a href="" type="internal">They just can’t figure out why.</a> The party is divided between those who think action will destroy the economy and those who still question whether climate change is occurring at all.</p>
<p>The NSF’s porn problem: The National Science Foundation handles twenty percent of all federally supported research in all American colleges. Some of its employees are having a <a href="" type="internal">grand old time surfing sex sites</a>. Way more fun than reviewing grant applications.</p>
<p>Climate change crystal ball: What does prediction guru Bueno de Mesquita think about the <a href="" type="internal">odds</a> of getting any kind of serious global action on climate change?</p>
<p />
| 4,997 |
<p>As part of the release the oral history of President <a href="http://millercenter.org/events/2011/bush" type="external">George H.W. Bush</a> by The Miller Center at the University of Virginia, the center has put online audio clips of its interviews with more than 50 senior officials from the elder Bush's administration. Among the choice tidbits: Clint Eastwood's name was tossed out as a possible running mate during the 1988 campaign.</p>
<p>"Did you know that Clint Eastwood's name was thrown out at one point?" former Secretary of State James Baker told interviewers (Audio available <a href="http://millercenter.org/events/2011/bush" type="external">here</a>). "When we were way behind. Honestly, it was suggested in not an altogether unserious - Well, he was a mayor. He was a Republican mayor. Anyway, it was shot down pretty quick. But we were looking at an 18-point deficit."</p>
<p>Eastwood was mayor of Carmel, California, from 1986-1988, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/10/clint-eastwood-as-vp-george-h-w-bush-considered-it/#.Tpid0v74d5w.twitter" type="external">ABC News reports</a>. <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/10/hw-bush-pondered-clint-eastwood-for-veep/1?csp=34news" type="external">According to USA Today</a>, Bush trailed Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis badly in the polls in the summer of 1988. Bush ended up choosing Senator Dan Quayle (R-IN) as his running mate.</p>
<p>The Bush oral history is being released at a two-day event in Charlottesville, Virginia on Friday and Saturday, "at which former Bush administration officials and scholars from across the country will discuss interviews that have been cleared for release and reflect on the many historic issues the Bush administration confronted, including the end of the Cold War, the Persian Gulf War, the no-new-taxes pledge, and filling two Supreme Court vacancies," according to The Miller Center.</p>
<p>Lucky for moviegoers, perhaps, the notion of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000142/" type="external">Eastwood</a> as VP didn't go anywhere. Eastwood's classic "Unforgiven" was released in the summer 1992, and commuting between Washington and Hollywood would have been a hard job even for a tough old gunslinger.</p>
|
George H.W. Bush considered Clint Eastwood for vice president?
| false |
https://pri.org/stories/2011-10-14/george-hw-bush-considered-clint-eastwood-vice-president
|
2011-10-14
| 3left-center
|
George H.W. Bush considered Clint Eastwood for vice president?
