question
stringlengths 11
179
| article
stringlengths 522
97.6k
| url
stringlengths 35
310
|
|---|---|---|
Who Is 'Heartbeat Bill' Author Janet Porter? | MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Now we'd like to talk more about the legislation that's moved through a number of state legislatures that would impose tough new restrictions on access to abortion - in most cases, outlawing abortion six weeks after gestation. The legislation is based on a proposal that's been pushed for years by a woman named Janet Porter and her organization called Faith to Action. For more on this, we've invited Guardian health reporter Jessica Glenza, who's followed Janet Porter for years now and met with her back in April. Jessica, thanks so much for talking to us. JESSICA GLENZA: Thank you so much for having me. MARTIN: So we're talking about the so-called fetal heartbeat bills. That is what supporters call it. And of course, critics say this is itself medically inaccurate and intentionally misleading. GLENZA: She came to my attention as I was working on a story about another group called The Family Leader. The Family Leader, similarly, is opposed to gay marriage and opposed to abortion rights. And it surprised me to see that the author of this bill, the fetal heartbeat bill, Janet Porter and her organization Faith to Action, had met with Mike Pence. And that was something that just came up in my research. So as these bills sort of started to, once again, be introduced in state legislatures this year, the first thing on my agenda was to speak to Janet Porter and basically talk to her about why she felt this bill was important and why she was advocating for it. GLENZA: She said that she felt the bill was important because, as its intended effect, it would outlaw the vast majority of abortions. And more importantly, it would give the U.S. Supreme Court an opportunity to reinterpret Roe v. Wade. I think many people are familiar with Roe v. Wade, but just in the event that they are not, Roe v. Wade provides women with the constitutional right to an abortion up to the point of what's called viability. And that's when a fetus can survive outside the womb. It's generally understood to be about 24 weeks. A full-term pregnancy is 40 weeks. So these bills and the ability to get an abortion at about six weeks. That's before most women know they're pregnant. And the strategy from Porter is to get it before the Supreme Court, and give the Supreme Court an opportunity to reinterpret the standard by which Roe v. Wade was decided. GLENZA: Janet Porter started as a very establishment anti-abortion activists working for Right to Life in Ohio. And she pushed forward things like the late-term abortion ban - so-called in Ohio - the laws which required parental consent for minors to obtain an abortion. And after that, she took the experience that she had in Ohio Right to Life and went down to the D. James Kennedy Ministry, where she was the architect of a gay conversion therapy campaign. From her time in the D. James Kennedy Ministry, she then returned to Ohio, where she started her own organization called Faith to Action and started advocating on behalf of this so-called heartbeat bill or the six-week abortion ban. And I just want to point out that Janet Porter's approach was not considered mainstream until very, very recently. In fact, it was opposed by Ohio Right to Life and not supported for a long time even within Ohio. Or is that - it's just a more favorable political environment. GLENZA: Yes. The way I think about what has changed that allowed these laws to start to move forward is not that Janet Porter moved into the mainstream or moved to become more centrist. It's that the entire political reality shifted around her. And so you had this long time institutional work on behalf of Republicans to get more socially conservative judges confirmed, which, of course, the Trump administration has been very successful at that, to get justices likely to restrict abortion onto the Supreme Court, which, of course, with Brett Kavanaugh was a huge win for the Trump administration. And at the same time, gerrymandering has allowed much more extreme legislators to come into state legislatures. MARTIN: You've said in your reporting that more mainstream conservatives would prefer not to claim her. It seems to be moving across the country. GLENZA: I certainly think that she views this effort as successful, and so do her supporters. I asked her what the next piece of legislation she intended to lobby on behalf of would be. But she declined to answer that question, although she later said that she believes life begins at conception. So I think the most likely next push from activists like Porter would be for a life at conception bill. MARTIN: That's Jessica Glenza. She's a health reporter for the Guardian telling us about her reporting about Janet Porter, who's an influential figure in the current wave of legislation sweeping the country seeking tougher restrictions on access to abortion. Jessica Glenza, thanks so much for talking to us. GLENZA: Thank you. Copyright 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. | https://www.npr.org/2019/05/18/724656375/who-is-heartbeat-bill-author-janet-porter?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=allthingsconsidered |
When is the right time to fire an attorney? | I liked my lawyer when I first hired him. He said all the right things at the right times. We agreed I would work with his associate to get paperwork done to keep costs down, but that he would go to court. I find I work well with his associate and trust her. She is responsive and kind, and she works well with my husbands lawyer. We have been to court twice now on motions, and I suspect my lawyer is the problem not my husband or his lawyer. Each time the judge had little patience for my lawyer. Further, he was disrespectful to my husbands lawyer. I think I am losing because of my lawyer. I dont want to stop working with the associate, and I dont want to have to pay someone else to get up to speed, but I cant shake the feeling that I might be in a different place with a different lawyer. He came highly recommended by trusted friends, but I have serious doubts. If your lawyer is disrespectful to opposing counsel for no discernible reason and the judge seems not to respect him, you need to do something now. It will only get worse from here. People are judged by the company they keep, and if your lawyer is unreasonable and disrespectful, the judge may feel you too are unreasonable. It is not uncommon for people to realize the lawyer they chose is not the right fit for a variety of reasons and to make a change. It is also common to make a change after the pre-trial conference when you learn your case is headed to trial. Not all lawyers are trial lawyers, and some prefer to refer cases to trial lawyers if a settlement is not going to be possible. Judges do not hold a change in counsel against you unless it is clearly a delaying tactic. The important part is that you realize the problem now. Do the research and seek a second opinion or two. It may be that you will hear from other lawyers that your lawyer has the right strategy but, for whatever reason, has the wrong chemistry for this particular judge and your husbands counsel. It happens. If you like the associate and dont want to lose her counsel, talk to your lawyer. Explain that you feel you and the associate have the right chemistry, that you believe she is capable of taking the lead on your case and that, for financial reasons, you would like her to take it from here. You might be pleasantly surprised at his reaction he just may be waiting for a client to give his associate the well-deserved chance to shine. | https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/05/19/wendy-19/ |
Does Sunscreen Expire? | Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. The unofficial start of summer, Memorial Day, isnt too far off. And its around this time that many people start taking stock of their sunscreen supply. It depends. Sunscreen remains effective for three years, but it does expire, so check the date on the container and dont use it if the date has passed. However, not all containers of sunscreen carry a date. As long as the sunscreen has been formulated to stay stable for three years, the Food and Drug Administration doesnt require one. If your sunscreen doesnt have an expiration date and you cant remember when you bought it, you shouldnt take a chance that it will still protect you. Buy a new bottle and use a permanent marker to write the date you purchased it on the container. But even if your sunscreen expiration date is in the future, whether it is still really effective also depends on how youve stored it. Heat and humidity can accelerate the breakdown of sunscreen, says Susan Booth, who oversees sunscreen testing at Consumer Reports. If the bottle or can is in your car or bathroom, the temperature fluctuations may have affected the product. But if its been kept at room temperature, youre good to go. Properly stored, a sunscreen that has an expiration date of six months away should work as well as one that has an expiration date of three years away. This is true even if you have only half a bottle or so left over. Opening a sunscreen, using some, and recapping it will not cause the sunscreen to go bad any faster, Booth says. We have retested sunscreen samples from the previous years testing after storing them in our lab and found no differences in performance. If the contents of the sunscreen have separatedspoiled sunscreen will be wateryor if it has changed color or has a funny smell, toss it even if it hasnt expired. If you need a new sunscreen, consider one of these top-rated products from Consumer Reports tests. On the Consumer 101 TV show, Consumer Reports expert Sue Booth breaks down what you need to know to keep you safe from the suns harmful rays. More from Consumer Reports: Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright 2019, Consumer Reports, Inc. | https://news.yahoo.com/does-sunscreen-expiration-date-202845078.html |
Should Kansans subsidize stadiums for the Chiefs and Royals? | Follow the rising cost of parking for Chiefs games at Arrowhead The Kansas City Chiefs have made another increase in the cost of game-day parking at Arrowhead Stadium. It's $60 if you want to pay cash on the day of games this season. Up Next SHARE COPY LINK The Kansas City Chiefs have made another increase in the cost of game-day parking at Arrowhead Stadium. It's $60 if you want to pay cash on the day of games this season. Professional sports teams play an integral role in our regions economy. Thousands of local sports fans from both Kansas and Missouri cheer on the Chiefs and the Royals at the Truman Sports Complex each year, and the economic benefits from the two stadiums ripple across the metro area. But when the bill comes due for the upkeep of Arrowhead and Kauffman stadiums, only Missourians are chipping in. Last week, Missouri lawmakers approved House Bill 677 requiring the state to shell out $3 million per year for the next decade for maintenance at the Truman Sports Complex. Its an extension of a 1990 measure authorizing the payments. An additional $2 million per year is allocated to maintain Bartle Hall. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign the bill sponsored by Republican state Rep. Jon Patterson of Lees Summit. The legislation would extend funding until 2031, when the leases at Kauffman and Arrowhead expire for the Royals and the Chiefs. Unlimited Digital Access: Only $0.99 For Your First Month Get full access to The Kansas City Star content across all your devices. SAVE NOW The measure also includes funding for the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The facility could get $2.5 million annually for 10 years starting in fiscal year 2022. For the following decade, it could receive 4.5 million each year. When it comes to maintaining Kansas Citys stadiums, Missourians should not shoulder the responsibility alone. Kansas needs to be a part of this equation. Jackson County pays $3.5 million per year for stadium maintenance, while Kansas City provides $3 million annually. So, Kansas City residents are taxed three times for the stadiums: first as city residents, then as Jackson County taxpayers and again as residents of Missouri. Kansans who still have easy access to the Truman Sports Complex get a free ride. Inevitably, many Kansas politicians will be resistant to the idea of pitching in to pay to maintain two stadiums that are situated in Missouri. But in the interest of bistate cooperation, residents from both states that reap the benefits of the stadiums should share the cost of upkeep. And $3 million is a modest price to pay. Its a worthy investment, said Jim Rowland, executive director of the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority, the entity that operates the Truman complex. That $3 million generates $27 to $31 million each year in direct taxes alone. Kansas state Rep. Stephanie Clayton, a Republican-turned-Democrat from Overland Park, said she would be willing to listen to any requests regarding the budgetary needs of Kansas teams that play in Kansas. But she does not support sending Kansas tax dollars to Missouri unless Kansas taxpayers make that decision. I think that a vote on a bistate tax is appropriate to bring to the people so that they can make that determination at the ballot box, Clayton said. Kansas is struggling to recover from eight years of financial mismanagement, and we need every penny for our core services. Clayton said there is support among her constituents for a bistate tax to fund improvements at the Truman Sports Complex. A ballot initiative similar to the 1996 measure that authorized $118 million in sales tax revenue for the renovation of Union Station would be a more appropriate approach than a legislative mandate, she said. Both Missouri and Kansas voters approved the Union Station project. But shortly thereafter, Kansas voters rejected a tax increase to fund Truman Sports Complex upgrades and arts organizations. Still, a new, narrowly drawn measure to fund basic stadium maintenance could win support from Kansas voters. Or Kansas lawmakers could tackle the issue themselves and allocate funds for upkeep. Missouris yearly contribution to maintain Arrowhead and Kauffman stadiums is a relatively small price to pay for these valuable regional assets. Now, taxpayers on the Kansas side of the state line should contribute their fair share, too. | https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article230538164.html |
Will California charge PG&E with a crime in Camp Fire? | Its been 6 months since Paradise burned. Our drone video shows how its changed The Camp Fire burned down thousands of buildings and killed 85 people in Paradise six months ago. How drone footage from days after the fire compares to what the city looks like in early May, 2019, as workers continue to cleanup the city. Up Next SHARE COPY LINK The Camp Fire burned down thousands of buildings and killed 85 people in Paradise six months ago. How drone footage from days after the fire compares to what the city looks like in early May, 2019, as workers continue to cleanup the city. The answer may hinge, legal experts say, on whether PG&E was reckless in failing to replace aging or damaged equipment and on whether prosecutors feel they can prove that in court beyond reasonable doubt. The Camp Fire was the worst wildfire in state history, killing 85 hillside residents in Butte County and destroying nearly 19,000 buildings. Cal Fire officials have declined to make their Camp Fire investigative report public, or issue any detailed comment on it. But the fact that the fire agency forwarded its investigation to Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey may be telling. The state in recent years has typically sent an investigative report to county district attorneys when state fire investigators believe a state statute has been broken. The Sacramento Bee has filed a formal public records act request for the document. Unlimited Digital Access: Only $0.99 For Your First Month Get full access to The Sacramento Bee content across all your devices. SAVE NOW Butte DA Ramsey said his office and the Attorney General already have been looking for months into whether criminal charges are appropriate. That includes ongoing communication with Cal Fire investigators. Ramsey declined, however, to comment on what he is looking at and when he will decide what steps to take. It may be some weeks or months before we have a final answer, Ramsey said. Just like any other investigation, we dont want to reveal our cards. If prosecutors take action, it wont be the first time in recent years that criminal charges have been filed against PG&E for a deadly incident involving its infrastructure. The federal government successfully prosecuted PG&E in 2016 on felony charges of failing to properly inspect and repair gas pipelines after a line exploded in residential San Bruno in 2010, killing eight people. The company was ordered to pay a fine and advertise its culpability in news media. The criminal fine, at $3 million, was far less than civil payouts PG&E has made for the explosion. No individuals were charged. Local county prosecutors have been reluctant to charge the utility for causing wildfires, even when Cal Fire indicated that PG&E may have violated state statutes by failing to adequately maintain its electrical power system. Two months ago, prosecutors in four North Bay counties announced that they had declined to pursue criminal charges against the utility for equipment failures that triggered a series of wildfires in 2017, saying they determined insufficient evidence exists to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that PG&E acted with a reckless disregard for human life in causing the fires, the standard necessary to sustain criminal charges. The Tubbs Fire, which burned whole neighborhoods in Santa Rosa in 2017, was not among the fires under review by the DAs in those counties. That is because the Cal Fire investigation of the blaze, which killed 22 people, determined it was caused by an electrical failure on private property near Calistoga. The Attorney Generals office also declined comment on the Camp Fire investigation. But a December court brief from the Attorney General in the San Bruno case offers insight. Before filing criminal charges, prosecutors would have to decide that PG&E engaged in reckless operation of its power equipment. Prosecutors also would gauge PG&Es mental state. The charges could range from misdemeanor negligence to murder, according to the brief. PG&E might be viewed unsympathetically by a criminal jury. Former state Attorney General Bill Lockyer says prosecutors generally do not consider public opinion when determining whether it is appropriate to prosecute an entity. Lockyer, who has consulted for PG&E, declined to speak about the utility company, but said prosecutors in general stick with legal questions. Their discipline is to be very careful about separating politics and public opinion from what they are doing and look in a rigorous, factual way about assessing the right thing to do, he said. | https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/article230480424.html |
What's it like to live with a chef? | Long hours, early starts: three couples reveal how they juggle the demands of the job with domestic life and who does the cooking at home James Petrie and na Palliser James Jocky Petrie, group executive development chef for the Gordon Ramsay Group, lives with his wife, musician na Palliser, near St Albans. They have two daughters: one four-year-old and one a few months old. Petrie has appeared on MasterChef, Hestons Fantastical Food and Hells Kitchen. na has worked with Shakira, the Killers, Moby and Gnarls Barkley. James: It was a classic blind date. na: Youd recently had your heart broken. Id come off a world tour with Shakira. James: A friend told me: You need to get yourself a good woman, Jocky. He gave me a few options, including another musician from Cork, actually. I was told youd contact me. But you got in touch very last minute. You might have tried your other options first. You ignored me for ages. I sent you a Facebook request but you didnt reply. Then I didnt have anything to do on the Monday, so I went along when you asked. Afterwards I sent a message to a friend: I went on a date with a chef. Really fun, totally nuts and definitely not my future husband. James: I thought the complete opposite. na: You said, on that first date, that you wanted to marry me. I still think it might just have been a line. I was complaining that you were full of empty promises just when you were about to propose I thought Id ruined it na Palliser James: Its a great line. But one of my first questions was: Do you like eating out, na? And you stumbled over the answer. So, I said: Are you vegetarian? na: I loved food when young but it started making me sick to eat anything with garlic and onions in it. Id got to the point going around on tour buses where everything with flavour in it made me scared. na: Next time [we met] James came to my house and cooked chicken. He was chopping carrots, all loving and fun and games, and there was literally a moment your hair was flopping down and the kale flopping over the pan when I had my first swoon feeling for someone who wasnt a musician. I thought: Right, Ill hold you to the marriage thing. And I was complaining that you were full of empty promises just when you were about to propose. Suddenly you were on one knee. I said No, no, no, no, because I thought Id ruined it. But I hadnt. James: As a chef, having to cook without garlic and onions made me think: Why do we use them in everything? Its fascinating. Suddenly I was clean cooking and my clothes didnt smell. na: You can taste everything. Amy Schumer once did a stage show about being pregnant in which she said I married a chef, because Im a genius and I was thinking: Thats me! Honestly, it changed my life. Totally. And yours too, I think. I had a reputation and yes I had opportunities to party na: People whod known you before you met me said: Oh, youve really calmed Jocky down. In fact when you came along I didnt have any structure in my life. Then you were, like: Its breakfast, its lunchtime, its dinner. Id never had that as an adult. The whole time Id lived in London Id never had dinner at dinnertime. James: The same thing for me, because I started getting weekends off I was thinking: What do people do during a weekend? Thats why I cook for the whole week ahead and freeze it for you. na: People say: Chefs must hate cooking at home. But there has to be food-related things every day for you. If we havent also been to a market, a restaurant and a random Polish food shop, you think the days not been worth it. James: Its especially since the kids have come along. Ive got abha involved with cooking. I make a cake every Saturday with her. And I introduced her to sushi recently. Shes four and a half. na: Shes not four and a half. Shes four. James: Even when I had paternity leave I spent a lot of time reading cookbooks and recreating the recipes exactly. Our house is full of my books. Or rather, it was. Ive definitely been restricted. na: Theres boxes of cookbooks under our bed, James. na: I do a really good prawn thing with orange zest. James: That was years ago. na: I usually take something youve made unlabelled in the freezer, like Russian roulette and make it into a sauce. I do make things for myself and for abha. The first time I took you to Cork, my aunties and uncles were saying: Oooo, hes been on the telly and hes got a Michelin star! But then you walked over to my uncles barbecue and burnt all the burgers. First impressions. My uncle thinks thats the best story ever. Peter Gordon and Alastair Carruthers Facebook Twitter Pinterest Peter Gordon (left) at home with Alastair Carruthers. Photograph: Pl Hansen/The Observer Peter Gordon is chef owner of Providores in London and the Sugar Club and Bellota in New Zealand. His partner, Alastair Carruthers, is co-chair of the Te Papa Foundation of the Museum of New Zealand and chairman of Allpress Espresso. They live in London Fields, east London. Peter: Guests come for dinner and they think theyre going to get my restaurant-style food. Sometimes they do and sometimes they dont. When Nigella Lawson came the first time, something went wrong at one of my restaurants and I was very late home. Al had to cook. Alastair: I was freaking out I dont know how to handle this. And I remember when we were in the mosh pit at the Lady Gaga concert and just at the moment Gaga was concussed by a pole, you didnt see it because someone asked for tips on mayonnaise. Alastair: Wed first spoken around the time gay rights finally came to New Zealand, in 1986. I was now legal and was visiting the Sugar Club in Wellington every week. You were head chef and I was in love with your sensational food. We talked but you dont remember me at all. You looked amazing; the hot thing. Once you had blue hair and cooked in a wrestling outfit. Peter: With an apron. Alastair: Eight years ago. Since my crush, wed both been in relationships, but were now single. Friends, including my flatmate Flick, conspired to invite us to a dinner. Flick then said: Lets organise an after-party. I was nervous because you were a superstar, chose all the food for Air New Zealand and were the godfather of fusion. But I was getting unclear instructions at first, dinner was for 14, then 18. Then it was you and me and a few friends. Peter: One had a headache and had to lie down. Alastair: They sent us out. At a nightclub where I wanted to take you because the music was great your jacket got stolen and we came back for another, and thats when I made you a cup of tea. The thing that gets me is how many times your work life gets confused with what we really need to do: have a dinner date Alastair Carruthers Peter: The ninth of April 2011. After we hooked up you said I needed to learn to ski. I was in my late 40s, had never skied and Id known people whod died doing it. Alastair: I remember you asking: What is the point of skiing? Peter: But I often wonder what the point of humans is. Alastair: To have fun, Peter. Fun. Peter: Ring Cycle, definitely. Alastair: And Im not much interested in your polenta either. There are times I think: Thats really not my thing. Peter: Al loves to swim, three or four times a week. I think about it. I think: Oh, I must go. I dont take anything for granted and everything requires effort. I wanted you to come to every food event I went to because food is what I do for a living and youre a foodie. But it occurred to me one day that you didnt need swamping. New Zealand is 26 hours away on a plane Alastair: For five years we had the longest-distance relationship possible, with the exception of one with a guy on Skylab. You had restaurants in Auckland and I lived there, so wed fly back and forth. But the night after we hooked up I made it clear I wasnt interested in another long-distance relationship. [Hed been in one with a Seattleite]. You got on a plane, then I received texts from you. Alastair: Some of the calls I get from you are about people weve met and youll need rescuing with a name, or details of how we met them. I remember once when a waiter said Elton John was sitting at a table. Everybody was terribly excited, but it turned out to be Jenny Shipley, the first female prime minister of New Zealand. Peter: Theres so much clutter in my mind. I cant go back to sleep at night after being woken. Youll be on a conference call to New Zealand until maybe 4am, or tapping away on some legal document, and theres times Ive shouted: Fuck, I just cant cope with this fucking noise! I realise its unreasonable, but I think a lot of my anger is the result of not getting my precious sleep. When cheffing I dont have tantrums. If someones upset me at work I tend to go really quiet. Ill hold it in and then go Ohh gawd! afterwards. Alastair: The thing that really gets me is how many times your work life gets confused with what we really need to do, which is just have a dinner date. I wont order a meal I particularly want. Well arrange the order so you can try as many dishes as possible. Sometimes they arrive and Im so tempted to eat, but youre arranging everything on the table so you can put it on Instagram. Its like being trained as a labrador you sit and wait. One thing I do think is wonderful about this man Im very proud of him, too is that he recently held the 20th edition of an event he invented called Whos Cooking Dinner?. He raised 539,000 on the night, added to the 7m hes raised for leukaemia and blood cancer. Hes a good, good man. Between us, I think this man is as good as good gets. Shuko Oda and Nick Hutchinson Facebook Twitter Pinterest Shuko Oda and her husband Nick Hutchinson with their newborn Baby Two. Photograph: Perou/The Observer Shuko Oda was born in London but spent much of her childhood in Japan. She is head chef and co-founder of Koya. Her husband Nick Hutchinson, born in York, is a freelance fashion designer. They live in Sydenham Hill, London, with their two children. Nick: I dont make many meals. I try, but Im not a good cook. Shuko: Im quite annoying to cook for, so I try not to go near you in the kitchen, because Id say: Why not cut it this way instead? Nick: Or: Your broccolis over-done. Shuko: We first met when we were both working at Comme Des Garcons. But we didnt talk. Nick: Our first conversation was about fried breakfast. Shuko: Our very first date. We talked about both of us liking traditional English caffs. Id long thought that, when I retire, Id love to open an English B&B in the Japanese countryside making egg, bacon, beans and sausage fry-up breakfasts. We often talk about it, half-jokingly. Nick: Im not joking. Id be your front of house guy, who speaks little Japanese, just English. Youd get up early to make everyone breakfast. Shuko: We had a really bad night last night with the second baby and you said, Oh you look good and energetic, Shuko, and I said, Maybe, as a chef, Im used to not sleeping. Nick: You can function with a generally good disposition on very little sleep. Im the opposite. Shuko: You helped out more with Hiraku, our first child, but now weve got another. We didnt have a name for quite a while and everyone called him Baby Two. So, youve been spending time with Baby Two. I would rather you have daytime energy. Shuko: Opening the first Koya was really intense for me. And I guess for you too, Nick. You didnt see me for a couple of months. I was continually doing double shifts, leaving in the early morning, coming back after midnight. Nick: With Sundays off, but youd sleep until after 2pm. Shuko: I suppose we didnt have a relationship for that period. But it was still just us. Opening the City branch [of Koya], when we had our first baby, was even more stressful. I delayed the opening for five days. Then I got a call saying youd phoned for an ambulance to take Hiraku to hospital. I was in tears. Nick: I was dealing with everything on my own, while you disappeared all day and night, pretty much. Shuko: We had loads of arguments around that time. Nick: Its hard enough when things are normal. Throw in a new restaurant and a big illness and it takes me over the edge. Opening a restaurant is a bit like having a baby stressful, but you sort of forget. Then you find youre doing it all over again, thinking Oh God, Im in exactly the same situation. I try to be supportive, but I suppose I have a feeling that the world, life, doesnt stop because a restaurant is being opened. Shuko: We dont argue in Japanese. Nick: Mine isnt good enough. I always know if youre talking about me. The facial expressions. The shake of the hair. The roll of the eyes. Shuko: Ha-ha-ha. Just the thought of dealing with me screaming and a baby coming out of me, at home and possibly having to deliver it, is very worrying for you. Nick: To your credit I dont think you expect of people anything you wouldnt do yourself. If theres a member of your team ill youll step in. I sometimes say, Let someone else do it, because a lot of your chefs are young single people without commitments. Shuko: Ive always thought everybody is 27. And its kind of true most people are around that age. Its the sort of age when you start to commit to something seriously. We do breakfasts at Koya, but Id never eat it at home before the kids came along. Now we always eat breakfast together. Well, youre kind of there. On the sofa maybe. Nick: A baby in a bouncer near-at-hand. Shuko: Im very good at getting dressed and ready to leave fast. Were quite different in a lot of ways. Maybe. The differences sometimes irritate me. I get angry but afterwards I realise that Im with you because youre that way and I need to acknowledge that more and learn from it. You give me another way to look at my impatience, because possibly I need to chill more. Still, after being with someone for over 12 years, one cant change oneself too much. I think Id actually hate it to be with someone manic, like both my parents. | https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/may/19/whats-it-like-to-live-with-a-chef |
What does record-breaking Koons auction mean for Sacramento sculpture? | See Coloring Book unveiled at Golden 1 Center Artist Jeff Koons celebrates with local dignitaries as his colorful $8 million art piece is revealed to a cheering crowd of supporters on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016 in Sacramento. Up Next SHARE COPY LINK Artist Jeff Koons celebrates with local dignitaries as his colorful $8 million art piece is revealed to a cheering crowd of supporters on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016 in Sacramento. Wednesdays record-breaking sale of Jeff Koons steel Rabbit sculpture for $90.3 million has Sacramento residents taking another look at downtowns very own Koons piece. Rabbit was sold to Robert E. Mnuchin, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchins father, setting a new record for the most expensive art piece by a living artist sold at auction, according to the Associated Press. Koons previously set the same record in November 2013 for his Balloon Dog (Orange), which sold for $58.4 million, according to the New York Times. Sacramentos sculpture might not be worth quite as much as Koons 1986 metallic bunny, but it may have risen in value since his $8 million Piglet Coloring Book sculpture was unveiled by the Golden 1 Center in September 2016. Unlimited Digital Access: Only $0.99 For Your First Month Get full access to The Sacramento Bee content across all your devices. SAVE NOW Lial Jones, director of the Crocker Art Museum, said the price of the downtown Koons piece likely would be affected by Wednesdays big auction. Koons has been re-established as the living artist with the highest price paid for his work, so that of course will have some impact on the value of all of his art, Jones said. If a piece came up for auction from the Coloring Book series right now, its not unreasonable to think that the price would go up. But just because one piece is worth (approximately) $91 million doesnt mean others are. When the 18-foot-tall reflective sculpture meant to imitate a childs messy scribbles over linework of Winnie the Pooh character Piglet was originally commissioned, many were skeptical of Koons pop-art style. Oh, Pooh. In a review of Koons work, freelance Bee art critic Victoria Dalkey described one piece as kitsch on a monumental level, and characterized him as essentially a commercial artist. Though the $8 million price tag turned off some residents, the bill was split between the city of Sacramento, the Kings and three Kings owners, and another Koons sculpture from the same Coloring Book series sold for $13.3 million in May 2015, just a couple months after Sacramento City Council approved the commission. At the crowded council meeting that unanimously ratified the purchase, exactly half of the public comments regarding the Koons sculpture supported the installation while the other half vociferously opposed it. | https://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article230495184.html |
Why does Donald Trump want to build a wall? | "We're going to build a wall" - it's something we have heard US President Donald Trump say many times since he launched his presidential campaign. The president wants a physical barrier along the border between Mexico and the US to prevent people from crossing over it illegally. The border wall has proved to be a controversial topic, with many people disagreeing about whether or not its a good idea. Newsround has been to the US-Mexico border to find out more about it. You can watch full-length versions of the videos on this page in a special feature on CBBC iPlayer. Read on to find out more about US-Mexico border wall. Getty Images Building a wall was one of Donald Trump's key promises when he was campaigning to become US president. It was an idea that divided the country, but it won Donald Trump many supporters. It is over two years into his presidency, but he still wants to deliver on that promise. A wall at the border between the US and Mexico would be designed to prevent people from entering the US illegally. I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great great wall on our southern border and I'll have Mexico pay for that wall. President Donald Trump , Presidential Announcement Speech Currently, there is a total of 650 (this might have changed since this was written?) miles of barrier along the border, which is 1,900 miles long. However, Donald Trump believes this is not enough to stop people attempting to cross. In a televised speech, he stated: "All Americans are hurt by uncontrolled, illegal migration. "We are out of space to hold them and we have no way to promptly return them back home to their country," he continued. President Trump wants to build a 1,000-mile wall made out of steel to prevent people from crossing the US-Mexico border. He believes the rest of the terrain along the border - including mountains and forests - should be enough to prevent people from attempting to cross. But building a wall of this size is going to cost a lot of money. We are not paying for that stupid wall. Originally he suggested that Mexico should pay for the wall, but it became clear early on that the Mexican government would not pay. Now, President Trump is appealing to his own government - and therefore, to US taxpayers - to pay for the wall. He estimates that he would need $5.6 billion (the equivalent to 4.4 million) to build a steel barrier across the border. This has not been well received by his opposing party - the Democrats. AFP A border patrol officer riding past possible versions of US President Donald Trump's proposed border wall in San Diego, California in 2017 The issue of how to pay for the wall caused a stand-off within Congress - the body which creates, debates and makes laws in the US. The Democrats were very successful in the US mid-term elections, which gave them more power to be able to refuse money for the project. With no decision being made earlier this year, Congress was unable to pass a spending bill - and the government was forced to partially close. In March 2019, the first funds for the wall were given the go-ahead. A total of $1 billion (about 758 million) was authorised to be sent to army engineers. Getty Images Lots of Americans are unhappy about illegal immigrants in the United States. Some have suggested that a barrier is immoral. Polling has showed that most US citizens don't agree with building the wall. A mid-November CBS poll found that 59% disagreed with it. However, those that agree with the wall being built are working hard to make their opinions heard. Immigration - particularly illegal immigration - is a very important issue to many Americans. Those who agree with the wall being built believe that the US is overwhelmed by illegal immigration. Their opinion is that people who come to live and work in the country, without official permission from the government, are taking advantage of the country's privileges and freedoms. Many feel the wall will prevent illegal immigrants from coming into the country as easily. ...too many illegals are taking advantage of the United States taxpayers with no means of ever contributing to our society. Brian Kolfage , US Army Veteran A GoFundMe page was set up by US Army veteran Brian Kolfage. He believes that in the event that Congress refuses to pay for the wall, Donald Trump's supporters could pay for it instead. "If the 63 million people who voted for Trump each pledge $80, we can build the wall," he stated on his fundraising page. He has already raised $22.2 million. It's a long way off the $5.6 billion needed, but it is still a very large amount to raise. Getty Images Demonstrators protesting against President Trump's temporary travel ban across seven countries. The symbol of America should be the Statue of Liberty, not a 30-foot wall. The majority of US citizens believe that the wall is a bad idea or that it shouldn't be a priority for the president. The Democratic Party, who are in opposition to President Trump's Republican Party, believe that building the wall is wrong. "President Trump has appealed to fear, not facts. Division, not unity," stated Democrat Senator, Chuck Schumer, in reaction to Trump's televised address. There is some evidence that the statements Trump made during his address were not factually correct. For example, President Trump claimed that there is a crisis in the number of people attempting crossing the border illegally in the past few years. But statistics have showed that the number of arrests at the US-Mexico border have decreased a lot since the early 2000s. Currently, there is an average of 400,000 arrests at the border each year, compared to more than a million arrests in the early 2000s. Getty Images The Statue of Liberty - also known as The Immigrant's Statue - was seen as a welcome to many people who emigrated to America through the city of New York. Aside from the questioning of the facts, many Democrats feel that building a wall would send the wrong message about US immigration. Senator Schumer referenced the Statue of Liberty as a better symbol for the country. The Statue of Liberty is also known as the Immigrant's Statue, as it was seen as a representation of hope and welcome to the millions of people who immigrated to the US through New York more than a century ago. But this does not mean that the Democrats are completely against more security at the border between the US and Mexico. They have stated they would support increased security, but not in the form of a wall and not in the form of a budget of $5.6 billion. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/46811167 |
Could Congestion Pricing Help Curb U.S. Traffic? | Congestion chargesfees paid by drivers to enter highly trafficked areas in peak timesare coming to America. As part of the state budget, New York lawmakers have approved a daily charge on motor vehicles entering Manhattan below 61st Street. The plan is scheduled to go into effect in 2021, with the proceeds used to fix N.Y.C.s ailing subway lines. Drivers in London, Stockholm, Milan, and a handful of other international cities have been subject to similar charges for years. Since 2003, the number of private cars in central London has declined by 30%, according to transit authority Transport for London, and in its first three years, the tax was credited with a 17% reduction of nitrous oxide emissions. But its success has been tempered by the explosion of for-hire vehicles from services such as Uber and Lyft, which continue to create congestion for Londoners. Experts point out that New Yorks plan is distinct, and its impact is hard to estimate. London is a very different city from New York, says Mitchell L. Moss, director of NYUs Rudin Center for Transportation. Its a much larger area than whats [taxed] in London. Philadelphia and L.A. are considering similar schemes, but Moss points out that New York stands out from other U.S. cities because its 24-hour subway system makes it less dependent on cars: The real reason you can do it in New York is five times as many people come in by mass transit as come in by car. But when it comes to shifting commuters back to overcrowded subways, the city and state could face a chicken-and-egg scenario, if lawmakers dont act quickly to make updates to the aging transit system. A version of this article appears in the June 2019 issue of Fortune with the headline A Euro Solution for American Gridlock. More must-read stories from Fortune: The 2019 Fortune 500 list demonstrates the prize of size The Eastern European countries home to todays most dynamic winemakers Inside Googles civil war Questioning the role of French telecom execs in 35 employee suicides Apple iPhones will cost 3% more to produce under new tariffs Follow Fortune on Flipboard to stay up-to-date on the latest news and analysis. | http://fortune.com/2019/05/19/congestion-pricing-us-traffic/ |
Was Game of Thrones' The Long Night Too Dark to See? | Game of Thrones' big battle against the Army of the Dead went down on Sunday, and at the very least, you probably heard it. You might not have been able to see it if you were one of many, many people on Sunday who complained about how very dark the screen was. We ourselves complained, and felt like we missed a whole lot due to the fact that we actually couldn't see. Even the stills released after the episode were incredibly dark, and the darkness seemed like most fans' main concern, just after Arya killing the Night King and the surprisingly small casualty count. Wired did us all a favor and asked the cinematographer about the darkness problem, only he doesn't agree about what the actual problem was. | https://www.eonline.com/ca/news/1037065/was-game-of-thrones-the-long-night-too-dark-to-see |
Has new alcohol law changed drinking habits? | Ministers are hopeful that new statistics will show Scotland's drinking habits have changed after a new law pushed up the price of cheap, high-strength alcohol. It is a year since the introduction of a minimum price for drinks depending on how many alcohol units they contained. Public Health Minister Joe Fitzpatrick said he was proud that the government had implemented the measure. He was hopeful figures would show there had been a "positive impact". There were 1,235 alcohol-related deaths in Scotland in 2017 and almost 35,500 hospital admissions. The Scottish government introduced minimum unit pricing in April last year in a bid to cut consumption and save lives. Mr Fitzpatrick said: "I'm really proud to be part of the government that introduced minimum unit pricing - the first in the world." He told BBC Scotland that new data on the effect of the policy was due to be published in mid-June. "I'm very hopeful that this will show that there has been a positive impact," he said. "Anecdotally I'm hearing from a number of people who have changed their drinking habits and there's some anecdotal evidence to suggest that when the evidence comes out in June, it will be positive." BBC Scotland's The Nine has spoken to people around the country about how they have been affected by the new drinking laws. The students Image caption Conor, Rebecca and James are studying in Dundee First-year anatomy student Conor, 18, reckons he drinks about 20 units a week - mostly lager. He supports minimum unit pricing but it has had little effect on his drinking habits. In fact, he drinks more than he did last year as he has embraced his new university life. "You're young, you drink and I don't think that will ever change, no matter what law you put in place," he said. Rebecca, 21, is in her third year of an international business degree. She "pre-drinks" gin with friends before going to bars and clubs, as she finds it more affordable. "I don't think it's affected me too much," she said. "It's affected more own brands and I wouldn't tend to buy them anyway." Meanwhile, engineering student James, 21, said he had seen his friends switch from drinking cheap cider to "better quality" drinks. "It's cut out the really cheap and unhealthy stuff, it's made that less of an option," he said. "Obviously it's there if you really want to drink it but why would you when you can pay the same amount for better-quality alcohol?" The retailer Image caption Sachin Patel has seen an increase in profits at his shop in Muirkirk Sachin Patel no longer sells Frosty Jacks cider in his shop in Muirkirk, Ayrshire, after its price rose from about 3.50 to about 11.50. Customers refused to pay the increased price, instead opting for fruit ciders or even spirits. Mr Patel said he could now match the prices offered by supermarkets, which used to sell spirits as "loss leaders" to entice customers into the store. A bottle of Glens vodka used to be 9.99 - now he sells it at minimum unit price of 13.13. "Because of that our profit margin is increased," he said. "That works better for us as retailers even if the volume we sell is less, the margin is greater." He has concerns that the new law has led to an increase in violence against retailers. "If someone wants alcohol, they're going to beg, borrow or steal," he said. "The retailers are taking the brunt." But he is generally in favour of the policy. "For us, it protects the retailers. It's helped people limit the amount of alcohol they consume because they're on a budget. On the whole I think it's a good idea." The chronic drinker Image caption Danny is an alcoholic and has to beg for money for drink Danny, 45, is an alcoholic who says he "drinks as much as possible" every day. He said he has seen an increase in shoplifting since the new law pushed up the price of cheap drink. He can get a bottle of stolen vodka for 5 on the black market. And he says he has to beg on the streets to feed his addiction. "I don't want to say it's for a can of beer," he said. "You say it's for something to eat, some place for the night. "Because they'll not give you the money because they'll say you'll spend it on drink, you'll spend it on drugs. "And I'm not a bad person, I'm an alcoholic. I've got serious problems, issues inside and I consume the drink to help with the problems. "But the price of the drink is ridiculous." | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48106241 |
Who is Leopoldo Lpez, the newly freed opposition leader behind Venezuela's uprising? | (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Marco Aponte-Moreno, St Mary's College of California (THE CONVERSATION) Venezuelas crisis has escalated to new levels. In the early morning hours of April 30, Juan Guaid the leader of the Venezuelan National Assembly, who swore himself in as interim president in January called for an uprising against President Nicols Maduros authoritarian government. In a video posted on social media, Guaid, flanked by soldiers, asked Venezuelans to join him in the streets on May 1 for the final stage of Operation Freedom. This mass protest and military uprising would be the beginning of the end of a regime Guaid and over 50 countries including the United States consider illegitimate. In the background of the video, standing resolutely alongside Guaid and rebel soldiers, was a figure stunning to see: Leopoldo Lpez, Venezuelas most famous political prisoner. Uprising in Caracas Under President Maduro, who took office in 2013, Venezuelas economy has faltered, then collapsed. Food, medicine and electricity are scarce. Maduro has refused to budge, claiming the countrys economic troubles and popular unrest are a U.S. plot against him. Lpez, a former mayor and presidential candidate, was a leading figure in the powerful protest movement against Maduro that began in 2014. After one major anti-Maduro march in Caracas grew violent, the popular politician was charged with arson and criminal incitement. The moment Lpez waded through crying supporters to turn himself into police on May 18, 2014, he became the face of Venezuelas fight for freedom and democracy. Supporters saw him as a martyr who confronted the dictatorship rather than going into exile, as so many Venezuelan dissidents have. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Lpezs face was printed on T-shirts, posters and flags that flew across the country. A website, FreeLeopoldo.com, called for the immediate release of Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lpez, who was illegally imprisoned in an attempt to silence dissent and free speech. #FreeLeopoldo spread his cause across worldwide. After three years, the Maduro government in 2017 conceded to intense political pressure and released Lpez to house arrest in the swanky Los Palos Grandes neighborhood. Lpez, caged, was the embodiment of Venezuelas vanquished opposition. Then, three months ago, Juan Guaid reinvigorated the resistance movement by waging a full frontal assault on Maduro. And Lpez, who was freed from house arrest by the soldiers guarding his home, who were acting on Guaids orders, has rejoined the resistance. Seeing Leopoldo Lpez standing with Guaid on that video, as a free man, openly calling for an uprising, was a potent signal for Venezuelans after years of bloody protest and multiple thwarted coup attempts. Leopoldo Lpezs political pedigree Lpez is the great-great grandson of former Venezuelan president Cristbal Mendoza and is said to be related to Simn Bolvar, the Venezuela-born general who liberated five South American countries from Spanish rule in the early 19th century. Lpez studied economics and sociology at Kenyon College in the United States on a swimming scholarship. In 1996, he got a Masters in public policy at Harvard. He began his political career in 2000, with two four-year terms as the handsome, dynamic and popular mayor of Chacao, an upper middle-class municipality of Caracas. By 2008, the end of his second term, he had a 92% approval rating. Thats when President Hugo Chvez, Venezuelas late Socialist leader and Maduros mentor, accused Lpez of corruption and banned him from running for office. Lpez was one of many popular Venezuelan politicians to face trumped up charges that served to stop them from electorally challenging Chvez. In 2011 the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that Lpezs must be allowed to run for office an order the Venezuelan Supreme Court rejected. Lpez, who planned to run for president against Chvez representing the Voluntad Popular a political party he, Guaid and other opposition figures founded in 2009 withdrew his candidacy. Instead, he backed opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski. Chvez won the 2012 presidential election, then died a few months into his term. Maduro, his vice president, took office in 2013. Lpez was sentenced to prison a year later. While he was jailed, Lpezs wife, Lilian Tintori, became a thorn in Maduros side. She traveled around the world meeting heads of state and denouncing human rights violations in Venezuela. She met with Latin American presidents, Pope Francis and, in February 2015, Joe Biden. In February of 2017 Tintori traveled to Washington to see U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, who have both condemned Maduro and expressed public support for her husband. The Chilean Embassy in Caracas has now announced that Tintori, Leopoldo Lpez and their children were received as guests of the Chilean government. The outcome of Guaids effort to oust Maduro is uncertain. But whenever democracy is restored in Venezuela, Lpez will surely be a presidential candidate to watch. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: http://theconversation.com/who-is-leopoldo-lopez-the-newly-freed-opposition-leader-behind-venezuelas-uprising-116336. | https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Who-is-Leopoldo-L-pez-the-newly-freed-13809167.php |
Will co-operation pay off for would-be NYC subway bomber? | NEW YORK The ringleader of a thwarted terror plot to bomb the New York City subways in 2009 is about to find out if becoming a government co-operator will pay off. Admitted al-Qaida recruit Najibullah Zazi (nah-jee-BOO-lah ZAH-zee) volunteered valuable information about terror threats during nearly a decade of working with U.S. prosecutors. Zazis co-operation could earn him a far lighter punishment on charges that carry a maximum of life. Hes to be sentenced on Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn. The Afghan immigrant admitted in a 2010 guilty plea that he and two friends agreed to travel to Pakistan, where al-Qaeda operatives directed him to stage an attack on U.S. soil. He made bombs and travelled to New York before abandoning the plan. | https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/will-co-operation-pay-off-for-would-be-nyc-subway-bomber |
Will cooperation pay off for would-be NYC subway bomber? | NEW YORK The ringleader of a thwarted terror plot to bomb the New York City subways in 2009 is about to find out if becoming a government cooperator will pay off. Admitted al-Qaida recruit Najibullah Zazi (nah-jee-BOO'-lah ZAH'-zee) volunteered valuable information about terror threats during nearly a decade of working with U.S. prosecutors. Zazi's cooperation could earn him a far lighter punishment on charges that carry a maximum of life. He's to be sentenced on Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn. The Afghan immigrant admitted in a 2010 guilty plea that he and two friends agreed to travel to Pakistan, where al-Qaeda operatives directed him to stage an attack on U.S. soil. He made bombs and traveled to New York before abandoning the plan. | http://www.startribune.com/will-cooperation-pay-off-for-would-be-nyc-subway-bomber/509306562/ |
Where should TECT's $21m distribution go in the Bay of Plenty? | The Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust (TECT) is seeking feedback from consumers before it distributes $21m. The funding was announced last week. The trust said in a press release this afternoon that there are four potential distribution options targeted at making a long-lasting difference in the community. The options include grants for emergency services, the first 1000 days of life, safe and healthy homes and environmental sustainability. Advertisement TECT general manager Wayne Werder said community groups' feedback showed there was significant need in these areas. TECT general manager Wayne Werder. Photo / File "We may all at some point in our lifetime need help from the emergency services - we all have families with children, we all need homes over our heads, and we all love to get outside and enjoy the beautiful environment the Western Bay provides us. "These initiatives make a huge difference in our lives. But the groups that support these areas rely significantly on community funding to keep running." Vanessa Richmond, group manager for fundraising, marketing and communications at Philips Search and Rescue Trust, said the rescue helicopter relied significantly on community support, being funded only partly by the government. "The rescue helicopter makes hundreds of trips a year in the Western Bay, it's the difference between life and death for so many in our community. With service need continually increasing, the transformational grant initiatives could make a huge difference in our lifesaving efforts." Michelle Elborn, chief executive of Bay Conservation Alliance, said the transformational grants would have a significant impact on conserving the Western Bay's natural environment. Michelle Elborn, chief executive of Bay Conservation Alliance. Photo / File "These transformational grant initiatives would be such an amazing step towards delivering greater environmental and community outcomes. "With our region's growth and expanding development, we need to ensure we can mitigate some of the effects of this on our environment so our community can enjoy all the region has to offer now and for generations to come." TECT consumers can learn more about the grant initiatives on the trust's website. Those who wish to provide feedback on the distribution are invited to by 4pm, May 20, via the website. | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503343&objectid=12226989 |
Could Nevada bill to join popular-vote compact have unintended consequences? | CARSON CITY The 2000 and 2016 elections took place in two very different political climates, but the outcomes were similar both elected Republicans who lost the popular vote. Those two presidents, George W. Bush and Donald Trump, were the first to win the presidency while losing the popular vote in over 100 years. The last election before Bush in which that scenario occurred was in 1888, when Republican Benjamin Harrison lost the popular vote but defeated Democratic incumbent Grover Cleveland. In Nevada (and quite a few other states), theres a bill for that. Assembly Bill 186 would tie Nevadas electoral votes to the nationwide popular vote. Its part of a push from generally left-leaning states to create equivalent non-binding agreements, which have been enacted in 15 states. Even if the bill passes, it wouldnt have much impact as of now. There are not enough states currently in the compact to award enough electoral votes to the popular vote winner to win the election. As a refresher, a candidate must win 270 electoral votes to win a presidential election an absolute majority of the 538 total electors. The Electoral College debate essentially falls into two camps those who think the college keeps smaller states from being overrun by population centers in states like California and New York, and those who think the elimination of the college would expand the political process to include states not commonly considered battleground states. The former thought holds that, by not allowing a direct popular vote, candidates cannot focus solely on high-population states. Take, say, Texas, California and New York. Those three states together make up around 88 million people and 122 Electoral College votes. Proponents of the college say it helps control the influence of these population centers. An example of the anti-Electoral College thought is as such: Mississippi is a solidly Republican state, so Republican presidential candidates dont campaign as much there because the state will almost never swing blue, and Democratic candidates wont campaign there for the same reason. The thinking goes that, if the popular vote elected the president, candidates couldnt write off states that remain solidly red or blue, as in this situation a Democratic voter in Mississippi would have the same worth vote-wise as a Republican one. One of the primary sponsors of the legislation, Assemblyman Tyrone Thompson, D-North Las Vegas, said the bill is a response to the national conversation around the Electoral College. Whenever youre doing legislation, a lot of times we look at whats really happening in the United States and then you want to match it with what could be complimentary to the vision in our state, Thompson said. And, for me, I felt that national popular vote was a great direction for Nevada. Its where we are instead of having our electors as the winner-take-all in our state, we do it on the national popular vote. Thompson said the bill would not remove the Electoral College entirely, rather, it would change how the state allocates its electoral votes. The Electoral College will stay intact, Thompson said. Brittney Miller, D-Las Vegas and one of the bills sponsors, said she supports the bill because she thinks it will encourage people to vote. Theres quite a narrative out there that our vote doesnt count, my vote doesnt matter, she said. And when thats said its always pointing directly to the presidency. Miller said that if these bills were to go into effect, voters would be less constrained by geography. Republicans in California will essentially fuse with the heavily Republican-leaning Texas, for instance, which is also very populated, she said. Thompson said hes seen younger voters speak out in favor of the bill, a sign that he sees as promising for its future. One thing that I see thats really refreshing is that our future generations of voters ... have come forth and have said that this is the route they want to go, Thompson said. The bill does have its opponents, who see it as a way to strip the voters of their say in a national election. After all, for example, if a Republican won the popular vote, but a Democrat won Nevada, Nevadas electoral votes would go to the Republican under the agreement. In a committee hearing last week, while there was support for the bill, opposition from the right was substantial. Jim DeGraffenreid, vice chairman of the Nevada Republican Party and chairman of the Douglas County Republican Party, filed a statement in opposition to the bill. The Electoral College exists because the framers of the Constitution believed that each state should matter in selecting the president, his statement read. To suggest that a state should disregard its own voters and instead follow the will of voters in some other state is the exact opposite of what the framers intended. Eric Herzik, chair of the political science department at UNR, said the bill could create some issues in certain circumstances, likening a push for it in other states to a possible end run around the Electoral College. If the states electors were to be pledged to a candidate who lost the Nevada vote, Herzik said he would imagine that there would be outrage." If the bill is scheduled for and passes a work session, it will be sent to the Senate floor for a final vote. | https://lasvegassun.com/news/2019/may/01/could-nevada-legislation-join-popular-vote-compact/ |
