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<p>Second only to Miami-Dade, Broward is the biggest county in the crucial swing state of Florida. And like Miami-Dade, registered Republicans are a vanishing species. By a 2-to-1 ratio of 508,000 to 252,000, Democrats enjoy a massive advantage over the GOP.</p>
<p>Currently, election supervisor Dr. Brenda Snipes, a Democrat originally appointed by — get this — Jeb Bush, is fighting <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-sb-broward-voter-lists-challenged-federal-court-20170724-story.html" type="external">a federal lawsuit</a> over the county's apparent refusal to clean up its voter rolls. The suit, filed by the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) claims that their own audit shows that Broward County "has had more voters on its rolls than eligible voting-age residents, or at the very least, that it has close to a 100 percent voter registration[.]"</p>
<p>In other words, when people die, are convicted of a felony, move elsewhere, or file false registration forms, nothing or not enough is being done to remove them from the voter rolls. What this means is that if this person, or someone claiming to be this person, walks in to vote, the fact that they are on the rolls makes it next to impossible to stop them from casting an illegal vote.</p>
<p>Anyone who lived through the 2000 presidential recount does not need me to explain how just a few hundred votes can change the outcome of everything, especially in Florida.</p>
<p>For her part, Snipes claims she has been cleaning up the voter rolls and even admits that the lawsuit has prompted her to do a better job. But the most important part of the Sun Sentinel story is, naturally, buried under a dozen or so paragraphs, the part where Snipes admits under oath that people are voting illegally in Broward County.</p>
<p>"Some of them are not eligible to vote and they slip through," Snipes said.</p>
<p>And there you have it… In the very state where just 17 years ago the American presidency was decided by a mere 537 votes, the Supervisor of Elections admits that illegal voting takes place.</p>
<p>Later in her testimony, Snipes tried to clean up her mess with this non sequitur, “When it does happen, we try to jump on it right away.”</p>
<p>I'm sorry, but what does that even mean? You have just said that those who vote illegally "slip through." How can you "jump on it right away" after they have already "slipped through" and cast an illegal ballot that almost certainly benefited a Democrat?</p>
<p>If the local media is burying this bombshell, you can only imagine the radio silence in the national media.</p>
<p>Cover up. Cover up. Cover up.</p>
<p>Follow John Nolte on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/NolteNC" type="external">@NolteNC</a>. Follow his Facebook Page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JohnNolteNC/?skip_nax_wizard=true" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>Additional Daily Wire reading:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Nearly 2 Million Non-Citizen Hispanics Registered to Vote</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">WaPo Publishes Study That Claims Millions of Illegal Aliens Vote</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Study Shows Up To 5.7 Million Illegals Voted In Presidential Election</a></p> | Swing State BOMBSHELL: Democrat Election Official Admits Illegal Votes 'Slip Through' | true | https://dailywire.com/news/19257/swing-state-bombshell-democrat-election-official-john-nolte | 2017-08-02 | 0right
| Swing State BOMBSHELL: Democrat Election Official Admits Illegal Votes 'Slip Through'
<p>Second only to Miami-Dade, Broward is the biggest county in the crucial swing state of Florida. And like Miami-Dade, registered Republicans are a vanishing species. By a 2-to-1 ratio of 508,000 to 252,000, Democrats enjoy a massive advantage over the GOP.</p>
<p>Currently, election supervisor Dr. Brenda Snipes, a Democrat originally appointed by — get this — Jeb Bush, is fighting <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-sb-broward-voter-lists-challenged-federal-court-20170724-story.html" type="external">a federal lawsuit</a> over the county's apparent refusal to clean up its voter rolls. The suit, filed by the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) claims that their own audit shows that Broward County "has had more voters on its rolls than eligible voting-age residents, or at the very least, that it has close to a 100 percent voter registration[.]"</p>
<p>In other words, when people die, are convicted of a felony, move elsewhere, or file false registration forms, nothing or not enough is being done to remove them from the voter rolls. What this means is that if this person, or someone claiming to be this person, walks in to vote, the fact that they are on the rolls makes it next to impossible to stop them from casting an illegal vote.</p>
<p>Anyone who lived through the 2000 presidential recount does not need me to explain how just a few hundred votes can change the outcome of everything, especially in Florida.</p>
<p>For her part, Snipes claims she has been cleaning up the voter rolls and even admits that the lawsuit has prompted her to do a better job. But the most important part of the Sun Sentinel story is, naturally, buried under a dozen or so paragraphs, the part where Snipes admits under oath that people are voting illegally in Broward County.</p>
<p>"Some of them are not eligible to vote and they slip through," Snipes said.</p>
<p>And there you have it… In the very state where just 17 years ago the American presidency was decided by a mere 537 votes, the Supervisor of Elections admits that illegal voting takes place.</p>
<p>Later in her testimony, Snipes tried to clean up her mess with this non sequitur, “When it does happen, we try to jump on it right away.”</p>
<p>I'm sorry, but what does that even mean? You have just said that those who vote illegally "slip through." How can you "jump on it right away" after they have already "slipped through" and cast an illegal ballot that almost certainly benefited a Democrat?</p>
<p>If the local media is burying this bombshell, you can only imagine the radio silence in the national media.</p>
<p>Cover up. Cover up. Cover up.</p>
<p>Follow John Nolte on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/NolteNC" type="external">@NolteNC</a>. Follow his Facebook Page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JohnNolteNC/?skip_nax_wizard=true" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>Additional Daily Wire reading:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Nearly 2 Million Non-Citizen Hispanics Registered to Vote</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">WaPo Publishes Study That Claims Millions of Illegal Aliens Vote</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Study Shows Up To 5.7 Million Illegals Voted In Presidential Election</a></p> | 599,200 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Obama is trying to seize the advantage in the heated dispute over the contentious issue while Congress is on a Thanksgiving recess and Republicans scramble to coalesce behind a unified opposition strategy.</p>
<p>The president was scheduled to speak to Chicago community leaders, part of an ongoing effort to defend and promote his decision to bypass Congress and direct sweeping executive actions that could spare millions of immigrants illegally in the United States from being deported.</p>
<p>Obama will speak at a center in the city’s predominantly Polish-American far northwest side, underscoring how his immigration measures would affect more than Latino immigrants. Chicago has the largest population of Poles in the United States.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Under a series of measures Obama announced last week, nearly 5 million immigrants will be eligible to avoid deportation and sign up for work permits. The number who could benefit represents about 45 percent of the total number of immigrants who either entered the country illegally or have overstayed their visas.</p>
<p>Republicans have vowed to rein Obama in, but have not fallen behind any specific plan.</p>
<p>Obama has called on Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul that he has said would render his executive actions moot.</p>
<p>Chicago is Obama’s hometown — he worked in the city as a community organizer in the 1980s — and its metropolitan area has the fifth largest Latino population in the country.</p>
<p>The White House says Obama will draw attention to the contributions of immigrants and their role in creating businesses and jobs and will cite economic estimates from the White House that the executive actions would boost the economy and expand the tax base.</p>
<p>The Chicago visit is his second trip out of Washington to draw attention to his actions since he announced them Thursday. Last Friday, the president spoke in Las Vegas, another city with a large Latino population.</p>
<p>Obama has a mixed history in Chicago over the question of immigration. He conceded in his 2006 book “The Audacity of Hope” that his experiences there led him to reflect on the meaning of citizenship and “my sometimes conflicted feelings about all the changes that are taking place.”</p>
<p>In 2006, when he was a senator from Illinois, he denied a request from about 30 Mexican nationals living in Chicago for a special piece of legislation that would protect them from deportation. The decision infuriated immigration activists in the city.</p>
<p>But Obama has also backed an overhaul of immigration law, and while he initially angered advocacy groups by delaying his executive actions until after this month’s midterm elections, last week’s measures have generally been greeted with enthusiasm from immigration advocates and Latino groups.</p> | President Obama heads to Chicago to pitch immigration steps | false | https://abqjournal.com/501528/president-obama-heads-to-chicago-to-pitch-immigration-steps.html | 2least
| President Obama heads to Chicago to pitch immigration steps
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<p />
<p>Obama is trying to seize the advantage in the heated dispute over the contentious issue while Congress is on a Thanksgiving recess and Republicans scramble to coalesce behind a unified opposition strategy.</p>
<p>The president was scheduled to speak to Chicago community leaders, part of an ongoing effort to defend and promote his decision to bypass Congress and direct sweeping executive actions that could spare millions of immigrants illegally in the United States from being deported.</p>
<p>Obama will speak at a center in the city’s predominantly Polish-American far northwest side, underscoring how his immigration measures would affect more than Latino immigrants. Chicago has the largest population of Poles in the United States.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Under a series of measures Obama announced last week, nearly 5 million immigrants will be eligible to avoid deportation and sign up for work permits. The number who could benefit represents about 45 percent of the total number of immigrants who either entered the country illegally or have overstayed their visas.</p>
<p>Republicans have vowed to rein Obama in, but have not fallen behind any specific plan.</p>
<p>Obama has called on Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul that he has said would render his executive actions moot.</p>
<p>Chicago is Obama’s hometown — he worked in the city as a community organizer in the 1980s — and its metropolitan area has the fifth largest Latino population in the country.</p>
<p>The White House says Obama will draw attention to the contributions of immigrants and their role in creating businesses and jobs and will cite economic estimates from the White House that the executive actions would boost the economy and expand the tax base.</p>
<p>The Chicago visit is his second trip out of Washington to draw attention to his actions since he announced them Thursday. Last Friday, the president spoke in Las Vegas, another city with a large Latino population.</p>
<p>Obama has a mixed history in Chicago over the question of immigration. He conceded in his 2006 book “The Audacity of Hope” that his experiences there led him to reflect on the meaning of citizenship and “my sometimes conflicted feelings about all the changes that are taking place.”</p>
<p>In 2006, when he was a senator from Illinois, he denied a request from about 30 Mexican nationals living in Chicago for a special piece of legislation that would protect them from deportation. The decision infuriated immigration activists in the city.</p>
<p>But Obama has also backed an overhaul of immigration law, and while he initially angered advocacy groups by delaying his executive actions until after this month’s midterm elections, last week’s measures have generally been greeted with enthusiasm from immigration advocates and Latino groups.</p> | 599,201 |
|
<p>You may think any business built around water heaters is destined to be pretty boring (and you may be right), but A.O. Smith (NYSE: AOS) doesn't care much for flair. You may not either after considering the stock has easily outpaced the returns of Amazon and Apple since focusing all of its bandwidth on core opportunities in 2011.</p>
<p>The company has achieved its impressive growth on the backs of the quickly growing ranks of China's middle class. That's because one of the first purchases made by a household with newly disposable income is a quality water heater. Turns out, people like the luxury of warm water. And unlike the North American market, which is supported almost entirely by replacing old water heaters, many households in China are purchasing their first systems. Ever.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>While China is poised to become a $1 billion market for A.O. Smith in the next few years thanks to continued growth of the middle class, management thinks another country could represent a long-term opportunity as large as China -- and one of the biggest barriers to growth was just removed.</p>
<p>The 30,000-foot view of A.O. Smith's growth strategy is pretty simple: Find countries adding middle class households at a furious pace and sell them quality products that are staples of modern living. That leads to a pretty obvious successor to China for the next blockbuster market, although management hasn't exactly been shy about its ambitious growth plans for India.</p>
<p>There are some encouraging parallels. Consider that in 2003 China accounted for just $50 million in revenue, which <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/04/19/have-investors-been-overlooking-a-o-smith-corp.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e8e258cc-9801-11e7-9636-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">lept to $888 million in 2016</a>. Compare that to India, which notched just $18 million in revenue last year, but is expected to grow in excess of 30% in 2017.</p>
<p>Growing from $18 million in annual revenue to over $1 billion will take a lot of time, but investors shouldn't write it off as wishful thinking. Ajita Rajendra, the company's CEO, is from India and more than familiar with the country's cultural norms and economic policies. The latter have been some of the biggest obstacles for both foreign investment and growth of the middle class, both of which have lagged behind China's success.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>But the nation just took a big leap forward.</p>
<p>On July 1, India overhauled its tax system in an effort to modernize the economy and grow government revenue by increasing the reliability of tax collection, rather than rates -- a big step for a largely informal economy. The new Goods and Services Tax (GST) replaces a complex web of over 500 indirect taxes across the country's 29 states with just one national value-added tax collected at the point of consumption.</p>
<p>That means everything from food to fertilizer to smartphones is now accompanied by its own unique tax rate across the entire country of India, rather than varying from state to state.&#160;Under the old system, truck drivers were often stopped at each state border crossing to fill out paperwork and pay local taxes.</p>
<p>Despite epic technology glitches from the initial rollout of GST (that have fueled equally epic memes on social media), modernizing the tax system should be a big boon to growing India's domestic trade and middle class by boosting domestic consumption.</p>
<p>That alone would have major indirect implications for A.O. Smith. Successful tax reform could increase the amount of available middle-class households, and therefore customers, sooner. That could lead the company to invest more resources aimed at growing its brand presence in India sooner.</p>
<p>What may that look like? Well, A.O. Smith's first&#160;Chinese production facility is opening in the first half of 2018. While India is only expected to notch $24 million in revenue in 2017 -- hardly enough to justify a new manufacturing facility in the country -- the company is also well-positioned to take bigger risks.</p>
<p>Management has learned valuable lessons from implementing the growth strategy in China, is making a big <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/15/heres-where-ao-smiths-management-sees-its-next-gro.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e8e258cc-9801-11e7-9636-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">push to diversify the portfolio</a>&#160;with products that didn't exist a few years ago (which may be valuable in Indian households), and is supported by record levels of financial flexibility. That could give management all the confidence it needs to make a major investment well before revenue from India hits $888 million.</p>
<p>Whether $100 million or $500 million in annual revenue is needed to justify a similar investment in the new market can be debated, but that's also not the point. Tax reform means investors should have a newfound confidence in the growth potential of India and the company's ability to achieve it sooner.</p>
<p>China will become the company's next $1 billion market in the next few years, and will likely become the largest market early next decade. That makes China a difficult act for India to follow, especially for a country with distinctly different cultural and political norms. Yet, while turning India into another formidable growth opportunity won't be easy, the new nationwide tax reform was a necessary step for A.O. Smith to achieve its ambitious goals. Now it needs to capitalize by tweaking its growth strategy and executing -- and navigating the unique risks the country poses.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than A. O. SmithWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=c0dd09c1-9c53-4d94-a938-054b881b37c2&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e8e258cc-9801-11e7-9636-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks</a> for investors to buy right now... and A. O. Smith wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=c0dd09c1-9c53-4d94-a938-054b881b37c2&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e8e258cc-9801-11e7-9636-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of September 5, 2017</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than A. O. SmithWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=c0dd09c1-9c53-4d94-a938-054b881b37c2&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e8e258cc-9801-11e7-9636-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks</a> for investors to buy right now... and A. O. Smith wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=c0dd09c1-9c53-4d94-a938-054b881b37c2&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e8e258cc-9801-11e7-9636-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of September 5, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFBlacknGold/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e8e258cc-9801-11e7-9636-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Maxx Chatsko</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon and Apple. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e8e258cc-9801-11e7-9636-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p> | Did This Epic Growth Stock's Next $1 Billion Opportunity Just Open Up? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/09/14/did-this-epic-growth-stocks-next-1-billion-opportunity-just-open-up.html | 2017-09-14 | 0right
| Did This Epic Growth Stock's Next $1 Billion Opportunity Just Open Up?
<p>You may think any business built around water heaters is destined to be pretty boring (and you may be right), but A.O. Smith (NYSE: AOS) doesn't care much for flair. You may not either after considering the stock has easily outpaced the returns of Amazon and Apple since focusing all of its bandwidth on core opportunities in 2011.</p>
<p>The company has achieved its impressive growth on the backs of the quickly growing ranks of China's middle class. That's because one of the first purchases made by a household with newly disposable income is a quality water heater. Turns out, people like the luxury of warm water. And unlike the North American market, which is supported almost entirely by replacing old water heaters, many households in China are purchasing their first systems. Ever.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>While China is poised to become a $1 billion market for A.O. Smith in the next few years thanks to continued growth of the middle class, management thinks another country could represent a long-term opportunity as large as China -- and one of the biggest barriers to growth was just removed.</p>
<p>The 30,000-foot view of A.O. Smith's growth strategy is pretty simple: Find countries adding middle class households at a furious pace and sell them quality products that are staples of modern living. That leads to a pretty obvious successor to China for the next blockbuster market, although management hasn't exactly been shy about its ambitious growth plans for India.</p>
<p>There are some encouraging parallels. Consider that in 2003 China accounted for just $50 million in revenue, which <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/04/19/have-investors-been-overlooking-a-o-smith-corp.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e8e258cc-9801-11e7-9636-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">lept to $888 million in 2016</a>. Compare that to India, which notched just $18 million in revenue last year, but is expected to grow in excess of 30% in 2017.</p>
<p>Growing from $18 million in annual revenue to over $1 billion will take a lot of time, but investors shouldn't write it off as wishful thinking. Ajita Rajendra, the company's CEO, is from India and more than familiar with the country's cultural norms and economic policies. The latter have been some of the biggest obstacles for both foreign investment and growth of the middle class, both of which have lagged behind China's success.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>But the nation just took a big leap forward.</p>
<p>On July 1, India overhauled its tax system in an effort to modernize the economy and grow government revenue by increasing the reliability of tax collection, rather than rates -- a big step for a largely informal economy. The new Goods and Services Tax (GST) replaces a complex web of over 500 indirect taxes across the country's 29 states with just one national value-added tax collected at the point of consumption.</p>
<p>That means everything from food to fertilizer to smartphones is now accompanied by its own unique tax rate across the entire country of India, rather than varying from state to state.&#160;Under the old system, truck drivers were often stopped at each state border crossing to fill out paperwork and pay local taxes.</p>
<p>Despite epic technology glitches from the initial rollout of GST (that have fueled equally epic memes on social media), modernizing the tax system should be a big boon to growing India's domestic trade and middle class by boosting domestic consumption.</p>
<p>That alone would have major indirect implications for A.O. Smith. Successful tax reform could increase the amount of available middle-class households, and therefore customers, sooner. That could lead the company to invest more resources aimed at growing its brand presence in India sooner.</p>
<p>What may that look like? Well, A.O. Smith's first&#160;Chinese production facility is opening in the first half of 2018. While India is only expected to notch $24 million in revenue in 2017 -- hardly enough to justify a new manufacturing facility in the country -- the company is also well-positioned to take bigger risks.</p>
<p>Management has learned valuable lessons from implementing the growth strategy in China, is making a big <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/15/heres-where-ao-smiths-management-sees-its-next-gro.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e8e258cc-9801-11e7-9636-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">push to diversify the portfolio</a>&#160;with products that didn't exist a few years ago (which may be valuable in Indian households), and is supported by record levels of financial flexibility. That could give management all the confidence it needs to make a major investment well before revenue from India hits $888 million.</p>
<p>Whether $100 million or $500 million in annual revenue is needed to justify a similar investment in the new market can be debated, but that's also not the point. Tax reform means investors should have a newfound confidence in the growth potential of India and the company's ability to achieve it sooner.</p>
<p>China will become the company's next $1 billion market in the next few years, and will likely become the largest market early next decade. That makes China a difficult act for India to follow, especially for a country with distinctly different cultural and political norms. Yet, while turning India into another formidable growth opportunity won't be easy, the new nationwide tax reform was a necessary step for A.O. Smith to achieve its ambitious goals. Now it needs to capitalize by tweaking its growth strategy and executing -- and navigating the unique risks the country poses.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than A. O. SmithWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=c0dd09c1-9c53-4d94-a938-054b881b37c2&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e8e258cc-9801-11e7-9636-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks</a> for investors to buy right now... and A. O. Smith wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=c0dd09c1-9c53-4d94-a938-054b881b37c2&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e8e258cc-9801-11e7-9636-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of September 5, 2017</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than A. O. SmithWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=c0dd09c1-9c53-4d94-a938-054b881b37c2&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e8e258cc-9801-11e7-9636-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks</a> for investors to buy right now... and A. O. Smith wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of September 5, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFBlacknGold/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e8e258cc-9801-11e7-9636-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Maxx Chatsko</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon and Apple. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e8e258cc-9801-11e7-9636-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p> | 599,202 |
<p />
<p>The last decade has not been kind to investors in three-dimensional printer manufacturer 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD). Will the next 10 years be any kinder?</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>From August 2006 to August 2016, 3D Systems' stock almost made <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/07/1-stock-for-investing-in-3d-printing.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">a complete (short) circuit Opens a New Window.</a>, rising from a single-digit stock price to approach $100 a share, only to lose nearly all of its gains and end up close to where it began. Now, as we peer into the future, we've asked three Fool contributors to dust off their crystal balls and predict what the next decade might hold for 3D Systems.</p>
<p>Here's what they came up with.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a>: There's little denying that the past two-and-a-half years have been miserable for shareholders of 3D Systems. A slowdown in enterprise orders, which was likely precipitated by some mixture of slowing U.S. economic growth, increased 3D printing competition, and the desire of enterprise customers to see what new products could soon be coming to market, has weighed on the industry. So, what's next for an industry giant like 3D Systems? That's the big question.</p>
<p>As is often the case with next-generation technology, investors overestimate its immediate impact and bid company valuations well beyond a reasonable level. In my opinion, 3D Systems could be thriving 10 years from now, but not before undergoing a few major transformations first.</p>
<p>For example, in late 2015, 3D Systems announced the end of its entry-level 3D printer, the Cube, after demand proved lukewarm at best. Wall Street had been banking on consumer-level adoption of 3D printers as one of their strongest growth drivers, but it doesn't appear that'll happen anytime soon. Though the move only reduced revenue by about 2%, ending the consumer line took the wind right out of shareholders' sails. It's possible we could see 3D Systems move away from other ventures, too, after it figures out which products and segments offer the best bang for the buck.</p>
<p>Let's not forget that 3D Systems purchased more than 30 companies between 2009 and 2012, and it takes time to integrate those businesses to realize cost synergies and understand how those products can best impact 3D Systems' customers. We may still be witnessing the disorganization created by 3D Systems' half-decade-long buying spree. I should hope that in 10 years 3D Systems has abandoned its M&amp;A-focused growth strategy and chosen to grow organically.</p>
<p>Where I believe 3D Systems has an opportunity to really shine is in healthcare. Baby boomers are aging, and the U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by 2050we'll have 83.7 million elderly Americans, up from around 43 million in 2012. That means more people reliant on medicine and medical devices to make their lives easier. That's where the ongoing push to personalize medicine comes into play. 3D Systems is developing everything from implants to dental aligners and hearing aids for the healthcare industry. Furthermore, it should have no problem maintaining its pricing power on the healthcare side of the equation thanks to rising costs from prescription drugmakers.</p>
<p>If healthcare solutions become 3D Systems' most robust industry in 10 years, my forecast would be to expect the stock to be notably higher then than it is now.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/tmfditty/info.aspx?source=iapsitlnk0000002" type="external">Rich Smith Opens a New Window.</a>: Notably higher? That's one possible outcome, I suppose -- but it's not the one I'd predict.</p>
<p>Remember, while most of us only became familiar with <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/04/05/will-the-3-d-printing-revolution-conquer-your-offi.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">the 3D printing revolution Opens a New Window.</a>in industry a few short years ago, 3D Systems' stock has been around a lot longer. For most of the company's history, though, it's been pretty much a dud, with a stock price stuck in the single digits.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/DDD/total_return_price" type="external">DDD Total Return Price</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Why is that? Here are a few clues. According to data from <a href="https://www.capitaliq.com" type="external">S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence Opens a New Window.</a>, 3D Systems has grown its revenues at an average 27% annual clip over the past five years. Profit growth, on the other hand, has been anything but consistent. Emerging from GAAP losses into GAAP profitability only in 2009, 3D Systems' stock rocketed to $44 million in annual net profit by 2013, fueling hopes of boundless profits in years to come. Instead of that outcome, though, profits stalled in 2014 -- falling 74% -- then fell clean off the cliff last year, as the company began reporting massive losses on its income statement.</p>
<p>3D Systems lost more than $655 million last year, or more than three times as much profit as it had reported over the preceding 25 years combined --an entire corporate lifetime's worth of profits, wiped out in just one year.</p>
<p>So, will 2015 prove fatal to 3D Systems? Is it "the beginning of the end," and the start of a trend that will end in the company's bankruptcy? That would be a nice, clear "10 year forecast" to make. In truth, though, I don't believe that's the fate that awaits the company, which boasts a cash-rich balance sheet, no long-term debt, and reasonable levels of free-cash-flow generation, despite the lack of GAAP profits.Rather, I see slowing sales, stagnating profit margins, and <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/19/3d-systems-and-stratasys-stock-downgraded-3-things.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">heightened competition Opens a New Window.</a> from the likes of HP Inc.combining to consign 3D Systems stock to its historical pattern of subpar performance and low stock prices in future years. It's not bankruptcy that I predict, therefore, but merely uninspiring performance as an investment.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTopDown/info.aspx" type="external">Steve Heller Opens a New Window.</a>: In an industry that's been changing as quickly as 3D printing has, there's no telling where 3D Systems will be in 10 years. Despite this uncertainty, I still think the company's long-term success hinges on its ability to offer compelling manufacturing solutions to the market.</p>
<p>Over the next 10 years, I expect 3D printing to have fully transitioned from primarily being a prototyping technology to being a viable manufacturing technology. Currently, 3D printing is at the point where it's trying to "cross the chasm" into manufacturing applications. These efforts have been slow going and challenging, as customers are not quite ready to fully embrace the Third Industrial Revolution, a term coined by The Economistthat envisions 3D printing sparking a paradigm shift in how the world approaches design and manufacturing.</p>
<p>Eventually, when this chasm is crossed, because of greater customer acceptance and the continued evolution of the technology, the opportunity surrounding using 3D printing to manufacture final parts and products will far exceed -- by orders of magnitude -- prototyping applications. After all, designers usually only makes dozens of prototypes compared to the thousands -- and sometimes millions -- of final parts produced.</p>
<p>From a business standpoint, 3D Systems operates a razor-and-blades model where 3D printer usage fuels the recurring sales of materials, which tend to command higher profit margins. Since manufacturing uses are likely to drive higher usage rates than prototyping, 3D Systems will have more opportunities to generate recurring sales of materials.</p>
<p>In other words, if 3D Systems can successfully cater to manufacturing applications, a strategy <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/07/as-the-prototyping-market-weakens-3d-systems-corpo.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">it recently started to emphasize Opens a New Window.</a>, the company is likely to increase the lifetime value of its customer base.</p>
<p>And maybe that's the best way to sum up the next 10 years -- not just for 3D Systems' stock in particular, but for 3D printing in general.</p>
<p>In an industry this young, it's not easy to pick the ultimate winners and losers. 3D Systems might "win" the 3D printing revolution, or it might not. With strong cash flow and a well-managed balance sheet, though, we can say with some assurance that while we don't know whether 3D Systems will win or lose, it's well-positioned to claim a place in this industry -- today and for years to come.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early, in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2691&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFDitty/info.aspx" type="external">Rich Smith Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx" type="external">Sean Williams</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTopDown/info.aspx" type="external">Steve Heller</a> owns shares of 3D Systems. The Motley Fool recommends 3D Systems. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Where Will 3D Systems Be in 10 Years? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/08/13/where-will-3d-systems-be-in-10-years.html | 2016-08-13 | 0right
| Where Will 3D Systems Be in 10 Years?
<p />
<p>The last decade has not been kind to investors in three-dimensional printer manufacturer 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD). Will the next 10 years be any kinder?</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>From August 2006 to August 2016, 3D Systems' stock almost made <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/07/1-stock-for-investing-in-3d-printing.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">a complete (short) circuit Opens a New Window.</a>, rising from a single-digit stock price to approach $100 a share, only to lose nearly all of its gains and end up close to where it began. Now, as we peer into the future, we've asked three Fool contributors to dust off their crystal balls and predict what the next decade might hold for 3D Systems.</p>
<p>Here's what they came up with.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a>: There's little denying that the past two-and-a-half years have been miserable for shareholders of 3D Systems. A slowdown in enterprise orders, which was likely precipitated by some mixture of slowing U.S. economic growth, increased 3D printing competition, and the desire of enterprise customers to see what new products could soon be coming to market, has weighed on the industry. So, what's next for an industry giant like 3D Systems? That's the big question.</p>
<p>As is often the case with next-generation technology, investors overestimate its immediate impact and bid company valuations well beyond a reasonable level. In my opinion, 3D Systems could be thriving 10 years from now, but not before undergoing a few major transformations first.</p>
<p>For example, in late 2015, 3D Systems announced the end of its entry-level 3D printer, the Cube, after demand proved lukewarm at best. Wall Street had been banking on consumer-level adoption of 3D printers as one of their strongest growth drivers, but it doesn't appear that'll happen anytime soon. Though the move only reduced revenue by about 2%, ending the consumer line took the wind right out of shareholders' sails. It's possible we could see 3D Systems move away from other ventures, too, after it figures out which products and segments offer the best bang for the buck.</p>
<p>Let's not forget that 3D Systems purchased more than 30 companies between 2009 and 2012, and it takes time to integrate those businesses to realize cost synergies and understand how those products can best impact 3D Systems' customers. We may still be witnessing the disorganization created by 3D Systems' half-decade-long buying spree. I should hope that in 10 years 3D Systems has abandoned its M&amp;A-focused growth strategy and chosen to grow organically.</p>
<p>Where I believe 3D Systems has an opportunity to really shine is in healthcare. Baby boomers are aging, and the U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by 2050we'll have 83.7 million elderly Americans, up from around 43 million in 2012. That means more people reliant on medicine and medical devices to make their lives easier. That's where the ongoing push to personalize medicine comes into play. 3D Systems is developing everything from implants to dental aligners and hearing aids for the healthcare industry. Furthermore, it should have no problem maintaining its pricing power on the healthcare side of the equation thanks to rising costs from prescription drugmakers.</p>
<p>If healthcare solutions become 3D Systems' most robust industry in 10 years, my forecast would be to expect the stock to be notably higher then than it is now.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/tmfditty/info.aspx?source=iapsitlnk0000002" type="external">Rich Smith Opens a New Window.</a>: Notably higher? That's one possible outcome, I suppose -- but it's not the one I'd predict.</p>
<p>Remember, while most of us only became familiar with <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/04/05/will-the-3-d-printing-revolution-conquer-your-offi.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">the 3D printing revolution Opens a New Window.</a>in industry a few short years ago, 3D Systems' stock has been around a lot longer. For most of the company's history, though, it's been pretty much a dud, with a stock price stuck in the single digits.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/DDD/total_return_price" type="external">DDD Total Return Price</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Why is that? Here are a few clues. According to data from <a href="https://www.capitaliq.com" type="external">S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence Opens a New Window.</a>, 3D Systems has grown its revenues at an average 27% annual clip over the past five years. Profit growth, on the other hand, has been anything but consistent. Emerging from GAAP losses into GAAP profitability only in 2009, 3D Systems' stock rocketed to $44 million in annual net profit by 2013, fueling hopes of boundless profits in years to come. Instead of that outcome, though, profits stalled in 2014 -- falling 74% -- then fell clean off the cliff last year, as the company began reporting massive losses on its income statement.</p>
<p>3D Systems lost more than $655 million last year, or more than three times as much profit as it had reported over the preceding 25 years combined --an entire corporate lifetime's worth of profits, wiped out in just one year.</p>
<p>So, will 2015 prove fatal to 3D Systems? Is it "the beginning of the end," and the start of a trend that will end in the company's bankruptcy? That would be a nice, clear "10 year forecast" to make. In truth, though, I don't believe that's the fate that awaits the company, which boasts a cash-rich balance sheet, no long-term debt, and reasonable levels of free-cash-flow generation, despite the lack of GAAP profits.Rather, I see slowing sales, stagnating profit margins, and <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/19/3d-systems-and-stratasys-stock-downgraded-3-things.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">heightened competition Opens a New Window.</a> from the likes of HP Inc.combining to consign 3D Systems stock to its historical pattern of subpar performance and low stock prices in future years. It's not bankruptcy that I predict, therefore, but merely uninspiring performance as an investment.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTopDown/info.aspx" type="external">Steve Heller Opens a New Window.</a>: In an industry that's been changing as quickly as 3D printing has, there's no telling where 3D Systems will be in 10 years. Despite this uncertainty, I still think the company's long-term success hinges on its ability to offer compelling manufacturing solutions to the market.</p>
<p>Over the next 10 years, I expect 3D printing to have fully transitioned from primarily being a prototyping technology to being a viable manufacturing technology. Currently, 3D printing is at the point where it's trying to "cross the chasm" into manufacturing applications. These efforts have been slow going and challenging, as customers are not quite ready to fully embrace the Third Industrial Revolution, a term coined by The Economistthat envisions 3D printing sparking a paradigm shift in how the world approaches design and manufacturing.</p>
<p>Eventually, when this chasm is crossed, because of greater customer acceptance and the continued evolution of the technology, the opportunity surrounding using 3D printing to manufacture final parts and products will far exceed -- by orders of magnitude -- prototyping applications. After all, designers usually only makes dozens of prototypes compared to the thousands -- and sometimes millions -- of final parts produced.</p>
<p>From a business standpoint, 3D Systems operates a razor-and-blades model where 3D printer usage fuels the recurring sales of materials, which tend to command higher profit margins. Since manufacturing uses are likely to drive higher usage rates than prototyping, 3D Systems will have more opportunities to generate recurring sales of materials.</p>
<p>In other words, if 3D Systems can successfully cater to manufacturing applications, a strategy <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/07/as-the-prototyping-market-weakens-3d-systems-corpo.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">it recently started to emphasize Opens a New Window.</a>, the company is likely to increase the lifetime value of its customer base.</p>
<p>And maybe that's the best way to sum up the next 10 years -- not just for 3D Systems' stock in particular, but for 3D printing in general.</p>
<p>In an industry this young, it's not easy to pick the ultimate winners and losers. 3D Systems might "win" the 3D printing revolution, or it might not. With strong cash flow and a well-managed balance sheet, though, we can say with some assurance that while we don't know whether 3D Systems will win or lose, it's well-positioned to claim a place in this industry -- today and for years to come.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early, in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2691&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFDitty/info.aspx" type="external">Rich Smith Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx" type="external">Sean Williams</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTopDown/info.aspx" type="external">Steve Heller</a> owns shares of 3D Systems. The Motley Fool recommends 3D Systems. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 599,203 |
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 60 groups, including foreign governments, political campaigns and business organizations, spent money at Trump-branded properties across the U.S. last year, according to a report Tuesday by a watchdog group that has long been critical of how such spending could be used to influence the president.</p>
<p>Public Citizen, which compiled media reports and publicly available government data, cited moves by groups associated with at least three foreign governments — Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Kuwait — to book rooms and host events last year at the Trump International Hotel in Washington.</p>
<p>It also counted at least 16 business trade groups and two companies that used Trump properties for meetings and events, while 35 political candidates or organizations — all of them Republican — staffed fundraisers and other events at Trump locations.</p>
<p>Then-President-elect Donald Trump moved a year ago to give up direct management of the company and turn it over to his sons, but he kept his financial ties through a trust that allows him to continue withdrawing funds. The report says that arrangement “has presented a unique set of conflicts that previously were unimaginable for the president of the United States.”</p>
<p>“Donald Trump entered office with the most blatant and potentially corrupting conflicts of interest in the history of American politics and things only got worse from there,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, a liberal-leaning nonprofit based in Washington. “Business is booming at the Trump International Hotel in D.C., not because of the decor but because corporations and foreign governments want to curry favor with the president.”</p>
<p>Public Citizen’s report found that spending by such outside groups totaled more than $600,000. And it also detailed that his own campaign organization spent nearly $750,000 for fundraising and other events at Trump properties over the first three quarters of 2017, according to the group’s analysis of federal campaign spending data. Much of that was rent paid at the campaign’s headquarters at Trump Tower in New York.</p>
<p>A Trump administration spokeswoman, Lindsay Walters, declined to discuss the report. Trump Organization officials were not immediately available to respond to emails from The Associated Press.</p>
<p>Public Citizen’s report noted that the biggest spender of all was a public relations firm working with the Saudi government, which spent $270,000 for lodging and catering last year, according to foreign agent disclosures filed with the Justice Department. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and other Malay officials stayed at the hotel last September during an official visit, but no figure was made available for the stay. And Kuwait’s ambassador booked the hotel for an undisclosed amount last February for an annual gala.</p>
<p>Two pro-Turkish organizations that work to aid business and political relations between the U.S. and Turkey also booked the Trump hotel last May for an undisclosed amount. One of the host groups, the Turkey-U.S. Business Council, was chaired at the time by Ekim Alptekin, a Turkish businessman who had hired Michael Flynn’s consulting firm in 2016 to perform lobbying and research that aided the Turkish government. Fired by Trump after a brief stint as national security adviser, Flynn agreed late last year to aid the special counsel’s probe of Russian meddling into the 2016 election.</p>
<p>Big business use of Trump properties ranged from the American Petroleum Institute’s March board meeting at the Trump International to payday lender trade group Community Financial Services Association’s annual conference at the Trump National Doral in Miami.</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 60 groups, including foreign governments, political campaigns and business organizations, spent money at Trump-branded properties across the U.S. last year, according to a report Tuesday by a watchdog group that has long been critical of how such spending could be used to influence the president.</p>
<p>Public Citizen, which compiled media reports and publicly available government data, cited moves by groups associated with at least three foreign governments — Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Kuwait — to book rooms and host events last year at the Trump International Hotel in Washington.</p>
<p>It also counted at least 16 business trade groups and two companies that used Trump properties for meetings and events, while 35 political candidates or organizations — all of them Republican — staffed fundraisers and other events at Trump locations.</p>
<p>Then-President-elect Donald Trump moved a year ago to give up direct management of the company and turn it over to his sons, but he kept his financial ties through a trust that allows him to continue withdrawing funds. The report says that arrangement “has presented a unique set of conflicts that previously were unimaginable for the president of the United States.”</p>
<p>“Donald Trump entered office with the most blatant and potentially corrupting conflicts of interest in the history of American politics and things only got worse from there,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, a liberal-leaning nonprofit based in Washington. “Business is booming at the Trump International Hotel in D.C., not because of the decor but because corporations and foreign governments want to curry favor with the president.”</p>
<p>Public Citizen’s report found that spending by such outside groups totaled more than $600,000. And it also detailed that his own campaign organization spent nearly $750,000 for fundraising and other events at Trump properties over the first three quarters of 2017, according to the group’s analysis of federal campaign spending data. Much of that was rent paid at the campaign’s headquarters at Trump Tower in New York.</p>
<p>A Trump administration spokeswoman, Lindsay Walters, declined to discuss the report. Trump Organization officials were not immediately available to respond to emails from The Associated Press.</p>
<p>Public Citizen’s report noted that the biggest spender of all was a public relations firm working with the Saudi government, which spent $270,000 for lodging and catering last year, according to foreign agent disclosures filed with the Justice Department. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and other Malay officials stayed at the hotel last September during an official visit, but no figure was made available for the stay. And Kuwait’s ambassador booked the hotel for an undisclosed amount last February for an annual gala.</p>
<p>Two pro-Turkish organizations that work to aid business and political relations between the U.S. and Turkey also booked the Trump hotel last May for an undisclosed amount. One of the host groups, the Turkey-U.S. Business Council, was chaired at the time by Ekim Alptekin, a Turkish businessman who had hired Michael Flynn’s consulting firm in 2016 to perform lobbying and research that aided the Turkish government. Fired by Trump after a brief stint as national security adviser, Flynn agreed late last year to aid the special counsel’s probe of Russian meddling into the 2016 election.</p>
<p>Big business use of Trump properties ranged from the American Petroleum Institute’s March board meeting at the Trump International to payday lender trade group Community Financial Services Association’s annual conference at the Trump National Doral in Miami.</p> | Watchdog: Foreign groups among spenders at Trump properties | false | https://apnews.com/78eecdb3855649c69d306aad85e23f0d | 2018-01-16 | 2least
| Watchdog: Foreign groups among spenders at Trump properties
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 60 groups, including foreign governments, political campaigns and business organizations, spent money at Trump-branded properties across the U.S. last year, according to a report Tuesday by a watchdog group that has long been critical of how such spending could be used to influence the president.</p>
<p>Public Citizen, which compiled media reports and publicly available government data, cited moves by groups associated with at least three foreign governments — Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Kuwait — to book rooms and host events last year at the Trump International Hotel in Washington.</p>
<p>It also counted at least 16 business trade groups and two companies that used Trump properties for meetings and events, while 35 political candidates or organizations — all of them Republican — staffed fundraisers and other events at Trump locations.</p>
<p>Then-President-elect Donald Trump moved a year ago to give up direct management of the company and turn it over to his sons, but he kept his financial ties through a trust that allows him to continue withdrawing funds. The report says that arrangement “has presented a unique set of conflicts that previously were unimaginable for the president of the United States.”</p>
<p>“Donald Trump entered office with the most blatant and potentially corrupting conflicts of interest in the history of American politics and things only got worse from there,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, a liberal-leaning nonprofit based in Washington. “Business is booming at the Trump International Hotel in D.C., not because of the decor but because corporations and foreign governments want to curry favor with the president.”</p>
<p>Public Citizen’s report found that spending by such outside groups totaled more than $600,000. And it also detailed that his own campaign organization spent nearly $750,000 for fundraising and other events at Trump properties over the first three quarters of 2017, according to the group’s analysis of federal campaign spending data. Much of that was rent paid at the campaign’s headquarters at Trump Tower in New York.</p>
<p>A Trump administration spokeswoman, Lindsay Walters, declined to discuss the report. Trump Organization officials were not immediately available to respond to emails from The Associated Press.</p>
<p>Public Citizen’s report noted that the biggest spender of all was a public relations firm working with the Saudi government, which spent $270,000 for lodging and catering last year, according to foreign agent disclosures filed with the Justice Department. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and other Malay officials stayed at the hotel last September during an official visit, but no figure was made available for the stay. And Kuwait’s ambassador booked the hotel for an undisclosed amount last February for an annual gala.</p>
<p>Two pro-Turkish organizations that work to aid business and political relations between the U.S. and Turkey also booked the Trump hotel last May for an undisclosed amount. One of the host groups, the Turkey-U.S. Business Council, was chaired at the time by Ekim Alptekin, a Turkish businessman who had hired Michael Flynn’s consulting firm in 2016 to perform lobbying and research that aided the Turkish government. Fired by Trump after a brief stint as national security adviser, Flynn agreed late last year to aid the special counsel’s probe of Russian meddling into the 2016 election.</p>
<p>Big business use of Trump properties ranged from the American Petroleum Institute’s March board meeting at the Trump International to payday lender trade group Community Financial Services Association’s annual conference at the Trump National Doral in Miami.</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 60 groups, including foreign governments, political campaigns and business organizations, spent money at Trump-branded properties across the U.S. last year, according to a report Tuesday by a watchdog group that has long been critical of how such spending could be used to influence the president.</p>
<p>Public Citizen, which compiled media reports and publicly available government data, cited moves by groups associated with at least three foreign governments — Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Kuwait — to book rooms and host events last year at the Trump International Hotel in Washington.</p>
<p>It also counted at least 16 business trade groups and two companies that used Trump properties for meetings and events, while 35 political candidates or organizations — all of them Republican — staffed fundraisers and other events at Trump locations.</p>
<p>Then-President-elect Donald Trump moved a year ago to give up direct management of the company and turn it over to his sons, but he kept his financial ties through a trust that allows him to continue withdrawing funds. The report says that arrangement “has presented a unique set of conflicts that previously were unimaginable for the president of the United States.”</p>
<p>“Donald Trump entered office with the most blatant and potentially corrupting conflicts of interest in the history of American politics and things only got worse from there,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, a liberal-leaning nonprofit based in Washington. “Business is booming at the Trump International Hotel in D.C., not because of the decor but because corporations and foreign governments want to curry favor with the president.”</p>
<p>Public Citizen’s report found that spending by such outside groups totaled more than $600,000. And it also detailed that his own campaign organization spent nearly $750,000 for fundraising and other events at Trump properties over the first three quarters of 2017, according to the group’s analysis of federal campaign spending data. Much of that was rent paid at the campaign’s headquarters at Trump Tower in New York.</p>
<p>A Trump administration spokeswoman, Lindsay Walters, declined to discuss the report. Trump Organization officials were not immediately available to respond to emails from The Associated Press.</p>
<p>Public Citizen’s report noted that the biggest spender of all was a public relations firm working with the Saudi government, which spent $270,000 for lodging and catering last year, according to foreign agent disclosures filed with the Justice Department. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and other Malay officials stayed at the hotel last September during an official visit, but no figure was made available for the stay. And Kuwait’s ambassador booked the hotel for an undisclosed amount last February for an annual gala.</p>
<p>Two pro-Turkish organizations that work to aid business and political relations between the U.S. and Turkey also booked the Trump hotel last May for an undisclosed amount. One of the host groups, the Turkey-U.S. Business Council, was chaired at the time by Ekim Alptekin, a Turkish businessman who had hired Michael Flynn’s consulting firm in 2016 to perform lobbying and research that aided the Turkish government. Fired by Trump after a brief stint as national security adviser, Flynn agreed late last year to aid the special counsel’s probe of Russian meddling into the 2016 election.</p>
<p>Big business use of Trump properties ranged from the American Petroleum Institute’s March board meeting at the Trump International to payday lender trade group Community Financial Services Association’s annual conference at the Trump National Doral in Miami.</p> | 599,204 |
<p>Medicare is a big deal. Its spending in 2015 totaled $646 billion and made up 20%&#160;of our total national health spending. It can cover a lot of what would be your personal health spending in retirement, too. Under current Medicare rules, enrollees will pay nothing for annual wellness visits with Medicare-accepting doctors and nothing when they get certain screenings, such&#160;as mammograms, colonoscopies, diabetes screenings, and many more.</p>
<p>There's much more to know about Medicare, and if you're <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/05/21/11-facts-you-didnt-know-about-retirement.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e9ffa990-55de-11e7-8854-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">in retirement Opens a New Window.</a> or anywhere near it, you'd do well to learn more, so that you can get the most out of the program. Here are five facts about Medicare that every retiree should know.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Enrollment in Medicare is automatic for those who are already receiving Social Security benefits at age 65, but not for everyone else. Enrolling on time matters a lot, because those who enroll late risk having to pay more for it for the rest of their lives -- as some of your premiums may rise by 10% for each year that you were eligible for Medicare but didn't enroll. You're eligible for Medicare at age 65, and can sign up anytime within the three months leading up to your 65th birthday, during the month of your birthday, or within the three months that follow. Enrolling via the Medicare website at www.medicare.gov should take most people 10 minutes&#160;or less. You can also enroll by calling 800-772-1213 or visiting a Social Security office about three months before your 65th birthday.</p>
<p>Traditional or "original" Medicare features Parts A and B that respectively cover&#160;hospital expenses and medical expenses. If you opt for original Medicare, you'll likely add Part D, too, which offers prescription drug coverage, including insulin supplies. Many folks with original Medicare also choose to buy "Medicare Supplement Insurance," commonly referred to as Medigap. It can help pay&#160;for more of your medical expenses and can cover more things, too, such as healthcare received abroad.</p>
<p>Instead of opting for parts A, B, D, and Medigap, though, you can choose from among available <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/01/15/should-you-get-a-medicare-advantage-plan.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e9ffa990-55de-11e7-8854-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Medicare Advantage plans Opens a New Window.</a>, sometimes referred to as Part C. Offered by private insurance companies, they are required to provide at least as much coverage as Parts A and B -- and they usually offer significantly more. More on them shortly.</p>
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<p>Part A covers hospital inpatient care, skilled nursing facility care, and some home healthcare and hospice care. Part B covers physicians' services, service from other healthcare providers, certain therapies, lab tests, home healthcare, durable&#160;medical equipment (such as blood sugar monitors, wheelchairs, or crutches), and some preventive services such as screenings and vaccines. Lots of other items or treatments are covered (some only under certain conditions), such as artificial limbs, ambulance services, hospice care, mental-health care, and transplants.</p>
<p>That's all great, but there are still some common (and sometimes costly) issues and expenses that Medicare doesn't cover. For example, it generally doesn't&#160;cover vision, hearing, or dental expenses, as well as basic home health help, such as assistance with bathing or toileting -- unless you're also receiving skilled nursing care. Alternative&#160;medicines or treatments (such as acupuncture, acupressure, homeopathy, or chiropractic care) are generally not covered. Care you receive while outside the U.S. is not covered, either, with original Medicare. When it comes to Part D, lots of prescription drugs are covered, but not all. Weight-loss pills, erectile dysfunction treatments, fertility drugs, and over-the-counter medicines are among those not covered.</p>
<p>Medicare can be very inexpensive for some people, but it isn't free. Part A is free for most people, but it carries a deductible&#160;($1,316 for 2017) -- and it's not a simple annual deductible, either. Instead, it applies per "benefit period," with a benefit period beginning when you are admitted to a hospital or a skilled nursing facility and ending once you've not received inpatient care for 60 consecutive days. Thus, if you are in and out of hospitals frequently, you may have to pay that deductible several times in a single year.</p>
<p>Part B, meanwhile, charges monthly premiums -- which are $134&#160;for most folks in 2017 -- and features an annual $183 deductible. After you pay the deductible, you'll generally be paying 20% of the Medicare-approved cost of various products and services. Premiums and costs for Parts C and D vary widely.</p>
<p>Original Medicare sports deductibles, too. For 2017, there's a $1,316 deductible&#160;tied to Part A coverage of original Medicare (which covers hospital inpatient care, skilled nursing facility care, and some home healthcare and hospice care). It may not seem that noteworthy, but it is -- because it's not a simple annual deductible. Instead, it applies per "benefit period," with a benefit period beginning when you are admitted to a qualifying facility and ending once you've not received inpatient care for 60 consecutive days. Thus, if you are in and out of hospitals frequently, you may have to pay that deductible several times in a single year. Ouch.</p>
<p>If you opt for a Medicare Advantage plan, though, the cost structure will be different.</p>
<p>While original Medicare will often have you footing 20% of many bills with no limit on how much you end up spending, a Medicare Advantage plan will cap your out-of-pocket spending.&#160;The average out-of-pocket cap was recently $5,223,&#160;but many plans feature caps below $3,000 and the limit&#160;for 2017 is $6,700. Once you hit that limit, the plan will pay all further costs.</p>
<p>With Medicare Advantage plans, you might be charged a certain copay per doctor visit or service, and many services will simply be paid for through your premium. Better still, some plans charge the enrollee nothing in premiums. (If that sounds crazy to you, understand that the Medicare program pays the insurance company offering the plan a set sum per enrollee and if the insurer thinks it can make a profit without charging its customers anything, it can do so.) The average monthly premium for Medicare Advantage plans was recently&#160;$36.</p>
<p>So what are you getting with such a plan? Remember that Medicare Advantage plans are required to offer at least as much coverage as original Medicare, and most offer more than that, such as including prescription drug coverage and perhaps dental, vision, and/or hearing coverage. Study your options closely to determine which plan will serve you best. For example, know that while original Medicare will give you access to doctors all over the U.S., it doesn't cover healthcare provided outside abroad. Some Medicare Advantage plans do cover treatments abroad, but Medicare Advantage plans tend to be limited to a local network of healthcare providers (though some of the networks are large).</p>
<p>About a third&#160;of all Medicare enrollees are in Medicare Advantage plans. Note that if you choose original Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan and you're not happy with it, it's not a permanent decision. You can switch between plans in any year during the annual enrollment period.</p>
<p>Social Security can make your retirement much easier, and so can Medicare. Learning more about how to <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/05/20/5-ways-to-maximize-your-medicare.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e9ffa990-55de-11e7-8854-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">maximize your Medicare Opens a New Window.</a> can save you money and perhaps even have you living longer.</p>
<p>The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after.&#160; <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e9ffa990-55de-11e7-8854-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e9ffa990-55de-11e7-8854-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 5 Facts About Medicare Every Retiree Should Know | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/03/19/5-facts-about-medicare-every-retiree-should-know.html | 2017-06-24 | 0right
| 5 Facts About Medicare Every Retiree Should Know
<p>Medicare is a big deal. Its spending in 2015 totaled $646 billion and made up 20%&#160;of our total national health spending. It can cover a lot of what would be your personal health spending in retirement, too. Under current Medicare rules, enrollees will pay nothing for annual wellness visits with Medicare-accepting doctors and nothing when they get certain screenings, such&#160;as mammograms, colonoscopies, diabetes screenings, and many more.</p>
<p>There's much more to know about Medicare, and if you're <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/05/21/11-facts-you-didnt-know-about-retirement.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e9ffa990-55de-11e7-8854-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">in retirement Opens a New Window.</a> or anywhere near it, you'd do well to learn more, so that you can get the most out of the program. Here are five facts about Medicare that every retiree should know.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Enrollment in Medicare is automatic for those who are already receiving Social Security benefits at age 65, but not for everyone else. Enrolling on time matters a lot, because those who enroll late risk having to pay more for it for the rest of their lives -- as some of your premiums may rise by 10% for each year that you were eligible for Medicare but didn't enroll. You're eligible for Medicare at age 65, and can sign up anytime within the three months leading up to your 65th birthday, during the month of your birthday, or within the three months that follow. Enrolling via the Medicare website at www.medicare.gov should take most people 10 minutes&#160;or less. You can also enroll by calling 800-772-1213 or visiting a Social Security office about three months before your 65th birthday.</p>
<p>Traditional or "original" Medicare features Parts A and B that respectively cover&#160;hospital expenses and medical expenses. If you opt for original Medicare, you'll likely add Part D, too, which offers prescription drug coverage, including insulin supplies. Many folks with original Medicare also choose to buy "Medicare Supplement Insurance," commonly referred to as Medigap. It can help pay&#160;for more of your medical expenses and can cover more things, too, such as healthcare received abroad.</p>
<p>Instead of opting for parts A, B, D, and Medigap, though, you can choose from among available <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/01/15/should-you-get-a-medicare-advantage-plan.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e9ffa990-55de-11e7-8854-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Medicare Advantage plans Opens a New Window.</a>, sometimes referred to as Part C. Offered by private insurance companies, they are required to provide at least as much coverage as Parts A and B -- and they usually offer significantly more. More on them shortly.</p>
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<p>Part A covers hospital inpatient care, skilled nursing facility care, and some home healthcare and hospice care. Part B covers physicians' services, service from other healthcare providers, certain therapies, lab tests, home healthcare, durable&#160;medical equipment (such as blood sugar monitors, wheelchairs, or crutches), and some preventive services such as screenings and vaccines. Lots of other items or treatments are covered (some only under certain conditions), such as artificial limbs, ambulance services, hospice care, mental-health care, and transplants.</p>
<p>That's all great, but there are still some common (and sometimes costly) issues and expenses that Medicare doesn't cover. For example, it generally doesn't&#160;cover vision, hearing, or dental expenses, as well as basic home health help, such as assistance with bathing or toileting -- unless you're also receiving skilled nursing care. Alternative&#160;medicines or treatments (such as acupuncture, acupressure, homeopathy, or chiropractic care) are generally not covered. Care you receive while outside the U.S. is not covered, either, with original Medicare. When it comes to Part D, lots of prescription drugs are covered, but not all. Weight-loss pills, erectile dysfunction treatments, fertility drugs, and over-the-counter medicines are among those not covered.</p>
<p>Medicare can be very inexpensive for some people, but it isn't free. Part A is free for most people, but it carries a deductible&#160;($1,316 for 2017) -- and it's not a simple annual deductible, either. Instead, it applies per "benefit period," with a benefit period beginning when you are admitted to a hospital or a skilled nursing facility and ending once you've not received inpatient care for 60 consecutive days. Thus, if you are in and out of hospitals frequently, you may have to pay that deductible several times in a single year.</p>
<p>Part B, meanwhile, charges monthly premiums -- which are $134&#160;for most folks in 2017 -- and features an annual $183 deductible. After you pay the deductible, you'll generally be paying 20% of the Medicare-approved cost of various products and services. Premiums and costs for Parts C and D vary widely.</p>
<p>Original Medicare sports deductibles, too. For 2017, there's a $1,316 deductible&#160;tied to Part A coverage of original Medicare (which covers hospital inpatient care, skilled nursing facility care, and some home healthcare and hospice care). It may not seem that noteworthy, but it is -- because it's not a simple annual deductible. Instead, it applies per "benefit period," with a benefit period beginning when you are admitted to a qualifying facility and ending once you've not received inpatient care for 60 consecutive days. Thus, if you are in and out of hospitals frequently, you may have to pay that deductible several times in a single year. Ouch.</p>
<p>If you opt for a Medicare Advantage plan, though, the cost structure will be different.</p>
<p>While original Medicare will often have you footing 20% of many bills with no limit on how much you end up spending, a Medicare Advantage plan will cap your out-of-pocket spending.&#160;The average out-of-pocket cap was recently $5,223,&#160;but many plans feature caps below $3,000 and the limit&#160;for 2017 is $6,700. Once you hit that limit, the plan will pay all further costs.</p>
<p>With Medicare Advantage plans, you might be charged a certain copay per doctor visit or service, and many services will simply be paid for through your premium. Better still, some plans charge the enrollee nothing in premiums. (If that sounds crazy to you, understand that the Medicare program pays the insurance company offering the plan a set sum per enrollee and if the insurer thinks it can make a profit without charging its customers anything, it can do so.) The average monthly premium for Medicare Advantage plans was recently&#160;$36.</p>
<p>So what are you getting with such a plan? Remember that Medicare Advantage plans are required to offer at least as much coverage as original Medicare, and most offer more than that, such as including prescription drug coverage and perhaps dental, vision, and/or hearing coverage. Study your options closely to determine which plan will serve you best. For example, know that while original Medicare will give you access to doctors all over the U.S., it doesn't cover healthcare provided outside abroad. Some Medicare Advantage plans do cover treatments abroad, but Medicare Advantage plans tend to be limited to a local network of healthcare providers (though some of the networks are large).</p>
<p>About a third&#160;of all Medicare enrollees are in Medicare Advantage plans. Note that if you choose original Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan and you're not happy with it, it's not a permanent decision. You can switch between plans in any year during the annual enrollment period.</p>
<p>Social Security can make your retirement much easier, and so can Medicare. Learning more about how to <a href="https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/05/20/5-ways-to-maximize-your-medicare.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e9ffa990-55de-11e7-8854-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">maximize your Medicare Opens a New Window.</a> can save you money and perhaps even have you living longer.</p>
<p>The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after.&#160; <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e9ffa990-55de-11e7-8854-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=e9ffa990-55de-11e7-8854-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 599,205 |
<p>ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Thomas Pieters holed a bunker shot for a closing birdie and shot a second-round 65 to take a one-stroke lead at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Friday as top-ranked Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy moved into contention.</p>
<p>Johnson shook off the jet lag after his ragged opening-round 72 to shoot a bogey-free 8-under 64, tied for the low round of the tournament, and was four shots back. He won by eight shots two weeks ago at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.</p>
<p>“It was pretty easy for a 64. I did everything really well. I drove it well. I hit a lot of really good iron shots,” Johnson said. “Hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in the hole from pretty close range, but all day, I gave myself really good chances for birdies. Yeah, it was pretty stress-free.”</p>
<p>McIlroy, playing his first event since October, finished with an eagle on the par-5 18th and was three shots behind Pieters after a 66. The former world No. 1 is coming off a winless 2017 and plans a busy schedule in the run-up to the Masters. He’s a four-time runner-up in Abu Dhabi.</p>
<p>“I always struggle to read these greens, the color of them, and I feel like I’m hitting good putts and they are just sliding by the edges,” McIlroy said. “But it was nice, I stayed patient and feel like I got what I deserved on the last for staying so patient, and it was nice to finish with a three, leapfrog a few guys and get myself into contention for the weekend.”</p>
<p>Jorge Campillo of Spain trailed Pieters by one shot after a 64. The defending champion and last year’s Race to Dubai winner, Tommy Fleetwood — grouped with Johnson and McIlroy on his 27th birthday — was another shot back, along with Alexander Levy and Ross Fisher.</p>
<p>ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Thomas Pieters holed a bunker shot for a closing birdie and shot a second-round 65 to take a one-stroke lead at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Friday as top-ranked Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy moved into contention.</p>
<p>Johnson shook off the jet lag after his ragged opening-round 72 to shoot a bogey-free 8-under 64, tied for the low round of the tournament, and was four shots back. He won by eight shots two weeks ago at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.</p>
<p>“It was pretty easy for a 64. I did everything really well. I drove it well. I hit a lot of really good iron shots,” Johnson said. “Hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in the hole from pretty close range, but all day, I gave myself really good chances for birdies. Yeah, it was pretty stress-free.”</p>
<p>McIlroy, playing his first event since October, finished with an eagle on the par-5 18th and was three shots behind Pieters after a 66. The former world No. 1 is coming off a winless 2017 and plans a busy schedule in the run-up to the Masters. He’s a four-time runner-up in Abu Dhabi.</p>
<p>“I always struggle to read these greens, the color of them, and I feel like I’m hitting good putts and they are just sliding by the edges,” McIlroy said. “But it was nice, I stayed patient and feel like I got what I deserved on the last for staying so patient, and it was nice to finish with a three, leapfrog a few guys and get myself into contention for the weekend.”</p>
<p>Jorge Campillo of Spain trailed Pieters by one shot after a 64. The defending champion and last year’s Race to Dubai winner, Tommy Fleetwood — grouped with Johnson and McIlroy on his 27th birthday — was another shot back, along with Alexander Levy and Ross Fisher.</p> | Pieters leads in Abu Dhabi as Johnson, McIlroy lurk | false | https://apnews.com/fe21a99861744218aeab5aff4b9fee55 | 2018-01-20 | 2least
| Pieters leads in Abu Dhabi as Johnson, McIlroy lurk
<p>ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Thomas Pieters holed a bunker shot for a closing birdie and shot a second-round 65 to take a one-stroke lead at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Friday as top-ranked Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy moved into contention.</p>
<p>Johnson shook off the jet lag after his ragged opening-round 72 to shoot a bogey-free 8-under 64, tied for the low round of the tournament, and was four shots back. He won by eight shots two weeks ago at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.</p>
<p>“It was pretty easy for a 64. I did everything really well. I drove it well. I hit a lot of really good iron shots,” Johnson said. “Hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in the hole from pretty close range, but all day, I gave myself really good chances for birdies. Yeah, it was pretty stress-free.”</p>
<p>McIlroy, playing his first event since October, finished with an eagle on the par-5 18th and was three shots behind Pieters after a 66. The former world No. 1 is coming off a winless 2017 and plans a busy schedule in the run-up to the Masters. He’s a four-time runner-up in Abu Dhabi.</p>
<p>“I always struggle to read these greens, the color of them, and I feel like I’m hitting good putts and they are just sliding by the edges,” McIlroy said. “But it was nice, I stayed patient and feel like I got what I deserved on the last for staying so patient, and it was nice to finish with a three, leapfrog a few guys and get myself into contention for the weekend.”</p>
<p>Jorge Campillo of Spain trailed Pieters by one shot after a 64. The defending champion and last year’s Race to Dubai winner, Tommy Fleetwood — grouped with Johnson and McIlroy on his 27th birthday — was another shot back, along with Alexander Levy and Ross Fisher.</p>
<p>ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Thomas Pieters holed a bunker shot for a closing birdie and shot a second-round 65 to take a one-stroke lead at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Friday as top-ranked Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy moved into contention.</p>
<p>Johnson shook off the jet lag after his ragged opening-round 72 to shoot a bogey-free 8-under 64, tied for the low round of the tournament, and was four shots back. He won by eight shots two weeks ago at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.</p>
<p>“It was pretty easy for a 64. I did everything really well. I drove it well. I hit a lot of really good iron shots,” Johnson said. “Hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in the hole from pretty close range, but all day, I gave myself really good chances for birdies. Yeah, it was pretty stress-free.”</p>
<p>McIlroy, playing his first event since October, finished with an eagle on the par-5 18th and was three shots behind Pieters after a 66. The former world No. 1 is coming off a winless 2017 and plans a busy schedule in the run-up to the Masters. He’s a four-time runner-up in Abu Dhabi.</p>
<p>“I always struggle to read these greens, the color of them, and I feel like I’m hitting good putts and they are just sliding by the edges,” McIlroy said. “But it was nice, I stayed patient and feel like I got what I deserved on the last for staying so patient, and it was nice to finish with a three, leapfrog a few guys and get myself into contention for the weekend.”</p>
<p>Jorge Campillo of Spain trailed Pieters by one shot after a 64. The defending champion and last year’s Race to Dubai winner, Tommy Fleetwood — grouped with Johnson and McIlroy on his 27th birthday — was another shot back, along with Alexander Levy and Ross Fisher.</p> | 599,206 |
<p>Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have both been running for president since about 2006, and have participated in a lot of debates in that time. I think this was Mitt Romney’s best debate in that entire time, and Barack Obama’s worst. Obama was the more surprising. He was weaker than usual in every way–poor on substance, poor on style, very tired; he missed opportunities and failed to defend himself. I personally think the president’s record is in most respects indefensible, but presumably Obama doesn’t agree with that. He didn’t show it tonight.</p>
<p>Romney was less surprising because he has always been a good debater, but he was just superb tonight. Forceful and clear, a good balance of details and generalities, he missed very few opportunities (I thought he could have scored even more points on Obamacare, but he did score some solid ones; he could have offered a clearer defense of his Medicare proposal from the false charge of shifting costs, but he was effective on Medicare on the whole), and he came across very well. He was strong where he has often been weak–on policy specifics (up to a point), defending his tax proposal, a clear contrast on the role of government. And he was in control–he basically talked about what he wanted to talk about, and didn’t talk about what he wanted to avoid, and Obama more or less let him do it.</p>
<p>This allowed Romney, in a forum where more voters were watching than any other, to basically deny outright the key charges being made in the billion-dollar ad campaign against him, and the president didn’t push back. It allowed him to put before the country some of the key failures of the last four years without the president doing much to answer. And it allowed him to offer himself as a capable, experienced executive with specific ideas for solving the key domestic problems facing the country, while the president failed (by barely trying) to paint a different picture of him. A voter subjected to the torrent of ads against Romney for months who then watched this debate would have to now at least question everything the Left says about Romney. You just can’t buy that kind of effect.</p>
<p>With just a few exceptions in tonight’s debate, Obama’s strategy seemed to be to treat this as an open-seat election rather than to behave like the man who is the president today and has been for four years. He talked about how people are suffering, how teachers are getting fired, how the middle class is being squeezed–all of which begs the reply: Why hasn’t the president done something about it? Romney offered that reply once or twice. And Obama talked about his own agenda as a set of proposals–essentially the same proposals he made in 2008. At one point he even said his deficit-reduction plan was on a website somewhere for everyone to see. Well anyone can put things on a website, but the president can get legislation passed–or at least a president should be able to. This president hasn’t managed to enact popular legislation, and he haspushed throughsome very unpopular legislation. His closing statement corrected this tendency a bit, and offered a defense of his record (or rather, a description of his record as he wants it understood, which was really his job tonight), but until that point he was basically running as he did in 2008 and trying to avoid defending himself. I think it just didn’t work.</p>
<p>Obama did employ some of the deceptions and distortions he has been wielding on the stump. Everything he said about Romney’s Medicare proposal was simply outright false, for instance. But he actually did less of that than I expected, especially after his attempt to demagogue on taxes failed as Romney simply denied the charge. It seemed like he was trying to avoid being aggressive.</p>
<p>On the whole, Mitt Romney looked like a guy who wants to be elected president tonight, and Barack Obama looked like a guy who wants to be left alone. There is a way for each of them to get his wish. Tonight doesn’t mean that will happen of course, but it probably does make it a bit more likely.</p>
<p>The polls of the past few weeks suggest this election is going to be decided by turnout–that it’s going to be a very close election and a subtle shift in who chooses to show up could well determine the outcome. That means it was extremely important for Romney to re-energize his supporters, and to combat the sense (being carefully and ably cultivated by the Democrats and some in the press) that Obama had it wrapped up and everything was going terribly for the Republicans. That sense was not well founded, on the whole, but in an election like this it can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It seems to me that Romney has ably undermined it tonight–forcing the press to talk about Obama underperforming and Romney looking strong just when people are paying attention. That means he did what he had to do and then some.</p>
<p>Yuval Levin is Hertog fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and editor of National Affairs.</p> | The First Debate | false | https://eppc.org/publications/the-first-debate/ | 1right-center
| The First Debate
<p>Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have both been running for president since about 2006, and have participated in a lot of debates in that time. I think this was Mitt Romney’s best debate in that entire time, and Barack Obama’s worst. Obama was the more surprising. He was weaker than usual in every way–poor on substance, poor on style, very tired; he missed opportunities and failed to defend himself. I personally think the president’s record is in most respects indefensible, but presumably Obama doesn’t agree with that. He didn’t show it tonight.</p>
<p>Romney was less surprising because he has always been a good debater, but he was just superb tonight. Forceful and clear, a good balance of details and generalities, he missed very few opportunities (I thought he could have scored even more points on Obamacare, but he did score some solid ones; he could have offered a clearer defense of his Medicare proposal from the false charge of shifting costs, but he was effective on Medicare on the whole), and he came across very well. He was strong where he has often been weak–on policy specifics (up to a point), defending his tax proposal, a clear contrast on the role of government. And he was in control–he basically talked about what he wanted to talk about, and didn’t talk about what he wanted to avoid, and Obama more or less let him do it.</p>
<p>This allowed Romney, in a forum where more voters were watching than any other, to basically deny outright the key charges being made in the billion-dollar ad campaign against him, and the president didn’t push back. It allowed him to put before the country some of the key failures of the last four years without the president doing much to answer. And it allowed him to offer himself as a capable, experienced executive with specific ideas for solving the key domestic problems facing the country, while the president failed (by barely trying) to paint a different picture of him. A voter subjected to the torrent of ads against Romney for months who then watched this debate would have to now at least question everything the Left says about Romney. You just can’t buy that kind of effect.</p>
<p>With just a few exceptions in tonight’s debate, Obama’s strategy seemed to be to treat this as an open-seat election rather than to behave like the man who is the president today and has been for four years. He talked about how people are suffering, how teachers are getting fired, how the middle class is being squeezed–all of which begs the reply: Why hasn’t the president done something about it? Romney offered that reply once or twice. And Obama talked about his own agenda as a set of proposals–essentially the same proposals he made in 2008. At one point he even said his deficit-reduction plan was on a website somewhere for everyone to see. Well anyone can put things on a website, but the president can get legislation passed–or at least a president should be able to. This president hasn’t managed to enact popular legislation, and he haspushed throughsome very unpopular legislation. His closing statement corrected this tendency a bit, and offered a defense of his record (or rather, a description of his record as he wants it understood, which was really his job tonight), but until that point he was basically running as he did in 2008 and trying to avoid defending himself. I think it just didn’t work.</p>
<p>Obama did employ some of the deceptions and distortions he has been wielding on the stump. Everything he said about Romney’s Medicare proposal was simply outright false, for instance. But he actually did less of that than I expected, especially after his attempt to demagogue on taxes failed as Romney simply denied the charge. It seemed like he was trying to avoid being aggressive.</p>
<p>On the whole, Mitt Romney looked like a guy who wants to be elected president tonight, and Barack Obama looked like a guy who wants to be left alone. There is a way for each of them to get his wish. Tonight doesn’t mean that will happen of course, but it probably does make it a bit more likely.</p>
<p>The polls of the past few weeks suggest this election is going to be decided by turnout–that it’s going to be a very close election and a subtle shift in who chooses to show up could well determine the outcome. That means it was extremely important for Romney to re-energize his supporters, and to combat the sense (being carefully and ably cultivated by the Democrats and some in the press) that Obama had it wrapped up and everything was going terribly for the Republicans. That sense was not well founded, on the whole, but in an election like this it can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It seems to me that Romney has ably undermined it tonight–forcing the press to talk about Obama underperforming and Romney looking strong just when people are paying attention. That means he did what he had to do and then some.</p>
<p>Yuval Levin is Hertog fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and editor of National Affairs.</p> | 599,207 |
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<p>It’s been 18 months since a new management company took over the financially troubled Santa Ana Star Center, yet despite some highly popular shows and the return of regular sports teams, Rio Rancho is still contributing heavily to pay off bonds it sold to build the arena.</p>
<p>City officials estimate sales of tickets, food and other merchandise sold for events at the Star Center will bring in about $484,000 for the fiscal year that began July 1.</p>
<p>That’s well short of the nearly $3 million due for bonds the city sold to build the center.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Therefore, the city had to set aside $2.5 million out of its fiscal year 2011 general fund operating budget to make up the difference.</p>
<p>Why? Because the city pledged gross receipts, or sales tax, revenues to back the bonds if profits from center activities weren’t sufficient to cover the payments.</p>
<p>The city manager said he is pleased with the job Global Spectrum has done since it took over management.</p>
<p>Between April 2009, when Global Spectrum took the reins, and the end of August this year, attendance at Star Center events totaled 345,715. That compares with 312,789 between April 2007 and August 2008, when the center was managed by Global Entertainment.</p>
<p>Global Spectrum has landed a new hockey team, the Mustangs, whose first game was the end of September, and the Thunderbirds basketball team, which will begin playing in late November.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, City Manager James Jimenez expects to continue using city revenue to meet the bond payments indefinitely.</p>
<p>“It’s going to take some time to get to a break-even point. I can’t put a finger on a date. It’s contingent upon the economy,” Jimenez said in a recent interview.</p>
<p>Arizona-based Global Entertainment, which city initially hired to manage the center, predicted profits would cover bond payments. However, the center has been a loss-making venture since it opened in late 2006.</p>
<p>Figures provided by the city show it used $1.4 million in tax revenue to pay the bonds in fiscal year 2008, the center’s first full year of operation. In fiscal year 2009, the contribution was $2.1 million and in fiscal year 2010 it was $2.4 million.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | RR Still Paying Heavily To Pay Off Bonds City Sold To Build Arena | false | https://abqjournal.com/9768/rr-still-paying-heavily-to-pay-off-bonds-city-sold-to-build-arena.html | 2least
| RR Still Paying Heavily To Pay Off Bonds City Sold To Build Arena
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<p />
<p>It’s been 18 months since a new management company took over the financially troubled Santa Ana Star Center, yet despite some highly popular shows and the return of regular sports teams, Rio Rancho is still contributing heavily to pay off bonds it sold to build the arena.</p>
<p>City officials estimate sales of tickets, food and other merchandise sold for events at the Star Center will bring in about $484,000 for the fiscal year that began July 1.</p>
<p>That’s well short of the nearly $3 million due for bonds the city sold to build the center.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Therefore, the city had to set aside $2.5 million out of its fiscal year 2011 general fund operating budget to make up the difference.</p>
<p>Why? Because the city pledged gross receipts, or sales tax, revenues to back the bonds if profits from center activities weren’t sufficient to cover the payments.</p>
<p>The city manager said he is pleased with the job Global Spectrum has done since it took over management.</p>
<p>Between April 2009, when Global Spectrum took the reins, and the end of August this year, attendance at Star Center events totaled 345,715. That compares with 312,789 between April 2007 and August 2008, when the center was managed by Global Entertainment.</p>
<p>Global Spectrum has landed a new hockey team, the Mustangs, whose first game was the end of September, and the Thunderbirds basketball team, which will begin playing in late November.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, City Manager James Jimenez expects to continue using city revenue to meet the bond payments indefinitely.</p>
<p>“It’s going to take some time to get to a break-even point. I can’t put a finger on a date. It’s contingent upon the economy,” Jimenez said in a recent interview.</p>
<p>Arizona-based Global Entertainment, which city initially hired to manage the center, predicted profits would cover bond payments. However, the center has been a loss-making venture since it opened in late 2006.</p>
<p>Figures provided by the city show it used $1.4 million in tax revenue to pay the bonds in fiscal year 2008, the center’s first full year of operation. In fiscal year 2009, the contribution was $2.1 million and in fiscal year 2010 it was $2.4 million.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 599,208 |
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<p>The legislative defeats, which also included a vote against reinstating an assault weapons ban, angered President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats who had hoped Congress would take action in the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn., massacre of 20 children and six adults last December.</p>
<p>“This was a pretty shameful day for Washington, but this effort is not over,” Obama said in the Rose Garden immediately after the vote.</p>
<p>Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., voted against the assault weapons ban, reasoning that limiting gun magazine capacity was a more practical solution. The assault weapons ban was rejected 60-40.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Republicans, backed by some rural-state Democrats, defeated a series of amendments mostly designed to place tighter restrictions on firearms. The amendment receiving the most votes, although it also failed, would have expanded gun rights by requiring states with conceal-carry gun laws to recognize permits from other states.</p>
<p>Udall and Heinrich both voted for the reciprocity amendment, sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. That measure was backed 57-43 but needed 60 votes to advance.</p>
<p>The background check measure was supported by a majority of senators, 54-46, but that was well short of the 60 votes needed to avert a filibuster and advance the proposal. Forty-one Republicans and five Democrats sided to scuttle the plan. The proposal aimed to block criminals and the seriously mentally ill from obtaining firearms.</p>
<p>Currently, mandatory background checks apply only to purchases from licensed firearms dealers. The so-called Manchin-Toomey amendment would have expanded the checks to include firearms purchased online or from advertisements, but not to guns acquired from friends and relatives.</p>
<p>The compromise was widely seen as the best chance for some kind of gun law change in the Senate – at least in the early days of the 113th Congress.</p>
<p>Udall told the Journal the proposal “strikes the right balance,” and Heinrich agreed.</p>
<p>“It just makes sense to me that if somebody is legally precluded from owning a firearm that we should have a system in place so they can’t buy a firearm,” Heinrich said in a Journal interview.</p>
<p>Udall and Heinrich both expressed dismay at the legislative failure and said current filibuster rules prevented a majority in the Senate from passing the bill.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“Unfortunately … you need more than 60 votes in the Senate in order to overcome the filibuster of virtually everything,” Udall said.</p>
<p>“I’m disappointed that pragmatic public safety measures that the vast majority of Americans – including gun owners – embrace, failed to move forward,” Heinrich said.</p>
<p>Both senators also called an amendment to limit gun magazine capacity to 10 rounds practical. Proponents contended it would force the perpetrator of a mass shooting to reload, which could help save lives.</p>
<p>The amendment was defeated 54-46.</p>
<p>“With a limitation of 10, I think you can do a very effective job of defending yourself and your home,” Heinrich said. “I would hope no sportsman would need (more than 10 rounds).”</p>
<p>Udall cited the case of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona congresswoman who was shot and disabled by Jared Loughner, who killed six others in the 2011 attack. Udall pointed out that only when Loughner stopped to reload was he overtaken and stopped.</p>
<p>“No hunters have told me they need a 30-round magazine to shoot a wild animal,” Udall added.</p>
<p>In the hours before the key vote, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., bluntly accused the National Rifle Association of making false claims about the expansion of background checks that he and Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., were backing.</p>
<p>“Where I come from in West Virginia, I don’t know how to put the words any plainer than this: That is a lie. That is simply a lie,” he said, accusing the organization of telling its supporters that friends, neighbors and some family members would need federal permission to transfer ownership of firearms to one another.</p>
<p>The NRA did not respond immediately to the charge but issued a statement after the vote that restated the claim. The proposal “would have criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens, requiring lifelong friends, neighbors and some family members to get federal government permission to exercise a fundamental right or face prosecution,” said a statement from Chris Cox, a top lobbyist for the group.</p>
<p>Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the measure would not have the intended effect of stopping mass shootings.</p>
<p>“Expanded background checks would not have prevented Newtown,” Grassley said. “Criminals do not submit to background checks.”</p>
<p>Senate votes were set on a total of nine provisions, some advanced by lawmakers on each side of an issue in which Democrats from rural or Southern states generally lined up with the overwhelming majority of Republicans.</p>
<p>Whatever the outcome, the events were unlikely to be the last word on an issue that Democratic leaders shied away from for nearly two decades until Obama made it a priority after the Newtown shootings.</p>
<p>New Mexico’s Democratic U.S. House members – Reps. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ben Ray Luján – condemned the Senate vote and urged Congress to keep pushing the issue.</p>
<p>“I am shocked that the Senate rejected a bipartisan proposal to expand background checks on gun sales today, a position that is supported by more than 90 percent of Americans,” Lujan Grisham said after the vote Wednesday.</p>
<p>“I was disappointed that the bipartisan amendment to expand background checks in an effort to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill failed to pass the Senate this afternoon,” Luján said.</p>
<p>Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., could not immediately be reached for comment.</p>
<p>The Associated Press contributed to this report.</p> | Gun proposals defeated in Senate | false | https://abqjournal.com/189833/gun-proposals-defeated-in-senate.html | 2013-04-18 | 2least
| Gun proposals defeated in Senate
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<p />
<p>The legislative defeats, which also included a vote against reinstating an assault weapons ban, angered President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats who had hoped Congress would take action in the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn., massacre of 20 children and six adults last December.</p>
<p>“This was a pretty shameful day for Washington, but this effort is not over,” Obama said in the Rose Garden immediately after the vote.</p>
<p>Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., voted against the assault weapons ban, reasoning that limiting gun magazine capacity was a more practical solution. The assault weapons ban was rejected 60-40.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Republicans, backed by some rural-state Democrats, defeated a series of amendments mostly designed to place tighter restrictions on firearms. The amendment receiving the most votes, although it also failed, would have expanded gun rights by requiring states with conceal-carry gun laws to recognize permits from other states.</p>
<p>Udall and Heinrich both voted for the reciprocity amendment, sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. That measure was backed 57-43 but needed 60 votes to advance.</p>
<p>The background check measure was supported by a majority of senators, 54-46, but that was well short of the 60 votes needed to avert a filibuster and advance the proposal. Forty-one Republicans and five Democrats sided to scuttle the plan. The proposal aimed to block criminals and the seriously mentally ill from obtaining firearms.</p>
<p>Currently, mandatory background checks apply only to purchases from licensed firearms dealers. The so-called Manchin-Toomey amendment would have expanded the checks to include firearms purchased online or from advertisements, but not to guns acquired from friends and relatives.</p>
<p>The compromise was widely seen as the best chance for some kind of gun law change in the Senate – at least in the early days of the 113th Congress.</p>
<p>Udall told the Journal the proposal “strikes the right balance,” and Heinrich agreed.</p>
<p>“It just makes sense to me that if somebody is legally precluded from owning a firearm that we should have a system in place so they can’t buy a firearm,” Heinrich said in a Journal interview.</p>
<p>Udall and Heinrich both expressed dismay at the legislative failure and said current filibuster rules prevented a majority in the Senate from passing the bill.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“Unfortunately … you need more than 60 votes in the Senate in order to overcome the filibuster of virtually everything,” Udall said.</p>
<p>“I’m disappointed that pragmatic public safety measures that the vast majority of Americans – including gun owners – embrace, failed to move forward,” Heinrich said.</p>
<p>Both senators also called an amendment to limit gun magazine capacity to 10 rounds practical. Proponents contended it would force the perpetrator of a mass shooting to reload, which could help save lives.</p>
<p>The amendment was defeated 54-46.</p>
<p>“With a limitation of 10, I think you can do a very effective job of defending yourself and your home,” Heinrich said. “I would hope no sportsman would need (more than 10 rounds).”</p>
<p>Udall cited the case of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona congresswoman who was shot and disabled by Jared Loughner, who killed six others in the 2011 attack. Udall pointed out that only when Loughner stopped to reload was he overtaken and stopped.</p>
<p>“No hunters have told me they need a 30-round magazine to shoot a wild animal,” Udall added.</p>
<p>In the hours before the key vote, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., bluntly accused the National Rifle Association of making false claims about the expansion of background checks that he and Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., were backing.</p>
<p>“Where I come from in West Virginia, I don’t know how to put the words any plainer than this: That is a lie. That is simply a lie,” he said, accusing the organization of telling its supporters that friends, neighbors and some family members would need federal permission to transfer ownership of firearms to one another.</p>
<p>The NRA did not respond immediately to the charge but issued a statement after the vote that restated the claim. The proposal “would have criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens, requiring lifelong friends, neighbors and some family members to get federal government permission to exercise a fundamental right or face prosecution,” said a statement from Chris Cox, a top lobbyist for the group.</p>
<p>Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the measure would not have the intended effect of stopping mass shootings.</p>
<p>“Expanded background checks would not have prevented Newtown,” Grassley said. “Criminals do not submit to background checks.”</p>
<p>Senate votes were set on a total of nine provisions, some advanced by lawmakers on each side of an issue in which Democrats from rural or Southern states generally lined up with the overwhelming majority of Republicans.</p>
<p>Whatever the outcome, the events were unlikely to be the last word on an issue that Democratic leaders shied away from for nearly two decades until Obama made it a priority after the Newtown shootings.</p>
<p>New Mexico’s Democratic U.S. House members – Reps. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ben Ray Luján – condemned the Senate vote and urged Congress to keep pushing the issue.</p>
<p>“I am shocked that the Senate rejected a bipartisan proposal to expand background checks on gun sales today, a position that is supported by more than 90 percent of Americans,” Lujan Grisham said after the vote Wednesday.</p>
<p>“I was disappointed that the bipartisan amendment to expand background checks in an effort to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill failed to pass the Senate this afternoon,” Luján said.</p>
<p>Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., could not immediately be reached for comment.</p>
<p>The Associated Press contributed to this report.</p> | 599,209 |
<p>By Greg Brown</p>
<p>Banking analyst Meredith Whitney’s much-maligned call on municipal bonds is not so far off the mark, suggests Jim Chanos, chief of Kynikos Associates, a fund that focuses on short-selling.</p>
<p>Whitney, the former Oppenheimer &amp; Co. analyst who called the financial crisis early and rode the wave of that call to form her own firm, now says to expect hundreds of billions in municipal defaults. She has since taken it on the chin from other bond experts for muni call, notably from chief investment officer of Pimco, Bill Gross.</p>
<p>Kynikos compared municipals to rotten mortgage bonds that investors believed would never fail them.</p>
<p>“You think people are reading the financials of that water plant? I doubt it. They’re depending on ratings agencies just like they did in the good old days of mortgage financing,” Chanos told CNBC.</p>
<p>The central concern for municipal bond investors, if Whitney is right, is how much if any backstop to expect from an overstretched federal government. A dicey vote on raising the federal debt ceiling is still ahead, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has delivered to the politicians a plan to get the government out of backstopping the mortgage market.</p>
<p>“Even Warren Buffett said to be long the muni-bond industry in effect you have to bet on a federal bailout, and I’m not so sure that with the politics in Washington now that that’s the smartest bet in the world, given you’ll only be earning 3 or 4 percent,” Chanos said.</p>
<p>Whitney was called to testify on municipal bond risk before Congress but demurred, citing scheduling conflicts.</p>
<p>Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) said he will examine Whitney’s argument with her or without her.</p>
<p>“This isn’t a gotcha thing, but she’s going to be part of the hearing, whether or not she participates,” McHenry told The New York Times. “If she doesn’t want to come forward in a venue like this, that makes a statement.” &#160;</p>
<p>Read more: <a href="/r2/?url=http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/municipal-bonds-muni-munis/2011/02/13/id/385902#ixzz1DwisCzfz" type="external">Chanos: Whitney May Be Right on Munis</a></p>
<p><a href="/" type="external">We encourage you to Share our Reports, Analyses, Breaking News and Videos. Simply Click your Favorite Social Media Button and Share.</a></p> | Legendary short seller Jim Chanos backs Meredith Whitney on muni bond risk | true | http://beforeitsnews.com/story/417/632/Legendary_short_seller_Jim_Chanos_backs_Meredith_Whitney_on_muni_bond_risk.html | 2011-02-14 | 0right
| Legendary short seller Jim Chanos backs Meredith Whitney on muni bond risk
<p>By Greg Brown</p>
<p>Banking analyst Meredith Whitney’s much-maligned call on municipal bonds is not so far off the mark, suggests Jim Chanos, chief of Kynikos Associates, a fund that focuses on short-selling.</p>
<p>Whitney, the former Oppenheimer &amp; Co. analyst who called the financial crisis early and rode the wave of that call to form her own firm, now says to expect hundreds of billions in municipal defaults. She has since taken it on the chin from other bond experts for muni call, notably from chief investment officer of Pimco, Bill Gross.</p>
<p>Kynikos compared municipals to rotten mortgage bonds that investors believed would never fail them.</p>
<p>“You think people are reading the financials of that water plant? I doubt it. They’re depending on ratings agencies just like they did in the good old days of mortgage financing,” Chanos told CNBC.</p>
<p>The central concern for municipal bond investors, if Whitney is right, is how much if any backstop to expect from an overstretched federal government. A dicey vote on raising the federal debt ceiling is still ahead, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has delivered to the politicians a plan to get the government out of backstopping the mortgage market.</p>
<p>“Even Warren Buffett said to be long the muni-bond industry in effect you have to bet on a federal bailout, and I’m not so sure that with the politics in Washington now that that’s the smartest bet in the world, given you’ll only be earning 3 or 4 percent,” Chanos said.</p>
<p>Whitney was called to testify on municipal bond risk before Congress but demurred, citing scheduling conflicts.</p>
<p>Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) said he will examine Whitney’s argument with her or without her.</p>
<p>“This isn’t a gotcha thing, but she’s going to be part of the hearing, whether or not she participates,” McHenry told The New York Times. “If she doesn’t want to come forward in a venue like this, that makes a statement.” &#160;</p>
<p>Read more: <a href="/r2/?url=http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/municipal-bonds-muni-munis/2011/02/13/id/385902#ixzz1DwisCzfz" type="external">Chanos: Whitney May Be Right on Munis</a></p>
<p><a href="/" type="external">We encourage you to Share our Reports, Analyses, Breaking News and Videos. Simply Click your Favorite Social Media Button and Share.</a></p> | 599,210 |
<p>The is only one Holy Land that God knows about, and that is the land of Israel that was first promised to Abraham, Issac and Jacob. God's Promises don't change, even if in this case it took nearly 2,000 years to occur. God is not is a rush, He is always right on time. Today, Israel is back in their land, as Almighty God has promised they would be in the end times. Watch this video and see for yourself the amazing land of Israel!</p> The US makes its move. May 14, 1948. | The Recognition Of The State Of Israel - 1948 | true | http://nowtheendbegins.com/pages/israel/the-recognition-of-the-state-of-israel-1948.htm | 0right
| The Recognition Of The State Of Israel - 1948
<p>The is only one Holy Land that God knows about, and that is the land of Israel that was first promised to Abraham, Issac and Jacob. God's Promises don't change, even if in this case it took nearly 2,000 years to occur. God is not is a rush, He is always right on time. Today, Israel is back in their land, as Almighty God has promised they would be in the end times. Watch this video and see for yourself the amazing land of Israel!</p> The US makes its move. May 14, 1948. | 599,211 |
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<p>Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer and the other “Left, Right &amp; Center” panelists discuss the possible accelerated withdrawal of Afghan troops announced by President Barack Obama after a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Was the war worth it?</p>
<p>A rocky road lies ahead for Obama nominees Chuck Hagel for defense secretary and Jack Lew for Treasury. If personnel are policy, where are the women? Joe Biden talks gun reform and the NRA doesn’t like it. Would a trillion-dollar coin be a great creative solution or a dark turn toward a banana republic?</p>
<p>Former chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele, New York University Vice Provost Melody Barnes and host Matt Miller join Scheer on this week’s program.</p>
<p>— Adapted from KCRW by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a>.</p>
<p />
<p>KCRW:</p>
<p /> | 'Left, Right & Center': Was Afghanistan Worth It? | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/left-right-center-was-afghanistan-worth-it/ | 2013-01-12 | 4left
| 'Left, Right & Center': Was Afghanistan Worth It?
