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<p>In 1987, after the First Intifada started, I remember sitting in a coffee shop in New York and overhearing words that stung and burned and never left me. I wrote down my thoughts in a sketchbook at the time, but never brought them forward; I forever regret not having said anything at the time. Last Sunday, two-and-a-half decades later, I took part in the debut of the Third Intifada in Maroun Ar-Ras at the border between Lebanon and Palestine. I recall these words now, updated as the occasion warrants.</p>
<p>“Let them starve!”, you said, slamming your coffee down; “let them starve in the desert!” you said, speaking, as you were, of a desert ancient as time, of a far away desert you never knew, that you never left for never having been and that nonetheless you claim, that now is left bereft of its bedouin, as the land your fellow gentry occupy is left cleansed of its people, abandoned of its owners now set adrift. The land grieves its diaspora, screams aloud their names, remembers each and every name writ in the spilt blood of the countless thousands you’ve disappeared and murdered in vengeful sprees ghastly in their forethought, stunning in their exactitude. “Let them starve!”, you said, defining in the negative your willed absence of a people from a place that yet denies this forgetting, this ground sodden with the tears of all lifetimes.</p>
<p>“Let them rot!” you said, your vague pronoun spat out; “let them starve in the desert!” you said, the fact that “they” exist apparently crime enough, the fact that “they” resist seemingly criminal enough for your judgment, your sentence, your execution; and thus you complete your discrete logic: the annihilation of those who, to you, never were; a double negative that sums up your false positive. And so is unleashed your displacement, your dispossession, your theft, your will to kill, and you, come unhinged. Of all people. And so fly unfettered your noisome epithets, your ghettoes, your destruction, your murderous zeal. You, of all people.</p>
<p>You slammed your coffee down and spat out said menace, and I stopped, and I turned, and I caught your eye. I thought: What is so easily said is much more easily done. “Let them starve in the desert! Let them rot in the sun! &lt;em&gt;Let them riot in Gaza!&lt;/em&gt;” you said, and our eyes met, and I saw you, and I saw you seeing me, and I completed your thought, computed your equation; I arrived at your horrid calculus, infinitely revealed in your possessing, usurping, stealing, as well as in your means and ways and methods. And you coldly enacted your endeavor, and you plotted your task, with a bureaucrat’s precision, a mild surprise only that you stop not to collect the shoes, nor the watches, nor the spectacles, while you seem to so value the skin, and the bones, and the eyes. You, of all people.</p>
<p>And although many years have passed since hearing these words, I hereby hasten to inform you that there is no tiring the returnee; and there is no fatigue in these steps six decades after Catastrophe; there is no slowed pace of the generations who follow in their path and who spite the locks and their lockmasters, who despite your barbed wires and barricades are destined to see brethren delivered gleefully through your doors, are ordained to witness the dispersed masses come smiling across your borders, are primed and ready to overtake your gauntlets and gates; if need be receding to re-gather strength, a reclaiming, a repossession, a retaking, a return, and a recalling of your own very prescient warning: “A people which fights against the usurpation of its land will not tire so easily.” You are thus haunted by your very own words, henceforth made manifest.</p>
<p>“Let them riot in Gaza!” you said, and I saw you, and I saw you seeing me, and in that held gaze was a promise, and in my pause was a covenant, and I wrote those words down to forever remind me, I noted down your threat which is hereby reciprocated with interest accrued a hundred-thousand-fold. And now, 25 years later, I keep this promise by coming down to that border with those thousands upon thousands who would come down; by accompanying those who have left their square-kilometer meager allotment, who have decamped to this false demarcation, who have descended to this no-man’s-land falsely partitioned, to this bogus border; to return with those who will one day soon, the grace of God willing, come home.</p>
<p>And be further informed that we will riot in Gaza; we fully intend to riot in Gaza, and in Golan, in Maroon Ar-Ras and in Naqoora; in Rafah, Ramallah, and Karameh. And soon must come your avowal, your acknowledgment, your surrender. Then must come the dismantling, the demolishing, the unsettling. Then must come the great pause, and the gathering, and the Return. And I vow for those who elseways have traversed your hellish gates, who elsewise have suffered your deadly portals, an endless patience, a constant and determined descent, a third and final wave with no end, a divesting, a demining of obstacles, an end to the debacle, an existence in resistance. And your day is come. And you will bear the burden of your crimes.</p>
<p>Daniel Drennan is founder of the <a href="http://www.jamaalyad.org/" type="external">Jamaa Al-Yad artist’s collective</a>. He lives and works in Beirut, Lebanon. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
|
Words From the First Intifada
| true |
https://counterpunch.org/2011/05/23/words-from-the-first-intifada/
|
2011-05-23
| 4left
|
Words From the First Intifada
<p>In 1987, after the First Intifada started, I remember sitting in a coffee shop in New York and overhearing words that stung and burned and never left me. I wrote down my thoughts in a sketchbook at the time, but never brought them forward; I forever regret not having said anything at the time. Last Sunday, two-and-a-half decades later, I took part in the debut of the Third Intifada in Maroun Ar-Ras at the border between Lebanon and Palestine. I recall these words now, updated as the occasion warrants.</p>
<p>“Let them starve!”, you said, slamming your coffee down; “let them starve in the desert!” you said, speaking, as you were, of a desert ancient as time, of a far away desert you never knew, that you never left for never having been and that nonetheless you claim, that now is left bereft of its bedouin, as the land your fellow gentry occupy is left cleansed of its people, abandoned of its owners now set adrift. The land grieves its diaspora, screams aloud their names, remembers each and every name writ in the spilt blood of the countless thousands you’ve disappeared and murdered in vengeful sprees ghastly in their forethought, stunning in their exactitude. “Let them starve!”, you said, defining in the negative your willed absence of a people from a place that yet denies this forgetting, this ground sodden with the tears of all lifetimes.</p>
<p>“Let them rot!” you said, your vague pronoun spat out; “let them starve in the desert!” you said, the fact that “they” exist apparently crime enough, the fact that “they” resist seemingly criminal enough for your judgment, your sentence, your execution; and thus you complete your discrete logic: the annihilation of those who, to you, never were; a double negative that sums up your false positive. And so is unleashed your displacement, your dispossession, your theft, your will to kill, and you, come unhinged. Of all people. And so fly unfettered your noisome epithets, your ghettoes, your destruction, your murderous zeal. You, of all people.</p>
<p>You slammed your coffee down and spat out said menace, and I stopped, and I turned, and I caught your eye. I thought: What is so easily said is much more easily done. “Let them starve in the desert! Let them rot in the sun! &lt;em&gt;Let them riot in Gaza!&lt;/em&gt;” you said, and our eyes met, and I saw you, and I saw you seeing me, and I completed your thought, computed your equation; I arrived at your horrid calculus, infinitely revealed in your possessing, usurping, stealing, as well as in your means and ways and methods. And you coldly enacted your endeavor, and you plotted your task, with a bureaucrat’s precision, a mild surprise only that you stop not to collect the shoes, nor the watches, nor the spectacles, while you seem to so value the skin, and the bones, and the eyes. You, of all people.</p>
<p>And although many years have passed since hearing these words, I hereby hasten to inform you that there is no tiring the returnee; and there is no fatigue in these steps six decades after Catastrophe; there is no slowed pace of the generations who follow in their path and who spite the locks and their lockmasters, who despite your barbed wires and barricades are destined to see brethren delivered gleefully through your doors, are ordained to witness the dispersed masses come smiling across your borders, are primed and ready to overtake your gauntlets and gates; if need be receding to re-gather strength, a reclaiming, a repossession, a retaking, a return, and a recalling of your own very prescient warning: “A people which fights against the usurpation of its land will not tire so easily.” You are thus haunted by your very own words, henceforth made manifest.</p>
<p>“Let them riot in Gaza!” you said, and I saw you, and I saw you seeing me, and in that held gaze was a promise, and in my pause was a covenant, and I wrote those words down to forever remind me, I noted down your threat which is hereby reciprocated with interest accrued a hundred-thousand-fold. And now, 25 years later, I keep this promise by coming down to that border with those thousands upon thousands who would come down; by accompanying those who have left their square-kilometer meager allotment, who have decamped to this false demarcation, who have descended to this no-man’s-land falsely partitioned, to this bogus border; to return with those who will one day soon, the grace of God willing, come home.</p>
<p>And be further informed that we will riot in Gaza; we fully intend to riot in Gaza, and in Golan, in Maroon Ar-Ras and in Naqoora; in Rafah, Ramallah, and Karameh. And soon must come your avowal, your acknowledgment, your surrender. Then must come the dismantling, the demolishing, the unsettling. Then must come the great pause, and the gathering, and the Return. And I vow for those who elseways have traversed your hellish gates, who elsewise have suffered your deadly portals, an endless patience, a constant and determined descent, a third and final wave with no end, a divesting, a demining of obstacles, an end to the debacle, an existence in resistance. And your day is come. And you will bear the burden of your crimes.</p>
<p>Daniel Drennan is founder of the <a href="http://www.jamaalyad.org/" type="external">Jamaa Al-Yad artist’s collective</a>. He lives and works in Beirut, Lebanon. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
| 5,900 |
<p>More than a decade after an oddball world named Sedna was <a href="" type="internal">discovered on the solar system's far frontier</a>, a fresh discovery reveals that it's not so odd after all. Sedna and the newly found object, called 2012 VP113, may well be the first of a huge new class of celestial bodies.</p>
<p>"This is definitely an evolving field that hopefully will start to get a lot more interesting," said co-discoverer Scott Sheppard, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science.</p>
<p>Other researchers said the discovery of 2012 VP113 also revives speculation about a bigger world that may be orbiting the sun at a distance of tens of billions of miles, known as Planet X. "This actually is consistent with the existence of such a thing," said UCLA astronomer David Jewett, who did not play a role in the latest discovery.</p>
<p>Sheppard and Chad Trujillo, an astronomer at the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, describe their find in Thursday's issue of the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v507/n7493/full/nature13156.html" type="external">Nature</a>. The discovery is based on a <a href="http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K14/K14F40.html" type="external">year's worth of observations</a> from telescopes in Chile.</p>
<p>Eccentric and isolated</p>
<p>Like Sedna, 2012 VP113 traces an eccentric orbit that never comes anywhere close to the big planets we all know and love. Neptune, for example, lies 30 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_unit" type="external">astronomical units</a> away from the sun — in other words, 30 times farther away than the Earth-sun distance of 93 million miles (150 million kilometers). 2012 VP113 is more than twice as distant as Neptune. It comes no closer than 80 AU and ranges as far out as 452 AU.</p>
<p>That places the icy world in a region known as the inner Oort cloud, between the Kuiper Belt (a ring of icy worlds including Pluto, at 30 to 50 AU) and the outer Oort cloud (a vast haze of comets surrounding the sun, starting at about 1,500 AU). The zone is considered a "no-man's land" in the solar system.</p>
<p>Back in 2004, astronomers were amazed to find Sedna swinging through the inner Oort cloud. At the time, they couldn't definitively explain how it got there.</p>
<p>"People thought, 'If there's one, there's usually more,'" Sheppard told NBC News. "But it took 10 years to find the next one."</p>
<p>Sedna is about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) wide, with an orbit ranging between 76 and 937 AU from the sun. 2012 VP113 is significantly smaller. Based on its brightness, it's thought to be roughly 200 miles (450 kilometers) wide. Both worlds might qualify as <a href="" type="internal">dwarf planets</a> under the International Astronomical Union's definition.</p>
<p>What else is out there?</p>
<p>2012 VP113's significance goes beyond the mere fact of its discovery.</p>
<p>Astronomers have long debated how Sedna, and now this new object, could have gotten into the solar system's no-man's land. Sheppard noted that there are three scenarios in play:</p>
<p>Results from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer recently <a href="" type="internal">ruled out the existence of a Planet X as big as Jupiter or Saturn</a>. But Trujillo and Sheppard suggest that an as-yet-undetected planet, bigger than Earth but not as big as Neptune, could have done the trick from a distance of hundreds of astronomical units.</p>
<p>The astronomers also report that the orbital angles for far-out solar system objects seem to cluster in a way that suggests most of them were perturbed during a single strong gravitational encounter. "That's really interesting, because it's quite unexpected," Jewitt told NBC News.</p>
<p>Sheppard said it's too early to pick the most promising scenario for the scattering of objects like Sedna and 2012 VP113, but more revelations may be on the way.</p>
<p>"We have several more candidates," Sheppard said from Chile, where he was in the midst of another data-gathering campaign. "It takes about a year of observing to determine whether an orbit is Sedna-like or not."</p>
<p>Sheppard and Trujillo are using the <a href="http://www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/Dark-Energy-Camera-DECam" type="external">Dark Energy Camera</a> on the NOAO 4-meter telescope in Chile to conduct their survey. Based on the amount of sky covered so far, he and Trujillo estimate that there may be 900 objects in the inner Oort cloud as big as Sedna. They say the total number of objects in what was once thought to be a no-man's land may well exceed the population of the main asteroid belt or the Kuiper Belt.</p>
<p>"It points to the fact that the solar system, even though it's our backyard, is still completely in a phase of discovery," said Jewitt, who was <a href="http://www2.ess.ucla.edu/~jewitt/kb/qb1.html" type="external">one of the discoverers of the second Kuiper Belt object (after Pluto) in 1992</a>. "We're discovering new realms, and the farther you get from the sun, the less we know — and the more interesting things get."</p>
<p>Update for 2:25 p.m. ET March 26: The discoverers of 2012 VP133 say the object is <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/70742.php?from=263555" type="external">"affectionately called 'Biden' because of the VP in the provisional name."</a> But Vice President Joe Biden shouldn't get overly excited about that unofficial nickname: <a href="http://www.iau.org/public/themes/naming/#minorplanets" type="external">The IAU's rules</a> dictate that minor planets can't be named after military or political leaders until they've been dead for 100 years.</p>
<p>The Nature paper by Trujillo and Sheppard is titled <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v507/n7493/full/nature13156.html" type="external">"A Sedna-like Body With a Perihelion of 80 Astronomical Units."</a></p>
|
Far Out! Icy World Widens Our Solar System’s Frontier
| false |
http://nbcnews.com/science/space/far-out-icy-world-widens-our-solar-systems-frontier-n62286
|
2014-03-26
| 3left-center
|
Far Out! Icy World Widens Our Solar System’s Frontier
<p>More than a decade after an oddball world named Sedna was <a href="" type="internal">discovered on the solar system's far frontier</a>, a fresh discovery reveals that it's not so odd after all. Sedna and the newly found object, called 2012 VP113, may well be the first of a huge new class of celestial bodies.</p>
<p>"This is definitely an evolving field that hopefully will start to get a lot more interesting," said co-discoverer Scott Sheppard, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science.</p>
<p>Other researchers said the discovery of 2012 VP113 also revives speculation about a bigger world that may be orbiting the sun at a distance of tens of billions of miles, known as Planet X. "This actually is consistent with the existence of such a thing," said UCLA astronomer David Jewett, who did not play a role in the latest discovery.</p>
<p>Sheppard and Chad Trujillo, an astronomer at the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, describe their find in Thursday's issue of the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v507/n7493/full/nature13156.html" type="external">Nature</a>. The discovery is based on a <a href="http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K14/K14F40.html" type="external">year's worth of observations</a> from telescopes in Chile.</p>
<p>Eccentric and isolated</p>
<p>Like Sedna, 2012 VP113 traces an eccentric orbit that never comes anywhere close to the big planets we all know and love. Neptune, for example, lies 30 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_unit" type="external">astronomical units</a> away from the sun — in other words, 30 times farther away than the Earth-sun distance of 93 million miles (150 million kilometers). 2012 VP113 is more than twice as distant as Neptune. It comes no closer than 80 AU and ranges as far out as 452 AU.</p>
<p>That places the icy world in a region known as the inner Oort cloud, between the Kuiper Belt (a ring of icy worlds including Pluto, at 30 to 50 AU) and the outer Oort cloud (a vast haze of comets surrounding the sun, starting at about 1,500 AU). The zone is considered a "no-man's land" in the solar system.</p>
<p>Back in 2004, astronomers were amazed to find Sedna swinging through the inner Oort cloud. At the time, they couldn't definitively explain how it got there.</p>
<p>"People thought, 'If there's one, there's usually more,'" Sheppard told NBC News. "But it took 10 years to find the next one."</p>
<p>Sedna is about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) wide, with an orbit ranging between 76 and 937 AU from the sun. 2012 VP113 is significantly smaller. Based on its brightness, it's thought to be roughly 200 miles (450 kilometers) wide. Both worlds might qualify as <a href="" type="internal">dwarf planets</a> under the International Astronomical Union's definition.</p>
<p>What else is out there?</p>
<p>2012 VP113's significance goes beyond the mere fact of its discovery.</p>
<p>Astronomers have long debated how Sedna, and now this new object, could have gotten into the solar system's no-man's land. Sheppard noted that there are three scenarios in play:</p>
<p>Results from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer recently <a href="" type="internal">ruled out the existence of a Planet X as big as Jupiter or Saturn</a>. But Trujillo and Sheppard suggest that an as-yet-undetected planet, bigger than Earth but not as big as Neptune, could have done the trick from a distance of hundreds of astronomical units.</p>
<p>The astronomers also report that the orbital angles for far-out solar system objects seem to cluster in a way that suggests most of them were perturbed during a single strong gravitational encounter. "That's really interesting, because it's quite unexpected," Jewitt told NBC News.</p>
<p>Sheppard said it's too early to pick the most promising scenario for the scattering of objects like Sedna and 2012 VP113, but more revelations may be on the way.</p>
<p>"We have several more candidates," Sheppard said from Chile, where he was in the midst of another data-gathering campaign. "It takes about a year of observing to determine whether an orbit is Sedna-like or not."</p>
<p>Sheppard and Trujillo are using the <a href="http://www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/Dark-Energy-Camera-DECam" type="external">Dark Energy Camera</a> on the NOAO 4-meter telescope in Chile to conduct their survey. Based on the amount of sky covered so far, he and Trujillo estimate that there may be 900 objects in the inner Oort cloud as big as Sedna. They say the total number of objects in what was once thought to be a no-man's land may well exceed the population of the main asteroid belt or the Kuiper Belt.</p>
<p>"It points to the fact that the solar system, even though it's our backyard, is still completely in a phase of discovery," said Jewitt, who was <a href="http://www2.ess.ucla.edu/~jewitt/kb/qb1.html" type="external">one of the discoverers of the second Kuiper Belt object (after Pluto) in 1992</a>. "We're discovering new realms, and the farther you get from the sun, the less we know — and the more interesting things get."</p>
<p>Update for 2:25 p.m. ET March 26: The discoverers of 2012 VP133 say the object is <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/70742.php?from=263555" type="external">"affectionately called 'Biden' because of the VP in the provisional name."</a> But Vice President Joe Biden shouldn't get overly excited about that unofficial nickname: <a href="http://www.iau.org/public/themes/naming/#minorplanets" type="external">The IAU's rules</a> dictate that minor planets can't be named after military or political leaders until they've been dead for 100 years.</p>
<p>The Nature paper by Trujillo and Sheppard is titled <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v507/n7493/full/nature13156.html" type="external">"A Sedna-like Body With a Perihelion of 80 Astronomical Units."</a></p>
| 5,901 |
<p>SACRAMENTO – To deal with federal court orders demanding a reduction in prison populations, California officials – and state voters, via initiative – passed a series of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2016/05/18/mass-release-of-california-prisoners-didnt-cause-rise-in-crime-two-studies-find/?utm_term=.8f44666ea241" type="external">sentencing reforms</a> over the past seven years that have reduced overcrowding from 181 percent of capacity to 137.5 percent capacity. That’s a reduction of 33,000 inmates.</p>
<p>The main policy is known as realignment. Pushed through by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2011, the two new laws allow “non-violent, non-serious and non-sex offenders to serve their sentence in county jails instead of state prisons,” <a href="http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/realignment/" type="external">according to an explanation from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation</a>. The department says that no state prisoners had their time reduced and that the laws did not provide any early releases.</p>
<p>The second policy is Proposition 47, a statewide initiative that passed 60 percent to 40 percent in November 2014. <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_47,_Reduced_Penalties_for_Some_Crimes_Initiative_(2014)" type="external">As Ballotpedia explains</a>, the initiative “classified ‘non-serious, nonviolent crimes’ as misdemeanors instead of felonies unless the defendant has prior convictions for murder, rape, certain sex offenses or certain gun crimes.” It also permitted resentencing “for those currently serving a prison sentence for any of the offenses that the initiative reduces to misdemeanors.” That measure did therefore lead to early releases.</p>
<p>The state passed a variety of other sentencing-reform measures beginning in 2010. For instance, California had long taken a tough-on-crime approach, including passage of the nation’s toughest “three strikes and you’re out” laws in 1994, in the midst of frighteningly high crime rates. But even that signature crime-fighting law was revised, as voters passed, 70 percent to 30 percent, a 2012 statewide <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_36,_Changes_in_the_%22Three_Strikes%22_Law_(2012)" type="external">initiative</a> that required a life sentence only if the third strike were serious or violent.</p>
<p>The new laws reduced prison overcrowding, although they didn’t actually reduce the amount of tax dollars spent on the prison system. The big question: What have they done to crime rates? A spike in some crimes over that period has led to a vociferous debate, with Republicans and some moderate Democrats fanning fears of a crime wave. One Republican gubernatorial candidate, Abel Maldonado, ran for governor in 2014 on an anti-crime platform, but didn’t gain traction.</p>
<p>Currently, Democratic Assemblyman Jim Cooper, a former sheriff’s captain from Elk Grove, is leading efforts qualify a <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/california/articles/2017-10-30/initiative-would-expand-dna-gathering-restrict-early-parole" type="external">ballot measure</a> for the 2018 general election that would roll back much of Proposition 47. It also would roll back the loosened parole requirements in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_57_(2016)" type="external">Proposition 57</a>, which passed on the 2016 statewide ballot, and expand the list of crimes that requires collection of the perpetrator’s DNA, according to an Associated Press report.</p>
<p>Such pushback is due in large part to fears of growing crime rates. “Since the passage of Proposition 47 by voters in 2014 and the signing of AB109 in 2011, violent crime has been on the rise in California, up 12 percent in 2015 statewide according to the FBI,” according to a statement in March by Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Riverside County. <a href="http://www.politifact.com/california/statements/2017/mar/06/jeff-stone/has-violent-crime-been-rise-california-2011-and-di/" type="external">Politifact double-checked his claim</a> and found a one-year violent crime increase (from 2014 to 2015) of 8.4 percent.</p>
<p>That’s certainly enough to spark concern, but it’s hard to assess crime data based on short periods of time – and even harder to trace crime increases or decreases to any particular policy cause. <a href="http://www.cjcj.org/uploads/cjcj/documents/urban_crime_trends_remain_stable_through_californias_policy_reform_era_2010-2016.pdf" type="external">New research</a> from the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice looked at the entire 2010-2016 period of criminal-justice policy reform and found some mixed results. Overall, however, the group explains that the state’s crime rate was “stable” over that time.</p>
<p>“Urban crime rates in California declined precipitously through the 1990s and 2000s,” <a href="http://www.cjcj.org/news/11186" type="external">wrote author Mike Males</a>. “Since 2010, crime in California has stabilized, hovering near historically low levels.” Males compared the first six months of 2016 (the latest reporting period) with the first six months of 2010 and found that “total crime rates experienced no net change, while property crime declined by 1 percent and violent crime increased by 3 percent.”</p>
<p>National crime data show a small overall uptick nationwide, which might suggest that something other than California-only realignment and sentencing reform policies were at work here. Crime data often is affected more by local factors, and indeed the study finds that “crime rates at the local level have varied considerably.” For instance, crime rates shot up 18 percent in Downey, but dropped an astounding 29 percent in Santa Clara.</p>
<p>Regarding the big cities, the report found increased violent crime rates in Fresno, Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Jose – but lower violent crime rates in Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco. Likewise, some big cities (Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Diego) faced rising property crimes, but others (Fresno, Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Jose) saw falling rates of property crime from 2010 to 2016.</p>
<p>The report found “no visible change” due to realignment and called for “more data” before “drawing conclusions about Prop. 47’s effect on crime.” Other studies from last year echo these <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2016/05/18/mass-release-of-california-prisoners-didnt-cause-rise-in-crime-two-studies-find/?utm_term=.8f44666ea241" type="external">conclusions</a>. These numbers, based on the newest FBI statistics, suggest that current concerns about a justice-reform-driven crime wave are overblown.</p>
<p>Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute. Write to him at [email protected].</p>
|
Report: Crime rates stable after state’s passage of sentencing reforms
| false |
https://calwatchdog.com/2017/11/01/report-crime-rates-stable-states-passage-sentencing-reforms/
|
2018-11-20
| 3left-center
|
Report: Crime rates stable after state’s passage of sentencing reforms
<p>SACRAMENTO – To deal with federal court orders demanding a reduction in prison populations, California officials – and state voters, via initiative – passed a series of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2016/05/18/mass-release-of-california-prisoners-didnt-cause-rise-in-crime-two-studies-find/?utm_term=.8f44666ea241" type="external">sentencing reforms</a> over the past seven years that have reduced overcrowding from 181 percent of capacity to 137.5 percent capacity. That’s a reduction of 33,000 inmates.</p>
<p>The main policy is known as realignment. Pushed through by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2011, the two new laws allow “non-violent, non-serious and non-sex offenders to serve their sentence in county jails instead of state prisons,” <a href="http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/realignment/" type="external">according to an explanation from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation</a>. The department says that no state prisoners had their time reduced and that the laws did not provide any early releases.</p>
<p>The second policy is Proposition 47, a statewide initiative that passed 60 percent to 40 percent in November 2014. <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_47,_Reduced_Penalties_for_Some_Crimes_Initiative_(2014)" type="external">As Ballotpedia explains</a>, the initiative “classified ‘non-serious, nonviolent crimes’ as misdemeanors instead of felonies unless the defendant has prior convictions for murder, rape, certain sex offenses or certain gun crimes.” It also permitted resentencing “for those currently serving a prison sentence for any of the offenses that the initiative reduces to misdemeanors.” That measure did therefore lead to early releases.</p>
<p>The state passed a variety of other sentencing-reform measures beginning in 2010. For instance, California had long taken a tough-on-crime approach, including passage of the nation’s toughest “three strikes and you’re out” laws in 1994, in the midst of frighteningly high crime rates. But even that signature crime-fighting law was revised, as voters passed, 70 percent to 30 percent, a 2012 statewide <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_36,_Changes_in_the_%22Three_Strikes%22_Law_(2012)" type="external">initiative</a> that required a life sentence only if the third strike were serious or violent.</p>
<p>The new laws reduced prison overcrowding, although they didn’t actually reduce the amount of tax dollars spent on the prison system. The big question: What have they done to crime rates? A spike in some crimes over that period has led to a vociferous debate, with Republicans and some moderate Democrats fanning fears of a crime wave. One Republican gubernatorial candidate, Abel Maldonado, ran for governor in 2014 on an anti-crime platform, but didn’t gain traction.</p>
<p>Currently, Democratic Assemblyman Jim Cooper, a former sheriff’s captain from Elk Grove, is leading efforts qualify a <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/california/articles/2017-10-30/initiative-would-expand-dna-gathering-restrict-early-parole" type="external">ballot measure</a> for the 2018 general election that would roll back much of Proposition 47. It also would roll back the loosened parole requirements in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_57_(2016)" type="external">Proposition 57</a>, which passed on the 2016 statewide ballot, and expand the list of crimes that requires collection of the perpetrator’s DNA, according to an Associated Press report.</p>
<p>Such pushback is due in large part to fears of growing crime rates. “Since the passage of Proposition 47 by voters in 2014 and the signing of AB109 in 2011, violent crime has been on the rise in California, up 12 percent in 2015 statewide according to the FBI,” according to a statement in March by Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Riverside County. <a href="http://www.politifact.com/california/statements/2017/mar/06/jeff-stone/has-violent-crime-been-rise-california-2011-and-di/" type="external">Politifact double-checked his claim</a> and found a one-year violent crime increase (from 2014 to 2015) of 8.4 percent.</p>
<p>That’s certainly enough to spark concern, but it’s hard to assess crime data based on short periods of time – and even harder to trace crime increases or decreases to any particular policy cause. <a href="http://www.cjcj.org/uploads/cjcj/documents/urban_crime_trends_remain_stable_through_californias_policy_reform_era_2010-2016.pdf" type="external">New research</a> from the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice looked at the entire 2010-2016 period of criminal-justice policy reform and found some mixed results. Overall, however, the group explains that the state’s crime rate was “stable” over that time.</p>
<p>“Urban crime rates in California declined precipitously through the 1990s and 2000s,” <a href="http://www.cjcj.org/news/11186" type="external">wrote author Mike Males</a>. “Since 2010, crime in California has stabilized, hovering near historically low levels.” Males compared the first six months of 2016 (the latest reporting period) with the first six months of 2010 and found that “total crime rates experienced no net change, while property crime declined by 1 percent and violent crime increased by 3 percent.”</p>
<p>National crime data show a small overall uptick nationwide, which might suggest that something other than California-only realignment and sentencing reform policies were at work here. Crime data often is affected more by local factors, and indeed the study finds that “crime rates at the local level have varied considerably.” For instance, crime rates shot up 18 percent in Downey, but dropped an astounding 29 percent in Santa Clara.</p>
<p>Regarding the big cities, the report found increased violent crime rates in Fresno, Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Jose – but lower violent crime rates in Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco. Likewise, some big cities (Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Diego) faced rising property crimes, but others (Fresno, Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Jose) saw falling rates of property crime from 2010 to 2016.</p>
<p>The report found “no visible change” due to realignment and called for “more data” before “drawing conclusions about Prop. 47’s effect on crime.” Other studies from last year echo these <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2016/05/18/mass-release-of-california-prisoners-didnt-cause-rise-in-crime-two-studies-find/?utm_term=.8f44666ea241" type="external">conclusions</a>. These numbers, based on the newest FBI statistics, suggest that current concerns about a justice-reform-driven crime wave are overblown.</p>
<p>Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute. Write to him at [email protected].</p>
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<p>Central Falls, R.I., filed for Chapter 9 <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-01/-dire-situation-forces-rhode-island-city-of-central-falls-into-bankruptcy.html" type="external">bankruptcy</a> protection on Monday, becoming the fifth U.S. city to enter bankruptcy this year. Six cities declared bankruptcy in all of 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.</p>
<p>The cash-strapped city had no options left after raising taxes, cutting services "to the bone" and failing to convince municipal retirees and current workers to accept cuts to their pensions and benefits, <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hmKHVuqeNExjVeHpeskKcahX2HKA?docId=18c927316d9a42078999e04c04480275" type="external">Robert Flanders</a>, the state-appointed receiver overseeing the city's finances, said at a news conference at City Hall, the Associated Press reports.</p>
<p>"The city's financial condition has deteriorated to the point where it is insolvent," Flanders said in the court filing, Bloomberg reports. "The overwhelming pension obligations and the slowing economy, among other factors, have significantly decreased revenues while the city's operational costs have increased."</p>
<p>Central Falls has $80 million in unfunded liabilities for pensions and retiree benefits, but the city retirement plan has just $5 million in assets, Flanders said.</p>
<p>In June, Moody's Investors Service estimated the Central Falls pension plan would run out of assets by October without additional funding or significant worker and retiree concessions, and rated the city a Caa1, below investment grade.</p>
<p>Flanders asked the federal court to immediately reject collective bargaining agreements with police and fire department employees. He plans to lay off city workers and reduce pension benefits in spite of retirees' opposition, AP reports.</p>
<p>Cities generally do everything they can to avoid declaring bankruptcy because it makes it more difficult and more expensive to raise money via the municipal bond market. But, the Financial Times reports, Rhode Island passed legislation last month ensuring that bondholders of its cities and towns will be fully repaid even in the event of bankruptcy.</p>
<p>This has changed the dynamics of bankruptcy in the state, James Spiotto, a partner at Chapman and Cutler, told FT. "The hindrance to Chapter 9 [bankruptcy] was always concern about future access to <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/aa55409e-bc78-11e0-acb6-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1To0eMfS1" type="external">capital</a>. [Rhode Island] has taken that out of the mix," he said.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, several more municipalities are mulling over declaring bankruptcy, according to AP. Last week, officials in Jefferson County, Ala., postponed a meeting to consider whether to go ahead with what would be the biggest municipal bankruptcy in the United States, but will discuss it again this week; Harrisburg, Pa., has also been considering the option.</p>
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Rhode Island city declares bankruptcy
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https://pri.org/stories/2011-08-02/rhode-island-city-declares-bankruptcy
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2011-08-02
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Rhode Island city declares bankruptcy
<p>Central Falls, R.I., filed for Chapter 9 <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-01/-dire-situation-forces-rhode-island-city-of-central-falls-into-bankruptcy.html" type="external">bankruptcy</a> protection on Monday, becoming the fifth U.S. city to enter bankruptcy this year. Six cities declared bankruptcy in all of 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.</p>
<p>The cash-strapped city had no options left after raising taxes, cutting services "to the bone" and failing to convince municipal retirees and current workers to accept cuts to their pensions and benefits, <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hmKHVuqeNExjVeHpeskKcahX2HKA?docId=18c927316d9a42078999e04c04480275" type="external">Robert Flanders</a>, the state-appointed receiver overseeing the city's finances, said at a news conference at City Hall, the Associated Press reports.</p>
<p>"The city's financial condition has deteriorated to the point where it is insolvent," Flanders said in the court filing, Bloomberg reports. "The overwhelming pension obligations and the slowing economy, among other factors, have significantly decreased revenues while the city's operational costs have increased."</p>
<p>Central Falls has $80 million in unfunded liabilities for pensions and retiree benefits, but the city retirement plan has just $5 million in assets, Flanders said.</p>
<p>In June, Moody's Investors Service estimated the Central Falls pension plan would run out of assets by October without additional funding or significant worker and retiree concessions, and rated the city a Caa1, below investment grade.</p>
<p>Flanders asked the federal court to immediately reject collective bargaining agreements with police and fire department employees. He plans to lay off city workers and reduce pension benefits in spite of retirees' opposition, AP reports.</p>
<p>Cities generally do everything they can to avoid declaring bankruptcy because it makes it more difficult and more expensive to raise money via the municipal bond market. But, the Financial Times reports, Rhode Island passed legislation last month ensuring that bondholders of its cities and towns will be fully repaid even in the event of bankruptcy.</p>
<p>This has changed the dynamics of bankruptcy in the state, James Spiotto, a partner at Chapman and Cutler, told FT. "The hindrance to Chapter 9 [bankruptcy] was always concern about future access to <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/aa55409e-bc78-11e0-acb6-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1To0eMfS1" type="external">capital</a>. [Rhode Island] has taken that out of the mix," he said.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, several more municipalities are mulling over declaring bankruptcy, according to AP. Last week, officials in Jefferson County, Ala., postponed a meeting to consider whether to go ahead with what would be the biggest municipal bankruptcy in the United States, but will discuss it again this week; Harrisburg, Pa., has also been considering the option.</p>
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<p>San Francisco Chronicle "Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau says the military has given him access to wounded warriors and their caregivers because "there are so many ways I could get it wrong [in the strip], they figured, I could use all the help I could get." He adds: "Some people are surprised the Pentagon would help me in trying to tell the story of critically wounded veterans of the Iraqi war. Their assumption is that a longtime critic of the administration's policies in Iraq would be unwelcome on the wards of Walter Reed. But longtime readers of the strip know that while I also bitterly opposed the Vietnam War, the strip has never been particularly anti-military."</p>
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Why the Pentagon lets Trudeau chat with wounded soldiers
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https://poynter.org/news/why-pentagon-lets-trudeau-chat-wounded-soldiers
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2005-10-24
| 2least
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Why the Pentagon lets Trudeau chat with wounded soldiers
<p>San Francisco Chronicle "Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau says the military has given him access to wounded warriors and their caregivers because "there are so many ways I could get it wrong [in the strip], they figured, I could use all the help I could get." He adds: "Some people are surprised the Pentagon would help me in trying to tell the story of critically wounded veterans of the Iraqi war. Their assumption is that a longtime critic of the administration's policies in Iraq would be unwelcome on the wards of Walter Reed. But longtime readers of the strip know that while I also bitterly opposed the Vietnam War, the strip has never been particularly anti-military."</p>
| 5,904 |
<p />
<p><a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SEXUAL_ASSAULT_FACEBOOK?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&amp;CTIME=2017-03-21-10-16-59" type="external">I think there is</a> a gate to hell in Chicago that we’ve overlooked. Five or six men or boys raped a 15 year-old girl live on Facebook in Chicago with an audience of approximately 40 viewers. None of whom notified the police. The only way they found out is the girl’s mother reported her missing after seeing the horrific footage. She gave it to police Superintendent Eddie Johnson late yesterday. It made him sick to his stomach. They did find the girl alive and reunited her with her mother. That was a miracle all by its lonesome.</p>
<p>Facebook has since taken down the video. There is so much evil in Chicago now and elsewhere that this is somehow entertainment to these freaks. This is the second time in months that the department has investigated an apparent attack that was streamed live on Facebook. In January, four people were arrested after a cellphone footage showed them allegedly taunting and beating a mentally disabled man. That was another horrific incident and now this. What the hell (literally) is going on in Chicago? Death everywhere and violent torture and rape seem to be the norm there these days.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>From the AP:</p>
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — A 15-year-old Chicago girl was apparently sexually assaulted by five or six men or boys on Facebook Live, and none of the roughly 40 people who watched the live video reported the attack to police, authorities said Tuesday.</p>
<p>Police only learned of the attack when the girl’s mother approached police Superintendent Eddie Johnson late Monday afternoon as he was leaving a department in the Lawndale neighborhood on the city’s West Side, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. She told him her daughter had been missing since Sunday and showed him screen grab photos of the alleged assault.</p>
<p>He said Johnson immediately ordered detectives to investigate and the department asked Facebook to take down the video, which it did.</p>
<p>John Hawkins's book 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know is filled with lessons that newly minted adults need in order to get the most out of life. Gleaned from a lifetime of trial, error, and writing it down, Hawkins provides advice everyone can benefit from in short, digestible chapters.</p>
<p>Guglielmi tweeted Tuesday that detectives found the girl and reunited her with her family, and that they’re conducting interviews.</p>
<p>He said Johnson was “visibly upset” after he watched the video, both by its contents and the fact that there were “40 or so live viewers and no one thought to call authorities.”</p>
<p>How long do people let this go on in Chicago before something concrete is done? Children are being murdered there every day. Now, the rape of young girls is being livestreamed to a select audience. Wonder how much they paid for that? This is the kind of bored, apathetic, sick mentality that led to the gladiators and the arenas. “What’s even more disturbing, more than the fact that they did this, there were so many people that saw this and they didn’t pick up the phone and dial 911,” Johnson told Chicago news station WGN. “That’s just not right and (we’re) working on it and try to bring it to a successful resolution.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/21/chicago-gang-rape-teen-streamed-facebook-live/99447884/" type="external">This was a gang rape.</a> The girl had been missing since Sunday. With the emergence of Facebook Live as well as Twitter’s live-streaming platform Periscope, it’s become more common for violent incidents to be streamed to the world in real-time. <a href="https://pjmedia.com/parenting/2017/03/21/chicago-police-investigating-facebook-live-gang-rape-of-15-year-old-girl/" type="external">The people that do this</a> in my book, need to be hunted down and dealt with. They are nothing more than vicious, sub-human scum.</p>
<p>LOCATED: Deahvion Austin was found by 10th district officers. She is now at the Area with her mother &amp; detectives are conducting interviews. <a href="https://t.co/1UEAiL0JYn" type="external">https://t.co/1UEAiL0JYn</a></p>
<p>— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AJGuglielmi/status/844187490034597889" type="external">March 21, 2017</a></p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is an editor and writer for Right Wing News. She owns and blogs at <a href="http://www.noisyroom.net/blog/" type="external">NoisyRoom.net</a>. She is a Constitutional Conservative and NoisyRoom focuses on political and national issues of interest to the American public. Terresa is the editor at Trevor Loudon's site, New Zeal - <a href="http://www.trevorloudon.com/" type="external">trevorloudon.com</a>. She also does research at <a href="http://www.keywiki.org" type="external">KeyWiki.org</a>. You can <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">email Terresa here</a>. NoisyRoom can be found on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/noisyroom.net" type="external">Facebook</a> and on <a href="https://twitter.com/terresamonroe" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p>
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Young Girl GANG RAPED by Mob of Chicago Thugs on Facebook Live
| true |
http://rightwingnews.com/crime/young-girl-gang-raped-mob-chicago-thugs-facebook-live/
|
2018-03-20
| 0right
|
Young Girl GANG RAPED by Mob of Chicago Thugs on Facebook Live
<p />
<p><a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SEXUAL_ASSAULT_FACEBOOK?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&amp;CTIME=2017-03-21-10-16-59" type="external">I think there is</a> a gate to hell in Chicago that we’ve overlooked. Five or six men or boys raped a 15 year-old girl live on Facebook in Chicago with an audience of approximately 40 viewers. None of whom notified the police. The only way they found out is the girl’s mother reported her missing after seeing the horrific footage. She gave it to police Superintendent Eddie Johnson late yesterday. It made him sick to his stomach. They did find the girl alive and reunited her with her mother. That was a miracle all by its lonesome.</p>
<p>Facebook has since taken down the video. There is so much evil in Chicago now and elsewhere that this is somehow entertainment to these freaks. This is the second time in months that the department has investigated an apparent attack that was streamed live on Facebook. In January, four people were arrested after a cellphone footage showed them allegedly taunting and beating a mentally disabled man. That was another horrific incident and now this. What the hell (literally) is going on in Chicago? Death everywhere and violent torture and rape seem to be the norm there these days.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>From the AP:</p>
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — A 15-year-old Chicago girl was apparently sexually assaulted by five or six men or boys on Facebook Live, and none of the roughly 40 people who watched the live video reported the attack to police, authorities said Tuesday.</p>
<p>Police only learned of the attack when the girl’s mother approached police Superintendent Eddie Johnson late Monday afternoon as he was leaving a department in the Lawndale neighborhood on the city’s West Side, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. She told him her daughter had been missing since Sunday and showed him screen grab photos of the alleged assault.</p>
<p>He said Johnson immediately ordered detectives to investigate and the department asked Facebook to take down the video, which it did.</p>
<p>John Hawkins's book 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know is filled with lessons that newly minted adults need in order to get the most out of life. Gleaned from a lifetime of trial, error, and writing it down, Hawkins provides advice everyone can benefit from in short, digestible chapters.</p>
<p>Guglielmi tweeted Tuesday that detectives found the girl and reunited her with her family, and that they’re conducting interviews.</p>
<p>He said Johnson was “visibly upset” after he watched the video, both by its contents and the fact that there were “40 or so live viewers and no one thought to call authorities.”</p>
<p>How long do people let this go on in Chicago before something concrete is done? Children are being murdered there every day. Now, the rape of young girls is being livestreamed to a select audience. Wonder how much they paid for that? This is the kind of bored, apathetic, sick mentality that led to the gladiators and the arenas. “What’s even more disturbing, more than the fact that they did this, there were so many people that saw this and they didn’t pick up the phone and dial 911,” Johnson told Chicago news station WGN. “That’s just not right and (we’re) working on it and try to bring it to a successful resolution.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/21/chicago-gang-rape-teen-streamed-facebook-live/99447884/" type="external">This was a gang rape.</a> The girl had been missing since Sunday. With the emergence of Facebook Live as well as Twitter’s live-streaming platform Periscope, it’s become more common for violent incidents to be streamed to the world in real-time. <a href="https://pjmedia.com/parenting/2017/03/21/chicago-police-investigating-facebook-live-gang-rape-of-15-year-old-girl/" type="external">The people that do this</a> in my book, need to be hunted down and dealt with. They are nothing more than vicious, sub-human scum.</p>
<p>LOCATED: Deahvion Austin was found by 10th district officers. She is now at the Area with her mother &amp; detectives are conducting interviews. <a href="https://t.co/1UEAiL0JYn" type="external">https://t.co/1UEAiL0JYn</a></p>
<p>— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AJGuglielmi/status/844187490034597889" type="external">March 21, 2017</a></p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is an editor and writer for Right Wing News. She owns and blogs at <a href="http://www.noisyroom.net/blog/" type="external">NoisyRoom.net</a>. She is a Constitutional Conservative and NoisyRoom focuses on political and national issues of interest to the American public. Terresa is the editor at Trevor Loudon's site, New Zeal - <a href="http://www.trevorloudon.com/" type="external">trevorloudon.com</a>. She also does research at <a href="http://www.keywiki.org" type="external">KeyWiki.org</a>. You can <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">email Terresa here</a>. NoisyRoom can be found on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/noisyroom.net" type="external">Facebook</a> and on <a href="https://twitter.com/terresamonroe" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p>
| 5,905 |
<p>Caracas.</p>
<p>Hugo havez had motivated his supporters to do a great job of organizing up to the vote, then got everyone up at 3 AM to get out to vote in the referendum. The lines were long and slow, with many waiting upt to 10 hours. Poll closing was extended from 6 pm to 8pm then to midnight, and the last people voted at about 2:30 or 3 AM. The last closings were mostly in the poorer regions, which have always had more voters per voting table than the middle class neighborhoods. This was not changed for this vote, unfortunately. The opposition complained that the automated fingerprint machines, included to avoid electoral fraud, delayed the process, so at about midday, the fingerprint part was ordered to be performed after one voted. At quarter to 4AM, the head of the electoral commission (CNE) announced, in a very brief statement, that Chavez won 58%, versus 42% to remove him, in the 94% tabulated of the electronically delivered voting machines ballots. Just before this, the two opposition rectors of the CNE pointed out a number of problems with the tally to be announced, such as that they and the opposition had not had been present at the tabulation.</p>
<p>After the preliminary totals were announced, the thousands outside the presidential palace erupted into cheering, fireworks, etc. Soon Chavez, in Peron style, came out on the balcony and addressed them, first singing the national anthem along with them, and then a solo second song demanded by the crowd. CNN Espanol carried his whole ~1 hour speech, live. As it ended, as if someone yelled “send in the clowns”, CNN switched to the opposition meeting, where almost all the Democratic Coordinator leaders were piled onto a stage. One of them then proclaimed that a monstrous fraud had been perpetrated, and that you could read the real results on the faces of those in the voting lines.</p>
<p>Their data said that they’d won, 59 to 41%, or 20 points difference, he pointed out. He said that tomorrow they’d present the data. Even though they had very long faces, and some seemed to be trying not to be conspicuous, there they all were, as if they were being forced to fulfill the conditions of their contract. Perhaps this was needed to confuse things with a first report, even if later it proved ridiculous, and to allow some tendentious analysts to question the results, as was done with the 1984 Sandinista 70% electoral victory. Also, as the opposition had become fervent believers in their own fantasies, they were dumbstruck, and looked pitiful.</p>
<p>In an immediate interview with the opposition spokesman, Henry Ramos Allup, the head of the traditional party, the Adecos, the CNN anchor’s tone was very skeptical. It didn’t help that the guy speaks poorly, and had to follow the master’s (Chavez) oratory.</p>
<p>Today the opposition leaders are all saying they won’t accept this, the greatest fraud in Venezuelan history, lying down. Principal electoral observers OAS president Gaviria and Jimmy Carter, at 1:30 pm, said that they’d received no detailed results of fraud, that it looked clean to them, and that the results announced by the CNE were consistent with their own straw tallies. They even mentioned that the numbers they had from SUMATE, the Nat. Endowment for Democracy funded opposition group, were 55 to 45% in favor of Chavez. Gaviria suggested that the opposition count again.</p>
<p>A demonstration by a few hundred of the opposition blocked the major highway through the middle of Caracas, but, wonder of wonders, only one of the generally fervently anti-Chavez private TV stations, the most radical, Globovision, had live coverage. In fact, the TV’s were been showing movies and cooking shows, and had not even been mentioning yesterday’s vote. They didn’t play up the claims of fraud, and didn’t even have their regular daily Chavez bashing interview programs. Very strange.</p>
<p>One hypothesis: The opposition are mainly a bunch of has-been and wanna-be incompetent bozos, the same kleptocratic pols who kept 80% of the richest country in latin america in poverty. Everyone knows that, and even most of the people against Chavez have nothing good to say about them. They only looked good when the media transformed the anti-Chavez campaign into a glorious struggle for freedom and democracy with sophisticated US campaign techniques. They’ve never had a program nor any ideas except anti-Chavez rhetoric and the implied notion that they will give the country back to the better element, while placating the poor. It seems that the spinmeisters (the calvary, or the marines, if you will) didn’t arrive in time for their campaign, which really never got off the ground. The failure of the media now to follow the pathetic opposition claims of fraud, although they always have made their lies into truth before, is also striking. As implied by Forrero in the NYT, could it be possible that the powerful northern interests decided that Chavez was preferable to instability that would increase oil prices?</p>
<p>Did Chavez cut a deal to allow more multinational oil companies access to the hydrocarbon resources, and to increase oil production? Will the oil prices stay high, and will Chavez, with two years respite until the next presidential election, continue the dizzying pace of the social programs and infrastructure spending? Can the programs be converted into sustainable institutions? Can the government efficiency and competence be improved? Will the demoralized opposition, who always insisted they were the majority, be able to wake up to the reality in the country, will they be able to work together on the development and social programs they insisted they wouldn’t eliminate, or will they look for new ways to try to block progress? Will Kerry again complain that Bush didn’t support the Venezuelan opposition enough, and then blame him for losing Venezuela? Will the US president (whoever it may be) prefer short term oil price stability in the next few months and wait until after the election to renew attempts to oust Chavez?</p>
<p>In the Chavez bashing NYT op-ed piece by Bernard Aronson on Saturday, he listed a number of the programs he said were need for real economic development in Latin America: microcredits for small industry to allow it to pass from the informal to the more formal sector, help for medium businesses, etc. The list was remarkably similar to the programs that Chavez has already been instituting in Venezuela. Aronson also had a number of factual errors.</p>
<p>For instance, he said (and it was also stated in the WP editorial of 2 wks ago), that Carter and the OAS convinced or forced Chavez to allow the referendum. Actually Chavez had been offering the referendum, which he put into the constitution, as a remedy for the opposition complaints, and it was the opposition who had to be convinced by Carter and OAS president Gaviria in the negotiations of May 2003 to go the route of the referendum that THEY HAD REJECTED in favor of more violent actions to force Chavez out by unconstitutional means..</p>
<p>The truth about the opposition is that everything they’ve tried has backfired, losing them support, and consolidating support for Chavez, both in and outside the country. Their comical declaration of victory will lose them further support.</p>
<p>The referendum, however, forced Chavez to get moving rapidly on social programs. Elections for mayors and governors next month, and presidential elections in 2006 will likely make sure that they continue. The Chavez government’s work to develop the country has still only just begun. There is now a greater responsibility for US citizens to see that their government does not impede their difficult task.</p>
<p>ALAN CISCO is an America living and working in Caracas.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
|
The Discreet Charm of the Venezuelan Opposition
| true |
https://counterpunch.org/2004/08/19/the-discreet-charm-of-the-venezuelan-opposition/
|
2004-08-19
| 4left
|
The Discreet Charm of the Venezuelan Opposition
<p>Caracas.</p>
<p>Hugo havez had motivated his supporters to do a great job of organizing up to the vote, then got everyone up at 3 AM to get out to vote in the referendum. The lines were long and slow, with many waiting upt to 10 hours. Poll closing was extended from 6 pm to 8pm then to midnight, and the last people voted at about 2:30 or 3 AM. The last closings were mostly in the poorer regions, which have always had more voters per voting table than the middle class neighborhoods. This was not changed for this vote, unfortunately. The opposition complained that the automated fingerprint machines, included to avoid electoral fraud, delayed the process, so at about midday, the fingerprint part was ordered to be performed after one voted. At quarter to 4AM, the head of the electoral commission (CNE) announced, in a very brief statement, that Chavez won 58%, versus 42% to remove him, in the 94% tabulated of the electronically delivered voting machines ballots. Just before this, the two opposition rectors of the CNE pointed out a number of problems with the tally to be announced, such as that they and the opposition had not had been present at the tabulation.</p>
<p>After the preliminary totals were announced, the thousands outside the presidential palace erupted into cheering, fireworks, etc. Soon Chavez, in Peron style, came out on the balcony and addressed them, first singing the national anthem along with them, and then a solo second song demanded by the crowd. CNN Espanol carried his whole ~1 hour speech, live. As it ended, as if someone yelled “send in the clowns”, CNN switched to the opposition meeting, where almost all the Democratic Coordinator leaders were piled onto a stage. One of them then proclaimed that a monstrous fraud had been perpetrated, and that you could read the real results on the faces of those in the voting lines.</p>
<p>Their data said that they’d won, 59 to 41%, or 20 points difference, he pointed out. He said that tomorrow they’d present the data. Even though they had very long faces, and some seemed to be trying not to be conspicuous, there they all were, as if they were being forced to fulfill the conditions of their contract. Perhaps this was needed to confuse things with a first report, even if later it proved ridiculous, and to allow some tendentious analysts to question the results, as was done with the 1984 Sandinista 70% electoral victory. Also, as the opposition had become fervent believers in their own fantasies, they were dumbstruck, and looked pitiful.</p>
<p>In an immediate interview with the opposition spokesman, Henry Ramos Allup, the head of the traditional party, the Adecos, the CNN anchor’s tone was very skeptical. It didn’t help that the guy speaks poorly, and had to follow the master’s (Chavez) oratory.</p>
<p>Today the opposition leaders are all saying they won’t accept this, the greatest fraud in Venezuelan history, lying down. Principal electoral observers OAS president Gaviria and Jimmy Carter, at 1:30 pm, said that they’d received no detailed results of fraud, that it looked clean to them, and that the results announced by the CNE were consistent with their own straw tallies. They even mentioned that the numbers they had from SUMATE, the Nat. Endowment for Democracy funded opposition group, were 55 to 45% in favor of Chavez. Gaviria suggested that the opposition count again.</p>
<p>A demonstration by a few hundred of the opposition blocked the major highway through the middle of Caracas, but, wonder of wonders, only one of the generally fervently anti-Chavez private TV stations, the most radical, Globovision, had live coverage. In fact, the TV’s were been showing movies and cooking shows, and had not even been mentioning yesterday’s vote. They didn’t play up the claims of fraud, and didn’t even have their regular daily Chavez bashing interview programs. Very strange.</p>
<p>One hypothesis: The opposition are mainly a bunch of has-been and wanna-be incompetent bozos, the same kleptocratic pols who kept 80% of the richest country in latin america in poverty. Everyone knows that, and even most of the people against Chavez have nothing good to say about them. They only looked good when the media transformed the anti-Chavez campaign into a glorious struggle for freedom and democracy with sophisticated US campaign techniques. They’ve never had a program nor any ideas except anti-Chavez rhetoric and the implied notion that they will give the country back to the better element, while placating the poor. It seems that the spinmeisters (the calvary, or the marines, if you will) didn’t arrive in time for their campaign, which really never got off the ground. The failure of the media now to follow the pathetic opposition claims of fraud, although they always have made their lies into truth before, is also striking. As implied by Forrero in the NYT, could it be possible that the powerful northern interests decided that Chavez was preferable to instability that would increase oil prices?</p>
<p>Did Chavez cut a deal to allow more multinational oil companies access to the hydrocarbon resources, and to increase oil production? Will the oil prices stay high, and will Chavez, with two years respite until the next presidential election, continue the dizzying pace of the social programs and infrastructure spending? Can the programs be converted into sustainable institutions? Can the government efficiency and competence be improved? Will the demoralized opposition, who always insisted they were the majority, be able to wake up to the reality in the country, will they be able to work together on the development and social programs they insisted they wouldn’t eliminate, or will they look for new ways to try to block progress? Will Kerry again complain that Bush didn’t support the Venezuelan opposition enough, and then blame him for losing Venezuela? Will the US president (whoever it may be) prefer short term oil price stability in the next few months and wait until after the election to renew attempts to oust Chavez?</p>
<p>In the Chavez bashing NYT op-ed piece by Bernard Aronson on Saturday, he listed a number of the programs he said were need for real economic development in Latin America: microcredits for small industry to allow it to pass from the informal to the more formal sector, help for medium businesses, etc. The list was remarkably similar to the programs that Chavez has already been instituting in Venezuela. Aronson also had a number of factual errors.</p>
<p>For instance, he said (and it was also stated in the WP editorial of 2 wks ago), that Carter and the OAS convinced or forced Chavez to allow the referendum. Actually Chavez had been offering the referendum, which he put into the constitution, as a remedy for the opposition complaints, and it was the opposition who had to be convinced by Carter and OAS president Gaviria in the negotiations of May 2003 to go the route of the referendum that THEY HAD REJECTED in favor of more violent actions to force Chavez out by unconstitutional means..</p>
<p>The truth about the opposition is that everything they’ve tried has backfired, losing them support, and consolidating support for Chavez, both in and outside the country. Their comical declaration of victory will lose them further support.</p>
<p>The referendum, however, forced Chavez to get moving rapidly on social programs. Elections for mayors and governors next month, and presidential elections in 2006 will likely make sure that they continue. The Chavez government’s work to develop the country has still only just begun. There is now a greater responsibility for US citizens to see that their government does not impede their difficult task.</p>
<p>ALAN CISCO is an America living and working in Caracas.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
| 5,906 |
<p>PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) - Police in suburban Detroit say a bicyclist died after being hit by at least three vehicles in the pre-dawn darkness.</p>
<p>The Oakland County Sheriff's Office says the driver of the first car that hit the man from behind about 4:30 a.m. Saturday fled from the scene in Pontiac and that investigators were searching for the vehicle.</p>
<p>The department says the other two drivers stopped and were not injured. The 51-year-old man riding the bike was pronounced dead at the scene.</p>
<p>PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) - Police in suburban Detroit say a bicyclist died after being hit by at least three vehicles in the pre-dawn darkness.</p>
<p>The Oakland County Sheriff's Office says the driver of the first car that hit the man from behind about 4:30 a.m. Saturday fled from the scene in Pontiac and that investigators were searching for the vehicle.</p>
<p>The department says the other two drivers stopped and were not injured. The 51-year-old man riding the bike was pronounced dead at the scene.</p>
|
Bicyclist dies after hit by 3 cars in suburban Detroit
| false |
https://apnews.com/amp/956ed07059fd46518b74279d23df28fb
|
2018-01-07
| 2least
|
Bicyclist dies after hit by 3 cars in suburban Detroit
<p>PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) - Police in suburban Detroit say a bicyclist died after being hit by at least three vehicles in the pre-dawn darkness.</p>
<p>The Oakland County Sheriff's Office says the driver of the first car that hit the man from behind about 4:30 a.m. Saturday fled from the scene in Pontiac and that investigators were searching for the vehicle.</p>
<p>The department says the other two drivers stopped and were not injured. The 51-year-old man riding the bike was pronounced dead at the scene.</p>
<p>PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) - Police in suburban Detroit say a bicyclist died after being hit by at least three vehicles in the pre-dawn darkness.</p>
<p>The Oakland County Sheriff's Office says the driver of the first car that hit the man from behind about 4:30 a.m. Saturday fled from the scene in Pontiac and that investigators were searching for the vehicle.</p>
<p>The department says the other two drivers stopped and were not injured. The 51-year-old man riding the bike was pronounced dead at the scene.</p>
| 5,907 |
<p>Last December at the meetings of the American Economic Association, there was a major address by MIT's generally admired theorist of economic growth, Robert M. Solow. He chose for his title, "The Economics of Resources or the Resources of Economics," and began with this quotation:</p>
<p>Contemplation of the world's disappearing supplies of minerals, forests, and other exhaustible assets has led to demands for regulation of their exploitation. The feeling that these products are now too cheap for the good of future generations, that they are being selfishly exploited at too rapid a rate, and that in consequence of their excessive cheapness they are being produced and consumed wastefully has given rise to the conservation movement.</p>
<p>Solow's intent was playful, for as he immediately revealed, "The author of those sentences is not Dennis Meadows and associates, not Ralph Nader and associates, not the president of the Sierra Club; it is a very eminent economic theorist - Harold Hotelling," who confided these fears to fellow economists way back in 1931. From this instance of doom averted and scarcity denied, Solow inferred the encouraging conclusion that "The world has been exhausting its exhaustible resources since the first caveman chipped a flint, and I imagine the process will go on for a long, long time."</p>
<p />
|
Mill, Malthus, and Growth Without End
| true |
https://dissentmagazine.org/article/mill-malthus-and-growth-without-end
|
2018-10-06
| 4left
|
Mill, Malthus, and Growth Without End
<p>Last December at the meetings of the American Economic Association, there was a major address by MIT's generally admired theorist of economic growth, Robert M. Solow. He chose for his title, "The Economics of Resources or the Resources of Economics," and began with this quotation:</p>
<p>Contemplation of the world's disappearing supplies of minerals, forests, and other exhaustible assets has led to demands for regulation of their exploitation. The feeling that these products are now too cheap for the good of future generations, that they are being selfishly exploited at too rapid a rate, and that in consequence of their excessive cheapness they are being produced and consumed wastefully has given rise to the conservation movement.</p>
<p>Solow's intent was playful, for as he immediately revealed, "The author of those sentences is not Dennis Meadows and associates, not Ralph Nader and associates, not the president of the Sierra Club; it is a very eminent economic theorist - Harold Hotelling," who confided these fears to fellow economists way back in 1931. From this instance of doom averted and scarcity denied, Solow inferred the encouraging conclusion that "The world has been exhausting its exhaustible resources since the first caveman chipped a flint, and I imagine the process will go on for a long, long time."</p>
<p />
| 5,908 |
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<p>SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Nearly a third of New Mexico’s lawmakers will be new to their jobs when the Legislature convenes on Tuesday, but the hurdles confronting Republican Gov. Susana Martinez remain largely unchanged as she tries to overcome Democratic opposition to her proposals such as stopping the state from issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.</p>
<p>Martinez found common ground with the Democratic-controlled Legislature in hammering out state budgets during the past two years but bipartisan cooperation has proven more elusive on broader policy questions.</p>
<p>Democrats have blocked key pieces of the governor’s agenda that she plans to renew this session, including the politically charged immigrant driver’s license proposal and a school improvement initiative for holding back third graders who can’t read proficiently rather than giving them a “social promotion” to the next grade.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
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Democrats continue to battle GOP governor in NM
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/159972/democrats-continue-to-battle-gop-governor-in-nm.html
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2013-01-13
| 2least
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Democrats continue to battle GOP governor in NM
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Nearly a third of New Mexico’s lawmakers will be new to their jobs when the Legislature convenes on Tuesday, but the hurdles confronting Republican Gov. Susana Martinez remain largely unchanged as she tries to overcome Democratic opposition to her proposals such as stopping the state from issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.</p>
<p>Martinez found common ground with the Democratic-controlled Legislature in hammering out state budgets during the past two years but bipartisan cooperation has proven more elusive on broader policy questions.</p>
<p>Democrats have blocked key pieces of the governor’s agenda that she plans to renew this session, including the politically charged immigrant driver’s license proposal and a school improvement initiative for holding back third graders who can’t read proficiently rather than giving them a “social promotion” to the next grade.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
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<p />
<p>The New Mexico Court of Appeals on Thursday overturned a District Court ruling, holding that former state Personnel Director Sandra Perez was not eligible for unemployment benefits because she worked in a major political or advisory role for Richardson. That kind of job designation prohibits payment of unemployment benefits to former political hires under state law.</p>
<p>Perez had been nominated and approved for the job by Richardson, and the job entailed “a duty to advise state government officials, and agencies at all levels,” Court of Appeals Judge Jonathan B. Sutin said in the ruling to deny benefits.</p>
<p>The Court of Appeals ruling came about two weeks after a state district judge in Albuquerque ruled that former Richardson administration spokesman Gilbert Gallegos was ineligible for unemployment benefits after losing the state government job to which Richardson had appointed him.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Gallegos said in his court pleadings that his work entailed a retelling of Richardson’s policies rather than advising on them. District Judge Ted Baca rejected that claim, saying the job was “advisory” because Gallegos’ job included offering guidance to Cabinet secretaries and their staff regarding communications strategy.</p>
<p>Both cases went to the courts after a Department of Workforce Solutions board of review denied unemployment benefits, concluding that the jobs of Perez and Gallegos were advisory and ineligible for benefits.</p>
<p>Gov. Susana Martinez’s Office on Friday praised the court rulings as “a favorable outcome for taxpayers.”</p>
<p>“From the outset, the governor has felt strongly that political appointees should not receive unemployment benefits,” Martinez spokesman Enrique Knell said in an emailed statement. “…They serve on an at-will basis and understand that they could be separated from employment at any time, which is particularly likely when a change in administration takes place.”</p>
<p>Perez, reached for comment Friday, said she was not aware of the ruling and needed to discuss the case with her attorney to understand the ruling and determine whether an appeal to the state’s high court would be appropriate.</p>
<p>Gallegos, who now works for Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M, did not return calls for comment.</p>
<p>Perez and Gallegos were among about 300 politically appointed state employees who served at the pleasure of the governor in 2010, Richardson’s final year in office.</p>
<p>Other state employees, known as classified employees and hired according to state personnel rules, are protected from political patronage and are eligible for unemployment benefits if laid off.</p>
<p />
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2 political appointees denied benefits
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/320139/2-political-appointees-denied-benefits.html
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2 political appointees denied benefits
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<p />
<p>The New Mexico Court of Appeals on Thursday overturned a District Court ruling, holding that former state Personnel Director Sandra Perez was not eligible for unemployment benefits because she worked in a major political or advisory role for Richardson. That kind of job designation prohibits payment of unemployment benefits to former political hires under state law.</p>
<p>Perez had been nominated and approved for the job by Richardson, and the job entailed “a duty to advise state government officials, and agencies at all levels,” Court of Appeals Judge Jonathan B. Sutin said in the ruling to deny benefits.</p>
<p>The Court of Appeals ruling came about two weeks after a state district judge in Albuquerque ruled that former Richardson administration spokesman Gilbert Gallegos was ineligible for unemployment benefits after losing the state government job to which Richardson had appointed him.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Gallegos said in his court pleadings that his work entailed a retelling of Richardson’s policies rather than advising on them. District Judge Ted Baca rejected that claim, saying the job was “advisory” because Gallegos’ job included offering guidance to Cabinet secretaries and their staff regarding communications strategy.</p>
<p>Both cases went to the courts after a Department of Workforce Solutions board of review denied unemployment benefits, concluding that the jobs of Perez and Gallegos were advisory and ineligible for benefits.</p>
<p>Gov. Susana Martinez’s Office on Friday praised the court rulings as “a favorable outcome for taxpayers.”</p>
<p>“From the outset, the governor has felt strongly that political appointees should not receive unemployment benefits,” Martinez spokesman Enrique Knell said in an emailed statement. “…They serve on an at-will basis and understand that they could be separated from employment at any time, which is particularly likely when a change in administration takes place.”</p>
<p>Perez, reached for comment Friday, said she was not aware of the ruling and needed to discuss the case with her attorney to understand the ruling and determine whether an appeal to the state’s high court would be appropriate.</p>
<p>Gallegos, who now works for Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M, did not return calls for comment.</p>
<p>Perez and Gallegos were among about 300 politically appointed state employees who served at the pleasure of the governor in 2010, Richardson’s final year in office.</p>
<p>Other state employees, known as classified employees and hired according to state personnel rules, are protected from political patronage and are eligible for unemployment benefits if laid off.</p>
<p />
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| 5,910 |
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<p />
<p>Over the weekend, Archie Green, grandfather of labor history, passed away in his San Francisco home at the age of 91. Over at Daily Yonder, Julie Ardery has written Green a <a href="http://www.dailyyonder.com/archie-green-1917-2009-called-labor/2009/03/24/2015" type="external">great eulogy</a> chronicling his many and varied accomplishments:</p>
<p>Archie, as he was universally known, was a scholar of what he called “laborlore” – the expressive culture of working people. For five decades he studied hillbilly music and pile-drivers’ tales. He made inventories of&#160; “tin men” – the showpieces of sheet metal workers — and analyzed sailors’ slang.&#160; He recorded songs by millworkers and miners’ wives. Working on until just months before his death, he wrote countless articles, both academic and popular, and five books, including Only a Miner, his landmark study of coal-mining music.</p>
<p>Born in Winnipeg to Russian Jewish parents in 1917, Green spent most of his childhood in LA. He attended UCLA and UC Berkeley for college, and spent the first part of his adult life building ships on the waterfront. But in 1959, he went back to school, and over the next few years earned degrees in both library science and folklore. He spent the better part of the ’60s and ’70s digging up and dusting off forgotten bits of what he called “laborlore”—legends, folksongs, and stories of individual workers. In 1976, he convinced Congress to pass the <a href="http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/emrrp/emris/emrishelp5/american_folklife_preservation_act_legal_matters.htm" type="external">American Folklife Preservation Act</a> and create the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/folklife/" type="external">American Folklife Center</a> at the Library of Congress. In recent years, he worked with the San Francisco based <a href="http://www.laborculture.org/" type="external">Fund for Labor Culture and History</a> and helped organize&#160; <a href="http://www.loc.gov/folklife/laborlore/" type="external">Laborlore Conversations</a>, a series of conferences on workers’ culture past and present that drew a crowd of historians, activists, union members, and many others.</p>
<p>Mother Jones is especially indebted to Green, since without him, our namesake, Mary “Mother Jones” Harris might have been forgotten—he <a href="http://openlibrary.org/b/OL14634815M/death-of-Mother-Jones" type="external">recovered her legacy</a> in 1960. Check out the folksong “The Death of Mother Jones” <a href="http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiDETHJONE;ttDETHJONE.html" type="external">here</a>. Sure wish I could hear it. If anyone knows where an MP3 lives, do tell.</p>
|
RIP Archie Green
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/03/rip-archie-green/
|
2009-03-25
| 4left
|
RIP Archie Green
<p />
<p>Over the weekend, Archie Green, grandfather of labor history, passed away in his San Francisco home at the age of 91. Over at Daily Yonder, Julie Ardery has written Green a <a href="http://www.dailyyonder.com/archie-green-1917-2009-called-labor/2009/03/24/2015" type="external">great eulogy</a> chronicling his many and varied accomplishments:</p>
<p>Archie, as he was universally known, was a scholar of what he called “laborlore” – the expressive culture of working people. For five decades he studied hillbilly music and pile-drivers’ tales. He made inventories of&#160; “tin men” – the showpieces of sheet metal workers — and analyzed sailors’ slang.&#160; He recorded songs by millworkers and miners’ wives. Working on until just months before his death, he wrote countless articles, both academic and popular, and five books, including Only a Miner, his landmark study of coal-mining music.</p>
<p>Born in Winnipeg to Russian Jewish parents in 1917, Green spent most of his childhood in LA. He attended UCLA and UC Berkeley for college, and spent the first part of his adult life building ships on the waterfront. But in 1959, he went back to school, and over the next few years earned degrees in both library science and folklore. He spent the better part of the ’60s and ’70s digging up and dusting off forgotten bits of what he called “laborlore”—legends, folksongs, and stories of individual workers. In 1976, he convinced Congress to pass the <a href="http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/emrrp/emris/emrishelp5/american_folklife_preservation_act_legal_matters.htm" type="external">American Folklife Preservation Act</a> and create the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/folklife/" type="external">American Folklife Center</a> at the Library of Congress. In recent years, he worked with the San Francisco based <a href="http://www.laborculture.org/" type="external">Fund for Labor Culture and History</a> and helped organize&#160; <a href="http://www.loc.gov/folklife/laborlore/" type="external">Laborlore Conversations</a>, a series of conferences on workers’ culture past and present that drew a crowd of historians, activists, union members, and many others.</p>
<p>Mother Jones is especially indebted to Green, since without him, our namesake, Mary “Mother Jones” Harris might have been forgotten—he <a href="http://openlibrary.org/b/OL14634815M/death-of-Mother-Jones" type="external">recovered her legacy</a> in 1960. Check out the folksong “The Death of Mother Jones” <a href="http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiDETHJONE;ttDETHJONE.html" type="external">here</a>. Sure wish I could hear it. If anyone knows where an MP3 lives, do tell.</p>
| 5,911 |
<p>Reflecting on Tuesday’s State of the Union address, this week’s Reporter Remix looks at some of the biggest issues in President Obama’s speech:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-rt-us-usa-obama-jobs-20140131,0,21894.story" type="external">Help wanted: Obama calls on CEOs to take on long-term jobless</a> MJ Lee of Politico forecasts President Obama’s meeting with leaders of major companies to encourage them to hire the long-term jobless as part of his initiative to fight unemployment. Meanwhile, the <a href="http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Illinois-Unemployment-Remains-Near-National-High-242425721.html" type="external">Illinois unemployment rate</a> remains one of the highest in the nation at 8.6 percent.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/hispanics-often-lead-the-way-in-their-faith-in-the-american-dream-poll-finds/2014/01/30/c9d4d498-6c2a-11e3-b405-7e360f7e9fd2_story.html" type="external">Hispanics often lead the way in their faith in the American Dream, poll finds</a> In lieu of immigration reform’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/us/politics/backing-in-gop-for-legal-status-for-immigrants.html?_r=0" type="external">reemergence in Congress</a>, a new survey finds American Hispanics harbor much higher optimism for the American dream than white Americans and African Americans.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/01/early-childhood-education-lots-of-talk-but-not-much-action-yet/283448/" type="external">Early childhood education: Lots of talk, but not much action (yet)</a> Education may have been one of the most tweeted State of the Union buzzwords but a new report from the New America Foundation, outlined in the Atlantic, emphasizes the dismal state of early education: Child poverty rates are at the highest they’ve been in 20 years, nearly half of all public school students qualify for free or reduced lunch and most harrowing of all, impoverished children under-perform their peers by 10 percentage points on standardized testing.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theodore-johnson/what-black-history-month-_b_4680749.html" type="external">What Black History Month should be</a> February is Black History Month and Theodore Johnson reminds us in the Huffington Post it should more than just a recount of history.</p>
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The Reporter Remix: State of the Union (and State) edition
| false |
http://chicagoreporter.com/reporter-remix-state-union-and-state-edition/
|
2014-01-31
| 3left-center
|
The Reporter Remix: State of the Union (and State) edition
<p>Reflecting on Tuesday’s State of the Union address, this week’s Reporter Remix looks at some of the biggest issues in President Obama’s speech:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-rt-us-usa-obama-jobs-20140131,0,21894.story" type="external">Help wanted: Obama calls on CEOs to take on long-term jobless</a> MJ Lee of Politico forecasts President Obama’s meeting with leaders of major companies to encourage them to hire the long-term jobless as part of his initiative to fight unemployment. Meanwhile, the <a href="http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Illinois-Unemployment-Remains-Near-National-High-242425721.html" type="external">Illinois unemployment rate</a> remains one of the highest in the nation at 8.6 percent.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/hispanics-often-lead-the-way-in-their-faith-in-the-american-dream-poll-finds/2014/01/30/c9d4d498-6c2a-11e3-b405-7e360f7e9fd2_story.html" type="external">Hispanics often lead the way in their faith in the American Dream, poll finds</a> In lieu of immigration reform’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/us/politics/backing-in-gop-for-legal-status-for-immigrants.html?_r=0" type="external">reemergence in Congress</a>, a new survey finds American Hispanics harbor much higher optimism for the American dream than white Americans and African Americans.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/01/early-childhood-education-lots-of-talk-but-not-much-action-yet/283448/" type="external">Early childhood education: Lots of talk, but not much action (yet)</a> Education may have been one of the most tweeted State of the Union buzzwords but a new report from the New America Foundation, outlined in the Atlantic, emphasizes the dismal state of early education: Child poverty rates are at the highest they’ve been in 20 years, nearly half of all public school students qualify for free or reduced lunch and most harrowing of all, impoverished children under-perform their peers by 10 percentage points on standardized testing.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theodore-johnson/what-black-history-month-_b_4680749.html" type="external">What Black History Month should be</a> February is Black History Month and Theodore Johnson reminds us in the Huffington Post it should more than just a recount of history.</p>
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<p>Q: Do 11 states now have more people on welfare than they have employed? A: A viral email making this claim is off base. It distorts a Forbes article that compares private-sector workers with those “dependent on the government,” including government workers and pensioners, and Medicaid recipients — not just “people on welfare.”</p>
<p />
| false |
https://factcheck.org/tag/death-spiral/
| 2least
|
<p>Q: Do 11 states now have more people on welfare than they have employed? A: A viral email making this claim is off base. It distorts a Forbes article that compares private-sector workers with those “dependent on the government,” including government workers and pensioners, and Medicaid recipients — not just “people on welfare.”</p>
<p />
| 5,913 |
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<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>A new report published by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) along with one just released by&#160; <a href="http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&amp;iid=4881" type="external">the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics</a>&#160;(BJS), paints a disturbing picture of a prison system filled with rapist guards and wardens who are indifferent or complicit in the sexual abuse.</p>
<p>With reports of inmate rape on the rise, half those sexual assaults are committed by correctional officers themselves, according to the studies.</p>
<p>Congress passed the&#160; <a href="http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/programs/prisonrapeelimination.htm" type="external">Prison Rape Elimination Act</a>&#160;in 2003, demanding that prisons and jails keep detailed records of incidents of rape. These statistics are published by the government annually. But this year’s report said that some 49 percent of the incidents involved prison staff members committing “sexual misconduct”.</p>
<p>Female prisoners seemed to experience disproportionate numbers of sexual assaults, but among men, almost 90% of reported rapes were defined as “unsubstantiated”. Part of the reason for this involves the fear of some men to come forward after being raped, particularly when prison guards were involved. If the prisoners do not come forward immediately and receive a medical examination, the prisons – and thus the government report – typically relegates their claims to the category of “unsubstantiated.” It is important to note that the 49% figure comes only from the “substantiated” reports, meaning that if those other 90% of claims are true, the figures could be even more staggering.</p>
<p>Allan Beck, a statistician who co-authored the report, told Reuters that&#160; <a href="http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/svpjri1112.pdf" type="external">a study from May 2013</a>&#160;(PDF) demonstrated much larger numbers, documenting a staggering 80,000 inmate allegations of sexual abuse or assault during the period between 2011 and 2012.</p>
<p>“Of course, we find much higher rates of sexual victimization through inmates’&#160;self-reports than what comes through in the official records,” Beck told Reuters.</p>
<p>In Alabama alone,&#160;36% of all prison staff members were involved in some form of sexual abuse.</p>
<p>Female inmates in Alabama’s Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women have been subjected to atrocious acts of sexual abuse – and the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) did nothing about it.</p>
<p>The Department of Justice&#160; <a href="http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/January/14-crt-061.html" type="external">report</a>&#160;found that Alabama’s&#160; <a href="http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/documents/tutwiler_findings_1-17-14.pdf" type="external">rampant abuse</a>&#160;violates the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The DOJ has even called upon Governor Robert Bentley (R) to make immediate changes or the state will face a lawsuit. Meanwhile, the media has been nearly silent on this matter.</p>
<p>“Tutwiler has a history of unabated staff-on-prisoner sexual abuse and harassment,” the report explained. “The women at Tutwiler universally fear for their safety. They live in a sexualized environment with repeated and open sexual behavior…”</p>
<p>Just as disturbing, the DOJ admitted that there is a lack of protocol for reprimanding staff members in many of the prisons where these sexual assaults take place.</p>
<p>Ironically, the United States is filled with people on the left and right who are quick to stand up for First and Second Amendments of the Constitutional Bill of Rights. But when it comes to the Eighth Amendment of not facing cruel and unusual treatment as a result of criminal prosecution, most go silent. If this matters to you, help get the word out and wake people up to the institutionalized prison-rape system that has become disgustingly prevalent in the United States of America.</p>
<p>(Article by M.B. David; image via Front Page)</p>
|
Government Reports Claim U.S. Prisons Full of Rapist Guards
| true |
http://politicalblindspot.com/report-claims-us-prisons/
|
2014-01-28
| 4left
|
Government Reports Claim U.S. Prisons Full of Rapist Guards
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>A new report published by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) along with one just released by&#160; <a href="http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&amp;iid=4881" type="external">the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics</a>&#160;(BJS), paints a disturbing picture of a prison system filled with rapist guards and wardens who are indifferent or complicit in the sexual abuse.</p>
<p>With reports of inmate rape on the rise, half those sexual assaults are committed by correctional officers themselves, according to the studies.</p>
<p>Congress passed the&#160; <a href="http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/programs/prisonrapeelimination.htm" type="external">Prison Rape Elimination Act</a>&#160;in 2003, demanding that prisons and jails keep detailed records of incidents of rape. These statistics are published by the government annually. But this year’s report said that some 49 percent of the incidents involved prison staff members committing “sexual misconduct”.</p>
<p>Female prisoners seemed to experience disproportionate numbers of sexual assaults, but among men, almost 90% of reported rapes were defined as “unsubstantiated”. Part of the reason for this involves the fear of some men to come forward after being raped, particularly when prison guards were involved. If the prisoners do not come forward immediately and receive a medical examination, the prisons – and thus the government report – typically relegates their claims to the category of “unsubstantiated.” It is important to note that the 49% figure comes only from the “substantiated” reports, meaning that if those other 90% of claims are true, the figures could be even more staggering.</p>
<p>Allan Beck, a statistician who co-authored the report, told Reuters that&#160; <a href="http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/svpjri1112.pdf" type="external">a study from May 2013</a>&#160;(PDF) demonstrated much larger numbers, documenting a staggering 80,000 inmate allegations of sexual abuse or assault during the period between 2011 and 2012.</p>
<p>“Of course, we find much higher rates of sexual victimization through inmates’&#160;self-reports than what comes through in the official records,” Beck told Reuters.</p>
<p>In Alabama alone,&#160;36% of all prison staff members were involved in some form of sexual abuse.</p>
<p>Female inmates in Alabama’s Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women have been subjected to atrocious acts of sexual abuse – and the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) did nothing about it.</p>
<p>The Department of Justice&#160; <a href="http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/January/14-crt-061.html" type="external">report</a>&#160;found that Alabama’s&#160; <a href="http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/documents/tutwiler_findings_1-17-14.pdf" type="external">rampant abuse</a>&#160;violates the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The DOJ has even called upon Governor Robert Bentley (R) to make immediate changes or the state will face a lawsuit. Meanwhile, the media has been nearly silent on this matter.</p>
<p>“Tutwiler has a history of unabated staff-on-prisoner sexual abuse and harassment,” the report explained. “The women at Tutwiler universally fear for their safety. They live in a sexualized environment with repeated and open sexual behavior…”</p>
<p>Just as disturbing, the DOJ admitted that there is a lack of protocol for reprimanding staff members in many of the prisons where these sexual assaults take place.</p>
<p>Ironically, the United States is filled with people on the left and right who are quick to stand up for First and Second Amendments of the Constitutional Bill of Rights. But when it comes to the Eighth Amendment of not facing cruel and unusual treatment as a result of criminal prosecution, most go silent. If this matters to you, help get the word out and wake people up to the institutionalized prison-rape system that has become disgustingly prevalent in the United States of America.</p>
<p>(Article by M.B. David; image via Front Page)</p>
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A bosque and grass fire on private land south of Socorro has burned about 100 acres, New Mexico State Forestry reported around 8:15 p.m on Twitter.</p>
<p>The fire stared this evening on the west side of the river and jumped to the east side, the division said.</p>
<p>No structures are threatened, and smoke my be visible from Interstate 25.</p>
<p>"Resources are responding" to the fire, State Forestry said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
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Bosque, grass fire burns south of Socorro, State Forestry says
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/748306/bosque-grass-fire-burns-south-of-socorro-state-forestry-says.html
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Bosque, grass fire burns south of Socorro, State Forestry says
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A bosque and grass fire on private land south of Socorro has burned about 100 acres, New Mexico State Forestry reported around 8:15 p.m on Twitter.</p>
<p>The fire stared this evening on the west side of the river and jumped to the east side, the division said.</p>
<p>No structures are threatened, and smoke my be visible from Interstate 25.</p>
<p>"Resources are responding" to the fire, State Forestry said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
| 5,915 |
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<p />
<p>In a memo to reporters titled “Obama Campaign Fills Out Key Posts for the General Election,” the Obama campaign announced today that it’s Chief of Staff to the Vice Presidential Nominee is… Patti Solis Doyle.</p>
<p>That’s right, Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager and longtime ally is slated to run the VP nominee’s operations. But don’t immediately assume this means Clinton has an inside track on the spot. Solis Doyle was used as a scapegoat for most of the Clinton campaign’s problems, and when she <a href="http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/02/12/658722.aspx" type="external">got the boot</a> in February there was no shortage of Clinton staffers willing to trash her anonymously on her way out. Clinton didn’t come to her defense. At least not publicly.</p>
<p>Clinton and Solis Doyle reportedly <a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121252558317842545.html" type="external">have not spoken</a> since Solis Doyle’s ouster. The Obama camp is clearly being strategic by placing her in this spot (there are dozens of other people who could play this role on the campaign, after all). But how?</p>
<p />
|
Wild and Unfounded Clinton-as-VP Speculation
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/06/wild-and-unfounded-clinton-vp-speculation/
|
2008-06-16
| 4left
|
Wild and Unfounded Clinton-as-VP Speculation
<p />
<p>In a memo to reporters titled “Obama Campaign Fills Out Key Posts for the General Election,” the Obama campaign announced today that it’s Chief of Staff to the Vice Presidential Nominee is… Patti Solis Doyle.</p>
<p>That’s right, Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager and longtime ally is slated to run the VP nominee’s operations. But don’t immediately assume this means Clinton has an inside track on the spot. Solis Doyle was used as a scapegoat for most of the Clinton campaign’s problems, and when she <a href="http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/02/12/658722.aspx" type="external">got the boot</a> in February there was no shortage of Clinton staffers willing to trash her anonymously on her way out. Clinton didn’t come to her defense. At least not publicly.</p>
<p>Clinton and Solis Doyle reportedly <a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121252558317842545.html" type="external">have not spoken</a> since Solis Doyle’s ouster. The Obama camp is clearly being strategic by placing her in this spot (there are dozens of other people who could play this role on the campaign, after all). But how?</p>
<p />
| 5,916 |
<p>Since the fall of the Berlin Wall the European-along with the much weaker American-left has been in a crisis that has challenged its very identity. In fact, this profound crisis predated the events of 1989; it was in full swing by the time the Wall tumbled in good part because of the ineptitude and moral bankruptcy of at least part of this left. Still, with the events of 1989 and 1990, a period that began in the late 1860s and early 1870s and entered its political salience in the 1880s came to a close. A political manifestation and social formation that defined the very idea of progressivism in the advanced industrial societies for exactly one century collapsed. Some would say that the radicalism of this period, its revolutionary potential to transform capitalism, ended with the tragedy of 1914. After all, it was then that the left realized that its internationalism and perceived universal class solidarity had lost its primacy to the much more powerful sentiment of particularistic nationalism. The left's innocence was most certainly lost by the early fall of 1914. Others would date the crisis from the end of World War I, the events of 1918, which already pointed toward the coming of Stalinism in the Soviet Union and National Socialism in Germany.</p>
<p>Still others see the death of a progressive alternative in the internecine battle between social democrats and communists that contributed to-though it wasn't responsible for-fascism's triumph, particularly in Germany. The Hitler-Stalin pact, the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956, a replay of that in Czechoslovakia twelve years later, the Sino-Soviet altercations, the war between China and Vietnam, the Cambodia fiasco with all its implications- there were plenty of sobering experiences for the progressive project in Europe. And yet, it was none of these political events that initiated the fundamental transformation that was to be completed in 1989. It was really a conjuncture of social, economic, generational, and cultural shifts that changed the very identity of the left over the last twenty-five years. At least in this instance, I will argue for the primacy of economy and society over politics.</p>
<p>I argue that there have been four periods in the history of the left since World War II that have affected the position of the left today. American developments will be mentioned only when they were essential contributors to the shaping of the left in all advanced industrial societies. Although it is evident that "the left," as commonly understood, was predominantly a European phenomenon throughout the late nineteenth century and all of the twentieth century, the United States did contribute significantly to this political formation precisely in the postwar period.</p>