<p>As part of the release the oral history of President <a href="http://millercenter.org/events/2011/bush" type="external">George H.W. Bush</a> by The Miller Center at the University of Virginia, the center has put online audio clips of its interviews with more than 50 senior officials from the elder Bush's administration. Among the choice tidbits: Clint Eastwood's name was tossed out as a possible running mate during the 1988 campaign.</p>
<p>"Did you know that Clint Eastwood's name was thrown out at one point?" former Secretary of State James Baker told interviewers (Audio available <a href="http://millercenter.org/events/2011/bush" type="external">here</a>). "When we were way behind. Honestly, it was suggested in not an altogether unserious - Well, he was a mayor. He was a Republican mayor. Anyway, it was shot down pretty quick. But we were looking at an 18-point deficit."</p>
<p>Eastwood was mayor of Carmel, California, from 1986-1988, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/10/clint-eastwood-as-vp-george-h-w-bush-considered-it/#.Tpid0v74d5w.twitter" type="external">ABC News reports</a>. <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/10/hw-bush-pondered-clint-eastwood-for-veep/1?csp=34news" type="external">According to USA Today</a>, Bush trailed Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis badly in the polls in the summer of 1988. Bush ended up choosing Senator Dan Quayle (R-IN) as his running mate.</p>
<p>The Bush oral history is being released at a two-day event in Charlottesville, Virginia on Friday and Saturday, "at which former Bush administration officials and scholars from across the country will discuss interviews that have been cleared for release and reflect on the many historic issues the Bush administration confronted, including the end of the Cold War, the Persian Gulf War, the no-new-taxes pledge, and filling two Supreme Court vacancies," according to The Miller Center.</p>
<p>Lucky for moviegoers, perhaps, the notion of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000142/" type="external">Eastwood</a> as VP didn't go anywhere. Eastwood's classic "Unforgiven" was released in the summer 1992, and commuting between Washington and Hollywood would have been a hard job even for a tough old gunslinger.</p>
| 4,998 |
<p />
<p>Early this morning, I drove north on Scenic Highway, one of the most beautiful coastal drives in America. And yet, as the sunrise glistened over Escambia Bay, the picturesque Florida scenery was scarred by nature’s whim. Stately oaks were uprooted, townhomes were blown from their foundation, homes stood minus their roofs and windows, and neighbors were helping neighbors sift through the debris.</p>
<p>The scene is far too familiar to me. In 1994 I was serving at the First Baptist Church of Williams near Jacksonville, Ala., when a tornado touched down on Palm Sunday near Ragland, Ala., and cut a trail to Rome, Ga., demolishing hundreds of homes, destroying five church campuses, and taking 29 lives before leaving that area.</p>
<p>&lt;!–more–&gt;</p>
<p>In 2005, when I began serving at First Baptist Church in Pensacola, we dealt with a series of destructive storms including Hurricanes Ivan, Cindy, Dennis, and Katrina. Later, we sent teams to assist with repair and rebuilding after tornadoes in Enterprise, Ala., and Sipsey, Ala.</p>
<p>Now, here in Escambia County, we have once again experienced two destructive storms within the same week. As we help others put life back together, let us employ the lessons learned from storms past as we help our neighbors rebuild after the storm.</p>
<p>Once a storm passes, residents are faced with a haunting reality. Life will never be the same. For many, friends have been injured, homes have been destroyed, and irreplaceable family heirlooms lost. A sense of despair prevails. But for most, at least, life will continue. In fact, this week’s storm cut an eight-mile path damaging over 300 homes, yet there were no fatalities and only minimal injuries.</p>
<p>Following the Palm Sunday tornado and the coastal hurricanes, the communities I served learned a lot about patience and perseverance. We learned a lot about grace and hope. We learned the importance of looking forward and not backward. We learned that our dreams trumped our nightmares. We learned a lot about faith and life.</p>
<p>At least seven crucial lessons learned from storms past have helped us to heal and move forward, slowly and progressively:</p>
<p>1. Life goes on after the storm. Once the initial shock of the devastation has been absorbed, it’s time to channel all of your energy to re-building and moving forward. Despite the grief over things lost, there is a unique kind of joy that arises when you begin dreaming of the new things you can build — together. And interestingly, the challenge of re-building had a healing effect and can be a healthy way to process the grief of storm-associated losses.</p>
<p>2. When a storm hits, no one is exempt. Storms result from a chaotic weather pattern and they tend to strike indiscriminately. Contrary to religious superstition, storms are not typically God’s way of punishing the most wicked of sinners. Storms affect everyone in their path, whether you are rich or poor, young or old, faithful or faithless. As Grady Nutt used to remind us, “It rains on the just and the unjust, and not always just on the ‘just’.”</p>