<p>Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer and the other “Left, Right &amp; Center” panelists discuss the possible accelerated withdrawal of Afghan troops announced by President Barack Obama after a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Was the war worth it?</p>
<p>A rocky road lies ahead for Obama nominees Chuck Hagel for defense secretary and Jack Lew for Treasury. If personnel are policy, where are the women? Joe Biden talks gun reform and the NRA doesn’t like it. Would a trillion-dollar coin be a great creative solution or a dark turn toward a banana republic?</p>
<p>Former chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele, New York University Vice Provost Melody Barnes and host Matt Miller join Scheer on this week’s program.</p>
<p>— Adapted from KCRW by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a>.</p>
<p />
<p>KCRW:</p>
<p /> | 599,212 |
<p />
<p>Photo by Marc Nozell | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p />
<p>When Donald Trump Twittered something about nuclear weapons Dec. 23, I thought he must be deliberately trivializing the Bomb to make it appear small, the way he makes light of sexual assault, punching critics, deporting millions, torturing suspects, and assassinating women and children. About the Bomb, the world’s most famous Twitterer reportedly said, “The US must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”</p>
<p>The Tweeter in Chief is unaware that the world actually is coming to its senses regarding nukes. Mr. Trump either knows next to nothing about nuclear weapons — and isn’t afraid to teach nonsense, even contradicting his Secretary of Defense nominee — or he wants to direct attention away from current progress being made toward their abolition.</p>
<p>On December 23, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a historic resolution to begin negotiations in 2017 on a treaty banning nuclear weapons. The vote follows an Oct. 27 decision by the UNGA First Committee to begin work on the new treaty, a resolution opposed by the US and several other nuclear-armed states.</p>
<p>The latest resolution passed 113 to 35, with 13 abstaining. Putting the lie to President Barak Obama’s lip-service about pursuing “a world without nuclear weapons,” US delegate Samantha Power voted against the resolution. So did nuclear-armed England, France, Russia, and Israel. Yet not every nuclear power parroted US obstructionism. US partners India and Pakistan abstained, as did China. North Korea (with perhaps 10 nuclear weapons) and Iran (with zero nukes) voted in favor. Saudi Arabia blew off its principle arms supplier and voted Yes, as did Italy despite being both a NATO partner and home to about 80 US H-bombs still deployed at two if its air force bases.</p>
<p>The US knows a treaty ban will demolish the US-manufactured perception that nuclear weapons are legitimate — while landmines, gas, poison, biological and cluster munitions are not. An international ban would also make it politically embarrassing and legally suspect for the US and NATO to continue their nuclear war planning.</p>
<p>The UN treaty talks will proceed in two sessions: March 27 to 31, and June 15 to July 7. During a UN budget committee meeting in December, the US fought against a funding request for the planned four weeks of negotiations. But under pressure ban proponents Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa, the US withdrew its opposition and the funding was Okayed.</p>
<p>In a leaked document sent to NATO members in October, before the UN First Committee decision, the US urge opposition to the resolution and a boycott of the negotiations. US marching orders were disobeyed by allies including The Netherlands, India, and Pakistan which all abstained (and by Italy which voted Yes).</p>
<p>The “capability” of the US nuclear arsenal is already redundant, according to Mr. Trump’s nominee to head the Pentagon. In January 2015, Gen. James Mattis ridiculed our 450 land-based missiles, telling the Senate Armed Services Committee, “You should ask: ‘Is it time to reduce the triad … removing the land-based missiles?’” Gen. Mattis is friends with former Defense Secretary William Perry who earlier called for eliminating the same missiles. They should be scrapped, Perry says, because “They’re not needed.” The same position is advocated by Gen. James Cartwright, a former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former commander of US nuclear forces, and by Republican Senator Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.</p>
<p>To “greatly strengthen and expand” the explosive, incendiary, and cancerous power of H-bombs is militarily irrational, economically bankrupting, and environmentally self-destructive. The Nobel Prize-winning Physicians for Social Responsibility, which has studied the subject for 4 decades, reported in 2014 that just 100 nuclear warheads — if detonated — could plunge the Earth into a smoke-clouded darkness long enough to destroy agriculture and starve billions of people to death. The US has 7000 warheads, 70 times the “strength” to do ourselves in. But then, Mr. Trump and his supporters would have to read something to know this.</p> | Twittering While the World Comes to its Senses | true | https://counterpunch.org/2016/12/30/twittering-while-the-world-comes-to-its-senses/ | 2016-12-30 | 4left
| Twittering While the World Comes to its Senses
<p />
<p>Photo by Marc Nozell | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p />
<p>When Donald Trump Twittered something about nuclear weapons Dec. 23, I thought he must be deliberately trivializing the Bomb to make it appear small, the way he makes light of sexual assault, punching critics, deporting millions, torturing suspects, and assassinating women and children. About the Bomb, the world’s most famous Twitterer reportedly said, “The US must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”</p>
<p>The Tweeter in Chief is unaware that the world actually is coming to its senses regarding nukes. Mr. Trump either knows next to nothing about nuclear weapons — and isn’t afraid to teach nonsense, even contradicting his Secretary of Defense nominee — or he wants to direct attention away from current progress being made toward their abolition.</p>
<p>On December 23, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a historic resolution to begin negotiations in 2017 on a treaty banning nuclear weapons. The vote follows an Oct. 27 decision by the UNGA First Committee to begin work on the new treaty, a resolution opposed by the US and several other nuclear-armed states.</p>
<p>The latest resolution passed 113 to 35, with 13 abstaining. Putting the lie to President Barak Obama’s lip-service about pursuing “a world without nuclear weapons,” US delegate Samantha Power voted against the resolution. So did nuclear-armed England, France, Russia, and Israel. Yet not every nuclear power parroted US obstructionism. US partners India and Pakistan abstained, as did China. North Korea (with perhaps 10 nuclear weapons) and Iran (with zero nukes) voted in favor. Saudi Arabia blew off its principle arms supplier and voted Yes, as did Italy despite being both a NATO partner and home to about 80 US H-bombs still deployed at two if its air force bases.</p>
<p>The US knows a treaty ban will demolish the US-manufactured perception that nuclear weapons are legitimate — while landmines, gas, poison, biological and cluster munitions are not. An international ban would also make it politically embarrassing and legally suspect for the US and NATO to continue their nuclear war planning.</p>
<p>The UN treaty talks will proceed in two sessions: March 27 to 31, and June 15 to July 7. During a UN budget committee meeting in December, the US fought against a funding request for the planned four weeks of negotiations. But under pressure ban proponents Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa, the US withdrew its opposition and the funding was Okayed.</p>
<p>In a leaked document sent to NATO members in October, before the UN First Committee decision, the US urge opposition to the resolution and a boycott of the negotiations. US marching orders were disobeyed by allies including The Netherlands, India, and Pakistan which all abstained (and by Italy which voted Yes).</p>
<p>The “capability” of the US nuclear arsenal is already redundant, according to Mr. Trump’s nominee to head the Pentagon. In January 2015, Gen. James Mattis ridiculed our 450 land-based missiles, telling the Senate Armed Services Committee, “You should ask: ‘Is it time to reduce the triad … removing the land-based missiles?’” Gen. Mattis is friends with former Defense Secretary William Perry who earlier called for eliminating the same missiles. They should be scrapped, Perry says, because “They’re not needed.” The same position is advocated by Gen. James Cartwright, a former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former commander of US nuclear forces, and by Republican Senator Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.</p>
<p>To “greatly strengthen and expand” the explosive, incendiary, and cancerous power of H-bombs is militarily irrational, economically bankrupting, and environmentally self-destructive. The Nobel Prize-winning Physicians for Social Responsibility, which has studied the subject for 4 decades, reported in 2014 that just 100 nuclear warheads — if detonated — could plunge the Earth into a smoke-clouded darkness long enough to destroy agriculture and starve billions of people to death. The US has 7000 warheads, 70 times the “strength” to do ourselves in. But then, Mr. Trump and his supporters would have to read something to know this.</p> | 599,213 |
<p>A candlelight vigil was held at Umpqua Community College for those killed during a mass shooting at the school on October 1.Rich Pedroncelli/AP</p>
<p />
<p>A majority of Americans now support tougher laws controlling&#160;gun sales, according to a <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/186236/americans-desire-stricter-gun-laws-sharply.aspx?utm_source=alert&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=morelink&amp;utm_campaign=syndication" type="external">Gallup poll</a>released Monday. In a year marked by a series of deadly mass shootings, 55 percent of Americans favor stricter gun control legislation—an increase of 8 percentage points from last year.</p>
<p>But if past polling trends are any indication, support for gun control may quickly subside as the most recent mass shootings recede from memory. Support for more stringent gun&#160;legislation climbed to 58 percent in 2013, following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, that claimed 26 lives, but promptly dropped to 49 percent within a year.</p>
<p>Gallup’s poll was conducted from October 7 to 11, just one week after a mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon and four&#160;months after the massacre of African American parishioners at a church in Charleston, South Carolina.</p>
<p>Support for gun control rose nearly equally among gun owners and non-owners alike, jumping by 6 and 7 percentage points, respectively. Republicans registered a slight decline of 2 percentage points in support for gun control laws, while support rose by 6 points among Democrats and 11 percentage points among independents.</p>
<p>Even if Americans’ concern about guns proves ephemeral, gun control has quickly become a key issue in the Democratic presidential primary contest. Front-runners Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders <a href="" type="internal">sparred over the topic</a> during the first Democratic debate last week, with Clinton promising to take on the National Rifle Association and Sanders finding himself under attack from all four of his rivals for his less aggressive stance on guns.</p>
<p /> | Most Americans Now Support Stricter Gun Control Laws | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2015/10/most-americans-now-support-stricter-gun-control-laws/ | 2015-10-19 | 4left
| Most Americans Now Support Stricter Gun Control Laws
<p>A candlelight vigil was held at Umpqua Community College for those killed during a mass shooting at the school on October 1.Rich Pedroncelli/AP</p>
<p />
<p>A majority of Americans now support tougher laws controlling&#160;gun sales, according to a <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/186236/americans-desire-stricter-gun-laws-sharply.aspx?utm_source=alert&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=morelink&amp;utm_campaign=syndication" type="external">Gallup poll</a>released Monday. In a year marked by a series of deadly mass shootings, 55 percent of Americans favor stricter gun control legislation—an increase of 8 percentage points from last year.</p>
<p>But if past polling trends are any indication, support for gun control may quickly subside as the most recent mass shootings recede from memory. Support for more stringent gun&#160;legislation climbed to 58 percent in 2013, following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, that claimed 26 lives, but promptly dropped to 49 percent within a year.</p>
<p>Gallup’s poll was conducted from October 7 to 11, just one week after a mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon and four&#160;months after the massacre of African American parishioners at a church in Charleston, South Carolina.</p>
<p>Support for gun control rose nearly equally among gun owners and non-owners alike, jumping by 6 and 7 percentage points, respectively. Republicans registered a slight decline of 2 percentage points in support for gun control laws, while support rose by 6 points among Democrats and 11 percentage points among independents.</p>
<p>Even if Americans’ concern about guns proves ephemeral, gun control has quickly become a key issue in the Democratic presidential primary contest. Front-runners Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders <a href="" type="internal">sparred over the topic</a> during the first Democratic debate last week, with Clinton promising to take on the National Rifle Association and Sanders finding himself under attack from all four of his rivals for his less aggressive stance on guns.</p>
<p /> | 599,214 |
<p />
<p>It was late at night but the new Terminal 3 at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport outside Jakarta was still bustling with families and friends waiting for their loved ones returning from abroad.</p>
<p>My friend Noor Huda Ismail was just arriving from Singapore, and I decided to pick him up and discuss ‘certain issues’ with him in the car, on the way to the capital. Lately he and I were busy, awfully busy, and a one-hour journey seemed to be the most appropriate setting for the exchange of at least some essential ideas and information.</p>
<p>Huda could easily pass for the most knowledgeable Indonesian “expert on terrorism”; a Muslim man who grew up and was educated in the madrasahs that have produced some of the most notorious jihadi cadres in the country. Later he became the man who managed to ‘get away’ from the extremism, to study, and to finally become a respected filmmaker and a thinker.</p>
<p>For years, both of us have been studying a complex web produced by Western imperialism – a web, which has literally destroyed entire countries, while locking other ones ‘behind bars’, in virtual neo-colonialist slavery. All this done in the name of ‘freedom’ and democracy, naturally, and often using various religions as tools, even as weapons.</p>
<p>Inside the car we managed to quickly ‘compare notes’. Huda filled me in on his groundbreaking film ‘Jihad Selfie’, while I informed him about my political revolutionary novel ‘Aurora’, and my big work in progress, a book about Afghanistan. I also mentioned my future ‘Afghan’ film, a dark love story, a drama about betrayal, collaboration and the virtual collapse of one family; a film which I’m preparing to produce and direct sometime during the next year.</p>
<p>“Afghanistan,” he says, “that’s where the roots of so many things lie… You recall that in the 80’s, the U.S. was using some local, Indonesian, jihadi cadres, sending them to Afghanistan…”</p>
<p>I knew about it; I knew something, but not everything. The fact that both Indonesian and Malaysian citizens went to fight against the Soviet Union, Karmal, and then Mohammad Najibullah’s government in Afghanistan, was something that I have never yet addressed in my books or films. Now I suddenly felt that it was important, extremely important, to address this fact.</p>
<p>“Huda,” I asked, as we were slowly progressing through perpetual traffic jam of Jakarta, “how many Indonesian men went to fight in Afghanistan, after the 1979 Soviet intervention?”</p>
<p>Huda didn’t hesitate. He always knows the numbers:</p>
<p>“Just from one group, there were 350 fighters. Indonesians fought in Afghanistan, and were based in a camp belonging to Ittehad-al-Islami&#160;(Islamic Union). Ustad Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf ran the camp. Of course Rab Rasul Sayyaf is Wahhabi, and the Wahhabis have been fully funded by the U.S. What we are seeing now, all those ‘terrorist threats’, is a blowback effect, of what the U.S. has done in the region, specifically in Afghanistan. And even the ISIS now: in 2003 they came to topple Saddam…”</p>
<p>Could I meet one of the Afghan ‘alumni’ here in Jakarta?</p>
<p>“Of course you can,” he nodded, “I’ll arrange it, while you are here.”</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Before an encounter with an “Afghan” jihadi cadre, I travelled to the city of Bandung, where I met Iman Soleh, a professor at the Faculty of Social and Political Science (University of Padjadjaran – UNPAD). He is yet another renowned authority on ‘terrorism’. He came to my hotel, accompanied by his wife, Professor Antik Bintari, a conflict management expert who teaches at the same university.</p>
<p>For quite some time, professor Iman Soleh and I discussed the link between the ‘old guard’ Southeast Asian (mainly Indonesians and Malaysians) jihadi cadres, so-called ‘Afghan alumni’, and the vanguard, a ‘new wave’, that which is now trying to destabilize, even destroy both Syria and the Philippines.</p>
<p>While the name ‘jihad’ itself has been used habitually and ‘liberally’ all over the Western mainstream media, it was clear to all of us at the table that behind the brutal combat as well as most of the horrors unleashed in such places like Syria and Philippines, hidden are the geopolitical interests of the West in general and of the United States in particular.</p>
<p>Professor Soleh has explained the latest ‘dynamics’:</p>
<p>“Since World War Two, the U.S. was afraid of so-called ‘domino effects’. Among other things that are now happening in the Philippines under president Duterte, the government is curbing activities of the multi-national mining conglomerates, and the West cannot accept that. Philippines are putting its environmental concerns above the short-term profits! For the millions of left-wing activists here in Indonesia and all over Southeast Asia, Duterte is a role model.”</p>
<p>Therefore, following the imperialist logic, the Philippines have to be attacked and destabilized, as has already been done to Syria. Defiance is punishable by death. And how else other than through the most effective weapons which the West has been utilizing for years and decades: extremist religious terrorist groups. What better assembly of fighters to choose for that difficult task than the jihadists from the groups that had already proven to be so effective and lethal in places such as Afghanistan?</p>
<p>By now, almost nobody who is at least to some extent informed on the subject has any doubts that the West is mainly interested in maintaining ‘perpetual conflict’ in several regions of the world. As Professor Soleh observes:</p>
<p>“I think all this is not just to ‘destabilize’ the Philippines, but also because the country has conflict areas that could be ‘nurtured’. The best example is predominantly Muslim island of Mindanao, vs. the rest of the Philippines, which is predominantly a Catholic country. As we know, the Philippines is also involved in the South China Sea dispute with the PRC, and the U.S. is trying to fully dominate the region…”</p>
<p>And President Duterte is committing an ‘unpardonable crime’ in the eyes of Washington and London, by trying to resolve the territorial conflict with China, as quickly and efficiently as possible.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>But back to the “Jihadi Express…” It is important to understand the background:</p>
<p>The Indonesian jihadi, Salafi group Darul Islam, fought for a caliphate and against the secular and socialist state headed by President Sukarno, in the 1950’s and well into the 1960’s. “Terror is halal”, they used to say.</p>
<p>Professor Saleh further clarifies:</p>
<p>“Eventually the Indonesian state dismantled ‘Darul Islam’, but there was an off-shoot of it created soon, ‘Komando Jihad’.”</p>
<p>Komando Jihad later transformed into a transnational Southeast Asian group Jamaah Islamiyah (with its spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir). The group has been maintaining active links and cooperation with al-Qaeda and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines, to name just two religious guerillas.</p>
<p>“Fighters from Komando Jihad then went to Afghanistan. Ideologically they were hard-core Salafis, but with the Western support. They received Western help to acquire weapons and other basics. According to my contacts in the Indonesian intelligence community, the U.S. was backing this infiltration of Afghanistan by ‘Komando Jihad’ and by others. I’m also in possession of a piece of information that the Indonesian army (TNI) commander in the 1980’s, General Moerdani, was supporting Indonesian and Afghan jihadists, by supplying them with the weapons (including the AK-47’s).”</p>
<p>“Again, according to my Indonesian intelligence sources, the ‘departure’ itself of the Indonesian jihadists for Afghanistan was also directly helped by the U.S., under the cover of ‘Islamic study groups’ and other ‘communities’, and the route that was utilized was: Indonesia – Malaysia – Philippines – Afghanistan”.</p>
<p>These are not well-publicized facts, but they should not surprise anyone familiar with Indonesian history: after the brutal 1965 U.S.-sponsored military/religious coup, Indonesia rapidly transformed itself from an anti-imperialist, internationalist and progressive country into the closest Western ally in the entire Southeast Asia. The main ‘ideology’ of the new fascist pro-Western regime of General Suharto became “anti-Communism”. For months and years, the Communists as well as alleged ‘Communists’ were slaughtered all over the archipelago, while Communist ideology was banned, as were the Chinese language and culture, including dragons and cakes. The anti-Communist propaganda became the main sample of the ‘intellectual’ diet. The fourth most populous country on Earth went through a total reset, became one of the most ‘religious’ places on Earth, and soon after collapsed both socially and intellectually.</p>
<p>Allegations of “atheism” against the Communists were used in Indonesia in order to stir and radicalize thousands of potential and already existing jihadi cadres. Anti-atheism, even anti-secularism, became the rallying cry of those who were ready to sacrifice their lives for the ultimate goal and dream – a caliphate.</p>
<p>The West in Afghanistan played the same ‘game’, during the “Soviet era”, as it did in Indonesia after 1965, and elsewhere. It is clear and obvious that the imperialist scheme designed in Washington and London has been interchangeable and successfully applicable in many different geographical locations.</p>
<p>In Kabul, in March 2017, a legendary Afghan intellectual, Dr. Omara Khan Masoudi,&#160;explained to me:</p>
<p>“The biggest mistake the Soviet Union made here was to attack religion outrightly. If they’d first stuck to equal rights, and slowly worked it up towards the contradictions of religion, it could perhaps have worked… But they began blaming religion for our backwardness, in fact for everything. Or at least this is how it was interpreted by the coalition of their enemies, and of course by the West.</p>
<p>Now, why is the present Western invasion so ‘successful’; why is there so little in terms of intellectual opposition? Look at the regime in Kabul… During its rule, the US convinced people that Western intervention was ‘positive’, ‘respectful of their religion and cultures’. They kept repeating ‘under this and that UN convention’, and again ‘as decided by the UN’… They used NATO, a huge group of countries, as an umbrella. There was a ‘brilliantly effective’ protocol that they developed… According to them, they never did anything unilaterally, always by ‘international consensus’ and in order to ‘help Afghan people’. On the other hand, the Soviet Union never had the slightest chance to explain itself. It was attacked immediately, and on all fronts.”</p>
<p>In reality, the West has always been using (and finally it has managed to divert) Islam. Some great Muslim scholars, including those that I met in Teheran, actually believe that Washington, London, Paris and other centers of the Western imperialism and neo-colonialism, actually succeeded, in many parts of the world, to create a totally new and (to many true and intellectual Muslims) unrecognizable religion.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Indonesian jihadi cadres hardened in Afghanistan and trained by the Pakistanis eventually returned to their country. There, they went to “work”, participating in such bloodlettings and killings as those in Ambon (Maluku) and Poso (Sulawesi). In Ambon the conflict continued from 1999 to 2002, and while it lasted, allegedly 8,000 people died, while thousands belonging to both sexes were involuntarily and brutally circumcised and genitally mutilated. In Ambon, I saw the jihadi cadres in action, hacking to death a young innocent boy, right in front of the eyes of a cheering crowd of onlookers. I later described the horror of this incident in my novel “Point of No Return”.</p>
<p>Little did I know, then, what I was really witnessing and trying to document. Only much later, in Bandung, in May 2017, a couple of professors, Iman Soleh and Antik Bintari, explained to me:</p>
<p>“Poso and Ambon, that’s the “Afghani Link”. During those massacres, there were still some ‘old jihadists’ from the Afghan days, participating in the actual fighting. However, there were also some ‘fresh’ fighters there, many of them undergoing exercises with the Indonesian ‘Afghans’. Poso and Ambon conflicts were in fact serving as two training grounds. After that, a new generation of combatants had risen”.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>That same night – very late at night – after driving for hours on hopelessly congested highway that connects the cities of Bandung and Jakarta, I met Mr. Farihin, an active member of the outlawed “JI” (Jamaah Islamiyah), a man who personally met Osama bin Laden, a warrior who fought in Paktia and other provinces in Afghanistan, a former Mujahedeen, an unapologetic jihadist.</p>
<p>I was longing to know, to understand, how the old ‘Afghan alumni’ were thinking, how they saw the world, and what their goals were.</p>
<p>Mr. Farihin was actually an impressive human being: upright, strong, manly, proud, extremely polite, and totally brainwashed…</p>
<p>His hatred for Communism knew no boundaries; it was epic. He dreamed, he ‘saw’ Communists everywhere, all over the world: in Syria, in the present-day Russia, even in Karzai’s and Ghani’s Afghanistan. Anything remotely secular, anything that was not a caliphate, was “Communist” in his simple but determined mind of a combatant.</p>
<p>We began with Osama bin Laden:</p>
<p>“I met Osama fleetingly, in 1987 and 1988, but in those days he was not an ‘ulama’. He was funding Mujahedeen. He was a contractor in Paktia Province and he was based in the north of that province, in an Arab camp, helping Mujahedeen and also building the roads. After Soviets entered Afghanistan, Osama’s people made a ‘council’; it was like a shadow Mujahedeen government.”</p>
<p>Mr. Farihin came to Afghanistan in 1987. After his group NII (Negara Islam Indonesia – Islamic State of Indonesia) received ‘an invitation’ from Mujahedeen.</p>
<p>What prompted him to go to Afghanistan?</p>
<p>“There was news all over Indonesia, that a Muslim country was attacked by the Soviet Union. My initial desire was to fight the USSR. At the beginning I was not allowed to fight, and it was not Afghanistan where I was sent; it was Pakistan. I was ordered to study at Etihad Islami Military Academy there. At some point, all foreign jihadis had to leave Pakistan, so we were moved directly to Afghanistan. In Paktia Province they built an entire camp for us. We were attacked by the Soviets there, on several occasions; us, as well as the ‘Arab Camp’. MIG-21 jet fighters were used. But by then, Russians were already beginning their withdrawal. After the Soviets left, Afghanistan was still governed by a Communist government, so we fought it, too. I was ready to fight: first the Soviets, than that Communist Afghan governments. I saw Russian prisoners, pilots, shackled, in Pakistan. I was not affraid of them.”</p>
<p>I quickly noticed that Mr. Farihin was not proud of the support his group and Mujahedeen in general were receiving from the United States and the rest of the West. He kept repeating that he did not “see” any direct U.S. support, that supplies just kept coming from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Muslim countries. For him, it was essential that his fight in Afghanistan would be seen as a ‘pure’, pan-Islamic struggle.</p>
<p>I was not there to contradict him, I was there to listen.</p>
<p>He spoke about the fronts on which he had fought: Nangarhar, Jalalabad among others: “I was rotating between the fronts. The war, the battles were ‘orderly’”.</p>
<p>“But what was the goal?” I asked.</p>
<p>He didn’t hesitate one single moment.</p>
<p>“The goal was simple: in Afghanistan we wanted to prevent the Communist ideology from being accepted.”</p>
<p>How much did he know about the Communism?</p>
<p>“Actually, my knowledge about it was very shallow. That’s fine: we were war machines for Mujahedeen. What we were told was that the Communists don’t believe in God, and that they are professing secularism.”</p>
<p>I wondered whether they knew anything about the improving medical system, about the all of a sudden decent education, about public housing, transportation, and culture?</p>
<p>“Almost everything done by the Communists was good, I know… But because they believed in Communism and socialism, it was not right, it was ‘haram’. Our pledge to God was what really mattered. In terms of importance, God was Number 1, and only then came the world of humans.”</p>
<p>I asked him how he sees Afghanistan now.</p>
<p>“As long as their government is Communist, we’ll fight it… And I pray that Taliban wins.”</p>
<p>For a moment I thought that I had misunderstood: the Afghanistan government is Communist? Doesn’t he know anything about the U.S., about the Western occupation?</p>
<p>“Yes but the U.S. went to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban, not Communism. The government is still Communist; a puppet regime of Russia.”</p>
<p>I quickly changed the subject, but things did not improve. I asked him about Syria, about Iraq. He replied politely:</p>
<p>“I train, we train volunteers who are ready to go and fight in Syria. It is because Syria is not only Communist, you know – Assad and Russians – but also it is Shi’a.”</p>
<p>Being Shi’a is an arch crime in today’s Indonesia. People are getting killed, ostracized, and intimidated for being Shi’a. I witnessed it once, on the island of Madura.</p>
<p>“’Aghan alumni’ are training fighters that are ready to go abroad, both ideologically and militarily. Whether the government knows, I’m not sure. Perhaps intelligence knows. During Suharto era, the fight against Communism was supported. I saw Indonesian intelligence operating in the Afghan refugee camps in Peshawar, Pakistan. We were told by the Pakistani intelligence that the Indonesian intelligence was deployed in the region. Indonesia was then supporting Mujahedeen, and we were receiving some Indonesian supplies, including food. Indonesia and Pakistan were then very good friends; Pakistani intellegence made our life very easy: we were going back and forth, freely, between Afghanistan and Pakistan, across the border, while civilians were not allowed…”</p>
<p>And what was their fee? Certainly jihad is not fought for free?</p>
<p>The lowest pay was then US$150 per month, a lot of money in poor Indonesia, in the late 1980’s. Between US$300 and US$400 for the officers.</p>
<p>Before we parted, we talked about Afghanistan, the country. He remembered it fondly:</p>
<p>“I like the country, it is beautiful. I liked religious life there. Afghans were very kind to us, treated us like guests… We were offered their women, too, to marry, but the dowry was too high. Some had blue eyes, and we wanted to marry them, badly, but really: we couldn’t afford their women with our modest ‘salaries’.”</p>
<p>Does he miss Afghanistan?</p>
<p>“Yes.”</p>
<p>“Me, too,” I nodded. “But I’m going back, soon.”</p>
<p>We didn’t embrace. By then he sensed that we belonged to the opposite sides of the barricade, and that most likely we were arch enemies. But until we parted, both of us remained polite, excessively polite: the Afghan way.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>“Jihad in Indonesia – against the Western imperialism? Oh no, no way…” smiles Dina Y. Sulaeman, an Indonesian political analyst, an author of the book “Salju Di Aleppo” (Snow of Aleppo):</p>
<p>“Jihad in which Indonesians want to participate is based on hate… In my book, I explain that the Indonesian fighters in Syria are mainly affiliated with several groups: ‘Ikhwanul Muslimin’, ‘Hizbut Tahrir’ and Al Qaeda/ISIS. Unfortunately these groups have supporters in Indonesia. They keep spreading fake photos and videos about Syria, to ignite sympathy, even anger of Indonesian people, so they give donations or even join jihad. It’s a good deal for them. They are waging ‘holy war’, they’ll go to heaven, and plus they get paid. They accuse president Assad of being ‘infidel’. That’s their rallying cry.”</p>
<p>“Indonesian mass media ‘coverage’ is only directly translating what is said by the Western media: the CNN, the BBC and others…. If not those, then at least Al-Jazeera which is often even worse… As a result, Indonesians are ‘very concerned’ about Syria.’ Of course, in my books I’m trying to correct the misconceptions, but the propaganda apparatus is so powerful.”</p>
<p>“Like in Afghanistan,” I add.</p>
<p>Earlier I asked Noor Huda Ismail: “But the Afghan ‘alumni’ and the ISIS do not necessarily like each other, do they?”</p>
<p>Huda nods, but then he adds:</p>
<p>“Al-Qaida and ISIS do not get along well. In the context, most of the fighters, those who support ISIS, they have been gathering in the same mosque. They are using social media. Maybe the Afghan ‘alumni’ and the ISIS supporters do not like each other, but they share the same ideology; the root, the matter is the same, which is toppling and challenging the secular systems.”</p>
<p>“Including the one in Indonesia.”</p>
<p>“Yes, including the one here.”</p>
<p>Jihadi Express is now rolling, gaining speed. One country after another is being shred to pieces under its merciless wheels.</p>
<p>Those who think that it is “all about oil” are mistaken. The West is of course trying to control, fully and brutally, all that moves in the Middle East, North Africa and as far as Iran and Afghanistan. But that’s definitely not all: jihadi groups, created by the West and its allies in the Gulf, have been used to destabilize the two greatest adversaries of the West: Russia and China.</p>
<p>Soviet Union was tricked into Afghanistan in 1979, and then brutally destroyed. Afghanistan itself was ‘sacrificed’ in the process, its social structures broken, and all hope its people were enjoying, choked. China is now also greatly suffering from the operations of several Muslim terrorist groups, as well as from other religious implants, which are without exception supported by the West.</p>
<p>The Philippines is most likely the next ‘front’. It has been for years and decades, in Sulu and elsewhere, but as this report goes to print, things are deteriorating, getting more and more desperate there.</p>
<p>To fight terrorism in such places like Syria and Afghanistan, has been and will be increasingly, one of the main foreign policy goals of both Moscow and Beijing; in order to help those countries under siege, but also in order to prevent them from becoming the training grounds of the ‘anti-Communist’ and anti-secularist terrorist armies.</p> | U.S. “Jihadi Express”: Indonesia – Afghanistan, Syria, Philippines | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/06/09/u-s-jihadi-express-indonesia-afghanistan-syria-philippines/ | 2017-06-09 | 4left
| U.S. “Jihadi Express”: Indonesia – Afghanistan, Syria, Philippines
<p />
<p>It was late at night but the new Terminal 3 at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport outside Jakarta was still bustling with families and friends waiting for their loved ones returning from abroad.</p>
<p>My friend Noor Huda Ismail was just arriving from Singapore, and I decided to pick him up and discuss ‘certain issues’ with him in the car, on the way to the capital. Lately he and I were busy, awfully busy, and a one-hour journey seemed to be the most appropriate setting for the exchange of at least some essential ideas and information.</p>
<p>Huda could easily pass for the most knowledgeable Indonesian “expert on terrorism”; a Muslim man who grew up and was educated in the madrasahs that have produced some of the most notorious jihadi cadres in the country. Later he became the man who managed to ‘get away’ from the extremism, to study, and to finally become a respected filmmaker and a thinker.</p>
<p>For years, both of us have been studying a complex web produced by Western imperialism – a web, which has literally destroyed entire countries, while locking other ones ‘behind bars’, in virtual neo-colonialist slavery. All this done in the name of ‘freedom’ and democracy, naturally, and often using various religions as tools, even as weapons.</p>
<p>Inside the car we managed to quickly ‘compare notes’. Huda filled me in on his groundbreaking film ‘Jihad Selfie’, while I informed him about my political revolutionary novel ‘Aurora’, and my big work in progress, a book about Afghanistan. I also mentioned my future ‘Afghan’ film, a dark love story, a drama about betrayal, collaboration and the virtual collapse of one family; a film which I’m preparing to produce and direct sometime during the next year.</p>
<p>“Afghanistan,” he says, “that’s where the roots of so many things lie… You recall that in the 80’s, the U.S. was using some local, Indonesian, jihadi cadres, sending them to Afghanistan…”</p>
<p>I knew about it; I knew something, but not everything. The fact that both Indonesian and Malaysian citizens went to fight against the Soviet Union, Karmal, and then Mohammad Najibullah’s government in Afghanistan, was something that I have never yet addressed in my books or films. Now I suddenly felt that it was important, extremely important, to address this fact.</p>
<p>“Huda,” I asked, as we were slowly progressing through perpetual traffic jam of Jakarta, “how many Indonesian men went to fight in Afghanistan, after the 1979 Soviet intervention?”</p>
<p>Huda didn’t hesitate. He always knows the numbers:</p>
<p>“Just from one group, there were 350 fighters. Indonesians fought in Afghanistan, and were based in a camp belonging to Ittehad-al-Islami&#160;(Islamic Union). Ustad Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf ran the camp. Of course Rab Rasul Sayyaf is Wahhabi, and the Wahhabis have been fully funded by the U.S. What we are seeing now, all those ‘terrorist threats’, is a blowback effect, of what the U.S. has done in the region, specifically in Afghanistan. And even the ISIS now: in 2003 they came to topple Saddam…”</p>
<p>Could I meet one of the Afghan ‘alumni’ here in Jakarta?</p>
<p>“Of course you can,” he nodded, “I’ll arrange it, while you are here.”</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Before an encounter with an “Afghan” jihadi cadre, I travelled to the city of Bandung, where I met Iman Soleh, a professor at the Faculty of Social and Political Science (University of Padjadjaran – UNPAD). He is yet another renowned authority on ‘terrorism’. He came to my hotel, accompanied by his wife, Professor Antik Bintari, a conflict management expert who teaches at the same university.</p>
<p>For quite some time, professor Iman Soleh and I discussed the link between the ‘old guard’ Southeast Asian (mainly Indonesians and Malaysians) jihadi cadres, so-called ‘Afghan alumni’, and the vanguard, a ‘new wave’, that which is now trying to destabilize, even destroy both Syria and the Philippines.</p>
<p>While the name ‘jihad’ itself has been used habitually and ‘liberally’ all over the Western mainstream media, it was clear to all of us at the table that behind the brutal combat as well as most of the horrors unleashed in such places like Syria and Philippines, hidden are the geopolitical interests of the West in general and of the United States in particular.</p>
<p>Professor Soleh has explained the latest ‘dynamics’:</p>
<p>“Since World War Two, the U.S. was afraid of so-called ‘domino effects’. Among other things that are now happening in the Philippines under president Duterte, the government is curbing activities of the multi-national mining conglomerates, and the West cannot accept that. Philippines are putting its environmental concerns above the short-term profits! For the millions of left-wing activists here in Indonesia and all over Southeast Asia, Duterte is a role model.”</p>
<p>Therefore, following the imperialist logic, the Philippines have to be attacked and destabilized, as has already been done to Syria. Defiance is punishable by death. And how else other than through the most effective weapons which the West has been utilizing for years and decades: extremist religious terrorist groups. What better assembly of fighters to choose for that difficult task than the jihadists from the groups that had already proven to be so effective and lethal in places such as Afghanistan?</p>
<p>By now, almost nobody who is at least to some extent informed on the subject has any doubts that the West is mainly interested in maintaining ‘perpetual conflict’ in several regions of the world. As Professor Soleh observes:</p>
<p>“I think all this is not just to ‘destabilize’ the Philippines, but also because the country has conflict areas that could be ‘nurtured’. The best example is predominantly Muslim island of Mindanao, vs. the rest of the Philippines, which is predominantly a Catholic country. As we know, the Philippines is also involved in the South China Sea dispute with the PRC, and the U.S. is trying to fully dominate the region…”</p>
<p>And President Duterte is committing an ‘unpardonable crime’ in the eyes of Washington and London, by trying to resolve the territorial conflict with China, as quickly and efficiently as possible.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>But back to the “Jihadi Express…” It is important to understand the background:</p>
<p>The Indonesian jihadi, Salafi group Darul Islam, fought for a caliphate and against the secular and socialist state headed by President Sukarno, in the 1950’s and well into the 1960’s. “Terror is halal”, they used to say.</p>
<p>Professor Saleh further clarifies:</p>
<p>“Eventually the Indonesian state dismantled ‘Darul Islam’, but there was an off-shoot of it created soon, ‘Komando Jihad’.”</p>
<p>Komando Jihad later transformed into a transnational Southeast Asian group Jamaah Islamiyah (with its spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir). The group has been maintaining active links and cooperation with al-Qaeda and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines, to name just two religious guerillas.</p>
<p>“Fighters from Komando Jihad then went to Afghanistan. Ideologically they were hard-core Salafis, but with the Western support. They received Western help to acquire weapons and other basics. According to my contacts in the Indonesian intelligence community, the U.S. was backing this infiltration of Afghanistan by ‘Komando Jihad’ and by others. I’m also in possession of a piece of information that the Indonesian army (TNI) commander in the 1980’s, General Moerdani, was supporting Indonesian and Afghan jihadists, by supplying them with the weapons (including the AK-47’s).”</p>
<p>“Again, according to my Indonesian intelligence sources, the ‘departure’ itself of the Indonesian jihadists for Afghanistan was also directly helped by the U.S., under the cover of ‘Islamic study groups’ and other ‘communities’, and the route that was utilized was: Indonesia – Malaysia – Philippines – Afghanistan”.</p>
<p>These are not well-publicized facts, but they should not surprise anyone familiar with Indonesian history: after the brutal 1965 U.S.-sponsored military/religious coup, Indonesia rapidly transformed itself from an anti-imperialist, internationalist and progressive country into the closest Western ally in the entire Southeast Asia. The main ‘ideology’ of the new fascist pro-Western regime of General Suharto became “anti-Communism”. For months and years, the Communists as well as alleged ‘Communists’ were slaughtered all over the archipelago, while Communist ideology was banned, as were the Chinese language and culture, including dragons and cakes. The anti-Communist propaganda became the main sample of the ‘intellectual’ diet. The fourth most populous country on Earth went through a total reset, became one of the most ‘religious’ places on Earth, and soon after collapsed both socially and intellectually.</p>
<p>Allegations of “atheism” against the Communists were used in Indonesia in order to stir and radicalize thousands of potential and already existing jihadi cadres. Anti-atheism, even anti-secularism, became the rallying cry of those who were ready to sacrifice their lives for the ultimate goal and dream – a caliphate.</p>
<p>The West in Afghanistan played the same ‘game’, during the “Soviet era”, as it did in Indonesia after 1965, and elsewhere. It is clear and obvious that the imperialist scheme designed in Washington and London has been interchangeable and successfully applicable in many different geographical locations.</p>
<p>In Kabul, in March 2017, a legendary Afghan intellectual, Dr. Omara Khan Masoudi,&#160;explained to me:</p>
<p>“The biggest mistake the Soviet Union made here was to attack religion outrightly. If they’d first stuck to equal rights, and slowly worked it up towards the contradictions of religion, it could perhaps have worked… But they began blaming religion for our backwardness, in fact for everything. Or at least this is how it was interpreted by the coalition of their enemies, and of course by the West.</p>
<p>Now, why is the present Western invasion so ‘successful’; why is there so little in terms of intellectual opposition? Look at the regime in Kabul… During its rule, the US convinced people that Western intervention was ‘positive’, ‘respectful of their religion and cultures’. They kept repeating ‘under this and that UN convention’, and again ‘as decided by the UN’… They used NATO, a huge group of countries, as an umbrella. There was a ‘brilliantly effective’ protocol that they developed… According to them, they never did anything unilaterally, always by ‘international consensus’ and in order to ‘help Afghan people’. On the other hand, the Soviet Union never had the slightest chance to explain itself. It was attacked immediately, and on all fronts.”</p>
<p>In reality, the West has always been using (and finally it has managed to divert) Islam. Some great Muslim scholars, including those that I met in Teheran, actually believe that Washington, London, Paris and other centers of the Western imperialism and neo-colonialism, actually succeeded, in many parts of the world, to create a totally new and (to many true and intellectual Muslims) unrecognizable religion.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Indonesian jihadi cadres hardened in Afghanistan and trained by the Pakistanis eventually returned to their country. There, they went to “work”, participating in such bloodlettings and killings as those in Ambon (Maluku) and Poso (Sulawesi). In Ambon the conflict continued from 1999 to 2002, and while it lasted, allegedly 8,000 people died, while thousands belonging to both sexes were involuntarily and brutally circumcised and genitally mutilated. In Ambon, I saw the jihadi cadres in action, hacking to death a young innocent boy, right in front of the eyes of a cheering crowd of onlookers. I later described the horror of this incident in my novel “Point of No Return”.</p>
<p>Little did I know, then, what I was really witnessing and trying to document. Only much later, in Bandung, in May 2017, a couple of professors, Iman Soleh and Antik Bintari, explained to me:</p>
<p>“Poso and Ambon, that’s the “Afghani Link”. During those massacres, there were still some ‘old jihadists’ from the Afghan days, participating in the actual fighting. However, there were also some ‘fresh’ fighters there, many of them undergoing exercises with the Indonesian ‘Afghans’. Poso and Ambon conflicts were in fact serving as two training grounds. After that, a new generation of combatants had risen”.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>That same night – very late at night – after driving for hours on hopelessly congested highway that connects the cities of Bandung and Jakarta, I met Mr. Farihin, an active member of the outlawed “JI” (Jamaah Islamiyah), a man who personally met Osama bin Laden, a warrior who fought in Paktia and other provinces in Afghanistan, a former Mujahedeen, an unapologetic jihadist.</p>
<p>I was longing to know, to understand, how the old ‘Afghan alumni’ were thinking, how they saw the world, and what their goals were.</p>
<p>Mr. Farihin was actually an impressive human being: upright, strong, manly, proud, extremely polite, and totally brainwashed…</p>
<p>His hatred for Communism knew no boundaries; it was epic. He dreamed, he ‘saw’ Communists everywhere, all over the world: in Syria, in the present-day Russia, even in Karzai’s and Ghani’s Afghanistan. Anything remotely secular, anything that was not a caliphate, was “Communist” in his simple but determined mind of a combatant.</p>
<p>We began with Osama bin Laden:</p>
<p>“I met Osama fleetingly, in 1987 and 1988, but in those days he was not an ‘ulama’. He was funding Mujahedeen. He was a contractor in Paktia Province and he was based in the north of that province, in an Arab camp, helping Mujahedeen and also building the roads. After Soviets entered Afghanistan, Osama’s people made a ‘council’; it was like a shadow Mujahedeen government.”</p>
<p>Mr. Farihin came to Afghanistan in 1987. After his group NII (Negara Islam Indonesia – Islamic State of Indonesia) received ‘an invitation’ from Mujahedeen.</p>
<p>What prompted him to go to Afghanistan?</p>
<p>“There was news all over Indonesia, that a Muslim country was attacked by the Soviet Union. My initial desire was to fight the USSR. At the beginning I was not allowed to fight, and it was not Afghanistan where I was sent; it was Pakistan. I was ordered to study at Etihad Islami Military Academy there. At some point, all foreign jihadis had to leave Pakistan, so we were moved directly to Afghanistan. In Paktia Province they built an entire camp for us. We were attacked by the Soviets there, on several occasions; us, as well as the ‘Arab Camp’. MIG-21 jet fighters were used. But by then, Russians were already beginning their withdrawal. After the Soviets left, Afghanistan was still governed by a Communist government, so we fought it, too. I was ready to fight: first the Soviets, than that Communist Afghan governments. I saw Russian prisoners, pilots, shackled, in Pakistan. I was not affraid of them.”</p>
<p>I quickly noticed that Mr. Farihin was not proud of the support his group and Mujahedeen in general were receiving from the United States and the rest of the West. He kept repeating that he did not “see” any direct U.S. support, that supplies just kept coming from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Muslim countries. For him, it was essential that his fight in Afghanistan would be seen as a ‘pure’, pan-Islamic struggle.</p>
<p>I was not there to contradict him, I was there to listen.</p>
<p>He spoke about the fronts on which he had fought: Nangarhar, Jalalabad among others: “I was rotating between the fronts. The war, the battles were ‘orderly’”.</p>
<p>“But what was the goal?” I asked.</p>
<p>He didn’t hesitate one single moment.</p>
<p>“The goal was simple: in Afghanistan we wanted to prevent the Communist ideology from being accepted.”</p>
<p>How much did he know about the Communism?</p>
<p>“Actually, my knowledge about it was very shallow. That’s fine: we were war machines for Mujahedeen. What we were told was that the Communists don’t believe in God, and that they are professing secularism.”</p>
<p>I wondered whether they knew anything about the improving medical system, about the all of a sudden decent education, about public housing, transportation, and culture?</p>
<p>“Almost everything done by the Communists was good, I know… But because they believed in Communism and socialism, it was not right, it was ‘haram’. Our pledge to God was what really mattered. In terms of importance, God was Number 1, and only then came the world of humans.”</p>
<p>I asked him how he sees Afghanistan now.</p>
<p>“As long as their government is Communist, we’ll fight it… And I pray that Taliban wins.”</p>
<p>For a moment I thought that I had misunderstood: the Afghanistan government is Communist? Doesn’t he know anything about the U.S., about the Western occupation?</p>
<p>“Yes but the U.S. went to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban, not Communism. The government is still Communist; a puppet regime of Russia.”</p>
<p>I quickly changed the subject, but things did not improve. I asked him about Syria, about Iraq. He replied politely:</p>
<p>“I train, we train volunteers who are ready to go and fight in Syria. It is because Syria is not only Communist, you know – Assad and Russians – but also it is Shi’a.”</p>
<p>Being Shi’a is an arch crime in today’s Indonesia. People are getting killed, ostracized, and intimidated for being Shi’a. I witnessed it once, on the island of Madura.</p>
<p>“’Aghan alumni’ are training fighters that are ready to go abroad, both ideologically and militarily. Whether the government knows, I’m not sure. Perhaps intelligence knows. During Suharto era, the fight against Communism was supported. I saw Indonesian intelligence operating in the Afghan refugee camps in Peshawar, Pakistan. We were told by the Pakistani intelligence that the Indonesian intelligence was deployed in the region. Indonesia was then supporting Mujahedeen, and we were receiving some Indonesian supplies, including food. Indonesia and Pakistan were then very good friends; Pakistani intellegence made our life very easy: we were going back and forth, freely, between Afghanistan and Pakistan, across the border, while civilians were not allowed…”</p>
<p>And what was their fee? Certainly jihad is not fought for free?</p>
<p>The lowest pay was then US$150 per month, a lot of money in poor Indonesia, in the late 1980’s. Between US$300 and US$400 for the officers.</p>
<p>Before we parted, we talked about Afghanistan, the country. He remembered it fondly:</p>
<p>“I like the country, it is beautiful. I liked religious life there. Afghans were very kind to us, treated us like guests… We were offered their women, too, to marry, but the dowry was too high. Some had blue eyes, and we wanted to marry them, badly, but really: we couldn’t afford their women with our modest ‘salaries’.”</p>
<p>Does he miss Afghanistan?</p>
<p>“Yes.”</p>
<p>“Me, too,” I nodded. “But I’m going back, soon.”</p>
<p>We didn’t embrace. By then he sensed that we belonged to the opposite sides of the barricade, and that most likely we were arch enemies. But until we parted, both of us remained polite, excessively polite: the Afghan way.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>“Jihad in Indonesia – against the Western imperialism? Oh no, no way…” smiles Dina Y. Sulaeman, an Indonesian political analyst, an author of the book “Salju Di Aleppo” (Snow of Aleppo):</p>
<p>“Jihad in which Indonesians want to participate is based on hate… In my book, I explain that the Indonesian fighters in Syria are mainly affiliated with several groups: ‘Ikhwanul Muslimin’, ‘Hizbut Tahrir’ and Al Qaeda/ISIS. Unfortunately these groups have supporters in Indonesia. They keep spreading fake photos and videos about Syria, to ignite sympathy, even anger of Indonesian people, so they give donations or even join jihad. It’s a good deal for them. They are waging ‘holy war’, they’ll go to heaven, and plus they get paid. They accuse president Assad of being ‘infidel’. That’s their rallying cry.”</p>
<p>“Indonesian mass media ‘coverage’ is only directly translating what is said by the Western media: the CNN, the BBC and others…. If not those, then at least Al-Jazeera which is often even worse… As a result, Indonesians are ‘very concerned’ about Syria.’ Of course, in my books I’m trying to correct the misconceptions, but the propaganda apparatus is so powerful.”</p>
<p>“Like in Afghanistan,” I add.</p>
<p>Earlier I asked Noor Huda Ismail: “But the Afghan ‘alumni’ and the ISIS do not necessarily like each other, do they?”</p>
<p>Huda nods, but then he adds:</p>
<p>“Al-Qaida and ISIS do not get along well. In the context, most of the fighters, those who support ISIS, they have been gathering in the same mosque. They are using social media. Maybe the Afghan ‘alumni’ and the ISIS supporters do not like each other, but they share the same ideology; the root, the matter is the same, which is toppling and challenging the secular systems.”</p>
<p>“Including the one in Indonesia.”</p>
<p>“Yes, including the one here.”</p>
<p>Jihadi Express is now rolling, gaining speed. One country after another is being shred to pieces under its merciless wheels.</p>
<p>Those who think that it is “all about oil” are mistaken. The West is of course trying to control, fully and brutally, all that moves in the Middle East, North Africa and as far as Iran and Afghanistan. But that’s definitely not all: jihadi groups, created by the West and its allies in the Gulf, have been used to destabilize the two greatest adversaries of the West: Russia and China.</p>
<p>Soviet Union was tricked into Afghanistan in 1979, and then brutally destroyed. Afghanistan itself was ‘sacrificed’ in the process, its social structures broken, and all hope its people were enjoying, choked. China is now also greatly suffering from the operations of several Muslim terrorist groups, as well as from other religious implants, which are without exception supported by the West.</p>
<p>The Philippines is most likely the next ‘front’. It has been for years and decades, in Sulu and elsewhere, but as this report goes to print, things are deteriorating, getting more and more desperate there.</p>
<p>To fight terrorism in such places like Syria and Afghanistan, has been and will be increasingly, one of the main foreign policy goals of both Moscow and Beijing; in order to help those countries under siege, but also in order to prevent them from becoming the training grounds of the ‘anti-Communist’ and anti-secularist terrorist armies.</p> | 599,215 |
<p>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette In his two most recent teaching positions, veteran journalist David W. Johnson was replaced by young people with no professional journalism experience. He writes: "One of my friends, who edits a major metropolitan newspaper, commented, 'So what you are saying is that the people teaching journalism at these places are mediocrities who have never been in a newsroom.' ...My friend has a point. Many college-level teachers of journalism are unfamiliar with the day-to-day practice. Journalism is closer to a craft than a theory, yet most often -- as my other friend pointed out -- teaching journalism at the college level requires credentials more appropriate to an English department, where theories and schools of critical thought are paramount."</p> | Many journalism teachers have never been in a newsroom | false | https://poynter.org/news/many-journalism-teachers-have-never-been-newsroom | 2006-01-02 | 2least
| Many journalism teachers have never been in a newsroom
<p>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette In his two most recent teaching positions, veteran journalist David W. Johnson was replaced by young people with no professional journalism experience. He writes: "One of my friends, who edits a major metropolitan newspaper, commented, 'So what you are saying is that the people teaching journalism at these places are mediocrities who have never been in a newsroom.' ...My friend has a point. Many college-level teachers of journalism are unfamiliar with the day-to-day practice. Journalism is closer to a craft than a theory, yet most often -- as my other friend pointed out -- teaching journalism at the college level requires credentials more appropriate to an English department, where theories and schools of critical thought are paramount."</p> | 599,216 |
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p /> SHARMINI PERIES, EXEC. PRODUCER, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Sharmini Peries, coming to you from Baltimore.
<p />
<p />The gathering of official government representatives at the 20th conference of the parties, also known as COP 20 climate change conference in Lima, Peru, is making some headlines around the world. But getting less mainstream media attention is the parallel grassroots event that's called the People's Summit on Climate Change, also taking place in Lima, Peru. These are civil society organizations, including labor unions. They have a very ambitious goal: to develop an alternative form of development, one that respects the limits and regenerative capacities of the Mother Earth and tackles the structural causes of climate change.
<p />
<p />Now joining us from Lima, Peru, to discuss their role is Jean Ross. Jean Ross is an acute care nurse and member of the National Nurses United Council of Presidents.
<p />
<p />Thank you so much for joining us, Jean.
<p />
<p />JEAN ROSS, MEMBER, NATIONAL NURSES UNITED COUNCIL OF PRESIDENTS: I'm glad to be here.
<p />
<p />PERIES: So, Jean, let's get why the Nurses Association is at the conference. And what are you hoping will come out of your presence there?
<p />
<p />ROSS: Well, the reason nurses are interested in what's going on now is because we realize that the climate crisis actually is a health crisis. It's become an emergency. And in order to do what we do best, which is to advocate for patients in society, health in general, we have to be at the forefront and with other groups in support of the same things that are going to work. And what we know will work is true energy democracy with public ownership. We see in our own country how awful our health care system is, if you could call it that, because it's private for-profit. Until you have that in the hands of public control, things aren't going to change.
<p />
<p />PERIES: And how much does the agenda of the People's Summit on Climate Change influence the official COP 20 conference that's going on parallel to yours?
<p />
<p />ROSS: Well, that's a good question. The reason we all come together is to hopefully generate a general movement, because the people understand what we're doing, and society in general agrees with what we're trying to do. Our voice isn't really listened to if you take into account the COP 20. So we're hoping to form a movement so that we can push forward our idea about a just transition, one that's really ambitious and one that's enforceable.
<p />
<p />PERIES: Now, how many of you are there? I know you are there as a part of a international labor delegation. How many people are in the People's Summit, and what other kind of organizations are also present there?
<p />
<p />ROSS: Well, there's about--well it's international unions. There's us, the United States, the United Kingdom, there's Argentina, there's Brazil, Peru, Canada. There's all kinds of social groups, whether it's a green group [incompr.] indigenous people. Everyone who is worried about or has already been affected by the changes that have been induced by corporatization of our industry is here putting their ideas forward and supporting one another.
<p />
<p />PERIES: Right. So let's get specific. What are the kinds of things that the nurses in particular are interested in addressing vis-à-vis climate change and the impact on people's health? I know various studies has pointed to the alarming rates of asthma, cancer, and other medical conditions. Can you elaborate on that? And are those kinds of items coming up in your discussions? It looks like these are universal trends.
<p />
<p />ROSS: Absolutely, if you look at simply what we've done at home; and as we talk to our friends around the globe, it is the same. We've done work at home on anti-fracking legislation, for example. We see, just as you mentioned, the asthma, increased incidences of cancer. It's interesting that they talk about, for example, the pet coke piles, notably those that are piled up around Chicago.
<p />
<p />And they talk about--when the industry finally admitted there might be a problem, they talk about the [transient (?)] trends towards your respiration. Nobody really knows the long-term trends. But we do know that the asthma and the respiratory problems are affecting the people that are most close to the area. And those tend to be underprivileged, poorer communities.
<p />
<p />We're doing a lot of anti-fracking work.
<p />
<p />Notably, we look at the Keystone XL Pipeline that should be transferring the tar sands from Alberta. We've been very active, along with ATU, against that. And it's because we know that a few jobs cannot make up for the health effects that we are going to see, that we see now and we're going to see in the future for people.
<p />
<p />PERIES: Right. And given that there's such large civil society groupings at the summit, is there any interaction with the official Summit? Like, are you going to get a chance to speak to the American delegation? And do you have a process of input to those negotiations?
<p />
<p />Well, that's a very good question. It feels like so far--as I said, I don't think our voice is really heard. Certainly we have excellent statements. Our own union has a wonderful statement, the ITUC. All the groups have come together with a general statement stating what I said before. We need true energy democracy. There has to be a change in the system in order for things to truly change. We are all in agreement on that. As to whether or not the COP 20 takes that into account remains to be seen.
<p />
<p />We are firmly committed that our ideas for the just transition and energy democracy be put into effect no later then the COP in 2015 in Paris.
<p />
<p />PERIES: Right. And also one of the other things that are going on is that the oil lobby and the fossil fuel lobby is also there. Is there any activity taking place between the People's Summit and the fossil fuel lobby?
<p />
<p />ROSS: Not that I know of.
<p />
<p />PERIES: Alright. Jean, I want to thank you so much for joining us and giving us a sense of what's going on there in Lima, Peru, at the People's Summit.
<p />
<p />ROSS: You're welcome.
<p />
<p />PERIES: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
<p />
<p />End
<p />
<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | The People's Summit on Climate Change Calls For Energy Democracy | true | http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D31%26Itemid%3D74%26jumival%3D12813 | 2018-10-02 | 4left
| The People's Summit on Climate Change Calls For Energy Democracy
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p /> SHARMINI PERIES, EXEC. PRODUCER, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Sharmini Peries, coming to you from Baltimore.
<p />
<p />The gathering of official government representatives at the 20th conference of the parties, also known as COP 20 climate change conference in Lima, Peru, is making some headlines around the world. But getting less mainstream media attention is the parallel grassroots event that's called the People's Summit on Climate Change, also taking place in Lima, Peru. These are civil society organizations, including labor unions. They have a very ambitious goal: to develop an alternative form of development, one that respects the limits and regenerative capacities of the Mother Earth and tackles the structural causes of climate change.
<p />
<p />Now joining us from Lima, Peru, to discuss their role is Jean Ross. Jean Ross is an acute care nurse and member of the National Nurses United Council of Presidents.
<p />
<p />Thank you so much for joining us, Jean.
<p />
<p />JEAN ROSS, MEMBER, NATIONAL NURSES UNITED COUNCIL OF PRESIDENTS: I'm glad to be here.
<p />
<p />PERIES: So, Jean, let's get why the Nurses Association is at the conference. And what are you hoping will come out of your presence there?
<p />
<p />ROSS: Well, the reason nurses are interested in what's going on now is because we realize that the climate crisis actually is a health crisis. It's become an emergency. And in order to do what we do best, which is to advocate for patients in society, health in general, we have to be at the forefront and with other groups in support of the same things that are going to work. And what we know will work is true energy democracy with public ownership. We see in our own country how awful our health care system is, if you could call it that, because it's private for-profit. Until you have that in the hands of public control, things aren't going to change.
<p />
<p />PERIES: And how much does the agenda of the People's Summit on Climate Change influence the official COP 20 conference that's going on parallel to yours?
<p />
<p />ROSS: Well, that's a good question. The reason we all come together is to hopefully generate a general movement, because the people understand what we're doing, and society in general agrees with what we're trying to do. Our voice isn't really listened to if you take into account the COP 20. So we're hoping to form a movement so that we can push forward our idea about a just transition, one that's really ambitious and one that's enforceable.
<p />
<p />PERIES: Now, how many of you are there? I know you are there as a part of a international labor delegation. How many people are in the People's Summit, and what other kind of organizations are also present there?
<p />
<p />ROSS: Well, there's about--well it's international unions. There's us, the United States, the United Kingdom, there's Argentina, there's Brazil, Peru, Canada. There's all kinds of social groups, whether it's a green group [incompr.] indigenous people. Everyone who is worried about or has already been affected by the changes that have been induced by corporatization of our industry is here putting their ideas forward and supporting one another.
<p />
<p />PERIES: Right. So let's get specific. What are the kinds of things that the nurses in particular are interested in addressing vis-à-vis climate change and the impact on people's health? I know various studies has pointed to the alarming rates of asthma, cancer, and other medical conditions. Can you elaborate on that? And are those kinds of items coming up in your discussions? It looks like these are universal trends.
<p />
<p />ROSS: Absolutely, if you look at simply what we've done at home; and as we talk to our friends around the globe, it is the same. We've done work at home on anti-fracking legislation, for example. We see, just as you mentioned, the asthma, increased incidences of cancer. It's interesting that they talk about, for example, the pet coke piles, notably those that are piled up around Chicago.
<p />
<p />And they talk about--when the industry finally admitted there might be a problem, they talk about the [transient (?)] trends towards your respiration. Nobody really knows the long-term trends. But we do know that the asthma and the respiratory problems are affecting the people that are most close to the area. And those tend to be underprivileged, poorer communities.
<p />
<p />We're doing a lot of anti-fracking work.
<p />
<p />Notably, we look at the Keystone XL Pipeline that should be transferring the tar sands from Alberta. We've been very active, along with ATU, against that. And it's because we know that a few jobs cannot make up for the health effects that we are going to see, that we see now and we're going to see in the future for people.
<p />
<p />PERIES: Right. And given that there's such large civil society groupings at the summit, is there any interaction with the official Summit? Like, are you going to get a chance to speak to the American delegation? And do you have a process of input to those negotiations?
<p />
<p />Well, that's a very good question. It feels like so far--as I said, I don't think our voice is really heard. Certainly we have excellent statements. Our own union has a wonderful statement, the ITUC. All the groups have come together with a general statement stating what I said before. We need true energy democracy. There has to be a change in the system in order for things to truly change. We are all in agreement on that. As to whether or not the COP 20 takes that into account remains to be seen.
<p />
<p />We are firmly committed that our ideas for the just transition and energy democracy be put into effect no later then the COP in 2015 in Paris.
<p />
<p />PERIES: Right. And also one of the other things that are going on is that the oil lobby and the fossil fuel lobby is also there. Is there any activity taking place between the People's Summit and the fossil fuel lobby?
<p />
<p />ROSS: Not that I know of.
<p />
<p />PERIES: Alright. Jean, I want to thank you so much for joining us and giving us a sense of what's going on there in Lima, Peru, at the People's Summit.
<p />
<p />ROSS: You're welcome.
<p />
<p />PERIES: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
<p />
<p />End
<p />
<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | 599,217 |
<p>Twitter has been afire today with the controversy about Stephen Curry going to the White House and reactions to President Trump’s speech in Alabama.</p>
<p>During <a href="" type="internal">President Trump’s speech</a> at a rally for Luther Strange (R-AL), he addressed the growing trend among NFL players to kneel disrespectfully during the national anthem.&#160; Trump asked, ““Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say ‘get that son of a b***h off the field right now – he’s fired’?”.</p>
<p>Most people hearing or reading this comment recognize that the president is referring to the disrespectful kneeling “protest” that involves football (and other sports) players deliberately taking a knee during the national anthem.</p>
<p />
<p>The Warriors’ Stephen Curry hesitated when asked about whether he would attend the White House celebration, and Trump responded by rescinding the invitation to Curry.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>The left, as always, hears RAAACISM not patriotism in the president’s comments.&#160; They are subsequently completely unhinged in their response to their own fevered and deliberate misinterpretation of Trump’s comments.</p>
<p>Then-49er Colin Kaepernick who started this disturbing trend in response to the short-lived <a href="http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20384430/colin-kaepernick-items-part-black-lives-matter-collection-smithsonian-national-museum-african-american-history-culture" type="external">Black Lives Matter</a> explained his rationale last year to NFL Media.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000691077/article/colin-kaepernick-explains-why-he-sat-during-national-anthem" type="external">NFL reports</a>:</p>
<p>“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”</p>
<p>The resulting controversy was explosive, and <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/ct-will-colin-kaepernick-play-in-nfl-again-20170920-story.html" type="external">Kaepernick has had trouble</a> finding a new team since leaving the 49ers.</p>
<p>Since then, more and more players have started kneeling for the anthem, including <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/08/22/we-have-work-to-do-12-browns-including-one-white-player-take-a-knee-during-anthem/?utm_term=.a8cf3147ce8a" type="external">at least one white player</a>.</p>
<p>The president’s comments, reflective of a lot of Americans’ thoughts on the issue, were received as racist apparently because the majority of NFL players who take a knee during the anthem are black or brown.&#160; Therefore, according to leftist logic, any criticism of these players’ actions is not about the players’ actions at all; it has to be—can only be—about their race.</p>
<p>The NFL issued the following statement:</p>
<p />
<p>Just so we are all clear: it is not disrespectful or divisive to take a knee during the national anthem, but it is disrespectful and divisive to speak out against it.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Ah yes, because Trump never attacks white people.&#160; Or something.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Washington Redskins’ linebacker Zach Brown makes a potentially arguable point, that football has nothing to do with the President.</p>
<p />
<p>For the point to stand, however, it has to work both ways.&#160; Football is no place for political protests, either.</p>
<p>When the NFL (or any sports franchise) and its players invite, participate in, and otherwise politicize the sport, it is immediately bigger than football, basketball, etc.&#160; Deliberately disrespecting the American flag and national anthem has everything to do with every American, including the president.</p> | Trump and Pro-Athletes Spar Over Flag, National Anthem, White House Visit; Lefties Scream Racism | true | https://legalinsurrection.com/2017/09/trump-and-pro-athletes-spar-over-flag-national-anthem-white-house-visit-lefties-scream-racism/ | 2017-09-23 | 0right
| Trump and Pro-Athletes Spar Over Flag, National Anthem, White House Visit; Lefties Scream Racism
<p>Twitter has been afire today with the controversy about Stephen Curry going to the White House and reactions to President Trump’s speech in Alabama.</p>
<p>During <a href="" type="internal">President Trump’s speech</a> at a rally for Luther Strange (R-AL), he addressed the growing trend among NFL players to kneel disrespectfully during the national anthem.&#160; Trump asked, ““Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say ‘get that son of a b***h off the field right now – he’s fired’?”.</p>
<p>Most people hearing or reading this comment recognize that the president is referring to the disrespectful kneeling “protest” that involves football (and other sports) players deliberately taking a knee during the national anthem.</p>
<p />
<p>The Warriors’ Stephen Curry hesitated when asked about whether he would attend the White House celebration, and Trump responded by rescinding the invitation to Curry.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>The left, as always, hears RAAACISM not patriotism in the president’s comments.&#160; They are subsequently completely unhinged in their response to their own fevered and deliberate misinterpretation of Trump’s comments.</p>
<p>Then-49er Colin Kaepernick who started this disturbing trend in response to the short-lived <a href="http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20384430/colin-kaepernick-items-part-black-lives-matter-collection-smithsonian-national-museum-african-american-history-culture" type="external">Black Lives Matter</a> explained his rationale last year to NFL Media.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000691077/article/colin-kaepernick-explains-why-he-sat-during-national-anthem" type="external">NFL reports</a>:</p>
<p>“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”</p>
<p>The resulting controversy was explosive, and <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/ct-will-colin-kaepernick-play-in-nfl-again-20170920-story.html" type="external">Kaepernick has had trouble</a> finding a new team since leaving the 49ers.</p>
<p>Since then, more and more players have started kneeling for the anthem, including <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/08/22/we-have-work-to-do-12-browns-including-one-white-player-take-a-knee-during-anthem/?utm_term=.a8cf3147ce8a" type="external">at least one white player</a>.</p>
<p>The president’s comments, reflective of a lot of Americans’ thoughts on the issue, were received as racist apparently because the majority of NFL players who take a knee during the anthem are black or brown.&#160; Therefore, according to leftist logic, any criticism of these players’ actions is not about the players’ actions at all; it has to be—can only be—about their race.</p>
<p>The NFL issued the following statement:</p>
<p />
<p>Just so we are all clear: it is not disrespectful or divisive to take a knee during the national anthem, but it is disrespectful and divisive to speak out against it.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Ah yes, because Trump never attacks white people.&#160; Or something.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Washington Redskins’ linebacker Zach Brown makes a potentially arguable point, that football has nothing to do with the President.</p>
<p />
<p>For the point to stand, however, it has to work both ways.&#160; Football is no place for political protests, either.</p>
<p>When the NFL (or any sports franchise) and its players invite, participate in, and otherwise politicize the sport, it is immediately bigger than football, basketball, etc.&#160; Deliberately disrespecting the American flag and national anthem has everything to do with every American, including the president.</p> | 599,218 |
<p>How is it that Hillary Clinton's habits of secrecy themselves attract more interest than the secrets already exposed?</p>
<p>There are dozens of <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h0/OCyNDn9i98-2BOopV0K0WrPhwPv51MlZjOHjKfwnY2g4Y-2BHkZQhSPrLzZim0u-2B-2FfQGMgUB99iGO5H44uWO7Tg-2B7LWiSt-2FYijlIjQFLaPaOmUo6ZKihUSuESAGjfUaYXuql2mzAlJ1rgAKRTdH-2Fv6zf8mws7QQf5GcIUsT0UQ9GFrDyXgJghUUS6SI88eNYqNIOKFx1iWZRqMMkInHz7TCdgg-3D-3D" type="external">Hillary Clinton scandals</a> that I have no wish to minimize. But how is it that her habits of secrecy themselves attract more interest than the secrets already exposed?</p>
<p>Here is someone who has allowed shipments of weapons to countries that effectively paid her bribes. Last May the International Business Times published an article by David Sirota and Andrew Perez with the headline “ <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h1/iadoQp7swV9DkSEL9EBiYL-2B74xeBislBAdgaVX1J5AVWjnUh6W3BDkU-2BFXSGL5GyDXw4VljLedoWUWSNroBP-2FC6Se-2BJhXGStc9ExMo2gvaq1ta-2BtgAiLShzgx0lmFDB7-2FutdMLDSkirz2EtfKnEU2Ek32-2Bhit2o3-2BZTVPAO2R0F2vnFBlT70H72hKpzU3WFuf3ldNPdDiC8ZmQaZnsnDf6EnWQSPpF-2FwbLI-2FrJSjXYleJYC-2BjhX0saXLmfXoT0u5JJifACi0jMQqq2UPipVXowoGRtr-2BeYMaGp2W2jZdVWbVZlODGUTbvc8wI-2FsVQdUM" type="external">Clinton Foundation Donors Got Weapons Deals From Hillary Clinton’s State Department</a>.”</p>
<p>As the article recounts, Clinton approved a massive weapons sale to Saudi Arabia, almost certainly involving weapons since used to bomb innocent families in Yemen, despite official State Department positions on Saudi Arabia and, I might add, in apparent violation of the Arms Export Control Act.</p>
<p>“In the years before Hillary Clinton became secretary of state, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia contributed at least $10 million to the Clinton Foundation, the philanthropic enterprise she has overseen with her husband, former president Bill Clinton. Just two months before the deal was finalized, Boeing—the defense contractor that manufactures one of the fighter jets the Saudis were especially keen to acquire, the F-15— <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h2/-2BgG2Axp9Q5O6CwaCfGvIKpiNTTl164gFxrbUCrEJ8XK0s8Jkd16ftHgAe46FpdjaPXeRcKoGmvtc9y1xd7i9Q3NU7N9uxMBUJVgV5H3CwBDgtJc67F0pAEuDEn6Z5nYMB8EvRujGtA04HseLQ-2BBP5WIXwuxLdiH5ZqY-2BUkYF7jQdWW8aSPIekHaHM9z2HAO17kPr2oEgnb0I4FoDgP1OptZZEA24DA53y5coLe51Ig9ZZ8f2rrDHDKklqzOeLeZUtq9u7iXhN2l2n0p2O7tIOBc5Z3-2B-2FzUHF9uYus5VCGRuK0W2oNeTwIyN1QG-2BZmTeJbx2rxjU-2Bzj7ydV-2FDSMZvuDzwDNaw4uKNrkyEVHYwaUE-3D" type="external">contributed</a> $900,000 to the Clinton Foundation, according to a company press release.</p>
<p>“The Saudi deal was one of dozens of arms sales approved by Hillary Clinton’s State Department that placed weapons in the hands of governments that had also donated money to the Clinton family philanthropic empire, an International Business Times investigation has found.</p>
<p>“. . . American [military] contractors also donated to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state and in some cases made personal payments to Bill Clinton for speaking engagements.”</p>
<p>Among the nations that the State Department itself criticized for abusive actions (and most of which Clinton herself criticized for funding terrorism) but which donated to the Clinton Foundation and gained clearance for U.S. weapons purchases from Clinton’s State Department were: Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain. In 2010 the State Department criticized Algeria, Algeria donated to the Clinton Foundation, and . . .</p>
<p>“Clinton’s State Department the next year approved a one-year 70 percent increase in military export authorizations to the country. The increase included authorizations of almost 50,000 items classified as ‘toxicological agents, including chemical agents, biological agents and associated equipment’ after the State Department did not authorize the export of any of such items to Algeria in the prior year.”</p>
<p>Also, “The Clinton Foundation did not <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h3/-2BgG2Axp9Q5O6CwaCfGvIKpiNTTl164gFxrbUCrEJ8XL-2FSKZTrEDo44be9kQWgm2pK04aVh49une7XrjZqUEYgNKptZi6-2FsVZa3HgtixG2ZGqm89x1W-2Bwc-2F7L-2BDSfb1Xrm5MMwD6wGmTqs4kylP-2BAlp8GcoUY06oOcuCga8O3-2FBKDvxmCznDHReafCcJ-2Fnc8CLVSvP4nDV29tvYX08pFZyzwHrBX0QXOKQXpaJ-2FjmDvvoIzqsZBzNIokPGXkYG8kPjpWmQkF67KuB3oY1dKLFfLNpcF3T5Z0vZl9ZHknlIfbAC6-2BtZKbH8Rm-2B4jQwR7695Cexfw0Du-2FoRoUnNcIZeJZCReI6RRBdKZQ7xGWC6TOJ-2Bcl03KNvkr18ITxnRTFZTcUJoasY-2BXsZLTu7ieWr9uw-3D-3D" type="external">disclose</a> Algeria’s donation until this year—a violation of the ethics agreement it entered into with the Obama administration.”</p>
<p>Companies whose weapons sales Clinton’s State Department approved to nations it had previously refused included these donors to the Clinton Foundation: Boeing, General Electric, Goldman Sachs (Hawker Beechcraft), Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, and United Technologies.</p>
<p>Clinton’s State Department, we can observe in the WikiLeaks cables, spent a great deal of time pushing foreign nations of all sorts to buy weapons from the above companies. Here’s <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h4/RgFvoxDE8yuiGVSejHzmYCDu24Zwk17IJ9sbSGB3xNVPn8O4WtCQ-2BurQQ3aygo0Uv2KLz-2FxSjTtnZHxpp1QdeUM-2F5mOLAWK-2BfrorNT8NBJMwmV3vSthTVNhPBII-2FN4LO-2F9TXYn6BZWTVG7z-2FOepDsibuD1xF3Vb6hOOIeAnX2dZqDGsVOD4pKMKLyodFz0ci-2F34oMswurCBAFNcp72-2FSOd3-2FWDGPOaB3-2FO4Uq-2BiHuqzwbXsSVrMXTFfvuS1qiOSszzouOveIZHz3W4lCBVn5Og1DXZbxVq81GMMA1ogHMPI-3D" type="external">Fortune</a> magazine in 2011:</p>
<p>“Perhaps the most striking account of arms advocacy . . . is a December 2008 cable from Oslo that recaps the embassy’s push to persuade Norway to buy Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) instead of the Gripen, a fighter jet made by Sweden’s Saab. The cable reads like a Lockheed sales manual. ‘The country team has been living and breathing JSF for over a year, following a road to success that was full of heart-stopping ups and downs,’ wrote the American official. He lists helpful suggestions for other diplomats looking to promote weapons: work ‘with Lockheed Martin to determine which aspects of the purchase to highlight’; ‘jointly develop a press strategy with Lockheed Martin’; ‘create opportunities to talk about the aircraft.’ ‘Promoting economic security and prosperity at home and abroad is critical to America’s national security, and thus central to the Department of State’s mission,’ the department spokesman wrote in an e-mail.”</p>
<p>The Washington Post <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h5/mb-2FqhNwiPwHg26xxrzU0i6sX6KG5czYraUN3UD2Q9weAw2y3YF1Twy9CVC5JUlxAiISddAwGjyPryCMhxKopBXLg3w6EOgIeocEjyYPiJQLRlnI4FencQUVhSAAONOmkWMGP7ozObPBh-2F0gMnYiz6hnKfoXb6LTlpgKjxF6VjCCBsz6s31E7vDnPz3bFxguZWGv9TkdCkn0-2BQJpV1HYm-2FTNIZ2udpmDIGHCQsbrRF8yZrF6yj7qzXBoLyxOQ6aUTMbAcHxmjxrOLmHudZPUo78sr27TScgdpAvsM4CZEe7AUj41J4Dp7kAggOwgCf-2BS6-2BcEdoMOtHfzxSWUR90wRrmheLHM8UqLOpNSIGuUNXDWMUDwZZPiFsX5R-2BZ5YdbjJ" type="external">reported</a> in April of last year:</p>
<p>“On a trip to Moscow early in her tenure as secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton played the role of international saleswoman, pressing Russian government officials to sign a multibillion-dollar deal to buy dozens of aircraft from Boeing. A month later, Clinton was in China, where she jubilantly announced that the aerospace giant would be writing a generous check to help resuscitate floundering U.S. efforts to host a pavilion at the upcoming World’s Fair. Boeing, <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h6/47WwWY8uMC8QGbIvZ8l31GYBz1-2FnkV6gmxogN0Qks2qhA8aRgjXFMLhd6Tk0cd86GS3xVuYnsNLAReyZhAmk3bFycDtOmVgG7QgvzTutesZhCZCrbMZXLDEGk59oIgSfN6zjOE00DfG5ea9Oz3M7Cnw-2F-2BIk8eqnGgQDyOM7Hx98AIZphi43aMLuyY6-2BYofmoHlq3JVuQ-2FlOjzqsK5XgTTT2jd0XO5irdP5UckoGmGSD3-2BiPUiKtUKjRoh5sY-2FnFW" type="external">she said</a>, ‘has just agreed to double its contribution to $2 million.’ Clinton did not point out that, to secure the donation, the State Department had set aside ethics guidelines that first prohibited solicitations of Boeing and then later permitted only a $1 million gift from the company. Boeing had been included on a list of firms to be avoided because of its frequent reliance on the government for help negotiating overseas business and concern that a donation could be seen as an attempt to curry favor with U.S. officials.”</p>
<p>Secretary of State Clinton dramatically increased U.S. weapons sales to the Middle East. Between 2008 and 2011, according to the <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h7/7CBW3QOYpmFsnSfOK5kPeM5DGjXzr1QMJ2v8eCX6J1f9Q9E40AFfptC9IWmkVXnCG3a4X6iu5ep2Is-2FXcaiiVZsoyQ6jS-2F7YXK4qBn6N0u5sWWP2DFz9ROyfAF-2FY-2F-2F5RdqO6d5dNAaB5QvVzoVohS2-2FklsK-2BXX-2FXgZo1PdEIc5Z53PKq2ynjJGjhVmQ8ywRZ0-2FiRbX8CP9KzgkqQNC4kuDRPoQu2EDWIiaO3SiK2l4lZyzTqB1057FXYn1WxxMId7SVJOT-2B-2FMlVgaW0Eunab3w-3D-3D" type="external">Congressional Research Service</a>, 79% of weapons shipments to the Middle East were from the United States.</p>
<p>Fun as it might be to watch long hours of Congress members asking Clinton why she destroyed emails or how an ambassador bringing peace, love, and happiness to Libya (and Syria) ended up dead, wouldn’t it make more sense to ask her something like this:</p>
<p>Secretary Clinton, the Pope recently asked a joint session of this Congress to end the arms trade, and we gave him a standing ovation. Granted, we’re a bunch of hypocritical creeps, but my God woman, look at your record! Is there any amount of human life you wouldn’t sacrifice for a buck? Can you think of anything that could be found in anyone’s secret emails that would be worse than what we already know about you? There is a precedent for impeaching high officials after retirement. They can be stripped of the Secret Service and of the right to run for any federal office. If an intern were to crawl under that table we’d impeach you by Friday. What in the world are we waiting for?</p>
<p>All right. All right! We’re a bunch of partisan jack asses who will just get you elected if we try any such thing, and we’d gum it all up anyway. But we’re going to keep you here until you answer us this question: how did you get THAT kind of money out of these nasty foreign dictatorships? I mean, seriously, can your people sit down with my staff one day next week? Also, what about drinks, just you, me, and a few of the top people at Boeing? Is that too much to ask?</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>This article was originally published at <a href="http://davidswanson.org/node/4955" type="external">DavidSwanson.org</a> and has been used here with permission.</p> | What Congress Should Ask Hillary Clinton | false | http://foreignpolicyjournal.com/2015/10/23/what-congress-should-ask-hillary-clinton/ | 2015-10-23 | 1right-center
| What Congress Should Ask Hillary Clinton
<p>How is it that Hillary Clinton's habits of secrecy themselves attract more interest than the secrets already exposed?</p>
<p>There are dozens of <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h0/OCyNDn9i98-2BOopV0K0WrPhwPv51MlZjOHjKfwnY2g4Y-2BHkZQhSPrLzZim0u-2B-2FfQGMgUB99iGO5H44uWO7Tg-2B7LWiSt-2FYijlIjQFLaPaOmUo6ZKihUSuESAGjfUaYXuql2mzAlJ1rgAKRTdH-2Fv6zf8mws7QQf5GcIUsT0UQ9GFrDyXgJghUUS6SI88eNYqNIOKFx1iWZRqMMkInHz7TCdgg-3D-3D" type="external">Hillary Clinton scandals</a> that I have no wish to minimize. But how is it that her habits of secrecy themselves attract more interest than the secrets already exposed?</p>
<p>Here is someone who has allowed shipments of weapons to countries that effectively paid her bribes. Last May the International Business Times published an article by David Sirota and Andrew Perez with the headline “ <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h1/iadoQp7swV9DkSEL9EBiYL-2B74xeBislBAdgaVX1J5AVWjnUh6W3BDkU-2BFXSGL5GyDXw4VljLedoWUWSNroBP-2FC6Se-2BJhXGStc9ExMo2gvaq1ta-2BtgAiLShzgx0lmFDB7-2FutdMLDSkirz2EtfKnEU2Ek32-2Bhit2o3-2BZTVPAO2R0F2vnFBlT70H72hKpzU3WFuf3ldNPdDiC8ZmQaZnsnDf6EnWQSPpF-2FwbLI-2FrJSjXYleJYC-2BjhX0saXLmfXoT0u5JJifACi0jMQqq2UPipVXowoGRtr-2BeYMaGp2W2jZdVWbVZlODGUTbvc8wI-2FsVQdUM" type="external">Clinton Foundation Donors Got Weapons Deals From Hillary Clinton’s State Department</a>.”</p>
<p>As the article recounts, Clinton approved a massive weapons sale to Saudi Arabia, almost certainly involving weapons since used to bomb innocent families in Yemen, despite official State Department positions on Saudi Arabia and, I might add, in apparent violation of the Arms Export Control Act.</p>
<p>“In the years before Hillary Clinton became secretary of state, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia contributed at least $10 million to the Clinton Foundation, the philanthropic enterprise she has overseen with her husband, former president Bill Clinton. Just two months before the deal was finalized, Boeing—the defense contractor that manufactures one of the fighter jets the Saudis were especially keen to acquire, the F-15— <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h2/-2BgG2Axp9Q5O6CwaCfGvIKpiNTTl164gFxrbUCrEJ8XK0s8Jkd16ftHgAe46FpdjaPXeRcKoGmvtc9y1xd7i9Q3NU7N9uxMBUJVgV5H3CwBDgtJc67F0pAEuDEn6Z5nYMB8EvRujGtA04HseLQ-2BBP5WIXwuxLdiH5ZqY-2BUkYF7jQdWW8aSPIekHaHM9z2HAO17kPr2oEgnb0I4FoDgP1OptZZEA24DA53y5coLe51Ig9ZZ8f2rrDHDKklqzOeLeZUtq9u7iXhN2l2n0p2O7tIOBc5Z3-2B-2FzUHF9uYus5VCGRuK0W2oNeTwIyN1QG-2BZmTeJbx2rxjU-2Bzj7ydV-2FDSMZvuDzwDNaw4uKNrkyEVHYwaUE-3D" type="external">contributed</a> $900,000 to the Clinton Foundation, according to a company press release.</p>
<p>“The Saudi deal was one of dozens of arms sales approved by Hillary Clinton’s State Department that placed weapons in the hands of governments that had also donated money to the Clinton family philanthropic empire, an International Business Times investigation has found.</p>
<p>“. . . American [military] contractors also donated to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state and in some cases made personal payments to Bill Clinton for speaking engagements.”</p>
<p>Among the nations that the State Department itself criticized for abusive actions (and most of which Clinton herself criticized for funding terrorism) but which donated to the Clinton Foundation and gained clearance for U.S. weapons purchases from Clinton’s State Department were: Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain. In 2010 the State Department criticized Algeria, Algeria donated to the Clinton Foundation, and . . .</p>
<p>“Clinton’s State Department the next year approved a one-year 70 percent increase in military export authorizations to the country. The increase included authorizations of almost 50,000 items classified as ‘toxicological agents, including chemical agents, biological agents and associated equipment’ after the State Department did not authorize the export of any of such items to Algeria in the prior year.”</p>
<p>Also, “The Clinton Foundation did not <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h3/-2BgG2Axp9Q5O6CwaCfGvIKpiNTTl164gFxrbUCrEJ8XL-2FSKZTrEDo44be9kQWgm2pK04aVh49une7XrjZqUEYgNKptZi6-2FsVZa3HgtixG2ZGqm89x1W-2Bwc-2F7L-2BDSfb1Xrm5MMwD6wGmTqs4kylP-2BAlp8GcoUY06oOcuCga8O3-2FBKDvxmCznDHReafCcJ-2Fnc8CLVSvP4nDV29tvYX08pFZyzwHrBX0QXOKQXpaJ-2FjmDvvoIzqsZBzNIokPGXkYG8kPjpWmQkF67KuB3oY1dKLFfLNpcF3T5Z0vZl9ZHknlIfbAC6-2BtZKbH8Rm-2B4jQwR7695Cexfw0Du-2FoRoUnNcIZeJZCReI6RRBdKZQ7xGWC6TOJ-2Bcl03KNvkr18ITxnRTFZTcUJoasY-2BXsZLTu7ieWr9uw-3D-3D" type="external">disclose</a> Algeria’s donation until this year—a violation of the ethics agreement it entered into with the Obama administration.”</p>
<p>Companies whose weapons sales Clinton’s State Department approved to nations it had previously refused included these donors to the Clinton Foundation: Boeing, General Electric, Goldman Sachs (Hawker Beechcraft), Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, and United Technologies.</p>
<p>Clinton’s State Department, we can observe in the WikiLeaks cables, spent a great deal of time pushing foreign nations of all sorts to buy weapons from the above companies. Here’s <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h4/RgFvoxDE8yuiGVSejHzmYCDu24Zwk17IJ9sbSGB3xNVPn8O4WtCQ-2BurQQ3aygo0Uv2KLz-2FxSjTtnZHxpp1QdeUM-2F5mOLAWK-2BfrorNT8NBJMwmV3vSthTVNhPBII-2FN4LO-2F9TXYn6BZWTVG7z-2FOepDsibuD1xF3Vb6hOOIeAnX2dZqDGsVOD4pKMKLyodFz0ci-2F34oMswurCBAFNcp72-2FSOd3-2FWDGPOaB3-2FO4Uq-2BiHuqzwbXsSVrMXTFfvuS1qiOSszzouOveIZHz3W4lCBVn5Og1DXZbxVq81GMMA1ogHMPI-3D" type="external">Fortune</a> magazine in 2011:</p>
<p>“Perhaps the most striking account of arms advocacy . . . is a December 2008 cable from Oslo that recaps the embassy’s push to persuade Norway to buy Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) instead of the Gripen, a fighter jet made by Sweden’s Saab. The cable reads like a Lockheed sales manual. ‘The country team has been living and breathing JSF for over a year, following a road to success that was full of heart-stopping ups and downs,’ wrote the American official. He lists helpful suggestions for other diplomats looking to promote weapons: work ‘with Lockheed Martin to determine which aspects of the purchase to highlight’; ‘jointly develop a press strategy with Lockheed Martin’; ‘create opportunities to talk about the aircraft.’ ‘Promoting economic security and prosperity at home and abroad is critical to America’s national security, and thus central to the Department of State’s mission,’ the department spokesman wrote in an e-mail.”</p>
<p>The Washington Post <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h5/mb-2FqhNwiPwHg26xxrzU0i6sX6KG5czYraUN3UD2Q9weAw2y3YF1Twy9CVC5JUlxAiISddAwGjyPryCMhxKopBXLg3w6EOgIeocEjyYPiJQLRlnI4FencQUVhSAAONOmkWMGP7ozObPBh-2F0gMnYiz6hnKfoXb6LTlpgKjxF6VjCCBsz6s31E7vDnPz3bFxguZWGv9TkdCkn0-2BQJpV1HYm-2FTNIZ2udpmDIGHCQsbrRF8yZrF6yj7qzXBoLyxOQ6aUTMbAcHxmjxrOLmHudZPUo78sr27TScgdpAvsM4CZEe7AUj41J4Dp7kAggOwgCf-2BS6-2BcEdoMOtHfzxSWUR90wRrmheLHM8UqLOpNSIGuUNXDWMUDwZZPiFsX5R-2BZ5YdbjJ" type="external">reported</a> in April of last year:</p>
<p>“On a trip to Moscow early in her tenure as secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton played the role of international saleswoman, pressing Russian government officials to sign a multibillion-dollar deal to buy dozens of aircraft from Boeing. A month later, Clinton was in China, where she jubilantly announced that the aerospace giant would be writing a generous check to help resuscitate floundering U.S. efforts to host a pavilion at the upcoming World’s Fair. Boeing, <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h6/47WwWY8uMC8QGbIvZ8l31GYBz1-2FnkV6gmxogN0Qks2qhA8aRgjXFMLhd6Tk0cd86GS3xVuYnsNLAReyZhAmk3bFycDtOmVgG7QgvzTutesZhCZCrbMZXLDEGk59oIgSfN6zjOE00DfG5ea9Oz3M7Cnw-2F-2BIk8eqnGgQDyOM7Hx98AIZphi43aMLuyY6-2BYofmoHlq3JVuQ-2FlOjzqsK5XgTTT2jd0XO5irdP5UckoGmGSD3-2BiPUiKtUKjRoh5sY-2FnFW" type="external">she said</a>, ‘has just agreed to double its contribution to $2 million.’ Clinton did not point out that, to secure the donation, the State Department had set aside ethics guidelines that first prohibited solicitations of Boeing and then later permitted only a $1 million gift from the company. Boeing had been included on a list of firms to be avoided because of its frequent reliance on the government for help negotiating overseas business and concern that a donation could be seen as an attempt to curry favor with U.S. officials.”</p>
<p>Secretary of State Clinton dramatically increased U.S. weapons sales to the Middle East. Between 2008 and 2011, according to the <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/0wA/ni0YAA/t.1rg/Y6NWDstHSEmXnzCQ5kZ82A/h7/7CBW3QOYpmFsnSfOK5kPeM5DGjXzr1QMJ2v8eCX6J1f9Q9E40AFfptC9IWmkVXnCG3a4X6iu5ep2Is-2FXcaiiVZsoyQ6jS-2F7YXK4qBn6N0u5sWWP2DFz9ROyfAF-2FY-2F-2F5RdqO6d5dNAaB5QvVzoVohS2-2FklsK-2BXX-2FXgZo1PdEIc5Z53PKq2ynjJGjhVmQ8ywRZ0-2FiRbX8CP9KzgkqQNC4kuDRPoQu2EDWIiaO3SiK2l4lZyzTqB1057FXYn1WxxMId7SVJOT-2B-2FMlVgaW0Eunab3w-3D-3D" type="external">Congressional Research Service</a>, 79% of weapons shipments to the Middle East were from the United States.</p>
<p>Fun as it might be to watch long hours of Congress members asking Clinton why she destroyed emails or how an ambassador bringing peace, love, and happiness to Libya (and Syria) ended up dead, wouldn’t it make more sense to ask her something like this:</p>
<p>Secretary Clinton, the Pope recently asked a joint session of this Congress to end the arms trade, and we gave him a standing ovation. Granted, we’re a bunch of hypocritical creeps, but my God woman, look at your record! Is there any amount of human life you wouldn’t sacrifice for a buck? Can you think of anything that could be found in anyone’s secret emails that would be worse than what we already know about you? There is a precedent for impeaching high officials after retirement. They can be stripped of the Secret Service and of the right to run for any federal office. If an intern were to crawl under that table we’d impeach you by Friday. What in the world are we waiting for?</p>
<p>All right. All right! We’re a bunch of partisan jack asses who will just get you elected if we try any such thing, and we’d gum it all up anyway. But we’re going to keep you here until you answer us this question: how did you get THAT kind of money out of these nasty foreign dictatorships? I mean, seriously, can your people sit down with my staff one day next week? Also, what about drinks, just you, me, and a few of the top people at Boeing? Is that too much to ask?</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>This article was originally published at <a href="http://davidswanson.org/node/4955" type="external">DavidSwanson.org</a> and has been used here with permission.</p> | 599,219 |
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<p>Award-winning Hungarian photographer <a href="http://www.tamas-dezso.com/" type="external">Tamas Dezso</a> documented the villages of rural Romania from 2003 until 2007, when the isolated country was finally granted entry into the European Union. Each image deftly captures a people in transition, poised for change yet still struggling to recover from the constraints of Communism that left their country impoverished. Dezso's pictures highlight the poignant solitude of his subjects against a ravishing, culturally rich landscape. From an elderly couple watching television in their unheated living room to a young boy on the road to a brighter future, see a preview of Dezso's photo exhibition. <a href="http://avanlenten.tumblr.com/" type="external">Co-curated</a> by Newsweek's International Photo Editor James Price and writer Anna Van Lenten, The Dignity of Isolation is on view at the <a href="http://www.thehalfking.com/gallery/" type="external">Half King Gallery</a> in New York City from August 2 to September 25, 2011.</p>
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<p>2005. Boys kickboxing on the main street of Buzescu. The Gypsy community has created a bizarre cityscape here. They've erected pompous buildings to show off their wealth, but afterward, prefer not to live in the structures, leaving many uninhabited. As I entered the village with the journalist, we were greeted with this sight. The two guys stopped kickboxing when they saw us approaching with a camera in hand so I had to ask them to continue what they were doing before we arrived. It is interesting that in most parts of Romania the Gypsy population is almost always found on the periphery of the given town or city, but here in Buzescu it is the opposite. Gypsies own the center of the village completely. There is a leader among the Gypsies, called the Bulibasha who I had the opportunity to meet. We stumbled upon each other in front of his palace. He was wearing a tie completely made of fine gold and was excitedly awaiting the arrival of his new Bulibasha hat, which soon arrived, riding in the backseat by itself in a yellow Dacia.</p>
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<p>2005. Couple standing in front of their home, which the floods made uninhabitable in Nanov village near Alexandria.</p>
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<p>2005. Car approaching a village through the riverbeds after the floods washed away the bridge of the only road leading to the village. A string of floods hit some two-thirds of Romania's territory in 2005.</p>
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<p>2006. Romanian Orthodox nuns attend the Sunday religious service near Caianu. These nuns were heavily involved in social work, providing food and clothing for those deeply in need. Their order owned a single car with which they randomly entered extremely dangerous, poor Gypsy villages at night to throw out packages containing supplies. They did not even stop the car or else they probably would have been attacked.</p>
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<p>2005. A woman returns home with a goose under her arm in the village of Sapoca. Bird flu, threatening humans and fowls, is a serious concern.</p>
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<p>2007. Lumberjacks rest near Sighisoara.</p>
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<p>2005. Locals in the village of Calvini sit under a tent put up in the rectory garden to feast on the day of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of the Orthodox Church.</p>
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<p>2005. Man about to descend from the top of a haystack. The centuries-old method of drying hay guarantees ample food for animals in the winter. Because of a lack of machinery, most farm work is carried out in the traditional way.</p>
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<p>2005. An old couple sit in their unheated living room in Vedea village, close to the southern border. Bill Clinton looks on from the TV screen.</p>
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<p>2006. Donnica Garleuleb of Damuc village, central Romania, stares through the unkempt plants she sowed in her family's garden. From her house window, Donnica watches the garden's gradual decline, once installed for her children. The children left some years ago to work in Germany, like many others from the region.</p>
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<p>2005. Early on a winter morning, a young boy is off to work to saw wood for locals in Odobesti. This picture was taken a year before Romania's accession into the European Union. I chose this image as the closing piece of my original Romania essay. For me this picture symbolized the road to a brighter world on which the young man sets off on, and takes a last glimpse back at his home country.</p>
<p /> | Tamas Dezso's The Dignity of Isolation at The Half King Gallery (Photos) | true | https://thedailybeast.com/tamas-dezsos-the-dignity-of-isolation-at-the-half-king-gallery-photos | 2018-10-06 | 4left
| Tamas Dezso's The Dignity of Isolation at The Half King Gallery (Photos)
<p />
<p>Award-winning Hungarian photographer <a href="http://www.tamas-dezso.com/" type="external">Tamas Dezso</a> documented the villages of rural Romania from 2003 until 2007, when the isolated country was finally granted entry into the European Union. Each image deftly captures a people in transition, poised for change yet still struggling to recover from the constraints of Communism that left their country impoverished. Dezso's pictures highlight the poignant solitude of his subjects against a ravishing, culturally rich landscape. From an elderly couple watching television in their unheated living room to a young boy on the road to a brighter future, see a preview of Dezso's photo exhibition. <a href="http://avanlenten.tumblr.com/" type="external">Co-curated</a> by Newsweek's International Photo Editor James Price and writer Anna Van Lenten, The Dignity of Isolation is on view at the <a href="http://www.thehalfking.com/gallery/" type="external">Half King Gallery</a> in New York City from August 2 to September 25, 2011.</p>
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<p>2005. Boys kickboxing on the main street of Buzescu. The Gypsy community has created a bizarre cityscape here. They've erected pompous buildings to show off their wealth, but afterward, prefer not to live in the structures, leaving many uninhabited. As I entered the village with the journalist, we were greeted with this sight. The two guys stopped kickboxing when they saw us approaching with a camera in hand so I had to ask them to continue what they were doing before we arrived. It is interesting that in most parts of Romania the Gypsy population is almost always found on the periphery of the given town or city, but here in Buzescu it is the opposite. Gypsies own the center of the village completely. There is a leader among the Gypsies, called the Bulibasha who I had the opportunity to meet. We stumbled upon each other in front of his palace. He was wearing a tie completely made of fine gold and was excitedly awaiting the arrival of his new Bulibasha hat, which soon arrived, riding in the backseat by itself in a yellow Dacia.</p>
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<p>2005. Couple standing in front of their home, which the floods made uninhabitable in Nanov village near Alexandria.</p>
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<p>2005. Car approaching a village through the riverbeds after the floods washed away the bridge of the only road leading to the village. A string of floods hit some two-thirds of Romania's territory in 2005.</p>
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<p>2006. Romanian Orthodox nuns attend the Sunday religious service near Caianu. These nuns were heavily involved in social work, providing food and clothing for those deeply in need. Their order owned a single car with which they randomly entered extremely dangerous, poor Gypsy villages at night to throw out packages containing supplies. They did not even stop the car or else they probably would have been attacked.</p>
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<p>2005. A woman returns home with a goose under her arm in the village of Sapoca. Bird flu, threatening humans and fowls, is a serious concern.</p>
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<p>2007. Lumberjacks rest near Sighisoara.</p>
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<p>2005. Locals in the village of Calvini sit under a tent put up in the rectory garden to feast on the day of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of the Orthodox Church.</p>
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<p>2005. Man about to descend from the top of a haystack. The centuries-old method of drying hay guarantees ample food for animals in the winter. Because of a lack of machinery, most farm work is carried out in the traditional way.</p>
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<p>2005. An old couple sit in their unheated living room in Vedea village, close to the southern border. Bill Clinton looks on from the TV screen.</p>
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<p>2006. Donnica Garleuleb of Damuc village, central Romania, stares through the unkempt plants she sowed in her family's garden. From her house window, Donnica watches the garden's gradual decline, once installed for her children. The children left some years ago to work in Germany, like many others from the region.</p>
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<p>2005. Early on a winter morning, a young boy is off to work to saw wood for locals in Odobesti. This picture was taken a year before Romania's accession into the European Union. I chose this image as the closing piece of my original Romania essay. For me this picture symbolized the road to a brighter world on which the young man sets off on, and takes a last glimpse back at his home country.</p>
<p /> | 599,220 |
<p>Wall Street JournalCNN president Jonathan Klein says generic reporting doesn't cut it. "CNN had been very diffuse for a long time and tended to cover everything on the same note," he tells Joe Flint. "We're not just a video wire service; we have to break through the background noise." Klein isn't a big fan of sensational trials as a source of programming. "It's crap," he says. "Yes, [viewers] care about the verdict, but they don't care about anything else." &gt; <a href="http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/10630782.htm" type="external">Cooper is being groomed as the new face of CNN, reports Shister (Inq)</a> &gt; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5436-2005Jan12.html" type="external">CNN Headline News guts prime-time format, tries live shows (WP)</a></p> | New CNN chief wants to give viewers an "emotional ride" | false | https://poynter.org/news/new-cnn-chief-wants-give-viewers-emotional-ride | 2005-01-13 | 2least