Who is South African Olympic gold medallist Caster Semenya? | Image copyright AFP Image caption Semenya's gender has been one of the most intensely debated topics in women sport Since Mokgadi Caster Semenya shot from being an unknown teenage athlete to become world champion in 2009, her gender, and possible advantages in her biology, have come under fierce scrutiny around the world. Her upbringing was anything but privileged. Born on 7 January 1991 in South Africa's Limpopo province, Semenya and her three sisters and brother, were brought up in a remote village not far from the border with Botswana. Her interest in sport showed early in life, playing football at school, where she also proved that she had raw athletic talent. She did not, however, have access to the high-end facilities enjoyed by some of her competitors on the world stage. Yet her athletic achievements have been impressive: a double Olympic gold medallist and three-time world champion over 800m, and a winner of her past 29 races over the distance. Whenever she runs, she almost always wins. Image copyright AFP Image caption Caster Semenya (C) won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, followed by Kenya's Margaret Nyairera Wambui (L) and Natoya Goule of Jamaica (R) The competitions have become a necessary distraction for the 28 year old, especially after being thrust into a media maelstrom after the IAAF publicly, some say insensitively, forced her to undergo a gender test. The results of the testing carried out 10 years ago have not been made public, although media reports claimed it showed both male and female characteristics, including higher-than-normal levels of testosterone. Research commissioned by the IAAF showed in 2017 that female athletes with elevated testosterone had "a competitive advantage", claiming that high testosterone was responsible for an improvement in runners' performance of up to 3%. However those findings have been contested by Semenya and her team. She has fought publicly against what she sees as a determined plot to erase what she worked so hard to achieve. Her signature celebration of brushing her shoulders after a win is seen as a way of dismissing the intense scrutiny into her life. Caster Semenya Image copyright AFP "I'm just being Caster. I don't want to be someone who I don't want to be. I don't want to be someone who people wants to be. I just want to be me." Away from the track, Semenya has partnered with a local organisation to advocate for girls' menstrual health. She also completed her Diploma in Sports Science at North-West University in Potchefstroom in 2018. Image copyright Caster Semenya/Facebook Image caption Caster Semenya (R) and her wife Violet Raseboya at their wedding in 2017 In 2014 she was awarded The Order of Ikhamanga, given to South African citizens who have excelled in the fields of arts, culture, literature, music, journalism or sport. She married her wife, Violet Raseboya, a fellow athlete, in 2017 in a lavish ceremony. Despite the publicity surrounding her, she remains an intensely private person, although her tweets provide a window, however small, into her current feelings. "Sometimes it's better to react with no reaction," she tweeted in reaction to losing her appeal against the IAAF at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, meaning the world athletics governing body will be allowed to restrict testosterone levels in female runners, potentially dealing a huge blow to her future career on the track. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-48097440 |
Has Leeds cracked the obesity problem? | Image copyright Getty Images Childhood obesity is a major problem. But now news has emerged that one city - Leeds - has been making some progress. Figures presented at an obesity conference suggest Leeds has managed to reduce the number of children who are extremely overweight. The data showed there had been a 6.4% fall in obesity rates over recent years. A fall of 6.4% may not seem much - but given obesity rates have remained stubbornly resistant to attempts to shift them, the efforts of Leeds are being widely praised. The data - compiled from the official school measuring programme - showed 8.8% of four- to five-year-olds in the city were recorded as obese in the past five years. That compared with 9.4% from 2009 to 2013. And that has been judged to be statistically significant by experts. But what has been particularly impressive is the fact that the biggest falls have been seen among the most deprived areas. Rates of obesity fell by nearly 9% in these neighbourhoods. Image copyright Getty Images Those involved in the Leeds project point to the work done with pre-school children. Leeds City Council developed a child-obesity strategy a decade ago that made this age group a key priority. Staff who work with pre-school children, including children's centres workers and health visitors, were been trained to promote healthy eating. And parenting classes encouraged healthy snacking, eating as a family and the importance of cooking nutritious meals from scratch. While the progress has been impressive, Leeds has not seen a similar shift among older children. The school measuring programme also involves those at the end of primary school - 10- and 11-year-olds. And the obesity rates for this age group have remained stable. What is also true is that other places have also seen some small chinks of light in the battle against the bulge. Public Health England is working with areas including Luton, the London boroughs of Lewisham and Tower Hamlets and Stockton-on-Tees to see what can be learned. Oxford University's Prof Susan Jebb, who has helped analyse the figures, says the key thing is that they give hope. "It is sometimes too easy to think nothing is working, this shows something can be done," she says. "What we need to do now is understand exactly why Leeds has seen the progress it has." | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48113843 |
Do Married Millennials Cheat on Each Other? | Junie Gray, a woman from Austin, Texas, told me she doubts she could find someone who understands, supports, and loves her like her husband does. Since people today wait longer than previous generations to get married, many simply might be selecting the actual right person for them. Theres no need to cheat when your spouse is your best friend, your soulmate, your everything. Theres no one that got away; you caught him. It just took you until you were 36 to do so. As the Johns Hopkins University sociologist Andrew Cherlin put it to me, over the past few decades, marriage has become more selective. Today, the people most likely to have lasting marriages are those who have gone to college. And college graduates seem more committed to each other and to the marriage, Cherlin says. He points out that the divorce rate has gone down significantly for college-educated couples, but not for couples in which neither person has a college education. I heard from a lot of people who prudently dated their partners for several years before getting married, then waited still more years before having children, just in case. Theres less societal browbeating these days to move faster. There isnt pressure to be in relationships like there used to be, so people are less likely to settle for a bad partner, says Skylar Dallmeyer-Drennen, an energy consultant in Washington D.C. Why put up with a cheater if no one needs you to be dating? This phenomenon is intertwined with what my colleague Kate Julian described as the sex recession. Young people today have less sex in general, so it follows that they are likely having less of it extramaritally, too. Were living in an astonishingly sexlessless age, Wolfinger told me. Of course, we are also living in the midst of a sexual-harassment crisis. But a number of #metoo offenses seem to be perpetrated by older men, some of whom blame changing mores for their alleged transgressions. Though there are also stories of young men who dont know where to draw the line between friendship and romance, experts say that in general, younger people tend to be more supportive of gender equality. Cheating, meanwhile, can feel deeply inequitable. Infidelity sometimes gets lumped in with other types of harm against women: Several of the entries on the shitty media men list that was circulated a few years ago involved allegations of affairs. Or maybe its something about being Millennial, rather than a married Millennial, that deters two-timing. A few people who responded to my Twitter inquiry suggested that maybe Millennials in general are still young and idealistic. My generation wants jobs with a purpose, and we want relationships that feel purposeful, too. Or, as a Gen X friend of mine speculated, perhaps Millennials are terrified of breaking rules. Were so preoccupied with getting recommendation letters and maintaining our brands that we would never sully ourselves with something so carnal and impulsive as infidelity. (My friend asked to remain nameless because he didnt want to seem like he was justifying adultery.) | https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/05/millennials-are-less-likely-cheat-boomers/588286/?utm_source=feed |
Are the spring evacuations of Kashechewan finally going to end? | Every year, the Albany River rises and the swift-moving inland water and ice floes force the 2,500 residents to flee their homes and evacuate to cities hundreds of kilometres away Timmins, Kapuskasing, Thunder Bay at an annual cost of nearly $20 million. Kashechewan Chief Leo Friday speaks about flooding in Kashechewan as Grand Chief Jonathan Solomon, left, and Arthur Koosees, 13, look on during a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 30, 2019. ( Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS ) This perennial spring event is perfectly predictable. You can plan on it. Yet each spring, the people of Kashechewan have to mobilize, both off the flooded land and then into politicians offices at both Queens Park and in Ottawa, calling for the crowns commitment to help them find a permanent solution. Frankly, it is frustrating to go cap-in-hand to politicians every spring, said Kashechewan Chief Leo Friday after he met with Indigenous Services Minister Seamus ORegan on Tuesday. Article Continued Below This time, however, there was hope alongside the frustration. After two days of demonstrations at Queens Park and on Parliament Hill, ORegan gave a full commitment that the people of Kash will be moved. He said they deserve a permanent home and that his government was finally going to do it. In Ontario, the Ford government, too, said it would do what must be done to help Kashechewan move. I offered my congratulations to Friday after Tuesdays meeting and his reply was, I hope so. History has taught First Nations people to be wary of any deal with the crown. Friday will not be celebrating until he sees a concrete plan in writing one that outlines steps to move Kash and a clear timeline, along with a commitment to provide the roughly $1 billion it will take to do it. Ottawa has promised to build a road from the old community to the new site. The elders told the policy-makers where they needed to go and the engineers and researchers concurred, selecting four potential sites. Article Continued Below Another soggy day in the forecast as rainfall warning issued for Ontario cottage country Aside from worrying the move wont happen, Friday is concerned that any move might not be permanent. He fears the government will only repair the dike rather than permanently relocate the community. After all, that would be cheaper than moving houses, buildings and constructing a school in an entirely new community. Leaks throughout the river bank need to be repaired and a soft area on the west side has to be made strong I dont think that is an answer to repair the dike, he said. The answer is to build a new community and a road so the people can build houses. Friday is right. He knows from experience this endless cycle of evacuating and then returning to the land along the Albany is no way to live. Children deserve permanent, safe places to live and grow. They do not deserve mouldy schools like the one in Kash, rotting from the endless water damage. They dont deserve to go to school in portables and near dikes bound to break every spring. Standing beside the leaders and politicians on the steps of Parliament Hill on Tuesday as ORegan announced Kash will be permanently moved was Grade 8 student Arthur Kooses. He is 13 and every year of his life he has lived through an evacuation. I spoke to him on Monday and he told me that he has been evacuated from Kash to Kapuskasing with his older sister and his parents were moved to Timmins. Hes holding out hope that this time the promises he is hearing from the adults will be kept and that he will be allowed to grow up and live a life in his home community. Education in Kash isnt really good right now. The portables are all mouldy. But Arthur says thats not good enough. He understands the kids from Kash deserve the same as everyone else a permanent home, for instance, and an education. Governments are finally saying the right things about Kash. Now its time for them to deliver. Tanya Talaga is a Toronto-based columnist covering Indigenous issues. Follow her on Twitter: @tanyatalaga | https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2019/05/01/are-the-spring-evacuations-of-kashechewan-finally-going-to-end.html |
Which Kentucky Derby horses are the experts picking to win? | CLOSE USA Today's Dan Wolken breaks down the favorites to win the Kentucky Derby. USA TODAY The 2019 Kentucky Derby is just days away, and Arkansas Derby winner Omaha Beach was your morning-line favorite after Tuesday's dra. Trainer Bob Baffert's Game Winner was the 5-1 second choice, while co-third choice Roadster was 6-1. Baffert will be gunning for his record-tying sixth Derby victory. Maximum Security and Tacitus were co-fifth choices at 10-1. Despite the early odds, several horse racing experts and other notable figures in Louisville don't believe Omaha Beach is the only horse worth watching. Meet the field: Derby 2019 post position draw, jockeys, odds Longshots: 5 underdog horses who could win you big money Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports Winner: Omaha Beach Long shot I like: War of Will Comment: Theres not much to nitpick with Omaha Beach, either in his form or the way hes looked at Churchill in the mornings. Dick Mandella is usually pretty low key but has been expressed more public confidence than normal. Thats a strong tell about how well his horse is doing. Meet the field:Check out the Kentucky Derby 2019 post position draw, jockeys, odds Kentucky Derby longshots:5 underdog horses who could win you big money Ed DeRosa, TwinSpires.com CLOSE Ed DeRosa of TwinSpires.com goes on the record with his favorite Kentucky Derby contenders. April 30, 2019 Dominique Yates, Louisville Courier Journal Winner: By My Standards Long shot I like: Tax Comment: I thought By My Standards looked great in the Louisiana Derby, Gabriel Saez knows where to put this horse. At 20-1 he's my pick. Gentry Estes, Courier Journal CLOSE Gentry Estes of the Courier Journal goes on the record with his favorite Kentucky Derby contenders ahead of Saturday's race at Churchill Downs. April 30, 2019 Dominique Yates, Louisville Courier Journal Winner: Roadster On the board: Maximum Security, Win Win Win, By My Standards Comment: No horse has ever won in the 17th spot in the Kentucky Derby, but a lot of people said last year Justify couldn't win it after not racing as a 2-year-old, so I think we're going to buck another trend here. Gary Graves, Associated Press CLOSE Gary Graves of the Associated Press goes on the record with his Kentucky Derby pick ahead of Saturday's race at Churchill Downs. April 30, 2019 Dominique Yates, Louisville Courier Journal Winner: Omaha Beach Long shot I like: Plus Que Parfait Comment: Omaha Beach is a good horse that has shown it can get out in front face and run well on many different services. Top 10:The definitive (and totally arbitrary) list of best Kentucky Derby horse names Kent Spencer, WHAS 11 CLOSE Kent Spencer of WHAS 11 goes on the record with his favorite Kentucky Derby pick ahead of Saturday's race at Churchill Downs. April 30, 2019 Dominique Yates, Louisville Courier Journal Winner: Omaha Beach On the board: Tacitus, By My Standards Comment: I know Omaha Beach is the favorite, but let's be honest, the favorite has won six straight. I look for Omaha Beach to make it seven. Kent Taylor, WAVE CLOSE Kent Taylor of WAVE 3 goes on the record with his Kentucky Derby pick ahead of Saturday's race at Churchill Downs. April 30, 2019 Dominique Yates, Louisville Courier Journal Horses I like: Omaha Beach, Improbable, Code of Honor and Win Win Win Bet on Baffert?Bob Baffert is a great trainer, but betting on his horses is a risk' Fred Cowgill, WLKY Winner: Improbable On The Board: Roadster Long shot: By My Standards Comment: Improbable faced huge adversities in the Arkansas Derby. Labored in the gate before the start, likely shouldve been scratched. Did not like blinkers. Raced four wide on a wet track that favored inside speed, still finished a gutty second to possible Kentucky Derby favorite Omaha Beach, who had it all his own way. Oaks draw: Check out the Kentucky Oaks 2019 post position draw, jockeys, odds Bill Doolittle, Insider Louisville and Louisville Magazine Horses I like: Code of Honor, Omaha Beach, Tacitus Comment: Code of Honor has trained very well in Kentucky and stands a nice-odds chance to catch and maybe pass Omaha Beach in the final quarter mile of the 145th Run for the Roses. Or maybe not. Tacitus is a cool-looking gray in the morning light. Kentucky Derby tickets:You can still buy Kentucky Derby tickets. But it'll cost you Greg Fischer, Mayor of Louisville CLOSE Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer goes on the record with his favorite Kentucky Derby 2019 contender. Dominique Yates, Louisville Courier Journal Winner: Improbable Long shot I like: Cutting Humor Comment: I like Improbable great post position draw and has been improving every week. Draw analysis:Breaking down winners and losers of the 2019 Kentucky Derby draw Vince Tyra, University of Louisville Athletic Director CLOSE Louisville Athletic Director Vince Tyra goes on the record with his Kentucky Derby pick ahead of Saturday's race at Churchill Downs. April 30, 2019 Dominique Yates, Louisville Courier Journal Winner: Game Winner On the board: Improbable, Tacitus. Comment: Emotionally, I'm for Improbable with the local connection to Starlight Racing... but for what I do, Game Winner is my pick for Saturday. More picks:Free Brisnet past performances for 2019 Kentucky Derby contenders Jonathan Lintner, horseracingnation.com CLOSE Jonathan Lintner wrapped up his early 2019 Kentucky Derby betting choice at the Courier Journal's Better Derby Betting event. Nikki Boliaux, Louisville Courier Journal Winner: Game Winner On the board: Tacitus, Omaha Beach Long shot I like: Spinoff Comment: I expect a hotter pace than most, and that should set up for Game Winner, who is a gift as the second choice in this race as he cycles back into top form. Naturally, Omaha Beach deserves higher consideration over a sloppy track. | https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/horses/triple/derby/2019/05/01/kentucky-derby-2019-free-expert-picks-horse-racing-media-other-louisville-figures/3638164002/ |
Are Detroit Lions closer to making playoffs after NFL draft? | CLOSE Three Free Press writers debate the Detroit Lions' 2019 NFL draft class haul, following the 3-day event, April 27, 2019. Dave Birkett and Carlos Monarrez and Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press Now that weve all had a few days to reflect, recover and re-enter the world of the non-bleary-eyed living following the 2019 NFL draft, theres only one question that matters. I could give you a really short answer. I could just base it on my opinion. But since the draft draws so much attention equally for all 32 NFL teams, I thought it would be best to take as much of an objective survey of what different people from different backgrounds might think about the Lions chances. (Dont worry, The Simpsons creator, Matt Groening, was not asked for his opinion.) Lets do it. The experts say Lets start with a sampling of the smarty pants NFL media who assigned draft grades to every team. I think we have to look beyond what they gave the Lions and compare all the grades for NFC North teams. Ill average out the letter grades using a numerical equivalent commonly used by colleges, including the University of Michigans College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Nate Davis, USA Today: Lions: C; Chicago Bears: A-minus; Green Bay Packers: B-minus; Minnesota Vikings: B. Andy Benoit, Sports Illustrated: Lions: B-plus; Bears: B-minus; Packers: A-minus; Vikings: A. Dan Kadar, SB Nation: Lions: B; Bears: C; Packers: B-minus; Vikings: B. Chad Reuter, NFL.com: Lions: B; Bears: A; Packers: A; Vikings: A. The aggregate comes out to the Lions getting a C, B-plus, B, B. Thats a 2.825 average. Rounded up, thats a B. Bears: A-minus, B-minus, C, A. Thats a 3.1 average. Rounded up, thats a B-plus. Packers: B-minus, A-minus, B-minus, A. Thats a 3.275 average. Rounded up, thats a B-plus. Vikings: B, A, B, A. Thats a 3.5 average. Rounded up, thats an A-minus. Its not a huge gap, or sample size, but the Lions had the lowest draft grade in the division. I wouldnt say thats encouraging for a team that finished last in the NFC North. For full disclosure, I didnt grade the NFC North, so Im not including my thoughts on the division. But last year I gave the Lions draft a C-plus. This year, I gave the Lions draft a C-plus. I promise this was a pure coincidence. Bob Quinn talks about Detroit Lions first-round pick Iowa tight end T.J. Hockenson, Thursday, April 25, 2019 at the practice facility in Allen Park. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press) Money talks If you want to remove as much of the human equation and want as much unbiased objectivity as possible, look to businesses that put their money where their mouths are: sportsbooks. Unfortunately for the Lions, the sportsbooks arent saying many nice things about their odds of making the playoffs after the draft. About the best they say, according to BetOnline.ag, is that the Lions were one of 10 teams whose odds to win Super Bowl LIV improved after the draft. But improvement is relative, and the Lions went from being tied for the third-worst odds at 80/1 to being tied for the fifth-worst odds at 66/1. SportsBetting.ag doesnt include the Lions among the 10 teams it calculates as favorites to make the playoffs, which includes the Bears and the Packers. And not only are the Lions a plus-400 underdog to make the playoffs, but only five teams are considered bigger underdogs. SportsBetting.ag also gives the Lions by far the worst odds to win the NFC North at plus-1,000. Chicago is considered the favorite at plus-175, followed by Green Bay at plus-200 and Minnesota at plus-225. Its pretty much the same story over at Bovada.lv. The best you can say from this sample is that the Lions chances at postseason success increased, however slightly, according to BetOnline.ags Super Bowl forecast. But this feels a little like saying Im closer to reaching the moon because I can jump one inch higher than I did yesterday. The way I see it Im sure youre all dying for my opinion, so here it is. Prepare yourselves, because what Im about to write is going to make you cringe, if not gag. But its a hard truth we all have to get used to. The Lions success this season is going to hinge on Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. OK, not them exactly, and definitely not the late Hernandez, who remains a toxic, cautionary tale in the NFL. But in eighth overall draft pick T.J. Hockenson and new free agent Jesse James, the Lions have their version of the two tight ends who also arrived in New England at the same time and turned the Patriots scoring offense into the best in the NFL for two of the three years they played together. From 2010-12, Gronk and Hernandez combined to score 56 receiving touchdowns. Their blocking also helped the run game. In 2010 and 12, the Patriots had a 1,000-yard rusher. They hadnt had one the five previous seasons before Gronk and Hernandez showed up, and theyve had only one since 2012. Its hardly a secret the Lions would want to emulate the success of Gronk and Hernandez since general manager Bob Quinn and coach Matt Patricia have tried to copy so much from the Patriots that Allen Park should be renamed Allen Foxboro. But the problem is that the offense is going through a transition, it remains untested and just doesnt feel much improved. Last year, the Lions entered the season with the No. 7 scoring offense. They overhauled and improved the defense, yet their record worsened. You cant fix everything in one offseason, and the Lions ignored their gaping hole at right guard and didnt improve their receiving corps or running back room this year. Its clear the Lions emphasized improving their defense yet again with Trey Flowers, Justin Coleman and four of their first five draft picks coming on defense. But the offense needed significant help because the NFC North last year featured Chicagos top-ranked scoring defense and Minnesota ninth-ranked scoring defense. To me, the Lions are a better team on defense than they were a year ago at this time. But theyre also a worse team on offense. Theyre only clearly better at one position: tight end. Theres an entire offseason, preseason and, you know, actual season to be played. But at this early stage after the draft, the Lions dont appear closer to making the playoffs this season. Contact Carlos Monarrez at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez. | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2019/05/01/detroit-lions-playoffs-nfl-draft/3633921002/ |
What is the Guardian YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project? | New annual survey explores attitudes on subjects from food to immigration in 23 countries The YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project is a new survey conducted annually in 23 of the worlds biggest countries, exploring populism, globalisation and attitudes on topics ranging from food, travel and technology to immigration, cultural beliefs and the environment. The Guardian helped YouGov pollsters and University of Cambridge academics at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy to design the survey, and is exclusively releasing the findings. Revealed: populists far more likely to believe in conspiracy theories Read more The 2019 project surveyed 25,325 people in February and March across Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. This years findings are being published in association with the Guardians The new populism series. Countries/samples The countries surveyed (and sample sizes) were: France (1,021); Germany (1,497); Italy (1,005); Spain (1,014); Sweden (1,011); Denmark (1,010); Poland (1,019); Britain (1,949); Australia (1,006); US (2,012); Canada (1,006); Japan (1,143); Brazil (1,006); Mexico (1,009); Turkey (506); Egypt (1,537)*; Saudi Arabia (828)*; India (1,035)*; China (1,021)*; Indonesia (1,001)*; Thailand (1,043)*; Nigeria (644)*; and South Africa (1,002). The surveys were carried out online. Populist cohort The Dutch political scientist Cas Mudde defines populism as a thin-centred ideology that separates society into two antagonistic groups the pure people versus the corrupt elite and that insists politics should be an expression of the general will of the people. Working with academic advisers, the Guardian used this definition, which is widely used in political science, to identify a cohort of survey respondents with strong populist views. Show Hide The project is a new annual survey of global attitudes in 23 of the world's biggest countries, covering almost 5 billion people. The 2019 survey canvassed 25,325 people online across much of Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia in February and March. Questions about populist attitudes and convictions were inserted in order to derive a "populist cohort", and discover what this group of people think about major world issues from immigration to vaccination, social media and globalisation. This populist cohort included all the respondents who answered strongly agree to both of the following statements: My country is divided between ordinary people and the corrupt elites who exploit them. The will of the people should be the highest principle in this countrys politics. China, Saudi Arabia and Egypt were not included in the populism analysis because YouGov conducts only certain kinds of research in those countries. Nigeria was excluded over concerns about populism-related data in that country. The populist cohort comprised 22% of respondents across the 19 countries that were analysed. Analysis The data was analysed by Guardian journalists in conjunction with YouGov. Additional research exploring the relationship between populist attitudes and conspiracy theories was conducted by Levente Littvay, from Central European University, and Matthijs Rooduijn from the University of Amsterdam. Models predicting populism and belief in the specific conspiracy theories were fixed effects logistic regressions including controls for country, gender, two polynomials (an expression of more than two algebraic terms) of age (grouped in decades), and urbanicity, measured as city centre or large town, suburb, small town, or settlement. Democracy question A question testing democratic preferences asked respondents: Which one of the following do you think is generally best at producing i) a strong economy, ii) political stability, and iii) a happy society. The options were: An electoral democracy, where decisions are made by national leaders who are chosen by the general public. A direct democracy, where decisions are made by the general public voting directly on issues. A non-democratic system, where decisions are made by national leaders who are not chosen by the general public. It depends. One type of system is not necessarily better than the others at producing a strong economy. Dont know. None of these. For those markets labelled*, the figures have been weighted and are representative of the online adult population aged 18+. For all other markets, the figures have been weighted and are representative of the adult population aged 18+. For combined country samples, each country has been given an even weighting. | https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/01/populism-what-is-yougov-cambridge-globalism-project-methodology |
Could Russia and the US come to a deal over Venezuela's Maduro? | Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro (L) speak at a bilateral meeting on September 3, 2015 in Beijing, China. Sasha Mordovets | Getty Images News | Getty Images As unrest continues in Venezuela, some analysts are questioning how much support Russia will give beleaguered President Nicolas Maduro and if Moscow could be ready to strike a deal with the U.S. to end the Latin American country's political and humanitarian crisis. The U.S. and Russia have traded fresh barbs over Venezuela, each accusing the other of interfering in the country as protesters took to the streets for a second day in support of opposition leader Juan Guaido. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Maduro was prepared to leave the protest-wracked country Tuesday morning but said he had changed his mind after Russia intervened. "They had an airplane on the tarmac. He was ready to leave this morning, as we understand it. Russians indicated he should stay," Pompeo told CNN. Russia rebuffed that accusation, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying Wednesday that the U.S. assertion was part of an "information war," Reuters reported. The two sides may be more open to discussing what to do about Venezuela behind closed doors. On Wednesday, during an interview on 'Fox & Friends,' U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton suggested that Pompeo could later hold a call with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. CNBC contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment Wednesday but no one was immediately available. The U.S. and Russia have already discussed Venezuela at a meeting held in Rome in mid-March between Russia's deputy foreign minister and the U.S. special representative for Venezuela. Some analysts think that the two heavyweight countries might be coming to some kind of deal over Maduro's potential departure. "(There's) little doubt in my mind that the Russians and the U.S. have been talking for weeks about some kind of deal to ease Maduro out of office," Timothy Ash, a senior emerging markets strategist at Bluebay Asset Management, said in a note Wednesday. He said several factors led his to this conclusion firstly, that Moscow had gained leverage to negotiate with the U.S. by sending military advisers to Caracas and, secondly, that President Trump had so far not signed off on new sanctions on Russia for its alleged use of a chemical weapon following the nerve agent poisoning of former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, in the U.K. in 2018. "I think the U.S. administration held back getting Trump to sign this as something was cooking on Venezuela. They saw sanctions as a negotiating chip with Moscow." Ash believed that, for the Russians, the "deal" was no more sanctions, allowing Russian oil companies to retain the right to operate in Venezuela and get paid back in full for debts owed, and some deal around "spheres of influence." Battle for influence | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/01/could-russia-and-the-us-strike-a-deal-over-venezuelas-maduro.html |
Could big-name players like P.K. Subban, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, James Neal get traded this offseason? | Just because it is playoff time in the NHL doesnt mean general managers stop trying to improve their teams for next season. Theres already considerable buzz about big names possibly being in the marketplace this summer. Here are some desirable players whose potential availability has fans talking. Center Nazem Kadri, Toronto Maple Leafs: The Leafs have to trade a player or two to create more cap space for Mitch Marners anticipated long-term contract. Kadri is a logical choice to move. Two years in a row, Kadri hurt his team by taking a suspension during a playoff series. But his trade value is high. Many teams would be interested. Defenseman Jacob Trouba, Winnipeg Jets: The Jets would prefer to keep Trouba, but hes a restricted free agent this summer and could be an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2020. The Jets have had difficulty signing him in the past. Trouba would yield a strong return on the open market. SUSPEND HIM NOW: Brad Marchand shouldn't get off easy for cheap shot Defenseman P.K. Subban, Nashville Predators: The Predators need to upgrade their forward group and moving Subbans $9 million contract would clear a path for that to happen. With Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm, the Predators would still have a formidable defense without Subban. Like Subban, Josi and Ellis can generate considerable offense from the blue line. Right wing Phil Kessel, Pittsburgh Penguins: It feels as if Kessel has worn out his welcome in Pittsburgh. Coach Mike Sullivan and Kessel are not on the same page about how Kessel should be playing. GM Jim Rutherford is looking to shake up his roster. The Predators are looking for another proven scorer. Perhaps theres a fit there. (Photo: Gene J. Puskar, AP) Center/right wing William Nylander, Maple Leafs: The Leafs need to clear cap space for Marner and Kasperi Kapanen is critical. Nylanders cap hit is $6.96 million. This is an option that has to be explored. Left wing James Neal, Calgary Flames: With four years remaining on a contract paying $5.75 million per season, Neal will be extremely difficult to deal without the Flames accepting a bad contract in return or eating some of Neals money. But Neal did score 23 or more goals for seven consecutive seasons before scoring seven this season. Center Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins: The Malkin trade rumors pop up every spring, but they may be more plausible this year. The Penguins could use a face-lift and dealing Malkin could significantly alter their look. They could get veterans and prospects for Malkin. But Malkin has a full no-movement clause. For now, let's call a Malkin trade possible, but still unlikely. | https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2019/05/01/nhl-playoffs-trades-pk-subban-evgeni-malkin-william-nylander/3638278002/ |
What do market indicators say about the possibility of a recession? | The pundit consensus is for a slowdown but not a recession. The U.S. Fed seems to agree. However, the Bank of Canadas recently released quarterly business outlook survey shows that Canadas business sentiment has taken a sharp downward turn with the outlook looking cooler than economists anticipate. Story continues below advertisement Rather than drawing conclusions based on standard economic statistics, I prefer to focus on two market-related and more forward looking metrics. The first metric is the well-known seasonal effect in the financial markets, which, in my opinion, has had a better success in forecasting recessions in the past. It relates to the adage sell in May and go away, which argues that stock markets do better in the November to April period than in the May to October period. My research shows that stocks have experienced a positive return in the November to April period in 52 out of the 61 years of my sample (1957-2017) and a negative return in only nine years. Out of the nine negative return years, seven years (1960, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1982, 1990, 2000 and 2008) were recession years. That is, the November to April period has been dominated by positive stock returns, except during recessions when returns turn negative - in recessions or bear markets, no semi-annual stock return seasonality is generally documented. By way of comparison, stock returns in the May to October period were negative in 25 out of the 61 years, and only three of these years were recession years. The data comes from the Canadian Financial Markets Research Centre database at Western University and the index used in the calculations is the Equally Weighted CFMRC index. At the outset of 2019, I was afraid that we were not going to avoid a recession in the year as the Russell 2000 was down 12 per cent since the end of October 2018. Story continues below advertisement November to early January stock returns were giving pessimistic signals about the economy. In the following three months, however, the markets recovered strongly. Russell 2000 is now up about 3 per cent since the end of October 2018. The stock market recovery in recent months indicates that, based on this metric, we have marginally avoided a recession. The second metric has to do with the relationship between the so-called value premium (namely, value stock returns minus growth stock returns) and economic growth going forward. To separate value from growth stocks, Dartmouth University professor Ken French sorts NYSE stocks by price-to-book (P/B) from low to high, forms quintiles of stocks and calls the lowest quintile value stocks and the highest quintile growth stocks. Then within every value and growth quintile, he sorts stocks by a measure of operating profitability (OP, defined as annual revenues minus cost of goods sold, and selling, general, and administrative expenses divided by book equity) and forms OP quintiles from low to high. And he, finally, calculates value weighted annual returns for each of the 25 portfolios, which my ex-student Howard Ma, a portfolio manager with Meritocracy Capital Partners, made available to me. Using this data, the adjacent graph plots the difference in the 3-year average annual returns between the highest OP value and lowest OP growth group of stocks. A number of points can be made from the adjacent graph. First, in the long run, value seems to beat growth as there are more positive numbers than negative. Second, value does not beat growth all the time; there are periods of extensive underperformance of value stocks, as late 60s early 70s and 2012-2018. Third, the so called value stocks have been really beaten down as never before in the 2012-2018 period. Fourth, values stocks have started to outperform growth stocks starting in November 2018 on a 3-year annualized average basis. That is, between March 2016 and February 2019 value stocks have beaten growth stocks by a whopping 20 per cent. Finally, and most importantly, the inflection point at which value starts to beat growth seems to be happening at the start of a recession. It seems that the rising trend in interest rates over the last couple of years may have made consumers and investors more cautious with their money likely setting the stage for an economic slowdown or even a recession as a self-fulfilling prophecy. This behavior seems to have also coincided with a positive value premium. This is exactly what happened at the end of the past two business cycles, as well. Story continues below advertisement In recessions, growth stocks seem to be hardest hit as optimistic growth expectations are cut back hurting them more than value stocks, and so it may be that the value premium rises during recessions not because value stocks do better, but rather because growth stocks do worse. No matter what the reason is, the fact remains that sustained change in outperformance from growth to value seems to be happening mostly when the economy goes into a recession. If this historical experience repeats itself, then the adjacent graph seems to side with the BOCs survey results that the economy is cooler that many economists believe it to be, so much so that we could, in fact, be already in a recession. As it is normally the case in investing, you may have to judge for yourself. Open this photo in gallery Athan. The Globe and Mail George Athanassakos is a professor of finance and holds the Ben Graham Chair in Value Investing at the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario. | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/investment-ideas/article-what-do-market-indicators-say-about-the-possibility-of-a-recession/ |
Who is worst hit by the decline in cash? | has found. People without bank accounts More than 1.2 million Britons do not have a bank account, research has suggested. Aside from missing out on discounts for payments like bills, it means they rely on cash for their everyday life. And Bank of England figures show that 2.2 million people are almost entirely reliant on cash. Among the biggest cash users are poorer people. Joe Harrison, chief executive of the NMTF which represents the market trader industry, said he believes a proportion of the 2.2 million people who only use cash would do their shopping at markets. Having to pay to withdraw cash would have a "damaging effect" on market shoppers, he said, adding: "I don't think it's morally right they would be having to pay just to get something they don't have much of." Image copyright Getty Images The homeless For homeless people, who without an address are often unable to open a bank account, cash is a lifeline. Jon Glackin, founder of homeless charity Streets Kitchen, said a society in which cash is rarer would be "tricky" for people who are sleeping rough. "For them [homeless people] to purchase things, they need cash," he said. "They are isolated. Often they don't have access to a banking system or access to a debit card." But Mr Glackin said the effect of people carrying less cash may not be entirely detrimental on homeless people. He said the number of cash donations that homeless people receive does not appear to have dropped, despite the decline in cash. "There's this myth that people hand out notes all the time for homeless people," he said. "But generally it's pocket change. People give pounds, or 50 pence." As people carry less cash, it also raises the question of whether other street-based donations - like charity donation buckets or buskers - are affected. Several years ago, several charities tested out contactless charity boxes. The NSPCC found that during the trial, the average donation they received was higher on card. The food industry Some food businesses, for example independent takeaways, have traditionally only accepted cash. Fish and chip shop owner Andrew Crook, who is also president of the National Federation of Fish Friers, estimated that around 10-20% fish and chip shops are still cash only. His shop, in Euxton in Lancashire, started taking card payments around six years ago to avoid competition. "Where my shop is, there is a parade of shops," said Mr Crook, 43. "We have got a Chinese, a sandwich place. So if somebody pulls up outside and they have no cash, they will go to the other shops rather than come to me." Image copyright NFFF Image caption Mr Crook said his advice to all fish and chip shops would be to "move with the times" And he has not looked back, saying it is "fantastic - quicker than cash if you use contactless, a lot safer and more hygienic with less banknotes. It's a positive step". He said gradually more fish and chip shops are going electronic, adding: "I have heard of shops now taking 70% of their payments by card." Meanwhile, in restaurants, tipping in cash has traditionally been your best chance of making sure the tip goes to the waiter or waitress - rather than the owner. However as people carry less cash, tipping via card is more common. And tipping by card may not give the waiting staff the same benefit. When a service charge is added on to the end of a bill, there is no legal requirement for businesses to pass it on to their employees. Kate Nicholls, chief executive of industry representatives UKHospitality, said tipping should not be significantly reduced from less cash, as in many cases customers still have the facility to tip staff members when they make a card payment. But she added: "reduced cash flow is more likely to hit other hospitality businesses like rural pubs and will have an impact on things like fruit machine play, which also has a knock-on effect for the business." Traditional cash-based businesses In the past, window cleaners would often wash customers' windows during the day while they were at work, and then return in the evening to collect cash payments. Now, that is changing. Andrew Lee, who owns J A Lee window cleaners in Workington, Cumbria, said payments are gradually going electronic - but that there are still "lots of window cleaners out there who will only take cash", especially smaller companies. Mr Lee, 55, who is chairman of the Federation of Window Cleaners, said: "Certainly my own company, we have seen a gradual move from cash over the last five years. Once upon a time we used to get a lot of cash a week, now it's less than 10%. "Even the residential houses, we clean over 1,000 a month and less than 10% will pay in cash." Image copyright FWC Image caption Mr Lee said window cleaners use less cash "whether that's forced or voluntary, or a bit of both" He said he knows of sole traders who now take card payments via a tap on their phone. Meanwhile, Mr Harrison from market trader industry body NMTF, said around 40% of its members now accept plastic, whereas 60% only take cash. In fact, children as young as four are able to learn to manage their pocket money on digital budgeting apps. One parent, posting on Mumsnet last year, said they set up an app for their daughter to see how her pocket money grows. Some decide to use cash because of data issues. Retired army officer Mark Hainge, 62, from Hay-on-Wye, said: "I think people here in Hay would prefer not to give away any more data than they have to, like their shopping preferences, for example." And for others, paying in cash is about being able to budget and feel more in control of their spending. Microbiology lab assistant Dawn Harris said: "It's easy to lose track of what you're spending when you're using contactless. At least with cash you know what you've spent." Image copyright Dawn Harris Image caption Ms Harris, 55, said ATM charges to withdraw cash is "not fair - it's your money" She lives in a Buckinghamshire market town in the Chilterns and said she finds it increasingly hard to get hold of cash following bank closures. "I use cash for bus fares or taxis - and even just to pay for things," she said. "My dad doesn't do things online (banking) so when he is charged it causes him hardship. He drives around looking for a free cash machine and he's on oxygen so it takes a while." Meanwhile, Ashleigh Cooper, 60, from Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, said the lack of cash machines in her town is "becoming a real issue". "For me it's like going back to the dark ages, it's crazy," she said. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48122471 |
Who were the jurors in the Mohamed Noor trial? | The Jurors The Noor case was decided by a jury of 10 men and two women. There were six who appeared to be people of color on the panel, four of them immigrants. Juror 1: A male overnight manager at a high-end grocery store. Juror 2: A male civil engineer who works on track designs for light rail, streetcars and freight trains. He said he knew only the basics of the case. Juror 3: A man who works as a carpenter and also writes. Juror 4: A female obstetrician-gynecologist who described herself as a person of color. She said she has been second-guessed and mistaken as a nurse or lab technician because of other peoples implicit bias. Juror 5: A man who emigrated from the Philippines. He works as a host at a restaurant. Juror 6: A man who moved to the United States from Ethiopia. He works in the medical field. Juror 7: A male Minneapolis firefighter who knows three first responders on the prosecutions witness list. Juror 8: A man who emigrated from the Philippines and works as an immigration services officer for the Department of Homeland Security. Juror 9: A man who works in the financial investment industry. Juror 10: A man who previously served in the Navy hunting submarines from helicopters. He has a permit to carry a gun. Juror 11: A man who leads groups for people working on mental health issues and substance abuse recovery. Juror 12: A woman who emigrated from Pakistan several years ago and said she had never heard of the Noor case. | http://www.startribune.com/who-are-the-jurors-in-the-mohamed-noor-trial/509282432/ |
Will Facebook's Secret Crush end the unbearable pain of unrequited love? | The social media giants latest plan is to use its huge user base to help us find love and it just might work Mark Zuckerberg seems to have landed on a solution to turn around his untrustworthy and not quite human public image: playing Cupid. Harking back to its humble beginnings as a tool for ranking strangers attractiveness, Facebook has announced a new feature called Secret Crush, wherein users select the friends for whom they carry a torch. If your crush adds you to their list and with up to nine picks allowed, your odds arent bad Facebook will reveal you to each other and love will assuredly bloom. But if the feeling is not reciprocated, they need never know your identity just that one of their friends has added them as a secret crush. It is, for sure, a more welcome notification than It is [former colleague]s birthday today. Send him good thoughts! or You have seven unopened saves this week. But for now the feature announced at the platforms annual F8 conference on Tuesday, and first reported by Wired is limited to users of Facebook Dating, which is yet to be rolled out globally. (As of today, it is available in 18 countries, mostly in Asia and South America; the UK and the US are not among them.) According to reports, Facebook Dating works to connect users with people in their outer networks. Users create a dating profile that is separate to, but integrated with their main Facebook presence, visible only to non-friends who have also opted in to Dating. There is no swiping instead, potential matches are suggested on a basis of dating preferences and shared interests and events. Otherwise, its not dissimilar to popular dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge and Bumble. Where Facebook outstrips them all is in number of users 2.4 billion actively monthly, as of 30 March; by comparison, Tinder has about 3.8 million and the volume of data it has on them to inform a match: the two metrics by which a dating platform takes off, or fails. Perhaps tellingly, shares for Match Group Inc (which owns Match.com, Tinder and OKCupid) fell by 22% after Zuckerberg announced Facebook Dating in May last year. By the sheer size of its network, Facebook has the potential to radically shake up online dating and Secret Crush shows how. Dating apps introduce you to strangers, but Secret Crush could connect you with someone you already know you fancy. At the moment, your best bet is to download Tinder and cross your fingers that they cross your screen. Or you could always, you know, try telling them in person. | https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2019/may/01/will-facebooks-secret-crush-end-the-unbearable-pain-of-unrequited-love |
Did the Casey Anthony Trial Impact the Susan Cox Powell Investigation? | The story of Susan Cox Powell gripped the nationand frustrated her family. Susan Cox Powell was 28 years old when she vanished from her Utah home. Her husband, Josh Powell, said his wife went to bed, then he took their two sons, Charlie and Braden, on a camping trip during a blizzard. Two years later, Josh took his own life after killing his two sons. Oxygen reopens the headline-making case in a two-night special, The Disappearance of Susan Cox Powell, and E! News has an exclusive sneak peek at the true-crime event. In the clip below, detectives and lawyers, as well as Susan's family, recount the frustration they had during the investigation into Powell's disappearance and ruled homicide. | https://www.eonline.com/news/1037000/did-the-casey-anthony-trial-impact-the-susan-cox-powell-investigation?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories |
Is the Assange indictment a threat to the First Amendment? | (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Ofer Raban, University of Oregon (THE CONVERSATION) A British court on Wednesday sentenced Julian Assange to almost a year in prison for jumping bail. Thats not the end of Assanges legal problems: On May 2, Assange, the co-founder of WikiLeaks, will appear at a London court in relation to his requested extradition to the U.S. The American government has many reasons to dislike Assange, who is responsible for the dissemination of huge troves of classified American documents. These include hundreds of thousands of classified military reports, hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic cables, hundreds of classified reports from the military prison in Guantanamo Bay and thousands of secret CIA documents revealing the agencys techniques for hacking and surveillance. The publication of classified information violates a number of federal laws, including the Espionage Act. The act imposes up to 10 years of imprisonment for every violation of its various provisions. But at least for now, the U.S. has not charged Assange with any such violations. Instead, the United States indicted Assange for conspiring with Chelsea Manning, the former United States Army soldier convicted of leaking classified documents, to hack into a government computer and obtain classified information. Constitutional protections for publication One reason is the questionable constitutionality of such charges. They may violate the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the government from abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press. Accordingly, the American government has traditionally abstained from charging publishers of classified information for the crime of publication. The one near-exception occurred in 1942, in the middle of World War II, after the Chicago Tribune published a front-page story titled Navy Had Word of Jap Plan to Strike at Sea. The story implied that the U.S. military had cracked Japans secret naval code which in fact it had. An incensed President Franklin Roosevelt demanded that Espionage Act charges be brought against the reporter, the managing editor and the Tribune itself. But a grand jury refused to issue indictments. The Pentagon Papers In 1972 the U.S. government tried to stop The New York Times and The Washington Post from publishing the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Department of Defense study on the Vietnam War. In its well-known decision, the Supreme Court held that preventing the publication violated the First Amendment. Less known is the fact that a majority of the justices also thought that the newspapers could be prosecuted and possibly punished for the publication, even if stopping the publication was unconstitutional. The Pentagon Papers decision was about the ability of government to stop the publication of information in other words, its ability to impose a prior restraint. It left open the possibility of punishing publishers after the publication. On the other hand, a number of later Supreme Court decisions did protect publishers who had published truthful information in violation of the law. The court prohibited the punishment of a television station that broadcast the name of a rape victim in violation of state law, the punishment of a newspaper that published the content of confidential judicial proceedings, and the punishment of a radio station that broadcast an unlawfully recorded phone conversation. These publications were all protected by the freedoms of speech and the press. National security vs. free speech However, none of these later cases dealt with publication of national security information, and the outcome may be different when it comes to such materials. That would depend on the specific dangers or harms posed by the publication: for example, on whether lives were endangered, or whether the government was simply trying to prevent embarrassment to itself. Some judges, however, would likely simply defer to the governments assessment of these dangers. In my judgment the judiciary may not redetermine for itself the probable impact of disclosure on the national security, wrote Justice John Marshall Harlan for himself and Justices Harry Blackmun and Warren Burger in the Pentagon Papers decision. Some of todays Supreme Court justices Justice Clarence Thomas, for example are likely to agree with Harlans position. Still, as of today, Assanges indictment does not include charges of criminal publication. Nothing in Assanges indictment turns on any distinction between WikiLeaks and the mainstream press. The current charge would be equally applicable to real journalists if they engaged in similar conduct. Nevertheless, it has been widely claimed that legitimate journalism is not threatened by the indictment, because legitimate journalists do not help their sources hack into computers. And yet, Assange is not charged with helping Manning hack into a computer. He is charged with agreeing to help Manning hack into a computer whether there was or wasnt any hacking attempt. The essence of the crime of conspiracy is agreement to commit a crime, irrespective of whether that crime was in fact attempted. Federal conspiracy charges also require that some action be taken toward committing the crime. But that action can be utterly minor, fall far short of an actual attempt, need not be itself criminal, and may be undertaken by any of the co-conspirators with or without anyones knowledge. Moreover, conspiracy can exist even without explicit words of agreement: It can be inferred. For example, from the fact that a passenger exited a car, robbed a pedestrian, then returned to the car and was driven away, it was permissible to infer that the driver conspired to commit robbery (a criminal offense wholly independent of the robbery itself). Of course: Every time a journalist receives and publishes classified national security information, she can be said to conspire with her source to disclose classified information, which is a crime. In fact, the federal government had already advanced such a conspiracy claim in regard to a journalist. In 2009 Fox News reporter James Rosen wrote an article that contained leaked classified information about North Korea. In 2010 the Obama administration filed a search warrant application where it argued that Rosen was a criminal co-conspirator of his State Department source in the criminal disclosure of classified information. The warrant was granted, although Rosen was never indicted for the alleged conspiracy. Indeed such an indictment would have raised similar constitutional difficulties to those implicated in the criminal publication of classified information. Line of illegality Julian Assange is charged with a conspiracy to criminally obtain classified information through computer hacking not with a conspiracy to disclose or publish classified information (which legitimate journalists might also be accused of). Nevertheless, Assanges indictment can be a dangerous precedent if the government views it through a broad lens: namely, as a charge about a criminal conspiracy to obtain classified information. In that case, legitimate journalists may also be on the hook. In fact, it is rather clear that the government takes a broad view of Assanges indictment. After all, clearly Assange is prosecuted because of WikiLeaks publication of classified information, even if the government is still reluctant to indict him for that. And the broad view is also implied in the statements of Jeff Sessions, who as attorney general made prosecuting Assange a priority. When testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2017, Sessions was asked whether he can commit to not jailing reporters for doing their jobs. He responded: I dont know if I can make a blanket commitment to that effect, but I would say we have not taken any aggressive action against the media at this point. With Assanges indictment, they finally may have. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: http://theconversation.com/is-the-assange-indictment-a-threat-to-the-first-amendment-115420. | https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/Is-the-Assange-indictment-a-threat-to-the-First-13810614.php |
