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<p />
<p>Ron Adams retired from the U.S. Army after 24 years of service ready to embark on his lifelong dream of opening his own business. Ready to take orders from himself and utilize the leadership and interpersonal skills he learned as a drill sergeant, Adams launched a new small business. Here, he plans to give back to fellow veterans by creating local job opportunities and someday to pass down to his children as a legacy business.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Name:&#160;Ron Adams</p>
<p>Franchise owned:&#160; <a href="http://www.nhance.com/necolumbiawoodrenewal/" type="external">N-Hance Revolutionary Wood Renewal Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;in Columbia, S.C.</p>
<p>How long you have owned the franchise?</p>
<p>One year.</p>
<p>Why franchising?</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>I’ve always dreamed of opening my own business in a service-related industry that would allow me to take orders for myself while utilizing the strong leadership and interpersonal skills I gained as a drill sergeant. I decided to turn to franchising because of the structure, established systems and procedures that a franchise provides.</p>
<p>Veterans are used to following a set process and structure and know how to rely on a support network. After being in an environment with a constant sense of unity between soldiers, the structure of a franchise model seemed similar, as you must be able to trust fellow franchise owners and rely on each other for support. I knew that my self-discipline and determination to succeed, coupled with a proven business system of a national franchise, would allow me to excel as a franchise owner.</p>
<p>Related:&#160; <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232231" type="external">Franchise Players: How Electronic Retail Became a Family Business for This Boomer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>What were you doing before you became a franchise owner?</p>
<p>In December 2011, I retired from the U.S. Army after 24 years of service, which included three tours in the Middle East and a period of time spent molding 5,000 civilians into soldiers as a drill sergeant.&#160; I served in Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn and received several accolades, including a Bronze Star and an Honorable Military Discharge.</p>
<p>Why did you choose this particular franchise?</p>
<p>Towards the end of my service, I began recognizing the benefits of the N-Hance Wood Renewal franchise model for myself -- it’s service-related as I wanted, offers flexibility with hours, allots the choice of hiring as many people as needed, has an established track record and a great support system that has been proven to work. The prospect of becoming part of a national service with a physical presence in more than 1,400 of the 1,900 Home Depot locations across the nation was a no brainer for me.</p>
<p>I knew the home improvement industry would be a good fit because I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands and making a difference in people's lives by creating a better living environment. Additionally, N-Hance Wood Renewal is heavily invested in research and development, from product development, testing in the field, manufacturing, and quality control, which allows franchise owners to provide their customers with top-quality products and processes that are and cutting edge in the industry.</p>
<p>How much would you estimate you spent before you were officially open for business?&#160;</p>
<p>The total investment before opening my franchise was $38,860. The cost breakdown includes:</p>
<p>Where did you get most of your advice/do most of your research?</p>
<p>I first found out about the opportunity with N-Hance Wood Renewal through Mr. Mathew Thornton, a business coach at The Entrepreneur's Source, whom I met at a local career fair. I also consulted with the Columbia Small Business Development Center and did extensive research online regarding the home improvement industry and need for floor renewal services, N-Hance Wood Renewal’s franchise system, services, and customer reviews. Speaking with and shadowing two N-Hance franchise owners in South Carolina helped finalize my decision.</p>
<p>Related:&#160; <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232226" type="external">Franchise Players: There's No One Path to Becoming a Franchisee Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>What were the most unexpected challenges of opening your franchise?</p>
<p>The most unexpected challenge of opening my N-Hance Wood Renewal franchise was the amount of time it took to complete my&#160;business&#160;plan and to gain financial&#160;support for&#160;a&#160;business loan. As a new franchise owner, you will face bumps along the way, but you can’t let them get in the way of your long-term goal. It’s important to stay positive in the face of adversity, be patient and have the ability to adapt in unanticipated situations.</p>
<p>What advice do you have for individuals who want to own their own franchise?</p>
<p>If you’re interested in opening your own franchise, you need to find an industry and franchise concept that suits your personality and needs. I recommend finding a good business coach or mentor, doing extensive research to understand the business model and industry, and meeting with others who know and have succeeded in the franchise. You must also possess certain skillsets including self-discipline and the ability to properly follow systems and procedures.</p>
<p>The path to becoming a successful franchisee owner involves having a long term plan, and sticking close to the plan, even when you face obstacles along the way. You have to be willing to go the extra mile to beat out the competition and give a positive name to your brand. When you find a good fit in a franchise system, come up with a short and long-term business plan with or without&#160;financial&#160;support and do not procrastinate. Most importantly, you must be dedicated to your company’s success and believe in the business philosophy.</p>
<p>What’s next for you and your business?</p>
<p>Columbia has been a great market to start a business and I look forward to expanding into additional territories throughout South Carolina. As a veteran who found success in franchising, I’d also like to give back to local veterans by creating job opportunities as I take on additional territories. I’ve worked with an array of military personnel during my time in uniform and share a strong bond with my fellow vets.</p>
<p>Another goal of opening a franchise was to create a legacy business that I could pass down to my four children. They’ve already started working with me and are quickly learning the ins and outs of the home improvement industry and running a successful franchise.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/franchise-players" type="external">Franchise Players Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;is Entrepreneur’s Q&amp;A interview column that puts the spotlight on franchisees. If you're a franchisee with advice and tips to share, e-mail <a href="http://mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected] Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Related:&#160; <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/231816" type="external">Franchise Players: How This Franchisee Turned Military Lessons Into Business Success Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>This post originally appeared at <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232404" type="external">Entrepreneur Opens a New Window.</a>. Copyright 2014.</p>
<p>Kate Taylor is a staff writer for Entrepreneur.com.</p>
|
Former Drill Sergeant Wants to Help Other Vets Through Franchising
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/features/2014/03/31/former-drill-sergeant-wants-to-help-other-vets-through-franchising.html
|
2016-04-08
| 0right
|
Former Drill Sergeant Wants to Help Other Vets Through Franchising
<p />
<p>Ron Adams retired from the U.S. Army after 24 years of service ready to embark on his lifelong dream of opening his own business. Ready to take orders from himself and utilize the leadership and interpersonal skills he learned as a drill sergeant, Adams launched a new small business. Here, he plans to give back to fellow veterans by creating local job opportunities and someday to pass down to his children as a legacy business.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Name:&#160;Ron Adams</p>
<p>Franchise owned:&#160; <a href="http://www.nhance.com/necolumbiawoodrenewal/" type="external">N-Hance Revolutionary Wood Renewal Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;in Columbia, S.C.</p>
<p>How long you have owned the franchise?</p>
<p>One year.</p>
<p>Why franchising?</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>I’ve always dreamed of opening my own business in a service-related industry that would allow me to take orders for myself while utilizing the strong leadership and interpersonal skills I gained as a drill sergeant. I decided to turn to franchising because of the structure, established systems and procedures that a franchise provides.</p>
<p>Veterans are used to following a set process and structure and know how to rely on a support network. After being in an environment with a constant sense of unity between soldiers, the structure of a franchise model seemed similar, as you must be able to trust fellow franchise owners and rely on each other for support. I knew that my self-discipline and determination to succeed, coupled with a proven business system of a national franchise, would allow me to excel as a franchise owner.</p>
<p>Related:&#160; <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232231" type="external">Franchise Players: How Electronic Retail Became a Family Business for This Boomer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>What were you doing before you became a franchise owner?</p>
<p>In December 2011, I retired from the U.S. Army after 24 years of service, which included three tours in the Middle East and a period of time spent molding 5,000 civilians into soldiers as a drill sergeant.&#160; I served in Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn and received several accolades, including a Bronze Star and an Honorable Military Discharge.</p>
<p>Why did you choose this particular franchise?</p>
<p>Towards the end of my service, I began recognizing the benefits of the N-Hance Wood Renewal franchise model for myself -- it’s service-related as I wanted, offers flexibility with hours, allots the choice of hiring as many people as needed, has an established track record and a great support system that has been proven to work. The prospect of becoming part of a national service with a physical presence in more than 1,400 of the 1,900 Home Depot locations across the nation was a no brainer for me.</p>
<p>I knew the home improvement industry would be a good fit because I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands and making a difference in people's lives by creating a better living environment. Additionally, N-Hance Wood Renewal is heavily invested in research and development, from product development, testing in the field, manufacturing, and quality control, which allows franchise owners to provide their customers with top-quality products and processes that are and cutting edge in the industry.</p>
<p>How much would you estimate you spent before you were officially open for business?&#160;</p>
<p>The total investment before opening my franchise was $38,860. The cost breakdown includes:</p>
<p>Where did you get most of your advice/do most of your research?</p>
<p>I first found out about the opportunity with N-Hance Wood Renewal through Mr. Mathew Thornton, a business coach at The Entrepreneur's Source, whom I met at a local career fair. I also consulted with the Columbia Small Business Development Center and did extensive research online regarding the home improvement industry and need for floor renewal services, N-Hance Wood Renewal’s franchise system, services, and customer reviews. Speaking with and shadowing two N-Hance franchise owners in South Carolina helped finalize my decision.</p>
<p>Related:&#160; <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232226" type="external">Franchise Players: There's No One Path to Becoming a Franchisee Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>What were the most unexpected challenges of opening your franchise?</p>
<p>The most unexpected challenge of opening my N-Hance Wood Renewal franchise was the amount of time it took to complete my&#160;business&#160;plan and to gain financial&#160;support for&#160;a&#160;business loan. As a new franchise owner, you will face bumps along the way, but you can’t let them get in the way of your long-term goal. It’s important to stay positive in the face of adversity, be patient and have the ability to adapt in unanticipated situations.</p>
<p>What advice do you have for individuals who want to own their own franchise?</p>
<p>If you’re interested in opening your own franchise, you need to find an industry and franchise concept that suits your personality and needs. I recommend finding a good business coach or mentor, doing extensive research to understand the business model and industry, and meeting with others who know and have succeeded in the franchise. You must also possess certain skillsets including self-discipline and the ability to properly follow systems and procedures.</p>
<p>The path to becoming a successful franchisee owner involves having a long term plan, and sticking close to the plan, even when you face obstacles along the way. You have to be willing to go the extra mile to beat out the competition and give a positive name to your brand. When you find a good fit in a franchise system, come up with a short and long-term business plan with or without&#160;financial&#160;support and do not procrastinate. Most importantly, you must be dedicated to your company’s success and believe in the business philosophy.</p>
<p>What’s next for you and your business?</p>
<p>Columbia has been a great market to start a business and I look forward to expanding into additional territories throughout South Carolina. As a veteran who found success in franchising, I’d also like to give back to local veterans by creating job opportunities as I take on additional territories. I’ve worked with an array of military personnel during my time in uniform and share a strong bond with my fellow vets.</p>
<p>Another goal of opening a franchise was to create a legacy business that I could pass down to my four children. They’ve already started working with me and are quickly learning the ins and outs of the home improvement industry and running a successful franchise.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/franchise-players" type="external">Franchise Players Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;is Entrepreneur’s Q&amp;A interview column that puts the spotlight on franchisees. If you're a franchisee with advice and tips to share, e-mail <a href="http://mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected] Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Related:&#160; <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/231816" type="external">Franchise Players: How This Franchisee Turned Military Lessons Into Business Success Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>This post originally appeared at <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232404" type="external">Entrepreneur Opens a New Window.</a>. Copyright 2014.</p>
<p>Kate Taylor is a staff writer for Entrepreneur.com.</p>
| 6,500 |
<p>Following Twitter’s announcement of an Orwellian “ <a href="" type="internal">Trust &amp; Safety Council</a>” through which its users are banned without explanation, a relatively prominent conservative bloggers has been unpersoned. Robert Stacy McCain’s <a href="https://twitter.com/rsmccain" type="external">Twitter profile</a> now redirected to an “Account Suspended” alert. At the time of his suspension, he had over 90,000 followers.</p>
<p>A #FreeStacy hashtag movement has now arisen in response.</p>
<p>Twitter’s council of its own Ministry of Truth includes feminist agitator and censorship-advocate Anita Sarkeesian. Sarkeesian <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTSQbLt9DS8" type="external">has organized</a> like-minded leftist fascists to have Twitter suspend detractors and critics of feminism on baseless grounds of “harassment.”</p>
<p>A response from McCain towards the suspension of his Twitter account was published at <a href="http://theralphretort.com/follow-up-r-s-mccain-responds-to-his-unfair-twitter-suspension-2020016/" type="external">The Ralph Retort</a>. Below is an excerpt.</p>
<p>So, if you will excuse my French, fuck “social justice,” and fuck all these pretentious idiots who popped up on the Internet three or four years ago claiming to be “experts” on something. They may fool some people, but they don’t fool me. Zoe Quinn, Brianna Wu, Anita Sarkeesian, that whole worthless crowd of phony hustlers? They don’t fool me. I was street-smart enough to spot their kind of hustle even before I got into the news business. “Social justice” is a three-card monte hustle, a cheap and transparent scam or, as Friedrich Hayek said, social justice is a mirage. The object of the [social justice warrior] game — for Quinn, Wu, Sarkeesian, et al. — is for them to make money without ever doing any actual work except be a professional “activist.” Yeah, so fuck their activism, and fuck their claim to being morally superior to me (or you or anybody else) just because they are an “activist” who claims to be advancing “social justice.” They do not fool me, nor should anyone else be deceived by their bogus hustle, and the fact that my@rsmccain account got suspended? Just further proof of what I keep saying: Feminism is a totalitarian movement, and the First Rule of Feminism is, “Shut up!” Sarkeesian and her crowd cannot sustain their arguments against well-informed criticism, and so they attempt to “win” the argument by silencing all criticism.</p>
<p>This is why you can’t even state FACTS about these people on Twitter without being accused of “harassment.” Facts are harassment and truth is hate and Oceania Has Always Been at War With Eastasia. Sarkesian is anti-freedom because she is anti-truth. She and her little squad of soi-disant “feminists” are just hustlers looking for a free ride, and the only way they can get that ride is to silence anyone who speaks the truth about them and calls them out as the cheap bullshit artists they actually are. Me? Nobody cares about me. I am not the story. But I am the guy telling the story, and I’m not going to shut up so long as I can breathe. If I drop dead right here, right now, as soon as I click “send,” I will keep telling the truth, because that’s what the job is about. Fuck “social justice.” Give me freedom, and give me truth.</p>
<p>Twitter’s leftist CEO Jack Dorsey indirectly endorsed the call for Twitter to be treated as a fascistic “safe space” as has been seen on college and university campuses.</p>
<p>Twitter stands for freedom of expression, speaking truth to power, and empowering dialogue. That starts with safety. <a href="https://t.co/PbEoM1lCyb" type="external">https://t.co/PbEoM1lCyb</a></p>
<p>There is no transparency for Twitter bans. When a user is banned by the shadow council of censors, no specific explanation is provided. This allows the company to arbitrarily enforce political speech codes.</p>
<p>Twitter has also <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/02/16/exclusive-twitter-shadowbanning-is-real-say-inside-sources/" type="external">deployed shadowbanning</a>, in which tweets sent out by users are hidden from visibility. Users whose accounts have been shadowbanned, however, are not overtly alerted to the changed status of their accounts. In other words, they are unaware that they have been silenced unless made aware of it by another user who informs them that their tweets are not being seen.</p>
<p>Twitter has also adjusted the hierarchy of tweets viewed in its users’ feeds. Whereas the original hierarchy was arranged chronologically, <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/02/12/twitter-gearing-interfere-election/" type="external">a new algorithm</a> allows Twitter to prioritize tweets it wants its users to see first. No transparency has been provided as to the mechanism of this algorithm.</p>
<p>While presenting itself as a bastion of free speech and expression, where a paradoxical chaotic order is somehow achieved with dynamic interactions, Twitter is descending into something entirely different. This is just the beginning.</p>
<p>It should not be viewed as a coincidence that left-wing censorship is being amplified in a presidential election year.</p>
<p>Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p>
|
Twitter Is Policing Conservatives. Beware.
| true |
https://dailywire.com/news/3574/twitter-policing-conservatives-beware-robert-kraychik
|
2016-02-22
| 0right
|
Twitter Is Policing Conservatives. Beware.
<p>Following Twitter’s announcement of an Orwellian “ <a href="" type="internal">Trust &amp; Safety Council</a>” through which its users are banned without explanation, a relatively prominent conservative bloggers has been unpersoned. Robert Stacy McCain’s <a href="https://twitter.com/rsmccain" type="external">Twitter profile</a> now redirected to an “Account Suspended” alert. At the time of his suspension, he had over 90,000 followers.</p>
<p>A #FreeStacy hashtag movement has now arisen in response.</p>
<p>Twitter’s council of its own Ministry of Truth includes feminist agitator and censorship-advocate Anita Sarkeesian. Sarkeesian <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTSQbLt9DS8" type="external">has organized</a> like-minded leftist fascists to have Twitter suspend detractors and critics of feminism on baseless grounds of “harassment.”</p>
<p>A response from McCain towards the suspension of his Twitter account was published at <a href="http://theralphretort.com/follow-up-r-s-mccain-responds-to-his-unfair-twitter-suspension-2020016/" type="external">The Ralph Retort</a>. Below is an excerpt.</p>
<p>So, if you will excuse my French, fuck “social justice,” and fuck all these pretentious idiots who popped up on the Internet three or four years ago claiming to be “experts” on something. They may fool some people, but they don’t fool me. Zoe Quinn, Brianna Wu, Anita Sarkeesian, that whole worthless crowd of phony hustlers? They don’t fool me. I was street-smart enough to spot their kind of hustle even before I got into the news business. “Social justice” is a three-card monte hustle, a cheap and transparent scam or, as Friedrich Hayek said, social justice is a mirage. The object of the [social justice warrior] game — for Quinn, Wu, Sarkeesian, et al. — is for them to make money without ever doing any actual work except be a professional “activist.” Yeah, so fuck their activism, and fuck their claim to being morally superior to me (or you or anybody else) just because they are an “activist” who claims to be advancing “social justice.” They do not fool me, nor should anyone else be deceived by their bogus hustle, and the fact that my@rsmccain account got suspended? Just further proof of what I keep saying: Feminism is a totalitarian movement, and the First Rule of Feminism is, “Shut up!” Sarkeesian and her crowd cannot sustain their arguments against well-informed criticism, and so they attempt to “win” the argument by silencing all criticism.</p>
<p>This is why you can’t even state FACTS about these people on Twitter without being accused of “harassment.” Facts are harassment and truth is hate and Oceania Has Always Been at War With Eastasia. Sarkesian is anti-freedom because she is anti-truth. She and her little squad of soi-disant “feminists” are just hustlers looking for a free ride, and the only way they can get that ride is to silence anyone who speaks the truth about them and calls them out as the cheap bullshit artists they actually are. Me? Nobody cares about me. I am not the story. But I am the guy telling the story, and I’m not going to shut up so long as I can breathe. If I drop dead right here, right now, as soon as I click “send,” I will keep telling the truth, because that’s what the job is about. Fuck “social justice.” Give me freedom, and give me truth.</p>
<p>Twitter’s leftist CEO Jack Dorsey indirectly endorsed the call for Twitter to be treated as a fascistic “safe space” as has been seen on college and university campuses.</p>
<p>Twitter stands for freedom of expression, speaking truth to power, and empowering dialogue. That starts with safety. <a href="https://t.co/PbEoM1lCyb" type="external">https://t.co/PbEoM1lCyb</a></p>
<p>There is no transparency for Twitter bans. When a user is banned by the shadow council of censors, no specific explanation is provided. This allows the company to arbitrarily enforce political speech codes.</p>
<p>Twitter has also <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/02/16/exclusive-twitter-shadowbanning-is-real-say-inside-sources/" type="external">deployed shadowbanning</a>, in which tweets sent out by users are hidden from visibility. Users whose accounts have been shadowbanned, however, are not overtly alerted to the changed status of their accounts. In other words, they are unaware that they have been silenced unless made aware of it by another user who informs them that their tweets are not being seen.</p>
<p>Twitter has also adjusted the hierarchy of tweets viewed in its users’ feeds. Whereas the original hierarchy was arranged chronologically, <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/02/12/twitter-gearing-interfere-election/" type="external">a new algorithm</a> allows Twitter to prioritize tweets it wants its users to see first. No transparency has been provided as to the mechanism of this algorithm.</p>
<p>While presenting itself as a bastion of free speech and expression, where a paradoxical chaotic order is somehow achieved with dynamic interactions, Twitter is descending into something entirely different. This is just the beginning.</p>
<p>It should not be viewed as a coincidence that left-wing censorship is being amplified in a presidential election year.</p>
<p>Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p>
| 6,501 |
<p />
<p>Middle-class status was once associated with a level of stability and a comfortable income level. But a new report finds that although many families self-identify as middle-class, they still say they are struggling to make ends meet.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The new “LoveFamilyMoney” survey from Allianz, a financial services firm, finds that despite a stronger economy, families continue to have difficulties making ends meet. This was most common among families with a “nontraditional structure” in the survey of more than 4,500 Americans, 85% of whom reporting they are “middle class.”</p>
<p>What’s more, within these nontraditional families, 57% say they were “making ends meet,” “struggling financially,” or “poor.” Nearly half of all blended, multigenerational or nontraditional families said they were living paycheck-to-paycheck, compared to 41% of traditional families, and one-fourth say they aren’t saving any money at all.</p>
<p>This insight is key as family dynamics have continued to evolve in the U.S., where only 19.6% of families are married heterosexual couples with children, compared to 40.3% in this group during the 1970s. Allianz looked at seven different families structures, one being the traditional family, others being multi-generational families with three or more generations in the same home, another being single parent families, along with same-sex couple families.</p>
<p>Also studied were blended families, who have parents living together with a stepchild or child from a previous relationship, an older parent with young children in the same family, and finally boomerang families, who have adult children ages 21-to-35 who have returned home.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Katie Libbe, Allianz Life vice president of Consumer Insights, says its eye-opening to see an economic comeback that has not yet trickled down to the American people.</p>
<p>“We see three cohorts struggling the most—multi-generational families, blended families and boomerang families,” Libbe say. “The common denominator is this unplanned dependence, and its multi-generational.”</p>
<p>Having children move back into the home, for example, negatively impacts parents who may be struggling to meet their own retirement goals. On the flip side, Libbe says modern families have stronger bonds than traditional families had in the past, and are more open to discussing finances.</p>
<p>The modern family is talking more about finances, (54%) compared to traditional families (47%).</p>
<p>“They are closer than ever with their kids, and want to talk more with them about money,” she says. “Children in future generations will have a better understanding about spending plans and financial responsibility.”</p>
<p>That being said, these families aren’t feeling financially secure, she says. The survey finds that only 30% of modern families have a high feeling of financial security, compared to 41% of traditional families, which may be because more than one-third have experienced a financial hardship (36%), compared to just 21% of traditional families.</p>
<p>About half of modern families say they are on track to achieve their financial goals, because 58% say that covering their current expenses takes priority over planning for the future.</p>
<p>“They are talking about finances, but not feeling more stable,” Libbe says.</p>
|
The ‘Modern Family’ Financial Struggle
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/features/2014/05/21/modern-family-financial-struggle.html
|
2016-03-06
| 0right
|
The ‘Modern Family’ Financial Struggle
<p />
<p>Middle-class status was once associated with a level of stability and a comfortable income level. But a new report finds that although many families self-identify as middle-class, they still say they are struggling to make ends meet.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The new “LoveFamilyMoney” survey from Allianz, a financial services firm, finds that despite a stronger economy, families continue to have difficulties making ends meet. This was most common among families with a “nontraditional structure” in the survey of more than 4,500 Americans, 85% of whom reporting they are “middle class.”</p>
<p>What’s more, within these nontraditional families, 57% say they were “making ends meet,” “struggling financially,” or “poor.” Nearly half of all blended, multigenerational or nontraditional families said they were living paycheck-to-paycheck, compared to 41% of traditional families, and one-fourth say they aren’t saving any money at all.</p>
<p>This insight is key as family dynamics have continued to evolve in the U.S., where only 19.6% of families are married heterosexual couples with children, compared to 40.3% in this group during the 1970s. Allianz looked at seven different families structures, one being the traditional family, others being multi-generational families with three or more generations in the same home, another being single parent families, along with same-sex couple families.</p>
<p>Also studied were blended families, who have parents living together with a stepchild or child from a previous relationship, an older parent with young children in the same family, and finally boomerang families, who have adult children ages 21-to-35 who have returned home.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Katie Libbe, Allianz Life vice president of Consumer Insights, says its eye-opening to see an economic comeback that has not yet trickled down to the American people.</p>
<p>“We see three cohorts struggling the most—multi-generational families, blended families and boomerang families,” Libbe say. “The common denominator is this unplanned dependence, and its multi-generational.”</p>
<p>Having children move back into the home, for example, negatively impacts parents who may be struggling to meet their own retirement goals. On the flip side, Libbe says modern families have stronger bonds than traditional families had in the past, and are more open to discussing finances.</p>
<p>The modern family is talking more about finances, (54%) compared to traditional families (47%).</p>
<p>“They are closer than ever with their kids, and want to talk more with them about money,” she says. “Children in future generations will have a better understanding about spending plans and financial responsibility.”</p>
<p>That being said, these families aren’t feeling financially secure, she says. The survey finds that only 30% of modern families have a high feeling of financial security, compared to 41% of traditional families, which may be because more than one-third have experienced a financial hardship (36%), compared to just 21% of traditional families.</p>
<p>About half of modern families say they are on track to achieve their financial goals, because 58% say that covering their current expenses takes priority over planning for the future.</p>
<p>“They are talking about finances, but not feeling more stable,” Libbe says.</p>
| 6,502 |
<p>Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Sept. 12-18. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.</p>
<p>1. NFL Football: Green Bay at Minnesota, NBC, 22.75 million.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>2. "NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 16.74 million.</p>
<p>3. NFL Football: N.Y. Jets at Buffalo, CBS, 15.39 million.</p>
<p>4. "America's Got Talent" (Wednesday), NBC, 14.41 million.</p>
<p>5. "America's Got Talent" (Tuesday), NBC, 13.97 million.</p>
<p>6. NFL Football: Pittsburgh at Washington, ESPN, 12.96 million.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>7. "60 Minutes," CBS, 12.7 million.</p>
<p>8. "Dancing With the Stars," ABC, 12.19 million.</p>
<p>9. "Football Night in America" (Sunday, 7:55 p.m.), NBC, 11.86 million.</p>
<p>10. "Emmy Awards," ABC, 11.38 million.</p>
<p>11. "JonBenet Ramsey: Part 1," CBS, 10.42 million.</p>
<p>12. NFL Football: Los Angeles vs. San Francisco, ESPN, 10.25 million.</p>
<p>13. "NFL Pre-Kick," CBS, 9.26 million.</p>
<p>14. "Better Late Than Never," NBC, 7.64 million.</p>
<p>15. "Blindspot," NBC, 7.1 million.</p>
<p>16. "Thursday Night Kickoff," CBS, 6.89 million.</p>
<p>17. "NCIS," CBS, 6.37 million.</p>
<p>18. "Big Brother" (Tuesday), CBS, 6.35 million.</p>
<p>19. "Football Night in America" (Sunday, 7:30 p.m.), NBC, 6.3 million.</p>
<p>20. "Big Brother" (Wednesday), CBS, 6.12 million.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.; CBS is a division of CBS Corp.; Fox is owned by 21st Century Fox; NBC is owned by NBC Universal.</p>
<p>8. "Dancing With the Stars," ABC, 12.19 million.</p>
<p>9. "Football Night in America" (Sunday, 7:55 p.m.), NBC, 11.86 million.</p>
<p>10. "Emmy Awards," ABC, 11.38 million.</p>
<p>11. "JonBenet Ramsey: Part 1," CBS, 10.42 million.</p>
<p>12. NFL Football: Los Angeles vs. San Francisco, ESPN, 10.25 million.</p>
<p>13. "NFL Pre-Kick," CBS, 9.26 million.</p>
<p>14. "Better Late Than Never," NBC, 7.64 million.</p>
<p>15. "Blindspot," NBC, 7.1 million.</p>
<p>16. "Thursday Night Kickoff," CBS, 6.89 million.</p>
<p>17. "NCIS," CBS, 6.37 million.</p>
<p>18. "Big Brother" (Tuesday), CBS, 6.35 million.</p>
<p>19. "Football Night in America" (Sunday, 7:30 p.m.), NBC, 6.3 million.</p>
<p>20. "Big Brother" (Wednesday), CBS, 6.12 million.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.; CBS is a division of CBS Corp.; Fox is owned by 21st Century Fox; NBC is owned by NBC Universal.</p>
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Nielsen's top programs for Sept. 12-18
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http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/09/20/nielsen-top-programs-for-sept-12-18.html
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2016-09-20
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Nielsen's top programs for Sept. 12-18
<p>Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Sept. 12-18. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.</p>
<p>1. NFL Football: Green Bay at Minnesota, NBC, 22.75 million.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>2. "NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 16.74 million.</p>
<p>3. NFL Football: N.Y. Jets at Buffalo, CBS, 15.39 million.</p>
<p>4. "America's Got Talent" (Wednesday), NBC, 14.41 million.</p>
<p>5. "America's Got Talent" (Tuesday), NBC, 13.97 million.</p>
<p>6. NFL Football: Pittsburgh at Washington, ESPN, 12.96 million.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>7. "60 Minutes," CBS, 12.7 million.</p>
<p>8. "Dancing With the Stars," ABC, 12.19 million.</p>
<p>9. "Football Night in America" (Sunday, 7:55 p.m.), NBC, 11.86 million.</p>
<p>10. "Emmy Awards," ABC, 11.38 million.</p>
<p>11. "JonBenet Ramsey: Part 1," CBS, 10.42 million.</p>
<p>12. NFL Football: Los Angeles vs. San Francisco, ESPN, 10.25 million.</p>
<p>13. "NFL Pre-Kick," CBS, 9.26 million.</p>
<p>14. "Better Late Than Never," NBC, 7.64 million.</p>
<p>15. "Blindspot," NBC, 7.1 million.</p>
<p>16. "Thursday Night Kickoff," CBS, 6.89 million.</p>
<p>17. "NCIS," CBS, 6.37 million.</p>
<p>18. "Big Brother" (Tuesday), CBS, 6.35 million.</p>
<p>19. "Football Night in America" (Sunday, 7:30 p.m.), NBC, 6.3 million.</p>
<p>20. "Big Brother" (Wednesday), CBS, 6.12 million.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.; CBS is a division of CBS Corp.; Fox is owned by 21st Century Fox; NBC is owned by NBC Universal.</p>
<p>8. "Dancing With the Stars," ABC, 12.19 million.</p>
<p>9. "Football Night in America" (Sunday, 7:55 p.m.), NBC, 11.86 million.</p>
<p>10. "Emmy Awards," ABC, 11.38 million.</p>
<p>11. "JonBenet Ramsey: Part 1," CBS, 10.42 million.</p>
<p>12. NFL Football: Los Angeles vs. San Francisco, ESPN, 10.25 million.</p>
<p>13. "NFL Pre-Kick," CBS, 9.26 million.</p>
<p>14. "Better Late Than Never," NBC, 7.64 million.</p>
<p>15. "Blindspot," NBC, 7.1 million.</p>
<p>16. "Thursday Night Kickoff," CBS, 6.89 million.</p>
<p>17. "NCIS," CBS, 6.37 million.</p>
<p>18. "Big Brother" (Tuesday), CBS, 6.35 million.</p>
<p>19. "Football Night in America" (Sunday, 7:30 p.m.), NBC, 6.3 million.</p>
<p>20. "Big Brother" (Wednesday), CBS, 6.12 million.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.; CBS is a division of CBS Corp.; Fox is owned by 21st Century Fox; NBC is owned by NBC Universal.</p>
| 6,503 |
<p><a href="http://amzn.to/1O4TEoM" type="external" />How is Barack Obama going to get out of this one? On Tuesday, the Russian military produced an impressive array of evidence that clearly shows that <a href="" type="internal">ISIS oil is being smuggled into Turkey</a> on an industrial scale. The evidence included photographs taken by satellite and during aerial reconnaissance missions. What the Russians have shown the world is extremely compelling, and it raises some very disturbing questions. First of all, how involved is the Turkish government in all of this? There is no way in the world that an <a href="http://themostimportantnews.com/archives/now-donald-trump-says-that-turkey-looks-like-theyre-on-the-side-of-isis" type="external">endless parade of trucks carrying ISIS oil</a> could have marched through Turkish border checkpoints without the cooperation of the central government. Secondly, what did <a href="" type="internal">Obama</a> know and when did he know it? The U.S. military has far better surveillance capabilities than the Russians do, and so it seems absolutely absurd to suggest that Obama didn’t know what was going on.</p>
<p>This new Russian evidence was presented to the world by Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, and he says that <a href="https://www.rt.com/news/324263-russia-briefing-isis-funding/" type="external">“thousands of oil trucks”</a> have been going back and forth over the Turkish border…</p>
<p>According to Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, Russia is aware of three main oil smuggling routes to Turkey.</p>
<p>“Today, we are presenting only some of the facts that confirm that a whole team of bandits and Turkish elites stealing oil from their neighbors is operating in the region,” Antonov said, adding that this oil “in large quantities” enters the territory of Turkey via “live oil pipelines,” consisting of thousands of oil trucks.</p>
<p>But Antonov didn’t stop there. He went on to publicly accuse President Erdogan of Turkey and his family <a href="https://www.trunews.com/russia-says-it-has-proof-turkey-is-involved-with-isis-oil-trade/" type="external">of running the entire operation</a>…</p>
<p>“Turkey is the main consumer of the oil stolen from its rightful owners, Syria and Iraq. According to information we’ve received, the senior political leadership of the country – President Erdogan and his family – are involved in this criminal business,” said Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov.</p>
<p>“Maybe I’m being too blunt, but one can only entrust control over this thieving business to one’s closest associates.”</p>
<p>“In the West, no one has asked questions about the fact that the Turkish president’s son heads one of the biggest energy companies, or that his son-in-law has been appointed energy minister. What a marvelous family business!”</p>
<p>“The cynicism of the Turkish leadership knows no limits. Look what they’re doing. They went into someone else’s country, they are robbing it without compunction,” Antonov said.</p>
<p>And he is right.</p>
<p>The Erdogan family is knee deep in this scandal, and Barack Obama has known about it the entire time. For much more on the involvement of the Erdogan family in the smuggling of <a href="" type="internal">ISIS oil</a>, please see my previous article entitled “ <a href="http://themostimportantnews.com/archives/the-biggest-obama-scandal-he-knows-that-turkey-is-buying-oil-from-isis-and-he-is-doing-nothing-to-stop-it" type="external">The Biggest Obama Scandal? He Knows That Turkey Is Buying Oil From ISIS And He Is Doing Nothing To Stop It</a>“.</p>
<p>During his presentation, Antonov gave us a lot of specifics. He even claimed that the Russians know precisely where much of this stolen oil ends up. The following comes from an <a href="http://www.infowars.com/russia-presents-evidence-of-turkish-support-for-the-islamic-state/" type="external">Infowars report</a>…</p>
<p>“The western route goes to Turkish ports on the Mediterranean coast, the north—to the refinery Batman in Turkey and the east—to the largest transshipment base in the village of Cizre,” the <a href="http://syria.mil.ru/news/more.htm?id=12070708@cmsArticle" type="external">Russian Ministery of Defense web page states</a>.</p>
<p>Oil from fields near the Syrian city of Raqqa—said to be the capital city of the Islamic State—is transported at night through the border town of Azaz, Syria and Reyhanli, Turkey to the port of Iskenderun and Dörtyol where the stolen oil is loaded on tankers.</p>
<p>The Russians claim the convoys are under the control of al-Nusra, the terror group funded by the Gulf Emirates and that cooperates with the Islamic State and supposed moderates in the Free Syrian Army.</p>
<p>Posted below is one of the charts that Antonov used during his presentation. As you can see, the Russians are not just making “vague accusations”…</p>
<p><a href="http://amzn.to/1O4EfF9" type="external" /></p>
<p>If you would like to watch video of Antonov’s entire presentation, you can do so&#160; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMA4B2ZnQ2o" type="external">right here</a>. What Antonov is saying in the video has been translated into English, so you will be able to understand it.</p>
<p>To me, one of the most striking things about the presentation was when Antonov accused the <a href="" type="internal">Turks</a> of supplying fighters, ammunition and <a href="" type="internal">vehicles</a> to ISIS and Al-Nusra. The following comes from an <a href="https://www.rt.com/news/324263-russia-briefing-isis-funding/" type="external">RT article</a>…</p>
<p>Up to 2,000 fighters, 120 tons of ammunition and 250 vehicles have been delivered to Islamic State and Al-Nusra militants from Turkish territory, chief of National Centre for State Defense Control Lt.Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said.</p>
<p>“According to reliable intelligence reports, the Turkish side has been taking such actions for a long time and on a regular basis. And most importantly, it is not planning to stop them.”</p>
<p>If any of these allegations are true, Turkey should be immediately kicked out of NATO.</p>
<p>And if Barack Obama knew about any of this and refused to stop it, he should be facing impeachment proceedings.</p>
<p>For the moment, the official position of the U.S. government is that nothing that the Russians are saying <a href="https://www.rt.com/news/324263-russia-briefing-isis-funding/" type="external">is true</a>…</p>
<p>Following Russian accusations, the US has again defended Turkey, denying any ties between Ankara and Islamic State.</p>
<p>“We flatly reject any notion that the Turks are somehow working with ISIL. Preposterous. And really very, kind of ridiculous,” Steve Warren, Pentagon spokesman, said.</p>
<p>Really?</p>
<p>As an American, I am utterly embarrassed that our “leaders” would continue to try to deny what Turkey is doing after everything that has come out.</p>
<p>By flat out lying to the world, we are losing any credibility that we had left.</p>
<p><a href="http://themostimportantnews.com/archives/turkey-the-country-isis-uses-as-a-home-base-and-where-it-has-sold-800-millions-dollars-of-oil" type="external">Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stolen oil</a> has been smuggled into <a href="" type="internal">Turkey</a>, and our government still has the audacity to try to tell us not to look behind the curtain?</p>
<p>No wonder why most people over in Iraq are convinced that the U.S. is actually on the same side as ISIS. They don’t trust anything that we have to say anymore. The following comes from <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraqis-think-the-us-is-in-cahoots-with-isis-and-it-is-hurting-the-war/2015/12/01/d00968ec-9243-11e5-befa-99ceebcbb272_story.html" type="external">the Washington Post</a>…</p>
<p>Ordinary people also have seen the videos, heard the stories and reached the same conclusion — one that might seem absurd to Americans but is widely believed among Iraqis— that the United States is supporting the Islamic State for a variety of pernicious reasons that have to do with asserting U.S. control over Iraq, the wider Middle East and, perhaps, its oil.</p>
<p>“It is not in doubt,” said Mustafa Saadi, who says his friend saw U.S. helicopters delivering bottled water to Islamic State positions. He is a commander in one of the Shiite militias that last month helped <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraqi-forces-say-key-oil-refinery-is-back-in-their-hands/2015/10/15/c19624fc-72b9-11e5-ba14-318f8e87a2fc_story.html" type="external">push the militants out</a> of the oil refinery near Baiji in northern Iraq alongside the Iraqi army.</p>
<p>The Islamic State is “almost finished,” he said. “They are weak. If only America would stop supporting them, we could defeat them in days.”</p>
<p>If we are going to continue to lie about the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stolen oil that has been smuggled into Turkey, why should anyone believe anything else that we have to say?</p>
<p>The Obama administration and the Turkish government have been caught in a massive, massive lie.</p>
<p>In the end, this is the kind of scandal that could potentially bring down the Obama administration, leaders in Congress, and many among the top brass in the U.S. military.</p>
<p>So what do you think about this emerging scandal?</p>
<p>Please feel free to share your thoughts by posting a comment below…</p>
<p>Courtesy of <a href="http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/obamas-isis-oil-scandal-deepens-as-russia-produces-stunning-photographic-evidence" type="external">Michael Snyder</a>.</p>
<p />
<p />
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Obama’s ISIS Oil Scandal Deepens As Russia Produces Stunning Photographic Evidence
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Obama’s ISIS Oil Scandal Deepens As Russia Produces Stunning Photographic Evidence
<p><a href="http://amzn.to/1O4TEoM" type="external" />How is Barack Obama going to get out of this one? On Tuesday, the Russian military produced an impressive array of evidence that clearly shows that <a href="" type="internal">ISIS oil is being smuggled into Turkey</a> on an industrial scale. The evidence included photographs taken by satellite and during aerial reconnaissance missions. What the Russians have shown the world is extremely compelling, and it raises some very disturbing questions. First of all, how involved is the Turkish government in all of this? There is no way in the world that an <a href="http://themostimportantnews.com/archives/now-donald-trump-says-that-turkey-looks-like-theyre-on-the-side-of-isis" type="external">endless parade of trucks carrying ISIS oil</a> could have marched through Turkish border checkpoints without the cooperation of the central government. Secondly, what did <a href="" type="internal">Obama</a> know and when did he know it? The U.S. military has far better surveillance capabilities than the Russians do, and so it seems absolutely absurd to suggest that Obama didn’t know what was going on.</p>
<p>This new Russian evidence was presented to the world by Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, and he says that <a href="https://www.rt.com/news/324263-russia-briefing-isis-funding/" type="external">“thousands of oil trucks”</a> have been going back and forth over the Turkish border…</p>
<p>According to Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, Russia is aware of three main oil smuggling routes to Turkey.</p>
<p>“Today, we are presenting only some of the facts that confirm that a whole team of bandits and Turkish elites stealing oil from their neighbors is operating in the region,” Antonov said, adding that this oil “in large quantities” enters the territory of Turkey via “live oil pipelines,” consisting of thousands of oil trucks.</p>
<p>But Antonov didn’t stop there. He went on to publicly accuse President Erdogan of Turkey and his family <a href="https://www.trunews.com/russia-says-it-has-proof-turkey-is-involved-with-isis-oil-trade/" type="external">of running the entire operation</a>…</p>
<p>“Turkey is the main consumer of the oil stolen from its rightful owners, Syria and Iraq. According to information we’ve received, the senior political leadership of the country – President Erdogan and his family – are involved in this criminal business,” said Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov.</p>
<p>“Maybe I’m being too blunt, but one can only entrust control over this thieving business to one’s closest associates.”</p>
<p>“In the West, no one has asked questions about the fact that the Turkish president’s son heads one of the biggest energy companies, or that his son-in-law has been appointed energy minister. What a marvelous family business!”</p>
<p>“The cynicism of the Turkish leadership knows no limits. Look what they’re doing. They went into someone else’s country, they are robbing it without compunction,” Antonov said.</p>
<p>And he is right.</p>
<p>The Erdogan family is knee deep in this scandal, and Barack Obama has known about it the entire time. For much more on the involvement of the Erdogan family in the smuggling of <a href="" type="internal">ISIS oil</a>, please see my previous article entitled “ <a href="http://themostimportantnews.com/archives/the-biggest-obama-scandal-he-knows-that-turkey-is-buying-oil-from-isis-and-he-is-doing-nothing-to-stop-it" type="external">The Biggest Obama Scandal? He Knows That Turkey Is Buying Oil From ISIS And He Is Doing Nothing To Stop It</a>“.</p>
<p>During his presentation, Antonov gave us a lot of specifics. He even claimed that the Russians know precisely where much of this stolen oil ends up. The following comes from an <a href="http://www.infowars.com/russia-presents-evidence-of-turkish-support-for-the-islamic-state/" type="external">Infowars report</a>…</p>
<p>“The western route goes to Turkish ports on the Mediterranean coast, the north—to the refinery Batman in Turkey and the east—to the largest transshipment base in the village of Cizre,” the <a href="http://syria.mil.ru/news/more.htm?id=12070708@cmsArticle" type="external">Russian Ministery of Defense web page states</a>.</p>
<p>Oil from fields near the Syrian city of Raqqa—said to be the capital city of the Islamic State—is transported at night through the border town of Azaz, Syria and Reyhanli, Turkey to the port of Iskenderun and Dörtyol where the stolen oil is loaded on tankers.</p>
<p>The Russians claim the convoys are under the control of al-Nusra, the terror group funded by the Gulf Emirates and that cooperates with the Islamic State and supposed moderates in the Free Syrian Army.</p>
<p>Posted below is one of the charts that Antonov used during his presentation. As you can see, the Russians are not just making “vague accusations”…</p>
<p><a href="http://amzn.to/1O4EfF9" type="external" /></p>
<p>If you would like to watch video of Antonov’s entire presentation, you can do so&#160; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMA4B2ZnQ2o" type="external">right here</a>. What Antonov is saying in the video has been translated into English, so you will be able to understand it.</p>
<p>To me, one of the most striking things about the presentation was when Antonov accused the <a href="" type="internal">Turks</a> of supplying fighters, ammunition and <a href="" type="internal">vehicles</a> to ISIS and Al-Nusra. The following comes from an <a href="https://www.rt.com/news/324263-russia-briefing-isis-funding/" type="external">RT article</a>…</p>
<p>Up to 2,000 fighters, 120 tons of ammunition and 250 vehicles have been delivered to Islamic State and Al-Nusra militants from Turkish territory, chief of National Centre for State Defense Control Lt.Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said.</p>
<p>“According to reliable intelligence reports, the Turkish side has been taking such actions for a long time and on a regular basis. And most importantly, it is not planning to stop them.”</p>
<p>If any of these allegations are true, Turkey should be immediately kicked out of NATO.</p>
<p>And if Barack Obama knew about any of this and refused to stop it, he should be facing impeachment proceedings.</p>
<p>For the moment, the official position of the U.S. government is that nothing that the Russians are saying <a href="https://www.rt.com/news/324263-russia-briefing-isis-funding/" type="external">is true</a>…</p>
<p>Following Russian accusations, the US has again defended Turkey, denying any ties between Ankara and Islamic State.</p>
<p>“We flatly reject any notion that the Turks are somehow working with ISIL. Preposterous. And really very, kind of ridiculous,” Steve Warren, Pentagon spokesman, said.</p>
<p>Really?</p>
<p>As an American, I am utterly embarrassed that our “leaders” would continue to try to deny what Turkey is doing after everything that has come out.</p>
<p>By flat out lying to the world, we are losing any credibility that we had left.</p>
<p><a href="http://themostimportantnews.com/archives/turkey-the-country-isis-uses-as-a-home-base-and-where-it-has-sold-800-millions-dollars-of-oil" type="external">Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stolen oil</a> has been smuggled into <a href="" type="internal">Turkey</a>, and our government still has the audacity to try to tell us not to look behind the curtain?</p>
<p>No wonder why most people over in Iraq are convinced that the U.S. is actually on the same side as ISIS. They don’t trust anything that we have to say anymore. The following comes from <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraqis-think-the-us-is-in-cahoots-with-isis-and-it-is-hurting-the-war/2015/12/01/d00968ec-9243-11e5-befa-99ceebcbb272_story.html" type="external">the Washington Post</a>…</p>
<p>Ordinary people also have seen the videos, heard the stories and reached the same conclusion — one that might seem absurd to Americans but is widely believed among Iraqis— that the United States is supporting the Islamic State for a variety of pernicious reasons that have to do with asserting U.S. control over Iraq, the wider Middle East and, perhaps, its oil.</p>
<p>“It is not in doubt,” said Mustafa Saadi, who says his friend saw U.S. helicopters delivering bottled water to Islamic State positions. He is a commander in one of the Shiite militias that last month helped <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraqi-forces-say-key-oil-refinery-is-back-in-their-hands/2015/10/15/c19624fc-72b9-11e5-ba14-318f8e87a2fc_story.html" type="external">push the militants out</a> of the oil refinery near Baiji in northern Iraq alongside the Iraqi army.</p>
<p>The Islamic State is “almost finished,” he said. “They are weak. If only America would stop supporting them, we could defeat them in days.”</p>
<p>If we are going to continue to lie about the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stolen oil that has been smuggled into Turkey, why should anyone believe anything else that we have to say?</p>
<p>The Obama administration and the Turkish government have been caught in a massive, massive lie.</p>
<p>In the end, this is the kind of scandal that could potentially bring down the Obama administration, leaders in Congress, and many among the top brass in the U.S. military.</p>
<p>So what do you think about this emerging scandal?</p>
<p>Please feel free to share your thoughts by posting a comment below…</p>
<p>Courtesy of <a href="http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/obamas-isis-oil-scandal-deepens-as-russia-produces-stunning-photographic-evidence" type="external">Michael Snyder</a>.</p>
<p />
<p />
| 6,504 |
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<p>They still refer to George Bush’s popularity. I don’t think so. The dwindling number of folk who tell the pollsters they think he’s doing a good job are probably worried they’ll get investigated by Ashcroft if they don’t. Imagine you’re back in the Soviet Union in 1941, right after Hitler’s attack. “Good morning, Tovaritsch. It’s the People’s Mass Observation Bureau. In your frank estimation, comrade, is the General Secretary doing (a) a wonderful job, (b) a good job (c) only so-so?” Just my point. This isn’t the Soviet Union, but people are wary.</p>
<p>For your average citizen it’s been a disillusioning year, starting with the commander in chief fleeing down a missile silo in Nebraska. The guardians of the 401Ks turned out to be scoundrels; the guardians of our spiritual morals, the bishops and the parish priests, were exposed as child molesters; the guardians of our safety, the security agencies, turned out to be either useless.</p>
<p>Disasters usually bring out the worst in authority and the best in ordinary people. Andrew Greeley put it really well in his column this week in the Chicago Sun Times.</p>
<p>“On Sept. 11 last year, up to 1 million people were evacuated from Lower Manhattan by water . . . It was an American Dunkirk, like the epic rescue of the British army at Dunkirk in 1940 by an armada of similar craft.</p>
<p>“Yet you most likely never saw this astonishing event, reported last month by Professor Kathleen Tierney at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, on television and never read about it in the print media. It would have made for spectacular TV imagery; yet, as an example of calm and sensible and spontaneous action, it did not fit the media image of panic . . .</p>
<p>“Tierney, director of the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware, argued that the reaction of people at the World Trade Center was what one might have expected from the research literature of the last 50 years on behavior in disaster situations. ‘Social bonds remained intact and the sense of responsibility to others–family members, friends, fellow workers, neighbors and even total strangers remains strong . . .. People sought information from one another, made inquiries and spoke with loved ones via cell phones, engaged in collective decision-making and helped one another to safety. When the towers were evacuated, the evacuation was carried out in a calm and orderly manner.’Note that most of the positive social behavior that saved so many lives was not organized by any formal agency, much less by any command-and-control mechanism. People saved themselves. Other people converged from all over the city to help.</p>
<p>“As Tierney says, ‘The response to the Sept. 11 tragedy was so effective precisely because it was not centrally directed and controlled. Instead it was flexible, adaptive and focused on handling problems as they emerged.’…Says Tierney: ‘When Sept. 11 demonstrated the enormous resilience in our civil society, why is disaster response now being characterized in militaristic terms?’</p>
<p>“Perhaps because those who are determined to control everything don’t understand that even in military situations, it’s the second lieutenants and the sergeants who win battles, as, for example, in the Omaha Beach chaos at Normandy. The media got the story all wrong because the panic paradigm is still pervasive and because no one in the media had read the disaster-research literature. They thus reinforced the propensity of those running the country not to trust the good sense and social concern of ordinary folk. Rather, they want to control everything with such ditsy ideas as the proposed Homeland Security Department.”</p>
<p>The Most Dangerous Man in Washington</p>
<p>AT 2.40 PM, September 11, 2001, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was commanding his aides to get “best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit S.H.”–meaning Saddam Hussein–“at same time. Not only UBL”–the initials used to identify Osama bin Laden. “Go massive.” Notes taken by these aides quote him as saying. “Sweep it all up. Things related and not.” We can thank David Martin of CBS for getting hold of these notes and disclosing them last Wednesday.</p>
<p>This was our Donald, thinking fast as he paced about the National Military Command Center, seeking to turn the attack into a rationale for all sort of unrelated revenges and settlings of accounts. For Rumsfeld, as for his boss, as for so many, it was a turning point in his career as a cabinet member in the Bush II presidency. The year had not been a happy one for this veteran of the Nixon and Ford eras, the man who gave Dick Cheney his start in the upper tiers. Rumsfeld speedily became the target of Pentagon leaks about his abject failure to take control of the vast Pentagon pork barrel, last best trough in the US economy.</p>
<p>In the wake of the attacks Rumsfeld swiftly learned to revel in his role as America’s top exponent of bully-boy bluster. And he’s kept it up, running rings around Colin Powell, whose pals are now leaking stories that Powell may throw in the towel at the end of Bush’s present term.</p>
<p>Small wonder. Rumsfeld has humiliated Powell, reaching a peak in effrontery when, a few weeks ago, he contradicted decades-worth of formal US foreign policy and declared that Israel had every right and every reason to occupy the West Bank and have settlements there.</p>
<p>The specter of military government here in the US lurks eternally in the imagination of fearful constitutionalists, right or left. There’s a lot more reason for these fears today, particularly after the Patriot Act shot through Congress.</p>
<p>Today the FBI can spy on political and religious meetings even when there’s no suspicion that a crime has been committed. Dissidents can get labelled “domestic terrorists” and be the target of every form of snooping.</p>
<p>The PATRIOT Act allows “black bag” searches for every sort of record that might shed light on suspects, including the books they get out of a library. Computers and personal papers can be confiscated and not returned even if an indictment is never lodged against the suspect. Such secret searches can take place even in cases unrelated to terrorism.</p>
<p>The Justice Department argued in two federal cases that the president has the power to indefinitely detain without any charges any person, including any U.S. citizen, designated as an “enemy combatant.” Furthermore the administration argues that the president’s conduct of the war on terrorism can’t be challenged and that civilian courts have no authority over the detentions.</p>
<p>The Justice Department argues that people designated “enemy combatants,” can be put behind bars, held incommunicado and denied counsel. If the detainee does get a lawyer, their conversations can be bugged.</p>
<p>In such manner we are saying goodbye to the First, Fourth and Sixth Amendments.</p>
<p>Back to Rumsfeld. The Defense Secretary is currently trying to get the Pentagon greater authority to carry out covert ops. He also wants Congress to agree to have a new undersecretary of defense, responsible for all intelligence matters.</p>
<p>Now blend these proposals in with the erosions of the Posse Comitatus Act, which forbids the US military to have any role in domestic law enforcement. Shake the blender vigorously and you have the Rumsfeld cocktail, with an Ashcroft cherry. A defense under-secretary may soon b able to target YOU, (or the antiwar couple in the apartment next door), bug your phone and computer, burglarize the place, grab you, stick you in prison and let you rot.</p>
<p>All legally. That’s what we call military government, the way we teach the Latin American officers mustered for training at Fort Benning to do things in their countries, plus hanging electrodes on the testicles and nipples of those slow to confide who their teammates were in the anti-war group mentioned above. Remember, there’s a strong lobby here for torture too.</p>
<p>Try holding a placard up, when George Bush is driving by. Kevin O’Neill had a good column last Thursday in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette describing what happened when demonstrators against President Bush being herded inside a fence at Neville Island for his Labor Day visit.</p>
<p>“Police called this enclosure the designated free-speech area, though anyone who had signs praising the president was evidently OK to line the island’s main street for the motorcade.</p>
<p>“The mini-Guantanamo on the Ohio was set up strictly for security reasons, of course. Those who pose a genuine threat to the president are expected to carry signs identifying themselves as such, as a courtesy. Hence the erection of the Not-OK Corral.</p>
<p>“Bill Neel of Butler just doesn’t get it, though. He’s 65 and can remember a time when our entire country was a free-speech zone. So when he refused to get inside the fence with his sign, he was arrested, cuffed and detained in the best place for inflammatory rhetoric, the fire hall.</p>
<p>“Neel’s confiscated sign said, “The Bushes must truly love the poor — they’ve made so many of us.” For holding this contrary opinion in the censored speech zone, Neel was given a summons for disorderly conduct.”</p>
<p>Battle Terrorism, Go To Prison. It’s The Law</p>
<p>On September 10, 2002, 23 people who committed the crime of demonstrating against the terror methods imparted in Fort Benning reported to federal prison convicted of trespass, with sentences ranging from six months probation to six months in federal prison and $5,000 in fines. Judge G. Mallon Faircloth is notorious for giving the maximum sentence for a misdemeanor to nonviolent opponents of the School of the Americas.</p>
<p>Seventy-one people, School of the Americas Watch tells us, have served a total of over forty years in prison for engaging in nonviolent resistance in the long campaign to close the school. Last year Dorothy Hennessey, an 88 year-old Franciscan nun, was sentenced to six months in federal prison. “It’s ironic,” says Sister Hennessey, “that at a time when the country is reflecting on how terrorism has impacted our lives, dedicated people who took direct action to stop terrorism throughout the Americas are on their way into prison.” Back to Rumsfeld once more. He’s dangerous because he’s brimful of arrogance, surrounded by fanatics like DoD undersecretary Paul Wolfowitz and has successfully occupied the vacant territory known as George Bush’s brain. For an equivalently troubling figure you have to go all the way back to Defense Secretary James Forrestal, whose own brain finally exploded under the weight of his own paranoia. Early in 1949 He resigned his post as DoD secretary and not long thereafter threw himself to his death out of a window in the Bethesda Naval Hospital. There’s no chance of Rumsfeld taking such a step. He’s way too pleased with himself.</p>
<p>Unimaginable</p>
<p>“About one-fourth of the individuals who have contributed to McKinney’s campaigns over the past five years have names that appear to be Arab-American or Muslim, according to an informal study of Federal Election Commission records by the Journal- Constitution.” Can you imagine a similar story appearing about the Jewish financial contributors to the campaign of Denise Majette, who recently defeated Cynthia McKinney in the Democratic primary in Georgia’s Fourth District. The Journal-Constitution loathed McKinney.</p>
<p>Many liberal Democrats resolutely averted their gaze from McKinney’s campaign and disdained her appeals for help, even though Majette’s preference for president in 2000 was, if we believe her endorsement, the black, anti-choice Republican, Alan Keyes.</p>
<p>Dullness Hailed</p>
<p>“Barr, McKinney and Traficant were colorful at the expense of the institution of which they were a part,” said Thomas E. Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “They knew the shock value of their utterances and its capacity to attract a lot of press attention.” These dreary sentiments came in a New York Times piece by Carl Hulse piece in about the departure of colorful reps and senators from Congress.</p>
<p>Mann is one of those rent-a-quote guys the press loves. Call him up and he’ll spit out a couple of sentences like a popcorn machine. In fact the those three reps were all in their separate ways testimonies to the fine judgement of their constituents in putting them in office. The Republican Barr, also defeated in a Georgia primary, was as valiant a defender of constitutional freedoms as McKinney, and particularly distinguished himself in the frail congressional resistance to the Patriot Act. Traficant was a glorious symbol of citizen contempt for prosecutorial rampages.</p>
<p>Hulse evidently searched out quotes to buttress his thesis-of-the-day, that boisterous and turbulent behavior, not to mention, principled views, are out of popular favor. “Analysts believe,” he wrote, ” there could be a larger message in the muting of some Congressional voices, particularly in the case of the two Georgians, Mr. Barr and Ms. McKinney. In tense times, the analysts said, the public wants the combative rhetoric softened.</p>
<p>“They liked to take strong, uncompromising stands on very controversial issues, and that is what makes them newsworthy,” said Merle Black, a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta. “But they just state opinions and positions rather than engaging in any kind of dialogue, and in the wake of 9/11, when we are at war, they are not viewed as solving problems.”</p>
<p>Moral: submerge yourself in the gray mass of conformity, and you’ll do just fine. It’s all balls of course. The public relishes stand-up people. Look at the career of Ron Paul, the great libertarian from Texas, one of just three (another Republican plus Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat,) who recently voted against life sentences for hackers. Traficant was never abandoned by his constituents. H went down because the jury, possibly confused, voted him guilty and Congress threw him out. I’m not sure about Barr but McKinney was the victim of a well hatched plots. She actually got more votes than in 2000, when she was reelected. But outside money for Majette, much of its from Jewish donors, plus a big Republican crossover in the open primary, did her in.</p>
<p>The Best Political Mind in Washington?</p>
<p>Cal Thomas recently called Paul Weyrich “one of the best political minds in Washington” and asked him what should the GOP focus on upcoming elections. The finely honed political mind of Weyrich duly disgorged the following as looming issues: immigration, homosexuals in the boy scouts, &amp; the Pledge.</p>
<p>The Salt Lake City Tribune, which carries Thomas’s dreary syndicated column, duly carried a letter-to-the-editor, monitored by CounterPuncher Christine TenBarge and running as follows: “The only consistency I can find in these issues is 1. They are asinine; 2. They are divisive; 3. They are easy to present to a fourth grader”. The writer went on to list real issues, like proposed war with Iraq, corporate corruption, campaign finance reform, etc. hoping that issues that make a difference will actually be debated by candidates. He ended with “Oh no…I just had a thought. What if Cal Thomas is right and Paul Weyrich is one of the best political minds in Washington?”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
|
Rumsfeld, the Most Dangerous Man in Washington?
| true |
https://counterpunch.org/2002/09/11/rumsfeld-the-most-dangerous-man-in-washington/
|
2002-09-11
| 4left
|
Rumsfeld, the Most Dangerous Man in Washington?
<p>They still refer to George Bush’s popularity. I don’t think so. The dwindling number of folk who tell the pollsters they think he’s doing a good job are probably worried they’ll get investigated by Ashcroft if they don’t. Imagine you’re back in the Soviet Union in 1941, right after Hitler’s attack. “Good morning, Tovaritsch. It’s the People’s Mass Observation Bureau. In your frank estimation, comrade, is the General Secretary doing (a) a wonderful job, (b) a good job (c) only so-so?” Just my point. This isn’t the Soviet Union, but people are wary.</p>
<p>For your average citizen it’s been a disillusioning year, starting with the commander in chief fleeing down a missile silo in Nebraska. The guardians of the 401Ks turned out to be scoundrels; the guardians of our spiritual morals, the bishops and the parish priests, were exposed as child molesters; the guardians of our safety, the security agencies, turned out to be either useless.</p>
<p>Disasters usually bring out the worst in authority and the best in ordinary people. Andrew Greeley put it really well in his column this week in the Chicago Sun Times.</p>
<p>“On Sept. 11 last year, up to 1 million people were evacuated from Lower Manhattan by water . . . It was an American Dunkirk, like the epic rescue of the British army at Dunkirk in 1940 by an armada of similar craft.</p>
<p>“Yet you most likely never saw this astonishing event, reported last month by Professor Kathleen Tierney at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, on television and never read about it in the print media. It would have made for spectacular TV imagery; yet, as an example of calm and sensible and spontaneous action, it did not fit the media image of panic . . .</p>
<p>“Tierney, director of the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware, argued that the reaction of people at the World Trade Center was what one might have expected from the research literature of the last 50 years on behavior in disaster situations. ‘Social bonds remained intact and the sense of responsibility to others–family members, friends, fellow workers, neighbors and even total strangers remains strong . . .. People sought information from one another, made inquiries and spoke with loved ones via cell phones, engaged in collective decision-making and helped one another to safety. When the towers were evacuated, the evacuation was carried out in a calm and orderly manner.’Note that most of the positive social behavior that saved so many lives was not organized by any formal agency, much less by any command-and-control mechanism. People saved themselves. Other people converged from all over the city to help.</p>
<p>“As Tierney says, ‘The response to the Sept. 11 tragedy was so effective precisely because it was not centrally directed and controlled. Instead it was flexible, adaptive and focused on handling problems as they emerged.’…Says Tierney: ‘When Sept. 11 demonstrated the enormous resilience in our civil society, why is disaster response now being characterized in militaristic terms?’</p>
<p>“Perhaps because those who are determined to control everything don’t understand that even in military situations, it’s the second lieutenants and the sergeants who win battles, as, for example, in the Omaha Beach chaos at Normandy. The media got the story all wrong because the panic paradigm is still pervasive and because no one in the media had read the disaster-research literature. They thus reinforced the propensity of those running the country not to trust the good sense and social concern of ordinary folk. Rather, they want to control everything with such ditsy ideas as the proposed Homeland Security Department.”</p>
<p>The Most Dangerous Man in Washington</p>
<p>AT 2.40 PM, September 11, 2001, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was commanding his aides to get “best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit S.H.”–meaning Saddam Hussein–“at same time. Not only UBL”–the initials used to identify Osama bin Laden. “Go massive.” Notes taken by these aides quote him as saying. “Sweep it all up. Things related and not.” We can thank David Martin of CBS for getting hold of these notes and disclosing them last Wednesday.</p>
<p>This was our Donald, thinking fast as he paced about the National Military Command Center, seeking to turn the attack into a rationale for all sort of unrelated revenges and settlings of accounts. For Rumsfeld, as for his boss, as for so many, it was a turning point in his career as a cabinet member in the Bush II presidency. The year had not been a happy one for this veteran of the Nixon and Ford eras, the man who gave Dick Cheney his start in the upper tiers. Rumsfeld speedily became the target of Pentagon leaks about his abject failure to take control of the vast Pentagon pork barrel, last best trough in the US economy.</p>
<p>In the wake of the attacks Rumsfeld swiftly learned to revel in his role as America’s top exponent of bully-boy bluster. And he’s kept it up, running rings around Colin Powell, whose pals are now leaking stories that Powell may throw in the towel at the end of Bush’s present term.</p>
<p>Small wonder. Rumsfeld has humiliated Powell, reaching a peak in effrontery when, a few weeks ago, he contradicted decades-worth of formal US foreign policy and declared that Israel had every right and every reason to occupy the West Bank and have settlements there.</p>
<p>The specter of military government here in the US lurks eternally in the imagination of fearful constitutionalists, right or left. There’s a lot more reason for these fears today, particularly after the Patriot Act shot through Congress.</p>
<p>Today the FBI can spy on political and religious meetings even when there’s no suspicion that a crime has been committed. Dissidents can get labelled “domestic terrorists” and be the target of every form of snooping.</p>
<p>The PATRIOT Act allows “black bag” searches for every sort of record that might shed light on suspects, including the books they get out of a library. Computers and personal papers can be confiscated and not returned even if an indictment is never lodged against the suspect. Such secret searches can take place even in cases unrelated to terrorism.</p>
<p>The Justice Department argued in two federal cases that the president has the power to indefinitely detain without any charges any person, including any U.S. citizen, designated as an “enemy combatant.” Furthermore the administration argues that the president’s conduct of the war on terrorism can’t be challenged and that civilian courts have no authority over the detentions.</p>
<p>The Justice Department argues that people designated “enemy combatants,” can be put behind bars, held incommunicado and denied counsel. If the detainee does get a lawyer, their conversations can be bugged.</p>
<p>In such manner we are saying goodbye to the First, Fourth and Sixth Amendments.</p>
<p>Back to Rumsfeld. The Defense Secretary is currently trying to get the Pentagon greater authority to carry out covert ops. He also wants Congress to agree to have a new undersecretary of defense, responsible for all intelligence matters.</p>
<p>Now blend these proposals in with the erosions of the Posse Comitatus Act, which forbids the US military to have any role in domestic law enforcement. Shake the blender vigorously and you have the Rumsfeld cocktail, with an Ashcroft cherry. A defense under-secretary may soon b able to target YOU, (or the antiwar couple in the apartment next door), bug your phone and computer, burglarize the place, grab you, stick you in prison and let you rot.</p>
<p>All legally. That’s what we call military government, the way we teach the Latin American officers mustered for training at Fort Benning to do things in their countries, plus hanging electrodes on the testicles and nipples of those slow to confide who their teammates were in the anti-war group mentioned above. Remember, there’s a strong lobby here for torture too.</p>
<p>Try holding a placard up, when George Bush is driving by. Kevin O’Neill had a good column last Thursday in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette describing what happened when demonstrators against President Bush being herded inside a fence at Neville Island for his Labor Day visit.</p>
<p>“Police called this enclosure the designated free-speech area, though anyone who had signs praising the president was evidently OK to line the island’s main street for the motorcade.</p>
<p>“The mini-Guantanamo on the Ohio was set up strictly for security reasons, of course. Those who pose a genuine threat to the president are expected to carry signs identifying themselves as such, as a courtesy. Hence the erection of the Not-OK Corral.</p>
<p>“Bill Neel of Butler just doesn’t get it, though. He’s 65 and can remember a time when our entire country was a free-speech zone. So when he refused to get inside the fence with his sign, he was arrested, cuffed and detained in the best place for inflammatory rhetoric, the fire hall.</p>
<p>“Neel’s confiscated sign said, “The Bushes must truly love the poor — they’ve made so many of us.” For holding this contrary opinion in the censored speech zone, Neel was given a summons for disorderly conduct.”</p>
<p>Battle Terrorism, Go To Prison. It’s The Law</p>
<p>On September 10, 2002, 23 people who committed the crime of demonstrating against the terror methods imparted in Fort Benning reported to federal prison convicted of trespass, with sentences ranging from six months probation to six months in federal prison and $5,000 in fines. Judge G. Mallon Faircloth is notorious for giving the maximum sentence for a misdemeanor to nonviolent opponents of the School of the Americas.</p>
<p>Seventy-one people, School of the Americas Watch tells us, have served a total of over forty years in prison for engaging in nonviolent resistance in the long campaign to close the school. Last year Dorothy Hennessey, an 88 year-old Franciscan nun, was sentenced to six months in federal prison. “It’s ironic,” says Sister Hennessey, “that at a time when the country is reflecting on how terrorism has impacted our lives, dedicated people who took direct action to stop terrorism throughout the Americas are on their way into prison.” Back to Rumsfeld once more. He’s dangerous because he’s brimful of arrogance, surrounded by fanatics like DoD undersecretary Paul Wolfowitz and has successfully occupied the vacant territory known as George Bush’s brain. For an equivalently troubling figure you have to go all the way back to Defense Secretary James Forrestal, whose own brain finally exploded under the weight of his own paranoia. Early in 1949 He resigned his post as DoD secretary and not long thereafter threw himself to his death out of a window in the Bethesda Naval Hospital. There’s no chance of Rumsfeld taking such a step. He’s way too pleased with himself.</p>
<p>Unimaginable</p>
<p>“About one-fourth of the individuals who have contributed to McKinney’s campaigns over the past five years have names that appear to be Arab-American or Muslim, according to an informal study of Federal Election Commission records by the Journal- Constitution.” Can you imagine a similar story appearing about the Jewish financial contributors to the campaign of Denise Majette, who recently defeated Cynthia McKinney in the Democratic primary in Georgia’s Fourth District. The Journal-Constitution loathed McKinney.</p>
<p>Many liberal Democrats resolutely averted their gaze from McKinney’s campaign and disdained her appeals for help, even though Majette’s preference for president in 2000 was, if we believe her endorsement, the black, anti-choice Republican, Alan Keyes.</p>
<p>Dullness Hailed</p>
<p>“Barr, McKinney and Traficant were colorful at the expense of the institution of which they were a part,” said Thomas E. Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “They knew the shock value of their utterances and its capacity to attract a lot of press attention.” These dreary sentiments came in a New York Times piece by Carl Hulse piece in about the departure of colorful reps and senators from Congress.</p>
<p>Mann is one of those rent-a-quote guys the press loves. Call him up and he’ll spit out a couple of sentences like a popcorn machine. In fact the those three reps were all in their separate ways testimonies to the fine judgement of their constituents in putting them in office. The Republican Barr, also defeated in a Georgia primary, was as valiant a defender of constitutional freedoms as McKinney, and particularly distinguished himself in the frail congressional resistance to the Patriot Act. Traficant was a glorious symbol of citizen contempt for prosecutorial rampages.</p>
<p>Hulse evidently searched out quotes to buttress his thesis-of-the-day, that boisterous and turbulent behavior, not to mention, principled views, are out of popular favor. “Analysts believe,” he wrote, ” there could be a larger message in the muting of some Congressional voices, particularly in the case of the two Georgians, Mr. Barr and Ms. McKinney. In tense times, the analysts said, the public wants the combative rhetoric softened.</p>
<p>“They liked to take strong, uncompromising stands on very controversial issues, and that is what makes them newsworthy,” said Merle Black, a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta. “But they just state opinions and positions rather than engaging in any kind of dialogue, and in the wake of 9/11, when we are at war, they are not viewed as solving problems.”</p>
<p>Moral: submerge yourself in the gray mass of conformity, and you’ll do just fine. It’s all balls of course. The public relishes stand-up people. Look at the career of Ron Paul, the great libertarian from Texas, one of just three (another Republican plus Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat,) who recently voted against life sentences for hackers. Traficant was never abandoned by his constituents. H went down because the jury, possibly confused, voted him guilty and Congress threw him out. I’m not sure about Barr but McKinney was the victim of a well hatched plots. She actually got more votes than in 2000, when she was reelected. But outside money for Majette, much of its from Jewish donors, plus a big Republican crossover in the open primary, did her in.</p>
<p>The Best Political Mind in Washington?</p>
<p>Cal Thomas recently called Paul Weyrich “one of the best political minds in Washington” and asked him what should the GOP focus on upcoming elections. The finely honed political mind of Weyrich duly disgorged the following as looming issues: immigration, homosexuals in the boy scouts, &amp; the Pledge.</p>
<p>The Salt Lake City Tribune, which carries Thomas’s dreary syndicated column, duly carried a letter-to-the-editor, monitored by CounterPuncher Christine TenBarge and running as follows: “The only consistency I can find in these issues is 1. They are asinine; 2. They are divisive; 3. They are easy to present to a fourth grader”. The writer went on to list real issues, like proposed war with Iraq, corporate corruption, campaign finance reform, etc. hoping that issues that make a difference will actually be debated by candidates. He ended with “Oh no…I just had a thought. What if Cal Thomas is right and Paul Weyrich is one of the best political minds in Washington?”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
| 6,505 |
<p><a href="http://frumshrum.podbean.com/2013/04/29/frum-shrum/" type="external">Frum-Shrum is back!</a> This week, David and Bob are all 2016. If Hilary indeed runs for president, how will she frame the Obama legacy? What will her 'big ideas' be?</p>
<p>And on the Republican side, will ideological purity beat electability in the primaries? How can the GOP overcome their shrinking electorate and see beyond the insulated conservative bubble?</p>
|
Frum-Shrum is Back!
| true |
https://thedailybeast.com/frum-shrum-is-back
|
2018-10-03
| 4left
|
Frum-Shrum is Back!
<p><a href="http://frumshrum.podbean.com/2013/04/29/frum-shrum/" type="external">Frum-Shrum is back!</a> This week, David and Bob are all 2016. If Hilary indeed runs for president, how will she frame the Obama legacy? What will her 'big ideas' be?</p>
<p>And on the Republican side, will ideological purity beat electability in the primaries? How can the GOP overcome their shrinking electorate and see beyond the insulated conservative bubble?</p>
| 6,506 |
<p>Brandan Robertson said he has yet to become fully accustomed to the feelings of public condemnation and rejection that come with his work as a bisexual Christian seeking LGBTQ inclusion in evangelical churches.</p>
<p>Robertson, 24 and a former Southern Baptist youth minister, said there is little surprise left when he is, in one way or another, excluded from conservative church groups.</p>
<p><a href="http://1648o73kablq2rveyn64glm1-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Brandan_Robertson_SBC17.jpg" type="external" />He was given a stark reminder of that Wednesday morning when he and three fellow activists were ejected by the Southern Baptist Convention from its annual meeting in Phoenix.</p>
<p>The four were inside the convention space and had just attended a book signing when they noticed a plain-clothes security agent observing them for several minutes. The agent then approached, demanded they surrender their registration badges and then escorted them outside, Robertson said.</p>
<p>“I felt a lot of shame as I was being escorted out of the building by a security guard,” he said.</p>
<p>He admitted they were a little surprised, even though it was an SBC event.</p>
<p>Robertson and his colleagues were at the annual meeting on behalf of <a href="http://www.faithinamerica.org/" type="external">Faith in America</a>, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing LGBTQ equality in American faith. Robertson also is the founder and executive director of <a href="http://www.nomadpartnerships.org/" type="external">Nomad Partnerships</a>, which seeks to build bridges between LGBTQ groups and religious groups.</p>
<p>But they were not there as protesters. They weren’t wearing t-shirts emblazoned with slogans or preaching to conventioneers on gay rights. There were other Faith in America activists outside distributing invitations to a dinner, but they were not protesting, either, he said.</p>
<p>Even more baffling is that Robertson and his fellow activists had emailed SBC officials that they would be in attendance and were told that was OK.</p>
<p>Two or three years ago, Robertson said, he led a delegation to an Ethics and Religious Liberty conference. The visitors were welcomed to that event and to theological conversations.</p>
<p>Going in to the gathering in Phoenix, it seemed the Faith in America group had taken all the right steps.</p>
<p>“We had done everything we needed to do to be there and we registered as guests,” Robertson said. “The four of us attended the convention and were having conversations in plain clothes, not protesting.”</p>
<p>The ejection of the LGBTQ activists wasn’t the only news-making event at the SBC Annual Meeting. The national spotlight zeroed in on the passage of a resolution <a href="" type="internal">denouncing white supremacy</a>.</p>
<p>Messengers approved the measure only after its initial proposal by a black pastor was rejected by a mostly white resolutions committee.</p>
<p>Robertson noted that the controversy surrounding that alt-right debate should have been of more concern to convention officials than the presence of four LGBTQ activists.</p>
<p>“I would still love to know why we were asked to leave, especially since there were alt-right protestors who were being disruptive,” he said.</p>
<p>But Robertson said he does not see his ejection from the SBC event as a setback. “It is a reminder of how much work there is to be done.”</p>
<p>Their aim is that the SBC and other conservative evangelical groups cease harming LGBTQ people, especially youth.</p>
<p>While Robertson said he identifies now with a more progressive evangelical Christianity, his religious past inspires his current work.</p>
<p>Robertson said he professed faith in Christ at 12 in a Baptist church and later served as youth pastor for an SBC congregation in Illinois. He is a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute, where he studied pastoral ministry, theology and biblical studies.</p>
<p>“I am asked why I go back to these environments if they hurt so much. My answer is that these are my roots.”</p>
<p>So for now, it’s back to waiting to see if relationships can be established in the SBC – just as it is with other groups.</p>
<p>“It’s a waiting game,” he said.</p>
|
Former Southern Baptist youth pastor, now LGBTQ activist, booted from annual SBC meeting
| false |
https://baptistnews.com/article/former-southern-baptist-youth-pastor-now-lgbtq-activist-booted-annual-sbc-meeting/
| 3left-center
|
Former Southern Baptist youth pastor, now LGBTQ activist, booted from annual SBC meeting
<p>Brandan Robertson said he has yet to become fully accustomed to the feelings of public condemnation and rejection that come with his work as a bisexual Christian seeking LGBTQ inclusion in evangelical churches.</p>
<p>Robertson, 24 and a former Southern Baptist youth minister, said there is little surprise left when he is, in one way or another, excluded from conservative church groups.</p>
<p><a href="http://1648o73kablq2rveyn64glm1-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Brandan_Robertson_SBC17.jpg" type="external" />He was given a stark reminder of that Wednesday morning when he and three fellow activists were ejected by the Southern Baptist Convention from its annual meeting in Phoenix.</p>
<p>The four were inside the convention space and had just attended a book signing when they noticed a plain-clothes security agent observing them for several minutes. The agent then approached, demanded they surrender their registration badges and then escorted them outside, Robertson said.</p>
<p>“I felt a lot of shame as I was being escorted out of the building by a security guard,” he said.</p>
<p>He admitted they were a little surprised, even though it was an SBC event.</p>
<p>Robertson and his colleagues were at the annual meeting on behalf of <a href="http://www.faithinamerica.org/" type="external">Faith in America</a>, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing LGBTQ equality in American faith. Robertson also is the founder and executive director of <a href="http://www.nomadpartnerships.org/" type="external">Nomad Partnerships</a>, which seeks to build bridges between LGBTQ groups and religious groups.</p>
<p>But they were not there as protesters. They weren’t wearing t-shirts emblazoned with slogans or preaching to conventioneers on gay rights. There were other Faith in America activists outside distributing invitations to a dinner, but they were not protesting, either, he said.</p>
<p>Even more baffling is that Robertson and his fellow activists had emailed SBC officials that they would be in attendance and were told that was OK.</p>
<p>Two or three years ago, Robertson said, he led a delegation to an Ethics and Religious Liberty conference. The visitors were welcomed to that event and to theological conversations.</p>
<p>Going in to the gathering in Phoenix, it seemed the Faith in America group had taken all the right steps.</p>
<p>“We had done everything we needed to do to be there and we registered as guests,” Robertson said. “The four of us attended the convention and were having conversations in plain clothes, not protesting.”</p>
<p>The ejection of the LGBTQ activists wasn’t the only news-making event at the SBC Annual Meeting. The national spotlight zeroed in on the passage of a resolution <a href="" type="internal">denouncing white supremacy</a>.</p>
<p>Messengers approved the measure only after its initial proposal by a black pastor was rejected by a mostly white resolutions committee.</p>
<p>Robertson noted that the controversy surrounding that alt-right debate should have been of more concern to convention officials than the presence of four LGBTQ activists.</p>
<p>“I would still love to know why we were asked to leave, especially since there were alt-right protestors who were being disruptive,” he said.</p>
<p>But Robertson said he does not see his ejection from the SBC event as a setback. “It is a reminder of how much work there is to be done.”</p>
<p>Their aim is that the SBC and other conservative evangelical groups cease harming LGBTQ people, especially youth.</p>
<p>While Robertson said he identifies now with a more progressive evangelical Christianity, his religious past inspires his current work.</p>
<p>Robertson said he professed faith in Christ at 12 in a Baptist church and later served as youth pastor for an SBC congregation in Illinois. He is a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute, where he studied pastoral ministry, theology and biblical studies.</p>
<p>“I am asked why I go back to these environments if they hurt so much. My answer is that these are my roots.”</p>
<p>So for now, it’s back to waiting to see if relationships can be established in the SBC – just as it is with other groups.</p>
<p>“It’s a waiting game,” he said.</p>
| 6,507 |
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<p />
<p>The wind had begun a day earlier, and while it had not relented, it had waned a touch. But a thawing of another sort was also taking place. <a href="https://d3el53au0d7w62.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/06/Johnson_Ed_sig.jpg" type="external" /></p>
<p>Davie’s Lobo football program had just held off UT San Antonio in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl. It was not a signature win that comes after beating a highly ranked team. It was not even of the stature of the victory UNM had at Boise State a bit more than a year ago.</p>
<p>Still, there was a significance in what had played out Saturday in front of 29,688 fans. It had given the Lobos a nine-win season, an occasion as uncommon in these parts as a Christmas Day snowstorm.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“There was an energy in that stadium,” Davie would later say.</p>
<p>There was also a rare display of public admiration for the football program and, it seemed, for Davie himself.</p>
<p>Fans approached him, his players and his assistants, and told them how much they appreciated their work. The coaches and players told the fans how much they valued them.</p>
<p>“I know it made a difference to somebody,” Davie said of the game and the season.</p>
<p>Davie, not the cuddliest of guys, suddenly was getting a little love.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, across the street, where Craig Neal conducts his business, a cold shoulder had formed. Neal was preparing his team for a yawn of a basketball game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff – a game UNM would win by 40 points, but was beside the point.</p>
<p>Neal, in his fourth season in charge of the program Lobo fans hold most dear, has come under intense scrutiny – his popularity decreasing as Davie’s rises. His first team really belonged to Steve Alford, the common rote goes. His second year was marked by inexperience and injuries. His third edition was about integrating new talent.</p>
<p>But this season brought the expectations that many UNM basketball teams have carried since Bob King ignited a flame in the roaring ’60s – contend for a conference title, vie for an NCAA Tournament berth.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Yet, on the eve of MWC play, the Lobos stand 7-5, having lost three of their last five.</p>
<p>While almost no one expected them to beat 18th-ranked Arizona on Tuesday, only the most dedicated of haters were predicting a 31-point embarrassment. Arizona obviously has dominated the series (84-42), but many of the previous encounters were competitive, even heated. There was more heat at University Stadium on Saturday than in the arena in Tucson on Tuesday.</p>
<p>“We’ve got to do some soul-searching,” Neal said in the aftermath.</p>
<p>The optimistic refrain now is that the MWC season rekindles hope. The first couple of games – Wednesday at home against Fresno State and New Year’s Day at San Diego State – will offer a hint.</p>
<p>Still, winning a mediocre league likely won’t bring any more respect than the football team has gotten even with the recent uptick in wins. Unsightly losses to New Mexico State and Rutgers tainted the progress of UNM’s program. The fans stumbled over each other climbing off the bandwagon.</p>
<p>But while some fans are returning to the fold, the Lobos did not quit on Davie. They did not quit on themselves.</p>
<p>“I’ve been honored to play for this program,” senior linebacker Dakota Cox said.</p>
<p>Will Neal’s Lobos leave this season with a similar refrain? Will an identity emerge, and will it include a toughness to block the noise in the meantime?</p>
<p>Will Neal learn what it is to be a successful head coach, or is he doomed with being tagged “a good assistant?”</p>
<p>How many times can he admit to being at fault before athletic director Paul Krebs (or the new UNM president) believes him?</p>
<p>Did UNM make enough TV football money to buy out Neal?</p>
<p>Does Benicio del Toro have a role for the basketball coach in his new movie – perhaps as an aging motorcycle-driving rebel who takes a lonely spin into a sunset?</p>
<p>Does the future have in it a public embrace for Craig Neal, or is this the beginning of a long goodbye?</p>
<p />
<p />
|
Ed Johnson: Questions for Neal, a little love for Davie
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/914741/questions-for-neal-a-little-love-for-davie.html
| 2least
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Ed Johnson: Questions for Neal, a little love for Davie
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The wind had begun a day earlier, and while it had not relented, it had waned a touch. But a thawing of another sort was also taking place. <a href="https://d3el53au0d7w62.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/06/Johnson_Ed_sig.jpg" type="external" /></p>
<p>Davie’s Lobo football program had just held off UT San Antonio in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl. It was not a signature win that comes after beating a highly ranked team. It was not even of the stature of the victory UNM had at Boise State a bit more than a year ago.</p>
<p>Still, there was a significance in what had played out Saturday in front of 29,688 fans. It had given the Lobos a nine-win season, an occasion as uncommon in these parts as a Christmas Day snowstorm.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“There was an energy in that stadium,” Davie would later say.</p>
<p>There was also a rare display of public admiration for the football program and, it seemed, for Davie himself.</p>
<p>Fans approached him, his players and his assistants, and told them how much they appreciated their work. The coaches and players told the fans how much they valued them.</p>
<p>“I know it made a difference to somebody,” Davie said of the game and the season.</p>
<p>Davie, not the cuddliest of guys, suddenly was getting a little love.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, across the street, where Craig Neal conducts his business, a cold shoulder had formed. Neal was preparing his team for a yawn of a basketball game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff – a game UNM would win by 40 points, but was beside the point.</p>
<p>Neal, in his fourth season in charge of the program Lobo fans hold most dear, has come under intense scrutiny – his popularity decreasing as Davie’s rises. His first team really belonged to Steve Alford, the common rote goes. His second year was marked by inexperience and injuries. His third edition was about integrating new talent.</p>
<p>But this season brought the expectations that many UNM basketball teams have carried since Bob King ignited a flame in the roaring ’60s – contend for a conference title, vie for an NCAA Tournament berth.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Yet, on the eve of MWC play, the Lobos stand 7-5, having lost three of their last five.</p>
<p>While almost no one expected them to beat 18th-ranked Arizona on Tuesday, only the most dedicated of haters were predicting a 31-point embarrassment. Arizona obviously has dominated the series (84-42), but many of the previous encounters were competitive, even heated. There was more heat at University Stadium on Saturday than in the arena in Tucson on Tuesday.</p>
<p>“We’ve got to do some soul-searching,” Neal said in the aftermath.</p>
<p>The optimistic refrain now is that the MWC season rekindles hope. The first couple of games – Wednesday at home against Fresno State and New Year’s Day at San Diego State – will offer a hint.</p>
<p>Still, winning a mediocre league likely won’t bring any more respect than the football team has gotten even with the recent uptick in wins. Unsightly losses to New Mexico State and Rutgers tainted the progress of UNM’s program. The fans stumbled over each other climbing off the bandwagon.</p>
<p>But while some fans are returning to the fold, the Lobos did not quit on Davie. They did not quit on themselves.</p>
<p>“I’ve been honored to play for this program,” senior linebacker Dakota Cox said.</p>
<p>Will Neal’s Lobos leave this season with a similar refrain? Will an identity emerge, and will it include a toughness to block the noise in the meantime?</p>
<p>Will Neal learn what it is to be a successful head coach, or is he doomed with being tagged “a good assistant?”</p>
<p>How many times can he admit to being at fault before athletic director Paul Krebs (or the new UNM president) believes him?</p>
<p>Did UNM make enough TV football money to buy out Neal?</p>
<p>Does Benicio del Toro have a role for the basketball coach in his new movie – perhaps as an aging motorcycle-driving rebel who takes a lonely spin into a sunset?</p>
<p>Does the future have in it a public embrace for Craig Neal, or is this the beginning of a long goodbye?</p>
<p />
<p />
| 6,508 |
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<p>Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer and the other “Left, Right &amp; Center” panelists <a href="http://www.kcrw.com/news/programs/lr/lr130315left_aequum_et_centr" type="external">ask</a> whether the new center of gravity, geographically speaking, of the papacy will bring a shift in the church’s positions. The troubled institution has many potential reforms ahead. Will they include gay rights, women’s rights, social justice or the church’s bureaucracy?</p>
<p>Also, another Rep. Paul Ryan budget arrives. Is he trying to be the next Ronald Reagan? And cyberthreats against the United States are on the rise. Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, proposes breaking up U.S. banks.</p>
<p>Joining Scheer and host Matt Miller this week with the conservative view is Ross Douthat, a New York Times columnist and author of “Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics.”</p>
<p>— Adapted from KCRW by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a>.</p>
<p />
<p>KCRW!:</p>
<p />
|
'Left, Right & Center': Left, Aequum et Centrum
| true |
https://truthdig.com/articles/left-right-center-left-aequum-et-centrum/
|
2013-03-16
| 4left
|
'Left, Right & Center': Left, Aequum et Centrum
<p>Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer and the other “Left, Right &amp; Center” panelists <a href="http://www.kcrw.com/news/programs/lr/lr130315left_aequum_et_centr" type="external">ask</a> whether the new center of gravity, geographically speaking, of the papacy will bring a shift in the church’s positions. The troubled institution has many potential reforms ahead. Will they include gay rights, women’s rights, social justice or the church’s bureaucracy?</p>
<p>Also, another Rep. Paul Ryan budget arrives. Is he trying to be the next Ronald Reagan? And cyberthreats against the United States are on the rise. Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, proposes breaking up U.S. banks.</p>
<p>Joining Scheer and host Matt Miller this week with the conservative view is Ross Douthat, a New York Times columnist and author of “Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics.”</p>
<p>— Adapted from KCRW by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a>.</p>
<p />
<p>KCRW!:</p>
<p />
| 6,509 |
<p />
<p>Remember when Hillary Clinton and her arrogant campaign staff popped open a bottle of champagne to celebrate their victory, only to find out hours later that she had been upset by a newly elected President Donald Trump?</p>
<p>The then-Democratic nominee was so emotionally devastated that she had to send her campaign manager, John Podesta, to speak on her behalf because she just couldn’t keep it together.</p>
<p>And in a newly released book, we’re now learning the juicy details of the phone conversation between the then-President Obama and sore loser Hillary Clinton.</p>
<p>The New York Post reported:</p>
<p>“Hillary Clinton had to eat humble pie twice on election night.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Clinton apologized to President Obama for her bruising loss — right after calling Donald Trump to offer him ‘congratulations,’ according to a new book chronicling her 2016 presidential bid called ‘Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign.’</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>‘Mr. President, I’m sorry,’ she said, according to a Washington Post review of the book due out Tuesday.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The White House urged Clinton to concede as Trump claimed battleground states — some by slim margins — because Obama wanted to avoid a messy recount.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>‘You need to concede,’ Obama told Clinton directly, later repeating the instruction to her campaign chairman, John Podesta, for good measure.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The directive came after Clinton ignored previous messages from White House staff to throw in the towel.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>She conceded the loss publicly the next morning.”</p>
<p>Ouch.</p>
<p>Clearly, Hillary Clinton was in denial about losing.</p>
<p>But the book goes into some more juicy details about the events that unfolded that night.</p>
<p>The Washington Post’s book review revealed the other events:</p>
<p>“As fear gave over to dread in the Peninsula Hotel, the Clinton campaign reacted as you might expect: Bill became furious, Hillary turned stoic, and their cocksure aides started to blame one another.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>It wasn’t long into the night before Bill Clinton called his old pal, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, and told him not to bother coming to New York. There would be no victory to celebrate.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Shortly after 11:00 p.m., after Wisconsin was called by Fox News, Allen and Parnes report that the campaign fielded a series of calls from the White House pushing Hillary Clinton to concede, even though the margins in many states were extraordinarily close.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>President Barack Obama thought it was over and did not want a messy recount.&#160; First came a call from White House political director David Simas to Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook. ‘POTUS doesn’t think it’s wise to drag this out,’ Simas said.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>But Clinton was dragging it out.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>So then she got a call from POTUS.&#160; ‘You need to concede,’ urged Obama, who repeated the message in a follow-up call to Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta.</p>
<p>At last, Clinton said, ‘Give me the phone.’</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>And then the first woman who was going to be president got her opponent on the line and said two words she never expected to say: ‘Congratulations, Donald.’”</p>
<p>You don’t need to read the whole book because her denial and her actions already reveal who she truly is: a privileged, arrogant, know-it-all who handles defeat like a child.</p>
|
The Juicy Details Of The Obama-Clinton Phone Call On Election Night
| true |
http://conservativerevival.com/latest-news/the-juicy-details-of-the-obama-clinton-phone-call-on-election-night/
| 0right
|
The Juicy Details Of The Obama-Clinton Phone Call On Election Night
<p />
<p>Remember when Hillary Clinton and her arrogant campaign staff popped open a bottle of champagne to celebrate their victory, only to find out hours later that she had been upset by a newly elected President Donald Trump?</p>
<p>The then-Democratic nominee was so emotionally devastated that she had to send her campaign manager, John Podesta, to speak on her behalf because she just couldn’t keep it together.</p>
<p>And in a newly released book, we’re now learning the juicy details of the phone conversation between the then-President Obama and sore loser Hillary Clinton.</p>
<p>The New York Post reported:</p>
<p>“Hillary Clinton had to eat humble pie twice on election night.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Clinton apologized to President Obama for her bruising loss — right after calling Donald Trump to offer him ‘congratulations,’ according to a new book chronicling her 2016 presidential bid called ‘Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign.’</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>‘Mr. President, I’m sorry,’ she said, according to a Washington Post review of the book due out Tuesday.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The White House urged Clinton to concede as Trump claimed battleground states — some by slim margins — because Obama wanted to avoid a messy recount.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>‘You need to concede,’ Obama told Clinton directly, later repeating the instruction to her campaign chairman, John Podesta, for good measure.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The directive came after Clinton ignored previous messages from White House staff to throw in the towel.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>She conceded the loss publicly the next morning.”</p>
<p>Ouch.</p>
<p>Clearly, Hillary Clinton was in denial about losing.</p>
<p>But the book goes into some more juicy details about the events that unfolded that night.</p>
<p>The Washington Post’s book review revealed the other events:</p>
<p>“As fear gave over to dread in the Peninsula Hotel, the Clinton campaign reacted as you might expect: Bill became furious, Hillary turned stoic, and their cocksure aides started to blame one another.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>It wasn’t long into the night before Bill Clinton called his old pal, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, and told him not to bother coming to New York. There would be no victory to celebrate.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Shortly after 11:00 p.m., after Wisconsin was called by Fox News, Allen and Parnes report that the campaign fielded a series of calls from the White House pushing Hillary Clinton to concede, even though the margins in many states were extraordinarily close.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>President Barack Obama thought it was over and did not want a messy recount.&#160; First came a call from White House political director David Simas to Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook. ‘POTUS doesn’t think it’s wise to drag this out,’ Simas said.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>But Clinton was dragging it out.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>So then she got a call from POTUS.&#160; ‘You need to concede,’ urged Obama, who repeated the message in a follow-up call to Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta.</p>
<p>At last, Clinton said, ‘Give me the phone.’</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>And then the first woman who was going to be president got her opponent on the line and said two words she never expected to say: ‘Congratulations, Donald.’”</p>
<p>You don’t need to read the whole book because her denial and her actions already reveal who she truly is: a privileged, arrogant, know-it-all who handles defeat like a child.</p>
| 6,510 |
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<p />
<p>Formed 30 years ago, the 120-member choir began as a group for seniors who loved to sing gospel music. Its average age is 73, with a mix of 23 denominations.</p>
<p>On Friday, the group will sing in the holidays with “A Dickens Christmas in Heartsville.” The festivities will include “A Birthday Party for Jesus” and a sing-along. On Saturday, the group will join the Western band the Bar D Wranglers.</p>
<p>The singers have decorated the church gymnasium to resemble a Victorian village. Everyone will be in period costume.</p>
<p>“I mean, down to the chimney cleaner,” choir member Marge Gray said.</p>
<p>Guests can roam the “Victorian square” bordered by shops to browse woodcrafts and handmade blankets. Hungry revelers can visit a baker or pick up some smoked turkey legs. The shops will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The singers range in age from 55 to 97. They have produced eight CDs.</p>
<p>They rehearse weekly all year and tour nationally at churches, hospitals and nursing homes.</p>
<p>Young at Heart promotes senior adults’ companionship, spiritual fellowship and accountability, voice instruction and performance. Most of the singers live on fixed incomes. The ministry supports and encourages seniors, especially those suffering from depression, inactivity, poor health and loneliness, by becoming a surrogate family.</p>
<p>The group has performed across New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Kansas, California, Florida, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arizona, Texas and Arkansas.</p>
<p />
<p />
|
Choir, Western band in ‘A Dickens Christmas’
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/896385/choir-western-band-in-a-dickens-christmas.html
| 2least
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Choir, Western band in ‘A Dickens Christmas’
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Formed 30 years ago, the 120-member choir began as a group for seniors who loved to sing gospel music. Its average age is 73, with a mix of 23 denominations.</p>
<p>On Friday, the group will sing in the holidays with “A Dickens Christmas in Heartsville.” The festivities will include “A Birthday Party for Jesus” and a sing-along. On Saturday, the group will join the Western band the Bar D Wranglers.</p>
<p>The singers have decorated the church gymnasium to resemble a Victorian village. Everyone will be in period costume.</p>
<p>“I mean, down to the chimney cleaner,” choir member Marge Gray said.</p>
<p>Guests can roam the “Victorian square” bordered by shops to browse woodcrafts and handmade blankets. Hungry revelers can visit a baker or pick up some smoked turkey legs. The shops will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The singers range in age from 55 to 97. They have produced eight CDs.</p>
<p>They rehearse weekly all year and tour nationally at churches, hospitals and nursing homes.</p>
<p>Young at Heart promotes senior adults’ companionship, spiritual fellowship and accountability, voice instruction and performance. Most of the singers live on fixed incomes. The ministry supports and encourages seniors, especially those suffering from depression, inactivity, poor health and loneliness, by becoming a surrogate family.</p>
<p>The group has performed across New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Kansas, California, Florida, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arizona, Texas and Arkansas.</p>
<p />
<p />
| 6,511 |
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<p>We are at the half way mark of season four. I know, how time flies, right? 'First Of His Name' is an episode that discusses the fragility of power, what real power is, and what it takes to rule. The episode opens up with Tommen being named the new King of Westeros. He’s a young boy who seems suited to be a kind ruler, but that's before the weasels of King's Landing sink their hooks into him. Natalie Dormer gets better and better as Margaery Tyrell (a much smaller role in the books), and although she doesn't have much screen time this episode, she's crucial to restoring the power of King's Landing, because her family has the resources that the Lannister's need to hold off the sacred Iron Bank of Braavos. She's quite aware of that fact because of the guidance from Olenna (the great Diana Rigg). She's also learning how to seduce a man, or in this case a boy, with one far away glance. She's mesmerizing.</p>
<p>Up to this point, Cersie despises the little trollop from Dorne, but she surprises us all by cozying up to her after she spots her longing looks at Tommen. She practically begs her to be a queen for a second time with her young son in a fortnight. Margaery slyly makes her work for every second she asks her, all the time knowing that this is what she wants too. In another surprising turn, Cersie has a very amenable conversation with Tywin and agrees to marry off Tommen to Margaery in a fortnight; she will also marry Oberyn Martell in two months’ time. Tywin knows how painful it is to her to have to marry him after he forced her to marry Robert Baratheon, so he explains why it's important to the family that this happens because they need the Tyrell's resources. They almost have a real father-daughter conversation when he reveals that the Lannisters are virtually bankrupt, haven't mined gold in years, and are beholden a gigantic fortune to the Iron Bank of Braavos, who always get paid. The Iron Bank is unknown to many in the land except for the powerful, but that's where the real power in all the realms lay, and Tywin knows it all too well.</p>
<p>Daario Naharis tells Dany that they've taken the Meereenese navy – consisting of 93 ships – which Barristan Selmy so ecstatic that he wants to invade King's Landing immediately. However, Ser Jorah advises caution. He tells her that Yunkai has been taken back by the Masters because there were no Unsullied left there for protection and they have sworn revenge against her while the city of Astapor has been conquered by a vicious man named Cleon. She realizes the distinction between conquering and ruling that same land. Jorah tells her that they still could attack Westeros, but she has an epiphany of sorts and calmly says:</p>
<p>“How can I rule seven kingdoms when I can't control Slaver's Bay?”</p>
<p>There is no real power in conquering cities if you can't rule them. A true leader is born. The depth of Littlefinger's webs of deceit are far deeper than anyone could have imagined. Does Varys even know how far they go? He's carefully played the Seven Kingdoms like a chess board in a game that nobody else realize they are playing. We find out that Lysa Arryn was seduced by Lord Baelish into poisoning her husband Jon, the hand of the king and then sent a letter to her sister, Catelyn blaming it on the Lannisters, which set up this entire conflict. She kick-started the downfall of her sister, the Stark's, Robert Baratheon, and countless other people in the war of the five kings.</p>
<p>She's also mad and madly in love with Littlefinger and cajoles him into marrying her that night, promising to scream out loud when they are making love. And she's true to her word. While Petyr has some power now, he's still weaving his plans and he's far from finished. Lysa might feel powerful now because she has her lover and is safely tucked away behind the mountains of The Vale, she doesn't understand how cunning and dangerous Littlefinger really is.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for Sansa, she has the least power of all the major players in GOT and constantly finds herself at the mercy of cruel narcissists. She feels the jealous wrath of Lysa while she's being fed sweets. Abruptly she demands to know why Littlefinger feels responsible for her.</p>
<p>“He really cares for you. Think where you’d be without them. In their clutches and on trial for murder. He feels responsible for you. Why? Why does he feel responsible for you? Petyr is risking his life to save you, the daughter of a woman who never loved him. Are you pregnant? What have you let Petyr do with your body? Your young, pretty body?”</p>
<p>She practically breaks Sansa's hands while squeezing them, but she gets her to break down in tears, swearing she's still a virgin and that calms her down. She then tells Sansa that everything will be all right once she marries her crazy son Robin. Yikes, another forced marriage is on the horizon for Sansa.</p>
<p>Arya is reciting her customary death wish list by a camp fire as The Hound tries to sleep.</p>
<p>“Joffrey, Cersie, Walder Frey, Meryn Trant, Tywin Lannister, The Red woman Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr, Illyn Payne , The Mountain.</p>
<p>Would you shut up.”</p>
<p>He finally gives up and lets her finish off the list because he knows it will end with his name. “The Hound.”</p>
<p>When he wakes up he finds her practicing with Needle and he makes fun of her and Syrio Forel, her instructor. She tells him that he died because he only had a wooden sword to fight with. Sandor then tells her to show him what she's got and she stabs him in the gut.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for her, he's wearing armor and it doesn't penetrate at all. He grabs her tiny sword and smacks her in the face, knocking her to the ground and then he gives her a real lesson. He explains that he lost because Meryn Trant had armor and a bigger sword. Clegane is a vicious killer, but not out of a need to just hurt things, it's his way of surviving. He has a code and every action he takes is logical to him. He robbed the farmer of his silver in episode three, but not because he was demented like most of the roving bands of men after the war ended. He took it because the farmer was weak and would have lost it eventually anyway, so it was better if he had it. He knows Arya wants him dead, but he still teaches her a valuable lesson in the realities of fighting.</p>
<p>Arya has no real power either, outside of a bounty she might bring to the Hound; but she has real hate and that is fueling her survival.</p>
<p>Brienne is heading towards The Wall to find Jon Snow because she believes Sansa might be there. All the while she's trying to get rid of Podrick, who is struggling with life outside of King's Landing. She finally eases up on him when she learns he killed a Kingsguard trying to protect Tyrion at Blackwater.</p>
<p>Cersie actually has a serious conversation about power and children with Prince Oberyn, the Red Viper. She knows how much he hates her family, so I'm not sure if she's playing him or being honest, but she talks about the both of them having all this power, but ultimately unable to protect their loved ones. Surprisingly, he shows her a bit of kindness when he tells her that her daughter is safe and happy at Dorne. He's the father of eight girls, after all.</p>
<p>“I want to believe that.</p>
<p>We don’t hurt little girls in Dorne.</p>
<p>Everywhere in the world, they hurt little girls.”</p>
<p>In a sentence she's summed up life for women all over the world of Westeros and her life as well. She was young when she was forced to marry Robert. Little girls have no power at all.</p>
<p>At Craster's Keep, Hodor, Meera, Bran and Jojen Reed are tied up. Jojen tells Bran of a vision he has of Bran sitting by a hill near a Weirwood tree and tells him that they are all only along so he can get to that tree and find the three-eyed raven.</p>
<p>“He's waiting for you and we have to find it.”</p>
<p>Bran is surprised that he's seen the place too and knows it's calling to him to go there. Locke is scouting the camp and finds where they are being held and then slithers back to tell Jon Snow and the crows.</p>
<p>Karl enters with a few men, who have rape on their minds for Meera. As they force her to stand up and then bound her arms, Jojen tells him that he can help if he leaves his sister alone because he can see into the future. Karl refuses of course, and Jojen describes to him how he saw his death tonight. "Your body will be burned."</p>
<p>Just as Karl is about to cut off Meera's clothes, the Night's Watch attack. As battles break out, Locke finds Bran. However, he's not there to help, but rather to take him back to Roose Bolton. As he carries him outside, Bran warg's into Hodor's mind and breaks his chains. He runs outside, finds them and then breaks Locke's neck. Bran is on the snowy ground crawling away, when he sees his brother Jon. He starts calling out to him when Jojen stops him and convinces him not to go to his brother because he'll never let him go north of the Wall to find the three-eyed Raven. Their quest is the most important thing he has to live for. Bran, being crippled, has no real physical power, but his warg capabilities have imbued him with a different type of power with a real purpose. And he wants to fulfill its potential.</p>
<p>Jon Snow squares off with Karl, who's a master cutthroat and is about to die at his hands when one of Craster's daughter's stabs Karl in the back. When he turns around to kill her, Jon rams his sword through the back of his neck, and out through his mouth.</p>
<p>As Rast runs away from the Keep, Summer is out the cage and finally gets his revenge. Then Summer comes running back to Jon, who is elated to see his Direwolf. Snow asks the women of Craster's Keep if they want to go to Castle Black to be safe, but they tell him that from Craster to the Crows, they only caused them pain so they'll go it alone. They decide to burn Caster's Keep down to the ground with Karl's dead body along with it.</p>
<p>Until next week...</p>
|
Game Of Thrones Season 4 Episode 5: 'First Of His Name' Recap
| true |
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/05/game-thrones-season-4-episode-5-first-his
|
2014-05-04
| 4left
|
Game Of Thrones Season 4 Episode 5: 'First Of His Name' Recap
<p>We are at the half way mark of season four. I know, how time flies, right? 'First Of His Name' is an episode that discusses the fragility of power, what real power is, and what it takes to rule. The episode opens up with Tommen being named the new King of Westeros. He’s a young boy who seems suited to be a kind ruler, but that's before the weasels of King's Landing sink their hooks into him. Natalie Dormer gets better and better as Margaery Tyrell (a much smaller role in the books), and although she doesn't have much screen time this episode, she's crucial to restoring the power of King's Landing, because her family has the resources that the Lannister's need to hold off the sacred Iron Bank of Braavos. She's quite aware of that fact because of the guidance from Olenna (the great Diana Rigg). She's also learning how to seduce a man, or in this case a boy, with one far away glance. She's mesmerizing.</p>
<p>Up to this point, Cersie despises the little trollop from Dorne, but she surprises us all by cozying up to her after she spots her longing looks at Tommen. She practically begs her to be a queen for a second time with her young son in a fortnight. Margaery slyly makes her work for every second she asks her, all the time knowing that this is what she wants too. In another surprising turn, Cersie has a very amenable conversation with Tywin and agrees to marry off Tommen to Margaery in a fortnight; she will also marry Oberyn Martell in two months’ time. Tywin knows how painful it is to her to have to marry him after he forced her to marry Robert Baratheon, so he explains why it's important to the family that this happens because they need the Tyrell's resources. They almost have a real father-daughter conversation when he reveals that the Lannisters are virtually bankrupt, haven't mined gold in years, and are beholden a gigantic fortune to the Iron Bank of Braavos, who always get paid. The Iron Bank is unknown to many in the land except for the powerful, but that's where the real power in all the realms lay, and Tywin knows it all too well.</p>
<p>Daario Naharis tells Dany that they've taken the Meereenese navy – consisting of 93 ships – which Barristan Selmy so ecstatic that he wants to invade King's Landing immediately. However, Ser Jorah advises caution. He tells her that Yunkai has been taken back by the Masters because there were no Unsullied left there for protection and they have sworn revenge against her while the city of Astapor has been conquered by a vicious man named Cleon. She realizes the distinction between conquering and ruling that same land. Jorah tells her that they still could attack Westeros, but she has an epiphany of sorts and calmly says:</p>
<p>“How can I rule seven kingdoms when I can't control Slaver's Bay?”</p>
<p>There is no real power in conquering cities if you can't rule them. A true leader is born. The depth of Littlefinger's webs of deceit are far deeper than anyone could have imagined. Does Varys even know how far they go? He's carefully played the Seven Kingdoms like a chess board in a game that nobody else realize they are playing. We find out that Lysa Arryn was seduced by Lord Baelish into poisoning her husband Jon, the hand of the king and then sent a letter to her sister, Catelyn blaming it on the Lannisters, which set up this entire conflict. She kick-started the downfall of her sister, the Stark's, Robert Baratheon, and countless other people in the war of the five kings.</p>
<p>She's also mad and madly in love with Littlefinger and cajoles him into marrying her that night, promising to scream out loud when they are making love. And she's true to her word. While Petyr has some power now, he's still weaving his plans and he's far from finished. Lysa might feel powerful now because she has her lover and is safely tucked away behind the mountains of The Vale, she doesn't understand how cunning and dangerous Littlefinger really is.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for Sansa, she has the least power of all the major players in GOT and constantly finds herself at the mercy of cruel narcissists. She feels the jealous wrath of Lysa while she's being fed sweets. Abruptly she demands to know why Littlefinger feels responsible for her.</p>
<p>“He really cares for you. Think where you’d be without them. In their clutches and on trial for murder. He feels responsible for you. Why? Why does he feel responsible for you? Petyr is risking his life to save you, the daughter of a woman who never loved him. Are you pregnant? What have you let Petyr do with your body? Your young, pretty body?”</p>
<p>She practically breaks Sansa's hands while squeezing them, but she gets her to break down in tears, swearing she's still a virgin and that calms her down. She then tells Sansa that everything will be all right once she marries her crazy son Robin. Yikes, another forced marriage is on the horizon for Sansa.</p>
<p>Arya is reciting her customary death wish list by a camp fire as The Hound tries to sleep.</p>
<p>“Joffrey, Cersie, Walder Frey, Meryn Trant, Tywin Lannister, The Red woman Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr, Illyn Payne , The Mountain.</p>
<p>Would you shut up.”</p>
<p>He finally gives up and lets her finish off the list because he knows it will end with his name. “The Hound.”</p>
<p>When he wakes up he finds her practicing with Needle and he makes fun of her and Syrio Forel, her instructor. She tells him that he died because he only had a wooden sword to fight with. Sandor then tells her to show him what she's got and she stabs him in the gut.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for her, he's wearing armor and it doesn't penetrate at all. He grabs her tiny sword and smacks her in the face, knocking her to the ground and then he gives her a real lesson. He explains that he lost because Meryn Trant had armor and a bigger sword. Clegane is a vicious killer, but not out of a need to just hurt things, it's his way of surviving. He has a code and every action he takes is logical to him. He robbed the farmer of his silver in episode three, but not because he was demented like most of the roving bands of men after the war ended. He took it because the farmer was weak and would have lost it eventually anyway, so it was better if he had it. He knows Arya wants him dead, but he still teaches her a valuable lesson in the realities of fighting.</p>
<p>Arya has no real power either, outside of a bounty she might bring to the Hound; but she has real hate and that is fueling her survival.</p>
<p>Brienne is heading towards The Wall to find Jon Snow because she believes Sansa might be there. All the while she's trying to get rid of Podrick, who is struggling with life outside of King's Landing. She finally eases up on him when she learns he killed a Kingsguard trying to protect Tyrion at Blackwater.</p>
<p>Cersie actually has a serious conversation about power and children with Prince Oberyn, the Red Viper. She knows how much he hates her family, so I'm not sure if she's playing him or being honest, but she talks about the both of them having all this power, but ultimately unable to protect their loved ones. Surprisingly, he shows her a bit of kindness when he tells her that her daughter is safe and happy at Dorne. He's the father of eight girls, after all.</p>
<p>“I want to believe that.</p>
<p>We don’t hurt little girls in Dorne.</p>
<p>Everywhere in the world, they hurt little girls.”</p>
<p>In a sentence she's summed up life for women all over the world of Westeros and her life as well. She was young when she was forced to marry Robert. Little girls have no power at all.</p>
<p>At Craster's Keep, Hodor, Meera, Bran and Jojen Reed are tied up. Jojen tells Bran of a vision he has of Bran sitting by a hill near a Weirwood tree and tells him that they are all only along so he can get to that tree and find the three-eyed raven.</p>
<p>“He's waiting for you and we have to find it.”</p>
<p>Bran is surprised that he's seen the place too and knows it's calling to him to go there. Locke is scouting the camp and finds where they are being held and then slithers back to tell Jon Snow and the crows.</p>
<p>Karl enters with a few men, who have rape on their minds for Meera. As they force her to stand up and then bound her arms, Jojen tells him that he can help if he leaves his sister alone because he can see into the future. Karl refuses of course, and Jojen describes to him how he saw his death tonight. "Your body will be burned."</p>
<p>Just as Karl is about to cut off Meera's clothes, the Night's Watch attack. As battles break out, Locke finds Bran. However, he's not there to help, but rather to take him back to Roose Bolton. As he carries him outside, Bran warg's into Hodor's mind and breaks his chains. He runs outside, finds them and then breaks Locke's neck. Bran is on the snowy ground crawling away, when he sees his brother Jon. He starts calling out to him when Jojen stops him and convinces him not to go to his brother because he'll never let him go north of the Wall to find the three-eyed Raven. Their quest is the most important thing he has to live for. Bran, being crippled, has no real physical power, but his warg capabilities have imbued him with a different type of power with a real purpose. And he wants to fulfill its potential.</p>
<p>Jon Snow squares off with Karl, who's a master cutthroat and is about to die at his hands when one of Craster's daughter's stabs Karl in the back. When he turns around to kill her, Jon rams his sword through the back of his neck, and out through his mouth.</p>
<p>As Rast runs away from the Keep, Summer is out the cage and finally gets his revenge. Then Summer comes running back to Jon, who is elated to see his Direwolf. Snow asks the women of Craster's Keep if they want to go to Castle Black to be safe, but they tell him that from Craster to the Crows, they only caused them pain so they'll go it alone. They decide to burn Caster's Keep down to the ground with Karl's dead body along with it.</p>
<p>Until next week...</p>
| 6,512 |
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<p>file image</p>
<p>FARMINGTON — Food items such as potato chips and energy drinks will cost a little more starting today when a new sales tax goes into effect on “junk food” purchased from retailers on the Navajo Nation.</p>
<p>The new “junk food tax” places an additional 2-percent tax on foods that have minimal to no nutritional value and on sweetened beverages purchased on the reservation.</p>
<p>It took several attempts for the Healthy Diné Nation Act of 2014 to pass the council but delegates approved it on Nov. 14 and it was signed into law on Nov. 21 by Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The tax does not apply to junk food purchases made off the reservation or on junk food items bought off the reservation then transported onto tribal land, according to the tax regulations.</p>
<p>Denisa Livingston, a member of Diné Community Advocacy Alliance, said part of the intent of the tax is to have people think twice about the types of food they are consuming.</p>
<p>“We’ve been waiting for this day,” Livingston said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The alliance spent four years advocating for the bill in addition to another measure that eliminated the sales tax for fresh fruits and vegetables, which went into effect on Oct. 1.</p>
<p>The Navajo Nation has been labeled a “food desert” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture because a majority of the population lacks access to affordable fresh and health foods.</p>
<p>There are 10 grocery stores on the reservation, which spans approximately 27,000 square miles. The first grocery store opened in 1968 in Window Rock, Ariz., according to a report from the Diné Policy Institute.</p>
<p>The tax will expire at the end of 2020, unless the council extends it, according to the Navajo Nation Council resolution containing the tax.</p>
<p>“We’re very excited,” Livingston said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The revenue from the tax will be allocated to chapters for community wellness projects.</p>
<p>Revenue from the sales tax will be deposited into the Community Wellness Development Plan. The Division of Community Development will allocate the money for community wellness project in the Nation’s 110 chapters.</p>
<p>Examples of those projects include farming, vegetable gardens, clean drinking water, exercise equipment, playgrounds, health food initiatives or any other community based wellness projects intended to improve the physical and social living conditions.</p>
<p>With the tax in place, the next steps for the Diné Community Advocacy Alliance are assisting in the development of the fund management plan for the revenue and presenting that plan to the Council’s Resources and Development and Budget and Finance committees.</p>
<p>The alliance is also continuing to conduct tours of grocery stores located on the reservation.</p>
<p>These tours are among the public education methods used by the alliance to help people develop a personal relationship with the stores by becoming aware of the food items being sold, Livingston said.</p>
<p>Noel Lyn Smith covers the Navajo Nation for The Daily Times. She can be reached at 505-564-4636 and [email protected]. Follow her @nsmithdt on Twitter.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>©2015 The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.)</p>
<p>Visit The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.) at <a href="http://www.daily-times.com" type="external">www.daily-times.com</a></p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC</p>
<p>_____</p>
<p>Topics: t000002537,t000002953,t000003007,t000032269,t000032262,t000184365,t000181361,t000032283</p>
|
Navajo ‘junk food’ sales tax starts today
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/563236/navajo-junk-food-sales-tax-starts-today.html
|
2015-04-01
| 2least
|
Navajo ‘junk food’ sales tax starts today
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>file image</p>
<p>FARMINGTON — Food items such as potato chips and energy drinks will cost a little more starting today when a new sales tax goes into effect on “junk food” purchased from retailers on the Navajo Nation.</p>
<p>The new “junk food tax” places an additional 2-percent tax on foods that have minimal to no nutritional value and on sweetened beverages purchased on the reservation.</p>
<p>It took several attempts for the Healthy Diné Nation Act of 2014 to pass the council but delegates approved it on Nov. 14 and it was signed into law on Nov. 21 by Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The tax does not apply to junk food purchases made off the reservation or on junk food items bought off the reservation then transported onto tribal land, according to the tax regulations.</p>
<p>Denisa Livingston, a member of Diné Community Advocacy Alliance, said part of the intent of the tax is to have people think twice about the types of food they are consuming.</p>
<p>“We’ve been waiting for this day,” Livingston said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The alliance spent four years advocating for the bill in addition to another measure that eliminated the sales tax for fresh fruits and vegetables, which went into effect on Oct. 1.</p>
<p>The Navajo Nation has been labeled a “food desert” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture because a majority of the population lacks access to affordable fresh and health foods.</p>
<p>There are 10 grocery stores on the reservation, which spans approximately 27,000 square miles. The first grocery store opened in 1968 in Window Rock, Ariz., according to a report from the Diné Policy Institute.</p>
<p>The tax will expire at the end of 2020, unless the council extends it, according to the Navajo Nation Council resolution containing the tax.</p>
<p>“We’re very excited,” Livingston said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The revenue from the tax will be allocated to chapters for community wellness projects.</p>
<p>Revenue from the sales tax will be deposited into the Community Wellness Development Plan. The Division of Community Development will allocate the money for community wellness project in the Nation’s 110 chapters.</p>
<p>Examples of those projects include farming, vegetable gardens, clean drinking water, exercise equipment, playgrounds, health food initiatives or any other community based wellness projects intended to improve the physical and social living conditions.</p>
<p>With the tax in place, the next steps for the Diné Community Advocacy Alliance are assisting in the development of the fund management plan for the revenue and presenting that plan to the Council’s Resources and Development and Budget and Finance committees.</p>
<p>The alliance is also continuing to conduct tours of grocery stores located on the reservation.</p>
<p>These tours are among the public education methods used by the alliance to help people develop a personal relationship with the stores by becoming aware of the food items being sold, Livingston said.</p>
<p>Noel Lyn Smith covers the Navajo Nation for The Daily Times. She can be reached at 505-564-4636 and [email protected]. Follow her @nsmithdt on Twitter.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>©2015 The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.)</p>
<p>Visit The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.) at <a href="http://www.daily-times.com" type="external">www.daily-times.com</a></p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC</p>
<p>_____</p>
<p>Topics: t000002537,t000002953,t000003007,t000032269,t000032262,t000184365,t000181361,t000032283</p>
| 6,513 |
<p />
<p>Crowley Calls DOMA Decision "A Form Of Dictatorship," Argues That If Bush Had Done Something Similar, "There Would Be Calls For His Impeachment." From Fox News' America Live:</p>
<p>MONICA CROWLEY (Fox News contributor): It's beyond belief. We are a nation of laws, not of men. We are governed by the rule of law. And what the Constitution says is that the president of the United States doesn't get to decide which laws he likes and which ones he's gonna enforce. He's the chief executive.</p>
<p>The law is on the books, the Defense of Marriage Act. It is his responsibility under the Constitution to enforce that law. Not just to decide, "Well, I don't like that law, so I'm not going to enforce it."</p>
<p>That is -- to me, that is a form of dictatorship. That is Mubarak Obama. I mean, that is -- you can't just pick and choose which law you're gonna enforce when you're president of the United States or the attorney general.</p>