| New CNN chief wants to give viewers an "emotional ride"
<p>Wall Street JournalCNN president Jonathan Klein says generic reporting doesn't cut it. "CNN had been very diffuse for a long time and tended to cover everything on the same note," he tells Joe Flint. "We're not just a video wire service; we have to break through the background noise." Klein isn't a big fan of sensational trials as a source of programming. "It's crap," he says. "Yes, [viewers] care about the verdict, but they don't care about anything else." &gt; <a href="http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/10630782.htm" type="external">Cooper is being groomed as the new face of CNN, reports Shister (Inq)</a> &gt; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5436-2005Jan12.html" type="external">CNN Headline News guts prime-time format, tries live shows (WP)</a></p> | 599,221 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Singer, songwriter and fiddler Stephanie Bettman and multi-instrumentalist Luke Halpin, who are fast earning a following in folk and bluegrass circles, will give a concert next Sunday at St. John’s United Methodist Church.</p>
<p>Bettman is an accomplished songwriter known for her moving lyrics. As a vocalist, she has drawn comparisons to such legendary singers as Emmylou Harris and Joan Baez. Her award-winning fiddling combines elements of jazz and bluegrass with influences from such masters as Stephane Grappelli, Byron Berline and Johnny Gimble.</p>
<p>Halpin is a renowned multi-instrumentalist, drawing inspiration from the likes of Sam Bush, Mark O’Connor and Tony Rice. He is equally adept on mandolin, fiddle and guitar and also is a vocalist and harmony singer. He has opened for Merle Haggard, Lone Star and the Steve Miller Band, among others.</p>
<p>Bettman and Halpin’s two CDs have received national and international radio play along with critical acclaim, both reaching the top 10 on the National Folk DJ chart.</p>
<p>Their music takes listeners from up-tempo, down-home fiddling to soulful, sorrowful ballads and hooky folk/pop tunes.</p>
<p>They have been grand prize winners at the So Cal Live Acoustic Music Competition and winners in Southern California’s Topanga Banjo/Fiddle Contest. They have been touring since 2008.</p>
<p>Free child care is available for the concert, and the sanctuary is handicapped accessible.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Folk fiddlers give church concert | false | https://abqjournal.com/183737/folk-fiddlers-give-church-concert.html | 2013-03-31 | 2least
| Folk fiddlers give church concert
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Singer, songwriter and fiddler Stephanie Bettman and multi-instrumentalist Luke Halpin, who are fast earning a following in folk and bluegrass circles, will give a concert next Sunday at St. John’s United Methodist Church.</p>
<p>Bettman is an accomplished songwriter known for her moving lyrics. As a vocalist, she has drawn comparisons to such legendary singers as Emmylou Harris and Joan Baez. Her award-winning fiddling combines elements of jazz and bluegrass with influences from such masters as Stephane Grappelli, Byron Berline and Johnny Gimble.</p>
<p>Halpin is a renowned multi-instrumentalist, drawing inspiration from the likes of Sam Bush, Mark O’Connor and Tony Rice. He is equally adept on mandolin, fiddle and guitar and also is a vocalist and harmony singer. He has opened for Merle Haggard, Lone Star and the Steve Miller Band, among others.</p>
<p>Bettman and Halpin’s two CDs have received national and international radio play along with critical acclaim, both reaching the top 10 on the National Folk DJ chart.</p>
<p>Their music takes listeners from up-tempo, down-home fiddling to soulful, sorrowful ballads and hooky folk/pop tunes.</p>
<p>They have been grand prize winners at the So Cal Live Acoustic Music Competition and winners in Southern California’s Topanga Banjo/Fiddle Contest. They have been touring since 2008.</p>
<p>Free child care is available for the concert, and the sanctuary is handicapped accessible.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 599,222 |
<p>Tunisia's President Moncef Marzouki has requested that the country's prime minister appoint a new cabinet in the wake of increasingly violent protests over the country's lagging economic situation.</p>
<p>"The government must be changed to have a competent technocrat cabinet and not a party political one," Marzouki, a secularist, said in an address carried on state television, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/30/us-tunisia-president-protest-idUSBRE8AT1AG20121130" type="external">Reuters reported</a>. "If the clashes continue and the government's response is not adequate, there will be chaos and a dead-end."</p>
<p>Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, who took office last October and has true executive power in the country and has clashed with Marzouki before, did not comment on the president's words.</p>
<p>The protests are some of the harshest backlash against him since he came to power.&#160;</p>
<p>The demonstrations, which brought over 10,000 people into the streets over lack of jobs and government investment, entered their fourth day on Friday. At least 220 people were injured, <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/12/20121215635559504.html" type="external">Al Jazeera reported</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/120420/tunisia-religious-right-salafists-secularists-democracy" type="external">Tunisia government caught between secularists and religious right</a></p>
<p>UN human rights officials said the security personnel used excessive force to stop the violence, <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/12/01/252791.html" type="external">Al-Arabiya reported</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>The army had reportedly moved in to quell the violence on Saturday, as the union met with some members of the government to negotiate. The prime minister and interior minister were both boycotting the talks, according to Al Jazeera.</p>
<p>Violence has spread to the town of Siliana, <a href="" type="external">the Associated Press reported</a>, as military vehicles rolled into the town to replace the police.</p>
<p>Though Marzouki's demands certainly add pressure to Jebali, he is not required to obey the President under the constitution, according to Reuters. &#160;</p> | Tunisia protests spread as President Moncef Marzouki demands new cabinet | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-12-01/tunisia-protests-spread-president-moncef-marzouki-demands-new-cabinet | 2012-12-01 | 3left-center
| Tunisia protests spread as President Moncef Marzouki demands new cabinet
<p>Tunisia's President Moncef Marzouki has requested that the country's prime minister appoint a new cabinet in the wake of increasingly violent protests over the country's lagging economic situation.</p>
<p>"The government must be changed to have a competent technocrat cabinet and not a party political one," Marzouki, a secularist, said in an address carried on state television, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/30/us-tunisia-president-protest-idUSBRE8AT1AG20121130" type="external">Reuters reported</a>. "If the clashes continue and the government's response is not adequate, there will be chaos and a dead-end."</p>
<p>Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, who took office last October and has true executive power in the country and has clashed with Marzouki before, did not comment on the president's words.</p>
<p>The protests are some of the harshest backlash against him since he came to power.&#160;</p>
<p>The demonstrations, which brought over 10,000 people into the streets over lack of jobs and government investment, entered their fourth day on Friday. At least 220 people were injured, <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/12/20121215635559504.html" type="external">Al Jazeera reported</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/120420/tunisia-religious-right-salafists-secularists-democracy" type="external">Tunisia government caught between secularists and religious right</a></p>
<p>UN human rights officials said the security personnel used excessive force to stop the violence, <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/12/01/252791.html" type="external">Al-Arabiya reported</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>The army had reportedly moved in to quell the violence on Saturday, as the union met with some members of the government to negotiate. The prime minister and interior minister were both boycotting the talks, according to Al Jazeera.</p>
<p>Violence has spread to the town of Siliana, <a href="" type="external">the Associated Press reported</a>, as military vehicles rolled into the town to replace the police.</p>
<p>Though Marzouki's demands certainly add pressure to Jebali, he is not required to obey the President under the constitution, according to Reuters. &#160;</p> | 599,223 |
<p>It’s been two days since President Trump <a href="" type="internal">announced on Twitter</a> that he’d be banning transgender service in the military, effectively firing as many as 15,000 active and reserve servicemembers. Though <a href="" type="internal">no order has apparently been given</a> and trans people are still serving, the administration is continuing to defend the decision.</p>
<p>Top Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p059xp7b" type="external">spoke to BBC Radio 4</a> Friday morning about the ban, explaining that because there are high rates of suicidal thinking among transgender people, and thus should not be forced “into the hierarchical military environment where they are under the utmost pressure to kill or be killed.” Trump thus banned them from serving “out of the warmth of his consideration for this population.”</p>
<p>Gorka proudly shared a clip of his interview on Twitter, adding that the military shouldn’t be treated as an “ideological petri dish” or subjected to “social engineering.”</p>
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<p>Not heard in the shorter clip is the interviewer countering, “It probably doesn’t feel like warmth from the transgender perspective.” The UK has notably allowed <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/countries-that-allow-transgender-members-in-the-military-1.4222205" type="external">transgender service</a> for the better part of two decades, and the heads of the British armed forces <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-armed-forces-chiefs-transgender-us-soldiers-donald-trump-ban-uk-tweets-military-army-a7862296.html" type="external">publicly expressed support</a> this week for U.S. trans soldiers.</p>
<p>“Well, we’re not here to represent one part of America,” Gorka responded. “We are here to represent all of America and protect Americans.”</p>
<p>The combative, controversial Trump adviser is back to his old self.</p>
<p>It’s true that studies have found high rates of suicide attempts among transgender people, but they’ve <a href="" type="internal">shown direct correlations</a> between experiences of rejection and discrimination and those suicide attempt rates. It’s not surprising that when people have been rejected by their families and <a href="" type="internal">denied jobs and housing</a>, they in turn experience higher rates of mental distress.</p>
<p>In other words, Gorka’s argument is completely backwards. By denying trans people employment, it will only exacerbate their mental health consequences. And of course, he ignores that trans people have been capably serving for years, including openly for the past year. They <a href="" type="internal">are not asking</a> to be let go from their jobs.</p> | Top Trump adviser claims military ban will do transgender people a favor | true | https://thinkprogress.org/gorka-transgender-d83d38fb166f | 2017-07-28 | 4left
| Top Trump adviser claims military ban will do transgender people a favor
<p>It’s been two days since President Trump <a href="" type="internal">announced on Twitter</a> that he’d be banning transgender service in the military, effectively firing as many as 15,000 active and reserve servicemembers. Though <a href="" type="internal">no order has apparently been given</a> and trans people are still serving, the administration is continuing to defend the decision.</p>
<p>Top Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p059xp7b" type="external">spoke to BBC Radio 4</a> Friday morning about the ban, explaining that because there are high rates of suicidal thinking among transgender people, and thus should not be forced “into the hierarchical military environment where they are under the utmost pressure to kill or be killed.” Trump thus banned them from serving “out of the warmth of his consideration for this population.”</p>
<p>Gorka proudly shared a clip of his interview on Twitter, adding that the military shouldn’t be treated as an “ideological petri dish” or subjected to “social engineering.”</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Not heard in the shorter clip is the interviewer countering, “It probably doesn’t feel like warmth from the transgender perspective.” The UK has notably allowed <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/countries-that-allow-transgender-members-in-the-military-1.4222205" type="external">transgender service</a> for the better part of two decades, and the heads of the British armed forces <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-armed-forces-chiefs-transgender-us-soldiers-donald-trump-ban-uk-tweets-military-army-a7862296.html" type="external">publicly expressed support</a> this week for U.S. trans soldiers.</p>
<p>“Well, we’re not here to represent one part of America,” Gorka responded. “We are here to represent all of America and protect Americans.”</p>
<p>The combative, controversial Trump adviser is back to his old self.</p>
<p>It’s true that studies have found high rates of suicide attempts among transgender people, but they’ve <a href="" type="internal">shown direct correlations</a> between experiences of rejection and discrimination and those suicide attempt rates. It’s not surprising that when people have been rejected by their families and <a href="" type="internal">denied jobs and housing</a>, they in turn experience higher rates of mental distress.</p>
<p>In other words, Gorka’s argument is completely backwards. By denying trans people employment, it will only exacerbate their mental health consequences. And of course, he ignores that trans people have been capably serving for years, including openly for the past year. They <a href="" type="internal">are not asking</a> to be let go from their jobs.</p> | 599,224 |
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<p><a href="http://sage.abqjournalfit.com/2014/10/13/bicycles-descansos-and-new-mexico-2/blog-251/" type="external" />New Mexico is an incredibly beautiful state with mountains, gorgeous vistas, and plenty of sunshine. No wonder there are lots of bicyclists who want to enjoy the scenery. Albuquerque has built many miles of bike lanes, trying to encourage a healthy lifestyle. Sadly, there are far too many “ghost bikes” throughout the community. These are white bikes that are placed where a bicycle rider has been hit and killed by a motorist. The ghost bikes honor the bicyclist, while also serving as a somber reminder of the dangers of having cars and bikes on the same road. Clearly, a person riding a bike doesn’t have a chance against a car.</p>
<p>Descansos are crosses that appear along the roadside throughout New Mexico. They honor the place where a person was killed, usually in a car accident. These crosses are often ornately decorated, and they are a rich reflection of the Spanish heritage of New Mexico. While traveling across the U.S., I learned the crosses are also used by other cultures, as I found some among Amish communities in Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>So, what do “ghost bikes” and descansos have in common? The tradition of using descansos seems to be several hundred years old. The ghost bikes are much more recent. Yet, they both honor the loss of loved ones. The photo was taken along a roadside in Albuquerque during the Christmas holidays. You can see there is a decorated ghost bike, a cross (descanso), and luminarias, which are another New Mexican tradition for the holidays.</p>
<p>It is important that we lead healthy lifestyles, and that includes getting physical exercise and enjoying the outdoors. We need to remember that cars can be deadly to bicyclists and also to people in other cars. We need to celebrate each day, and be grateful for our friends and family.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Bicycles, Descansos, and New Mexico | false | https://abqjournal.com/511061/bicycles-descansos-and-new-mexico-2.html | 2least
| Bicycles, Descansos, and New Mexico
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<p><a href="http://sage.abqjournalfit.com/2014/10/13/bicycles-descansos-and-new-mexico-2/blog-251/" type="external" />New Mexico is an incredibly beautiful state with mountains, gorgeous vistas, and plenty of sunshine. No wonder there are lots of bicyclists who want to enjoy the scenery. Albuquerque has built many miles of bike lanes, trying to encourage a healthy lifestyle. Sadly, there are far too many “ghost bikes” throughout the community. These are white bikes that are placed where a bicycle rider has been hit and killed by a motorist. The ghost bikes honor the bicyclist, while also serving as a somber reminder of the dangers of having cars and bikes on the same road. Clearly, a person riding a bike doesn’t have a chance against a car.</p>
<p>Descansos are crosses that appear along the roadside throughout New Mexico. They honor the place where a person was killed, usually in a car accident. These crosses are often ornately decorated, and they are a rich reflection of the Spanish heritage of New Mexico. While traveling across the U.S., I learned the crosses are also used by other cultures, as I found some among Amish communities in Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>So, what do “ghost bikes” and descansos have in common? The tradition of using descansos seems to be several hundred years old. The ghost bikes are much more recent. Yet, they both honor the loss of loved ones. The photo was taken along a roadside in Albuquerque during the Christmas holidays. You can see there is a decorated ghost bike, a cross (descanso), and luminarias, which are another New Mexican tradition for the holidays.</p>
<p>It is important that we lead healthy lifestyles, and that includes getting physical exercise and enjoying the outdoors. We need to remember that cars can be deadly to bicyclists and also to people in other cars. We need to celebrate each day, and be grateful for our friends and family.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 599,225 |
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<p>Just days after an Israeli private security guard killed a Palestinian man and wounded four others, the Israeli navy fired upon a Palestinian fishing boat near Gaza and killed one fisherman. –JCL</p>
<p>Haaretz:</p>
<p>The Israeli navy fired on a Palestinian boat off the northern Gaza Strip on Friday, killing a fisherman, the territory’s Hamas administration said.</p>
<p>An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that naval vessels shot at a fishing boat after it approached the limits of waters where Israel, which keeps Gaza under blockade, permits Palestinian maritime traffic.</p>
<p />
<p>“We fired warning shots to turn them back, and when they did not respond, we fired at the boat,” the spokeswoman said. “We are checking the claim that there was a casualty.”</p>
<p>Palestinians say the Gaza fishing zone is too narrow to provide for the impoverished strip. Israel says the navy is preventing arms smuggling to Hamas and seaborne Palestinian attacks on neighbouring Israeli territory.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-navy-kills-gaza-fisherman-palestinians-say-1.315489" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Israeli Navy Kills Gaza Fisherman | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/israeli-navy-kills-gaza-fisherman/ | 2010-09-24 | 4left
| Israeli Navy Kills Gaza Fisherman
<p>Just days after an Israeli private security guard killed a Palestinian man and wounded four others, the Israeli navy fired upon a Palestinian fishing boat near Gaza and killed one fisherman. –JCL</p>
<p>Haaretz:</p>
<p>The Israeli navy fired on a Palestinian boat off the northern Gaza Strip on Friday, killing a fisherman, the territory’s Hamas administration said.</p>
<p>An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that naval vessels shot at a fishing boat after it approached the limits of waters where Israel, which keeps Gaza under blockade, permits Palestinian maritime traffic.</p>
<p />
<p>“We fired warning shots to turn them back, and when they did not respond, we fired at the boat,” the spokeswoman said. “We are checking the claim that there was a casualty.”</p>
<p>Palestinians say the Gaza fishing zone is too narrow to provide for the impoverished strip. Israel says the navy is preventing arms smuggling to Hamas and seaborne Palestinian attacks on neighbouring Israeli territory.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-navy-kills-gaza-fisherman-palestinians-say-1.315489" type="external">Read more</a></p> | 599,226 |
<p>Our government is breaking down the rule of law and stripping away our rights in the name of protecting us.</p>
<p>The national religion of the United States of America is nationalism. Its god is the flag. Its prayer is the pledge of allegiance.</p>
<p>The flag’s powers include those of life and death, powers formerly possessed by traditional religions. Its myths are built around the sacrifice of lives to protect against the evils outside the nation. Its heroes are soldiers who make such sacrifices based on unquestioning faith. A “Dream Act” that would give citizenship to those immigrants who kill or die for the flag embodies the deepest dreams of flag worship. Its high priest is the Commander in Chief. Its slaughter of infidels is not protection of a nation otherwise engaged, but an act that in itself completely constitutes the nation as it is understood by its devotees. If the nation stopped killing it would cease to be.</p>
<p>What happens to myths like these when we discover that flying killer robots make better soldiers than soldiers do? Or when we learn that the president is using those flying robots to kill U.S. citizens? Which beliefs do we jettison to reduce the dissonance in our troubled brains?</p>
<p>Some 85% of U.S.ians, and shrinking rapidly, are theists. &#160;Flag worship may be on the decline as well, but its numbers are still high. A majority supports a ban on flag burning. A majority supports the power of the president to kill non-U.S.ians with drones, while a significantly smaller percentage supports the president’s power to kill U.S. citizens with drones abroad. That is to say, if the high priest declares someone an enemy of god, many people believe he should have the power to kill that enemy . . . unless that enemy is a U.S. citizen. In secular terms, which make this reality seem all the crazier, many of us support acts of murder based on the citizenship of the victim.</p>
<p>Of course, the Commander in Chief kills U.S. citizens all the time by sending them into wars. Drones don’t change that. Drone pilots have committed suicide. Drone pilots have been targeted and killed by retaliatory suicide bombings. Drones have killed U.S. citizens through accidental “friendly” fire. The hostility that drones are generating abroad has motivated terrorist attacks and attempted attacks abroad and within the national borders of the United States.</p>
<p>But feeding corpses to our holy flag looks different when we’re feeding them directly to the president’s flying robots without a foreign intermediary. And yet to approximately a quarter of the U.S. public it doesn’t look different after all. The president, in their own view, should have the power to kill them, or at least the power to kill anyone (including U.S. citizens) so contaminated as to be standing outside the United States of America—a frightening and primitive realm that many U.S.ians have never visited and feel no need to ever visit.</p>
<p>Popular support for murder-by-president drops off significantly if “innocent civilians may also be killed.” But a religious belief system perpetuates itself not through the positions it takes on existing facts so much as through its ability to select which facts one becomes aware of and <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/1QA/ni0YAA/t.22p/dtySHW5OSbWBdB4WLIX2SA/h0/AZ8tXuRykWDUZ-2BIpg-2B9Y3pY-2BuV7rA8RHm6O6M-2Fkqpd5TxSHY0-2FsJT2v8p9n37k8kqcCSv1-2BO0Fn57QPvI1HDRugBGreshl1UV3jbsuDf2mMteRhxMfwbNawEx-2BE4inogVK6wea8b8e70H6a-2BMPWwLlWmJn289Ab-2Bmo6vT-2FZVlR8wNxNsfanA-2B-2FmlelWX4g7-2B-2BJLjMxjbGvJhE7vw7y02MqbPzgjDQz8ZTBkojFNVWto-3D" type="external">which facts remain unknown</a>.</p>
<p>Many U.S.ians have avoided knowing that U.S. citizens, including minors, have been targeted and killed, that women and children are on the list of those to be killed, that hundreds of civilian deaths have been documented by serious journalists including victims’ names and identities, that U.S. peace activists went to Pakistan and met with victims’ families, that the U.S. ambassador in Pakistan said there was a U.S. government count of how many civilians had been killed but he wouldn’t say what it was, that the vast majority of those killed are not important leaders in any organization, that people are targeted and killed without knowing their name, that people are targeted and killed merely for the act of trying to rescue victims of previous strikes, that the wounded outnumber the dead, that the traumatized outnumber the wounded, that the refugees who have fled the drone strikes are over a million, that the drone wars did not replace ground wars but began war making in new nations so destabilized now by the drone strikes that ground wars may develop, that some top U.S. military officials have said the drones are creating more new enemies than they kill, or that what drones are doing to our reputation abroad makes Abu Ghraib look like the fun and games our media pundits said it was.</p>
<p>If our courts killed without trials there would be by definition a risk of killing the innocent. The same should be understood when a president and his flying robots, or missiles, or night raids, kill without trial.</p>
<p>If we were being bombed we would not deem it any more acceptable to kill those who resisted than those who did not. Therefore, the category of “innocent civilian” (as distinct from guilty non-civilian) is suspect at best.</p>
<p>The vast majority of the “worst of the worst” locked away in Guantanamo have been exonerated and freed, something that cannot be done with drone victims. Yet John Brennan, once deemed unacceptable for his role in detention and torture, is now deemed acceptable. The goodness of his murdering evil beings outweighs the badness of his detaining and torturing people who were sometimes misidentified. The dead cannot be misidentified. The president has declared that any unidentified dead male of fighting age was, by definition, a militant. After all, he was killed.</p>
<p>Yet, this we know for certain: He was someone’s child. He was someone’s loved one. He was someone’s friend.</p>
<p>We have a responsibility right now to grow up very, very quickly. Our government is breaking down the rule of law and stripping away our rights in the name of protecting us from an enemy it generates through the same process. Drones are not inevitable. Drones are not in charge of us. We don’t have to fill our local skies with “surveillance” drones and “crowd control” drones. That’s a choice that is up to us to make. We don’t have to transfer to mindless hunks of metal the heroism heretofore bestowed just as nonsensically on soldiers. There is no excuse for supporting the murder of foreigners in cases in which we would not support the murder of U.S. citizens. There is no excuse for supporting a policy of murdering anyone at all.</p>
<p>There is no excuse for allowing your government to take your son or daughter and give you back a flag. There is no excuse for allowing your government to take someone else’s son or daughter. Ever. Anywhere. No matter how scared you are. No matter what oath of loyalty you’ve robotically pledged to a colored piece of fabric since Kindergarten. Actual robots can perform the pledge of allegiance as well as any human. They do not, however, have any heart to place their hand over. We should reserve our hearts for actions robots cannot do.</p>
<p>­This article was originally published at <a href="http://davidswanson.org/node/3963" type="external">DavidSwanson.org</a>.</p> | Why Flag Burning Matters: Drones and Our National Religion | false | http://foreignpolicyjournal.com/2016/11/29/why-flag-burning-matters-drones-and-our-national-religion/ | 2016-11-29 | 1right-center
| Why Flag Burning Matters: Drones and Our National Religion
<p>Our government is breaking down the rule of law and stripping away our rights in the name of protecting us.</p>
<p>The national religion of the United States of America is nationalism. Its god is the flag. Its prayer is the pledge of allegiance.</p>
<p>The flag’s powers include those of life and death, powers formerly possessed by traditional religions. Its myths are built around the sacrifice of lives to protect against the evils outside the nation. Its heroes are soldiers who make such sacrifices based on unquestioning faith. A “Dream Act” that would give citizenship to those immigrants who kill or die for the flag embodies the deepest dreams of flag worship. Its high priest is the Commander in Chief. Its slaughter of infidels is not protection of a nation otherwise engaged, but an act that in itself completely constitutes the nation as it is understood by its devotees. If the nation stopped killing it would cease to be.</p>
<p>What happens to myths like these when we discover that flying killer robots make better soldiers than soldiers do? Or when we learn that the president is using those flying robots to kill U.S. citizens? Which beliefs do we jettison to reduce the dissonance in our troubled brains?</p>
<p>Some 85% of U.S.ians, and shrinking rapidly, are theists. &#160;Flag worship may be on the decline as well, but its numbers are still high. A majority supports a ban on flag burning. A majority supports the power of the president to kill non-U.S.ians with drones, while a significantly smaller percentage supports the president’s power to kill U.S. citizens with drones abroad. That is to say, if the high priest declares someone an enemy of god, many people believe he should have the power to kill that enemy . . . unless that enemy is a U.S. citizen. In secular terms, which make this reality seem all the crazier, many of us support acts of murder based on the citizenship of the victim.</p>
<p>Of course, the Commander in Chief kills U.S. citizens all the time by sending them into wars. Drones don’t change that. Drone pilots have committed suicide. Drone pilots have been targeted and killed by retaliatory suicide bombings. Drones have killed U.S. citizens through accidental “friendly” fire. The hostility that drones are generating abroad has motivated terrorist attacks and attempted attacks abroad and within the national borders of the United States.</p>
<p>But feeding corpses to our holy flag looks different when we’re feeding them directly to the president’s flying robots without a foreign intermediary. And yet to approximately a quarter of the U.S. public it doesn’t look different after all. The president, in their own view, should have the power to kill them, or at least the power to kill anyone (including U.S. citizens) so contaminated as to be standing outside the United States of America—a frightening and primitive realm that many U.S.ians have never visited and feel no need to ever visit.</p>
<p>Popular support for murder-by-president drops off significantly if “innocent civilians may also be killed.” But a religious belief system perpetuates itself not through the positions it takes on existing facts so much as through its ability to select which facts one becomes aware of and <a href="http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/1QA/ni0YAA/t.22p/dtySHW5OSbWBdB4WLIX2SA/h0/AZ8tXuRykWDUZ-2BIpg-2B9Y3pY-2BuV7rA8RHm6O6M-2Fkqpd5TxSHY0-2FsJT2v8p9n37k8kqcCSv1-2BO0Fn57QPvI1HDRugBGreshl1UV3jbsuDf2mMteRhxMfwbNawEx-2BE4inogVK6wea8b8e70H6a-2BMPWwLlWmJn289Ab-2Bmo6vT-2FZVlR8wNxNsfanA-2B-2FmlelWX4g7-2B-2BJLjMxjbGvJhE7vw7y02MqbPzgjDQz8ZTBkojFNVWto-3D" type="external">which facts remain unknown</a>.</p>
<p>Many U.S.ians have avoided knowing that U.S. citizens, including minors, have been targeted and killed, that women and children are on the list of those to be killed, that hundreds of civilian deaths have been documented by serious journalists including victims’ names and identities, that U.S. peace activists went to Pakistan and met with victims’ families, that the U.S. ambassador in Pakistan said there was a U.S. government count of how many civilians had been killed but he wouldn’t say what it was, that the vast majority of those killed are not important leaders in any organization, that people are targeted and killed without knowing their name, that people are targeted and killed merely for the act of trying to rescue victims of previous strikes, that the wounded outnumber the dead, that the traumatized outnumber the wounded, that the refugees who have fled the drone strikes are over a million, that the drone wars did not replace ground wars but began war making in new nations so destabilized now by the drone strikes that ground wars may develop, that some top U.S. military officials have said the drones are creating more new enemies than they kill, or that what drones are doing to our reputation abroad makes Abu Ghraib look like the fun and games our media pundits said it was.</p>
<p>If our courts killed without trials there would be by definition a risk of killing the innocent. The same should be understood when a president and his flying robots, or missiles, or night raids, kill without trial.</p>
<p>If we were being bombed we would not deem it any more acceptable to kill those who resisted than those who did not. Therefore, the category of “innocent civilian” (as distinct from guilty non-civilian) is suspect at best.</p>
<p>The vast majority of the “worst of the worst” locked away in Guantanamo have been exonerated and freed, something that cannot be done with drone victims. Yet John Brennan, once deemed unacceptable for his role in detention and torture, is now deemed acceptable. The goodness of his murdering evil beings outweighs the badness of his detaining and torturing people who were sometimes misidentified. The dead cannot be misidentified. The president has declared that any unidentified dead male of fighting age was, by definition, a militant. After all, he was killed.</p>
<p>Yet, this we know for certain: He was someone’s child. He was someone’s loved one. He was someone’s friend.</p>
<p>We have a responsibility right now to grow up very, very quickly. Our government is breaking down the rule of law and stripping away our rights in the name of protecting us from an enemy it generates through the same process. Drones are not inevitable. Drones are not in charge of us. We don’t have to fill our local skies with “surveillance” drones and “crowd control” drones. That’s a choice that is up to us to make. We don’t have to transfer to mindless hunks of metal the heroism heretofore bestowed just as nonsensically on soldiers. There is no excuse for supporting the murder of foreigners in cases in which we would not support the murder of U.S. citizens. There is no excuse for supporting a policy of murdering anyone at all.</p>
<p>There is no excuse for allowing your government to take your son or daughter and give you back a flag. There is no excuse for allowing your government to take someone else’s son or daughter. Ever. Anywhere. No matter how scared you are. No matter what oath of loyalty you’ve robotically pledged to a colored piece of fabric since Kindergarten. Actual robots can perform the pledge of allegiance as well as any human. They do not, however, have any heart to place their hand over. We should reserve our hearts for actions robots cannot do.</p>
<p>­This article was originally published at <a href="http://davidswanson.org/node/3963" type="external">DavidSwanson.org</a>.</p> | 599,227 |
<p>Although Canada and the U.S., among other nations, are disputing Russia’s claim to vast territory in the Arctic, Russia has planted its flag on the ocean floor at the North Pole. Why does it matter? Well, some 25 percent of the Earth’s oil reserves might be at stake.</p>
<p>EuroNews.net:</p>
<p>The expedition to the North Pole is a scientific one and risky at that. One Russian official said placing a flag on the ocean floor was comparable to putting a flag on the moon. Russia says its expanded claim to territory is justified because the Arctic seabed and Siberia are linked by the Lomonosov Ridge discovered by the Soviets in 1948.</p>
<p><a href="http://euronews.net/index.php?page=info&amp;article=436266&amp;lng=1" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p /> | Russian Flag on North Pole Seabed | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/russian-flag-on-north-pole-seabed/ | 2007-08-03 | 4left
| Russian Flag on North Pole Seabed
<p>Although Canada and the U.S., among other nations, are disputing Russia’s claim to vast territory in the Arctic, Russia has planted its flag on the ocean floor at the North Pole. Why does it matter? Well, some 25 percent of the Earth’s oil reserves might be at stake.</p>
<p>EuroNews.net:</p>
<p>The expedition to the North Pole is a scientific one and risky at that. One Russian official said placing a flag on the ocean floor was comparable to putting a flag on the moon. Russia says its expanded claim to territory is justified because the Arctic seabed and Siberia are linked by the Lomonosov Ridge discovered by the Soviets in 1948.</p>
<p><a href="http://euronews.net/index.php?page=info&amp;article=436266&amp;lng=1" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p /> | 599,228 |
<p>Demonstrators occupy the front lawn at the house of Gregory Baer, a top lobbyist for Bank of America. Photo by Andy Kroll.</p>
<p>Late Sunday afternoon, the well-heeled residents of Chevy Chase, Maryland, a bucolic suburb northwest of Washington, DC, witnessed a commotion rare for their neighborhood. Toting signs and megaphones, fired up and chanting at the top of their lungs, some 700 demonstrators from around the nation paid a visit to two residents who work as powerful lobbyists for the United States’ biggest banks: <a href="http://fora.tv/speaker/5771/Gregory_Baer" type="external">Gregory Baer</a>, a deputy counsel for Bank of America, and <a href="http://www.ncapec.org/abac/bios/PScher.html" type="external">Peter Scher</a>, a high-ranking executive and lobbyist for <a href="" type="internal">JPMorgan Chase</a>.</p>
<p>Bussed into Washington by the Service International Employees Union (SEIU) and <a href="http://www.npa-us.org/" type="external">National People’s Action</a> (NPA), a community organzing network, the protesters visited Baer’s and Scher’s homes as part of a multi-day stand in Washington. On Monday, SEIU and NPA will lead a series of protests on K Street in Washington—a street synonymous with influence and lobbying. The groups are pushing for strong new financial reforms (as teh Senate continues debating legislation to bolster the rules governing Wall Street)&#160;and urging banks to stop <a href="" type="internal">foreclosures</a> and to promote job creation.</p>
<p>But before Main Street arrives on K Street, a fleet of yellow school buses and motor coaches delivered the demonstrators, clad in red, blue, and purple t-shirts, to a park in Chevy Chase near the home of Bank of America’s Baer. After a quick briefing, the throngs of protesters, hailing from Chicago, San Francisco, Staten Island, and other locales, gathered on Baer’s front lawn and marched to his front door. Members of NPA delivered a letter to a family member who opened the door. Baer, this family member said, wasn’t home. The letter, addressed to Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, asks Moynihan to meet with groups “to address the critical problems facing our neighborhoods and our country—problems that were caused in part by Bank of America and that continue to fester due to Bank of America’s inaction.”</p>
<p>Here’s a video, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsf-XsC18IQ" type="external">courtesy</a> of National People’s Action, of the scene at Baer’s home:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Undeterred by Baer’s absence, the boisterous group chanted—”Bank of America, Bad for America,” “Take It Back,” “Fired Up, Can’t Take It No More”—and, via megaphone, blasted Bank of America for foreclosing on homeowners and lobbying against financial reform. One woman who took the mic explained how she’d called Bank of America dozens of times to fight off foreclosure but hadn’t had any success with the bank’s unresponsive and unhelpful employees. People in the crowd booed references to the bank. Many hoisted signs that read, “People First Economy””and “Hold Wall Street Accountable.”</p>
<p>Just as the crowd was about to leave around 4:15 pm, Baer, in a baseball cap and shorts, strode up his front lawn and into the crowd. Baer briefly spoke with one of the protest’s organizers, declined to say much at all, then ducked into his house. The crowd hung around Baer’s house for another 25 minutes, their chants drawing curious (and agitated) neighbors onto their porches. Then they left for their second stop of the day.</p>
<p>Protesters crowd in front of JPMorgan Chase lobbyist Peter Scher’s house in Chevy Chase, Md. Photo by Andy Kroll.A 15-minute ride later, the buses arrived at the stately home of JPMorgan lobbyist Peter Scher. Like the previous demonstration, people poured out of the buses and quickly filed onto the neatly manicured front lawn and rushed Scher’s red front door. This time, no one answered, despite repeated demands by the Rev. Eugene Barnes from Illinois People’s Action. At Scher’s house, Montgomery County police nudged protesters off the lawn onto a nearby street, where the speeches and chanting and banging of drums continued. (One of the officers said the event was “very peaceful.”)</p>
<p>A handful of protesters walked to neighboring houses and handed fliers criticizing Scher and JPMorgan to neighbors watching the scene. On the street, Mark Freeman, a Minneapolis resident and lifelong union member, told of battling Bank of America, which was attempting to foreclose on his modest home in north Minneapolis. “It’s time that we repossess America,” Freeman shouted into the megaphone.</p>
<p>As the sun sank lower in the sky, the activists returned to the buses and headed to their hotels. On Monday, their target is a more obvious one: K Street, the Rodeo Drive of Washington lobbying shops, where they will protest Wall Street’s influence-peddlers’ attempts to whittle down financial reform.</p> | VIDEO: Protesters Swarm Wall St. Lobbyists’ Homes | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/05/main-street-battles-wall-street-seiu-npa-gregory-baer-peter-scher-jpmorgan-chase-bank-of-america/ | 2010-05-16 | 4left
| VIDEO: Protesters Swarm Wall St. Lobbyists’ Homes
<p>Demonstrators occupy the front lawn at the house of Gregory Baer, a top lobbyist for Bank of America. Photo by Andy Kroll.</p>
<p>Late Sunday afternoon, the well-heeled residents of Chevy Chase, Maryland, a bucolic suburb northwest of Washington, DC, witnessed a commotion rare for their neighborhood. Toting signs and megaphones, fired up and chanting at the top of their lungs, some 700 demonstrators from around the nation paid a visit to two residents who work as powerful lobbyists for the United States’ biggest banks: <a href="http://fora.tv/speaker/5771/Gregory_Baer" type="external">Gregory Baer</a>, a deputy counsel for Bank of America, and <a href="http://www.ncapec.org/abac/bios/PScher.html" type="external">Peter Scher</a>, a high-ranking executive and lobbyist for <a href="" type="internal">JPMorgan Chase</a>.</p>
<p>Bussed into Washington by the Service International Employees Union (SEIU) and <a href="http://www.npa-us.org/" type="external">National People’s Action</a> (NPA), a community organzing network, the protesters visited Baer’s and Scher’s homes as part of a multi-day stand in Washington. On Monday, SEIU and NPA will lead a series of protests on K Street in Washington—a street synonymous with influence and lobbying. The groups are pushing for strong new financial reforms (as teh Senate continues debating legislation to bolster the rules governing Wall Street)&#160;and urging banks to stop <a href="" type="internal">foreclosures</a> and to promote job creation.</p>
<p>But before Main Street arrives on K Street, a fleet of yellow school buses and motor coaches delivered the demonstrators, clad in red, blue, and purple t-shirts, to a park in Chevy Chase near the home of Bank of America’s Baer. After a quick briefing, the throngs of protesters, hailing from Chicago, San Francisco, Staten Island, and other locales, gathered on Baer’s front lawn and marched to his front door. Members of NPA delivered a letter to a family member who opened the door. Baer, this family member said, wasn’t home. The letter, addressed to Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, asks Moynihan to meet with groups “to address the critical problems facing our neighborhoods and our country—problems that were caused in part by Bank of America and that continue to fester due to Bank of America’s inaction.”</p>
<p>Here’s a video, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsf-XsC18IQ" type="external">courtesy</a> of National People’s Action, of the scene at Baer’s home:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Undeterred by Baer’s absence, the boisterous group chanted—”Bank of America, Bad for America,” “Take It Back,” “Fired Up, Can’t Take It No More”—and, via megaphone, blasted Bank of America for foreclosing on homeowners and lobbying against financial reform. One woman who took the mic explained how she’d called Bank of America dozens of times to fight off foreclosure but hadn’t had any success with the bank’s unresponsive and unhelpful employees. People in the crowd booed references to the bank. Many hoisted signs that read, “People First Economy””and “Hold Wall Street Accountable.”</p>
<p>Just as the crowd was about to leave around 4:15 pm, Baer, in a baseball cap and shorts, strode up his front lawn and into the crowd. Baer briefly spoke with one of the protest’s organizers, declined to say much at all, then ducked into his house. The crowd hung around Baer’s house for another 25 minutes, their chants drawing curious (and agitated) neighbors onto their porches. Then they left for their second stop of the day.</p>
<p>Protesters crowd in front of JPMorgan Chase lobbyist Peter Scher’s house in Chevy Chase, Md. Photo by Andy Kroll.A 15-minute ride later, the buses arrived at the stately home of JPMorgan lobbyist Peter Scher. Like the previous demonstration, people poured out of the buses and quickly filed onto the neatly manicured front lawn and rushed Scher’s red front door. This time, no one answered, despite repeated demands by the Rev. Eugene Barnes from Illinois People’s Action. At Scher’s house, Montgomery County police nudged protesters off the lawn onto a nearby street, where the speeches and chanting and banging of drums continued. (One of the officers said the event was “very peaceful.”)</p>
<p>A handful of protesters walked to neighboring houses and handed fliers criticizing Scher and JPMorgan to neighbors watching the scene. On the street, Mark Freeman, a Minneapolis resident and lifelong union member, told of battling Bank of America, which was attempting to foreclose on his modest home in north Minneapolis. “It’s time that we repossess America,” Freeman shouted into the megaphone.</p>
<p>As the sun sank lower in the sky, the activists returned to the buses and headed to their hotels. On Monday, their target is a more obvious one: K Street, the Rodeo Drive of Washington lobbying shops, where they will protest Wall Street’s influence-peddlers’ attempts to whittle down financial reform.</p> | 599,229 |
<p>The traveling medicine show known as the race for the Republican presidential nomination has moved on from Iowa and New Hampshire, and all eyes are now on South Carolina.</p>
<p>Well, not exactly all.&#160; At the moment, our eyes are fixed on some big news from the great state of Oklahoma, home of the legendary American folk singer Woody Guthrie, whose 100th birthday will be celebrated later this year.</p>
<p>Woody saw the ravages of the Dust Bowl and the Depression firsthand; his own family came unraveled in the worst hard times.&#160; And he wrote tough yet lyrical stories about the men and women who struggled to survive, enduring the indignity of living life at the bone, with nothing to eat and no place to sleep.&#160; He traveled from town to town, hitchhiking and stealing rides in railroad boxcars, singing his songs for spare change or a ham sandwich.&#160; What professional success he had during his own lifetime, singing in concerts and on the radio, was often undone by politics and the restless urge to keep moving on. “So long, it’s been good to know you,” he sang, and off he would go.</p>
<p>What he wrote and sang about caused the oil potentates and preachers who ran Oklahoma to consider him radical and disreputable. For many years he was the state’s prodigal son, but times change, and that’s the big news. Woody Guthrie has been rediscovered, even though Oklahoma’s more conservative than ever — one of the reddest of our red states with a governor who’s a favorite of the Tea Party.</p>
<p>The George Kaiser Family Foundation has bought Guthrie’s archives — his manuscripts, letters and journals. A center is being built in Tulsa that will make them available to scholars and visitors from all over the world.</p>
<p>Among its treasures is the original, handwritten copy of this song, Woody Guthrie’s most famous — “This Land Is Your Land.” The song extols the beauty of the country Guthrie traveled across again and again; its endless skyways and golden valleys, the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts. Yet his eye was clear, unclouded, and unobstructed by sentimentality, for he also wrote in its lyrics:</p>
<p>In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,</p>
<p>By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?</p>
<p>“Is this land made for you and me?” A mighty good question. The biggest domestic story of our time is the collapse of the middle class, a sharp increase in the poor, and the huge transfer of wealth to the already rich.</p>
<p>In an era of gross inequality there’s both irony and relevance in Woody Guthrie’s song.&#160; That “ribbon of highway” he made famous?&#160; It’s faded and fraying in disrepair, the nation’s infrastructure of roads and bridges, once one of our glories, now a shambles because fixing them would require spending money, raising taxes, and pulling together.</p>
<p>This land is mostly owned not by you and me but by the winner-take-all super rich who have bought up open spaces, built mega-mansions, turned vast acres into private vistas, and distanced themselves as far as they can from the common lot of working people – the people Woody wrote and sang about.</p>
<p>True, Barack Obama asked Bruce Springsteen and Woody Guthrie’s longtime friend Pete Seeger to sing This Land is Your Land at that big, pre-inaugural concert the Sunday before he was sworn in. And sing they did, in the spirit of hope and change that President Obama had spun as the heart of his campaign rhetoric.</p>
<p>Today, whatever was real about that spirit has been bludgeoned by severe economic hardship for everyday Americans and by the cynical expedience of politicians&#160; who wear the red-white-and-blue in their lapels and sing “America the Beautiful” while serving the interests of&#160; crony capitalists stuffing SuperPACs with millions of dollars harvested from the gross inequality destroying us from within.</p>
<p>But maybe — just maybe — the news that Woody Guthrie, once a pariah in his home state, has become a local hero is the harbinger of things to come, and that all the people who still believe this land is our land will begin to take it back.</p>
<p>Bill Moyers is managing editor and Michael Winship is senior writer of the new weekly public affairs program,&#160;Moyers &amp; Company, airing on public television.&#160;Check local airtimes or comment at&#160; <a href="http://www.BillMoyers.com/" type="external">www.BillMoyers.com</a>.</p>
<p /> | Woody Guthrie at 100 | true | https://counterpunch.org/2012/01/13/woody-guthrie-at-100/ | 2012-01-13 | 4left
| Woody Guthrie at 100
<p>The traveling medicine show known as the race for the Republican presidential nomination has moved on from Iowa and New Hampshire, and all eyes are now on South Carolina.</p>
<p>Well, not exactly all.&#160; At the moment, our eyes are fixed on some big news from the great state of Oklahoma, home of the legendary American folk singer Woody Guthrie, whose 100th birthday will be celebrated later this year.</p>
<p>Woody saw the ravages of the Dust Bowl and the Depression firsthand; his own family came unraveled in the worst hard times.&#160; And he wrote tough yet lyrical stories about the men and women who struggled to survive, enduring the indignity of living life at the bone, with nothing to eat and no place to sleep.&#160; He traveled from town to town, hitchhiking and stealing rides in railroad boxcars, singing his songs for spare change or a ham sandwich.&#160; What professional success he had during his own lifetime, singing in concerts and on the radio, was often undone by politics and the restless urge to keep moving on. “So long, it’s been good to know you,” he sang, and off he would go.</p>
<p>What he wrote and sang about caused the oil potentates and preachers who ran Oklahoma to consider him radical and disreputable. For many years he was the state’s prodigal son, but times change, and that’s the big news. Woody Guthrie has been rediscovered, even though Oklahoma’s more conservative than ever — one of the reddest of our red states with a governor who’s a favorite of the Tea Party.</p>
<p>The George Kaiser Family Foundation has bought Guthrie’s archives — his manuscripts, letters and journals. A center is being built in Tulsa that will make them available to scholars and visitors from all over the world.</p>
<p>Among its treasures is the original, handwritten copy of this song, Woody Guthrie’s most famous — “This Land Is Your Land.” The song extols the beauty of the country Guthrie traveled across again and again; its endless skyways and golden valleys, the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts. Yet his eye was clear, unclouded, and unobstructed by sentimentality, for he also wrote in its lyrics:</p>
<p>In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,</p>
<p>By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?</p>
<p>“Is this land made for you and me?” A mighty good question. The biggest domestic story of our time is the collapse of the middle class, a sharp increase in the poor, and the huge transfer of wealth to the already rich.</p>
<p>In an era of gross inequality there’s both irony and relevance in Woody Guthrie’s song.&#160; That “ribbon of highway” he made famous?&#160; It’s faded and fraying in disrepair, the nation’s infrastructure of roads and bridges, once one of our glories, now a shambles because fixing them would require spending money, raising taxes, and pulling together.</p>
<p>This land is mostly owned not by you and me but by the winner-take-all super rich who have bought up open spaces, built mega-mansions, turned vast acres into private vistas, and distanced themselves as far as they can from the common lot of working people – the people Woody wrote and sang about.</p>
<p>True, Barack Obama asked Bruce Springsteen and Woody Guthrie’s longtime friend Pete Seeger to sing This Land is Your Land at that big, pre-inaugural concert the Sunday before he was sworn in. And sing they did, in the spirit of hope and change that President Obama had spun as the heart of his campaign rhetoric.</p>
<p>Today, whatever was real about that spirit has been bludgeoned by severe economic hardship for everyday Americans and by the cynical expedience of politicians&#160; who wear the red-white-and-blue in their lapels and sing “America the Beautiful” while serving the interests of&#160; crony capitalists stuffing SuperPACs with millions of dollars harvested from the gross inequality destroying us from within.</p>
<p>But maybe — just maybe — the news that Woody Guthrie, once a pariah in his home state, has become a local hero is the harbinger of things to come, and that all the people who still believe this land is our land will begin to take it back.</p>
<p>Bill Moyers is managing editor and Michael Winship is senior writer of the new weekly public affairs program,&#160;Moyers &amp; Company, airing on public television.&#160;Check local airtimes or comment at&#160; <a href="http://www.BillMoyers.com/" type="external">www.BillMoyers.com</a>.</p>
<p /> | 599,230 |
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<p>The Atlantic has a thought-provoking piece out today, “ <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/how-to-protest-the-major-parties-without-throwing-away-your-vote/260273/" type="external">How to Protest the Major Parties Without Throwing Away Your Vote</a>“, where the author proposes two main options for making a mark outside the two-party system:</p>
<p>1) Postpone your calculated support for someone you don’t like until you’re standing in the election booth. Before then, support the third-party nominee you’d like to see win. If a pollster asks who you support give their name, not the major-party candidate you may wind up voting for in the end. Doing so doesn’t squander your vote on someone who won’t win, but could be the difference between a Libertarian or Green Party candidate being included or excluded from TV debates.</p>
<p>2) Think about whether or not you live in a swing state. If so, maybe it makes more sense to vote Republican or Democrat. But if you live in a state like California, where the Democrat will obviously win, or a state like Utah where the Republican is obviously going to win, your vote is going to have a lot more impact if you’re part of a third-party surge that signals disaffection to others.</p>
<p>Adding, “If Republicans or Democrats notice a third party getting traction — that is to say, 8 or 10 or 15 percent of the vote — they’ll start co-opting its issues.”</p>
<p>What strategy do you have, if any, for voting?</p> | Two Ways to Protest Two-Party System | false | https://ivn.us/2012/07/25/two-ways-to-protest-two-party-system/ | 2012-07-25 | 2least
| Two Ways to Protest Two-Party System
<p />
<p>The Atlantic has a thought-provoking piece out today, “ <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/how-to-protest-the-major-parties-without-throwing-away-your-vote/260273/" type="external">How to Protest the Major Parties Without Throwing Away Your Vote</a>“, where the author proposes two main options for making a mark outside the two-party system:</p>
<p>1) Postpone your calculated support for someone you don’t like until you’re standing in the election booth. Before then, support the third-party nominee you’d like to see win. If a pollster asks who you support give their name, not the major-party candidate you may wind up voting for in the end. Doing so doesn’t squander your vote on someone who won’t win, but could be the difference between a Libertarian or Green Party candidate being included or excluded from TV debates.</p>
<p>2) Think about whether or not you live in a swing state. If so, maybe it makes more sense to vote Republican or Democrat. But if you live in a state like California, where the Democrat will obviously win, or a state like Utah where the Republican is obviously going to win, your vote is going to have a lot more impact if you’re part of a third-party surge that signals disaffection to others.</p>
<p>Adding, “If Republicans or Democrats notice a third party getting traction — that is to say, 8 or 10 or 15 percent of the vote — they’ll start co-opting its issues.”</p>
<p>What strategy do you have, if any, for voting?</p> | 599,231 |
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<p>Lt. Larry Bitsoih, spokesman for the University of New Mexico Police Department, said the incident occurred around 3:45 p.m. when an elderly man attempted to back into a parking space, striking four parked cars. One of those cars was pushed into another, damaging a fifth.</p>
<p>When an elderly woman exited one of the struck cars the man’s SUV hit her, trapping her beneath his vehicle for several minutes. She was taken to the University of New Mexico Hospital and is listed in serious but stable condition, Bitsoih said.</p>
<p>Three other people in the cars that were struck also visited the hospital for complaints, he added.</p>
<p>The driver did not display any signs that he was impaired, Bitsoih said, and police are continuing to investigate the crash to determine if charges should be filed.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The incident took place as thousands of fans were filtering into the parking lot to watch the men’s basketball team play Fresno State. Bitsoih said UNMPD was able to keep the scene relatively contained in order to prevent the crash from interfering with other traffic navigating the lot.</p>
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<p /> | Elderly woman hurt in parking lot crash at Pit | false | https://abqjournal.com/519805/elderly-woman-hurt-in-parking-lot-crash-at-pit.html | 2least
| Elderly woman hurt in parking lot crash at Pit
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<p />
<p>Lt. Larry Bitsoih, spokesman for the University of New Mexico Police Department, said the incident occurred around 3:45 p.m. when an elderly man attempted to back into a parking space, striking four parked cars. One of those cars was pushed into another, damaging a fifth.</p>
<p>When an elderly woman exited one of the struck cars the man’s SUV hit her, trapping her beneath his vehicle for several minutes. She was taken to the University of New Mexico Hospital and is listed in serious but stable condition, Bitsoih said.</p>
<p>Three other people in the cars that were struck also visited the hospital for complaints, he added.</p>
<p>The driver did not display any signs that he was impaired, Bitsoih said, and police are continuing to investigate the crash to determine if charges should be filed.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The incident took place as thousands of fans were filtering into the parking lot to watch the men’s basketball team play Fresno State. Bitsoih said UNMPD was able to keep the scene relatively contained in order to prevent the crash from interfering with other traffic navigating the lot.</p>
<p />
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<p>FOX Business: Capitalism Lives Here</p>
<p>The Dow and S&amp;P 500 slipped from record highs set in the previous session as traders mulled a better-than-expected report on the jobs market.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Today's Markets</p>
<p>As of 3:00 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 41.3 points, or 0.28%, to 15060, the S&amp;P 500 slipped 7.9 points, or 0.5%, to 1625 and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 5.9 points, or 0.18%, to 3407.</p>
<p>The Dow and S&amp;P 500 both notched record highs on Wednesday. It was the fifth day in a row for the S&amp;P in the longest record-setting streak since 1998 for the broad-market barometer.</p>
<p>The economic calendar has been particularly light this week. However, it picks up slightly Thursday with the weekly jobless claims report from the Labor Department due out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect 335,000 people to have filed for first-time jobless benefits last week, up from 324,000 the week prior. Wall Street got a round of data last week showing the economy added far more jobs than expected last month.</p>
<p>Another report from the Commerce Department showed wholesale inventories rising 0.4% in March on a month-to-month basis, slightly better than expectations of a 0.3% gain. The measure helps provide economists with a look at how strong wholesalers expect demand to be, and figures into first-quarter gross domestic product.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>In Europe, the Bank of England held its benchmark interest rate at 0.5% and the size of its quantitative easing program 375 billion pounds. The move matched analysts' expectations.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, energy futures were in the red. The benchmark U.S. crude oil contract fell 70 cents, or 0.73%, to $95.88 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline slid 0.77% to $2.832 a gallon. In metals, gold fell $8.10, or 0.56%, to $1,465 a troy ounce.</p>
<p>Foreign Markets</p>
<p>The Euro Stoxx 50 slumped 0.61% to 2768, the English FTSE 100 dipped 0.07% to 23211 and the German DAX slipped 0.08% to 8243.</p>
<p>In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 dropped 0.66% to 14191 and the Chinese Hang Seng fell 0.14% to 23211.</p> | Markets Slump; Dow, S&P Off Record Levels | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2013/05/09/futures-slip-ahead-jobs-data.html | 2016-03-06 | 0right
| Markets Slump; Dow, S&P Off Record Levels
<p>FOX Business: Capitalism Lives Here</p>
<p>The Dow and S&amp;P 500 slipped from record highs set in the previous session as traders mulled a better-than-expected report on the jobs market.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Today's Markets</p>
<p>As of 3:00 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 41.3 points, or 0.28%, to 15060, the S&amp;P 500 slipped 7.9 points, or 0.5%, to 1625 and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 5.9 points, or 0.18%, to 3407.</p>
<p>The Dow and S&amp;P 500 both notched record highs on Wednesday. It was the fifth day in a row for the S&amp;P in the longest record-setting streak since 1998 for the broad-market barometer.</p>
<p>The economic calendar has been particularly light this week. However, it picks up slightly Thursday with the weekly jobless claims report from the Labor Department due out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect 335,000 people to have filed for first-time jobless benefits last week, up from 324,000 the week prior. Wall Street got a round of data last week showing the economy added far more jobs than expected last month.</p>
<p>Another report from the Commerce Department showed wholesale inventories rising 0.4% in March on a month-to-month basis, slightly better than expectations of a 0.3% gain. The measure helps provide economists with a look at how strong wholesalers expect demand to be, and figures into first-quarter gross domestic product.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>In Europe, the Bank of England held its benchmark interest rate at 0.5% and the size of its quantitative easing program 375 billion pounds. The move matched analysts' expectations.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, energy futures were in the red. The benchmark U.S. crude oil contract fell 70 cents, or 0.73%, to $95.88 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline slid 0.77% to $2.832 a gallon. In metals, gold fell $8.10, or 0.56%, to $1,465 a troy ounce.</p>
<p>Foreign Markets</p>
<p>The Euro Stoxx 50 slumped 0.61% to 2768, the English FTSE 100 dipped 0.07% to 23211 and the German DAX slipped 0.08% to 8243.</p>
<p>In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 dropped 0.66% to 14191 and the Chinese Hang Seng fell 0.14% to 23211.</p> | 599,233 |
<p />
<p>Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:SHLD), which booked another loss in the second quarter, has received interest from a variety of companies eyeing the floundering retailer’s familiar appliance, tool and auto brands.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Illinois-based company has grappled with challenges at Sears and Kmart, two chains that struggling to turn things around in a tough environment for retailers. Target (NYSE:TGT), Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) and others have recently reported weaker sales as shoppers spend more online. Sears is facing some broader issues. The company has posted red ink for the last six fiscal years, and 78 additional Sears and Kmart stores will be closed by the end of the summer.</p>
<p>In May, Sears announced plans to seek out buyers or partners for its Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands, hoping to unlock the value of three brands that are well-known in their respective categories. The company provided an update on Thursday, saying it continues to explore strategic alternatives for the brands—housed under a division known as KCD—and Sears Home Services. Sears is considering “potential partnerships or other transactions that could expand distribution of our brands and service offerings to realize significant growth,” the company said in a statement.</p>
<p>So far, Sears has heard from domestic and international retailers, original equipment manufacturers, investors and other firms. Sears expects to continue its assessment over the next few months.</p>
<p>Sears already has a partnership with Ace Hardware, which sells Craftsman tools within its stores. Kenmore appliances and DieHard auto parts are exclusive to Sears, Kmart and Sears Auto Centers. Kenmore recently expanded beyond its traditional appliances into high-definition televisions.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>One of the more troubling trends for Sears can be found in the appliance market, one of the retailer’s core businesses. Sears stores have fallen to third place among the top sellers of “white goods” like refrigerators, dishwashers and air conditioners, according to <a href="http://www.twice.com/appliance-sales-grow-37-americas-top-50-dealers/61766" type="external">TWICE and market researcher The Stevenson Company Opens a New Window.</a>. Sears saw its business slip 19% in 2015, even as the overall market posted 3.7% sales growth. Kmart also lost share, falling from 24th to 30th in the rankings.</p>
<p>Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) took the top spot three years ago, and rival Home Depot (NYSE:HD) has jumped ahead of Sears to become the second-largest seller of major appliances. Other retailers, like Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and now J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP), have brought more competition into the market. J.C. Penney said in May it would sell appliances in 500 stores, returning to the business after three decades.</p>
<p>For the quarter ending on July 30, Sears reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of $395 million, or $3.70 a share, compared to a year-ago profit of $208 million, or $1.84 a share. Sears lost $2.03 a share on an adjusted basis, better than last year’s $2.40 a share when excluding one-time costs.</p>
<p>Revenue was down 8.8% at $5.66 billion, while sales at locations open at least a year dropped 5.2%. Sears, which was once the largest retailer in America, partly attributed the decline in overall revenue to having fewer stores in operation. The company had a total of 1,592 stores at the end of the quarter, down 110 stores from last year.</p>
<p>Sears also announced that it will borrow another $300 million from the hedge fund controlled by CEO Edward Lampert. His hedge fund, ESL Investments, is the second-largest shareholder in Sears, according to Morningstar.</p>
<p>In a pre-recorded earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Robert Schriesheim said Sears remains focused on managing inventory, cutting expenses and capitalizing on its best categories, such as appliances. Sears has also moved toward becoming a member-centric retailer through its rewards program, Shop Your Way. Members of Shop Your Way account for three-quarters of Sears’ sales.</p> | Sears Puts Kenmore, Craftsman Up for Grabs | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/08/25/sears-puts-kenmore-craftsman-up-for-grabs.html | 2016-08-25 | 0right
| Sears Puts Kenmore, Craftsman Up for Grabs
<p />
<p>Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:SHLD), which booked another loss in the second quarter, has received interest from a variety of companies eyeing the floundering retailer’s familiar appliance, tool and auto brands.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Illinois-based company has grappled with challenges at Sears and Kmart, two chains that struggling to turn things around in a tough environment for retailers. Target (NYSE:TGT), Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) and others have recently reported weaker sales as shoppers spend more online. Sears is facing some broader issues. The company has posted red ink for the last six fiscal years, and 78 additional Sears and Kmart stores will be closed by the end of the summer.</p>
<p>In May, Sears announced plans to seek out buyers or partners for its Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands, hoping to unlock the value of three brands that are well-known in their respective categories. The company provided an update on Thursday, saying it continues to explore strategic alternatives for the brands—housed under a division known as KCD—and Sears Home Services. Sears is considering “potential partnerships or other transactions that could expand distribution of our brands and service offerings to realize significant growth,” the company said in a statement.</p>
<p>So far, Sears has heard from domestic and international retailers, original equipment manufacturers, investors and other firms. Sears expects to continue its assessment over the next few months.</p>
<p>Sears already has a partnership with Ace Hardware, which sells Craftsman tools within its stores. Kenmore appliances and DieHard auto parts are exclusive to Sears, Kmart and Sears Auto Centers. Kenmore recently expanded beyond its traditional appliances into high-definition televisions.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>One of the more troubling trends for Sears can be found in the appliance market, one of the retailer’s core businesses. Sears stores have fallen to third place among the top sellers of “white goods” like refrigerators, dishwashers and air conditioners, according to <a href="http://www.twice.com/appliance-sales-grow-37-americas-top-50-dealers/61766" type="external">TWICE and market researcher The Stevenson Company Opens a New Window.</a>. Sears saw its business slip 19% in 2015, even as the overall market posted 3.7% sales growth. Kmart also lost share, falling from 24th to 30th in the rankings.</p>
<p>Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) took the top spot three years ago, and rival Home Depot (NYSE:HD) has jumped ahead of Sears to become the second-largest seller of major appliances. Other retailers, like Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and now J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP), have brought more competition into the market. J.C. Penney said in May it would sell appliances in 500 stores, returning to the business after three decades.</p>
<p>For the quarter ending on July 30, Sears reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of $395 million, or $3.70 a share, compared to a year-ago profit of $208 million, or $1.84 a share. Sears lost $2.03 a share on an adjusted basis, better than last year’s $2.40 a share when excluding one-time costs.</p>
<p>Revenue was down 8.8% at $5.66 billion, while sales at locations open at least a year dropped 5.2%. Sears, which was once the largest retailer in America, partly attributed the decline in overall revenue to having fewer stores in operation. The company had a total of 1,592 stores at the end of the quarter, down 110 stores from last year.</p>
<p>Sears also announced that it will borrow another $300 million from the hedge fund controlled by CEO Edward Lampert. His hedge fund, ESL Investments, is the second-largest shareholder in Sears, according to Morningstar.</p>
<p>In a pre-recorded earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Robert Schriesheim said Sears remains focused on managing inventory, cutting expenses and capitalizing on its best categories, such as appliances. Sears has also moved toward becoming a member-centric retailer through its rewards program, Shop Your Way. Members of Shop Your Way account for three-quarters of Sears’ sales.</p> | 599,234 |
<p>On May 20, 2013, an&#160; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Fujita_scale" type="external">EF5</a>&#160;tornado&#160;with peak winds estimated at 210 miles per hour&#160; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Moore_tornado" type="external">struck the town of Moore, Oklahoma</a>, and adjacent areas, killing 23 people and injuring 377 others.&#160;The ferocious tornado — 1.3 miles wide at its peak — stayed on the ground for 39 minutes over a 17-mile path, crossing through a heavily populated section of Moore. Despite the tornado following a roughly similar track to the even deadlier 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado, very few homes and neither of the stricken schools had purpose-built storm shelters.</p>
<p>The pic below is an aerial view of the damage inflicted on Moore.</p>
<p><a href="http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/moore-tornado1.jpg" type="external" /></p>
<p>9-year-old&#160;Nicolas McCabe&#160;was one of the victims of the tornado — one of&#160;seven third graders who died at Moore’s&#160;Plaza Towers Elementary School.</p>
<p>This is a pic of Nicolas McCabe:</p>
<p><a href="http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/nicolas-mccabe.jpg" type="external" /></p>
<p>Anne Thomas reports for the&#160; <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/buzzvine/9-year-old-killed-by-moore-tornado-seen-as-guardian-angel-in-photo-with-niece-photos-109453/" type="external">Christian Post</a>&#160;that on July 4, 2013, one month and 13 days after the tornado took Nicolas’ life, the McCabe family took a photo of their young niece, Madison, waving a sparkler.</p>
<p>The McCabes say the photo clearly shows their niece at the front of the photo, and just behind her there is another figure who looks just like their son Nicolas.(I’ve added the arrows and names in yellow. -Eowyn)</p>
<p><a href="http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/nicolas-mccabe-angel.jpg" type="external" /></p>
<p>Nicolas’ dad, Scott McCabe, told News 9: “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Nicolas loved the Fourth of July and he loved firecrackers.&#160;My brother, when he saw it, he said the hair stood up on his neck. I was in awe. It touched my heart. It’s obviously not Madison. It’s obvious there are two people there or one person there and one spirit there.&#160;I feel it, you know. I feel it that he’s here.”</p>
<p>Scott also said that his son Nicolas was buried in his red Plaza Towers Elementary School T-shirt, and that same colored T-shirt can even be made out in the image of him behind Madison.</p>
<p>Despite some skeptics coming out to try and explain the image in other ways, Scott McCabe says, “They can say what they want. I believe. I believe he’s watching over us.”</p>
<p>The family believes Nicolas is now an angel.</p>
<p>~Eowyn</p>
<p>Dr. Eowyn is the Editor of <a href="http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2013/11/27/boy-killed-in-moore-tornado-appears-in-photo-1%C2%BD-months-later/" type="external">Fellowship of the Minds</a>.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Boy killed in Moore tornado appears in photo 1½ months later | true | http://dcclothesline.com/2013/11/28/boy-killed-moore-tornado-appears-photo-months-later/ | 2013-11-28 | 0right
| Boy killed in Moore tornado appears in photo 1½ months later
<p>On May 20, 2013, an&#160; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Fujita_scale" type="external">EF5</a>&#160;tornado&#160;with peak winds estimated at 210 miles per hour&#160; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Moore_tornado" type="external">struck the town of Moore, Oklahoma</a>, and adjacent areas, killing 23 people and injuring 377 others.&#160;The ferocious tornado — 1.3 miles wide at its peak — stayed on the ground for 39 minutes over a 17-mile path, crossing through a heavily populated section of Moore. Despite the tornado following a roughly similar track to the even deadlier 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado, very few homes and neither of the stricken schools had purpose-built storm shelters.</p>
<p>The pic below is an aerial view of the damage inflicted on Moore.</p>
<p><a href="http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/moore-tornado1.jpg" type="external" /></p>
<p>9-year-old&#160;Nicolas McCabe&#160;was one of the victims of the tornado — one of&#160;seven third graders who died at Moore’s&#160;Plaza Towers Elementary School.</p>
<p>This is a pic of Nicolas McCabe:</p>
<p><a href="http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/nicolas-mccabe.jpg" type="external" /></p>
<p>Anne Thomas reports for the&#160; <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/buzzvine/9-year-old-killed-by-moore-tornado-seen-as-guardian-angel-in-photo-with-niece-photos-109453/" type="external">Christian Post</a>&#160;that on July 4, 2013, one month and 13 days after the tornado took Nicolas’ life, the McCabe family took a photo of their young niece, Madison, waving a sparkler.</p>
<p>The McCabes say the photo clearly shows their niece at the front of the photo, and just behind her there is another figure who looks just like their son Nicolas.(I’ve added the arrows and names in yellow. -Eowyn)</p>
<p><a href="http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/nicolas-mccabe-angel.jpg" type="external" /></p>
<p>Nicolas’ dad, Scott McCabe, told News 9: “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Nicolas loved the Fourth of July and he loved firecrackers.&#160;My brother, when he saw it, he said the hair stood up on his neck. I was in awe. It touched my heart. It’s obviously not Madison. It’s obvious there are two people there or one person there and one spirit there.&#160;I feel it, you know. I feel it that he’s here.”</p>
<p>Scott also said that his son Nicolas was buried in his red Plaza Towers Elementary School T-shirt, and that same colored T-shirt can even be made out in the image of him behind Madison.</p>
<p>Despite some skeptics coming out to try and explain the image in other ways, Scott McCabe says, “They can say what they want. I believe. I believe he’s watching over us.”</p>
<p>The family believes Nicolas is now an angel.</p>
<p>~Eowyn</p>
<p>Dr. Eowyn is the Editor of <a href="http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2013/11/27/boy-killed-in-moore-tornado-appears-in-photo-1%C2%BD-months-later/" type="external">Fellowship of the Minds</a>.</p>
<p />
<p /> | 599,235 |
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<p>Bevin Rainwalker, left, of West Rupert, Vt., and Liam Gilbert of Blue Bell, Pa., saw a log at the cross-cut station at the Adirondack Woodsmen’s School at Paul Smith’s College in Paul Smiths, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)</p>
<p>PAUL SMITHS, N.Y. – Ax throwing is encouraged in lumberjack class.</p>
<p>It’s also OK to dump your classmate in the lake – as long as you’re both frantically trying to stay upright on a floating log.</p>
<p>The annual Adirondack Woodsmen’s School is being held this summer amid the tall pines and placid waters of Paul Smith’s College.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Despite the course’s name, there are no bushy beards here, no flannel shirts, no suspenders, no oxen.</p>
<p>Instead, 18 young students in matching gray sports shirts took part recently in a weeklong crash course on old-school lumberjack skills such as sawing, chopping, ax throwing, log boom running and pole climbing.</p>
<p>While the course is for college credit, many participants echo Tommy Grunow, who said he wanted to learn the “lost art of lumberjacking.”</p>
<p>Tyler Long, of Mechanicsburg, Pa., is timed while performing a speed-climbing drill during a two-week woodmen’s course in July. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)</p>
<p>“I looked at the list of what we’d be doing … and I got to ax throwing and I lost it. I had to come,” said the incoming Paul Smith’s freshman from Riverside, Conn.</p>
<p>Paul Smith focuses on environmental studies, and the woodsmen’s summer curriculum includes the “history of axes” and the “art and science of hand-hewing logs,” but there’s also a lot of fun stuff with axes and saws.</p>
<p>On a recent afternoon at a lakeside clearing on campus, students strapped spikes around their boots to scramble up a 45-foot pole and raised long-handled axes over their heads, executioner style, to send the tools tumbling into a bull’s-eye painted on a log end.</p>
<p>They sawed solo with a bow saw and in pairs with a 6-foot crosscut saw. They practiced their underhand chop, which required them to stand on the log they were axing (with metal booties to protect against errant swings).</p>
<p>“It’s like a brave new world out here,” Liam Gilbert, of Blue Bell, Pa., said with a smile. “I had not thrown an ax, and on my first throw I managed to break a handle. So I have not thrown one since.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Later on at the lake, the students, in their late teens and 20s, took turns trying to dash across a log boom stretching from the shore and climbed on a floating log two at a time to see whose fast footwork could keep him or her vertical on the spinning lumber the longest.</p>
<p>Instructor Brett McLeod oversaw all of it, offering occasional tips on fluid ax swings or crosscut techniques. McLeod is a former logger who chopped and sawed in woodsmen competitions, as do some of these students.</p>
<p>Late in the afternoon, he divvied up the students into relay teams involving cutting, climbing and throwing, which looked sort of like the Hunger Games as imagined by Paul Bunyan. The races hone students’ timber sports skills, though McLeod sees a larger value in the course.</p>
<p>Students, he said, will need these skills if they go on to work as park rangers in wilderness areas that don’t allow mechanized equipment.</p>
<p>Chris Minore, of Orange, Conn., performs the underhand chop. Metal booties to protect feet and shins against errant ax swings. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)</p>
<p>Others could use their newfound skills to build their own log cabins.</p>
<p>And all of them will get a (calloused) hands-on experience about natural-resources management and the history of the Adirondacks, where loggers have been swinging axes for centuries.</p>
<p>“The idea was basically to get students to think about things besides video games and really sort of bring them back to nature,” McLeod said.</p>
<p>The first one-week course is for beginners, with more advanced training the second week. Many students will attend both weeks. The first week’s group included three female students. One, Madison Lemoine, of Chepachet, R.I., said she’s used to competing with males in lumberjack competitions.</p>
<p>“It’s tough, actually. You have big guys, and I’m like, ‘OK, give me an ax, and I’ll do my best.’ But you just try as hard as you can,” she said. “It’s like God’s fury raining down with that ax. You put in everything you have.”</p>
<p /> | Timber sports | false | https://abqjournal.com/443625/timber-sports.html | 2least
| Timber sports
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<p>Bevin Rainwalker, left, of West Rupert, Vt., and Liam Gilbert of Blue Bell, Pa., saw a log at the cross-cut station at the Adirondack Woodsmen’s School at Paul Smith’s College in Paul Smiths, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)</p>
<p>PAUL SMITHS, N.Y. – Ax throwing is encouraged in lumberjack class.</p>
<p>It’s also OK to dump your classmate in the lake – as long as you’re both frantically trying to stay upright on a floating log.</p>
<p>The annual Adirondack Woodsmen’s School is being held this summer amid the tall pines and placid waters of Paul Smith’s College.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Despite the course’s name, there are no bushy beards here, no flannel shirts, no suspenders, no oxen.</p>
<p>Instead, 18 young students in matching gray sports shirts took part recently in a weeklong crash course on old-school lumberjack skills such as sawing, chopping, ax throwing, log boom running and pole climbing.</p>
<p>While the course is for college credit, many participants echo Tommy Grunow, who said he wanted to learn the “lost art of lumberjacking.”</p>
<p>Tyler Long, of Mechanicsburg, Pa., is timed while performing a speed-climbing drill during a two-week woodmen’s course in July. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)</p>
<p>“I looked at the list of what we’d be doing … and I got to ax throwing and I lost it. I had to come,” said the incoming Paul Smith’s freshman from Riverside, Conn.</p>
<p>Paul Smith focuses on environmental studies, and the woodsmen’s summer curriculum includes the “history of axes” and the “art and science of hand-hewing logs,” but there’s also a lot of fun stuff with axes and saws.</p>
<p>On a recent afternoon at a lakeside clearing on campus, students strapped spikes around their boots to scramble up a 45-foot pole and raised long-handled axes over their heads, executioner style, to send the tools tumbling into a bull’s-eye painted on a log end.</p>
<p>They sawed solo with a bow saw and in pairs with a 6-foot crosscut saw. They practiced their underhand chop, which required them to stand on the log they were axing (with metal booties to protect against errant swings).</p>
<p>“It’s like a brave new world out here,” Liam Gilbert, of Blue Bell, Pa., said with a smile. “I had not thrown an ax, and on my first throw I managed to break a handle. So I have not thrown one since.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Later on at the lake, the students, in their late teens and 20s, took turns trying to dash across a log boom stretching from the shore and climbed on a floating log two at a time to see whose fast footwork could keep him or her vertical on the spinning lumber the longest.</p>
<p>Instructor Brett McLeod oversaw all of it, offering occasional tips on fluid ax swings or crosscut techniques. McLeod is a former logger who chopped and sawed in woodsmen competitions, as do some of these students.</p>
<p>Late in the afternoon, he divvied up the students into relay teams involving cutting, climbing and throwing, which looked sort of like the Hunger Games as imagined by Paul Bunyan. The races hone students’ timber sports skills, though McLeod sees a larger value in the course.</p>
<p>Students, he said, will need these skills if they go on to work as park rangers in wilderness areas that don’t allow mechanized equipment.</p>
<p>Chris Minore, of Orange, Conn., performs the underhand chop. Metal booties to protect feet and shins against errant ax swings. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)</p>
<p>Others could use their newfound skills to build their own log cabins.</p>
<p>And all of them will get a (calloused) hands-on experience about natural-resources management and the history of the Adirondacks, where loggers have been swinging axes for centuries.</p>
<p>“The idea was basically to get students to think about things besides video games and really sort of bring them back to nature,” McLeod said.</p>
<p>The first one-week course is for beginners, with more advanced training the second week. Many students will attend both weeks. The first week’s group included three female students. One, Madison Lemoine, of Chepachet, R.I., said she’s used to competing with males in lumberjack competitions.</p>
<p>“It’s tough, actually. You have big guys, and I’m like, ‘OK, give me an ax, and I’ll do my best.’ But you just try as hard as you can,” she said. “It’s like God’s fury raining down with that ax. You put in everything you have.”</p>
<p /> | 599,236 |
|
<p />
<p>GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) revealed a modest 2% increase in second-quarter sales on Wednesday but warned the deepening bribery probe in China will likely take a bite out of earnings down the road.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>In his first public statement since the allegations emerged this month, GSK's chief executive, Andrew Witty, said he was not aware of the alleged bribery before the scandal surfaced but suspected the investigation would have an impact on GSK's bottom line.</p>
<p>The U.K. drug giant admitted on Monday that a few senior executives may have <a href="" type="internal">breached Chinese law</a> related to accusations by Chinese police that GSK shuffled as much as 3 billion yuan ($489 million) through as many as 700 travel agencies in an effort to bribe doctors.</p>
<p>"Clearly, we are likely to see some impact to our performance in China as a result of the current investigation, but it is too early to quantify the extent of this," Witty said in a statement.</p>
<p>Going forward, he said, the company will continue to “grow broadly” across emerging markets and maintain its dedication to China. GSK earlier this week said it would overhaul its China business and pass cost savings on to Chinese patients in the form of lower medicine prices.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>During the quarter, GSK sales in China climbed 14% to 212 million pounds ($326 million) in its EMAP Pharmaceutical and Vaccines group. Worldwide sales were up 2% to 6.62 billion pounds ($10.16 billion), and GSK raised its dividend by 6%.</p>
<p>For now, GSK kept its full-year outlook unchanged, with sales growth of 1% and core EPS growth between 3% and 4%. The drug giant said it is cooperating fully with authorities in China and is not able to “make a reliable estimate” of the financial effect at this time.</p>
<p>Shares of GSK were flat in early trade and remain up about 18% year-to-date.</p> | GlaxoSmithKline Sales Rise 2%, But Warns of Impact from China | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/07/24/glaxosmithkline-posts-2-rise-in-profit.html | 2016-01-25 | 0right
| GlaxoSmithKline Sales Rise 2%, But Warns of Impact from China
<p />
<p>GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) revealed a modest 2% increase in second-quarter sales on Wednesday but warned the deepening bribery probe in China will likely take a bite out of earnings down the road.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>In his first public statement since the allegations emerged this month, GSK's chief executive, Andrew Witty, said he was not aware of the alleged bribery before the scandal surfaced but suspected the investigation would have an impact on GSK's bottom line.</p>
<p>The U.K. drug giant admitted on Monday that a few senior executives may have <a href="" type="internal">breached Chinese law</a> related to accusations by Chinese police that GSK shuffled as much as 3 billion yuan ($489 million) through as many as 700 travel agencies in an effort to bribe doctors.</p>
<p>"Clearly, we are likely to see some impact to our performance in China as a result of the current investigation, but it is too early to quantify the extent of this," Witty said in a statement.</p>
<p>Going forward, he said, the company will continue to “grow broadly” across emerging markets and maintain its dedication to China. GSK earlier this week said it would overhaul its China business and pass cost savings on to Chinese patients in the form of lower medicine prices.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>During the quarter, GSK sales in China climbed 14% to 212 million pounds ($326 million) in its EMAP Pharmaceutical and Vaccines group. Worldwide sales were up 2% to 6.62 billion pounds ($10.16 billion), and GSK raised its dividend by 6%.</p>
<p>For now, GSK kept its full-year outlook unchanged, with sales growth of 1% and core EPS growth between 3% and 4%. The drug giant said it is cooperating fully with authorities in China and is not able to “make a reliable estimate” of the financial effect at this time.</p>
<p>Shares of GSK were flat in early trade and remain up about 18% year-to-date.</p> | 599,237 |
<p>Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. sold its shares in General Electric Co. and opened a big investment in Synchrony Financial, the largest U.S. store credit-card issuer, in the most recent period.</p>
<p>The firm sold its roughly 10.6 million shares in General Electric in the second quarter. The conglomerate, now under new leadership, had vastly underperformed the stock market and faced pressure from activist investor Trian Fund Management LP.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Berkshire also trimmed stakes in American Airlines Group Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Continental Holdings Inc. while leaving Southwest Airlines Co. unchanged. Mr. Buffett, who had long criticized airlines as a money-loser for investors after suffering losses in a USAir stake purchased in the 1980s, bought stock in the four airlines in 2016.</p>
<p>The holdings were disclosed Friday in a 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a quarterly requirement for investors managing more than $100 million. The report indicates the number of shares held and the value of each stake at the end of the quarter.</p>
<p>In addition to a roughly 17 million share stake in GE spinoff Synchrony Financial, an investment valued at nearly $521 million at the end of the quarter, Mr. Buffett also bought 18.6 million shares in real-estate investment trust Store Capital Corp.</p>
<p>The securities filing also showed that Mr. Buffett trimmed his stakes in International Business Machines Corp. and Wells Fargo &amp; Co., moves that had also been previously disclosed.</p>
<p>The Omaha, Neb., investor had started lowering his IBM exposure in the previous quarter and selling Wells Fargo shares to remain under a 10% ownership threshold.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Berkshire, which for years avoided technology stocks, first bought IBM stock in 2011, spending more than $10 billion for 5.4% of the company. The 106-year-old tech company has been trying to reinvent itself under Chief Executive Virginia "Ginni" Rometty, as sales and profit have declined for three years straight.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Mr. Buffett continued to build his position in Apple. As of June 30, he held 130.2 million shares in the iPhone maker, an investment valued at $18.75 billion at quarter's end.</p>
<p>Mr. Buffett's firm -- set to become Bank of America Corp.'s largest shareholder when it exercises its right to buy 700 million shares -- added 17.2 million shares to its Bank of New York Mellon Corp. holdings while maintaining positions in U.S. Bancorp and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.</p>
<p>In other notable moves, Mr. Buffett's firm sharply cut its stake in Wabco Holdings Inc., which last month disclosed takeover talks with German car parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen AG.</p>
<p>Write to Maria Armental at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>August 14, 2017 18:36 ET (22:36 GMT)</p> | Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Exits General Electric, Buys Into Synchrony Financial | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/08/14/warren-buffetts-berkshire-hathaway-exits-general-electric-buys-into-synchrony-financial.html | 2017-08-14 | 0right
| Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Exits General Electric, Buys Into Synchrony Financial
<p>Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. sold its shares in General Electric Co. and opened a big investment in Synchrony Financial, the largest U.S. store credit-card issuer, in the most recent period.</p>
<p>The firm sold its roughly 10.6 million shares in General Electric in the second quarter. The conglomerate, now under new leadership, had vastly underperformed the stock market and faced pressure from activist investor Trian Fund Management LP.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Berkshire also trimmed stakes in American Airlines Group Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Continental Holdings Inc. while leaving Southwest Airlines Co. unchanged. Mr. Buffett, who had long criticized airlines as a money-loser for investors after suffering losses in a USAir stake purchased in the 1980s, bought stock in the four airlines in 2016.</p>
<p>The holdings were disclosed Friday in a 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a quarterly requirement for investors managing more than $100 million. The report indicates the number of shares held and the value of each stake at the end of the quarter.</p>
<p>In addition to a roughly 17 million share stake in GE spinoff Synchrony Financial, an investment valued at nearly $521 million at the end of the quarter, Mr. Buffett also bought 18.6 million shares in real-estate investment trust Store Capital Corp.</p>
<p>The securities filing also showed that Mr. Buffett trimmed his stakes in International Business Machines Corp. and Wells Fargo &amp; Co., moves that had also been previously disclosed.</p>
<p>The Omaha, Neb., investor had started lowering his IBM exposure in the previous quarter and selling Wells Fargo shares to remain under a 10% ownership threshold.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Berkshire, which for years avoided technology stocks, first bought IBM stock in 2011, spending more than $10 billion for 5.4% of the company. The 106-year-old tech company has been trying to reinvent itself under Chief Executive Virginia "Ginni" Rometty, as sales and profit have declined for three years straight.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Mr. Buffett continued to build his position in Apple. As of June 30, he held 130.2 million shares in the iPhone maker, an investment valued at $18.75 billion at quarter's end.</p>
<p>Mr. Buffett's firm -- set to become Bank of America Corp.'s largest shareholder when it exercises its right to buy 700 million shares -- added 17.2 million shares to its Bank of New York Mellon Corp. holdings while maintaining positions in U.S. Bancorp and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.</p>
<p>In other notable moves, Mr. Buffett's firm sharply cut its stake in Wabco Holdings Inc., which last month disclosed takeover talks with German car parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen AG.</p>
<p>Write to Maria Armental at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>August 14, 2017 18:36 ET (22:36 GMT)</p> | 599,238 |
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<p />
<p>Scientist Bruce Wienke was caught red-handed Sunday morning when he fired his pellet gun near Los Alamos National Bank on Galisteo Street off St. Michael’s Drive.</p>
<p>“We’ve been putting so much energy (into) trying to keep these shootings from happening anymore and we’re all elated that a person has been apprehended and will hopefully be prosecuted,” prairie dog advocate Barbara Gay said.</p>
<p>At least 13 prairie dogs, including several young pups, have been shot near the corner of St. Michael’s Drive and Galisteo over the last six weeks. Gay and others have been patrolling the area on weekends, when most of the incidents have occurred.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Wienke, 71, admitted shooting at a prairie dog on Sunday – he said it was while making a stop at an ATM – but denied responsibility for any previous shootings. “It’s a rodent, okay? To me, it’s a rodent. And one popped up and I took a shot at it,” Wienke said.</p>
<p>Wienke said he had the pellet gun in his car because he had been out in Santa Fe County shooting cans.</p>
<p>“I took a shot at a rodent and that was it. I went home and the police came over. I admitted it. I told them exactly what happened,” he said.</p>
<p>Wienke was spotted near the colony a little after 8 a.m. on Sunday by Steve Dobbie, a retired architect and reserve sheriff from California who previously has gained media attention in Santa Fe for tracking down and capturing escaped dogs (canines, not prairie dogs).</p>
<p>Dobbie and his wife, Yvette, recently joined a group of volunteers who feed and care for the prairie dog colony at St. Mike’s and Galisteo. After the shootings began recently, the Dobbies wanted to help monitor the site. “I have quite a bit of experience with bad guys,” Dobbie said.</p>
<p>On Sunday, Dobbie was sitting in his car catty-corner from Los Alamos National Bank, near the Marriott Residence Inn. Obscured by trees, his attention was focused on a spot by the colony where he suspected a shooter would take up position.</p>
<p>Dobbie said he saw a white pickup take a left turn onto Galisteo from St. Mike’s, make a U-turn and pull into the right-hand driving lane and then the spot that Dobbie had pinpointed.</p>
<p>“I was looking through my binoculars and sure as heck I saw a gun barrel stick out from the passenger side of the car,” Dobbie said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Dobbie swung his car onto Galisteo and drove around Wienke’s truck, taking down the license plate number. Wienke took off when the light turned green, but Dobbie had more than enough information by then to provide police with a description.</p>
<p>The cops eventually tracked Wienke to his home on Old Pecos Trail. He was cited for misdemeanor animal cruelty. A police spokeswoman said a possible charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, also a misdemeanor, will be forwarded to Municipal Court for a judge to consider.</p>
<p>“For an adult to do it, it’s a mindset I don’t understand,” Dobbie said.</p>
<p>No dead or wounded prairie dog was located Sunday.</p>
<p>Unaware of prairie dog support</p>
<p>Wienke, a retiree who said he works on computing algorithms as a guest scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, said he wasn’t aware of the previous prairie dog shootings at St. Mike’s and Galisteo. He said he didn’t see the “Shooting is a Crime” sign prairie dog advocates have put up in the area, nor was he aware of recent media coverage, as he doesn’t read local newspapers.</p>
<p>In fact, Wienke said he was unaware that Santa Fe even has a group of dedicated prairie dog advocates who feed the colonies and have pushed for measures like the city ordinance that requires humane relocation of prairie dogs from building sites.</p>
<p>Santa Fe Police Sgt. Andrea Dobyns said Wienke has been “very cooperative” in the investigation and his story about taking a spur-of-the-moment shot seems legitimate.</p>
<p>“We don’t have evidence to say whether he was responsible for them or not,” Dobyns said when asked whether police believe that Wienke has carried out pervious prairie dog shootings.</p>
<p>“He was very forthcoming about what he had done. I feel like he probably would have been forthcoming with the other information as well,” Dobyns said.</p>
<p>In the Santa Fe area, there are “a lot of people that don’t like prairie dogs” and “a lot of people have guns,” Dobyns said.</p>
<p>Gay, Dobbie and other prairie dog lovers certainly aren’t ruling out the possibility of other shooters. They plan to maintain their watch over the colony off Galisteo.</p>
<p>“We want to keep them safe until they go down to hibernation and then work during the winter to get money to get them relocated so we don’t have to go through this again,” Gay said.</p> | Prairie Dog Shooter Is Caught | false | https://abqjournal.com/124137/prairie-dog-shooter-is-caught.html | 2012-08-14 | 2least
| Prairie Dog Shooter Is Caught
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<p />
<p>Scientist Bruce Wienke was caught red-handed Sunday morning when he fired his pellet gun near Los Alamos National Bank on Galisteo Street off St. Michael’s Drive.</p>
<p>“We’ve been putting so much energy (into) trying to keep these shootings from happening anymore and we’re all elated that a person has been apprehended and will hopefully be prosecuted,” prairie dog advocate Barbara Gay said.</p>
<p>At least 13 prairie dogs, including several young pups, have been shot near the corner of St. Michael’s Drive and Galisteo over the last six weeks. Gay and others have been patrolling the area on weekends, when most of the incidents have occurred.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Wienke, 71, admitted shooting at a prairie dog on Sunday – he said it was while making a stop at an ATM – but denied responsibility for any previous shootings. “It’s a rodent, okay? To me, it’s a rodent. And one popped up and I took a shot at it,” Wienke said.</p>
<p>Wienke said he had the pellet gun in his car because he had been out in Santa Fe County shooting cans.</p>
<p>“I took a shot at a rodent and that was it. I went home and the police came over. I admitted it. I told them exactly what happened,” he said.</p>
<p>Wienke was spotted near the colony a little after 8 a.m. on Sunday by Steve Dobbie, a retired architect and reserve sheriff from California who previously has gained media attention in Santa Fe for tracking down and capturing escaped dogs (canines, not prairie dogs).</p>
<p>Dobbie and his wife, Yvette, recently joined a group of volunteers who feed and care for the prairie dog colony at St. Mike’s and Galisteo. After the shootings began recently, the Dobbies wanted to help monitor the site. “I have quite a bit of experience with bad guys,” Dobbie said.</p>
<p>On Sunday, Dobbie was sitting in his car catty-corner from Los Alamos National Bank, near the Marriott Residence Inn. Obscured by trees, his attention was focused on a spot by the colony where he suspected a shooter would take up position.</p>
<p>Dobbie said he saw a white pickup take a left turn onto Galisteo from St. Mike’s, make a U-turn and pull into the right-hand driving lane and then the spot that Dobbie had pinpointed.</p>
<p>“I was looking through my binoculars and sure as heck I saw a gun barrel stick out from the passenger side of the car,” Dobbie said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Dobbie swung his car onto Galisteo and drove around Wienke’s truck, taking down the license plate number. Wienke took off when the light turned green, but Dobbie had more than enough information by then to provide police with a description.</p>
<p>The cops eventually tracked Wienke to his home on Old Pecos Trail. He was cited for misdemeanor animal cruelty. A police spokeswoman said a possible charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, also a misdemeanor, will be forwarded to Municipal Court for a judge to consider.</p>
<p>“For an adult to do it, it’s a mindset I don’t understand,” Dobbie said.</p>
<p>No dead or wounded prairie dog was located Sunday.</p>
<p>Unaware of prairie dog support</p>
<p>Wienke, a retiree who said he works on computing algorithms as a guest scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, said he wasn’t aware of the previous prairie dog shootings at St. Mike’s and Galisteo. He said he didn’t see the “Shooting is a Crime” sign prairie dog advocates have put up in the area, nor was he aware of recent media coverage, as he doesn’t read local newspapers.</p>
<p>In fact, Wienke said he was unaware that Santa Fe even has a group of dedicated prairie dog advocates who feed the colonies and have pushed for measures like the city ordinance that requires humane relocation of prairie dogs from building sites.</p>
<p>Santa Fe Police Sgt. Andrea Dobyns said Wienke has been “very cooperative” in the investigation and his story about taking a spur-of-the-moment shot seems legitimate.</p>
<p>“We don’t have evidence to say whether he was responsible for them or not,” Dobyns said when asked whether police believe that Wienke has carried out pervious prairie dog shootings.</p>
<p>“He was very forthcoming about what he had done. I feel like he probably would have been forthcoming with the other information as well,” Dobyns said.</p>
<p>In the Santa Fe area, there are “a lot of people that don’t like prairie dogs” and “a lot of people have guns,” Dobyns said.</p>
<p>Gay, Dobbie and other prairie dog lovers certainly aren’t ruling out the possibility of other shooters. They plan to maintain their watch over the colony off Galisteo.</p>
<p>“We want to keep them safe until they go down to hibernation and then work during the winter to get money to get them relocated so we don’t have to go through this again,” Gay said.</p> | 599,239 |
<p />
<p>CBS produced an informative, well-researched, and compassionate segment about the military's ban on transgender service members,&#160;setting&#160;an example for other networks&#160;on how to properly cover&#160;transgender stories.</p>
<p>The March 17 edition of&#160;CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley&#160;featured a segment on the military's current ban on transgender service members, a policy that's coming under&#160; <a href="http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2015/03/06/army-eases-ban-on-transgender-soldiers/24529333/" type="external">increasing scrutiny</a>. The segment followed the story of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/03/landon-wilson-transgender-navy-_n_5253439.html" type="external">Landon Wilson</a>, a former Navy sailor who was discharged after his commanding officer discovered he was transgender in 2013:</p>
<p />
<p>The segment was a remarkably simple example of how major news networks can and should discuss transgender issues. It allowed transgender people, including&#160;Wilson, to speak for themselves. It highlighted the extreme levels of <a href="http://www.thetaskforce.org/static_html/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf" type="external">discrimination</a>&#160;faced by the transgender community. And it took time to provide basic information about being transgender to its audience, including dispelling the myth that transitioning requires hormone therapy or surgery.</p>