<p>3. When the going gets tough, people of faith mobilize and work together cooperatively. After each of the aforementioned storms, a variety of churches and missional partners organized, rolled up their sleeves, and went to work. Volunteers from faith-based groups often organize quickly and dispatch to the scene, while professional and government groups are often slowed by paperwork and red tape restrictions. I distinctly remember many of the professional workers who partnered with us telling me how they admired the work ethic, the productivity, and the cooperative spirit of the volunteer teams from churches and faith-based organizations.</p>
<p>4. All kinds of talents and skill levels are needed for clean-up and re-building. We were fortunate to have a huge corps of skilled personnel who managed chain saws, dozers, cranes, and front-end loaders. However, we also needed folks to cook food, drive trucks, pick up debris, run errands, care for children, visit the elderly, sweep the floor, manage communications, and do household cleaning. In disaster relief, every job is important and every volunteer has something to offer. Never underestimate the importance of doing all the good you can, where you can, when you can.</p>
<p>If you want to volunteer, always connect with a group such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, BRACE, or a church group. Don’t just strike out on your own. Our staff is currently exploring the best ways for us to connect in Century and Pensacola.</p>
<p>5. Relief work builds community. We learned that remarkable bonding occurs in the field. The sense of community born among those who work together following a storm forges a spiritual kinship that lasts for a lifetime — or longer.</p>
<p>6. You are wise not to live in fear of the next storm. Those affected by storms may be inclined to experience storm phobia, a fear of storms. Many begin to live in such a heightened state of anxiety, that every cloud invokes a near panic attack. One alternative to living in fear is to be better prepared for the next storm. Perhaps that means creating a storm preparation checklist. Or possibly that means better implementation of a storm safety plan. Time and energy spent worrying about something as unpredictable as a future storm is wasted energy. It is best to find creative ways to transform that energy into constructive preparation.</p>
<p>7. The process of going through a storm can deepen your spiritual faith. For some, simply the experience of having a “close call” with death provokes a profound sense of one’s mortality. For others, there is a sense of a “new lease on life,” that translates into a commitment to live in a deeper and more meaningful sort of way. For still others, during the rebuilding process they discover a community of friends who inspire them toward a more authentic and honest understanding of faith, a faith they want and often claim for themselves.</p>
<p>This week many of us have grieved with and prayed for friends and neighbors after storms have wreaked havoc in local neighborhoods. I am sure the local residents are feeling shock, anger, and a nearly overwhelming sense of despair.</p>
<p>But the people of Escambia County are resilient. In the next few days, relief agencies and churches will mobilize labor pools and resource centers. And residents will be drying their tears, rolling up their sleeves, and getting ready to repair and rebuild, because there are some things deep inside that the strongest storm cannot destroy.</p>
|
Lessons from storms past and present
| false |
https://baptistnews.com/article/lessons-from-storms-past-and-present/
| 3left-center
|
Lessons from storms past and present
<p />
<p>Early this morning, I drove north on Scenic Highway, one of the most beautiful coastal drives in America. And yet, as the sunrise glistened over Escambia Bay, the picturesque Florida scenery was scarred by nature’s whim. Stately oaks were uprooted, townhomes were blown from their foundation, homes stood minus their roofs and windows, and neighbors were helping neighbors sift through the debris.</p>
<p>The scene is far too familiar to me. In 1994 I was serving at the First Baptist Church of Williams near Jacksonville, Ala., when a tornado touched down on Palm Sunday near Ragland, Ala., and cut a trail to Rome, Ga., demolishing hundreds of homes, destroying five church campuses, and taking 29 lives before leaving that area.</p>
<p>&lt;!–more–&gt;</p>
<p>In 2005, when I began serving at First Baptist Church in Pensacola, we dealt with a series of destructive storms including Hurricanes Ivan, Cindy, Dennis, and Katrina. Later, we sent teams to assist with repair and rebuilding after tornadoes in Enterprise, Ala., and Sipsey, Ala.</p>
<p>Now, here in Escambia County, we have once again experienced two destructive storms within the same week. As we help others put life back together, let us employ the lessons learned from storms past as we help our neighbors rebuild after the storm.</p>