<p>KELLY: Something this big and this controversial, you have to wonder, you know, if a Republican president just decided, we're no longer going to enforce the laws that protect gays because we don't believe in those, there would be quite a national outcry.</p>
<p>CROWLEY: If President Bush had done that, there would be calls for his impeachment. I think this is a very serious story. [Fox News, America Live, <a href="/video/2011/02/23/monica-crowley-calls-the-president-mubarak-obam/176787" type="external">2/23/11</a>]</p>
<p>Kelly Suggests DOJ Isn't Doing Its "Job." From America Live:</p>
<p>KELLY: The Department of Justice, however you feel about this law, whether you like this law or you don't like this law, the Department of Justice's job is to defend the laws that are on the books. And it is now saying that pursuant to President Obama's feeling that this law is unconstitutional, and Eric Holder says he agrees, they're just not going to do it. So what happens now? [Fox News, America Live, <a href="http://equalitymatters.org/factcheck/201102240002" type="external">2/23/11</a>]</p>
<p>Limbaugh: "They Can't Do, Legally, What They're Doing Here." From Rush Limbaugh's radio show:</p>
<p>LIMBAUGH: But here's the thing folks. Irrespective of your view of the Defense of Marriage Act, it is the duty of the Executive Branch, the Justice Department, to defend in court the laws the U.S. Congress has passed. They can't do what they've done. Obama can't declare it unconstitutional and stop defending it. He can't do that without Supreme Court arriving.</p>
<p>Determining the constitutionality of a statue is not the job of the president, it's not the job of the attorney general. They can't do, legally, what they're doing here. They can't do it. These are the new left outlaws. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, <a href="/embed/clips/2011/02/24/14212/prn-limbaugh-20110223-doma" type="external">2/23/11</a>]</p>
<p>Beck: Obama "Thinks He Can Literally Do Anything He Wants Whether He Has A Legal Way To Accomplish It Or Not." From Glenn Beck's radio show:</p>
<p>BECK: Talk about fundamental transformation for a minute. The Obama administration will no longer enforce DOGMA [sic], the Defense of Marriage Act. A lot of people are making this about gay marriage, which it is not. This is about a president who is just willy-nilly picking the laws that he likes and doesn't like. It's an end run around the Senate, the House, and even the previous Democratic president. This guy thinks he can literally do anything he wants whether he has a legal way to accomplish it or not, and it is frightening. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, <a href="/embed/clips/2011/02/24/14218/prn-beck-20110224-domawillynilly" type="external">2/24/11</a>]</p>
<p>Hannity: "Do They Not Care About The Rule Of Law? Do They Not Care About Precedents?" From Fox News' Hannity:</p>
<p>SEAN HANNITY (host): And we continue now with our Great American Panel. All right, so the Obama administration, just on their own, decides they're not going to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act any more. We've got in Indiana, we've got in Wisconsin, you know, Democrats just leave town because they're going to lose.</p>
<p>And I'm thinking, it's almost like, they don't -- do they not care about the rule of law? Do they not care about precedents? Do they not care about the people that hired them to do a job, that they're bunch of cowards, they leave town like this or that they just decide through a fiat, "We're not going to enforce the law of the land?"</p>
<p>JUAN WILLIAMS (Fox News contributor): Who said they weren't going to enforce the law of the --</p>
<p>HANNITY: Eric Holder.</p>
<p>WILLIAMS: No, no, no.</p>
<p>HANNITY: He said that they concluded that the administration can't defend the federal law that defines marriage as --</p>
<p>WILLIAMS: Defend. Defend in court. Enforce the law across the country. They still are going to do it, because they will enforce the law. But they think that it's impossible now, given the scrutiny from the 2nd Circuit, impossible to say that you are applying the same standard to all Americans when you discriminate against gay people.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>HANNITY: We have a law. And they're just saying, "All right, we're not going to defend the law." And that's their role that's, their job, that's the attorney general. Enforce the law as it's written. They don't get to write it themselves.</p>
<p>WILLIAMS: Correct.</p>
<p>HANNITY: Why do we have the legislative branch? Why do you have presidents that sign these bills?</p>
<p>WILLIAMS: That's right, but then they're going to enforce the law across the country.</p>
<p>HANNITY: No, they're not. When they say they're not going to defend it, they're not going to enforce it. They're not going to go near it.</p>
<p>WILLIAMS: That's your inter-- no, that's not fair to them, Sean.</p>
<p>DAVID WINSTON (Republican strategist): But here's the other thing --</p>
<p>HANNITY: I'm really noted for my fairness to Obama.</p>
<p>[laughter] [Fox News, Hannity, <a href="/embed/clips/2011/02/24/14214/fnc-hannity-20110223-domaprecedence" type="external">2/23/11</a>]</p>
<p>Goldberg: Obama "Announced This Week That He Will Violate" His Oath Of Office By Declining To Defend DOMA. From Jonah Goldberg's syndicated column:</p>
<p>Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution requires that each new president take the following oath:</p>
<p>I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.</p>
<p>President Obama announced this week that he will violate that oath.</p>
<p>In a decision hailed by gay-rights activists, the White House announced that it will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on the grounds that it has suddenly dawned on the president and attorney general that the law is unconstitutional.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>Either way, what Obama is doing is flatly outrageous. [White House press secretary Jay] Carney says that "the president is constitutionally bound to enforce the laws and enforcement of the DOMA will continue."</p>
<p>No, he is not.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>President Obama says DOMA is unconstitutional, and yet the "law professor" says he will continue to enforce it.</p>
<p>In a properly ordered constitutional republic, this would be a scandal. But in America today, it's cause for eye-rolling, shrugs, and platitudes about the demands of politics. [Tribune Media Services, <a href="http://www.tmsfeatures.com/columns/political/conservative/jonah-goldberg/Jonah-Goldberg-.html?articleURL=http://rss.tmsfeatures.com/websvc-bin/rss_story_read.cgi?resid=201102241630TMS_____JGOLDBRG_ctnjg-a_20110225" type="external">2/24/11</a>]</p>
<p>Gallagher: DOMA Decision Is "An End-Run Around Democracy." From a post by Maggie Gallagher on the National Review Online blog The Corner:</p>
<p>We're seeing a pattern to how Democrats respond to election losses: do an end-run around democracy. You can't block a union bill? Flee the chambers. You can't repeal DOMA? Declare orientation a protected class all on your own. This tactic may backfire, however: It opens up the pathway for the House to intervene to defend the law.</p>
<p>This also shows how much they don't believe they have the Supreme Court votes to win yet. [The Corner, National Review Online, <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/260505/president-obama-doma-maggie-gallagher" type="external">2/23/11</a>]</p>
<p>Duncan: "The DOJ (And The President) Are Attempting To Unilaterally Amend The Constitution To Add A Sexual-Orientation Discrimination Clause." From a post by William C. Duncan on The Corner:</p>
<p>National Journal is <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/obama-won-t-go-to-court-over-defense-of-marriage-act-20110223" type="external">reporting</a> that the president is ordering the Department of Justice not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in two pending court challenges in the U.S. Court of Appeals (1st and 2nd Circuits). He believes, the report says, that the law is unconstitutional. There's no word on the analysis used to come to this conclusion; I suspect politics is at the core [see below].</p>
<p>There is something about the marriage issue that provokes an "any means necessary" approach from its proponents (among whom I believe we can count the president, notwithstanding campaign rhetoric to the contrary).</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>Update: Daniel Foster has very helpfully provided the DOJ letter justifying (if that's the right word) the president's decision not to defend DOMA. The basic argument seems to be: (1) "Sexual orientation" is like race for all legal purposes, and (2) some DOMA supporters in Congress made arguments that reflect "moral disapproval" of gays and lesbians, so the law really can't be justified.</p>
<p>Some very initial reactions</p>
<p>RedState: "The President's Refusal To Defend DOMA ... Flies In The Face Of Justice Department Policy And Principles Of Democratic Government." From a post by RedState contributor Curt Levey:</p>
<p>President Obama's decision today to abandon the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is both outrageous -- as a matter of Justice Department policy and constitutional law -- and a miscalculation that will decreases the chances of ObamaCare being implemented, while potentially increasing calls for Supreme Court Justice Kagan to recuse herself from certain gay rights cases.</p>
<p>The President's refusal to defend DOMA, a federal statute enacted by overwhelming margins in the Senate (85 - 14) and House (342 - 67) and signed into law by President Clinton, flies in the face of Justice Department policy and principles of democratic government. It has long been the Department's policy to defend any challenged federal statute unless no plausible argument can be made in its defense. By ignoring that policy, President Obama is engaging in a disturbing power grab that, if taken to its logical conclusion, would allow him to undermine any duly enacted federal law that he doesn't personally agree with. [RedState, <a href="http://www.redstate.com/curt_levey/2011/02/23/defense-of-marriage-act-obamacare-and-kagan/" type="external">2/23/11</a>]</p>
<p>Wash. Times: Obama Administration "Refuses" To Comply With The Public's "Right For Their Laws To Be Defended By The Executive Branch." From a Washington Times editorial:</p>
<p>The Obama administration announced yesterday that it will not defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). This is the next step of President Obama's strategy to force the radical homosexual agenda on America against the will of the people and Congress.</p>
<p>At issue is Section 3 of DOMA, which stipulates that any mention of "marriage" in federal law should be interpreted to refer only to "a legal union between one man and one woman." No legal provision could be more basic. As the administration itself noted in a Jan. 20 brief in a different DOMA case, this definition of marriage "is derived from that of 'the standard law dictionary,' which itself was derived from historical definitions in state case law."</p>
<p>DOMA was passed by elected representatives of the people and signed into law by President Clinton; the public has the right for their laws to be defended by the executive branch. This administration refuses. [The Washington Times, <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/23/president-abandons-marriage/" type="external">2/23/11</a>]</p>
<p>Kuhner: The Justice Department Not Defending DOMA Is "A Severe Violation Of Its Constitutional Responsibilities." From Jeffrey Kuhner's column in The Washington Times:</p>
<p>Mr. Obama ordered the Justice Department on Wednesday not to defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In the face of lawsuits, the federal government is abdicating its role to uphold laws enacted by Congress - at least those the administration does not agree with.</p>
<p>This is not only a severe violation of its constitutional responsibilities but a blatant surrender to the homosexual lobby. DOMA was passed in 1996 by Congress and signed by then-President Bill Clinton. [The Washington Times, <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/24/obamas-homosexual-america/?page=1" type="external">2/24/11</a>]</p>
<p>1994 DOJ Memo Outlines "Circumstances In Which The President May Appropriately Decline To Enforce A Statute That He Views As Unconstitutional." From a 1994 Department of Justice memo, written by then-Assistant Attorney General Walter Dellinger, titled "Presidential Authority To Decline To Execute Unconstitutional Statutes":</p>
<p>I have reflected further on the difficult questions surrounding a President's decision to decline to execute statutory provisions that the President believes are unconstitutional, and I have a few thoughts to share with you. Let me start with a general proposition that I believe to be uncontroversial: there are circumstances in which the President may appropriately decline to enforce a statute that he views as unconstitutional.</p>
<p>First, there is significant judicial approval of this proposition. Most notable is the Court's decision in Myers v. United States, 272 U.S. 52 (1926). There the Court sustained the President's view that the statute at issue was unconstitutional without any member of the Court suggesting that the President had acted improperly in refusing to abide by the statute. More recently, in Freytag v. Commissioner, 501 U.S. 868 (1991), all four of the Justices who addressed the issue agreed that the President has "the power to veto encroaching laws . . . or even to disregard them when they are unconstitutional." Id. at 906 (Scalia, J., concurring); see also Youngstown Sheet &amp; Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579, 635-38 (1952) (Jackson, J., concurring) (recognizing existence of President's authority to act contrary to a statutory command).</p>
<p>Second, consistent and substantial executive practice also confirms this general proposition. Opinions dating to at least 1860 assert the President's authority to decline to effectuate enactments that the President views as unconstitutional. See, e.g., Memorial of Captain Meigs, 9 Op. Att'y Gen. 462, 469-70 (1860) (asserting that the President need not enforce a statute purporting to appoint an officer); see also annotations of attached Attorney General and Office of Legal Counsel opinions. Moreover, as we discuss more fully below, numerous Presidents have provided advance notice of their intention not to enforce specific statutory requirements that they have viewed as unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court has implicitly endorsed this practice. See INS v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919, 942 n.13 (1983) (noting that Presidents often sign legislation containing constitutionally objectionable provisions and indicate that they will not comply with those provisions).</p>
<p>While the general proposition that in some situations the President may decline to enforce unconstitutional statutes is unassailable, it does not offer sufficient guidance as to the appropriate course in specific circumstances. [Justice.gov, <a href="http://www.justice.gov/olc/nonexcut.htm" type="external">11/2/94</a>]</p>
<p>Legal Scholar Prakash: "The President's Duty To Preserve, Protect, And Defend The Constitution Requires The President To Disregard Unconstitutional Statutes." From a paper by University of Virginia Law School professor Saikrishna Prakash, published in the Georgetown Law Journal:</p>
<p>Recent Presidents have claimed a power to disregard statutes that they deem unconstitutional, prompting critics to make an array of arguments against these assertions. As a matter of text, the Faithful Execution Clause supposedly bars such non-enforcement. As a matter of history, the English Parliament specifically prohibited a royal discretionary power to disregard statutes. Moreover, American Presidents did not exercise a power to disregard unconstitutional laws until almost a century after the Constitution's creation. Taken together, these arguments are said to refute the regal pretensions of modern Presidents. This Article serves as an antidote to such claims, while sharpening our understanding of the proper Executive Branch stance towards unconstitutional statutes. The critics are correct in supposing that the President lacks a discretionary power to disregard unconstitutional statutes; instead, the Constitution is best read as obliging the President to disregard statutes he regards as unconstitutional. First, the Constitution never empowers the President to enforce unconstitutional statutes. He no more has the power to enforce such statutes than he has power to enforce the statutes of Georgia or Germany. Second, the President's duty to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution requires the President to disregard unconstitutional statutes. When the President enforces a statute he regards as unconstitutional, he violates the Constitution no less than if he were to imprison citizens without hope of trial. Third, the Faithful Execution Clause requires the President to choose the Constitution over unconstitutional laws, in the same way that courts must choose the former over the latter. Consistent with these understandings, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson argued that executives could not enforce unconstitutional laws. Indeed, President Jefferson halted Sedition Act prosecutions on grounds that the Act was unconstitutional. According to Jefferson, his duty to defend the Constitution barred him from executing measures that violated it. [Georgetown Law Journal, <a href="http://www.georgetownlawjournal.org/issues/pdf/96-5/Prakash.PDF" type="external">6/08</a>]</p>
<p>Prakash: Thomas Jefferson Was The First President To Refuse Enforcement Of An Unconstitutional Statute. From Prakash's Georgetown Law Journal paper:</p>
<p>As a matter of history, Thomas Jefferson was the first President who felt compelled to cease enforcement of a statute he regarded as unconstitutional. Believing that the Sedition Act was unconstitutional, Jefferson ordered his prosecutors to cease all existing Sedition Act prosecutions. Jefferson felt constitutionally obliged to arrest the execution of unconstitutional laws. He also concluded that his Faithful Execution duty did not extend to unconstitutional laws because the latter were null and void. He was confident in his conclusions, believing there was "no weak part in any of these positions or inferences." [Georgetown Law Journal, <a href="http://www.georgetownlawjournal.org/issues/pdf/96-5/Prakash.PDF#page=71" type="external">6/08</a>]</p>
<p>George H.W. Bush Administration Chose Not To Defend "Must-Carry" Measures. According to the Los Angeles Times:</p>
<p>In an unusual move, the U.S. Justice Department has decided not to defend the government against lawsuits seeking to strike down a provision of the recently passed cable re-regulation law that allows local broadcast stations to demand that their programs be carried on cable systems.</p>
<p>In a two-page letter sent to Vice President Dan Quayle on Wednesday, Assistant Atty. Gen. Stuart M. Gerson said similar "must-carry" measures have been struck down twice by the courts. In addition, he wrote that President Bush, who opposed the cable measure, is the "ultimate client" of the Justice Department and thus an "ethical conflict of interest would be created were the department now to defend these actions of the statute." [Los Angeles Times, <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1992-11-06/business/fi-1371_1_cable-operators" type="external">11/6/92</a>]</p>
<p>Clinton Administration Refused To Defend Amendment Requiring Dismissal Of HIV-Positive Troops. According to a press briefing by then-White House counsel Jack Quinn:</p>
<p>QUINN: As Mike indicated, we anticipate that tomorrow the President will sign the Department of Defense Authorization bill. As you also know, the President's indicated previously that there's a provision in that bill that he finds completely abhorrent and offensive -- the Dornan Amendment, which would require the Armed Forces to toss out of the military everyone who is HIV positive, no matter what the cause of that affliction, and despite the fact that these people are physically and medically able to perform their military duties.</p>
<p>This provision of the bill, in the President's judgment, is mean-spirited and serves no purpose other than to punish people who deserve this government's help, not its hatred.</p>
<p>The President's response to this provision is three parts. First, we will vigorously support the Kennedy-Cohen legislation which we anticipate will soon be introduced to repeal the Dornan Amendment. The President calls upon Congress to act swiftly on this legislation and pass it.</p>
<p>The second, the President has determined that this provision is unconstitutional. He's, therefore, directed the Attorney General not to defend it in court. The President has been informed in this regard by the Department of Defense that in its judgment the Dornan Amendment serves no legitimate military purpose; that it is arbitrary, unwarranted, and unwise. [Clinton Presidential Center, <a href="http://archives.clintonpresidentialcenter.org/?u=020996-press-briefing-by-quinn-and-dellinger-on-hiv-provision.htm" type="external">2/9/96</a>]</p>
<p>George W. Bush DOJ Opted Not To Defend Federal Statute That Prohibited Federal Money For Transit Systems That Accepted Ads Advocating Legalization Of Drugs. According to Congressional Quarterly:</p>
<p>The Justice Department will not defend a legislative provision that withholds federal money from transit systems that accept ads advocating the relaxation of drug laws.</p>
<p>The language, inserted into the fiscal 2004 appropriations omnibus (PL 108-199) by Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., chairman of the Transportation-Treasury Appropriations Subcommittee, decreed that any local transit authority that ran ads advocating the legalization of drugs would forfeit any money extended through the omnibus.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>Acting Solicitor General Paul Clement told the Senate legal counsel in December that the Justice Department would not appeal Friedman's decision, which had held "under well-established Supreme Court precedent [that] the funding condition amounted to viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment," and that "the government does not have a viable argument to advance in the statute's defense." [Congressional Quarterly, 1/26/05, via Nexis]</p>
<p>Under Acting Solicitor General John Roberts, DOJ Declined To Defend Federal Statute Encouraging Minority Ownership Of Broadcast Stations. According to a post written by former Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Georgetown University professor Marty Lederman:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/07/AR2005090702394.html" type="external">The Washington Post reports today</a> that John Roberts was the point person in the Office of the Solicitor General in 1990 when that office decided not to defend the constitutionality of federal statutes that required minority preferences in broadcast licensing. (In fact, Roberts was the Acting Solicitor General for purposes of the case, because SG Starr had a conflict.) The case in question was Metro Broadcasting v. FCC, and it raised very interesting questions about the circumstances under which the Department of Justice will refrain from defending the constitutionality of federal statutes.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/roberts/FCC_letter.pdf" type="external">The FCC Commissioners and General Counsel unanimously urged the Department to defend the statutes as well</a>, emphasizing that the U.S. Court of Appeals had upheld the central policy and that "there is a solid foundation in the Supreme Court's precedents for the government to argue that the FCC's policies are constitutional." But, as the Post story today reports, a memo in the files of Associate White House Counsel Fred Nelson (see the back page of <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/roberts/FCC_letter.pdf" type="external">this</a>) reveals that Roberts was "[r]eluctant to defend [the] commission's position." In the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice not only did not defend the federal statutes -- it urged the Court to declare them unconstitutional. Acting Solicitor General Roberts, <a href="http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/briefs/1989/sg890279.txt" type="external">appearing on behalf of the United States as amicus curiae</a>, argued that insofar as the federal statutes required the FCC to continue its preference policies, they were unconstitutional. The Acting SG's <a href="http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/briefs/1989/sg890279.txt" type="external">amicus brief</a> went further still: It urged the court to reject the deference to Congress suggested in Fullilove, and to apply strict scrutiny to federal affirmative action programs (a position that would, of course, restrict Congress's future legislative prerogatives -- i.e., that would substantially limit federal power). [Balkinization, <a href="http://balkin.blogspot.com/2005/09/john-roberts-and-sgs-refusal-to-defend.html" type="external">9/8/05</a>]</p>
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"A Form Of Dictatorship": Conservative Media Dubiously Suggest Obama's DOMA Decision Is Unlawful
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http://mediamatters.org/research/201102250041
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2011-02-25
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"A Form Of Dictatorship": Conservative Media Dubiously Suggest Obama's DOMA Decision Is Unlawful
<p />
<p>Crowley Calls DOMA Decision "A Form Of Dictatorship," Argues That If Bush Had Done Something Similar, "There Would Be Calls For His Impeachment." From Fox News' America Live:</p>
<p>MONICA CROWLEY (Fox News contributor): It's beyond belief. We are a nation of laws, not of men. We are governed by the rule of law. And what the Constitution says is that the president of the United States doesn't get to decide which laws he likes and which ones he's gonna enforce. He's the chief executive.</p>
<p>The law is on the books, the Defense of Marriage Act. It is his responsibility under the Constitution to enforce that law. Not just to decide, "Well, I don't like that law, so I'm not going to enforce it."</p>
<p>That is -- to me, that is a form of dictatorship. That is Mubarak Obama. I mean, that is -- you can't just pick and choose which law you're gonna enforce when you're president of the United States or the attorney general.</p>
<p>KELLY: Something this big and this controversial, you have to wonder, you know, if a Republican president just decided, we're no longer going to enforce the laws that protect gays because we don't believe in those, there would be quite a national outcry.</p>
<p>CROWLEY: If President Bush had done that, there would be calls for his impeachment. I think this is a very serious story. [Fox News, America Live, <a href="/video/2011/02/23/monica-crowley-calls-the-president-mubarak-obam/176787" type="external">2/23/11</a>]</p>
<p>Kelly Suggests DOJ Isn't Doing Its "Job." From America Live:</p>
<p>KELLY: The Department of Justice, however you feel about this law, whether you like this law or you don't like this law, the Department of Justice's job is to defend the laws that are on the books. And it is now saying that pursuant to President Obama's feeling that this law is unconstitutional, and Eric Holder says he agrees, they're just not going to do it. So what happens now? [Fox News, America Live, <a href="http://equalitymatters.org/factcheck/201102240002" type="external">2/23/11</a>]</p>
<p>Limbaugh: "They Can't Do, Legally, What They're Doing Here." From Rush Limbaugh's radio show:</p>
<p>LIMBAUGH: But here's the thing folks. Irrespective of your view of the Defense of Marriage Act, it is the duty of the Executive Branch, the Justice Department, to defend in court the laws the U.S. Congress has passed. They can't do what they've done. Obama can't declare it unconstitutional and stop defending it. He can't do that without Supreme Court arriving.</p>
<p>Determining the constitutionality of a statue is not the job of the president, it's not the job of the attorney general. They can't do, legally, what they're doing here. They can't do it. These are the new left outlaws. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, <a href="/embed/clips/2011/02/24/14212/prn-limbaugh-20110223-doma" type="external">2/23/11</a>]</p>
<p>Beck: Obama "Thinks He Can Literally Do Anything He Wants Whether He Has A Legal Way To Accomplish It Or Not." From Glenn Beck's radio show:</p>
<p>BECK: Talk about fundamental transformation for a minute. The Obama administration will no longer enforce DOGMA [sic], the Defense of Marriage Act. A lot of people are making this about gay marriage, which it is not. This is about a president who is just willy-nilly picking the laws that he likes and doesn't like. It's an end run around the Senate, the House, and even the previous Democratic president. This guy thinks he can literally do anything he wants whether he has a legal way to accomplish it or not, and it is frightening. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, <a href="/embed/clips/2011/02/24/14218/prn-beck-20110224-domawillynilly" type="external">2/24/11</a>]</p>
<p>Hannity: "Do They Not Care About The Rule Of Law? Do They Not Care About Precedents?" From Fox News' Hannity:</p>
<p>SEAN HANNITY (host): And we continue now with our Great American Panel. All right, so the Obama administration, just on their own, decides they're not going to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act any more. We've got in Indiana, we've got in Wisconsin, you know, Democrats just leave town because they're going to lose.</p>
<p>And I'm thinking, it's almost like, they don't -- do they not care about the rule of law? Do they not care about precedents? Do they not care about the people that hired them to do a job, that they're bunch of cowards, they leave town like this or that they just decide through a fiat, "We're not going to enforce the law of the land?"</p>
<p>JUAN WILLIAMS (Fox News contributor): Who said they weren't going to enforce the law of the --</p>
<p>HANNITY: Eric Holder.</p>
<p>WILLIAMS: No, no, no.</p>
<p>HANNITY: He said that they concluded that the administration can't defend the federal law that defines marriage as --</p>
<p>WILLIAMS: Defend. Defend in court. Enforce the law across the country. They still are going to do it, because they will enforce the law. But they think that it's impossible now, given the scrutiny from the 2nd Circuit, impossible to say that you are applying the same standard to all Americans when you discriminate against gay people.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>HANNITY: We have a law. And they're just saying, "All right, we're not going to defend the law." And that's their role that's, their job, that's the attorney general. Enforce the law as it's written. They don't get to write it themselves.</p>
<p>WILLIAMS: Correct.</p>
<p>HANNITY: Why do we have the legislative branch? Why do you have presidents that sign these bills?</p>
<p>WILLIAMS: That's right, but then they're going to enforce the law across the country.</p>
<p>HANNITY: No, they're not. When they say they're not going to defend it, they're not going to enforce it. They're not going to go near it.</p>
<p>WILLIAMS: That's your inter-- no, that's not fair to them, Sean.</p>
<p>DAVID WINSTON (Republican strategist): But here's the other thing --</p>
<p>HANNITY: I'm really noted for my fairness to Obama.</p>
<p>[laughter] [Fox News, Hannity, <a href="/embed/clips/2011/02/24/14214/fnc-hannity-20110223-domaprecedence" type="external">2/23/11</a>]</p>
<p>Goldberg: Obama "Announced This Week That He Will Violate" His Oath Of Office By Declining To Defend DOMA. From Jonah Goldberg's syndicated column:</p>
<p>Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution requires that each new president take the following oath:</p>
<p>I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.</p>
<p>President Obama announced this week that he will violate that oath.</p>
<p>In a decision hailed by gay-rights activists, the White House announced that it will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on the grounds that it has suddenly dawned on the president and attorney general that the law is unconstitutional.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>Either way, what Obama is doing is flatly outrageous. [White House press secretary Jay] Carney says that "the president is constitutionally bound to enforce the laws and enforcement of the DOMA will continue."</p>
<p>No, he is not.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>President Obama says DOMA is unconstitutional, and yet the "law professor" says he will continue to enforce it.</p>
<p>In a properly ordered constitutional republic, this would be a scandal. But in America today, it's cause for eye-rolling, shrugs, and platitudes about the demands of politics. [Tribune Media Services, <a href="http://www.tmsfeatures.com/columns/political/conservative/jonah-goldberg/Jonah-Goldberg-.html?articleURL=http://rss.tmsfeatures.com/websvc-bin/rss_story_read.cgi?resid=201102241630TMS_____JGOLDBRG_ctnjg-a_20110225" type="external">2/24/11</a>]</p>
<p>Gallagher: DOMA Decision Is "An End-Run Around Democracy." From a post by Maggie Gallagher on the National Review Online blog The Corner:</p>
<p>We're seeing a pattern to how Democrats respond to election losses: do an end-run around democracy. You can't block a union bill? Flee the chambers. You can't repeal DOMA? Declare orientation a protected class all on your own. This tactic may backfire, however: It opens up the pathway for the House to intervene to defend the law.</p>
<p>This also shows how much they don't believe they have the Supreme Court votes to win yet. [The Corner, National Review Online, <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/260505/president-obama-doma-maggie-gallagher" type="external">2/23/11</a>]</p>
<p>Duncan: "The DOJ (And The President) Are Attempting To Unilaterally Amend The Constitution To Add A Sexual-Orientation Discrimination Clause." From a post by William C. Duncan on The Corner:</p>
<p>National Journal is <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/obama-won-t-go-to-court-over-defense-of-marriage-act-20110223" type="external">reporting</a> that the president is ordering the Department of Justice not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in two pending court challenges in the U.S. Court of Appeals (1st and 2nd Circuits). He believes, the report says, that the law is unconstitutional. There's no word on the analysis used to come to this conclusion; I suspect politics is at the core [see below].</p>
<p>There is something about the marriage issue that provokes an "any means necessary" approach from its proponents (among whom I believe we can count the president, notwithstanding campaign rhetoric to the contrary).</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>Update: Daniel Foster has very helpfully provided the DOJ letter justifying (if that's the right word) the president's decision not to defend DOMA. The basic argument seems to be: (1) "Sexual orientation" is like race for all legal purposes, and (2) some DOMA supporters in Congress made arguments that reflect "moral disapproval" of gays and lesbians, so the law really can't be justified.</p>
<p>Some very initial reactions</p>
<p>RedState: "The President's Refusal To Defend DOMA ... Flies In The Face Of Justice Department Policy And Principles Of Democratic Government." From a post by RedState contributor Curt Levey:</p>
<p>President Obama's decision today to abandon the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is both outrageous -- as a matter of Justice Department policy and constitutional law -- and a miscalculation that will decreases the chances of ObamaCare being implemented, while potentially increasing calls for Supreme Court Justice Kagan to recuse herself from certain gay rights cases.</p>
<p>The President's refusal to defend DOMA, a federal statute enacted by overwhelming margins in the Senate (85 - 14) and House (342 - 67) and signed into law by President Clinton, flies in the face of Justice Department policy and principles of democratic government. It has long been the Department's policy to defend any challenged federal statute unless no plausible argument can be made in its defense. By ignoring that policy, President Obama is engaging in a disturbing power grab that, if taken to its logical conclusion, would allow him to undermine any duly enacted federal law that he doesn't personally agree with. [RedState, <a href="http://www.redstate.com/curt_levey/2011/02/23/defense-of-marriage-act-obamacare-and-kagan/" type="external">2/23/11</a>]</p>
<p>Wash. Times: Obama Administration "Refuses" To Comply With The Public's "Right For Their Laws To Be Defended By The Executive Branch." From a Washington Times editorial:</p>
<p>The Obama administration announced yesterday that it will not defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). This is the next step of President Obama's strategy to force the radical homosexual agenda on America against the will of the people and Congress.</p>
<p>At issue is Section 3 of DOMA, which stipulates that any mention of "marriage" in federal law should be interpreted to refer only to "a legal union between one man and one woman." No legal provision could be more basic. As the administration itself noted in a Jan. 20 brief in a different DOMA case, this definition of marriage "is derived from that of 'the standard law dictionary,' which itself was derived from historical definitions in state case law."</p>
<p>DOMA was passed by elected representatives of the people and signed into law by President Clinton; the public has the right for their laws to be defended by the executive branch. This administration refuses. [The Washington Times, <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/23/president-abandons-marriage/" type="external">2/23/11</a>]</p>
<p>Kuhner: The Justice Department Not Defending DOMA Is "A Severe Violation Of Its Constitutional Responsibilities." From Jeffrey Kuhner's column in The Washington Times:</p>
<p>Mr. Obama ordered the Justice Department on Wednesday not to defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In the face of lawsuits, the federal government is abdicating its role to uphold laws enacted by Congress - at least those the administration does not agree with.</p>
<p>This is not only a severe violation of its constitutional responsibilities but a blatant surrender to the homosexual lobby. DOMA was passed in 1996 by Congress and signed by then-President Bill Clinton. [The Washington Times, <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/24/obamas-homosexual-america/?page=1" type="external">2/24/11</a>]</p>
<p>1994 DOJ Memo Outlines "Circumstances In Which The President May Appropriately Decline To Enforce A Statute That He Views As Unconstitutional." From a 1994 Department of Justice memo, written by then-Assistant Attorney General Walter Dellinger, titled "Presidential Authority To Decline To Execute Unconstitutional Statutes":</p>
<p>I have reflected further on the difficult questions surrounding a President's decision to decline to execute statutory provisions that the President believes are unconstitutional, and I have a few thoughts to share with you. Let me start with a general proposition that I believe to be uncontroversial: there are circumstances in which the President may appropriately decline to enforce a statute that he views as unconstitutional.</p>
<p>First, there is significant judicial approval of this proposition. Most notable is the Court's decision in Myers v. United States, 272 U.S. 52 (1926). There the Court sustained the President's view that the statute at issue was unconstitutional without any member of the Court suggesting that the President had acted improperly in refusing to abide by the statute. More recently, in Freytag v. Commissioner, 501 U.S. 868 (1991), all four of the Justices who addressed the issue agreed that the President has "the power to veto encroaching laws . . . or even to disregard them when they are unconstitutional." Id. at 906 (Scalia, J., concurring); see also Youngstown Sheet &amp; Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579, 635-38 (1952) (Jackson, J., concurring) (recognizing existence of President's authority to act contrary to a statutory command).</p>
<p>Second, consistent and substantial executive practice also confirms this general proposition. Opinions dating to at least 1860 assert the President's authority to decline to effectuate enactments that the President views as unconstitutional. See, e.g., Memorial of Captain Meigs, 9 Op. Att'y Gen. 462, 469-70 (1860) (asserting that the President need not enforce a statute purporting to appoint an officer); see also annotations of attached Attorney General and Office of Legal Counsel opinions. Moreover, as we discuss more fully below, numerous Presidents have provided advance notice of their intention not to enforce specific statutory requirements that they have viewed as unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court has implicitly endorsed this practice. See INS v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919, 942 n.13 (1983) (noting that Presidents often sign legislation containing constitutionally objectionable provisions and indicate that they will not comply with those provisions).</p>
<p>While the general proposition that in some situations the President may decline to enforce unconstitutional statutes is unassailable, it does not offer sufficient guidance as to the appropriate course in specific circumstances. [Justice.gov, <a href="http://www.justice.gov/olc/nonexcut.htm" type="external">11/2/94</a>]</p>
<p>Legal Scholar Prakash: "The President's Duty To Preserve, Protect, And Defend The Constitution Requires The President To Disregard Unconstitutional Statutes." From a paper by University of Virginia Law School professor Saikrishna Prakash, published in the Georgetown Law Journal:</p>
<p>Recent Presidents have claimed a power to disregard statutes that they deem unconstitutional, prompting critics to make an array of arguments against these assertions. As a matter of text, the Faithful Execution Clause supposedly bars such non-enforcement. As a matter of history, the English Parliament specifically prohibited a royal discretionary power to disregard statutes. Moreover, American Presidents did not exercise a power to disregard unconstitutional laws until almost a century after the Constitution's creation. Taken together, these arguments are said to refute the regal pretensions of modern Presidents. This Article serves as an antidote to such claims, while sharpening our understanding of the proper Executive Branch stance towards unconstitutional statutes. The critics are correct in supposing that the President lacks a discretionary power to disregard unconstitutional statutes; instead, the Constitution is best read as obliging the President to disregard statutes he regards as unconstitutional. First, the Constitution never empowers the President to enforce unconstitutional statutes. He no more has the power to enforce such statutes than he has power to enforce the statutes of Georgia or Germany. Second, the President's duty to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution requires the President to disregard unconstitutional statutes. When the President enforces a statute he regards as unconstitutional, he violates the Constitution no less than if he were to imprison citizens without hope of trial. Third, the Faithful Execution Clause requires the President to choose the Constitution over unconstitutional laws, in the same way that courts must choose the former over the latter. Consistent with these understandings, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson argued that executives could not enforce unconstitutional laws. Indeed, President Jefferson halted Sedition Act prosecutions on grounds that the Act was unconstitutional. According to Jefferson, his duty to defend the Constitution barred him from executing measures that violated it. [Georgetown Law Journal, <a href="http://www.georgetownlawjournal.org/issues/pdf/96-5/Prakash.PDF" type="external">6/08</a>]</p>
<p>Prakash: Thomas Jefferson Was The First President To Refuse Enforcement Of An Unconstitutional Statute. From Prakash's Georgetown Law Journal paper:</p>
<p>As a matter of history, Thomas Jefferson was the first President who felt compelled to cease enforcement of a statute he regarded as unconstitutional. Believing that the Sedition Act was unconstitutional, Jefferson ordered his prosecutors to cease all existing Sedition Act prosecutions. Jefferson felt constitutionally obliged to arrest the execution of unconstitutional laws. He also concluded that his Faithful Execution duty did not extend to unconstitutional laws because the latter were null and void. He was confident in his conclusions, believing there was "no weak part in any of these positions or inferences." [Georgetown Law Journal, <a href="http://www.georgetownlawjournal.org/issues/pdf/96-5/Prakash.PDF#page=71" type="external">6/08</a>]</p>
<p>George H.W. Bush Administration Chose Not To Defend "Must-Carry" Measures. According to the Los Angeles Times:</p>
<p>In an unusual move, the U.S. Justice Department has decided not to defend the government against lawsuits seeking to strike down a provision of the recently passed cable re-regulation law that allows local broadcast stations to demand that their programs be carried on cable systems.</p>
<p>In a two-page letter sent to Vice President Dan Quayle on Wednesday, Assistant Atty. Gen. Stuart M. Gerson said similar "must-carry" measures have been struck down twice by the courts. In addition, he wrote that President Bush, who opposed the cable measure, is the "ultimate client" of the Justice Department and thus an "ethical conflict of interest would be created were the department now to defend these actions of the statute." [Los Angeles Times, <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1992-11-06/business/fi-1371_1_cable-operators" type="external">11/6/92</a>]</p>
<p>Clinton Administration Refused To Defend Amendment Requiring Dismissal Of HIV-Positive Troops. According to a press briefing by then-White House counsel Jack Quinn:</p>
<p>QUINN: As Mike indicated, we anticipate that tomorrow the President will sign the Department of Defense Authorization bill. As you also know, the President's indicated previously that there's a provision in that bill that he finds completely abhorrent and offensive -- the Dornan Amendment, which would require the Armed Forces to toss out of the military everyone who is HIV positive, no matter what the cause of that affliction, and despite the fact that these people are physically and medically able to perform their military duties.</p>
<p>This provision of the bill, in the President's judgment, is mean-spirited and serves no purpose other than to punish people who deserve this government's help, not its hatred.</p>
<p>The President's response to this provision is three parts. First, we will vigorously support the Kennedy-Cohen legislation which we anticipate will soon be introduced to repeal the Dornan Amendment. The President calls upon Congress to act swiftly on this legislation and pass it.</p>
<p>The second, the President has determined that this provision is unconstitutional. He's, therefore, directed the Attorney General not to defend it in court. The President has been informed in this regard by the Department of Defense that in its judgment the Dornan Amendment serves no legitimate military purpose; that it is arbitrary, unwarranted, and unwise. [Clinton Presidential Center, <a href="http://archives.clintonpresidentialcenter.org/?u=020996-press-briefing-by-quinn-and-dellinger-on-hiv-provision.htm" type="external">2/9/96</a>]</p>
<p>George W. Bush DOJ Opted Not To Defend Federal Statute That Prohibited Federal Money For Transit Systems That Accepted Ads Advocating Legalization Of Drugs. According to Congressional Quarterly:</p>
<p>The Justice Department will not defend a legislative provision that withholds federal money from transit systems that accept ads advocating the relaxation of drug laws.</p>
<p>The language, inserted into the fiscal 2004 appropriations omnibus (PL 108-199) by Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., chairman of the Transportation-Treasury Appropriations Subcommittee, decreed that any local transit authority that ran ads advocating the legalization of drugs would forfeit any money extended through the omnibus.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>Acting Solicitor General Paul Clement told the Senate legal counsel in December that the Justice Department would not appeal Friedman's decision, which had held "under well-established Supreme Court precedent [that] the funding condition amounted to viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment," and that "the government does not have a viable argument to advance in the statute's defense." [Congressional Quarterly, 1/26/05, via Nexis]</p>
<p>Under Acting Solicitor General John Roberts, DOJ Declined To Defend Federal Statute Encouraging Minority Ownership Of Broadcast Stations. According to a post written by former Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Georgetown University professor Marty Lederman:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/07/AR2005090702394.html" type="external">The Washington Post reports today</a> that John Roberts was the point person in the Office of the Solicitor General in 1990 when that office decided not to defend the constitutionality of federal statutes that required minority preferences in broadcast licensing. (In fact, Roberts was the Acting Solicitor General for purposes of the case, because SG Starr had a conflict.) The case in question was Metro Broadcasting v. FCC, and it raised very interesting questions about the circumstances under which the Department of Justice will refrain from defending the constitutionality of federal statutes.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/roberts/FCC_letter.pdf" type="external">The FCC Commissioners and General Counsel unanimously urged the Department to defend the statutes as well</a>, emphasizing that the U.S. Court of Appeals had upheld the central policy and that "there is a solid foundation in the Supreme Court's precedents for the government to argue that the FCC's policies are constitutional." But, as the Post story today reports, a memo in the files of Associate White House Counsel Fred Nelson (see the back page of <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/roberts/FCC_letter.pdf" type="external">this</a>) reveals that Roberts was "[r]eluctant to defend [the] commission's position." In the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice not only did not defend the federal statutes -- it urged the Court to declare them unconstitutional. Acting Solicitor General Roberts, <a href="http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/briefs/1989/sg890279.txt" type="external">appearing on behalf of the United States as amicus curiae</a>, argued that insofar as the federal statutes required the FCC to continue its preference policies, they were unconstitutional. The Acting SG's <a href="http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/briefs/1989/sg890279.txt" type="external">amicus brief</a> went further still: It urged the court to reject the deference to Congress suggested in Fullilove, and to apply strict scrutiny to federal affirmative action programs (a position that would, of course, restrict Congress's future legislative prerogatives -- i.e., that would substantially limit federal power). [Balkinization, <a href="http://balkin.blogspot.com/2005/09/john-roberts-and-sgs-refusal-to-defend.html" type="external">9/8/05</a>]</p>
| 6,514 |
<p>ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening’s drawing of the Connecticut Lottery’s “Cash 5” game were:</p>
<p>04-11-21-27-30</p>
<p>(four, eleven, twenty-one, twenty-seven, thirty)</p>
<p>ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening’s drawing of the Connecticut Lottery’s “Cash 5” game were:</p>
<p>04-11-21-27-30</p>
<p>(four, eleven, twenty-one, twenty-seven, thirty)</p>
|
Winning numbers drawn in ‘Cash 5’ game
| false |
https://apnews.com/d7700c3d1ed0442086bb55533e28900a
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2018-01-13
| 2least
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Winning numbers drawn in ‘Cash 5’ game
<p>ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening’s drawing of the Connecticut Lottery’s “Cash 5” game were:</p>
<p>04-11-21-27-30</p>
<p>(four, eleven, twenty-one, twenty-seven, thirty)</p>
<p>ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening’s drawing of the Connecticut Lottery’s “Cash 5” game were:</p>
<p>04-11-21-27-30</p>
<p>(four, eleven, twenty-one, twenty-seven, thirty)</p>
| 6,515 |
<p>A look at the AP Municipal Bond Index for Wednesday, Nov. 29:</p>
<p>BIGGEST MOVER: Four-year bonds. Yield rose 16 basis points over the last week to 1.72 percent.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>TWO-YEAR: Yield rose 2 basis points to 1.50 percent. The two-year/10-year spread is 94 basis points, up from 92 basis points a week ago. The two-year/30-year spread is 143 basis points, compared with 143 basis points a week ago.</p>
<p>10-YEAR: Yield climbed 3 basis points to 2.44 percent, compared with 2.37 percent for a 10-year Treasury. The gap between 10-year municipal bonds and Treasurys has been widening over the last week. It was 1 basis point on Nov. 22. The 10-year/30-year spread for municipal bonds is 49 basis points.</p>
<p>30-YEAR: Yield increased by 3 basis points to 2.93 percent, compared with 2.81 percent for a 30-year Treasury.</p>
<p>_____</p>
<p>AP created this story using data from Municipal Bond Information Services and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Learn more about the AP Municipal Bond Index at http://mbis.com/</p>
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Muni bond Wednesday update: 10-year yield rises
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http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/10/25/muni-bond-wednesday-update-10-year-yield-rises.html
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2017-11-30
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Muni bond Wednesday update: 10-year yield rises
<p>A look at the AP Municipal Bond Index for Wednesday, Nov. 29:</p>
<p>BIGGEST MOVER: Four-year bonds. Yield rose 16 basis points over the last week to 1.72 percent.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>TWO-YEAR: Yield rose 2 basis points to 1.50 percent. The two-year/10-year spread is 94 basis points, up from 92 basis points a week ago. The two-year/30-year spread is 143 basis points, compared with 143 basis points a week ago.</p>
<p>10-YEAR: Yield climbed 3 basis points to 2.44 percent, compared with 2.37 percent for a 10-year Treasury. The gap between 10-year municipal bonds and Treasurys has been widening over the last week. It was 1 basis point on Nov. 22. The 10-year/30-year spread for municipal bonds is 49 basis points.</p>
<p>30-YEAR: Yield increased by 3 basis points to 2.93 percent, compared with 2.81 percent for a 30-year Treasury.</p>
<p>_____</p>
<p>AP created this story using data from Municipal Bond Information Services and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Learn more about the AP Municipal Bond Index at http://mbis.com/</p>
| 6,516 |
<p>MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian cross country skier Alexander Legkov says he will fight to clear his name after being sanctioned for doping at the 2014 Sochi Games and hit with a lifetime ban from the Olympics last week.</p>
<p>Legkov and Evgeniy Belov were the first Russians to be sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations following an International Olympic Committee (IOC) investigation into allegations of widespread doping among Russians and sample tampering by laboratory and security officials at the Sochi Games.</p>
<p>Legkov won gold in the 50km freestyle and a silver medal in the 4x10km relay event in Sochi. The IOC said all of Russia’s 4x10km team would be disqualified given Legkov’s violation.</p>
<p>Belov, who competed in the men’s skiathlon 15+15km mass start event and the 15km classic country skiing event, did not medal at the Games.</p>
<p>Legkov, in his first public comments since being banned, wrote on his Instagram page late on Monday: “My medal is clean. I will fight.</p>
<p>“In the past years I was tested more than 150 times and I was clean. “I was tested not in Moscow or in Sochi, but in Cologne, Lausanne, Dresden.</p>
<p>“We all have to comply with the sanctions procedure which none of us can be sure … is fair and free of other interests,” Legkov said.</p>
<p>“Every athlete, no matter from which country, can end up in this kind of situation.”</p>
<p>The IOC did not specify what kind of anti-doping rule violation Legkov and Belov had committed, but said both of them were “ineligible to be accredited in any capacity for all editions of the Games … subsequent to the Sochi Olympic winter Games.”</p>
<p>Russia’s cross country federation said last week it was preparing to appeal the IOC decision.</p>
<p>The IOC is re-testing all Russian athletes’ samples from the 2014 Games following revelations by Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Moscow’s discredited anti-doping laboratory, of a scheme to cover up home competitors’ positive samples.</p>
<p>The Sochi scandal is part of a broader doping affair that has led to the suspension of Russia’s anti-doping agency RUSADA, its athletics federation and Paralympic Committee.</p>
<p>The IOC has said it would decide during its executive board meeting next month on the participation of Russian competitors at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February.</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>
|
Russian skier banned for doping says his 'medal is clean'
| false |
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2017-11-07
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Russian skier banned for doping says his 'medal is clean'
<p>MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian cross country skier Alexander Legkov says he will fight to clear his name after being sanctioned for doping at the 2014 Sochi Games and hit with a lifetime ban from the Olympics last week.</p>
<p>Legkov and Evgeniy Belov were the first Russians to be sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations following an International Olympic Committee (IOC) investigation into allegations of widespread doping among Russians and sample tampering by laboratory and security officials at the Sochi Games.</p>
<p>Legkov won gold in the 50km freestyle and a silver medal in the 4x10km relay event in Sochi. The IOC said all of Russia’s 4x10km team would be disqualified given Legkov’s violation.</p>
<p>Belov, who competed in the men’s skiathlon 15+15km mass start event and the 15km classic country skiing event, did not medal at the Games.</p>
<p>Legkov, in his first public comments since being banned, wrote on his Instagram page late on Monday: “My medal is clean. I will fight.</p>
<p>“In the past years I was tested more than 150 times and I was clean. “I was tested not in Moscow or in Sochi, but in Cologne, Lausanne, Dresden.</p>
<p>“We all have to comply with the sanctions procedure which none of us can be sure … is fair and free of other interests,” Legkov said.</p>
<p>“Every athlete, no matter from which country, can end up in this kind of situation.”</p>
<p>The IOC did not specify what kind of anti-doping rule violation Legkov and Belov had committed, but said both of them were “ineligible to be accredited in any capacity for all editions of the Games … subsequent to the Sochi Olympic winter Games.”</p>
<p>Russia’s cross country federation said last week it was preparing to appeal the IOC decision.</p>
<p>The IOC is re-testing all Russian athletes’ samples from the 2014 Games following revelations by Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Moscow’s discredited anti-doping laboratory, of a scheme to cover up home competitors’ positive samples.</p>
<p>The Sochi scandal is part of a broader doping affair that has led to the suspension of Russia’s anti-doping agency RUSADA, its athletics federation and Paralympic Committee.</p>
<p>The IOC has said it would decide during its executive board meeting next month on the participation of Russian competitors at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February.</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>
| 6,517 |
<p>BARCELONA — Hundreds of thousands of Catalans formed a massive human “V” across Barcelona on Thursday as part of a campaign to persuade the Spanish government to allow their region to stage a referendum on independence.</p>
<p>The demonstration coincided with the region’s annual Diada, or national day, which commemorates the defeat of the northeastern territory at the hands of Spanish forces in the siege of Barcelona on Sept. 11, 1714.</p>
<p>“If you look at history, you’ll see that we used to be free, but then the Spaniards came. We want the freedom we had before,” said pensioner Joaquin Valle Bigas. He was resting in the shade by Barcelona’s Gracies square, surrounded by campaigners waving Catalan flags. The spot was near the corner of the seven-mile-long V, which represented the words “victory” and “vote.”</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Valle Bigas and his wife were wearing yellow T-shirts emblazoned with the Catalan phrase “Ara es l’hora,” or “now’s the time,” the slogan of the independence campaign. It refers to the vote on independence Catalonia has scheduled for Nov. 9 but which the Spanish government opposes on the grounds that it is unconstitutional.</p>
<p>While the 300th anniversary of the Diada gave this year’s event extra historical significance, it also had an overtly political dimension from falling so close to the vote.</p>
<p>“I’m 90 years old and if I live any longer, it’ll be for Catalonia,” said Valle Bigas, who was briefly imprisoned by the authoritarian, centralist regime of Francisco Franco in the 1950s for brandishing the region’s flag in the street.</p>
<p>After Franco’s death in 1975, Spain became a democracy and handed regions such as Catalonia substantial autonomous powers, including its own health system, police force and parliament.</p>
<p>But in recent years, pro-independence sentiment has been mounting, with Catalan nationalists complaining that their wealthy region pays more in taxes to the Spanish state than it receives back in investment. They are also angry at what they see as political meddling in the region by the central government in Madrid, and attempts to stifle aspects of cultural identity, such as the Catalan language.</p>
<p>“We want to make the Spanish government realize how unhappy we are in a peaceful way — we are constantly being attacked, economically, culturally and socially by Spain,” said Jaume Mestre, an industrial engineer who took part in the day’s pro-independence activities. Those included speeches, cultural performances and an open-air concert performed by 300 cellists (to mark 300 years.)</p>
<p>Local police estimated that 1.8 million people filled the streets throughout the day.</p>
<p>Catalan regional premier Artur Mas, who is leading the independence drive, was present at many of the events, having taken the unusual step on Wednesday of leaving flowers at a site revered by radical separatists as the tomb of a group of Catalan patriots.</p>
<p>“We’re a nation and we want to decide on our future, and we want to do so with the understanding of the people of Spain and Europe,” said Mas, of the Convergence and Union (CiU) nationalist coalition, on Thursday. He insisted that he expects the non-binding referendum to go ahead as planned, despite the central government’s opposition.</p>
<p>The pro-independence campaign also reached beyond Spain’s borders. Massive banners were unfurled with images of world leaders and messages for them. “Mr. President, Catalans will vote on November 9,” read the text beneath a banner of Barack Obama.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, Catalan nationalists in the town of Vic displayed a similar banner with the image of British Prime Minister David Cameron, praising him for allowing the Scottish people to vote on independence, in contrast to the stance of the Spanish government.</p>
<p>The two-question referendum Mas and his political allies have prepared asks: “Do you want Catalonia to be a state?” If the answer is yes, it continues: “Do you want that state to be independent?” An April poll showed that 47 percent of Catalans would vote “yes” to both questions.</p>
<p>However, in recent weeks speculation has increased that Mas will postpone the referendum if it lacks a legal framework, which looks likely as things stand. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has promised to ask the Constitutional Court to block the vote once it is officially called by Mas, probably later this month.</p>
<p>Other political parties and groups have urged Mas to push ahead regardless and stage the vote. Oriol Junqueras, leader of the powerful Catalan Republican Left (ERC), has said that on Nov. 9 Catalans should follow the example of Martin Luther King and pursue a policy of “civil disobedience.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, unionist groups have been warning of the consequences of independence. Josep Ramon Bosch, a Catalan who heads Catalan Civil Society, an organization that opposes secession, said his region would suffer economically, culturally and socially if it broke away from Spain.</p>
<p>“The last 23 years of nationalist government in Catalonia have been propaganda — only one side has given its opinion, while the other hasn’t,” he said. “It’s propaganda based on historical lies. And now we’re seeing the culmination of all this with the 300th anniversary of the Diada.”</p>
<p>Bosch and others staged a low-key ceremony in the Catalan city of Tarragona on Thursday, carrying the Catalan flag, known as the “senyera,” through the streets. The demonstration’s slogan: “Let’s recover our common sense, let’s take back the senyera.”</p>
|
7-mile human chain forces Spain to talk about Catalan independence
| false |
https://pri.org/stories/2014-09-11/7-mile-human-chain-forces-spain-talk-about-catalan-independence
|
2014-09-11
| 3left-center
|
7-mile human chain forces Spain to talk about Catalan independence
<p>BARCELONA — Hundreds of thousands of Catalans formed a massive human “V” across Barcelona on Thursday as part of a campaign to persuade the Spanish government to allow their region to stage a referendum on independence.</p>
<p>The demonstration coincided with the region’s annual Diada, or national day, which commemorates the defeat of the northeastern territory at the hands of Spanish forces in the siege of Barcelona on Sept. 11, 1714.</p>
<p>“If you look at history, you’ll see that we used to be free, but then the Spaniards came. We want the freedom we had before,” said pensioner Joaquin Valle Bigas. He was resting in the shade by Barcelona’s Gracies square, surrounded by campaigners waving Catalan flags. The spot was near the corner of the seven-mile-long V, which represented the words “victory” and “vote.”</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Valle Bigas and his wife were wearing yellow T-shirts emblazoned with the Catalan phrase “Ara es l’hora,” or “now’s the time,” the slogan of the independence campaign. It refers to the vote on independence Catalonia has scheduled for Nov. 9 but which the Spanish government opposes on the grounds that it is unconstitutional.</p>
<p>While the 300th anniversary of the Diada gave this year’s event extra historical significance, it also had an overtly political dimension from falling so close to the vote.</p>
<p>“I’m 90 years old and if I live any longer, it’ll be for Catalonia,” said Valle Bigas, who was briefly imprisoned by the authoritarian, centralist regime of Francisco Franco in the 1950s for brandishing the region’s flag in the street.</p>
<p>After Franco’s death in 1975, Spain became a democracy and handed regions such as Catalonia substantial autonomous powers, including its own health system, police force and parliament.</p>
<p>But in recent years, pro-independence sentiment has been mounting, with Catalan nationalists complaining that their wealthy region pays more in taxes to the Spanish state than it receives back in investment. They are also angry at what they see as political meddling in the region by the central government in Madrid, and attempts to stifle aspects of cultural identity, such as the Catalan language.</p>
<p>“We want to make the Spanish government realize how unhappy we are in a peaceful way — we are constantly being attacked, economically, culturally and socially by Spain,” said Jaume Mestre, an industrial engineer who took part in the day’s pro-independence activities. Those included speeches, cultural performances and an open-air concert performed by 300 cellists (to mark 300 years.)</p>
<p>Local police estimated that 1.8 million people filled the streets throughout the day.</p>
<p>Catalan regional premier Artur Mas, who is leading the independence drive, was present at many of the events, having taken the unusual step on Wednesday of leaving flowers at a site revered by radical separatists as the tomb of a group of Catalan patriots.</p>
<p>“We’re a nation and we want to decide on our future, and we want to do so with the understanding of the people of Spain and Europe,” said Mas, of the Convergence and Union (CiU) nationalist coalition, on Thursday. He insisted that he expects the non-binding referendum to go ahead as planned, despite the central government’s opposition.</p>
<p>The pro-independence campaign also reached beyond Spain’s borders. Massive banners were unfurled with images of world leaders and messages for them. “Mr. President, Catalans will vote on November 9,” read the text beneath a banner of Barack Obama.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, Catalan nationalists in the town of Vic displayed a similar banner with the image of British Prime Minister David Cameron, praising him for allowing the Scottish people to vote on independence, in contrast to the stance of the Spanish government.</p>
<p>The two-question referendum Mas and his political allies have prepared asks: “Do you want Catalonia to be a state?” If the answer is yes, it continues: “Do you want that state to be independent?” An April poll showed that 47 percent of Catalans would vote “yes” to both questions.</p>
<p>However, in recent weeks speculation has increased that Mas will postpone the referendum if it lacks a legal framework, which looks likely as things stand. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has promised to ask the Constitutional Court to block the vote once it is officially called by Mas, probably later this month.</p>
<p>Other political parties and groups have urged Mas to push ahead regardless and stage the vote. Oriol Junqueras, leader of the powerful Catalan Republican Left (ERC), has said that on Nov. 9 Catalans should follow the example of Martin Luther King and pursue a policy of “civil disobedience.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, unionist groups have been warning of the consequences of independence. Josep Ramon Bosch, a Catalan who heads Catalan Civil Society, an organization that opposes secession, said his region would suffer economically, culturally and socially if it broke away from Spain.</p>
<p>“The last 23 years of nationalist government in Catalonia have been propaganda — only one side has given its opinion, while the other hasn’t,” he said. “It’s propaganda based on historical lies. And now we’re seeing the culmination of all this with the 300th anniversary of the Diada.”</p>
<p>Bosch and others staged a low-key ceremony in the Catalan city of Tarragona on Thursday, carrying the Catalan flag, known as the “senyera,” through the streets. The demonstration’s slogan: “Let’s recover our common sense, let’s take back the senyera.”</p>
| 6,518 |
<p>Al Jazeera made its cable debut in New York Monday just in time to capture Tuesday's historic scene in Cairo of Hosni Mubarak being wheeled into the courtroom on a hospital gurney. He faces charges ranging from corruption to ordering live rounds fired on the 800 protesters who were killed during the demonstrations that forced him to step down.</p>
<p>At the Salzburg Global Seminar on global media there was much discussion of both the English and Arabic versions of Al Jazeera and, as the Arab students were quick to point out, how completely different they are. Two students undertook a detailed comparison of several hours of broadcasting from both entities on February 11, the night that Mubarak stepped down.</p>
<p>As you can read at GlobalPost's - <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/110801/al-jazeera-english-debut-new-york-city-cable" type="external">Eye on US</a>,? the New York cable presence for Al Jazeera comes through a deal to sublet airtime from channel owner WRNN. The channel will now reach an estimated two million or more homes in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Westchester County and much of New Jersey, according to The New York Daily News.</p>
<p>Al Jazeera English will be simulcast 23 hours a day on WRNN's RISE channel, available in the New York area through Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS.</p>
<p>The Qatar-based channel has had mixed global reviews. It was harshly criticized in the years after 9-11 for broadcasting statements in Arabic from Osama bin Laden that went around the world largely unfiltered and unedited, and earned Al Jazeera the nickname in some American circles (read: Fox News), "the Al Qaeda network."</p>
<p>But Al Jazeera has also received much praise in America and abroad for its coverage of the Arab Spring, particularly the reporting it did on Egypt during the heady days of demonstrations in Tahrir Square that toppled Mubarak. Of course, it has also been noticed that there has been little coverage from Al Jazeera about the news of uprisings in Bahrain and how they were suppressed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Some have accused Al Jazeera of going soft on Bahrain because it was just too close to home.</p>
<p>To date, Al Jazeera has had only very limited U.S. distribution. One exception is Cambridge, Massachusetts where it has been available on community access channels. But for the most part, it has not been picked up by any major U.S. cable or satellite company with a wide audience. It currently airs in the Washington D.C. area through a similar arrangement to the one now set up in New York, according to The New York Times. Just a few other U.S. outlets - including ones in Ohio, Vermont and Los Angeles - carry Al Jazeera English newscasts.</p>
<p>For some wider perspective on Al Jazeera and how it fits into the wider global media landscape check out this project which GlobalPost did in partnership with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, titled the " <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/business-tech/technology-news/110503/global-media-war-battles-airwaves" type="external">Global Media Wars</a>."&#160;</p>
|
Al Jazeera's U.S. emergence
| false |
https://pri.org/stories/2011-08-03/al-jazeeras-us-emergence
|
2011-08-03
| 3left-center
|
Al Jazeera's U.S. emergence
<p>Al Jazeera made its cable debut in New York Monday just in time to capture Tuesday's historic scene in Cairo of Hosni Mubarak being wheeled into the courtroom on a hospital gurney. He faces charges ranging from corruption to ordering live rounds fired on the 800 protesters who were killed during the demonstrations that forced him to step down.</p>
<p>At the Salzburg Global Seminar on global media there was much discussion of both the English and Arabic versions of Al Jazeera and, as the Arab students were quick to point out, how completely different they are. Two students undertook a detailed comparison of several hours of broadcasting from both entities on February 11, the night that Mubarak stepped down.</p>
<p>As you can read at GlobalPost's - <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/110801/al-jazeera-english-debut-new-york-city-cable" type="external">Eye on US</a>,? the New York cable presence for Al Jazeera comes through a deal to sublet airtime from channel owner WRNN. The channel will now reach an estimated two million or more homes in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Westchester County and much of New Jersey, according to The New York Daily News.</p>
<p>Al Jazeera English will be simulcast 23 hours a day on WRNN's RISE channel, available in the New York area through Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS.</p>
<p>The Qatar-based channel has had mixed global reviews. It was harshly criticized in the years after 9-11 for broadcasting statements in Arabic from Osama bin Laden that went around the world largely unfiltered and unedited, and earned Al Jazeera the nickname in some American circles (read: Fox News), "the Al Qaeda network."</p>
<p>But Al Jazeera has also received much praise in America and abroad for its coverage of the Arab Spring, particularly the reporting it did on Egypt during the heady days of demonstrations in Tahrir Square that toppled Mubarak. Of course, it has also been noticed that there has been little coverage from Al Jazeera about the news of uprisings in Bahrain and how they were suppressed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Some have accused Al Jazeera of going soft on Bahrain because it was just too close to home.</p>
<p>To date, Al Jazeera has had only very limited U.S. distribution. One exception is Cambridge, Massachusetts where it has been available on community access channels. But for the most part, it has not been picked up by any major U.S. cable or satellite company with a wide audience. It currently airs in the Washington D.C. area through a similar arrangement to the one now set up in New York, according to The New York Times. Just a few other U.S. outlets - including ones in Ohio, Vermont and Los Angeles - carry Al Jazeera English newscasts.</p>
<p>For some wider perspective on Al Jazeera and how it fits into the wider global media landscape check out this project which GlobalPost did in partnership with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, titled the " <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/business-tech/technology-news/110503/global-media-war-battles-airwaves" type="external">Global Media Wars</a>."&#160;</p>
| 6,519 |
<p>Just how many Christians are flocking to Facebook?</p>
<p>It’s not an idle question, to judge from the number of people asking it on the wildly popular social networking site. “We Can Find 10,000,000 Christians on Facebook” is the name of one of the larger groups — although, with 1,045,418 members, the group still has some work ahead of it.</p>
<p>For churches eager to connect with those millions of Christians — many of them church members — social networking on the Web has become unavoidable.</p>
<p>“It’s where the people are, including the church people,” says Cheryl Smith, a social media consultant in Lynchburg.</p>
<p>Daniel Johnson, associate pastor for students at Kirkwood Baptist Church in St. Louis, Mo., agrees. He joined Facebook when he realized it was the best way to contact the members of his youth group. “Many told me they hardly check e-mail anymore, but they always check Facebook,” he said.</p>
<p>While the youth group has a website, Johnson decided instead of spending time and effort to get people to visit the site, he would meet them where they already were — on Facebook.</p>
<p>Facebook now counts more than 100 million members and by one estimate is adding 450,000 every day. And while Facebook may be the most popular social networking site, it’s far from alone. MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Youmeo, Plaxo and innumerable others offer opportunities for “ambient awareness.”</p>
<p>Websites have become well-established features of many churches’ communications strategy.&#160; But that Internet presence, with its ability to provide instant and comprehensive information, is distinctly different from the social networking phenomenon — and some observers would say increasingly less relevant.</p>
<p>“Traditional Internet marketing is about pushing information to the end user,” said Smith, a member of Rivermont Avenue Baptist Church in Lynchburg. “Social networking is really about a conversation, about engaging people.”</p>
<p>East Texas Pastor Jay Abernathy of First Baptist Church in Palestine has found Facebook accomplishes both goals. “In short, it’s what we hope a church website can do, but Facebook allows us to actively push content to our ‘friends’ and group members, unlike a website that is passive.”</p>
<p>Abernathy has found that nearly half of the teenagers and adults at his church are on Facebook. His church uses the networking site to invite people to church events and ministry group meetings, but he also takes the opportunity to send personal messages and chat for one-on-one discipleship.</p>
<p>“Facebook allows me to communicate with folks at a level and on a timeframe that multiplies my connections with people, whether they are members or prospects,” he said.</p>
<p>“Communications strategists used to say, ‘We have a message we want people to get,’ ” said Thom Stanton, Web services administrator for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board. “Now they say, ‘We have a relationship we want to develop.’ ”</p>
<p>A communications network that values human relations would seem a natural partner for churches and their essential message of entering into relationship with God through Jesus Christ. But for many congregations, social networking remains elusive and perplexing. Frequently, churches with a Facebook presence use it as little more than a supplementary website.</p>
<p>“The old website strategy that uses it as a billboard — static and non-dynamic — is pretty useless,” said Chuck Warnock, pastor of Chatham Baptist Church in Chatham. Websites are helpful only for “posting worship service times and the church’s location,” he said.</p>
<p>“The word ‘community’ is overworked when you’re talking about the Internet, but [social networking utilities] do create a sense of community,” he said.</p>
<p>One way churches are developing a community on Facebook is through photos. While church members may not answer traditional requests for feedback following an event, Johnson and Pastor Charlie Brown of The Crossing Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas, have found that event photos work well as a conversation starter.</p>
<p>Photos can be a jumping-off point for sharing memories and stories, Johnson said. It can be a way to promote community and reinforce what occurred at the activity or event.</p>
<p>“Using Facebook — or something similar — for ministry is something that I hope is being taught in seminaries,” said Tyler Tankersley, director of youth and young adults at First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau, Mo. “I believe that Facebook is a new wineskin, and we must adjust and adapt the way that we choose to reach people.”</p>
<p>Tankersley doesn’t believe social networking sites will replace face-to-face interaction, but believes the church needs to be actively engaging people where they are.</p>
<p>Church special events are promoted with Facebook’s events feature. They also provide an up-to-date list of who is teaching Sunday school. Tankersley also uses the site to remind people to pray for the requests mentioned on Sundays.</p>
<p>“In our churches, we are so fragmented because of schedules that when you can connect with someone, it’s valuable,” said Smith. “That’s what makes social networking so appealing.”</p>
<p>Oddly, it’s out of fragments that social networks connect. The most common way to communicate through Twitter is by broadcasting what technology writer Clive Thompson calls “haiku-length updates” — short (140 characters), frequent and spontaneous reports in response to the question, “What are you doing?”</p>
<p>But Thompson wrote in a New York Times Magazine piece last fall: “This is the paradox of ambient awareness. Each little update — each individual bit of social information — is insignificant on its own, even supremely mundane. But taken together, over time, the little snippets coalesce into a surprisingly sophisticated portrait of your friends’ and family members’ lives, like thousands of dots making a pointillist painting. … The ambient information becomes like a type of E.S.P., … an invisible dimension floating over everyday life.”</p>
<p>That ability to connect is “unprecedented,” Smith said, and offers churches opportunities to engage members and nonmembers in deeply felt ways.</p>
<p>Johnson started a Twitter account for the Kirkwood youth ministry to allow the youth to give short reports while events are happening. Parents and church members will be able to receive updates during mission trips, for example. “We can capture it as it happens,” Johnson said.</p>
<p>Since youth rarely share details of a trip with their parents, the Twitter site will allow followers a chance to receive an indepth report in real time. And since Twitter archives all the “tweets,” a person can view the updates at their convenience without missing anything.</p>
<p>Through tweets or Facebook status updates, “I’m able to see someone’s mood, hear what they’re up to and get to see behind the curtain,” wrote Greg Atkinson, who lives in suburban Dallas and blogs on church and technology issues.</p>
<p>“For senior pastors, this is especially beneficial for breaking down the wall between clergy and laity,” said Atkinson. “I think it’s healthy for one of your congregation members to see you’re ‘cutting the grass,’ ‘raking leaves,’ ‘going to a football game’ with your son, ‘watching a movie’ with your spouse. … All these status updates can seem silly but are a sneak peak into your everyday life. It’s like running into your grade school teacher in the grocery store when you were a kid and being surprised to see them out of the classroom.”</p>
<p>Chris Forbes, founder of Ministry Marketing Coach and author of the e-book, Facebook for Pastors, maintains that authenticity is essential to communicating through social media.</p>
<p>“One of the quickest ways to lose credibility is to join the site, use all your ‘promotional speak’ and spam out a bunch of invitations to your events and groups,” said Forbes. “Too much promotion and not enough networking will get people to drop you from their friends list.”</p>
<p>What’s more, he added, vulnerability is key.</p>
<p>“Pastors are used to preaching. They are allowed the unique privilege and responsibility of preparing a message from God’s word each week and communicating that message uninterrupted in a one-way monologue. Those days are over,” Forbes said. “Preaching from the platform of a church may not have changed much, but there is an increasing demand from church members to have real and meaningful conversations with their ministry leaders beyond the Sunday morning service times and outside the walls of the church.”</p>
|
Getting to know you
| false |
https://baptistnews.com/article/gettingtoknowyou/
| 3left-center
|
Getting to know you
<p>Just how many Christians are flocking to Facebook?</p>
<p>It’s not an idle question, to judge from the number of people asking it on the wildly popular social networking site. “We Can Find 10,000,000 Christians on Facebook” is the name of one of the larger groups — although, with 1,045,418 members, the group still has some work ahead of it.</p>
<p>For churches eager to connect with those millions of Christians — many of them church members — social networking on the Web has become unavoidable.</p>
<p>“It’s where the people are, including the church people,” says Cheryl Smith, a social media consultant in Lynchburg.</p>
<p>Daniel Johnson, associate pastor for students at Kirkwood Baptist Church in St. Louis, Mo., agrees. He joined Facebook when he realized it was the best way to contact the members of his youth group. “Many told me they hardly check e-mail anymore, but they always check Facebook,” he said.</p>
<p>While the youth group has a website, Johnson decided instead of spending time and effort to get people to visit the site, he would meet them where they already were — on Facebook.</p>
<p>Facebook now counts more than 100 million members and by one estimate is adding 450,000 every day. And while Facebook may be the most popular social networking site, it’s far from alone. MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Youmeo, Plaxo and innumerable others offer opportunities for “ambient awareness.”</p>
<p>Websites have become well-established features of many churches’ communications strategy.&#160; But that Internet presence, with its ability to provide instant and comprehensive information, is distinctly different from the social networking phenomenon — and some observers would say increasingly less relevant.</p>
<p>“Traditional Internet marketing is about pushing information to the end user,” said Smith, a member of Rivermont Avenue Baptist Church in Lynchburg. “Social networking is really about a conversation, about engaging people.”</p>
<p>East Texas Pastor Jay Abernathy of First Baptist Church in Palestine has found Facebook accomplishes both goals. “In short, it’s what we hope a church website can do, but Facebook allows us to actively push content to our ‘friends’ and group members, unlike a website that is passive.”</p>
<p>Abernathy has found that nearly half of the teenagers and adults at his church are on Facebook. His church uses the networking site to invite people to church events and ministry group meetings, but he also takes the opportunity to send personal messages and chat for one-on-one discipleship.</p>
<p>“Facebook allows me to communicate with folks at a level and on a timeframe that multiplies my connections with people, whether they are members or prospects,” he said.</p>
<p>“Communications strategists used to say, ‘We have a message we want people to get,’ ” said Thom Stanton, Web services administrator for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board. “Now they say, ‘We have a relationship we want to develop.’ ”</p>
<p>A communications network that values human relations would seem a natural partner for churches and their essential message of entering into relationship with God through Jesus Christ. But for many congregations, social networking remains elusive and perplexing. Frequently, churches with a Facebook presence use it as little more than a supplementary website.</p>
<p>“The old website strategy that uses it as a billboard — static and non-dynamic — is pretty useless,” said Chuck Warnock, pastor of Chatham Baptist Church in Chatham. Websites are helpful only for “posting worship service times and the church’s location,” he said.</p>
<p>“The word ‘community’ is overworked when you’re talking about the Internet, but [social networking utilities] do create a sense of community,” he said.</p>
<p>One way churches are developing a community on Facebook is through photos. While church members may not answer traditional requests for feedback following an event, Johnson and Pastor Charlie Brown of The Crossing Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas, have found that event photos work well as a conversation starter.</p>
<p>Photos can be a jumping-off point for sharing memories and stories, Johnson said. It can be a way to promote community and reinforce what occurred at the activity or event.</p>
<p>“Using Facebook — or something similar — for ministry is something that I hope is being taught in seminaries,” said Tyler Tankersley, director of youth and young adults at First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau, Mo. “I believe that Facebook is a new wineskin, and we must adjust and adapt the way that we choose to reach people.”</p>
<p>Tankersley doesn’t believe social networking sites will replace face-to-face interaction, but believes the church needs to be actively engaging people where they are.</p>
<p>Church special events are promoted with Facebook’s events feature. They also provide an up-to-date list of who is teaching Sunday school. Tankersley also uses the site to remind people to pray for the requests mentioned on Sundays.</p>
<p>“In our churches, we are so fragmented because of schedules that when you can connect with someone, it’s valuable,” said Smith. “That’s what makes social networking so appealing.”</p>
<p>Oddly, it’s out of fragments that social networks connect. The most common way to communicate through Twitter is by broadcasting what technology writer Clive Thompson calls “haiku-length updates” — short (140 characters), frequent and spontaneous reports in response to the question, “What are you doing?”</p>
<p>But Thompson wrote in a New York Times Magazine piece last fall: “This is the paradox of ambient awareness. Each little update — each individual bit of social information — is insignificant on its own, even supremely mundane. But taken together, over time, the little snippets coalesce into a surprisingly sophisticated portrait of your friends’ and family members’ lives, like thousands of dots making a pointillist painting. … The ambient information becomes like a type of E.S.P., … an invisible dimension floating over everyday life.”</p>
<p>That ability to connect is “unprecedented,” Smith said, and offers churches opportunities to engage members and nonmembers in deeply felt ways.</p>
<p>Johnson started a Twitter account for the Kirkwood youth ministry to allow the youth to give short reports while events are happening. Parents and church members will be able to receive updates during mission trips, for example. “We can capture it as it happens,” Johnson said.</p>
<p>Since youth rarely share details of a trip with their parents, the Twitter site will allow followers a chance to receive an indepth report in real time. And since Twitter archives all the “tweets,” a person can view the updates at their convenience without missing anything.</p>
<p>Through tweets or Facebook status updates, “I’m able to see someone’s mood, hear what they’re up to and get to see behind the curtain,” wrote Greg Atkinson, who lives in suburban Dallas and blogs on church and technology issues.</p>
<p>“For senior pastors, this is especially beneficial for breaking down the wall between clergy and laity,” said Atkinson. “I think it’s healthy for one of your congregation members to see you’re ‘cutting the grass,’ ‘raking leaves,’ ‘going to a football game’ with your son, ‘watching a movie’ with your spouse. … All these status updates can seem silly but are a sneak peak into your everyday life. It’s like running into your grade school teacher in the grocery store when you were a kid and being surprised to see them out of the classroom.”</p>
<p>Chris Forbes, founder of Ministry Marketing Coach and author of the e-book, Facebook for Pastors, maintains that authenticity is essential to communicating through social media.</p>
<p>“One of the quickest ways to lose credibility is to join the site, use all your ‘promotional speak’ and spam out a bunch of invitations to your events and groups,” said Forbes. “Too much promotion and not enough networking will get people to drop you from their friends list.”</p>
<p>What’s more, he added, vulnerability is key.</p>
<p>“Pastors are used to preaching. They are allowed the unique privilege and responsibility of preparing a message from God’s word each week and communicating that message uninterrupted in a one-way monologue. Those days are over,” Forbes said. “Preaching from the platform of a church may not have changed much, but there is an increasing demand from church members to have real and meaningful conversations with their ministry leaders beyond the Sunday morning service times and outside the walls of the church.”</p>
| 6,520 |
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<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>STERLING, Colo. — Authorities say they recovered more than 26,000 pieces of undelivered mail in northeastern Colorado and arrested a former Postal Service worker.</p>
<p>The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Friday the recovered mail was addressed to people in Sterling and Fort Morgan. Authorities haven’t said where or how they found it.</p>
<p>Twenty-two-year-old Tayson Adam Hidalgo of Sterling is charged with delaying or destroying mail between October 2014 and April 2016.</p>
<p>He didn’t immediately return a telephone message left by The Associated Press.</p>
<p>If convicted, Hidalgo faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He’s free on an unsecured $5,000 bond and is due in court on Oct. 25.</p>
<p>A meeting is scheduled in Sterling on Nov. 7 to brief residents on when the mail will be delivered.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
|
26,000 missing mail items found; ex-postal worker charged
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/872829/26000-missing-mail-items-found-ex-postal-worker-charged.html
| 2least
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26,000 missing mail items found; ex-postal worker charged
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>STERLING, Colo. — Authorities say they recovered more than 26,000 pieces of undelivered mail in northeastern Colorado and arrested a former Postal Service worker.</p>
<p>The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Friday the recovered mail was addressed to people in Sterling and Fort Morgan. Authorities haven’t said where or how they found it.</p>
<p>Twenty-two-year-old Tayson Adam Hidalgo of Sterling is charged with delaying or destroying mail between October 2014 and April 2016.</p>
<p>He didn’t immediately return a telephone message left by The Associated Press.</p>
<p>If convicted, Hidalgo faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He’s free on an unsecured $5,000 bond and is due in court on Oct. 25.</p>
<p>A meeting is scheduled in Sterling on Nov. 7 to brief residents on when the mail will be delivered.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
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<p>Michigan legislators took a step Wednesday to help Detroit collect unpaid city income taxes from residents who work in the suburbs, a move linked to efforts to persuade Democrats from the city to back an elusive $1.2 billion road-funding plan.</p>
<p>Legislation overwhelmingly approved by the Republican-led House Tax Policy Committee would require employers to withhold city income taxes from the paychecks of Detroit residents. Businesses with fewer than 10 employees and less than $500,000 in wages would be exempt.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Another bill sent to the full House would give the state audit and other enforcement powers when it takes over Detroit's income tax collection in 2016 - which has been planned under the city's emergence from bankruptcy.</p>
<p>Mayor Mike Duggan, who testified for the bills and has been involved in road-funding talks, said the city could take in another $10 million a year if the legislation is enacted.</p>
<p>"In Detroit, that's a lot of money," he said. The city income tax is 2.4 percent for residents, 1.2 percent for non-residents who work there - the highest rates among 22 cities that have income taxes.</p>
<p>The timing of the committee's votes is no coincidence. Republican leaders are lobbying Detroit Democrats in the House to support the $1.2 billion road-funding plan this week with an unspecified gasoline tax hike.</p>
<p>Rep. Wendell Byrd, D-Detroit, the sponsor of one of the income tax collection bills, said Detroit is obligated to step up its collection efforts under a bankruptcy agreement. He declined to comment on whether the legislation's passage would be enough to garner his vote for the transportation funding package, but said he still has concerns, which he did not specify.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Democrats broadly are concerned that dedicating $600 million a year in general funds for roads would hurt other budget priorities.</p>
<p>"This is one small piece of a broader conversation," Duggan said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow David Eggert at http://twitter.com/DavidEggert00</p>
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Committee OKs bill to require withholding of income tax from Detroiters who work outside city
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/08/19/committee-oks-bill-to-require-withholding-income-tax-from-detroiters-who-work.html
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2016-03-09
| 0right
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Committee OKs bill to require withholding of income tax from Detroiters who work outside city
<p>Michigan legislators took a step Wednesday to help Detroit collect unpaid city income taxes from residents who work in the suburbs, a move linked to efforts to persuade Democrats from the city to back an elusive $1.2 billion road-funding plan.</p>
<p>Legislation overwhelmingly approved by the Republican-led House Tax Policy Committee would require employers to withhold city income taxes from the paychecks of Detroit residents. Businesses with fewer than 10 employees and less than $500,000 in wages would be exempt.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Another bill sent to the full House would give the state audit and other enforcement powers when it takes over Detroit's income tax collection in 2016 - which has been planned under the city's emergence from bankruptcy.</p>
<p>Mayor Mike Duggan, who testified for the bills and has been involved in road-funding talks, said the city could take in another $10 million a year if the legislation is enacted.</p>
<p>"In Detroit, that's a lot of money," he said. The city income tax is 2.4 percent for residents, 1.2 percent for non-residents who work there - the highest rates among 22 cities that have income taxes.</p>
<p>The timing of the committee's votes is no coincidence. Republican leaders are lobbying Detroit Democrats in the House to support the $1.2 billion road-funding plan this week with an unspecified gasoline tax hike.</p>
<p>Rep. Wendell Byrd, D-Detroit, the sponsor of one of the income tax collection bills, said Detroit is obligated to step up its collection efforts under a bankruptcy agreement. He declined to comment on whether the legislation's passage would be enough to garner his vote for the transportation funding package, but said he still has concerns, which he did not specify.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Democrats broadly are concerned that dedicating $600 million a year in general funds for roads would hurt other budget priorities.</p>
<p>"This is one small piece of a broader conversation," Duggan said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow David Eggert at http://twitter.com/DavidEggert00</p>
| 6,522 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Albuquerque Public Schools has set the matchups for the next East vs. West Kickoff Clash to open the 2014 prep football season in the metro area. Seven games will be played at Community Stadium from Aug. 27-20, and Rio Rancho will host Valley in the eighth. The other pairings: Albuquerque High-Cibola; Atrisco Heritage-La Cueva; Del Norte-St. Pius; Eldorado-Rio Grande; Highland-West Mesa; Manzano-Cleveland, and Sandia-Volcano Vista. Dates and times for the games have yet to be determined.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
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Prep football: 2014 East-West pairings set
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/352555/prep-football-2014-east-west-pairings-set.html
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Prep football: 2014 East-West pairings set
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Albuquerque Public Schools has set the matchups for the next East vs. West Kickoff Clash to open the 2014 prep football season in the metro area. Seven games will be played at Community Stadium from Aug. 27-20, and Rio Rancho will host Valley in the eighth. The other pairings: Albuquerque High-Cibola; Atrisco Heritage-La Cueva; Del Norte-St. Pius; Eldorado-Rio Grande; Highland-West Mesa; Manzano-Cleveland, and Sandia-Volcano Vista. Dates and times for the games have yet to be determined.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
| 6,523 |
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<p>President Barack Obama meets with Rep. Barney Frank, (D-Mass), Sen. Dick Durbin, (D-Ill), and Sen. Chris Dodd, (D-Conn), in the Green Room of the White House prior to a financial regulatory reform announcement June 17, 2009. | White House photo/&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/3683209153/"&gt;Pete Souza&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href="http://www.usa.gov/copyright.shtml"&gt;Government Work&lt;/a&gt;)</p>
<p />
<p>Mother Jones has obtained a copy of Sen.&#160;Chris Dodd’s plan to house a consumer financial protection office within the Department of the Treasury rather than creating an independent agency. Several other news sources have received copies, but none have made the leaked document publicly available.&#160;We’re posting <a href="/wp-content/uploads/Dodd-Consumer-Protection-Plan-MoJo.pdf" type="external">Chris Dodd’s consumer financial protection plan here (PDF)</a>. It seems certain to disappoint experts and progressives who had called for a powerful new agency. (Andy Kroll has <a href="/mojo/2010/02/dodd-guts-consumer-protection" type="external">more on this</a>.) This is the document’s top-line summary:</p>
<p>Create a [Bureau of Financial Protection] inside of Treasury with a Presidentially-appointed director; a dedicated budget (through assessments on large banks, non-banks, and with the Fed making up the shortfall); autonomous rule-writing authority with the regulations to apply across-the-board to all entities offering financial services or products; and examination and enforcement authority for large banks and mortgage companies, small banks in a back-up capacity, and other non-banks on a risk basis, as described below.</p>
<p>The independent agency proposal would be dropped.</p>
<p>As Andy explained <a href="" type="internal">Saturday afternoon</a>, Dodd’s decision to move financial protection inside an existing agency is an effort to gain Republican votes for financial reform. But it’s unclear whether either of the Republicans Dodd has negotiated with to date—Sen.&#160;Richard Shelby (R-Al.) and Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)—will support the new plan. There hasn’t been any hint of GOP backing for the proposal in newspaper articles on Dodd’s leaked plan.</p>
<p>Even if Dodd can convince Republicans to back the notion of a Treasury-based consumer protection office, this proposal could have problems passing the House. Multiple members of the House Financial Services Committee, including its chair,&#160;Rep.&#160;Barney Frank (D-Mass.), told Andy <a href="/politics/2010/02/senate-dodd-shelby-bungling-financial-reform" type="external">last week</a> that they were worried about the Senate watering down consumer protection. (Frank said that if the Senate’s financial reform plan did not include a standalone agency, it would be a potential “dealbreaker.”) Now House Dems’ worst fears are already being realized—and as far as anyone knows, Dodd hasn’t even won any Republican votes.</p>
<p />
|
Dodd’s Consumer Financial Protection Plan
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/02/dodd-consumer-financial-protection-plan/
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2010-02-28
| 4left
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Dodd’s Consumer Financial Protection Plan
<p>President Barack Obama meets with Rep. Barney Frank, (D-Mass), Sen. Dick Durbin, (D-Ill), and Sen. Chris Dodd, (D-Conn), in the Green Room of the White House prior to a financial regulatory reform announcement June 17, 2009. | White House photo/&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/3683209153/"&gt;Pete Souza&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href="http://www.usa.gov/copyright.shtml"&gt;Government Work&lt;/a&gt;)</p>
<p />
<p>Mother Jones has obtained a copy of Sen.&#160;Chris Dodd’s plan to house a consumer financial protection office within the Department of the Treasury rather than creating an independent agency. Several other news sources have received copies, but none have made the leaked document publicly available.&#160;We’re posting <a href="/wp-content/uploads/Dodd-Consumer-Protection-Plan-MoJo.pdf" type="external">Chris Dodd’s consumer financial protection plan here (PDF)</a>. It seems certain to disappoint experts and progressives who had called for a powerful new agency. (Andy Kroll has <a href="/mojo/2010/02/dodd-guts-consumer-protection" type="external">more on this</a>.) This is the document’s top-line summary:</p>
<p>Create a [Bureau of Financial Protection] inside of Treasury with a Presidentially-appointed director; a dedicated budget (through assessments on large banks, non-banks, and with the Fed making up the shortfall); autonomous rule-writing authority with the regulations to apply across-the-board to all entities offering financial services or products; and examination and enforcement authority for large banks and mortgage companies, small banks in a back-up capacity, and other non-banks on a risk basis, as described below.</p>
<p>The independent agency proposal would be dropped.</p>
<p>As Andy explained <a href="" type="internal">Saturday afternoon</a>, Dodd’s decision to move financial protection inside an existing agency is an effort to gain Republican votes for financial reform. But it’s unclear whether either of the Republicans Dodd has negotiated with to date—Sen.&#160;Richard Shelby (R-Al.) and Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)—will support the new plan. There hasn’t been any hint of GOP backing for the proposal in newspaper articles on Dodd’s leaked plan.</p>
<p>Even if Dodd can convince Republicans to back the notion of a Treasury-based consumer protection office, this proposal could have problems passing the House. Multiple members of the House Financial Services Committee, including its chair,&#160;Rep.&#160;Barney Frank (D-Mass.), told Andy <a href="/politics/2010/02/senate-dodd-shelby-bungling-financial-reform" type="external">last week</a> that they were worried about the Senate watering down consumer protection. (Frank said that if the Senate’s financial reform plan did not include a standalone agency, it would be a potential “dealbreaker.”) Now House Dems’ worst fears are already being realized—and as far as anyone knows, Dodd hasn’t even won any Republican votes.</p>
<p />
| 6,524 |
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — In his 17 seasons at Villanova, Jay Wright can't recall coaching a more efficient offense. The way the Wildcats are clicking, it's not hard to see why he feels that way.</p>
<p>Mikal Bridges scored 20 points, Phil Booth added 17 points and six assists, and No. 1 Villanova made it look easy, beating DePaul 103-85 on Wednesday night in the Big East opener for both teams.</p>
<p>The Wildcats (13-0, 1-0) closed in on last year's program-record 14-0 start and gave Wright his 399th victory since becoming Villanova's coach in 2001.</p>
<p>Bridges and Booth each made four 3-pointers, and the Wildcats nailed 15 of 31 from long range.</p>
<p>Chicago-area product Jalen Brunson had 16 points and five assists. Eric Paschall scored 16, and Villanova hit the 100-point mark for the third time this season.</p>
<p>"I think it's really high basketball talent," Wright said. "We've got some really talented guys but they have really high basketball IQ. You might have three guys that talented but only one has basketball IQ. These (players) are all talented and a high basketball IQ. Always look to make the right play, not just scoring points."</p>
<p>He said past teams had more depth and were stingier on defense, something he would like to improve.</p>
<p>"We still have a journey," Wright said.</p>
<p>But these Wildcats also have something else going for them. They're comfortable at the top.</p>
<p>"I remember the first time we were the No. 1 team in the country and it was just a different feeling for the school, for the community," Booth said. "It was something we never really experienced before. Now we kind of focus on ourselves now. It's about us trying to get better and stay locked in."</p>
<p>Max Strus had 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists for DePaul (7-6, 0-1). Marin Maric added 17 points and 10 rebounds, but the Blue Demons dropped their 13th straight against ranked opponents. They fell to 3-21 against No. 1 teams.</p>
<p>"It's phenomenal the way they make shots and a lot of it is they move the ball so well, and all five guys — they don't have a guy that you don't have to guard at the 3-point line," coach Dave Leitao said. "And when you have that and fill a space and you play unselfishly, you're going to get open shots. They do it to a high level and as a result they make a lot of shots."</p>
<p>PULLING AWAY</p>
<p>The Wildcats beat DePaul for the 15th straight time and improved to 25-8 in the all-time series. They shot 18 of 34 and nailed 8 of 18 3-point attempts on the way to a 48-33 halftime lead.</p>
<p>Any remaining suspense got wiped out by an 11-0 run early in the second half that made it 61-36. Booth hit a 3 and a layup during that spurt, and Jermaine Samuels finished it with two free throws. Bridges' 3 with just over 15 minutes left made it 69-39.</p>
<p>About the only thing Blue Demons fans had to cheer was when Bears great Otis Wilson was introduced in the closing minutes.</p>
<p>PAINFUL MOMENT</p>
<p>There was a scary moment late in the first half when DePaul's Peter Ryckbosch collided with Booth going for a defensive rebound and banged his head on the court. He stayed down for a couple minutes before walking to the locker room.</p>
<p>BIG PICTURE</p>
<p>Villanova: Though they got outrebounded 50-32, it's not hard to see why the Wildcats are No. 1 for the third week in a row.</p>
<p>DePaul: The Blue Demons couldn't get their shots to fall and had trouble hanging onto the ball. They were 29 of 71 overall — 6 of 23 on 3's — and tied a season high with 17 turnovers.</p>
<p>QUOTABLE</p>
<p>"Deep down it means a lot to come back here. ... I enjoy being back here. I love to be here. A lot of great memories. It feels good to come home." — Brunson on playing in Chicago.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Villanova: The Wildcats visit Butler on Saturday. The Bulldogs swept both games last season and handed Villanova its first loss after a 14-0 start.</p>
<p>DePaul: The schedule doesn't get easier, with the Blue Demons visiting No. 6 Xavier on Saturday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP college basketball: <a href="https://collegebasketball.ap.org" type="external">https://collegebasketball.ap.org</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Top25" type="external">https://twitter.com/AP_Top25</a></p>
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — In his 17 seasons at Villanova, Jay Wright can't recall coaching a more efficient offense. The way the Wildcats are clicking, it's not hard to see why he feels that way.</p>
<p>Mikal Bridges scored 20 points, Phil Booth added 17 points and six assists, and No. 1 Villanova made it look easy, beating DePaul 103-85 on Wednesday night in the Big East opener for both teams.</p>
<p>The Wildcats (13-0, 1-0) closed in on last year's program-record 14-0 start and gave Wright his 399th victory since becoming Villanova's coach in 2001.</p>
<p>Bridges and Booth each made four 3-pointers, and the Wildcats nailed 15 of 31 from long range.</p>
<p>Chicago-area product Jalen Brunson had 16 points and five assists. Eric Paschall scored 16, and Villanova hit the 100-point mark for the third time this season.</p>
<p>"I think it's really high basketball talent," Wright said. "We've got some really talented guys but they have really high basketball IQ. You might have three guys that talented but only one has basketball IQ. These (players) are all talented and a high basketball IQ. Always look to make the right play, not just scoring points."</p>
<p>He said past teams had more depth and were stingier on defense, something he would like to improve.</p>
<p>"We still have a journey," Wright said.</p>
<p>But these Wildcats also have something else going for them. They're comfortable at the top.</p>
<p>"I remember the first time we were the No. 1 team in the country and it was just a different feeling for the school, for the community," Booth said. "It was something we never really experienced before. Now we kind of focus on ourselves now. It's about us trying to get better and stay locked in."</p>
<p>Max Strus had 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists for DePaul (7-6, 0-1). Marin Maric added 17 points and 10 rebounds, but the Blue Demons dropped their 13th straight against ranked opponents. They fell to 3-21 against No. 1 teams.</p>
<p>"It's phenomenal the way they make shots and a lot of it is they move the ball so well, and all five guys — they don't have a guy that you don't have to guard at the 3-point line," coach Dave Leitao said. "And when you have that and fill a space and you play unselfishly, you're going to get open shots. They do it to a high level and as a result they make a lot of shots."</p>
<p>PULLING AWAY</p>
<p>The Wildcats beat DePaul for the 15th straight time and improved to 25-8 in the all-time series. They shot 18 of 34 and nailed 8 of 18 3-point attempts on the way to a 48-33 halftime lead.</p>
<p>Any remaining suspense got wiped out by an 11-0 run early in the second half that made it 61-36. Booth hit a 3 and a layup during that spurt, and Jermaine Samuels finished it with two free throws. Bridges' 3 with just over 15 minutes left made it 69-39.</p>
<p>About the only thing Blue Demons fans had to cheer was when Bears great Otis Wilson was introduced in the closing minutes.</p>
<p>PAINFUL MOMENT</p>
<p>There was a scary moment late in the first half when DePaul's Peter Ryckbosch collided with Booth going for a defensive rebound and banged his head on the court. He stayed down for a couple minutes before walking to the locker room.</p>
<p>BIG PICTURE</p>
<p>Villanova: Though they got outrebounded 50-32, it's not hard to see why the Wildcats are No. 1 for the third week in a row.</p>
<p>DePaul: The Blue Demons couldn't get their shots to fall and had trouble hanging onto the ball. They were 29 of 71 overall — 6 of 23 on 3's — and tied a season high with 17 turnovers.</p>
<p>QUOTABLE</p>
<p>"Deep down it means a lot to come back here. ... I enjoy being back here. I love to be here. A lot of great memories. It feels good to come home." — Brunson on playing in Chicago.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Villanova: The Wildcats visit Butler on Saturday. The Bulldogs swept both games last season and handed Villanova its first loss after a 14-0 start.</p>
<p>DePaul: The schedule doesn't get easier, with the Blue Demons visiting No. 6 Xavier on Saturday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP college basketball: <a href="https://collegebasketball.ap.org" type="external">https://collegebasketball.ap.org</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Top25" type="external">https://twitter.com/AP_Top25</a></p>
|
Bridges scores 20 as No. 1 Villanova pounds DePaul 103-85
| false |
https://apnews.com/amp/f075edc0f01d4f7f9f03a317ad585de8
|
2017-12-28
| 2least
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Bridges scores 20 as No. 1 Villanova pounds DePaul 103-85
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — In his 17 seasons at Villanova, Jay Wright can't recall coaching a more efficient offense. The way the Wildcats are clicking, it's not hard to see why he feels that way.</p>
<p>Mikal Bridges scored 20 points, Phil Booth added 17 points and six assists, and No. 1 Villanova made it look easy, beating DePaul 103-85 on Wednesday night in the Big East opener for both teams.</p>
<p>The Wildcats (13-0, 1-0) closed in on last year's program-record 14-0 start and gave Wright his 399th victory since becoming Villanova's coach in 2001.</p>
<p>Bridges and Booth each made four 3-pointers, and the Wildcats nailed 15 of 31 from long range.</p>
<p>Chicago-area product Jalen Brunson had 16 points and five assists. Eric Paschall scored 16, and Villanova hit the 100-point mark for the third time this season.</p>
<p>"I think it's really high basketball talent," Wright said. "We've got some really talented guys but they have really high basketball IQ. You might have three guys that talented but only one has basketball IQ. These (players) are all talented and a high basketball IQ. Always look to make the right play, not just scoring points."</p>
<p>He said past teams had more depth and were stingier on defense, something he would like to improve.</p>
<p>"We still have a journey," Wright said.</p>
<p>But these Wildcats also have something else going for them. They're comfortable at the top.</p>
<p>"I remember the first time we were the No. 1 team in the country and it was just a different feeling for the school, for the community," Booth said. "It was something we never really experienced before. Now we kind of focus on ourselves now. It's about us trying to get better and stay locked in."</p>
<p>Max Strus had 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists for DePaul (7-6, 0-1). Marin Maric added 17 points and 10 rebounds, but the Blue Demons dropped their 13th straight against ranked opponents. They fell to 3-21 against No. 1 teams.</p>
<p>"It's phenomenal the way they make shots and a lot of it is they move the ball so well, and all five guys — they don't have a guy that you don't have to guard at the 3-point line," coach Dave Leitao said. "And when you have that and fill a space and you play unselfishly, you're going to get open shots. They do it to a high level and as a result they make a lot of shots."</p>
<p>PULLING AWAY</p>
<p>The Wildcats beat DePaul for the 15th straight time and improved to 25-8 in the all-time series. They shot 18 of 34 and nailed 8 of 18 3-point attempts on the way to a 48-33 halftime lead.</p>
<p>Any remaining suspense got wiped out by an 11-0 run early in the second half that made it 61-36. Booth hit a 3 and a layup during that spurt, and Jermaine Samuels finished it with two free throws. Bridges' 3 with just over 15 minutes left made it 69-39.</p>
<p>About the only thing Blue Demons fans had to cheer was when Bears great Otis Wilson was introduced in the closing minutes.</p>
<p>PAINFUL MOMENT</p>
<p>There was a scary moment late in the first half when DePaul's Peter Ryckbosch collided with Booth going for a defensive rebound and banged his head on the court. He stayed down for a couple minutes before walking to the locker room.</p>
<p>BIG PICTURE</p>
<p>Villanova: Though they got outrebounded 50-32, it's not hard to see why the Wildcats are No. 1 for the third week in a row.</p>
<p>DePaul: The Blue Demons couldn't get their shots to fall and had trouble hanging onto the ball. They were 29 of 71 overall — 6 of 23 on 3's — and tied a season high with 17 turnovers.</p>
<p>QUOTABLE</p>
<p>"Deep down it means a lot to come back here. ... I enjoy being back here. I love to be here. A lot of great memories. It feels good to come home." — Brunson on playing in Chicago.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Villanova: The Wildcats visit Butler on Saturday. The Bulldogs swept both games last season and handed Villanova its first loss after a 14-0 start.</p>
<p>DePaul: The schedule doesn't get easier, with the Blue Demons visiting No. 6 Xavier on Saturday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP college basketball: <a href="https://collegebasketball.ap.org" type="external">https://collegebasketball.ap.org</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Top25" type="external">https://twitter.com/AP_Top25</a></p>
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — In his 17 seasons at Villanova, Jay Wright can't recall coaching a more efficient offense. The way the Wildcats are clicking, it's not hard to see why he feels that way.</p>
<p>Mikal Bridges scored 20 points, Phil Booth added 17 points and six assists, and No. 1 Villanova made it look easy, beating DePaul 103-85 on Wednesday night in the Big East opener for both teams.</p>
<p>The Wildcats (13-0, 1-0) closed in on last year's program-record 14-0 start and gave Wright his 399th victory since becoming Villanova's coach in 2001.</p>
<p>Bridges and Booth each made four 3-pointers, and the Wildcats nailed 15 of 31 from long range.</p>
<p>Chicago-area product Jalen Brunson had 16 points and five assists. Eric Paschall scored 16, and Villanova hit the 100-point mark for the third time this season.</p>
<p>"I think it's really high basketball talent," Wright said. "We've got some really talented guys but they have really high basketball IQ. You might have three guys that talented but only one has basketball IQ. These (players) are all talented and a high basketball IQ. Always look to make the right play, not just scoring points."</p>
<p>He said past teams had more depth and were stingier on defense, something he would like to improve.</p>
<p>"We still have a journey," Wright said.</p>
<p>But these Wildcats also have something else going for them. They're comfortable at the top.</p>
<p>"I remember the first time we were the No. 1 team in the country and it was just a different feeling for the school, for the community," Booth said. "It was something we never really experienced before. Now we kind of focus on ourselves now. It's about us trying to get better and stay locked in."</p>
<p>Max Strus had 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists for DePaul (7-6, 0-1). Marin Maric added 17 points and 10 rebounds, but the Blue Demons dropped their 13th straight against ranked opponents. They fell to 3-21 against No. 1 teams.</p>
<p>"It's phenomenal the way they make shots and a lot of it is they move the ball so well, and all five guys — they don't have a guy that you don't have to guard at the 3-point line," coach Dave Leitao said. "And when you have that and fill a space and you play unselfishly, you're going to get open shots. They do it to a high level and as a result they make a lot of shots."</p>
<p>PULLING AWAY</p>
<p>The Wildcats beat DePaul for the 15th straight time and improved to 25-8 in the all-time series. They shot 18 of 34 and nailed 8 of 18 3-point attempts on the way to a 48-33 halftime lead.</p>
<p>Any remaining suspense got wiped out by an 11-0 run early in the second half that made it 61-36. Booth hit a 3 and a layup during that spurt, and Jermaine Samuels finished it with two free throws. Bridges' 3 with just over 15 minutes left made it 69-39.</p>
<p>About the only thing Blue Demons fans had to cheer was when Bears great Otis Wilson was introduced in the closing minutes.</p>
<p>PAINFUL MOMENT</p>
<p>There was a scary moment late in the first half when DePaul's Peter Ryckbosch collided with Booth going for a defensive rebound and banged his head on the court. He stayed down for a couple minutes before walking to the locker room.</p>
<p>BIG PICTURE</p>
<p>Villanova: Though they got outrebounded 50-32, it's not hard to see why the Wildcats are No. 1 for the third week in a row.</p>
<p>DePaul: The Blue Demons couldn't get their shots to fall and had trouble hanging onto the ball. They were 29 of 71 overall — 6 of 23 on 3's — and tied a season high with 17 turnovers.</p>
<p>QUOTABLE</p>
<p>"Deep down it means a lot to come back here. ... I enjoy being back here. I love to be here. A lot of great memories. It feels good to come home." — Brunson on playing in Chicago.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Villanova: The Wildcats visit Butler on Saturday. The Bulldogs swept both games last season and handed Villanova its first loss after a 14-0 start.</p>
<p>DePaul: The schedule doesn't get easier, with the Blue Demons visiting No. 6 Xavier on Saturday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP college basketball: <a href="https://collegebasketball.ap.org" type="external">https://collegebasketball.ap.org</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Top25" type="external">https://twitter.com/AP_Top25</a></p>
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<p>German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and former U.S. President Barack Obama / Getty</p>
<p>BY: <a href="" type="internal">Madeleine Weast</a> April 11, 2017 11:37 am</p>
<p>Former President Barack Obama plans to visit Germany in May to sit down with German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a panel discussion on democracy, returning to the international stage after what will be four months out of the White House.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.kirchentag.de/index.php?id=17832" type="external">panel</a>, titled "Being Involved in Democracy: Taking on Responsibility Locally and Globally," will coincide with President Donald Trump's summer tour of Europe and is part of the 500-year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.</p>
<p>Obama's visit on May 25 will&#160;occur the same day Trump is scheduled to appear at a NATO leaders' summit in Brussels,&#160;Politico <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/obama-germany-visit-angela-merkel-237100" type="external">reported</a> Tuesday. It is unclear if Merkel, who the media has <a href="" type="internal">called</a> the new leader of the free world since Trump assumed office, will attend the&#160;summit.</p>
<p>Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, chair of the Evangelical Church in Germany, said in a press release that he invited Obama in May 2016 to visit Germany for the Reformation anniversary.</p>
<p>The event, jointly sponsored by the German Protestant Kirchentag and the Obama Foundation, will bring together Obama and Merkel, who enjoyed a close relationship during the former's time in office, despite some tensions. The U.S. and Germany had to manage <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/germany-requests-meeting-with-u-s-ambassador-over-new-spying-leaks-1435850048" type="external">tense relations</a> after Edward Snowden <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/cover-story-how-nsa-spied-on-merkel-cell-phone-from-berlin-embassy-a-930205.html" type="external">revealed</a> in 2013 that the National Security Agency was intercepting Merkel's cell phone communications.</p>
<p>The relationship between Trump and Merkel has been less friendly, with the two at odds over several issues. The German chancellor, who had an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/28/merkel-rejects-calls-to-change-germanys-refugee-policy-after-attacks" type="external">open-door</a> refugee policy until recently that Trump castigated, has been a critic of the president's travel ban. Trump has previously called the NATO alliance, of which Germany is a member, "obsolete."&#160;Germany and the U.S. have also expressed <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-trade-germany-idUSKBN1733EZ" type="external">differences</a> over international free trade agreements since Trump became president.</p>
<p>Still, the two <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/world/europe/angela-merkel-trump-germany.html" type="external">said</a> their meeting last month was productive, and they reaffirmed the importance of the U.S.-Germany relationship.</p>
<p>Obama has not kept quiet about his successor as some past presidents have done. A little more than one week after Trump took office, Obama <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/30/obama-criticizes-trump-week-after-leaving-office/" type="external">said</a>&#160;he was "heartened" by the anti-Trump protests occurring across the country and <a href="http://fox59.com/2017/01/30/former-president-obama-speaks-out-on-trumps-immigration-ban/" type="external">criticized</a> his successor's executive order to curb immigration.</p>
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Obama Set to Reemerge on World Stage in May, Will Visit Merkel in Germany
| true |
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/obama-set-reemerge-world-stage-visit-merkel-germany/
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2017-04-11
| 0right
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Obama Set to Reemerge on World Stage in May, Will Visit Merkel in Germany
<p>German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and former U.S. President Barack Obama / Getty</p>
<p>BY: <a href="" type="internal">Madeleine Weast</a> April 11, 2017 11:37 am</p>
<p>Former President Barack Obama plans to visit Germany in May to sit down with German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a panel discussion on democracy, returning to the international stage after what will be four months out of the White House.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.kirchentag.de/index.php?id=17832" type="external">panel</a>, titled "Being Involved in Democracy: Taking on Responsibility Locally and Globally," will coincide with President Donald Trump's summer tour of Europe and is part of the 500-year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.</p>
<p>Obama's visit on May 25 will&#160;occur the same day Trump is scheduled to appear at a NATO leaders' summit in Brussels,&#160;Politico <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/obama-germany-visit-angela-merkel-237100" type="external">reported</a> Tuesday. It is unclear if Merkel, who the media has <a href="" type="internal">called</a> the new leader of the free world since Trump assumed office, will attend the&#160;summit.</p>
<p>Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, chair of the Evangelical Church in Germany, said in a press release that he invited Obama in May 2016 to visit Germany for the Reformation anniversary.</p>
<p>The event, jointly sponsored by the German Protestant Kirchentag and the Obama Foundation, will bring together Obama and Merkel, who enjoyed a close relationship during the former's time in office, despite some tensions. The U.S. and Germany had to manage <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/germany-requests-meeting-with-u-s-ambassador-over-new-spying-leaks-1435850048" type="external">tense relations</a> after Edward Snowden <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/cover-story-how-nsa-spied-on-merkel-cell-phone-from-berlin-embassy-a-930205.html" type="external">revealed</a> in 2013 that the National Security Agency was intercepting Merkel's cell phone communications.</p>
<p>The relationship between Trump and Merkel has been less friendly, with the two at odds over several issues. The German chancellor, who had an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/28/merkel-rejects-calls-to-change-germanys-refugee-policy-after-attacks" type="external">open-door</a> refugee policy until recently that Trump castigated, has been a critic of the president's travel ban. Trump has previously called the NATO alliance, of which Germany is a member, "obsolete."&#160;Germany and the U.S. have also expressed <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-trade-germany-idUSKBN1733EZ" type="external">differences</a> over international free trade agreements since Trump became president.</p>
<p>Still, the two <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/world/europe/angela-merkel-trump-germany.html" type="external">said</a> their meeting last month was productive, and they reaffirmed the importance of the U.S.-Germany relationship.</p>
<p>Obama has not kept quiet about his successor as some past presidents have done. A little more than one week after Trump took office, Obama <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/30/obama-criticizes-trump-week-after-leaving-office/" type="external">said</a>&#160;he was "heartened" by the anti-Trump protests occurring across the country and <a href="http://fox59.com/2017/01/30/former-president-obama-speaks-out-on-trumps-immigration-ban/" type="external">criticized</a> his successor's executive order to curb immigration.</p>
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<p>Perhaps I’ll regret doing this. The topic is so fraught that maybe it makes no sense for a uninvolved bystander to discuss it at all. But today we have <a href="" type="internal">yet another story about a Sikh man attacked</a> in what appears to be a hate crime. This phenomenon started right after 9/11 (I’m sure it happened earlier but presumably not so frequently) and appears to spike when the country gets more agitated or afraid about terrorism.</p>
<p>Obviously, these are individual attacks which inflict some mixture of physical assault, pain and in some cases even death on a specific individual. Beyond that, as intended, they spread a penumbra of fear and menace far beyond the victims who are directly affected. But on a public level they have a unique resonance since they capture something we expect about attackers or perhaps an assumption that we see confirmed, which is the overlap between bigotry, propensity to violence and stupidity and ignorance.</p>
<p />
<p>At the risk of stating the obvious, these attackers almost certainly believe they are attacking Muslims. But Sikhs are not Muslims. Indeed, the elements of militarism and self-defense which are deeply embedded within Sikhism (carrying the ceremonial daggers, tradition as great warriors, etc.) is rooted in persecution by the Muslim rulers of northern India. So, we the general public, the anti-bigotry public, see these horrific incidents and say to ourselves, “This racist jackass is so dumb he took out his anti-Muslim hatred on someone who’s not even a Muslim.” And at some level, we’re right to say it. Bigotry and violence is rooted in (but by no means limited to) ignorance and this confirms it at a level that would almost be funny if the human costs were not so brutal and tragic.</p>
<p>Why does this happen? I can only assume that to people used to seeing turbans on people in the Middle East or bin Laden in a turban, Sikhs simply look more Muslim than a lot of actual Muslims, who don’t usually wear turbans in the Middle East and do so even less frequently in the United States. (I apologize if I’m getting the nuances off. But the Sikh practice of wearing a turban – called a dastaar – is <a href="http://www.sikhcoalition.org/sikh-theology-why-sikhs-wear-a-turban" type="external">rooted in the prohibition on cutting hair and has secondary importances that are explained here</a>.)</p>
<p>But there’s another side of this too. I think we see these stories and say, in so many words, wait, these people are innocent bystanders to this whole story. They’re not even Muslims! But there’s a troubling assumption embedded in that understandable reaction. I think we’d all agree that when vigilantes target an actual Muslim, it’s not like that person is any less innocent than a Sikh targeted as a Muslim.</p>
<p>I don’t have any great insight to share here. This has just been a phenomena which I’ve always wondered about because these underlying dimensions, undercurrents always seem to be just below the surface of these reports. The only practical import is one of solidarity across ethnic and religious boundaries. We are not all similarly endangered. But an attack on any of us should be taken as an attack on all of us.</p>
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The Wrongly Targeted Sikhs
| true |
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-wrongly-targeted-sikhs
| 4left
|
The Wrongly Targeted Sikhs
<p>Perhaps I’ll regret doing this. The topic is so fraught that maybe it makes no sense for a uninvolved bystander to discuss it at all. But today we have <a href="" type="internal">yet another story about a Sikh man attacked</a> in what appears to be a hate crime. This phenomenon started right after 9/11 (I’m sure it happened earlier but presumably not so frequently) and appears to spike when the country gets more agitated or afraid about terrorism.</p>
<p>Obviously, these are individual attacks which inflict some mixture of physical assault, pain and in some cases even death on a specific individual. Beyond that, as intended, they spread a penumbra of fear and menace far beyond the victims who are directly affected. But on a public level they have a unique resonance since they capture something we expect about attackers or perhaps an assumption that we see confirmed, which is the overlap between bigotry, propensity to violence and stupidity and ignorance.</p>
<p />
<p>At the risk of stating the obvious, these attackers almost certainly believe they are attacking Muslims. But Sikhs are not Muslims. Indeed, the elements of militarism and self-defense which are deeply embedded within Sikhism (carrying the ceremonial daggers, tradition as great warriors, etc.) is rooted in persecution by the Muslim rulers of northern India. So, we the general public, the anti-bigotry public, see these horrific incidents and say to ourselves, “This racist jackass is so dumb he took out his anti-Muslim hatred on someone who’s not even a Muslim.” And at some level, we’re right to say it. Bigotry and violence is rooted in (but by no means limited to) ignorance and this confirms it at a level that would almost be funny if the human costs were not so brutal and tragic.</p>
<p>Why does this happen? I can only assume that to people used to seeing turbans on people in the Middle East or bin Laden in a turban, Sikhs simply look more Muslim than a lot of actual Muslims, who don’t usually wear turbans in the Middle East and do so even less frequently in the United States. (I apologize if I’m getting the nuances off. But the Sikh practice of wearing a turban – called a dastaar – is <a href="http://www.sikhcoalition.org/sikh-theology-why-sikhs-wear-a-turban" type="external">rooted in the prohibition on cutting hair and has secondary importances that are explained here</a>.)</p>
<p>But there’s another side of this too. I think we see these stories and say, in so many words, wait, these people are innocent bystanders to this whole story. They’re not even Muslims! But there’s a troubling assumption embedded in that understandable reaction. I think we’d all agree that when vigilantes target an actual Muslim, it’s not like that person is any less innocent than a Sikh targeted as a Muslim.</p>
<p>I don’t have any great insight to share here. This has just been a phenomena which I’ve always wondered about because these underlying dimensions, undercurrents always seem to be just below the surface of these reports. The only practical import is one of solidarity across ethnic and religious boundaries. We are not all similarly endangered. But an attack on any of us should be taken as an attack on all of us.</p>
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<p />
<p>A gay Iranian refugee who has been in Turkey for two years is unable to resettle in the U.S. because of the executive order that President Trump signed on Jan. 27, 2017. (Image public domain)</p>
<p />
<p>Pedram, who asked the Washington Blade not to publish his last name, said on Monday during a Skype interview from the Turkish city of Yalova that he chose to resettle in the U.S. because his sister, who has a green card, lives in Houston with her family. He also told the Blade he would be able to work as an industrial designer in this country.</p>
<p>“I have more opportunities for this job in the USA,” said Pedram.</p>
<p>“I think it’s better and safer for me in the USA,” he added.</p>
<p>Pedram had been waiting for his final interview with the International Catholic Migration Commission, an organization with which the U.N. Refugee Agency works. Pedram told the Blade that he was expecting to travel to the U.S. in April or May.</p>
<p>The executive order that Trump signed on Jan. 27 suspends the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days and indefinitely bans Syrian refugees from entering the country. It also suspends the issuance of visas to citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya for three months.</p>
<p>“We are running from other bad regimes like the Islamic Republic (of Iran) regime,” said Pedram. “But now Trump bans us from going (to the U.S.) That’s very sad.”</p>
<p>Pedram also noted refugees who want to resettle in the U.S. already undergo a lengthy screening and vetting process that can take years to complete.</p>
<p>Trump’s executive order outlines the so-called “extreme vetting” of potential immigrants once his administration reinstates the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. It states, among other things, the U.S. “should not admit those who engage in acts of bigotry or hatred (including ‘honor’ killings, other forms of violence against women, or the persecution of those who practice religions different from their own) or those who would oppress Americans of any race, gender or sexual orientation.”</p>
<p>“They’re always checking people going to America,” he said. “We’re not refugees going to Europe.”</p>
<p>“Europe opened their doors and everybody came into the continent — terrorists, refugees, anyone who could get inside the border,” added Pedram. “The USA is not like that.”</p>
<p>Pedram is originally from Shiraz, a city in southern Iran. He moved to Tehran in June 2010 to study industrial design at the University of Art in the Iranian capital.</p>
<p>Pedram told the Blade he decided to move to Tehran because his father harassed him for his “gay behaviors” and atheism. He said he did not give him money because he wanted to punish him.</p>
<p>“They told me, ‘You don’t have a good act and you act like a girl. Your friends are not good. They are faggots,'” said Pedram, referring to his father and other family members.</p>
<p>Iran is among the countries in which consensual same-sex sexual acts remain punishable by death.</p>
<p>Pedram told the Blade that he and his now ex-boyfriend lived together in Tehran.</p>
<p>They had “very thick” curtains on the windows of their apartment. Pedram also told the Blade that he and his boyfriend at the time left separately so “our neighbors didn’t see us together.”</p>
<p>“We were living together, but for us the whole time was very terrible,” he said. “We were always afraid our neighbors would call the police and say two guys were living together and maybe they have sex with each other or maybe they tell them we are homosexual.”</p>
<p>Pedram said his classmates harassed him. He told the Blade they also beat him on the street once he left the university.</p>
<p>“They insulted me with bad words,” said Pedram. “I could never complain.”</p>
<p>Pedram also told the Blade that he was fired from the factory at which he worked as an industrial designer because managers “understood that I’m gay.” He said he was unable to find another job because his ID card contained a reference to his psychological exemption to military service that applies to gay men.</p>
<p>Pedram left Tehran and fled to Turkey two years ago.</p>
<p>He told the Blade there are more than 100 LGBT Iranian refugees in Yalova, which is roughly two hours south of Istanbul on the Sea of Marmara. Pedram said there are also more than 500 Christian Iranians in the city who are also seeking refuge.</p>
<p>Pedram said Turkish authorities do not allow them to leave the city without permission. He also told the Blade that he and other LGBT refugees face the same discrimination and violence they experienced in Iran.</p>
<p>“Many of our friends are beaten by people,” said Pedram. “There are many homophobic and even xenophobic people that don’t treat us good.”</p>
<p>He told the Blade his neighbors “continuously ask” him questions about why he is in their city, why he is single, what his religion is and whether he has a job. Pedram said they also harass his landlord.</p>
<p>“Many of my friends and me have a lot of stress,” he told the Blade. “In Turkey we have the same kind of conditions like in Iran and here it’s very unsafe for us.”</p>
<p>Pedram said he and other refugees are required to meet with local immigration authorities every two weeks.</p>
<p>He told the Blade the last meeting was on Jan. 25, the same day Trump signed two executive orders that spur the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and threaten to cut federal funding to so-called “sanctuary cities.” Reports also emerged about the administration’s plan to suspend the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and stop issuing visas to Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian, Yemeni, Somali, Sudanese and Libyan citizens.</p>
<p>“Everyone was talking about this,” said Pedram. “Many people were very stressed and were very agitated and no one could do anything.”</p>
<p>Pedram told the Blade he knows refugees who were scheduled to travel to the U.S. over the weekend.</p>
<p>He said they were unable to board their flights at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. Pedram told the Blade many of them sold their homes and left their jobs in Iran in order to flee to Turkey.</p>
<p>“They don’t have anything in Turkey right now: No home, no job, nothing,” he said. “They suddenly got surprised. This is a great problem.”</p>
<p>Pedram told the Blade he was studying English and improving his job skills before his expected resettlement in the U.S.</p>
<p>These plans are now on hold.</p>
<p>“I hope everything is better,” said Pedram.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">bisexual</a> <a href="" type="internal">gay</a> <a href="" type="internal">International Catholic Migration Commission</a> <a href="" type="internal">Iran</a> <a href="" type="internal">Iraq</a> <a href="" type="internal">lesbian</a> <a href="" type="internal">Libya</a> <a href="" type="internal">Somalia</a> <a href="" type="internal">Sudan</a> <a href="" type="internal">Syria</a> <a href="" type="internal">transgender</a> <a href="" type="internal">Turkey</a> <a href="" type="internal">U.N. Refugee Agency</a> <a href="" type="internal">U.S. Refugee Admissions Program</a> <a href="" type="internal">Yemen</a></p>
|
Gay Iranian refugee unable to resettle in U.S.