<p>CBS medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook ended the segment by stating, "It's difficult for people to understand that a person's biological sex can be different from a person's gender. Ignorance about that has led to discrimination for transgender people in all walks of life, not just the military."</p>
<p>In a&#160; <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jon-lapook/heres-why-cbs-is-airing-a-transgender-profile_b_6885662.html" type="external">piece</a>&#160;about the segment&#160;at&#160;The Huffington Post, LaPook explained why he felt it was necessary to educate viewers about being transgender, writing, "if we're going to have a meaningful national conversation, we have to start by understanding the vocabulary."</p> | CBS Shows How Easy It Is To Properly Cover A Transgender News Story | true | http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/03/18/cbs-shows-how-easy-it-is-to-properly-cover-a-tr/202947 | 2015-03-18 | 4left
| CBS Shows How Easy It Is To Properly Cover A Transgender News Story
<p />
<p>CBS produced an informative, well-researched, and compassionate segment about the military's ban on transgender service members,&#160;setting&#160;an example for other networks&#160;on how to properly cover&#160;transgender stories.</p>
<p>The March 17 edition of&#160;CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley&#160;featured a segment on the military's current ban on transgender service members, a policy that's coming under&#160; <a href="http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2015/03/06/army-eases-ban-on-transgender-soldiers/24529333/" type="external">increasing scrutiny</a>. The segment followed the story of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/03/landon-wilson-transgender-navy-_n_5253439.html" type="external">Landon Wilson</a>, a former Navy sailor who was discharged after his commanding officer discovered he was transgender in 2013:</p>
<p />
<p>The segment was a remarkably simple example of how major news networks can and should discuss transgender issues. It allowed transgender people, including&#160;Wilson, to speak for themselves. It highlighted the extreme levels of <a href="http://www.thetaskforce.org/static_html/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf" type="external">discrimination</a>&#160;faced by the transgender community. And it took time to provide basic information about being transgender to its audience, including dispelling the myth that transitioning requires hormone therapy or surgery.</p>
<p>CBS medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook ended the segment by stating, "It's difficult for people to understand that a person's biological sex can be different from a person's gender. Ignorance about that has led to discrimination for transgender people in all walks of life, not just the military."</p>
<p>In a&#160; <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jon-lapook/heres-why-cbs-is-airing-a-transgender-profile_b_6885662.html" type="external">piece</a>&#160;about the segment&#160;at&#160;The Huffington Post, LaPook explained why he felt it was necessary to educate viewers about being transgender, writing, "if we're going to have a meaningful national conversation, we have to start by understanding the vocabulary."</p> | 599,240 |
<p />
<p>As reported on the front pages of today’s <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/11/AR2007071101895.html?sub=AR" type="external">Washington Post</a> and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/12/us/12nuke.html?_r=1&amp;ref=todayspaper&amp;oref=slogin" type="external">New York Times</a>, undercover congressional investigators successfully exploited loopholes in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing guidelines to obtain enough radiological material to build a so-called “dirty bomb.” Investigators with the <a href="http://www.gao.gov" type="external">Government Accounting Office</a> posing as West Virginia businessmen sent away for a federal permit to purchase radiological materials, which they received just 28 days later. Had the NRC bothered to do any due diligence, it would have discovered that the fictional company had no office location, no website, and no employees. As noted in the Times piece, “its only asset was a postal box.”</p>
<p>This was not the first undercover operation to test the NRC’s control measures. A similar sting in 2005 also resulted in GAO investigators obtaining small amounts of radioactive materials, for which they created false licensing documents using samples found on the Internet. They then smuggled the material across the U.S. border at two separate locations. Customs and Border Control personnel were unable to identity the forged documents and allowed the shipments to proceed. In this year’s operation, investigators employed a similar tactic, counterfeiting the NRC license they received and removing the limit on the amount of radiological material they were allowed to purchase.</p>
<p>At a <a href="http://www.senate.gov/~govt-aff/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&amp;HearingID=464" type="external">Senate hearing this morning</a>, at which the GAO released its report on the operation, NRC Commissioner Edward McGaffigan, Jr. acknowledged continuing problems with the Commission’s licensing procedures:</p>
<p>In hindsight NRC missed vulnerabilities in our licensing process identified by GAO, that resulted in a seemingly legitimate licensee obtaining a license for a small amount of material, then falsifying the license and potentially aggregating a much larger amount of material…</p>
<p>The Commission takes this issue very seriously… GAO may have found a unique vulnerability, or there may be more left for us to discover. We intend to find out.</p>
<p>The truth is, whether or not NRC improves its licensing controls, those who want to obtain radiological materials—given enough time, money, and determination—will probably succeed. Just ask <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200612/langewiesche-nukes" type="external">William Langewiesche</a>.</p>
<p /> | Want a Dirty Bomb? Just Seal, Stamp, and Send… | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/07/want-dirty-bomb-just-seal-stamp-and-send/ | 2007-07-12 | 4left
| Want a Dirty Bomb? Just Seal, Stamp, and Send…
<p />
<p>As reported on the front pages of today’s <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/11/AR2007071101895.html?sub=AR" type="external">Washington Post</a> and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/12/us/12nuke.html?_r=1&amp;ref=todayspaper&amp;oref=slogin" type="external">New York Times</a>, undercover congressional investigators successfully exploited loopholes in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing guidelines to obtain enough radiological material to build a so-called “dirty bomb.” Investigators with the <a href="http://www.gao.gov" type="external">Government Accounting Office</a> posing as West Virginia businessmen sent away for a federal permit to purchase radiological materials, which they received just 28 days later. Had the NRC bothered to do any due diligence, it would have discovered that the fictional company had no office location, no website, and no employees. As noted in the Times piece, “its only asset was a postal box.”</p>
<p>This was not the first undercover operation to test the NRC’s control measures. A similar sting in 2005 also resulted in GAO investigators obtaining small amounts of radioactive materials, for which they created false licensing documents using samples found on the Internet. They then smuggled the material across the U.S. border at two separate locations. Customs and Border Control personnel were unable to identity the forged documents and allowed the shipments to proceed. In this year’s operation, investigators employed a similar tactic, counterfeiting the NRC license they received and removing the limit on the amount of radiological material they were allowed to purchase.</p>
<p>At a <a href="http://www.senate.gov/~govt-aff/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&amp;HearingID=464" type="external">Senate hearing this morning</a>, at which the GAO released its report on the operation, NRC Commissioner Edward McGaffigan, Jr. acknowledged continuing problems with the Commission’s licensing procedures:</p>
<p>In hindsight NRC missed vulnerabilities in our licensing process identified by GAO, that resulted in a seemingly legitimate licensee obtaining a license for a small amount of material, then falsifying the license and potentially aggregating a much larger amount of material…</p>
<p>The Commission takes this issue very seriously… GAO may have found a unique vulnerability, or there may be more left for us to discover. We intend to find out.</p>
<p>The truth is, whether or not NRC improves its licensing controls, those who want to obtain radiological materials—given enough time, money, and determination—will probably succeed. Just ask <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200612/langewiesche-nukes" type="external">William Langewiesche</a>.</p>
<p /> | 599,241 |
<p>Maybe you saw a suspicious charge on your bank statement. Or your debit card is missing from your wallet. If you believe your account is at risk, you need to act fast. Your money could be in jeopardy.</p>
<p>According to a 2015 American Bankers Association survey, banks lost nearly $2 billion to deposit account fraud the year before. The recent Equifax data breach highlights how consumer information is vulnerable and how that could put your financial accounts in danger. When faced with a compromised account, consumers can protect themselves by acting quickly in the short term and diligently in the long term.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>1. REPORT POSSIBLE FRAUD WITHIN TWO BUSINESS DAYS</p>
<p>The clock starts ticking as soon as you realize there's a problem. If you report a possibly stolen debit card within two business days of discovering it missing, the most you could be responsible for if someone makes unauthorized transactions is $50, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.</p>
<p>But if you procrastinate beyond two days, you could lose up to $500 of your money. If you see unauthorized transactions on your bank statement, the window for reporting it to your bank is 60 days after the statement is sent to you. After that, you could lose all that was stolen from your main account and any linked accounts, with no reimbursement from your bank.</p>
<p>Debit card protections aren't as strong as those covering credit cards, where potential losses are capped at $50.</p>
<p>2. IF MONEY HAS BEEN STOLEN, CONTACT AUTHORITIES AND CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>File a police report, and then contact your financial institution to shut down the compromised account. Your bank or credit union can help you transfer remaining funds into a new bank account, with a different account number and debit card. Be sure to keep records for your old account in a safe place.</p>
<p>3. CHECK YOUR CREDIT REPORT FOR NEW ACCOUNTS</p>
<p>Checking account activity doesn't typically show up on a credit report, but an identity thief could try to open a new account in your name. The crook could then overdraw the account, leaving behind debts that eventually are reported to credit bureaus.</p>
<p>To help counter this, check your credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com and resolve to monitor them at least once a year. If you see evidence of fraud, such as an account opened in your name without your permission, notify the credit bureau and the financial institutions involved, says David Pommerehn, senior counsel at the Consumer Bankers Association in Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>4. LEARN HOW TO PROTECT FUTURE ACCOUNT INFORMATION</p>
<p>After an account breach, your financial institution should restore your lost money quickly. But getting your money back and a new debit card, or even closing your compromised account, doesn't mean your financial safety is assured. There may be long-term issues. A thief could share your personal identifiable information with other criminals who might try to access your accounts or open new ones. Take these steps to protect your information:</p>
<p>— When using mobile apps, guard against hackers by keeping devices up to date</p>
<p>— Monitor bank statements monthly for unauthorized charges</p>
<p>— Don't send personal financial information by email</p>
<p>This article was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet. Margarette Burnette is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @margarette.</p>
<p>RELATED LINKS:</p>
<p>NerdWallet: Hackers target your mobile bank app; you can fight back</p>
<p>https://nerd.me/mobile-banking-security</p>
<p>Annual Credit Report</p>
<p>https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action</p>
<p>Guidance on the protection of personal identifiable information:</p>
<p>https://www.dol.gov/general/ppii</p> | Be your own bank guard if your account is at risk | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/10/05/be-your-own-bank-guard-if-your-account-is-at-risk.html | 2017-10-05 | 0right
| Be your own bank guard if your account is at risk
<p>Maybe you saw a suspicious charge on your bank statement. Or your debit card is missing from your wallet. If you believe your account is at risk, you need to act fast. Your money could be in jeopardy.</p>
<p>According to a 2015 American Bankers Association survey, banks lost nearly $2 billion to deposit account fraud the year before. The recent Equifax data breach highlights how consumer information is vulnerable and how that could put your financial accounts in danger. When faced with a compromised account, consumers can protect themselves by acting quickly in the short term and diligently in the long term.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>1. REPORT POSSIBLE FRAUD WITHIN TWO BUSINESS DAYS</p>
<p>The clock starts ticking as soon as you realize there's a problem. If you report a possibly stolen debit card within two business days of discovering it missing, the most you could be responsible for if someone makes unauthorized transactions is $50, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.</p>
<p>But if you procrastinate beyond two days, you could lose up to $500 of your money. If you see unauthorized transactions on your bank statement, the window for reporting it to your bank is 60 days after the statement is sent to you. After that, you could lose all that was stolen from your main account and any linked accounts, with no reimbursement from your bank.</p>
<p>Debit card protections aren't as strong as those covering credit cards, where potential losses are capped at $50.</p>
<p>2. IF MONEY HAS BEEN STOLEN, CONTACT AUTHORITIES AND CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>File a police report, and then contact your financial institution to shut down the compromised account. Your bank or credit union can help you transfer remaining funds into a new bank account, with a different account number and debit card. Be sure to keep records for your old account in a safe place.</p>
<p>3. CHECK YOUR CREDIT REPORT FOR NEW ACCOUNTS</p>
<p>Checking account activity doesn't typically show up on a credit report, but an identity thief could try to open a new account in your name. The crook could then overdraw the account, leaving behind debts that eventually are reported to credit bureaus.</p>
<p>To help counter this, check your credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com and resolve to monitor them at least once a year. If you see evidence of fraud, such as an account opened in your name without your permission, notify the credit bureau and the financial institutions involved, says David Pommerehn, senior counsel at the Consumer Bankers Association in Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>4. LEARN HOW TO PROTECT FUTURE ACCOUNT INFORMATION</p>
<p>After an account breach, your financial institution should restore your lost money quickly. But getting your money back and a new debit card, or even closing your compromised account, doesn't mean your financial safety is assured. There may be long-term issues. A thief could share your personal identifiable information with other criminals who might try to access your accounts or open new ones. Take these steps to protect your information:</p>
<p>— When using mobile apps, guard against hackers by keeping devices up to date</p>
<p>— Monitor bank statements monthly for unauthorized charges</p>
<p>— Don't send personal financial information by email</p>
<p>This article was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet. Margarette Burnette is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @margarette.</p>
<p>RELATED LINKS:</p>
<p>NerdWallet: Hackers target your mobile bank app; you can fight back</p>
<p>https://nerd.me/mobile-banking-security</p>
<p>Annual Credit Report</p>
<p>https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action</p>
<p>Guidance on the protection of personal identifiable information:</p>
<p>https://www.dol.gov/general/ppii</p> | 599,242 |
<p>There are few statistics as stunning as the following simple, single number:&#160; The United States spends two times more on its military than all the other countries of the world, combined.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s right.&#160; All 200 or so of them.&#160; Combined.</p>
<p>According to GlobalSecurity.org, last year, the US dropped about $625 billion in taxpayer dollars on its military, while all the rest of the world together spent $500 billion. &#160;(The aggregate global figures come from 2004, but have been steady over the prior decade.)&#160; However, if you also add in nuclear weapons costs handled separately by the Energy Department, Veterans Affairs, interest on money borrowed to fund previous wars, and the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the total rises to a jaw-dropping one trillion dollars per year.</p>
<p>Think of how astonishing that is.</p>
<p>Imagine if you lived down the street from a guy who insisted that his house had to be two times bigger than all the other houses in the neighborhood, combined.&#160; You and your neighbors live in 2,000 square foot houses, but he has to have an 800,000 square foot house.&#160; That’s one that would be the length of three football fields long, and three football fields wide.</p>
<p>Imagine you and all your fishing buddies tied up next to a guy who had to have a boat that was twice as big as all of yours combined.&#160; You guys have 15 footers.&#160; His would be 6,000 feet long, or six Queen Marys, length-to-length.</p>
<p>Imagine that you knew someone who had to spend double on dinner what everyone else dining in a decent restaurant was spending.&#160; The average meal for the rest of you costs 25 dollars.&#160; This guy insists on spending $10,000 on one meal, of the same food, prepared by the same chef.</p>
<p>This is an astonishing ratio in so many ways.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most amazing thing about it is that nobody particularly talks about it.&#160; It’s one thing to say that military spending has now joined Social Security as the third rail of American politics – you touch it, you die.&#160; And, of course, now we are treated to the visage of the “liberal” – even “socialist” and “defeatist” “pal of terrorists” – guy in the White House actually increasing military spending, and doing so at a time when the federal budget is hemorrhaging red ink as if it were the Exxon Valdez, drunken captain at the helm and all.&#160; But it’s actually even worse than that.</p>
<p>Not only can you not seriously discuss cutting military spending in America, you can’t even know about this spending ratio relative to the rest of the world, or contemplate what it means.&#160; Do you know of any single politician who ever mentions this?</p>
<p>It’s also astonishing because the Cold War is over, the once Nazi-controlled Germany has turned into one of the most pacifist countries in the world, Japan is all about making cars and TVs, and there isn’t a serious enemy of the United States anywhere on either the geographical or temporal horizon.&#160; Right now, we are spending vast sums of money to fight gaggles of angry young men armed with box-cutters, and scraggly mullahs hiding in remote mountainous caves.&#160; And they’re winning.</p>
<p>It is conceivable that China might, maybe, someday, spend something like what the US does on its military.&#160; But for what?&#160; Right now China spends a tenth of what the US does on its military, and considerably less than that if you count the other items that bring the US total up to a trillion per year.&#160; If it reached parity, what would that permit it that is now impossible, apart from perhaps taking back Taiwan and creating a twentieth century Latin America-style neighborhood it could dominate even more than it does already?&#160; Would it allow China to invade the United States, or bend it to Chinese will for fear of a military confrontation?&#160; Of course not.</p>
<p>Which is another reason this ratio is so astonishing.&#160; Say whatever you want about nuclear weapons from a moral perspective.&#160; They have nevertheless changed the dynamic of international politics radically.&#160; No state will ever again invade another one which possesses a nuclear arsenal and the means to project it in quantity.&#160; The doctrine of mutually-assured destruction may indeed be mad from a psychological perspective, but it works – at least apart from situations in which the attacking country’s leadership is either so bonkers or so determined on an issue that national suicide isn’t a deterrent.&#160; Of course, non-state actors like al Qaeda are a problem, because they provide little target for retaliation, but would spending another $100 billion on more destroyers or fighter jets solve that problem?&#160; Of course not.</p>
<p>This grossly disproportionate ratio of military spending to other countries is also astonishing, and astonishingly obscene, for what it costs this country in missed opportunities.&#160; We are by far the richest country in the world – no one is even close.&#160; And we have no real enemies.&#160; And, as noted, we spend double the entire world combined in order to defend against those non-enemies.</p>
<p>Such thoughtful priorities also entitle our lucky population to have a national healthcare system that is ranked 37th from the top, worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.&#160; Isn’t that special?&#160; Morocco does better than we do.&#160; So do Colombia, Chile and Costa Rica.&#160; And Dominica.&#160; Does anyone really even know where Dominica is?&#160; All those weapons systems don’t just purchase for us a lack of security, they also buy a country where 50 million Americans lack health insurance of any kind, and countless others are grossly under-insured (including those who don’t know it yet, but will find out fast if they ever get sick).</p>
<p>In part because of this fine health care system, the United States also ranks 29th globally on infant mortality.&#160; And the longitudinal trend isn’t pretty.&#160; We were 12th in the world in 1960, and 23rd in 1990.&#160; Now we are tied with Poland and Slovakia.&#160; The good news, though, is that we are still by far and away first worldwide on obesity, with 31 percent of the population qualifying for that distinction, over six percent higher than our nearest competitor!&#160; The rest of the world can kick us around all day long, but nobody can ever take that distinction away from us.&#160; Oh, and we had almost twice as many plastic surgery procedures as any other country in the world.&#160; I guess these figures also partially explain why the richest country in the world, by far, is ranked 47th in the world in terms of life expectancy, below Boznia-Herzegovina, Jordan and Guam.&#160; Cool.&#160; Go USA!</p>
<p>Dollars paying for a bloated military are not only not spent on healthcare, they also aren’t spent on social development either.&#160; The United States had more teen pregnancies per capita than anyone in the world by far – about half-again as many as our nearest competitor.&#160; We have the highest number of prisoners per capita, right up there (but still well ahead of) Russia and Belarus.&#160; The US has two million prisoners, about half a million more than China, despite having about one-fifth the Chinese population.&#160; We also have more crimes committed than any other country in the world, about twice the number as the number two country on the list.&#160; Oh, and by far the highest divorce rate in the world.&#160; I’m pretty sure you won’t see this stuff mentioned in the tourist literature.</p>
<p>Expenditures on the military also mean dollars not spent on teaching our kids (especially about comparative national statistics!).&#160; The richest country in the world is ranked 39th on education spending as a percent of GDP, below Tunisia, Bolivia, Jamaica and Malawi.&#160; As a result, the US shows up as 18th in mathematical literacy, and 15th in reading literacy.&#160; Woo-hoo!</p>
<p>Spending on rockets and guns does not bode well for economic development, either.&#160; Despite being in hock for more national debt than any other country in the world – even before recent events – we rank only 16th in broadband access per capita.&#160; And, we are a dismal 92nd in the world in terms of the equitable distribution of family income within our society.&#160; Cameroon does better.&#160; So does Russia, Uzbekistan, Laos and Burkina Faso.&#160; Along with most of the rest of the world.</p>
<p>In short, in exchange for the privilege of dwarfing the entire rest of the solar system in military spending, in order to defend ourselves against an enemy we don’t have, the United States has purchased a second rate healthcare system, a second rate educational system, and social and economic characteristics within spitting distance of Sub-Saharan Africa.</p>
<p>For all of these reasons, our devotion to military spending is really quite amazing, and really begs the question of what could explain so patently foolish a national policy.&#160; Undoubtedly, there are many explanations.</p>
<p>To begin with, this would hardly be the first essay ever to note the American propensity toward paranoia.&#160; A country twisted enough that it can spend six years fighting a brutal and costly war in Iraq on the basis of 9/11 attacks that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with is certainly a country capable of outspending the entire rest of the planet on its military, two times over.</p>
<p>What does it say, moreover, about our near-complete failing at the practice of diplomacy, that we feel compelled to sit atop a military arsenal of such outrageous proportions, and to send bombs and military bases, rather than diplomats, as our calling card around the world?</p>
<p>Without question, furthermore, such an obscene military budget is grossly inflated because of sheer greed.&#160; It wasn’t some long-haired, Birkenstocks-wearing, pipe-smoking, Berkeley professor of French literature, after all, who warned us of the dangers of the metastasizing military industrial complex.&#160; It was Dwight Eisenhower – conservative Republican president, lifetime military man, commander of NATO and hero of World War II.</p>
<p>Eisenhower was right, of course, although it would have been nice had he acted on his wisdom during his two terms, rather than sounding hypocritical warnings about this danger only as he walked out the door.&#160; In any case, as in so many other domains – but with an intensity unmatched elsewhere – when it comes to providing military hardware, corporate America has come to see the federal government as little more than a handy centralized collection system, to which it then avails itself.&#160; But, of course, everybody is in the act now, with members of Congress from every district in the land fighting to protect their defense dollars, and selfish Americans screaming about deficit spending on Sundays, and then going to work at the local defense boondoggle plant on Mondays.</p>
<p>And there is another explanation, as well.&#160; You don’t need to spend a trillion bucks per year in order to protect the United States from attack by another country.&#160; The existing stockpile of nuclear warheads more or less guarantees that that will never happen.&#160; You also don’t need to spend that money in order to fight some sort of conventional war on land or sea, as occurred during World War II.&#160; No country comes remotely near the United States in terms of battlefield and naval hardware, and even those who possess significant quantities of such materiel almost entirely lack the capability of projecting such military power beyond their borders.&#160; Finally, you don’t need all that money to fight ragtag bands of terrorists either.&#160; On that front, smarts go a lot farther than dollars (not that we would know, of course).</p>
<p>The only thing that such a seemingly bloated military is good for is power projection.&#160; If you want to intimidate developing countries into selling you their natural resources at ridiculously low prices, a giant military is the only way to do it.&#160; If you want to force weaker countries into joining political alliances they are otherwise not remotely interested in, some good old-fashioned gunboat diplomacy is the way to make that happen.</p>
<p>Or, at least, was.&#160; The United States is no longer very much able to shove around other countries like it used to, and yet, even the so-called liberal Obama administration is now seeking to spend even more on the American military than the monsters of the last regime did.</p>
<p>It was one thing – albeit still a stupid bargain – to forgo health, education, and the good life for an empire.</p>
<p>But what Americans should be asking themselves right now is, whether giving away happiness and prosperity in exchange for a non-empire is finally a bridge too far, even for a country so justly famous for its chronic political immaturity.</p>
<p>DAVID MICHAEL GREEN is a professor of political science at Hofstra University in New York.&#160; He is delighted to receive readers’ reactions to his articles ( <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>), but regrets that time constraints do not always allow him to respond.&#160; More of his work can be found at his website, <a href="www.regressiveantidote.net" type="external">www.regressiveantidote.net</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Home of the Barricaded, Land of the ‘Fraid | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/04/17/home-of-the-barricaded-land-of-the-fraid/ | 2009-04-17 | 4left
| Home of the Barricaded, Land of the ‘Fraid
<p>There are few statistics as stunning as the following simple, single number:&#160; The United States spends two times more on its military than all the other countries of the world, combined.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s right.&#160; All 200 or so of them.&#160; Combined.</p>
<p>According to GlobalSecurity.org, last year, the US dropped about $625 billion in taxpayer dollars on its military, while all the rest of the world together spent $500 billion. &#160;(The aggregate global figures come from 2004, but have been steady over the prior decade.)&#160; However, if you also add in nuclear weapons costs handled separately by the Energy Department, Veterans Affairs, interest on money borrowed to fund previous wars, and the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the total rises to a jaw-dropping one trillion dollars per year.</p>
<p>Think of how astonishing that is.</p>
<p>Imagine if you lived down the street from a guy who insisted that his house had to be two times bigger than all the other houses in the neighborhood, combined.&#160; You and your neighbors live in 2,000 square foot houses, but he has to have an 800,000 square foot house.&#160; That’s one that would be the length of three football fields long, and three football fields wide.</p>
<p>Imagine you and all your fishing buddies tied up next to a guy who had to have a boat that was twice as big as all of yours combined.&#160; You guys have 15 footers.&#160; His would be 6,000 feet long, or six Queen Marys, length-to-length.</p>
<p>Imagine that you knew someone who had to spend double on dinner what everyone else dining in a decent restaurant was spending.&#160; The average meal for the rest of you costs 25 dollars.&#160; This guy insists on spending $10,000 on one meal, of the same food, prepared by the same chef.</p>
<p>This is an astonishing ratio in so many ways.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most amazing thing about it is that nobody particularly talks about it.&#160; It’s one thing to say that military spending has now joined Social Security as the third rail of American politics – you touch it, you die.&#160; And, of course, now we are treated to the visage of the “liberal” – even “socialist” and “defeatist” “pal of terrorists” – guy in the White House actually increasing military spending, and doing so at a time when the federal budget is hemorrhaging red ink as if it were the Exxon Valdez, drunken captain at the helm and all.&#160; But it’s actually even worse than that.</p>
<p>Not only can you not seriously discuss cutting military spending in America, you can’t even know about this spending ratio relative to the rest of the world, or contemplate what it means.&#160; Do you know of any single politician who ever mentions this?</p>
<p>It’s also astonishing because the Cold War is over, the once Nazi-controlled Germany has turned into one of the most pacifist countries in the world, Japan is all about making cars and TVs, and there isn’t a serious enemy of the United States anywhere on either the geographical or temporal horizon.&#160; Right now, we are spending vast sums of money to fight gaggles of angry young men armed with box-cutters, and scraggly mullahs hiding in remote mountainous caves.&#160; And they’re winning.</p>
<p>It is conceivable that China might, maybe, someday, spend something like what the US does on its military.&#160; But for what?&#160; Right now China spends a tenth of what the US does on its military, and considerably less than that if you count the other items that bring the US total up to a trillion per year.&#160; If it reached parity, what would that permit it that is now impossible, apart from perhaps taking back Taiwan and creating a twentieth century Latin America-style neighborhood it could dominate even more than it does already?&#160; Would it allow China to invade the United States, or bend it to Chinese will for fear of a military confrontation?&#160; Of course not.</p>
<p>Which is another reason this ratio is so astonishing.&#160; Say whatever you want about nuclear weapons from a moral perspective.&#160; They have nevertheless changed the dynamic of international politics radically.&#160; No state will ever again invade another one which possesses a nuclear arsenal and the means to project it in quantity.&#160; The doctrine of mutually-assured destruction may indeed be mad from a psychological perspective, but it works – at least apart from situations in which the attacking country’s leadership is either so bonkers or so determined on an issue that national suicide isn’t a deterrent.&#160; Of course, non-state actors like al Qaeda are a problem, because they provide little target for retaliation, but would spending another $100 billion on more destroyers or fighter jets solve that problem?&#160; Of course not.</p>
<p>This grossly disproportionate ratio of military spending to other countries is also astonishing, and astonishingly obscene, for what it costs this country in missed opportunities.&#160; We are by far the richest country in the world – no one is even close.&#160; And we have no real enemies.&#160; And, as noted, we spend double the entire world combined in order to defend against those non-enemies.</p>
<p>Such thoughtful priorities also entitle our lucky population to have a national healthcare system that is ranked 37th from the top, worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.&#160; Isn’t that special?&#160; Morocco does better than we do.&#160; So do Colombia, Chile and Costa Rica.&#160; And Dominica.&#160; Does anyone really even know where Dominica is?&#160; All those weapons systems don’t just purchase for us a lack of security, they also buy a country where 50 million Americans lack health insurance of any kind, and countless others are grossly under-insured (including those who don’t know it yet, but will find out fast if they ever get sick).</p>
<p>In part because of this fine health care system, the United States also ranks 29th globally on infant mortality.&#160; And the longitudinal trend isn’t pretty.&#160; We were 12th in the world in 1960, and 23rd in 1990.&#160; Now we are tied with Poland and Slovakia.&#160; The good news, though, is that we are still by far and away first worldwide on obesity, with 31 percent of the population qualifying for that distinction, over six percent higher than our nearest competitor!&#160; The rest of the world can kick us around all day long, but nobody can ever take that distinction away from us.&#160; Oh, and we had almost twice as many plastic surgery procedures as any other country in the world.&#160; I guess these figures also partially explain why the richest country in the world, by far, is ranked 47th in the world in terms of life expectancy, below Boznia-Herzegovina, Jordan and Guam.&#160; Cool.&#160; Go USA!</p>
<p>Dollars paying for a bloated military are not only not spent on healthcare, they also aren’t spent on social development either.&#160; The United States had more teen pregnancies per capita than anyone in the world by far – about half-again as many as our nearest competitor.&#160; We have the highest number of prisoners per capita, right up there (but still well ahead of) Russia and Belarus.&#160; The US has two million prisoners, about half a million more than China, despite having about one-fifth the Chinese population.&#160; We also have more crimes committed than any other country in the world, about twice the number as the number two country on the list.&#160; Oh, and by far the highest divorce rate in the world.&#160; I’m pretty sure you won’t see this stuff mentioned in the tourist literature.</p>
<p>Expenditures on the military also mean dollars not spent on teaching our kids (especially about comparative national statistics!).&#160; The richest country in the world is ranked 39th on education spending as a percent of GDP, below Tunisia, Bolivia, Jamaica and Malawi.&#160; As a result, the US shows up as 18th in mathematical literacy, and 15th in reading literacy.&#160; Woo-hoo!</p>
<p>Spending on rockets and guns does not bode well for economic development, either.&#160; Despite being in hock for more national debt than any other country in the world – even before recent events – we rank only 16th in broadband access per capita.&#160; And, we are a dismal 92nd in the world in terms of the equitable distribution of family income within our society.&#160; Cameroon does better.&#160; So does Russia, Uzbekistan, Laos and Burkina Faso.&#160; Along with most of the rest of the world.</p>
<p>In short, in exchange for the privilege of dwarfing the entire rest of the solar system in military spending, in order to defend ourselves against an enemy we don’t have, the United States has purchased a second rate healthcare system, a second rate educational system, and social and economic characteristics within spitting distance of Sub-Saharan Africa.</p>
<p>For all of these reasons, our devotion to military spending is really quite amazing, and really begs the question of what could explain so patently foolish a national policy.&#160; Undoubtedly, there are many explanations.</p>
<p>To begin with, this would hardly be the first essay ever to note the American propensity toward paranoia.&#160; A country twisted enough that it can spend six years fighting a brutal and costly war in Iraq on the basis of 9/11 attacks that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with is certainly a country capable of outspending the entire rest of the planet on its military, two times over.</p>
<p>What does it say, moreover, about our near-complete failing at the practice of diplomacy, that we feel compelled to sit atop a military arsenal of such outrageous proportions, and to send bombs and military bases, rather than diplomats, as our calling card around the world?</p>
<p>Without question, furthermore, such an obscene military budget is grossly inflated because of sheer greed.&#160; It wasn’t some long-haired, Birkenstocks-wearing, pipe-smoking, Berkeley professor of French literature, after all, who warned us of the dangers of the metastasizing military industrial complex.&#160; It was Dwight Eisenhower – conservative Republican president, lifetime military man, commander of NATO and hero of World War II.</p>
<p>Eisenhower was right, of course, although it would have been nice had he acted on his wisdom during his two terms, rather than sounding hypocritical warnings about this danger only as he walked out the door.&#160; In any case, as in so many other domains – but with an intensity unmatched elsewhere – when it comes to providing military hardware, corporate America has come to see the federal government as little more than a handy centralized collection system, to which it then avails itself.&#160; But, of course, everybody is in the act now, with members of Congress from every district in the land fighting to protect their defense dollars, and selfish Americans screaming about deficit spending on Sundays, and then going to work at the local defense boondoggle plant on Mondays.</p>
<p>And there is another explanation, as well.&#160; You don’t need to spend a trillion bucks per year in order to protect the United States from attack by another country.&#160; The existing stockpile of nuclear warheads more or less guarantees that that will never happen.&#160; You also don’t need to spend that money in order to fight some sort of conventional war on land or sea, as occurred during World War II.&#160; No country comes remotely near the United States in terms of battlefield and naval hardware, and even those who possess significant quantities of such materiel almost entirely lack the capability of projecting such military power beyond their borders.&#160; Finally, you don’t need all that money to fight ragtag bands of terrorists either.&#160; On that front, smarts go a lot farther than dollars (not that we would know, of course).</p>
<p>The only thing that such a seemingly bloated military is good for is power projection.&#160; If you want to intimidate developing countries into selling you their natural resources at ridiculously low prices, a giant military is the only way to do it.&#160; If you want to force weaker countries into joining political alliances they are otherwise not remotely interested in, some good old-fashioned gunboat diplomacy is the way to make that happen.</p>
<p>Or, at least, was.&#160; The United States is no longer very much able to shove around other countries like it used to, and yet, even the so-called liberal Obama administration is now seeking to spend even more on the American military than the monsters of the last regime did.</p>
<p>It was one thing – albeit still a stupid bargain – to forgo health, education, and the good life for an empire.</p>
<p>But what Americans should be asking themselves right now is, whether giving away happiness and prosperity in exchange for a non-empire is finally a bridge too far, even for a country so justly famous for its chronic political immaturity.</p>
<p>DAVID MICHAEL GREEN is a professor of political science at Hofstra University in New York.&#160; He is delighted to receive readers’ reactions to his articles ( <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>), but regrets that time constraints do not always allow him to respond.&#160; More of his work can be found at his website, <a href="www.regressiveantidote.net" type="external">www.regressiveantidote.net</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 599,243 |
<p>The dawn of automation is finally upon us, which means scores of people who thought a $15 minimum wage for flipping burgers at McDonald's would set them up for life are about to have a rude awakening in economics. The lesson here: bullying your employers to pay you more than your labor's worth will inevitably force them to seek cheaper options. This time, they are choosing robots.</p>
<p>In the deep blue state of Hawaii, automation poses a serious problem for the largely tourist-based economy, and if robots replace the predominant workforce, then huge swaths of the state's population will be without jobs, a state whose <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaiis-homeless-problem-reaches-crisis-level/" type="external">homeless population</a> has reached crippling levels and where <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2016/06/01/meth-hawaii-drugs_n_10244976.html" type="external">crystal meth is the drug of choice</a>. Fear not, though, because fun Uncle Sam has a solution to mom and pop's woes: Universal Basic Income (UBI).</p>
<p>UBI proposes that as robots leave an entire class of people out of jobs, the government awards them a steady stream of income regardless of employment or economic status, a welfare state on steroids. Though gaining little traction nationwide, progressive pockets like San Francisco and Hawaii have flirted with the idea.</p>
<p>"Hawaii state lawmakers have voted to explore the idea of a universal basic income in light of research suggesting that a majority of waiter, cook and building cleaning jobs — vital to Hawaii's tourism-dependent economy — will eventually be replaced by machines," reports <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-considers-universal-basic-income-guaranteed-pay-robots-taking-jobs/" type="external">CBS News</a>. "The crucial question of who would pay for the program has yet to be determined. But support for the idea has taken root."</p>
<p>State Rep. Chris Lee stressed that the technological revolution is coming swift and government must act fast.</p>
<p>"Our economy is changing far more rapidly than anybody's expected," said Lee, stressing the importance of being "sure that everybody will benefit from the technological revolution that we're seeing to make sure no one's left behind."</p>
<p>Where did UBI originate and how did it gain traction? CBS News explored some history:</p>
<p>In a state or nation with universal basic income, every adult would receive a uniform fixed amount that would be deemed enough to meet basic needs. The idea gained some currency in the 1960s and 1970s, with proponents ranging from Martin Luther King Jr. to President Richard Nixon, who proposed a "negative income tax" similar to basic income. It failed to pass Congress.</p>
<p>Recently, some technology leaders have been breathing new life — and money — into the idea. Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and others have promoted the idea as a way to address the potential loss of many transportation, manufacturing, retail and customer service jobs to automation and artificial intelligence.</p>
<p>Even some economists who welcome technological change to make workplaces more efficient note that the pace of innovation in coming years is likely to accelerate. Community colleges and retraining centers could find it difficult to keep up. Supporters of a universal basic income say the money would cushion the economic pain for the affected workers.</p>
<p>Someone always must foot the bill and nothing is free. Tom Yamachika, president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, estimates that if Hawaii residents were given $10,000 apiece, it would cost the taxpayer $10 billion a year. Hawaii already can't afford its $20 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.</p>
<p>"Basic income is such a broad subject, it could encompass hundreds of different kinds of mechanisms to help families," Rep. Lee said. "You don't have to enact the entire thing in one massive program. You can take bits and pieces that make sense."</p>
<p>Karl Widerquist, co-founder of the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network, said the money could come from property taxes derived from hotels, businesses and residents.</p>
<p>"If people in Alaska deserve an oil dividend, why don't the people of Hawaii deserve a beach dividend?" he asked.</p>
<p>For Hawaii, the debate will be among politicians, economists, social services providers, business and union representatives, who will examine how automation will affect the social safety nets before they decide on a partial or full UBI.</p>
<p>"It could very well mean that it would be significantly cheaper to look at other options rather than let our existing services be overwhelmed by a changing economy," Rep. Lee said.</p>
<p>As noted by some critics, the consequences of the UBI solution are a class of people with less incentive to work. Yamachika said this will only worsen Hawaii's growing problem.</p>
<p>"A lot of poor people move here anyway, because they don't freeze," Yamachika said. "This won't help."</p> | AUTOMATION: Hawaii Debates 'Universal Basic Income' Before The Dawn Of Robot Workers | true | https://dailywire.com/news/20620/automation-hawaii-debates-universal-basic-income-paul-bois | 2017-09-05 | 0right
| AUTOMATION: Hawaii Debates 'Universal Basic Income' Before The Dawn Of Robot Workers
<p>The dawn of automation is finally upon us, which means scores of people who thought a $15 minimum wage for flipping burgers at McDonald's would set them up for life are about to have a rude awakening in economics. The lesson here: bullying your employers to pay you more than your labor's worth will inevitably force them to seek cheaper options. This time, they are choosing robots.</p>
<p>In the deep blue state of Hawaii, automation poses a serious problem for the largely tourist-based economy, and if robots replace the predominant workforce, then huge swaths of the state's population will be without jobs, a state whose <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaiis-homeless-problem-reaches-crisis-level/" type="external">homeless population</a> has reached crippling levels and where <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2016/06/01/meth-hawaii-drugs_n_10244976.html" type="external">crystal meth is the drug of choice</a>. Fear not, though, because fun Uncle Sam has a solution to mom and pop's woes: Universal Basic Income (UBI).</p>
<p>UBI proposes that as robots leave an entire class of people out of jobs, the government awards them a steady stream of income regardless of employment or economic status, a welfare state on steroids. Though gaining little traction nationwide, progressive pockets like San Francisco and Hawaii have flirted with the idea.</p>
<p>"Hawaii state lawmakers have voted to explore the idea of a universal basic income in light of research suggesting that a majority of waiter, cook and building cleaning jobs — vital to Hawaii's tourism-dependent economy — will eventually be replaced by machines," reports <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-considers-universal-basic-income-guaranteed-pay-robots-taking-jobs/" type="external">CBS News</a>. "The crucial question of who would pay for the program has yet to be determined. But support for the idea has taken root."</p>
<p>State Rep. Chris Lee stressed that the technological revolution is coming swift and government must act fast.</p>
<p>"Our economy is changing far more rapidly than anybody's expected," said Lee, stressing the importance of being "sure that everybody will benefit from the technological revolution that we're seeing to make sure no one's left behind."</p>
<p>Where did UBI originate and how did it gain traction? CBS News explored some history:</p>
<p>In a state or nation with universal basic income, every adult would receive a uniform fixed amount that would be deemed enough to meet basic needs. The idea gained some currency in the 1960s and 1970s, with proponents ranging from Martin Luther King Jr. to President Richard Nixon, who proposed a "negative income tax" similar to basic income. It failed to pass Congress.</p>
<p>Recently, some technology leaders have been breathing new life — and money — into the idea. Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and others have promoted the idea as a way to address the potential loss of many transportation, manufacturing, retail and customer service jobs to automation and artificial intelligence.</p>
<p>Even some economists who welcome technological change to make workplaces more efficient note that the pace of innovation in coming years is likely to accelerate. Community colleges and retraining centers could find it difficult to keep up. Supporters of a universal basic income say the money would cushion the economic pain for the affected workers.</p>
<p>Someone always must foot the bill and nothing is free. Tom Yamachika, president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, estimates that if Hawaii residents were given $10,000 apiece, it would cost the taxpayer $10 billion a year. Hawaii already can't afford its $20 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.</p>
<p>"Basic income is such a broad subject, it could encompass hundreds of different kinds of mechanisms to help families," Rep. Lee said. "You don't have to enact the entire thing in one massive program. You can take bits and pieces that make sense."</p>
<p>Karl Widerquist, co-founder of the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network, said the money could come from property taxes derived from hotels, businesses and residents.</p>
<p>"If people in Alaska deserve an oil dividend, why don't the people of Hawaii deserve a beach dividend?" he asked.</p>
<p>For Hawaii, the debate will be among politicians, economists, social services providers, business and union representatives, who will examine how automation will affect the social safety nets before they decide on a partial or full UBI.</p>
<p>"It could very well mean that it would be significantly cheaper to look at other options rather than let our existing services be overwhelmed by a changing economy," Rep. Lee said.</p>
<p>As noted by some critics, the consequences of the UBI solution are a class of people with less incentive to work. Yamachika said this will only worsen Hawaii's growing problem.</p>
<p>"A lot of poor people move here anyway, because they don't freeze," Yamachika said. "This won't help."</p> | 599,244 |
<p>July 13 (UPI) — Thomas Rhett and wife Lauren are enjoying a babymoon with their daughter this week.</p>
<p>The 27-year-old country star and Lauren brought daughter Willa on a getaway to the south ahead of the birth of their second child.</p>
<p>“Can’t believe we will have a new born not too long from now,” Rhett captioned a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BWcmqQBDyCr/" type="external">photo</a> on Instagram with Lauren. “36 weeks pregnant and 100% smoke show.”</p>
<p>Rhett and Lauren adopted Willa in May after announcing their plans to adopt and Lauren’s pregnancy in February. Lauren told fans Sunday the babymoon was taking the family back to Rhett’s southern roots.</p>
<p>“Bringing our girls back to their daddy’s roots even though one can’t exactly see them just yet (&amp; no filter. not kidding just south georgia beauty),” she captioned a scenic <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BWVI2H1DTvE/" type="external">picture</a>.</p>
<p>Rhett had shared a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BWKgHqKjUU7/" type="external">photo</a> of himself, Lauren and Willa celebrating the Fourth of July last week. He <a href="https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Music/2017/05/15/Thomas-Rhett-and-wife-Lauren-adopt-baby-girl/7881494854300/" type="external">first introduced his daughter</a> in a post May 12.</p>
<p>“Everyone meet Willa Gray Akins! I can’t believe our daughter is finally home,” the star wrote. “We have been in this adoption process for what seems like forever and we just so filled with joy that we are all finally home together!”</p>
<p>“Thank you to everyone who prayed every single day for this sweet girl,” he added. “The Lord blessed us with the most amazing little girl we could have ever dreamed of and we can’t wait to watch her grow up! #daddyforreal.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BWKgHqKjUU7/" type="external">The best</a></p>
<p>A post shared by ThomasRhettAkins (@thomasrhettakins) on Jul 5, 2017 at 4:59am PDT</p>
<p>Rhett last released the album Tangled Up in September 2015.</p> | Thomas Rhett, wife Lauren enjoy babymoon with daughter | false | https://newsline.com/thomas-rhett-wife-lauren-enjoy-babymoon-with-daughter/ | 2017-07-13 | 1right-center
| Thomas Rhett, wife Lauren enjoy babymoon with daughter
<p>July 13 (UPI) — Thomas Rhett and wife Lauren are enjoying a babymoon with their daughter this week.</p>
<p>The 27-year-old country star and Lauren brought daughter Willa on a getaway to the south ahead of the birth of their second child.</p>
<p>“Can’t believe we will have a new born not too long from now,” Rhett captioned a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BWcmqQBDyCr/" type="external">photo</a> on Instagram with Lauren. “36 weeks pregnant and 100% smoke show.”</p>
<p>Rhett and Lauren adopted Willa in May after announcing their plans to adopt and Lauren’s pregnancy in February. Lauren told fans Sunday the babymoon was taking the family back to Rhett’s southern roots.</p>
<p>“Bringing our girls back to their daddy’s roots even though one can’t exactly see them just yet (&amp; no filter. not kidding just south georgia beauty),” she captioned a scenic <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BWVI2H1DTvE/" type="external">picture</a>.</p>
<p>Rhett had shared a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BWKgHqKjUU7/" type="external">photo</a> of himself, Lauren and Willa celebrating the Fourth of July last week. He <a href="https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Music/2017/05/15/Thomas-Rhett-and-wife-Lauren-adopt-baby-girl/7881494854300/" type="external">first introduced his daughter</a> in a post May 12.</p>
<p>“Everyone meet Willa Gray Akins! I can’t believe our daughter is finally home,” the star wrote. “We have been in this adoption process for what seems like forever and we just so filled with joy that we are all finally home together!”</p>
<p>“Thank you to everyone who prayed every single day for this sweet girl,” he added. “The Lord blessed us with the most amazing little girl we could have ever dreamed of and we can’t wait to watch her grow up! #daddyforreal.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BWKgHqKjUU7/" type="external">The best</a></p>
<p>A post shared by ThomasRhettAkins (@thomasrhettakins) on Jul 5, 2017 at 4:59am PDT</p>
<p>Rhett last released the album Tangled Up in September 2015.</p> | 599,245 |
<p><a href="//videos/37/64200" type="external" /></p>
<p>RUSH: Now, let’s go to the media for just a couple things. John Berman is an anchor, a Ken doll over at CNN, and he’s on sometimes in the morning and sometimes he’s on in the afternoon. And yesterday he was on in the afternoon, a program they have called Newsroom, and the anchorette was Brooke Baldwin. Berman hosts a program called Early Start. He was the guest, she said — so two CNN anchors talking about… And Brooke Baldwin said, “You know, John, you’re from Boston, you love all things Boston, including the Patriots. You wrote an op-ed for CNN.com saying you are ashamed.”</p>
<p>I kid you not, this guy, an anchor for CNN, actually went to the CNN website, wrote an op-ed talking about how ashamed he is to be a Patriots fan. Do you think this guy would ever, ever write an op-ed about how ashamed he is to have voted for Obama or Clinton? But, no, he couldn’t wait to get in there and write his op-ed talking about how ashamed he is to be a Patriots fan.</p>
<p>BERMAN: It’s awful. It’s awful. <a href="" type="internal">Someone involved with the Patriots had to take air out</a> of those footballs. That is against the rules. That is cheating, and cheating is bad, and they would have cheated on the way to the Super Bowl. I shake in my Converse high tops right now over the thought that Tom Brady had something to do with this.</p>
<p>RUSH: Folks, do you get my point here? These guys are humiliated. They’re not the fans. They’re embarrassed, humiliated, “Oh, my God, my team cheated, oh, no, they might go to the Super Bowl, my team cheated. I can’t deal with my quarterback.” Do you think that either of these two, who idolized Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, would ever as much as wring their hands over some of the transgressions and rules violations that have taken place under Obama and Clinton? No, but, boy, so worried, oh, my God, they’re so worried about the example of what the Patriots have done here is setting for our children.</p>
<p>BERMAN: I’m wired to root for the Patriots. I cannot help but do it. I do not think others should. I can’t help myself. I’m a lost cause.</p>
<p>BALDWIN: Okay.</p>
<p>BERMAN: I’m a lost cause. But my sons, you know, I’m gonna have a talk with them.</p>
<p>BALDWIN: You are?</p>
<p>BERMAN: I’m gonna say, “You know, cheaters should never prosper. You know, you should not be here cheering for a team that cheats.”</p>
<p>BALDWIN: They’re gonna say, “But, daddy, you’re rooting for them.”</p>
<p>RUSH: “But daddy, you’re rooting –” “Yeah, I’m rooting for the cheaters.” What do you mean, cheaters never profit? Take a look at the Oval Office. This is my whole point. What do you mean, cheaters never profit? Cheaters never profit? Look at Hillary Clinton. Cheaters never profit? Al Sharpton. These people will never, ever feel embarrassed over their buddies in the Democrat Party. No way. But they’re so embarrassed to be Patriots fans. I feel their pain.</p> | CNN Anchor Ashamed of Patriots | true | http://rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2015/01/22/cnn_anchor_ashamed_of_patriots | 2015-01-22 | 0right
| CNN Anchor Ashamed of Patriots
<p><a href="//videos/37/64200" type="external" /></p>
<p>RUSH: Now, let’s go to the media for just a couple things. John Berman is an anchor, a Ken doll over at CNN, and he’s on sometimes in the morning and sometimes he’s on in the afternoon. And yesterday he was on in the afternoon, a program they have called Newsroom, and the anchorette was Brooke Baldwin. Berman hosts a program called Early Start. He was the guest, she said — so two CNN anchors talking about… And Brooke Baldwin said, “You know, John, you’re from Boston, you love all things Boston, including the Patriots. You wrote an op-ed for CNN.com saying you are ashamed.”</p>
<p>I kid you not, this guy, an anchor for CNN, actually went to the CNN website, wrote an op-ed talking about how ashamed he is to be a Patriots fan. Do you think this guy would ever, ever write an op-ed about how ashamed he is to have voted for Obama or Clinton? But, no, he couldn’t wait to get in there and write his op-ed talking about how ashamed he is to be a Patriots fan.</p>
<p>BERMAN: It’s awful. It’s awful. <a href="" type="internal">Someone involved with the Patriots had to take air out</a> of those footballs. That is against the rules. That is cheating, and cheating is bad, and they would have cheated on the way to the Super Bowl. I shake in my Converse high tops right now over the thought that Tom Brady had something to do with this.</p>
<p>RUSH: Folks, do you get my point here? These guys are humiliated. They’re not the fans. They’re embarrassed, humiliated, “Oh, my God, my team cheated, oh, no, they might go to the Super Bowl, my team cheated. I can’t deal with my quarterback.” Do you think that either of these two, who idolized Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, would ever as much as wring their hands over some of the transgressions and rules violations that have taken place under Obama and Clinton? No, but, boy, so worried, oh, my God, they’re so worried about the example of what the Patriots have done here is setting for our children.</p>
<p>BERMAN: I’m wired to root for the Patriots. I cannot help but do it. I do not think others should. I can’t help myself. I’m a lost cause.</p>
<p>BALDWIN: Okay.</p>
<p>BERMAN: I’m a lost cause. But my sons, you know, I’m gonna have a talk with them.</p>
<p>BALDWIN: You are?</p>
<p>BERMAN: I’m gonna say, “You know, cheaters should never prosper. You know, you should not be here cheering for a team that cheats.”</p>
<p>BALDWIN: They’re gonna say, “But, daddy, you’re rooting for them.”</p>
<p>RUSH: “But daddy, you’re rooting –” “Yeah, I’m rooting for the cheaters.” What do you mean, cheaters never profit? Take a look at the Oval Office. This is my whole point. What do you mean, cheaters never profit? Cheaters never profit? Look at Hillary Clinton. Cheaters never profit? Al Sharpton. These people will never, ever feel embarrassed over their buddies in the Democrat Party. No way. But they’re so embarrassed to be Patriots fans. I feel their pain.</p> | 599,246 |
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<p />
<p>The long, late, emotional and ultimately circular debate about installing a roundabout at Rio Grande and Candelaria could be heralded as democracy in action.</p>
<p>It could also be used as a textbook example of expending other people’s time and resources on a random project at a random site.</p>
<p>Because to the outside observer, having a crowd scene in political chambers, complete with posters and life-and-death fears voiced at the open mic, would have to involve something on the scale of war or famine — not concrete and reflective paint in an intersection with an average crash history.</p>
<p>The end result of Monday’s extensive and contentious debate in City Council chambers, to have another engineering evaluation of the intersection, won’t ensure that Rio Grande and Candelaria is the best Metro-area candidate for a roundabout. And it won’t guarantee buy-in from project opponents. That’s in great part because the project is the product of council district politics, not a comprehensive traffic safety study.</p>
<p>In fact, the Albuquerque director in charge of traffic construction projects says that while a roundabout probably would improve safety at the intersection, sticking with the traffic signal and making other improvements probably could do the same.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“Probably” is not a good reason to spend $1.5 million in public money and squander the goodwill of constituents. Councilors should keep that in mind when they get their new engineering study this summer.</p>
<p>Because expensive traffic projects that affect people’s lives should be based on data, not raw emotions vented late at night in City Council chambers.</p>
<p>Of course if we used data and common sense, we would still have red light cameras at high volume intersections. Keep that in mind the next time somebody blows through a red and almost takes you out.</p>
<p>This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.</p> | Editorial: Round and round city goes on random project | false | https://abqjournal.com/185251/round-and-round-city-goes-on-random-project.html | 2013-04-05 | 2least
| Editorial: Round and round city goes on random project
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<p />
<p>The long, late, emotional and ultimately circular debate about installing a roundabout at Rio Grande and Candelaria could be heralded as democracy in action.</p>
<p>It could also be used as a textbook example of expending other people’s time and resources on a random project at a random site.</p>
<p>Because to the outside observer, having a crowd scene in political chambers, complete with posters and life-and-death fears voiced at the open mic, would have to involve something on the scale of war or famine — not concrete and reflective paint in an intersection with an average crash history.</p>
<p>The end result of Monday’s extensive and contentious debate in City Council chambers, to have another engineering evaluation of the intersection, won’t ensure that Rio Grande and Candelaria is the best Metro-area candidate for a roundabout. And it won’t guarantee buy-in from project opponents. That’s in great part because the project is the product of council district politics, not a comprehensive traffic safety study.</p>
<p>In fact, the Albuquerque director in charge of traffic construction projects says that while a roundabout probably would improve safety at the intersection, sticking with the traffic signal and making other improvements probably could do the same.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“Probably” is not a good reason to spend $1.5 million in public money and squander the goodwill of constituents. Councilors should keep that in mind when they get their new engineering study this summer.</p>
<p>Because expensive traffic projects that affect people’s lives should be based on data, not raw emotions vented late at night in City Council chambers.</p>
<p>Of course if we used data and common sense, we would still have red light cameras at high volume intersections. Keep that in mind the next time somebody blows through a red and almost takes you out.</p>
<p>This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.</p> | 599,247 |
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<p>WASHINGTON – Comprehensive immigration legislation passed by the Senate would reduce illegal immigration into the U.S. by one-third to one-half beyond what would happen under existing law, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.</p>
<p>That’s a significantly greater reduction than the nonpartisan budget office said would have resulted from an earlier version of the bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would have cut illegal immigration only by 25 percent.</p>
<p>Partly in response to that earlier finding, senators agreed to greatly boost border security in the bill and take steps against people who overstay their visas. Those changes helped the legislation pass the Democratic-controlled Senate with a bipartisan 68-32 majority last week. It’s now pending in the Republican-led House, where it faces an uncertain future.</p>
<p>The CBO also said that despite spending $36 billion more on border security than would have happened under earlier versions of the bill, the legislation would still reduce the budget deficit by $158 billion over 10 years and $685 billion in the decade after that. Taxes paid by newly legalized residents, along with other revenue, would outpace new spending for government benefits and other costs under the bill.</p>
<p>The legislation would double border patrol agents stationed along the U.S.-Mexico border while calling for hundreds of miles of fencing and requiring all businesses to check their workers’ legal status. Some 11 million immigrants already here illegally would be able to attain citizenship over 13 years. New and expanded worker visa programs would allow tens of thousands of new workers into the country.</p>
<p>“CBO once again vindicated immigration reform and shows how the amendment process improved the bill,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement, referring to the border security amendment championed by Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Hoeven of North Dakota.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“CBO has reaffirmed that immigration reform reduces the debt and grows the economy. It also shows that the Corker-Hoeven amendment further substantially reduces the flow of illegal immigrants, even using a methodology that underestimates how effective immigration reform will be in reducing that flow,” Schumer added.</p>
<p>The bill is a top second-term priority for President Barack Obama.</p>
<p>Under the legislation as passed, the report found, there would be about 2.4 million fewer immigrants coming illegally into the country or illegally overstaying their visas over the next 10 years than would happen under current law.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Analysis: Senate bill would curb illegal immigration | false | https://abqjournal.com/217505/analysis-senate-bill-would-curb-illegal-immigration.html | 2013-07-04 | 2least
| Analysis: Senate bill would curb illegal immigration
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<p>WASHINGTON – Comprehensive immigration legislation passed by the Senate would reduce illegal immigration into the U.S. by one-third to one-half beyond what would happen under existing law, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.</p>
<p>That’s a significantly greater reduction than the nonpartisan budget office said would have resulted from an earlier version of the bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would have cut illegal immigration only by 25 percent.</p>
<p>Partly in response to that earlier finding, senators agreed to greatly boost border security in the bill and take steps against people who overstay their visas. Those changes helped the legislation pass the Democratic-controlled Senate with a bipartisan 68-32 majority last week. It’s now pending in the Republican-led House, where it faces an uncertain future.</p>
<p>The CBO also said that despite spending $36 billion more on border security than would have happened under earlier versions of the bill, the legislation would still reduce the budget deficit by $158 billion over 10 years and $685 billion in the decade after that. Taxes paid by newly legalized residents, along with other revenue, would outpace new spending for government benefits and other costs under the bill.</p>
<p>The legislation would double border patrol agents stationed along the U.S.-Mexico border while calling for hundreds of miles of fencing and requiring all businesses to check their workers’ legal status. Some 11 million immigrants already here illegally would be able to attain citizenship over 13 years. New and expanded worker visa programs would allow tens of thousands of new workers into the country.</p>
<p>“CBO once again vindicated immigration reform and shows how the amendment process improved the bill,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement, referring to the border security amendment championed by Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Hoeven of North Dakota.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“CBO has reaffirmed that immigration reform reduces the debt and grows the economy. It also shows that the Corker-Hoeven amendment further substantially reduces the flow of illegal immigrants, even using a methodology that underestimates how effective immigration reform will be in reducing that flow,” Schumer added.</p>
<p>The bill is a top second-term priority for President Barack Obama.</p>
<p>Under the legislation as passed, the report found, there would be about 2.4 million fewer immigrants coming illegally into the country or illegally overstaying their visas over the next 10 years than would happen under current law.</p>
<p />
<p /> | 599,248 |
<p>RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A coalition of environmental groups is suing federal regulators over their approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would carry natural gas across West Virginia and Virginia.</p>
<p>The lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was filed late Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. It challenges the commission's 2-1 decision to grant what's called a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the approximately 300-mile project.</p>
<p>The lawsuit argues in part that FERC didn't do enough to establish the true need for the pipeline.</p>
<p>Attorneys for Appalachian Mountain Advocates filed the litigation on behalf of five environmental groups. They also filed a motion seeking a stay on the start of pipeline construction.</p>
<p>FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen says the agency doesn't comment on court cases.</p>
<p>RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A coalition of environmental groups is suing federal regulators over their approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would carry natural gas across West Virginia and Virginia.</p>
<p>The lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was filed late Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. It challenges the commission's 2-1 decision to grant what's called a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the approximately 300-mile project.</p>
<p>The lawsuit argues in part that FERC didn't do enough to establish the true need for the pipeline.</p>
<p>Attorneys for Appalachian Mountain Advocates filed the litigation on behalf of five environmental groups. They also filed a motion seeking a stay on the start of pipeline construction.</p>
<p>FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen says the agency doesn't comment on court cases.</p> | Environmental groups sue FERC over Mountain Valley approval | false | https://apnews.com/amp/366d2e3da9784959ae1566d03fdfa064 | 2018-01-09 | 2least
| Environmental groups sue FERC over Mountain Valley approval
<p>RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A coalition of environmental groups is suing federal regulators over their approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would carry natural gas across West Virginia and Virginia.</p>
<p>The lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was filed late Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. It challenges the commission's 2-1 decision to grant what's called a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the approximately 300-mile project.</p>
<p>The lawsuit argues in part that FERC didn't do enough to establish the true need for the pipeline.</p>
<p>Attorneys for Appalachian Mountain Advocates filed the litigation on behalf of five environmental groups. They also filed a motion seeking a stay on the start of pipeline construction.</p>
<p>FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen says the agency doesn't comment on court cases.</p>
<p>RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A coalition of environmental groups is suing federal regulators over their approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would carry natural gas across West Virginia and Virginia.</p>
<p>The lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was filed late Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. It challenges the commission's 2-1 decision to grant what's called a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the approximately 300-mile project.</p>
<p>The lawsuit argues in part that FERC didn't do enough to establish the true need for the pipeline.</p>
<p>Attorneys for Appalachian Mountain Advocates filed the litigation on behalf of five environmental groups. They also filed a motion seeking a stay on the start of pipeline construction.</p>
<p>FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen says the agency doesn't comment on court cases.</p> | 599,249 |
<p>ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey on Thursday slammed the conviction in New York of a Turkish banker accused of helping Iran evade sanctions as a "legal disgrace."</p>
<p>A day after Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a 47-year-old deputy general manager of state-run Halkbank was found guilty of five counts including bank fraud, Turkey's deputy prime minister, Bekir Bozdag, took to Twitter to describe the trial as a "political conspiracy" of "no legal value to Turkey."</p>
<p>The trial of Atilla, which included testimony suggesting high-level corruption in Turkey, has strained ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States.</p>
<p>"Turkey is a full sovereign and fully independent country," Bozdag said. "Another country cannot put Turkey's institutions on trial."</p>
<p>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said: "This is a scandalous verdict in a scandalous trial."</p>
<p>Among the charges that stuck, Atilla was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States. He was acquitted of a money laundering charge.</p>
<p>Turkey's foreign ministry also accused U.S. government officials of helping people linked to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen make false claims and provide false evidence - a reference to reports that a former Turkish deputy police chief told the jury during his testimony that the FBI paid him $50,000 and U.S. prosecutors covered his rent.</p>
<p>Turkey maintains the trial was based on Turkish corruption investigations in 2013, which it claims were hatched by Gulen's followers to bring down the government. Erdogan has accused Gulen of being behind a failed 2016 coup attempt and is seeking his extradition.</p>
<p>Atilla was charged by U.S. authorities with taking part in a complex scheme in which Iran traded its oil and gas for gold, with some of the proceeds moving through U.S. financial institutions without their knowledge.</p>
<p>The prosecution's star witness, Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian gold trader who admitted orchestrating the deals with Iran, testified that he paid over $50 million in bribes to Turkey's finance minister in 2012 to advance the scheme and that he believed Erdogan knew about the plot.</p>
<p>Halkbank issued a statement on Thursday distancing itself from the trial.</p>
<p>"As well as our bank not being a party to the trial, no administrative or financial decision has been taken against our bank," it said.</p>
<p>In a related development, Turkish authorities on Thursday issued warrants for the detention of the former police official who testified in court and was preparing to seek his extradition from the United States, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.</p>
<p>The police official, Huseyin Korkmaz, said he was arrested and imprisoned for 18 months over the 2013 corruption probes before fleeing Turkey, taking evidence with him. Some of that material, including documents and recorded phone calls, was introduced at Atilla's trial. Turkish authorities last month issued detention warrants for Korkmaz's parents, wife and siblings.</p>
<p>Turkey's leaders lashed out throughout the trial, with Erdogan calling it an American conspiracy to "blackmail" and "blemish" his country.</p>
<p>In the United States, acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said Atilla was convicted after a "full, fair and open trial." Defense attorney Victor Rocco promised to appeal.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Larry Neumeister in New York contributed.</p>
<p>ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey on Thursday slammed the conviction in New York of a Turkish banker accused of helping Iran evade sanctions as a "legal disgrace."</p>
<p>A day after Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a 47-year-old deputy general manager of state-run Halkbank was found guilty of five counts including bank fraud, Turkey's deputy prime minister, Bekir Bozdag, took to Twitter to describe the trial as a "political conspiracy" of "no legal value to Turkey."</p>
<p>The trial of Atilla, which included testimony suggesting high-level corruption in Turkey, has strained ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States.</p>
<p>"Turkey is a full sovereign and fully independent country," Bozdag said. "Another country cannot put Turkey's institutions on trial."</p>
<p>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said: "This is a scandalous verdict in a scandalous trial."</p>
<p>Among the charges that stuck, Atilla was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States. He was acquitted of a money laundering charge.</p>
<p>Turkey's foreign ministry also accused U.S. government officials of helping people linked to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen make false claims and provide false evidence - a reference to reports that a former Turkish deputy police chief told the jury during his testimony that the FBI paid him $50,000 and U.S. prosecutors covered his rent.</p>
<p>Turkey maintains the trial was based on Turkish corruption investigations in 2013, which it claims were hatched by Gulen's followers to bring down the government. Erdogan has accused Gulen of being behind a failed 2016 coup attempt and is seeking his extradition.</p>
<p>Atilla was charged by U.S. authorities with taking part in a complex scheme in which Iran traded its oil and gas for gold, with some of the proceeds moving through U.S. financial institutions without their knowledge.</p>
<p>The prosecution's star witness, Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian gold trader who admitted orchestrating the deals with Iran, testified that he paid over $50 million in bribes to Turkey's finance minister in 2012 to advance the scheme and that he believed Erdogan knew about the plot.</p>
<p>Halkbank issued a statement on Thursday distancing itself from the trial.</p>
<p>"As well as our bank not being a party to the trial, no administrative or financial decision has been taken against our bank," it said.</p>
<p>In a related development, Turkish authorities on Thursday issued warrants for the detention of the former police official who testified in court and was preparing to seek his extradition from the United States, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.</p>
<p>The police official, Huseyin Korkmaz, said he was arrested and imprisoned for 18 months over the 2013 corruption probes before fleeing Turkey, taking evidence with him. Some of that material, including documents and recorded phone calls, was introduced at Atilla's trial. Turkish authorities last month issued detention warrants for Korkmaz's parents, wife and siblings.</p>
<p>Turkey's leaders lashed out throughout the trial, with Erdogan calling it an American conspiracy to "blackmail" and "blemish" his country.</p>
<p>In the United States, acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said Atilla was convicted after a "full, fair and open trial." Defense attorney Victor Rocco promised to appeal.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Larry Neumeister in New York contributed.</p> | Turkey calls US trial of Turkish banker 'legal disgrace' | false | https://apnews.com/amp/3a82273cf8194d8682725e97717469c2 | 2018-01-04 | 2least
| Turkey calls US trial of Turkish banker 'legal disgrace'
<p>ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey on Thursday slammed the conviction in New York of a Turkish banker accused of helping Iran evade sanctions as a "legal disgrace."</p>
<p>A day after Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a 47-year-old deputy general manager of state-run Halkbank was found guilty of five counts including bank fraud, Turkey's deputy prime minister, Bekir Bozdag, took to Twitter to describe the trial as a "political conspiracy" of "no legal value to Turkey."</p>
<p>The trial of Atilla, which included testimony suggesting high-level corruption in Turkey, has strained ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States.</p>
<p>"Turkey is a full sovereign and fully independent country," Bozdag said. "Another country cannot put Turkey's institutions on trial."</p>
<p>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said: "This is a scandalous verdict in a scandalous trial."</p>
<p>Among the charges that stuck, Atilla was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States. He was acquitted of a money laundering charge.</p>
<p>Turkey's foreign ministry also accused U.S. government officials of helping people linked to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen make false claims and provide false evidence - a reference to reports that a former Turkish deputy police chief told the jury during his testimony that the FBI paid him $50,000 and U.S. prosecutors covered his rent.</p>
<p>Turkey maintains the trial was based on Turkish corruption investigations in 2013, which it claims were hatched by Gulen's followers to bring down the government. Erdogan has accused Gulen of being behind a failed 2016 coup attempt and is seeking his extradition.</p>
<p>Atilla was charged by U.S. authorities with taking part in a complex scheme in which Iran traded its oil and gas for gold, with some of the proceeds moving through U.S. financial institutions without their knowledge.</p>
<p>The prosecution's star witness, Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian gold trader who admitted orchestrating the deals with Iran, testified that he paid over $50 million in bribes to Turkey's finance minister in 2012 to advance the scheme and that he believed Erdogan knew about the plot.</p>
<p>Halkbank issued a statement on Thursday distancing itself from the trial.</p>
<p>"As well as our bank not being a party to the trial, no administrative or financial decision has been taken against our bank," it said.</p>
<p>In a related development, Turkish authorities on Thursday issued warrants for the detention of the former police official who testified in court and was preparing to seek his extradition from the United States, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.</p>
<p>The police official, Huseyin Korkmaz, said he was arrested and imprisoned for 18 months over the 2013 corruption probes before fleeing Turkey, taking evidence with him. Some of that material, including documents and recorded phone calls, was introduced at Atilla's trial. Turkish authorities last month issued detention warrants for Korkmaz's parents, wife and siblings.</p>
<p>Turkey's leaders lashed out throughout the trial, with Erdogan calling it an American conspiracy to "blackmail" and "blemish" his country.</p>
<p>In the United States, acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said Atilla was convicted after a "full, fair and open trial." Defense attorney Victor Rocco promised to appeal.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Larry Neumeister in New York contributed.</p>
<p>ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey on Thursday slammed the conviction in New York of a Turkish banker accused of helping Iran evade sanctions as a "legal disgrace."</p>
<p>A day after Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a 47-year-old deputy general manager of state-run Halkbank was found guilty of five counts including bank fraud, Turkey's deputy prime minister, Bekir Bozdag, took to Twitter to describe the trial as a "political conspiracy" of "no legal value to Turkey."</p>
<p>The trial of Atilla, which included testimony suggesting high-level corruption in Turkey, has strained ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States.</p>
<p>"Turkey is a full sovereign and fully independent country," Bozdag said. "Another country cannot put Turkey's institutions on trial."</p>
<p>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said: "This is a scandalous verdict in a scandalous trial."</p>
<p>Among the charges that stuck, Atilla was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States. He was acquitted of a money laundering charge.</p>
<p>Turkey's foreign ministry also accused U.S. government officials of helping people linked to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen make false claims and provide false evidence - a reference to reports that a former Turkish deputy police chief told the jury during his testimony that the FBI paid him $50,000 and U.S. prosecutors covered his rent.</p>
<p>Turkey maintains the trial was based on Turkish corruption investigations in 2013, which it claims were hatched by Gulen's followers to bring down the government. Erdogan has accused Gulen of being behind a failed 2016 coup attempt and is seeking his extradition.</p>
<p>Atilla was charged by U.S. authorities with taking part in a complex scheme in which Iran traded its oil and gas for gold, with some of the proceeds moving through U.S. financial institutions without their knowledge.</p>
<p>The prosecution's star witness, Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian gold trader who admitted orchestrating the deals with Iran, testified that he paid over $50 million in bribes to Turkey's finance minister in 2012 to advance the scheme and that he believed Erdogan knew about the plot.</p>
<p>Halkbank issued a statement on Thursday distancing itself from the trial.</p>
<p>"As well as our bank not being a party to the trial, no administrative or financial decision has been taken against our bank," it said.</p>
<p>In a related development, Turkish authorities on Thursday issued warrants for the detention of the former police official who testified in court and was preparing to seek his extradition from the United States, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.</p>
<p>The police official, Huseyin Korkmaz, said he was arrested and imprisoned for 18 months over the 2013 corruption probes before fleeing Turkey, taking evidence with him. Some of that material, including documents and recorded phone calls, was introduced at Atilla's trial. Turkish authorities last month issued detention warrants for Korkmaz's parents, wife and siblings.</p>
<p>Turkey's leaders lashed out throughout the trial, with Erdogan calling it an American conspiracy to "blackmail" and "blemish" his country.</p>
<p>In the United States, acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said Atilla was convicted after a "full, fair and open trial." Defense attorney Victor Rocco promised to appeal.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Larry Neumeister in New York contributed.</p> | 599,250 |
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<p>CHICAGO — A 15-year-old Chicago girl was apparently sexually assaulted by five or six men or boys on Facebook Live, and none of the roughly 40 people who watched the live video reported the attack to police, authorities said Tuesday.</p>
<p>The video marks the second time in recent months that the Chicago Police Department has investigated an apparent attack that was streamed live on Facebook. In January, four people were arrested after a cellphone footage showed them allegedly taunting and beating a mentally disabled man.</p>
<p>Police only learned of the latest alleged attack when the girl’s mother approached the head of the police department, Superintendent Eddie Johnson, late Monday afternoon as he was leaving a department station in the Lawndale neighborhood on the city’s West Side, department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. She told him her daughter had been missing since Sunday and showed him screen grab photos of the alleged assault.</p>
<p>He said Johnson immediately ordered detectives to investigate and the department asked Facebook to take down the video, which it did.</p>
<p>Guglielmi said Tuesday that detectives found the girl and reunited her with her family. He said she told detectives that she knows at least one of her alleged attackers, but it remained unclear how well they knew each other. He said investigators are questioning several people, but no one is considered a suspect yet and no arrests have been made.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>He said Johnson was “visibly upset” after he watched the video, both by its content and the fact that there were “40 or so live viewers and no one thought to call authorities.”</p>
<p>Investigators know the number of viewers because the count was posted with the video. To find out who they were, though, investigators would have to subpoena Facebook and would need to “prove a nexus to criminal activity” to obtain such a subpoena, Guglielmi said by email.</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Facebook, Andrea Saul, said she had no specific comment on the Chicago incident but that the company takes its “responsibility to keep people safe on Facebook very seriously.”</p>
<p>“Crimes like this are hideous and we do not allow that kind of content on Facebook,” she said.</p>
<p>Jeffrey Urdangen, a professor at Northwestern University’s law school and the director of the school’s Center for Criminal Defense, said it isn’t illegal to watch such a video or to not report it to the police. He also said child pornography charges wouldn’t apply unless viewers were downloading the video.</p> | Police: Chicago teen apparently gang-raped on Facebook Live | false | https://abqjournal.com/973132/police-chicago-teen-apparently-gang-raped-on-facebook-live.html | 2017-03-21 | 2least
| Police: Chicago teen apparently gang-raped on Facebook Live
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<p>CHICAGO — A 15-year-old Chicago girl was apparently sexually assaulted by five or six men or boys on Facebook Live, and none of the roughly 40 people who watched the live video reported the attack to police, authorities said Tuesday.</p>
<p>The video marks the second time in recent months that the Chicago Police Department has investigated an apparent attack that was streamed live on Facebook. In January, four people were arrested after a cellphone footage showed them allegedly taunting and beating a mentally disabled man.</p>
<p>Police only learned of the latest alleged attack when the girl’s mother approached the head of the police department, Superintendent Eddie Johnson, late Monday afternoon as he was leaving a department station in the Lawndale neighborhood on the city’s West Side, department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. She told him her daughter had been missing since Sunday and showed him screen grab photos of the alleged assault.</p>
<p>He said Johnson immediately ordered detectives to investigate and the department asked Facebook to take down the video, which it did.</p>
<p>Guglielmi said Tuesday that detectives found the girl and reunited her with her family. He said she told detectives that she knows at least one of her alleged attackers, but it remained unclear how well they knew each other. He said investigators are questioning several people, but no one is considered a suspect yet and no arrests have been made.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>He said Johnson was “visibly upset” after he watched the video, both by its content and the fact that there were “40 or so live viewers and no one thought to call authorities.”</p>
<p>Investigators know the number of viewers because the count was posted with the video. To find out who they were, though, investigators would have to subpoena Facebook and would need to “prove a nexus to criminal activity” to obtain such a subpoena, Guglielmi said by email.</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Facebook, Andrea Saul, said she had no specific comment on the Chicago incident but that the company takes its “responsibility to keep people safe on Facebook very seriously.”</p>
<p>“Crimes like this are hideous and we do not allow that kind of content on Facebook,” she said.</p>
<p>Jeffrey Urdangen, a professor at Northwestern University’s law school and the director of the school’s Center for Criminal Defense, said it isn’t illegal to watch such a video or to not report it to the police. He also said child pornography charges wouldn’t apply unless viewers were downloading the video.</p> | 599,251 |
<p>F.E. Warren Air Force Base / AP</p>
<p>BY: <a href="" type="internal">Bill Gertz</a> September 10, 2012 5:00 am</p>
<p>A group of Asian men set off alarm bells in U.S. counterintelligence circles last week by showing up outside the entrance to a U.S. strategic missile base in Wyoming.</p>
<p>Between eight and 10 people suspected of being Chinese nationals drove up to the entrance outside F.E. Warren Air Force Base, one of three strategic nuclear missile bases in the United States.</p>
<p>According to defense officials and a base spokeswoman, the group asked to use the rest room at the base’s visitor control center. They then began asking questions about photos of Air Force command leaders posted on a "command board" at the entrance facility.</p>
<p>The suspicious visitors then asked to photograph display missiles near the entrance to the base, and were denied.</p>
<p>The base, home to the 90th Missile Wing that includes a group of Minuteman III nuclear missiles, is located about three miles west of Cheyenne, Wyo.</p>
<p>One security official said the suspicious incident on Sept. 3 appeared to be part of a Chinese intelligence collection operation or perhaps a training exercise for intelligence personnel. Another theory is that the group was part of the population of Asian guest workers residing in other parts of Wyoming or the west.</p>
<p>U.S. intelligence officials have said Chinese intelligence agencies conduct aggressive spying activities against U.S. military facilities and have been known to case the Pentagon’s strategic missile defense base at Fort Greeley, Alaska.</p>
<p>Air Force Staff Sgt. Torie Sabarese said that, despite being told that photographs of the base entrance were prohibited, base officials did not regard the incident as a security threat.</p>
<p>"There wasn’t any need for alarm," she said, without elaborating.</p>
<p>Sabarese described the visitors as "Asian" and said local authorities were not called to investigate.</p>
<p>A defense official said the incident might have been "Chinese reconnaissance" operation to spy on a U.S. strategic missile installation.</p>
<p>The incident followed three recent Chinese long-range strategic missile tests.</p>
<p>"I think it is significant that it happened the same time that the PRC is testing missiles," the official said, noting that the inquiries about the command leadership also were suspicious.</p>
<p>The base is headquarters for missile launch facilities in southeast Wyoming, western Nebraska, and northern Colorado.</p>
<p>The base is also the location of the 20th Air Force, which is in charge of all Air Force ICBMs.</p>
<p>The 20th is under the Air Force Strike Command.</p>
<p>A former senior U.S. counterintelligence official said the problem of Chinese intelligence collection has been largely overlooked by the FBI, which is in charge of counterintelligence against foreign states.</p>
<p>During the Cold War, for example, the Soviet military used shipping containers on rail cars to conduct electronic spying operations near strategic missile bases in Wyoming and Nebraska.</p>
<p>"The Bureau is hopelessly outgunned [by Chinese intelligence] in terms of numbers," the former official said. "They just don’t do much to counter them."</p>
<p>As for monitoring U.S. military facilities, during the 2003 Iraq war, Cuban intelligence operatives monitored U.S. military bases in the United States and abroad and provided the data to Iraq, as well as to the governments of China and Russia, the former official said.</p>
<p>The Soviet KGB during the Cold War was also caught setting up electronic eavesdropping posts in the Southwest United States near military bases, including the Army intelligence post at Fort Huachuca, Ariz. after crossing the U.S.-Mexican border.</p>
<p>"There is a long history of communist intelligence service doing wartime intelligence collection that has simply gone unrecognized and, for diplomatic or political reasons, denied by the FBI," the official said.</p>
<p>"I have every reason to believe, based on that history, that the Chinese are doing the same thing and monitoring strategic facilities."</p>
<p>Regarding Chinese signals intelligence collection against the U.S. military, one team of agents from the 3rd&#160;Department of the People’s Liberation Army, which conducts electronic spying, was detected spying on U.S. military operations in Iraq during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the former official said.</p>
<p>China is known to conduct some of most aggressive intelligence collection activities against U.S. military and defense facilities.</p>
<p>For example, on Feb. 26, 2004, two Chinese diplomats were stopped by security guards outside Los Alamos National Laboratory, in New Mexico, as part of what U.S. officials said was an intelligence mission.</p>
<p>The diplomats from China’s Los Angeles consulate were identified in an incident report as Hua Yu and Bo Lai, and were stopped after their rented car sped past a security post. The road they were traveling on was closed to the public and the two men were escorted out of the area. The road led to two sensitive facilities: Los Alamos’ Critical Assembly Facility known as Technical Area-18, and the Plutonium Research Facility, known as Technical Area-55. Both are used for classified nuclear weapons activity.</p>
<p>Chinese military intelligence agents also have been detected conducting surveillance of Fort Greely, Alaska, home to one of two U.S. strategic missile defense interceptor bases that are considered major targets of Chinese intelligence gathering. The second base is located in California.</p>
<p>U.S. officials have said Chinese spying in the United States is considered very active and involves aggressive efforts to recruit Americans with access to secrets.</p>
<p>In recent years, intelligence officials have said China is increasing its electronic intelligence gathering in the United States through a combination of Internet solicitation and electronic eavesdropping, mainly from equipment inside China’s embassy and its diplomatic and commercial outposts.</p> | Spy Games | true | http://freebeacon.com/spy-games/ | 2012-09-10 | 0right
| Spy Games
<p>F.E. Warren Air Force Base / AP</p>
<p>BY: <a href="" type="internal">Bill Gertz</a> September 10, 2012 5:00 am</p>
<p>A group of Asian men set off alarm bells in U.S. counterintelligence circles last week by showing up outside the entrance to a U.S. strategic missile base in Wyoming.</p>
<p>Between eight and 10 people suspected of being Chinese nationals drove up to the entrance outside F.E. Warren Air Force Base, one of three strategic nuclear missile bases in the United States.</p>
<p>According to defense officials and a base spokeswoman, the group asked to use the rest room at the base’s visitor control center. They then began asking questions about photos of Air Force command leaders posted on a "command board" at the entrance facility.</p>
<p>The suspicious visitors then asked to photograph display missiles near the entrance to the base, and were denied.</p>
<p>The base, home to the 90th Missile Wing that includes a group of Minuteman III nuclear missiles, is located about three miles west of Cheyenne, Wyo.</p>
<p>One security official said the suspicious incident on Sept. 3 appeared to be part of a Chinese intelligence collection operation or perhaps a training exercise for intelligence personnel. Another theory is that the group was part of the population of Asian guest workers residing in other parts of Wyoming or the west.</p>
<p>U.S. intelligence officials have said Chinese intelligence agencies conduct aggressive spying activities against U.S. military facilities and have been known to case the Pentagon’s strategic missile defense base at Fort Greeley, Alaska.</p>
<p>Air Force Staff Sgt. Torie Sabarese said that, despite being told that photographs of the base entrance were prohibited, base officials did not regard the incident as a security threat.</p>
<p>"There wasn’t any need for alarm," she said, without elaborating.</p>
<p>Sabarese described the visitors as "Asian" and said local authorities were not called to investigate.</p>
<p>A defense official said the incident might have been "Chinese reconnaissance" operation to spy on a U.S. strategic missile installation.</p>
<p>The incident followed three recent Chinese long-range strategic missile tests.</p>
<p>"I think it is significant that it happened the same time that the PRC is testing missiles," the official said, noting that the inquiries about the command leadership also were suspicious.</p>
<p>The base is headquarters for missile launch facilities in southeast Wyoming, western Nebraska, and northern Colorado.</p>
<p>The base is also the location of the 20th Air Force, which is in charge of all Air Force ICBMs.</p>
<p>The 20th is under the Air Force Strike Command.</p>
<p>A former senior U.S. counterintelligence official said the problem of Chinese intelligence collection has been largely overlooked by the FBI, which is in charge of counterintelligence against foreign states.</p>
<p>During the Cold War, for example, the Soviet military used shipping containers on rail cars to conduct electronic spying operations near strategic missile bases in Wyoming and Nebraska.</p>
<p>"The Bureau is hopelessly outgunned [by Chinese intelligence] in terms of numbers," the former official said. "They just don’t do much to counter them."</p>
<p>As for monitoring U.S. military facilities, during the 2003 Iraq war, Cuban intelligence operatives monitored U.S. military bases in the United States and abroad and provided the data to Iraq, as well as to the governments of China and Russia, the former official said.</p>
<p>The Soviet KGB during the Cold War was also caught setting up electronic eavesdropping posts in the Southwest United States near military bases, including the Army intelligence post at Fort Huachuca, Ariz. after crossing the U.S.-Mexican border.</p>
<p>"There is a long history of communist intelligence service doing wartime intelligence collection that has simply gone unrecognized and, for diplomatic or political reasons, denied by the FBI," the official said.</p>
<p>"I have every reason to believe, based on that history, that the Chinese are doing the same thing and monitoring strategic facilities."</p>
<p>Regarding Chinese signals intelligence collection against the U.S. military, one team of agents from the 3rd&#160;Department of the People’s Liberation Army, which conducts electronic spying, was detected spying on U.S. military operations in Iraq during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the former official said.</p>
<p>China is known to conduct some of most aggressive intelligence collection activities against U.S. military and defense facilities.</p>
<p>For example, on Feb. 26, 2004, two Chinese diplomats were stopped by security guards outside Los Alamos National Laboratory, in New Mexico, as part of what U.S. officials said was an intelligence mission.</p>
<p>The diplomats from China’s Los Angeles consulate were identified in an incident report as Hua Yu and Bo Lai, and were stopped after their rented car sped past a security post. The road they were traveling on was closed to the public and the two men were escorted out of the area. The road led to two sensitive facilities: Los Alamos’ Critical Assembly Facility known as Technical Area-18, and the Plutonium Research Facility, known as Technical Area-55. Both are used for classified nuclear weapons activity.</p>
<p>Chinese military intelligence agents also have been detected conducting surveillance of Fort Greely, Alaska, home to one of two U.S. strategic missile defense interceptor bases that are considered major targets of Chinese intelligence gathering. The second base is located in California.</p>
<p>U.S. officials have said Chinese spying in the United States is considered very active and involves aggressive efforts to recruit Americans with access to secrets.</p>
<p>In recent years, intelligence officials have said China is increasing its electronic intelligence gathering in the United States through a combination of Internet solicitation and electronic eavesdropping, mainly from equipment inside China’s embassy and its diplomatic and commercial outposts.</p> | 599,252 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/texasgovernor/5685006452/"&gt;Texas Governor Rick Perry&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
<p />
<p>There were likely few Orthodox Jews around for Rick Perry to hug when he was growing up in West Texas, but on Tuesday in Manhattan, the governor managed his warm embraces with ease. Perry treated a coterie of Jewish community leaders from across the five boroughs to a closed-door chat before giving them the opportunity to stand behind him during a press conference at the W Hotel in Union Square. Men with robust beards and yarmulkes accompanied Perry at the podium, where he outlined a “pro-Israel” vision for American foreign policy and answered questions from reporters.</p>
<p>In the past, Perry’s friends and advisers have argued that defending Israel is not just sound geopolitical strategy—it’s also a religious imperative for Christian politicians.&#160;On Tuesday, the Texas governor and GOP presidential front-runner vigorously affirmed both views. When Mother Jones asked if he believes America’s continued support for Israel is a theological priority, Perry answered: “As a Christian, I have a clear directive to support Israel. So from my perspective, it’s pretty easy. Both as an American, and as a Christian, I am going to stand with Israel.”</p>
<p>Perry’s position mirrors that of Pastor John Hagee, the founder of Christians United for Israel, who exhorted attendees at Perry’s&#160; <a href="/politics/2011/08/rick-perry-apolitical-spiritual-prayerfest" type="external">massive evangelical prayer rally last month</a>&#160;to defend the Holy Land as a matter of sacred duty. And&#160;Barack Obama, Perry argued, is not fulfilling this duty. In prepared remarks, Perry accused the administration of “isolating and undermining Israel,” adopting a “policy of appeasement toward Palestinians,” and casting its lot with “the Arab street, at the expense of our national security interests.”</p>
<p>“Neither adversaries nor allies know where America stands,” Perry said. “Our muddle of a foreign policy has created greater uncertainty in the midst of this Arab Spring.” Perry seemed to scoff a bit as he enunciated the term “Arab Spring,” and moments after chastising the administration for its acquiescence to “the Arab street,” he declared that Obama had been insufficiently resolute in backing Iranian street protesters two years ago when internal unrest shook the country. Perry also weighed in on the Palestinian push for a UN vote on&#160;statehood. “Apologists at the [United Nations],” he said, “are exploiting the unrest in the Middle East” to advance Palestinian interests. He called on authorities to shut down the PLO’s offices in Washington if the vote goes forward. (The Obama administration has vowed to veto any measure recognizing a Palestinian state.)</p>
<p>Perry even asked the media to reassure jaded Israeli citizens on his behalf. “The American people are for Israel; we may have an administration that has a different view,” he said. “So I hope you will tell the people of Israel that help is on the way!” Cheers erupted.</p>