<p>The Orthodox Period: 1945-1968I have called the first era the orthodox period because it witnessed a continuation, by and large, of the left's ideological and political topography s...</p>
<p />
|
The European and American Left since 1945
| true |
https://dissentmagazine.org/article/the-european-and-american-left-since-1945
|
2018-10-04
| 4left
|
The European and American Left since 1945
<p>Since the fall of the Berlin Wall the European-along with the much weaker American-left has been in a crisis that has challenged its very identity. In fact, this profound crisis predated the events of 1989; it was in full swing by the time the Wall tumbled in good part because of the ineptitude and moral bankruptcy of at least part of this left. Still, with the events of 1989 and 1990, a period that began in the late 1860s and early 1870s and entered its political salience in the 1880s came to a close. A political manifestation and social formation that defined the very idea of progressivism in the advanced industrial societies for exactly one century collapsed. Some would say that the radicalism of this period, its revolutionary potential to transform capitalism, ended with the tragedy of 1914. After all, it was then that the left realized that its internationalism and perceived universal class solidarity had lost its primacy to the much more powerful sentiment of particularistic nationalism. The left's innocence was most certainly lost by the early fall of 1914. Others would date the crisis from the end of World War I, the events of 1918, which already pointed toward the coming of Stalinism in the Soviet Union and National Socialism in Germany.</p>
<p>Still others see the death of a progressive alternative in the internecine battle between social democrats and communists that contributed to-though it wasn't responsible for-fascism's triumph, particularly in Germany. The Hitler-Stalin pact, the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956, a replay of that in Czechoslovakia twelve years later, the Sino-Soviet altercations, the war between China and Vietnam, the Cambodia fiasco with all its implications- there were plenty of sobering experiences for the progressive project in Europe. And yet, it was none of these political events that initiated the fundamental transformation that was to be completed in 1989. It was really a conjuncture of social, economic, generational, and cultural shifts that changed the very identity of the left over the last twenty-five years. At least in this instance, I will argue for the primacy of economy and society over politics.</p>
<p>I argue that there have been four periods in the history of the left since World War II that have affected the position of the left today. American developments will be mentioned only when they were essential contributors to the shaping of the left in all advanced industrial societies. Although it is evident that "the left," as commonly understood, was predominantly a European phenomenon throughout the late nineteenth century and all of the twentieth century, the United States did contribute significantly to this political formation precisely in the postwar period.</p>
<p>The Orthodox Period: 1945-1968I have called the first era the orthodox period because it witnessed a continuation, by and large, of the left's ideological and political topography s...</p>
<p />
| 5,917 |
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<p>[otw_shortcode_sidebars sidebar_id=”otw-sidebar-4″][/otw_shortcode_sidebars]</p>
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<p>Advertisement - story continues below</p>
<p>An oil company has discovered a massive find of oil on Alaska’s North Slope that could change America’s energy independence for a very long time.</p>
<p>The 1.2-billion-barrel find is the largest onshore discovery of conventional oil in more than 30 years. It was made in just the past few days by Spanish oil giant Repsol and their U.S. partners Armstrong Energy.</p>
<p>Breaking news updates and daily headlines from a news source you can trust.</p>
<p>They estimate that they could get the oil out of the ground and begin production as soon as 2021, producing as much as 120,000 barrels of oil per day. Currently, the entire state produces about 490,000 <a href="https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?f=A&amp;n=PET&amp;s=MCRFPAK2" type="external">barrels per day</a>.</p>
<p>Advertisement - story continues below</p>
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<p>[otw_shortcode_sidebars sidebar_id=”otw-sidebar-1″][/otw_shortcode_sidebars]</p>
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<p>The discovery is about 20 miles south of where the two companies already found oil in a project they’re calling Pikka. They own the project area, so there are no environmental restrictions keeping them from getting it out of the ground and to market.</p>
<p>“The interesting thing about this discovery is the North Slope was previously thought to be on its last legs. But this is a significant emerging find,” Repsol spokesman Kristian Rix <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/10/investing/alaska-oil-discovery-repsol-spain/index.html" type="external">told</a> CNNMoney.</p>
<p>Advertisement - story continues below</p>
<p>Repsol has been actively exploring in Alaska since 2008 and has an additional presence in the Gulf of Mexico. Shares of the oil and gas company jumped nearly 3% in Madrid trading on Friday.</p>
<p>The North Slope find comes less than six months after Caelus Energy and private-equity giant Apollo Global Management announced a massive Alaska oil discovery in the waters of Smith Bay.</p>
<p>Advertisement - story continues below</p>
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<p>[otw_shortcode_sidebars sidebar_id=”otw-sidebar-3″][/otw_shortcode_sidebars]</p>
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<p>This all comes as great news for Alaska, which has seen oil production fall steadily from a high 30 years ago. The state has had to impose a hiring freeze and limit employee travel. Alaska relies on taxes from oil revenue for a vast majority of their state revenue.</p>
<p>Things have gotten so bad that the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is barely being used these days.</p>
<p>Advertisement - story continues below</p>
<p>“This is also great news for the State of Alaska,” Alaska Governor Bill Walker said in a statement. “We must all pull together to fill an oil pipeline that’s three-quarters empty.”</p>
<p>Leftists and environmental groups will certainly try to stop the project from happening, but with President Donald Trump at the helm, it might prove more difficult than before.</p>
<p>[otw_shortcode_sidebars sidebar_id=”otw-sidebar-5″][/otw_shortcode_sidebars][easy-share buttons=”facebook,twitter,google,pinterest,mail” counters=0 native=”no”][otw_shortcode_sidebars sidebar_id=”otw-sidebar-2″][/otw_shortcode_sidebars]</p>
<p>What do you think? Scroll down to comment below.</p>
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MASSIVE Oil Find Could Change Energy Industry Forever
| true |
http://thefederalistpapers.org/us/massive-oil-find-could-change-energy-industry-forever
| 0right
|
MASSIVE Oil Find Could Change Energy Industry Forever
<p />
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<p />
<p>[otw_shortcode_sidebars sidebar_id=”otw-sidebar-4″][/otw_shortcode_sidebars]</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Advertisement - story continues below</p>
<p>An oil company has discovered a massive find of oil on Alaska’s North Slope that could change America’s energy independence for a very long time.</p>
<p>The 1.2-billion-barrel find is the largest onshore discovery of conventional oil in more than 30 years. It was made in just the past few days by Spanish oil giant Repsol and their U.S. partners Armstrong Energy.</p>
<p>Breaking news updates and daily headlines from a news source you can trust.</p>
<p>They estimate that they could get the oil out of the ground and begin production as soon as 2021, producing as much as 120,000 barrels of oil per day. Currently, the entire state produces about 490,000 <a href="https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?f=A&amp;n=PET&amp;s=MCRFPAK2" type="external">barrels per day</a>.</p>
<p>Advertisement - story continues below</p>
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<p />
<p>[otw_shortcode_sidebars sidebar_id=”otw-sidebar-1″][/otw_shortcode_sidebars]</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>The discovery is about 20 miles south of where the two companies already found oil in a project they’re calling Pikka. They own the project area, so there are no environmental restrictions keeping them from getting it out of the ground and to market.</p>
<p>“The interesting thing about this discovery is the North Slope was previously thought to be on its last legs. But this is a significant emerging find,” Repsol spokesman Kristian Rix <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/10/investing/alaska-oil-discovery-repsol-spain/index.html" type="external">told</a> CNNMoney.</p>
<p>Advertisement - story continues below</p>
<p>Repsol has been actively exploring in Alaska since 2008 and has an additional presence in the Gulf of Mexico. Shares of the oil and gas company jumped nearly 3% in Madrid trading on Friday.</p>
<p>The North Slope find comes less than six months after Caelus Energy and private-equity giant Apollo Global Management announced a massive Alaska oil discovery in the waters of Smith Bay.</p>
<p>Advertisement - story continues below</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>[otw_shortcode_sidebars sidebar_id=”otw-sidebar-3″][/otw_shortcode_sidebars]</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>This all comes as great news for Alaska, which has seen oil production fall steadily from a high 30 years ago. The state has had to impose a hiring freeze and limit employee travel. Alaska relies on taxes from oil revenue for a vast majority of their state revenue.</p>
<p>Things have gotten so bad that the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is barely being used these days.</p>
<p>Advertisement - story continues below</p>
<p>“This is also great news for the State of Alaska,” Alaska Governor Bill Walker said in a statement. “We must all pull together to fill an oil pipeline that’s three-quarters empty.”</p>
<p>Leftists and environmental groups will certainly try to stop the project from happening, but with President Donald Trump at the helm, it might prove more difficult than before.</p>
<p>[otw_shortcode_sidebars sidebar_id=”otw-sidebar-5″][/otw_shortcode_sidebars][easy-share buttons=”facebook,twitter,google,pinterest,mail” counters=0 native=”no”][otw_shortcode_sidebars sidebar_id=”otw-sidebar-2″][/otw_shortcode_sidebars]</p>
<p>What do you think? Scroll down to comment below.</p>
| 5,918 |
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<p>Haiti is facing a surge in cholera cases in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, doctors warned as the death toll on the devastated island climbed past 1,000.</p>
<p>U.S. Marines delivered badly-needed food aid Sunday, after Haiti’s government said more than 1.5 million people had been affected by the storm and 350,000 of those were in need of immediate assistance.</p>
<p>Ninety percent of crops have been destroyed in worst-hit areas of the country according to U.N. World Food Program officer for Haiti, Lorene Didier.</p>
<p>Throughout Haiti's southwestern peninsula, people were digging themselves out from the wreckage of the storm, which also brought <a href="" type="internal">flooding and at least 21 deaths to the United States.</a></p>
<p>Haiti’s National Civil Protection agency in Port-au-Prince said Sunday that its official death toll for the country was 336, which included 191 deaths in Grand-Anse. However, a tally of numbers from local officials, compiled by Reuters, put the number at more 1,000. NBC News could not independently confirm that figure.</p>
<p>At the Port-a-Piment hospital, survivors carried in a string of weak and severely sick patients with symptoms of cholera.</p>
<p>Missole Antoine, the hospital's medical director, said the number of patients admitted with cholera symptoms had doubled to 60 during Sunday and that four people had died of the waterborne illness.</p>
<p>"That number is going to rise," she told Reuters as she rushed between patients laid out on the hospital floor.</p>
<p>The hospital lacks an ambulance, or even a car, and Antoine said many new patients were coming from miles away, carried by family members.</p>
<p>Inside the hospital, grim-faced parents cradled young children whose eyes had sunk back and were unable to prop up their own heads.</p>
<p>"I believe in the doctors, and also in God," said 37-year-old Roosevelt Dume, holding the head of his son, Roodly, as he tried to remain upbeat.</p>
<p>In the nearby village of Labei, locals told Reuters said the river had washed down cadavers from villages upstream. With nobody coming to move the corpses, residents used planks of driftwood to push them down the river and into the sea.</p>
<p>"It seems to me like a nuclear bomb went off," said Paul Edouarzin, a United Nations Environmental Program employee based near Port-a-Piment.</p>
<p>"In terms of destruction — environmental and agricultural — I can tell you 2016 is worse than 2010," he added, referring to the devastating 2010 earthquake from which Haiti has yet to recover.</p>
<p>In Jeremie, near the tip of Haiti's southwest peninsula, the sound of hammering could be heard on nearly every street as people patched their roofs as best as they could.</p>
<p>"There will be lots and lots of jobs since so many homes were knocked down,” Jameson Pierre, 22, told The Associated Press. “I've been working for the last three days straight.”</p>
<p>The area received bags of food delivered by air Sunday by U.S. Marines, soldiers and representatives from USAID.</p>
<p>Peter Mulrean, the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, said Hurricane Matthew had been “catastrophic” for the country.</p>
<p>“Priorities for immediate assistance are food, water and sanitation, emergency shelter, and critical health care for communities, particularly in the regions of Grand’Anse and Sud,” <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/ambassade-des-%C3%A9tats-unis-port-au-prince-ha%C3%AFti/d%C3%A9claration-de-lambassadeur-des-etats-unis-m-peter-f-mulrean-%C3%A0-larriv%C3%A9e-du-premi/10154624795032558" type="external">he said in a statement Sunday</a>.</p>
<p />
|
Haiti Doctors Warn of Cholera Crisis After Hurricane Matthew
| false |
http://nbcnews.com/storyline/hurricane-matthew/haiti-doctors-warn-cholera-crisis-after-hurricane-matthew-n663581
|
2016-10-10
| 3left-center
|
Haiti Doctors Warn of Cholera Crisis After Hurricane Matthew
<p>Haiti is facing a surge in cholera cases in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, doctors warned as the death toll on the devastated island climbed past 1,000.</p>
<p>U.S. Marines delivered badly-needed food aid Sunday, after Haiti’s government said more than 1.5 million people had been affected by the storm and 350,000 of those were in need of immediate assistance.</p>
<p>Ninety percent of crops have been destroyed in worst-hit areas of the country according to U.N. World Food Program officer for Haiti, Lorene Didier.</p>
<p>Throughout Haiti's southwestern peninsula, people were digging themselves out from the wreckage of the storm, which also brought <a href="" type="internal">flooding and at least 21 deaths to the United States.</a></p>
<p>Haiti’s National Civil Protection agency in Port-au-Prince said Sunday that its official death toll for the country was 336, which included 191 deaths in Grand-Anse. However, a tally of numbers from local officials, compiled by Reuters, put the number at more 1,000. NBC News could not independently confirm that figure.</p>
<p>At the Port-a-Piment hospital, survivors carried in a string of weak and severely sick patients with symptoms of cholera.</p>
<p>Missole Antoine, the hospital's medical director, said the number of patients admitted with cholera symptoms had doubled to 60 during Sunday and that four people had died of the waterborne illness.</p>
<p>"That number is going to rise," she told Reuters as she rushed between patients laid out on the hospital floor.</p>
<p>The hospital lacks an ambulance, or even a car, and Antoine said many new patients were coming from miles away, carried by family members.</p>
<p>Inside the hospital, grim-faced parents cradled young children whose eyes had sunk back and were unable to prop up their own heads.</p>
<p>"I believe in the doctors, and also in God," said 37-year-old Roosevelt Dume, holding the head of his son, Roodly, as he tried to remain upbeat.</p>
<p>In the nearby village of Labei, locals told Reuters said the river had washed down cadavers from villages upstream. With nobody coming to move the corpses, residents used planks of driftwood to push them down the river and into the sea.</p>
<p>"It seems to me like a nuclear bomb went off," said Paul Edouarzin, a United Nations Environmental Program employee based near Port-a-Piment.</p>
<p>"In terms of destruction — environmental and agricultural — I can tell you 2016 is worse than 2010," he added, referring to the devastating 2010 earthquake from which Haiti has yet to recover.</p>
<p>In Jeremie, near the tip of Haiti's southwest peninsula, the sound of hammering could be heard on nearly every street as people patched their roofs as best as they could.</p>
<p>"There will be lots and lots of jobs since so many homes were knocked down,” Jameson Pierre, 22, told The Associated Press. “I've been working for the last three days straight.”</p>
<p>The area received bags of food delivered by air Sunday by U.S. Marines, soldiers and representatives from USAID.</p>
<p>Peter Mulrean, the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, said Hurricane Matthew had been “catastrophic” for the country.</p>
<p>“Priorities for immediate assistance are food, water and sanitation, emergency shelter, and critical health care for communities, particularly in the regions of Grand’Anse and Sud,” <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/ambassade-des-%C3%A9tats-unis-port-au-prince-ha%C3%AFti/d%C3%A9claration-de-lambassadeur-des-etats-unis-m-peter-f-mulrean-%C3%A0-larriv%C3%A9e-du-premi/10154624795032558" type="external">he said in a statement Sunday</a>.</p>
<p />
| 5,919 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) — Officials with the New Mexico Livestock Board have seized dozens of animals from a property in San Miguel County.</p>
<p>An anonymous tip led authorities to a home where they found a dead horse covered in a shallow grave, several dogs, three cats, at least 15 chickens and five horses. <a href="http://bit.ly/1iFlGrO" type="external">Authorities tell television station KRQE</a> that the animals were starving and living in filth.</p>
<p>Inspector James Butterfield says there was no feed or water available for the horses.</p>
<p>Inside the home, authorities say feces lined the floors and dirty dishes were piled up.</p>
<p>The property owners, Lonnie and Karla Kingery, could not be found but authorities said they will likely face cruelty charges.</p>
<p>Most of the animals were taken to the Las Vegas Animal Shelter.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
|
Dozens of animals seized in NM cruelty case
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/294138/dozens-of-animals-seized-in-nm-cruelty-case.html
| 2least
|
Dozens of animals seized in NM cruelty case
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) — Officials with the New Mexico Livestock Board have seized dozens of animals from a property in San Miguel County.</p>
<p>An anonymous tip led authorities to a home where they found a dead horse covered in a shallow grave, several dogs, three cats, at least 15 chickens and five horses. <a href="http://bit.ly/1iFlGrO" type="external">Authorities tell television station KRQE</a> that the animals were starving and living in filth.</p>
<p>Inspector James Butterfield says there was no feed or water available for the horses.</p>
<p>Inside the home, authorities say feces lined the floors and dirty dishes were piled up.</p>
<p>The property owners, Lonnie and Karla Kingery, could not be found but authorities said they will likely face cruelty charges.</p>
<p>Most of the animals were taken to the Las Vegas Animal Shelter.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
| 5,920 |
|
<p>Each year for the last five years the U.S. has welcomed a delegation of Vietnamese affected by spraying chemicals in Vietnam three decades ago. The Fifth Agent Orange Justice Tour ended recently. It focused national attention on grass roots and legislative efforts to achieve comprehensive assistance to victims in Vietnam, to the children and grandchildren of U.S. veterans, and to Vietnamese-Americans.</p>
<p>It is not news that American troops fighting for the U.S. military in Vietnam were told by their commanders that the defoliants and herbicides sprayed by the U.S. Air Force were “perfectly safe…[they] just kill plants.” The statistics, while heartbreaking, are, likewise, not news for anyone who pays attention to recent history. From 1961 to 1970 more than 20,000 missions that composed Operations “Trail Dust” and “Ranch Hand” dispersed about 13 million gallons of chemicals over five million acres of Vietnam’s forests and agricultural lands; southern Laos and Cambodia were sprayed too.</p>
<p>To the military mind, defoliating was a practical solution that disallowed cover to the enemy. To the corporate mind – Dow, Monsanto, Hercules, Uniroyal, Diamond Shamrock, Syntex Agribusiness, and more than two dozen others – manufacturing chemicals provided good ROI: one gallon of liquid cost $7 back then. Moreover, corporations sped up the 2,4,5T manufacturing process so they could produce more, faster. They ignored the partially catalyzed molecule, dioxin, that was a byproduct of the faster process; it remained in Agent Orange (AO).</p>
<p>Vietnam’s dense southern uplands’ forests were sprayed with a range of chemicals signified by color-coded barrels: Agents Blue, Orange, White, Pink, Purple and so on. Areas that the C-123 “Provider” airplanes didn’t reach – equal to the size of Rhode Island — were bulldozed with Rome Plows.</p>
<p>Paul Cox was a US Marine fighting along the DMZ for months. Today, he is a civil engineer, a Veteran for Peace member, and a board member of Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign (VAORRC). In a recent presentation in San Francisco, he described the area he fought in at the time as “almost totally denuded from high explosives and multiple spraying sorties; aside from some invasive grass, hardly anything lived, no animals, no bugs, no nothin’. We could operate in the area for days in a row and see no living trees.”</p>
<p>Since 1994, the Canadian company Hatfield Consultants has conducted contamination and mitigation work in Vietnam in close collaboration with Vietnamese Government agencies. More than nine projects in twenty provinces have determined levels of Agent Orange/dioxin in soils, food items, human blood, and breast milk. Hatfield also studies the effects of loss of timber that leads to reduced sustainability of ecosystems, decreases in the biodiversity of plants and animals, poorer soil quality, increased water contamination, heavier flooding and erosion, increased leaching of nutrients and reductions in their availability, invasions of less desirable plant species (primarily woody and herbaceous grasses), and possible alterations of Vietnam’s macro- and micro-climates.</p>
<p>In short, there is no let up to the devastation wreaked by war’s practicality and profit three decades ago.</p>
<p>Consistent determination</p>
<p>Despite VAVA delegates representing three million people when they travel to the U.S., to date U.S. courts have not acknowledged the chemicals’ effects on Vietnam or the Vietnamese.</p>
<p>Yet, under U.S. law, veterans who served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1975 (including those who visited Vietnam even briefly), and who have a disease that the Veterans Administration (VA) recognizes as being associated with Agent Orange, are presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange and are eligible for service-connected compensation based on their service. The VA’s list of “Diseases associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents” are Acute and Subacute Peripheral Neuropathy,AL Amyloidosis, Chloracne (or Similar Acneform Disease), Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (now expanded to B Cell Leukemias), Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2), Hodgkin’s Disease, Ischemic Heart Disease, Multiple Myeloma, Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Parkinson’s Disease, Porphyria Cutanea Tarda, Prostate Cancer, Respiratory Cancers (of the lung, larynx, trachea, and bronchus), and Soft Tissue Sarcoma.</p>
<p>Veterans’ children born with Spina bifida “may be eligible for compensation, vocational training and rehabilitation and health care benefits.” For the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) concluded in its 1996 update to its report on Veterans and Agent Orange – Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam that there is “limited/suggestive evidence of an association between exposure to herbicides used in Vietnam and spina bifida in children of Vietnam veterans.”</p>
<p>A time line, briefly</p>
<p>September 10, 2004: an amended class action complaint was submitted to the U.S. District Court, Eastern District; Constantine P. Kokkoris, represented the victims.</p>
<p>March 10, 2005: in Brooklyn, Judge Weinstein dismissed victims’ claims.</p>
<p>September 30, 2005: a Brief was submitted to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York against 36 U.S. chemical companies. The summary by Jonathan Moore states:</p>
<p>The lawsuit…seeks to hold accountable the chemical companies who manufactured and supplied Agent Orange to the government. Contrary to government specifications, the product supplied to the government contained an excessive and avoidable amount of poison…[D]ioxin…was present in the herbicides supplied to the government only because these chemical companies deliberately and consciously chose to ignore then existing industry standards and produce a herbicide that contained excessive and avoidable amounts of dioxin. The presence of the poison dioxin had no military necessity…chemical companies…knew that the more herbicide they produced the more money they would make and the faster they produced it the more they could sell to the government….[T]hey ignored industry standards….</p>
<p>That lawsuit was unsuccessful.</p>
<p>Another try</p>
<p>This year VAVA, Veterans for Peace, and the Vietnamese will begin to apply pressure on Congress to pay the bills for damage done in that country. These groups are drafting legislation that they expect will become a bill that, eventually, addresses this legacy. It consist of four parts:</p>
<p>1) clean up the environment and do no further harm.</p>
<p>2) address the problems of millions ill …that now extends to three generations.</p>
<p>3) create regional medical centers specifically for victims’ children and grandchildren born with the physical deformities and mental illness associated with dioxin.</p>
<p>4) conduct a public health study on the Vietnamese American population in the U.S. to learn if, and if so, how they have been affected by AO sprayed in their homeland. (The assumption is that this population could have a similar exposure to deployed American military personnel).</p>
<p>Personal stories: new every time</p>
<p>If the news about dioxin – and the political and economic wrangling that accompanies it – is depressingly familiar, what is always fresh are the hopeful voices and enthusiastic faces of the VAVA delegates. All suffer grievous disease or deformities yet their spirits and generosity are astonishingly strong.</p>
<p>This year, 33-year old Pham The Minh accompanied the small group. He is the son of a Vietnamese fighter contaminated by Agent Orange in Quang Tri Province where the spraying was most intensive. Minh and and his sister were born after the war with birth defects that signal dioxin contamination. His is no story of victimization. The man’s voice is vibrantly honest and alive as he says, “I grew up with pain in my spirit and in my body…I graduated from university and I am happy to teach English to victims of Agent Orange.”</p>
<p>In Minh’s city of Hai Phong alone there are more than 17,000 victims with birth defects, most of whom live difficult lives and require constant support from hard-pressed families.</p>
<p>Last year, the delegation was headed by Dang Hong Nhut who suffers from cancer and has experienced multiple miscarriages. Twenty-one year old Tran Thi Hoan accompanied Nhut. Tran was born with one hand and no legs due to her mother’s exposure. Despite Tran and her mother both being diagnosed with life threatening and disabling conditions that create severe and life-long hardship, the young woman attends college and is determined to work for a just solution for other Vietnamese families.</p>
<p>The 2007 delegates shared compelling stories too.</p>
<p>Vo Thanh Hai was 19 years old in 1978 when he was employed replanting trees around Nam Dong that had been defoliated by the U.S. Army’s spraying operations.</p>
<p>In 1986, Mr. Hai’s wife miscarried. In 1987, their son, Vo Thanh Tuan Anh was born. In 2001, he began episodes of fatigue and dizziness that was diagnosed as osteosarcoma for which he was treated with surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.</p>
<p>Their doctor also advised Mr. Hai to have a lump on his own neck examined. Tests disclosed Hodgkins Disease.</p>
<p>Both father and son have difficulty performing routine activities. Mrs. Hoa provides their daily care…which means the family has little regular income.</p>
<p>Nguyen Van Quy served in the Vietnam People’s Army from 1972 through 1975. He ate manioc, wild herbs and plants and drank water from streams in areas that had been spayed with Agent Orange. He experienced periodic headaches and exhaustion and itchy skin and rashes.</p>
<p>In 2003, Mr. Quy was diagnosed with stomach cancer, liver damage and with fluid in his lung. His son, Nguyen Quang Trung, was born with spinal, limb and developmental disabilities, enlarged and deformed feet, and a congenital spine defect; he cannot stand, walk, or use his hands.</p>
<p>Mr. Quy’s daughter, Nguyen Thi Thuy Nga, was born deaf and dumb and developmentally disabled. Neither child can attend school or work and neither is self-sufficient.</p>
<p>In her presentation in San Francisco, shortly before leaving the U.S. to return home, another 2007 delegate, Mrs. Hong, said how happy she was to have had a chance to visit this country and talk to people she found “very welcoming.” Mrs. Hong had served in the Eastern Combat Zone of South Vietnam as a clerk tailor and medical care worker. In 1964, she was sprayed with Agent Orange while washing rice in a stream. She tried to dive into the water to wash away the chemicals that stuck to her body. Moreover, she consumed contaminated food, wild grasses, and water every day after that.</p>
<p>In 1975 she was diagnosed with cirrhosis and required long term hospital treatment. In 1999 she was found to have an enlarged spleen and hemopoesis disorder. Several tests later uncovered cancer of the left breast as well as shortness of breath, high blood pressure, cerebral edema, breast cancer with bone metastasis, stomach aches, cirrhosis, gall-stones and bladder-stones, varicose limbs, limb-skin ulcer, weak legs and limited range of movement.</p>
<p>Both Mr.Quy and Mrs Hong died shortly after they returned to Vietnam.</p>
<p>Tragedy of such magnitude easily can overwhelm those unprepared to hear it. Yet listening deeply to these personal stories presented in the even-handed, non-blaming manner of the VAVA delegates creates an opening that may allow We, the People to apply pressure on Congress to co-create legislation to alleviate our nation’s moral stigma from our actions in Vietnam.</p>
<p>Perhaps the courage of the women in Lan Teh Nidah’s poem, Night Harvest can give hope to Americans of peace and reconciliation. These courageous Vietnamese women harvested rice at night to avoid detection by American forces.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>The golds of rice and cluster bombs blend together. even delayed fuse bombs bring no fear: Our spirits have known many years of war. Come, sisters, let us gather the harvest.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>We are the harvesters of my village,</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>We are not frightened by bombs and bullets in the air —</p>
<p>Only by dew, wetting our lime-scented hair.</p>
<p>One day, perhaps, we in the United States will acknowledge our responsibilities in Vietnam. For we, too, have known many years of war. Those of us who struggle for peace are harvesters too. Let us accept our history, sew the seeds of peace, and highlight the futile lose/lose proposition that is war.</p>
<p>SUSAN GALLEYMORE is author of <a href="" type="internal">Long Time Passing: Mothers Speak about War and Terror, host of Stanford</a> University’s Raising Sand Radio, and a former “military mom” and GI Rights Counselor. Contact her at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://greentags.bigcartel.com/" type="external">WORDS THAT STICK</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
|
Agent Orange and the Third Generation
| true |
https://counterpunch.org/2010/05/28/agent-orange-and-the-third-generation/
|
2010-05-28
| 4left
|
Agent Orange and the Third Generation
<p>Each year for the last five years the U.S. has welcomed a delegation of Vietnamese affected by spraying chemicals in Vietnam three decades ago. The Fifth Agent Orange Justice Tour ended recently. It focused national attention on grass roots and legislative efforts to achieve comprehensive assistance to victims in Vietnam, to the children and grandchildren of U.S. veterans, and to Vietnamese-Americans.</p>
<p>It is not news that American troops fighting for the U.S. military in Vietnam were told by their commanders that the defoliants and herbicides sprayed by the U.S. Air Force were “perfectly safe…[they] just kill plants.” The statistics, while heartbreaking, are, likewise, not news for anyone who pays attention to recent history. From 1961 to 1970 more than 20,000 missions that composed Operations “Trail Dust” and “Ranch Hand” dispersed about 13 million gallons of chemicals over five million acres of Vietnam’s forests and agricultural lands; southern Laos and Cambodia were sprayed too.</p>
<p>To the military mind, defoliating was a practical solution that disallowed cover to the enemy. To the corporate mind – Dow, Monsanto, Hercules, Uniroyal, Diamond Shamrock, Syntex Agribusiness, and more than two dozen others – manufacturing chemicals provided good ROI: one gallon of liquid cost $7 back then. Moreover, corporations sped up the 2,4,5T manufacturing process so they could produce more, faster. They ignored the partially catalyzed molecule, dioxin, that was a byproduct of the faster process; it remained in Agent Orange (AO).</p>
<p>Vietnam’s dense southern uplands’ forests were sprayed with a range of chemicals signified by color-coded barrels: Agents Blue, Orange, White, Pink, Purple and so on. Areas that the C-123 “Provider” airplanes didn’t reach – equal to the size of Rhode Island — were bulldozed with Rome Plows.</p>
<p>Paul Cox was a US Marine fighting along the DMZ for months. Today, he is a civil engineer, a Veteran for Peace member, and a board member of Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign (VAORRC). In a recent presentation in San Francisco, he described the area he fought in at the time as “almost totally denuded from high explosives and multiple spraying sorties; aside from some invasive grass, hardly anything lived, no animals, no bugs, no nothin’. We could operate in the area for days in a row and see no living trees.”</p>
<p>Since 1994, the Canadian company Hatfield Consultants has conducted contamination and mitigation work in Vietnam in close collaboration with Vietnamese Government agencies. More than nine projects in twenty provinces have determined levels of Agent Orange/dioxin in soils, food items, human blood, and breast milk. Hatfield also studies the effects of loss of timber that leads to reduced sustainability of ecosystems, decreases in the biodiversity of plants and animals, poorer soil quality, increased water contamination, heavier flooding and erosion, increased leaching of nutrients and reductions in their availability, invasions of less desirable plant species (primarily woody and herbaceous grasses), and possible alterations of Vietnam’s macro- and micro-climates.</p>
<p>In short, there is no let up to the devastation wreaked by war’s practicality and profit three decades ago.</p>
<p>Consistent determination</p>
<p>Despite VAVA delegates representing three million people when they travel to the U.S., to date U.S. courts have not acknowledged the chemicals’ effects on Vietnam or the Vietnamese.</p>
<p>Yet, under U.S. law, veterans who served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1975 (including those who visited Vietnam even briefly), and who have a disease that the Veterans Administration (VA) recognizes as being associated with Agent Orange, are presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange and are eligible for service-connected compensation based on their service. The VA’s list of “Diseases associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents” are Acute and Subacute Peripheral Neuropathy,AL Amyloidosis, Chloracne (or Similar Acneform Disease), Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (now expanded to B Cell Leukemias), Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2), Hodgkin’s Disease, Ischemic Heart Disease, Multiple Myeloma, Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Parkinson’s Disease, Porphyria Cutanea Tarda, Prostate Cancer, Respiratory Cancers (of the lung, larynx, trachea, and bronchus), and Soft Tissue Sarcoma.</p>
<p>Veterans’ children born with Spina bifida “may be eligible for compensation, vocational training and rehabilitation and health care benefits.” For the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) concluded in its 1996 update to its report on Veterans and Agent Orange – Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam that there is “limited/suggestive evidence of an association between exposure to herbicides used in Vietnam and spina bifida in children of Vietnam veterans.”</p>
<p>A time line, briefly</p>
<p>September 10, 2004: an amended class action complaint was submitted to the U.S. District Court, Eastern District; Constantine P. Kokkoris, represented the victims.</p>
<p>March 10, 2005: in Brooklyn, Judge Weinstein dismissed victims’ claims.</p>
<p>September 30, 2005: a Brief was submitted to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York against 36 U.S. chemical companies. The summary by Jonathan Moore states:</p>
<p>The lawsuit…seeks to hold accountable the chemical companies who manufactured and supplied Agent Orange to the government. Contrary to government specifications, the product supplied to the government contained an excessive and avoidable amount of poison…[D]ioxin…was present in the herbicides supplied to the government only because these chemical companies deliberately and consciously chose to ignore then existing industry standards and produce a herbicide that contained excessive and avoidable amounts of dioxin. The presence of the poison dioxin had no military necessity…chemical companies…knew that the more herbicide they produced the more money they would make and the faster they produced it the more they could sell to the government….[T]hey ignored industry standards….</p>
<p>That lawsuit was unsuccessful.</p>
<p>Another try</p>
<p>This year VAVA, Veterans for Peace, and the Vietnamese will begin to apply pressure on Congress to pay the bills for damage done in that country. These groups are drafting legislation that they expect will become a bill that, eventually, addresses this legacy. It consist of four parts:</p>
<p>1) clean up the environment and do no further harm.</p>
<p>2) address the problems of millions ill …that now extends to three generations.</p>
<p>3) create regional medical centers specifically for victims’ children and grandchildren born with the physical deformities and mental illness associated with dioxin.</p>
<p>4) conduct a public health study on the Vietnamese American population in the U.S. to learn if, and if so, how they have been affected by AO sprayed in their homeland. (The assumption is that this population could have a similar exposure to deployed American military personnel).</p>
<p>Personal stories: new every time</p>
<p>If the news about dioxin – and the political and economic wrangling that accompanies it – is depressingly familiar, what is always fresh are the hopeful voices and enthusiastic faces of the VAVA delegates. All suffer grievous disease or deformities yet their spirits and generosity are astonishingly strong.</p>
<p>This year, 33-year old Pham The Minh accompanied the small group. He is the son of a Vietnamese fighter contaminated by Agent Orange in Quang Tri Province where the spraying was most intensive. Minh and and his sister were born after the war with birth defects that signal dioxin contamination. His is no story of victimization. The man’s voice is vibrantly honest and alive as he says, “I grew up with pain in my spirit and in my body…I graduated from university and I am happy to teach English to victims of Agent Orange.”</p>
<p>In Minh’s city of Hai Phong alone there are more than 17,000 victims with birth defects, most of whom live difficult lives and require constant support from hard-pressed families.</p>
<p>Last year, the delegation was headed by Dang Hong Nhut who suffers from cancer and has experienced multiple miscarriages. Twenty-one year old Tran Thi Hoan accompanied Nhut. Tran was born with one hand and no legs due to her mother’s exposure. Despite Tran and her mother both being diagnosed with life threatening and disabling conditions that create severe and life-long hardship, the young woman attends college and is determined to work for a just solution for other Vietnamese families.</p>
<p>The 2007 delegates shared compelling stories too.</p>
<p>Vo Thanh Hai was 19 years old in 1978 when he was employed replanting trees around Nam Dong that had been defoliated by the U.S. Army’s spraying operations.</p>
<p>In 1986, Mr. Hai’s wife miscarried. In 1987, their son, Vo Thanh Tuan Anh was born. In 2001, he began episodes of fatigue and dizziness that was diagnosed as osteosarcoma for which he was treated with surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.</p>
<p>Their doctor also advised Mr. Hai to have a lump on his own neck examined. Tests disclosed Hodgkins Disease.</p>
<p>Both father and son have difficulty performing routine activities. Mrs. Hoa provides their daily care…which means the family has little regular income.</p>
<p>Nguyen Van Quy served in the Vietnam People’s Army from 1972 through 1975. He ate manioc, wild herbs and plants and drank water from streams in areas that had been spayed with Agent Orange. He experienced periodic headaches and exhaustion and itchy skin and rashes.</p>
<p>In 2003, Mr. Quy was diagnosed with stomach cancer, liver damage and with fluid in his lung. His son, Nguyen Quang Trung, was born with spinal, limb and developmental disabilities, enlarged and deformed feet, and a congenital spine defect; he cannot stand, walk, or use his hands.</p>
<p>Mr. Quy’s daughter, Nguyen Thi Thuy Nga, was born deaf and dumb and developmentally disabled. Neither child can attend school or work and neither is self-sufficient.</p>
<p>In her presentation in San Francisco, shortly before leaving the U.S. to return home, another 2007 delegate, Mrs. Hong, said how happy she was to have had a chance to visit this country and talk to people she found “very welcoming.” Mrs. Hong had served in the Eastern Combat Zone of South Vietnam as a clerk tailor and medical care worker. In 1964, she was sprayed with Agent Orange while washing rice in a stream. She tried to dive into the water to wash away the chemicals that stuck to her body. Moreover, she consumed contaminated food, wild grasses, and water every day after that.</p>
<p>In 1975 she was diagnosed with cirrhosis and required long term hospital treatment. In 1999 she was found to have an enlarged spleen and hemopoesis disorder. Several tests later uncovered cancer of the left breast as well as shortness of breath, high blood pressure, cerebral edema, breast cancer with bone metastasis, stomach aches, cirrhosis, gall-stones and bladder-stones, varicose limbs, limb-skin ulcer, weak legs and limited range of movement.</p>
<p>Both Mr.Quy and Mrs Hong died shortly after they returned to Vietnam.</p>
<p>Tragedy of such magnitude easily can overwhelm those unprepared to hear it. Yet listening deeply to these personal stories presented in the even-handed, non-blaming manner of the VAVA delegates creates an opening that may allow We, the People to apply pressure on Congress to co-create legislation to alleviate our nation’s moral stigma from our actions in Vietnam.</p>
<p>Perhaps the courage of the women in Lan Teh Nidah’s poem, Night Harvest can give hope to Americans of peace and reconciliation. These courageous Vietnamese women harvested rice at night to avoid detection by American forces.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>The golds of rice and cluster bombs blend together. even delayed fuse bombs bring no fear: Our spirits have known many years of war. Come, sisters, let us gather the harvest.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>We are the harvesters of my village,</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>We are not frightened by bombs and bullets in the air —</p>
<p>Only by dew, wetting our lime-scented hair.</p>
<p>One day, perhaps, we in the United States will acknowledge our responsibilities in Vietnam. For we, too, have known many years of war. Those of us who struggle for peace are harvesters too. Let us accept our history, sew the seeds of peace, and highlight the futile lose/lose proposition that is war.</p>
<p>SUSAN GALLEYMORE is author of <a href="" type="internal">Long Time Passing: Mothers Speak about War and Terror, host of Stanford</a> University’s Raising Sand Radio, and a former “military mom” and GI Rights Counselor. Contact her at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://greentags.bigcartel.com/" type="external">WORDS THAT STICK</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
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<p><a href="http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a42227/reading-list-womens-march-on-washington/" type="external">Read this before you march: a syllabus to contextualize the Women’s March on Washington&#160;</a></p>
<p>Women of color can now contribute to a developing <a href="https://seatsyllabus.com/2017/01/13/about-seat-syllabus/" type="external">Solange Knowles syllabus</a>.</p>
<p>This is one person’s emergency plan in case Donald Trump’s deportation force tries to remove him from the country, and he’s&#160; <a href="https://juansaaa.com/what-will-you-do-if-donald-trump-deports-me-517ee09a52a3#.htlgaj5bu" type="external">encouraging his readers to do the same.&#160;</a></p>
<p>In preparation for the Trump administration, Transgender Law Center has launched an emergency response project, the&#160; <a href="https://transgenderlawcenter.org/programs/tide" type="external">Trans Immigrant Defense Effort (TIDE)</a>, devoted to expanding legal support and services available to transgender and gender nonconforming immigrants.</p>
<p>Activists <a href="http://www.colorlines.com/articles/activists-deliver-510000-signatures-ahead-health-and-human-services-nominee-hearing?utm_content=bufferdf817&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=facebook.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer" type="external">delivered 510,000+ signatures</a>ahead of Health and Human Services Nominee hearing.</p>
<p>I <a href="http://www.teenvogue.com/story/know-your-ix-dear-betsy-devos-sexual-assault-survivor" type="external">wrote a open letter to Betsy Devos</a> over at our favorite fellow feminist site,&#160;Teen Vogue.</p>
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Daily Feminist Cheat Sheet
| true |
http://feministing.com/2017/01/20/daily-feminist-cheat-sheet-916/
| 4left
|
Daily Feminist Cheat Sheet
<p><a href="http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a42227/reading-list-womens-march-on-washington/" type="external">Read this before you march: a syllabus to contextualize the Women’s March on Washington&#160;</a></p>
<p>Women of color can now contribute to a developing <a href="https://seatsyllabus.com/2017/01/13/about-seat-syllabus/" type="external">Solange Knowles syllabus</a>.</p>
<p>This is one person’s emergency plan in case Donald Trump’s deportation force tries to remove him from the country, and he’s&#160; <a href="https://juansaaa.com/what-will-you-do-if-donald-trump-deports-me-517ee09a52a3#.htlgaj5bu" type="external">encouraging his readers to do the same.&#160;</a></p>
<p>In preparation for the Trump administration, Transgender Law Center has launched an emergency response project, the&#160; <a href="https://transgenderlawcenter.org/programs/tide" type="external">Trans Immigrant Defense Effort (TIDE)</a>, devoted to expanding legal support and services available to transgender and gender nonconforming immigrants.</p>
<p>Activists <a href="http://www.colorlines.com/articles/activists-deliver-510000-signatures-ahead-health-and-human-services-nominee-hearing?utm_content=bufferdf817&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=facebook.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer" type="external">delivered 510,000+ signatures</a>ahead of Health and Human Services Nominee hearing.</p>
<p>I <a href="http://www.teenvogue.com/story/know-your-ix-dear-betsy-devos-sexual-assault-survivor" type="external">wrote a open letter to Betsy Devos</a> over at our favorite fellow feminist site,&#160;Teen Vogue.</p>
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<p>Marine Capt. Erin Demchko is shown in this still image from a recent TV advertisement released by the U.S. Marines as part of an effort to recruit women. (U.S. Marine Corps via AP)</p>
<p>“Unlike other habits that the military efficiently drills out of its members, there’s no effort to do the same when it comes to sexist behavior.”</p>
<p>—Marine veteran Dr. Kate Hendricks Thomas and Army reservist Paula Broadwell</p>
<p>The first women were assigned to a Marine infantry unit on Jan. 5, fulfilling the 2015 Department of Defense mandate that all military service jobs, including combat, be open to women.</p>
<p />
<p>By late January, a Google Drive link with photos of nude and barely dressed Marine servicewomen <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/10/519682039/nude-photo-scandal-may-expand-beyond-marines-united-facebook-group" type="external">was posted</a> to the Marines United Facebook page without the knowledge of the women involved. Postings also divulged their names, ranks and military duties.</p>
<p>Marines United, a male-only site for current and former Marines, U.S. Navy corpsmen and British Royal Marines, has a following of some 30,000 members whose bases span the globe. Members describe it as a site that helps vets find jobs and assists those feeling suicidal. It also carries degrading commentary about women. The news of nonconsensual nude photos with woman-hating commentary erupted into national media in March.</p>
<p>By then, 2,500 comments, some threatening rape and other sadistic sexual torture—couched in weaponized humor—had been posted to the site.</p>
<p>The Marines United rules of conduct—no racist or illegal posts, no threats, harm or harassment—and the Marines’ hallowed motto semper fi (“always faithful”) apparently do not apply to its treatment of women. Why? Because from basic training onward, women are stereotyped as “bitches,” “sluts” or “lesbians,” as one 23-year-old Marine veteran testified at a recent congressional hearing.</p>
<p>The Marines United story exploded like a roadside bomb run over by a convoy truck. Journalist and Marine veteran Thomas Brennan, who broke the story, and other veterans have since tracked the electronic dodges, feints and shifting Facebook sites of Marines United more nimbly than military officials have. Top Marine brass, under heavy fire from female legislators for other pornographic Facebook sites, confessed four years ago that they lacked “manpower” and “technological resources” to counter electronic sexual assault on their female members.</p>
<p>Baffling, isn’t it, that a military with the best cyberwar capabilities in the world and a defense budget larger than the next eight countries combined can’t control a cyberattack on women within its own ranks?</p>
<p>What is different about this latest saga of sexual assault in the military relates to who tracked, broke and followed the Marines United story. A handful of Marine veterans (notably, Brennan, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/us/with-their-leaders-at-a-loss-marine-veterans-fight-abusers.html?_r=1" type="external">James LaPorta and Shawn Wylde</a>)—at some risk to themselves and their families—pursued the roving Marines United site, including its hydra-headed permutations, more frontally than the military did.</p>
<p>LaPorta, now a journalist for The Daily Beast, informed me that he began covering the Marines United story when he was asked by Brennan “to screenshot any death threats [against Brennan] that I saw inside the secret Facebook chatroom known as Marines United and send them to him. He also asked that I pick up the reporting, so I did, and that’s what I have been doing since March 4, 2017.”</p>
<p>LaPorta <a href="https://frankel.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=555" type="external">recently testified</a> at a congressional hearing hosted by the Democratic Women’s Working Group that he has found “multiple examples of extortion, revenge porn, nonconsensual photo sharing, death threats and online harassment that target not only the women, but their friends and family members.”</p>
<p>Whence comes your courage? I asked. His response: “I don’t know if reporting on the nude-photo scandal within the Pentagon was courageous, but I do know it was the right thing to do.”</p>
<p>What has not changed is the justifiable rage and legislative activism of women on the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, among them California Rep. Jackie Speier and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, veteran critics of the unchecked epidemic of sexual assault in the military and its academies. What has not changed is the military’s failing performance—it has been missing in action for years when faced with the online sexual aggression of “brothers in arms” against their “sisters in arms.” What has not changed is the ruinous impact of this latest form of assault on female soldiers.</p>
<p>Military Response</p>
<p>A little bit of background sheds light on this latest failure of support for military women.</p>
<p>In his 2012 State of the Union address, President Obama opened and closed with iconic praise for the military. Yet his script, which hailed military cohesion and loyalty as models for Congress and the country, omitted any mention of female soldiers, even though women constitute 15 percent of all active duty military, and rampant military sexual assault was still fresh news in Washington.</p>
<p>Just six days earlier, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta held a press conference to announce <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-military-assaults-idUSTRE80I03Y20120119" type="external">new reforms</a> being launched by the Department of Defense to combat sexual assault. This public airing of the military’s heart of darkness—sexual crime in its ranks—came on the heels of an estimated 19,000 military sexual assaults in the previous year, by DOD calculations (a gross undercount because of substantial underreporting due to fear of retribution).</p>
<p>Panetta cited the “moral duty” of the military to keep its members safe and called sexual assault an affront to American values. Like so many institutional leaders undergoing public scrutiny for sexual abuse that took place on their watch, he took the high road: “One sexual assault is one too many,” he said. The avuncular leader of the most powerful and lethal military in history appeared stricken and, frankly, helpless, in admitting to rampant military sexual crime and sadism. By contrast, his arrogant predecessors—Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates—resembled stone-faced, callous archbishops and cardinals confronted with sexual abuse by clergymen under their watch. Eight years prior, then-Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-military-assaults-idUSTRE80I03Y20120119" type="external">had also declared</a> that “[s]exual assault will not be tolerated in the Department of Defense” and had ordered a 90-day review of sexual assault policies. Experts and victims alike assessed “the analysis of the issues [as] shallow, and the plans for addressing them limited.”</p>
<p>Fast-forward to March 2017. In a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Marines United, <a href="http://miami.cbslocal.com/2017/03/14/angry-senators-grill-commandant-over-marine-photo-scandal/" type="external">Sen. Gillibrand seared</a> the Marines’ highest ranking officer, Gen. Robert Neller, following his remarks to the committee. As top commander, he took personal responsibility for this most recent sex abuse scandal, asking female Marines to trust him to ensure that they gain the respect they deserve as Marines, and pleading with male Marines to see servicewomen as their equals. Nice words, but his testimony “rings hollow,” shot back an enraged Gillibrand. She added that nothing has been done in the years since misogynistic Marine social media sites were discovered and victims came forward and asked, if the Marines “can’t crack Facebook, how are we supposed to be able to crack Russian aggression and cyberhacking throughout our military?” Neller’s face morphed from grave and authoritative to humiliated and hangdog.</p>
<p>In my correspondence with the Marine Corps communications office, I sought its perspective on misogyny in its ranks, the gravity of the degrading online sex sites and its plans to reform the institution. In its responses, key dodges emerged. The corps relies on moral military messages and fundamentalist exhortations reminiscent of a catechism: “We do not abandon our core values when we enter the <a href="http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/CMC%20White%20Ltr%201-17%20-%20Conduct%20on%20Social%20Media.pdf?ver=2017-03-15-095630-693" type="external">online world</a>” was one, and another: “Marines, by and large, possess and act in accordance with our core values of honor, courage and commitment.” It also resorted reflexively to mandatory education in new policy, this time regarding “ <a href="http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/CMC%20White%20Ltr%201-17%20-%20Conduct%20on%20Social%20Media.pdf?ver=2017-03-15-095630-693" type="external">degrading social media posts</a>”—but the education is never evaluated afterward for attitudinal and behavioral change.</p>
<p>Since the Marines United scandal, the office told me, the task force created to frame the problem and to generate and implement near-term actions is composed of 40 percent women, military and civilians drawn from multiple disciplines—a good start. More pertinent is the plea of Sgt. Maj. Ronald Green, the highest-raking noncommissioned officer of the Marines to “act” and “come forward and report” misogynist online conduct. But the toughest stuff— <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/03/07/the-marines-naked-photo-scandal-shows-military-culture-is-still-sexist/?utm_term=.dc9f98a5a39b" type="external">drilling sexist behavior</a> out of recruits and punishing more than a few token offenders—begs for immediate, hard-hitting action.</p>
<p>Radical Response</p>
<p>Retired Col. Don Christiensen, a former Air Force chief prosecutor and sixth-generation member of a military family, heads <a href="http://www.protectourdefenders.com" type="external">Protect Our Defenders</a>, a national organization dedicated to ending rape and sexual assault in the military and to combating a culture of pervasive sexual harassment and retribution against victims.</p>
<p>I asked what motivated him to work in retirement on behalf of female victims of military sexual assault. “It was after witnessing too many times an offender’s commander and unit rally around him at trial,” he told me. “It was the ease with which too many would blame the victim, shun her at work, and character-assassinate her at trial. Too often, I saw victims run a figurative gauntlet of abuse and retaliation from the command structure she thought was there to protect her.”</p>
<p>Women face even more misogyny and sexism in “the very closed society” of the military, he said, with the “continual message [that] women aren’t worthy of respect,” a message conveyed by “public and private resistance to integration, lower rates of promotion and fewer opportunities to lead.” This former top military litigator directs his most scathing critique at leaders who “view women as little more than entertainment for generals and admirals.”</p>
<p>Repeatedly, he said, senior officers who have improper relationships with much junior female military members “receive little or no punishment, and they are never prosecuted.” The message to the rest of the military is, “A woman’s value is as a sexual object, not as an equal in taking the fight to the enemy.”</p>
<p>To the question of what would change the permissive culture of sexual degradation in the military and impunity for those who perpetrate it, Christiensen offered two structural recommendations: One is “accountability at all levels. For some, that accountability should be by court-martial. For others, it should be to quickly terminate their service.” Christiensen added that the Marine Corps “was on notice for at least four years that this cancer [referring to misogynist social media sites] was in the corps. Yet leadership did nothing.”</p>
<p>Employing an analogy that many men would appreciate, he concluded, “If a football team continues to have an discipline problem, you don’t address that by firing the equipment manager. You fire the coach. It’s time that the Marine Corps and really all of the DOD accepted that reality.”</p>
<p>The second course of action he prescribed is to take all aspects of prosecution out of the hands of commanders by creating “an independent military prosecution office” that enlists experienced sexual assault and rape prosecutors. “Even the best commanders are out of their league when it comes to making prosecution decisions for felony crimes,” Christiensen said. Independent prosecution will excise a commander’s capacity to protect an abuser and his unit’s reputation. And it will “send a strong message to survivors that they have someone in their corner outside the chain-of-command politics,” he said.The Response of Female Veterans</p>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/03/05/im-never-reenlisting-marine-corps-rocked-by-nude-photo-scandal/?utm_term=.e7fedf5625b3" type="external">Lance Cpl. Marisa Moytek</a>, an Iraq War veteran and daughter of a Marine veteran, was barraged with sexual harassment and threats of abuse after her photos and ID were uploaded without her knowledge to Marines United. She had once loved the familylike bonds in the military, but that changed after her ordeal. “Even if I could, I’m never re-enlisting,” she said bitterly. “Being sexually harassed online ruined the Marine Corps for me, and the experience.”</p>
<p>Dr. Kate Hendricks Thomas, an active-duty Marine from 2002-8, was not surprised by the news of Marines United, remarking that <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-03-08/former-female-marine-speaks-out-about-facebook-page-shared-nude-photos" type="external">sexual abuse pervades</a> the military, and noting that its victims are advised not to pursue a formal complaint lest it make the unit look bad. She always carried a gun and a knife when going to the shower trailers on her bases, due to constant fear of sexual assault. She also packed a can of black spray paint to obscure the ubiquitous pornographic cartoons in bathrooms that might trigger sexual fantasy narratives among her fellow Marines about raping her.</p>
<p>Would she recommend the military to young women as a work or career option, despite her siegelike life there? “Yes,” she replied to my query. “Women have always broken barriers and entered unfriendly spaces with eyes open, determined to make change. … Misogyny and cyber-harassment happen in civilian spaces, middle schools, and civic groups, too.”</p>
<p>Thomas survived; others in a similar situation <a href="http://truth-out.org/archive/component/k2/item/60362:military-hides-cause-of-women-soldiers-deaths" type="external">did not</a>. Female soldiers at Camp Victory in Iraq died from dehydration in their sleep because, despite the 120-degree desert heat and little to no air conditioning, they stopped drinking liquids after 3 or 4 p.m. in order to avoid using remote, unlit latrines due to the high risk of sexual assault by fellow soldiers.</p>
<p>Their senior Army commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=qOvEcMfhFB8C&amp;pg=PA134&amp;lpg=PA134&amp;dq=Sanchez,+The+women+asked+to+be+here,+so+now+let+them+take+what+comes+with+the+territory&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=Bz0vQdajni&amp;sig=H8k8hF9a6ohztYoUxBqS-Wyi9pY&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=NP4ZT53tHMqoiQKP1tiYCA&amp;sqi=2#v=onepage&amp;q=Sanchez%2C%20The%20women%20asked%20to%20be%20here%2C%20so%20now%20let%20them%20take%20what%20comes%20with%20the%20territory&amp;f=false" type="external">ordered a cover-up</a> of this potentially explosive news, directing the reporting surgeon to omit in oral briefs that the deceased soldiers were women and to leave out the real cause of death on their death certificates. His stance? “The women asked to be here, so now let them take what comes with the territory.”</p>
<p>The Impact of Sexual Aggression on Women in Military</p>
<p>I asked Thomas whether sites such as Marines United are qualitatively different from other forms of misogyny women may encounter in the military, such as sexist language, threats and assault. She responded: “The current harassment happening online is the same behavior via different medium. It falls along a continuum of harm.”</p>
<p>That continuum can and does reach the extreme for military women. Studies reveal that military sexual assault is more traumatizing than combat, that it is more damaging than the traumas of being ambushed, shot at, caught in crossfire, of rescuing mangled and dying comrades and the dread of driving over a roadside bomb. One <a href="http://genderandsecurity.org/projects-resources/research/focus-women-duty-related-and-sexual-stress-etiology-ptsd-among-women" type="external">striking Department of Veterans Affairs study</a> of more than 300 female veterans enrolled in a clinical program for stress disorders found that “stress related to sexual harassment and sexual abuse “was almost four times more influential than duty-related stress in the development of [post-traumatic stress disorder].” Military sexual stress creates a toxic, <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/6299-military-sexual-abuse-a-greater-menace-than-combat" type="external">private war zone</a> that takes more psychic strength to endure than combat requires.</p>
<p>The Response of Female Legislators</p>
<p>For six years Rep. Jackie Speier has fought to wring justice, respect and loyalty out of the Department of Defense for its enlisted women, who serve within a system that is rank with the “culture rot” of sexual harassment, sexual abuse and online misogyny. Along with other supportive legislators, her efforts have resulted in better services for survivors of military sexual abuse and movement toward having special prosecutors handle sex abuse cases.</p>
<p>To the question of whether misogyny is worse in the military than civil society, she conceded, “[I]t is in part because of the ‘family unit’ where they have responsibility to have each other’s back.” A woman victimized or threatened by sexual abuse knows that if she reports this, “no one will have her back.”</p>
<p>The military command, Speier adds, “doesn’t get it.” Gen. James Amos, the previous Marine commandant at the time when earlier misogynist sites like F’N’ Wook (“wook” being a woman who sleeps her way up with officers) were online, framed it as a “few bad apples” and an “IT problem.” The current commandant, Gen. Robert Heller, sees it as a “culture” problem. But what he calls a “stain” on Marine culture, Speier calls “culture rot.”</p>
<p>For Speier, as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, online military woman-hating pornography is different from the decades-long epidemic of military rape and sexual harassment. The commanders and Armed Services Committee legislators “can see the photos; and the degradation is tangible,” she said. Photos depicting rape and death threats are “objective compared to the personal testimonies of women,” she added, which the military doesn’t “want to hear.”</p>
<p>But the House Democratic Women’s Working Group does want to hear, and it is “going to be like a dog with a bone—they won’t let it go.” A legislative activist, <a href="https://speier.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-speier-gloria-allred-marines-united-survivor-introduce" type="external">Speier has introduced measures</a> designed to criminalize any service member who shares intimate photos of another service member without their consent, closing a massive gap within the Uniform Code of Military Justice.</p>
<p>While the military command takes the position that sharing nude photos on the internet without the consent of the victim could result in administrative or criminal procedures, the lionhearted Speier posits that the action should result in criminal charges.Conclusion</p>
<p>After studying atrocities committed by U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, social psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton posited that a war with no moral core increases the likelihood that soldiers will <a href="http://www.colorado.edu/ReligiousStudies/chernus/4820-ColdWarCulture/Readings/HomeFromTheWar.pdf" type="external">commit atrocities</a>, including sexual atrocities. Yet, while 15 percent of armed forces are now female, it is men, not women, fighting our arguably ineffective and immoral wars who sexually traumatize their fellow soldiers.</p>
<p>Why do so many male soldiers sexually humiliate, intimidate and assault their fellow female soldiers? The answer may lie with the convergence of a military culture that glorifies violence toward “the other” and is saturated with hostility toward women, from basic training to the battlefield and barracks; an early life of abuse, which turns the abused male child into an abuser in the military; and a military leadership that ignores, tolerates, encourages or participates in sexual abuse. Which is to say that soldiers rape and threaten rape online because they are socialized in physical and sexual violence, and because they can get away with it.</p>
<p>Recruitment is another portal to military sexual violence. It’s commonly known that military recruiters have lured adolescents with opportunities to buy sex in distant places like the Philippines, Italy and Panama. On the ground, sex, combat and male camaraderie can be a big draw for many adolescents who enlist.</p>
<p>Boasting about heterosexual exploits can also be the glue that binds and unifies for killing in combat. So concluded anthropologist Anna Simons after living among and studying Green Berets in combat training. Discussions of religion and politics, which carry the risk of disagreement and disunity, are avoided. On the other hand, Simons found, bragging about <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/29/opinion/l-all-kinds-of-bonding-852309.html" type="external">scoring women</a> creates friendly competition and male bonding and provides pseudo-individuality without diminishing group identity. How could a culture based on bonding around sexual exploitation possibly create space for women as equals?</p>
<p>The military modus operandi since the 1990s has been a cyclic scandal of sexual abuse, study after commissioned study, de rigueur congressional hearings and unfulfilled promises of reform. The seeds of radical military reform lie far afield from these feeble reactions. The most viable include cultivating moral conscience vis-à-vis sexism in male recruits from basic training onward, creating independent criminal prosecution of sex offenders and safeguarding female victims.</p>
<p>Nothing will change for women in the military or civil society until men learn to welcome women as their equals and summon the moral courage to call out other men on their degrading attitudes and actions toward women. But nothing will change the sexual violence-prone culture of our military until our national habit of responding to conflict with force is subordinated to muscular, peace-seeking diplomacy.</p>
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Marines’ ‘Always Faithful’ Motto Doesn’t Apply to Fellow Females
| true |
https://truthdig.com/articles/marines-always-faithful-motto-doesnt-apply-to-fellow-females/
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2017-06-05
| 4left
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Marines’ ‘Always Faithful’ Motto Doesn’t Apply to Fellow Females
<p>Marine Capt. Erin Demchko is shown in this still image from a recent TV advertisement released by the U.S. Marines as part of an effort to recruit women. (U.S. Marine Corps via AP)</p>
<p>“Unlike other habits that the military efficiently drills out of its members, there’s no effort to do the same when it comes to sexist behavior.”</p>
<p>—Marine veteran Dr. Kate Hendricks Thomas and Army reservist Paula Broadwell</p>
<p>The first women were assigned to a Marine infantry unit on Jan. 5, fulfilling the 2015 Department of Defense mandate that all military service jobs, including combat, be open to women.</p>
<p />
<p>By late January, a Google Drive link with photos of nude and barely dressed Marine servicewomen <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/10/519682039/nude-photo-scandal-may-expand-beyond-marines-united-facebook-group" type="external">was posted</a> to the Marines United Facebook page without the knowledge of the women involved. Postings also divulged their names, ranks and military duties.</p>
<p>Marines United, a male-only site for current and former Marines, U.S. Navy corpsmen and British Royal Marines, has a following of some 30,000 members whose bases span the globe. Members describe it as a site that helps vets find jobs and assists those feeling suicidal. It also carries degrading commentary about women. The news of nonconsensual nude photos with woman-hating commentary erupted into national media in March.</p>
<p>By then, 2,500 comments, some threatening rape and other sadistic sexual torture—couched in weaponized humor—had been posted to the site.</p>
<p>The Marines United rules of conduct—no racist or illegal posts, no threats, harm or harassment—and the Marines’ hallowed motto semper fi (“always faithful”) apparently do not apply to its treatment of women. Why? Because from basic training onward, women are stereotyped as “bitches,” “sluts” or “lesbians,” as one 23-year-old Marine veteran testified at a recent congressional hearing.</p>
<p>The Marines United story exploded like a roadside bomb run over by a convoy truck. Journalist and Marine veteran Thomas Brennan, who broke the story, and other veterans have since tracked the electronic dodges, feints and shifting Facebook sites of Marines United more nimbly than military officials have. Top Marine brass, under heavy fire from female legislators for other pornographic Facebook sites, confessed four years ago that they lacked “manpower” and “technological resources” to counter electronic sexual assault on their female members.</p>
<p>Baffling, isn’t it, that a military with the best cyberwar capabilities in the world and a defense budget larger than the next eight countries combined can’t control a cyberattack on women within its own ranks?</p>
<p>What is different about this latest saga of sexual assault in the military relates to who tracked, broke and followed the Marines United story. A handful of Marine veterans (notably, Brennan, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/us/with-their-leaders-at-a-loss-marine-veterans-fight-abusers.html?_r=1" type="external">James LaPorta and Shawn Wylde</a>)—at some risk to themselves and their families—pursued the roving Marines United site, including its hydra-headed permutations, more frontally than the military did.</p>
<p>LaPorta, now a journalist for The Daily Beast, informed me that he began covering the Marines United story when he was asked by Brennan “to screenshot any death threats [against Brennan] that I saw inside the secret Facebook chatroom known as Marines United and send them to him. He also asked that I pick up the reporting, so I did, and that’s what I have been doing since March 4, 2017.”</p>
<p>LaPorta <a href="https://frankel.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=555" type="external">recently testified</a> at a congressional hearing hosted by the Democratic Women’s Working Group that he has found “multiple examples of extortion, revenge porn, nonconsensual photo sharing, death threats and online harassment that target not only the women, but their friends and family members.”</p>
<p>Whence comes your courage? I asked. His response: “I don’t know if reporting on the nude-photo scandal within the Pentagon was courageous, but I do know it was the right thing to do.”</p>
<p>What has not changed is the justifiable rage and legislative activism of women on the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, among them California Rep. Jackie Speier and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, veteran critics of the unchecked epidemic of sexual assault in the military and its academies. What has not changed is the military’s failing performance—it has been missing in action for years when faced with the online sexual aggression of “brothers in arms” against their “sisters in arms.” What has not changed is the ruinous impact of this latest form of assault on female soldiers.</p>
<p>Military Response</p>
<p>A little bit of background sheds light on this latest failure of support for military women.</p>
<p>In his 2012 State of the Union address, President Obama opened and closed with iconic praise for the military. Yet his script, which hailed military cohesion and loyalty as models for Congress and the country, omitted any mention of female soldiers, even though women constitute 15 percent of all active duty military, and rampant military sexual assault was still fresh news in Washington.</p>
<p>Just six days earlier, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta held a press conference to announce <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-military-assaults-idUSTRE80I03Y20120119" type="external">new reforms</a> being launched by the Department of Defense to combat sexual assault. This public airing of the military’s heart of darkness—sexual crime in its ranks—came on the heels of an estimated 19,000 military sexual assaults in the previous year, by DOD calculations (a gross undercount because of substantial underreporting due to fear of retribution).</p>
<p>Panetta cited the “moral duty” of the military to keep its members safe and called sexual assault an affront to American values. Like so many institutional leaders undergoing public scrutiny for sexual abuse that took place on their watch, he took the high road: “One sexual assault is one too many,” he said. The avuncular leader of the most powerful and lethal military in history appeared stricken and, frankly, helpless, in admitting to rampant military sexual crime and sadism. By contrast, his arrogant predecessors—Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates—resembled stone-faced, callous archbishops and cardinals confronted with sexual abuse by clergymen under their watch. Eight years prior, then-Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-military-assaults-idUSTRE80I03Y20120119" type="external">had also declared</a> that “[s]exual assault will not be tolerated in the Department of Defense” and had ordered a 90-day review of sexual assault policies. Experts and victims alike assessed “the analysis of the issues [as] shallow, and the plans for addressing them limited.”</p>
<p>Fast-forward to March 2017. In a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Marines United, <a href="http://miami.cbslocal.com/2017/03/14/angry-senators-grill-commandant-over-marine-photo-scandal/" type="external">Sen. Gillibrand seared</a> the Marines’ highest ranking officer, Gen. Robert Neller, following his remarks to the committee. As top commander, he took personal responsibility for this most recent sex abuse scandal, asking female Marines to trust him to ensure that they gain the respect they deserve as Marines, and pleading with male Marines to see servicewomen as their equals. Nice words, but his testimony “rings hollow,” shot back an enraged Gillibrand. She added that nothing has been done in the years since misogynistic Marine social media sites were discovered and victims came forward and asked, if the Marines “can’t crack Facebook, how are we supposed to be able to crack Russian aggression and cyberhacking throughout our military?” Neller’s face morphed from grave and authoritative to humiliated and hangdog.</p>
<p>In my correspondence with the Marine Corps communications office, I sought its perspective on misogyny in its ranks, the gravity of the degrading online sex sites and its plans to reform the institution. In its responses, key dodges emerged. The corps relies on moral military messages and fundamentalist exhortations reminiscent of a catechism: “We do not abandon our core values when we enter the <a href="http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/CMC%20White%20Ltr%201-17%20-%20Conduct%20on%20Social%20Media.pdf?ver=2017-03-15-095630-693" type="external">online world</a>” was one, and another: “Marines, by and large, possess and act in accordance with our core values of honor, courage and commitment.” It also resorted reflexively to mandatory education in new policy, this time regarding “ <a href="http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/CMC%20White%20Ltr%201-17%20-%20Conduct%20on%20Social%20Media.pdf?ver=2017-03-15-095630-693" type="external">degrading social media posts</a>”—but the education is never evaluated afterward for attitudinal and behavioral change.</p>
<p>Since the Marines United scandal, the office told me, the task force created to frame the problem and to generate and implement near-term actions is composed of 40 percent women, military and civilians drawn from multiple disciplines—a good start. More pertinent is the plea of Sgt. Maj. Ronald Green, the highest-raking noncommissioned officer of the Marines to “act” and “come forward and report” misogynist online conduct. But the toughest stuff— <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/03/07/the-marines-naked-photo-scandal-shows-military-culture-is-still-sexist/?utm_term=.dc9f98a5a39b" type="external">drilling sexist behavior</a> out of recruits and punishing more than a few token offenders—begs for immediate, hard-hitting action.</p>
<p>Radical Response</p>
<p>Retired Col. Don Christiensen, a former Air Force chief prosecutor and sixth-generation member of a military family, heads <a href="http://www.protectourdefenders.com" type="external">Protect Our Defenders</a>, a national organization dedicated to ending rape and sexual assault in the military and to combating a culture of pervasive sexual harassment and retribution against victims.</p>
<p>I asked what motivated him to work in retirement on behalf of female victims of military sexual assault. “It was after witnessing too many times an offender’s commander and unit rally around him at trial,” he told me. “It was the ease with which too many would blame the victim, shun her at work, and character-assassinate her at trial. Too often, I saw victims run a figurative gauntlet of abuse and retaliation from the command structure she thought was there to protect her.”</p>
<p>Women face even more misogyny and sexism in “the very closed society” of the military, he said, with the “continual message [that] women aren’t worthy of respect,” a message conveyed by “public and private resistance to integration, lower rates of promotion and fewer opportunities to lead.” This former top military litigator directs his most scathing critique at leaders who “view women as little more than entertainment for generals and admirals.”</p>
<p>Repeatedly, he said, senior officers who have improper relationships with much junior female military members “receive little or no punishment, and they are never prosecuted.” The message to the rest of the military is, “A woman’s value is as a sexual object, not as an equal in taking the fight to the enemy.”</p>
<p>To the question of what would change the permissive culture of sexual degradation in the military and impunity for those who perpetrate it, Christiensen offered two structural recommendations: One is “accountability at all levels. For some, that accountability should be by court-martial. For others, it should be to quickly terminate their service.” Christiensen added that the Marine Corps “was on notice for at least four years that this cancer [referring to misogynist social media sites] was in the corps. Yet leadership did nothing.”</p>
<p>Employing an analogy that many men would appreciate, he concluded, “If a football team continues to have an discipline problem, you don’t address that by firing the equipment manager. You fire the coach. It’s time that the Marine Corps and really all of the DOD accepted that reality.”</p>
<p>The second course of action he prescribed is to take all aspects of prosecution out of the hands of commanders by creating “an independent military prosecution office” that enlists experienced sexual assault and rape prosecutors. “Even the best commanders are out of their league when it comes to making prosecution decisions for felony crimes,” Christiensen said. Independent prosecution will excise a commander’s capacity to protect an abuser and his unit’s reputation. And it will “send a strong message to survivors that they have someone in their corner outside the chain-of-command politics,” he said.The Response of Female Veterans</p>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/03/05/im-never-reenlisting-marine-corps-rocked-by-nude-photo-scandal/?utm_term=.e7fedf5625b3" type="external">Lance Cpl. Marisa Moytek</a>, an Iraq War veteran and daughter of a Marine veteran, was barraged with sexual harassment and threats of abuse after her photos and ID were uploaded without her knowledge to Marines United. She had once loved the familylike bonds in the military, but that changed after her ordeal. “Even if I could, I’m never re-enlisting,” she said bitterly. “Being sexually harassed online ruined the Marine Corps for me, and the experience.”</p>
<p>Dr. Kate Hendricks Thomas, an active-duty Marine from 2002-8, was not surprised by the news of Marines United, remarking that <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-03-08/former-female-marine-speaks-out-about-facebook-page-shared-nude-photos" type="external">sexual abuse pervades</a> the military, and noting that its victims are advised not to pursue a formal complaint lest it make the unit look bad. She always carried a gun and a knife when going to the shower trailers on her bases, due to constant fear of sexual assault. She also packed a can of black spray paint to obscure the ubiquitous pornographic cartoons in bathrooms that might trigger sexual fantasy narratives among her fellow Marines about raping her.</p>
<p>Would she recommend the military to young women as a work or career option, despite her siegelike life there? “Yes,” she replied to my query. “Women have always broken barriers and entered unfriendly spaces with eyes open, determined to make change. … Misogyny and cyber-harassment happen in civilian spaces, middle schools, and civic groups, too.”</p>
<p>Thomas survived; others in a similar situation <a href="http://truth-out.org/archive/component/k2/item/60362:military-hides-cause-of-women-soldiers-deaths" type="external">did not</a>. Female soldiers at Camp Victory in Iraq died from dehydration in their sleep because, despite the 120-degree desert heat and little to no air conditioning, they stopped drinking liquids after 3 or 4 p.m. in order to avoid using remote, unlit latrines due to the high risk of sexual assault by fellow soldiers.</p>
<p>Their senior Army commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=qOvEcMfhFB8C&amp;pg=PA134&amp;lpg=PA134&amp;dq=Sanchez,+The+women+asked+to+be+here,+so+now+let+them+take+what+comes+with+the+territory&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=Bz0vQdajni&amp;sig=H8k8hF9a6ohztYoUxBqS-Wyi9pY&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=NP4ZT53tHMqoiQKP1tiYCA&amp;sqi=2#v=onepage&amp;q=Sanchez%2C%20The%20women%20asked%20to%20be%20here%2C%20so%20now%20let%20them%20take%20what%20comes%20with%20the%20territory&amp;f=false" type="external">ordered a cover-up</a> of this potentially explosive news, directing the reporting surgeon to omit in oral briefs that the deceased soldiers were women and to leave out the real cause of death on their death certificates. His stance? “The women asked to be here, so now let them take what comes with the territory.”</p>
<p>The Impact of Sexual Aggression on Women in Military</p>
<p>I asked Thomas whether sites such as Marines United are qualitatively different from other forms of misogyny women may encounter in the military, such as sexist language, threats and assault. She responded: “The current harassment happening online is the same behavior via different medium. It falls along a continuum of harm.”</p>
<p>That continuum can and does reach the extreme for military women. Studies reveal that military sexual assault is more traumatizing than combat, that it is more damaging than the traumas of being ambushed, shot at, caught in crossfire, of rescuing mangled and dying comrades and the dread of driving over a roadside bomb. One <a href="http://genderandsecurity.org/projects-resources/research/focus-women-duty-related-and-sexual-stress-etiology-ptsd-among-women" type="external">striking Department of Veterans Affairs study</a> of more than 300 female veterans enrolled in a clinical program for stress disorders found that “stress related to sexual harassment and sexual abuse “was almost four times more influential than duty-related stress in the development of [post-traumatic stress disorder].” Military sexual stress creates a toxic, <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/6299-military-sexual-abuse-a-greater-menace-than-combat" type="external">private war zone</a> that takes more psychic strength to endure than combat requires.</p>
<p>The Response of Female Legislators</p>
<p>For six years Rep. Jackie Speier has fought to wring justice, respect and loyalty out of the Department of Defense for its enlisted women, who serve within a system that is rank with the “culture rot” of sexual harassment, sexual abuse and online misogyny. Along with other supportive legislators, her efforts have resulted in better services for survivors of military sexual abuse and movement toward having special prosecutors handle sex abuse cases.</p>
<p>To the question of whether misogyny is worse in the military than civil society, she conceded, “[I]t is in part because of the ‘family unit’ where they have responsibility to have each other’s back.” A woman victimized or threatened by sexual abuse knows that if she reports this, “no one will have her back.”</p>
<p>The military command, Speier adds, “doesn’t get it.” Gen. James Amos, the previous Marine commandant at the time when earlier misogynist sites like F’N’ Wook (“wook” being a woman who sleeps her way up with officers) were online, framed it as a “few bad apples” and an “IT problem.” The current commandant, Gen. Robert Heller, sees it as a “culture” problem. But what he calls a “stain” on Marine culture, Speier calls “culture rot.”</p>
<p>For Speier, as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, online military woman-hating pornography is different from the decades-long epidemic of military rape and sexual harassment. The commanders and Armed Services Committee legislators “can see the photos; and the degradation is tangible,” she said. Photos depicting rape and death threats are “objective compared to the personal testimonies of women,” she added, which the military doesn’t “want to hear.”</p>
<p>But the House Democratic Women’s Working Group does want to hear, and it is “going to be like a dog with a bone—they won’t let it go.” A legislative activist, <a href="https://speier.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-speier-gloria-allred-marines-united-survivor-introduce" type="external">Speier has introduced measures</a> designed to criminalize any service member who shares intimate photos of another service member without their consent, closing a massive gap within the Uniform Code of Military Justice.</p>
<p>While the military command takes the position that sharing nude photos on the internet without the consent of the victim could result in administrative or criminal procedures, the lionhearted Speier posits that the action should result in criminal charges.Conclusion</p>
<p>After studying atrocities committed by U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, social psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton posited that a war with no moral core increases the likelihood that soldiers will <a href="http://www.colorado.edu/ReligiousStudies/chernus/4820-ColdWarCulture/Readings/HomeFromTheWar.pdf" type="external">commit atrocities</a>, including sexual atrocities. Yet, while 15 percent of armed forces are now female, it is men, not women, fighting our arguably ineffective and immoral wars who sexually traumatize their fellow soldiers.</p>
<p>Why do so many male soldiers sexually humiliate, intimidate and assault their fellow female soldiers? The answer may lie with the convergence of a military culture that glorifies violence toward “the other” and is saturated with hostility toward women, from basic training to the battlefield and barracks; an early life of abuse, which turns the abused male child into an abuser in the military; and a military leadership that ignores, tolerates, encourages or participates in sexual abuse. Which is to say that soldiers rape and threaten rape online because they are socialized in physical and sexual violence, and because they can get away with it.</p>
<p>Recruitment is another portal to military sexual violence. It’s commonly known that military recruiters have lured adolescents with opportunities to buy sex in distant places like the Philippines, Italy and Panama. On the ground, sex, combat and male camaraderie can be a big draw for many adolescents who enlist.</p>
<p>Boasting about heterosexual exploits can also be the glue that binds and unifies for killing in combat. So concluded anthropologist Anna Simons after living among and studying Green Berets in combat training. Discussions of religion and politics, which carry the risk of disagreement and disunity, are avoided. On the other hand, Simons found, bragging about <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/29/opinion/l-all-kinds-of-bonding-852309.html" type="external">scoring women</a> creates friendly competition and male bonding and provides pseudo-individuality without diminishing group identity. How could a culture based on bonding around sexual exploitation possibly create space for women as equals?</p>
<p>The military modus operandi since the 1990s has been a cyclic scandal of sexual abuse, study after commissioned study, de rigueur congressional hearings and unfulfilled promises of reform. The seeds of radical military reform lie far afield from these feeble reactions. The most viable include cultivating moral conscience vis-à-vis sexism in male recruits from basic training onward, creating independent criminal prosecution of sex offenders and safeguarding female victims.</p>
<p>Nothing will change for women in the military or civil society until men learn to welcome women as their equals and summon the moral courage to call out other men on their degrading attitudes and actions toward women. But nothing will change the sexual violence-prone culture of our military until our national habit of responding to conflict with force is subordinated to muscular, peace-seeking diplomacy.</p>
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<p>The number of people missing or unaccounted for after the massive landslide in Washington state has dropped from 176 to 90, search officials said Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Ever since the avalanche of dirt and debris buried the small community 55 miles east of Seattle in mud on Saturday, the number of people who weren't accounted for had fluctuated as high as 250.</p>
<p>The new number was determined after authorities cross-referenced reports of missing persons and a registry of people who'd reported they were alive and well, John Pennington, director of the Snohomish County Emergency Management Department, told reporters.</p>
<p>Thirty-five more people were listed as "status unknown," a catchall designation for people — such as relatives, acquaintances or other visitors — who may or may not have been in the area at the time of the landslide but haven't checked in as safe.</p>
<p>Authorities confirmed Tuesday that 16 bodies had been recovered from the muck and that eight other people were believed to have been found. No further bodies were found Wednesday, Pennington said.</p>
<p>Crews were still holding out hope that some survivors might be hidden in air pockets under the mud, called "voids," Steve Westlake, an operations section chief for the search effort, told NBC News.</p>
<p>"We have found those voids," Westlake said, but searchers haven't uncovered any survivors yet.</p>
<p>Arlington Mayor Beth Tolbert said donations had poured in from as far away as New Zealand, but she said "this is a lot of people to be missing" and pleaded for more donations to help the area rebuild.</p>
<p>As scores of emergency officials and volunteers scoured the soft, unstable ground, rescue dogs were starting to get "very fatigued very early," Pennington said, and coordinators were working on a plan to keep them rested and effective.</p>
<p>So many volunteers showed up to help at the staging site in the town of Darrington that "we don't need any more workers" there, he said. "We can't safely manage them."</p>
<p>Authorities said debris removal from Highway 530 remained a priority, but they said it would be a long and difficult challenge because of the presence of possible victims.</p>
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Number of Missing or Unaccounted For in Mudslide Drops to 90
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Number of Missing or Unaccounted For in Mudslide Drops to 90
<p>The number of people missing or unaccounted for after the massive landslide in Washington state has dropped from 176 to 90, search officials said Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Ever since the avalanche of dirt and debris buried the small community 55 miles east of Seattle in mud on Saturday, the number of people who weren't accounted for had fluctuated as high as 250.</p>
<p>The new number was determined after authorities cross-referenced reports of missing persons and a registry of people who'd reported they were alive and well, John Pennington, director of the Snohomish County Emergency Management Department, told reporters.</p>
<p>Thirty-five more people were listed as "status unknown," a catchall designation for people — such as relatives, acquaintances or other visitors — who may or may not have been in the area at the time of the landslide but haven't checked in as safe.</p>
<p>Authorities confirmed Tuesday that 16 bodies had been recovered from the muck and that eight other people were believed to have been found. No further bodies were found Wednesday, Pennington said.</p>
<p>Crews were still holding out hope that some survivors might be hidden in air pockets under the mud, called "voids," Steve Westlake, an operations section chief for the search effort, told NBC News.</p>
<p>"We have found those voids," Westlake said, but searchers haven't uncovered any survivors yet.</p>
<p>Arlington Mayor Beth Tolbert said donations had poured in from as far away as New Zealand, but she said "this is a lot of people to be missing" and pleaded for more donations to help the area rebuild.</p>
<p>As scores of emergency officials and volunteers scoured the soft, unstable ground, rescue dogs were starting to get "very fatigued very early," Pennington said, and coordinators were working on a plan to keep them rested and effective.</p>
<p>So many volunteers showed up to help at the staging site in the town of Darrington that "we don't need any more workers" there, he said. "We can't safely manage them."</p>
<p>Authorities said debris removal from Highway 530 remained a priority, but they said it would be a long and difficult challenge because of the presence of possible victims.</p>
<p />
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<p>Many New Mexico homeowners struggling to stay in their homes will be able to get some help from the federal government.</p>
<p>Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said Tuesday in a news release that $10.7 million will be available to help New Mexico families struggling to keep up with their bills remain in their homes.</p>
<p>The funds come through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which expects to begin receiving applications later this year, according to the news release. The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed into law earlier this year, set aside funding to implement the Emergency Homeowners Loan Program.</p>
<p>The news release said the funds offered through the program assist homeowners by offering a declining balance, deferred payment “bridge loan” (non-recourse, subordinate loan with zero interest) for up to $50,000 to assist eligible homeowners with payments of arrearages, including delinquent taxes and insurance plus up to 24 months of monthly payments on their mortgage principal, interest, mortgage insurance premiums, taxes, and hazard insurance.</p>
<p>For more information, contact HUD by mail at Albuquerque Field Office, Department of Housing and Urban Development Centurion Silver, 625 Silver Avenue, SW Suite 100, Albuquerque, NM 87102-3185 or by phone at 505-346-6463.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
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Feds Providing $10.7M To Help Struggling N.M. Homeowners
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Feds Providing $10.7M To Help Struggling N.M. Homeowners
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Many New Mexico homeowners struggling to stay in their homes will be able to get some help from the federal government.</p>
<p>Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said Tuesday in a news release that $10.7 million will be available to help New Mexico families struggling to keep up with their bills remain in their homes.</p>
<p>The funds come through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which expects to begin receiving applications later this year, according to the news release. The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed into law earlier this year, set aside funding to implement the Emergency Homeowners Loan Program.</p>
<p>The news release said the funds offered through the program assist homeowners by offering a declining balance, deferred payment “bridge loan” (non-recourse, subordinate loan with zero interest) for up to $50,000 to assist eligible homeowners with payments of arrearages, including delinquent taxes and insurance plus up to 24 months of monthly payments on their mortgage principal, interest, mortgage insurance premiums, taxes, and hazard insurance.</p>
<p>For more information, contact HUD by mail at Albuquerque Field Office, Department of Housing and Urban Development Centurion Silver, 625 Silver Avenue, SW Suite 100, Albuquerque, NM 87102-3185 or by phone at 505-346-6463.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
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<p>In politics, there’s never a shortage of “crazy” out there. When people ask me what’s one of the main things I’ve taken away from being someone who covers and writes about politics, it’s that I’m astonished how many unstable people there are in the world. It’s actually a bit terrifying to realize that the thousands of comments I read every week on various articles on the Internet are made by people <a href="" type="internal">who are allowed to roam freely among us</a>, many legally allowed to drive and own guns.</p>
<p>Keeping my faith in humanity is a daily test, trust me.</p>
<p>Well, on Tuesday, we had a bit of a “perfect storm” of crazy descend upon the political world. With Bernie Sanders officially endorsing Hillary Clinton, Loretta Lynch being brought in front of Congress and President Obama speaking at a memorial for the slain Dallas police officers, I knew yesterday was going to be a long one.</p>
<p>First, the Sanders endorsement brought out the wave of insanity <a href="" type="internal">we saw a glimpse of last week</a>. While I avoided Facebook comments the best I could, I spent a good part of my day blocking and muting people on Twitter. I literally had several messages from people telling me that the media was calling it an endorsement when it really wasn’t because you could tell he was only doing it because he “had to,” and I needed to “read between the lines.” One thing I’ve learned during this 2016 election is <a href="" type="internal">the far-left can be every bit as&#160;batshit crazy</a> and conspiracy driven as the far-right.</p>
<p>To be fair, I saw a lot of people who recognized that this was inevitable and pledged to follow Bernie’s lead in helping Democrats keep the White House this November.</p>
<p>Then there was Donald Trump’s Twitter meltdown over the Sanders endorsement. Here are a couple of his tweets:</p>
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<p>To any Bernie Sanders supporter dumb enough to fall for this load of crap from Trump, if you do, you’ve lost any right to call yourself a liberal or a progressive. I know the vast majority are smart enough to recognize Trump’s blatant pandering, but I’m still seeing <a href="" type="internal">far too many Sanders supporters</a> speak more highly of Trump than they do of Clinton.</p>
<p>Speaking of supposed “liberals” who spend more time whining about other liberals than they do speaking out against&#160;Republicans, <a href="" type="internal">Green Party hero Dr. Jill Stein</a> also had quite the Twitter hissy fit&#160;once she realized she wasn’t going to be able to exploit Bernie Sanders’ name for attention much longer. I would list some of her tweets, but she sent out roughly 43 anti-Clinton tweets in the twelve hours&#160;following Sanders’ endorsement. Here’s a couple to give you an idea of just how absurd this woman is:</p>
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<p>Again, tell me, why is it the Green Party spends more time bashing and attacking “not liberal enough Democrats,” while almost never going after Republicans? Of all the political pundits and politicians I saw yesterday who went after Clinton, no one spent more time bashing the Democratic presidential nominee than Dr. Jill Stein.</p>
<p>It’s like I’ve said about what the motto of The Green Party should really be: Helping elected ultra-conservative Republicans by spending most of their time whining about progressive&#160;Democrats not being liberal enough.</p>
<p>Then there was the news that Newt Gingrich had severed his ties with&#160;Fox News in a move many are saying could be a sign that he’s going to be Trump’s pick for VP.</p>
<p>Are you kidding me?&#160;</p>
<p>Please…&#160;please&#160;let Trump pick Gingrich as his running mate.&#160;If there was one thing you could have told me I would have found more unlikely than <a href="" type="internal">Trump becoming the Republican nominee</a> for president, it was someone picking Newt Gingrich as their vice president.</p>
<p>Imagine this for a moment:</p>
<p>Trump/Gingrich 2016: Sure, combined we’ve had six marriages and three adulterous affairs, but we’re totally the party for good, moral Christian values.</p>
<p>You can’t make this stuff up.</p>
<p>Then there was the memorial for the murdered Dallas police officers attended by President Obama and former President George W. Bush. While both men’s speeches were fantastic, sadly, one of the most talked about stories that came from the event was Bush’s dancing. I know he didn’t mean anything by it, and his speech really was good, but it was such a ridiculous Bush thing to do.</p>
<p>Of course, President Obama couldn’t give a speech without getting bashed relentlessly afterward by the usual suspects. Most notably, gun fanatics freaked out after he mentioned gun violence during a speech at a memorial service where 5 police officers were killed —&#160; <a href="" type="internal">by gun violence</a>. While his comments weren’t much different than those recently made by the <a href="" type="internal">Dallas mayor and police chief</a>, it was apparently the end of the world for some folks because the president dared to say anything.</p>
<p>Not too long ago a day like yesterday would have been a day where most people put politics aside to just show respect for the president giving a fantastic speech honoring the tragic loss of five lives.&#160;However, those days are long gone. Now when tragedy strikes, conservatives can’t rush to the Internet, a media outlet or a blog fast enough to blame whatever happened on President Obama.</p>
<p>Then there was Attorney General Loretta Lynch appearing before Congress where Republicans tried their best to get her to explain what FBI Director James Comey <a href="" type="internal">explained to them last week</a>. She refused to give in to their leading “gotcha” questions and frequent attempts to back her into a corner, so of course congressional Republicans were not happy. That&#160;only feeds into the conniption fit Republicans are&#160;continuing to throw because, <a href="" type="internal">like Benghazi</a>, they didn’t get their way when it came to the FBI’s investigation.</p>
<p>Last, and most certainly least, if you really want to see sheer insanity and stupidity, head on over to “Sanders supporter”/anti-Hillary hack <a href="https://twitter.com/HAGOODMANAUTHOR" type="external">H.A. Goodman’s Twitter</a> — just&#160;wow.</p>
<p>Every day in politics carries with it a decent amount of crazy, but Tuesday was definitely a day where it was on full display from both the far-left and the far-right.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Orders State Guard to Monitor the Activity of U.S. Military</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">John Boehner Busted By Fact-Checkers For Lying About The Amount Of Money In American Politics</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">A Message From a Hillary Clinton Supporter to Bernie Sanders Supporters</a></p>