Why do dads love Bosch? | In an old episode of Kojak, the hit CBS crime drama from the 70s, the heroic, truculent police detective Theo Kojak wanders into a bar in a posh New York hotel, where he notices a familiar trio of mafia men together at a table, in town from their crooked empires in Las Vegas. The picture of charm, Kojak invites himself to join their party, and proceeds to mock and tease these button men, who watch the act stonily. When one of them loses patience, and tells their unwelcome interlocutor to buzz off, Kojak stands up, looms over him, and reaches down to flip his chair over with him in it. Look, pussycat, Kojak says. Never, ever talk to me like that. He tosses a crumpled dollar on the table to cover the drinks and, mob guys duly terrified, walks smoothly away. Kojak! What poise! Kojak was the ultimate badass, one commenter declares, beneath a clip of this scene on YouTube. (You can watch the video under the title Classic Kojak, naturally.) Kojak was a police officer Lieutenant Detective with the NYPDs Eleventh District, to be precise and endowed with all the authority, and responsibility, of a representative of that office. But Kojak did not act like an ordinary, dignified, line-toeing cop; he bent the rules and talked back when he felt like it, vexing his superiors and bedevilling unlucky crooks. Unlike most police officers, who are expected to observe not only the law but the normal rules of social conduct and civic etiquette, Kojak spurns convention, and instead just does his job, feelings and appearances be damned. He doesnt have time for courtesy hes too busy stopping criminals to care about being kind. This is not how cops are generally expected to behave in the real world. It is, however, how cops are expected to act on TV, where the Kojak model sharp-witted, cantankerous, devil-may-care is basically the default setting. On Amazon Primes crime procedural Bosch, whose fifth season just aired on the streaming platform, a salt-and-pepper-haired Titus Welliver plays the eponymous hero, a former Special Forces vet who works the homicide desk in downtown Los Angeles and who, in the parlance of TV ad copy, plays by his own rules. Bosch, based on the protagonist of a series of Michael Connelly thrillers, is shrewd, smart-talking and the best of the best at his job, where hell always solve a case but invariably ruffle some feathers along the way another Classic Kojak, in other words, both smart aleck and superlative pro. Welliver plays it less overtly funny than Telly Savalas did in his day, and tends to wear a look of brooding, one-step-ahead intensity rather than one of Kojaks fedorad smirks. But they do share an attitude of efficient, bureaucracy-snubbing defiance, an attitude that cuts through red-tape bullshit with stubborn comic panache, and that attitude is central to their appeal. Bosch and Kojak are the cops free-thinking enough to follow their instincts and pursue their own leads, the only cops willing to do whatever it takes to see justice pursued and criminals put away and the more closely their actions accord with the spirit of such clichs the better the results. These men are instruments for the truth, and they are better equipped to serve a moral ideal, its implied at every turn, than their counterparts devoted to mere decorum. For a certain sort of middle-aged, middle-class man, these badass TV detectives are an ideal form of fantasy wish-fulfillment. Bosch and Kojak are hardly the only TV cops that fit the bill. You can see it on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation with Grissom, the wily entomologist played by William Peterson, and on CSI: Miami, in Horatio Caine, the forensics expert known for his ice-cold quips, played by David Caruso. You could see it all over Law & Order, especially in the law man played by Jerry Orbach and the prosecutor portrayed by Sam Waterston, and doubly so on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, in detective investigator Robert Goren, the witty hero and self-described acquired taste played by Vincent DOnofrio. It was true of Lie to Me (Tim Roth), Life on Mars (John Simm) and Magnum, P.I. (Tom Selleck, a little more cheerful and not technically a cop, but same wavelength). Its not just mainstream network dramas that do it, either: the same type appears, with shades of complication, in Luther, True Detective and The Wire. A hero who makes jokes, gets into trouble, and takes up unusual methods in the pursuit of righteousness is more interesting to watch than one who does everything soberly and by the book, of course: thats just writing for television. Yet the appeal of the rule-bending, attitude-flaunting cop runs deeper than dynamic characterization. For most people but I suspect particularly for a certain sort of middle-aged, middle-class man, these badass TV detectives are an ideal form of fantasy wish-fulfillment the dauntless, unerring paragons of brilliance and brazen cool is something they secretly yearn for themselves to be. In the same way that, say, Iron Man or Captain America activate some pleasure-centre daydream in the adolescent psyche, the Bosches and Kojaks of prime-time make the dads of the world thrill with identification. Its not brawn or superpowers that gets them fantasizing. Its being good at a job and always having a funny one-liner. Characters like Bosch are very validating. Bosses doubt Bosch, in much the same way they doubt Kojak, or Grissom, or Bruce McClane in Die Hard; nobody quite appreciates the effortless skill, the unheralded proficiency or the indefatigable devotion these men (its almost always men) bring to the table, though they continue to bring it anyway. These guys are always right; they always know better; they always, whatever the means, get it done in the end. Theres something very satisfying about watching this unfold week after week, as if by seeing an insubordinate hero vindicated by success in the field we, too, can feel some gratification in our lives second-hand. The colleague who irritates you, the client who gives you lip, the manager who distrusts your ways what we crave, and the dream the bad-ass cops offer, is to show them whats what. We want to say look, pussycats. Never talk to us like that again. | https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/television/why-do-dads-love-bosch |
How does music affect the brain of people with dementia? | Video Two years ago, 31-year-old Dan was diagnosed with a rare form of genetic Alzheimers. His father died aged 36, though at the time no-one realised why. Theres a risk that Dans children will also have inherited the faulty gene, so Dan has seized the opportunity to take part in a cutting-edge experiment in the hope that it will help to find a cure in the future. Dementia is an umbrella term for a collection of symptoms including memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language and is caused when different diseases damage the brain. Our Dementia Choir with Vicky McClure starts on BBC One on Thursday 2 May 2019 at 8pm. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/stories-48111535/how-does-music-affect-the-brain-of-people-with-dementia |
What must Lions tight end T.J. Hockenson become to justify top-10 draft pick? | T.J. Hockenson (38) of Iowa was the John Mackey Award winner last season as the nation's top tight end. He was selected No. 8 overall by the Lions in the NFL Draft. (Photo: Jim Young, Associated Press) Allen Park First-round picks are arguably the NFL's most valuable currency. They offer the chance for a franchise to secure a top-flight talent for up to five seasons at a controlled cost. It's why those picks are rarely traded, and when they are, they can help land a superstar in return, such as Chicago's deal for linebacker Khalil Mack last year. The earlier the draft pick, the more value it has. In turn, the expectations for the players selected at those spots also increase. Last week, the Detroit Lions rebuffed trade interest for their No. 8 pick, the team's earliest choice in six years. Instead, they stood pat and selected Iowa tight end T.J. Hockenson. The decision wasn't all that surprising, but it does buck conventional drafting wisdom. For a number of reasons, tight ends typically aren't drafted that early. For one, it's among the toughest positions to develop, and even tougher to project high-level success. Only four tight ends have been selected in the top 10 the last 20 years, with the Lions being responsible for the past two. CLOSE Rogers, Wojo and Niyo offer their final thoughts on the Lions' 2019 draft class. Justin Rogers, The Detroit News The Lions were clearly sold on Hockenson, last year's John Mackey Award winner as the nation's best tight end. The consensus among analysts is Hockenson is the most complete prospect at his position in several years, possessing excellent hands, advanced blocking and plus-athleticism. Add in off-the-charts football character, and it's easy to buy into the idea he has an exceptionally high floor and equally high ceiling as an NFL prospect. An easy answer would be he has to become a top 10 player at his position, but good luck coming up with that list. The top is easy enough, with Kansas City's Travis Kelce, Philadelphia's Zach Ertz and San Francisco's George Kittle, who just set the receiving yardage record for the position in his second season. We can debate the next tier, but former Lion Eric Ebron, Minnesota's Kyle Rudolph and Green Bay's Jimmy Graham are as good of options as any. And you can round out the list with any number of players, from those coming back from injury such as Hunter Henry, Jack Doyle or Delanie Walker, to young up-and-comers like O.J. Howard, Evan Engram or Dallas Goedert, or the always-desirable well-rounded talents like Vance McDonald or Austin Hooper. It's easy to show how a tight end contributes as a pass-catcher with statistics to lean on. We know 15 caught at least 40 passes, 17 tallied more than 500 yards and 16 scored at least four touchdowns. Lions general manager Bob Quinn acknowledged there's a transitional period for all college players, especially tight ends, but also said he doesn't anticipate Hockenson being a slow study. If he could manage to hit those benchmarks as a rookie, he would be well ahead of the curve. For added context, only 30 rookie tight ends in the Super Bowl era have caught 40 or more passes, including Lions Hall of Famer Charlie Sanders, who set the franchise mark with 40 in 1968. The other aspect of playing tight end blocking is more difficult to quantify. Unless we're willing to invest hundreds of hours into studying film, we're left to lean on someone else to do it for us. Enter Pro Football Focus, who grades each tight end's run blocking and pass protection on a 1-100 scale, with a grade of 65 or better being considered adequate. It's surprising to see how few tight ends do both well, and far fewer who are also productive receivers. Even the top-tier guys, like Kelce and Ertz, are below-average run blockers, according to PFF. Understanding the rarity of the all-around tight end is where Hockenson can provide added value to the Lions. And while no two players share identical skill sets and physical attributes, there are several strong examples of the all-around performance Detroit should eventually hope for from Hockenson. A note, we aren't including Rob Gronkowski in the discussion simple because it's beyond reason to expect a rookie to be the second-coming of arguably the best to ever play the position. Steelers tight end Heath Miller earned stellar blocking grades throughout his career, while averaging 58 catches for 635 yards and four touchdowns after his first two seasons. (Photo: Winslow Townson, Associated Press) Heath Miller The longtime Pittsburgh Steeler shared a similar body type to Hockenson. A first-round pick out of Virginia, Miller didn't participate in pre-draft workouts due to injury, so it's difficult to compare athleticism. From a production standpoint, Miller earned stellar blocking grades throughout his career, while averaging 58 catches for 635 yards and four touchdowns after his first two seasons. Greg Olsen Olsen is an inch taller than Hockenson and ran a faster 40 coming out of college. Otherwise, the overall athletic profiles are similar. Olsen has been a good blocker much of his career, although his run blocking has suffered as injuries have mounted in recent seasons. A productive receiver during his early years in Chicago, his statistical output blossomed in Carolina. During his peak years, from 2011-16, he averaged 71 receptions, 897 yards and five touchdowns. Prior to an injury last season, Titans tight end Delanie Walker (82) averaged 71 catches for 831 yards and five touchdowns from 2013-17, while maintaining his reputation as an outstanding blocker. (Photo: James Kenney, Associated Press) Delanie Walker Physically, Walker and Hockenson have little in common. A small-school standout, Walker is undersized for the position, coming out of school at 6-foot-1, 240 pounds. He made up for it with speed and versatility. After seven seasons as a Swiss Army knife in San Francisco, Walker signed with the Titans and emerged as one of NFL's best all-around players at the position. Prior to an injury last season, he averaged 71 catches for 831 yards and five touchdowns from 2013-17, while maintaining his reputation as an outstanding blocker. Hunter Henry Three years before Hockenson won the Mackey Award, Henry took home the trophy as a junior at Arkansas. Considered the best tight end in his draft class, Henry went to the Chargers early in the second round. He made an immediate impact, catching 36 passes, including eight touchdowns, as a rookie, and followed that up with a stellar all-around performances the following year. Henry isn't nearly as athletic as Hockenson, but has managed to average 13 yards per reception during his young career, while quickly adjusting to the blocking demands at the professional level. Jack Doyle Ebron's teammate in Indianapolis, Doyle has been a solid run blocker for the Colts the past five seasons. He flew under the NFL's radar at Western Kentucky, going undrafted in 2013 despite a good build and back-to-back 50-catch seasons for the Hilltoppers. It didn't happen right away, but Doyle caught 59 passes his fourth season and 80 his fifth, before injuries limited him to six games last year. Conclusion If Hockenson lives up to his reputation as a blocker, particularly in the ground game, while eventually providing 55 or more receptions annually, he'll quickly establish himself as one of the NFL's best all-around tight ends. That production would mirror what Miller provided the Steelers for much of the past decade before his retirement in 2016. If the Lions manage to get even more receiving production out of Hockenson, similar the peak levels of Olsen or Walker, there will be no debating whether the franchise made the right decision to go outside the box and select another tight end inside the top 10. [email protected] Twitter: @Justin_Rogers | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2019/05/01/what-must-detroit-lions-t-j-hockenson-become-justify-top-10-pick/3638652002/ |
Did Jamaal Charles have a Pro Football Hall of Fame career? | Jamaal Charles memorable moments with the Chiefs Running back Jamaal Charles will no doubt join the Chiefs' Ring of Honor one day, but he's definitely wearing the wrong colors this season. Let's set that aside a moment and remember some of the electrifying moments he had in Kansas City. Up Next SHARE COPY LINK Running back Jamaal Charles will no doubt join the Chiefs' Ring of Honor one day, but he's definitely wearing the wrong colors this season. Let's set that aside a moment and remember some of the electrifying moments he had in Kansas City. As he was rolling up 1,000-yard rushing seasons, Jamaal Charles was running toward a Pro Football Hall of Fame career. Charles believes so. Some of my numbers look way better than some people already in Canton, Charles said in an interview with TMZ posted in early April. Hes right. Charles 7,563 career yards (7,260 with the Chiefs) rank No. 56 heading into the 2019 season. No. 60 is Leroy Kelly, who rushed for 7,274 yards with the Browns. At 68 is John Henry Johnson, who ran for 6,803 yards, mostly with the Steelers. We have signed Jamaal Charles to a one-day contract. The 4x Pro Bowler will retire as a Chief. Congratulations on a phenomenal career, @jcharles25! #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/ECZTj8nWeX Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) May 1, 2019 Down the list are Hall of Famers Floyd Little, Gale Sayers and Marion Motley. Just above Charles at No. 55 is Terrell Davis, who finished his career with 44 more rushing yards. Davis was enshrined in 2017. Among those with more rushing yards who are Hall of Fame eligible but not in: Edgerrin James (12,246), Fred Taylor (11,695) and Priest Holmes (8,172). Charles is a difficult call. The greatest selling point for his candidacy is the incredible 5.4 rushing yards per attempt. This ranks fourth in NFL history, second among running backs. Charles was incredible at slipping through a crease, finding an opening and, like the Roadrunner poof! gone. He had seven touchdown runs of 50 yards or more. NFL's all-time yards per carry leader (minimum 750 career attempts): 1. Michael Vick: 7.0 2. Randall Cunningham: 6.4 3. Marion Motley: 5.7 4. Jamaal Charles: 5.4 5. Jim Brown: 5.2 Congrats to Charles on a great career. pic.twitter.com/qbnOKGgMZR Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 30, 2019 In 2012, Charles had more rushing touchdowns of at least 80 yards (three) than fewer than 80 yards (two). The arrival of Andy Reid of 2013 expanded Charles game. That first year with Reid, Charles led team in rushing and receiving attempts and yards and led the NFL with 19 touchdowns in the second of his two All-Pro seasons. But a few things work against Charles. There were only two playoff appearances in his 11 years, both with the Chiefs. In his second, against the Colts in 2013, Charles was injured on the first series and didnt return. The lack of postseason success could be a factor. Davis role in the Broncos consecutive Super Bowl victories is why hes in Canton despite a career that lasted seven seasons and 78 regular season games. Charles never led the NFL in rushing or scoring, unlike Holmes, who topped the rushing chart once and touchdown list twice. But it also speaks to Charles talent that he put together two of his best seasons on losing teams. His 2012 effort 1,509 rushing yards, the fifth-best in Chiefs history on a team that finished 2-14 deserves special mention. Injuries shortened Charles career and cost him nearly a full season in his prime, in 2011. He was never the same player after the season ending ACL tear at Arrowhead against the Bears in 2015. After that, Charles appeared in 19 games with no starts. Add it up and the Charles case is compelling. To be considered, a player or coach has to be retried for five consecutive seasons. Charles fifth season will be 2023. Only one running back was among 22 playing semifinalists for the Class of 2018. James missed out on advancing for the fifth straight year. Charles one day-contract to retire with his original team is an honor bestowed only on franchise greats, and hes a slam dunk for the Ring of Honor. Entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is a longer conversation, and one that likely comes down to the assessment of Charles peak years and whether there were enough to gain entry into the games most exclusive club. | https://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/article229908154.html |
Could Pavel Datsyuk be returning to the NHL sooner than expected? | Pavel Datsyuk might be returning to the NHL sooner than anticipated. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) Its perhaps too early to get our collective hopes up but Pavel Datsyuk might be starring in a rink near you. Soon. Datsyuk tweeted Tuesday evening that he has completed his term with SKA Saint Petersburg after signing a one-year extension with the club in April 2018. That news has sparked discussion of a possible NHL return for Datsyuk. Scroll to continue with content Ad Pavel Datsyuk announces the SKA portion of his career is completed. Under Ken Holland, there had been discussion of a possible return to DET for next season. He is due in Michigan soon; we'll see where it goes. https://t.co/45PjZklv0t Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) May 1, 2019 The former Detroit Red Wings legend will be 41 when the 2019-20 season gets underway but it would be a fools errand to bet against one of the most well-rounded forwards of his generation. For those who may have forgotten, Datsyuk won two Stanley Cups (2002, 2008) and won the Selke Trophy in three consecutive years (2008-10). Datsyuk recorded six assists at the 2018 Winter Olympics, helping the Olympic Athletes from Russia capture the gold medal. Steve Yzerman returned to the Red Wings as their executive vice president/general manager in April and its not hard to envision him linking up with his long-time teammate in some capacity this fall. More NHL coverage from Yahoo Sports | https://sports.yahoo.com/could-pavel-datsyuk-be-returning-to-the-nhl-sooner-than-expected-045519351.html?src=rss |
What happened to long shots at the Kentucky Derby? | I'll Have Another won the Kentucky Derby in 2012, the last time a non-favorite won the Run for the Roses. (Getty) LOUISVILLE, Ky. There was a time when a 50-to-1 long shot trained by an obscure New Mexico cowboy on crutches shocked the world in the Kentucky Derby. The horse was Mine That Bird, and that was a decade ago. There also was a time, four years prior, when another 50-to-1 came home the winner. The horse was Giacomo, who never won anything of note before or after the first Saturday in May of 2005. Scroll to continue with content Ad There was a seemingly endless stretch of time two entire decades, from 1980-99 when favorites won the Derby a grand total of zero times. Its good to remember those times today the crazy, fearless ride of Calvin Borel in 2009, the suicidal pace that junked up the 05 race, the constant churn of surprises that ended the 20th century. Here in the days of predictability, those upsets seem like museum pieces. Maybe thats the way it should be, given the current culture. We 21st century humans hate surprises: caller ID has eliminated the guesswork of who is trying to reach us on the phone; weather forecasts tell us by the hour whether to expect sun or rain; traffic apps inform us whats waiting around every bend in the road. Sports is supposed to be the last refuge of suspense, the last place to be good and gobsmacked by something we didnt see coming. But the Kentucky Derby is not doing its part. The thrill is gone from the modern Run for the Roses. There are several theories why, and well explore them here, but first lets light a candle at the Shrine of Donerail (1913 winner, at 91-to-1 odds) as we trudge through the Chalk Era of the Kentucky Derby. Six straight favorites have won, the longest such streak in the 145-year history of Americas greatest horse race. And not only have they won, theyve done so with a dearth of in-race drama. Story continues The last five Derbies have resembled a merry-go-round horses in fixed position for the vast majority of the 1 1/4-mile race. The path to the winners circle has been brute simple: get to the front, stay at the front, win. Justify, last years Triple Crown winner, was never farther back than second in the Derby. Same with Always Dreaming, the 2017 champion. California Chrome, American Pharoah and Nyquist were never farther back than third. Of those five, only American Pharoah hadnt yet taken the lead heading into the long Churchill Downs stretch. The last of the late-charging winners was the first of this streak of favorites Orb, in 2013. He was 17th midway through the race, roared up to fifth with a quarter-mile to run, then took over in the stretch. Since then, the Derby has been a speed-favoring race. Horses quick enough to take the early lead, or contest the early pace, have ruled the race. As a result, the legendary Derby betting payouts have shrank. A decade ago, a $2 exacta paid about $2,900 and a $2 trifecta paid about $41,5000 preposterous numbers. Usually those numbers have been in the range of $300 for a winning Derby exacta and $3,000 for a trifecta still a frothy return on investment if you can hit it. But three of the last four Derby exactas have paid less than $75, and three of the last four Derby trifectas have paid less than $285. Justify won last year's Kentucky Derby, a record sixth straight favorite to win. (Getty) The good news there is that more people are cashing tickets. The bad news is that theyre not cashing huge tickets. Maybe that changes Saturday. On paper, this Derby looks balanced and competitive, with as many as five logical candidates to win. And probably an illogical candidate or two that could pull it off as well. Dare to dream, underdogs. It would be a welcome return to the Derbys long-held status as the wildest race of the year, two minutes of mayhem that few bettors or prognosticators saw coming. Those days have been replaced by a numbing run of predictability. Start with the Derby point system. It came into being in 2013, and the Chalk Era immediately began with it.The point system, with qualifying points accrued through a series of prep races, was an improvement over simply using graded stakes earnings as the way into the 20-horse Derby field. It was better, in large part, because it excluded sprinters who piled up purse money in shorter races that augured no success stretching out to 1 1/4 miles. Instead, horses generally have had to show up and run well in one or more major prep races to earn enough points for Derby admission. Youre giving them two or three hard races to get in [the Derby], said three-time Derby winner D. Wayne Lukas. They cant skip a big race to get in, and they cant be short on conditioning. Front-end speed horses possessing none of the necessary staying power have cooked the pace in a few Derbies. Flukish results have tended to follow. With the so-called cheap speed excluded, the pace is presumed to be more honest. The Baffert-ization of the sport has had an effect as well. Trainer Bob Baffert has won five Kentucky Derbies between 1997-2018, most of them with naturally fast horses that were both trained and raced aggressively. They arrived on race day dead fit, as opposed to being babied in their morning workouts, and they were speedy enough to get on or near the lead and thus avoid the infamous Derby traffic problems. Thats also become a California racing style, and its no coincidence that four of the last five winners were California-based horses: Justify, Nyquist, American Pharoah and California Chrome. The top four choices in the 2019 Derby all hail from the West Coast as well: Richard Mandellas Omaha Beach, and Bafferts trio of Roadster, Game Winner and Improbable. The California guys are still in the best position to win it, Lukas said. Box Baffert and Mandella and youre going to be in pretty good shape. Perhaps were simply in a strong cycle of speed horses. But Bafferts Derby Method has become something of a template. Its no surprise to see others doing their best to mimic it leading up to the race. Maybe were getting better at preparing for the Derby, Lukas said. And so the cream rises. Bafferts the best trainer in America. Hes got the best clientele, and he comes with the best set of horses. Theres certain guys who know how to get them ready for this. Theyre battle-tested, like the Spurs and the Warriors. They show up every year. Thats another element of the Baffert-ization of the sport a continued concentration of high-end horses in the hands of powerful ownership groups and accomplished trainers. The more big races Baffert and Todd Pletcher won, the more good horses they got. Along the way, ownership groups have begun to join forces the group that co-owned Triple Crown winner Justify included WinStar Farms and China Horse Club, wealthy operations that are prepared to dominate at yearling sales and keep restocking the barns of elite trainers. There is one other dynamic to consider in the creation of the Chalk Era one that isnt talked about much, but makes as much sense as anything. Handicappers and gamblers are simply smarter than they used to be, and thus are likely to make more informed odds and smarter bets. The information explosion has led to a more informed betting public. There simply is more data and less subjective squishiness in the process. Race replays are in abundant supply, as opposed to simply scrutinizing the hieroglyphs on a chart. Trip handicapping calibrating, for instance, how wide a horse ran throughout a race is more accurate and more in vogue. The old canards like Dosage Index, which sought to quantify pedigree as a metric for a horses stamina to run 1 1/4 miles, have fallen out of favor. Despite recent results, horsemen are still leery of the Derbys old history as a favorites graveyard. When asked about having the horse to beat last week, Omaha Beach trainer Mandella visibly winced and responded, Dont say that. Dont worry, Richard. Here in the Kentucky Derbys Chalk Era, being favored is exactly where you want to be. More from Yahoo Sports: | https://sports.yahoo.com/what-happened-to-longshots-at-the-kentucky-derby-135947511.html?src=rss |
Could Nevada's Jordan Brown be the big man ASU needs? | Arizona State may have lost out on its attempt to land Valparaiso transfer Derrik Smits who ended up choosing Butler. But the Sun Devils many not be out of options yet. Nevada's Jordan Brown against New Mexico State on Feb. 9, 2019. Brown intends to transfer and Arizona State is one of the programs he is considering. (Photo: Andy Barron/RGJ) Among those already in the transfer portal is 6-foot-11 forward Jordan Brown, who just played his freshman season at Nevada. The Wolf Pack went 29-5 during the 2018-19 season and were ranked in the nation's top 10 much of the season. They were upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Florida 70-61. Nevada had a senior-laden lineup so Brown averaged just 10 minutes and three points and 2.1 rebounds per game. Nevada is in transition with head coach Eric Musselman leaving for the same job at Arkansas and former UCLA coach Steve Alford coming in. Not only did Nevada graduate seven seniors, but Brown is one of three players who put their names in the transfer portal. Arizona State would likely be a good fit for Brown, a native of Roseville, Calif., who was a five-star recruit and a McDonald's All-American out of Prolific Prep High School in Napa. As a senior he averaged 25.2 points, 13.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocks. He was ranked the No. 19 prospect in country by 247Sports. The Sun Devils are in need of post players with the graduation of starter Zylan Cheatham, who averaged a double-double, as well as De'Quon Lake. ASU's other post, 7-foot Uros Plavsic entered the transfer portal last month. ASU's Romello White (23) dunks against Arizona's Chase Jeter (4) during the second half at the McKale Memorial Center in Tucson, Ariz. on March 9, 2019. (Photo: Patrick Breen, Patrick Breen/The Republic) Those departures leave Romello White, who will be a junior, as the lone returning post player although the Sun Devils do have a post in their most recent signing class in Jalen Graham, a 6-9 center out of Mountain Pointe High School. The Sun Devils (23-11, 12-6 in Pac-12) have improved steadily over coach Bobby Hurley's four years, making back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the first time in more than 35 years. ASU was second in the regular season behind only Washington. ASU actually played Nevada at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Dec. 7 losing 72-66. Brown came off the bench and played nine minutes and finished with three rebounds and two blocks. While the Sun Devils lose two starters in Cheatham and Luguentz Dort, who declared for the NBA draft, they have a two-year starter back in White as well as point guard Remy Martin, shooting guard Rob Edwards, steady and reliable Kimani Lawrence and much-heralded freshman Taeshon Cherry. Get crucial breaking sports news alerts to your inbox. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-332-6733. Delivery: Varies Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Sports Breaking News Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters ASU will have plenty of competition for Brown's services however. Pac-12 foes Arizona and California were among the schools in which Brown was most interested coming out high school. Smits, the son of former NBA All-Star Rik Smits, had narrowed his final three to ASU, Butler and North Carolina State before settling on Butler earlier this week. Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602 444-4783. Follow her on Twitter @MGardnerSports. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/college/asu/2019/05/01/asu-still-needs-post-players-and-might-want-consider-nevada-transfer-jordan-brown/3642528002/ |
Could aid for Notre Dame help rebuild Frances crumbling history? | The village church in Saint-Gilles is not a thing of great beauty. It was converted in the mid-19th century from a storehouse and vat rooms that had belonged to a local winery, and it feels like it. A priest comes to celebrate Mass only four times a year and the building serves mainly as an officially recognized refuge for bats. But when the bells ring out from the church belfry which they now do every half hour, as well as at noon and suppertime its a reminder for anyone within earshot of the dedication of locals to save this village mainstay. When Maxime Petitjean became mayor in 2014 of this sleepy, canal-side village in Burgundy, the church bells were in complete disrepair. But fixing the bells and the automatic system came with a bill of $38,000. The village raised $15,500 from local and national government institutions and collected $14,000 from private donors. The town hall covered the rest of the work itself. The village church in Saint-Gilles is one of thousands of churches, cathedrals, and other historical buildings in France in need of repairs. And while private donors from France and around the world have raised more than $1 billion to save Paris Notre Dame Cathedral after its iconic spire went up in flames on April 15, other impoverished monuments have not garnered nearly as much sympathy. As state funds run dry, the French are looking to grassroots efforts like startup organizations and crowdfunding platforms to save local churches and other beloved monuments. In a nation that squirms at the flaunting of money, the Notre Dame fire has shone new light on the need for more funding dedicated to cultural heritage and a shift in how people here see their role in preserving it. We can hope that there will now be a realization on the part of the public that local heritage is fragile and that they can contribute to its preservation, says Nathalie Heinich, an author and sociologist on cultural heritage at Paris National Center for Scientific Research. But we dont have much of a culture of private philanthropy in France. Most people assume that since we pay taxes, its the state that should invest, and if we donate, its out of personal enjoyment and not due to any moral obligation. A SERIOUS LACK OF FUNDS The French state currently spends around $360 million on cultural heritage, just 3% of the Culture Ministrys annual budget. Around 4% of historical monuments are owned by the state like Notre Dame while the rest must rely on private donations. Last year, French television presenter Stphane Bern launched the countrys first heritage lottery in an attempt to get citizens involved in preserving Frances most dilapidated monuments. But unlike after the Notre Dame fire, funding came up short. The initiative showed us that there is a serious lack of funds, says Julien Noblet, an architectural historian at the Institut National dHistoire de lArt in Paris. Were always in need of more money, especially when it comes to local heritage projects. Mr. Noblet says that petit patrimoine small heritage sites like privately inherited homes, castles, or village windmills often feel the brunt of the burden, not benefiting from much state help and relying primarily on local generosity. That was the case in Choisy-au-Bac, a town in the Oise region, which leaned heavily on individual philanthropy to repair its aging Sainte-Trinit church. When the state couldnt find enough money, the town hall sent out letters to locals urging them to contribute and held a fundraising concert in the churchs honor. The town raised about one-fourth of building costs for the first two of three construction phases. Now the town hall hopes the third phase will benefit from the donating spree that followed the Notre Dame fire, which saw Frances wealthiest families donating as much as 200 million euros ($225 million) each toward reconstruction efforts. People are becoming more aware after the Notre Dame fire of a desire to preserve our cultural heritage, says Ccile Gambier, deputy mayor in charge of culture and heritage in Choisy-au-Bac. Its going to make them think, this monument wont be here forever. We shouldnt wait until its falling apart to try to save it. | https://news.yahoo.com/could-aid-notre-dame-help-rebuild-france-crumbling-205324745.html |
Should airlines lock seats upright? | 1 / 15 Back to Gallery TravelSkills on SFGate is brought to you by Visa . When Delta Air Lines said last month that it was going to reduce the recline of the seats by two inches on its new A320 jets, it made me wonder if the carrier should just go ahead and lock 'em up altogether. It would sure help reduce the seat-to-seat scuffles that frequently erupt on planes these days when passengers try to recline. What really sets off many fliers (including me) is when the person in the seat in front reclines his or her seat all the way back. Probably something like, "It's my seat, I paid for it, and I'm going to get every inch out of it." Sometimes it seems that consideration for others in this new age of ever-tightening seat space never enters the equation. As sort of a karmic protection, I've stopped reclining my own seat when flying economy, hoping the person in front of me won't do it either. But sometimes it doesn't work, and I find myself much closer to a stranger's scalp than I really want to be. Sometimes I have no choice but to just recline as well, risking similarly offending the person in the seat behind me, and setting off a domino effect all the way to the back of the plane. See the unusual slideshow at the top of this post for a look at human knees on various airline seats! I have a 6-foot-2 friend who's a militant anti-recliner. He recalls a recent flight to Seattle in which the flier in front of him immediately reclined his seat after takeoff then spent most of the flight leaning forward to work. Arrgh! When the guy finally did lean back, my friend positioned his knees squarely in the offending passenger's kidneys (easy to do with the newer, thinner "slimline" seats). Don't miss out on a shred if important travel news! Sign up for our FREE bi-weekly travel alert emails. As we all know planes are flying fuller than ever. Personal space is at a premium, creating tiny little wars throughout the coach cabin. The average distance between seats has been on the decline as long as I've been writing about travel (nearly 30 years). The norm used to be 33-34 inches. Now, generally, 32 inches of pitch (or more) is acceptable in my book. 30-32 inches is tough, but doable for a short flight. Torture, and I think it should be illegal. (You can check airline seat pitch on the helpful SeatGuru site.) Photo: Kim Grimes Just barely enough room for a water bottle on Frontier Airlines,... Some airlines are already locking up seats. For example, last year British Airways announced it would lock economy class seats on its short-haul A320 family jets. That's a strategy that has been in place for years at ultra-low-cost carriers such as Ryanair in Europe or Allegiant, Frontier and Spirit Airlines in the U.S. In British Airways' case, it says that seats are locked in a mid-reclined position, not upright, which seems humane-- except that the pitch on some of its economy seats is now down to an awful 29 inches. Delta is reducing the amount of recline on its A320s from 4 inches to 2 inches all economy and Comfort+ seats. It is even reducing it in first class, down from 5.4 inches to 3.5 inches. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the first A320 with the reduced recline started flying last month and the change to all 62 of Delta's A320s will take about two months to roll out. Please leave your thoughts in the comments. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Get twice-per-week updates from TravelSkills via email! Sign up here Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at [email protected] or on Twitter @cjmcginnis. | https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/airlines-lock-seats-13762543.php |
Why is a horse from Japan in the Kentucky Derby? | But one only needs to look at one number to understand why. LOUISVILLE, KY.It might seem like a curiosity to some that a horse from Japan has a slot in the 20-horse field for Saturdays Kentucky Derby. The Japanese can legally gamble on only four sports: horse racing and three motor sports. Since 2016, Japan has been able to bet on foreign races, too. Japanese regulatory agencies recently approved simulcast wagering for the Derby. Thats more than twice the handle in the United States $11.2 billion in a nation with just more than a third of the U.S. population. Theres definitely a lot of interest in the Kentucky Derby and foreign racing in general, said Kate Hunter, the Japan-based representative for Churchill Downs and the Triple Crown who accompanied Master Fencer and his connections to Louisville. Having a Japanese horse here in general just elevates the quality of the Kentucky Derby on a global scale. If youve got a global race with contenders from all over the world, it puts you in a league with great races like the Arc (Frances Prix de lArc de Triomphe) and the Dubai World Cup. In 2016, the first year Japan could bet on the Arc, Japanese bettors wagered more than double the amount that was bet in the French market. Realizing that, its no mystery that Churchill Downs established a separate points system for Japan in 2017 and for Europe in 2018 so a horse from each could take part in the Kentucky Derby. And while some U.S. interests might grumble about potentially losing two Derby positions, Master Fencers connections are just happy to be here. I was dreaming to make my horses at the Kentucky Derby. Because of that I came to the Keeneland September sale for 15 years in a row, owner Katsumi Yoshizawa said Tuesday outside his horses barn, via interpreter Mitsuoki Numamoto. When (Master Fencer was) nominated ... he missed winning. He was second, so I was thinking, OK, even this year, Im going to miss the Kentucky Derby. But fortunately, the top two horses declined the offer from Churchill Downs. If Master Fencer does come home first for Japanese bettors on Saturday, they will clean up. He and Gray Magician are the longest shots in the field at 50-1. The first Japanese-bred horse at the Derby will start in post No. 15. | https://www.thestar.com/sports/2019/05/01/why-is-a-horse-from-japan-in-the-kentucky-derby.html |
What does Maynard James Keenan's mysterious Tool tweet mean for their new album? | Maynard James Keenan of Tool (Photo: Speakeasy PR) A month after messing with Tool fans' heads by appearing to share new music in an April Fool's Day tweet, Maynard James Keenan has now hinted that you can expect to hear new music soon. And it's not even April anymore. On Wednesday morning, Tool tweeted a photo of the band members, each with a thought bubble over his head. "Feelin cute. Might play some new material on this upcoming tour. idk." In February, Keenan tweeted more specific details on how Tool's first album since 2006 has been coming along in an update that started with "Midway through mixing" and went on to give a "best ballpark guess" on the release date "as somewhere between Mid May and Mid July." Update- Midway through mixing. Most likely be a few recalls. Then some arguing. Then Mastering, Artwork, Video, Special Packaging, etc. Best Ballpark Guess- Release date somewhere between Mid May and Mid July. More focused updates to follow as we progress. @tool#simplemathpic.twitter.com/o6T4AloLtB Maynard J Keenan (@mjkeenan) February 8, 2019 It won't be long until mid-May and Tool's social media now boasts artwork that includes the Roman numerals for 2019. If they do intend to play some new material on these upcoming U.S. tour dates, here's a look at where fans might be hearing that new music first. Sunday, May 5 Tool headlining Welcome to Rockville 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. Tuesday, May 7 Legacy Arena, Birmingham, Alabama. Wednesday, May 8 KFC Yum! Center, Louisville Kentucky. Friday, May 10 Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia. Saturday, May 11 Epicenter Festival, Rockingham Dragway, Rockingham, North Carolina. Monday, May 13 Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri. Tuesday, May 14 Spring Center, Kansas City, Missouri. NEWSLETTERS Get the Things to do this weekend newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Best Things to do this weekend Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-332-6733. Delivery: Thurs Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Things to do this weekend Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters Thursday, May 16 Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska. Friday, May 17 Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa. Sunday, May 19 Chicago Open Air Festival, Seatgeek Stadium, Bridgeview, Illinois. They'll be back in the States in October to co-headline the final night of the Aftershock Festival with Korn on Sunday, Oct. 13, in Sacramento, Calif. Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter @EdMasley. Support local journalism.Subscribe to azcentral.com today. Things to do, eat and see in Arizona Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/05/01/what-does-maynard-james-keenans-mysterious-tool-tweet-mean-their-new-album/3645297002/ | https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/05/01/what-does-maynard-james-keenans-mysterious-tool-tweet-mean-their-new-album/3645297002/ |
Could peace break out between Albertas Kenney and Quebecs Legault? | It is hardly unknown, especially in Quebec, for party leaders to spend entire campaigns as Kenney just did taking shots at the prime minister of the day. The need to stand up to Ottawa has been an underlying theme of Quebec campaigns from times immemorial. MONTREALThere was a time not so long ago when the arrival on the scene of a provincial government as overtly unfriendly to Quebec or at least to its political class as that of Albertas Jason Kenney s would have caused major ripples across the province. By all indications, Bouchards dire predictions did not keep very many Quebecers up at night. The closest recent analogy could be Lucien Bouchards 1995 referendum warnings that should Quebecers opt to remain in the federation, they would be exposed to an icy wind from the right courtesy of the likes of Ontarios then-premier Mike Harris. But political watchers would be hard-pressed to find in provincial election campaigns a rhetoric as adversarial to other provinces and in particular to Quebec as that which fuelled Kenneys narrative. At this juncture, the same could be said of Kenneys veiled threat of reprisals on the equalization front absent Quebecs compliance with Albertas pipeline ambitions. If anything, among the premiers it is Ontarios Doug Ford with his cavalier approach to the rights of his provinces Franco-Ontarian minority who has so far best managed to get under the collective skin of Quebecers. Tuesdays swearing-in of Kenneys government and the premiers move to make good on the promise to proclaim a law that would should it hold up in court allow Alberta to cut off oil and gas shipments to B.C. in retaliation for its opposition to the Trans Mountain expansion was a non-event in Quebec. Premier Franois Legault has had his hands full on the flooding front. The same is true of the media. While Kenneys throne speech will undoubtedly attract more attention, so far at least the Alberta premiers aggressive tone inspires more Quebec curiosity than trepidation. It is not that Kenneys rhetoric about the linkage between pipelines and equalization has not registered. The Alberta campaign was covered by the Quebec media to an extent usually reserved for Ontario elections. The fact that Kenney is a rare Conservative premier who is totally comfortable in French means he has also been able to deliver his message directly to Quebecers over the course of post-election media appearances. But Quebecers happen to have a lot of first-hand experience with the gap between the fighting words of a premier and his or her actual capacity to win federal-provincial battles. For decades, they sent their best and brightest to the constitutional front only to have them come back defeated. That was despite successive Quebec premiers having the kind of leverage Kenney as premier of Alberta can only dream of in the shape of a more credible threat to the unity of the federation and a more significant weight in the federal electoral balance. That being said, there are reasons why Legault would have cause to want to make friends with his new Alberta counterpart. First and foremost is Kenneys superior federal expertise. As Legault demonstrated with his dirty oil comment on his maiden appearance on the first ministers stage last December, the Quebec premier has much to learn if he is to build productive alliances with his provincial partners. And then Kenney does not only speak French. He also knows more for having spent time in the province over the years about the lay of the Quebec political land than his federal leader, Andrew Scheer, or for that matter the NDPs Jagmeet Singh. That is not to say that Legault and Kenney will come to see eye-to-eye on the resurrection of the contentious Energy East pipeline project. That particular ship has probably sailed too long ago for its course to be successfully reversed. By now, resistance to the notion of resuscitating TransCanadas defunct bid to link the oilsands to the East Coast is about as widespread in Quebec as opposition to enshrining the provinces distinct status in the Constitution is in many quarters of Canada. But if the past is any indication, a rocky start does not always herald an unhappy future. After he became premier, Bouchard got along famously with Harris. Their governments remained on very different policy tracks. While Harris kept busy shrinking the place of government in Ontarios social fabric, his Quebec counterpart presided over a pharmacare initiative and a child care program that endure to this day. But the two premiers found a lot of common ground against then-prime minister Jean Chrtien. Despite their relationships inauspicious beginnings, it is too early to dismiss the possibility that peace could break out between Kenney and Legault Chantal Hbert is a columnist based in Ottawa covering politics. Follow her on Twitter: @ChantalHbert | https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2019/05/01/could-peace-break-out-between-albertas-kenney-and-quebecs-legault.html |
Why are only one in 10 nurses men? | Image caption Craig Orr is the only male nurse on his ward Craig Orr used to be a police officer but after retiring early he retrained as a nurse. His new career means the 46-year-old, who works at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, is "surrounded by women". Craig told BBC Scotland's The Nine: "There are approximately just over 50 members of staff and I'm the only male nurse here." It is a similar story at hospitals across Scotland. Last year the number of male nurses fell to a seven-year low, accounting for about 10% of the 65,000 nursing staff across the country. Image caption Craig Orr works mainly on a day surgery ward in Kirkcaldy Studies have suggested that men view nursing as a worthwhile career with good progression opportunities. But they perceive a strong societal link between nursing and femininity which deters them from taking it up. An NHS study last year said there was still a "stigma" attached to men in nursing and there were not enough role models to challenge this. It also said that focus groups suggested men take longer to mature than women and do not realise that nursing is a suitable career for them at a young age. Image caption Craig's ex-police officer colleagues can't believe his new career Craig Orr says that when he bumps into ex-colleagues from the police, they ask what he is doing now. "I say 'I'm a nurse'," Craig says. "They say 'Oh really, I didn't expect that'." Image caption Lee Ormiston is one of five men on his university nursing course Lee Ormiston is a student nurse. He is one of just five men in his year at Dundee University's School of Nursing in Fife. "I think it is seen as a primarily feminine occupation," he says. "Every TV programme or film you see, it is always a female nurse and you are not so 'macho' being in a nursing profession." Image caption Lee says nursing is not considered 'macho' Over the past decade the number of male nursing students across the country has remained stagnant at about 10%. Recent figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) show male applicants for nursing courses in Scotland were up this year to 410 but they are still down from 460 in 2010. Lee says: "Because there are not a lot of males already in the profession, that is causing the ones that want to do it not to come into it, because they feel it is not for them." Dundee University School of Nursing lecturer Richard Craven has been doing research into why men are not applying to do nursing. Image caption University lecturer Richard Craven asked football fans about their attitudes to males in nursing Last weekend he went to Raith Rovers against Brechin City to talk to male football fans about nursing. Some said the career was considered feminine and they would not go into it but others agreed there should be more men involved. Mr Craven said: "From a person-centred care point of view, it gives people choice. "I'm thinking particularly of experiences I have had in care of older adults, for example, where men of older generations, perhaps affected by things like dementia, might identify more strongly with younger men than they would with a woman carer." Glasgow Caledonian University is also campaigning to address the gender imbalance in nursing. The message could not be simpler - men are nurses too. Student nurse Lee Ormiston says: "You can be a man, you can be empathetic, get a career in nursing, help people. Definitely." | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48125231 |
Is Sudan a new regional battleground? | Image copyright Reuters Ever since the upsurge of popular unrest - the so-called "Arab Spring" - erupted in the Middle East just over eight years ago, the region has undergone profound change. In many cases authoritarian rule was never seriously challenged. In other places it was restored quickly, as in the case of Egypt, or more slowly and only partially, as in the case of Syria. But the chaos and bloodshed in Syria was to a large extent influenced by the actions of external actors. And there is now a danger that the second wave of popular protest in the region - notably in Sudan - may also be heavily influenced by external players. This is not to say that Sudan risks going the way of the factionalism and bitter communal struggles that have plagued Syria. But many of the same factors that are shaping the contemporary Middle East are at play in Sudan too, notably the growing role of the Saudis who, along with their Gulf allies, are waging a multi-front battle for influence against Qatar and especially Turkey. This regional rivalry is to a large extent both facilitated and explained by the notable absence of the US as a serious diplomatic actor. It has also been partially eclipsed by Russia, which has used its engagement in Syria as a means of re-asserting its place at the Middle East's diplomatic table. 'Little interest in protest voices' The Saudis have to a considerable extent seized and held the diplomatic initiative. They and the UAE have pitched in with financial aid for Sudan, including an immediate injection of cash and transfers of cheap fuel, food and medicines. Abu Dhabi has hosted talks among various armed groups about future political arrangements. And Riyadh's ally, Egypt, has played a role in deploying its diplomatic muscle at the African Union. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir (left) had a strong relationship with his Saudi allies While the Saudis appear to be backing the country's generals, Turkey and Qatar are more closely aligned with Sudan's Islamists. It should be clearly stated that none of these external parties are much interested in the voices of popular protest on the ground, nor in the development of a truly democratic Sudan. Each for their own reasons wants to see stability. But what you have are effectively two "brands" of authoritarianism which are attempting to push their supporters into positions where they can influence the future in Khartoum. Sudan has significantly shifted its own alignment. More on Sudan's unrest: Go back a decade, before the Arab Spring, and Sudan was seen by Washington as a state sponsor of terrorism; it was the target not just of US sanctions over its behaviour during the conflict in Darfur but also the physical target of a cruise missile attack. Sudan was seen as a friend of Islamists and of Iran. The Saudis subsequently managed to encourage Sudan into a wider Sunni coalition. It is no accident that a significant Sudanese military contingent has joined with Saudi Arabia in its problematic campaign in Yemen. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Sudanese soldiers have been fighting alongside the Saudi-backed pro-government forces in Yemen But more recently Sudan's favours have been up for grabs. In March 2018, Qatar, Turkey and Sudan signed deals for the development of the Red Sea port of Suakin and the likely installation of a small Turkish naval facility there. Indeed Qatar was then-President Omar al-Bashir's first port of call when protests erupted back in January. Now though it seems to be the Saudi axis that is in the ascendant. Absence of the usual big players Much will still be determined by the bravery of the people who have demonstrated on the streets. There is no template for Sudan ready to be imposed from outside. But the course of this crisis is instructive. The great international players - the UN, the EU the African Union and so on - have merely been bit players. And to an extent this is because, for good or ill, a great galvanising force in the region's politics is absent. Image copyright AFP Image caption Protests have continued against Sudan's military, weeks after Omar al-Bashir was ousted The Trump administration is, to put it at its simplest, not much interested in Sudan. Diplomatic retrenchment seems to be the order of the day. It is not much interested in the region at large with every signal that it wants to reduce its military entanglements there as much as possible. The US retains forces in Syria but it is hardly in the driving seat in terms of the diplomatic future of the country. Many commentators see Washington's lack of interest regarding Sudan as a missed opportunity by the Americans to lead a diplomatic process that might help shape Sudan's future. And for many, there is more than a lingering suspicion that Mr Trump is unlikely to go against the interests of its close Saudi ally. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-48103828 |
What happens in the Kentucky Derby now that favorite Omaha Beach has been scratched? | Omaha Beach is out of the 2019 Kentucky Derby. The morning-line favorite was scratched with an entrapped epiglottis. While that is bad news for the colt and his connections, it could be good news for everyone else, particularly the new favorite, Game Winner (9/2). But this does raise questions about what's next. Good news, bettors. It is refunded. If you've placed a bet on Omaha Beach (or any horse), they can cancel it before the race starts. Bodexpress is the first also eligible this year. The bay colt is 0-3-0 in five career starts with a pair of seconds in three races in 2019. His sire is Bodemeister, who finished second in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 2012. His dam is Pied a Terre, by City Zip. Bodexpress is trained by Gustavo Delgado. But he doesn't truly "replace" Omaha Beach. Omaha Beach was scratched from the Kentucky Derby with an entrapped epiglottis. With the scratch in the No. 12 post, horses in posts 13-20 will move over one, and Bodexpress takes the No. 20 post, previously occupied by Country House. Chris Landeros will pick up the mount with 30-1 odds. Horses 13-20 will retain their program number despite moving in one in the starting gate, and Bodexpress will wear No. 21. If another horse scratches, there will be 19 horses in the field as Bodexpress was the only also eligible this year. Say the No. 3 horse scratches (no, By My Standards has not scratched and, as far as I know, is not planning to), then horses in posts 4-20 move in one post. In that situation, Code of Honor would start in the No. 11 post but wear No. 13 as that is his program number. There would be no 3 or 12 horse in this hypothetical. Well, that's up to you, but there is a new post order (not program order) and updated odds. | https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/horses/triple/derby/2019/05/01/kentucky-derby-2019-omaha-beach-scratched-bodexpress/3647436002/ |