<p>Joining the governor at the press conference was <a href="/mojo/2011/09/new-york-nevada-election-weprin-turner-amodei" type="external">newly elected Rep. Bob Turner of Queens</a>, who began his remarks by relaying a message that voters in his district supposedly sent to Washington by electing a Republican for the first time since 1922. “This administration has been vacillating, and at times even hostile to Israel,” Turner said. “And it is not accepted. And it is not&#160;acceptable. And there continues to be a very high political price to pay.”</p>
<p>Mother Jones asked Turner, a Christian,&#160;what he thought about Gov. Perry’s stated religious commitment to Israel. The rookie congressman seemed flustered:&#160;“Um, I could start on a whole theological discourse on natural law and the fundamental principles of Judeo-Christian belief,” Turner said, “and our differences with some branches of Islam on these very issues. But that’s not the issue. As far as I’m concerned, this is moral and political.” Does Turner share Perry’s view that for Christians, there is a “clear directive” to support Israel? “Perhaps there is an underlying thread there for as I [sic] interpret morality and what is right and proper.”</p>
<p>Danny Danon, the deputy speaker of the Israeli Knesset, seems to act as Perry’s emissary of sorts, passing information between the governor and parliamentarians back home. “Whoever wants reaching a hand to support Israel, I will work with him,” Danon told Mother Jones. “I have a long friendship with Christian friends I work with to support Israel.” One of these “friends” is Glenn Beck, with whom Danon organized a controversial prayer rally in Jerusalem last month, drawing thousands of American evangelicals to the volatile heart of the Holy Land.</p>
<p>After the press conference, Danon chatted with famed Republican strategist Roger Stone, who showed up on his own accord—though he now works for Donald Trump in an advisory capacity. “We’re going to get Mr. Trump to Israel in November,” Stone told Danon. “He wants to do it. It’s just a question of some business things he’s got to work around.” Danon graciously suggested arranging a meeting for Trump with top Israeli business leaders. “He would’ve been here today but for being out of the country,” Stone continued. “They offered him $3 million—he’s in Australia. He’s doing two speeches, and he’s being paid $3 million.”</p>
<p>A more demure member of the Israeli Knesset, Nissim Zeev, also wandered through the post-press conference crowd. Zeev said he wasn’t worried about receiving Gov. Perry’s support, despite its zesty evangelical flavor. “He’s not going to make Jewish to be Christian [sic],” Zeev said. “I don’t care what he said. He’s not coming to convert the Jews. We need everybody supporting Israel.”</p>
<p>Also on hand was local favorite Dov Hikind, a conservative Democratic assemblyman from Brooklyn known for his colorful views on homosexuality and other hot-button issues. From the podium, Hikind said supporting Obama is “beyond the pale” for any Jew who cares about Israel. “You can’t be right on everything but wrong on Israel,” Hikind said, with characteristic candor. “We will not support you if you’re wrong on Israel.” Raucous applause ensued. His sentiment was the dominant one: no more ambiguity, no more nuance, no more moral equivalence. America must unflinchingly support its only real democratic ally in the Middle East.</p>
<p>“Obama displayed unprecedented contempt for Israel,” Hikind said later. “It’s not easy for me to cross party lines. It causes me a lot of aggravation.” Hikind declined to go into detail about the private meeting he attended with Perry earlier that morning, saying only that it was a “pleasure.”</p>
<p>“He’s a fun guy,” Hikind quipped, grinning.</p>
<p>Devon Gaffney Cross, a former member of the president’s defense advisory board under George W. Bush and sister to noted anti-Islam activist Frank Gaffney, rounded out the slate of dignitaries. Cross said she was “jumping for joy at the thought of a candidate who was going to speak so forcefully, and so articulately, what Americans feel—which is unswerving support for Israel.”</p>
<p>A young woman, Liat Brody, stood starry-eyed next to Perry as the governor watched Jewish leaders make their remarks. Brody’s father, an associate of principal organizer Joseph Frager, had brought her along. “It was awesome,” she said of Perry’s speech. “I think he’s going to be the best president.”</p>
<p /> | Rick Perry: God Commands Us to Support Israel | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/rick-perry-israel-speech/ | 2011-09-21 | 4left
| Rick Perry: God Commands Us to Support Israel
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/texasgovernor/5685006452/"&gt;Texas Governor Rick Perry&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
<p />
<p>There were likely few Orthodox Jews around for Rick Perry to hug when he was growing up in West Texas, but on Tuesday in Manhattan, the governor managed his warm embraces with ease. Perry treated a coterie of Jewish community leaders from across the five boroughs to a closed-door chat before giving them the opportunity to stand behind him during a press conference at the W Hotel in Union Square. Men with robust beards and yarmulkes accompanied Perry at the podium, where he outlined a “pro-Israel” vision for American foreign policy and answered questions from reporters.</p>
<p>In the past, Perry’s friends and advisers have argued that defending Israel is not just sound geopolitical strategy—it’s also a religious imperative for Christian politicians.&#160;On Tuesday, the Texas governor and GOP presidential front-runner vigorously affirmed both views. When Mother Jones asked if he believes America’s continued support for Israel is a theological priority, Perry answered: “As a Christian, I have a clear directive to support Israel. So from my perspective, it’s pretty easy. Both as an American, and as a Christian, I am going to stand with Israel.”</p>
<p>Perry’s position mirrors that of Pastor John Hagee, the founder of Christians United for Israel, who exhorted attendees at Perry’s&#160; <a href="/politics/2011/08/rick-perry-apolitical-spiritual-prayerfest" type="external">massive evangelical prayer rally last month</a>&#160;to defend the Holy Land as a matter of sacred duty. And&#160;Barack Obama, Perry argued, is not fulfilling this duty. In prepared remarks, Perry accused the administration of “isolating and undermining Israel,” adopting a “policy of appeasement toward Palestinians,” and casting its lot with “the Arab street, at the expense of our national security interests.”</p>
<p>“Neither adversaries nor allies know where America stands,” Perry said. “Our muddle of a foreign policy has created greater uncertainty in the midst of this Arab Spring.” Perry seemed to scoff a bit as he enunciated the term “Arab Spring,” and moments after chastising the administration for its acquiescence to “the Arab street,” he declared that Obama had been insufficiently resolute in backing Iranian street protesters two years ago when internal unrest shook the country. Perry also weighed in on the Palestinian push for a UN vote on&#160;statehood. “Apologists at the [United Nations],” he said, “are exploiting the unrest in the Middle East” to advance Palestinian interests. He called on authorities to shut down the PLO’s offices in Washington if the vote goes forward. (The Obama administration has vowed to veto any measure recognizing a Palestinian state.)</p>
<p>Perry even asked the media to reassure jaded Israeli citizens on his behalf. “The American people are for Israel; we may have an administration that has a different view,” he said. “So I hope you will tell the people of Israel that help is on the way!” Cheers erupted.</p>
<p>Joining the governor at the press conference was <a href="/mojo/2011/09/new-york-nevada-election-weprin-turner-amodei" type="external">newly elected Rep. Bob Turner of Queens</a>, who began his remarks by relaying a message that voters in his district supposedly sent to Washington by electing a Republican for the first time since 1922. “This administration has been vacillating, and at times even hostile to Israel,” Turner said. “And it is not accepted. And it is not&#160;acceptable. And there continues to be a very high political price to pay.”</p>
<p>Mother Jones asked Turner, a Christian,&#160;what he thought about Gov. Perry’s stated religious commitment to Israel. The rookie congressman seemed flustered:&#160;“Um, I could start on a whole theological discourse on natural law and the fundamental principles of Judeo-Christian belief,” Turner said, “and our differences with some branches of Islam on these very issues. But that’s not the issue. As far as I’m concerned, this is moral and political.” Does Turner share Perry’s view that for Christians, there is a “clear directive” to support Israel? “Perhaps there is an underlying thread there for as I [sic] interpret morality and what is right and proper.”</p>
<p>Danny Danon, the deputy speaker of the Israeli Knesset, seems to act as Perry’s emissary of sorts, passing information between the governor and parliamentarians back home. “Whoever wants reaching a hand to support Israel, I will work with him,” Danon told Mother Jones. “I have a long friendship with Christian friends I work with to support Israel.” One of these “friends” is Glenn Beck, with whom Danon organized a controversial prayer rally in Jerusalem last month, drawing thousands of American evangelicals to the volatile heart of the Holy Land.</p>
<p>After the press conference, Danon chatted with famed Republican strategist Roger Stone, who showed up on his own accord—though he now works for Donald Trump in an advisory capacity. “We’re going to get Mr. Trump to Israel in November,” Stone told Danon. “He wants to do it. It’s just a question of some business things he’s got to work around.” Danon graciously suggested arranging a meeting for Trump with top Israeli business leaders. “He would’ve been here today but for being out of the country,” Stone continued. “They offered him $3 million—he’s in Australia. He’s doing two speeches, and he’s being paid $3 million.”</p>
<p>A more demure member of the Israeli Knesset, Nissim Zeev, also wandered through the post-press conference crowd. Zeev said he wasn’t worried about receiving Gov. Perry’s support, despite its zesty evangelical flavor. “He’s not going to make Jewish to be Christian [sic],” Zeev said. “I don’t care what he said. He’s not coming to convert the Jews. We need everybody supporting Israel.”</p>
<p>Also on hand was local favorite Dov Hikind, a conservative Democratic assemblyman from Brooklyn known for his colorful views on homosexuality and other hot-button issues. From the podium, Hikind said supporting Obama is “beyond the pale” for any Jew who cares about Israel. “You can’t be right on everything but wrong on Israel,” Hikind said, with characteristic candor. “We will not support you if you’re wrong on Israel.” Raucous applause ensued. His sentiment was the dominant one: no more ambiguity, no more nuance, no more moral equivalence. America must unflinchingly support its only real democratic ally in the Middle East.</p>
<p>“Obama displayed unprecedented contempt for Israel,” Hikind said later. “It’s not easy for me to cross party lines. It causes me a lot of aggravation.” Hikind declined to go into detail about the private meeting he attended with Perry earlier that morning, saying only that it was a “pleasure.”</p>
<p>“He’s a fun guy,” Hikind quipped, grinning.</p>
<p>Devon Gaffney Cross, a former member of the president’s defense advisory board under George W. Bush and sister to noted anti-Islam activist Frank Gaffney, rounded out the slate of dignitaries. Cross said she was “jumping for joy at the thought of a candidate who was going to speak so forcefully, and so articulately, what Americans feel—which is unswerving support for Israel.”</p>
<p>A young woman, Liat Brody, stood starry-eyed next to Perry as the governor watched Jewish leaders make their remarks. Brody’s father, an associate of principal organizer Joseph Frager, had brought her along. “It was awesome,” she said of Perry’s speech. “I think he’s going to be the best president.”</p>
<p /> | 599,253 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vjeran_pavic/8658673534/"&gt;Vjeran Pavic&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
<p />
<p>Federal authorities have arrested three additional suspects in connection with the <a href="" type="internal">Boston marathon bombings</a>, according to the Boston Police Department. A <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/695293-diaskadyrbayev.html" type="external">newly released criminal complaint says</a> that the suspects are college students and friends of <a href="" type="internal">Dzhokhar Tsarnaev</a>, who faces <a href="" type="internal">charges</a> of planting a bomb at the marathon that killed three people and injured more than 200.</p>
<p>Two of the three students—Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov—are Kazakh nationals who are in&#160;the United States on student visas. The third suspect, Robel Phillipos, is an American citizen who lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.</p>
<p>In a 15-page complaint filed in federal court, federal authorities allege that Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov intentionally obstructed justice by removing evidence from Tsarnaev’s dorm room at the University of Massachusetts–Dartmouth three days after the April 15 attack. Phillipos is accused of making false statements to federal law enforcement officials.</p>
<p>The two Kazakh men have denied wrongdoing, a lawyer for one of them told the Associated Press. The government has initiated removal procedures against the two men based on immigrations violations, the complaint says. The suspects’ immigration status could lend the FBI additional leverage in negotiations with the suspects. “One of the reasons for the creation of the Department of Homeland Security was so that all of federal law enforcement could leverage all of the laws of the federal government,” says David Gomez, a former FBI counterterrorism official. “It does give the FBI a lot of leverage as long as DHS plays along. They haven’t always wanted to play nice when they held the cards. But I don’t think cooperation by either the suspects or DHS will be a problem in this case.”</p>
<p>Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, are suspected of carrying out the dual bombings near the marathon finish line. Days later, the Tsarnaev brothers allegedly killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus police officer before Tamerlan was killed during&#160;a confrontation with police. Dzhokhar was later captured by police and taken into custody.</p>
<p>Authorities released their complaint against Kadyrbayev, Tazhayako, and Phillipos on Wednesday afternoon. The document details the three students’ actions in the wake of the Boston bombings. Here’s how it supposedly went down:</p>
<p>On April 18, Kadyrbayev was driving home when Phillipos called him and told him to turn on the TV when he got back to his apartment in New Bedford, an hour outside of Boston. Hours earlier, FBI officials <a href="" type="internal">had released photos</a> of the two men they believed had carried out the bombing. When he saw the photos, Kadyrbayev thought one of the suspects looked like Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Kadyrbayev&#160;texted Tsarnaev&#160;and told his friend that he looked like one of the suspects. Tsarnaev responded, “lol,” followed by “you better not text me” and “come to my room and take whatever you want.”</p>
<p>Kadyrbayev, Tazhayakov, and Phillipos decided to go to Tsarnaev’s campus dorm room. Tsarnaev’s roommate let them in.&#160;The three students watched a movie in Tsarnaev’s room for a while, the complaint says, and then Kadyrbayev noticed a backpack filled with fireworks with the gunpowder emptied out. (The complaint also says that Tazhayakov received a text from Tsarnaev shortly before arriving&#160;at his dorm room, saying, “I’m about to leave if you need something in my room take it.”) When Kadyrbayev saw the backpack in the dorm room, he knew Tsarnaev was involved in the bombing. Before they left the dorm room, Kadyrbayev grabbed Tsarnaev’s backpack and laptop and took the items out of the room. Kadyrbayev did so to “help his friend [Tsarnaev] avoid trouble,” according to the criminal complaint.</p>
<p>The three suspects returned to Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov’s apartment in New Bedford. They watched some more news and grew more convinced that Tsarnaev was one of the bombers. Then Kadyrbayev put his backpack and the fireworks into a black trash bag and threw it into a nearby dumpster. Tazhayakov and Phillipos didn’t physically do throw out Tsarnaev’s belongings,&#160;but all three students knew about it, the complaint says.</p>
<p>After Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s arrest, the FBI eventually tracked his backpack to a landfill in New Bedford. Inside they found fireworks, a jar of vaseline, and a “UMass–Dartmouth homework assignment sheet.” FBI officials have also recovered BBs, a “large pyrotechnic,” and the black jacket and white hat Tsarnaev was believed to have worn on the day of the bombing.</p>
<p>In the complaint, Phillipos is not accused of removing evidence. He confessed to lying to FBI agents during one of his four interviews with authorities, according to the complaint.</p>
<p>Police officials say there is currently no threat to the public.</p>
<p>This post is being continuously updated.</p>
<p>Read the criminal complaint:</p>
<p /> | Feds Arrest 3 New Suspects in Connection With Boston Bombings | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/boston-marathon-bombing-three-additional-suspects-custody/ | 2013-05-01 | 4left
| Feds Arrest 3 New Suspects in Connection With Boston Bombings
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vjeran_pavic/8658673534/"&gt;Vjeran Pavic&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
<p />
<p>Federal authorities have arrested three additional suspects in connection with the <a href="" type="internal">Boston marathon bombings</a>, according to the Boston Police Department. A <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/695293-diaskadyrbayev.html" type="external">newly released criminal complaint says</a> that the suspects are college students and friends of <a href="" type="internal">Dzhokhar Tsarnaev</a>, who faces <a href="" type="internal">charges</a> of planting a bomb at the marathon that killed three people and injured more than 200.</p>
<p>Two of the three students—Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov—are Kazakh nationals who are in&#160;the United States on student visas. The third suspect, Robel Phillipos, is an American citizen who lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.</p>
<p>In a 15-page complaint filed in federal court, federal authorities allege that Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov intentionally obstructed justice by removing evidence from Tsarnaev’s dorm room at the University of Massachusetts–Dartmouth three days after the April 15 attack. Phillipos is accused of making false statements to federal law enforcement officials.</p>
<p>The two Kazakh men have denied wrongdoing, a lawyer for one of them told the Associated Press. The government has initiated removal procedures against the two men based on immigrations violations, the complaint says. The suspects’ immigration status could lend the FBI additional leverage in negotiations with the suspects. “One of the reasons for the creation of the Department of Homeland Security was so that all of federal law enforcement could leverage all of the laws of the federal government,” says David Gomez, a former FBI counterterrorism official. “It does give the FBI a lot of leverage as long as DHS plays along. They haven’t always wanted to play nice when they held the cards. But I don’t think cooperation by either the suspects or DHS will be a problem in this case.”</p>
<p>Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, are suspected of carrying out the dual bombings near the marathon finish line. Days later, the Tsarnaev brothers allegedly killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus police officer before Tamerlan was killed during&#160;a confrontation with police. Dzhokhar was later captured by police and taken into custody.</p>
<p>Authorities released their complaint against Kadyrbayev, Tazhayako, and Phillipos on Wednesday afternoon. The document details the three students’ actions in the wake of the Boston bombings. Here’s how it supposedly went down:</p>
<p>On April 18, Kadyrbayev was driving home when Phillipos called him and told him to turn on the TV when he got back to his apartment in New Bedford, an hour outside of Boston. Hours earlier, FBI officials <a href="" type="internal">had released photos</a> of the two men they believed had carried out the bombing. When he saw the photos, Kadyrbayev thought one of the suspects looked like Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Kadyrbayev&#160;texted Tsarnaev&#160;and told his friend that he looked like one of the suspects. Tsarnaev responded, “lol,” followed by “you better not text me” and “come to my room and take whatever you want.”</p>
<p>Kadyrbayev, Tazhayakov, and Phillipos decided to go to Tsarnaev’s campus dorm room. Tsarnaev’s roommate let them in.&#160;The three students watched a movie in Tsarnaev’s room for a while, the complaint says, and then Kadyrbayev noticed a backpack filled with fireworks with the gunpowder emptied out. (The complaint also says that Tazhayakov received a text from Tsarnaev shortly before arriving&#160;at his dorm room, saying, “I’m about to leave if you need something in my room take it.”) When Kadyrbayev saw the backpack in the dorm room, he knew Tsarnaev was involved in the bombing. Before they left the dorm room, Kadyrbayev grabbed Tsarnaev’s backpack and laptop and took the items out of the room. Kadyrbayev did so to “help his friend [Tsarnaev] avoid trouble,” according to the criminal complaint.</p>
<p>The three suspects returned to Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov’s apartment in New Bedford. They watched some more news and grew more convinced that Tsarnaev was one of the bombers. Then Kadyrbayev put his backpack and the fireworks into a black trash bag and threw it into a nearby dumpster. Tazhayakov and Phillipos didn’t physically do throw out Tsarnaev’s belongings,&#160;but all three students knew about it, the complaint says.</p>
<p>After Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s arrest, the FBI eventually tracked his backpack to a landfill in New Bedford. Inside they found fireworks, a jar of vaseline, and a “UMass–Dartmouth homework assignment sheet.” FBI officials have also recovered BBs, a “large pyrotechnic,” and the black jacket and white hat Tsarnaev was believed to have worn on the day of the bombing.</p>
<p>In the complaint, Phillipos is not accused of removing evidence. He confessed to lying to FBI agents during one of his four interviews with authorities, according to the complaint.</p>
<p>Police officials say there is currently no threat to the public.</p>
<p>This post is being continuously updated.</p>
<p>Read the criminal complaint:</p>
<p /> | 599,254 |
<p>Gypsum Management and Supply set terms for its initial public offering, which the wallboard and suspended ceilings systems company said could raise up to $185.15 million. As part of the terms, the company expects to sell 7 million shares at an IPO price between $21 to $23. The underwriters will be granted options to buy an additional 1.05 million shares. The stock had been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "GMS." The lead underwriters of the IPO are Barclays and Credit Suisse.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | GMS Sets Terms For IPO, To Raise Up To $185.15 Million | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/05/16/gms-sets-terms-for-ipo-to-raise-up-to-18515-million.html | 2016-05-16 | 0right
| GMS Sets Terms For IPO, To Raise Up To $185.15 Million
<p>Gypsum Management and Supply set terms for its initial public offering, which the wallboard and suspended ceilings systems company said could raise up to $185.15 million. As part of the terms, the company expects to sell 7 million shares at an IPO price between $21 to $23. The underwriters will be granted options to buy an additional 1.05 million shares. The stock had been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "GMS." The lead underwriters of the IPO are Barclays and Credit Suisse.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | 599,255 |
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<p>BERLIN — Anti-Semitic stickers of Holocaust victim Anne Frank have surfaced at some soccer events in Germany after they first triggered a scandal in Italy.</p>
<p>The German news agency dpa reported Tuesday that stickers with the image of the Jewish girl wearing a jersey of a Leipzig team were found in the eastern German city and others were found in the western city of Duesseldorf.</p>
<p>The sticker of the girl wearing the Leipzig BSG Chemie team shirt also had the abbreviation JDN CHM on it, short for “Jews Chemicals.”</p>
<p>Anne Frank became a tragic symbol for all Holocaust victims because of the diary she wrote while in hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam with her family from 1942-1944. They were betrayed, caught and deported, and Anne died in a concentration camp at 15.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Anti-Semitic stickers of Anne Frank appear in German soccer | false | https://abqjournal.com/1085775/anti-semitic-stickers-of-anne-frank-appear-in-german-soccer.html | 2least
| Anti-Semitic stickers of Anne Frank appear in German soccer
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<p>BERLIN — Anti-Semitic stickers of Holocaust victim Anne Frank have surfaced at some soccer events in Germany after they first triggered a scandal in Italy.</p>
<p>The German news agency dpa reported Tuesday that stickers with the image of the Jewish girl wearing a jersey of a Leipzig team were found in the eastern German city and others were found in the western city of Duesseldorf.</p>
<p>The sticker of the girl wearing the Leipzig BSG Chemie team shirt also had the abbreviation JDN CHM on it, short for “Jews Chemicals.”</p>
<p>Anne Frank became a tragic symbol for all Holocaust victims because of the diary she wrote while in hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam with her family from 1942-1944. They were betrayed, caught and deported, and Anne died in a concentration camp at 15.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 599,256 |
|
<p>Shares of Advanced Micro Devices fell sharply in premarket trading Friday, a day after the chipmaker reported disappointing first-quarter earnings and outlook for the current quarter.</p>
<p>Chipmakers have been under pressure as people buy fewer computers and shift to smartphones, tablets and other mobile gadgets. PC sales fell more than 5 percent in in the first quarter of the year, according to research company Gartner.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Late Thursday, AMD reported a wider first-quarter loss than a year ago and a 26 percent drop in revenue. For the current quarter, the Sunnyvale, California-based company said it expects revenue to be flat to down by up to 6 percent from the previous quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected revenue of $1.13 billion, which would represent growth of 10 percent from the quarter ended in March.</p>
<p>Advanced Micro Devices Inc. shares fell nearly 11 percent in trading before the market opened Friday. They fell 22 percent in the last 12 months.</p> | Shares of chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices falls as demand for PCs weakens | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/04/17/shares-chipmaker-advanced-micro-devices-falls-as-demand-for-pcs-weakens.html | 2016-03-05 | 0right
| Shares of chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices falls as demand for PCs weakens
<p>Shares of Advanced Micro Devices fell sharply in premarket trading Friday, a day after the chipmaker reported disappointing first-quarter earnings and outlook for the current quarter.</p>
<p>Chipmakers have been under pressure as people buy fewer computers and shift to smartphones, tablets and other mobile gadgets. PC sales fell more than 5 percent in in the first quarter of the year, according to research company Gartner.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Late Thursday, AMD reported a wider first-quarter loss than a year ago and a 26 percent drop in revenue. For the current quarter, the Sunnyvale, California-based company said it expects revenue to be flat to down by up to 6 percent from the previous quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected revenue of $1.13 billion, which would represent growth of 10 percent from the quarter ended in March.</p>
<p>Advanced Micro Devices Inc. shares fell nearly 11 percent in trading before the market opened Friday. They fell 22 percent in the last 12 months.</p> | 599,257 |
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<p>BERRYVILLE, Va. — Promising “A Better Deal” for American workers, Democratic Party leaders rolled out a new agenda with a populist pitch on Monday as they sought to bounce back from their losses in November and look ahead to the 2018 midterms.</p>
<p>They left the Beltway for small-town Berryville, Virginia, in an attempt to appeal to the working-class voters that Donald Trump appealed to last November and Democrats hope to win back.</p>
<p>“Too many Americans don’t know what we stand for,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. “Not after today.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Democrats’ new platform has three overarching goals: raising wages, lowering costs for families, and giving working Americans better skills for the 21st century economy.</p>
<p>“People need to know not only what we’re fighting against, they need to know what we’re fighting for,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.</p>
<p>Attempting to bridge all parts of the party, Democrats invited moderate Sen. Mark Warren of Virginia and liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.</p>
<p>The event took place in the district of one of the GOP House members they hope to defeat next year, Barbara Comstock.</p>
<p>“While it’s early, there’s no doubt that this district and so many others are up for grabs in the 2018 midterms,” said Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, who chairs the Democrats’ House campaign committee.</p>
<p>The full title of the agenda is “A Better Deal: Better Jobs, Better Wages, Better Future.” After an earlier and incomplete version leaked last week, Twitter users mocked the similarity to the slogan for Papa John’s pizza, “Better Ingredients, Better Pizza.”</p>
<p>Capitalizing on that, a handful of GOP protesters were on hand Monday with Papa John’s pizza boxes that showed a photograph of House Minority Nancy Pelosi of California. “Better skills, Better jobs, Better wages, Still Pelosi” was the slogan on the pizza boxes.</p>
<p>Detailed planks will be rolled out over time. On Monday, three were being unveiled:</p>
<p>–Lowering prescription drug prices. Suggestions include a new agency that could investigate drug manufacturer price hikes and allow Medicare to negotiate directly for the best drug prices.</p>
<p>–Cracking down on corporate monopolies. Democrats would enact new standards to limit large mergers, and create a new consumer competition advocate.</p>
<p>–Creating millions more jobs. The agenda includes proposals for expanding apprenticeships and providing a tax credit to employers to train and hire new workers.</p>
<p>Democrats hope to make gains in next year’s midterm elections, and perhaps even flip the 24 GOP-held seats necessary to regain the majority in the House.</p>
<p>Yet they are mostly playing defense in the Senate where 10 Democrats are trying to retain seats in states won by Trump, including Republican strongholds like West Virginia, Missouri and North Dakota. Party strategists say that for most Senate candidates, a national party message has little value and each candidate must fight on their own terms and issues.</p> | Promising ‘A Better Deal,’ Democrats try to rebrand party | false | https://abqjournal.com/1037381/democrats-attempt-rebranding-with-populist-new-agenda.html | 2017-07-24 | 2least
| Promising ‘A Better Deal,’ Democrats try to rebrand party
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<p>BERRYVILLE, Va. — Promising “A Better Deal” for American workers, Democratic Party leaders rolled out a new agenda with a populist pitch on Monday as they sought to bounce back from their losses in November and look ahead to the 2018 midterms.</p>
<p>They left the Beltway for small-town Berryville, Virginia, in an attempt to appeal to the working-class voters that Donald Trump appealed to last November and Democrats hope to win back.</p>
<p>“Too many Americans don’t know what we stand for,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. “Not after today.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Democrats’ new platform has three overarching goals: raising wages, lowering costs for families, and giving working Americans better skills for the 21st century economy.</p>
<p>“People need to know not only what we’re fighting against, they need to know what we’re fighting for,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.</p>
<p>Attempting to bridge all parts of the party, Democrats invited moderate Sen. Mark Warren of Virginia and liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.</p>
<p>The event took place in the district of one of the GOP House members they hope to defeat next year, Barbara Comstock.</p>
<p>“While it’s early, there’s no doubt that this district and so many others are up for grabs in the 2018 midterms,” said Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, who chairs the Democrats’ House campaign committee.</p>
<p>The full title of the agenda is “A Better Deal: Better Jobs, Better Wages, Better Future.” After an earlier and incomplete version leaked last week, Twitter users mocked the similarity to the slogan for Papa John’s pizza, “Better Ingredients, Better Pizza.”</p>
<p>Capitalizing on that, a handful of GOP protesters were on hand Monday with Papa John’s pizza boxes that showed a photograph of House Minority Nancy Pelosi of California. “Better skills, Better jobs, Better wages, Still Pelosi” was the slogan on the pizza boxes.</p>
<p>Detailed planks will be rolled out over time. On Monday, three were being unveiled:</p>
<p>–Lowering prescription drug prices. Suggestions include a new agency that could investigate drug manufacturer price hikes and allow Medicare to negotiate directly for the best drug prices.</p>
<p>–Cracking down on corporate monopolies. Democrats would enact new standards to limit large mergers, and create a new consumer competition advocate.</p>
<p>–Creating millions more jobs. The agenda includes proposals for expanding apprenticeships and providing a tax credit to employers to train and hire new workers.</p>
<p>Democrats hope to make gains in next year’s midterm elections, and perhaps even flip the 24 GOP-held seats necessary to regain the majority in the House.</p>
<p>Yet they are mostly playing defense in the Senate where 10 Democrats are trying to retain seats in states won by Trump, including Republican strongholds like West Virginia, Missouri and North Dakota. Party strategists say that for most Senate candidates, a national party message has little value and each candidate must fight on their own terms and issues.</p> | 599,258 |
<p>SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc reported a surge in quarterly revenue on Tuesday while profit slipped as the largest Internet retailer benefited from growth in e-commerce but kept spending on distribution, technology and digital content.</p>
<p>Second-quarter net income came in at $191 million, or 41 cents per share, versus $207 million, or 45 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue was $9.91 billion, up 51 percent from a year ago.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>(Reporting by Alistair Barr, editing by Bernard Orr)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Amazon revenue surges as net income slips | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/07/26/amazon-revenue-surges-as-net-income-slips.html | 2016-01-28 | 0right
| Amazon revenue surges as net income slips
<p>SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc reported a surge in quarterly revenue on Tuesday while profit slipped as the largest Internet retailer benefited from growth in e-commerce but kept spending on distribution, technology and digital content.</p>
<p>Second-quarter net income came in at $191 million, or 41 cents per share, versus $207 million, or 45 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue was $9.91 billion, up 51 percent from a year ago.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>(Reporting by Alistair Barr, editing by Bernard Orr)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | 599,259 |
<p />
<p>U.S. chocolate maker&#160;Hershey named Chief Operating Officer Michele Buck as its chief executive and president, pinning its hopes on a company veteran to build on a recovery in demand in North America.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Buck, whose appointment is effective March 1, will succeed John Bilbrey, who said in October he would retire as CEO and president.</p>
<p>Buck, who joined&#160;Hershey&#160;in 2005, was the architect of the company's expansion into broader snacking categories and oversaw the acquisitions of Krave and barkThins brands, the company said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The maker of&#160;Hershey's Kisses, which rejected a $23 billion offer from Mondelez International in August, had said Bilbrey will continue as the non-executive chairman.</p>
<p>Buck's promotion should not come as a surprise to investors, J.P. Morgan analyst Ken Goldman wrote in a client note.</p>
<p>Observers looking for deeper changes in&#160;Hershey's direction and/or culture probably were hoping for more of an outsider to take over, Goldman said. "The writing was on the wall when Ms. Buck was promoted to COO earlier this year."</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Hershey&#160;said in October consumers were beginning to spend a little bit more confidently than before, with the company introducing new products to overcome weak demand in North America due to changing consumer tastes and growing competition.</p>
<p>Buck may also have to contend with the plans of the charitable trust that controls&#160;Hershey. The trust in July reached a major reform agreement with its overseer, the Pennsylvania attorney general's office.</p>
<p>Up to Wednesday's close of $103.17, the stock had fallen 7.6 percent since&#160;Hershey&#160;rejected Mondelez's offer in August.&#160;Hershey&#160;shares were marginally down in extended trading.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Aravind K and Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shounak Dasgupta)</p> | Hershey Names COO Michele Buck as Chief Executive | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/21/hershey-names-coo-michele-buck-as-chief-executive.html | 2016-12-22 | 0right
| Hershey Names COO Michele Buck as Chief Executive
<p />
<p>U.S. chocolate maker&#160;Hershey named Chief Operating Officer Michele Buck as its chief executive and president, pinning its hopes on a company veteran to build on a recovery in demand in North America.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Buck, whose appointment is effective March 1, will succeed John Bilbrey, who said in October he would retire as CEO and president.</p>
<p>Buck, who joined&#160;Hershey&#160;in 2005, was the architect of the company's expansion into broader snacking categories and oversaw the acquisitions of Krave and barkThins brands, the company said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The maker of&#160;Hershey's Kisses, which rejected a $23 billion offer from Mondelez International in August, had said Bilbrey will continue as the non-executive chairman.</p>
<p>Buck's promotion should not come as a surprise to investors, J.P. Morgan analyst Ken Goldman wrote in a client note.</p>
<p>Observers looking for deeper changes in&#160;Hershey's direction and/or culture probably were hoping for more of an outsider to take over, Goldman said. "The writing was on the wall when Ms. Buck was promoted to COO earlier this year."</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Hershey&#160;said in October consumers were beginning to spend a little bit more confidently than before, with the company introducing new products to overcome weak demand in North America due to changing consumer tastes and growing competition.</p>
<p>Buck may also have to contend with the plans of the charitable trust that controls&#160;Hershey. The trust in July reached a major reform agreement with its overseer, the Pennsylvania attorney general's office.</p>
<p>Up to Wednesday's close of $103.17, the stock had fallen 7.6 percent since&#160;Hershey&#160;rejected Mondelez's offer in August.&#160;Hershey&#160;shares were marginally down in extended trading.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Aravind K and Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shounak Dasgupta)</p> | 599,260 |
<p>The political neophyte at the center of the country’s most-watched Senate primary race says it’s the mainstream <a href="" type="internal">media that trivialize campaigns</a>, while the blogs dig into issues. Read the <a href="" type="internal">exclusive Truthdig interview.</a></p>
<p>Excerpts:</p>
<p>On the MSM vs. Blogs:</p>
<p>“When I talk to the mainstream media, its all about process and money and delegates. It was the blogs who said, ‘Hey, there are compelling issues out there, and letҒs see how Lamont stands.’ Whatever the blogs reputation, they opened the door to more serious discourse than the mainstream media did.”</p>
<p />
<p>On the war on drugs:</p>
<p>“I could talk about dealing with it in Afghanistan, Bolivia, Colombiaҗwherever the sources are, but lets face it–the law of supply and demand: As long as thereҒs an overwhelming demand here, drugs are going to find their way in.”</p>
<p>On what he expects from Lieberman’s campaign:</p>
<p>“I expect his campaign wont mention my name, theyҒll belittle the seriousness of our effort. They wont engage on issues; theyҒll talk a lot about process…”</p>
<p>On gay marriage:</p>
<p>“There are some places where the government should butt out and leave people alone. And if two people are in love and want to get married, God bless em.”</p>
<p>On Democratic state parties:</p>
<p>“The state party brass, they donҒt like primaries. Competition is a little unsettling to them.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Full interview</a></p> | Ned Lamont, Insurgent | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/ned-lamont-insurgent/ | 2006-04-26 | 4left
| Ned Lamont, Insurgent
<p>The political neophyte at the center of the country’s most-watched Senate primary race says it’s the mainstream <a href="" type="internal">media that trivialize campaigns</a>, while the blogs dig into issues. Read the <a href="" type="internal">exclusive Truthdig interview.</a></p>
<p>Excerpts:</p>
<p>On the MSM vs. Blogs:</p>
<p>“When I talk to the mainstream media, its all about process and money and delegates. It was the blogs who said, ‘Hey, there are compelling issues out there, and letҒs see how Lamont stands.’ Whatever the blogs reputation, they opened the door to more serious discourse than the mainstream media did.”</p>
<p />
<p>On the war on drugs:</p>
<p>“I could talk about dealing with it in Afghanistan, Bolivia, Colombiaҗwherever the sources are, but lets face it–the law of supply and demand: As long as thereҒs an overwhelming demand here, drugs are going to find their way in.”</p>
<p>On what he expects from Lieberman’s campaign:</p>
<p>“I expect his campaign wont mention my name, theyҒll belittle the seriousness of our effort. They wont engage on issues; theyҒll talk a lot about process…”</p>
<p>On gay marriage:</p>
<p>“There are some places where the government should butt out and leave people alone. And if two people are in love and want to get married, God bless em.”</p>
<p>On Democratic state parties:</p>
<p>“The state party brass, they donҒt like primaries. Competition is a little unsettling to them.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Full interview</a></p> | 599,261 |
<p><a href="" type="internal">&lt;img class=" wp-image-15476 alignleft" alt="jimmykimmel" src="http://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jimmykimmel.jpg" width="179" height="139" srcset="http://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jimmykimmel.jpg 350w, http://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jimmykimmel-300x232.jpg 300w, http://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jimmykimmel-225x175.jpg 225w" sizes="(max-width: 179px) 100vw, 179px" /&gt;</a>Jimmy Kimmel offered up another edition of <a href="http://www.rightthisminute.com/search/node/lie%20witness" type="external">Lie Witness News</a>. This time, he asked people on the streets of Hollywood what they thought of yesterday’s inauguration of President Obama.</p>
<p>Only, it hasn’t happened yet.</p>
<p>It’s further proof that people feel a need to have an opinion about everything, even things they cannot rationally have an opinion about.</p>
<p>While the video is entertaining, it’s also an indication of how ill-informed people are in this country, reinforcing the concept we hear so much about from Rush Limbaugh of the “low-information voter” — those who vote, but who are generally poorly informed about politics.</p>
<p /> | Lie Witness News asks people about ‘yesterday’s inauguration of Obama’ | true | http://bizpacreview.com/2013/01/19/lie-witness-news-asks-people-about-yesterdays-inauguration-of-obama-15452 | 2013-01-19 | 0right
| Lie Witness News asks people about ‘yesterday’s inauguration of Obama’
<p><a href="" type="internal">&lt;img class=" wp-image-15476 alignleft" alt="jimmykimmel" src="http://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jimmykimmel.jpg" width="179" height="139" srcset="http://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jimmykimmel.jpg 350w, http://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jimmykimmel-300x232.jpg 300w, http://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jimmykimmel-225x175.jpg 225w" sizes="(max-width: 179px) 100vw, 179px" /&gt;</a>Jimmy Kimmel offered up another edition of <a href="http://www.rightthisminute.com/search/node/lie%20witness" type="external">Lie Witness News</a>. This time, he asked people on the streets of Hollywood what they thought of yesterday’s inauguration of President Obama.</p>
<p>Only, it hasn’t happened yet.</p>
<p>It’s further proof that people feel a need to have an opinion about everything, even things they cannot rationally have an opinion about.</p>
<p>While the video is entertaining, it’s also an indication of how ill-informed people are in this country, reinforcing the concept we hear so much about from Rush Limbaugh of the “low-information voter” — those who vote, but who are generally poorly informed about politics.</p>
<p /> | 599,262 |
<p>Image source: LogMeIn.</p>
<p>What:Shares ofLogMeIn, Inc.(NASDAQ: LOGM) jumped today on a strong earnings report and news that the company would merge withCitrix'sGoTo videoconferencing unit. As of 11:22 a.m. EDT, the stock was up 20.5%.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>So what: For the quarter past, the software-as-a-service provider posted per-share earnings of $0.49, better than estimates at $0.45, while revenue of $83.3 million topped the consensus at $81.8 million. More important was the deal with Citrix as the stock rose much higher once that news came out. In an all-stock deal valued at $1.8 billion, LogMeIn will merge with the unit that includes GoTo meeting and other similar products to create a company focused on technology applications for the workplace.Citrix(NASDAQ: CTXS) fell 2.5% on the news.</p>
<p>Now what:The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year and will be formed in a Reverse Morris Trust as Citrix shareholders will be issued LogMeIn shares. The combined company will have annual revenue of more than $1 billion and more than 2 million customers around the world. LogMeIn CEOBill Wagner, who will become CEO of the new company, said the new entity will bring "profound benefits to out customers, our people, and our shareholders," and that the two companies' assets complement each other. Savings from cost synergies are expected to be more than $100 million within two years of the closing. With a market cap six times that of LogMeIn, the effect on Citrix will be minor but LogMeIn's surge seems deserved as the deal will help create a leader in office SaaS technology.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2668&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFHobo/info.aspx" type="external">Jeremy Bowman Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why LogMeIn, Inc. Shares Jumped Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/07/27/why-logmein-inc-shares-jumped-today.html | 2016-07-27 | 0right
| Why LogMeIn, Inc. Shares Jumped Today
<p>Image source: LogMeIn.</p>
<p>What:Shares ofLogMeIn, Inc.(NASDAQ: LOGM) jumped today on a strong earnings report and news that the company would merge withCitrix'sGoTo videoconferencing unit. As of 11:22 a.m. EDT, the stock was up 20.5%.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>So what: For the quarter past, the software-as-a-service provider posted per-share earnings of $0.49, better than estimates at $0.45, while revenue of $83.3 million topped the consensus at $81.8 million. More important was the deal with Citrix as the stock rose much higher once that news came out. In an all-stock deal valued at $1.8 billion, LogMeIn will merge with the unit that includes GoTo meeting and other similar products to create a company focused on technology applications for the workplace.Citrix(NASDAQ: CTXS) fell 2.5% on the news.</p>
<p>Now what:The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year and will be formed in a Reverse Morris Trust as Citrix shareholders will be issued LogMeIn shares. The combined company will have annual revenue of more than $1 billion and more than 2 million customers around the world. LogMeIn CEOBill Wagner, who will become CEO of the new company, said the new entity will bring "profound benefits to out customers, our people, and our shareholders," and that the two companies' assets complement each other. Savings from cost synergies are expected to be more than $100 million within two years of the closing. With a market cap six times that of LogMeIn, the effect on Citrix will be minor but LogMeIn's surge seems deserved as the deal will help create a leader in office SaaS technology.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2668&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFHobo/info.aspx" type="external">Jeremy Bowman Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 599,263 |
<p>A New York City nonprofit can collect&#160;contributions straight from fast-food worker's paychecks.</p>
<p>Called&#160; <a href="https://www.fastfoodjustice.org/" type="external">"Fast Food Justice,"</a> the new group is the first to register with the city Department of Consumer Affairs&#160;under a law allowing some workers to donate to groups through paycheck deductions, similar to how unions collect dues. While the nonprofit is not a union and doesn't negotiate contracts, organizers said it will put&#160;contributions&#160;towards advocating for workers rights in the fast-food industry.</p>
<p>"What started as a group of workers five years ago making $7.25 an hour is a movement that has now won $15-an-hour minimum wages and fair scheduling laws across the country, including New York," board member Tsedeye Gebreselassie said at the organization's launch on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Under the law, workers can insist that their bosses&#160;deduct money from their paychecks and&#160;contribute it directly to Fast Food Justice. But&#160;industry advocates&#160;cried foul. <a href="http://www.restaurant.org/Pressroom/Press-Releases/Restaurant-Law-Center-Launch" type="external">The Restaurant Law Center</a>, which represents&#160;restaurant owners, said requiring employers to contribute money to Fast Food Justice amounts to a violation of their First Amendment rights.&#160;The group has filed a federal lawsuit to overturn the city law.</p>
<p>Members of Fast Food Justice are optimistic that the group will help usher in changes in the industry. Joshua Canes, 26, works at Insomnia Cookies on 14th Street in Manhattan. He said higher pay and more rights in the workplace are a win-win scenario for workers and employers alike.</p>
<p>"If we pay better and we give better situations to our workers, we have better quality workers," Canes said.</p>
<p>So far, Fast Food Justice says 1,200 workers have pledged to donate $13.50 a month — the&#160;equivalent of one hour's pay of minimum wage in New York City. Their goal is to hit 5,000 contributors by the end of 2018.</p> | A New Nonprofit Can Get Funding Straight From Workers' Paychecks | false | https://wnyc.org/story/new-nonprofit-can-get-funding-straight-workers-paychecks/ | 2018-01-10 | 3left-center
| A New Nonprofit Can Get Funding Straight From Workers' Paychecks
<p>A New York City nonprofit can collect&#160;contributions straight from fast-food worker's paychecks.</p>
<p>Called&#160; <a href="https://www.fastfoodjustice.org/" type="external">"Fast Food Justice,"</a> the new group is the first to register with the city Department of Consumer Affairs&#160;under a law allowing some workers to donate to groups through paycheck deductions, similar to how unions collect dues. While the nonprofit is not a union and doesn't negotiate contracts, organizers said it will put&#160;contributions&#160;towards advocating for workers rights in the fast-food industry.</p>
<p>"What started as a group of workers five years ago making $7.25 an hour is a movement that has now won $15-an-hour minimum wages and fair scheduling laws across the country, including New York," board member Tsedeye Gebreselassie said at the organization's launch on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Under the law, workers can insist that their bosses&#160;deduct money from their paychecks and&#160;contribute it directly to Fast Food Justice. But&#160;industry advocates&#160;cried foul. <a href="http://www.restaurant.org/Pressroom/Press-Releases/Restaurant-Law-Center-Launch" type="external">The Restaurant Law Center</a>, which represents&#160;restaurant owners, said requiring employers to contribute money to Fast Food Justice amounts to a violation of their First Amendment rights.&#160;The group has filed a federal lawsuit to overturn the city law.</p>
<p>Members of Fast Food Justice are optimistic that the group will help usher in changes in the industry. Joshua Canes, 26, works at Insomnia Cookies on 14th Street in Manhattan. He said higher pay and more rights in the workplace are a win-win scenario for workers and employers alike.</p>
<p>"If we pay better and we give better situations to our workers, we have better quality workers," Canes said.</p>
<p>So far, Fast Food Justice says 1,200 workers have pledged to donate $13.50 a month — the&#160;equivalent of one hour's pay of minimum wage in New York City. Their goal is to hit 5,000 contributors by the end of 2018.</p> | 599,264 |
<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Tuesday evening's drawing of the Pennsylvania Lottery's "Pick 2 Evening" game were:</p>
<p>0-5, Wild: 5</p>
<p>(zero, five; Wild: five)</p>
<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Tuesday evening's drawing of the Pennsylvania Lottery's "Pick 2 Evening" game were:</p>
<p>0-5, Wild: 5</p>
<p>(zero, five; Wild: five)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in 'Pick 2 Evening' game | false | https://apnews.com/amp/01dcaa971af54fe8ae3afeb92efa951f | 2018-01-17 | 2least
| Winning numbers drawn in 'Pick 2 Evening' game
<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Tuesday evening's drawing of the Pennsylvania Lottery's "Pick 2 Evening" game were:</p>
<p>0-5, Wild: 5</p>
<p>(zero, five; Wild: five)</p>
<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Tuesday evening's drawing of the Pennsylvania Lottery's "Pick 2 Evening" game were:</p>
<p>0-5, Wild: 5</p>
<p>(zero, five; Wild: five)</p> | 599,265 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Marcus Brown, 45.</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - An Albuquerque man who shot a woman after she injected heroin at a Northeast Albuquerque home said he aimed at her lower back because he "didn't want to hit something important," police say.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Police were called to the 6800 block of Los Trechos NE around 2:30 a.m. and found a woman shot in the back, according to the criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. She was rushed to the University of New Mexico Hospital and immediately went into surgery.</p>
<p>She survived the shooting, according to Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Tanner Tixier. He said he didn't know what her current condition was or if she was released from the hospital.</p>
<p>Before she was driven away, she told officers 45-year-old Marcus Brown had shot her, according to the complaint.</p>
<p>Police discovered Brown lived a few houses away and officers made public address announcements to get him to come out. He walked out the front door and dropped a gun into a garden planter, then was arrested, according to the complaint.</p>
<p>Police found shattered glass from a bookshelf's doors on the floor of the home, and one of the bookshelf's doors, as well as shelves, were also broken.</p>
<p>Brown told police the victim had been staying with him for 4 to 5 days. Brown said she was injecting heroin and started "lecturing him" before nodding off, according to the complaint. She got up to leave, and Brown said that's when he grabbed his gun and fired at her twice from about 5 feet away. He told police he shot her in the back because he "didn't want to hit something important," according to the complaint. The motive for the shooting is unclear.</p>
<p>Tixier said officers believe Brown may have mental health problems because his statements to police weren't very clear.</p>
<p>He was charged with aggravated battery with great bodily harm and tampering with evidence and booked into the county jail on $17,500 bail.</p> | Man who allegedly shot woman 'didn't want to hit something important' | false | https://abqjournal.com/575882/man-shoots-woman-in-back-police-say.html | 2least
| Man who allegedly shot woman 'didn't want to hit something important'
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Marcus Brown, 45.</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - An Albuquerque man who shot a woman after she injected heroin at a Northeast Albuquerque home said he aimed at her lower back because he "didn't want to hit something important," police say.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Police were called to the 6800 block of Los Trechos NE around 2:30 a.m. and found a woman shot in the back, according to the criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. She was rushed to the University of New Mexico Hospital and immediately went into surgery.</p>
<p>She survived the shooting, according to Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Tanner Tixier. He said he didn't know what her current condition was or if she was released from the hospital.</p>
<p>Before she was driven away, she told officers 45-year-old Marcus Brown had shot her, according to the complaint.</p>
<p>Police discovered Brown lived a few houses away and officers made public address announcements to get him to come out. He walked out the front door and dropped a gun into a garden planter, then was arrested, according to the complaint.</p>
<p>Police found shattered glass from a bookshelf's doors on the floor of the home, and one of the bookshelf's doors, as well as shelves, were also broken.</p>
<p>Brown told police the victim had been staying with him for 4 to 5 days. Brown said she was injecting heroin and started "lecturing him" before nodding off, according to the complaint. She got up to leave, and Brown said that's when he grabbed his gun and fired at her twice from about 5 feet away. He told police he shot her in the back because he "didn't want to hit something important," according to the complaint. The motive for the shooting is unclear.</p>
<p>Tixier said officers believe Brown may have mental health problems because his statements to police weren't very clear.</p>
<p>He was charged with aggravated battery with great bodily harm and tampering with evidence and booked into the county jail on $17,500 bail.</p> | 599,266 |
|
<p>HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Latest on Montana’s candidate filing (all times local):</p>
<p>3:25 p.m.</p>
<p>Democrats and Republicans seeking seats in the Montana legislature outlined their philosophical differences as campaign filing season began.</p>
<p>Republicans said they would continue to fight for lower taxes and less government regulation while Democrats said they supported tax fairness that would allow the state to adequately fund education and support health care and other services for the needy.</p>
<p>Republican Representative Greg Hertz of Polson said Thursday that without the Republican majority in the legislature, Montanans would have faced millions of dollars in additional taxes.</p>
<p>House Democratic Leader Jenny Eck said Democrats would take back the Legislature and fight for a balanced, responsible budget.</p>
<p>Lawmakers held a special legislative session in November to address an expected $227 million budget shortfall.</p>
<p>10 a.m.</p>
<p>Thursday was the first day Montana political candidates could begin filing for the June primary.</p>
<p>All 100 seats in the state House of Representatives and 25 of 50 state Senate seats are up for election this year.</p>
<p>Voters also will decide whether to re-elect Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte.</p>
<p>Businessman Troy Downing of Big Sky and State Auditor Matt Rosendale are among the Republicans who have said they will challenge Tester.</p>
<p>Several Democratic candidates plan to challenge Gianforte, including Billings attorney John Heenan, former nonprofit director Grant Kier of Missoula and Lynda Moss of Billings.</p>
<p>Registration continues through 5 p.m. on March 12 for the June 5 primary. Candidates can register in person, online or by mail.</p>
<p>HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Latest on Montana’s candidate filing (all times local):</p>
<p>3:25 p.m.</p>
<p>Democrats and Republicans seeking seats in the Montana legislature outlined their philosophical differences as campaign filing season began.</p>
<p>Republicans said they would continue to fight for lower taxes and less government regulation while Democrats said they supported tax fairness that would allow the state to adequately fund education and support health care and other services for the needy.</p>
<p>Republican Representative Greg Hertz of Polson said Thursday that without the Republican majority in the legislature, Montanans would have faced millions of dollars in additional taxes.</p>
<p>House Democratic Leader Jenny Eck said Democrats would take back the Legislature and fight for a balanced, responsible budget.</p>
<p>Lawmakers held a special legislative session in November to address an expected $227 million budget shortfall.</p>
<p>10 a.m.</p>
<p>Thursday was the first day Montana political candidates could begin filing for the June primary.</p>
<p>All 100 seats in the state House of Representatives and 25 of 50 state Senate seats are up for election this year.</p>
<p>Voters also will decide whether to re-elect Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte.</p>
<p>Businessman Troy Downing of Big Sky and State Auditor Matt Rosendale are among the Republicans who have said they will challenge Tester.</p>
<p>Several Democratic candidates plan to challenge Gianforte, including Billings attorney John Heenan, former nonprofit director Grant Kier of Missoula and Lynda Moss of Billings.</p>
<p>Registration continues through 5 p.m. on March 12 for the June 5 primary. Candidates can register in person, online or by mail.</p> | The Latest: Political candidates begin filing for office | false | https://apnews.com/f94052bb17724fcbbbe40ee81c4ccb7e | 2018-01-11 | 2least
| The Latest: Political candidates begin filing for office
<p>HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Latest on Montana’s candidate filing (all times local):</p>
<p>3:25 p.m.</p>
<p>Democrats and Republicans seeking seats in the Montana legislature outlined their philosophical differences as campaign filing season began.</p>
<p>Republicans said they would continue to fight for lower taxes and less government regulation while Democrats said they supported tax fairness that would allow the state to adequately fund education and support health care and other services for the needy.</p>
<p>Republican Representative Greg Hertz of Polson said Thursday that without the Republican majority in the legislature, Montanans would have faced millions of dollars in additional taxes.</p>
<p>House Democratic Leader Jenny Eck said Democrats would take back the Legislature and fight for a balanced, responsible budget.</p>
<p>Lawmakers held a special legislative session in November to address an expected $227 million budget shortfall.</p>
<p>10 a.m.</p>
<p>Thursday was the first day Montana political candidates could begin filing for the June primary.</p>
<p>All 100 seats in the state House of Representatives and 25 of 50 state Senate seats are up for election this year.</p>
<p>Voters also will decide whether to re-elect Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte.</p>
<p>Businessman Troy Downing of Big Sky and State Auditor Matt Rosendale are among the Republicans who have said they will challenge Tester.</p>
<p>Several Democratic candidates plan to challenge Gianforte, including Billings attorney John Heenan, former nonprofit director Grant Kier of Missoula and Lynda Moss of Billings.</p>
<p>Registration continues through 5 p.m. on March 12 for the June 5 primary. Candidates can register in person, online or by mail.</p>
<p>HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Latest on Montana’s candidate filing (all times local):</p>
<p>3:25 p.m.</p>
<p>Democrats and Republicans seeking seats in the Montana legislature outlined their philosophical differences as campaign filing season began.</p>
<p>Republicans said they would continue to fight for lower taxes and less government regulation while Democrats said they supported tax fairness that would allow the state to adequately fund education and support health care and other services for the needy.</p>
<p>Republican Representative Greg Hertz of Polson said Thursday that without the Republican majority in the legislature, Montanans would have faced millions of dollars in additional taxes.</p>
<p>House Democratic Leader Jenny Eck said Democrats would take back the Legislature and fight for a balanced, responsible budget.</p>
<p>Lawmakers held a special legislative session in November to address an expected $227 million budget shortfall.</p>
<p>10 a.m.</p>
<p>Thursday was the first day Montana political candidates could begin filing for the June primary.</p>
<p>All 100 seats in the state House of Representatives and 25 of 50 state Senate seats are up for election this year.</p>
<p>Voters also will decide whether to re-elect Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte.</p>
<p>Businessman Troy Downing of Big Sky and State Auditor Matt Rosendale are among the Republicans who have said they will challenge Tester.</p>
<p>Several Democratic candidates plan to challenge Gianforte, including Billings attorney John Heenan, former nonprofit director Grant Kier of Missoula and Lynda Moss of Billings.</p>
<p>Registration continues through 5 p.m. on March 12 for the June 5 primary. Candidates can register in person, online or by mail.</p> | 599,267 |
<p>Many politicians, especially those on the Right, pretend they are strictly adhering to the U.S. Constitution when they often are just&#160; <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2017/09/17/the-rights-made-up-constitution-5/" type="external">making the founding document mean whatever they want</a>&#160;– but perhaps nowhere is that as dangerous as with their make-believe Second Amendment.</p>
<p>In the wake of Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas—where one individual firing from a high-rise hotel murdered 58 people and wounded more than 500 at a country music festival—we are told that the reason the United States can’t do anything to stop this sort of carnage is the Second Amendment’s “right to bear arms.”</p>
<p>“Gun rights” advocates insist that pretty much any gun control violates the design of the Constitution’s Framers and thus can’t be enacted no matter how many innocent people die.</p>
<p>Some on the Right, as well as some on the Left, even claim that the Founders, as revolutionaries themselves, wanted an armed population so the people could rebel against the Republic, which the U.S. Constitution created.&#160;But the Constitution’s Framers in 1787 and the authors of the Bill of Rights in the First Congress in 1789 had no such intent.</p>
<p />
<p>Arguably other individuals disconnected from the drafting of those documents may have harbored such radical attitudes (at least rhetorically), but the authors didn’t. In fact, their intent was the opposite.</p>
<p>The goal of the Second Amendment was to promote state militias for the maintenance of order at a time of political unrest, potential slave revolts and simmering hostilities with both European powers and Native Americans on the frontiers. Indeed, the amendment’s defined purpose was to achieve state “security” against disruptions to the country’s new republican form of government.</p>
<p>The Second Amendment reads: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”</p>
<p>In other words, if read in context, it’s clear that the Second Amendment was enacted so each state would have the specific right to form “a well-regulated militia” to maintain “security,” i.e., to put down armed disorder and protect its citizens.</p>
<p>In the late Eighteenth Century, the meaning of “bearing” arms also referred to a citizen being part of a militia or army. It didn’t mean that an individual had the right to possess whatever number of high-capacity killing machines that he or she might want. Indeed, the most lethal weapon that early Americans owned was a slow-loading, single-fired musket or rifle.</p>
<p>No Anarchists</p>
<p>Further to the point, both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were the work of the Federalists, who—at the time—counted James Madison among their ranks.</p>
<p>And whatever one thinks about the Federalists, who often are criticized as elitists, they were the principal constitutional Framers and the leaders of the First Congress. They constituted the early national establishment, people such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris and Madison.</p>
<p>The Federalists feared that their new creation, a constitutional republic in an age of monarchies, was threatened by the potential for violent chaos, which is what European aristocrats predicted for the new United States. Democracy was a largely untested concept that was believed likely to fall victim to demagoguery and factionalism.</p>
<p>So, the Framers sought a political system that reflected the will of the citizens (the House of Representatives) but within a framework that constrained public passions (the Senate and other checks and balances). In other words, the Constitution sought to channel political disputes into non-violent competition among various interests, not into armed rebellions against the government.</p>
<p>The Framers also recognized how fragile the nation’s independence was and how domestic rebellions could be exploited by European powers. Indeed, one of the crises that led to the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787 was the inability of the old system under the Articles of Confederation to put down Shays’s Rebellion in western Massachusetts in 1786-87. Washington saw the possible hand of British agents.</p>
<p>So, the Federalists were seeking a structure that would ensure “domestic Tranquility,” as they explained in the Constitution’s Preamble. They did not want endless civil strife.</p>
<p>The whole idea of the Constitution—with its mix of voting (at least by some white male citizens), elected and appointed representatives,&#160;and checks and balances—was to create a political structure that made violence unnecessary.</p>
<p>So, it should be obvious even without knowing all the history that the Framers&#160;weren’t encouraging violent uprisings against the Republic that they were founding. To the contrary, they characterized violence against the constitutional system as “treason”&#160;in Article III, Section 3. They also committed the federal government to protect each state from “domestic Violence,”&#160;in&#160;Article IV, Section 4.</p>
<p>Putting Down Rebellion</p>
<p>One of the first uses of the new state militias formed under the Second Amendment and the Militia Acts, which required able-bodied men to report for duty with their own muskets, was for President Washington to lead a federalized force of militiamen against the Whiskey Rebellion, a tax revolt in western Pennsylvania in 1794.</p>
<p>In the South, one of the principal reasons for a militia was to rally armed whites to put down slave uprisings. On the frontier, militias fought against Native Americans over land. Militias also were called up to fight the British in the War of 1812.</p>
<p>But you don’t have to like or dislike how the Second Amendment and the Militia Acts were used to recognize how the Framers intended these legislative provisions to be used.</p>
<p>The Second Amendment was meant to maintain public order, even an unjust order, rather than to empower the oppressed to take up arms against the government. That latter idea was a modern reinterpretation, a distortion of the history.</p>
<p>The revisionists who have transformed the meaning of the Second Amendment love to&#160;cite provocative comments by Thomas Jefferson, such as a quote from&#160; <a href="http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/tree-liberty-quotation" type="external">a 1787 letter</a>&#160;criticizing the Constitution for its commander-in-chief provisions.</p>
<p>Jefferson argued that violence, like Shays’s Rebellion, should be welcomed. He wrote, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s [sic] natural manure.”</p>
<p>Jefferson, of course, was&#160; <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2014/07/04/thomas-jefferson-americas-founding-sociopath/" type="external">a world-class hypocrite</a>&#160;who rarely believed what he was saying or writing. He crafted noble words, like “all men are created equal, … endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” but he was a major slaveholder who raped at least one and likely more slave girls and had slave boys whipped.</p>
<p>He also was never willing to risk his own blood as that “natural manure” of liberty. During the Revolutionary War when Benedict Arnold led a force of Loyalists against Richmond, Jefferson, who was then Virginia’s governor, fled the capital. Later, when British cavalry approached Charlottesville and his home of Monticello, Gov. Jefferson again took flight.</p>
<p>But more to the point, Jefferson was not a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, nor was he in the First Congress, which produced the Second Amendment. In other words, it’s a historical error to cite Jefferson in any way as speaking authoritatively about what the Framers intended with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. He was not directly involved in either.</p>
<p>A Collective Right</p>
<p>The real history of the Second Amendment was well understood both by citizens and courts in the generations after the Constitution and Bill of Rights were enacted. For most of the years of the Republic, the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the Second Amendment as a collective right, allowing Americans to participate in a “well-regulated Militia,” not an individual right to buy the latest weaponry at a gun show or stockpile&#160;a military-style arsenal&#160;in the basement.</p>
<p>It’s true that many Americans owned a musket or rifle in those early years especially on the frontier, but regulations on munitions were still common in cities where storing of gunpowder, for instance, represented a threat to the public safety.</p>
<p>As the nation spread westward, so did common-sense restrictions on gun violence. Sheriffs in&#160;some of the wildest of Wild West towns enforced gun bans that today would prompt a recall election financed by the National Rifle Association.</p>
<p>However, in recent decades — understanding the power of narrative on the human imagination — a resurgent American Right (and some on the Left) rewrote the&#160;history of the Founding era, dispatching “researchers” to cherry-pick or fabricate quotes from&#160;Revolutionary War leaders&#160;to create politically convenient illusions. [See, for instance, Steven Krulik’s&#160; <a href="http://kryo.com/2ndAmen/Quotes.htm" type="external">compilation&#160;</a>of&#160;apocryphal or out-of-context gun quotes.]</p>
<p>That bogus history gave rise to the image of the Framers as wild-eyed radicals – Leon Trotskys of the Eighteenth Century – encouraging armed rebellion against their own Republic. Rather than people who believed in the rule of law and social order, the Framers were contorted into crazies who wanted citizens to be empowered to shoot American police, soldiers, elected representatives and government officials as agents of “tyranny.”</p>
<p>This false history was advanced particularly by the American Right in the last half of the Twentieth Century as a kind of neo-Confederate call to arms, with the goal of rallying whites into a near-insurrectionary fury particularly in the South but also in rural areas of the North and West.</p>
<p>In the 1950s and 1960s, some white Southerners fancied themselves an armed resistance against the tyrannical federal government as it enforced laws on racial integration and other supposed infringements on “states’ rights.” In the 1990s, armed “citizens militias” began to pop up in reaction to the election of Democrat Bill Clinton, culminating in the Oklahoma City bombing of 1994.</p>
<p>While designed primarily for the weak-minded, the Right’s faux Founding history also had an impact on right-wing “intellectuals” including Republican lawyers who worked their way up through the federal judiciary under Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and now Donald Trump.</p>
<p>By 2008, these right-wing jurists held a majority on the U.S. Supreme Court and could thus overturn generations of legal precedents and declare that the Second Amendment established an individual right for Americans to own guns. Though even these five right-wing justices&#160;accepted society’s right to protect the general welfare of the population through some gun control, the Supreme Court’s ruling effectively “validated” the Right’s made-up history.</p>
<p>The ruling created a political dynamic to which even liberals in national politics — the likes of Barack Obama and Joe Biden — had to genuflect, the supposed Second Amendment right of Americans to parade around in public with guns on their hips and high-powered&#160;semi-automatic rifles slung over their shoulders.</p>
<p>What the Framers Wanted?</p>
<p>As guns-right activists struck down gun&#160;regulations in Congress and in statehouses across the nation, their dominant argument was that the Second Amendment offered no leeway for restrictions on gun ownership; it’s what the Framers wanted.</p>
<p>So, pretty much any unstable person could load up with a vast killing capacity and slouch off to a bar, to a work place, to a church, to a school or to a high-rise Las Vegas hotel and treat fellow Americans as targets in a real-life violent video game. Somehow, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was overtaken by the “right” to own an AR-15 with a 30-or-100-bullet magazine.</p>
<p>When right-wing politicians talk about the Second Amendment now, they don’t even bother to include the preamble that explains the point of the amendment. The entire amendment is only 26 words. But the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, find the preamble inconvenient because it would undercut their false storyline. So they just lop off the first 12 words.</p>
<p>Nor do they explain what the Framers meant by “bear arms.” The phrase reflected the reasoning in the Second Amendment’s preamble that the whole point was to create “well-regulated” state militias to maintain “security,” not to free up anybody with a beef to kill government officials or citizens of a disapproved race or creed or just random folks.</p>
<p>So, even after the massacre of 20 first-graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, Fox News personality Andrew Napolitano&#160; <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/10/the-right-to-shoot-tyrants-not-deer/" type="external">declared</a>: “The historical reality of the Second Amendment’s protection of the right to keep and bear arms is not that it protects the right to shoot deer. It protects the right to shoot tyrants, and it protects the right to shoot at them effectively, with the same instruments they would use upon us.”</p>
<p>At the time, the clear message from the Right was that armed Americans must confront the “tyrannical” Barack Obama, the twice-elected President of the United States (and the first African-American to hold that office) especially if he pressed ahead seeking common-sense gun restrictions. But Napolitano was simply wrong on the history.</p>
<p>Another dubious argument from the gun-rights lobby was that armed citizens could take down a gunman and thus stop a mass shooting before it became a full-fledged massacre.</p>
<p>But a gunfight among largely untrained civilians would likely add to the slaughter, not stop it. For instance, a 2012 mass shooting occurred in a darkened theater in Aurora, Colorado. Does anyone logically think that a bunch of terrified gun carriers exchanging fire in such a situation – not knowing who the original shooter was – would solve the problem?</p>
<p>And how about Sunday’s massacre in Las Vegas where the shooter positioned himself on the 32nd&#160;floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and fired down on a packed concert venue, a substantial distance away?</p>
<p>Assuming that the concertgoers were armed and tried to defend themselves, they would likely have ended up shooting other innocent concertgoers because of the initial confusion as to where the shooter was positioned. That would have further complicated the challenge to police who could have mistakenly opened fire on armed people in the crowd rather than locate and stop the original killer as he kept firing from his sniper’s perch. In other words, the horrific death toll could have been even higher.</p>
<p>To pretend that such carnage was the intent of the Constitution’s Framers, who wrote about achieving “domestic Tranquility,” or the goal of the First Congress, which drafted the Second Amendment to promote “the security of a free State,” is intellectually dishonest and a true threat to the lives of American citizens.</p>
<p>Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book,&#160;America’s Stolen Narrative,&#160;either in&#160; <a href="https://org.salsalabs.com/o/1868/t/12126/shop/shop.jsp?storefront_KEY=1037" type="external">print here</a>&#160;or as an e-book (from&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Stolen-Narrative-Washington-ebook/dp/B009RXXOIG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1350755575&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=americas+stolen+narrative" type="external">Amazon</a>&#160;and&#160; <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/americas-stolen-narrative?keyword=americas+stolen+narrative&amp;store=ebook&amp;iehack=%E2%98%A0" type="external">barnesandnoble.com</a>).</p> | How Second Amendment Distortions Kill | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/second-amendment-distortions-kill/ | 2017-10-06 | 4left
| How Second Amendment Distortions Kill
<p>Many politicians, especially those on the Right, pretend they are strictly adhering to the U.S. Constitution when they often are just&#160; <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2017/09/17/the-rights-made-up-constitution-5/" type="external">making the founding document mean whatever they want</a>&#160;– but perhaps nowhere is that as dangerous as with their make-believe Second Amendment.</p>
<p>In the wake of Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas—where one individual firing from a high-rise hotel murdered 58 people and wounded more than 500 at a country music festival—we are told that the reason the United States can’t do anything to stop this sort of carnage is the Second Amendment’s “right to bear arms.”</p>
<p>“Gun rights” advocates insist that pretty much any gun control violates the design of the Constitution’s Framers and thus can’t be enacted no matter how many innocent people die.</p>
<p>Some on the Right, as well as some on the Left, even claim that the Founders, as revolutionaries themselves, wanted an armed population so the people could rebel against the Republic, which the U.S. Constitution created.&#160;But the Constitution’s Framers in 1787 and the authors of the Bill of Rights in the First Congress in 1789 had no such intent.</p>
<p />
<p>Arguably other individuals disconnected from the drafting of those documents may have harbored such radical attitudes (at least rhetorically), but the authors didn’t. In fact, their intent was the opposite.</p>
<p>The goal of the Second Amendment was to promote state militias for the maintenance of order at a time of political unrest, potential slave revolts and simmering hostilities with both European powers and Native Americans on the frontiers. Indeed, the amendment’s defined purpose was to achieve state “security” against disruptions to the country’s new republican form of government.</p>
<p>The Second Amendment reads: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”</p>
<p>In other words, if read in context, it’s clear that the Second Amendment was enacted so each state would have the specific right to form “a well-regulated militia” to maintain “security,” i.e., to put down armed disorder and protect its citizens.</p>
<p>In the late Eighteenth Century, the meaning of “bearing” arms also referred to a citizen being part of a militia or army. It didn’t mean that an individual had the right to possess whatever number of high-capacity killing machines that he or she might want. Indeed, the most lethal weapon that early Americans owned was a slow-loading, single-fired musket or rifle.</p>
<p>No Anarchists</p>
<p>Further to the point, both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were the work of the Federalists, who—at the time—counted James Madison among their ranks.</p>
<p>And whatever one thinks about the Federalists, who often are criticized as elitists, they were the principal constitutional Framers and the leaders of the First Congress. They constituted the early national establishment, people such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris and Madison.</p>
<p>The Federalists feared that their new creation, a constitutional republic in an age of monarchies, was threatened by the potential for violent chaos, which is what European aristocrats predicted for the new United States. Democracy was a largely untested concept that was believed likely to fall victim to demagoguery and factionalism.</p>
<p>So, the Framers sought a political system that reflected the will of the citizens (the House of Representatives) but within a framework that constrained public passions (the Senate and other checks and balances). In other words, the Constitution sought to channel political disputes into non-violent competition among various interests, not into armed rebellions against the government.</p>
<p>The Framers also recognized how fragile the nation’s independence was and how domestic rebellions could be exploited by European powers. Indeed, one of the crises that led to the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787 was the inability of the old system under the Articles of Confederation to put down Shays’s Rebellion in western Massachusetts in 1786-87. Washington saw the possible hand of British agents.</p>
<p>So, the Federalists were seeking a structure that would ensure “domestic Tranquility,” as they explained in the Constitution’s Preamble. They did not want endless civil strife.</p>
<p>The whole idea of the Constitution—with its mix of voting (at least by some white male citizens), elected and appointed representatives,&#160;and checks and balances—was to create a political structure that made violence unnecessary.</p>
<p>So, it should be obvious even without knowing all the history that the Framers&#160;weren’t encouraging violent uprisings against the Republic that they were founding. To the contrary, they characterized violence against the constitutional system as “treason”&#160;in Article III, Section 3. They also committed the federal government to protect each state from “domestic Violence,”&#160;in&#160;Article IV, Section 4.</p>
<p>Putting Down Rebellion</p>
<p>One of the first uses of the new state militias formed under the Second Amendment and the Militia Acts, which required able-bodied men to report for duty with their own muskets, was for President Washington to lead a federalized force of militiamen against the Whiskey Rebellion, a tax revolt in western Pennsylvania in 1794.</p>
<p>In the South, one of the principal reasons for a militia was to rally armed whites to put down slave uprisings. On the frontier, militias fought against Native Americans over land. Militias also were called up to fight the British in the War of 1812.</p>
<p>But you don’t have to like or dislike how the Second Amendment and the Militia Acts were used to recognize how the Framers intended these legislative provisions to be used.</p>
<p>The Second Amendment was meant to maintain public order, even an unjust order, rather than to empower the oppressed to take up arms against the government. That latter idea was a modern reinterpretation, a distortion of the history.</p>
<p>The revisionists who have transformed the meaning of the Second Amendment love to&#160;cite provocative comments by Thomas Jefferson, such as a quote from&#160; <a href="http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/tree-liberty-quotation" type="external">a 1787 letter</a>&#160;criticizing the Constitution for its commander-in-chief provisions.</p>
<p>Jefferson argued that violence, like Shays’s Rebellion, should be welcomed. He wrote, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s [sic] natural manure.”</p>
<p>Jefferson, of course, was&#160; <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2014/07/04/thomas-jefferson-americas-founding-sociopath/" type="external">a world-class hypocrite</a>&#160;who rarely believed what he was saying or writing. He crafted noble words, like “all men are created equal, … endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” but he was a major slaveholder who raped at least one and likely more slave girls and had slave boys whipped.</p>
<p>He also was never willing to risk his own blood as that “natural manure” of liberty. During the Revolutionary War when Benedict Arnold led a force of Loyalists against Richmond, Jefferson, who was then Virginia’s governor, fled the capital. Later, when British cavalry approached Charlottesville and his home of Monticello, Gov. Jefferson again took flight.</p>
<p>But more to the point, Jefferson was not a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, nor was he in the First Congress, which produced the Second Amendment. In other words, it’s a historical error to cite Jefferson in any way as speaking authoritatively about what the Framers intended with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. He was not directly involved in either.</p>
<p>A Collective Right</p>
<p>The real history of the Second Amendment was well understood both by citizens and courts in the generations after the Constitution and Bill of Rights were enacted. For most of the years of the Republic, the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the Second Amendment as a collective right, allowing Americans to participate in a “well-regulated Militia,” not an individual right to buy the latest weaponry at a gun show or stockpile&#160;a military-style arsenal&#160;in the basement.</p>
<p>It’s true that many Americans owned a musket or rifle in those early years especially on the frontier, but regulations on munitions were still common in cities where storing of gunpowder, for instance, represented a threat to the public safety.</p>
<p>As the nation spread westward, so did common-sense restrictions on gun violence. Sheriffs in&#160;some of the wildest of Wild West towns enforced gun bans that today would prompt a recall election financed by the National Rifle Association.</p>
<p>However, in recent decades — understanding the power of narrative on the human imagination — a resurgent American Right (and some on the Left) rewrote the&#160;history of the Founding era, dispatching “researchers” to cherry-pick or fabricate quotes from&#160;Revolutionary War leaders&#160;to create politically convenient illusions. [See, for instance, Steven Krulik’s&#160; <a href="http://kryo.com/2ndAmen/Quotes.htm" type="external">compilation&#160;</a>of&#160;apocryphal or out-of-context gun quotes.]</p>
<p>That bogus history gave rise to the image of the Framers as wild-eyed radicals – Leon Trotskys of the Eighteenth Century – encouraging armed rebellion against their own Republic. Rather than people who believed in the rule of law and social order, the Framers were contorted into crazies who wanted citizens to be empowered to shoot American police, soldiers, elected representatives and government officials as agents of “tyranny.”</p>
<p>This false history was advanced particularly by the American Right in the last half of the Twentieth Century as a kind of neo-Confederate call to arms, with the goal of rallying whites into a near-insurrectionary fury particularly in the South but also in rural areas of the North and West.</p>
<p>In the 1950s and 1960s, some white Southerners fancied themselves an armed resistance against the tyrannical federal government as it enforced laws on racial integration and other supposed infringements on “states’ rights.” In the 1990s, armed “citizens militias” began to pop up in reaction to the election of Democrat Bill Clinton, culminating in the Oklahoma City bombing of 1994.</p>
<p>While designed primarily for the weak-minded, the Right’s faux Founding history also had an impact on right-wing “intellectuals” including Republican lawyers who worked their way up through the federal judiciary under Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and now Donald Trump.</p>
<p>By 2008, these right-wing jurists held a majority on the U.S. Supreme Court and could thus overturn generations of legal precedents and declare that the Second Amendment established an individual right for Americans to own guns. Though even these five right-wing justices&#160;accepted society’s right to protect the general welfare of the population through some gun control, the Supreme Court’s ruling effectively “validated” the Right’s made-up history.</p>
<p>The ruling created a political dynamic to which even liberals in national politics — the likes of Barack Obama and Joe Biden — had to genuflect, the supposed Second Amendment right of Americans to parade around in public with guns on their hips and high-powered&#160;semi-automatic rifles slung over their shoulders.</p>
<p>What the Framers Wanted?</p>
<p>As guns-right activists struck down gun&#160;regulations in Congress and in statehouses across the nation, their dominant argument was that the Second Amendment offered no leeway for restrictions on gun ownership; it’s what the Framers wanted.</p>
<p>So, pretty much any unstable person could load up with a vast killing capacity and slouch off to a bar, to a work place, to a church, to a school or to a high-rise Las Vegas hotel and treat fellow Americans as targets in a real-life violent video game. Somehow, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was overtaken by the “right” to own an AR-15 with a 30-or-100-bullet magazine.</p>
<p>When right-wing politicians talk about the Second Amendment now, they don’t even bother to include the preamble that explains the point of the amendment. The entire amendment is only 26 words. But the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, find the preamble inconvenient because it would undercut their false storyline. So they just lop off the first 12 words.</p>
<p>Nor do they explain what the Framers meant by “bear arms.” The phrase reflected the reasoning in the Second Amendment’s preamble that the whole point was to create “well-regulated” state militias to maintain “security,” not to free up anybody with a beef to kill government officials or citizens of a disapproved race or creed or just random folks.</p>
<p>So, even after the massacre of 20 first-graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, Fox News personality Andrew Napolitano&#160; <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/10/the-right-to-shoot-tyrants-not-deer/" type="external">declared</a>: “The historical reality of the Second Amendment’s protection of the right to keep and bear arms is not that it protects the right to shoot deer. It protects the right to shoot tyrants, and it protects the right to shoot at them effectively, with the same instruments they would use upon us.”</p>
<p>At the time, the clear message from the Right was that armed Americans must confront the “tyrannical” Barack Obama, the twice-elected President of the United States (and the first African-American to hold that office) especially if he pressed ahead seeking common-sense gun restrictions. But Napolitano was simply wrong on the history.</p>
<p>Another dubious argument from the gun-rights lobby was that armed citizens could take down a gunman and thus stop a mass shooting before it became a full-fledged massacre.</p>
<p>But a gunfight among largely untrained civilians would likely add to the slaughter, not stop it. For instance, a 2012 mass shooting occurred in a darkened theater in Aurora, Colorado. Does anyone logically think that a bunch of terrified gun carriers exchanging fire in such a situation – not knowing who the original shooter was – would solve the problem?</p>
<p>And how about Sunday’s massacre in Las Vegas where the shooter positioned himself on the 32nd&#160;floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and fired down on a packed concert venue, a substantial distance away?</p>
<p>Assuming that the concertgoers were armed and tried to defend themselves, they would likely have ended up shooting other innocent concertgoers because of the initial confusion as to where the shooter was positioned. That would have further complicated the challenge to police who could have mistakenly opened fire on armed people in the crowd rather than locate and stop the original killer as he kept firing from his sniper’s perch. In other words, the horrific death toll could have been even higher.</p>
<p>To pretend that such carnage was the intent of the Constitution’s Framers, who wrote about achieving “domestic Tranquility,” or the goal of the First Congress, which drafted the Second Amendment to promote “the security of a free State,” is intellectually dishonest and a true threat to the lives of American citizens.</p>
<p>Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book,&#160;America’s Stolen Narrative,&#160;either in&#160; <a href="https://org.salsalabs.com/o/1868/t/12126/shop/shop.jsp?storefront_KEY=1037" type="external">print here</a>&#160;or as an e-book (from&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Stolen-Narrative-Washington-ebook/dp/B009RXXOIG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1350755575&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=americas+stolen+narrative" type="external">Amazon</a>&#160;and&#160; <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/americas-stolen-narrative?keyword=americas+stolen+narrative&amp;store=ebook&amp;iehack=%E2%98%A0" type="external">barnesandnoble.com</a>).</p> | 599,268 |
<p>YORK (SC)Charleston Post &amp; CourierAssociated Press</p>
<p>YORK--A Roman Catholic priest has pleaded guilty to lewd acts on a 5-year-old girl in his Hispanic ministry.</p>
<p>The Rev. Juan Carlos Castano, 44, was sentenced Friday to two years in prison and two years' probation after he told Judge John C. Hayes III he acted inappropriately with the girl at her Rock Hill home in 2000.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>After the incident, the girl told her 10-year-old brother, who promptly told his mother. The victim's family reported the incident in February 2002 after the local parish circulated a questionnaire about how Castano's work among the area's Hispanic Catholics could be improved.</p>
<p>Assistant prosecutor Willie Thompson said once the victim's family came forward with the allegations, the Charleston Diocese hired a private investigator, to whom Castano admitted his actions.</p>
<p>The investigator then reported the incident to Rock Hill police.</p> | Priest gets 2-year term for sexual abuse of girl | false | https://poynter.org/news/priest-gets-2-year-term-sexual-abuse-girl | 2003-04-13 | 2least
| Priest gets 2-year term for sexual abuse of girl
<p>YORK (SC)Charleston Post &amp; CourierAssociated Press</p>
<p>YORK--A Roman Catholic priest has pleaded guilty to lewd acts on a 5-year-old girl in his Hispanic ministry.</p>
<p>The Rev. Juan Carlos Castano, 44, was sentenced Friday to two years in prison and two years' probation after he told Judge John C. Hayes III he acted inappropriately with the girl at her Rock Hill home in 2000.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>After the incident, the girl told her 10-year-old brother, who promptly told his mother. The victim's family reported the incident in February 2002 after the local parish circulated a questionnaire about how Castano's work among the area's Hispanic Catholics could be improved.</p>
<p>Assistant prosecutor Willie Thompson said once the victim's family came forward with the allegations, the Charleston Diocese hired a private investigator, to whom Castano admitted his actions.</p>
<p>The investigator then reported the incident to Rock Hill police.</p> | 599,269 |
<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ These Tennessee lotteries were drawn Tuesday:</p>
<p>Cash 3 Evening</p>
<p>1-5-0, Lucky Sum: 6</p>
<p>(one, five, zero; Lucky Sum: six)</p>
<p>Cash 3 Midday</p>
<p>0-3-1, Lucky Sum: 4</p>
<p>(zero, three, one; Lucky Sum: four)</p>
<p>Cash 3 Morning</p>
<p>8-7-0, Lucky Sum: 15</p>
<p>(eight, seven, zero; Lucky Sum: fifteen)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Evening</p>
<p>3-3-6-7, Lucky Sum: 19</p>
<p>(three, three, six, seven; Lucky Sum: nineteen)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Midday</p>
<p>4-6-7-1, Lucky Sum: 18</p>
<p>(four, six, seven, one; Lucky Sum: eighteen)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Morning</p>
<p>9-8-9-1, Lucky Sum: 27</p>
<p>(nine, eight, nine, one; Lucky Sum: twenty-seven)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>03-11-23-29-59, Mega Ball: 18, Megaplier: 3</p>
<p>(three, eleven, twenty-three, twenty-nine, fifty-nine; Mega Ball: eighteen; Megaplier: three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $50 million</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $62 million</p>
<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ These Tennessee lotteries were drawn Tuesday:</p>
<p>Cash 3 Evening</p>
<p>1-5-0, Lucky Sum: 6</p>
<p>(one, five, zero; Lucky Sum: six)</p>
<p>Cash 3 Midday</p>
<p>0-3-1, Lucky Sum: 4</p>
<p>(zero, three, one; Lucky Sum: four)</p>
<p>Cash 3 Morning</p>
<p>8-7-0, Lucky Sum: 15</p>
<p>(eight, seven, zero; Lucky Sum: fifteen)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Evening</p>
<p>3-3-6-7, Lucky Sum: 19</p>
<p>(three, three, six, seven; Lucky Sum: nineteen)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Midday</p>
<p>4-6-7-1, Lucky Sum: 18</p>
<p>(four, six, seven, one; Lucky Sum: eighteen)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Morning</p>
<p>9-8-9-1, Lucky Sum: 27</p>
<p>(nine, eight, nine, one; Lucky Sum: twenty-seven)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>03-11-23-29-59, Mega Ball: 18, Megaplier: 3</p>
<p>(three, eleven, twenty-three, twenty-nine, fifty-nine; Mega Ball: eighteen; Megaplier: three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $50 million</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $62 million</p> | TN Lottery | false | https://apnews.com/amp/795ea327b8ca4b7a849299e3e47f35d2 | 2018-01-17 | 2least
| TN Lottery
<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ These Tennessee lotteries were drawn Tuesday:</p>
<p>Cash 3 Evening</p>
<p>1-5-0, Lucky Sum: 6</p>
<p>(one, five, zero; Lucky Sum: six)</p>
<p>Cash 3 Midday</p>
<p>0-3-1, Lucky Sum: 4</p>
<p>(zero, three, one; Lucky Sum: four)</p>
<p>Cash 3 Morning</p>
<p>8-7-0, Lucky Sum: 15</p>
<p>(eight, seven, zero; Lucky Sum: fifteen)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Evening</p>
<p>3-3-6-7, Lucky Sum: 19</p>
<p>(three, three, six, seven; Lucky Sum: nineteen)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Midday</p>
<p>4-6-7-1, Lucky Sum: 18</p>
<p>(four, six, seven, one; Lucky Sum: eighteen)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Morning</p>
<p>9-8-9-1, Lucky Sum: 27</p>
<p>(nine, eight, nine, one; Lucky Sum: twenty-seven)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>03-11-23-29-59, Mega Ball: 18, Megaplier: 3</p>
<p>(three, eleven, twenty-three, twenty-nine, fifty-nine; Mega Ball: eighteen; Megaplier: three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $50 million</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $62 million</p>
<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ These Tennessee lotteries were drawn Tuesday:</p>
<p>Cash 3 Evening</p>
<p>1-5-0, Lucky Sum: 6</p>
<p>(one, five, zero; Lucky Sum: six)</p>
<p>Cash 3 Midday</p>
<p>0-3-1, Lucky Sum: 4</p>
<p>(zero, three, one; Lucky Sum: four)</p>
<p>Cash 3 Morning</p>
<p>8-7-0, Lucky Sum: 15</p>
<p>(eight, seven, zero; Lucky Sum: fifteen)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Evening</p>
<p>3-3-6-7, Lucky Sum: 19</p>
<p>(three, three, six, seven; Lucky Sum: nineteen)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Midday</p>
<p>4-6-7-1, Lucky Sum: 18</p>
<p>(four, six, seven, one; Lucky Sum: eighteen)</p>
<p>Cash 4 Morning</p>
<p>9-8-9-1, Lucky Sum: 27</p>
<p>(nine, eight, nine, one; Lucky Sum: twenty-seven)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>03-11-23-29-59, Mega Ball: 18, Megaplier: 3</p>
<p>(three, eleven, twenty-three, twenty-nine, fifty-nine; Mega Ball: eighteen; Megaplier: three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $50 million</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $62 million</p> | 599,270 |
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.timesatlas.com/Pages/default.aspx" type="external" />The Times Atlas still stands by its map showing Greenland ice cover in 1999 (left) and 2011 (right). Credit: The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World.I posted <a href="" type="internal">here</a> last week on the latest edition of the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World and their accompanying statement claiming a 15 percent reduction in ice over in Greenland in the past 12 years. Almost immediately, glaciologists and climatologists challenged the data. HarperCollins stood by their work, saying it was based on the findings of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).</p>
<p>Not so, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/20/times-atlas-incorrect-greenland" type="external">said</a> the NSIDC:</p>
<p>“[We have] never released a specific number for Greenland ice loss over the past decade…The loss of ice from Greenland is far less than the Times Atlas brochure indicates.”</p>
<p>Today the Times Atlas issued a <a href="http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/News_and_Events/News/Pages/Clarification-on-The-Times-Comprehensive-Atlas-of-the-World-13th-edition.aspx" type="external">mea culpa</a>:</p>
<p>For the launch of the latest edition of the atlas… we issued a press release which unfortunately has been misleading with regard to the Greenland statistics. We came to these statistics by comparing the extent of the ice cap between the 10th and 13th editions (1999 vs 2011) of the atlas. The conclusion that was drawn from this, that 15% of Greenland’s once permanent ice cover has had to be erased, was highlighted in the press release not in the Atlas itself. This was done without consulting the scientific community and was incorrect.&#160; We apologize for this and will seek the advice of scientists on any future public statements. We stand by the accuracy of the maps in this and all other editions of The Times Atlas.</p>
<p>HarperCollins stands by their map. But researchers don’t. Nature News <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110920/full/news.2011.547.html" type="external">reports</a>:</p>
<p>Poul Christoffersen, glaciologist at the Scott Polar Research Institute, said he and fellow researchers had examined the atlas and found that “a sizeable portion of the area mapped as ice-free in the Atlas is clearly still ice-covered”.</p>
<p>A better image for the Times Atlas might have been this NASA Earth Observatory <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=49338" type="external">map</a> (below) showing the number of days in Greenland in 2010 that temperatures rose high enough for ice to melt, compared to the average melt-days in the period between 1979 and 2009.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=49338" type="external" />Number of melt days per year in 2010 compared to average of 1979-2009. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Robert Simmon, based on data from Marco Tedesco, City College of New York.By the end of the 2010, large swathes of southern Greenland had set a new record—with melting that lasted 50 days longer than average.</p>
<p>As for the 13th edition of the Times Atlas, get ’em while they last, collectors. Someday this flawed atlas will be one helluva a prize.</p>
<p /> | The Incredible Shrinking Times Atlas Reputation | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/incredible-shrinking-times-atlas-reputation/ | 2011-09-20 | 4left
| The Incredible Shrinking Times Atlas Reputation
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.timesatlas.com/Pages/default.aspx" type="external" />The Times Atlas still stands by its map showing Greenland ice cover in 1999 (left) and 2011 (right). Credit: The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World.I posted <a href="" type="internal">here</a> last week on the latest edition of the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World and their accompanying statement claiming a 15 percent reduction in ice over in Greenland in the past 12 years. Almost immediately, glaciologists and climatologists challenged the data. HarperCollins stood by their work, saying it was based on the findings of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).</p>
<p>Not so, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/20/times-atlas-incorrect-greenland" type="external">said</a> the NSIDC:</p>
<p>“[We have] never released a specific number for Greenland ice loss over the past decade…The loss of ice from Greenland is far less than the Times Atlas brochure indicates.”</p>
<p>Today the Times Atlas issued a <a href="http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/News_and_Events/News/Pages/Clarification-on-The-Times-Comprehensive-Atlas-of-the-World-13th-edition.aspx" type="external">mea culpa</a>:</p>
<p>For the launch of the latest edition of the atlas… we issued a press release which unfortunately has been misleading with regard to the Greenland statistics. We came to these statistics by comparing the extent of the ice cap between the 10th and 13th editions (1999 vs 2011) of the atlas. The conclusion that was drawn from this, that 15% of Greenland’s once permanent ice cover has had to be erased, was highlighted in the press release not in the Atlas itself. This was done without consulting the scientific community and was incorrect.&#160; We apologize for this and will seek the advice of scientists on any future public statements. We stand by the accuracy of the maps in this and all other editions of The Times Atlas.</p>
<p>HarperCollins stands by their map. But researchers don’t. Nature News <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110920/full/news.2011.547.html" type="external">reports</a>:</p>
<p>Poul Christoffersen, glaciologist at the Scott Polar Research Institute, said he and fellow researchers had examined the atlas and found that “a sizeable portion of the area mapped as ice-free in the Atlas is clearly still ice-covered”.</p>
<p>A better image for the Times Atlas might have been this NASA Earth Observatory <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=49338" type="external">map</a> (below) showing the number of days in Greenland in 2010 that temperatures rose high enough for ice to melt, compared to the average melt-days in the period between 1979 and 2009.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=49338" type="external" />Number of melt days per year in 2010 compared to average of 1979-2009. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Robert Simmon, based on data from Marco Tedesco, City College of New York.By the end of the 2010, large swathes of southern Greenland had set a new record—with melting that lasted 50 days longer than average.</p>