<p>0 Facebook comments</p>
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Wow, Tuesday Was a Day When ‘Political Crazy’ Came Out in Full Force
| true |
http://forwardprogressives.com/tuesday-was-a-day-when-crazy-came-out-in-full-force/
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2016-07-13
| 4left
|
Wow, Tuesday Was a Day When ‘Political Crazy’ Came Out in Full Force
<p>In politics, there’s never a shortage of “crazy” out there. When people ask me what’s one of the main things I’ve taken away from being someone who covers and writes about politics, it’s that I’m astonished how many unstable people there are in the world. It’s actually a bit terrifying to realize that the thousands of comments I read every week on various articles on the Internet are made by people <a href="" type="internal">who are allowed to roam freely among us</a>, many legally allowed to drive and own guns.</p>
<p>Keeping my faith in humanity is a daily test, trust me.</p>
<p>Well, on Tuesday, we had a bit of a “perfect storm” of crazy descend upon the political world. With Bernie Sanders officially endorsing Hillary Clinton, Loretta Lynch being brought in front of Congress and President Obama speaking at a memorial for the slain Dallas police officers, I knew yesterday was going to be a long one.</p>
<p>First, the Sanders endorsement brought out the wave of insanity <a href="" type="internal">we saw a glimpse of last week</a>. While I avoided Facebook comments the best I could, I spent a good part of my day blocking and muting people on Twitter. I literally had several messages from people telling me that the media was calling it an endorsement when it really wasn’t because you could tell he was only doing it because he “had to,” and I needed to “read between the lines.” One thing I’ve learned during this 2016 election is <a href="" type="internal">the far-left can be every bit as&#160;batshit crazy</a> and conspiracy driven as the far-right.</p>
<p>To be fair, I saw a lot of people who recognized that this was inevitable and pledged to follow Bernie’s lead in helping Democrats keep the White House this November.</p>
<p>Then there was Donald Trump’s Twitter meltdown over the Sanders endorsement. Here are a couple of his tweets:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>To any Bernie Sanders supporter dumb enough to fall for this load of crap from Trump, if you do, you’ve lost any right to call yourself a liberal or a progressive. I know the vast majority are smart enough to recognize Trump’s blatant pandering, but I’m still seeing <a href="" type="internal">far too many Sanders supporters</a> speak more highly of Trump than they do of Clinton.</p>
<p>Speaking of supposed “liberals” who spend more time whining about other liberals than they do speaking out against&#160;Republicans, <a href="" type="internal">Green Party hero Dr. Jill Stein</a> also had quite the Twitter hissy fit&#160;once she realized she wasn’t going to be able to exploit Bernie Sanders’ name for attention much longer. I would list some of her tweets, but she sent out roughly 43 anti-Clinton tweets in the twelve hours&#160;following Sanders’ endorsement. Here’s a couple to give you an idea of just how absurd this woman is:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Again, tell me, why is it the Green Party spends more time bashing and attacking “not liberal enough Democrats,” while almost never going after Republicans? Of all the political pundits and politicians I saw yesterday who went after Clinton, no one spent more time bashing the Democratic presidential nominee than Dr. Jill Stein.</p>
<p>It’s like I’ve said about what the motto of The Green Party should really be: Helping elected ultra-conservative Republicans by spending most of their time whining about progressive&#160;Democrats not being liberal enough.</p>
<p>Then there was the news that Newt Gingrich had severed his ties with&#160;Fox News in a move many are saying could be a sign that he’s going to be Trump’s pick for VP.</p>
<p>Are you kidding me?&#160;</p>
<p>Please…&#160;please&#160;let Trump pick Gingrich as his running mate.&#160;If there was one thing you could have told me I would have found more unlikely than <a href="" type="internal">Trump becoming the Republican nominee</a> for president, it was someone picking Newt Gingrich as their vice president.</p>
<p>Imagine this for a moment:</p>
<p>Trump/Gingrich 2016: Sure, combined we’ve had six marriages and three adulterous affairs, but we’re totally the party for good, moral Christian values.</p>
<p>You can’t make this stuff up.</p>
<p>Then there was the memorial for the murdered Dallas police officers attended by President Obama and former President George W. Bush. While both men’s speeches were fantastic, sadly, one of the most talked about stories that came from the event was Bush’s dancing. I know he didn’t mean anything by it, and his speech really was good, but it was such a ridiculous Bush thing to do.</p>
<p>Of course, President Obama couldn’t give a speech without getting bashed relentlessly afterward by the usual suspects. Most notably, gun fanatics freaked out after he mentioned gun violence during a speech at a memorial service where 5 police officers were killed —&#160; <a href="" type="internal">by gun violence</a>. While his comments weren’t much different than those recently made by the <a href="" type="internal">Dallas mayor and police chief</a>, it was apparently the end of the world for some folks because the president dared to say anything.</p>
<p>Not too long ago a day like yesterday would have been a day where most people put politics aside to just show respect for the president giving a fantastic speech honoring the tragic loss of five lives.&#160;However, those days are long gone. Now when tragedy strikes, conservatives can’t rush to the Internet, a media outlet or a blog fast enough to blame whatever happened on President Obama.</p>
<p>Then there was Attorney General Loretta Lynch appearing before Congress where Republicans tried their best to get her to explain what FBI Director James Comey <a href="" type="internal">explained to them last week</a>. She refused to give in to their leading “gotcha” questions and frequent attempts to back her into a corner, so of course congressional Republicans were not happy. That&#160;only feeds into the conniption fit Republicans are&#160;continuing to throw because, <a href="" type="internal">like Benghazi</a>, they didn’t get their way when it came to the FBI’s investigation.</p>
<p>Last, and most certainly least, if you really want to see sheer insanity and stupidity, head on over to “Sanders supporter”/anti-Hillary hack <a href="https://twitter.com/HAGOODMANAUTHOR" type="external">H.A. Goodman’s Twitter</a> — just&#160;wow.</p>
<p>Every day in politics carries with it a decent amount of crazy, but Tuesday was definitely a day where it was on full display from both the far-left and the far-right.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Orders State Guard to Monitor the Activity of U.S. Military</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">John Boehner Busted By Fact-Checkers For Lying About The Amount Of Money In American Politics</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">A Message From a Hillary Clinton Supporter to Bernie Sanders Supporters</a></p>
<p>0 Facebook comments</p>
| 5,926 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Apple.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Apple-extends-iPhone-production-cut-for-another-quarter" type="external">Nikkei Asian Review Opens a New Window.</a>, Apple is expected to "continue its reduced production of iPhones in the April-June quarter in light of sluggish sales." The information about these cuts apparently comes "parts suppliers notified of the plan."</p>
<p>Should long-term Apple investors worry about this news? Let's take a closer look.</p>
<p>Some backgroundThere's no beating around the bush here: The iPhone 6s/6s Plus cycle has proved to be something of a mess for Apple. The company guided to the first-ever year-over-year drop in iPhone shipments in the March quarter, confirming the reports that had been swirling at the time that Apple was cutting production of the latest iPhone 6s/6s Plus phones.</p>
<p>According to CEO Tim Cook on the earnings call about three months ago, the March quarter -- which Apple will report results for on April 25 -- is expected to be the "toughest compare." This, the executive said, was due to two key factors.</p>
<p>First, Apple's supply was heavily constrained in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, so sales that would have been recognized in the first quarter had supply been sufficient were pushed into the second quarter. Second, Cook said that from a currency/macroeconomic point of view, things have deteriorated meaningfully from the prior year.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Going into the company's fiscal third quarter, the year-over-year comparison becomes a little bit "cleaner" since there wasn't any demand push-out into the fiscal third quarter of 2015 to skew the comparison.</p>
<p>It would seem, though, that demand is proving to be more challenging than what Apple had anticipated.</p>
<p>Build plan reductions are bad news for AppleThe initial build plans for the fiscal third quarter that Apple likely shared with its suppliers probably factored in the weakness that the iDevice maker saw during its fiscal first quarter and early on in the fiscal second quarter.</p>
<p>If Apple is now telling its suppliers that it will be ordering fewer parts, this strongly suggests that Apple's internal demand forecasts have been lowered yet again. It doesn't offer guidance beyond a quarter, but the investor takeaway is this: Had Apple publicly shared its shipment expectations for the April-June quarter back in January, it would most likely need to revise that guidance down later this month.</p>
<p>Apple's iPhone business is looking shaky; I'm avoiding the stockIt's becoming plain as day that Apple's iPhone business is not in particularly good shape. Despite the significant technical advancements in the iPhone 6s (significantly updated internals, 3D Touch capability, more marketable cameras, and so on), demand is apparently soft.</p>
<p>To make matters worse, Apple not only has a fairly strong set of flagship phones, but the iPhone 6/6 Plus that were so popular in fiscal 2015 are cheaper than ever in fiscal 2016. Even with a markedly stronger lineup at lower price points this fiscal year compared to last, iPhone sales are still reportedly weaker than originally hoped.</p>
<p>To add even more fuel to the fire, generally reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has been talking a lot about the radical changes that are expected to come to the 2017 iPhone. There has been little leaked from Kuo, or from other sources, about the details of the iPhone that Apple will be releasing this year.</p>
<p>This has led some to believe that the update that it has in store for 2016 isn't going to be as exciting as one would expect from a typical "new number" iPhone. If Apple doesn't make the iPhone 7 series of phones really exciting (not just to techie nerds such as yours truly, but to the general public), then the company could be looking at yet another year of iPhone declines.</p>
<p>At this point, there is simply too much uncertainty around the demand trends for the iPhone to make me feel comfortable about buying the stock. When/if iPhone demand turns a corner, it will be worth revisiting whether Apple stock deserves a place in my portfolio.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/19/report-apple-inc-iphone-production-to-stay-low.aspx" type="external">Report: Apple Inc. iPhone Production to Stay Low Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/aeassa/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Ashraf Eassa Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. 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>
|
Report: Apple Inc. iPhone Production to Stay Low
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/04/19/report-apple-inc-iphone-production-to-stay-low.html
|
2016-04-19
| 0right
|
Report: Apple Inc. iPhone Production to Stay Low
<p />
<p>Image source: Apple.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Apple-extends-iPhone-production-cut-for-another-quarter" type="external">Nikkei Asian Review Opens a New Window.</a>, Apple is expected to "continue its reduced production of iPhones in the April-June quarter in light of sluggish sales." The information about these cuts apparently comes "parts suppliers notified of the plan."</p>
<p>Should long-term Apple investors worry about this news? Let's take a closer look.</p>
<p>Some backgroundThere's no beating around the bush here: The iPhone 6s/6s Plus cycle has proved to be something of a mess for Apple. The company guided to the first-ever year-over-year drop in iPhone shipments in the March quarter, confirming the reports that had been swirling at the time that Apple was cutting production of the latest iPhone 6s/6s Plus phones.</p>
<p>According to CEO Tim Cook on the earnings call about three months ago, the March quarter -- which Apple will report results for on April 25 -- is expected to be the "toughest compare." This, the executive said, was due to two key factors.</p>
<p>First, Apple's supply was heavily constrained in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, so sales that would have been recognized in the first quarter had supply been sufficient were pushed into the second quarter. Second, Cook said that from a currency/macroeconomic point of view, things have deteriorated meaningfully from the prior year.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Going into the company's fiscal third quarter, the year-over-year comparison becomes a little bit "cleaner" since there wasn't any demand push-out into the fiscal third quarter of 2015 to skew the comparison.</p>
<p>It would seem, though, that demand is proving to be more challenging than what Apple had anticipated.</p>
<p>Build plan reductions are bad news for AppleThe initial build plans for the fiscal third quarter that Apple likely shared with its suppliers probably factored in the weakness that the iDevice maker saw during its fiscal first quarter and early on in the fiscal second quarter.</p>
<p>If Apple is now telling its suppliers that it will be ordering fewer parts, this strongly suggests that Apple's internal demand forecasts have been lowered yet again. It doesn't offer guidance beyond a quarter, but the investor takeaway is this: Had Apple publicly shared its shipment expectations for the April-June quarter back in January, it would most likely need to revise that guidance down later this month.</p>
<p>Apple's iPhone business is looking shaky; I'm avoiding the stockIt's becoming plain as day that Apple's iPhone business is not in particularly good shape. Despite the significant technical advancements in the iPhone 6s (significantly updated internals, 3D Touch capability, more marketable cameras, and so on), demand is apparently soft.</p>
<p>To make matters worse, Apple not only has a fairly strong set of flagship phones, but the iPhone 6/6 Plus that were so popular in fiscal 2015 are cheaper than ever in fiscal 2016. Even with a markedly stronger lineup at lower price points this fiscal year compared to last, iPhone sales are still reportedly weaker than originally hoped.</p>
<p>To add even more fuel to the fire, generally reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has been talking a lot about the radical changes that are expected to come to the 2017 iPhone. There has been little leaked from Kuo, or from other sources, about the details of the iPhone that Apple will be releasing this year.</p>
<p>This has led some to believe that the update that it has in store for 2016 isn't going to be as exciting as one would expect from a typical "new number" iPhone. If Apple doesn't make the iPhone 7 series of phones really exciting (not just to techie nerds such as yours truly, but to the general public), then the company could be looking at yet another year of iPhone declines.</p>
<p>At this point, there is simply too much uncertainty around the demand trends for the iPhone to make me feel comfortable about buying the stock. When/if iPhone demand turns a corner, it will be worth revisiting whether Apple stock deserves a place in my portfolio.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/19/report-apple-inc-iphone-production-to-stay-low.aspx" type="external">Report: Apple Inc. iPhone Production to Stay Low Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/aeassa/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Ashraf Eassa Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. 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>
| 5,927 |
<p>(Public domain image)</p>
<p>WASHINGTON — A new <a href="http://thetaskforceactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/10-key-lgbtq-health-advocacy-issues.pdf?_ga=1.164319615.1111052092.1478298232" type="external">guide</a> on LGBT health issues was released last week from the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund and the National Coalition for LGBT Health to educate voters on top gay health priorities the two organizations plan to focus on in the coming years.</p>
<p>The guide, dubbed the “10 Key LGBTQ Health Advocacy Priorities Guide,” is billed as an unprecedented document.</p>
<p>“This new guide is like no other as it outlines critical health care issues through an intersectional approach,” said Candace Bond-Theriault, policy counsel for reproductive rights, health and justice at the Task Force. “It takes into consideration the realities that make up the everyday lives of LGBTQ people such as racial injustice, economic injustice, gender inequality and immigration status. We believe that in order to improve the lives and health of all LGBTQ people, a clear understanding that these issues overlap is necessary.”</p>
<p>The guide lists the following 10 key areas as priorities: advocating for reproductive health, rights and justice; creating an AIDS-free generation, promoting HIV harm reduction and increasing access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP); expanding public education and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STI) and sexually transmitted diseases (STD); supporting LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness; improving transgender health care; addressing religious exemptions and nondiscrimination laws; promoting LGBTQ cultural competency; improving access to mental health; expanding access to affordable health care; and ending violence against LGBTQ people.</p>
<p>Although the guide was designed to educate voters prior to the election this week, the issues are relevant regardless of the outcome.</p>
<p>Both organizations will host workshops, trainings and informational sessions on these priority health advocacy issues during the 2017 Creating Change Conference on Jan. 18-22 and SYNChronicity 2017: the National Conference on HIV, HCV and LGBT Health, set for April 24-25.</p>
<p>The guide is available online at thetaskforceactionfund.org or on the website for the National Coalition for LGBT Health.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">10 Key LGBTQ Health Advocacy Priorities Guide</a> <a href="" type="internal">AIDS</a> <a href="" type="internal">Candace Bond-Theriault</a> <a href="" type="internal">health care</a> <a href="" type="internal">HIV</a> <a href="" type="internal">homelessness</a> <a href="" type="internal">LGBTQ youth</a> <a href="" type="internal">National Coalition for LGBT Health</a> <a href="" type="internal">National Conference on HIV HCV and LGBT Health</a> <a href="" type="internal">National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund</a> <a href="" type="internal">nondiscrimination laws</a> <a href="" type="internal">pre-exposure phophylaxis</a> <a href="" type="internal">PrEP</a> <a href="" type="internal">sexually transmitted diseases</a> <a href="" type="internal">Sexually Transmitted Infections</a> <a href="" type="internal">STD</a> <a href="" type="internal">STI</a> <a href="" type="internal">trans</a> <a href="" type="internal">transgender</a></p>
|
Task Force offers guide to pressing health issues
| false |
http://washingtonblade.com/2016/11/11/task-force-offers-guide-pressing-health-issues/
| 3left-center
|
Task Force offers guide to pressing health issues
<p>(Public domain image)</p>
<p>WASHINGTON — A new <a href="http://thetaskforceactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/10-key-lgbtq-health-advocacy-issues.pdf?_ga=1.164319615.1111052092.1478298232" type="external">guide</a> on LGBT health issues was released last week from the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund and the National Coalition for LGBT Health to educate voters on top gay health priorities the two organizations plan to focus on in the coming years.</p>
<p>The guide, dubbed the “10 Key LGBTQ Health Advocacy Priorities Guide,” is billed as an unprecedented document.</p>
<p>“This new guide is like no other as it outlines critical health care issues through an intersectional approach,” said Candace Bond-Theriault, policy counsel for reproductive rights, health and justice at the Task Force. “It takes into consideration the realities that make up the everyday lives of LGBTQ people such as racial injustice, economic injustice, gender inequality and immigration status. We believe that in order to improve the lives and health of all LGBTQ people, a clear understanding that these issues overlap is necessary.”</p>
<p>The guide lists the following 10 key areas as priorities: advocating for reproductive health, rights and justice; creating an AIDS-free generation, promoting HIV harm reduction and increasing access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP); expanding public education and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STI) and sexually transmitted diseases (STD); supporting LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness; improving transgender health care; addressing religious exemptions and nondiscrimination laws; promoting LGBTQ cultural competency; improving access to mental health; expanding access to affordable health care; and ending violence against LGBTQ people.</p>
<p>Although the guide was designed to educate voters prior to the election this week, the issues are relevant regardless of the outcome.</p>
<p>Both organizations will host workshops, trainings and informational sessions on these priority health advocacy issues during the 2017 Creating Change Conference on Jan. 18-22 and SYNChronicity 2017: the National Conference on HIV, HCV and LGBT Health, set for April 24-25.</p>
<p>The guide is available online at thetaskforceactionfund.org or on the website for the National Coalition for LGBT Health.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">10 Key LGBTQ Health Advocacy Priorities Guide</a> <a href="" type="internal">AIDS</a> <a href="" type="internal">Candace Bond-Theriault</a> <a href="" type="internal">health care</a> <a href="" type="internal">HIV</a> <a href="" type="internal">homelessness</a> <a href="" type="internal">LGBTQ youth</a> <a href="" type="internal">National Coalition for LGBT Health</a> <a href="" type="internal">National Conference on HIV HCV and LGBT Health</a> <a href="" type="internal">National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund</a> <a href="" type="internal">nondiscrimination laws</a> <a href="" type="internal">pre-exposure phophylaxis</a> <a href="" type="internal">PrEP</a> <a href="" type="internal">sexually transmitted diseases</a> <a href="" type="internal">Sexually Transmitted Infections</a> <a href="" type="internal">STD</a> <a href="" type="internal">STI</a> <a href="" type="internal">trans</a> <a href="" type="internal">transgender</a></p>
| 5,928 |
|
<p />
<p>Last year, Piper Jaffray estimated that thefour best-selling VR headsets in the world this year would be Samsung's Gear VR, Facebook's (NASDAQ: FB) Oculus Rift, HTC's Vive, and Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PSVR -- in that order. Piper estimated that Samsung would sell 5 million Gear VRs, Facebook would sell 3.6 million Rifts, HTC would sell 2.1 million Vives, and Sony would sell 1.4 million PSVRs.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But now that all of those devices have arrived, newer estimates indicate that Piper's forecasts were likely too bullish. In early October, research firmSuperData estimated that Sony would actually finish the year with the top-selling device, while the Oculus Rift would rank fifth. Let's take a closer look at those shipment numbers.</p>
<p>Sony's PSVR. Image source: Sony.</p>
<p>SuperData believes that Sony will sell 2.6 million PlayStation VR headsets this year, although the headset only launched in mid-October. The reasoning is that unlike the Rift and Vive's requirement for newer "VR-ready" PCs, the PSVR works with existing PS4 consoles.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Since Sony has already sold over45 million PS4s worldwide, it has a huge base of potential users. Moreover, the PSVR's $400 price tag makes it the cheapest high-end VR experience on the market today. Demand for the PSVR has been robust, with the device <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/17/can-microsoft-corporation-counter-sonys-playstatio.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">selling out Opens a New Window.</a> at multiple retailers, so the 2.6 million estimate (6% of its user base) could actually be very conservative.</p>
<p>PS4 game developers are also adding VR features to their new games, which could convince gamers to buy the headset. It could also boost sales of the PS4 Pro, which adds 4K gaming andbetter visuals for VR games.</p>
<p>SuperData expects Samsung to sell 2.3 million Gear VRs this year. The Gear VR only costs about $100, but must be powered by a high-end flagship device like the S6, S7, or Note 5. Unlike the spartan Google Cardboard, the Gear VR adds additional sensors to improve latency for a smoother overall experience. It's <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/24/will-samsungs-note-7-fiasco-hurt-facebooks-vr-effo.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">also digitally tethered Opens a New Window.</a> to Facebook's Oculus Home ecosystem of apps and content.</p>
<p>The Gear VR will likely remain a popular choice with consumers who own a flagship Samsung phone but are unwilling to pay hundreds of dollars for a high-end VR headset. The mobility of the Gear VR, which isn't tethered by wires to consoles or PCs, also offers users more freedom of movement.</p>
<p>Piper's older forecasts didn't account for the arrival of Alphabet's (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/05/24/google-vs-facebook-the-battle-of-the-vr-ecosystems.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Google Daydream Opens a New Window.</a>, a new VR platform which is natively built into Android 7.0. The platform resembles Oculus Home, and is likely intended to be the VR successor of the Google Play Store. Google has also unveiled a headset and remote combo which works with "Daydream ready" phones.</p>
<p>Google's Daydream. Image source: Google.</p>
<p>SuperData believes that Google and its hardware partners will sell about 450,000 Daydream headsets this year. However, that could be a tough goal since the first devices arrived inmid-November and only a few phones (the new Pixel and Moto Z devices) work with the platform. But once more compatible phones are introduced, demand for Daydream headsets, which cost just $80, couldrise on similar strengths as the Gear VR.</p>
<p>HTC's Vive, which features full-body motion tracking in VR space, is arguably the most technically advanced VR headset on the market today. However, it's also the priciest at $800, and must be tethered to a high-end PC. The user must also set up motion-tracking boxes around a wide-open "play area" to track the user's movements in virtual space.</p>
<p>That high price tag and cumbersome setup is likely throttling demand for the Vive. SuperData believes that HTC will only sell 420,000 Vives this year, while a Steam survey in September found that only 0.18% of respondents owned oneof the high-end headsets.</p>
<p>HTC's Vive. Image source: HTC.</p>
<p>SuperData estimates that Facebook will only sell 355,000 Rifts this year. That's surprising, sinceFacebook's $2 billion acquisition of Oculus in 2014 arguably sparked the initial land grab in the VR market. However, the aforementioned Steam survey found that just 0.1% of gamers owned a Rift.</p>
<p>Like the Vive, demand for the Rift was throttled by its price tag of $600 and its need to be tethered to a high-end gaming PC. Meanwhile, affluent gamers looking to splurge on a top-tier VR experience were likely drawn to the HTC Vive's full-body experience instead. The Rift's weak debut is troubling for Oculus Home, which could lose ground quickly to Google Daydream as more Daydream-compatible devices arrive in the coming year.</p>
<p>SuperData's numbers paint a much more pessimistic view of the VR market than Piper Jaffray's, but we should remember that these are simply rough estimates. Until these companies report hard shipment figures, we should take these forecasts with a grain of salt. However, we should also note the disparity between cheap mobile/console-based headsets and pricier PC-based ones -- and see if that trend continues over the next few years.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2668&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSunLion/info.aspx" type="external">Leo Sun Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Facebook. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
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The 5 Best-Selling VR Devices of 2016
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http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/11/22/5-best-selling-vr-devices-2016.html
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2016-11-22
| 0right
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The 5 Best-Selling VR Devices of 2016
<p />
<p>Last year, Piper Jaffray estimated that thefour best-selling VR headsets in the world this year would be Samsung's Gear VR, Facebook's (NASDAQ: FB) Oculus Rift, HTC's Vive, and Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PSVR -- in that order. Piper estimated that Samsung would sell 5 million Gear VRs, Facebook would sell 3.6 million Rifts, HTC would sell 2.1 million Vives, and Sony would sell 1.4 million PSVRs.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But now that all of those devices have arrived, newer estimates indicate that Piper's forecasts were likely too bullish. In early October, research firmSuperData estimated that Sony would actually finish the year with the top-selling device, while the Oculus Rift would rank fifth. Let's take a closer look at those shipment numbers.</p>
<p>Sony's PSVR. Image source: Sony.</p>
<p>SuperData believes that Sony will sell 2.6 million PlayStation VR headsets this year, although the headset only launched in mid-October. The reasoning is that unlike the Rift and Vive's requirement for newer "VR-ready" PCs, the PSVR works with existing PS4 consoles.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Since Sony has already sold over45 million PS4s worldwide, it has a huge base of potential users. Moreover, the PSVR's $400 price tag makes it the cheapest high-end VR experience on the market today. Demand for the PSVR has been robust, with the device <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/17/can-microsoft-corporation-counter-sonys-playstatio.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">selling out Opens a New Window.</a> at multiple retailers, so the 2.6 million estimate (6% of its user base) could actually be very conservative.</p>
<p>PS4 game developers are also adding VR features to their new games, which could convince gamers to buy the headset. It could also boost sales of the PS4 Pro, which adds 4K gaming andbetter visuals for VR games.</p>
<p>SuperData expects Samsung to sell 2.3 million Gear VRs this year. The Gear VR only costs about $100, but must be powered by a high-end flagship device like the S6, S7, or Note 5. Unlike the spartan Google Cardboard, the Gear VR adds additional sensors to improve latency for a smoother overall experience. It's <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/24/will-samsungs-note-7-fiasco-hurt-facebooks-vr-effo.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">also digitally tethered Opens a New Window.</a> to Facebook's Oculus Home ecosystem of apps and content.</p>
<p>The Gear VR will likely remain a popular choice with consumers who own a flagship Samsung phone but are unwilling to pay hundreds of dollars for a high-end VR headset. The mobility of the Gear VR, which isn't tethered by wires to consoles or PCs, also offers users more freedom of movement.</p>
<p>Piper's older forecasts didn't account for the arrival of Alphabet's (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/05/24/google-vs-facebook-the-battle-of-the-vr-ecosystems.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Google Daydream Opens a New Window.</a>, a new VR platform which is natively built into Android 7.0. The platform resembles Oculus Home, and is likely intended to be the VR successor of the Google Play Store. Google has also unveiled a headset and remote combo which works with "Daydream ready" phones.</p>
<p>Google's Daydream. Image source: Google.</p>
<p>SuperData believes that Google and its hardware partners will sell about 450,000 Daydream headsets this year. However, that could be a tough goal since the first devices arrived inmid-November and only a few phones (the new Pixel and Moto Z devices) work with the platform. But once more compatible phones are introduced, demand for Daydream headsets, which cost just $80, couldrise on similar strengths as the Gear VR.</p>
<p>HTC's Vive, which features full-body motion tracking in VR space, is arguably the most technically advanced VR headset on the market today. However, it's also the priciest at $800, and must be tethered to a high-end PC. The user must also set up motion-tracking boxes around a wide-open "play area" to track the user's movements in virtual space.</p>
<p>That high price tag and cumbersome setup is likely throttling demand for the Vive. SuperData believes that HTC will only sell 420,000 Vives this year, while a Steam survey in September found that only 0.18% of respondents owned oneof the high-end headsets.</p>
<p>HTC's Vive. Image source: HTC.</p>
<p>SuperData estimates that Facebook will only sell 355,000 Rifts this year. That's surprising, sinceFacebook's $2 billion acquisition of Oculus in 2014 arguably sparked the initial land grab in the VR market. However, the aforementioned Steam survey found that just 0.1% of gamers owned a Rift.</p>
<p>Like the Vive, demand for the Rift was throttled by its price tag of $600 and its need to be tethered to a high-end gaming PC. Meanwhile, affluent gamers looking to splurge on a top-tier VR experience were likely drawn to the HTC Vive's full-body experience instead. The Rift's weak debut is troubling for Oculus Home, which could lose ground quickly to Google Daydream as more Daydream-compatible devices arrive in the coming year.</p>
<p>SuperData's numbers paint a much more pessimistic view of the VR market than Piper Jaffray's, but we should remember that these are simply rough estimates. Until these companies report hard shipment figures, we should take these forecasts with a grain of salt. However, we should also note the disparity between cheap mobile/console-based headsets and pricier PC-based ones -- and see if that trend continues over the next few years.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2668&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSunLion/info.aspx" type="external">Leo Sun Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Facebook. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
| 5,929 |
<p>By Greg Warner Associated Baptist Press</p>
<p>The Baptist Manifesto, a theological statement that emphasizes the role of community in understanding Scripture to counterbalance individual freedom, has been misinterpreted by critics as opposing freedom of conscience, say seven Baptist theologians.</p>
<p>“We believe with early Baptists and the mainstream Christian tradition that an individual's conscience is inviolable, but not infallible, and therefore we are always under the obligation to see to it that our consciences have been formed by the faithful practices of the church,” the theologians said Jan. 31 in a statement released to Associated Baptist Press.</p>
<p>The statement was prompted by a Jan. 20 speech by Bill Underwood, president-elect of Mercer University, to Baptist supporters of the Macon, Ga., school. In a story reported in ABP Jan. 24, Underwood said some ideas in the 1997 Manifesto are un-Baptistic and a threat to religious freedom.</p>
<p>But the seven theologians, five of whom were authors of the Manifesto, say Baptists in America have placed too much emphasis on individual interpretation in the last two centuries and weakened or abandoned their earlier commitment to the role of faith communities, particularly the local church.</p>
<p>“We do not wish to silence others or deny them the freedom that is their birthright in Christ,” the seven wrote. “But we have come to believe that while autonomous individualism may seem to offer some protection from authoritarian coercion, in reality it creates a lonely society of moral strangers.”</p>
<p>In his speech Jan. 20, Underwood cited portions of the Manifesto he said “hinted at the need for spiritual masters to tell us how to interpret the Scriptures.”</p>
<p>One passage in particular: “We therefore cannot commend Bible study that is insulated from the community of believers or guarantees individual readers an unchecked privilege of interpretation.”</p>
<p>But the seven theologians said the Manifesto does not intend that “the individual Christian should unthinkingly kowtow to the majority perspective in the community.”</p>
<p>Instead, they said, the “spiritual masters” of interpretation are, in a sense, those believers of the past whose “wisdom and charity” has been proven over time-such as Abraham and Sarah, Martin Luther and Menno Simons, William Carey and Lottie Moon.</p>
<p>“We believe that competency in the interpretation of the Scriptures is not something that is injected into our brains at birth-it is not ‘common sense'-nor is it something that we acquire in a moment of conversion, and it is never unaided,” the theologians said. “Rather, one learns it over time, and always in conversation with saints past and present, famous and anonymous, who constitute the one body of Christ guided by the Holy Spirit.”</p>
<p>They added: “If our consciences are not accountable to others who have sought to understand and embody the Scriptures in contexts other than our own, then we have no need to have millions of hungry, homeless mouths telling us that we may be skipping over some of the most important parts of the Bible.”</p>
<p>Underwood told ABP he can agree with the Manifesto theologians that individual conscience is “inviolable but not infallible” and that the community of faith is essential.</p>
<p>“It would be arrogant not to take into account what other Christians have said,” he noted Feb. 1. “But each of us ultimately has to come to his or her own conclusions.”</p>
<p>“I think we are answerable to God for what we believe; I do not think we are answerable to other human beings.”</p>
<p>Theology professor Steve Harmon, who drafted the theologians' response to Underwood, agreed to a point.</p>
<p>“Each one if us is ultimately directly accountable to God, but we are helped toward being accountable to God by the community that forms us as individuals,” said Harmon, associate professor at Campbell University Divinity School, a Baptist school in Buies Creek, N.C.</p>
<p>Harmon said Christianity is “a way of life that is inescapably communal; it can't be done in isolation.”</p>
<p>He said Baptists have not always overemphasized the individual. “If you dig back into the 17th century, you find more balance of the individual in community, whereas the emphasis we've derived from our culture, particularly in the 20th century, is more of a radical autonomy.”</p>
<p>Curtis Freeman, director of the Baptist House of Studies at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C., agreed community was more prominent in Baptist thought “until very recently.”</p>
<p>“It's not just me and Jesus,” said Freeman, research professor of theology at Duke and a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. “The church is more than an aggregate of individuals, … like a bunch of marbles in a bag-you just pour them in and pour them out again.”</p>
<p>“The conviction that drives me in this,” said Freeman, one of the authors of the Manifesto in 1997, “is the promise that Jesus gives: Where two or three are gathered, Jesus is there with them. It doesn't say ‘where I gather with my hat' or ‘where I sit down with my Bible.' That's what we have to wrestle with. That kind of individualism makes ecclessiology very hard to conceive of.”</p>
<p>On one point at least, all three agreed-there's no place for coercion in authentic faith. When the individual submits to the community's correction, it has to be voluntary.</p>
<p>“If that's the bottom line,” Underwood said, “then we probably don't disagree.”</p>
<p>And while the tension between the individual and community remains prominent in Baptist rhetoric, the three agreed Baptist practice is more uniform. With small-group Bible studies, intercessory prayer chains and the like, Baptists practice community within their congregations.</p>
<p>“Maybe our practice undercuts our rhetoric,” Freeman concluded.</p>
<p>In addition to Freeman and Harmon, the theologians drafting the Jan. 31 statement are Mikael Broadway, assistant professor of theology and ethics at Shaw University Divinity School in Raleigh, N.C.; Barry Harvey, associate professor of theology at Baylor University in Waco, Texas; Elizabeth Newman, professor of theology and ethics at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond; Mark Medley, associate professor of theology at Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Ky; and Philip Thompson, associate professor of systematic theology and Christian heritage at North American Baptist Seminary in Sioux Falls, S.D.</p>
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‘Manifesto’ supporters say role of community misinterpreted
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https://baptistnews.com/article/manifestosupporterssayroleofcommunitymisinterpreted/
| 3left-center
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‘Manifesto’ supporters say role of community misinterpreted
<p>By Greg Warner Associated Baptist Press</p>
<p>The Baptist Manifesto, a theological statement that emphasizes the role of community in understanding Scripture to counterbalance individual freedom, has been misinterpreted by critics as opposing freedom of conscience, say seven Baptist theologians.</p>
<p>“We believe with early Baptists and the mainstream Christian tradition that an individual's conscience is inviolable, but not infallible, and therefore we are always under the obligation to see to it that our consciences have been formed by the faithful practices of the church,” the theologians said Jan. 31 in a statement released to Associated Baptist Press.</p>
<p>The statement was prompted by a Jan. 20 speech by Bill Underwood, president-elect of Mercer University, to Baptist supporters of the Macon, Ga., school. In a story reported in ABP Jan. 24, Underwood said some ideas in the 1997 Manifesto are un-Baptistic and a threat to religious freedom.</p>
<p>But the seven theologians, five of whom were authors of the Manifesto, say Baptists in America have placed too much emphasis on individual interpretation in the last two centuries and weakened or abandoned their earlier commitment to the role of faith communities, particularly the local church.</p>
<p>“We do not wish to silence others or deny them the freedom that is their birthright in Christ,” the seven wrote. “But we have come to believe that while autonomous individualism may seem to offer some protection from authoritarian coercion, in reality it creates a lonely society of moral strangers.”</p>
<p>In his speech Jan. 20, Underwood cited portions of the Manifesto he said “hinted at the need for spiritual masters to tell us how to interpret the Scriptures.”</p>
<p>One passage in particular: “We therefore cannot commend Bible study that is insulated from the community of believers or guarantees individual readers an unchecked privilege of interpretation.”</p>
<p>But the seven theologians said the Manifesto does not intend that “the individual Christian should unthinkingly kowtow to the majority perspective in the community.”</p>
<p>Instead, they said, the “spiritual masters” of interpretation are, in a sense, those believers of the past whose “wisdom and charity” has been proven over time-such as Abraham and Sarah, Martin Luther and Menno Simons, William Carey and Lottie Moon.</p>
<p>“We believe that competency in the interpretation of the Scriptures is not something that is injected into our brains at birth-it is not ‘common sense'-nor is it something that we acquire in a moment of conversion, and it is never unaided,” the theologians said. “Rather, one learns it over time, and always in conversation with saints past and present, famous and anonymous, who constitute the one body of Christ guided by the Holy Spirit.”</p>
<p>They added: “If our consciences are not accountable to others who have sought to understand and embody the Scriptures in contexts other than our own, then we have no need to have millions of hungry, homeless mouths telling us that we may be skipping over some of the most important parts of the Bible.”</p>
<p>Underwood told ABP he can agree with the Manifesto theologians that individual conscience is “inviolable but not infallible” and that the community of faith is essential.</p>
<p>“It would be arrogant not to take into account what other Christians have said,” he noted Feb. 1. “But each of us ultimately has to come to his or her own conclusions.”</p>
<p>“I think we are answerable to God for what we believe; I do not think we are answerable to other human beings.”</p>
<p>Theology professor Steve Harmon, who drafted the theologians' response to Underwood, agreed to a point.</p>
<p>“Each one if us is ultimately directly accountable to God, but we are helped toward being accountable to God by the community that forms us as individuals,” said Harmon, associate professor at Campbell University Divinity School, a Baptist school in Buies Creek, N.C.</p>
<p>Harmon said Christianity is “a way of life that is inescapably communal; it can't be done in isolation.”</p>
<p>He said Baptists have not always overemphasized the individual. “If you dig back into the 17th century, you find more balance of the individual in community, whereas the emphasis we've derived from our culture, particularly in the 20th century, is more of a radical autonomy.”</p>
<p>Curtis Freeman, director of the Baptist House of Studies at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C., agreed community was more prominent in Baptist thought “until very recently.”</p>
<p>“It's not just me and Jesus,” said Freeman, research professor of theology at Duke and a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. “The church is more than an aggregate of individuals, … like a bunch of marbles in a bag-you just pour them in and pour them out again.”</p>
<p>“The conviction that drives me in this,” said Freeman, one of the authors of the Manifesto in 1997, “is the promise that Jesus gives: Where two or three are gathered, Jesus is there with them. It doesn't say ‘where I gather with my hat' or ‘where I sit down with my Bible.' That's what we have to wrestle with. That kind of individualism makes ecclessiology very hard to conceive of.”</p>
<p>On one point at least, all three agreed-there's no place for coercion in authentic faith. When the individual submits to the community's correction, it has to be voluntary.</p>
<p>“If that's the bottom line,” Underwood said, “then we probably don't disagree.”</p>
<p>And while the tension between the individual and community remains prominent in Baptist rhetoric, the three agreed Baptist practice is more uniform. With small-group Bible studies, intercessory prayer chains and the like, Baptists practice community within their congregations.</p>
<p>“Maybe our practice undercuts our rhetoric,” Freeman concluded.</p>
<p>In addition to Freeman and Harmon, the theologians drafting the Jan. 31 statement are Mikael Broadway, assistant professor of theology and ethics at Shaw University Divinity School in Raleigh, N.C.; Barry Harvey, associate professor of theology at Baylor University in Waco, Texas; Elizabeth Newman, professor of theology and ethics at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond; Mark Medley, associate professor of theology at Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Ky; and Philip Thompson, associate professor of systematic theology and Christian heritage at North American Baptist Seminary in Sioux Falls, S.D.</p>
| 5,930 |
|
<p>Is There A Zionist World Conspiracy?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>"Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion." <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Psa&amp;c=129" type="external">Psalm 129:5</a> Zionist Zi'on‘ist adj. &amp; n. - A Jewish movement that arose in the late 19th century in response to growing anti-Semitism and sought to reestablish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Modern Zionism is concerned with the support and development of the state of Israel. <a href="javascript:;" type="external">source - answers.com</a> By all popular definitions of the term "Zionist", it is someone who believes that the land of Israel has been promised to the Jew by God, and that it is their eternal homeland. Certainly when you read the bible you see that that is how God views it as well. But there are those who also think that Zionists are part of an "evil cabal" of Jews whose plan is world domination through the use of the world's financial markets and through the media. This idea is not new, and all throughout the 20th century there have been people who espoused that idea. Some of these people we know very well, like Adolph Hitler and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. What a lot of people do not know is that Hitler got a lot of his ideas about the Jews from US auto giant, Henry Ford.</p>
<p>The Dearborn Independent, The International Jew, and Henry Ford "When there is something wrong in this country, you'll find the Jews" - Henry Ford "I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration" - Adolph Hitler, 1931</p>
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Is There A Zionist World Conspiracy?
| true |
http://nowtheendbegins.com/pages/zionism/is-there-a-zionist-conspiracy.htm
| 0right
|
Is There A Zionist World Conspiracy?
<p>Is There A Zionist World Conspiracy?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>"Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion." <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Psa&amp;c=129" type="external">Psalm 129:5</a> Zionist Zi'on‘ist adj. &amp; n. - A Jewish movement that arose in the late 19th century in response to growing anti-Semitism and sought to reestablish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Modern Zionism is concerned with the support and development of the state of Israel. <a href="javascript:;" type="external">source - answers.com</a> By all popular definitions of the term "Zionist", it is someone who believes that the land of Israel has been promised to the Jew by God, and that it is their eternal homeland. Certainly when you read the bible you see that that is how God views it as well. But there are those who also think that Zionists are part of an "evil cabal" of Jews whose plan is world domination through the use of the world's financial markets and through the media. This idea is not new, and all throughout the 20th century there have been people who espoused that idea. Some of these people we know very well, like Adolph Hitler and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. What a lot of people do not know is that Hitler got a lot of his ideas about the Jews from US auto giant, Henry Ford.</p>
<p>The Dearborn Independent, The International Jew, and Henry Ford "When there is something wrong in this country, you'll find the Jews" - Henry Ford "I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration" - Adolph Hitler, 1931</p>
| 5,931 |
|
<p>SEOUL (Reuters) – No unusual activity has been detected at the border with North Korea where a North Korean soldier defected this week, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The soldier is still being treated for his gunshot wounds after being shot several times by North Korean soldiers during his escape, ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told a regular briefing.</p>
<p>“There will need to be some questioning on why he defected after his treatment is over,” said Baik.</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>
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South Korea detects no unusual activity at border where North Korean defected
| false |
https://newsline.com/south-korea-detects-no-unusual-activity-at-border-where-north-korean-defected/
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2017-11-14
| 1right-center
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South Korea detects no unusual activity at border where North Korean defected
<p>SEOUL (Reuters) – No unusual activity has been detected at the border with North Korea where a North Korean soldier defected this week, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The soldier is still being treated for his gunshot wounds after being shot several times by North Korean soldiers during his escape, ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told a regular briefing.</p>
<p>“There will need to be some questioning on why he defected after his treatment is over,” said Baik.</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>
| 5,932 |
<p>The GOP clown car is about to officially begin to make its slow descent on Washington, DC as the <a href="" type="internal">wacko bird from Texas</a>, Senator Ted Cruz will do us the honor of announcing his presidential bid on Monday.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/us/article/Ted-Cruz-to-announce-presidential-bid-Monday-6150894.php?t=ec04aca79dc2a96c75&amp;cmpid=twitter-premium" type="external">Houston Chronicle:</a></p>
<p>Sen. Ted Cruz plans to announce Monday that he will run for president of the United States, accelerating his already rapid three-year rise from a tea party insurgent in Texas into a divisive political force in Washington.</p>
<p>Cruz will launch a presidential bid outright rather than form an exploratory committee, said senior advisers with direct knowledge of his plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not been made yet. They say he is done exploring and is now ready to become the first Republican presidential candidate.</p>
<p>The senator is scheduled to speak Monday at a convocation ceremony at Liberty University in Virginia, where he is expected to declare his campaign for the presidency.</p>
<p>This is going to be so much fun to watch and cover for you guys. And you know he's going to go full-on Conservative crazy. We can only hope he comes out with a <a href="" type="internal">9-9-9 Herman Cain type economic plan</a> real soon.</p>
<p>Senior advisers say Cruz will run as an unabashed conservative eager to mobilize like-minded voters who cannot stomach the choice of the "mushy middle" that he has ridiculed on the stump over the past two months in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.</p>
|
Ted Cruz To Announce 2016 Presidential Bid On Monday
| true |
http://crooksandliars.com/2015/03/ted-cruz-announce-2016-presidential-bid
|
2015-03-22
| 4left
|
Ted Cruz To Announce 2016 Presidential Bid On Monday
<p>The GOP clown car is about to officially begin to make its slow descent on Washington, DC as the <a href="" type="internal">wacko bird from Texas</a>, Senator Ted Cruz will do us the honor of announcing his presidential bid on Monday.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/us/article/Ted-Cruz-to-announce-presidential-bid-Monday-6150894.php?t=ec04aca79dc2a96c75&amp;cmpid=twitter-premium" type="external">Houston Chronicle:</a></p>
<p>Sen. Ted Cruz plans to announce Monday that he will run for president of the United States, accelerating his already rapid three-year rise from a tea party insurgent in Texas into a divisive political force in Washington.</p>
<p>Cruz will launch a presidential bid outright rather than form an exploratory committee, said senior advisers with direct knowledge of his plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not been made yet. They say he is done exploring and is now ready to become the first Republican presidential candidate.</p>
<p>The senator is scheduled to speak Monday at a convocation ceremony at Liberty University in Virginia, where he is expected to declare his campaign for the presidency.</p>
<p>This is going to be so much fun to watch and cover for you guys. And you know he's going to go full-on Conservative crazy. We can only hope he comes out with a <a href="" type="internal">9-9-9 Herman Cain type economic plan</a> real soon.</p>
<p>Senior advisers say Cruz will run as an unabashed conservative eager to mobilize like-minded voters who cannot stomach the choice of the "mushy middle" that he has ridiculed on the stump over the past two months in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.</p>
| 5,933 |
<p />
<p>The beauty of retirement plans such as 401(k)s and IRAs is the ability to make tax-free contributions to your account and let that money grow tax-deferred until the time comes to withdraw it. But the money in your 401(k) or IRA can't just sit there indefinitely. In fact, once you turn 70 1/2, you'll need to start thinking about required minimum distributions, or RMDs. Your RMD is the mandatory minimum withdrawal you'll need to take from your retirement account, the exact amount of which is calculated based on your age and account balance. There are strict rules regarding RMDs, so you'll need to pay attention to them to avoid major penalties.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.</p>
<p>Many seniors who have retirement savings need to access that cash before age 70 1/2 to cover their living expenses. But if you're still working, or have another income source outside of your retirement account, you may not need to touch that money so soon.</p>
<p>The downside of RMDs is that once you reach 70 1/2, you have no choice but to start taking withdrawals. But since those withdrawals are treated as ordinary income, they automatically increase your tax burden. This can be especially problematic if you're still working at age 70 1/2 and earning a fairly high salary, because unless you have a large number of deductions, your RMD could easily bump you into an even higher tax bracket.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/2016/10/15/heres-how-to-calculate-your-required-minimum-distr.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Calculating your RMD Opens a New Window.</a> can be somewhat tricky, but it's important to get that number right. If you fail to take your withdrawal in full, you'll be assessed a 50% tax penalty on whatever amount you were supposed to take out but didn't. So if your RMD for a given year is $6,000 and you only withdraw $3,000, you'll lose $1,500 of that remaining $3,000 automatically. Ouch.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that your initial RMD must be taken by April 1 of the year following the calendar year in which you turn 70 1/2. So if you turn 70 in January 2017, you'll need to take your RMD by April 1, 2018.</p>
<p>Another problem with RMDs is that they limit your assets' ability to grow. When you put money in a retirement account, the goal is to keep it invested so it continues to increase over time. Now once you've reached the age where RMDs come into play, you shouldn't have your savings invested too aggressively, because if you end up needing your money at a time when the market is down, you could lose out. But even once you shift into more conservative investments, you should still, ideally, be generating some sort of return on whatever money you're not using. But the more money you're forced to withdraw, the less you'll have available to grow into an even larger sum.</p>
<p>RMDs can be a significant burden if you don't actually need the money. Thankfully, there are a few things you can do to avoid them. First, if you open a Roth IRA or 401(k) instead of the traditional version of each account, you'll avoid RMDs entirely. Roth accounts are funded with after-tax dollars, so there's no upfront benefit for contributing. However, when the time comes to withdraw money in retirement, those distributions are tax-free. Because Roth accounts don't impose RMDs, you can let your money sit and grow indefinitely.</p>
<p>You can also avoid 401(k)-related RMDs if you're still working at age 70 1/2 and don't own 5% or more of the company you work for. One you leave your job, those RMDs will kick in, but you can hold off on taking them until you're no longer employed by your company. That said, working into your 70s will only help you get out of RMDs from your 401(k); if you have an IRA, you'll need to take those RMDs regardless of your employment status.</p>
<p>Finally, just because you don't start out with a Roth account doesn't mean you can't end up with one. If you <a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/2016/09/13/should-you-convert-your-ira-to-a-roth-2.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">convert Opens a New Window.</a> your traditional account to a Roth, you'll benefit from tax-free retirement income and the welcome absence of RMDs.</p>
<p>Because required minimum distributions can impact your taxes, taking steps to avoid them can help you save money at a time when you need it the most. Even if you can't avoid RMDs, you should still familiarize yourself with the rules surrounding them so you're not caught off-guard down the line.</p>
<p>The $15,834 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 $15,834 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
|
Here's What You Need to Know About Required Minimum Distributions and Taxes
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/30/here-what-need-to-know-about-required-minimum-distributions-and-taxes.html
|
2017-01-30
| 0right
|
Here's What You Need to Know About Required Minimum Distributions and Taxes
<p />
<p>The beauty of retirement plans such as 401(k)s and IRAs is the ability to make tax-free contributions to your account and let that money grow tax-deferred until the time comes to withdraw it. But the money in your 401(k) or IRA can't just sit there indefinitely. In fact, once you turn 70 1/2, you'll need to start thinking about required minimum distributions, or RMDs. Your RMD is the mandatory minimum withdrawal you'll need to take from your retirement account, the exact amount of which is calculated based on your age and account balance. There are strict rules regarding RMDs, so you'll need to pay attention to them to avoid major penalties.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.</p>
<p>Many seniors who have retirement savings need to access that cash before age 70 1/2 to cover their living expenses. But if you're still working, or have another income source outside of your retirement account, you may not need to touch that money so soon.</p>
<p>The downside of RMDs is that once you reach 70 1/2, you have no choice but to start taking withdrawals. But since those withdrawals are treated as ordinary income, they automatically increase your tax burden. This can be especially problematic if you're still working at age 70 1/2 and earning a fairly high salary, because unless you have a large number of deductions, your RMD could easily bump you into an even higher tax bracket.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/2016/10/15/heres-how-to-calculate-your-required-minimum-distr.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Calculating your RMD Opens a New Window.</a> can be somewhat tricky, but it's important to get that number right. If you fail to take your withdrawal in full, you'll be assessed a 50% tax penalty on whatever amount you were supposed to take out but didn't. So if your RMD for a given year is $6,000 and you only withdraw $3,000, you'll lose $1,500 of that remaining $3,000 automatically. Ouch.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that your initial RMD must be taken by April 1 of the year following the calendar year in which you turn 70 1/2. So if you turn 70 in January 2017, you'll need to take your RMD by April 1, 2018.</p>
<p>Another problem with RMDs is that they limit your assets' ability to grow. When you put money in a retirement account, the goal is to keep it invested so it continues to increase over time. Now once you've reached the age where RMDs come into play, you shouldn't have your savings invested too aggressively, because if you end up needing your money at a time when the market is down, you could lose out. But even once you shift into more conservative investments, you should still, ideally, be generating some sort of return on whatever money you're not using. But the more money you're forced to withdraw, the less you'll have available to grow into an even larger sum.</p>
<p>RMDs can be a significant burden if you don't actually need the money. Thankfully, there are a few things you can do to avoid them. First, if you open a Roth IRA or 401(k) instead of the traditional version of each account, you'll avoid RMDs entirely. Roth accounts are funded with after-tax dollars, so there's no upfront benefit for contributing. However, when the time comes to withdraw money in retirement, those distributions are tax-free. Because Roth accounts don't impose RMDs, you can let your money sit and grow indefinitely.</p>
<p>You can also avoid 401(k)-related RMDs if you're still working at age 70 1/2 and don't own 5% or more of the company you work for. One you leave your job, those RMDs will kick in, but you can hold off on taking them until you're no longer employed by your company. That said, working into your 70s will only help you get out of RMDs from your 401(k); if you have an IRA, you'll need to take those RMDs regardless of your employment status.</p>
<p>Finally, just because you don't start out with a Roth account doesn't mean you can't end up with one. If you <a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/2016/09/13/should-you-convert-your-ira-to-a-roth-2.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">convert Opens a New Window.</a> your traditional account to a Roth, you'll benefit from tax-free retirement income and the welcome absence of RMDs.</p>
<p>Because required minimum distributions can impact your taxes, taking steps to avoid them can help you save money at a time when you need it the most. Even if you can't avoid RMDs, you should still familiarize yourself with the rules surrounding them so you're not caught off-guard down the line.</p>
<p>The $15,834 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 $15,834 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
| 5,934 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>State Police have received a complete copy of the Albuquerque Police Department's investigation into the death of Jonathan Mitchell, an Iraq War veteran, and will begin reviewing the facts. Until State Police finishes its review, Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg has said, her office will hold off on deciding whether to press charges against Donnie Pearson, Mitchell's neighbor.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Before midnight on March 19, 2013, Pearson and his 15-year-old son left their home in Pearson's SUV after hearing reports of a man in the neighborhood with a gun. Pearson told police he shot at Mitchell after Mitchell shot at him and his son in the SUV from a neighbor's garage.</p>
<p>Representatives of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Mitchell's family dispute Pearson's version of events and say he instigated the confrontation by circling Mitchell's home nearby in his search of the neighborhood on the city's West Side. They are calling for him to be charged with manslaughter and child abuse at the very least.</p>
<p>The State Police announcement prompted the NAACP to postpone a rally scheduled for today and cancel another rally scheduled for March 21.</p>
<p>NAACP president Harold Bailey, in a news release, said that Mitchell's father, Isaac, felt that State Police's decision to take an outside look at the investigation was "crucial" in the father's decision to postpone the rally.</p>
<p>Isaac Mitchell did not respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Brandenburg last week said she was unaware that State Police had declined to review the case all the way back in November after State Police met with Mitchell's family. That meant that the DA had been waiting for the State Police review for four months, stalling prosecutors' progress in making a ruling about whether charges will be filed.</p>
<p>But on Thursday, State Police announced that it would, in fact, review the shooting. They did not say when the review might be completed.</p>
<p />
<p />
|
State Police to review case involving shooting of neighbor
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/368180/state-police-to-review-shootingdeath-case.html
|
2014-03-14
| 2least
|
State Police to review case involving shooting of neighbor
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>State Police have received a complete copy of the Albuquerque Police Department's investigation into the death of Jonathan Mitchell, an Iraq War veteran, and will begin reviewing the facts. Until State Police finishes its review, Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg has said, her office will hold off on deciding whether to press charges against Donnie Pearson, Mitchell's neighbor.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Before midnight on March 19, 2013, Pearson and his 15-year-old son left their home in Pearson's SUV after hearing reports of a man in the neighborhood with a gun. Pearson told police he shot at Mitchell after Mitchell shot at him and his son in the SUV from a neighbor's garage.</p>
<p>Representatives of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Mitchell's family dispute Pearson's version of events and say he instigated the confrontation by circling Mitchell's home nearby in his search of the neighborhood on the city's West Side. They are calling for him to be charged with manslaughter and child abuse at the very least.</p>
<p>The State Police announcement prompted the NAACP to postpone a rally scheduled for today and cancel another rally scheduled for March 21.</p>
<p>NAACP president Harold Bailey, in a news release, said that Mitchell's father, Isaac, felt that State Police's decision to take an outside look at the investigation was "crucial" in the father's decision to postpone the rally.</p>
<p>Isaac Mitchell did not respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Brandenburg last week said she was unaware that State Police had declined to review the case all the way back in November after State Police met with Mitchell's family. That meant that the DA had been waiting for the State Police review for four months, stalling prosecutors' progress in making a ruling about whether charges will be filed.</p>
<p>But on Thursday, State Police announced that it would, in fact, review the shooting. They did not say when the review might be completed.</p>
<p />
<p />
| 5,935 |
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Despised Republican Senator John McCain, of Arizona, is coming under heavy scrutiny and will be questioned during the upcoming lawsuit over the Trump Dossier which was put out as a fake news hit piece against the President earlier in the year.</p>
<p>Why are Thousands of Scientists so Interested in the August Solar Eclipse?</p>
<p>The Dossier was allegedly compiled by British Intelligence Agent Christopher Steele, and his firm, London's Orbis Intelligence Ltd, which has raised serious questions from Trump supporters as to whether or not this was a direct attack from foreign entities to attempt to discredit Donald Trump or cause him upheaval in his attempted Presidency.</p>
<p />
<p>Senator John McCain will face numerous questions as part of a defamation lawsuit regarding his role in the leaking of the opposition research dossier former British spy Chris Steele compiled on President Donald Trump.</p>
<p />
<p>Many from within the right blame John McCain for his involvement in passing along misleading or entirely false information, and some suggest he's outright treasonous in his actions.</p>
<p />
<p>Newly obtained new court documents in the British lawsuit show that the counsel for defendants Steele and Orbis repeatedly point to McCain, a vocal and disturbing Trump critic, and a former State Department official, as two of a handful of people directly known to have had copies of the full document before it circulated among journalists and was published by media outlets.</p>
<p />
<p>The court document confirms that Sir Andrew Wood, a former British ambassador to Moscow and a Russia adviser to former Prime Minister Tony Blair, discussed the 35-page dossier with McCain.</p>
<p />
<p>"The Defendants considered that the issues were self-evidently relevant to the national security of the US, UK and their allies," the document says, explaining why information from Steele and his partner, Christopher Burrows, was shared in the secret Dossier with members of the Conservative community including McCain.</p>
<p />
<p>According to McClatchy, who obtained the court documents first, British court documents also confirmed that Washington research firm Fusion GPS, which is co-founded by former Wall Street Journal reporter Glenn Simpson, had been hired to conduct direct political opposition research by one of Trump's GOP primary opponents.</p>
<p />
<p>After Trump was nominated, Democrats paid for the same research on Trump's past and alleged Russian ties. The report shows that political opposition research is used constantly by both remaining political parties to smear their opposing candidates.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion GPS contracted with Steele, who had once was an undercover spy inside of Moscow. The court document lifted a veil on Washington's inner workings, exposing the intelligence community with Steele laying out how Fusion briefed select reporters on the material for which it and Steele had been paid to gather.</p>
<p />
<p>"The journalists initially briefed at the end of September 2016 by the Second Defendant (Steele) and Fusion at Fusion's instruction were from the New York Times, the Washington Post, Yahoo News, the New Yorker and CNN," Steele's lawyers said, adding that he "verbally and in person" briefed the first three organizations in mid-October and a reporter from Mother Jones via Skype.</p>
<p />
<p>These reporters were not shown the dossier, according to the attorneys, and instead were sent a "disclosure of limited intelligence regarding indications of Russian interference" in the campaign. The information was off the record, meaning it could be used for further research but not published nor attributed.</p>
<p />
<p>Source:</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-11/john-mccain-faces-questions-british-lawsuit-over-involvement-trump-dossier" type="external">zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-11/john-mccain-faces-questions-british-lawsuit-over-involvement-trump-dossier</a></p>
|
New Questions: John McCain's Involvement with Fake Trump Dossier
| true |
http://thegoldwater.com/news/5045-New-Questions-John-McCain-s-Involvement-with-Fake-Trump-Dossier
|
2017-07-12
| 0right
|
New Questions: John McCain's Involvement with Fake Trump Dossier
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Despised Republican Senator John McCain, of Arizona, is coming under heavy scrutiny and will be questioned during the upcoming lawsuit over the Trump Dossier which was put out as a fake news hit piece against the President earlier in the year.</p>
<p>Why are Thousands of Scientists so Interested in the August Solar Eclipse?</p>
<p>The Dossier was allegedly compiled by British Intelligence Agent Christopher Steele, and his firm, London's Orbis Intelligence Ltd, which has raised serious questions from Trump supporters as to whether or not this was a direct attack from foreign entities to attempt to discredit Donald Trump or cause him upheaval in his attempted Presidency.</p>
<p />
<p>Senator John McCain will face numerous questions as part of a defamation lawsuit regarding his role in the leaking of the opposition research dossier former British spy Chris Steele compiled on President Donald Trump.</p>
<p />
<p>Many from within the right blame John McCain for his involvement in passing along misleading or entirely false information, and some suggest he's outright treasonous in his actions.</p>
<p />
<p>Newly obtained new court documents in the British lawsuit show that the counsel for defendants Steele and Orbis repeatedly point to McCain, a vocal and disturbing Trump critic, and a former State Department official, as two of a handful of people directly known to have had copies of the full document before it circulated among journalists and was published by media outlets.</p>
<p />
<p>The court document confirms that Sir Andrew Wood, a former British ambassador to Moscow and a Russia adviser to former Prime Minister Tony Blair, discussed the 35-page dossier with McCain.</p>
<p />
<p>"The Defendants considered that the issues were self-evidently relevant to the national security of the US, UK and their allies," the document says, explaining why information from Steele and his partner, Christopher Burrows, was shared in the secret Dossier with members of the Conservative community including McCain.</p>
<p />
<p>According to McClatchy, who obtained the court documents first, British court documents also confirmed that Washington research firm Fusion GPS, which is co-founded by former Wall Street Journal reporter Glenn Simpson, had been hired to conduct direct political opposition research by one of Trump's GOP primary opponents.</p>
<p />
<p>After Trump was nominated, Democrats paid for the same research on Trump's past and alleged Russian ties. The report shows that political opposition research is used constantly by both remaining political parties to smear their opposing candidates.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion GPS contracted with Steele, who had once was an undercover spy inside of Moscow. The court document lifted a veil on Washington's inner workings, exposing the intelligence community with Steele laying out how Fusion briefed select reporters on the material for which it and Steele had been paid to gather.</p>
<p />
<p>"The journalists initially briefed at the end of September 2016 by the Second Defendant (Steele) and Fusion at Fusion's instruction were from the New York Times, the Washington Post, Yahoo News, the New Yorker and CNN," Steele's lawyers said, adding that he "verbally and in person" briefed the first three organizations in mid-October and a reporter from Mother Jones via Skype.</p>
<p />
<p>These reporters were not shown the dossier, according to the attorneys, and instead were sent a "disclosure of limited intelligence regarding indications of Russian interference" in the campaign. The information was off the record, meaning it could be used for further research but not published nor attributed.</p>
<p />
<p>Source:</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-11/john-mccain-faces-questions-british-lawsuit-over-involvement-trump-dossier" type="external">zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-11/john-mccain-faces-questions-british-lawsuit-over-involvement-trump-dossier</a></p>
| 5,936 |
<p />
<p />
<p>Super-hot Paris duo Justice’s single “D.A.N.C.E.” <a href="http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2007/category.jhtml?categoryId=voty" type="external">has been nominated</a> for MTV’s “Video of the Year” alongside regulars Beyonce, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake and Kanye West, as well as newcomer Amy Winehouse. One might be tempted to see this nomination as an acknowledgement of grungy Francophile nu-rave’s dominion over dance floors worldwide (and it is a pretty good video to boot, featuring cute animated T-shirts); but really, it’s just a publicity stunt. It was just last year when the <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=6zo1-XlazvY" type="external">quirky video</a> for Justice’s remix of Simian’s “Never Be Alone” upset Kanye West’s “Touch the Sky” for Video of the Year at the MTV Europe awards in Copenhagen; Kanye, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15536834/" type="external">famously</a>, crashed the stage and gave an expletive-filled rant about why his “million-dollar” video should have snagged the award instead. So, <a href="http://idolator.com/tunes/really-putting-the-pseudo-in-pseudo_event/mtv-so-desperate-for-vma-viewers-its-calling-on-memories-of-music-bloggers-286948.php" type="external">as Idolator points out</a>: MTV America is just concocting a cheeky little rematch between the hot-headed rapper and the hapless Frenchmen. Having Kanye actually present at the announcement in New York today, joking (?) he’s “still mad” about the loss, adds to the feeling of a setup. Whatevs: anything that gets Justice in front of more eyes and ears is a good thing—although I suspect MTV won’t exactly be putting “D.A.N.C.E.” into heavy rotation.</p>
<p>The MTV Video Music Awards are on your TV September 9th; check out the rest of the nominees <a href="http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2007/nominees.jhtml" type="external">here</a>. (The only other sort of interesting nod is Peter Bjorn &amp; John for “Best New Artist.”) Watch the video for “D.A.N.C.E.” below.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
|
MTV Nominates French Techno for Video of the Year
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/08/mtv-nominates-french-techno-video-year/
|
2007-08-07
| 4left
|
MTV Nominates French Techno for Video of the Year
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<p />
<p>Super-hot Paris duo Justice’s single “D.A.N.C.E.” <a href="http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2007/category.jhtml?categoryId=voty" type="external">has been nominated</a> for MTV’s “Video of the Year” alongside regulars Beyonce, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake and Kanye West, as well as newcomer Amy Winehouse. One might be tempted to see this nomination as an acknowledgement of grungy Francophile nu-rave’s dominion over dance floors worldwide (and it is a pretty good video to boot, featuring cute animated T-shirts); but really, it’s just a publicity stunt. It was just last year when the <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=6zo1-XlazvY" type="external">quirky video</a> for Justice’s remix of Simian’s “Never Be Alone” upset Kanye West’s “Touch the Sky” for Video of the Year at the MTV Europe awards in Copenhagen; Kanye, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15536834/" type="external">famously</a>, crashed the stage and gave an expletive-filled rant about why his “million-dollar” video should have snagged the award instead. So, <a href="http://idolator.com/tunes/really-putting-the-pseudo-in-pseudo_event/mtv-so-desperate-for-vma-viewers-its-calling-on-memories-of-music-bloggers-286948.php" type="external">as Idolator points out</a>: MTV America is just concocting a cheeky little rematch between the hot-headed rapper and the hapless Frenchmen. Having Kanye actually present at the announcement in New York today, joking (?) he’s “still mad” about the loss, adds to the feeling of a setup. Whatevs: anything that gets Justice in front of more eyes and ears is a good thing—although I suspect MTV won’t exactly be putting “D.A.N.C.E.” into heavy rotation.</p>
<p>The MTV Video Music Awards are on your TV September 9th; check out the rest of the nominees <a href="http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2007/nominees.jhtml" type="external">here</a>. (The only other sort of interesting nod is Peter Bjorn &amp; John for “Best New Artist.”) Watch the video for “D.A.N.C.E.” below.</p>
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| 5,937 |
<p>Bruce Lee had a tough road to Hollywood stardom. And while those difficulties aren't unique, they are now the subject of a Broadway play written by Tony Award-winning playwright&#160;David Henry Hwang.</p>
<p>The stage production tells the story, complete with dramatic martial arts-style choreography, of how Lee's brash approach to martial arts and his rejection of Asia's 20th-century culture of submission made him a symbol of Asia's rise in the 21st century. The play is called " <a href="http://www.broadway.com/shows/kung-fu/" type="external">Kung Fu,</a>" and its star is Asian martial artist <a href="https://twitter.com/dance9cole" type="external">Cole Horibe</a>.</p>
<p>For Hwang, this project took a long time to bring to life. He says he first began thinking about the play in the early 1990s.&#160;"At that point, I thought of Bruce Lee as a symbol of the rise of the new China," Hwang says. "When I was a kid, China was considered poor and uneducated, and now, it's in a very different place. That was the symbolic thing I wanted to explore in the early 90s."</p>
<p>"By the time we get to this version, which I started to write two or three years ago, I also wanted to look at Bruce Lee as a human being" says Hwang, "because I feel like he has become such a recognizable icon, but nobody really knows how he became Bruce Lee. So, in some sense, 'Kung Fu' is Bruce Lee, the prequel."</p>
<p>In addition to China's shifting role and Lee's legacy, the play explores Asian masculinity, something Hwang says was "denigrated" in the West and in American culture.&#160;"Bruce created this new archetype — the Asian male hero," Hwang notes.</p>
<p>"Kung Fu" also tells the life story of Lee. Hwang says he spent the last two decades reading biographies about the action hero.&#160;"I was really pleased that Linda, his widow, and Shannon, his daughter, came to our opening night and told me that they thought it was the most authentic telling of his story that they've seen," he says.&#160;</p>
<p>"I think it was incredibly exciting — even now — to see an Asian man who is completely assertive, completely confident, completely masculine, and has no apologies or illusions about that. In a way, it's like Muhammad Ali in the 60s. Yes, being arrogant, but being arrogant because that was necessary in that time period and social system."</p>
<p>Hwang had the challenge of showing the complex and tumultuous relationship Lee had with his father. The playwright says that, at a certain point, Lee's father essentially kicked Lee out of Hong Kong and told him not to come back.&#160;</p>
<p>"And yet, his father ends up transmitting a lot of information that Bruce uses later in life to become the star that he becomes," Hwang explains. "It is a complicated relationship and I think it's true of a lot of father-son or parent-child relationships — you get the good and the bad."</p>
<p>In the play, Hwang shows Lee with his own son, "trying to transmit both good and bad, and working through that."</p>
<p>"Kung Fu" is at the <a href="http://www.signaturetheatre.org/tickets/production.aspx?pid=2358" type="external">Signature Theater</a> in New York through April 6.</p>
|
New play 'Kung Fu' looks at how Bruce Lee changed Hollywood
| false |
https://pri.org/stories/2014-03-19/new-play-kung-fu-looks-how-bruce-lee-changed-hollywood
|
2014-03-19
| 3left-center
|
New play 'Kung Fu' looks at how Bruce Lee changed Hollywood
<p>Bruce Lee had a tough road to Hollywood stardom. And while those difficulties aren't unique, they are now the subject of a Broadway play written by Tony Award-winning playwright&#160;David Henry Hwang.</p>
<p>The stage production tells the story, complete with dramatic martial arts-style choreography, of how Lee's brash approach to martial arts and his rejection of Asia's 20th-century culture of submission made him a symbol of Asia's rise in the 21st century. The play is called " <a href="http://www.broadway.com/shows/kung-fu/" type="external">Kung Fu,</a>" and its star is Asian martial artist <a href="https://twitter.com/dance9cole" type="external">Cole Horibe</a>.</p>
<p>For Hwang, this project took a long time to bring to life. He says he first began thinking about the play in the early 1990s.&#160;"At that point, I thought of Bruce Lee as a symbol of the rise of the new China," Hwang says. "When I was a kid, China was considered poor and uneducated, and now, it's in a very different place. That was the symbolic thing I wanted to explore in the early 90s."</p>
<p>"By the time we get to this version, which I started to write two or three years ago, I also wanted to look at Bruce Lee as a human being" says Hwang, "because I feel like he has become such a recognizable icon, but nobody really knows how he became Bruce Lee. So, in some sense, 'Kung Fu' is Bruce Lee, the prequel."</p>
<p>In addition to China's shifting role and Lee's legacy, the play explores Asian masculinity, something Hwang says was "denigrated" in the West and in American culture.&#160;"Bruce created this new archetype — the Asian male hero," Hwang notes.</p>
<p>"Kung Fu" also tells the life story of Lee. Hwang says he spent the last two decades reading biographies about the action hero.&#160;"I was really pleased that Linda, his widow, and Shannon, his daughter, came to our opening night and told me that they thought it was the most authentic telling of his story that they've seen," he says.&#160;</p>
<p>"I think it was incredibly exciting — even now — to see an Asian man who is completely assertive, completely confident, completely masculine, and has no apologies or illusions about that. In a way, it's like Muhammad Ali in the 60s. Yes, being arrogant, but being arrogant because that was necessary in that time period and social system."</p>
<p>Hwang had the challenge of showing the complex and tumultuous relationship Lee had with his father. The playwright says that, at a certain point, Lee's father essentially kicked Lee out of Hong Kong and told him not to come back.&#160;</p>
<p>"And yet, his father ends up transmitting a lot of information that Bruce uses later in life to become the star that he becomes," Hwang explains. "It is a complicated relationship and I think it's true of a lot of father-son or parent-child relationships — you get the good and the bad."</p>
<p>In the play, Hwang shows Lee with his own son, "trying to transmit both good and bad, and working through that."</p>
<p>"Kung Fu" is at the <a href="http://www.signaturetheatre.org/tickets/production.aspx?pid=2358" type="external">Signature Theater</a> in New York through April 6.</p>
| 5,938 |
<p>JERUSALEM (AP) - The NBA has apologized and removed wording from its website referring to "Palestine-occupied territory" on Friday after complaints by an Israeli minister.</p>
<p>Israeli sports minister Miri Regev had sent a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver calling Palestine "an imaginary 'state'," and asking for the reference to be removed from the basketball league's website.</p>
<p>"We do not produce the country listings for NBA.com and as soon as we became aware of it, the site was updated," said Kathy Behrens, the NBA's President for Social Responsibility. "We apologize for this oversight, and have corrected it."</p>
<p>The U.N. along with most of the international community considers the West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in the 1967 war that the Palestinians claim for a future state, as occupied territory.</p>
<p>Regev, a hawkish minister from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party, thanked Silver on Friday for removing the language, saying "Israel's lands are not occupied; therefore what was written was false and should have been deleted." She added that the NBA listing was not in line with President Donald Trump's recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.</p>
<p>Trump's declaration this month sparked protests across the Palestinian territories, and Palestinian leaders said the U.S. could no longer serve as a Mideast peace broker.</p>
<p>JERUSALEM (AP) - The NBA has apologized and removed wording from its website referring to "Palestine-occupied territory" on Friday after complaints by an Israeli minister.</p>
<p>Israeli sports minister Miri Regev had sent a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver calling Palestine "an imaginary 'state'," and asking for the reference to be removed from the basketball league's website.</p>
<p>"We do not produce the country listings for NBA.com and as soon as we became aware of it, the site was updated," said Kathy Behrens, the NBA's President for Social Responsibility. "We apologize for this oversight, and have corrected it."</p>
<p>The U.N. along with most of the international community considers the West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in the 1967 war that the Palestinians claim for a future state, as occupied territory.</p>
<p>Regev, a hawkish minister from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party, thanked Silver on Friday for removing the language, saying "Israel's lands are not occupied; therefore what was written was false and should have been deleted." She added that the NBA listing was not in line with President Donald Trump's recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.</p>
<p>Trump's declaration this month sparked protests across the Palestinian territories, and Palestinian leaders said the U.S. could no longer serve as a Mideast peace broker.</p>
|
NBA apology for 'Palestine' wording after Israel complaint
| false |
https://apnews.com/amp/20a56324e0bc423d83f12ab58bfafc13
|
2017-12-29
| 2least
|
NBA apology for 'Palestine' wording after Israel complaint
<p>JERUSALEM (AP) - The NBA has apologized and removed wording from its website referring to "Palestine-occupied territory" on Friday after complaints by an Israeli minister.</p>
<p>Israeli sports minister Miri Regev had sent a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver calling Palestine "an imaginary 'state'," and asking for the reference to be removed from the basketball league's website.</p>
<p>"We do not produce the country listings for NBA.com and as soon as we became aware of it, the site was updated," said Kathy Behrens, the NBA's President for Social Responsibility. "We apologize for this oversight, and have corrected it."</p>
<p>The U.N. along with most of the international community considers the West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in the 1967 war that the Palestinians claim for a future state, as occupied territory.</p>
<p>Regev, a hawkish minister from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party, thanked Silver on Friday for removing the language, saying "Israel's lands are not occupied; therefore what was written was false and should have been deleted." She added that the NBA listing was not in line with President Donald Trump's recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.</p>
<p>Trump's declaration this month sparked protests across the Palestinian territories, and Palestinian leaders said the U.S. could no longer serve as a Mideast peace broker.</p>
<p>JERUSALEM (AP) - The NBA has apologized and removed wording from its website referring to "Palestine-occupied territory" on Friday after complaints by an Israeli minister.</p>
<p>Israeli sports minister Miri Regev had sent a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver calling Palestine "an imaginary 'state'," and asking for the reference to be removed from the basketball league's website.</p>
<p>"We do not produce the country listings for NBA.com and as soon as we became aware of it, the site was updated," said Kathy Behrens, the NBA's President for Social Responsibility. "We apologize for this oversight, and have corrected it."</p>
<p>The U.N. along with most of the international community considers the West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in the 1967 war that the Palestinians claim for a future state, as occupied territory.</p>
<p>Regev, a hawkish minister from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party, thanked Silver on Friday for removing the language, saying "Israel's lands are not occupied; therefore what was written was false and should have been deleted." She added that the NBA listing was not in line with President Donald Trump's recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.</p>
<p>Trump's declaration this month sparked protests across the Palestinian territories, and Palestinian leaders said the U.S. could no longer serve as a Mideast peace broker.</p>
| 5,939 |
<p>ELLSWORTH, Maine (AP) — Police say the body of an Ellsworth man was found a short distance from the spot where his car got stuck during last week’s powerful storm.</p>
<p>Police say 54-year-old Paul Bouffard’s body was found on Friday. Police say his car became lodged in a snowbank, after which he left the car and succumbed to the cold during the blizzard on Thursday. An autopsy is set to be conducted by the State Medical Examiner’s Office.</p>
<p>Bouffard is one of two deaths attributable to the storm in Maine.</p>
<p>Authorities say a body of 35-year-old clammer Paul Benner was found on Monday. The Maine Marine Patrol says Benner went missing after he headed out Thursday to go clamming.</p>
<p>ELLSWORTH, Maine (AP) — Police say the body of an Ellsworth man was found a short distance from the spot where his car got stuck during last week’s powerful storm.</p>
<p>Police say 54-year-old Paul Bouffard’s body was found on Friday. Police say his car became lodged in a snowbank, after which he left the car and succumbed to the cold during the blizzard on Thursday. An autopsy is set to be conducted by the State Medical Examiner’s Office.</p>
<p>Bouffard is one of two deaths attributable to the storm in Maine.</p>
<p>Authorities say a body of 35-year-old clammer Paul Benner was found on Monday. The Maine Marine Patrol says Benner went missing after he headed out Thursday to go clamming.</p>
|
Maine man died after car got stuck in a snow pile
| false |
https://apnews.com/bed01b608eca42f8ac1b48a92e95b5ce
|
2018-01-08
| 2least
|
Maine man died after car got stuck in a snow pile
<p>ELLSWORTH, Maine (AP) — Police say the body of an Ellsworth man was found a short distance from the spot where his car got stuck during last week’s powerful storm.</p>
<p>Police say 54-year-old Paul Bouffard’s body was found on Friday. Police say his car became lodged in a snowbank, after which he left the car and succumbed to the cold during the blizzard on Thursday. An autopsy is set to be conducted by the State Medical Examiner’s Office.</p>
<p>Bouffard is one of two deaths attributable to the storm in Maine.</p>
<p>Authorities say a body of 35-year-old clammer Paul Benner was found on Monday. The Maine Marine Patrol says Benner went missing after he headed out Thursday to go clamming.</p>
<p>ELLSWORTH, Maine (AP) — Police say the body of an Ellsworth man was found a short distance from the spot where his car got stuck during last week’s powerful storm.</p>
<p>Police say 54-year-old Paul Bouffard’s body was found on Friday. Police say his car became lodged in a snowbank, after which he left the car and succumbed to the cold during the blizzard on Thursday. An autopsy is set to be conducted by the State Medical Examiner’s Office.</p>
<p>Bouffard is one of two deaths attributable to the storm in Maine.</p>
<p>Authorities say a body of 35-year-old clammer Paul Benner was found on Monday. The Maine Marine Patrol says Benner went missing after he headed out Thursday to go clamming.</p>
| 5,940 |
<p>Infowars September 4, 2009</p>
<p>Please note: the poster contest is now closed. Alex will announce the winner on Friday.</p>
<p>Due to the fantastic response to the Infowars Poster-video contest, Alex has extended the deadline for entries to Tuesday, September 8. Please continue sending links to your video up until that time.</p>
<p>Please note that the contest is primarily about your video, not necessarily your poster. Feature your poster creation in a video and send us the link here:</p>
<p>[email protected]</p>
<p>Over the last couple weeks there has been some confusion about the purpose of the contest - it is a video contest, not a poster artwork contest.</p>
<p>After you have created your poster and have printed it out, create a video of your campaign to put the poster up in the public commons in your town. Remember not to put the poster on private or government property, as this provides our enemies and detractors with an excuse to denounce the campaign.</p>
<p>As previously noted, your poster should prominently feature the web address of Infowars or Prison Planet.</p>
<p>Here are the latest entries:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
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<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
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<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
|
Deadline for Infowars Poster-Video Contest Extended
| true |
http://infowars.com/deadline-for-infowars-poster-video-contest-extended/
|
2009-09-04
| 0right
|
Deadline for Infowars Poster-Video Contest Extended
<p>Infowars September 4, 2009</p>
<p>Please note: the poster contest is now closed. Alex will announce the winner on Friday.</p>
<p>Due to the fantastic response to the Infowars Poster-video contest, Alex has extended the deadline for entries to Tuesday, September 8. Please continue sending links to your video up until that time.</p>
<p>Please note that the contest is primarily about your video, not necessarily your poster. Feature your poster creation in a video and send us the link here:</p>
<p>[email protected]</p>
<p>Over the last couple weeks there has been some confusion about the purpose of the contest - it is a video contest, not a poster artwork contest.</p>
<p>After you have created your poster and have printed it out, create a video of your campaign to put the poster up in the public commons in your town. Remember not to put the poster on private or government property, as this provides our enemies and detractors with an excuse to denounce the campaign.</p>
<p>As previously noted, your poster should prominently feature the web address of Infowars or Prison Planet.</p>
<p>Here are the latest entries:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
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| 5,941 |
<p>RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening’s drawing of the North Carolina Lottery’s “Pick 3 Evening” game were:</p>
<p>0-7-1, Lucky Sum: 8</p>
<p>(zero, seven, one; Lucky Sum: eight)</p>
<p>RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening’s drawing of the North Carolina Lottery’s “Pick 3 Evening” game were:</p>
<p>0-7-1, Lucky Sum: 8</p>
<p>(zero, seven, one; Lucky Sum: eight)</p>
|
Winning numbers drawn in ‘Pick 3 Evening’ game
| false |
https://apnews.com/6633d3f037944d6fab0f6c89e1e8614f
|
2018-01-11
| 2least
|
Winning numbers drawn in ‘Pick 3 Evening’ game
<p>RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening’s drawing of the North Carolina Lottery’s “Pick 3 Evening” game were:</p>
<p>0-7-1, Lucky Sum: 8</p>
<p>(zero, seven, one; Lucky Sum: eight)</p>
<p>RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening’s drawing of the North Carolina Lottery’s “Pick 3 Evening” game were:</p>
<p>0-7-1, Lucky Sum: 8</p>
<p>(zero, seven, one; Lucky Sum: eight)</p>
| 5,942 |
<p>French and Belgian police have begun to close in on the identities of the eight bombers who attacked Paris on Friday, leaving 129 dead and 352 wounded. As of Sunday morning, French police investigators have managed to identify 103 of the 129 dead. Seven of the terrorists were killed in the Friday attacks but French authorities had originally reported eight attackers. This is leading investigators to believe that there may be accomplices and even a world wide network in play.</p>
<p>Clues and leads have been coming in from all over as French police found three AK-47’s in an abandoned vehicle on Saturday in a Paris suburb. They believe the rifles are somehow linked to the attacks, according to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/15/world/paris-attacks/" type="external">CNN</a>. There have also been numerous reports surfacing that the Islamic State has been making good on their threat to insert agents and operatives into the sea of refugees that&#160;is overwhelming the continent of Europe.</p>
<p>One of the attackers was killed at the football stadium and has been identified as Syrian in origin. He has been traced back to having entered into Greece in early October and then making&#160;his way to Paris. There seems to be, authorities believe, experienced and battle hardened fighters coming in with the waves of migrants.</p>
<p>Another of the bombers has been identified as a French citizen with a lengthy criminal record. He was involved with the nightclub murders and hostage taking and was killed by police in a shootout at the club. It has been reported that 87 people were murdered at the nightclub when gunmen armed with AK-47s open fired on the throng of 1,500 who had gathered for a concert.</p>
<p>On Saturday, Belgian police arrested five people in Brussels&#160;in connection with the attack. Belgian authorities are considering these five as part of a network. The raids in Belgium began after French police told Belgian police that an abandoned car was found outside the nightclub with Belgian plates. Some of the attackers that were arrested were well known to the Belgian intelligence services.</p>
<p>French President Francois Hollande declared a state of emergency around the country as well as three days of mourning. He considers the attacks an act of war by the Islamic State and vows to step up their coalition efforts in Syria against them.</p>
<p />
|
Arrests Made in Paris Attacks as Hollande Vows to Destroy Islamic State
| false |
http://natmonitor.com/2015/11/15/arrests-made-in-paris-attacks-as-hollande-vows-to-destroy-the-islamic-state/
|
2015-11-15
| 3left-center
|
Arrests Made in Paris Attacks as Hollande Vows to Destroy Islamic State
<p>French and Belgian police have begun to close in on the identities of the eight bombers who attacked Paris on Friday, leaving 129 dead and 352 wounded. As of Sunday morning, French police investigators have managed to identify 103 of the 129 dead. Seven of the terrorists were killed in the Friday attacks but French authorities had originally reported eight attackers. This is leading investigators to believe that there may be accomplices and even a world wide network in play.</p>
<p>Clues and leads have been coming in from all over as French police found three AK-47’s in an abandoned vehicle on Saturday in a Paris suburb. They believe the rifles are somehow linked to the attacks, according to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/15/world/paris-attacks/" type="external">CNN</a>. There have also been numerous reports surfacing that the Islamic State has been making good on their threat to insert agents and operatives into the sea of refugees that&#160;is overwhelming the continent of Europe.</p>
<p>One of the attackers was killed at the football stadium and has been identified as Syrian in origin. He has been traced back to having entered into Greece in early October and then making&#160;his way to Paris. There seems to be, authorities believe, experienced and battle hardened fighters coming in with the waves of migrants.</p>
<p>Another of the bombers has been identified as a French citizen with a lengthy criminal record. He was involved with the nightclub murders and hostage taking and was killed by police in a shootout at the club. It has been reported that 87 people were murdered at the nightclub when gunmen armed with AK-47s open fired on the throng of 1,500 who had gathered for a concert.</p>
<p>On Saturday, Belgian police arrested five people in Brussels&#160;in connection with the attack. Belgian authorities are considering these five as part of a network. The raids in Belgium began after French police told Belgian police that an abandoned car was found outside the nightclub with Belgian plates. Some of the attackers that were arrested were well known to the Belgian intelligence services.</p>
<p>French President Francois Hollande declared a state of emergency around the country as well as three days of mourning. He considers the attacks an act of war by the Islamic State and vows to step up their coalition efforts in Syria against them.</p>
<p />
| 5,943 |
<p />
<p />
<p>Larry Elliot&#160;Klayman&#160;is an&#160;American&#160;attorney and activist. He is known as the&#160;founder&#160;and the formerchairman of Judicial&#160;Watch, a public interest and non-profit law firm, which became publicly known most because of the initiation of 18 civil&#160;lawsuits&#160;against the&#160;Clinton&#160;Administration&#160;and an unsuccessful&#160;lawsuit&#160;against Vice-President&#160;Dick Cheney to obtain information about the&#160;WhiteHouse’s energy task&#160;force. And He is NO fan of current U.S.&#160;President&#160;Barrack Hussein&#160;Obama.</p>
<p>In commentary earlier in the week on his&#160; <a href="http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/klayman/130923" type="external">website</a>,&#160;Klayman&#160;wrote&#160;that, “Last Wednesday, the great usurper,&#160;Barack&#160;Hussein&#160;Obama, after having been indicted by an Ocala, Florida&#160;citizens’ grand jury, was convicted by a&#160;people’s court of defrauding the&#160;American people&#160;and Floridians by proffering them with a fake birth certificate.”</p>
<p>And his plans to act upon this conviction? Why,&#160;Esquire&#160;Klayman&#160;has called for a march on D.C. to throw&#160;Obama&#160;out of office, forcefully, and he’s set the&#160;date&#160;to&#160;do so for November 19.</p>
<p>“On&#160;November&#160;19, 2013, a&#160;day&#160;that will hopefully&#160;live&#160;on in the history of our once&#160;great&#160;republic,”Klayman&#160;wrote, “I call upon millions of&#160;Americans&#160;who have been appalled and disgusted by&#160;Obama’s criminality – his Muslim, socialist, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, anti-white, pro-illegal immigrant, pro-radical gay and lesbian agenda – among other outrages, to descend on Washington, D.C., en masse, and demand that he leave town and resign from&#160;office&#160;if he does not want to face prison time.”</p>
<p>Klayman&#160;is calling for millions of&#160;people&#160;to march on D.C. on 19,&#160;November&#160;and peacefully&#160;shut&#160;down the city. He has invited “victims” of Obama’s “reign&#160;of&#160;terror” to come and speak of the atrocitiesObama&#160;has committed upon them, even&#160;leading&#160;so some of their loved ones being killed.</p>
<p>So, nearly 80,000 bikers made waves in D.C. on the anniversary of Sept. 11, and truckers are planning on shutting down the nation in a three&#160;day, voluntary strike in the near&#160;future. Will the&#160;troopsof&#160;American&#160;citizens rally to&#160;Klayman’s calling? Enough required to “peacefully”&#160;shut&#160;down the city? We’ll see on 19 November.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
|
Any of you East Cosasters going to this?….