Can Uber ever make money? | Until recently, the recent misfortunes of regulated cab companies and their dwindling profits because of ride-hailing services drew the most attention. Uber and Lyft in America, Didi in China and other ride-hailing firms elsewhere have used sackloads of venture capital to drive down fares and flood the streets of big cities with cars, clobbering the earnings of licensed rivals. Now, the losses of the ride-hailing services themselves are in the spotlight. In a filing released in the run-up to its initial public offering, Uber said it has lost $7.9 billion since 2009. Lyft, which listed last month, lost $2.9 billion in seven years. Uber is seeking a valuation of up to $100 billion, but as yet it is unclear if it can make money. Start with Uber's most oft-touted attributes. Its name has become synonymous with ride-hailing. The company claims to have more than 65% of the ride-hailing market in the United States and Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Latin America. But it sees itself as more than just a taxi company, with car ownership and public transport in its sights. The proposed valuation implies a huge market that Uber would need to all but monopolize. Look through history, though, and taxi monopolies look anything but impregnable. Len Sherman of Columbia Business School draws a parallel between Uber's business and that of unregulated taxis in New York in the 1930s, when Ford's Model T emerged as a new, low-cost cab. During the Depression, many jobless workers took to taxi driving, undercutting each other. The streets were saturated with vehicles but the earnings of drivers and taxi companies evaporated. Uber and Lyft are reprising that episode as they fight city by city for drivers and customers. And customers throughout the decades have proved they care little what company provides the service, as long as they get from A to B. That means neither firm can easily increase profits by raising fares. Uber's long-term goal is autonomous vehicles, which would reduce its need to share revenue with human drivers. The market has potential, but other companies are keen to enter the fray. Uber will surely have a place in the future of transport. It may be able to increase rider and driver loyalty by replacing fares with monthly subscriptions. It may settle for dominating some cities, leaving others to rivals, provided that does not violate antitrust rules. History, though, suggests that profits will be hard to come by. But at least its name will likely live on. | http://www.startribune.com/can-uber-ever-make-money/509362392/ |
Which is the world's most musical city? | The event was advertised as a pedal steel all-dayer something you would usually be unlikely to see outside of Nashville. But on a recent Sunday afternoon it was a pub in central London that opened its doors to eight pedal-steel guitar players. London, and its small independent venues, embrace the wacky and wonderful with open arms, says Joe Harvey-Whyte, a pedal steel player who attended the annual event at the Betsey Trotwood pub. It brings a community together in such a fractured city. Music is part of the streets, underground, clubs, pubs, houses, tower blocks and bedrooms of the UK capital. From the Rolling Stones to Amy Winehouse to Stormzy, and from the music schools to the venues and concert halls, the city is a centre of musical excellence and influence, says Harvey-Whyte. Without you knowing about it, there can be hundreds or thousands of musical niches from hurdy-gurdy players to kora players to pedal steel players. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Fela Kuti performs with his band at the original Afrika Shrine in Lagos, Nigeria, in January 1977. The venue burned down later that year. If so, it is a quality that is constantly under threat by encroaching developments and rising costs. London has lost 35% of its grassroots music venues since 2007. But the number of places to see live music isnt the only way of measuring how musical a city is. Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria, has just one major venue, the New Afrika Shrine, but it represents a hugely significant part of the citys music history: Fela Kuti, the father of Afrobeat music, performed regularly at its predecessor, the Afrika Shrine, until it burned down in the late 1970s. In 2000, on the anniversary of Kutis death, his son opened the New Afrika Shrine in his memory and it is now a major tourist destination. Or take the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver, Colorado one of the most famous venues in the world, despite the city itself being fairly small. Meanwhile, Taipei already the centre of Mandarin pop music is trying to establish its international musical bona fides with a new 6,000-capacity venue, complete with rehearsal rooms, studios and classrooms. The idea is to bring more music, more musicians, more performances to Taipei, and elevate the whole industry, a spokesperson from the centre said. One major claimant to the crown is Austin, Texas, which describes itself as the live music capital of the world. There are performances every night of the week in its 200 or so venues, and it hosts festivals such as City Limits and the world-renowned South by Southwest. But Austins problems with gentrification highlight a huge problem for cities and their fragile music scenes. The number of live music venues means nothing if you dont look at the policy that guides them and influences them, says Shain Shapiro of Sound Diplomacy, a music consultancy. If you have music venues that are struggling with licensing issues, then that doesnt mean that a city is thriving. Every city has music schools, venues, and most have studios, rehearsal spaces. But very few cities have music policy infrastructures. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Grime artists Stormzy and Boy Better Know perform in London, 2014. Photograph: Jim Dyson/Getty Images for Red Bull Sound Diplomacy, which works with cities to develop music policies, wants to encourage local authorities to start thinking of music as an infrastructure as you would education, health or transport. Music is a mixture of hardwiring and softwiring, Shapiro says. We need infrastructure for it to survive, but we need networks to be created, we need people to recognise its a value. He believes London is still a thriving music city: venue closures have stalled in the last three years, and the appointment of a night tsar in 2016 shows the city considers music to be intrinsic to its future, with creative industries worth 47bn to Londons economy. Music is in our DNA, says Justine Simons, Londons deputy mayor for culture and chair of the World Cities Culture Forum. Theres punk in the 70s, and today you can think about grime and how thats projected London into the world stage. She says theres a recognition that if you want to be a successful city you cant do it without culture. For the first time, music has been brought into the mayors London Plan, and London has adopted the Agent of Change principle, first established in Australia: if a housing development is built next to an established live music venue, it is the developer that must pay for soundproofing; if you move next door to a club, you must accept that theres going to be noise. Facebook Twitter Pinterest In Liverpool, venues such as the Cavern Club helped to launch the careers of bands such as the Beatles, pictured there in 1962. Photograph: Copyright Apple Corps Other cities can stake claims to particular scenes and sounds. Liverpool gave the world the Beatles, Memphis was home to the Stax and Sun record labels, and New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz. Techno came from the warehouses of Berlin and Detroit, the roots of salsa go back to Santiago de Cuba, Varanasi has a rich history of classical Indian music, Nashville is country. Hamamatsu takes a different tack, styling itself as Japans city of music because it is home to a number of instrument manufacturers, notably Yamaha. Emma-Lee Moss, a singer-songwriter who performs as Emmy the Great, has lived in New York, London, Los Angeles and Hong Kong. For her it was New York that was the loudest when it came to musical heritage. On a single day, I could have taken the subway past the J and the Z the trains Jay-Z drew his name from then walked through Central Park and past the Dakota, where John Lennon lived and died, she says. You could imagine Patti Smith stalking the East Village, Dylan swinging his guitar on the other side in Greenwich Village, [Leonard] Cohen in the Chelsea Hotel. You could see TV on the Radio still walking to and from their practice space in Brooklyn, Princess Nokia throwing soup on racists on the L train. Every generation of new artists staked their claim on a piece of land, and as long as they were still alive, they were still there, street-level. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen in a diner in New York circa 1968. Photograph: Roz Kelly/Getty Images That kind of heritage is key to music cities: 70% of tourists to Memphis cite music as the main reason for their trip. But history alone doesnt make a thriving, sustainable place for music. Nashville is struggling with gentrification and inequality that affects the artists who call it home. Its systematically tearing down Music Row studios are being bought, sold, and turned into flats, says Shapiro. Its a music city its Nashville but what are they doing to maintain it? New Orleans, by contrast, is one of the most exciting cities for live street performances but has never had a music policy of any kind to guide venues and musicians. Shapiro thinks this situation penalises artists. The reason why so many artists play on the street is because there is a structure in place that doesnt allow them to play inside, says Shapiro. Playing on the street in an unregulated way, to me, is an example that something must be wrong with the music venue infrastructure. Passing round a bucket is not sustainable. Facebook Twitter Pinterest New Orleans has an exciting street music scene, but lacks policies to guide venue-based performance. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian A strong musical heritage also brings the risk of marginalising other genres. As the home of Bollywood, Mumbai has a strong culture of traditional music, but some residents feel theyve struggled to carve out an alternative scene because Bollywood music is so dominant. Tucked away in the citys Bandra district is Adagio, a music centre started by a couple of friends who loved rock. The music here is commercial Bollywood music, or we have our classical music, but theres no space for rocknroll, says Kastik Gopalakrishnan, 24, of Adagio. Each week he hosts a vinyl listening where anyone can listen to a whole record together in silence Pink Floyd, the Beatles, the Carpenters, the Stones. Its such a beautiful vibe, everyone just sitting down. Pin-drop silence. It is the only space like it in the whole city, he says. Even when we started playing the instrument, our parents would be like, We dont want to listen to this, play me something classical. And we decided theres no scene for rocknroll, no one listens to this kind of music, so thats why we wanted to start the vinyl thing were fighting for the cause. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Warehouse venues in Berlin and Detroit were the early home of techno music. Photograph: David Heerde/Rex Features It seems clear that music will always thrive wherever there are people listening and performing. Going by that rule, Melbourne is the most musical city, as it boasts by far the most performances per year well over 73,000, according to Music Victoria. It is followed by New York, with 36,192 performances, Paris with 31,375 and London with 22,828 although the figures, compiled by the World Cities Culture Forum, come from different sources and are not strictly comparable. How gentrification threatens America's music cities Read more Then again, maybe it doesnt come down to numbers at all, but rather the strength and vibrancy of a citys music community a much harder thing to quantify. Moss says she found it easiest to make a living as a musician and collaborate with others in New York. Every city, however, has rhythms and hums and vibrations that exist in its landscape, she says. There are the ghosts of the music that has been made there, and the imprints of musicians who have walked its streets. Follow Guardian Cities on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to join the discussion, catch up on our best stories or sign up for our weekly newsletter | https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/may/02/which-is-the-worlds-most-musical-city |
Will I be forced to upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10? | Microsoft has just started its bombardment about the end of Windows 7 and upgrading to Windows 10, suggesting that a new device is advisable and including links to its preferred dealers. Apart from the integrity or otherwise of this approach, I dont think Microsoft has really thought this through, especially in relation to those who simply cannot afford the 120 upgrade even if their current machine is suitable. The fact that people chose to remain with Windows 7 rather than take the free upgrade to Windows 10 surely tells Microsoft that this forced upgrade is a step too far. Ive been using home computers since the late 1980s but have never felt so cornered and dictated to. Martin Microsoft has a lot of sympathy for your point of view. Software updates are inevitable, because the world changes, new hardware technologies are developed, new features are needed to cater for new circumstances, and new threats need new defences. Thats true for every operating system in the fast-moving consumer world. Previously, Microsoft delivered big bang Windows upgrades every three years or so, and these created disruptions of the sort you are facing now. It was even worse for companies with tens of thousands of PCs. It could take them 18 months to plan a migration and another 18 months to roll it out. Programs had to be tested for compatibility, and sometimes, staff needed retraining. People skipped versions to save money and avoid the disruption, though this could make the next upgrade even harder. The result was that hundreds of millions of Windows users were stuck using less functional, less secure versions of Windows that were up to 10 years out of date. This also held back third-party software, because programmers couldnt use new features. With Windows 10, Microsoft solved all of these problems by moving to a system of continuous development. Instead of one huge upgrade every three years, you get smaller updates every six months, spring and autumn, and they are all free. There is less disruption, and eventually, everybody will be using the same up-to-date, most secure and best version of Windows. Historically, by this stage, I should have written a half a dozen Ask Jack answers about moving to Windows 11. Obviously, Windows 11 was not released in 2018, so we were spared the whole circus that accompanied the launch of Windows 95, XP, Vista and the rest. Of course, Microsofts new approach to Windows 10 just made it more like the competition. When you buy an Apple product or an Android smartphone or tablet, you get free upgrades for as long as the device is supported or, in Androids case, for as long as the device manufacturer can be bothered to deliver them. (Not long, usually.) End of the road for Windows 7 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Launched in 2009, Windows 7 will have had over 10 years of support by 14 January 2020. Photograph: Action Press/Rex Features Microsoft used to support its software by providing free security updates for ten years, which is far longer than most companies. It also meant the end-of-life (EOL) date was known well in advance, so sensible users could prepare for it. Windows 7 was launched in 2009, but Microsoft is supporting Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 installed until 14 January 2020. Thats still eight months away, so you have plenty of time to decide what to do. Windows 8 was launched in 2012, so most PCs running Windows 7 should be seven to 10 years old, and ripe for replacement. However, Windows 8 included a lot of innovations to convert an old desktop operating system into an always-on mobile OS that could run touch-screen apps on smartphones and tablets. Predictably, the touch-screen Live Tiles interface wasnt welcomed by users who didnt have touch screens, which was most of us. This kept people and companies in particular buying Windows 7 PCs for much longer than usual. If your PC is one of these relatively recent models, it might be worth keeping, but you should make a realistic assessment of its performance compared with todays standards. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Microsoft tried very hard to get users of Windows 7 or 8.1 to upgrade to Windows 10 for free. Photograph: Microsoft When Microsoft launched Windows 10, it offered home users running Windows 7 and 8.1 a free in-place upgrade via the GWX (Get Windows 10) app until 29 July 2016. You should have taken it. Once you installed Windows 10, your PCs right to use it was registered online so you could roll back to Windows 7 and return to Windows 10 later. I did mention this at the time. However, Microsoft left the door open to free upgrades via its accessibility website until 31 December 2017. According to ZDNet, Microsoft has also continued to provide free upgrades to Windows 10 if you enter a valid Windows 7 product key. To do this, download Windows 10 and use Microsofts free media creation tool to create a DVD or USB thumbdrive to do the upgrade. Apparently, it doesnt work every time, but its worth a go. Whether its worth paying for Windows 10 depends on how long you expect your PC to last. Windows is usually great value because the PC manufacturer pays Microsoft a relatively small sum perhaps about $44 to install it on a single PC that nowadays should be usable for at least four years. Thats less than $1 a month. If the PC lasts longer, Windows is even cheaper. But paying Microsoft 119.99 for a copy of Windows 10 is a different proposition. Your old PC would need to last for about two years and four months to bring the cost down to 1 per week. It might be better to put the 120 towards the cost of a new PC. There are always cheap laptops around in the Windows market. For example, you could get a 14in Acer Aspire 1 with 4GB of memory and 64GB of storage from ebuyer.com for 199.97 or a similar but slower Lenovo IdeaPad S130-14IGM from Currys PC World for 199, or from Lenovo. If you fancy a touch-screen convertible, the Atom-powered Linx 12X64 is reasonably good value at 177.99. You can also buy refurbished systems from suppliers such as Tier1Online and Morgan. Cheap PCs have relatively slow processors, but should be fine for most home uses. Look up the PassMark benchmark scores of their processors and compare them with what you have. Just avoid cheap machines with 2GB of memory and only 32GB of storage. Windows 10 updates run into problems if you dont have enough free space. Free choices Facebook Twitter Pinterest Windows 10 can be run for a certain period without activating it. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian If you have to keep your current hardware and your product key doesnt work, you have three free choices. You can stick with Windows 7, use Windows 10 without activating it, or try Linux. Windows 7 will not stop working when it reaches its end-of-life date. However, Microsoft will stop supplying security updates, which will put your PC at risk. You might survive if you are careful, if you keep all your other software up to date, use a secure browser such as Google Chrome and a strong anti-virus program, run risky programs in a sandbox such as Sandboxie, and have a full backup ready to go if something goes wrong. I dont recommend this, but some people will try it. A better option is to install Windows 10 (as described above) and not pay for it. All you have to do is click I dont have a product key and the installation will continue. You will get a watermark on your desktop and you will lose some options to personalise your system, but it will work. Microsoft wants everyone to use Windows 10 and this could account for its lenient approach to unactivated copies. It may take a tougher line in the future. But if you just need your old PC to run for a while before it breaks down, this should get you through. The third option is an open source Linux, such as Mint. This is the same price as an unactivated copy of Windows 10, but it has a much steeper learning curve. In other words, you will spend more time learning to use it, and fixing it when it goes wrong. You may also have to find and learn new applications, depending on how much open source software you use on Windows. Suffering the odd nag that Windows isnt activated is a better deal, if your PC runs Windows 10 well enough. If it doesnt, Linux is much the best way to keep obsolete hardware in service. Email it to [email protected] This article contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if a reader clicks through and makes a purchase. All our journalism is independent and is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative. By clicking on an affiliate link, you accept that third-party cookies will be set. More information. | https://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2019/may/02/will-i-be-forced-to-upgrade-windows-7-to-windows-10 |
Can Mexicos Canelo Alvarez help topple pay-per-view? | John Locher / AP Tracy Morgan laughs maniacally as the commercial ends, promising, "Bye bye, pay-per-view." The comedian is a pitchman for DAZN (pronounced Da-Zone)a sports streaming service determined to revolutionize the way boxing fans view marquee matches, many of which are staged in Las Vegas. Ordering a pay-per-view telecast through your cable providerstandard protocol since the 1980s, when Mike Tyson was flooring opponents in the early roundssuddenly has competition. And it has the sport's most notable fighter, Mexican heartthrob Sal "Canelo" Alvarez, leading its push in the United States. SAUL CANELO ALVAREZ VS. DANIEL JACOBS When: May 4, doors open 2 p.m.; Undercard 2:15 p.m., main card 5:30 p.m.; Main event 8:30 p.m. Cost: $205-$1,505 Where: T-Mobile Arena For more information: 702-692-1600 Odds: Alvarez minus-400; Jacobs plus-300 On May 4 at T-Mobile Arena, Alvarez will fight Daniel Jacobs for the WBC and WBA middleweight titlesthe second bout of Alvarezs 11-fight, five-year, $365 million contract with DAZN. That new digital platform is blowing up the fight game, Morgan proclaims in the spot. Stream over 100 fight nights a year without the pain of pay-per-view. The service costs $19.99 a month or $99.99 per year, a significant bargain compared with pay-per-view prices that have ballooned as high as $100 for one fight card in recent years. Also of note: The fights on DAZN are archived. "Viewers wont have a pay-per-view bill for a one-off event that is over," says Joe Markowski, DAZNs executive vice president in North America. "That moment will be transformational for us." DAZN launched in 2016 in Austria, Germany, Japan and Switzerland, and will soon be available in 11 countries. DAZN owns the broadcasting rights for several sports, including Premier League soccer for the European audience and the NFL in Canada. In the U.S., the offerings are boxing, Bellator mixed martial arts (the sports No. 2 promotion behind UFC) and a Major League Baseball live look-in show, ChangeUp. The agreement with Bellator calls for seven exclusive-rights events each year. We needed to sign the biggest names in the sports, Markowski says. "You cant shy away from that." Enter Alvarez. While DAZN doesnt release viewership totals, Alvarezs first fight in the arrangementa third-round TKO win against no-name Rocky Fielding in New York Cityappears to have been a hit. During the fight, the streaming services app was the No. 1 most downloaded at Apples app store. Alvarezs deal could be considered risky for both parties. DAZN isnt a known commodity in the U.S.hence the heavy flood of commercialsand might not be a platform worthy of the sports most sought-after participant. Also, shelling out more than $30 million per fight might sound like a flimsy business model, but DAZN officials say its a calculated risk. The company was privy to pay-per-view receipts from Alvarezs previous fights on HBO in gaining some knowledge of his revenue potential. Golden Boy Promotions, Alvarezs promoter, also gave DAZN rights to his past fightsalong with fights by promotion head Oscar De La Hoyato be stored in the streaming services archives. I am humbled to be selected to lead this new vision for the sport of boxing, which will without a doubt be for the benefit of the fans, Alvarez said in a statement last fall when the deal was announced. He isnt the only fighter of significance in the DAZN stable. British promotion Matchroom Boxing, which includes heavyweight Anthony Joshua, signed an eight-year, $1 billion contract with the service last year. That gives DAZN a formidable one-two punch, considering Joshua fought in front of a crowd of 80,000 at Londons Wembley Stadium in September. We want to create those cultural moments when you have a lot of people talking, Markowski says. HBO, after more than 40 years and some of boxings greatest events, got out of the fight game at the end of 2018, putting an end to Saturday nights with Jim Lampley on the call and Harold Lederman offering often-baffling ringside scores. And DAZN isnt alone with plans to make a splash in boxings streaming market. ESPN, as part of its seven-year deal with Top Rank, will broadcast 54 total cards, with many airing on the ESPN Plus subscription service. Las Vegas-based Premier Boxing Champions, which features notables such as Adrien Broner, Deontay Wilder, Keith Thurman and Jarrett Hurd, has multiyear deals with Fox Sports and Showtime. The pay-per-view model has reduced the audience, Markowski says. We are here to correct that. May 4 in Las Vegas will mark the next step in the process. Boxing thrives when its on the radar of the general fanlike fights involving Tyson, De La Hoya or, most recently, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Thats when the public is talking about and anticipating the fight. More important, its when you have a fight worthy of being talked about. Thats what Alvarezand that $365 million contractbrings to DAZN, according to Markowski. Canelo is a huge brand. This story originally appeared in the Las Vegas Weekly. | https://lasvegassun.com/news/2019/may/02/can-canelo-alvarez-help-topple-pay-per-view/ |
Could animals nibbling through tubes have caused Pike River Mine re-entry delay? | Animals nibbling through tubes is one of the possible causes mining experts are looking into after plans to re-enter the Pike River Mine had to be postponed. The Pike River Recovery Agency confirmed a wild animal chewing through a gas monitoring tube was a possibility they were looking into but said other possible reasons were more plausible. Today, Pike River Recovery Minister Andrew Little announced an eleventh-hour delay to tomorrow's re-entry operation after the Agency got an "unknown reading of oxygen" from a borehole 2.3km into the mine's drift, where the roof collapsed in the 2010 explosions. The oxygen had the potential for a "spontaneous combustion event". Advertisement Pike River Recovery Agency chief operating officer Dinghy Pattinson denied it was a tough call to delay the re-entry, because they have also stressed a safety-first attitude. Dinghy Pattinson, the chief operating officer of the Pike River Recovery Agency, stands outside the entrance to the Pike River Mine near Greymouth. Photo / File "It was an easy decision to make," said Pattinson, who was due to lead a three-man team of miners back into the mine tomorrow. The cause could be as simple as a damaged tube in a borehole, Pattinson said, but they needed to go through a process of elimination which would last "however long it takes". "We've got the readings. We have an issue. We're going to sort through that issue," he said. "At the moment, the mine is full of nitrogen, so nothing can happen. As it is now, the mine is stable." While a wild animal like a goat or a possum chewing through the tube was possible, other causes could be inaccurate monitoring equipment or oxygen coming through the strata. Little said the delay "could be days, could be weeks", but a safety priority meant that further action could not take place until more is known about the elevated oxygen levels. Twenty nine miners' helmets sit on crosses erected on the roadside leading up to the Pike River mine near Greymouth. Photo / Alan Gibson The elevated readings meant that the atmosphere in the drift had changed and the air is not breathable. He said he was disappointed at the delay and for the families, but safety had to come first. He said the families knew the technical challenge of the project, and while the families were disappointed with the delay, they were also realistic. "Safety must come first. No more lives can be put at risk," Little said. Families had been readying themselves for an emotional moment when the 30m-seal at the mine's entrance was to be breached. It has been more than eight years since the heartache from the loss of 29 men's lives, outrage over attempts to permanently seal the mine - which the families successfully fought - and frustration at the lack of accountability. They've also wanted it to be treated as a crime scene, and any clues which may lead to a future prosecution, gathered and explored. After the methane gas explosion, fears of further explosions prevented any search-and-rescue attempts. Toxic gas levels and safety concerns meant the first attempt back into the mine four days after the initial explosion came with a New Zealand Defence Force robot sent underground. It broke down just 550m in after reaching water. Four more robots would go in, with mixed results, including video footage on November 25, 2010 from 1600m into the mine, which showed extensive damage from the second blast and ended hope of recovering the 29 trapped miners. | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12227390&ref=rss |
What famous car brands other than Plymouth and Pontiac have been killed off? | As Tesla Inc. co-founder Elon Musk would be happy to tell you, building a successful car company from scratch is one of the most challenging and complicated entrepreneurial endeavors and despite its success, the electric car company is still bleeding massive amounts of cash. If Tesla succeeds in becoming a profitable mass producer of cars, it will stand out among a graveyard of failed ventures -- brands that were successful for years in some cases but eventually disappeared. Nearly every aspect of the business is a complicated, expensive task. A common industry estimate is that it costs about $1 billion to develop a new vehicle and up to $6 billion if all parts of the vehicle the platform, the engine, the transmission, the body style are also brand new. And that assumes a company already has a factory, which itself can cost at least $1 billion to construct from scratch. Even then, the most well-made and stylish vehicle is not guaranteed a commercial success. With so many factors at play, starting a car company today without any support from an existing major auto industry player is almost impossible. Yet, this is exactly what many tinkerers did over a century ago when all it took to build and sell a car was a blacksmith shop and a modest amount of seed capital. Tesla upgrades: With every software update, owners feel like they got a new car Those days are gone, and with them most of the car manufacturers that kicked off the automotive revolution of the early 1900s. The following is a list of famous auto brands that have been lost to history. Many of these brands were manufacturers which used their own nameplate on cars, and others were popular brands that were eventually phased out when Americans no longer wanted to buy them. 24/7 Wall St. researched the history of well-known but defunct U.S. automobile brands to identify the years they were active. We reviewed manufacturing figures and past media reports to identify popular models these companies produced. In some cases, the automakers were founded as standalone companies but later spent years as divisions of the Big Three automakers, General Motors, Ford Motor, and FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles). The years active figures are meant to represent the years cars were produced with the brand name, and not necessarily when the company started or went bankrupt. AMC, maker of the Pacer. (Photo: Hulton Archive / Getty Images) 1. AMC Years active: 1954-1987 Notable models: Pacer, Concord, AMX AMC, or American Motors Corporation, is a good example of how U.S. automakers consolidated in the decades after World War II. Born out of a merger between two other automakers on this list Hudson Motor Car and Nash-Kelvinator AMC never became a huge success. AMC is known mainly for being the steward of the Jeep brand from 1970, when it acquired Kaiser-Jeep, until Chrysler bought and absorbed it in 1987. It also sold several models under the AMC nameplate, including the Pacer, Concord, and AMX. 2. Checker Years active: 1923-1982 Notable models: Checker, Marathon, Superba Many people still associate the heavy, big yellow Checker taxi car with New York City of the '60s and '70s, but are unlikely aware the car was actually produced in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A Russian immigrant founded the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company. One estimate from 1963 concluded that 35,000 of the nation's 135,000 taxis were Checkers, used primarily in Chicago and New York but also in smaller cities. The company went defunct 13 years after the death of founder Morris Markin due to greater demand for fuel economy in the taxi business. 3. Continental Years active: 1956-1957 Notable models: Mark II Often confused with Ford's Lincoln Continental, the Continental Mark II was actually the sole product of a separate Ford division and an expensive pet project of the company's namesake family. Elegant but overpriced, the Mark II resembled some of the finer European luxury sedans of the time. Celebrities and politicians alike, including Barry Goldwater and Elvis, forked out twice the price of a Cadillac to be seen in a Mark II. 4. Delorean Years active: 1979-1982 Notable models: DMC-12 Widely viewed as the car with the quirkiest back story, the DMC-12 will be forever seared into 1980s pop culture for its role in the 1985 Robert Zemeckis feel-good sci-fi film "Back to the Future." Founded by auto industry bohemian renegade John DeLorean, DeLorean Motor Company produced only 9,000 of these sporty, stainless steel-bodied lemons with gullwing doors. As flawed as it was iconic, the DMC-12 was the only car ever built by Delorean before it went under in 1982. 5. DeSoto Years active: 1928-1960 Notable models: Deluxe, Fireflite, Adventurer Chrysler's DeSoto division plowed through the Great Depression, selling its low-priced Airflow cars that featured what at the time would have been considered futuristic, a distinct fastback rear profile. By the '50s, DeSoto was well entrenched in the Atomic Age aesthetic, with large fins and rocket-like body styles. But a combination of spotty quality control, an industry pivot towards smaller cars, and two lengthy recessions in the '50s compelled Chrysler to shut down the DeSoto operations. 6. Hudson Years active: 1909-1957 Notable models: Super Six, Commodore, Hornet Backed primarily by Detroit department store owner Joseph L. Hudson, a group of Detroit businessmen created Hudson Motor Car to make a sub-$1,000 sedan. The low-price Essex introduced in 1919 helped the company become (briefly) the third largest U.S. automaker by 1925, behind Ford and Chevrolet. Hudson was the first to introduce engine warning lights to the dashboard. Consolidation in the industry led to a merger between Hudson and Nash-Kelvinator in 1954, creating AMC. AMC stopped using the Hudson nameplate in 1957. Hudson, maker of the Hornet. (Photo: duggar11 / Wikimedia Commons) 7. Hummer Years active: 1992-2010 Notable models:H1, H2, H3 The Hummer origins are in a contract AM General was awarded to develop high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles, or HMMWV, for the U.S. ground forces. AM General briefly made a civilian version, the M998, which General Motors took over and renamed the H1 by 1998. The M998 and H1 were the only two Hummers that actually closely resembled the military version. Ensuing models looked more like typical SUVs. Rising gasoline prices, changing consumer tastes, and the Great Recession of 2008 put an end to the Humvee era. 8. Kaiser Years active: 1945-1953 Notable models: Dragon, Henry J, Manhattan Born out of an alliance between renowned entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser and Joseph Frazer, an experienced automotive executive, the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation (later Kaiser Motors) built about 750,000 cars in eight years, a staggering feat for an automotive startup. The company focused on small, stylish, well-built, low-cost, no frills sedans and even briefly sold cars to American GIs in post-war Japan. But like other indie automakers, Kaiser could not compete with Detroit's Big Three. 9. Mercury Years active: 1939-2010 Notable models: Comet Cyclone, Cougar, Turnpike Cruiser Conceived by Ford Motor as a premium brand, Mercury deftly evolved technologically and aesthetically along with consumer tastes from the '40s to the '60s. The 1955 classic film "Rebel Without A Cause" starring James Dean enshrined the 1949 Mercury, while the 1957 Turnpike Cruiser was for its time an edgy two-door hardtop with a roll down rear window. The Cougar was Mercury's answer to the Ford Mustang. In later years, the brand ran low on gas and was junked by Ford amid the Great Recession. 10. Nash Years active: 1916-1957 Notable models: 600, Airflyte, Metropolitan Nash Motors Company rolled its first car off a Wisconsin assembly line in 1917, a year after it was founded by former General Motors President Charles W. Nash. The Model 671 was built as a low-cost, no frills sedan for working-class customers. The company went on an acquisitions spree in the 1920s, and in 1937 it became Nash-Kelvinator following a merger. Unable to compete with Detroit's Big Three, Nash-Kelvinator merged with Hudson Motor Car in 1954, giving birth to AMC. The last models bearing the Nash brand produced in 1957. 11. Oldsmobile Years active: 1897-2004 Notable models: Cutlass, Starfire, 442 The last Oldsmobile, a dark cherry Alero sedan, rolled out of a General Motors plant in Lansing, Michigan, in April 2004, capping an end to America's then-oldest auto brand. Founded by Ransom E. Olds, the son of a machinist, the first Oldsmobiles were motorized carriages. By 1908, Oldsmobile became the second brand after Buick to be part of General Motors; it became a top brand for GM. After the Cutlass was a bestseller in the '70s and '80s, Oldsmobile sales began to decline until GM shuttered the brand in 2004. 12. Packard Years active: 1899-1956 Notable models: Super Eight, Clipper, Caribbean The Packard brothers, James Ward and William Dowd, built their first buggy-style vehicle in 1899 and the Packard Motor Car Company was born. Before and after World War II, Packard focused on smaller, lower-priced cars, ceding the market for luxury cars to Cadillac in the popular post-war luxury market. Costly production decisions and the leadership of a chief executive with no automotive experience ended Packard's automotive business in the '50s. Plymouth, which made the Road Runner. (Photo: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons) 13. Plymouth Years active: 1928-2001 Notable models: Fury, Barracuda, Road Runner The last Plymouth, a Neon LX, rolled out of an Illinois Chrysler factory in 2001, ending more than seven decades of production. Walter P. Chrysler created Plymouth to attract young, first-time buyers with affordable cars. Sales peaked in the early '70s following a string of popular models, but Plymouth eventually lost steam, failing to compete with rivals in the market for smaller economy cars. 14. Pontiac Years active: 1926-2010 Notable models: Bonneville, GTO, Trans Am General Motors first introduced the Pontiac at a New York auto show in 1926. GM had bought the Pontiac, Michigan-based car company, founded by Edward Murphy and Alanson Brush, a designer of early Cadillacs. Demand for the stylish Pontiac sedans flourished in the ensuing decades, but the brand gradually lost its appeal in the '90s. A brief attempt at reviving Pontiac failed as the Great Recession sent GM into a taxpayer-funded bailout and aggressive restructuring. 15. Saturn Years active: 1990-2009 Notable models: Ion, Aura, Vue General Motors established the Saturn automaker in an attempt to compete with the growing popularity of Japanese auto brands, which were offering more reliable cars for the same price as U.S.-made cars. Saturn's first car, the S-Series, was a mold-breaker for GM and was well received, as were other '90s-era models. But difficulties in the early 2000s and the Great Recession killed three GM brands: Saturn, Hummer, and Pontiac. 16. Studebaker Years active: 1913-1966 Notable models: Wagonaire, Golden Hawk, Avanti The South Bend, Indiana, buggy and carriage maker began making electrically powered cars in 1902. In 1913, the company began selling branded gas-powered cars under the Studebaker name. After barely surviving the Depression, Studebaker produced popular concisely stylish models. Packard bought Studebaker in 1954, and its accountants quickly realized the company's production costs were higher than its competitors. The company eventually collapsed under its own weight despite producing quality products. 17. Tucker Years active: 1947-1948 Notable models: Tucker '48 The Tucker '48 is one of the most striking examples of how producing an innovative, attractive product does not guarantee success. Preston Tucker was a visionary automobile entrepreneur, whose eponymous sedan was the first to include features like disc brakes and a center headlight that swivels during cornering. But Tucker's financial troubles and accusations of stock fraud (for which Tucker was later found innocent) put an end to the Tucker brand almost before it started. Only 51 Tuckers were actually made. Willys, which made Jeeps for the military and civilians. (Photo: pedrosimoes7 / Flickr) 18. Willys Years active: 1908-1963 Notable models: Civilian Jeep, Jeep Station Wagon, Jeepster Thanks to the popularity of his Willys-Knight sedan, automotive pioneer John North Willys grew Willys-Overland Motor Company into the second largest U.S. carmaker after Ford from 1912 to 1916. Willys is best known for building military Jeeps in World War II and the CJ, or Civilian Jeep, after the war. In 1953, Kaiser Motors bought Willys, and in 1963 the Willys name was retired when the company was renamed Kaiser-Jeep. Kaiser-Jeep was later bought by AMC in 1970. 24/7 Wall Street is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY. : Here's what you should keep in mind Consumers' top car brands: Porsche tops list of car brands with highest customer satisfaction; Fiat ranks worst Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/05/02/famous-car-brands-that-no-longer-exist/39420327/ | https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/05/02/famous-car-brands-that-no-longer-exist/39420327/ |
What happens in the Kentucky Derby now that Omaha Beach has scratched? | Omaha Beach is out of the 2019 Kentucky Derby. The morning-line favorite was scratched with an entrapped epiglottis. While that is bad news for the colt and his connections, it could be good news for everyone else, particularly the new favorite, Game Winner (9/2). But this does raise questions about what's next. Good news, bettors. It is refunded. If you've placed a bet on Omaha Beach (or any horse), they can cancel it before the race starts. Bodexpress is the first also eligible this year. The bay colt is 0-3-0 in five career starts with a pair of seconds in three races in 2019. His sire is Bodemeister, who finished second in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 2012. His dam is Pied a Terre, by City Zip. Bodexpress is trained by Gustavo Delgado. More: Omaha Beach out of the 2019 Kentucky Derby But he doesn't truly "replace" Omaha Beach. With the scratch in the No. 12 post, horses in posts 13-20 will move over one, and Bodexpress takes the No. 20 post, previously occupied by Country House. Chris Landeros will pick up the mount with 30-1 odds. Horses 13-20 will retain their program number despite moving in one in the starting gate, and Bodexpress will wear No. 21. If another horse scratches, there will be 19 horses in the field as Bodexpress was the only also eligible this year. Say the No. 3 horse scratches (no, By My Standards has not scratched and, as far as I know, is not planning to), then horses in posts 4-20 move in one post. In that situation, Code of Honor would start in the No. 11 post but wear No. 13 as that is his program number. There would be no 3 or 12 horse in this hypothetical. NEWSLETTERS Get the Bengals Beat newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-876-4500. Delivery: Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Bengals Beat Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. Well, that's up to you, but you can find the new post order (not program order) and updated odds here. | https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/2019/05/02/kentucky-derby-2019-horses-omaha-beach-scratched-so-what-now/3649333002/ |
What's the new twisting high-rise that suddenly appeared in SF's skyline? | The 400-foot-tall MIRA is slated to open in late 2019 with 392 new luxury residences. The 400-foot-tall MIRA is slated to open in late 2019 with 392 new luxury residences. 1 / 30 Back to Gallery At the point where the Embarcadero meets SoMa, a newcomer has emerged in San Francisco's growing skyline. The 400-foot-tall high-rise with fanning windows looks like a Jenga tower that was carefully twisted. Located at 280 Spear St., the condo high-rise called MIRA is still under construction, but the building topped out last week and its white facade appears mostly complete. The architect Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang says MIRA's spiraling shape comes from a reinterpretation of the classic San Francisco bay window, with the windows' orientation changing on every floor. The design "amplifies the dynamic quality of the neighborhood," Gang says. The varied positioning of the windows also makes the floor plan in each unit unique. The 40-story building will feature 392 luxury condominiums and townhouses of various sizes. Onsite amenities include a rooftop deck, a fitness center, a children's playroom, dog washing station, valet parking for 340 cars with electric vehicle charging stations, parking for 150 bicycles, and over 10,000 square feet of retail at street level. One bedrooms start at just over $1 million and 2,300-square-foot three bedrooms with bay views are listed for as much as $5 million. Most anywhere else in the U.S. except for coastal cities, these numbers are shockingly high, but in San Francisco, where the median price paid for a new or existing home or condo in March 2019 was $1.38 million, the prices aren't surprising for luxury housing. "There's a range of price points in the project," said Carl Shannon, a senior managing director at Tishman Speyer, the company developing the building. "One of the things we're trying hard to do is to meet different buyers at a number of different income levels." Construction began in mid-2017 and occupancy is slated for late 2019. ALSO: The Manhattanization of SF: How the city's skyline has changed in the last two decades San Francisco's skyline has gone increasingly vertical in the past two decades. Since 2000, more than 15 structures with more than 30 stories have been built. The city now has 160 buildings taller than 240 feet and more are planned or under construction. The most visible newcomer is the Salesforce Tower, a colossal column of glass at 415 Mission that became the city's tallest building at 1,070 feet when it opened in 2018. It surpassed the 853-foot-tall Transamerica Pyramid that had long been the city's tallest since being completed in 1972. Another big addition was 181 Fremont; the mixed-use building at 802 feet is the city's second-tallest building. Perhaps the most talked-about skyscraper built in the last decade is the Millennium Tower, the city's sixth-tallest building that's sinking and tilting, resulting in multiple lawsuits over repair costs. In the gallery above, you'll find images of MIRA and a selection of photos that show how just how much the skyline has changed. | https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/280-Spear-Street-MIRA-skyscraper-San-Francisco-13807907.php |
Does It Have to Be Biden? | When Joe Biden finally declared his candidacy, he immediately pulled way out in front in the polls of Democratic candidates. The polls also show him as the one most likely to beat Trump. Joan Walsh points to some of the problems with Biden, and considers the alternatives. The politics may be debatable, but Congresss duty is clear. Joshua Holland says impunity always breeds more lawlessness, and theres plenty of evidence that Trump plans to continue to act without regard for the law. Plus: We take a trip back back to the darkest days of the Cold War, when muckraking journalists, independent Marxists, trade-union rebels, freedom riders, beatniks, and peace demonstrators all found a home at Americas Oldest Weekly, The Nation magazine. That was the work of a great editor, Carey McWilliams, who was also a great historian. Peter Richardson, the author of the new book American Prophet: The Life and Work of Carey McWilliams, explains. | https://www.thenation.com/article/joe-biden-presidential-campaign-podcast/ |
How important is Bombardier to NI's economy? | Image copyright Reuters Image caption Wings for the A220 planes are made at Bombardier's Belfast plant Bombardier is to sell its aerostructures business in Belfast, the company has announced. Amid uncertainty about the future of one of Northern Ireland's largest employers, BBC News NI looks at the company's background, and what the news could mean. Bombardier, and its predecessors Shorts, have been major employers in Northern Ireland for decades. In 2017, it was estimated that the wages of the company's employees put 158m into the local economy annually. The company employs about 3,600 people in plane-making activities at a number of sites in and around Belfast. When suppliers are included, it is estimated to impact on 12,000 jobs. Wings for Bombardier's A220 planes are made at the Belfast plant. The 520m facility was opened by former prime minister David Cameron in 2013. There have been several redundancy programmes at Bombardier in Northern Ireland since 215. In November 2018, the company said it would cut 490 jobs in Belfast. Last month, unions called off an industrial action ballot when the company suspended compulsory redundancies. Timeline: Bombardier job losses May 2015: Firm announced a cut of at least 220 jobs due to a fall in demand for business jets. February 2016: It said it would lose about 20% of its NI workforce, with 580 jobs to go in 2016 and 500 in 2017. April 2016: Job cuts revised - from 580 to 630. September 2017: Another 95 redundancies announced. October 2017: Plan to cut another 280 jobs revealed. November 2018: A further 490 job cuts announced, but then shelved. It is not yet clear who could buy the Belfast operation but it may be attractive to global engineering firms who are so-called Tier One aerospace suppliers, says BBC News NI Business Editor John Campbell. Industry watchers point to firms like Spirit Aerosystems or GKN. The Belfast plants don't just make parts for Bombardier, they also supply external customers such as Airbus. In an interview last year Bombardier Belfast director, Michael Ryan, said the Belfast factory would be capable of functioning as an outside supplier to Bombardier's business-jets division. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-48134732 |
When will the Bank move on rates? | Image copyright Getty Images Once you've resigned from a job, the temptation may be to wind down and let normal duties take a back seat. Inflation is set to rise above target over the next few years, growth is looking more robust, and yet the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) didn't order the rate rise that might have been expected. But that doesn't mean that Mark Carney or his colleagues are asleep at the wheel. Instead, look to the fog of Brexit, as the governor likes to call it. These are highly unorthodox and uncertain times. Growth actually isn't that different to what was expected a year ago. But the quality, or make up, of that growth is. Consumer spending has been far more resilient than expected, while stockpiling of raw materials and finished goods has caused a buzz of activity in the past few months. The Bank's own survey found that half of companies had taken such precautions. Meanwhile, growth in other major economies has stabilised. UK growth in the first quarter is likely to have been 0.5%, double what the Bank expected just three months ago. But the prolonged uncertainty has hit business investment sharply (and is expected to do so for some time yet) and made home buyers more nervous. The Bank is expecting property prices to have fallen by 1.25% over the course of this year. And while employment is at an all-time high, the Bank reckons it could have been up to 2% higher if it were not for Brexit uncertainty. 'Unenviable gift' Meanwhile, the Bank admits that faster wage growth is ramping up demand, putting pressure on inflation. But the Bank is reluctant to move until there is further clarity, not least about the path of Brexit. For as it highlights again, the movement in rates then could be "in either direction" depending on the outcome, the impact on the economy, and whether it opted to support growth or inflation. If all goes smoothly, then the Bank will probably turn its firepower on inflation, and start raising rates "at a gradual pace and to a limited extent", especially if there's a bounce in investment and hiring. At the moment, the MPC reckons "the cost of waiting for further information is relatively low". But that, given the degree of inflationary pressures it's forecasting, is quite a gamble. If the Bank has missed the boat, then rates might ultimately have to rise faster and by more than originally envisaged to curb inflation. That would be an unenviable parting gift from Mr Carney to his successor. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48131550 |
Is it better to be exonerated or vindicated? | When Robert Mueller submitted his report, it brought out SAT words in rarely seen numbers, like wildflowers in California after El Nio. Suddenly, Latinate words for not guilty were everywhere. The report was an exoneration, according to President Donald Trump. Republican allies called it a vindication. The Spectator doubted Trumps claims of exculpation; Mr. Trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani claimed the president had been absolved. The Portland Press Herald warned that the report doesnt necessarily acquit Trump. About the only synonym that didnt appear was assoil, and thats because it pretty much disappeared in the 19th century. But as coverage drags on, perhaps well see some news outlet declare that the president was not assoiled of blame. Exoneration is perhaps the strongest of these words. It indicates a complete clearance from charges or blame and implies that a person should not have been accused in the first place. Exonerate means to remove a burden the prefix ex- means to remove or relieve from and onus is burden in Latin. Vindication too involves a total clearing of a persons name, often with the additional sense that he or she was right all along. Whether or not you agree with them, headlines such as President Trump is Vindicated. The Witch Hunt Is Over neatly capture both these senses of the word, implying that the president has been proved innocent and that Mr. Muellers investigation was indeed a witch hunt. Etymologically, there is something violent about vindication. It comes from the Latin vindicare (to set free but also to avenge) and is related to revenge, vengeance, and vindictive. In cases where the charges are less serious, a person may be exculpated, from ex- plus culpa (fault). It is more or less the opposite of mea culpa, a Latin phrase we still use today, which means its my fault. Absolve was first used in religious contexts, where it refers to forgiveness for sins a person has committed. Though it often connotes guilt and consequent pardon today, it does not always; people can be absolved from any suspected wrongdoing, whether they did it or not. Likewise, in a legal context an acquittal indicates that a person was not found guilty, but is not a determination that he or she is innocent. Sometimes people are acquitted because of a lack of evidence or a procedural flaw. In England, Latin was the language of the Roman Catholic Church and the law for centuries, so many of our words are derived from it. Such words lend a dignity and gravity, though in the partisan circus around the Mueller report, they can only do so much. | https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/In-a-Word/2019/0502/Is-it-better-to-be-exonerated-or-vindicated |
Did Cristiano Ronaldo buy the most expensive new car ever? | European media are reporting that soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has purchased the most expensive new car ever. But its not yet clear if thats actually the case. Spanish sports news outlet AS said this week that the Juventus player was the mystery buyer of the one-of-a-kind Bugatti La Voiture Noir, which was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March with an 11 million euro price tag that translates to $18.9 million after taxes and fees. At the time, the company said the two-seat coupe had already been sold to one of its best customers. Ronaldo is an avid exotic car collector who has owned Bugattis in the past, including the $3 million Chiron, which is what the 1,500 hp La Voiture Noir is based on, but AS didnt offer any details about how it came by the information about the sale. CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS ON THE BUGATTI LA VOITURE NOIR Bugatti spokesperson Tim Bravo told Fox News Autos that the automaker could not reveal the identity of the buyer and would leave it to him or her to do so, while Ronaldos agent, Jorge Mendes, has not yet responded to a request for comment. However, TMZ claims that an unnamed spokesperson for the Portuguese denied that he was the buyer. As for Ronaldo, the most recent one of his cars that he shared with his 164 million Instagram followers is a Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV, but that doesnt disprove the Bugatti rumor, because the vehicle displayed at Geneva was just a design prototype and the real one wont be built for at least another two years. Meanwhile, his latest post shows him lacing up a pair of Chicago green shoes from his CR7 line of footwear. | https://www.foxnews.com/auto/cristiano-ronaldo-expensive-car |
How on Earth Did Stephen Moore Get Picked for the Federal Reserve? | Read: Sebastian Gorka and the White Houses questionable vetting Moore is a peculiar pick for the Fed in part because his expertise, such as it is, is fiscal policy. Moore is ignorant of monetary policy, which is what the Fed oversees. Thats not my assessmentits Moores. When Trump announced his plan to nominate Moore, the would-be governor told Bloomberg that he didnt know what the central bank or its board did. Im kind of new to this game, frankly, so Im going to be on a steep learning curve myself about how the Fed operates, how the Federal Reserve makes its decisions, he said. Its hard for me to say even what my role will be there, assuming I get confirmed. His record backs this up. As the Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell has noted, Moore claimed that there was deflation when there wasnt, and insisted that the nation was on the verge of hyperinflation when in fact there was deflation. Moore has supported the gold standard (though he insists that he hasnt, despite video evidence). Matt OBrien rounds up other problems with Moores economic positions. Moore also called on Trump to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell, which would at the very least make for some awkward small talk at Moores first meeting. Somewhat perversely, Moores views and comments on other topics may ultimately pose the greatest threat to his nomination. His economic views are more relevant to the job hed actually hold, but whereas most people dont have a sophisticated understanding of interest rates, most people either are or know a womanand Moore has some peculiar views about women, both related and unrelated to the economy. CNNs KFile has been at the forefront of uncovering Moores past comments. Basketball has been a frequent trigger for these views. Referring to his wife in a 2001 column, Moore wrote, When Allison and I got married the hoops ground rules were already well established: Shes not allowed to talk to me during the NCAA tournament. The next year, he recycled the idea: Ah, March, the greatest month of the year. This is the season where I return to bachelorhood, lock myself into the TV room and tell my wife that Ill see her sometime in April. This year they allowed a woman ref a mens NCAA game. Liberals celebrate this breakthrough as a triumph for gender equity. The NCAA has been touting this as example of how progressive they are. I see it as an obscenity. (Oh yeah, theyve done that already.) Why cant women ref he womens games and men the mens games. I cant wait to see the first lady ref have a run in with Bobby Knight. He did offer one exception to his suggestion of banning women from sports, citing a prominent broadcaster: Women are permitted to participate, if and only if, they look like Bonnie Bernstein. The fact that Bonnie knows nothing about basketball is entirely irrelevant Bonnie Bernstein should wear a halter top. In an email to CNN, Moore explained these columns by saying, This was a spoof. I have a sense of humor. To his credit, he didnt say it was a good sense of humor. | https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/05/how-did-stephen-moore-get-picked-federal-reserve/588502/?utm_source=feed |