<p>As for the 13th edition of the Times Atlas, get ’em while they last, collectors. Someday this flawed atlas will be one helluva a prize.</p>
<p /> | 599,271 |
<p><a href="https://z5h64q92x9.net/proxy_u/ru-en.en/https/colonelcassad.livejournal.com/3661332.html" type="external">https://z5h64q92x9.net/proxy_u/ru-en.en/https/colonelcassad.livejournal.com/3661332.html</a></p>
<p />
<p>General Suhail on the position of the SAA in the area of 137th military base. You can expect a historic joint photo with Suhail Zahreddine. <a type="external" href="" /></p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Below, the 5th Legion in Deir ez-Zor.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Escort products from HOMS to Deir-ez-Zor.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>The irony of fate. About a year ago, in September 2016 on the agenda was a transport corridor of fighters Rampage through which the militants tried to improve the supply of Aleppo encirclement.</p>
<p>A year has passed. Aleppo liberated and the SAA shall supply Deir ez-Zor on the ground.</p>
<p>Plus there is another description of the final details of the fighting for the breakthrough deblokady.</p>
<p>A day after the breakout of the Syrian government forces to the base of the 137th brigade in Deir ez - Zor, became known some details of the operation. 4 September 2017 part of the 17th division and the 5th army corps came to the small village of Thar al-faqih about 6 km from the military base. North - West of this settlement there was an attempt a massive counter attack by the militants territory. groups. "Islamic state" (IG, is prohibited in Russia).</p>
<p>According to local sources, terrorists have used up to 10 car bombs and infantry fighting vehicles, as well as a group "inimacy" with suicide belts. As a result of operational Russian air strikes, artillery and anti-tank calculations, almost all Jihad-mobiles were destroyed. Russian defense Ministry has reported about the elimination of "more than 50 Jihad-mobile terrorists."</p>
<p>From the evening of 4 September, the command of the advancing 17th division and the defenders of the base of the 137th brigade had established a direct radio contact and began to coordinate their actions in real time. On the morning of September 5 positions opened fire, the army artillery, but it turned out that the terrorists also focused plenty of firepower on the heights of the plateau of the Jebel al-tarda (Turda) and near the settlement Ayyash (Iasia to the North-West of Deir ez-Zor).</p>
<p>The artillery duel lasted more than three hours, but the advantage was on the side of the army. For suppression of firing positions of the enemy, the Syrians used a heavy artillery (approx. 150-200 mm.), which literally blew the firing point of the IG at the height of the tel Krum. In addition, artillery positions and fortifications, attacked the Russian aircraft and the frigate "Admiral Essen".</p>
<p>In the afternoon, advance elements of the 17th division, special forces "Tiger" backed by tanks and led by a demining machine were able to walk to the base of the 137th brigade, where they met with its defenders. The attempt of ISIS to counterattack in the region of the oil fields in al - Mazra (South-West base of the 137th brigade.) failed. In the evening the Syrian command announced the beginning of the second phase of the offensive, which involves the release of a military airfield and the release of all of the city of Deir ez-Zor. Around 16:00 local time the fighting started in urban areas, Al-Sinaa and Jafri, which lasted until late in the evening. The Syrian military also tried to attack the positions of terrorists in the area of the cemetery, but the results of this attack are still unknown.</p>
<p>The second group is the Syrian army advancing in Deir-ez-Zor from the South (on the road from Al-Sukhna) met fierce resistance fighters North of the settlement of Al-Shula and move to the city could not. During the day, both sides reported on its success and the losses of the enemy in the area. Reliable information about the situation here yet.</p>
<p><a href="https://z5h64q92x9.net/proxy_u/ru-en.en/warsonline.info/siriia/novosti/siriia/deir5-09-17-20-5.html" type="external">http://warsonline.info/siriia/novosti/siriia/deir5-09-17-20-5.html</a> zinc <a type="external" href="" /></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Attempts of militants to counter-attack from the South-East were repulsed, and the SAA, in turn, consolidated control over the villages located near the road Palmyra-Sukhna-Deir-ez-Zor.</p>
<p>In "Analysis"</p>
<p>On the morning of 5 September the main forces of the Northern group of the SAA has closed the last 2 kilometers to the positions of the SAA in the area of 137th base and now officially confirm the release of the enclave, although the special forces arrived 2 days?</p>
<p>In "Analysis"</p>
<p>For SAA, the occupation of the oasis Sukhna will have important operational value, as the capture of Sukhna opens the way for the assault in the province of Deir ez-Zor, where an oasis can be intermediate rear base that will be necessary as you move along the road of HOMS?</p>
<p>In "Analysis"</p> | General Suhail Suhail in Deir ez-zor | Colonel Cassad | true | https://4threvolutionarywar.wordpress.com/2017/09/07/general-suhail-suhail-in-deir-ez-zor-colonel-cassad/ | 2017-09-07 | 4left
| General Suhail Suhail in Deir ez-zor | Colonel Cassad
<p><a href="https://z5h64q92x9.net/proxy_u/ru-en.en/https/colonelcassad.livejournal.com/3661332.html" type="external">https://z5h64q92x9.net/proxy_u/ru-en.en/https/colonelcassad.livejournal.com/3661332.html</a></p>
<p />
<p>General Suhail on the position of the SAA in the area of 137th military base. You can expect a historic joint photo with Suhail Zahreddine. <a type="external" href="" /></p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Below, the 5th Legion in Deir ez-Zor.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Escort products from HOMS to Deir-ez-Zor.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>The irony of fate. About a year ago, in September 2016 on the agenda was a transport corridor of fighters Rampage through which the militants tried to improve the supply of Aleppo encirclement.</p>
<p>A year has passed. Aleppo liberated and the SAA shall supply Deir ez-Zor on the ground.</p>
<p>Plus there is another description of the final details of the fighting for the breakthrough deblokady.</p>
<p>A day after the breakout of the Syrian government forces to the base of the 137th brigade in Deir ez - Zor, became known some details of the operation. 4 September 2017 part of the 17th division and the 5th army corps came to the small village of Thar al-faqih about 6 km from the military base. North - West of this settlement there was an attempt a massive counter attack by the militants territory. groups. "Islamic state" (IG, is prohibited in Russia).</p>
<p>According to local sources, terrorists have used up to 10 car bombs and infantry fighting vehicles, as well as a group "inimacy" with suicide belts. As a result of operational Russian air strikes, artillery and anti-tank calculations, almost all Jihad-mobiles were destroyed. Russian defense Ministry has reported about the elimination of "more than 50 Jihad-mobile terrorists."</p>
<p>From the evening of 4 September, the command of the advancing 17th division and the defenders of the base of the 137th brigade had established a direct radio contact and began to coordinate their actions in real time. On the morning of September 5 positions opened fire, the army artillery, but it turned out that the terrorists also focused plenty of firepower on the heights of the plateau of the Jebel al-tarda (Turda) and near the settlement Ayyash (Iasia to the North-West of Deir ez-Zor).</p>
<p>The artillery duel lasted more than three hours, but the advantage was on the side of the army. For suppression of firing positions of the enemy, the Syrians used a heavy artillery (approx. 150-200 mm.), which literally blew the firing point of the IG at the height of the tel Krum. In addition, artillery positions and fortifications, attacked the Russian aircraft and the frigate "Admiral Essen".</p>
<p>In the afternoon, advance elements of the 17th division, special forces "Tiger" backed by tanks and led by a demining machine were able to walk to the base of the 137th brigade, where they met with its defenders. The attempt of ISIS to counterattack in the region of the oil fields in al - Mazra (South-West base of the 137th brigade.) failed. In the evening the Syrian command announced the beginning of the second phase of the offensive, which involves the release of a military airfield and the release of all of the city of Deir ez-Zor. Around 16:00 local time the fighting started in urban areas, Al-Sinaa and Jafri, which lasted until late in the evening. The Syrian military also tried to attack the positions of terrorists in the area of the cemetery, but the results of this attack are still unknown.</p>
<p>The second group is the Syrian army advancing in Deir-ez-Zor from the South (on the road from Al-Sukhna) met fierce resistance fighters North of the settlement of Al-Shula and move to the city could not. During the day, both sides reported on its success and the losses of the enemy in the area. Reliable information about the situation here yet.</p>
<p><a href="https://z5h64q92x9.net/proxy_u/ru-en.en/warsonline.info/siriia/novosti/siriia/deir5-09-17-20-5.html" type="external">http://warsonline.info/siriia/novosti/siriia/deir5-09-17-20-5.html</a> zinc <a type="external" href="" /></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Attempts of militants to counter-attack from the South-East were repulsed, and the SAA, in turn, consolidated control over the villages located near the road Palmyra-Sukhna-Deir-ez-Zor.</p>
<p>In "Analysis"</p>
<p>On the morning of 5 September the main forces of the Northern group of the SAA has closed the last 2 kilometers to the positions of the SAA in the area of 137th base and now officially confirm the release of the enclave, although the special forces arrived 2 days?</p>
<p>In "Analysis"</p>
<p>For SAA, the occupation of the oasis Sukhna will have important operational value, as the capture of Sukhna opens the way for the assault in the province of Deir ez-Zor, where an oasis can be intermediate rear base that will be necessary as you move along the road of HOMS?</p>
<p>In "Analysis"</p> | 599,272 |
<p>The United Nations’ (UN) top human rights official is urging Congress to give Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program recipients lasting legal status in the U.S.</p>
<p>“I hope Congress will now act to provide former DACA beneficiaries with durable legal status,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said Monday, according to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-un/u-n-rights-boss-urges-u-s-congress-to-give-dreamers-legal-status-idUSKCN1BM0VE" type="external">Reuters</a>.</p>
<p>“I am disturbed by the increase in detentions and deportations of well-established and law-abiding immigrants,” he additionally told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.</p>
<p>DACA temporarily shields immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children from deportation.</p>
<p>“Dreamers,” or those who receive DACA benefits, can also apply for a renewable work permit every two years as part of the controversial measure.</p>
<p>Former President Obama implemented DACA in 2012, and nearly 800,000 people have since become recipients of the program.</p>
<p>Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this month announced that President Trump’s administration would phase out DACA during the next six months.</p>
<p>Trump released a statement later the same day characterizing Obama’s implementation of the program as an overreach of presidential power.</p>
<p>“There can be no path to principled immigration reform if the executive branch is able to rewrite or nullify federal laws at will,” he said.</p>
<p>“As I’ve said before, we will resolve the DACA issue with heart and compassion – but through the lawful Democratic process – while at the same time ensuring that any immigration reform we adopt provides enduring benefits for the American citizens we were elected to serve.”</p>
<p>Trump has since repeatedly urged Congress to address DACA during the program’s wind-down period.</p>
<p>Critics have argued that ending DACA may unfairly leave those who entered the U.S. as children subject to deportation.</p>
<p>Supporters of ending the measure have countered, however, that Obama’s creation of the program marked a significant overreach past the president’s powers.</p> | The UN’s human rights boss told Congress to give ‘Dreamers’ legal status | false | https://circa.com/story/2017/09/11/world/daca-un-human-rights-boss-tells-congress-to-give-dreamers-legal-status | 2017-09-11 | 1right-center
| The UN’s human rights boss told Congress to give ‘Dreamers’ legal status
<p>The United Nations’ (UN) top human rights official is urging Congress to give Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program recipients lasting legal status in the U.S.</p>
<p>“I hope Congress will now act to provide former DACA beneficiaries with durable legal status,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said Monday, according to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-un/u-n-rights-boss-urges-u-s-congress-to-give-dreamers-legal-status-idUSKCN1BM0VE" type="external">Reuters</a>.</p>
<p>“I am disturbed by the increase in detentions and deportations of well-established and law-abiding immigrants,” he additionally told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.</p>
<p>DACA temporarily shields immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children from deportation.</p>
<p>“Dreamers,” or those who receive DACA benefits, can also apply for a renewable work permit every two years as part of the controversial measure.</p>
<p>Former President Obama implemented DACA in 2012, and nearly 800,000 people have since become recipients of the program.</p>
<p>Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this month announced that President Trump’s administration would phase out DACA during the next six months.</p>
<p>Trump released a statement later the same day characterizing Obama’s implementation of the program as an overreach of presidential power.</p>
<p>“There can be no path to principled immigration reform if the executive branch is able to rewrite or nullify federal laws at will,” he said.</p>
<p>“As I’ve said before, we will resolve the DACA issue with heart and compassion – but through the lawful Democratic process – while at the same time ensuring that any immigration reform we adopt provides enduring benefits for the American citizens we were elected to serve.”</p>
<p>Trump has since repeatedly urged Congress to address DACA during the program’s wind-down period.</p>
<p>Critics have argued that ending DACA may unfairly leave those who entered the U.S. as children subject to deportation.</p>
<p>Supporters of ending the measure have countered, however, that Obama’s creation of the program marked a significant overreach past the president’s powers.</p> | 599,273 |
<p>Photo by flickr user &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/capnsurly/2461095922/" target="blank"&gt;Cap'n Surly&lt;/a&gt; used under a Creative Commons license</p>
<p />
<p>P.T. Barnum may have coined the phrase “There’s a sucker born every minute,” but Wall Street titans have leveraged that principle and banked it in the Caymans. And don’t think that the recent stimulus package provision aimed at reining in CEO compensation is going to stop them.</p>
<p>Recently, President Barack Obama, tapping into a source of public fury, decried the “shameful” excesses of Wall Street and proposed capping the cash component of executive compensation at $500,000 for those running firms set to receive money under the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and other federal bailout initiatives. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also blasted big bonuses when he introduced a light-on-details plan for the next phase of the Wall Street bailout. And Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), chair of the Senate banking committee, tucked compensation constraints for the top 5 senior executives and 20 highest paid employees at firms receiving more than $500 million in TARP money into the stimulus package. (Meanwhile, though, he removed Obama’s pay cap idea, opting instead to restrain bonus compensation until TARP funds are repaid.)</p>
<p>But all this is window dressing, for Wall Street will, in all likelihood, still find imaginative ways to hand its execs huge sums of money in the years to come.</p>
<p>Cash typically comprises only a small percentage of an executive’s compensation package. Thus, it’s no hardship for Wall Street execs worth millions to forgo a year or two of bonuses to get the government off their backs. Ask former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. In 2005, while serving as the CEO of Goldman Sachs, he received just $600,000 in cash—but $38 million in other forms of compensation, such as $30.1 million in restricted shares and 220,000 stock options. (His car and driver cost almost $154,000 that year, a bargain compared to Tom Daschle’s limo expenses of $182,520.)</p>
<p>Currently, in the media and parts of the government, a twisted line of reasoning persists that warns against attaching too many strings—like compensation caps—to the TARP funds. The argument goes that doing so will reduce the talent pool available to the Street or make institutions too nervous to seek government assistance when they need it.</p>
<p>Whatever action the government takes on executive compensation, Wall Street is anticipating a weak bonus year for 2009, and probably for 2010 as well. First, anyone who can evaluate a decaying asset at all knows that the banking system will deteriorate further in the near term. Second, banks still owe money they borrowed using their inferior assets as collateral.</p>
<p>Yet once all that’s out of the way, bonuses will rebound. They always do. Over the past three decades, there have been four periods of decreased bonuses, which were inevitably followed by increases that made up for the declines. During the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s, 747 banks were shuttered, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation went bust, and the Resolution Trust Corporation swooped in to collect bad (mostly real estate) assets. Ultimately, this rescue cost the American public half a trillion dollars. Wall Street bonuses were down 21.3 percent in 1988 from 1987 levels. By 1991, though, bonuses doubled from the previous year. Similarly, in 1994, during the Mexican peso crisis, Wall Street bonuses were cut 15.7 percent, only to bounce back 26.8 percent the following year.</p>
<p>The pattern repeated in 1998 when, during the Russian debt crisis, the Federal Reserve bailed out the hedge fund Long Term Capital Management to the tune of $3.65 billion. Wall Street cut bonuses by 18.8 percent. They jumped 48.5 percent the next year.</p>
<p>In late 2001 and 2002 came the triple play of the Enron and WorldCom scandals, a recession caused by a spate of corporate bankruptcies, and a nervous post-9/11 stock market. Bonuses dropped 33.5 percent and 25 percent, respectively, during those two years. By 2004, they zoomed back to pre-recession levels.</p>
<p>Bonuses nearly doubled over the next two years as subprime assets, collateralized debt obligations, and credit derivatives fueled the market. In 2006, a record year for Wall Street profits, bonuses reached new highs. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who led the group of supposedly contrite CEOs who testified before Rep. Barney Frank’s banking committee last week, bagged more than $110 million for 2006 and 2007.</p>
<p>Last year, bonuses shrank by 44 percent, but fell only to 2004 levels—and Wall Street still managed to reward employees with $18.4 billion. This despite a complete Wall Street meltdown, the near-fatal condition of the country’s largest bank (Citigroup), the collapse of two major investment banks (Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns), and the immensely reckless merger of Merrill Lynch into a terminal Bank of America. In the Merrill Lynch-BoA deal, former Merrill CEO John Thain grabbed a $15 million signing bonus and other perks, and he paid $4 billion in year-end bonuses to Merrill Lynch employees before the merger went through.</p>
<p>Regardless of the strictures that might be placed on Wall Street bonuses in the future, there are multiple ways for corporate leaders to get around cash caps by using restricted shares, offshore companies, and other devices.</p>
<p>To ensure that executive compensation is in line with the public interest, it ought to be taxed or constrained in every possible form. And to stop the Wall Street bleeding from further infecting the entire economy, we ought to make banks disclose all their positions rather than talk about future transparency and “stress testing.” The next step is to divide firms dealing with public deposits and loans from other financial institutions—and only give the traditional banks federal assistance (and make renegotiation of residential home loans mandatory). It would be like reinstituting the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which created a wall between banks that collect deposits and make loans and those institutions that engage in other, more speculative financial endeavors. That system worked pretty well until its bipartisan death in 1999. It could work once again.</p>
<p /> | Bonus Bull | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/02/bonus-bull/ | 2009-02-17 | 4left
| Bonus Bull
<p>Photo by flickr user &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/capnsurly/2461095922/" target="blank"&gt;Cap'n Surly&lt;/a&gt; used under a Creative Commons license</p>
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<p>P.T. Barnum may have coined the phrase “There’s a sucker born every minute,” but Wall Street titans have leveraged that principle and banked it in the Caymans. And don’t think that the recent stimulus package provision aimed at reining in CEO compensation is going to stop them.</p>
<p>Recently, President Barack Obama, tapping into a source of public fury, decried the “shameful” excesses of Wall Street and proposed capping the cash component of executive compensation at $500,000 for those running firms set to receive money under the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and other federal bailout initiatives. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also blasted big bonuses when he introduced a light-on-details plan for the next phase of the Wall Street bailout. And Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), chair of the Senate banking committee, tucked compensation constraints for the top 5 senior executives and 20 highest paid employees at firms receiving more than $500 million in TARP money into the stimulus package. (Meanwhile, though, he removed Obama’s pay cap idea, opting instead to restrain bonus compensation until TARP funds are repaid.)</p>
<p>But all this is window dressing, for Wall Street will, in all likelihood, still find imaginative ways to hand its execs huge sums of money in the years to come.</p>
<p>Cash typically comprises only a small percentage of an executive’s compensation package. Thus, it’s no hardship for Wall Street execs worth millions to forgo a year or two of bonuses to get the government off their backs. Ask former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. In 2005, while serving as the CEO of Goldman Sachs, he received just $600,000 in cash—but $38 million in other forms of compensation, such as $30.1 million in restricted shares and 220,000 stock options. (His car and driver cost almost $154,000 that year, a bargain compared to Tom Daschle’s limo expenses of $182,520.)</p>
<p>Currently, in the media and parts of the government, a twisted line of reasoning persists that warns against attaching too many strings—like compensation caps—to the TARP funds. The argument goes that doing so will reduce the talent pool available to the Street or make institutions too nervous to seek government assistance when they need it.</p>
<p>Whatever action the government takes on executive compensation, Wall Street is anticipating a weak bonus year for 2009, and probably for 2010 as well. First, anyone who can evaluate a decaying asset at all knows that the banking system will deteriorate further in the near term. Second, banks still owe money they borrowed using their inferior assets as collateral.</p>
<p>Yet once all that’s out of the way, bonuses will rebound. They always do. Over the past three decades, there have been four periods of decreased bonuses, which were inevitably followed by increases that made up for the declines. During the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s, 747 banks were shuttered, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation went bust, and the Resolution Trust Corporation swooped in to collect bad (mostly real estate) assets. Ultimately, this rescue cost the American public half a trillion dollars. Wall Street bonuses were down 21.3 percent in 1988 from 1987 levels. By 1991, though, bonuses doubled from the previous year. Similarly, in 1994, during the Mexican peso crisis, Wall Street bonuses were cut 15.7 percent, only to bounce back 26.8 percent the following year.</p>
<p>The pattern repeated in 1998 when, during the Russian debt crisis, the Federal Reserve bailed out the hedge fund Long Term Capital Management to the tune of $3.65 billion. Wall Street cut bonuses by 18.8 percent. They jumped 48.5 percent the next year.</p>
<p>In late 2001 and 2002 came the triple play of the Enron and WorldCom scandals, a recession caused by a spate of corporate bankruptcies, and a nervous post-9/11 stock market. Bonuses dropped 33.5 percent and 25 percent, respectively, during those two years. By 2004, they zoomed back to pre-recession levels.</p>
<p>Bonuses nearly doubled over the next two years as subprime assets, collateralized debt obligations, and credit derivatives fueled the market. In 2006, a record year for Wall Street profits, bonuses reached new highs. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who led the group of supposedly contrite CEOs who testified before Rep. Barney Frank’s banking committee last week, bagged more than $110 million for 2006 and 2007.</p>
<p>Last year, bonuses shrank by 44 percent, but fell only to 2004 levels—and Wall Street still managed to reward employees with $18.4 billion. This despite a complete Wall Street meltdown, the near-fatal condition of the country’s largest bank (Citigroup), the collapse of two major investment banks (Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns), and the immensely reckless merger of Merrill Lynch into a terminal Bank of America. In the Merrill Lynch-BoA deal, former Merrill CEO John Thain grabbed a $15 million signing bonus and other perks, and he paid $4 billion in year-end bonuses to Merrill Lynch employees before the merger went through.</p>
<p>Regardless of the strictures that might be placed on Wall Street bonuses in the future, there are multiple ways for corporate leaders to get around cash caps by using restricted shares, offshore companies, and other devices.</p>
<p>To ensure that executive compensation is in line with the public interest, it ought to be taxed or constrained in every possible form. And to stop the Wall Street bleeding from further infecting the entire economy, we ought to make banks disclose all their positions rather than talk about future transparency and “stress testing.” The next step is to divide firms dealing with public deposits and loans from other financial institutions—and only give the traditional banks federal assistance (and make renegotiation of residential home loans mandatory). It would be like reinstituting the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which created a wall between banks that collect deposits and make loans and those institutions that engage in other, more speculative financial endeavors. That system worked pretty well until its bipartisan death in 1999. It could work once again.</p>
<p /> | 599,274 |
<p>WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - A majority of the conservative House Freedom Caucus will support a stopgap spending measure to avert a U.S. government shutdown when it is voted on by the chamber likely later on Thursday, the Republican group said on Twitter.</p>
<p>Earlier on Thursday, the caucus chairman, Representative Mark Meadows, said at least 25 members of the group - a large majority - opposed the funding bill.</p>
<p>Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Eric Walsh</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, will seek on Friday to halt porn star Stormy Daniels’ defamation lawsuit, and Daniels’ attorney said he expected Cohen to refuse to testify if the effort fails.</p> Stormy Daniels, an adult film star and director whose real name is Stephanie Clifford is interviewed by Anderson Cooper of CBS News' 60 Minutes program in early March 2018, in a still image from video provided March 25, 2018. CBSNews/60 MINUTES/Handout via REUTERS
<p>Cohen notified U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday he intends to request a stay in Daniels’ lawsuit against him and Trump “on the grounds that an ongoing criminal investigation overlaps with the facts of this case,” a reference to the possibility that his testimony could be used by prosecutors to build a related criminal case against Cohen.</p>
<p>Cohen, who has denied wrongdoing, has been at the center of a controversy surrounding a $130,000 payment to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. She has alleged that she had sex once in 2006 with Trump and was paid shortly before the 2016 election to keep quiet about it. Daniels claims Cohen’s denials portray her as a liar and sued for defamation.</p>
<p>The Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Cohen’s offices and home on Monday as part of a probe into possible bank and tax fraud and possible campaign law violation connected to the payment, a source familiar with the investigation told Reuters. [nL1N1RM1R7]</p>
<p>In the defamation-case filing, Cohen raised the possibility of invoking his constitutional right under the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination if the stay is not granted, which would allow him to refuse to testify.</p>
<p>Michael Avenatti, lawyer for Stormy Daniels told Reuters that Cohen’s attorney told him that Cohen will plead the Fifth if his application for a stay is denied.</p>
<p>Cohen’s attorney Brent Blakely said, “No decision has been made for Mr. Cohen to assert his Fifth Amendment rights.”</p>
<p>“It is common for a civil case to be stayed under these circumstances, and that is what we will be requesting of the U.S. District Court tomorrow,” Blakely said in an email.</p>
<p>The judge in the suit has given Cohen until Friday evening to formally request the stay.</p>
<p>Daniels has until Monday evening to file her opposition, and then Cohen will have through Tuesday evening to respond to her.</p>
<p>Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Cynthia Osterman</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday he would welcome a decision by the United States to explore rejoining the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), following news that President Donald Trump wanted to take a fresh look at the trade pact.</p> FILE PHOTO: Japan's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso speaks to reporters in Tokyo, Japan March 12, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo
<p>“If it’s true, I would welcome it,” he told reporters after a cabinet meeting.</p>
<p>Aso said he expected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump to discuss the TPP at their summit meeting next week.</p>
<p>But he added that needed to verify facts carefully.</p>
<p>Trump “is a person who could change temperamentally, so he may say something different the next day”, he added.</p>
<p>Trump had asked his trade advisers to look at rejoining TPP, a multinational trade pact he withdrew the United States from last year, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said.</p>
<p>The United States took part in TPP negotiations under Trump’s predecessor but the president withdrew the United States from it early last year under his “America First” policy, raising fears of trade protectionism.</p>
<p>“After the U.S. withdrawal, Japan, recognizing the significance of free trade, has led the initiative in pulling together the TPP 11,” Aso said, referring to the other members of the pact.</p>
<p>“Our efforts have borne fruit if the United States judged it would be better to rejoin,” he said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Chris Gallagher, Robert Birsel</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has asked his trade advisers to look at rejoining the Trans Pacific Partnership, a multinational trade pact he withdrew the United States from last year, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said.</p>
<p>Republican senators met with Trump on Thursday and he told them that he has asked United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow to re-open negotiations.</p>
<p>“The president has consistently said he would be open to a substantially better deal, including in his speech in Davos earlier this year,” Walters said.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-usa-trade-tpp-japan/japans-aso-says-he-would-welcome-u-s-taking-fresh-look-at-tpp-idUSKBN1HK016" type="external">Japan's Aso says he would welcome U.S. taking fresh look at TPP</a>
<p>The TPP had aimed to cut trade barriers in some of the fastest-growing economies of the Asia-Pacific region and to counter China’s rising economic and diplomatic clout. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the pact in early 2017, citing concerns about jobs.</p>
<p>Even prior to Trump’s official withdrawal, U.S. participation in the pact was dead due to opposition in the U.S. Congress. The United States entered the TPP negotiations in 2008 and took until late 2016 for the then-Obama administration to abandon its attempt to push the pact through Congress.</p>
<p>“It is good news that today the president directed Larry Kudlow and Ambassador Lighthizer to negotiate U.S. entry into TPP,” Senator Ben Sasse, a pro-trade Republican, said in a statement after the meeting between Trump and the senators.</p>
<p>At his Senate confirmation hearing for the post of Trump’s next secretary of state, CIA Director Mike Pompeo was asked about reports that Trump planned to re-engage on TPP and replied: “That news was news to me.”</p>
<p>However, Pompeo said he had supported TPP as a member of Congress and added: “There is an economic component to what China is trying to do. We need to be engaged. There is a diplomatic component to the economic activity as well. We need to be deeply engaged there, and I’m confident this administration will do that.”</p>
<p>Since the U.S. withdrew from the TPP talks, the other 11 countries have forged ahead with their own agreement, and in the process eliminated chapters on investment, government procurement and intellectual property that were key planks of Washington’s demands.</p>
<p>The pact includes Mexico and Canada which are renegotiating the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States.</p> FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump holds up the executive order on withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership after signing it in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
<p>When asked to comment on Thursday’s comments on the TPP, a Canadian government official said there had not been any formal outreach so it was not possible to speculate on what a new pact would look like.</p>
<p>Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet Trump next week. Japan, a close U.S. ally, signed up for the 11-country trade pact.</p>
<p>During his election campaign in 2016, Trump was frequently skeptical of the value of multilateral trade pacts, arguing instead that bilateral deals could offer better terms.</p>
<p>But Trump is struggling to get support from other countries for his recent threat to impose import tariffs on China and the U.S. farm lobby is arguing that retaliation by China would hit American agricultural exports.</p>
<p>Reporting by David Chance, Patricia Zengerle and David Brunnstrom in Washington and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; editing by Susan Thomas and Phil Berlowitz</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The prospect of an interview of U.S. President Donald Trump by special counsel Robert Mueller has been derailed by the recent FBI raids on Trump’s personal lawyer, according to two people familiar with the matter.</p> Special Counsel Robert Mueller departs after briefing members of the U.S. Senate on his investigation into potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
<p>Trump’s anger over the warrants to search the home and office of lawyer Michael Cohen has made the interview far less likely, one of the people said on Thursday.</p>
<p>That outlook somewhat contradicted Trump’s Twitter message on Thursday morning that he backed a “cooperative” approach to Mueller’s investigation of possible collusion between Moscow and Trump’s presidential campaign.</p>
<p>“I have agreed with the historically cooperative, disciplined approach that we have engaged in with Robert Mueller,” Trump said on Twitter.</p>
<p>A third source familiar with the matter said the relationship with Mueller remains strong and constructive discussions are expected to recommence shortly.</p>
<p>Russia denies U.S. intelligence agencies’ findings that it interfered in the campaign to try to tilt the vote in Trump’s favor. Trump has denied any collusion and has repeatedly attacked Mueller’s investigation as a politically motivated “witch hunt.”</p>
<p>Trump’s irritation erupted this week after the FBI raids targeting Cohen, which followed a referral by Mueller. Trump’s outburst raised concerns among critics and lawmakers, including some in Trump’s own Republican Party, that he might try to have Mueller removed.</p>
<p>The president denied a New York Times report on Tuesday that he had sought to fire Mueller in December. “If I wanted to fire Robert Mueller in December, as reported by the Failing New York Times, I would have fired him,” he said on Twitter early on Thursday.</p>
<p>White House lawyers Ty Cobb and Donald McGahn have told Trump that firing Mueller would leave him vulnerable to charges of obstruction of justice, two officials told Reuters on Tuesday. They said Trump must have “good cause” to order the Justice Department official overseeing the Russia probe, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, to oust Mueller.</p> ADVICE FROM FORMER AIDE
<p>One of the sources familiar with the matter and another person said on Thursday that Rosenstein is now on shaky ground. The second person said the feeling among both White House and Justice Department officials is that Rosenstein is abdicating authority and not putting constraints on the investigation.</p>
<p>Rosenstein was at the White House on Thursday discussing the status of congressional requests, another of the sources said.</p>
<p>Steve Bannon, a former senior adviser to Trump, has encouraged White House aides to advise Trump to fire Rosenstein, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified sources. It also said Bannon wanted the White House to stop cooperating with the Mueller investigation and fire Cobb.</p>
<p>Cobb, the lawyer in charge of the White House response to the Russia investigation, has stressed cooperation with Mueller. The White House has said it has turned over tens of thousands of pages of documents to the special counsel’s team.</p>
<p>Trump said in one of his Twitter messages on Thursday that he had full confidence in Cobb.</p>
<p>A bipartisan group of senators put forward legislation on Wednesday to protect Mueller and his investigation, which the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider next week.</p>
<p>“Anyone advising the President - in public or over the airwaves - to fire Bob Mueller does not have the President or the nation’s best interest at heart. Full stop,” Republican Senator Orrin Hatch wrote on Twitter on Thursday.</p>
<p>Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Additional reporting by Makini Brice and John Walcott; Writing by Tim Ahmann and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Frances Kerry and Leslie Adler</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | Majority of U.S. House Freedom Caucus backs stopgap spending measure Trump lawyer to seek halt to Stormy Daniels' lawsuit Japan's Aso says he would welcome U.S. taking fresh look at TPP U.S. to take another look at Pacific trade pact that Trump quashed Trump now less likely to sit for Mueller interview: sources | false | https://reuters.com/article/usa-congress-shutdown-freedom/majority-of-us-house-freedom-caucus-backs-stopgap-spending-measure-idUSW1N1OJ029 | 2018-01-18 | 2least
| Majority of U.S. House Freedom Caucus backs stopgap spending measure Trump lawyer to seek halt to Stormy Daniels' lawsuit Japan's Aso says he would welcome U.S. taking fresh look at TPP U.S. to take another look at Pacific trade pact that Trump quashed Trump now less likely to sit for Mueller interview: sources
<p>WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - A majority of the conservative House Freedom Caucus will support a stopgap spending measure to avert a U.S. government shutdown when it is voted on by the chamber likely later on Thursday, the Republican group said on Twitter.</p>
<p>Earlier on Thursday, the caucus chairman, Representative Mark Meadows, said at least 25 members of the group - a large majority - opposed the funding bill.</p>
<p>Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Eric Walsh</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, will seek on Friday to halt porn star Stormy Daniels’ defamation lawsuit, and Daniels’ attorney said he expected Cohen to refuse to testify if the effort fails.</p> Stormy Daniels, an adult film star and director whose real name is Stephanie Clifford is interviewed by Anderson Cooper of CBS News' 60 Minutes program in early March 2018, in a still image from video provided March 25, 2018. CBSNews/60 MINUTES/Handout via REUTERS
<p>Cohen notified U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday he intends to request a stay in Daniels’ lawsuit against him and Trump “on the grounds that an ongoing criminal investigation overlaps with the facts of this case,” a reference to the possibility that his testimony could be used by prosecutors to build a related criminal case against Cohen.</p>
<p>Cohen, who has denied wrongdoing, has been at the center of a controversy surrounding a $130,000 payment to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. She has alleged that she had sex once in 2006 with Trump and was paid shortly before the 2016 election to keep quiet about it. Daniels claims Cohen’s denials portray her as a liar and sued for defamation.</p>
<p>The Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Cohen’s offices and home on Monday as part of a probe into possible bank and tax fraud and possible campaign law violation connected to the payment, a source familiar with the investigation told Reuters. [nL1N1RM1R7]</p>
<p>In the defamation-case filing, Cohen raised the possibility of invoking his constitutional right under the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination if the stay is not granted, which would allow him to refuse to testify.</p>
<p>Michael Avenatti, lawyer for Stormy Daniels told Reuters that Cohen’s attorney told him that Cohen will plead the Fifth if his application for a stay is denied.</p>
<p>Cohen’s attorney Brent Blakely said, “No decision has been made for Mr. Cohen to assert his Fifth Amendment rights.”</p>
<p>“It is common for a civil case to be stayed under these circumstances, and that is what we will be requesting of the U.S. District Court tomorrow,” Blakely said in an email.</p>
<p>The judge in the suit has given Cohen until Friday evening to formally request the stay.</p>
<p>Daniels has until Monday evening to file her opposition, and then Cohen will have through Tuesday evening to respond to her.</p>
<p>Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Cynthia Osterman</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday he would welcome a decision by the United States to explore rejoining the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), following news that President Donald Trump wanted to take a fresh look at the trade pact.</p> FILE PHOTO: Japan's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso speaks to reporters in Tokyo, Japan March 12, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo
<p>“If it’s true, I would welcome it,” he told reporters after a cabinet meeting.</p>
<p>Aso said he expected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump to discuss the TPP at their summit meeting next week.</p>
<p>But he added that needed to verify facts carefully.</p>
<p>Trump “is a person who could change temperamentally, so he may say something different the next day”, he added.</p>
<p>Trump had asked his trade advisers to look at rejoining TPP, a multinational trade pact he withdrew the United States from last year, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said.</p>
<p>The United States took part in TPP negotiations under Trump’s predecessor but the president withdrew the United States from it early last year under his “America First” policy, raising fears of trade protectionism.</p>
<p>“After the U.S. withdrawal, Japan, recognizing the significance of free trade, has led the initiative in pulling together the TPP 11,” Aso said, referring to the other members of the pact.</p>
<p>“Our efforts have borne fruit if the United States judged it would be better to rejoin,” he said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Chris Gallagher, Robert Birsel</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has asked his trade advisers to look at rejoining the Trans Pacific Partnership, a multinational trade pact he withdrew the United States from last year, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said.</p>
<p>Republican senators met with Trump on Thursday and he told them that he has asked United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow to re-open negotiations.</p>
<p>“The president has consistently said he would be open to a substantially better deal, including in his speech in Davos earlier this year,” Walters said.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-usa-trade-tpp-japan/japans-aso-says-he-would-welcome-u-s-taking-fresh-look-at-tpp-idUSKBN1HK016" type="external">Japan's Aso says he would welcome U.S. taking fresh look at TPP</a>
<p>The TPP had aimed to cut trade barriers in some of the fastest-growing economies of the Asia-Pacific region and to counter China’s rising economic and diplomatic clout. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the pact in early 2017, citing concerns about jobs.</p>
<p>Even prior to Trump’s official withdrawal, U.S. participation in the pact was dead due to opposition in the U.S. Congress. The United States entered the TPP negotiations in 2008 and took until late 2016 for the then-Obama administration to abandon its attempt to push the pact through Congress.</p>
<p>“It is good news that today the president directed Larry Kudlow and Ambassador Lighthizer to negotiate U.S. entry into TPP,” Senator Ben Sasse, a pro-trade Republican, said in a statement after the meeting between Trump and the senators.</p>
<p>At his Senate confirmation hearing for the post of Trump’s next secretary of state, CIA Director Mike Pompeo was asked about reports that Trump planned to re-engage on TPP and replied: “That news was news to me.”</p>
<p>However, Pompeo said he had supported TPP as a member of Congress and added: “There is an economic component to what China is trying to do. We need to be engaged. There is a diplomatic component to the economic activity as well. We need to be deeply engaged there, and I’m confident this administration will do that.”</p>
<p>Since the U.S. withdrew from the TPP talks, the other 11 countries have forged ahead with their own agreement, and in the process eliminated chapters on investment, government procurement and intellectual property that were key planks of Washington’s demands.</p>
<p>The pact includes Mexico and Canada which are renegotiating the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States.</p> FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump holds up the executive order on withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership after signing it in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
<p>When asked to comment on Thursday’s comments on the TPP, a Canadian government official said there had not been any formal outreach so it was not possible to speculate on what a new pact would look like.</p>
<p>Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet Trump next week. Japan, a close U.S. ally, signed up for the 11-country trade pact.</p>
<p>During his election campaign in 2016, Trump was frequently skeptical of the value of multilateral trade pacts, arguing instead that bilateral deals could offer better terms.</p>
<p>But Trump is struggling to get support from other countries for his recent threat to impose import tariffs on China and the U.S. farm lobby is arguing that retaliation by China would hit American agricultural exports.</p>
<p>Reporting by David Chance, Patricia Zengerle and David Brunnstrom in Washington and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; editing by Susan Thomas and Phil Berlowitz</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The prospect of an interview of U.S. President Donald Trump by special counsel Robert Mueller has been derailed by the recent FBI raids on Trump’s personal lawyer, according to two people familiar with the matter.</p> Special Counsel Robert Mueller departs after briefing members of the U.S. Senate on his investigation into potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
<p>Trump’s anger over the warrants to search the home and office of lawyer Michael Cohen has made the interview far less likely, one of the people said on Thursday.</p>
<p>That outlook somewhat contradicted Trump’s Twitter message on Thursday morning that he backed a “cooperative” approach to Mueller’s investigation of possible collusion between Moscow and Trump’s presidential campaign.</p>
<p>“I have agreed with the historically cooperative, disciplined approach that we have engaged in with Robert Mueller,” Trump said on Twitter.</p>
<p>A third source familiar with the matter said the relationship with Mueller remains strong and constructive discussions are expected to recommence shortly.</p>
<p>Russia denies U.S. intelligence agencies’ findings that it interfered in the campaign to try to tilt the vote in Trump’s favor. Trump has denied any collusion and has repeatedly attacked Mueller’s investigation as a politically motivated “witch hunt.”</p>
<p>Trump’s irritation erupted this week after the FBI raids targeting Cohen, which followed a referral by Mueller. Trump’s outburst raised concerns among critics and lawmakers, including some in Trump’s own Republican Party, that he might try to have Mueller removed.</p>
<p>The president denied a New York Times report on Tuesday that he had sought to fire Mueller in December. “If I wanted to fire Robert Mueller in December, as reported by the Failing New York Times, I would have fired him,” he said on Twitter early on Thursday.</p>
<p>White House lawyers Ty Cobb and Donald McGahn have told Trump that firing Mueller would leave him vulnerable to charges of obstruction of justice, two officials told Reuters on Tuesday. They said Trump must have “good cause” to order the Justice Department official overseeing the Russia probe, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, to oust Mueller.</p> ADVICE FROM FORMER AIDE
<p>One of the sources familiar with the matter and another person said on Thursday that Rosenstein is now on shaky ground. The second person said the feeling among both White House and Justice Department officials is that Rosenstein is abdicating authority and not putting constraints on the investigation.</p>
<p>Rosenstein was at the White House on Thursday discussing the status of congressional requests, another of the sources said.</p>
<p>Steve Bannon, a former senior adviser to Trump, has encouraged White House aides to advise Trump to fire Rosenstein, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified sources. It also said Bannon wanted the White House to stop cooperating with the Mueller investigation and fire Cobb.</p>
<p>Cobb, the lawyer in charge of the White House response to the Russia investigation, has stressed cooperation with Mueller. The White House has said it has turned over tens of thousands of pages of documents to the special counsel’s team.</p>
<p>Trump said in one of his Twitter messages on Thursday that he had full confidence in Cobb.</p>
<p>A bipartisan group of senators put forward legislation on Wednesday to protect Mueller and his investigation, which the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider next week.</p>
<p>“Anyone advising the President - in public or over the airwaves - to fire Bob Mueller does not have the President or the nation’s best interest at heart. Full stop,” Republican Senator Orrin Hatch wrote on Twitter on Thursday.</p>
<p>Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Additional reporting by Makini Brice and John Walcott; Writing by Tim Ahmann and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Frances Kerry and Leslie Adler</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | 599,275 |
<p>&#160;On “Meet the Press” on June 28, former presidential candidate and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney falsely <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31584983/ns/meet_the_press/page/3/" type="external">claimed</a> that President Obama had called for a “single-payer” health care system on the campaign trail:</p>
<p>Romney: President Obama, when he was campaigning, said he wanted a single-payer system.</p>
<p>We <a href="" type="internal">debunked this falsehood</a> when Sen. John McCain said it during the third presidential debate. McCain claimed that “as he said, his object is a single payer system.” But as a presidential candidate, Obama didn’t say that at all. And the plan he proposed wasn’t a single-payer system, one in which everyone is covered by health insurance through the government.&#160;As we said in our Oct. 16 article, Obama <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/08/19/obama-touts-single-payer-system/" type="external">said</a> at a town hall meeting in Albuquerque last summer that a single payer system would “probably” be his first choice “if” he were “designing a system from scratch.” But instead, he said, his “attitude is let’s build up the system we got, let’s make it more efficient, we may be over time – as we make the system more efficient and everybody’s covered&#160;– decide that there are other ways for us to provide care more effectively.”</p>
<p>Six years ago, Obama did <a href="http://www.pnhp.org/news/2008/june/barack_obama_on_sing.php" type="external">say</a> at an AFL-CIO forum that he was “a proponent of a single-payer universal health care program.” But that was 2003, and that’s not what he campaigned on as a presidential candidate. He has recently <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21763.html" type="external">taken heat</a> from single-payer advocates for not including them in discussions about overhauling the health care system.</p>
<p>At a May 14 town hall in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, the president was asked why a single-payer plan had been taken off the table. <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-in-Rio-Rancho-Town-Hall-on-Credit-Card-Reform/" type="external">His response</a> was similar to what he had said while campaigning:</p>
<p>Obama, May 14: If I were starting a system from scratch, then I think that the idea of moving towards a single-payer system could very well make sense. That’s the kind of system that you have in most industrialized countries around the world.</p>
<p>The only problem is that we’re not starting from scratch. We have historically a tradition of employer-based health care. And although there are a lot of people who are not satisfied with their health care, the truth is, is that the vast majority of people currently get health care from their employers and you’ve got this system that’s already in place. We don’t want a huge disruption as we go into health care reform where suddenly we’re trying to completely reinvent one-sixth of the economy.</p>
<p>So what I’ve said is, let’s set up a system where if you already have health care through your employer and you’re happy with it, you don’t have to change doctors, you don’t have to change plans&#160;— nothing changes. If you don’t have health care or you’re highly unsatisfied with your health care, then let’s give you choices, let’s give you options, including a public plan that you could enroll in and sign up for. That’s been my proposal.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Campaigning on Single Payer? | false | https://factcheck.org/2009/06/campaigning-on-single-payer/ | 2009-06-29 | 2least
| Campaigning on Single Payer?
<p>&#160;On “Meet the Press” on June 28, former presidential candidate and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney falsely <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31584983/ns/meet_the_press/page/3/" type="external">claimed</a> that President Obama had called for a “single-payer” health care system on the campaign trail:</p>
<p>Romney: President Obama, when he was campaigning, said he wanted a single-payer system.</p>
<p>We <a href="" type="internal">debunked this falsehood</a> when Sen. John McCain said it during the third presidential debate. McCain claimed that “as he said, his object is a single payer system.” But as a presidential candidate, Obama didn’t say that at all. And the plan he proposed wasn’t a single-payer system, one in which everyone is covered by health insurance through the government.&#160;As we said in our Oct. 16 article, Obama <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/08/19/obama-touts-single-payer-system/" type="external">said</a> at a town hall meeting in Albuquerque last summer that a single payer system would “probably” be his first choice “if” he were “designing a system from scratch.” But instead, he said, his “attitude is let’s build up the system we got, let’s make it more efficient, we may be over time – as we make the system more efficient and everybody’s covered&#160;– decide that there are other ways for us to provide care more effectively.”</p>
<p>Six years ago, Obama did <a href="http://www.pnhp.org/news/2008/june/barack_obama_on_sing.php" type="external">say</a> at an AFL-CIO forum that he was “a proponent of a single-payer universal health care program.” But that was 2003, and that’s not what he campaigned on as a presidential candidate. He has recently <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21763.html" type="external">taken heat</a> from single-payer advocates for not including them in discussions about overhauling the health care system.</p>
<p>At a May 14 town hall in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, the president was asked why a single-payer plan had been taken off the table. <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-in-Rio-Rancho-Town-Hall-on-Credit-Card-Reform/" type="external">His response</a> was similar to what he had said while campaigning:</p>
<p>Obama, May 14: If I were starting a system from scratch, then I think that the idea of moving towards a single-payer system could very well make sense. That’s the kind of system that you have in most industrialized countries around the world.</p>
<p>The only problem is that we’re not starting from scratch. We have historically a tradition of employer-based health care. And although there are a lot of people who are not satisfied with their health care, the truth is, is that the vast majority of people currently get health care from their employers and you’ve got this system that’s already in place. We don’t want a huge disruption as we go into health care reform where suddenly we’re trying to completely reinvent one-sixth of the economy.</p>
<p>So what I’ve said is, let’s set up a system where if you already have health care through your employer and you’re happy with it, you don’t have to change doctors, you don’t have to change plans&#160;— nothing changes. If you don’t have health care or you’re highly unsatisfied with your health care, then let’s give you choices, let’s give you options, including a public plan that you could enroll in and sign up for. That’s been my proposal.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 599,276 |
<p>HONG KONG, Jan 23 (Reuters) - China’s Leshi Internet Information &amp; Technology said on Tuesday it is seeking equity stakes in the car businesses of its largest shareholder Jia Yueting for the debts they owe.</p>
<p>Leshi told an investor briefing it was trying to resolve debt owed by Jia and his companies by seeking equity stakes in his businesses, including Faraday Future, Lucid and LeSEE.</p>
<p>Jia, who founded the LeEco conglomerate that is now struggling to repay debts, no longer holds any position in Shenzhen-listed Leshi but remains its largest shareholder with a 25.67 percent stake. (Reporting by Sijia Jiang; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares pulled back on Wednesday as Wall Street was knocked hard on concerns about tighter regulations on the tech industry, denting a brief global equities recovery driven by hopes of easing fears of a trade war between China and the United States.</p> A man walks past an electronic stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, February 9, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
<p>MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.4 percent, with tech-heavy Korean shares <a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.KS11" type="external">.KS11</a> falling 1.0 percent. Japan's Nikkei <a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.N225" type="external">.N225</a> fell 2.1 percent.</p>
<p>On Wall Street, the S&amp;P 500 <a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.SPX" type="external">.SPX</a> lost 1.73 percent and the Nasdaq Composite <a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.IXIC" type="external">.IXIC</a> dropped 2.93 percent, making their fourth decline in five sessions.</p>
<p>The tech sector .SPLRCT were the worst hit as the industry came under more scrutiny, led by a 4.9 percent fall in Facebook ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=FB.O" type="external">FB.O</a>), which has been embroiled in a scandal over the use of data by political consultants.</p>
<p>Nvidia ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=NVDA.O" type="external">NVDA.O</a>) was another weak spot, falling 7.8 percent after the chipmaker temporarily suspended self-driving tests across the globe after an Uber Technologies Inc UBER.UL autonomous vehicle killed a woman.</p>
<p>“There is a sense that there will be more regulations on Facebook or FANG and that the cost of compliance will increase,” said Nobuhiko Kuramochi, chief strategist at Mizuho Securities.</p>
<p>Concerns about trade frictions between China and the United States also remain a drag even after reports of behind-the-scenes talks between Washington and Beijing spurred optimism that U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist shift is more about gaining leverage in trade talks than isolating the world’s biggest economy with tariff barriers.</p>
<p>In the currency market, the dollar changed hands at 105.39 yen <a href="/finance/currencies/quote?srcCurr=JPY&amp;destCurr=USD" type="external">JPY=</a>, not far from Monday's 16-1/2-month low of 104.56, as the Japanese currency was supported by the risk-averse mood.</p>
<p>The euro lost steam after soft euro zone economic data and comments from European Central Bank policymakers flagging low underlying inflation.</p>
<p>Economic sentiment in the 19-countries sharing the euro slipped for the third month in a row in March while bank lending slowed.</p>
<p>Erkki Liikanen, ECB Governing Council member, said that underlying inflation in the euro zone may remain lower than expected even if growth is robust, so the central bank needs to remain patient in removing stimulus.</p>
<a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.KS11" type="external">Korea Exchange</a> 2452.06 .KS11 Korea Stock Exchange +14.98 (+0.61%) .KS11 .N225 .SPX .IXIC FB.O
<p>Another member, Jozef Makuch from Slovakia, also struck a similarly cautious tone.</p>
<p>The euro <a href="/finance/currencies/quote?srcCurr=EUR&amp;destCurr=USD" type="external">EUR=</a> traded at $1.2407, off a three-week high of $1.24765 hit on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Germany’s 10-year Bund yield DE10YT=TWEB hit two-month low of 0.500 percent, having taken a downward shift since hitting a 1-1/2-year high of 0.795 percent in Feb. 15.</p>
<p>The 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield US10YT=RR also dropped to 2.770 percent, its lowest level in seven weeks. The two-year yield US2YT=RR stood at 2.270 percent.</p>
<p>Oil prices stepped back on a larger-than-expected rise in U.S. oil inventories data from industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) published late on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Brent crude futures LCOc1 traded 0.6 percent lower at $69.70 per barrel, off Monday’s high of $71.05, which was its highest since late January.</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - A fatal crash and vehicle fire of a Tesla Inc Model X near Mountain View, California, last week has prompted a federal field investigation, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday, sparking a big selloff in Tesla stock.</p> FILE PHOTO - The logo of Tesla is seen in Taipei, Taiwan on August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo
<p>Tesla tumbled 8.2 percent, or $25 a share, to close at $279.18, the lowest close in almost a year, after news of the investigation.</p>
<p>Late on Tuesday, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Tesla’s credit rating to B3 from B2. Moody’s said the ratings “reflect the significant shortfall in the production rate of the company’s Model 3 electric vehicle.” It also “faces liquidity pressures due to its large negative free cash flow and the pending maturities of convertible bonds.”</p>
<p>Tesla shares fell another 2.6 percent in after-hours trading.</p>
<p>Tesla has $230 million in convertible bonds maturing in November 2018 and $920 million in March 2019.</p>
<p>Moody’s said its negative outlook for Tesla “reflects the likelihood that Tesla will have to undertake a large, near-term capital raise in order to refund maturing obligations and avoid a liquidity shortfall.”</p>
<p>Moody’s said Tesla is targeting weekly production of 2,500 Model 3 vehicles by the end of March, and 5,000 per week by the end of June, down from the company’s year-earlier production expectations of 5,000 per week by the end of 2017 and 10,000 by the end of 2018. Tesla plans to provide an update on Model 3 production next week.</p>
<p>Shares of chipmaker Nvidia Corp, which supplies Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL], Tesla, Volkswagen AG ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=VOWG_p.DE" type="external">VOWG_p.DE</a>) and other automakers, closed down 7.8 percent after it disclosed it suspended self-driving tests across the globe.</p> QUESTIONS ABOUT ACCIDENT
<p>In last week’s accident, it was unclear if Tesla’s automated control system was driving the car. The accident involved two other cars, the NTSB and police said. Tesla vehicles have a system called Autopilot that handles some driving tasks. The 38-year-old Tesla driver died at a nearby hospital shortly after the crash.</p>
<p>“We have been deeply saddened by this accident, and we have offered our full cooperation to the authorities as we work to establish the facts of the incident,” Tesla said in a statement.</p>
<p>Government scrutiny of the Palo Alto, California company is mounting. This is the second NTSB field investigation into a Tesla crash since January.</p>
<p>The California Highway Patrol said the electric-powered Tesla Model X crashed into a freeway divider on Friday and then was hit by a Mazda before colliding with an Audi.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=VOWG_p.DE" type="external">Volkswagen AG</a> 158.06 VOWG_p.DE Xetra +3.32 (+2.15%) VOWG_p.DE
<p>The Tesla’s lithium batteries caught fire, and emergency officials consulted company engineers before determining how to extinguish the battery fire and move the vehicle safely. NTSB said the issues being examined include the post-crash fire and removing the vehicle from the scene.</p>
<p>In January, the NTSB and U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent investigators to California to investigate the crash of a fire truck and a Tesla that apparently was traveling in semi-autonomous mode. The agencies have not disclosed any findings.</p>
<p>The NTSB can make safety recommendations but only NHTSA can order automakers to recall unsafe vehicles or fine automakers if they fail to remedy safety defects in a timely fashion. Before the agency can demand a recall, it must open a formal investigation, a step it has not yet taken.</p>
<p>Tesla’s Autopilot allows drivers under certain conditions to take their hands off the wheel for extended periods. Still, Tesla requires users to agree to keep their hands on the wheel “at all times” before they can use Autopilot.</p>
<p>The NTSB faulted Tesla in a prior fatal Autopilot crash.</p>
<p>In September, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said operational limitations in the Tesla Model S played a major role in a May 2016 crash in Florida that killed a driver using Autopilot. That crash raised questions about the safety of systems that can perform driving tasks for long stretches but cannot completely replace human drivers.</p>
<p>Tesla in September 2016 unveiled improvements to Autopilot, adding new limits on hands-off driving.</p>
<p>Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Lisa Shumaker, David Gregorio and Cynthia Osterman</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York, California and other states vowed on Tuesday to stop the U.S. government from asking in the 2020 census whether people are citizens, arguing the question could stop immigrants from participating and skew the makeup of Congress.</p>
<p>The U.S. Census Bureau decided to include the citizenship question in the once-a-decade questionnaire, saying an accurate count of citizens would help protect minority rights under the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, according to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.</p>
<p>But liberal opponents feared that the decision would have the opposite effect. They said the move was designed to undercount immigrants, potentially reducing their representation in Congress and federal funding for local jurisdictions, which is determined by population.</p>
<p>“It is a scare tactic to try to scare Latinos and others from participating in the 2020 census,” Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, told reporters.</p>
<p>Pending legal challenges from the states or an unlikely intervention from the Republican-controlled Congress, the citizenship question would appear in the decennial census for the first time since 1950.</p>
<p>New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he would lead a multistate lawsuit to block the decision.</p>
<p>Separately, the State of California filed a lawsuit early Tuesday in federal court against the Commerce Department and the Census Bureau.</p>
<p>The commerce secretary, head of the federal department that runs the Census Bureau, said he authorized the question in response to a Justice Department letter arguing the citizenship question was vital to enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. <a href="https://bit.ly/2pIZlXr" type="external">bit.ly/2pIZlXr</a></p>
<p>Although a career staff member sent the Justice Department letter, it was conceived by John Gore, a political appointee who as a lawyer in private practice defended multiple Republican redistricting plans, according to emails obtained by ProPublica.</p>
<p>Last year, Gore was appointed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions as the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, where he reversed the legal challenge to a Texas law that the administration of former President Barack Obama alleged discriminated against minorities.</p> An attendee holds her new country's flag and her naturalization papers as she is sworn in during a U.S. citizenship ceremony in Los Angeles, U.S., July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake
<p>Justice Department spokesman Devin O’Malley declined to comment on Gore’s involvement. But he said the department looked forward to defending the citizenship question, which he said was needed “to protect the right to vote and ensure free and fair elections for all Americans.”</p>
<p>Vanita Gupta, who ran the Civil Rights Division under the Obama administration, said she questioned the stated motives of President Donald Trump’s administration.</p>
<p>“The Sessions Justice Department is asking for this in the name of voting rights enforcement when it has shown time and time again a reluctance to enforce the Voting Rights Act,” Gupta told reporters.</p>
<p>Other critics said the inclusion of the question would disrupt years of planning that goes into the census. They said there was not enough time to put the question through the rigorous testing that census questions typically undergo to ensure an accurate count.</p>
<p>The U.S. Constitution mandates a census takes place every 10 years, counting every person in the United States.</p>
<p>It is used to determine the allocation to states of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and to distribute billions of dollars in federal funds to local communities.</p>
<p>“It is facially constitutional to ask the question,” said</p>
<p>James Sample, a law professor at Hofstra University, “even though it is colossally dumb” because it was likely to reduce the number of people responding to the census.</p>
<p>The Trump administration could probably win a legal case, Sample said. But the challenges may succeed if an inaccurate count leads to a range of unconstitutional consequences,</p>
<p>including the unequal distribution of federal funds or potential violations of the “one-person-one-vote” principle, he said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Daniel Trotta, Sarah N. Lynch, Jonathan Stempel, and Eric Beech; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Frank McGurty and Cynthia Osterman</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday it won a pledge from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to denuclearize the Korean peninsula during a meeting with President Xi Jinping, who pledged in return that China would uphold its friendship with its isolated neighbour.</p>
<p>After two days of speculation, China announced on Wednesday that Kim had visited Beijing and met Xi during what the official Xinhua news agency called an unofficial visit from Sunday to Wednesday.</p>
<p>The trip was Kim’s first known journey abroad since he assumed power in 2011 and is believed by analysts to serve as preparation for upcoming summits with South Korea and the United States.</p>
<p>Beijing has traditionally been the closest ally of secretive North Korea, but ties have been frayed by North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and China’s backing of tough U.N. sanctions in response.</p>
<p>Xinhua cited Kim as telling Xi that the situation on the Korean peninsula is starting to improve because North Korea has taken the initiative to ease tensions and put forward proposals for peace talks.</p>
<p>“It is our consistent stand to be committed to denuclearization on the peninsula, in accordance with the will of late President Kim Il Sung and late General Secretary Kim Jong Il,” Kim Jong Un said, according to Xinhua.</p>
<p>North Korea is willing to talk with the United States and hold a summit between the two countries, he said.</p>
<p>“The issue of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula can be resolved, if South Korea and the United States respond to our efforts with goodwill, create an atmosphere of peace and stability while taking progressive and synchronous measures for the realisation of peace,” Kim said.</p> North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping, in this still image taken from video released on March 28, 2018. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited China from Sunday to Wednesday on an unofficial visit, China's state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday. CCTV via Reuters TV
<p>Xi told Kim in return that both sides had stated repeatedly that their traditional friendship should be passed on and developed better.</p>
<p>“This is a strategic choice and the only right choice both sides have made based on history and reality, the international and regional structure and the general situation of China-North Korea ties. This should not and will not change because of any single event at a particular time,” Xi said.</p> Slideshow (21 Images)
<p>Xinhua published a photograph of Kim and Xi shaking hands in front of the flags of the two nations.</p>
<p>Speculation about a possible visit by Kim to Beijing was rife earlier this week after a train similar to the one used by Kim’s father was seen in the Chinese capital, along with heavy security and a large motorcade.</p>
<p>Kim was accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol Ju, Xinhua said.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-northkorea-missiles-china-usa/china-briefs-trump-on-kim-jong-uns-visit-white-house-idUSKBN1H404V" type="external">China briefs Trump on Kim Jong Un's visit: White House</a>
<p>Xi had accepted an invitation from Kim to visit North Korea, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said.</p>
<p>Improving ties between North Korea and China would be a positive sign before planned summits involving the two Koreas and the United States, a senior South Korean official said on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il, met then-president Jiang Zemin in China in 2000 before a summit between the two Koreas in June that year. That visit was seen at the time as reaffirmation of close ties with Beijing.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by David Stanway in SHANGHAI; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Paul Tait</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | China's Leshi says seeks equity in Jia Yueting's car businesses for debt owed Asian shares buckle as tech firms come under more scrutiny U.S. opens probe into fatal Tesla crash, fire in California States vow to fight U.S. plan to ask citizenship question on census China's Xi affirms friendship with North Korean leader, gets denuclearization pledge | false | https://reuters.com/article/lecom-assetswap/chinas-leshi-says-seeks-equity-in-jia-yuetings-car-businesses-for-debt-owed-idUSL4N1PI223 | 2018-01-23 | 2least
| China's Leshi says seeks equity in Jia Yueting's car businesses for debt owed Asian shares buckle as tech firms come under more scrutiny U.S. opens probe into fatal Tesla crash, fire in California States vow to fight U.S. plan to ask citizenship question on census China's Xi affirms friendship with North Korean leader, gets denuclearization pledge
<p>HONG KONG, Jan 23 (Reuters) - China’s Leshi Internet Information &amp; Technology said on Tuesday it is seeking equity stakes in the car businesses of its largest shareholder Jia Yueting for the debts they owe.</p>
<p>Leshi told an investor briefing it was trying to resolve debt owed by Jia and his companies by seeking equity stakes in his businesses, including Faraday Future, Lucid and LeSEE.</p>
<p>Jia, who founded the LeEco conglomerate that is now struggling to repay debts, no longer holds any position in Shenzhen-listed Leshi but remains its largest shareholder with a 25.67 percent stake. (Reporting by Sijia Jiang; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares pulled back on Wednesday as Wall Street was knocked hard on concerns about tighter regulations on the tech industry, denting a brief global equities recovery driven by hopes of easing fears of a trade war between China and the United States.</p> A man walks past an electronic stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, February 9, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
<p>MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.4 percent, with tech-heavy Korean shares <a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.KS11" type="external">.KS11</a> falling 1.0 percent. Japan's Nikkei <a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.N225" type="external">.N225</a> fell 2.1 percent.</p>
<p>On Wall Street, the S&amp;P 500 <a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.SPX" type="external">.SPX</a> lost 1.73 percent and the Nasdaq Composite <a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.IXIC" type="external">.IXIC</a> dropped 2.93 percent, making their fourth decline in five sessions.</p>
<p>The tech sector .SPLRCT were the worst hit as the industry came under more scrutiny, led by a 4.9 percent fall in Facebook ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=FB.O" type="external">FB.O</a>), which has been embroiled in a scandal over the use of data by political consultants.</p>
<p>Nvidia ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=NVDA.O" type="external">NVDA.O</a>) was another weak spot, falling 7.8 percent after the chipmaker temporarily suspended self-driving tests across the globe after an Uber Technologies Inc UBER.UL autonomous vehicle killed a woman.</p>
<p>“There is a sense that there will be more regulations on Facebook or FANG and that the cost of compliance will increase,” said Nobuhiko Kuramochi, chief strategist at Mizuho Securities.</p>
<p>Concerns about trade frictions between China and the United States also remain a drag even after reports of behind-the-scenes talks between Washington and Beijing spurred optimism that U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist shift is more about gaining leverage in trade talks than isolating the world’s biggest economy with tariff barriers.</p>
<p>In the currency market, the dollar changed hands at 105.39 yen <a href="/finance/currencies/quote?srcCurr=JPY&amp;destCurr=USD" type="external">JPY=</a>, not far from Monday's 16-1/2-month low of 104.56, as the Japanese currency was supported by the risk-averse mood.</p>
<p>The euro lost steam after soft euro zone economic data and comments from European Central Bank policymakers flagging low underlying inflation.</p>
<p>Economic sentiment in the 19-countries sharing the euro slipped for the third month in a row in March while bank lending slowed.</p>
<p>Erkki Liikanen, ECB Governing Council member, said that underlying inflation in the euro zone may remain lower than expected even if growth is robust, so the central bank needs to remain patient in removing stimulus.</p>
<a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.KS11" type="external">Korea Exchange</a> 2452.06 .KS11 Korea Stock Exchange +14.98 (+0.61%) .KS11 .N225 .SPX .IXIC FB.O
<p>Another member, Jozef Makuch from Slovakia, also struck a similarly cautious tone.</p>
<p>The euro <a href="/finance/currencies/quote?srcCurr=EUR&amp;destCurr=USD" type="external">EUR=</a> traded at $1.2407, off a three-week high of $1.24765 hit on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Germany’s 10-year Bund yield DE10YT=TWEB hit two-month low of 0.500 percent, having taken a downward shift since hitting a 1-1/2-year high of 0.795 percent in Feb. 15.</p>
<p>The 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield US10YT=RR also dropped to 2.770 percent, its lowest level in seven weeks. The two-year yield US2YT=RR stood at 2.270 percent.</p>
<p>Oil prices stepped back on a larger-than-expected rise in U.S. oil inventories data from industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) published late on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Brent crude futures LCOc1 traded 0.6 percent lower at $69.70 per barrel, off Monday’s high of $71.05, which was its highest since late January.</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - A fatal crash and vehicle fire of a Tesla Inc Model X near Mountain View, California, last week has prompted a federal field investigation, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday, sparking a big selloff in Tesla stock.</p> FILE PHOTO - The logo of Tesla is seen in Taipei, Taiwan on August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo
<p>Tesla tumbled 8.2 percent, or $25 a share, to close at $279.18, the lowest close in almost a year, after news of the investigation.</p>
<p>Late on Tuesday, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Tesla’s credit rating to B3 from B2. Moody’s said the ratings “reflect the significant shortfall in the production rate of the company’s Model 3 electric vehicle.” It also “faces liquidity pressures due to its large negative free cash flow and the pending maturities of convertible bonds.”</p>
<p>Tesla shares fell another 2.6 percent in after-hours trading.</p>
<p>Tesla has $230 million in convertible bonds maturing in November 2018 and $920 million in March 2019.</p>
<p>Moody’s said its negative outlook for Tesla “reflects the likelihood that Tesla will have to undertake a large, near-term capital raise in order to refund maturing obligations and avoid a liquidity shortfall.”</p>
<p>Moody’s said Tesla is targeting weekly production of 2,500 Model 3 vehicles by the end of March, and 5,000 per week by the end of June, down from the company’s year-earlier production expectations of 5,000 per week by the end of 2017 and 10,000 by the end of 2018. Tesla plans to provide an update on Model 3 production next week.</p>
<p>Shares of chipmaker Nvidia Corp, which supplies Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL], Tesla, Volkswagen AG ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=VOWG_p.DE" type="external">VOWG_p.DE</a>) and other automakers, closed down 7.8 percent after it disclosed it suspended self-driving tests across the globe.</p> QUESTIONS ABOUT ACCIDENT
<p>In last week’s accident, it was unclear if Tesla’s automated control system was driving the car. The accident involved two other cars, the NTSB and police said. Tesla vehicles have a system called Autopilot that handles some driving tasks. The 38-year-old Tesla driver died at a nearby hospital shortly after the crash.</p>
<p>“We have been deeply saddened by this accident, and we have offered our full cooperation to the authorities as we work to establish the facts of the incident,” Tesla said in a statement.</p>
<p>Government scrutiny of the Palo Alto, California company is mounting. This is the second NTSB field investigation into a Tesla crash since January.</p>
<p>The California Highway Patrol said the electric-powered Tesla Model X crashed into a freeway divider on Friday and then was hit by a Mazda before colliding with an Audi.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=VOWG_p.DE" type="external">Volkswagen AG</a> 158.06 VOWG_p.DE Xetra +3.32 (+2.15%) VOWG_p.DE
<p>The Tesla’s lithium batteries caught fire, and emergency officials consulted company engineers before determining how to extinguish the battery fire and move the vehicle safely. NTSB said the issues being examined include the post-crash fire and removing the vehicle from the scene.</p>
<p>In January, the NTSB and U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent investigators to California to investigate the crash of a fire truck and a Tesla that apparently was traveling in semi-autonomous mode. The agencies have not disclosed any findings.</p>
<p>The NTSB can make safety recommendations but only NHTSA can order automakers to recall unsafe vehicles or fine automakers if they fail to remedy safety defects in a timely fashion. Before the agency can demand a recall, it must open a formal investigation, a step it has not yet taken.</p>
<p>Tesla’s Autopilot allows drivers under certain conditions to take their hands off the wheel for extended periods. Still, Tesla requires users to agree to keep their hands on the wheel “at all times” before they can use Autopilot.</p>
<p>The NTSB faulted Tesla in a prior fatal Autopilot crash.</p>
<p>In September, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said operational limitations in the Tesla Model S played a major role in a May 2016 crash in Florida that killed a driver using Autopilot. That crash raised questions about the safety of systems that can perform driving tasks for long stretches but cannot completely replace human drivers.</p>
<p>Tesla in September 2016 unveiled improvements to Autopilot, adding new limits on hands-off driving.</p>
<p>Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Lisa Shumaker, David Gregorio and Cynthia Osterman</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York, California and other states vowed on Tuesday to stop the U.S. government from asking in the 2020 census whether people are citizens, arguing the question could stop immigrants from participating and skew the makeup of Congress.</p>
<p>The U.S. Census Bureau decided to include the citizenship question in the once-a-decade questionnaire, saying an accurate count of citizens would help protect minority rights under the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, according to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.</p>
<p>But liberal opponents feared that the decision would have the opposite effect. They said the move was designed to undercount immigrants, potentially reducing their representation in Congress and federal funding for local jurisdictions, which is determined by population.</p>
<p>“It is a scare tactic to try to scare Latinos and others from participating in the 2020 census,” Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, told reporters.</p>
<p>Pending legal challenges from the states or an unlikely intervention from the Republican-controlled Congress, the citizenship question would appear in the decennial census for the first time since 1950.</p>
<p>New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he would lead a multistate lawsuit to block the decision.</p>
<p>Separately, the State of California filed a lawsuit early Tuesday in federal court against the Commerce Department and the Census Bureau.</p>
<p>The commerce secretary, head of the federal department that runs the Census Bureau, said he authorized the question in response to a Justice Department letter arguing the citizenship question was vital to enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. <a href="https://bit.ly/2pIZlXr" type="external">bit.ly/2pIZlXr</a></p>
<p>Although a career staff member sent the Justice Department letter, it was conceived by John Gore, a political appointee who as a lawyer in private practice defended multiple Republican redistricting plans, according to emails obtained by ProPublica.</p>
<p>Last year, Gore was appointed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions as the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, where he reversed the legal challenge to a Texas law that the administration of former President Barack Obama alleged discriminated against minorities.</p> An attendee holds her new country's flag and her naturalization papers as she is sworn in during a U.S. citizenship ceremony in Los Angeles, U.S., July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake
<p>Justice Department spokesman Devin O’Malley declined to comment on Gore’s involvement. But he said the department looked forward to defending the citizenship question, which he said was needed “to protect the right to vote and ensure free and fair elections for all Americans.”</p>
<p>Vanita Gupta, who ran the Civil Rights Division under the Obama administration, said she questioned the stated motives of President Donald Trump’s administration.</p>
<p>“The Sessions Justice Department is asking for this in the name of voting rights enforcement when it has shown time and time again a reluctance to enforce the Voting Rights Act,” Gupta told reporters.</p>
<p>Other critics said the inclusion of the question would disrupt years of planning that goes into the census. They said there was not enough time to put the question through the rigorous testing that census questions typically undergo to ensure an accurate count.</p>
<p>The U.S. Constitution mandates a census takes place every 10 years, counting every person in the United States.</p>
<p>It is used to determine the allocation to states of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and to distribute billions of dollars in federal funds to local communities.</p>
<p>“It is facially constitutional to ask the question,” said</p>
<p>James Sample, a law professor at Hofstra University, “even though it is colossally dumb” because it was likely to reduce the number of people responding to the census.</p>
<p>The Trump administration could probably win a legal case, Sample said. But the challenges may succeed if an inaccurate count leads to a range of unconstitutional consequences,</p>
<p>including the unequal distribution of federal funds or potential violations of the “one-person-one-vote” principle, he said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Daniel Trotta, Sarah N. Lynch, Jonathan Stempel, and Eric Beech; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Frank McGurty and Cynthia Osterman</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday it won a pledge from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to denuclearize the Korean peninsula during a meeting with President Xi Jinping, who pledged in return that China would uphold its friendship with its isolated neighbour.</p>
<p>After two days of speculation, China announced on Wednesday that Kim had visited Beijing and met Xi during what the official Xinhua news agency called an unofficial visit from Sunday to Wednesday.</p>
<p>The trip was Kim’s first known journey abroad since he assumed power in 2011 and is believed by analysts to serve as preparation for upcoming summits with South Korea and the United States.</p>
<p>Beijing has traditionally been the closest ally of secretive North Korea, but ties have been frayed by North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and China’s backing of tough U.N. sanctions in response.</p>
<p>Xinhua cited Kim as telling Xi that the situation on the Korean peninsula is starting to improve because North Korea has taken the initiative to ease tensions and put forward proposals for peace talks.</p>
<p>“It is our consistent stand to be committed to denuclearization on the peninsula, in accordance with the will of late President Kim Il Sung and late General Secretary Kim Jong Il,” Kim Jong Un said, according to Xinhua.</p>
<p>North Korea is willing to talk with the United States and hold a summit between the two countries, he said.</p>
<p>“The issue of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula can be resolved, if South Korea and the United States respond to our efforts with goodwill, create an atmosphere of peace and stability while taking progressive and synchronous measures for the realisation of peace,” Kim said.</p> North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping, in this still image taken from video released on March 28, 2018. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited China from Sunday to Wednesday on an unofficial visit, China's state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday. CCTV via Reuters TV
<p>Xi told Kim in return that both sides had stated repeatedly that their traditional friendship should be passed on and developed better.</p>
<p>“This is a strategic choice and the only right choice both sides have made based on history and reality, the international and regional structure and the general situation of China-North Korea ties. This should not and will not change because of any single event at a particular time,” Xi said.</p> Slideshow (21 Images)
<p>Xinhua published a photograph of Kim and Xi shaking hands in front of the flags of the two nations.</p>
<p>Speculation about a possible visit by Kim to Beijing was rife earlier this week after a train similar to the one used by Kim’s father was seen in the Chinese capital, along with heavy security and a large motorcade.</p>
<p>Kim was accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol Ju, Xinhua said.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-northkorea-missiles-china-usa/china-briefs-trump-on-kim-jong-uns-visit-white-house-idUSKBN1H404V" type="external">China briefs Trump on Kim Jong Un's visit: White House</a>
<p>Xi had accepted an invitation from Kim to visit North Korea, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said.</p>
<p>Improving ties between North Korea and China would be a positive sign before planned summits involving the two Koreas and the United States, a senior South Korean official said on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il, met then-president Jiang Zemin in China in 2000 before a summit between the two Koreas in June that year. That visit was seen at the time as reaffirmation of close ties with Beijing.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by David Stanway in SHANGHAI; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Paul Tait</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | 599,277 |
<p>By Linda Sieg</p>
<p>TOKYO – Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has made no secret of her desire to be Japan’s first female prime minister – she even named her pet terrier “Sori”, Japanese for “premier”.</p>
<p>But Koike, 65, whose fledgling Party of Hope poses a growing threat to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling bloc in an election this month, faces a tough choice: run now for a seat in parliament so she becomes eligible for the nation’s top job, or wait and bet her party positions itself to win the next national poll.</p>
<p>Abe called the Oct. 22 poll in hopes his Liberal Democratic Party-led bloc could keep its majority in the lower house, where it now holds a two-thirds “super majority”, but Koike’s party has upended forecasts.</p>
<p>If Koike resigns as governor little more than a year after defying Abe’s LDP to run successfully for that post, she would risk a backlash from voters. Waiting might let her best shot at the premiership slip through her fingers.</p>
<p>“If she thinks of the nation, it is important that she boldly announce her candidacy, present her ideas about important matters … and debate policies head on,” Abe’s ally, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, told reporters on Monday.</p>
<p>Koike, a media-savvy former LDP member and defense minister, has said she would not resign as governor to run now, especially ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games, which Tokyo will host.</p>
<p>But her carefully phrased remarks have failed to kill speculation that she will run, perhaps announcing on Thursday, when the Tokyo Metropolitan assembly ends its session. Candidates must register on Oct. 10, when the campaign officially starts.</p>
<p>“Only she can decide,” said one Koike adviser, who declined to be identified because he is not allowed to speak for her.</p>
<p>Koike is certain to be watching opinion polls as she weighs her decision. A TV Asahi survey published on Monday showed 72 percent were negative about her potential candidacy.</p>
<p>Her close ally, Masaru Wakasa, on Sunday said it was not essential that Koike run this time around.</p>
<p>“NEXT, NEXT” ELECTION?</p>
<p>“If there is a firm prospect of a change in government, party chief Koike might run for parliament, but if we can achieve a change in the ‘next, next’ election, she doesn’t have to run now,” Wakasa said during a debate on public broadcaster NHK.</p>
<p>Koike, however, has already once blindsided Wakasa, who led efforts to form the new party, by announcing – on the day Abe announced the snap poll, that she would lead the Party of Hope herself, not entrust it to allies.</p>
<p>On Monday, she told Jiji news agency her party aimed to run more than the 233 candidates needed to take a majority in the 465-seat lower house. “If you don’t buy a lottery ticket, you can’t win,” she said.</p>
<p>But she again denied she would seek a seat in parliament now. “I was in national politics for 24 years and I have no intention to go back to a place where you can achieve nothing despite spending so much time,” she said.</p>
<p>A former TV announcer who speaks Arabic and English and peppers her speeches with foreign words, Koike wants to build a “pro-reform, conservative” party to compete with the LDP, in part by cannibalizing the failed main opposition Democratic Party and luring smaller parties to her side.</p>
<p>Her cool, polished demeanor belies a steeliness beneath.</p>
<p>“She can take a punch with a smile and sharpen her knives at the same time,” said Jesper Koll, head of equity fund Wisdom Tree, who has followed Japanese politics for years.</p>
<p>Like former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, one of her past mentors, Koike promises to “break free of vested interests”, a slogan that resonates with voters looking for an alternative to the LDP – although critics question just how different that alternative would be from Abe’s LDP.</p>
<p>To differentiate her party from the LDP, Koike has adopted popular policies, such as an end to atomic power amid public safety worries after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, and proposes to freeze a planned sales tax hike from 2019.</p>
<p>But she also backs Abe’s push to expand the role of the military overseas and his goal of revising the post-war constitution – although recently she has avoided focusing on the divisive issue of amending its pacifist Article 9.</p>
<p>She has also said in the past that Japan should consider having nuclear weapons, breaking a taboo in the only country to suffer an atomic attack, and, like Abe, has visited Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, seen in China and South Korea as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.</p>
<p>Koike entered politics in a small reformist party and migrated through several other groups before joining the LDP and in 2008 became the first woman to run for head of the conservative party.</p>
<p>She came in a distant third.</p>
<p>(This story has been refiled to correct name spelling in paragraph five.)</p> | Run or wait? Tokyo's Koike faces dilemma ahead of October 22 poll | false | https://newsline.com/run-or-wait-tokyo039s-koike-faces-dilemma-ahead-of-october-22-poll/ | 2017-10-02 | 1right-center
| Run or wait? Tokyo's Koike faces dilemma ahead of October 22 poll
<p>By Linda Sieg</p>
<p>TOKYO – Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has made no secret of her desire to be Japan’s first female prime minister – she even named her pet terrier “Sori”, Japanese for “premier”.</p>
<p>But Koike, 65, whose fledgling Party of Hope poses a growing threat to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling bloc in an election this month, faces a tough choice: run now for a seat in parliament so she becomes eligible for the nation’s top job, or wait and bet her party positions itself to win the next national poll.</p>
<p>Abe called the Oct. 22 poll in hopes his Liberal Democratic Party-led bloc could keep its majority in the lower house, where it now holds a two-thirds “super majority”, but Koike’s party has upended forecasts.</p>
<p>If Koike resigns as governor little more than a year after defying Abe’s LDP to run successfully for that post, she would risk a backlash from voters. Waiting might let her best shot at the premiership slip through her fingers.</p>
<p>“If she thinks of the nation, it is important that she boldly announce her candidacy, present her ideas about important matters … and debate policies head on,” Abe’s ally, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, told reporters on Monday.</p>
<p>Koike, a media-savvy former LDP member and defense minister, has said she would not resign as governor to run now, especially ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games, which Tokyo will host.</p>
<p>But her carefully phrased remarks have failed to kill speculation that she will run, perhaps announcing on Thursday, when the Tokyo Metropolitan assembly ends its session. Candidates must register on Oct. 10, when the campaign officially starts.</p>
<p>“Only she can decide,” said one Koike adviser, who declined to be identified because he is not allowed to speak for her.</p>
<p>Koike is certain to be watching opinion polls as she weighs her decision. A TV Asahi survey published on Monday showed 72 percent were negative about her potential candidacy.</p>
<p>Her close ally, Masaru Wakasa, on Sunday said it was not essential that Koike run this time around.</p>
<p>“NEXT, NEXT” ELECTION?</p>
<p>“If there is a firm prospect of a change in government, party chief Koike might run for parliament, but if we can achieve a change in the ‘next, next’ election, she doesn’t have to run now,” Wakasa said during a debate on public broadcaster NHK.</p>
<p>Koike, however, has already once blindsided Wakasa, who led efforts to form the new party, by announcing – on the day Abe announced the snap poll, that she would lead the Party of Hope herself, not entrust it to allies.</p>
<p>On Monday, she told Jiji news agency her party aimed to run more than the 233 candidates needed to take a majority in the 465-seat lower house. “If you don’t buy a lottery ticket, you can’t win,” she said.</p>
<p>But she again denied she would seek a seat in parliament now. “I was in national politics for 24 years and I have no intention to go back to a place where you can achieve nothing despite spending so much time,” she said.</p>
<p>A former TV announcer who speaks Arabic and English and peppers her speeches with foreign words, Koike wants to build a “pro-reform, conservative” party to compete with the LDP, in part by cannibalizing the failed main opposition Democratic Party and luring smaller parties to her side.</p>
<p>Her cool, polished demeanor belies a steeliness beneath.</p>
<p>“She can take a punch with a smile and sharpen her knives at the same time,” said Jesper Koll, head of equity fund Wisdom Tree, who has followed Japanese politics for years.</p>
<p>Like former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, one of her past mentors, Koike promises to “break free of vested interests”, a slogan that resonates with voters looking for an alternative to the LDP – although critics question just how different that alternative would be from Abe’s LDP.</p>
<p>To differentiate her party from the LDP, Koike has adopted popular policies, such as an end to atomic power amid public safety worries after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, and proposes to freeze a planned sales tax hike from 2019.</p>
<p>But she also backs Abe’s push to expand the role of the military overseas and his goal of revising the post-war constitution – although recently she has avoided focusing on the divisive issue of amending its pacifist Article 9.</p>
<p>She has also said in the past that Japan should consider having nuclear weapons, breaking a taboo in the only country to suffer an atomic attack, and, like Abe, has visited Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, seen in China and South Korea as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.</p>
<p>Koike entered politics in a small reformist party and migrated through several other groups before joining the LDP and in 2008 became the first woman to run for head of the conservative party.</p>
<p>She came in a distant third.</p>
<p>(This story has been refiled to correct name spelling in paragraph five.)</p> | 599,278 |
<p>Goodyear is recalling about 48,500 SUV tires after finding small cracks in the tread during endurance testing.</p>
<p>The move has forced General Motors Co. to stop selling about 6,300 Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave models until the tires are replaced.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The recall covers 18-inch Fortera HL tires made from Nov. 30 through Jan. 10. Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co. says the problem hasn't caused any crashes.</p>
<p>About 32,100 of the tires were made for the GM SUVs, which are produced at a factory near Lansing, Michigan. Another 16,400 were sold as replacement tires.</p>
<p>GM says the 18-inch tires are on about 30 percent of vehicles made at the plant, and the problem has not affected production.</p>
<p>Owners can have the tires replaced for free at any Goodyear store or authorized dealer.</p> | Goodyear recalls tires due to tread cracks, causes GM to temporarily stop selling some SUVs | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/01/23/goodyear-recalls-tires-due-to-tread-cracks-causes-gm-to-temporarily-stop.html | 2016-03-05 | 0right
| Goodyear recalls tires due to tread cracks, causes GM to temporarily stop selling some SUVs
<p>Goodyear is recalling about 48,500 SUV tires after finding small cracks in the tread during endurance testing.</p>
<p>The move has forced General Motors Co. to stop selling about 6,300 Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave models until the tires are replaced.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The recall covers 18-inch Fortera HL tires made from Nov. 30 through Jan. 10. Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co. says the problem hasn't caused any crashes.</p>
<p>About 32,100 of the tires were made for the GM SUVs, which are produced at a factory near Lansing, Michigan. Another 16,400 were sold as replacement tires.</p>
<p>GM says the 18-inch tires are on about 30 percent of vehicles made at the plant, and the problem has not affected production.</p>
<p>Owners can have the tires replaced for free at any Goodyear store or authorized dealer.</p> | 599,279 |
<p />
<p>As the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance open enrollment period hits its one- week mark, the Obama Administration is remaining tight-lipped on just how many Americans signed up for coverage on state and federally-run exchanges.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>During a White House press briefing Monday, Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters, “We — I’m glad you asked that question, because I want to be clear about it. When it comes to enrollment data — you know, I want to clear this up — we will release data on regular monthly intervals, just like was done in Massachusetts and just like what was done in and is done when it comes to Medicare Part D.”</p>
<p>Carney referenced the previously-released Department of Health and Human Service’s (DHHS) numbers of 8.6 million people visiting Healthcare.gov in the first 72 hours of the rollout, and added it would be unlikely to get additional data before November.</p>
<p>When questioned by Chris Wallace on FOX News Sunday on enrollment numbers, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told Wallace the numbers at this point shouldn’t be the focus.</p>
<p>“The fact that so many millions of people rushed to get information is a very good sign…” Lew said. “Well, it's obviously not my primary area of responsibility, so my knowing or not knowing is not going to be indicative...”</p>
<p>On “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” on Monday, DHHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told Stewart “I don’t know” when he asked how many people had signed up for coverage.</p>
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<p>“Fully enrolled, I can’t tell you. I don’t know,” Sebelius said. “We’ve been taking applications on the web, on the phone, but I can tell you not only lots of web hits, hundreds of thousands of accounts created.”</p>
<p>Finally, during a POLITICO Playbook Breakfast with POLITICO Chief White House Correspondent Mike Allen on Monday, director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling &#160;reportedly admitted: “the truth is, we don’t have that information.” Sperling said the right thing to do would be to wait until Jan. 1 to consider enrollment numbers, and that the public should “stay tuned.”</p>
<p>Larry Kocot, visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, who worked on the rollout of the Medicare Part D program in 2006, says it’s too soon to release any accurate figures.</p>
<p>States are tabulating enrollment numbers in different ways, and Kocot says traffic numbers are irrelevant until people actually write a check to pay for their monthly premiums.</p>
<p>“Different states are reporting different metrics,” Kocot says. “And some states don’t have a good handle on granularity. The number of hits on a website doesn’t determine enrollment.”</p>
<p>He adds that reporting low numbers during the launch could deter more people from signing up.</p>
<p>“If they release numbers too soon and they look very small, that could discourage enrollment,” he says. “The administration has worked themselves into a position here, creating high expectations with the number of web hits, then saying they can’t reveal anything until November.”</p>
<p>The responses the administration has been giving to questions mirrors some of the issues taking place within the exchange rollout, Kocot says.</p>
<p>“So far, there have been a lot of glitches, and this glitch in the technology has translated into a glitch in communication,” he says.</p> | ObamaCare’s Mystery Number: Just How Many People Signed Up? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/10/08/obama-administration-mum-on-enrollment-numbers.html | 2016-03-09 | 0right
| ObamaCare’s Mystery Number: Just How Many People Signed Up?