| true |
https://powderedwigsociety.com/any-of-you-east-cosasters-going-to-this/
|
2013-10-01
| 0right
|
Any of you East Cosasters going to this?….
<p />
<p />
<p>Larry Elliot&#160;Klayman&#160;is an&#160;American&#160;attorney and activist. He is known as the&#160;founder&#160;and the formerchairman of Judicial&#160;Watch, a public interest and non-profit law firm, which became publicly known most because of the initiation of 18 civil&#160;lawsuits&#160;against the&#160;Clinton&#160;Administration&#160;and an unsuccessful&#160;lawsuit&#160;against Vice-President&#160;Dick Cheney to obtain information about the&#160;WhiteHouse’s energy task&#160;force. And He is NO fan of current U.S.&#160;President&#160;Barrack Hussein&#160;Obama.</p>
<p>In commentary earlier in the week on his&#160; <a href="http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/klayman/130923" type="external">website</a>,&#160;Klayman&#160;wrote&#160;that, “Last Wednesday, the great usurper,&#160;Barack&#160;Hussein&#160;Obama, after having been indicted by an Ocala, Florida&#160;citizens’ grand jury, was convicted by a&#160;people’s court of defrauding the&#160;American people&#160;and Floridians by proffering them with a fake birth certificate.”</p>
<p>And his plans to act upon this conviction? Why,&#160;Esquire&#160;Klayman&#160;has called for a march on D.C. to throw&#160;Obama&#160;out of office, forcefully, and he’s set the&#160;date&#160;to&#160;do so for November 19.</p>
<p>“On&#160;November&#160;19, 2013, a&#160;day&#160;that will hopefully&#160;live&#160;on in the history of our once&#160;great&#160;republic,”Klayman&#160;wrote, “I call upon millions of&#160;Americans&#160;who have been appalled and disgusted by&#160;Obama’s criminality – his Muslim, socialist, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, anti-white, pro-illegal immigrant, pro-radical gay and lesbian agenda – among other outrages, to descend on Washington, D.C., en masse, and demand that he leave town and resign from&#160;office&#160;if he does not want to face prison time.”</p>
<p>Klayman&#160;is calling for millions of&#160;people&#160;to march on D.C. on 19,&#160;November&#160;and peacefully&#160;shut&#160;down the city. He has invited “victims” of Obama’s “reign&#160;of&#160;terror” to come and speak of the atrocitiesObama&#160;has committed upon them, even&#160;leading&#160;so some of their loved ones being killed.</p>
<p>So, nearly 80,000 bikers made waves in D.C. on the anniversary of Sept. 11, and truckers are planning on shutting down the nation in a three&#160;day, voluntary strike in the near&#160;future. Will the&#160;troopsof&#160;American&#160;citizens rally to&#160;Klayman’s calling? Enough required to “peacefully”&#160;shut&#160;down the city? We’ll see on 19 November.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
| 5,944 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Seattle, Washington</p>
<p>The 24 hour a day “Pope-a-thon” shows the dramatic shift in the way that news is covered. If a story is inoffensive to the political establishment or if it serves their greater interests (like Schiavo) then it becomes an immediate mega-story that swallows up most of the front page and consumes the majority of TV time. In this way, the national dialogue is controlled by PR firms working closely with Washington to decide what information is suitable for public consumption. It’s perception management pure and simple but, so far, it looks like a winning strategy. As many have already noticed, the Iraqi bloodbath has been knocked out of the headlines and consigned to page 14 next to the women’s lingerie adverts. In its place, American’s are provided with diversionary Uber-stories of vegetative housewives and dead Popes. There’s no chance that the 4 Marines who died in insurgent attacks last Tuesday will appear on page one anymore, nor will the 300,000 disgruntled Iraqis who paraded through Baghdad yesterday calling for an end to the Occupation while burning Bush in effigy. These are the unfortunate victims of the new media regime; a system that dismisses inconvenient facts for the fairy-tales that support the status quo. The new game-plan is to sweep Iraq from the collective consciousness and slow the steady erosion of public support for the war.</p>
<p>The changes in news coverage can be traced to a poll that ran 3 months ago in Washington Post poll which showed in stark terms how unpopular Bush’s war in Iraq has become in just 2 short years. 56% of the people polled said the war “wasn’t worth it” and a whopping 70% concluded that the loss of 1500 American servicemen “was an unacceptable cost”.</p>
<p>The results of that poll sent tremors through the political establishment, and their trepidation is reflected in way that the news is now presented. Ball-players on steroids, Schiavo and a dead Pope are just the first of what will certainly be many similar entertaining distractions. Next week we will undoubtedly discover that Schiavo was carrying Jacko’s love-child.</p>
<p>For the most part, Iraq has been buried by the media; a tacit admission that even supporters are now experiencing both doubt about the wisdom of the war and overall fatigue from the constant flow of bad news from the front. The casualties, the chaos, the lack of reconstruction, and the demoralizing stories of torture are slowly grinding down even the most ardent Bush fan. Beyond the legal and moral questions, the war is starting to look like it was simply a stupid idea conjured up by fanatics. This perception is not likely to change.</p>
<p>Once public support evaporates, that’s it. There’s no second chance.</p>
<p>The Bush team has a serious problem and limited options. There’s no light in the Iraqi tunnel, so the only choice is to manage the information. This explains why the media would rather provide a front-page pictorial of Bush performing his ablutions in front of the velvet-encrusted Pope than show a close up of the helicopter that went down in Afghanistan killing 18 American servicemen. Bush’s Vatican junket is just more-of-the-same photo-op claptrap designed to keep the lens off the mountain of carrion building up in Iraq. Its all part of the imperial narrative dressed up in regal accoutrements and presented as real news. Absent from the coverage were the thousands of incensed Italians on the streets of Rome who were aghast that the world’s foremost war criminal would be allowed to partake in the funereal ceremonies. Americans never saw the angry masses who protested Bush’s visit. Instead, they got the predictable pabulum from media operatives like Jim Vandehei of the Washington Post who faithfully chronicled the pious nostrums from the simpleton-and-chief.</p>
<p>“There’s no doubt in my mind that there is a living God. And, no doubt in my mind that Lord, Jesus Christ was sent by the Almighty. No doubt in my mind about that,” Bush said.</p>
<p>Or this, “The tides of moral relativism kind of washed around the Pope, but he stood strong as a rock.”</p>
<p>Imagine someone who just killed 100,000 human beings and authorized the use of torture on prisoners palavering about “moral relativism”?</p>
<p>Despicable.</p>
<p>Never the less, the fable-making media can be expected to maintain its present tack; inventing a narrative from whole-cloth and exploiting whatever novelty appears in real-time to steer the public away Bush’s ruinous war. It’s what they do best. The Streetwalking Media</p>
<p>The press is the only institution in American life that is protected by an amendment. The founders wisely understood that safeguarding the free flow of information was imperative to the preservation of democracy. No one is so naïve to believe in the myth of a free press anymore. The entire institution is like an aging hooker locked in a conjugal embrace with her corporate bedfellow. The media jettisoned whatever freedom or credibility it had years ago; choosing instead to serve the narrow interests of its boardroom bosses. Now the news is tailored to meet the needs of its clientele; shaping events to spread the good news about free markets, consumerism and preemptive war. Whatever news cannot be packaged and presented in a manner that serves the objectives of its sponsors is simply left on the cutting room floor. What we see now when we turn on the evening news isn’t a free press, but the front-lines of information warfare: “Who owns the news, who controls what you know?”</p>
<p>Information has been weaponized to rob Americans of their personal liberty, plunder the treasury and dupe the people into foreign adventures. The ideal of an “informed public” actively engaged in the democratic process by exposure to a broad variety of viewpoints is pure baloney. The daily news increasingly aims for uniformity in their storyline to promote conformity of thought among its readership. Diversity is a threat to the system. This being the case, we shouldn’t be surprised that Rumsfeld is deliberately targeting reporters; it is the logical extension of the prevailing political ethos. Information is power, and now that power is the exclusive province of seven media giants who are inextricably linked to the White House.</p>
<p>See No Evil</p>
<p>Don’t talk about a “free press”. The American media showed their true colors in their handling of the decimation of Falluja. The entire media stood by with their hands over their mouths while a city of 250,000 was bombed to the ground in the greatest single war crime in the last decade. The story of Falluja is a tale of cluster bombs, napalm, depleted uranium, banned weapons, families crushed in their homes, dogs devouring dead citizens on the city streets, and masses of displaced people victimized by a vengeful and implacable enemy. It’s a story of unspeakable crimes, of absolute impunity, and unfathomable cynicism.</p>
<p>Even today, a full 6 months after the siege, the story of Falluja cannot be revised enough to fit into the imperial register; so the silence continues.</p>
<p>This is the reality America’s “free press”; the collaborative handmaiden of the US war machine, partners in the destruction of entire civilizations. Eventually, it will have to be chopped down to the root before anything worthwhile can grow up in its place.</p>
<p>MIKE WHITNEY can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
|
Pope TV and the New World Media
| true |
https://counterpunch.org/2005/04/11/pope-tv-and-the-new-world-media/
|
2005-04-11
| 4left
|
Pope TV and the New World Media
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Seattle, Washington</p>
<p>The 24 hour a day “Pope-a-thon” shows the dramatic shift in the way that news is covered. If a story is inoffensive to the political establishment or if it serves their greater interests (like Schiavo) then it becomes an immediate mega-story that swallows up most of the front page and consumes the majority of TV time. In this way, the national dialogue is controlled by PR firms working closely with Washington to decide what information is suitable for public consumption. It’s perception management pure and simple but, so far, it looks like a winning strategy. As many have already noticed, the Iraqi bloodbath has been knocked out of the headlines and consigned to page 14 next to the women’s lingerie adverts. In its place, American’s are provided with diversionary Uber-stories of vegetative housewives and dead Popes. There’s no chance that the 4 Marines who died in insurgent attacks last Tuesday will appear on page one anymore, nor will the 300,000 disgruntled Iraqis who paraded through Baghdad yesterday calling for an end to the Occupation while burning Bush in effigy. These are the unfortunate victims of the new media regime; a system that dismisses inconvenient facts for the fairy-tales that support the status quo. The new game-plan is to sweep Iraq from the collective consciousness and slow the steady erosion of public support for the war.</p>
<p>The changes in news coverage can be traced to a poll that ran 3 months ago in Washington Post poll which showed in stark terms how unpopular Bush’s war in Iraq has become in just 2 short years. 56% of the people polled said the war “wasn’t worth it” and a whopping 70% concluded that the loss of 1500 American servicemen “was an unacceptable cost”.</p>
<p>The results of that poll sent tremors through the political establishment, and their trepidation is reflected in way that the news is now presented. Ball-players on steroids, Schiavo and a dead Pope are just the first of what will certainly be many similar entertaining distractions. Next week we will undoubtedly discover that Schiavo was carrying Jacko’s love-child.</p>
<p>For the most part, Iraq has been buried by the media; a tacit admission that even supporters are now experiencing both doubt about the wisdom of the war and overall fatigue from the constant flow of bad news from the front. The casualties, the chaos, the lack of reconstruction, and the demoralizing stories of torture are slowly grinding down even the most ardent Bush fan. Beyond the legal and moral questions, the war is starting to look like it was simply a stupid idea conjured up by fanatics. This perception is not likely to change.</p>
<p>Once public support evaporates, that’s it. There’s no second chance.</p>
<p>The Bush team has a serious problem and limited options. There’s no light in the Iraqi tunnel, so the only choice is to manage the information. This explains why the media would rather provide a front-page pictorial of Bush performing his ablutions in front of the velvet-encrusted Pope than show a close up of the helicopter that went down in Afghanistan killing 18 American servicemen. Bush’s Vatican junket is just more-of-the-same photo-op claptrap designed to keep the lens off the mountain of carrion building up in Iraq. Its all part of the imperial narrative dressed up in regal accoutrements and presented as real news. Absent from the coverage were the thousands of incensed Italians on the streets of Rome who were aghast that the world’s foremost war criminal would be allowed to partake in the funereal ceremonies. Americans never saw the angry masses who protested Bush’s visit. Instead, they got the predictable pabulum from media operatives like Jim Vandehei of the Washington Post who faithfully chronicled the pious nostrums from the simpleton-and-chief.</p>
<p>“There’s no doubt in my mind that there is a living God. And, no doubt in my mind that Lord, Jesus Christ was sent by the Almighty. No doubt in my mind about that,” Bush said.</p>
<p>Or this, “The tides of moral relativism kind of washed around the Pope, but he stood strong as a rock.”</p>
<p>Imagine someone who just killed 100,000 human beings and authorized the use of torture on prisoners palavering about “moral relativism”?</p>
<p>Despicable.</p>
<p>Never the less, the fable-making media can be expected to maintain its present tack; inventing a narrative from whole-cloth and exploiting whatever novelty appears in real-time to steer the public away Bush’s ruinous war. It’s what they do best. The Streetwalking Media</p>
<p>The press is the only institution in American life that is protected by an amendment. The founders wisely understood that safeguarding the free flow of information was imperative to the preservation of democracy. No one is so naïve to believe in the myth of a free press anymore. The entire institution is like an aging hooker locked in a conjugal embrace with her corporate bedfellow. The media jettisoned whatever freedom or credibility it had years ago; choosing instead to serve the narrow interests of its boardroom bosses. Now the news is tailored to meet the needs of its clientele; shaping events to spread the good news about free markets, consumerism and preemptive war. Whatever news cannot be packaged and presented in a manner that serves the objectives of its sponsors is simply left on the cutting room floor. What we see now when we turn on the evening news isn’t a free press, but the front-lines of information warfare: “Who owns the news, who controls what you know?”</p>
<p>Information has been weaponized to rob Americans of their personal liberty, plunder the treasury and dupe the people into foreign adventures. The ideal of an “informed public” actively engaged in the democratic process by exposure to a broad variety of viewpoints is pure baloney. The daily news increasingly aims for uniformity in their storyline to promote conformity of thought among its readership. Diversity is a threat to the system. This being the case, we shouldn’t be surprised that Rumsfeld is deliberately targeting reporters; it is the logical extension of the prevailing political ethos. Information is power, and now that power is the exclusive province of seven media giants who are inextricably linked to the White House.</p>
<p>See No Evil</p>
<p>Don’t talk about a “free press”. The American media showed their true colors in their handling of the decimation of Falluja. The entire media stood by with their hands over their mouths while a city of 250,000 was bombed to the ground in the greatest single war crime in the last decade. The story of Falluja is a tale of cluster bombs, napalm, depleted uranium, banned weapons, families crushed in their homes, dogs devouring dead citizens on the city streets, and masses of displaced people victimized by a vengeful and implacable enemy. It’s a story of unspeakable crimes, of absolute impunity, and unfathomable cynicism.</p>
<p>Even today, a full 6 months after the siege, the story of Falluja cannot be revised enough to fit into the imperial register; so the silence continues.</p>
<p>This is the reality America’s “free press”; the collaborative handmaiden of the US war machine, partners in the destruction of entire civilizations. Eventually, it will have to be chopped down to the root before anything worthwhile can grow up in its place.</p>
<p>MIKE WHITNEY can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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<p>WARSAW, Poland — The Latest on the car crash involving Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo. (all times local):</p>
<p>11:50 p.m.</p>
<p>Government spokesman Rafal Bochenek has tweeted that there will be a news conference at 08.20 GMT on Saturday following the injury of Prime Minister Beata Szydlo in a car crash.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Officials have said that Szydlo is in “good condition” after crash Friday in southern Poland.</p>
<p>She has been flow in a medical helicopter to a hospital in Warsaw for more medical tests. Two security officials were also injured in the accident.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>11:30 p.m.</p>
<p>A yellow-and-red medical helicopter has landed near the government hospital in Warsaw, Poland and a passenger was put on a wheeled stretcher and into an ambulance, which drove to the hospital building.</p>
<p>The helicopter had taken off from the southern city of Oswiecim after Prime Minister Beata Szydlo had a car accident there.</p>
<p>Poland’s government spokesman has said that Szydlo is in “good condition” after being in the car crash but was to be flown to Warsaw for more medical tests.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>10:20 p.m.</p>
<p>Poland’s interior minister has called an emergency meeting with the leadership of the Government Protection Office, which protects and drives Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and other top government figures.</p>
<p>The action by Minister Mariusz Blaszczak comes after Szydlo was injured in a car crash in southern Poland and was being flown to Warsaw for more medical tests.</p>
<p>Friday night’s accident in the southern city of Oswiecim was the third official car crash in recent months.</p>
<p>In November, several vehicles in a Polish government convoy collided during a state visit to Israel, injuring two Polish officials. Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz also escaped uninjured from an eight-car collision in January.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>10 p.m.</p>
<p>A yellow-and-red helicopter ambulance has taken off from the southern Polish city of Oswiecim after the country’s prime minister had a car accident there.</p>
<p>Poland’s PAP agency said the government hospital in Szaserow street in Warsaw was waiting to receive Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, 53, for more tests.</p>
<p>Poland’s government spokesman says Szydlo is in “good condition” after being in the car crash but is being flown to Warsaw for more medical tests.</p>
<p>Local police spokesman Sebastian Glen said a 21-year-old driver in a Fiat abruptly turned left and hit Szydlo’s car while being overtaken by Szydlo’s convoy. Szydlo’s car swerved to the left and hit a tree. Glen says police are questioning the driver and witnesses.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>9:45 p.m.</p>
<p>Poland’s government spokesman says that Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo is in “good condition” after being in a car crash in southern Poland but will be flown to Warsaw for more medical tests.</p>
<p>The accident occurred about 6:30 p.m. Friday in the town of Oswiecim, which is Szydlo’s hometown. Officials say Szydlo was traveling in the second car in a convoy along the town’s main road when another car drove into Szydlo’s black Audi limousine, causing it to hit a tree.</p>
<p>Two security officials were also injured in the accident.</p>
<p>Government spokesman Rafal Bochenek said Szydlo was conscious and in good shape. A helicopter was to transport her to Warsaw.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>9:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo has suffered minor injuries after a small Fiat hit her car, officials and Polish news reports said. Her spokesman said she was being examined in a hospital but wasn’t badly hurt.</p>
<p>The accident occurred Friday in the southern town of Oswiecim, which is Szydlo’s hometown. Szydlo was traveling in the second car in an official convoy along the town’s main road when another car drove into Szydlo’s black Audi limousine, causing it to hit a tree.</p>
<p>The state broadcaster TVP published an image of her limousine, with the front of the car bashed in.</p>
<p>Sebastian Glen, a police spokesman, said the car that hit the prime minister’s car was a small Fiat driven by a 21-year-old man who was sober. He said Szydlo, the driver and a security officer were taken to a nearby hospital.</p>
<p>Government spokesman Rafal Bochenek told the news agency PAP that Szydlo’s injuries were not serious but that she was undergoing a precautionary examination in a hospital.</p>
<p>“Fortunately, nothing bad happened,” he said.</p>
<p>Oswiecim is best known to the world by its German name, Auschwitz. It is the town where Nazi Germany ran the death camp in occupied Poland during World War II and today is the site of a memorial and museum that draws large numbers of visitors.</p>
<p>It was the second such accident involving a convoy that Szydlo was traveling in.</p>
<p>In November, several vehicles in a Polish government convoy collided during a state visit to Israel. Szydlo was not in one of those that collided but two other Polish officials had minor injuries.</p>
<p>Separately, Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz escaped uninjured from an eight-car collision in January.</p>
|
Polish official tweets news conference Saturday
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/947677/the-latest-polish-official-tweets-news-conference-saturday.html
|
2017-02-10
| 2least
|
Polish official tweets news conference Saturday
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>WARSAW, Poland — The Latest on the car crash involving Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo. (all times local):</p>
<p>11:50 p.m.</p>
<p>Government spokesman Rafal Bochenek has tweeted that there will be a news conference at 08.20 GMT on Saturday following the injury of Prime Minister Beata Szydlo in a car crash.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Officials have said that Szydlo is in “good condition” after crash Friday in southern Poland.</p>
<p>She has been flow in a medical helicopter to a hospital in Warsaw for more medical tests. Two security officials were also injured in the accident.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>11:30 p.m.</p>
<p>A yellow-and-red medical helicopter has landed near the government hospital in Warsaw, Poland and a passenger was put on a wheeled stretcher and into an ambulance, which drove to the hospital building.</p>
<p>The helicopter had taken off from the southern city of Oswiecim after Prime Minister Beata Szydlo had a car accident there.</p>
<p>Poland’s government spokesman has said that Szydlo is in “good condition” after being in the car crash but was to be flown to Warsaw for more medical tests.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>10:20 p.m.</p>
<p>Poland’s interior minister has called an emergency meeting with the leadership of the Government Protection Office, which protects and drives Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and other top government figures.</p>
<p>The action by Minister Mariusz Blaszczak comes after Szydlo was injured in a car crash in southern Poland and was being flown to Warsaw for more medical tests.</p>
<p>Friday night’s accident in the southern city of Oswiecim was the third official car crash in recent months.</p>
<p>In November, several vehicles in a Polish government convoy collided during a state visit to Israel, injuring two Polish officials. Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz also escaped uninjured from an eight-car collision in January.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>10 p.m.</p>
<p>A yellow-and-red helicopter ambulance has taken off from the southern Polish city of Oswiecim after the country’s prime minister had a car accident there.</p>
<p>Poland’s PAP agency said the government hospital in Szaserow street in Warsaw was waiting to receive Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, 53, for more tests.</p>
<p>Poland’s government spokesman says Szydlo is in “good condition” after being in the car crash but is being flown to Warsaw for more medical tests.</p>
<p>Local police spokesman Sebastian Glen said a 21-year-old driver in a Fiat abruptly turned left and hit Szydlo’s car while being overtaken by Szydlo’s convoy. Szydlo’s car swerved to the left and hit a tree. Glen says police are questioning the driver and witnesses.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>9:45 p.m.</p>
<p>Poland’s government spokesman says that Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo is in “good condition” after being in a car crash in southern Poland but will be flown to Warsaw for more medical tests.</p>
<p>The accident occurred about 6:30 p.m. Friday in the town of Oswiecim, which is Szydlo’s hometown. Officials say Szydlo was traveling in the second car in a convoy along the town’s main road when another car drove into Szydlo’s black Audi limousine, causing it to hit a tree.</p>
<p>Two security officials were also injured in the accident.</p>
<p>Government spokesman Rafal Bochenek said Szydlo was conscious and in good shape. A helicopter was to transport her to Warsaw.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>9:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo has suffered minor injuries after a small Fiat hit her car, officials and Polish news reports said. Her spokesman said she was being examined in a hospital but wasn’t badly hurt.</p>
<p>The accident occurred Friday in the southern town of Oswiecim, which is Szydlo’s hometown. Szydlo was traveling in the second car in an official convoy along the town’s main road when another car drove into Szydlo’s black Audi limousine, causing it to hit a tree.</p>
<p>The state broadcaster TVP published an image of her limousine, with the front of the car bashed in.</p>
<p>Sebastian Glen, a police spokesman, said the car that hit the prime minister’s car was a small Fiat driven by a 21-year-old man who was sober. He said Szydlo, the driver and a security officer were taken to a nearby hospital.</p>
<p>Government spokesman Rafal Bochenek told the news agency PAP that Szydlo’s injuries were not serious but that she was undergoing a precautionary examination in a hospital.</p>
<p>“Fortunately, nothing bad happened,” he said.</p>
<p>Oswiecim is best known to the world by its German name, Auschwitz. It is the town where Nazi Germany ran the death camp in occupied Poland during World War II and today is the site of a memorial and museum that draws large numbers of visitors.</p>
<p>It was the second such accident involving a convoy that Szydlo was traveling in.</p>
<p>In November, several vehicles in a Polish government convoy collided during a state visit to Israel. Szydlo was not in one of those that collided but two other Polish officials had minor injuries.</p>
<p>Separately, Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz escaped uninjured from an eight-car collision in January.</p>
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<p />
<p>Dear Sgt. Baker:</p>
<p>We thought this would be a good time to write to you, in part to let you a know a little about the history of the NAACP, our nation’s oldest civil rights organization.</p>
<p>It was founded in 1909 by a group that included both white and black Americans, as the practice of lynching black people (otherwise known as mob murder) thrived and soon after a race riot in Abraham Lincoln’s hometown of Springfield, Ill. The NAACP’s stated goal was to secure for all people the rights guaranteed in the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which ended slavery, established the equal protection of the law and mandated universal adult male suffrage.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>At that time, in large swathes of the United States, there was no equal justice for black people under the racist Jim Crow system. There were legal obstacles created to keep African-Americans from voting, as well as blatant intimidation. These conditions, including the lynchings, continued for decades in America as the NAACP fought them by organizing, producing reports that exposed the effects of racism and going to court.</p>
<p>NAACP leaders were murdered during the civil rights era. Its Mississippi field secretary, Medgar Evers, was assassinated in front of his house in 1962. The organization’s famous members include Thurgood Marshall, who, as NAACP counsel, spearheaded the legal fight against segregated schools and who became the first African-American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court; and Rosa Parks, whose refusal to move to the back of a segregated bus in Montgomery, Ala., spurred a boycott and helped push the civil rights movement forward.</p>
<p>The NAACP was criticized by some during those tumultuous times for continuing to work within the system, seeking change via legislative and judicial processes, rather turning to more radical means. The organization continues to advocate against discrimination and on other issues.</p>
<p>And FYI, Sgt. Baker, a white person can hold a leadership position in the NAACP. (Just Google Donald Harris, a white, Jewish native of Brooklyn who, in his late 70s, became head of the NAACP chapter in Maricopa County, Ariz. And as you have not steered away from controversial commentary in your own public communications, you probably should take heed of Harris being forced to resign after making a comment about a female reporter’s anatomy.)</p>
<p>We decided this information about the NAACP might prove useful to you after it came to light this week that you have used your personal Facebook page to post numerous bomb-throwing memes. One shows a Confederate flag with the words “Now lets eliminate the N.A.A.C.P. which in name alone is racist as is its purpose! There is no room in this country for a separate race to have a membership where holding an office requires that you be black.”</p>
<p>A question you might want to address, for those of us new to the memes you posted, is how a police officer such as yourself, sworn to uphold the law, might propose to “eliminate” a private organization like the NAACP.</p>
<p>On another topic, we’d like to offer a piece of advice for when you encounter Muslim Santa Feans or, say, Muslims who come from around the world to exhibit during the International Folk Art Market or attend classes at the World College over in Montezuma. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to disclose sentiment expressed in another meme you put up online that says, “Let’s discuss what Islam has to offer” and then lists things like rape, beheading, burning people alive, oppression of women and something called “paedophilia.”</p>
<p>As you probably know by performing the tough and under-appreciated job of police officer, many of the horrible crimes you attribute to what “Islam has to offer” are committed all too often here in New Mexico – even including beheading and burning people alive – by people raised as Christians.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Yet another post of yours made us wonder if you were among the police officers who were on duty as more than 10,000 people (that’s the police department’s estimate) peacefully marched through Santa Fe in protest the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration. This meme shows a stick figure being run over by a car with the words “All lives splatter. Nobody cares about your protest. Moral of the story … stay off the road!!”</p>
<p>You may have been talking about Black Lives Matter or the pipeline protesters in North Dakota, and you told the Santa Fe Reporter you were just joking. But those are distinctions the Women’s March walkers probably wouldn’t appreciate.</p>
<p>We hope that you will take up the issues discussed in the Facebook posts with your fellow members of the Police Officers Association, the union you lead. Many Santa Feans probably want to know if the union will continue what amounts to an endorsement of views expressed in your extensive collection of publicly posted memes by keeping you on as the union president, and as its public face and spokesman. Please keep us informed on that point, by Facebook, if necessary.</p>
<p>We offer as a friendly suggestion that you volunteer to watch “Eyes on The Prize,” the 14-part documentary series on the civil rights movement in the U.S. that’s been aired by PBS (Note: It will still be available on DVD even if Trump kills off public television). It would be understandable if your city government employers mandate that you see the series, taking cues from the movie “A Clockwork Orange,” if necessary, by propping your eyes open and forcing you to sit in front of a screen.</p>
<p>In any case, we hope the public discussion that your Facebook posts inspire will help Santa Fe residents reach across the severe divisions of American society today.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>The Journal North editorial board</p>
<p />
|
OPINION: A letter and some history for Sgt. Baker
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/956308/a-letter-and-some-history-for-sgt-baker.html
|
2017-02-24
| 2least
|
OPINION: A letter and some history for Sgt. Baker
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<p />
<p>Dear Sgt. Baker:</p>
<p>We thought this would be a good time to write to you, in part to let you a know a little about the history of the NAACP, our nation’s oldest civil rights organization.</p>
<p>It was founded in 1909 by a group that included both white and black Americans, as the practice of lynching black people (otherwise known as mob murder) thrived and soon after a race riot in Abraham Lincoln’s hometown of Springfield, Ill. The NAACP’s stated goal was to secure for all people the rights guaranteed in the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which ended slavery, established the equal protection of the law and mandated universal adult male suffrage.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>At that time, in large swathes of the United States, there was no equal justice for black people under the racist Jim Crow system. There were legal obstacles created to keep African-Americans from voting, as well as blatant intimidation. These conditions, including the lynchings, continued for decades in America as the NAACP fought them by organizing, producing reports that exposed the effects of racism and going to court.</p>
<p>NAACP leaders were murdered during the civil rights era. Its Mississippi field secretary, Medgar Evers, was assassinated in front of his house in 1962. The organization’s famous members include Thurgood Marshall, who, as NAACP counsel, spearheaded the legal fight against segregated schools and who became the first African-American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court; and Rosa Parks, whose refusal to move to the back of a segregated bus in Montgomery, Ala., spurred a boycott and helped push the civil rights movement forward.</p>
<p>The NAACP was criticized by some during those tumultuous times for continuing to work within the system, seeking change via legislative and judicial processes, rather turning to more radical means. The organization continues to advocate against discrimination and on other issues.</p>
<p>And FYI, Sgt. Baker, a white person can hold a leadership position in the NAACP. (Just Google Donald Harris, a white, Jewish native of Brooklyn who, in his late 70s, became head of the NAACP chapter in Maricopa County, Ariz. And as you have not steered away from controversial commentary in your own public communications, you probably should take heed of Harris being forced to resign after making a comment about a female reporter’s anatomy.)</p>
<p>We decided this information about the NAACP might prove useful to you after it came to light this week that you have used your personal Facebook page to post numerous bomb-throwing memes. One shows a Confederate flag with the words “Now lets eliminate the N.A.A.C.P. which in name alone is racist as is its purpose! There is no room in this country for a separate race to have a membership where holding an office requires that you be black.”</p>
<p>A question you might want to address, for those of us new to the memes you posted, is how a police officer such as yourself, sworn to uphold the law, might propose to “eliminate” a private organization like the NAACP.</p>
<p>On another topic, we’d like to offer a piece of advice for when you encounter Muslim Santa Feans or, say, Muslims who come from around the world to exhibit during the International Folk Art Market or attend classes at the World College over in Montezuma. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to disclose sentiment expressed in another meme you put up online that says, “Let’s discuss what Islam has to offer” and then lists things like rape, beheading, burning people alive, oppression of women and something called “paedophilia.”</p>
<p>As you probably know by performing the tough and under-appreciated job of police officer, many of the horrible crimes you attribute to what “Islam has to offer” are committed all too often here in New Mexico – even including beheading and burning people alive – by people raised as Christians.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Yet another post of yours made us wonder if you were among the police officers who were on duty as more than 10,000 people (that’s the police department’s estimate) peacefully marched through Santa Fe in protest the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration. This meme shows a stick figure being run over by a car with the words “All lives splatter. Nobody cares about your protest. Moral of the story … stay off the road!!”</p>
<p>You may have been talking about Black Lives Matter or the pipeline protesters in North Dakota, and you told the Santa Fe Reporter you were just joking. But those are distinctions the Women’s March walkers probably wouldn’t appreciate.</p>
<p>We hope that you will take up the issues discussed in the Facebook posts with your fellow members of the Police Officers Association, the union you lead. Many Santa Feans probably want to know if the union will continue what amounts to an endorsement of views expressed in your extensive collection of publicly posted memes by keeping you on as the union president, and as its public face and spokesman. Please keep us informed on that point, by Facebook, if necessary.</p>
<p>We offer as a friendly suggestion that you volunteer to watch “Eyes on The Prize,” the 14-part documentary series on the civil rights movement in the U.S. that’s been aired by PBS (Note: It will still be available on DVD even if Trump kills off public television). It would be understandable if your city government employers mandate that you see the series, taking cues from the movie “A Clockwork Orange,” if necessary, by propping your eyes open and forcing you to sit in front of a screen.</p>
<p>In any case, we hope the public discussion that your Facebook posts inspire will help Santa Fe residents reach across the severe divisions of American society today.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>The Journal North editorial board</p>
<p />
| 5,947 |
<p />
<p>People may be dreaming about their future mansions and private islands amid the frenzied lottery ticket sales, but it's the states that are really salivating.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>With the Powerball jackpot ahead of Wednesday's drawing hitting $550 million, the organization's largest-ever pot, states stand to make tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue.</p>
<p>The cash is often funneled to critical programs like education and infrastructure, many themselves squeezed as states cut back during the recession.</p>
<p>“It’s an effort to raise revenues without more taxes,” said Kent Grote, an economics professor at Lake Forest College in Chicago, who has researched lotteries.</p>
<p>New Jersey, for example, which has the largest state tax on lottery winnings at 10.8%, stands to rake in $1.8 million on average a year over the next 30 years if a winning ticket was purchased within its state borders. If the newly-rich winner opts for the lump sum, New Jersey would walk away with a one-time $38.9 million payment, according to data compiled by USA Mega.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>It may not seem like that much money compared with states' massive budgets – only making up about 2.5% on average of their annual tax revenue, which is as much as alcohol licenses or tobacco taxes in some states – but it nevertheless is a welcomed influx as states struggle to recover.</p>
<p>“It’s extremely difficult for state and local governments to raise taxes, but time and time again when put to referendums, people have adopted lotteries across the U.S.,” said Victor Matheson, an economics professor at Holy Cross University.</p>
<p>With the jackpot rolling over 16 times since Oct. 6 and reaching record levels, several people have bought repeat tickets over the weeks, while new players have emerged from the woodwork to chase the growing pot. That's a benefit for states, as lottery revenues begin accumulating long before a winner is even named.</p>
<p>Matheson estimates that of every dollar spent on lottery tickets, 50% is removed from the jackpot, with about 35% going directly into states’ tax funds, 10% to fund the lottery’s operations, and 5% trickling to the retailers.</p>
<p>In a $500 million jackpot, for example, a half has theoretically already been removed, with $175 million funneling into state tax revenues, $50 million funding lottery operations and $25 million trickling down to the small retailers that sell the tickets, and that's all before the drawing.</p>
<p>“To generate that sort of jackpot, they’ve already taken out a huge amount of money,” Matheson said. “The actual take home is a mere fraction.”</p>
<p>After the drawing, the federal government would take $90 million of the winner's $550 million jackpot at an income tax rate of 25%. At a rate of 35%, the nation's highest-level income tax, the federal government would take in $126 million.</p>
<p>Of course, in a government that spends $500 million every 74 minutes and 18 seconds, the additional taxes are but a mere slice of overall expenses. For states, though, it’s a matter of critical money reaching the neediest programs.</p>
<p>States often dedicate lottery revenue to sensitive programs like education in an effort to make the legalized form of non-private gambling more attractive to the naysayers. Studies showing how state lottery taxes are funneled, however, often show revenues being used as a replacement to traditional taxes, thus freeing up traditional tax money for other needy areas.</p>
<p>“They dedicate lottery funds to education and then reduce [the] tax revenue,” Grote said. “It frees up tax revenues.”</p>
<p>The Winning Ticket</p>
<p>For those playing the lottery, the chance of winning is extremely slim: about 1-in-175 million.</p>
<p>And depending on the state, winners could walk away with less than half the listed jackpot. In New Jersey, for example, a person who opts for the lump sum payment would walk away with just over $231 million of a $550 million pot, while in Delaware, which doesn’t charge state taxes on lotteries, a winner would take home $270 million.</p>
<p>“Lotteries are the worst expected return of just about any gambling you can do,” Matheson said. Where slots pay 95 cents to the dollar in terms of prizes and a good Black Jack player can earn as much as 98 cents, lotteries pay a mere 50- to 60-cent return per dollar, he said.</p>
<p>At the same time, with the fiscal cliff deadline rapidly approaching, federal income taxes stand to be raised next year, which could potentially bite another few million out of the winnings if they are claimed in 2013.</p>
<p>Lotteries often attract people in lower to middle-income brackets, with scratch-offs preying on the lowest-income individuals. Mega jackpots like this, however, bring people from all class levels, including the wealthiest Americans, though they hardly represent the majority.</p>
<p>The frenzy has caused the jackpot to skyrocket by $125 million in just two days.</p>
|
The Real Winners in Tonight's Powerball
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2012/11/28/powerball-real-winners.html
|
2016-03-03
| 0right
|
The Real Winners in Tonight's Powerball
<p />
<p>People may be dreaming about their future mansions and private islands amid the frenzied lottery ticket sales, but it's the states that are really salivating.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>With the Powerball jackpot ahead of Wednesday's drawing hitting $550 million, the organization's largest-ever pot, states stand to make tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue.</p>
<p>The cash is often funneled to critical programs like education and infrastructure, many themselves squeezed as states cut back during the recession.</p>
<p>“It’s an effort to raise revenues without more taxes,” said Kent Grote, an economics professor at Lake Forest College in Chicago, who has researched lotteries.</p>
<p>New Jersey, for example, which has the largest state tax on lottery winnings at 10.8%, stands to rake in $1.8 million on average a year over the next 30 years if a winning ticket was purchased within its state borders. If the newly-rich winner opts for the lump sum, New Jersey would walk away with a one-time $38.9 million payment, according to data compiled by USA Mega.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>It may not seem like that much money compared with states' massive budgets – only making up about 2.5% on average of their annual tax revenue, which is as much as alcohol licenses or tobacco taxes in some states – but it nevertheless is a welcomed influx as states struggle to recover.</p>
<p>“It’s extremely difficult for state and local governments to raise taxes, but time and time again when put to referendums, people have adopted lotteries across the U.S.,” said Victor Matheson, an economics professor at Holy Cross University.</p>
<p>With the jackpot rolling over 16 times since Oct. 6 and reaching record levels, several people have bought repeat tickets over the weeks, while new players have emerged from the woodwork to chase the growing pot. That's a benefit for states, as lottery revenues begin accumulating long before a winner is even named.</p>
<p>Matheson estimates that of every dollar spent on lottery tickets, 50% is removed from the jackpot, with about 35% going directly into states’ tax funds, 10% to fund the lottery’s operations, and 5% trickling to the retailers.</p>
<p>In a $500 million jackpot, for example, a half has theoretically already been removed, with $175 million funneling into state tax revenues, $50 million funding lottery operations and $25 million trickling down to the small retailers that sell the tickets, and that's all before the drawing.</p>
<p>“To generate that sort of jackpot, they’ve already taken out a huge amount of money,” Matheson said. “The actual take home is a mere fraction.”</p>
<p>After the drawing, the federal government would take $90 million of the winner's $550 million jackpot at an income tax rate of 25%. At a rate of 35%, the nation's highest-level income tax, the federal government would take in $126 million.</p>
<p>Of course, in a government that spends $500 million every 74 minutes and 18 seconds, the additional taxes are but a mere slice of overall expenses. For states, though, it’s a matter of critical money reaching the neediest programs.</p>
<p>States often dedicate lottery revenue to sensitive programs like education in an effort to make the legalized form of non-private gambling more attractive to the naysayers. Studies showing how state lottery taxes are funneled, however, often show revenues being used as a replacement to traditional taxes, thus freeing up traditional tax money for other needy areas.</p>
<p>“They dedicate lottery funds to education and then reduce [the] tax revenue,” Grote said. “It frees up tax revenues.”</p>
<p>The Winning Ticket</p>
<p>For those playing the lottery, the chance of winning is extremely slim: about 1-in-175 million.</p>
<p>And depending on the state, winners could walk away with less than half the listed jackpot. In New Jersey, for example, a person who opts for the lump sum payment would walk away with just over $231 million of a $550 million pot, while in Delaware, which doesn’t charge state taxes on lotteries, a winner would take home $270 million.</p>
<p>“Lotteries are the worst expected return of just about any gambling you can do,” Matheson said. Where slots pay 95 cents to the dollar in terms of prizes and a good Black Jack player can earn as much as 98 cents, lotteries pay a mere 50- to 60-cent return per dollar, he said.</p>
<p>At the same time, with the fiscal cliff deadline rapidly approaching, federal income taxes stand to be raised next year, which could potentially bite another few million out of the winnings if they are claimed in 2013.</p>
<p>Lotteries often attract people in lower to middle-income brackets, with scratch-offs preying on the lowest-income individuals. Mega jackpots like this, however, bring people from all class levels, including the wealthiest Americans, though they hardly represent the majority.</p>
<p>The frenzy has caused the jackpot to skyrocket by $125 million in just two days.</p>
| 5,948 |
<p>The legal battle over an oral history project at Boston College could rattle the fragile peace in Northern Ireland.</p>
<p>The project collected interviews with former militants with the Irish Republican Army.</p>
<p>British prosecutors want to access the interview records, while researchers want to keep them sealed.</p>
<p>Now a US Court of Appeals has ruled that researchers don't have freedom of speech protection to keep the records sealed. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with the BBC's Andy Martin, who is following the case from Belfast.</p>
|
US Court Rules Boston College Researchers Can't Keep IRA Records Sealed
| false |
https://pri.org/stories/2012-07-09/us-court-rules-boston-college-researchers-cant-keep-ira-records-sealed
|
2012-07-09
| 3left-center
|
US Court Rules Boston College Researchers Can't Keep IRA Records Sealed
<p>The legal battle over an oral history project at Boston College could rattle the fragile peace in Northern Ireland.</p>
<p>The project collected interviews with former militants with the Irish Republican Army.</p>
<p>British prosecutors want to access the interview records, while researchers want to keep them sealed.</p>
<p>Now a US Court of Appeals has ruled that researchers don't have freedom of speech protection to keep the records sealed. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with the BBC's Andy Martin, who is following the case from Belfast.</p>
| 5,949 |
<p />
<p />
<p>A mistrial has been declared by a judge in the Bill Cosby sex assault case after the jury was deadlocked for the second time.Despite having spent more than 50 hours in deliberations, the seven men and five women were unable to reach a unanimous decision.</p>
<p />
<p>Bill Cosby is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. His lawyers had argued the sex was consensual. The US comedian could face new proceedings.</p>
<p>In the meantime, Cosby walks away from the court as a free man. Mr. Cosby could have faced up to a decade in prison if he was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault.</p>
<p />
<p>Cosby showed no immediate reaction. After the mistrial was declared, he stood up and seemed to be distressed as he spoke to his spokesman. He then sat back down. He left the courthouse without speaking to reporters.</p>
<p />
<p>The jury confirmed to Judge Steven O'Neill that they could not reach a unanimous decision on whether "The Cosby Show" star drugged and molested Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.</p>
<p>The number of women who claim that Cosby assaulted them is triggers thoughts of suspicion of the old fact that females have always deployed against their male counterparts. Thereafter alleging to have been sexually assaulted.</p>
<p />
<p>However, the statutes of limitation rules led Cosby to be tried for Ms. Constand's allegation only. The Pennsylvania judge announced the decision as he reminded Mr. Cosby that he remains charged and on bail, despite the mistrial.</p>
<p />
<p>Source :</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40314641" type="external">bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40314641</a></p>
|
Bill Cosby Mistrial. Cosby a Free Man
| true |
http://thegoldwater.com/news/3863-Bill-Cosby-Mistrial-Cosby-a-Free-Man
|
2017-06-17
| 0right
|
Bill Cosby Mistrial. Cosby a Free Man
<p />
<p />
<p>A mistrial has been declared by a judge in the Bill Cosby sex assault case after the jury was deadlocked for the second time.Despite having spent more than 50 hours in deliberations, the seven men and five women were unable to reach a unanimous decision.</p>
<p />
<p>Bill Cosby is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. His lawyers had argued the sex was consensual. The US comedian could face new proceedings.</p>
<p>In the meantime, Cosby walks away from the court as a free man. Mr. Cosby could have faced up to a decade in prison if he was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault.</p>
<p />
<p>Cosby showed no immediate reaction. After the mistrial was declared, he stood up and seemed to be distressed as he spoke to his spokesman. He then sat back down. He left the courthouse without speaking to reporters.</p>
<p />
<p>The jury confirmed to Judge Steven O'Neill that they could not reach a unanimous decision on whether "The Cosby Show" star drugged and molested Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.</p>
<p>The number of women who claim that Cosby assaulted them is triggers thoughts of suspicion of the old fact that females have always deployed against their male counterparts. Thereafter alleging to have been sexually assaulted.</p>
<p />
<p>However, the statutes of limitation rules led Cosby to be tried for Ms. Constand's allegation only. The Pennsylvania judge announced the decision as he reminded Mr. Cosby that he remains charged and on bail, despite the mistrial.</p>
<p />
<p>Source :</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40314641" type="external">bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40314641</a></p>
| 5,950 |
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<p />
<p>One could hardly find a more formidable trio of such overwhelming character. Their voices, alone, are utterly unmistakable. Put together Arkin’s street-wise Brooklyn accent, Caine’s nasally Cockney cadence and Freeman’s deep Mississippi timbre and you’d have the most colorful radio play ever assembled.</p>
<p>Or you would have “Going With Style,” a new old-guy buddy-comedy that teams the contemporaries (Caine is 84, Arkin 83 and Freeman 79) for the first time. A remake of the 1979 comedy with George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg, the three play retired factory workers who, after having their pensions taken away, decide to rob a bank.</p>
<p>Freeman and Caine have made a few movies together (the “Dark Knight” films, “Now You See Me”) and are friendly. But as Caine points out, there are divisions. Freeman lives in Mississippi and Caine in London. “And he’s a golfer,” Caine says. “I can’t play golf. I was great friends with Sean Connery until he learned how to play golf on ‘Goldfinger.’ I never saw him again.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>So all the more reason to appreciate a rare assembly of three legends, who during a recent interview most enjoyed themselves by trading “Casablanca” lines. Of all the gin joints in the world…</p>
<p>AP: You seem to have had fun making this.</p>
<p>Caine: It’s one of the most enjoyable pictures I ever made.</p>
<p>Freeman: I’m reticent to say this but it’s the absolute truth: When you’re working with people whose work you venerate, it’s really almost always a very satisfying experience. Don’t tell everybody I said that.</p>
<p>AP: So there weren’t any arguments over billing?</p>
<p>Freeman: Well….</p>
<p>Arkin: You’ve got nothing to complain about!</p>
<p>Freeman: We wouldn’t. It’s agents who would do that. I don’t care.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Caine: I don’t care. It’s the money.</p>
<p>AP: Is this film, in a way, a vision of your own lives if you hadn’t found the movies?</p>
<p>Caine: When I became an actor, I was working in a butter factory, loading butter from the factory onto the trucks. If I’d have spent 60 years doing that, I’d have drunk myself to death.</p>
<p>Arkin: There was no choice for me. I had to act or kill myself, and I don’t think I killed myself.</p>
<p>AP: You’ve each gotten better as actors with age. Morgan, you didn’t really start in movies until you were almost 40.</p>
<p>Freeman: People say always to me, “Your career didn’t get started until very late.” I say that’s probably propitious. When you start having success, particularly in movies and in a lot of places on stage, drugs start coming your way. I thought: Boy, if this had happened when I was younger, who knows? There were a lot of young guys who were just dead. What’s the reason for that? Too much too soon.</p>
<p>Caine: People say to me: “What’s the secret of your success?” I say timing, and it has nothing to do with me. It’s the way society changed in my own country. (Caine relates how he, of working-class origins, came to be cast by Cy Endfield as an officer in 1964’s “Zulu.”) No British director at that time, even if he was a left-wing communist, would have cast me as a posh-speaking officer. I owe my career to an American.</p>
<p>AP: Do you think you’ve improved with age?</p>
<p>Freeman: When I was young, I did all kinds of different characterizations. I was a character actor. It was what I wanted to be. You can hide in character. You can go out there and just do it up. But for most parts they’ll say, “I want Michael Caine” or “I want Alan Arkin” and that’s what they want, not some character that he can play. They want him. And that starts getting in the way of being an actor. You become sort of a caricature of yourself.</p>
<p>Arkin: The first time I was asked to play something near myself I was terrified and I think I stank. It was not until relatively recently that that’s really all I want to do. When I look at “The Russians Are Coming,” I say I couldn’t do that now to save my life. I used to like to be anything in the world other than myself. But I’ve gotten relatively comfortable with being this, whatever this is. I don’t have the need to hide myself in order to express myself. Maybe it’s lazy but I like being this so I don’t really want to shed this.</p>
<p>AP: Do you often get asked about why you don’t retire?</p>
<p>Freeman: Only on this because we play these old men.</p>
<p>Arkin: My accountant keeps the engine going.</p>
<p>Freeman: Have you seen (Arkin’s) wife? There was a little lady walking around here with a head full of gray hair. Gorgeous woman. So things like that are part of the equation. And the other one is activity, staying active.</p>
<p>AP: Do you still enjoy acting as much as ever?</p>
<p>(A chorus of “Yes” and “Absolutely!”)</p>
<p>Arkin: I do it when people are having a good time, when they’re enjoying their work. If they’re changing the world, if their life is at stake, I want to run the other way as fast as humanly possible. I can’t handle that anymore. I remember that vividly. I feel badly for them, but I don’t want to participate in that.</p>
<p>Freeman: No mas!</p>
|
Q&A: Freeman, Caine and Arkin on aging as actors
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/982188/qa-freeman-caine-and-arkin-on-aging-as-actors.html
|
2017-04-04
| 2least
|
Q&A: Freeman, Caine and Arkin on aging as actors
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<p />
<p>One could hardly find a more formidable trio of such overwhelming character. Their voices, alone, are utterly unmistakable. Put together Arkin’s street-wise Brooklyn accent, Caine’s nasally Cockney cadence and Freeman’s deep Mississippi timbre and you’d have the most colorful radio play ever assembled.</p>
<p>Or you would have “Going With Style,” a new old-guy buddy-comedy that teams the contemporaries (Caine is 84, Arkin 83 and Freeman 79) for the first time. A remake of the 1979 comedy with George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg, the three play retired factory workers who, after having their pensions taken away, decide to rob a bank.</p>
<p>Freeman and Caine have made a few movies together (the “Dark Knight” films, “Now You See Me”) and are friendly. But as Caine points out, there are divisions. Freeman lives in Mississippi and Caine in London. “And he’s a golfer,” Caine says. “I can’t play golf. I was great friends with Sean Connery until he learned how to play golf on ‘Goldfinger.’ I never saw him again.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>So all the more reason to appreciate a rare assembly of three legends, who during a recent interview most enjoyed themselves by trading “Casablanca” lines. Of all the gin joints in the world…</p>
<p>AP: You seem to have had fun making this.</p>
<p>Caine: It’s one of the most enjoyable pictures I ever made.</p>
<p>Freeman: I’m reticent to say this but it’s the absolute truth: When you’re working with people whose work you venerate, it’s really almost always a very satisfying experience. Don’t tell everybody I said that.</p>
<p>AP: So there weren’t any arguments over billing?</p>
<p>Freeman: Well….</p>
<p>Arkin: You’ve got nothing to complain about!</p>
<p>Freeman: We wouldn’t. It’s agents who would do that. I don’t care.</p>
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<p>Caine: I don’t care. It’s the money.</p>
<p>AP: Is this film, in a way, a vision of your own lives if you hadn’t found the movies?</p>
<p>Caine: When I became an actor, I was working in a butter factory, loading butter from the factory onto the trucks. If I’d have spent 60 years doing that, I’d have drunk myself to death.</p>
<p>Arkin: There was no choice for me. I had to act or kill myself, and I don’t think I killed myself.</p>
<p>AP: You’ve each gotten better as actors with age. Morgan, you didn’t really start in movies until you were almost 40.</p>
<p>Freeman: People say always to me, “Your career didn’t get started until very late.” I say that’s probably propitious. When you start having success, particularly in movies and in a lot of places on stage, drugs start coming your way. I thought: Boy, if this had happened when I was younger, who knows? There were a lot of young guys who were just dead. What’s the reason for that? Too much too soon.</p>
<p>Caine: People say to me: “What’s the secret of your success?” I say timing, and it has nothing to do with me. It’s the way society changed in my own country. (Caine relates how he, of working-class origins, came to be cast by Cy Endfield as an officer in 1964’s “Zulu.”) No British director at that time, even if he was a left-wing communist, would have cast me as a posh-speaking officer. I owe my career to an American.</p>
<p>AP: Do you think you’ve improved with age?</p>
<p>Freeman: When I was young, I did all kinds of different characterizations. I was a character actor. It was what I wanted to be. You can hide in character. You can go out there and just do it up. But for most parts they’ll say, “I want Michael Caine” or “I want Alan Arkin” and that’s what they want, not some character that he can play. They want him. And that starts getting in the way of being an actor. You become sort of a caricature of yourself.</p>
<p>Arkin: The first time I was asked to play something near myself I was terrified and I think I stank. It was not until relatively recently that that’s really all I want to do. When I look at “The Russians Are Coming,” I say I couldn’t do that now to save my life. I used to like to be anything in the world other than myself. But I’ve gotten relatively comfortable with being this, whatever this is. I don’t have the need to hide myself in order to express myself. Maybe it’s lazy but I like being this so I don’t really want to shed this.</p>
<p>AP: Do you often get asked about why you don’t retire?</p>
<p>Freeman: Only on this because we play these old men.</p>
<p>Arkin: My accountant keeps the engine going.</p>
<p>Freeman: Have you seen (Arkin’s) wife? There was a little lady walking around here with a head full of gray hair. Gorgeous woman. So things like that are part of the equation. And the other one is activity, staying active.</p>
<p>AP: Do you still enjoy acting as much as ever?</p>
<p>(A chorus of “Yes” and “Absolutely!”)</p>
<p>Arkin: I do it when people are having a good time, when they’re enjoying their work. If they’re changing the world, if their life is at stake, I want to run the other way as fast as humanly possible. I can’t handle that anymore. I remember that vividly. I feel badly for them, but I don’t want to participate in that.</p>
<p>Freeman: No mas!</p>
| 5,951 |
<p>Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago leader Charles Evans expressed concern Wednesday that persistently weak inflation in the U.S. may be a more enduring force than central bankers now recognize.</p>
<p>"Many economists subscribe to the view that this latest drop in core inflation simply reflects temporary factors and that by early next year inflation will be back close to target," Mr. Evans said in a speech in London.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>He said that he agreed that this possible, but that "with each low monthly reading, it gets harder and harder for me to feel comfortable with the idea that the step-down last spring was simply transitory."</p>
<p>Mr. Evans, who has been supportive of rate rises this year even as he has signaled his anxiety over inflation that has stayed well short of the Fed's 2% price target, didn't offer a view on the near-term outlook for interest-rate policy. But he did say that it is possible the Fed has played a role in keeping inflation weak by following policies that suggest to the broader public that inflation won't ever be allowed to exceed its 2% target.</p>
<p>Mr. Evans observed that while the Fed's target is supposed to be symmetric and the central bank can sometimes allow prices to go above it, the public's expectations suggest people outside the Fed aren't buying it. He pointed to weak inflation expectations as evidence for his view.</p>
<p>"To dispel the view that 2% is a ceiling, I feel our communications should be much clearer about our willingness to deliver on a symmetric inflation outcome," Mr. Evans said. "This means our public commentary needs to acknowledge a much greater chance of inflation running at 2 1/2 % in the coming years than I believe we have communicated in the past."</p>
<p>Mr. Evans also said he was worried that too much of the case to boost rates right now rests on fears that very low rates will generate financial instability by way of fueling excessive risk-taking on the back of cheap borrowing costs.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>"Giving too much prominence to financial stability considerations in discussions of monetary policy could erode the public's confidence in our commitment to our 2% inflation objective," Mr. Evans said. "We should now be fortifying our efforts -- reinforcing our commitment to symmetry -- so that future policy actions have the best chance for success in a low equilibrium interest rate world."</p>
<p>Looking beyond inflation, Mr. Evans said "the real economy in the U.S. is on solid footing, and I expect this momentum to carry forward into 2018."</p>
<p>"With healthy labor markets and much improved household and business balance sheets, the fundamentals for continued solid growth in 2018 look pretty good," he said.</p>
<p>Write to Michael S. Derby at [email protected] @wsj.com&gt;</p>
<p>Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago leader Charles Evans said Wednesday he has an open mind about whether to vote for another interest-rate increase in December, expressing concern that persistently weak inflation in the U.S. may be a more enduring force than central bankers now recognize.</p>
<p>Speaking to reporters following a speech to a conference organized by UBS Group AG in London, Mr. Evans said ahead of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee's policy meeting next month he will be paying close attention to signals on inflation following persistent disappointments.</p>
<p>"I will be looking for signs that inflation is going to pick up, that inflation expectations have been increasing," he said, adding his decision next month will depend on these and other economic data. Asked whether that meant he had an open mind about whether to vote for a rate rise, he said "yes."</p>
<p>Mr. Evans has been supportive of rate rises this year even as he has signaled his anxiety over inflation that has stayed well short of the Fed's 2% inflation target.</p>
<p>In his speech, he said it is possible the Fed has played a role in keeping inflation weak by following policies that suggest to the broader public that inflation won't ever be allowed to exceed its 2% target.</p>
<p>"Many economists subscribe to the view that this latest drop in core inflation simply reflects temporary factors and that by early next year inflation will be back close to target," Mr. Evans said.</p>
<p>He said that he agreed that this possible, but that "with each low monthly reading, it gets harder and harder for me to feel comfortable with the idea that the step-down last spring was simply transitory."</p>
<p>Mr. Evans observed that while the Fed's 2% target is supposed to be</p>
<p>symmetric and sometimes allow for inflation above the target, the public's expectations suggest people outside the Fed aren't buying it. He pointed to weak inflation expectations as evidence for his view.</p>
<p>"To dispel the view that 2% is a ceiling, I feel our communications should be much clearer about our willingness to deliver on a symmetric inflation outcome," Mr. Evans said. "This means our public commentary needs to acknowledge a much greater chance of inflation running at 2 1/2 % in the coming years than I believe we have communicated in the past."</p>
<p>Mr. Evans also said he was worried that too much of the case to boost rates right now rests on fears that very low rates will generate financial instability by way of fueling excessive risk-taking on the back of cheap borrowing costs.</p>
<p>"Giving too much prominence to financial stability considerations in discussions of monetary policy could erode the public's confidence in our commitment to our 2% inflation objective," Mr. Evans said. "We should now be fortifying our efforts -- reinforcing our commitment to symmetry -- so that future policy actions have the best chance for success in a low equilibrium interest rate world."</p>
<p>Looking beyond inflation, Mr. Evans said "the real economy in the U.S. is on solid footing, and I expect this momentum to carry forward into 2018."</p>
<p>"With healthy labor markets and much improved household and business balance sheets, the fundamentals for continued solid growth in 2018 look pretty good," he said.</p>
<p>He added he thought newly appointed Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell will do "a very good job" when he succeeds Janet Yellen in February.</p>
<p>Write to Michael S. Derby at [email protected] and Jason Douglas at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>November 15, 2017 12:44 ET (17:44 GMT)</p>
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Fed's Evans Says His Anxiety Over Low Inflation Is Growing -- Update
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Fed's Evans Says His Anxiety Over Low Inflation Is Growing -- Update
<p>Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago leader Charles Evans expressed concern Wednesday that persistently weak inflation in the U.S. may be a more enduring force than central bankers now recognize.</p>
<p>"Many economists subscribe to the view that this latest drop in core inflation simply reflects temporary factors and that by early next year inflation will be back close to target," Mr. Evans said in a speech in London.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>He said that he agreed that this possible, but that "with each low monthly reading, it gets harder and harder for me to feel comfortable with the idea that the step-down last spring was simply transitory."</p>
<p>Mr. Evans, who has been supportive of rate rises this year even as he has signaled his anxiety over inflation that has stayed well short of the Fed's 2% price target, didn't offer a view on the near-term outlook for interest-rate policy. But he did say that it is possible the Fed has played a role in keeping inflation weak by following policies that suggest to the broader public that inflation won't ever be allowed to exceed its 2% target.</p>
<p>Mr. Evans observed that while the Fed's target is supposed to be symmetric and the central bank can sometimes allow prices to go above it, the public's expectations suggest people outside the Fed aren't buying it. He pointed to weak inflation expectations as evidence for his view.</p>
<p>"To dispel the view that 2% is a ceiling, I feel our communications should be much clearer about our willingness to deliver on a symmetric inflation outcome," Mr. Evans said. "This means our public commentary needs to acknowledge a much greater chance of inflation running at 2 1/2 % in the coming years than I believe we have communicated in the past."</p>
<p>Mr. Evans also said he was worried that too much of the case to boost rates right now rests on fears that very low rates will generate financial instability by way of fueling excessive risk-taking on the back of cheap borrowing costs.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>"Giving too much prominence to financial stability considerations in discussions of monetary policy could erode the public's confidence in our commitment to our 2% inflation objective," Mr. Evans said. "We should now be fortifying our efforts -- reinforcing our commitment to symmetry -- so that future policy actions have the best chance for success in a low equilibrium interest rate world."</p>
<p>Looking beyond inflation, Mr. Evans said "the real economy in the U.S. is on solid footing, and I expect this momentum to carry forward into 2018."</p>
<p>"With healthy labor markets and much improved household and business balance sheets, the fundamentals for continued solid growth in 2018 look pretty good," he said.</p>
<p>Write to Michael S. Derby at [email protected] @wsj.com&gt;</p>
<p>Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago leader Charles Evans said Wednesday he has an open mind about whether to vote for another interest-rate increase in December, expressing concern that persistently weak inflation in the U.S. may be a more enduring force than central bankers now recognize.</p>
<p>Speaking to reporters following a speech to a conference organized by UBS Group AG in London, Mr. Evans said ahead of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee's policy meeting next month he will be paying close attention to signals on inflation following persistent disappointments.</p>
<p>"I will be looking for signs that inflation is going to pick up, that inflation expectations have been increasing," he said, adding his decision next month will depend on these and other economic data. Asked whether that meant he had an open mind about whether to vote for a rate rise, he said "yes."</p>
<p>Mr. Evans has been supportive of rate rises this year even as he has signaled his anxiety over inflation that has stayed well short of the Fed's 2% inflation target.</p>
<p>In his speech, he said it is possible the Fed has played a role in keeping inflation weak by following policies that suggest to the broader public that inflation won't ever be allowed to exceed its 2% target.</p>
<p>"Many economists subscribe to the view that this latest drop in core inflation simply reflects temporary factors and that by early next year inflation will be back close to target," Mr. Evans said.</p>
<p>He said that he agreed that this possible, but that "with each low monthly reading, it gets harder and harder for me to feel comfortable with the idea that the step-down last spring was simply transitory."</p>
<p>Mr. Evans observed that while the Fed's 2% target is supposed to be</p>
<p>symmetric and sometimes allow for inflation above the target, the public's expectations suggest people outside the Fed aren't buying it. He pointed to weak inflation expectations as evidence for his view.</p>
<p>"To dispel the view that 2% is a ceiling, I feel our communications should be much clearer about our willingness to deliver on a symmetric inflation outcome," Mr. Evans said. "This means our public commentary needs to acknowledge a much greater chance of inflation running at 2 1/2 % in the coming years than I believe we have communicated in the past."</p>
<p>Mr. Evans also said he was worried that too much of the case to boost rates right now rests on fears that very low rates will generate financial instability by way of fueling excessive risk-taking on the back of cheap borrowing costs.</p>
<p>"Giving too much prominence to financial stability considerations in discussions of monetary policy could erode the public's confidence in our commitment to our 2% inflation objective," Mr. Evans said. "We should now be fortifying our efforts -- reinforcing our commitment to symmetry -- so that future policy actions have the best chance for success in a low equilibrium interest rate world."</p>
<p>Looking beyond inflation, Mr. Evans said "the real economy in the U.S. is on solid footing, and I expect this momentum to carry forward into 2018."</p>
<p>"With healthy labor markets and much improved household and business balance sheets, the fundamentals for continued solid growth in 2018 look pretty good," he said.</p>
<p>He added he thought newly appointed Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell will do "a very good job" when he succeeds Janet Yellen in February.</p>
<p>Write to Michael S. Derby at [email protected] and Jason Douglas at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>November 15, 2017 12:44 ET (17:44 GMT)</p>
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<p />
<p>Despite continuing income inequality or how often the justice system seems to lack fairness when applied to nonwhites, few Americans would say that whites are waging a war on people of color.</p>
<p>Even as Ferguson, Mo., smolders after the shooting of a black teenager in a majority African-American town overseen by an almost all-white political leadership, “war” is too hyperbolic a statement. Bias, discrimination and neglect, certainly – but not war.</p>
<p>This obvious fact is why, in the days before Ferguson erupted, the contention of a member of Congress – Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala. – that there is a “war on whites” was roundly laughed off.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>As Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson put it, just by looking at measures of economic well-being, “if there really were a ‘war on whites’ … it wouldn’t be going very well for the anti-white side.”</p>
<p>And yet there is a certain aggressive, popular and constant put-down of white Americans that seems to be more prevalent today than I can remember.</p>
<p>The power-in-numbers momentum behind the country’s demographic change from majority white to majority nonwhite has become a media obsession, with varying degrees of white-people-are-going-extinct relish.</p>
<p>“White Students to No Longer Be Majority in Schools,” says ABC. “White Students Majority Ends; Minority Enrollment More Than Half,” says Newsmax, referring to data from the National Center for Education Statistics showing that while non-Hispanic whites are still expected to be the largest racial group in the public schools this year at 49.8 percent, minority students, when added together, will make up the majority.</p>
<p>“Living in ‘Gringolandia,’ ” a fish-out-of-water story about Hispanics living in a predominantly Anglo community, was featured on <a href="http://NBC.com" type="external">NBC.com</a>.</p>
<p>If you substituted white residents in any minority population, the article likely would have been considered racist.</p>
<p>Then there is the #WhatLatinosLookLike campaign, which was part of a furious backlash to a New York Times article that posited that Hispanics are likely to increasingly identify as white on census forms as part of the American assimilation process (which, other research has also predicted), as if that was so terrible.</p>
<p>We also see constant predictions that the Republican Party will die along with all the “old white men.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Readers often ask me why I can’t dismiss the GOP as racist and hateful toward nonwhites. My response is that when your father-in-law is an “old white man” and your husband and two sons will someday be, too, you tend to view “old white people” differently.</p>
<p>I know my rural, Southern in-laws see Hispanics in something more than a stereotypically simplistic manner because they love me and their grandchildren and my parents.</p>
<p>I’d be willing to bet that the same is true in the case of the part of my family that is black and the part that is Asian.</p>
<p>And in my own neighborhood, half-black, half-Asian and half-Hispanic kids go to their still-majority-white school together without giving too much consideration to race.</p>
<p>One not-so-distant day, our country’s increasing interracial couplings, births and marriages will create a population that will be far less focused on our differences and more loyal to what binds us together: our families.</p>
<p>This is not to say that we don’t have a lot of hard work ahead.</p>
<p>We should all worry about all racism, not just the kind that targets nonwhites. We must all open our eyes to who we live alongside, who governs us, who has power and resources and who has none. Part of understanding and preventing what happened in Ferguson depends on us all facing up to our implicit biases – a challenge we can rise to.</p>
<p>Cited in a 2013 posting – “End of White America: Should We Care?” – on the African-American news site The Root, pollster Cornell Belcher put it beautifully: “I wish people would pay more attention to the idea that whether you’re black, brown, white or what have you, we have far more in common than not. … It’s important over the next decade or so for us to really connect [our] value threads and use those threads to pull us all together.”</p>
<p>We can make these connections; there is hope.</p>
<p>Our impending demographic tsunami will bring discomfort to some, but it will be more of an opportunity than a problem.</p>
<p>Email: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group.</p>
<p />
|
Focus on what we have in common
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<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Despite continuing income inequality or how often the justice system seems to lack fairness when applied to nonwhites, few Americans would say that whites are waging a war on people of color.</p>
<p>Even as Ferguson, Mo., smolders after the shooting of a black teenager in a majority African-American town overseen by an almost all-white political leadership, “war” is too hyperbolic a statement. Bias, discrimination and neglect, certainly – but not war.</p>
<p>This obvious fact is why, in the days before Ferguson erupted, the contention of a member of Congress – Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala. – that there is a “war on whites” was roundly laughed off.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>As Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson put it, just by looking at measures of economic well-being, “if there really were a ‘war on whites’ … it wouldn’t be going very well for the anti-white side.”</p>
<p>And yet there is a certain aggressive, popular and constant put-down of white Americans that seems to be more prevalent today than I can remember.</p>
<p>The power-in-numbers momentum behind the country’s demographic change from majority white to majority nonwhite has become a media obsession, with varying degrees of white-people-are-going-extinct relish.</p>
<p>“White Students to No Longer Be Majority in Schools,” says ABC. “White Students Majority Ends; Minority Enrollment More Than Half,” says Newsmax, referring to data from the National Center for Education Statistics showing that while non-Hispanic whites are still expected to be the largest racial group in the public schools this year at 49.8 percent, minority students, when added together, will make up the majority.</p>
<p>“Living in ‘Gringolandia,’ ” a fish-out-of-water story about Hispanics living in a predominantly Anglo community, was featured on <a href="http://NBC.com" type="external">NBC.com</a>.</p>
<p>If you substituted white residents in any minority population, the article likely would have been considered racist.</p>
<p>Then there is the #WhatLatinosLookLike campaign, which was part of a furious backlash to a New York Times article that posited that Hispanics are likely to increasingly identify as white on census forms as part of the American assimilation process (which, other research has also predicted), as if that was so terrible.</p>
<p>We also see constant predictions that the Republican Party will die along with all the “old white men.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Readers often ask me why I can’t dismiss the GOP as racist and hateful toward nonwhites. My response is that when your father-in-law is an “old white man” and your husband and two sons will someday be, too, you tend to view “old white people” differently.</p>
<p>I know my rural, Southern in-laws see Hispanics in something more than a stereotypically simplistic manner because they love me and their grandchildren and my parents.</p>
<p>I’d be willing to bet that the same is true in the case of the part of my family that is black and the part that is Asian.</p>
<p>And in my own neighborhood, half-black, half-Asian and half-Hispanic kids go to their still-majority-white school together without giving too much consideration to race.</p>
<p>One not-so-distant day, our country’s increasing interracial couplings, births and marriages will create a population that will be far less focused on our differences and more loyal to what binds us together: our families.</p>
<p>This is not to say that we don’t have a lot of hard work ahead.</p>
<p>We should all worry about all racism, not just the kind that targets nonwhites. We must all open our eyes to who we live alongside, who governs us, who has power and resources and who has none. Part of understanding and preventing what happened in Ferguson depends on us all facing up to our implicit biases – a challenge we can rise to.</p>
<p>Cited in a 2013 posting – “End of White America: Should We Care?” – on the African-American news site The Root, pollster Cornell Belcher put it beautifully: “I wish people would pay more attention to the idea that whether you’re black, brown, white or what have you, we have far more in common than not. … It’s important over the next decade or so for us to really connect [our] value threads and use those threads to pull us all together.”</p>
<p>We can make these connections; there is hope.</p>
<p>Our impending demographic tsunami will bring discomfort to some, but it will be more of an opportunity than a problem.</p>
<p>Email: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group.</p>
<p />
| 5,953 |
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<p>In the business world, there's no matchup that can quite equal that of Coke (NYSE: KO) versus Pepsi (NYSE: PEP). Beyond the Super Bowl commercials and competing promotional sets, this battle for your cola dollars has been one of the most heated for <a href="http://www.fool.com/archive/portfolios/rulemaker/2001/03/30/coke-vs-pepsi.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=34495308-97ec-11e7-bdc5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">decades</a>.</p>
<p>The good thing for investors is that both Coke and Pepsi have generated solid returns for investors -- averaging&#160;12% returns per year for the last three decades. That far outpaces the market writ large.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But which is the better buy at today's prices? That's not a question that we can answer with 100% certainty. But we can delve deeper into the matter by evaluating each company on three different facets -- and make a more informed decision as a result. Here's how they stack up.</p>
<p>Selling sugar water is a funny thing: Just about anyone can do it. So why would one company be able to hold a commanding lead over everyone else in the industry? The answer is the value of the brand.</p>
<p>In the food and drink world, the only real sustainable competitive advantage -- or "moat" -- is provided by brand strength. When consumers are familiar and comfortable with a brand, they're willing to pay slightly more for that company's products. That slight markup leads both to compounding returns over time and diminished influence of potential rivals.</p>
<p>Coke and Pepsi are both much more than their namesake brands.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Coke also includes&#160;Powerade, Sprite, Vitamin Water, Fanta, and Dasani water, among others. According to Forbes, Coke's brand is the fifth-most valuable in the world, worth over $55 billion alone.</p>
<p>Pepsi, on the other hand, has other drinks on its roster -- Gatorade, Aquafina, Mountain Dew, and Tropicana, to name a few -- as well as snacks like Quaker Oats, Doritos, and Fritos. On the same Forbes list, Pepsi comes in at 30th globally, with brand value of just over $18 billion. Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of Pepsi, comes in a respectable 40th globally, worth over $13 billion.</p>
<p>But taken together, the advantage still rests with Coke's brand.</p>
<p>Winner = Coke</p>
<p>Most investors in both Pepsi and Coke are counting on dividends to drive future returns. Because inputs are relatively low-cost and the companies enjoy decent margins because of their brand values, there's lots of cash flowing in.</p>
<p>It would make sense, then, to hope that management pays most of that cash out in the form of dividends. But that's not necessarily the wisest path to take.</p>
<p>Indeed, there's something to be said for keeping a healthy stash of cash on hand. Every company -- at one point or another -- will face difficult economic times. Those who enter such times with lots of cash on hand have options -- buy back shares on the cheap, acquire the competition, or drive them out of business by lowering your prices to levels that they can't.</p>
<p>Debt-heavy players are in the opposite boat, forced to narrow their focus just to make ends meet.</p>
<p>Knowing that Coke is valued -- via its market capitalization -- at a 20% premium to Pepsi, here's how the two stack up.</p>
<p>While the companies are about the same in terms of the amount of cash coming in, there's a clear winner when it comes to cash vs. debt: Coke.</p>
<p>While Pepsi's leverage is nothing to worry about given the company's cash flow, it seems clear to me that Coke would have more options to strengthen its place in the market in the face of an economic downturn than Pepsi.</p>
<p>Winner = Coke</p>
<p>And then we have the can of worms that is valuation. There's no one metric that can tell you just how expensive a stock is. Instead, I like to use a number of data points to get a more holistic picture.</p>
<p>Here we have a clear winner. On virtually every category, Pepsi is the cheaper choice. While the company's dividend yield isn't quite what Coke is offering, its payout is much healthier: Pepsi only used 66% of free cash flow over the past 12 months to pay its dividend. Coke, on the other hand, used 97% -- meaning that its sustainability may come into question if its numbers don't improve soon.</p>
<p>Winner = Pepsi</p>
<p>So there you have it: Pepsi is cheaper right now, but Coke's brand strength and cash hoard make it the better long-term choice in my opinion. To be honest, however, I'm not invested in either. With more than 30 years until my retirement, and an overall trend <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/02/22/smaller-cans-wont-save-coca-cola.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=34495308-97ec-11e7-bdc5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">away</a> from drinking soda, I think there are better places for your money, like the 10 stocks we've listed below.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Coca-ColaWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=1f9b13a5-fc2f-4fab-9a48-1723038d6994&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=34495308-97ec-11e7-bdc5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks</a> for investors to buy right now... and Coca-Cola wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=1f9b13a5-fc2f-4fab-9a48-1723038d6994&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=34495308-97ec-11e7-bdc5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of September 5, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFCheesehead/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=34495308-97ec-11e7-bdc5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Brian Stoffel</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends PepsiCo. 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=34495308-97ec-11e7-bdc5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p>
|
Better Buy: The Coca-Cola Co vs. PepsiCo, Inc.