Are we preparing new graduates to succeed in an age of automation? | Its graduation season, and that means more than 500,000 Canadian youth will be receiving a diploma, degree or certificate from a public post-secondary institution. Thats certainly a great achievement. But graduation day isnt so much an end as it is a beginning, and the journey ahead for Canadas next generation is anything but certain. As good as many of our schools are, our education system, training programs and labour market initiatives are inadequately designed and funded to help young people navigate the economy, writes John Stackhouse. And many Canadian employers are generally not prepared through hiring, training or retraining, to recruit and develop the skills needed to ensure their organizations remain competitive. ( Dreamstime ) RBC last year produced a landmark report called Humans Wanted that examined the enormous disruption coming for that generation and how Canadians need to do much more to build on our human skills, like communication, collaboration and critical thinking, to excel in the age of automation. Those with the right foundation have a remarkable future in front of them, as we think there will be more jobs than ever. And yet, weve created so many divides between our education system and our economy that its tougher than ever to bridge the gap. Over the past year, our research team crisscrossed the country, and talked to more than 5,000 Canadians about the skills revolution. Our latest report, Bridging the Gap, shares the highlights of what students, educators and employers told us and what we need to do, as a country, to succeed in the decade ahead. Article Continued Below Bottom line: As good as many of our schools are, our education system, training programs and labour market initiatives are inadequately designed and funded to help young people navigate the economy. And many Canadian employers are generally not prepared through hiring, training or retraining, to recruit and develop the skills needed to ensure their organizations remain competitive. Consider a few of the most pressing gaps. The soft skills cultivated in the arts and sciences have never been in higher demand. Thats not happening despite automation. Its happening because of it. Employers want workers with skills, such as critical thinking, creativity and curiosity that complement their technology systems. Still, there is a perception problem with the arts and sciences. Thats being played out in the enrollment numbers of liberal arts programs where there has been double digit declines this past decade. Many young people see more direct paths to a steady job from a mathematics, computer or information sciences education. Equally troubling, many people entering the workforce possess skills that are critical for organizations. But they are being overlooked and undervalued by employers because these skills have, in many cases, been honed out of the classroom through hackathons, entrepreneurial competitions and volunteer activities. Most post-secondary institutions offer a document that lists non-academic, on-campus activities, though few students and even fewer employers are aware it exists. And despite the growing opportunity for digitally enabled workers in traditional industries, many employers are unable to attract the required talent. For instance, among agricultural employers, 70 per cent are having trouble finding qualified recruits to operate innovative technologies to monitor and harvest their crops. This runs the risk of impacting our farmers and food processors to compete globally. Article Continued Below Fortunately the Canadians we met especially the youth had no shortage of recommendations to address these and other gaps. A national GPA for skills initiative, led by post-secondary leaders, could define how skills such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity can be measured and presented on student transcripts. Canadas biggest employers could also be encouraged to hire more arts and sciences graduates and provide them with job-specific training to complement their soft skills would help address the skills mismatch. Efforts to promote emerging opportunities in traditional sectors, such as agriculture and oceans, through professional associations in science, tech and business could also help inject the right talent in these critical industries. More broadly, an initiative launched by the federal government will help identify and cultivate them within Canadian workplaces, as well as experiment with innovative approaches to prepare young workers for the jobs of tomorrow. Still, we must act with a greater sense of urgency. The public and private sector must step-up, otherwise our economy will take a step back. There is no reason why we cannot bridge the gaps. Its just a matter of building on our strengths. Helping young Canadians prosper, and in turn, our communities thrive will help sustain the kind of country we want. By doing so, we can ensure Canadians continue to graduate into a world of opportunity and can turn that opportunity to Canadas advantage. John Stackhouse is senior vice president at RBC. He advises RBCs executive leadership team on emerging trends in Canadas economy. You can find the report at www.rbc.com/bridgingthegap | https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/05/02/are-we-preparing-new-graduates-to-succeed-in-an-age-of-automation.html |
What's it like to run the London Marathon slowly? | Image caption Del Singh was slowed down by a BBC interview - but he didn't mind Running a marathon is no mean feat. For many people, it is the experience of a lifetime. While the elite athletes can achieve personal bests (PBs) of between two and three hours, many of those running are happy just to finish. This was the first year the London Marathon had recruited official pacers to run the course in over six hours. One of those, Liz Ayres, told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme that, despite running at the requested speed, the clean-up operation had begun around her - and other slow runners had been treated "horrifically". Some slow runners had mixed opinions about their experience. Weaving in and out of the public Image copyright Leanne Pilbeam Image caption Leanne was happy to have her nine-year-old son cheer her on right at the end This was 36-year-old Leanne Pilbeam's first marathon. She was very proud to finish in seven hours and 16 minutes, mainly because she was recovering from an injury. "I started running with the six-and-a-half-hour pacer, staying with her up to Tower Bridge. That experience was amazing," she said. But as the soreness in her legs caused her to slow down, "the atmosphere wasn't the same". "It felt almost aggressive," she said. Just seven hours after the start time, which had been delayed, a car had driven past her, saying the course was now closed, Leanne said. Next, coaches and sweeper lorries had appeared on the course - and she and her fellow runners had been sprayed by cleaning chemicals. "They kept telling us to mind out of the way," she said. "At one stage, we had to go on the path because the road was blocked off. "We were then weaving in and out of the public. "It's not quite what I expected." Water stations had been closed and, Leanne said, she had had to ask a member of the public for a drink. And, then, as she had crossed the finishing line, she had noticed the infrastructure had already been being dismantled. "It made me feel undervalued," she said. "I thought it would be a great experience. I felt like they only wanted the fast runners. "What's the point in having the late pacers if they're not going to support the slow runners?" An awesome experience Image copyright Del Singh Image caption Del Singh with his finisher's medal Despite having wanted to finish in under seven hours, Del Singh, 56, of Peterborough, was happy with his finish time - seven hours and nine minutes time. "I've lost 10 stone [63.5kg] in one year, so was happy to get my message across about healthy living when I was stopped by the BBC at Tower Bridge," he said. Del's only previous marathon run had been Loch Ness Marathon, where, he said, there had been 50 spectators at the start, 50 at the finish and practically no-one cheering en route, so London was totally different for him. "The crowds were phenomenal. It was an awesome experience," he said. "I had my name on my T-shirt and crowds were shouting out my name. It was terrific." "But that's when the crowds kicked in. They're the important people carrying people over the line." Del also had nothing but praise for the marshals and volunteers, whom, he said, had been brilliant. He too had found the water stations closed and "at about 23 miles a group of us were moved off the pavement but just for about 100 yards". But, he added: "I didn't hear anyone saying anything derogatory - maybe because I'm quite a big man. "I'm still large, not so overweight. "People of all ages and sizes were running the race. "At least they had the guts to have a go." Del was sad to hear other slow runners had not had such a happy experience. "I hope this doesn't put people off from doing it," he said, "but I do think the organisers should look into what happened for some of those people affected." It felt like we were forgotten about James Miller, 35, finished in just over eight hours. It was his second marathon and a very different experience from the first, in 2013. "It was really demotivating to see the course being dismantled around us," he said. "The worst part was when some of the clocks and timing mats were being taken away. "I even had to ask directions. It felt like we were forgotten about." James did not hear any negative remarks being directed towards slow runners. And although he would like the organisers to rethink the support offered to those finishing late, he added: "I finished outside the pacers' times but the finish line was still open and I was able to collect my medal." Interviews by Sherie Ryder, BBC UGC and social news | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48132395 |
Which NFL teams make possible trade partners for Vikings and Kyle Rudolph? | First comes the trade report. Then the front office denial. The player waits in a holding pattern. Its an NFL offseason tradition. This time, the report came from Sports Illustrateds Albert Breer, the former NFL Media insider who over the weekend deployed a flare for the whole league to see on behalf of the Vikings. The S.O.S. message read: The Vikings are going into Day 3 of the draft open to, but not actively shopping, deals for their more expensive veteran players. Theyve gotten calls on TE Kyle Rudolph and CBs Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes. Stay tuned. The Vikings need some cap relief, as the Star Tribunes Ben Goessling has detailed at length, and one way is by being open to dealing expensive veteran players. General manager Rick Spielman responded no, not really, when asked whether the Vikings fielded such calls following a 12-man draft class, near the top of which is second-round tight end Irv Smith Jr. After a deal failed to materialize over the weekend, Spielman was more dismissive when broached with the topic of trading Rudolph. You guys are really great at stirring a lot of stuff up out there, Spielman said this week during a SiriusXM interview. You make my press conferences interesting. The Vikings general manager was asked how Rudolph and Smith Jr. can complement each other on the field. Thank you, yeah, theyre two different types of players, Spielman told SiriusXM radio. With [Gary] Kubiak and [Kevin] Stefanskis offense, one thing we felt is we didnt have a player like an Irv Smith Jr. a lot smaller from the standard that Kyle is. Kyle is an on-the-line Y [tight end]. Irv, you see him play H-back, you see him play fullback, you see him split out in the slot. All of a sudden, hes in the slot and Kyles on the line of scrimmage. Theyre going to have to defend one or the other, and then if you put our two receivers out there with them, it makes defenses try to pick their poison. Rudolph has already told the Star Tribune hell welcome Smith Jr. to the locker room. But the ball is in the Vikings court. Spielman can keep Rudolph and realize this vision. Or, if the right offer comes along, the Vikings sound open to tight end David Morgan playing an on-the-line role in this scenario. Trading Rudolph, who since early March has made his desire publicly known to restructure his contract if thats what keeps his family in Minnesota, would clear more than $7 million in cap space. The five listed below each reportedly have more than $10 million in cap space and a need at tight end. Four spots would send him to the AFC. New England Patriots: Rudolphs most obvious landing place outside of Minnesota is New England, where the Patriots lost Rob Gronkowski to retirement and did not draft a tight end last week. Rudolph, who is fourth among all TEs with 41 touchdowns since the 2011 draft, would be a good fit for a franchise trying to maximize the remaining years of quarterback Tom Brady. Jacksonville Jaguars: Former Vikings coordinator John DeFilippo, now in Jacksonville, might not be the best fit for Rudolph (who saw a career-long touchdown drought last season with JDF calling plays). But the Jaguars need a go-to weapon for new quarterback Nick Foles. They could use Rudolph, even after spending a third-round pick on tight end Josh Oliver. Buffalo Bills: The Bills really need a proven target for quarterback Josh Allen. Buffalos former tight end, Charles Clay, is now in Arizona and the current fix is third-round draftee Dawson Knox (96th overall). Perhaps itd make sense for the Bills, with north of $30 million in cap space this season, to add a veteran to the mix. Oakland Raiders: Oakland added a host of weapons around quarterback Derek Carr, from trading for receiver Antonio Brown to drafting running back Josh Jacobs in the first round. The skill position not really addressed is tight end, where Jared Cook left in free agency. The Raiders did add a fourth-round tight end, but Oakland is another team with cap space and no proven star at the position. Giants coach Pat Shurmur got the most out of Rudolph in the red zone when he was the Vikings offensive coordinator in 2017. The Giants currently have just four tight ends on the roster, including Rudolphs former teammate Rhett Ellison. Honorable mention: Another NFC East team, the Dallas Cowboys, would also make sense. However, the Cowboys have premiere players to consider paying between quarterback Dak Prescott, running back Ezekiel Elliott and receiver Amari Cooper; all three have contracts expiring after 2019 or 2020. | http://www.startribune.com/which-nfl-teams-make-possible-trade-partners-for-vikings-and-kyle-rudolph/509376482/ |
Are wardrobe rental services worth the cost? | Open this photo in gallery Rent Frock Repeat, co-owned by Kristy Wieber, offers everyday clothing on a subscription basis. Chris Young/The Canadian Press The combination of a new wave of minimalism sparked by tidying expert Marie Kondo and a growing sharing economy has spawned a fresh spin on fashion retail. As consumers purge their closets, entrepreneurs are moving to fill the gap with wardrobe subscription services, where clients pay a monthly fee to rent clothing for personal or professional use. Toronto-based Rent Frock Repeat recently decided to switch up from leasing out only special-occasion dresses and accessories to offering everyday clothing on a subscription basis, said its co-owner Kristy Wieber. Story continues below advertisement This new service, to be launched this fall, allows people to minimize their belongings but still have variety in a budget-conscious way, she added. As consumers, all the Marie-Kondo-ing in the world will not replace us wanting to have new things, she said. Consumers have long been able to rent tuxedoes, ball gowns and costumes for one-time events, but several businesses have launched in recent years offering wardrobe staples like sweaters, dresses and statement necklaces for rent on a subscription basis, which are delivered by mail. Most of these services involve customers paying a flat monthly fee for a set number of items, selected online ahead of time and delivered to homes. These items are then returned by mail after a certain period, usually a month, to be dry-cleaned by the rental company. Or, some plans allow for customers to buy the items they like if they want to permanently add them to their closet. In addition to Wiebers business, there is Montreal-based Chic Marie, San Francisco-headquartered Le Tote and maternity-focused Sprout Collection in Toronto. The cost of a monthly membership can range from as low as $65 to as high as $139 per month, depending on the type of plan or wardrobe, with maternity wear tending to cost more. The number of items received varies widely by plan, but could be anywhere from six to 15 items. With the average household in the country spending roughly $3,430 a year on clothing and accessories, according to 2017 Statistics Canada numbers, paying a monthly fee to be able to regularly refresh your wardrobe is an attractive prospect. Story continues below advertisement However, whether a wardrobe rental service offers the best bang for your buck depends on your personal or professional clothing needs, time constraints and how you feel about shopping, say finance experts. For example, for someone early in their career in a corporate setting who wants to look the part but does not have much disposable income, this would be a perfect fit, said personal finance expert Rubina Ahmed-Haq. Or, for pregnant women whose size and shape are constantly shifting or someone who needs to appear in public or at special events regularly, this would be a good option, she added. But the monthly fee which could tally up to more than $1,000 on an annual basis doesnt account for the money that needs to be spent on basic clothing, Ahmed-Haq noted. You still need clothes to work out in, there are other needs, she said. Its not just work clothes. The service isnt necessarily aimed at replacing a persons wardrobe but rather to spice it up, in a less-costly way, said Marie-Philip Simard, the founder of Chic Marie. After 18 uses, Chic Maries items are donated to charity, she added. Story continues below advertisement For people working in fashion, you are going to always be up to trend You get compliments on them, you feel great about yourself, Simard said. It might be superficial, but a lot of confidence comes from the way you look. Simard got the idea for the service while working as a lawyer at a Montreal-based law firm. She was spending as much as 30 per cent of her budget on attire to meet the office standard, she said. The wardrobe was really costly, and I needed to have another option, she said. Coleen Clark, a personal finance professor at Ryerson University, said for many people who dont require a wide range of items in their wardrobe, investing in a quality piece rather than a monthly rental may be a better route. You could buy yourself something really, rather fine, that you could wear for years, she said. Its also about convenience for those who dont have the time or dont enjoy shopping at the mall, said Wieber. Story continues below advertisement Her service, which is still in pilot mode, also allows people to try things out for a while to see if its really the right fit and avoid buyers remorse, she added. I dont have to go out and buy stuff and take it back, she said. I just can wear it for the month, keep what I absolutely love Or just try new stuff. | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/household-finances/article-are-wardrobe-rental-services-worth-the-cost/ |
How did all the Kentucky Derby horses get their names? | Bob Baffert thinks the Kentucky Derby is wide open With Omaha Beach scratching, trainer Bob Baffert has the top three Kentucky Derby contenders in Game Winner, Roadster and Improbable. Baffert will be trying for his sixth Derby win on Saturday, May 4, 2019 at Churchill Downs. Up Next SHARE COPY LINK With Omaha Beach scratching, trainer Bob Baffert has the top three Kentucky Derby contenders in Game Winner, Roadster and Improbable. Baffert will be trying for his sixth Derby win on Saturday, May 4, 2019 at Churchill Downs. Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire who wrote about the reigns of the emperors Tiberius, Claudius and Nero. His name is famous, and now adorns a racehorse who will try to earn racings greatest crown on Saturday. Vekoma is also running Saturday, and hes named after a Dutch roller coaster company. Roller coasters, says his owner, mirror the huge ups and crashing downs of the horse racing industry. Quite a lot, if youre a racehorse heading to the Kentucky Derby. It can be used to signal your hopeful dominance or honor your ancestors. It could be clever or funny. Naming a racehorse is not easy, say the people who do it. First, you have to meet the stringent rules of The Jockey Club, which registers all Thoroughbred racehorses. Those include a limit of 18 characters, no famous people, nothing vulgar, and nothing already in rotation. There are 450,000 names in the Jockey Club database; owners can plug in their choices and find out if its already in use. Once a horse stops racing, the name is put back into circulation. Lots of people use a horses ancestry for inspiration. For example, Improbables dam was Rare Event. His owner, WinStar Farm, is a huge operation that conducts a naming contest every year. Julie Ward, was the WinStar controller at the time, and said she was just going through names one night. They like one-word names, and I was just trying to think about names and that one was available, she said. Lots of other horses in this years Derby were named with similar inspiration. Spinoff was sired by Hard Spun, Bodexpress is by Bodemeister and Gray Magician is by Graydar. War of Wills sire is War Front and Code of Honor is by Noble Mission. Roadsters sire is Quality Road and his dams sire was Strawberry Road. Cutting Humor is out of a dam named Pun, whose own dam was Joke. Another farm that prefers one-word names is Claiborne Farm, which bred Tax. Taxs dam is Toll, said Claibornes Dell Hancock, who actually picked the name. It seemed to be fitting and we were able to get it, Hancock said. Some names are more subtle. A hat trick is three wins in a major sporting event. Hat Trick sired Win Win Win, the Derby entry of Charlotte Webers Live Oak Plantation. Horse people are eternal optimists, so with the Triple Crown in mind, Win, Win Win, explained Live Oak manager Bruce Hill. Then there are the people struck by a bit of inspiration. Chester Thomas names lots of horses, and he hangs out with some former Special Forces soldiers who used a phrase he liked: By my standards. It wasnt like I had this foresight that By My Standards would be a good horse, Thomas said. Its just a good coincidence. I really hope he lives up to making Derby standards. One of Country Houses owners, Maury Shields, always liked being in the country, said her nephew, Guinness McFadden, a co-owner of the horse. She always liked the thought of a country house and she liked the name, he said. Game Winner and Maximum Security are the kind of cliche terms beloved by racehorse owners. Theyd both been used before, but were freed up this time for owners Gary and Mary West. Omaha Beach, who was scratched from the race Wednesday night, honors a decisive spot in the Allied troop landing on D-Day. Owner Rick Porter chose the name either aptly or luckily, as this year is the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Master Fencer, the horse from Japan, was named in a contest by employees of owner Katsumi Yoshizawa, who operates a large training facility in Hokkaido, according to his representative, Kate Hunter. Maybe not coincidentally, the dams name is Sexy Zamurai. Bourbon enthusiasts may be putting money on Long Range Toddy, but thats not it. The horse is actually named for owner Willis Hortons relative Todd Rayburn, who loves to hunt and is a great long-range shot, said Hortons racing manager, Case Clay. Not to worry, though, Horton is still a fan of Kentuckys premium beverage. Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum of Shadwell Farm names all his own horses, said Shadwell manager Rick Nichols, and he prefers Arabic names. Haikal means frame or boundary in classic Arabic, as opposed to more modern Arabic, which translates the name to part of a Coptic church per Google. Plus Que Parfait is owned by several Russians based in Dubai, who like to give their horses French names, according to their bloodstock agent, Conor Foley. Plus que parfait means more than perfect, or the pluperfect tense in English. | https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/article229896039.html |
What Traits Are Democrats Prioritizing in 2020 Candidates? | With a historically diverse Democratic field of presidential candidates, we looked at what traits voters are prioritizing in 2020. These issues can be hard to talk about and even harder to poll. People sometimes say they want one thing but choose differently. To figure out what candidate qualities actually matter to voters, we looked at what they do, not only what they say. In partnership with YouGov, we gave voters a series of match ups between hypothetical candidates for the Democratic nomination in 2020. We randomly varied several traits for each candidate: their age, race, gender, job title, social class, and home region. None of the profiles were meant to imply any real candidate in the race. We labeled them as "Candidate A" and "Candidate B" rather than use any names. In one example, Candidate A might have been a 60-year-old, black, female state attorney general, and Candidate B might have been 35-year-old, white, male U.S. representative. Voters were simply asked to choose one of the two candidates. Here's how the first match up might have looked on the screen We then gave voters another match up and asked them to do the same. It might have looked like this We gave each voter several match ups, randomizing traits each time. We collected thousands of decisions about all sorts of match ups. Again, all match ups were hypothetical, and no actual names were used. In the end, the analysis combines all choices made by voters and offers a look at what traits stood out in their selections. This technique, known as conjoint analysis, is used often in marketing and political science. (See technical details here.) We looked at choices among voters who identify as Democrats, as well as independents who lean toward the Democratic Party, many of whom will cast ballots in a 2020 Democratic presidential primary or caucus. Here are the traits that emerged as important to these voters. Gender Voters showed a clear preference for females, all else equal. When given one male and one female, voters selected the female 59 percent of the time. Men and women both preferred female candidates, but women were especially likely to pick females over males by over 20 percentage points. Race Voters picked people of color more frequently than whites, by 57 percent to 43 percent. Voters had a slight preference for Latino candidates and a strong preference for black candidates. When match ups include a white and a black candidate, for example, voters chose the black candidate 60 percent of the time. There were some differences by voter race. Black voters chose black candidates over two-thirds of the time, and Latino voters had a stronger preference for Latino candidates. However, even white voters chose candidates of color more often than white candidates. Age Overall, voters strongly preferred younger and middle-aged candidates to candidates in their 70s. To analyze age, we looked across all match ups to see how often certain ages were selected, regardless of who the opponent was. In this analysis, if a trait is selected more than half the time, it means that the trait increases the odds of selection. Voters chose people in their 40s about 57 percent of the time and people in their 50s about 56 percent of the time, indicating that these age ranges are desirable, on average. People in their 60s were chosen roughly half the time. People in their 70s, on the other hand, were only picked 37 percent of the time. In these hypothetical match ups at least, there is little appetite among voters for septuagenarians. This effect was among the strongest we found. There are few differences by voters' own age even older voters preferred younger candidates. Job Title Going beyond demographic traits, we also tested various job titles, including elected offices at the federal and state level, as well as people in the private sector. (Elected officials included Senators, U.S. Representatives, governors, mayors, and state attorney generals.) Voters had a strong preference for elected officials, choosing them in match ups with a businessperson 63 percent of the time. Social Class We tested three backgrounds with respect to social class: working class, middle class, and wealthy backgrounds. Voters of all education and income levels preferred working class and middle class background to wealthy ones. Looking across all match ups, working class was chosen 59 percent of the time, middle class 55 percent of the time, and wealthy only 35 percent of the time. Region There were not huge differences by the candidate's home region. Voters did not differentiate much between people from the Northeast, Midwest, and West. However, voters were less likely to choose people from the South when they were pitted against people from other regions (45 percent vs. 55 percent). Self-identified liberals and voters who told us they were very likely to vote in a 2020 primary or caucus were especially likely to pick women and people of color. They also had a stronger distaste for businesspeople and people from wealthy backgrounds, indicating that such candidates may face a hurdle when trying to court the party's base in the primary. While these results illuminate what traits matter to Democratic leaning voters in the abstract, an important caveat is in order. As opposed to these hypothetical profiles, real presidential candidates are more than a bundle of six traits. The have distinct policy positions, histories, and personalities. Their baggage, good and bad, will likely also matter to voters. That said, this analysis reveals a latent appetite among the Democratic rank-and-file for certain types of qualities in 2020. This CBS News survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 2,210 U.S. registered voters interviewed online between April 22-26, 2019. This sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, and education, based on the American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, as well as 2016 Presidential vote and registration status. Respondents were selected from YouGov's opt-in panel to be representative of all U.S. registered voters. Candidate traits were randomized independently of one another. Trait order was randomized across respondents and fixed within respondents. | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/democratic-voters-hungry-for-women-and-people-of-color-in-2020-nomination/ |
Why Arent Women a Bigger Force in Indian Elections? | Her candidacy is emblematic of the way the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, given to revitalizing traditional Hindu values, approaches gender, women being important to their vote tally but only worthy of leadership if they have shown sufficiently extremist convictions. The partys main mobilization force has been a right-wing group called Sangh Parivar, which has existed since the 1920s and was started by members of the right-wing Hindu paramilitary and nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a conglomerate of various Hindu nationalist organizations. Sangh Parivar (which includes Modis BJP) has historically defined itself in part as a movement of hyper-masculine Hindu men struggling against what they perceived to be hyper-masculine Muslim men who conquered them centuries ago, dominating the subcontinents ruling classes leading up to British rule and even beyond. For women, the group emphasizes wifely obedience and spiritualized modesty. Sangh Parivars picture of idealized Indian womanhood has become the model preached to its female supporter, with the simple message that good Hindu women vote for good Hindu men. In positioning Hindu identity as superior and emphasizing caste and religious differences, Sangh Parivar and hence the BJP have also implicitly discouraged women from voting as a bloc based on their gender identity. Their voters are unlikely to rise up and demand better physical security (the rape conviction rate in India for instance is a dismal 24 percent and as low as 2 percent in the case of lower caste Dalits), or toss the restrictive role imposed on them in the name of tradition. The BJP, as it happens, has the highest number of politicians implicated in cases of crimes against women of any electoral party. Another tactic in the BJP playbook is to present itself as the champion of Muslim women even as it continues to demonize Muslim men. In India, minorities are still governed by religious law when it comes to matters like divorce and inheritance. The BJP has therefore championed the transformation of such religious laws, portraying their reforms as rescuing Muslim women from Muslim men. A bill that banned triple talaq (a means of divorce via which a Muslim man could divorce his wife simply by saying I divorce you three times) was passed by the current Lok Sabha in December 2018. The legally questionable provisions of the proposal, tritely termed The Muslim Woman Protections of Rights of Marriage, would impose jail terms on men whom the state deems to have violated the rule. The bill, which did not have enough votes to pass Indias upper house of parliament, is unlikely to become law. The tactic did not win them Muslim womens votes. I personally dont know a single woman who was divorced through instant triple talaq, one Muslim woman told an Indian journalism nonprofit IndiaSpend. It does not happen in our village. Others interviewed by the publication questioned how they could vote for the BJP given the persecution of Muslim men who have in recent years faced barbaric attacks and even been lynched by Hindu extremist mobs. How can we vote for them if our community is under threat from them? Ultimately, the bill came across less as an attempt to win over the hearts of Muslim women, and more as yet another element of the partys social transformation of Hindu identity, set up in opposition to a Muslim other. It is not only the BJP that is failing to address gender inequality. While the Indian National Congress party outdid the BJPs 8 percent grant of electoral tickets to women, by selecting women to run on 12 percent of the electoral constituencies where it is contesting elections, that number is similarly dismal. In fact, only two of Indias political parties, Biju Janata Dal of Orissa and the Trinamool Congress of West Bengal, have reserved 33 percent of all their party tickets for women. These, however, are small regional parties running in very few constituencies. | https://newrepublic.com/article/153755/arent-women-bigger-force-indian-elections |
Should schools impose a dress code on parents? | Image copyright Getty Images When a school in Houston, Texas, announced that parents must also follow dress code guidelines, it ignited a larger debate about appropriate attire and standards for parents across the nation. Principal Carlotta Brown of James Madison High School announced the new dress code guidelines for parents and guests a day after the mother of a prospective student was denied entry to the school because of her attire. Wearing a T-shirt dress and headscarf, Joselyn Lewis says she was turned away by school administrators when she attempted to enrol her daughter into the school. When she asked to see the school's dress code rules for parents, administrators called the police. Ms Lewis explained she was wearing the scarf as she was in the process of getting her hair done - but felt she should not be told what to wear, regardless. 'Preparing your child' Effective last week, James Madison High School will reject any parent or guest wearing pyjamas, hair rollers, leggings, or a head scarf, among other clothing items. The school declined to comment to the BBC, but the principal has continued to express support for the measure. In a statement, Ms Brown argued that the school expects parents to set a standard for their children, by showing them what's appropriate and what is not. "Parents, we do value you as a partner in your child's education. You are your child's first teacher. However, please know that we have to have standards, most of all we must have high standards. We are preparing your child for a prosperous future." In a meeting on Monday, the principal also told parents that this was a successful policy at her old school. 'A dangerous message' The issue has received mixed feelings from parents in the community. Shawn Rushing, a parent from the same school district, defended the new rules, saying: "It's so much bigger than a dress code. Schools are in place to educate children, so we have to prioritise the things that come up that appear as a distraction." Others, like James Madison High School parent Tomiko Miller, say the new guidelines seem to reinforce discrimination based on class, gender, and race. "I think the language used is very explicit," she says. "It lumps everyone together and overwhelming targets women and moms, on campus." Ms Miller also suggested that the school give out graduation robes if school authorities perceived a parent as too revealing, because "turning parents away sends a dangerous message". The Houston Federation of Teachers has also weighed in. "While we may agree that public decorum should be maintained on public schools, the implementation of this policy was flawed," says Federation President Zeph Capo. "It is unfortunate that a student was denied enrolment based on a dress code. Educating students should be our priority." While the debate in Texas surfaced only recently, James Madison is not the only high school attempting to create a dress code for parents. Lawmakers in Memphis, Tennessee, are currently trying to create a bill that will enforce dress code guidelines for parents in districts across the state. If the bill is passed in July, it could go into effect next year. State congressman Antonio Parkinson has said that the policies would not be applied in a discriminatory fashion and that he is receiving positive feedback from constituents. But some residents have continued to push back, saying this law could prevent parent participation in schools as some parents will not see themselves fit for these new standards. Parents from different parts of the country have also begun to chime in, sharing their thoughts on social media. One mother in Indiana, who asked to be kept anonymous, told the BBC that the policies in Houston and Memphis were "a warning that community members need to be concerned about". "I'm opposed to these policies because it sends a message that parents must identify themselves in a certain way and if they don't they'll be ostracized, judged and criminalized." She continued: "The school in Houston just proved a point about a slippery slope. What's next?" Both of these recent efforts have added to a larger debate happening around the world. In the UK, a dress code controversy involving a mother at Skerne Park Academy, a primary school, has divided the Darlington community. Karen Routh says she ignored the school's request for parents and students not to wear pyjamas because she was running late. Image copyright Tom Sheldrick Image caption Karen Routh was criticised for wearing pyjamas when dropping her child off at school While the school's head teacher said this was setting a bad example, Ms Routh explained that her priority was getting her child to school on time and was late because she didn't feel well. At large, dress codes in public settings - like customers in restaurants or stores - are not a new concept. Enforcing a policy for parents, who do not attend schools however, is a more sensitive topic. As the discussion continues, some argue that this controversy has larger implications about struggles that different families face across the world, while others suggest it is a needed standard that benefits students' education. The complicated balance continues to leave communities divided on whether it is an appropriate action or schools are simply going too far. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-48127788 |
Will Conservative climate plan embrace electric cars? | Electric cars will take over roads in Canada and around the world. This is not simply the opinion of environmentalists, but a reality echoed by most analysts and automakers. Its why Volkswagen is betting everything on a fast-approaching electric future. Its why Ford just dropped a cool $500 million into electric truck startup Rivian with an eye toward electrifying its F-series (the bestselling trucks in Canada). And its why theres a combined US$300 billion being invested by 29 global automakers into electric vehicles. A car is charged at a charge station for electric vehicles on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday. ( Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS ) Here in Canada, sales of new electric vehicles nearly doubled last year. In Norway, there were more electric cars sold than gas ones last month. One of the more pessimistic outlooks for electric cars, courtesy of ExxonMobil, sees the number of electric cars growing from two million to around 160 million in just 20 years. But perhaps, more than any factoid, what signals that a transition has truly taken hold is how people react to it. On the one hand, 72 per cent of Canadians now believe electric vehicles are bound to become the new norm, according to a March poll by Abacus Data and Clean Energy Canada. And on the other hand, well, you know something is making waves when theres a resistance. Last week on Twitter, Conservative Deputy Leader Lisa Raitt suggested electric cars may not reduce carbon pollution (more on that below), signalling what may turn into another unfortunate political divide on climate policy, with the federal governments $5,000 electric car rebates going live this week and the NDP government in B.C. moving toward its total phaseout of fossil-fuelled vehicle sales by 2040. Article Continued Below Meanwhile, the Conservative Party of Canada announced Saturday that its long-awaited climate plan would be unveiled by June 21. The thing is, denying electric vehicles isnt just denying solutions like pricing carbon pollution its denying whats seemingly inevitable. Its denying the future and, potentially, our ability to plan for and thrive through it. Its denying the early years of Netflix. Of iPhones. Of computers. Like the once ubiquitous typewriter, the internal combustion engine car had a good run. It changed the world. And well be writing its obituary within two decades. (The Economist went so far as to write it two years ago). This isnt just about green virtue. Its about new technology that will soon be the better choice on economic grounds alone. Deloitte estimates the market will reach a tipping point in 2022, when the cost of ownership for an electric car (buying, fuelling, and maintaining) will be on par with a gasoline counterpart. Economies of scale (hello China), for one, and competition between automakers. But the real magic is falling battery prices, down 85 per cent since 2010 and projected to fall even further. Which brings us back to Raitts tweets, which effectively sought to discourage Canadians from buying electric cars while criticizing the Liberal government for its recently announced EV rebates. These are cars that will save Canadians immensely on their fuel bills while helping us combat climate change. The fact is, the EV-discrediting-study Raitt drew attention to has been broadly discredited as an apples-to-oranges analysis, which consistently assumed worst-case scenarios for EVs and best-case scenarios for diesel vehicles. Furthermore, the studys findings are predicated on an electricity supply three times more reliant on coal than Canadas grid, which is more than 80 per cent non-polluting. An apples-to-oranges analysis used in an apples-to-oranges fashion is a whole fruit bowl gone bad. No matter where you drive an electric vehicle in Canada, its cleaner and cheaper to operate than a gasoline car. Article Continued Below Hopefully, the Conservative Party will deliver its promised very detailed and comprehensive plan to meet the pollution reduction targets the Harper government established, the Trudeau government adopted, and Andrew Scheers Conservatives previously supported. Denying electric cars would put Canada farther behind the starting line in a worse position to catch up. Merran Smith is the executive director and Dan Woynillowicz is the policy director of Clean Energy Canada, a think tank at Simon Fraser University. Read more about: | https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/05/02/will-conservative-climate-plan-embrace-electric-cars.html |
How many people have actually read ALL of the Mueller Report? | According to The New York Times, the report, which was published by The Washington Post and Scribner, will debut at No. 1 on the paperback nonfiction bestseller list on Sunday. Which is pretty remarkable! After all, the report is a 448-page long readout of a two-year investigation into Russia's efforts to interfere in the 2016 election. It is not, um, exactly easy reading. (Special counsel Robert Mueller and his team are able writers, but Stephen King they are not.) And yet, here we are. People bought it -- in droves. ( The Mueller Report sits at No. 1 on the Amazon bestsellers list too -- at least as of Thursday afternoon.) Let's start answering that question by looking at the senators on the Judiciary Committee, who questioned Attorney General William Barr about the report and his handling of it on Wednesday. Lots of them gave hints about just how much of the report they'd actually read. Here's a quick summary: South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R): "I can't say I've read it all, but I've read most of it." Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin (D): "I'm just going to stand by what he has written and I ask others to read it as well." Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono (D): "But when we read the report, we knew Robert Mueller's concerns were valid and that your version of events was false." New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker (D): "Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Barr, as I take a step back at this, I just really think we're at a very sobering moment in American history that there is a considerable amount going on when you actually take time and read this whole report that shows that we're sort of at a crossroad and I fear that we're descending into a new normal that is dangerous for our democracy on a number of levels." North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis (R): "And it was summarized in about a little over a 400-page document. Volume 2 was just under 200 pages as I recall. I've read volume 2 word for word and I've read most of volume 1." According to brand new CNN polling , the public is even less well-read when it comes to the full report. Just 3% of those polled said they had read "all" of the report while 10% said they had read "some" and 8% maintained they had read "a little" of it. Three-quarters of respondents -- aka the honest ones -- said they had read none of the Mueller report. Here's why I'm skeptical that even 3% of the population read "all" of the report. It's been exactly 14 days since Barr released the redacted Mueller report on April 18. To have read all of it, one who need to read 32 pages a day every day between April 18 and today. Which, I am certain, some people did. Heck, some of the truly committed may have stayed up all night that first night it was released to read it. But, 3% of the country means that 9.9 million(ish) of the 330 million US residents read the Mueller report in its entirety over the last two weeks. Which seems waaaaaaaaaay overly optimistic to me. Especially when you consider that 42,000 total copies of The Mueller Report sold last week, according to NPD Bookscan . I know lots of people read it online where it was free. | https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/02/politics/mueller-report-bestseller/index.html |
Have flip-flops finally gone high-fashion? | If you asked me to rank flip-flops on a style meter, Id score them somewhere above hospital gowns and somewhere below cargo shorts. They make me think of Laguna Beach reruns and the overpowering musk wafting out of an Abercrombie store circa 2005. Even the name reinforces their juvenile unsophistication. (Dont get me started on their alternative moniker: thongs. The horror!) So when I watched models at Tibis Spring 2019 show glide down the runway in plain, flat flip-flops, I remained resolute in my rejection of the latest ugly-chic shoe trend. And I wasnt the only one . Tibi is known for the kind of considered yet unfussy clothes I love. If anyone can make a case for the flip-flop trend, its the brands creative director Amy Smilovic, who paired the barely-there shoes with relaxed checkered suiting. These flops mean business. A pair of Tibis minimal leather versions can be yours for about $260 and come in grown-up shades like inky navy and tobacco brown. Of course, Zara jumped on the flip-flop trend, too, and we all know that means its about to hit peak saturation. Gone are the squishy foam soles and palm tree motifs, replaced by raw-edge leather straps and tonal stitching. And theres no mention of the F-word anywhere on the site. No, theyre called sandals now. Simpler, sleeker and quietly luxurious, theyre as effortless as an Italian heiress lounging on a chaise in Forte di Marmi. Flip-flops 2.0 signal that their wearer doesnt take herself too seriously. So, yes, like Birkenstocks and clogs before them, flip-flops are the latest shoe to win fashions stamp of approval. After all, our Instagram-dictated attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. Novelty is fleeting. As a result, fashion has to constantly revisit trends and turn them on their head in order keep us interested. They may be divisive, but it looks like high-fashion flip-flops will be inescapable this summer. Turns out Im here for it. Be free, wild toes. | https://www.thestar.com/life/fashion_style/2019/05/02/have-flip-flops-finally-gone-high-fashion.html |
What Happened To New Yorks Plans For Single-Payer Healthcare? | New Yorks Democratic voters sent a new class of true-blue legislators to Albany in 2018. With the governors office and both houses of the state legislature firmly under Democratic controland a raft of progressive bills rapidly signed into lawmany hoped this would be the year New York finally enacted single-payer health care. Health care was, after all, a top concern of voters in 2018, and support for single-payer legislation is strong and growing. One 2018 article suggested that even those running in mixed districts got the message: Democrats in Swing Districts Run on, Not From, Single-Payer Health Care. Yet recent reports indicate that the New York State Senate has no plans to vote on legislation this session, preferring to hold more hearings on a bill that has been proposed in the legislature since 1992. Assembly member Richard Gottfried, whom I interviewed in February, has sponsored the pro-single-payer New York Health Act (NYHA) for nearly 30 years, and the Assembly passed his bill in the past four legislative sessions. But a number of new or re-elected state senators, faced with the fresh possibility that single-payer might actually become a reality, have walked back their formerly full-throated support. This matters nationally. If a state like New York were to pass single-payer, the nation would arguably follow suit. That is roughly what happened with the Childrens Health Insurance Program, which began at the state level about a decade before it was enshrined in federal law. Much has been made of the Trump administrations likely refusal to grant a waiver to redirect certain funds to the New York Health Act. But Gottfried said that while federal cooperation would certainly ease the way, we can do it legally without federal waivers. Andrew Gounardes, the young Democratic lawyer who ousted longtime Republican incumbent and police impersonator Marty Golden in November, ran on his support for the NYHA. Questioned at a recent town hall by a woman who wants the bill to passPlease, she said, from the viewpoint of what it would do for New YorkersGounardes replied, The virtues of going into this program are really well established. Im not doubting that at all, and I think [the recent addition of universal long-term care to the bill] is really a game changer. Im not trying to spike my support for the New York Health Act, he continued. I just want to make sure were doing it thoughtfully. If we dont get this right, the cause is done. Pressed to clarify their positions, Cuomo and a number of Democratic legislators played variations on this tune: Single-payer is ideal, but here and nowat the state level and without the elusive waiveris not the time or place. A group of Long Island state senators who supported the bill while campaigning also came down with Gounardes post-election reservations. According to Ron Widelec of LI Activists, an Our Revolution affiliate and Long Island chapter of the New York Progressive Action Network, state Senators Anna Kaplan, John Brooks, and James Gaughran sought the groups endorsement in 2018. (Brooks and Gaughran received it; Kaplan did not.) All three filled out an endorsement form strongly affirming their commitment to single-payer. Then something changed. As of April, Brooks, Gaughran, Gounardes, and Kaplan have not signed on as co-sponsors of the 201920 version of the NYHA. Repeated requests for comment yielded a phone conversation with Brooks, an email from Gounardes communications director requesting and ignoring a deadline, and radio silence from the offices of Gaughran and Kaplan. Despite the recent influx of new blood, old deals seem to be taking place in Albany. After his election, Gounardes became chair of the Senates Civil Service and Pensions Committee, a role that requires sensitivity to the concerns of public-sector unions, many of which oppose the bill. In 2018, Cuomowho has said that the NYHA would double everybodys taxesendorsed Brooks, Gaughran, Gounardes, and Kaplan. Cuomos campaign donated the maximum amount to Brooks, Gaughran, and Kaplan in their primaries. Cuomo has gained from strengthening alliances with legislators who support cost-free Democratic priorities but oppose or are willing to backtrack on those that require money. He and his allies prefer to avoid inconveniencing wealthy donors or worrying suburban voters. Cuomo fears the rich will flee New York if they have to pay higher taxes. It benefits him to be able to say the legislature doesnt want to pass legislation perceived as expensive, either. A coalition of business councils, chambers of commerce, unions, and insurance industry groups called Realities of Single Payer also worked hard to undermine single-payer, declaring that it would be a financial disaster for New York taxpayers. An opposition memo issued by the New York State Association of Health Underwriters, a Realities of Single Payer member, blames rising health-care costs on poor lifestyle choices, not shortcomings in the healthcare system and claims that the U.S. Healthcare system is among the best in the world. Never mind that recent data shows the U.S. lags behind similarly wealthy OECD countriesor that, according to a 2015 economic analysis by the chair of the economics department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, over 98% of New York households would spend less on health care under the Act than they do now. Knowing some unions oppose the bill breaks my heart, Dr. Martha Livingston told me in a phone conversation. She is the chair of SUNY Old Westburys public health department, the vice chair of the NY Metro chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program, and a national board member of the Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare. I speak as a union activist in my own union, she said, and my position and other unions position is, if we can get health care off the bargaining table, we can advocate for so much more in our members pockets. Katie Robbins directs the Campaign for New York Health and works for the New York State Nurses Association, the states largest union for registered nurses. The NYSNA and 1199SEIU are the NYHAs two most powerful union backers. Robbins said in a phone conversation that she and her allies are disappointed that public-sector unions oppose the bill. She takes their concerns seriously and has called for a labor roundtable to work through these issues. It is, she said, both possible and necessary to make the bill work for unions. State Senator Gustavo Rivera, the chair of the Health Committee and the bills sponsor in his chamber, acknowledged in a phone conversation that attacks from the right and resistance from the left have created a very narrow path to passing the NYHA. Before this year, he said, the bill was always going to pass in the Assembly but not the Senate. So many people, including those who in good faith have issues with the bill and those who dont want to see their business model destroyed, were not actively engaged, he said. The fact that they are now has created some new challenges. Divisions over the NYHA exist both within and among unions. Many rank-and-file members have no opinion on or support single-payer at the state level, while many leaders oppose it. The Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE) is an opposition caucus in the United Federation of Teachers. MORE member Peter Lamphere was blunt about why he thought UFT president Michael Mulgrew supported the Municipal Labor Committees decision to send a letter opposing the NYHA to Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. Mulgrew has caved to Cuomo and some of the more conservative elements in the union movement on NYHA, Lamphere wrote in an email. MORE has a position in favor of [statewide] single payer and we campaigned on this in the UFT elections. Lamphere said the UFT hasnt had organizationwide discussions of the NYHA. Mulgrew acknowledged in a phone call that individual member concerns about single-payer have not come up much at meetings. Instead, he has raised the alarm himself, saying at a December executive board meeting, We are in support of single payer for the United States. If we enact this in NY State, it will blow a hole in the budget the public schools will not recover from, and making a similar remark at a UFT meeting in April. Asked whether UFT members voted to oppose the bill, Mulgrew said the Municipal Labor Committee decided to send an opposition letter, and he was elected to serve on the committee. Youre an elected rep from your union, he said. If you had to, every time you were asked to vote or to give your opinion, stop and go back to your union, youd never get any of that work done. Amid ever-rising health care costs and threats from the Trump administration to repeal the Affordable Care Act, supporters argue that passing the NYHA is critical to ensuring that all New Yorkers have quality, affordable health careand a future in which everyone living in the United States does, too. Unfortunately, New Yorks governor is not eager to lead the way. Lets go. Every union is against it. The Civil Service Employees Association is against it. The 1199 health-care union is against it. In fact, 1199SEIU and the NYSNA are for itbut they represent predominantly female workforces, perhaps explaining their invisibility to the governor. The governor likes to imply that on the NYHA, he is taking his cues from labor. It seems likelier that unions wishing to stay in Cuomos good graces are taking their cues from him. Mulgrew said in a phone call that the governors position did not influence his own: Absolutely not. I never even spoke to him about it. But the objections he raised were strikingly similar to those Cuomo has raised, from budget woes to fear of taxes to Trumps direct attack on blue states via capping state and local tax deductions. (Cuomo called the cap economic civil war.) Rivera said that Cuomo does the things he feels are politically necessary to do and that the bills supporters need to make him back it. In the meantime, variations of the same argument have been made for and against the NYHA. Supporters say the bill is necessary to protect New Yorkers, regardless of whether the Democrats are able to implement Medicare for All at the federal level. Others say that the NYHA would only increase instability and that the best way to protect New Yorkers is to demand federal Medicare for All. State Senator John Brooks, a former insurance industry executive and current legislator who campaigned on the NYHA but has not co-sponsored the current version of the bill, said on the phone, Depending on what happens at the national level, if the ACA is rescinded and theres no alternative, what if lots of people with health issues move into New York? He still supports the concept of single-payer, he said, but given what were seeing out of Washington with the presidents threat to replace the ACA with an unknown replacement, its important to know how this plan is going to work out. This echoes long-standing national debates on the left over whether to abolish private insurance or complement it with a single-payer system that covers everyone. Public figures from Harry Truman to Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama have acknowledged the merits of a single-payer system, whether or not they were willing to champion one. Few New York Democrats openly oppose it. But the New York Health Act wont pass until they are all willing to fight. The sad truth is that people living in the United States regularly die from lack of health care and frequently go bankrupt trying not to die. One problem with the current system is that even people with decent jobs and functional health insurance find themselves in these circumstances. In early March, Candice Hildebrant, a former LI Activists steering committee member, published an essay, How the Broken U.S. Healthcare System Is Breaking My Family. Despite the good health insurance she had through her husbands job, multiple chronic illnesses left her family drowning in medical debt, she wrote. Bills like the NYHA, she continued, will save peoples lives and help them get the medical care they need without having to choose between providing for their family or going to the doctor. Hildebrant died on March 24 at the age of 35. Single-payer is clearly the morally correct choice to make, and we need to be on the right side of history, Dan Lupkin, a MORE member, told me on the phone. There is a case to be made, and the union should be making the case for the greater good. Its a case people like Gottfried have been making for decades. But insurance-industry money, tax phobia, political cowardice, and anxiety over scrapping a broken but familiar system remain. At an April forum on the NYHA at Brooklyn College, attendees carrying orange folders told one of the event organizers they were from the UFT. The folders, which one of the organizers shared, contained 16 pages of background on the bill, drawn from the Realities of Single Payer website, Politico, Vox, and other sources. A section labeled Questions/comments to make included, I read somewhere that New York state would have to raise an additional $139 BILLION in new taxes to start to do this plan. How is that a realistic [sic]? and language about how the idea of new taxes makes my blood run cold. During the Q&A, audience members asked pointed questions about the bill, mainly about taxes. What you ought to care about is how much money leaves your wallet, Gottfried told one skeptical man. Under the act, less money will leave your wallet. The fact that the money, after it leaves your wallet, is called a tax as opposed to a premium and a deductible and a copayall that means is that the money will be going to an entity that is accountable to you as a voter, as opposed to going to an entity that is accountable to insurance company stockholders. A woman said the bill sounded really expensive and she didnt trust New York State, which cant even fix the subways (a phrase suggested in the folder) to run it. She is happy with what she has, she added, and is already taxed to the max. A diabetic, she gets free medical supplies under her current plan and doesnt want to be forced into another system. If its not broke, she said, dont fix it. At least for me. This year, Cuomo called for a commission to study health care. The Senate is delaying a vote on the NYHA until public hearings are held. But as Truman pointed out while proposing a national health insurance program in 1945, None of this is really new. Single-payer legislation has been studied, debated, proposed, and refined for three-quarters of a century. The only question left is how to make lawmakers do it. | https://www.thenation.com/article/single-payer-new-york-health-act/ |