| false |
http://washingtonblade.com/2017/01/30/gay-iranian-refugee-unable-resettle-u-s/
| 3left-center
|
Gay Iranian refugee unable to resettle in U.S.
<p />
<p>A gay Iranian refugee who has been in Turkey for two years is unable to resettle in the U.S. because of the executive order that President Trump signed on Jan. 27, 2017. (Image public domain)</p>
<p />
<p>Pedram, who asked the Washington Blade not to publish his last name, said on Monday during a Skype interview from the Turkish city of Yalova that he chose to resettle in the U.S. because his sister, who has a green card, lives in Houston with her family. He also told the Blade he would be able to work as an industrial designer in this country.</p>
<p>“I have more opportunities for this job in the USA,” said Pedram.</p>
<p>“I think it’s better and safer for me in the USA,” he added.</p>
<p>Pedram had been waiting for his final interview with the International Catholic Migration Commission, an organization with which the U.N. Refugee Agency works. Pedram told the Blade that he was expecting to travel to the U.S. in April or May.</p>
<p>The executive order that Trump signed on Jan. 27 suspends the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days and indefinitely bans Syrian refugees from entering the country. It also suspends the issuance of visas to citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya for three months.</p>
<p>“We are running from other bad regimes like the Islamic Republic (of Iran) regime,” said Pedram. “But now Trump bans us from going (to the U.S.) That’s very sad.”</p>
<p>Pedram also noted refugees who want to resettle in the U.S. already undergo a lengthy screening and vetting process that can take years to complete.</p>
<p>Trump’s executive order outlines the so-called “extreme vetting” of potential immigrants once his administration reinstates the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. It states, among other things, the U.S. “should not admit those who engage in acts of bigotry or hatred (including ‘honor’ killings, other forms of violence against women, or the persecution of those who practice religions different from their own) or those who would oppress Americans of any race, gender or sexual orientation.”</p>
<p>“They’re always checking people going to America,” he said. “We’re not refugees going to Europe.”</p>
<p>“Europe opened their doors and everybody came into the continent — terrorists, refugees, anyone who could get inside the border,” added Pedram. “The USA is not like that.”</p>
<p>Pedram is originally from Shiraz, a city in southern Iran. He moved to Tehran in June 2010 to study industrial design at the University of Art in the Iranian capital.</p>
<p>Pedram told the Blade he decided to move to Tehran because his father harassed him for his “gay behaviors” and atheism. He said he did not give him money because he wanted to punish him.</p>
<p>“They told me, ‘You don’t have a good act and you act like a girl. Your friends are not good. They are faggots,'” said Pedram, referring to his father and other family members.</p>
<p>Iran is among the countries in which consensual same-sex sexual acts remain punishable by death.</p>
<p>Pedram told the Blade that he and his now ex-boyfriend lived together in Tehran.</p>
<p>They had “very thick” curtains on the windows of their apartment. Pedram also told the Blade that he and his boyfriend at the time left separately so “our neighbors didn’t see us together.”</p>
<p>“We were living together, but for us the whole time was very terrible,” he said. “We were always afraid our neighbors would call the police and say two guys were living together and maybe they have sex with each other or maybe they tell them we are homosexual.”</p>
<p>Pedram said his classmates harassed him. He told the Blade they also beat him on the street once he left the university.</p>
<p>“They insulted me with bad words,” said Pedram. “I could never complain.”</p>
<p>Pedram also told the Blade that he was fired from the factory at which he worked as an industrial designer because managers “understood that I’m gay.” He said he was unable to find another job because his ID card contained a reference to his psychological exemption to military service that applies to gay men.</p>
<p>Pedram left Tehran and fled to Turkey two years ago.</p>
<p>He told the Blade there are more than 100 LGBT Iranian refugees in Yalova, which is roughly two hours south of Istanbul on the Sea of Marmara. Pedram said there are also more than 500 Christian Iranians in the city who are also seeking refuge.</p>
<p>Pedram said Turkish authorities do not allow them to leave the city without permission. He also told the Blade that he and other LGBT refugees face the same discrimination and violence they experienced in Iran.</p>
<p>“Many of our friends are beaten by people,” said Pedram. “There are many homophobic and even xenophobic people that don’t treat us good.”</p>
<p>He told the Blade his neighbors “continuously ask” him questions about why he is in their city, why he is single, what his religion is and whether he has a job. Pedram said they also harass his landlord.</p>
<p>“Many of my friends and me have a lot of stress,” he told the Blade. “In Turkey we have the same kind of conditions like in Iran and here it’s very unsafe for us.”</p>
<p>Pedram said he and other refugees are required to meet with local immigration authorities every two weeks.</p>
<p>He told the Blade the last meeting was on Jan. 25, the same day Trump signed two executive orders that spur the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and threaten to cut federal funding to so-called “sanctuary cities.” Reports also emerged about the administration’s plan to suspend the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and stop issuing visas to Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian, Yemeni, Somali, Sudanese and Libyan citizens.</p>
<p>“Everyone was talking about this,” said Pedram. “Many people were very stressed and were very agitated and no one could do anything.”</p>
<p>Pedram told the Blade he knows refugees who were scheduled to travel to the U.S. over the weekend.</p>
<p>He said they were unable to board their flights at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. Pedram told the Blade many of them sold their homes and left their jobs in Iran in order to flee to Turkey.</p>
<p>“They don’t have anything in Turkey right now: No home, no job, nothing,” he said. “They suddenly got surprised. This is a great problem.”</p>
<p>Pedram told the Blade he was studying English and improving his job skills before his expected resettlement in the U.S.</p>
<p>These plans are now on hold.</p>
<p>“I hope everything is better,” said Pedram.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">bisexual</a> <a href="" type="internal">gay</a> <a href="" type="internal">International Catholic Migration Commission</a> <a href="" type="internal">Iran</a> <a href="" type="internal">Iraq</a> <a href="" type="internal">lesbian</a> <a href="" type="internal">Libya</a> <a href="" type="internal">Somalia</a> <a href="" type="internal">Sudan</a> <a href="" type="internal">Syria</a> <a href="" type="internal">transgender</a> <a href="" type="internal">Turkey</a> <a href="" type="internal">U.N. Refugee Agency</a> <a href="" type="internal">U.S. Refugee Admissions Program</a> <a href="" type="internal">Yemen</a></p>
| 6,528 |
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<p />
<p>Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) recently reported fourth-quarter results and outlook for the coming year disappointed investors. The report card for America's largest cell service provider demonstrates that the mobile business is getting mature. While this will continue to be Verizon's bread-and-butter, it's time for investors to focus on the other irons the company has in the fire.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Image source: Verizon.</p>
<p>Verizon's total revenue for 2016 decreased 4.3% from 2015. While the sale of equipment helped the numbers, Verizon's retail wireless and wireline businesses declined 2.7% and 2.3%, respectively. Total profit decreased 26% year-over-year.</p>
<p>Subscriber growth in wireless missed estimates badly, with only 591,000 net additions in the fourth quarter instead of the 726,000 estimated by analysts. Management cited an increasingly competitive market for the weak results. Many customers are paying off equipment agreements and keeping their old devices in lieu of upgrading to a newer model.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The slowdown in the retail wireless business, Verizon's largest segment, can be seen when comparing the year-over-year numbers. The slowdown in net additions has been accelerating.</p>
<p>Chart by author. Data source: Verizon quarterly earnings reports.</p>
<p>For the year ahead, the company expects the negative trends to improve. However, management said that will roughly equate into revenue and profit flat with 2016. The good news for investors is that Verizon knows this and has been leading the charge into new businesses to set the stage for future growth.</p>
<p>Specifically, the company has been making a foray into the media business, making Internet of Things (IoT) acquisitions, and making progress on its 5G network. The company is gearing up for a new round of growth as people change the way they do business, communicate, and consume entertainment.</p>
<p>Verizon made its first push into the media business with its purchase of AOL in 2015. Management reports they are satisfied with that new segment's progress and strides were taken in the last year to bolster it further. A pending purchase of Yahoo! was the big headline last year, but that deal is being reviewed in light of data breaches revealed late in the year.</p>
<p>Several smaller media acquisitions were made last year as well. Among them were Complex Media, an online multimedia platform catering to young male trendsetters, and Volicon, a service that helps media companies with monitoring and compliance. The digital media armled by AOL declined 5% in the fourth quarter due to a particularly strong comparable period last year.</p>
<p>IoT continues to be a buzzword in the tech world, and Verizon made several moves to solidify itself as a provider of connected services in that space. Telogis and FleetMatics were both incorporated into the telematics business to provide services for connected vehicles and fleets. Verizon also bought a couple of start-ups that provide connected lighting and monitoring systems and urban Wi-Fi hubs. The IoT business grew 21% on a comparable basis in the last quarter of the year and over 60% including acquisitions.</p>
<p>The backbone of the IoT in the years ahead is expected to be a new 5G network. Verizon is leading the way with trial tests of its yet-to-be-released wireless platform, but it is progressing toward making it a reality. The merger with fiber optic provider XO Communications is expected to be finalized this quarter and is a key part of the company's goals in densifying its current 4G LTE network and supporting the next-gen network.</p>
<p>The vast majority of Verizon's business still comes from retail wireless and wireline business, so investors will want to keep tabs on that. However, those models are becoming stale, and it hurt the top and bottom lines last year. It's time to give increased attention to the new growth businesses Verizon has developed.</p>
<p>Data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts</a>.</p>
<p>It may take some time to pay off, but multimedia, the IoT, and a 5G network will be the backbone of Verizon's growth strategy going forward. In the meantime, the recent drop in share price creates a nice buying opportunity for income-oriented investors. Verizon's dividend is currently paying out 4.7%.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Verizon Communications 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=a6b4a9c7-9f95-4cdf-b21a-def0f4bca653&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks</a> for investors to buy right now... and Verizon Communications 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=a6b4a9c7-9f95-4cdf-b21a-def0f4bca653&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of January 4, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/nrossolillo/info.aspx" type="external">Nicholas Rossolillo</a> owns shares of Verizon. The Motley Fool recommends VZ and YHOO. 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</a>.</p>
|
Wireless Subscriber Growth Should No Longer Be the Focus for Verizon
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/12/wireless-subscriber-growth-should-no-longer-be-focus-for-verizon.html
|
2017-02-12
| 0right
|
Wireless Subscriber Growth Should No Longer Be the Focus for Verizon
<p />
<p>Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) recently reported fourth-quarter results and outlook for the coming year disappointed investors. The report card for America's largest cell service provider demonstrates that the mobile business is getting mature. While this will continue to be Verizon's bread-and-butter, it's time for investors to focus on the other irons the company has in the fire.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Image source: Verizon.</p>
<p>Verizon's total revenue for 2016 decreased 4.3% from 2015. While the sale of equipment helped the numbers, Verizon's retail wireless and wireline businesses declined 2.7% and 2.3%, respectively. Total profit decreased 26% year-over-year.</p>
<p>Subscriber growth in wireless missed estimates badly, with only 591,000 net additions in the fourth quarter instead of the 726,000 estimated by analysts. Management cited an increasingly competitive market for the weak results. Many customers are paying off equipment agreements and keeping their old devices in lieu of upgrading to a newer model.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The slowdown in the retail wireless business, Verizon's largest segment, can be seen when comparing the year-over-year numbers. The slowdown in net additions has been accelerating.</p>
<p>Chart by author. Data source: Verizon quarterly earnings reports.</p>
<p>For the year ahead, the company expects the negative trends to improve. However, management said that will roughly equate into revenue and profit flat with 2016. The good news for investors is that Verizon knows this and has been leading the charge into new businesses to set the stage for future growth.</p>
<p>Specifically, the company has been making a foray into the media business, making Internet of Things (IoT) acquisitions, and making progress on its 5G network. The company is gearing up for a new round of growth as people change the way they do business, communicate, and consume entertainment.</p>
<p>Verizon made its first push into the media business with its purchase of AOL in 2015. Management reports they are satisfied with that new segment's progress and strides were taken in the last year to bolster it further. A pending purchase of Yahoo! was the big headline last year, but that deal is being reviewed in light of data breaches revealed late in the year.</p>
<p>Several smaller media acquisitions were made last year as well. Among them were Complex Media, an online multimedia platform catering to young male trendsetters, and Volicon, a service that helps media companies with monitoring and compliance. The digital media armled by AOL declined 5% in the fourth quarter due to a particularly strong comparable period last year.</p>
<p>IoT continues to be a buzzword in the tech world, and Verizon made several moves to solidify itself as a provider of connected services in that space. Telogis and FleetMatics were both incorporated into the telematics business to provide services for connected vehicles and fleets. Verizon also bought a couple of start-ups that provide connected lighting and monitoring systems and urban Wi-Fi hubs. The IoT business grew 21% on a comparable basis in the last quarter of the year and over 60% including acquisitions.</p>
<p>The backbone of the IoT in the years ahead is expected to be a new 5G network. Verizon is leading the way with trial tests of its yet-to-be-released wireless platform, but it is progressing toward making it a reality. The merger with fiber optic provider XO Communications is expected to be finalized this quarter and is a key part of the company's goals in densifying its current 4G LTE network and supporting the next-gen network.</p>
<p>The vast majority of Verizon's business still comes from retail wireless and wireline business, so investors will want to keep tabs on that. However, those models are becoming stale, and it hurt the top and bottom lines last year. It's time to give increased attention to the new growth businesses Verizon has developed.</p>
<p>Data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts</a>.</p>
<p>It may take some time to pay off, but multimedia, the IoT, and a 5G network will be the backbone of Verizon's growth strategy going forward. In the meantime, the recent drop in share price creates a nice buying opportunity for income-oriented investors. Verizon's dividend is currently paying out 4.7%.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Verizon Communications 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=a6b4a9c7-9f95-4cdf-b21a-def0f4bca653&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks</a> for investors to buy right now... and Verizon Communications 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=a6b4a9c7-9f95-4cdf-b21a-def0f4bca653&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of January 4, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/nrossolillo/info.aspx" type="external">Nicholas Rossolillo</a> owns shares of Verizon. The Motley Fool recommends VZ and YHOO. 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</a>.</p>
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<p />
<p>Starting from early morning, groups of people – some with locked arms, some in song, some taking to their knees to pray – began to march across Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of Selma’s Bloody Sunday march on March 7, 1965.</p>
<p>The bridge, which is named after a former grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, has become a potent symbol both of change and of the work many here say still needs to be done.</p>
<p>“Today we should be celebrating, but we can’t celebrate yet,” Martin Luther King III, the son of Martin Luther King Jr., said at a memorial service at the Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“Our voting rights have been decimated,” King said.</p>
<p>Outgoing U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., also in attendance, criticized voting restrictions pursued by conservative lawmakers and what Holder called a “profoundly flawed” decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that weakened the federal government’s voting-rights enforcement powers.</p>
<p>“It has been clear in recent years that fair and free access to the franchise is still, in some areas, under siege,” Holder said at the memorial service. “Shortly after the historic election of President Obama in 2008, numerous states and jurisdictions attempted to impose rules and laws that had the effect of restricting Americans’ opportunities to vote – particularly, and disproportionately, communities of color.”</p>
<p>Jesse Jackson, one of many speakers at Brown Chapel on Sunday, called for a restoration of the Voting Rights Act and a renewed fight against poverty, which he called “a weapon of mass destruction.”</p>
<p>“Our struggle is not over,” Jackson said.</p>
<p>Holder urged state legislatures “to lift restrictions that currently disenfranchise millions of citizens convicted of felonies,” and added that his expected successor, Loretta Lynch, who is also black, “will continue to fight aggressively on behalf of this sacred right.”</p>
<p>Holder also drew applause from the audience by making another nod to current controversies in Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere across the U.S. He noted that the activist Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was killed in Marion, Ala., in 1965, had been an unarmed black man.</p>
<p>Outside the chapel, crowds gathered in fewer numbers than the previous day, when President Barack Obama gave a speech on race in America at the foot of the bridge.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The mood in the crowd was lighter and more celebratory Sunday, without the edginess that comes with metal detectors, pat-downs and Secret Service presence.</p>
<p>The Students Unite organization was among the first to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge Sunday morning, supported by the Freedom Foundation of Selma. They locked arms, they sang, they kneeled and prayed.</p>
<p>Lola Akingbade and Akiera Gilbert led a group of fellow students from North Eastern University in Boston as part of the Students Unite group.</p>
<p>“We see Selma not only as representing the past but a point of reference for the future,” said Akingbade, 19. “We wanted to be involved … to have our voices heard.”</p>
<p>Gilbert said living in the country’s Northeast was sometimes like living in a bubble and students were somewhat “shielded from what’s happening in our country.”</p>
<p>Being in Selma “teaches us … a totally different perspective on racial issues,” Gilbert said.</p>
<p />
<p />
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Thousands join second day of Selma remembrance
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/551973/thousands-join-second-day-of-selma-remembrance.html
| 2least
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Thousands join second day of Selma remembrance
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Starting from early morning, groups of people – some with locked arms, some in song, some taking to their knees to pray – began to march across Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of Selma’s Bloody Sunday march on March 7, 1965.</p>
<p>The bridge, which is named after a former grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, has become a potent symbol both of change and of the work many here say still needs to be done.</p>
<p>“Today we should be celebrating, but we can’t celebrate yet,” Martin Luther King III, the son of Martin Luther King Jr., said at a memorial service at the Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“Our voting rights have been decimated,” King said.</p>
<p>Outgoing U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., also in attendance, criticized voting restrictions pursued by conservative lawmakers and what Holder called a “profoundly flawed” decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that weakened the federal government’s voting-rights enforcement powers.</p>
<p>“It has been clear in recent years that fair and free access to the franchise is still, in some areas, under siege,” Holder said at the memorial service. “Shortly after the historic election of President Obama in 2008, numerous states and jurisdictions attempted to impose rules and laws that had the effect of restricting Americans’ opportunities to vote – particularly, and disproportionately, communities of color.”</p>
<p>Jesse Jackson, one of many speakers at Brown Chapel on Sunday, called for a restoration of the Voting Rights Act and a renewed fight against poverty, which he called “a weapon of mass destruction.”</p>
<p>“Our struggle is not over,” Jackson said.</p>
<p>Holder urged state legislatures “to lift restrictions that currently disenfranchise millions of citizens convicted of felonies,” and added that his expected successor, Loretta Lynch, who is also black, “will continue to fight aggressively on behalf of this sacred right.”</p>
<p>Holder also drew applause from the audience by making another nod to current controversies in Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere across the U.S. He noted that the activist Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was killed in Marion, Ala., in 1965, had been an unarmed black man.</p>
<p>Outside the chapel, crowds gathered in fewer numbers than the previous day, when President Barack Obama gave a speech on race in America at the foot of the bridge.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The mood in the crowd was lighter and more celebratory Sunday, without the edginess that comes with metal detectors, pat-downs and Secret Service presence.</p>
<p>The Students Unite organization was among the first to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge Sunday morning, supported by the Freedom Foundation of Selma. They locked arms, they sang, they kneeled and prayed.</p>
<p>Lola Akingbade and Akiera Gilbert led a group of fellow students from North Eastern University in Boston as part of the Students Unite group.</p>
<p>“We see Selma not only as representing the past but a point of reference for the future,” said Akingbade, 19. “We wanted to be involved … to have our voices heard.”</p>
<p>Gilbert said living in the country’s Northeast was sometimes like living in a bubble and students were somewhat “shielded from what’s happening in our country.”</p>
<p>Being in Selma “teaches us … a totally different perspective on racial issues,” Gilbert said.</p>
<p />
<p />
| 6,530 |
|
<p>Russia signalled on Monday it might ban Western airlines from flying over its territory as part of an "asymmetrical" response to new European Union sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.</p>
<p>Blaming the West for damaging the Russian economy by triggering "stupid" sanctions, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow would press on with measures to reduce reliance on imports, starting with increasing output of domestic aircraft.</p>
<p>Medvedev suggested Russia should have hit back harder over the action by the United States and European Union to punish Moscow for its role in Ukraine, saying it had been too patient in the worst confrontation with the West since the Cold War.</p>
<p>"If there are sanctions related to the energy sector, or further restrictions on Russia's financial sector, we will have to respond asymmetrically," he told Russian daily Vedomosti, adding the airlines of "friendly countries" were allowed to fly over Russia.</p>
<p>"If Western carriers have to bypass our airspace, this could drive many struggling airlines into bankruptcy. This is not the way to go. We just hope our partners realise this at some point," he said in the interview published on Monday.</p>
<p>After suggesting it would hold off imposing new sanctions to give Moscow time to show it was resolving the Ukraine conflict, the European Union said on Monday it would press ahead with implementing the new measures later in the day.&#160;</p>
<p>An EU diplomat said Russia's top oil producers and pipeline operators Rosneft, Transneft and Gazprom Neft were on its list of state-owned firms that would not be allowed to raise capital or borrow on European markets.&#160;</p>
<p>A shaky ceasefire agreed on Friday in Ukraine has done little to convince some Western countries that Russia is committed to resolving the conflict in the country's east which has killed more than 3,000 people.</p>
<p>Shelling resumed near the port of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov on Saturday only hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko agreed in a phone call that the truce was holding. The ceasefire was largely holding on Monday despite sporadic violations.&#160;</p>
<p>'We weren't the ones who started it'</p>
<p>Medvedev, who was once seen as the liberally-minded foil to Putin but now increasingly delivers harsh messages, said leaders in Ukraine should seize on Russian proposals for a peace plan which would leave separatists in control of large areas of territory in eastern Ukraine.</p>
<p>"Now comes the delicate work of achieving a durable peace," he said. "I hope that these efforts will succeed."</p>
<p>The sanctions, he said, had done little to bring "calm in Ukraine."</p>
<p>"They are wide of the mark, as the vast majority of political leaders recognize. Unfortunately, we are seeing the inertia of a certain way of thinking and the temptation to use force in international relations," he said.</p>
<p>He acknowledged Russia's economy had hit problems, and that growth would reach half a percent this year "or perhaps slightly more." But sanctions had spurred Russian efforts to become more self-sufficient, including in aircraft production, he said.</p>
<p>Russia "must of course continue on the course of increasing the number of aircraft that are produced in Russia and aircraft parts," RIA news agency quoted him as saying.</p>
<p>Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Russia and China planned to sign an agreement in October on joint-production of a long-haul, wide-body aircraft and that Russia planned to double output of the Sukhoi Superjet.</p>
<p>He gave no other details of the planned venture with Beijing but Russia has been stepping up cooperation with Asia in many areas to reduce dependence on Europe or the United States as the sanctions bite.</p>
<p>Russia's ban on food imports from the EU, United States, Canada and Norway would also help Russia, Medvedev said, by spurring domestic agriculture by forcing consumers to pay attention to Russian produce and for farmers to modernize.</p>
<p>"We weren't the ones who started it. In fact, we were too patient. There was an urge to retaliate sooner, but it was the president's position not to respond," he said.</p>
<p>"But after several waves of sanctions, a decision had to be taken. Importantly, this political decision is supported by the vast majority of Russians."</p>
<p>(Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Andrew Heavens)</p>
|
Russia hints at flight ban in response to new sanctions
| false |
https://pri.org/stories/2014-09-08/russia-hints-flight-ban-response-new-sanctions
|
2014-09-08
| 3left-center
|
Russia hints at flight ban in response to new sanctions
<p>Russia signalled on Monday it might ban Western airlines from flying over its territory as part of an "asymmetrical" response to new European Union sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.</p>
<p>Blaming the West for damaging the Russian economy by triggering "stupid" sanctions, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow would press on with measures to reduce reliance on imports, starting with increasing output of domestic aircraft.</p>
<p>Medvedev suggested Russia should have hit back harder over the action by the United States and European Union to punish Moscow for its role in Ukraine, saying it had been too patient in the worst confrontation with the West since the Cold War.</p>
<p>"If there are sanctions related to the energy sector, or further restrictions on Russia's financial sector, we will have to respond asymmetrically," he told Russian daily Vedomosti, adding the airlines of "friendly countries" were allowed to fly over Russia.</p>
<p>"If Western carriers have to bypass our airspace, this could drive many struggling airlines into bankruptcy. This is not the way to go. We just hope our partners realise this at some point," he said in the interview published on Monday.</p>
<p>After suggesting it would hold off imposing new sanctions to give Moscow time to show it was resolving the Ukraine conflict, the European Union said on Monday it would press ahead with implementing the new measures later in the day.&#160;</p>
<p>An EU diplomat said Russia's top oil producers and pipeline operators Rosneft, Transneft and Gazprom Neft were on its list of state-owned firms that would not be allowed to raise capital or borrow on European markets.&#160;</p>
<p>A shaky ceasefire agreed on Friday in Ukraine has done little to convince some Western countries that Russia is committed to resolving the conflict in the country's east which has killed more than 3,000 people.</p>
<p>Shelling resumed near the port of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov on Saturday only hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko agreed in a phone call that the truce was holding. The ceasefire was largely holding on Monday despite sporadic violations.&#160;</p>
<p>'We weren't the ones who started it'</p>
<p>Medvedev, who was once seen as the liberally-minded foil to Putin but now increasingly delivers harsh messages, said leaders in Ukraine should seize on Russian proposals for a peace plan which would leave separatists in control of large areas of territory in eastern Ukraine.</p>
<p>"Now comes the delicate work of achieving a durable peace," he said. "I hope that these efforts will succeed."</p>
<p>The sanctions, he said, had done little to bring "calm in Ukraine."</p>
<p>"They are wide of the mark, as the vast majority of political leaders recognize. Unfortunately, we are seeing the inertia of a certain way of thinking and the temptation to use force in international relations," he said.</p>
<p>He acknowledged Russia's economy had hit problems, and that growth would reach half a percent this year "or perhaps slightly more." But sanctions had spurred Russian efforts to become more self-sufficient, including in aircraft production, he said.</p>
<p>Russia "must of course continue on the course of increasing the number of aircraft that are produced in Russia and aircraft parts," RIA news agency quoted him as saying.</p>
<p>Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Russia and China planned to sign an agreement in October on joint-production of a long-haul, wide-body aircraft and that Russia planned to double output of the Sukhoi Superjet.</p>
<p>He gave no other details of the planned venture with Beijing but Russia has been stepping up cooperation with Asia in many areas to reduce dependence on Europe or the United States as the sanctions bite.</p>
<p>Russia's ban on food imports from the EU, United States, Canada and Norway would also help Russia, Medvedev said, by spurring domestic agriculture by forcing consumers to pay attention to Russian produce and for farmers to modernize.</p>
<p>"We weren't the ones who started it. In fact, we were too patient. There was an urge to retaliate sooner, but it was the president's position not to respond," he said.</p>
<p>"But after several waves of sanctions, a decision had to be taken. Importantly, this political decision is supported by the vast majority of Russians."</p>
<p>(Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Andrew Heavens)</p>
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<p>WASHINGTON – Seems the Obamas are going out with a bang – what is expected to be the last state dinner of the administration, a black-tie soiree Tuesday for Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his wife, Agnese Landini, looks to be a glittery one.</p>
<p>First lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday offered the first sneak peek into the dinner via Snapchat, revealing that celebrity chef Mario Batali would provide an assist to the White House chefs and that Gwen Stefani would provide the musical performance. The high-profile additions hint that the dinner will tend more toward the splashy end of the state-dinner spectrum than the sedate one.</p>
<p>The picks follow the frequent state-dinner pattern of highlighting ties between the guest and host nations: Batali is the orange-Croc-ed American chef and TV personality known for regional Italian cuisine, and Stefani is of Italian-American heritage.</p>
<p>No word on who will be there (perhaps Stefani’s steady and “The Voice” co-host, Blake Shelton?), since the White House tends to keep its guest list close to the cummerbund.</p>
<p>reliable-source</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
|
White House state dinner for Italy will feature Gwen Stefani and Mario Batali
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/865688/white-house-state-dinner-for-italy-will-feature-gwen-stefani-and-mario-batali.html
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White House state dinner for Italy will feature Gwen Stefani and Mario Batali
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>WASHINGTON – Seems the Obamas are going out with a bang – what is expected to be the last state dinner of the administration, a black-tie soiree Tuesday for Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his wife, Agnese Landini, looks to be a glittery one.</p>
<p>First lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday offered the first sneak peek into the dinner via Snapchat, revealing that celebrity chef Mario Batali would provide an assist to the White House chefs and that Gwen Stefani would provide the musical performance. The high-profile additions hint that the dinner will tend more toward the splashy end of the state-dinner spectrum than the sedate one.</p>
<p>The picks follow the frequent state-dinner pattern of highlighting ties between the guest and host nations: Batali is the orange-Croc-ed American chef and TV personality known for regional Italian cuisine, and Stefani is of Italian-American heritage.</p>
<p>No word on who will be there (perhaps Stefani’s steady and “The Voice” co-host, Blake Shelton?), since the White House tends to keep its guest list close to the cummerbund.</p>
<p>reliable-source</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
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<p>The (Nov. 1 Albuquerque Journal) article dealing with the APD monitor has propelled me to write an op-ed once again. The question posed by the article is whether James Ginger is biased against our police department. “Ya Think?”</p>
<p>He is absolutely biased against the members of this department as evidenced by his ridiculous interpretation of the basic requirements of the settlement agreement. His view of the Use of Force requirements virtually make it impossible for officers to do their jobs. The bureaucratic quagmire that has been imposed on the men and women of this department is nothing short of staggering and paralyzing. The use of an extremely low level of force triggers a lengthy investigation that pulls officers and sergeants out of duty for prolonged periods of time. Unfortunately we can’t ask the “bad guys” for a “time out.”</p>
<p>I wrote almost three years ago that allowing extremists and “cop-haters” to co-opt this agency would result in a precipitous rise in crime. Well low and behold what mess have we found ourselves in? This has been compounded by the fact that the state Supreme Court has taken an effort by the voters, in the guise of supporting a bail reform measure, to print out an endless supply of “get out of jail cards.” Instead of using a dose of common sense, they have hamstrung the police and District Attorney’s Office. Collectively they sit in their ivory tower as the city slides into anarchy. I suspect that they simply do not care unless they personally are affected or one of their loved ones becomes a victim of a violent crime.</p>
<p>The whole issue of the Department of Justice taking over the police department was the result of certain politicians bowing to outside pressure. The DOJ was quite willing to complete a study and provide a list of recommendations. That would have been completely appropriate, as I am not saying we didn’t have issues that needed to be addressed and that there was not room for improvement. We can always get better, and the idea of relying on more Critical Incident de-escalation training and Reality Based Scenario training are sound ideas. We absolutely could have benefited by outside review and recommendations pertaining to the use of force, but to have a group of DOJ lawyers take over this department and then implement untenable requirements has been a calamity to the citizens of this city and to the men and women who put their lives on the line every day.</p>
<p>The criminal element has certainly benefited, however. It is almost surreal how everything has been turned upside down as the criminal class has absolutely no respect for law enforcement and societal norms of behavior. I certainly hope the next mayor appreciates how dire the situation has become and develops a plan to support the guardians of this city!</p>
<p />
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
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Monitor is biased against APD
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/1091376/monitor-is-biased-against-apd.html
| 2least
|
Monitor is biased against APD
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>The (Nov. 1 Albuquerque Journal) article dealing with the APD monitor has propelled me to write an op-ed once again. The question posed by the article is whether James Ginger is biased against our police department. “Ya Think?”</p>
<p>He is absolutely biased against the members of this department as evidenced by his ridiculous interpretation of the basic requirements of the settlement agreement. His view of the Use of Force requirements virtually make it impossible for officers to do their jobs. The bureaucratic quagmire that has been imposed on the men and women of this department is nothing short of staggering and paralyzing. The use of an extremely low level of force triggers a lengthy investigation that pulls officers and sergeants out of duty for prolonged periods of time. Unfortunately we can’t ask the “bad guys” for a “time out.”</p>
<p>I wrote almost three years ago that allowing extremists and “cop-haters” to co-opt this agency would result in a precipitous rise in crime. Well low and behold what mess have we found ourselves in? This has been compounded by the fact that the state Supreme Court has taken an effort by the voters, in the guise of supporting a bail reform measure, to print out an endless supply of “get out of jail cards.” Instead of using a dose of common sense, they have hamstrung the police and District Attorney’s Office. Collectively they sit in their ivory tower as the city slides into anarchy. I suspect that they simply do not care unless they personally are affected or one of their loved ones becomes a victim of a violent crime.</p>
<p>The whole issue of the Department of Justice taking over the police department was the result of certain politicians bowing to outside pressure. The DOJ was quite willing to complete a study and provide a list of recommendations. That would have been completely appropriate, as I am not saying we didn’t have issues that needed to be addressed and that there was not room for improvement. We can always get better, and the idea of relying on more Critical Incident de-escalation training and Reality Based Scenario training are sound ideas. We absolutely could have benefited by outside review and recommendations pertaining to the use of force, but to have a group of DOJ lawyers take over this department and then implement untenable requirements has been a calamity to the citizens of this city and to the men and women who put their lives on the line every day.</p>
<p>The criminal element has certainly benefited, however. It is almost surreal how everything has been turned upside down as the criminal class has absolutely no respect for law enforcement and societal norms of behavior. I certainly hope the next mayor appreciates how dire the situation has become and develops a plan to support the guardians of this city!</p>
<p />
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
| 6,533 |
|
<p>The U.S. Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. The report will be released Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. The release comes a day early because of the Thanksgiving holiday.</p>
<p>SMALL DROP EXPECTED: Economists forecast that weekly applications declined 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 285,000, according to a survey by data provider FactSet.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Applications have tumbled in the past year as companies lay off fewer workers and hiring picks up. The four-week average of applications, a less volatile measure, stood at 287,500 last week. That's not far from a 14-year low of 279,000 reached in late October. The average has fallen 16 percent in the past year.</p>
<p>BETTER JOB MARKET: Employers have added an average of 229,000 jobs a month this year, putting 2014 on pace to be strongest year for hiring since 1999. That's up from an average of 194,000 last year.</p>
<p>The unemployment rate has fallen to 5.8 percent, a six-year low, down from 7.2 percent just a year ago.</p>
<p>Still, the number of people without jobs is concerning, with nearly 9 million Americans officially out of work. That compares with 7.6 million before the recession. Yet less than a quarter of the unemployed are actually receiving unemployment aid.</p>
<p>That partly reflects the drop in layoffs. But it also suggests that Americans are more confident that they will find work when they do lose jobs. They also may be finding jobs faster than in the earlier stages of the recovery. As a result, they may be less likely to seek unemployment benefits. The percentage of laid off workers who apply for benefits is lower than it was just after the recession ended five years ago, when hiring was slower and the unemployment rate topped 8 percent.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Still, the job gains have yet to push up wages much, limiting the broader growth of the U.S. economy. Average hourly pay rose 3 cents in October to $24.57. That's just 2 percent above the average wage 12 months earlier and barely ahead of a 1.7 percent inflation rate.</p>
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Applications for US unemployment aid likely fell last week in latest sign of better job market
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/11/26/applications-for-us-unemployment-aid-likely-fell-last-week-in-latest-sign.html
|
2016-03-09
| 0right
|
Applications for US unemployment aid likely fell last week in latest sign of better job market
<p>The U.S. Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. The report will be released Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. The release comes a day early because of the Thanksgiving holiday.</p>
<p>SMALL DROP EXPECTED: Economists forecast that weekly applications declined 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 285,000, according to a survey by data provider FactSet.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Applications have tumbled in the past year as companies lay off fewer workers and hiring picks up. The four-week average of applications, a less volatile measure, stood at 287,500 last week. That's not far from a 14-year low of 279,000 reached in late October. The average has fallen 16 percent in the past year.</p>
<p>BETTER JOB MARKET: Employers have added an average of 229,000 jobs a month this year, putting 2014 on pace to be strongest year for hiring since 1999. That's up from an average of 194,000 last year.</p>
<p>The unemployment rate has fallen to 5.8 percent, a six-year low, down from 7.2 percent just a year ago.</p>
<p>Still, the number of people without jobs is concerning, with nearly 9 million Americans officially out of work. That compares with 7.6 million before the recession. Yet less than a quarter of the unemployed are actually receiving unemployment aid.</p>
<p>That partly reflects the drop in layoffs. But it also suggests that Americans are more confident that they will find work when they do lose jobs. They also may be finding jobs faster than in the earlier stages of the recovery. As a result, they may be less likely to seek unemployment benefits. The percentage of laid off workers who apply for benefits is lower than it was just after the recession ended five years ago, when hiring was slower and the unemployment rate topped 8 percent.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Still, the job gains have yet to push up wages much, limiting the broader growth of the U.S. economy. Average hourly pay rose 3 cents in October to $24.57. That's just 2 percent above the average wage 12 months earlier and barely ahead of a 1.7 percent inflation rate.</p>
| 6,534 |
<p>Jessica Sayles is thinking about who might take over for her when she retires at age 55 from the accounting firm where she is managing partner — even though that's still 21 years away.</p>
<p>"I feel that a good portion of my job is to find my successor," says Sayles, who hopes to teach a younger associate to manage Las Vegas-based Houldsworth, Russo &amp; Co.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Succession planning should be a priority for small business owners, since a company's survival can depend on it. That can include choosing someone to take over a business when the owner retires, and it can help prepare a company to be sold.</p>
<p>But it's often on the back burner. Sixty percent of owners in a survey released by insurer Nationwide said they didn't have a succession plan, and of those owners, nearly half said they didn't think it was necessary. The survey, which questioned 502 owners and was released in February, found that owners in their 20s and 30s were more likely to have a succession plan than those who were baby boomers or in their 40s.</p>
<p>Such planning can take time that owners may feel can be better used, and it means dealing with the possibility of being incapacitated or dying.</p>
<p>"It's tough from a mental and emotional standpoint because you're faced with realties you don't want to think about," says Courtney Ellett, who owns Obsidian Public Relations in Memphis, Tennessee. She has been working on plans for what she calls "the long-term life of my company."</p>
<p>WHAT IF YOU GET SICK OR DIE?</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Owners need to create "the proper structure so if you're in the hospital recovering from a heart attack, that you have the ability to have other people step in, manage things, pay bills," says Jennifer Myers, a certified financial planner with SageVest Wealth Management in McLean, Virginia.</p>
<p>"What took you years to build up can unravel in less than a month," she says.</p>
<p>Planning should include spelling out in writing what the owner does and who should take over those tasks. A trusted staffer, relative or friend should be able to sign checks and purchase orders, and have access to accounts and records. Owners should buy insurance that provides money to hire someone to run the business if they're incapacitated for an extended period, Myers says.</p>
<p>If there's no one at the helm, vendors and customer might get nervous, says Tony Argiz, a certified public accountant and CEO of the firm MBAF in Miami.</p>
<p>"Bankers can get scared and start calling in credit," Argiz says.</p>
<p>Partnership agreements have their own contingencies that should be addressed. For example, if one partner dies, does the other have the first right to buy that person's share? Many partners take out life insurance policies on each other to ensure they'll have enough money to buy out any heirs.</p>
<p>Ellett, who is 42, began considering the "what ifs" a few years ago, when she was thinking about a will and how to provide for her four children.</p>
<p>"The business is my biggest asset. How does that continue to be an asset if something happens to me?" she says.</p>
<p>WHO'S NEXT?</p>
<p>Sayles' plan is similar to that taken by her firm's senior partner, Dianna Russo. After co-founding the accounting firm and leading it for more than 20 years, Russo turned over its management to Sayles on Jan. 1 and plans to sell her stake to Sayles and two other partners in 2018.</p>
<p>Sayles began the transition to managing partner five years ago. She already knows what she's looking for in a potential successor: someone who's ambitious and willing to take on the risk of owning a business. But while she has plenty of time, there are no guarantees she'll find the right successor.</p>
<p>"I worry no one will be there to buy me out, and we'll have to merge with another firm or dissolve," Sayles says.</p>
<p>The dream of many owners that their sons and daughters will take over the business is often dashed. Albert Steed wants his children to learn the skills needed to run his technology consultancy, Advanced Computer Solutions, but isn't counting on their succeeding him.</p>
<p>"I see this a lot — other business owners' kids don't want anything to do with the business or aren't cut out for it," Steed says. He's setting up the Traverse City, Michigan-based business so that if something happens to him, his wife can hire someone to run it.</p>
<p>GETTING READY TO SELL</p>
<p>Preparing a business for sale is a lot like getting ready to put a house on the market: Would-be buyers might not like what they see when they start looking closely.</p>
<p>"There might be price on the table contingent on due diligence and then things start popping up," says Karen Reynolds Sharkey, a business strategy executive with financial services company U.S. Trust. "Deals do get renegotiated and prices can fall."</p>
<p>Some issues might be that too much revenue might come from one product or a small number of clients. Or there are environmental restrictions or violations on the property.</p>
<p>Owners shouldn't wait until they want to sell to get it into shape. "It's best to adopt a practice of perpetually running your business as if you're ready to sell any day, making it as efficient, productive and profitable as possible," Myers says.</p>
<p>Harris Kaplan learned that lesson when he decided to sell his market research and consulting company in 1992 — it took about four years to get it a position where it would be attractive to a buyer. When he started his current company, Horsham, Pennsylvania-based market research firm Healogix, he created a board of directors to advise him and review his decisions.</p>
<p>"I said, 'We're going to run it as a saleable business from the get-go," Kaplan says.</p>
<p>_____</p>
<p>Follow Joyce Rosenberg at www.twitter.com/JoyceMRosenberg. Her work can be found here: https://apnews.com/search/joyce%20rosenberg</p>
|
What's next? Who's next? Businesses need succession plans
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/08/09/whats-next-whos-next-businesses-need-succession-plans.html
|
2017-08-09
| 0right
|
What's next? Who's next? Businesses need succession plans
<p>Jessica Sayles is thinking about who might take over for her when she retires at age 55 from the accounting firm where she is managing partner — even though that's still 21 years away.</p>
<p>"I feel that a good portion of my job is to find my successor," says Sayles, who hopes to teach a younger associate to manage Las Vegas-based Houldsworth, Russo &amp; Co.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Succession planning should be a priority for small business owners, since a company's survival can depend on it. That can include choosing someone to take over a business when the owner retires, and it can help prepare a company to be sold.</p>
<p>But it's often on the back burner. Sixty percent of owners in a survey released by insurer Nationwide said they didn't have a succession plan, and of those owners, nearly half said they didn't think it was necessary. The survey, which questioned 502 owners and was released in February, found that owners in their 20s and 30s were more likely to have a succession plan than those who were baby boomers or in their 40s.</p>
<p>Such planning can take time that owners may feel can be better used, and it means dealing with the possibility of being incapacitated or dying.</p>
<p>"It's tough from a mental and emotional standpoint because you're faced with realties you don't want to think about," says Courtney Ellett, who owns Obsidian Public Relations in Memphis, Tennessee. She has been working on plans for what she calls "the long-term life of my company."</p>
<p>WHAT IF YOU GET SICK OR DIE?</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Owners need to create "the proper structure so if you're in the hospital recovering from a heart attack, that you have the ability to have other people step in, manage things, pay bills," says Jennifer Myers, a certified financial planner with SageVest Wealth Management in McLean, Virginia.</p>
<p>"What took you years to build up can unravel in less than a month," she says.</p>
<p>Planning should include spelling out in writing what the owner does and who should take over those tasks. A trusted staffer, relative or friend should be able to sign checks and purchase orders, and have access to accounts and records. Owners should buy insurance that provides money to hire someone to run the business if they're incapacitated for an extended period, Myers says.</p>
<p>If there's no one at the helm, vendors and customer might get nervous, says Tony Argiz, a certified public accountant and CEO of the firm MBAF in Miami.</p>
<p>"Bankers can get scared and start calling in credit," Argiz says.</p>
<p>Partnership agreements have their own contingencies that should be addressed. For example, if one partner dies, does the other have the first right to buy that person's share? Many partners take out life insurance policies on each other to ensure they'll have enough money to buy out any heirs.</p>
<p>Ellett, who is 42, began considering the "what ifs" a few years ago, when she was thinking about a will and how to provide for her four children.</p>
<p>"The business is my biggest asset. How does that continue to be an asset if something happens to me?" she says.</p>
<p>WHO'S NEXT?</p>
<p>Sayles' plan is similar to that taken by her firm's senior partner, Dianna Russo. After co-founding the accounting firm and leading it for more than 20 years, Russo turned over its management to Sayles on Jan. 1 and plans to sell her stake to Sayles and two other partners in 2018.</p>
<p>Sayles began the transition to managing partner five years ago. She already knows what she's looking for in a potential successor: someone who's ambitious and willing to take on the risk of owning a business. But while she has plenty of time, there are no guarantees she'll find the right successor.</p>
<p>"I worry no one will be there to buy me out, and we'll have to merge with another firm or dissolve," Sayles says.</p>
<p>The dream of many owners that their sons and daughters will take over the business is often dashed. Albert Steed wants his children to learn the skills needed to run his technology consultancy, Advanced Computer Solutions, but isn't counting on their succeeding him.</p>
<p>"I see this a lot — other business owners' kids don't want anything to do with the business or aren't cut out for it," Steed says. He's setting up the Traverse City, Michigan-based business so that if something happens to him, his wife can hire someone to run it.</p>
<p>GETTING READY TO SELL</p>
<p>Preparing a business for sale is a lot like getting ready to put a house on the market: Would-be buyers might not like what they see when they start looking closely.</p>
<p>"There might be price on the table contingent on due diligence and then things start popping up," says Karen Reynolds Sharkey, a business strategy executive with financial services company U.S. Trust. "Deals do get renegotiated and prices can fall."</p>
<p>Some issues might be that too much revenue might come from one product or a small number of clients. Or there are environmental restrictions or violations on the property.</p>
<p>Owners shouldn't wait until they want to sell to get it into shape. "It's best to adopt a practice of perpetually running your business as if you're ready to sell any day, making it as efficient, productive and profitable as possible," Myers says.</p>
<p>Harris Kaplan learned that lesson when he decided to sell his market research and consulting company in 1992 — it took about four years to get it a position where it would be attractive to a buyer. When he started his current company, Horsham, Pennsylvania-based market research firm Healogix, he created a board of directors to advise him and review his decisions.</p>
<p>"I said, 'We're going to run it as a saleable business from the get-go," Kaplan says.</p>
<p>_____</p>
<p>Follow Joyce Rosenberg at www.twitter.com/JoyceMRosenberg. Her work can be found here: https://apnews.com/search/joyce%20rosenberg</p>
| 6,535 |
<p>Sulaymaniyah</p>
<p>Two thousand Iraqis are fleeing their homes every day. It is the greatest mass exodus of people ever in the Middle East and dwarfs anything seen in Europe since the Second World War. Four million people, one in seven Iraqis, have run away, because if they do not they will be killed. Two million have left Iraq, mainly for Syria and Jordan, and the same number have fled within the country.</p>
<p>Yet, while the US and Britain express sympathy for the plight of refugees in Africa, they are ignoring – or playing down- a far greater tragedy which is largely of their own making.</p>
<p>The US and Britain may not want to dwell on the disasters that have befallen Iraq during their occupation but the shanty towns crammed with refugees springing up in Iraq and neighbouring countries are becoming impossible to ignore.</p>
<p>Even so the UNHCR is having difficulty raising $100m (£50m) for relief. The organization says the two countries caring for the biggest proportion of Iraqi refugees – Syria and Jordan – have still received “next to nothing from the world community”. Some 1.4 million Iraqis have fled to Syria according to the UN High Commission for Refugees, Jordan has taken in 750 000 while Egypt and Lebanon have seen 200 000 Iraqis cross into their territories.</p>
<p>Potential donors are reluctant to spent money inside Iraq, arguing the country has large oil revenues. They are either unaware, or are ignoring the fact that the Iraqi administration has all but collapsed outside the Baghdad Green Zone. The US is spending $2 billion a week on military operations in Iraq according to the Congressional Research Service but many Iraqis are dying because they lack drinking water costing a few cents.</p>
<p>Kalawar refugee camp in Sulaymaniyah is a microcosm of the misery to which millions of Iraqis have been reduced. “At least it is safe here,” says Walid Sha’ad Nayef, 38, as he stands amid the stink of rotting garbage and raw sewage. He fled from the lethally dangerous Sa’adiyah district in Baghdad 11 months ago. As we speak to him, a man silently presents us with the death certificate of his son, Farez Maher Zedan, who was killed in Baghdad on May 20, 2006.</p>
<p>Kalawar is a horrible place. Situated behind a gas station down a dusty track, the first sight of the camp is of rough shelters made out of rags, torn pieces of cardboard and old blankets. The stench is explained by the fact the Kurdish municipal authorities will not allow the 470 people in the camp to dig latrines. They say this might encourage them to stay.</p>
<p>“Sometimes I go to beg,” says Talib Hamid al-Auda, a voluble man with a thick white beard looking older than his fifty years. As he speaks, his body shakes, as if he was trembling at the thought of the demeaning means by which he feeds his family. Even begging is difficult because the people in the camp are forbidden to leave it on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Suspected by Kurds of being behind a string of house robberies, though there is no evidence for this, they are natural scapegoats for any wrong-doing in their vicinity.</p>
<p>Refugees are getting an increasingly cool reception wherever they flee, because there are so many of them and because of the burden they put on resources. “People here blame us for forcing up rents and the price of food,” said Omar, who had taken his family to Damascus after his sister’s leg was fractured by a car bomb.</p>
<p>The refugees in Kalawar had no option but to flee. Of the 97 families here, all but two are Sunni Arabs. Many are from Sa’adiyah in west Baghdad where 84 bodies were found by police between June 18 and July 18. Many are young men whose hands had been bound and who had been tortured.</p>
<p>“The majority left Baghdad because somebody knocked on the door of their house and told them to get out in an hour,” says Rosina Ynzenga, who runs the Spanish charity Solidarity International (SIA) which pays for a mobile clinic to visit the camp.</p>
<p>Sulaymaniyah municipality is antagonistic to her doing more. One Kurdish official suggested that the Arabs of Kalawar were there simply for economic reasons and should be given $200 each and sent back to Baghdad.</p>
<p>Mr Nayef, the mukhtar (mayor) of the camp who used to be a bulldozer driver in Baghdad, at first said nobody could speak to journalists unless we had permission from the authorities. But after we had ceremoniously written our names in a large book he relented and would, in any case, have had difficulty in stopping other refugees explaining their grievances.</p>
<p>Asked to list their worst problems Mr Nayef said they were the lack of school for the children, shortage of food, no kerosene to cook with, no money, no jobs and no electricity. The real answer to the question is that the Arabs of Kalawar have nothing. They have only received two cartons of food each from the International Committee of the Red Cross and a tank of clean water.</p>
<p>Even so they are adamant that they dare not return to Baghdad. They did not even know if their houses had been taken over by others.</p>
<p>Abla Abbas, a mournful looking woman in black robes, said her son had been killed because he went to sell plastic bags in the Shia district of Khadamiyah in west Baghdad. The poor in Iraq take potentially fatal risks to earn a little money.</p>
<p>The uncertainty of the refugees’ lives in Kalawar is mirrored in their drawn faces. While we spoke to them there were several shouting matches. One woman kept showing us a piece of paper from the local authority in Sulaymaniyah giving her the right to stay there. She regarded us nervously as if we were officials about to evict her.</p>
<p>There are in fact three camps at Kalawar. Although almost all the refugees are Sunni they come from different places and until a month ago they lived together. But there were continual arguments. The refugees decided that they must split into three encampments: one from Baghdad, a second from Hillah, south of Baghdad, and a third from Diyala, the mixed Sunni-Shia province that has been the scene of ferocious sectarian pogroms.</p>
<p>Governments and the media crudely evaluate human suffering in Iraq in terms of the number killed. A broader and better barometer would include those who have escaped death only by fleeing their homes, their jobs and their country to go and live, destitute and unwanted, in places like Kalawar. The US administration has 18 benchmarks to measure progress in Iraq but the return of four million people to their homes is not among them.</p>
<p>PATRICK COCKBURN is the author of ‘The Occupation: War, resistance and daily life in Iraq’, a finalist for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award for best non-fiction book of 2006.</p>
<p />
|
Four Million Iraqis on the Run
| true |
https://counterpunch.org/2007/07/30/four-million-iraqis-on-the-run/
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2007-07-30
| 4left
|
Four Million Iraqis on the Run
<p>Sulaymaniyah</p>
<p>Two thousand Iraqis are fleeing their homes every day. It is the greatest mass exodus of people ever in the Middle East and dwarfs anything seen in Europe since the Second World War. Four million people, one in seven Iraqis, have run away, because if they do not they will be killed. Two million have left Iraq, mainly for Syria and Jordan, and the same number have fled within the country.</p>
<p>Yet, while the US and Britain express sympathy for the plight of refugees in Africa, they are ignoring – or playing down- a far greater tragedy which is largely of their own making.</p>
<p>The US and Britain may not want to dwell on the disasters that have befallen Iraq during their occupation but the shanty towns crammed with refugees springing up in Iraq and neighbouring countries are becoming impossible to ignore.</p>
<p>Even so the UNHCR is having difficulty raising $100m (£50m) for relief. The organization says the two countries caring for the biggest proportion of Iraqi refugees – Syria and Jordan – have still received “next to nothing from the world community”. Some 1.4 million Iraqis have fled to Syria according to the UN High Commission for Refugees, Jordan has taken in 750 000 while Egypt and Lebanon have seen 200 000 Iraqis cross into their territories.</p>
<p>Potential donors are reluctant to spent money inside Iraq, arguing the country has large oil revenues. They are either unaware, or are ignoring the fact that the Iraqi administration has all but collapsed outside the Baghdad Green Zone. The US is spending $2 billion a week on military operations in Iraq according to the Congressional Research Service but many Iraqis are dying because they lack drinking water costing a few cents.</p>
<p>Kalawar refugee camp in Sulaymaniyah is a microcosm of the misery to which millions of Iraqis have been reduced. “At least it is safe here,” says Walid Sha’ad Nayef, 38, as he stands amid the stink of rotting garbage and raw sewage. He fled from the lethally dangerous Sa’adiyah district in Baghdad 11 months ago. As we speak to him, a man silently presents us with the death certificate of his son, Farez Maher Zedan, who was killed in Baghdad on May 20, 2006.</p>
<p>Kalawar is a horrible place. Situated behind a gas station down a dusty track, the first sight of the camp is of rough shelters made out of rags, torn pieces of cardboard and old blankets. The stench is explained by the fact the Kurdish municipal authorities will not allow the 470 people in the camp to dig latrines. They say this might encourage them to stay.</p>
<p>“Sometimes I go to beg,” says Talib Hamid al-Auda, a voluble man with a thick white beard looking older than his fifty years. As he speaks, his body shakes, as if he was trembling at the thought of the demeaning means by which he feeds his family. Even begging is difficult because the people in the camp are forbidden to leave it on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Suspected by Kurds of being behind a string of house robberies, though there is no evidence for this, they are natural scapegoats for any wrong-doing in their vicinity.</p>
<p>Refugees are getting an increasingly cool reception wherever they flee, because there are so many of them and because of the burden they put on resources. “People here blame us for forcing up rents and the price of food,” said Omar, who had taken his family to Damascus after his sister’s leg was fractured by a car bomb.</p>
<p>The refugees in Kalawar had no option but to flee. Of the 97 families here, all but two are Sunni Arabs. Many are from Sa’adiyah in west Baghdad where 84 bodies were found by police between June 18 and July 18. Many are young men whose hands had been bound and who had been tortured.</p>
<p>“The majority left Baghdad because somebody knocked on the door of their house and told them to get out in an hour,” says Rosina Ynzenga, who runs the Spanish charity Solidarity International (SIA) which pays for a mobile clinic to visit the camp.</p>
<p>Sulaymaniyah municipality is antagonistic to her doing more. One Kurdish official suggested that the Arabs of Kalawar were there simply for economic reasons and should be given $200 each and sent back to Baghdad.</p>
<p>Mr Nayef, the mukhtar (mayor) of the camp who used to be a bulldozer driver in Baghdad, at first said nobody could speak to journalists unless we had permission from the authorities. But after we had ceremoniously written our names in a large book he relented and would, in any case, have had difficulty in stopping other refugees explaining their grievances.</p>
<p>Asked to list their worst problems Mr Nayef said they were the lack of school for the children, shortage of food, no kerosene to cook with, no money, no jobs and no electricity. The real answer to the question is that the Arabs of Kalawar have nothing. They have only received two cartons of food each from the International Committee of the Red Cross and a tank of clean water.</p>
<p>Even so they are adamant that they dare not return to Baghdad. They did not even know if their houses had been taken over by others.</p>
<p>Abla Abbas, a mournful looking woman in black robes, said her son had been killed because he went to sell plastic bags in the Shia district of Khadamiyah in west Baghdad. The poor in Iraq take potentially fatal risks to earn a little money.</p>
<p>The uncertainty of the refugees’ lives in Kalawar is mirrored in their drawn faces. While we spoke to them there were several shouting matches. One woman kept showing us a piece of paper from the local authority in Sulaymaniyah giving her the right to stay there. She regarded us nervously as if we were officials about to evict her.</p>
<p>There are in fact three camps at Kalawar. Although almost all the refugees are Sunni they come from different places and until a month ago they lived together. But there were continual arguments. The refugees decided that they must split into three encampments: one from Baghdad, a second from Hillah, south of Baghdad, and a third from Diyala, the mixed Sunni-Shia province that has been the scene of ferocious sectarian pogroms.</p>
<p>Governments and the media crudely evaluate human suffering in Iraq in terms of the number killed. A broader and better barometer would include those who have escaped death only by fleeing their homes, their jobs and their country to go and live, destitute and unwanted, in places like Kalawar. The US administration has 18 benchmarks to measure progress in Iraq but the return of four million people to their homes is not among them.</p>
<p>PATRICK COCKBURN is the author of ‘The Occupation: War, resistance and daily life in Iraq’, a finalist for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award for best non-fiction book of 2006.</p>
<p />
| 6,536 |
<p>(Reuters) - China will crack down on online pyramid schemes, including speculation masked as cryptocurrencies and online games, the public security ministry said on Friday.</p> An attendant holds a bitcoin sign during the opening of Hong Kong's first bitcoin retail store February 28, 2014. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo
<p>The ministry will act jointly with the industrial and commercial department to stamp out pyramid-type schemes, besides punishing those who swindle students and vulnerable groups, the ministry said in a statement on its website.</p>
<p>Chinese regulators have moved to rein in financial risks associated with virtual currency trades and pyramid schemes.</p>
<p>A court this month sentenced two people to life imprisonment for fraud in a pyramid scheme involving 15.6 billion yuan ($2.44 billion) that sucked in more than 200,000 people.</p>
<p>Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom; Editing by Clarence Fernandez</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BEIRUT (Reuters) - A chemical attack on a rebel-held town in eastern Ghouta killed dozens of people, a medical relief organization and a rescue service said, and Washington said the reports - if confirmed - would demand an immediate international response.</p>
<p>Medical relief organization Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) said 41 people had been killed, with other reports putting the death toll much higher. The civil defense rescue service, which operates in rebel-held areas of Syria, put it as high as 150 in a report on one of its Twitter feeds.</p>
<p>The Russian-backed Syrian state denied government forces had launched any chemical attack as the reports began circulating on Saturday night and said rebels in the eastern Ghouta town of Douma were in a state of collapse and spreading false news.</p>
<p>Reuters could not independently verify the reports.</p>
<p>The lifeless bodies of around a dozen children, women and men, some of them with foam at the mouth, were shown in one video circulated by activists. “Douma city, April 7 ... there is a strong smell here,” a voice can be heard saying.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-attack-usa/u-s-says-reports-of-chemical-attack-in-syria-horrifying-if-confirmed-calls-for-response-idUSKBN1HF02N" type="external">U.S. says reports of chemical attack in Syria 'horrifying' if confirmed, calls for response</a>
<p>The U.S. State Department said reports of mass casualties from an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma were “horrifying” and would, if confirmed, “demand an immediate response by the international community”.</p>
<p>President Bashar al-Assad has won back control of nearly all of eastern Ghouta in a Russian-backed military campaign that began in February, leaving just Douma in rebel hands. After a lull of days, government forces began bombarding Douma again on Friday.</p>
<p>The offensive in Ghouta has been one of the deadliest of the seven-year-long war, killing more than 1,600 civilians according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.</p>
<p>The Observatory said it could not confirm if chemical weapons had been used in the attack on Saturday.</p>
<p>Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said 11 people had died in Douma as a result of suffocation caused by the smoke from conventional weapons being dropped by the government. It said a total of 70 people suffered breathing difficulties.</p>
<p>Medical relief organization SAMS said a chlorine bomb hit Douma hospital, killing six people, and a second attack with “mixed agents” including nerve agents had hit a nearby building.</p>
<p>Basel Termanini, the U.S.-based vice president of SAMS, told Reuters another 35 people had been killed at the nearby apartment building, most of them women and children.</p>
<p>SAMS operates 139 medical facilities in Syria where it supports 1,880 medical personnel, according to its website.</p>
<p>“We are contacting the U.N. and the U.S. government and the European governments,” he said by telephone.</p>
<p>Syrian state news agency SANA said the rebel group in Douma, Jaish al-Islam, was making “chemical attack fabrications in an exposed and failed attempt to obstruct advances by the Syrian Arab army,” citing an official source.</p>
<p>U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauret recalled a 2017 sarin gas attack in northwestern Syria that the West and the United Nations blamed on Assad’s government.</p>
<p>“The Assad regime and its backers must be held accountable and any further attacks prevented immediately,” she said.</p>
<p>“The United States calls on Russia to end this unmitigated support immediately and work with the international community to prevent further, barbaric chemical weapons attacks,” Nauert said in a statement.</p>
<p>The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons during the conflict.</p>
<p>Reporting by Dahlia Nehme and Mustafa Hashem; Additional reporting by Patrick Rucker and Tim Ahmann in Washington; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Sandra Maler</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>SAO BERNARDO DO CAMPO, Brazil (Reuters) - Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva turned himself in to police on Saturday, ending a day-long standoff to begin serving a 12-year prison sentence for corruption that derails his bid to return to power.</p> Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is carried by supporters in front of the metallurgic trade union in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, April 7, 2018. REUTERS/Francisco Proer
<p>Lula was flown by police to the southern city of Curitiba, where he was tried and convicted late last year, and taken to the federal police headquarters there to serve his sentence. Protesters supporting Lula clashed with police outside the walls of the building. Officers used stun grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.</p>
<p>In a fiery speech hours earlier to a crowd of supporters of his Workers Party outside the union building in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s first working class president insisted on his innocence and called his bribery conviction a political crime, but said he would turn himself in.</p>
<p>“I will comply with the order,” he told the cheering crowd. “I’m not above the law. If I didn’t believe in the law, I wouldn’t have started a political party. I would have started a revolution.”</p> Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva walks to enter a Federal Police plane in Sao Paulo, Brazil, April 7, 2018. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker
<p>Lula, who faces six more trials on corruption charges, finally ended the standoff when he moved out in a convoy of black police SUVs after pushing his way out of the steel workers union headquarters where he had taken refuge. He entered police custody more than 24 hours after a court deadline on Friday afternoon.</p>
<p>Lula’s imprisonment removes Brazil’s most influential political figure and front-runner from this year’s presidential campaign, throwing the race wide open and strengthening the odds of a more centrist candidate prevailing, according to analysts and political foes.</p>
<p>It also marks the end of an era for Brazil’s left, which was out in force in the streets outside of the union headquarters in the industrial suburb of Sao Paulo where Lula’s political career began four decades ago as a union organizer.</p>
<p>The throngs of supporters, which began gathering when he arrived late on Thursday night, dissuaded police from trying to take him into custody and heightened concerns about a violent showdown.</p>
<p>Supporters blocked Lula’s first attempt to leave the union building on Saturday afternoon, pushing back against fellow party members trying to open the gate for his car to leave. Workers Party chief Gleisi Hoffmann pleaded with supporters to let him exit.</p>
<p>Lula was convicted of taking bribes, including renovation of a three-story seaside apartment that he denies ever owning, from an engineering firm in return for help landing public contracts.</p> Slideshow (15 Images)
<p>“I’m the only person being prosecuted over an apartment that isn’t mine,” insisted Lula, standing on a sound truck alongside his impeached handpicked successor Dilma Rousseff and leaders of other left-wing parties.</p>
<p>A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Saturday rejected the latest plea by Lula’s legal team, which argued they had not exhausted procedural appeals when a judge issued the order to turn himself in.</p>
<p>Under Brazilian electoral law, a candidate is forbidden from running for office for eight years after being found guilty of a crime. Rare exceptions have been made in the past, and the final decision would be made by the top electoral court if and when Lula officially files to be a candidate.</p>
<p>The union where Lula, 72, sought refuge was the launch pad for his career in the late 1970s leading nationwide strikes that helped to end Brazil’s 1964-85 military dictatorship.</p>
<p>Lula’s everyman style and unvarnished speeches electrified masses and eventually won him two terms as president, from 2003 to 2011, when he oversaw robust economic growth and falling inequality amid a commodities boom.</p>
<p>“Those who condemn me without proof know that I am innocent and I governed honestly,” Lula said in a video message to his supporters. “Those who persecute me can do what they want to me, but they will never imprison our dreams.”</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Lisandra Paraguassú, Ricardo Brito and Jake Spring in Brasilia, and Brad Brooks in Sao Paulo; Writing by Anthony Boadle and Jake Spring; Editing by Sandra Maler</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>DUBAI (Reuters) - Hackers have attacked networks in a number of countries including data centers in Iran where they left the image of a U.S. flag on screens along with a warning: “Don’t mess with our elections”, the Iranian IT ministry said on Saturday.</p> FILE PHOTO: A man types on a computer keyboard in front of the displayed cyber code in this illustration picture taken on March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo
<p>“The attack apparently affected 200,000 router switches across the world in a widespread attack, including 3,500 switches in our country,” the Communication and Information Technology Ministry said in a statement carried by Iran’s official news agency IRNA.</p>
<p>The statement said the attack, which hit internet service providers and cut off web access for subscribers, was made possible by a vulnerability in routers from Cisco which had earlier issued a warning and provided a patch that some firms had failed to install over the Iranian new year holiday.</p>
<p>A blog published on Thursday by Nick Biasini, a threat researcher at Cisco’s Talos Security Intelligence and Research Group, said: “Several incidents in multiple countries, including some specifically targeting critical infrastructure, have involved the misuse of the Smart Install protocol...</p>
<p>“As a result, we are taking an active stance, and are urging customers, again, of the elevated risk and available remediation paths.”</p>
<p>On Saturday evening, Cisco said those postings were a tool to help clients identify weaknesses and repel a cyber attack.</p>
<p>Iran’s IT Minister Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi posted a picture of a computer screen on Twitter with the image of the U.S. flag and the hackers’ message. He said it was not yet clear who had carried out the attack.</p>
<p>Azari-Jahromi said the attack mainly affected Europe, India and the United States, state television reported.</p>
<p>“Some 55,000 devices were affected in the United States and 14,000 in China, and Iran’s share of affected devices was 2 percent,” Azari-Jahromi was quoted as saying.</p>
<p>In a tweet, Azari-Jahromi said the state computer emergency response body MAHER had shown “weaknesses in providing information to (affected) companies” after the attack which was detected late on Friday in Iran.</p>
<p>Hadi Sajadi, deputy head of the state-run Information Technology Organisation of Iran, said the attack was neutralized within hours and no data was lost.</p>
<p>Reporting by Dubai newsroom, additional reporting by Dustin Volz in Washington; editing by Ros Russell and G Crosse</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>HUMBOLDT, Saskatchewan (Reuters) - Fifteen people were killed when a bus carrying a Canadian junior ice hockey team collided with a truck in Saskatchewan province, police said on Saturday, in one of the worst disasters to strike Canada’s sporting community.</p> The 2017-2018 Humboldt Broncos Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team is pictured in this undated handout photo. Amanda Brochu/Handout via REUTERS
<p>The tragedy sent shock waves through the hockey-loving country and engulfed the home of the Humboldt Broncos hockey team, a small farming town of fewer than 6,000 people, in grief. Fourteen survivors were still in hospital, with some in critical condition, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said.</p>
<p>The accident occurred at about 5 p.m. on Friday near the Tisdale area, around 185 miles (300 km) north of Regina.</p>
<p>“Our Broncos family is in shock as we try to come to grips with our incredible loss,” Kevin Garinger, the team’s president, said in a statement.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-canada-crash-icehockey/ice-hockey-world-shocked-by-fatal-junior-team-crash-in-canada-idUSKBN1HE0U6" type="external">Ice hockey world shocked by fatal junior team crash in Canada</a>
<p>The players had been on their way to compete in Game 5 of a playoff series against the Nipawin Hawks when the bus they were traveling in collided with a semi-trailer.</p>
<p>The Hawks’ president, Darren Opp, told the Globe and Mail newspaper that the truck T-boned the players’ bus. “It’s a horrible accident, my God,” he said. “It’s very, very bad.”</p>
<p>The driver of the tractor trailer was not injured in the crash, RCMP Saskatchewan assistant commissioner Curtis Zablocki told a media conference. He said the driver was initially detained, but later released.</p>
<p>Zablocki said it was too early to comment on the cause of the collision and that the RCMP is continuing its investigation, which will examine the road, weather and mechanical condition of both vehicles.</p>
<p>Citing relatives, the Canadian Press reported that the Broncos’ head coach Darcy Haugan and the team’s 20-year-old captain, Logan Schatz, were among those killed.</p>
<p>Many social media users posted Haugan’s photograph alongside messages of shock and sympathy, and the hashtags #prayersforhumboldt and #humboldtstrong.</p> A Humboldt Broncos team jersey is seen among notes and flowers at a memorial for the Humboldt Broncos team leading into the Elgar Petersen Arena in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Canada April 7, 2018. REUTERS/Matt Smith
<p>“God bless Darcy Haugan for being an incredible mentor and coach to young hockey players and prayers for his family to help cope with their immense loss,” the Western Provinces Hockey Association wrote on Twitter.</p>
<p>National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman said the NHL mourned the passing of those who died “and offers strength and comfort to those injured while traveling to play and be part of a game they loved.”</p>
<p>Ice hockey teams around the world expressed shock and paid tribute to the Broncos.</p> ‘HEARTBROKEN’
<p>A steady stream of people arrived at Humboldt’s Elgar Petersen sports arena on Saturday, consoling the grieving families and offering flowers. Counseling services for the victims’ relatives were offered nearby.</p>
<p>“We woke up to the reality of what happened last night,” Humboldt Mayor Rob Muench told Reuters. “It has been a tragedy nobody would have imagined. It’s very tough, but I have been trying to get the message out that we will get through this, we will see the light at the end of the tunnel.”</p>
<p>Condolences poured in from both current and former players, sports organizations and political leaders.</p>
<p>Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the entire country was in shock and mourning as the details of the tragedy emerged. Canada’s hockey family was a close one, he said.</p> Slideshow (19 Images)
<p>“We are heartbroken knowing many of those we lost had their entire lives in front of them,” he said in a statement.</p>
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Twitter post that he spoke with Trudeau “to pay my highest respect and condolences to the families of the terrible Humboldt Team tragedy. May God be with them all!”</p>
<p>Pastor Jordan Gadsby of Nipawin’s Apostolic Church said hundreds of people, including parents and relatives of players on the bus, had gathered at the church late on Friday to seek information and solace.</p>
<p>“The worst part of the night was watching parents waiting for news of their kids,” he said. “There’s not a lot we can do. It’s a terrible thing that happened.”</p>
<p>For some, the tragedy revived painful memories of a bus crash in the province in December 1986 that killed four young players from the Swift Current Broncos ice hockey team.</p>
<p>An online fundraising campaign for the affected players and their families was set up late on Friday by the mother of a former Broncos teammate with an initial target of $10,000.</p>
<p>By Saturday evening, it had raised more than $2.1 million. ( <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/funds-for-humboldt-broncos" type="external">here</a>)</p>
<p>“Stay Hockey family strong,” wrote one donor on the GoFundMe site who said he was a coach from rural Saskatchewan.</p>
<p>Reporting by Matt Smith in Humboldt; Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and Frank Pingue in Augusta, Georgia; Writing by Denny Thomas and Daniel Wallis; Editing by Tom Brown and G Crosse</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
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China targets cryptocurrencies in online pyramid scheme crackdown Dozens reported killed in suspected Syria gas attack, Damascus denies Lula turns himself in to Brazil police, ending standoff Iran hit by global cyber attack that left U.S. flag on screens Canada grieves after junior hockey team bus crash leaves 15 dead
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https://reuters.com/article/uk-china-pyramid/china-targets-cryptocurrencies-in-online-pyramid-scheme-crackdown-idUSKBN1F811F
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2018-01-19
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China targets cryptocurrencies in online pyramid scheme crackdown Dozens reported killed in suspected Syria gas attack, Damascus denies Lula turns himself in to Brazil police, ending standoff Iran hit by global cyber attack that left U.S. flag on screens Canada grieves after junior hockey team bus crash leaves 15 dead
<p>(Reuters) - China will crack down on online pyramid schemes, including speculation masked as cryptocurrencies and online games, the public security ministry said on Friday.</p> An attendant holds a bitcoin sign during the opening of Hong Kong's first bitcoin retail store February 28, 2014. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo
<p>The ministry will act jointly with the industrial and commercial department to stamp out pyramid-type schemes, besides punishing those who swindle students and vulnerable groups, the ministry said in a statement on its website.</p>
<p>Chinese regulators have moved to rein in financial risks associated with virtual currency trades and pyramid schemes.</p>
<p>A court this month sentenced two people to life imprisonment for fraud in a pyramid scheme involving 15.6 billion yuan ($2.44 billion) that sucked in more than 200,000 people.</p>
<p>Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom; Editing by Clarence Fernandez</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BEIRUT (Reuters) - A chemical attack on a rebel-held town in eastern Ghouta killed dozens of people, a medical relief organization and a rescue service said, and Washington said the reports - if confirmed - would demand an immediate international response.</p>
<p>Medical relief organization Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) said 41 people had been killed, with other reports putting the death toll much higher. The civil defense rescue service, which operates in rebel-held areas of Syria, put it as high as 150 in a report on one of its Twitter feeds.</p>
<p>The Russian-backed Syrian state denied government forces had launched any chemical attack as the reports began circulating on Saturday night and said rebels in the eastern Ghouta town of Douma were in a state of collapse and spreading false news.</p>
<p>Reuters could not independently verify the reports.</p>
<p>The lifeless bodies of around a dozen children, women and men, some of them with foam at the mouth, were shown in one video circulated by activists. “Douma city, April 7 ... there is a strong smell here,” a voice can be heard saying.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-attack-usa/u-s-says-reports-of-chemical-attack-in-syria-horrifying-if-confirmed-calls-for-response-idUSKBN1HF02N" type="external">U.S. says reports of chemical attack in Syria 'horrifying' if confirmed, calls for response</a>
<p>The U.S. State Department said reports of mass casualties from an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma were “horrifying” and would, if confirmed, “demand an immediate response by the international community”.</p>
<p>President Bashar al-Assad has won back control of nearly all of eastern Ghouta in a Russian-backed military campaign that began in February, leaving just Douma in rebel hands. After a lull of days, government forces began bombarding Douma again on Friday.</p>
<p>The offensive in Ghouta has been one of the deadliest of the seven-year-long war, killing more than 1,600 civilians according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.</p>
<p>The Observatory said it could not confirm if chemical weapons had been used in the attack on Saturday.</p>
<p>Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said 11 people had died in Douma as a result of suffocation caused by the smoke from conventional weapons being dropped by the government. It said a total of 70 people suffered breathing difficulties.</p>
<p>Medical relief organization SAMS said a chlorine bomb hit Douma hospital, killing six people, and a second attack with “mixed agents” including nerve agents had hit a nearby building.</p>
<p>Basel Termanini, the U.S.-based vice president of SAMS, told Reuters another 35 people had been killed at the nearby apartment building, most of them women and children.</p>
<p>SAMS operates 139 medical facilities in Syria where it supports 1,880 medical personnel, according to its website.</p>
<p>“We are contacting the U.N. and the U.S. government and the European governments,” he said by telephone.</p>
<p>Syrian state news agency SANA said the rebel group in Douma, Jaish al-Islam, was making “chemical attack fabrications in an exposed and failed attempt to obstruct advances by the Syrian Arab army,” citing an official source.</p>
<p>U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauret recalled a 2017 sarin gas attack in northwestern Syria that the West and the United Nations blamed on Assad’s government.</p>
<p>“The Assad regime and its backers must be held accountable and any further attacks prevented immediately,” she said.</p>
<p>“The United States calls on Russia to end this unmitigated support immediately and work with the international community to prevent further, barbaric chemical weapons attacks,” Nauert said in a statement.</p>
<p>The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons during the conflict.</p>
<p>Reporting by Dahlia Nehme and Mustafa Hashem; Additional reporting by Patrick Rucker and Tim Ahmann in Washington; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Sandra Maler</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>SAO BERNARDO DO CAMPO, Brazil (Reuters) - Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva turned himself in to police on Saturday, ending a day-long standoff to begin serving a 12-year prison sentence for corruption that derails his bid to return to power.</p> Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is carried by supporters in front of the metallurgic trade union in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, April 7, 2018. REUTERS/Francisco Proer
<p>Lula was flown by police to the southern city of Curitiba, where he was tried and convicted late last year, and taken to the federal police headquarters there to serve his sentence. Protesters supporting Lula clashed with police outside the walls of the building. Officers used stun grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.</p>
<p>In a fiery speech hours earlier to a crowd of supporters of his Workers Party outside the union building in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s first working class president insisted on his innocence and called his bribery conviction a political crime, but said he would turn himself in.</p>
<p>“I will comply with the order,” he told the cheering crowd. “I’m not above the law. If I didn’t believe in the law, I wouldn’t have started a political party. I would have started a revolution.”</p> Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva walks to enter a Federal Police plane in Sao Paulo, Brazil, April 7, 2018. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker
<p>Lula, who faces six more trials on corruption charges, finally ended the standoff when he moved out in a convoy of black police SUVs after pushing his way out of the steel workers union headquarters where he had taken refuge. He entered police custody more than 24 hours after a court deadline on Friday afternoon.</p>
<p>Lula’s imprisonment removes Brazil’s most influential political figure and front-runner from this year’s presidential campaign, throwing the race wide open and strengthening the odds of a more centrist candidate prevailing, according to analysts and political foes.</p>
<p>It also marks the end of an era for Brazil’s left, which was out in force in the streets outside of the union headquarters in the industrial suburb of Sao Paulo where Lula’s political career began four decades ago as a union organizer.</p>
<p>The throngs of supporters, which began gathering when he arrived late on Thursday night, dissuaded police from trying to take him into custody and heightened concerns about a violent showdown.</p>
<p>Supporters blocked Lula’s first attempt to leave the union building on Saturday afternoon, pushing back against fellow party members trying to open the gate for his car to leave. Workers Party chief Gleisi Hoffmann pleaded with supporters to let him exit.</p>
<p>Lula was convicted of taking bribes, including renovation of a three-story seaside apartment that he denies ever owning, from an engineering firm in return for help landing public contracts.</p> Slideshow (15 Images)
<p>“I’m the only person being prosecuted over an apartment that isn’t mine,” insisted Lula, standing on a sound truck alongside his impeached handpicked successor Dilma Rousseff and leaders of other left-wing parties.</p>
<p>A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Saturday rejected the latest plea by Lula’s legal team, which argued they had not exhausted procedural appeals when a judge issued the order to turn himself in.</p>
<p>Under Brazilian electoral law, a candidate is forbidden from running for office for eight years after being found guilty of a crime. Rare exceptions have been made in the past, and the final decision would be made by the top electoral court if and when Lula officially files to be a candidate.</p>
<p>The union where Lula, 72, sought refuge was the launch pad for his career in the late 1970s leading nationwide strikes that helped to end Brazil’s 1964-85 military dictatorship.</p>
<p>Lula’s everyman style and unvarnished speeches electrified masses and eventually won him two terms as president, from 2003 to 2011, when he oversaw robust economic growth and falling inequality amid a commodities boom.</p>
<p>“Those who condemn me without proof know that I am innocent and I governed honestly,” Lula said in a video message to his supporters. “Those who persecute me can do what they want to me, but they will never imprison our dreams.”</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Lisandra Paraguassú, Ricardo Brito and Jake Spring in Brasilia, and Brad Brooks in Sao Paulo; Writing by Anthony Boadle and Jake Spring; Editing by Sandra Maler</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>DUBAI (Reuters) - Hackers have attacked networks in a number of countries including data centers in Iran where they left the image of a U.S. flag on screens along with a warning: “Don’t mess with our elections”, the Iranian IT ministry said on Saturday.</p> FILE PHOTO: A man types on a computer keyboard in front of the displayed cyber code in this illustration picture taken on March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo
<p>“The attack apparently affected 200,000 router switches across the world in a widespread attack, including 3,500 switches in our country,” the Communication and Information Technology Ministry said in a statement carried by Iran’s official news agency IRNA.</p>
<p>The statement said the attack, which hit internet service providers and cut off web access for subscribers, was made possible by a vulnerability in routers from Cisco which had earlier issued a warning and provided a patch that some firms had failed to install over the Iranian new year holiday.</p>
<p>A blog published on Thursday by Nick Biasini, a threat researcher at Cisco’s Talos Security Intelligence and Research Group, said: “Several incidents in multiple countries, including some specifically targeting critical infrastructure, have involved the misuse of the Smart Install protocol...</p>
<p>“As a result, we are taking an active stance, and are urging customers, again, of the elevated risk and available remediation paths.”</p>
<p>On Saturday evening, Cisco said those postings were a tool to help clients identify weaknesses and repel a cyber attack.</p>
<p>Iran’s IT Minister Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi posted a picture of a computer screen on Twitter with the image of the U.S. flag and the hackers’ message. He said it was not yet clear who had carried out the attack.</p>
<p>Azari-Jahromi said the attack mainly affected Europe, India and the United States, state television reported.</p>
<p>“Some 55,000 devices were affected in the United States and 14,000 in China, and Iran’s share of affected devices was 2 percent,” Azari-Jahromi was quoted as saying.</p>
<p>In a tweet, Azari-Jahromi said the state computer emergency response body MAHER had shown “weaknesses in providing information to (affected) companies” after the attack which was detected late on Friday in Iran.</p>
<p>Hadi Sajadi, deputy head of the state-run Information Technology Organisation of Iran, said the attack was neutralized within hours and no data was lost.</p>
<p>Reporting by Dubai newsroom, additional reporting by Dustin Volz in Washington; editing by Ros Russell and G Crosse</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>HUMBOLDT, Saskatchewan (Reuters) - Fifteen people were killed when a bus carrying a Canadian junior ice hockey team collided with a truck in Saskatchewan province, police said on Saturday, in one of the worst disasters to strike Canada’s sporting community.</p> The 2017-2018 Humboldt Broncos Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team is pictured in this undated handout photo. Amanda Brochu/Handout via REUTERS
<p>The tragedy sent shock waves through the hockey-loving country and engulfed the home of the Humboldt Broncos hockey team, a small farming town of fewer than 6,000 people, in grief. Fourteen survivors were still in hospital, with some in critical condition, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said.</p>
<p>The accident occurred at about 5 p.m. on Friday near the Tisdale area, around 185 miles (300 km) north of Regina.</p>
<p>“Our Broncos family is in shock as we try to come to grips with our incredible loss,” Kevin Garinger, the team’s president, said in a statement.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-canada-crash-icehockey/ice-hockey-world-shocked-by-fatal-junior-team-crash-in-canada-idUSKBN1HE0U6" type="external">Ice hockey world shocked by fatal junior team crash in Canada</a>
<p>The players had been on their way to compete in Game 5 of a playoff series against the Nipawin Hawks when the bus they were traveling in collided with a semi-trailer.</p>
<p>The Hawks’ president, Darren Opp, told the Globe and Mail newspaper that the truck T-boned the players’ bus. “It’s a horrible accident, my God,” he said. “It’s very, very bad.”</p>
<p>The driver of the tractor trailer was not injured in the crash, RCMP Saskatchewan assistant commissioner Curtis Zablocki told a media conference. He said the driver was initially detained, but later released.</p>
<p>Zablocki said it was too early to comment on the cause of the collision and that the RCMP is continuing its investigation, which will examine the road, weather and mechanical condition of both vehicles.</p>
<p>Citing relatives, the Canadian Press reported that the Broncos’ head coach Darcy Haugan and the team’s 20-year-old captain, Logan Schatz, were among those killed.</p>
<p>Many social media users posted Haugan’s photograph alongside messages of shock and sympathy, and the hashtags #prayersforhumboldt and #humboldtstrong.</p> A Humboldt Broncos team jersey is seen among notes and flowers at a memorial for the Humboldt Broncos team leading into the Elgar Petersen Arena in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Canada April 7, 2018. REUTERS/Matt Smith
<p>“God bless Darcy Haugan for being an incredible mentor and coach to young hockey players and prayers for his family to help cope with their immense loss,” the Western Provinces Hockey Association wrote on Twitter.</p>
<p>National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman said the NHL mourned the passing of those who died “and offers strength and comfort to those injured while traveling to play and be part of a game they loved.”</p>
<p>Ice hockey teams around the world expressed shock and paid tribute to the Broncos.</p> ‘HEARTBROKEN’
<p>A steady stream of people arrived at Humboldt’s Elgar Petersen sports arena on Saturday, consoling the grieving families and offering flowers. Counseling services for the victims’ relatives were offered nearby.</p>
<p>“We woke up to the reality of what happened last night,” Humboldt Mayor Rob Muench told Reuters. “It has been a tragedy nobody would have imagined. It’s very tough, but I have been trying to get the message out that we will get through this, we will see the light at the end of the tunnel.”</p>
<p>Condolences poured in from both current and former players, sports organizations and political leaders.</p>
<p>Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the entire country was in shock and mourning as the details of the tragedy emerged. Canada’s hockey family was a close one, he said.</p> Slideshow (19 Images)
<p>“We are heartbroken knowing many of those we lost had their entire lives in front of them,” he said in a statement.</p>
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Twitter post that he spoke with Trudeau “to pay my highest respect and condolences to the families of the terrible Humboldt Team tragedy. May God be with them all!”</p>
<p>Pastor Jordan Gadsby of Nipawin’s Apostolic Church said hundreds of people, including parents and relatives of players on the bus, had gathered at the church late on Friday to seek information and solace.</p>
<p>“The worst part of the night was watching parents waiting for news of their kids,” he said. “There’s not a lot we can do. It’s a terrible thing that happened.”</p>
<p>For some, the tragedy revived painful memories of a bus crash in the province in December 1986 that killed four young players from the Swift Current Broncos ice hockey team.</p>
<p>An online fundraising campaign for the affected players and their families was set up late on Friday by the mother of a former Broncos teammate with an initial target of $10,000.</p>
<p>By Saturday evening, it had raised more than $2.1 million. ( <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/funds-for-humboldt-broncos" type="external">here</a>)</p>
<p>“Stay Hockey family strong,” wrote one donor on the GoFundMe site who said he was a coach from rural Saskatchewan.</p>
<p>Reporting by Matt Smith in Humboldt; Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and Frank Pingue in Augusta, Georgia; Writing by Denny Thomas and Daniel Wallis; Editing by Tom Brown and G Crosse</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
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<p>Your daily look at late-breaking California news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:</p>
<p>1. MONTECITO DISASTER</p>
<p>Search goes on for the missing in neighborhoods buried by massive debris flows.</p>
<p>2. VICTIMS IDENTIFIED</p>
<p>Seventeen confirmed fatalities include four children 3 to 12 years old; oldest victim had just celebrated 89th birthday.</p>
<p>3. SPY SATELLITE</p>
<p>Launch of classified satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base rescheduled after problem with ground equipment.</p>
<p>4. FACEBOOK</p>
<p>Facebook tweaking what people see to highlight posts users are most likely to engage with rather than passively consume.</p>
<p>5. CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS</p>
<p>“Wonder Woman” named best action movie; honors also went to “Big Little Lies,” ″The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”</p>
<p>Your daily look at late-breaking California news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:</p>
<p>1. MONTECITO DISASTER</p>
<p>Search goes on for the missing in neighborhoods buried by massive debris flows.</p>
<p>2. VICTIMS IDENTIFIED</p>
<p>Seventeen confirmed fatalities include four children 3 to 12 years old; oldest victim had just celebrated 89th birthday.</p>
<p>3. SPY SATELLITE</p>
<p>Launch of classified satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base rescheduled after problem with ground equipment.</p>
<p>4. FACEBOOK</p>
<p>Facebook tweaking what people see to highlight posts users are most likely to engage with rather than passively consume.</p>
<p>5. CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS</p>
<p>“Wonder Woman” named best action movie; honors also went to “Big Little Lies,” ″The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”</p>
|
5 California Things to Know for Today
| false |
https://apnews.com/e685f3ba22fc4d58acb28e0ab80bc9e9
|
2018-01-12
| 2least
|
5 California Things to Know for Today
<p>Your daily look at late-breaking California news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:</p>
<p>1. MONTECITO DISASTER</p>
<p>Search goes on for the missing in neighborhoods buried by massive debris flows.</p>
<p>2. VICTIMS IDENTIFIED</p>
<p>Seventeen confirmed fatalities include four children 3 to 12 years old; oldest victim had just celebrated 89th birthday.</p>
<p>3. SPY SATELLITE</p>
<p>Launch of classified satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base rescheduled after problem with ground equipment.</p>
<p>4. FACEBOOK</p>
<p>Facebook tweaking what people see to highlight posts users are most likely to engage with rather than passively consume.</p>
<p>5. CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS</p>
<p>“Wonder Woman” named best action movie; honors also went to “Big Little Lies,” ″The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”</p>
<p>Your daily look at late-breaking California news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:</p>
<p>1. MONTECITO DISASTER</p>
<p>Search goes on for the missing in neighborhoods buried by massive debris flows.</p>
<p>2. VICTIMS IDENTIFIED</p>
<p>Seventeen confirmed fatalities include four children 3 to 12 years old; oldest victim had just celebrated 89th birthday.</p>
<p>3. SPY SATELLITE</p>
<p>Launch of classified satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base rescheduled after problem with ground equipment.</p>
<p>4. FACEBOOK</p>
<p>Facebook tweaking what people see to highlight posts users are most likely to engage with rather than passively consume.</p>
<p>5. CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS</p>
<p>“Wonder Woman” named best action movie; honors also went to “Big Little Lies,” ″The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”</p>
| 6,538 |
<p>Chuck Norris is no pinko-liberal-commie, and Human Events is a very conservative publication. The two have come together to produce an important article, “Obama’s US Assassination Program.”</p>
<p>It seems only yesterday that Americans, or those interested in their civil liberties, were shocked that the Bush regime so flagrantly violated the FlSA law against spying on American citizens without a warrant. A federal judge serving on the FISA court even resigned in protest to the illegality of the spying.</p>
<p>Nothing was done about it.&#160; “National security” placed the president and executive branch above the law of the land. Civil libertarians worried that the US government was freeing its power from the constraints of law, but no one else seemed to care.</p>
<p>Encouraged by its success in breaking the law, the executive branch early this year announced that the Obama regime has given itself the right to murder Americans abroad if such Americans are considered a “threat.”&#160; “Threat” was not defined and, thus, a death sentence would be issued by a subjective decision of an unaccountable official.</p>
<p>There was hardly a peep out of the public or the media. Americans and the media were content for the government to summarily execute traitors and turncoats, and who better to identify traitors and turncoats than the government with all its spy programs.</p>
<p>The problem with this sort of thing is that once it starts, it doesn’t stop. As Norris reports, citing Obama regime security officials, the next stage is to criminalize dissent and criticism of the government.&#160; The May 2010 National Security Strategy states: “We are now moving beyond traditional distinctions between homeland and national security. . . . This includes a determination to prevent terrorist attacks against the American people by fully coordinating the actions that we take abroad with the actions and precautions that we take at home.”</p>
<p>Most Americans will respond that the “indispensable” US government would never confuse an American exercising First Amendment rights with a terrorist or an enemy of the state. But, in fact, governments always have. Even one of our Founding Fathers, John Adams and the Federalist Party, had their “Alien and Sedition Acts” which targeted the Republican press.</p>
<p>Few with power can brook opposition or criticism, especially when it is a simple matter for those with power to sweep away constraints upon their power in the name of “national security.” Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan recently explained that more steps are being taken, because of the growing number of Americans who have been “captivated by extremist ideology or causes.” Notice that this phrasing goes beyond concern with Muslim terrorists.</p>
<p>In pursuit of hegemony over both the world and its own subjects, the US government is shutting down the First Amendment and turning criticism of the government into an act of “domestic extremism,” a capital crime punishable by execution, just as it was in Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia.</p>
<p>Initially German courts resisted Hitler’s illegal acts. Hitler got around the courts by creating a parallel court system, like the Bush regime did with its military tribunals. It won’t be long before a decision of the US Supreme Court will not mean anything. Any decision that goes against the regime will simply be ignored.</p>
<p>This is already happening in Canada, an American puppet state. Writing for <a href="" type="internal">CounterPunch</a>, Andy Worthington documents the lawlessness of the US trial of Canadian Omar Khadr. In January of this year, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the interrogation of Khadr constituted “state conduct that violates the principles of fundamental justice” and “offends the most basic Canadian standards about the treatment of detained youth suspects.” According to the Toronto Star, the Court instructed the government to “shape a response that reconciled its foreign policy imperatives with its constitutional obligations to Khadr,” but the puppet prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, ignored the Court and permitted the US government to proceed with its lawless abuse of a Canadian citizen.</p>
<p>September 11 destroyed more than lives, World Trade Center buildings, and Americans’ sense of invulnerability. The event destroyed American liberty, the rule of law and the US Constitution.</p>
<p>PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS was an editor of the Wall Street Journal and an Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury.&#160; His latest book, <a href="http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/CounterPunch_Books.html" type="external">HOW THE ECONOMY WAS LOST</a>, has just been published by CounterPunch/AK Press. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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The Nazification of the United States
| true |
https://counterpunch.org/2010/08/27/the-nazification-of-the-united-states/
|
2010-08-27
| 4left
|
The Nazification of the United States
<p>Chuck Norris is no pinko-liberal-commie, and Human Events is a very conservative publication. The two have come together to produce an important article, “Obama’s US Assassination Program.”</p>
<p>It seems only yesterday that Americans, or those interested in their civil liberties, were shocked that the Bush regime so flagrantly violated the FlSA law against spying on American citizens without a warrant. A federal judge serving on the FISA court even resigned in protest to the illegality of the spying.</p>
<p>Nothing was done about it.&#160; “National security” placed the president and executive branch above the law of the land. Civil libertarians worried that the US government was freeing its power from the constraints of law, but no one else seemed to care.</p>
<p>Encouraged by its success in breaking the law, the executive branch early this year announced that the Obama regime has given itself the right to murder Americans abroad if such Americans are considered a “threat.”&#160; “Threat” was not defined and, thus, a death sentence would be issued by a subjective decision of an unaccountable official.</p>
<p>There was hardly a peep out of the public or the media. Americans and the media were content for the government to summarily execute traitors and turncoats, and who better to identify traitors and turncoats than the government with all its spy programs.</p>
<p>The problem with this sort of thing is that once it starts, it doesn’t stop. As Norris reports, citing Obama regime security officials, the next stage is to criminalize dissent and criticism of the government.&#160; The May 2010 National Security Strategy states: “We are now moving beyond traditional distinctions between homeland and national security. . . . This includes a determination to prevent terrorist attacks against the American people by fully coordinating the actions that we take abroad with the actions and precautions that we take at home.”</p>
<p>Most Americans will respond that the “indispensable” US government would never confuse an American exercising First Amendment rights with a terrorist or an enemy of the state. But, in fact, governments always have. Even one of our Founding Fathers, John Adams and the Federalist Party, had their “Alien and Sedition Acts” which targeted the Republican press.</p>
<p>Few with power can brook opposition or criticism, especially when it is a simple matter for those with power to sweep away constraints upon their power in the name of “national security.” Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan recently explained that more steps are being taken, because of the growing number of Americans who have been “captivated by extremist ideology or causes.” Notice that this phrasing goes beyond concern with Muslim terrorists.</p>
<p>In pursuit of hegemony over both the world and its own subjects, the US government is shutting down the First Amendment and turning criticism of the government into an act of “domestic extremism,” a capital crime punishable by execution, just as it was in Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia.</p>
<p>Initially German courts resisted Hitler’s illegal acts. Hitler got around the courts by creating a parallel court system, like the Bush regime did with its military tribunals. It won’t be long before a decision of the US Supreme Court will not mean anything. Any decision that goes against the regime will simply be ignored.</p>
<p>This is already happening in Canada, an American puppet state. Writing for <a href="" type="internal">CounterPunch</a>, Andy Worthington documents the lawlessness of the US trial of Canadian Omar Khadr. In January of this year, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the interrogation of Khadr constituted “state conduct that violates the principles of fundamental justice” and “offends the most basic Canadian standards about the treatment of detained youth suspects.” According to the Toronto Star, the Court instructed the government to “shape a response that reconciled its foreign policy imperatives with its constitutional obligations to Khadr,” but the puppet prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, ignored the Court and permitted the US government to proceed with its lawless abuse of a Canadian citizen.</p>
<p>September 11 destroyed more than lives, World Trade Center buildings, and Americans’ sense of invulnerability. The event destroyed American liberty, the rule of law and the US Constitution.</p>
<p>PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS was an editor of the Wall Street Journal and an Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury.&#160; His latest book, <a href="http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/CounterPunch_Books.html" type="external">HOW THE ECONOMY WAS LOST</a>, has just been published by CounterPunch/AK Press. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
| 6,539 |
<p />
<p />
<p>A former police detective and karate instructor in Charlottesville, Virginia has pleaded guilty to multiple charges of sex crimes against children. Bruce Arlie Harvey was assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force where he proceeded to commit the very crimes he was tasked with stopping. Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle said, "Harvey abused his positions of trust as a law enforcement officer and as a karate instructor to sexually exploit two of his female karate students beginning when each was approximately 13 years old. This case shows that child predators infiltrate every aspect of our society."</p>
<p>&lt;img src=" <a href="https://media.8ch.net/file_store/c40361c3038d2dd21c65356c54170bdc4eb5e44ca4225b0295301a627148beef.jpg" type="external">https://media.8ch.net/file_store/c40361c3038d2dd21c65356c54170bdc4eb5e44ca4225b0295301a627148beef.jpg</a>" style="max-height:640px;max-width:360px;"&gt;</p>
<p>&lt;span style="margin-top:15px;rgba(42,51,6,0.7);font-size:12px;"&gt;Credit: Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail&lt;/span&gt;</p>
<p>Harvey continued to abuse them for several years. One agent from the FBI's Richmond Division said, "Harvey was every parent's worst nightmare. A multi-victim predator camouflaging himself in positions of trust. School resource officer. Child exploitation investigator. Karate instructor. Despicable." Harvey made sexual advances on the two 13-year-old girls while working as a karate instructor in Madison County. Prosecutors of the case say, "Harvey engaged in illegal sexual acts with these children after he began giving them private karate lessons and began traveling with each of them to karate competitions and other events at various out-of-state locations, including Ocean City, Maryland."</p>
<p>Prosecutors when on to describe the nature of the evidence against him, "At the time of his arrest on May 3, 2017, investigators recovered a Sony microcassette in a bedroom closet that contained a film clip dated Feb. 14, 2007, that showed one of the victims performing a sexual act with Harvey in his Madison County home." So far Harvey has pleaded guilty to the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, one count of possession of child pornography and three counts of transporting a minor across state lines.</p>
<p>&lt;i&gt;On Twitter:&lt;/i&gt;</p>
<p>&lt;a href=" <a href="https://twitter.com/ErvinProduction" type="external">https://twitter.com/ErvinProduction</a>"&gt;@ErvinProduction&lt;/a&gt;</p>
<p>Tips? Info? Send me a message</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://myfox8.com/2017/08/23/ex-internet-crimes-against-children-detective-pleads-guilty-to-child-sex-crimes/" type="external">http://myfox8.com/2017/08/23/ex-internet-crimes-against-children-detective-pleads-guilty-to-child-sex-crimes/</a></p>
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Former Sex Crimes Against Children Detective Pleads Guilty To Sex Crimes Against Children
| true |
http://thegoldwater.com/news/7053-Former-Sex-Crimes-Against-Children-Detective-Pleads-Guilty-To-Sex-Crimes-Against-Children
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2017-08-23
| 0right
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Former Sex Crimes Against Children Detective Pleads Guilty To Sex Crimes Against Children
<p />
<p />
<p>A former police detective and karate instructor in Charlottesville, Virginia has pleaded guilty to multiple charges of sex crimes against children. Bruce Arlie Harvey was assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force where he proceeded to commit the very crimes he was tasked with stopping. Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle said, "Harvey abused his positions of trust as a law enforcement officer and as a karate instructor to sexually exploit two of his female karate students beginning when each was approximately 13 years old. This case shows that child predators infiltrate every aspect of our society."</p>
<p>&lt;img src=" <a href="https://media.8ch.net/file_store/c40361c3038d2dd21c65356c54170bdc4eb5e44ca4225b0295301a627148beef.jpg" type="external">https://media.8ch.net/file_store/c40361c3038d2dd21c65356c54170bdc4eb5e44ca4225b0295301a627148beef.jpg</a>" style="max-height:640px;max-width:360px;"&gt;</p>
<p>&lt;span style="margin-top:15px;rgba(42,51,6,0.7);font-size:12px;"&gt;Credit: Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail&lt;/span&gt;</p>
<p>Harvey continued to abuse them for several years. One agent from the FBI's Richmond Division said, "Harvey was every parent's worst nightmare. A multi-victim predator camouflaging himself in positions of trust. School resource officer. Child exploitation investigator. Karate instructor. Despicable." Harvey made sexual advances on the two 13-year-old girls while working as a karate instructor in Madison County. Prosecutors of the case say, "Harvey engaged in illegal sexual acts with these children after he began giving them private karate lessons and began traveling with each of them to karate competitions and other events at various out-of-state locations, including Ocean City, Maryland."</p>
<p>Prosecutors when on to describe the nature of the evidence against him, "At the time of his arrest on May 3, 2017, investigators recovered a Sony microcassette in a bedroom closet that contained a film clip dated Feb. 14, 2007, that showed one of the victims performing a sexual act with Harvey in his Madison County home." So far Harvey has pleaded guilty to the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, one count of possession of child pornography and three counts of transporting a minor across state lines.</p>
<p>&lt;i&gt;On Twitter:&lt;/i&gt;</p>
<p>&lt;a href=" <a href="https://twitter.com/ErvinProduction" type="external">https://twitter.com/ErvinProduction</a>"&gt;@ErvinProduction&lt;/a&gt;</p>
<p>Tips? Info? Send me a message</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://myfox8.com/2017/08/23/ex-internet-crimes-against-children-detective-pleads-guilty-to-child-sex-crimes/" type="external">http://myfox8.com/2017/08/23/ex-internet-crimes-against-children-detective-pleads-guilty-to-child-sex-crimes/</a></p>
| 6,540 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>With the stock market in nearly nonstop rally mode over the past six years, investors haven't needed to look far to uncover an abundance of growth stocks. But not all growth stocks are created equal: While some could still deliver extraordinary gains, others appear considerably overvalued, and might instead burden investors with hefty losses.</p>
<p>What exactlyisa growth stock? Though it's arbitrary, I'll define a growth stock as any company forecast to grow profits by 10% or more annually during the next five years. To decide what's "cheap," I'll use the PEG ratio, which compares a company's price-to-earnings ratio to its future growth rate. Any figure around or below one could signal a cheap stock.</p>
<p>Here are three companies that fit the bill.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Generally, automakers aren't viewed as "growth stocks," but most investors probably haven't taken a good look at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE: FCAU), which offers incredible growth potential in 2017 and beyond.</p>
<p>Like most automakers, Fiat Chrysler has been plagued by industry analyst predictions that U.S. auto sales are peaking. With China's recent slowdown in GDP growth and Europe's ongoing growth concerns, the U.S. has been propping up some of the world's largest automakers. If growth in the U.S. were to slow, Fiat Chrysler would certainly feel it. And, as the company's third-quarter earnings results showed, vehicle sales have been a bit light in Latin America, with revenue down $24 million on a year-over-year basis in Q3.</p>
<p>2017 Jeep Renegade. Image source: FCA Group.</p>
<p>Despite these concerns, it's mostly pedal to the metal for Fiat Chrysler. The company's Jeep brand is still leading the charge, with sales rising by 6% in fiscal 2016. Aside from redesigning some of the mainstays within the Jeep lineup, two aspects of the Jeep line have been hitting on all cylinders. First, Fiat Chrysler now has production facilities in China and Brazil that are helping reduce its production and transportation costs to the desired end market. Secondly, Fiat Chrysler's focus on smaller SUVs (e.g,, the Jeep Renegade) is hitting home with cost-conscious consumers around the globe.</p>
<p>Beyond Jeep, we're seeing a noticeable uptick in sales of SUVs, trucks, and yes, minivans. The Ram brand witnessed an 11% uptick in units sold in 2016, likely a reaction to an improving U.S. economy, as well as lower global crude prices, which lead to lower prices at the pump. Stable pump prices can entice consumers to buy trucks, SUVs, and minivans, which is great news for Fiat Chrysler since these vehicles have juicier margins.</p>
<p>Sporting a PEG ratio that's well below one and a forward P/E of just five, Fiat Chrysler looks to be a growth stock to consider buying.</p>
<p>Another cheap growth stock that could be worth a proverbial roll of the dice is gaming entertainment property owner Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD).</p>
<p>As you might have rightly surmised, the biggest constraint to Boyd Gaming's growth in the U.S. is consumer spending. Gaming is a cyclical industry, and it relies on strong GDP growth to entice consumers to open their wallets and head to the casino. Weaker-than-expected GDP growth in 2015 and much of 2016, compounded with the uncertainties of the transition to the Trump presidency, are all reasons why consumers may be a bit shy about their discretional spending.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>While I wouldn't deny these challenges, there are reasons to believe that Boyd's fortunes are going to keep improving. One of the prime pathways to growth for Boyd Gaming involves acquisitions. An ongoing low-rate environment has been conducive to borrowing, which has allowed Boyd to be aggressive with M&amp;A. In April, Boyd purchased Cannery Cassino Resorts' Las Vegas operations for $230 million, and also gobbled up the Aliante Casino Hotel and Spa for $380 million. All three properties are located in fast-growing North Las Vegas and position Boyd for superior growth in the years that lie ahead.</p>