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/09/13/better-buy-coca-cola-co-vs-pepsico-inc.html
|
2017-09-13
| 0right
|
Better Buy: The Coca-Cola Co vs. PepsiCo, Inc.
<p>In the business world, there's no matchup that can quite equal that of Coke (NYSE: KO) versus Pepsi (NYSE: PEP). Beyond the Super Bowl commercials and competing promotional sets, this battle for your cola dollars has been one of the most heated for <a href="http://www.fool.com/archive/portfolios/rulemaker/2001/03/30/coke-vs-pepsi.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=34495308-97ec-11e7-bdc5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">decades</a>.</p>
<p>The good thing for investors is that both Coke and Pepsi have generated solid returns for investors -- averaging&#160;12% returns per year for the last three decades. That far outpaces the market writ large.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But which is the better buy at today's prices? That's not a question that we can answer with 100% certainty. But we can delve deeper into the matter by evaluating each company on three different facets -- and make a more informed decision as a result. Here's how they stack up.</p>
<p>Selling sugar water is a funny thing: Just about anyone can do it. So why would one company be able to hold a commanding lead over everyone else in the industry? The answer is the value of the brand.</p>
<p>In the food and drink world, the only real sustainable competitive advantage -- or "moat" -- is provided by brand strength. When consumers are familiar and comfortable with a brand, they're willing to pay slightly more for that company's products. That slight markup leads both to compounding returns over time and diminished influence of potential rivals.</p>
<p>Coke and Pepsi are both much more than their namesake brands.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Coke also includes&#160;Powerade, Sprite, Vitamin Water, Fanta, and Dasani water, among others. According to Forbes, Coke's brand is the fifth-most valuable in the world, worth over $55 billion alone.</p>
<p>Pepsi, on the other hand, has other drinks on its roster -- Gatorade, Aquafina, Mountain Dew, and Tropicana, to name a few -- as well as snacks like Quaker Oats, Doritos, and Fritos. On the same Forbes list, Pepsi comes in at 30th globally, with brand value of just over $18 billion. Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of Pepsi, comes in a respectable 40th globally, worth over $13 billion.</p>
<p>But taken together, the advantage still rests with Coke's brand.</p>
<p>Winner = Coke</p>
<p>Most investors in both Pepsi and Coke are counting on dividends to drive future returns. Because inputs are relatively low-cost and the companies enjoy decent margins because of their brand values, there's lots of cash flowing in.</p>
<p>It would make sense, then, to hope that management pays most of that cash out in the form of dividends. But that's not necessarily the wisest path to take.</p>
<p>Indeed, there's something to be said for keeping a healthy stash of cash on hand. Every company -- at one point or another -- will face difficult economic times. Those who enter such times with lots of cash on hand have options -- buy back shares on the cheap, acquire the competition, or drive them out of business by lowering your prices to levels that they can't.</p>
<p>Debt-heavy players are in the opposite boat, forced to narrow their focus just to make ends meet.</p>
<p>Knowing that Coke is valued -- via its market capitalization -- at a 20% premium to Pepsi, here's how the two stack up.</p>
<p>While the companies are about the same in terms of the amount of cash coming in, there's a clear winner when it comes to cash vs. debt: Coke.</p>
<p>While Pepsi's leverage is nothing to worry about given the company's cash flow, it seems clear to me that Coke would have more options to strengthen its place in the market in the face of an economic downturn than Pepsi.</p>
<p>Winner = Coke</p>
<p>And then we have the can of worms that is valuation. There's no one metric that can tell you just how expensive a stock is. Instead, I like to use a number of data points to get a more holistic picture.</p>
<p>Here we have a clear winner. On virtually every category, Pepsi is the cheaper choice. While the company's dividend yield isn't quite what Coke is offering, its payout is much healthier: Pepsi only used 66% of free cash flow over the past 12 months to pay its dividend. Coke, on the other hand, used 97% -- meaning that its sustainability may come into question if its numbers don't improve soon.</p>
<p>Winner = Pepsi</p>
<p>So there you have it: Pepsi is cheaper right now, but Coke's brand strength and cash hoard make it the better long-term choice in my opinion. To be honest, however, I'm not invested in either. With more than 30 years until my retirement, and an overall trend <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/02/22/smaller-cans-wont-save-coca-cola.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=34495308-97ec-11e7-bdc5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">away</a> from drinking soda, I think there are better places for your money, like the 10 stocks we've listed below.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Coca-ColaWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=1f9b13a5-fc2f-4fab-9a48-1723038d6994&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=34495308-97ec-11e7-bdc5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks</a> for investors to buy right now... and Coca-Cola wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=1f9b13a5-fc2f-4fab-9a48-1723038d6994&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=34495308-97ec-11e7-bdc5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of September 5, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFCheesehead/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=34495308-97ec-11e7-bdc5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Brian Stoffel</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends PepsiCo. 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=34495308-97ec-11e7-bdc5-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p>
| 5,954 |
<p>Jan. 8 (UPI) — “Today” hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie enjoyed a “ladies night” following big changes at the NBC morning show.</p>
<p>Kotb, 53, bonded with Guthrie, 46, over dinner Saturday after being named co-anchor of Today in the wake of <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Matt_Lauer/" type="external">Matt Lauer</a>‘s firing.</p>
<p>“Saturday night!” she captioned a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BdoUvxkB3Pc/" type="external">slideshow</a> of photos on Instagram with Guthrie.</p>
<p>Guthrie shared one of the same <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BdpgZqvDw9T/" type="external">pictures</a> on her own account, but drew hearts around herself and Kotb.</p>
<p>“It’s ladies night and the feeling’s right,” she wrote.</p>
<p>Kotb <a href="https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2018/01/02/Hoda-Kotb-announced-as-co-anchor-of-Today/8901514897493/" type="external">was promoted to full-time co-anchor</a> last week after Lauer was let go in November following allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace. Guthrie and weather anchor <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Al_Roker/" type="external">Al Roker</a> were among those to congratulate Kotb.</p>
<p>“This has to be the most popular decision NBC News has ever made,” Guthrie said after announcing the news on the Jan. 2 show.</p>
<p>“A hearty congratulations to @hodakotb officially our new @TODAYshow #cohost with @SavannahGuthrie #SavannahHodaTODAY,” Roker tweeted.</p>
<p>Kotb previously co-hosted the fourth hour of Today with <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Kathie_Lee_Gifford/" type="external">Kathie Lee Gifford</a>. She <a href="http://people.com/tv/hoda-kotb-not-making-matt-lauer-salary-today-co-anchor/" type="external">told People</a> this month that both she and Guthrie will be paid less than Lauer was making, despite his ousting.</p>
|
Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie enjoy ‘ladies night’ after ‘Today’ switch-up
| false |
https://newsline.com/hoda-kotb-savannah-guthrie-enjoy-ladies-night-after-today-switch-up/
|
2018-01-08
| 1right-center
|
Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie enjoy ‘ladies night’ after ‘Today’ switch-up
<p>Jan. 8 (UPI) — “Today” hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie enjoyed a “ladies night” following big changes at the NBC morning show.</p>
<p>Kotb, 53, bonded with Guthrie, 46, over dinner Saturday after being named co-anchor of Today in the wake of <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Matt_Lauer/" type="external">Matt Lauer</a>‘s firing.</p>
<p>“Saturday night!” she captioned a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BdoUvxkB3Pc/" type="external">slideshow</a> of photos on Instagram with Guthrie.</p>
<p>Guthrie shared one of the same <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BdpgZqvDw9T/" type="external">pictures</a> on her own account, but drew hearts around herself and Kotb.</p>
<p>“It’s ladies night and the feeling’s right,” she wrote.</p>
<p>Kotb <a href="https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2018/01/02/Hoda-Kotb-announced-as-co-anchor-of-Today/8901514897493/" type="external">was promoted to full-time co-anchor</a> last week after Lauer was let go in November following allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace. Guthrie and weather anchor <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Al_Roker/" type="external">Al Roker</a> were among those to congratulate Kotb.</p>
<p>“This has to be the most popular decision NBC News has ever made,” Guthrie said after announcing the news on the Jan. 2 show.</p>
<p>“A hearty congratulations to @hodakotb officially our new @TODAYshow #cohost with @SavannahGuthrie #SavannahHodaTODAY,” Roker tweeted.</p>
<p>Kotb previously co-hosted the fourth hour of Today with <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Kathie_Lee_Gifford/" type="external">Kathie Lee Gifford</a>. She <a href="http://people.com/tv/hoda-kotb-not-making-matt-lauer-salary-today-co-anchor/" type="external">told People</a> this month that both she and Guthrie will be paid less than Lauer was making, despite his ousting.</p>
| 5,955 |
<p>I’ve hit a point in political discourse where much of the time I teeter on the edge of anger and laughter when dealing with conservatives. To me, many conservatives don’t behave like people who follow a political party, but rather like individuals who have joined a cult. And while many people&#160;often seem shocked at how so many Americans continue to vote against their own interests, it’s really not as complicated as it might seem.</p>
<p />
<p>You see, Republicans have developed a great scheme for creating the perfect brainless conservative zombie. Someone who just grunts out right-wing talking points, without a thought in the world as to whether or not there’s any reality to support them, who strolls through the political world aimlessly waiting for someone to tell them what to think or do.</p>
<p>So I thought I’d explain how this process works.</p>
<p>1) Use fear:&#160;It’s human nature to fear the unknown or resist change (out of fear of it). And fear is a great emotion to exploit to make people act irrationally.</p>
<p>2) Attack education:&#160;Facts show the more educated someone is, the less likely they’re going to be conservative. A well-informed electorate is bad news for Republicans.</p>
<p>3) Use a lot of patriotic propaganda:&#160;Take it from someone who deals with conservatives constantly, they really do believe liberals hate America and that they’re the beacon of patriotism. Which is ironic considering the only time you really see anyone promote secession from the United States, they’re from the conservative political spectrum. They think flying an American flag at their home, shouting “God bless America” whenever they get the chance and loving guns makes them “patriotic.”&#160;But all they’ve done is wrapped a flag around their ignorance while calling it patriotism.</p>
<p>4) Find things to hate:&#160;Conservatives hate&#160;a lot. Be it immigrants, non-Christian religions, minorities or the poor – they have a seemingly endless list of people or groups they despise. Hate is a great tool that’s often used to unify and justify ignorance.</p>
<p>5) Make themselves into the victim:&#160;Whether it’s the media, Hollywood, science, environmentalists, teachers, unions – conservatives are always the ones who it seems the entire world is out to “get.” Well, at least according to them.</p>
<p>6) Promote guns:&#160;It never ceases to shock me how Americans are so obsessed with guns.&#160;All conservatives had to do was decide that no matter how many thousands of Americans were slaughtered every year by guns – they were going to endlessly promote guns. They’ve managed to convince millions of Americans that when&#160;any&#160;mention of gun regulations are brought up (even if it’s something as simple as universal background checks)&#160;the side pushing for those regulations is filled with anti-American radicals trying to confiscate guns. Usually with some kind of Hitler reference thrown in for good measure.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>7) Create catchy talking points:&#160;Whether it’s referring to rich people as “job creators,” the infamous “drill baby drill” or the popular gun talking point “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun,” it doesn’t matter if what they’re saying makes any sense – as long as it sounds good.</p>
<p>8) Continually repeat your lies:&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Republicans are masters at making lies seem true</a>. It’s not enough that they just come up with their propaganda, they have to&#160;commit&#160;to repeating it over and over and over until even non-conservatives aren’t sure what is or isn’t true. You can bet if it’s a talking point pushed by the GOP or Fox News, even if it makes absolutely no sense, conservatives all across this country will soon be repeating it nearly word for word.</p>
<p>9) Use code words to mask prejudice and bigotry:&#160;When they say “we need to secure our border,” what they really mean is “we need to stop Mexicans from coming here.” When they say they’re “protecting religious freedom,” what they’re really saying is that “we want to find a legal means to discriminate against homosexuals.” When they claim they’re “protecting women’s health,” what they’re really doing is trying to ban abortions. And when they talk about “welfare abuse,” they really mean “minorities on welfare.”</p>
<p>10) Religion:&#160;The most important aspect to all of this. Religion has been proven throughout human history, and even now, to be&#160;the&#160;best mechanism with which to manipulate people. You tie in religion to a political ideology and you can get people to believe pretty much anything. That’s exactly what Republicans do.</p>
<p>So, group all of this together and we get:</p>
<p>A fearful, false patriot who despises anyone who’s not just like them; devalues education; loves guns; almost always feels like the world is out to get them; who repeats spoon-fed talking points whether or not they even make sense, all while masking their intolerance with code words and justifying all of this because&#160;their&#160;party is the party fighting for “Christian values.”</p>
<p>Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the recipe for creating the typical mindless conservative zombie.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">People Who Elected a Reality TV Star Want Athletes to Stop Discussing Politics</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Latest Conservative Attempt to Undermine Russia Investigation Fails Spectacularly</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">So You Believe Jesus Would Support Semi-Automatic Assault Rifles? Congrats, You're a Fool</a></p>
<p>1 Facebook comments</p>
|
The 10 Step Republican Process for Creating the Perfect Mindless Conservative Zombie
| true |
http://forwardprogressives.com/10-step-republican-process-creating-perfect-brainless-conservative-zombie/
|
2014-11-10
| 4left
|
The 10 Step Republican Process for Creating the Perfect Mindless Conservative Zombie
<p>I’ve hit a point in political discourse where much of the time I teeter on the edge of anger and laughter when dealing with conservatives. To me, many conservatives don’t behave like people who follow a political party, but rather like individuals who have joined a cult. And while many people&#160;often seem shocked at how so many Americans continue to vote against their own interests, it’s really not as complicated as it might seem.</p>
<p />
<p>You see, Republicans have developed a great scheme for creating the perfect brainless conservative zombie. Someone who just grunts out right-wing talking points, without a thought in the world as to whether or not there’s any reality to support them, who strolls through the political world aimlessly waiting for someone to tell them what to think or do.</p>
<p>So I thought I’d explain how this process works.</p>
<p>1) Use fear:&#160;It’s human nature to fear the unknown or resist change (out of fear of it). And fear is a great emotion to exploit to make people act irrationally.</p>
<p>2) Attack education:&#160;Facts show the more educated someone is, the less likely they’re going to be conservative. A well-informed electorate is bad news for Republicans.</p>
<p>3) Use a lot of patriotic propaganda:&#160;Take it from someone who deals with conservatives constantly, they really do believe liberals hate America and that they’re the beacon of patriotism. Which is ironic considering the only time you really see anyone promote secession from the United States, they’re from the conservative political spectrum. They think flying an American flag at their home, shouting “God bless America” whenever they get the chance and loving guns makes them “patriotic.”&#160;But all they’ve done is wrapped a flag around their ignorance while calling it patriotism.</p>
<p>4) Find things to hate:&#160;Conservatives hate&#160;a lot. Be it immigrants, non-Christian religions, minorities or the poor – they have a seemingly endless list of people or groups they despise. Hate is a great tool that’s often used to unify and justify ignorance.</p>
<p>5) Make themselves into the victim:&#160;Whether it’s the media, Hollywood, science, environmentalists, teachers, unions – conservatives are always the ones who it seems the entire world is out to “get.” Well, at least according to them.</p>
<p>6) Promote guns:&#160;It never ceases to shock me how Americans are so obsessed with guns.&#160;All conservatives had to do was decide that no matter how many thousands of Americans were slaughtered every year by guns – they were going to endlessly promote guns. They’ve managed to convince millions of Americans that when&#160;any&#160;mention of gun regulations are brought up (even if it’s something as simple as universal background checks)&#160;the side pushing for those regulations is filled with anti-American radicals trying to confiscate guns. Usually with some kind of Hitler reference thrown in for good measure.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>7) Create catchy talking points:&#160;Whether it’s referring to rich people as “job creators,” the infamous “drill baby drill” or the popular gun talking point “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun,” it doesn’t matter if what they’re saying makes any sense – as long as it sounds good.</p>
<p>8) Continually repeat your lies:&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Republicans are masters at making lies seem true</a>. It’s not enough that they just come up with their propaganda, they have to&#160;commit&#160;to repeating it over and over and over until even non-conservatives aren’t sure what is or isn’t true. You can bet if it’s a talking point pushed by the GOP or Fox News, even if it makes absolutely no sense, conservatives all across this country will soon be repeating it nearly word for word.</p>
<p>9) Use code words to mask prejudice and bigotry:&#160;When they say “we need to secure our border,” what they really mean is “we need to stop Mexicans from coming here.” When they say they’re “protecting religious freedom,” what they’re really saying is that “we want to find a legal means to discriminate against homosexuals.” When they claim they’re “protecting women’s health,” what they’re really doing is trying to ban abortions. And when they talk about “welfare abuse,” they really mean “minorities on welfare.”</p>
<p>10) Religion:&#160;The most important aspect to all of this. Religion has been proven throughout human history, and even now, to be&#160;the&#160;best mechanism with which to manipulate people. You tie in religion to a political ideology and you can get people to believe pretty much anything. That’s exactly what Republicans do.</p>
<p>So, group all of this together and we get:</p>
<p>A fearful, false patriot who despises anyone who’s not just like them; devalues education; loves guns; almost always feels like the world is out to get them; who repeats spoon-fed talking points whether or not they even make sense, all while masking their intolerance with code words and justifying all of this because&#160;their&#160;party is the party fighting for “Christian values.”</p>
<p>Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the recipe for creating the typical mindless conservative zombie.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">People Who Elected a Reality TV Star Want Athletes to Stop Discussing Politics</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Latest Conservative Attempt to Undermine Russia Investigation Fails Spectacularly</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">So You Believe Jesus Would Support Semi-Automatic Assault Rifles? Congrats, You're a Fool</a></p>
<p>1 Facebook comments</p>
| 5,956 |
<p>On Wednesday night, in an attempt to complete THE PIVOT!™, Donald Trump laid out a new immigration plan. Here’s what he told his leading media supporter, Sean Hannity, about his plans regarding 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States:</p>
<p>They’ll pay back taxes, they have to pay taxes, there’s no amnesty, as such, there’s no amnesty, but we work with them…When I look at the rooms and I have this all over, now everybody agrees we get the bad ones out. But when I go through and I meet thousands and thousands of people on this subject…they’ve said, Mr. Trump, I love you, but to take a person that has been here for 15 or 20 years and throw them and the family out, it’s so tough, Mr. Trump.</p>
<p>This prompted Trump supporter Ann Coulter and author of the poorly-timed In Trump We Trust: E Pluribus Awesome! to snark:</p>
<p>Well, if it's "hard," then nevermind. Trump: "... to take a person who's been here for 15 or 20 years ....It's a very, very hard thing."</p>
<p>It's not "amnesty." It's "comprehensive immigration reform"!!!! Trump: "they have to pay taxes, there's no amnesty."</p>
<p>Trump: "they have to pay taxes, there's no amnesty" [Pro Tip: "Back taxes" means we pay illegals $30k apiece in EITC.}</p>
<p>Only part he left out was the "hoops" they'll have to jump through! Trump:"No citizenship. Let me go a step further—they'll pay back-taxes"</p>
<p>Ann is honest about her immigration position, and naturally, she’s ticked. She should be. That’s particularly true given Trump’s comments on Fox News on Monday night, where he said, “What people don't know is that Obama got tremendous numbers of people out of the country. Bush, the same thing. Lots of people were brought out of the country with the existing laws. Well, I'm going to do the same thing." He added that there could “certainly” be a softening.</p>
<p>Trump’s new immigration policy is now significantly to the left of Jeb! Bush’s, Little Marco Rubio’s, and Lyin’ Ted Cruz’s. Jeb Bush stated in November 2015, “What we need to do is allow people to earn legal status where they pay a fine, where they work, where they don't commit crimes, where they learn English, and over an extended period of time, they earn legal status. That's the path -- a proper path.” To which Trump responded, “The weakest person on this stage by far on illegal immigration is Jeb Bush.”</p>
<p>But Jeb’s position <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/03/politics/jeb-bush-immigration-policy-2016/" type="external">incorporated more hoops</a> than Trump’s, not merely the mythical back taxes. He also vowed to withhold federal law enforcement funds from sanctuary cities, deporting immigrants who overstayed their visas, and updating of technology for border patrol.</p>
<p>Then there was Marco Rubio, excoriated by Trump and his allies as a proponent of the Gang of Eight bill he later abandoned. He campaigned on the notion that the border had to be secured, and then criminal aliens sent out of the country. He added, “I don’t think your’e going to round up and deport 12 million people.” This is now precisely Trump’s position.</p>
<p>Finally, there was Ted Cruz, who opposed the Gang of Eight bill, and proposed a plan involving securing the border first, including building a wall; strengthening and enforcing immigration laws, which would involve reversing Obama’s executive amnesty, ending catch-and-release programs, and fighting sanctuary cities; pursuing reforms to the legal immigration system, including strengthening the barriers to citizenship, halting increase in legal immigration, and ending birthright citizenship. Cruz was always to Trump’s right on illegal immigration, even though Trump lied about him.</p>
<p>Trump boosters keep focusing in on his vow to build a wall, but a physical barrier is the least of our concerns – right now, the problem is enforcement when it comes to illegal immigration. A stronger deportation policy against criminals, the use of E-Verify, visa follow-up – all of these matter far more than erection of another barrier along the border, even though I support such a border.</p>
<p>But the bottom line is this: nobody knows where Trump stands now. Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway can’t distinguish between Trump’s plan and <a href="http://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2016/08/25/watch-kellyanne-conway-fail-to-explain-why-trumps-new-immigration-stance-is-different-than-cruz-rubio-or-bush/" type="external">those of his rivals</a>. Katrina Pierson has taken to national television to explain that Trump has not “changed his position on immigration, he’s just changed the words he’s saying.”</p>
<p>Oy.</p>
<p>This won’t hurt Trump – his base still believes in him. But it should go to the heart of his credibility on his other campaign promises. If you’re looking for intellectual or positional consistency, forget it, Jake: it’s Trumptown.</p>
|
Whoops: Trump’s New Plan Is To The LEFT Of Jeb!, Rubio, And Cruz
| true |
https://dailywire.com/news/8657/whoops-trumps-new-plan-left-jeb-rubio-and-cruz-ben-shapiro
|
2016-08-25
| 0right
|
Whoops: Trump’s New Plan Is To The LEFT Of Jeb!, Rubio, And Cruz
<p>On Wednesday night, in an attempt to complete THE PIVOT!™, Donald Trump laid out a new immigration plan. Here’s what he told his leading media supporter, Sean Hannity, about his plans regarding 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States:</p>
<p>They’ll pay back taxes, they have to pay taxes, there’s no amnesty, as such, there’s no amnesty, but we work with them…When I look at the rooms and I have this all over, now everybody agrees we get the bad ones out. But when I go through and I meet thousands and thousands of people on this subject…they’ve said, Mr. Trump, I love you, but to take a person that has been here for 15 or 20 years and throw them and the family out, it’s so tough, Mr. Trump.</p>
<p>This prompted Trump supporter Ann Coulter and author of the poorly-timed In Trump We Trust: E Pluribus Awesome! to snark:</p>
<p>Well, if it's "hard," then nevermind. Trump: "... to take a person who's been here for 15 or 20 years ....It's a very, very hard thing."</p>
<p>It's not "amnesty." It's "comprehensive immigration reform"!!!! Trump: "they have to pay taxes, there's no amnesty."</p>
<p>Trump: "they have to pay taxes, there's no amnesty" [Pro Tip: "Back taxes" means we pay illegals $30k apiece in EITC.}</p>
<p>Only part he left out was the "hoops" they'll have to jump through! Trump:"No citizenship. Let me go a step further—they'll pay back-taxes"</p>
<p>Ann is honest about her immigration position, and naturally, she’s ticked. She should be. That’s particularly true given Trump’s comments on Fox News on Monday night, where he said, “What people don't know is that Obama got tremendous numbers of people out of the country. Bush, the same thing. Lots of people were brought out of the country with the existing laws. Well, I'm going to do the same thing." He added that there could “certainly” be a softening.</p>
<p>Trump’s new immigration policy is now significantly to the left of Jeb! Bush’s, Little Marco Rubio’s, and Lyin’ Ted Cruz’s. Jeb Bush stated in November 2015, “What we need to do is allow people to earn legal status where they pay a fine, where they work, where they don't commit crimes, where they learn English, and over an extended period of time, they earn legal status. That's the path -- a proper path.” To which Trump responded, “The weakest person on this stage by far on illegal immigration is Jeb Bush.”</p>
<p>But Jeb’s position <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/03/politics/jeb-bush-immigration-policy-2016/" type="external">incorporated more hoops</a> than Trump’s, not merely the mythical back taxes. He also vowed to withhold federal law enforcement funds from sanctuary cities, deporting immigrants who overstayed their visas, and updating of technology for border patrol.</p>
<p>Then there was Marco Rubio, excoriated by Trump and his allies as a proponent of the Gang of Eight bill he later abandoned. He campaigned on the notion that the border had to be secured, and then criminal aliens sent out of the country. He added, “I don’t think your’e going to round up and deport 12 million people.” This is now precisely Trump’s position.</p>
<p>Finally, there was Ted Cruz, who opposed the Gang of Eight bill, and proposed a plan involving securing the border first, including building a wall; strengthening and enforcing immigration laws, which would involve reversing Obama’s executive amnesty, ending catch-and-release programs, and fighting sanctuary cities; pursuing reforms to the legal immigration system, including strengthening the barriers to citizenship, halting increase in legal immigration, and ending birthright citizenship. Cruz was always to Trump’s right on illegal immigration, even though Trump lied about him.</p>
<p>Trump boosters keep focusing in on his vow to build a wall, but a physical barrier is the least of our concerns – right now, the problem is enforcement when it comes to illegal immigration. A stronger deportation policy against criminals, the use of E-Verify, visa follow-up – all of these matter far more than erection of another barrier along the border, even though I support such a border.</p>
<p>But the bottom line is this: nobody knows where Trump stands now. Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway can’t distinguish between Trump’s plan and <a href="http://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2016/08/25/watch-kellyanne-conway-fail-to-explain-why-trumps-new-immigration-stance-is-different-than-cruz-rubio-or-bush/" type="external">those of his rivals</a>. Katrina Pierson has taken to national television to explain that Trump has not “changed his position on immigration, he’s just changed the words he’s saying.”</p>
<p>Oy.</p>
<p>This won’t hurt Trump – his base still believes in him. But it should go to the heart of his credibility on his other campaign promises. If you’re looking for intellectual or positional consistency, forget it, Jake: it’s Trumptown.</p>
| 5,957 |
<p>During a commencement speech April 27 at Southern Virginia University, where most of the students are Mormon, failed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney offered this piece of advice to college graduates: Get married, have lots and lots of babies, and do both of those things right this instant.</p>
<p>“If you meet someone you love, get married. Have a quiver-full of kids if you can,” the former Massachusetts governor said.</p>
<p>What you shouldn’t worry about, however, is getting a job and making money to support said “quiver-full of kids.” (But don’t expect the government to help you out on that front either, <a href="" type="internal">you moocher</a>, so yeah, you probably should worry about getting a job.)</p>
<p>AlterNet:</p>
<p />
<p>As Romney reminds the class of Southern Virginia University, wealth is not guaranteed. Not everybody knows how to cut corners, exploit workers, and watch the profits rise. Even fewer are born into the power necessary to accumulate wealth in America. Anybody biologically capable, however, can make a quiver full of babies.</p>
<p>…BUT. If you find a mate and procreate, you’re all good! “Every one of you here today as a graduate can live an abundant life,” he told the students. “ Every single one of you. You will not all be rich and famous and powerful, but each of you can live an eminently successful, rewarding, abundant life.”</p>
<p>Romney, on the other hand, will remain rich and famous and powerful. But not everybody can do that. So just shut up and get pregnant, already.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.alternet.org/mitt-romneys-advice-recent-female-grads-have-quiver-full-kids" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p>And just a reminder: Here’s what Romney previously had to say about the 26-and-under crowd:</p>
<p>“With regards to the young people, for instance, a forgiveness of college loan interest was a big gift,” <a href="" type="internal">Romney told</a> fundraisers after losing the election in November. “Obamacare also made a difference for them, because as you know, anybody now 26 years of age and younger was now going to be part of their parents’ plan, and that was a big gift to young people.”</p>
<p>Incidentally, Obamacare might also make a difference to the very same young women he’s telling to procreate. Because, after all, being pregnant and having a baby aren’t cheap.</p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Tracy Bloom</a>.</p>
|
Romney's Advice to College Grads: Get Married, Have Babies
| true |
http://truthdig.com/avbooth/item/romneys_advice_to_college_grads_get_married_have_babies_20130505/
|
2013-05-05
| 4left
|
Romney's Advice to College Grads: Get Married, Have Babies
<p>During a commencement speech April 27 at Southern Virginia University, where most of the students are Mormon, failed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney offered this piece of advice to college graduates: Get married, have lots and lots of babies, and do both of those things right this instant.</p>
<p>“If you meet someone you love, get married. Have a quiver-full of kids if you can,” the former Massachusetts governor said.</p>
<p>What you shouldn’t worry about, however, is getting a job and making money to support said “quiver-full of kids.” (But don’t expect the government to help you out on that front either, <a href="" type="internal">you moocher</a>, so yeah, you probably should worry about getting a job.)</p>
<p>AlterNet:</p>
<p />
<p>As Romney reminds the class of Southern Virginia University, wealth is not guaranteed. Not everybody knows how to cut corners, exploit workers, and watch the profits rise. Even fewer are born into the power necessary to accumulate wealth in America. Anybody biologically capable, however, can make a quiver full of babies.</p>
<p>…BUT. If you find a mate and procreate, you’re all good! “Every one of you here today as a graduate can live an abundant life,” he told the students. “ Every single one of you. You will not all be rich and famous and powerful, but each of you can live an eminently successful, rewarding, abundant life.”</p>
<p>Romney, on the other hand, will remain rich and famous and powerful. But not everybody can do that. So just shut up and get pregnant, already.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.alternet.org/mitt-romneys-advice-recent-female-grads-have-quiver-full-kids" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p>And just a reminder: Here’s what Romney previously had to say about the 26-and-under crowd:</p>
<p>“With regards to the young people, for instance, a forgiveness of college loan interest was a big gift,” <a href="" type="internal">Romney told</a> fundraisers after losing the election in November. “Obamacare also made a difference for them, because as you know, anybody now 26 years of age and younger was now going to be part of their parents’ plan, and that was a big gift to young people.”</p>
<p>Incidentally, Obamacare might also make a difference to the very same young women he’s telling to procreate. Because, after all, being pregnant and having a baby aren’t cheap.</p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Tracy Bloom</a>.</p>
| 5,958 |
<p>Investing.com – U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Tuesday, as geopolitical uncertainty in the Korean peninsula continued to fuel safe-haven demand, weighing on investor appetite for risk.</p>
<p>The closed lower at 21,753. The closed 0.75% lower while the closed at 6375.57, down 0.93%.</p>
<p>In what was the first day of the U.S. trading week, following the Labor Day holiday Monday, investors fled risk assets in search of safe havens like gold and the yen as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea remained elevated, following a nuclear weapons test in Pyongyang over the weekend.</p>
<p>North Korea successfully tested a hydrogen bomb that can be mounted onto an intercontinental ballistic missile. This was North Korea’s sixth nuclear test since 2006 and its most powerful to date.</p>
<p>Also adding to negative sentiment in U.S. stocks was a sharp sell off in Financials, mostly banks, amid a drop in expectations of a third rate hike later this year, following dovish comments from Fed officials on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate hikes may be slowing inflation and inflicting “real harm” on U.S. economic growth.</p>
<p>“Maybe our rate hikes are actually doing real harm to the economy,” said Kashkari.</p>
<p>Kashhkari’s comments came a few hours after Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard urged the U.S. central bank to delay raising interest rates until the trend of slowing inflation improved.</p>
<p>The dovish tone on monetary policy from the two Fed officials comes ahead of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting slated for Sept. 20.</p>
<p>‘Bulls and Bears’ on Wall Street</p>
<p>The top Dow gainers for the session: Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:) up 1.8%, Home Depot Inc (NYSE:) up 1.4% and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:) up 0.8%</p>
<p>United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:) down 5.7%, The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:) down 3.7% and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:) down 3.6%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.</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>
|
US stocks sell off as Dow sheds more than 200 points
| false |
https://newsline.com/us-stocks-sell-off-as-dow-sheds-more-than-200-points/
|
2017-09-05
| 1right-center
|
US stocks sell off as Dow sheds more than 200 points
<p>Investing.com – U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Tuesday, as geopolitical uncertainty in the Korean peninsula continued to fuel safe-haven demand, weighing on investor appetite for risk.</p>
<p>The closed lower at 21,753. The closed 0.75% lower while the closed at 6375.57, down 0.93%.</p>
<p>In what was the first day of the U.S. trading week, following the Labor Day holiday Monday, investors fled risk assets in search of safe havens like gold and the yen as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea remained elevated, following a nuclear weapons test in Pyongyang over the weekend.</p>
<p>North Korea successfully tested a hydrogen bomb that can be mounted onto an intercontinental ballistic missile. This was North Korea’s sixth nuclear test since 2006 and its most powerful to date.</p>
<p>Also adding to negative sentiment in U.S. stocks was a sharp sell off in Financials, mostly banks, amid a drop in expectations of a third rate hike later this year, following dovish comments from Fed officials on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate hikes may be slowing inflation and inflicting “real harm” on U.S. economic growth.</p>
<p>“Maybe our rate hikes are actually doing real harm to the economy,” said Kashkari.</p>
<p>Kashhkari’s comments came a few hours after Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard urged the U.S. central bank to delay raising interest rates until the trend of slowing inflation improved.</p>
<p>The dovish tone on monetary policy from the two Fed officials comes ahead of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting slated for Sept. 20.</p>
<p>‘Bulls and Bears’ on Wall Street</p>
<p>The top Dow gainers for the session: Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:) up 1.8%, Home Depot Inc (NYSE:) up 1.4% and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:) up 0.8%</p>
<p>United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:) down 5.7%, The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:) down 3.7% and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:) down 3.6%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.</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>
| 5,959 |
<p>MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. (ABP)—Nobody in Mount Olive, N.C., was quite prepared for an influx of Haitian immigrants seeking low-paying jobs in area poultry processing plants, but the community’s First Baptist Church viewed the challenge as an opportunity.</p>
<p>Dennis Atwood knew that congregations must be flexible to respond to unforeseen needs in their communities, but the pastor at First Baptist Church in Mount Olive, N.C., was initially stumped when 25 Haitians showed up at Sunday worship in 2010—and kept coming back in greater numbers.</p>
<p />
<p>“In a traditional Baptist congregation, that’s going to be pretty obvious,” Atwood said. “There was no other notion that they were even in town.”</p>
<p>But in town they were, seeking jobs and places to worship. First Baptist soon agreed to open one of its buildings to the Haitians so they could start their own church, Solid Rock First Haitian Tabernacle of Grace.</p>
<p>The Haitians usually arrive seven, eight and nine people to a vehicle as First Baptist’s Sunday morning worship is ending. Around 70 are now there every Sunday.</p>
<p>Providing worship space for the Haitians—in addition to a Hispanic group that meets in another building—was classic Great Commission Christianity, said Atwood, whose doctoral project was on creating “missional” churches, congregations that embrace the attitude of a missionary in order to engage others with the gospel message.</p>
<p>“Part of being a Christian is being open to whoever God brings your way,” Atwood said. “You can’t really evade that.”</p>
<p>Even so, that solution wasn’t an easy one to reach. In fact, nothing has been easy about the Haitians’ first months in Mount Olive and the surrounding communities.</p>
<p>“The first thing everybody felt was shock,” said Charles Brown, Mount Olive’s town manager and a member at First Baptist. “Nobody made an announcement that said a lot of folks you haven’t seen before are going to show up looking for places to live.”</p>
<p>The sudden influx of Haitians, estimated regionally now around 4,000, began as word spread through Florida in 2010 that there were poultry factory and farm jobs available in great numbers in the agricultural region southeast of Raleigh.</p>
<p />
<p>There was some initial pushback, particularly in the housing market as landlords were either unwilling or unable to rent to the newcomers. That resulted in some severe crowding conditions, with reports of up to 20 Haitians sharing single-family homes and apartments, Brown said. Officials temporarily waived occupancy codes because of subfreezing winter temperatures.</p>
<p>Others in town assumed the worst about the new arrivals, assuming they would be bringing voodoo or criminal behaviors with them. But other than some teen pranks, none of that materialized, Brown said.</p>
<p>Brown said the housing situation has improved and that long-time residents seem to be more accepting of their new neighbors. He saw that in a video made by a BBC news crew who visited Mount Olive earlier this year.</p>
<p>“I was heartened to see most people seem to be more accepting of these people,” Brown said. It’s also helped that Haitians have opened two businesses in Mount Olive, including a restaurant that is “very good,” Brown said. “They are here and they are going to spend money, and that’s beneficial to the town.”</p>
<p>Atwood said it’s been a similar learning curve for his congregation. Some say privately they wish the Haitians would find another place to worship, yet Atwood said he’s had no group of members approach him about asking them to leave.</p>
<p>Part of that reticence is their unfamiliar worship style. First Baptist Mount Olive is affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The service Atwood leads in the stately sanctuary features a blend of classical, contemporary and traditional music meant to praise God.</p>
<p>While Solid Rock is mostly a Baptist congregation, some are Catholics, Methodists and a mix of other Christian faiths. The worship style is a blend of charismatic and Pentecostal with music that is meant to be heard.</p>
<p>“It’s very loud,” Atwood said.</p>
<p>It’s also 90 percent in Creole and much longer than the traditional service, said Erilus St. Sauveur, pastor of Solid Rock Church. “Baptists usually worship one hour, but we usually stretch it out to three hours,” St. Sauveur said.</p>
<p>And it’s an intense three hours. About a third of it is spent in Sunday school. The rest seems like a continuous prayer and praise service accompanied by drums and keyboard. St. Sauveur’s furious, shouted preaching ebbs and flows throughout.</p>
<p>There are some portions non-Creole speaking Christians would understand, like the repeated “amens” and “halellujahs.” And the appeal for money. “God gave you a job, he gave you health. I hope you know that,” the preacher shouted during the collection at a recent service.</p>
<p>“Glory to God” he added as worshipers filed forward to drop cash into a basket. “Glory to God, merci beaucoup.”</p>
<p>The Haitians still face some housing discrimination as well as long, hard hours at jobs most Americans do not want. But First Baptist has helped provide something that gets them through all of that: A spiritual center and sense of community, St. Sauveur said.</p>
<p>“These people, they stand for us.”</p>
<p>Atwood said the church is working with St. Sauveur to find the Haitians their own worship space. Atwhood said he looks forward to the day when the two congregations will become ministry partners instead of landlord and tenant.</p>
<p>But he said First Baptist owes even more to the Haitians, because they helped push the 150-year-old church out of its comfort zone.</p>
<p>Jeff Brumley ( <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a>) is assistant editor of Associated Baptist Press.</p>
|
Haitians push N.C. congregation out of comfort zone
| false |
https://baptistnews.com/article/haitianspushnccongregationoutofcomfortzone/
| 3left-center
|
Haitians push N.C. congregation out of comfort zone
<p>MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. (ABP)—Nobody in Mount Olive, N.C., was quite prepared for an influx of Haitian immigrants seeking low-paying jobs in area poultry processing plants, but the community’s First Baptist Church viewed the challenge as an opportunity.</p>
<p>Dennis Atwood knew that congregations must be flexible to respond to unforeseen needs in their communities, but the pastor at First Baptist Church in Mount Olive, N.C., was initially stumped when 25 Haitians showed up at Sunday worship in 2010—and kept coming back in greater numbers.</p>
<p />
<p>“In a traditional Baptist congregation, that’s going to be pretty obvious,” Atwood said. “There was no other notion that they were even in town.”</p>
<p>But in town they were, seeking jobs and places to worship. First Baptist soon agreed to open one of its buildings to the Haitians so they could start their own church, Solid Rock First Haitian Tabernacle of Grace.</p>
<p>The Haitians usually arrive seven, eight and nine people to a vehicle as First Baptist’s Sunday morning worship is ending. Around 70 are now there every Sunday.</p>
<p>Providing worship space for the Haitians—in addition to a Hispanic group that meets in another building—was classic Great Commission Christianity, said Atwood, whose doctoral project was on creating “missional” churches, congregations that embrace the attitude of a missionary in order to engage others with the gospel message.</p>
<p>“Part of being a Christian is being open to whoever God brings your way,” Atwood said. “You can’t really evade that.”</p>
<p>Even so, that solution wasn’t an easy one to reach. In fact, nothing has been easy about the Haitians’ first months in Mount Olive and the surrounding communities.</p>
<p>“The first thing everybody felt was shock,” said Charles Brown, Mount Olive’s town manager and a member at First Baptist. “Nobody made an announcement that said a lot of folks you haven’t seen before are going to show up looking for places to live.”</p>
<p>The sudden influx of Haitians, estimated regionally now around 4,000, began as word spread through Florida in 2010 that there were poultry factory and farm jobs available in great numbers in the agricultural region southeast of Raleigh.</p>
<p />
<p>There was some initial pushback, particularly in the housing market as landlords were either unwilling or unable to rent to the newcomers. That resulted in some severe crowding conditions, with reports of up to 20 Haitians sharing single-family homes and apartments, Brown said. Officials temporarily waived occupancy codes because of subfreezing winter temperatures.</p>
<p>Others in town assumed the worst about the new arrivals, assuming they would be bringing voodoo or criminal behaviors with them. But other than some teen pranks, none of that materialized, Brown said.</p>
<p>Brown said the housing situation has improved and that long-time residents seem to be more accepting of their new neighbors. He saw that in a video made by a BBC news crew who visited Mount Olive earlier this year.</p>
<p>“I was heartened to see most people seem to be more accepting of these people,” Brown said. It’s also helped that Haitians have opened two businesses in Mount Olive, including a restaurant that is “very good,” Brown said. “They are here and they are going to spend money, and that’s beneficial to the town.”</p>
<p>Atwood said it’s been a similar learning curve for his congregation. Some say privately they wish the Haitians would find another place to worship, yet Atwood said he’s had no group of members approach him about asking them to leave.</p>
<p>Part of that reticence is their unfamiliar worship style. First Baptist Mount Olive is affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The service Atwood leads in the stately sanctuary features a blend of classical, contemporary and traditional music meant to praise God.</p>
<p>While Solid Rock is mostly a Baptist congregation, some are Catholics, Methodists and a mix of other Christian faiths. The worship style is a blend of charismatic and Pentecostal with music that is meant to be heard.</p>
<p>“It’s very loud,” Atwood said.</p>
<p>It’s also 90 percent in Creole and much longer than the traditional service, said Erilus St. Sauveur, pastor of Solid Rock Church. “Baptists usually worship one hour, but we usually stretch it out to three hours,” St. Sauveur said.</p>
<p>And it’s an intense three hours. About a third of it is spent in Sunday school. The rest seems like a continuous prayer and praise service accompanied by drums and keyboard. St. Sauveur’s furious, shouted preaching ebbs and flows throughout.</p>
<p>There are some portions non-Creole speaking Christians would understand, like the repeated “amens” and “halellujahs.” And the appeal for money. “God gave you a job, he gave you health. I hope you know that,” the preacher shouted during the collection at a recent service.</p>
<p>“Glory to God” he added as worshipers filed forward to drop cash into a basket. “Glory to God, merci beaucoup.”</p>
<p>The Haitians still face some housing discrimination as well as long, hard hours at jobs most Americans do not want. But First Baptist has helped provide something that gets them through all of that: A spiritual center and sense of community, St. Sauveur said.</p>
<p>“These people, they stand for us.”</p>
<p>Atwood said the church is working with St. Sauveur to find the Haitians their own worship space. Atwhood said he looks forward to the day when the two congregations will become ministry partners instead of landlord and tenant.</p>
<p>But he said First Baptist owes even more to the Haitians, because they helped push the 150-year-old church out of its comfort zone.</p>
<p>Jeff Brumley ( <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a>) is assistant editor of Associated Baptist Press.</p>
| 5,960 |
|
<p>Gareth Porter is a historian and investigative journalist specializing in US foreign and military policy. He writes regularly for Inter Press Service on US policy towards Iraq and Iran. He is the author of five books, of which the latest is Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p /> PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Paul Jay in Washington. Tension is being ratcheted up on Iran by the United States, Israel. And now the European Union has announced that in principle E.U. countries will not import Iranian oil. We'll see how significant those measures really turn out to be. The Iranian navy ran operations in the last couple of weeks to show that they can block the Strait of Hormuz if they need to. They say if they are attacked, they will defend themselves. That includes dealing with the stopping of most of the oil from the Middle East that travels by boat through the Strait of Hormuz. All of this is being justified based on the recent IAEA report, which some people are suggesting has the IAEA saying that there is a nuclear weapons program or evidence that suggests one in Iran. And in this interview we're not going to get all into that again. You can watch the other interviews we've done on this. But let me just say that all the experts we have talked to say this report proves nothing of the sort. And you will get the argument for that down here below this video player, or if you click on the link up there, and you will see some of the reports we've done, including with ex-IAEA inspectors. Now joining us to unpack the current moment we're in is Gareth Porter. Gareth is a historian and investigative journalist and an often-contributor to The Real News Network. Thanks for joining us, Gareth.
<p />
<p />GARETH PORTER, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Thanks for having me, Paul.
<p />
<p />JAY: So first of all, let's just quickly catch up on what's been happening. So let's start with the American—the new American sanctions. How significant are they? What will they do?
<p />
<p />PORTER: Well, first of all, it's important to understand that this whole idea of sanctions that are against the Iranian central bank, as well as the oil export sector of Iran, was really an idea that came directly from the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his American allies, extreme right wing pro-Israeli neoconservatives clustered around the organization called the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy. They are the ones who put forward the specific proposal which was shopped to the Obama administration, as well as to the U.S. Congress, back in November. And the idea was very explicitly that what would happen is that the central bank of Iran would be considered to be a black mark against any financial institution that imports oil. And if you had any business to transact with the Iranian central bank, you would not be able to do so without being punished by the United States government. And that meant that all countries that import Iranian oil would not be able to use the Iranian Central Bank for their payments. And, of course, the idea was indeed to cut off, insofar as is possible, all imports of Iranian oil from as many countries as possible.
<p />
<p />JAY: So how would that affect China, which is the number one purchaser of Iranian oil?
<p />
<p />PORTER: Well, the Israelis and their allies in the United States never thought for a moment that the Chinese were going to break their oil relations with Iran, nor did they believe that the Indians would do so. The Indians were considered to be far too much reliant on Iranian oil as well. So really what it came down to was that they hoped to use the E.U. and the United States to get most or all E.U. countries to either cut off or minimize the import of Iranian oil, as well as a number of other countries in the Far East, particularly Japan and South Korea. And there are a lot of questions surrounding this, not the least of which was whether it was possible to even have a major impact on Iranian export of oil without basically causing a great deal of inflation of oil prices worldwide.
<p />
<p />JAY: Right. Well, on Wednesday, the E.U. diplomats have apparently said they do have an agreement in principle. They haven't said when they're going to be able to implement this. But the big change here seems to be that Greece, which is more dependent on Iranian oil than I think any other European country, has now apparently agreed to this in principle. So, I mean, if in fact they do go ahead with this—and I guess you have some doubts whether they will, but let's—if they do, will this be significant to Iran? Or will China simply make up the difference?
<p />
<p />PORTER: Well, it's not insignificant if the E.U. is in fact going to reduce to a minimum it's import of Iranian oil. But that in itself will not, of course, mean that Iran is going to suffer a significant reduction in its oil revenues. The fact is that if there are no other compensatory, you know, oil supplies put on the global market, or if there's not a lot more compensatory supplies put on the global market, Iran will in fact be able to take advantage of higher oil prices, and the result would either be a wash, or Iran could conceivably have even more oil revenues. And the point I would make here is that the Obama administration was warning in November and early December that this was precisely the reason why this was a bad idea. And the Obama administration very vociferously opposed the idea of trying to do this worldwide precisely because it would result both in the Iranians having more oil revenues and in higher prices for oil. And, of course, with the world economy in a very tenuous situation, and particularly the U.S. economy in a tenuous situation, higher oil prices could have a very negative effect on the U.S. economy and of course affect President Obama's chances for being reelected.
<p />
<p />JAY: So in recent days you wrote a piece which essentially said that President Obama's trying to distance himself somewhat from any potential Israeli strike against Iran. What's your take on this?
<p />
<p />PORTER: Well, what I understand from people who have been following this closely, particularly Trita Parsi, who is of course the executive director of the National Iranian American Council and a specialist on the triangular relationship between United States, Israel, and Iran, is that people in the White House and around the White House are saying that President Obama believes that he can credibly distance himself from an Israeli strike against Iran, perhaps coming this year sometime, by issuing a series of statements or having his cabinet members issue statements which clearly make it—you know, that make it clear that the United States is opposed quite strongly to an Israeli strike, and that he can communicate this in other ways, perhaps, to Iranians, so that Iran will not hold the United States responsible for Israel. Now—.
<p />
<p />JAY: That seems either naive or crazy. I mean, either the U.S. is going to be drawn into this or they're going to be totally opposed to it and make sure the Israelis know they're opposed to it. There's no half-pregnant here.
<p />
<p />PORTER: Well, that's exactly right. I mean, it seems very clear to me as well that unless President Obama is willing to publicly state that there will be serious political consequences for U.S.-Israeli relations, if the Israelis attack Iran in an unprovoked manner, unless, in other words, the United States is saying that this will result in a serious change in the relationship between the United States and Israel—and, of course, with that meaning the United States will not come to Israel's defense if the—as we all know is going to be the case, that Iran is going to retaliate against Israel, both directly from Iran and through Hezbollah's rockets and missiles in southern Lebanon you know, this is simply not going to wash. The Iranians are not going to take that seriously because it's been the case since the beginning of the Obama administration that the United States has taken various steps that make it possible, make it more feasible for Israel to go ahead and attack Iran, not the least of which is to sell bunker buster bombs to Israel. This was of course revealed by WikiLeaks' cable of November 2009. So it's simply not going to be credible to Iran. And you're right. I mean, this is extremely naive of President Obama to believe that there's any way to divorce the United States from this without a major public shift in policy, which it seems quite clear he's not prepared to do.
<p />
<p />JAY: Now, how much do you think—the tensions between these countries, of course, are real. But how much do you think this is about playing to domestic audiences in all three countries, meaning Israel, Iran, and the United States? I mean, the Iranian regime loves this stuff, to be able to play we're standing up to the bad Americans and play the nationalist card. Netanyahu loves this external enemy stuff to deal with all the dissent and fractious divisions inside Israel. And it doesn't hurt Obama, too, to—you know, he's got to look tough or the Republicans are going to hammer him. I mean, it's almost, you know, in a sense, seems more driven by all these domestic politics than a real moving at that kind of level to this kind of confrontation.
<p />
<p />PORTER: Well, I would—I was, in fact, much more attracted to that approach that there's much less than meets the eye to the threats of attack against Iran a few years ago than I am now. One of the reasons for that is that you have in Israel a situation where the former chief of Mossad, Meir Dagan, has gone public this past year, in June—his first public appearance since he left his post as head of Mossad in 2010. He revealed that he and two other major figures in Israeli military intelligence circles—the head of Shin Bet and the head of IDF—had in fact prevented Netanyahu from carrying out any adventure against Iran. And it was also reported in the Hebrew language newspaper Maariv that there was in fact a move by those three, plus former—or I should say President Shimon Peres and one other IDF commander, senior commander, which prevented a plan or vetoed a plan by Netanyahu to attack Iran in 2010. So—and clearly this is not just a part of a charade, because Meir Dagan has gone public also in saying that attacking Iran is the stupidest thing that he'd ever heard, and also saying that this could result in the end of the state of Israel. So this is a very serious—a very serious debate, a serious attack on the whole idea of attacking Iran.
<p />
<p />JAY: Yeah. Our correspondent in Tel Aviv, Lia Tarachansky, did a piece on this, and we'll link that to this video as well. She has a report on Dagan's comments, who essentially said that Netanyahu and Lieberman are essentially not—"reckless and irrational" he called them. So, yeah, I mean, you can never underestimate that as a factor. So in terms of—let's just back up one big picture to end this off with, because I don't think one can ever not—one can talk about this too much, which is this seems to be not, again, really about a nuclear program, because there seems, again, no real new evidence that there's anything going on in Iran, but more about the regional role of Iran, and particularly Hezbollah and Iran's position on Iraq and so on. Let's just finish off. What's your views on that?
<p />
<p />PORTER: Right. I mean, I think you've hit the nail on the head that there are multiple sources now, both within Israel and pro-Israeli, pro-Likud figures in the neoconservative movement in the United States, who have quite explicitly now stated or argued that the real problem here is not that Iran is going to get a nuclear device and use it against Israel, but rather that Iran will not do so—at least, it will not use a device against Israel, and in fact may be very quiet about having a nuclear device. But the problem would be that Iran would be able to shift the regional balance of power in the Middle East in such a way as to make it more or less possible for Israel, or even impossible for Israel, to continue to intimidate the region, and particularly to intimidate Iran and Hezbollah. And therefore the argument is that it would give the green light for Hezbollah and Hamas to carry on a war against Israel.
<p />
<p />Now, I happen to think that that is really quite—even that, as opposed to the idea that there's an existential threat against Israel—which, by the way, even Defense Minister Ehud Barak of Israel has now essentially disowned; that is admitted to be simply a device to convince the Western world that Iran is a threat to world peace, and to try to get the United States in particular to join in a war against Iran. But quite apart from that, this is an exaggeration, obviously, that even having the capability to build a nuclear weapon without going ahead and building one, which is what Israel seems to be—what Netanyahu seems to be determined to prevent, is simply not going to change the fundamental dynamics of politics in the region. It's not going to change the role that Hezbollah and Hamas are playing vis-Ã&#160;-vis Israel.
<p />
<p />JAY: Right. And just to go back to Dagan again, he was—I can't remember. He was Shin Bet or Mossad, Dagan?
<p />
<p />PORTER: He is Mossad, yes.
<p />
<p />JAY: Mossad, the former head of Mossad. One of the things he said, if I remember correctly, was there's just no reason why Israel couldn't actually reach some kind of accommodation deal with Iran and with Hezbollah. He doesn't think there's any reason for this level of confrontation. But—and he's known as a hard right-wing hawk.
<p />
<p />PORTER: He is. He's been described as somebody who ate the Palestinians for breakfast—maybe lunch and dinner as well. So you're right. I mean, he is a hardliner, and yet he is saying Israel, the Israeli government of Netanyahu has got this all wrong. It's too bad that the Obama administration is not listening more to Meir Dagan and taking that very seriously. And this reminds me, of course, the Iranian government, then of Khatami, President Khatami, approached the United States with a letter proposing negotiations, in which they quite explicitly stated that as part of an overall deal, the Iranian government would be willing to rein in Hezbollah, to make a shift in Hezbollah's posture from being a military organization into a merely political and cultural organization. Of course, that's in the context of a major settlement of all the outstanding issues. But nevertheless, that is the level on which the United States and Iran need to be talking. And, of course, Israel in the background needs to be part of that deal as well.
<p />
<p />JAY: Thanks for joining us, Gareth.
<p />
<p />PORTER: Thank you, Paul.
<p />
<p />JAY: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
<p />
<p />End
<p />
<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.
|
Obama and Netanyahu's Push for Attack on Iran
| true |
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D767%26Itemid%3D74%26jumival%3D7775
|
2012-01-06
| 4left
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Obama and Netanyahu's Push for Attack on Iran
<p>Gareth Porter is a historian and investigative journalist specializing in US foreign and military policy. He writes regularly for Inter Press Service on US policy towards Iraq and Iran. He is the author of five books, of which the latest is Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p /> PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Paul Jay in Washington. Tension is being ratcheted up on Iran by the United States, Israel. And now the European Union has announced that in principle E.U. countries will not import Iranian oil. We'll see how significant those measures really turn out to be. The Iranian navy ran operations in the last couple of weeks to show that they can block the Strait of Hormuz if they need to. They say if they are attacked, they will defend themselves. That includes dealing with the stopping of most of the oil from the Middle East that travels by boat through the Strait of Hormuz. All of this is being justified based on the recent IAEA report, which some people are suggesting has the IAEA saying that there is a nuclear weapons program or evidence that suggests one in Iran. And in this interview we're not going to get all into that again. You can watch the other interviews we've done on this. But let me just say that all the experts we have talked to say this report proves nothing of the sort. And you will get the argument for that down here below this video player, or if you click on the link up there, and you will see some of the reports we've done, including with ex-IAEA inspectors. Now joining us to unpack the current moment we're in is Gareth Porter. Gareth is a historian and investigative journalist and an often-contributor to The Real News Network. Thanks for joining us, Gareth.
<p />
<p />GARETH PORTER, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Thanks for having me, Paul.
<p />
<p />JAY: So first of all, let's just quickly catch up on what's been happening. So let's start with the American—the new American sanctions. How significant are they? What will they do?
<p />
<p />PORTER: Well, first of all, it's important to understand that this whole idea of sanctions that are against the Iranian central bank, as well as the oil export sector of Iran, was really an idea that came directly from the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his American allies, extreme right wing pro-Israeli neoconservatives clustered around the organization called the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy. They are the ones who put forward the specific proposal which was shopped to the Obama administration, as well as to the U.S. Congress, back in November. And the idea was very explicitly that what would happen is that the central bank of Iran would be considered to be a black mark against any financial institution that imports oil. And if you had any business to transact with the Iranian central bank, you would not be able to do so without being punished by the United States government. And that meant that all countries that import Iranian oil would not be able to use the Iranian Central Bank for their payments. And, of course, the idea was indeed to cut off, insofar as is possible, all imports of Iranian oil from as many countries as possible.
<p />
<p />JAY: So how would that affect China, which is the number one purchaser of Iranian oil?
<p />
<p />PORTER: Well, the Israelis and their allies in the United States never thought for a moment that the Chinese were going to break their oil relations with Iran, nor did they believe that the Indians would do so. The Indians were considered to be far too much reliant on Iranian oil as well. So really what it came down to was that they hoped to use the E.U. and the United States to get most or all E.U. countries to either cut off or minimize the import of Iranian oil, as well as a number of other countries in the Far East, particularly Japan and South Korea. And there are a lot of questions surrounding this, not the least of which was whether it was possible to even have a major impact on Iranian export of oil without basically causing a great deal of inflation of oil prices worldwide.
<p />
<p />JAY: Right. Well, on Wednesday, the E.U. diplomats have apparently said they do have an agreement in principle. They haven't said when they're going to be able to implement this. But the big change here seems to be that Greece, which is more dependent on Iranian oil than I think any other European country, has now apparently agreed to this in principle. So, I mean, if in fact they do go ahead with this—and I guess you have some doubts whether they will, but let's—if they do, will this be significant to Iran? Or will China simply make up the difference?
<p />
<p />PORTER: Well, it's not insignificant if the E.U. is in fact going to reduce to a minimum it's import of Iranian oil. But that in itself will not, of course, mean that Iran is going to suffer a significant reduction in its oil revenues. The fact is that if there are no other compensatory, you know, oil supplies put on the global market, or if there's not a lot more compensatory supplies put on the global market, Iran will in fact be able to take advantage of higher oil prices, and the result would either be a wash, or Iran could conceivably have even more oil revenues. And the point I would make here is that the Obama administration was warning in November and early December that this was precisely the reason why this was a bad idea. And the Obama administration very vociferously opposed the idea of trying to do this worldwide precisely because it would result both in the Iranians having more oil revenues and in higher prices for oil. And, of course, with the world economy in a very tenuous situation, and particularly the U.S. economy in a tenuous situation, higher oil prices could have a very negative effect on the U.S. economy and of course affect President Obama's chances for being reelected.
<p />
<p />JAY: So in recent days you wrote a piece which essentially said that President Obama's trying to distance himself somewhat from any potential Israeli strike against Iran. What's your take on this?
<p />
<p />PORTER: Well, what I understand from people who have been following this closely, particularly Trita Parsi, who is of course the executive director of the National Iranian American Council and a specialist on the triangular relationship between United States, Israel, and Iran, is that people in the White House and around the White House are saying that President Obama believes that he can credibly distance himself from an Israeli strike against Iran, perhaps coming this year sometime, by issuing a series of statements or having his cabinet members issue statements which clearly make it—you know, that make it clear that the United States is opposed quite strongly to an Israeli strike, and that he can communicate this in other ways, perhaps, to Iranians, so that Iran will not hold the United States responsible for Israel. Now—.
<p />
<p />JAY: That seems either naive or crazy. I mean, either the U.S. is going to be drawn into this or they're going to be totally opposed to it and make sure the Israelis know they're opposed to it. There's no half-pregnant here.
<p />
<p />PORTER: Well, that's exactly right. I mean, it seems very clear to me as well that unless President Obama is willing to publicly state that there will be serious political consequences for U.S.-Israeli relations, if the Israelis attack Iran in an unprovoked manner, unless, in other words, the United States is saying that this will result in a serious change in the relationship between the United States and Israel—and, of course, with that meaning the United States will not come to Israel's defense if the—as we all know is going to be the case, that Iran is going to retaliate against Israel, both directly from Iran and through Hezbollah's rockets and missiles in southern Lebanon you know, this is simply not going to wash. The Iranians are not going to take that seriously because it's been the case since the beginning of the Obama administration that the United States has taken various steps that make it possible, make it more feasible for Israel to go ahead and attack Iran, not the least of which is to sell bunker buster bombs to Israel. This was of course revealed by WikiLeaks' cable of November 2009. So it's simply not going to be credible to Iran. And you're right. I mean, this is extremely naive of President Obama to believe that there's any way to divorce the United States from this without a major public shift in policy, which it seems quite clear he's not prepared to do.
<p />
<p />JAY: Now, how much do you think—the tensions between these countries, of course, are real. But how much do you think this is about playing to domestic audiences in all three countries, meaning Israel, Iran, and the United States? I mean, the Iranian regime loves this stuff, to be able to play we're standing up to the bad Americans and play the nationalist card. Netanyahu loves this external enemy stuff to deal with all the dissent and fractious divisions inside Israel. And it doesn't hurt Obama, too, to—you know, he's got to look tough or the Republicans are going to hammer him. I mean, it's almost, you know, in a sense, seems more driven by all these domestic politics than a real moving at that kind of level to this kind of confrontation.
<p />
<p />PORTER: Well, I would—I was, in fact, much more attracted to that approach that there's much less than meets the eye to the threats of attack against Iran a few years ago than I am now. One of the reasons for that is that you have in Israel a situation where the former chief of Mossad, Meir Dagan, has gone public this past year, in June—his first public appearance since he left his post as head of Mossad in 2010. He revealed that he and two other major figures in Israeli military intelligence circles—the head of Shin Bet and the head of IDF—had in fact prevented Netanyahu from carrying out any adventure against Iran. And it was also reported in the Hebrew language newspaper Maariv that there was in fact a move by those three, plus former—or I should say President Shimon Peres and one other IDF commander, senior commander, which prevented a plan or vetoed a plan by Netanyahu to attack Iran in 2010. So—and clearly this is not just a part of a charade, because Meir Dagan has gone public also in saying that attacking Iran is the stupidest thing that he'd ever heard, and also saying that this could result in the end of the state of Israel. So this is a very serious—a very serious debate, a serious attack on the whole idea of attacking Iran.
<p />
<p />JAY: Yeah. Our correspondent in Tel Aviv, Lia Tarachansky, did a piece on this, and we'll link that to this video as well. She has a report on Dagan's comments, who essentially said that Netanyahu and Lieberman are essentially not—"reckless and irrational" he called them. So, yeah, I mean, you can never underestimate that as a factor. So in terms of—let's just back up one big picture to end this off with, because I don't think one can ever not—one can talk about this too much, which is this seems to be not, again, really about a nuclear program, because there seems, again, no real new evidence that there's anything going on in Iran, but more about the regional role of Iran, and particularly Hezbollah and Iran's position on Iraq and so on. Let's just finish off. What's your views on that?
<p />
<p />PORTER: Right. I mean, I think you've hit the nail on the head that there are multiple sources now, both within Israel and pro-Israeli, pro-Likud figures in the neoconservative movement in the United States, who have quite explicitly now stated or argued that the real problem here is not that Iran is going to get a nuclear device and use it against Israel, but rather that Iran will not do so—at least, it will not use a device against Israel, and in fact may be very quiet about having a nuclear device. But the problem would be that Iran would be able to shift the regional balance of power in the Middle East in such a way as to make it more or less possible for Israel, or even impossible for Israel, to continue to intimidate the region, and particularly to intimidate Iran and Hezbollah. And therefore the argument is that it would give the green light for Hezbollah and Hamas to carry on a war against Israel.
<p />
<p />Now, I happen to think that that is really quite—even that, as opposed to the idea that there's an existential threat against Israel—which, by the way, even Defense Minister Ehud Barak of Israel has now essentially disowned; that is admitted to be simply a device to convince the Western world that Iran is a threat to world peace, and to try to get the United States in particular to join in a war against Iran. But quite apart from that, this is an exaggeration, obviously, that even having the capability to build a nuclear weapon without going ahead and building one, which is what Israel seems to be—what Netanyahu seems to be determined to prevent, is simply not going to change the fundamental dynamics of politics in the region. It's not going to change the role that Hezbollah and Hamas are playing vis-Ã&#160;-vis Israel.
<p />
<p />JAY: Right. And just to go back to Dagan again, he was—I can't remember. He was Shin Bet or Mossad, Dagan?
<p />
<p />PORTER: He is Mossad, yes.
<p />
<p />JAY: Mossad, the former head of Mossad. One of the things he said, if I remember correctly, was there's just no reason why Israel couldn't actually reach some kind of accommodation deal with Iran and with Hezbollah. He doesn't think there's any reason for this level of confrontation. But—and he's known as a hard right-wing hawk.
<p />
<p />PORTER: He is. He's been described as somebody who ate the Palestinians for breakfast—maybe lunch and dinner as well. So you're right. I mean, he is a hardliner, and yet he is saying Israel, the Israeli government of Netanyahu has got this all wrong. It's too bad that the Obama administration is not listening more to Meir Dagan and taking that very seriously. And this reminds me, of course, the Iranian government, then of Khatami, President Khatami, approached the United States with a letter proposing negotiations, in which they quite explicitly stated that as part of an overall deal, the Iranian government would be willing to rein in Hezbollah, to make a shift in Hezbollah's posture from being a military organization into a merely political and cultural organization. Of course, that's in the context of a major settlement of all the outstanding issues. But nevertheless, that is the level on which the United States and Iran need to be talking. And, of course, Israel in the background needs to be part of that deal as well.
<p />
<p />JAY: Thanks for joining us, Gareth.
<p />
<p />PORTER: Thank you, Paul.