Has Donald Trump Committed High Crimes and Misdemeanors? | With the release of the redacted report from special counsel Robert Mueller, the House Judiciary Committee is wrestling with questions about how to address evidence that a sitting president has engaged in abuses of power. Some of the issues are similar to those that led the committee to approve articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon in 1974. Others are unique to Donald Trump. To get a sense of how the committee might address Trumps wrongdoing, and what upcoming hearings may reveal, I spoke with committee member Jamie Raskin. Before his 2016 election as a Democratic representative from Maryland, Raskin was a professor at American Universitys Washington College of Law and one of the nations most distinguished commentators on constitutional questions. Here is some of what he said about how the committee and the American people should approach one of the most awesome of those questions. John Nichols: How should we be thinking about impeachment?1 Jamie Raskin: Its the peoples and the Congresss final instrument of self-defense against a president who is trampling the rule of law and assuming the powers of a king. It has both legal and political dimensions. The legal aspect requires us to ask whether there have been high crimes and misdemeanors such as treason or bribery, which I take to mean grave offenses from on high of a public character against the democracy itself. The political part requires us to ask whether the public interest demands impeachment and conviction as a remedy to stop a pattern of misconduct that is contemptuous of the rule of law and our Constitution. If it were a purely legal judgment, it would have been assigned to the courts in Article III, but the Founders rejected that idea and located it in Article I, with Congress. From the beginning of the administration Ive said impeachment should not be a fetish for anybody, but it should be a taboo for nobody. At this point in events, we have to be taking it very seriously. The Nation What people sometimes miss is that impeachment takes the question of holding presidents to account out of the paradigm of crime and punishment. The president is not punished by virtue of impeachment as he would be with a prosecution. He doesnt go to jail. He may face prosecution separately, but this is about defending our Constitution by removing a president who has become an intolerable threat to the people and our form of government. There can be real risks attendant to impeachment, as when it acts like a partisan hit over low crimes and misdemeanors, which is what happened with Bill Clinton. But there are real risks attendant to not impeaching when a president is systematically thwarting the rule of law and destroying constitutional norms. If you read David Stewarts book about Andrew Johnson, I think you will come away with the sense that Johnson was an egregious threat to the Constitution, to the rule of law, and to Reconstruction, and he absolutely should have been impeached, convicted, and removed. Johnsons escape from this fate by a single vote in the Senate was a tragedy for America and especially African Americans. JN: When did you start thinking about impeachment in terms of Donald Trump?2 JR: After my election in November 2016, when it became clear that Trump was going to be president, I had a sense that my service would call upon all of my constitutional training. Theres nothing normal about the times we live in. JN: Did you think it would get to the point that its gotten to now?3 JR: Donald Trump has a history of acting in greedy, irrational, bullying, and provocative ways, so I assumed that he would bring us to this point eventually. I felt at the beginning, and I feel now, that we need every tool in the constitutional toolkit on the table, and that includes the 25th Amendment of the Constitution, which we keep hearing about from people who leave the Trump administration. The 25th Amendment, which was adopted in 1967, provides that the vice president and a majority of the cabinet can take action if the president is determined to be unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. But it also says that the vice president and a majority of a separate body appointed by Congress can act under these circumstances too. Its just that Congress has never set up the body. JN: Youd like to see that happen. 4 JR: It should have been done long ago. Its necessary for every presidential administration, not just this one. There are lots of reasons that the president might be incapacitated, as the authors of the 25th Amendment, [Indiana Senator] Birch Bayh and [New York Senator] Robert Kennedy, observed. There are physical reasons, mental and cognitive reasons. These are serious things in the nuclear age, as the framers of the 25th understood. 5 So the 25th Amendment is not irrelevant to discussions about presidential accountability. The amendment itself is organized around separation-of-powers principles. You can go back and find dialogue among the senators [who authored] the 25th Amendment discussing the importance of having Congress engaged with the process as well as the Cabinet. Congress is central to it. We have 535 Members of Congress, but just one president. JN: In the toolkit you discuss, impeachment looms large. Some members of Congress have called for impeachment. Youve discussed the issue but not made a formal call. Why not?6 Related Article The Politics of Impeachment May Be Debatable, but Congresss Duty Is Clear Joshua Holland JR: Ive been vehement about calling for Democratic control of Congress. I threw everything I had into the 2018 fight to retake the House. And I feel the same way about the 2020 election. We are in a civilizational emergency with respect to climate change, which Republicans ignore and deny. But we have a major political party that is operating with the ethos of a religious cult in capitulating to whatever their leader tells them to do. And that leader lurches from crisis to crisis, from the shutdown of our government to the unlawful declaration of a national emergency, to the vilification of immigrants, to the systematic obstruction of the law-enforcement function of government, as was described in the Mueller report, to an effort to stop all executive-branch compliance with lawful congressional orders and demands for information. With that said, as a member of the Judiciary Committee, I believe it is going to be very important for us to proceed deliberately, soberly, and with careful attention to all of the evidence, as well as all the information and views being brought to us by our colleagues. JN: How should the committee make the call on whether the inquiry that extends from the Mueller report, and related issues, will become an impeachment process?7 JR: To me, the question is whether we have sufficiently abundant evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors, meaning public offenses against the character of our government, which are part of a continuing pattern of attacks on our constitutional system. Ive got to say that the mood here has changed over the last several days [in late April], ever since the president told the executive branch of the government to stop cooperating with congressional investigations. They are trying to disable our capacity to investigate corruption of the security-clearance process, to question the former White House counsel Don McGahn, to obtain the presidents tax returns, and to call witnesses and get documents. The obstructionism we read about in the report has come leaping off the pages and is making it impossible to do our work. Trump is trying to pull a curtain down over the entire executive branch and cut us off at the knees. Well, every member of Congress, regardless of political party, depends upon the oversight power and specifically the power to investigate the executive branch of government. Trumps refusal to respond to our lawful demands is a direct assault on the separation of powers and an affront to our ability to get our work done. JN: Doesnt what the president is doing meet the standard of impeachment or a potentially impeachable offense?8 JR: There is no doubt. Obstruction of justice is plainly an impeachable offense. It was the heart of the Nixon articles. Check out Article 3: It alleged presidential obstruction of justice and congressional process, and then assembled an inventory of different things Nixon did to block and confound the investigation, including lying, intimidating subordinates, destroying evidence, and so on.9 The Republicans impeached Bill Clinton for obstruction of justice when he told one lie about a private act of sex. I dont hold that up as a standard for us. We would never sink so low as to impeach a president in those circumstances. If we wanted to impeach a president on the Republican standard that was used in the Clinton case, we would have impeached Donald Trump long ago because his hush-money payoffs to his mistresses constituted campaign-finance violations and are a far greater offense to the rule of law than Bill Clintons lie about a personal relationship with Monica Lewinsky. But we believe that impeachable conduct must be of a character that truly undermines essential public values, rather than just reflecting private infidelity and deception. JN: How will you determine whether things have gotten to a point where impeachment is necessary?10 JR: Before Im ready to impeach, I want to be certain that there is convincing evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors and that the public costs now and in the future of allowing the president to continue a pattern of lawlessness are greater than the costs of removing him and going through the process. JN: Whats your sense of the general feeling in Congress, and on the Judiciary Committee, at this point?11 JR: The Constitution clearly gives power to impeach, and it also gives us power not to impeach. Both of these are awesome powers that we have to handle with the utmost attention to detail and the public good. It is a process and was designed as a process, not a referendum. This is why you are not hearing many members of the Judiciary Committee simply opining yes or no and giving a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Members of the Judiciary Committee are feeling the weight of the multiple responsibilities weve been assigned, and if it does come to an impeachment and we recommend articles of impeachment and it goes to the floor of the House, then every member of the House will feel the exact same weight.12 Every day I am more impressed by my Democratic colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee and Chairman Nadler. Its just a wonderfully public-spirited and lively group of people, and when we meet, usually it is very light-hearted. But since America has started talking about impeachment, our hearings are a lot more solemn and people have a serious countenance. Its a big weight. JN: Am I right that youve got a copy of the Federalist Papers on your nightstand?13 JR: Ive got my beat-up copy of the Federalist Papers from college still, so its already underlined and marked up. But Ive also read all the books that have come out. My constitutional law professor, Larry Tribe, wrote one with a more recent student of his named Josh Matz. This is, I think, a very strong primer. But there are a number of good books out there. Liz Holtzman has one thats marketed much more explicitly as an answer to Trump. Ive got a big stack. My old friend John Bonifaz has co-authored a good book, and Allan Lichtman has one too. I wish all the answers were in the books, but the decisions have to be made out here. JN: Is this a good time for the American people to be reading up on the issue, as well?14 JR: You know, one of the pernicious dynamics of the Trump era is the assault on critical thinking skills in the public. And constitutional literacy has been under powerful attack by a president who recently made the inadvertently comical suggestion that he wasnt worried about impeachment because he would just appeal it to the Supreme Court. So I think its a great opportunity for Congress to help educate the public about the nature of the Constitution and for people across the land to reengage with it. Whenever theres a new outrage by Trump, one of my colleagues will get up on the floor and refer to Congress as a coequal branch of government, and I always think that theres something forlorn and vaguely pathetic about that. We are not a coequal branch. We are the first among equals. We are in Article 1 of the Constitution. We are the representatives of the people. When you look at the powers of Congress, they are comprehensive and abundant. The presidents core job is to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, not thwarted and circumvented, much less violated.15 The struggle to defend our oversight power is also a struggle to get America to see that we are a representative, constitutional democracy. We are not a presidential monarchy. When you look at that outrageous 19-page job application, single-spaced, that Bill Barr submitted before his appointment, its all about his belief that the president of the United States cannot be found guilty of obstructing justice. This is way beyond the procedural point that the Department of Justice makes that the president cannot be indicted while in office. This is an egregious constitutional error, which cuts against our fundamental belief that no one is above the law in our democracy and no one may be a judge in his own case. But the argument obviously has an eager supporter in Donald Trump, who has from the beginning promised to unleash prosecutors against Hillary Clinton and continually demands an investigation into his critics. He has incessantly interfered in the Mueller investigation. JN: Does this period we are in have the potential, no matter what formal action Congress takes, to renew respect for the system of checks and balances?16 JR: Well, I think thats right. Weve been plunged into a series of presidential wars and presidential crises for decades now, and this should be a moment when we restore the proper constitutional balance, with the Congress understood as the peoples branch of government. It needs to be made far more democratic, which is why were fighting for sweeping campaign finance reform and abolition of gerrymandering in the states. But as imperfect as it is, it is the peoples branch, and we need to vindicate our power.17 | https://www.thenation.com/article/impeachment-trump-congress-mueller-barr/ |
Did the CIA Orchestrate an Attack on the North Korean Embassy in Spain? | On Monday night, the Department of Justice issued a wanted poster for the leader of Free Joseon, a shadowy group of Korean exiles suspected of leading a violent assault on the North Korean embassy in Madrid on February 22. A suspect, Adrian Hong Chang, is considered to be armed and dangerous, says the poster, which includes a color photo of the fugitive and instructs arresting police officers or anyone who knows his whereabouts to contact the US Marshals Service.1 The public notification from the DOJ underscores the seriousness of the US governments efforts to track down two Koreans sought for possible extradition to Spain under a criminal warrant issued in March by Judge Jos de la Mata of Spains high court. The very unusual move has stirred a backlash from US foreign-policy hard-liners on North Korea who say the Trump administrations manhunt for the suspects amounts to support for that countrys 34-year-old dictator.2 That response is being led by Lee Wolosky, a New York lawyer and partner at Boies Schiller Flexner with extensive national-security experience. He entered the picture on March 26, the same day de la Mata identified Hong (his original surname) as the attorney and spokesperson for Free Joseon, and has added a layer of mysteryand obfuscationto an already strange story.3 In his public statements, Wolosky has defended Free Joseons actions in Madrid, denied the judges accusations, and chastised the US government for publicly disclosing the names of the suspects. Wolosky did not respond to requests from The Nation for an interview. On Tuesday, a Boies Schiller Flexner spokesperson called to ask what this story is all about but did not respond to questions about who was paying for Woloskys representation and how he got involved in the case.4 Related Article Democratic Hawks Helped Scuttle the Hanoi Summit on Korea Tim Shorrock Hong is a Korean citizen of Mexico long known in Washington for his strident opposition to the government of Kim Jong-un. Hong and Christopher Ahn, a former US Marine who once served in Iraq, stand accused of breaking into and entering the North Korean embassy in Madrid, taking North Korean diplomats hostage, and stealing computers, hard drives, cellphones, and encryption devices that they later handed over to the FBI. Ahn was arrested in Los Angeles by US marshals on April 18.5 In the first court action in the case, on April 23, Ahn appeared in federal court in Los Angeles. He remains in jail and was denied bond under an extradition warrant from Spain, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Justice Department, with another hearing scheduled for July. In a series of events that has yet to be explained, Hong met with the FBI in New York and Los Angeles in late March to discuss the embassy attack, according to the DOJ court filings. Yet he somehow managed to evade the governments raid in April on his apartment in LA and is now in hiding, his attorney claims. 6 Hong, who is a permanent US resident, came to fame in 2004 after founding Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), a California-based organization that claims to operate an underground railroad that helps North Korean defectors and refugees settle in South Korea and the United States and uses the media and the Internet to promote their stories. He left LiNK in 2008 but remained active in his staunch opposition to the Kim government in Pyongyang. In 2015, Hong reemerged in public to organize the Joseon Institutea precursor to his new organizationand announced that he would be preparing for increasingly imminent, dramatic change in North Korea.7 A recent posting on the Free Joseon website hints at that change. In it, an embedded YouTube video titled In Our Homeland claims to show someone in North Korea shattering framed pictures of Kim Jong-un and his father. Down with Kim family rule! the video reads. For our people we rise up! Long live Free Joseon! No North Koreans, however, were involved in the Madrid attack, according to Spanish police. Nevertheless, the perpetrators showed a remarkable sense of timing.8 The incident occurred a few days before the failed summit between President Donald Trump and Kim in Hanoi, where one of Kims top negotiators was Kim Hyok Chol, a former ambassador to Spain. The DOJs quick response to the warrant and its respectful treatment of North Korea in its Memorandum of Points and Authorities filed on April 19 is clearly linked to the Trump administrations desire to keep the denuclearization talks with Kim going after months of stalemate. But it also could be a way for the US government to distance itself from the raid.9 Spanish intelligence initially blamed two individuals connected to the CIA for the attack, according to the Madrid daily El Pas. The State Department responded that the US government had nothing to do with it. And within days of that report, The Washington Post jumped in with a story tamping down the CIA talk. Quoting people familiar with the planning and execution of the mission, the Post countered that the raid was actually the work of Cheollima Civil Defense, a mysterious dissident organization that first came to public attention in 2017. On March 26, Cheollima confirmed the story on its website.10 Under its new name of Free Joseon (Joseon is the ancient name for Korea adopted in 1919 by opponents of Japanese colonial rule), Cheollima justified the raid as a stand against an illegal regime: The charade of pretending that the [Kim] regime is a normal government must stopthe regime is simply a giant criminal enterprise. Cheollima claimed it had been invited into the embassy and insisted that no one was gagged or beaten. At the same time, it complained that the names of Hong and others were leaked by the US government in a profound betrayal of trust. That left the impression that one of two things had happened: The attack was never approved by Cheollimas US-government allies, or it was sanctioned but went drastically wrong. 11 Strangely, before the DOJ notification, few in Washingtons community of North Korea antagonists seemed to be aware of Free Joseon or its recent activities. Honestly, I dont know anything about them, said Greg Scarlatoiu, the executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), who last saw Hong in 2015 and considered him a dedicated human-rights activist. Scarlatoiu, whose organization was founded in 2001 to expose the cruelties of the Norths police state and prison system, was excited by the emergence of another opposition group. This is the first time we see organized, apparently militant resistance outside of North Korea, he told The Nation. But he was quick to add that, as of now, there is no clear, irrefutable evidence of resistance inside North Korea.12 Jenny Town, a senior analyst and editor with the 38 North website and research group who last saw Hong around 2006, said Free Joseons claims that its actions were peaceful dont seem credible in light of video and other evidence gathered by Spanish police. I would trust the video rather than the political statements, she said in an interview. Moreover, Hongs politics were never secret. Hes always been proregime change and trying to rescue North Korean defectors. Several Korean Americans who knew Hong said his obsession with fomenting a revolt led by defectors has been well known in DC and the large Korean communities in Los Angeles and New York for years. He was very, very demagogic, said Christine Hong (no relation), a professor and historian at UCSanta Cruz who met Hong in the early 2000s at a conference on North Korea. 13 A Rashomon Story The conflicting tales and explanations about Hong and his group have a Rashomon, dueling-perspective feel to them that makes it difficult to come to definitive conclusions about the Madrid attack. I think everybodys telling the truth, at least in part, John Kiriakou told The Nation. A CIA counterintelligence officer from 1990 to 2004, he was a whistle-blower prosecuted for divulging details to the media about the CIAs torture program and, after a plea agreement, jailed in 2013 on the absurd charge of confirming the name of a known CIA officer.14 Kiriakous first take, he said, was that the CIA would never, ever sanction an operation like what we saw in Madrid. It was so amateurish and so criminal in its nature that no one at headquarters would ever approve. If the agency launched an embassy break-in, it would be done in the middle of the night, with one insider and several specialists sent from Washingtonnot a bunch of exiles. Absolutely. Thats what they do. The CIA has contact with opposition people, real and fake, all over the world.15 The confusion about Free Joseons US-government ties is apparently what Wolosky is trying to clear up. In his press statements, he has tried to portray his clients as heroic dissidents who are working in opposition to a brutal regime that routinely and summarily executes its enemies. He turned up the heat when the DOJ arrested Ahn. We are dismayed that the US Department of Justice has decided to execute warrants against US persons that derive from criminal complaints filed by the North Korean regime, Wolosky declared on April 19 in a statement posted on the Free Joseon website.16 A few days later, he went on CNN and made the audacious claim to reporter Brian Todd that Hong is in hiding because North Korean hit squads have been dispatched to kill him. (Wolosky chose his media outlet carefully: Todd is responsible for some of CNNs most sensationalized reporting on North Korea over the past two years.) After the arrest, Wolosky sought to link the dissidents to Otto Warmbier, the Virginia student who was imprisoned in North Korea for a year and a half before being returned to the United States in a coma and dying in 2017. 17 The last US citizen who fell into the custody of the Kim regime returned home maimed from torture and did not survive, Wolosky said. We have received no assurances from the US government about the safety and security of the US nationals it is now targeting. On April 22, he tweeted, Never thought Id see the day when DOJ is executing warrants against U.S. nationals being targeted by North Korea, based on criminal complaints from the Kim regime. Last Friday, he charged that the DOJ and Spain based their accounts on the highly unreliable accounts of North Korean government witnesses.18 Those claims are preposterous and are based on fallacies about the investigation, said a European analyst who is in contact with Spanish officials involved in the investigation. North Korea, which called the embassy intrusion a grave terrorist attack and an act of extortion in its state-run media, did not file charges against the attackers or request their extradition. In fact, they havent cooperated at all, the analyst said. The Spanish just wouldnt issue direct warrants without proof, he said. The people in the embassy were beaten pretty badly and were hospitalized. The Nation has gathered enough strands of information to provide some preliminary answers.20 First, there is strong evidence that Hong has connections to US intelligence agencies. According to the European analyst with ties to Spanish law enforcement, Spanish police and intelligence officials have solid proof that Hong met with known CIA officials in Spainincluding photographs and communication records. In April, the right-wing Chosun Ilbo, South Koreas largest newspaper, which is known for its contacts with South Korean intelligence, reported that Hong signed a US-government contract about eight years ago and that his consulting work often involved the CIA.21 And in 2018, according to a prominent North Korean defector interviewed by The Washington Post, Hong was in Washington for a meeting at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. When I asked the ODNI if it could confirm or deny that report, a US official said the ODNI declines to comment. But she warned that reporters should really check and be careful of their sources on this story, adding, Ive said enough.22 Second, several North Korea analysts believe that the CIA was involved in past actions by Free Joseon. In 2017, Cheollima Civil Defense was involved in a covert action that whisked Kim Han-sol, a nephew of Kim Jong-un, from Macau to a safe house in an unknown country after his father, Kim Jong-nam, the North Korean leaders half-brother, was murdered in Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. At the time, Cheollima thanked the US government, as well as the governments of China, the Netherlands, and another nation it did not identify for their assistance and later posted a video of the younger Kim speaking about his family. (His poise and solid command of English can also be seen in a remarkable interview he did a few years earlier with a Finnish journalist at his school in Bosnia. )23 Last week, Wolosky told CNN that Ahn was involved in the extraction of Kim Han-sol and called him an American hero. Ahn would have been prepared for a covert mission: As a Marine in Iraq, he was the deputy chief of intelligence for a battalion that ran US detention facilities after the scandal at Abu Ghraib, according to a 2008 article in The Washington Times. After his time in Iraq, he worked in Washington as the director of operations for Vets for Freedom, a group that stood out for its adamant support for the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and advocated for victory in Iraq, according to a profile on NPR. (See him lament the loss of patriotism at the University of Virginia in this video from the 10th anniversary of 9/11. )24 Third, Woloskys background in national security could explain why he represents Free Joseon. During his years as director for transnational threats at the National Security Council under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, he was responsible for several important investigations, including that of the US blacklisting of a bank in Macau that was linked to North Korea. From 2015 to 2017, Wolosky was President Barack Obamas special envoy on closing the US detention facility in Guantnamo, Cuba, and has extensive connections to many top Democrats involved in counterterrorism.25 Most significantly, Wolosky is the attorney for United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a neocon organization that focuses much of its energy on Irans links with North Korea. It is chaired by former senator Joseph Lieberman and was co-founded by (and retains close ties to) John Bolton, Trumps hawkish national security adviser. Woloskys representation of UANI was confirmed on Tuesday by Edward Evans, a spokesperson for Boies Schiller Flexner. UANI is a long-standing client, but there are no active litigation matters, he said.26 That organization, according to journalist Eli Clifton, receives much of its funding from GOP megadonors Sheldon and Miriam Adelson. It claims Irans weapons and missile programs are illicitly backed by North Korea and wants the US government to increase sanctions against both countries. UANI would have good reason to support regime change in North Korea, which the group sees as part of a triumvirate of countries threatening US interests. I am hopeful that Trump will use his recent momentum from Venezuela to demonstrate strength and resolve to North Korea and Irans regimes, Mark Kirk, a former Illinois senator and a senior UANI adviser, wrote in a February 2019 op-ed timed for Trumps ill-fated summit with Kim Jong-un in Hanoi.27 Adrian Hong and the Axis of Evil Adrian Hong is from an evangelical family and discovered North Korea issues while a student at Yale. He founded LiNK shortly after George W. Bush famously declared in 2002 that North Korea was part of an axis of evil, along with Iraq and Iran. With the US government now clearly on the side of regime change, activist groups and evangelical Christians who opposed North Korea on anti-communist grounds were given a renewed lease on life. The axis of evil allowed all these cold warriors to renovate along human-rights lines, said UCSanta Cruzs Christine Hong, who has written extensively about the role of defectors in US foreign policy.28 By all accounts, Adrian Hong was driven by a messianic regime-change ideology that was on vivid display in his last public appearance, before the Canadian Parliament in 2016. In 2006, he was instrumental in a State Department operation that smuggled six defectors into the United States in the first US-sponsored effort to give asylum to North Koreans. His fame grew when he was briefly arrested and detained in China for helping refugees. He spoke often, as at this conference at the Hudson Institute in 2012 that was broadcast on C-SPAN.29 In the ensuing years, LiNK and other groups established a formidable network that included Scarlatoius HRNK, the Defense Forum Foundation, and the congressionally funded National Endowment for Democracy, which has poured millions of dollars into programs for North Korean defectors and sponsors visits of high-level defectors to Washington. In contrast to the American Friends Service Committee and other humanitarian organizations that work in North Korea, these more hard-line groups argue against engagement with Pyongyang, even by the South Korean government, and often talk openly about the need for regime change.30 Under Hong, LiNK adopted a peculiar America-first approach to North Korea that largely excluded the South as a player in reunification discussions. During his time there in 2006, Hong led several delegations of college kids, most of them Korean-American, to South Korea to voice frustration about how little South Koreans seem to care about human rights. Their activities, according to an account in the South China Morning Post, included ambushing local politicians, distributing fliers and staging public demonstrations. South Koreans basically told him to bug off, a response that stung Hong. The worst reaction has been student protesters saying go back to your country, mind your own business, this is our issue, we will take care of it, he complained to the newspaper.31 Hong also promoted an economic vision for a liberated North Korea that sounds much like Trumps predictions of US-led development for the North today. In serial calls for regime change in North Korea, [Hong] has glibly pitched the vast growth potential of a post-collapse North Korea brightened by capitalism and annexed to U.S. financial interests, Christine Hong wrote in a recent essay.32 In 2008, Hong quit LiNK and his high-profile job and left Washington. He went dark on most of his contacts, said Town of 38 North. A few years later, he founded a financial consulting firm, Pegasus Strategies, and began focusing more of his energies on overt support for regime change. One of his motivations was the example of Libya, where in 2011 the government of Moammar El-Gadhafi was overthrown by a US- and NATO-led intervention assisted by the CIA. I consider the Arab Spring a dress rehearsal for North Korea, Hong told The National, a daily published in the United Arab Emirates, shortly after Gadhafi was captured and murdered. North Korea has seen what happened to deposed rulers in Tunisia and Egypt and especially Gaddafi this year.33 Shortly after Gadhafis fall, Hong went to Libya to test his model. By this time, he was established as a TED fellow, with the credentials to organize autonomous gatherings for the Silicon Valley PR organization under the rubric TEDx. As a conference in Tripoli was getting underway in 2012, Africa Intelligence, a specialty newsletter, said the event allowed international investors and business people to mingle with Libyas new rulers, including Libyas Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur (who became an adviser to the Joseon Institute, the London Sunday Telegraph reported last week).34 The idea behind meetings like this, Hong later wrote in an op-ed for The Christian Science Monitor, was to help create a class of Korean technocrats [who] must be capable of stabilizing and rebuilding on a national scale. It was around this time that he signed his contract that involved the CIA, according to Chosun Ilbo. A few years later, Hong began to work with Ahn, and Cheollima Civil Defense took shape. Little is known of Ahn since his days with Vets for Freedom, but Hong was likely attracted to his commitment to the exercise of US power. Who is the leader of the world pushing for goodness and harmony and democracy and trying to facilitate that?Ahn asked in his 2008 interview with The Washington Times. Its the Americans, and not the government, but the people through their sacrifices.35 Hong had a similar vision. In his trips to Asia, he frequently sought to persuade high-level North Korean defectors to join his causeincluding Kims half-brother while he was exiled in Macau. He asked Kim Jong Nam multiple times to serve as the insurgent leader, only to be met with rejection, a former South Korean intelligence official told The Washington Post. Just before the attack in Madrid, Hong went to Tokyo in an attempt to raise funds and meet Japanese officials who could help provide protection for Kim Han Sol, according to an account in NK News. But a Japanese intelligence official told the reporter that he didnt understand Hongs request because Kims nephew now resides in either the U.S. or Israel under full government protection.36 Now Hong and Ahn stand charged with violent crimes that the DOJ said could put them in prison for over 10 years. DOJ documents claim that Hong, after first visiting the embassy posing as a financial consultant, returned on February 22 and asked to see the charg daffaires, identified as Y.S.S. When an official went to look for him, Hong opened the door and let Ahn and six others carrying knives, iron bars, machetes and imitation handguns into the grounds. Once in control, they proceeded to restrain members of the embassy staff using shackles and cables.37 In a technique often used by terrorists and US Special Forces, Hong and his crew placed bags over their captives heads. Among them was Y.S.S. Hong and Ahn, according to the DOJ complaint, took Y.S.S. to a bathroom where they tied his hands behind his back, placed a bag over his head, and threatened him with iron bars and imitation handguns. This was apparently an attempt to persuade the commercial attach, who had been an aide to Ambassador Kim Hyok Chol, to defect.38 Once done with their mission, the suspects then flew to the US East Coast, where Hong contacted the FBI and apparently turned in his colleague, according to DOJ documents related to the case. Thats a great question, said former CIA operative Kiriakou. If Wolosky has a security clearance, its conceivable that he could be paid by the government, including the ODNI, the CIA, or even the NSC. In fact, the chances that he has retained his clearance since leaving government are high: A defamation lawsuit against UANI that Wolosky handled was dismissed by a federal judge in 2015 after the government argued that it could reveal state secrets. Evans, the spokesperson for Boies Schiller Flexner, ignored questions about Woloskys security clearances. On Tuesday, however, Wolosky released a statement to The Nation taking issue with the DOJs claims. As we have maintained from the beginning, Free Joseon was invited to enter the Embassy, and there was no attack or forced entry, he said. This is now made clear by the CCTV images released by the DOJ itself. In due time, we expect to be able to present additional evidence that contradicts the account of the North Korean government, which correctly recognizes the threat posed to it by those championing the cause of freedom. 40 Related Article North Korea Through the Eyes of an American Dissident Tim Shorrock It now looks as if Woloskys audacious defense of Free Joseon could mark the beginning of a campaign by regime-change advocates to support Hong and Ahn as freedom fighters who deserve US support. The opening salvo was fired on April 25 by Sung-Yoon Lee, a professor of Korean studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University who is frequently called to testify before Congress because of his hard-line views and ardent support for military and economic pressure on North Korea. For the U.S. to accept what is essentially a North Korean version of the events is to effectively defend the Kim regime, he wrote in The Los Angeles Times.41 Fox News picked up the story, with interviews with Wolosky and Lee, and that segment has been tweeted by such neocon stalwarts as Iraq War promoter Max Boot. Last Friday, the campaign against North Korea was boosted by a well-timed story in The Washington Post that said the Kim government issued a $2 million bill for Warmbiers hospice care before he was released. For Adrian Hong, who used the alias Oswaldo Trump while hailing an Uber during his getaway in Madrid, thats entirely possible. As Town concluded, the tale of the attack and Hongs role in it is all very murky to everyone.43 | https://www.thenation.com/article/did-the-cia-orchestrate-an-attack-on-the-north-korean-embassy-spain-cia/ |
Who is Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq? | Tanya Tagaq's music isn't for everyone, but that's not the point. Tagaq is an Inuit throat singer, keeper of an ancient art form, who has brought the traditional sound screeching onto the international scene by layering it with elements of punk rock, heavy metal and electronica. Hailing from Nunavut, a territory in Canada's Arctic, Tagaq once attended residential school, where the Canadian government sent indigenous children to assimilate to Western culture and where Inuit languages and traditions were all but banned. She taught herself to throat sing in her twenties and her performances now serve as celebrations of Inuit culture as well as acts of resistance against a government that tried to wipe out her culture. Those performances have also made her a pop star. She is on perpetual tour of the world's concert halls; critics have heaped praise on her mash up of Inuit tradition and contemporary experiment. Jon Wertheim profiles Tagaq for the next edition of "60 Minutes," Sunday, May 5 at 7:00 p.m., ET/PT on CBS. Tagaq begins each performance with a warning for her audience that they may not like what they're about to hear. At times, she goes so far as to tell her audience it's okay to leave. "Because I feel like it should be consensual. Like you shouldn't have to sit there and suffer through it if you don't like it," she tells Wertheim. "60 Minutes" traveled high above the Arctic circle to Tagaq's hometown of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. There, she demonstrates the traditional form of Inuit throat singing and tells Wertheim it's really a friendly competition between two women. Born in an igloo while the men were out hunting, it is a call and response game Inuit women invented 1000 years ago to pass the time. On stage, Tagaq herself performs a solo version, singing both the call and response parts; every performance is improvised, so no two shows are alike. "The music. I get kind of hypnotized by it. And it just becomes its own creature." | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-is-inuit-throat-singer-tanya-tagaq-60-minutes-2019-05-02/ |
Is Trudeau the prime minister or just the Liberal leader? | Conservatives gave Justin Trudeau a demotion this week a nominal one, at least. On Wednesday, one Conservative critic after another stood up and addressed their questions to the Liberal leader not the prime minister, as is conventional practice in the House. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stands during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 1, 2019. That same day, Opposition MPs called him Liberal leader in the House presumably as a way to remind voters that Conservatives had warned people in 2015 that Trudeau was not ready for high office. ( Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS ) Its a small thing, perhaps, but it coincided with the unveiling of a new Conservative attack-ad campaign, featuring the same tag line in each of the five spots: Justin Trudeau: Not as Advertised. Casting Trudeau as a mere party leader, or a faulty product, gives us some idea of where the Conservatives believe the prime minister is vulnerable as the fall election looms. The idea, presumably, is to remind voters that Conservatives had warned people in 2015 that Trudeau was neither prime ministerial nor ready for high office. Remember nice hair? Trudeau, well also recall, took the unusual step of replying to those attack ads with his own Im ready ads an option that may be a little more difficult in 2019, what with Conservatives saying now he is not as advertised. Article Continued Below Using advertising to accuse an opponent of false advertising is maybe a bit meta for some voters and even cultural critics, but its potentially effective too, in a pre-emptive kind of way. I am as advertised? Read more: Susan Delacourt: For Canadian voters, trust in social media companies is declining. So is trust in the electoral system Susan Delacourt: Green wave may be the one Liberals need to watch Wednesday was actually an interesting day for the name game in the Commons. Well, interesting if youre the kind of person who wonders what kind of names politicians can use to demean or delegitimize their opponents in the House. At no time during the flurry of Liberal leader questions did the Speaker of the Commons step in to insist that Trudeau be called by his official title, as the rules strongly suggest. Article Continued Below But Geoff Regan did draw the line when Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre went off again on one of his new favourite tangents of late the little potato nickname that Trudeau was reportedly given a couple of years ago when he visited China. When leaders in China dismissed the prime minister as little potato, he thought they meant it as a compliment, Poilievre said, before Regan shut down the question as an indirect insult. Conservatives didnt let it stop there they complained after question period that they were legitimately trying to sort out whether little potato was a compliment or insult in the eyes of the Chinese leaders who dubbed Trudeau as such during his 2017 visit. At this point, some readers may be saying oh, I see now why they need to pay people to report on question period. It is not exactly a high-level debating theatre at the best of times, and especially not in this pre-election period. The Conservatives seemingly deliberate decision to address Trudeau as a mere leader stirred much conversation on social media, mostly about whether it reflected due deference to institutions and title. Some were reminded of the 2015 Conservative tactic of referring to Trudeau only as Justin, though Trudeau himself put his first name at the centre of his leadership campaign. Trudeau, it should be said, has been known to refer to Andrew Scheer, the leader of Her Majestys Loyal Opposition, as a mere Conservative leader too, so its not like anyone, on either side of the House, is fiercely attached to official titles in the heat of debate. Still, Wednesdays barrage of questions to the Liberal leader seemed quite deliberate a total of nine MPs (not Scheer or Poilievre, by the way) avoided calling Trudeau by his prime ministerial title when they stood to speak. Not all Conservatives were amused. Keith Beardsley, who served as a senior adviser and head of research for the Conservatives when Stephen Harper was prime minister, was underwhelmed, urging his party on Twitter to respect the office. Granted, reporters may notice this leader/prime minister distinction more than others. During elections, many media outlets, including this one, stop using parliamentary titles and refer to all leaders by their party title only. Its a way of keeping the coverage level giving no one, even the prime minister, added authority on first reference. As soon as the election starts, the Star will refer to Trudeau as Conservatives did repeatedly on Wednesday as a mere Liberal leader. Perhaps thats the thinking behind the nominal demotion for Trudeau in the Commons. In Conservative minds, the attack ads are out and the election is on, all but officially. Consider this an election preview then, for a fall campaign in which names, titles and tag lines will clearly matter. Susan Delacourt is the Stars Ottawa bureau chief and a columnist covering national politics. Reach her via email: [email protected] or follow her on Twitter: @susandelacourt Read more about: | https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2019/05/02/is-trudeau-the-prime-minister-or-just-the-liberal-leader.html |
What kind of gun was used in the UNC Charlotte shooting? | CMPD takes UNCC shooting suspect into police headquarters CMPD officers lead suspected UNCC gunman into police headquarters April 30, 2019. Subtitles show what suspect appears to say after being asked, "what happened?" Up Next SHARE COPY LINK CMPD officers lead suspected UNCC gunman into police headquarters April 30, 2019. Subtitles show what suspect appears to say after being asked, "what happened?" The popular profile of a mass shooter has him armed with a menacing, military-style assault rifle, its magazine loaded for death. But this weeks attack at UNC Charlotte showed the lethal power of a weapon that slips easily into a pocket. A suspect with a handgun killed two students in a UNCC classroom on Tuesday and wounded four more using a weapon that fits the statistical average for such events. Pistols were the most powerful weapon used in 56 percent of the 200 active-shooter cases between 2000 and 2015, according to an analysis for the FBI by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center, known as ALERRT, at Texas State University. Rifles were used in only 27 percent of the attacks. ALERRT defines active shooters as those killing or attempting to kill people in a confined or other populated area. Its operations and tactics in response to active shooters have trained more than 85,000 law enforcement officers nationwide and are considered by the FBI to be the national standard. Handguns are often of the same 9mm caliber as rifles, experts say. Pistol magazines can carry up to 30 rounds of ammunition, similar to those of assault rifles. Both fire semi-automatically, spewing bullets with each pull of the trigger. The difference is simple: Handguns can be easily concealed and rifles cant. If somebody wants to do something bad, a big old rifle is hard to hide, said Larry Hyatt, owner of Charlottes Hyatt Guns. The handgun under a jacket is more dangerous, to me, than a long rifle. Handguns were used, often in conjunction with rifles, at virtually all the nations biggest mass shootings in recent years. But theyre quite deadly alone. Stephen Paddock, armed with AR-15 assault-style rifles fitted with now-banned bump stocks to make them fire faster, killed 58 people and injured nearly 500 more from his Las Vegas hotel room in 2017. Shooters at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012, where 20 children and six adults died, and at an Orlando, Fla., nightclub in 2017, killing 49, used both rifles and pistols in their attacks. Last November, Ian David Long used only a .45-caliber Glock pistol with an extended magazine to kill 12 people in a Thousand Oaks, Calif., bar. Seung-Hui Cho was armed only with two pistols when he killed 32 people and wounded 17 others at Virginia Tech in 2007. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan used a pistol with laser sights to slay 13 people and injure 32 during his 2009 rampage at Fort Hood, Texas. Jiverly Wong fired his two Beretta pistols 99 times to kill 13 people at an immigrant community center in Binghamton, N.Y., that same year. Pete Blair, a criminal justice professor at Texas State University who is ALERRTs director, said data show that the type of weapons used by active shooters is less important than where bullets strike the victims. Rifles are designed for long-range shooting, and their longer barrels develop more bullet velocity and offer more accuracy than handguns intended for closer targets. But their size also makes rifles harder to maneuver in tight spaces. What I think the best modeling of data suggests is that its not the particular kind of weapons that are used but the total number of weapons used, Blair said. The more weapons that are brought in, the more people shot. Paddock stowed 24 guns in his Las Vegas hotel rooms in committing the nations deadliest mass shooting by a lone shooter. No data are available to assess the impact of shooters whose guns have high-capacity magazines, Blair said. Most states, including North Carolina, dont restrict their use. Most handguns will hold seven to 17 bullets, Hyatt said. Depending on their caliber, rifles typically can hold 20 rounds but high-capacity magazines can hold 30 or more bullets. Emptied magazines on either can be replaced in 1.5 seconds or less. If a person has time theres nobody fighting them, just innocent victims they can reload and can have much more power, Hyatt said. But civilians who do fight back can make a critical difference in shooting attacks, Blair added. In one out of six such attacks, he said, a potential victim stops the attacker. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said student Riley Howell, 21, saved lives by tackling the UNCC shooter before Howell was fatally shot Tuesday. Former student Trystan Andrew Terrell, 22, was charged with murder and assault. Its far more common than you would think, Blair said. Most of them involve people who are unarmed who simply tackle the assailant and take them down. | https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article229951659.html |
What Did Jake Gyllenhaal Do to LADYGANG's Keltie Knight to Cause Their Love-Hate Relationship? | Hopefully that's not the case though, since Keltie promises she already "went into great detail" about the Gyllenhaal thing when they taped this week's LADYGANG show. Until then, we do know one thing for sure: Her issues with Jake are not about his sister. "Is it because of Maggie?" Justin asks in the clip, to which Keltie quickly and emphatically replies "it has nothing to do with her." "It's just her and Jake's beef," says Becca. "It's just cause he was kind of mean to her," Jac chimes in. Hear Keltie's cryptic teaserand find out why she's the reason "they have gates to separate the press" on red carpets nowin the clip above! | https://www.eonline.com/news/1037840/what-did-jake-gyllenhaal-do-to-ladygang-s-keltie-knight-to-cause-their-love-hate-relationship?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories |
Who got tossed under the Bill Barr bus? | Heres a breakdown of who took the brunt of Barrs blame. Democrats repeatedly admonished Attorney General William Barr at a contentious Senate hearing Wednesday, accusing him of bias and lying, and even calling for his resignation. Throw others under the bus. Story Continued Below The pass-the-buck approach spared few over four-plus hours of questioning about Barrs handling of special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. A POLITICO tally of the transcript counted more than 30 times when the attorney general redirected the criticism, with a number of figures ending up as collateral casualties. Heres a breakdown of who took the brunt of Barrs blame: Robert Mueller Barr and Mueller have been friends for more than three decades, but that relationship mattered little from the very start of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. In his opening statement, the attorney general shredded Mueller over the sheer volume of material the special counsel turned in last month at the conclusion of his investigation, creating a predicament that Barr said forced him to buy time with his controversial release of top-line findings while the Justice Department and special counsel lawyers reviewed all the potential redactions. The body politic, Barr explained, was in a high state of agitation. POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. Barr also faulted Mueller for handing in executive summaries that werent ready for prime time because they still contained sensitive material dealing with intelligence issues. I made it clear to him I was not in the business of putting out periodic summaries because a summary would start a whole public debate about its accuracy, Barr said. The attorney general second-guessed several other Mueller decisions, explaining that he was, frankly, surprised with the special counsels punt on the pivotal question of whether President Donald Trump should be charged for obstruction of justice. He also scoffed at Muellers declaration that the president was not cleared of charges. Were not in the business of exoneration, the attorney general said. There was more, too. Barr questioned why Mueller dug into additional episodes of Trumps possible obstruction given the special counsels lack of prosecutorial firepower when it comes to the president. I think that if he felt that he shouldnt go down the path of making a traditional prosecutive decision, he shouldnt have investigated it, Barr said. That was the time to pull up. Muellers prosecutors Barr didnt criticize just Mueller. He also pilloried the special counsels prosecutors aka the Angry Democrats who have frequently been on the receiving end of Trumps wrath. Addressing Muellers complaint that the attorney general in his initial March 24 letter to Congress did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of the special counsels work, Barr told senators he thought Muellers missive was a bit snitty and was probably written by one of his staff people. The attorney general also threw shade at Team Mueller during an exchange with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) in which he was asked to assess a squad that included Justice Department veterans who prosecuted President Richard Nixon, the Mafia, Islamic State terrorists and Enron executives. Do you consider these lawyers to be the best and the brightest in the field? Blackburn asked. Not necessarily, the attorney general replied. In a follow-up, Blackburn asked, Are they the warriors you would want on your side? Again, Barr demurred: I mean, I there are a lot of great lawyers in the Department of Justice. He assembled a very competent team. Rod Rosenstein Since stepping into his new job in February, Barr has repeatedly hugged close the departing deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein particularly when dealing with the tricky wrapup of Muellers investigation. Each step of the way, Barr has stressed that the decisions hes made regarding the Trump-Russia investigation were made jointly with Rosenstein or, at least, endorsed by him. The attorney generals first letter to Congress announcing the end of the Mueller report, for example, declared that Rosenstein never rejected any significant step the special counsel wanted to take. I havent been the only decision-maker here. He has 30 years experience, Barr emphasized Wednesday. In all, Barr mentioned Rosenstein more than a dozen times during the Senate hearing, underscoring how the two were in full agreement. But at least some of the attorney generals complaints about how Mueller carried out his task also seemed to amount to criticism of Rosenstein, with the attorney general stressing on numerous occasions just how closely the Justice Departments No. 2 was overseeing the special counsels work during the past two years. Despite Rosensteins supervision I know what hes doing, the deputy attorney general said of the special counsel in a House hearing in December 2017 Barr suggested that Mueller essentially went rogue by refusing to make a decision about whether Trump obstructed justice. We dont conduct criminal investigations to collect information and put it out to the public, the attorney general said. While Barr said he and Rosenstein were surprised by Muellers decision not to reach a conclusion on potential obstruction of justice by the president, the attorney general never explained how Rosenstein could have been keeping close tabs on the inquiry and still be blindsided by the special counsels decision to pull up without resolving such a critical question. The FBI, the intelligence community and the Steele dossier Barr went after the FBI, starting at the very top, acknowledging that hed had a problem with how then-Director James Comey handled the conclusion of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. I said so at the time, the attorney general said. Unidentified FBI officials also took it on the chin from Barr for failing to warn the Trump campaign about suspicions of Russian efforts to infiltrate its inner circle. Under these circumstances, one of the things that I cant fathom is why it didnt happen, Barr said. If youre concerned about interference in the election and have substantial people involved in the campaign you had three former U.S. attorneys there in the campaign I dont understand why the bureau would not have gone and given a defensive briefing, Barr said. However, after a lunch break while senators voted on the floor, Barr revised his comments a bit to note that soon after Trump secured the Republican nomination in the summer of 2016, his campaign received an FBI briefing about generic counterintelligence threats. But Barr said Trumps camp should have been warned about the specific concerns regarding Russias outreach to people connected to his presidential bid. I was referring to the kind where you are told youre a specific target, the attorney general said. I have been told at the break that a lesser kind of briefing, a security briefing that generally discusses, in general, threats apparently was given to the campaign in August. poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201905/1587/1155968404_6032252874001_6031946161001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true But having gotten in hot water a few weeks ago for his assertion that spying did occur on Trumps campaign by the FBI, Barr was careful to make clear on Wednesday that he was not tarring the entire law enforcement agency. Instead, Barr blamed a few people at the top getting it into their heads that they know better than the American people, and said FBI Director Christopher Wray had changed out previous leaders who needed to go. I dont think there is a bad culture in the FBI, the attorney general said. While Barr said he didnt want to reach any conclusions on the FBIs handling of the 2016 election investigation, under questioning from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo. ), the attorney general also seemed to endorse the idea that the FBI hid from the Justice Department the fact that it put Trump under investigation as a potential Russian asset or dupe. Would it be unusual to your knowledge to hide existence and results from their superiors? Hawley asked. Very unusual, Barr said, agreeing with the freshman Republican that concealing such an investigation would lead to no accountability for the FBIs actions. Barr also said he harbored significant doubts about the accuracy of the so-called Steele dossier, the Democratic-funded private-investigation file that was part of what the FBI used to get surveillance warrants against Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) asked Barr whether he had confidence that the document was not Russian propaganda. No, I cant state that, Barr said. That is one of the areas that I am reviewing. Im concerned about it. And I dont think its entirely speculative. The Obama administration Barr was quick to pick up on Cornyns suggestion that the Obama administration allowed Russias malicious activities to flourish in the 2016 campaign by failing to act against Moscow. We need to ask the question: Why didnt the Obama administration do more as early as 2014 in investigating Russian efforts to prepare to undermine and sow dissension in the 2016 U.S. election? the Texas Republican said. Barr used the opportunity to offer some praise for Mueller for the criminal indictments he brought against Russian military intelligence and the alleged online troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency. It is very impressive work that they did, the attorney general said of the special counsels crew. I was thinking to myself, if that had been done in the beginning of 2016, we would have been a lot further along. The Justice Department The attorney general even fingered his own Justice Department for some of the decisions hes come under fire for making. Barr said he assume[d] the Justice Department released to The Washington Post a copy of Muellers letter asking that the attorney general speed up the public release of his reports summaries and introductions. He also singled out the departments criminal division for asking him to obtain a waiver allowing him to participate in an investigation into a Malaysian development company being scrutinized for money laundering and an allegedly illegal $100,000 donation it made to a Trump-aligned political action committee. I didnt seek it, the attorney general said of the waiver, which allowed him to participate in a case that involves a senior partner from his former law firm representing Goldman Sachs in the investigation. The New York Times, the media, the internet and the impatient public Barr also took some swings at modern technology and the press, as well as the pressures created by the public fascination with Muellers investigation. The attorney general said the worldwide web had magnified the threat posed by Russians looking to make mischief in the U.S. political system. I think the internet creates a lot more opportunities to have that kind of covert effect on the American body politic, so, its getting more and more dangerous, Barr said. The attorney general also suggested that it was urgent for him to release the bottom-line findings of Muellers report without further details because Americans were too spun up about the investigation and simply could not wait. To wait even briefly to release the executive summaries Mueller wanted to put out would have been like holding back the floodwaters. When the report came in on [March] 22nd and we saw it would take a great deal of time to get it out to the public, I made the determination that we had to put out some information about the bottom line, Barr said. There was massive interest in learning what the bottom-line results of Bob Muellers investigation was, particularly as to collusion. Another Barr target Wednesday was The New York Times. Answering a question about Trumps alleged attempt to get White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller, Barr argued that the Times got it wrong. He said that while McGahn and Trump disagreed about what Trump had asked for, there was no indication that he explicitly told McGahn to have Mueller fired. The New York Times story said flat out that the president directed the firing of Mueller told McGahn: fire Mueller, Barr said. Now, theres something very different between firing a special counsel outright, which suggests ending the investigation, and having a special counsel removed for conflict, which suggests that youre going to have another special counsel. There is a distinction between saying, Fire Mueller. Go fire him, and have him removed based on conflict. While the Times article did say flatly that Trump had ordered Muellers firing, it also described the various conflicts that Trump was alleging should disqualify Mueller. | https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/01/william-barr-hearing-blame-1296866 |