<p>When applicable, Boyd has also been working to meld technology and innovation to drive customer experience and profitability higher. A 2014 deal with Bally Technologies allowed Boyd the opportunity to introduce new slot machine monitoring, marketing, player tracking, and accounting to a good number of its slot machines. Bally's technology also allows Boyd to offer players downloadable promotional slot machine credits, which could keep them engaged longer and boost brand loyalty. This isn't a technology that's implemented overnight, so it should generate continually improved returns throughout the remainder of the decade.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, Boyd Gaming's EPS is expected to grow from $0.79 in 2016 to an estimated $1.75 by 2019. With a PEG that's also below one, Boyd Gaming is certainly worth a look.</p>
<p>A final cheap growth stock worthy of investors' attention is specialty biopharmaceutical company Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE: EBS).</p>
<p>The biggest concern right now for specialty drugmakers is what might happen with pricing in the intermediate term. Donald Trump has, on multiple occasions, suggested that he would lower drug prices during his presidency, and even went so far as to suggest that drugmakers are "getting away with murder" in regard to their pricing power. More specifically, Emergent BioSolutions was recently hit after announcing its preliminary 2016 full-year sales, which assume a $20 million year-over-year decline at the midpoint as a result of lower BioThrax sales.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>But as with the other candidates above, Emergent BioSolutions remains intriguing despite its challenges. Whereas specialty drugmakers could find their pricing power handicapped given Trump's comments, Emergent is in a prime position as a biodefense company for the military. The aforementioned BioThrax vaccine is the only Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccine for pre-exposure protection against Anthrax. It currently makes up around half of the company's annual sales. Given its niche position, I would contend that pricing power won't be a concern for Emergent.</p>
<p>Even more so, Trump could wind up being an ally to Emergent. During his campaign, Trump suggested spending more on defense, which included boosting the manpower of all branches of the military. More military members probably means a higher number of vaccines needed.</p>
<p>There's also a really good chance that Emergent makes some serious administrative cost cuts in 2017. In its preliminary results press release, the company cautions that restructuring charges are likely. While that could provide a short-term drag on earnings, the result should be improved margins by as soon as 2018.</p>
<p>Emergent BioSolution's PEG of 1.3 isn't as low as Fiat Chrysler's or Boyd Gaming's, but the expected growth from $1.05 in full-year EPS in 2016 to an estimated $2.44 by 2019 can't be overlooked. Investors targeting cheap growth stocks should know the name Emergent BioSolutions.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Fiat Chrysler Automobiles 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=1f9637bb-dfc4-4369-9c6e-33a7a3b5d1fa&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 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles 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=1f9637bb-dfc4-4369-9c6e-33a7a3b5d1fa&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 January 4, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a>has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name <a href="http://caps.fool.com/player/tmfultralong.aspx" type="external">TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/TMFUltraLong" type="external">@TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>.The Motley Fool recommends Emergent BioSolutions. 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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3 Cheap Growth Stocks You Can Buy Right Now
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http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/03/10/3-cheap-growth-stocks-can-buy-right-now.html
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2017-01-23
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3 Cheap Growth Stocks You Can Buy Right Now
<p />
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>With the stock market in nearly nonstop rally mode over the past six years, investors haven't needed to look far to uncover an abundance of growth stocks. But not all growth stocks are created equal: While some could still deliver extraordinary gains, others appear considerably overvalued, and might instead burden investors with hefty losses.</p>
<p>What exactlyisa growth stock? Though it's arbitrary, I'll define a growth stock as any company forecast to grow profits by 10% or more annually during the next five years. To decide what's "cheap," I'll use the PEG ratio, which compares a company's price-to-earnings ratio to its future growth rate. Any figure around or below one could signal a cheap stock.</p>
<p>Here are three companies that fit the bill.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Generally, automakers aren't viewed as "growth stocks," but most investors probably haven't taken a good look at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE: FCAU), which offers incredible growth potential in 2017 and beyond.</p>
<p>Like most automakers, Fiat Chrysler has been plagued by industry analyst predictions that U.S. auto sales are peaking. With China's recent slowdown in GDP growth and Europe's ongoing growth concerns, the U.S. has been propping up some of the world's largest automakers. If growth in the U.S. were to slow, Fiat Chrysler would certainly feel it. And, as the company's third-quarter earnings results showed, vehicle sales have been a bit light in Latin America, with revenue down $24 million on a year-over-year basis in Q3.</p>
<p>2017 Jeep Renegade. Image source: FCA Group.</p>
<p>Despite these concerns, it's mostly pedal to the metal for Fiat Chrysler. The company's Jeep brand is still leading the charge, with sales rising by 6% in fiscal 2016. Aside from redesigning some of the mainstays within the Jeep lineup, two aspects of the Jeep line have been hitting on all cylinders. First, Fiat Chrysler now has production facilities in China and Brazil that are helping reduce its production and transportation costs to the desired end market. Secondly, Fiat Chrysler's focus on smaller SUVs (e.g,, the Jeep Renegade) is hitting home with cost-conscious consumers around the globe.</p>
<p>Beyond Jeep, we're seeing a noticeable uptick in sales of SUVs, trucks, and yes, minivans. The Ram brand witnessed an 11% uptick in units sold in 2016, likely a reaction to an improving U.S. economy, as well as lower global crude prices, which lead to lower prices at the pump. Stable pump prices can entice consumers to buy trucks, SUVs, and minivans, which is great news for Fiat Chrysler since these vehicles have juicier margins.</p>
<p>Sporting a PEG ratio that's well below one and a forward P/E of just five, Fiat Chrysler looks to be a growth stock to consider buying.</p>
<p>Another cheap growth stock that could be worth a proverbial roll of the dice is gaming entertainment property owner Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD).</p>
<p>As you might have rightly surmised, the biggest constraint to Boyd Gaming's growth in the U.S. is consumer spending. Gaming is a cyclical industry, and it relies on strong GDP growth to entice consumers to open their wallets and head to the casino. Weaker-than-expected GDP growth in 2015 and much of 2016, compounded with the uncertainties of the transition to the Trump presidency, are all reasons why consumers may be a bit shy about their discretional spending.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>While I wouldn't deny these challenges, there are reasons to believe that Boyd's fortunes are going to keep improving. One of the prime pathways to growth for Boyd Gaming involves acquisitions. An ongoing low-rate environment has been conducive to borrowing, which has allowed Boyd to be aggressive with M&amp;A. In April, Boyd purchased Cannery Cassino Resorts' Las Vegas operations for $230 million, and also gobbled up the Aliante Casino Hotel and Spa for $380 million. All three properties are located in fast-growing North Las Vegas and position Boyd for superior growth in the years that lie ahead.</p>
<p>When applicable, Boyd has also been working to meld technology and innovation to drive customer experience and profitability higher. A 2014 deal with Bally Technologies allowed Boyd the opportunity to introduce new slot machine monitoring, marketing, player tracking, and accounting to a good number of its slot machines. Bally's technology also allows Boyd to offer players downloadable promotional slot machine credits, which could keep them engaged longer and boost brand loyalty. This isn't a technology that's implemented overnight, so it should generate continually improved returns throughout the remainder of the decade.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, Boyd Gaming's EPS is expected to grow from $0.79 in 2016 to an estimated $1.75 by 2019. With a PEG that's also below one, Boyd Gaming is certainly worth a look.</p>
<p>A final cheap growth stock worthy of investors' attention is specialty biopharmaceutical company Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE: EBS).</p>
<p>The biggest concern right now for specialty drugmakers is what might happen with pricing in the intermediate term. Donald Trump has, on multiple occasions, suggested that he would lower drug prices during his presidency, and even went so far as to suggest that drugmakers are "getting away with murder" in regard to their pricing power. More specifically, Emergent BioSolutions was recently hit after announcing its preliminary 2016 full-year sales, which assume a $20 million year-over-year decline at the midpoint as a result of lower BioThrax sales.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>But as with the other candidates above, Emergent BioSolutions remains intriguing despite its challenges. Whereas specialty drugmakers could find their pricing power handicapped given Trump's comments, Emergent is in a prime position as a biodefense company for the military. The aforementioned BioThrax vaccine is the only Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccine for pre-exposure protection against Anthrax. It currently makes up around half of the company's annual sales. Given its niche position, I would contend that pricing power won't be a concern for Emergent.</p>
<p>Even more so, Trump could wind up being an ally to Emergent. During his campaign, Trump suggested spending more on defense, which included boosting the manpower of all branches of the military. More military members probably means a higher number of vaccines needed.</p>
<p>There's also a really good chance that Emergent makes some serious administrative cost cuts in 2017. In its preliminary results press release, the company cautions that restructuring charges are likely. While that could provide a short-term drag on earnings, the result should be improved margins by as soon as 2018.</p>
<p>Emergent BioSolution's PEG of 1.3 isn't as low as Fiat Chrysler's or Boyd Gaming's, but the expected growth from $1.05 in full-year EPS in 2016 to an estimated $2.44 by 2019 can't be overlooked. Investors targeting cheap growth stocks should know the name Emergent BioSolutions.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Fiat Chrysler Automobiles 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=1f9637bb-dfc4-4369-9c6e-33a7a3b5d1fa&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 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles 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=1f9637bb-dfc4-4369-9c6e-33a7a3b5d1fa&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 January 4, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a>has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name <a href="http://caps.fool.com/player/tmfultralong.aspx" type="external">TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/TMFUltraLong" type="external">@TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>.The Motley Fool recommends Emergent BioSolutions. 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>
| 6,541 |
<p />
<p>My story on <a href="/news/outfront/2007/09/doggone-it-people-like-him.html" type="external">Al Franken’s Minnesota senate run</a> hits the web today, and I thought I’d round it out with some more material on the blog.</p>
<p>There were three things that I heard consistently when I was on the ground in Minnesota. First, no one seemed to mind that Franken’s background is an unconventional one for a Senate candidate. Here were some responses I got when I asked about it:</p>
<p>I was genuinely surprised that Minnesota Democrats (known as DFLers) were not more worried about Franken’s history of dirty jokes and lack of public service. The national media seems to think those two factors make Franken’s candidacy a non-starter, and Norm Coleman, the Republican incumbent, and other GOP forces are trying to play them up as much as possible.</p>
<p>The second thing I found is that Minnesotans deny being abnormally open to oddball candidates. It’s a common media meme, based on the fact that Minnesota elected Paul Wellstone, a short, bald college professor with a fanatical devotion to extremely liberal beliefs, and Jesse Ventura, a wrestler and C-level actor. “I don’t know if it’s just an anomaly,” Franken told me. “People embraced Paul because of his uniqueness, and I don’t know if that was just… unique.” He made the point that Wellstone connected in a very special way with people and was almost genetically truthful, and that voters from any state would have found him appealing. “And Ventura won in a three-way race at a point when the state was totally flush, when the economy was just tooling along, we had a surplus in the country and in the state. And I really believe that during that period… people went like, “How hard is it really to do this?”</p>
<p>Franken pointed something else out. “I think Ventura did speak to people’s dissatisfaction with the blandness of politics at the time. You know he had Skip Humphrey and Norm Coleman on either side of him.” As Minnesota native Garrison Keillor would say, “empty suits.” (Coleman later went on to win Wellstone’s senate seat after Wellstone died in a plane crash less than two weeks before the election.)</p>
<p>Even the professional punditry agreed. I asked Wy Spano, long-time Democratic politico and Director of the Center for Advocacy and Political Leadership at University of Minnesota Duluth, if Minnesotans like quirky politicians. He seemed taken aback. “I don’t know about that,” he said. He paused, and then went into a detailed explanation of Wellstone’s and Ventura’s elections.</p>
<p>This is the way Minnesotans account for their voting history, from Franken and Spano all the way down the line. If you examine the circumstances of Wellstone and Ventura individually, they say, and look at the accidents of history surrounding their campaigns, the explanations reveal themselves. As Mark Ritchie, Minnesota’s Secretary of State, said to me, “I don’t think voters appreciate quirkiness here any more than any place else.”</p>
<p>As for authenticity, it’s on the fore because of Wellstone — a man who Minnesotans, at least politically active ones, clearly still miss. Instead of a senator in Wellstone who was legendary for his rigid principles, Minnesotans got Coleman, a former Democrat with weathervane tendencies. One Democrat described Coleman to me as “one of the most transparently phony people in all of American politics.”</p>
<p>Franken has an aura of authenticity that Minnesotans were buzzing about. Maybe it’s that he sometimes gets so angry over a Bush Administration sin that he stumbles over his words and loses any semblance of a politician’s veneer. Maybe it’s that he has confronted all of the Right’s biggest bullies (O’Reilly, Limbaugh, Gingrich, Wolfowitz, among others) and no half-hearted liberal would put his reputation in harm’s way so recklessly and frequently. Regardless of the reason, people buy in. “We tend to send the same kind of people [to Washington],” said a retired farmer I spoke with Minnesota. “[They] are arrogant, have ambition, and have drive, and when they get there they kind of forget why they went. I think Al is the kind of person who if he got there would be the same kind of person he is now.”</p>
<p>The question is, is that a good thing for Minnesota? And for the Democratic Party?</p>
<p>And PS – I should admit that I spoke mostly to Democrats when I was up north — following a Democratic candidate on the campaign trail doesn’t put you in touch with many Republicans — so people were naturally disposed toward Franken. But the facts as I saw them do have bearing on his chances in the Democratic primary. I did attempt to contact Coleman’s campaign and the Minnesota Republican Party — they didn’t return my calls.</p>
<p />
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“Humor is a Form of Common Sense”: Further Notes on Franken’s Minnesota Run
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https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/09/humor-form-common-sense-further-notes-frankens-minnesota-run/
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2007-09-14
| 4left
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“Humor is a Form of Common Sense”: Further Notes on Franken’s Minnesota Run
<p />
<p>My story on <a href="/news/outfront/2007/09/doggone-it-people-like-him.html" type="external">Al Franken’s Minnesota senate run</a> hits the web today, and I thought I’d round it out with some more material on the blog.</p>
<p>There were three things that I heard consistently when I was on the ground in Minnesota. First, no one seemed to mind that Franken’s background is an unconventional one for a Senate candidate. Here were some responses I got when I asked about it:</p>
<p>I was genuinely surprised that Minnesota Democrats (known as DFLers) were not more worried about Franken’s history of dirty jokes and lack of public service. The national media seems to think those two factors make Franken’s candidacy a non-starter, and Norm Coleman, the Republican incumbent, and other GOP forces are trying to play them up as much as possible.</p>
<p>The second thing I found is that Minnesotans deny being abnormally open to oddball candidates. It’s a common media meme, based on the fact that Minnesota elected Paul Wellstone, a short, bald college professor with a fanatical devotion to extremely liberal beliefs, and Jesse Ventura, a wrestler and C-level actor. “I don’t know if it’s just an anomaly,” Franken told me. “People embraced Paul because of his uniqueness, and I don’t know if that was just… unique.” He made the point that Wellstone connected in a very special way with people and was almost genetically truthful, and that voters from any state would have found him appealing. “And Ventura won in a three-way race at a point when the state was totally flush, when the economy was just tooling along, we had a surplus in the country and in the state. And I really believe that during that period… people went like, “How hard is it really to do this?”</p>
<p>Franken pointed something else out. “I think Ventura did speak to people’s dissatisfaction with the blandness of politics at the time. You know he had Skip Humphrey and Norm Coleman on either side of him.” As Minnesota native Garrison Keillor would say, “empty suits.” (Coleman later went on to win Wellstone’s senate seat after Wellstone died in a plane crash less than two weeks before the election.)</p>
<p>Even the professional punditry agreed. I asked Wy Spano, long-time Democratic politico and Director of the Center for Advocacy and Political Leadership at University of Minnesota Duluth, if Minnesotans like quirky politicians. He seemed taken aback. “I don’t know about that,” he said. He paused, and then went into a detailed explanation of Wellstone’s and Ventura’s elections.</p>
<p>This is the way Minnesotans account for their voting history, from Franken and Spano all the way down the line. If you examine the circumstances of Wellstone and Ventura individually, they say, and look at the accidents of history surrounding their campaigns, the explanations reveal themselves. As Mark Ritchie, Minnesota’s Secretary of State, said to me, “I don’t think voters appreciate quirkiness here any more than any place else.”</p>
<p>As for authenticity, it’s on the fore because of Wellstone — a man who Minnesotans, at least politically active ones, clearly still miss. Instead of a senator in Wellstone who was legendary for his rigid principles, Minnesotans got Coleman, a former Democrat with weathervane tendencies. One Democrat described Coleman to me as “one of the most transparently phony people in all of American politics.”</p>
<p>Franken has an aura of authenticity that Minnesotans were buzzing about. Maybe it’s that he sometimes gets so angry over a Bush Administration sin that he stumbles over his words and loses any semblance of a politician’s veneer. Maybe it’s that he has confronted all of the Right’s biggest bullies (O’Reilly, Limbaugh, Gingrich, Wolfowitz, among others) and no half-hearted liberal would put his reputation in harm’s way so recklessly and frequently. Regardless of the reason, people buy in. “We tend to send the same kind of people [to Washington],” said a retired farmer I spoke with Minnesota. “[They] are arrogant, have ambition, and have drive, and when they get there they kind of forget why they went. I think Al is the kind of person who if he got there would be the same kind of person he is now.”</p>
<p>The question is, is that a good thing for Minnesota? And for the Democratic Party?</p>
<p>And PS – I should admit that I spoke mostly to Democrats when I was up north — following a Democratic candidate on the campaign trail doesn’t put you in touch with many Republicans — so people were naturally disposed toward Franken. But the facts as I saw them do have bearing on his chances in the Democratic primary. I did attempt to contact Coleman’s campaign and the Minnesota Republican Party — they didn’t return my calls.</p>
<p />
| 6,542 |
<p>Toronto Intl. Film Festival</p>
<p>A charismatic con man, his two wives and his long-lost son take an unconventional road-trip across Kyrgyzstan in “Suleiman Mountain,” an offbeat and often comic drama that will world premiere in the Discovery program of the Toronto Intl. Film Festival.</p>
<p>“Suleiman” is the feature debut of Elizaveta Stishova, a Russian helmer who returned to the rugged Central Asian nation where she lensed a short film and worked as first A.D. on Sadyk Sher-Niyaz’s 2014 historical epic “Kurmanjan Datka Queen of the Mountains.”</p>
<p>Their journey takes audiences into a colorful world of folk traditions and shamanistic rituals, offering a rare big-screen spotlight for Kyrgyzstan.</p>
<p>Shooting in the Central Asian nation proved to be a challenge for the Moscow-born helmer who had to hustle to bring pic to completion.</p>
<p>“It’s impossible to get the money to shoot in Kyrgyzstan if you’re Russian,” says Stishova, who struggled to tap European funds and was twice turned down for coin by the Russian government.</p>
<p>Despite the difficulties, she managed to secure private financing to shoot in a country with its own robust filmmaking culture, producing roughly 100 micro-budget movies a year, according to Stishova. The director had to bring in much of her equipment from Moscow but worked with a largely Kyrgyz crew. Pic was cast locally, apart from lead actor&#160;Asset Imangaliev, who&#160;comes from neighboring Kazakhstan.</p>
<p>Even as she recognizes that the work of a Russian filmmaker will find local critics in Kyrgyzstan, Stishova says she was warmly welcomed in the country, thanks in part to a facility for making herself at home in foreign lands. “I don’t feel any borders between countries,” she says.</p>
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Helmer Stishova Offers Rare Big-Screen Glimpse of Kyrgyzstan in TIFF Pic ‘Mountain’
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https://newsline.com/helmer-stishova-offers-rare-big-screen-glimpse-of-kyrgyzstan-in-tiff-pic-mountain/
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2017-09-11
| 1right-center
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Helmer Stishova Offers Rare Big-Screen Glimpse of Kyrgyzstan in TIFF Pic ‘Mountain’
<p>Toronto Intl. Film Festival</p>
<p>A charismatic con man, his two wives and his long-lost son take an unconventional road-trip across Kyrgyzstan in “Suleiman Mountain,” an offbeat and often comic drama that will world premiere in the Discovery program of the Toronto Intl. Film Festival.</p>
<p>“Suleiman” is the feature debut of Elizaveta Stishova, a Russian helmer who returned to the rugged Central Asian nation where she lensed a short film and worked as first A.D. on Sadyk Sher-Niyaz’s 2014 historical epic “Kurmanjan Datka Queen of the Mountains.”</p>
<p>Their journey takes audiences into a colorful world of folk traditions and shamanistic rituals, offering a rare big-screen spotlight for Kyrgyzstan.</p>
<p>Shooting in the Central Asian nation proved to be a challenge for the Moscow-born helmer who had to hustle to bring pic to completion.</p>
<p>“It’s impossible to get the money to shoot in Kyrgyzstan if you’re Russian,” says Stishova, who struggled to tap European funds and was twice turned down for coin by the Russian government.</p>
<p>Despite the difficulties, she managed to secure private financing to shoot in a country with its own robust filmmaking culture, producing roughly 100 micro-budget movies a year, according to Stishova. The director had to bring in much of her equipment from Moscow but worked with a largely Kyrgyz crew. Pic was cast locally, apart from lead actor&#160;Asset Imangaliev, who&#160;comes from neighboring Kazakhstan.</p>
<p>Even as she recognizes that the work of a Russian filmmaker will find local critics in Kyrgyzstan, Stishova says she was warmly welcomed in the country, thanks in part to a facility for making herself at home in foreign lands. “I don’t feel any borders between countries,” she says.</p>
| 6,543 |
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<p>NEW YORK - Shares of Tesla Motors Inc. surged 14 percent Tuesday after a Wall Street analyst told investors that Tesla could shake up the electric utility sector as well as the auto industry.</p>
<p>Analyst Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley wrote in a note to investors that Tesla could nearly double its share of the global car market by 2028. And it also could create another lucrative business by building battery packs for energy storage. He doubled his target price for Tesla stock to $320 per share from $153.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Tesla shares rose $30.35 to close at $248.00 Tuesday.</p>
<p>Tesla is expected this week to formally announce the building of a "Gigafactory" to produce batteries with Panasonic and other partners. It would be the largest battery pack factory in the U.S. and New Mexico is said to be among the states being considered.</p>
<p>Such batteries could be used at homes and businesses to store energy for times of peak electricity use. Electric companies nationwide are switching to a system that charges people more for energy during peak hours, and batteries could cut those costs.</p>
<p>"If Tesla can become the world's low-cost producer in energy storage, we see significant optionality for Tesla to disrupt adjacent industries," Jonas wrote, adding that the electric energy storage business is worth $2 trillion globally.</p>
<p>The factory also would cut the company's own battery costs, he wrote.</p>
<p>Separately, the Tesla Model S electric sedan was named Consumer Reports' top pick in this year's automotive survey released Tuesday. The magazine cited the Model S's sporty performance and technological innovations, but it acknowledged that the car is expensive. Consumer Reports paid $89,650 for the Model S it tested.</p>
<p>Tesla, led by billionaire Elon Musk, said on an earnings conference call that Tesla plans to boost production to more than 1,000 cars per week from the current pace of 600 a week.</p>
<p>Tesla must also ramp up for the Model X, a new electric SUV, this year. The company plans a less-costly car for the masses that could go on sale as early as 2016.</p>
<p>Tesla shares are up about 70 percent so far this year and are worth more than seven times what they were at the end of 2012.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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Analyst doubles price target, boosts Tesla shares
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https://abqjournal.com/358939/analyst-doubles-price-target-boosts-tesla-shares.html
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Analyst doubles price target, boosts Tesla shares
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<p />
<p>NEW YORK - Shares of Tesla Motors Inc. surged 14 percent Tuesday after a Wall Street analyst told investors that Tesla could shake up the electric utility sector as well as the auto industry.</p>
<p>Analyst Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley wrote in a note to investors that Tesla could nearly double its share of the global car market by 2028. And it also could create another lucrative business by building battery packs for energy storage. He doubled his target price for Tesla stock to $320 per share from $153.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Tesla shares rose $30.35 to close at $248.00 Tuesday.</p>
<p>Tesla is expected this week to formally announce the building of a "Gigafactory" to produce batteries with Panasonic and other partners. It would be the largest battery pack factory in the U.S. and New Mexico is said to be among the states being considered.</p>
<p>Such batteries could be used at homes and businesses to store energy for times of peak electricity use. Electric companies nationwide are switching to a system that charges people more for energy during peak hours, and batteries could cut those costs.</p>
<p>"If Tesla can become the world's low-cost producer in energy storage, we see significant optionality for Tesla to disrupt adjacent industries," Jonas wrote, adding that the electric energy storage business is worth $2 trillion globally.</p>
<p>The factory also would cut the company's own battery costs, he wrote.</p>
<p>Separately, the Tesla Model S electric sedan was named Consumer Reports' top pick in this year's automotive survey released Tuesday. The magazine cited the Model S's sporty performance and technological innovations, but it acknowledged that the car is expensive. Consumer Reports paid $89,650 for the Model S it tested.</p>
<p>Tesla, led by billionaire Elon Musk, said on an earnings conference call that Tesla plans to boost production to more than 1,000 cars per week from the current pace of 600 a week.</p>
<p>Tesla must also ramp up for the Model X, a new electric SUV, this year. The company plans a less-costly car for the masses that could go on sale as early as 2016.</p>
<p>Tesla shares are up about 70 percent so far this year and are worth more than seven times what they were at the end of 2012.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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<p>Stories speak volumes in the playwright <a href="http://variety.com/t/anne-washburn/" type="external">Anne Washburn</a>’s work. In “ <a href="http://variety.com/2013/legit/reviews/off-broadway-review-mr-burns-a-post-electric-play-1200613412/" type="external">Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play</a>,” she submitted an episode of “The Simpsons” to 70 years of hand-me-down distortion. In a world with no power, its plot was passed on by mouth, storyteller to storyteller and, as society shifted, so did the storyline. It evolved to express the inchoate hopes, fears and needs of a nation and a culture.</p>
<p>Her stage adaptation of “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/the-twilight-zone/" type="external">The Twilight Zone</a>,” now playing at London’s <a href="http://variety.com/t/almeida-theatre/" type="external">Almeida Theatre</a>, pulls the same trick. It might look, initially, like a bit of a laugh – a loving send-up of the cult TV show’s retro charms. But what starts as an exercise in style slowly accumulates substance, and Washburn argues that the eerie and uncanny tales of “ <a href="http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/twilight-zone-reboot-cbs-all-access-jordan-peele-simon-kinberg-marco-ramirez-1202632108/" type="external">The Twilight Zone</a>” tap into something deep-seated in the American psyche. A gentle pastiche becomes an act of cultural exegesis.</p>
<p>Of the 156 episodes of <a href="http://variety.com/t/rod-serling/" type="external">Rod Serling</a>’s otherworldly anthology that were broadcast on network television between 1959 and 1964, Washburn adapts eight fairly faithfully. These are dinky vignettes about roadside diners rooting out aliens in their midst, children lost in their own bedroom walls and homecoming astronauts that may or may not exist.</p>
<p>Rather than stacking Serling’s stories back-to-back, Washburn splices them together, loosening the linearity of the logic and adding to the aura of woozy oddity. In practice, however, Richard Jones’ disjointed staging mostly bunny-hops between them, and few achieve the satisfaction of complete storytelling. Instead, it slips into a parade of strange figures and shady oddballs on Paul Steinberg’s starry-night set. There are big-brained aliens and mummified women, precocious ventriloquists and paranoid delusional pilots. An unblinking John Marquez best captures the slippery spirit, as he staves off sleep for fear of the feline figure (Lizzy Connelly) haunting his dreams.</p>
<p>There’s no denying the originality or the elegance of these vignettes. Yet if this stage version of “The Twilight Zone” stutters, it’s a question of style. A boisterous cast hammer home the geez-whizz style of old-school black-and-white TV, and they’re forever drifting off into Serling’s trademark, convoluted asides and swirling around cheap cardboard cut-outs of concentric circles and Einsteinian equations. But the show itself ends up caught between worlds: Washburn’s versions are too reverent to slip into outright, carefree spoof, but since Jones pokes fun at the retro-futurist schlock, it can’t remotely unsettle, either.</p>
<p>However, the playwright nudges us into another way of watching. Her script is “like puzzle pieces adding up to a picture,” and by skipping between stories on shuffle, Washburn lets repeated images and motifs swim to the surface. Spacemen and aliens, yes, but also invasion and oblivion, and all sorts of people stuck between states – waking and sleeping, youth and old-age, this dimension and the next.</p>
<p>Gradually, skillfully, Washburn hones in on America’s anxieties of the time. In a story called “The Shelter,” set against an incoming nuclear strike, a close-knit, white-picket community rips itself apart fighting for space in an atomic bunker. Racial tensions boil over, wealth gaps hit home, and if it feels horribly recognizable today, it ties Trump’s America into the tensions of that time. Squint through “The Twilight Zone” and you see Cold War America: as fearful for its future as it is hopeful. Twilight is, after all, a period of change, a slow slide from one state to another. Small wonder so many of Serling’s stories are haunted by oblivion.</p>
|
London Theater Review: ‘The Twilight Zone’
| false |
https://newsline.com/london-theater-review-the-twilight-zone/
|
2017-12-13
| 1right-center
|
London Theater Review: ‘The Twilight Zone’
<p>Stories speak volumes in the playwright <a href="http://variety.com/t/anne-washburn/" type="external">Anne Washburn</a>’s work. In “ <a href="http://variety.com/2013/legit/reviews/off-broadway-review-mr-burns-a-post-electric-play-1200613412/" type="external">Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play</a>,” she submitted an episode of “The Simpsons” to 70 years of hand-me-down distortion. In a world with no power, its plot was passed on by mouth, storyteller to storyteller and, as society shifted, so did the storyline. It evolved to express the inchoate hopes, fears and needs of a nation and a culture.</p>
<p>Her stage adaptation of “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/the-twilight-zone/" type="external">The Twilight Zone</a>,” now playing at London’s <a href="http://variety.com/t/almeida-theatre/" type="external">Almeida Theatre</a>, pulls the same trick. It might look, initially, like a bit of a laugh – a loving send-up of the cult TV show’s retro charms. But what starts as an exercise in style slowly accumulates substance, and Washburn argues that the eerie and uncanny tales of “ <a href="http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/twilight-zone-reboot-cbs-all-access-jordan-peele-simon-kinberg-marco-ramirez-1202632108/" type="external">The Twilight Zone</a>” tap into something deep-seated in the American psyche. A gentle pastiche becomes an act of cultural exegesis.</p>
<p>Of the 156 episodes of <a href="http://variety.com/t/rod-serling/" type="external">Rod Serling</a>’s otherworldly anthology that were broadcast on network television between 1959 and 1964, Washburn adapts eight fairly faithfully. These are dinky vignettes about roadside diners rooting out aliens in their midst, children lost in their own bedroom walls and homecoming astronauts that may or may not exist.</p>
<p>Rather than stacking Serling’s stories back-to-back, Washburn splices them together, loosening the linearity of the logic and adding to the aura of woozy oddity. In practice, however, Richard Jones’ disjointed staging mostly bunny-hops between them, and few achieve the satisfaction of complete storytelling. Instead, it slips into a parade of strange figures and shady oddballs on Paul Steinberg’s starry-night set. There are big-brained aliens and mummified women, precocious ventriloquists and paranoid delusional pilots. An unblinking John Marquez best captures the slippery spirit, as he staves off sleep for fear of the feline figure (Lizzy Connelly) haunting his dreams.</p>
<p>There’s no denying the originality or the elegance of these vignettes. Yet if this stage version of “The Twilight Zone” stutters, it’s a question of style. A boisterous cast hammer home the geez-whizz style of old-school black-and-white TV, and they’re forever drifting off into Serling’s trademark, convoluted asides and swirling around cheap cardboard cut-outs of concentric circles and Einsteinian equations. But the show itself ends up caught between worlds: Washburn’s versions are too reverent to slip into outright, carefree spoof, but since Jones pokes fun at the retro-futurist schlock, it can’t remotely unsettle, either.</p>
<p>However, the playwright nudges us into another way of watching. Her script is “like puzzle pieces adding up to a picture,” and by skipping between stories on shuffle, Washburn lets repeated images and motifs swim to the surface. Spacemen and aliens, yes, but also invasion and oblivion, and all sorts of people stuck between states – waking and sleeping, youth and old-age, this dimension and the next.</p>
<p>Gradually, skillfully, Washburn hones in on America’s anxieties of the time. In a story called “The Shelter,” set against an incoming nuclear strike, a close-knit, white-picket community rips itself apart fighting for space in an atomic bunker. Racial tensions boil over, wealth gaps hit home, and if it feels horribly recognizable today, it ties Trump’s America into the tensions of that time. Squint through “The Twilight Zone” and you see Cold War America: as fearful for its future as it is hopeful. Twilight is, after all, a period of change, a slow slide from one state to another. Small wonder so many of Serling’s stories are haunted by oblivion.</p>
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<p />
<p>Utah’s voters passed a resolution to not recognize gay marriages within their state. &#160;Much like when California also overwhelmingly passed a similar resolution those on the losing side of the issue sued to have the will of the people overturned.</p>
<p>Unlike California, the governor of Utah is not complicit the undermining of his own constituency’s voice and decided to fight the suit.</p>
<p>Initially an activist judge, Roberty Shelby, ruled that gay marriages must be performed in Utah. &#160;Roughly 1300 such marriages were allowed to go forward until the Supreme Court finally stepped in to place a stay on the ruling until the appeal of Utah was heard.</p>
<p>This is where corrupt Attorney General Eric Holder and the Obama Administration decide to get involved.</p>
<p>Eric Holder has released a statement saying that the Federal Government will recognize these marriages even if their state does not.</p>
<p>Here is the video, take a minute to watch it because I’m about to break down some of the things he said and what it means when applied to gun rights.</p>
<p />
<p>Last year the Supreme Court made a landmark ruling.</p>
<p>Historic steps of equality for all Americans.</p>
<p>Department of Justice moves to implement it in both letter and SPIRIT.</p>
<p>While other matters our dealt with in court the Federal Government will RECOGNIZE the right regardless of what the state says.</p>
<p>People shouldn’t have to deal with uncertainty as litigation unfolds.</p>
<p>Coordinated ACROSS the federal government for TIMELY benefits.</p>
<p>All right Mr. Hyprocrite Holder. &#160;Let me get this straight. &#160;You swoop in like a man of action when it deals with gay marriage, marriage itself not being a right held anywhere in our basis of government (and which should not have any government involvement to begin with), yet when it comes to an actual enumerated right on which our nation was founded you are not only silent but wantonly attack said right.</p>
<p>Because, correct me if I am wrong, but I think Heller v DC was a “landmark ruling” as was McDonald v Chicago yet there was no federal push to limit New York’s passage of the SAFE Act nor of Connecticut’s push for pointless gun control.</p>
<p>There was no federal oversight ensuring&#160;“equality of all Americans”&#160;when legislation for the SAFE act gives rights to police officers, both active and retired, that are denied regular folk.</p>
<p>Where was the Justice Department move to “implement the letter and SPIRIT of the ruling”&#160;in the District of Columbia&#160;&#160;where the law abiding are dissuaded and disenfranchised at every possible turn by the City when they try and exercise their Second Amendment rights?</p>
<p>Speaking of DC, where is the Federal Government recognizing ALL permits to carry a firearm within Washington DC? &#160;Or for the recognition of the right to carry on federal lands regardless of what the state said land resides in?</p>
<p>And lastly, what “coordination across the federal government” has the Dept. of Justice spearheaded that eases the burden on law abiding gun owners? &#160;In fact, between executive actions, failed gun control measures and the propagation of talk on gun bans, the federal government has ignored both the letter and spirit of recent Supreme Court rulings in order to oppress those that covet their right to keep and bear arms.</p>
<p>Speaking of coordination, the highlight of your coordination effort was in running guns into Mexico to give to drug cartels in order for them to murder innocent people and US border patrol agents.</p>
<p>Eric Holder is a hypocrite and a disgrace.</p>
<p>If the Federal Government is so gung-ho on undermining states rights they can start with New York’s SAFE Act.</p>
<p>If the Federal Government is so revved up to keep with the spirit of Heller and McDonald cases they can go ahead and get rid of the Title II regulations because the spirit of the ruling dictates that the right to keep and bear arms is limited only to what those arms the military have for common use.</p>
<p>(f) None of the Court’s precedents forecloses the Court’s interpretation. Neither&#160; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Cruikshank" type="external">United States v. Cruikshank</a>, 92 U. S. 542 , nor&#160; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presser_v._Illinois" type="external">Presser v. Illinois</a>, 116 U. S. 252 , refutes the individual-rights interpretation.&#160; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Miller" type="external">United States v. Miller</a>, 307 U. S. 174 , does not limit the right to keep and bear arms to militia purposes, but rather limits the type of weapon to which the right applies to those used by the militia, i.e., those in common use for lawful purposes.</p>
<p>When I was in the Army I distinctly remember using a machine gun.</p>
<p>And if Eric Holder is so concerned about people dealing with uncertainty&#160;as litigation unfolds then the Justice Department needs to chat up the Executive and tell him to pass some orders ensuring that no American’s property can be stolen from them by the States regardless of what new legislation is passed.</p>
<p>And if Mr. Holder wants to do some coordinating across the Federal government he can start with the AFT and have them drop the F.</p>
<p>After all, if a right shall not be infringed why does the ATF deal with firearms at all?</p>
<p>So if Holder wants to slither out of his snakeskin and stop being a hypocritical bastard who doesn’t give a damn about justice, only politics, then a good start would be to embrace the Supreme Courts rulings concerning the rulings he doesn’t like with as much fervor as the ones he does.</p>
<p>Editor’s Note: One of my readers from ammo.com reached out and sent this very comprehensive guide concerning the major Supreme Court decisions regarding the 2nd Amendment and I would encourage you all to take a look.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.</p>
|
Holder’s Hypocrisy Dance on Gay Marriage and Guns
| true |
http://bulletsfirst.net/2014/01/13/holders-hypocrisy-dance-gay-marriage-guns/
| 0right
|
Holder’s Hypocrisy Dance on Gay Marriage and Guns
<p />
<p>Utah’s voters passed a resolution to not recognize gay marriages within their state. &#160;Much like when California also overwhelmingly passed a similar resolution those on the losing side of the issue sued to have the will of the people overturned.</p>
<p>Unlike California, the governor of Utah is not complicit the undermining of his own constituency’s voice and decided to fight the suit.</p>
<p>Initially an activist judge, Roberty Shelby, ruled that gay marriages must be performed in Utah. &#160;Roughly 1300 such marriages were allowed to go forward until the Supreme Court finally stepped in to place a stay on the ruling until the appeal of Utah was heard.</p>
<p>This is where corrupt Attorney General Eric Holder and the Obama Administration decide to get involved.</p>
<p>Eric Holder has released a statement saying that the Federal Government will recognize these marriages even if their state does not.</p>
<p>Here is the video, take a minute to watch it because I’m about to break down some of the things he said and what it means when applied to gun rights.</p>
<p />
<p>Last year the Supreme Court made a landmark ruling.</p>
<p>Historic steps of equality for all Americans.</p>
<p>Department of Justice moves to implement it in both letter and SPIRIT.</p>
<p>While other matters our dealt with in court the Federal Government will RECOGNIZE the right regardless of what the state says.</p>
<p>People shouldn’t have to deal with uncertainty as litigation unfolds.</p>
<p>Coordinated ACROSS the federal government for TIMELY benefits.</p>
<p>All right Mr. Hyprocrite Holder. &#160;Let me get this straight. &#160;You swoop in like a man of action when it deals with gay marriage, marriage itself not being a right held anywhere in our basis of government (and which should not have any government involvement to begin with), yet when it comes to an actual enumerated right on which our nation was founded you are not only silent but wantonly attack said right.</p>
<p>Because, correct me if I am wrong, but I think Heller v DC was a “landmark ruling” as was McDonald v Chicago yet there was no federal push to limit New York’s passage of the SAFE Act nor of Connecticut’s push for pointless gun control.</p>
<p>There was no federal oversight ensuring&#160;“equality of all Americans”&#160;when legislation for the SAFE act gives rights to police officers, both active and retired, that are denied regular folk.</p>
<p>Where was the Justice Department move to “implement the letter and SPIRIT of the ruling”&#160;in the District of Columbia&#160;&#160;where the law abiding are dissuaded and disenfranchised at every possible turn by the City when they try and exercise their Second Amendment rights?</p>
<p>Speaking of DC, where is the Federal Government recognizing ALL permits to carry a firearm within Washington DC? &#160;Or for the recognition of the right to carry on federal lands regardless of what the state said land resides in?</p>
<p>And lastly, what “coordination across the federal government” has the Dept. of Justice spearheaded that eases the burden on law abiding gun owners? &#160;In fact, between executive actions, failed gun control measures and the propagation of talk on gun bans, the federal government has ignored both the letter and spirit of recent Supreme Court rulings in order to oppress those that covet their right to keep and bear arms.</p>
<p>Speaking of coordination, the highlight of your coordination effort was in running guns into Mexico to give to drug cartels in order for them to murder innocent people and US border patrol agents.</p>
<p>Eric Holder is a hypocrite and a disgrace.</p>
<p>If the Federal Government is so gung-ho on undermining states rights they can start with New York’s SAFE Act.</p>
<p>If the Federal Government is so revved up to keep with the spirit of Heller and McDonald cases they can go ahead and get rid of the Title II regulations because the spirit of the ruling dictates that the right to keep and bear arms is limited only to what those arms the military have for common use.</p>
<p>(f) None of the Court’s precedents forecloses the Court’s interpretation. Neither&#160; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Cruikshank" type="external">United States v. Cruikshank</a>, 92 U. S. 542 , nor&#160; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presser_v._Illinois" type="external">Presser v. Illinois</a>, 116 U. S. 252 , refutes the individual-rights interpretation.&#160; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Miller" type="external">United States v. Miller</a>, 307 U. S. 174 , does not limit the right to keep and bear arms to militia purposes, but rather limits the type of weapon to which the right applies to those used by the militia, i.e., those in common use for lawful purposes.</p>
<p>When I was in the Army I distinctly remember using a machine gun.</p>
<p>And if Eric Holder is so concerned about people dealing with uncertainty&#160;as litigation unfolds then the Justice Department needs to chat up the Executive and tell him to pass some orders ensuring that no American’s property can be stolen from them by the States regardless of what new legislation is passed.</p>
<p>And if Mr. Holder wants to do some coordinating across the Federal government he can start with the AFT and have them drop the F.</p>
<p>After all, if a right shall not be infringed why does the ATF deal with firearms at all?</p>
<p>So if Holder wants to slither out of his snakeskin and stop being a hypocritical bastard who doesn’t give a damn about justice, only politics, then a good start would be to embrace the Supreme Courts rulings concerning the rulings he doesn’t like with as much fervor as the ones he does.</p>
<p>Editor’s Note: One of my readers from ammo.com reached out and sent this very comprehensive guide concerning the major Supreme Court decisions regarding the 2nd Amendment and I would encourage you all to take a look.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.</p>
| 6,546 |
|
<p>The question is not whether there will be a war between <a href="" type="internal">Israel</a> and Iran. The question is, will it escalate?</p>
<p>The war has already been going on for some time now. Forgetting the heated rhetoric on both sides, a look at the facts shows that a covert war is currently going on in the <a href="" type="internal">Middle East</a>:</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>January 11 Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, 32, director of the Natanz uranium enrichment plant in central Iran, is killed when two assailants on a motorcycle attach magnetic bombs to his car.</p>
<p>December 11, 2011 At least seven people are killed in a blast at a steel mill linked to Iran's nuclear program in the city of Yasd. Foreign nationals, possibly North Korean, are among the dead.</p>
<p>November 28, 2011 Mysterious explosion heard at nuclear facilities in Isfahan. Explosion confirmed by satellite pictures.</p>
<p>November 12, 2011 Gen. Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, the head of Iran’s missile program, and 16 others were killed in a blast at the Alghadir missile base at Bid Ganeh.</p>
<p>September 28, 2011 An Iranian plot to kill a Saudi Ambassador, Adel al-Jubeir, is foiled when Manssor Arbabsiar is detained while trying to fly to Mexico. Gholam Shakuri, another Iranian and reportedly a member of the Revolutionary Guard in Iran, has also been charged.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>July 23, 2011 Darioush Rezaeinejad, nuclear scientist, is shot dead while waiting for his child outside of a kindergarten in Tehran.</p>
<p>November 29, 2010 Majid Shahriari, top Iranian nuclear scientist, is killed when a bomb is attached to his car by a motorcyclist in Tehran. Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, a 52-year-old nuclear scientist working for Iran's defense ministry, escapes, though wounded in a separate attack.</p>
<p>January 12, 2010 Quantum field theorist Masoud Alimohammadi is killed just after breakfast by a bomb strapped to a motorcycle in Tehran.</p>
<p>And, in late 2010, it became apparent that the Stuxnet virus was targeting Iranian enrichment facilities. The Stuxnet computer virus has widely been credited to US and Israel. This spring, a foiled attempt in Azerbaijan of an Israeli ambassador, an attack in Bangkok and also New Delhi all targeting Israeli officials or family of officials have been credited to Iran.</p>
<p>Israel has no friends in the region with Egypt now being handed over to powers not friendly with them. Turkey has a strained relationship with Israel since the flotilla incident in May of 2010. In every direction, Israel is a country without a friend.</p>
<p>If Israel (or the US) does not take out Iran’s nuclear capabilities than we are most likely looking at a buildup of nuclear weapons all over the Middle East in the next decade and beyond. Saudi Arabia is already calling the Iranian nuke a ‘Sunni bomb’ and if Iran develops one, Saudi Arabia would most likely feel compelled to follow.</p>
<p>If Israel takes out the nukes in Iran they could gain the favor, though not publicly, of at least Saudi Arabia and perhaps the US for doing their dirty work. If Israel does nothing the world around them gets very unfriendly very quickly.</p>
<p>Israel does not have much to lose by attacking, and may gain a potential friend in Saudi Arabia (the enemy of my enemy is my friend, as they say).</p>
<p>The US is in the middle of an election, and <a href="" type="internal">President Obama</a> has come under fire for not backing Israel more. He is under pressure to back Israel, even if they are attacking Iran. Israel is getting a free pass due to the election in the US.</p>
<p>Israel has acted unilaterally before; on September 6, 2007, it took out the Syrian nuclear capabilities. Israel officials have stated that by summer of this year it will be too late to attack due to facilities being moved underground.</p>
<p>With Iran getting crushed under sanctions and Israel without a friend in the region and under pressure to stop Iran, I believe an attack has a 50% chance of happening. Israel is already attacking the infrastructure and scientists, according to officials quoted off the record, and the overt attack is merely an escalation of what is already occurring.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Oil prices</a> will most likely be higher this summer leading up to a potential attack, while an actual attack could send the prices higher than we have seen in history, depending upon Iran’s retaliation and any collateral action.</p>
<p>The speculation that a war could happen, though, should end. The war has already started.</p>
|
When Will Iran/Israel War Come out of the Shadows?
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2012/03/16/high-oil-prices-coming-due-to-continuation-covert-mid-east-war-217231449.html
|
2016-03-04
| 0right
|
When Will Iran/Israel War Come out of the Shadows?
<p>The question is not whether there will be a war between <a href="" type="internal">Israel</a> and Iran. The question is, will it escalate?</p>
<p>The war has already been going on for some time now. Forgetting the heated rhetoric on both sides, a look at the facts shows that a covert war is currently going on in the <a href="" type="internal">Middle East</a>:</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>January 11 Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, 32, director of the Natanz uranium enrichment plant in central Iran, is killed when two assailants on a motorcycle attach magnetic bombs to his car.</p>
<p>December 11, 2011 At least seven people are killed in a blast at a steel mill linked to Iran's nuclear program in the city of Yasd. Foreign nationals, possibly North Korean, are among the dead.</p>
<p>November 28, 2011 Mysterious explosion heard at nuclear facilities in Isfahan. Explosion confirmed by satellite pictures.</p>
<p>November 12, 2011 Gen. Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, the head of Iran’s missile program, and 16 others were killed in a blast at the Alghadir missile base at Bid Ganeh.</p>
<p>September 28, 2011 An Iranian plot to kill a Saudi Ambassador, Adel al-Jubeir, is foiled when Manssor Arbabsiar is detained while trying to fly to Mexico. Gholam Shakuri, another Iranian and reportedly a member of the Revolutionary Guard in Iran, has also been charged.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>July 23, 2011 Darioush Rezaeinejad, nuclear scientist, is shot dead while waiting for his child outside of a kindergarten in Tehran.</p>
<p>November 29, 2010 Majid Shahriari, top Iranian nuclear scientist, is killed when a bomb is attached to his car by a motorcyclist in Tehran. Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, a 52-year-old nuclear scientist working for Iran's defense ministry, escapes, though wounded in a separate attack.</p>
<p>January 12, 2010 Quantum field theorist Masoud Alimohammadi is killed just after breakfast by a bomb strapped to a motorcycle in Tehran.</p>
<p>And, in late 2010, it became apparent that the Stuxnet virus was targeting Iranian enrichment facilities. The Stuxnet computer virus has widely been credited to US and Israel. This spring, a foiled attempt in Azerbaijan of an Israeli ambassador, an attack in Bangkok and also New Delhi all targeting Israeli officials or family of officials have been credited to Iran.</p>
<p>Israel has no friends in the region with Egypt now being handed over to powers not friendly with them. Turkey has a strained relationship with Israel since the flotilla incident in May of 2010. In every direction, Israel is a country without a friend.</p>
<p>If Israel (or the US) does not take out Iran’s nuclear capabilities than we are most likely looking at a buildup of nuclear weapons all over the Middle East in the next decade and beyond. Saudi Arabia is already calling the Iranian nuke a ‘Sunni bomb’ and if Iran develops one, Saudi Arabia would most likely feel compelled to follow.</p>
<p>If Israel takes out the nukes in Iran they could gain the favor, though not publicly, of at least Saudi Arabia and perhaps the US for doing their dirty work. If Israel does nothing the world around them gets very unfriendly very quickly.</p>
<p>Israel does not have much to lose by attacking, and may gain a potential friend in Saudi Arabia (the enemy of my enemy is my friend, as they say).</p>
<p>The US is in the middle of an election, and <a href="" type="internal">President Obama</a> has come under fire for not backing Israel more. He is under pressure to back Israel, even if they are attacking Iran. Israel is getting a free pass due to the election in the US.</p>
<p>Israel has acted unilaterally before; on September 6, 2007, it took out the Syrian nuclear capabilities. Israel officials have stated that by summer of this year it will be too late to attack due to facilities being moved underground.</p>
<p>With Iran getting crushed under sanctions and Israel without a friend in the region and under pressure to stop Iran, I believe an attack has a 50% chance of happening. Israel is already attacking the infrastructure and scientists, according to officials quoted off the record, and the overt attack is merely an escalation of what is already occurring.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Oil prices</a> will most likely be higher this summer leading up to a potential attack, while an actual attack could send the prices higher than we have seen in history, depending upon Iran’s retaliation and any collateral action.</p>
<p>The speculation that a war could happen, though, should end. The war has already started.</p>
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<p>Fresh off its mega deal with Japan’s Softbank, Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) disclosed a deeper third-quarter loss on Thursday amid ongoing customer defections, but Wall Street had been fearing even more red ink from the No. 3 U.S. wireless provider.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Shares of Sprint ticked up almost 1% on the heels of the results and a projection for better-than-expected full year operating income.</p>
<p>Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint said it lost $767 million, or 26 cents a share, last quarter, compared with a loss of $301 million, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts had been calling for an even deeper loss of 42 cents a share.</p>
<p>The net loss was driven by accelerated depreciation of $397 million tied to the expected shutdown of the Nextel platform.</p>
<p>While operating revenue rose 5.2% to $8.76 billion, it slightly trailed the Street’s view of $8.8 billion.</p>
<p>Sprint Nextel continues to lose subscribers, suffering a net customer decline of 456,000 in the third quarter, which was worse than the loss of 361,000 that analysts polled by Reuters had projected. The company lost 246,000 customers in the year-earlier period.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the Sprint platform added 410,000 net postpaid customers in the quarter.</p>
<p>“The Sprint platform performed well, with strong net subscriber additions, record third quarter postpaid and prepaid churn and robust revenue growth,” CEO Dan Hesse said in a statement.</p>
<p>Sprint said it sold about 1.5 million of Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhones, about 40% of which to new customers.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, Sprint now sees 2012 adjusted operating income “slightly” above its earlier call for $4.6 billion.</p>
<p>Earlier this month Sprint agreed to sell a 70% stake in the company to Softbank for about $20 billion in an effort to free the wireless provider of debt and raise cash to better compete with industry leaders Verizon Wireless and AT&amp;T (NYSE:T). Verizon is co-owned by Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE:VOD).</p>
<p>Shares of Sprint gained 0.61% to $5.65 Thursday morning, narrowly extending their 2012 surge of 140%.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
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Sprint's 3Q Red Ink Grows, Sees '12 Slightly Topping Forecasts
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Sprint's 3Q Red Ink Grows, Sees '12 Slightly Topping Forecasts
<p />
<p>Fresh off its mega deal with Japan’s Softbank, Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) disclosed a deeper third-quarter loss on Thursday amid ongoing customer defections, but Wall Street had been fearing even more red ink from the No. 3 U.S. wireless provider.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Shares of Sprint ticked up almost 1% on the heels of the results and a projection for better-than-expected full year operating income.</p>
<p>Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint said it lost $767 million, or 26 cents a share, last quarter, compared with a loss of $301 million, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts had been calling for an even deeper loss of 42 cents a share.</p>
<p>The net loss was driven by accelerated depreciation of $397 million tied to the expected shutdown of the Nextel platform.</p>
<p>While operating revenue rose 5.2% to $8.76 billion, it slightly trailed the Street’s view of $8.8 billion.</p>
<p>Sprint Nextel continues to lose subscribers, suffering a net customer decline of 456,000 in the third quarter, which was worse than the loss of 361,000 that analysts polled by Reuters had projected. The company lost 246,000 customers in the year-earlier period.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the Sprint platform added 410,000 net postpaid customers in the quarter.</p>
<p>“The Sprint platform performed well, with strong net subscriber additions, record third quarter postpaid and prepaid churn and robust revenue growth,” CEO Dan Hesse said in a statement.</p>
<p>Sprint said it sold about 1.5 million of Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhones, about 40% of which to new customers.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, Sprint now sees 2012 adjusted operating income “slightly” above its earlier call for $4.6 billion.</p>
<p>Earlier this month Sprint agreed to sell a 70% stake in the company to Softbank for about $20 billion in an effort to free the wireless provider of debt and raise cash to better compete with industry leaders Verizon Wireless and AT&amp;T (NYSE:T). Verizon is co-owned by Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE:VOD).</p>
<p>Shares of Sprint gained 0.61% to $5.65 Thursday morning, narrowly extending their 2012 surge of 140%.</p>
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<p>The chain known for touting its quality ingredients had said Friday it expects sales to drop between 8 and 11 percent at established locations for the fourth quarter if current trends continue. That would mark the first time the figure fell since Chipotle went public in 2006.</p>
<p>Chipotle's stock closed down 1.7 percent at $551.75 Monday.</p>
<p>In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Chipotle said sales have been "extremely volatile" since it temporarily closed restaurants in Oregon and Washington in early November as a result of the outbreak. Sales plummeted by as much as 22 percent as additional cases were reported, and were down 16 percent for November.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the outbreak has sickened 52 people in nine states. It has not yet identified the ingredient that made people sick.</p>
<p>The first cases were reported at the end of October, with the most recent illness starting on Nov. 13</p>
<p>About 48 million people get sick from a foodborne illness each year, according to the CDC.</p>
<p>Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., based in Denver, says whatever the likely ingredient was that made people sick is out of its restaurants and that it is adopting stricter food-safety standards.</p>
<p>The company, which has touted its use of local ingredients, said some of its local produce suppliers might not be able to meet the new standards. Locally sourced produce accounts for a "relatively small percentage" of the produce the chain uses, said Chris Arnold, a Chipotle spokesman.</p>
<p>Jeffrey Bernstein, a Barclays analyst, noted that fast-food chains have recovered from similar foodborne illnesses in the past. But he said Chipotle's recovery will likely take longer given greater social media awareness.</p>
<p>Bernstein also noted that Chipotle is known for its "Food with Integrity" slogan, which makes the E. coli cases "all the more damaging."</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicechoi</p>
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Chipotle shares slide after sales warning linked to E. coli
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Chipotle shares slide after sales warning linked to E. coli
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<p />
<p>The chain known for touting its quality ingredients had said Friday it expects sales to drop between 8 and 11 percent at established locations for the fourth quarter if current trends continue. That would mark the first time the figure fell since Chipotle went public in 2006.</p>
<p>Chipotle's stock closed down 1.7 percent at $551.75 Monday.</p>
<p>In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Chipotle said sales have been "extremely volatile" since it temporarily closed restaurants in Oregon and Washington in early November as a result of the outbreak. Sales plummeted by as much as 22 percent as additional cases were reported, and were down 16 percent for November.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the outbreak has sickened 52 people in nine states. It has not yet identified the ingredient that made people sick.</p>
<p>The first cases were reported at the end of October, with the most recent illness starting on Nov. 13</p>
<p>About 48 million people get sick from a foodborne illness each year, according to the CDC.</p>
<p>Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., based in Denver, says whatever the likely ingredient was that made people sick is out of its restaurants and that it is adopting stricter food-safety standards.</p>
<p>The company, which has touted its use of local ingredients, said some of its local produce suppliers might not be able to meet the new standards. Locally sourced produce accounts for a "relatively small percentage" of the produce the chain uses, said Chris Arnold, a Chipotle spokesman.</p>
<p>Jeffrey Bernstein, a Barclays analyst, noted that fast-food chains have recovered from similar foodborne illnesses in the past. But he said Chipotle's recovery will likely take longer given greater social media awareness.</p>
<p>Bernstein also noted that Chipotle is known for its "Food with Integrity" slogan, which makes the E. coli cases "all the more damaging."</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicechoi</p>
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<p>More than 2500 students at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), India’s preeminent liberal arts university — and the university where I’m currently doing research &#160;— <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/arrest-of-kanhaiya-kumar-human-chain-on-jnu-campus-as-teachers-demand-arbitrary-charges-be-dropped/" type="external">joined together in protest</a> this past weekend.</p>
<p>Which isn’t actually that unusual — protest is sort of JNU’s thing.</p>
<p>A legendarily left-leaning campus, JNU is known and loved and bemoaned across India (and the world) for its progressive student politics, open atmosphere, intellectual rigor, and culture of debate.</p>
<p>But this time, as students, teachers, and supporters staged a human chain around campus more than a kilometer long, JNU Student Union president Kanhaiya Kumar sat in <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/jnusu-president-arrested-under-sedition-charges/article8227527.ece" type="external">police custody</a>, having been arrested under a colonial-era sedition law.</p>
<p>Five other campus activists, including present and former JNU Student Union (JNUSU) central panel members, have also been charged with sedition. Eight students, including Kanhaiya, have been suspended&#160;from the University without an inquiry. Students and teachers are both currently on strike.</p>
<p>“The unity of the people of different parts of the country in challenging divisive, authoritarian, anti-people and anti-student forces is what we stand with and look up to,” reads a February 13 <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/jnusu-statement-on-the-police-action-and-abvp-slander-in-jnu-jnusu/" type="external">statement</a>of the JNU Student Union, condemning administrative and police action against students.</p>
<p>Said the JNU Teachers Association in their own <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/democratic-ethos-of-the-university-under-threat-jnu-teachers-association/" type="external">statement</a> against the action, “[We] express our strong opposition to attempts to use the law and the police to suppress democratic dissent and conduct a witch-hunt on our campus.”</p>
<p>As teachers and students stood arm in arm in protest Sunday, police stood at the campus&#160;gates.</p>
<p>India has long been a place of incredibly vibrant intellectual, political, and social freedom of speech. But the charges, arrest, and police presence against&#160;student political expression at JNU come after rising concerns on the part of students and intellectuals about the BJP central government’s actions against campuses.</p>
<p>The backstory to the JNU students’ protest is a long one, and you should hear it. It’s a story about struggles over secularism and intellectual freedom in contemporary India. It’s a story about the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_student_protests_in_Chile" type="external">global importance</a> of student movements. And it’s a story we in the the U.S., in our own election season full of Trumpery, demagoguery, and racism — and, on the other side, potential progressive change — need to listen to.</p>
<p>India</p>
<p>In May 2014, the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power. Running a campaign based on promises of development, prime minister Narendra Modi’s party gained substantial numbers of seats across the country.</p>
<p>The BJP’s ideology is marked by several things. It is a pro-corporate party, inclined especially toward multi-national corporations. And it is a Hindu nationalist, or Hindutva party, meaning it advocates for Hindu cultural dominance in the religiously and culturally diverse subcontinent. It is backed by outlets such as the militant Hindu right-wing RSS, which has been <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/RSS-Indias-number-1-terror-group-Former-Mumbai-police-officer/articleshow/49943534.cms" type="external">described as a terrorist organization</a>, and is associated with some famous episodes of communal violence.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political career has also been associated with communal violence. Modi was Chief Minister of the West Indian state of Gujarat in 2002, when <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/06/world/asia/modi-gujarat-riots-timeline.html?_r=0" type="external">anti-Muslim rioters</a> killed, raped, injured and destroyed the property of&#160; <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4536199.stm" type="external">thousands of&#160;people</a>, most of whom were Muslim. A number of state government officials were <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/08/29/bjp-politician-convicted-in-gujarat-riots-case/" type="external">found guilty</a> of involvement in&#160;killing Muslims during the&#160;riots. Modi himself was found innocent of foul play by the Indian Supreme Court, though&#160;some human rights groups&#160; <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/02/24/india-decade-gujarat-justice-incomplete" type="external">remain skeptical</a>.</p>
<p>Modi was for a time officially&#160; <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303380004579520041301275638" type="external">denied a visa</a>&#160;by the United States for offenses to religious liberty.</p>
<p>Since the BJP government came to power in 2014, India has seen several <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34546960" type="external">communal incidents</a>, including religiously-motivated <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34546960" type="external">beef bans</a> and the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34421417" type="external">lynching of Muslim people</a> “suspected” of eating beef. Right wing groups have also continued the practice of harassing young people in cross-religious relationships, spreading false information about so-called “ <a href="http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/love-jihad" type="external">love Jihad</a>” in which Muslim men supposedly target Hindu women.&#160;There have <a href="http://www.india.com/news/india/burkha-clad-rss-activist-caught-throwing-beef-at-temple-pictures-go-viral-on-facebook-593154/" type="external">been</a> <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Communal-violence-shows-24-jump-in-first-five-months-of-2015-shows-govt-data/articleshow/48167102.cms" type="external">countless similar incidents</a>.</p>
<p>There has also been concern among artists, academics, and intellectuals regarding&#160;a growing climate of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/opinion/sunday/sonia-faleiro-india-free-speech-kalburgi-pansare-dabholkar.html?_r=0" type="external">intolerance</a> for open inquiry. In the past three years, <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/heres-what-we-know-about-slain-rationalist-mm-kalburgi-2414654.html" type="external">three rationalists</a>– who <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/the-three-rationalists-murdered-in-the-last-two-years-in-their-own-voice/" type="external">opposed Hindu hegemony</a> — have been murdered. This climate has motivated a number of prominent intellectuals across India to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/14/indian-writers-return-awards-in-protest-against-climate-of-intolerance" type="external">give back</a> their <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/11963542/Top-Indian-artists-and-scientists-return-awards-in-protest-at-alleged-climate-of-intolerance-under-Narendra-Modi.html" type="external">government awards</a>.</p>
<p>The BJP’s student wing, the ABVP, whose popularity in student elections swelled following the victory of its parent party, has been active on college campuses — even winning one of four central panel seats in the historically leftist JNU.</p>
<p>JNU</p>
<p>First stepping onto JNU’s&#160;campus two years ago&#160;felt like falling in love, like stepping into the potential of a better world.</p>
<p>JNU occupies a sprawling jungle campus in the southwest corner of Delhi, acres of hills and red sandstone and dust that gets on your feet your hands your everywhere. In the warm weather students come out of their dorms when the heat has gone to sleep and drink tea and sing and&#160;talk, talk, talk.</p>
<p>JNU, like any institution, has its problems: Entrenched gender and caste inequality, petty politicking, sometimes the chai stands run out of samosas.&#160;But what makes this place so goddamn special — what made me, and what makes most people&#160;who know it, swoon — is its thriving campus democracy.</p>
<p>“Yeh university ek khatarnak jaga hai,” &#160;“This university is a dangerous place,”&#160;said Sucheta De in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSzOJZ3BpUM" type="external">speech</a> at a protest meeting on February 14, citing the challenge to convention, particularly gender norms, posed by the university’s progressive atmosphere (translations my own). De, a former JNUSU president, is current&#160;national president&#160;of the student wing of the Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist Liberation (CPIML).</p>
<p>“Yeh baat bolte hain mujhe rona aata hai, ki yeh freedom, yeh equality, yeh liberty — main mahila hun, main insaan hun — aur absolutely equal hun.” “When I talk about&#160;this I feel like crying — this freedom, this equality, this liberty. I’m a woman, I’m a human — and I’m absolutely equal” at JNU, De said.</p>
<p>The JNU Student Union (JNUSU) is a body with an incredibly robust history of autonomous student governance. Consisting of elected student representatives from various campus political parties — most of which are wings of national parties, and most, but certainly not all, of which are communist — the Union frequently leads student movements in India, campaigning for social justice of all kinds.</p>
<p>There have been several such student movements under the current government — and several instances of central government pressure against students and intellectuals.</p>
<p>In April, the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/iitmadras-derecognises-student-group/article7256712.ece" type="external">de-recognized</a> the Ambedkar-Periyar Study Circle, a group of mostly Dalit — the most oppressed caste in Hindu&#160;society — students committed to spreading the ideas of Dalit writer of the Indian constitution B. R. Ambedkar. The move, coming after the central education ministry expressed concern about Dalit students’ critique of the central government, prompted widespread condemnation among students, and <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/iit-madras-revokes-ban-on-studentss-group/" type="external">was revoked</a>.</p>
<p>In June, the central government appointed Gajendra Chauhan, a BJP party affiliate, Vice-Chancellor of the Film and Television Institute of India, the country’s premier cinema school. Students <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-ftii-students-strike/article7318002.ece" type="external">protested</a> the appointment of a man they felt <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/standoff-between-police-ftii-students-amid-protests-against-chauhan/article8076783.ece" type="external">wasn’t fit for the job</a> — and the RSS branded them “ <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/dont-call-our-children-naxalites-anti-hindu-parents-of-ftii-students/" type="external">anti-Hindu</a>” for doing so.&#160;Progressive students across the country expressed concern over increasing patterns of right-wing <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/up-against-saffronisation-ftii-protests-arent-just-against-gajendra-chauhan-2331796.html" type="external">encroachments</a>on university spaces.</p>
<p>In October, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)’s University Grants Commission voted to <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/occupy-ugc-movement-intensifies-after-crackdown/" type="external">discontinue the fellowship funding</a>&#160;M.phil and Ph.d students had been <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-educationplus/occupy-ugc/article7881154.ece" type="external">receiving</a> from the central government. This came in conjuncture with India’s greater move toward the privatization of education. In December, India signed a World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement labelling education a <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/will-the-gats-close-on-higher-education/article8042337.ece" type="external">“tradable commodity,”</a> meaning a reduction of the historic protections afforded Indian educational institutions and an opening of India’s doors to neoliberal educational models and foreign&#160;education providers — a move that is sure to drastically limit educational accessibility. Students <a href="http://kafila.org/2015/10/23/students-occupy-ugc-to-defend-the-right-to-research-in-universities-across-india-sucheta-de/" type="external">protested</a> fellowship cuts and the WTO talks in the #OccupyUGC movement.</p>
<p>In mid-January, a Dalit research scholar at Hyderabad Central University, Rohith Vemula, committed suicide. Rohith’s suicide followed the University’s&#160; <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/01/19/the-chain-of-events-leading-to-rohith-vemulas-suicide-19580/" type="external">expulsion</a> of him and four other members of the Ambedkar Student Association (ASA), a Dalit organization, after an <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/behind-dalit-student-suicide-how-his-university-campus-showed-him-the-door/" type="external">alleged altercation</a> with BJP activists on campus the previous August. The expulsion occurred after a central government minister pressured Hyderabad Central University to deal with the supposedly “anti-national” and “casteist” students — Rohith and his friends. The branding of&#160;Rohith and the ASA, who advocated for the rights of Dalit students against upper caste oppression, as&#160;“casteist” and “anti-national,” is&#160;a move against their fight for both caste equality and student voice.</p>
<p>Following Rohith’s suicide, students across the country <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/cry-seeking-justice-for-rohith-vemula-gains-momentum-on-social-media-2597596.html" type="external">joined in protest</a> of the government’s harsh stance toward the students, and for caste justice. The student protestors were greeted with <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/delhi-police-rss-rohith-vemula-dalit-protest-violently-assault-student-protesters/" type="external">beatings</a> from the police.</p>
<p>JNU students joined — and helped lead — these protests.</p>
<p>JNU students join and lead many student protests. Students like Rohith and students like Kanhaiya — who have come from <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/jnu-sedition-case-afzal-guru-event-kanhaiya-kumar/" type="external">poverty</a> and <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/dont-want-your-rs-8-lakh-or-rs-8-cr-tell-me-why-my-son-died-rohith-vemulas-mother/" type="external">caste oppression</a> to become research scholars and student leaders — join and lead these protests. And advocacy for debate, for social justice, for heterogeneity, for the voice of the marginalized has long threatened established power.</p>
<p>Stifling&#160;the intellectual and political power of the JNU student union, student body, faculty, and staff is effectively a gesture to&#160; <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/why-our-universities-are-in-ferment/article8237580.ece" type="external">Indian student movements</a>.</p>
<p>What led up to Kanhaiya’s arrest?</p>
<p>Last week, a small group of JNU students put on an event questioning the hanging of Kashmiri separatist Afzal Guru. Guru was convicted and hanged in 2012 for his role in the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/dec/14/kashmir.india" type="external">2001 Indian Parliament&#160;attacks</a>. Some lawyers and human rights activists continue to <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/afzal-guru-hanged-in-secrecy-buried-in-tihar-jail/article4396289.ece" type="external">raise questions</a> about the validity of his <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/02/201321381025851408.html" type="external">trial</a>.</p>
<p>The JNU administration, who had given the students permission to stage the event, withdrew this permission at the last minute in response to a complaint lodged by the sole ABVP member of the JNUSU central panel. Progressive JNUSU members, according to their <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/jnusu-statement-on-the-police-action-and-abvp-slander-in-jnu-jnusu/" type="external">subsequent statements</a>&#160;and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/02/15/jnu-arrest_n_9233910.html" type="external">student reports</a>,&#160;came to the event, which was protested by the ABVP, in support of the students’ right to host it and to monitor the situation in order to ensure violence did not break out.</p>
<p>Later that night, a complaint was lodged at the local police station that anti-national slogans had been shouted at the event.</p>
<p>By Friday, Kanhaiya was arrested, six students were slapped with sedition charges, and eight students were expelled. Police were stationed across campus and entering student dorms.</p>
<p>By Saturday, more than 2500&#160;students, professors, and community members had gathered on campus to protest in a human chain that stretched over 2 kilometers.</p>
<p>Shehla Rashid, JNUSU Vice President, responded by questioning the motives of the arrest.</p>
<p>“Aaj comrade Kanhaiya jail mein isliye nahin hai ki unhone koi nara lagaya. Voh jail mein isiliye nahin hain ki unki undar deshprem ki bhaaga nahin hai. Voh jail mein isliye nahin hain ki unhone azaadi mangi. Voh jail mein isiliye hain kyunki unhone fellowship ka savaal uthaya. Voh jail mein isiliye hain kyunki unhone hamare ek saathi student Rohith Vemula ke liey awaaz uthai.”&#160;</p>
<p>“Today comrade Kanhaiya isn’t in jail because he made any slogan,” Shehla Rashid, JNUSU Vice President, <a href="http://www.scoopwhoop.com/JNU-Students-Union-VP-Shehla-Rashids-Speech/" type="external">said in a speech</a> at a protest following the arrest. “He isn’t in jail because there’s no love of country inside him. He’s in jail because he demanded freedom. He’s in jail because he raised&#160;the question of fellowships. He’s in jail because he raised his voice for our comrade Rohith Vemula.”</p>
<p>What’s the Story with Sedition?</p>
<p>Here are some things you should know about&#160; <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/12/arrest-of-kanhaiya-kumar-a-short-summary-of-the-law-of-sedition-in-india/" type="external">sedition law</a> in India, and here are some other <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/compilation-of-resources-on-sedition-law/" type="external">resources</a> you can consult to learn more.</p>
<p>“‘Sedition’ as a crime has no place in a modern democracy,” wrote JNU Professor and noted feminist commentator Nivendita Menon in a piece on the protests in <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/why-our-universities-are-in-ferment/article8237580.ece" type="external">The Hindu</a>. “There is no justification whatsoever for provisions that criminalise and silence dissent and ethical challenges to the dominant order.”</p>
<p>What’s Happening Now?</p>
<p>Yeh pura desh azaadi mamgta hai WTO se. Yeh pura desh azaadi mang raha hai, jativaad se, us jativaad se jis ke vaje se hamari saathi Rohith Vemula ko apni jaan dena padi. Ham log azaadi mangte hain gender discriminatory laws se…</p>
<p>This whole country demands freedom from the WTO. This whole country demands freedom from casteism, from the casteism because of which Rohith Vemula was made to take his life. We demand freedom from gender discriminatory laws.</p>
<p>-JNUSU Vice President Shehla Rashid&#160;in a <a href="http://www.scoopwhoop.com/JNU-Students-Union-VP-Shehla-Rashids-Speech/" type="external">speech</a>&#160;at student protesters.</p>
<p>Over the past few days, JNU’s campus has become a <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/why-our-universities-are-in-ferment/article8238512.ece" type="external">public opinion battleground</a>. As social media — and conventional media — explodes with accusations that JNU students are terrorists, statements from <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/jnusu-statement-on-the-police-action-and-abvp-slander-in-jnu-jnusu/" type="external">students</a>,&#160; <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/democratic-ethos-of-the-university-under-threat-jnu-teachers-association/" type="external">academics</a>, <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/statement-by-educators-intellectuals-artists-and-writers-on-police-action-in-jnu/" type="external">artists</a>, <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/cpdr-condemns-arrests-of-jnusu-president-and-delhi-university-professor-under-sedition-charges-anand-teltumbde/" type="external">human rights activists</a>, <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/people-suppressing-the-voice-of-jnu-students-are-anti-national-rahul-gandhi/" type="external">politicians</a>, <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/15/solidarity-statement-by-jnu-alumni-and-international-academic-community/" type="external">intellectuals</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AIIndia/" type="external">Amnesty International</a>&#160;and <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/15/solidarity-statement-by-jnu-alumni-and-international-academic-community/" type="external">people</a>&#160;of all stripes have come out in favor of the striking university community.</p>
<p>On Saturday, several Parliament members, prominent activists and intellectuals, and <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rahul-Gandhi-visits-JNU-says-those-suppressing-institutions-voice-are-anti-national/articleshow/50976332.cms" type="external">Congress Party Vice President Rahul Gandhi</a>&#160;came to campus to &#160;support the protesting students, affirming the issue as one of national political importance.</p>
<p>A small but vocal group of ABVP students&#160;attempted to provoke and disrupt the proceedings, chanting and waving black flags to show their disapproval of Gandhi, who met them&#160;with a speech&#160;on the importance of people raising their voices.</p>
<p>“People who showed black flags on my face, I feel proud that in my country they have the right to show black flags,” <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/02/13/rahul-gandhi-jnu-_n_9230044.html" type="external">Gandhi</a> said.</p>
<p>Even as the ABVP student group&#160;pushed into the crowd, reportedly&#160; <a href="http://www.ibnlive.com/news/politics/anand-sharma-attacked-in-jnu-campus-congress-suspects-abvps-hand-1202819.html" type="external">physically</a>&#160;aggressing on an MP, &#160;a group of professors formed a human chain around the meeting.</p>
<p>At a moment of high anxiety, with an institution that has allowed them to learn, grow, question everything, play cricket in the evenings, under threat, students sat&#160;and listened, the bodies of their teachers between them and those attempting to provoke them to violence.</p>
<p>And make no mistake: The bodies of students and professors are at potential risk.</p>
<p>On Monday, the first day of strike, as hundreds of students gathered at the JNU administrative block to continue meetings, Kanhaiya appeared before court. Teachers who went to support him were roughed up by right wing lawyers — <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/jnu-row-students-journalists-attacked-in-court-premises/article8240518.ece" type="external">pushed and physically beaten</a> — inside the court of law. Students and <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/jnu-row-students-journalists-attacked-in-court-premises/article8240518.ece" type="external">journalists</a> were beaten by right wing groups&#160;outside. Journalists have since <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/journalists-take-to-streets-to-protest-assault-116021600689_1.html" type="external">protested</a>&#160;the assault and police inaction.</p>
<p>Kanhaiya will appear again in court on the seventeenth. JNU students and professors continue to&#160;strike.</p>
<p>Nation</p>
<p>I want to tell you something about nationalism. The accusations leveled against JNU as a campus, against members of&#160;the student union, against our professors as they entered that court, is that JNU is “anti-national.”</p>
<p>As an American, I know a thing or two about nationalism. I know how, in the United States,&#160;in the name of nationalism we are not supposed to have birth control, and in the name of nationalism we’re not supposed to want to shut down Guantanamo. In the name of nationalism we are supposed to turn away Syrian refugees and in the name of nationalism we are supposed to build walls against immigrants and in the name of nationalism we are supposed to disregard Black lives.</p>
<p>Here is what I also know: I have never seen a group of people so singularly determined, so singularly mutually supportive, so singularly oriented toward community, as I have seen JNU students in the past few days. JNU doesn’t inspire so much loyalty in those that love it&#160;because students&#160;feel some kind of jingoistic obligation toward the institution. JNU inspires loyalty because its democratic student culture&#160;demonstrates that&#160;human community&#160;is a verb: It is a collective act of learning to live together, of learning in order to live together; of learning to change the world and of learning in order to change the world.</p>
<p>As the police stood at the gates of the university, students continued to sit under the smoggy Delhi stars and speak.</p>
<p>Academics and intellectuals from all over the world have spoken out in favor of the striking teachers and students of JNU. Their statements are below. Readers can support the students&#160;by tweeting under the #standwithJNU hashtag.&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/jnusu-statement-on-the-police-action-and-abvp-slander-in-jnu-jnusu/" type="external">JNUSU Statement on the Police Action and ABVP slander in JNU: JNUSU</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/democratic-ethos-of-the-university-under-threat-jnu-teachers-association/" type="external">Democratic Ethos of the University Under Threat: JNU Teachers’ Association</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/cpdr-condemns-arrests-of-jnusu-president-and-delhi-university-professor-under-sedition-charges-anand-teltumbde/" type="external">CPDR Condemns Arrests of JNUSU President and Delhi University Professor under Sedition Charges</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/statement-by-educators-intellectuals-artists-and-writers-on-police-action-in-jnu/" type="external">Statements by Educators, Intellectuals, Artists, and writers on Police Action in JNU</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/15/solidarity-statement-by-jnu-alumni-and-international-academic-community/" type="external">Solidarity Statement by JNU Alumni And International Academic Community</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/16/statements-of-solidarity-for-jnu-from-various-quarters/" type="external">Statements of Solidarity for JNU From Various Corners</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/16/statement-of-solidarity-with-student-protests-in-india-students-of-the-university-of-chicago/" type="external">Statement of Solidarity with student Protests in India: Students of the University of Chicago</a></p>
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Activists Charged With Sedition as Indian Students Protest For the Right to Dissent
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http://feministing.com/2016/02/16/indian-students-protest-for-the-right-to-dissent/
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Activists Charged With Sedition as Indian Students Protest For the Right to Dissent
<p>More than 2500 students at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), India’s preeminent liberal arts university — and the university where I’m currently doing research &#160;— <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/arrest-of-kanhaiya-kumar-human-chain-on-jnu-campus-as-teachers-demand-arbitrary-charges-be-dropped/" type="external">joined together in protest</a> this past weekend.</p>
<p>Which isn’t actually that unusual — protest is sort of JNU’s thing.</p>
<p>A legendarily left-leaning campus, JNU is known and loved and bemoaned across India (and the world) for its progressive student politics, open atmosphere, intellectual rigor, and culture of debate.</p>
<p>But this time, as students, teachers, and supporters staged a human chain around campus more than a kilometer long, JNU Student Union president Kanhaiya Kumar sat in <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/jnusu-president-arrested-under-sedition-charges/article8227527.ece" type="external">police custody</a>, having been arrested under a colonial-era sedition law.</p>
<p>Five other campus activists, including present and former JNU Student Union (JNUSU) central panel members, have also been charged with sedition. Eight students, including Kanhaiya, have been suspended&#160;from the University without an inquiry. Students and teachers are both currently on strike.</p>
<p>“The unity of the people of different parts of the country in challenging divisive, authoritarian, anti-people and anti-student forces is what we stand with and look up to,” reads a February 13 <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/jnusu-statement-on-the-police-action-and-abvp-slander-in-jnu-jnusu/" type="external">statement</a>of the JNU Student Union, condemning administrative and police action against students.</p>
<p>Said the JNU Teachers Association in their own <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/democratic-ethos-of-the-university-under-threat-jnu-teachers-association/" type="external">statement</a> against the action, “[We] express our strong opposition to attempts to use the law and the police to suppress democratic dissent and conduct a witch-hunt on our campus.”</p>
<p>As teachers and students stood arm in arm in protest Sunday, police stood at the campus&#160;gates.</p>
<p>India has long been a place of incredibly vibrant intellectual, political, and social freedom of speech. But the charges, arrest, and police presence against&#160;student political expression at JNU come after rising concerns on the part of students and intellectuals about the BJP central government’s actions against campuses.</p>
<p>The backstory to the JNU students’ protest is a long one, and you should hear it. It’s a story about struggles over secularism and intellectual freedom in contemporary India. It’s a story about the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_student_protests_in_Chile" type="external">global importance</a> of student movements. And it’s a story we in the the U.S., in our own election season full of Trumpery, demagoguery, and racism — and, on the other side, potential progressive change — need to listen to.</p>
<p>India</p>
<p>In May 2014, the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power. Running a campaign based on promises of development, prime minister Narendra Modi’s party gained substantial numbers of seats across the country.</p>
<p>The BJP’s ideology is marked by several things. It is a pro-corporate party, inclined especially toward multi-national corporations. And it is a Hindu nationalist, or Hindutva party, meaning it advocates for Hindu cultural dominance in the religiously and culturally diverse subcontinent. It is backed by outlets such as the militant Hindu right-wing RSS, which has been <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/RSS-Indias-number-1-terror-group-Former-Mumbai-police-officer/articleshow/49943534.cms" type="external">described as a terrorist organization</a>, and is associated with some famous episodes of communal violence.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political career has also been associated with communal violence. Modi was Chief Minister of the West Indian state of Gujarat in 2002, when <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/06/world/asia/modi-gujarat-riots-timeline.html?_r=0" type="external">anti-Muslim rioters</a> killed, raped, injured and destroyed the property of&#160; <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4536199.stm" type="external">thousands of&#160;people</a>, most of whom were Muslim. A number of state government officials were <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/08/29/bjp-politician-convicted-in-gujarat-riots-case/" type="external">found guilty</a> of involvement in&#160;killing Muslims during the&#160;riots. Modi himself was found innocent of foul play by the Indian Supreme Court, though&#160;some human rights groups&#160; <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/02/24/india-decade-gujarat-justice-incomplete" type="external">remain skeptical</a>.</p>
<p>Modi was for a time officially&#160; <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303380004579520041301275638" type="external">denied a visa</a>&#160;by the United States for offenses to religious liberty.</p>
<p>Since the BJP government came to power in 2014, India has seen several <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34546960" type="external">communal incidents</a>, including religiously-motivated <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34546960" type="external">beef bans</a> and the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34421417" type="external">lynching of Muslim people</a> “suspected” of eating beef. Right wing groups have also continued the practice of harassing young people in cross-religious relationships, spreading false information about so-called “ <a href="http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/love-jihad" type="external">love Jihad</a>” in which Muslim men supposedly target Hindu women.&#160;There have <a href="http://www.india.com/news/india/burkha-clad-rss-activist-caught-throwing-beef-at-temple-pictures-go-viral-on-facebook-593154/" type="external">been</a> <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Communal-violence-shows-24-jump-in-first-five-months-of-2015-shows-govt-data/articleshow/48167102.cms" type="external">countless similar incidents</a>.</p>
<p>There has also been concern among artists, academics, and intellectuals regarding&#160;a growing climate of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/opinion/sunday/sonia-faleiro-india-free-speech-kalburgi-pansare-dabholkar.html?_r=0" type="external">intolerance</a> for open inquiry. In the past three years, <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/heres-what-we-know-about-slain-rationalist-mm-kalburgi-2414654.html" type="external">three rationalists</a>– who <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/the-three-rationalists-murdered-in-the-last-two-years-in-their-own-voice/" type="external">opposed Hindu hegemony</a> — have been murdered. This climate has motivated a number of prominent intellectuals across India to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/14/indian-writers-return-awards-in-protest-against-climate-of-intolerance" type="external">give back</a> their <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/11963542/Top-Indian-artists-and-scientists-return-awards-in-protest-at-alleged-climate-of-intolerance-under-Narendra-Modi.html" type="external">government awards</a>.</p>
<p>The BJP’s student wing, the ABVP, whose popularity in student elections swelled following the victory of its parent party, has been active on college campuses — even winning one of four central panel seats in the historically leftist JNU.</p>
<p>JNU</p>
<p>First stepping onto JNU’s&#160;campus two years ago&#160;felt like falling in love, like stepping into the potential of a better world.</p>
<p>JNU occupies a sprawling jungle campus in the southwest corner of Delhi, acres of hills and red sandstone and dust that gets on your feet your hands your everywhere. In the warm weather students come out of their dorms when the heat has gone to sleep and drink tea and sing and&#160;talk, talk, talk.</p>
<p>JNU, like any institution, has its problems: Entrenched gender and caste inequality, petty politicking, sometimes the chai stands run out of samosas.&#160;But what makes this place so goddamn special — what made me, and what makes most people&#160;who know it, swoon — is its thriving campus democracy.</p>
<p>“Yeh university ek khatarnak jaga hai,” &#160;“This university is a dangerous place,”&#160;said Sucheta De in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSzOJZ3BpUM" type="external">speech</a> at a protest meeting on February 14, citing the challenge to convention, particularly gender norms, posed by the university’s progressive atmosphere (translations my own). De, a former JNUSU president, is current&#160;national president&#160;of the student wing of the Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist Liberation (CPIML).</p>
<p>“Yeh baat bolte hain mujhe rona aata hai, ki yeh freedom, yeh equality, yeh liberty — main mahila hun, main insaan hun — aur absolutely equal hun.” “When I talk about&#160;this I feel like crying — this freedom, this equality, this liberty. I’m a woman, I’m a human — and I’m absolutely equal” at JNU, De said.</p>
<p>The JNU Student Union (JNUSU) is a body with an incredibly robust history of autonomous student governance. Consisting of elected student representatives from various campus political parties — most of which are wings of national parties, and most, but certainly not all, of which are communist — the Union frequently leads student movements in India, campaigning for social justice of all kinds.</p>
<p>There have been several such student movements under the current government — and several instances of central government pressure against students and intellectuals.</p>
<p>In April, the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/iitmadras-derecognises-student-group/article7256712.ece" type="external">de-recognized</a> the Ambedkar-Periyar Study Circle, a group of mostly Dalit — the most oppressed caste in Hindu&#160;society — students committed to spreading the ideas of Dalit writer of the Indian constitution B. R. Ambedkar. The move, coming after the central education ministry expressed concern about Dalit students’ critique of the central government, prompted widespread condemnation among students, and <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/iit-madras-revokes-ban-on-studentss-group/" type="external">was revoked</a>.</p>
<p>In June, the central government appointed Gajendra Chauhan, a BJP party affiliate, Vice-Chancellor of the Film and Television Institute of India, the country’s premier cinema school. Students <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-ftii-students-strike/article7318002.ece" type="external">protested</a> the appointment of a man they felt <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/standoff-between-police-ftii-students-amid-protests-against-chauhan/article8076783.ece" type="external">wasn’t fit for the job</a> — and the RSS branded them “ <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/dont-call-our-children-naxalites-anti-hindu-parents-of-ftii-students/" type="external">anti-Hindu</a>” for doing so.&#160;Progressive students across the country expressed concern over increasing patterns of right-wing <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/up-against-saffronisation-ftii-protests-arent-just-against-gajendra-chauhan-2331796.html" type="external">encroachments</a>on university spaces.</p>
<p>In October, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)’s University Grants Commission voted to <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/occupy-ugc-movement-intensifies-after-crackdown/" type="external">discontinue the fellowship funding</a>&#160;M.phil and Ph.d students had been <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-educationplus/occupy-ugc/article7881154.ece" type="external">receiving</a> from the central government. This came in conjuncture with India’s greater move toward the privatization of education. In December, India signed a World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement labelling education a <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/will-the-gats-close-on-higher-education/article8042337.ece" type="external">“tradable commodity,”</a> meaning a reduction of the historic protections afforded Indian educational institutions and an opening of India’s doors to neoliberal educational models and foreign&#160;education providers — a move that is sure to drastically limit educational accessibility. Students <a href="http://kafila.org/2015/10/23/students-occupy-ugc-to-defend-the-right-to-research-in-universities-across-india-sucheta-de/" type="external">protested</a> fellowship cuts and the WTO talks in the #OccupyUGC movement.</p>
<p>In mid-January, a Dalit research scholar at Hyderabad Central University, Rohith Vemula, committed suicide. Rohith’s suicide followed the University’s&#160; <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/01/19/the-chain-of-events-leading-to-rohith-vemulas-suicide-19580/" type="external">expulsion</a> of him and four other members of the Ambedkar Student Association (ASA), a Dalit organization, after an <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/behind-dalit-student-suicide-how-his-university-campus-showed-him-the-door/" type="external">alleged altercation</a> with BJP activists on campus the previous August. The expulsion occurred after a central government minister pressured Hyderabad Central University to deal with the supposedly “anti-national” and “casteist” students — Rohith and his friends. The branding of&#160;Rohith and the ASA, who advocated for the rights of Dalit students against upper caste oppression, as&#160;“casteist” and “anti-national,” is&#160;a move against their fight for both caste equality and student voice.</p>
<p>Following Rohith’s suicide, students across the country <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/cry-seeking-justice-for-rohith-vemula-gains-momentum-on-social-media-2597596.html" type="external">joined in protest</a> of the government’s harsh stance toward the students, and for caste justice. The student protestors were greeted with <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/delhi-police-rss-rohith-vemula-dalit-protest-violently-assault-student-protesters/" type="external">beatings</a> from the police.</p>
<p>JNU students joined — and helped lead — these protests.</p>
<p>JNU students join and lead many student protests. Students like Rohith and students like Kanhaiya — who have come from <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/jnu-sedition-case-afzal-guru-event-kanhaiya-kumar/" type="external">poverty</a> and <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/dont-want-your-rs-8-lakh-or-rs-8-cr-tell-me-why-my-son-died-rohith-vemulas-mother/" type="external">caste oppression</a> to become research scholars and student leaders — join and lead these protests. And advocacy for debate, for social justice, for heterogeneity, for the voice of the marginalized has long threatened established power.</p>
<p>Stifling&#160;the intellectual and political power of the JNU student union, student body, faculty, and staff is effectively a gesture to&#160; <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/why-our-universities-are-in-ferment/article8237580.ece" type="external">Indian student movements</a>.</p>
<p>What led up to Kanhaiya’s arrest?</p>
<p>Last week, a small group of JNU students put on an event questioning the hanging of Kashmiri separatist Afzal Guru. Guru was convicted and hanged in 2012 for his role in the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/dec/14/kashmir.india" type="external">2001 Indian Parliament&#160;attacks</a>. Some lawyers and human rights activists continue to <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/afzal-guru-hanged-in-secrecy-buried-in-tihar-jail/article4396289.ece" type="external">raise questions</a> about the validity of his <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/02/201321381025851408.html" type="external">trial</a>.</p>
<p>The JNU administration, who had given the students permission to stage the event, withdrew this permission at the last minute in response to a complaint lodged by the sole ABVP member of the JNUSU central panel. Progressive JNUSU members, according to their <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/jnusu-statement-on-the-police-action-and-abvp-slander-in-jnu-jnusu/" type="external">subsequent statements</a>&#160;and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/02/15/jnu-arrest_n_9233910.html" type="external">student reports</a>,&#160;came to the event, which was protested by the ABVP, in support of the students’ right to host it and to monitor the situation in order to ensure violence did not break out.</p>
<p>Later that night, a complaint was lodged at the local police station that anti-national slogans had been shouted at the event.</p>
<p>By Friday, Kanhaiya was arrested, six students were slapped with sedition charges, and eight students were expelled. Police were stationed across campus and entering student dorms.</p>
<p>By Saturday, more than 2500&#160;students, professors, and community members had gathered on campus to protest in a human chain that stretched over 2 kilometers.</p>
<p>Shehla Rashid, JNUSU Vice President, responded by questioning the motives of the arrest.</p>
<p>“Aaj comrade Kanhaiya jail mein isliye nahin hai ki unhone koi nara lagaya. Voh jail mein isiliye nahin hain ki unki undar deshprem ki bhaaga nahin hai. Voh jail mein isliye nahin hain ki unhone azaadi mangi. Voh jail mein isiliye hain kyunki unhone fellowship ka savaal uthaya. Voh jail mein isiliye hain kyunki unhone hamare ek saathi student Rohith Vemula ke liey awaaz uthai.”&#160;</p>
<p>“Today comrade Kanhaiya isn’t in jail because he made any slogan,” Shehla Rashid, JNUSU Vice President, <a href="http://www.scoopwhoop.com/JNU-Students-Union-VP-Shehla-Rashids-Speech/" type="external">said in a speech</a> at a protest following the arrest. “He isn’t in jail because there’s no love of country inside him. He’s in jail because he demanded freedom. He’s in jail because he raised&#160;the question of fellowships. He’s in jail because he raised his voice for our comrade Rohith Vemula.”</p>
<p>What’s the Story with Sedition?</p>
<p>Here are some things you should know about&#160; <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/12/arrest-of-kanhaiya-kumar-a-short-summary-of-the-law-of-sedition-in-india/" type="external">sedition law</a> in India, and here are some other <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/compilation-of-resources-on-sedition-law/" type="external">resources</a> you can consult to learn more.</p>
<p>“‘Sedition’ as a crime has no place in a modern democracy,” wrote JNU Professor and noted feminist commentator Nivendita Menon in a piece on the protests in <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/why-our-universities-are-in-ferment/article8237580.ece" type="external">The Hindu</a>. “There is no justification whatsoever for provisions that criminalise and silence dissent and ethical challenges to the dominant order.”</p>
<p>What’s Happening Now?</p>
<p>Yeh pura desh azaadi mamgta hai WTO se. Yeh pura desh azaadi mang raha hai, jativaad se, us jativaad se jis ke vaje se hamari saathi Rohith Vemula ko apni jaan dena padi. Ham log azaadi mangte hain gender discriminatory laws se…</p>
<p>This whole country demands freedom from the WTO. This whole country demands freedom from casteism, from the casteism because of which Rohith Vemula was made to take his life. We demand freedom from gender discriminatory laws.</p>
<p>-JNUSU Vice President Shehla Rashid&#160;in a <a href="http://www.scoopwhoop.com/JNU-Students-Union-VP-Shehla-Rashids-Speech/" type="external">speech</a>&#160;at student protesters.</p>
<p>Over the past few days, JNU’s campus has become a <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/why-our-universities-are-in-ferment/article8238512.ece" type="external">public opinion battleground</a>. As social media — and conventional media — explodes with accusations that JNU students are terrorists, statements from <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/jnusu-statement-on-the-police-action-and-abvp-slander-in-jnu-jnusu/" type="external">students</a>,&#160; <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/democratic-ethos-of-the-university-under-threat-jnu-teachers-association/" type="external">academics</a>, <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/statement-by-educators-intellectuals-artists-and-writers-on-police-action-in-jnu/" type="external">artists</a>, <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/cpdr-condemns-arrests-of-jnusu-president-and-delhi-university-professor-under-sedition-charges-anand-teltumbde/" type="external">human rights activists</a>, <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/people-suppressing-the-voice-of-jnu-students-are-anti-national-rahul-gandhi/" type="external">politicians</a>, <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/15/solidarity-statement-by-jnu-alumni-and-international-academic-community/" type="external">intellectuals</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AIIndia/" type="external">Amnesty International</a>&#160;and <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/15/solidarity-statement-by-jnu-alumni-and-international-academic-community/" type="external">people</a>&#160;of all stripes have come out in favor of the striking university community.</p>
<p>On Saturday, several Parliament members, prominent activists and intellectuals, and <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rahul-Gandhi-visits-JNU-says-those-suppressing-institutions-voice-are-anti-national/articleshow/50976332.cms" type="external">Congress Party Vice President Rahul Gandhi</a>&#160;came to campus to &#160;support the protesting students, affirming the issue as one of national political importance.</p>
<p>A small but vocal group of ABVP students&#160;attempted to provoke and disrupt the proceedings, chanting and waving black flags to show their disapproval of Gandhi, who met them&#160;with a speech&#160;on the importance of people raising their voices.</p>
<p>“People who showed black flags on my face, I feel proud that in my country they have the right to show black flags,” <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/02/13/rahul-gandhi-jnu-_n_9230044.html" type="external">Gandhi</a> said.</p>
<p>Even as the ABVP student group&#160;pushed into the crowd, reportedly&#160; <a href="http://www.ibnlive.com/news/politics/anand-sharma-attacked-in-jnu-campus-congress-suspects-abvps-hand-1202819.html" type="external">physically</a>&#160;aggressing on an MP, &#160;a group of professors formed a human chain around the meeting.</p>
<p>At a moment of high anxiety, with an institution that has allowed them to learn, grow, question everything, play cricket in the evenings, under threat, students sat&#160;and listened, the bodies of their teachers between them and those attempting to provoke them to violence.</p>
<p>And make no mistake: The bodies of students and professors are at potential risk.</p>
<p>On Monday, the first day of strike, as hundreds of students gathered at the JNU administrative block to continue meetings, Kanhaiya appeared before court. Teachers who went to support him were roughed up by right wing lawyers — <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/jnu-row-students-journalists-attacked-in-court-premises/article8240518.ece" type="external">pushed and physically beaten</a> — inside the court of law. Students and <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/jnu-row-students-journalists-attacked-in-court-premises/article8240518.ece" type="external">journalists</a> were beaten by right wing groups&#160;outside. Journalists have since <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/journalists-take-to-streets-to-protest-assault-116021600689_1.html" type="external">protested</a>&#160;the assault and police inaction.</p>
<p>Kanhaiya will appear again in court on the seventeenth. JNU students and professors continue to&#160;strike.</p>
<p>Nation</p>
<p>I want to tell you something about nationalism. The accusations leveled against JNU as a campus, against members of&#160;the student union, against our professors as they entered that court, is that JNU is “anti-national.”</p>
<p>As an American, I know a thing or two about nationalism. I know how, in the United States,&#160;in the name of nationalism we are not supposed to have birth control, and in the name of nationalism we’re not supposed to want to shut down Guantanamo. In the name of nationalism we are supposed to turn away Syrian refugees and in the name of nationalism we are supposed to build walls against immigrants and in the name of nationalism we are supposed to disregard Black lives.</p>
<p>Here is what I also know: I have never seen a group of people so singularly determined, so singularly mutually supportive, so singularly oriented toward community, as I have seen JNU students in the past few days. JNU doesn’t inspire so much loyalty in those that love it&#160;because students&#160;feel some kind of jingoistic obligation toward the institution. JNU inspires loyalty because its democratic student culture&#160;demonstrates that&#160;human community&#160;is a verb: It is a collective act of learning to live together, of learning in order to live together; of learning to change the world and of learning in order to change the world.</p>
<p>As the police stood at the gates of the university, students continued to sit under the smoggy Delhi stars and speak.</p>
<p>Academics and intellectuals from all over the world have spoken out in favor of the striking teachers and students of JNU. Their statements are below. Readers can support the students&#160;by tweeting under the #standwithJNU hashtag.&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/jnusu-statement-on-the-police-action-and-abvp-slander-in-jnu-jnusu/" type="external">JNUSU Statement on the Police Action and ABVP slander in JNU: JNUSU</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/democratic-ethos-of-the-university-under-threat-jnu-teachers-association/" type="external">Democratic Ethos of the University Under Threat: JNU Teachers’ Association</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/cpdr-condemns-arrests-of-jnusu-president-and-delhi-university-professor-under-sedition-charges-anand-teltumbde/" type="external">CPDR Condemns Arrests of JNUSU President and Delhi University Professor under Sedition Charges</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/statement-by-educators-intellectuals-artists-and-writers-on-police-action-in-jnu/" type="external">Statements by Educators, Intellectuals, Artists, and writers on Police Action in JNU</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/15/solidarity-statement-by-jnu-alumni-and-international-academic-community/" type="external">Solidarity Statement by JNU Alumni And International Academic Community</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/16/statements-of-solidarity-for-jnu-from-various-quarters/" type="external">Statements of Solidarity for JNU From Various Corners</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/16/statement-of-solidarity-with-student-protests-in-india-students-of-the-university-of-chicago/" type="external">Statement of Solidarity with student Protests in India: Students of the University of Chicago</a></p>
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<p />
<p>Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) recently hired Tom Lantzsch, a 10-year veteran ofSoftbank's chip designer ARM Holdings, as its senior VP and general manager of its Internet of Things (IoT) business. The IoT unit previously included Intel's IoT chips for wearables, connected devices, and autonomous cars; however, Intel recently launched a dedicated ADG (Automated Driving Group) business unit for its autonomous car efforts, which will be led by former IoT chief Doug Davis.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Tom Lantzsch. Image source: Intel.</p>
<p>Intel's other IoT chips and modules will remain in the slimmed-down IoT unit, which will be led by Tom Lantzsch. Hiring Lantzsch strongly suggests that Intel needs ARM's expertise in low-power chips to gain ground against ARM licensees like Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), but does the move come too late to make a meaningful difference?</p>
<p>Intel's core PC and data center chip groups, which accounted fornearly 80% of its revenue last quarter, are posting sluggish growth due to the rise of mobile devices, weak enterprise spending, and slower upgrades. To diversify away from those businesses, Intel aggressively expanded into <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/09/intel-corporation-is-running-out-of-room-to-growwh.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">adjacent markets Opens a New Window.</a> like non-volatile memory, programmable chips, and IoT chips.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Intel has predicted that the number of connected devices worldwide will surge from 15 billion in 2015 to 200 billion by 2020. That's why it launched a dedicated IoT business, which revolves around its Quark and Atom SoCs, in late2013. The low-powered Quark powers the button-sized Curie and Galileo development board, while the higher-powered Atom powers the SD card-sized Edison and devices which require more horsepower.</p>
<p>Intel heavily promoted these chipsets during recent events, and even partnered with Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting tolaunch <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/08/24/intel-corporation-expands-into-reality-tv.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">a reality show Opens a New Window.</a>, America's Greatest Makers, to showcase the chips being installed in wearables and other gadgets. That hype generated some interest, and the IoT unit's revenue rose 19% annually to $689 million last quarter. However, that accounted for just 4% of the chipmaker's top line. The unit's operating income rose 27% to $191 million, or 4% of Intel's operating profits.</p>
<p>America's Greatest Makers. Image source: Intel.</p>
<p>Intel's biggest mistake over the past decade was underestimating ARM, which licensed its lower-power chip designs to a wide variety of chipmakers. Back in 2006, then-Intel CEO Paul Otellini didn't believe that mobile chips would be a massively disruptive business. The chipmaker sold itsARM-based Xscale business to Marvell Technology in 2006, then rejected Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) offer to supply the application processors for the iPhone.</p>
<p>Apple then asked Samsung to develop an ARM-based chipset for the first iPhone, and eventually developed its own ARM-based A-series SoCs internally. Other smartphone makers eager to follow Apple's lead flocked to other ARM licenseessince early ARM chipsets were cheaper and more power-efficient than Intel's x86 chipsets.</p>
<p>Top ARM licensee Qualcomm subsequently dominated the Android market, andARM designs ended up in 95% of all smartphones worldwide. Intel tried to catch up by launching new Atom chips and subsidizing OEMs with billions of dollars in discounts, co-marketing agreements, and financial assistance in redesigning logic boards to grow its market share. However, Intel's market share remained at 1%, andit basically <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/06/why-intel-corporation-quit-smartphones-to-focus-on.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">quit the smartphone market Opens a New Window.</a> earlier this year by discontinuing its main Atom SoCs for mobile devices.</p>
<p>Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, who succeeded Otellini in 2013, clearly doesn't plan to lose the IoT market to ARM licensees in the same way it lost the mobile market. Unfortunately, Intel's adversary Qualcomm is already leveraging its massive mobile presence to <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/11/qualcomm-inc-is-running-out-of-room-to-grow-whats.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">gain footholds Opens a New Window.</a> in the wearables, drones, home automation, and connected car markets.</p>
<p>Qualcomm launched custom Snapdragon chips for those markets, acquired IoT chipmaker CSR last year, and <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/11/07/qualcomms-purchase-of-nxp-could-hurt-these-3-compa.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">agreed to buy Opens a New Window.</a> automotive chipmaking giant NXP Semiconductorsearlier this year. It also claims that its chips now power 80% ofall Android Wear devices. Considering that the biggest smartwatch maker, Apple, also uses a custom ARM chipset, it looks like a tough uphill battle for Intel in the IoT market.</p>
<p>This isn't the first time Intel hired an exec from a rival company to grow a struggling business. Two years ago, Intel hiredQualcomm networking and IoT exec Amir Faintuch to co-manage its Platform Engineering Group. Last November, it hired Qualcomm's mobile chief Murthy Renduchintala as its head of engineering.</p>
<p>Those hires were aimed at beefing up its mobile and IoT businesses and shaking up Intel's <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/17/is-intel-corporations-mobile-strategy-falling-apar.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">insular culture Opens a New Window.</a>, but it's unclear if they've actually moved Intel in the right direction. Lantzsch will likely fall into the same category -- he'll bring plenty of mobile and IoT expertise from ARM, but it's doubtful that he can steer the entire IoT market away from ARM-based designs toward x86 ones within a short time.</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=irbeditxt0000138&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable&amp;ftm_pit=6450&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSunLion/info.aspx" type="external">Leo Sun Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Qualcomm. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple, NXP Semiconductors, and Qualcomm. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Intel and Time Warner. 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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Will Intel's New Hire Rejuvenate Its Internet of Things Business?