<p />
<p />JAY: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
<p />
<p />End
<p />
<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.
| 5,961 |
<p />
<p>I’m lovin’ it. McDonalds has asked the Oxford English Dictionary to <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2065c45e-d65d-11db-99b7-000b5df10621.html" type="external">change its definition of “McJob.”</a> Since 2003, the OED has defined it as “an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, esp. one created by the expansion of the service sector.” Mickey D’s house lexicographer claims that such a definition “is out of date, out of touch with reality and most importantly it is insulting to those talented, committed, hard-working people who serve the public every day.” Actually, the two definitions don’t conflict at all; the OED just bothers to mention that service sector jobs are poorly paid. Maybe it should redefine “minimum wage” while it’s at it; something like, “An artificially high, mandated wage that prevents the creation of exciting opportunities for talented, committed, hard-working people who want to make people smile.” Hopefully, OED will stick to its guns. Otherwise, they may have to redefine “chutzpah,” too.</p>
<p />
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McDonald’s Rewrites Definition of Chutzpah
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/03/mcdonalds-rewrites-definition-chutzpah/
|
2007-03-20
| 4left
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McDonald’s Rewrites Definition of Chutzpah
<p />
<p>I’m lovin’ it. McDonalds has asked the Oxford English Dictionary to <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2065c45e-d65d-11db-99b7-000b5df10621.html" type="external">change its definition of “McJob.”</a> Since 2003, the OED has defined it as “an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, esp. one created by the expansion of the service sector.” Mickey D’s house lexicographer claims that such a definition “is out of date, out of touch with reality and most importantly it is insulting to those talented, committed, hard-working people who serve the public every day.” Actually, the two definitions don’t conflict at all; the OED just bothers to mention that service sector jobs are poorly paid. Maybe it should redefine “minimum wage” while it’s at it; something like, “An artificially high, mandated wage that prevents the creation of exciting opportunities for talented, committed, hard-working people who want to make people smile.” Hopefully, OED will stick to its guns. Otherwise, they may have to redefine “chutzpah,” too.</p>
<p />
| 5,962 |
<p>Jan 24 (Reuters) - Frasers Commercial Trust:</p>
<p>* ‍LAUNCHES PRIVATE PLACEMENT OF 55.6 MILLION NEW UNITS IN CO TO RAISE GROSS PROCEEDS OF NO LESS THAN S$80 MILLION​ Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump made a surprising threat on Friday to veto Congress’ newly passed $1.3 trillion spending bill, a move that raised the specter of a government shutdown ahead of a midnight deadline to renew funding for federal agencies.</p>
<p>In a tweet on Friday morning Trump said he was displeased about immigration issues in the bill, even though the White House had given assurances on Thursday that he would sign it.</p>
<p>At the White House on Friday, many aides were caught by surprise by the veto threat and had no immediate explanation for what prompted it. Trump was scheduled on Friday to fly to Florida for a weekend at his private resort.</p>
<p>After passing the measure, lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives, which both are dominated by Trump’s fellow Republicans, left Washington for a scheduled two-week spring recess.</p>
<p>A senior House aide said there were no plans to call lawmakers back for a special session, all but guaranteeing there would be a shutdown unless Trump backed down from his threat.</p>
<p>“I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded,” Trump wrote.</p>
<p>Neither Speaker Paul Ryan nor Senate Leader Mitch McConnell commented publicly on Trump’s tweet.</p>
<p>“The government will only shut down if President Trump vetoes this bipartisan bill,” Democratic Senator Chris van Hollen said in an interview on MSNBC. “No one’s being fooled by the president’s claim.”</p>
<p>The threat marks the third consecutive month of government funding snafus. In January, the government shut down for three days as lawmakers fought over immigration. In February, there was an hourslong shutdown when a Republican lawmaker delayed a funding bill to protest a hike in the U.S. deficit.</p> CAUGHT BY SURPRISE
<p>White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders was expected to face questions about the veto threat at a briefing scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT).</p>
<p>Trump has been frustrated that Congress has not turned over funding to make good on his campaign promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The bill includes $1.6 billion for six month’s of work on the project, although he had sought $25 billion for it.</p> The U.S. Capitol building is seen in Washington, U.S., February 8, 2018. REUTERS/ Leah Millis
<p>Trump also has been at odds with Democrats in Congress over the fate of Dreamer immigrants - those brought to the United States illegally when they were children.</p>
<p>In a hastily arranged news conference on Thursday, Trump’s budget director and top legislative aide had insisted he would sign the bill and tried to cast the budget as a downpayment on Trump’s wall pledge.</p>
<p>“It does a lot of what we wanted - not everything we wanted - but a lot of what we wanted on immigration,” White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told reporters.</p>
<p>As the six-month spending deal was coming together, there had been reports Trump had balked at the deal and had to be persuaded by Republican Speaker Paul Ryan to support it.</p> Slideshow (9 Images)
<p>Only minutes before Trump’s threat, Ryan had tweeted: “Our men and women in uniform have earned a pay raise. That’s why yesterday, we voted to provide the biggest pay raise for our troops in 8 years.”</p> ‘SWAMP BUDGET’
<p>Senator John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, tweeted at Trump that the bill had “benefits” for “national security, border security, opioid crisis, infrastructure, school safety and fixing gun background check system” - all policies that Trump supports.</p>
<p>But the Conservative wing of Trump’s party had panned the bill because of its spending increases. On Friday morning, Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host who Trump admires, said on the channel’s morning show that it was a “swamp budget” and a “Mitch McConnell special,” casting the budget as a win for Democrats.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-usa-fiscal-congress-newsconference/trump-announces-news-conference-on-spending-bill-idUSKBN1GZ2JR" type="external">Trump announces news conference on spending bill</a>
<a href="/article/us-usa-fiscal-congress-factbox/factbox-what-is-in-the-1-3-trillion-spending-bill-before-the-congress-idUSKBN1GY3C9" type="external">Factbox: What is in the $1.3 trillion spending bill before the Congress</a>
<p>Some deficit hawks cheered Trump’s threat to veto it.</p>
<p>“Please do, Mr. President,” Republican Senator Bob Corker said on Twitter. “I am just down the street and will bring you a pen. The spending levels without any offsets are grotesque, throwing all of our children under the bus.”</p>
<p>If Trump forces Congress to renegotiate a deal, he is likely to get one that is even less favorable on his priorities, said one Democratic aide.</p>
<p>Democratic lawmakers said Trump created his own crisis by canceling the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that gives work permits to certain young immigrants and protects them from deportation. The decision is currently tied up in court cases.</p>
<p>“NOW you care about the Dreamers Mr. President?” Democratic Representative Jan Schakowsky said on Twitter. “Six months after throwing their lives into chaos? Is this a cruel joke?”</p>
<p>Reporting by Richard Cowan and Steve Holland; additional reporting by Roberta Rampton, Amanda Becker, Susan Heavey and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Bill Trott</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>TREBES, France (Reuters) - Three people were killed in southwestern France on Friday when a gunman held up a car, opened fire on police and then took hostages in a supermarket, screaming “Allahu Akbar”.</p>
<p>Police later stormed the supermarket in the small town of Trebes and the attacker was killed, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told reporters on site.</p>
<p>(Graphic: France hostages - <a href="http://tmsnrt.rs/2pCMp4m" type="external">tmsnrt.rs/2pCMp4m</a>)</p>
<p>The attacker was known to authorities for petty crimes but was not considered an Islamist threat, Collomb said, adding that he was believed to have acted alone.</p>
<p>More than 240 people have been killed in France in attacks since 2015 by assailants who pledged allegiance to Islamic State or were inspired by the group. Islamic State claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack but offered no details.</p>
<p>“He was known for petty crimes. We had monitored him and thought there was no radicalization,” Collomb said, before adding: “He was known for possession of drugs, we couldn’t have said that he was a radical that would carry out an attack.”</p>
<p>Collomb said three people were wounded.</p>
<p>He said that before the attacker seized hostages he killed one person while stealing a car with a bullet in the head in the nearby historic town of Carcassonne. He then shot at police officers before taking hostages at the supermarket.</p>
<p>President Emmanuel Macron said the incident appeared to be a terrorist attack and security forces were securing the area.</p> A general view shows police officers and investigators at a supermarket after a hostage situation in Trebes, France, March 23, 2018. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau
<p>Trebes Mayor Eric Menassi told LCI TV that the man had entered the Super-U supermarket screaming “Allahu Akbar, (God is greatest) I’ll kill you all”.</p>
<p>BFM TV reported that he claimed allegiance to Islamic State Collomb said the man had demanded the release of Salah Abdeslam - the prime surviving suspect in the Islamic State attacks that killed 130 people in Paris in 2015.</p>
<p>Abdeslam, a French citizen born and raised in Brussels, went on trial in Belgium last month. He is accused of “attempted murder in a terrorist context” over a Brussels shootout in March 2016, four months after he fled Paris on the night of the carnage during which his brother was among the suicide bombers.</p> Slideshow (16 Images) COLD ROOM
<p>The gunman at around 11 a.m. (6 a.m ET) first held up a car, killing one person and wounding another. Then he fired on police officers in Carcassonne, a town that is a U.N. World Heritage site and a major French tourist attraction. He wounded an officer in the shoulder before heading to Trebes about 8 km (5 miles) to the east, where two more died.</p>
<p>Carole, who was shopping at the supermarket, described how people had taken refuge in a cold room.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-france-security-islamic-state/islamic-state-claims-france-shooting-provides-no-evidence-statement-idUSKBN1GZ29M" type="external">Islamic State claims France shooting, provides no evidence: statement</a>
<a href="/article/us-france-security-attacker/france-attacker-known-for-petty-crimes-not-considered-islamist-threat-minister-idUSKBN1GZ26T" type="external">France attacker known for petty crimes, not considered Islamist threat: minister</a>
<p>“A man shouted and fired several times. I saw a cold room door, I asked people to come and take shelter,” she told Franceinfo radio. “We were ten, and we stayed an hour. There were more gunshots and we went out the back door.”</p>
<p>A 45-year-old lieutenant-colonel swapped himself in exchange for one of the hostages, Collomb said.</p>
<p>France is part of a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and has thousands of soldiers in West Africa fighting al Qaeda-linked militants,</p>
<p>In February, Collomb said French security forces had foiled two planned attacks so far this year as Islamic State militants set their sights on domestic targets in response to the group’s military setbacks in Iraq and Syria.</p>
<p>Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry, John Irish, Leigh Thomas, Brian Love and Bate Felix in Paris; Writing by Ingrid Melander and David Stamp; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union member states agreed at a summit on Friday to take additional punitive measures against Russia for a nerve agent attack in Britain, as Moscow accused the bloc of joining a London-driven hate campaign against it.</p>
<p>Moscow has denied that it is behind the attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, the first known offensive use of a nerve toxin in Europe since World War Two.</p>
<p>But German Chancellor Angela Merkel said evidence of Russian culpability presented by British Prime Minister Theresa May was “very solidly based” and promised new measures after EU leaders agreed late on Thursday to recall their ambassador to Moscow.</p>
<p>“Germany and France agree that additional steps, on top of the recall of the ambassador, are necessary,” Merkel said at a joint news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.</p>
<p>Macron called the attack “unprecedented” and said Europe must respond: “It is an aggression against the security and sovereignty of an ally that is today a member of the European Union. It demands a reaction. This is clear.”</p>
<p>In a boost for May, the 28-member EU collectively condemned the attack and declared in a Brussels summit statement that it was “highly likely” Moscow was responsible.</p>
<p>A British judge said on Thursday that both victims may have suffered brain damage from the attack. A policeman who was hospitalized after discovering the two unconscious on a park bench has now been discharged.</p>
<p>“Additional steps are expected as early as Monday at the national level,” summit chair Donald Tusk told reporters.</p> Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May is flanked by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel before their trilateral meeting at the European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir TENSIONS
<p>The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and the three Baltic states - Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania - were among those predicting further expulsions of Russian diplomats from their capitals.</p>
<p>However, Boyko Borissov, prime minister of Bulgaria which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, wanted more evidence so that “high probability becomes full probability” of Russian involvement.</p>
<p>“I expect very rapid tensions in the coming weeks because many countries will start to recall their ambassadors too. The current times are harder than the Cold War,” Borissov said, making clear his discomfort with further measures.</p> Slideshow (9 Images)
<p>Moscow has retaliated against Britain’s move to expel 23 Russians by ordering out the same number of Britons.</p>
<p>On Friday, the Russian foreign ministry described the EU allegation as “baseless” and accused the bloc of spurning cooperation with Moscow and joining “another anti-Russian campaign deployed by London and its allies overseas”.</p>
<p>The expulsion of British diplomats went ahead on Friday, with a convoy of minibuses speeding out of the embassy compound to applause after British embassy staff said their goodbyes in the courtyard under a light snowfall. A special charter flight was to fly the diplomats back to Britain.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-britain-russia-eu-babis/czech-pm-babis-says-will-probably-expel-russian-spies-idUSKBN1GZ1OC" type="external">Czech PM Babis says will 'probably' expel Russian spies</a>
<a href="/article/us-britain-russia-eu-skripal/russia-says-europe-being-drawn-into-anglo-american-anti-russia-campaign-idUSKBN1GZ1BW" type="external">Russia says Europe being drawn into Anglo-American anti-Russia campaign</a>
<p>France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, on a visit to Kiev, signaled that Paris was considering expelling Russian diplomats in solidarity with Britain. “You will see,” he said.</p>
<p>The summit statement hardened previous EU language on Russia’s alleged role as Macron and others helped May to overcome hesitation on the part of some states that feel friendlier to Moscow. Some of them had questioned how definitive Britain’s evidence is.</p>
<p>Welcoming the solidarity she secured from the summit, May told reporters on leaving: “The threat from Russia is one that respects no borders and I think it is clear that Russia is challenging the values we share as Europeans and it is right that we stand together in defense of those values.”</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber and Dmitry Madorsky in Moscow and Richard Lough, Gabriela Baczynska, Robin Emmott and Elizabeth Piper in Brussels; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Gareth Jones</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - Dropbox Inc’s shares soared around 40 percent in their market debut on Friday as investors rushed to buy into the biggest tech IPO in more than a year.</p> Dropbox co-founders Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi celebrate while ringing the opening bell. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
<p>The stock opened at $29 on the Nasdaq and shot up to as high as $31 in early trading. At the stock’s opening price, the company touched a market valuation of $12.67 billion, above the $10 billion valuation it had in its last private funding round.</p>
<p>Dropbox’s debut marks an end to a long dry spell in the U.S. IPO market for big names in the technology sector. The last so-called tech unicorn to hit the market was Snapchat owner Snap Inc last March.</p>
<p>The pop in price may bode well for music streaming service Spotify - valued at roughly $19 billion in the private market - that has also filed for a direct listing and will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on April 3.</p>
<p>“Dropbox is going public at the right time It has an attractive story to justify its need for financing and the market dynamics are good,” said Josh Lerner, professor of Investment Banking at Harvard Business School.</p>
<p>“But at the same time the environment is also competitive”.</p>
<p>The San Francisco-based company, which started as a free service to share and store photos, music and other large files, competes with much larger technology firms such as Alphabet Inc’s Google, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc. Its main rival is Box Inc.</p>
<p>It has yet to turn a profit, but that’s common for startups that invest heavily in their growth. However, as a public company Dropbox will be under pressure to quickly trim its losses.</p>
<p>The company reported revenue of $1.11 billion in 2017, up from $844.8 million a year earlier. Full-year net loss nearly halved from the $210.2 million in 2016.</p>
<p>The IPO was priced at $21 apiece late on Thursday - $1 above the projected range of $18 to $20 on the back of strong demand.</p>
<p>“We are excited to see that markets are receptive to a tech IPO,” said Michael Carvin, Chief Executive of personal finance technology firm SmartAsset.</p>
<p>Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Nikhil Subba; Editing by Dan Burns</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
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BRIEF-Frasers Commercial Trust Launches Private Placement Trump threatens to veto budget, raising risk of government shutdown Three die in French shooting and hostage-taking, attacker killed Europeans promise more steps against Russia over UK spy attack Dropbox shares surge in biggest tech debut since Snap
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2018-01-23
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BRIEF-Frasers Commercial Trust Launches Private Placement Trump threatens to veto budget, raising risk of government shutdown Three die in French shooting and hostage-taking, attacker killed Europeans promise more steps against Russia over UK spy attack Dropbox shares surge in biggest tech debut since Snap
<p>Jan 24 (Reuters) - Frasers Commercial Trust:</p>
<p>* ‍LAUNCHES PRIVATE PLACEMENT OF 55.6 MILLION NEW UNITS IN CO TO RAISE GROSS PROCEEDS OF NO LESS THAN S$80 MILLION​ Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump made a surprising threat on Friday to veto Congress’ newly passed $1.3 trillion spending bill, a move that raised the specter of a government shutdown ahead of a midnight deadline to renew funding for federal agencies.</p>
<p>In a tweet on Friday morning Trump said he was displeased about immigration issues in the bill, even though the White House had given assurances on Thursday that he would sign it.</p>
<p>At the White House on Friday, many aides were caught by surprise by the veto threat and had no immediate explanation for what prompted it. Trump was scheduled on Friday to fly to Florida for a weekend at his private resort.</p>
<p>After passing the measure, lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives, which both are dominated by Trump’s fellow Republicans, left Washington for a scheduled two-week spring recess.</p>
<p>A senior House aide said there were no plans to call lawmakers back for a special session, all but guaranteeing there would be a shutdown unless Trump backed down from his threat.</p>
<p>“I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded,” Trump wrote.</p>
<p>Neither Speaker Paul Ryan nor Senate Leader Mitch McConnell commented publicly on Trump’s tweet.</p>
<p>“The government will only shut down if President Trump vetoes this bipartisan bill,” Democratic Senator Chris van Hollen said in an interview on MSNBC. “No one’s being fooled by the president’s claim.”</p>
<p>The threat marks the third consecutive month of government funding snafus. In January, the government shut down for three days as lawmakers fought over immigration. In February, there was an hourslong shutdown when a Republican lawmaker delayed a funding bill to protest a hike in the U.S. deficit.</p> CAUGHT BY SURPRISE
<p>White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders was expected to face questions about the veto threat at a briefing scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT).</p>
<p>Trump has been frustrated that Congress has not turned over funding to make good on his campaign promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The bill includes $1.6 billion for six month’s of work on the project, although he had sought $25 billion for it.</p> The U.S. Capitol building is seen in Washington, U.S., February 8, 2018. REUTERS/ Leah Millis
<p>Trump also has been at odds with Democrats in Congress over the fate of Dreamer immigrants - those brought to the United States illegally when they were children.</p>
<p>In a hastily arranged news conference on Thursday, Trump’s budget director and top legislative aide had insisted he would sign the bill and tried to cast the budget as a downpayment on Trump’s wall pledge.</p>
<p>“It does a lot of what we wanted - not everything we wanted - but a lot of what we wanted on immigration,” White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told reporters.</p>
<p>As the six-month spending deal was coming together, there had been reports Trump had balked at the deal and had to be persuaded by Republican Speaker Paul Ryan to support it.</p> Slideshow (9 Images)
<p>Only minutes before Trump’s threat, Ryan had tweeted: “Our men and women in uniform have earned a pay raise. That’s why yesterday, we voted to provide the biggest pay raise for our troops in 8 years.”</p> ‘SWAMP BUDGET’
<p>Senator John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, tweeted at Trump that the bill had “benefits” for “national security, border security, opioid crisis, infrastructure, school safety and fixing gun background check system” - all policies that Trump supports.</p>
<p>But the Conservative wing of Trump’s party had panned the bill because of its spending increases. On Friday morning, Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host who Trump admires, said on the channel’s morning show that it was a “swamp budget” and a “Mitch McConnell special,” casting the budget as a win for Democrats.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-usa-fiscal-congress-newsconference/trump-announces-news-conference-on-spending-bill-idUSKBN1GZ2JR" type="external">Trump announces news conference on spending bill</a>
<a href="/article/us-usa-fiscal-congress-factbox/factbox-what-is-in-the-1-3-trillion-spending-bill-before-the-congress-idUSKBN1GY3C9" type="external">Factbox: What is in the $1.3 trillion spending bill before the Congress</a>
<p>Some deficit hawks cheered Trump’s threat to veto it.</p>
<p>“Please do, Mr. President,” Republican Senator Bob Corker said on Twitter. “I am just down the street and will bring you a pen. The spending levels without any offsets are grotesque, throwing all of our children under the bus.”</p>
<p>If Trump forces Congress to renegotiate a deal, he is likely to get one that is even less favorable on his priorities, said one Democratic aide.</p>
<p>Democratic lawmakers said Trump created his own crisis by canceling the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that gives work permits to certain young immigrants and protects them from deportation. The decision is currently tied up in court cases.</p>
<p>“NOW you care about the Dreamers Mr. President?” Democratic Representative Jan Schakowsky said on Twitter. “Six months after throwing their lives into chaos? Is this a cruel joke?”</p>
<p>Reporting by Richard Cowan and Steve Holland; additional reporting by Roberta Rampton, Amanda Becker, Susan Heavey and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Bill Trott</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>TREBES, France (Reuters) - Three people were killed in southwestern France on Friday when a gunman held up a car, opened fire on police and then took hostages in a supermarket, screaming “Allahu Akbar”.</p>
<p>Police later stormed the supermarket in the small town of Trebes and the attacker was killed, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told reporters on site.</p>
<p>(Graphic: France hostages - <a href="http://tmsnrt.rs/2pCMp4m" type="external">tmsnrt.rs/2pCMp4m</a>)</p>
<p>The attacker was known to authorities for petty crimes but was not considered an Islamist threat, Collomb said, adding that he was believed to have acted alone.</p>
<p>More than 240 people have been killed in France in attacks since 2015 by assailants who pledged allegiance to Islamic State or were inspired by the group. Islamic State claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack but offered no details.</p>
<p>“He was known for petty crimes. We had monitored him and thought there was no radicalization,” Collomb said, before adding: “He was known for possession of drugs, we couldn’t have said that he was a radical that would carry out an attack.”</p>
<p>Collomb said three people were wounded.</p>
<p>He said that before the attacker seized hostages he killed one person while stealing a car with a bullet in the head in the nearby historic town of Carcassonne. He then shot at police officers before taking hostages at the supermarket.</p>
<p>President Emmanuel Macron said the incident appeared to be a terrorist attack and security forces were securing the area.</p> A general view shows police officers and investigators at a supermarket after a hostage situation in Trebes, France, March 23, 2018. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau
<p>Trebes Mayor Eric Menassi told LCI TV that the man had entered the Super-U supermarket screaming “Allahu Akbar, (God is greatest) I’ll kill you all”.</p>
<p>BFM TV reported that he claimed allegiance to Islamic State Collomb said the man had demanded the release of Salah Abdeslam - the prime surviving suspect in the Islamic State attacks that killed 130 people in Paris in 2015.</p>
<p>Abdeslam, a French citizen born and raised in Brussels, went on trial in Belgium last month. He is accused of “attempted murder in a terrorist context” over a Brussels shootout in March 2016, four months after he fled Paris on the night of the carnage during which his brother was among the suicide bombers.</p> Slideshow (16 Images) COLD ROOM
<p>The gunman at around 11 a.m. (6 a.m ET) first held up a car, killing one person and wounding another. Then he fired on police officers in Carcassonne, a town that is a U.N. World Heritage site and a major French tourist attraction. He wounded an officer in the shoulder before heading to Trebes about 8 km (5 miles) to the east, where two more died.</p>
<p>Carole, who was shopping at the supermarket, described how people had taken refuge in a cold room.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-france-security-islamic-state/islamic-state-claims-france-shooting-provides-no-evidence-statement-idUSKBN1GZ29M" type="external">Islamic State claims France shooting, provides no evidence: statement</a>
<a href="/article/us-france-security-attacker/france-attacker-known-for-petty-crimes-not-considered-islamist-threat-minister-idUSKBN1GZ26T" type="external">France attacker known for petty crimes, not considered Islamist threat: minister</a>
<p>“A man shouted and fired several times. I saw a cold room door, I asked people to come and take shelter,” she told Franceinfo radio. “We were ten, and we stayed an hour. There were more gunshots and we went out the back door.”</p>
<p>A 45-year-old lieutenant-colonel swapped himself in exchange for one of the hostages, Collomb said.</p>
<p>France is part of a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and has thousands of soldiers in West Africa fighting al Qaeda-linked militants,</p>
<p>In February, Collomb said French security forces had foiled two planned attacks so far this year as Islamic State militants set their sights on domestic targets in response to the group’s military setbacks in Iraq and Syria.</p>
<p>Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry, John Irish, Leigh Thomas, Brian Love and Bate Felix in Paris; Writing by Ingrid Melander and David Stamp; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union member states agreed at a summit on Friday to take additional punitive measures against Russia for a nerve agent attack in Britain, as Moscow accused the bloc of joining a London-driven hate campaign against it.</p>
<p>Moscow has denied that it is behind the attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, the first known offensive use of a nerve toxin in Europe since World War Two.</p>
<p>But German Chancellor Angela Merkel said evidence of Russian culpability presented by British Prime Minister Theresa May was “very solidly based” and promised new measures after EU leaders agreed late on Thursday to recall their ambassador to Moscow.</p>
<p>“Germany and France agree that additional steps, on top of the recall of the ambassador, are necessary,” Merkel said at a joint news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.</p>
<p>Macron called the attack “unprecedented” and said Europe must respond: “It is an aggression against the security and sovereignty of an ally that is today a member of the European Union. It demands a reaction. This is clear.”</p>
<p>In a boost for May, the 28-member EU collectively condemned the attack and declared in a Brussels summit statement that it was “highly likely” Moscow was responsible.</p>
<p>A British judge said on Thursday that both victims may have suffered brain damage from the attack. A policeman who was hospitalized after discovering the two unconscious on a park bench has now been discharged.</p>
<p>“Additional steps are expected as early as Monday at the national level,” summit chair Donald Tusk told reporters.</p> Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May is flanked by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel before their trilateral meeting at the European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir TENSIONS
<p>The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and the three Baltic states - Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania - were among those predicting further expulsions of Russian diplomats from their capitals.</p>
<p>However, Boyko Borissov, prime minister of Bulgaria which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, wanted more evidence so that “high probability becomes full probability” of Russian involvement.</p>
<p>“I expect very rapid tensions in the coming weeks because many countries will start to recall their ambassadors too. The current times are harder than the Cold War,” Borissov said, making clear his discomfort with further measures.</p> Slideshow (9 Images)
<p>Moscow has retaliated against Britain’s move to expel 23 Russians by ordering out the same number of Britons.</p>
<p>On Friday, the Russian foreign ministry described the EU allegation as “baseless” and accused the bloc of spurning cooperation with Moscow and joining “another anti-Russian campaign deployed by London and its allies overseas”.</p>
<p>The expulsion of British diplomats went ahead on Friday, with a convoy of minibuses speeding out of the embassy compound to applause after British embassy staff said their goodbyes in the courtyard under a light snowfall. A special charter flight was to fly the diplomats back to Britain.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-britain-russia-eu-babis/czech-pm-babis-says-will-probably-expel-russian-spies-idUSKBN1GZ1OC" type="external">Czech PM Babis says will 'probably' expel Russian spies</a>
<a href="/article/us-britain-russia-eu-skripal/russia-says-europe-being-drawn-into-anglo-american-anti-russia-campaign-idUSKBN1GZ1BW" type="external">Russia says Europe being drawn into Anglo-American anti-Russia campaign</a>
<p>France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, on a visit to Kiev, signaled that Paris was considering expelling Russian diplomats in solidarity with Britain. “You will see,” he said.</p>
<p>The summit statement hardened previous EU language on Russia’s alleged role as Macron and others helped May to overcome hesitation on the part of some states that feel friendlier to Moscow. Some of them had questioned how definitive Britain’s evidence is.</p>
<p>Welcoming the solidarity she secured from the summit, May told reporters on leaving: “The threat from Russia is one that respects no borders and I think it is clear that Russia is challenging the values we share as Europeans and it is right that we stand together in defense of those values.”</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber and Dmitry Madorsky in Moscow and Richard Lough, Gabriela Baczynska, Robin Emmott and Elizabeth Piper in Brussels; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Gareth Jones</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - Dropbox Inc’s shares soared around 40 percent in their market debut on Friday as investors rushed to buy into the biggest tech IPO in more than a year.</p> Dropbox co-founders Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi celebrate while ringing the opening bell. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
<p>The stock opened at $29 on the Nasdaq and shot up to as high as $31 in early trading. At the stock’s opening price, the company touched a market valuation of $12.67 billion, above the $10 billion valuation it had in its last private funding round.</p>
<p>Dropbox’s debut marks an end to a long dry spell in the U.S. IPO market for big names in the technology sector. The last so-called tech unicorn to hit the market was Snapchat owner Snap Inc last March.</p>
<p>The pop in price may bode well for music streaming service Spotify - valued at roughly $19 billion in the private market - that has also filed for a direct listing and will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on April 3.</p>
<p>“Dropbox is going public at the right time It has an attractive story to justify its need for financing and the market dynamics are good,” said Josh Lerner, professor of Investment Banking at Harvard Business School.</p>
<p>“But at the same time the environment is also competitive”.</p>
<p>The San Francisco-based company, which started as a free service to share and store photos, music and other large files, competes with much larger technology firms such as Alphabet Inc’s Google, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc. Its main rival is Box Inc.</p>
<p>It has yet to turn a profit, but that’s common for startups that invest heavily in their growth. However, as a public company Dropbox will be under pressure to quickly trim its losses.</p>
<p>The company reported revenue of $1.11 billion in 2017, up from $844.8 million a year earlier. Full-year net loss nearly halved from the $210.2 million in 2016.</p>
<p>The IPO was priced at $21 apiece late on Thursday - $1 above the projected range of $18 to $20 on the back of strong demand.</p>
<p>“We are excited to see that markets are receptive to a tech IPO,” said Michael Carvin, Chief Executive of personal finance technology firm SmartAsset.</p>
<p>Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Nikhil Subba; Editing by Dan Burns</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
| 5,963 |
<p>How much discretion does Chief Executive Officer Paul Vallas have in removing teachers from schools on probation?</p>
<p>Under state law, replacement of faculty members is “subject to the provisions of Section 24A-5” of state law, which spells out the so-called E-3 process that includes evaluation, warning and remediation.</p>
<p>In early October, school officials said that that process would not be necessary for teachers who do not follow their schools’ modified school improvement plans. In those cases, officials said, Vallas and the board could remove teachers directly; the teachers then would go into the reserve teacher pool and have to apply for vacancies in other schools. If no principal hired them, central office would assign them to short-term positions.</p>
<p>By late October, however, the administration’s story had changed. Chief Attorney Marilyn Johnson said, “The statute clearly makes reference to the provision, so it is likely we would follow the E-3 process.”</p>
<p>That’s how the Chicago Teachers Union sees it, too. “Even though I don’t think there will be any wholesale teacher firing, I don’t think they … can remove teachers without the E-3 process,” says spokesperson Jackie Gallagher. “Due process is still there.”</p>
<p>Earlier, Vallas had said teachers should not panic: “There may be only one or two [teachers] at a school that are a problem.”</p>
|
Procedures for replacing teachers
| false |
http://chicagoreporter.com/procedures-replacing-teachers/
|
2005-07-25
| 3left-center
|
Procedures for replacing teachers
<p>How much discretion does Chief Executive Officer Paul Vallas have in removing teachers from schools on probation?</p>
<p>Under state law, replacement of faculty members is “subject to the provisions of Section 24A-5” of state law, which spells out the so-called E-3 process that includes evaluation, warning and remediation.</p>
<p>In early October, school officials said that that process would not be necessary for teachers who do not follow their schools’ modified school improvement plans. In those cases, officials said, Vallas and the board could remove teachers directly; the teachers then would go into the reserve teacher pool and have to apply for vacancies in other schools. If no principal hired them, central office would assign them to short-term positions.</p>
<p>By late October, however, the administration’s story had changed. Chief Attorney Marilyn Johnson said, “The statute clearly makes reference to the provision, so it is likely we would follow the E-3 process.”</p>
<p>That’s how the Chicago Teachers Union sees it, too. “Even though I don’t think there will be any wholesale teacher firing, I don’t think they … can remove teachers without the E-3 process,” says spokesperson Jackie Gallagher. “Due process is still there.”</p>
<p>Earlier, Vallas had said teachers should not panic: “There may be only one or two [teachers] at a school that are a problem.”</p>
| 5,964 |
<p>After serving for five years as Interior Secretary in the Bush Cabinet, Gale Norton, protégé of James Watt, quietly stepped down from her post overseeing the ruination of the American West. Norton’s sudden exit was almost certainly hastened by the widening fallout from the corruption probes into Jack Abramoff and his retinue of clients and the politicians and bureaucrats he held on retainer. Abramoff, it will be recalled, performed some of his most extravagant shakedowns of clients, many of them destitute Indian tribes, seeking indulgences from the Interior Department.</p>
<p>To date, Norton has escaped being directly implicated in Abramoff’s crimes of influence peddling and bribery. But her former chief deputy, super-lobbyist J. Steven Griles, who oversaw oil and gas leasing on federal lands at the same time he remained on the payroll of his lobbying firm, may be entering in the crosshairs of the Abramoff investigation.</p>
<p>In a series of emails remarkable for their braggadocio and name-dropping, Abramoff advised his clients to donate money to an industry front group founded by Norton that promotes the privatization and industrialization of federal. In return, Abramoff bragged that he could offer them unfettered access to the top officials at the Interior Department, where their fondest desires would a favorable hearing from people like Griles. In one instance, Abramoff claimed that Griles promised to block an Indian casino proposal opposed by one of Abramoff’s clients. If Griles goes down, Norton may soon follow him into the dock.</p>
<p>To replace Norton, Bush called upon his old pal Dirk Kempthorne, the Idaho governor and former US Senator, who once cherished notions, fantastical though they may have been, of the occupying the White House. In picking Kempthorne, Bush has once again demonstrated that mindless consistency which will be one of his hallmarks as president. Far from moving to clean up an office sullied by corruption and inside-dealing, Bush tapped a man, who has over the course of his 20 years in politics, taken more money from timber, big ag, mining and oil companies than any governor in the history of American politics.</p>
<p>Unlike many other western conservatives, Kempthorne doesn’t hit up the religious right for money. He goes to straight to the corporations who want something done in Boise: JR Simplot, the potato king; Boise-Cascade, the timber giant; mining companies, such as ASARCO, Hecla, and FMC Gold; and the power companies. And Kempthorne gives them what they want. Kempthorne is Jack Abramoff without the middleman, decision-maker and lobbyist rolled into one.</p>
<p>Over the years, one of Kempthorne’s most loyal political patrons has been the Washington Group International, a Boise-based company that functions like a mini-Bechtel. During Kempthorne’s tenure as governor, WGI has contributed more money to the politician than any other interest. The company got immediate returns on its investment. With an assist from Kempthorne, WGI won the lucrative contract to manage Idaho’s highways. The federal government scuttled the deal, saying the contract had been awarded illegally. The contract went up for bid again and, miraculously, Kempthorne once again picked WGI for the job.</p>
<p>With Idaho mired in a decade-long drought, water has become as contentious a political issue as oil in Alaska. Farmers, ranchers and Idaho’s powerful sportsfishing industry formed a rare coalition last year intent on reforming Idaho’s archaic water laws to give more water to ranchers and salmon. The bill moved through the state legislature with surprising speed, much to the irritation of the Idaho Power Company, the state’s biggest water hog. Even Idaho Power’s threat to jack up electric rates by millions of dollars didn’t stall progress of the bill. So the company turned to Kempthorne, who flattened the bill with a veto. Idaho Power is Kempthorne’s second largest political contributor.</p>
<p>The phone giant Qwest is Kempthorne’s fourth biggest contributor. In 2004, Qwest approached Kempthorne with an urgent plea: the deregulation of pricing for landline phones in Idaho. When Kempthorne sent a message to the Idaho state legislature urging it to bow to Qwest’s desires, it was met with a certainly measure of hostility by Idaho residents, who viewed with some skepticism the phone company’s contention that such a move would save them money in the long. Even members of Kempthorne’s party balked and the bill went down to a narrow defeat. Over the next few months, Kempthorne disciplined recalcitrant Republicans and when the session opened in early 2005 the Qwest bailout bill sailed through and was signed into law by the governor.</p>
<p>This is run-of-the-mill quid pro quo politics. But Kempthorne has been implicated in a more pungent scandal that may yet lead to criminal indictments of political and business associates. In 1999, a group of investors with close ties to Kempthorne fronted a scheme to build a satellite campus for the University of Idaho in downtown Boise. The project was named University Place and it called for the construction of three large buildings on prime real estate in the heart of the city.</p>
<p>Questions about the economic viability of the University Place project were swept aside by two of Kempthorne’s closest friends, Phil Reberger and Roy Eiguren. All three men were University of Idaho alums and members of the University of Idaho Foundation, responsible for financing the development. At the time of the University Place deal, Reberger, who had managed every one of Kempthorne’s political campaigns, was governor’s chief of staff. He also had a seat on the foundation board and had been appointed by Kempthorne to the Idaho State Building Authority.</p>
<p>Eiguren, who is one of Kempthorne’s top individual donors, served as the Foundation’s vice-president at the same time he worked as a lobbyist for the project in the state legislation. He is also a senior partner in Givens Purlsey, a top Boise law firm that represented Capital Partners, the California construction company picked to build the project.</p>
<p>Financing was a problem from the beginning for the cash-strapped university. So Kempthorne, Reberger and Eiguren hatched two schemes: first they would get the Idaho legislature to approve $163 million in state-backed bonds to fund the construction. Then they would ensure that the Idaho Department of Water relocate into one of the buildings, as a prime tenant and a key element in the viability of the project.</p>
<p>Both of these maneuvers may have skirted state and federal laws. A 2003 investigation by the state attorney general’s office determined that the bid to move the Water Department into University Place may have been rigged from the top.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the project proved to be a financial catastrophe, which compelled the university’s president, Robert Hoover, to resign in disgrace and left the University Foundation $26 million in debt. The debt was mysteriously repaid in a secret settlement earlier this year. The federal Department of Justice has quietly opened a criminal investigation into the affair.</p>
<p>Kempthorne’s nomination was momentarily blocked by Florida Senator Bill Nelson, who begged for the governor’s assurance that he not open the Florida coastline to oil drilling. Kempthorne told the senator he would make no such pledge. Indeed, he brayed that his top priority would be to expand drilling for oil across all federal lands, including off shore reserves. Nelson wobbled and the Democrats Maginot Line crumbled once again. Kempthorne sailed through the committee without a vote against him and scarcely one probing question about the corruption scandal that shadows his every footstep. A week later the entire senate took a test vote on his nomination: only eight Democrats voted no. A few minutes later his nomination was approved on a voice vote without dissent.</p>
<p>And that’s how Dirk Kempthorne, one of the most environmentally hostile visigoths in the West, came to occupy the office once inhabited by the legendary swindler Albert Fall.</p>
<p>Kempthorne should feel right at home.</p>
<p>JEFFREY ST. CLAIR is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512585/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Been Brown So Long It Looked Like Green to Me: the Politics of Nature</a> and <a href="" type="internal">Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Corruption and Profiteering in the War on Terror</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
|
Dirk’s Dirty Money
| true |
https://counterpunch.org/2006/05/31/dirk-s-dirty-money/
|
2006-05-31
| 4left
|
Dirk’s Dirty Money
<p>After serving for five years as Interior Secretary in the Bush Cabinet, Gale Norton, protégé of James Watt, quietly stepped down from her post overseeing the ruination of the American West. Norton’s sudden exit was almost certainly hastened by the widening fallout from the corruption probes into Jack Abramoff and his retinue of clients and the politicians and bureaucrats he held on retainer. Abramoff, it will be recalled, performed some of his most extravagant shakedowns of clients, many of them destitute Indian tribes, seeking indulgences from the Interior Department.</p>
<p>To date, Norton has escaped being directly implicated in Abramoff’s crimes of influence peddling and bribery. But her former chief deputy, super-lobbyist J. Steven Griles, who oversaw oil and gas leasing on federal lands at the same time he remained on the payroll of his lobbying firm, may be entering in the crosshairs of the Abramoff investigation.</p>
<p>In a series of emails remarkable for their braggadocio and name-dropping, Abramoff advised his clients to donate money to an industry front group founded by Norton that promotes the privatization and industrialization of federal. In return, Abramoff bragged that he could offer them unfettered access to the top officials at the Interior Department, where their fondest desires would a favorable hearing from people like Griles. In one instance, Abramoff claimed that Griles promised to block an Indian casino proposal opposed by one of Abramoff’s clients. If Griles goes down, Norton may soon follow him into the dock.</p>
<p>To replace Norton, Bush called upon his old pal Dirk Kempthorne, the Idaho governor and former US Senator, who once cherished notions, fantastical though they may have been, of the occupying the White House. In picking Kempthorne, Bush has once again demonstrated that mindless consistency which will be one of his hallmarks as president. Far from moving to clean up an office sullied by corruption and inside-dealing, Bush tapped a man, who has over the course of his 20 years in politics, taken more money from timber, big ag, mining and oil companies than any governor in the history of American politics.</p>
<p>Unlike many other western conservatives, Kempthorne doesn’t hit up the religious right for money. He goes to straight to the corporations who want something done in Boise: JR Simplot, the potato king; Boise-Cascade, the timber giant; mining companies, such as ASARCO, Hecla, and FMC Gold; and the power companies. And Kempthorne gives them what they want. Kempthorne is Jack Abramoff without the middleman, decision-maker and lobbyist rolled into one.</p>
<p>Over the years, one of Kempthorne’s most loyal political patrons has been the Washington Group International, a Boise-based company that functions like a mini-Bechtel. During Kempthorne’s tenure as governor, WGI has contributed more money to the politician than any other interest. The company got immediate returns on its investment. With an assist from Kempthorne, WGI won the lucrative contract to manage Idaho’s highways. The federal government scuttled the deal, saying the contract had been awarded illegally. The contract went up for bid again and, miraculously, Kempthorne once again picked WGI for the job.</p>
<p>With Idaho mired in a decade-long drought, water has become as contentious a political issue as oil in Alaska. Farmers, ranchers and Idaho’s powerful sportsfishing industry formed a rare coalition last year intent on reforming Idaho’s archaic water laws to give more water to ranchers and salmon. The bill moved through the state legislature with surprising speed, much to the irritation of the Idaho Power Company, the state’s biggest water hog. Even Idaho Power’s threat to jack up electric rates by millions of dollars didn’t stall progress of the bill. So the company turned to Kempthorne, who flattened the bill with a veto. Idaho Power is Kempthorne’s second largest political contributor.</p>
<p>The phone giant Qwest is Kempthorne’s fourth biggest contributor. In 2004, Qwest approached Kempthorne with an urgent plea: the deregulation of pricing for landline phones in Idaho. When Kempthorne sent a message to the Idaho state legislature urging it to bow to Qwest’s desires, it was met with a certainly measure of hostility by Idaho residents, who viewed with some skepticism the phone company’s contention that such a move would save them money in the long. Even members of Kempthorne’s party balked and the bill went down to a narrow defeat. Over the next few months, Kempthorne disciplined recalcitrant Republicans and when the session opened in early 2005 the Qwest bailout bill sailed through and was signed into law by the governor.</p>
<p>This is run-of-the-mill quid pro quo politics. But Kempthorne has been implicated in a more pungent scandal that may yet lead to criminal indictments of political and business associates. In 1999, a group of investors with close ties to Kempthorne fronted a scheme to build a satellite campus for the University of Idaho in downtown Boise. The project was named University Place and it called for the construction of three large buildings on prime real estate in the heart of the city.</p>
<p>Questions about the economic viability of the University Place project were swept aside by two of Kempthorne’s closest friends, Phil Reberger and Roy Eiguren. All three men were University of Idaho alums and members of the University of Idaho Foundation, responsible for financing the development. At the time of the University Place deal, Reberger, who had managed every one of Kempthorne’s political campaigns, was governor’s chief of staff. He also had a seat on the foundation board and had been appointed by Kempthorne to the Idaho State Building Authority.</p>
<p>Eiguren, who is one of Kempthorne’s top individual donors, served as the Foundation’s vice-president at the same time he worked as a lobbyist for the project in the state legislation. He is also a senior partner in Givens Purlsey, a top Boise law firm that represented Capital Partners, the California construction company picked to build the project.</p>
<p>Financing was a problem from the beginning for the cash-strapped university. So Kempthorne, Reberger and Eiguren hatched two schemes: first they would get the Idaho legislature to approve $163 million in state-backed bonds to fund the construction. Then they would ensure that the Idaho Department of Water relocate into one of the buildings, as a prime tenant and a key element in the viability of the project.</p>
<p>Both of these maneuvers may have skirted state and federal laws. A 2003 investigation by the state attorney general’s office determined that the bid to move the Water Department into University Place may have been rigged from the top.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the project proved to be a financial catastrophe, which compelled the university’s president, Robert Hoover, to resign in disgrace and left the University Foundation $26 million in debt. The debt was mysteriously repaid in a secret settlement earlier this year. The federal Department of Justice has quietly opened a criminal investigation into the affair.</p>
<p>Kempthorne’s nomination was momentarily blocked by Florida Senator Bill Nelson, who begged for the governor’s assurance that he not open the Florida coastline to oil drilling. Kempthorne told the senator he would make no such pledge. Indeed, he brayed that his top priority would be to expand drilling for oil across all federal lands, including off shore reserves. Nelson wobbled and the Democrats Maginot Line crumbled once again. Kempthorne sailed through the committee without a vote against him and scarcely one probing question about the corruption scandal that shadows his every footstep. A week later the entire senate took a test vote on his nomination: only eight Democrats voted no. A few minutes later his nomination was approved on a voice vote without dissent.</p>
<p>And that’s how Dirk Kempthorne, one of the most environmentally hostile visigoths in the West, came to occupy the office once inhabited by the legendary swindler Albert Fall.</p>
<p>Kempthorne should feel right at home.</p>
<p>JEFFREY ST. CLAIR is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512585/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Been Brown So Long It Looked Like Green to Me: the Politics of Nature</a> and <a href="" type="internal">Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Corruption and Profiteering in the War on Terror</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
| 5,965 |
<p>Cities are the monsters of civilization, the accrual of various factors of organisation that stress development and advancement.&#160; The latter two terms are often impossible to gauge except by comparison with other cities or States. We are left with the consequences of these thanatic drives, where life will itself suffer because the better variant of it is supposedly around the corner.</p>
<p>This means the pollution of waterways from the belching efforts of progress. It means dangerously high levels of invasive, cardiovascular threatening dust particles. It means a thriving industry of masks, and a city populace looking distinctly like platoons of bacteriological weapons inspectors. These problems are merely the new, grander manifestations of old.</p>
<p>The human species has been rather expert in the business of pollution for millennia, the epitome of which is the centralising, toxic spilling city.&#160; In May this year, the World Health Organisation released data showing that more than 80 per cent of cities across the globe face prohibitively unhealthy air.&#160; Levels of ultra-fine particles of less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5s) were found to be highest in India, a country having 16 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities. <a href="#_ftn1" type="external">[</a></p>
<p>For all that, the traditional assumption that Homo sapiens only became industrially rapacious to the environment after the nineteenth century, leaving the earth’s atmosphere to its gradual doom, is a neat fallacy. Much of a head start was already being given in the days of antiquity.</p>
<p>Célia Sapart of Utrecht University, along with a team of researchers from the US and Europe numbering 15, found in 2012 that a two-hundred year period between the zenith of the Roman Empire and China’s Han dynasty saw much earlier contributions to greenhouse cases than thought.&#160; In the scheme of things, these anthropogenic stabs at the environment were on a pygmy scale to what took place after 1750 – but the aspiration was already there.</p>
<p>As the team contribution to the journal Nature observed, “Atmospheric methane concentrations have varied on a number of timescales in the past, but what has caused these variations is not always understood.”</p>
<p>What the researchers found in examining 1,600 foot-long ice cores taken from Greenland was that two civilizations were particularly busy on the score of pollutants, with methane being the notable culprit. Large-scale agriculture, and extensive metallurgy around 100 B.C., made their fair share.</p>
<p>As Sapart explained, “The ice core data show that as far back as the time of the Roman Empire, human [activities] emitted enough methane gas to have an impact on the methane signature of the entire atmosphere.”</p>
<p>The Romans of antiquity kept methane producing livestock (goats, sheep, cows) in decent number; the Chinese of the Han period engaged in an expansion of rice production, a process also responsible for the production of methane.</p>
<p>Rates of deforestation “show a decrease around AD 200, which is related to drastic population declines in China and Europe following the fall of the Han Dynasty and the decline of the Roman Empire.”&#160; When human populations fall off, environments, sadly, improve.</p>
<p>No country illustrates these problems better than China. China, assemblage of miracles, growth and the desire to outpace rivals; where things are done to gargantuan scale, often with selective environmental oversight.&#160; The cost to citizens, not to mention their environs, has become telling.</p>
<p>As Greenpeace East Asia notes through the toxic cloud darkly, “Millions of people in China are breathing a hazardous cocktail of chemicals everyday.&#160; These chemicals are caused by coal-fired power plants, factories and vehicles, and are responsible for heart disease, stroke, respiratory illnesses, birth defects and cancer.”</p>
<p>Despite the seemingly dreary nature of the observation, attempts have been made in China to rein in the problem.&#160; Again, treating it as much as a competition as a matter of civic duty, the authorities managed to push numerous cities out of the top 30. The country now only claims to have five in the list.</p>
<p>Well and good, which is what made this month rather jarring.&#160; Stifling, lethal smog engulfed Beijing, and good deal of northern China.&#160; Images of the cities proved to be post-apocalyptic.&#160; Flights were cancelled, highways shut.</p>
<p>In a recent study by researchers at Nanjing University noted in the South China Morning Post, covering 74 cities and the deaths of 3.03 million people recorded in 2013, a staggering 31.8 per cent were attributable to smog.&#160; China’s cities have become death catchments.</p>
<p>The response to this toxic mayhem?&#160; The levying of environmental protection taxes on industry, to commence in 2018.&#160; “Tax revenue,” came the dry statement from the Finance Ministry, “is an important economic means to promote environmental protection.”</p>
<p>The rates, outlined by Reuters, will entail 1.2 yuan ($0.17) per unit of atmospheric pollution, with 1.4 yuan per unit of water pollution, and 5 yuan per tonne of coal waste.&#160; “Hazardous waste” will attract a tax of 1,000 yuan per tonne.</p>
<p>These amounts, or details of the new law, are hardly being delivered from a unified front.&#160; The bureaucrats are fighting acrimonious turf wars, from the State Taxation Administration to the Ministry of Environmental protection.&#160; In this age, it will take far more than levies to reduce the pollution of cities, a problem that was even faced, albeit unsatisfactorily, in Han China and ancient Rome.</p>
<p><a href="#_ftnref1" type="external" /></p>
|
Cities of Death: History, Pollution and China’s Smog
| true |
https://counterpunch.org/2016/12/26/cities-of-death-history-pollution-and-chinas-smog/
|
2016-12-26
| 4left
|
Cities of Death: History, Pollution and China’s Smog
<p>Cities are the monsters of civilization, the accrual of various factors of organisation that stress development and advancement.&#160; The latter two terms are often impossible to gauge except by comparison with other cities or States. We are left with the consequences of these thanatic drives, where life will itself suffer because the better variant of it is supposedly around the corner.</p>
<p>This means the pollution of waterways from the belching efforts of progress. It means dangerously high levels of invasive, cardiovascular threatening dust particles. It means a thriving industry of masks, and a city populace looking distinctly like platoons of bacteriological weapons inspectors. These problems are merely the new, grander manifestations of old.</p>
<p>The human species has been rather expert in the business of pollution for millennia, the epitome of which is the centralising, toxic spilling city.&#160; In May this year, the World Health Organisation released data showing that more than 80 per cent of cities across the globe face prohibitively unhealthy air.&#160; Levels of ultra-fine particles of less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5s) were found to be highest in India, a country having 16 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities. <a href="#_ftn1" type="external">[</a></p>
<p>For all that, the traditional assumption that Homo sapiens only became industrially rapacious to the environment after the nineteenth century, leaving the earth’s atmosphere to its gradual doom, is a neat fallacy. Much of a head start was already being given in the days of antiquity.</p>
<p>Célia Sapart of Utrecht University, along with a team of researchers from the US and Europe numbering 15, found in 2012 that a two-hundred year period between the zenith of the Roman Empire and China’s Han dynasty saw much earlier contributions to greenhouse cases than thought.&#160; In the scheme of things, these anthropogenic stabs at the environment were on a pygmy scale to what took place after 1750 – but the aspiration was already there.</p>
<p>As the team contribution to the journal Nature observed, “Atmospheric methane concentrations have varied on a number of timescales in the past, but what has caused these variations is not always understood.”</p>
<p>What the researchers found in examining 1,600 foot-long ice cores taken from Greenland was that two civilizations were particularly busy on the score of pollutants, with methane being the notable culprit. Large-scale agriculture, and extensive metallurgy around 100 B.C., made their fair share.</p>
<p>As Sapart explained, “The ice core data show that as far back as the time of the Roman Empire, human [activities] emitted enough methane gas to have an impact on the methane signature of the entire atmosphere.”</p>
<p>The Romans of antiquity kept methane producing livestock (goats, sheep, cows) in decent number; the Chinese of the Han period engaged in an expansion of rice production, a process also responsible for the production of methane.</p>
<p>Rates of deforestation “show a decrease around AD 200, which is related to drastic population declines in China and Europe following the fall of the Han Dynasty and the decline of the Roman Empire.”&#160; When human populations fall off, environments, sadly, improve.</p>
<p>No country illustrates these problems better than China. China, assemblage of miracles, growth and the desire to outpace rivals; where things are done to gargantuan scale, often with selective environmental oversight.&#160; The cost to citizens, not to mention their environs, has become telling.</p>
<p>As Greenpeace East Asia notes through the toxic cloud darkly, “Millions of people in China are breathing a hazardous cocktail of chemicals everyday.&#160; These chemicals are caused by coal-fired power plants, factories and vehicles, and are responsible for heart disease, stroke, respiratory illnesses, birth defects and cancer.”</p>
<p>Despite the seemingly dreary nature of the observation, attempts have been made in China to rein in the problem.&#160; Again, treating it as much as a competition as a matter of civic duty, the authorities managed to push numerous cities out of the top 30. The country now only claims to have five in the list.</p>
<p>Well and good, which is what made this month rather jarring.&#160; Stifling, lethal smog engulfed Beijing, and good deal of northern China.&#160; Images of the cities proved to be post-apocalyptic.&#160; Flights were cancelled, highways shut.</p>
<p>In a recent study by researchers at Nanjing University noted in the South China Morning Post, covering 74 cities and the deaths of 3.03 million people recorded in 2013, a staggering 31.8 per cent were attributable to smog.&#160; China’s cities have become death catchments.</p>
<p>The response to this toxic mayhem?&#160; The levying of environmental protection taxes on industry, to commence in 2018.&#160; “Tax revenue,” came the dry statement from the Finance Ministry, “is an important economic means to promote environmental protection.”</p>
<p>The rates, outlined by Reuters, will entail 1.2 yuan ($0.17) per unit of atmospheric pollution, with 1.4 yuan per unit of water pollution, and 5 yuan per tonne of coal waste.&#160; “Hazardous waste” will attract a tax of 1,000 yuan per tonne.</p>
<p>These amounts, or details of the new law, are hardly being delivered from a unified front.&#160; The bureaucrats are fighting acrimonious turf wars, from the State Taxation Administration to the Ministry of Environmental protection.&#160; In this age, it will take far more than levies to reduce the pollution of cities, a problem that was even faced, albeit unsatisfactorily, in Han China and ancient Rome.</p>
<p><a href="#_ftnref1" type="external" /></p>
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<p>Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke on whether law enforcement officers should be scrutinized for taking a political stand.</p>
<p>Some police officers in San Antonio, Texas <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/10/12/san-antonio-police-officers-face-discipline-for-wearing-make-america-great-again-caps.html" type="external">are in hot water after Opens a New Window.</a> wearing Donald Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” hats while on duty.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The officers involved were part of the motorcade escorting the Republican presidential nominee to and from San Antonio International Airport. Police Chief William McManus said the officers violated policy and would be disciplined.</p>
<p>Milwaukee County sheriff David Clarke joined the FOX Business Network to weigh in.</p>
<p>“It’s customary after a candidate leaves or the President visits that the candidate or the president shakes hands with the officers; that’s a high risk job those motorcades,” he said. “It’s something that’s just symbolic, it’s not that big a deal. I think it’s nitpicking. But I’ll tell you this as well… if those cops would’ve been wearing Black Lives Matter baseball caps or tee-shirts, these same people complaining or this whole outrage, wouldn’t have had a problem with it.”</p>
<p>Clarke said he disagrees with the notion of having a non-politicized police force.</p>
<p>“We’ve [police] been dragged into this political parade with this war on cops,” he said. “Everything we do now is examined through the political lens. There was a time when police officers… it was an unwritten rule… you know, keep your head down on politics, stay out of it. But now that it’s no longer a tenable position when every time a law enforcement officer engages in some sort of force or use of force all of a sudden the political witch-hunt begins.”</p>
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<p>He added: “Cops can still do their jobs and still do it evenly across the board. They still have political feelings, they’ll still vote. It’s like saying they shouldn’t vote because as long as they do it secretly we’re okay with it. Well no, teachers unions engage in this all the time. If a teacher reports to school in a car that says ‘I support Hillary’ and goes in and teaches all day where the public and the school children are walking past those cars on a public school parking lot, that’s the same thing but nobody seems to have a problem with that. I don’t want teachers engaged in that either. We live in a very political world right now and I don’t have a problem with it.”</p>
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Sheriff Clarke: Police Have Been Dragged Into This Political Parade with War on Cops
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http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2016/10/12/sheriff-clarke-police-have-been-dragged-into-this-political-parade-with-war-on-cops.html
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2016-10-12
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Sheriff Clarke: Police Have Been Dragged Into This Political Parade with War on Cops
<p>Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke on whether law enforcement officers should be scrutinized for taking a political stand.</p>
<p>Some police officers in San Antonio, Texas <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/10/12/san-antonio-police-officers-face-discipline-for-wearing-make-america-great-again-caps.html" type="external">are in hot water after Opens a New Window.</a> wearing Donald Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” hats while on duty.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The officers involved were part of the motorcade escorting the Republican presidential nominee to and from San Antonio International Airport. Police Chief William McManus said the officers violated policy and would be disciplined.</p>
<p>Milwaukee County sheriff David Clarke joined the FOX Business Network to weigh in.</p>
<p>“It’s customary after a candidate leaves or the President visits that the candidate or the president shakes hands with the officers; that’s a high risk job those motorcades,” he said. “It’s something that’s just symbolic, it’s not that big a deal. I think it’s nitpicking. But I’ll tell you this as well… if those cops would’ve been wearing Black Lives Matter baseball caps or tee-shirts, these same people complaining or this whole outrage, wouldn’t have had a problem with it.”</p>
<p>Clarke said he disagrees with the notion of having a non-politicized police force.</p>
<p>“We’ve [police] been dragged into this political parade with this war on cops,” he said. “Everything we do now is examined through the political lens. There was a time when police officers… it was an unwritten rule… you know, keep your head down on politics, stay out of it. But now that it’s no longer a tenable position when every time a law enforcement officer engages in some sort of force or use of force all of a sudden the political witch-hunt begins.”</p>
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<p>He added: “Cops can still do their jobs and still do it evenly across the board. They still have political feelings, they’ll still vote. It’s like saying they shouldn’t vote because as long as they do it secretly we’re okay with it. Well no, teachers unions engage in this all the time. If a teacher reports to school in a car that says ‘I support Hillary’ and goes in and teaches all day where the public and the school children are walking past those cars on a public school parking lot, that’s the same thing but nobody seems to have a problem with that. I don’t want teachers engaged in that either. We live in a very political world right now and I don’t have a problem with it.”</p>
| 5,967 |
<p>FBN Senior Correspondent Charlie Gasparino reports on Wall Street firms retreating from promises to leave London.</p>
<p>For months, executives running large U.S. banks have warned that a UK exit from the European Union would cause so much turmoil that they would have to slash staffing and move executives out of the country.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But now that the ‘leave’ vote, known as ‘Brexit’ or Britain exiting the EU has passed, these same bankers are conceding that such predictions were overblown and premature.</p>
<p>In fact, they tell the FOX Business Network that their firms plan to maintain a large presence in the UK that will probably allow London to maintain its status as one of Europe’s premier banking hubs at least for the immediate future.</p>
<p>Maybe the biggest Brexit about face among the top U.S. banks comes from the nation’s largest financial institution, J.P.Morgan (NYSE:JPM). Just weeks ago, the bank’s chief executive Jamie Dimon publicly warned that if the ‘remain’ forces lost the referendum– a move he feared could lead to a trade war and other dire consequences for the big banks—J.P.Morgan may slash as much as 25 percent of its UK staff of about 16,000.</p>
<p>But last Friday after the victorious ‘leave’ vote, Dimon said in a memo to employees “regardless of today’s outcome…will maintain a large presence in London” and elsewhere in the UK.</p>
<p>People with knowledge of the plans of the other big U.S. banks say they too are not planning to send employees out of the country despite earlier warnings that such moves would be likely in the event of the UK exiting the European Union.</p>
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<p>“I don’t think any bank will just up and leave London,” said a senior banker at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS).&#160; “It was all a threat to try to drive the remain vote. UK is a big important economy and there’s lots of old money there.&#160;“</p>
<p>This banker said inside Morgan Stanley there’s been an “internal debate here about moving some traders” outside the country to either Dublin or&#160; Frankfurt, two European cities that have been discussed as relocation sites from London. But no decisions have been made and won’t be made until more information is known about the impact of Brexit on the UK financial sector and economy.</p>
<p>A Morgan Stanley spokesman said in a statement that the bank “has no plans in place to move staff out of the UK and will only consider adjustments to our operating model.”</p>
<p>Press officials for Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and even the big mutual fund Fidelity Investments, said they have no plans to leave London or move significant numbers of employees out of the country.</p>
<p>To be sure, much of the economic impact of the Brexit vote is unknown despite the initial skeptical reaction by the markets, which saw global stock prices tanking and the British currency losing value. The big worry among U.S. bankers was that Brexit would lead to regulatory confusion for the big banks who do business in the UK in that they would have comply not just with EU rules but new UK rules.</p>
<p>Bankers like Dimon also worried that a trade war might develop between the UK and EU, and most economists agree that a trade war would have serious economic consequences for Europe leading to a possible recession and volatility in the currency and stock markets. The flow of investment banking deals—the lifeblood of the big banks—would slow as well.</p>
<p>But over the past two days both the UK Pound and the markets have stabilized as world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron have made statements that fears of a British-EU trade war are overblown, while British officials have said they plan to quickly deal with such regulatory concerns the banks have in Brexit’s aftermath.</p>
<p>Indeed any move on the part of the EU to isolate Britain as revenge for Brexit could backfire since the UK economy is one of the continent’s largest; Germany, for instance, sells more of its cars in the UK than anywhere else in the world.</p>
<p>In fact, UK officials who are part of the ‘leave’ campaign tell the FOX Business Network they will soon announce a series of economic reforms that will be designed to pump up the British economy. Details of the plan were unavailable.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, executives at the big banks say there are many structural issues that make London a place to keep thousands of jobs whether the UK is in or out of the EU. Dublin, one of the possible alternative banking hubs, doesn’t have the resources available to the big banks including the access to workers they have in London. And in Frankfurt, the other possible alternative, there is a language barrier making it more difficult for U.S. banks to operate efficiently.</p>
<p>Another reason U.S. banks want to stay in the UK: They believe it’s an easy place to launch an attack on the clients of big foreign banks like Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB), which has been reeling recently as it tries to shore up its weak capital levels and improve profits.</p>
<p>“With so many of the European banks in various degrees of trouble right now, it's more important than ever that American banks be there to try to capture market share across all of Europe,” another banker told the FOX Business Network.</p>
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Exclusive: U.S. Bank CEOs Jumped the Gun on Brexit Fallout
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http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/06/29/exclusive-u-s-bank-ceos-jumped-gun-on-brexit-fallout.html
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2016-06-29
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Exclusive: U.S. Bank CEOs Jumped the Gun on Brexit Fallout
<p>FBN Senior Correspondent Charlie Gasparino reports on Wall Street firms retreating from promises to leave London.</p>
<p>For months, executives running large U.S. banks have warned that a UK exit from the European Union would cause so much turmoil that they would have to slash staffing and move executives out of the country.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But now that the ‘leave’ vote, known as ‘Brexit’ or Britain exiting the EU has passed, these same bankers are conceding that such predictions were overblown and premature.</p>
<p>In fact, they tell the FOX Business Network that their firms plan to maintain a large presence in the UK that will probably allow London to maintain its status as one of Europe’s premier banking hubs at least for the immediate future.</p>
<p>Maybe the biggest Brexit about face among the top U.S. banks comes from the nation’s largest financial institution, J.P.Morgan (NYSE:JPM). Just weeks ago, the bank’s chief executive Jamie Dimon publicly warned that if the ‘remain’ forces lost the referendum– a move he feared could lead to a trade war and other dire consequences for the big banks—J.P.Morgan may slash as much as 25 percent of its UK staff of about 16,000.</p>
<p>But last Friday after the victorious ‘leave’ vote, Dimon said in a memo to employees “regardless of today’s outcome…will maintain a large presence in London” and elsewhere in the UK.</p>
<p>People with knowledge of the plans of the other big U.S. banks say they too are not planning to send employees out of the country despite earlier warnings that such moves would be likely in the event of the UK exiting the European Union.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>“I don’t think any bank will just up and leave London,” said a senior banker at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS).&#160; “It was all a threat to try to drive the remain vote. UK is a big important economy and there’s lots of old money there.&#160;“</p>
<p>This banker said inside Morgan Stanley there’s been an “internal debate here about moving some traders” outside the country to either Dublin or&#160; Frankfurt, two European cities that have been discussed as relocation sites from London. But no decisions have been made and won’t be made until more information is known about the impact of Brexit on the UK financial sector and economy.</p>
<p>A Morgan Stanley spokesman said in a statement that the bank “has no plans in place to move staff out of the UK and will only consider adjustments to our operating model.”</p>
<p>Press officials for Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and even the big mutual fund Fidelity Investments, said they have no plans to leave London or move significant numbers of employees out of the country.</p>
<p>To be sure, much of the economic impact of the Brexit vote is unknown despite the initial skeptical reaction by the markets, which saw global stock prices tanking and the British currency losing value. The big worry among U.S. bankers was that Brexit would lead to regulatory confusion for the big banks who do business in the UK in that they would have comply not just with EU rules but new UK rules.</p>
<p>Bankers like Dimon also worried that a trade war might develop between the UK and EU, and most economists agree that a trade war would have serious economic consequences for Europe leading to a possible recession and volatility in the currency and stock markets. The flow of investment banking deals—the lifeblood of the big banks—would slow as well.</p>
<p>But over the past two days both the UK Pound and the markets have stabilized as world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron have made statements that fears of a British-EU trade war are overblown, while British officials have said they plan to quickly deal with such regulatory concerns the banks have in Brexit’s aftermath.</p>
<p>Indeed any move on the part of the EU to isolate Britain as revenge for Brexit could backfire since the UK economy is one of the continent’s largest; Germany, for instance, sells more of its cars in the UK than anywhere else in the world.</p>
<p>In fact, UK officials who are part of the ‘leave’ campaign tell the FOX Business Network they will soon announce a series of economic reforms that will be designed to pump up the British economy. Details of the plan were unavailable.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, executives at the big banks say there are many structural issues that make London a place to keep thousands of jobs whether the UK is in or out of the EU. Dublin, one of the possible alternative banking hubs, doesn’t have the resources available to the big banks including the access to workers they have in London. And in Frankfurt, the other possible alternative, there is a language barrier making it more difficult for U.S. banks to operate efficiently.</p>
<p>Another reason U.S. banks want to stay in the UK: They believe it’s an easy place to launch an attack on the clients of big foreign banks like Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB), which has been reeling recently as it tries to shore up its weak capital levels and improve profits.</p>
<p>“With so many of the European banks in various degrees of trouble right now, it's more important than ever that American banks be there to try to capture market share across all of Europe,” another banker told the FOX Business Network.</p>
| 5,968 |
<p>&gt; <a href="http://www.salon.com/letters/editor/2005/10/17/talkback/" type="external">Salon introduces do-it-yourself letters posting system (Salon)</a> &gt; <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0510180251oct18,0,5187468.story?coll=chi-newsopinion-hed" type="external">Chicago Trib: Miller, NYT editors "guilty of ill-serving their readers" (CT)</a> &gt; <a href="http://www.thesouthern.com/articles/2005/10/15/opinions/guest_columns/10000406.txt" type="external">Arizona Daily Star's Bennett named Southern Illinoisan editor (SI)</a> &gt; <a href="http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2NzkyMjA3JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5MQ==" type="external">Reporter lives and works as a low-wage laborer for a month (HN)</a> &gt; <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/magazine/chi-0510160478oct16,1,1118668.story" type="external">Playboy's next target is that little screen on your cell phone (Trib)</a></p>
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Additional items for October 18, 2005
| false |
https://poynter.org/news/additional-items-october-18-2005
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2005-10-18
| 2least
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Additional items for October 18, 2005
<p>&gt; <a href="http://www.salon.com/letters/editor/2005/10/17/talkback/" type="external">Salon introduces do-it-yourself letters posting system (Salon)</a> &gt; <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0510180251oct18,0,5187468.story?coll=chi-newsopinion-hed" type="external">Chicago Trib: Miller, NYT editors "guilty of ill-serving their readers" (CT)</a> &gt; <a href="http://www.thesouthern.com/articles/2005/10/15/opinions/guest_columns/10000406.txt" type="external">Arizona Daily Star's Bennett named Southern Illinoisan editor (SI)</a> &gt; <a href="http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2NzkyMjA3JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5MQ==" type="external">Reporter lives and works as a low-wage laborer for a month (HN)</a> &gt; <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/magazine/chi-0510160478oct16,1,1118668.story" type="external">Playboy's next target is that little screen on your cell phone (Trib)</a></p>
| 5,969 |
<p>A big story last week (at least according to the mainstream media) was the report that Russian twitter bots were involved in sowing the seeds of discontent between Americans over the <a href="" type="internal">NFL National Anthem protests</a>. But a closer look shows the sources are flimsy at best.</p>
<p />
<p>The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/technology/twitter-russia-election.html?mcubz=3" type="external">New York Times</a> reported on the Alliance for Securing Democracy’s program that tracks 600 Twitter accounts they say are linked to Russia.</p>
<p />
<p>From the report: “Of 80 news stories promoted last week by those accounts, more than 25 percent ‘had a primary theme of anti-Americanism,’ the researchers found. About 15 percent were critical of Hillary Clinton, falsely accusing her of funding left-wing antifa — short for anti-fascist — protesters, tying her to the lethal terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 and discussing her daughter Chelsea’s use of Twitter.”</p>
<p>To this I say: So? Do they really think we need Russian bots to make us outraged at NFL players disrespecting our National Anthem? Or that we needed Russia trolls to make us upset about Hillary’s bungling of Benghazi? Or that those articles wouldn’t have been shared without them? Seems like pretty standard Twitter fare to me.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/lawmaker-russian-trolls-trying-to-sow-discord-in-nfl-kneeling-debate/2017/09/27/5f46dce0-a3b0-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa_story.html?utm_term=.5248f34f0f8d" type="external">Washington Post</a> reported on Sen. James Lankford’s (R-Okla.) claim of Russian Twitter trolls, but his example was Boston Antifa, a <a href="http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/09/fake_boston_antifa_group_who_c.html" type="external">parody account,</a> which was obvious with the tweet that was cited: “More gender inclusivity with NFL fans and gluten free options at stadiums, We’re liking the new NFL #NewNFL #TakeAKnee #TakeTheKnee.” Come on, just because someone says their location is Russia on Twitter doesn’t mean that it is and that they’re to be taken seriously even if that’s where they live.</p>
<p>Another <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/2017/09/27/32855bba-a3a0-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa_story.html?utm_term=.bb2ca7e4ad02" type="external">Washington Post</a> article highlighted an Oxford University study where it was supposed to be news that battleground states were targeted more heavily on Twitter with “junk news.” Newsflash: They were targeted more heavily on TV, radio, mail, phone, and everything else!</p>
<p>More from the report: “But in 12 battleground states, including New Hampshire, Virginia and Florida, the amount of what they called “junk news” exceeded that from professional news organizations, prompting researchers to conclude that those pushing disinformation approached the job with a geographic focus in hopes of having maximum impact on the outcome of the vote.”</p>
<p>But the biggest problem is how they defined “junk news.” This junk news was defined as&#160;“propaganda and ideologically extreme, hyperpartisan, or conspiratorial political news and information.” Oxford professor Philip Howard confirmed that&#160;“The distribution of junk, conspiracy and polarizing content across the country was not equal. Some states got more than others.”</p>
<p />
<p>Ideologically extreme, hyperpartisan, and polarizing political content is supposed to be junk? That describes 99% of all political content in all media, including mainstream outlets.</p>
<p />
<p>And funny how they separate “professional news organizations” from “junk news” by definition, as if these professional news outlets don’t get <a href="" type="internal">caught spreading</a> <a href="" type="internal">fake news</a> <a href="" type="internal">all the time</a>! Howard went on to say that this “junk news” comes from three groups: “Russian operatives, Trump supporters and activists part of the alt-right, a group that includes white nationalists, anti-Semites and others who rail against “political correctness.”</p>
<p>Oh right, there were NO sources of left-wing junk news. They’re NEVER ideologically extreme, hyperpartisan, or polarizing! It’s only ever conservatives.</p>
<p />
<p>That just shows the bias of these “studies” that the media is so eager to report on. Anything involving Russia, they are so quick to jump on, without even stopping to think, “Does this make any sense?”</p>
<p />
<p>In their eagerness to attack Trump and try to find evidence of collusion with Russia where there is none, the professional news organizations become junk news themselves.</p>
<p />
<p>H/T <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2017/09/28/the-slimy-business-of-russia-gate/" type="external">ConsortiumNews</a></p>
<p>Use our social media buttons below to share this article with your family and friends!</p>
<p />
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Media Quick To Believe In ‘Junk Studies’ On ‘Fake News’
| true |
http://thepoliticalinsider.com/fake-news-study-russia/
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2017-10-02
| 0right
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Media Quick To Believe In ‘Junk Studies’ On ‘Fake News’
<p>A big story last week (at least according to the mainstream media) was the report that Russian twitter bots were involved in sowing the seeds of discontent between Americans over the <a href="" type="internal">NFL National Anthem protests</a>. But a closer look shows the sources are flimsy at best.</p>
<p />
<p>The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/technology/twitter-russia-election.html?mcubz=3" type="external">New York Times</a> reported on the Alliance for Securing Democracy’s program that tracks 600 Twitter accounts they say are linked to Russia.</p>
<p />
<p>From the report: “Of 80 news stories promoted last week by those accounts, more than 25 percent ‘had a primary theme of anti-Americanism,’ the researchers found. About 15 percent were critical of Hillary Clinton, falsely accusing her of funding left-wing antifa — short for anti-fascist — protesters, tying her to the lethal terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 and discussing her daughter Chelsea’s use of Twitter.”</p>
<p>To this I say: So? Do they really think we need Russian bots to make us outraged at NFL players disrespecting our National Anthem? Or that we needed Russia trolls to make us upset about Hillary’s bungling of Benghazi? Or that those articles wouldn’t have been shared without them? Seems like pretty standard Twitter fare to me.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/lawmaker-russian-trolls-trying-to-sow-discord-in-nfl-kneeling-debate/2017/09/27/5f46dce0-a3b0-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa_story.html?utm_term=.5248f34f0f8d" type="external">Washington Post</a> reported on Sen. James Lankford’s (R-Okla.) claim of Russian Twitter trolls, but his example was Boston Antifa, a <a href="http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/09/fake_boston_antifa_group_who_c.html" type="external">parody account,</a> which was obvious with the tweet that was cited: “More gender inclusivity with NFL fans and gluten free options at stadiums, We’re liking the new NFL #NewNFL #TakeAKnee #TakeTheKnee.” Come on, just because someone says their location is Russia on Twitter doesn’t mean that it is and that they’re to be taken seriously even if that’s where they live.</p>
<p>Another <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/2017/09/27/32855bba-a3a0-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa_story.html?utm_term=.bb2ca7e4ad02" type="external">Washington Post</a> article highlighted an Oxford University study where it was supposed to be news that battleground states were targeted more heavily on Twitter with “junk news.” Newsflash: They were targeted more heavily on TV, radio, mail, phone, and everything else!</p>
<p>More from the report: “But in 12 battleground states, including New Hampshire, Virginia and Florida, the amount of what they called “junk news” exceeded that from professional news organizations, prompting researchers to conclude that those pushing disinformation approached the job with a geographic focus in hopes of having maximum impact on the outcome of the vote.”</p>
<p>But the biggest problem is how they defined “junk news.” This junk news was defined as&#160;“propaganda and ideologically extreme, hyperpartisan, or conspiratorial political news and information.” Oxford professor Philip Howard confirmed that&#160;“The distribution of junk, conspiracy and polarizing content across the country was not equal. Some states got more than others.”</p>
<p />
<p>Ideologically extreme, hyperpartisan, and polarizing political content is supposed to be junk? That describes 99% of all political content in all media, including mainstream outlets.</p>
<p />
<p>And funny how they separate “professional news organizations” from “junk news” by definition, as if these professional news outlets don’t get <a href="" type="internal">caught spreading</a> <a href="" type="internal">fake news</a> <a href="" type="internal">all the time</a>! Howard went on to say that this “junk news” comes from three groups: “Russian operatives, Trump supporters and activists part of the alt-right, a group that includes white nationalists, anti-Semites and others who rail against “political correctness.”</p>
<p>Oh right, there were NO sources of left-wing junk news. They’re NEVER ideologically extreme, hyperpartisan, or polarizing! It’s only ever conservatives.</p>
<p />
<p>That just shows the bias of these “studies” that the media is so eager to report on. Anything involving Russia, they are so quick to jump on, without even stopping to think, “Does this make any sense?”</p>
<p />
<p>In their eagerness to attack Trump and try to find evidence of collusion with Russia where there is none, the professional news organizations become junk news themselves.</p>
<p />
<p>H/T <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2017/09/28/the-slimy-business-of-russia-gate/" type="external">ConsortiumNews</a></p>
<p>Use our social media buttons below to share this article with your family and friends!</p>
<p />
| 5,970 |
<p><a href="http://variety.com/t/miramax-films/" type="external">Miramax Films</a> has preemptively bought rights to the horror-thriller “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/the-perfection/" type="external">The Perfection</a>,” with “Girls” director <a href="http://variety.com/t/richard-shepard/" type="external">Richard Shepard</a> attached.</p>
<p>Shepard wrote the script with the writing team of Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder. “The Perfection” centers on a pair of cello prodigies and their sinister obsession.</p>
<p>Miramax will finance and CEO Bill Block will produce with&#160;Shepard and Stacey Reiss. The producers are aiming to start production in early 2018.</p>
<p>Shepard directed 12 episodes of HBO’s “Girls,” including the “One Man’s Trash,” “American Bitch,” and “Panic in Central Park.” He also directed the pilots for “Criminal Minds” and “Ugly Betty,” winning both an Emmy and Directors Guild award for the latter, and sold his short <a href="http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/girls-tokyo-project-1202542881/" type="external">“Tokyo Project,” starring Elisabeth Moss</a>,&#160;to HBO.</p>
<p>Shepard’s last feature film was 2013’s “Dom Hemingway,” a dark comedy starring Jude Law, Richard E. Grant, Demián Bichir, and Emilia Clarke.</p>
<p><a href="http://variety.com/2016/film/news/miramax-sells-to-bein-media-group-1201720912/" type="external">Miramax was sold by its private equity owners</a> in 2015 to beIN Media Group, which owns 100% of the company. It bought U.S. rights to Margot Robbie’s “I, Tonya” late last year and named Block as its CEO in April.</p>
<p>Shepard is repped by UTA, Tom Lassally of 3 Arts, and Alan Wertheimer at Jackoway. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.</p>
|
Miramax Boards Horror-Thriller ‘Perfection’ With ‘Girls’ Director Richard Shepard
| false |
https://newsline.com/miramax-boards-horror-thriller-perfection-with-girls-director-richard-shepard/
|
2017-09-13
| 1right-center
|
Miramax Boards Horror-Thriller ‘Perfection’ With ‘Girls’ Director Richard Shepard
<p><a href="http://variety.com/t/miramax-films/" type="external">Miramax Films</a> has preemptively bought rights to the horror-thriller “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/the-perfection/" type="external">The Perfection</a>,” with “Girls” director <a href="http://variety.com/t/richard-shepard/" type="external">Richard Shepard</a> attached.</p>
<p>Shepard wrote the script with the writing team of Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder. “The Perfection” centers on a pair of cello prodigies and their sinister obsession.</p>
<p>Miramax will finance and CEO Bill Block will produce with&#160;Shepard and Stacey Reiss. The producers are aiming to start production in early 2018.</p>
<p>Shepard directed 12 episodes of HBO’s “Girls,” including the “One Man’s Trash,” “American Bitch,” and “Panic in Central Park.” He also directed the pilots for “Criminal Minds” and “Ugly Betty,” winning both an Emmy and Directors Guild award for the latter, and sold his short <a href="http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/girls-tokyo-project-1202542881/" type="external">“Tokyo Project,” starring Elisabeth Moss</a>,&#160;to HBO.</p>
<p>Shepard’s last feature film was 2013’s “Dom Hemingway,” a dark comedy starring Jude Law, Richard E. Grant, Demián Bichir, and Emilia Clarke.</p>
<p><a href="http://variety.com/2016/film/news/miramax-sells-to-bein-media-group-1201720912/" type="external">Miramax was sold by its private equity owners</a> in 2015 to beIN Media Group, which owns 100% of the company. It bought U.S. rights to Margot Robbie’s “I, Tonya” late last year and named Block as its CEO in April.</p>
<p>Shepard is repped by UTA, Tom Lassally of 3 Arts, and Alan Wertheimer at Jackoway. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.</p>
| 5,971 |
<p>Around 10 PM on March 10, nearly three weeks after beginning a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment, Yvon Neptune, Haiti’s prime minister under former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was hospitalized after suffering dehydration. Soldiers from MINUSTAH, the UN’s 7,400 strong peacekeeping force in Haiti, took Neptune to a UN military hospital for medical treatment. In recent days, international media reports have noted the declining health of the former prime minister and Haiti’s interim government-specifically interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue and Justice Minister Bernard Gousse-must be held accountable for his well-being.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Political Prisoners</p>
<p>On March 9, Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Tom Harkin (D-IO), James Jeffords (I-VT) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) sent a letter to interim Prime Minister Latortue, in which they wrote, “If no charges have been brought against Mr. Neptune, we demand that he be immediately released.” That same day, a UN Security Council press statement on Haiti was issued, emphasizing Neptune’s imprisonment and calling on the government to “expedite all pending cases and to ensure due process for all citizens.” The senators’ letter and the Security Council statement follow on the heels of Representative Maxine Waters’ (D-CA) March 7 trip to Haiti, during which she met with Neptune and fellow inmates Jocelerme Privert, Aristide’s former minister of the interior, and Jacques Mathelier, a former executive delegate. Unhesitatingly calling the men political prisoners, she issued a press release demanding that, “The interim government’s repression of dissenters like Prime Minister Neptune must end immediately. The whole world is watching.” Arrested June 27, 2004, Neptune, along with Privert, is accused, but not yet charged, with killings that occurred in Saint Marc during the 2004 revolt against Aristide. Most independent observers have concluded that the accusations are without foundation.</p>
<p>Neptune and Privert undertook a hunger strike after a February 19 jailbreak temporarily freed them-both high profile inmates were taken to safety during the attack but soon turned themselves in to UN peacekeepers; a UN spokesman, Damien Onses-Cardona, told the AP that, “They insisted on returning to make clear they didn’t try to escape”-to protest the fact that they have been imprisoned for months without charge, and some had begun to fear for their health and lives. After meeting with Neptune, Congresswoman Waters described his condition as “very bad” and added that “he is in a weakened position and I do not believe that he can continue this fast without causing his death.” Although every day of his hunger strike jeopardized his health, Neptune had vowed to continue fasting until his release.</p>
<p>Neptune is perhaps the most well-known of the numerous pro-Aristide government officials and others who have been detained by the Latortue regime. The interim government even imprisoned Father Gerard Jean-Juste, the country’s most revered Catholic priest. After a judge found that no evidence existed to hold him on charges of instigating violent pro-Aristide protests, Jean-Juste was released late last November, after nearly seven weeks in prison. Still, many prominent Haitian leaders continue to be imprisoned with absolutely no charges filed against them. In a January 2 article by the Reed Lindsay that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Regis Charron, the author of a November 2004 UN Development Program report on Haiti’s National Penitentiary, said “only 17 of the some 1,100 prisoners at the national penitentiary — about 1.5 percent — have been convicted of a crime, and many detainees have not yet seen a judge.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Haiti’s Notorious Prison</p>
<p>Neptune, Privert, Mathelier and many other political prisoners are being held in Haiti’s largest prison, under horrific conditions. The extremely overcrowded National Penitentiary was, according to CNN, designed to hold six hundred inmates but exceeded one thousand before more than 480 escaped last month when gunmen attacked it, killing one off-duty guard. A December 1, 2004 riot at the notorious facility reportedly killed ten, but numerous witnesses said police and prison guardsexecuted inmates, certainly resulting in many more deaths. During her visit with Neptune, Congresswoman Waters called the prison conditions “deplorable” and said the former prime minister told her that he “believes he has been targeted to be killed.” Also, jailed Aristide supporters are often reportedly housed with some of the same rebels who ousted Aristide, creating a volatile environment. According to a December 1, 2004 Miami Herald article by Jacqueline Charles, Jean-Juste, who during roughly seven weeks in prison was transferred to five jails, “shared his first jail cell with 20 prisoners-no toilet, no water. The last one he shared with Harold Severe, the pro-Aristide former assistant mayor of Port-au-Prince. His neighbors there included Louis-Jodel Chamblain, an accused murderer and one of the leaders of the armed rebellion that ousted Aristide on Feb. 29.” Additionally, the article noted that the Reverend was forced to suffer indignities, such as having to wear the same shirt throughout his entire imprisonment.</p>