How does CEO pay at the world's largest airline compare to its employees? | American Airlines CEO Doug Parker's compensation in 2018 totaled nearly $12 million or 195 times more than the airline's median pay for employees. Parker actually saw his compensation fall by 1.4% from the previous year, as did the Fort Worth-based carrier's other key executives, according to its annual proxy filing. In 2015, Parker gave up a base salary and asked to be paid entirely in stock, a move he described as reflecting his confidence in the company's growth. This is the second year public companies are required to report how their top executive's pay compares with its typical worker. American's 142,564 workers received median pay of $61,527. | https://www.dallasnews.com/business/business/2019/05/02/ceo-pay-worlds-largest-airline-compare-employees |
Is St. Joseph Church's fire connected to 2 nearby vandalism incidents on the same night? | Phoenix police and fire officials were offering few new details on Thursday about an investigation into a fire that destroyed St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church early Wednesday, but two nearby vandalism incidents occurring the same night are being investigated for possible connections. Phoenix Fire Department, the lead investigation agency in the fire, confirmed investigators are looking to see if the three incidents are connected. One official for a school damaged near St. Joseph's told The Arizona Republic that federal investigators along with Phoenix police were at the school on Wednesday morning and confirming they were looking at possible connections to the fire. Phoenix police confirmed Wednesday that the two nearby vandalism incidents were being investigated, noting that in a press release that also talked about the fire investigation. They stopped short of saying all were connected, and deferred to Phoenix fire investigators. Phoenix police and fire officials, while confirming arson investigators are involved in the church fire investigation, said the cause has not been determined. MORE: As their church lay in smoldering ruins, parishioners gather for Mass CLOSE St. Joseph Catholic Church in northeast Phoenix was destroyed in a fire early Wednesday. Emotional parishioners still gathered for morning Mass. Nathan J. Fish, The Republic | azcentral.com On Thursday, officials with Emmanuel Presbyterian Church and neighboring Gateway Academy told The Republic both had been broken into, badly vandalized, and burglarized. "We walked into our school yesterday morning and all of the lockers had been left open and all the contents had been dumped onto the floor," said Robin Sweet, the executive director and CEO of Gateway Academy. "The lower school classroom window had been shattered and the gate door had been propped open." Sweet said after calling Phoenix police, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI also showed up to investigate. "We called the police and they came out and they were very quiet at first and then they said, 'You know, your next-door neighbors have also been vandalized,'" Sweet said, referring to the Presbyterian church. Sweet said investigators from the Department of Homeland Security also arrived to investigate, apparently looking for fingerprints and possible footprints that might match any found at the other locations. Neither DHS or the FBI confirmed any federal involvement in the investigation when contacted by The Arizona Republic Thursday. Jill McCabe, a spokeswoman with the FBI, said, "If information comes to light of a potential federal nexus or violation, the FBI is prepared to assist or investigate." A DHS official said the agency would not confirm or deny any involvement in ongoing federal investigations. NEWSLETTERS Get the AZ Memo newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Get the pulse of Arizona -- Local news, in-depth state coverage and what it all means for you Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-332-6733. Delivery: Mon-Fri Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for AZ Memo Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters The Rev. Jennifer Fraser, a pastor at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church, also detailed the vandalism at her church. CLOSE More than 60 firefighters worked to contain a fire at St. Joseph Catholic Church on May 1, 2019. Phoenix Fire Department "Somebody broke into our fellowship on Tuesday night, broke into a window, opened and door, got in, ransacked a cabinet, and smashed a TV set, then sprayed fire extinguishers all over the place," Fraser said. "We feel, actually, pretty lucky in light of the other things that have happened, with the church catching on fire." At Gateway Academy, a school for children with high-functioning autism, the students' unlocked lockers were raided and the contents were stolen. "It appears that they stole headphones from our students' lockers, all of the students at Gateway have high functioning autism, so its a really vulnerable population," Sweet said. "It was really horrible and disheartening to think that somebody would come in and destroy a school and then we felt like jerks because next door and St. Joseph were far worse than anything that happened here." Sweet added: "It's saddening that people would go after really vulnerable buildings and what they stand for. We're all trying to do something positive and good for the greater good, and to be threatened and vandalized is horrific.'' Efforts to raise funds for St. Joseph gained some traction Thursday when the Knights of Columbus pledged aid to the parish community. The Knights will help in any way we can, said Tom Kalisz, a state deputy with the Knights. We are in communication with the pastor, the Rev. Reggie Carreon, and once the extent of damage is assessed and the immediate and long-term needs are determined, we will get to work. On St. Joseph's website, officials have added a PayPal link for those who would like to donate and a statement: "In times such as this, we know our faith will carry us through this difficult time. Please pray for our parish community and our pastor, Father Reggie. In our strength, we will move toward our 50th Anniversary as a beacon of hope and love. Please consider a donation to help us rebuild our church." Future plans to rebuild the church have not yet been announced. CLOSE The Rev. Fred Adamson, vicar general for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, speaks about the fire at St. Joseph Church in Phoenix. Nathan J. Fish, The Republic | azcentral.com Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-breaking/2019/05/02/st-joseph-churchs-fire-connected-to-two-nearby-phoenix-vandalism-incidents/3655448002/ | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-breaking/2019/05/02/st-joseph-churchs-fire-connected-to-two-nearby-phoenix-vandalism-incidents/3655448002/ |
What is the real reason behind the quarrel between Kenney and Trudeau? | Alberta Premier Jason Kenney was true to form on Thursday, landing in Ottawa and delivering a glibly logical list of reasons why the federal Liberals bill to change the way natural resource projects are approved is just all wrong. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, shakes hands with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 2, 2019. While investors are wise enough to take political jousting with a grain of salt, its the big picture that solidifies Canadas reputation for uncertainty both in how it regulates natural resources and also how it deals with greenhouse gases, Heather Scoffield writes. ( Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS ) It was his third day on the job, and he wasted no time in following up on his election commitments to take Justin Trudeau to task for what Kenney and his federal Conservative allies have derided as the No More Pipelines Act. Time and again, he referred to the need to restore investor certainty in the oilsands. The long slump in his provinces economy, he says, is directly related to Albertas inability to get its product to market cutting into production plans, investment intentions, jobs and the countrys broader prosperity. (Never mind that other oil-centric markets have been feeling the pinch of low prices, too.) Instead of fixing that situation, he said the bill before the Senate which overhauls the environmental assessment process for major projects is already driving away future investment because the new rules will make it impossible for companies to get a timely green light. Article Continued Below Unity is at stake, he said, because Alberta would immediately take Ottawa to court over the constitutionality of the bill. The province believes it intrudes on provincial jurisdiction. And the intense animosity that Albertans already feel toward the federation would burn red hot, leading to a drive for secession. Indeed, if the federal government insists on forging ahead, Kenney suggested he would lead Albertans to a referendum about their role in the federation. Article Continued Below Ask Quebecers who have seen the market price of their homes rise and fall in tandem with separatist sentiment whether that kind of approach breeds confidence in the economy. Even when separatist sentiment is in remission, the doubt is always there. The history of Quebec tells us you dont woo investors by telling them youre going to secede, said Paula Simons, an independent senator from Alberta who is trying to broker solutions. But the Liberals devotion to investor certainty, which they wear on their sleeves, is also questionable. Three federal ministers followed Kenney before the Senates energy committee on Thursday, and they, too, invoked stability, and the prosperity that comes with it. Better rules will improve investor confidence, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said. But in its zeal to foster social license for natural resource development, the governing party didnt win over investors themselves. And in a new analysis published Thursday, the Canada West Foundation, which generally favours the bill, concluded that copious lawsuits and project delays would likely flow from its passage, especially if the legislation maintains its provisions for political approvals. At the same time, the federal government has been trying to cut a deal on environmental oversight of the oilsands. On Wednesday, Ottawa offered to exempt in situ oilsands operations from the new federal regime if Alberta would keep its adherence to a cap on greenhouse emissions. The horse-trading of environmental measures throws their steadfastness into question. But while investors are wise enough to take political jousting with a grain of salt, its the big picture that solidifies Canadas reputation for uncertainty both in how it regulates natural resources and also how it deals with greenhouse gases. Oversight of natural resources changed dramatically under Stephen Harpers government, then became fodder in the 2015 election campaign, and is only four years later being solidified in the current bill. The stability record on climate change is even bumpier. Harper initially proposed a carbon tax, and then moved instead to a sector-by-sector regulatory approach. Some provinces branched out in their own directions, with various types of regimes. The Liberals briefly united the provinces behind common goals, while allowing flexibility in approach. But now, as the federal government imposes a carbon tax on provinces who wont participate, there is once again a backlash, legal challenges and a patchwork of measures across the country. Theres still a chance for compromise on C-69. Amendments are in the works, senators may find a way to water down the political oversight in the bill, and the quid pro quo for the exemption of in situ mining might yet fly. But the uncertainty provoked by all sides in this proxy-tussle between environment and economy underscores the hypocrisy of what may be, more than anything, a jurisdictional tug-of-war at heart. Economic certainty, or the lack thereof, is a mere by-product. Heather Scoffield is an economics columnist based in Ottawa. Follow her on Twitter: @hscoffield Read more about: | https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2019/05/02/what-is-the-real-reason-behind-the-quarrel-between-kenney-and-trudeau.html |
How is a Cincinnati area investment firm tied to college admissions bribery scandal? | CLOSE The college admissions scam involving Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman shows how some rich families use a side door to game an already unfair education system. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY A suburban Cincinnati investment firm is linked to the nationwide college admissions cheating scandal, the sweeping investigation that revealed how wealthy parents were paying to get their kids into elite schools. Hauser Private Equity, headquartered in the penthouse of the Tower at the Kenwood Collection, was listed as one of William Rick Singers assets in the sham charity that Singer used to hide the bribery money from those parents. Federal prosecutors are seeking to seize Singers investment in Hauser, although court documents give no details on exactly what the investment is or its size. Hauser Private Equity founders and managing partners Mark Hauser, 58, and Paul Swanson, 58, could not be reached for comment after multiple calls to their offices and homes. Buy Photo In this photo from 2006, Margie and Mark Hauser of Indian Hill prepare to host President Bush at their Indian Hill home during a fundraiser. (Photo: The Enquirer/Craig Ruttle) Singer, the college consultant and admitted mastermind behind the scam, concealed the nature and source of the bribe payments by funneling payments through the KWF charitable account, federal court documents say. The parents payments were disguised as donations to the nonprofit Key Worldwide Foundation (KWF) controlled by Singers associates. Singer would then use those charitable donations to bribe college coaches, school officials and ACT and SAT test administrators to pad students' admissions profiles with fabricated athletic careers and falsified test scores. In addition to concealing the money through the foundation, parents were able to claim tax deductions. So far, 33 parents have been accused of paying from tens of thousands of dollars up to as much as $6.5 million dollars to get their kids into such exclusive schools as the University of Southern California, Yale, Stanford and Georgetown. Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin are among those charged and prosecutors say more arrests are coming. More than a dozen parents have pleaded guilty, as has Singer. In his plea, Singer agreed to forfeit all assets owned or controlled by the Key Worldwide Foundation. One of the assets is the foundations interest in Cincinnati-based Hauser Private Equity Investment, according to federal court documents. The documents give no further details. The foundation's tax return or Form 990 for 2016, the most recent available, doesn't list individual investments. But it does note the foundation had $788,672 in "closely-held equity interests." NEWSLETTERS Get the News Alerts newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Be the first to be informed of important news as it happens in Greater Cincinnati. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-876-4500. Delivery: Varies Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for News Alerts Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters Other companies listed among the foundation's assets in Singer's plea agreements are Sharkys restaurant chain (a group of Mexican food grills on the West Coast), Swansea Football Club, Bluestone Partnership, Jamtown, Whamtech Inc. and Virtual PhD. He also must make a forfeiture judgment payment of $3.4 million. : An ex-con half brother, a Welsh soccer team and a former NFL owner 'So that's what he was up to':Rick Singer, architect of scam, peddled a 'side door' to college admissions Hauser and Swanson were not among those initially charged in the scheme. Five of the parents charged in the admissions scandal are current or former executives at private equity or investment firms. The federal court documents dont describe the relationship between Hauser Private Equiity and the foundation, but the elite investment firm caters to high net-worth clients. The firm was founded in 2008 and has offices in Kenwood, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. According to the firm's website, Mark Hauser lives in Bel-Air and works in Los Angeles, where the majority of those charged in the scheme are, as well as in Cincinnati. Buy Photo Hauser Private Equity operates out of the Tower at The Kenwood Collection in Sycamore Township. (Photo: The Enquirer/Jeanne Houck) On the companys website, Hauser says, Were a hybrid private equity fund, and believe we have the single best investment strategy in the country because of that. Like a mutual fund or a hedge fund, private equity firms collect cash from investors then reinvest the pooled money into specialized portfolios. But private equity investments also are typically a long-term, high-stakes game, with some investments not paying out for 10 years or longer. And often, while the investment is in play, the money is stuck and cant be withdrawn. Hauser Private Equity takes in direct investments and investments through funds. It has floated at least two funds since 2013, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. One required a minimum $250,000 investment, the other required a minimum $1 million investment. The 2017 fund was one of the biggest equity funds ever raised in Cincinnati at $150 million. In addition to running his private equity firm, Hauser is also the chairman of Hauser Insurance Group, a national insurance and employee benefits broker thats also based in the same Kenwood office. Hes been with the company since 1986. Hauser has hosted political fundraisers at his home in Indian Hill as recently as March. In 2006, he hosted then-president George W. Bush at the house. Hauser gave $12,500 to the 2018 campaign of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, along with $10,000 to the campaign of Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford, and $2,500 to Keith Faber's campaign for Ohio auditor, state records on file at Followthemoney.org show. Hauser is a Cincinnati native who attended St. Xavier High School and Miami University. His wife, Margie Hauser, who grew up in Cincinnati and went to Ursuline Academy, is a songwriter and composer. Margie Hausers success brought her and the family out to L.A., where shes continued to grow her career as a songwriter and producer working with artists including Nick Lachey and Alyson Stoner. Read or Share this story: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/05/02/cincinnati-investment-firm-hauser-college-admissions-scandal-bribery/3644403002/ | https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/05/02/cincinnati-investment-firm-hauser-college-admissions-scandal-bribery/3644403002/ |
What's next for Venezuela after days of tumult? | CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) After days of upheaval, Venezuela is sinking back into political stalemate. In the fourth month of their standoff, President Nicols Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaid are unable to deliver a knock-out blow as Venezuela spirals deeper into neglect, isolation and desperation. Abrupt shifts or behind-the-scenes power plays can't be ruled out, but there is a sense that the two camps are entrenched too strong to be dislodged, too weak for clear-cut victory. The opposition and its chief patron, the United States, emerged with fewer options after Guaid, leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, stood Tuesday outside a military base and urged the armed forces to overthrow Maduro. The plan collapsed. Venezuela's military commander instead pledged loyalty to Maduro, and four people died in clashes between protesters and police after the opposition's risky bid for control. The streets of Caracas were calm on Thursday after the violence of the previous two days. Guaid's new plan is to build toward a general strike, though the date is not fixed and how effective that would be in a country with a shattered economy and an exhausted population is open to question. One Venezuela expert said the opposition and the U.S. now have the hard task of devising a new way forward after seeing a small contingent of security forces join Guaid outside the military base, but no sign that any other military units had heeded the call to rebel. "You only get to play this card once, and now that it's been played it's hard to see what else can be done," said Fernando Cutz, who until April 2018 led U.S. policy on Venezuela at the National Security Council under both Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. At the same time, Maduro's government is under massive strain, loathed by much of the population as it attempts to steer a decaying nation. The fact that it has not yet moved to arrest Guaid after accusing him of trying to stage a coup suggests it is not confident enough to do so and is wary about any increase in diplomatic and economic pressure from the U.S. and dozens of other nations that say Guaid is Venezuela's rightful president. Any attempt to detain Guaid would be "highly inflammatory," said Eileen Gavin, senior Latin America analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a global risk consultancy. "From Maduro's perspective, it might be better to simply dismiss Guaid as a mere nuisance and a U.S. stooge, thereby undermining Guaid's faltering movement and once again splintering the fractious Venezuelan opposition," Gavin said in a report. The government has started to target people since the failed rebellion. On Thursday, Venezuela's top court ordered the arrest of Guaid's political mentor, Leopoldo Lpez, who took refuge in the Spanish Embassy after defying a house arrest order and joining the attempt to topple Maduro this week. The court also opened a treason investigation of Edgar Zambrano, the deputy head of the National Assembly who had joined Guaid outside the military base in Caracas. Some analysts believe U.S. allegations that three top Venezuelan officials had been involved in the plot against Maduro will not split his government, but tie those officials closer to him. One of the government figures, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lpez, pledged loyalty to Maduro and indicated that there had been attempts to lure the military into backing the opposition. "They try to buy us as if we were mercenaries," he said in what amounted to a warning to any would-be defectors in the military. The United States has imposed sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry as well as on key figures in Maduro's government, which is digging in despite dire economic and humanitarian problems that have forced around 10% of Venezuelans to leave the country in recent years, creating Latin America's biggest migrant crisis. Cutz said that while it's likely the U.S. will ramp up rhetoric against Maduro's government, it has already deployed the key weapon oil sanctions. Its last options include the long-threatened idea of military intervention, which is unlikely, or moving onto another foreign policy priority, according to Cutz. "It seems more like a temper tantrum than strategic thinking," he said of the bellicose rhetoric coming out of the White House. "If I'm a low-level colonel, why would I now risk my life to share secrets with the Americans if they aren't going to keep their mouths shut." Trump has indicated that the United States is not focusing on a military option for now. "And we're doing everything we can do, short of, you know, the ultimate," Trump said in an interview Wednesday on Fox Business Network. "There are people that would like to do have us do the ultimate, but we are - we are - we have a lot of options open. But when we look at what's going on there, it's an incredible mess." Trump said Maduro was "tough, but I think he's losing a lot of control." ___ Associated Press journalist Joshua Goodman in Caracas contributed. | https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/world/article/What-s-next-for-Venezuela-after-days-of-tumult-13815834.php |
Whats next for Venezuela after days of tumult? | CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) After days of upheaval, Venezuela is sinking back into political stalemate. In the fourth month of their standoff, President Nicols Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaid are unable to deliver a knock-out blow as Venezuela spirals deeper into neglect, isolation and desperation. Abrupt shifts or behind-the-scenes power plays cant be ruled out, but there is a sense that the two camps are entrenched too strong to be dislodged, too weak for clear-cut victory. The opposition and its chief patron, the United States, emerged with fewer options after Guaid, leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, stood Tuesday outside a military base and urged the armed forces to overthrow Maduro. The plan collapsed. Venezuelas military commander instead pledged loyalty to Maduro, and four people died in clashes between protesters and police after the oppositions risky bid for control. The streets of Caracas were calm on Thursday after the violence of the previous two days. Guaids new plan is to build toward a general strike, though the date is not fixed and how effective that would be in a country with a shattered economy and an exhausted population is open to question. One Venezuela expert said the opposition and the U.S. now have the hard task of devising a new way forward after seeing a small contingent of security forces join Guaid outside the military base, but no sign that any other military units had heeded the call to rebel. You only get to play this card once, and now that its been played its hard to see what else can be done, said Fernando Cutz, who until April 2018 led U.S. policy on Venezuela at the National Security Council under both Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Advertising At the same time, Maduros government is under massive strain, loathed by much of the population as it attempts to steer a decaying nation. The fact that it has not yet moved to arrest Guaid after accusing him of trying to stage a coup suggests it is not confident enough to do so and is wary about any increase in diplomatic and economic pressure from the U.S. and dozens of other nations that say Guaid is Venezuelas rightful president. Any attempt to detain Guaid would be highly inflammatory, said Eileen Gavin, senior Latin America analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a global risk consultancy. From Maduros perspective, it might be better to simply dismiss Guaid as a mere nuisance and a U.S. stooge, thereby undermining Guaids faltering movement and once again splintering the fractious Venezuelan opposition, Gavin said in a report. The government has started to target people since the failed rebellion. On Thursday, Venezuelas top court ordered the arrest of Guaids political mentor, Leopoldo Lpez, who took refuge in the Spanish Embassy after defying a house arrest order and joining the attempt to topple Maduro this week. The court also opened a treason investigation of Edgar Zambrano, the deputy head of the National Assembly who had joined Guaid outside the military base in Caracas. Some analysts believe U.S. allegations that three top Venezuelan officials had been involved in the plot against Maduro will not split his government, but tie those officials closer to him. One of the government figures, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lpez, pledged loyalty to Maduro and indicated that there had been attempts to lure the military into backing the opposition. They try to buy us as if we were mercenaries, he said in what amounted to a warning to any would-be defectors in the military. Advertising The United States has imposed sanctions on Venezuelas oil industry as well as on key figures in Maduros government, which is digging in despite dire economic and humanitarian problems that have forced around 10% of Venezuelans to leave the country in recent years, creating Latin Americas biggest migrant crisis. Cutz said that while its likely the U.S. will ramp up rhetoric against Maduros government, it has already deployed the key weapon oil sanctions. Its last options include the long-threatened idea of military intervention, which is unlikely, or moving onto another foreign policy priority, according to Cutz. It seems more like a temper tantrum than strategic thinking, he said of the bellicose rhetoric coming out of the White House. If Im a low-level colonel, why would I now risk my life to share secrets with the Americans if they arent going to keep their mouths shut. Trump has indicated that the United States is not focusing on a military option for now. And were doing everything we can do, short of, you know, the ultimate, Trump said in an interview Wednesday on Fox Business Network. There are people that would like to do have us do the ultimate, but we are we are we have a lot of options open. But when we look at whats going on there, its an incredible mess. Trump said Maduro was tough, but I think hes losing a lot of control. ___ Associated Press journalist Joshua Goodman in Caracas contributed. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/whats-next-for-venezuela-after-days-of-tumult/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
Does Congress Have The Power To Hold AG Barr In Contempt? | NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Julian Epstein, former House Judiciary Committee Counsel member, about what can be done if Attorney General Barr continues to defy the Committee. AILSA CHANG, HOST: Attorney General William Barr was a no-show today at a House Judiciary hearing. He was set to face questions about the Mueller report. Democrats who control the committee were planning to use staff attorneys to ask Barr many of the questions, a condition Barr refused to comply with. Now House Democrats have threatened to hold the attorney general in contempt of Congress. To help us answer that question, we're joined now by Julian Epstein, former House Judiciary counsel. Welcome. JULIAN EPSTEIN: Pleasure to be with you. EPSTEIN: Hasn't happened yet, but I expect that Chairman Nadler, if they don't come to some accommodation, will issue a subpoena momentarily. EPSTEIN: Extremely atypical, particularly for the attorney general to ignore a subpoena from the Judiciary Committee 'cause the Judiciary Committee as the authorizing committee and the oversight committee for the Department of Justice. So it's very, very atypical. CHANG: Well, I'm interested in the process that would ensue here. Let's say it does get to the point where Barr gets subpoenaed, he still refuses to testify and then Congress votes to hold him in contempt. EPSTEIN: Then there are three options. The Congress could refer it to the U.S. attorney for criminal prosecution of contempt. They could use another process called inherent contempt where they use the sergeant of arms to literally go out and arrest the attorney general and put him in the House jail, which is a very, very unlikely option. And the more likely option is that the House would direct counsel to go to court and try to enforce the subpoena civilly. EPSTEIN: What would happen in a civil contempt is that you would basically be trying to hold the attorney general - get a court order that he was in contempt. And the court would have a hearing. And Justice Department would intervene, and they would fight the contempt citation. And then the court would have a ruling. And that's how the process kind of operates theoretically. What normally happens is the court does not like to step into executive legislative disputes, and they will urge both sides to try to accommodate one another. I think it would only be if the court determined that the Justice Department was really in bad faith would they then hold the attorney general in contempt. CHANG: Let me ask you this. If this matter does land in court, if litigation is actively pursued, that could take months. It could take years even. EPSTEIN: I think the reality is is that the rules of subpoenas right now as we're discussing in many ways work in favor of the executive for the exact reason that you are hinting at in your question, which is they can run the clock. They can probably run the clock on the enforcement question for months, if not years. And they might be able to even run it up to the next election. CHANG: Right. EPSTEIN: Well, so I think it cuts both ways. If the White House wants to stonewall, what they will effectively do is keep the Russia investigation on the front pages up and through the election. And I think it's a very, very bad strategy for the White House. I think just delaying compliance with these subpoenas only is going to increase the resolve of Democrats on the Hill to do more investigations. It's going to keep this issue on the front pages. And I think, in the long run, it's going to work against them. CHANG: Julian Epstein was counsel for the House Judiciary Committee. He's now the CEO of LawMedia Group Inc. Thank you very much for joining us. EPSTEIN: Thanks for having me today. Copyright 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. | https://www.npr.org/2019/05/02/719737153/does-congress-have-the-power-to-hold-ag-barr-in-contempt?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=allthingsconsidered |
What happens when a candidate is dumped during an election campaign? | Every campaign will have exploding candidates but this year has been particularly spectacular. Disendorsements have occurred over comments that are homophobic, Islamophobic, sexist and racist. The most novel example surely goes to Corio Liberal candidate Murray Angus, who was disendorsed, partly for calling his Labor opponent a good bloke. In spite of everyones high court adventures over dual citizenship in 2017, seven candidates have stepped down due to issues around citizenship. The critical date for understanding how this will play out at the ballot box was 23 April. This was the day nominations closed and candidates were declared. Those who are disendorsed after that date will still be on the ballot paper in affected seats. Since the cut off, the Liberal party has disendorsed three lower house candidates (Lyons, Isaac and Wills) while Labor has disendorsed one Senate and one lower house candidate and One Nation has disendorsed one Senate candidate. Lyons is the only one of those lower house seats where the Coalition has a National candidate as an alternative to disendorsed Liberal, Jessica Whelan. Labors lower house disendorsed candidate, Luke Creasey, was running in the seat of Melbourne, which is currently held by the Greens Adam Bandt. All of the Liberals lower house candidates disendorsed after the cut-off date are in marginal Labor seats, which means the Liberals will go to those electorates with no official candidate. So heres the thing: the deadline for candidate nominations has closed, the ballot papers are printed and the pre-polling voting has begun. The removal of a party endorsement makes no difference to their standing as a candidate in the eyes of Australian law. No changes can be made to the list of candidates after the close of nominations at a federal election, according to the Electoral Act. Yes. The name of any candidate who resigns or is disendorsed by a political party will remain on the ballot paper, along with the name of the party that endorsed their nomination. From a process point of view, the ballot papers are the same, voting rules stay the same, and counting the votes stays the same, Phil Diak of the Australian Electoral Commission said. This is why parties try to resist disendorsement because they cannot run another candidate in the seat after nominations have closed. Yes. The most famous case of this was Pauline Hanson, circa 1996. She was disendorsed by the Liberal party under John Howard after comments regarding government entitlements for Indigenous Australians. She went on to win the seat of Oxley. | https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/may/03/what-happens-when-a-candidate-is-dumped-during-an-election-campaign |
Whats the future for Sri Lankas lost population of whales? | These transcendent, haunting images taken by photographer Andrew Sutton in the waters of the western Indian Ocean come close to understanding something of the magnificent and enigmatic sperm whale, an animal which still remains fairly unknowable to us, for all that we have exploited it for 500 years. Dont tell the other cetaceans, but I think sperm whales are the most beautiful mammals on the planet. For millennia they have swum in every ocean, occupied only with their physical and cultural selves. They still hang there, dreaming. And according to the scientist Hal Whitehead, we may even have an inkling of those dreams. Whitehead, who began his work observing sperm whales off Sri Lanka, has done much to advance our knowledge of why, as much as how, these creatures exist. He wonders why they have such big brains and if they think about their existential existence. These are wild ideas, I know, but these wild animals encourage them. Sperm whales turn you a little crazy. They go beyond the superlatives the biggest brain, the deepest diving, the largest-toothed carnivore to become something else. Theirs is a matriarchal society governed by loyalty and a sense of collective individuality in which their system of communicative clicks has an almost extrasensory role. Whatever they are, they are linked by sound, and their selves. Imagine yourself in association with such an animal; to place yourself in physical proximity with her. This is what Suttons photographs do. Blue Planet Live might get us close to the action. But there is something contemplative and, I would suggest, even spiritual about a deep, still photograph that speaks of these deep, still denizens. Diving with Sutton, I have spent time in the water with these animals in Sri Lanka, and the Azores. Weve been echolocated by them. Weve even seen them being hunted by killer whales. Yet for all these close encounters, we are left with a sense of distance even when a whale is barely a metre away (on one occasion in the Azores, we were nearly squashed between a pair of them). The water connects us physically, but disconnects us, too. Theres a gulf of natural and human history between us. It is one of the many ironies about the great whales whom we nearly reduced to extinction in the last century that, as huge as they are, so few of us have seen them. That, as big as they are, they now rely on diminutive humans for their continuance. Sri Lanka has been seen as a possible location for the original Eden, although its recent history has hardly borne that out. Whale-watching from the island has only recently taken off, after the end, in 2009, of the war with the Tamil Tigers (the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or the LTTE), which restricted tourist access to its waters. Endangered North Atlantic right whales experience mini baby boom Read more Trincomalee, on the eastern coast of the island, close to the Jaffna peninsula, was particularly affected. Now it is a magnet for whale-watching, as is the southern tip of Sri Lanka and the rapidly developing resort of Mirissa, where there have been accusations of harassment of whales. The discovery of a third cetacean hotspot on the island is now presenting new problems. Kalpitiya, a peninsula on the west coast of Sri Lanka, has been a kite-surfing venue for a decade or more. The presence of frequently-seen megapods of balletic spinner dolphins up to 2,000 strong has also drawn tourists. It would be hard to deny anyone the joy of these cetaceans a single dolphins trajectory recreated here, like the phases of the moon, in a composite image. Meanwhile, manta rays glide through the same warm waters. Since 2010, the Sri Lankan marine biologist Ranil Nanayakkara has been observing unusually large pods of sperm whales off Kalpitiya from February to April. On one occasion, he counted at least 300 animals in one group. Unlike western nations, Sri Lanka has never had a culture of using whales as a resource until now. The whales that come to this part of the Indian Ocean each spring have hitherto escaped unwanted human attention. Indeed, sperm whales possess their own culture which has seen this sea as a safe place in which to forage, socialise, mate, or even to sleep. Sutton is working with Vanessa Williams-Grey of Whale and Dolphin Conservations (WDC) Project Blueprint to mitigate the effects of human-whale interactions in Sri Lanka. In 2011 there only involved three or four whale-watch operators along Kalpityas 50km stretch of coast. When I lasted visited, in 2017, there were 20. Now there are at least 90. WDCs solution is to set up workshops for responsible whale-watching with local operators and to discuss ways that the fishing community can work around whales. In that process, theyre learning new contexts. Nanayakkara spoke to some of the elder fishermen, who have been working the waters for decades. They recall that the Kalpitiya peninsula was fiercely controlled by the LTTE who monitored catches. Breaking these laws risked a death sentence. Ironically, a violent war helped preserve a fragile peace for these animals. One fisherman observed that the komoduwa the sperm whales appeared to get stronger in numbers, indeed even stronger than before the war when there was more unregulated fishing in the area. Others recall that before the widespread use of outboard motors, the whales were gathering in such dense numbers that the fishermen found it difficult to get out to sea and back. An Edenic scene to conservationists waters filled with whales is a nuisance if youre trying to catch fish. You could walk on water, across their backs, moving from group to group, said one fisherman, as if they could form a bridge away from the troubles. The widespread use of outboards solved a problem for the fisherman, but created a new one for animals whose principal sense is sound. More urgently, Nanayakkara notes that now international film crews and mass tourism are affecting the whales behaviour especially with increasing use of drones. This is the new threat for the animals, he says. When once they were inquisitive and came to the boats, now they spy-hop sticking their head perpendicularly out of the water to look for possible threats and shy away from the mosquito-sound of the speedboats. It remains to be seen whether conservation and awareness schemes can address these issues. Sutton, who has been photographing Sri Lankas whale population for a decade, has noted big changes in the animals behaviour with constant spy-hopping when you are close. With a new 60-bed hotel being built to house visitors, things are set to become less restful for Kalpitiyas cetacean guests. We may not know what sperm whales dream of, but I know what I dream about. Theyre big and grey and I hope they can go on dozing, down there in the big blue sea. | https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/03/what-is-the-future-for-sri-lanka-lost-population-of-sperm-whales |
Could the NC High School Athletic Association add a 5A class? | It looks like North Carolinas high schools could be getting a fifth class soon. Raleigh-based HSOT reported that N.C. HIgh School Athletic Association commissioner Que Tucker made a big announcement at the NCHSAA annual meeting Thursday: Tucker said the association would study adding a fifth class. Currently the NCHSAA has four classes, with the schools in Charlotte-Mecklenburg playing in 4A. If a 5A class is added, many of those Charlotte teams would be 5A. Some, however, would be 4A. On Thursday, Tucker said the NCHSAA Board of Directors -- which meets in December -- will look a plan that would split the 4A class into 4AA and 4A. This is similar to a process already currently done for the football playoffs. The association bylaws, as currently written, require the NCHSAA to operate with four classes. An amendment proposal is expected this fall to add the fifth class. That amendment could be voted on next spring by the NCHSAA member schools. To pass, it would need three-fourths of the schools to vote in favor, slightly more than 300 schools. If the members vote it through, the NCHSAA board would draft a new realignment that would go into effect for the 2021-22 school year. Currently, the association subdivides all of its playoffs, resulting in eight champions from four classes. Under a 5A scenario, Tucker said there would be five championships named. | https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/high-school/preps-blog/article229978669.html |
What are the greatest threats to press freedom around the world? | Open this photo in gallery Journalists hold pictures of Mexican colleague Miroslava Breach during a demonstration to mark the second anniversary of her murder, in front of the headquarters of the state government in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua State, Mexico, on March 23, 2019. HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP/Getty Images Last month, Casimir Kpedjo was arrested at his home in Cotonou, the largest city in Benin. Publishing false information in Nouvelle Economie, the daily newspaper where he serves as managing editor. This came a day after Cuban journalist Roberto Jesus Quinones was reportedly beaten by police after being arrested; Mr. Quinones, who has been harassed and detained by police numerous times, remains in custody. In Azerbaijan, meanwhile, journalist and activist Mehman Huseynov, who chairs the countrys Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety, was temporarily barred from leaving the country; Mr. Huseynov was released from prison in March after a two-year sentence for defamation. In Belarus, a government crackdown on independent media continued when the Minsk offices of the TV station Belsat were raided. All this followed the introduction, on April 1, of sweeping new fake news legislation in Singapore that critics worry will suppress freedom of speech. The threats journalists around the world face are myriad from interference to intimidation to violence. All are equally troubling. In Turkey, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, there were 68 journalists in prison, while in Mexico there are currently 14 classified as missing. Since the start of 2018, more than a dozen journalists from camera operators to producers to reporters have been killed on the job in Afghanistan. Closer to home, they are branded as the enemies of the people by the President of the United States. Below is a selection of their responses. More will appear online and in Saturdays Globe and Mail as part of a special 12-page section on the subject of press freedom, featuring contributions from Globe journalists and our colleagues around the world. The attack was related to my work as a journalist Being a journalist in Hong Kong has always been equated with making an unattractive salary, facing high political pressure and being confronted by a cloudy future. Now, when you add physical danger to the formula, the chilling effect is plain for all to see. On the first day of Hong Kongs annual book fair in July of 2015, I sat signing for readers copies of my new book, Still Standing, for Freedom. Its cover photograph depicted me standing on the pavement at the Quarry Bay seaside where, a year ago, I had been stabbed multiple times. I was hospitalized for five months and endured 4 years of physiotherapy. Two men were subsequently arrested, charged and convicted to 19 years in jail; the court upheld their convictions when they appealed, confirming what I knew: that the attack was related to my work as a journalist. So for my book cover, I made it a point to stand at the place where I was chopped down. Press freedom was at stake. Open this photo in gallery Staff members of Ming Pao hold its newspaper printed on February 27, 2014, in which former chief editor of Ming Pao kevin Lau Chun-to was stabbed, as front page story during a protest outside the Ming Pao office, on February 27, 2014, in Hong Kong. Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images At the book signing, a high-school girl came to speak to me, telling me it was her mission to become a journalist. Her parents, however, were worried after reading the news of my injury, and tried to persuade her to drop her dangerous dream. After a year of struggle and debate, she told me that she was going to go ahead and apply for journalism school. I was very touched, and I thanked God. But my rational mind told me that while this was one student deciding to follow her dream, there might be many more who dont because of the inherent danger of our profession, even in a place like Hong Kong. Kevin Chun-to Lau, former editor-in-chief of the Hong Kong daily newspaper Ming Pao The ways in which the press arent able to be free are wide and overreaching In a region where media freedom has been quashed for many decades, too many systems have been built up that suppress the press and allow regimes to maintain control. Story continues below advertisement The regimes in the region have spent the past several decades building barricades: From education systems that focus on science and belittle the arts to deter young people from independent thinking; to laws that outright criminalize criticism of those in power; to building media empires to broadcast their opinions as fact to the whole population. The ways in which the press arent able to be free are wide and overreaching. From our angle as a political-satire publication that started in Jordan, we see how the thin skin of those in power is dangerous and detrimental to press freedom. Be it a joke or a direct criticism of their actions, they cannot simply shrug it off. Instead they will make sure they teach those who criticized them a lesson. To anyone else, it might be seen as a joke, or a way to discuss what is happening. To them, its always personal, its always a humiliation. As the saying goes in Arabic, the one who has something on his head will keep reaching up to touch it. Combine the thin-skinned person who adamantly believes they are right with a dangerous amount of power and you get systems that will drag an individual to prison for years simply for posting their opinion on Facebook. Isam Uraiqat, editor-in-chief of al-Hudood, The Onion of the Middle East The picture is grim, and the risks are high It was an afternoon much like any other, until four armed officials in plainclothes stormed the Daraj offices to arrest its editor-in-chief without any warrant from any judicial authority. It was obvious the arrest was illegal but out of experience, we decided to comply. We had no idea why our editor was being arrested or where he was being taken. All we knew was that this was serious. Despite the laws protecting freedom of speech in Lebanon and the fact that Beirut is, relatively speaking, the safest city in the region for journalism, the previous months had seen an unprecedented rise in arrests of journalists, activists, bloggers and even comedians. Fabrication of files and torture in custody werent unheard of. Story continues below advertisement Fortunately, we didnt have to worry for long. The whole thing ended with a cup of coffee in the hospitality of a bored general. It was a simple misunderstanding, according to the Interior Minister who, under the pressure of social media, apologized in a tweet a couple of days later. Still, the message was clear, and it wasnt a huge surprise. Daraj [an independent online news site] had just turned one at the time, and it had already been sued and threatened by both local and regional forces. Many of its writers, working in conflict zones or reporting on controversial topics, use pen names to protect their identities. In addition to the threats facing any nascent independent media including the growing risk of being censored, or worse, blocked in major markets, Daraj shares the same challenges faced by any newsroom in the world. Funding and distribution top the list. The picture is grim, and the risks are high, to be sure. But its also certain that there has never been a time when independent journalism was more needed or more possible. Alia Ibrahim, co-founder and CEO of Daraj Media, Lebanon Japanese journalists used to stand up to power, unafraid" The popular narrative around Japanese press freedom is that it has eroded under the rule of conservative leader Shinzo Abe, who is on track to become the countrys longest-serving prime minister. Reporters Without Borderss latest study ranks Japan the lowest among the Group of Seven countries in press freedom because of pressure and a climate of mistrust that critics allege arrived after Mr. Abes return to power in 2012. An oft-cited example is a 2014 letter to national broadcasters in which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party requested fair and balanced election coverage. In these politically charged times, the letter was widely denounced as a threat to journalism and press freedom, suggesting it carried a note of intimidation. And certainly, the government and the Prime Minister have complained of what they say is unfair or biased coverage. Some have even suggested that biased coverage should be punished, without mentioning any specifics. But then again, their response has hardly been aggressive: Journalists are not getting their press credentials revoked or facing blatant threats, as seen elsewhere. It goes without saying that it is imperative for journalists to push back against real government pressure, but there may be a deeper problem now at play. Rather than ignoring it and carrying on with their reporting, complaining about Mr. Abes pressure signals that our journalists will easily cower in the face of any pushback from authorities, rather than fight for the truth. Japanese journalists used to stand up to power, unafraid. In 1972, when then-Prime Minister Eisaku Sato gave his last news conference, he said he wanted to speak directly to the people through television, and told print journalists to leave. The entire press corps left the room in solidarity. Story continues below advertisement Shinzo Abes term ends in two years. Takashi Yokota, deputy managing editor at The Japan Times Journalists are once again targets of intimidation and persecution During more than 20 years of military dictatorship, Brazilian journalists, opposition politicians and academia were systematically censored, persecuted, threatened, tortured and killed. Dictatorship ended in 1985. Thirty-four years later, in comes a democratically elected President, Jair Bolsonaro, who denies the authoritarian character of the military rule. Journalists are once again targets of intimidation and persecution by the government, this time with the help of social media and digital militias, legal suits and virtual lynching. A new form of censorship and harassment has arisen, outsourced to armies of patriotic trolls and amplified by bots on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The President publicly threatens newspapers like Folha de S. Paulo and TV networks like Globo, leading media outlets in the country. Antagonizing the press has become part of the political discourse, just like in many other countries. Story continues below advertisement A plethora of bloggers and websites peddling fake news and distorting real news dominate social media, with the aim of discrediting mainstream media. They are condoned and sometimes promoted by the government. The result is that regular people no longer know what is true and what is fake, what is journalism and what is political spin. At this moment, our biggest challenge is to reaffirm the importance of independent journalism in the middle of this new world of manipulated narratives. Patrcia Campos Mello, reprter especial and editor at large, Folha de S. Paulo I write from exile Beatings, thefts, detentions, equipment confiscations, jail and murder. These are the tools that the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have clamped onto journalism in Nicaragua. The discourse of hatred and isolation against the independent media began when the presidential couple returned to power in 2006. In the last year, the onset of sociopolitical crisis in the country has created an even more dramatic and deadly environment for journalists. The violent escalation against journalists started in the worst way: with the murder of my colleague ngel Gahona on April 21, 2018. The world saw Angel fall as he was doing a Facebook Live report about protests in the city of Bluefields. Arbitrary arrests by police and paramilitaries have become the norm, as has the theft and destruction of journalists equipment. In December, 2018, the Sandinista regime closed and confiscated the publishing house where I work. A week later, it did the same with the Canal 100% Noticias, in a move so harsh that they arrested and continue to hold as political prisoners my colleagues Miguel Mora and Lucia Pineda Ubau. The regimes criminalization of journalism has sent more than 55 reporters into exile. I write from exile; my colleagues who continue to resist in Nicaragua are at the forefront of my mind. I feel we share a determination that helps us to cope with the Ortega-Murillo gag: Our journalism does not falter. We are eager to inform, to analyze and to investigate, especially this dictatorship soaked in the blood of more than 325 Nicaraguans, among them our colleague ngel Gahona. Wilfredo Miranda Aburto is a Nicaraguan journalist working for Confidencial, a specialized investigation and analysis newspaper The government seems to be encouraging a backlash against journalists For a founding member of the European Union, which considers freedom of speech a core and defining value, Italys press-freedom rankings are appalling, clocking in at 46th. Italys journalists, especially those who cover the Mafia and right-wing extremism, have been under siege. And now, the government seems to be encouraging a backlash against journalists. In