<p />
<p>As the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance open enrollment period hits its one- week mark, the Obama Administration is remaining tight-lipped on just how many Americans signed up for coverage on state and federally-run exchanges.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>During a White House press briefing Monday, Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters, “We — I’m glad you asked that question, because I want to be clear about it. When it comes to enrollment data — you know, I want to clear this up — we will release data on regular monthly intervals, just like was done in Massachusetts and just like what was done in and is done when it comes to Medicare Part D.”</p>
<p>Carney referenced the previously-released Department of Health and Human Service’s (DHHS) numbers of 8.6 million people visiting Healthcare.gov in the first 72 hours of the rollout, and added it would be unlikely to get additional data before November.</p>
<p>When questioned by Chris Wallace on FOX News Sunday on enrollment numbers, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told Wallace the numbers at this point shouldn’t be the focus.</p>
<p>“The fact that so many millions of people rushed to get information is a very good sign…” Lew said. “Well, it's obviously not my primary area of responsibility, so my knowing or not knowing is not going to be indicative...”</p>
<p>On “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” on Monday, DHHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told Stewart “I don’t know” when he asked how many people had signed up for coverage.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>“Fully enrolled, I can’t tell you. I don’t know,” Sebelius said. “We’ve been taking applications on the web, on the phone, but I can tell you not only lots of web hits, hundreds of thousands of accounts created.”</p>
<p>Finally, during a POLITICO Playbook Breakfast with POLITICO Chief White House Correspondent Mike Allen on Monday, director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling &#160;reportedly admitted: “the truth is, we don’t have that information.” Sperling said the right thing to do would be to wait until Jan. 1 to consider enrollment numbers, and that the public should “stay tuned.”</p>
<p>Larry Kocot, visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, who worked on the rollout of the Medicare Part D program in 2006, says it’s too soon to release any accurate figures.</p>
<p>States are tabulating enrollment numbers in different ways, and Kocot says traffic numbers are irrelevant until people actually write a check to pay for their monthly premiums.</p>
<p>“Different states are reporting different metrics,” Kocot says. “And some states don’t have a good handle on granularity. The number of hits on a website doesn’t determine enrollment.”</p>
<p>He adds that reporting low numbers during the launch could deter more people from signing up.</p>
<p>“If they release numbers too soon and they look very small, that could discourage enrollment,” he says. “The administration has worked themselves into a position here, creating high expectations with the number of web hits, then saying they can’t reveal anything until November.”</p>
<p>The responses the administration has been giving to questions mirrors some of the issues taking place within the exchange rollout, Kocot says.</p>
<p>“So far, there have been a lot of glitches, and this glitch in the technology has translated into a glitch in communication,” he says.</p> | 599,280 |
<p>MANSFIELD, Mass. (AP) — In a third-floor studio above an appliance store in Mansfield, Anthony Ferrara and his wife and partner, Rose, preside over a large collection of sparkling, metal-mesh garments, handcrafted accessories and mementos of a career in high fashion.</p>
<p>Ferrara is the man widely credited for creating the shiny, often outrageous mesh tops, halters and dresses that shocked the world of women’s clothing in the 1970s and ’80s and continue to occupy a unique niche in the fashion world.</p>
<p>His pieces have sold for $7,000 and more, and famous customers range from Elizabeth Taylor to Barbra Streisand to Cher.</p>
<p>Made up of thousands of plated or colored metal links, the jeweled creations are often described as wearable art. Examples of Ferrara’s fashions along with other artwork will go on display Jan. 19-21 at the Artist’s Studio and Gallery at Patriot Place.</p>
<p>Metal mesh had been used for decades on consumer products like women’s handbags before Ferrara recognized its potential for making uniquely form-fitting garments with a glow all their own.</p>
<p>“Mesh is more sensual than fabric,” said Ferrara, 77, who makes Mansfield his home. It only needed a fresh eye to see its fashion potential.</p>
<p>“Before me, people used mesh for what they wanted it to do. I let mesh do what it wanted to.”</p>
<p>What it did best was complement a woman’s body in a sparkling manner that was guaranteed to garner attention.</p>
<p>A dress Ferrara created for local mesh producer Whiting and Davis created a sensation that led to orders for products from around the world. He eventually became the exclusive designer for the company’s ready-to-wear line.</p>
<p>Ferrara estimates tens of thousands of his designs, from cowls to earrings, have been sold. His designs have also been featured on the pages of Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and other glossy magazines.</p>
<p>In 1990, Ferrara was commissioned to create an exclusive design for the Absolut Vodka ad campaign. The stunning result was a $532,000, 18-karat solid gold dress, advertised as “Absolut Fashion.”</p>
<p>The local designer said he is the only artist commissioned to do more than one piece for Absolut.</p>
<p>While Ferrara is best known for his fashion prowess, he approaches all art with the heart of an explorer. Besides mesh clothes and jewelry, he creates decorative pottery and stained glass panels and art objects. He also used to create blown glass but said studio time became too expensive to continue in it.</p>
<p>Some of those Ferrara glass works will also be on display at Patriot Place.</p>
<p>“I like to create things with my hands,” Ferrara said. “It gives me peace. When I’m creating something I could give a darn what goes on around me.”</p>
<p>Handcrafting artwork isn’t the only calming influence in his life. His wife, 75, is his business partner and constant companion, keeping him humble by ribbing him about the glasswork accumulating around their home.</p>
<p>“She does all the bookwork,” Ferrara said. “She keeps me in check.”</p>
<p>Ferrara’s artistic journey began as a child when his mother got him a paint-by-number kit.</p>
<p>Later he studied at the School of Fashion and Design in Boston. After a two-year hitch in the Army, he and his wife moved back to Mansfield.</p>
<p>The couple raised two sons, Matthew and Jason, and now have three grandchildren.</p>
<p>While Anthony is still creating jewelry and fashion accessories for exclusive showrooms and private customers, he and Rose have been gradually downsizing, with thoughts trending toward retirement.</p>
<p>“After all,” Rose said, “we have to have some time for ourselves.”</p>
<p>In life as well as in art, Anthony said he has much to be thankful for.</p>
<p>“God has been good to me.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online: <a href="http://bit.ly/2CFX0AS" type="external">http://bit.ly/2CFX0AS</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The (Attleboro, Mass.) Sun Chronicle, <a href="http://www.thesunchronicle.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.thesunchronicle.com" type="external">http://www.thesunchronicle.com</a></p>
<p>MANSFIELD, Mass. (AP) — In a third-floor studio above an appliance store in Mansfield, Anthony Ferrara and his wife and partner, Rose, preside over a large collection of sparkling, metal-mesh garments, handcrafted accessories and mementos of a career in high fashion.</p>
<p>Ferrara is the man widely credited for creating the shiny, often outrageous mesh tops, halters and dresses that shocked the world of women’s clothing in the 1970s and ’80s and continue to occupy a unique niche in the fashion world.</p>
<p>His pieces have sold for $7,000 and more, and famous customers range from Elizabeth Taylor to Barbra Streisand to Cher.</p>
<p>Made up of thousands of plated or colored metal links, the jeweled creations are often described as wearable art. Examples of Ferrara’s fashions along with other artwork will go on display Jan. 19-21 at the Artist’s Studio and Gallery at Patriot Place.</p>
<p>Metal mesh had been used for decades on consumer products like women’s handbags before Ferrara recognized its potential for making uniquely form-fitting garments with a glow all their own.</p>
<p>“Mesh is more sensual than fabric,” said Ferrara, 77, who makes Mansfield his home. It only needed a fresh eye to see its fashion potential.</p>
<p>“Before me, people used mesh for what they wanted it to do. I let mesh do what it wanted to.”</p>
<p>What it did best was complement a woman’s body in a sparkling manner that was guaranteed to garner attention.</p>
<p>A dress Ferrara created for local mesh producer Whiting and Davis created a sensation that led to orders for products from around the world. He eventually became the exclusive designer for the company’s ready-to-wear line.</p>
<p>Ferrara estimates tens of thousands of his designs, from cowls to earrings, have been sold. His designs have also been featured on the pages of Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and other glossy magazines.</p>
<p>In 1990, Ferrara was commissioned to create an exclusive design for the Absolut Vodka ad campaign. The stunning result was a $532,000, 18-karat solid gold dress, advertised as “Absolut Fashion.”</p>
<p>The local designer said he is the only artist commissioned to do more than one piece for Absolut.</p>
<p>While Ferrara is best known for his fashion prowess, he approaches all art with the heart of an explorer. Besides mesh clothes and jewelry, he creates decorative pottery and stained glass panels and art objects. He also used to create blown glass but said studio time became too expensive to continue in it.</p>
<p>Some of those Ferrara glass works will also be on display at Patriot Place.</p>
<p>“I like to create things with my hands,” Ferrara said. “It gives me peace. When I’m creating something I could give a darn what goes on around me.”</p>
<p>Handcrafting artwork isn’t the only calming influence in his life. His wife, 75, is his business partner and constant companion, keeping him humble by ribbing him about the glasswork accumulating around their home.</p>
<p>“She does all the bookwork,” Ferrara said. “She keeps me in check.”</p>
<p>Ferrara’s artistic journey began as a child when his mother got him a paint-by-number kit.</p>
<p>Later he studied at the School of Fashion and Design in Boston. After a two-year hitch in the Army, he and his wife moved back to Mansfield.</p>
<p>The couple raised two sons, Matthew and Jason, and now have three grandchildren.</p>
<p>While Anthony is still creating jewelry and fashion accessories for exclusive showrooms and private customers, he and Rose have been gradually downsizing, with thoughts trending toward retirement.</p>
<p>“After all,” Rose said, “we have to have some time for ourselves.”</p>
<p>In life as well as in art, Anthony said he has much to be thankful for.</p>
<p>“God has been good to me.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online: <a href="http://bit.ly/2CFX0AS" type="external">http://bit.ly/2CFX0AS</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The (Attleboro, Mass.) Sun Chronicle, <a href="http://www.thesunchronicle.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.thesunchronicle.com" type="external">http://www.thesunchronicle.com</a></p> | Designer continues to make his mark with metallic pieces | false | https://apnews.com/c14382b416074be9ae05928fffca9fc1 | 2018-01-08 | 2least
| Designer continues to make his mark with metallic pieces
<p>MANSFIELD, Mass. (AP) — In a third-floor studio above an appliance store in Mansfield, Anthony Ferrara and his wife and partner, Rose, preside over a large collection of sparkling, metal-mesh garments, handcrafted accessories and mementos of a career in high fashion.</p>
<p>Ferrara is the man widely credited for creating the shiny, often outrageous mesh tops, halters and dresses that shocked the world of women’s clothing in the 1970s and ’80s and continue to occupy a unique niche in the fashion world.</p>
<p>His pieces have sold for $7,000 and more, and famous customers range from Elizabeth Taylor to Barbra Streisand to Cher.</p>
<p>Made up of thousands of plated or colored metal links, the jeweled creations are often described as wearable art. Examples of Ferrara’s fashions along with other artwork will go on display Jan. 19-21 at the Artist’s Studio and Gallery at Patriot Place.</p>
<p>Metal mesh had been used for decades on consumer products like women’s handbags before Ferrara recognized its potential for making uniquely form-fitting garments with a glow all their own.</p>
<p>“Mesh is more sensual than fabric,” said Ferrara, 77, who makes Mansfield his home. It only needed a fresh eye to see its fashion potential.</p>
<p>“Before me, people used mesh for what they wanted it to do. I let mesh do what it wanted to.”</p>
<p>What it did best was complement a woman’s body in a sparkling manner that was guaranteed to garner attention.</p>
<p>A dress Ferrara created for local mesh producer Whiting and Davis created a sensation that led to orders for products from around the world. He eventually became the exclusive designer for the company’s ready-to-wear line.</p>
<p>Ferrara estimates tens of thousands of his designs, from cowls to earrings, have been sold. His designs have also been featured on the pages of Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and other glossy magazines.</p>
<p>In 1990, Ferrara was commissioned to create an exclusive design for the Absolut Vodka ad campaign. The stunning result was a $532,000, 18-karat solid gold dress, advertised as “Absolut Fashion.”</p>
<p>The local designer said he is the only artist commissioned to do more than one piece for Absolut.</p>
<p>While Ferrara is best known for his fashion prowess, he approaches all art with the heart of an explorer. Besides mesh clothes and jewelry, he creates decorative pottery and stained glass panels and art objects. He also used to create blown glass but said studio time became too expensive to continue in it.</p>
<p>Some of those Ferrara glass works will also be on display at Patriot Place.</p>
<p>“I like to create things with my hands,” Ferrara said. “It gives me peace. When I’m creating something I could give a darn what goes on around me.”</p>
<p>Handcrafting artwork isn’t the only calming influence in his life. His wife, 75, is his business partner and constant companion, keeping him humble by ribbing him about the glasswork accumulating around their home.</p>
<p>“She does all the bookwork,” Ferrara said. “She keeps me in check.”</p>
<p>Ferrara’s artistic journey began as a child when his mother got him a paint-by-number kit.</p>
<p>Later he studied at the School of Fashion and Design in Boston. After a two-year hitch in the Army, he and his wife moved back to Mansfield.</p>
<p>The couple raised two sons, Matthew and Jason, and now have three grandchildren.</p>
<p>While Anthony is still creating jewelry and fashion accessories for exclusive showrooms and private customers, he and Rose have been gradually downsizing, with thoughts trending toward retirement.</p>
<p>“After all,” Rose said, “we have to have some time for ourselves.”</p>
<p>In life as well as in art, Anthony said he has much to be thankful for.</p>
<p>“God has been good to me.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online: <a href="http://bit.ly/2CFX0AS" type="external">http://bit.ly/2CFX0AS</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The (Attleboro, Mass.) Sun Chronicle, <a href="http://www.thesunchronicle.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.thesunchronicle.com" type="external">http://www.thesunchronicle.com</a></p>
<p>MANSFIELD, Mass. (AP) — In a third-floor studio above an appliance store in Mansfield, Anthony Ferrara and his wife and partner, Rose, preside over a large collection of sparkling, metal-mesh garments, handcrafted accessories and mementos of a career in high fashion.</p>
<p>Ferrara is the man widely credited for creating the shiny, often outrageous mesh tops, halters and dresses that shocked the world of women’s clothing in the 1970s and ’80s and continue to occupy a unique niche in the fashion world.</p>
<p>His pieces have sold for $7,000 and more, and famous customers range from Elizabeth Taylor to Barbra Streisand to Cher.</p>
<p>Made up of thousands of plated or colored metal links, the jeweled creations are often described as wearable art. Examples of Ferrara’s fashions along with other artwork will go on display Jan. 19-21 at the Artist’s Studio and Gallery at Patriot Place.</p>
<p>Metal mesh had been used for decades on consumer products like women’s handbags before Ferrara recognized its potential for making uniquely form-fitting garments with a glow all their own.</p>
<p>“Mesh is more sensual than fabric,” said Ferrara, 77, who makes Mansfield his home. It only needed a fresh eye to see its fashion potential.</p>
<p>“Before me, people used mesh for what they wanted it to do. I let mesh do what it wanted to.”</p>
<p>What it did best was complement a woman’s body in a sparkling manner that was guaranteed to garner attention.</p>
<p>A dress Ferrara created for local mesh producer Whiting and Davis created a sensation that led to orders for products from around the world. He eventually became the exclusive designer for the company’s ready-to-wear line.</p>
<p>Ferrara estimates tens of thousands of his designs, from cowls to earrings, have been sold. His designs have also been featured on the pages of Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and other glossy magazines.</p>
<p>In 1990, Ferrara was commissioned to create an exclusive design for the Absolut Vodka ad campaign. The stunning result was a $532,000, 18-karat solid gold dress, advertised as “Absolut Fashion.”</p>
<p>The local designer said he is the only artist commissioned to do more than one piece for Absolut.</p>
<p>While Ferrara is best known for his fashion prowess, he approaches all art with the heart of an explorer. Besides mesh clothes and jewelry, he creates decorative pottery and stained glass panels and art objects. He also used to create blown glass but said studio time became too expensive to continue in it.</p>
<p>Some of those Ferrara glass works will also be on display at Patriot Place.</p>
<p>“I like to create things with my hands,” Ferrara said. “It gives me peace. When I’m creating something I could give a darn what goes on around me.”</p>
<p>Handcrafting artwork isn’t the only calming influence in his life. His wife, 75, is his business partner and constant companion, keeping him humble by ribbing him about the glasswork accumulating around their home.</p>
<p>“She does all the bookwork,” Ferrara said. “She keeps me in check.”</p>
<p>Ferrara’s artistic journey began as a child when his mother got him a paint-by-number kit.</p>
<p>Later he studied at the School of Fashion and Design in Boston. After a two-year hitch in the Army, he and his wife moved back to Mansfield.</p>
<p>The couple raised two sons, Matthew and Jason, and now have three grandchildren.</p>
<p>While Anthony is still creating jewelry and fashion accessories for exclusive showrooms and private customers, he and Rose have been gradually downsizing, with thoughts trending toward retirement.</p>
<p>“After all,” Rose said, “we have to have some time for ourselves.”</p>
<p>In life as well as in art, Anthony said he has much to be thankful for.</p>
<p>“God has been good to me.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online: <a href="http://bit.ly/2CFX0AS" type="external">http://bit.ly/2CFX0AS</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The (Attleboro, Mass.) Sun Chronicle, <a href="http://www.thesunchronicle.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.thesunchronicle.com" type="external">http://www.thesunchronicle.com</a></p> | 599,281 |
<p>The state of uncertainty…is a joint product of ignorance and impotence—the two dragons which the Enlightenment heirs of St. George promised , resolved and tried hard to kill, or at least to chase away from the world of human beings and bar their return. ‘Ignorance’ in this case means disconnection between what we expect, hope and desire to happen, and what actually happens. ‘Impotence’ means the disconnection between wheat we are able to accomplish, and what we should or would wish to achieve.</p>
<p>— Zygmunt Bauman</p>
<p>Public spheres that once offered at least the glimmer of progressive ideas, enlightened social policies, non-commodified values, and critical exchange have been increasingly commercialized—or replaced by private spaces and corporate settings whose ultimate fidelity is to expanding profit margins.&#160; For example, higher education is increasingly defined as another core element of corporate power and culture. Public spaces such as libraries are detached from the language of public discourse and viewed increasingly as a waste of taxpayers’ money. The dominant media is simply an adjunct of corporate advertising and ideology while also trading in the idiocy of celebrity culture. &#160;No longer vibrant political spheres and ethical sites, public spaces are reduced to dead spaces in which it becomes almost impossible to construct those modes of knowledge, communication, agency, and meaningful interventions necessary for an aspiring democracy. Ignorance is now the political and cultural currency of choice and provides the foundation for an ongoing neoliberal attack on the social state, workers, and unions, matched by a full-fledged assault on higher education. Such attacks are not happening just in the United States but in many other parts of the globe where neoliberalism is waging a savage battle to eliminate all of those public spheres that might offer a glimmer of critical thought and any viable form of opposition to market-driven policies, institutions, ideology, and values. What is particularly dangerous is that public and higher education are being targeted by conservative politicians and governments because they embody, at least ideally, a sphere in which students learn that democracy, entails ruptures, relentless critique, and dialogue about official power, its institutions, and its never-ending attempts to silent dissent. &#160;One part of this script is all too familiar. In the United States, universities and businesses are forming stronger ties; the humanities are being underfunded, student tuition is rising at astronomical rates; knowledge is being commodified; and research is valued through the lens of an audit culture. The university has increasingly been stripped of its function as a place to teach students how to think, ask questions, hold power accountable, and produce critically engaged students.&#160;&#160; Delivering improved employability has reshaped the connection between knowledge and power, while rendering faculty and students as professional entrepreneurs and budding customers.</p>
<p>But there is more. The notion of the university as a center of critique and a vital democratic public sphere that cultivates the knowledge, skills, and values necessary for the production of a democratic polity is giving way to a view of the university as a marketing machine essential to the production of neoliberal subjects. This is completely at odd with the notion that higher education, in particular, is wedded to the presupposition that literacy in its various economic, political, cultural and social forms is essential to the development of a formative culture that provides the foundation for producing critically engaged and informed citizens. Clearly, any institution that makes a claim to literacy, critical dialogue, informed debate, and reason is now a threat to a political culture in which ignorance; stupidity, lies, misinformation, and appeals to the common sense have become the only currency of exchange. And this seems to apply as well to the dominant media.&#160;&#160; How else to explain the widespread public support for politicians such as Herman Cain, who is as much of a buffoon as he is an exemplary symbol of illiteracy and ignorance in the service of celebrity status. If fact, one can argue reasonably that the entire slate of presidential Republicans extending from Rick Santorum to Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann embody not simply a rejection of science, evidence, informed argument, and other elements&#160; associated with the Enlightenment, but a deep seated disdain and hatred for any vestige of a critical mind. Ignorance now replaces knowledge and impotence with power. &#160;Almost every position they take harks back to a pre-Enlightenment period when faith and cruelty ruled the day and ignorance became the modus operandi for legitimating political and ethical impotence.&#160; Under such circumstance, it is not surprising that higher education, or for that matter any other critical public sphere in the United, occupies a high profile target for dismantlement and reform by right-wing Republicans and other extremists. While there is ample commentary on the dumbing down of the culture as a result of the corporate control of the dominant media, what is often missed in this argument is how education has come under a similar attack and not simply because there is an attempt to privatize or commercialize such institutions.</p>
<p>Under casino capitalism, higher education matters only to the extent that it promotes national prosperity and drives economic growth, innovation, and transformation.&#160; But there is more at stake here in turning the university into an adjunct of the corporation, there is also an attempt to remove it as one of the few remaining institutions left in which dissent, critical dialogue, and social problems can be critically engaged.&#160; There is a sustained attempt on the part of the corporate elite, right wing fundamentalists, and others to disconnect the university from its role as a democratic public sphere capable of producing a critical formative culture and set of institutions in which complicated ideas can be engaged, authority challenged, power held accountable, and public intellectuals produced.&#160; Young people in the United States now recognize that the university has become part of ponzi scheme designed to place on students an unconscionable amount of debt while subjecting them under the power of commanding financial institutions for years after they graduate. Under this economic model of subservience, there is no future for young people, there is no time to talk about advancing social justice, addressing social problems, promoting critical thinking, cultivating social responsibility, or engaging non-commodified values that might challenge the neoliberal world view.</p>
<p>One of the most exemplary examples of how the university as a place to think is being dismantled can be seen in the ongoing casualization of academic labor. As universities adopt models of corporate governance, they are aggressively eliminating tenure positions, increasing part-time and full-time positions without the guarantee of tenure, and attacking faculty unions. In a number of states such as Ohio and Utah, legislatures have passed bills outlawing tenure, while in Wisconsin the governor has abrogated the bargaining rights of state university faculty. At a time when higher education is becoming increasingly vocationalized, the ranks of tenure-track faculty are being drastically depleted in the United States, furthering the loss of faculty as stakeholders.&#160; Currently, only 27 percent of faculty is either on a tenure track or in a full-time tenure position.&#160; As faculty are demoted to contingency forms of labor, they lose their power to influence the conditions of their work; they see their work load increase; they are paid poorly, deprived of office space and supplies, and refused travel money; and, most significantly, they are subject to policies that allow them to be fired at will. The latter is particularly egregious because, when coupled with an ongoing series of attacks by right-wing ideologues against left-oriented and progressive academics, many non-tenured faculty begin to censor themselves in their classes.</p>
<p>Fighting not merely for a space to survive, but also for a society in which matters of justice, dignity, and freedom are objects of collective struggle, the Occupy Wall Street protesters have created a new stage on which young people once again are defining what John Pilger calls the “theater of the possible.” &#160;Signaling a generational and political crisis that is global in scope, young people have sent a message to the world that they refuse to live any longer under repressive authoritarian regimes sustained by morally bankrupt market-driven policies and repressive governments.&#160; The Occupy Wall Street protesters are protesting the attack on the social state, the savagery of neoliberal policies, and the devaluation of higher education as a public good. In doing so, they have defied a social order in which they could not work at a decent job, have access to a quality education, or support a family—a social order that offered them a meager life stripped of self-determination and dignity. The draconian policies responsible for such conditions are designed to shift the burden and responsibility of the recession from the rich to the most vulnerable elements of society such as the elderly, workers, lower-income people, and students. In the United States young people are now not simply protesting tuition increases, the defunding of academia, and the enormous debt many of them are laboring under, they are also situating such concerns within a broader attack on the fundamental institutions and ideology of casino capitalism in its particularly virulent neoliberal form. The Occupy Wall Street movement is now at the forefront of moving away from focusing on isolated issues in an attempt to develop a broader critique as the basis for an energized social movement that is less interested in liberal reforms than in&#160; a wholesale restructuring of American society under more radical and democratic values, social relations, and institutions of power.</p>
<p>Within the last thirty years, the United States under the reign of market fundamentalism has been transformed into a society that is more about forgetting than learning, more about consuming than producing, more about asserting private interests than democratic rights. In a society obsessed with customer satisfaction and the rapid disposability of both consumer goods and long-term attachments, American youth are not encouraged to participate in politics. Nor are they offered the help, guidance, and modes of education that cultivate the capacities for critical thinking and engaged citizenship. As Zygmunt Bauman points out, in a consumerist society, “the tyranny of the moment makes it difficult to live in the present, never mind understand society within a range of larger totalities.” Under such circumstances, according to Theodor Adorno, thinking loses its ability to point beyond itself and is reduced to mimicking existing certainties and modes of common sense. Thought cannot sustain itself and becomes short-lived, fickle, and ephemeral. If young people do not display a strong commitment to democratic politics and collective struggle, then, it is because they have lived through thirty years of what I have elsewhere called “a debilitating and humiliating disinvestment in their future,” especially if they are marginalized by class, ethnicity, and race.</p>
<p>What is different about this generation of young people from past generations is that today’s youth have been immersed since birth in a relentless, spreading neoliberal pedagogical apparatus with its celebration of an unbridled individualism and its near pathological disdain for community, public values, and the public good. They have been inundated by a market-driven value system that encourages a culture of competitiveness and produces a theater of cruelty that has resulted in what Bauman calls “a weakening of democratic pressures, a growing inability to act politically, [and] a massive exit from politics and from responsible citizenship.” And, yet, they refuse to allow this deadening apparatus of force, manufactured ignorance, and ideological domination to shape their lives. Reclaiming both the possibilities inherent in the political use of new digital technologies and the social media, American students are now protesting in large numbers the ongoing intense attack on higher education and the welfare state, refusing a social order shaped by what Alex Honneth describes as “an abyss of failed sociality” one in which “the perceived suffering [of youth] has still not found resonance in the public space of articulation.”</p>
<p>Young people, students, and other members of the 99 percent are no longer simply enduring the great injustices they see around them, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the corruption of American politics by casino capitalism, a permanent war economy, and the growing disinvestment in public and higher education, they are now building new public spaces, confronting a brutalizing police apparatus with their bodies, and refusing to put up with the right wing notion that they are part of what is often called a “failed generation.” On the contrary, young people, especially, have flipped the script and are making clear that the failures of casino capitalism&#160; lies elsewhere and point to the psychological and social consequences of growing up under a neoliberal regime that goes to great lengths to enshrine ignorance, &#160;privatize hope, derail public values, and undercut economic inequality and its attendant social injustices.&#160; What the Occupy Wall Street protesters like their counterparts in London, Athens, Cairo and elsewhere have made clear is that casino capitalism is the site of not only political corruption and economic fraud, but also reproduces a “failed sociality” that hijacks any semblance of critical thinking and agency along with any viable attempt of democracy to deliver on its promises.</p>
<p>In the face of a politically organized ignorance on the part of right-wing anti-public intellectuals, think tanks, media organizations, and politicians, the Occupy Wall Street protesters have refused to provide recipes and blueprints about a longed for utopian future. Instead, they have resurrected the most profound elements of a radical politics, one which recognizes critical education, dialogue, and new modes of solidarity and communication serve as a condition for their own autonomy and for the sustainability of democratization as an ongoing social movement. What terrifies the corporate rich, bankers, media pundits, and other bloviators about this movement is not that it has captured the attention of the broader public but that it constantly hammers home the message that a substantive democracy requires citizens capable of self-reflection and social criticism, and that such citizens through their collective struggles are the product of critical formative culture in which people are provided with the knowledge and skills to participate effectively in developing a radically democratic society. &#160;What is truly remarkable about this movement is its emphasis on connecting learning to social change and its willingness to do so through new and collective modes of education. &#160;What is so encouraging in this movement is that it views its very existence and collective identity as part of a larger struggle for the economic, political, and social conditions that give meaning and substance to what it means to make democracy possible. The expectations that frame market-driven societies are losing their grip on young people and others, who can no longer be completely seduced or controlled by the tawdry promises and failed returns of corporate dominated and authoritarian regimes.&#160; The Occupy Wall Street protest movements tell us that the social visions embedded in casino capitalism and deeply authoritarian regimes have lost both their utopian thrust and their ability to persuade and intimidate through &#160;manufactured consent, threats, coercion, and state violence.&#160; Rejecting the terrors of the present along with the modernist dreams of progress at any cost, young people have become, at least for the moment, harbingers of democracy fashioned through the desires, dreams, and hopes of a world based on the principles of equality, justice, and freedom. One of the most famous slogans of May 1968 was “Be realistic, demand the impossible.” The spirit of that slogan is alive once again. But what is different this time is that it appears to be more than a slogan, it now echoes throughout the United States as both a discourse of critique and as part of a vocabulary of possibility and long-term collective struggle. The current right-wing politics of illiteracy, exploitation, and cruelty can no longer hide in the cave of ignorance, legitimated by their shameful accomplices in the dominant media. The lights have come on all over the United States and young people, workers, and other progressives are on the move. Thinking is no longer seen as an act of stupidity, acting collectively is no longer viewed as unimaginable,&#160; and young people are no longer willing to be viewed as disposable.</p>
<p>Henry A. Giroux holds the Global TV Network chair in English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University in Canada. His most recent books include: “ <a href="" type="internal">Take Back Higher Education</a>” (co-authored with Susan Searls Giroux, 2006), “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1594514232/counterpunchmaga" type="external">The University in Chains: Confronting the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex</a>” (2007) and&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1594515212/counterpunchmaga" type="external">“Against the Terror of Neoliberalism: Politics Beyond the Age of Greed</a>” (2008). His latest book, Twilight of the Social: Resurgent Publics in the Age of Disposability,” will be published by Paradigm Publishers in 2011.</p>
<p>Exclusively in the new print issue of CounterPunch</p>
<p>One of the Greatest Descriptions of Farm Work Ever Written— Don’t miss Frank Bardacke’s marvelous account from the California fields. ALSO Linn Washington Jr. on the “Black Backlash Against Obama.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/Annual_Subscriptions.html" type="external">Order your subscription today and get</a> <a href="http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/Annual_Subscriptions.html" type="external">CounterPunch by email for only $35 per year.</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Casino Capitalism and Higher Education | true | https://counterpunch.org/2011/10/31/casino-capitalism-and-higher-education/ | 2011-10-31 | 4left
| Casino Capitalism and Higher Education
<p>The state of uncertainty…is a joint product of ignorance and impotence—the two dragons which the Enlightenment heirs of St. George promised , resolved and tried hard to kill, or at least to chase away from the world of human beings and bar their return. ‘Ignorance’ in this case means disconnection between what we expect, hope and desire to happen, and what actually happens. ‘Impotence’ means the disconnection between wheat we are able to accomplish, and what we should or would wish to achieve.</p>
<p>— Zygmunt Bauman</p>
<p>Public spheres that once offered at least the glimmer of progressive ideas, enlightened social policies, non-commodified values, and critical exchange have been increasingly commercialized—or replaced by private spaces and corporate settings whose ultimate fidelity is to expanding profit margins.&#160; For example, higher education is increasingly defined as another core element of corporate power and culture. Public spaces such as libraries are detached from the language of public discourse and viewed increasingly as a waste of taxpayers’ money. The dominant media is simply an adjunct of corporate advertising and ideology while also trading in the idiocy of celebrity culture. &#160;No longer vibrant political spheres and ethical sites, public spaces are reduced to dead spaces in which it becomes almost impossible to construct those modes of knowledge, communication, agency, and meaningful interventions necessary for an aspiring democracy. Ignorance is now the political and cultural currency of choice and provides the foundation for an ongoing neoliberal attack on the social state, workers, and unions, matched by a full-fledged assault on higher education. Such attacks are not happening just in the United States but in many other parts of the globe where neoliberalism is waging a savage battle to eliminate all of those public spheres that might offer a glimmer of critical thought and any viable form of opposition to market-driven policies, institutions, ideology, and values. What is particularly dangerous is that public and higher education are being targeted by conservative politicians and governments because they embody, at least ideally, a sphere in which students learn that democracy, entails ruptures, relentless critique, and dialogue about official power, its institutions, and its never-ending attempts to silent dissent. &#160;One part of this script is all too familiar. In the United States, universities and businesses are forming stronger ties; the humanities are being underfunded, student tuition is rising at astronomical rates; knowledge is being commodified; and research is valued through the lens of an audit culture. The university has increasingly been stripped of its function as a place to teach students how to think, ask questions, hold power accountable, and produce critically engaged students.&#160;&#160; Delivering improved employability has reshaped the connection between knowledge and power, while rendering faculty and students as professional entrepreneurs and budding customers.</p>
<p>But there is more. The notion of the university as a center of critique and a vital democratic public sphere that cultivates the knowledge, skills, and values necessary for the production of a democratic polity is giving way to a view of the university as a marketing machine essential to the production of neoliberal subjects. This is completely at odd with the notion that higher education, in particular, is wedded to the presupposition that literacy in its various economic, political, cultural and social forms is essential to the development of a formative culture that provides the foundation for producing critically engaged and informed citizens. Clearly, any institution that makes a claim to literacy, critical dialogue, informed debate, and reason is now a threat to a political culture in which ignorance; stupidity, lies, misinformation, and appeals to the common sense have become the only currency of exchange. And this seems to apply as well to the dominant media.&#160;&#160; How else to explain the widespread public support for politicians such as Herman Cain, who is as much of a buffoon as he is an exemplary symbol of illiteracy and ignorance in the service of celebrity status. If fact, one can argue reasonably that the entire slate of presidential Republicans extending from Rick Santorum to Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann embody not simply a rejection of science, evidence, informed argument, and other elements&#160; associated with the Enlightenment, but a deep seated disdain and hatred for any vestige of a critical mind. Ignorance now replaces knowledge and impotence with power. &#160;Almost every position they take harks back to a pre-Enlightenment period when faith and cruelty ruled the day and ignorance became the modus operandi for legitimating political and ethical impotence.&#160; Under such circumstance, it is not surprising that higher education, or for that matter any other critical public sphere in the United, occupies a high profile target for dismantlement and reform by right-wing Republicans and other extremists. While there is ample commentary on the dumbing down of the culture as a result of the corporate control of the dominant media, what is often missed in this argument is how education has come under a similar attack and not simply because there is an attempt to privatize or commercialize such institutions.</p>
<p>Under casino capitalism, higher education matters only to the extent that it promotes national prosperity and drives economic growth, innovation, and transformation.&#160; But there is more at stake here in turning the university into an adjunct of the corporation, there is also an attempt to remove it as one of the few remaining institutions left in which dissent, critical dialogue, and social problems can be critically engaged.&#160; There is a sustained attempt on the part of the corporate elite, right wing fundamentalists, and others to disconnect the university from its role as a democratic public sphere capable of producing a critical formative culture and set of institutions in which complicated ideas can be engaged, authority challenged, power held accountable, and public intellectuals produced.&#160; Young people in the United States now recognize that the university has become part of ponzi scheme designed to place on students an unconscionable amount of debt while subjecting them under the power of commanding financial institutions for years after they graduate. Under this economic model of subservience, there is no future for young people, there is no time to talk about advancing social justice, addressing social problems, promoting critical thinking, cultivating social responsibility, or engaging non-commodified values that might challenge the neoliberal world view.</p>
<p>One of the most exemplary examples of how the university as a place to think is being dismantled can be seen in the ongoing casualization of academic labor. As universities adopt models of corporate governance, they are aggressively eliminating tenure positions, increasing part-time and full-time positions without the guarantee of tenure, and attacking faculty unions. In a number of states such as Ohio and Utah, legislatures have passed bills outlawing tenure, while in Wisconsin the governor has abrogated the bargaining rights of state university faculty. At a time when higher education is becoming increasingly vocationalized, the ranks of tenure-track faculty are being drastically depleted in the United States, furthering the loss of faculty as stakeholders.&#160; Currently, only 27 percent of faculty is either on a tenure track or in a full-time tenure position.&#160; As faculty are demoted to contingency forms of labor, they lose their power to influence the conditions of their work; they see their work load increase; they are paid poorly, deprived of office space and supplies, and refused travel money; and, most significantly, they are subject to policies that allow them to be fired at will. The latter is particularly egregious because, when coupled with an ongoing series of attacks by right-wing ideologues against left-oriented and progressive academics, many non-tenured faculty begin to censor themselves in their classes.</p>
<p>Fighting not merely for a space to survive, but also for a society in which matters of justice, dignity, and freedom are objects of collective struggle, the Occupy Wall Street protesters have created a new stage on which young people once again are defining what John Pilger calls the “theater of the possible.” &#160;Signaling a generational and political crisis that is global in scope, young people have sent a message to the world that they refuse to live any longer under repressive authoritarian regimes sustained by morally bankrupt market-driven policies and repressive governments.&#160; The Occupy Wall Street protesters are protesting the attack on the social state, the savagery of neoliberal policies, and the devaluation of higher education as a public good. In doing so, they have defied a social order in which they could not work at a decent job, have access to a quality education, or support a family—a social order that offered them a meager life stripped of self-determination and dignity. The draconian policies responsible for such conditions are designed to shift the burden and responsibility of the recession from the rich to the most vulnerable elements of society such as the elderly, workers, lower-income people, and students. In the United States young people are now not simply protesting tuition increases, the defunding of academia, and the enormous debt many of them are laboring under, they are also situating such concerns within a broader attack on the fundamental institutions and ideology of casino capitalism in its particularly virulent neoliberal form. The Occupy Wall Street movement is now at the forefront of moving away from focusing on isolated issues in an attempt to develop a broader critique as the basis for an energized social movement that is less interested in liberal reforms than in&#160; a wholesale restructuring of American society under more radical and democratic values, social relations, and institutions of power.</p>
<p>Within the last thirty years, the United States under the reign of market fundamentalism has been transformed into a society that is more about forgetting than learning, more about consuming than producing, more about asserting private interests than democratic rights. In a society obsessed with customer satisfaction and the rapid disposability of both consumer goods and long-term attachments, American youth are not encouraged to participate in politics. Nor are they offered the help, guidance, and modes of education that cultivate the capacities for critical thinking and engaged citizenship. As Zygmunt Bauman points out, in a consumerist society, “the tyranny of the moment makes it difficult to live in the present, never mind understand society within a range of larger totalities.” Under such circumstances, according to Theodor Adorno, thinking loses its ability to point beyond itself and is reduced to mimicking existing certainties and modes of common sense. Thought cannot sustain itself and becomes short-lived, fickle, and ephemeral. If young people do not display a strong commitment to democratic politics and collective struggle, then, it is because they have lived through thirty years of what I have elsewhere called “a debilitating and humiliating disinvestment in their future,” especially if they are marginalized by class, ethnicity, and race.</p>
<p>What is different about this generation of young people from past generations is that today’s youth have been immersed since birth in a relentless, spreading neoliberal pedagogical apparatus with its celebration of an unbridled individualism and its near pathological disdain for community, public values, and the public good. They have been inundated by a market-driven value system that encourages a culture of competitiveness and produces a theater of cruelty that has resulted in what Bauman calls “a weakening of democratic pressures, a growing inability to act politically, [and] a massive exit from politics and from responsible citizenship.” And, yet, they refuse to allow this deadening apparatus of force, manufactured ignorance, and ideological domination to shape their lives. Reclaiming both the possibilities inherent in the political use of new digital technologies and the social media, American students are now protesting in large numbers the ongoing intense attack on higher education and the welfare state, refusing a social order shaped by what Alex Honneth describes as “an abyss of failed sociality” one in which “the perceived suffering [of youth] has still not found resonance in the public space of articulation.”</p>
<p>Young people, students, and other members of the 99 percent are no longer simply enduring the great injustices they see around them, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the corruption of American politics by casino capitalism, a permanent war economy, and the growing disinvestment in public and higher education, they are now building new public spaces, confronting a brutalizing police apparatus with their bodies, and refusing to put up with the right wing notion that they are part of what is often called a “failed generation.” On the contrary, young people, especially, have flipped the script and are making clear that the failures of casino capitalism&#160; lies elsewhere and point to the psychological and social consequences of growing up under a neoliberal regime that goes to great lengths to enshrine ignorance, &#160;privatize hope, derail public values, and undercut economic inequality and its attendant social injustices.&#160; What the Occupy Wall Street protesters like their counterparts in London, Athens, Cairo and elsewhere have made clear is that casino capitalism is the site of not only political corruption and economic fraud, but also reproduces a “failed sociality” that hijacks any semblance of critical thinking and agency along with any viable attempt of democracy to deliver on its promises.</p>
<p>In the face of a politically organized ignorance on the part of right-wing anti-public intellectuals, think tanks, media organizations, and politicians, the Occupy Wall Street protesters have refused to provide recipes and blueprints about a longed for utopian future. Instead, they have resurrected the most profound elements of a radical politics, one which recognizes critical education, dialogue, and new modes of solidarity and communication serve as a condition for their own autonomy and for the sustainability of democratization as an ongoing social movement. What terrifies the corporate rich, bankers, media pundits, and other bloviators about this movement is not that it has captured the attention of the broader public but that it constantly hammers home the message that a substantive democracy requires citizens capable of self-reflection and social criticism, and that such citizens through their collective struggles are the product of critical formative culture in which people are provided with the knowledge and skills to participate effectively in developing a radically democratic society. &#160;What is truly remarkable about this movement is its emphasis on connecting learning to social change and its willingness to do so through new and collective modes of education. &#160;What is so encouraging in this movement is that it views its very existence and collective identity as part of a larger struggle for the economic, political, and social conditions that give meaning and substance to what it means to make democracy possible. The expectations that frame market-driven societies are losing their grip on young people and others, who can no longer be completely seduced or controlled by the tawdry promises and failed returns of corporate dominated and authoritarian regimes.&#160; The Occupy Wall Street protest movements tell us that the social visions embedded in casino capitalism and deeply authoritarian regimes have lost both their utopian thrust and their ability to persuade and intimidate through &#160;manufactured consent, threats, coercion, and state violence.&#160; Rejecting the terrors of the present along with the modernist dreams of progress at any cost, young people have become, at least for the moment, harbingers of democracy fashioned through the desires, dreams, and hopes of a world based on the principles of equality, justice, and freedom. One of the most famous slogans of May 1968 was “Be realistic, demand the impossible.” The spirit of that slogan is alive once again. But what is different this time is that it appears to be more than a slogan, it now echoes throughout the United States as both a discourse of critique and as part of a vocabulary of possibility and long-term collective struggle. The current right-wing politics of illiteracy, exploitation, and cruelty can no longer hide in the cave of ignorance, legitimated by their shameful accomplices in the dominant media. The lights have come on all over the United States and young people, workers, and other progressives are on the move. Thinking is no longer seen as an act of stupidity, acting collectively is no longer viewed as unimaginable,&#160; and young people are no longer willing to be viewed as disposable.</p>
<p>Henry A. Giroux holds the Global TV Network chair in English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University in Canada. His most recent books include: “ <a href="" type="internal">Take Back Higher Education</a>” (co-authored with Susan Searls Giroux, 2006), “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1594514232/counterpunchmaga" type="external">The University in Chains: Confronting the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex</a>” (2007) and&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1594515212/counterpunchmaga" type="external">“Against the Terror of Neoliberalism: Politics Beyond the Age of Greed</a>” (2008). His latest book, Twilight of the Social: Resurgent Publics in the Age of Disposability,” will be published by Paradigm Publishers in 2011.</p>
<p>Exclusively in the new print issue of CounterPunch</p>
<p>One of the Greatest Descriptions of Farm Work Ever Written— Don’t miss Frank Bardacke’s marvelous account from the California fields. ALSO Linn Washington Jr. on the “Black Backlash Against Obama.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/Annual_Subscriptions.html" type="external">Order your subscription today and get</a> <a href="http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/Annual_Subscriptions.html" type="external">CounterPunch by email for only $35 per year.</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 599,282 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Police are going through a crash scene involving a motorcyclist on the 8000 block of Harper NE.</p>
<p>The motorcyclist is in critical condition, police said.</p>
<p>It's the second motorcycle crash that police are investigating today. An earlier crash near Interstate 40 and San Mateo has resulted in a closed interstate onramp. That motorcyclist suffered serious injuries.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Keep with ABQJournal.com for updates.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Motorcyclist in critical condition after crash in Heights | false | https://abqjournal.com/355086/motorcyclist-in-critical-condition-after-crash-in-heights.html | 2least
| Motorcyclist in critical condition after crash in Heights
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Police are going through a crash scene involving a motorcyclist on the 8000 block of Harper NE.</p>
<p>The motorcyclist is in critical condition, police said.</p>
<p>It's the second motorcycle crash that police are investigating today. An earlier crash near Interstate 40 and San Mateo has resulted in a closed interstate onramp. That motorcyclist suffered serious injuries.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Keep with ABQJournal.com for updates.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 599,283 |
|
<p>Lighting has been restored at one of the control rooms at Japan's crippled nuclear plant, domestic media reported on Tuesday, bringing the operators a step closer to reviving the plant's cooling systems to stop radiation.</p>
<p>A steady source of light will enhance the plant operator's efforts to fix instruments damaged by a powerful earthquake and a tsunami earlier this month.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Lighting Restored at Crippled Japan Nuclear Plant: Reports | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/03/22/lighting-restored-crippled-japan-nuclear-plant-reports.html | 2016-01-28 | 0right
| Lighting Restored at Crippled Japan Nuclear Plant: Reports
<p>Lighting has been restored at one of the control rooms at Japan's crippled nuclear plant, domestic media reported on Tuesday, bringing the operators a step closer to reviving the plant's cooling systems to stop radiation.</p>
<p>A steady source of light will enhance the plant operator's efforts to fix instruments damaged by a powerful earthquake and a tsunami earlier this month.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | 599,284 |
<p />
<p>Article by Megan Nicole O'Neal</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>I am writing to you from seat 14A United Airlines, Rochester-bound from San Diego. It's an 11:45 p.m. red-eye.</p>
<p>You see, this year I set out to accomplish one thing: to stay open. It sounds simple enough, but you may not realize how often you innately hang a "Closed for Business" sign until you try to transition to a 24/7 operation. We can be stubborn and closed-minded, unable to <a href="http://www.success.com/article/seeking-advice-the-wisest-way-to-hit-the-next-level-of-success" type="external">listen to others' opinions and perspectives Opens a New Window.</a> without judgment. We can be guarded and closed-hearted, afraid of appearing vulnerable and somehow weak by association. We can become disinterested, uninvolved, and often so paralyzed by our daily lives and stressors that we forget there is an entire world out there.</p>
<p>I didn't want to be one of these closed people because when I sat down and honestly thought about it, the times that I've hurt or been hurt by others have had a lot of (literal and metaphorical) closed doors in common. But openness, I've noticed, is a slow and often complicated process.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.success.com/article/bored-6-ideas-to-embrace-your-curious-side" type="external">I see openness as having curiosity Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;–&#160;and not just about what hair regime Blake Lively is on or the name of the Avengers character with the bow and arrows (Clint Barton). Curiosity about new people, places, cultures, <a href="https://www.recruiter.com/work-experience.html" type="external">experiences Opens a New Window.</a>, food – you name it. Simply put, being open means having a willingness to not immediately say no to something unfamiliar. (To be clear, you don't actually have to say yes; you just need to consider it a viable option beforehand.) This way of being sounds great, and it is! However, the only way to do this, to be truly open (here comes the fun part), is <a href="http://www.success.com/article/52-ways-to-get-out-of-your-comfort-zone" type="external">to live outside of your comfort zone Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Live. Let that sink in for a minute because that word was carefully chosen. Typically, we hear the phrase "step outside of your comfort zone," which I believe is certainly an important move in the right direction. But I'm talking about putting more than just your right foot out. You have to pack up your bags, your shoe collection, and your favorite childhood stuffed animal and move across that line into a house with a very long lease. Being open is a character trait that must be embodied, on more than a handful of occasions, for it to be genuinely earned. Think of it this way: You can't claim to have an open-door policy with nothing more than a doggy door and expect anything great to be able to squeeze through.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The problem with comfort zones is that we often can't tell when we've been sucked into them. <a href="http://www.success.com/blog/the-tony-robbins-trick-to-push-past-complacency" type="external">From the safety of our comfort zones we get complacent Opens a New Window.</a>. We fall into our work-gym-(Netflix)-sleep routines and forget to live outwardly from our hideaways, ultimately sacrificing the ability to impact our world.</p>
<p>Have you ever wondered why "casual" and "casualty" are such dangerously similar words? Perhaps it's because abiding by a casual life in the comfort zone is the ultimate casualty to the stories of our lives. Someone once said to me that in our adult lives, we have, on average, 22,000 days to live. For some that might sound like plenty; but to the open and the curious, that almost sounds like a challenge. You have 22,000 days to discover the world. Ready? GO! <a href="http://www.success.com/article/john-c-maxwell-5-qualities-of-people-who-use-time-wisely" type="external">Do you really want to waste one of those days Opens a New Window.</a>, weeks, or months doing the exact same thing as yesterday?</p>
<p>Now, I know we need jobs to provide for ourselves and our families, which doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room for adventuring. Trust me, I'm not some barefoot granola-hipster who lives in a treehouse somewhere in the Arizona mountains; I pay my dues at a 9-to-6, too. But there's a way to live, even with daily obligations, that doesn't leave your personal story a casualty.</p>
<p>Remember when I said I'm currently 30,000 feet in the air, en route to Rochester? It's a work trip. (Fun.) Those who've been in a similar situation know how annoying it can be to sacrifice a weekend to work. But why not look for opportunity instead? I volunteered to fly early (3 a.m. early) and spend my Saturday night crossing the country so I could explore Rochester and Niagara Falls with my newfound free hours on Sunday before hopping to client meetings Monday morning. It was a small switch, but the thought to take an earlier (and painfully less ideal) flight might never have crossed my mind had I not been willing to break from the status quo.</p>
<p>I'll warn you: <a href="http://www.success.com/article/9-ways-to-deal-with-change" type="external">At first, it is going to be uncomfortable Opens a New Window.</a>. Being open, especially with other people, can be awkward. And stepping (and staying) out of your comfort zone can at times feel like floating, or walking onto a frozen lake that's beginning to thaw. But it gets easier. It's a rewiring of your brain, and similar to learning a new language, the more you practice, the more naturally it flows. One day, you'll realize you've been thinking and dreaming in this new language without even trying!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.success.com/blog/why-stepping-outside-your-comfort-zone-is-worth-it-even-when-its-uncomfortable" type="external">So get out of your comfort zone Opens a New Window.</a>! Discover new places and new faces – I dare you. Yes, it might be scary, but isn't overcoming the fear worth it? I argue that it's the risks we take – the times when something is hard but we march forward anyway – that add spice to our lives and give our memoirs a little flavor. A good story never started with, "I woke up, ate breakfast, and then binged on Mad Men for the rest of the day."</p>
<p>At least, not the kind of story that gets remembered.</p>
<p>If we, in the present, are a compilation of the experiences from our past, let me leave you with one question: Who do you want to be 10 years from now?</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>A version of this article originally appeared on <a href="http://www.success.com/blog/why-your-comfort-zone-is-the-most-dangerous-place-to-live?utm_campaign=link%20exchangeutm_medium=syndicationutm_source=Recruiterutm_term=Recruiter" type="external">SUCCESS.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Megan Nicole O'Neal is a UCLA alum and public relations specialist with a passion for storytelling and a firm belief that only the right photo is worth 1,000 words. An avid adventurist, she's traveled to five different continents, all on an endless quest to find the world's greatest cup of coffee. Megan currently works at Olive PR Solutions in sunny San Diego and volunteers for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, freelancing for the PR department.</p> | Why Your Comfort Zone Is the Most Dangerous Place to Live | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/12/05/why-your-comfort-zone-is-most-dangerous-place-to-live.html | 2016-12-10 | 0right
| Why Your Comfort Zone Is the Most Dangerous Place to Live
<p />
<p>Article by Megan Nicole O'Neal</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>I am writing to you from seat 14A United Airlines, Rochester-bound from San Diego. It's an 11:45 p.m. red-eye.</p>
<p>You see, this year I set out to accomplish one thing: to stay open. It sounds simple enough, but you may not realize how often you innately hang a "Closed for Business" sign until you try to transition to a 24/7 operation. We can be stubborn and closed-minded, unable to <a href="http://www.success.com/article/seeking-advice-the-wisest-way-to-hit-the-next-level-of-success" type="external">listen to others' opinions and perspectives Opens a New Window.</a> without judgment. We can be guarded and closed-hearted, afraid of appearing vulnerable and somehow weak by association. We can become disinterested, uninvolved, and often so paralyzed by our daily lives and stressors that we forget there is an entire world out there.</p>
<p>I didn't want to be one of these closed people because when I sat down and honestly thought about it, the times that I've hurt or been hurt by others have had a lot of (literal and metaphorical) closed doors in common. But openness, I've noticed, is a slow and often complicated process.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.success.com/article/bored-6-ideas-to-embrace-your-curious-side" type="external">I see openness as having curiosity Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;–&#160;and not just about what hair regime Blake Lively is on or the name of the Avengers character with the bow and arrows (Clint Barton). Curiosity about new people, places, cultures, <a href="https://www.recruiter.com/work-experience.html" type="external">experiences Opens a New Window.</a>, food – you name it. Simply put, being open means having a willingness to not immediately say no to something unfamiliar. (To be clear, you don't actually have to say yes; you just need to consider it a viable option beforehand.) This way of being sounds great, and it is! However, the only way to do this, to be truly open (here comes the fun part), is <a href="http://www.success.com/article/52-ways-to-get-out-of-your-comfort-zone" type="external">to live outside of your comfort zone Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Live. Let that sink in for a minute because that word was carefully chosen. Typically, we hear the phrase "step outside of your comfort zone," which I believe is certainly an important move in the right direction. But I'm talking about putting more than just your right foot out. You have to pack up your bags, your shoe collection, and your favorite childhood stuffed animal and move across that line into a house with a very long lease. Being open is a character trait that must be embodied, on more than a handful of occasions, for it to be genuinely earned. Think of it this way: You can't claim to have an open-door policy with nothing more than a doggy door and expect anything great to be able to squeeze through.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The problem with comfort zones is that we often can't tell when we've been sucked into them. <a href="http://www.success.com/blog/the-tony-robbins-trick-to-push-past-complacency" type="external">From the safety of our comfort zones we get complacent Opens a New Window.</a>. We fall into our work-gym-(Netflix)-sleep routines and forget to live outwardly from our hideaways, ultimately sacrificing the ability to impact our world.</p>
<p>Have you ever wondered why "casual" and "casualty" are such dangerously similar words? Perhaps it's because abiding by a casual life in the comfort zone is the ultimate casualty to the stories of our lives. Someone once said to me that in our adult lives, we have, on average, 22,000 days to live. For some that might sound like plenty; but to the open and the curious, that almost sounds like a challenge. You have 22,000 days to discover the world. Ready? GO! <a href="http://www.success.com/article/john-c-maxwell-5-qualities-of-people-who-use-time-wisely" type="external">Do you really want to waste one of those days Opens a New Window.</a>, weeks, or months doing the exact same thing as yesterday?</p>
<p>Now, I know we need jobs to provide for ourselves and our families, which doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room for adventuring. Trust me, I'm not some barefoot granola-hipster who lives in a treehouse somewhere in the Arizona mountains; I pay my dues at a 9-to-6, too. But there's a way to live, even with daily obligations, that doesn't leave your personal story a casualty.</p>
<p>Remember when I said I'm currently 30,000 feet in the air, en route to Rochester? It's a work trip. (Fun.) Those who've been in a similar situation know how annoying it can be to sacrifice a weekend to work. But why not look for opportunity instead? I volunteered to fly early (3 a.m. early) and spend my Saturday night crossing the country so I could explore Rochester and Niagara Falls with my newfound free hours on Sunday before hopping to client meetings Monday morning. It was a small switch, but the thought to take an earlier (and painfully less ideal) flight might never have crossed my mind had I not been willing to break from the status quo.</p>
<p>I'll warn you: <a href="http://www.success.com/article/9-ways-to-deal-with-change" type="external">At first, it is going to be uncomfortable Opens a New Window.</a>. Being open, especially with other people, can be awkward. And stepping (and staying) out of your comfort zone can at times feel like floating, or walking onto a frozen lake that's beginning to thaw. But it gets easier. It's a rewiring of your brain, and similar to learning a new language, the more you practice, the more naturally it flows. One day, you'll realize you've been thinking and dreaming in this new language without even trying!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.success.com/blog/why-stepping-outside-your-comfort-zone-is-worth-it-even-when-its-uncomfortable" type="external">So get out of your comfort zone Opens a New Window.</a>! Discover new places and new faces – I dare you. Yes, it might be scary, but isn't overcoming the fear worth it? I argue that it's the risks we take – the times when something is hard but we march forward anyway – that add spice to our lives and give our memoirs a little flavor. A good story never started with, "I woke up, ate breakfast, and then binged on Mad Men for the rest of the day."</p>
<p>At least, not the kind of story that gets remembered.</p>
<p>If we, in the present, are a compilation of the experiences from our past, let me leave you with one question: Who do you want to be 10 years from now?</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>A version of this article originally appeared on <a href="http://www.success.com/blog/why-your-comfort-zone-is-the-most-dangerous-place-to-live?utm_campaign=link%20exchangeutm_medium=syndicationutm_source=Recruiterutm_term=Recruiter" type="external">SUCCESS.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Megan Nicole O'Neal is a UCLA alum and public relations specialist with a passion for storytelling and a firm belief that only the right photo is worth 1,000 words. An avid adventurist, she's traveled to five different continents, all on an endless quest to find the world's greatest cup of coffee. Megan currently works at Olive PR Solutions in sunny San Diego and volunteers for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, freelancing for the PR department.</p> | 599,285 |
<p>UPDATE 11:30 AM PDT</p>
<p>Chaos breaking out in Washington D.C. as protesters get more violent and the police respond with tear gas.</p>
<p>JUST IN: <a href="https://twitter.com/GriffJenkins" type="external">@GriffJenkins</a>: "It continues to escalate." <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Protests?src=hash" type="external">#Protests</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Inauguration?src=hash" type="external">#Inauguration</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Trump45?src=hash" type="external">#Trump45</a> <a href="https://t.co/t1QSXlj2Ff" type="external">pic.twitter.com/t1QSXlj2Ff</a></p>
<p>Crazy scene outside <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost" type="external">@washingtonpost</a> right now: trash cans lit on fire, police in formation, helicopters buzzing overhead. <a href="https://t.co/GlPzQ39Sou" type="external">pic.twitter.com/GlPzQ39Sou</a></p>
<p>Crazy scene outside <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost" type="external">@washingtonpost</a> right now: trash cans lit on fire, police in formation, helicopters buzzing overhead. <a href="https://t.co/GlPzQ39Sou" type="external">pic.twitter.com/GlPzQ39Sou</a></p>
<p>UPDATE 11:15 AM PDT</p>
<p>The protests continue as <a href="" type="internal">Trump signs bills</a>.</p>
<p>Protest site at 12 and L just erupted again. Lots of tear gas, loud booms, smoke. <a href="https://t.co/yfP7teLLR9" type="external">pic.twitter.com/yfP7teLLR9</a></p>
<p>Here's <a href="" type="internal">Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro's analysis of the inaugural address</a>.</p>
<p>UPDATE 9:30 AM PDT</p>
<p>Trump begins his inaugural. Trump says today we're not merely transferring power from one administration to another, but from Washington D.C. and giving it back to you, the people. A small group of people have gained from DC, but the people have not flourished. Politicians prospered, but the jobs left, and the factories closed, Trump says. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories, their triumphs have not been your triumphs, and while they celebrated in our nation's capital, there was little to celebrate all across our land. Trump says this is the day for the American people, and this is your country.</p>
<p>Trump says what truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people. January 20, 2017 will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again. The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. Everyone is listening to you now. You're part of a historic movement the likes of which the world has never seen before. At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction: that a nation exists to serve its citizens. Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves. These are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public. But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists. Mothers and children trapped in poverty, rusted factories like tombstones, an education system flush with cash but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge. And the crime, and the gangs, and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and have robbed our country of too much unrealized potential. This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.</p>
<p>We are one nation, and their pain is our pain, and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny. The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans. For many decades, we've enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry, subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing the sad depletion of our military. We've defended other nations' borders while refusing to defend our own, and spent trillions of dollars overseas while America's infrastructure has fallen into disrepair into decay. We've made other countries rich, while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon. One by one the factors shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions left behind. The wealth of the middle class has been ripped from their homes and been redistributed across the world.</p>
<p>Now we are looking only to the future. From this day forward, it's only America first. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength. I will fight for you with every breath in my body, and I will never, ever let you down.</p>
<p>We will bring back our jobs, we will bring back our borders, we will bring back our wealth, and we will bring back our dreams. We will build new roads and highways and bridges and airports and tunnels all across our wonderful nation. We will get our people off of welfare and back to work, rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.</p>
<p>We will follow two rules: buy American and hire American. We will seek friendship with other nations, but it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first. We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather let it shine for everyone. We will reinforce old alliances and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth.</p>
<p>We will rediscover our loyalty to each other. When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.</p>
<p>The Bible tells us how good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity. We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable.</p>
<p>There should be no fear: we are protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement. And most importantly, we will be protected by God.</p>
<p>We must think big and dream even bigger. We understand that a nation is only living so long as it is striving. We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action, constantly complaining but never doing anything about it.</p>
<p>Now arrives the hour of action. Do not allow anyone to tell you that it cannot be done. Our country will thrive and prosper again. We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries, and technologies of tomorrow. A new national pride will ift our sights and health our divisions. Whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots. We all salute the same great American flag.</p>
<p>Whether a child is born in the urban sprawl or Detroit or the wind-swept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky and fill their hearts with the same dreams, and they are infused with the same breath of life by the same almighty Creator. To all Americans, hear these words: you will never be ignored again.</p>
<p>Together, we will make America strong again, we will make America proud again, we will make America safe again, and yes, we will make America great again.</p>
<p>UPDATE 9:15 AM PDT</p>
<p>Chief Justice Roberts swears in Donald J. Trump as 45th President of the United States. May God grant him wisdom and decency to fulfill his Constitutional duty.</p>
<p>UPDATE 9:00 AM PDT</p>
<p>Justice Clarence Thomas swears in Vice President Mike Pence.</p>
<p>The execrable Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) talks about faith in our institutions eroding -- something he helped achieve. He says that the economy works for too few, that the media is too fractured. He gives the intersectional hierarchy. He reads the famous Civil War letter from Sullivan Ballou, the best parody of which can be found here:</p>
<p />
<p>UPDATE 8:45 AM PDT</p>
<p>Inaugural prayers being given by Cardinal Dolan, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, Pastor Paula White Cain, Rabbi Marvin Hier, Rev. Franklin Graham, and Bishop Wayne T. Jackson.</p>
<p>Senator Roy Blount (R-MO) speaking about the history of the inauguration, giving an excellent civics lesson.</p>
<p>UPDATE 8:30 AM PDT</p>
<p>Full fanfare for Trump arrival. Trump announced to wave of applause.</p>
<p>Crowd chants "TRUMP!" as they await the appearance of the President-Elect.</p>
<p>Melania Trump has been ushered to the dais, as have the wives of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.</p>
<p>Melania has arrived. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TrumpInauguration?src=hash" type="external">#TrumpInauguration</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YoureHired?src=hash" type="external">#YoureHired</a> Screenshot via USAToday <a href="https://t.co/iKdxSgMdAQ" type="external">pic.twitter.com/iKdxSgMdAQ</a></p>
<p>Next up: Obama and Vice President Biden.</p>
<p>UPDATE 8:15 AM PDT</p>
<p>The Obamas and the Trumps have arrived at the Capitol. The crowd is estimated at 800,000 to 1 million. The media's tone is obviously disappointed and somber, as you'd expect from Obama cheerleaders.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, protesters making more trouble:</p>
<p>An elderly man was knocked over during violent protest on 13th and I. Loaded into ambulance, bleeding from the back of his head <a href="https://t.co/M2DiFHz4Xq" type="external">pic.twitter.com/M2DiFHz4Xq</a></p>
<p>People, please stop destroying our city <a href="https://t.co/9mCZCW4qnj" type="external">pic.twitter.com/9mCZCW4qnj</a></p>
<p>UPDATE 8:00 AM PDT</p>
<p>Barack Obama and Donald Trump just got into the car that will drive them to the Capitol.</p>
<p>Here's Obama leaving the White House for the final time. Thank God.</p>
<p>Barack Obama departs the White House for his final time as President of the United States <a href="https://t.co/pakz0LbFqs" type="external">https://t.co/pakz0LbFqs</a> <a href="https://t.co/JYENyFTQGw" type="external">https://t.co/JYENyFTQGw</a></p>
<p>Meanwhile, more protesters making trouble.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/disruptj20?src=hash" type="external">#disruptj20</a> protesters blocking men in Air Force uniforms from getting through the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Inauguration?src=hash" type="external">#Inauguration</a> checkpoint <a href="https://t.co/XVErOHHBwg" type="external">pic.twitter.com/XVErOHHBwg</a></p>
<p>Hillary Clinton tweets:</p>
<p>I'm here today to honor our democracy &amp; its enduring values. I will never stop believing in our country &amp; its future. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Inauguration?src=hash" type="external">#Inauguration</a></p>
<p>UPDATE 7:45 AM PDT</p>
<p>Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have arrived on the dais.</p>
<p>Democrats are reportedly wearing buttons reading "Protect Our Care," which is their pathetic attempt to save Obamacare.</p>
<p>Reuters labels as "activists" people smashing windows and destroying property:</p>
<p>UPDATE: Black-clad activists smash shop windows, car windows during Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/inauguration?src=hash" type="external">#inauguration</a> protest. More here: <a href="https://t.co/vXm2jqNTcC" type="external">https://t.co/vXm2jqNTcC</a></p>
<p>Somebody is also <a href="https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/822469736378339330" type="external">setting off flash bangs</a>.</p>
<p>UPDATE 7:30 AM PDT</p>
<p>Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (who will never be president) have arrived at the inauguration.</p>
<p>Former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura have arrived at the inauguration.</p>
<p>First sighting of George W. Bush and <a href="https://twitter.com/laurawbush" type="external">@laurawbush</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Inauguration2017?src=hash" type="external">#Inauguration2017</a> <a href="https://t.co/mJKbT2cnyB" type="external">pic.twitter.com/mJKbT2cnyB</a></p>
<p>Earlier this morning, President-Elect Donald J. Trump arrived at the White House with incoming First Lady Melania Trump.</p>
<p>President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama greet President-elect Trump and his wife, Melania, at the White House <a href="https://t.co/jiXpWVK8fk" type="external">https://t.co/jiXpWVK8fk</a></p>
<p>Police have been clashing with protesters as people attempt to break lines of protesters in order to get to the inauguration.</p>
<p>Police trying to keep peace at 10 and E. But protesters continue to clash with officers as Trump supporters have trouble getting in. <a href="https://t.co/p6TqeZxOfU" type="external">pic.twitter.com/p6TqeZxOfU</a></p>
<p>"Whose streets? Our streets" protesters pushing over trash cans, newspaper boxes <a href="https://t.co/ydGnXw5YzN" type="external">pic.twitter.com/ydGnXw5YzN</a></p>
<p>ORIGINAL 7:20 AM PDT</p>
<p>Today is the day we honor the grand American tradition -- unsurpassed in world history -- of rivals peacefully handing over power to their political enemies. We'll be covering it all live right here: the arrivals, the protests, the inaugural speech.</p>
<p>It's here.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump.</p> | LIVE COVERAGE: The Inauguration of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States | true | https://dailywire.com/news/12601/live-coverage-inauguration-donald-j-trump-daily-wire | 2017-01-20 | 0right
| LIVE COVERAGE: The Inauguration of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States
<p>UPDATE 11:30 AM PDT</p>
<p>Chaos breaking out in Washington D.C. as protesters get more violent and the police respond with tear gas.</p>
<p>JUST IN: <a href="https://twitter.com/GriffJenkins" type="external">@GriffJenkins</a>: "It continues to escalate." <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Protests?src=hash" type="external">#Protests</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Inauguration?src=hash" type="external">#Inauguration</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Trump45?src=hash" type="external">#Trump45</a> <a href="https://t.co/t1QSXlj2Ff" type="external">pic.twitter.com/t1QSXlj2Ff</a></p>
<p>Crazy scene outside <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost" type="external">@washingtonpost</a> right now: trash cans lit on fire, police in formation, helicopters buzzing overhead. <a href="https://t.co/GlPzQ39Sou" type="external">pic.twitter.com/GlPzQ39Sou</a></p>
<p>Crazy scene outside <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost" type="external">@washingtonpost</a> right now: trash cans lit on fire, police in formation, helicopters buzzing overhead. <a href="https://t.co/GlPzQ39Sou" type="external">pic.twitter.com/GlPzQ39Sou</a></p>
<p>UPDATE 11:15 AM PDT</p>
<p>The protests continue as <a href="" type="internal">Trump signs bills</a>.</p>
<p>Protest site at 12 and L just erupted again. Lots of tear gas, loud booms, smoke. <a href="https://t.co/yfP7teLLR9" type="external">pic.twitter.com/yfP7teLLR9</a></p>
<p>Here's <a href="" type="internal">Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro's analysis of the inaugural address</a>.</p>
<p>UPDATE 9:30 AM PDT</p>
<p>Trump begins his inaugural. Trump says today we're not merely transferring power from one administration to another, but from Washington D.C. and giving it back to you, the people. A small group of people have gained from DC, but the people have not flourished. Politicians prospered, but the jobs left, and the factories closed, Trump says. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories, their triumphs have not been your triumphs, and while they celebrated in our nation's capital, there was little to celebrate all across our land. Trump says this is the day for the American people, and this is your country.</p>
<p>Trump says what truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people. January 20, 2017 will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again. The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. Everyone is listening to you now. You're part of a historic movement the likes of which the world has never seen before. At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction: that a nation exists to serve its citizens. Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves. These are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public. But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists. Mothers and children trapped in poverty, rusted factories like tombstones, an education system flush with cash but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge. And the crime, and the gangs, and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and have robbed our country of too much unrealized potential. This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.</p>
<p>We are one nation, and their pain is our pain, and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny. The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans. For many decades, we've enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry, subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing the sad depletion of our military. We've defended other nations' borders while refusing to defend our own, and spent trillions of dollars overseas while America's infrastructure has fallen into disrepair into decay. We've made other countries rich, while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon. One by one the factors shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions left behind. The wealth of the middle class has been ripped from their homes and been redistributed across the world.</p>
<p>Now we are looking only to the future. From this day forward, it's only America first. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength. I will fight for you with every breath in my body, and I will never, ever let you down.</p>
<p>We will bring back our jobs, we will bring back our borders, we will bring back our wealth, and we will bring back our dreams. We will build new roads and highways and bridges and airports and tunnels all across our wonderful nation. We will get our people off of welfare and back to work, rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.</p>
<p>We will follow two rules: buy American and hire American. We will seek friendship with other nations, but it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first. We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather let it shine for everyone. We will reinforce old alliances and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth.</p>
<p>We will rediscover our loyalty to each other. When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.</p>
<p>The Bible tells us how good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity. We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable.</p>
<p>There should be no fear: we are protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement. And most importantly, we will be protected by God.</p>
<p>We must think big and dream even bigger. We understand that a nation is only living so long as it is striving. We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action, constantly complaining but never doing anything about it.</p>
<p>Now arrives the hour of action. Do not allow anyone to tell you that it cannot be done. Our country will thrive and prosper again. We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries, and technologies of tomorrow. A new national pride will ift our sights and health our divisions. Whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots. We all salute the same great American flag.</p>
<p>Whether a child is born in the urban sprawl or Detroit or the wind-swept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky and fill their hearts with the same dreams, and they are infused with the same breath of life by the same almighty Creator. To all Americans, hear these words: you will never be ignored again.</p>
<p>Together, we will make America strong again, we will make America proud again, we will make America safe again, and yes, we will make America great again.</p>
<p>UPDATE 9:15 AM PDT</p>
<p>Chief Justice Roberts swears in Donald J. Trump as 45th President of the United States. May God grant him wisdom and decency to fulfill his Constitutional duty.</p>
<p>UPDATE 9:00 AM PDT</p>
<p>Justice Clarence Thomas swears in Vice President Mike Pence.</p>
<p>The execrable Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) talks about faith in our institutions eroding -- something he helped achieve. He says that the economy works for too few, that the media is too fractured. He gives the intersectional hierarchy. He reads the famous Civil War letter from Sullivan Ballou, the best parody of which can be found here:</p>
<p />
<p>UPDATE 8:45 AM PDT</p>
<p>Inaugural prayers being given by Cardinal Dolan, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, Pastor Paula White Cain, Rabbi Marvin Hier, Rev. Franklin Graham, and Bishop Wayne T. Jackson.</p>
<p>Senator Roy Blount (R-MO) speaking about the history of the inauguration, giving an excellent civics lesson.</p>
<p>UPDATE 8:30 AM PDT</p>
<p>Full fanfare for Trump arrival. Trump announced to wave of applause.</p>
<p>Crowd chants "TRUMP!" as they await the appearance of the President-Elect.</p>
<p>Melania Trump has been ushered to the dais, as have the wives of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.</p>
<p>Melania has arrived. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TrumpInauguration?src=hash" type="external">#TrumpInauguration</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YoureHired?src=hash" type="external">#YoureHired</a> Screenshot via USAToday <a href="https://t.co/iKdxSgMdAQ" type="external">pic.twitter.com/iKdxSgMdAQ</a></p>
<p>Next up: Obama and Vice President Biden.</p>
<p>UPDATE 8:15 AM PDT</p>
<p>The Obamas and the Trumps have arrived at the Capitol. The crowd is estimated at 800,000 to 1 million. The media's tone is obviously disappointed and somber, as you'd expect from Obama cheerleaders.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, protesters making more trouble:</p>
<p>An elderly man was knocked over during violent protest on 13th and I. Loaded into ambulance, bleeding from the back of his head <a href="https://t.co/M2DiFHz4Xq" type="external">pic.twitter.com/M2DiFHz4Xq</a></p>
<p>People, please stop destroying our city <a href="https://t.co/9mCZCW4qnj" type="external">pic.twitter.com/9mCZCW4qnj</a></p>
<p>UPDATE 8:00 AM PDT</p>
<p>Barack Obama and Donald Trump just got into the car that will drive them to the Capitol.</p>
<p>Here's Obama leaving the White House for the final time. Thank God.</p>
<p>Barack Obama departs the White House for his final time as President of the United States <a href="https://t.co/pakz0LbFqs" type="external">https://t.co/pakz0LbFqs</a> <a href="https://t.co/JYENyFTQGw" type="external">https://t.co/JYENyFTQGw</a></p>
<p>Meanwhile, more protesters making trouble.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/disruptj20?src=hash" type="external">#disruptj20</a> protesters blocking men in Air Force uniforms from getting through the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Inauguration?src=hash" type="external">#Inauguration</a> checkpoint <a href="https://t.co/XVErOHHBwg" type="external">pic.twitter.com/XVErOHHBwg</a></p>
<p>Hillary Clinton tweets:</p>
<p>I'm here today to honor our democracy &amp; its enduring values. I will never stop believing in our country &amp; its future. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Inauguration?src=hash" type="external">#Inauguration</a></p>
<p>UPDATE 7:45 AM PDT</p>
<p>Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have arrived on the dais.</p>
<p>Democrats are reportedly wearing buttons reading "Protect Our Care," which is their pathetic attempt to save Obamacare.</p>
<p>Reuters labels as "activists" people smashing windows and destroying property:</p>
<p>UPDATE: Black-clad activists smash shop windows, car windows during Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/inauguration?src=hash" type="external">#inauguration</a> protest. More here: <a href="https://t.co/vXm2jqNTcC" type="external">https://t.co/vXm2jqNTcC</a></p>
<p>Somebody is also <a href="https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/822469736378339330" type="external">setting off flash bangs</a>.</p>
<p>UPDATE 7:30 AM PDT</p>
<p>Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (who will never be president) have arrived at the inauguration.</p>
<p>Former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura have arrived at the inauguration.</p>
<p>First sighting of George W. Bush and <a href="https://twitter.com/laurawbush" type="external">@laurawbush</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Inauguration2017?src=hash" type="external">#Inauguration2017</a> <a href="https://t.co/mJKbT2cnyB" type="external">pic.twitter.com/mJKbT2cnyB</a></p>
<p>Earlier this morning, President-Elect Donald J. Trump arrived at the White House with incoming First Lady Melania Trump.</p>
<p>President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama greet President-elect Trump and his wife, Melania, at the White House <a href="https://t.co/jiXpWVK8fk" type="external">https://t.co/jiXpWVK8fk</a></p>
<p>Police have been clashing with protesters as people attempt to break lines of protesters in order to get to the inauguration.</p>
<p>Police trying to keep peace at 10 and E. But protesters continue to clash with officers as Trump supporters have trouble getting in. <a href="https://t.co/p6TqeZxOfU" type="external">pic.twitter.com/p6TqeZxOfU</a></p>
<p>"Whose streets? Our streets" protesters pushing over trash cans, newspaper boxes <a href="https://t.co/ydGnXw5YzN" type="external">pic.twitter.com/ydGnXw5YzN</a></p>
<p>ORIGINAL 7:20 AM PDT</p>
<p>Today is the day we honor the grand American tradition -- unsurpassed in world history -- of rivals peacefully handing over power to their political enemies. We'll be covering it all live right here: the arrivals, the protests, the inaugural speech.</p>
<p>It's here.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump.</p> | 599,286 |
<p>Ecuador's government said Wednesday it has cut off WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's internet connection at the nation's London embassy after his recent activity on social media decrying the arrest of a Catalan separatist politician.</p>
<p>In a statement, officials said Assange's recent posts "put at risk" the good relations Ecuador maintains with nations throughout Europe and had decided as of Tuesday to suspend his internet access "in order to prevent any potential harm."</p>
<p>Assange has since gone silent on social media.</p>
<p>Ecuador granted Assange asylum in the South American nation's London embassy in 2012, where he has remained cooped up ever since. Ecuador has repeatedly tried to find a solution that would allow Assange to leave without the threat of arrest, but with no success. He remains wanted in Britain for jumping bail and also fears a possible U.S. extradition request based on his leaking of classified State Department documents.</p>
<p />
<p>Relations between Assange and his host nation have often grown prickly.</p>
<p>Ecuador suspended his internet access in 2016 after a WikiLeaks dump targeting Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. And while former President Rafael Correa hailed Assange's work, the South American country's current head of state has called him a hacker and warned him not to meddle in politics.</p>
<p>As part of an agreement allowing him to stay at Ecuador's embassy, Assange is forbidden from sending any messages that would interfere with the country's diplomatic relations other nations.</p>
<p>"He violated that agreement," said Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Ecuador's minister of foreign affairs.</p>
<p>She added that Ecuador's government would be sending a group of diplomats to meet with Assange's legal team in London next week while also continuing a dialogue with British officials on how to resolve "an inherited problem."</p>
<p>Assange frequently tweets more than a dozen times a day, sharing news stories and comments that often focus on global politics and digital security issues. In recent days, Assange had criticized Germany's detention of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont. He wrote that the European arrest warrant system "allows an abusive government to persecute its opponents across the whole of the EU."</p>
<p>He also chimed in about a decision by the United States and more than a dozen European nations to kick out Russian diplomats on Monday following Moscow's alleged poisoning of an ex-spy in Britain.</p>
<p>"The manner of and timing of Russian diplomatic expulsions is poor diplomacy," he wrote.</p>
<p>Following Assange's remarks, a British minister called him a "miserable little worm" and said it was regretful that he remains in Ecuador's embassy.</p>
<p>Ecuador granted the Australian-born Assange citizenship in December as part of an effort to make him a member of its diplomatic team, which would grant him additional rights like special legal immunity. But Britain's Foreign Office rejected the request to grant him diplomatic status in the U.K.</p> | Ecuadorean Embassy Cuts Julian Assange's Internet | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/ecuador-cuts-wikileaks-founder-assanges-internet-at-embassy/ | 2018-03-28 | 4left
| Ecuadorean Embassy Cuts Julian Assange's Internet
<p>Ecuador's government said Wednesday it has cut off WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's internet connection at the nation's London embassy after his recent activity on social media decrying the arrest of a Catalan separatist politician.</p>
<p>In a statement, officials said Assange's recent posts "put at risk" the good relations Ecuador maintains with nations throughout Europe and had decided as of Tuesday to suspend his internet access "in order to prevent any potential harm."</p>
<p>Assange has since gone silent on social media.</p>
<p>Ecuador granted Assange asylum in the South American nation's London embassy in 2012, where he has remained cooped up ever since. Ecuador has repeatedly tried to find a solution that would allow Assange to leave without the threat of arrest, but with no success. He remains wanted in Britain for jumping bail and also fears a possible U.S. extradition request based on his leaking of classified State Department documents.</p>
<p />
<p>Relations between Assange and his host nation have often grown prickly.</p>
<p>Ecuador suspended his internet access in 2016 after a WikiLeaks dump targeting Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. And while former President Rafael Correa hailed Assange's work, the South American country's current head of state has called him a hacker and warned him not to meddle in politics.</p>
<p>As part of an agreement allowing him to stay at Ecuador's embassy, Assange is forbidden from sending any messages that would interfere with the country's diplomatic relations other nations.</p>
<p>"He violated that agreement," said Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Ecuador's minister of foreign affairs.</p>
<p>She added that Ecuador's government would be sending a group of diplomats to meet with Assange's legal team in London next week while also continuing a dialogue with British officials on how to resolve "an inherited problem."</p>
<p>Assange frequently tweets more than a dozen times a day, sharing news stories and comments that often focus on global politics and digital security issues. In recent days, Assange had criticized Germany's detention of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont. He wrote that the European arrest warrant system "allows an abusive government to persecute its opponents across the whole of the EU."</p>
<p>He also chimed in about a decision by the United States and more than a dozen European nations to kick out Russian diplomats on Monday following Moscow's alleged poisoning of an ex-spy in Britain.</p>
<p>"The manner of and timing of Russian diplomatic expulsions is poor diplomacy," he wrote.</p>
<p>Following Assange's remarks, a British minister called him a "miserable little worm" and said it was regretful that he remains in Ecuador's embassy.</p>
<p>Ecuador granted the Australian-born Assange citizenship in December as part of an effort to make him a member of its diplomatic team, which would grant him additional rights like special legal immunity. But Britain's Foreign Office rejected the request to grant him diplomatic status in the U.K.</p> | 599,287 |
<p>The shockwaves of 9-11 have had a chilling effect on civil liberties in the form of the Patriot Act and the repressive measures taken by a plethora of government agencies. One must add to this the fallout from the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, and it becomes evident that even universities are not immune from the chill. Now freedom of speech, academic freedom and democracy itself are all at risk–the values that America so greatly cherishes have been greatly diminished.</p>
<p>Case in point. Last July Prof. Shahid Alam of Northeastern Univ. in Boston wrote an eloquent article calling for an academic boycott of Israeli academic institutions; it appeared in both CounterPunch and Al Ahram . The article gave an overview of the Palestinian condition, a criticism of the “West” in allowing this situation to continue, and then a carefully reasoned argument why academics and students should engage in the time honored peaceful protest, an academic boycott of Israeli institutions. When Professor Alam invited some academics to consider joining the academic boycott against Israel, he said, “one wrote back saying how disappointed he was that I should support this boycott, since it was destructive. I felt called upon to explain why I thought the boycott was morally justified.” Such a boycott has been applied before in the case of South Africa to end apartheid, and it proved to be effective. Even Israeli academics like Prof. Illan Pappe have called for such a measure–stating that there must be consequences to the Israeli oppression and dispossession of the native population.</p>
<p>One seldom thinks about the consequences for someone in writing or expressing their views. We take it for granted that there is freedom of speech, and that a writer need not fear for their life, safety or livelihood. In the case of Prof. Alam, a smear campaign was set in full swing after the publication in Al Ahram. The first salvo was an article in the Jerusalem Post , a newspaper owned by Conrad Black, an ardent Zionist, and owner of the Daily Telegraph of London. The JP article completely altered the thrust of Prof. Alam’s argument; the first sentence read: “An economics professor at Boston’s Northeastern University has justified Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israel.” The thrust of his article, a call for a boycott, a peaceful means to protest, was distorted into a support for violence and the suicide bombers. The article ended with a reference to a course Prof. Alam will teach in the fall. So first there is a smear, a lie, and then a none too subtle suggestion to some readers of a way that Prof. Alam could be harassed.</p>
<p>The second salvo in the campaign came in the form of articles by different American newspapers regurgitating the Jerusalem Post interpretation of Prof. Alam’s article. The Boston Herald’s version : “Prof. shocks Northeastern with defense of suicide bombers.” Two things are evident: the author, Ed Hayward, didn’t read (or chose to ignore) Alam’s original article, and didn’t bother to contact the author directly. His statement: “Attempts to reach him by phone and e-mail were unsuccessful yesterday” is false. Prof. Alam has stated that he replied by email, suggested that the author read the original article, and made himself available for further questions. Mr. Hayward based his article entirely on the Jerusalem Post’s scurrilous version of Prof. Alam’s article. He then added a few quotes of one Northeastern Univ. faculty replying to a question about “Prof. Alam’s defense of suicide bombers.” The answers elicited have more to do with character assassination than reporting on an important debate among many academics. (Repeated attempts to reach Mr. Hayward by email elicited only a “no comment” reply.)</p>
<p>The requests for interviews and comment poured in at the same time suggesting an orchestrated campaign. To top off the requests for interviews came the “O’Reilly Factor”–a sensationalist current affairs program– the program responsible for slandering Prof. Sami Al-Arian, a professor at Univ. of Florida. Prof. Alam wisely turned down the request.</p>
<p>This tactic of initiating the smearing campaigns in Israel has everything to do with undermining the legal protection a libeled person should have in the US. It becomes very costly to prosecute an Israeli newspaper, and the legal outcomes in Israeli courts will likely favor the Israeli newspaper. Therefore, it is convenient for the smears to start there. Thereafter the smear campaigners can regurgitate the libelous statements without much fear–they can always state that they quoted a “respected Israeli newspaper.”</p>
<p>The third salvo in the smear campaign was an email sent by an impostor claiming to be a Prof. Alam and using his very email address. This new form of cyber-smearing is called “email-spoofing.” The email first emphasized that Prof. Alam is a Moslem, and then proceeded to attribute anti-Semitic remarks to him. Grammatical mistakes were rampant in the document–perhaps another way to taint Prof. Alam. These sentences convey the gist of the impostor’s message: “I will not remain silent while Jews in Israel use Palestinian blood as wine. I, will not remain silent while my Moslem brothers and sisters are being raped, murdered, and beaten to death by a government that claims to conduct itself according to ‘Jewish values.’ No kidding.” The email was sent to 52 faculty members at Northeastern Univ., the entire Economics Dept., and to several dozen media related addresses.</p>
<p>The modern world affords many new threats to freedom of speech; one of them is the “hate website”. In the context of the Middle East conflict, there are several Zionist websites listing people and making intimidating comments or veiled threats. Sam Bahour, an American-Palestinian living in Ramallah, uses the enforced “spare” time due to the recurrent curfews to write about the Palestinian condition. His articles clearly show what it means to live under occupation, and the articles are widely distributed by sympathizers. His popularity has attracted the attention of various hate websites, e.g., Jewish Watch Dog (Canadian based website).</p>
<p>Although appearing on such a website could frighten some, Sam Bahour hasn’t been fazed. His reaction was: “Upon seeing myself listed on this right-wing Jewish Watch Dog site, I chuckled in satisfaction. If my efforts, from my computer chair at home, under curfew, under occupation, have ruffled their feathers, then we are absolutely on our way to freedom. Why? Because thousands of other Palestinians have sacrificed much more than their time and pen […] So if one man’s pen gets him the honor of being “a most dangerous person” then I accept this as a token of my modest efforts to tell the world enough is enough – end the occupation now!”</p>
<p>Topping the list of the hate groups is Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, an eloquent Palestinian spokesperson who resigned from the Palestinian Authority some years ago. During her recent US university speaking tour bodyguards were necessary to safeguard her safety given the visibly hostile reception by Zionist and extreme Christian groups. These same people interrupted her speech, and intimidated others in the audience.</p>
<p>Another disturbing development is campus-watch.org, a website compiling “black lists” of faculty at US campuses whom it considers biased, and compiling “dossiers” on them. Not surprisingly, this website is yet another creation of Daniel Pipes, an ardent Zionist pundit. The website employs McCarthy-ite tactics that do not promote academic freedom or open debate. In an open and democratic society, academic debate is advanced by the force of argument, and not by sinister slander or veiled threats. “We are watching you,” isn’t the behavior expected in US academia. Or as Prof. Alam, one of those targeted, put it, “I see it as a serious challenge, indeed, an affront, to academic freedom and freedom of speech in United States. By creating a dossier on professors who have written critically about Israel, they are inviting their colleagues and students to spy on them and perhaps harass them. What would happen to academic freedom if every group in this country did the same?”</p>
<p>Since the names of the eight professors appeared on the Campus Watch their email accounts have been attacked by spammers, i.e., computer hackers sending thousands of huge files, obnoxious emails, and fraudulent business offers. These people have rendered inoperable the targeted professors’ email communications. In the words of Prof. Alam: “Since this morning [Sept. 23, 02], the eight professors on the campus-watch.org are being spammed and spoofed. First came the spams (thousands) from several sources. When this stopped, there followed spam combined with spoofs– emails supposedly originating from the seven [other professors] on the CW site.”</p>
<p>At UMIST (University Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) in the UK, Prof. Mona Baker attracted the ire of the Zionist groups when she acted on the call to boycott Israeli academic institutions. She dissociated the journal she edits from the Israeli scholars who were previously on the board on a pro bono basis, as representatives of Israeli institutions. Thus, no economic hardship ensued–it was only a symbolic statement of disapproval of the Israeli occupation and an expression of her rejection of the ‘business as usual’ mode given the level of atrocities being committed by Israel. Her courageous stance unleashed a wave of hateful emails directed at her personally, and a wave of protest against the university. There was no discussion–just ad hominem attacks–her stance was branded either anti-Semitic or stupid. The calls for this inquisition came from, among others, the Union of Jewish Students . Predictably, pro-Israeli academics in the US and Canada (including the Canadian Association of Academic Freedom) joined the bandwagon of protests. Even well known academics joined the clamor to shout down Mona’s call, and behaved in a most “non-academic” fashion by e.g., demanding her dismissal.</p>
<p>These groups were making an example of Dr. Baker to frighten off any other academics seeking to take a principled stance–they didn’t want her symbolic act to set a precedent. Never did a small journal devoted to Translation Studies and circulated to less than one thousand academics garner so much (unwelcome) attention.</p>
<p>The Internet has provided new means for these hate groups to intimidate those raising their voices. As this author can attest, there have been attempts to hack into his own computer, having received numerous virus-infected emails, fraudulent business offers, and huge files to disrupt email service. It is also disconcerting to receive sympathetic emails, and when one replies to such an email, to find the subsequent reply to be seriously hostile. There is an attempt to make writers suspicious of any email they receive–and an attempt to eliminate further dialogue on whatever issue. Also, there may be also attempts to trace the email account of the hounded authors.</p>
<p>Another dirty trick used by these people is to enter web forums dealing with the situation in Palestine, submit awful remarks attributed to the victimized person–another type of spoofing. It is baffling to receive dozens of irate emails from people responding to the impostor’s remarks–that always contain the victim’s email address or telephone number.</p>
<p>It is annoying to receive unambiguous death threats and then find no way to identify the person, have their email privileges revoked, let alone to prosecute the person. Thus, queries to the ISP are referred to the police, and these in turn will send the query back to the ISP. The situation is worse if the threatened author resides overseas. A Palestinian writer, a resident of the Occupied Territories, recently received several serious email death threats (including his home address), and upon complaining to the US-based ISP, he received a suggestion that the matter should be followed up with the local authority. The address given to him was an Israeli agency.</p>
<p>Finally, we also have witnessed the ultimate threat to freedom of speech, the assassination. Alex Odeh, the regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, led a campaign to inform the American public of the massive no-strings-attached economic and military aid to Israel. His activities provoked JDL terrorists to murder him in 1985.</p>
<p>It seems that the “smear mongers” go to extraordinary lengths to silence their opponents. If their cause had any merit, then their best approach would be to engage in a frank and honest debate. Their illicit acts instead indicate that they are fighting a rear-guard action in a lost cause that relies on lies and smears to keep people from having a critical discussion. Among the most dangerous acts are those that suppress discussion about what Israel is doing, its history, and the fact the US bankrolls its existence, thereby heaping the wrath of the people in the area upon itself. One only wonders to which extreme these people will go to stem the rising clamor for justice.</p>
<p>Readers of this magazine know that the influence of pro-Israeli groups has undermined democracy in the US. Huge financial resources recently targeted and subsequently unseated</p>
<p>Congresspersons Hilliard and McKinney–pro-Israeli money determined the outcome, and brought the nature of America’s democracy into question. The smear campaign by pro-Israeli groups now threatens other cherished aspects of American society: free speech and academic freedom. These threats diminish the US, and they help perpetuate injustice around the world–the massive injustice perpetrated against Palestinians foremost among them.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Smear Mongers | true | https://counterpunch.org/2002/09/24/smear-mongers/ | 2002-09-24 | 4left
| Smear Mongers
<p>The shockwaves of 9-11 have had a chilling effect on civil liberties in the form of the Patriot Act and the repressive measures taken by a plethora of government agencies. One must add to this the fallout from the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, and it becomes evident that even universities are not immune from the chill. Now freedom of speech, academic freedom and democracy itself are all at risk–the values that America so greatly cherishes have been greatly diminished.</p>
<p>Case in point. Last July Prof. Shahid Alam of Northeastern Univ. in Boston wrote an eloquent article calling for an academic boycott of Israeli academic institutions; it appeared in both CounterPunch and Al Ahram . The article gave an overview of the Palestinian condition, a criticism of the “West” in allowing this situation to continue, and then a carefully reasoned argument why academics and students should engage in the time honored peaceful protest, an academic boycott of Israeli institutions. When Professor Alam invited some academics to consider joining the academic boycott against Israel, he said, “one wrote back saying how disappointed he was that I should support this boycott, since it was destructive. I felt called upon to explain why I thought the boycott was morally justified.” Such a boycott has been applied before in the case of South Africa to end apartheid, and it proved to be effective. Even Israeli academics like Prof. Illan Pappe have called for such a measure–stating that there must be consequences to the Israeli oppression and dispossession of the native population.</p>
<p>One seldom thinks about the consequences for someone in writing or expressing their views. We take it for granted that there is freedom of speech, and that a writer need not fear for their life, safety or livelihood. In the case of Prof. Alam, a smear campaign was set in full swing after the publication in Al Ahram. The first salvo was an article in the Jerusalem Post , a newspaper owned by Conrad Black, an ardent Zionist, and owner of the Daily Telegraph of London. The JP article completely altered the thrust of Prof. Alam’s argument; the first sentence read: “An economics professor at Boston’s Northeastern University has justified Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israel.” The thrust of his article, a call for a boycott, a peaceful means to protest, was distorted into a support for violence and the suicide bombers. The article ended with a reference to a course Prof. Alam will teach in the fall. So first there is a smear, a lie, and then a none too subtle suggestion to some readers of a way that Prof. Alam could be harassed.</p>
<p>The second salvo in the campaign came in the form of articles by different American newspapers regurgitating the Jerusalem Post interpretation of Prof. Alam’s article. The Boston Herald’s version : “Prof. shocks Northeastern with defense of suicide bombers.” Two things are evident: the author, Ed Hayward, didn’t read (or chose to ignore) Alam’s original article, and didn’t bother to contact the author directly. His statement: “Attempts to reach him by phone and e-mail were unsuccessful yesterday” is false. Prof. Alam has stated that he replied by email, suggested that the author read the original article, and made himself available for further questions. Mr. Hayward based his article entirely on the Jerusalem Post’s scurrilous version of Prof. Alam’s article. He then added a few quotes of one Northeastern Univ. faculty replying to a question about “Prof. Alam’s defense of suicide bombers.” The answers elicited have more to do with character assassination than reporting on an important debate among many academics. (Repeated attempts to reach Mr. Hayward by email elicited only a “no comment” reply.)</p>
<p>The requests for interviews and comment poured in at the same time suggesting an orchestrated campaign. To top off the requests for interviews came the “O’Reilly Factor”–a sensationalist current affairs program– the program responsible for slandering Prof. Sami Al-Arian, a professor at Univ. of Florida. Prof. Alam wisely turned down the request.</p>
<p>This tactic of initiating the smearing campaigns in Israel has everything to do with undermining the legal protection a libeled person should have in the US. It becomes very costly to prosecute an Israeli newspaper, and the legal outcomes in Israeli courts will likely favor the Israeli newspaper. Therefore, it is convenient for the smears to start there. Thereafter the smear campaigners can regurgitate the libelous statements without much fear–they can always state that they quoted a “respected Israeli newspaper.”</p>
<p>The third salvo in the smear campaign was an email sent by an impostor claiming to be a Prof. Alam and using his very email address. This new form of cyber-smearing is called “email-spoofing.” The email first emphasized that Prof. Alam is a Moslem, and then proceeded to attribute anti-Semitic remarks to him. Grammatical mistakes were rampant in the document–perhaps another way to taint Prof. Alam. These sentences convey the gist of the impostor’s message: “I will not remain silent while Jews in Israel use Palestinian blood as wine. I, will not remain silent while my Moslem brothers and sisters are being raped, murdered, and beaten to death by a government that claims to conduct itself according to ‘Jewish values.’ No kidding.” The email was sent to 52 faculty members at Northeastern Univ., the entire Economics Dept., and to several dozen media related addresses.</p>
<p>The modern world affords many new threats to freedom of speech; one of them is the “hate website”. In the context of the Middle East conflict, there are several Zionist websites listing people and making intimidating comments or veiled threats. Sam Bahour, an American-Palestinian living in Ramallah, uses the enforced “spare” time due to the recurrent curfews to write about the Palestinian condition. His articles clearly show what it means to live under occupation, and the articles are widely distributed by sympathizers. His popularity has attracted the attention of various hate websites, e.g., Jewish Watch Dog (Canadian based website).</p>
<p>Although appearing on such a website could frighten some, Sam Bahour hasn’t been fazed. His reaction was: “Upon seeing myself listed on this right-wing Jewish Watch Dog site, I chuckled in satisfaction. If my efforts, from my computer chair at home, under curfew, under occupation, have ruffled their feathers, then we are absolutely on our way to freedom. Why? Because thousands of other Palestinians have sacrificed much more than their time and pen […] So if one man’s pen gets him the honor of being “a most dangerous person” then I accept this as a token of my modest efforts to tell the world enough is enough – end the occupation now!”</p>
<p>Topping the list of the hate groups is Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, an eloquent Palestinian spokesperson who resigned from the Palestinian Authority some years ago. During her recent US university speaking tour bodyguards were necessary to safeguard her safety given the visibly hostile reception by Zionist and extreme Christian groups. These same people interrupted her speech, and intimidated others in the audience.</p>
<p>Another disturbing development is campus-watch.org, a website compiling “black lists” of faculty at US campuses whom it considers biased, and compiling “dossiers” on them. Not surprisingly, this website is yet another creation of Daniel Pipes, an ardent Zionist pundit. The website employs McCarthy-ite tactics that do not promote academic freedom or open debate. In an open and democratic society, academic debate is advanced by the force of argument, and not by sinister slander or veiled threats. “We are watching you,” isn’t the behavior expected in US academia. Or as Prof. Alam, one of those targeted, put it, “I see it as a serious challenge, indeed, an affront, to academic freedom and freedom of speech in United States. By creating a dossier on professors who have written critically about Israel, they are inviting their colleagues and students to spy on them and perhaps harass them. What would happen to academic freedom if every group in this country did the same?”</p>
<p>Since the names of the eight professors appeared on the Campus Watch their email accounts have been attacked by spammers, i.e., computer hackers sending thousands of huge files, obnoxious emails, and fraudulent business offers. These people have rendered inoperable the targeted professors’ email communications. In the words of Prof. Alam: “Since this morning [Sept. 23, 02], the eight professors on the campus-watch.org are being spammed and spoofed. First came the spams (thousands) from several sources. When this stopped, there followed spam combined with spoofs– emails supposedly originating from the seven [other professors] on the CW site.”</p>
<p>At UMIST (University Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) in the UK, Prof. Mona Baker attracted the ire of the Zionist groups when she acted on the call to boycott Israeli academic institutions. She dissociated the journal she edits from the Israeli scholars who were previously on the board on a pro bono basis, as representatives of Israeli institutions. Thus, no economic hardship ensued–it was only a symbolic statement of disapproval of the Israeli occupation and an expression of her rejection of the ‘business as usual’ mode given the level of atrocities being committed by Israel. Her courageous stance unleashed a wave of hateful emails directed at her personally, and a wave of protest against the university. There was no discussion–just ad hominem attacks–her stance was branded either anti-Semitic or stupid. The calls for this inquisition came from, among others, the Union of Jewish Students . Predictably, pro-Israeli academics in the US and Canada (including the Canadian Association of Academic Freedom) joined the bandwagon of protests. Even well known academics joined the clamor to shout down Mona’s call, and behaved in a most “non-academic” fashion by e.g., demanding her dismissal.</p>
<p>These groups were making an example of Dr. Baker to frighten off any other academics seeking to take a principled stance–they didn’t want her symbolic act to set a precedent. Never did a small journal devoted to Translation Studies and circulated to less than one thousand academics garner so much (unwelcome) attention.</p>
<p>The Internet has provided new means for these hate groups to intimidate those raising their voices. As this author can attest, there have been attempts to hack into his own computer, having received numerous virus-infected emails, fraudulent business offers, and huge files to disrupt email service. It is also disconcerting to receive sympathetic emails, and when one replies to such an email, to find the subsequent reply to be seriously hostile. There is an attempt to make writers suspicious of any email they receive–and an attempt to eliminate further dialogue on whatever issue. Also, there may be also attempts to trace the email account of the hounded authors.</p>
<p>Another dirty trick used by these people is to enter web forums dealing with the situation in Palestine, submit awful remarks attributed to the victimized person–another type of spoofing. It is baffling to receive dozens of irate emails from people responding to the impostor’s remarks–that always contain the victim’s email address or telephone number.</p>
<p>It is annoying to receive unambiguous death threats and then find no way to identify the person, have their email privileges revoked, let alone to prosecute the person. Thus, queries to the ISP are referred to the police, and these in turn will send the query back to the ISP. The situation is worse if the threatened author resides overseas. A Palestinian writer, a resident of the Occupied Territories, recently received several serious email death threats (including his home address), and upon complaining to the US-based ISP, he received a suggestion that the matter should be followed up with the local authority. The address given to him was an Israeli agency.</p>
<p>Finally, we also have witnessed the ultimate threat to freedom of speech, the assassination. Alex Odeh, the regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, led a campaign to inform the American public of the massive no-strings-attached economic and military aid to Israel. His activities provoked JDL terrorists to murder him in 1985.</p>
<p>It seems that the “smear mongers” go to extraordinary lengths to silence their opponents. If their cause had any merit, then their best approach would be to engage in a frank and honest debate. Their illicit acts instead indicate that they are fighting a rear-guard action in a lost cause that relies on lies and smears to keep people from having a critical discussion. Among the most dangerous acts are those that suppress discussion about what Israel is doing, its history, and the fact the US bankrolls its existence, thereby heaping the wrath of the people in the area upon itself. One only wonders to which extreme these people will go to stem the rising clamor for justice.</p>
<p>Readers of this magazine know that the influence of pro-Israeli groups has undermined democracy in the US. Huge financial resources recently targeted and subsequently unseated</p>
<p>Congresspersons Hilliard and McKinney–pro-Israeli money determined the outcome, and brought the nature of America’s democracy into question. The smear campaign by pro-Israeli groups now threatens other cherished aspects of American society: free speech and academic freedom. These threats diminish the US, and they help perpetuate injustice around the world–the massive injustice perpetrated against Palestinians foremost among them.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 599,288 |
<p>With ongoing protests gripping Baltimore after the death of 25-year old Freddie Gray in police custody, the former mayor of Baltimore and potential presidential candidate has returned to his home to "(participate) in the healing process."</p>
<p>But Martin O'Malley's attempt to insert himself into the city's difficult chapter is receiving mixed reviews, especially because his previous role in policing as head of Charm City is fraught with controversy. Also the former governor of Maryland, his tough on crime policies are seen as having fueled at least some of the sentiment behind the protests.</p>
<p>“Governor O’Malley has arrived in Baltimore to be with the people in the city that he lives. Since last night, he has been reaching out to community leaders, the Mayor, and members of the clergy to offer his assistance where appropriate and needed,” his spokeswoman Lis Smith said in a statement. He cut short a trip giving paid speeches in Ireland.</p>
<p>No longer having an official platform in Maryland politics, it’s unclear what O’Malley could do. His campaign says he “will be doing what he can to raise awareness about volunteer opportunities, while participating in the healing process with the people of Baltimore.”</p>
<p>One community leader, Diane Bell McKoy, the CEO of Associated Black Charities and longtime community leader, said she’s not sure what O’Malley can bring to the city.</p>
<p>“I don’t know what (his)role would be. He’s not governor. He’s not mayor,” she said. “If he was going to turn over his national resources running for president – the city could use those resources.”</p>
<p>O’Malley has struggled to gain traction in the very early stages of this presidential election against formidable front-runner Hillary Clinton. He is positioning himself to the left of Clinton on economic issues but on the issue of policing and criminal justice, O'Malley's past could be more of a black mark than a boon to the progressive voter he's attempting to court.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Hillary Clinton Calls for Criminal Justice Reforms, End to 'Mass Incarceration'</a></p>
<p>On the pre-campaign trail (O’Malley hasn’t yet announced his presidential run), O’Malley often touts the fact that he dramatically reduced the crime rate in Baltimore during his time as mayor.</p>
<p>“Baltimore went on to achieve the biggest reduction in crime of any major city in America,” O’Malley recently said in Polk County, Iowa.</p>
<p>While fact checkers have determined that statement to be mostly true, the way he brought down crime during his tenure from 2000 until 2007 invited many critics.</p>
<p>Those critics were not silenced Tuesday evening when O’Malley was heckled as he walked down a city street in Baltimore, t <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/back-in-baltimore-omalley-seeks-healing-could-face-political-fallout/2015/04/28/1fc4fc54-ede7-11e4-a55f-38924fca94f9_story.html" type="external">he Washington Post reported</a>. People panned his crack down on crime that brought the crime levels down but also led to lawsuits and record number of arrests.</p>
<p>During his tenure, O’Malley implemented a no-tolerance policing policy that lead to the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP suing him in 2006 for "a broad pattern of abuse" involving arrests made without probable cause. (The city agreed to an $870,000 settlement in 2010 that included the monitoring of some types of arrests.)</p>
<p>O’Malley ran Baltimore in the back end of the tough-on-crime era, when crime was high in American cities and politicians vowed to lock up criminals. His aides also point out that he doubled funding for drug treatment, expanded minority hiring and supported an independent civilian review board. They also note that as governor he decriminalized marijuana possession and repealed the death penalty.</p>
<p>McKoy, who advocates for changes to the system that inherently make it difficult for poor people and people of color to escape poverty and the criminal justice system, admits that during O'Malley's time as mayor, crime was so bad that people wanted it to end that it took a while for O’Malley’s methods to be critically analyzed.</p>
<p>“Everyone wanted such a relief from the crime. How that relief came about, I’m not sure everybody understood at what price,” she said. “You can’t do it at the expense of giving up people’s rights.”</p>
<p>A decade later as heavy-handed police practices are under fire and in the public view, criticism of O’Malley is surfacing. Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who was Maryland’s lieutenant governor during O’Malley’s mayoral tenure, criticized O’Malley on Morning Joe Tuesday morning.</p>
<p>“But you go back to 2005, 2006 when then-Mayor O'Malley had a policy in place where everything was on lock-down. You couldn't sit on your stoop, people were harassed, and so all these tensions have been building and simmering for some time,” Steele said.</p>
<p>Robert Nowlin, head of the Pen Lucy foundation in Baltimore, defended O'Malley. "It was a different time and different tactics had to be used. At that time our city was getting out of control," Nowlin said. "We had zero tolerance and at that time we needed it."</p>
<p>Criticism of O’Malley didn’t stop with Steele, who is a Republican, however. Members of his own party also took issue with his controversial tactics. Baltimore city councilman Carl Stokes didn’t name him, but it was clear he was talking about O’Malley who came into office in 2000.</p>
<p>“And then, around 2000, we got a new mayor, a new commissioner of police, and that commissioner said ‘we’re not social workers.’ So they ended their relationship with the young people in the city. They stopped the athletic leagues, they stopped the mentoring, the stopped the computer labs. We need to re-engage our police officers with our community, with our young people so that they see the police as friends and mentors as opposed to occupied forces,” he said in an interview with MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts.</p>
<p>O'Malley's ideas for policing reforms have changed. McKoy said that when the current mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who has been in office 2010, was considering her plans to address crime, O’Malley urged her to adopt a strategy similar to his. But at an event hosted by the National Action Network conference earlier this month, O'Malley called for the use of body cameras by police and mandatory reporting of policy abuse to the FBI.</p> | In Light of Baltimore, Martin O’Malley’s Record Comes Under Fire | false | http://nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/martin-omalley-attempts-save-day-baltimore-n350431 | 2015-04-29 | 3left-center
| In Light of Baltimore, Martin O’Malley’s Record Comes Under Fire
<p>With ongoing protests gripping Baltimore after the death of 25-year old Freddie Gray in police custody, the former mayor of Baltimore and potential presidential candidate has returned to his home to "(participate) in the healing process."</p>
<p>But Martin O'Malley's attempt to insert himself into the city's difficult chapter is receiving mixed reviews, especially because his previous role in policing as head of Charm City is fraught with controversy. Also the former governor of Maryland, his tough on crime policies are seen as having fueled at least some of the sentiment behind the protests.</p>
<p>“Governor O’Malley has arrived in Baltimore to be with the people in the city that he lives. Since last night, he has been reaching out to community leaders, the Mayor, and members of the clergy to offer his assistance where appropriate and needed,” his spokeswoman Lis Smith said in a statement. He cut short a trip giving paid speeches in Ireland.</p>
<p>No longer having an official platform in Maryland politics, it’s unclear what O’Malley could do. His campaign says he “will be doing what he can to raise awareness about volunteer opportunities, while participating in the healing process with the people of Baltimore.”</p>
<p>One community leader, Diane Bell McKoy, the CEO of Associated Black Charities and longtime community leader, said she’s not sure what O’Malley can bring to the city.</p>
<p>“I don’t know what (his)role would be. He’s not governor. He’s not mayor,” she said. “If he was going to turn over his national resources running for president – the city could use those resources.”</p>
<p>O’Malley has struggled to gain traction in the very early stages of this presidential election against formidable front-runner Hillary Clinton. He is positioning himself to the left of Clinton on economic issues but on the issue of policing and criminal justice, O'Malley's past could be more of a black mark than a boon to the progressive voter he's attempting to court.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Hillary Clinton Calls for Criminal Justice Reforms, End to 'Mass Incarceration'</a></p>
<p>On the pre-campaign trail (O’Malley hasn’t yet announced his presidential run), O’Malley often touts the fact that he dramatically reduced the crime rate in Baltimore during his time as mayor.</p>
<p>“Baltimore went on to achieve the biggest reduction in crime of any major city in America,” O’Malley recently said in Polk County, Iowa.</p>
<p>While fact checkers have determined that statement to be mostly true, the way he brought down crime during his tenure from 2000 until 2007 invited many critics.</p>
<p>Those critics were not silenced Tuesday evening when O’Malley was heckled as he walked down a city street in Baltimore, t <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/back-in-baltimore-omalley-seeks-healing-could-face-political-fallout/2015/04/28/1fc4fc54-ede7-11e4-a55f-38924fca94f9_story.html" type="external">he Washington Post reported</a>. People panned his crack down on crime that brought the crime levels down but also led to lawsuits and record number of arrests.</p>
<p>During his tenure, O’Malley implemented a no-tolerance policing policy that lead to the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP suing him in 2006 for "a broad pattern of abuse" involving arrests made without probable cause. (The city agreed to an $870,000 settlement in 2010 that included the monitoring of some types of arrests.)</p>
<p>O’Malley ran Baltimore in the back end of the tough-on-crime era, when crime was high in American cities and politicians vowed to lock up criminals. His aides also point out that he doubled funding for drug treatment, expanded minority hiring and supported an independent civilian review board. They also note that as governor he decriminalized marijuana possession and repealed the death penalty.</p>
<p>McKoy, who advocates for changes to the system that inherently make it difficult for poor people and people of color to escape poverty and the criminal justice system, admits that during O'Malley's time as mayor, crime was so bad that people wanted it to end that it took a while for O’Malley’s methods to be critically analyzed.</p>
<p>“Everyone wanted such a relief from the crime. How that relief came about, I’m not sure everybody understood at what price,” she said. “You can’t do it at the expense of giving up people’s rights.”</p>
<p>A decade later as heavy-handed police practices are under fire and in the public view, criticism of O’Malley is surfacing. Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who was Maryland’s lieutenant governor during O’Malley’s mayoral tenure, criticized O’Malley on Morning Joe Tuesday morning.</p>
<p>“But you go back to 2005, 2006 when then-Mayor O'Malley had a policy in place where everything was on lock-down. You couldn't sit on your stoop, people were harassed, and so all these tensions have been building and simmering for some time,” Steele said.</p>
<p>Robert Nowlin, head of the Pen Lucy foundation in Baltimore, defended O'Malley. "It was a different time and different tactics had to be used. At that time our city was getting out of control," Nowlin said. "We had zero tolerance and at that time we needed it."</p>
<p>Criticism of O’Malley didn’t stop with Steele, who is a Republican, however. Members of his own party also took issue with his controversial tactics. Baltimore city councilman Carl Stokes didn’t name him, but it was clear he was talking about O’Malley who came into office in 2000.</p>
<p>“And then, around 2000, we got a new mayor, a new commissioner of police, and that commissioner said ‘we’re not social workers.’ So they ended their relationship with the young people in the city. They stopped the athletic leagues, they stopped the mentoring, the stopped the computer labs. We need to re-engage our police officers with our community, with our young people so that they see the police as friends and mentors as opposed to occupied forces,” he said in an interview with MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts.</p>
<p>O'Malley's ideas for policing reforms have changed. McKoy said that when the current mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who has been in office 2010, was considering her plans to address crime, O’Malley urged her to adopt a strategy similar to his. But at an event hosted by the National Action Network conference earlier this month, O'Malley called for the use of body cameras by police and mandatory reporting of policy abuse to the FBI.</p> | 599,289 |
<p>If you have doubts about the truth of climate change, don’t voice them in California or be prepared to ante up thousands of dollars, or, if you don’t pay up, serve jail time.</p>
<p>That’s the near-future imagined by <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1161" type="external">Senate Bill 1161</a>, or the California Climate Science Truth and Accountability Act of 2016, which was up for a vote on Thursday after it wedged its way through Senate committees in April and May.</p>
<p>If the bill passes, state and local prosecutors could sue companies for expressing skepticism over climate change, citing that as a violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law [UCL].</p>
<p>The bill reads:</p>
<p>Notwithstanding Section 17208 of the Business and Professions Code, an action pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 17200) of Part 2 of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code against a corporation, firm, partnership, joint stock company, association, or other organization of persons that has directly or indirectly engaged in unfair competition, as defined in Section 17200 of the Business and Professions Code, with respect to scientific evidence regarding the existence, extent, or current or future impacts of anthropogenic-induced climate change that would otherwise be barred as of January 1, 2017, solely because the statute of limitation has or had expired, is revived and, in that case, the action may be commenced within four years of January 1, 2017. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to alter the applicable limitation period of an action that is not time barred as of January 1, 2017.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/2/calif-bill-prosecutes-climate-change-skeptics/" type="external">Washington Times</a> reports that California’s Senate Rules Committee’s floor analysis reads: “This bill explicitly authorizes district attorneys and the Attorney General to pursue UCL claims alleging that a business or organization has directly or indirectly engaged in unfair competition with respect to scientific evidence regarding the existence, extent, or current or future impacts of anthropogenic induced climate change.” The floor analysis cites InsideClimate News and the Columbia Journalism School’s Energy and Environmental Reporting Project’s accusations that ExxonMobil has buried its research on climate change; Exxon Mobil has denied the charge. The floor analysis states, “By extending the statute of limitations, California has the opportunity to hold these companies fully accountable for their actions.”</p>
<p>Stephen Frank, editor of the conservative California Political Review, called SB 1161 a “totalitarian statement by Democrats that the First Amendment is now dead.” He <a href="http://www.capoliticalreview.com/capoliticalnewsandviews/sb-1161-makes-questioning-climate-change-a-sue-able-offense-criminal/" type="external">wrote</a> on May 31:</p>
<p>Did you donate to the Pacific Legal Foundation? Do you support Americans for Prosperity? Are you a member of the California Republican Party, which has a platform approving of all forms of energy, including fossil fuel (oil)? Do you work for a gas station, an oil company, have your written a letter to the editor in favor of oil drilling? If so, you could find yourself with being charged in a court of law, thanks to SB 1161.</p>
<p>With typical leftist high dudgeon, SB 1161 asserts, “There is broad scientific consensus that anthropogenic global warming is occurring and changing the world’s climate patterns, and that the primary cause is the emission of greenhouse gases from the production and combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas.”</p>
<p>California: Beat your wife, go have a burger. Question climate change, though, and look out.</p>
<p>Walter Olson of the website Overlawyered <a href="http://overlawyered.com/2016/05/california-bill-revive-lapsed-statutes-limitation/" type="external">slammed</a> SB 1161, writing:</p>
<p>Combined with the plans laid by California Attorney General Kamala Harris — part of the alliance of AGs that has sought to investigate not only oil, gas, and coal companies, but private advocacy groups and university scientists who have played a role in what is characterized as ‘climate denial’— the bill would begin laying the legal groundwork for an astonishingly broad campaign of inquisition and, potentially, expropriation.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the state has let some criminals who have committed acts of domestic violence go free, as The Los Angeles Times <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/crime/la-me-ff-early-release-20140817-story.html" type="external">reported</a> in August 2014.</p>
<p>California: Beat your wife, go have a burger. Question climate change, though, and look out.</p> | California Prepares to Throw Climate-Change Skeptics In Jail. Meanwhile, They Allow Violent Criminals To Go Free. | true | https://dailywire.com/news/6263/california-prepares-throw-climate-change-skeptics-hank-berrien | 2016-06-02 | 0right
| California Prepares to Throw Climate-Change Skeptics In Jail. Meanwhile, They Allow Violent Criminals To Go Free.