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Will Intel's New Hire Rejuvenate Its Internet of Things Business?
<p />
<p>Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) recently hired Tom Lantzsch, a 10-year veteran ofSoftbank's chip designer ARM Holdings, as its senior VP and general manager of its Internet of Things (IoT) business. The IoT unit previously included Intel's IoT chips for wearables, connected devices, and autonomous cars; however, Intel recently launched a dedicated ADG (Automated Driving Group) business unit for its autonomous car efforts, which will be led by former IoT chief Doug Davis.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Tom Lantzsch. Image source: Intel.</p>
<p>Intel's other IoT chips and modules will remain in the slimmed-down IoT unit, which will be led by Tom Lantzsch. Hiring Lantzsch strongly suggests that Intel needs ARM's expertise in low-power chips to gain ground against ARM licensees like Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), but does the move come too late to make a meaningful difference?</p>
<p>Intel's core PC and data center chip groups, which accounted fornearly 80% of its revenue last quarter, are posting sluggish growth due to the rise of mobile devices, weak enterprise spending, and slower upgrades. To diversify away from those businesses, Intel aggressively expanded into <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/09/intel-corporation-is-running-out-of-room-to-growwh.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">adjacent markets Opens a New Window.</a> like non-volatile memory, programmable chips, and IoT chips.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Intel has predicted that the number of connected devices worldwide will surge from 15 billion in 2015 to 200 billion by 2020. That's why it launched a dedicated IoT business, which revolves around its Quark and Atom SoCs, in late2013. The low-powered Quark powers the button-sized Curie and Galileo development board, while the higher-powered Atom powers the SD card-sized Edison and devices which require more horsepower.</p>
<p>Intel heavily promoted these chipsets during recent events, and even partnered with Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting tolaunch <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/08/24/intel-corporation-expands-into-reality-tv.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">a reality show Opens a New Window.</a>, America's Greatest Makers, to showcase the chips being installed in wearables and other gadgets. That hype generated some interest, and the IoT unit's revenue rose 19% annually to $689 million last quarter. However, that accounted for just 4% of the chipmaker's top line. The unit's operating income rose 27% to $191 million, or 4% of Intel's operating profits.</p>
<p>America's Greatest Makers. Image source: Intel.</p>
<p>Intel's biggest mistake over the past decade was underestimating ARM, which licensed its lower-power chip designs to a wide variety of chipmakers. Back in 2006, then-Intel CEO Paul Otellini didn't believe that mobile chips would be a massively disruptive business. The chipmaker sold itsARM-based Xscale business to Marvell Technology in 2006, then rejected Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) offer to supply the application processors for the iPhone.</p>
<p>Apple then asked Samsung to develop an ARM-based chipset for the first iPhone, and eventually developed its own ARM-based A-series SoCs internally. Other smartphone makers eager to follow Apple's lead flocked to other ARM licenseessince early ARM chipsets were cheaper and more power-efficient than Intel's x86 chipsets.</p>
<p>Top ARM licensee Qualcomm subsequently dominated the Android market, andARM designs ended up in 95% of all smartphones worldwide. Intel tried to catch up by launching new Atom chips and subsidizing OEMs with billions of dollars in discounts, co-marketing agreements, and financial assistance in redesigning logic boards to grow its market share. However, Intel's market share remained at 1%, andit basically <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/06/why-intel-corporation-quit-smartphones-to-focus-on.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">quit the smartphone market Opens a New Window.</a> earlier this year by discontinuing its main Atom SoCs for mobile devices.</p>
<p>Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, who succeeded Otellini in 2013, clearly doesn't plan to lose the IoT market to ARM licensees in the same way it lost the mobile market. Unfortunately, Intel's adversary Qualcomm is already leveraging its massive mobile presence to <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/11/qualcomm-inc-is-running-out-of-room-to-grow-whats.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">gain footholds Opens a New Window.</a> in the wearables, drones, home automation, and connected car markets.</p>
<p>Qualcomm launched custom Snapdragon chips for those markets, acquired IoT chipmaker CSR last year, and <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/11/07/qualcomms-purchase-of-nxp-could-hurt-these-3-compa.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">agreed to buy Opens a New Window.</a> automotive chipmaking giant NXP Semiconductorsearlier this year. It also claims that its chips now power 80% ofall Android Wear devices. Considering that the biggest smartwatch maker, Apple, also uses a custom ARM chipset, it looks like a tough uphill battle for Intel in the IoT market.</p>
<p>This isn't the first time Intel hired an exec from a rival company to grow a struggling business. Two years ago, Intel hiredQualcomm networking and IoT exec Amir Faintuch to co-manage its Platform Engineering Group. Last November, it hired Qualcomm's mobile chief Murthy Renduchintala as its head of engineering.</p>
<p>Those hires were aimed at beefing up its mobile and IoT businesses and shaking up Intel's <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/17/is-intel-corporations-mobile-strategy-falling-apar.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">insular culture Opens a New Window.</a>, but it's unclear if they've actually moved Intel in the right direction. Lantzsch will likely fall into the same category -- he'll bring plenty of mobile and IoT expertise from ARM, but it's doubtful that he can steer the entire IoT market away from ARM-based designs toward x86 ones within a short time.</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=irbeditxt0000138&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable&amp;ftm_pit=6450&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSunLion/info.aspx" type="external">Leo Sun Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Qualcomm. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple, NXP Semiconductors, and Qualcomm. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Intel and Time Warner. 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>
| 6,551 |
<p>Oil prices rose on Friday on expectations for improved demand in China after data showed the manufacturing sector in the world No. 2 oil consumer expanded in December at its fastest pace in more than a year.</p>
<p>With Brent's January crude contract expiring at the end of Friday's session, Brent was on pace for a more than 1 percent weekly gain, after two weekly losses. U.S. crude needed to settle on Friday above $85.93 to post a weekly gain.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"Oil is particularly dominated by Chinese potential demand, and any sign of an upturn in China tends to have a positive effect on oil," said Tony Machacek, a broker at Jefferies Bache in London.</p>
<p>The HSBC flash purchasing managers' index for China rose to 50.9 for December, the highest level since October 2011 and the fifth straight monthly gain. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, versus contraction indicated by a figure below 50. [ID : nL4N09O0XF]</p>
<p>The uncertainty and turmoil in the Middle East supported oil prices, with investors concerned about the potential for supply disruption in the region.</p>
<p>Brent January crude rose $1.19 at $109.10 a barrel at 12:22 p.m. EST (1722 GMT), having swung from $108.20 to $109.48.</p>
<p>Brent February crude was up $1.29 at $107.75 a barrel. The spread between January and February contracts continued to price the front-month at a premium, but the premium ranged from $1.17 to $1.87 on Friday.</p>
<p>U.S. January crude was up 75 cents at $86.64 a barrel, having traded from $86.05 to $86.92. The U.S. January contract expires on Dec. 19.</p>
<p>A weaker dollar index, measuring the U.S. currency against a basket of currencies, was supportive to dollar-denominated commodities like oil and copper.</p>
<p>The U.S. currency surrendered early gains and fell against the yen after a report on inflation showed U.S. consumer prices dropped in November for the first time in six months. As a result, the Federal Reserve is expected to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy.</p>
<p>The U.S. central bank on Wednesday announced plans for more monetary stimulus, hoping to bolster economic growth and jobs creation.</p>
<p>Additional data released Friday pointed to an improving U.S. manufacturing sector. The Fed said manufacturing output rose 1.1 percent in November, the biggest gain since December 2011 an a rebound after the gauge fell in the prior month.</p>
<p>Investors remained cautious because of the stalemate in negotiations between the U.S. Congress and White House over how to avert steep tax increases and spending cuts mandated to start in 2013.</p>
<p>The uncertainty about the U.S. budget talks lessened the supportive effect of reports this week showing a drop in new jobless claims last week to a near four-year low and a November rebound in retail sales.</p>
<p>MIDDLE EAST TURMOIL</p>
<p>Supporters and opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Mursi clashed in Alexandria on Friday before a referendum on a new constitution that has divided the country.</p>
<p>Iran's dispute with the West over Tehran's nuclear program remains a factor in the geopolitical risk premium for oil.</p>
<p>The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency expects to reach a deal with Iran next month to resume a stalled investigation into suspected nuclear weapon research, the chief U.N. inspector said after returning from Tehran on Friday.</p>
<p>IAEA delegation chief Herman Nackaerts said progress had been made even though Iran failed to grant access to the Parchin military complex.</p>
<p>Sounding a less optimistic note, a member of Iran's nuclear negotiation team said talks between Iran and major world powers were unlikely to yield results and it makes no sense for Tehran to stop enriching uranium to 20 percent fissile purity.</p>
<p>The dispute over the nuclear program has resulted in U.S.-led sanctions on much of its energy and other sectors and the European Union has banned imports of Iranian oil since July. (Reporting By Robert Gibbons. Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla in London and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Grant McCool)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
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Oil Jumps 1% as Global Factories Rev Up
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http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/12/14/oil-jumps-1-as-global-factories-rev-up.html
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2016-01-26
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Oil Jumps 1% as Global Factories Rev Up
<p>Oil prices rose on Friday on expectations for improved demand in China after data showed the manufacturing sector in the world No. 2 oil consumer expanded in December at its fastest pace in more than a year.</p>
<p>With Brent's January crude contract expiring at the end of Friday's session, Brent was on pace for a more than 1 percent weekly gain, after two weekly losses. U.S. crude needed to settle on Friday above $85.93 to post a weekly gain.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"Oil is particularly dominated by Chinese potential demand, and any sign of an upturn in China tends to have a positive effect on oil," said Tony Machacek, a broker at Jefferies Bache in London.</p>
<p>The HSBC flash purchasing managers' index for China rose to 50.9 for December, the highest level since October 2011 and the fifth straight monthly gain. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, versus contraction indicated by a figure below 50. [ID : nL4N09O0XF]</p>
<p>The uncertainty and turmoil in the Middle East supported oil prices, with investors concerned about the potential for supply disruption in the region.</p>
<p>Brent January crude rose $1.19 at $109.10 a barrel at 12:22 p.m. EST (1722 GMT), having swung from $108.20 to $109.48.</p>
<p>Brent February crude was up $1.29 at $107.75 a barrel. The spread between January and February contracts continued to price the front-month at a premium, but the premium ranged from $1.17 to $1.87 on Friday.</p>
<p>U.S. January crude was up 75 cents at $86.64 a barrel, having traded from $86.05 to $86.92. The U.S. January contract expires on Dec. 19.</p>
<p>A weaker dollar index, measuring the U.S. currency against a basket of currencies, was supportive to dollar-denominated commodities like oil and copper.</p>
<p>The U.S. currency surrendered early gains and fell against the yen after a report on inflation showed U.S. consumer prices dropped in November for the first time in six months. As a result, the Federal Reserve is expected to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy.</p>
<p>The U.S. central bank on Wednesday announced plans for more monetary stimulus, hoping to bolster economic growth and jobs creation.</p>
<p>Additional data released Friday pointed to an improving U.S. manufacturing sector. The Fed said manufacturing output rose 1.1 percent in November, the biggest gain since December 2011 an a rebound after the gauge fell in the prior month.</p>
<p>Investors remained cautious because of the stalemate in negotiations between the U.S. Congress and White House over how to avert steep tax increases and spending cuts mandated to start in 2013.</p>
<p>The uncertainty about the U.S. budget talks lessened the supportive effect of reports this week showing a drop in new jobless claims last week to a near four-year low and a November rebound in retail sales.</p>
<p>MIDDLE EAST TURMOIL</p>
<p>Supporters and opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Mursi clashed in Alexandria on Friday before a referendum on a new constitution that has divided the country.</p>
<p>Iran's dispute with the West over Tehran's nuclear program remains a factor in the geopolitical risk premium for oil.</p>
<p>The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency expects to reach a deal with Iran next month to resume a stalled investigation into suspected nuclear weapon research, the chief U.N. inspector said after returning from Tehran on Friday.</p>
<p>IAEA delegation chief Herman Nackaerts said progress had been made even though Iran failed to grant access to the Parchin military complex.</p>
<p>Sounding a less optimistic note, a member of Iran's nuclear negotiation team said talks between Iran and major world powers were unlikely to yield results and it makes no sense for Tehran to stop enriching uranium to 20 percent fissile purity.</p>
<p>The dispute over the nuclear program has resulted in U.S.-led sanctions on much of its energy and other sectors and the European Union has banned imports of Iranian oil since July. (Reporting By Robert Gibbons. Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla in London and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Grant McCool)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
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<p />
<p>Using the latest high-resolution global climate simulations, the scientists show evaporation caused by warming temperatures is likely to leave less water for the rivers that flow out of the high country in northern New Mexico and Colorado that supplies much of the state’s water.</p>
<p>The finding is consistent with earlier research. But by using the latest models, which can more accurately account for weather across the region’s complex terrain, the new research gives a clearer picture of the situation, said Richard Seager, the climate scientist who led the team doing the work.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We were able to make a more fine-grained picture,” Seager said. “The story becomes more robust because of that.”</p>
<p>The research, published in December in the peer-reviewed Nature Climate Change, is the latest in a series of research efforts going back to the early 1990s that have come to the same conclusion – as atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases increase, driving up temperatures, water supplies across the arid western United States will decline.</p>
<p>The use of the latest models is an important development, according to Brad Udall, who heads up a Colorado River water policy research group at the University of Colorado.</p>
<p>Scientists disagree about whether we are already seeing the phenomenon in current drought conditions. An analysis by Seager and a colleague in 2010 concluded that natural drought patterns could be sufficient to explain the drought conditions across the Colorado River Basin and much of the southwestern United States over the first decade of the 21st century.</p>
<p>Those natural patterns also can lead to long wet periods, Seager said in a telephone interview. “Climate change does not shut down natural variability,” he said.</p>
<p>But superimposed on those natural wet and dry cycles, which can last for decades, the long-term warming trend will inevitably sap the region’s water supplies, he said.</p>
<p>The mountain headwaters of the Colorado River Basin, which supplies a significant share of New Mexico’s water, illustrates the problem. The region is actually projected, on average, to see a slight increase in precipitation, Seager and his colleagues found. But increased evaporation as a result of warming temperatures wipes out any water supply benefit. For water management, farming and ecosystem health, it is precipitation minus evaporation that matters, the scientists wrote.</p>
<p>In Texas, Seager and his colleagues concluded that warming temperatures will lead to a 10 percent reduction in streamflow over the 2021-2040 time period. In California, the simulations suggest a 20 percent drop in the key spring runoff time period. For the Colorado River Basin, the average annual runoff drops 10 percent, with a 25 percent drop during the key spring runoff season.</p>
<p>Seager and his colleagues did not directly analyze runoff in the Rio Grande Basin, New Mexico’s other major water supply. But, sandwiched as it is between Texas and the Colorado River Basin, the outcome on the Rio Grande is likely to be similar, he said.</p>
<p>The study comes amid renewed discussion about the gap between water supply and demand in the western United States, with a new state-federal report released in mid-December showing increasing shortfalls as rising population increases water demand in New Mexico and the six other US states that share the Colorado River’s water, while climate change reduces supply. — This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal</p>
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Climate Change Threatens Water
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https://abqjournal.com/156991/climate-change-threatens-water.html
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2013-01-01
| 2least
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Climate Change Threatens Water
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Using the latest high-resolution global climate simulations, the scientists show evaporation caused by warming temperatures is likely to leave less water for the rivers that flow out of the high country in northern New Mexico and Colorado that supplies much of the state’s water.</p>
<p>The finding is consistent with earlier research. But by using the latest models, which can more accurately account for weather across the region’s complex terrain, the new research gives a clearer picture of the situation, said Richard Seager, the climate scientist who led the team doing the work.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We were able to make a more fine-grained picture,” Seager said. “The story becomes more robust because of that.”</p>
<p>The research, published in December in the peer-reviewed Nature Climate Change, is the latest in a series of research efforts going back to the early 1990s that have come to the same conclusion – as atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases increase, driving up temperatures, water supplies across the arid western United States will decline.</p>
<p>The use of the latest models is an important development, according to Brad Udall, who heads up a Colorado River water policy research group at the University of Colorado.</p>
<p>Scientists disagree about whether we are already seeing the phenomenon in current drought conditions. An analysis by Seager and a colleague in 2010 concluded that natural drought patterns could be sufficient to explain the drought conditions across the Colorado River Basin and much of the southwestern United States over the first decade of the 21st century.</p>
<p>Those natural patterns also can lead to long wet periods, Seager said in a telephone interview. “Climate change does not shut down natural variability,” he said.</p>
<p>But superimposed on those natural wet and dry cycles, which can last for decades, the long-term warming trend will inevitably sap the region’s water supplies, he said.</p>
<p>The mountain headwaters of the Colorado River Basin, which supplies a significant share of New Mexico’s water, illustrates the problem. The region is actually projected, on average, to see a slight increase in precipitation, Seager and his colleagues found. But increased evaporation as a result of warming temperatures wipes out any water supply benefit. For water management, farming and ecosystem health, it is precipitation minus evaporation that matters, the scientists wrote.</p>
<p>In Texas, Seager and his colleagues concluded that warming temperatures will lead to a 10 percent reduction in streamflow over the 2021-2040 time period. In California, the simulations suggest a 20 percent drop in the key spring runoff time period. For the Colorado River Basin, the average annual runoff drops 10 percent, with a 25 percent drop during the key spring runoff season.</p>
<p>Seager and his colleagues did not directly analyze runoff in the Rio Grande Basin, New Mexico’s other major water supply. But, sandwiched as it is between Texas and the Colorado River Basin, the outcome on the Rio Grande is likely to be similar, he said.</p>
<p>The study comes amid renewed discussion about the gap between water supply and demand in the western United States, with a new state-federal report released in mid-December showing increasing shortfalls as rising population increases water demand in New Mexico and the six other US states that share the Colorado River’s water, while climate change reduces supply. — This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal</p>
| 6,553 |
<p />
<p>Many dividend stocks had great runs over the past year thanks to low interest rates pulling investors away from bonds and toward income stocks. But with interest rates expected to rise and many income stocks trading at premium valuations to the S&amp;P 500, investors should recognize dividend traps with unsustainable payout ratios.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>A stock's payout ratio, looking at how much it pays out to shareholders in dividends, is calculated in one of two ways -- as a percentage of its earnings per share or as a percentage of its free cash flow. If either percentage exceeds 100%, it's losing money with those payments and could reduce its dividend.</p>
<p>In previous articles, I identified <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/10/3-embarrassingly-unsustainable-dividend-stocks.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">dangerous dividend stocks Opens a New Window.</a> like Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC), Frontier Communications, Guess, <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/22/is-nokia-corporation-a-reliable-dividend-play.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">and Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/22/is-nokia-corporation-a-reliable-dividend-play.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Nokia Opens a New Window.</a>. Today, I'll add two more stocks to that list -- Computer Programs and Systems (NASDAQ: CPSI) and NVE Corporation (NASDAQ: NVEC).</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>At its current stock price and current dividend, healthcare IT company Computer Programs and Systems offers a dividend yield of 4%. But the dividend has been dropping since the summer, when the company approved a more conservative dividend policy. Its first two dividend payments in 2016 were $0.64 per share, but that payment was cut to $0.34 and then $0.24.</p>
<p>Computer Programs and Systems in August announced plans to pay a variable dividend limited to 70% of the preceding quarter's non-GAAP EPS. "Our Board elected to adopt a dividend policy that provides the Company the flexibility to pay off debt more quickly and to increase our investment in new solutions across all of the CPSI companies," the company said in an announcement.</p>
<p>The board's decision to base dividend payments on adjusted earnings doesn't bode well for future dividend payments, since analysts expect the company's non-GAAP earnings to fall4% this year due to acquisitions and tough competition in the healthcare IT space. Its cash position also fell from nearly $25 million at the end of 2015 to just $3.7 million at the end of September, and its long-term debt hit $150.6 million. That was due to the company making numerous acquisitions to bolster its revenue, which is expected to rise 47% this year. While that top-line growth looks encouraging after the stock's 50% decline in 2016, Computer Programs and Systems definitely doesn't offer reliable dividend growth for long-term income investors.</p>
<p>NVE Corporation manufactures tiny "spintronics" devices that use electron spins to acquire, store, and transmit information. The technology, which was discovered and initially developed in the 1980s, is used for random access memory applications in the industrial, scientific, and medical sectors.</p>
<p>NVE's growth has been dismal. It posted five straight quarters of annual revenue declines before eking out 0.3% sales growth last quarter. Looking ahead, thesingle analyst who covers NVE expects its revenue to rise 4% next year on warmer demand for its devices across multiple industries. Earnings are also expected to rise 3% next year.</p>
<p>However, NVE's forward dividend yield of 6% doesn't look sustainable. NVE only started paying a dividend last year -- with a special dividend of$2.06 followed by quarterly dividends payments of $1. Those dividend payments gobbled up 164% of its free cash flow and 167% of its earnings per share over the past 12 months. There's no way that those payout ratios can drop below 100% if NVE only grows its earnings by 3% next year. Furthermore, NVE stock's 20% rally in 2016 -- which boosted its trailing P/E to 28 -- seems partially fueled by investors seeking yield in a low-interest-rate environment. This means that a dividend cut could send shares sliding very quickly.</p>
<p>With the market near historic highs and interest rates set to rise, income investors should stick with <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/09/11/3-rock-solid-dividend-stocks-with-a-pe-under-15.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">reliable dividend stocks Opens a New Window.</a> with low multiples, sustainable payout ratios, and robust earnings growth. Simply screening for high yields could lead you to high-yield traps like Computer Programs and Systems and NVE, which could both slash their hefty payouts in the near future.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Computer Programs and Systems 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=d3f35d96-301c-45d8-9c33-38e6314ff5d6&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 Computer Programs and Systems 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=d3f35d96-301c-45d8-9c33-38e6314ff5d6&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 November 7, 2016</p>
<p><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 Western Digital. The Motley Fool recommends Guess?. 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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These 2 Dividend Stocks Could Slash Their Payouts
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http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/09/10/these-2-dividend-stocks-could-slash-their-payouts.html
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2016-12-02
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These 2 Dividend Stocks Could Slash Their Payouts
<p />
<p>Many dividend stocks had great runs over the past year thanks to low interest rates pulling investors away from bonds and toward income stocks. But with interest rates expected to rise and many income stocks trading at premium valuations to the S&amp;P 500, investors should recognize dividend traps with unsustainable payout ratios.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>A stock's payout ratio, looking at how much it pays out to shareholders in dividends, is calculated in one of two ways -- as a percentage of its earnings per share or as a percentage of its free cash flow. If either percentage exceeds 100%, it's losing money with those payments and could reduce its dividend.</p>
<p>In previous articles, I identified <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/10/3-embarrassingly-unsustainable-dividend-stocks.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">dangerous dividend stocks Opens a New Window.</a> like Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC), Frontier Communications, Guess, <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/22/is-nokia-corporation-a-reliable-dividend-play.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">and Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/22/is-nokia-corporation-a-reliable-dividend-play.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Nokia Opens a New Window.</a>. Today, I'll add two more stocks to that list -- Computer Programs and Systems (NASDAQ: CPSI) and NVE Corporation (NASDAQ: NVEC).</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>At its current stock price and current dividend, healthcare IT company Computer Programs and Systems offers a dividend yield of 4%. But the dividend has been dropping since the summer, when the company approved a more conservative dividend policy. Its first two dividend payments in 2016 were $0.64 per share, but that payment was cut to $0.34 and then $0.24.</p>
<p>Computer Programs and Systems in August announced plans to pay a variable dividend limited to 70% of the preceding quarter's non-GAAP EPS. "Our Board elected to adopt a dividend policy that provides the Company the flexibility to pay off debt more quickly and to increase our investment in new solutions across all of the CPSI companies," the company said in an announcement.</p>
<p>The board's decision to base dividend payments on adjusted earnings doesn't bode well for future dividend payments, since analysts expect the company's non-GAAP earnings to fall4% this year due to acquisitions and tough competition in the healthcare IT space. Its cash position also fell from nearly $25 million at the end of 2015 to just $3.7 million at the end of September, and its long-term debt hit $150.6 million. That was due to the company making numerous acquisitions to bolster its revenue, which is expected to rise 47% this year. While that top-line growth looks encouraging after the stock's 50% decline in 2016, Computer Programs and Systems definitely doesn't offer reliable dividend growth for long-term income investors.</p>
<p>NVE Corporation manufactures tiny "spintronics" devices that use electron spins to acquire, store, and transmit information. The technology, which was discovered and initially developed in the 1980s, is used for random access memory applications in the industrial, scientific, and medical sectors.</p>
<p>NVE's growth has been dismal. It posted five straight quarters of annual revenue declines before eking out 0.3% sales growth last quarter. Looking ahead, thesingle analyst who covers NVE expects its revenue to rise 4% next year on warmer demand for its devices across multiple industries. Earnings are also expected to rise 3% next year.</p>
<p>However, NVE's forward dividend yield of 6% doesn't look sustainable. NVE only started paying a dividend last year -- with a special dividend of$2.06 followed by quarterly dividends payments of $1. Those dividend payments gobbled up 164% of its free cash flow and 167% of its earnings per share over the past 12 months. There's no way that those payout ratios can drop below 100% if NVE only grows its earnings by 3% next year. Furthermore, NVE stock's 20% rally in 2016 -- which boosted its trailing P/E to 28 -- seems partially fueled by investors seeking yield in a low-interest-rate environment. This means that a dividend cut could send shares sliding very quickly.</p>
<p>With the market near historic highs and interest rates set to rise, income investors should stick with <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/09/11/3-rock-solid-dividend-stocks-with-a-pe-under-15.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">reliable dividend stocks Opens a New Window.</a> with low multiples, sustainable payout ratios, and robust earnings growth. Simply screening for high yields could lead you to high-yield traps like Computer Programs and Systems and NVE, which could both slash their hefty payouts in the near future.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Computer Programs and Systems 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=d3f35d96-301c-45d8-9c33-38e6314ff5d6&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 Computer Programs and Systems 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=d3f35d96-301c-45d8-9c33-38e6314ff5d6&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 November 7, 2016</p>
<p><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 Western Digital. The Motley Fool recommends Guess?. 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>
| 6,554 |
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<p>Target’s refreshed grocery department skews towards grab and go food items. (Jeff Wheeler/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)</p>
<p>MINNEAPOLIS — Target has spent more than a decade adapting to the arrival of online shopping.</p>
<p>For a time, it outsourced much of its digital effort to Amazon. Then it tried to fight a head-to-head battle for the attention of internet shoppers.</p>
<p>Now CEO Brian Cornell is shifting the Minneapolis-based company’s emphasis again to focus on a not-so-secret weapon: its stores.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>While Walmart and other competitors move resources toward online operations, Target plans to invest more than $3 billion over the next three years in its brick-and-mortar locations. It is remodeling one-third of them and opening new, smaller ones in the heart of cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.</p>
<p>“Despite the rapid growth we’re still seeing online and others are seeing online, the majority of retail shopping in America still takes place in a physical store,” Cornell said, reiterating what has become one of his primary talking points.</p>
<p>The company’s approach is counterintuitive at a time when the digital onslaught is leading other retailers to shutter hundreds of physical locations and some to go out of business altogether.</p>
<p>Yet Target’s strategy has already shown signs of working, with an increase in sales during the spring quarter as the company remodeled stores and prepared to introduce new private-label clothing and home brands.</p>
<p>Whether it can build on this success will be a critical test for one of Minnesota’s largest and most prominent businesses. But some retail observers believe that Cornell has identified an important advantage that online rivals can’t counter.</p>
<p>“With Amazon, you can’t walk into a store and return it,” said Brian Yarbrough, a retail analyst for Edward Jones. “That’s one of the reasons why I think stores are here for the long term and aren’t going away. And it’s about convenience. Some people just like to shop.”</p>
<p>There is a successful model for Target’s approach.</p>
<p>When Hubert Joly took over Best Buy in 2012, the electronics chain, also based in the Twin Cities area, was in the midst of a do-or-die moment with Amazon. The company’s previous leaders had closed 50 big-box stores and said more would be shutting soon.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“Five years ago, there was a lot of words about, ‘My God, Hubert, you’re going to have to close a lot of stores,'” Joly said.</p>
<p>He bristled at the idea. Instead of viewing stores as a liability in an increasingly digital world, he argued that they were one of Best Buy’s biggest assets. Located closer to where most people live compared to its fewer and far between distribution centers, he turned the stores into shipping hubs to more quickly and cheaply ship online orders to customers’ doorsteps.</p>
<p>As technology has become more complex, Best Buy has also embraced the idea of having its stores become showrooms. Customers can discover and learn about the newest gadgets with the expert advice of blue-shirted employees, and the company’s Geek Squad is available to help with installation. That’s an experience that is hard to replicate online.</p>
<p>Best Buy, which has 1,360 stores in the United States, has been quietly closing a few dozen a year, mostly its smaller mobile phone stores that are often in shopping malls. Joly said the retailer will continue to close some stores as leases come up for renewal, but that isn’t the main plan.</p>
<p>“We don’t have a strategy to close stores,” he said. “We’re excited by the roles that stores can play.”</p>
<p>To be sure, both Target and Best Buy have also been investing billions of dollars to overhaul their supply chains to get online orders to customers’ doorsteps more quickly and efficiently. They have also been upgrading their websites to be faster and more user-friendly, with better search capabilities and display pages of products.</p>
<p>But online is also still a relatively small part of most retailers’ business, 4 percent of sales at Target and 13 percent at Best Buy.</p>
<p>Part of the reason to focus on leveraging stores is that retailers get a bigger payoff from in-store sales, said Audrey Manacek, who heads up the consulting giant Mc­Kinsey’s Minneapolis office. Online sales, which are growing much more quickly, are less profitable for retailers because they have to ship items to customers.</p>
<p>Still, retailers have to be in both games.</p>
<p>“If you just stay focused on the stores and you’re not also investing at an even faster pace in online,” she said, “you’re going to miss the curve.”</p>
<p>Even big believers in the future of online retail think it will evolve gradually. The Minneapolis-based venture capital firm Loup Ventures thinks the eventual balance will be 55 percent online and 45 percent in-store but says it could take 30 years to get there.</p>
<p>“Customer habit is hard to change,” said the firm’s Andrew Murphy. “It will take a long time.”</p>
<p>And then there’s Amazon itself, which shook up the retail landscape this year by snapping up Whole Foods, giving it instant access to a network of 450 stores. The move was a validation of sorts for many traditional retailers: that even Amazon has come to realize that stores are useful.</p>
<p>“Amazon is not a huge fan of physical retail, so I think it was a fairly large leap in their admitting to that weakness of not having physical stores,” said Matt Sargent with consulting group Magid.</p>
<p>About 30 million people still visit a Target store every week. So Target is making major investments to keep them coming back for the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>“We’re not thinking about stores the same way we did even five years ago,” Cornell said at a retail conference in March. “If we did, we’d be cooked.”</p>
<p>A recent $10 million makeover of the store next to Target’s downtown Minneapolis headquarters provides a glimpse into how it’s reformulating stores. Beyond the cosmetic changes with updated flooring and lighting, it has more of a department-store feel with more thought given to how items are displayed to help inspire more purchases.</p>
<p>And Target is looking to bring more digital elements into the experience, such as location-tracking capabilities that show shoppers what Cartwheel deals are nearby on the shelf through the Target app and via handheld devices through which employees can look up and order online different sizes or colors for customers.</p>
<p>Like Best Buy, more than half of Target’s online orders are now either picked up in or shipped from its stores. Doing so has helped Target not only get packages to customers more quickly, but also cut down on shipping costs.</p>
<p>Target is testing ideas such as curbside pickup where customers can drive up to the parking lot to fetch online orders without having to step in the store. Walmart has already been aggressively rolling out a similar service focused on groceries to many of its stores.</p>
<p>While it’s trying to give customers what they want, Target also knows that if it gets people in the store they’re more likely to buy more things, said John Rabenhorst, a principal in the retail practice of consulting firm A.T. Kearney.</p>
<p>That’s been part of the secret sauce for Target — people walk in looking for a couple of items and walk out with a whole cart full of merchandise.</p>
<p>“They don’t know what they need until they see it,” he said. “This idea of discovery doesn’t happen as much online.”</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>$3B Target’s investment over the next three years at its brick-and-mortar locations.</p>
<p>4 percent of all sales at Target come from online shopping.</p>
<p>13 percent of all sales at Best Buy come from online shopping.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>©2017 Star Tribune (Minneapolis)</p>
<p>Visit the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) at <a href="http://www.startribune.com" type="external">www.startribune.com</a></p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
|
Target, Best Buy and even Amazon among retailers who see new power in stores
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/1066959/target-best-buy-and-even-amazon-among-retailers-who-see-new-power-in-stores.html
| 2least
|
Target, Best Buy and even Amazon among retailers who see new power in stores
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Target’s refreshed grocery department skews towards grab and go food items. (Jeff Wheeler/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS)</p>
<p>MINNEAPOLIS — Target has spent more than a decade adapting to the arrival of online shopping.</p>
<p>For a time, it outsourced much of its digital effort to Amazon. Then it tried to fight a head-to-head battle for the attention of internet shoppers.</p>
<p>Now CEO Brian Cornell is shifting the Minneapolis-based company’s emphasis again to focus on a not-so-secret weapon: its stores.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>While Walmart and other competitors move resources toward online operations, Target plans to invest more than $3 billion over the next three years in its brick-and-mortar locations. It is remodeling one-third of them and opening new, smaller ones in the heart of cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.</p>
<p>“Despite the rapid growth we’re still seeing online and others are seeing online, the majority of retail shopping in America still takes place in a physical store,” Cornell said, reiterating what has become one of his primary talking points.</p>
<p>The company’s approach is counterintuitive at a time when the digital onslaught is leading other retailers to shutter hundreds of physical locations and some to go out of business altogether.</p>
<p>Yet Target’s strategy has already shown signs of working, with an increase in sales during the spring quarter as the company remodeled stores and prepared to introduce new private-label clothing and home brands.</p>
<p>Whether it can build on this success will be a critical test for one of Minnesota’s largest and most prominent businesses. But some retail observers believe that Cornell has identified an important advantage that online rivals can’t counter.</p>
<p>“With Amazon, you can’t walk into a store and return it,” said Brian Yarbrough, a retail analyst for Edward Jones. “That’s one of the reasons why I think stores are here for the long term and aren’t going away. And it’s about convenience. Some people just like to shop.”</p>
<p>There is a successful model for Target’s approach.</p>
<p>When Hubert Joly took over Best Buy in 2012, the electronics chain, also based in the Twin Cities area, was in the midst of a do-or-die moment with Amazon. The company’s previous leaders had closed 50 big-box stores and said more would be shutting soon.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“Five years ago, there was a lot of words about, ‘My God, Hubert, you’re going to have to close a lot of stores,'” Joly said.</p>
<p>He bristled at the idea. Instead of viewing stores as a liability in an increasingly digital world, he argued that they were one of Best Buy’s biggest assets. Located closer to where most people live compared to its fewer and far between distribution centers, he turned the stores into shipping hubs to more quickly and cheaply ship online orders to customers’ doorsteps.</p>
<p>As technology has become more complex, Best Buy has also embraced the idea of having its stores become showrooms. Customers can discover and learn about the newest gadgets with the expert advice of blue-shirted employees, and the company’s Geek Squad is available to help with installation. That’s an experience that is hard to replicate online.</p>
<p>Best Buy, which has 1,360 stores in the United States, has been quietly closing a few dozen a year, mostly its smaller mobile phone stores that are often in shopping malls. Joly said the retailer will continue to close some stores as leases come up for renewal, but that isn’t the main plan.</p>
<p>“We don’t have a strategy to close stores,” he said. “We’re excited by the roles that stores can play.”</p>
<p>To be sure, both Target and Best Buy have also been investing billions of dollars to overhaul their supply chains to get online orders to customers’ doorsteps more quickly and efficiently. They have also been upgrading their websites to be faster and more user-friendly, with better search capabilities and display pages of products.</p>
<p>But online is also still a relatively small part of most retailers’ business, 4 percent of sales at Target and 13 percent at Best Buy.</p>
<p>Part of the reason to focus on leveraging stores is that retailers get a bigger payoff from in-store sales, said Audrey Manacek, who heads up the consulting giant Mc­Kinsey’s Minneapolis office. Online sales, which are growing much more quickly, are less profitable for retailers because they have to ship items to customers.</p>
<p>Still, retailers have to be in both games.</p>
<p>“If you just stay focused on the stores and you’re not also investing at an even faster pace in online,” she said, “you’re going to miss the curve.”</p>
<p>Even big believers in the future of online retail think it will evolve gradually. The Minneapolis-based venture capital firm Loup Ventures thinks the eventual balance will be 55 percent online and 45 percent in-store but says it could take 30 years to get there.</p>
<p>“Customer habit is hard to change,” said the firm’s Andrew Murphy. “It will take a long time.”</p>
<p>And then there’s Amazon itself, which shook up the retail landscape this year by snapping up Whole Foods, giving it instant access to a network of 450 stores. The move was a validation of sorts for many traditional retailers: that even Amazon has come to realize that stores are useful.</p>
<p>“Amazon is not a huge fan of physical retail, so I think it was a fairly large leap in their admitting to that weakness of not having physical stores,” said Matt Sargent with consulting group Magid.</p>
<p>About 30 million people still visit a Target store every week. So Target is making major investments to keep them coming back for the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>“We’re not thinking about stores the same way we did even five years ago,” Cornell said at a retail conference in March. “If we did, we’d be cooked.”</p>
<p>A recent $10 million makeover of the store next to Target’s downtown Minneapolis headquarters provides a glimpse into how it’s reformulating stores. Beyond the cosmetic changes with updated flooring and lighting, it has more of a department-store feel with more thought given to how items are displayed to help inspire more purchases.</p>
<p>And Target is looking to bring more digital elements into the experience, such as location-tracking capabilities that show shoppers what Cartwheel deals are nearby on the shelf through the Target app and via handheld devices through which employees can look up and order online different sizes or colors for customers.</p>
<p>Like Best Buy, more than half of Target’s online orders are now either picked up in or shipped from its stores. Doing so has helped Target not only get packages to customers more quickly, but also cut down on shipping costs.</p>
<p>Target is testing ideas such as curbside pickup where customers can drive up to the parking lot to fetch online orders without having to step in the store. Walmart has already been aggressively rolling out a similar service focused on groceries to many of its stores.</p>
<p>While it’s trying to give customers what they want, Target also knows that if it gets people in the store they’re more likely to buy more things, said John Rabenhorst, a principal in the retail practice of consulting firm A.T. Kearney.</p>
<p>That’s been part of the secret sauce for Target — people walk in looking for a couple of items and walk out with a whole cart full of merchandise.</p>
<p>“They don’t know what they need until they see it,” he said. “This idea of discovery doesn’t happen as much online.”</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>$3B Target’s investment over the next three years at its brick-and-mortar locations.</p>
<p>4 percent of all sales at Target come from online shopping.</p>
<p>13 percent of all sales at Best Buy come from online shopping.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>©2017 Star Tribune (Minneapolis)</p>
<p>Visit the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) at <a href="http://www.startribune.com" type="external">www.startribune.com</a></p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
| 6,555 |
|
<p>The US contractor sentenced to a 15-year prison term in Cuba for attempting to establish an illegal Internet service has gone on a hunger strike to protest his treatment by the Cuban and US governments, his lawyer said on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The lawyer also criticized the United States for putting Alan Gross's life in further jeopardy by launching a secretive "Cuban Twitter" after his arrest in 2009.</p>
<p>Gross, 64, was a subcontractor for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) when he was arrested on his fifth trip to Cuba in an attempt to establish an online network for Jews in Havana.</p>
<p>In 2011, a Cuban court sentenced him to 15 years in prison, adding greater tension to already fraught US-Cuban relations.</p>
<p>Those relations suffered another setback last week with the revelation that USAID had established a social network in Cuba that Havana saw as an attempt to subvert the communist government.</p>
<p>"I began a fast on April 3 in protest of the treatment to which I am subjected by the governments of Cuba and the United States," Gross said in the statement. "I am fasting to object to mistruths, deceptions, and inaction by both governments, not only regarding their shared responsibility for my arbitrary detention, but also because of the lack of any reasonable or valid effort to resolve this shameful ordeal."</p>
<p>Gross also repeated his plea for US President Barack Obama to become personally involved in efforts to get him released.</p>
<p>Gross had already lost 110 pounds (50 kg) in prison before starting his hunger strike, according to a statement released by his lawyer, Scott Gilbert. He is confined to a small, constantly lit cell with two other prisoners for 23 hours a day, the statement said.</p>
<p>"I've been begging our government for more than four years to bring Alan home," Gross's wife Judy Gross said in the statement. "I'm worried sick about Alan's health, and I don't think he can survive much more of this."</p>
<p>Spy swap</p>
<p>Cuba has expressed an interest in swapping Gross for three Cuban agents serving long prison terms in the United States for spying on Cuban exile groups in Florida.</p>
<p>So far the United States has flatly rejected any trade, especially for one of the Cubans who is serving a double life sentence for conspiracy to murder for his role in Cuba's shooting down of two US civilian planes in 1996, killing four anti-Castro activists. Aircraft from their group, "Brothers to the Rescue," had been buzzing the Cuban coast for more than a year, dropping leaflets.</p>
<p>Gross's fate may have been harmed by the revelation last week that USAID was engaged in building a social network in Cuba from 2010 to 2012.</p>
<p>Cuba authorities have cited the program, called ZunZuneo, as&#160;another example of US attempts to undermine Cuba's communist government. It was funded by USAID, which is primarily a foreign aid agency, but it has also been allotted money by Congress to promote democracy in Cuba.</p>
<p>"Once Alan was arrested, it is shocking that USAID would imperil his safety even further by running a covert operation in Cuba," Gross' lawyer Gilbert said in a statement. "USAID has made one absurdly bad decision after another. Running this program is contrary to everything we have been told by high-level representatives of the Obama administration about USAID's activities in Cuba."</p>
<p>ZunZuneo was revealed by the Associated Press. USAID on Monday disputed some of the AP's reporting, for example denying ZunZuneo intended to incite flash mobs, created a shell company or deceived potential executives.</p>
<p>By coincidence, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah was previously scheduled to appear before a US Senate subcommittee on Tuesday, and he is expected to face questioning about ZunZuneo.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by David Adams and Ken Wills)</p>
|
USAID contractor Alan Gross who is jailed in Cuba goes on hunger strike
| false |
https://pri.org/stories/2014-04-08/usaid-contractor-alan-gross-who-jailed-cuba-goes-hunger-strike
|
2014-04-08
| 3left-center
|
USAID contractor Alan Gross who is jailed in Cuba goes on hunger strike
<p>The US contractor sentenced to a 15-year prison term in Cuba for attempting to establish an illegal Internet service has gone on a hunger strike to protest his treatment by the Cuban and US governments, his lawyer said on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The lawyer also criticized the United States for putting Alan Gross's life in further jeopardy by launching a secretive "Cuban Twitter" after his arrest in 2009.</p>
<p>Gross, 64, was a subcontractor for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) when he was arrested on his fifth trip to Cuba in an attempt to establish an online network for Jews in Havana.</p>
<p>In 2011, a Cuban court sentenced him to 15 years in prison, adding greater tension to already fraught US-Cuban relations.</p>
<p>Those relations suffered another setback last week with the revelation that USAID had established a social network in Cuba that Havana saw as an attempt to subvert the communist government.</p>
<p>"I began a fast on April 3 in protest of the treatment to which I am subjected by the governments of Cuba and the United States," Gross said in the statement. "I am fasting to object to mistruths, deceptions, and inaction by both governments, not only regarding their shared responsibility for my arbitrary detention, but also because of the lack of any reasonable or valid effort to resolve this shameful ordeal."</p>
<p>Gross also repeated his plea for US President Barack Obama to become personally involved in efforts to get him released.</p>
<p>Gross had already lost 110 pounds (50 kg) in prison before starting his hunger strike, according to a statement released by his lawyer, Scott Gilbert. He is confined to a small, constantly lit cell with two other prisoners for 23 hours a day, the statement said.</p>
<p>"I've been begging our government for more than four years to bring Alan home," Gross's wife Judy Gross said in the statement. "I'm worried sick about Alan's health, and I don't think he can survive much more of this."</p>
<p>Spy swap</p>
<p>Cuba has expressed an interest in swapping Gross for three Cuban agents serving long prison terms in the United States for spying on Cuban exile groups in Florida.</p>
<p>So far the United States has flatly rejected any trade, especially for one of the Cubans who is serving a double life sentence for conspiracy to murder for his role in Cuba's shooting down of two US civilian planes in 1996, killing four anti-Castro activists. Aircraft from their group, "Brothers to the Rescue," had been buzzing the Cuban coast for more than a year, dropping leaflets.</p>
<p>Gross's fate may have been harmed by the revelation last week that USAID was engaged in building a social network in Cuba from 2010 to 2012.</p>
<p>Cuba authorities have cited the program, called ZunZuneo, as&#160;another example of US attempts to undermine Cuba's communist government. It was funded by USAID, which is primarily a foreign aid agency, but it has also been allotted money by Congress to promote democracy in Cuba.</p>
<p>"Once Alan was arrested, it is shocking that USAID would imperil his safety even further by running a covert operation in Cuba," Gross' lawyer Gilbert said in a statement. "USAID has made one absurdly bad decision after another. Running this program is contrary to everything we have been told by high-level representatives of the Obama administration about USAID's activities in Cuba."</p>
<p>ZunZuneo was revealed by the Associated Press. USAID on Monday disputed some of the AP's reporting, for example denying ZunZuneo intended to incite flash mobs, created a shell company or deceived potential executives.</p>
<p>By coincidence, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah was previously scheduled to appear before a US Senate subcommittee on Tuesday, and he is expected to face questioning about ZunZuneo.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by David Adams and Ken Wills)</p>
| 6,556 |
<p>OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A drunken driver who killed a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy will spend years in prison and then be deported.</p>
<p>The Kansas City Star <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article194369504.html" type="external">reports</a> 39-year-old Adrian Espinosa-Flores was sentenced Friday to 12.5 years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed.</p>
<p>Prosecutors say Espinosa-Flores was driving a pickup truck that hit Master Deputy Brandon Collins’ patrol car in Overland Park in September 2016. The patrol vehicle was pushed into a vehicle Collins had pulled over. A fire broke out and three people in the vehicle were injured.</p>
<p>Espinosa-Flores pleaded guilty in October to reckless second-degree murder and three counts of aggravated battery.</p>
<p>Tests found his blood-alcohol content after the wreck was .160, twice the legal limit in Kansas.</p>
<p>Espinosa-Flores was in the country illegally and will be deported after prison.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Kansas City Star, <a href="http://www.kcstar.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.kcstar.com" type="external">http://www.kcstar.com</a></p>
<p>OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A drunken driver who killed a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy will spend years in prison and then be deported.</p>
<p>The Kansas City Star <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article194369504.html" type="external">reports</a> 39-year-old Adrian Espinosa-Flores was sentenced Friday to 12.5 years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed.</p>
<p>Prosecutors say Espinosa-Flores was driving a pickup truck that hit Master Deputy Brandon Collins’ patrol car in Overland Park in September 2016. The patrol vehicle was pushed into a vehicle Collins had pulled over. A fire broke out and three people in the vehicle were injured.</p>
<p>Espinosa-Flores pleaded guilty in October to reckless second-degree murder and three counts of aggravated battery.</p>
<p>Tests found his blood-alcohol content after the wreck was .160, twice the legal limit in Kansas.</p>
<p>Espinosa-Flores was in the country illegally and will be deported after prison.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Kansas City Star, <a href="http://www.kcstar.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.kcstar.com" type="external">http://www.kcstar.com</a></p>
|
Drunken driver who killed Johnson County deputy sentenced
| false |
https://apnews.com/bce584b11df94b509d04a90540ce8645
|
2018-01-12
| 2least
|
Drunken driver who killed Johnson County deputy sentenced
<p>OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A drunken driver who killed a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy will spend years in prison and then be deported.</p>
<p>The Kansas City Star <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article194369504.html" type="external">reports</a> 39-year-old Adrian Espinosa-Flores was sentenced Friday to 12.5 years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed.</p>
<p>Prosecutors say Espinosa-Flores was driving a pickup truck that hit Master Deputy Brandon Collins’ patrol car in Overland Park in September 2016. The patrol vehicle was pushed into a vehicle Collins had pulled over. A fire broke out and three people in the vehicle were injured.</p>
<p>Espinosa-Flores pleaded guilty in October to reckless second-degree murder and three counts of aggravated battery.</p>
<p>Tests found his blood-alcohol content after the wreck was .160, twice the legal limit in Kansas.</p>
<p>Espinosa-Flores was in the country illegally and will be deported after prison.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Kansas City Star, <a href="http://www.kcstar.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.kcstar.com" type="external">http://www.kcstar.com</a></p>
<p>OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A drunken driver who killed a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy will spend years in prison and then be deported.</p>
<p>The Kansas City Star <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article194369504.html" type="external">reports</a> 39-year-old Adrian Espinosa-Flores was sentenced Friday to 12.5 years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed.</p>
<p>Prosecutors say Espinosa-Flores was driving a pickup truck that hit Master Deputy Brandon Collins’ patrol car in Overland Park in September 2016. The patrol vehicle was pushed into a vehicle Collins had pulled over. A fire broke out and three people in the vehicle were injured.</p>
<p>Espinosa-Flores pleaded guilty in October to reckless second-degree murder and three counts of aggravated battery.</p>
<p>Tests found his blood-alcohol content after the wreck was .160, twice the legal limit in Kansas.</p>
<p>Espinosa-Flores was in the country illegally and will be deported after prison.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Kansas City Star, <a href="http://www.kcstar.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.kcstar.com" type="external">http://www.kcstar.com</a></p>
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<p>BERLIN — An explosion at a facility belonging to chemical firm BASF in southwestern Germany killed two people and injured at least six others on Monday, authorities said. Another two still were missing hours after the blast.</p>
<p>The explosion occurred in the late morning at a river harbor in Ludwigshafen that is used to unload flammable liquids and liquefied gas.</p>
<p>Plant manager Uwe Liebelt said it was preceded by a fire in a pipeline between the area where the liquids are unloaded and storage tanks. The explosion happened after the company’s fire service arrived at the scene.</p>
<p>“How the explosion happened is not clear at the moment,” Liebelt told reporters. He added that it wasn’t yet known what substances were involved and didn’t elaborate on the identities of the victims.</p>
<p>Earlier in the day, the company had reported that one person had died in the explosion.</p>
<p>BASF confirmed on Monday evening that the death toll had risen to two, spokeswoman Silvie-Kristin Wemper said.</p>
<p>A large column of black smoke rose over the site. Residents in parts of Ludwigshafen, where BASF is based and has a sprawling plant, and Mannheim, on the other side of the Rhine river, were advised to stay indoors and keep their doors and windows closed.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
|
2 dead, at least 6 hurt in blast at BASF plant in Germany
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/868649/several-injured-in-explosion-at-basf-facility-in-germany.html
|
2016-10-17
| 2least
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2 dead, at least 6 hurt in blast at BASF plant in Germany
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>BERLIN — An explosion at a facility belonging to chemical firm BASF in southwestern Germany killed two people and injured at least six others on Monday, authorities said. Another two still were missing hours after the blast.</p>
<p>The explosion occurred in the late morning at a river harbor in Ludwigshafen that is used to unload flammable liquids and liquefied gas.</p>
<p>Plant manager Uwe Liebelt said it was preceded by a fire in a pipeline between the area where the liquids are unloaded and storage tanks. The explosion happened after the company’s fire service arrived at the scene.</p>
<p>“How the explosion happened is not clear at the moment,” Liebelt told reporters. He added that it wasn’t yet known what substances were involved and didn’t elaborate on the identities of the victims.</p>
<p>Earlier in the day, the company had reported that one person had died in the explosion.</p>
<p>BASF confirmed on Monday evening that the death toll had risen to two, spokeswoman Silvie-Kristin Wemper said.</p>
<p>A large column of black smoke rose over the site. Residents in parts of Ludwigshafen, where BASF is based and has a sprawling plant, and Mannheim, on the other side of the Rhine river, were advised to stay indoors and keep their doors and windows closed.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
| 6,558 |
<p>TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares are mostly lower after stocks wobbled on Wall Street. A dip in the dollar’s value against other currencies hit regional exporters’ shares, as did talk of a more nationalist U.S. trade policy by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The dollar sagged against other currencies after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the currency’s decline is good for U.S. exporters, suggesting he isn’t likely to try to stop its slide.</p>
<p>KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 0.9 percent to 23,723.60 and the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3 percent to 3,548.93. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.1 percent to 32,916.51. South Korea’s Kospi surged 0.9 percent to 2,559.86 while the S&amp;P/ ASX 200 in Australia fell 0.2 percent to 6,042.60. Shares rose in Taiwan and Thailand but fell inSingapore and Indonesia.</p>
<p>DAVOS FACTOR: Mnuchin and Ross were at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. A weaker dollar can help exports from the U.S., but it take a toll on consumers and on smaller, more domestic companies by driving up costs of imported components. It’s not good news for Asian exporters. Ross said the U.S. is fighting back against countries that have taken advantage of trade deals in the past. “Trade wars are fought every single day,” he said. “Unfortunately, every single day there are various parties trying to violate the rules, and trying to take unfair advantage of things ... the difference is that U.S. troops are now coming to the ramparts.”</p>
<p>ANALYST’S VIEWPOINT: “The overnight focus had all been on the U.S. dollar with another jab sending the currency weaker against major currencies,” Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary. “Meanwhile, concern over trade and protectionism is currently the new flavor of the month, adding a tinge of cautiousness in the latest equity surge.”</p>
<p>WALL STREET: Stocks got off to a strong start, but technology companies took heavier losses as the day wore on, led by chipmakers after Texas Instruments gave a disappointing forecast for the current quarter. Apple also fell. The Standard &amp; Poor’s 500 index lost 0.1 percent to 2,837.54. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 percent to 26,252.12 after seesawing throughout the day. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.6 percent to 7,415.06 while the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks skidded 0.7 percent, to 1,599.61.</p>
<p>CURRENCIES: The dollar dropped to 109.14 yen from 109.22 yen late Wednesday. The euro advanced to $1.2421 from $1.2411. The ICE US dollar index fell almost 10 percent in 2017 and is down 3 percent so far this year.</p>
<p>ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 53 cents to $66.14 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained $1.14, or 1.8 percent, to $65.61 a barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 41 cents to $70.94 per barrel. It added 57 cents to $70.53 a barrel in London.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>AP Markets Writer Marley Jay contributed to this story from New York and AP reporters Jamey Keaten and Pan Pylas contributed to this story from Davos, Switzerland.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jayt</a>AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at <a href="http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP" type="external">http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP</a> His work can be found at</p>
<p>TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares are mostly lower after stocks wobbled on Wall Street. A dip in the dollar’s value against other currencies hit regional exporters’ shares, as did talk of a more nationalist U.S. trade policy by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The dollar sagged against other currencies after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the currency’s decline is good for U.S. exporters, suggesting he isn’t likely to try to stop its slide.</p>
<p>KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 0.9 percent to 23,723.60 and the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3 percent to 3,548.93. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.1 percent to 32,916.51. South Korea’s Kospi surged 0.9 percent to 2,559.86 while the S&amp;P/ ASX 200 in Australia fell 0.2 percent to 6,042.60. Shares rose in Taiwan and Thailand but fell inSingapore and Indonesia.</p>
<p>DAVOS FACTOR: Mnuchin and Ross were at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. A weaker dollar can help exports from the U.S., but it take a toll on consumers and on smaller, more domestic companies by driving up costs of imported components. It’s not good news for Asian exporters. Ross said the U.S. is fighting back against countries that have taken advantage of trade deals in the past. “Trade wars are fought every single day,” he said. “Unfortunately, every single day there are various parties trying to violate the rules, and trying to take unfair advantage of things ... the difference is that U.S. troops are now coming to the ramparts.”</p>
<p>ANALYST’S VIEWPOINT: “The overnight focus had all been on the U.S. dollar with another jab sending the currency weaker against major currencies,” Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary. “Meanwhile, concern over trade and protectionism is currently the new flavor of the month, adding a tinge of cautiousness in the latest equity surge.”</p>
<p>WALL STREET: Stocks got off to a strong start, but technology companies took heavier losses as the day wore on, led by chipmakers after Texas Instruments gave a disappointing forecast for the current quarter. Apple also fell. The Standard &amp; Poor’s 500 index lost 0.1 percent to 2,837.54. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 percent to 26,252.12 after seesawing throughout the day. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.6 percent to 7,415.06 while the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks skidded 0.7 percent, to 1,599.61.</p>
<p>CURRENCIES: The dollar dropped to 109.14 yen from 109.22 yen late Wednesday. The euro advanced to $1.2421 from $1.2411. The ICE US dollar index fell almost 10 percent in 2017 and is down 3 percent so far this year.</p>
<p>ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 53 cents to $66.14 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained $1.14, or 1.8 percent, to $65.61 a barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 41 cents to $70.94 per barrel. It added 57 cents to $70.53 a barrel in London.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>AP Markets Writer Marley Jay contributed to this story from New York and AP reporters Jamey Keaten and Pan Pylas contributed to this story from Davos, Switzerland.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jayt</a>AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at <a href="http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP" type="external">http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP</a> His work can be found at</p>
|
Wall Street wobble, weak dollar pull Asian shares lower
| false |
https://apnews.com/01018443ce43420483c532dae890803c
|
2018-01-25
| 2least
|
Wall Street wobble, weak dollar pull Asian shares lower
<p>TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares are mostly lower after stocks wobbled on Wall Street. A dip in the dollar’s value against other currencies hit regional exporters’ shares, as did talk of a more nationalist U.S. trade policy by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The dollar sagged against other currencies after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the currency’s decline is good for U.S. exporters, suggesting he isn’t likely to try to stop its slide.</p>
<p>KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 0.9 percent to 23,723.60 and the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3 percent to 3,548.93. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.1 percent to 32,916.51. South Korea’s Kospi surged 0.9 percent to 2,559.86 while the S&amp;P/ ASX 200 in Australia fell 0.2 percent to 6,042.60. Shares rose in Taiwan and Thailand but fell inSingapore and Indonesia.</p>
<p>DAVOS FACTOR: Mnuchin and Ross were at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. A weaker dollar can help exports from the U.S., but it take a toll on consumers and on smaller, more domestic companies by driving up costs of imported components. It’s not good news for Asian exporters. Ross said the U.S. is fighting back against countries that have taken advantage of trade deals in the past. “Trade wars are fought every single day,” he said. “Unfortunately, every single day there are various parties trying to violate the rules, and trying to take unfair advantage of things ... the difference is that U.S. troops are now coming to the ramparts.”</p>
<p>ANALYST’S VIEWPOINT: “The overnight focus had all been on the U.S. dollar with another jab sending the currency weaker against major currencies,” Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary. “Meanwhile, concern over trade and protectionism is currently the new flavor of the month, adding a tinge of cautiousness in the latest equity surge.”</p>
<p>WALL STREET: Stocks got off to a strong start, but technology companies took heavier losses as the day wore on, led by chipmakers after Texas Instruments gave a disappointing forecast for the current quarter. Apple also fell. The Standard &amp; Poor’s 500 index lost 0.1 percent to 2,837.54. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 percent to 26,252.12 after seesawing throughout the day. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.6 percent to 7,415.06 while the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks skidded 0.7 percent, to 1,599.61.</p>
<p>CURRENCIES: The dollar dropped to 109.14 yen from 109.22 yen late Wednesday. The euro advanced to $1.2421 from $1.2411. The ICE US dollar index fell almost 10 percent in 2017 and is down 3 percent so far this year.</p>
<p>ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 53 cents to $66.14 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained $1.14, or 1.8 percent, to $65.61 a barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 41 cents to $70.94 per barrel. It added 57 cents to $70.53 a barrel in London.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>AP Markets Writer Marley Jay contributed to this story from New York and AP reporters Jamey Keaten and Pan Pylas contributed to this story from Davos, Switzerland.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jayt</a>AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at <a href="http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP" type="external">http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP</a> His work can be found at</p>
<p>TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares are mostly lower after stocks wobbled on Wall Street. A dip in the dollar’s value against other currencies hit regional exporters’ shares, as did talk of a more nationalist U.S. trade policy by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The dollar sagged against other currencies after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the currency’s decline is good for U.S. exporters, suggesting he isn’t likely to try to stop its slide.</p>
<p>KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 0.9 percent to 23,723.60 and the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3 percent to 3,548.93. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.1 percent to 32,916.51. South Korea’s Kospi surged 0.9 percent to 2,559.86 while the S&amp;P/ ASX 200 in Australia fell 0.2 percent to 6,042.60. Shares rose in Taiwan and Thailand but fell inSingapore and Indonesia.</p>
<p>DAVOS FACTOR: Mnuchin and Ross were at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. A weaker dollar can help exports from the U.S., but it take a toll on consumers and on smaller, more domestic companies by driving up costs of imported components. It’s not good news for Asian exporters. Ross said the U.S. is fighting back against countries that have taken advantage of trade deals in the past. “Trade wars are fought every single day,” he said. “Unfortunately, every single day there are various parties trying to violate the rules, and trying to take unfair advantage of things ... the difference is that U.S. troops are now coming to the ramparts.”</p>
<p>ANALYST’S VIEWPOINT: “The overnight focus had all been on the U.S. dollar with another jab sending the currency weaker against major currencies,” Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary. “Meanwhile, concern over trade and protectionism is currently the new flavor of the month, adding a tinge of cautiousness in the latest equity surge.”</p>
<p>WALL STREET: Stocks got off to a strong start, but technology companies took heavier losses as the day wore on, led by chipmakers after Texas Instruments gave a disappointing forecast for the current quarter. Apple also fell. The Standard &amp; Poor’s 500 index lost 0.1 percent to 2,837.54. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 percent to 26,252.12 after seesawing throughout the day. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.6 percent to 7,415.06 while the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks skidded 0.7 percent, to 1,599.61.</p>
<p>CURRENCIES: The dollar dropped to 109.14 yen from 109.22 yen late Wednesday. The euro advanced to $1.2421 from $1.2411. The ICE US dollar index fell almost 10 percent in 2017 and is down 3 percent so far this year.</p>
<p>ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 53 cents to $66.14 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained $1.14, or 1.8 percent, to $65.61 a barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 41 cents to $70.94 per barrel. It added 57 cents to $70.53 a barrel in London.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>AP Markets Writer Marley Jay contributed to this story from New York and AP reporters Jamey Keaten and Pan Pylas contributed to this story from Davos, Switzerland.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jayt</a>AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at <a href="http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP" type="external">http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP</a> His work can be found at</p>
| 6,559 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Getty Images</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>When eBay bought StubHub in 2007, the online ticket resale market was still relatively small. The company generated just $100 million in revenue in 2006,but by 2015, eBay reported that StubHub commissions totaled $725 million.</p>
<p>And StubHub's growth may just be getting started. The company expanded organically to the U.K. in 2012, Germany in 2015, and Mexico earlier this year. In May, it bought TicketBis, which operates in 47 markets across Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. It's also moving into TicketMaster's main business of selling first-party tickets, in addition to the ticket resales it already specializes in, thus opening the door to a much bigger market.</p>
<p>Last year, StubHub accounted for less than 5% of gross merchandise volume sold across eBay's properties, but StubHub commissions made up more than 10% of the company's net transaction revenues.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>StubHub's transaction take rate of 20.3% makes every sale on its platform much more profitable than the eBay marketplace, which has an average take rate of less than 8%. Therefore, the rapid growth in StubHub sales should translate into even faster profit growth for eBay. Overall, the secondary ticketing market is expected to grow more than 19% per year through 2020.</p>
<p>While its expansion and the industry growth should help propel StubHub's relatively high-margin revenue going forward, there's an even bigger opportunity in primary ticket sales. StubHub made its first foray into primary ticket sales earlier this year, inking a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.</p>
<p>Live Nation, the parent company of TicketMaster, generated over $1.6 billion in revenue from its ticketing platforms last year. StubHub, by comparison, generated less than half of that: $725 million.</p>
<p>Although the operating margins on primary ticket sales are slightly lower than the secondary market, the primary ticket sales market is more than three times as large. As a result, TicketMaster is expected to generate $372 million in EBITDA this year, compared with just $214 million for StubHub.</p>
<p>After several missteps in the past couple of years, StubHub is now under new leadership with President Scott Cutler. He has aggressively expanded StubHub with the TicketBis acquisition and partnerships with the 76ers. He also reversed a pricing scheme that caused sales growth to plummet to 2% and net transaction revenue to fall 4% in 2014.</p>
<p>Cutler ought to remain aggressive, especially in light of TicketMaster's moves to increase its presence in the resale market. During StubHub's ticket pricing kerfuffle, TicketMaster was able to take a larger share of the secondary market. StubHub may look to bolster its leading position with more acquisitions in the secondary marketplace, with buyout targets such as Viagogo or Vivid Seats.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, investors should expect for StubHub to create more primary ticket partnerships. When the company announced its partnership with the 76ers, Cutler described it as an "evolution" of StubHub, implying more deals down the road.</p>
<p>Continued investment in StubHub should enable it to fend off moves from TicketMaster while breaking into new ground with primary ticket sales and new regions for secondary sales. That revenue will generate higher margins than eBay's main Marketplace business, providing outsize earnings growth. Analysts are currently expecting just 4.4% average annual earnings growth for eBay over the next five years, but they may be discounting the potential of StubHub.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/11/is-stubhub-the-next-big-growth-driver-for-ebay-inc.aspx" type="external">Is StubHub the Next Big Growth Driver for eBay Inc? Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/adamlevy/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Adam Levy Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends eBay. 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>
|
Is StubHub the Next Big Growth Driver for eBay Inc?
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/07/11/is-stubhub-next-big-growth-driver-for-ebay-inc.html
|
2016-07-11
| 0right
|
Is StubHub the Next Big Growth Driver for eBay Inc?
<p />
<p>Image source: Getty Images</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>When eBay bought StubHub in 2007, the online ticket resale market was still relatively small. The company generated just $100 million in revenue in 2006,but by 2015, eBay reported that StubHub commissions totaled $725 million.</p>
<p>And StubHub's growth may just be getting started. The company expanded organically to the U.K. in 2012, Germany in 2015, and Mexico earlier this year. In May, it bought TicketBis, which operates in 47 markets across Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. It's also moving into TicketMaster's main business of selling first-party tickets, in addition to the ticket resales it already specializes in, thus opening the door to a much bigger market.</p>
<p>Last year, StubHub accounted for less than 5% of gross merchandise volume sold across eBay's properties, but StubHub commissions made up more than 10% of the company's net transaction revenues.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>StubHub's transaction take rate of 20.3% makes every sale on its platform much more profitable than the eBay marketplace, which has an average take rate of less than 8%. Therefore, the rapid growth in StubHub sales should translate into even faster profit growth for eBay. Overall, the secondary ticketing market is expected to grow more than 19% per year through 2020.</p>
<p>While its expansion and the industry growth should help propel StubHub's relatively high-margin revenue going forward, there's an even bigger opportunity in primary ticket sales. StubHub made its first foray into primary ticket sales earlier this year, inking a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.</p>
<p>Live Nation, the parent company of TicketMaster, generated over $1.6 billion in revenue from its ticketing platforms last year. StubHub, by comparison, generated less than half of that: $725 million.</p>
<p>Although the operating margins on primary ticket sales are slightly lower than the secondary market, the primary ticket sales market is more than three times as large. As a result, TicketMaster is expected to generate $372 million in EBITDA this year, compared with just $214 million for StubHub.</p>
<p>After several missteps in the past couple of years, StubHub is now under new leadership with President Scott Cutler. He has aggressively expanded StubHub with the TicketBis acquisition and partnerships with the 76ers. He also reversed a pricing scheme that caused sales growth to plummet to 2% and net transaction revenue to fall 4% in 2014.</p>
<p>Cutler ought to remain aggressive, especially in light of TicketMaster's moves to increase its presence in the resale market. During StubHub's ticket pricing kerfuffle, TicketMaster was able to take a larger share of the secondary market. StubHub may look to bolster its leading position with more acquisitions in the secondary marketplace, with buyout targets such as Viagogo or Vivid Seats.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, investors should expect for StubHub to create more primary ticket partnerships. When the company announced its partnership with the 76ers, Cutler described it as an "evolution" of StubHub, implying more deals down the road.</p>
<p>Continued investment in StubHub should enable it to fend off moves from TicketMaster while breaking into new ground with primary ticket sales and new regions for secondary sales. That revenue will generate higher margins than eBay's main Marketplace business, providing outsize earnings growth. Analysts are currently expecting just 4.4% average annual earnings growth for eBay over the next five years, but they may be discounting the potential of StubHub.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/11/is-stubhub-the-next-big-growth-driver-for-ebay-inc.aspx" type="external">Is StubHub the Next Big Growth Driver for eBay Inc? Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/adamlevy/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Adam Levy Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends eBay. 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>
| 6,560 |
<p><a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/101013&amp;sportCat=nfl" type="external">ESPN</a></p>
<p>In explaining how he used Twitter to accidentally break news of Randy Moss being traded to the Vikings, Bill Simmons writes, <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/101013&amp;sportCat=nfl" type="external">he accidentally hit "send" instead of "cancel."</a></p>
<p>Simmons was busy taping a segment for an ESPN TV show, while using Twitter to chat privately with a colleague when the tweet happened. Instead of sending a direct message, he composed a public tweet:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>CareerLeadership</p>
<p>"I am pretty frazzled. My fingers and brain are moving 90 miles an hour. I'm thinking about 12 things at once. Instead of canceling the tweet, my brain basically farts all over my BlackBerry. I press the "send" button instead of the "cancel" button. I have no idea why my fingers did this -- none -- but that's what they did.</p>
<p>Almost immediately, a new tweet pops up on my screen:</p>
<p>@sportsguy33: moss Vikings</p>
<p>Oh God."</p>
<p>Simmons explains that ESPN has fairly clear guidelines about breaking news on Twitter first: Don't.</p>
<p>"We have a rule at ESPN that all breaking news must be filtered through our news desk (not tweeted). That's why our reporters (Schefter, Stein, Bucher, whoever) tweet things like, 'JUST FILED TO ESPN: Timberwolves sign Frederic Weis to $35 million deal.' Even if I wanted to tweet something like the Moss scoop, technically, I couldn't do it without flagrantly violating company rules. You never want to be in the same sentence with the words 'flagrantly' and 'violating.' A great rule of thumb."</p>
<p>Simmons also writes that in the age of real-time journalism, both accuracy and objectivity can be threatened by the race to be first:</p>
<p>"Twitter, which exacerbates the demands of immediacy, blurs the line between reporting and postulating, and forces writers to chase too many bum steers. With every media company unabashedly playing the 'We Had It First!' game, reporters' salary and credibility hinges directly on how many stories they break. That entices reporters to become enslaved to certain sources (almost always agents or general managers), push transparent agendas (almost always from those same agents or GMs) and 'break' news before there's anything to officially break. It also swings the source/reporter dynamic heavily toward the source. Take care of me and I will take care of you."</p>
|
Simmons explains accidental tweet on Moss trade to Vikings
| false |
https://poynter.org/news/simmons-explains-accidental-tweet-moss-trade-vikings
|
2010-10-13
| 2least
|
Simmons explains accidental tweet on Moss trade to Vikings
<p><a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/101013&amp;sportCat=nfl" type="external">ESPN</a></p>
<p>In explaining how he used Twitter to accidentally break news of Randy Moss being traded to the Vikings, Bill Simmons writes, <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/101013&amp;sportCat=nfl" type="external">he accidentally hit "send" instead of "cancel."</a></p>
<p>Simmons was busy taping a segment for an ESPN TV show, while using Twitter to chat privately with a colleague when the tweet happened. Instead of sending a direct message, he composed a public tweet:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>CareerLeadership</p>
<p>"I am pretty frazzled. My fingers and brain are moving 90 miles an hour. I'm thinking about 12 things at once. Instead of canceling the tweet, my brain basically farts all over my BlackBerry. I press the "send" button instead of the "cancel" button. I have no idea why my fingers did this -- none -- but that's what they did.</p>
<p>Almost immediately, a new tweet pops up on my screen:</p>
<p>@sportsguy33: moss Vikings</p>
<p>Oh God."</p>
<p>Simmons explains that ESPN has fairly clear guidelines about breaking news on Twitter first: Don't.</p>
<p>"We have a rule at ESPN that all breaking news must be filtered through our news desk (not tweeted). That's why our reporters (Schefter, Stein, Bucher, whoever) tweet things like, 'JUST FILED TO ESPN: Timberwolves sign Frederic Weis to $35 million deal.' Even if I wanted to tweet something like the Moss scoop, technically, I couldn't do it without flagrantly violating company rules. You never want to be in the same sentence with the words 'flagrantly' and 'violating.' A great rule of thumb."</p>
<p>Simmons also writes that in the age of real-time journalism, both accuracy and objectivity can be threatened by the race to be first:</p>
<p>"Twitter, which exacerbates the demands of immediacy, blurs the line between reporting and postulating, and forces writers to chase too many bum steers. With every media company unabashedly playing the 'We Had It First!' game, reporters' salary and credibility hinges directly on how many stories they break. That entices reporters to become enslaved to certain sources (almost always agents or general managers), push transparent agendas (almost always from those same agents or GMs) and 'break' news before there's anything to officially break. It also swings the source/reporter dynamic heavily toward the source. Take care of me and I will take care of you."</p>
| 6,561 |
<p>Anonymous sources told both CNN and The New York Times that Hillary Clinton was "unaware" that her own campaign had commissioned a dossier on Donald Trump from Russian operatives.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/26/politics/hillary-clinton-dossier-buzzfeed/index.html?sr=twCNN102617hillary-clinton-dossier-buzzfeed1223PMVODtop" type="external">According to both media organizations</a>, the woman who — at least according to her website — was set to be the most competent and capable leader to ever hold the nation's highest office, was blissfully ignorant about her own campaign's opposition research strategy, and left completely in the dark about a "blockbuster file" meant to destroy Trump's credibility.</p>
<p>"Even Mrs. Clinton only found out about Mr. Steele's research after Buzzfeed published the dossier, according to two associates who discussed the matter with her," the NYT reported.</p>
<p>"Hillary Clinton was unaware of the now-infamous dossier of allegations about Donald Trump and Russia prior to Buzzfeed's publishing of the document earlier this year, a source familiar with the matter has told CNN," the major news network claimed.</p>
<p>The denials are, of course, awfully convenient, particularly considering that the sources close to the matter seem reluctant to reveal themselves. It's especially strange since CNN's reporting seems to indicate that Fusion GPS was so proud of the memo, which covered Donald Trump's trips to Moscow, his sexual preferences, and his personal habits, that they were briefing journalists months before the election.</p>
<p>This is, of course, not the first time Clinton has feigned ignorance of technical issues or management decisions to relieve herself of the burden of responsibility.</p>
<p>During the investigation into her use of a private email server, Clinton claimed she was not aware that a "C" marked on the top of a memo indicated it was "classified," though that seems to be common knowledge among even low-level DC staffers. She also told a press conference that she used two separate devices to retrieve emails because she was a technological luddite and chained to her outdated Blackberry.</p>
<p>Just a few weeks ago, Clinton said she was "shocked" that her campaign spent half a million dollars on hair and makeup, even though she received those services.</p>
|
CNN, New York Times: Anonymous Sources Say Hillary Clinton Knew Nothing About Trump Dossier
| true |
https://dailywire.com/news/22787/cnn-new-york-times-anonymous-sources-say-hillary-emily-zanotti
|
2017-10-26
| 0right
|
CNN, New York Times: Anonymous Sources Say Hillary Clinton Knew Nothing About Trump Dossier
<p>Anonymous sources told both CNN and The New York Times that Hillary Clinton was "unaware" that her own campaign had commissioned a dossier on Donald Trump from Russian operatives.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/26/politics/hillary-clinton-dossier-buzzfeed/index.html?sr=twCNN102617hillary-clinton-dossier-buzzfeed1223PMVODtop" type="external">According to both media organizations</a>, the woman who — at least according to her website — was set to be the most competent and capable leader to ever hold the nation's highest office, was blissfully ignorant about her own campaign's opposition research strategy, and left completely in the dark about a "blockbuster file" meant to destroy Trump's credibility.</p>
<p>"Even Mrs. Clinton only found out about Mr. Steele's research after Buzzfeed published the dossier, according to two associates who discussed the matter with her," the NYT reported.</p>
<p>"Hillary Clinton was unaware of the now-infamous dossier of allegations about Donald Trump and Russia prior to Buzzfeed's publishing of the document earlier this year, a source familiar with the matter has told CNN," the major news network claimed.</p>
<p>The denials are, of course, awfully convenient, particularly considering that the sources close to the matter seem reluctant to reveal themselves. It's especially strange since CNN's reporting seems to indicate that Fusion GPS was so proud of the memo, which covered Donald Trump's trips to Moscow, his sexual preferences, and his personal habits, that they were briefing journalists months before the election.</p>
<p>This is, of course, not the first time Clinton has feigned ignorance of technical issues or management decisions to relieve herself of the burden of responsibility.</p>
<p>During the investigation into her use of a private email server, Clinton claimed she was not aware that a "C" marked on the top of a memo indicated it was "classified," though that seems to be common knowledge among even low-level DC staffers. She also told a press conference that she used two separate devices to retrieve emails because she was a technological luddite and chained to her outdated Blackberry.</p>
<p>Just a few weeks ago, Clinton said she was "shocked" that her campaign spent half a million dollars on hair and makeup, even though she received those services.</p>
| 6,562 |
<p />
<p />
<p>Matt Taibbi with some news that is <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/too-big-to-fail-takes-another-body-blow-20130501" type="external">making bankers very, very unhappy:</a></p>
<p>Minds are changing on Too Big to Fail. A month ago, it was just something in the air. Now, it looks like we're headed for a real legislative confrontation. And man, is the finance sector freaking.</p>
<p>Last week, on April 24th, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Louisiana Republican David Vitter introduced legislation called the "Terminating Bailouts for Taxpayer Fairness Act of 2013 Act," or the "Brown-Vitter TBTF Act" for short. The bill is a gun aimed directly at the head of the Too-Big-To-Fail beast.</p>
<p>During the Dodd-Frank negotiations a few years ago, Brown teamed up with Delaware Democrat Ted Kaufman to introduce an amendment that would have physically capped the size of the biggest banks. The amendment was bold and righteous but was slaughtered on the floor by a 61-33 margin, undermined by leaders of both parties – 27 Democrats voted against it.</p>
<p>Brown-Vitter offers a different and, in a way, more elegant solution to the problem than Brown-Kaufman. Rather than impose size limits, it simply insists that banks with over $500 billion in assets maintain higher capital reserves than are currently required. Companies like J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Bank of America will have to keep capital reserves of about 15 percent, about twice the current amount.</p>
<p>The bill only has such tough requirements for just those few megabanks, which sounds unfair, except that the aim of the bill, precisely, is to level the playing field. Right now, the biggest U.S. banks enjoy a massive inherent market advantage in that they're able to borrow money far more cheaply than other banks, because everybody on earth knows the government will never let them fail and will always bail them out in a pinch, making their debt essentially U.S.-government guaranteed. Studies have shown that these banks borrow money at about 0.8 percent more cheaply than other banks, and that this implicit government subsidy is worth about $83 billion a year just to the top 10 banks in America. This bill would essentially wipe out that hidden subsidy and make the banks bailout-proof.</p>
<p>As soon as Brown-Vitter was introduced, a very interesting thing happened. The Independent Community Bankers of America, or ICBA, issued a press release boosting the bill. "ICBA strongly supports this legislation," the release read, "and urges all community banks to join the association in advocating passage of legislation to end too-big-to-fail."</p>
<p>This was a big thing. It was the first time since the crisis that a prominent financial industry group opposed the will of the TBTF banks. I remember covering Dodd-Frank and being told by a number of members in the House and the Senate that the sentiment of many community bankers was for breaking up or at least curtailing the power of companies like Chase and Bank of America, but that the community banking lobby was not yet prepared to take that step.</p>
<p>But now, after the London Whale, the LIBOR scandal, the outrageous HSBC settlement and nearly five years of rapacious market-dominating behavior by these state-backed banks, the community banks have finally split off from TBTF.</p>
<p>This is another in a series of defections on this issue that in the past year has included many Republican politicians, numerous important financial regulators (even the New York Fed has taken a semi-stand against TBTF) and, hilariously, the creator of Too-Big-To-Fail himself, former Citigroup CEO and legendary lower-Manhattan raging asshole Sandy Weill. Weill was the man for whom the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed back in the nineties, so that his already-completed Citigroup merger could be legalized. But even he came out last year and said we have to break up the banks.</p>
<p>Naturally, there was going to be a response to Brown-Vitter from Wall Street. And we got it last week, shockingly not from one of the banks or a lobbying firm connected to the banks, but from the Standard and Poor's ratings agency – supposedly a strict, humorlessly conservative auditor that should always abhor risk and look favorably upon greater safety and security. The very fact that such a company came out against a bill forcing banks to have safer balance sheets is in itself absolute proof of how completely fucked and corrupt our current system is.</p>
|
Taibbi: Bankers Freak Out Over Brown-Vitter TBTF Legislation
| true |
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/taibbi-bankers-freak-out-over-brown-v
|
2013-05-02
| 4left
|
Taibbi: Bankers Freak Out Over Brown-Vitter TBTF Legislation
<p />
<p />
<p>Matt Taibbi with some news that is <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/too-big-to-fail-takes-another-body-blow-20130501" type="external">making bankers very, very unhappy:</a></p>
<p>Minds are changing on Too Big to Fail. A month ago, it was just something in the air. Now, it looks like we're headed for a real legislative confrontation. And man, is the finance sector freaking.</p>
<p>Last week, on April 24th, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Louisiana Republican David Vitter introduced legislation called the "Terminating Bailouts for Taxpayer Fairness Act of 2013 Act," or the "Brown-Vitter TBTF Act" for short. The bill is a gun aimed directly at the head of the Too-Big-To-Fail beast.</p>
<p>During the Dodd-Frank negotiations a few years ago, Brown teamed up with Delaware Democrat Ted Kaufman to introduce an amendment that would have physically capped the size of the biggest banks. The amendment was bold and righteous but was slaughtered on the floor by a 61-33 margin, undermined by leaders of both parties – 27 Democrats voted against it.</p>
<p>Brown-Vitter offers a different and, in a way, more elegant solution to the problem than Brown-Kaufman. Rather than impose size limits, it simply insists that banks with over $500 billion in assets maintain higher capital reserves than are currently required. Companies like J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Bank of America will have to keep capital reserves of about 15 percent, about twice the current amount.</p>
<p>The bill only has such tough requirements for just those few megabanks, which sounds unfair, except that the aim of the bill, precisely, is to level the playing field. Right now, the biggest U.S. banks enjoy a massive inherent market advantage in that they're able to borrow money far more cheaply than other banks, because everybody on earth knows the government will never let them fail and will always bail them out in a pinch, making their debt essentially U.S.-government guaranteed. Studies have shown that these banks borrow money at about 0.8 percent more cheaply than other banks, and that this implicit government subsidy is worth about $83 billion a year just to the top 10 banks in America. This bill would essentially wipe out that hidden subsidy and make the banks bailout-proof.</p>
<p>As soon as Brown-Vitter was introduced, a very interesting thing happened. The Independent Community Bankers of America, or ICBA, issued a press release boosting the bill. "ICBA strongly supports this legislation," the release read, "and urges all community banks to join the association in advocating passage of legislation to end too-big-to-fail."</p>
<p>This was a big thing. It was the first time since the crisis that a prominent financial industry group opposed the will of the TBTF banks. I remember covering Dodd-Frank and being told by a number of members in the House and the Senate that the sentiment of many community bankers was for breaking up or at least curtailing the power of companies like Chase and Bank of America, but that the community banking lobby was not yet prepared to take that step.</p>
<p>But now, after the London Whale, the LIBOR scandal, the outrageous HSBC settlement and nearly five years of rapacious market-dominating behavior by these state-backed banks, the community banks have finally split off from TBTF.</p>
<p>This is another in a series of defections on this issue that in the past year has included many Republican politicians, numerous important financial regulators (even the New York Fed has taken a semi-stand against TBTF) and, hilariously, the creator of Too-Big-To-Fail himself, former Citigroup CEO and legendary lower-Manhattan raging asshole Sandy Weill. Weill was the man for whom the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed back in the nineties, so that his already-completed Citigroup merger could be legalized. But even he came out last year and said we have to break up the banks.</p>
<p>Naturally, there was going to be a response to Brown-Vitter from Wall Street. And we got it last week, shockingly not from one of the banks or a lobbying firm connected to the banks, but from the Standard and Poor's ratings agency – supposedly a strict, humorlessly conservative auditor that should always abhor risk and look favorably upon greater safety and security. The very fact that such a company came out against a bill forcing banks to have safer balance sheets is in itself absolute proof of how completely fucked and corrupt our current system is.</p>
| 6,563 |
<p>WASHINGTON—House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi staged a record-breaking, eight-hour speech Wednesday in hopes of pressuring Republicans to allow a vote on protecting “Dreamer” immigrants — and to demonstrate to increasingly angry progressives and Democratic activists that she has done all she could.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Click here</a> to see an earlier AP article about the national budget, DACA and Pelosi’s speech. <a href="" type="internal">Click here</a> for an AP story about what was happening in Congress as Pelosi took the floor.</p>
<p>Wearing four-inch heels and forgoing any breaks, Pelosi, 77, spent much of the rare talkathon reading personal letters from the young immigrants whose temporary protection from deportation is set to expire next month. The California Democrat quoted from the Bible and Pope Francis, as Democrats took turns sitting behind her in support. The Office of the House Historian said it was the longest continuous speech in the chamber on record.</p>
<p>“You see, these people are being deported,” Pelosi said around hour six. “We can do something today to at least make whole the children.”</p>
<p />
<p>Her remarks seemed partly aimed at the liberal wing of Pelosi’s own party, who seethed as Senate Democrats cut a budget deal with Republicans that could quickly steal the momentum behind the effort to resolve the Dreamers’ plight.</p>
<p>The wide-ranging budget accord says nothing about renewing the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, called DACA, which temporarily shields Dreamers — hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the country as children and living here illegally — from deportation. President Donald Trump has moved to annul DACA.</p>
<p>Pelosi said she’d oppose the budget deal unless GOP leaders agreed to hold a House vote on helping the Dreamers. But top Democrats said they weren’t corralling rank-and-file lawmakers to oppose the budget pact, leading some of the party’s immigration advocates to question the forcefulness of her opposition.</p>
<p>“I’m going to take everything she says at face value,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. “And then hopefully tomorrow she will validate that trust by stopping us from voting for it. If she doesn’t, then it was a nice speech.”</p>
<p>Another backdrop of her performance — simmering displeasure among the growing ranks of ambitious younger Democrats who say it’s time for the party’s 70-something leaders to step aside.</p>
<p>Pelosi’s performance had no immediate impact on Republican leaders, who have not scheduled a vote on the issue. AshLee Strong, spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Ryan “has already repeatedly stated we intend to do a DACA and immigration reform bill — one that the president supports.”</p>
<p>While Pelosi spoke, immigration activists rallied in Washington and threatened retribution against the congressional Democrats who abandoned the strategy of demanding that a budget accord be paired with an immigration deal. The fresh threats exposed deepening divisions within a Democratic Party struggling to address a liberal priority in Republican-controlled Washington.</p>
<p>“I’m not a loyal Democrat,” Linda Sarsour, a political activist who co-chaired the 2017 Women’s March, declared during a fiery rally near Capitol Hill. “We will be joining primaries this year and we will primary Democrats who did not have the spine or the courage to stand up for our undocumented family.”</p>
<p>The activists who filled a Washington church Wednesday, like liberal leaders nationwide, called out Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for failing to attach immigration legislation to a must-pass bill like the budget deal.</p>
<p>“What are they thinking? They’re giving up their leverage,” said a frustrated Angel Padilla, policy director for the liberal group Indivisible.</p>
<p>Pelosi started speaking around 10 a.m. and yielded the floor at 6:11 p.m. By the end, there was a quiver in her voice, a stumble over some words and a case of sniffles.</p>
<p>At one point she read a note from the House historian noting that she’d delivered the chamber’s longest continuous speech, besting Rep. Champ Clark’s five-hour, 15-minute stem-winder about tariff reform in 1909. In the Senate, where unthinkably long orations are more common, South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond spoke against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for a record 24 hours and 18 minutes.</p>
<p>When Pelosi finished, around 50 Democrats responded with a standing ovation, high-fives, hugs and kisses. The Republican side of the chamber was virtually empty.</p>
<p>“We achieved the recognition of what the Dreamers mean to America,” she told reporters afterward. “They are a reflection of all the immigrants that have come before.”</p>
<p>The federal government will shutter non-essential operations Thursday at midnight unless Congress passes a spending plan.</p>
<p>It’s unclear whether the liberal outrage will sink the two-year, nearly $400 budget deal unveiled Wednesday that would provide Pentagon and domestic programs with huge spending increases. Schumer, D-N.Y., praised the agreement for providing needed funding for health, drug abuse and social service programs, having dropped his push to use the budget talks to extract concessions on immigration.</p>
<p>Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said the Latino community thinks Senate Democratic leadership “has turned their back on them.”</p>
<p>Hispanic caucus members and other Democrats made clear to Pelosi earlier Wednesday that “we would not support a budget caps deal unless we had some clarity about what would happen to Dreamers,” said Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. They insisted, he added, on DACA language in the budget deal or some guarantee the issue would be addressed.</p>
<p>Yet numerous House Democrats said they weren’t being pushed by Pelosi’s leadership team to oppose the Senate deal without a DACA fix, and some of Pelosi’s top lieutenants said no such effort was underway. Asked if she was “whipping” Democrats to oppose the budget measure, Pelosi told reporters, “I’ve just been on the floor all day.”</p>
<p>The lack of a unified Democratic strategy infuriated liberal leaders.</p>
<p>“This is a moral fight that Democratic leadership is failing on. That’s something that’s going to have long-term implications,” said Murshed Zaheed, political director for the progressive group CREDO.</p>
<p>Should Pelosi fail to unify House Democrats against the deal, he added, “it’s going to be another strike against her effectiveness as leader of the caucus.”</p>
<p>“There will be a reckoning,” said Ben Wikler, Washington director for the liberal group MoveOn.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Peoples reported from New York. Associated Press writers Luis Alonso Lugo and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.</p>
|
Pelosi Pulls Out All the Stops: an 8-Hour Speech on DACA
| true |
https://truthdig.com/articles/pelosi-pulls-stops-8-hour-speech-daca/
|
2018-02-07
| 4left
|
Pelosi Pulls Out All the Stops: an 8-Hour Speech on DACA
<p>WASHINGTON—House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi staged a record-breaking, eight-hour speech Wednesday in hopes of pressuring Republicans to allow a vote on protecting “Dreamer” immigrants — and to demonstrate to increasingly angry progressives and Democratic activists that she has done all she could.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Click here</a> to see an earlier AP article about the national budget, DACA and Pelosi’s speech. <a href="" type="internal">Click here</a> for an AP story about what was happening in Congress as Pelosi took the floor.</p>
<p>Wearing four-inch heels and forgoing any breaks, Pelosi, 77, spent much of the rare talkathon reading personal letters from the young immigrants whose temporary protection from deportation is set to expire next month. The California Democrat quoted from the Bible and Pope Francis, as Democrats took turns sitting behind her in support. The Office of the House Historian said it was the longest continuous speech in the chamber on record.</p>
<p>“You see, these people are being deported,” Pelosi said around hour six. “We can do something today to at least make whole the children.”</p>
<p />
<p>Her remarks seemed partly aimed at the liberal wing of Pelosi’s own party, who seethed as Senate Democrats cut a budget deal with Republicans that could quickly steal the momentum behind the effort to resolve the Dreamers’ plight.</p>
<p>The wide-ranging budget accord says nothing about renewing the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, called DACA, which temporarily shields Dreamers — hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the country as children and living here illegally — from deportation. President Donald Trump has moved to annul DACA.</p>
<p>Pelosi said she’d oppose the budget deal unless GOP leaders agreed to hold a House vote on helping the Dreamers. But top Democrats said they weren’t corralling rank-and-file lawmakers to oppose the budget pact, leading some of the party’s immigration advocates to question the forcefulness of her opposition.</p>
<p>“I’m going to take everything she says at face value,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. “And then hopefully tomorrow she will validate that trust by stopping us from voting for it. If she doesn’t, then it was a nice speech.”</p>
<p>Another backdrop of her performance — simmering displeasure among the growing ranks of ambitious younger Democrats who say it’s time for the party’s 70-something leaders to step aside.</p>
<p>Pelosi’s performance had no immediate impact on Republican leaders, who have not scheduled a vote on the issue. AshLee Strong, spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Ryan “has already repeatedly stated we intend to do a DACA and immigration reform bill — one that the president supports.”</p>
<p>While Pelosi spoke, immigration activists rallied in Washington and threatened retribution against the congressional Democrats who abandoned the strategy of demanding that a budget accord be paired with an immigration deal. The fresh threats exposed deepening divisions within a Democratic Party struggling to address a liberal priority in Republican-controlled Washington.</p>
<p>“I’m not a loyal Democrat,” Linda Sarsour, a political activist who co-chaired the 2017 Women’s March, declared during a fiery rally near Capitol Hill. “We will be joining primaries this year and we will primary Democrats who did not have the spine or the courage to stand up for our undocumented family.”</p>
<p>The activists who filled a Washington church Wednesday, like liberal leaders nationwide, called out Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for failing to attach immigration legislation to a must-pass bill like the budget deal.</p>
<p>“What are they thinking? They’re giving up their leverage,” said a frustrated Angel Padilla, policy director for the liberal group Indivisible.</p>
<p>Pelosi started speaking around 10 a.m. and yielded the floor at 6:11 p.m. By the end, there was a quiver in her voice, a stumble over some words and a case of sniffles.</p>
<p>At one point she read a note from the House historian noting that she’d delivered the chamber’s longest continuous speech, besting Rep. Champ Clark’s five-hour, 15-minute stem-winder about tariff reform in 1909. In the Senate, where unthinkably long orations are more common, South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond spoke against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for a record 24 hours and 18 minutes.</p>
<p>When Pelosi finished, around 50 Democrats responded with a standing ovation, high-fives, hugs and kisses. The Republican side of the chamber was virtually empty.</p>
<p>“We achieved the recognition of what the Dreamers mean to America,” she told reporters afterward. “They are a reflection of all the immigrants that have come before.”</p>
<p>The federal government will shutter non-essential operations Thursday at midnight unless Congress passes a spending plan.</p>
<p>It’s unclear whether the liberal outrage will sink the two-year, nearly $400 budget deal unveiled Wednesday that would provide Pentagon and domestic programs with huge spending increases. Schumer, D-N.Y., praised the agreement for providing needed funding for health, drug abuse and social service programs, having dropped his push to use the budget talks to extract concessions on immigration.</p>
<p>Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said the Latino community thinks Senate Democratic leadership “has turned their back on them.”</p>
<p>Hispanic caucus members and other Democrats made clear to Pelosi earlier Wednesday that “we would not support a budget caps deal unless we had some clarity about what would happen to Dreamers,” said Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. They insisted, he added, on DACA language in the budget deal or some guarantee the issue would be addressed.</p>
<p>Yet numerous House Democrats said they weren’t being pushed by Pelosi’s leadership team to oppose the Senate deal without a DACA fix, and some of Pelosi’s top lieutenants said no such effort was underway. Asked if she was “whipping” Democrats to oppose the budget measure, Pelosi told reporters, “I’ve just been on the floor all day.”</p>
<p>The lack of a unified Democratic strategy infuriated liberal leaders.</p>
<p>“This is a moral fight that Democratic leadership is failing on. That’s something that’s going to have long-term implications,” said Murshed Zaheed, political director for the progressive group CREDO.</p>
<p>Should Pelosi fail to unify House Democrats against the deal, he added, “it’s going to be another strike against her effectiveness as leader of the caucus.”</p>
<p>“There will be a reckoning,” said Ben Wikler, Washington director for the liberal group MoveOn.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Peoples reported from New York. Associated Press writers Luis Alonso Lugo and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.</p>
| 6,564 |
<p />
<p>Xulhaz Mannan (Photo courtesy of Bangladesh Against Homophobia)</p>
<p />
<p>State Department spokesperson Julia Mason told the Washington Blade on Monday that the U.S. — along with other governments and non-governmental organizations — “has already assisted, or is in the process of assisting, numerous individuals we believe are under immediate threat.”</p>
<p>“This includes, in some instances, relocating them and their families to safer locations and providing medical assistance or dependent support,” said Mason. “We will continue doing so moving forward.”</p>
<p>A group of men linked to Ansar al-Islam, the Bangladeshi branch of al-Qaida, <a href="" type="internal">hacked Xulhaz Mannan and Tanay Mojumdar to death</a> inside an apartment building in the country’s capital of Dhaka on April 25.</p>
<p>Mannan — who worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development — launched Roopbaan, the country’s first LGBT magazine that shares its name with a Bangladeshi advocacy group, in 2014.</p>
<p>The murders of Mannan and Mojumdar took place two days after members of the so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the hacking death of Rezaul Karim Siddique, a university professor, in the northwestern part of the country.</p>
<p>The Sunni militant group has also claimed responsibility for the hacking death of Nikhil Joarder, a Hindu tailor who faced a blasphemy charge in 2012 for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad. Islamists in Bangladesh have killed nearly two dozen other members of religious minority groups and secular academics, writers and bloggers since early 2015.</p>
<p>A member of the Bangladeshi LGBT community who was inside the apartment building when the attack against Mannan and Mojumdar took place told the Blade on Monday that the murders sent a “clear message” to the country’s activists.</p>
<p>“They are going to kill them one-by-one,” said the LGBT Bangladeshi, who asked the Blade not to publish their name because of security concerns. “They started by targeting Xulhaz Mannan.”</p>
<p>Mason did not specify to the Blade whether the U.S. has specifically offered assistance to Bangladeshi LGBT rights advocates in the wake of the murders of Mannan and Mojumdar. Michelle Kissenkoetter, director of the International Federation for Human Rights’ Asia Bureau, said during a telephone interview from Paris last week that foreign diplomats in Dhaka have offered support to local activists.</p>
<p>Secretary of State John Kerry told Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina <a href="" type="internal">during an April 28 telephone call</a> that the U.S. would offer “support for the investigation” into the murders of Mannan and Mojumdar.</p>
<p>The State Department said that Kerry condemned “other incidents in a recent spate of violence” in Bangladesh. He also urged Hasina “to ensure a thorough investigation of all of these incidents, and to redouble law enforcement efforts to prevent future attacks and protect those who are at risk.”</p>
<p>“We have raised our concerns over recent problems there,” State Department spokesperson John Kirby told the Blade on Monday during his daily press briefing. “We’re going to continue to do that.”</p>
<p>“We’re watching this very closely and we’re in touch,” he added.</p>
<p>Kissenkoetter and other human rights advocates with whom the Blade has spoken in recent days said the Bangladeshi government has done nothing to address the murders of academics, writers, bloggers and religious minorities. They are equally as doubtful that the authorities will thoroughly investigate the murders of Mannan and Mojumdar.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Bangladesh</a> <a href="" type="internal">bisexual</a> <a href="" type="internal">gay</a> <a href="" type="internal">International Federation for Human Rights</a> <a href="" type="internal">John Kerry</a> <a href="" type="internal">John Kirby</a> <a href="" type="internal">Julia Mason</a> <a href="" type="internal">lesbian</a> <a href="" type="internal">Michelle Kissenkoetter</a> <a href="" type="internal">Roopbaan</a> <a href="" type="internal">Sheikh Hasina</a> <a href="" type="internal">State Department</a> <a href="" type="internal">Tanay Mojumdar</a> <a href="" type="internal">transgender</a> <a href="" type="internal">Xulhaz Mannan</a></p>
|
U.S. assisting Bangladeshis ‘under immediate threat’ of attack
| false |
http://washingtonblade.com/2016/05/02/u-s-assisting-bangladeshis-under-immediate-threat-of-attack/
| 3left-center
|
U.S. assisting Bangladeshis ‘under immediate threat’ of attack
<p />
<p>Xulhaz Mannan (Photo courtesy of Bangladesh Against Homophobia)</p>
<p />
<p>State Department spokesperson Julia Mason told the Washington Blade on Monday that the U.S. — along with other governments and non-governmental organizations — “has already assisted, or is in the process of assisting, numerous individuals we believe are under immediate threat.”</p>
<p>“This includes, in some instances, relocating them and their families to safer locations and providing medical assistance or dependent support,” said Mason. “We will continue doing so moving forward.”</p>
<p>A group of men linked to Ansar al-Islam, the Bangladeshi branch of al-Qaida, <a href="" type="internal">hacked Xulhaz Mannan and Tanay Mojumdar to death</a> inside an apartment building in the country’s capital of Dhaka on April 25.</p>
<p>Mannan — who worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development — launched Roopbaan, the country’s first LGBT magazine that shares its name with a Bangladeshi advocacy group, in 2014.</p>
<p>The murders of Mannan and Mojumdar took place two days after members of the so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the hacking death of Rezaul Karim Siddique, a university professor, in the northwestern part of the country.</p>
<p>The Sunni militant group has also claimed responsibility for the hacking death of Nikhil Joarder, a Hindu tailor who faced a blasphemy charge in 2012 for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad. Islamists in Bangladesh have killed nearly two dozen other members of religious minority groups and secular academics, writers and bloggers since early 2015.</p>
<p>A member of the Bangladeshi LGBT community who was inside the apartment building when the attack against Mannan and Mojumdar took place told the Blade on Monday that the murders sent a “clear message” to the country’s activists.</p>
<p>“They are going to kill them one-by-one,” said the LGBT Bangladeshi, who asked the Blade not to publish their name because of security concerns. “They started by targeting Xulhaz Mannan.”</p>
<p>Mason did not specify to the Blade whether the U.S. has specifically offered assistance to Bangladeshi LGBT rights advocates in the wake of the murders of Mannan and Mojumdar. Michelle Kissenkoetter, director of the International Federation for Human Rights’ Asia Bureau, said during a telephone interview from Paris last week that foreign diplomats in Dhaka have offered support to local activists.</p>
<p>Secretary of State John Kerry told Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina <a href="" type="internal">during an April 28 telephone call</a> that the U.S. would offer “support for the investigation” into the murders of Mannan and Mojumdar.</p>
<p>The State Department said that Kerry condemned “other incidents in a recent spate of violence” in Bangladesh. He also urged Hasina “to ensure a thorough investigation of all of these incidents, and to redouble law enforcement efforts to prevent future attacks and protect those who are at risk.”</p>
<p>“We have raised our concerns over recent problems there,” State Department spokesperson John Kirby told the Blade on Monday during his daily press briefing. “We’re going to continue to do that.”</p>
<p>“We’re watching this very closely and we’re in touch,” he added.</p>
<p>Kissenkoetter and other human rights advocates with whom the Blade has spoken in recent days said the Bangladeshi government has done nothing to address the murders of academics, writers, bloggers and religious minorities. They are equally as doubtful that the authorities will thoroughly investigate the murders of Mannan and Mojumdar.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Bangladesh</a> <a href="" type="internal">bisexual</a> <a href="" type="internal">gay</a> <a href="" type="internal">International Federation for Human Rights</a> <a href="" type="internal">John Kerry</a> <a href="" type="internal">John Kirby</a> <a href="" type="internal">Julia Mason</a> <a href="" type="internal">lesbian</a> <a href="" type="internal">Michelle Kissenkoetter</a> <a href="" type="internal">Roopbaan</a> <a href="" type="internal">Sheikh Hasina</a> <a href="" type="internal">State Department</a> <a href="" type="internal">Tanay Mojumdar</a> <a href="" type="internal">transgender</a> <a href="" type="internal">Xulhaz Mannan</a></p>
| 6,565 |
|
<p>It’s time for us as a people to come together, to form an understanding about our natural environment, and our connection to it. If we are to survive long into this century and beyond, our society will have to learn to re-indigenize itself. This will be a painful process for those dependent on creature comforts, on the electrical grid’s continuous power supply, on the streams of TV, Netflix, even the internet itself, on factory-made pharmaceuticals, etc. It will be difficult for those whose illusions are about to be shattered, for those who thought they could live for so long and have it so good at the expense of others and to the detriment of their natural, wild surroundings.</p>
<p>We aren’t going anywhere. There will be no moon and Mars colonies to flee to. Isn’t it suspicious, though, how little talk there is about the parallels between the past colonialists of North America and the sci-fi dream of future colonies in space? Any potential future space colony wouldn’t be a glitzy affair: it would be similar to past and present immigrants and refugees streaming across continents, trying to escape death, privation, despair. In short, the dream of human habitation of the solar system exists because of the utter destruction of landscapes and the indecency of human societies in many parts of our planet.</p>
<p>Imagine if we actually decided to collectively care for our own world instead of having day-dreams and wasting billions on rockets and gadgets to propel us towards the “final frontier”. Doesn’t that sound nice? Luckily for us, the resiliency of our planet towards habitat degradation is very, very strong. That is why a policy of rewilding must be introduced into mainstream thinking and politics. Coined by David Foreman, rewilding refers to conservation methods that strengthen and maintain wildlife corridors and large-scale wilderness areas, with an emphasis placed on carnivores and keystone species which act as linchpins for ecosystem stability. Rewilding leads to increased connectedness across previously fragmented habitat due to roads, railways, urban sprawl, etc.</p>
<p>In the Americas, please consider educating yourself and others about these issues, and donating to a few of the fine organizations promoting wildlife corridors, such as: the <a href="https://y2y.net/" type="external">Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative</a>, the Paseo del Jaguar program led by <a href="https://www.panthera.org/" type="external">Panthera</a>, and the <a href="https://www.americanprairie.org/" type="external">American Prairie Reserve</a>.</p>
<p>Strengthening our ecosystems will provide a higher quality of life for future generations, as well as your children and grandchildren. Now that’s a return on investment. Forget about yourself, your fragile ego, and your “standards of living”, for a moment. Western capitalism and colonialism has been degrading habitats for centuries, with benefits mostly accruing to white, older men. Only by giving back to the land, and in many cases, non-intervening and letting our soils and waterways heal on their own, will allow for a more equal distribution of wealth. It is natural resources, not money, which are the real inheritance we will leave behind to our youth.</p>
<p>The distribution of the “common-wealth”, by the way, used to be far more equitable hundreds of years ago, when land was freely available for hunting, fishing, foraging, and farming. Yes, there is less abject poverty in Europe and the US today compared to centuries ago, but it has come at a steep cost: there is no self-reliance, no collectively and culturally stored traditions of farming, crafts, weaving, pottery, home-building. Corporations have swallowed all this, citing the “need” for specialized divisions of labor. Self-sufficiency and homesteading are looked upon with scorn, and we are told to buy everything we could ever need (and desire), instead of co-producing tools, clothes, food, and more.</p>