November of last year, Luigi Di Maio deputy prime minister and leader of the Five Star Movement, which forms half of the ruling coalition said during a news conference that journalists were negligible jackals and represented the true plague of this country." He accused them of generating fake news." Thats in line with Italian watchdog association Ossigeno per linformaziones report that 3,660 journalists have received threats since 2006, with 226 in the last year. A new menace has come to the fore, too: threats from neo-Nazis. Paolo Berizzi, a journalist for the Italian daily La Repubblica, has been living with his family under 24-hour police protection since last February, just for covering the resurgence of extreme right-wing groups in Italy. He has found death threats, swastikas and Celtic crosses scribbled on walls in his home. This all exacerbates the fact that Italy has no laws protecting journalists from attacks, and the libel laws work against them. The crime of aggravated defamation is punishable by six years in jail, the second-longest such punishment in Europe. The threat of a lawsuit against journalists is wielded as an instrument of intimidation, with the costly legal proceedings serving as a de facto gag, especially given that, according to statistics gathered by Italian rights groups, 90 per cent of the more than 5,000 lawsuits for defamation filed against Italian journalists every year are eventually rejected as groundless. Lorenzo Tondo is a Guardian correspondent covering Italy and the migration crisis These lies dont stop at borders Compared to other European countries, the German media is still in good shape. But politicians who dont care about facts and spread rumours and conspiracy theories like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbn and Italys right-wing Interior Minister Matteo Salvini are on the rise, and in todays superintegrated European Union, these lies dont stop at borders. Far-right xenophobic party Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) gained a lot of popular support in 2015, and since then, reporters of the public broadcasters ARD and ZDF have regularly been labelled lying press or Lgenpresse an expression from the Hitler years. According to Reporters Without Borders, 22 reporters were physically attacked during demonstrations in 2018. But in December, one German reporter also made our jobs far more difficult: Claas Relotius, a star writer, was exposed as a fabulist, faking several stories for the countrys most famous publication, the weekly magazine Der Spiegel. By fabricating profiles on Syrian refugees and unflattering stories about Donald Trump supporters, the 32-year-old award-winning Mr. Relotius confirmed all the stereotypes of an elitist, urban, green-voting media bubble. Der Spiegel has suffered the most: Some of its investigative stories have been dismissed by politicians who call them pure Relotius. Its dangerous when reporters are murdered just for getting close to powerful people, and when were assailed for doing our jobs. But the Claas Relotius affair did reveal a dangerous groupthink in German media, and that more needs to be done to ensure accuracy. Matthias Kolb is the Brussels-based EU correspondent for Sddeutsche Zeitung, Germanys leading national newspaper There is a systematic effort to stifle press freedom In Somalia, the greatest threat to press freedom is self-censorship and there are many examples that illustrate this. A local news site published a story with photos showing an office break-in of a senior intelligence official. The story was quickly taken down. A journalist worked on a story about [militant Islamist group] Al-Shabaab men marrying girls as young as 15, sometimes without parental approval. But his editor dropped it. These stories share one common factor fear. Journalists fear death, detentions and torture if they pursue legitimate stories. Dozens of journalists were killed in Somalia in the past decade. Al-Shabaab is blamed for most killings but Western-backed governments do not have a clean record either. Last year, a cameraman was shot dead by a policeman, who remains at large. There is a systematic effort to stifle press freedom. In April, Mogadishus only ambulance service, Aamin Ambulance, was told not to come to bombing sites by police. Journalists see this as an attempt to purge information. The ambulance service was providing journalists with casualty figures. Officials want to sanitize these figures and run them through the health ministry, but the ministry rarely discusses attacks. Government information often contradicts witness accounts. Journalists who report on stories that the government doesnt find flattering are harassed and smeared on social media. Some officials label journalists they dont like as Al-Shabaab sympathizers. Al-Shabaab describes journalists they dont like as non-Islamic media. This malicious effort at suppressing press freedom forces journalists to exercise self-censorship. Harun Maruf is a VOA journalist and co-author of Inside Al-Shabaab: The Secret History of al-Qaedas Most Powerful Ally Business consideration often wins over journalism" On the surface, Ugandas media seem to be enjoying freedom, especially those based in the capital Kampala, which often carry investigative stories, a range of opinions, political talk shows; some feature guests critical of government policies. In reality, however, professional and independent journalism is under threat. The media outside the capital face immense pressure on two fronts: The government and media owners. The government deploys tactics ranging from physical violence and harassment to criminal charges. However, the biggest threat to press freedom in Uganda comes from media owners. The media industry in Uganda grew rapidly following liberalization of the sector in the 1990s, from just two radio stations to now over 300; from one TV station to over 15 today, and from one newspaper to seven and a multitude of online publications. Many termed liberalization of the sector as a victory for freedom of expression, but for me and several journalists in Uganda, it was actually a success for business and politics. Media companies critical of the government have been closed, and so media owners arent willing to stand up to the government because doing so could mean their licences get withdrawn. Business consideration often wins over journalism. Journalists, therefore, apply self-censorship. The desire to maximize profit has resulted in poor pay, reduced investment in training and research. There is outright lack of transparency in decision-making. Many outlets opt for freelance practitioners who are paid on a piecemeal basis. The payments range from 50 US cents to US$5 per story. Salaried practitioners get no other benefits, or protection measures for journalists working in risky areas. Barbara Among is a freelance journalist based in Kampala, Uganda Ethiopian society has not fully embraced the ideals of journalism This year, perhaps as an endorsement of Ethiopia having no journalists in prison for the first time in over a decade, UNESCO is celebrating its 26th edition of World Press Freedom Day in Addis Ababa. Being celebrated by reputable organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists is a new high for a nation that once imprisoned journalists, clamped down on independent newspapers, made the act of investigative journalism treason with bogus anti-terrorism laws, and spied on journalists. However, there are still plenty of challenges for Ethiopian journalists. The greatest threat remains the lack of security to do our work and be the voice of the voiceless, which is the ultimate goal of a journalist, not become the mouthpiece for the government and the powerful. There are many Ethiopian journalists who cant access parts of the nation for fear we might face attacks by the population. Many cant write about certain people for fear of swift reprisal. Many wont pursue investigative reporting, knowing we are vulnerable to random attacks with little protection by the state. This, in a society that has no consensus on the role of journalists between its federal and regional government counterparts, is what hinders our role as journalists. While the era of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has brought a new promise to the nation, Ethiopian society has not fully embraced the ideals of journalism and its profound role as a watchdog of the publics right to know. Samuel Getachew is a journalist with The Reporter newspaper, based in Addis Ababa The government wants a law put in place to punish journalists The threat to press freedom in Zambia is getting more real with the governments plans to fully control the media via statutory regulation. The Minister of Information is pushing for the formation of a media association to which all journalists must belong. After that, the government wants a law put in place to punish journalists for whatever wrongs they might commit in the line of duty. What is surprising is that we already have so many laws, among them contempt of court laws, defamation laws and the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Act that specifically regulates and licenses broadcast media etc. In addition to this, the government is coming up with cyber laws that will further shrink the space for media and civil society. Abuse of social media is one reason being cited. But in reality, the target is clearly online media that are critical of the current government and the party in power. In 2016, a private newspaper, The Post, was closed. In that same year, the government, through the IBA, withdrew licences for two radio stations and a television station over claims of unprofessional reporting. Just last month, another privately owned television station fell victim and had its licence suspended for 30 days by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (it was reinstated five days before the end of the suspension period). These trends are extremely worrying and we hope the government can allow the media to regulate itself, and more importantly, give it more space to operate independently. Added to this is political interference, where most media institutions currently are being controlled and/or are owned by politicians. Joan Chirwa is founder of the Free Press Initiative Zambia | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-what-are-the-greatest-threats-to-press-freedom-around-the-world/ |
What is a local election? And what happened? | Getty Images Adults in England and Northern Ireland have been voting for who they want to represent them in their local area Local elections give adults the chance to choose who represents them in their towns and councils - basically, at a more local level. They took place yesterday in England and Northern Ireland, as adults went out to vote for their mayors and councillors. The voting stopped at 10pm last night. The results are being reported today, with some still being counted. They are showing that fewer people chose to vote for the big main political parties - Conservative and Labour. Instead, many picked candidates from smaller parties like the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party. Experts are saying that this could because people are unhappy with how politicians are handling Brexit. The Lib Dems have gained more than 300 councillors across the country and taken control of several councils. The Conservatives have lost over 400 seats and more than 15 councils, while Labour have also suffered losses. Polls took place for 248 English councils and six mayors, and all 11 councils in Northern Ireland. A total of 8,400 seats were up for grabs in England and 462 seats were contested in Northern Ireland. No local elections took place in Scotland or Wales. Local elections give people the chance to choose the decision-makers who affect their communities. There are several different types of local elections in the UK. That's because the way your local council is organised depends on where you live. (Read on to find out more about that.) Some places in the UK have just one group of councillors who run all sorts of local services. In other areas, responsibilities are split between two or more 'layers' of councillors. Local councillors are in charge of issues like bin collections, public transport, local education and environmental issues in the area. Getty Images Paper votes are counted and a winner is announced When an adult votes in a local election, they will be given a ballot paper listing all the candidates standing to be a councillor in their area. They might be asked to vote for more than one candidate, depending on where they live. For example, in Scotland and Northern Ireland, voters are asked to rank the candidates in order of preference. To enjoy the CBBC Newsround website at its best you will need to have JavaScript turned on. Unlike politicians in the House of Commons who are voted for in a general election, a local council is often elected 'a bit at a time' rather than all in one go. They take place at least every four years and are normally held on the first Thursday in May. Your local government could do one of the following: Elect all the local councillors every 4 years Elect half the local councillors every 2 years Elect one third of the local councillors every year for 3 years and hold no elections in the 4th year Getty Images Whenever adults go to the polls to vote in elections - whether local or general - many people often take their dogs and snap funny photos like this one! Local government will be structured differently depending on where you live. Some of the different types of local government in the UK include: County council District council Borough council Parish council Town council Unitary authority Community council Metropolitan borough London borough Directly elected mayors If you live in London or in one of the big cities in England like Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool, you will have a London Borough or Metropolitan District Council. These councils provide all local services. If you live in Scotland or Wales, you will have a unitary authority. There are also unitary authorities in some medium-sized towns and cities in England. These councils also provide all local services. There are 11 local councils in Northern Ireland. These councils have a range of roles and responsibilities, including providing certain services and representation, from leisure and recreation to recycling and waste management. Getty Images Bin collection and recycling services are run by local councils In some rural or semi-rural parts of England, local government is split between a county council and a district council. They look after things like education services, council tax, libraries, streets and roads, and bin collecting. As well as local councils, the UK also has around 10,000 parish, town and community councils. They are responsible for looking after things like bus shelters, public toilets, bins, public parks and war memorials. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48145189 |
What is osteoarthritis of the knee and how can it be treated? | Pain associated with osteoarthritis of the knee can make it hard to do many daily activities. (Photo: PredragImages, Getty Images) While there are more than 100 types of arthritis, osteoarthritis is by far the most common, affecting nearly 27 million adults in the United States, according to the Arthritis Foundation. And while any joint in the body may be affected by arthritis, it is particularly common in the knee; it distresses the bones, cartilage and soft tissue in the knee joint. According to Harvard Medical School, osteoarthritis of the knee (OAK) will affect at least half of people in their lifetime and is the main reason more than 700,000 people need knee replacements each year in the U.S. Pain associated with OAK can make it hard to do many everyday activities, such as climbing stairs or walking. Left untreated, it is a major cause of lost work time and a serious disability for many people. These symptoms can be managed early on without surgery and with a comprehensive approach, including ZILRETTA, the first and only FDA-approved prescription treatment for osteoarthritis knee pain. OAK takes several years to develop, and it often progresses in stages. It can be hard to treat because symptoms may not appear until the condition has reached an advanced stage. Thats why being on the lookout for any changes in symptoms and other indications that the condition is advancing is important. Symptoms can include increase in pain, swelling and/or tenderness, deteriorating range of motion, cracking or popping sounds, and buckling and locking of the joint. Heres how patients with OAK can maintain mobility and remain active: Medication: If over-the-counter medications arent providing relief, your doctor can give you prescription medication to help ease the pain. ZILRETTA (triamcinolone acetonide extended-release injectable suspension) uses extended-release microsphere technology, studied in multiple clinical trials on hundreds of patients. Microspheres are tiny particles so small that they cant be seen with the naked eye that contain a medicine which reduces pain and inflammation caused by OAK. Once the medicine is injected in the knee, the microspheres remain in the knee joint and slowly release their medicine for about three months. After that, the microspheres break down into carbon dioxide and water, which are both natural in the human body. Dr. Paul Saenz, D.O. at Sports Medicine Associates of San Antonio, said he has helped keep a number of athletes in the game with ZILRETTA, from a 6-year-old gymnast to an 85-year-old golfer, and everything in between. Dr. Saenz also takes ZILRETTA himself. Most patients see improved symptoms in six months, he said, when combined with weight management, exercise and avoidance of activities that are aggravating. The positive stories he hears from patients who tried ZILRETTA and were able to return to an active lifestyle with less pain. The science is compelling and well-executed, he said. Its hard not to believe in it when youre seeing results. Choose exercises that target quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes. These muscles contribute to healthy knee function. (Photo: adamkaz, Getty Images) Exercise: While it may seem counterintuitive, exercise can help keep your joints flexible. And while it may seem difficult to even think about exercising when you are in pain, regular aerobic activity can help improve the strength of your leg muscles, to help you support your knees and manage your knee arthritis. Walking is a great place to start, but if thats too painful, swimming and water aerobics may be good choices because the buoyancy of the water reduces stress on weight-bearing joints. No matter what form of exercise you choose, choose movements that target quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes theyre the muscles that contribute to healthy knee function. Weight loss and a healthy diet: An increase in stored fat cells can speed up the rate that joints break down, especially in those who have other risk factors for arthritis. Its important to maintain a healthy weight by eating an unprocessed, nutrient-dense diet. Losing weight, if needed, can significantly decrease knee pain associated with osteoarthritis. Physical therapy and alternative therapies: A physical therapist can teach you ways to strengthen muscles and increase flexibility in your knee joint, and acupuncture, yoga and tai chi may also be effective. Use a brace: A knee brace can help unload knee pain, keep the joint warm and provide compression and support so you can stay active and pain-free. There are a number of brace models on the market, so talk to your doctor for recommendations on the arthritis brace for you based on your level of activity and usage. Although OAK has no cure, managing its symptoms can slow down joint damage and reduce the potential for disability. If you think you might have knee arthritis, dont delay in getting treatment and seeking medical attention. Talk to your doctor about ZILRETTA and these other tips to return to your active lifestyle. ZILRETTA (triamcinolone acetonide extended-release injectable suspension) is an extended-release corticosteroid approved to manage osteoarthritis knee pain. It is not intended for repeat use. You should not receive a ZILRETTA injection if you are allergic to corticosteroids, triamcinolone acetonide, or any other component of the product. Rare serious allergic reactions Effects in the injected knee such as infection (with pain, swelling and restricted motion) or joint damage Increased chance of getting an infection, and a decreased ability to fight an infection Effects on hormone production. In multiple clinical trials, the most common side effects seen in people taking ZILRETTA were joint pain, headache, joint swelling, back pain, sore throat and runny nose, upper respiratory tract infection, and bruising. Tell your doctor about all of the medications you are taking (including both prescription and over-the-counter medicines) and about any medical conditions, especially if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, ulcers, diverticulitis or other gastrointestinal disorders, kidney problems, diabetes, glaucoma, behavior or mood disorders, and/or infections. Contact your doctor if you develop a fever or other signs of infection, have an increase in pain along with swelling of the injected knee, restriction of joint motion, or a general feeling of discomfort. Contact your doctor immediately if you are exposed to chicken pox or measles, or for any new or worsening changes in behavior or mood. These are not all of the possible side effects with ZILRETTA or corticosteroid medications. Please see the full Prescribing Information at www.ZILRETTALabel.com/PI.pdf. Always contact your doctor if you have questions or experience any side effects. You are encouraged to report side effects to the FDA: Call 1-800-FDA-1088 (332-1088), or visit www.fda.gov/medwatch. You may also report side effects to Flexion at 1-844-FLEXION (353-9466). To learn more about ZILRETTA, visit ZILRETTA.com. Members of the editorial and news staff of the USA Today Network were not involved in the creation of this content. Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sponsor-story/zilretta/2019/05/03/what-osteoarthritis-knee-and-how-can-treated/3640493002/ | https://www.usatoday.com/story/sponsor-story/zilretta/2019/05/03/what-osteoarthritis-knee-and-how-can-treated/3640493002/ |
What Is the Optimal Number of Children to Have? | Read: How well-intentioned white families can perpetuate racism Whether the optimal number of children is greater than zero is a question many researchers have tried to address, and the sum of their work points to a range of variables that seem to matter. One recent paper suggested that becoming a parent does indeed make people happier, as long as they can afford it. And a 2014 review of existing research, whose authors were skeptical of overgeneralizations that most parents are miserable or that most parents are joyful, detected other broad patterns: Being a parent tends to be a less positive experience for mothers and people who are young, single, or have young children. And it tends to be more positive for fathers and people who are married or who became parents later in life. Whats optimal, then, depends on age, life stage, and family makeupin other words, things that are subject to change. While being the parent of a young child may not seem to maximize happiness, parenthood may be more enjoyable years down the line. Indeed, Bryan Caplan believes that when people think about having children, they tend to dwell on the early years of parentingthe stress and the sleep deprivationbut undervalue what family life will be like when their children are, say, 25 or 50. Generally speaking, as much as brothers and sisters bicker, relationships between siblings tend to be positive ones. In fact, theres evidence that having siblings improves young childrens social skills, and that good relationships between adult siblings in older age are tied to better health. (One study even found a correlation between having siblings and a reduced risk of getting a divorcethe idea being that growing up with siblings might give people social toolkits that they can use later in life.) There is, however, at least one less salutary outcome: The more siblings one has, the less education one is likely to get. Researchers have for decades discussed whether resource dilution might be at playthe idea that when parents have to divvy up their resources among more children, each child gets less. Under this framework, going from having zero siblings to having one would be the most damaging, from a child's perspectivehis or her claim to the households resources shrinks by half. But this theory doesnt really hold up, not least because children with one sibling tend to go further in school than only children. Resource dilution is attractive because its intuitive and parsimoniousit explains a lot with a simple explanationbut it's probably too simple, says Douglas Downey, a sociologist at Ohio State University. Many parental resources are probably not finite in the way the theory describes. | https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/05/optimal-best-number-of-children/588529/?utm_source=feed |
Which Kyrie Irving Will Show Up in Game 3 vs. Bucks? | Its not necessarily surprising Kyrie Irving and the Celtics were bottled in Game 2 against the Bucks following a resounding 112-90 victory in Game 1. Bostons struggles on Tuesday mirrored its cycle through much the regular season. The Celtics will look like Finals favorites in the East one night, then fall to a conference cellar dweller the next. They tallied five losing streaks of three-plus games in the regular season, including a trio of losing streaks in the seasons final three months. A dose of consistency over the next two games could give the Celtics a commanding 31 series lead. But dont assume Boston will shed its Jekyll and Hyde tendencies so easily. Irving is largely culpable for the variance in Bostons performance. Such is the burden of a high-usage point guard, though Irving steers the Celtics to a degree unmatched by perhaps any player left in the postseason outside of James Harden. A few early buckets from Irving unlocks Bostons entire attack, especially when they come in the paint. Irvings sheer wizardry with the ball invites exaggerated help. Theres little choice but to pack the paint and pray for blown threes. Six of Al Horfords eight made field goals in Game 1 came directly via an Irving assist. Jaylen Brown has been fed a steady diet of corner threes via Irving this season. Ditto for Marcus Morris and Jayson Tatum, even as the latter continues to settle for long twos. Irvings penetration fuels Boston in the half court. Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images Boston would be well served to run the Irving-Horford two-man game on repeat. The Celtics were an impressive plus-8.9 points per 100 possessions when Horford and Irving shared the floor in the regular season. Theyre plus-12.8 points per 100 possessions with the duo in the playoffs. Milwaukee doesnt have the personnel to contain them. Theres only one Giannis. Horford will glide right past Brook Lopez and Nikola Mirotic. We might as well pull out the Yakety Sax music if Irving isolates Splash Mountain. Horford could stand to be more aggressive on the offensive end. Milwaukee is sagging off his jumper to an alarming degree, leaving Horfords corner jumpers completely uncontested. The five time All-Star shot 36% from three in 2018-19 and 52.3% from 16-22 feet. He should take a note from Morrisone of the leagues preeminent black holesand let it fly, eschewing his unselfish tendencies. Milwaukee made significant adjustments following its Game 1 shellacking. It began to trap Irving on a sizeable chunk or pick-and-rolls, daring the diminutive point guard to make a difficult pass in traffic. Irving is certainly equipped to make the correct play, but navigating through the trees is far more difficult than dancing past a big on an island. Horford is a suitable outlet, yet hes still a bit cautious rolling downhill in the 4-on-3. Hes no Draymond Green in that respect. Irving and Horford combined for eight of Bostons 13 turnovers in Game 2. It was arguably the worst game of Irvings career in Boston. We should see an energized Irving in Game 3. He has no shortage of clutch postseason performances, including a 37-point explosion in Game 2 against the Pacers on April 17. After nailing one of the greatest shots in Finals history, Irving wont be phased by an Eastern Conference semifinal. Irving and Stevens will counter Milwaukees trapping. Tatum and Brown would be worthy pick-and-roll partners, alleviating some of the Bucks length while providing a more athletic playmaker off the roll. Budenholzer made a necessary switch in Game 2. Stevens and Irving will need to do the same on Friday. The last month has been tranquil for Irving after more than a dose of early-season turmoil. Hes proven his playoff mettle through three trips to the NBA Finals, noting on Wednesday, this is what I signed up for. The moment wont bother Irving. The Bucks can. A pivotal Game 3 awaits, with the Celtics hopes hanging on the performance of Uncle Drew. Expect Irving to rise to the occasion. | https://www.si.com/nba/2019/05/03/kyrie-irving-celtics-bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-game-3-nba-playoffs |
Will young voters have their say in South Africa's election? | JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Young South Africans make up the majority of eligible voters who have not registered to take part in next weeks elections, raising concerns over voter apathy barely a generation after many of their parents won the right to vote for the first time. Anthonino D'Amico, a Bachelor of Arts student poses fo a photograph at Wits University campus in Johannesburg, South Africa, April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko The Electoral Commission of South Africa says nearly 27 million people registered to vote on May 8 for a new parliament and provincial legislatures, representing about 75 percent of the eligible population. The commission, however, said it was concerned that about 9.8 million eligible voters who did not register. Of those, about 6 million - more than 60 percent - are under 30 years old. Reuters spoke to some young South Africans to find out why they might sit out the elections, 25 years after members of the countrys black majority cast ballots for the first time, bringing an end to white minority rule. Many said they did not know who to vote for, as they dont trust any of the main political parties to address the issues that matter to them. They complained about a lack of jobs, high crime rates, corruption and poor public services - issues the governing African National Congress (ANC), in power since 1994, has promised to address. Kananelo Makgetha, 23. Makgetha, from the Johannesburg township of Soweto, wont be voting in the elections. The university graduate is too busy trying to find work. I come here to the internet caf, apply for jobs. That also requires for you to have money to print out, buy time at the internet caf, you know what I mean? he said. Thats one of my biggest frustrations. Like, you know for transportation. Where are you gonna take that money from? Obvious Mokwena, 23 Mokwena, who lives in the impoverished Johannesburg township of Alexandra, has been eking out a living as a trolley pusher at a mall in the wealthy financial district of Sandton. We could vote for the political parties that say they are going to provide jobs, but at the same time, we cant vote for what were not seeing, said Mokwena. There are many issues in Alex (Alexandra), such as crime. People commit crimes because they dont have jobs. Theyd rather rob others, because then they can have the bit of money that they want. Solving these issues wont be easy, he said, but the future of the country is at stake. The perpetrators of these crimes are the young generation. They take drugs and commit crimes. Aadil Cajee, 25 Cajee, 25, an actuary with a local insurance company in Sandton, says he wont be voting in the upcoming election as the only party he feels aligns with his interests is the ANC, but he is worried about allegations of government corruption that have been surfacing at a judicial inquiry. I figure therell be corruption in every government. But the problem I find is that having what came out from the commission of inquiry now recently, and still nothings been done, I just find that ridiculous, said Cajee, who is originally from Rustenburg, in the North West Province of South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised that those implicated at the inquiry will face the law. Petronela Mukhine, 20 Mukhine, who is an unemployed resident of Alexandra, doesnt see a point in voting. Theyre all doing the bare minimum, she said of the main political parties. We need change. A lot of people are unemployed, most of them dont have houses. They stay in shacks and its not safe. Slideshow (2 Images) Anthonino DAmico, 19 DAmico, a student at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, who comes from Potchefstroom, a small town in the North West Province of South Africa, said he would vote next week. People that dont vote are in my opinion normally the ones that complain the most. Why would they be the ones that want to complain if they dont try and change what is wrong? | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-election-young-voters/will-young-voters-have-their-say-in-south-africas-election-idUSKCN1S90WO?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29 |
Should the NRA fear losing its 'nonprofit status'? | (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Philip Hackney, University of Pittsburgh (THE CONVERSATION) Oliver North sought a second term as president of the National Rifle Association. It was not to be. NRA first Vice President Richard Childress read a note from North aloud to thousands of the gun groups members at their annual convention in Indianapolis. It relayed news of the retired lieutenant colonels departure and raised the specter of an existential threat to the organization. Im an attorney who has worked for the Internal Revenue Service on legal matters associated with tax-exempt organizations and a professor who studies nonprofit law. It strikes me as unlikely that the IRS would strip the NRA of its tax-exempt status. At the same time, I think its possible that the New York authorities investigating the group might remove officers and members of its 76-member board of directors. There is even a slight possibility, as NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre warned in a fundraising letter, that New York authorities could cause the NRA to shut down forever. But I doubt it. The NRA and the IRS The NRA consists of multiple kinds of entities, including a political action committee and four affiliated charities. But its mainstay, which North led until this leadership showdown, is whats known as a social welfare organization under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code. There is no charitable contribution deduction for paying NRA membership dues or donating to the social welfare organization. Just like a charity, it generally doesnt pay taxes on the money it raises or earns. In exchange for that special status, the NRA must benefit the public according to a very broad definition. Advocacy and education, including about gun safety and gun ownership qualifies. The NRA must also submit mandatory paperwork to the IRS every year. There are a few things the NRA cant do as a nonprofit, too. It cant primarily benefit private individuals through excessive compensation or companies rather than the public. It cant make engaging in politics its main purpose. And it cant break laws, including campaign finance laws. Retaining tax-exempt status Norths vague allegations could point to two primary matters that could run afoul of federal tax law. First, instead of being run to advance NRA missions like to defend and foster the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding Americans, he asserts that the group mainly enriches NRA executives and boosts the bottom line of Ackerman McQueen, an advertising company that runs the NRA TV video channel. The second is admittedly odd given that North was paid by Ackerman McQueen through a contractual relationship. Second, perhaps North is raising concerns related to media reports of allegations that the NRA illegally funneled millions of dollars in Russian money to Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. In the first instance, the IRS or the Tax Court a forum that decides disputes between taxpayers and the IRS could theoretically determine that the NRA overcompensated Ackerman McQueen or any of the groups top officials. In that case, the group or its officials might have to pay fines known as excise taxes for having received improper benefits or knowingly wasted or misdirected money. In the second, the IRS could theoretically determine the NRA was operated for an illegal purpose and revoke its tax exempt status. But, more likely, the IRS would seek assurances from the NRA to take appropriate corrective actions to ensure it doesnt serve as a conduit for foreign campaign cash again. New York probe The NRA is headquartered in Northern Virginia but it has been incorporated as a charitable nonprofit in New York state since 1871. That empowers the states authorities to oversee its operations. Its attorney general can remove nonprofit officers and directors found to have failed to ensure that their organizations follow the rules and behave in a financially sound manner. The states attorney general can even shut down nonprofits that operate for improper or illegal purposes. The IRS hasnt indicated that its investigating the NRA. But New York Attorney General Letitia James has said her office is without disclosing any details. While campaigning for her office in 2018, James vowed to scrutinize the gun group, saying I will use the constitutional power as an attorney general to regulate charities, that includes the NRA, to investigate their legitimacy. The NRA subsequently audited its contractors. When Ackerman McQueen failed to hand over all records requested, the NRA sued. The most prominent similar nonprofit probe to date scrutinized the Trump Foundation. Its being dissolved following a settlement with Jamess predecessor. You might be wondering why the NRA hasnt reincorporated in another state. While it could, that would be costly and complicated. Similarly, should the IRS ever question the NRAs tax-exempt status, the NRA might choose to let it go, like the National Football League did in 2015. Even when nonprofit regulatory authorities detect improprieties, they try to avoid shuttering tax-exempt organizations. They recognize that most people who belong to and support those groups had nothing to do with the wrongdoing. Where possible, they punish wrongdoers without jeopardizing a nonprofits viability. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: http://theconversation.com/should-the-nra-fear-losing-its-nonprofit-status-116233. | https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/Should-the-NRA-fear-losing-its-nonprofit-status-13816232.php |
How will Met Gala 2019 guests translate camp into costumes? | The burning question at the 2019 Met Gala, the starry red carpet event that takes place at the Costume Institute in New York on Monday evening, is not about who is going, or which designer they are wearing. Thanks to this years theme Camp: Notes on Fashion its about how an intellectual concept famously hard to define will work in a celebrity-driven fashion context. The party marks the opening of the Costume Institutes themed annual fashion exhibition and has become the style event of the year. Hosted by the US Vogue editor, Anna Wintour, A-list attendees are invited to interpret the exhibitions theme at will, which this year is based on the 1964 essay, Notes on Camp by Susan Sontag, a 58-point treatise that brought the word and idea into the mainstream. As themes go, it might seem like a logical choice. Fashion is inherently camp and so is the Met Gala, says Jane Tynan, a lecturer in fashion at Central St Martins, so where better to ratify an idea rooted in artifice, frivolity, irony and performance than on a red carpet. But while camp appears with regularity in popular culture indeed, John Waters is expected to appear alongside camp icon Lady Gaga, one of this years co-hosts precisely how guests (or rather their stylists) will translate the concept into a dress or suit has become a hot topic. Rising camp: how an arch sensibility got political Read more To define camp is to kill it. Camp cant be canonised. If it is, then it dies, says Dr David Russell, author and associate professor in English at Corpus Christi, Oxford. Camp is not aimed at the mainstream, so [here] it is at risk of thunderously missing the point. If last years Heavenly Bodies theme centred around liturgical vestments inspired by Catholicism, and was seen as brilliant PR by the church but also a source of controversy, then this years may well do the latter but for different reasons. Tynan agrees: The camp theme fits in a strange and intriguing way with the Met Gala in 2019 in that it reflects the failed seriousness of current structures but one of the criticisms is that there is not sufficient space at a red carpet gala to explore this sufficiently. Still, the pomp surrounding the Met Gala is aptly high given the theme. Tickets can sell for $30,000 each and a table for $275,000, assuming you make the cut that is Anna Wintour, the galas chair since 1995, draws the seating plan in December and is notorious for exercising the power of veto. Asked if there was anything Donald Trump could do to land an invite this year, she said: Absolutely nothing. Lady Gaga, Harry Styles and Serena Williams are confirmed as co-hosts, while the party and exhibition are sponsored by Gucci with all the money from ticket sales going to the Costume Institute. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Anna Wintour, the host of the Met Gala 2019, at a press conference for the Costume Institutes spring 2019 exhibition. Photograph: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Andrew Bolton, the Wendy Yu curator in charge for the Metropolitan Museum of Arts Costume Institute who helps choose the theme, thinks it is less about defining the word and more about opening up a dialogue. We want to try to explain it, and then invite people to make up their minds, he says. It has never lost its ability to be subversive even if its mainstream. In her essay, Sontag writes the essence of Camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration, while also describing it as an esoteric ... a private code. The worry is that the gala will push camp, originally a refuge for marginalised people, even further into the mainstream. Possibly, he says. But just as with the punk exhibition [in 2013], where some people felt we had betrayed it and that punk didnt belong in a museum, the point was precisely the co-option of punk by fashion. Its quite theoretical. Bolton has toyed with the theme since 2017 but settled on it now because he felt camp tended to resurface during political and social turmoil, when society is polarised so of course were in a camp moment, he says. If camp is about failed seriousness and artifice, as Sontag claims, then Trump lends himself well to it, as does Theresa May, and as did Thatcher. Its also, he says, a bit of light relief. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Camp icon Lady Gaga, a Met Gala 2019 co-host, is expected to appear alongside John Waters. Photograph: Christopher Polk/Rex/Shutterstock For the first time in its history, the exhibition will be divided into two parts: the first room will trace the etymological origin of camp, the second will look at the different modes of representation and how they play out in fashion. One is a whispering gallery, the second like an echo chamber. Appearing in the exhibition and likely on the red carpet itself in homage are Paul Poirets comically shaped lampshade dress, Virgil Ablohs irony-laden little black dress dress and a Franco Moschino chemise emblazoned with a question mark which closes the exhibition, the idea being that camp is a question mark, says Bolton. As to how camp fashions will appear on the red carpet is shrouded in secrecy, but alongside these designers, pieces by Mary Quant, Schiaparelli and Jean Paul Gaultier are predicted to make an appearance, while one guest will take a more meta approach: a dress inspired by a mango, by the Spanish retailer Mango. Met Gala 2018: pageantry and performance on the red carpet in pictures Read more Part of camps relevance in 2019 is Sontags approach to challenging nominative conventions of gender and the heightening of gender codes. The androgyne is certainly one of the great images of Camp sensibility, wrote Sontag which, says Bolton, is very relevant in 2019 fashion; for the first time it seems the Met has chosen a theme aimed as much at men as women. I expect well see women in suits, men in dresses, and everything in between. In many ways, courting controversy is the point, particularly if you want to draw headlines. Its a great challenge for the Met Gala to set itself, a great gauntlet to throw down, says Russell. I just wonder if theyll pull it off or whether it will be an orgy of self-congratulation by designers. | https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/may/03/how-will-met-gala-2019-guests-translate-camp-into-costumes |
How do I stop my exs wife ruining our daughters wedding? | You want to protect your children, but they are adults. Dont put yourself at the centre of conflict, says Annalisa Barbieri I separated from my husband 16 years ago. We have two daughters. He went on to marry an aggressive, abusive narcissist who had a hand in rearing our children. She was, by turns, demanding, vicious and loving with them. I distanced myself but encouraged them to build a strong relationship with their father, which they did. One of my daughters recently married, and my exs wife almost destroyed the wedding. She got extremely drunk, heckled the speakers and, when my daughters father was due to give his speech, she took the microphone, making an appalling speech that left the guests gasping in horror. She spoke disparagingly about the couple, me and herself, swearing throughout. We thought she was having a breakdown in public. The charm offensive began the next day with generic apologetic texts and, a week later, expressions of how upset she was by her behaviour. The girls are being bullied into forgiving her. It feels as though my exs wife has a narcissistic cult around her, where everyone has to either collude with her behaviour or be shunned. My other daughter plans to marry and wants her father to give her away, but not if that means his wife comes to the wedding. They have both said it can never happen again. Given that you cant control all the personalities involved, it would be a tall order for you to prevent this happening again. And she wanted you to look, not so much at others behaviour, but your own feelings. Perhaps theres a lot here that may relate to some unresolved feelings about how damaged you felt by the end of your relationship with your ex? she asked I can understand how you want to protect your children against this woman she does sound challenging but your children are adults, and it seems as if youve already given them some great advice by telling them to foster a strong relationship with their father. They seem to know their own minds, as well as what kind of behaviour they will tolerate. There is a limit to how much else you can do, and you may need to be cautious about getting too involved and finding yourself in the middle, between your ex, his wife and your children. Your daughters may well have had to build a relationship with this narcissist (I have no idea if she is or isnt) but youre caught, Abse said, in a family drama and could be at risk of putting the children in a big loyalty conflict. Abse said the best way you can protect your daughters future wedding is to foster an atmosphere of collaboration and positive relationships. This way your daughter who I suspect may feel torn between what she wants to do and what she feels she ought to do can truly decide on what works best for her. It is, after all, her wedding day. I dont know if she has voiced her fears to her father and said, Its you on your own or nothing; but it is likely that she wants her father there, given what youve said. What your ex does is up to him, and I would stay out of it. If your daughter asks your advice, Abse recommended helping her think through the long-term consequences of not having her father there, and the potential for creating a rift. All you can do is help your children manage their stepmother without losing their father. But remember, its your daughters choice who attends her wedding not yours, she said. Given your description of your exs wife, I would take great pleasure in being the calm, supportive one and not putting myself at the centre of any conflict. If you feel the need to vent to someone (and we all do), pick a trusted friend, but keep it from your children and especially the bride-to-be. There may be grandchildren further down the line and other big family occasions. Support your daughters, be neutral, direct your own show. Send your problem to [email protected]. Annalisa regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence. Comments on this piece are premoderated to ensure the discussion remains on the topics raised by the article. Please be aware that there may be a short delay in comments appearing on the site. | https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/may/03/how-to-stop-exs-wife-ruining-daughters-wedding-annalisa-barbieri |
Why Is Trump Suddenly Talking About God? | Finally, Trump has been speaking repeatedly (and dishonestly) about late-term abortion during campaign appearances. Alex Wagner: The Church of Trump By this stage its banal to note the mismatch between Trumpthe coarse, libertine sexual harasserand the American evangelical movement. Its a marriage of convenience: Trump gets support he needs, and evangelicals get a champion of their causes, even if he is not especially Christlike in his bearing. But Trumps statement that he leaned on God during the Mueller probe is notable because its practically unheard of for Trump to speak of God in a personal way like that. (Compare that to his remarks at least years event, which feature nothing similar.) Its not for me to say whether Trumps God talk is sincere, though its hard to imagine it is. Trump has demonstrated his lack of interest in personal devotion many times: He appears never to have regularly attended a church in his adult lifethe Presbyterian congregation he named as his home church during the 2016 campaign said he was not an active memberand he has rarely attended services, other than on Christmas and Easter, since becoming president. He infamously referred to 2 Corinthians at Liberty University in January 2016. He said hes never sought forgiveness from God. If Trump had experienced some sort of religious epiphany since then, its doubtful he would have kept it quiet, given the political advantage hed reap and given how poorly he keeps anything quiet. John Fea: Evangelical fear elected Trump. But for political purposes, Trumps sincerity is beside the point. Its enough to take notice that Trump is speaking about religion so much. One way that God appears to be helping Trump through the ordeal of the Mueller investigation is that, by invoking His name with greater frequency, Trump is managing to retain the support of many voters who might otherwise be disturbed by the special counsels findings. Ironically, even as Trump talks about God moreand claims that more Americans are proudly using His namethe general trend is the reverse. The number of Americans who say they have no religious affiliation continues to rise. Ramping up religious appeals, however, meshes with Trumps demonstrated political strategy of appealing to a base that represents a minority of the electorate and hoping that it can push him across the finish line, just as it did in 2016. The same week as this flurry of religious talk, Trump and Pence also appeared at the NRAs annual convention. Guns, religionit evokes a notorious gaffe by Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign. Referring to small towns in Pennsylvania during a fundraiser in San Francisco, Obama said: They fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And its not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who arent like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. This was a classic Kinsley gaffewhen a politician accidentally tells the truth. Obamas comments were damaging to his own prospects with these voters, but from todays vantage point, they uncannily predict the Trump campaign, which was focused on immigration, xenophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment, religion, protectionism, and the Second Amendment. Perhaps its no coincidence that Trump is talking about God and speaking to the NRA just as his allies signal nervousness about his prospects of winning the state of Pennsylvania again in 2020in other words, the same electorate to which Obama referred on 2008. Voters can cling to guns and religion, but politicians can, too. | https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/05/trump-finds-god-foxhole/588661/?utm_source=feed |
Will the Easter Attacks Open New Fault Lines in Sri Lanka? | It had been the most mundane of mornings in May 1985 when gunmen opened fire on a bus stop in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, spraying bullets into waiting commuters. On their way out of town, the militants stopped to slaughter againthis time at a temple where legend says the giant bodhi (ficus) tree had been planted centuries ago as a shoot from the tree under which the Buddha achieved enlightenment. They killed even an old lady selling flowers, a temple guide told me, still in shock. They shot at beggars. As many as 180 people died that day, including staffers at a nature reserve along the attackers escape route. It was my first reporting experience in Sri Lanka. These were not the first and obviously not the last deaths of innocents on a horrific scale, as the Easter Sunday tragedy in Colombo reminds us. This island nation of just over 21 million people has the highest levels of human development in South Asia but has endured decades of suffering. Thousands have been killed amid contentious politics, ethnic grudges, sectarian violence, and a caste system, an affliction that persists across much of South Asia. Since Sri Lankan independence in 1948, assassinations have decimated the political leadership, and journalists and public intellectuals have disappeared or been murdered. Victims bodies have clogged rivers or been tossed into the sea. As if that were not enough, more than 35,000 Sri Lankans were swept away in the 2004 tsunami that raced across the Indian Ocean after an earthquake off Sumatra in Indonesia. Related Article Sri Lankas Easter Attacks Were Intended to Incite Violence Nawal Arjini What is new about the Easter tragedy is that Islamic terrorism, homegrown or imported, has apparently emerged from the Muslim minority in Sri Lanka, a country dominated by the Sinhalese Buddhist majority and a substantial Hindu Tamil population. There are Christians on both sides of the Sinhala-Tamil divide. Civil conflicts have never before been solely religious or racial. The shock of Islamic terrorism will resonate across South Asia, nowhere more than in India, where a Hindu nationalist government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in the middle of elections. Surveys show that Indias 200 million Muslims have been held back educationally, economically, and socially. In recent years Hindu extremists have murdered Muslims on false claims that they were harming cattle, a sacred icon for Hindus, and other offenses. Kashmiri Muslims, who are seeking independence from or significant autonomy within India, are living under martial law. In Sri Lanka, the attacks could open religious fissures where none existed, and in India, Hindu nationalists could use them as an excuse to further divide and oppress. Sri Lanka, today arguably the most diverse country in South Asia, was ruled by native kings when Arabs from across the Indian Ocean established footholds for trade in spices more than 1,000 years ago. They named the island Serendip, from which the English word serendipity derives. Some settled and were the forerunners of todays Muslim minority. The Portuguese arrived at the start of the 16th century, bringing Roman Catholicism, with its exquisite Iberian-inspired churches. The island got another new name: Ceylon, from the Portuguese Ceilo. Then came the Dutch in the 17th century. They brought strict Protestantism and built sturdy churches, houses, and administrative buildings. A new ethnic designation, Burgher, entered the mix and is still claimed by people of European descent. In 1833, after the British defeated the last of the indigenous kingdoms, the island became a full-fledged colony, separate from British India. Without any fighting, Britain granted it independence in 1948, and 24 years later, it got another new name: Sri Lanka. The descent into a poisonous linguistic/ethnic hatred and civil warfare began in 1956, when Prime Minister Solomon W.R.D. Bandaranaike of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (an Oxford University graduate) succumbed to pressure from the majority Sinhalese population and declared Sinhala the countrys only official language. Three years later violence against Tamils, whom the Buddhist Sinhalese claimed were getting too many government jobs, claimed more than 200 lives. Many Tamil civil servants, Hindus, and Christians had been educated in English by the British and in American missionary schools in Jaffna, the Sri Lankan Tamil homeland and center of Tamil culture. They spoke Tamil and English, rarely Sinhala as a first language. (Other Tamil speakers not connected to Jaffna were brought in as laborers to the tea plantations in the islands central hills; they are called Indian Tamils.) Less than a decade later, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist movement, took shape in Jaffna, with support and safe houses in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Under Velupillai Prabhakaran, a ruthless warlord, the Tigers soon eliminated the more moderate Tamil leaders to create a rebel-controlled area in the north and east of the island. Those of us who visited Prabhakarans domain saw a virtual open-air prison under a regime that enforced mindless obedience, including a vow of suicide to avoid detention, and total militarization. Jaffna University scholars were targeted for harassment and sometimes death. Years later, the LTTE killed Sri Lankas leading human-rights lawyer, Neelan Tiruchelvam, as he was being driven to his office in Colombo. He was a Tamil who had devoted his life to studying ethnic conflict and tried to build bridges among Sri Lankan communities and cultures. Open civil war between north and south began on a large scale in July 1983 after 13 Sri Lankan soldiers were gunned down in an ambush near Jaffna and President J.R. Jayewardene allowed their bodies to be taken to Colombo for last rites, setting off cataclysmic rage among the Sinhalese. Estimates of Tamil deaths in Buddhist-controlled areas around this time ranged from the mid-hundreds to several thousand. Amitava Kumar This critical failure of Buddhist leadership presaged other missteps. It is telling that the current government or at least its security forces were warned several times by foreign intelligence agencies about attacks being planned for this Easter Sunday but did not act in time. Over the years, the alienation and abuse of Tamils drove many into a potent diaspora. Jaffna Tamils became prominent in law and politics in Singapore and Malaysia. There and in the West, they were effective fundraisers, often through extortion, and propagandists for the LTTE. The inward-looking Sri Lankan government could never compete on the international stage. As the war between the government and Tamil rebels continued, a violent leftist Sinhalese movement, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (Peoples Liberation Front), was resurrected among students and other disaffected youths. It was given added strength when India and the Jayewardene government reached an agreement to send 45,000 Indian peacekeeping troops to the Jaffna area in 1987. It proved a fatal mistake; the LTTE turned its wrath on the Indians, killing more than a thousand of them before the force was withdrawn in 1990. The LTTE sustained the war until its bloody, humiliating defeat by Sri Lankan government forces in 2009, with horrific human-rights abuses on both sides. President Mahinda Rajapaksa crowed and showed not a shred of sympathy or expression of humanity for the tens of thousands of lives lost over more than three decades. There were instead calls to raise Buddhist flags over Jaffna. Before the war ended, there was one more death, a historic one. Rajiv Gandhi, a former prime minister of India, was in Tamil Nadu in May 1991, hoping to return to office. He had regretted the role his mother, Indira Gandhi, played in covert and sometimes overt support for Sri Lankas rebels. They, in return, had not forgotten his decision to send Indian troops to Jaffna to disarm and humiliate them. Near the end of a long day on the campaign trail, a young woman bearing a garland knelt to touch Rajiv Gandhis feet. As she bent, she ignited a suicide vest, blowing him to pieces. She was a Tamil sent on this errand by the LTTE, whose leader had never forgiven him. Indias venerable Congress Party has not been the same since. Sri Lanka has long an irritant to India for its pro-Western and, more recently, pro-Chinese policies. It is hard to imagine India standing aside if Muslims appear to be bringing Islamic radicalism into the region. After the Easter massacre, Tisaranee Gunasekara, a Sri Lanka journalist and political analyst, wrote in Himal Southasian, an online journal, that Sri Lankan Muslims, while at times the victims of violence, had never employed retaliatory attacks until they felt the sting of Islamophobia. The attack by Muslims on Christian churches in the name of religion, Gunasekara wrote, opened another, new divide in Sri Lankan society. The Easter Sunday massacre marks a turning point because it is the first religion-inspired suicide bombing in Sri Lanka, he wrote. And in a cruel irony, it involved the countrys two most politically peaceful communities, thereby creating a faultline where none existed. | https://www.thenation.com/article/sri-lanka-history-violence/ |
Subsets and Splits
No saved queries yet
Save your SQL queries to embed, download, and access them later. Queries will appear here once saved.