<p>If you have doubts about the truth of climate change, don’t voice them in California or be prepared to ante up thousands of dollars, or, if you don’t pay up, serve jail time.</p>
<p>That’s the near-future imagined by <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1161" type="external">Senate Bill 1161</a>, or the California Climate Science Truth and Accountability Act of 2016, which was up for a vote on Thursday after it wedged its way through Senate committees in April and May.</p>
<p>If the bill passes, state and local prosecutors could sue companies for expressing skepticism over climate change, citing that as a violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law [UCL].</p>
<p>The bill reads:</p>
<p>Notwithstanding Section 17208 of the Business and Professions Code, an action pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 17200) of Part 2 of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code against a corporation, firm, partnership, joint stock company, association, or other organization of persons that has directly or indirectly engaged in unfair competition, as defined in Section 17200 of the Business and Professions Code, with respect to scientific evidence regarding the existence, extent, or current or future impacts of anthropogenic-induced climate change that would otherwise be barred as of January 1, 2017, solely because the statute of limitation has or had expired, is revived and, in that case, the action may be commenced within four years of January 1, 2017. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to alter the applicable limitation period of an action that is not time barred as of January 1, 2017.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/2/calif-bill-prosecutes-climate-change-skeptics/" type="external">Washington Times</a> reports that California’s Senate Rules Committee’s floor analysis reads: “This bill explicitly authorizes district attorneys and the Attorney General to pursue UCL claims alleging that a business or organization has directly or indirectly engaged in unfair competition with respect to scientific evidence regarding the existence, extent, or current or future impacts of anthropogenic induced climate change.” The floor analysis cites InsideClimate News and the Columbia Journalism School’s Energy and Environmental Reporting Project’s accusations that ExxonMobil has buried its research on climate change; Exxon Mobil has denied the charge. The floor analysis states, “By extending the statute of limitations, California has the opportunity to hold these companies fully accountable for their actions.”</p>
<p>Stephen Frank, editor of the conservative California Political Review, called SB 1161 a “totalitarian statement by Democrats that the First Amendment is now dead.” He <a href="http://www.capoliticalreview.com/capoliticalnewsandviews/sb-1161-makes-questioning-climate-change-a-sue-able-offense-criminal/" type="external">wrote</a> on May 31:</p>
<p>Did you donate to the Pacific Legal Foundation? Do you support Americans for Prosperity? Are you a member of the California Republican Party, which has a platform approving of all forms of energy, including fossil fuel (oil)? Do you work for a gas station, an oil company, have your written a letter to the editor in favor of oil drilling? If so, you could find yourself with being charged in a court of law, thanks to SB 1161.</p>
<p>With typical leftist high dudgeon, SB 1161 asserts, “There is broad scientific consensus that anthropogenic global warming is occurring and changing the world’s climate patterns, and that the primary cause is the emission of greenhouse gases from the production and combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas.”</p>
<p>California: Beat your wife, go have a burger. Question climate change, though, and look out.</p>
<p>Walter Olson of the website Overlawyered <a href="http://overlawyered.com/2016/05/california-bill-revive-lapsed-statutes-limitation/" type="external">slammed</a> SB 1161, writing:</p>
<p>Combined with the plans laid by California Attorney General Kamala Harris — part of the alliance of AGs that has sought to investigate not only oil, gas, and coal companies, but private advocacy groups and university scientists who have played a role in what is characterized as ‘climate denial’— the bill would begin laying the legal groundwork for an astonishingly broad campaign of inquisition and, potentially, expropriation.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the state has let some criminals who have committed acts of domestic violence go free, as The Los Angeles Times <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/crime/la-me-ff-early-release-20140817-story.html" type="external">reported</a> in August 2014.</p>
<p>California: Beat your wife, go have a burger. Question climate change, though, and look out.</p> | 599,290 |
<p>Sept. 1 (UPI) — Kurdish and Arab troops, backed by the United States, have completely pushed the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Islamic-State/" type="external">Islamic State</a> from its de-facto capital in Raqqa, Syria, a coalition spokesman said Friday.</p>
<p>“Our forces today seized full control of the Old City in Raqqa after clashes [with IS]. We are on the edges of [the IS] security quarter in the city center, where most of its main bases are,” Syrian Democratic Forces spokesperson Talal Sello said Friday.</p>
<p>Well-defended IS positions surrounding the Old City remain in place, and a complete recapture of the city could take weeks. The announcement Friday was meant in part to raise morale of the coalition troops as the Muslim world prepares for the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Eid_Al-Adha/" type="external">Eid al-Adha</a> holiday, beginning Friday, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/raqqa-old-city-isis-us-backed-forces-syria-islamic-state-defeat-a7924506.html" type="external">The Independent</a> reported.</p>
<p>The capture of the Old City came after ground fighting and U.S.-led airstrikes which have caused mounting civilian casualties. About 20,000 civilians remain trapped in a city without electricity or running water. The United Nations estimated that at least 151 civilians were killed in August by the airstrikes, and U.N. High Commissioner for Human rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein suggested the coalition bombings could be violations of international law.</p>
<p>“Given the extremely high number of reports of civilian casualties this month and the intensity of the air strikes on Raqqa, coupled with [IS] use of civilians as human shields, I am deeply concerned that civilians, who should be protected at all times, are paying an unacceptable price, and that forces involved in battling [IS] are losing sight of the ultimate goal of this battle. Meanwhile, [IS] fighters continue to prevent civilians from fleeing the area, although some manage to leave after paying large amounts of money to smugglers,” al-Hussein said in a statement.</p>
<p>The gain of territory in Raqqa comes amid a controversial agreement between the Syrian government, <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Hezbollah/" type="external">Hezbollah</a> and IS to allow IS personnel safe passage across Syria. The deal is part of a ceasefire between the combined armies of Hezbollah and Lebanon, and Syria’s army.</p>
<p>Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi was critical of the deal, as were many other Iraqi politicians, but Vice President <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Nouri-al-Maliki/" type="external">Nouri al-Maliki</a> <a href="http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/maliki-defends-islamic-state-hezbollah-evacuation-deal/" type="external">said the issue</a> is an internal Syrian matter– and noted that the IS militants will arrive in areas adjacent to the border, where Iraqi troops are fighting.</p>
<p>Maliki’s reasoning prompted Iraqi legislator Awad al-Awadi to suggest the Syrian government can “go to hell” if it expects that Iraqi blood must be shed for Syria, the <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2017/08/31/Iraq-s-Maliki-welcomes-Hezbollah-negotiated-deal-with-ISIS-.html" type="external">news website Al-Aribiya</a> reported. In a television interview, Awadi later called on the Iraqi government to oppose the deal.</p>
<p>Tribal leaders along the Syria-Iraq border also voiced their opposition. Muzahim al-Hawyeet, spokesman for an alliance of Arab tribes in Ninevah, called the agreement a new threat against Sunni-run governorates.</p>
<p>The United States also <a href="https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2017/08/30/US-coalition-Iraq-slam-evacuation-agreement-for-IS-fighters/6441504108557/" type="external">denounced the deal</a>. Coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon said Wednesday that the U.S,-led coalition ordered airstrikes on bridges and roads in Syria used to interrupt the passage of IS militants.</p>
<p>“The coalition is not a party to the agreement between Lebanese Hezbollah and ISIS. Russian and pro-regime counter-ISIS words ring hollow when they allow known terrorists to transit territory under their control,” Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/30/politics/coalition-strikes-roads-isis-convoy-lebanon-syria/index.html" type="external">said</a> on Wednesday.</p> | U.S.-backed forces run IS militants out of de-facto capital in Syria | false | https://newsline.com/u-s-backed-forces-run-is-militants-out-of-de-facto-capital-in-syria/ | 2017-09-01 | 1right-center
| U.S.-backed forces run IS militants out of de-facto capital in Syria
<p>Sept. 1 (UPI) — Kurdish and Arab troops, backed by the United States, have completely pushed the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Islamic-State/" type="external">Islamic State</a> from its de-facto capital in Raqqa, Syria, a coalition spokesman said Friday.</p>
<p>“Our forces today seized full control of the Old City in Raqqa after clashes [with IS]. We are on the edges of [the IS] security quarter in the city center, where most of its main bases are,” Syrian Democratic Forces spokesperson Talal Sello said Friday.</p>
<p>Well-defended IS positions surrounding the Old City remain in place, and a complete recapture of the city could take weeks. The announcement Friday was meant in part to raise morale of the coalition troops as the Muslim world prepares for the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Eid_Al-Adha/" type="external">Eid al-Adha</a> holiday, beginning Friday, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/raqqa-old-city-isis-us-backed-forces-syria-islamic-state-defeat-a7924506.html" type="external">The Independent</a> reported.</p>
<p>The capture of the Old City came after ground fighting and U.S.-led airstrikes which have caused mounting civilian casualties. About 20,000 civilians remain trapped in a city without electricity or running water. The United Nations estimated that at least 151 civilians were killed in August by the airstrikes, and U.N. High Commissioner for Human rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein suggested the coalition bombings could be violations of international law.</p>
<p>“Given the extremely high number of reports of civilian casualties this month and the intensity of the air strikes on Raqqa, coupled with [IS] use of civilians as human shields, I am deeply concerned that civilians, who should be protected at all times, are paying an unacceptable price, and that forces involved in battling [IS] are losing sight of the ultimate goal of this battle. Meanwhile, [IS] fighters continue to prevent civilians from fleeing the area, although some manage to leave after paying large amounts of money to smugglers,” al-Hussein said in a statement.</p>
<p>The gain of territory in Raqqa comes amid a controversial agreement between the Syrian government, <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Hezbollah/" type="external">Hezbollah</a> and IS to allow IS personnel safe passage across Syria. The deal is part of a ceasefire between the combined armies of Hezbollah and Lebanon, and Syria’s army.</p>
<p>Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi was critical of the deal, as were many other Iraqi politicians, but Vice President <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Nouri-al-Maliki/" type="external">Nouri al-Maliki</a> <a href="http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/maliki-defends-islamic-state-hezbollah-evacuation-deal/" type="external">said the issue</a> is an internal Syrian matter– and noted that the IS militants will arrive in areas adjacent to the border, where Iraqi troops are fighting.</p>
<p>Maliki’s reasoning prompted Iraqi legislator Awad al-Awadi to suggest the Syrian government can “go to hell” if it expects that Iraqi blood must be shed for Syria, the <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2017/08/31/Iraq-s-Maliki-welcomes-Hezbollah-negotiated-deal-with-ISIS-.html" type="external">news website Al-Aribiya</a> reported. In a television interview, Awadi later called on the Iraqi government to oppose the deal.</p>
<p>Tribal leaders along the Syria-Iraq border also voiced their opposition. Muzahim al-Hawyeet, spokesman for an alliance of Arab tribes in Ninevah, called the agreement a new threat against Sunni-run governorates.</p>
<p>The United States also <a href="https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2017/08/30/US-coalition-Iraq-slam-evacuation-agreement-for-IS-fighters/6441504108557/" type="external">denounced the deal</a>. Coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon said Wednesday that the U.S,-led coalition ordered airstrikes on bridges and roads in Syria used to interrupt the passage of IS militants.</p>
<p>“The coalition is not a party to the agreement between Lebanese Hezbollah and ISIS. Russian and pro-regime counter-ISIS words ring hollow when they allow known terrorists to transit territory under their control,” Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/30/politics/coalition-strikes-roads-isis-convoy-lebanon-syria/index.html" type="external">said</a> on Wednesday.</p> | 599,291 |
<p>Victory!</p>
<p>Thousands of Oregon workers fought valiantly over the past weeks to ensure that corporations and the rich will see their taxes raised, so that social services, health care, and education could be saved. Massive phone banking operations, door-to-door canvassing, and rallies were used by union and community members to educate the public about a progressive tax measure used to offset the state’s dire budget situation.</p>
<p>The campaign was indisputably class war, and the corporations came out firing — virtually every newspaper in Oregon shed their alleged “objectivity” and exposed their subservience to the corporations. Oregon’s largest newspaper, The Oregonian, displayed giant front page ads —daily — in order to defeat the measures (part of the ad showcased an article by Phil Knight —founder of Oregon company Nike — who spoke of corporate apocalypse if the tax measures passed). This, along with the countless false advertisements on TV and radio, shows the high level of understanding that workers in Oregon displayed in voting to pass the measures by a landslide.</p>
<p>The new taxes are hardly radical; if anything they are insufficient compared to Oregon’s budget problems. Oregon’s corporate minimum tax was raised from $10 a year — no typo here — to $150. Corporations with profits over $250,000 a year will pay an additional 1.3 percent on profits over that amount.</p>
<p>Wealthy individuals — those making over $125,000 or couples making $250,000 will pay an additional 1.8 percent above those numbers. Most Oregonians — 97.5 percent — will see no tax increase. These minuscule tax increases caused Oregon’s corporate elite to feverishly organize to defeat the bill. Their stranglehold over the media was no match for well-organized working-class Oregonians.</p>
<p>Originally, the tax increase was passed by Oregon’s legislature, where the Democrats enjoy a supermajority. The Democrats were under immense pressure from Oregon’s unions, who, commendably, advanced the “tax the rich” measure to the point where the Democrats had to act. Though the tax increases were small, they were nevertheless progressive, saving Oregon’s budget $733 million in cuts.</p>
<p>The corporations mobilized, and paid signature gatherers to collect enough signatures to put the tax increase to a voter referendum.</p>
<p>The ensuing campaign caught the attention of the nation, where precedent is now set in favor of all working people. Corporations and unions from out of state contributed funds to help sway Oregon’s campaign, knowing that their fates were linked. Now, Oregon will hopefully serve as an example to other states experiencing budget crises and consequent cuts to education and social services.</p>
<p>Oregon’s vote coincides with President Obama’s national budget, where social services are being “frozen” — in reality reduced. Thus, Oregon gives inspiration for solutions to state and federal budget crises, where in both cases the working class has been carrying the brunt of the recession’s effects.</p>
<p>Union and community groups everywhere must follow Oregon’s example. Tax the rich and the corporations! No to cuts in education, health care, and social services!</p>
<p>SHAMUS COOKE is a social service worker, trade unionist, and writer for <a href="http://www.workerscompass.org" type="external">Workers Action</a>. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Taxing the Rich Wins in Oregon | true | https://counterpunch.org/2010/01/28/taxing-the-rich-wins-in-oregon/ | 2010-01-28 | 4left
| Taxing the Rich Wins in Oregon
<p>Victory!</p>
<p>Thousands of Oregon workers fought valiantly over the past weeks to ensure that corporations and the rich will see their taxes raised, so that social services, health care, and education could be saved. Massive phone banking operations, door-to-door canvassing, and rallies were used by union and community members to educate the public about a progressive tax measure used to offset the state’s dire budget situation.</p>
<p>The campaign was indisputably class war, and the corporations came out firing — virtually every newspaper in Oregon shed their alleged “objectivity” and exposed their subservience to the corporations. Oregon’s largest newspaper, The Oregonian, displayed giant front page ads —daily — in order to defeat the measures (part of the ad showcased an article by Phil Knight —founder of Oregon company Nike — who spoke of corporate apocalypse if the tax measures passed). This, along with the countless false advertisements on TV and radio, shows the high level of understanding that workers in Oregon displayed in voting to pass the measures by a landslide.</p>
<p>The new taxes are hardly radical; if anything they are insufficient compared to Oregon’s budget problems. Oregon’s corporate minimum tax was raised from $10 a year — no typo here — to $150. Corporations with profits over $250,000 a year will pay an additional 1.3 percent on profits over that amount.</p>
<p>Wealthy individuals — those making over $125,000 or couples making $250,000 will pay an additional 1.8 percent above those numbers. Most Oregonians — 97.5 percent — will see no tax increase. These minuscule tax increases caused Oregon’s corporate elite to feverishly organize to defeat the bill. Their stranglehold over the media was no match for well-organized working-class Oregonians.</p>
<p>Originally, the tax increase was passed by Oregon’s legislature, where the Democrats enjoy a supermajority. The Democrats were under immense pressure from Oregon’s unions, who, commendably, advanced the “tax the rich” measure to the point where the Democrats had to act. Though the tax increases were small, they were nevertheless progressive, saving Oregon’s budget $733 million in cuts.</p>
<p>The corporations mobilized, and paid signature gatherers to collect enough signatures to put the tax increase to a voter referendum.</p>
<p>The ensuing campaign caught the attention of the nation, where precedent is now set in favor of all working people. Corporations and unions from out of state contributed funds to help sway Oregon’s campaign, knowing that their fates were linked. Now, Oregon will hopefully serve as an example to other states experiencing budget crises and consequent cuts to education and social services.</p>
<p>Oregon’s vote coincides with President Obama’s national budget, where social services are being “frozen” — in reality reduced. Thus, Oregon gives inspiration for solutions to state and federal budget crises, where in both cases the working class has been carrying the brunt of the recession’s effects.</p>
<p>Union and community groups everywhere must follow Oregon’s example. Tax the rich and the corporations! No to cuts in education, health care, and social services!</p>
<p>SHAMUS COOKE is a social service worker, trade unionist, and writer for <a href="http://www.workerscompass.org" type="external">Workers Action</a>. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 599,292 |
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<p />
<p>The paper, written by astrophysicists at NASA’s Eagleworks Laboratories, tested a electromagnetic propulsion system, or “EM drive,” that generates a small amount of thrust simply by bouncing microwaves around a cone-shaped copper chamber. No propellant goes in, no exhaust comes out, and yet, somehow, the engine can make things move.</p>
<p>If you think that news sounds too good to be true, you’ve got good instincts – it just might be. This “impossible” fuel-less engine appears to violate one of the fundamental laws of physics.</p>
<p>Say what?</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Hark back to your high school science classroom. Avert your eyes from the unfortunate hair styles and acne, if necessary, and try to focus on what’s written on the blackboard: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.</p>
<p>That’s Newton’s third law of motion. It’s the principle that explains why pushing against a wall will send an ice skater zooming in the opposite direction. It also explains how jet engines work: As hot gases are expelled out the back of the plane, they produce a thrusting force that moves the plane forward.</p>
<p>But the EM drive doesn’t work that way. Its thrust seems to come from the impact of photons on the walls of the copper cavity. That would be like moving a car forward by just banging against the windshield.</p>
<p>And that works?</p>
<p>According to the new paper, yes. The Eagleworks scientists report that their machine generated 1.2 millinewtons of thrust per kilowatt of electricity pumped in (that electricity could come from solar panels in a hypothetical spaceship). That’s a fraction of thrust produced by the lightweight ion drives now used in many NASA spacecraft, National Geographic noted, but it’s a lot more than the few micronewtons per kilowatt produced by light sails, a proven technology that generates thrust using radiation from the sun.</p>
<p>Where did this idea come from?</p>
<p>The idea for an EM drive was first published a decade ago by British engineer Roger Shawyer. He argued that the drive isn’t really “reactionless” – instead, he argued, the thrust comes from radiation pressure. Microwaves inside the cavity create an imbalance of radiation that pushes against the walls and generates thrust.</p>
<p>The idea was hyped in headlines and splashed across the cover of New Scientist magazine, but most scientists were, and still are, extremely skeptical. There’s no theoretical explanation for how such an engine might work, and not all the possible sources of experimental error have been eliminated.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>A team of scientists at China’s Northwestern Polytechnical University have been working to build their own EM drive, but their one positive result turned out to be a measurement error, according to the Christian Science Monitor. In 2014, independent inventor and chemical engineer Guido Fetta got the scientists at Eagleworks to evaluate his variation on the EM drive, which he calls Cannae. They concluded that it did produce a small amount of thrust, but didn’t speculate on what that might mean or what mysterious new laws of physics could have produced it. Fetta says he now wants to test the drive in space, according to Popular Mechanics.</p>
<p>NASA has been uncharacteristically restrained about this whole project. When asked about the Eagleworks experiments last year, the space agency told Space.com, “While conceptual research into novel propulsion methods by a team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston has created headlines, this is a small effort that has not yet shown any tangible results. NASA is not working on ‘warp drive’ technology.”</p>
<p>What does this new paper really mean?</p>
<p>The new finding does lend some credence to EM drive claims. It passed peer review, which means that several expert scientists reviewed the methodology and the results and found no major flaws. It also addressed one of the major knocks against past EM drive tests – that the engines heat up when activated, suggesting that hot air around the machines, rather than the photons inside them, might be what generates thrust. The Eagleworks scientists made sure this wasn’t the case by conducting their test in a vacuum.</p>
<p>This doesn’t mean that the Eagleworks EM drive definitely functions. Peer review is designed to make sure that studies are well designed and executed, and that the conclusions are reasonable – it’s not an endorsement. And plenty of findings published in solid scientific papers have later been found to be incomplete or incorrect. That’s how science is supposed to work: You draw conclusions based on the best evidence available, present them to your peers, and revise and refine as you conduct more tests and gather more data. The authors of the paper list nine possible sources of error in their experiment, and indicate that they need to do more tests to try to rule those out.</p>
<p>“The issue involved here is whether the experiment is seeing something real or not,” Jim Woodward, a physicist at California State-Fullerton, told Motherboard. “I know [co-author Paul March] does clean work and to be honest, I suspect there may really be something there.”</p>
<p>But, Woodward added, there’s no theoretical explanation for the phenomenon that March and his colleagues report. That’s not necessarily disqualifying – evidence is evidence – but it is a good reason to stop and take a second look.</p>
<p>“The result they’re seeing can’t actually be explained in terms of the theory they’re proposing,” he said. “So the question is: what is causing it?”</p>
<p>Yeah, what he said!</p>
<p>This National Geographic piece does a great job walking through some of the proposed physics explanations for how the EM drive could generate thrust (if it in fact does). The Eagleworks scientists propose that the microwave photons are pushing against something called “quantum vacuum virtual plasma” – something that hasn’t been proven to exist. Physicist Mike McCullough of the University of Plymouth has proposed a new (also unproven) kind of radiation experienced by accelerating objects could be at work. The phenomenon might be evidence of a hypothesis developed by Woodward, called the Mach effect, in which the energy generated by the accelerating body is actually stored within the body.</p>
<p>Or, it’s possible that this whole idea is poppycock, a dead-end project fueled by fantasy and just enough evidence to convince scientists to keep going. That would be nothing new. Isaac Newton himself was a dyed-in-the-wool alchemist who wasted years trying to turn lead into gold. The allure of achieving the impossible is incredibly powerful, and not even the best scientists in history are immune.</p>
<p>It’s too soon to make a call either way about EM drives. But the Eagleworks paper will likely provide a tiny nudge toward credibility.</p>
<p>Writing in Forbes, astrophysicist Brian Koberlein said, “Even as a skeptic I have to admit the work is valid research. This is how science is done if you want to get it right. Do experiments, submit them to peer review, get feedback, and reevaluate. For their next trick the researchers would like to try the experiment in space. I admit that’s an experiment I’d like to see.”</p>
<p>rocket</p> | This rocket engine breaks a law of physics. But a NASA test says it works anyway. | false | https://abqjournal.com/894499/this-rocket-engine-breaks-a-law-of-physics-but-a-nasa-test-says-it-works-anyway.html | 2least
| This rocket engine breaks a law of physics. But a NASA test says it works anyway.
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The paper, written by astrophysicists at NASA’s Eagleworks Laboratories, tested a electromagnetic propulsion system, or “EM drive,” that generates a small amount of thrust simply by bouncing microwaves around a cone-shaped copper chamber. No propellant goes in, no exhaust comes out, and yet, somehow, the engine can make things move.</p>
<p>If you think that news sounds too good to be true, you’ve got good instincts – it just might be. This “impossible” fuel-less engine appears to violate one of the fundamental laws of physics.</p>
<p>Say what?</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Hark back to your high school science classroom. Avert your eyes from the unfortunate hair styles and acne, if necessary, and try to focus on what’s written on the blackboard: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.</p>
<p>That’s Newton’s third law of motion. It’s the principle that explains why pushing against a wall will send an ice skater zooming in the opposite direction. It also explains how jet engines work: As hot gases are expelled out the back of the plane, they produce a thrusting force that moves the plane forward.</p>
<p>But the EM drive doesn’t work that way. Its thrust seems to come from the impact of photons on the walls of the copper cavity. That would be like moving a car forward by just banging against the windshield.</p>
<p>And that works?</p>
<p>According to the new paper, yes. The Eagleworks scientists report that their machine generated 1.2 millinewtons of thrust per kilowatt of electricity pumped in (that electricity could come from solar panels in a hypothetical spaceship). That’s a fraction of thrust produced by the lightweight ion drives now used in many NASA spacecraft, National Geographic noted, but it’s a lot more than the few micronewtons per kilowatt produced by light sails, a proven technology that generates thrust using radiation from the sun.</p>
<p>Where did this idea come from?</p>
<p>The idea for an EM drive was first published a decade ago by British engineer Roger Shawyer. He argued that the drive isn’t really “reactionless” – instead, he argued, the thrust comes from radiation pressure. Microwaves inside the cavity create an imbalance of radiation that pushes against the walls and generates thrust.</p>
<p>The idea was hyped in headlines and splashed across the cover of New Scientist magazine, but most scientists were, and still are, extremely skeptical. There’s no theoretical explanation for how such an engine might work, and not all the possible sources of experimental error have been eliminated.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>A team of scientists at China’s Northwestern Polytechnical University have been working to build their own EM drive, but their one positive result turned out to be a measurement error, according to the Christian Science Monitor. In 2014, independent inventor and chemical engineer Guido Fetta got the scientists at Eagleworks to evaluate his variation on the EM drive, which he calls Cannae. They concluded that it did produce a small amount of thrust, but didn’t speculate on what that might mean or what mysterious new laws of physics could have produced it. Fetta says he now wants to test the drive in space, according to Popular Mechanics.</p>
<p>NASA has been uncharacteristically restrained about this whole project. When asked about the Eagleworks experiments last year, the space agency told Space.com, “While conceptual research into novel propulsion methods by a team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston has created headlines, this is a small effort that has not yet shown any tangible results. NASA is not working on ‘warp drive’ technology.”</p>
<p>What does this new paper really mean?</p>
<p>The new finding does lend some credence to EM drive claims. It passed peer review, which means that several expert scientists reviewed the methodology and the results and found no major flaws. It also addressed one of the major knocks against past EM drive tests – that the engines heat up when activated, suggesting that hot air around the machines, rather than the photons inside them, might be what generates thrust. The Eagleworks scientists made sure this wasn’t the case by conducting their test in a vacuum.</p>
<p>This doesn’t mean that the Eagleworks EM drive definitely functions. Peer review is designed to make sure that studies are well designed and executed, and that the conclusions are reasonable – it’s not an endorsement. And plenty of findings published in solid scientific papers have later been found to be incomplete or incorrect. That’s how science is supposed to work: You draw conclusions based on the best evidence available, present them to your peers, and revise and refine as you conduct more tests and gather more data. The authors of the paper list nine possible sources of error in their experiment, and indicate that they need to do more tests to try to rule those out.</p>
<p>“The issue involved here is whether the experiment is seeing something real or not,” Jim Woodward, a physicist at California State-Fullerton, told Motherboard. “I know [co-author Paul March] does clean work and to be honest, I suspect there may really be something there.”</p>
<p>But, Woodward added, there’s no theoretical explanation for the phenomenon that March and his colleagues report. That’s not necessarily disqualifying – evidence is evidence – but it is a good reason to stop and take a second look.</p>
<p>“The result they’re seeing can’t actually be explained in terms of the theory they’re proposing,” he said. “So the question is: what is causing it?”</p>
<p>Yeah, what he said!</p>
<p>This National Geographic piece does a great job walking through some of the proposed physics explanations for how the EM drive could generate thrust (if it in fact does). The Eagleworks scientists propose that the microwave photons are pushing against something called “quantum vacuum virtual plasma” – something that hasn’t been proven to exist. Physicist Mike McCullough of the University of Plymouth has proposed a new (also unproven) kind of radiation experienced by accelerating objects could be at work. The phenomenon might be evidence of a hypothesis developed by Woodward, called the Mach effect, in which the energy generated by the accelerating body is actually stored within the body.</p>
<p>Or, it’s possible that this whole idea is poppycock, a dead-end project fueled by fantasy and just enough evidence to convince scientists to keep going. That would be nothing new. Isaac Newton himself was a dyed-in-the-wool alchemist who wasted years trying to turn lead into gold. The allure of achieving the impossible is incredibly powerful, and not even the best scientists in history are immune.</p>
<p>It’s too soon to make a call either way about EM drives. But the Eagleworks paper will likely provide a tiny nudge toward credibility.</p>
<p>Writing in Forbes, astrophysicist Brian Koberlein said, “Even as a skeptic I have to admit the work is valid research. This is how science is done if you want to get it right. Do experiments, submit them to peer review, get feedback, and reevaluate. For their next trick the researchers would like to try the experiment in space. I admit that’s an experiment I’d like to see.”</p>
<p>rocket</p> | 599,293 |
|
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<p>NEW YORK - The NFL suspended Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady for the first four games on Monday for his role in a scheme to deflate footballs used in the AFC title game. The league also fined the Patriots $1 million and took away two draft picks, including next years' first-round choice.</p>
<p>The NFL also indefinitely suspended the two equipment staffers who carried out the plan, including one who called himself "The Deflator."</p>
<p>The league cited the integrity of the game in handing down the punishment five days after a report said Brady "was at least generally aware" of plans by two Patriots employees to prepare the balls to his liking, below the league-mandated minimum of 12.5 pounds per square inch.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Brady suspended 4 games | false | https://abqjournal.com/583067/brady-suspended-4-games.html | 2least
| Brady suspended 4 games
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<p>NEW YORK - The NFL suspended Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady for the first four games on Monday for his role in a scheme to deflate footballs used in the AFC title game. The league also fined the Patriots $1 million and took away two draft picks, including next years' first-round choice.</p>
<p>The NFL also indefinitely suspended the two equipment staffers who carried out the plan, including one who called himself "The Deflator."</p>
<p>The league cited the integrity of the game in handing down the punishment five days after a report said Brady "was at least generally aware" of plans by two Patriots employees to prepare the balls to his liking, below the league-mandated minimum of 12.5 pounds per square inch.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 599,294 |
|
<p>Fifteen strangers are gathered for supper. We share from a common table where everyone has offered a little dish. Around the country, thousands of others are doing the same thing. These multi-hued, boundary-crossing gatherings are happening thanks to a call from <a href="http://www.dreamdefenders.org/" type="external">Dream Defenders</a>, a “national uprising of communities in struggle, shifting culture through transformational organizing.” The basic idea of this organizing is delightfully simple: people who know and love one another will work together to build structures to protect one another. They will defend each other’s children.</p>
<p>Justice is important, but supper is essential, <a href="http://opendoorcommunity.org/" type="external">Ed Loring</a> says. Eating together often helps to uncover a common hunger for justice. It builds solidarity, as in love we prepare, share and clean up with a neighbor who also experiences hunger, who also likes beets but is allergic to strawberries, who used her grandmother’s recipe to prepare the pie she brought. It turns out that she also fears for her children to grow up in a violent world, and that she likes walking the nearby greenway, and that she’d like to someday own a house, but she’s not sure she can afford it.</p>
<p>Supper is nice, but there are things supper won’t do. For instance, it won’t stop Mitch McConnell from killing poor people through violent, anti-democratic policy measures. Supper is essential, but it has its limitations in terms of short-term social change. (Though one imagines that if “Leader” McConnell knew a poor person, or ate supper with one on a regular basis, he might not act so hateful towards them.)</p>
<p>Politics and religion are off limits at the table, according to convention, but they turn out to make pretty good conversation on this night. The most poignant question in the room is simply an observation of what we are doing: “We are eating supper together. When did that become such a radical act?” In other words, at what point did we flee so far from neighborliness, that even the simple neighborly act of eating together requires a national community organizing effort, and a hashtag, and a Twitter campaign? When, indeed, did this happen? And what have we been doing instead?</p>
<p>Staring at screens, for one, we quickly agree. Which is to say, substituting pixels for flesh-and-blood community, though we also know that social media drew this gathering of strangers together. Still, our daily scrolling habits mostly get in the way of a more robust neighborliness. The dinner conversation takes us many places, a few of them uncomfortable. It turns out that adults can manage uncomfortable moments and learn from them. Who knew? In the end, we exchange numbers and place other meet-ups on our calendars. Who knows what beautiful thing might grow from this supper, and more suppers after it?</p>
<p>I leave the dinner wondering about the transformative potential of this project in renewing our common life. What can be the new commons that draws folks together? What does the space look like that pulls people into solidarity with one another? What kind of furniture does it have, and how is it arranged? Who keeps the floor swept or fixes the plumbing? And who makes sure the space is really common, welcoming to all, with a special eye to those who are usually kept out?</p>
<p>The question of when eating together turned into a radical act is a lament for both these divisions and the lack of creativity by our so-called leaders in building an ethic of mutual care. I join in that lament. I have also seen that in spaces of want and oppression, sharing supper is a way of life. Poor folks get by through an economy of sharing, and without the aid of Twitter. The kind of solidarity we long for exists, just not in the places we are looking. Sharing supper mimics the tactics of some of our best leaders, none of whom hold press conferences on Capitol Hill. We need to get those folks to the table, and on the panels, and giving keynotes.</p>
<p>As a Christian, I think it important to remember that sharing a meal has been at the center of our lives for two millennia. Eating together is not a ritualized symbol, but a practice which draws us into a story where we learn that in giving our lives away, we find ourselves. In this story, what comes after supper is a fierce resistance to a violent empire hell-bent on maintaining power at the cost of whichever lives it must destroy. Sounds familiar.</p>
<p>In the short term, that supper turns out to be insufficient to hold back the hounds of hell and the policies of Caesar. But in the long-term, as the story goes, even death is not a tough enough pre-existing condition.</p>
<p>My friends, there’s work to do. Let’s eat.</p> | The transformative potential of renewing our common life | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/transformative-potential-renewing-common-life/ | 3left-center
| The transformative potential of renewing our common life
<p>Fifteen strangers are gathered for supper. We share from a common table where everyone has offered a little dish. Around the country, thousands of others are doing the same thing. These multi-hued, boundary-crossing gatherings are happening thanks to a call from <a href="http://www.dreamdefenders.org/" type="external">Dream Defenders</a>, a “national uprising of communities in struggle, shifting culture through transformational organizing.” The basic idea of this organizing is delightfully simple: people who know and love one another will work together to build structures to protect one another. They will defend each other’s children.</p>
<p>Justice is important, but supper is essential, <a href="http://opendoorcommunity.org/" type="external">Ed Loring</a> says. Eating together often helps to uncover a common hunger for justice. It builds solidarity, as in love we prepare, share and clean up with a neighbor who also experiences hunger, who also likes beets but is allergic to strawberries, who used her grandmother’s recipe to prepare the pie she brought. It turns out that she also fears for her children to grow up in a violent world, and that she likes walking the nearby greenway, and that she’d like to someday own a house, but she’s not sure she can afford it.</p>
<p>Supper is nice, but there are things supper won’t do. For instance, it won’t stop Mitch McConnell from killing poor people through violent, anti-democratic policy measures. Supper is essential, but it has its limitations in terms of short-term social change. (Though one imagines that if “Leader” McConnell knew a poor person, or ate supper with one on a regular basis, he might not act so hateful towards them.)</p>
<p>Politics and religion are off limits at the table, according to convention, but they turn out to make pretty good conversation on this night. The most poignant question in the room is simply an observation of what we are doing: “We are eating supper together. When did that become such a radical act?” In other words, at what point did we flee so far from neighborliness, that even the simple neighborly act of eating together requires a national community organizing effort, and a hashtag, and a Twitter campaign? When, indeed, did this happen? And what have we been doing instead?</p>
<p>Staring at screens, for one, we quickly agree. Which is to say, substituting pixels for flesh-and-blood community, though we also know that social media drew this gathering of strangers together. Still, our daily scrolling habits mostly get in the way of a more robust neighborliness. The dinner conversation takes us many places, a few of them uncomfortable. It turns out that adults can manage uncomfortable moments and learn from them. Who knew? In the end, we exchange numbers and place other meet-ups on our calendars. Who knows what beautiful thing might grow from this supper, and more suppers after it?</p>
<p>I leave the dinner wondering about the transformative potential of this project in renewing our common life. What can be the new commons that draws folks together? What does the space look like that pulls people into solidarity with one another? What kind of furniture does it have, and how is it arranged? Who keeps the floor swept or fixes the plumbing? And who makes sure the space is really common, welcoming to all, with a special eye to those who are usually kept out?</p>
<p>The question of when eating together turned into a radical act is a lament for both these divisions and the lack of creativity by our so-called leaders in building an ethic of mutual care. I join in that lament. I have also seen that in spaces of want and oppression, sharing supper is a way of life. Poor folks get by through an economy of sharing, and without the aid of Twitter. The kind of solidarity we long for exists, just not in the places we are looking. Sharing supper mimics the tactics of some of our best leaders, none of whom hold press conferences on Capitol Hill. We need to get those folks to the table, and on the panels, and giving keynotes.</p>
<p>As a Christian, I think it important to remember that sharing a meal has been at the center of our lives for two millennia. Eating together is not a ritualized symbol, but a practice which draws us into a story where we learn that in giving our lives away, we find ourselves. In this story, what comes after supper is a fierce resistance to a violent empire hell-bent on maintaining power at the cost of whichever lives it must destroy. Sounds familiar.</p>
<p>In the short term, that supper turns out to be insufficient to hold back the hounds of hell and the policies of Caesar. But in the long-term, as the story goes, even death is not a tough enough pre-existing condition.</p>
<p>My friends, there’s work to do. Let’s eat.</p> | 599,295 |
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<p>By <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2017/05/08/turning-gen-flynn-into-road-kill/" type="external">Robert Parry / Consortiumnews</a></p>
<p>Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, testifies before a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., in 2014. ( <a href="http://www.dia.mil/News/Photo-Gallery/igphoto/2000810207/" type="external">Staff Sgt. Jonathan Lovelady / DIA</a>)</p>
<p>Not to defend retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn for his suspect judgment, but it should be noted that his case represents a disturbing example of how electronic surveillance and politicized law enforcement can destroy an American citizen’s life in today’s New McCarthyism.</p>
<p />
<p>The testimony on Monday by former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper offered no evidence of Flynn’s wrongdoing – those facts were deemed “classified” – yet the pair thoroughly destroyed Flynn’s reputation, portraying him as both a liar and a potential traitor.</p>
<p>That Senate Democrats, in particular, saw nothing troubling about this smearing of the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and, briefly, President Trump’s national security adviser was itself troubling. Republicans were a bit more skeptical but no one, it seemed, wanted to be labeled as soft on Russia.</p>
<p>So, there was no skepticism toward Yates’s curious assertion that Flynn’s supposed lying to Vice President Mike Pence about the details of a phone call with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak somehow opened Flynn to Russian blackmail – her core explanation for why she rushed to Trump’s White House with warnings of this allegedly grave danger.</p>
<p>Yates also talked ominously about “underlying” information that raised further questions about Flynn’s patriotism, but that evidence, too, couldn’t be shared with the American people; it was classified, leaving it to your imagination the depth of Flynn’s perfidy.</p>
<p>Despite the thinness of Yates’s charges – and the echoes of Sen. Joe McCarthy with his secret lists of communists that he wouldn’t release – the mainstream U.S. news media has bestowed on Yates a hero status without any concern that she might be exaggerating the highly unlikely possibility that the Russians would have blackmailed Flynn.</p>
<p>Her supposition was that since Vice President Mike Pence’s account of the Kislyak-Flynn conversation deviated somewhat from the details of what was actually said, the Russians would seize on the discrepancy to coerce Flynn to do their bidding.</p>
<p>But that really makes no sense, in part, because even if the Russians did pick up the discrepancy, they would assume correctly that U.S. intelligence had its own transcript of the conversation, so there would be no basis for blackmail.</p>
<p>Yates’s supposed alarm might make for a good spy novel but it has little or no basis in the real world. But it is hard for Americans to assess her claims because all the key facts are classified.</p>
<p>Ignorance Is Strength</p>
<p>The public does not even know what was said between Kislyak and Flynn on Dec. 29, 2016, when Kislyak called Flynn, who was on <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/flynns-swift-downfall-from-a-phone-call-in-the-dominican-republic-to-a-forced-resignation-at-the-white-house/2017/02/14/17b0d8e6-f2f2-11e6-b9c9-e83fce42fb61_story.html?utm_term=.43837643c81d" type="external">vacation in the Dominican Republic</a>. The two apparently discussed the worsening U.S.-Russian relations, since President Obama had just imposed new sanctions on Russia, but it’s unclear how specific the references to the sanctions were.</p>
<p>The details are important here, as is the fact that Flynn might well have failed to recall all the details because he was not at his office and did not have staff support for note-taking or recording. For all we know, Flynn was in his bathing suit, Pina Colada in hand.</p>
<p>So, the assumption that Flynn was intentionally lying when he later briefed Pence and other colleagues is a stretch. Yet he is being convicted in the court of public opinion without the evidence being presented or without him getting a serious chance to defend himself.</p>
<p>Yates’s own motives might also deserve examination. Her behavior has the look of a partisan prosecutor who likely would have been in line for a top job under President Hillary Clinton. Would that influence her eagerness to twist facts to destroy Flynn and hurt Flynn’s boss?</p>
<p>After all, the mood inside the Obama administration in its final days was one of doing whatever it could to strengthen the “resistance” to the incoming Trump administration. After the Inauguration, there were massive anti-Trump protests with calls for Obama holdovers to join the #Resistance. Yates, as an Obama holdover and acting Attorney General, was in a perfect position to “resist.”</p>
<p>While the anti-Trump sentiment was understandable in a political sense, it created a motive for Yates to exaggerate an alleged threat and thus initiate an immediate crisis inside the Trump administration, a goal that she accomplished.</p>
<p>There was also a payback factor against Flynn who had infamously joined in the Republican National Convention’s chant of “lock her up.” Thus, Clinton partisans had a strong motive to create the circumstances to lock Flynn up, which now seems quite possible.</p>
<p>Rush to Judgment</p>
<p>Yet, amid this rush to judgment on Russiagate, the American public hasn’t had a chance to hear from Flynn or the other Trump advisers who have been portrayed as Russian agents based on innuendo, including the contents of <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2017/03/29/the-sleazy-origins-of-russia-gate/" type="external">an opposition research dossier</a> compiled by a former British intelligence officer and apparently funded by unknown Clinton supporters.</p>
<p>Taking another step backward, we don’t even know the evidence behind the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. To back up those charges, President Obama’s intelligence chiefs issued <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2017/01/07/us-report-still-lacks-proof-on-russia-hack/" type="external">a sketchy report</a> on Jan. 6, 2017, that offered no evidence – only assertions – about Russian operatives hacking into Democratic email accounts and then somehow slipping the information to WikiLeaks.</p>
<p>The Russian government and WikiLeaks both deny that scenario, and the Jan. 6 report does little more than repeat over and over how confident its writers are that Russia is guilty.</p>
<p>On Monday, former DNI Clapper did clarify one point that Democrats have consistently misstated: that the report was not the consensus judgment of the 17 U.S. intelligence agencies, but rather was the work of just three of the agencies: Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation.</p>
<p>But the bigger problem with the Jan. 6 report is that it was entirely one-sided, citing reasons to believe the Russians were guilty but ignoring equally strong reasons to doubt the Russians’ guilt.For instance, the report focused on Russia’s presumed motive for “hacking” and distributing emails harmful to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, citing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s concern that Clinton would be a threat to worsen the already frayed relationship between the two nuclear superpowers.</p>
<p>But the report ignores the downside for Russia trying to interfere with the U.S. election campaign and then failing to stop Clinton, which looked like the most likely outcome until Election Night.</p>
<p>If Russia had accessed Democratic emails and slipped them to WikiLeaks for publication, Putin would have to think that the National Security Agency, with its exceptional ability to track electronic communications around the world, might well have detected the maneuver and would have informed Clinton.</p>
<p>So, on top of Clinton’s well-known hawkishness, Putin would have risked handing the expected incoming U.S. president a personal reason to take revenge on him and his country. Historically, Russia has been very circumspect in such situations, usually holding its intelligence collections for internal purposes only, not sharing them with the public.</p>
<p>While it is conceivable that Putin decided to take this extraordinary risk in this case – despite the widely held view that Clinton was a shoo-in to defeat Trump – an objective DNI report would have examined this counter argument for him not doing so.</p>
<p>But the DNI report was not driven by a desire to be evenhanded; it was, in effect, a prosecutor’s brief, albeit one that lacked any real evidence that the accused is guilty.</p>
<p>The DNI report also included a seven-page appendix, dating from 2012, that is an argumentative attack on RT, the Russian government-backed television network, which is accused of portraying “the US electoral process as undemocratic.”</p>
<p>The proof for that accusation includes RT’s articles on “voting machine vulnerabilities” although virtually every major U.S. news organization has run similar stories, including some during the last campaign on the feasibility of Russia hacking into the actual voting process, something that even U.S. intelligence says didn’t happen.</p>
<p>The report adds that further undermining Americans’ faith in the U.S. democratic process, “RT broadcast, hosted and advertised third-party candidate debates.” Apparently, the DNI’s point is that showing Americans that there are choices beyond the two major parties is somehow seditious.</p>
<p>“The RT hosts asserted that the US two-party system does not represent the views of at least one-third of the population and is a ‘sham,’” the report said. Yet, polls have shown exactly that sentiment, that large numbers of Americans would prefer more choices than the usual two candidates and, indeed, most Western democracies have multiple parties,</p>
<p>So, RT’s implicit criticism of the U.S. political process is certainly not out of the ordinary. It is extraordinary, however, that the U.S. intelligence community would consider that by allowing American third-party nominees to express their opinions, RT was somehow subverting the American democratic process.</p>
<p>The report also takes RT to task for covering the Occupy Wall Street movement and for reporting on the environmental dangers from “fracking,” topics cited as further proof that the Russian government was using RT to weaken U.S. public support for Washington’s policies (although, again, these are topics of genuine public interest).</p>
<p>Given the weakness – indeed the absurdity – of these attacks on RT, Americans might have reason to wonder how strong the evidence is regarding the 2016 election, too. But we are not allowed to see that evidence at all. It’s classified.</p>
<p>As for Michael Flynn, there may well be legitimate criticism of him for agreeing to give a paid speech at RT’s tenth anniversary in 2015, apparently without clearing it with the Pentagon.</p>
<p>I’m also told that Flynn made friends with some Russian military officers whom he met amid Russia’s cooperation with the U.S. military campaigns in Afghanistan and in the fight against terrorism.</p>
<p>Of course, President Obama himself developed a cooperative relationship with President Putin and his predecessor Dmitri Medvedev. Putin played a key role in persuading Iran to accept tight constraints on its nuclear program, an agreement that Obama considered his greatest foreign policy achievement.</p>
<p>It was only after the U.S.-orchestrated putsch in Ukraine in early 2014 and Russia’s reaction to a new hostile regime on its borders that the U.S.-Russia relationship became clearly antagonistic. Though most U.S. politicians and the media solely blame Putin and Russia, an objective assessment would put blame on the U.S. side as well.</p>
<p>But objectivity is in very short supply in today’s Washington, especially since the embittered Democrats saw in Trump’s hopes for restoring a more cooperative relationship with Russia a political vulnerability that could be exploited with the prospect that the scandal could be expanded into possible impeachment.</p>
<p>In Official Washington’s view, Michael Flynn becomes just road kill in the larger competition for power.</p>
<p>Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, “America’s Stolen Narrative,” either <a href="https://org.salsalabs.com/o/1868/t/12126/shop/shop.jsp?storefront_KEY=1037" type="external">in print here</a> or as an e-book (from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Stolen-Narrative-Washington-ebook/dp/B009RXXOIG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1350755575&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=americas+stolen+narrative" type="external">Amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/americas-stolen-narrative-robert-parry/1113515681?ean=2940015517552" type="external">barnesandnoble.com</a>).</p> | Official Washington Has Turned Michael Flynn Into Road Kill | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/official-washington-has-turned-michael-flynn-into-road-kill-2/ | 2017-05-09 | 4left
| Official Washington Has Turned Michael Flynn Into Road Kill
<p>By <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2017/05/08/turning-gen-flynn-into-road-kill/" type="external">Robert Parry / Consortiumnews</a></p>
<p>Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, testifies before a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., in 2014. ( <a href="http://www.dia.mil/News/Photo-Gallery/igphoto/2000810207/" type="external">Staff Sgt. Jonathan Lovelady / DIA</a>)</p>
<p>Not to defend retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn for his suspect judgment, but it should be noted that his case represents a disturbing example of how electronic surveillance and politicized law enforcement can destroy an American citizen’s life in today’s New McCarthyism.</p>
<p />
<p>The testimony on Monday by former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper offered no evidence of Flynn’s wrongdoing – those facts were deemed “classified” – yet the pair thoroughly destroyed Flynn’s reputation, portraying him as both a liar and a potential traitor.</p>
<p>That Senate Democrats, in particular, saw nothing troubling about this smearing of the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and, briefly, President Trump’s national security adviser was itself troubling. Republicans were a bit more skeptical but no one, it seemed, wanted to be labeled as soft on Russia.</p>
<p>So, there was no skepticism toward Yates’s curious assertion that Flynn’s supposed lying to Vice President Mike Pence about the details of a phone call with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak somehow opened Flynn to Russian blackmail – her core explanation for why she rushed to Trump’s White House with warnings of this allegedly grave danger.</p>
<p>Yates also talked ominously about “underlying” information that raised further questions about Flynn’s patriotism, but that evidence, too, couldn’t be shared with the American people; it was classified, leaving it to your imagination the depth of Flynn’s perfidy.</p>
<p>Despite the thinness of Yates’s charges – and the echoes of Sen. Joe McCarthy with his secret lists of communists that he wouldn’t release – the mainstream U.S. news media has bestowed on Yates a hero status without any concern that she might be exaggerating the highly unlikely possibility that the Russians would have blackmailed Flynn.</p>
<p>Her supposition was that since Vice President Mike Pence’s account of the Kislyak-Flynn conversation deviated somewhat from the details of what was actually said, the Russians would seize on the discrepancy to coerce Flynn to do their bidding.</p>
<p>But that really makes no sense, in part, because even if the Russians did pick up the discrepancy, they would assume correctly that U.S. intelligence had its own transcript of the conversation, so there would be no basis for blackmail.</p>
<p>Yates’s supposed alarm might make for a good spy novel but it has little or no basis in the real world. But it is hard for Americans to assess her claims because all the key facts are classified.</p>
<p>Ignorance Is Strength</p>
<p>The public does not even know what was said between Kislyak and Flynn on Dec. 29, 2016, when Kislyak called Flynn, who was on <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/flynns-swift-downfall-from-a-phone-call-in-the-dominican-republic-to-a-forced-resignation-at-the-white-house/2017/02/14/17b0d8e6-f2f2-11e6-b9c9-e83fce42fb61_story.html?utm_term=.43837643c81d" type="external">vacation in the Dominican Republic</a>. The two apparently discussed the worsening U.S.-Russian relations, since President Obama had just imposed new sanctions on Russia, but it’s unclear how specific the references to the sanctions were.</p>
<p>The details are important here, as is the fact that Flynn might well have failed to recall all the details because he was not at his office and did not have staff support for note-taking or recording. For all we know, Flynn was in his bathing suit, Pina Colada in hand.</p>
<p>So, the assumption that Flynn was intentionally lying when he later briefed Pence and other colleagues is a stretch. Yet he is being convicted in the court of public opinion without the evidence being presented or without him getting a serious chance to defend himself.</p>
<p>Yates’s own motives might also deserve examination. Her behavior has the look of a partisan prosecutor who likely would have been in line for a top job under President Hillary Clinton. Would that influence her eagerness to twist facts to destroy Flynn and hurt Flynn’s boss?</p>
<p>After all, the mood inside the Obama administration in its final days was one of doing whatever it could to strengthen the “resistance” to the incoming Trump administration. After the Inauguration, there were massive anti-Trump protests with calls for Obama holdovers to join the #Resistance. Yates, as an Obama holdover and acting Attorney General, was in a perfect position to “resist.”</p>
<p>While the anti-Trump sentiment was understandable in a political sense, it created a motive for Yates to exaggerate an alleged threat and thus initiate an immediate crisis inside the Trump administration, a goal that she accomplished.</p>
<p>There was also a payback factor against Flynn who had infamously joined in the Republican National Convention’s chant of “lock her up.” Thus, Clinton partisans had a strong motive to create the circumstances to lock Flynn up, which now seems quite possible.</p>
<p>Rush to Judgment</p>
<p>Yet, amid this rush to judgment on Russiagate, the American public hasn’t had a chance to hear from Flynn or the other Trump advisers who have been portrayed as Russian agents based on innuendo, including the contents of <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2017/03/29/the-sleazy-origins-of-russia-gate/" type="external">an opposition research dossier</a> compiled by a former British intelligence officer and apparently funded by unknown Clinton supporters.</p>
<p>Taking another step backward, we don’t even know the evidence behind the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. To back up those charges, President Obama’s intelligence chiefs issued <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2017/01/07/us-report-still-lacks-proof-on-russia-hack/" type="external">a sketchy report</a> on Jan. 6, 2017, that offered no evidence – only assertions – about Russian operatives hacking into Democratic email accounts and then somehow slipping the information to WikiLeaks.</p>
<p>The Russian government and WikiLeaks both deny that scenario, and the Jan. 6 report does little more than repeat over and over how confident its writers are that Russia is guilty.</p>
<p>On Monday, former DNI Clapper did clarify one point that Democrats have consistently misstated: that the report was not the consensus judgment of the 17 U.S. intelligence agencies, but rather was the work of just three of the agencies: Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation.</p>
<p>But the bigger problem with the Jan. 6 report is that it was entirely one-sided, citing reasons to believe the Russians were guilty but ignoring equally strong reasons to doubt the Russians’ guilt.For instance, the report focused on Russia’s presumed motive for “hacking” and distributing emails harmful to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, citing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s concern that Clinton would be a threat to worsen the already frayed relationship between the two nuclear superpowers.</p>
<p>But the report ignores the downside for Russia trying to interfere with the U.S. election campaign and then failing to stop Clinton, which looked like the most likely outcome until Election Night.</p>
<p>If Russia had accessed Democratic emails and slipped them to WikiLeaks for publication, Putin would have to think that the National Security Agency, with its exceptional ability to track electronic communications around the world, might well have detected the maneuver and would have informed Clinton.</p>
<p>So, on top of Clinton’s well-known hawkishness, Putin would have risked handing the expected incoming U.S. president a personal reason to take revenge on him and his country. Historically, Russia has been very circumspect in such situations, usually holding its intelligence collections for internal purposes only, not sharing them with the public.</p>
<p>While it is conceivable that Putin decided to take this extraordinary risk in this case – despite the widely held view that Clinton was a shoo-in to defeat Trump – an objective DNI report would have examined this counter argument for him not doing so.</p>
<p>But the DNI report was not driven by a desire to be evenhanded; it was, in effect, a prosecutor’s brief, albeit one that lacked any real evidence that the accused is guilty.</p>
<p>The DNI report also included a seven-page appendix, dating from 2012, that is an argumentative attack on RT, the Russian government-backed television network, which is accused of portraying “the US electoral process as undemocratic.”</p>
<p>The proof for that accusation includes RT’s articles on “voting machine vulnerabilities” although virtually every major U.S. news organization has run similar stories, including some during the last campaign on the feasibility of Russia hacking into the actual voting process, something that even U.S. intelligence says didn’t happen.</p>
<p>The report adds that further undermining Americans’ faith in the U.S. democratic process, “RT broadcast, hosted and advertised third-party candidate debates.” Apparently, the DNI’s point is that showing Americans that there are choices beyond the two major parties is somehow seditious.</p>
<p>“The RT hosts asserted that the US two-party system does not represent the views of at least one-third of the population and is a ‘sham,’” the report said. Yet, polls have shown exactly that sentiment, that large numbers of Americans would prefer more choices than the usual two candidates and, indeed, most Western democracies have multiple parties,</p>
<p>So, RT’s implicit criticism of the U.S. political process is certainly not out of the ordinary. It is extraordinary, however, that the U.S. intelligence community would consider that by allowing American third-party nominees to express their opinions, RT was somehow subverting the American democratic process.</p>
<p>The report also takes RT to task for covering the Occupy Wall Street movement and for reporting on the environmental dangers from “fracking,” topics cited as further proof that the Russian government was using RT to weaken U.S. public support for Washington’s policies (although, again, these are topics of genuine public interest).</p>
<p>Given the weakness – indeed the absurdity – of these attacks on RT, Americans might have reason to wonder how strong the evidence is regarding the 2016 election, too. But we are not allowed to see that evidence at all. It’s classified.</p>
<p>As for Michael Flynn, there may well be legitimate criticism of him for agreeing to give a paid speech at RT’s tenth anniversary in 2015, apparently without clearing it with the Pentagon.</p>
<p>I’m also told that Flynn made friends with some Russian military officers whom he met amid Russia’s cooperation with the U.S. military campaigns in Afghanistan and in the fight against terrorism.</p>
<p>Of course, President Obama himself developed a cooperative relationship with President Putin and his predecessor Dmitri Medvedev. Putin played a key role in persuading Iran to accept tight constraints on its nuclear program, an agreement that Obama considered his greatest foreign policy achievement.</p>
<p>It was only after the U.S.-orchestrated putsch in Ukraine in early 2014 and Russia’s reaction to a new hostile regime on its borders that the U.S.-Russia relationship became clearly antagonistic. Though most U.S. politicians and the media solely blame Putin and Russia, an objective assessment would put blame on the U.S. side as well.</p>
<p>But objectivity is in very short supply in today’s Washington, especially since the embittered Democrats saw in Trump’s hopes for restoring a more cooperative relationship with Russia a political vulnerability that could be exploited with the prospect that the scandal could be expanded into possible impeachment.</p>
<p>In Official Washington’s view, Michael Flynn becomes just road kill in the larger competition for power.</p>
<p>Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, “America’s Stolen Narrative,” either <a href="https://org.salsalabs.com/o/1868/t/12126/shop/shop.jsp?storefront_KEY=1037" type="external">in print here</a> or as an e-book (from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Stolen-Narrative-Washington-ebook/dp/B009RXXOIG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1350755575&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=americas+stolen+narrative" type="external">Amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/americas-stolen-narrative-robert-parry/1113515681?ean=2940015517552" type="external">barnesandnoble.com</a>).</p> | 599,296 |
<p>It’s time for the Oscars! Love it or hate it, it's happening.</p>
<p>Let other people argue about whether "American Hustle" is overrated, or about whether Matthew McConnaughey should get credit for starving himself for "Dallas Buyer’s Club," or about whether there were enough drugs in "The Wolf of Wall Street."</p>
<p>Let us pay homage to the 10 foreign language films of the last decade that were amazing, won Best Foreign Language Film, and were snubbed for Best Picture nominations because of things like "Avatar" and because Americans don't like reading subtitles.</p>
<p>Here are the 10 films that won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film over the last decade, complete with trailers and pithy summaries by IMDB.</p>
<p>Enjoy, and then go watch them because they are all great.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“Georges and Anne are an octogenarian couple. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, also a musician, lives in Britain with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple's bond of love is severely tested.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“A retired legal counselor writes a novel hoping to find closure for one of his past unresolved homicide cases and for his unreciprocated love with his superior - both of which still haunt him decades later.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“A newly unemployed cellist takes a job preparing the dead for funerals.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“The Counterfeiters is the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history, set up by the Nazis in 1936.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police, conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover, finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“Six days in the violent life of a young Johannesburg gang leader.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“The real-life story of Spaniard Ramon Sampedro, who fought a 30 year campaign in favor of euthanasia and his own right to die.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“During his final days, a dying man is reunited with old friends, former lovers, his ex-wife, and his estranged son.”</p> | The 10 films that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film over the last decade | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-02-28/10-films-won-oscar-best-foreign-language-film-over-last-decade | 2014-02-28 | 3left-center
| The 10 films that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film over the last decade
<p>It’s time for the Oscars! Love it or hate it, it's happening.</p>
<p>Let other people argue about whether "American Hustle" is overrated, or about whether Matthew McConnaughey should get credit for starving himself for "Dallas Buyer’s Club," or about whether there were enough drugs in "The Wolf of Wall Street."</p>
<p>Let us pay homage to the 10 foreign language films of the last decade that were amazing, won Best Foreign Language Film, and were snubbed for Best Picture nominations because of things like "Avatar" and because Americans don't like reading subtitles.</p>
<p>Here are the 10 films that won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film over the last decade, complete with trailers and pithy summaries by IMDB.</p>
<p>Enjoy, and then go watch them because they are all great.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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<p>“Georges and Anne are an octogenarian couple. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, also a musician, lives in Britain with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple's bond of love is severely tested.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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<p>“A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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<p>“The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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<p />
<p>“A retired legal counselor writes a novel hoping to find closure for one of his past unresolved homicide cases and for his unreciprocated love with his superior - both of which still haunt him decades later.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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<p>“A newly unemployed cellist takes a job preparing the dead for funerals.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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<p>“The Counterfeiters is the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history, set up by the Nazis in 1936.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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<p>“In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police, conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover, finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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<p />
<p>“Six days in the violent life of a young Johannesburg gang leader.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“The real-life story of Spaniard Ramon Sampedro, who fought a 30 year campaign in favor of euthanasia and his own right to die.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“During his final days, a dying man is reunited with old friends, former lovers, his ex-wife, and his estranged son.”</p> | 599,297 |
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<p>Magistrate Judge George Anaya Jr. last week gave Studi – whose arrest was documented in police video showing him becoming belligerent, shouting curse words and asking why he was being arrested – no jail time.</p>
<p>STUDI: Has accepted “complete responsibility”</p>
<p>Studi was given a 90-day suspended sentence and year of supervised probation, and the actor with roles in films such as “Avatar,” “Last of the Mohicans” and “Heat” also was required pay $240 in court costs. He was not fined.</p>
<p>His original charge of first-offense aggravated DWI, based on his refusal to take a breath test, was reduced in a plea agreement to standard first-offense DWI. The aggravated charge carries stiffer penalties.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Studi is required to perform 24 hours’ community service at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design, known for its film and drama programs.</p>
<p>He also must attend DWI school and a victim impact panel, where DWI offenders meet with victims of DWI, or family members of those hurt or killed by drunken drivers. He also has to have an ignition interlock device on his car for a year and while on probation cannot possess or consume alcohol or enter liquor establishments.</p>
<p>John Day, Studi’s attorney, noted Monday that Studi issued a public apology to police officers soon after the arrest and said Studi “decided to accept complete responsibility.”</p>
<p>“He’s done the right thing,” Day said. ” … I’m impressed with how he has dealt with the situation and moved on.”</p>
<p>Day said Studi got no special treatment. “No, this was a very standard resolution given the facts of the case … . Wes was treated like anyone else who has never been in a movie.”</p>
<p>Studi, whose 67th birthday is today, lives in Santa Fe. He was arrested about 1 a.m. July 26 when officers found him with a Volvo with two flat tires, both not repairable, and its lights off in the middle of Old Santa Fe Trail.</p>
<p>The police video of the arrest shows Studi staggering in front of a cruiser as he talks to an officer. He responded to an officer’s request for him to take field sobriety tests by saying: “No. Hell, no. I am so (expletive) drunk. You can understand that. Look at me.”</p>
<p>Studi said “of course not” when the officer asked if he felt it was safe for him to be driving in his condition and became increasingly belligerent as the arrest proceeded.</p>
<p>In his apology issued a couple of days later, Studi said, “I want to apologize to law enforcement officers for my behavior that evening … . I know I’ve hurt family, friends and supporters, and I’m deeply sorry.”</p>
<p>Police said in July that a law enforcement information system indicated Studi had one prior DWI, but it was not in New Mexico.</p>
<p>Studi, who also starred in two PBS movies adapting New Mexico author Tony Hillerman’s mystery novels, was named a recipient of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2010.</p>
<p /> | Studi gets one year probation for DWI | false | https://abqjournal.com/321507/studi-gets-one-year-probation-for-dwi.html | 2least
| Studi gets one year probation for DWI
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<p />
<p>Magistrate Judge George Anaya Jr. last week gave Studi – whose arrest was documented in police video showing him becoming belligerent, shouting curse words and asking why he was being arrested – no jail time.</p>
<p>STUDI: Has accepted “complete responsibility”</p>
<p>Studi was given a 90-day suspended sentence and year of supervised probation, and the actor with roles in films such as “Avatar,” “Last of the Mohicans” and “Heat” also was required pay $240 in court costs. He was not fined.</p>
<p>His original charge of first-offense aggravated DWI, based on his refusal to take a breath test, was reduced in a plea agreement to standard first-offense DWI. The aggravated charge carries stiffer penalties.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Studi is required to perform 24 hours’ community service at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design, known for its film and drama programs.</p>
<p>He also must attend DWI school and a victim impact panel, where DWI offenders meet with victims of DWI, or family members of those hurt or killed by drunken drivers. He also has to have an ignition interlock device on his car for a year and while on probation cannot possess or consume alcohol or enter liquor establishments.</p>
<p>John Day, Studi’s attorney, noted Monday that Studi issued a public apology to police officers soon after the arrest and said Studi “decided to accept complete responsibility.”</p>
<p>“He’s done the right thing,” Day said. ” … I’m impressed with how he has dealt with the situation and moved on.”</p>
<p>Day said Studi got no special treatment. “No, this was a very standard resolution given the facts of the case … . Wes was treated like anyone else who has never been in a movie.”</p>
<p>Studi, whose 67th birthday is today, lives in Santa Fe. He was arrested about 1 a.m. July 26 when officers found him with a Volvo with two flat tires, both not repairable, and its lights off in the middle of Old Santa Fe Trail.</p>
<p>The police video of the arrest shows Studi staggering in front of a cruiser as he talks to an officer. He responded to an officer’s request for him to take field sobriety tests by saying: “No. Hell, no. I am so (expletive) drunk. You can understand that. Look at me.”</p>
<p>Studi said “of course not” when the officer asked if he felt it was safe for him to be driving in his condition and became increasingly belligerent as the arrest proceeded.</p>
<p>In his apology issued a couple of days later, Studi said, “I want to apologize to law enforcement officers for my behavior that evening … . I know I’ve hurt family, friends and supporters, and I’m deeply sorry.”</p>
<p>Police said in July that a law enforcement information system indicated Studi had one prior DWI, but it was not in New Mexico.</p>
<p>Studi, who also starred in two PBS movies adapting New Mexico author Tony Hillerman’s mystery novels, was named a recipient of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2010.</p>
<p /> | 599,298 |
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<p>The U.S. is the world's largest prison state, imprisoning more of its citizens than any nation on earth, both in <a href="http://www.prisonstudies.org/info/worldbrief/wpb_stats.php?area=all&amp;category=wb_poptotal" type="external">absolute numbers</a> and <a href="http://www.dailymarkets.com/economy/2011/03/06/worlds-largest-jailer-by-far-its-not-even-close/" type="external">proportionally</a>. It imprisons people for longer periods of time, more mercilessly, and for more trivial transgressions <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/americas/23iht-23prison.12253738.html?pagewanted=all" type="external">than any nation in the west</a>. This sprawling penal state has been constructed over decades, by both political parties, and it punishes the poor and racial minorities at <a href="http://www.project.org/info.php?recordID=115" type="external">overwhelmingly disproportionate rates</a>.</p>
<p>But not everyone is subjected to that system of penal harshness. It all changes radically when the nation's most powerful actors are caught breaking the law. With few exceptions, they are gifted not merely with leniency, but full-scale immunity from criminal punishment. Thus have the most egregious crimes of the last decade been fully shielded from prosecution when committed by those with the greatest political and economic power: the construction of a worldwide torture regime, spying on Americans' communications without the warrants required by criminal law by government agencies and the telecom industry, an aggressive war launched on false pretenses, and massive, systemic financial fraud in the banking and credit industry that triggered the 2008 financial crisis.</p>
<p>This two-tiered justice system was the subject of my last book, <a href="http://blog.case.edu/singham/2011/12/21/book_review_with_liberty_and_justice_for_some_by_glenn_greenwald" type="external">"With Liberty and Justice for Some</a>," and what was most striking to me as I traced the recent history of this phenomenon is how explicit it has become. Obviously, those with money and power always enjoyed substantial advantages in the U.S. justice system, but lip service was at least always paid to the core precept of the rule of law: that - regardless of power, position and prestige - all stand equal before the blindness of Lady Justice.</p>
<p>It really is the case that this principle is now not only routinely violated, as was always true, but explicitly repudiated, right out in the open. It is commonplace to hear American elites unblinkingly insisting that those who become sufficiently important and influential are - and should be - immunized from the system of criminal punishment to which everyone else is subjected.</p>
<p>Worse, we are constantly told that immunizing those with the greatest power is not for their good, but for our good, for our collective good: because it's better for all of us if society is free of the disruptions that come from trying to punish the most powerful, if we're free of the deprivations that we would collectively experience if we lose their extraordinary value and contributions by prosecuting them.</p>
<p>This rationale was popularized in 1974 when Gerald Ford explained why Richard Nixon - who built his career as a "law-and-order" politician demanding harsh punishments and unforgiving prosecutions for ordinary criminals - would never see the inside of a courtroom after being caught committing multiple felonies; his pardon was for the good not of Nixon, but of all of us. That was the same reasoning hauled out to justify immunity for officials of the National Security State who tortured and telecom giants who illegally spied on Americans (we need them to keep us safe and can't disrupt them with prosecutions), as well as the refusal to prosecute any Wall Street criminals for their fraud (prosecutions for these financial crimes would disrupt our collective economic recovery).</p>
<p>A new episode unveiled on Tuesday is one of the most vivid examples yet of this mentality. Over the last year, federal investigators found that one of the world's largest banks, HSBC, <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/hsbc-said-to-near-1-9-billion-settlement-over-money-laundering/?ref=business" type="external">spent years committing</a> serious crimes, involving money laundering for terrorists; "facilitat[ing] money laundering by Mexican drug cartels"; and "mov[ing] tainted money for Saudi banks tied to terrorist groups". Those investigations uncovered substantial evidence "that senior bank officials were complicit in the illegal activity." As but one example, "an HSBC executive at one point argued that the bank should continue working with the Saudi Al Rajhi bank, which has supported Al Qaeda."</p>
<p>Needless to say, these are the kinds of crimes for which ordinary and powerless people are prosecuted and imprisoned with the greatest aggression possible. If you're Muslim and your conduct gets anywhere near helping a terrorist group, even by accident, <a href="http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/holy-land-foundation-supreme-court-decision" type="external">you're going to prison for a long, long time</a>. In fact, powerless, obscure, low-level employees are <a href="http://www.irs.gov/uac/Examples-of-Money-Laundering-Investigations-Fiscal-Year-2012" type="external">routinely sentenced to long prison terms</a> for engaging in relatively petty money laundering schemes, unrelated to terrorism, and on a scale that is a tiny fraction of what HSBC and its senior officials are alleged to have done.</p>
<p>But not HSBC. On Tuesday, not only did the Justice Department announce that HSBC would not be criminally prosecuted, but outright claimed that the reason is that they are too important, too instrumental to subject them to such disruptions. In other words, shielding them from the system of criminal sanction to which the rest of us are subject is not for their good, but for our common good. We should not be angry, but grateful, for the extraordinary gift bestowed on the global banking giant:</p>
<p>"U.S. authorities defended their decision not to prosecute HSBC for accepting the tainted money of rogue states and drug lords on Tuesday, insisting that a $1.9bn fine for a litany of offences was preferable to the 'collateral consequences' of taking the bank to court... "Announcing the record fine at a press conference in New York, assistant attorney general Lanny Breuer said that despite HSBC"s 'blatant failure' to implement anti-money laundering controls and its willful flouting of U.S. sanctions, the consequences of a criminal prosecution would have been dire. "Had the U.S. authorities decided to press criminal charges, HSBC would almost certainly have lost its banking licence in the U.S., the future of the institution would have been under threat and the entire banking system would have been destabilised. "HSBC, Britain's biggest bank, said it was 'profoundly sorry' for what it called 'past mistakes' that allowed terrorists and narcotics traffickers to move billions around the financial system and circumvent U.S. banking laws... "As part of the deal, HSBC has undertaken a five-year agreement with the U.S. department of justice under which it will install an independent monitor to assess reformed internal controls. The bank's top executives will defer part of their bonuses for the whole of the five-year period, while bonuses have been clawed back from a number of former and current executives, including those in the U.S. directly involved at the time. "John Coffee, a professor of law at Columbia Law School in New York, said the fine was consistent with how U.S. regulators have been treating bank infractions in recent years. 'These days they rarely sue individuals in any meaningful way when the entity will settle. This is largely a function of resource constraints, but also risk aversion, and a willingness to take the course of least resistance,' he said."</p>
<p>DOJ officials touted the $1.9 billion fine HSBC would pay, the largest ever for such a case. As the Guardian's <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2012/dec/11/hsbc-money-laundering-fine" type="external">Nils Pratley noted</a>, "the sum represents about four weeks' earnings given the bank's pre-tax profits of $21.9bn last year." Unsurprisingly, "the steady upward progress of HSBC's share price since the scandal exploded in July was unaffected on Tuesday morning."</p>
<p>The New York Times editors <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/12/opinion/hsbc-too-big-to-indict.html?hp" type="external">announced</a>: "It is a dark day for the rule of law." There is, said the NYT editors, "no doubt that the wrongdoing at HSBC was serious and pervasive." But the bank is simply too big, too powerful, too important to prosecute.</p>
<p>That's not merely a dark day for the rule of law. It's a wholesale repudiation of it. The U.S. government is expressly saying that banking giants reside outside of - above - the rule of law, that they will not be punished when they get caught red-handed committing criminal offenses for which ordinary people are imprisoned for decades. Aside from the grotesque injustice, the signal it sends is as clear as it is destructive: you are free to commit whatever crimes you want without fear of prosecution. And obviously, if the U.S. government would not prosecute these banks on the ground that they're too big and important, it would - yet again, or rather still - never let them fail.</p>
<p>But this case is the opposite of an anomaly. That the most powerful actors should be immunized from the rule of law - not merely treated better, but fully immunized - is a constant, widely affirmed precept in American justice. It's applied to powerful political and private sector actors alike. Over the past four years, the CIA and NSA have received the same gift, as have top Executive Branch officials, as has the telecom industry, as has most of the banking industry. This is how I described it in "With Liberty and Justice for Some":</p>
<p>"To hear our politicians and our press tell it, the conclusion is inescapable: we're far better off when political and financial elites - and they alone - are shielded from criminal accountability. "It has become a virtual consensus among the elites that their members are so indispensable to the running of American society that vesting them with immunity from prosecution - even for the most egregious crimes - is not only in their interest but in our interest, too. Prosecutions, courtrooms, and prisons, it's hinted - and sometimes even explicitly stated - are for the rabble, like the street-side drug peddlers we occasionally glimpse from our car windows, not for the political and financial leaders who manage our nation and fuel our prosperity. "It is simply too disruptive, distracting, and unjust, we are told, to subject them to the burden of legal consequences."</p>
<p>That is precisely the rationale explicitly invoked by DOJ officials to justify their decision to protect HSBC from criminal accountability. These are the same officials who previously immunized Bush-era torturers and warrantless eavesdroppers, telecom giants, and Wall Street executives, even as they continue to persecute whistleblowers at record rates and prosecute ordinary citizens - particularly poor and minorities - with extreme harshness even for trivial offenses. The administration that now offers the excuse that HSBC is too big to prosecute is the same one that quite consciously refused to attempt to break up these banks in the aftermath of the "too-big-to-fail" crisis of 2008, as <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-07-12/neil-barofsky-the-democrat-taking-digs-at-obama" type="external">former TARP overseer Neil Barofsky</a>, among others, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/48328948/Neil_Barofsky_Breaking_Up_Big_Banks_lsquoNecessaryrsquo" type="external">has spent years arguing</a>.</p>
<p>And, of course, these HSBC-protectors in the Obama DOJ are the same officials responsible for maintaining and expanding what NYT Editorial Page editor Andrew Rosenthal <a href="http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/liberty-and-justice-for-non-muslims/" type="external">has accurately described</a> as "essentially a separate justice system for Muslims," one in which "the principle of due process is twisted and selectively applied, if it is applied at all." What has been created is not so much a "two-tiered justice system" as a multi-tiered one, entirely dependent on the identity of the alleged offender rather than the crimes of which they are accused.</p>
<p>Having different "justice systems" for citizens based on their status, wealth, power and prestige is exactly what the founders argued most strenuously had to be avoided (even as they themselves maintained exactly such a system). But here we have in undeniable clarity not merely proof of exactly how this system functions, but also the rotted and fundamentally corrupt precept on which it's based: that some actors are simply too important and too powerful to punish criminally. As the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz warned in 2010, exempting the largest banks from criminal prosecution has meant that lawlessness and "venality" is now "at a higher level" in the U.S. even than that which prevailed in the pervasively corrupt and lawless privatizing era in Russia.</p>
<p>Having the U.S. government act specially to protect the most powerful factions, particularly banks, was a major impetus that sent people into the streets protesting both as part of the early Tea Party movement as well as the Occupy movement. As well as it should: it is truly difficult to imagine corruption and lawlessness more extreme than having the government explicitly place the most powerful factions above the rule of law even as it continues to subject everyone else to disgracefully harsh "justice". If this HSBC gift makes more manifest this radical corruption, then it will at least have achieved some good.</p>
<p>UPDATE</p>
<p>By coincidence, on the very same day that the DOJ announced that HSBC would not be indicted for its multiple money-laundering felonies, the New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/12/science/mandatory-prison-sentences-face-growing-skepticism.html?pagewanted=all" type="external">published a story</a> featuring the harrowing story of an African-American single mother of three who was sentenced to life imprisonment at the age of 27 for a minor drug offense:</p>
<p>"Stephanie George and Judge Roger Vinson had quite different opinions about the lockbox seized by the police from her home in Pensacola. She insisted she had no idea that a former boyfriend had hidden it in her attic. Judge Vinson considered the lockbox, containing a half-kilogram of cocaine, to be evidence of her guilt. "But the defendant and the judge fully agreed about the fairness of the sentence he imposed in federal court. "'Even though you have been involved in drugs and drug dealing,' Judge Vinson told Ms. George, 'your role has basically been as a girlfriend and bag holder and money holder but not actively involved in the drug dealing, so certainly in my judgment it does not warrant a life sentence.' "Yet the judge had no other option on that morning 15 years ago. As her stunned family watched, Ms. George, then 27, who had never been accused of violence, was led from the courtroom to serve a sentence of life without parole. "'I remember my mom crying out and asking the Lord why,' said Ms. George, now 42, in an interview at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee. 'Sometimes I still can't believe myself it could happen in America.'"</p>
<p>As the NYT notes - and read her whole story to get the full flavor of it - this is commonplace for the poor and for minorities in the U.S. justice system. Contrast that deeply oppressive, merciless punishment system with the full-scale immunity bestowed on HSBC - along with virtually every powerful and rich lawbreaking faction in America over the last decade - and that is the living, breathing two-tiered U.S. justice system. How this glaringly disparate, and explicitly status-based, treatment under the criminal law does not produce serious social unrest is mystifying.</p> | HSBC is the New Poster Child for Our Two-Tiered Justice System | true | http://occupy.com/article/hsbc-new-poster-child-our-two-tiered-justice-system | 4left
| HSBC is the New Poster Child for Our Two-Tiered Justice System
<p>The U.S. is the world's largest prison state, imprisoning more of its citizens than any nation on earth, both in <a href="http://www.prisonstudies.org/info/worldbrief/wpb_stats.php?area=all&amp;category=wb_poptotal" type="external">absolute numbers</a> and <a href="http://www.dailymarkets.com/economy/2011/03/06/worlds-largest-jailer-by-far-its-not-even-close/" type="external">proportionally</a>. It imprisons people for longer periods of time, more mercilessly, and for more trivial transgressions <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/americas/23iht-23prison.12253738.html?pagewanted=all" type="external">than any nation in the west</a>. This sprawling penal state has been constructed over decades, by both political parties, and it punishes the poor and racial minorities at <a href="http://www.project.org/info.php?recordID=115" type="external">overwhelmingly disproportionate rates</a>.</p>
<p>But not everyone is subjected to that system of penal harshness. It all changes radically when the nation's most powerful actors are caught breaking the law. With few exceptions, they are gifted not merely with leniency, but full-scale immunity from criminal punishment. Thus have the most egregious crimes of the last decade been fully shielded from prosecution when committed by those with the greatest political and economic power: the construction of a worldwide torture regime, spying on Americans' communications without the warrants required by criminal law by government agencies and the telecom industry, an aggressive war launched on false pretenses, and massive, systemic financial fraud in the banking and credit industry that triggered the 2008 financial crisis.</p>
<p>This two-tiered justice system was the subject of my last book, <a href="http://blog.case.edu/singham/2011/12/21/book_review_with_liberty_and_justice_for_some_by_glenn_greenwald" type="external">"With Liberty and Justice for Some</a>," and what was most striking to me as I traced the recent history of this phenomenon is how explicit it has become. Obviously, those with money and power always enjoyed substantial advantages in the U.S. justice system, but lip service was at least always paid to the core precept of the rule of law: that - regardless of power, position and prestige - all stand equal before the blindness of Lady Justice.</p>
<p>It really is the case that this principle is now not only routinely violated, as was always true, but explicitly repudiated, right out in the open. It is commonplace to hear American elites unblinkingly insisting that those who become sufficiently important and influential are - and should be - immunized from the system of criminal punishment to which everyone else is subjected.</p>
<p>Worse, we are constantly told that immunizing those with the greatest power is not for their good, but for our good, for our collective good: because it's better for all of us if society is free of the disruptions that come from trying to punish the most powerful, if we're free of the deprivations that we would collectively experience if we lose their extraordinary value and contributions by prosecuting them.</p>
<p>This rationale was popularized in 1974 when Gerald Ford explained why Richard Nixon - who built his career as a "law-and-order" politician demanding harsh punishments and unforgiving prosecutions for ordinary criminals - would never see the inside of a courtroom after being caught committing multiple felonies; his pardon was for the good not of Nixon, but of all of us. That was the same reasoning hauled out to justify immunity for officials of the National Security State who tortured and telecom giants who illegally spied on Americans (we need them to keep us safe and can't disrupt them with prosecutions), as well as the refusal to prosecute any Wall Street criminals for their fraud (prosecutions for these financial crimes would disrupt our collective economic recovery).</p>
<p>A new episode unveiled on Tuesday is one of the most vivid examples yet of this mentality. Over the last year, federal investigators found that one of the world's largest banks, HSBC, <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/hsbc-said-to-near-1-9-billion-settlement-over-money-laundering/?ref=business" type="external">spent years committing</a> serious crimes, involving money laundering for terrorists; "facilitat[ing] money laundering by Mexican drug cartels"; and "mov[ing] tainted money for Saudi banks tied to terrorist groups". Those investigations uncovered substantial evidence "that senior bank officials were complicit in the illegal activity." As but one example, "an HSBC executive at one point argued that the bank should continue working with the Saudi Al Rajhi bank, which has supported Al Qaeda."</p>
<p>Needless to say, these are the kinds of crimes for which ordinary and powerless people are prosecuted and imprisoned with the greatest aggression possible. If you're Muslim and your conduct gets anywhere near helping a terrorist group, even by accident, <a href="http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/holy-land-foundation-supreme-court-decision" type="external">you're going to prison for a long, long time</a>. In fact, powerless, obscure, low-level employees are <a href="http://www.irs.gov/uac/Examples-of-Money-Laundering-Investigations-Fiscal-Year-2012" type="external">routinely sentenced to long prison terms</a> for engaging in relatively petty money laundering schemes, unrelated to terrorism, and on a scale that is a tiny fraction of what HSBC and its senior officials are alleged to have done.</p>
<p>But not HSBC. On Tuesday, not only did the Justice Department announce that HSBC would not be criminally prosecuted, but outright claimed that the reason is that they are too important, too instrumental to subject them to such disruptions. In other words, shielding them from the system of criminal sanction to which the rest of us are subject is not for their good, but for our common good. We should not be angry, but grateful, for the extraordinary gift bestowed on the global banking giant:</p>
<p>"U.S. authorities defended their decision not to prosecute HSBC for accepting the tainted money of rogue states and drug lords on Tuesday, insisting that a $1.9bn fine for a litany of offences was preferable to the 'collateral consequences' of taking the bank to court... "Announcing the record fine at a press conference in New York, assistant attorney general Lanny Breuer said that despite HSBC"s 'blatant failure' to implement anti-money laundering controls and its willful flouting of U.S. sanctions, the consequences of a criminal prosecution would have been dire. "Had the U.S. authorities decided to press criminal charges, HSBC would almost certainly have lost its banking licence in the U.S., the future of the institution would have been under threat and the entire banking system would have been destabilised. "HSBC, Britain's biggest bank, said it was 'profoundly sorry' for what it called 'past mistakes' that allowed terrorists and narcotics traffickers to move billions around the financial system and circumvent U.S. banking laws... "As part of the deal, HSBC has undertaken a five-year agreement with the U.S. department of justice under which it will install an independent monitor to assess reformed internal controls. The bank's top executives will defer part of their bonuses for the whole of the five-year period, while bonuses have been clawed back from a number of former and current executives, including those in the U.S. directly involved at the time. "John Coffee, a professor of law at Columbia Law School in New York, said the fine was consistent with how U.S. regulators have been treating bank infractions in recent years. 'These days they rarely sue individuals in any meaningful way when the entity will settle. This is largely a function of resource constraints, but also risk aversion, and a willingness to take the course of least resistance,' he said."</p>
<p>DOJ officials touted the $1.9 billion fine HSBC would pay, the largest ever for such a case. As the Guardian's <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2012/dec/11/hsbc-money-laundering-fine" type="external">Nils Pratley noted</a>, "the sum represents about four weeks' earnings given the bank's pre-tax profits of $21.9bn last year." Unsurprisingly, "the steady upward progress of HSBC's share price since the scandal exploded in July was unaffected on Tuesday morning."</p>
<p>The New York Times editors <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/12/opinion/hsbc-too-big-to-indict.html?hp" type="external">announced</a>: "It is a dark day for the rule of law." There is, said the NYT editors, "no doubt that the wrongdoing at HSBC was serious and pervasive." But the bank is simply too big, too powerful, too important to prosecute.</p>
<p>That's not merely a dark day for the rule of law. It's a wholesale repudiation of it. The U.S. government is expressly saying that banking giants reside outside of - above - the rule of law, that they will not be punished when they get caught red-handed committing criminal offenses for which ordinary people are imprisoned for decades. Aside from the grotesque injustice, the signal it sends is as clear as it is destructive: you are free to commit whatever crimes you want without fear of prosecution. And obviously, if the U.S. government would not prosecute these banks on the ground that they're too big and important, it would - yet again, or rather still - never let them fail.</p>
<p>But this case is the opposite of an anomaly. That the most powerful actors should be immunized from the rule of law - not merely treated better, but fully immunized - is a constant, widely affirmed precept in American justice. It's applied to powerful political and private sector actors alike. Over the past four years, the CIA and NSA have received the same gift, as have top Executive Branch officials, as has the telecom industry, as has most of the banking industry. This is how I described it in "With Liberty and Justice for Some":</p>
<p>"To hear our politicians and our press tell it, the conclusion is inescapable: we're far better off when political and financial elites - and they alone - are shielded from criminal accountability. "It has become a virtual consensus among the elites that their members are so indispensable to the running of American society that vesting them with immunity from prosecution - even for the most egregious crimes - is not only in their interest but in our interest, too. Prosecutions, courtrooms, and prisons, it's hinted - and sometimes even explicitly stated - are for the rabble, like the street-side drug peddlers we occasionally glimpse from our car windows, not for the political and financial leaders who manage our nation and fuel our prosperity. "It is simply too disruptive, distracting, and unjust, we are told, to subject them to the burden of legal consequences."</p>
<p>That is precisely the rationale explicitly invoked by DOJ officials to justify their decision to protect HSBC from criminal accountability. These are the same officials who previously immunized Bush-era torturers and warrantless eavesdroppers, telecom giants, and Wall Street executives, even as they continue to persecute whistleblowers at record rates and prosecute ordinary citizens - particularly poor and minorities - with extreme harshness even for trivial offenses. The administration that now offers the excuse that HSBC is too big to prosecute is the same one that quite consciously refused to attempt to break up these banks in the aftermath of the "too-big-to-fail" crisis of 2008, as <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-07-12/neil-barofsky-the-democrat-taking-digs-at-obama" type="external">former TARP overseer Neil Barofsky</a>, among others, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/48328948/Neil_Barofsky_Breaking_Up_Big_Banks_lsquoNecessaryrsquo" type="external">has spent years arguing</a>.</p>
<p>And, of course, these HSBC-protectors in the Obama DOJ are the same officials responsible for maintaining and expanding what NYT Editorial Page editor Andrew Rosenthal <a href="http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/liberty-and-justice-for-non-muslims/" type="external">has accurately described</a> as "essentially a separate justice system for Muslims," one in which "the principle of due process is twisted and selectively applied, if it is applied at all." What has been created is not so much a "two-tiered justice system" as a multi-tiered one, entirely dependent on the identity of the alleged offender rather than the crimes of which they are accused.</p>
<p>Having different "justice systems" for citizens based on their status, wealth, power and prestige is exactly what the founders argued most strenuously had to be avoided (even as they themselves maintained exactly such a system). But here we have in undeniable clarity not merely proof of exactly how this system functions, but also the rotted and fundamentally corrupt precept on which it's based: that some actors are simply too important and too powerful to punish criminally. As the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz warned in 2010, exempting the largest banks from criminal prosecution has meant that lawlessness and "venality" is now "at a higher level" in the U.S. even than that which prevailed in the pervasively corrupt and lawless privatizing era in Russia.</p>
<p>Having the U.S. government act specially to protect the most powerful factions, particularly banks, was a major impetus that sent people into the streets protesting both as part of the early Tea Party movement as well as the Occupy movement. As well as it should: it is truly difficult to imagine corruption and lawlessness more extreme than having the government explicitly place the most powerful factions above the rule of law even as it continues to subject everyone else to disgracefully harsh "justice". If this HSBC gift makes more manifest this radical corruption, then it will at least have achieved some good.</p>
<p>UPDATE</p>
<p>By coincidence, on the very same day that the DOJ announced that HSBC would not be indicted for its multiple money-laundering felonies, the New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/12/science/mandatory-prison-sentences-face-growing-skepticism.html?pagewanted=all" type="external">published a story</a> featuring the harrowing story of an African-American single mother of three who was sentenced to life imprisonment at the age of 27 for a minor drug offense:</p>
<p>"Stephanie George and Judge Roger Vinson had quite different opinions about the lockbox seized by the police from her home in Pensacola. She insisted she had no idea that a former boyfriend had hidden it in her attic. Judge Vinson considered the lockbox, containing a half-kilogram of cocaine, to be evidence of her guilt. "But the defendant and the judge fully agreed about the fairness of the sentence he imposed in federal court. "'Even though you have been involved in drugs and drug dealing,' Judge Vinson told Ms. George, 'your role has basically been as a girlfriend and bag holder and money holder but not actively involved in the drug dealing, so certainly in my judgment it does not warrant a life sentence.' "Yet the judge had no other option on that morning 15 years ago. As her stunned family watched, Ms. George, then 27, who had never been accused of violence, was led from the courtroom to serve a sentence of life without parole. "'I remember my mom crying out and asking the Lord why,' said Ms. George, now 42, in an interview at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee. 'Sometimes I still can't believe myself it could happen in America.'"</p>
<p>As the NYT notes - and read her whole story to get the full flavor of it - this is commonplace for the poor and for minorities in the U.S. justice system. Contrast that deeply oppressive, merciless punishment system with the full-scale immunity bestowed on HSBC - along with virtually every powerful and rich lawbreaking faction in America over the last decade - and that is the living, breathing two-tiered U.S. justice system. How this glaringly disparate, and explicitly status-based, treatment under the criminal law does not produce serious social unrest is mystifying.</p> | 599,299 |
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