<p>Sharing of community resources needs to be re-instilled in the populace. The average garage, shed, or extra closet of today’s Westerner is filled with useless crap used maybe a few times a year, all purchased from a few companies. Recycling usable equipment and renting for small fees throughout the communities will significantly decrease consumption and foster closer neighborhood ties.</p>
<p>Today, the legal webs and labyrinths of “property laws” and low-wage work have imprisoned the average person. So has the spread of capitalism and unequal distribution of money, division of labor, separation of classes. The lives of masses of working people, the precariat, are just as unstable and misery-inducing as they were centuries ago, when Frederick Douglas <a href="" type="internal">said</a>:</p>
<p>“Experience demonstrates that there may be a slavery of wages only a little less galling and rushing in its effects than chattel slavery, and that this slavery of wages must go down with the other.”</p>
<p>This all underscores the need for rewilding the American people, not simply expanding our National Forests and wildlife refuges. It calls for a transformation in consciousness, to promote understanding of different cultures, openness towards change, and advocating for compassion and peace. We can begin by starting to support a 15 dollar wage, to fight for climate science funding, to promote renewable energy. Yet there needs to be an understanding that those actions, while a good start, are simply a few first baby-steps towards re-orienting our culture.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the longing for spiritual rejuvenation and community empowerment will break through the cage of modernity, if we are not first destroyed by ecological devastation and/or economic collapse. Longing, in all actuality, is too mild a term; actually, there is an intense craving for unique and authentic notions of identity, for belonging to a caring culture, for sharing and cultural blending. There is also, to an extent, evolutionary reasons and epigenetic possibilities for the deep desires, for instance, to want to sing and dance around a fire, to go on long walks to calm the mind, to talk to plants and animals, to feel the Earth’s joys and pains, to partake of psychedelic plants. It’s what our species has done for millennia, and no freeways, high-rises, fluorescent-lit malls, or gated communities can possibly make up for these urges.</p>
<p>Inner calmness and contentedness, feeling joy at other’s successes, altruistic actions of bravery, spontaneity, the creative act, and transpersonal experiences all teach us that our egos are illusions. The drive of the ego is the drive of civilization, with all its life-denying baggage. It is this ego-based desire to dominate, to harness and pillage nature, which expands outwards to include all life-forms, including even our close loved ones. The judgments and pain inflicted on others are projections of our own, deep inner hurting. The ego shifts the blame, projecting, always outwards onto others, always disguising and rationalizing its selfish deeds.&#160; Indigenous life is not without problems, but it recognizing and integrates the shadow-side of ourselves: there was no need for modern psychology until modern, Western man ramped up the process of destroying the world, all in order to fill the gaping void within the soul.</p>
<p>Thus, rewilding our psyches will mean dissolving the ego, recognizing it as a small part of the mind, occasionally useful in survival-enhancing or problem solving situations, but not as an absolute master of our sense of self. In short, it must be acknowledged that there are many aspects to individual minds, spectrums of ways of thinking, just as specific brain-waves exist, and differing states of sleep and dreaming.</p>
<p>Shrinking the ego will re-establish our commitment to protecting the Earth. As creator and protector of life, our planet, along with crops, animals, mountains and rivers, all have been venerated and deified across history. Thus, the sacredness of life and its continuity can be seen for the miracle it truly is. New spiritual and religious groups will be founded, with cross-fertilization and syncretism causing an explosion of kaleidoscopic cultures. Shrinking petty individual desires and grievances enlarges our view of nature: it allows for free living and amicable relations, promoting an idea of an <a href="" type="internal">Unconquerable World</a> which can triumph over the capitalist-dominated, chaotic, absolutist, totalitarian impulses of modern life.</p>
<p>This has serious implications. What cannot be used, i.e. extra physical products, food, and extra income must be given away to less fortunate countries. Open-source medicine and technology will have to be distributed to developing nations to stave off the worst symptoms of global warming and habitat degradation. In the wealthy West, the rich should look to the example of the indigenous, where in some tribes the chieftains distributed their personal wealth among their tribe, often to be rewarded in kind at a later ceremonial/seasonal time of the year. Companies that produce weapons or various useless waste will be forced to shut down. Education will be reoriented to focus on the potentialities of each individual student, not as a one-size-fits-all indoctrination mill, churning out damaged, submissive, domesticated youth.</p>
<p>Green constitutions will have to be drafted to provide regulations to protect humans and wildlife from unnecessary pollution and production. It’s not just the West that will lead: the Chinese must realize, and be planning for, the eventuality that the demand for crappy plastic goods and gadgetry at big-box stores is going to decline, worldwide, in the coming decades. A new international order based on the UN, or otherwise, will be needed to uphold climate change commitments, speedily develop renewable energy tech, sustainable agriculture plans, and distribution of resources. Basically, this requires a shift from an anthropocentric outlook to an ecocentric outlook.</p>
<p>This will require a global awakening, and a moral/spiritual transformation of consciousness. It is the only way for our societies to move forward. Adaptability and having a broad range of skills and a wider knowledge base will be preferred over the narrow, technological elitism we see today in the corporate world and reflected in culture and the media. Ultimately, rewilding ourselves means learning how to live free, i.e., unlearning what our consumer-based culture has brainwashed us into believing.</p>
<p>I don’t intend to shy away from the hard political questions of what the world and the US could look like in the near future, if the above steps are taken. Most likely, the modern nation-state will perish, America included. Our national experiment has been blood-drenched and steeped in genocide, slavery, domination by capitalists, and structural racism from the very beginning. A new era of cooperation is called for, with true democratic consensus and citizen involvement in governance as well as the workplace. Smaller areas based on bioregionalism and the city-state will replace the nation-state (which Gore Vidal, among others, spoke out in favor of) and will be more likely to prosper, as they will be more likely to provide for their citizens. Climate refugees and nomadic ways of life will increase for those fleeing disaster, or simply seeking better opportunities. Decentralization of power as well as a closer connection to the land will foster a <a href="" type="internal">reawakening of the tribal</a> ways of life, where tight-knit communities care for the sick, the elderly, disabled, and troubled souls, instead of shunting them into various soul-crushing institutions like jail, mental hospitals, etc.</p>
<p>A new era of solidarity and care for the meek must begin. This will mean feeding the millions per year who die of starvation, drought, lack of medical care, etc. This will mean reprioritizing our lives, with no excuses. Radical egalitarianism and faith in the boundless potential of each and every person must be instilled in our societies. Some will denounce this as radical, utopian, unachievable. Those who say so are without hope, without faith, having been indoctrinated by mainstream media and enshackled by capitalist ideology. Recently, in an <a href="https://www.channel4.com/news/interview-china-mieville" type="external">interview</a>, China Miéville explained this quite well:</p>
<p>“We underestimate at our peril the kind of onslaught of received opinion from the media, from the sort of cultural establishment, basically kind of ruling out of court any notion of fundamental change. Ridiculing it as ridiculous, to the extent that, you know, when you start to talk about wanting a better world you see the eyes rolling. What kind of despicable pass have we come to, that that aspiration raises scorn? And yet that’s where we are, for huge numbers of the political establishment.”</p>
<p>What sort of ideology can replace this cynicism, this nihilism? What kind of world to we want to create? I defer to Carl Rogers:</p>
<p>“Let me summarize my own political ideology, if you will, in a very few words. I find that for myself, I am most satisfied politically when every person is helped to become aware of his or her own power and strength; when each person participates fully and responsibly in every decision which affects him or her; when group members learn that the sharing of power is more satisfying than endeavoring to use power to control others; when the group finds ways of making decisions which accommodate the needs and desires of each person; when every person of the group is aware of the consequences of a decision on its members and on the external world; when each person enforces the group decision through self-control of his or her own behavior; when each person feels increasingly empowered and strengthened; and when each person and the group as a whole is flexible, open to change, and regards previous decisions as being always open for reconsideration.” (1)</p>
<p>Notes.</p>
<p>1.) May, Rollo, et al. Politics and Innocence: A Humanistic Debate. Saybrook Publishers, 1986.</p>
|
Rewilding America
| true |
https://counterpunch.org/2017/05/11/rewilding-america/
|
2017-05-11
| 4left
|
Rewilding America
<p>It’s time for us as a people to come together, to form an understanding about our natural environment, and our connection to it. If we are to survive long into this century and beyond, our society will have to learn to re-indigenize itself. This will be a painful process for those dependent on creature comforts, on the electrical grid’s continuous power supply, on the streams of TV, Netflix, even the internet itself, on factory-made pharmaceuticals, etc. It will be difficult for those whose illusions are about to be shattered, for those who thought they could live for so long and have it so good at the expense of others and to the detriment of their natural, wild surroundings.</p>
<p>We aren’t going anywhere. There will be no moon and Mars colonies to flee to. Isn’t it suspicious, though, how little talk there is about the parallels between the past colonialists of North America and the sci-fi dream of future colonies in space? Any potential future space colony wouldn’t be a glitzy affair: it would be similar to past and present immigrants and refugees streaming across continents, trying to escape death, privation, despair. In short, the dream of human habitation of the solar system exists because of the utter destruction of landscapes and the indecency of human societies in many parts of our planet.</p>
<p>Imagine if we actually decided to collectively care for our own world instead of having day-dreams and wasting billions on rockets and gadgets to propel us towards the “final frontier”. Doesn’t that sound nice? Luckily for us, the resiliency of our planet towards habitat degradation is very, very strong. That is why a policy of rewilding must be introduced into mainstream thinking and politics. Coined by David Foreman, rewilding refers to conservation methods that strengthen and maintain wildlife corridors and large-scale wilderness areas, with an emphasis placed on carnivores and keystone species which act as linchpins for ecosystem stability. Rewilding leads to increased connectedness across previously fragmented habitat due to roads, railways, urban sprawl, etc.</p>
<p>In the Americas, please consider educating yourself and others about these issues, and donating to a few of the fine organizations promoting wildlife corridors, such as: the <a href="https://y2y.net/" type="external">Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative</a>, the Paseo del Jaguar program led by <a href="https://www.panthera.org/" type="external">Panthera</a>, and the <a href="https://www.americanprairie.org/" type="external">American Prairie Reserve</a>.</p>
<p>Strengthening our ecosystems will provide a higher quality of life for future generations, as well as your children and grandchildren. Now that’s a return on investment. Forget about yourself, your fragile ego, and your “standards of living”, for a moment. Western capitalism and colonialism has been degrading habitats for centuries, with benefits mostly accruing to white, older men. Only by giving back to the land, and in many cases, non-intervening and letting our soils and waterways heal on their own, will allow for a more equal distribution of wealth. It is natural resources, not money, which are the real inheritance we will leave behind to our youth.</p>
<p>The distribution of the “common-wealth”, by the way, used to be far more equitable hundreds of years ago, when land was freely available for hunting, fishing, foraging, and farming. Yes, there is less abject poverty in Europe and the US today compared to centuries ago, but it has come at a steep cost: there is no self-reliance, no collectively and culturally stored traditions of farming, crafts, weaving, pottery, home-building. Corporations have swallowed all this, citing the “need” for specialized divisions of labor. Self-sufficiency and homesteading are looked upon with scorn, and we are told to buy everything we could ever need (and desire), instead of co-producing tools, clothes, food, and more.</p>
<p>Sharing of community resources needs to be re-instilled in the populace. The average garage, shed, or extra closet of today’s Westerner is filled with useless crap used maybe a few times a year, all purchased from a few companies. Recycling usable equipment and renting for small fees throughout the communities will significantly decrease consumption and foster closer neighborhood ties.</p>
<p>Today, the legal webs and labyrinths of “property laws” and low-wage work have imprisoned the average person. So has the spread of capitalism and unequal distribution of money, division of labor, separation of classes. The lives of masses of working people, the precariat, are just as unstable and misery-inducing as they were centuries ago, when Frederick Douglas <a href="" type="internal">said</a>:</p>
<p>“Experience demonstrates that there may be a slavery of wages only a little less galling and rushing in its effects than chattel slavery, and that this slavery of wages must go down with the other.”</p>
<p>This all underscores the need for rewilding the American people, not simply expanding our National Forests and wildlife refuges. It calls for a transformation in consciousness, to promote understanding of different cultures, openness towards change, and advocating for compassion and peace. We can begin by starting to support a 15 dollar wage, to fight for climate science funding, to promote renewable energy. Yet there needs to be an understanding that those actions, while a good start, are simply a few first baby-steps towards re-orienting our culture.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the longing for spiritual rejuvenation and community empowerment will break through the cage of modernity, if we are not first destroyed by ecological devastation and/or economic collapse. Longing, in all actuality, is too mild a term; actually, there is an intense craving for unique and authentic notions of identity, for belonging to a caring culture, for sharing and cultural blending. There is also, to an extent, evolutionary reasons and epigenetic possibilities for the deep desires, for instance, to want to sing and dance around a fire, to go on long walks to calm the mind, to talk to plants and animals, to feel the Earth’s joys and pains, to partake of psychedelic plants. It’s what our species has done for millennia, and no freeways, high-rises, fluorescent-lit malls, or gated communities can possibly make up for these urges.</p>
<p>Inner calmness and contentedness, feeling joy at other’s successes, altruistic actions of bravery, spontaneity, the creative act, and transpersonal experiences all teach us that our egos are illusions. The drive of the ego is the drive of civilization, with all its life-denying baggage. It is this ego-based desire to dominate, to harness and pillage nature, which expands outwards to include all life-forms, including even our close loved ones. The judgments and pain inflicted on others are projections of our own, deep inner hurting. The ego shifts the blame, projecting, always outwards onto others, always disguising and rationalizing its selfish deeds.&#160; Indigenous life is not without problems, but it recognizing and integrates the shadow-side of ourselves: there was no need for modern psychology until modern, Western man ramped up the process of destroying the world, all in order to fill the gaping void within the soul.</p>
<p>Thus, rewilding our psyches will mean dissolving the ego, recognizing it as a small part of the mind, occasionally useful in survival-enhancing or problem solving situations, but not as an absolute master of our sense of self. In short, it must be acknowledged that there are many aspects to individual minds, spectrums of ways of thinking, just as specific brain-waves exist, and differing states of sleep and dreaming.</p>
<p>Shrinking the ego will re-establish our commitment to protecting the Earth. As creator and protector of life, our planet, along with crops, animals, mountains and rivers, all have been venerated and deified across history. Thus, the sacredness of life and its continuity can be seen for the miracle it truly is. New spiritual and religious groups will be founded, with cross-fertilization and syncretism causing an explosion of kaleidoscopic cultures. Shrinking petty individual desires and grievances enlarges our view of nature: it allows for free living and amicable relations, promoting an idea of an <a href="" type="internal">Unconquerable World</a> which can triumph over the capitalist-dominated, chaotic, absolutist, totalitarian impulses of modern life.</p>
<p>This has serious implications. What cannot be used, i.e. extra physical products, food, and extra income must be given away to less fortunate countries. Open-source medicine and technology will have to be distributed to developing nations to stave off the worst symptoms of global warming and habitat degradation. In the wealthy West, the rich should look to the example of the indigenous, where in some tribes the chieftains distributed their personal wealth among their tribe, often to be rewarded in kind at a later ceremonial/seasonal time of the year. Companies that produce weapons or various useless waste will be forced to shut down. Education will be reoriented to focus on the potentialities of each individual student, not as a one-size-fits-all indoctrination mill, churning out damaged, submissive, domesticated youth.</p>
<p>Green constitutions will have to be drafted to provide regulations to protect humans and wildlife from unnecessary pollution and production. It’s not just the West that will lead: the Chinese must realize, and be planning for, the eventuality that the demand for crappy plastic goods and gadgetry at big-box stores is going to decline, worldwide, in the coming decades. A new international order based on the UN, or otherwise, will be needed to uphold climate change commitments, speedily develop renewable energy tech, sustainable agriculture plans, and distribution of resources. Basically, this requires a shift from an anthropocentric outlook to an ecocentric outlook.</p>
<p>This will require a global awakening, and a moral/spiritual transformation of consciousness. It is the only way for our societies to move forward. Adaptability and having a broad range of skills and a wider knowledge base will be preferred over the narrow, technological elitism we see today in the corporate world and reflected in culture and the media. Ultimately, rewilding ourselves means learning how to live free, i.e., unlearning what our consumer-based culture has brainwashed us into believing.</p>
<p>I don’t intend to shy away from the hard political questions of what the world and the US could look like in the near future, if the above steps are taken. Most likely, the modern nation-state will perish, America included. Our national experiment has been blood-drenched and steeped in genocide, slavery, domination by capitalists, and structural racism from the very beginning. A new era of cooperation is called for, with true democratic consensus and citizen involvement in governance as well as the workplace. Smaller areas based on bioregionalism and the city-state will replace the nation-state (which Gore Vidal, among others, spoke out in favor of) and will be more likely to prosper, as they will be more likely to provide for their citizens. Climate refugees and nomadic ways of life will increase for those fleeing disaster, or simply seeking better opportunities. Decentralization of power as well as a closer connection to the land will foster a <a href="" type="internal">reawakening of the tribal</a> ways of life, where tight-knit communities care for the sick, the elderly, disabled, and troubled souls, instead of shunting them into various soul-crushing institutions like jail, mental hospitals, etc.</p>
<p>A new era of solidarity and care for the meek must begin. This will mean feeding the millions per year who die of starvation, drought, lack of medical care, etc. This will mean reprioritizing our lives, with no excuses. Radical egalitarianism and faith in the boundless potential of each and every person must be instilled in our societies. Some will denounce this as radical, utopian, unachievable. Those who say so are without hope, without faith, having been indoctrinated by mainstream media and enshackled by capitalist ideology. Recently, in an <a href="https://www.channel4.com/news/interview-china-mieville" type="external">interview</a>, China Miéville explained this quite well:</p>
<p>“We underestimate at our peril the kind of onslaught of received opinion from the media, from the sort of cultural establishment, basically kind of ruling out of court any notion of fundamental change. Ridiculing it as ridiculous, to the extent that, you know, when you start to talk about wanting a better world you see the eyes rolling. What kind of despicable pass have we come to, that that aspiration raises scorn? And yet that’s where we are, for huge numbers of the political establishment.”</p>
<p>What sort of ideology can replace this cynicism, this nihilism? What kind of world to we want to create? I defer to Carl Rogers:</p>
<p>“Let me summarize my own political ideology, if you will, in a very few words. I find that for myself, I am most satisfied politically when every person is helped to become aware of his or her own power and strength; when each person participates fully and responsibly in every decision which affects him or her; when group members learn that the sharing of power is more satisfying than endeavoring to use power to control others; when the group finds ways of making decisions which accommodate the needs and desires of each person; when every person of the group is aware of the consequences of a decision on its members and on the external world; when each person enforces the group decision through self-control of his or her own behavior; when each person feels increasingly empowered and strengthened; and when each person and the group as a whole is flexible, open to change, and regards previous decisions as being always open for reconsideration.” (1)</p>
<p>Notes.</p>
<p>1.) May, Rollo, et al. Politics and Innocence: A Humanistic Debate. Saybrook Publishers, 1986.</p>
| 6,566 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Put plainly, you'd struggle as an investor to find a faster growing industry than marijuana.</p>
<p>According to ArcView Market Research, a cannabis research firm, legal marijuana sales in the U.S. totaled $5.4 billion in 2015 and could grow at a compound annual rate of 30% through 2020. This growth comes after Ohio became the 25th state to legalize the use of medical marijuana earlier this month. Meanwhile, four states -- Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and Alaska -- have legalized the sale of recreational marijuana since 2012.</p>
<p>Patient access to medical marijuana is really starting to blossom, and drug developers are getting in on the act by researching cannabinoids designed to interact with the cannabinoid receptor system located within our bodies. GW Pharmaceuticals' Epidiolex is a great example. In a phase 3 study reported in March, GW Pharmaceuticals announced that Epidiolex had reduced monthly seizure frequency in 39% of patients with Dravet syndrome, a childhood-onset form of epilepsy, compared to just 13% for the placebo. Epidiolex, along with traditional forms of medical cannabis, could offer new pathways of treatment for sick patients.</p>
<p>Within the U.S., the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana at the state level has also been a boon for state lawmakers looking to raise tax revenue without angering their constituents. Excise taxes on marijuana solely affect growers, processors, and retailers, as well as cannabis consumers. The result, in many states, has been extra revenue for education, law enforcement, and other programs.</p>
<p>Image source: White House on Flickr.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>But the U.S. cannabis market is also a nightmare for investors because of the federal government and its unwavering stance on marijuana as a schedule 1 drug. Despite allowing states the opportunity to regulate their own marijuana industries, Capitol Hill hasn't been in any hurry to reconsider its current illicit classification.</p>
<p>Federal lawmakers sitting on their hands are causing two big issues for the marijuana industry.First, marijuana businesses must pay tax on their gross profits instead of net profits.</p>
<p>The second issue is that only around 3% of the approximately 6,700 national banks are willing to do business with the cannabis industry. Without access to lines of credit or even checking accounts, the marijuana industry is stuck dealing predominantly with cash.</p>
<p>Image source: Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau.</p>
<p>However, if we look to our neighbor to the North, Canada, we see a country that could be on the precipice of becoming the most profitable market for cannabis in the world.</p>
<p>Current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had campaigned on a platform that vowed to legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana. Last week, Trudeau laid out his case to Canadian lawmakers, citizens, and perhaps even lawmakers beyond the borders of Canada for why legalizing recreational marijuana would make a lot of sense. And what's most interesting is that Trudeau's reasoning had very little to do with the taxable revenue that could be generated from a legal cannabis industry.</p>
<p>Courtesy of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/10/why-people-who-hate-marijuana-should-legalize-it-anyway-according-to-justin-trudeau/" type="external">The Washington Post Opens a New Window.</a>, here's what Trudeau had to say at a recent Canadian economic conference:</p>
<p>Preaching to the regulatory side of the equation instead of focusing solely on the taxable revenue to be generated could be the catalyst Trudeau needs to sway Liberal Party politicians to seriously consider legalizing recreational marijuana throughout Canada. We've heard similar arguments against legalization in the U.S. due to the potential for adolescent cannabis access, but Trudeau argues that legalization would only increase regulation within the industry to ensure that marijuana doesn't fall into the hands of adolescents.</p>
<p>If you're curious what the economics are behind a prospective legalization in Canada, a report from CIBC World Markets suggests it could be worth as much as $10 billion. Note that that's well below the peak estimates in the U.S. of around $35 billion in market value when legalized -- but with a possible legalization on the horizon in Canada and the U.S. government still sitting on its hands, Canada could vault into the spotlight as the marijuana industry's biggest opportunity.</p>
<p>Image source: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.</p>
<p>However, before you get too excited, keep in mind that Canada is also not a lock to legalize marijuana.</p>
<p>Trudeau's campaign promise failed to highlight the struggles the Canadian government will likely endure if it attempts to legalize marijuana across the country. There are three international treaties that Canada is a part of that label the possession and production of marijuana as a "criminal activity," meaning lawmakers in Canada would need to find a way to legalize the drug without violating its treaties. This would require Canada to walk a very fine line with regulating its cannabis industry and appeasing its treaty partners.</p>
<p>Additionally, as reported by Newsweek, support for legalization hasn't really gotten off the ground at the provincial level in Canada. Whereas we've witnessed half of all U.S. states legalize medical marijuana, and up to a dozen states could be placing marijuana initiatives on the ballot for the Nov. 2016 elections, Canada's provinces have made little effort to get legalization efforts off the ground.</p>
<p>In effect, the Canadian government is interested in legalization, but appears restricted by existing treaties, whereas the U.S. federal government could change the existing laws, but has no interest in legalization for the time being.</p>
<p>The blunt reality for investors is that marijuana remains a risky investment that's best left untouched. It's always possible the Canadian or U.S. government could legalize marijuana, which would certainly change the outlook and investment nature of the industry. But until that happens, the risks will likely outweigh the rewards.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/19/forget-the-united-states-this-country-could-easily.aspx" type="external">Forget the United States -- This Country Could Easily Represent Marijuana's Biggest Opportunity Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a>has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name <a href="http://caps.fool.com/player/tmfultralong.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/TMFUltraLong" type="external">@TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a>makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
|
Forget the United States -- This Country Could Easily Represent Marijuana's Biggest Opportunity
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/06/19/forget-united-states-this-country-could-easily-represent-marijuana-biggest.html
|
2016-06-19
| 0right
|
Forget the United States -- This Country Could Easily Represent Marijuana's Biggest Opportunity
<p />
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Put plainly, you'd struggle as an investor to find a faster growing industry than marijuana.</p>
<p>According to ArcView Market Research, a cannabis research firm, legal marijuana sales in the U.S. totaled $5.4 billion in 2015 and could grow at a compound annual rate of 30% through 2020. This growth comes after Ohio became the 25th state to legalize the use of medical marijuana earlier this month. Meanwhile, four states -- Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and Alaska -- have legalized the sale of recreational marijuana since 2012.</p>
<p>Patient access to medical marijuana is really starting to blossom, and drug developers are getting in on the act by researching cannabinoids designed to interact with the cannabinoid receptor system located within our bodies. GW Pharmaceuticals' Epidiolex is a great example. In a phase 3 study reported in March, GW Pharmaceuticals announced that Epidiolex had reduced monthly seizure frequency in 39% of patients with Dravet syndrome, a childhood-onset form of epilepsy, compared to just 13% for the placebo. Epidiolex, along with traditional forms of medical cannabis, could offer new pathways of treatment for sick patients.</p>
<p>Within the U.S., the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana at the state level has also been a boon for state lawmakers looking to raise tax revenue without angering their constituents. Excise taxes on marijuana solely affect growers, processors, and retailers, as well as cannabis consumers. The result, in many states, has been extra revenue for education, law enforcement, and other programs.</p>
<p>Image source: White House on Flickr.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>But the U.S. cannabis market is also a nightmare for investors because of the federal government and its unwavering stance on marijuana as a schedule 1 drug. Despite allowing states the opportunity to regulate their own marijuana industries, Capitol Hill hasn't been in any hurry to reconsider its current illicit classification.</p>
<p>Federal lawmakers sitting on their hands are causing two big issues for the marijuana industry.First, marijuana businesses must pay tax on their gross profits instead of net profits.</p>
<p>The second issue is that only around 3% of the approximately 6,700 national banks are willing to do business with the cannabis industry. Without access to lines of credit or even checking accounts, the marijuana industry is stuck dealing predominantly with cash.</p>
<p>Image source: Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau.</p>
<p>However, if we look to our neighbor to the North, Canada, we see a country that could be on the precipice of becoming the most profitable market for cannabis in the world.</p>
<p>Current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had campaigned on a platform that vowed to legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana. Last week, Trudeau laid out his case to Canadian lawmakers, citizens, and perhaps even lawmakers beyond the borders of Canada for why legalizing recreational marijuana would make a lot of sense. And what's most interesting is that Trudeau's reasoning had very little to do with the taxable revenue that could be generated from a legal cannabis industry.</p>
<p>Courtesy of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/10/why-people-who-hate-marijuana-should-legalize-it-anyway-according-to-justin-trudeau/" type="external">The Washington Post Opens a New Window.</a>, here's what Trudeau had to say at a recent Canadian economic conference:</p>
<p>Preaching to the regulatory side of the equation instead of focusing solely on the taxable revenue to be generated could be the catalyst Trudeau needs to sway Liberal Party politicians to seriously consider legalizing recreational marijuana throughout Canada. We've heard similar arguments against legalization in the U.S. due to the potential for adolescent cannabis access, but Trudeau argues that legalization would only increase regulation within the industry to ensure that marijuana doesn't fall into the hands of adolescents.</p>
<p>If you're curious what the economics are behind a prospective legalization in Canada, a report from CIBC World Markets suggests it could be worth as much as $10 billion. Note that that's well below the peak estimates in the U.S. of around $35 billion in market value when legalized -- but with a possible legalization on the horizon in Canada and the U.S. government still sitting on its hands, Canada could vault into the spotlight as the marijuana industry's biggest opportunity.</p>
<p>Image source: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.</p>
<p>However, before you get too excited, keep in mind that Canada is also not a lock to legalize marijuana.</p>
<p>Trudeau's campaign promise failed to highlight the struggles the Canadian government will likely endure if it attempts to legalize marijuana across the country. There are three international treaties that Canada is a part of that label the possession and production of marijuana as a "criminal activity," meaning lawmakers in Canada would need to find a way to legalize the drug without violating its treaties. This would require Canada to walk a very fine line with regulating its cannabis industry and appeasing its treaty partners.</p>
<p>Additionally, as reported by Newsweek, support for legalization hasn't really gotten off the ground at the provincial level in Canada. Whereas we've witnessed half of all U.S. states legalize medical marijuana, and up to a dozen states could be placing marijuana initiatives on the ballot for the Nov. 2016 elections, Canada's provinces have made little effort to get legalization efforts off the ground.</p>
<p>In effect, the Canadian government is interested in legalization, but appears restricted by existing treaties, whereas the U.S. federal government could change the existing laws, but has no interest in legalization for the time being.</p>
<p>The blunt reality for investors is that marijuana remains a risky investment that's best left untouched. It's always possible the Canadian or U.S. government could legalize marijuana, which would certainly change the outlook and investment nature of the industry. But until that happens, the risks will likely outweigh the rewards.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/19/forget-the-united-states-this-country-could-easily.aspx" type="external">Forget the United States -- This Country Could Easily Represent Marijuana's Biggest Opportunity Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a>has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name <a href="http://caps.fool.com/player/tmfultralong.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/TMFUltraLong" type="external">@TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a>makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
| 6,567 |
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<p>SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Latest on 15 Marines who were injured when an amphibious assault vehicle caught fire at a California base (all times local):</p>
<p>3:50 p.m.</p>
<p>The military says eight of the 15 Marines injured when an amphibious vehicle caught fire during an exercise at Camp Pendleton have been taken to a burn center in San Diego.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Marine Corps said in a statement Wednesday that three of the Marines were listed in critical condition at the Burn Center at the University of California San Diego Health and five were in serious condition.</p>
<p>Four other Marines have been hospitalized at the University of California Irvine Medical Center and two are in critical condition.</p>
<p>Another Marine at a hospital in La Jolla is in stable condition and two others are being treated for minor injuries at the hospital at Camp Pendleton.</p>
<p>1:30 p.m.</p>
<p>The military says 15 Marines have been taken to Southern California hospitals after a seafaring tank caught fire during training at Camp Pendleton.</p>
<p>Marine 1st Lt. Paul Gainey told The Associated Press that at about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday an amphibious assault vehicle caught fire while the Marines were conducting a training exercise on a beach at the base, north of San Diego.</p>
<p>Gainey says the Marines were being treated at hospitals in the area, including off the base. He had no information on their condition, the seriousness of their injuries or whether any suffered burns. He says there were no deaths.</p>
<p>Gainey says the command is investigating.</p>
<p>The troops are with the 1st Marine Division based at Camp Pendleton. Gainey says he had no further information to release yet.</p>
<p><a href="#046a3b8d-842f-4fb1-8934-8e070d2142a3" type="external">© 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</a> Learn more about our <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/privacy" type="external">Privacy Policy</a> and <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/terms" type="external">Terms of Use</a>.</p>
|
The Latest: Fire sends 8 Marines to burn center
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/1063173/the-latest-fire-sends-8-marines-to-burn-center.html
|
2017-09-13
| 2least
|
The Latest: Fire sends 8 Marines to burn center
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Latest on 15 Marines who were injured when an amphibious assault vehicle caught fire at a California base (all times local):</p>
<p>3:50 p.m.</p>
<p>The military says eight of the 15 Marines injured when an amphibious vehicle caught fire during an exercise at Camp Pendleton have been taken to a burn center in San Diego.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Marine Corps said in a statement Wednesday that three of the Marines were listed in critical condition at the Burn Center at the University of California San Diego Health and five were in serious condition.</p>
<p>Four other Marines have been hospitalized at the University of California Irvine Medical Center and two are in critical condition.</p>
<p>Another Marine at a hospital in La Jolla is in stable condition and two others are being treated for minor injuries at the hospital at Camp Pendleton.</p>
<p>1:30 p.m.</p>
<p>The military says 15 Marines have been taken to Southern California hospitals after a seafaring tank caught fire during training at Camp Pendleton.</p>
<p>Marine 1st Lt. Paul Gainey told The Associated Press that at about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday an amphibious assault vehicle caught fire while the Marines were conducting a training exercise on a beach at the base, north of San Diego.</p>
<p>Gainey says the Marines were being treated at hospitals in the area, including off the base. He had no information on their condition, the seriousness of their injuries or whether any suffered burns. He says there were no deaths.</p>
<p>Gainey says the command is investigating.</p>
<p>The troops are with the 1st Marine Division based at Camp Pendleton. Gainey says he had no further information to release yet.</p>
<p><a href="#046a3b8d-842f-4fb1-8934-8e070d2142a3" type="external">© 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</a> Learn more about our <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/privacy" type="external">Privacy Policy</a> and <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/terms" type="external">Terms of Use</a>.</p>
| 6,568 |
<p />
<p>The woman sitting across from me in Bangkok’s swank Dusit Thani hotel is one of Thailand’s best and brightest. Educated in the U.S., she’s a computer whiz at a prominent local company. She wears a basic business suit and impresses me with talk of “TCP/IP” and other Internet protocols. But when our conversation comes around to her romantic life, her fiancé—a New Yorker seated next to her—squirms. She admits it’s a little odd not to be marrying a Thai. Still, she says in a low, conspiratorial voice, “Many Thai women dream of having an American’s baby.”</p>
<p>My jaw drops. I expect her to give her boyfriend, who works for a U.S. corporation here, a reassuring smile, as if to say that she isn’t one of them. But she goes right on talking. “Thai people think these babies are more beautiful, better endowed,” she says. “They’re all the rage.”</p>
<p>The Thai passion for Americana doesn’t stop with babies. Thai consumers learned the concept of “nutritional value” labeling from Frito-Lay packages, the first in the nation to carry an analysis of potato chip ingredients. The government’s response to its financial collapse, which triggered the Asian economic meltdown,’draws from the United States’ handling of its S&amp;L crisis in the 1980s. Thailand’s largest private employer, Seagate Technology, is a U.S. high-tech company. And the country’s new constitution retreats from Asian communalism by emphasizing a core American value: individual rights.</p>
<p>Others countries are following Thailand’s lead. A few days before arriving in Bangkok, I listen to Ella Fitzgerald piped over a stereo system in a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur’s trendy Bangsar district. I am eating a bowl of laksa, a traditional stew. My lunch companion is Karim Raslan, a lawyer and leading Malaysian social critic. Notoriously prickly about their own culture, Malaysians have criticized Americans for our unbridled individualism. Yet in the face of the country’s economic contraction, the unthinkable suddenly makes sense. “Can we develop beyond this point without importing American ideas about the conception of the individual?” Raslan asks. “Probably not.” Fascinated by what he calls “the imagined communities of the American West,” he believes Malaysians can reinvent themselves in much the way Americans do: by asserting a new identity that works.</p>
<p>Two months before, halfway around the globe in Provence, France, I meet another enthusiast of all things American, Marc Lassus. He is the chief of Gemplus, a manufacturer of “smart cards,” which can be used as electronic money to purchase telephone time or to store information such as medical records. It’s nearly midnight, and I watch him exhort his factory workers to act more American. The typical French executive treats manual laborers with veiled contempt, but Lassus revels in them, working the factory floor like a politician. He betrays his nationality only when it comes to greeting the female machine operators: He kisses them lustily.</p>
<p>Lassus fights the impulse to be, in his words, “too Frenchie.” Incredibly, he often speaks English on the job and encourages his co-workers to do the same. The company’s marketing materials are expressly written in American English, by writers imported from California’s Silicon Valley. Lassus has hired an American number-cruncher to push the idea that the bottom line matters as much in France as it does in the States. Because the French are famously chauvinistic, I am astonished by Lassus’ frank admiration of American ways. His e-mail handle says it all: John Wayne.</p>
<p>Thailand, Malaysia, and France aren’t unique in their emulation of the United States. “Americanization” is a more apt term than “globalization” for the increasing concentration of U.S.-based multinational companies operating worldwide. Pundits glibly assert that different societies in the world are becoming more alike as if all were influencing and being influenced in equal measure, creating a kind of global melting pot. I don’t see it that way. In the 1990s, the world has Americanized at an unprecedented rate, reaching as far as Borneo (see “ <a href="/news/featurex/1999/01/alger.html" type="external">A Horatio Alger Tale</a>“).</p>
<p>Of course, Levi’s, Nike, and Hollywood have long held international sway. But American influence goes deeper than pop culture. Technology—especially computers, software, and the Internet—is seen as quintessentially American. And the way we do business is now also admired worldwide. Once believed to be in permanent decline, the strongest U.S. companies again dominate global markets. Their stress on profits, efficiency, innovation, and “shareholder value” is the envy of capitalists from Tokyo to Buenos Aires.</p>
<p>The notion of “pay for performance,” once rare outside of the U.S., is also catching on. Throughout the world, a growing number of companies are adopting the concept of merit, rewarding employees with a slice of the company’s total earnings, given as bonuses rather than wages. Risk-taking and even failure, once cast as pure negatives in Asia and Europe, now are viewed increasingly as preludes to success. Office dress is more casual, corridor talk less formal. The old-boy networks, based on what schools people graduated from (Europe) or which family and personal connections they could draw from (Asia), are slowly breaking down.</p>
<p>“Within five to 10 years, these practices won’t [just] be American anymore; they will be everywhere,” says Roel Pieper, a senior executive at Philips, the Dutch electronics multinational.</p>
<p>American social and political ideas are also taking hold. At a time when Japan—hugely influential in the 1980s—is stagnant, the American willingness to improvise is trumping the virtues of traditionalism. Countries such as Japan and Germany, where the concept of nationality is rooted in the racially based idea of bloodlines, are starting to accept that a polyglot country such as the United States has fundamental advantages.</p>
<p>Scholars throughout Europe now vie to publish their articles in American journals. In Berlin, worried parents recently convinced educators to begin teaching English in the first grade rather than waiting until the third. And in Penang, Malaysia, primary schools stage storytelling competitions—in English.</p>
<p>For all its seductiveness, however, Americanization has a dark side, an underbelly that perhaps we know better than anyone else. And as Americans, who can blame us for asking whether the relentless spread of our values is worth the price?</p>
<p>It is a warm September evening in Washington, D.C., and I am sitting on an outdoor patio at a fashionable restaurant, the Tabard Inn. My companion is Andrea Durbin, director of international programs for Friends of the Earth. She is part of a broad movement that opposed NAFTA (unsuccessfully), helped kill fast-track (Clinton’s effort to gain a free hand in negotiating trade pacts), and is now trying to bring the International Monetary Fund to heel. The IMF recently won an $18 billion commitment from Congress to replenish reserves exhausted by the fund’s successive bailouts of Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, and Russia. An unusual alliance of conservatives and radicals forced the fund, as a condition of this new cash infusion, to provide more information about its inner workings, which may make it easier for critics to track how the IMF protects U.S. investors and promotes an American capitalism.</p>
<p>The IMF generally opposes trade barriers, low interest rates, and deficit spending. These policies, Durbin points out, have led the IMF to mishandle the global capitalist crisis that began with a whimper in July 1997 when the Thai baht collapsed. Using a formula wholeheartedly endorsed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the IMF drove Thai interest rates sky-high in a bid to protect the baht, strangling liquidity in a banking system rife with cronyism. At the same time, the fund and the U.S. insisted on new bankruptcy laws-leading to a fire sale of sorts and freeing the way for foreign companies, including American ones, to snap up assets, such as Thai car companies, on the cheap.</p>
<p>The story is the same elsewhere in the world. The result is that world capitalism is in shambles. In Brazil and Mexico, living standards are falling and stock markets are in disarray even though governments have curtailed spending on social services and privatized essential public monopolies. In Indonesia, a quarter century of rising living standards was reversed during the Asian financial crisis, while an IMF “rescue” program succeeded only in helping to bankrupt the country. In Russia, after the IMF’s “help,” the ruble collapsed. The dollar is now king; it greases so much commerce that some argue that the greenback should be the official currency. (The dark side of the American global dream is particularly obvious in one former Soviet republic, Moldova. See “ <a href="/news/featurex/1999/01/potemkin.html" type="external">Potemkin Capitalism</a>.”) All over the world, meanwhile, the moneyed classes are converting local currencies into dollars and shipping them to the United States. According to the Federal Reserve Board, about two-thirds of all U.S. currency (the bills themselves) circulate abroad-an estimated $300 billion. The dollarization of the world economy is just one aspect of the Pyrrhic victory of the worldwide spread of American values. Durbin ticks off her own list of the worst aspects of Americanization:</p>
<p>Inequality The American economic model has led to increasing disparities of wealth and income. Both stock options and pay for performance are becoming popular in Europe, where, in a number of countries, inequality is rising even faster than in the U.S., according to the Luxembourg Income Study, the leading source on the subject. “The U.S. still has the most inequality based on income,” says Timothy Smeeding, an economist at Syracuse University. But, incredibly, even Denmark and Sweden have seen income gaps widen more rapidly than in the U.S. That’s partly because, as in most other countries, Scandinavians are paying much higher wages to skilled workers and squeezing labor costs at the bottom.</p>
<p>Consumerism U.S. per capita consumption is up to 20 times greater than in the developing world. “If even half the world’s people achieve the American way of life,” says Durbin, “we’ll have an environmental disaster on our hands.” This is a critical point: According to the World Resources Institute, the U.S. consumes a quarter of the world’s oil, a third of its paper, and 40 percent of its beef and veal. If such patterns are replicated—say in China alone—the effect on world resources will be dramatic.</p>
<p>Cultural monotony When a second-tier NBA player like Kobe Bryant merits giant billboards in Paris, the mania for U.S. culture has gone too far. “Our culture is such a strong one it tends to dominate and erode other cultures,” Durbin says. “They have a lot to contribute to the international dialogue, but we’re losing them.”</p>
<p>Imitators of the U.S. rightfully worry about the price of American cultural domination. Consider Germany. One sunny Saturday morning, I am drinking a café au lait on Munich’s main square, watching as a glockenspiel strikes noon and sends a small, mechanical army parading around the old tower, attracting tourists. Just off the square, though, German shoppers are pouring into a Disney store, packed with Pocahontas purses, Mickey Mouse towels, and Winnie-the-Pooh dresses. Germans at least have a sense of irony about iconic American brands. It’s more distressing to visit some of the most remote river villages of Borneo, as I did a year ago, and find evidence of a bizarre love affair with Americana.</p>
<p>One steamy afternoon, I take a high-speed riverboat to Marudi, a logging town that serves as the hub for various jungle tribes, many of whose members still live in longhouses and follow traditional customs. Seated across from me is an old Orang Ulu woman. Her body is covered with brightly colored tattoos, and her ears are elongated, the result of attaching heavy weights to her lobes. Once the boat hits its cruising speed, the captain puts a video into the ship’s TV. It shows professional wrestlers from the United States. Two big white guys with long hair toss each other around the ring. The Orang Ulu woman howls with laughter, her face brightening each time a big hulk falls to the canvas. Hers is no isolated affection. I spend that evening with a militant anti-logging activist in Marudi—a Kayan tribe member considered so dangerous by the government that it had seized his passport. After dinner, he invites me into his house and, with geckos running up and down his walls, plays a traditional Kayan guitar for me. When I tell him about the woman, he confesses that he, too, loves watching American wrestling. So does everyone in the longhouses.</p>
<p>Environmentalists enjoy painting these native people as idyllic traditionalists, but the truth is that they want a piece of America too—but on their own terms. Their resistance to resource exploitation is certainly authentic, and their logging blockades deserve the wholehearted support of outsiders. Yet for these tribespeople, the biggest symbol of progress is American-made: the Johnson outboard motor. Once these river tribes used long poles to push their boats up the region’s shallow rivers. How much happier many of them are now with a craft powered by a small motor. Far from looking bucolic, they resemble edgy Long Islanders, speeding back and forth on the water, their ungainly poles snugly on the bottom of their thin, low boats.</p>
<p>Americanization seems unstoppable. Resistance is rising, however. The governments of France and Germany are taking steps to address the inequities fostered by their own embrace of the American model. Both are raising taxes on wealthy people and corporations and, in France’s case, paying people the same amount for working fewer hours. In September, Malaysia, long a haven for U.S. investment, slapped controls on its currency, making it harder on foreign investors. Even cultural rebellions are taking place: The Israeli government announced in November that it may require its radio stations to devote half their airtime to songs sung in Hebrew in order to slow down Israel’s cultural shift toward Americanization.</p>
<p>The pervasiveness of Americanization, in other words, doesn’t mean the world will end up full of Clint Eastwoods. Many foreigners drawn to U.S. values and practices are nonetheless disturbed that the U.S. often exports its pathologies. Consider the attitude of Simon Tay, a lawyer and member of parliament in Singapore. In a country where Western values are relentlessly criticized, Tay’s admiration for American society stands out. He has a degree from Harvard University and has published a book about his travels in the United States. Yet as we sip cold drinks on a patio outside a mammoth high-rise this spring, he tells me, “Sometimes I feel you’re exporting the worst of America.”</p>
<p>He mentions the traits that many people in Singapore equate with the American Way: violence, workaholism, disrespect for authority, an endless obsession with instant gratification. Tay realizes that this image of the U.S., gleaned from American movies and television, is something of a caricature. “In your movies and your materialism, we don’t see the real America,” he admits.</p>
<p>Like many in Asia, he hungers for a more freewheeling society, one that can respect tradition while breaking free from it when necessary. He fears that the so-called Asian miracle came undone partly because rigid Asian societies can hamper American-style creativity. In Singapore, however, the drive to acquire the more eccentric aspects of American life borders on parody. Many years ago, the government banned street performers, considering them beggars. When Tay returned from his stay in the U.S., the sterility of Singapore’s streets—all orderly and clean, with no one present without a purpose—weighed on him. In 1997 the government permitted street performers for the first time, but then the government drew a line, requiring performers to audition before a national board. Not only that, whatever money they collected had to be donated to charity. “This is crazy,” says Tay. “It’s a good example of the tension between wanting a livelier Singapore and maintaining control.” (Later, following criticism from Tay and others, the government relaxed the conditions.)</p>
<p>Clearly, says Tay, foreigners may imitate Americans, but that doesn’t mean they automatically become like them. This, he concludes, may help preserve Singapore’s own cultural traditions as it integrates American ones. “If American values aren’t imposed on us, but come in a softer way, I’d welcome that,” he says.</p>
<p>But that isn’t likely. The global capitalist crisis paradoxically reinforces the power of the United States. Foreign assets are cheaper than they’ve been in decades. Before the crisis runs its course—and it may take years—U.S. investors may own a much bigger chunk of the developing world: from factories to mines to forests to auto loans, all picked up for a song.</p>
<p>As the century comes to an end, U.S. power stands at a new pinnacle, only this time victory isn’t measured in the defeat of an ideological foe but in the influence gained over the world’s wealth, culture, and individual identity. If the bulk of the 20th century was defined by American military might, its last decade may be summed up by this maxim: “We are all Americans now, like it or not.”</p>
<p />
|
The World Gets in Touch with Its Inner American
| true |
https://motherjones.com/politics/1999/01/world-gets-touch-its-inner-american/
|
2018-01-01
| 4left
|
The World Gets in Touch with Its Inner American
<p />
<p>The woman sitting across from me in Bangkok’s swank Dusit Thani hotel is one of Thailand’s best and brightest. Educated in the U.S., she’s a computer whiz at a prominent local company. She wears a basic business suit and impresses me with talk of “TCP/IP” and other Internet protocols. But when our conversation comes around to her romantic life, her fiancé—a New Yorker seated next to her—squirms. She admits it’s a little odd not to be marrying a Thai. Still, she says in a low, conspiratorial voice, “Many Thai women dream of having an American’s baby.”</p>
<p>My jaw drops. I expect her to give her boyfriend, who works for a U.S. corporation here, a reassuring smile, as if to say that she isn’t one of them. But she goes right on talking. “Thai people think these babies are more beautiful, better endowed,” she says. “They’re all the rage.”</p>
<p>The Thai passion for Americana doesn’t stop with babies. Thai consumers learned the concept of “nutritional value” labeling from Frito-Lay packages, the first in the nation to carry an analysis of potato chip ingredients. The government’s response to its financial collapse, which triggered the Asian economic meltdown,’draws from the United States’ handling of its S&amp;L crisis in the 1980s. Thailand’s largest private employer, Seagate Technology, is a U.S. high-tech company. And the country’s new constitution retreats from Asian communalism by emphasizing a core American value: individual rights.</p>
<p>Others countries are following Thailand’s lead. A few days before arriving in Bangkok, I listen to Ella Fitzgerald piped over a stereo system in a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur’s trendy Bangsar district. I am eating a bowl of laksa, a traditional stew. My lunch companion is Karim Raslan, a lawyer and leading Malaysian social critic. Notoriously prickly about their own culture, Malaysians have criticized Americans for our unbridled individualism. Yet in the face of the country’s economic contraction, the unthinkable suddenly makes sense. “Can we develop beyond this point without importing American ideas about the conception of the individual?” Raslan asks. “Probably not.” Fascinated by what he calls “the imagined communities of the American West,” he believes Malaysians can reinvent themselves in much the way Americans do: by asserting a new identity that works.</p>
<p>Two months before, halfway around the globe in Provence, France, I meet another enthusiast of all things American, Marc Lassus. He is the chief of Gemplus, a manufacturer of “smart cards,” which can be used as electronic money to purchase telephone time or to store information such as medical records. It’s nearly midnight, and I watch him exhort his factory workers to act more American. The typical French executive treats manual laborers with veiled contempt, but Lassus revels in them, working the factory floor like a politician. He betrays his nationality only when it comes to greeting the female machine operators: He kisses them lustily.</p>
<p>Lassus fights the impulse to be, in his words, “too Frenchie.” Incredibly, he often speaks English on the job and encourages his co-workers to do the same. The company’s marketing materials are expressly written in American English, by writers imported from California’s Silicon Valley. Lassus has hired an American number-cruncher to push the idea that the bottom line matters as much in France as it does in the States. Because the French are famously chauvinistic, I am astonished by Lassus’ frank admiration of American ways. His e-mail handle says it all: John Wayne.</p>
<p>Thailand, Malaysia, and France aren’t unique in their emulation of the United States. “Americanization” is a more apt term than “globalization” for the increasing concentration of U.S.-based multinational companies operating worldwide. Pundits glibly assert that different societies in the world are becoming more alike as if all were influencing and being influenced in equal measure, creating a kind of global melting pot. I don’t see it that way. In the 1990s, the world has Americanized at an unprecedented rate, reaching as far as Borneo (see “ <a href="/news/featurex/1999/01/alger.html" type="external">A Horatio Alger Tale</a>“).</p>
<p>Of course, Levi’s, Nike, and Hollywood have long held international sway. But American influence goes deeper than pop culture. Technology—especially computers, software, and the Internet—is seen as quintessentially American. And the way we do business is now also admired worldwide. Once believed to be in permanent decline, the strongest U.S. companies again dominate global markets. Their stress on profits, efficiency, innovation, and “shareholder value” is the envy of capitalists from Tokyo to Buenos Aires.</p>
<p>The notion of “pay for performance,” once rare outside of the U.S., is also catching on. Throughout the world, a growing number of companies are adopting the concept of merit, rewarding employees with a slice of the company’s total earnings, given as bonuses rather than wages. Risk-taking and even failure, once cast as pure negatives in Asia and Europe, now are viewed increasingly as preludes to success. Office dress is more casual, corridor talk less formal. The old-boy networks, based on what schools people graduated from (Europe) or which family and personal connections they could draw from (Asia), are slowly breaking down.</p>
<p>“Within five to 10 years, these practices won’t [just] be American anymore; they will be everywhere,” says Roel Pieper, a senior executive at Philips, the Dutch electronics multinational.</p>
<p>American social and political ideas are also taking hold. At a time when Japan—hugely influential in the 1980s—is stagnant, the American willingness to improvise is trumping the virtues of traditionalism. Countries such as Japan and Germany, where the concept of nationality is rooted in the racially based idea of bloodlines, are starting to accept that a polyglot country such as the United States has fundamental advantages.</p>
<p>Scholars throughout Europe now vie to publish their articles in American journals. In Berlin, worried parents recently convinced educators to begin teaching English in the first grade rather than waiting until the third. And in Penang, Malaysia, primary schools stage storytelling competitions—in English.</p>
<p>For all its seductiveness, however, Americanization has a dark side, an underbelly that perhaps we know better than anyone else. And as Americans, who can blame us for asking whether the relentless spread of our values is worth the price?</p>
<p>It is a warm September evening in Washington, D.C., and I am sitting on an outdoor patio at a fashionable restaurant, the Tabard Inn. My companion is Andrea Durbin, director of international programs for Friends of the Earth. She is part of a broad movement that opposed NAFTA (unsuccessfully), helped kill fast-track (Clinton’s effort to gain a free hand in negotiating trade pacts), and is now trying to bring the International Monetary Fund to heel. The IMF recently won an $18 billion commitment from Congress to replenish reserves exhausted by the fund’s successive bailouts of Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, and Russia. An unusual alliance of conservatives and radicals forced the fund, as a condition of this new cash infusion, to provide more information about its inner workings, which may make it easier for critics to track how the IMF protects U.S. investors and promotes an American capitalism.</p>
<p>The IMF generally opposes trade barriers, low interest rates, and deficit spending. These policies, Durbin points out, have led the IMF to mishandle the global capitalist crisis that began with a whimper in July 1997 when the Thai baht collapsed. Using a formula wholeheartedly endorsed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the IMF drove Thai interest rates sky-high in a bid to protect the baht, strangling liquidity in a banking system rife with cronyism. At the same time, the fund and the U.S. insisted on new bankruptcy laws-leading to a fire sale of sorts and freeing the way for foreign companies, including American ones, to snap up assets, such as Thai car companies, on the cheap.</p>
<p>The story is the same elsewhere in the world. The result is that world capitalism is in shambles. In Brazil and Mexico, living standards are falling and stock markets are in disarray even though governments have curtailed spending on social services and privatized essential public monopolies. In Indonesia, a quarter century of rising living standards was reversed during the Asian financial crisis, while an IMF “rescue” program succeeded only in helping to bankrupt the country. In Russia, after the IMF’s “help,” the ruble collapsed. The dollar is now king; it greases so much commerce that some argue that the greenback should be the official currency. (The dark side of the American global dream is particularly obvious in one former Soviet republic, Moldova. See “ <a href="/news/featurex/1999/01/potemkin.html" type="external">Potemkin Capitalism</a>.”) All over the world, meanwhile, the moneyed classes are converting local currencies into dollars and shipping them to the United States. According to the Federal Reserve Board, about two-thirds of all U.S. currency (the bills themselves) circulate abroad-an estimated $300 billion. The dollarization of the world economy is just one aspect of the Pyrrhic victory of the worldwide spread of American values. Durbin ticks off her own list of the worst aspects of Americanization:</p>
<p>Inequality The American economic model has led to increasing disparities of wealth and income. Both stock options and pay for performance are becoming popular in Europe, where, in a number of countries, inequality is rising even faster than in the U.S., according to the Luxembourg Income Study, the leading source on the subject. “The U.S. still has the most inequality based on income,” says Timothy Smeeding, an economist at Syracuse University. But, incredibly, even Denmark and Sweden have seen income gaps widen more rapidly than in the U.S. That’s partly because, as in most other countries, Scandinavians are paying much higher wages to skilled workers and squeezing labor costs at the bottom.</p>
<p>Consumerism U.S. per capita consumption is up to 20 times greater than in the developing world. “If even half the world’s people achieve the American way of life,” says Durbin, “we’ll have an environmental disaster on our hands.” This is a critical point: According to the World Resources Institute, the U.S. consumes a quarter of the world’s oil, a third of its paper, and 40 percent of its beef and veal. If such patterns are replicated—say in China alone—the effect on world resources will be dramatic.</p>
<p>Cultural monotony When a second-tier NBA player like Kobe Bryant merits giant billboards in Paris, the mania for U.S. culture has gone too far. “Our culture is such a strong one it tends to dominate and erode other cultures,” Durbin says. “They have a lot to contribute to the international dialogue, but we’re losing them.”</p>
<p>Imitators of the U.S. rightfully worry about the price of American cultural domination. Consider Germany. One sunny Saturday morning, I am drinking a café au lait on Munich’s main square, watching as a glockenspiel strikes noon and sends a small, mechanical army parading around the old tower, attracting tourists. Just off the square, though, German shoppers are pouring into a Disney store, packed with Pocahontas purses, Mickey Mouse towels, and Winnie-the-Pooh dresses. Germans at least have a sense of irony about iconic American brands. It’s more distressing to visit some of the most remote river villages of Borneo, as I did a year ago, and find evidence of a bizarre love affair with Americana.</p>
<p>One steamy afternoon, I take a high-speed riverboat to Marudi, a logging town that serves as the hub for various jungle tribes, many of whose members still live in longhouses and follow traditional customs. Seated across from me is an old Orang Ulu woman. Her body is covered with brightly colored tattoos, and her ears are elongated, the result of attaching heavy weights to her lobes. Once the boat hits its cruising speed, the captain puts a video into the ship’s TV. It shows professional wrestlers from the United States. Two big white guys with long hair toss each other around the ring. The Orang Ulu woman howls with laughter, her face brightening each time a big hulk falls to the canvas. Hers is no isolated affection. I spend that evening with a militant anti-logging activist in Marudi—a Kayan tribe member considered so dangerous by the government that it had seized his passport. After dinner, he invites me into his house and, with geckos running up and down his walls, plays a traditional Kayan guitar for me. When I tell him about the woman, he confesses that he, too, loves watching American wrestling. So does everyone in the longhouses.</p>
<p>Environmentalists enjoy painting these native people as idyllic traditionalists, but the truth is that they want a piece of America too—but on their own terms. Their resistance to resource exploitation is certainly authentic, and their logging blockades deserve the wholehearted support of outsiders. Yet for these tribespeople, the biggest symbol of progress is American-made: the Johnson outboard motor. Once these river tribes used long poles to push their boats up the region’s shallow rivers. How much happier many of them are now with a craft powered by a small motor. Far from looking bucolic, they resemble edgy Long Islanders, speeding back and forth on the water, their ungainly poles snugly on the bottom of their thin, low boats.</p>
<p>Americanization seems unstoppable. Resistance is rising, however. The governments of France and Germany are taking steps to address the inequities fostered by their own embrace of the American model. Both are raising taxes on wealthy people and corporations and, in France’s case, paying people the same amount for working fewer hours. In September, Malaysia, long a haven for U.S. investment, slapped controls on its currency, making it harder on foreign investors. Even cultural rebellions are taking place: The Israeli government announced in November that it may require its radio stations to devote half their airtime to songs sung in Hebrew in order to slow down Israel’s cultural shift toward Americanization.</p>
<p>The pervasiveness of Americanization, in other words, doesn’t mean the world will end up full of Clint Eastwoods. Many foreigners drawn to U.S. values and practices are nonetheless disturbed that the U.S. often exports its pathologies. Consider the attitude of Simon Tay, a lawyer and member of parliament in Singapore. In a country where Western values are relentlessly criticized, Tay’s admiration for American society stands out. He has a degree from Harvard University and has published a book about his travels in the United States. Yet as we sip cold drinks on a patio outside a mammoth high-rise this spring, he tells me, “Sometimes I feel you’re exporting the worst of America.”</p>
<p>He mentions the traits that many people in Singapore equate with the American Way: violence, workaholism, disrespect for authority, an endless obsession with instant gratification. Tay realizes that this image of the U.S., gleaned from American movies and television, is something of a caricature. “In your movies and your materialism, we don’t see the real America,” he admits.</p>
<p>Like many in Asia, he hungers for a more freewheeling society, one that can respect tradition while breaking free from it when necessary. He fears that the so-called Asian miracle came undone partly because rigid Asian societies can hamper American-style creativity. In Singapore, however, the drive to acquire the more eccentric aspects of American life borders on parody. Many years ago, the government banned street performers, considering them beggars. When Tay returned from his stay in the U.S., the sterility of Singapore’s streets—all orderly and clean, with no one present without a purpose—weighed on him. In 1997 the government permitted street performers for the first time, but then the government drew a line, requiring performers to audition before a national board. Not only that, whatever money they collected had to be donated to charity. “This is crazy,” says Tay. “It’s a good example of the tension between wanting a livelier Singapore and maintaining control.” (Later, following criticism from Tay and others, the government relaxed the conditions.)</p>
<p>Clearly, says Tay, foreigners may imitate Americans, but that doesn’t mean they automatically become like them. This, he concludes, may help preserve Singapore’s own cultural traditions as it integrates American ones. “If American values aren’t imposed on us, but come in a softer way, I’d welcome that,” he says.</p>
<p>But that isn’t likely. The global capitalist crisis paradoxically reinforces the power of the United States. Foreign assets are cheaper than they’ve been in decades. Before the crisis runs its course—and it may take years—U.S. investors may own a much bigger chunk of the developing world: from factories to mines to forests to auto loans, all picked up for a song.</p>
<p>As the century comes to an end, U.S. power stands at a new pinnacle, only this time victory isn’t measured in the defeat of an ideological foe but in the influence gained over the world’s wealth, culture, and individual identity. If the bulk of the 20th century was defined by American military might, its last decade may be summed up by this maxim: “We are all Americans now, like it or not.”</p>
<p />
| 6,569 |
<p>BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - Vermont's Committee on Temporary Shelter says it needs volunteers and donations from the community during this time of freezing temperatures across the region.</p>
<p>COTS currently runs a Daystation in Burlington that is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. most days for those seeking a way out of the cold. WPLZ-TV <a href="http://www.mynbc5.com/article/cots-daystation-needs-volunteers-donations-during-frigid-weather/14753465" type="external">reports</a> the daytime drop-in shelter also serves lunch and gives out donated winter gear to those who need it.</p>
<p>Employee Becky Holt says staff has seen a big increase in visitors with the freezing temperatures, so they have extended their hours to help keep people safe.</p>
<p>COTS also runs Waystation, a 36-bed shelter for men and women over age 18. It is open from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. during the winter.</p>
<p>BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - Vermont's Committee on Temporary Shelter says it needs volunteers and donations from the community during this time of freezing temperatures across the region.</p>
<p>COTS currently runs a Daystation in Burlington that is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. most days for those seeking a way out of the cold. WPLZ-TV <a href="http://www.mynbc5.com/article/cots-daystation-needs-volunteers-donations-during-frigid-weather/14753465" type="external">reports</a> the daytime drop-in shelter also serves lunch and gives out donated winter gear to those who need it.</p>
<p>Employee Becky Holt says staff has seen a big increase in visitors with the freezing temperatures, so they have extended their hours to help keep people safe.</p>
<p>COTS also runs Waystation, a 36-bed shelter for men and women over age 18. It is open from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. during the winter.</p>
|
Shelter asks for donations, help during frigid weather
| false |
https://apnews.com/16dbf96a0ecc4c7d829ea745ddf24f4b
|
2018-01-05
| 2least
|
Shelter asks for donations, help during frigid weather
<p>BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - Vermont's Committee on Temporary Shelter says it needs volunteers and donations from the community during this time of freezing temperatures across the region.</p>
<p>COTS currently runs a Daystation in Burlington that is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. most days for those seeking a way out of the cold. WPLZ-TV <a href="http://www.mynbc5.com/article/cots-daystation-needs-volunteers-donations-during-frigid-weather/14753465" type="external">reports</a> the daytime drop-in shelter also serves lunch and gives out donated winter gear to those who need it.</p>
<p>Employee Becky Holt says staff has seen a big increase in visitors with the freezing temperatures, so they have extended their hours to help keep people safe.</p>
<p>COTS also runs Waystation, a 36-bed shelter for men and women over age 18. It is open from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. during the winter.</p>
<p>BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - Vermont's Committee on Temporary Shelter says it needs volunteers and donations from the community during this time of freezing temperatures across the region.</p>
<p>COTS currently runs a Daystation in Burlington that is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. most days for those seeking a way out of the cold. WPLZ-TV <a href="http://www.mynbc5.com/article/cots-daystation-needs-volunteers-donations-during-frigid-weather/14753465" type="external">reports</a> the daytime drop-in shelter also serves lunch and gives out donated winter gear to those who need it.</p>
<p>Employee Becky Holt says staff has seen a big increase in visitors with the freezing temperatures, so they have extended their hours to help keep people safe.</p>
<p>COTS also runs Waystation, a 36-bed shelter for men and women over age 18. It is open from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. during the winter.</p>
| 6,570 |
<p />
<p>A future cup of coffee in California could give you jitters before you even take a sip.</p>
<p>A nonprofit group wants coffee manufacturers, distributors and retailers to post ominous warnings about a cancer-causing chemical stewing in every brew and has been presenting evidence in a Los Angeles courtroom to make its case.</p>
<p>The long-running lawsuit that resumed Monday claims Starbucks and about 90 other companies, including grocery stores and retail shops, failed to follow a state law requiring warning signs about hazardous chemicals found everywhere from household products to workplaces to the environment.</p>
<p>At the center of the dispute is acrylamide, a carcinogen found in cooked foods such as French fries that is also a natural byproduct of the coffee roasting process. The coffee industry has acknowledged the presence of the chemical but asserts it is at harmless levels and is outweighed by benefits from drinking coffee.</p>
<p>Although the case has been percolating in the courts since 2010, it has gotten little attention.</p>
<p>A verdict in favor of the little-known Council for Education and Research on Toxics could send a jolt through the industry with astronomical penalties possible and it could wake up a lot of consumers, though it’s unclear what effect it would have on coffee-drinking habits.</p>
<p>The lawyer taking on Big Coffee said the larger goal is to motivate the industry to remove the chemical from coffee, which would also benefit his own three-cup-a-day fix.</p>
<p>“I’m addicted — like two-thirds of the population,” attorney Raphael Metzger said. “I would like the industry to get acrylamide out of the coffee so my addiction doesn’t force me to ingest it.”</p>
<p>Under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, passed by voters as Proposition 65 in 1986, private citizens, advocacy groups and attorneys can sue on behalf of the state and collect a portion of civil penalties.</p>
<p>Metzger represented the council in a case later taken up by the state attorney general that resulted in potato-chip makers agreeing in 2008 to pay $3 million and remove acrylamide from their product.</p>
<p>Read the rest at <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/09/26/coffee-sold-in-california-could-carry-cancer-warning-labels.html" type="external">Cancer Coffee</a></p>
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California says coffee is cancerous !
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http://therealside.com/2017/09/california-says-coffee-is-cancerous/
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2017-09-26
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California says coffee is cancerous !
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<p>A future cup of coffee in California could give you jitters before you even take a sip.</p>
<p>A nonprofit group wants coffee manufacturers, distributors and retailers to post ominous warnings about a cancer-causing chemical stewing in every brew and has been presenting evidence in a Los Angeles courtroom to make its case.</p>
<p>The long-running lawsuit that resumed Monday claims Starbucks and about 90 other companies, including grocery stores and retail shops, failed to follow a state law requiring warning signs about hazardous chemicals found everywhere from household products to workplaces to the environment.</p>
<p>At the center of the dispute is acrylamide, a carcinogen found in cooked foods such as French fries that is also a natural byproduct of the coffee roasting process. The coffee industry has acknowledged the presence of the chemical but asserts it is at harmless levels and is outweighed by benefits from drinking coffee.</p>
<p>Although the case has been percolating in the courts since 2010, it has gotten little attention.</p>
<p>A verdict in favor of the little-known Council for Education and Research on Toxics could send a jolt through the industry with astronomical penalties possible and it could wake up a lot of consumers, though it’s unclear what effect it would have on coffee-drinking habits.</p>
<p>The lawyer taking on Big Coffee said the larger goal is to motivate the industry to remove the chemical from coffee, which would also benefit his own three-cup-a-day fix.</p>
<p>“I’m addicted — like two-thirds of the population,” attorney Raphael Metzger said. “I would like the industry to get acrylamide out of the coffee so my addiction doesn’t force me to ingest it.”</p>
<p>Under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, passed by voters as Proposition 65 in 1986, private citizens, advocacy groups and attorneys can sue on behalf of the state and collect a portion of civil penalties.</p>
<p>Metzger represented the council in a case later taken up by the state attorney general that resulted in potato-chip makers agreeing in 2008 to pay $3 million and remove acrylamide from their product.</p>
<p>Read the rest at <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/09/26/coffee-sold-in-california-could-carry-cancer-warning-labels.html" type="external">Cancer Coffee</a></p>
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<p>Bob Thomas, who died Friday at his Encino, Calif., home at age 92, started reporting when Clark Gable was a middle-aged king, Bette Davis was in her big-eyed prime, and Kirk Douglas and Lauren Bacall were emerging stars. "Independent" movies were a rarity during the studio-controlled era, and celebrity gossip was dispensed by rival columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons rather than Internet sites.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Younger reporters knew the names and the credits, but Thomas knew the people and lived the history. He could tell you what Jack Lemmon liked to drink at parties or recall Marilyn Monroe's farcical inability to show up on time, or speak fondly of his times with "Greg" Peck.</p>
<p>Around the country, and beyond, at least one generation of movie fans learned the latest about Hollywood by reading Bob Thomas. He interviewed most of the great screen actors of the 20th century, among them Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Humphrey Bogart, Jack Nicholson, Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise.</p>
<p>When a story ran, Thomas often heard directly from the stars. Soon after her marriage to actor John Agar in 1945, Shirley Temple wrote: "John and I want you to know that we are very grateful to you for the manner in which you handled the story on our wedding."</p>
<p>A postcard from Rita Hayworth passed on regards from Orson Welles. Bing Crosby shared warm thoughts about Bob Hope. Groucho Marx noted that Thomas' interview with him had been syndicated in 400 newspapers. "But as faithful as I am to you in my fashion, I read them all," Groucho wrote to him.</p>
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Hollywood reporter Bob Thomas dies at 92
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https://abqjournal.com/369210/hollywood-reporter-bob-thomas-dies-at-92.html
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Hollywood reporter Bob Thomas dies at 92
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<p>Bob Thomas, who died Friday at his Encino, Calif., home at age 92, started reporting when Clark Gable was a middle-aged king, Bette Davis was in her big-eyed prime, and Kirk Douglas and Lauren Bacall were emerging stars. "Independent" movies were a rarity during the studio-controlled era, and celebrity gossip was dispensed by rival columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons rather than Internet sites.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Younger reporters knew the names and the credits, but Thomas knew the people and lived the history. He could tell you what Jack Lemmon liked to drink at parties or recall Marilyn Monroe's farcical inability to show up on time, or speak fondly of his times with "Greg" Peck.</p>
<p>Around the country, and beyond, at least one generation of movie fans learned the latest about Hollywood by reading Bob Thomas. He interviewed most of the great screen actors of the 20th century, among them Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Humphrey Bogart, Jack Nicholson, Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise.</p>
<p>When a story ran, Thomas often heard directly from the stars. Soon after her marriage to actor John Agar in 1945, Shirley Temple wrote: "John and I want you to know that we are very grateful to you for the manner in which you handled the story on our wedding."</p>
<p>A postcard from Rita Hayworth passed on regards from Orson Welles. Bing Crosby shared warm thoughts about Bob Hope. Groucho Marx noted that Thomas' interview with him had been syndicated in 400 newspapers. "But as faithful as I am to you in my fashion, I read them all," Groucho wrote to him.</p>
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE ACADEMY</p>
<p>Coach: Roy Morgan (8th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 6-19</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Key players: Markus Parrish, sr., 6-3, FW; Michael Martinez, sr., 5-10, G; Chris Harvey, sr., 6-4, P; Jack David, sr., 6-0, G.</p>
<p>Outlook: Morgan admits that the past two seasons have been rough ones for his Chargers, but thinks his current crew will be more potent offensively, and better athleticism and depth will make for better defense. It’s an older crew, with eight seniors, but sophomore Ryan Yassin started 20 games as a freshman. Harvey is injury-free for the first time in two years and he’ll provide scoring in the post as well as from outside the paint.</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE HIGH</p>
<p>Coach: Ron Garcia (13th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 20-9; lost to Cibola in 6A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Marlon Cunningham, 6-7 1/2, sr., FW; Silas Cole, 6-4, sr., FW/P; Randy Castillo, 5-11, sr., PG; Daniel Sharts, 6-3, sr., P; Abel Bernal, 6-7, sr., P/FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: It starts here with Cunningham, who should be a double-double player for the Bulldogs and has the potential to be one of the best big men in New Mexico. Cole, Garcia said, is AHS’ most improved player, and Castillo gives Bulldog City a veteran presence at point guard, which is a definite plus. This group could certainly challenge Atrisco Heritage for supremacy in District 4-6A, the state’s most competitive league.</p>
<p>ATRISCO HERITAGE</p>
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<p>Coach: Adrian Ortega (9th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 19-9; lost to Volcano Vista in 6A semifinals</p>
<p>Key players: Jordan Arroyo, 6-7, sr., FW/P; Demarcus Sutphen, 6-4, jr., FW; Diego Ortega, 5-9, sr., PG; Joziah Ramos, 5-9, soph., combo G; Enrique Bibian, 5-10, sr., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: With all five starters back from a team that reached the state semis, it just might be that the Jaguars represent Albuquerque’s best hopes for a state championship this season. Ortega’s duty as coach is to keep this team focused and hungry to take that next step, and he’s got all the pieces to do that, led by the versatile big man Arroyo and a terrific collection of guards, led by Bibian.</p>
<p>BELEN</p>
<p>Coach: Andrew Dunnell (1st year)</p>
<p>Last season: 21-8; lost to Del Norte in 5A quarterfinals</p>
<p>Key players: Garrett Gallegos, 6-0, sr., G; Ryan Garcia, 6-4, sr., P.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Eagles last season overcame a lot of off-court turmoil to make a charge at the district title and the state tournament. This group is entirely made up of upperclassmen as Belen looks to take another run at the Pit. “We got a lot built over the summer,” Dunnell said. “I think people are noticing that, our depth and how hard we play. We have many ways of beating you. We have bigs, good guards, a very experienced team and a deep roster. All those things play into being able to add to last year’s success.”</p>
<p>BERNALILLO</p>
<p>Coach: Terry Darnell (24th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 15-14; lost to Hope Christian in 4A quarterfinals</p>
<p>Key players: Reyes Herrera, 5-9, jr., SG; Luis Villegas, 5-9, soph., PG; Fernando Villegas, 5-8, soph., G; Soloman Fragua, 6-7, sr., P; Mariano Lobato, 6-4, sr., P.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Spartans might be in their best position in years to make a serious run at a blue trophy. In addition to Herrera, who led the team in scoring last season and can go off on any night, Bernalillo will have some rare size in the form of Fragua and Lobato. The Villegas twins are stout defenders, and this team has both experience and depth. Could be the Spartans might find their way to the Pit in March.</p>
<p>BOSQUE SCHOOL</p>
<p>Coach: Clifton Davidson (1st year)</p>
<p>Last season: 5-22</p>
<p>Key players: Eli Davidson, 6-3, soph., PG; Isaac Wayne, 5-7, jr., combo G; Silan Landson, 6-2, sr., FW; Connor Murphy, 6-3, sr., FW; Eyob Lubin, 6-0, fresh., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: With a healthy Eli Davidson, who was injured for more than half of last season, the Bobcats could be much more competitive for the next three months. Bosque — with a good crop of young shooters — plans to speed things up and improve in transition this season, and that will be a necessary requirement in a tough district featuring the likes of Bernalillo and Sandia Prep.</p>
<p>CIBOLA</p>
<p>Coach: Ray Rodriguez (20th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 19-9; lost to Cleveland in 6A quarterfinals</p>
<p>Key players: Cameron Dixon, 6-3, sr., SG; Ricardo Zambrano, 6-1, sr., G; Charles Penn, 6-5, sr., P;&#160; Dylan Martinez, 5-9, sr., PG; Jacob Padilla, 6-2, jr., FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: The best pair of teammate shooters in all of 6A could be Dixon and Zambrano, a pair of four-year varsity players who are going to be problematic for everyone who defends the Cougars. Questions at the point and inside remain, however, although Rodriguez will have some size to deploy beyond just Penn. The veteran coach will try to strike a balance between his shooters and his bigs, and will need another scorer or two to take the pressure of Zambrano (a terrific pure shooter) and Dixon.</p>
<p>CLEVELAND</p>
<p>Coach: Sean Jimenez (2nd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 22-8; lost to Las Cruces in 6A semifinals</p>
<p>Key players: Jayden Phillips, 6-1, sr., PG; Jalen Munn, 6-4, jr., FW; Aamer Muhammad, 5-10, jr., SG; Justin Ainsworth, 6-2, sr., FW; Taylor Turner, 6-0, sr., combo G.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Storm figure to benefit immensely from the addition of Turner, a high-scoring guard who transferred from Highland. This remains an extremely quick, athletic team, with enough guards (including Muhammad and Phillips) to keep a frenetic pace for 32 minutes. Cleveland will likely have plenty of four- and five-guard lineups, in fact, and is on that list of teams that could play on the season’s final day.</p>
<p>COTTONWOOD CLASSICAL PREP</p>
<p>Coach: Chris Trujillo (2nd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 7-18</p>
<p>Key players: Abenicio Maestas, 5-6, soph., PG; Khalo Youtz, 5-6, soph., SG; Connor Kenny 5-10, jr., SG; Myles Papponi 5-10, soph., PF.</p>
<p>Outlook: Having proficient 3-point shooters and speed will certainly create points offensively for Cottonwood as it begins its second-ever varsity season. Not only that, its overall strength will certainly help with play inside the paint. It’s a young team, with no seniors; Maestas and Kenny are the only two players who have varsity experience. A challenge will be staying healthy, with only three bench players.</p>
<p>DEL NORTE</p>
<p>Coach: Jeron McIntosh (2nd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 15-15; lost to Roswell in 5A semifinals</p>
<p>Key players: Daniel Flores, 5-9, sr., G; Ronson Begay, 6-0, sr., G; Jalen Thompson, 5-8, sr., PG.</p>
<p>Outlook: McIntosh says having mostly seniors on the roster, going up tempo and experience will all serve as advantages as the Knights, a 13 seed, come off a terrific playoff run last March. McIntosh also said young players can expect to get big minutes this season. A lack of height could hamper Del Norte, which faces some competitive 5A and 6A teams early in the season.</p>
<p>EAST MOUNTAIN</p>
<p>Coach: Joseph Vigil (3rd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 7-21</p>
<p>Key players: Elias Padilla, sr.,&#160; 5-10, G; Frank Novak, sr., 6-3, P;&#160; Parker Sweat, soph., 6-3, P; Aaron Talamante, jr., 6-2, G/FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Timberwolves will look to the leadership of Padilla, who missed all of district play last season after tearing his ACL in early January. Although the program lost six seniors, Vigil believes the roster has the right blend of size, speed, and, most importantly, fundamental discipline, to compete for a district championship. “We’ve been building this program on fundamentals,” he said. “We’re in year three and it’s gonna pay dividends this year.”</p>
<p>ELDORADO</p>
<p>Coach: Roy Sanchez (25th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 20-7; lost to Volcano Vista in 6A quarterfinals</p>
<p>Key players: Tyler Rodgers, 6-5, sr., FW; Jaylen Domina-Lovato, 5-11, sr., PG; Mike Mounho, 6-1, sr., G; Kameron Valencia, 6-4, jr., FW; Tyler Quintana, 6-0, jr., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: If District 2-6A has a preseason favorite, it is almost certainly the Eagles, whose starting five has a potent look about them, with Domina-Lovato running the show at the point. As strong as this team was from the arc last season, Sanchez says Eldorado may even be better this season, and that’s saying something. One hitch: the Eagles need to develop their bench, particularly if they are to make a run in March.</p>
<p>EVANGEL CHRISTIAN</p>
<p>Coach: Edward Khader Jr. (2nd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 16-12; lost to Floyd in 1A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Lucas Tenorio, sr., 5-11, FW; Andrew Taylor, sr., 6-2, P; Edward Khader III, jr., 5-4, G; Isaiah Zunic, fresh., 5-9, G.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Eagles started slow last season (1-6) before roaring to life with wins in 15 of their last 20 games. But much of the team’s height has graduated. Khader says what’s left includes&#160; perimeter shooting as a strength, along with quickness, and the Eagles won’t deliberately slow the pace the way they did at times in 2016-17.</p>
<p>HIGHLAND</p>
<p>Coach: Justin Woody (1st year)</p>
<p>Last season: 6-19</p>
<p>Key players: Tommy Huynh, 5-7, soph., PG; Derek Trujillo, 5-7, sr., combo G; Leroy Howard, 5-8, sr., G; Bhasil Belton, 6-1, sr., P; Ramon Limas, 6-0, jr., W.</p>
<p>Outlook: Woody is a former assistant at Cibola, Bosque School and Manzano as he gets his first varsity head coaching position. The Hornets don’t have a single starter returning, but a couple of transfers could give the program a quick boost. Is there a breakout scorer among this group? Perhaps not, Woody said, believing the scoring will come from various sources. Highland’s best player from last season left for Cleveland High.</p>
<p>HOPE CHRISTIAN</p>
<p>Coach: Jim Murphy (36th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 26-5; Class 4A state champions</p>
<p>Key players: Isaiah Dockery, 5-10, jr., G; Preston Ulibarri, 5-11, sr., FW; Chris Ward, 6-1, sr., FW; Collin Evans, 6-4, soph., FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Huskies took some key hits in graduation (especially in the scoring department), but they did have a one-loss JV team and some new faces are ready to step in and keep this juggernaut program at the top of 4A, where Hope has reigned for almost an entire decade. Murphy believes this team will feature an explosive offense, which includes junior guard Johnnie Nitafan, a standout from the JV.</p>
<p>LA CUEVA</p>
<p>Coach: Frank Castillo (32nd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 12-15; lost to Cleveland in 6A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Elijah Herron, 6-4, sr., combo G; Lawrence Calais, 6-2, sr., combo G; Isaiah Ortega, 6-4, jr., FW; Cristian Ramirez, 5-10, jr., G; Tyler Aeilts, 6-4, sr., FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Bears haven’t had a winning season since Bryce Alford left, but almost everyone, including Castillo, expects that streak to end. This team is athletic, lengthy and can shoot the rock, and defense shouldn’t be a huge concern. Aeilts and his brother Derek, a 6-3 sophomore, transferred in from Missouri. Herron, with his size, will be a matchup problem at guard, and Calais is the team’s top returning scorer. Castillo is 12 victories from No. 700 in his career.</p>
<p>LOS LUNAS</p>
<p>Coach: Travis Julian (6th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 25-6; lost to Capital in 5A semifinals</p>
<p>Key players: Zanen Zeller, 6-3, jr., PG; Darius Haywood, 6-0, jr., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: With a junior-heavy team, the Tigers may only be in year one of high-level performance by this squad. “We have kind of a nice chemistry together,” Julian said. “This junior class been has been together since middle school. They have a great feel when they’re running the open floor. There will definitely be some growing pains along the way, and experience is a hard teacher some times, but I think they’re ready.”</p>
<p>MANZANO</p>
<p>Coach: Dominick Romero (1st year)</p>
<p>Last season: 2-23</p>
<p>Key players: Eric Sonnenberg, 6-7, sr., FW; James Sandoval, 5-11, jr., G; Dakota Powell, 6-1, jr., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Monarchs are starting fresh with Romero, who is going to create an up-tempo, full-court, fast-break mentality that suits Manzano’s athletes. There are a variety of guards on this team that should provide multiple shooting threats, and Sonnenberg is a fantastic player (one of the metro’s must underrated), but there is no true post. Romero hopes a solid summer will help Manzano learn how to win.</p>
<p>MENAUL</p>
<p>Coach: Gary Boatman (5th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 24-6; lost to Mora in 2A quarterfinals</p>
<p>Key players: Michael Ou, 6-9, sr., F/G; Dereck Pyle, 5-9, soph., G; Dylan Lerch, 6-3, jr., F; Santiago Henry, 6-1, soph., FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Panthers are eager to get started on the season and try to make a deeper playoff run this season, and Boatman has been emphasizing to his team that their No. 1 goal should be to be the state’s most improved team. This team has only one senior — Ou, who is getting some looks from colleges — so young players must step up and play big roles. But there are seven players who got playoff experience last March. This team is quick and long, and strong defensively, Boatman said.</p>
<p>MORIARTY</p>
<p>Coach: Mike Trujillo (4th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 15-14; lost to Silver in 4A quarterfinals</p>
<p>Key players: Caleb Edwards, 5-8, sr., PG; Matt Soto, 6-4, sr., P; Marvin Encinias, 5-11, sr., FW; Sebastian Giron, 5-10, jr., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: As opposed to previous seasons, Trujillo said his lineup, which features returning starters Edwards, Soto and Encinias, will move to a more up-tempo attack. “We’ve struggled in the past against pressure, but it will be tough for teams to pressure us this year,” Trujillo said. Trujillo said he believes the team’s improvements will close the gap on traditional district powers Hope Christian and Portales.</p>
<p>NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY ACADEMY</p>
<p>Coach: Tylar Rodriguez (2nd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 1-22</p>
<p>Key players: Brayden Smith, 6-0, sr., FW; Valentino Pettis, 5-9, sr., G; Ben Lee, 5-10, jr., combo G; Andrew HollowHorn, 6-1, soph., P.</p>
<p>Outlook: Most of NACA’s losses last season were by double digits, so Rodriguez is stressing competition above all else. “The benchmarks of our team are competition, so we are charting hustle stats like drawing charges, forcing charges, and rebounds. We want to do the little things, and the wins will take care of themselves,” he said. NACA returns only one starter, and has just two seniors on a young roster.</p>
<p>RIO GRANDE</p>
<p>Coach: Mario Armendariz (2nd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 6-19</p>
<p>Key players: Jeremy Lopez, 6-1, jr., G; Mario Armendariz, 6-0, jr., G/FW; Alexis Gonzalez, 6-2, sr., FW/P; Fabian Gonzales, 5-10, sr., combo G; Andres Salazar, 5-9, jr., PG.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Ravens hope their speed and their defensive-minded approach will help them overcome a general lack of size on this roster. The younger Armendariz is a top defender and rebounder, Gonzalez a solid inside player, Gonzales offers lots of speed and defense, and Salazar is a reliable shooter. This is a team filled with role players who will contribute.</p>
<p>RIO RANCHO</p>
<p>Coach: Wally Salata (9th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 20-9; lost to Volcano Vista in 6A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Derrick Reyes, 6-3, sr., FW; David Patterson, jr., 6-2, G; Keshawn Banks, 6-4, sr., P; Blaine Gallegos, 6-6, jr., P; Derrell White, 6-0, sr., PG.</p>
<p>Outlook: After graduating a pair of all-state guards, the backcourt will be where the Rams have the most question marks, although Patterson should fill some of that void very nicely and freshman Kenny Noland also has plenty of scoring punch. Rio Rancho does have some excellent big men, however, led by Reyes and Banks, and they’ll supply some extra scoring inside. But Rio Rancho will still look to push the pace regardless.</p>
<p>SANDIA</p>
<p>Coach: Alvin Broussard (10th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 13-16; lost to Oñate in 6A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Elijah Ferguson, 6-0, jr., combo G; Mekhi Huynh, 5-8, soph., PG; Lucas Jordan, 6-5, jr., W; Ben Quintana, 5-11, sr., SG; Dylan Perry, 6-6, sr., FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Matadors figure to be a bigger, stronger, more experienced team in 2017-18, with Huynh, who started most of last season at the point, directing things, and Ferguson, a former sixth man, stepping into a major starting role. Broussard said Sandia has the potential to run with anyone, and could even become a surprise factor in District 2-6A with Eldorado and La Cueva.</p>
<p>SANDIA PREP</p>
<p>Coach: Marcos Rivera (1st year)</p>
<p>Last season: 13-15; lost to Robertson in 4A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Jack Henderson, sr., 6-3, G/W; David Gelb, jr., 6-0, G/W; Max Feit, soph., 6-1, FW; Eli Coffman, fresh., 5-8, PG.</p>
<p>Outlook: Rivera, a longtime assistant to St. Pius head coach Damian Segura, takes over for Willie Owens, who stepped down to become athletic director at Sandia Prep. Rivera brings a championship pedigree to his new role: He was part of four state championship teams during his 14-year tenure with the Sartans. Once the getting-to-know-you process concludes, the Sundevils will emphasize aggressive man-to-man defense, which, in theory, will translate to turnovers and transition buckets.</p>
<p>ST. PIUS</p>
<p>Coach: Damian Segura (15th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 14-13; lost to Alamogordo in 5A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Michael Gonzalez, 6-0, sr., FW; Matthew Gonzalez, 5-8, sr., PG; Daniel Vigil, 5-9, sr., SG.</p>
<p>Outlook: With just one starter returning, this is largely a new group on the West Side with much of last season’s JV (which was 19-2 last season) now moving up. There is depth on this roster, if not much experience, although that should resolve itself slowly during the course of the season. Identifying scorers is another matter that will be a mystery as this new season begins.</p>
<p>VALENCIA</p>
<p>Coach: Jake Herrin (3rd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 3-23</p>
<p>Key players: Jake Mattox, 6-0, soph., G; Daniel Calderon, 5-8, sr., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: With seven seniors and four juniors, the Jags are plenty experienced, but perhaps the team’s key player is Maddox, who Herrin said has poise beyond his years, and talent as well. One of Valencia’s challenges is choosing a steady point guard from its host of candidates. Having Maddox in the line-up is a double-edged sword, Herrin explains. When teams key on the sophomore to try and stop him, other Jaguars will have to step up.</p>
<p>VALLEY</p>
<p>Coach: Joe Coleman (21st year)</p>
<p>Last season: 15-11; lost to Hobbs in 6A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Anthony Chavez, 6-1, sr., PG; Segun Oyeku, 5-11, sr., G; Zeke Roybal, 5-8, sr., G; Isaiah Torres, 6-3, sr., W; Chris Prudencio, sr., 6-2, W.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Vikings will have one of the best backcourts in 6A with Oyeku and especially Chavez, a four-year starter for Valley. But what concerns Coleman is becoming a tougher team, a team that knows how to close, and that skill will be necessary in the Vikes’ unforgivingly difficult district. There is some length and athleticism with Torres and Prudencio, and some young players are moving up to add some scoring.</p>
<p>VOLCANO VISTA</p>
<p>Coach: Greg Brown (9th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 18-12; Class 6A state champions</p>
<p>Key players: Jalontae Gray, 6-0, jr., FW; Andres Vigil, 5-9, jr., combo G; Jorell Phillips, 5-9, sr., G; Dion Battle, 5-9, soph., PG; Cesar Madrid, 6-3, jr., FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: After their stunning run to a blue trophy in March, the Hawks have a strong nucleus returning, led by Gray and Vigil. Without a big man like David Cormier, Volcano Vista will have to be a better shooting team, but this team does have depth on the perimeter. Primary questions for the Hawks are defense, and how they handle the pressure of being the defending state champions.</p>
<p>WEST MESA</p>
<p>Coach: Shonn Schroer (16th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 10-16</p>
<p>Key players: Jose Vigil, 5-10, sr., PG; Brandon Bouldin, 6-4, sr., FW; Eloy Medina, 6-1, soph., G; Camren Schroer, 5-10, jr., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: No surprise that the Mustangs are dominated by guards, but it is the talent of that group that has Schroer believing that West Mesa could have its best team in years. Vigil and Medina led the team in scoring last season, but they aren’t the only players that can fill it up from deep. This will be a more experienced team, too, and should be tighter defensively.</p>
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2017-18 prep basketball: Metro boys team previews
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE ACADEMY</p>
<p>Coach: Roy Morgan (8th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 6-19</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Key players: Markus Parrish, sr., 6-3, FW; Michael Martinez, sr., 5-10, G; Chris Harvey, sr., 6-4, P; Jack David, sr., 6-0, G.</p>
<p>Outlook: Morgan admits that the past two seasons have been rough ones for his Chargers, but thinks his current crew will be more potent offensively, and better athleticism and depth will make for better defense. It’s an older crew, with eight seniors, but sophomore Ryan Yassin started 20 games as a freshman. Harvey is injury-free for the first time in two years and he’ll provide scoring in the post as well as from outside the paint.</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE HIGH</p>
<p>Coach: Ron Garcia (13th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 20-9; lost to Cibola in 6A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Marlon Cunningham, 6-7 1/2, sr., FW; Silas Cole, 6-4, sr., FW/P; Randy Castillo, 5-11, sr., PG; Daniel Sharts, 6-3, sr., P; Abel Bernal, 6-7, sr., P/FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: It starts here with Cunningham, who should be a double-double player for the Bulldogs and has the potential to be one of the best big men in New Mexico. Cole, Garcia said, is AHS’ most improved player, and Castillo gives Bulldog City a veteran presence at point guard, which is a definite plus. This group could certainly challenge Atrisco Heritage for supremacy in District 4-6A, the state’s most competitive league.</p>
<p>ATRISCO HERITAGE</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Coach: Adrian Ortega (9th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 19-9; lost to Volcano Vista in 6A semifinals</p>
<p>Key players: Jordan Arroyo, 6-7, sr., FW/P; Demarcus Sutphen, 6-4, jr., FW; Diego Ortega, 5-9, sr., PG; Joziah Ramos, 5-9, soph., combo G; Enrique Bibian, 5-10, sr., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: With all five starters back from a team that reached the state semis, it just might be that the Jaguars represent Albuquerque’s best hopes for a state championship this season. Ortega’s duty as coach is to keep this team focused and hungry to take that next step, and he’s got all the pieces to do that, led by the versatile big man Arroyo and a terrific collection of guards, led by Bibian.</p>
<p>BELEN</p>
<p>Coach: Andrew Dunnell (1st year)</p>
<p>Last season: 21-8; lost to Del Norte in 5A quarterfinals</p>
<p>Key players: Garrett Gallegos, 6-0, sr., G; Ryan Garcia, 6-4, sr., P.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Eagles last season overcame a lot of off-court turmoil to make a charge at the district title and the state tournament. This group is entirely made up of upperclassmen as Belen looks to take another run at the Pit. “We got a lot built over the summer,” Dunnell said. “I think people are noticing that, our depth and how hard we play. We have many ways of beating you. We have bigs, good guards, a very experienced team and a deep roster. All those things play into being able to add to last year’s success.”</p>
<p>BERNALILLO</p>
<p>Coach: Terry Darnell (24th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 15-14; lost to Hope Christian in 4A quarterfinals</p>
<p>Key players: Reyes Herrera, 5-9, jr., SG; Luis Villegas, 5-9, soph., PG; Fernando Villegas, 5-8, soph., G; Soloman Fragua, 6-7, sr., P; Mariano Lobato, 6-4, sr., P.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Spartans might be in their best position in years to make a serious run at a blue trophy. In addition to Herrera, who led the team in scoring last season and can go off on any night, Bernalillo will have some rare size in the form of Fragua and Lobato. The Villegas twins are stout defenders, and this team has both experience and depth. Could be the Spartans might find their way to the Pit in March.</p>
<p>BOSQUE SCHOOL</p>
<p>Coach: Clifton Davidson (1st year)</p>
<p>Last season: 5-22</p>
<p>Key players: Eli Davidson, 6-3, soph., PG; Isaac Wayne, 5-7, jr., combo G; Silan Landson, 6-2, sr., FW; Connor Murphy, 6-3, sr., FW; Eyob Lubin, 6-0, fresh., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: With a healthy Eli Davidson, who was injured for more than half of last season, the Bobcats could be much more competitive for the next three months. Bosque — with a good crop of young shooters — plans to speed things up and improve in transition this season, and that will be a necessary requirement in a tough district featuring the likes of Bernalillo and Sandia Prep.</p>
<p>CIBOLA</p>
<p>Coach: Ray Rodriguez (20th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 19-9; lost to Cleveland in 6A quarterfinals</p>
<p>Key players: Cameron Dixon, 6-3, sr., SG; Ricardo Zambrano, 6-1, sr., G; Charles Penn, 6-5, sr., P;&#160; Dylan Martinez, 5-9, sr., PG; Jacob Padilla, 6-2, jr., FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: The best pair of teammate shooters in all of 6A could be Dixon and Zambrano, a pair of four-year varsity players who are going to be problematic for everyone who defends the Cougars. Questions at the point and inside remain, however, although Rodriguez will have some size to deploy beyond just Penn. The veteran coach will try to strike a balance between his shooters and his bigs, and will need another scorer or two to take the pressure of Zambrano (a terrific pure shooter) and Dixon.</p>
<p>CLEVELAND</p>
<p>Coach: Sean Jimenez (2nd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 22-8; lost to Las Cruces in 6A semifinals</p>
<p>Key players: Jayden Phillips, 6-1, sr., PG; Jalen Munn, 6-4, jr., FW; Aamer Muhammad, 5-10, jr., SG; Justin Ainsworth, 6-2, sr., FW; Taylor Turner, 6-0, sr., combo G.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Storm figure to benefit immensely from the addition of Turner, a high-scoring guard who transferred from Highland. This remains an extremely quick, athletic team, with enough guards (including Muhammad and Phillips) to keep a frenetic pace for 32 minutes. Cleveland will likely have plenty of four- and five-guard lineups, in fact, and is on that list of teams that could play on the season’s final day.</p>
<p>COTTONWOOD CLASSICAL PREP</p>
<p>Coach: Chris Trujillo (2nd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 7-18</p>
<p>Key players: Abenicio Maestas, 5-6, soph., PG; Khalo Youtz, 5-6, soph., SG; Connor Kenny 5-10, jr., SG; Myles Papponi 5-10, soph., PF.</p>
<p>Outlook: Having proficient 3-point shooters and speed will certainly create points offensively for Cottonwood as it begins its second-ever varsity season. Not only that, its overall strength will certainly help with play inside the paint. It’s a young team, with no seniors; Maestas and Kenny are the only two players who have varsity experience. A challenge will be staying healthy, with only three bench players.</p>
<p>DEL NORTE</p>
<p>Coach: Jeron McIntosh (2nd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 15-15; lost to Roswell in 5A semifinals</p>
<p>Key players: Daniel Flores, 5-9, sr., G; Ronson Begay, 6-0, sr., G; Jalen Thompson, 5-8, sr., PG.</p>
<p>Outlook: McIntosh says having mostly seniors on the roster, going up tempo and experience will all serve as advantages as the Knights, a 13 seed, come off a terrific playoff run last March. McIntosh also said young players can expect to get big minutes this season. A lack of height could hamper Del Norte, which faces some competitive 5A and 6A teams early in the season.</p>
<p>EAST MOUNTAIN</p>
<p>Coach: Joseph Vigil (3rd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 7-21</p>
<p>Key players: Elias Padilla, sr.,&#160; 5-10, G; Frank Novak, sr., 6-3, P;&#160; Parker Sweat, soph., 6-3, P; Aaron Talamante, jr., 6-2, G/FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Timberwolves will look to the leadership of Padilla, who missed all of district play last season after tearing his ACL in early January. Although the program lost six seniors, Vigil believes the roster has the right blend of size, speed, and, most importantly, fundamental discipline, to compete for a district championship. “We’ve been building this program on fundamentals,” he said. “We’re in year three and it’s gonna pay dividends this year.”</p>
<p>ELDORADO</p>
<p>Coach: Roy Sanchez (25th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 20-7; lost to Volcano Vista in 6A quarterfinals</p>
<p>Key players: Tyler Rodgers, 6-5, sr., FW; Jaylen Domina-Lovato, 5-11, sr., PG; Mike Mounho, 6-1, sr., G; Kameron Valencia, 6-4, jr., FW; Tyler Quintana, 6-0, jr., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: If District 2-6A has a preseason favorite, it is almost certainly the Eagles, whose starting five has a potent look about them, with Domina-Lovato running the show at the point. As strong as this team was from the arc last season, Sanchez says Eldorado may even be better this season, and that’s saying something. One hitch: the Eagles need to develop their bench, particularly if they are to make a run in March.</p>
<p>EVANGEL CHRISTIAN</p>
<p>Coach: Edward Khader Jr. (2nd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 16-12; lost to Floyd in 1A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Lucas Tenorio, sr., 5-11, FW; Andrew Taylor, sr., 6-2, P; Edward Khader III, jr., 5-4, G; Isaiah Zunic, fresh., 5-9, G.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Eagles started slow last season (1-6) before roaring to life with wins in 15 of their last 20 games. But much of the team’s height has graduated. Khader says what’s left includes&#160; perimeter shooting as a strength, along with quickness, and the Eagles won’t deliberately slow the pace the way they did at times in 2016-17.</p>
<p>HIGHLAND</p>
<p>Coach: Justin Woody (1st year)</p>
<p>Last season: 6-19</p>
<p>Key players: Tommy Huynh, 5-7, soph., PG; Derek Trujillo, 5-7, sr., combo G; Leroy Howard, 5-8, sr., G; Bhasil Belton, 6-1, sr., P; Ramon Limas, 6-0, jr., W.</p>
<p>Outlook: Woody is a former assistant at Cibola, Bosque School and Manzano as he gets his first varsity head coaching position. The Hornets don’t have a single starter returning, but a couple of transfers could give the program a quick boost. Is there a breakout scorer among this group? Perhaps not, Woody said, believing the scoring will come from various sources. Highland’s best player from last season left for Cleveland High.</p>
<p>HOPE CHRISTIAN</p>
<p>Coach: Jim Murphy (36th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 26-5; Class 4A state champions</p>
<p>Key players: Isaiah Dockery, 5-10, jr., G; Preston Ulibarri, 5-11, sr., FW; Chris Ward, 6-1, sr., FW; Collin Evans, 6-4, soph., FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Huskies took some key hits in graduation (especially in the scoring department), but they did have a one-loss JV team and some new faces are ready to step in and keep this juggernaut program at the top of 4A, where Hope has reigned for almost an entire decade. Murphy believes this team will feature an explosive offense, which includes junior guard Johnnie Nitafan, a standout from the JV.</p>
<p>LA CUEVA</p>
<p>Coach: Frank Castillo (32nd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 12-15; lost to Cleveland in 6A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Elijah Herron, 6-4, sr., combo G; Lawrence Calais, 6-2, sr., combo G; Isaiah Ortega, 6-4, jr., FW; Cristian Ramirez, 5-10, jr., G; Tyler Aeilts, 6-4, sr., FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Bears haven’t had a winning season since Bryce Alford left, but almost everyone, including Castillo, expects that streak to end. This team is athletic, lengthy and can shoot the rock, and defense shouldn’t be a huge concern. Aeilts and his brother Derek, a 6-3 sophomore, transferred in from Missouri. Herron, with his size, will be a matchup problem at guard, and Calais is the team’s top returning scorer. Castillo is 12 victories from No. 700 in his career.</p>
<p>LOS LUNAS</p>
<p>Coach: Travis Julian (6th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 25-6; lost to Capital in 5A semifinals</p>
<p>Key players: Zanen Zeller, 6-3, jr., PG; Darius Haywood, 6-0, jr., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: With a junior-heavy team, the Tigers may only be in year one of high-level performance by this squad. “We have kind of a nice chemistry together,” Julian said. “This junior class been has been together since middle school. They have a great feel when they’re running the open floor. There will definitely be some growing pains along the way, and experience is a hard teacher some times, but I think they’re ready.”</p>
<p>MANZANO</p>
<p>Coach: Dominick Romero (1st year)</p>
<p>Last season: 2-23</p>
<p>Key players: Eric Sonnenberg, 6-7, sr., FW; James Sandoval, 5-11, jr., G; Dakota Powell, 6-1, jr., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Monarchs are starting fresh with Romero, who is going to create an up-tempo, full-court, fast-break mentality that suits Manzano’s athletes. There are a variety of guards on this team that should provide multiple shooting threats, and Sonnenberg is a fantastic player (one of the metro’s must underrated), but there is no true post. Romero hopes a solid summer will help Manzano learn how to win.</p>
<p>MENAUL</p>
<p>Coach: Gary Boatman (5th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 24-6; lost to Mora in 2A quarterfinals</p>
<p>Key players: Michael Ou, 6-9, sr., F/G; Dereck Pyle, 5-9, soph., G; Dylan Lerch, 6-3, jr., F; Santiago Henry, 6-1, soph., FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Panthers are eager to get started on the season and try to make a deeper playoff run this season, and Boatman has been emphasizing to his team that their No. 1 goal should be to be the state’s most improved team. This team has only one senior — Ou, who is getting some looks from colleges — so young players must step up and play big roles. But there are seven players who got playoff experience last March. This team is quick and long, and strong defensively, Boatman said.</p>
<p>MORIARTY</p>
<p>Coach: Mike Trujillo (4th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 15-14; lost to Silver in 4A quarterfinals</p>
<p>Key players: Caleb Edwards, 5-8, sr., PG; Matt Soto, 6-4, sr., P; Marvin Encinias, 5-11, sr., FW; Sebastian Giron, 5-10, jr., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: As opposed to previous seasons, Trujillo said his lineup, which features returning starters Edwards, Soto and Encinias, will move to a more up-tempo attack. “We’ve struggled in the past against pressure, but it will be tough for teams to pressure us this year,” Trujillo said. Trujillo said he believes the team’s improvements will close the gap on traditional district powers Hope Christian and Portales.</p>
<p>NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY ACADEMY</p>
<p>Coach: Tylar Rodriguez (2nd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 1-22</p>
<p>Key players: Brayden Smith, 6-0, sr., FW; Valentino Pettis, 5-9, sr., G; Ben Lee, 5-10, jr., combo G; Andrew HollowHorn, 6-1, soph., P.</p>
<p>Outlook: Most of NACA’s losses last season were by double digits, so Rodriguez is stressing competition above all else. “The benchmarks of our team are competition, so we are charting hustle stats like drawing charges, forcing charges, and rebounds. We want to do the little things, and the wins will take care of themselves,” he said. NACA returns only one starter, and has just two seniors on a young roster.</p>
<p>RIO GRANDE</p>
<p>Coach: Mario Armendariz (2nd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 6-19</p>
<p>Key players: Jeremy Lopez, 6-1, jr., G; Mario Armendariz, 6-0, jr., G/FW; Alexis Gonzalez, 6-2, sr., FW/P; Fabian Gonzales, 5-10, sr., combo G; Andres Salazar, 5-9, jr., PG.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Ravens hope their speed and their defensive-minded approach will help them overcome a general lack of size on this roster. The younger Armendariz is a top defender and rebounder, Gonzalez a solid inside player, Gonzales offers lots of speed and defense, and Salazar is a reliable shooter. This is a team filled with role players who will contribute.</p>
<p>RIO RANCHO</p>
<p>Coach: Wally Salata (9th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 20-9; lost to Volcano Vista in 6A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Derrick Reyes, 6-3, sr., FW; David Patterson, jr., 6-2, G; Keshawn Banks, 6-4, sr., P; Blaine Gallegos, 6-6, jr., P; Derrell White, 6-0, sr., PG.</p>
<p>Outlook: After graduating a pair of all-state guards, the backcourt will be where the Rams have the most question marks, although Patterson should fill some of that void very nicely and freshman Kenny Noland also has plenty of scoring punch. Rio Rancho does have some excellent big men, however, led by Reyes and Banks, and they’ll supply some extra scoring inside. But Rio Rancho will still look to push the pace regardless.</p>
<p>SANDIA</p>
<p>Coach: Alvin Broussard (10th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 13-16; lost to Oñate in 6A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Elijah Ferguson, 6-0, jr., combo G; Mekhi Huynh, 5-8, soph., PG; Lucas Jordan, 6-5, jr., W; Ben Quintana, 5-11, sr., SG; Dylan Perry, 6-6, sr., FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Matadors figure to be a bigger, stronger, more experienced team in 2017-18, with Huynh, who started most of last season at the point, directing things, and Ferguson, a former sixth man, stepping into a major starting role. Broussard said Sandia has the potential to run with anyone, and could even become a surprise factor in District 2-6A with Eldorado and La Cueva.</p>
<p>SANDIA PREP</p>
<p>Coach: Marcos Rivera (1st year)</p>
<p>Last season: 13-15; lost to Robertson in 4A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Jack Henderson, sr., 6-3, G/W; David Gelb, jr., 6-0, G/W; Max Feit, soph., 6-1, FW; Eli Coffman, fresh., 5-8, PG.</p>
<p>Outlook: Rivera, a longtime assistant to St. Pius head coach Damian Segura, takes over for Willie Owens, who stepped down to become athletic director at Sandia Prep. Rivera brings a championship pedigree to his new role: He was part of four state championship teams during his 14-year tenure with the Sartans. Once the getting-to-know-you process concludes, the Sundevils will emphasize aggressive man-to-man defense, which, in theory, will translate to turnovers and transition buckets.</p>
<p>ST. PIUS</p>
<p>Coach: Damian Segura (15th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 14-13; lost to Alamogordo in 5A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Michael Gonzalez, 6-0, sr., FW; Matthew Gonzalez, 5-8, sr., PG; Daniel Vigil, 5-9, sr., SG.</p>
<p>Outlook: With just one starter returning, this is largely a new group on the West Side with much of last season’s JV (which was 19-2 last season) now moving up. There is depth on this roster, if not much experience, although that should resolve itself slowly during the course of the season. Identifying scorers is another matter that will be a mystery as this new season begins.</p>
<p>VALENCIA</p>
<p>Coach: Jake Herrin (3rd year)</p>
<p>Last season: 3-23</p>
<p>Key players: Jake Mattox, 6-0, soph., G; Daniel Calderon, 5-8, sr., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: With seven seniors and four juniors, the Jags are plenty experienced, but perhaps the team’s key player is Maddox, who Herrin said has poise beyond his years, and talent as well. One of Valencia’s challenges is choosing a steady point guard from its host of candidates. Having Maddox in the line-up is a double-edged sword, Herrin explains. When teams key on the sophomore to try and stop him, other Jaguars will have to step up.</p>
<p>VALLEY</p>
<p>Coach: Joe Coleman (21st year)</p>
<p>Last season: 15-11; lost to Hobbs in 6A first round</p>
<p>Key players: Anthony Chavez, 6-1, sr., PG; Segun Oyeku, 5-11, sr., G; Zeke Roybal, 5-8, sr., G; Isaiah Torres, 6-3, sr., W; Chris Prudencio, sr., 6-2, W.</p>
<p>Outlook: The Vikings will have one of the best backcourts in 6A with Oyeku and especially Chavez, a four-year starter for Valley. But what concerns Coleman is becoming a tougher team, a team that knows how to close, and that skill will be necessary in the Vikes’ unforgivingly difficult district. There is some length and athleticism with Torres and Prudencio, and some young players are moving up to add some scoring.</p>
<p>VOLCANO VISTA</p>
<p>Coach: Greg Brown (9th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 18-12; Class 6A state champions</p>
<p>Key players: Jalontae Gray, 6-0, jr., FW; Andres Vigil, 5-9, jr., combo G; Jorell Phillips, 5-9, sr., G; Dion Battle, 5-9, soph., PG; Cesar Madrid, 6-3, jr., FW.</p>
<p>Outlook: After their stunning run to a blue trophy in March, the Hawks have a strong nucleus returning, led by Gray and Vigil. Without a big man like David Cormier, Volcano Vista will have to be a better shooting team, but this team does have depth on the perimeter. Primary questions for the Hawks are defense, and how they handle the pressure of being the defending state champions.</p>
<p>WEST MESA</p>
<p>Coach: Shonn Schroer (16th year)</p>
<p>Last season: 10-16</p>
<p>Key players: Jose Vigil, 5-10, sr., PG; Brandon Bouldin, 6-4, sr., FW; Eloy Medina, 6-1, soph., G; Camren Schroer, 5-10, jr., G.</p>
<p>Outlook: No surprise that the Mustangs are dominated by guards, but it is the talent of that group that has Schroer believing that West Mesa could have its best team in years. Vigil and Medina led the team in scoring last season, but they aren’t the only players that can fill it up from deep. This will be a more experienced team, too, and should be tighter defensively.</p>
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<p>WEST POINT, Ind. — It takes less than five minutes to discover that family, public service and community are the true treasures in Ron Fedler's life. And, of course, "love and respect for country," he says while sitting in his living room. This Lee County town is home to 966 people and the state's largest sweet corn festival.</p>
<p>It doesn't take much longer to realize that Fedler should be treasured by the Democratic Party.</p>
<p>Photos of his children, grandchildren, and nieces and nephews dot the walls of the modest red-brick home he built himself.</p>
<p>To the left of his easy chair is a framed black-and-white print of his parents and 11 of his 12 siblings. He notes, "My older brother had already left for Vietnam and missed the family photo."</p>
<p>Across the room, an 11-by-14-inch framed color photo of President John F. Kennedy sits atop a coffee table. It's Louis Fabian Bachrach's iconic 1961 official photograph of Kennedy at his White House desk, that innocent moment at the start of Camelot; a moment of promise before the Bay of Pigs, before the Cuban missile crisis and before his assassination.</p>
<p>Fedler says Kennedy will always be his hero.</p>
<p>He is not one of those Democrats who fled his party in 2016 to vote for Donald Trump. He thinks the president is off-putting and erratic. But he understands why fellow Lee County Democrats chose Trump.</p>
<p>"This goes beyond frustration and anger," he explains. "Experts fundamentally misread the voters' motives who went from happily supporting former president Barack Obama to equally happily supporting Trump on election night.</p>
<p>"They liked Obama, but many of his policies hurt them and their communities, and they wanted someone who they felt listened to them." Trump filled that void, he says.</p>
<p>In 2012, Lee County cast 9,428 votes for Obama and 6,787 for Mitt Romney. Four years later, the numbers were nearly reversed, with 8,762 votes for Trump and 6,195 for Hillary Clinton.</p>
<p>Trump carried every precinct in a county long dominated by Democrats and unions.</p>