<p>Once a storm passes, residents are faced with a haunting reality. Life will never be the same. For many, friends have been injured, homes have been destroyed, and irreplaceable family heirlooms lost. A sense of despair prevails. But for most, at least, life will continue. In fact, this week’s storm cut an eight-mile path damaging over 300 homes, yet there were no fatalities and only minimal injuries.</p>
<p>Following the Palm Sunday tornado and the coastal hurricanes, the communities I served learned a lot about patience and perseverance. We learned a lot about grace and hope. We learned the importance of looking forward and not backward. We learned that our dreams trumped our nightmares. We learned a lot about faith and life.</p>
<p>At least seven crucial lessons learned from storms past have helped us to heal and move forward, slowly and progressively:</p>
<p>1. Life goes on after the storm. Once the initial shock of the devastation has been absorbed, it’s time to channel all of your energy to re-building and moving forward. Despite the grief over things lost, there is a unique kind of joy that arises when you begin dreaming of the new things you can build — together. And interestingly, the challenge of re-building had a healing effect and can be a healthy way to process the grief of storm-associated losses.</p>
<p>2. When a storm hits, no one is exempt. Storms result from a chaotic weather pattern and they tend to strike indiscriminately. Contrary to religious superstition, storms are not typically God’s way of punishing the most wicked of sinners. Storms affect everyone in their path, whether you are rich or poor, young or old, faithful or faithless. As Grady Nutt used to remind us, “It rains on the just and the unjust, and not always just on the ‘just’.”</p>
<p>3. When the going gets tough, people of faith mobilize and work together cooperatively. After each of the aforementioned storms, a variety of churches and missional partners organized, rolled up their sleeves, and went to work. Volunteers from faith-based groups often organize quickly and dispatch to the scene, while professional and government groups are often slowed by paperwork and red tape restrictions. I distinctly remember many of the professional workers who partnered with us telling me how they admired the work ethic, the productivity, and the cooperative spirit of the volunteer teams from churches and faith-based organizations.</p>
<p>4. All kinds of talents and skill levels are needed for clean-up and re-building. We were fortunate to have a huge corps of skilled personnel who managed chain saws, dozers, cranes, and front-end loaders. However, we also needed folks to cook food, drive trucks, pick up debris, run errands, care for children, visit the elderly, sweep the floor, manage communications, and do household cleaning. In disaster relief, every job is important and every volunteer has something to offer. Never underestimate the importance of doing all the good you can, where you can, when you can.</p>
<p>If you want to volunteer, always connect with a group such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, BRACE, or a church group. Don’t just strike out on your own. Our staff is currently exploring the best ways for us to connect in Century and Pensacola.</p>
<p>5. Relief work builds community. We learned that remarkable bonding occurs in the field. The sense of community born among those who work together following a storm forges a spiritual kinship that lasts for a lifetime — or longer.</p>
<p>6. You are wise not to live in fear of the next storm. Those affected by storms may be inclined to experience storm phobia, a fear of storms. Many begin to live in such a heightened state of anxiety, that every cloud invokes a near panic attack. One alternative to living in fear is to be better prepared for the next storm. Perhaps that means creating a storm preparation checklist. Or possibly that means better implementation of a storm safety plan. Time and energy spent worrying about something as unpredictable as a future storm is wasted energy. It is best to find creative ways to transform that energy into constructive preparation.</p>
<p>7. The process of going through a storm can deepen your spiritual faith. For some, simply the experience of having a “close call” with death provokes a profound sense of one’s mortality. For others, there is a sense of a “new lease on life,” that translates into a commitment to live in a deeper and more meaningful sort of way. For still others, during the rebuilding process they discover a community of friends who inspire them toward a more authentic and honest understanding of faith, a faith they want and often claim for themselves.</p>
<p>This week many of us have grieved with and prayed for friends and neighbors after storms have wreaked havoc in local neighborhoods. I am sure the local residents are feeling shock, anger, and a nearly overwhelming sense of despair.</p>
<p>But the people of Escambia County are resilient. In the next few days, relief agencies and churches will mobilize labor pools and resource centers. And residents will be drying their tears, rolling up their sleeves, and getting ready to repair and rebuild, because there are some things deep inside that the strongest storm cannot destroy.</p>
| 4,999 |
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