<p>A 2002 study by the U.S. INS Resource Information Center described conditions in Haiti’s prison and detention centers as “extremely poor, and do not meet either national or international standards fixed by law.” The report also cited instances “in which prison authorities allegedly punished prisoners for complaining about poor treatment,” including one case on November 15, 2001, when “a riot erupted in the National Penitentiary after a prison guard beat to death a prisoner who complained about the conditions.” There is no reason to believe that prisons have improved under the Latortue regime, though there is ample evidence that they have worsened. A summer 2004 report by the Haiti Accompaniment Project found that, “All reports indicate that the patterns we observed ­ illegal arrest, prolonged detention without trial ­ continue and in fact are worse.” The report added, “It is not encouraging to learn that the U.S. State Department initially selected a U.S. prison consultant, Terry Stewart, to oversee reform of Haiti’s prisons. Mr. Stewart’s previous position was consultant to Abu Ghraib. During the time he served as director of Arizona’s prison system (1995-2002), the U.S. Justice Department brought a suit charging male prison guards with rape, sodomy and assault against fourteen female inmates.” Haiti’s and the region’s prison and judicial systems are clearly in need of a serious overhaul. As a wave of prison riots have spread across Latin America and the Caribbean in the last few years-one of the deadliest occurred March 7 when battling inmates in a Dominican Republic prison started a fire that killed at least 136 prisoners-the possibility of an even greater tragedy at the National Penitentiary or another other Haitian detention center should be a major cause for worry.</p>
<p>Protests Turn Deadly</p>
<p>To mark the first anniversary of the U.S.-supported ouster of Aristide, Haiti’s first democratically elected president, some 2,000 pro-Aristide protestors marched through the Port-au-Prince slum of Bel Air on February 28. These “peaceful” protests turned deadly when police, without provocation, opened fire on the demonstrators, killing at least two. MINUSTAH spokesman Cmdr. Carlos Chagas Braga told the AP that “This looked to be peaceful but for some reason, we are not sure why, the Haitian police arrived and decided to disband the demonstration.” While police have denied shooting at the protestors, this was not the first instance of police attacking unarmed demonstrators and is unlikely to be the last. Even the State Department’s recently-released 2004 report on Haiti’s human rights practices underlined such alarming occurrences: “Police officers used excessive-and sometimes deadly-force in making arrests or controlling demonstrations and rarely were punished for such acts.”</p>
<p>The flagrant nature and appalling regularity of killings by Haiti’s security and paramilitary forces seems to have finally caught the attention of MINUSTAH, which distressingly often seemed incapable of restoring law and order to a nation still dominated by armed gangs and renegade ex-soldiers following Aristide’s forced exile. In a March 2 interview with the Miami Herald, the UN secretary-general’s special representative to Haiti, Juan Gabriel Valdés, appeared determined to prevent any repeat of the fatal protest. “We can’t tolerate shooting out of control. We will not permit human rights abuses,” he told reporter Joe Mozingo. The Herald article also mentions that Latortue’s government is “trying to rebuild the [police] force, but corruption is an overwhelming temptation amid Haiti’s deep-seated poverty. Officers have been implicated in drug trafficking, kidnappings, murders and one major prison break.” While Valdés said that MINUSTAH is reevaluating its mandate-which currently says it must support the police-it also should be much more diligent in the “vetting and certification of [the Haitian police] personnel,” which is also called for in the mandate. Indeed, in their March 9 release, UN Security Council members “expressed concern about the human rights situation, including allegations of human rights abuses attributed to the Haitian National Police (HNP) officers, which have not yet been properly investigated by the authorities.” Such a finding is extremely troubling considering that one of the three sections of MINUSTAH’s mandate is dedicated solely to monitoring and protecting human rights. Further straining its relations with the Latortue government, and ultimately MINUSTAH’s ability to perform its job as a peacekeeping force, are allegations of rape; in February, the UN began investigating a woman’s claims that she was attacked by three Pakistani peacekeepers.</p>
<p>To MINUSTAH’s credit, it did step in to protect the nearly 2,500 demonstrators who on March 4 gathered again in Bel Air to denounce police shooting of unarmed protestors four days earlier. In an effort to prevent further violence, UN peacekeepers kept the police away from the marchers. But in a telling sign of his utter disregard for human rights-especially the rights of Aristide supporters-Justice Minister Gousse immediately denounced MINUSTAH, alleging that it had violated its mandate, even though the UN insisted that prior to the protests logistics were worked out with police. With hundreds of people killed during clashes between protestors and police in the last few months-reports indicate more than 400, including 34 police officers, since last September’s violence occurred-Gousse’s heated reluctance to allow the UN force to monitor the protests alone is irresponsible and likely to have deadly consequences.</p>
<p>In his March 5 radio address, President George Bush said that, “Freedom is the birthright and deep desire of every human soul.” Yvon Neptune and his fellow political prisoners, held under deplorable conditions for months without charge, certainly would agree. If they had heard the Bush address in their cells, the question is whether they could appreciate the bitter irony of Bush’s words: the fact that the statement comes from the man whose administration orchestrated the ousting of their democratically elected president and rushed in an obscure Boca Raton retiree to head a morally bankrupt regime that has arrested and jailed people just for their political beliefs.</p>
<p>DAVID R. KOLKER is a Research Fellow at the <a href="http://coha.org/" type="external">Council on Hemispheric Affairs</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
|
Jailed Without Charges
| true |
https://counterpunch.org/2005/03/16/jailed-without-charges/
|
2005-03-16
| 4left
|
Jailed Without Charges
<p>Around 10 PM on March 10, nearly three weeks after beginning a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment, Yvon Neptune, Haiti’s prime minister under former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was hospitalized after suffering dehydration. Soldiers from MINUSTAH, the UN’s 7,400 strong peacekeeping force in Haiti, took Neptune to a UN military hospital for medical treatment. In recent days, international media reports have noted the declining health of the former prime minister and Haiti’s interim government-specifically interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue and Justice Minister Bernard Gousse-must be held accountable for his well-being.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Political Prisoners</p>
<p>On March 9, Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Tom Harkin (D-IO), James Jeffords (I-VT) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) sent a letter to interim Prime Minister Latortue, in which they wrote, “If no charges have been brought against Mr. Neptune, we demand that he be immediately released.” That same day, a UN Security Council press statement on Haiti was issued, emphasizing Neptune’s imprisonment and calling on the government to “expedite all pending cases and to ensure due process for all citizens.” The senators’ letter and the Security Council statement follow on the heels of Representative Maxine Waters’ (D-CA) March 7 trip to Haiti, during which she met with Neptune and fellow inmates Jocelerme Privert, Aristide’s former minister of the interior, and Jacques Mathelier, a former executive delegate. Unhesitatingly calling the men political prisoners, she issued a press release demanding that, “The interim government’s repression of dissenters like Prime Minister Neptune must end immediately. The whole world is watching.” Arrested June 27, 2004, Neptune, along with Privert, is accused, but not yet charged, with killings that occurred in Saint Marc during the 2004 revolt against Aristide. Most independent observers have concluded that the accusations are without foundation.</p>
<p>Neptune and Privert undertook a hunger strike after a February 19 jailbreak temporarily freed them-both high profile inmates were taken to safety during the attack but soon turned themselves in to UN peacekeepers; a UN spokesman, Damien Onses-Cardona, told the AP that, “They insisted on returning to make clear they didn’t try to escape”-to protest the fact that they have been imprisoned for months without charge, and some had begun to fear for their health and lives. After meeting with Neptune, Congresswoman Waters described his condition as “very bad” and added that “he is in a weakened position and I do not believe that he can continue this fast without causing his death.” Although every day of his hunger strike jeopardized his health, Neptune had vowed to continue fasting until his release.</p>
<p>Neptune is perhaps the most well-known of the numerous pro-Aristide government officials and others who have been detained by the Latortue regime. The interim government even imprisoned Father Gerard Jean-Juste, the country’s most revered Catholic priest. After a judge found that no evidence existed to hold him on charges of instigating violent pro-Aristide protests, Jean-Juste was released late last November, after nearly seven weeks in prison. Still, many prominent Haitian leaders continue to be imprisoned with absolutely no charges filed against them. In a January 2 article by the Reed Lindsay that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Regis Charron, the author of a November 2004 UN Development Program report on Haiti’s National Penitentiary, said “only 17 of the some 1,100 prisoners at the national penitentiary — about 1.5 percent — have been convicted of a crime, and many detainees have not yet seen a judge.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Haiti’s Notorious Prison</p>
<p>Neptune, Privert, Mathelier and many other political prisoners are being held in Haiti’s largest prison, under horrific conditions. The extremely overcrowded National Penitentiary was, according to CNN, designed to hold six hundred inmates but exceeded one thousand before more than 480 escaped last month when gunmen attacked it, killing one off-duty guard. A December 1, 2004 riot at the notorious facility reportedly killed ten, but numerous witnesses said police and prison guardsexecuted inmates, certainly resulting in many more deaths. During her visit with Neptune, Congresswoman Waters called the prison conditions “deplorable” and said the former prime minister told her that he “believes he has been targeted to be killed.” Also, jailed Aristide supporters are often reportedly housed with some of the same rebels who ousted Aristide, creating a volatile environment. According to a December 1, 2004 Miami Herald article by Jacqueline Charles, Jean-Juste, who during roughly seven weeks in prison was transferred to five jails, “shared his first jail cell with 20 prisoners-no toilet, no water. The last one he shared with Harold Severe, the pro-Aristide former assistant mayor of Port-au-Prince. His neighbors there included Louis-Jodel Chamblain, an accused murderer and one of the leaders of the armed rebellion that ousted Aristide on Feb. 29.” Additionally, the article noted that the Reverend was forced to suffer indignities, such as having to wear the same shirt throughout his entire imprisonment.</p>
<p>A 2002 study by the U.S. INS Resource Information Center described conditions in Haiti’s prison and detention centers as “extremely poor, and do not meet either national or international standards fixed by law.” The report also cited instances “in which prison authorities allegedly punished prisoners for complaining about poor treatment,” including one case on November 15, 2001, when “a riot erupted in the National Penitentiary after a prison guard beat to death a prisoner who complained about the conditions.” There is no reason to believe that prisons have improved under the Latortue regime, though there is ample evidence that they have worsened. A summer 2004 report by the Haiti Accompaniment Project found that, “All reports indicate that the patterns we observed ­ illegal arrest, prolonged detention without trial ­ continue and in fact are worse.” The report added, “It is not encouraging to learn that the U.S. State Department initially selected a U.S. prison consultant, Terry Stewart, to oversee reform of Haiti’s prisons. Mr. Stewart’s previous position was consultant to Abu Ghraib. During the time he served as director of Arizona’s prison system (1995-2002), the U.S. Justice Department brought a suit charging male prison guards with rape, sodomy and assault against fourteen female inmates.” Haiti’s and the region’s prison and judicial systems are clearly in need of a serious overhaul. As a wave of prison riots have spread across Latin America and the Caribbean in the last few years-one of the deadliest occurred March 7 when battling inmates in a Dominican Republic prison started a fire that killed at least 136 prisoners-the possibility of an even greater tragedy at the National Penitentiary or another other Haitian detention center should be a major cause for worry.</p>
<p>Protests Turn Deadly</p>
<p>To mark the first anniversary of the U.S.-supported ouster of Aristide, Haiti’s first democratically elected president, some 2,000 pro-Aristide protestors marched through the Port-au-Prince slum of Bel Air on February 28. These “peaceful” protests turned deadly when police, without provocation, opened fire on the demonstrators, killing at least two. MINUSTAH spokesman Cmdr. Carlos Chagas Braga told the AP that “This looked to be peaceful but for some reason, we are not sure why, the Haitian police arrived and decided to disband the demonstration.” While police have denied shooting at the protestors, this was not the first instance of police attacking unarmed demonstrators and is unlikely to be the last. Even the State Department’s recently-released 2004 report on Haiti’s human rights practices underlined such alarming occurrences: “Police officers used excessive-and sometimes deadly-force in making arrests or controlling demonstrations and rarely were punished for such acts.”</p>
<p>The flagrant nature and appalling regularity of killings by Haiti’s security and paramilitary forces seems to have finally caught the attention of MINUSTAH, which distressingly often seemed incapable of restoring law and order to a nation still dominated by armed gangs and renegade ex-soldiers following Aristide’s forced exile. In a March 2 interview with the Miami Herald, the UN secretary-general’s special representative to Haiti, Juan Gabriel Valdés, appeared determined to prevent any repeat of the fatal protest. “We can’t tolerate shooting out of control. We will not permit human rights abuses,” he told reporter Joe Mozingo. The Herald article also mentions that Latortue’s government is “trying to rebuild the [police] force, but corruption is an overwhelming temptation amid Haiti’s deep-seated poverty. Officers have been implicated in drug trafficking, kidnappings, murders and one major prison break.” While Valdés said that MINUSTAH is reevaluating its mandate-which currently says it must support the police-it also should be much more diligent in the “vetting and certification of [the Haitian police] personnel,” which is also called for in the mandate. Indeed, in their March 9 release, UN Security Council members “expressed concern about the human rights situation, including allegations of human rights abuses attributed to the Haitian National Police (HNP) officers, which have not yet been properly investigated by the authorities.” Such a finding is extremely troubling considering that one of the three sections of MINUSTAH’s mandate is dedicated solely to monitoring and protecting human rights. Further straining its relations with the Latortue government, and ultimately MINUSTAH’s ability to perform its job as a peacekeeping force, are allegations of rape; in February, the UN began investigating a woman’s claims that she was attacked by three Pakistani peacekeepers.</p>
<p>To MINUSTAH’s credit, it did step in to protect the nearly 2,500 demonstrators who on March 4 gathered again in Bel Air to denounce police shooting of unarmed protestors four days earlier. In an effort to prevent further violence, UN peacekeepers kept the police away from the marchers. But in a telling sign of his utter disregard for human rights-especially the rights of Aristide supporters-Justice Minister Gousse immediately denounced MINUSTAH, alleging that it had violated its mandate, even though the UN insisted that prior to the protests logistics were worked out with police. With hundreds of people killed during clashes between protestors and police in the last few months-reports indicate more than 400, including 34 police officers, since last September’s violence occurred-Gousse’s heated reluctance to allow the UN force to monitor the protests alone is irresponsible and likely to have deadly consequences.</p>
<p>In his March 5 radio address, President George Bush said that, “Freedom is the birthright and deep desire of every human soul.” Yvon Neptune and his fellow political prisoners, held under deplorable conditions for months without charge, certainly would agree. If they had heard the Bush address in their cells, the question is whether they could appreciate the bitter irony of Bush’s words: the fact that the statement comes from the man whose administration orchestrated the ousting of their democratically elected president and rushed in an obscure Boca Raton retiree to head a morally bankrupt regime that has arrested and jailed people just for their political beliefs.</p>
<p>DAVID R. KOLKER is a Research Fellow at the <a href="http://coha.org/" type="external">Council on Hemispheric Affairs</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
| 5,972 |
<p>Home Fries, written by Vince Gilligan and directed by Dean Parisot, stars Drew Barrymore as Sally, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks made pregnant by a relatively well-to-do married man called Henry. Henry’s wife Beatrice (Catherine O’Hara), having learned of his affair emotionally manipulates her two dutiful sons by an earlier marriage, Dorian (Luke Wilson) and Angus (Jake Busey), to kill their stepfather, who has a weak heart, by frightening him to death. As both boys are members of the Air National Guard and have apparently complete freedom to take out the AH-1 Cobra helicopter at weekends, this doesn’t prove too difficult—though you’ve got to suppose that old Henry was rather a suggestible sort. Does it never occur to him that it might be his stepsons in the helicopter that seems to be chasing him down, playing a prank?</p>
<p>Once he is dead, and in spite of his sins, Beatrice grieves extravagantly. She insists to her sons that she bears no responsibility for the death of their “rotten stepfather,” saying that the scare campaign was entirely their idea. But then she begins working on the boys by what must be similar methods of passive-aggressive blackmail to kill the girl, though she doesn’t yet know it is Sally. Dorian is horrified about what they have done, but Angus is entirely clinical and proud of their success. “I’m really starting to think I have a head for logistics,” he says. He immediately takes his mother’s hint and begins trying to think up ways to kill the girl whom Dorian, who learns her identity first, falls in love with, even though he realizes that she is his late stepfather’s inamorata and that the child she is carrying is, sort of, a brother.</p>
<p>If you can get over the inherent implausibility, it’s not a bad idea for a movie, and there are some funny scenes involving Sally’s family. A drunken hilbilly called Red (Lanny Flaherty), comes into the Burger-Matic where both Sally and Dorian work with a shotgun. He means to take hostages of the kids in a party there, and Dorian, dressed as the Buzz Burger robot, flattens him. It turns that he is the father both of Sally and of the boy he was supposedly taking hostage. His wife, Sally’s mother (Shelly Duvall), calls out to no one in particular, “I just want you to know, I ain’t with him no more.” She’s got a restraining order. But when they check his shotgun, she can’t resist scolding like a wife: “You didn’t even have any bullets in that gun!”</p>
<p>“What do you think I am, a maniac?” he asks.</p>
<p>Dorian and Angus didn’t have any bullets in their gun either when they frightened their stepfather to death, and we wonder briefly if there is a deeply Freudian and Oedipal significance to all this shooting of blanks. But any such interesting questions are soon forgotten as Mad Angus begins to go on the rampage (as gung-ho soldiers, we know from the movies, regularly do) with helicopter and without. This mildly suspenseful story—will he find and kill Sally before decent Dorian can prevent him?—takes up most of the rest of the movie. Dorian’s exertions on Sally’s behalf and at the same time his efforts to break away from the emotional hold of his monster mother naturally elicit our sympathy, but they never quite manage to be entertaining at the same time. His rather facile speech to his little posthumous step-brother to the effect that “Family’s the thing, and you got that in spades” is too familiar a sentiment quite to ring with the irony it is intended to.</p>
|
Home Fries
| false |
https://eppc.org/publications/home-fries/
| 1right-center
|
Home Fries
<p>Home Fries, written by Vince Gilligan and directed by Dean Parisot, stars Drew Barrymore as Sally, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks made pregnant by a relatively well-to-do married man called Henry. Henry’s wife Beatrice (Catherine O’Hara), having learned of his affair emotionally manipulates her two dutiful sons by an earlier marriage, Dorian (Luke Wilson) and Angus (Jake Busey), to kill their stepfather, who has a weak heart, by frightening him to death. As both boys are members of the Air National Guard and have apparently complete freedom to take out the AH-1 Cobra helicopter at weekends, this doesn’t prove too difficult—though you’ve got to suppose that old Henry was rather a suggestible sort. Does it never occur to him that it might be his stepsons in the helicopter that seems to be chasing him down, playing a prank?</p>
<p>Once he is dead, and in spite of his sins, Beatrice grieves extravagantly. She insists to her sons that she bears no responsibility for the death of their “rotten stepfather,” saying that the scare campaign was entirely their idea. But then she begins working on the boys by what must be similar methods of passive-aggressive blackmail to kill the girl, though she doesn’t yet know it is Sally. Dorian is horrified about what they have done, but Angus is entirely clinical and proud of their success. “I’m really starting to think I have a head for logistics,” he says. He immediately takes his mother’s hint and begins trying to think up ways to kill the girl whom Dorian, who learns her identity first, falls in love with, even though he realizes that she is his late stepfather’s inamorata and that the child she is carrying is, sort of, a brother.</p>
<p>If you can get over the inherent implausibility, it’s not a bad idea for a movie, and there are some funny scenes involving Sally’s family. A drunken hilbilly called Red (Lanny Flaherty), comes into the Burger-Matic where both Sally and Dorian work with a shotgun. He means to take hostages of the kids in a party there, and Dorian, dressed as the Buzz Burger robot, flattens him. It turns that he is the father both of Sally and of the boy he was supposedly taking hostage. His wife, Sally’s mother (Shelly Duvall), calls out to no one in particular, “I just want you to know, I ain’t with him no more.” She’s got a restraining order. But when they check his shotgun, she can’t resist scolding like a wife: “You didn’t even have any bullets in that gun!”</p>
<p>“What do you think I am, a maniac?” he asks.</p>
<p>Dorian and Angus didn’t have any bullets in their gun either when they frightened their stepfather to death, and we wonder briefly if there is a deeply Freudian and Oedipal significance to all this shooting of blanks. But any such interesting questions are soon forgotten as Mad Angus begins to go on the rampage (as gung-ho soldiers, we know from the movies, regularly do) with helicopter and without. This mildly suspenseful story—will he find and kill Sally before decent Dorian can prevent him?—takes up most of the rest of the movie. Dorian’s exertions on Sally’s behalf and at the same time his efforts to break away from the emotional hold of his monster mother naturally elicit our sympathy, but they never quite manage to be entertaining at the same time. His rather facile speech to his little posthumous step-brother to the effect that “Family’s the thing, and you got that in spades” is too familiar a sentiment quite to ring with the irony it is intended to.</p>
| 5,973 |
|
<p>Rory McIlroy says he has a heart ailment that will have to be monitored regularly but is not expected to affect his play.</p>
<p>McIlroy <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/golf/2018/01/12/rory-mcilroy-reveals-secret-heart-drama-china-virus-scare/" type="external">said in an interview with The Telegraph</a> that he has a thickening of the left ventricle. He says doctors told him it was caused by a viral infection he suffered in China 18 months ago.</p>
<p>He says he'll get an electrocardiogram every six months and an MRI once per year.</p>
<p>"There's a bit of scar tissue. For now, I just need to stay on top of it and have to stay fit. Hey, I was planning on doing that anyway," McIlroy said.</p>
<p>McIlroy <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd3-bygjK0O/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=embed_legacy" type="external">said later in an Instagram post</a> , "It's really not that big of a deal and nothing to worry about, apart from getting an annual checkup, like you should do anyway. ... I'm fit and healthy and can't wait to get my 2018 season started in Abu Dhabi next week."</p>
<p>McIlroy says he's fully recovered from the rib injury he suffered a year ago that contributed to a winless 2017. He finished the year ranked 11th, his worst year-end ranking since his rookie year in 2008.</p>
<p>McIlroy took three months off at the end of 2017 to allow his rib to heal. He plans to play eight events before the Masters, his most ambitious schedule ahead of Augusta National in the 10 years he's been eligible.</p>
<p>Rory McIlroy says he has a heart ailment that will have to be monitored regularly but is not expected to affect his play.</p>
<p>McIlroy <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/golf/2018/01/12/rory-mcilroy-reveals-secret-heart-drama-china-virus-scare/" type="external">said in an interview with The Telegraph</a> that he has a thickening of the left ventricle. He says doctors told him it was caused by a viral infection he suffered in China 18 months ago.</p>
<p>He says he'll get an electrocardiogram every six months and an MRI once per year.</p>
<p>"There's a bit of scar tissue. For now, I just need to stay on top of it and have to stay fit. Hey, I was planning on doing that anyway," McIlroy said.</p>
<p>McIlroy <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd3-bygjK0O/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=embed_legacy" type="external">said later in an Instagram post</a> , "It's really not that big of a deal and nothing to worry about, apart from getting an annual checkup, like you should do anyway. ... I'm fit and healthy and can't wait to get my 2018 season started in Abu Dhabi next week."</p>
<p>McIlroy says he's fully recovered from the rib injury he suffered a year ago that contributed to a winless 2017. He finished the year ranked 11th, his worst year-end ranking since his rookie year in 2008.</p>
<p>McIlroy took three months off at the end of 2017 to allow his rib to heal. He plans to play eight events before the Masters, his most ambitious schedule ahead of Augusta National in the 10 years he's been eligible.</p>
|
McIlroy reveals heart ailment that will require monitoring
| false |
https://apnews.com/amp/59f89846d8464bf4823d6a98c5e4519a
|
2018-01-13
| 2least
|
McIlroy reveals heart ailment that will require monitoring
<p>Rory McIlroy says he has a heart ailment that will have to be monitored regularly but is not expected to affect his play.</p>
<p>McIlroy <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/golf/2018/01/12/rory-mcilroy-reveals-secret-heart-drama-china-virus-scare/" type="external">said in an interview with The Telegraph</a> that he has a thickening of the left ventricle. He says doctors told him it was caused by a viral infection he suffered in China 18 months ago.</p>
<p>He says he'll get an electrocardiogram every six months and an MRI once per year.</p>
<p>"There's a bit of scar tissue. For now, I just need to stay on top of it and have to stay fit. Hey, I was planning on doing that anyway," McIlroy said.</p>
<p>McIlroy <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd3-bygjK0O/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=embed_legacy" type="external">said later in an Instagram post</a> , "It's really not that big of a deal and nothing to worry about, apart from getting an annual checkup, like you should do anyway. ... I'm fit and healthy and can't wait to get my 2018 season started in Abu Dhabi next week."</p>
<p>McIlroy says he's fully recovered from the rib injury he suffered a year ago that contributed to a winless 2017. He finished the year ranked 11th, his worst year-end ranking since his rookie year in 2008.</p>
<p>McIlroy took three months off at the end of 2017 to allow his rib to heal. He plans to play eight events before the Masters, his most ambitious schedule ahead of Augusta National in the 10 years he's been eligible.</p>
<p>Rory McIlroy says he has a heart ailment that will have to be monitored regularly but is not expected to affect his play.</p>
<p>McIlroy <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/golf/2018/01/12/rory-mcilroy-reveals-secret-heart-drama-china-virus-scare/" type="external">said in an interview with The Telegraph</a> that he has a thickening of the left ventricle. He says doctors told him it was caused by a viral infection he suffered in China 18 months ago.</p>
<p>He says he'll get an electrocardiogram every six months and an MRI once per year.</p>
<p>"There's a bit of scar tissue. For now, I just need to stay on top of it and have to stay fit. Hey, I was planning on doing that anyway," McIlroy said.</p>
<p>McIlroy <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd3-bygjK0O/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=embed_legacy" type="external">said later in an Instagram post</a> , "It's really not that big of a deal and nothing to worry about, apart from getting an annual checkup, like you should do anyway. ... I'm fit and healthy and can't wait to get my 2018 season started in Abu Dhabi next week."</p>
<p>McIlroy says he's fully recovered from the rib injury he suffered a year ago that contributed to a winless 2017. He finished the year ranked 11th, his worst year-end ranking since his rookie year in 2008.</p>
<p>McIlroy took three months off at the end of 2017 to allow his rib to heal. He plans to play eight events before the Masters, his most ambitious schedule ahead of Augusta National in the 10 years he's been eligible.</p>
| 5,974 |
<p>Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski (R) became the third sitting Republican senator to support marriage equality on Wednesday, just days before the Supreme Court is expected to rule on two cases that could expand marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.</p>
<p>In an interview with KTUU, the Anchorage NBC affiliate, Murkowski said she experienced a change of heart after spending time with a same-sex couple raising four adopted children. “This is a hard issue,” she admitted. “And there may be some that when they hear the position that I hold, that are deeply disappointed. There may be some that embrace the decision that I have made. I recognize that it is an area that, as a Republican, I will be criticized for.”</p>
<p>Murkowski joins 53 senators, including Republicans Rob Portman (OH) and Mark Kirk (IL), and all but three Senate Democrats in backing marriage. Forty-six senators still oppose it.</p>
<p>The senator previously voted for the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, a press release from the Human Rights Campaign noted. In 2004, however, she voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have added a ban on same-sex marriage to the U.S. Constitution.</p>
<p>Murkowski outlined her evolution on the issue <a href="http://www.murkowski.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=OpEds&amp;ContentRecord_id=8295b7c7-e504-4b32-bc25-354b3aef41dc%20" type="external">in an op-ed</a>, arguing that allowing all Americans “to marry the person they love and choose” woud keep “politicians out of the most private and personal aspects of peoples’ lives — while also encouraging more families to form and more adults to make a lifetime commitment to one another.”</p>
|
Third Republican Senator Comes Out For Marriage Equality
| true |
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/06/19/2179631/third-republican-senator-comes-out-for-marriage-equality/
|
2013-06-19
| 4left
|
Third Republican Senator Comes Out For Marriage Equality
<p>Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski (R) became the third sitting Republican senator to support marriage equality on Wednesday, just days before the Supreme Court is expected to rule on two cases that could expand marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.</p>
<p>In an interview with KTUU, the Anchorage NBC affiliate, Murkowski said she experienced a change of heart after spending time with a same-sex couple raising four adopted children. “This is a hard issue,” she admitted. “And there may be some that when they hear the position that I hold, that are deeply disappointed. There may be some that embrace the decision that I have made. I recognize that it is an area that, as a Republican, I will be criticized for.”</p>
<p>Murkowski joins 53 senators, including Republicans Rob Portman (OH) and Mark Kirk (IL), and all but three Senate Democrats in backing marriage. Forty-six senators still oppose it.</p>
<p>The senator previously voted for the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, a press release from the Human Rights Campaign noted. In 2004, however, she voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have added a ban on same-sex marriage to the U.S. Constitution.</p>
<p>Murkowski outlined her evolution on the issue <a href="http://www.murkowski.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=OpEds&amp;ContentRecord_id=8295b7c7-e504-4b32-bc25-354b3aef41dc%20" type="external">in an op-ed</a>, arguing that allowing all Americans “to marry the person they love and choose” woud keep “politicians out of the most private and personal aspects of peoples’ lives — while also encouraging more families to form and more adults to make a lifetime commitment to one another.”</p>
| 5,975 |
<p>HELLO! And welcome to what I think is actually my fourth Duggar-related post today! Although technically, I wrote <a href="" type="internal">this one</a> about how Jim Bob and Michelle just cannot figure out why people think that whole child molesting thing was such a big deal&#160;yesterday, but we pushed it to this morning because the news about him and his Ashley Madison account broke and obviously that was way more pressing. Is that too inside baseball? Probably! But whatever! Here we are, and I am going to wrap this up quick because I am very much looking forward to having a drink, ASAP.</p>
<p>So check it out. In addition to having an <a href="" type="internal">Ashley Madison profile</a>, and an <a href="" type="internal">OKCupid profile</a>, Radar is reporting that <a href="http://radaronline.com/celebrity-news/josh-duggar-internet-cheating-scandal-friends-arkansas-strippers-facebook/" type="external">Duggar also had a secret Facebook profile</a>. Naturally, it was listed under his erstwhile alias, “Joe Smithson.”</p>
<p>Sadly, Radar provides no link to this alleged Facebook page, but they are reporting that it was used to friend 32 attractive young women–some of whom work in the erotic dancing and lingerie modeling industries.</p>
<p>According to the profile, “Smithson” was posting on the site as far back as 2004 — four years before Josh married Anna.</p>
<p>“Smithson” is friends with 32 women, mostly attractive and young, and from the area of Arkansas where he lived before leaving for a political career in Washington, DC.</p>
<p>He’s also a follower of a dancer at Sensations Gentleman’s Club in Arkansas, a lingerie model, and a curvy blonde blogger.</p>
<p>According to the profile, Smithson was active on the site as recently as January 2014, one year after Duggar began working with the Family Research Council.</p>
<p>HUH. So there’s that! I guess that means that Josh Duggar is probably one of those creepy ass dudes who friends pretty ladies that he doesn’t know on Facebook. Fun! And not that surprising!</p>
<p>Anyway! Remember that whole apology thing Joshie wrote about how <a href="" type="internal">internet porn and SATAN</a>&#160;(who built a fortress&#160;of evil around him, obviously) were to blame for his having an Ashley Madison account? Well! It looks like the family has <a href="https://www.duggarfamily.com/michelles-blog?ID=181b81dc-471b-4bff-ae3e-7becfc87c911" type="external">updated the apology</a> and taken out the part where Josh confesses to an internet porn “addiction”–as well as the part about how he’s real sorry for how the fact that he was a teenage child molester reflected upon his family. Here is the new apology:</p>
<p>I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have been unfaithful to my wife.</p>
<p>I am so ashamed of the double life that I have been living and am grieved for the hurt, pain and disgrace my sin has caused my wife and family, and most of all Jesus and all those who profess faith in Him.</p>
<p>I have brought hurt and a reproach to my family, close friends and the fans of our show with my actions.</p>
<p>The last few years, while publicly stating I was fighting against immorality in our country I was hiding my own personal failures.</p>
<p>As I am learning the hard way, we have the freedom to choose our actions, but we do not get to choose our consequences. I deeply regret all the hurt I have caused so many by being such a bad example.</p>
<p>I humbly ask for your forgiveness. Please pray for my precious wife Anna and our family during this time.</p>
<p>Josh Duggar</p>
<p>He’s still real sorry to Jesus though!</p>
<p>ALSO ALSO, according to a source who contacted <a href="http://www.people.com/article/josh-duggar-cheating-scandal-anna-duggar-will-not-leave-source" type="external">People Magazine</a>, Anna Duggar will almost definitely not be divorcing Josh. Not really so much because it’s her decision and she thinks it’s worth it to keep him in her life, but because of their religion. The source also states that she will mostly be blaming herself. You know, because she is a woman.</p>
<p>“Maybe not publicly, ever, but privately, there will be some suggestion of whether or not she should have been more aware of the pressures Josh was under, of the issues he was facing, and how she could have better counseled him or helped him,” says the source.</p>
<p>Huh. How long do you think it is before one of the women in this Quiverful culture just straight up loses it and goes Lorena Bobbit on every dude in that whole gross family? Really! How much of that can a person even take?</p>
<p>Anyway, that concludes all of today’s Josh Duggar news that we didn’t feel like writing individual posts for. I am about to go bask in the schadenfreude with a nice cold vodka soda and thank whomever for the fact that I wasn’t raised in the&#160;dingbat fundamentalist cult that produces all these people.</p>
<p>THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT.</p>
|
Josh Duggar Update: His Secret Stripper-Friending Facebook Page And More
| true |
http://thefrisky.com/2015-08-20/josh-duggar-update-his-secret-stripper-friending-facebook-page-and-more/?utm_source%3Dsc-fb%26utm_medium%3Dref%26utm_campaign%3Dduggars
|
2018-10-03
| 4left
|
Josh Duggar Update: His Secret Stripper-Friending Facebook Page And More
<p>HELLO! And welcome to what I think is actually my fourth Duggar-related post today! Although technically, I wrote <a href="" type="internal">this one</a> about how Jim Bob and Michelle just cannot figure out why people think that whole child molesting thing was such a big deal&#160;yesterday, but we pushed it to this morning because the news about him and his Ashley Madison account broke and obviously that was way more pressing. Is that too inside baseball? Probably! But whatever! Here we are, and I am going to wrap this up quick because I am very much looking forward to having a drink, ASAP.</p>
<p>So check it out. In addition to having an <a href="" type="internal">Ashley Madison profile</a>, and an <a href="" type="internal">OKCupid profile</a>, Radar is reporting that <a href="http://radaronline.com/celebrity-news/josh-duggar-internet-cheating-scandal-friends-arkansas-strippers-facebook/" type="external">Duggar also had a secret Facebook profile</a>. Naturally, it was listed under his erstwhile alias, “Joe Smithson.”</p>
<p>Sadly, Radar provides no link to this alleged Facebook page, but they are reporting that it was used to friend 32 attractive young women–some of whom work in the erotic dancing and lingerie modeling industries.</p>
<p>According to the profile, “Smithson” was posting on the site as far back as 2004 — four years before Josh married Anna.</p>
<p>“Smithson” is friends with 32 women, mostly attractive and young, and from the area of Arkansas where he lived before leaving for a political career in Washington, DC.</p>
<p>He’s also a follower of a dancer at Sensations Gentleman’s Club in Arkansas, a lingerie model, and a curvy blonde blogger.</p>
<p>According to the profile, Smithson was active on the site as recently as January 2014, one year after Duggar began working with the Family Research Council.</p>
<p>HUH. So there’s that! I guess that means that Josh Duggar is probably one of those creepy ass dudes who friends pretty ladies that he doesn’t know on Facebook. Fun! And not that surprising!</p>
<p>Anyway! Remember that whole apology thing Joshie wrote about how <a href="" type="internal">internet porn and SATAN</a>&#160;(who built a fortress&#160;of evil around him, obviously) were to blame for his having an Ashley Madison account? Well! It looks like the family has <a href="https://www.duggarfamily.com/michelles-blog?ID=181b81dc-471b-4bff-ae3e-7becfc87c911" type="external">updated the apology</a> and taken out the part where Josh confesses to an internet porn “addiction”–as well as the part about how he’s real sorry for how the fact that he was a teenage child molester reflected upon his family. Here is the new apology:</p>
<p>I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have been unfaithful to my wife.</p>
<p>I am so ashamed of the double life that I have been living and am grieved for the hurt, pain and disgrace my sin has caused my wife and family, and most of all Jesus and all those who profess faith in Him.</p>
<p>I have brought hurt and a reproach to my family, close friends and the fans of our show with my actions.</p>
<p>The last few years, while publicly stating I was fighting against immorality in our country I was hiding my own personal failures.</p>
<p>As I am learning the hard way, we have the freedom to choose our actions, but we do not get to choose our consequences. I deeply regret all the hurt I have caused so many by being such a bad example.</p>
<p>I humbly ask for your forgiveness. Please pray for my precious wife Anna and our family during this time.</p>
<p>Josh Duggar</p>
<p>He’s still real sorry to Jesus though!</p>
<p>ALSO ALSO, according to a source who contacted <a href="http://www.people.com/article/josh-duggar-cheating-scandal-anna-duggar-will-not-leave-source" type="external">People Magazine</a>, Anna Duggar will almost definitely not be divorcing Josh. Not really so much because it’s her decision and she thinks it’s worth it to keep him in her life, but because of their religion. The source also states that she will mostly be blaming herself. You know, because she is a woman.</p>
<p>“Maybe not publicly, ever, but privately, there will be some suggestion of whether or not she should have been more aware of the pressures Josh was under, of the issues he was facing, and how she could have better counseled him or helped him,” says the source.</p>
<p>Huh. How long do you think it is before one of the women in this Quiverful culture just straight up loses it and goes Lorena Bobbit on every dude in that whole gross family? Really! How much of that can a person even take?</p>
<p>Anyway, that concludes all of today’s Josh Duggar news that we didn’t feel like writing individual posts for. I am about to go bask in the schadenfreude with a nice cold vodka soda and thank whomever for the fact that I wasn’t raised in the&#160;dingbat fundamentalist cult that produces all these people.</p>
<p>THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT.</p>
| 5,976 |
<p>During the 1997 campaign Alexa McDonough, leader of Canada's federal social democrats, announced her ambitions for the election. She did not expect to form the government nor even to become the official opposition. Her first goal was simply to make a respectable showing, so as to allow the New Democratic Party to move beyond the disastrous 1993 results that took it from forty-three to a mere nine members of Parliament (MPs). By dropping below twelve members, the NDP had forfeited its "official party" status, thereby losing both a large chunk of its financial base and its guaranteed participation in Question Period and House committees. McDonough claimed that, with even a small contingent in the House of Commons the NDP could speak for progressive forces against the right-wing, market-oriented policies of the other parties.</p>
<p />
|
Canada: The Difficult Legacies of Left-Wing Populism
| true |
https://dissentmagazine.org/article/canada-the-difficult-legacies-of-left-wing-populism
|
2018-10-03
| 4left
|
Canada: The Difficult Legacies of Left-Wing Populism
<p>During the 1997 campaign Alexa McDonough, leader of Canada's federal social democrats, announced her ambitions for the election. She did not expect to form the government nor even to become the official opposition. Her first goal was simply to make a respectable showing, so as to allow the New Democratic Party to move beyond the disastrous 1993 results that took it from forty-three to a mere nine members of Parliament (MPs). By dropping below twelve members, the NDP had forfeited its "official party" status, thereby losing both a large chunk of its financial base and its guaranteed participation in Question Period and House committees. McDonough claimed that, with even a small contingent in the House of Commons the NDP could speak for progressive forces against the right-wing, market-oriented policies of the other parties.</p>
<p />
| 5,977 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, left, waves at his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi as he leaves after a ceremonial welcome in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 5, 2014. Abbott is on a two-day visit to India. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)</p>
<p>NEW DELHI — Australia and India signed an agreement on Friday allowing the export of Australian uranium to New Delhi for use in power generation.</p>
<p>The deal was signed during a state visit by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who met his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, and other senior officials on Friday.</p>
<p>Australia, which has almost a third of the world’s known uranium reserves, imposes strict conditions on uranium exports and India’s failure to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty had long been a barrier to a trade deal.</p>
<p>Australia and India have been negotiating a nuclear safeguards agreement with verification mechanisms since 2012, when a previous Australian government agreed on civil nuclear energy cooperation with India that would eventually lead to the export of Australian uranium to the energy-starved South Asian nation.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>India faces chronic shortages of electricity and about 65 percent of its installed power generation capacity comes from burning fossil fuels including oil, coal and natural gas. It is eager to expand its nuclear power capacity.</p>
<p>Australia’s decision to sell uranium to India follows a civil nuclear agreement between India and the United States signed in 2008 that allows Washington to sell nuclear fuel and technology to India without it giving up its military nuclear program.</p>
<p>India is seeking a similar agreement with Japan. The two sides reported “significant progress” but failed to reach a last-minute agreement on safeguards sought by Tokyo when Modi was in Japan earlier this month.</p>
|
Australia signs uranium export deal with India
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/457430/australia-signs-uranium-export-deal-with-india.html
| 2least
|
Australia signs uranium export deal with India
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, left, waves at his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi as he leaves after a ceremonial welcome in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 5, 2014. Abbott is on a two-day visit to India. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)</p>
<p>NEW DELHI — Australia and India signed an agreement on Friday allowing the export of Australian uranium to New Delhi for use in power generation.</p>
<p>The deal was signed during a state visit by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who met his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, and other senior officials on Friday.</p>
<p>Australia, which has almost a third of the world’s known uranium reserves, imposes strict conditions on uranium exports and India’s failure to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty had long been a barrier to a trade deal.</p>
<p>Australia and India have been negotiating a nuclear safeguards agreement with verification mechanisms since 2012, when a previous Australian government agreed on civil nuclear energy cooperation with India that would eventually lead to the export of Australian uranium to the energy-starved South Asian nation.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>India faces chronic shortages of electricity and about 65 percent of its installed power generation capacity comes from burning fossil fuels including oil, coal and natural gas. It is eager to expand its nuclear power capacity.</p>
<p>Australia’s decision to sell uranium to India follows a civil nuclear agreement between India and the United States signed in 2008 that allows Washington to sell nuclear fuel and technology to India without it giving up its military nuclear program.</p>
<p>India is seeking a similar agreement with Japan. The two sides reported “significant progress” but failed to reach a last-minute agreement on safeguards sought by Tokyo when Modi was in Japan earlier this month.</p>
| 5,978 |
|
<p>The slaughter in Syria, with its terrible consequences in that country, the region and worldwide, demands urgent action to end the horrific human suffering. Unfortunately, some well-intentioned, concerned people advocate ratcheting up U.S. military engagement, which could lead to more death, destruction and suffering, not less. There are several reasoned refutations of supposed humanitarian intervention proposals such as a no-fly zone (promoted by some during the presidential election campaign) safe zones and humanitarian zones.</p>
<p>In the wake of the election and President-elect Donald Trump’s appeals to xenophobia, racism, misogyny and fear, no-fly, safe and humanitarian zones do have applicability, but in the United States, not Syria.</p>
<p>—No-fly-zones: Cities that didn’t vote for Trump (which means most cities) should declare their airspaces to be no-fly zones for Air Force One with Trump or Vice-President-elect Mike Pence on board. Residents could roll out virtual or actual “Sorry, we don’t want racist, misogynist fear-mongers in our city” unwelcome mats. Air traffic controllers, ground personnel, baggage handlers and military personnel (if Trump is flying into an Air Force Base) might organize a sick out on days Trump is scheduled to fly to their cities. Just say No-Fly.</p>
<p>—Safe Zones: Trump’s racist, anti-immigrant, anti-woman and Islamophobic rhetoric and policies demand the creation of safe zones and spaces for targeted populations. Safety pins on lapels are a great start as a statement of personal solidarity, but we can do more. Places of worship, schools, public parks, businesses and community centers can all be declared hatred-free zones and sanctuaries. Many cities have already declared themselves to be sanctuaries in terms of refusal by local governments and police agencies to cooperate with federal Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) deportations. With the renewed threat to undocumented human beings from a Trump regime, this needs to be expanded and strengthened. In Washington, DC, there is already a letter in the works to Mayor Muriel Bowser demanding she reaffirm her stance for DC sanctuary, oppose the cancellation of federal funds to sanctuary cities, and that she meet with local organizations supporting at-risk individuals and communities.</p>
<p>—Humanitarian zones: Also already in the works, many communities around the country have decided they will stand against xenophobic paranoia and instead welcome refugees (often fleeing U.S.-exacerbated wars) to their neighborhoods and homes. If refugees still want to come to this country after the election, they should be welcomed with open arms, minds, hearts, doors and wallets.</p>
|
No Fly, Safe and Humanitarian Zones – in the United States, not Syria
| true |
https://counterpunch.org/2016/11/17/no-fly-safe-and-humanitarian-zones-in-the-united-states-not-syria/
|
2016-11-17
| 4left
|
No Fly, Safe and Humanitarian Zones – in the United States, not Syria
<p>The slaughter in Syria, with its terrible consequences in that country, the region and worldwide, demands urgent action to end the horrific human suffering. Unfortunately, some well-intentioned, concerned people advocate ratcheting up U.S. military engagement, which could lead to more death, destruction and suffering, not less. There are several reasoned refutations of supposed humanitarian intervention proposals such as a no-fly zone (promoted by some during the presidential election campaign) safe zones and humanitarian zones.</p>
<p>In the wake of the election and President-elect Donald Trump’s appeals to xenophobia, racism, misogyny and fear, no-fly, safe and humanitarian zones do have applicability, but in the United States, not Syria.</p>
<p>—No-fly-zones: Cities that didn’t vote for Trump (which means most cities) should declare their airspaces to be no-fly zones for Air Force One with Trump or Vice-President-elect Mike Pence on board. Residents could roll out virtual or actual “Sorry, we don’t want racist, misogynist fear-mongers in our city” unwelcome mats. Air traffic controllers, ground personnel, baggage handlers and military personnel (if Trump is flying into an Air Force Base) might organize a sick out on days Trump is scheduled to fly to their cities. Just say No-Fly.</p>
<p>—Safe Zones: Trump’s racist, anti-immigrant, anti-woman and Islamophobic rhetoric and policies demand the creation of safe zones and spaces for targeted populations. Safety pins on lapels are a great start as a statement of personal solidarity, but we can do more. Places of worship, schools, public parks, businesses and community centers can all be declared hatred-free zones and sanctuaries. Many cities have already declared themselves to be sanctuaries in terms of refusal by local governments and police agencies to cooperate with federal Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) deportations. With the renewed threat to undocumented human beings from a Trump regime, this needs to be expanded and strengthened. In Washington, DC, there is already a letter in the works to Mayor Muriel Bowser demanding she reaffirm her stance for DC sanctuary, oppose the cancellation of federal funds to sanctuary cities, and that she meet with local organizations supporting at-risk individuals and communities.</p>
<p>—Humanitarian zones: Also already in the works, many communities around the country have decided they will stand against xenophobic paranoia and instead welcome refugees (often fleeing U.S.-exacerbated wars) to their neighborhoods and homes. If refugees still want to come to this country after the election, they should be welcomed with open arms, minds, hearts, doors and wallets.</p>
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<p />
<p>The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which wants to put a stop to mandatory arbitration clauses commonly found in banks' fine print, hosted a field hearing Thursday in Albuquerque where regulators outlined a proposed rule allowing more people to take their credit card and loan complaints to court, rather than being forced to argue their cases in front of closed arbitration panels.</p>
<p>The bureau's proposed plan to ban class action waivers - the proposed rule was released this morning - in consumer arbitration agreements generated spirited debate among speakers and panelists at the Albuquerque Convention Center.</p>
<p>New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas and representatives of consumer groups, both statewide and national, said people should be able to join class actions if they feel they've been harmed. Industry representatives said arbitration are clauses are necessary to prevent frivolous lawsuits.</p>
<p>At issue are terms that companies routinely insert in contracts for credit cards, payday loans and other products that require consumers to settle disputes through arbitration.</p>
<p>"Signing up for a credit card or opening a bank account can often mean signing away your right to take the company to court if things go wrong," bureau Director Richard Cordray said. "Many banks and financial companies avoid accountability by putting arbitration clauses in their contracts that block groups of their customers from suing them."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>On the bureau's radar for months, the proposal inserts the agency into a simmering controversy over whether the power to sue would actually benefit consumers or primarily generate more work for trial lawyers.</p>
<p>Consumer advocates say class-action lawsuits are an essential tool to help the public win relief and to hold companies accountable for bad behavior. The finance industry argues that curbing arbitration will result in higher legal costs that banks will ultimately pass on to consumers.</p>
<p>"There's only one winner coming out of this rule: the plaintiff's class action bar," said Alan Kaplinsky, head of the consumer finance practice at the law firm Ballard Spahr. "It's not good for the industry, for banks or for nonbanks. And consumers are going to be net losers."</p>
<p>Today's notice of proposed rulemaking is the next step in the bureau's process on arbitration. Once the proposal is published in the Federal Register, a 90-day public comment period begins.</p>
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Consumer agency unveils ban on mandatory arbitration
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/768410/consumer-agency-unveils-ban-on-mandatory-arbitration.html
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2016-05-05
| 2least
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Consumer agency unveils ban on mandatory arbitration
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which wants to put a stop to mandatory arbitration clauses commonly found in banks' fine print, hosted a field hearing Thursday in Albuquerque where regulators outlined a proposed rule allowing more people to take their credit card and loan complaints to court, rather than being forced to argue their cases in front of closed arbitration panels.</p>
<p>The bureau's proposed plan to ban class action waivers - the proposed rule was released this morning - in consumer arbitration agreements generated spirited debate among speakers and panelists at the Albuquerque Convention Center.</p>
<p>New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas and representatives of consumer groups, both statewide and national, said people should be able to join class actions if they feel they've been harmed. Industry representatives said arbitration are clauses are necessary to prevent frivolous lawsuits.</p>
<p>At issue are terms that companies routinely insert in contracts for credit cards, payday loans and other products that require consumers to settle disputes through arbitration.</p>
<p>"Signing up for a credit card or opening a bank account can often mean signing away your right to take the company to court if things go wrong," bureau Director Richard Cordray said. "Many banks and financial companies avoid accountability by putting arbitration clauses in their contracts that block groups of their customers from suing them."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>On the bureau's radar for months, the proposal inserts the agency into a simmering controversy over whether the power to sue would actually benefit consumers or primarily generate more work for trial lawyers.</p>
<p>Consumer advocates say class-action lawsuits are an essential tool to help the public win relief and to hold companies accountable for bad behavior. The finance industry argues that curbing arbitration will result in higher legal costs that banks will ultimately pass on to consumers.</p>
<p>"There's only one winner coming out of this rule: the plaintiff's class action bar," said Alan Kaplinsky, head of the consumer finance practice at the law firm Ballard Spahr. "It's not good for the industry, for banks or for nonbanks. And consumers are going to be net losers."</p>
<p>Today's notice of proposed rulemaking is the next step in the bureau's process on arbitration. Once the proposal is published in the Federal Register, a 90-day public comment period begins.</p>
| 5,980 |
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">American International Group</a> Inc (NYSE:AIG) will transfer its troublesome asbestos risk to <a href="" type="internal">Berkshire Hathaway</a> Inc, relieving it of a book of business that has cost it billions of dollars, the bailed-out insurer said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Laying off that risk to Berkshire's National Indemnity unit lets <a href="" type="internal">AIG</a> trade a large one-time fee for the safety of knowing it will not face more huge charges -- a plus as the U.S. government tries to convince investors to take its 92 percent stake in the company.</p>
<p>AIG is paying $1.65 billion to Berkshire to take on the U.S.-based risk in exchange for a coverage limit of $3.5 billion. Any further exposure beyond that limit would come back to AIG.</p>
<p>As the fee is less than the reserve for asbestos exposure AIG is still carrying on its books, the company will recognize a deferred gain over time on the difference.</p>
<p>AIG took a charge of more than $4 billion in the fourth quarter because its exposure to years-old asbestos claims in its Chartis property and casualty insurance business was much higher than it had expected.</p>
<p>National Indemnity has become a partner of choice for insurers looking to limit their asbestos exposure in exchange for hefty up-front fees. Last July CNA Financial Corp did a similar deal for a $2 billion payment. National Indemnity also did a similar but larger deal with a Lloyd's of London affiliate in 2006.</p>
<p>Barclays Capital, in a note, said the deal is attractive for Berkshire because of the investment income it can generate on the fee.</p>
<p>AIG shares rose 1.1 percent to $32.48 in afternoon trading, while Berkshire's actively traded Class B shares were up 1.3 percent at $81.53. The Standard &amp; Poor's insurance index rose 1.3 percent.</p>
<p>AIG shares closed Tuesday at their lowest point in nearly seven months. Adjusting for a dividend of warrants in early January, the stock has lost a third of its value this year, sharply underperforming a roughly flat S&amp;P insurance index.</p>
<p>The shares have been falling closer to the government's break-even point, which is $28.72 per share. At Tuesday's closing price, the government's potential profit stands at just over $5.6 billion.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Gerald E. <a href="" type="internal">McCormick</a> and Matthew Lewis)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
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AIG Sells Asbestos Risk to Berkshire
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http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/04/20/aig-sells-asbestos-risk-berkshire.html
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2016-01-28
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AIG Sells Asbestos Risk to Berkshire
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">American International Group</a> Inc (NYSE:AIG) will transfer its troublesome asbestos risk to <a href="" type="internal">Berkshire Hathaway</a> Inc, relieving it of a book of business that has cost it billions of dollars, the bailed-out insurer said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Laying off that risk to Berkshire's National Indemnity unit lets <a href="" type="internal">AIG</a> trade a large one-time fee for the safety of knowing it will not face more huge charges -- a plus as the U.S. government tries to convince investors to take its 92 percent stake in the company.</p>
<p>AIG is paying $1.65 billion to Berkshire to take on the U.S.-based risk in exchange for a coverage limit of $3.5 billion. Any further exposure beyond that limit would come back to AIG.</p>
<p>As the fee is less than the reserve for asbestos exposure AIG is still carrying on its books, the company will recognize a deferred gain over time on the difference.</p>
<p>AIG took a charge of more than $4 billion in the fourth quarter because its exposure to years-old asbestos claims in its Chartis property and casualty insurance business was much higher than it had expected.</p>
<p>National Indemnity has become a partner of choice for insurers looking to limit their asbestos exposure in exchange for hefty up-front fees. Last July CNA Financial Corp did a similar deal for a $2 billion payment. National Indemnity also did a similar but larger deal with a Lloyd's of London affiliate in 2006.</p>
<p>Barclays Capital, in a note, said the deal is attractive for Berkshire because of the investment income it can generate on the fee.</p>
<p>AIG shares rose 1.1 percent to $32.48 in afternoon trading, while Berkshire's actively traded Class B shares were up 1.3 percent at $81.53. The Standard &amp; Poor's insurance index rose 1.3 percent.</p>
<p>AIG shares closed Tuesday at their lowest point in nearly seven months. Adjusting for a dividend of warrants in early January, the stock has lost a third of its value this year, sharply underperforming a roughly flat S&amp;P insurance index.</p>
<p>The shares have been falling closer to the government's break-even point, which is $28.72 per share. At Tuesday's closing price, the government's potential profit stands at just over $5.6 billion.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Gerald E. <a href="" type="internal">McCormick</a> and Matthew Lewis)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
| 5,981 |
<p />
<p>It's a glittering jewel in Donald Trump's hotel empire. Securing the rights to use the government-owned building where it is housed took him more than a year of negotiating. The resulting lease itself runs hundreds of pages, complicated and dreadfully dull.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Dull save for clause 37.19 on top of page 103, which has suddenly become the subject of great discussion among experts on government contracting law, and not a few Trump critics.</p>
<p>If some of the experts are correct — a big if — the first 43 words of this clause could force Trump to relinquish his equity stake in the Trump International Hotel just down the street from the White House. The key part: No "elected official of the Government of the United States" shall be "admitted to any share or part of this Lease."</p>
<p>"He's going to have to divest himself of the hotel," said John Sindelar, a former senior adviser to the head of the General Services Administration, the government agency that negotiated the lease three years ago. Sindelar left the agency in 2007.</p>
<p>Other contracting experts agreed, though not all of them. David Drabkin, once the GSA's senior procurement officer, said he thinks the clause doesn't apply to Trump because it only prohibits adding elected officials to the lease after it was signed, not banning original parties to it who subsequently get elected to office. He adds, though, that a president leasing the building is "absolutely untenable" because of other conflicts of interest issues.</p>
<p>The Trump Organization did not respond to emails asking for comment.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Whoever is correct, get ready for a battle over the issue.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, Trump tweeted that legal documents were being prepared that would "take me completely out of business operations," but made no mention of selling his ownership interest. He has previously said that he planned to have three of his adult children run his business. Contract experts say that would likely fall short of meeting the requirement for holding on to the hotel lease.</p>
<p>Since his election, government ethics lawyers have been urging Trump to sell his assets and put the money in a blind trust controlled by an outside party, not his children. They say that is the only sure way to avoid conflicts between his pursuit of private profit and the public good.</p>
<p>But aside from brow beating the president-elect, there is little critics can do. Federal conflicts of interest rule generally don't apply to the president, a fact that Trump himself has emphasized.</p>
<p>The D.C. hotel may prove the exception, however, because he must follow the terms of the lease.</p>
<p>"It's a breach of contract," said Richard Painter, chief White House ethics lawyer for George W. Bush. "He's got to get rid of the hotel."</p>
<p>The Trump Organization won the right to lease the Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue in 2012, beating out several groups. Trump and the GSA took more than a year to hammer out a 60-year lease for its use.</p>
<p>The annual cost for Trump: $3 million a year, plus payments based on inflation and the success of the hotel, said Steven Schooner, a professor of government procurement law at George Washington University who has studied the contract.</p>
<p>Schooner has been one of the biggest critics of the deal remaining in place, and has called for the GSA to act fast to terminate the contract. Other lawyers familiar with the contract said GSA could simply alert Trump that he is in violation of the terms, and demand that he sell his ownership interest in the contract to another party.</p>
<p>Pressure is mounting on the agency. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland and two Democratic lawmakers have called on it to take "concrete steps" to avoid "a clear and very real conflict" triggered as soon as Trump is sworn in next year.</p>
<p>The GSA declined to answer questions about its interpretation of the clause, what it might do or whether it is talking to the president elect. The agency released a statement saying that it "plans to coordinate" with the president-elect's team to "address any issues."</p>
<p>For Trump, the loss of the hotel would be a blow. He poured roughly $200 million into refurbishing the building. And he has an equity stake in the hotel and isn't just renting out his name, as is the case with many of his hotels around the world.</p>
<p>Charles Tiefer, an expert in government contract law at the University of Baltimore, said the language in the contract is "unambiguous" and that Trump will clearly be in violation when becomes president. Tiefer served as the general counsel of the House of Representatives for 11 years before he began teaching and said the words are similar to ones used in rules prohibiting members of Congress from doing business with the federal government.</p>
<p>Painter, the former chief ethics lawyer for Bush, said the hotel is a problem for Trump in another way. If foreign diplomats stay at the hotel, as has been reported, then Trump could be seen as running afoul of the emoluments clause of the Constitution banning payments to the president from foreign governments.</p>
<p>Other critics have pointed out that the contract requires negotiations over those additional payments each year, and that you cannot expect a GSA employee acting in taxpayer interest to take a tough stand against members of the president's family or officials of his company to get more money for the government-owned property.</p>
<p>Drabkin, the former senior procurement officer at the GSA, thinks for this reason alone, the president-elect should give up the hotel.</p>
<p>But as far as the tool to force him to do that, Drabkin doesn't think clause 37.19 is it.</p>
<p>"He was already a tenant," he wrote in an emailed analysis of the contract. "Whether the language of the provision was inartfully drafted is another matter."</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Bernard Condon can be reached at http://twitter.com/BernardFCondon.</p>
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Lawyers: Trump has to sell DC hotel before taking office
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/01/lawyers-trump-has-to-sell-dc-hotel-before-taking-office.html
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2016-12-01
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Lawyers: Trump has to sell DC hotel before taking office
<p />
<p>It's a glittering jewel in Donald Trump's hotel empire. Securing the rights to use the government-owned building where it is housed took him more than a year of negotiating. The resulting lease itself runs hundreds of pages, complicated and dreadfully dull.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Dull save for clause 37.19 on top of page 103, which has suddenly become the subject of great discussion among experts on government contracting law, and not a few Trump critics.</p>
<p>If some of the experts are correct — a big if — the first 43 words of this clause could force Trump to relinquish his equity stake in the Trump International Hotel just down the street from the White House. The key part: No "elected official of the Government of the United States" shall be "admitted to any share or part of this Lease."</p>
<p>"He's going to have to divest himself of the hotel," said John Sindelar, a former senior adviser to the head of the General Services Administration, the government agency that negotiated the lease three years ago. Sindelar left the agency in 2007.</p>
<p>Other contracting experts agreed, though not all of them. David Drabkin, once the GSA's senior procurement officer, said he thinks the clause doesn't apply to Trump because it only prohibits adding elected officials to the lease after it was signed, not banning original parties to it who subsequently get elected to office. He adds, though, that a president leasing the building is "absolutely untenable" because of other conflicts of interest issues.</p>
<p>The Trump Organization did not respond to emails asking for comment.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Whoever is correct, get ready for a battle over the issue.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, Trump tweeted that legal documents were being prepared that would "take me completely out of business operations," but made no mention of selling his ownership interest. He has previously said that he planned to have three of his adult children run his business. Contract experts say that would likely fall short of meeting the requirement for holding on to the hotel lease.</p>
<p>Since his election, government ethics lawyers have been urging Trump to sell his assets and put the money in a blind trust controlled by an outside party, not his children. They say that is the only sure way to avoid conflicts between his pursuit of private profit and the public good.</p>
<p>But aside from brow beating the president-elect, there is little critics can do. Federal conflicts of interest rule generally don't apply to the president, a fact that Trump himself has emphasized.</p>
<p>The D.C. hotel may prove the exception, however, because he must follow the terms of the lease.</p>
<p>"It's a breach of contract," said Richard Painter, chief White House ethics lawyer for George W. Bush. "He's got to get rid of the hotel."</p>
<p>The Trump Organization won the right to lease the Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue in 2012, beating out several groups. Trump and the GSA took more than a year to hammer out a 60-year lease for its use.</p>
<p>The annual cost for Trump: $3 million a year, plus payments based on inflation and the success of the hotel, said Steven Schooner, a professor of government procurement law at George Washington University who has studied the contract.</p>
<p>Schooner has been one of the biggest critics of the deal remaining in place, and has called for the GSA to act fast to terminate the contract. Other lawyers familiar with the contract said GSA could simply alert Trump that he is in violation of the terms, and demand that he sell his ownership interest in the contract to another party.</p>
<p>Pressure is mounting on the agency. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland and two Democratic lawmakers have called on it to take "concrete steps" to avoid "a clear and very real conflict" triggered as soon as Trump is sworn in next year.</p>
<p>The GSA declined to answer questions about its interpretation of the clause, what it might do or whether it is talking to the president elect. The agency released a statement saying that it "plans to coordinate" with the president-elect's team to "address any issues."</p>
<p>For Trump, the loss of the hotel would be a blow. He poured roughly $200 million into refurbishing the building. And he has an equity stake in the hotel and isn't just renting out his name, as is the case with many of his hotels around the world.</p>
<p>Charles Tiefer, an expert in government contract law at the University of Baltimore, said the language in the contract is "unambiguous" and that Trump will clearly be in violation when becomes president. Tiefer served as the general counsel of the House of Representatives for 11 years before he began teaching and said the words are similar to ones used in rules prohibiting members of Congress from doing business with the federal government.</p>
<p>Painter, the former chief ethics lawyer for Bush, said the hotel is a problem for Trump in another way. If foreign diplomats stay at the hotel, as has been reported, then Trump could be seen as running afoul of the emoluments clause of the Constitution banning payments to the president from foreign governments.</p>
<p>Other critics have pointed out that the contract requires negotiations over those additional payments each year, and that you cannot expect a GSA employee acting in taxpayer interest to take a tough stand against members of the president's family or officials of his company to get more money for the government-owned property.</p>
<p>Drabkin, the former senior procurement officer at the GSA, thinks for this reason alone, the president-elect should give up the hotel.</p>
<p>But as far as the tool to force him to do that, Drabkin doesn't think clause 37.19 is it.</p>
<p>"He was already a tenant," he wrote in an emailed analysis of the contract. "Whether the language of the provision was inartfully drafted is another matter."</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Bernard Condon can be reached at http://twitter.com/BernardFCondon.</p>
| 5,982 |
<p>Shares of Fitbit Inc. tumbled 5.7% in premarket trade, after the maker of fitness-tracking wristbands was downgraded at Pacific Crest, which cited signs that the company's flagship holiday product was off to a slow start. Analyst Brad Erickson cut his rating to a rare underweight from sector weight. Through Wednesday, only two of the 187 technology companies covered by Pacific Crest were rated underweight. Erickson said he spoke to numerous big box retailers, and although he found "meaningful inventory accumulation," run rates for the Charge 2 product are below that of Blaze and Alta products earlier this year, "which is a disappointing start, in or view." He is also concerned about Fitbit's core utility issue. "We continue to believe that a large portion of Fitbit owners stop using the device within months, which is a fundamental issue driving high churn and that will make growth more challenging," Erickson wrote in a note to clients. The stock had plunged 44% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&amp;P 500 had gained 6.2%.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
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Fitbit Downgraded To Rare Underweight Rating On Concerns Over Sales Growth And Churn
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http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/09/29/fitbit-downgraded-to-rare-underweight-rating-on-concerns-over-sales-growth-and.html
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2016-09-29
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Fitbit Downgraded To Rare Underweight Rating On Concerns Over Sales Growth And Churn
<p>Shares of Fitbit Inc. tumbled 5.7% in premarket trade, after the maker of fitness-tracking wristbands was downgraded at Pacific Crest, which cited signs that the company's flagship holiday product was off to a slow start. Analyst Brad Erickson cut his rating to a rare underweight from sector weight. Through Wednesday, only two of the 187 technology companies covered by Pacific Crest were rated underweight. Erickson said he spoke to numerous big box retailers, and although he found "meaningful inventory accumulation," run rates for the Charge 2 product are below that of Blaze and Alta products earlier this year, "which is a disappointing start, in or view." He is also concerned about Fitbit's core utility issue. "We continue to believe that a large portion of Fitbit owners stop using the device within months, which is a fundamental issue driving high churn and that will make growth more challenging," Erickson wrote in a note to clients. The stock had plunged 44% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&amp;P 500 had gained 6.2%.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
| 5,983 |
<p><a href="http://variety.com/t/bernie-casey/" type="external">Bernie Casey</a>, the former NFL star known for his work in the films “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/boxcar-bertha/" type="external">Boxcar Bertha</a>” and “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/revenge-of-the-nerds/" type="external">Revenge of the Nerds</a>,” died on Tuesday in Los Angeles after a brief illness, Variety has confirmed. He was 78.</p>
<p>Casey made his film debut in the 1969 sequel “Guns of the Magnificent Seven.” He then acted alongside fellow former NFL star Jim Brown in the crime dramas “…tick…tick…tick…” and “Black Gunn.”&#160;He played the title role in the 1972 science fiction TV film “Gargoyles,” and then portrayed Tamara Dobson’s love interest in 1973’s “Cleopatra Jones.”</p>
<p>Casey wrote, directed, produced, and starred in “The Dinner,” a 1997 film centering on three black men who discuss slavery, black self-loathing, and homophobia. That same year, he loosely portrayed a version George Jackson, a member of the Black Panther Party who was killed, in the drama “Brothers.”</p>
<p>In Martin Scorsese’s “Boxcar Bertha,” he played a heroic former slave and train robber, and then a recurring character in Bond films, CIA agent Felix Leiter. In 1981, he portrayed a detective opposite another former NFL player-turned-actor, Burt Reynolds, in “Sharky’s Machine,” which was directed by Reynolds. The two worked together a few years later on “Rent-a-Cop.”</p>
<p>His prolific acting career also included films such as “Revenge of the Nerds,” “Black Chariot,” “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” “In the Mouth of Madness,” “The Glass Shield,” “Mr. Hyde,” “Once Upon a Time … When We Were Colored,” and “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.”&#160;On television, he was in “Roots: The Next Generations,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” and “Bay City Blues.”</p>
<p>Casey was born in&#160;Wyco, W.Va., and raised in Columbus, Ohio, before attending Bowling Green State University on a football scholarship. There, in addition to his football successes, he was a record-breaking track and field athlete, and competed in the 1960 U.S. Olympic trials.</p>
<p>He was picked ninth overall in the NFL draft, and spent six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers before going to the Rams for two years. He retired at age 30 and finished his professional career with 359 catches for 5,444 yards&#160;and 40 touchdowns.</p>
<p>After leaving the NFL, he dabbled in acting, painting, and poetry. Casey received an honorary doctorate degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design. He advocated for arts education and served as chairman of the board at the Georgia school. Casey was both a published poet and painter, whose work appeared in galleries across the globe.</p>
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Bernie Casey, ‘Revenge of the Nerds’ Actor and Former NFL Player, Dies at 78
| false |
https://newsline.com/bernie-casey-revenge-of-the-nerds-actor-and-former-nfl-player-dies-at-78/
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2017-09-20
| 1right-center
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Bernie Casey, ‘Revenge of the Nerds’ Actor and Former NFL Player, Dies at 78
<p><a href="http://variety.com/t/bernie-casey/" type="external">Bernie Casey</a>, the former NFL star known for his work in the films “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/boxcar-bertha/" type="external">Boxcar Bertha</a>” and “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/revenge-of-the-nerds/" type="external">Revenge of the Nerds</a>,” died on Tuesday in Los Angeles after a brief illness, Variety has confirmed. He was 78.</p>
<p>Casey made his film debut in the 1969 sequel “Guns of the Magnificent Seven.” He then acted alongside fellow former NFL star Jim Brown in the crime dramas “…tick…tick…tick…” and “Black Gunn.”&#160;He played the title role in the 1972 science fiction TV film “Gargoyles,” and then portrayed Tamara Dobson’s love interest in 1973’s “Cleopatra Jones.”</p>
<p>Casey wrote, directed, produced, and starred in “The Dinner,” a 1997 film centering on three black men who discuss slavery, black self-loathing, and homophobia. That same year, he loosely portrayed a version George Jackson, a member of the Black Panther Party who was killed, in the drama “Brothers.”</p>
<p>In Martin Scorsese’s “Boxcar Bertha,” he played a heroic former slave and train robber, and then a recurring character in Bond films, CIA agent Felix Leiter. In 1981, he portrayed a detective opposite another former NFL player-turned-actor, Burt Reynolds, in “Sharky’s Machine,” which was directed by Reynolds. The two worked together a few years later on “Rent-a-Cop.”</p>
<p>His prolific acting career also included films such as “Revenge of the Nerds,” “Black Chariot,” “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” “In the Mouth of Madness,” “The Glass Shield,” “Mr. Hyde,” “Once Upon a Time … When We Were Colored,” and “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.”&#160;On television, he was in “Roots: The Next Generations,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” and “Bay City Blues.”</p>
<p>Casey was born in&#160;Wyco, W.Va., and raised in Columbus, Ohio, before attending Bowling Green State University on a football scholarship. There, in addition to his football successes, he was a record-breaking track and field athlete, and competed in the 1960 U.S. Olympic trials.</p>
<p>He was picked ninth overall in the NFL draft, and spent six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers before going to the Rams for two years. He retired at age 30 and finished his professional career with 359 catches for 5,444 yards&#160;and 40 touchdowns.</p>
<p>After leaving the NFL, he dabbled in acting, painting, and poetry. Casey received an honorary doctorate degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design. He advocated for arts education and served as chairman of the board at the Georgia school. Casey was both a published poet and painter, whose work appeared in galleries across the globe.</p>
| 5,984 |
<p>BOSCAWEN, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire man has been charged with resisting arrest and biting a police dog.</p>
<p>Police say the man unsuccessfully tried to hide under a pile of clothes to evade arrest over the weekend and then put the police dog in a chokehold and bit it on the head.</p>
<p>State police were asked to help deal with a shooting on Sunday in Boscawen, a town of about 4,000 residents. They say two men in a home were wanted on outstanding warrants and both resisted arrest before one exchanged bites with the dog.</p>
<p>Police haven’t released the men’s names. They say the man who bit the dog faces charges including resisting arrest, interfering with a police dog and assaulting an officer.</p>
<p>The police dog is named Veda and has been cleared medically to return to duty.</p>
<p>BOSCAWEN, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire man has been charged with resisting arrest and biting a police dog.</p>
<p>Police say the man unsuccessfully tried to hide under a pile of clothes to evade arrest over the weekend and then put the police dog in a chokehold and bit it on the head.</p>
<p>State police were asked to help deal with a shooting on Sunday in Boscawen, a town of about 4,000 residents. They say two men in a home were wanted on outstanding warrants and both resisted arrest before one exchanged bites with the dog.</p>
<p>Police haven’t released the men’s names. They say the man who bit the dog faces charges including resisting arrest, interfering with a police dog and assaulting an officer.</p>
<p>The police dog is named Veda and has been cleared medically to return to duty.</p>
|
Police: Dog bites man, man bites dog, then man is arrested
| false |
https://apnews.com/179f1b724c9e4c3c89d2c0f44cbc782c
|
2018-01-23
| 2least
|
Police: Dog bites man, man bites dog, then man is arrested
<p>BOSCAWEN, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire man has been charged with resisting arrest and biting a police dog.</p>
<p>Police say the man unsuccessfully tried to hide under a pile of clothes to evade arrest over the weekend and then put the police dog in a chokehold and bit it on the head.</p>
<p>State police were asked to help deal with a shooting on Sunday in Boscawen, a town of about 4,000 residents. They say two men in a home were wanted on outstanding warrants and both resisted arrest before one exchanged bites with the dog.</p>
<p>Police haven’t released the men’s names. They say the man who bit the dog faces charges including resisting arrest, interfering with a police dog and assaulting an officer.</p>
<p>The police dog is named Veda and has been cleared medically to return to duty.</p>
<p>BOSCAWEN, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire man has been charged with resisting arrest and biting a police dog.</p>
<p>Police say the man unsuccessfully tried to hide under a pile of clothes to evade arrest over the weekend and then put the police dog in a chokehold and bit it on the head.</p>
<p>State police were asked to help deal with a shooting on Sunday in Boscawen, a town of about 4,000 residents. They say two men in a home were wanted on outstanding warrants and both resisted arrest before one exchanged bites with the dog.</p>
<p>Police haven’t released the men’s names. They say the man who bit the dog faces charges including resisting arrest, interfering with a police dog and assaulting an officer.</p>
<p>The police dog is named Veda and has been cleared medically to return to duty.</p>
| 5,985 |
<p>If you're shopping for a health insurance policy on the Obamacare exchanges during <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/11/01/obamacare-open-enrollment-starts-today-heres-your.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=2303a088-c16a-11e7-814a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">open enrollment Opens a New Window.</a>, you'll need to look carefully at your plan options. You may be surprised to find a plan classified as a gold plan is cheaper than a silver plan offering less coverage.</p>
<p>Why would gold cost less than silver? You're about to find out.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Plans sold on the Obamacare exchanges are categorized into different tiers depending on how much healthcare spending you pay for out of pocket. Bronze plans have the cheapest premiums but the most limited coverage. Platinum plans provide the most coverage but have costly premiums, so you pay more up front but have low deductibles, low coinsurance costs, and limits on your out-of-pocket spending.</p>
<p>Silver and gold plans fall between those two extremes. Silver plans are expected to cover around 70% of healthcare costs. Gold plans, with higher premiums, cover 80%.</p>
<p>But there's now a quirk, thanks to a <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/10/19/6-ways-the-trump-administration-is-sabotaging-obam.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=2303a088-c16a-11e7-814a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">decision from President Trump Opens a New Window.</a>, that could mean gold plans with better coverage are cheaper.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The decision shaking up the insurance market relates to cost sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies.&#160;CSRs were built into Obamacare to ensure lower-income policyholders could afford to use their insurance. Insurers subsidize deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs, and they're repaid by the federal government through CSR subsidies.</p>
<p>However, Congress hasn't appropriated money to pay CSRs since 2014. Until recently, CSRs were being paid anyway, but in October 2017, Trump announced payments would stop.&#160;Insurers are still obligated to cover policyholder costs, so they'll need to raise the money.</p>
<p>The most likely way they'll do that is by raising premiums on insurance policies classified as silver plans. This will raise premiums on silver plans by an estimated 19% in states using Healthcare.gov, 15% in Medicaid expansion states, and 21% in states that didn't expand Medicaid, according to the&#160;Kaiser Family Foundation.</p>
<p>In most states, insurers have either already increased silver plan rates or are expected to soon.&#160;The result of silver plan premium increases: In around one-sixth of counties using Healthcare.gov marketplaces, gold plans now cost less than silver coverage.</p>
<p>In addition to CSRs, Obamacare is also set up to provide Advanced Premium Tax Credits, which are subsidies for insurance premiums. Tax credits are calculated so you pay a capped percentage of your income for a benchmark policy. The second-cheapest silver plan in each area is the benchmark plan used to calculate tax credits.</p>
<p>If your income is $1,500 monthly, and premiums for the benchmark silver plan are $500, then your premium would be capped at around 4% of your income, so you'd pay around $60 monthly and&#160;get a tax credit of $440 monthly. You could use this $440 credit to buy your benchmark plan or to buy a more expensive plan if you pay the difference. If a gold plan is $575, you'd pay $135 for the gold plan -- that's the $60 you'd have paid for your benchmark plan plus the extra $75 for the upgrade to gold.</p>
<p>When insurers raise the price of the benchmark silver plan, your subsidies go up. If the benchmark plan premiums are $600 monthly, your contribution is still capped at $60, but now you're getting a premium tax credit of $540. If you apply the $540 to a $575 gold plan, you pay $35 monthly for gold -- less than the silver cost.</p>
<p>Insurance buyers not receiving subsidies are obviously better off purchasing a gold plan with better coverage for $575 than a skimpier silver plan for $600. Of course, unsubsidized buyers no longer have the option to buy that cheaper $500 silver plan, as it no longer exists -- which could force healthier unsubsidized buyers who don't use much care to pay more overall since they're forced into policies with higher premiums.</p>
<p>Whenever you <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/06/25/5-things-to-look-for-when-shopping-for-health-insu.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=2303a088-c16a-11e7-814a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">shop for insurance Opens a New Window.</a>, you'll need to consider a variety of factors, including the premiums, deductible, and coinsurance costs.&#160;Now you have the added wrinkle of plans with more coverage coming with a lower premium. Be sure to shop carefully and check out the gold plans to see if they're your best bet.</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;referring_guid=2303a088-c16a-11e7-814a-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;referring_guid=2303a088-c16a-11e7-814a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
|
Why a Gold Obamacare Plan May Be Cheaper Than a Silver One
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/11/19/why-gold-obamacare-plan-may-be-cheaper-than-silver-one.html
|
2017-11-19
| 0right
|
Why a Gold Obamacare Plan May Be Cheaper Than a Silver One
<p>If you're shopping for a health insurance policy on the Obamacare exchanges during <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/11/01/obamacare-open-enrollment-starts-today-heres-your.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=2303a088-c16a-11e7-814a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">open enrollment Opens a New Window.</a>, you'll need to look carefully at your plan options. You may be surprised to find a plan classified as a gold plan is cheaper than a silver plan offering less coverage.</p>
<p>Why would gold cost less than silver? You're about to find out.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Plans sold on the Obamacare exchanges are categorized into different tiers depending on how much healthcare spending you pay for out of pocket. Bronze plans have the cheapest premiums but the most limited coverage. Platinum plans provide the most coverage but have costly premiums, so you pay more up front but have low deductibles, low coinsurance costs, and limits on your out-of-pocket spending.</p>
<p>Silver and gold plans fall between those two extremes. Silver plans are expected to cover around 70% of healthcare costs. Gold plans, with higher premiums, cover 80%.</p>
<p>But there's now a quirk, thanks to a <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/10/19/6-ways-the-trump-administration-is-sabotaging-obam.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=2303a088-c16a-11e7-814a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">decision from President Trump Opens a New Window.</a>, that could mean gold plans with better coverage are cheaper.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The decision shaking up the insurance market relates to cost sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies.&#160;CSRs were built into Obamacare to ensure lower-income policyholders could afford to use their insurance. Insurers subsidize deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs, and they're repaid by the federal government through CSR subsidies.</p>
<p>However, Congress hasn't appropriated money to pay CSRs since 2014. Until recently, CSRs were being paid anyway, but in October 2017, Trump announced payments would stop.&#160;Insurers are still obligated to cover policyholder costs, so they'll need to raise the money.</p>
<p>The most likely way they'll do that is by raising premiums on insurance policies classified as silver plans. This will raise premiums on silver plans by an estimated 19% in states using Healthcare.gov, 15% in Medicaid expansion states, and 21% in states that didn't expand Medicaid, according to the&#160;Kaiser Family Foundation.</p>
<p>In most states, insurers have either already increased silver plan rates or are expected to soon.&#160;The result of silver plan premium increases: In around one-sixth of counties using Healthcare.gov marketplaces, gold plans now cost less than silver coverage.</p>
<p>In addition to CSRs, Obamacare is also set up to provide Advanced Premium Tax Credits, which are subsidies for insurance premiums. Tax credits are calculated so you pay a capped percentage of your income for a benchmark policy. The second-cheapest silver plan in each area is the benchmark plan used to calculate tax credits.</p>
<p>If your income is $1,500 monthly, and premiums for the benchmark silver plan are $500, then your premium would be capped at around 4% of your income, so you'd pay around $60 monthly and&#160;get a tax credit of $440 monthly. You could use this $440 credit to buy your benchmark plan or to buy a more expensive plan if you pay the difference. If a gold plan is $575, you'd pay $135 for the gold plan -- that's the $60 you'd have paid for your benchmark plan plus the extra $75 for the upgrade to gold.</p>
<p>When insurers raise the price of the benchmark silver plan, your subsidies go up. If the benchmark plan premiums are $600 monthly, your contribution is still capped at $60, but now you're getting a premium tax credit of $540. If you apply the $540 to a $575 gold plan, you pay $35 monthly for gold -- less than the silver cost.</p>
<p>Insurance buyers not receiving subsidies are obviously better off purchasing a gold plan with better coverage for $575 than a skimpier silver plan for $600. Of course, unsubsidized buyers no longer have the option to buy that cheaper $500 silver plan, as it no longer exists -- which could force healthier unsubsidized buyers who don't use much care to pay more overall since they're forced into policies with higher premiums.</p>
<p>Whenever you <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/06/25/5-things-to-look-for-when-shopping-for-health-insu.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=2303a088-c16a-11e7-814a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">shop for insurance Opens a New Window.</a>, you'll need to consider a variety of factors, including the premiums, deductible, and coinsurance costs.&#160;Now you have the added wrinkle of plans with more coverage coming with a lower premium. Be sure to shop carefully and check out the gold plans to see if they're your best bet.</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;referring_guid=2303a088-c16a-11e7-814a-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;referring_guid=2303a088-c16a-11e7-814a-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
| 5,986 |
<p>LONDON (Reuters) - Drugmakers’ response to the threat posed by “superbugs” remains patchy even after years of warnings, according to the first analysis of individual companies’ efforts to tackle the antibiotic resistance crisis.</p>
<p>The rise of drug-resistant bacteria is a growing threat to modern medicine with the emergence of infections resistant to even last-resort antibiotics - a situation made worse in recent years by overuse of antibiotics and cutbacks in drug research.</p>
<p>New analysis by the non-profit Access to Medicine Foundation (AMF), published on Tuesday, found that GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson &amp; Johnson were doing more than most among large research-based pharmaceutical companies to tackle the problem, while Mylan led the way among generic drugmakers and Entasis was top among biotechs.</p>
<p>Overall, GSK led the field with 55 antimicrobial pipeline projects, including 13 vaccines.</p>
<p>But action taken by such companies is only the start of what could be done to address the problem, which former Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neill in 2014 estimated could cause 10 million deaths a year worldwide by 2050.</p>
<p>“The whole of modern medicine depends on being able to control and treat infections,” said Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust charity. “Perhaps the most exciting area of medicine at the moment, immunotherapies for cancer, is impossible unless you can control infection.”</p>
<p>While more experimental antibiotics are now moving through development than a few years ago, the number is still down on the 1980s and 1990s. And a lot more work needs to be done to ensure appropriate use of medicines - both new ones and the thousands of tonnes of older pills churned out each year by generic companies.</p> FILE PHOTO: A plate which was coated with an antibiotic-resistant bacteria called Klebsiella with a mutation called NDM 1 and then exposed to various antibiotics is seen at the Health Protection Agency in north London in this picture taken March 9, 2011. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo
<p>“There’s definitely more that all companies can do,” said Jayasree Iyer, executive director of AMF, which published the analysis at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.</p>
<p>“We need to strengthen the research and development pipeline - and when new products reach the market we need to ensure that they are used in a conservative way, so that misuse and overuse is limited.”</p> FILE PHOTO: Colonies of E. coli bacteria grown on a Hektoen enteric (HE) agar plate are seen in a microscopic image courtesy of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). File Photo
<p>There are now 28 experimental antibiotics in late-stage development against critical pathogens but only two of these are supported by plans to ensure they can be both made accessible and used wisely if they reach the market.</p>
<p>The AMF said four companies - GSK, Shionogi, Pfizer and Novartis - had taken steps to separate sales representatives’ bonuses from the volume of antibiotics sold, but much more needed to be done across the industry to counter overuse.</p>
<p>Another under-recognized problem is the pollution caused by mass production of antibiotics, due to lax oversight of wastewater run-off.</p>
<p>In India’s Hyderabad region, for example, the presence of hundreds of drug factories and inadequate water treatment has left lakes and rivers laced with antibiotics, making the area a giant Petri dish for anti-microbial resistance.</p>
<p>The AMF urged multinational drugmakers to do more to ensure that their suppliers of bulk antibiotic ingredients were complying with rigorous wastewater standards.</p>
<p>Editing by Susan Fenton and Mark Potter</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has allocated $1.54 billion for its ambitious health program aimed at providing insurance cover for about half the population, the health minister said on Thursday, labeling it the largest such scheme in the world.</p> FILE PHOTO: India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks with the media inside the parliament premises on the first day of the budget session, in New Delhi, India, January 29, 2018. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File photo
<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which has dubbed the scheme “Modicare”, announced in February the program would provide 100 million families, or about 500 million poor people, with health cover of 500,000 rupees per year for treatment of serious ailments.</p>
<p>The federal budget had made an allocation of 20 billion rupees for the scheme for 2018-19, but officials had said more funds would be made available as the program was rolled out.</p>
<p>Health Ministry officials said the government has allocated 100 billion rupees ($1.54 billion) for the “National Health Protection Mission” for 2018/19 and 2019/20.</p>