<p>In 2016, you had people who stopped believing in the more progressive policies of Washington Democrats, who are very different than Lee County Democrats.</p>
<p>Fedler is the perfect Lee County Democrat: born and raised there, and drafted at age 19 to serve as a radio Teletype operator with a secret crypto clearance. His clearances were so top-secret that he never told his wife where he was stationed or what he did. "I made a pledge to my country not to divulge that information, and I will forever honor that," he says.</p>
<p>The military brass were so impressed that they offered him an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. But he wanted to return to West Point, Iowa, so he respectfully declined.</p>
<p>After attending the local community college, he worked as a mason for four years, and then for an energy company, saving his money to buy Dugan's Corner Convenience Store, which he ran for 30 years. He eventually sold it and then worked as a correctional officer at Iowa State Penitentiary.</p>
<p>He won a seat on city council and served three terms as mayor. Next, he ran as a Democrat for the Iowa state House and lost. He ran again, and lost again.</p>
<p>Today, he's in his second term as a county supervisor.</p>
<p>His is a history of compromise, consensus building and accomplishing projects. He is tireless, well-liked and, more importantly, respected.</p>
<p>When he discusses the opening of the Iowa Fertilizer plant last month in Lee County, there's no "I" mentioned, and no grandstanding over it being one of the largest private-sector projects in state history and the first world-class nitrogen fertilizer facility built in the United States in more than 25 years.</p>
<p>Of the elections he lost, he sounds sensible; of the ones he won, he sounds humble. "What I do is not for me, it's for the community — we don't want our people ... our communities to fade away," he says.</p>
<p>In short, he's what Democratic leaders should covet and how the party's candidates should model themselves.</p>
<p>In reality, Democrats up and down the ballot are divided, struggling and searching for a unified message.</p>
<p>The folks at the top of the party aren't exactly role models for how to reach out to Middle America voters who fled the party in droves over the past eight years. You don't lose 1,100 down-ballot offices — state legislative, congressional and governor seats — by connecting with working-class voters.</p>
<p>According to Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez, Fedler has no place in the party — not because he's white, male and over 60, but because he's anti-abortion.</p>
<p>In April, Perez drew a line in the sand against candidates who oppose abortion rights. This is not the only reason Democrats lost so many offices, but it is a big one. It's elitist and tone-deaf, and it shuts out a great amount of support that should come their way.</p>
<p>Then there's Hillary Clinton.</p>
<p>As one Democratic strategist told me in an anguished email, "Won't she please go away?" This from someone who supported her.</p>
<p>Last week, in yet another speech, Clinton vaguely admitted to some mistakes in 2016. But then she accused the party of failing to raise money or back her in any meaningful manner.</p>
<p>Democrats have history on their side for 2018: Ninety percent of the time, a president's party loses congressional seats in the midterm elections.</p>
<p>What they don't have are the right people in the limelight: Clinton blames everyone else; Perez is intolerant; and the party can't adopt a simple jobs message.</p>
<p>Go on a field trip to West Point, Iowa, and learn from the Ron Fedlers of the party.</p>
<p>Fedler isn't on Twitter. He works hard. He compromises. And he gets things done. And when he loses, he takes the blame.</p>
<p>Salena Zito is a CNN political analyst, and a staff reporter and columnist for the Washington Examiner. She reaches the Everyman and Everywoman through shoe-leather journalism, traveling from Main Street to the beltway and all places in between. To find out more about Salena and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.</p>
<p>COPYRIGHT 2017 CREATORS.COM</p>
|
ZITO: A Humble Model For Democratic Politicians In Small-Town Iowa
| true |
https://dailywire.com/news/17195/zito-humble-model-democratic-politicians-small-salena-zito
|
2017-06-06
| 0right
|
ZITO: A Humble Model For Democratic Politicians In Small-Town Iowa
<p>WEST POINT, Ind. — It takes less than five minutes to discover that family, public service and community are the true treasures in Ron Fedler's life. And, of course, "love and respect for country," he says while sitting in his living room. This Lee County town is home to 966 people and the state's largest sweet corn festival.</p>
<p>It doesn't take much longer to realize that Fedler should be treasured by the Democratic Party.</p>
<p>Photos of his children, grandchildren, and nieces and nephews dot the walls of the modest red-brick home he built himself.</p>
<p>To the left of his easy chair is a framed black-and-white print of his parents and 11 of his 12 siblings. He notes, "My older brother had already left for Vietnam and missed the family photo."</p>
<p>Across the room, an 11-by-14-inch framed color photo of President John F. Kennedy sits atop a coffee table. It's Louis Fabian Bachrach's iconic 1961 official photograph of Kennedy at his White House desk, that innocent moment at the start of Camelot; a moment of promise before the Bay of Pigs, before the Cuban missile crisis and before his assassination.</p>
<p>Fedler says Kennedy will always be his hero.</p>
<p>He is not one of those Democrats who fled his party in 2016 to vote for Donald Trump. He thinks the president is off-putting and erratic. But he understands why fellow Lee County Democrats chose Trump.</p>
<p>"This goes beyond frustration and anger," he explains. "Experts fundamentally misread the voters' motives who went from happily supporting former president Barack Obama to equally happily supporting Trump on election night.</p>
<p>"They liked Obama, but many of his policies hurt them and their communities, and they wanted someone who they felt listened to them." Trump filled that void, he says.</p>
<p>In 2012, Lee County cast 9,428 votes for Obama and 6,787 for Mitt Romney. Four years later, the numbers were nearly reversed, with 8,762 votes for Trump and 6,195 for Hillary Clinton.</p>
<p>Trump carried every precinct in a county long dominated by Democrats and unions.</p>
<p>In 2016, you had people who stopped believing in the more progressive policies of Washington Democrats, who are very different than Lee County Democrats.</p>
<p>Fedler is the perfect Lee County Democrat: born and raised there, and drafted at age 19 to serve as a radio Teletype operator with a secret crypto clearance. His clearances were so top-secret that he never told his wife where he was stationed or what he did. "I made a pledge to my country not to divulge that information, and I will forever honor that," he says.</p>
<p>The military brass were so impressed that they offered him an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. But he wanted to return to West Point, Iowa, so he respectfully declined.</p>
<p>After attending the local community college, he worked as a mason for four years, and then for an energy company, saving his money to buy Dugan's Corner Convenience Store, which he ran for 30 years. He eventually sold it and then worked as a correctional officer at Iowa State Penitentiary.</p>
<p>He won a seat on city council and served three terms as mayor. Next, he ran as a Democrat for the Iowa state House and lost. He ran again, and lost again.</p>
<p>Today, he's in his second term as a county supervisor.</p>
<p>His is a history of compromise, consensus building and accomplishing projects. He is tireless, well-liked and, more importantly, respected.</p>
<p>When he discusses the opening of the Iowa Fertilizer plant last month in Lee County, there's no "I" mentioned, and no grandstanding over it being one of the largest private-sector projects in state history and the first world-class nitrogen fertilizer facility built in the United States in more than 25 years.</p>
<p>Of the elections he lost, he sounds sensible; of the ones he won, he sounds humble. "What I do is not for me, it's for the community — we don't want our people ... our communities to fade away," he says.</p>
<p>In short, he's what Democratic leaders should covet and how the party's candidates should model themselves.</p>
<p>In reality, Democrats up and down the ballot are divided, struggling and searching for a unified message.</p>
<p>The folks at the top of the party aren't exactly role models for how to reach out to Middle America voters who fled the party in droves over the past eight years. You don't lose 1,100 down-ballot offices — state legislative, congressional and governor seats — by connecting with working-class voters.</p>
<p>According to Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez, Fedler has no place in the party — not because he's white, male and over 60, but because he's anti-abortion.</p>
<p>In April, Perez drew a line in the sand against candidates who oppose abortion rights. This is not the only reason Democrats lost so many offices, but it is a big one. It's elitist and tone-deaf, and it shuts out a great amount of support that should come their way.</p>
<p>Then there's Hillary Clinton.</p>
<p>As one Democratic strategist told me in an anguished email, "Won't she please go away?" This from someone who supported her.</p>
<p>Last week, in yet another speech, Clinton vaguely admitted to some mistakes in 2016. But then she accused the party of failing to raise money or back her in any meaningful manner.</p>
<p>Democrats have history on their side for 2018: Ninety percent of the time, a president's party loses congressional seats in the midterm elections.</p>
<p>What they don't have are the right people in the limelight: Clinton blames everyone else; Perez is intolerant; and the party can't adopt a simple jobs message.</p>
<p>Go on a field trip to West Point, Iowa, and learn from the Ron Fedlers of the party.</p>
<p>Fedler isn't on Twitter. He works hard. He compromises. And he gets things done. And when he loses, he takes the blame.</p>
<p>Salena Zito is a CNN political analyst, and a staff reporter and columnist for the Washington Examiner. She reaches the Everyman and Everywoman through shoe-leather journalism, traveling from Main Street to the beltway and all places in between. To find out more about Salena and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.</p>
<p>COPYRIGHT 2017 CREATORS.COM</p>
| 6,574 |
<p>Oliver Stone’s fascinating and entertaining portrait of “W.” depicts George W. Bush as the prodigal son whose desire for paternal validation breeds a paralyzing insecurity that simultaneously drives and suffocates his ambitions.</p>
<p>Stone and company at times veer dangerously close to parody in their depiction of the Magnificent 7 [Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rice, Rove, Powell and Tenent]: the camaraderie of Bush cronies responsible for the disastrous decision to attack Iraq. However, as we reflect now at the audacious and flabbergasting foreign policy blunders of the post 9-11 Administration, perhaps a Monty Python-esque satirical touch would be the ideal vehicle to fully dilute and appreciate the madness of it all.</p>
<p>Regardless, the movie is structurally anchored by a straightforward – at times overly verbose and familiar – depiction of the buildup to the Iraq War punctuated by a series of quick, erratic flashback vignettes chronicling the rise of the improbable Shrub. Through this narrative, Stone thematically implies that Bush Junior’s entire life until his Presidency was a series of aborted enterprises representative of a well intentioned but aimless man prone to impetuousness and heedlessness. However, this chaotic narrative could also reflect the rushed, streamlined film schedule, which was shot only a few months ago, and aggressively completed for a pre-election release date.</p>
<p>Despite the film’s budget and schedule restraints, Stone orchestrates the chaos effectively, and he is immeasurably aided by the stalwart presence of Josh Brolin, who nails his outstanding performance of Bush. Brolin portrays him as a well intentioned, charismatic, impulsive “gut player.” He is a man whose quest for greatness eventually transforms him into an ultimately semi-sympathetic yet tragically clueless figure who neither achieves self-realization nor personal fulfillment.</p>
<p>Plaudits should also be heralded for Richard Dreyfuss’ frightening and compelling turn as Vice President Cheney, a man who strategically uses restraint to maximize the promotion and effectiveness of his foreign policy ideology: “Drain the Swamp” that is the Middle Eastern oil reserves and secure longevity for the American Empire. He emerges as both a manipulative Iago and Emperor Palpantine; a puppeteer who whispers and insinuates the necessity to implement harsh interrogation (“torture”) for sake of homeland security and a “War on Terror” to pacify the Middle East for future American economic interests.</p>
<p>After a blistering back and forth debate amongst the administration about invading Iraq, Bush – who was quietly absorbing the rhetoric – simplifies the complex policy into an easily digestible ideological battle between “good vs. evil” and “us vs. them.” Stone repeatedly highlights Bush’s sincere – if deluded – conviction that his actions are predicated upon ushering “freedom” to a starving population hungry for “democracy.” Throughout the movie, Bush is shown to crystallize nuances and complicated issues into a “Joe 6 Pack” narrative; one that is intensely influenced by his very sincere and passionate “Born Again” Christian beliefs.&#160; “God wants me to run for president,” says Brolin’s Bush to his Evangelical Reverend, comparing his ineloquence yet steadfast conviction to that of a persevering Moses carrying out God’s “Divine Plan.” Stone’s depiction is all the more frightening and comical due to its truth as evidenced by the countless articles, interviews and biographies that have painted a similar portrait.</p>
<p>As a counterweight, Colin Powell played with simmering anger and moral indignation by Jeffrey Wright, emerges as one of the movie’s sole voice of wisdom and conscience. The cocky, self-assured Rumsfeld, played by Scott Glen, and assertive Cheney, repeatedly rebuke his pointed critiques at the “Bush Doctrine” and requests for explanations for the pre-emptive strike.&#160; Naturally, Stone takes liberties with the dialogue, however Powell’s early resignation and subsequent comments elucidate a ring of truth to his depiction as “the odd man out.” Sadly, Stone and actress Thandie Newton make Condi Rice into a perky, cheerleader caricature. Although the makeup and wardrobe is impeccable, Newton simply mimics Rice, which hardly reflects the reality of her influential involvement.</p>
<p>Aside from Dubya, the central, supporting figure is “Poppy” Bush, the dynasty’s patriarch played exceptionally by veteran character actor James Cromwell. As his thematic foil, “Poppy” Bush represents everything “Junior” is not: a varsity, Yale baseball player, a prosperous businessman, and a respected and savvy politician. The movie’s most fascinating and illuminating aspects evolve from Stone’s psychoanalysis of Dubya as the shameful ne’er do well overshadowed by the towering legacy and failures of his ubiquitous father.&#160; Furthermore, Bush Sr.’s juxtaposition of “Junior” to his more intellectual and successful brother Jeb, who is wisely alluded to but rarely shown in the movie, creates another immeasurable adversarial shadow that “Dubya” can never wrestle. The heir apparent, Jeb, loses his rightful, Presidential Bush crown to Mordred, the unwanted, black sheep exemplified by Dubya and his lifetime of screw ups, alcoholism, failed businesses and insecurity complex.</p>
<p>“You think you’re a Kennedy? You’re a Bush! Act like one,” commands elder Bush to his wayward son in 1971 after Dubya’s string of failed enterprises at an investment firm, oilrig, ranch, and the air guard. As with most “Daddy didn’t love me” psychological narratives, the son’s entire existence is propelled simultaneously by a rebellion against anything resembling his father coupled with a painful yearning for his father’s unconditional acceptance. After Bush’s ’92 loss to Clinton, Stone portrays “Poppy” as tired, sentimental and old, weeping in Barbara’s bosom upon hearing his defeat. “Dubya” sees this as weakness and tells his supportive and patient wife [played well by Elizabeth Banks], “I will never let this happen to me!” blaming the loss on his father’s inability to finish the job [killing Saddam] in Desert Storm. After losing his Congressional bid, Dubya vows never to be “Out-Christian’d” and “Out-Texan’d” again, thus fueling his 2000 campaign image molded by Rove.</p>
<p>Throughout the movie, Bush’s motivations stem from endless attempts to one-up his father and prove that he can succeed without his influence and interference: he brags to advisors that he beat his father’s time when running the mile; he boasts he would find and kill Saddam unlike Poppy; and he rebukes Condi’s suggestion that he should consult the seasoned, elder Bush for advice on the Iraq War.</p>
<p>After a temporarily dull and familiar third act with overused images and rhetoric of Bush and the Iraq War [including reenactments of the “Mission Accomplished” speech and his Address to the Union], Stone re-engages his central psychoanalytic theme with an Oval Office dream sequence. Upon realizing the war effort is faltering and that WMD’s are nonexistent, an exhausted Bush dreams of encountering an aggressive and condescending Bush Sr. in the Oval Office. “Poppy” takes the gloves off and challenges Dubya to a “mano – a -mano” fight once and for all proving who’s the man. As with most events in his life, Dubya fronts bravado but ultimately cowers with confusion and fear. The elder Bush looks at him disdainfully and says that Junior’s entire life has been a “fiasco.”</p>
<p>In fact, the movie begins and ends with another symbolic dream sequence in which Dubya imagines himself in an empty, beautiful baseball field on a glorious afternoon. He hears the announcer bellowing from the speakers, the excited murmurs of the animated crowd; he hears the crack of the bat, and he runs to the bleachers making a stunning catch. At first, it doesn’t bother him that’s he’s all alone and simply playing make believe. At the end, we revisit the baseball dream and witness a similar scenario as Bush races to the outfield to make the catch. Only this time, Bush stares perplexedly at a darkened sky waiting for the ball that never drops.</p>
<p>Stone’s symbolism highlights the pathetic sadness of a man who was comically and fortuitously allowed to suit up as a slugger and play in the majors. A man motivated by a paralyzing obsession for vindication ultimately standing alone in the outfield without realizing his moment of greatness has passed him by and was perhaps never meant for him in the first place.</p>
<p>WAJAHAT ALI is a Muslim American of Pakistani descent. He is a playwright, essayist, humorist, and Attorney at Law, whose work, “ <a href="http://www.domesticcrusaders.com/" type="external">The Domestic Crusaders</a>” is the first major play about Muslim Americans living in a post 9-11 America. His blog is at <a href="http://goatmilk.wordpress.com/" type="external">http://goatmilk.wordpress.com/</a>. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Your Ad Here</a> &#160;</p>
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|
Bush Gets Stoned
| true |
https://counterpunch.org/2008/10/17/bush-gets-stoned/
|
2008-10-17
| 4left
|
Bush Gets Stoned
<p>Oliver Stone’s fascinating and entertaining portrait of “W.” depicts George W. Bush as the prodigal son whose desire for paternal validation breeds a paralyzing insecurity that simultaneously drives and suffocates his ambitions.</p>
<p>Stone and company at times veer dangerously close to parody in their depiction of the Magnificent 7 [Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rice, Rove, Powell and Tenent]: the camaraderie of Bush cronies responsible for the disastrous decision to attack Iraq. However, as we reflect now at the audacious and flabbergasting foreign policy blunders of the post 9-11 Administration, perhaps a Monty Python-esque satirical touch would be the ideal vehicle to fully dilute and appreciate the madness of it all.</p>
<p>Regardless, the movie is structurally anchored by a straightforward – at times overly verbose and familiar – depiction of the buildup to the Iraq War punctuated by a series of quick, erratic flashback vignettes chronicling the rise of the improbable Shrub. Through this narrative, Stone thematically implies that Bush Junior’s entire life until his Presidency was a series of aborted enterprises representative of a well intentioned but aimless man prone to impetuousness and heedlessness. However, this chaotic narrative could also reflect the rushed, streamlined film schedule, which was shot only a few months ago, and aggressively completed for a pre-election release date.</p>
<p>Despite the film’s budget and schedule restraints, Stone orchestrates the chaos effectively, and he is immeasurably aided by the stalwart presence of Josh Brolin, who nails his outstanding performance of Bush. Brolin portrays him as a well intentioned, charismatic, impulsive “gut player.” He is a man whose quest for greatness eventually transforms him into an ultimately semi-sympathetic yet tragically clueless figure who neither achieves self-realization nor personal fulfillment.</p>
<p>Plaudits should also be heralded for Richard Dreyfuss’ frightening and compelling turn as Vice President Cheney, a man who strategically uses restraint to maximize the promotion and effectiveness of his foreign policy ideology: “Drain the Swamp” that is the Middle Eastern oil reserves and secure longevity for the American Empire. He emerges as both a manipulative Iago and Emperor Palpantine; a puppeteer who whispers and insinuates the necessity to implement harsh interrogation (“torture”) for sake of homeland security and a “War on Terror” to pacify the Middle East for future American economic interests.</p>
<p>After a blistering back and forth debate amongst the administration about invading Iraq, Bush – who was quietly absorbing the rhetoric – simplifies the complex policy into an easily digestible ideological battle between “good vs. evil” and “us vs. them.” Stone repeatedly highlights Bush’s sincere – if deluded – conviction that his actions are predicated upon ushering “freedom” to a starving population hungry for “democracy.” Throughout the movie, Bush is shown to crystallize nuances and complicated issues into a “Joe 6 Pack” narrative; one that is intensely influenced by his very sincere and passionate “Born Again” Christian beliefs.&#160; “God wants me to run for president,” says Brolin’s Bush to his Evangelical Reverend, comparing his ineloquence yet steadfast conviction to that of a persevering Moses carrying out God’s “Divine Plan.” Stone’s depiction is all the more frightening and comical due to its truth as evidenced by the countless articles, interviews and biographies that have painted a similar portrait.</p>
<p>As a counterweight, Colin Powell played with simmering anger and moral indignation by Jeffrey Wright, emerges as one of the movie’s sole voice of wisdom and conscience. The cocky, self-assured Rumsfeld, played by Scott Glen, and assertive Cheney, repeatedly rebuke his pointed critiques at the “Bush Doctrine” and requests for explanations for the pre-emptive strike.&#160; Naturally, Stone takes liberties with the dialogue, however Powell’s early resignation and subsequent comments elucidate a ring of truth to his depiction as “the odd man out.” Sadly, Stone and actress Thandie Newton make Condi Rice into a perky, cheerleader caricature. Although the makeup and wardrobe is impeccable, Newton simply mimics Rice, which hardly reflects the reality of her influential involvement.</p>
<p>Aside from Dubya, the central, supporting figure is “Poppy” Bush, the dynasty’s patriarch played exceptionally by veteran character actor James Cromwell. As his thematic foil, “Poppy” Bush represents everything “Junior” is not: a varsity, Yale baseball player, a prosperous businessman, and a respected and savvy politician. The movie’s most fascinating and illuminating aspects evolve from Stone’s psychoanalysis of Dubya as the shameful ne’er do well overshadowed by the towering legacy and failures of his ubiquitous father.&#160; Furthermore, Bush Sr.’s juxtaposition of “Junior” to his more intellectual and successful brother Jeb, who is wisely alluded to but rarely shown in the movie, creates another immeasurable adversarial shadow that “Dubya” can never wrestle. The heir apparent, Jeb, loses his rightful, Presidential Bush crown to Mordred, the unwanted, black sheep exemplified by Dubya and his lifetime of screw ups, alcoholism, failed businesses and insecurity complex.</p>
<p>“You think you’re a Kennedy? You’re a Bush! Act like one,” commands elder Bush to his wayward son in 1971 after Dubya’s string of failed enterprises at an investment firm, oilrig, ranch, and the air guard. As with most “Daddy didn’t love me” psychological narratives, the son’s entire existence is propelled simultaneously by a rebellion against anything resembling his father coupled with a painful yearning for his father’s unconditional acceptance. After Bush’s ’92 loss to Clinton, Stone portrays “Poppy” as tired, sentimental and old, weeping in Barbara’s bosom upon hearing his defeat. “Dubya” sees this as weakness and tells his supportive and patient wife [played well by Elizabeth Banks], “I will never let this happen to me!” blaming the loss on his father’s inability to finish the job [killing Saddam] in Desert Storm. After losing his Congressional bid, Dubya vows never to be “Out-Christian’d” and “Out-Texan’d” again, thus fueling his 2000 campaign image molded by Rove.</p>
<p>Throughout the movie, Bush’s motivations stem from endless attempts to one-up his father and prove that he can succeed without his influence and interference: he brags to advisors that he beat his father’s time when running the mile; he boasts he would find and kill Saddam unlike Poppy; and he rebukes Condi’s suggestion that he should consult the seasoned, elder Bush for advice on the Iraq War.</p>
<p>After a temporarily dull and familiar third act with overused images and rhetoric of Bush and the Iraq War [including reenactments of the “Mission Accomplished” speech and his Address to the Union], Stone re-engages his central psychoanalytic theme with an Oval Office dream sequence. Upon realizing the war effort is faltering and that WMD’s are nonexistent, an exhausted Bush dreams of encountering an aggressive and condescending Bush Sr. in the Oval Office. “Poppy” takes the gloves off and challenges Dubya to a “mano – a -mano” fight once and for all proving who’s the man. As with most events in his life, Dubya fronts bravado but ultimately cowers with confusion and fear. The elder Bush looks at him disdainfully and says that Junior’s entire life has been a “fiasco.”</p>
<p>In fact, the movie begins and ends with another symbolic dream sequence in which Dubya imagines himself in an empty, beautiful baseball field on a glorious afternoon. He hears the announcer bellowing from the speakers, the excited murmurs of the animated crowd; he hears the crack of the bat, and he runs to the bleachers making a stunning catch. At first, it doesn’t bother him that’s he’s all alone and simply playing make believe. At the end, we revisit the baseball dream and witness a similar scenario as Bush races to the outfield to make the catch. Only this time, Bush stares perplexedly at a darkened sky waiting for the ball that never drops.</p>
<p>Stone’s symbolism highlights the pathetic sadness of a man who was comically and fortuitously allowed to suit up as a slugger and play in the majors. A man motivated by a paralyzing obsession for vindication ultimately standing alone in the outfield without realizing his moment of greatness has passed him by and was perhaps never meant for him in the first place.</p>
<p>WAJAHAT ALI is a Muslim American of Pakistani descent. He is a playwright, essayist, humorist, and Attorney at Law, whose work, “ <a href="http://www.domesticcrusaders.com/" type="external">The Domestic Crusaders</a>” is the first major play about Muslim Americans living in a post 9-11 America. His blog is at <a href="http://goatmilk.wordpress.com/" type="external">http://goatmilk.wordpress.com/</a>. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Your Ad Here</a> &#160;</p>
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| 6,575 |
<p />
<p>What: Shares of Exelixis , a biotechnology company focused on the development of therapies to treat cancer, soared 41% in May, according to data from <a href="https://www.spcapitaliq.com/" type="external">S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence Opens a New Window.</a>. The reason behind the surge can be solely traced to excitement surrounding Exelixis' lead drug, Cabometyx.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Image source: Exelixis.</p>
<p>So what: Following the approval of Cabometyx (scientific name cabozantinib) for the treatment of second-line advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in late April, Exelixis' shares really soared after the company announced encouraging results from its midstage CABOSUN trial testing Cabometyx as a first-line therapy for advanced RCC.</p>
<p>CABOSUN, which featured a head-to-head against Pfizer's Sutent, showed that Cabometyx delivered a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival in treatment-nave patients compared to Sutent. The next step for Exelixis is to meet with the Food and Drug Administration, most likely to design a Phase 3 study for Cabometyx as a first-line therapy.</p>
<p>Mind you, this trial news comes after Exelixis recently announced that Cabometyx is the only drug approved to treat advanced RCC that hit the "trifecta" of a statistically significant improvement in overall survival, progression-free survival, and overall response rate. The hope, based on CABOSUN, is that more label expansions may be in Cabometyx's future.</p>
<p>Now what: Things are <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/05/27/this-new-data-could-push-exelixis-cabometyx-over-1.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">starting to get exciting for Exelixis Opens a New Window.</a>, and shareholders could absolutely argue that there's some bias in that assertion.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Image source: Bristol-Myers Squibb.</p>
<p>Even with Bristol-Myers Squibb's cancer immunotherapy Opdivo treating the lion's share of second-line advanced RCC patients, Exelixis will still have plenty of opportunity to pick up market share in RCC.</p>
<p>My contention has always been that a fairly safe market-share estimate for Cabometyx, considering the aforementioned "trifecta," is about a 10% share of second-line RCC. This alone gives Cabometyx $250 million to $400 million in peak annual sales potential by the end of the decade.</p>
<p>If Cabometyx can also gain first-line approval within a few years, we could be looking at north of three-quarter of a billion dollars in peak annual sales from just RCC. And of course, don't forget that Bristol-Myers and Exelixis are exploring a phase 1b study that combines Opdivo with Cabometyx. If this duo works better than each medicine separately, Exelixis' share and revenue could shoot even higher.</p>
<p>Over the intermediate term, the next big catalyst is CELESTIAL, a pivotal Phase 3 study of Cabometyx in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer. This is a smaller market than RCC; but if approved, Cabometyx would likely tack on $100 million-plus in additional peak annual sales.</p>
<p>My suggestion? Get Exelixis on your radar.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/03/exelixis-inc-rides-cabometyxs-coattails-to-big-gai.aspx" type="external">Exelixis, Inc. Rides Cabometyx's Coattails to Big Gains in May Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a>owns shares of Exelixis, but has no material interest in any other companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name <a href="http://caps.fool.com/player/tmfultralong.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/TMFUltraLong" type="external">@TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>.The Motley Fool recommends Exelixis. 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>
|
Exelixis, Inc. Rides Cabometyx's Coattails to Big Gains in May
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/investing/2016/06/03/exelixis-inc-rides-cabometyx-coattails-to-big-gains-in-may.html
|
2016-06-03
| 0right
|
Exelixis, Inc. Rides Cabometyx's Coattails to Big Gains in May
<p />
<p>What: Shares of Exelixis , a biotechnology company focused on the development of therapies to treat cancer, soared 41% in May, according to data from <a href="https://www.spcapitaliq.com/" type="external">S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence Opens a New Window.</a>. The reason behind the surge can be solely traced to excitement surrounding Exelixis' lead drug, Cabometyx.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Image source: Exelixis.</p>
<p>So what: Following the approval of Cabometyx (scientific name cabozantinib) for the treatment of second-line advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in late April, Exelixis' shares really soared after the company announced encouraging results from its midstage CABOSUN trial testing Cabometyx as a first-line therapy for advanced RCC.</p>
<p>CABOSUN, which featured a head-to-head against Pfizer's Sutent, showed that Cabometyx delivered a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival in treatment-nave patients compared to Sutent. The next step for Exelixis is to meet with the Food and Drug Administration, most likely to design a Phase 3 study for Cabometyx as a first-line therapy.</p>
<p>Mind you, this trial news comes after Exelixis recently announced that Cabometyx is the only drug approved to treat advanced RCC that hit the "trifecta" of a statistically significant improvement in overall survival, progression-free survival, and overall response rate. The hope, based on CABOSUN, is that more label expansions may be in Cabometyx's future.</p>
<p>Now what: Things are <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/05/27/this-new-data-could-push-exelixis-cabometyx-over-1.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">starting to get exciting for Exelixis Opens a New Window.</a>, and shareholders could absolutely argue that there's some bias in that assertion.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Image source: Bristol-Myers Squibb.</p>
<p>Even with Bristol-Myers Squibb's cancer immunotherapy Opdivo treating the lion's share of second-line advanced RCC patients, Exelixis will still have plenty of opportunity to pick up market share in RCC.</p>
<p>My contention has always been that a fairly safe market-share estimate for Cabometyx, considering the aforementioned "trifecta," is about a 10% share of second-line RCC. This alone gives Cabometyx $250 million to $400 million in peak annual sales potential by the end of the decade.</p>
<p>If Cabometyx can also gain first-line approval within a few years, we could be looking at north of three-quarter of a billion dollars in peak annual sales from just RCC. And of course, don't forget that Bristol-Myers and Exelixis are exploring a phase 1b study that combines Opdivo with Cabometyx. If this duo works better than each medicine separately, Exelixis' share and revenue could shoot even higher.</p>
<p>Over the intermediate term, the next big catalyst is CELESTIAL, a pivotal Phase 3 study of Cabometyx in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer. This is a smaller market than RCC; but if approved, Cabometyx would likely tack on $100 million-plus in additional peak annual sales.</p>
<p>My suggestion? Get Exelixis on your radar.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/03/exelixis-inc-rides-cabometyxs-coattails-to-big-gai.aspx" type="external">Exelixis, Inc. Rides Cabometyx's Coattails to Big Gains in May Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a>owns shares of Exelixis, but has no material interest in any other companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name <a href="http://caps.fool.com/player/tmfultralong.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/TMFUltraLong" type="external">@TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>.The Motley Fool recommends Exelixis. 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>
| 6,576 |
<p>Three California cops were caught on camera in a one-minute video (see below) giving a 16-year old a devastating beating, cracking his legs with a baton and threatening the young man with a taser.</p>
<p>Three Pomona Police officers beat teenager Christian Aguilar into submission at the Los Angeles County Fair when he recorded them arresting his family.</p>
<p>Now the teenager and his family are suing six named cops and the Pomona Police Department, and the City of Pomona and Los Angeles County for a seven-part civil rights claim which you can see below.</p>
<p>His only crime: recording the police.</p>
<p>Then, Pomona Police officers arrested Robert Hansen, the man who recorded them beating the teenager too.</p>
<p>They illegally seized and searched Hanson’s phone.</p>
<p>And charged him with bogus offenses.</p>
<p>Finally, California cops tried to cover their tracks, and maliciously prosecuted everyone involved.</p>
<p>All charges were dropped against the teen and his family.</p>
<p>After all of that hard work, the Pomona Police delivered a coup de main: they edited Robert Hanson’s video of the arrest of Christian Aguilar and gave the video to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office.</p>
<p>All of the officers lied in their official reports too.</p>
<p>They only charged the teenager Aguilar with resisting arrest, which itself isn’t a crime if there is no criminal accusation against a person, and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s department kept him housed in the adult population despite his protestation of juvenile status.</p>
<p>“In the criminal trial, after watching the officers’ explanations of the discrepancies between the full video and their police reports unravel during cross-examination,” says family lawyer David Gammill, of the Los Angeles based Geragos Law Firm, and that, “The judge dismissed Christian’s criminal case before the defense ever had to call a single witness.”</p>
<p>The officers had just arrested his father Ignacio Aguilar Jr. and cousin, accusing them of public intoxication and Christian Ignacio decided to record the officers from 30 feet away.</p>
<p>Aguilar’s brother, Ignacio Aguilar IV, was also taken to the ground, and physically detained by the police for yelling at his family’s civil rights were violated one at a time.</p>
<p>Ignacio Aguilar IV was a junior officer at the Pomona Police Department at the time of the incident.</p>
<p>Luckily, another citizen – Robert Hanson, the “neutral third party” – whipped out their cellphone and recorded the entire shocking police brutality incident started by Pomona Officer Jensen.</p>
<p>As is clear in the video, Aguilar didn’t ever challenge the first officer on the scene’s use of inappropriate force, when Officer Jensen smashed his head into a fence – instead of putting his hands at his sides and thrusting his chin forward in a posture of frustrated readiness.</p>
<p>Officer Jensen thrust his forearm into Aguilar’s face twice at maximum thrust, before Pomona Officers Hutchinson and Correa arrived.</p>
<p>Hutchinson thoughtfully held the teenager along with Jensen, and that’s when Pomona Officer landed a devastating blow, with his long black baton to Christian Aguilar’s knee, sending the teenager to the ground.</p>
<p>As the three grown men beat the teenager, another Pomona Officer came over and discharged his taser near the teen to strike terror.</p>
<p>Commentary by Jon Masters,</p>
|
California Cops Savagely Beat Teen For Recording Police, Caught in Massive Cover Up
| false |
https://studionewsnetwork.com/news/california-cops-savagely-beat-teen-for-recording-police-caught-in-massive-cover-up/
|
2017-09-21
| 3left-center
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California Cops Savagely Beat Teen For Recording Police, Caught in Massive Cover Up
<p>Three California cops were caught on camera in a one-minute video (see below) giving a 16-year old a devastating beating, cracking his legs with a baton and threatening the young man with a taser.</p>
<p>Three Pomona Police officers beat teenager Christian Aguilar into submission at the Los Angeles County Fair when he recorded them arresting his family.</p>
<p>Now the teenager and his family are suing six named cops and the Pomona Police Department, and the City of Pomona and Los Angeles County for a seven-part civil rights claim which you can see below.</p>
<p>His only crime: recording the police.</p>
<p>Then, Pomona Police officers arrested Robert Hansen, the man who recorded them beating the teenager too.</p>
<p>They illegally seized and searched Hanson’s phone.</p>
<p>And charged him with bogus offenses.</p>
<p>Finally, California cops tried to cover their tracks, and maliciously prosecuted everyone involved.</p>
<p>All charges were dropped against the teen and his family.</p>
<p>After all of that hard work, the Pomona Police delivered a coup de main: they edited Robert Hanson’s video of the arrest of Christian Aguilar and gave the video to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office.</p>
<p>All of the officers lied in their official reports too.</p>
<p>They only charged the teenager Aguilar with resisting arrest, which itself isn’t a crime if there is no criminal accusation against a person, and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s department kept him housed in the adult population despite his protestation of juvenile status.</p>
<p>“In the criminal trial, after watching the officers’ explanations of the discrepancies between the full video and their police reports unravel during cross-examination,” says family lawyer David Gammill, of the Los Angeles based Geragos Law Firm, and that, “The judge dismissed Christian’s criminal case before the defense ever had to call a single witness.”</p>
<p>The officers had just arrested his father Ignacio Aguilar Jr. and cousin, accusing them of public intoxication and Christian Ignacio decided to record the officers from 30 feet away.</p>
<p>Aguilar’s brother, Ignacio Aguilar IV, was also taken to the ground, and physically detained by the police for yelling at his family’s civil rights were violated one at a time.</p>
<p>Ignacio Aguilar IV was a junior officer at the Pomona Police Department at the time of the incident.</p>
<p>Luckily, another citizen – Robert Hanson, the “neutral third party” – whipped out their cellphone and recorded the entire shocking police brutality incident started by Pomona Officer Jensen.</p>
<p>As is clear in the video, Aguilar didn’t ever challenge the first officer on the scene’s use of inappropriate force, when Officer Jensen smashed his head into a fence – instead of putting his hands at his sides and thrusting his chin forward in a posture of frustrated readiness.</p>
<p>Officer Jensen thrust his forearm into Aguilar’s face twice at maximum thrust, before Pomona Officers Hutchinson and Correa arrived.</p>
<p>Hutchinson thoughtfully held the teenager along with Jensen, and that’s when Pomona Officer landed a devastating blow, with his long black baton to Christian Aguilar’s knee, sending the teenager to the ground.</p>
<p>As the three grown men beat the teenager, another Pomona Officer came over and discharged his taser near the teen to strike terror.</p>
<p>Commentary by Jon Masters,</p>
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<p>CHICAGO (AP) — Mayor Rahm Emanuel says Chicago won't abandon its values as a welcoming city to immigrants despite renewed pressure from the Justice Department to cooperate with immigration authorities.</p>
<p>Federal officials sent letters Wednesday to 23 jurisdictions warning the department could use subpoena power to provide documents showing they aren't withholding information about the immigration status of people in custody. The Justice Department has threatened to deny grant money from communities refusing to share information.</p>
<p>Emanuel says the "legal threat" undermines public safety by driving a wedge between immigrant communities and authorities. Emanuel spokesman Adam Collins says Chicago complies with the law and has previously supplied documents. If asked, he says Chicago would likely do so again, including a federal court decision about the grants in the city's favor.</p>
<p>Like other mayors, Emanuel skipped a Wednesday White House meeting.</p>
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — Mayor Rahm Emanuel says Chicago won't abandon its values as a welcoming city to immigrants despite renewed pressure from the Justice Department to cooperate with immigration authorities.</p>
<p>Federal officials sent letters Wednesday to 23 jurisdictions warning the department could use subpoena power to provide documents showing they aren't withholding information about the immigration status of people in custody. The Justice Department has threatened to deny grant money from communities refusing to share information.</p>
<p>Emanuel says the "legal threat" undermines public safety by driving a wedge between immigrant communities and authorities. Emanuel spokesman Adam Collins says Chicago complies with the law and has previously supplied documents. If asked, he says Chicago would likely do so again, including a federal court decision about the grants in the city's favor.</p>
<p>Like other mayors, Emanuel skipped a Wednesday White House meeting.</p>
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Feds step up pressure on sanctuary cities including Chicago
| false |
https://apnews.com/amp/62d0d9442e174af8adf5cd436a5b6905
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2018-01-24
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Feds step up pressure on sanctuary cities including Chicago
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — Mayor Rahm Emanuel says Chicago won't abandon its values as a welcoming city to immigrants despite renewed pressure from the Justice Department to cooperate with immigration authorities.</p>
<p>Federal officials sent letters Wednesday to 23 jurisdictions warning the department could use subpoena power to provide documents showing they aren't withholding information about the immigration status of people in custody. The Justice Department has threatened to deny grant money from communities refusing to share information.</p>
<p>Emanuel says the "legal threat" undermines public safety by driving a wedge between immigrant communities and authorities. Emanuel spokesman Adam Collins says Chicago complies with the law and has previously supplied documents. If asked, he says Chicago would likely do so again, including a federal court decision about the grants in the city's favor.</p>
<p>Like other mayors, Emanuel skipped a Wednesday White House meeting.</p>
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — Mayor Rahm Emanuel says Chicago won't abandon its values as a welcoming city to immigrants despite renewed pressure from the Justice Department to cooperate with immigration authorities.</p>
<p>Federal officials sent letters Wednesday to 23 jurisdictions warning the department could use subpoena power to provide documents showing they aren't withholding information about the immigration status of people in custody. The Justice Department has threatened to deny grant money from communities refusing to share information.</p>
<p>Emanuel says the "legal threat" undermines public safety by driving a wedge between immigrant communities and authorities. Emanuel spokesman Adam Collins says Chicago complies with the law and has previously supplied documents. If asked, he says Chicago would likely do so again, including a federal court decision about the grants in the city's favor.</p>
<p>Like other mayors, Emanuel skipped a Wednesday White House meeting.</p>
| 6,578 |
<p />
<p>Authorities in the state that produces nearly <a href="http://county.wsu.edu/chelan-douglas/agriculture/treefruit/Pages/Apples_in_Washington_State.aspx" type="external">70 percent</a> of U.S. apples for fresh consumption and loads of other foodstuffs have declared “drought emergencies” in 24 of its 62 watersheds—or 44 percent of the state’s area.</p>
<p>The Washington state Department of Ecology reports:</p>
<p>Snowpack statewide has declined to 24 percent of normal, worse than when the last statewide drought was declared in 2005. Snowpack is like a frozen reservoir for river basins, in a typical year accumulating over the winter and slowly melting through the spring and summer providing a water supply for rivers and streams.&#160;This year run-off from snowmelt for the period April through September is projected to be the lowest on record in the past&#160;64 years.</p>
<p />
<p>Read more <a href="http://www.ecy.wa.gov/drought/" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/04/washington-state-drought-apples-snowmelt" type="external">h/t</a> Tom Philpott at Mother Jones</p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a>.</p>
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Washington State Hit With Brutal Drought
| true |
https://truthdig.com/articles/washington-state-hit-with-brutal-drought/
|
2015-04-22
| 4left
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Washington State Hit With Brutal Drought
<p />
<p>Authorities in the state that produces nearly <a href="http://county.wsu.edu/chelan-douglas/agriculture/treefruit/Pages/Apples_in_Washington_State.aspx" type="external">70 percent</a> of U.S. apples for fresh consumption and loads of other foodstuffs have declared “drought emergencies” in 24 of its 62 watersheds—or 44 percent of the state’s area.</p>
<p>The Washington state Department of Ecology reports:</p>
<p>Snowpack statewide has declined to 24 percent of normal, worse than when the last statewide drought was declared in 2005. Snowpack is like a frozen reservoir for river basins, in a typical year accumulating over the winter and slowly melting through the spring and summer providing a water supply for rivers and streams.&#160;This year run-off from snowmelt for the period April through September is projected to be the lowest on record in the past&#160;64 years.</p>
<p />
<p>Read more <a href="http://www.ecy.wa.gov/drought/" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/04/washington-state-drought-apples-snowmelt" type="external">h/t</a> Tom Philpott at Mother Jones</p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a>.</p>
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<p>City Councilor Ken Sanchez, center, announces he's withdrawing a resolution to ask the Legislature for a curfew law after Gov. Susana Martinez on Monday said she would make the request. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Gov. Susana Martinez's announcement Monday that she plans to seek state legislation that would allow cities and counties to enact curfews prompted an Albuquerque councilor to withdraw a resolution calling for a change in state law.</p>
<p>The resolution's withdrawal didn't deter dozens of speakers from expressing opinions for or against youth curfews.</p>
<p>Albuquerque City Councilor Ken Sanchez, a Democrat from the West Side, proposed the resolution last month that would have asked the Legislature to give Albuquerque and other municipalities and counties the authority to enact curfew ordinances.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Hope Alvarado, a University of New Mexico sophomore, told councilors that she had been homeless as a teenager and had no home to return to at night.</p>
<p>"I am looking at my friends who are homeless and wondering how they are going to get by with this curfew," Alvarado said. She also said she has friends who have been victims of violence.</p>
<p>"This is not the kind of response we should have" to recent acts of violence involving children, she said.</p>
<p>Sanchez's resolution contends that a curfew would help reduce juvenile crime. With a curfew in effect, "Teens tend to stay out of trouble because criminal activity or high-risk behavior is more likely to occur later in the evening when parental supervision is not present," the resolution says.</p>
<p>Martinez said Monday that she supports letting communities decide whether to impose curfews and plans to include a curfew measure to her call for the 30-day session that begins in January. Martinez said she made the decision after speaking with Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry and Sanchez.</p>
<p>Martinez said curfews would provide communities with a tool to help them combat juvenile crime.</p>
<p>Sanchez said the governor's announcement fulfilled the purpose of the resolution he withdrew.</p>
<p>"I don't want to criminalize in any way children being out after midnight," Sanchez said after withdrawing the resolution. "I'm trying to keep our kids safe."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Peter Simonson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, told councilors that curfews are ineffective at reducing juvenile crime, and that they increase the potential for conflict between police officers and children. Curfews also criminalize young people for behavior that is legal for adults, he said.</p>
<p>"It is essentially illegal arrest," Simonson said. "The kid is taken into custody without actually committing a crime."</p>
<p>The city enacted a curfew in 1994, at the urging of then-Mayor Marty Ch'vez, that barred anyone under 17 from being on the streets from midnight to 6 a.m. on weekends and 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays.</p>
<p>The American Civil Liberties Union successfully sued the city in 1995 to block enforcement of the curfew. In 1999, the New Mexico Supreme Court struck down the ordinance, saying it violated the due process rights of children and conflicted with state law.</p>
<p>Diane Goodman, one of the parents who spoke in favor of a curfew, told councilors that a curfew would help single parents who need help persuading their children to stay home at late hours.</p>
<p>"I know that as a single parent that a curfew would have helped me," Goodman said. "I would have been able to negotiate with her" by demanding that her daughter return home at a certain time.</p>
<p>Sanchez proposed the curfew days after a shooting at Pat Hurley Park killed a 14-year-old boy and injured two other teens. They were part of a group hanging out in the park about 2 a.m.</p>
<p>And six teenagers, ages 14 to 17, were arrested and indicted for murder in July in the June 26 shooting death of Steven Gerecke, 60, outside his Northeast Heights home. Police say the killing took place during a criminal rampage by the teenagers.?</p>
<p>A Journal poll this month found that 87 percent of Albuquerque adults favor a midnight curfew for children under 16.</p>
<p>The Albuquerque Public Schools board expressed opposition to the proposed curfew this month after about 90 students and former students packed a board meeting to protest the idea.</p>
<p />
<p />
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Governor plans to seek curfew law
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https://abqjournal.com/630013/governor-plans-to-seek-curfew-law.html
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Governor plans to seek curfew law
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>City Councilor Ken Sanchez, center, announces he's withdrawing a resolution to ask the Legislature for a curfew law after Gov. Susana Martinez on Monday said she would make the request. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Gov. Susana Martinez's announcement Monday that she plans to seek state legislation that would allow cities and counties to enact curfews prompted an Albuquerque councilor to withdraw a resolution calling for a change in state law.</p>
<p>The resolution's withdrawal didn't deter dozens of speakers from expressing opinions for or against youth curfews.</p>
<p>Albuquerque City Councilor Ken Sanchez, a Democrat from the West Side, proposed the resolution last month that would have asked the Legislature to give Albuquerque and other municipalities and counties the authority to enact curfew ordinances.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Hope Alvarado, a University of New Mexico sophomore, told councilors that she had been homeless as a teenager and had no home to return to at night.</p>
<p>"I am looking at my friends who are homeless and wondering how they are going to get by with this curfew," Alvarado said. She also said she has friends who have been victims of violence.</p>
<p>"This is not the kind of response we should have" to recent acts of violence involving children, she said.</p>
<p>Sanchez's resolution contends that a curfew would help reduce juvenile crime. With a curfew in effect, "Teens tend to stay out of trouble because criminal activity or high-risk behavior is more likely to occur later in the evening when parental supervision is not present," the resolution says.</p>
<p>Martinez said Monday that she supports letting communities decide whether to impose curfews and plans to include a curfew measure to her call for the 30-day session that begins in January. Martinez said she made the decision after speaking with Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry and Sanchez.</p>
<p>Martinez said curfews would provide communities with a tool to help them combat juvenile crime.</p>
<p>Sanchez said the governor's announcement fulfilled the purpose of the resolution he withdrew.</p>
<p>"I don't want to criminalize in any way children being out after midnight," Sanchez said after withdrawing the resolution. "I'm trying to keep our kids safe."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Peter Simonson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, told councilors that curfews are ineffective at reducing juvenile crime, and that they increase the potential for conflict between police officers and children. Curfews also criminalize young people for behavior that is legal for adults, he said.</p>
<p>"It is essentially illegal arrest," Simonson said. "The kid is taken into custody without actually committing a crime."</p>
<p>The city enacted a curfew in 1994, at the urging of then-Mayor Marty Ch'vez, that barred anyone under 17 from being on the streets from midnight to 6 a.m. on weekends and 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays.</p>
<p>The American Civil Liberties Union successfully sued the city in 1995 to block enforcement of the curfew. In 1999, the New Mexico Supreme Court struck down the ordinance, saying it violated the due process rights of children and conflicted with state law.</p>
<p>Diane Goodman, one of the parents who spoke in favor of a curfew, told councilors that a curfew would help single parents who need help persuading their children to stay home at late hours.</p>
<p>"I know that as a single parent that a curfew would have helped me," Goodman said. "I would have been able to negotiate with her" by demanding that her daughter return home at a certain time.</p>
<p>Sanchez proposed the curfew days after a shooting at Pat Hurley Park killed a 14-year-old boy and injured two other teens. They were part of a group hanging out in the park about 2 a.m.</p>
<p>And six teenagers, ages 14 to 17, were arrested and indicted for murder in July in the June 26 shooting death of Steven Gerecke, 60, outside his Northeast Heights home. Police say the killing took place during a criminal rampage by the teenagers.?</p>
<p>A Journal poll this month found that 87 percent of Albuquerque adults favor a midnight curfew for children under 16.</p>
<p>The Albuquerque Public Schools board expressed opposition to the proposed curfew this month after about 90 students and former students packed a board meeting to protest the idea.</p>
<p />
<p />
| 6,580 |
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<p />
<p>The state had 9,144 homes somewhere in the foreclosure process as of the first quarter, a 69 percent increase from 5,411 as of the first quarter of 2012, according to RealtyTrac data. For comparison, the inventory of foreclosure homes nationwide rose by 9 percent over the same period.</p>
<p>The vast majority of those New Mexico homes – 7,084 – were tied up in state district courts, where foreclosure actions are handled through civil lawsuits filed by the lender against the homeowner. Of the remainder, 1,764 were repossessed or held by a bank while 296 were scheduled for a foreclosure sale.</p>
<p>New Mexico was one of 26 states posting an increase in foreclosure inventory from the first quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013, RealtyTrac noted. Of those 26 states, 19 use a judicial foreclosure process like New Mexico. Foreclosures tend to linger in court, driving up the inventory of foreclosure homes in those states.</p>
<p>In New Mexico, two out of every five homeowners in default on their mortgages either clear out of the house in anticipation of a foreclosure or are investors who live elsewhere.</p>
<p>Of the homes in the foreclosure process during the first quarter, 41 percent were unoccupied in New Mexico, compared to a national average of 35 percent. Half of the 107 homes in Valencia County going through foreclosure were unoccupied, the highest percentage among counties in the metro.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>In states like Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, 50 percent or more of foreclosure homes are unoccupied.</p>
<p>Some costs can follow homeowners in default who move out before the foreclosure is completed and the house is under new ownership, RealtyTrac says in its inventory update.</p>
<p>“The homeowner is still responsible for maintenance and property taxes,” it says.</p>
<p>RealtyTrac’s inventory update includes characteristics of homes going through foreclosure based on national data. For example, 71 percent of foreclosure homes are between 1,000 and 2,000 square feet in size. Most of the remainder, 21 percent, were between 2,000 and 3,000 square feet.</p>
<p>In a breakdown of foreclosure homes by the decade they were built, not surprisingly the decade of the 2000s – the decade of the housing bubble – provides the largest share of homes in the foreclosure process at 21 percent.</p>
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Report: Foreclosures surge in past year
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/183461/report-foreclosures-surge-in-past-year.html
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2013-03-30
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Report: Foreclosures surge in past year
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<p />
<p>The state had 9,144 homes somewhere in the foreclosure process as of the first quarter, a 69 percent increase from 5,411 as of the first quarter of 2012, according to RealtyTrac data. For comparison, the inventory of foreclosure homes nationwide rose by 9 percent over the same period.</p>
<p>The vast majority of those New Mexico homes – 7,084 – were tied up in state district courts, where foreclosure actions are handled through civil lawsuits filed by the lender against the homeowner. Of the remainder, 1,764 were repossessed or held by a bank while 296 were scheduled for a foreclosure sale.</p>
<p>New Mexico was one of 26 states posting an increase in foreclosure inventory from the first quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013, RealtyTrac noted. Of those 26 states, 19 use a judicial foreclosure process like New Mexico. Foreclosures tend to linger in court, driving up the inventory of foreclosure homes in those states.</p>
<p>In New Mexico, two out of every five homeowners in default on their mortgages either clear out of the house in anticipation of a foreclosure or are investors who live elsewhere.</p>
<p>Of the homes in the foreclosure process during the first quarter, 41 percent were unoccupied in New Mexico, compared to a national average of 35 percent. Half of the 107 homes in Valencia County going through foreclosure were unoccupied, the highest percentage among counties in the metro.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>In states like Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, 50 percent or more of foreclosure homes are unoccupied.</p>
<p>Some costs can follow homeowners in default who move out before the foreclosure is completed and the house is under new ownership, RealtyTrac says in its inventory update.</p>
<p>“The homeowner is still responsible for maintenance and property taxes,” it says.</p>
<p>RealtyTrac’s inventory update includes characteristics of homes going through foreclosure based on national data. For example, 71 percent of foreclosure homes are between 1,000 and 2,000 square feet in size. Most of the remainder, 21 percent, were between 2,000 and 3,000 square feet.</p>
<p>In a breakdown of foreclosure homes by the decade they were built, not surprisingly the decade of the 2000s – the decade of the housing bubble – provides the largest share of homes in the foreclosure process at 21 percent.</p>
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<p>Courtesy of Love\’s Travel Stop An 11,000-square-foot Love\’s Travel Stop, like the one shown here in Choctaw, Okla., is planned for a summer opening at Interstate 40 and Atrisco Vista Boulevard.</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Love’s Travel Stop &amp; Country Store plans to build a second, larger 24/7 truck stop on Albuquerque’s West Side at the Interstate 40 and Atrisco Vista Boulevard interchange, creating about 50 jobs at a total investment of about $7.5 million.</p>
<p>Planned on 11 acres, the 11,000-square-foot travel stop will be about three times bigger than Love’s existing 3,600-square-foot travel stop that opened in 1984 off I-40’s Exit 158, between Fourth and Sixth NW, said Love’s spokeswoman Kealey Dorian. The larger building reflects how the company’s travel stop model has evolved over the past 30 years.</p>
<p>“We’re very excited about bringing a more modern feel what we do to the Albuquerque area,” she said.</p>
<p>The stop will be equipped with compressed natural gas, or CNG, filling stations for motorists and truck drivers.</p>
<p>“It’s a growing trend we’ve seen in the trucking industry,” Dorian said, noting CNG is currently selling for $1.99 a gallon. “We currently have 10 fast-fill CNG locations and have plans to open eight more, including the new Albuquerque location.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Family-owned and Oklahoma City-based Love’s Travel Stops first expanded to New Mexico in 1978 and currently has nine stores in the state.</p>
<p>Nationwide, it has more than 330 stores in 39 states and is growing at the rate of about 20 new locations a year, according to the company website. It has about 10,000 employees and generates more than $26 billion in annual revenue.</p>
<p>The new store will have a Carl’s Jr. restaurant as well as gourmet coffee and a drink fountain, gift merchandise and products geared to professional drivers. The stop will have 68 parking spaces for tractor trailers and showers for the drivers.</p>
<p>“Our new location will also have a Love’s Truck Tire Care facility that offers tire and light mechanical services for professional drivers,” Dorian said.</p>
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Love’s plans second truck stop on West Side
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Love’s plans second truck stop on West Side
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<p>Courtesy of Love\’s Travel Stop An 11,000-square-foot Love\’s Travel Stop, like the one shown here in Choctaw, Okla., is planned for a summer opening at Interstate 40 and Atrisco Vista Boulevard.</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Love’s Travel Stop &amp; Country Store plans to build a second, larger 24/7 truck stop on Albuquerque’s West Side at the Interstate 40 and Atrisco Vista Boulevard interchange, creating about 50 jobs at a total investment of about $7.5 million.</p>
<p>Planned on 11 acres, the 11,000-square-foot travel stop will be about three times bigger than Love’s existing 3,600-square-foot travel stop that opened in 1984 off I-40’s Exit 158, between Fourth and Sixth NW, said Love’s spokeswoman Kealey Dorian. The larger building reflects how the company’s travel stop model has evolved over the past 30 years.</p>
<p>“We’re very excited about bringing a more modern feel what we do to the Albuquerque area,” she said.</p>
<p>The stop will be equipped with compressed natural gas, or CNG, filling stations for motorists and truck drivers.</p>
<p>“It’s a growing trend we’ve seen in the trucking industry,” Dorian said, noting CNG is currently selling for $1.99 a gallon. “We currently have 10 fast-fill CNG locations and have plans to open eight more, including the new Albuquerque location.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Family-owned and Oklahoma City-based Love’s Travel Stops first expanded to New Mexico in 1978 and currently has nine stores in the state.</p>
<p>Nationwide, it has more than 330 stores in 39 states and is growing at the rate of about 20 new locations a year, according to the company website. It has about 10,000 employees and generates more than $26 billion in annual revenue.</p>
<p>The new store will have a Carl’s Jr. restaurant as well as gourmet coffee and a drink fountain, gift merchandise and products geared to professional drivers. The stop will have 68 parking spaces for tractor trailers and showers for the drivers.</p>
<p>“Our new location will also have a Love’s Truck Tire Care facility that offers tire and light mechanical services for professional drivers,” Dorian said.</p>
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|
<p />
<p>President-elect Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that he would cancel Boeing's contract to build a new fleet of presidential aircraft to replace the aging Reagan-era models that currently shuttle the president around the world. Trump cited "out of control" costs of more than $4 billion in a tweet that ended with "Cancel order!"</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Trump later told reporters the cost was "ridiculous" and that he wanted the aircraft maker to "make a lot of money, but not that much money."</p>
<p>Here's a look at Trump's claims about Air Force One, one of the most recognized airborne symbols of the American presidency.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>HOW MUCH WILL THE PROJECT COST?</p>
<p>The Government Accountability Office, the government's auditing arm, in March of this year estimated total program costs at more than $3.2 billion between the 2010 and 2020 federal budget years. Separately, Defense Department and Air Force officials say two new aircraft could cost at least $4 billion for development, construction and future maintenance, matching the figure Trump cited. The officials were not authorized to comment publicly about the sensitive military project and spoke on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>WHY DOES THE GOVERNMENT WANT NEW PLANES? DOESN'T THE CURRENT AIR FORCE ONE WORK JUST FINE?</p>
<p>While that is true, the current aircraft that the president uses for the bulk of his foreign and domestic travel are getting older and breaking down more often, officials say. Two variants of a Boeing 747 are in rotation. The planes were built in the 1980s and began flying in the early 1990s. One took President Barack Obama on a trip to MacDill Air Force in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Air Force One, the distinctive blue-and-white plane with the U.S. flag on its tail and the presidential seal, is basically a flying office for the president, complete with sophisticated communications, military and other capabilities. Safety of the president is paramount, and the government started the process to replace the aging aircraft with younger versions that take advantage of the most-up-to-date advances in technology.</p>
<p>Air Force One is unlike most aircraft. It can be refueled in the air and, with an unlimited range, can take the president wherever he needs to go. Its electrical systems are hardened to protect against an electromagnetic pulse, and the plane has advanced secure communications equipment that will allow it to function as mobile command center in the event of an attack on the United States, according to the White House.</p>
<p>The president and most of those who travel with him aboard Air Force One enjoy 4,000 square feet of floor space on three levels, including a suite for the president with an office and a conference room. A medical suite that can function as an operating room, in an emergency, and a doctor is always on board. The plane has quarters for those who regularly accompany the president on trips, including White House staff, Secret Service agents, traveling journalists and other guests.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>WHAT IS BOEING'S ROLE IN THE PROJECT?</p>
<p>So far, the Air Force has spent about $170 million on three contracts to begin to identify the types of military and specialized systems that would have to be added a commercial aircraft the president would use. Boeing has that contract. It would also build the replacement Air Force One.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>CAN TRUMP CANCEL THE PROJECT?</p>
<p>Yes, but not before he is sworn in to office on Jan. 20.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, David Koenig in Dallas and Joseph Pisani in New York contributed to this report.</p>
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Q&A: A look at Trump's call to cancel new Air Force 1
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http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/12/06/qa-look-at-trump-call-to-cancel-new-air-force-1.html
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2016-12-07
| 0right
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Q&A: A look at Trump's call to cancel new Air Force 1
<p />
<p>President-elect Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that he would cancel Boeing's contract to build a new fleet of presidential aircraft to replace the aging Reagan-era models that currently shuttle the president around the world. Trump cited "out of control" costs of more than $4 billion in a tweet that ended with "Cancel order!"</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Trump later told reporters the cost was "ridiculous" and that he wanted the aircraft maker to "make a lot of money, but not that much money."</p>
<p>Here's a look at Trump's claims about Air Force One, one of the most recognized airborne symbols of the American presidency.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>HOW MUCH WILL THE PROJECT COST?</p>
<p>The Government Accountability Office, the government's auditing arm, in March of this year estimated total program costs at more than $3.2 billion between the 2010 and 2020 federal budget years. Separately, Defense Department and Air Force officials say two new aircraft could cost at least $4 billion for development, construction and future maintenance, matching the figure Trump cited. The officials were not authorized to comment publicly about the sensitive military project and spoke on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>WHY DOES THE GOVERNMENT WANT NEW PLANES? DOESN'T THE CURRENT AIR FORCE ONE WORK JUST FINE?</p>
<p>While that is true, the current aircraft that the president uses for the bulk of his foreign and domestic travel are getting older and breaking down more often, officials say. Two variants of a Boeing 747 are in rotation. The planes were built in the 1980s and began flying in the early 1990s. One took President Barack Obama on a trip to MacDill Air Force in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Air Force One, the distinctive blue-and-white plane with the U.S. flag on its tail and the presidential seal, is basically a flying office for the president, complete with sophisticated communications, military and other capabilities. Safety of the president is paramount, and the government started the process to replace the aging aircraft with younger versions that take advantage of the most-up-to-date advances in technology.</p>
<p>Air Force One is unlike most aircraft. It can be refueled in the air and, with an unlimited range, can take the president wherever he needs to go. Its electrical systems are hardened to protect against an electromagnetic pulse, and the plane has advanced secure communications equipment that will allow it to function as mobile command center in the event of an attack on the United States, according to the White House.</p>
<p>The president and most of those who travel with him aboard Air Force One enjoy 4,000 square feet of floor space on three levels, including a suite for the president with an office and a conference room. A medical suite that can function as an operating room, in an emergency, and a doctor is always on board. The plane has quarters for those who regularly accompany the president on trips, including White House staff, Secret Service agents, traveling journalists and other guests.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>WHAT IS BOEING'S ROLE IN THE PROJECT?</p>
<p>So far, the Air Force has spent about $170 million on three contracts to begin to identify the types of military and specialized systems that would have to be added a commercial aircraft the president would use. Boeing has that contract. It would also build the replacement Air Force One.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>CAN TRUMP CANCEL THE PROJECT?</p>
<p>Yes, but not before he is sworn in to office on Jan. 20.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, David Koenig in Dallas and Joseph Pisani in New York contributed to this report.</p>
| 6,583 |
<p>Independent Nation gives you the day's 5 essential reads for independents and centrists:</p>
<p>1. "Welcome to the Twilight Zone," in Newsweek. John Avlon on how the right-wing media invented <a href="" type="internal">a new reality</a>.</p>
<p>2. "The GOP Must Choose: Rush Limbaugh or Minority Voters," at The Atlantic.Do Republicans want to <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/the-gop-must-choose-rush-limbaugh-or-minority-voters/265002/" type="external">chomp stogies</a> with El Rushbo or remain a force in American politics?</p>
<p>3. "Mitt Romney's ORCA Program Couldn't Stay Afloat," in Politico.How the GOP's voter-targeting program <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83653.html" type="external">went belly-up</a>.</p>
<p>4. "California GOP Showing Worries Party Strategists," from the Associated Press.Republicans are going the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/10/california-gop_n_2110152.html" type="external">way of the dodo</a> in the Golden State.</p>
<p>5. "State of Denial," in The Economist.For the party of Lincoln, it could <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21565976-real-blow-republicans-may-be-not-they-failed-take-white-house?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/state_of_denial" type="external">have been worse</a>. That's what's terrifying them.</p>
<p>Send stories for the Independent Rundown to Matt DeLuca at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Follow him on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/DeLucaMattS" type="external">@DeLucaMattS</a>.</p>
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The Independent Rundown, November 10
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https://thedailybeast.com/the-independent-rundown-november-10
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2018-10-02
| 4left
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The Independent Rundown, November 10
<p>Independent Nation gives you the day's 5 essential reads for independents and centrists:</p>
<p>1. "Welcome to the Twilight Zone," in Newsweek. John Avlon on how the right-wing media invented <a href="" type="internal">a new reality</a>.</p>
<p>2. "The GOP Must Choose: Rush Limbaugh or Minority Voters," at The Atlantic.Do Republicans want to <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/the-gop-must-choose-rush-limbaugh-or-minority-voters/265002/" type="external">chomp stogies</a> with El Rushbo or remain a force in American politics?</p>
<p>3. "Mitt Romney's ORCA Program Couldn't Stay Afloat," in Politico.How the GOP's voter-targeting program <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83653.html" type="external">went belly-up</a>.</p>
<p>4. "California GOP Showing Worries Party Strategists," from the Associated Press.Republicans are going the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/10/california-gop_n_2110152.html" type="external">way of the dodo</a> in the Golden State.</p>
<p>5. "State of Denial," in The Economist.For the party of Lincoln, it could <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21565976-real-blow-republicans-may-be-not-they-failed-take-white-house?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/state_of_denial" type="external">have been worse</a>. That's what's terrifying them.</p>
<p>Send stories for the Independent Rundown to Matt DeLuca at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Follow him on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/DeLucaMattS" type="external">@DeLucaMattS</a>.</p>
| 6,584 |
<p>TALLINN (Reuters) – The European Commission will prepare in the coming days a list of legal options on how to make digital multinationals, like Google (NASDAQ:) and Facebook (NASDAQ:), pay more tax, the commissioner responsible for taxation said on Friday.</p>
<p>“The digital economy should be taxed as the rest of the economy,” Pierre Moscovici told reporters upon his arrival to a meeting of euro zone and EU finance ministers in Tallinn, the Estonian capital, which will discuss the taxation of the digital economy on a session on Saturday.</p>
<p>He said the Commission will present in the coming days “a paper with all options available” to raise the tax bill for online giants, who are accused of paying too little in Europe by redirecting profits to low tax-rate countries, such as Ireland or Luxembourg.</p>
<p>The document will be ready for the Sept. 29 summit of EU leaders on digital issues, Moscovici said.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p>
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EU to set out options for heftier online giant tax bills: Moscovici
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https://newsline.com/eu-to-set-out-options-for-heftier-online-giant-tax-bills-moscovici/
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2017-09-15
| 1right-center
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EU to set out options for heftier online giant tax bills: Moscovici
<p>TALLINN (Reuters) – The European Commission will prepare in the coming days a list of legal options on how to make digital multinationals, like Google (NASDAQ:) and Facebook (NASDAQ:), pay more tax, the commissioner responsible for taxation said on Friday.</p>
<p>“The digital economy should be taxed as the rest of the economy,” Pierre Moscovici told reporters upon his arrival to a meeting of euro zone and EU finance ministers in Tallinn, the Estonian capital, which will discuss the taxation of the digital economy on a session on Saturday.</p>
<p>He said the Commission will present in the coming days “a paper with all options available” to raise the tax bill for online giants, who are accused of paying too little in Europe by redirecting profits to low tax-rate countries, such as Ireland or Luxembourg.</p>
<p>The document will be ready for the Sept. 29 summit of EU leaders on digital issues, Moscovici said.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p>
| 6,585 |
<p />
<p>Two Discover credit card offers for enticingly low 10.99 percent interest rates are drawing fire from consumer advocates who question whether applicants are getting full disclosure as required by federal law.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Discover Financial Services company spokesman Matthew Towson said the offers -- for <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/Discover.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">Discover</a> Miles and Discover Escape rewards cards -- are in full compliance with federal Truth in Lending Act regulations and the <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-law-interactive-1282.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">Credit CARD Act of 2009</a>.</p>
<p>Because some consumers could apply for one offer and end up getting another, higher rate after being rejected for the low teaser rate, consumer advocates questioned the offers. Additionally, applicants may not know their credit scores could be damaged by applying for the cards.</p>
<p>Four major consumer groups that reviewed the offers at CreditCards.com's request&#160;call them "questionable", "misleading" and potential violations of <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/5-key-laws-protect-credit-cardholders-1377.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">federal credit card laws</a>. Those laws require lenders to show the range of potential&#160;annual percentage rates ( <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/glossary/term-annual-percentage-rate-apr.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">APRs</a>) that applicants may receive when offers are based on consumers' creditworthiness.</p>
<p>The special test offers on the two cards began in September 2010 and ended Dec. 15 -- the same day that CreditCards.com began questioning whether the offers ran afoul of the disclosure regulations. <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/Discover.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">Discover</a>, however, said there was no connection between the end of the test and the inquiries.&#160;The offers were flagged&#160;during CreditCards.com's weekly&#160;review of major banks'&#160; <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/about-us/press-releases.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">online credit card applications</a>.</p>
<p>The Internet-only Discover <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/reward.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">rewards card</a> offers were for 0 percent for six months. After that, the APR went to "10.99 percent based on your creditworthiness." The low-rate offers were made on a test basis -- meaning not everyone who clicked on Discover's online applications got the same offer. For example, some people applying for the Miles card got an offer that included a range of interest rates: 10.99 percent to 15.99 percent. Others may have gotten the test offer listing just the 10.99 percent APR, which states: "This offer is for excellent credit only; otherwise, you may be offered an alternative rate."</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>It's that tagline that raises questions about whether there is one specific rate, as Discover contends, or a range of "alternative rates."</p>
<p>Says Towson: "It's a specific offer that, if you have <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/excellent-credit.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">excellent credit</a>, you can get 10.99 percent."</p>
<p>Consumer advocates disagree, saying the wording makes the offer rife for misunderstanding.</p>
<p>"That sounds to me like they are actually offering a range of rates," says Kathleen Keest, senior policy counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending, who reviewed the test offer and found it "misleading" and "not at all clear."</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Federal Reserve</a> guidelines for <a href="http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&amp;sid=deb26d090996fbeb5de4b298d718693d&amp;rgn=div9&amp;view=text&amp;node=12:3.0.1.1.7.7.8.10.31&amp;idno=12" type="external">Regulation Z Opens a New Window.</a> of the Truth in Lending Act&#160;say that lenders who offer credit based on the applicant's creditworthiness must give the specific rates that apply to the offer or a range of rates. But they cannot disclose only the lowest, highest or median APR.</p>
<p>Discover's test "raises questions about whether it violates that [Reg Z] provision," says Chi Chi Wu, a consumer law attorney with the National Consumer Law Center in Boston, who also reviewed the Discover offer.</p>
<p>Keest said the offers "certainly violate the spirit" of lending laws that state disclosures be clear and conspicuous. "It's not in compliance with the requirement that something be clear."</p>
<p>Keest adds: "To me, they are playing a game with the notice, that this is a single-rate card that they can counteroffer to another rate. This is exactly why the <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-start-year-delay1282.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">Consumer Financial Protection Bureau</a> is needed."</p>
<p>That new consumer protection agency -- approved in July 2010 as part of the massive <a href="" type="internal">Wall Street</a> reform law -- will have broad powers to police the financial services industry for abusive or deceptive practices. It is expected to begin operations in July 2011.</p>
<p>The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) currently regulates Discover Bank's lending practices and is charged with monitoring things like compliance with disclosure laws. A spokesman said in an e-mailed response that "the FDIC does monitor compliance with Regulation Z," but details were not available about what that oversight entails. The FDIC had no response to questions about whether the Discover test offer complied with disclosure rules.</p>
<p>Discover's Towson said that the offers do not violate federal regulations because consumers who get them are only offered one interest rate -- 10.99 percent -- so the card issuer doesn't have to list a range of rates. Those who are rejected are sent letters, as required by another federal law ( <a href="http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&amp;sid=635f26c4af3e2fe4327fd25ef4cb5638&amp;tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title12/12cfr202_main_02.tpl" type="external">Regulation B Opens a New Window.</a> of the Truth in Lending Act), which says creditors must notify applicants in writing if they are turned down and the reasons for the rejection. Towson says, in some cases, certain rejected consumers may receive counteroffers with specific, higher interest rates that they can either accept or reject. He indicated none of the rejected applicants are automatically sent credit cards with higher APRs -- a practice consumer advocates say would be tantamount to "bait and switch."</p>
<p>"Our Miles and Escape cards usually gravitate to consumers with very good or excellent credit," according to Discover's Towson. "The test offer was put on the Internet in hopes that we would attract customers with excellent credit seeking a lower interest rate. It was fully disclosed at the start of the application that this offer was only for those with excellent credit."</p>
<p>Nick Bourke, director of the <a href="http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_detail.aspx?id=616" type="external">Pew Safe Credit Cards Project Opens a New Window.</a>, which monitors card offers and industry practices, says the Discover test offer is unlike other card offers they've seen.</p>
<p>He and Keest, from the responsible lending group, raised concerns that the offers may have gone to people with less than excellent credit. Although the Miles and Escape card disclosures state the test offer is only for people with " <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/excellent-credit.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">excellent credit</a>," anyone surfing the Web could have received the offer -- regardless of their credit quality. So, a person with fair or good credit could have been enticed by the low 10.99 percent rates, applied for the cards, undergone credit checks and been rejected -- a circumstance that could have a negative impact on their credit scores.</p>
<p>Discover's spokesman declined to reveal the criteria they use for determining who would qualify as excellent credit holders. He also declined to say how many people applied for the test offers and how many were rejected.</p>
<p>"We don't feel that we're being misleading here," Towson said. "Any credit card holder takes a risk when they apply for a card" of being rejected for the offer. "You take that risk with any card that you apply for ... The offer at issue does not violate the CARD Act requirement to disclose a range of rates since it is an offer for a specific rate. Every customer who is accepted for the offer gets that specific rate."</p>
<p>Gail Hillebrand, financial services campaign manager for Consumers Union, the nonprofit owner of Consumer Reports magazine, also called the 10.99 percent offers "misleading."</p>
<p>"People are hooked by the number that they see and the point of marketing is to get you to apply. That's why we have restrictions on what you can say in marketing," Hillebrand says. "We can't let people say anything if it's not what they are going to get ... You can't advertise that a suitcase is going to cost $50 if it really costs $100."</p>
<p>More from CreditCards.com:</p>
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Consumer Groups: Discover Credit Card Offers Misleading
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http://foxbusiness.com/features/2010/12/21/consumer-groups-discover-credit-card-offers-misleading.html
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2016-03-17
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Consumer Groups: Discover Credit Card Offers Misleading
<p />
<p>Two Discover credit card offers for enticingly low 10.99 percent interest rates are drawing fire from consumer advocates who question whether applicants are getting full disclosure as required by federal law.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Discover Financial Services company spokesman Matthew Towson said the offers -- for <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/Discover.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">Discover</a> Miles and Discover Escape rewards cards -- are in full compliance with federal Truth in Lending Act regulations and the <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-law-interactive-1282.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">Credit CARD Act of 2009</a>.</p>
<p>Because some consumers could apply for one offer and end up getting another, higher rate after being rejected for the low teaser rate, consumer advocates questioned the offers. Additionally, applicants may not know their credit scores could be damaged by applying for the cards.</p>
<p>Four major consumer groups that reviewed the offers at CreditCards.com's request&#160;call them "questionable", "misleading" and potential violations of <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/5-key-laws-protect-credit-cardholders-1377.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">federal credit card laws</a>. Those laws require lenders to show the range of potential&#160;annual percentage rates ( <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/glossary/term-annual-percentage-rate-apr.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">APRs</a>) that applicants may receive when offers are based on consumers' creditworthiness.</p>
<p>The special test offers on the two cards began in September 2010 and ended Dec. 15 -- the same day that CreditCards.com began questioning whether the offers ran afoul of the disclosure regulations. <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/Discover.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">Discover</a>, however, said there was no connection between the end of the test and the inquiries.&#160;The offers were flagged&#160;during CreditCards.com's weekly&#160;review of major banks'&#160; <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/about-us/press-releases.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">online credit card applications</a>.</p>
<p>The Internet-only Discover <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/reward.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">rewards card</a> offers were for 0 percent for six months. After that, the APR went to "10.99 percent based on your creditworthiness." The low-rate offers were made on a test basis -- meaning not everyone who clicked on Discover's online applications got the same offer. For example, some people applying for the Miles card got an offer that included a range of interest rates: 10.99 percent to 15.99 percent. Others may have gotten the test offer listing just the 10.99 percent APR, which states: "This offer is for excellent credit only; otherwise, you may be offered an alternative rate."</p>
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<p>It's that tagline that raises questions about whether there is one specific rate, as Discover contends, or a range of "alternative rates."</p>
<p>Says Towson: "It's a specific offer that, if you have <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/excellent-credit.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">excellent credit</a>, you can get 10.99 percent."</p>
<p>Consumer advocates disagree, saying the wording makes the offer rife for misunderstanding.</p>
<p>"That sounds to me like they are actually offering a range of rates," says Kathleen Keest, senior policy counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending, who reviewed the test offer and found it "misleading" and "not at all clear."</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Federal Reserve</a> guidelines for <a href="http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&amp;sid=deb26d090996fbeb5de4b298d718693d&amp;rgn=div9&amp;view=text&amp;node=12:3.0.1.1.7.7.8.10.31&amp;idno=12" type="external">Regulation Z Opens a New Window.</a> of the Truth in Lending Act&#160;say that lenders who offer credit based on the applicant's creditworthiness must give the specific rates that apply to the offer or a range of rates. But they cannot disclose only the lowest, highest or median APR.</p>
<p>Discover's test "raises questions about whether it violates that [Reg Z] provision," says Chi Chi Wu, a consumer law attorney with the National Consumer Law Center in Boston, who also reviewed the Discover offer.</p>
<p>Keest said the offers "certainly violate the spirit" of lending laws that state disclosures be clear and conspicuous. "It's not in compliance with the requirement that something be clear."</p>
<p>Keest adds: "To me, they are playing a game with the notice, that this is a single-rate card that they can counteroffer to another rate. This is exactly why the <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-start-year-delay1282.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">Consumer Financial Protection Bureau</a> is needed."</p>
<p>That new consumer protection agency -- approved in July 2010 as part of the massive <a href="" type="internal">Wall Street</a> reform law -- will have broad powers to police the financial services industry for abusive or deceptive practices. It is expected to begin operations in July 2011.</p>
<p>The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) currently regulates Discover Bank's lending practices and is charged with monitoring things like compliance with disclosure laws. A spokesman said in an e-mailed response that "the FDIC does monitor compliance with Regulation Z," but details were not available about what that oversight entails. The FDIC had no response to questions about whether the Discover test offer complied with disclosure rules.</p>
<p>Discover's Towson said that the offers do not violate federal regulations because consumers who get them are only offered one interest rate -- 10.99 percent -- so the card issuer doesn't have to list a range of rates. Those who are rejected are sent letters, as required by another federal law ( <a href="http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&amp;sid=635f26c4af3e2fe4327fd25ef4cb5638&amp;tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title12/12cfr202_main_02.tpl" type="external">Regulation B Opens a New Window.</a> of the Truth in Lending Act), which says creditors must notify applicants in writing if they are turned down and the reasons for the rejection. Towson says, in some cases, certain rejected consumers may receive counteroffers with specific, higher interest rates that they can either accept or reject. He indicated none of the rejected applicants are automatically sent credit cards with higher APRs -- a practice consumer advocates say would be tantamount to "bait and switch."</p>
<p>"Our Miles and Escape cards usually gravitate to consumers with very good or excellent credit," according to Discover's Towson. "The test offer was put on the Internet in hopes that we would attract customers with excellent credit seeking a lower interest rate. It was fully disclosed at the start of the application that this offer was only for those with excellent credit."</p>
<p>Nick Bourke, director of the <a href="http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_detail.aspx?id=616" type="external">Pew Safe Credit Cards Project Opens a New Window.</a>, which monitors card offers and industry practices, says the Discover test offer is unlike other card offers they've seen.</p>
<p>He and Keest, from the responsible lending group, raised concerns that the offers may have gone to people with less than excellent credit. Although the Miles and Escape card disclosures state the test offer is only for people with " <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/excellent-credit.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">excellent credit</a>," anyone surfing the Web could have received the offer -- regardless of their credit quality. So, a person with fair or good credit could have been enticed by the low 10.99 percent rates, applied for the cards, undergone credit checks and been rejected -- a circumstance that could have a negative impact on their credit scores.</p>
<p>Discover's spokesman declined to reveal the criteria they use for determining who would qualify as excellent credit holders. He also declined to say how many people applied for the test offers and how many were rejected.</p>
<p>"We don't feel that we're being misleading here," Towson said. "Any credit card holder takes a risk when they apply for a card" of being rejected for the offer. "You take that risk with any card that you apply for ... The offer at issue does not violate the CARD Act requirement to disclose a range of rates since it is an offer for a specific rate. Every customer who is accepted for the offer gets that specific rate."</p>
<p>Gail Hillebrand, financial services campaign manager for Consumers Union, the nonprofit owner of Consumer Reports magazine, also called the 10.99 percent offers "misleading."</p>
<p>"People are hooked by the number that they see and the point of marketing is to get you to apply. That's why we have restrictions on what you can say in marketing," Hillebrand says. "We can't let people say anything if it's not what they are going to get ... You can't advertise that a suitcase is going to cost $50 if it really costs $100."</p>
<p>More from CreditCards.com:</p>
| 6,586 |
<p>I spoke too soon. In the <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/03/05/these-3-stocks-just-raised-their-dividends.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">previous installment of this series Opens a New Window.</a>, I stated that we were about to enter a fallow post-earnings season period with fewer dividend raises.</p>
<p>Whoops. Last week we saw a fresh batch of raises, including three top names in their respective industries -- consumer-goods giant Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), high-rolling casino operator Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN), and powerhouse chipmaker Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM). Read on for the details.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Saying that Colgate-Palmolive is raising its quarterly dividend is almost like saying the grass is green. The consumer-goods megalith is one of the most regal of the <a href="https://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/what-is-a-dividend-aristocrat.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Dividend Aristocrats Opens a New Window.</a>, with an annual dividend raise streak that stretches back over 50 years. The latest in a very long line of increases will see the company lift its payout by 5% to $0.42 per share.</p>
<p>That's the good news. The bad news is the company's recent performance. In all, 2017 was a relatively weak year. Net sales inched up by only 1.7% to $15.5 billion, while adjusted net profit increased by over 4% to land at $2.5 billion. Cost-cutting and increased advertising spend were two of the key reasons for these fairly modest increases.</p>
<p>My colleague Brian Stoffel has speculated that Colgate-Palmolive's long-established <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/02/07/death-of-big-brands-5-safe-dividend-stocks-that-co.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">dividend might be at risk Opens a New Window.</a> because of changes in technology and the shifting tastes of consumers. I think he's got a good argument there; although the company has sufficient cash flow to keep up those dividend raises for the time being, I'm not 100% sure this is a buy-and-hold-forever income play.</p>
<p>Colgate-Palmolive's upcoming distribution is to be handed out on on May 15 to stockholders of record as of April 20. Its payout ratio is 56%, and it would yield 2.4% on the most recent closing stock price -- comfortably above the current 1.8% average yield of dividend-paying stocks on the S&amp;P 500.</p>
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<p>2018 has already been quite a year for Wynn Resorts. The company's top global region is on a serious upswing, yet its founder and namesake, <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/02/16/steve-wynn-is-losing-control-of-wynn-resorts.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Steve Wynn Opens a New Window.</a>, stepped down abruptly, following allegations of sexual misconduct. Nonetheless, Wynn Resorts declared a dividend increase, saying its quarterly distribution would get a hefty 50% increase to $0.75 per share.</p>
<p>These days, most of Wynn's take comes from the busy Chinese gaming enclave of Macau. After years of serious revenue declines because of a government crackdown on casino junket operators, the region has come roaring back. Its full-year 2017 take was 19% higher on a year-over-year basis, the first annual increase since 2013.</p>
<p>This propelled Wynn's revenue 44% higher to just over $6.3 billion, while adjusted net profit rose by 62% to over $560 million.</p>
<p>The loss of Steve Wynn, a towering figure in the industry, is going to sting. But the company is well primed for future growth; Macau should remain a vibrant market, while a new casino near Boston is scheduled to open its doors next year. But Wynn the company has a bright future ahead of it. Barring another government crackdown in Macau, I'd bet that the new dividend will at least be maintained for now.</p>
<p>Wynn hasn't yet set the record and payment dates for the new dividend. Regardless, it would yield 1.6% and boast a payout ratio of only 36%.</p>
<p>Qualcomm is dialing up a new quarterly dividend. The company has declared that its next payout will be $0.62 per share, a 9% increase.</p>
<p>Qualcomm is very profitable, netting $1.5 billion in profit on $6 billion in revenue in its most recently reported quarter. It's a power player in the field of chips for mobile devices, and it draws much of its revenue from technology licensing activities.</p>
<p>That's not what has driven up the stock's price over the past few months, however. In late 2017, acquisitive Asian chipmaker Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) made a play to buy out Qualcomm with a mix of cash and stock. This and a subsequent higher bid from Broadcom were rejected, but the soap opera is still playing out.</p>
<p>Complicating matters is Qualcomm's own acquisition activity. Apparently, it's about to <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/03/09/qualcomms-nxp-semiconductors-offer-finally-looks-l.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">land its own large takeover target Opens a New Window.</a>, auto-computing specialist NXP Semiconductors.</p>
<p>So there are deals whipsawing back and forth, and we don't yet know how the whole mess is going to settle. As for Qualcomm's internal resources, it has more than enough free cash flow to pay for this raised dividend, plus a round of share buybacks. Still, given that the company's future ownership and structure is up in the air, it's hard to gauge the viability of this new payout. Income investors should exercise caution here.</p>
<p>The new $0.62-per-share amount will, in the company's words "be effective for quarterly dividends payable after March 21, 2018." It didn't get more specific. The theoretical yield is 3.9%, while the payout ratio stands at 63%.</p>
<p>I like it when my pessimistic assumptions turn out wrong. Last week turned out to be another good one for dividend increases, after all. 2018 has been a great year for lifts so far. Let's hope that trend will last.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than QualcommWhen 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=3e956f77-36ad-4c70-a1ad-3cbdff9ea2a5&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Qualcomm 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=3e956f77-36ad-4c70-a1ad-3cbdff9ea2a5&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&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 March 5, 2018</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFVolkman/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Eric Volkman Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Qualcomm. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom Ltd and NXP Semiconductors. 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=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
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These 3 Stocks Just Raised Their Dividends
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http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/21/these-3-stocks-just-raised-their-dividends.html
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2018-03-12
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These 3 Stocks Just Raised Their Dividends
<p>I spoke too soon. In the <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/03/05/these-3-stocks-just-raised-their-dividends.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">previous installment of this series Opens a New Window.</a>, I stated that we were about to enter a fallow post-earnings season period with fewer dividend raises.</p>
<p>Whoops. Last week we saw a fresh batch of raises, including three top names in their respective industries -- consumer-goods giant Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), high-rolling casino operator Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN), and powerhouse chipmaker Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM). Read on for the details.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Saying that Colgate-Palmolive is raising its quarterly dividend is almost like saying the grass is green. The consumer-goods megalith is one of the most regal of the <a href="https://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/what-is-a-dividend-aristocrat.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Dividend Aristocrats Opens a New Window.</a>, with an annual dividend raise streak that stretches back over 50 years. The latest in a very long line of increases will see the company lift its payout by 5% to $0.42 per share.</p>
<p>That's the good news. The bad news is the company's recent performance. In all, 2017 was a relatively weak year. Net sales inched up by only 1.7% to $15.5 billion, while adjusted net profit increased by over 4% to land at $2.5 billion. Cost-cutting and increased advertising spend were two of the key reasons for these fairly modest increases.</p>
<p>My colleague Brian Stoffel has speculated that Colgate-Palmolive's long-established <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/02/07/death-of-big-brands-5-safe-dividend-stocks-that-co.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">dividend might be at risk Opens a New Window.</a> because of changes in technology and the shifting tastes of consumers. I think he's got a good argument there; although the company has sufficient cash flow to keep up those dividend raises for the time being, I'm not 100% sure this is a buy-and-hold-forever income play.</p>
<p>Colgate-Palmolive's upcoming distribution is to be handed out on on May 15 to stockholders of record as of April 20. Its payout ratio is 56%, and it would yield 2.4% on the most recent closing stock price -- comfortably above the current 1.8% average yield of dividend-paying stocks on the S&amp;P 500.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>2018 has already been quite a year for Wynn Resorts. The company's top global region is on a serious upswing, yet its founder and namesake, <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/02/16/steve-wynn-is-losing-control-of-wynn-resorts.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Steve Wynn Opens a New Window.</a>, stepped down abruptly, following allegations of sexual misconduct. Nonetheless, Wynn Resorts declared a dividend increase, saying its quarterly distribution would get a hefty 50% increase to $0.75 per share.</p>
<p>These days, most of Wynn's take comes from the busy Chinese gaming enclave of Macau. After years of serious revenue declines because of a government crackdown on casino junket operators, the region has come roaring back. Its full-year 2017 take was 19% higher on a year-over-year basis, the first annual increase since 2013.</p>
<p>This propelled Wynn's revenue 44% higher to just over $6.3 billion, while adjusted net profit rose by 62% to over $560 million.</p>
<p>The loss of Steve Wynn, a towering figure in the industry, is going to sting. But the company is well primed for future growth; Macau should remain a vibrant market, while a new casino near Boston is scheduled to open its doors next year. But Wynn the company has a bright future ahead of it. Barring another government crackdown in Macau, I'd bet that the new dividend will at least be maintained for now.</p>
<p>Wynn hasn't yet set the record and payment dates for the new dividend. Regardless, it would yield 1.6% and boast a payout ratio of only 36%.</p>
<p>Qualcomm is dialing up a new quarterly dividend. The company has declared that its next payout will be $0.62 per share, a 9% increase.</p>
<p>Qualcomm is very profitable, netting $1.5 billion in profit on $6 billion in revenue in its most recently reported quarter. It's a power player in the field of chips for mobile devices, and it draws much of its revenue from technology licensing activities.</p>
<p>That's not what has driven up the stock's price over the past few months, however. In late 2017, acquisitive Asian chipmaker Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) made a play to buy out Qualcomm with a mix of cash and stock. This and a subsequent higher bid from Broadcom were rejected, but the soap opera is still playing out.</p>
<p>Complicating matters is Qualcomm's own acquisition activity. Apparently, it's about to <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/03/09/qualcomms-nxp-semiconductors-offer-finally-looks-l.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">land its own large takeover target Opens a New Window.</a>, auto-computing specialist NXP Semiconductors.</p>
<p>So there are deals whipsawing back and forth, and we don't yet know how the whole mess is going to settle. As for Qualcomm's internal resources, it has more than enough free cash flow to pay for this raised dividend, plus a round of share buybacks. Still, given that the company's future ownership and structure is up in the air, it's hard to gauge the viability of this new payout. Income investors should exercise caution here.</p>
<p>The new $0.62-per-share amount will, in the company's words "be effective for quarterly dividends payable after March 21, 2018." It didn't get more specific. The theoretical yield is 3.9%, while the payout ratio stands at 63%.</p>
<p>I like it when my pessimistic assumptions turn out wrong. Last week turned out to be another good one for dividend increases, after all. 2018 has been a great year for lifts so far. Let's hope that trend will last.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than QualcommWhen 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=3e956f77-36ad-4c70-a1ad-3cbdff9ea2a5&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Qualcomm 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=3e956f77-36ad-4c70-a1ad-3cbdff9ea2a5&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&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 March 5, 2018</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFVolkman/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Eric Volkman Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Qualcomm. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom Ltd and NXP Semiconductors. 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=344f25a1-58ba-47e7-adfb-d48ab089d4c2&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
| 6,587 |
<p>Sexual objectification is an objectively long term&#160;(nine syllables!) that feminists throw around a lot, but&#160;why exactly is it an evil male plot for world takeover?</p>
<p>I am so glad you asked!</p>
<p>Sexual objectification is the act of treating someone else like they are not a human but merely a thing that exists for you to get off to.&#160;It is the assumption that, because someone is female (or feminine, or queer — there are lots of fun variations on the concept), they must be receptive to you sexually.</p>
<p>Objectification is based on the assumption that&#160;because of who someone is (say, a woman) rather than what they have done (say, indicate they have a crush on you), they are sexually available to you.&#160;This idea underlies things like sexual harassment or street harassment: The notion that, even if a person hasn’t indicated they want to be treated sexually — or has even indicated they don’t want to be treated sexually — you’ve got the right to hit on them anyway, for the mere fact of who they are.</p>
<p>That sucks.</p>
<p>I know, Reina — we got this in, like, feminism level zero. But I’m bringing this up for the <a href="" type="internal">umpteenth</a> <a href="" type="internal">time</a> ( <a href="" type="internal">heyy</a>) because sometimes we forget that these problems&#160;are structural. Sometimes we forget that the tacit assumption that women&#160;exist for male sexual pleasure, or are always receptive to sexual advances, is not only an individual annoyance for individual women — it’s a vast, evil conspiracy&#160;that allows men&#160;to retain control over the world.&#160;</p>
<p>Okay, yeah, I don’t actually think men sit around in big harasser conventions plotting domination — I just like secret agent metaphors. Systems of power are trickier than that: People’s motivations are diverse, and both organised groups (say, MRAs) and normal individuals (say, your ex boyfriend) exercise power in ways that oppress others. We can understand the cumulative effects of these behaviours as structural — that is, occurring in patterns that disproportionately hurt certain groups — if not, you know, a literal conspiracy (but if you know of one, send me a tip).</p>
<p>Objectification minimizes and reduces our ability to participate in society as full human beings, turns us into jittery self-obsessed messes, and, in short, stifles our badassery.</p>
<p>This is especially true because women are not only assumed to always be down for random dudes’ sexual comments — but because we’re also supposed to like it. (And sometimes we do like it, and that can be confusing and ambivalent.)</p>
<p>I’ve got nothing against sexuality — me and sexuality are pretty hot and heavy. &#160;But we can think of objectification as sexuality weaponized: Sexuality used against us, not with us or in collaboration with us. Assuming that we’re receptive to sexual advances because of who we are (for example: women), rather than what we do (for example: flirt with you) takes away our choice, and thus the respect every human being deserves as an agent (a secret agent, naturally) who can choose. This lack of choice can be super disorienting, can make us feel pretty powerless, can make sexuality something that gives us anxiety rather than pleasure, and can keep us from doing important shit, like becoming famous writers or taking naps or protesting corporate bullshit.</p>
<p>Here are some reasons why assuming women are always open to sexual advances contributes to an evil male plot of world domination.</p>
<p>Objectification keeps women busy</p>
<p>Do you know how much time your average woman on social media, dating sites, or, like, the sidewalk spends wading through random dudes’ sexual suggestions? Or — and this one really gets me — wondering why we’re not being subjected to random dudes’ sexual suggestions? A lot. Deleting sexually aggressive Facebook messages and cringing on the sidewalks in expectation of sexual comments are both normal parts of my daily routine, as are — when these things are not happening — obsessively wondering why I am somehow not pretty enough to be sexually harassed (because again, we’re taught that if we’re not getting it, we’re doing something wrong). It is very time consuming. In the amount of time I spent worrying about this yesterday, I could have done my eyebrows, sorted through my personal finances, and run for president.</p>
<p>Objectification keeps women timid</p>
<p>Here’s the clever thing about double standards: They keep people in line. You can think of a double standard like a cage made up of people shouting at you — you move left and people shout shit at you; you move right and people shout different shit at you, so you eventually just sit there and weep. You can think of objectification sort of like that. Move one direction, and there are a bunch of random dudes shouting shit about your tits; move the other direction, and there a bunch of random internal voices wondering why they have stopped shouting shit about your tits.</p>
<p>This chorus of really loud voices keeps us from being brave. It keeps us from doing things like going outside (street harassment!) or standing up in front of groups of people (eyes!!) or expressing ourselves (judgement!!!).&#160;It keeps us from entering certain spaces, or from feeling comfortable in certain spaces. It takes a lot of mental and even physical energy. It prevents us from expressing dissent, because we can always be delegitimized with recourse to our bodies and sexualities — rather than, you know, our opinions. See: Every woman who’s ever tried to write something on the internet. (Seriously, have you ever paused to contemplate the sheer amount of data spent dismissing people because of their bra size??)&#160;</p>
<p>Objectification keeps women insecure about our actual talents and abilities</p>
<p>Remember the time that dude in my Hindi class had a crush on me that I didn’t reciprocate and then one morning he saw hickies on my neck and spent the rest of the semester aggressively correcting my grammar and heavily implying that I was stupid and worthless because I did not agree that he was entitled to sex with me?&#160;Hahaha I remember that, wasn’t that funny?</p>
<p>No, it wasn’t — it was an evil plot of patriarchal world takeover. Obsessing over women’s bodies and sexualities not only attempts to prevent us from being awesome — it also gives people a tool to dismiss our intellectual, creative, and political work.</p>
<p>Objectification keeps women fighting each other (rather than, you know, patriarchy)</p>
<p>Wanna know something fucked up? I literally cannot talk to other women about how upsetting I find being street harassed without part of me feeling a little smug about it. Like smug smug. Like “Look how pretty I am! I’m so pretty I can’t even walk down the street without being told how pretty I am. I’m so pretty it impairs me.”</p>
<p>This is such major bullshit, and if I could isolate the part of myself that buys into this shit, if I could just isolate that fucker and &#160;leave it crying on the ground like that freaky Voldemort horcrux baby, we could all wake up in the Forbidden Forest of feminism and find — presto changeo! — patriarchy gone, and we ourselves walk out of the woods reborn, whole, with nothing but a scar and an extended Harry Potter metaphor.&#160;</p>
<p>We’re simultaneously taught that we should ignore male attention and that it’s totally integral to our worth as women and as human beings. Not only this:&#160;We are taught that sexual attention is a finite and very important resource that we are in a&#160;Hunger Games death battle with other women for. This not only prevents us from establishing supportive relationships&#160;with other women, it also absolutely cuts down on the amount of lesbian sex in the world.</p>
<p>Hunger Games&#160;death battles + no lesbian sex = Total patriarchal world takeover.</p>
<p>Objectification keeps women so focused on our ridiculous selves we can’t put our energy toward what it really ought to be put towards, such as making beautiful political communities and&#160;fighting capitalism.</p>
<p>It’s kind of a truism that&#160;sexual standards are actually a capitalist conspiracy to sell mascara, but yeah,&#160;sexual standards are actually a capitalist conspiracy to sell mascara. Objectification, and our incessant fucking socialization to stay on the right side of it, is, ultimately, a tool of world domination because it prevents us from building the kind of power and solidarity that can actually take down social systems. It renders us insecure in very real ways — both in terms of self-assurance and in terms of material safety — and this insecurity atomizes us. That is: It makes us obsessed with the self, the individual, and our individual bodies, vulnerabilities, and insecurities, rather than the possibility of political community.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that we’re all brainwashed and the fact that we need to smile to put blush on is a creepy and symbolic manifestation of psychic domination; me and my lipstick will boldly charge together into the revolution.</p>
<p>I am saying that having our humanity denied even in small ways constantly is not only bad for us — it’s bad for everyone. It’s bad for all the things we could do and the systems we could take down and the worlds we could create if the violence that kept us clinging like hell to the integrity of our bodies were just lifted, just a&#160;wee&#160;bit, just enough.</p>
<p>And ultimately, I think that’s where our real power against evil lies. We are ultimately people, as much as society wants to treat us like objects. Objects can’t form political communities. People can. People can come out of the little cultural shells that we have been stuffed into&#160;and we can stretch and we can fart and we can band together and take on the new fucking day.</p>
|
Yup, Sexual Objectification is an Evil Male Plot for World Domination
| true |
http://feministing.com/2016/01/12/yup-sexual-objectification-is-an-evil-male-plot-for-world-domination/
| 4left
|
Yup, Sexual Objectification is an Evil Male Plot for World Domination
<p>Sexual objectification is an objectively long term&#160;(nine syllables!) that feminists throw around a lot, but&#160;why exactly is it an evil male plot for world takeover?</p>
<p>I am so glad you asked!</p>
<p>Sexual objectification is the act of treating someone else like they are not a human but merely a thing that exists for you to get off to.&#160;It is the assumption that, because someone is female (or feminine, or queer — there are lots of fun variations on the concept), they must be receptive to you sexually.</p>
<p>Objectification is based on the assumption that&#160;because of who someone is (say, a woman) rather than what they have done (say, indicate they have a crush on you), they are sexually available to you.&#160;This idea underlies things like sexual harassment or street harassment: The notion that, even if a person hasn’t indicated they want to be treated sexually — or has even indicated they don’t want to be treated sexually — you’ve got the right to hit on them anyway, for the mere fact of who they are.</p>
<p>That sucks.</p>
<p>I know, Reina — we got this in, like, feminism level zero. But I’m bringing this up for the <a href="" type="internal">umpteenth</a> <a href="" type="internal">time</a> ( <a href="" type="internal">heyy</a>) because sometimes we forget that these problems&#160;are structural. Sometimes we forget that the tacit assumption that women&#160;exist for male sexual pleasure, or are always receptive to sexual advances, is not only an individual annoyance for individual women — it’s a vast, evil conspiracy&#160;that allows men&#160;to retain control over the world.&#160;</p>
<p>Okay, yeah, I don’t actually think men sit around in big harasser conventions plotting domination — I just like secret agent metaphors. Systems of power are trickier than that: People’s motivations are diverse, and both organised groups (say, MRAs) and normal individuals (say, your ex boyfriend) exercise power in ways that oppress others. We can understand the cumulative effects of these behaviours as structural — that is, occurring in patterns that disproportionately hurt certain groups — if not, you know, a literal conspiracy (but if you know of one, send me a tip).</p>
<p>Objectification minimizes and reduces our ability to participate in society as full human beings, turns us into jittery self-obsessed messes, and, in short, stifles our badassery.</p>
<p>This is especially true because women are not only assumed to always be down for random dudes’ sexual comments — but because we’re also supposed to like it. (And sometimes we do like it, and that can be confusing and ambivalent.)</p>
<p>I’ve got nothing against sexuality — me and sexuality are pretty hot and heavy. &#160;But we can think of objectification as sexuality weaponized: Sexuality used against us, not with us or in collaboration with us. Assuming that we’re receptive to sexual advances because of who we are (for example: women), rather than what we do (for example: flirt with you) takes away our choice, and thus the respect every human being deserves as an agent (a secret agent, naturally) who can choose. This lack of choice can be super disorienting, can make us feel pretty powerless, can make sexuality something that gives us anxiety rather than pleasure, and can keep us from doing important shit, like becoming famous writers or taking naps or protesting corporate bullshit.</p>
<p>Here are some reasons why assuming women are always open to sexual advances contributes to an evil male plot of world domination.</p>
<p>Objectification keeps women busy</p>
<p>Do you know how much time your average woman on social media, dating sites, or, like, the sidewalk spends wading through random dudes’ sexual suggestions? Or — and this one really gets me — wondering why we’re not being subjected to random dudes’ sexual suggestions? A lot. Deleting sexually aggressive Facebook messages and cringing on the sidewalks in expectation of sexual comments are both normal parts of my daily routine, as are — when these things are not happening — obsessively wondering why I am somehow not pretty enough to be sexually harassed (because again, we’re taught that if we’re not getting it, we’re doing something wrong). It is very time consuming. In the amount of time I spent worrying about this yesterday, I could have done my eyebrows, sorted through my personal finances, and run for president.</p>
<p>Objectification keeps women timid</p>
<p>Here’s the clever thing about double standards: They keep people in line. You can think of a double standard like a cage made up of people shouting at you — you move left and people shout shit at you; you move right and people shout different shit at you, so you eventually just sit there and weep. You can think of objectification sort of like that. Move one direction, and there are a bunch of random dudes shouting shit about your tits; move the other direction, and there a bunch of random internal voices wondering why they have stopped shouting shit about your tits.</p>
<p>This chorus of really loud voices keeps us from being brave. It keeps us from doing things like going outside (street harassment!) or standing up in front of groups of people (eyes!!) or expressing ourselves (judgement!!!).&#160;It keeps us from entering certain spaces, or from feeling comfortable in certain spaces. It takes a lot of mental and even physical energy. It prevents us from expressing dissent, because we can always be delegitimized with recourse to our bodies and sexualities — rather than, you know, our opinions. See: Every woman who’s ever tried to write something on the internet. (Seriously, have you ever paused to contemplate the sheer amount of data spent dismissing people because of their bra size??)&#160;</p>
<p>Objectification keeps women insecure about our actual talents and abilities</p>
<p>Remember the time that dude in my Hindi class had a crush on me that I didn’t reciprocate and then one morning he saw hickies on my neck and spent the rest of the semester aggressively correcting my grammar and heavily implying that I was stupid and worthless because I did not agree that he was entitled to sex with me?&#160;Hahaha I remember that, wasn’t that funny?</p>
<p>No, it wasn’t — it was an evil plot of patriarchal world takeover. Obsessing over women’s bodies and sexualities not only attempts to prevent us from being awesome — it also gives people a tool to dismiss our intellectual, creative, and political work.</p>
<p>Objectification keeps women fighting each other (rather than, you know, patriarchy)</p>
<p>Wanna know something fucked up? I literally cannot talk to other women about how upsetting I find being street harassed without part of me feeling a little smug about it. Like smug smug. Like “Look how pretty I am! I’m so pretty I can’t even walk down the street without being told how pretty I am. I’m so pretty it impairs me.”</p>
<p>This is such major bullshit, and if I could isolate the part of myself that buys into this shit, if I could just isolate that fucker and &#160;leave it crying on the ground like that freaky Voldemort horcrux baby, we could all wake up in the Forbidden Forest of feminism and find — presto changeo! — patriarchy gone, and we ourselves walk out of the woods reborn, whole, with nothing but a scar and an extended Harry Potter metaphor.&#160;</p>
<p>We’re simultaneously taught that we should ignore male attention and that it’s totally integral to our worth as women and as human beings. Not only this:&#160;We are taught that sexual attention is a finite and very important resource that we are in a&#160;Hunger Games death battle with other women for. This not only prevents us from establishing supportive relationships&#160;with other women, it also absolutely cuts down on the amount of lesbian sex in the world.</p>
<p>Hunger Games&#160;death battles + no lesbian sex = Total patriarchal world takeover.</p>
<p>Objectification keeps women so focused on our ridiculous selves we can’t put our energy toward what it really ought to be put towards, such as making beautiful political communities and&#160;fighting capitalism.</p>
<p>It’s kind of a truism that&#160;sexual standards are actually a capitalist conspiracy to sell mascara, but yeah,&#160;sexual standards are actually a capitalist conspiracy to sell mascara. Objectification, and our incessant fucking socialization to stay on the right side of it, is, ultimately, a tool of world domination because it prevents us from building the kind of power and solidarity that can actually take down social systems. It renders us insecure in very real ways — both in terms of self-assurance and in terms of material safety — and this insecurity atomizes us. That is: It makes us obsessed with the self, the individual, and our individual bodies, vulnerabilities, and insecurities, rather than the possibility of political community.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that we’re all brainwashed and the fact that we need to smile to put blush on is a creepy and symbolic manifestation of psychic domination; me and my lipstick will boldly charge together into the revolution.</p>
<p>I am saying that having our humanity denied even in small ways constantly is not only bad for us — it’s bad for everyone. It’s bad for all the things we could do and the systems we could take down and the worlds we could create if the violence that kept us clinging like hell to the integrity of our bodies were just lifted, just a&#160;wee&#160;bit, just enough.</p>
<p>And ultimately, I think that’s where our real power against evil lies. We are ultimately people, as much as society wants to treat us like objects. Objects can’t form political communities. People can. People can come out of the little cultural shells that we have been stuffed into&#160;and we can stretch and we can fart and we can band together and take on the new fucking day.</p>
| 6,588 |
|
<p>President Donald Trump shot back at bias and inaccuracy in polling numbers, trolling ABC and The Washington Post in a tweet Sunday.</p>
<p>The ABC/Washington Post Poll, even though almost 40% is not bad at this time, was just about the most inaccurate poll around election time!</p>
<p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/886588838902206464" type="external">July 16, 2017</a></p>
<p>President Trump’s tweet came on the day <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/page/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2017/07/16/National-Politics/Polling/release_480.xml?tid=a_inl" type="external">The Washington Post/ABC News Poll</a> for July 10-13 <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/trump-approval-numbers-washington/2017/07/16/id/801871/" type="external">released results claiming</a> his approval rating has fallen to just 36 percent and his disapproval has risen to 58 percent.</p>
<p>Earlier Sunday morning, <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/trump-tweet-fake-news-distorting/2017/07/16/id/801878/" type="external">President Trump tweeted more salvos</a> in his ongoing campaign against “#fake news.”</p>
|
Trump Trolls Poll on Twitter
| false |
https://newsline.com/trump-trolls-poll-on-twitter/
|
2017-07-16
| 1right-center
|
Trump Trolls Poll on Twitter
<p>President Donald Trump shot back at bias and inaccuracy in polling numbers, trolling ABC and The Washington Post in a tweet Sunday.</p>
<p>The ABC/Washington Post Poll, even though almost 40% is not bad at this time, was just about the most inaccurate poll around election time!</p>
<p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/886588838902206464" type="external">July 16, 2017</a></p>
<p>President Trump’s tweet came on the day <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/page/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2017/07/16/National-Politics/Polling/release_480.xml?tid=a_inl" type="external">The Washington Post/ABC News Poll</a> for July 10-13 <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/trump-approval-numbers-washington/2017/07/16/id/801871/" type="external">released results claiming</a> his approval rating has fallen to just 36 percent and his disapproval has risen to 58 percent.</p>
<p>Earlier Sunday morning, <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/trump-tweet-fake-news-distorting/2017/07/16/id/801878/" type="external">President Trump tweeted more salvos</a> in his ongoing campaign against “#fake news.”</p>
| 6,589 |
<p />
<p>Maintaining a healthy work-life balance can be tough in today’s work environment, but some jobs allow for more flexibility than others. In fact, work-life balance has decreased in recent years, as employees have reported an average work-life balance satisfaction rating of 3.5 in 2009, 3.4 in 2012, and 3.2 thus far in 2015* (Ratings based on a 5-point scale: 1.0=very dissatisfied, 3.0=OK, 5.0=very satisfied). So where do you turn to get a job that won’t leave you working 24/7?</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>That’s where we come in. <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm" type="external">Glassdoor Opens a New Window.</a> has identified the 25 Best Jobs for Work-Life Balance. This list was compiled based entirely on employee feedback shared on Glassdoor over the past year.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/data-scientist-jobs-SRCH_KO0,14.htm" type="external">Data Scientist Opens a New Window.</a>, <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/seo-manager-jobs-SRCH_KO0,11.htm" type="external">SEO Manager Opens a New Window.</a> and <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/talent-acquisition-specialist-jobs-SRCH_KO0,29.htm" type="external">Talent Acquisition Specialist Opens a New Window.</a> top our list for jobs providing a great work-life balance.</p>
<p>Which other jobs help you lead a satisfying life in and out of the office? Check out the complete results:</p>
<p>1.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/data-scientist-jobs-SRCH_KO0,14.htm" type="external">Data Scientist Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>2.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/seo-manager-jobs-SRCH_KO0,11.htm" type="external">SEO Manager Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>3.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/talent-acquisition-specialist-jobs-SRCH_KO0,29.htm" type="external">Talent Acquisition Specialist Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>4.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/social-media-manager-jobs-SRCH_KO0,20.htm" type="external">Social Media Manager Opens a New Window.</a></p>
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<p>8.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/digital-marketing-manager-jobs-SRCH_KO0,25.htm" type="external">Digital Marketing Manager Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>9.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/marketing-assistant-jobs-SRCH_KO0,19.htm" type="external">Marketing Assistant Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>10.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/web-developer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,13.htm" type="external">Web Developer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>11.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/risk-analyst-jobs-SRCH_KO0,12.htm" type="external">Risk Analyst Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>12.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/civil-engineer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,14.htm" type="external">Civil Engineer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
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<p>14.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/instructional-designer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,22.htm" type="external">Instructional Designer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>15.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/marketing-analyst-jobs-SRCH_KO0,17.htm" type="external">Marketing Analyst Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>16.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/software-qa-engineer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,20.htm" type="external">Software QA Engineer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>17.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/web-designer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,12.htm" type="external">Web Designer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>18.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/research-technician-jobs-SRCH_KO0,19.htm" type="external">Research Technician Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>19.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/program-analyst-jobs-SRCH_KO0,15.htm" type="external">Program Analyst Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>20.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/data-analyst-jobs-SRCH_KO0,12.htm" type="external">Data Analyst Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>21.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/content-manager-jobs-SRCH_KO0,15.htm" type="external">Content Manager Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>22.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/solutions-engineer-jobs-SRCH_KE0,18.htm" type="external">Solutions Engineer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>23.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/lab-assistant-jobs-SRCH_KO0,13.htm" type="external">Lab Assistant Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>24.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/software-developer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,18.htm" type="external">Software Developer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>25.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/front-end-developer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,19.htm" type="external">Front End Developer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>What’s the work-life balance like for your job? Let others know by sharing <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/survey/start_input.htm?contentOriginHook=PAGE_HEADER_NAV" type="external">a review Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Is salary more important to you than work-life balance? Check out Glassdoor’s report on the <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/20-jobs-biggest-pay-raises/" type="external">20 Jobs with the Biggest Pay Raises Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Methodology: For a job title to be considered for Glassdoor’s report on the 25 Best Jobs for Work-Life Balance, job titles must have at least 75 work-life balance ratings shared by U.S.-based employees over the past year (10/1/14 - 9/30/15) from a minimum of 75 companies. Of the job titles that meet this criteria, they must also include “work life balance” and/or related terms as a pro of the job in at least 15% of reviews. Job titles considered for this report must have at least 200 job openings, which represent active job listings on Glassdoor as of 10/1/15. Rankings represent ratings beyond the thousandth, and ratings are rounded to the nearest tenth for simplicity of reporting. This report takes into account job title normalization that groups similar job titles.</p>
<p>*Average work-life balance ratings based on at least 60,000 company reviews shared by employees per calendar year. For 2015, rating represents calendar year to date (1/1/15-10/13/15)</p>
|
25 Best Jobs for Work-Life Balance
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/features/2015/10/20/25-best-jobs-for-work-life-balance.html
|
2016-03-04
| 0right
|
25 Best Jobs for Work-Life Balance
<p />
<p>Maintaining a healthy work-life balance can be tough in today’s work environment, but some jobs allow for more flexibility than others. In fact, work-life balance has decreased in recent years, as employees have reported an average work-life balance satisfaction rating of 3.5 in 2009, 3.4 in 2012, and 3.2 thus far in 2015* (Ratings based on a 5-point scale: 1.0=very dissatisfied, 3.0=OK, 5.0=very satisfied). So where do you turn to get a job that won’t leave you working 24/7?</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>That’s where we come in. <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm" type="external">Glassdoor Opens a New Window.</a> has identified the 25 Best Jobs for Work-Life Balance. This list was compiled based entirely on employee feedback shared on Glassdoor over the past year.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/data-scientist-jobs-SRCH_KO0,14.htm" type="external">Data Scientist Opens a New Window.</a>, <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/seo-manager-jobs-SRCH_KO0,11.htm" type="external">SEO Manager Opens a New Window.</a> and <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/talent-acquisition-specialist-jobs-SRCH_KO0,29.htm" type="external">Talent Acquisition Specialist Opens a New Window.</a> top our list for jobs providing a great work-life balance.</p>
<p>Which other jobs help you lead a satisfying life in and out of the office? Check out the complete results:</p>
<p>1.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/data-scientist-jobs-SRCH_KO0,14.htm" type="external">Data Scientist Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>2.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/seo-manager-jobs-SRCH_KO0,11.htm" type="external">SEO Manager Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>3.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/talent-acquisition-specialist-jobs-SRCH_KO0,29.htm" type="external">Talent Acquisition Specialist Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>4.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/social-media-manager-jobs-SRCH_KO0,20.htm" type="external">Social Media Manager Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>5.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/substitute-teacher-jobs-SRCH_KO0,18.htm" type="external">Substitute Teacher Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>6.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/recruiting-coordinator-jobs-SRCH_KO0,22.htm" type="external">Recruiting Coordinator Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>7.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/ux-designer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,11.htm" type="external">UX Designer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>8.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/digital-marketing-manager-jobs-SRCH_KO0,25.htm" type="external">Digital Marketing Manager Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>9.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/marketing-assistant-jobs-SRCH_KO0,19.htm" type="external">Marketing Assistant Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>10.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/web-developer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,13.htm" type="external">Web Developer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>11.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/risk-analyst-jobs-SRCH_KO0,12.htm" type="external">Risk Analyst Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>12.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/civil-engineer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,14.htm" type="external">Civil Engineer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>13.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/client-manager-jobs-SRCH_KO0,14.htm" type="external">Client Manager Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>14.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/instructional-designer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,22.htm" type="external">Instructional Designer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>15.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/marketing-analyst-jobs-SRCH_KO0,17.htm" type="external">Marketing Analyst Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>16.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/software-qa-engineer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,20.htm" type="external">Software QA Engineer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>17.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/web-designer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,12.htm" type="external">Web Designer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>18.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/research-technician-jobs-SRCH_KO0,19.htm" type="external">Research Technician Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>19.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/program-analyst-jobs-SRCH_KO0,15.htm" type="external">Program Analyst Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>20.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/data-analyst-jobs-SRCH_KO0,12.htm" type="external">Data Analyst Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>21.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/content-manager-jobs-SRCH_KO0,15.htm" type="external">Content Manager Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>22.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/solutions-engineer-jobs-SRCH_KE0,18.htm" type="external">Solutions Engineer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>23.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/lab-assistant-jobs-SRCH_KO0,13.htm" type="external">Lab Assistant Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>24.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/software-developer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,18.htm" type="external">Software Developer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>25.&#160; <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Job/front-end-developer-jobs-SRCH_KO0,19.htm" type="external">Front End Developer Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>What’s the work-life balance like for your job? Let others know by sharing <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/survey/start_input.htm?contentOriginHook=PAGE_HEADER_NAV" type="external">a review Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Is salary more important to you than work-life balance? Check out Glassdoor’s report on the <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/20-jobs-biggest-pay-raises/" type="external">20 Jobs with the Biggest Pay Raises Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Methodology: For a job title to be considered for Glassdoor’s report on the 25 Best Jobs for Work-Life Balance, job titles must have at least 75 work-life balance ratings shared by U.S.-based employees over the past year (10/1/14 - 9/30/15) from a minimum of 75 companies. Of the job titles that meet this criteria, they must also include “work life balance” and/or related terms as a pro of the job in at least 15% of reviews. Job titles considered for this report must have at least 200 job openings, which represent active job listings on Glassdoor as of 10/1/15. Rankings represent ratings beyond the thousandth, and ratings are rounded to the nearest tenth for simplicity of reporting. This report takes into account job title normalization that groups similar job titles.</p>
<p>*Average work-life balance ratings based on at least 60,000 company reviews shared by employees per calendar year. For 2015, rating represents calendar year to date (1/1/15-10/13/15)</p>
| 6,590 |
<p />
<p>Last week, we published <a href="https://www.recruiter.com/i/money-isnt-a-core-value-evan-carmichael-on-building-startups-that-matter/?preview=true" type="external">an interview Opens a New Window.</a> with author, speaker, and entrepreneur <a href="http://www.evancarmichael.com/" type="external">Evan Carmichael Opens a New Window.</a>. That interview focused on his book, <a href="http://evancarmichael.com/oneword/" type="external">Your One Word Opens a New Window.</a>,&#160;but toward the end, Carmichael and I got into a discussion about his approach to hiring. We didn't think it fit with the overall theme of the interview, but we also felt his insights were highly valuable. Today, we're presenting those insights.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>Evan Carmichael thinks the <a href="https://www.recruiter.com/hiring-process.html" type="external">hiring&#160;process Opens a New Window.</a> is broken – and he thinks entrepreneurs have it especially bad. Most of them can't afford to hire in-house recruiters or outsource hiring to a third-party, so they handle the brunt of the work themselves. And they're passionate about their companies, so they spend a lot of time crafting their job posts to make sure they're perfect.</p>
<p>Then they receive an influx of resumes from candidate who didn't even take the time to read those job posts. They just saw an opening and applied. These aren't people who share the entrepreneur's mission and values; they're people who just want a paycheck.</p>
<p>"Say you have a&#160;PHP programmer, and they're auto-responding to every PHP job ad out there," Carmichael says. "You put all this work into your job post, and it took them five seconds to apply. And now you have to read through their cover letters and applications."</p>
<p>That's why Carmichael takes a highly unorthodox approach to hiring&#160;– but it's one that works for him. Out of&#160;all the people he has hired this way, only one left the company, but only because he was looking for a more senior position and Carmichael's organization couldn't support that career move just yet. He still checks in often and offers to lend a hand with any work that might be piling up.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The Benefits of a 'Long, Huge, Ugly' Job Post</p>
<p>"Too often, people hire for skills," Carmichael says. "They don't hire for values and culture fit enough. They're like, 'I'm struggling. I need a programmer ASAP. Just give me someone who knows the skills.' Then they&#160;bring the person in, and it doesn't work."</p>
<p>To avoid making this mistake, Carmichael includes the theme of his company in the title of every job posting. (This goes back to the idea, explored in our previous interview, of the "One Word": A single, defining value around which a&#160;whole company is built.)</p>
<p>Carmichael's "One Word" is "Believe."</p>
<p>"So, if I'm hiring a programer, it'll be 'I'm looking for a programmer who #Believes in entrepreneurs,'" he explains. "Some people will look at that job description and title and say, 'That is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. A programmer who believes in entrepreneurs?'"</p>
<p>Carmichael sees this as a good thing.</p>
<p>"For me, it's fantastic. If you look at that and think it's the stupidest job description ever, you will self-eliminate," he says. "If you don't believe in entrepreneurs, you're going to have a terrible time working at my company. You can do something way more fulfilling somewhere else. Go find that."</p>
<p>Other people, though, will respond positively.</p>
<p>"These are the people who will spend extra time customizing their cover letters and resumes to make themselves&#160;stand out," Carmichael says. "Or maybe they'll follow you on Twitter and engage with you or comment on your new YouTube video. They really, really want it."</p>
<p>Carmichael's job posts are fairly long. They cover the company's mission, what it does, what the job is, and what the job requirements are. Somewhere in the middle of this "long, huge, ugly" job post, as he calls it, will be a simple directive: "In the first line of your application, tell me how many YouTube subscribers I have."</p>
<p>"What ends up happening is a lot of people don't even read the ad," Carmichael says. "They just apply because it's whatever role they're looking for. If they aren't going to take the time to read my job post, why am I going to take the time to read their cover letter?"</p>
<p>If an applicant follows the directions, Carmichael will read their application. If they don't, the application gets tossed – regardless of the person's references, history, or qualifications.</p>
<p>"Some people write back and say, 'I saw the question. I'm happy to do it. Can you please tell me what your YouTube channel is?'" Carmichael says with a laugh. "It's not that hard to type 'Evan Carmichael' into YouTube. Especially in an entrepreneurial environment, you need a little creative thinking and problem solving. So that person is gone."</p>
<p>Skip the Interviews and Go Straight to Work</p>
<p>After that, most employers&#160;would conduct interviews. Carmichael doesn't. In fact,&#160;oftentimes, there are no interviews at all in his hiring process.</p>
<p>"I think interviews for the most part test the wrong skills," he explains. "If I'm hiring a programmer, how they deal in a job interview doesn't really test the skills I need. The interview really lends itself to some jobs, but for a lot of jobs, it's a big waste of time. Some of the best people on my team would have failed a job interview at most companies."</p>
<p>Instead, anyone who answers the job post question correctly is given a paid trial job. The job reflects what the role would look like, and it should take about two hours to do – but Carmichael doesn't tell candidates that. Rather, he tells them they have five hours to do it.</p>
<p>"Some people don't even start the job," he says.&#160;"Some people go for the full five hours. Great – either you're really slow or you're milking me. Either way, it's a cheap way to find out this person won't be a fit at my company."</p>
<p>Some people will do the job in the two hours it takes – but one or two people will do the job and a little bit extra.</p>
<p>"For example, if I wanted them to write an article, they'll say, 'Here's the version the way you wanted it. But I also felt it could use this, this, and this, so I tweaked it and made a second version. What do you think?'" Carmichael says. "That's the person I hire."</p>
<p>There is no formal, traditional interview at any point. Rather, Carmichael views the back and forth that occurs during the trial job as a type of interview.</p>
<p>"To do the job, they'll need to ask questions," he says. "The job might involve me, it might involve other people on my team. By working together like that, we can see if they could fit here."</p>
|
If You Have a Good Hiring Process, You Don't Need Interviews
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/03/02/if-have-good-hiring-process-dont-need-interviews.html
|
2017-03-17
| 0right
|
If You Have a Good Hiring Process, You Don't Need Interviews
<p />
<p>Last week, we published <a href="https://www.recruiter.com/i/money-isnt-a-core-value-evan-carmichael-on-building-startups-that-matter/?preview=true" type="external">an interview Opens a New Window.</a> with author, speaker, and entrepreneur <a href="http://www.evancarmichael.com/" type="external">Evan Carmichael Opens a New Window.</a>. That interview focused on his book, <a href="http://evancarmichael.com/oneword/" type="external">Your One Word Opens a New Window.</a>,&#160;but toward the end, Carmichael and I got into a discussion about his approach to hiring. We didn't think it fit with the overall theme of the interview, but we also felt his insights were highly valuable. Today, we're presenting those insights.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>Evan Carmichael thinks the <a href="https://www.recruiter.com/hiring-process.html" type="external">hiring&#160;process Opens a New Window.</a> is broken – and he thinks entrepreneurs have it especially bad. Most of them can't afford to hire in-house recruiters or outsource hiring to a third-party, so they handle the brunt of the work themselves. And they're passionate about their companies, so they spend a lot of time crafting their job posts to make sure they're perfect.</p>
<p>Then they receive an influx of resumes from candidate who didn't even take the time to read those job posts. They just saw an opening and applied. These aren't people who share the entrepreneur's mission and values; they're people who just want a paycheck.</p>
<p>"Say you have a&#160;PHP programmer, and they're auto-responding to every PHP job ad out there," Carmichael says. "You put all this work into your job post, and it took them five seconds to apply. And now you have to read through their cover letters and applications."</p>
<p>That's why Carmichael takes a highly unorthodox approach to hiring&#160;– but it's one that works for him. Out of&#160;all the people he has hired this way, only one left the company, but only because he was looking for a more senior position and Carmichael's organization couldn't support that career move just yet. He still checks in often and offers to lend a hand with any work that might be piling up.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The Benefits of a 'Long, Huge, Ugly' Job Post</p>
<p>"Too often, people hire for skills," Carmichael says. "They don't hire for values and culture fit enough. They're like, 'I'm struggling. I need a programmer ASAP. Just give me someone who knows the skills.' Then they&#160;bring the person in, and it doesn't work."</p>
<p>To avoid making this mistake, Carmichael includes the theme of his company in the title of every job posting. (This goes back to the idea, explored in our previous interview, of the "One Word": A single, defining value around which a&#160;whole company is built.)</p>
<p>Carmichael's "One Word" is "Believe."</p>
<p>"So, if I'm hiring a programer, it'll be 'I'm looking for a programmer who #Believes in entrepreneurs,'" he explains. "Some people will look at that job description and title and say, 'That is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. A programmer who believes in entrepreneurs?'"</p>
<p>Carmichael sees this as a good thing.</p>
<p>"For me, it's fantastic. If you look at that and think it's the stupidest job description ever, you will self-eliminate," he says. "If you don't believe in entrepreneurs, you're going to have a terrible time working at my company. You can do something way more fulfilling somewhere else. Go find that."</p>
<p>Other people, though, will respond positively.</p>
<p>"These are the people who will spend extra time customizing their cover letters and resumes to make themselves&#160;stand out," Carmichael says. "Or maybe they'll follow you on Twitter and engage with you or comment on your new YouTube video. They really, really want it."</p>
<p>Carmichael's job posts are fairly long. They cover the company's mission, what it does, what the job is, and what the job requirements are. Somewhere in the middle of this "long, huge, ugly" job post, as he calls it, will be a simple directive: "In the first line of your application, tell me how many YouTube subscribers I have."</p>
<p>"What ends up happening is a lot of people don't even read the ad," Carmichael says. "They just apply because it's whatever role they're looking for. If they aren't going to take the time to read my job post, why am I going to take the time to read their cover letter?"</p>
<p>If an applicant follows the directions, Carmichael will read their application. If they don't, the application gets tossed – regardless of the person's references, history, or qualifications.</p>
<p>"Some people write back and say, 'I saw the question. I'm happy to do it. Can you please tell me what your YouTube channel is?'" Carmichael says with a laugh. "It's not that hard to type 'Evan Carmichael' into YouTube. Especially in an entrepreneurial environment, you need a little creative thinking and problem solving. So that person is gone."</p>
<p>Skip the Interviews and Go Straight to Work</p>
<p>After that, most employers&#160;would conduct interviews. Carmichael doesn't. In fact,&#160;oftentimes, there are no interviews at all in his hiring process.</p>
<p>"I think interviews for the most part test the wrong skills," he explains. "If I'm hiring a programmer, how they deal in a job interview doesn't really test the skills I need. The interview really lends itself to some jobs, but for a lot of jobs, it's a big waste of time. Some of the best people on my team would have failed a job interview at most companies."</p>
<p>Instead, anyone who answers the job post question correctly is given a paid trial job. The job reflects what the role would look like, and it should take about two hours to do – but Carmichael doesn't tell candidates that. Rather, he tells them they have five hours to do it.</p>
<p>"Some people don't even start the job," he says.&#160;"Some people go for the full five hours. Great – either you're really slow or you're milking me. Either way, it's a cheap way to find out this person won't be a fit at my company."</p>
<p>Some people will do the job in the two hours it takes – but one or two people will do the job and a little bit extra.</p>
<p>"For example, if I wanted them to write an article, they'll say, 'Here's the version the way you wanted it. But I also felt it could use this, this, and this, so I tweaked it and made a second version. What do you think?'" Carmichael says. "That's the person I hire."</p>
<p>There is no formal, traditional interview at any point. Rather, Carmichael views the back and forth that occurs during the trial job as a type of interview.</p>
<p>"To do the job, they'll need to ask questions," he says. "The job might involve me, it might involve other people on my team. By working together like that, we can see if they could fit here."</p>
| 6,591 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The man - whose name had not been released by police - was alive when he was taken to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, according to State Police.</p>
<p>They have not said how many times he was shot or provided information on his condition.</p>
<p>They would also not say whether he was airlifted or driven to the hospital in an ambulance.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>A State Police spokesman also declined to say what type of weapon the man wielded at officers, or which agency shot the suspect.</p>
<p>State Police are conducting the investigation.</p>
<p>Los Lunas Police Chief Naithan Gurule, however, said a State Police officer or officers shot the man around 2:15 a.m. Saturday after a five hours of attempts to negotiate with the man..</p>
<p>Gurule said the man's wife went to a neighbor's house to call police during a domestic dispute.</p>
<p>He said the man's 14-year-old son was inside the home during a portion of the negotiations before he was able to leave safely.</p>
<p>Gurule also said the man was periodically firing a gun, either a handgun, a rifle or both, inside his home, including through the roof, into the garage and through a window.</p>
<p>State Police, in a news release, said "the subject exited the residence and presented a weapon and shots were fired by officers."</p>
<p>Around 9:30 p.m. Friday, State Police officers were called to the home on Calle Don Santiago to help Los Lunas police with the "armed barricaded" man.</p>
<p>State Police spokesman Lt. Emmanuel Gutierrez said officers tried to negotiate with the man, who may have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs.</p>
<p>Gurule said the initial report said the suspect might have been intoxicated but he couldn't say whether that was confirmed.</p>
<p />
<p />
|
Man shot by police in Los Lunas
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/394047/man-shot-by-cops-in-los-lunas.html
| 2least
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Man shot by police in Los Lunas
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The man - whose name had not been released by police - was alive when he was taken to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, according to State Police.</p>
<p>They have not said how many times he was shot or provided information on his condition.</p>
<p>They would also not say whether he was airlifted or driven to the hospital in an ambulance.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>A State Police spokesman also declined to say what type of weapon the man wielded at officers, or which agency shot the suspect.</p>
<p>State Police are conducting the investigation.</p>
<p>Los Lunas Police Chief Naithan Gurule, however, said a State Police officer or officers shot the man around 2:15 a.m. Saturday after a five hours of attempts to negotiate with the man..</p>
<p>Gurule said the man's wife went to a neighbor's house to call police during a domestic dispute.</p>
<p>He said the man's 14-year-old son was inside the home during a portion of the negotiations before he was able to leave safely.</p>
<p>Gurule also said the man was periodically firing a gun, either a handgun, a rifle or both, inside his home, including through the roof, into the garage and through a window.</p>
<p>State Police, in a news release, said "the subject exited the residence and presented a weapon and shots were fired by officers."</p>
<p>Around 9:30 p.m. Friday, State Police officers were called to the home on Calle Don Santiago to help Los Lunas police with the "armed barricaded" man.</p>
<p>State Police spokesman Lt. Emmanuel Gutierrez said officers tried to negotiate with the man, who may have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs.</p>
<p>Gurule said the initial report said the suspect might have been intoxicated but he couldn't say whether that was confirmed.</p>
<p />
<p />
| 6,592 |
|
<p>WACO, Texas (AP) — Those missed shots by No. 4 Baylor just meant more opportunities for its big post players to grab some more rebounds.</p>
<p>Kalani Brown scored 33 points and Lauren Cox had 16, and they became the first Big 12 teammates to both have 19 rebounds in a conference game as the Lady Bears outrebounded Kansas State by 45 in a 75-50 victory Saturday to stretch their winning streak to 14 games.</p>
<p>“Baylor didn’t shoot the ball real well for what they normally do, but all that did for them, for us, is just give them a chance to play volleyball against the glass and rebound it more,” Kansas State coach Jeff Mittie said. “That really didn’t help us as much as we needed it to.”</p>
<p>Led by the 6-foot-7 Brown and 6-4 Cox, the Lady Bears finished with a 69-24 rebounding margin. They combined for 19 of Baylor’s 32 offensive rebounds. Baylor missed eight of its first 10 shots and shot 42 percent (31 of 74) for the game, well below its season mark of 52 percent coming into the game that led the conference.</p>
<p>Kayla Goth had 22 points for Kansas State (11-8, 3-5), which has lost 28 straight games against Baylor.</p>
<p>Freshman Alexis Morris added 12 points for the Lady Bears.</p>
<p>Brown had three turnovers before her three-point play tied the game 9-all. She reacted emphatically by slapping her hands together after making the basket before the tying free throw, and made a tiebreaking layup to put the Lady Bears ahead to stay.</p>
<p>“I guess I just had to figure their defense out,” Brown said. “I played a little rattled in the beginning, and coaches pulled me aside. It was like, calm down and play your game, and I just went out there more relaxed.”</p>
<p>BIG PICTURE</p>
<p>Kansas State: Like most teams, the Wildcats could only contain Baylor for a short time. Kansas State’s last win over Baylor was on Jan. 27, 2004. Baylor won by 30 in the Big 12 opener between the schools on Dec. 28.</p>
<p>Baylor: Now 7-0 in Big 12 play for the sixth time in eight years, the Lady Bears have won their conference games by an average margin of nearly 33 points. The closest was 22. Their most significant test is coming up in their next game, when they host No. 9 Texas (15-3, 6-1) in a matchup of the conference’s top teams.</p>
<p>“I imagine they better be ready Thursday or they’re going to get blown out because Texas is that good,” coach Kim Mulkey said when asked if her team was ready for a close game. “Texas has the most talent in the league. They have the most depth in the league. We’ve got our hands full.”</p>
<p>RARE DOUBLE-DOUBLE</p>
<p>Brown became the third Big 12 player with at least 33 points and 19 rebounds in a conference game. The last was Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris, who had 33 points and 21 rebounds against Missouri on Feb. 25, 2007.</p>
<p>FINISHING STRONG</p>
<p>The Lady Bears went ahead to stay with a 10-0 run to end the first quarter. Then they finished the first half by scoring the last 10 points.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Kansas State is home on Wednesday night to play TCU, Mittie’s former team. The Horned Frogs (13-5, 4-3) have won four straight Big 12 games for the first time ever.</p>
<p>Baylor has that big game Thursday night at home against Texas, coming off a 90-39 win over Texas Tech.</p>
<p>WACO, Texas (AP) — Those missed shots by No. 4 Baylor just meant more opportunities for its big post players to grab some more rebounds.</p>
<p>Kalani Brown scored 33 points and Lauren Cox had 16, and they became the first Big 12 teammates to both have 19 rebounds in a conference game as the Lady Bears outrebounded Kansas State by 45 in a 75-50 victory Saturday to stretch their winning streak to 14 games.</p>
<p>“Baylor didn’t shoot the ball real well for what they normally do, but all that did for them, for us, is just give them a chance to play volleyball against the glass and rebound it more,” Kansas State coach Jeff Mittie said. “That really didn’t help us as much as we needed it to.”</p>
<p>Led by the 6-foot-7 Brown and 6-4 Cox, the Lady Bears finished with a 69-24 rebounding margin. They combined for 19 of Baylor’s 32 offensive rebounds. Baylor missed eight of its first 10 shots and shot 42 percent (31 of 74) for the game, well below its season mark of 52 percent coming into the game that led the conference.</p>
<p>Kayla Goth had 22 points for Kansas State (11-8, 3-5), which has lost 28 straight games against Baylor.</p>
<p>Freshman Alexis Morris added 12 points for the Lady Bears.</p>
<p>Brown had three turnovers before her three-point play tied the game 9-all. She reacted emphatically by slapping her hands together after making the basket before the tying free throw, and made a tiebreaking layup to put the Lady Bears ahead to stay.</p>
<p>“I guess I just had to figure their defense out,” Brown said. “I played a little rattled in the beginning, and coaches pulled me aside. It was like, calm down and play your game, and I just went out there more relaxed.”</p>
<p>BIG PICTURE</p>
<p>Kansas State: Like most teams, the Wildcats could only contain Baylor for a short time. Kansas State’s last win over Baylor was on Jan. 27, 2004. Baylor won by 30 in the Big 12 opener between the schools on Dec. 28.</p>
<p>Baylor: Now 7-0 in Big 12 play for the sixth time in eight years, the Lady Bears have won their conference games by an average margin of nearly 33 points. The closest was 22. Their most significant test is coming up in their next game, when they host No. 9 Texas (15-3, 6-1) in a matchup of the conference’s top teams.</p>
<p>“I imagine they better be ready Thursday or they’re going to get blown out because Texas is that good,” coach Kim Mulkey said when asked if her team was ready for a close game. “Texas has the most talent in the league. They have the most depth in the league. We’ve got our hands full.”</p>
<p>RARE DOUBLE-DOUBLE</p>
<p>Brown became the third Big 12 player with at least 33 points and 19 rebounds in a conference game. The last was Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris, who had 33 points and 21 rebounds against Missouri on Feb. 25, 2007.</p>
<p>FINISHING STRONG</p>
<p>The Lady Bears went ahead to stay with a 10-0 run to end the first quarter. Then they finished the first half by scoring the last 10 points.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Kansas State is home on Wednesday night to play TCU, Mittie’s former team. The Horned Frogs (13-5, 4-3) have won four straight Big 12 games for the first time ever.</p>
<p>Baylor has that big game Thursday night at home against Texas, coming off a 90-39 win over Texas Tech.</p>
|
No. 4 Baylor women win 14th straight, 75-50 over K-State
| false |
https://apnews.com/aa6e79359a43471fa7b37c202a177734
|
2018-01-21
| 2least
|
No. 4 Baylor women win 14th straight, 75-50 over K-State
<p>WACO, Texas (AP) — Those missed shots by No. 4 Baylor just meant more opportunities for its big post players to grab some more rebounds.</p>
<p>Kalani Brown scored 33 points and Lauren Cox had 16, and they became the first Big 12 teammates to both have 19 rebounds in a conference game as the Lady Bears outrebounded Kansas State by 45 in a 75-50 victory Saturday to stretch their winning streak to 14 games.</p>
<p>“Baylor didn’t shoot the ball real well for what they normally do, but all that did for them, for us, is just give them a chance to play volleyball against the glass and rebound it more,” Kansas State coach Jeff Mittie said. “That really didn’t help us as much as we needed it to.”</p>
<p>Led by the 6-foot-7 Brown and 6-4 Cox, the Lady Bears finished with a 69-24 rebounding margin. They combined for 19 of Baylor’s 32 offensive rebounds. Baylor missed eight of its first 10 shots and shot 42 percent (31 of 74) for the game, well below its season mark of 52 percent coming into the game that led the conference.</p>
<p>Kayla Goth had 22 points for Kansas State (11-8, 3-5), which has lost 28 straight games against Baylor.</p>
<p>Freshman Alexis Morris added 12 points for the Lady Bears.</p>
<p>Brown had three turnovers before her three-point play tied the game 9-all. She reacted emphatically by slapping her hands together after making the basket before the tying free throw, and made a tiebreaking layup to put the Lady Bears ahead to stay.</p>
<p>“I guess I just had to figure their defense out,” Brown said. “I played a little rattled in the beginning, and coaches pulled me aside. It was like, calm down and play your game, and I just went out there more relaxed.”</p>
<p>BIG PICTURE</p>
<p>Kansas State: Like most teams, the Wildcats could only contain Baylor for a short time. Kansas State’s last win over Baylor was on Jan. 27, 2004. Baylor won by 30 in the Big 12 opener between the schools on Dec. 28.</p>
<p>Baylor: Now 7-0 in Big 12 play for the sixth time in eight years, the Lady Bears have won their conference games by an average margin of nearly 33 points. The closest was 22. Their most significant test is coming up in their next game, when they host No. 9 Texas (15-3, 6-1) in a matchup of the conference’s top teams.</p>
<p>“I imagine they better be ready Thursday or they’re going to get blown out because Texas is that good,” coach Kim Mulkey said when asked if her team was ready for a close game. “Texas has the most talent in the league. They have the most depth in the league. We’ve got our hands full.”</p>
<p>RARE DOUBLE-DOUBLE</p>
<p>Brown became the third Big 12 player with at least 33 points and 19 rebounds in a conference game. The last was Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris, who had 33 points and 21 rebounds against Missouri on Feb. 25, 2007.</p>
<p>FINISHING STRONG</p>
<p>The Lady Bears went ahead to stay with a 10-0 run to end the first quarter. Then they finished the first half by scoring the last 10 points.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Kansas State is home on Wednesday night to play TCU, Mittie’s former team. The Horned Frogs (13-5, 4-3) have won four straight Big 12 games for the first time ever.</p>
<p>Baylor has that big game Thursday night at home against Texas, coming off a 90-39 win over Texas Tech.</p>
<p>WACO, Texas (AP) — Those missed shots by No. 4 Baylor just meant more opportunities for its big post players to grab some more rebounds.</p>
<p>Kalani Brown scored 33 points and Lauren Cox had 16, and they became the first Big 12 teammates to both have 19 rebounds in a conference game as the Lady Bears outrebounded Kansas State by 45 in a 75-50 victory Saturday to stretch their winning streak to 14 games.</p>
<p>“Baylor didn’t shoot the ball real well for what they normally do, but all that did for them, for us, is just give them a chance to play volleyball against the glass and rebound it more,” Kansas State coach Jeff Mittie said. “That really didn’t help us as much as we needed it to.”</p>
<p>Led by the 6-foot-7 Brown and 6-4 Cox, the Lady Bears finished with a 69-24 rebounding margin. They combined for 19 of Baylor’s 32 offensive rebounds. Baylor missed eight of its first 10 shots and shot 42 percent (31 of 74) for the game, well below its season mark of 52 percent coming into the game that led the conference.</p>
<p>Kayla Goth had 22 points for Kansas State (11-8, 3-5), which has lost 28 straight games against Baylor.</p>
<p>Freshman Alexis Morris added 12 points for the Lady Bears.</p>
<p>Brown had three turnovers before her three-point play tied the game 9-all. She reacted emphatically by slapping her hands together after making the basket before the tying free throw, and made a tiebreaking layup to put the Lady Bears ahead to stay.</p>
<p>“I guess I just had to figure their defense out,” Brown said. “I played a little rattled in the beginning, and coaches pulled me aside. It was like, calm down and play your game, and I just went out there more relaxed.”</p>
<p>BIG PICTURE</p>
<p>Kansas State: Like most teams, the Wildcats could only contain Baylor for a short time. Kansas State’s last win over Baylor was on Jan. 27, 2004. Baylor won by 30 in the Big 12 opener between the schools on Dec. 28.</p>
<p>Baylor: Now 7-0 in Big 12 play for the sixth time in eight years, the Lady Bears have won their conference games by an average margin of nearly 33 points. The closest was 22. Their most significant test is coming up in their next game, when they host No. 9 Texas (15-3, 6-1) in a matchup of the conference’s top teams.</p>
<p>“I imagine they better be ready Thursday or they’re going to get blown out because Texas is that good,” coach Kim Mulkey said when asked if her team was ready for a close game. “Texas has the most talent in the league. They have the most depth in the league. We’ve got our hands full.”</p>
<p>RARE DOUBLE-DOUBLE</p>
<p>Brown became the third Big 12 player with at least 33 points and 19 rebounds in a conference game. The last was Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris, who had 33 points and 21 rebounds against Missouri on Feb. 25, 2007.</p>
<p>FINISHING STRONG</p>
<p>The Lady Bears went ahead to stay with a 10-0 run to end the first quarter. Then they finished the first half by scoring the last 10 points.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Kansas State is home on Wednesday night to play TCU, Mittie’s former team. The Horned Frogs (13-5, 4-3) have won four straight Big 12 games for the first time ever.</p>
<p>Baylor has that big game Thursday night at home against Texas, coming off a 90-39 win over Texas Tech.</p>
| 6,593 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>CARACAS, Venezuela — A day that began with largely peaceful protests against Venezuela’s socialist government took a violent turn Monday as fierce clashes between state security and demonstrators killed at least two people.</p>
<p>Thousands hauled folding chairs, beach umbrellas and protest signs onto main roads for a 12-hour “sit-in against the dictatorship,” the latest in a month and a half of street demonstrations that have resulted in dozens of deaths.</p>
<p>Protests in Caracas against President Nicolas Maduro remained mostly tranquil, but outside the capital demonstrators clashed with police and national guardsmen. In the western state of Tachira near Venezuela’s border with Colombia, two men were reported dead in separate demonstrations: Luis Alviarez, 18, and Diego Hernandez, 33.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Witness videos showed a man identified as Hernandez lying lifeless on the pavement, his eyes wide open, as a bystander ripped open his shirt, revealing a bloody wound underneath. “They killed him!” someone cries out.</p>
<p>Elsewhere in Tachira, demonstrators threw rocks and set an armored truck on fire. Several buildings were set ablaze and dozens injured, including one young woman standing on the street, her face covered in blood.</p>
<p>In the central state of Carabobo, three officers were shot, including one left in critical condition after being struck in the head, authorities said. In Lara, a vehicle ran over three protesters.</p>
<p>The violence added to a mounting toll of bloodshed and chaos as Venezuela’s opposition vows to step up near-daily demonstrations and Maduro shows no intention of conceding to opposition demands. More than three dozen people have been killed, including a national guardsman and a police officer, hundreds injured and as many as 2,000 detained in nearly seven weeks of protests.</p>
<p>International pressure on the troubled South American nation is continuing to increase, with the Organization of American States voting Monday to hold a rare foreign ministers’ meeting later this month to discuss Venezuela’s political crisis. The Washington-based group only convenes such meetings to address most urgent affairs.</p>
<p>“We ask the world to look at what’s happening right now in Venezuela,” opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said after Monday’s violence. “A deranged regime that represses and kills its people.”</p>
<p>Venezuela announced in late April that it would be leaving the OAS, which seeks to defend democracy throughout the hemisphere, and its representative was not present at Monday’s meeting. Maduro contends the OAS is meddling in Venezuela’s domestic affairs, infringing on its sovereignty and trying to remove him from power.</p>
<p>The fiery Venezuelan president is vowing to resolve his nation’s crisis by convening a special assembly to rewrite the nation’s constitution, while the opposition is demanding an immediate presidential election.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Polls indicate the great majority of Venezuelans want Maduro gone as violent crime soars and the country falls into economic ruin, with triple-digit inflation and shortages of many basic foods and medical supplies.</p>
<p>The wave of protests were triggered by a government move to nullify the opposition-controlled congress in late March, but the demonstrations have morphed into a general airing of grievances against the unpopular socialist administration.</p>
<p>As demonstrations take over Caracas almost daily, normal life has continued, but the atmosphere is suffused with uncertainty. At fancy cafes, patrons show each other the latest videos of student protesters getting hurt or defaced statues of the late President Hugo Chavez on their phones. Working class people who have to traverse the capital for their jobs have adjusted their schedules to account for traffic shutdowns and take siestas to wait out clashes between protesters and police.</p>
<p>On Monday, demonstrators assembled a giant rosary with balloons hanging from a Caracas highway overpass. A group of flamenco dancers dressed in black performed for the crowds. Others simply sat and held signs declaring their resistance.</p>
<p>Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said the opposition would take its protests “to another stage” as Maduro continues his push to rewrite the nation’s constitution.</p>
<p>“We are against this fraudulent process,” Capriles said on his radio broadcast.</p>
<p>Tarek William Saab, the national ombudsman, whose job is to protect citizens’ rights but who has been tagged the “dictator’s defender” by the opposition, said on Twitter that he was pressing for an exhaustive investigation into Alviarez’s death Monday to determine who was responsible and ensure they are held accountable.</p>
<p>Maduro blames the opposition for the violence, claiming its leaders are fomenting unrest to remove him from power. The opposition maintains state security and civilian-armed pro-government groups known as “colectivos” are responsible for the bloodshed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Hannah Dreier reported this story in Caracas and AP writer Christine Armario reported from Bogota, Colombia.</p>
|
2 dead as Venezuela protests turn violent outside capital
| false |
https://abqjournal.com/1003844/2-dead-as-venezuela-protests-turn-violent-outside-capital.html
|
2017-05-15
| 2least
|
2 dead as Venezuela protests turn violent outside capital
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>CARACAS, Venezuela — A day that began with largely peaceful protests against Venezuela’s socialist government took a violent turn Monday as fierce clashes between state security and demonstrators killed at least two people.</p>
<p>Thousands hauled folding chairs, beach umbrellas and protest signs onto main roads for a 12-hour “sit-in against the dictatorship,” the latest in a month and a half of street demonstrations that have resulted in dozens of deaths.</p>
<p>Protests in Caracas against President Nicolas Maduro remained mostly tranquil, but outside the capital demonstrators clashed with police and national guardsmen. In the western state of Tachira near Venezuela’s border with Colombia, two men were reported dead in separate demonstrations: Luis Alviarez, 18, and Diego Hernandez, 33.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Witness videos showed a man identified as Hernandez lying lifeless on the pavement, his eyes wide open, as a bystander ripped open his shirt, revealing a bloody wound underneath. “They killed him!” someone cries out.</p>
<p>Elsewhere in Tachira, demonstrators threw rocks and set an armored truck on fire. Several buildings were set ablaze and dozens injured, including one young woman standing on the street, her face covered in blood.</p>
<p>In the central state of Carabobo, three officers were shot, including one left in critical condition after being struck in the head, authorities said. In Lara, a vehicle ran over three protesters.</p>
<p>The violence added to a mounting toll of bloodshed and chaos as Venezuela’s opposition vows to step up near-daily demonstrations and Maduro shows no intention of conceding to opposition demands. More than three dozen people have been killed, including a national guardsman and a police officer, hundreds injured and as many as 2,000 detained in nearly seven weeks of protests.</p>
<p>International pressure on the troubled South American nation is continuing to increase, with the Organization of American States voting Monday to hold a rare foreign ministers’ meeting later this month to discuss Venezuela’s political crisis. The Washington-based group only convenes such meetings to address most urgent affairs.</p>
<p>“We ask the world to look at what’s happening right now in Venezuela,” opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said after Monday’s violence. “A deranged regime that represses and kills its people.”</p>
<p>Venezuela announced in late April that it would be leaving the OAS, which seeks to defend democracy throughout the hemisphere, and its representative was not present at Monday’s meeting. Maduro contends the OAS is meddling in Venezuela’s domestic affairs, infringing on its sovereignty and trying to remove him from power.</p>
<p>The fiery Venezuelan president is vowing to resolve his nation’s crisis by convening a special assembly to rewrite the nation’s constitution, while the opposition is demanding an immediate presidential election.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Polls indicate the great majority of Venezuelans want Maduro gone as violent crime soars and the country falls into economic ruin, with triple-digit inflation and shortages of many basic foods and medical supplies.</p>
<p>The wave of protests were triggered by a government move to nullify the opposition-controlled congress in late March, but the demonstrations have morphed into a general airing of grievances against the unpopular socialist administration.</p>
<p>As demonstrations take over Caracas almost daily, normal life has continued, but the atmosphere is suffused with uncertainty. At fancy cafes, patrons show each other the latest videos of student protesters getting hurt or defaced statues of the late President Hugo Chavez on their phones. Working class people who have to traverse the capital for their jobs have adjusted their schedules to account for traffic shutdowns and take siestas to wait out clashes between protesters and police.</p>
<p>On Monday, demonstrators assembled a giant rosary with balloons hanging from a Caracas highway overpass. A group of flamenco dancers dressed in black performed for the crowds. Others simply sat and held signs declaring their resistance.</p>
<p>Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said the opposition would take its protests “to another stage” as Maduro continues his push to rewrite the nation’s constitution.</p>
<p>“We are against this fraudulent process,” Capriles said on his radio broadcast.</p>
<p>Tarek William Saab, the national ombudsman, whose job is to protect citizens’ rights but who has been tagged the “dictator’s defender” by the opposition, said on Twitter that he was pressing for an exhaustive investigation into Alviarez’s death Monday to determine who was responsible and ensure they are held accountable.</p>
<p>Maduro blames the opposition for the violence, claiming its leaders are fomenting unrest to remove him from power. The opposition maintains state security and civilian-armed pro-government groups known as “colectivos” are responsible for the bloodshed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Hannah Dreier reported this story in Caracas and AP writer Christine Armario reported from Bogota, Colombia.</p>
| 6,594 |
<p>Stressed about your finances? You're not alone.In fact, according to the American Psychological Association's <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2016/coping-with-change.pdf" type="external">Stress in America 2017 Opens a New Window.</a>survey, 61% of Americans report that money is a somewhat or very significant source of stress in their lives.What's more, it's hard to figure out where to start trying to improve them -- there are so many choices and so much information out there that it can lead to total paralysis.</p>
<p>Well, if you've got an hour and a computer, we have four things you can do to improve your finances. Try them out while you keep time, then email us at <a href="http://mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected] Opens a New Window.</a>and let us know how they worked for you!</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlookIf you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Alison Southwick: Hi, I'm Alison Southwick and I'm joined today by Michael Douglass. He's an analyst here at The Motley Fool. He claims that he has four ways that we can improve our finances in less than an hour. So what is the first thing to do?</p>
<p>Michael Douglass: Track your spending. This is good for two reasons. First off, it's good because sometimes you're spending money on something you've forgotten about. That old gym membership, or whatever the case may be. The second thing is, because when you know that you're spending a lot of money on, I don't know, takeout food, or something like that, you might be a little bit less likely to impulse --</p>
<p>Alison: Eating out.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Michael: Yeah. It's an impulse buy. And, fortunately, unlike in the past when you had to probably keep a spreadsheet, there are apps like Mint.com that can really just make this so much easier. And a lot of banks also offer personal finance apps that can help out with this sort of thing, too.</p>
<p>Alison: All right, so 10, 15 minutes later, now I'm ready for something else to do, what's the second thing I can do to improve my finances?</p>
<p>Michael: Well, now that you've looked at what you're spending on, shop around. There's this opportunity particularly with your cell carriers, internet service providers, car insurance. These are folks who everyone is looking to --</p>
<p>Alison: Highly competitive.</p>
<p>Michael: Yeah, absolutely. They want to get whoever they can get. And so, I've see all sorts of interesting incentives like Visa gift cards and stuff, if you'll switch from one to another. Honestly, getting an online quote for each of these should take just a few minutes, because you just plug in your basic information and they tell you what they think. Then you can decide whether you want to negotiate with your current provider, or just go with a new one. If you're negotiating, that takes a few minutes. Sometimes it takes a little bit longer on the phone. But to be honest, you should be able to do this, with one bill, in 30 minutes or less.</p>
<p>Alison: What's up next, then?</p>
<p>Michael: Checking your credit report for accuracy, and this is a total gimme. You want to make sure that at least once a year, you're going to annualcreditreport.com, and checking basically the background on your credit. You want to make sure that there's nothing wrong on it. An extra credit card that shouldn't be on your account, a bill that they claim you didn't pay that you actually did pay. You just want to make sure there are no issues. Particularly if you've got a big purchase incoming, a mortgage for a house, or a car loan for a car. You want to get your lowest APR, and the first step to that is making sure that you have the most accurate credit report possible.</p>
<p>Alison: I'm finishing off the hour here. I've got a few more minutes, what's the last thing I can do to improve my finances?</p>
<p>Michael: It's automating your saving. Your HR team on your first day at work usually gives you some kind of a direct deposit form. You can amend that form later on, and just direct a little bit of money over to a savings account. That way you don't see it, and you're less likely to spend it. By doing that, you're able to build an emergency fund, or money that you can use for investing. Or something that you can use for that car payment, or a housing purchase.</p>
<p>Alison: It will just slowly grow and I'll never even notice it.</p>
<p>Michael: It's a beautiful thing.</p>
<p>Alison: That's so nice. Well, thank you, Michael, for your advice here. If our viewers have any questions that they would like us to answer, they can drop us a line at <a href="http://mailto:[email protected]" type="external">Ask A Fool ataskafool@ fool.com 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>
|
4 Simple Ways to Improve Your Finances in Under an Hour
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/03/24/4-simple-ways-to-improve-your-finances-in-under-hour.html
|
2017-03-24
| 0right
|
4 Simple Ways to Improve Your Finances in Under an Hour
<p>Stressed about your finances? You're not alone.In fact, according to the American Psychological Association's <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2016/coping-with-change.pdf" type="external">Stress in America 2017 Opens a New Window.</a>survey, 61% of Americans report that money is a somewhat or very significant source of stress in their lives.What's more, it's hard to figure out where to start trying to improve them -- there are so many choices and so much information out there that it can lead to total paralysis.</p>
<p>Well, if you've got an hour and a computer, we have four things you can do to improve your finances. Try them out while you keep time, then email us at <a href="http://mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected] Opens a New Window.</a>and let us know how they worked for you!</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlookIf you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Alison Southwick: Hi, I'm Alison Southwick and I'm joined today by Michael Douglass. He's an analyst here at The Motley Fool. He claims that he has four ways that we can improve our finances in less than an hour. So what is the first thing to do?</p>
<p>Michael Douglass: Track your spending. This is good for two reasons. First off, it's good because sometimes you're spending money on something you've forgotten about. That old gym membership, or whatever the case may be. The second thing is, because when you know that you're spending a lot of money on, I don't know, takeout food, or something like that, you might be a little bit less likely to impulse --</p>
<p>Alison: Eating out.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Michael: Yeah. It's an impulse buy. And, fortunately, unlike in the past when you had to probably keep a spreadsheet, there are apps like Mint.com that can really just make this so much easier. And a lot of banks also offer personal finance apps that can help out with this sort of thing, too.</p>
<p>Alison: All right, so 10, 15 minutes later, now I'm ready for something else to do, what's the second thing I can do to improve my finances?</p>
<p>Michael: Well, now that you've looked at what you're spending on, shop around. There's this opportunity particularly with your cell carriers, internet service providers, car insurance. These are folks who everyone is looking to --</p>
<p>Alison: Highly competitive.</p>
<p>Michael: Yeah, absolutely. They want to get whoever they can get. And so, I've see all sorts of interesting incentives like Visa gift cards and stuff, if you'll switch from one to another. Honestly, getting an online quote for each of these should take just a few minutes, because you just plug in your basic information and they tell you what they think. Then you can decide whether you want to negotiate with your current provider, or just go with a new one. If you're negotiating, that takes a few minutes. Sometimes it takes a little bit longer on the phone. But to be honest, you should be able to do this, with one bill, in 30 minutes or less.</p>
<p>Alison: What's up next, then?</p>
<p>Michael: Checking your credit report for accuracy, and this is a total gimme. You want to make sure that at least once a year, you're going to annualcreditreport.com, and checking basically the background on your credit. You want to make sure that there's nothing wrong on it. An extra credit card that shouldn't be on your account, a bill that they claim you didn't pay that you actually did pay. You just want to make sure there are no issues. Particularly if you've got a big purchase incoming, a mortgage for a house, or a car loan for a car. You want to get your lowest APR, and the first step to that is making sure that you have the most accurate credit report possible.</p>
<p>Alison: I'm finishing off the hour here. I've got a few more minutes, what's the last thing I can do to improve my finances?</p>
<p>Michael: It's automating your saving. Your HR team on your first day at work usually gives you some kind of a direct deposit form. You can amend that form later on, and just direct a little bit of money over to a savings account. That way you don't see it, and you're less likely to spend it. By doing that, you're able to build an emergency fund, or money that you can use for investing. Or something that you can use for that car payment, or a housing purchase.</p>
<p>Alison: It will just slowly grow and I'll never even notice it.</p>
<p>Michael: It's a beautiful thing.</p>
<p>Alison: That's so nice. Well, thank you, Michael, for your advice here. If our viewers have any questions that they would like us to answer, they can drop us a line at <a href="http://mailto:[email protected]" type="external">Ask A Fool ataskafool@ fool.com 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>
| 6,595 |
<p />
<p>When Antje Danielson and Robin Chase decided to bring their European-inspired car sharing model to America in 2000, few predicted this alternative, membership-driven way of renting cars would gain traction.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Now it’s up to&#160; <a href="http://www.zipcar.com/" type="external">Zipcar Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;CMO Brian Harrington to keep marketing running like a fine-tuned engine. As part of his duties, the self-proclaimed “Boston Townie” is responsible for global brand building, member acquisition and engagement, social media, public relations, and delivering innovative products and services to further enhance the member experience.</p>
<p>Harrington joined Zipcar in 2013. Prior, he led consultancy Little Harbor Group, and held leadership roles at brand communications agency Boathouse and I’m in!, a leisure travel Web site he co-founded. He was also a member of the founding executive teams of Upromise and Connection to eBay, and held senior roles in sales and marketing at EF Education.</p>
<p>CMO.com had the opportunity to talk with Harrington about his background, marketing philosophy, and why Zipcar is the wave of the future.</p>
<p>CMO.com: Let’s start at the beginning—where did your interest in marketing come from? Was it always a career path you thought about pursuing? There are two pieces to it. When I was a kid, I was always fascinated with TV commercials and just loved to watch one after another. I would remember all the jingles and slogans. For some reason, I was wired on the messaging side. Secondly, when I was in college, I became fascinated with this notion of why people buy. What were the inherent motivators around consumers, and why did they buy certain things and not others? So that wonder is really what put me on a path to marketing.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;You were enjoying success with your own consultancy agency when Zipcar came calling. What was it about the company that you wanted to be a part of? Harrington:&#160;I was involved with a couple of startups in Boston and one out on the West Coast. There are a few reasons why I found Zipcar to be incredible appealing. First, there’s this amazing brand that is defined by the experience. It’s very unique. It has become well-known and has great “juice” because of its superior member experience. Those are few and far between, so I found that very interesting.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Secondly, from a business-model perspective, it’s a model enabled by customers, so we ask our members to help run the business. They have to return [the cars] on time, keep them clean, and fill them up when they need gas. I thought this was a great opportunity to try and do some interesting work.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;What are your day-to-day responsibilities? Harrington:&#160;I think most of my time is really spent thinking of two areas of my responsibility, the first one being member acquisition and the second one being member engagement. I spend a large amount of my waking hours thinking of those two key areas. How do we bring more members on, and how do we keep those we have happy, engaged, and using the service? I think a third piece would be around the global brand, making sure from a brand perspective that we keep doing what we need to do to enhance the value and keep the brand squarely where we want to try and attract that next generation of Zipcar users.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;Upon taking the job, what were your initial goals, and how would you characterize your first year on the job? Harrington:&#160;I started in a consulting capacity and came on full time in March 2013. The way I defined my overarching goal when I joined was to effectively blend what I characterize as the art and science of the job: the art side being effective brand stewardship, with the science side being on the acquisition and engagement piece. What I really focused on my first year was ensuring we had the right people on board to fill the expertise that we needed. The second piece was just around philosophy, trying to enable an agile philosophy bar from the development/engineering world and focusing on the right prophesies to make us successful. Those were the goals I articulated to the board.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;What are some of your marketing efforts that have helped accelerate the growth of the brand? Harrington:&#160;On the brand side, [it’s about] this notion of “how do we build our marketing balance sheet in this new world order so we have lots of effective communication and messaging out there?” One thing we did last year was we launched our [Ziptopia]&#160; <a href="http://www.zipcar.com/ziptopia" type="external">blog Opens a New Window.</a>. Sounds easy, but it took a while to do because what we really wanted to do was capture not only how we felt about things as a company, but have the ability to tell the stories of our members. We wanted to make sure we did it right, and it has been terrifically effective in terms of engagement and acquisition for us.</p>
<p>Another thing we did was move toward a much more performance-based approach on the acquisition side and trying to optimize those acquisition channels. We are constantly looking to expand channels so we can acquire more members.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;Can you give me an example? Harrington:&#160;Last year we did something we never did before: We tried direct response TV as an acquisition vehicle, and that worked really well. Direct TV is just one channel, but I think the biggest impact is just around the philosophy in the acquisition area: test, learn, make small gaps, and really optimize all the channels we are leveraging on an acquisition basis. We level a lot of digital channels, but we also have, interestingly enough, an entire field marketing organization as well. In each market where we operate, we have local marketing teams that also have a mandate to acquire and engage our membership. We are constantly looking at blending both our online efforts and more traditional field efforts as well.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;You mentioned global. Can you talk about why establishing the brand globally is so important? Harrington:&#160;If you really think about it, Zipcar has been around 14 years, but it’s still pretty early for the brand. There’s lots of growth potential in terms of bringing this idea of car sharing to focus vs. ownership. We have been really tight on what the brand represents and what the value proposition is as we continue to expand both here in the U.S. as well as overseas. Trying to balance that with local context, I think, is a challenge for me. I don’t want to see us ever be a big, impersonal brand, but rather sort of a very interesting, local, contextual brand on a market-by-market basis—almost like a federation of brands vs. a big global brand. You have to stress the value proposition for Zipcar in slightly nuanced ways, like in London vs. San Diego, for example.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;How has the advent of digital media changed the brand? Harrington:&#160;I wouldn’t say it has changed the brand, but it has changed dramatically the way we acquire members online. One of the interesting things about Zipcar is the idea that a prospect has to have context to use the service. They have to have a use case or series of use cases for which Zipcar is a terrific solution. What digital media has done for us, and this is where we have had terrific success last year, is it has helped us find those instances and people where their habits might be changing.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;For example … Harrington:&#160;If someone moves into New York City, they are sort of throwing up in the air how they move in that city. They need to figure out how they are going to get to work, go to the supermarket, visit friends, and go to the Hamptons on weekends. That’s where digital media plays a terrific role for us because we can actually insert ourselves into the process by understanding that person’s behavior online.</p>
<p>For example, in the display area, where we spend a fair amount of dollars, we are 100 percent programmatic buying. We’re buying real-time on impressions based on who we think those people are and those that have the context for which the car might be an interesting solution.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;When looking at your marketing arsenal, what do you feel is the most important tool at your disposal? Harrington:&#160;I would say two things. First, [we have] a very strong analytics practice. I think having a strong analytics practice within marketing is critical for success so we can pace in a way that we need to, city by city and market by market. The second piece is actually dedicated to engineering resources. We were able to add within marketing here a small engineering team that also enables us to pace quickly and also change, modify, and build things on our site that really drive messaging, conversion, and everything we care about here.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;Let’s talk about mobile. What has the company implemented to use the medium for deploying its marketing message? Harrington:&#160;It’s a huge piece of our business. Most of our reservations come in through the app we have—no surprise there. Where we are making some progress, though, is how we are using mobile to acquire members. In 2014, that’s where we are thinking very deeply about. Our service is really geographically contextual, so we are looking at ways to engage prospects, as well as existing members, in interesting ways on mobile. In addition, [we are looking at] improving the existing apps because there is so much we can do from an engagement and dialogue perspective with existing members.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;How important is social media to the success of the company? Can you give me an example of a marketing message that was successful because it either went viral or at least steered customers to your brand? Harrington:&#160;Social media around here is quite large. Our members are very engaged with the services of who we are and what we do, and we want to ensure a high degree of communication. We tend to do standard communications, but we also sometimes do promotions as well. We created a promotion in conjunction with Ikea called&#160; <a href="http://www.zipcar.com/zipvanloves" type="external">ZipVan Loves Design Opens a New Window.</a>, where Zipcar members had the chance to win a makeover of one room in their apartment or condo. To enter, they had to submit a 15-second video on why they wanted to redesign a room with ZipVan full of products from Ikea. After four weeks of intense social promotion and field marketing, we selected a winner in each of the 11 markets we have ZipVans, and each won a whole host of products. It was very successful in building brand awareness and the type of experience we deliver.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;As a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group, how do you work with the leadership team to make sure everyone is on the same page? Harrington:&#160;I report to the president of Zipcar, [Kaye Ceille], here in Boston. It’s an interesting company in the sense that the mission we have drives the decision-making we do as a leadership team. The team is aligned around the mission, which hasn’t changed since the beginning of the company: to enable simple and responsible urban living. We use that as a guidepost in terms of the decision-making we do on the business.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;What do you consider your biggest challenge of the job? Harrington:&#160;I would say the biggest challenge is that the Zipcar service is still very magical to many people. They don’t know how it works, and while they may have heard of the brand, not many know how it actually works. The challenge is really around education. We have some awareness, but in 2014 we need to demonstrate how this unique service really works. Once they [understand it], they become quite attached to it.</p>
<p>CMO.com: What’s next for the brand? How do you see it growing? Harrington:&#160;When we bring cars to a new state, we naturally generate awareness. It’s a nice model in that sense in that cars are the biggest driver for awareness. That next step for education is where we need to do that heavy lifting. As we grow over the course of the next couple of years, we need to focus on how the service works and benefits for potential members.&#160;Ensuring we talk to different types of potential members is really critical for that growth.</p>
<p>More From CMO.com</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/7/30/_5_brands_going_retr.html" type="external">5 Brands That Went Retro With Their Advertising Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/7/31/flaws_in_cloud_apps_.html" type="external">Flaws In Cloud Apps Could Put Marketing Data At Risk: Report Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/7/13/top_5_tech_skills_to.html" type="external">Top 5 Marketing Tech Skills —And How Much They’ll Cost You Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/8/5/_5_lessons_marketers.html" type="external">5 Lessons Marketers Can Learn From Growth Hackers Opens a New Window.</a></p>
|
The CMO Interview: Brian Harrington, EVP And CMO, Zipcar
| true |
http://foxbusiness.com/features/2014/08/08/cmo-interview-brian-harrington-evp-and-cmo-zipcar.html
|
2016-03-04
| 0right
|
The CMO Interview: Brian Harrington, EVP And CMO, Zipcar
<p />
<p>When Antje Danielson and Robin Chase decided to bring their European-inspired car sharing model to America in 2000, few predicted this alternative, membership-driven way of renting cars would gain traction.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Now it’s up to&#160; <a href="http://www.zipcar.com/" type="external">Zipcar Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;CMO Brian Harrington to keep marketing running like a fine-tuned engine. As part of his duties, the self-proclaimed “Boston Townie” is responsible for global brand building, member acquisition and engagement, social media, public relations, and delivering innovative products and services to further enhance the member experience.</p>
<p>Harrington joined Zipcar in 2013. Prior, he led consultancy Little Harbor Group, and held leadership roles at brand communications agency Boathouse and I’m in!, a leisure travel Web site he co-founded. He was also a member of the founding executive teams of Upromise and Connection to eBay, and held senior roles in sales and marketing at EF Education.</p>
<p>CMO.com had the opportunity to talk with Harrington about his background, marketing philosophy, and why Zipcar is the wave of the future.</p>
<p>CMO.com: Let’s start at the beginning—where did your interest in marketing come from? Was it always a career path you thought about pursuing? There are two pieces to it. When I was a kid, I was always fascinated with TV commercials and just loved to watch one after another. I would remember all the jingles and slogans. For some reason, I was wired on the messaging side. Secondly, when I was in college, I became fascinated with this notion of why people buy. What were the inherent motivators around consumers, and why did they buy certain things and not others? So that wonder is really what put me on a path to marketing.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;You were enjoying success with your own consultancy agency when Zipcar came calling. What was it about the company that you wanted to be a part of? Harrington:&#160;I was involved with a couple of startups in Boston and one out on the West Coast. There are a few reasons why I found Zipcar to be incredible appealing. First, there’s this amazing brand that is defined by the experience. It’s very unique. It has become well-known and has great “juice” because of its superior member experience. Those are few and far between, so I found that very interesting.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Secondly, from a business-model perspective, it’s a model enabled by customers, so we ask our members to help run the business. They have to return [the cars] on time, keep them clean, and fill them up when they need gas. I thought this was a great opportunity to try and do some interesting work.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;What are your day-to-day responsibilities? Harrington:&#160;I think most of my time is really spent thinking of two areas of my responsibility, the first one being member acquisition and the second one being member engagement. I spend a large amount of my waking hours thinking of those two key areas. How do we bring more members on, and how do we keep those we have happy, engaged, and using the service? I think a third piece would be around the global brand, making sure from a brand perspective that we keep doing what we need to do to enhance the value and keep the brand squarely where we want to try and attract that next generation of Zipcar users.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;Upon taking the job, what were your initial goals, and how would you characterize your first year on the job? Harrington:&#160;I started in a consulting capacity and came on full time in March 2013. The way I defined my overarching goal when I joined was to effectively blend what I characterize as the art and science of the job: the art side being effective brand stewardship, with the science side being on the acquisition and engagement piece. What I really focused on my first year was ensuring we had the right people on board to fill the expertise that we needed. The second piece was just around philosophy, trying to enable an agile philosophy bar from the development/engineering world and focusing on the right prophesies to make us successful. Those were the goals I articulated to the board.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;What are some of your marketing efforts that have helped accelerate the growth of the brand? Harrington:&#160;On the brand side, [it’s about] this notion of “how do we build our marketing balance sheet in this new world order so we have lots of effective communication and messaging out there?” One thing we did last year was we launched our [Ziptopia]&#160; <a href="http://www.zipcar.com/ziptopia" type="external">blog Opens a New Window.</a>. Sounds easy, but it took a while to do because what we really wanted to do was capture not only how we felt about things as a company, but have the ability to tell the stories of our members. We wanted to make sure we did it right, and it has been terrifically effective in terms of engagement and acquisition for us.</p>
<p>Another thing we did was move toward a much more performance-based approach on the acquisition side and trying to optimize those acquisition channels. We are constantly looking to expand channels so we can acquire more members.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;Can you give me an example? Harrington:&#160;Last year we did something we never did before: We tried direct response TV as an acquisition vehicle, and that worked really well. Direct TV is just one channel, but I think the biggest impact is just around the philosophy in the acquisition area: test, learn, make small gaps, and really optimize all the channels we are leveraging on an acquisition basis. We level a lot of digital channels, but we also have, interestingly enough, an entire field marketing organization as well. In each market where we operate, we have local marketing teams that also have a mandate to acquire and engage our membership. We are constantly looking at blending both our online efforts and more traditional field efforts as well.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;You mentioned global. Can you talk about why establishing the brand globally is so important? Harrington:&#160;If you really think about it, Zipcar has been around 14 years, but it’s still pretty early for the brand. There’s lots of growth potential in terms of bringing this idea of car sharing to focus vs. ownership. We have been really tight on what the brand represents and what the value proposition is as we continue to expand both here in the U.S. as well as overseas. Trying to balance that with local context, I think, is a challenge for me. I don’t want to see us ever be a big, impersonal brand, but rather sort of a very interesting, local, contextual brand on a market-by-market basis—almost like a federation of brands vs. a big global brand. You have to stress the value proposition for Zipcar in slightly nuanced ways, like in London vs. San Diego, for example.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;How has the advent of digital media changed the brand? Harrington:&#160;I wouldn’t say it has changed the brand, but it has changed dramatically the way we acquire members online. One of the interesting things about Zipcar is the idea that a prospect has to have context to use the service. They have to have a use case or series of use cases for which Zipcar is a terrific solution. What digital media has done for us, and this is where we have had terrific success last year, is it has helped us find those instances and people where their habits might be changing.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;For example … Harrington:&#160;If someone moves into New York City, they are sort of throwing up in the air how they move in that city. They need to figure out how they are going to get to work, go to the supermarket, visit friends, and go to the Hamptons on weekends. That’s where digital media plays a terrific role for us because we can actually insert ourselves into the process by understanding that person’s behavior online.</p>
<p>For example, in the display area, where we spend a fair amount of dollars, we are 100 percent programmatic buying. We’re buying real-time on impressions based on who we think those people are and those that have the context for which the car might be an interesting solution.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;When looking at your marketing arsenal, what do you feel is the most important tool at your disposal? Harrington:&#160;I would say two things. First, [we have] a very strong analytics practice. I think having a strong analytics practice within marketing is critical for success so we can pace in a way that we need to, city by city and market by market. The second piece is actually dedicated to engineering resources. We were able to add within marketing here a small engineering team that also enables us to pace quickly and also change, modify, and build things on our site that really drive messaging, conversion, and everything we care about here.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;Let’s talk about mobile. What has the company implemented to use the medium for deploying its marketing message? Harrington:&#160;It’s a huge piece of our business. Most of our reservations come in through the app we have—no surprise there. Where we are making some progress, though, is how we are using mobile to acquire members. In 2014, that’s where we are thinking very deeply about. Our service is really geographically contextual, so we are looking at ways to engage prospects, as well as existing members, in interesting ways on mobile. In addition, [we are looking at] improving the existing apps because there is so much we can do from an engagement and dialogue perspective with existing members.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;How important is social media to the success of the company? Can you give me an example of a marketing message that was successful because it either went viral or at least steered customers to your brand? Harrington:&#160;Social media around here is quite large. Our members are very engaged with the services of who we are and what we do, and we want to ensure a high degree of communication. We tend to do standard communications, but we also sometimes do promotions as well. We created a promotion in conjunction with Ikea called&#160; <a href="http://www.zipcar.com/zipvanloves" type="external">ZipVan Loves Design Opens a New Window.</a>, where Zipcar members had the chance to win a makeover of one room in their apartment or condo. To enter, they had to submit a 15-second video on why they wanted to redesign a room with ZipVan full of products from Ikea. After four weeks of intense social promotion and field marketing, we selected a winner in each of the 11 markets we have ZipVans, and each won a whole host of products. It was very successful in building brand awareness and the type of experience we deliver.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;As a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group, how do you work with the leadership team to make sure everyone is on the same page? Harrington:&#160;I report to the president of Zipcar, [Kaye Ceille], here in Boston. It’s an interesting company in the sense that the mission we have drives the decision-making we do as a leadership team. The team is aligned around the mission, which hasn’t changed since the beginning of the company: to enable simple and responsible urban living. We use that as a guidepost in terms of the decision-making we do on the business.</p>
<p>CMO.com:&#160;What do you consider your biggest challenge of the job? Harrington:&#160;I would say the biggest challenge is that the Zipcar service is still very magical to many people. They don’t know how it works, and while they may have heard of the brand, not many know how it actually works. The challenge is really around education. We have some awareness, but in 2014 we need to demonstrate how this unique service really works. Once they [understand it], they become quite attached to it.</p>
<p>CMO.com: What’s next for the brand? How do you see it growing? Harrington:&#160;When we bring cars to a new state, we naturally generate awareness. It’s a nice model in that sense in that cars are the biggest driver for awareness. That next step for education is where we need to do that heavy lifting. As we grow over the course of the next couple of years, we need to focus on how the service works and benefits for potential members.&#160;Ensuring we talk to different types of potential members is really critical for that growth.</p>
<p>More From CMO.com</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/7/30/_5_brands_going_retr.html" type="external">5 Brands That Went Retro With Their Advertising Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/7/31/flaws_in_cloud_apps_.html" type="external">Flaws In Cloud Apps Could Put Marketing Data At Risk: Report Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/7/13/top_5_tech_skills_to.html" type="external">Top 5 Marketing Tech Skills —And How Much They’ll Cost You Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/8/5/_5_lessons_marketers.html" type="external">5 Lessons Marketers Can Learn From Growth Hackers Opens a New Window.</a></p>
| 6,596 |
<p>MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont state assistant attorney general has been named interim replacement for a prosecutor who resigned because of post-traumatic stress disorder after responding to a fatal shooting of a state social worker.</p>
<p>Rory Thibault was sworn in by the governor on Tuesday. Scott Williams resigned Monday as Washington County state’s attorney following the murder of a state social worker outside a state office building in Barre in 2015.</p>
<p>Williams has been on health-related leave since Nov. 15.</p>
<p>Republican Gov. Phil Scott says Thibault brings extensive experience to the role and will be a strong leader.</p>
<p>Thibault had previously served as Washington County’s chief deputy state’s attorney.</p>
<p>Scott says it’s an interim appointment while he awaits recommendations from the county’s Democratic committee.</p>
<p>MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont state assistant attorney general has been named interim replacement for a prosecutor who resigned because of post-traumatic stress disorder after responding to a fatal shooting of a state social worker.</p>
<p>Rory Thibault was sworn in by the governor on Tuesday. Scott Williams resigned Monday as Washington County state’s attorney following the murder of a state social worker outside a state office building in Barre in 2015.</p>
<p>Williams has been on health-related leave since Nov. 15.</p>
<p>Republican Gov. Phil Scott says Thibault brings extensive experience to the role and will be a strong leader.</p>
<p>Thibault had previously served as Washington County’s chief deputy state’s attorney.</p>
<p>Scott says it’s an interim appointment while he awaits recommendations from the county’s Democratic committee.</p>
|
An assistant AG to replace prosecutor who resigned
| false |
https://apnews.com/b67b6aee4f9943a79d161001738f129e
|
2018-01-09
| 2least
|
An assistant AG to replace prosecutor who resigned
<p>MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont state assistant attorney general has been named interim replacement for a prosecutor who resigned because of post-traumatic stress disorder after responding to a fatal shooting of a state social worker.</p>
<p>Rory Thibault was sworn in by the governor on Tuesday. Scott Williams resigned Monday as Washington County state’s attorney following the murder of a state social worker outside a state office building in Barre in 2015.</p>
<p>Williams has been on health-related leave since Nov. 15.</p>
<p>Republican Gov. Phil Scott says Thibault brings extensive experience to the role and will be a strong leader.</p>
<p>Thibault had previously served as Washington County’s chief deputy state’s attorney.</p>
<p>Scott says it’s an interim appointment while he awaits recommendations from the county’s Democratic committee.</p>
<p>MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont state assistant attorney general has been named interim replacement for a prosecutor who resigned because of post-traumatic stress disorder after responding to a fatal shooting of a state social worker.</p>
<p>Rory Thibault was sworn in by the governor on Tuesday. Scott Williams resigned Monday as Washington County state’s attorney following the murder of a state social worker outside a state office building in Barre in 2015.</p>
<p>Williams has been on health-related leave since Nov. 15.</p>
<p>Republican Gov. Phil Scott says Thibault brings extensive experience to the role and will be a strong leader.</p>
<p>Thibault had previously served as Washington County’s chief deputy state’s attorney.</p>
<p>Scott says it’s an interim appointment while he awaits recommendations from the county’s Democratic committee.</p>
| 6,597 |
<p>BEIJING — Escalating efforts to repatriate one of the ruling Communist Party’s most wanted exiles, Chinese police have opened an investigation on a new allegation, rape, against New York-based billionaire Guo Wengui, who has been releasing what he calls official secrets ahead of a pivotal party leadership conference.</p>
<p>Two Chinese officials with direct knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that police are requesting a second Interpol arrest notice for Guo, 50, for the alleged sexual assault of a 28-year-old former personal assistant.</p>
<p>Guo and his representatives did not respond to repeated requests for comment.</p>
<p>The rape allegation represents a new element in the sprawling case that Chinese prosecutors are building against the real estate tycoon, who is being investigated for at least 19 major criminal cases. Allegations against him include bribing a top Chinese intelligence official, kidnapping, fraud and money laundering.</p>
<p>The Associated Press reviewed documents related to the rape investigation and confirmed their contents with Chinese official sources in Beijing, who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing case.</p>
<p>The Chinese officials’ disclosures to the AP — an unusual move given the political sensitivity of Guo’s case in China — underscores Beijing’s urgent effort to not only bring a fugitive to heel on criminal charges but also silence a potent irritant in the run-up to a key Communist Party congress during which political stability and the stifling of any challenges to the party head, President Xi Jinping, are paramount.</p>
<p>Although the United States does not have an extradition agreement with China, Beijing hopes that a mounting body of evidence could sway the U.S. government against extending the exiled businessman’s visa, which is believed to expire in October, the Chinese officials said.</p>
<p>Senior U.S. and Chinese officials have discussed the allegations against Guo, according to a third person with direct knowledge of the talks. The Chinese officials are asking the U.S. to cancel Guo’s visa, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>It’s unclear what steps Washington plans to take, if any. The White House would not comment on the matter.</p>
<p>The Guo saga highlights how China’s efforts to repatriate elite Chinese seeking refuge on American soil have become increasingly contentious in the bilateral relationship. The U.S. government has often refused Beijing’s demands to extradite corruption suspects, citing flimsy evidence and China’s opaque justice system. But the U.S. has sent back two Chinese fugitives in the past three months, including one suspected of rape.</p>
<p>In recent months, Guo has become a widely followed — and, in the eyes of China’s leadership, highly destabilizing — social media presence by serving up sensational, if mostly unverifiable, tales of corruption and scandal within the Communist Party’s innermost sanctum, including among Xi’s closest allies.</p>
<p>In a daily stream of Twitter posts and YouTube videos tracked by Chinese who follow political gossip, Guo has revealed what he claims are everything from top leaders’ secret homes in California to their bank account information and hidden stakes in business empires. He has vowed to continue airing the party’s secrets until China unfreezes his assets and releases his relatives who have been seized by authorities, he says, as leverage against him.</p>
<p>Pressure on Guo has been building since April when Interpol issued a “red notice” seeking his arrest on corruption-related charges. Chinese authorities later sentenced several of his employees for fraud in June.</p>
<p>Police in central China opened the rape investigation July 5 after a former employee came forward, the officials said.</p>
<p>In interviews with police, the woman described how she was plucked from her human resources position at Guo’s real estate company in Hong Kong in 2015 and sent overseas to become his personal assistant. The woman, whose identity is being withheld by the AP, said that over the next two years, she was raped several times in New York, London and the Bahamas by Guo, who she said demanded sex from female employees as a test of their loyalty.</p>
<p>At times, she said, she languished in virtual detention after Guo’s staff confiscated her smartphone, computer, passport and keys and forbade her from leaving her room in his luxury apartment in the high-end London neighborhood of Belgravia. To prove her case, the woman surreptitiously met a lawyer friend in London earlier this year to give a written statement about her ordeal and kept her underwear, pregnancy tests and abortion pills as evidence, according to police documents.</p>
<p>In a brief phone interview with the AP arranged by Chinese officials, the woman confirmed the account and described fleeing Guo’s apartment to the Chinese Embassy in London in April to apply for a new passport before returning to China. She said she was speaking of her own volition and that police had assured her she could bring charges against Guo without facing repercussions for having worked for a highly sought-after fugitive.</p>
<p>“I just want him to face justice for what he did to me,” she said.</p>
<p>Calls to Guo’s mobile phone since Tuesday evening in New York rang unanswered. Guo also did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent by an AP reporter to his WhatsApp mobile messaging account since Tuesday. Lawyers representing him at the New York firm Boies Schiller Flexner did not respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>In April, Guo told AP he believed the Interpol notice issued at the time amounted to “state intimidation” and that China had submitted bogus documents to the international police organization.</p>
<p>Interpol declined to comment about the latest warrant China is seeking for Guo’s arrest, referring questions to national authorities as is the policy in ongoing investigations.</p>
<p>Born into poverty in central China, Guo transformed himself from a humble gasoline speculator into a real estate mogul who jet-setted with the likes of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Key to his spectacular rise, according to investigative profiles in Chinese media, was an ability to befriend officials in China’s powerful security apparatus who helped him intimidate business rivals, secure deals and gain insights into the secret lives of the Chinese elite.</p>
<p>In one instance, according to these reports, Guo won the rights to build the iconic Pangu tower in 2006 as part of Beijing’s Olympics development project by working with Ma Jian, who later became China’s chief of counterintelligence, to obtain a sex tape of a Beijing vice mayor who had blocked Guo’s initial bid.</p>
<p>In 2015, anti-corruption investigators detained Ma and later accused him of accepting $8.8 million in bribes from Guo, who fled the country. Prior to that, Guo had enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with China’s intelligence service, even helping to repatriate overseas fugitives, he later said in his YouTube videos.</p>
<p>Guo in 2015 hired American private investigators to fan out across the U.S. to look for Ling Wancheng, the fugitive brother of a disgraced top aide to a former Chinese president who possibly sought to defect, a person involved in that search effort told the AP. The person was legally barred from discussing the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>Months later, Chinese agents arrived in the U.S. to search for Ling in a covert operation that angered U.S. officials, underscoring how the issue of politically connected Chinese fleeing to the U.S. has strained relations.</p>
<p>“With political cases such as Ling Wancheng and Guo Wengui, the U.S. seems reluctant to send them back because both have valuable classified information about the top echelons of the party,” said Willy Lam, an expert on Chinese politics at Chinese University of Hong Kong. “This phenomenon is a big plus for the CIA and FBI.”</p>
<p>Lam said that although it is unlikely that Washington would send Guo back given his intelligence value, President Donald Trump “could potentially play the ‘fugitive card’ to put pressure on Beijing to make concessions on issues ranging from trade to North Korea.”</p>
<p>The prospect of becoming a bargaining chip has worried Guo, according to a leaked audio recording of a meeting he held earlier this year with former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, who offered to lobby the Trump administration for a visa extension.</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton &amp; Garrison, the law firm where Johnson is partner, said a meeting between Guo and Johnson “several months ago about a possible representation appears to have been recorded and released,” but the firm ultimately did not take on Guo as a client.</p>
<p>“I want to help you,” Johnson says in the edited recording that recently surfaced online. “I am the only member of Barack Obama’s Cabinet that has met with Donald Trump.”</p>
<p>In the recording, Johnson suggests Guo meet with FBI agents and consider donating to human rights organizations to strengthen his case to remain in the U.S. After Guo expresses concern that Trump had already “made a deal” with the Chinese, Johnson and an unidentified woman who appears to be a Guo adviser quickly assure him that Trump would not give him up.</p>
<p>“He would be violating your rights,” Johnson says, while the adviser points out that Guo, who goes by the name Miles Kwok, should also consider his membership in a Trump resort in Florida as a factor working in his favor.</p>
<p>“Miles is a member of Mar-a-Lago,” she says, before Guo bursts into laughter.</p>
|
China Accuses Outspoken, Exiled Tycoon in US of Rape
| false |
https://newsline.com/china-accuses-outspoken-exiled-tycoon-in-us-of-rape/
|
2017-08-31
| 1right-center
|
China Accuses Outspoken, Exiled Tycoon in US of Rape
<p>BEIJING — Escalating efforts to repatriate one of the ruling Communist Party’s most wanted exiles, Chinese police have opened an investigation on a new allegation, rape, against New York-based billionaire Guo Wengui, who has been releasing what he calls official secrets ahead of a pivotal party leadership conference.</p>
<p>Two Chinese officials with direct knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that police are requesting a second Interpol arrest notice for Guo, 50, for the alleged sexual assault of a 28-year-old former personal assistant.</p>
<p>Guo and his representatives did not respond to repeated requests for comment.</p>
<p>The rape allegation represents a new element in the sprawling case that Chinese prosecutors are building against the real estate tycoon, who is being investigated for at least 19 major criminal cases. Allegations against him include bribing a top Chinese intelligence official, kidnapping, fraud and money laundering.</p>
<p>The Associated Press reviewed documents related to the rape investigation and confirmed their contents with Chinese official sources in Beijing, who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing case.</p>
<p>The Chinese officials’ disclosures to the AP — an unusual move given the political sensitivity of Guo’s case in China — underscores Beijing’s urgent effort to not only bring a fugitive to heel on criminal charges but also silence a potent irritant in the run-up to a key Communist Party congress during which political stability and the stifling of any challenges to the party head, President Xi Jinping, are paramount.</p>
<p>Although the United States does not have an extradition agreement with China, Beijing hopes that a mounting body of evidence could sway the U.S. government against extending the exiled businessman’s visa, which is believed to expire in October, the Chinese officials said.</p>
<p>Senior U.S. and Chinese officials have discussed the allegations against Guo, according to a third person with direct knowledge of the talks. The Chinese officials are asking the U.S. to cancel Guo’s visa, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>It’s unclear what steps Washington plans to take, if any. The White House would not comment on the matter.</p>
<p>The Guo saga highlights how China’s efforts to repatriate elite Chinese seeking refuge on American soil have become increasingly contentious in the bilateral relationship. The U.S. government has often refused Beijing’s demands to extradite corruption suspects, citing flimsy evidence and China’s opaque justice system. But the U.S. has sent back two Chinese fugitives in the past three months, including one suspected of rape.</p>
<p>In recent months, Guo has become a widely followed — and, in the eyes of China’s leadership, highly destabilizing — social media presence by serving up sensational, if mostly unverifiable, tales of corruption and scandal within the Communist Party’s innermost sanctum, including among Xi’s closest allies.</p>
<p>In a daily stream of Twitter posts and YouTube videos tracked by Chinese who follow political gossip, Guo has revealed what he claims are everything from top leaders’ secret homes in California to their bank account information and hidden stakes in business empires. He has vowed to continue airing the party’s secrets until China unfreezes his assets and releases his relatives who have been seized by authorities, he says, as leverage against him.</p>
<p>Pressure on Guo has been building since April when Interpol issued a “red notice” seeking his arrest on corruption-related charges. Chinese authorities later sentenced several of his employees for fraud in June.</p>
<p>Police in central China opened the rape investigation July 5 after a former employee came forward, the officials said.</p>
<p>In interviews with police, the woman described how she was plucked from her human resources position at Guo’s real estate company in Hong Kong in 2015 and sent overseas to become his personal assistant. The woman, whose identity is being withheld by the AP, said that over the next two years, she was raped several times in New York, London and the Bahamas by Guo, who she said demanded sex from female employees as a test of their loyalty.</p>
<p>At times, she said, she languished in virtual detention after Guo’s staff confiscated her smartphone, computer, passport and keys and forbade her from leaving her room in his luxury apartment in the high-end London neighborhood of Belgravia. To prove her case, the woman surreptitiously met a lawyer friend in London earlier this year to give a written statement about her ordeal and kept her underwear, pregnancy tests and abortion pills as evidence, according to police documents.</p>
<p>In a brief phone interview with the AP arranged by Chinese officials, the woman confirmed the account and described fleeing Guo’s apartment to the Chinese Embassy in London in April to apply for a new passport before returning to China. She said she was speaking of her own volition and that police had assured her she could bring charges against Guo without facing repercussions for having worked for a highly sought-after fugitive.</p>
<p>“I just want him to face justice for what he did to me,” she said.</p>
<p>Calls to Guo’s mobile phone since Tuesday evening in New York rang unanswered. Guo also did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent by an AP reporter to his WhatsApp mobile messaging account since Tuesday. Lawyers representing him at the New York firm Boies Schiller Flexner did not respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>In April, Guo told AP he believed the Interpol notice issued at the time amounted to “state intimidation” and that China had submitted bogus documents to the international police organization.</p>
<p>Interpol declined to comment about the latest warrant China is seeking for Guo’s arrest, referring questions to national authorities as is the policy in ongoing investigations.</p>
<p>Born into poverty in central China, Guo transformed himself from a humble gasoline speculator into a real estate mogul who jet-setted with the likes of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Key to his spectacular rise, according to investigative profiles in Chinese media, was an ability to befriend officials in China’s powerful security apparatus who helped him intimidate business rivals, secure deals and gain insights into the secret lives of the Chinese elite.</p>
<p>In one instance, according to these reports, Guo won the rights to build the iconic Pangu tower in 2006 as part of Beijing’s Olympics development project by working with Ma Jian, who later became China’s chief of counterintelligence, to obtain a sex tape of a Beijing vice mayor who had blocked Guo’s initial bid.</p>
<p>In 2015, anti-corruption investigators detained Ma and later accused him of accepting $8.8 million in bribes from Guo, who fled the country. Prior to that, Guo had enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with China’s intelligence service, even helping to repatriate overseas fugitives, he later said in his YouTube videos.</p>
<p>Guo in 2015 hired American private investigators to fan out across the U.S. to look for Ling Wancheng, the fugitive brother of a disgraced top aide to a former Chinese president who possibly sought to defect, a person involved in that search effort told the AP. The person was legally barred from discussing the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>Months later, Chinese agents arrived in the U.S. to search for Ling in a covert operation that angered U.S. officials, underscoring how the issue of politically connected Chinese fleeing to the U.S. has strained relations.</p>
<p>“With political cases such as Ling Wancheng and Guo Wengui, the U.S. seems reluctant to send them back because both have valuable classified information about the top echelons of the party,” said Willy Lam, an expert on Chinese politics at Chinese University of Hong Kong. “This phenomenon is a big plus for the CIA and FBI.”</p>
<p>Lam said that although it is unlikely that Washington would send Guo back given his intelligence value, President Donald Trump “could potentially play the ‘fugitive card’ to put pressure on Beijing to make concessions on issues ranging from trade to North Korea.”</p>
<p>The prospect of becoming a bargaining chip has worried Guo, according to a leaked audio recording of a meeting he held earlier this year with former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, who offered to lobby the Trump administration for a visa extension.</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton &amp; Garrison, the law firm where Johnson is partner, said a meeting between Guo and Johnson “several months ago about a possible representation appears to have been recorded and released,” but the firm ultimately did not take on Guo as a client.</p>
<p>“I want to help you,” Johnson says in the edited recording that recently surfaced online. “I am the only member of Barack Obama’s Cabinet that has met with Donald Trump.”</p>
<p>In the recording, Johnson suggests Guo meet with FBI agents and consider donating to human rights organizations to strengthen his case to remain in the U.S. After Guo expresses concern that Trump had already “made a deal” with the Chinese, Johnson and an unidentified woman who appears to be a Guo adviser quickly assure him that Trump would not give him up.</p>
<p>“He would be violating your rights,” Johnson says, while the adviser points out that Guo, who goes by the name Miles Kwok, should also consider his membership in a Trump resort in Florida as a factor working in his favor.</p>
<p>“Miles is a member of Mar-a-Lago,” she says, before Guo bursts into laughter.</p>
| 6,598 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />June 18, 2013</p>
<p>By John Hrabe</p>
<p>From social issues to business regulations, Sacramento is considered a national leader in progressive politics. “Conservative” might be the last adjective used to describe the California Legislature — except when it comes to estimating the fiscal impacts of its legislative proposals.</p>
<p>A CalWatchdog.com analysis of several high-profile bills has identified a pattern: the state Legislature’s committee consultants routinely understate the fiscal effects of gun-related legislation. In some cases, the legislative analyses ignored, omitted or outright contradicted the opinions of other state agencies, including the Department of Finance and State Board of Equalization.</p>
<p>With thousands of bills introduced each session, state legislators lack the time and patience to independently review each bill. To expedite a legislator’s decision-making, caucus staff and committee consultants prepare bill analyses that examine the policy arguments, fiscal effects and opinions of major groups and industry associations.&#160; These legislative “CliffNotes” wield tremendous power and influence over a legislator’s vote.</p>
<p>Given the state’s perpetual budget problems, the fiscal effects of a bill are a top concern of legislators — in some cases with the power to make or break a legislator’s vote. Bill analyses that routinely underestimate the costs to taxpayers, therefore, remove a major obstacle to a bill’s passage.</p>
<p><a href="http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/sen/sb_0451-0500/sb_475_bill_20130221_introduced.html" type="external">Senate Bill 475</a>, authored by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, would give the county of San Mateo and the city and county of San Francisco the power to end gun shows at the Cow Palace, a state-owned Bay Area venue that has hosted multiple gun shows in its 72-year history.</p>
<p>On April 16, the <a href="http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/sen/sb_0451-0500/sb_475_vote_20130416_000001_sen_comm.html" type="external">Senate Public Safety Committee</a> approved the bill on a party-line vote and referred it to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Under legislative rules, all bills that have a fiscal cost to the state must be reviewed by the Appropriations Committee. But on April 29, instead of being reviewed by the all-important fiscal oversight committee, the bill went directly to the Senate floor, pursuant to a special legislative rule. Senate Rule 28.8 allows the committee chair to waive hearings for bills that are <a href="http://sapro.senate.ca.gov/rulesofproceduresenateappropriationscommittee" type="external">“without significant fiscal impact.”</a></p>
<p>Not everyone agreed that the bill was “without significant fiscal impact” to the state. According to the Department of Finance’s <a href="http://www.dof.ca.gov/legislative_analyses/LIS_PDF/13/SB-475-20130430020910PM-SB00475.pdf" type="external">bill analysis</a>, the legislation would cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue and jeopardize the budget of what has been a self-supported facility.</p>
<p>“Gun shows produce an estimated $150,000-$180,000 in rental fee revenue each year,” the governor’s fiscal experts wrote in their <a href="http://www.dof.ca.gov/legislative_analyses/LIS_PDF/13/SB-475-20130430020910PM-SB00475.pdf" type="external">opposition to the bill</a>. “This bill would likely decrease state and local tax revenue generated by gun shows held at the Cow Palace.”</p>
<p>Despite the Department of Finance’s objections, the measure <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/sen/sb_0451-0500/sb_475_vote_20130502_1036AM_sen_floor.html" type="external">passed the Senate on May 2</a>, with two Democrats joining all Republicans in opposition.</p>
<p>Another controversial gun bill, AB 711 by Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, would require hunters to use only non-lead ammunition for shooting wildlife in California. In its <a href="http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0701-0750/ab_711_cfa_20130506_165408_asm_comm.html" type="external">analysis of the bill</a>, the Assembly Appropriations Committee identified two fiscal effects:</p>
<p>“1) Minor costs, probably less than $50,000 for DFW (Department of Fish and Wildlife) to develop regulations to certify ammunition as nonlead and distribute educational materials.</p>
<p>“2) Extending current nonlead enforcement would result in minor, if any, additional costs for the law enforcement division of DFW.”</p>
<p>Those concerns ignored other concerns raised by the Department of Finance in its analysis of the bill—lost revenue from a decline in hunting licenses and ammunition sales.</p>
<p>“DFW notes that the department could experience a decrease in hunting licenses sold if hunters decide not to renew their licenses due to the restrictions of the new provisions, or if the non-lead alternatives become unavailable,” the <a href="http://www.dof.ca.gov/legislative_analyses/LIS_PDF/13/AB-711-20130513105326AM-AB00711.pdf" type="external">Department of Finance wrote</a>. “Additionally, a reduction in license sales may lead to a reduction in the excise tax collected from ammunition sales, which is a primary source of wildlife conservation funding.”</p>
<p>While the Department of Finance concluded these costs were “unknown,” its rough estimation showed a possible multi-million-dollar revenue loss to the state. “In 2013, the state issued 278,000 hunting licenses. Using the current resident rate for a hunting license of $44.85, and assuming a 75% decrease in license sales, DFW would realize approximately $9 million in decreased revenues,” the agency estimated.</p>
<p>In addition to a substantially different fiscal analysis, the Department of Finance gave greater attention to the bill’s potential conflict with federal regulations. Non-lead ammunition is classified by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under its armor-piercing ammunition prohibition. The legislative analysis quickly glossed over the issue at the end of the analysis, under a section about opponents’ concerns.</p>
<p>When the bill reached the Assembly floor, legislators received another <a href="http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0701-0750/ab_711_cfa_20130515_172939_asm_floor.html" type="external">bill analysis</a>, which once again excluded any reference to the Department of Finance’s potential $9 million revenue loss. The measure passed on a 44-21 vote.</p>
<p>AB 187: New 10 percent bullet tax</p>
<p>Assembly Bill 187, by Assembly members Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, and Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, would impose a new 10 percent tax on all ammunition sales in the state. The bill tasks the state Board of Equalization with the responsibility of administering and collecting the new ammo tax.</p>
<p>Consequently, the Board of Equalization and its policy analysts <a href="http://www.boe.ca.gov/legdiv/pdf/0187ab051513lrb.pdf" type="external">reviewed the bill</a> to estimate its fiscal effects and administrative burdens. It reached the conclusion that the state would “incur substantial costs” from the bill. The tax agency identified seven tasks that must be completed in order to administer the new tax, including the creation of a new tax return form, the development of new regulations and training agency staff on the new restrictions.</p>
<p>However, the Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis neglected any mention of the BOE’s cost concerns. That’s not for lack of awareness of the agency’s analysis. The Appropriations Committee analysis included the BOE’s estimations of the bill’s revenue upside.</p>
<p>“The BOE estimates that this bill would generate annual ammunition tax revenues of about $90 million,” the legislature’s <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0151-0200/ab_187_cfa_20130523_092702_asm_comm.html" type="external">analysis states</a>.</p>
|
Leg analyses understate fiscal costs of gun control bills
| false |
https://calwatchdog.com/2013/06/18/leg-analyses-understate-fiscal-costs-of-gun-control-bills/
|
2018-06-20
| 3left-center
|
Leg analyses understate fiscal costs of gun control bills
<p><a href="" type="internal" />June 18, 2013</p>
<p>By John Hrabe</p>
<p>From social issues to business regulations, Sacramento is considered a national leader in progressive politics. “Conservative” might be the last adjective used to describe the California Legislature — except when it comes to estimating the fiscal impacts of its legislative proposals.</p>
<p>A CalWatchdog.com analysis of several high-profile bills has identified a pattern: the state Legislature’s committee consultants routinely understate the fiscal effects of gun-related legislation. In some cases, the legislative analyses ignored, omitted or outright contradicted the opinions of other state agencies, including the Department of Finance and State Board of Equalization.</p>
<p>With thousands of bills introduced each session, state legislators lack the time and patience to independently review each bill. To expedite a legislator’s decision-making, caucus staff and committee consultants prepare bill analyses that examine the policy arguments, fiscal effects and opinions of major groups and industry associations.&#160; These legislative “CliffNotes” wield tremendous power and influence over a legislator’s vote.</p>
<p>Given the state’s perpetual budget problems, the fiscal effects of a bill are a top concern of legislators — in some cases with the power to make or break a legislator’s vote. Bill analyses that routinely underestimate the costs to taxpayers, therefore, remove a major obstacle to a bill’s passage.</p>
<p><a href="http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/sen/sb_0451-0500/sb_475_bill_20130221_introduced.html" type="external">Senate Bill 475</a>, authored by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, would give the county of San Mateo and the city and county of San Francisco the power to end gun shows at the Cow Palace, a state-owned Bay Area venue that has hosted multiple gun shows in its 72-year history.</p>
<p>On April 16, the <a href="http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/sen/sb_0451-0500/sb_475_vote_20130416_000001_sen_comm.html" type="external">Senate Public Safety Committee</a> approved the bill on a party-line vote and referred it to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Under legislative rules, all bills that have a fiscal cost to the state must be reviewed by the Appropriations Committee. But on April 29, instead of being reviewed by the all-important fiscal oversight committee, the bill went directly to the Senate floor, pursuant to a special legislative rule. Senate Rule 28.8 allows the committee chair to waive hearings for bills that are <a href="http://sapro.senate.ca.gov/rulesofproceduresenateappropriationscommittee" type="external">“without significant fiscal impact.”</a></p>
<p>Not everyone agreed that the bill was “without significant fiscal impact” to the state. According to the Department of Finance’s <a href="http://www.dof.ca.gov/legislative_analyses/LIS_PDF/13/SB-475-20130430020910PM-SB00475.pdf" type="external">bill analysis</a>, the legislation would cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue and jeopardize the budget of what has been a self-supported facility.</p>
<p>“Gun shows produce an estimated $150,000-$180,000 in rental fee revenue each year,” the governor’s fiscal experts wrote in their <a href="http://www.dof.ca.gov/legislative_analyses/LIS_PDF/13/SB-475-20130430020910PM-SB00475.pdf" type="external">opposition to the bill</a>. “This bill would likely decrease state and local tax revenue generated by gun shows held at the Cow Palace.”</p>
<p>Despite the Department of Finance’s objections, the measure <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/sen/sb_0451-0500/sb_475_vote_20130502_1036AM_sen_floor.html" type="external">passed the Senate on May 2</a>, with two Democrats joining all Republicans in opposition.</p>
<p>Another controversial gun bill, AB 711 by Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, would require hunters to use only non-lead ammunition for shooting wildlife in California. In its <a href="http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0701-0750/ab_711_cfa_20130506_165408_asm_comm.html" type="external">analysis of the bill</a>, the Assembly Appropriations Committee identified two fiscal effects:</p>
<p>“1) Minor costs, probably less than $50,000 for DFW (Department of Fish and Wildlife) to develop regulations to certify ammunition as nonlead and distribute educational materials.</p>
<p>“2) Extending current nonlead enforcement would result in minor, if any, additional costs for the law enforcement division of DFW.”</p>
<p>Those concerns ignored other concerns raised by the Department of Finance in its analysis of the bill—lost revenue from a decline in hunting licenses and ammunition sales.</p>
<p>“DFW notes that the department could experience a decrease in hunting licenses sold if hunters decide not to renew their licenses due to the restrictions of the new provisions, or if the non-lead alternatives become unavailable,” the <a href="http://www.dof.ca.gov/legislative_analyses/LIS_PDF/13/AB-711-20130513105326AM-AB00711.pdf" type="external">Department of Finance wrote</a>. “Additionally, a reduction in license sales may lead to a reduction in the excise tax collected from ammunition sales, which is a primary source of wildlife conservation funding.”</p>
<p>While the Department of Finance concluded these costs were “unknown,” its rough estimation showed a possible multi-million-dollar revenue loss to the state. “In 2013, the state issued 278,000 hunting licenses. Using the current resident rate for a hunting license of $44.85, and assuming a 75% decrease in license sales, DFW would realize approximately $9 million in decreased revenues,” the agency estimated.</p>
<p>In addition to a substantially different fiscal analysis, the Department of Finance gave greater attention to the bill’s potential conflict with federal regulations. Non-lead ammunition is classified by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under its armor-piercing ammunition prohibition. The legislative analysis quickly glossed over the issue at the end of the analysis, under a section about opponents’ concerns.</p>
<p>When the bill reached the Assembly floor, legislators received another <a href="http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0701-0750/ab_711_cfa_20130515_172939_asm_floor.html" type="external">bill analysis</a>, which once again excluded any reference to the Department of Finance’s potential $9 million revenue loss. The measure passed on a 44-21 vote.</p>
<p>AB 187: New 10 percent bullet tax</p>
<p>Assembly Bill 187, by Assembly members Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, and Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, would impose a new 10 percent tax on all ammunition sales in the state. The bill tasks the state Board of Equalization with the responsibility of administering and collecting the new ammo tax.</p>
<p>Consequently, the Board of Equalization and its policy analysts <a href="http://www.boe.ca.gov/legdiv/pdf/0187ab051513lrb.pdf" type="external">reviewed the bill</a> to estimate its fiscal effects and administrative burdens. It reached the conclusion that the state would “incur substantial costs” from the bill. The tax agency identified seven tasks that must be completed in order to administer the new tax, including the creation of a new tax return form, the development of new regulations and training agency staff on the new restrictions.</p>
<p>However, the Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis neglected any mention of the BOE’s cost concerns. That’s not for lack of awareness of the agency’s analysis. The Appropriations Committee analysis included the BOE’s estimations of the bill’s revenue upside.</p>
<p>“The BOE estimates that this bill would generate annual ammunition tax revenues of about $90 million,” the legislature’s <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0151-0200/ab_187_cfa_20130523_092702_asm_comm.html" type="external">analysis states</a>.</p>
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