<p>“It’s a historic step and a bold decision. It will be the largest public funded health protection scheme in the world,” Health Minister J.P. Nadda said at a news briefing.</p>
<p>The measures are Modi’s latest attempt to reform a public health system that faces a shortage of hospitals and doctors. The government has also in recent years capped prices of critical drugs and medical devices and increased health funding.</p>
<p>Still, India spends only about 1 percent of its GDP on public health, among the world’s lowest, and the health ministry estimates such funding leads to “catastrophic” expenses that push 7 percent of the population into poverty each year.</p>
<p>“This will give underprivileged families the financial support required when faced with illnesses requiring hospitalization,” Nadda said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Nick Macfie</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria’s lower house of parliament voted on Thursday to scrap an impending ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, backing the coalition government despite opposition from health campaigners and opposition parties.</p> FILE PHOTO: An ash tray with cigarette butts is pictured in Hinzenbach, in the Austrian province of Upper Austria, February 5, 2012. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
<p>The ban is due to come into effect in May and would bring Austria more into line with fellow European Union countries, many of which have far stricter smoke-free legislation, including Britain, Hungary and Bulgaria.</p>
<p>More than half a million people in Austria have signed an official petition calling for the ban to go ahead, embarrassing the ruling coalition of conservatives and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which has championed both the freedom to smoke and direct democracy.</p>
<p>An FPO demand to have the ban scrapped was written into the coalition agreement struck three months ago. Now that parliament has approved the bill, it must still be approved by the upper house and signed by the president. It is widely expected to pass both.</p>
<p>“This has not happened before in modern Europe,” the organizers of the petition — Vienna’s doctors’ association and the country’s main anti-cancer organization — said in a statement, calling the vote “a unique bad example”.</p>
<p>Footage from parliament showed lawmakers from the ruling People’s Party and FPO standing together to vote in favor of the bill lifting the ban, despite the petition’s organizers having called for a whip-free vote.</p>
<p>Roughly 540,000 people have signed the petition, which will run until April 4, though the initiative has lost momentum recently.</p>
<p>Tourists drawn to Austria by its picturesque mountains, classical music and elegant architecture are often surprised to find the air indoors is less fresh than they had imagined. Many bars and restaurants still have large areas filled with smokers.</p>
<p>The FPO says a smoking ban would be an unnecessary intrusion on individual liberty and an unfair imposition on bar and restaurant owners. Opponents say public health is more important and point to the cancer risk posed by passive smoking.</p>
<p>According to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data from 2014, 24.3 percent of people 15 and older smoke daily in Austria, the fourth-highest rate in the 35-nation OECD, behind Hungary, Greece and Turkey.</p>
<p>Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark said Thursday it will build a 70 kilometer (43.5 mile) fence on its German border to keep out wild boars that can carry the deadly infection African swine fewer to farm pigs and threaten the country’s large pork industry.</p> FILE PHOTO: Piglets play in a piggery at village near Warsaw April 10, 2014. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
<p>While no case has yet been detected in Denmark, the spread of the disease in eastern Europe is causing concern in the country whose pig exports amount to 33 billion Danish crowns ($5.5 billion) per year.</p>
<p>The virus, which causes African swine fever, is harmless to humans and other animals. But for wild boar and farm pigs, the disease is deadly in almost all cases within 10 days. There is no vaccine against it.</p>
<p>An outbreak of the disease in Denmark would shut down all exports to non-EU countries for a period, while only exports from the affected area in Denmark would be blocked from being exported to other EU member states, the government said.</p> Slideshow (2 Images)
<p>The disease exists in Poland, the Czech republic, Romania, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and has recently moved closer to Denmark, according to the government.</p>
<p>Thursday’s agreement between the government and its ally Danish People’s Party, which combined holds a parliament majority, also includes larger fines for illegal food imports and failures to clean animal transportation vehicles properly.</p>
<p>Hunters have also this week been given new options to hunt the nocturnal animals at night time.</p>
<p>Germany issued a decree last month to allow hunters to shoot wild boar year-round to stop the animals.</p>
<p>Reporting by Teis Jensen; editing by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and David Evans</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>March 22 (Reuters) - Drugmaker AbbVie Inc said on Thursday it will not seek accelerated approval for its experimental lung cancer treatment based on results from a mid-stage study.</p>
<p>The study was testing the company’s Rova-T as a treatment for patients with small cell lung cancer who did not respond to at least two prior regimens.</p>
<p>Late-stage trials testing the drug as a treatment for patients in the earlier stages of the disease will continue, the company said. (Reporting by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
|
Drug companies told to do more to tackle 'superbug' crisis India allocates $1.5 billion for 'Modicare' health insurance Austrian lawmakers vote to hinder smoking ban in restaurants and bars Denmark to build wild boar fence on German border AbbVie says not seeking accelerated approval for lung cancer drug
| false |
https://reuters.com/article/us-health-antibiotics/drug-companies-told-to-do-more-to-tackle-superbug-crisis-idUSKBN1FC1O3
|
2018-01-23
| 2least
|
Drug companies told to do more to tackle 'superbug' crisis India allocates $1.5 billion for 'Modicare' health insurance Austrian lawmakers vote to hinder smoking ban in restaurants and bars Denmark to build wild boar fence on German border AbbVie says not seeking accelerated approval for lung cancer drug
<p>LONDON (Reuters) - Drugmakers’ response to the threat posed by “superbugs” remains patchy even after years of warnings, according to the first analysis of individual companies’ efforts to tackle the antibiotic resistance crisis.</p>
<p>The rise of drug-resistant bacteria is a growing threat to modern medicine with the emergence of infections resistant to even last-resort antibiotics - a situation made worse in recent years by overuse of antibiotics and cutbacks in drug research.</p>
<p>New analysis by the non-profit Access to Medicine Foundation (AMF), published on Tuesday, found that GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson &amp; Johnson were doing more than most among large research-based pharmaceutical companies to tackle the problem, while Mylan led the way among generic drugmakers and Entasis was top among biotechs.</p>
<p>Overall, GSK led the field with 55 antimicrobial pipeline projects, including 13 vaccines.</p>
<p>But action taken by such companies is only the start of what could be done to address the problem, which former Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neill in 2014 estimated could cause 10 million deaths a year worldwide by 2050.</p>
<p>“The whole of modern medicine depends on being able to control and treat infections,” said Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust charity. “Perhaps the most exciting area of medicine at the moment, immunotherapies for cancer, is impossible unless you can control infection.”</p>
<p>While more experimental antibiotics are now moving through development than a few years ago, the number is still down on the 1980s and 1990s. And a lot more work needs to be done to ensure appropriate use of medicines - both new ones and the thousands of tonnes of older pills churned out each year by generic companies.</p> FILE PHOTO: A plate which was coated with an antibiotic-resistant bacteria called Klebsiella with a mutation called NDM 1 and then exposed to various antibiotics is seen at the Health Protection Agency in north London in this picture taken March 9, 2011. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo
<p>“There’s definitely more that all companies can do,” said Jayasree Iyer, executive director of AMF, which published the analysis at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.</p>
<p>“We need to strengthen the research and development pipeline - and when new products reach the market we need to ensure that they are used in a conservative way, so that misuse and overuse is limited.”</p> FILE PHOTO: Colonies of E. coli bacteria grown on a Hektoen enteric (HE) agar plate are seen in a microscopic image courtesy of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). File Photo
<p>There are now 28 experimental antibiotics in late-stage development against critical pathogens but only two of these are supported by plans to ensure they can be both made accessible and used wisely if they reach the market.</p>
<p>The AMF said four companies - GSK, Shionogi, Pfizer and Novartis - had taken steps to separate sales representatives’ bonuses from the volume of antibiotics sold, but much more needed to be done across the industry to counter overuse.</p>
<p>Another under-recognized problem is the pollution caused by mass production of antibiotics, due to lax oversight of wastewater run-off.</p>
<p>In India’s Hyderabad region, for example, the presence of hundreds of drug factories and inadequate water treatment has left lakes and rivers laced with antibiotics, making the area a giant Petri dish for anti-microbial resistance.</p>
<p>The AMF urged multinational drugmakers to do more to ensure that their suppliers of bulk antibiotic ingredients were complying with rigorous wastewater standards.</p>
<p>Editing by Susan Fenton and Mark Potter</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has allocated $1.54 billion for its ambitious health program aimed at providing insurance cover for about half the population, the health minister said on Thursday, labeling it the largest such scheme in the world.</p> FILE PHOTO: India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks with the media inside the parliament premises on the first day of the budget session, in New Delhi, India, January 29, 2018. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File photo
<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which has dubbed the scheme “Modicare”, announced in February the program would provide 100 million families, or about 500 million poor people, with health cover of 500,000 rupees per year for treatment of serious ailments.</p>
<p>The federal budget had made an allocation of 20 billion rupees for the scheme for 2018-19, but officials had said more funds would be made available as the program was rolled out.</p>
<p>Health Ministry officials said the government has allocated 100 billion rupees ($1.54 billion) for the “National Health Protection Mission” for 2018/19 and 2019/20.</p>
<p>“It’s a historic step and a bold decision. It will be the largest public funded health protection scheme in the world,” Health Minister J.P. Nadda said at a news briefing.</p>
<p>The measures are Modi’s latest attempt to reform a public health system that faces a shortage of hospitals and doctors. The government has also in recent years capped prices of critical drugs and medical devices and increased health funding.</p>
<p>Still, India spends only about 1 percent of its GDP on public health, among the world’s lowest, and the health ministry estimates such funding leads to “catastrophic” expenses that push 7 percent of the population into poverty each year.</p>
<p>“This will give underprivileged families the financial support required when faced with illnesses requiring hospitalization,” Nadda said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Nick Macfie</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria’s lower house of parliament voted on Thursday to scrap an impending ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, backing the coalition government despite opposition from health campaigners and opposition parties.</p> FILE PHOTO: An ash tray with cigarette butts is pictured in Hinzenbach, in the Austrian province of Upper Austria, February 5, 2012. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
<p>The ban is due to come into effect in May and would bring Austria more into line with fellow European Union countries, many of which have far stricter smoke-free legislation, including Britain, Hungary and Bulgaria.</p>
<p>More than half a million people in Austria have signed an official petition calling for the ban to go ahead, embarrassing the ruling coalition of conservatives and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which has championed both the freedom to smoke and direct democracy.</p>
<p>An FPO demand to have the ban scrapped was written into the coalition agreement struck three months ago. Now that parliament has approved the bill, it must still be approved by the upper house and signed by the president. It is widely expected to pass both.</p>
<p>“This has not happened before in modern Europe,” the organizers of the petition — Vienna’s doctors’ association and the country’s main anti-cancer organization — said in a statement, calling the vote “a unique bad example”.</p>
<p>Footage from parliament showed lawmakers from the ruling People’s Party and FPO standing together to vote in favor of the bill lifting the ban, despite the petition’s organizers having called for a whip-free vote.</p>
<p>Roughly 540,000 people have signed the petition, which will run until April 4, though the initiative has lost momentum recently.</p>
<p>Tourists drawn to Austria by its picturesque mountains, classical music and elegant architecture are often surprised to find the air indoors is less fresh than they had imagined. Many bars and restaurants still have large areas filled with smokers.</p>
<p>The FPO says a smoking ban would be an unnecessary intrusion on individual liberty and an unfair imposition on bar and restaurant owners. Opponents say public health is more important and point to the cancer risk posed by passive smoking.</p>
<p>According to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data from 2014, 24.3 percent of people 15 and older smoke daily in Austria, the fourth-highest rate in the 35-nation OECD, behind Hungary, Greece and Turkey.</p>
<p>Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark said Thursday it will build a 70 kilometer (43.5 mile) fence on its German border to keep out wild boars that can carry the deadly infection African swine fewer to farm pigs and threaten the country’s large pork industry.</p> FILE PHOTO: Piglets play in a piggery at village near Warsaw April 10, 2014. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
<p>While no case has yet been detected in Denmark, the spread of the disease in eastern Europe is causing concern in the country whose pig exports amount to 33 billion Danish crowns ($5.5 billion) per year.</p>
<p>The virus, which causes African swine fever, is harmless to humans and other animals. But for wild boar and farm pigs, the disease is deadly in almost all cases within 10 days. There is no vaccine against it.</p>
<p>An outbreak of the disease in Denmark would shut down all exports to non-EU countries for a period, while only exports from the affected area in Denmark would be blocked from being exported to other EU member states, the government said.</p> Slideshow (2 Images)
<p>The disease exists in Poland, the Czech republic, Romania, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and has recently moved closer to Denmark, according to the government.</p>
<p>Thursday’s agreement between the government and its ally Danish People’s Party, which combined holds a parliament majority, also includes larger fines for illegal food imports and failures to clean animal transportation vehicles properly.</p>
<p>Hunters have also this week been given new options to hunt the nocturnal animals at night time.</p>
<p>Germany issued a decree last month to allow hunters to shoot wild boar year-round to stop the animals.</p>
<p>Reporting by Teis Jensen; editing by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and David Evans</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>March 22 (Reuters) - Drugmaker AbbVie Inc said on Thursday it will not seek accelerated approval for its experimental lung cancer treatment based on results from a mid-stage study.</p>
<p>The study was testing the company’s Rova-T as a treatment for patients with small cell lung cancer who did not respond to at least two prior regimens.</p>
<p>Late-stage trials testing the drug as a treatment for patients in the earlier stages of the disease will continue, the company said. (Reporting by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
| 5,987 |
<p />
<p />
<p>Yes, as <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/26/hillary-clinton-failure-was-due-to-the-democrats/" type="external">Tammy points out in her Washington Times column, the Democrats really are "The Gong Show."</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrats-say-they-now-know-exactly-why-clinton-lost/ar-BBAyW55?li=BBmkt5R&amp;ocid=spartandhp" type="external">Via MSN.</a></p>
<p>A group of top Democratic Party strategists have used new data about last year's presidential election to reach a startling conclusion about why Hillary Clinton lost. Now they just need to persuade the rest of the party they're right. Many Democrats have a shorthand explanation for Clinton's defeat: Her base didn't turn out, Donald Trump's did and the difference was too much to overcome.</p>
<p>But new information shows that Clinton had a much bigger problem with voters who had supported President Barack Obama in 2012 but backed Trump four years later.</p>
<p>Those Obama-Trump voters effectively accounted for more than two-thirds of the reason Clinton lost, according to Matt Canter, a senior vice president of the Democratic political firm Global Strategy Group. In his group's analysis, about 70 percent of Clinton's failure to reach Obama's vote total in 2012 was because she lost these voters?.</p>
<p>"We have to make sure we learn the right lesson from 2016, that we don't just draw the lesson that makes us feel good at night, make us sleep well at night," Canter said?.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2017/04/28/gushy-nyc-public-radio-interview-barbra-streisand-blames-misogyny" type="external">In Gushy NYC Public Radio Interview, Barbra Streisand Blames Misogyny for Hillary's "Heartbreaking" Loss</a></p>
<p />
| true |
http://tammybruce.com/2017/05/dems-new-excuse-er-reason-for-hillary-loss-low-voter-turnout.html
| 0right
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<p />
<p />
<p>Yes, as <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/26/hillary-clinton-failure-was-due-to-the-democrats/" type="external">Tammy points out in her Washington Times column, the Democrats really are "The Gong Show."</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrats-say-they-now-know-exactly-why-clinton-lost/ar-BBAyW55?li=BBmkt5R&amp;ocid=spartandhp" type="external">Via MSN.</a></p>
<p>A group of top Democratic Party strategists have used new data about last year's presidential election to reach a startling conclusion about why Hillary Clinton lost. Now they just need to persuade the rest of the party they're right. Many Democrats have a shorthand explanation for Clinton's defeat: Her base didn't turn out, Donald Trump's did and the difference was too much to overcome.</p>
<p>But new information shows that Clinton had a much bigger problem with voters who had supported President Barack Obama in 2012 but backed Trump four years later.</p>
<p>Those Obama-Trump voters effectively accounted for more than two-thirds of the reason Clinton lost, according to Matt Canter, a senior vice president of the Democratic political firm Global Strategy Group. In his group's analysis, about 70 percent of Clinton's failure to reach Obama's vote total in 2012 was because she lost these voters?.</p>
<p>"We have to make sure we learn the right lesson from 2016, that we don't just draw the lesson that makes us feel good at night, make us sleep well at night," Canter said?.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2017/04/28/gushy-nyc-public-radio-interview-barbra-streisand-blames-misogyny" type="external">In Gushy NYC Public Radio Interview, Barbra Streisand Blames Misogyny for Hillary's "Heartbreaking" Loss</a></p>
<p />
| 5,988 |
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<p />
<p>Mid-priced department store J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) has hit some bumps in its recovery over the past year. Unfavorable weather and disruption from the reconfiguration of its stores combined to undermine J.C. Penney's sales momentum during 2016.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>J.C. Penney's turnaround lost some momentum during 2016. Image source: The Motley Fool.</p>
<p>However, the company has continued making progress on one of its most important priorities: cleaning up its balance sheet. Most recently, J.C. Penney completed the long-awaited sale of its home office building and the surrounding land. This move will help the company make a big dent in its debt load.</p>
<p>In fiscal 2015, J.C. Penney generated $131 million of free cash flow. Additionally, by expanding its revolving credit line, the company improved its liquidity, reducing its need to carry a large cash balance. This move allowed it to pay down roughly $500 million of debt during that year.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>In early 2016, the company decided to pursue a sale-leaseback arrangement for its 1.8 million-square-foot headquarters building in Plano, Texas, to further reduce its debt. While this move would put it on the hook for lease payments, J.C. Penney estimates that those additional costs would be fully offset by lower maintenance costs, real estate taxes, and interest costs.</p>
<p>Two aspects of J.C. Penney's sale-leaseback plan make it particularly attractive. First, J.C. Penney plans to relinquish more than 650,000 square feet of excess space in its headquarters building. This move will hold down future rent costs. Second, it also decided to <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/15/jc-penney-tries-to-squeeze-more-cash-from-its-home.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">sell off about 40 acres Opens a New Window.</a> of surrounding undeveloped land, driving up the sale price.</p>
<p>Last February, J.C. Penney CFO Ed Record said J.C. Penney planned to pay down $400 million to $500 million of debt in fiscal 2016, with a little more than half of that amount funded by the sale-leaseback proceeds. This outlook suggests that he expected the building to fetch about $250 million, net of transaction costs.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, J.C. Penney announced that it had sold the home office campus, including 45 acres of land, for $353 million before closing and transaction costs.</p>
<p>J.C. Penney's headquarters complex recently sold for $353 million. Image source: J.C. Penney.</p>
<p>Given that J.C. Penney still expects its full-year free cash flow to exceed the $131 million it generated in fiscal 2015, the company should have the capacity to meet or exceed the high end of its debt-reduction guidance. Of course, with the sale-leaseback being completed so late in the year, it's possible that some of the debt reduction activity will spill into fiscal 2017.</p>
<p>J.C. Penney has $220 million of high-cost debt maturing in April. Just paying down this small sum will reduce its annual interest expense by $17.5 million. Depending on the applicable interest rates for the other debt that J.C. Penney pays off, paying down $500 million of debt will reduce its annual interest expense by $30 million to $40 million going forward.</p>
<p>The sale-leaseback of its headquarters campus represents an important step in J.C. Penney's turnaround plan, as it will help the company reduce its debt by more than 10% in a single year. Furthermore, J.C. Penney's management thinks the company's new, smaller office layout will be more efficient.</p>
<p>That said, J.C. Penney is running out of financial-engineering maneuvers. The company has implemented a number of initiatives that could lead to better sales results in Q4 and throughout 2017. But if these actions don't drive an improvement in sales growth, J.C. Penney could quickly find itself in financial distress once again.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than J.C. Penney When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=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=07d0a4c7-4d9d-4470-8779-16c99e31dba5&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 J.C. Penney 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=07d0a4c7-4d9d-4470-8779-16c99e31dba5&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 Nov. 7, 2016</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGemHunter/info.aspx" type="external">Adam Levine-Weinberg Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of J.C. Penney. 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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J.C. Penney Fetches a Hefty Sum for Its Headquarters Building
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/04/jc-penney-fetches-hefty-sum-for-its-headquarters-building.html
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2017-01-04
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J.C. Penney Fetches a Hefty Sum for Its Headquarters Building
<p />
<p>Mid-priced department store J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) has hit some bumps in its recovery over the past year. Unfavorable weather and disruption from the reconfiguration of its stores combined to undermine J.C. Penney's sales momentum during 2016.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>J.C. Penney's turnaround lost some momentum during 2016. Image source: The Motley Fool.</p>
<p>However, the company has continued making progress on one of its most important priorities: cleaning up its balance sheet. Most recently, J.C. Penney completed the long-awaited sale of its home office building and the surrounding land. This move will help the company make a big dent in its debt load.</p>
<p>In fiscal 2015, J.C. Penney generated $131 million of free cash flow. Additionally, by expanding its revolving credit line, the company improved its liquidity, reducing its need to carry a large cash balance. This move allowed it to pay down roughly $500 million of debt during that year.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>In early 2016, the company decided to pursue a sale-leaseback arrangement for its 1.8 million-square-foot headquarters building in Plano, Texas, to further reduce its debt. While this move would put it on the hook for lease payments, J.C. Penney estimates that those additional costs would be fully offset by lower maintenance costs, real estate taxes, and interest costs.</p>
<p>Two aspects of J.C. Penney's sale-leaseback plan make it particularly attractive. First, J.C. Penney plans to relinquish more than 650,000 square feet of excess space in its headquarters building. This move will hold down future rent costs. Second, it also decided to <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/15/jc-penney-tries-to-squeeze-more-cash-from-its-home.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">sell off about 40 acres Opens a New Window.</a> of surrounding undeveloped land, driving up the sale price.</p>
<p>Last February, J.C. Penney CFO Ed Record said J.C. Penney planned to pay down $400 million to $500 million of debt in fiscal 2016, with a little more than half of that amount funded by the sale-leaseback proceeds. This outlook suggests that he expected the building to fetch about $250 million, net of transaction costs.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, J.C. Penney announced that it had sold the home office campus, including 45 acres of land, for $353 million before closing and transaction costs.</p>
<p>J.C. Penney's headquarters complex recently sold for $353 million. Image source: J.C. Penney.</p>
<p>Given that J.C. Penney still expects its full-year free cash flow to exceed the $131 million it generated in fiscal 2015, the company should have the capacity to meet or exceed the high end of its debt-reduction guidance. Of course, with the sale-leaseback being completed so late in the year, it's possible that some of the debt reduction activity will spill into fiscal 2017.</p>
<p>J.C. Penney has $220 million of high-cost debt maturing in April. Just paying down this small sum will reduce its annual interest expense by $17.5 million. Depending on the applicable interest rates for the other debt that J.C. Penney pays off, paying down $500 million of debt will reduce its annual interest expense by $30 million to $40 million going forward.</p>
<p>The sale-leaseback of its headquarters campus represents an important step in J.C. Penney's turnaround plan, as it will help the company reduce its debt by more than 10% in a single year. Furthermore, J.C. Penney's management thinks the company's new, smaller office layout will be more efficient.</p>
<p>That said, J.C. Penney is running out of financial-engineering maneuvers. The company has implemented a number of initiatives that could lead to better sales results in Q4 and throughout 2017. But if these actions don't drive an improvement in sales growth, J.C. Penney could quickly find itself in financial distress once again.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than J.C. Penney When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=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=07d0a4c7-4d9d-4470-8779-16c99e31dba5&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 J.C. Penney 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=07d0a4c7-4d9d-4470-8779-16c99e31dba5&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 Nov. 7, 2016</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGemHunter/info.aspx" type="external">Adam Levine-Weinberg Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of J.C. Penney. 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>
| 5,989 |
<p>DENVER (AP) — A 19-year-old suburban Denver woman who pleaded guilty to trying to help the Islamic State militant group will remain in jail before her sentencing.</p>
<p>U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore on Wednesday denied Shannon Conley's request to be freed on bond until she is sentenced in January. Moore says Conley failed to adequately prove she would not pose a danger to the community if she were allowed to live with her parents as she had requested.</p>
<p>Conley pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. FBI agents say Conley wanted to marry a suitor she met online who said he was fighting with the extremists. They say she repeatedly told them she wanted to fight alongside him or use her nurse's aide skills to help. They arrested her in April while she was boarding a flight that she hoped would ultimately get her to Syria.</p>
<p>Her attorney, Robert Pepin, said the Muslim covert was misled while exploring her faith. In seeking her release, he said she no longer wants to go to Syria, noting that authorities have confiscated her passport. Pepin argued Conley would remain cooperative with law enforcement if granted bond.</p>
<p>But Moore noted in his order that while Conley was cooperative in meeting with authorities during their investigation, she remained insistent on helping the terrorist group.</p>
<p>DENVER (AP) — A 19-year-old suburban Denver woman who pleaded guilty to trying to help the Islamic State militant group will remain in jail before her sentencing.</p>
<p>U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore on Wednesday denied Shannon Conley's request to be freed on bond until she is sentenced in January. Moore says Conley failed to adequately prove she would not pose a danger to the community if she were allowed to live with her parents as she had requested.</p>
<p>Conley pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. FBI agents say Conley wanted to marry a suitor she met online who said he was fighting with the extremists. They say she repeatedly told them she wanted to fight alongside him or use her nurse's aide skills to help. They arrested her in April while she was boarding a flight that she hoped would ultimately get her to Syria.</p>
<p>Her attorney, Robert Pepin, said the Muslim covert was misled while exploring her faith. In seeking her release, he said she no longer wants to go to Syria, noting that authorities have confiscated her passport. Pepin argued Conley would remain cooperative with law enforcement if granted bond.</p>
<p>But Moore noted in his order that while Conley was cooperative in meeting with authorities during their investigation, she remained insistent on helping the terrorist group.</p>
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Judge won't release Colorado woman in terror case
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https://apnews.com/amp/ab3cea84876740cc8a9262b8e96d37b4
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2014-09-17
| 2least
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Judge won't release Colorado woman in terror case
<p>DENVER (AP) — A 19-year-old suburban Denver woman who pleaded guilty to trying to help the Islamic State militant group will remain in jail before her sentencing.</p>
<p>U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore on Wednesday denied Shannon Conley's request to be freed on bond until she is sentenced in January. Moore says Conley failed to adequately prove she would not pose a danger to the community if she were allowed to live with her parents as she had requested.</p>
<p>Conley pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. FBI agents say Conley wanted to marry a suitor she met online who said he was fighting with the extremists. They say she repeatedly told them she wanted to fight alongside him or use her nurse's aide skills to help. They arrested her in April while she was boarding a flight that she hoped would ultimately get her to Syria.</p>
<p>Her attorney, Robert Pepin, said the Muslim covert was misled while exploring her faith. In seeking her release, he said she no longer wants to go to Syria, noting that authorities have confiscated her passport. Pepin argued Conley would remain cooperative with law enforcement if granted bond.</p>
<p>But Moore noted in his order that while Conley was cooperative in meeting with authorities during their investigation, she remained insistent on helping the terrorist group.</p>
<p>DENVER (AP) — A 19-year-old suburban Denver woman who pleaded guilty to trying to help the Islamic State militant group will remain in jail before her sentencing.</p>
<p>U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore on Wednesday denied Shannon Conley's request to be freed on bond until she is sentenced in January. Moore says Conley failed to adequately prove she would not pose a danger to the community if she were allowed to live with her parents as she had requested.</p>
<p>Conley pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. FBI agents say Conley wanted to marry a suitor she met online who said he was fighting with the extremists. They say she repeatedly told them she wanted to fight alongside him or use her nurse's aide skills to help. They arrested her in April while she was boarding a flight that she hoped would ultimately get her to Syria.</p>
<p>Her attorney, Robert Pepin, said the Muslim covert was misled while exploring her faith. In seeking her release, he said she no longer wants to go to Syria, noting that authorities have confiscated her passport. Pepin argued Conley would remain cooperative with law enforcement if granted bond.</p>
<p>But Moore noted in his order that while Conley was cooperative in meeting with authorities during their investigation, she remained insistent on helping the terrorist group.</p>
| 5,990 |
<p>Progressives have a steadfast belief that it is impossible for illegal immigrants to receive taxpayer-funded government benefits because there are allegedly rigorous standards in place to prevent such a thing.</p>
<p>Unlike conservatives, who view the federal and state governments as flawed bureaucracies that employ generally well-intentioned but fallible people, progressives have a tendency to view federal and state governments as uniquely benevolent, near-perfect entities. As such, they are often reluctant to acknowledge fraud, abuse, and the failure to enforce legal regulations on the part of the state.</p>
<p>Well, here's some failure.</p>
<p>The Washington Free Beacon <a href="http://freebeacon.com/issues/estimated-72-million-medicaid-payments-made-ineligible-beneficiaries/" type="external">reports</a> that “an estimated $72 million in Medicaid payments were made to potentially ineligible beneficiaries in Kentucky, according to an audit from the agency's inspector general.”</p>
<p>Prior to a Kentucky resident gaining access to Medicaid benefits, they are required to prove their citizenship. However, the audit reports that “human and system errors” may have led to $72 million going to ineligible beneficiaries. For this report, the auditors "selected a stratified random sample of 120 beneficiaries from a total of 901,117 beneficiaries," conducted field investigations, and analyzed copious documentation.</p>
<p>The following is an <a href="https://oig.hhs.gov/oas/reports/region4/41608047.pdf" type="external">excerpt</a> from the report:</p>
<p>To properly verify citizenship or nationality status of beneficiaries enrolled in Medicaid, States must ensure that those individuals declaring to be citizens or nationals of the United States have presented satisfactory documentary evidence of citizenship or nationality...</p>
<p>For 7 of 120 beneficiaries, the State agency determined these beneficiaries eligible for Medicaid without maintaining documentation that it verified citizenship in accordance with Federal requirements. For these beneficiaries, the State agency submitted their citizenship status through the Data Hub or BENDEX for verification with SSA. However, the State agency could not provide documentation that it had received a citizenship verification response. The State agency indicated that, because of human error and system errors, it could not find supporting documentation...</p>
<p>The State agency did not always verify identity or maintain documentation from identity-proofing of beneficiaries. For 13 of 50 beneficiaries that applied using the State marketplace, the State agency did not verify identity during the application process or document that it had performed identity-proofing in accordance with Federal requirements.</p>
<p>Specifically:</p>
<p>For nine beneficiaries, State agency personnel completed the application either online or over the phone and did not verify identity. The State agency was unable to provide any documentation indicating that personnel followed Federal requirements to verify identity for these online or phone applications.</p>
<p>For four beneficiaries, the State agency either did not verify identity or did not maintain documentation of the verification because of Kynect system errors...</p>
<p>On the basis of our sample results, we estimated that during our 6-month audit period, approximately 8% of non-newly eligible beneficiaries in Kentucky were potentially ineligible, and approximately 3% of Federal payments were made to those beneficiaries. As a result, we estimated that Kentucky made Federal Medicaid payments on behalf of 69,931 potentially ineligible beneficiaries totaling $72,763,721.</p>
<p>We did not include the identity-proofing errors in our estimate of potentially ineligible beneficiaries and payments, but we are highlighting the potential for identity theft if the state agency does not correct these errors.</p>
<p>Even without including the identity-proofing errors, the estimated coverage of potentially ineligible beneficiaries is estimated to exceed $72 million. That's a substantial chunk of change. Moreover, the audit covered just six months in one state.</p>
<p>Using the Kentucky audit data to estimate Medicaid errors (both human and system-related) in other states is impossible. However, it is reasonable to assume that Kentucky isn't the only state where human and system errors exist, leading to potential fraud and millions of wasted dollars.</p>
<p>The next time a progressive tries to tell you that allegedly rigorous standards prevent the wrong people from receiving government benefits, show them the audit data from Kentucky.</p>
|
Kentucky Audit Shows More Than $72 Million In Medicaid Potentially Going To 'Ineligible Beneficiaries'
| true |
https://dailywire.com/news/20262/kentucky-audit-shows-more-72-million-medicaid-frank-camp
|
2017-08-26
| 0right
|
Kentucky Audit Shows More Than $72 Million In Medicaid Potentially Going To 'Ineligible Beneficiaries'
<p>Progressives have a steadfast belief that it is impossible for illegal immigrants to receive taxpayer-funded government benefits because there are allegedly rigorous standards in place to prevent such a thing.</p>
<p>Unlike conservatives, who view the federal and state governments as flawed bureaucracies that employ generally well-intentioned but fallible people, progressives have a tendency to view federal and state governments as uniquely benevolent, near-perfect entities. As such, they are often reluctant to acknowledge fraud, abuse, and the failure to enforce legal regulations on the part of the state.</p>
<p>Well, here's some failure.</p>
<p>The Washington Free Beacon <a href="http://freebeacon.com/issues/estimated-72-million-medicaid-payments-made-ineligible-beneficiaries/" type="external">reports</a> that “an estimated $72 million in Medicaid payments were made to potentially ineligible beneficiaries in Kentucky, according to an audit from the agency's inspector general.”</p>
<p>Prior to a Kentucky resident gaining access to Medicaid benefits, they are required to prove their citizenship. However, the audit reports that “human and system errors” may have led to $72 million going to ineligible beneficiaries. For this report, the auditors "selected a stratified random sample of 120 beneficiaries from a total of 901,117 beneficiaries," conducted field investigations, and analyzed copious documentation.</p>
<p>The following is an <a href="https://oig.hhs.gov/oas/reports/region4/41608047.pdf" type="external">excerpt</a> from the report:</p>
<p>To properly verify citizenship or nationality status of beneficiaries enrolled in Medicaid, States must ensure that those individuals declaring to be citizens or nationals of the United States have presented satisfactory documentary evidence of citizenship or nationality...</p>
<p>For 7 of 120 beneficiaries, the State agency determined these beneficiaries eligible for Medicaid without maintaining documentation that it verified citizenship in accordance with Federal requirements. For these beneficiaries, the State agency submitted their citizenship status through the Data Hub or BENDEX for verification with SSA. However, the State agency could not provide documentation that it had received a citizenship verification response. The State agency indicated that, because of human error and system errors, it could not find supporting documentation...</p>
<p>The State agency did not always verify identity or maintain documentation from identity-proofing of beneficiaries. For 13 of 50 beneficiaries that applied using the State marketplace, the State agency did not verify identity during the application process or document that it had performed identity-proofing in accordance with Federal requirements.</p>
<p>Specifically:</p>
<p>For nine beneficiaries, State agency personnel completed the application either online or over the phone and did not verify identity. The State agency was unable to provide any documentation indicating that personnel followed Federal requirements to verify identity for these online or phone applications.</p>
<p>For four beneficiaries, the State agency either did not verify identity or did not maintain documentation of the verification because of Kynect system errors...</p>
<p>On the basis of our sample results, we estimated that during our 6-month audit period, approximately 8% of non-newly eligible beneficiaries in Kentucky were potentially ineligible, and approximately 3% of Federal payments were made to those beneficiaries. As a result, we estimated that Kentucky made Federal Medicaid payments on behalf of 69,931 potentially ineligible beneficiaries totaling $72,763,721.</p>
<p>We did not include the identity-proofing errors in our estimate of potentially ineligible beneficiaries and payments, but we are highlighting the potential for identity theft if the state agency does not correct these errors.</p>
<p>Even without including the identity-proofing errors, the estimated coverage of potentially ineligible beneficiaries is estimated to exceed $72 million. That's a substantial chunk of change. Moreover, the audit covered just six months in one state.</p>
<p>Using the Kentucky audit data to estimate Medicaid errors (both human and system-related) in other states is impossible. However, it is reasonable to assume that Kentucky isn't the only state where human and system errors exist, leading to potential fraud and millions of wasted dollars.</p>
<p>The next time a progressive tries to tell you that allegedly rigorous standards prevent the wrong people from receiving government benefits, show them the audit data from Kentucky.</p>
| 5,991 |
<p>Democracy is supposed to be serious business.&#160;Years after the reforms of the Athenian politician Solon, a revolutionary and democratic constitution was ushered in for the Greek citizens of that particular city-state.</p>
<p>However, the Greek democracies of the ancient world privileged duties more than rights, and unlike the liberal democracies of today, the census of the crowd was rarely <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml" type="external">invoked</a> because of a deep distrust of both the hoi polloi&#160;and the ever-changing winds of opinion.</p>
<p>Recent events in the small Illinois community of Colp are not likely to engender warm feelings towards democracy among those who are already suspicious of the process.</p>
<p>In the election to name the newest village president, both candidates, Bryan Riekena and Tammy O’Daniell-Howell <a href="http://thesouthern.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/race-for-village-president-in-colp-to-be-decided-by/article_7d3640e1-099f-56d9-90fc-82b9c985a6bd.html" type="external">received</a>eleven votes apiece.</p>
<p>This tie means that a single coin toss to be held on April 20th will determine the winner.</p>
<p>O’Daniell-Howell has been a Colp resident since birth, and has been the village clerk since 2009.</p>
<p>Riekena is a graduate of Southern Illinois University who lists “geek” as his full-time occupation.</p>
<p>According to official statistics, of the 250 registered voters of Colp, only 29 <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/coin-toss-determine-leader-illinois-village-46687707" type="external">voted</a>.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, but this is not the first time an election has been decided by a&#160;thrown quarter. Many pro-Bernie Sanders Democrats became incensed when Hillary Clinton won six coin tosses in a row during the party elections in Iowa.</p>
<p>From a mathematical perspective, such an undefeated streak is almost impossible without <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/02/heres-just-how-unlikely-hillary-clintons-6-for-6-coin-toss-victories-were/?utm_term=.db063b6bf967" type="external">factoring</a> in corruption.</p>
<p>In the Philippines, a tight mayoral race for Bocaue came down to a single coin flip.</p>
<p>Remember: democracy is serious business.</p>
<p>Featured image via:&#160; <a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/50832/4-coin-flips-changed-history" type="external">Mental Floss</a></p>
|
Illinois Town Solves Its Voting Problem With A Very Odd, Old Trick
| true |
http://offthemainpage.com/2017/04/12/illinois-town-solves-its-voting-problem-with-a-very-odd-old-trick/
|
2017-04-12
| 4left
|
Illinois Town Solves Its Voting Problem With A Very Odd, Old Trick
<p>Democracy is supposed to be serious business.&#160;Years after the reforms of the Athenian politician Solon, a revolutionary and democratic constitution was ushered in for the Greek citizens of that particular city-state.</p>
<p>However, the Greek democracies of the ancient world privileged duties more than rights, and unlike the liberal democracies of today, the census of the crowd was rarely <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml" type="external">invoked</a> because of a deep distrust of both the hoi polloi&#160;and the ever-changing winds of opinion.</p>
<p>Recent events in the small Illinois community of Colp are not likely to engender warm feelings towards democracy among those who are already suspicious of the process.</p>
<p>In the election to name the newest village president, both candidates, Bryan Riekena and Tammy O’Daniell-Howell <a href="http://thesouthern.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/race-for-village-president-in-colp-to-be-decided-by/article_7d3640e1-099f-56d9-90fc-82b9c985a6bd.html" type="external">received</a>eleven votes apiece.</p>
<p>This tie means that a single coin toss to be held on April 20th will determine the winner.</p>
<p>O’Daniell-Howell has been a Colp resident since birth, and has been the village clerk since 2009.</p>
<p>Riekena is a graduate of Southern Illinois University who lists “geek” as his full-time occupation.</p>
<p>According to official statistics, of the 250 registered voters of Colp, only 29 <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/coin-toss-determine-leader-illinois-village-46687707" type="external">voted</a>.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, but this is not the first time an election has been decided by a&#160;thrown quarter. Many pro-Bernie Sanders Democrats became incensed when Hillary Clinton won six coin tosses in a row during the party elections in Iowa.</p>
<p>From a mathematical perspective, such an undefeated streak is almost impossible without <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/02/heres-just-how-unlikely-hillary-clintons-6-for-6-coin-toss-victories-were/?utm_term=.db063b6bf967" type="external">factoring</a> in corruption.</p>
<p>In the Philippines, a tight mayoral race for Bocaue came down to a single coin flip.</p>
<p>Remember: democracy is serious business.</p>
<p>Featured image via:&#160; <a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/50832/4-coin-flips-changed-history" type="external">Mental Floss</a></p>
| 5,992 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Republican Dan Houston has defeated incumbent Democrat Manny Gonzales in the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s race, according to unofficial results.</p>
<p>Karen Montoya, a Democrat, has won a second term as Bernalillo County Assessor, unofficial results show.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
|
BREAKING: Houston Defeats Gonzales In BernCo Sheriff’s Race
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/10081/breaking-houston-defeats-gonzales-in-bernco-sheriffs-race.html
| 2least
|
BREAKING: Houston Defeats Gonzales In BernCo Sheriff’s Race
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Republican Dan Houston has defeated incumbent Democrat Manny Gonzales in the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s race, according to unofficial results.</p>
<p>Karen Montoya, a Democrat, has won a second term as Bernalillo County Assessor, unofficial results show.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
| 5,993 |
|
<p />
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday he believes there is enough support in the House of Representatives to pass the Republican healthcare plan, which has been criticized by some conservative groups and members of Congress.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"This is the beginning of the legislative process ... we'll have 218 when this thing comes to the floor (of the House), I can guarantee you that," Ryan said, referring to the 218 votes needed to pass legislation in the Republican-controlled House.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Eric Beech)</p>
|
Speaker Ryan Says Republican Healthcare Plan Will Pass House
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/03/07/speaker-ryan-says-republican-healthcare-plan-will-pass-house.html
|
2017-03-07
| 0right
|
Speaker Ryan Says Republican Healthcare Plan Will Pass House
<p />
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday he believes there is enough support in the House of Representatives to pass the Republican healthcare plan, which has been criticized by some conservative groups and members of Congress.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"This is the beginning of the legislative process ... we'll have 218 when this thing comes to the floor (of the House), I can guarantee you that," Ryan said, referring to the 218 votes needed to pass legislation in the Republican-controlled House.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Eric Beech)</p>
| 5,994 |
<p>On Thursday the former National Security Agency official and whistle-blower <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2014/01/12/before-edward-snowden-there-was-william%20" type="external">William E. Binney</a> and I will debate <a href="http://www.steptoe.com/professionals-Stewart_Baker.html%20" type="external">Stewart A. Baker</a>, a former general counsel for the NSA, <a href="http://smpa.gwu.edu/pj-crowley%20" type="external">P.J. Crowley</a>, a former State Department spokesman, and the media pundit <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/bios/jeffrey_toobin/search?contributorName=jeffrey%20toobin%20" type="external">Jeffrey Toobin</a>. The debate, at Oxford University, will center on whether Edward Snowden’s leaks helped or harmed the public good. The proposition asks: “Is Edward Snowden a Hero?” But, on a deeper level, the debate will revolve around our nation’s loss of liberty.</p>
<p>The government officials who, along with their courtiers in the press, castigate Snowden insist that congressional and judicial oversight, the right to privacy, the rule of law, freedom of the press and the right to express dissent remain inviolate. They use the old words and the old phrases, old laws and old constitutional guarantees to give our corporate totalitarianism a democratic veneer. They insist that the system works. They tell us we are still protected by the Fourth Amendment: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Yet the promise of that sentence in the Bill of Rights is pitted against the fact that every telephone call we make, every email or text we send or receive, every website we visit and many of our travels are tracked, recorded and stored in government computers. The Fourth Amendment was written in 1789 in direct response to the arbitrary and unchecked search powers that the British had exercised through general warrants called writs of assistance, which played a significant part in fomenting the American Revolution. A technical system of surveillance designed to monitor those considered to be a danger to the state has, in the words of Binney, been “turned against you.”</p>
<p>We live in what the German political scientist <a href="http://www.transatlanticperspectives.org/entry.php?rec=136%20" type="external">Ernst Fraenkel</a> called “the dual state.” Totalitarian states are always dual states. In the dual state civil liberties are abolished in the name of national security. The political sphere becomes a vacuum “as far as the law is concerned,” Fraenkel wrote. There is no legal check on power. Official bodies operate with impunity outside the law. In the dual state the government can convict citizens on secret evidence in secret courts. It can strip citizens of due process and detain, torture or assassinate them, serving as judge, jury and executioner. It rules according to its own arbitrary whims and prerogatives. The outward forms of democratic participation — voting, competing political parties, judicial oversight and legislation — are hollow, political stagecraft. Fraenkel called those who wield this unchecked power over the citizenry “the prerogative state.”</p>
<p>The masses in a totalitarian structure live in what Fraenkel termed “the normative state.” The normative state, he said, is defenseless against the abuses of the prerogative state. Citizens are subjected to draconian laws and regulations, as well as arbitrary searches and arrests. The police and internal security are omnipotent. The internal workings of power are secret. Free expression and opposition political activity are pushed to the fringes of society or shut down. Those who challenge the abuses of power by the prerogative state, those who, like Snowden, expose the crimes carried out by government, are made into criminals. Totalitarian states always invert the moral order. It is the wicked who rule. It is the just who are damned.</p>
<p />
<p>Snowden, we are told, could have reformed from the inside. He could have gone to his superiors or Congress or the courts. But Snowden had numerous examples — including the persecution of the whistle-blower <a href="http://www.whistleblower.org/action-center/save-tom-drake%20" type="external">Thomas Drake</a>, who originally tried to go through so-called proper channels — to remind him that working within the system is fatal. He had watched as senior officials including Barack Obama lied to the public about internal surveillance. He knew that the president was dishonest when he assured Americans that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which meets in secret and hears only from the government, is “transparent.” He knew that the president’s statement that Congress was “overseeing the entire program” was false. He knew that everything Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the press, the Congress and the public about the surveillance of Americans was a lie. And he knew that if this information was to be made available to the public he would have to do so through a few journalists whose integrity he could trust.I was a plaintiff before the Supreme Court in Clapper v. Amnesty International, which challenged the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. This act authorizes surveillance without a showing, or probable cause, that a targeted person is an agent of a foreign power. The court dismissed our lawsuit because, it said, the idea that we were targets of surveillance was “based too much on speculation.” That Supreme Court ruling was then used by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals to deny the credibility, or standing, of the other plaintiffs and me when it heard the Obama administration’s appeal of our successful challenge to Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a provision that permits the U.S. military to detain citizens in military facilities, strip them of due process and hold them indefinitely. The government, in both court cases, did not attempt to defend the surveillance and detention programs as constitutional. It said that I and the other plaintiffs had no right to bring the cases to court. And the courts agreed.</p>
<p>This deadly impasse, the tightening of the corporate totalitarian noose, would have continued if Snowden had not jolted the nation awake by disclosing the crimes of the prerogative state. Snowden’s revelations triggered, for the first time, a genuine public debate about mass surveillance. Since the disclosures, three judges have ruled on the NSA’s surveillance program, one defending it as legal and two accusing the NSA of violating the Constitution. A presidential panel has criticized the agency’s blanket surveillance and called for reform. Some members of Congress — although that body authorized the Patriot Act and its Section 215, which ostensibly permitted this wholesale surveillance of the public — have expressed dismay at the extent of the NSA’s activities and the weakness of its promised reforms. Maybe they are lying. Maybe they are not. Maybe reforms will produce improvements or maybe they will be merely cosmetic. But before Snowden we had nothing. Snowden’s revelations made us conscious. And as George Orwell wrote in his dystopian novel “1984”: “Until they become conscious they will never rebel. …”</p>
<p>“Now, we’re all familiar with Congress’ most dramatic oversight failure,” said Ben Wizner, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union Speech, Privacy &amp; Technology Project and a legal adviser to Snowden, in a recent debate over Snowden with R. James Woolsey, a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency. “And this was in the notorious exchange between Sen. Ron Wyden and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Wyden had asked, did the NSA collect any type of data on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans? Clapper’s answer was, ‘No, sir.’ Now, this brazen falsehood is most often described as Clapper’s lie to Congress, but that’s not what it was. Wyden knew that Clapper was lying. Only we didn’t know. And Congress lacked the courage to correct the record — allowed us to be deceived by the director of national intelligence.”</p>
<p>Societies that once had democratic traditions, or periods when openness was possible, are often seduced into totalitarian systems because those who rule continue to pay outward fealty to the ideals, practices and forms of the old systems. This was true when the Emperor Augustus dismantled the Roman Republic. It was true when Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized control of the autonomous soviets and ruthlessly centralized power. It was true following the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazi fascism. Thomas Paine described despotic government as a fungus growing out of a corrupt civil society. And this is what has happened to us.</p>
<p>No one who lives under constant surveillance, who is subject to detention anywhere at any time, whose conversations, messages, meetings, proclivities and habits are recorded, stored and analyzed, can be described as free. The relationship between the U.S. government and the U.S. citizen is now one of master and slave. Yet the prerogative state assures us that our rights are sacred, that it abides by the will of the people and the consent of the governed.</p>
<p>The defense of liberty, which Snowden exhibited when he cast his fortune, his safety and his life aside to inform the public of the forces arrayed against constitutional rights, entails grave risks in dual states. It demands personal sacrifice. Snowden has called us to this sacrifice. He has allowed us to see who we are and what we have become. He has given us a chance. He has also shown us the heavy cost of defiance. It is up to us to seize this chance and dismantle the prerogative state. This means removing from power those who stole our liberty and lied to us. It means refusing to naively trust in their promised reform — for reform will never come from those who are complicit in such crimes. It will come through Americans’ construction of mass movements and alternative centers of power that can mount sustained pressure. If we fail to sever these chains we will become, like many who did not rise up in time to save their civil societies, human chattel.</p>
|
Our Sinister Dual State
| true |
https://truthdig.com/articles/our-sinister-dual-state/
|
2014-02-17
| 4left
|
Our Sinister Dual State
<p>On Thursday the former National Security Agency official and whistle-blower <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2014/01/12/before-edward-snowden-there-was-william%20" type="external">William E. Binney</a> and I will debate <a href="http://www.steptoe.com/professionals-Stewart_Baker.html%20" type="external">Stewart A. Baker</a>, a former general counsel for the NSA, <a href="http://smpa.gwu.edu/pj-crowley%20" type="external">P.J. Crowley</a>, a former State Department spokesman, and the media pundit <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/bios/jeffrey_toobin/search?contributorName=jeffrey%20toobin%20" type="external">Jeffrey Toobin</a>. The debate, at Oxford University, will center on whether Edward Snowden’s leaks helped or harmed the public good. The proposition asks: “Is Edward Snowden a Hero?” But, on a deeper level, the debate will revolve around our nation’s loss of liberty.</p>
<p>The government officials who, along with their courtiers in the press, castigate Snowden insist that congressional and judicial oversight, the right to privacy, the rule of law, freedom of the press and the right to express dissent remain inviolate. They use the old words and the old phrases, old laws and old constitutional guarantees to give our corporate totalitarianism a democratic veneer. They insist that the system works. They tell us we are still protected by the Fourth Amendment: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Yet the promise of that sentence in the Bill of Rights is pitted against the fact that every telephone call we make, every email or text we send or receive, every website we visit and many of our travels are tracked, recorded and stored in government computers. The Fourth Amendment was written in 1789 in direct response to the arbitrary and unchecked search powers that the British had exercised through general warrants called writs of assistance, which played a significant part in fomenting the American Revolution. A technical system of surveillance designed to monitor those considered to be a danger to the state has, in the words of Binney, been “turned against you.”</p>
<p>We live in what the German political scientist <a href="http://www.transatlanticperspectives.org/entry.php?rec=136%20" type="external">Ernst Fraenkel</a> called “the dual state.” Totalitarian states are always dual states. In the dual state civil liberties are abolished in the name of national security. The political sphere becomes a vacuum “as far as the law is concerned,” Fraenkel wrote. There is no legal check on power. Official bodies operate with impunity outside the law. In the dual state the government can convict citizens on secret evidence in secret courts. It can strip citizens of due process and detain, torture or assassinate them, serving as judge, jury and executioner. It rules according to its own arbitrary whims and prerogatives. The outward forms of democratic participation — voting, competing political parties, judicial oversight and legislation — are hollow, political stagecraft. Fraenkel called those who wield this unchecked power over the citizenry “the prerogative state.”</p>
<p>The masses in a totalitarian structure live in what Fraenkel termed “the normative state.” The normative state, he said, is defenseless against the abuses of the prerogative state. Citizens are subjected to draconian laws and regulations, as well as arbitrary searches and arrests. The police and internal security are omnipotent. The internal workings of power are secret. Free expression and opposition political activity are pushed to the fringes of society or shut down. Those who challenge the abuses of power by the prerogative state, those who, like Snowden, expose the crimes carried out by government, are made into criminals. Totalitarian states always invert the moral order. It is the wicked who rule. It is the just who are damned.</p>
<p />
<p>Snowden, we are told, could have reformed from the inside. He could have gone to his superiors or Congress or the courts. But Snowden had numerous examples — including the persecution of the whistle-blower <a href="http://www.whistleblower.org/action-center/save-tom-drake%20" type="external">Thomas Drake</a>, who originally tried to go through so-called proper channels — to remind him that working within the system is fatal. He had watched as senior officials including Barack Obama lied to the public about internal surveillance. He knew that the president was dishonest when he assured Americans that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which meets in secret and hears only from the government, is “transparent.” He knew that the president’s statement that Congress was “overseeing the entire program” was false. He knew that everything Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the press, the Congress and the public about the surveillance of Americans was a lie. And he knew that if this information was to be made available to the public he would have to do so through a few journalists whose integrity he could trust.I was a plaintiff before the Supreme Court in Clapper v. Amnesty International, which challenged the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. This act authorizes surveillance without a showing, or probable cause, that a targeted person is an agent of a foreign power. The court dismissed our lawsuit because, it said, the idea that we were targets of surveillance was “based too much on speculation.” That Supreme Court ruling was then used by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals to deny the credibility, or standing, of the other plaintiffs and me when it heard the Obama administration’s appeal of our successful challenge to Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a provision that permits the U.S. military to detain citizens in military facilities, strip them of due process and hold them indefinitely. The government, in both court cases, did not attempt to defend the surveillance and detention programs as constitutional. It said that I and the other plaintiffs had no right to bring the cases to court. And the courts agreed.</p>
<p>This deadly impasse, the tightening of the corporate totalitarian noose, would have continued if Snowden had not jolted the nation awake by disclosing the crimes of the prerogative state. Snowden’s revelations triggered, for the first time, a genuine public debate about mass surveillance. Since the disclosures, three judges have ruled on the NSA’s surveillance program, one defending it as legal and two accusing the NSA of violating the Constitution. A presidential panel has criticized the agency’s blanket surveillance and called for reform. Some members of Congress — although that body authorized the Patriot Act and its Section 215, which ostensibly permitted this wholesale surveillance of the public — have expressed dismay at the extent of the NSA’s activities and the weakness of its promised reforms. Maybe they are lying. Maybe they are not. Maybe reforms will produce improvements or maybe they will be merely cosmetic. But before Snowden we had nothing. Snowden’s revelations made us conscious. And as George Orwell wrote in his dystopian novel “1984”: “Until they become conscious they will never rebel. …”</p>
<p>“Now, we’re all familiar with Congress’ most dramatic oversight failure,” said Ben Wizner, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union Speech, Privacy &amp; Technology Project and a legal adviser to Snowden, in a recent debate over Snowden with R. James Woolsey, a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency. “And this was in the notorious exchange between Sen. Ron Wyden and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Wyden had asked, did the NSA collect any type of data on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans? Clapper’s answer was, ‘No, sir.’ Now, this brazen falsehood is most often described as Clapper’s lie to Congress, but that’s not what it was. Wyden knew that Clapper was lying. Only we didn’t know. And Congress lacked the courage to correct the record — allowed us to be deceived by the director of national intelligence.”</p>
<p>Societies that once had democratic traditions, or periods when openness was possible, are often seduced into totalitarian systems because those who rule continue to pay outward fealty to the ideals, practices and forms of the old systems. This was true when the Emperor Augustus dismantled the Roman Republic. It was true when Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized control of the autonomous soviets and ruthlessly centralized power. It was true following the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazi fascism. Thomas Paine described despotic government as a fungus growing out of a corrupt civil society. And this is what has happened to us.</p>
<p>No one who lives under constant surveillance, who is subject to detention anywhere at any time, whose conversations, messages, meetings, proclivities and habits are recorded, stored and analyzed, can be described as free. The relationship between the U.S. government and the U.S. citizen is now one of master and slave. Yet the prerogative state assures us that our rights are sacred, that it abides by the will of the people and the consent of the governed.</p>
<p>The defense of liberty, which Snowden exhibited when he cast his fortune, his safety and his life aside to inform the public of the forces arrayed against constitutional rights, entails grave risks in dual states. It demands personal sacrifice. Snowden has called us to this sacrifice. He has allowed us to see who we are and what we have become. He has given us a chance. He has also shown us the heavy cost of defiance. It is up to us to seize this chance and dismantle the prerogative state. This means removing from power those who stole our liberty and lied to us. It means refusing to naively trust in their promised reform — for reform will never come from those who are complicit in such crimes. It will come through Americans’ construction of mass movements and alternative centers of power that can mount sustained pressure. If we fail to sever these chains we will become, like many who did not rise up in time to save their civil societies, human chattel.</p>
| 5,995 |
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<p />
<p>The House approved the proposed constitutional amendment for early childhood programs, House Joint Resolution 13, on a 37-32 vote after about three hours of debate.</p>
<p>If also approved by the Senate, the proposal would go to New Mexico voters in 2014. Voters would be asked to bump up funding for early childhood programs by increasing Land Grant Permanent Fund withdrawals to 6.5 percent annually from the 5.5 percent being taken now.</p>
<p>The additional 1 percent withdrawal would generate about $113 million per year to fund early childhood education programs, such as preschool classes and in-home visits for new parents.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Republicans and other critics have said the increased distribution from the state’s $11.45 billion permanent fund would hurt the long-term health of the fund.</p>
<p>Supporters say the investment in early childhood programs would pay off in other ways, such as increased high school graduation rates and decreased incarceration rates.</p>
<p>The proposal now goes to the Senate for consideration. The bill is the House version of Senate Joint Resolution 3 which is pending in a Senate committee.</p>
<p>The House sponsor, Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, said the early childhood funding would be the state’s best hope at dramatically improving its education system by sending better prepared students to start kindergarten, regardless of their families’ socioeconomic status.</p>
<p>“We have to deal with the dysfunctions that generations of poverty bring. This is the great equalizer. It could be a game-changer for the future of our state,” Maestas said.</p>
<p>The proposal has drawn opposition from business groups, including the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, which cite analysis from the State Investment Council that the distribution would slow the growth of a fund that now contributes more than $500 million per year toward public education programs.</p>
<p>“This is permanent damage to our Land Grant Permanent Fund,” said Rep. James White, R-Albuquerque. “… You get a short-term gain, but it’s going to hurt you 10 years from now. Your distribution 10 years from now isn’t going to be what it is now.”</p>
<p>Also on Sunday, the House narrowly approved a proposed legislative rule change intended to clarify protections for legislators that limit the public release of records, such as their emails, under the Inspection of Public Records Act.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The chamber voted 48-16 to send House Concurrent Resolution 1 to the Senate for consideration. A minimum of 47 votes were required for the proposed rule change to advance.</p>
<p>The bill’s sponsor, House Minority Leader Donald Bratton, R-Hobbs, said the rule would make clear that lawmakers act only as a group, and individual communications, such as emails, exchanged between lawmakers and their constituents would not be allowed for release.</p>
<p>Emails to and from government officials became part of an ongoing political feud between liberal and conservative interests during the 2012 election season.</p>
<p>If approved by the Senate, the rule change would require the Legislative Council Service to establish procedures on how lawmakers’ records are made public.</p>
<p>“I think if we don’t protect those communications, that we’re going to shut down access to the constituents that we’re here to serve, and make it very difficult for us to do our job in an effective manner,” Bratton said.</p>
<p>Supporters cited immunities outlined in the state constitution that allow lawmakers’ records to be confidential, a protection that does not apply to the state’s executive branch and elected officials representing city councils or county commissions.</p>
<p>“Is the Legislature different from other governments? The answer is yes. It’s the only place that has a privileges and immunities clause,” said House Speaker Ken Martinez, D-Grants, a co-sponsor of the rule change. “There is not an executive immunity in the constitution.”</p>
<p>Opponents, however, said the rule could go too far in restricting access to information about how state government works.</p>
<p>“It’s a mistake if we go down a path where we start putting up black curtains so the public can’t see what we’re doing,” said Rep. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces.</p>
<p>The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government is in opposition to the rule change. The open government group has expressed concern that the proposed rule change does not give specific details about how the new legislative rule affecting public records would be enforced.</p>
<p>In other major legislative action Sunday:</p>
<p>♦ The Senate passed legislation for $222 million in capital improvement projects funded through severance tax bonds. That bill now heads to the House.</p>
<p>♦ Legislation to prohibit employers from paying women less then their male counterparts is heading to Gov. Susana Martinez’s desk after the House voted to approve Senate changes to the bill.</p>
<p>♦ The Senate passed a bill intended to improve the solvency of the state’s Educational Retirement Board pension system by increasing members’ contributions into the fund and setting a minimum retirement age of 55. — This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal</p>
|
House OKs increase in land grant payouts
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/176990/house-oks-increase-in-land-grant-payouts.html
|
2013-03-11
| 2least
|
House OKs increase in land grant payouts
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The House approved the proposed constitutional amendment for early childhood programs, House Joint Resolution 13, on a 37-32 vote after about three hours of debate.</p>
<p>If also approved by the Senate, the proposal would go to New Mexico voters in 2014. Voters would be asked to bump up funding for early childhood programs by increasing Land Grant Permanent Fund withdrawals to 6.5 percent annually from the 5.5 percent being taken now.</p>
<p>The additional 1 percent withdrawal would generate about $113 million per year to fund early childhood education programs, such as preschool classes and in-home visits for new parents.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Republicans and other critics have said the increased distribution from the state’s $11.45 billion permanent fund would hurt the long-term health of the fund.</p>
<p>Supporters say the investment in early childhood programs would pay off in other ways, such as increased high school graduation rates and decreased incarceration rates.</p>
<p>The proposal now goes to the Senate for consideration. The bill is the House version of Senate Joint Resolution 3 which is pending in a Senate committee.</p>
<p>The House sponsor, Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, said the early childhood funding would be the state’s best hope at dramatically improving its education system by sending better prepared students to start kindergarten, regardless of their families’ socioeconomic status.</p>
<p>“We have to deal with the dysfunctions that generations of poverty bring. This is the great equalizer. It could be a game-changer for the future of our state,” Maestas said.</p>
<p>The proposal has drawn opposition from business groups, including the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, which cite analysis from the State Investment Council that the distribution would slow the growth of a fund that now contributes more than $500 million per year toward public education programs.</p>
<p>“This is permanent damage to our Land Grant Permanent Fund,” said Rep. James White, R-Albuquerque. “… You get a short-term gain, but it’s going to hurt you 10 years from now. Your distribution 10 years from now isn’t going to be what it is now.”</p>
<p>Also on Sunday, the House narrowly approved a proposed legislative rule change intended to clarify protections for legislators that limit the public release of records, such as their emails, under the Inspection of Public Records Act.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The chamber voted 48-16 to send House Concurrent Resolution 1 to the Senate for consideration. A minimum of 47 votes were required for the proposed rule change to advance.</p>
<p>The bill’s sponsor, House Minority Leader Donald Bratton, R-Hobbs, said the rule would make clear that lawmakers act only as a group, and individual communications, such as emails, exchanged between lawmakers and their constituents would not be allowed for release.</p>
<p>Emails to and from government officials became part of an ongoing political feud between liberal and conservative interests during the 2012 election season.</p>
<p>If approved by the Senate, the rule change would require the Legislative Council Service to establish procedures on how lawmakers’ records are made public.</p>
<p>“I think if we don’t protect those communications, that we’re going to shut down access to the constituents that we’re here to serve, and make it very difficult for us to do our job in an effective manner,” Bratton said.</p>
<p>Supporters cited immunities outlined in the state constitution that allow lawmakers’ records to be confidential, a protection that does not apply to the state’s executive branch and elected officials representing city councils or county commissions.</p>
<p>“Is the Legislature different from other governments? The answer is yes. It’s the only place that has a privileges and immunities clause,” said House Speaker Ken Martinez, D-Grants, a co-sponsor of the rule change. “There is not an executive immunity in the constitution.”</p>
<p>Opponents, however, said the rule could go too far in restricting access to information about how state government works.</p>
<p>“It’s a mistake if we go down a path where we start putting up black curtains so the public can’t see what we’re doing,” said Rep. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces.</p>
<p>The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government is in opposition to the rule change. The open government group has expressed concern that the proposed rule change does not give specific details about how the new legislative rule affecting public records would be enforced.</p>
<p>In other major legislative action Sunday:</p>
<p>♦ The Senate passed legislation for $222 million in capital improvement projects funded through severance tax bonds. That bill now heads to the House.</p>
<p>♦ Legislation to prohibit employers from paying women less then their male counterparts is heading to Gov. Susana Martinez’s desk after the House voted to approve Senate changes to the bill.</p>
<p>♦ The Senate passed a bill intended to improve the solvency of the state’s Educational Retirement Board pension system by increasing members’ contributions into the fund and setting a minimum retirement age of 55. — This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal</p>
| 5,996 |
<p>In January 2011, thousands gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, threatening for the first time the 30-year dictatorship of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Decades of suppressed dissent was finding an outlet in the streets and online as well. Six months earlier, in Alexandria, 28-year-old Khaled Saeed was dragged out of a cybercafe and beaten to death by police. Photos of his corpse, released by his family, went viral on the Internet, fomenting discontent. Wael Ghonim, an Internet engineer and activist, created a Facebook page, “We Are All Khaled Saeed,” serving as a platform for hundreds of thousands to organize.</p>
<p>As the crowds swelled in Tahrir, the power of the Internet as a force for social change was being demonstrated hour by hour. In response, Mubarak shut down the Internet, as well as most cellphone service. Universal outcry forced him to turn it back on.</p>
<p>Which brings us to net neutrality: the fundamental notion that anyone on the Web can reach anyone else, that users can just as easily access a small website launched in a garage as they can access major Internet portals like Google or Yahoo. Net neutrality is the Internet’s protection against discrimination.</p>
<p>During the past two decades, as the Internet flourished and transformed our society, several major corporations have assumed dominant “gatekeeper” positions, threatening net neutrality. Among them, the large Internet service providers, or ISPs: AT&amp;T, Verizon, Time Warner and Comcast. These four phone and cable companies make massive, multi-billion-dollar profits while charging enormous fees and providing, at best, lackluster service.</p>
<p />
<p>In 2004, the Federal Communications Commission, under its then-chairman, Michael Powell, the son of Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, set forth principles for an “open Internet.” In practice, these favored those very corporations that profit from a regulatory “light touch.” Powell left office and became the head of the cable industry’s lobbying organization, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), demonstrating clearly the corrupt revolving door between federal regulators and the industries they are supposed to oversee.</p>
<p>Nearly 10 years later, President Barack Obama named Tom Wheeler, the former head of the NCTA, to lead the FCC. Wheeler was a major donor to Obama’s presidential campaigns. After a federal court struck down the “open Internet” rules, Wheeler announced that the FCC would be making new ones. Advocates for a free and open Internet were worried that this former lobbyist would end the Internet as we know it, handing the keys over to the major telecom and cable corporations.</p>
<p>This announcement sparked a massive protest movement. Led by organizations like Free Press and Public Knowledge, people camped out in front of the FCC for days. More than 4 million people commented on the rules, making this the largest response to any federal request for public comment in history.</p>
<p>In a blog post on the website of the magazine Wired this week, Wheeler made a stunning revelation. “Originally, I believed that the FCC could assure Internet openness through a determination of ‘commercial reasonableness,'” he wrote. This is what had worried proponents of network neutrality. Major ISPs would be allowed to discriminate, favoring some websites over others, as long as they weren’t being “unreasonable.” Wheeler continued in his Wired piece, “I am proposing that the FCC use its Title II authority to implement and enforce open Internet protections.”</p>
<p>What Wheeler means by “Title II authority” is that he has made an about-face and will propose rules that the Internet be regulated like a public utility, as are other central pillars of our society like power utilities, water systems and the telephone system. Imagine if the water coming out of your tap was less clean than water at a neighbor’s house, because the neighbor pays for premium water. Public utilities are regulated. People get the same service, without discrimination.</p>
<p>The large Internet providers will be prevented from discriminating against people who publish on the Internet, or against those who seek out information on the Internet. All must be treated equally, regardless of race, color, beliefs and, perhaps most importantly, how rich they are. The major corporate ISPs have lobbied hard to create a multitiered Internet to squeeze more profit out of this public treasure. Tom Wheeler and the other commissioners have listened, not only to President Obama, but to the public, millions of people who have demanded the fundamental right to communicate without discrimination.</p>
<p>Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.</p>
<p>Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 1,200 stations in North America. She is the co-author of “The Silenced Majority,” a New York Times best-seller.</p>
<p>© 2015 Amy Goodman</p>
<p>Distributed by King Features Syndicate</p>
|
Net Neutrality, Back by Popular Demand
| true |
https://truthdig.com/articles/net-neutrality-back-by-popular-demand/
|
2015-02-05
| 4left
|
Net Neutrality, Back by Popular Demand
<p>In January 2011, thousands gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, threatening for the first time the 30-year dictatorship of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Decades of suppressed dissent was finding an outlet in the streets and online as well. Six months earlier, in Alexandria, 28-year-old Khaled Saeed was dragged out of a cybercafe and beaten to death by police. Photos of his corpse, released by his family, went viral on the Internet, fomenting discontent. Wael Ghonim, an Internet engineer and activist, created a Facebook page, “We Are All Khaled Saeed,” serving as a platform for hundreds of thousands to organize.</p>
<p>As the crowds swelled in Tahrir, the power of the Internet as a force for social change was being demonstrated hour by hour. In response, Mubarak shut down the Internet, as well as most cellphone service. Universal outcry forced him to turn it back on.</p>
<p>Which brings us to net neutrality: the fundamental notion that anyone on the Web can reach anyone else, that users can just as easily access a small website launched in a garage as they can access major Internet portals like Google or Yahoo. Net neutrality is the Internet’s protection against discrimination.</p>
<p>During the past two decades, as the Internet flourished and transformed our society, several major corporations have assumed dominant “gatekeeper” positions, threatening net neutrality. Among them, the large Internet service providers, or ISPs: AT&amp;T, Verizon, Time Warner and Comcast. These four phone and cable companies make massive, multi-billion-dollar profits while charging enormous fees and providing, at best, lackluster service.</p>
<p />
<p>In 2004, the Federal Communications Commission, under its then-chairman, Michael Powell, the son of Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, set forth principles for an “open Internet.” In practice, these favored those very corporations that profit from a regulatory “light touch.” Powell left office and became the head of the cable industry’s lobbying organization, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), demonstrating clearly the corrupt revolving door between federal regulators and the industries they are supposed to oversee.</p>
<p>Nearly 10 years later, President Barack Obama named Tom Wheeler, the former head of the NCTA, to lead the FCC. Wheeler was a major donor to Obama’s presidential campaigns. After a federal court struck down the “open Internet” rules, Wheeler announced that the FCC would be making new ones. Advocates for a free and open Internet were worried that this former lobbyist would end the Internet as we know it, handing the keys over to the major telecom and cable corporations.</p>
<p>This announcement sparked a massive protest movement. Led by organizations like Free Press and Public Knowledge, people camped out in front of the FCC for days. More than 4 million people commented on the rules, making this the largest response to any federal request for public comment in history.</p>
<p>In a blog post on the website of the magazine Wired this week, Wheeler made a stunning revelation. “Originally, I believed that the FCC could assure Internet openness through a determination of ‘commercial reasonableness,'” he wrote. This is what had worried proponents of network neutrality. Major ISPs would be allowed to discriminate, favoring some websites over others, as long as they weren’t being “unreasonable.” Wheeler continued in his Wired piece, “I am proposing that the FCC use its Title II authority to implement and enforce open Internet protections.”</p>
<p>What Wheeler means by “Title II authority” is that he has made an about-face and will propose rules that the Internet be regulated like a public utility, as are other central pillars of our society like power utilities, water systems and the telephone system. Imagine if the water coming out of your tap was less clean than water at a neighbor’s house, because the neighbor pays for premium water. Public utilities are regulated. People get the same service, without discrimination.</p>
<p>The large Internet providers will be prevented from discriminating against people who publish on the Internet, or against those who seek out information on the Internet. All must be treated equally, regardless of race, color, beliefs and, perhaps most importantly, how rich they are. The major corporate ISPs have lobbied hard to create a multitiered Internet to squeeze more profit out of this public treasure. Tom Wheeler and the other commissioners have listened, not only to President Obama, but to the public, millions of people who have demanded the fundamental right to communicate without discrimination.</p>
<p>Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.</p>
<p>Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 1,200 stations in North America. She is the co-author of “The Silenced Majority,” a New York Times best-seller.</p>
<p>© 2015 Amy Goodman</p>
<p>Distributed by King Features Syndicate</p>
| 5,997 |
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<p />
<p>Only in Washington, D.C., could not paying royalties you owe be considered a spending cut.</p>
<p>Welcome to the magic math of sequestration and the Obama administration.</p>
<p>Last week the Department of Interior announced it would withhold $26 million in oil and gas royalties from New Mexico. Only Wyoming, one of the nation’s largest onshore oil and gas producers, is facing a larger royalties loss — $53 million. And somehow, not paying states their energy and mineral royalties as provided under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 and its subsequent amendments constitutes tightening the federal belt.</p>
<p>Well, it sure beats making the decisions about reining-in spending on pet projects and the bureaucracy. Perhaps it’s part of that balance the administration keeps talking about. As in, two for me, none for you.</p>
<p>As Legislative Finance Committee Director David Abbey points out, these cuts come from revenues, not appropriations. And Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., observes that “the federal government is trying to bow out of their commitments to states after failing to cut wasteful spending within the government.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>New Mexico Attorney General Gary King says he is reviewing “the issues with my litigation group” to see if the cuts can be appealed. That’s something that should be fast-tracked.</p>
<p>And Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., says he is “looking into this decision by the Department of the Interior and exploring options to see if it can be reversed.”</p>
<p>The bottom line — while New Mexico will have to dip into its reserves to cover the shortfall, no actual federal spending has been cut. But plenty of panic has been ginned up by this cynical move that further erodes the public’s faith in the federal government’s ability to do the right thing.</p>
<p>This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.</p>
|
Editorial: Sequestration math cuts nothing but faith
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/183702/sequestration-math-cuts-nothing-but-faith.html
|
2013-03-31
| 2least
|
Editorial: Sequestration math cuts nothing but faith
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Only in Washington, D.C., could not paying royalties you owe be considered a spending cut.</p>
<p>Welcome to the magic math of sequestration and the Obama administration.</p>
<p>Last week the Department of Interior announced it would withhold $26 million in oil and gas royalties from New Mexico. Only Wyoming, one of the nation’s largest onshore oil and gas producers, is facing a larger royalties loss — $53 million. And somehow, not paying states their energy and mineral royalties as provided under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 and its subsequent amendments constitutes tightening the federal belt.</p>
<p>Well, it sure beats making the decisions about reining-in spending on pet projects and the bureaucracy. Perhaps it’s part of that balance the administration keeps talking about. As in, two for me, none for you.</p>
<p>As Legislative Finance Committee Director David Abbey points out, these cuts come from revenues, not appropriations. And Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., observes that “the federal government is trying to bow out of their commitments to states after failing to cut wasteful spending within the government.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>New Mexico Attorney General Gary King says he is reviewing “the issues with my litigation group” to see if the cuts can be appealed. That’s something that should be fast-tracked.</p>
<p>And Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., says he is “looking into this decision by the Department of the Interior and exploring options to see if it can be reversed.”</p>
<p>The bottom line — while New Mexico will have to dip into its reserves to cover the shortfall, no actual federal spending has been cut. But plenty of panic has been ginned up by this cynical move that further erodes the public’s faith in the federal government’s ability to do the right thing.</p>
<p>This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.</p>
| 5,998 |
<p>By Bob Allen</p>
<p>The Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission defended new guidelines for military chaplains in response to a recent commentary published by Associated Baptist Press.</p>
<p>Andrew Walker, director of policy studies for the SBC agency dedicated to public policy and religious-liberty concerns, said the North American Mission Board updated guidelines for military chaplains to “offer more precise recommendations and regulations” in response to the repeal of “don’t-ask-don’t-tell” and the Defense of Marriage Act.</p>
<p>“We’re very concerned about our chaplains offering a proper witness, a Christ-like witness, one that respects all individuals in the military but also holds firm on Southern Baptist doctrine,” Walker, who formerly worked with the <a href="http://www.joinheritage.org/?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_term=brand+exact&amp;utm_content=6&amp;utm_campaign=2013_brand&amp;gclid=CK3K49ye2rkCFeHm7AodzQYAdw" type="external">Heritage Foundation</a> before joining the ERLC staff in August, said in a <a href="http://erlc.com/article/video-moore-and-walker-on-military-chaplaincy" type="external">video</a> on the agency website.</p>
<p>“We have new policies that say Southern Baptist chaplains cannot be present at a same-sex civil union or a same-sex marriage that is performed on a base, or for that matter anywhere in the community,” Walker said. “They can’t provide counseling services to same-sex couples. They can shift their services and provide them with another venue or outlet, but we don’t want to give the appearance that we’re endorsing that particular type of union.”</p>
<p>ERLC President Russell Moore, who took office in June, referenced specifically a Sept. 16 ABPnews <a href="opinion/commentaries/item/8848-sbc-chaplains-cannot-serve-god-and-country#.Ujxa67so7IU" type="external">commentary</a> by Tom Carpenter, co-chair of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy, saying the new restrictions could force chaplains to choose between obeying their denomination or military regulations that require chaplains to cooperate with other faiths “in a pluralistic environment.”</p>
<p>“We’re not worried about our chaplains doing this,” Moore said of the same-sex marriage ban. “We’re worried about letting the government know this is what our chaplains are about, so you’re not going to be able to force them to do anything else.”</p>
<p>Moore, who previously taught and served as a vice president at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said he was surprised by negative reaction to the guidelines in secular and “liberal Baptist” media.</p>
<p>“We’re calling for separation of church and state to be able to say chaplaincy isn’t a subset of the military,” he said. “Instead what the military is doing by having chaplains is to enable people who are in the military to freely exercise their religion. It’s not just a post of some kind of American civil religion.”</p>
<p>While “technically” paid by the armed services, Walker said, military chaplains are “sent” by denominations or sending churches to help soldiers exercise their First Amendment guarantee to the free exercise of religion.</p>
<p>“So this is really just about continuing the operation of using our First Amendment liberties in a post-Defense of Marriage Act world,” Walker said.</p>
<p>“If you read the recommendations, there is nothing condemning about the regulations,” Walker said. “They are basically saying that Southern Baptists need to operate according to Southern Baptist Convention doctrine, orthodoxy and the Baptist Faith and Message.”</p>
<p>Moore said under the new guidelines, a same-sex couple could request individual counseling about how to deal with their same-sex attraction. “What our chaplains would not be able to do, based on our convictions, is to counsel that same-sex couple on how to have a better marriage with one another,” he said.</p>
<p>“We need to operate in the categories of repentance,” Walker explained. “It’s what all of us are called to do, so basically were just asking the chaplains to be able to do that in all different contexts.”</p>
<p>Previous story:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Mohler says military chaplains at risk</a></p>
<p>Related commentary:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">SBC chaplains cannot serve ‘God and country’</a></p>
|
ERLC defends rules for military chaplains
| false |
https://baptistnews.com/article/erlc-defends-rules-for-military-chaplains/
| 3left-center
|
ERLC defends rules for military chaplains
<p>By Bob Allen</p>
<p>The Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission defended new guidelines for military chaplains in response to a recent commentary published by Associated Baptist Press.</p>
<p>Andrew Walker, director of policy studies for the SBC agency dedicated to public policy and religious-liberty concerns, said the North American Mission Board updated guidelines for military chaplains to “offer more precise recommendations and regulations” in response to the repeal of “don’t-ask-don’t-tell” and the Defense of Marriage Act.</p>
<p>“We’re very concerned about our chaplains offering a proper witness, a Christ-like witness, one that respects all individuals in the military but also holds firm on Southern Baptist doctrine,” Walker, who formerly worked with the <a href="http://www.joinheritage.org/?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_term=brand+exact&amp;utm_content=6&amp;utm_campaign=2013_brand&amp;gclid=CK3K49ye2rkCFeHm7AodzQYAdw" type="external">Heritage Foundation</a> before joining the ERLC staff in August, said in a <a href="http://erlc.com/article/video-moore-and-walker-on-military-chaplaincy" type="external">video</a> on the agency website.</p>
<p>“We have new policies that say Southern Baptist chaplains cannot be present at a same-sex civil union or a same-sex marriage that is performed on a base, or for that matter anywhere in the community,” Walker said. “They can’t provide counseling services to same-sex couples. They can shift their services and provide them with another venue or outlet, but we don’t want to give the appearance that we’re endorsing that particular type of union.”</p>
<p>ERLC President Russell Moore, who took office in June, referenced specifically a Sept. 16 ABPnews <a href="opinion/commentaries/item/8848-sbc-chaplains-cannot-serve-god-and-country#.Ujxa67so7IU" type="external">commentary</a> by Tom Carpenter, co-chair of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy, saying the new restrictions could force chaplains to choose between obeying their denomination or military regulations that require chaplains to cooperate with other faiths “in a pluralistic environment.”</p>
<p>“We’re not worried about our chaplains doing this,” Moore said of the same-sex marriage ban. “We’re worried about letting the government know this is what our chaplains are about, so you’re not going to be able to force them to do anything else.”</p>
<p>Moore, who previously taught and served as a vice president at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said he was surprised by negative reaction to the guidelines in secular and “liberal Baptist” media.</p>
<p>“We’re calling for separation of church and state to be able to say chaplaincy isn’t a subset of the military,” he said. “Instead what the military is doing by having chaplains is to enable people who are in the military to freely exercise their religion. It’s not just a post of some kind of American civil religion.”</p>
<p>While “technically” paid by the armed services, Walker said, military chaplains are “sent” by denominations or sending churches to help soldiers exercise their First Amendment guarantee to the free exercise of religion.</p>
<p>“So this is really just about continuing the operation of using our First Amendment liberties in a post-Defense of Marriage Act world,” Walker said.</p>
<p>“If you read the recommendations, there is nothing condemning about the regulations,” Walker said. “They are basically saying that Southern Baptists need to operate according to Southern Baptist Convention doctrine, orthodoxy and the Baptist Faith and Message.”</p>
<p>Moore said under the new guidelines, a same-sex couple could request individual counseling about how to deal with their same-sex attraction. “What our chaplains would not be able to do, based on our convictions, is to counsel that same-sex couple on how to have a better marriage with one another,” he said.</p>
<p>“We need to operate in the categories of repentance,” Walker explained. “It’s what all of us are called to do, so basically were just asking the chaplains to be able to do that in all different contexts.”</p>
<p>Previous story:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Mohler says military chaplains at risk</a></p>
<p>Related commentary:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">SBC chaplains cannot serve ‘God and country’</a></p>
| 5,999 |
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